Ordinary Thoughts

I am not a die hard fan of him for his generation was earlier than mine. Nevertheless, as a music lover, I was able to listen to some of his music and liked it. And I believe a lot of bloggers were also familiar with his songs especially that his “Thriller” album is considered the best selling album of all time.

Jackson’s time maybe over but I believe his music is not and will never be over. It will always linger in the course of music industry. I don’t have much to say for this music genius but I just like to extend my sincere condolences to his bereaved family. Michael Jackson, you will always be remembered in our hearts. And let me say “Job well done!”

P.S.: isang pagkilala lamang po sa nag-iisang Michael Jackson...at kagaya ng marami, nakikiramay din po...

Aside from writing, one of things I like doing is cooking. But, though I can cook a few dishes, I find it more comfortable to just eat what my mom has prepared for us. Most of the time, my mother cooks our food and the only thing I can do to help is to unplug the rice cooker when she's done.

There's nothing more satisfying for me than waking up in the morning with a cup of coffee at hand. Of course, that usually goes with a toasted garlic bread as I listen to the early morning news - a routine I always look forward whenever I'm at home.

To quench our thirst in the afternoon, my cousin would rather have our favorite fruit shake instead of splurging on soft drinks. And in the evening, a glass of wine before going to bed always wraps our day.

But nowadays, we seldom do the same thing because of our respective work. Some of my cousins now have their own family while others moved to far places. On the other hand, I make myself busy with my work in our school publication. Anyway, I still have my family to spend my quality time with.

Bilang isang mamamayang Pilipino
Nakikiisa ako sa pagdiriwang
Ng ating ika-isandaan at labing isang taong
Anibersaryo ng kalayaan

Kalayaang matapang na ipinaglaban
Ng sampu ng ating mga bayani
Silang ating pinagkakautangan
Ng kalayaang ngayon ay tinatamasa

Subalit sa paglipas ng panahon
Matapos ang labing isang dekada
Ano na ang kinahinatnan
Ng kanilang ipinaglaban?

Nasaan na nga ba tayo ngayon?
Ang iba'y inaabuso ang taglay na kalayaan
Mayroon namang tila walang silbi ang kalayaan
Na hanggang ngayoy naninirahan pa rin sa dilim

Lumabas at pagmasdan ang lansangan?
Dito sa amin payapa naman
Tila walang dapat ipagsaya
Lahat may sariling mundo

Napansin kong marami ang ngayoy nakangiti
Marahil natutuwa dahil walang pasok sa opisina
O kaya naman ay doble ang sahod
Ang iba naman di alam kung bakit walang pasok

Naway kahit isang araw lamang kaibigan
Gumawa ng bagay na makabayan
Kahit paglalagay lamang ng munti nating watawat
At namnamin ang kahulugan ng ating kalayaan

Una nang ideneklara ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) na suspendido na muna ang pasukan sa kolehiyo ngayong linggo dahil sa umanoy banta ng A (H1N1). Ibig sabihin, June 15 pa talaga magbubukas ang klase para sa college students (sana naman hindi na nila isususpend for the second time kasi baka ma-extend na naman ang pasukan at pati graduation maging May na rin. Haiz, wag mo naman ipahintulot Lord please.)

Anyway, kahit na meron na ngang announcement ang CHED, I decided na pumunta pa rin sa eskwelahan to see for myself. Akalain mong hindi ininda ng mga katulad kong mag-aaral ang deklarasyon ng CHED. Siksikan pa rin sa gate ng university sa sobrang dami ng estudyanteng pumasok sa mismong araw. At least confident naman akong pumasok sa school kahit walang pasok kasi di lang naman ako ang matigas ang ulo. Marami kami kaya ang saya-saya.

Alas siete ng umaga ang first subject ko pero dumating ako ng alas siete y medya. Syempre feeling ko naman walang guro na magpapakita so ok lang na late muna sa ngayon. At gaya ng inaasahan, wala ni anino ng titser namin. Pero andun ang ilan sa mga klasmeyts ko. Para naman super tagal naming di nagkita at sobra kung magkamustahan. Oo nga't bakasyon. Eh ano ngayon, isang buwan din naman kaming magkasama sa iisang bahay for our internship. So ayon, matapos ang kamustahan at plastikan, haha, nagdesisyon kaming pagtripan ang mga bagong mukha sa unibersidad namin.

Magtanong kaba naman kung nasaan ang College of Arts and Sciences na building eh andun na mismo kami sa gusali. In fairness, maayos naman kaming sinagot ng mga inosenteng freshmen na ang CAS building pala ay ang mismong gusaling kinatatayuan namin. "Really? Thank you miss ha..." may mga ganun pang drama after mambiktima.

