A lesson to be learned from typing the wrong E-mail address:
A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter.
They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years before.
Because of their hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules.
So, the husband left Minneapolis and flew to Florida on Friday, and his wife was flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel, and unlike years ago, there was a computer in his room, and he decided to send an email to his wife.
However, he accidentally left out one letter in her E-mail address, and without noticing his error, sent the email to the wrong address.
Meanwhile ... somewhere in Houston ... a widow had just returned home from her husband's funeral.
He was a minister who was called home to glory after suffering a heart attack.
The widow decided to check her E-mail, expecting messages from relatives and friends.
After reading the first message, she screamed and then fainted.
The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor, and then glanced up and saw the computer screen which read:
To: My Loving Wife
Date: Friday, October 13, 2005
Subject: I have arrived!
Dearest Love:
I know you are surprised to hear from me.
They have computers here now, and you are allowed to send E-mail to your loved ones.
I have just arrived and have been checked in.
I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow, and look forward to seeing you then.
Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
PS ... It sure is freakin' hot down here!
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Letter of JULIO REY B. HIDALGO to the Editor of INQ7
From Letters to the Editor of INQ7, I am endorsing this article on a favorite subject matter. GK has claimed nation building, and GK is not being laughed at for claiming a seemingly impossible task. The reason is because GK is doing nation building by strengthening the poor, taking them out of the state of landlessness and homelessness family by family, community by community. Many in political advocacy or governance would call this process "Social Justice" applied in the most ideal manner of Filipinos caring and sharing.
GK communities are then guided towards being productive, beginning with vegetable growing and foofd self-sufficiency to mitigate the constant threat of hunger. Again, this process of transforming once mendicant families towards the realization that they can actually help themselves can be called the start of a "Self-reliance" journey.
A return to the more admired of community and social values is a deliberate effort of GK communities through the Kapitbahayan Values Program. As the key tradition of Bayanihan is re-established in a community setting, the empowerment of the poor is developed without confrontation but with cooperation. For the first time, the value and necessity of the common or collective good is constantly being promoted to offset the conditioned divisiveness embedded in our historical past.
Faith and Patriotism is the call that modern day heroes of Gawad Kalinga answer in simple day-to-day tasks and sacrifices. Ordinary Filipinos become one in a comprehensive and integrated movement to liberate the poorest of the poor from the historical enslavement of poverty and their consequential victimization by corruption. The force of a Filipino's love of God and the motherland is the sword by which the evils of poverty and corruption will be defeated.
Boy Montelibano
How we can build our nation
LACKING a clear understanding of the how and why of our national problems, we endlessly quarrel with one another over self-serving arguments.
Over the past several months, the political opposition, various civil society and cause-oriented groups, leaders of the Catholic Church and lay organizations, business associations, and the general public have all been clamoring for the "truth." Questions have been raised about legitimacy, moral/ethical ascendancy, and leadership effectiveness. But there are as many truths as there are seekers of truth. In looking for truths, we often fail to see the facts.
The fact is that our nation is undergoing not just one crisis but several, simultaneously:
• an economic crisis, of which the fiscal crisis is just a part, brought about by a weak national economy that must rely on foreign debt and capital inflows, including remittances from overseas Filipino workers, in order for it to survive;
• a poverty crisis, in which 60 percent of Filipinos consider themselves as living in subhuman conditions -- including the middle class, which now finds itself slowly drifting to or sinking below the poverty line;
• a family dislocation and social crisis, brought about by the massive emigration of Filipino workers to other countries, caused by lack of jobs and livelihood opportunities at home.
And we could continue…
Our present confusion arises from our collective failure to understand the historical fact of how we Filipinos have been systematically divided as a people, manipulated and kept perennially at odds with one another -- a continuing process called "managing nationalism."
This process has sunk so deeply below our waking awareness that we no longer notice it. The problem is that what we do not notice, we cannot tackle objectively. What cannot be held up to public scrutiny, we cannot study. What we cannot analyze, we cannot be clear about.
And so, lacking a clear understanding of the how and why of our national problems, we tolerate the overall noise and public confusion by remaining silent, even as selfish politicians push their own agenda for changing the Constitution.
