Bisdak Babbles

Taking the “longer way home” was an experience I wouldn’t like to undergo again (will blog about this when I’m back in Singapore). But these past few days, Christmas and New Year’s Day included, have been spent great bonding moments with my Shaynna. Anyway, I just would like to wish everyone a year full of hope, love, and blessings! Happy New Year to all!

Tuesday morning, I awoke to Arashi’s “Wish”, my ringtone. It was my mother, and her worried voice clearly made me brace for another alarming news: my cousin and close friend had been in (birth) labor for three days! She was admitted to a public hospital in Ormoc City. The doctor advised to perform a C-section but it was impossible to do it in the said hospital because the operating room equipments are broken! The only option left was to transfer her to a private hospital but they didn’t have enough money for the downpayment.

Imagine being in this dilemma. So sad, but it is a fact that many people die because most of the public hospitals in my country are in bad conditions. The best that these hospitals can offer are beds (without beddings!) and remedies to not-so-serious cases. I’m still searching for references on how the Philippine government allocate the national budget, and which sector is responsible for the maintenance of public hospitals. Could it be the local government or the Department of Health?

From this website, I found the national budget outline for 2010. So where will the P28.5 billion pesos of DOH go? How will the local sectors spend the P65.4 billion? Will the public hospitals have their share of new equipments?

Our country fights for the protection of women and children. But what happened to my cousin and I’m pretty sure, more Filipino women, it seems like all we do is lip service. I hope that it won’t remain like this forever. I hope that we will vote wisely and make the 2011 election the stepping stone to stop what has plagued our country for decades: the survival of the financially-fit.

Christmas starts very early in the Philippines that the only mall in Iligan City have already put up their huge Christmas tree when I came home last October. It’s in the center of that mall. It’s not as grand as the ones in gigantic malls in the country but it is still very nice to look at. We still don’t have a Christmas tree at home so Shaynna and I had our photo taken with that tree in the background…

A few more days and it’s December!

Thanks to all who drop by despite my inactivity in this blog. I went home to the Philippines last week for my Shaynna’s 5th birthday (by the way, thanks for the greetings). Now, I’m back here in Singapore. One thing’s for sure: a week with Shaynna and my family is really short and I want more! I wish for a longer vacation! We only have a lone shopping mall in Iligan City but I still tremendously enjoyed my bonding moments with Shaynna. Will do more posts on this one.

Nothing extraordinary happened during my travel. Except seeing Coco Martin in person! Sadly, I wasn’t able to charge my cellphone so I failed to take a photo.

I also had an encounter with a lazy government employee at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 3. Imagine going to the OFW counter to ask that person in-charge and being told to wait for a while. I waited for a few seconds but that guy went back to sleep! That was another reason for me to regret not being able to charge my cellphone! I would have taken a photo of that guy and post it here.

Not much changes in my hometown except for more unfamiliar faces. My mother and sister have gained so much weight that I may appear skinny next to them. Of course I dug into my favorite dishes: lechon, dried fish, halo-halo, etc. that I need to spend more effort on weight loss. I don’t want to end up like my mother after all!

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I had not really looked deeper into what our late President Cory Aquino did aside from taking up the responsibility of leading our nation to be freed from dictatorship.  We owe her our freedom. Yet, I had not reflected on the depth and weight of such responsibility. Little did I realize how extraordinary leader she had been.

When the People Power took place, I was just a small girl and I really didn’t understand why we had to wear something yellow. When I became old enough to comprehend what’s going on around me, I lost my interest in digging up what the country’s leaders are up to because almost everything that I could read and hear about them are frustrating.  The loss of such a great leader led me to read articles about Pres. Cory.  The necrological service even revealed the unknown but great things she did not just to the country but to the people that are always around her.  Now, all I have for her is gratitude and awe.   President Cory, maraming salamat po!

I hope and pray that our nation’s next leaders would be true servants like her.  I hope that in the 2010 election, we Filipinos would once again vote as if we are fighting to be free.  Yet, we are in bondage once again. Ipagpatuloy ang laban!