Patuloy kaming naglakad-lakad at habang padaan-daan lang kami sa mga lounges, eto naman ang trip namin. "Miss asa dapit ng TBA nga room?" (Miss san ba dito yung TBA na room?) o ayan with free translation pa yan ha. Todo pigil naman ang mga tinanong namin na magpigil sa pagtawa at sinagot kami ng maayos. "To be arranged paman ng TBA sir." (To be arranged pa po yung TBA sir). Meaning wala pa raw silid para dito.

"Di ba andun yung mga kursong Accountancy at Business Administration?" tanong ko ulit in our dialect.

Baka CBA po yung ibig nyong sabihin hindi TBA? sagot nya.

"Ha? Eh ano ba yung CBA miss tsaka how does it differ sa TBA?" tanga-tangahan ko namang tinuran sa kanya.

"College of Business and Accountancy po kasi yung CBA kaya andun yung sinasabi nyong mga kurso habang yung TBA naman eh to be arranged pa ang ibig sabihin." sagot niya na halatang nakukulitan na kasi kanina pa panay ang tingin sa kasama niya na atat na atat ng umalis pero di naman ako maiwan kasi nga "wala pa daw kasi akong alam".

Sa huli naman eh tinuro nya sa akin kung san yung CBA. Salamat miss. Kung nagbabasa ka ng post na to, sorry na talaga. Eh apat na taon na ako sa unibersidad na ito kaya alam ko lahat ng pasikot-sikot. Trip lang talaga namin kaya pasensya na.

Marami-rami din ang nabiktima namin bago kami nakaramdam ng gutom. Hahaha. Mukhang nakarma ang mga gago. So we decided to go out na nga sa school at nang makakain.

Pagdating namin ng gate, anak ng tipaklong, kumpulan na naman ang mga students kasi nga may instruction daw na di na muna palalabasin ang mga mag-aaral. Huh? Baket kaya? Eh unang una, wala namang pasok ngayon!? Hay na bad trip tuloy kami.

Sa ngayon ay kasalukuyan pa naming inaalam...oopps wait a minute...kapapasok lang na balita...pinahintulutan na umanong lumabas ang mga students. Hehe

Yup, it was just for a few minutes.
I decided to leave when the program started to become a comedy show.
I don’t know how others see it but for me it was a one-woman show.

The politicians aspiring to become the next president who were there were Senator Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, Former President Joseph Estrada, and Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando.

At first, it was a bit interesting when they disclosed what their plans are for the first 100 days of their administration if ever if they get elected.
In fairness, all four of them have good answers.

But as the show went on, some of the guests made me lose my enthusiasm to further watch the show.
When the forum was opened, more questions were asked.
And again, the four answered the questions.
But as to whether or not their answers were right, that’s another story.

The way I see it, I think only one or two of them have answered the questions correctly. I’m not sure if they are just evasive or what but some are really far out.

Senator Legarda was convincing with all her answers.
She finished her answers briefly and concisely and does it in less than 1 minute and 30 seconds.

Mayor Binay also has good answers.
But he always has something to say about Makati in almost all his answers.
“Sa Makati…” and all the rest of his line.
There’s nothing wrong with boasting what you have accomplished in one city, but come on, there’s more to the Philippines than just Makati.
Let us not forget that there are more than 7, 000 islands in the Philippines with more than 90 million Filipinos.

While Former Pres. Estrada never failed to keep the audiences laughing.

I believe Chairman Fernando also did the same.
But I admired his courage to publicly announce his intention of running as a presidential candidate for the upcoming election next year.
(Di tulad ng iba na kesyo di raw tatakbo pero pagdating ng eleksyon lulunukin lahat ng sinabi.)
Also, I will never forget when he said he’s aware of the good and bad moves of the current administration but when asked by Cheche Lazaro what those bad moves are, he merely said “Don’t get me into trouble.”

These are all that I remember from that Leadership Forum.

In the end, I would give credits to all of them for showing up and answering the questions.

Though what they have said are just words and we don’t know if they can put that into deeds but watching them in the forums such as this is one good start for us to know them before we cast our votes.

I would further say that it is important for us youth, to watch these kinds of shows or other similar activities so that we would somehow get a little knowledge as to who deserves to lead us come 2010.

They say we are the hope of the future so it is only proper that we should be involved in any activities that concern us and the entire nation as a whole. And one of these is the upcoming election. Lets us prove to them that we care, we are smart, and that our votes can never be bought. Let us scrutinize these politicians for only then can we become confident as whom are we going to give our votes.

I’m not preaching. I’m just concern. And I’m just expressing my opinions.