Felipe Miranda of the poll group Pulse Asia observed: "Like so many national debates, this one often misses the point. A poet once acidly remarked: 'As to forms of government, let fools contend; what is best administered is best.' Nominal changes in governmental forms often fail to bring about desired changes in popular governance. Whether the Philippines goes parliamentary or presidential in its form of government, whether it remains unitary or federal in its political administration, the welfare of most Filipinos can remain abysmally ignored."
The nominal democracy that we have, run by the privileged few, is a self-perpetuating mechanism. No wonder EDSA People Power I and II were both disappointments to our people.
We are disappointed at how our country has retrogressed despite more than 60 years in a "democracy" with all its political processes, rites of suffrage, and institutions of governance. And we wonder: Why? How have we come to this mess?
Through the tools of political patronage and economic cooptation, we have been pitted against one another in the shadow play of partisan politics and personality-based leadership. We are in the mess we're in -- perennially squabbling to the point of civil conflict -- because up to now we have not politically evolved a strong sense of civic culture, a clear understanding of shared interests, and a developed sense of national sovereignty and self-reliance.
The grim reality of our present situation is that any president, or prime minister, or whatever will be the title of the one that will hold political power, who merely tries to administer this decadent dispensation without fundamentally overhauling and rectifying its pro-colonial character is bound to fail the people and become a victim of the system's built-in contradictions and antagonisms. He or she will be trapped in "damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't" situations, resulting in perennial instability, therefore perpetuating dependence on external support and intervention.
To save our country from this real and present danger, we must seriously study the nature of the forces, the processes, and the instrumentals that are behind the continuing process of "managing nationalism." These are the factors shaping the external events that are happening to us today. It determines what kind of tomorrow our children will live in.
At the same time, we must resurrect our noble, dignified, and productive Filipino values, which centuries of foreign enculturation have all but obliterated and caused us to belittle. We must adhere to three indivisible and essential values:
(1) self-reliance -- the foundation of genuine national independence
(2) social justice -- the basis of genuine national reconciliation and lasting peace, and
(3) national interest -- the motivating spirit and ultimate objective of foreign policy.
Every Filipino can individually help to build our strong nation by:
• minimizing economic dependence on foreign debt or investments, and mobilizing domestic savings to support local entrepreneurs in order to rebuild our agricultural and manufacturing sectors, recover our capability to produce the goods our people need, and generate jobs and livelihood opportunities here at home;
• removing the inequitable structures that have resulted in the widening rift among our people, leading to grave social polarization, and the social pressures that are building up to explosive potential;
• insisting that all leaders or those who aspire for leadership must faithfully demonstrate consistency between daily actions versus statements of principles and social advocacy; and
• living out the individual and collective duties and responsibilities that our Filipino citizenship calls each of us to.
Most Filipinos recognize the urgent need for fundamental change and reforms. The problem is that many proponents of change are motivated by their class distinctions, selfish agenda, and narrow vested interests -- when what is needed is precisely to go beyond these barriers. We must avoid finger-pointing and laying blame on individuals or groups, even if their actions may have played inimical roles to our national interests, sovereignty, economic independence, and political maturation into a functioning democracy.
This does not mean that we should forget or condone past mistakes committed and continue the misguided policies that have resulted in our worsening problems. We must not harbor bitterness, hatred, or vindictiveness.
But we should never forget the lessons that a deep study and clear understanding of our national history should have taught us. This is what we Filipinos should understand. This is what "leaving the past behind and moving on" should properly mean.
Finally, instead of letting ideological labels stymie us into inaction or endless debate, we must de-ideologize the process of consensus building, and practice the principles of self-reliance, social justice, and national interest. This is the path through which we Filipinos can finally reconcile with one another, armed with a clear understanding of what happened before and what lies ahead, unite in the spirit of enlightened nationalism, promote our best interests and collective welfare, and build up a strong nation -- our Filipino nation.
JULIO REY B. HIDALGO (via e-mail)
GK communities are then guided towards being productive, beginning with vegetable growing and foofd self-sufficiency to mitigate the constant threat of hunger. Again, this process of transforming once mendicant families towards the realization that they can actually help themselves can be called the start of a "Self-reliance" journey.
A return to the more admired of community and social values is a deliberate effort of GK communities through the Kapitbahayan Values Program. As the key tradition of Bayanihan is re-established in a community setting, the empowerment of the poor is developed without confrontation but with cooperation. For the first time, the value and necessity of the common or collective good is constantly being promoted to offset the conditioned divisiveness embedded in our historical past.