Here’s one of the articles that has once again ignited my sense of patriotism.

Aside from the news about swine flu, TV Patrol is filled with reports about rallies, corrupt government officials and charter change. I think corruption in the Philippines is really getting worse. Yes, those corrupt government officials have a major role in the worsening state of the country, but before throwing stones at them, we Filipinos need to look at ourselves first.

Majority of the foreigners who have visited the Philippines say that Filipinos are really hospitable, and that’s very nice to hear. But when it comes to treating our fellow countrymen, we get a failing mark. Last Saturday, I went to Lucky Plaza, a hub for the Filipinos in Singapore. Something urgent came up and I need to send money to my family in the Philippines. I usually send it through Metrobank but it was really urgent so I approached an ML Kwarta Padala agent to inquire about the fees, etc. The Filipina behind the counter grudgingly answered all my questions. I thought it was just her nature of speaking but her tone was completely different when she chatted happily to her colleagues! Hey, I’m a customer for crying out loud! Really disapponting, eh? Even those employees at the Philippine embassies act as if we have to bow before them so that they would offer their services.

Why can’t we just treat our fellow Filipinos with respect as much as we treat the foreigners?  Still, no one could beat the Japanese people in how they treat their customers.   I hope we can just learn from them just a little bit.

We have TFC here in the apartment but most of the time, I avoid watching TV Patrol.   It’s so depressing to hear the same bad news again - proven corrupt but never punished government officials, robberies, accidents, swine flu, etc.  But I’m glad I tuned in to TV Patrol today because…

1. I learned that the Philippine Dragon Boat team won in the 8th World Dragon Boat Championship held in Australia. The team don’t have much financial support that they had difficulty raising the money to defend the title this year in Prague. Good thing the sports stepped up to pay for the airfare. Last year, they even brought rice and canned goods in Australia because they don’t have enough food allowance.
2. Six year-old Stephen Rome Pangilinan of Milo Checkmate Philippines, won first place in the Susan Polgar under eight-year-old division.

I salute you guys for still doing your best despite the circumstances, and for bringing glory to our country!

I am guilty of leaving the country to look for greener pastures.  But I think this shouldn’t stop me and the rest of the OFWs for doing something for the Philippines.  Every Filipino, no matter where he may be, always has an opportunity of showing his love for the country.

*Saraba Nihon, Tadaima Firipin - Farewell Japan, I’m home, Philippines
Before coming to Singapore, I stayed in the Philippines for a few days. My flight home was last March 24 in the evening but I was still busy packing until early in the morning (a really bad habit to break). I waited for the courier guy to pickup my Balikbayan Box until 2PM so I did not have time to throw all the trash! I’m really sorry to Kay and Kagz, the next occupants to my home for almost 3 years. I had to leave behind bags of trash.
Then my friends came to see me off to the airport limousine (bus) station:

I was really glad they did that. I had two huge bags, one very heavy handcarry bag, and the laptop case weighing more than 3 kgs!  As expected, I was way over the baggage limit.  I already paid for 10kgs excess baggage, so that gave me 25kgs.  But I still had 17kgs extra! Good thing one of my friend’s relatives were on the same flight.  So I only got to pay for 7kgs.  Because of the heavy bags I had to carry, I lost a very precious find… a Japanese painting.  I only noticed its absence when I arrived in the Philippines.The aircraft was very small but we were able to arrive safely in Manila and on time, at past 10 o’clock in the evening.  I then had to stay in the NAIA Terminal for more than 5 hours for my flight to Cagayan de Oro.  I was not able to sleep and I was really looking forward to seeing Shaynna and my family again.  My flight was a little bit delayed but I was grateful for that.  Why? Because when I arrived at the Cagayan de Oro airport, my family was still not in sight.  Being 30 minutes late would have been OK, but nope.  I had to wait for them at the airport for almost 3 hours!