Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Filipino the way I am

I consider myself as Filipino, a full blooded Filipino with hispanic tradition and influence and some oriental background. I am not saying I have a Spanish blood or whatsoever feature, because I don't see that in myself. My great grandparents are mestizos (Spanish looking) and would speak fluently and pray in Castilian, but it all wiped out from generations. Some of my relatives still have the feature but I don't see any hispanic feature in me if I compare myself to the full blooded Iberian or Filipino mestizo, none at all, nada!

But Regardless of blood, undeniably. The fact that we are using Spanish words everyday though not a complete sentence, practice the hispanic way of adoring God, hispanic way of preparing food and table, hispanic attitude and manners (e.g. delecadeza y palabra de honor), spanish family names, streets, towns and cities etc... All these things are not from Zimbabwe nor from Iraq but from Spain. Which means deny it or not, latinity is within our realms.

There are still Filipinos who were born at the wrong place and time nowadays, these people still condemns the existence of Spanish culture and would smash you down of their rhetoric antics. Claiming Spain is an oppressor until today. You can't blame them. If by chance they would see a Spanish Armada on Manila Bay today, they'll surely look for their "bolos"(knife) and shout "sulong"(attack)! These are the people when in history class felt the emotion and got fixated to the events and lost their orientation to the present and future.

We cannot change history, we cannot deny those oppression, but we must also cultivate the good things that those foreign countries gave us. We are Filipinos, and the way we are today is the way of our past. It is our rights to reminisce or ignore but we can't change nor twist history.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

The Rainy June of 2009

At around 4:00 pm in the afternoon today I ended my work receiving to an irate customer with foul mouth full of usual profanities. Disputing of is his service despite explanation that he hadn't paid yet. He hang up on me and in split seconds another call pop up and another customer complaining and shouting that her sidekick is not getting a signal. So difficult to adjust your emotion from one call to another.

I went out the building, the clouds are getting thicker and about to pour any moment. As soon as I alarmed my car to open, rain started to fall. I run to my car, switched it on and waited for few minutes before maneuvering out the parking area. I turned on the radio to listen at FM music, lightnings and thunders reign the dark sky. Cars fog lights turned on. The whole city of Iloilo got the strongest shower after summer this year though no forecast of storm.

Like a rain, humans tends to pour their emotions spontaneously without warning. You can just be struck by a lightning and shaken by a thunder. I pulled over and let the heavy rain subside. If I could have continued driving despite the condition I might get a higher chance of getting an accident. If a person is so mad and would never stop yelling, never answer back or explain rather stay calm and be quiet. He'll get his silence after he pours all out his emotions.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The Dawn and Challenge

Today, there were people in my work place who were ask to leave the company not of economic recession but because of the standard the company is imposing. The standard is just and rightful prerogative of the company to achieved its goal and sustain growth and competence. It is so sad to admit that these people are nice and been like a good friends for quite some time.

I felt bad and hurt of had happened to them. Instead I should celebrate for passing the company's tests and examinations I feel more disappointed. I really felt sorry, that some of them are bread winners and had sacrifice a lot for the dreaded schedule and yet after few days they will be ask to leave.

Life is mean and bossy. We need to overcome its challenge to float over the sucking current. I mean we should keep pace to what life demands. If it's asking us to jump, jump! Discover your potential and get serious. Life isn't a joke after all.

For my good friends who lost their job today, never felt apathy and self pity. No one is dumber than the one who survives because of memorization. Intellectuals are always the victim of a formatted megabyte brain modern society. Intellectuals who can articulate and talk about life impromptu never given a chance of recognition but solely for those who can only live and gain success by low level intelligence.

The dawn of robotic memory has just begun. I'll never convert my brain into such fad. I'll survive by my initiative.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Instant Mami

Instant Mami (Instant Noodles)

Have you ever felt so down in your life? That everything seems to be hopeless? Right now, I am in a total dilemma. I wanted to rectify myself from being lost. It’s early morning now 3:00 am Sunday night of January. I can’t close my eyes and dream the solutions for this inner conflicts. I went up from bed and write instead, re-channeling my confusions and despair into writings. My ego cannot manage enough so I queued in for the defense mechanism called displacement but this isn’t about madness.

After graduating in college in 2005, the real world after is so tough and challenging. Living in the Philippines is so hard for a newly graduate. Competitions and Connections are the two ways to get a job. Competition is common because it happens anywhere in the world. But Connections? Well, you can compete with your credentials but you’ll surely drag down over those who got godfather, uncles, cousins, or distant relatives in general. They were born lucky, and I use to call them “Instant Mami” (Instant Noodles). The dirty culture is a continuous process and it runs from generations. The Philippine laws are more precise to prohibit this dirty practices but the laws seems limited on government agencies (yet I doubt) and just a figures written in paper for private companies.

I was able to find a job in two companies consecutively right after I graduate. Maybe I am lucky enough to have it but I am proud to say I am not an “Instant Mami”. When I quit my job to process something very important for a future career in far away lands. The moment I wake up every morning, I felt the ambiance despair and disappointments when I see the statistics of unemployment rates of the country on TV. I came to realize that I am part of it. I quit because I need to prioritize something. What if I never had a job since graduation, or had a job but never had the tangency from my profession?

There are thousands of graduates every year. But the chance of finding a job is a shoot in a blue moon. Even applying to work abroad requires to have a longer experience. But how can you have that longer experience if you can’t have a job within your country? Luckily, with remedial blessing of this proliferating Call Centers and English tutorials for Koreans started mushrooming every cities. The government even brag this achievements on the Philippine televisions that they can provide jobs for Filipinos. Well, I say thank you so much because our Engineers, Nurses, Pharmacists etc. ended up receiving calls from the U.S. and some become an English Tutors to the Koreans. What kind of country do we have? When will this country provide proper jobs for the degree we earned? When will this country inspire the pupas that the time they explore the world, el dorados of nectars are waiting for them?

I am not an activist. Never in my life I shouted on street protesting against the government. I view life full of hope and understanding. I adhere to the principle that no society, government, or country perfect enough to please its citizenry. I am just a human being who can feel the disappointments in life though not necessarily mine. I am just an ordinary Filipino who noticed something is polluting and savaging each Filipinos' full potential.