Faith and Patriotism is the call that modern day heroes of Gawad Kalinga answer in simple day-to-day tasks and sacrifices. Ordinary Filipinos become one in a comprehensive and integrated movement to liberate the poorest of the poor from the historical enslavement of poverty and their consequential victimization by corruption. The force of a Filipino's love of God and the motherland is the sword by which the evils of poverty and corruption will be defeated.
Boy Montelibano
How we can build our nation
LACKING a clear understanding of the how and why of our national problems, we endlessly quarrel with one another over self-serving arguments.
Over the past several months, the political opposition, various civil society and cause-oriented groups, leaders of the Catholic Church and lay organizations, business associations, and the general public have all been clamoring for the "truth." Questions have been raised about legitimacy, moral/ethical ascendancy, and leadership effectiveness. But there are as many truths as there are seekers of truth. In looking for truths, we often fail to see the facts.
The fact is that our nation is undergoing not just one crisis but several, simultaneously:
• an economic crisis, of which the fiscal crisis is just a part, brought about by a weak national economy that must rely on foreign debt and capital inflows, including remittances from overseas Filipino workers, in order for it to survive;
• a poverty crisis, in which 60 percent of Filipinos consider themselves as living in subhuman conditions -- including the middle class, which now finds itself slowly drifting to or sinking below the poverty line;
• a family dislocation and social crisis, brought about by the massive emigration of Filipino workers to other countries, caused by lack of jobs and livelihood opportunities at home.
And we could continue…
Our present confusion arises from our collective failure to understand the historical fact of how we Filipinos have been systematically divided as a people, manipulated and kept perennially at odds with one another -- a continuing process called "managing nationalism."
This process has sunk so deeply below our waking awareness that we no longer notice it. The problem is that what we do not notice, we cannot tackle objectively. What cannot be held up to public scrutiny, we cannot study. What we cannot analyze, we cannot be clear about.
And so, lacking a clear understanding of the how and why of our national problems, we tolerate the overall noise and public confusion by remaining silent, even as selfish politicians push their own agenda for changing the Constitution.
Felipe Miranda of the poll group Pulse Asia observed: "Like so many national debates, this one often misses the point. A poet once acidly remarked: 'As to forms of government, let fools contend; what is best administered is best.' Nominal changes in governmental forms often fail to bring about desired changes in popular governance. Whether the Philippines goes parliamentary or presidential in its form of government, whether it remains unitary or federal in its political administration, the welfare of most Filipinos can remain abysmally ignored."
The nominal democracy that we have, run by the privileged few, is a self-perpetuating mechanism. No wonder EDSA People Power I and II were both disappointments to our people.
We are disappointed at how our country has retrogressed despite more than 60 years in a "democracy" with all its political processes, rites of suffrage, and institutions of governance. And we wonder: Why? How have we come to this mess?
Through the tools of political patronage and economic cooptation, we have been pitted against one another in the shadow play of partisan politics and personality-based leadership. We are in the mess we're in -- perennially squabbling to the point of civil conflict -- because up to now we have not politically evolved a strong sense of civic culture, a clear understanding of shared interests, and a developed sense of national sovereignty and self-reliance.
The grim reality of our present situation is that any president, or prime minister, or whatever will be the title of the one that will hold political power, who merely tries to administer this decadent dispensation without fundamentally overhauling and rectifying its pro-colonial character is bound to fail the people and become a victim of the system's built-in contradictions and antagonisms. He or she will be trapped in "damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't" situations, resulting in perennial instability, therefore perpetuating dependence on external support and intervention.
To save our country from this real and present danger, we must seriously study the nature of the forces, the processes, and the instrumentals that are behind the continuing process of "managing nationalism." These are the factors shaping the external events that are happening to us today. It determines what kind of tomorrow our children will live in.
At the same time, we must resurrect our noble, dignified, and productive Filipino values, which centuries of foreign enculturation have all but obliterated and caused us to belittle. We must adhere to three indivisible and essential values:
(1) self-reliance -- the foundation of genuine national independence
(2) social justice -- the basis of genuine national reconciliation and lasting peace, and
(3) national interest -- the motivating spirit and ultimate objective of foreign policy.
Every Filipino can individually help to build our strong nation by:
• minimizing economic dependence on foreign debt or investments, and mobilizing domestic savings to support local entrepreneurs in order to rebuild our agricultural and manufacturing sectors, recover our capability to produce the goods our people need, and generate jobs and livelihood opportunities here at home;
• removing the inequitable structures that have resulted in the widening rift among our people, leading to grave social polarization, and the social pressures that are building up to explosive potential;
• insisting that all leaders or those who aspire for leadership must faithfully demonstrate consistency between daily actions versus statements of principles and social advocacy; and
• living out the individual and collective duties and responsibilities that our Filipino citizenship calls each of us to.
Most Filipinos recognize the urgent need for fundamental change and reforms. The problem is that many proponents of change are motivated by their class distinctions, selfish agenda, and narrow vested interests -- when what is needed is precisely to go beyond these barriers. We must avoid finger-pointing and laying blame on individuals or groups, even if their actions may have played inimical roles to our national interests, sovereignty, economic independence, and political maturation into a functioning democracy.
This does not mean that we should forget or condone past mistakes committed and continue the misguided policies that have resulted in our worsening problems. We must not harbor bitterness, hatred, or vindictiveness.
But we should never forget the lessons that a deep study and clear understanding of our national history should have taught us. This is what we Filipinos should understand. This is what "leaving the past behind and moving on" should properly mean.
Finally, instead of letting ideological labels stymie us into inaction or endless debate, we must de-ideologize the process of consensus building, and practice the principles of self-reliance, social justice, and national interest. This is the path through which we Filipinos can finally reconcile with one another, armed with a clear understanding of what happened before and what lies ahead, unite in the spirit of enlightened nationalism, promote our best interests and collective welfare, and build up a strong nation -- our Filipino nation.
JULIO REY B. HIDALGO (via e-mail)
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
How to be a Good [and Happy] Blogger
Thanks to:
If you have comment sections - MANAGE THEM!
If you don't have a comments section ... for Pete's sake make your email easy to find.
Write about what you want to and damn the hits counters.
I'm sure I'll be adapting these myself somewhat but that's a start...
I have been hanging onto this link to My Domestic Church until I could get a few minutes to jot some thoughts down. She has eight basic guidelines for effective blogging.
As opposed to the blogging tips that you usually read that are designed to get you the most page hits (as if we're getting paid for each hit or something), Elena has really hit the nail on the head. Her reward? I'm shamelessly stealing them and then going to adapt them. Sorry girl! But thanks for the idea!
If you have comment sections - MANAGE THEM!
Don't let commenters beat each other up, and don't let the majority opinion beat up on a dissenter. If someone is being inappropriate and rude, delete their entries, edit them or and ban them. Have a comments guideline and stick to it.
If you don't have a comments section ... for Pete's sake make your email easy to find.
Or make it clear that you're incommunicado with no email at all. When I think of the time I've wasted looking for email addresses ... usually to simply ask a question or give a compliment.
And if you have a separate email address for your blog, CHECK IT often. Don't make correspondents wait for weeks until you remember that other address.
Don't keep changing your URL.It's fine to do it every two years or so if you absolutely have to, but other than that it's a pain to keep changing the dead links and keeping up with you!
Have a sense of humor.
There's a reason Jeff Miller has 92 blogline subscribers. He takes the news and finds the humor to it. Remember it's just a blog...
Share a bit from your life.I'm always fascinated when The Anchoress gives us the scoop on Buster. Everyone in St. Blog's was able to watch with pleasure while Dom Bettinelli got engaged, married, and became a new father. Mike Aquilina recently broke away from the Church Fathers to talk about his own father. It doesn't have to be a lot but that is what gives dimension to the blogger behind the posts.
Write about what you want to and damn the hits counters.
I see people agonizing over their status in the Ecosystem or worrying about hits on the site meters. Again, people, it's not as if we're getting paid for these things. If you love the blogging then it doesn't matter if you have 1 regular visitor or 100. It is not a popularity contest and although some people seem to be keeping score I find that they tend to be the less happy bloggers out there.
Have fun!If you're not enjoying blogging then quit or change what you're doing. But don't sit around complaining about it. Your blog is entirely in your control and life is too short to let it control you.
I'm sure I'll be adapting these myself somewhat but that's a start...
Monday, June 19, 2006
Suzy Unas — Making it in music lounge circuits - Manila Bulletin 07.18.2006
Many would think that singing in music lounges is an easy task. And this is why newcomers take their music lounge stint as their stepping stones in building their musical careers. Well, in a way, performing in a music lounge is quite easy, but newcomers shouldn’t take it so comfortably or easily that they neglect to dwell on the thought that the first step to anything is the most important, the most vital.
For Suzy Unas, beginnings are of prime importance. That is why she always endeavors to do her best in anything she does, especially when she embarked on her singing career two years ago, in 2004. "I never thought I’d seriously consider singing to be my career," Suzy said over dinner at Dulcinea Morato. But of course she knew she had a fine singing voice.
This 20-something fair-complexioned charmer took up Hotel and Restaurant Management at UP but when she was in high school, she had started taking up voice lessons. "Then, I would sing in school affairs. But singing took the backseat when I became sort of an athlete. I played volleyball in school." Something that could have put her in great shape. (To maintain her good physique, Suzy goes to the gym, the same gym I go to everyday and where my wife Cathy and I met Suzy.)
In 2004, someone urged Suzy to try out to be a lounge singer at the Richmonde Hotel in Ortigas. She liked the experience, and learned to love singing enough for her to resume taking up voice lessons and in 2005, she went full-blast in her singing career.
These days, Suzy fills up her calendar with a five-day a week stint in various music lounges. Mondays, she sings at the Intercon; Wednesdays at Calesa Bar in Hyatt Regency Manila; Thursdays at the Celebrity Lounge of Broadway Centrum; Fridays at the Lobby Lounge of Hyatt Hotel & Casino; and Saturdays at Boulvar Music Lounge of Manila Pavilion Hotel. Tuesdays and Sundays are Suzy’s days-off.
She may have a fulltime singing stint these days but Suzy said she keeps on learning, not only new songs, but on how to deal with different people and cope with situations that may arise anytime.
"Different lounges have different characters because of the people who go there," Suzy explained. "For instance, Boulvar Music Lounge is to me the most challenging. Because people go there not necessarily to hear someone sing. They go there to talk business most of the time, to have a drink in a quiet atmosphere and if they have their way, they’d rather you stop singing and go home. So it’s a big challenge to make people notice you and listen to your music."
It’s a totally different experience at the Calesa Bar, Suzy shared. "Because working at the Calesa Bar is more demanding, knowing that people go there to listen to good music because it’s a place known for good music."
She has learned a lot eversince she started her solo singing career two years ago, but she’s still learning, Suzy stressed.
In two years’ time she thinks she has achieved something just by making her presence felt in the music lounges she performs in. But she dreams of bigger things, like being able to record an album someday. "I’d like to prove my mettle in recording. But at the moment, I’m not expecting too much. Kasi I might fail and that would be painful. So I just do my best everytime I perform."
How about showbiz? "Well, why not if the opportunity knocks? If it comes, it comes. I’ll cross the bridge when I get to it."
Well said from a pretty music lounge singer ON THE RISE!
Friday, June 09, 2006
Starbucko (sinangyag na maize)
| Colorado Jabonga Capuccino |
 Creative and expressive, you tend to match your Capuccino flavor to your mood to have a haircut at newsbarbers. And a flavored syrup is always a must! |
one of santa's reindeers,
| I Am Cupid |
 A total romantic, I am always crushing on a new reindeer. Why I Am Naughty: I've caused so much drama, all the reindeers aren't speaking to each other. Why I Am Nice: I have a knack for playing matchmaker. I even hooked Rudolph up! |
an habunganon
| Alejandro Jose Terencio |
But you are always a good sport... |
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Loving hands that build
By Tintin P. Bersola-Babao
Last updated 03:41pm (Mla time) 05/31/2006
Have you ever experienced moving in and out of homes too frequently and having no real permanent address? I did as a young girl.
My earliest memory of eviction was when I was four years old. It was a small apartment in Cubao. We had no choice but to move out because my father had a falling out with his siblings.
The next years, my parents, only sister and I lived a nomadic life—living in apartments in Cubao, Matatag St., Parañaque, Fairview, White Plains, Greenhills, Loyola Heights, etc. We must have lived in more than 25 apartments and houses in my lifetime!
Reasons
There were varied reasons. Most of the time, we were living in dire straits. When my parents sold everything from country club shares to chicharon to earn a living, we lived in cramped apartments. When they chanced upon a gold mine selling oriental furniture, we moved to a 1,000-sq m., corner house with a swimming pool in Greenhills.
Then the business went bankrupt. We sold the house and moved to a smaller home. That was 1987 —I was 17 years old. For the next seven years, the cycle of transferring homes continued.
One night I told myself, this is it: Someday, I will buy my own house and it will be my permanent residence.
So when I started earning my own money between 1993-1996 I took a leap of faith and acquired a loan for a house which I proudly called mine—bought with my blood, sweat and tears.
I moved out of that home only when I married and moved to my conjugal home with Julius. My mom and brother still live in that house today. It’s my gift to them.
It is because of my past that I donated and helped build a house through Gawad Kalinga. Last year, on my 35th birthday, I convinced my high school best buddies that the GK house would be the perfect testament to our 22-year friendship. They all agreed and contributed money; I took care of the rest of the project cost.
Volunteer
Thanks to my “Magandang Umaga, Bayan” co-host Bernadette Sembrano, who is also a GK volunteer, I got in touch with Issa Santos, GK Head for Partnerships, who furnished me with a list of families whose house I could sponsor. I chose Mang Manuel Cortes’ family in Kapamilya Village in Sitio Ruby Fairview.
The day I met the Cortes family was also when their house was going to be demolished to give way to a new one. I could not believe a space which measured a mere 20 sq m. could fit 16 people!
Aling Helen, Manuel’s sister, told me that they would sleep in a sitting position to fit in the old bunk bed.
Interiors
The interiors would get flooded. And when the water level rose, all of them would just climb onto the bed and stay there till the water receded. Almost directly underneath their charcoal “lutuan” was, to my horror, their toilet bowl. Simply put, this wasn’t the kind of home the Cortes family deserved.
That Saturday was an emotional day for them—they were going to say goodbye to the house that was witness to their lives’ many ups and downs. Yet they were all thankful: finally they would have a decent place to live. They would no longer be considered squatters.
We all joined hands and closed our eyes in prayer. Minutes later, the “demolition team” composed of GK volunteers pummeled away until the house was reduced to rubble.
My friends and I devoted four weekends to participate in the building process. We were there during the “palitada” stage.
I never knew how difficult this job was until I tried it myself. Mixing cement and gravel was easy at first, but try doing it for more than five minutes and your back will hurt!
Our third visit to the construction site was for the bricklaying stage. Julius joined our group and he enjoyed the experience so much—lifting hollow blocks and laying them with precision.
Our fourth visit to the site was a fun one — we painted the two-story house with the family’s choice of color, light lavender. The activity became even more special because the GK choir serenaded us.
Then, it was time for the ceremonial turn-over — an emotional moment for all of us. The Cortes family gave a very simple, moving message of thanks, and we thanked them in turn. Helping build their house was an experience that nourished our souls.
The Bayanihan spirit is alive in the very concept and vision of building a GK house. Mang Manuel is a GK hero himself — he volunteers to build his neighbors’ houses. Now, with God’s grace, he and his whole family have a house they can proudly call their own.
I went back to visit the Cortes family last January when I accompanied my good friend, Dr. Vicki Belo, her daughter Cristalle, and the Belo staff to Sitio Ruby. They, too, donated houses beside the home of Mang Manuel. It was Dr. Vicki’s gift to others on her birthday. Cristalle also did the same on her natal day last April.
Last week Julius and I were at Sitio Ruby again, to judge a summer art contest empowering the youth and making them discover their true potentials. You see, GK is not just about building a house, it also means building lives—and character.
Thank you, Terrence and Thelma Grana, Couples for Christ cluster head, project director Gerry Santos, and his wife Chona, Ferddie Mendoza, SAGIP project manager – all for GK Sitio Ruby, plus all the good people of this GK Sitio. You have enriched our lives and contributed to our spiritual growth!
Last updated 03:41pm (Mla time) 05/31/2006
Have you ever experienced moving in and out of homes too frequently and having no real permanent address? I did as a young girl.
My earliest memory of eviction was when I was four years old. It was a small apartment in Cubao. We had no choice but to move out because my father had a falling out with his siblings.
The next years, my parents, only sister and I lived a nomadic life—living in apartments in Cubao, Matatag St., Parañaque, Fairview, White Plains, Greenhills, Loyola Heights, etc. We must have lived in more than 25 apartments and houses in my lifetime!
Reasons
There were varied reasons. Most of the time, we were living in dire straits. When my parents sold everything from country club shares to chicharon to earn a living, we lived in cramped apartments. When they chanced upon a gold mine selling oriental furniture, we moved to a 1,000-sq m., corner house with a swimming pool in Greenhills.
Then the business went bankrupt. We sold the house and moved to a smaller home. That was 1987 —I was 17 years old. For the next seven years, the cycle of transferring homes continued.
One night I told myself, this is it: Someday, I will buy my own house and it will be my permanent residence.
So when I started earning my own money between 1993-1996 I took a leap of faith and acquired a loan for a house which I proudly called mine—bought with my blood, sweat and tears.
I moved out of that home only when I married and moved to my conjugal home with Julius. My mom and brother still live in that house today. It’s my gift to them.
It is because of my past that I donated and helped build a house through Gawad Kalinga. Last year, on my 35th birthday, I convinced my high school best buddies that the GK house would be the perfect testament to our 22-year friendship. They all agreed and contributed money; I took care of the rest of the project cost.
Volunteer
Thanks to my “Magandang Umaga, Bayan” co-host Bernadette Sembrano, who is also a GK volunteer, I got in touch with Issa Santos, GK Head for Partnerships, who furnished me with a list of families whose house I could sponsor. I chose Mang Manuel Cortes’ family in Kapamilya Village in Sitio Ruby Fairview.
The day I met the Cortes family was also when their house was going to be demolished to give way to a new one. I could not believe a space which measured a mere 20 sq m. could fit 16 people!
Aling Helen, Manuel’s sister, told me that they would sleep in a sitting position to fit in the old bunk bed.
Interiors
The interiors would get flooded. And when the water level rose, all of them would just climb onto the bed and stay there till the water receded. Almost directly underneath their charcoal “lutuan” was, to my horror, their toilet bowl. Simply put, this wasn’t the kind of home the Cortes family deserved.
That Saturday was an emotional day for them—they were going to say goodbye to the house that was witness to their lives’ many ups and downs. Yet they were all thankful: finally they would have a decent place to live. They would no longer be considered squatters.
We all joined hands and closed our eyes in prayer. Minutes later, the “demolition team” composed of GK volunteers pummeled away until the house was reduced to rubble.
My friends and I devoted four weekends to participate in the building process. We were there during the “palitada” stage.
I never knew how difficult this job was until I tried it myself. Mixing cement and gravel was easy at first, but try doing it for more than five minutes and your back will hurt!
Our third visit to the construction site was for the bricklaying stage. Julius joined our group and he enjoyed the experience so much—lifting hollow blocks and laying them with precision.
Our fourth visit to the site was a fun one — we painted the two-story house with the family’s choice of color, light lavender. The activity became even more special because the GK choir serenaded us.
Then, it was time for the ceremonial turn-over — an emotional moment for all of us. The Cortes family gave a very simple, moving message of thanks, and we thanked them in turn. Helping build their house was an experience that nourished our souls.
The Bayanihan spirit is alive in the very concept and vision of building a GK house. Mang Manuel is a GK hero himself — he volunteers to build his neighbors’ houses. Now, with God’s grace, he and his whole family have a house they can proudly call their own.
I went back to visit the Cortes family last January when I accompanied my good friend, Dr. Vicki Belo, her daughter Cristalle, and the Belo staff to Sitio Ruby. They, too, donated houses beside the home of Mang Manuel. It was Dr. Vicki’s gift to others on her birthday. Cristalle also did the same on her natal day last April.
Last week Julius and I were at Sitio Ruby again, to judge a summer art contest empowering the youth and making them discover their true potentials. You see, GK is not just about building a house, it also means building lives—and character.
Thank you, Terrence and Thelma Grana, Couples for Christ cluster head, project director Gerry Santos, and his wife Chona, Ferddie Mendoza, SAGIP project manager – all for GK Sitio Ruby, plus all the good people of this GK Sitio. You have enriched our lives and contributed to our spiritual growth!
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