Tuesday, January 31, 2006

someone in Talisay City loves me

I just hung up the phone after several minutes of talking to our mayor. He called to ask if I wanted some news. Wow! But not really. Alright he gave one “news,” the ones we normally call “laway-laway” or PR's. You think he is good, think again!

The moment our editor announced that this mayor was calling me I was like, “not again!” Okay, I was mean but let’s see who’s meaner.

I already interviewed him (via phone) before he called me up. Had I a choice I would not have wanted to ask for his side. That would not be fair, our ed said (he was really right). But I don’t really like talking to him. First, he gives us sermons (he’s a very well-known Catholic faith defender) every time we come to him for his reactions on certain issues, if not he feeds us PR’s (that is fine but only during “rainy days”), and he never fails to “remind” me (and to tell the people around) of the past stories I wrote which he undyingly believes were fabricated (media people don’t expect to get congratulations from politicians, whom they just exposed for their bad deals). Because of these three especially the last, I always try my damnedest best not to interview him even if he becomes my only hope, what for? I’ve got other sources of news.

But, tonight as luck would have it, I was forced to contact him to get his side of the story where his son was involved.

The story…his son was seen more than once driving the city’s new ambulance. This son even parked (according to reliable sources) it in a barangay (of that same city), which is known for its popular merchandise, shabu. This mayor’s son is also known for his being a shabu user (to put it simply).

And since this son could not be reached as he was still in that ambulance I got the mayor’s side in his stead. He said he ordered his son to have the vehicle road-tested. But when I inquired from the department assigned to take care of it I was told that the ambulance, which arrived several days ago, has long been road-tested. Hmm…

Yes, it’s very evident the mayor was tying to hide what his son was doing. He had done it before several times and I even wrote each one of it to his disgust.


So after my call I wrote the story. But minutes later he called me up, and there…after telling me about his PR he started his one-sided talk. That my story should not be published because it would implicate him. That I was hired by the Gullases (TF bigwigs) to destroy him. What?!!!

Firstly, the Gullases do not personally handpick the employees for their paper or for any of their companies. Secondly, these people he mentioned are the ones who put him to where he is now so why in heaven would they “destroy” someone that belongs in their camp. Lastly, I may not like him but I have no grudge against him (and how could a small-time reporter like me destroy someone as big as he is, hello mayor!).

I knew the story would implicate him, but it was not my intention. Well, his trying to cover what his son was doing, would certainly made an effect on his person, too. He chose to give his son, a sure pain in his ass, a free rein in the city hall and if he goes into a wrong direction he always comes to the rescue. That would have been alright had he not been the city's dad!

The one-sided talk, which lasted for almost 30 minutes (that was his load anyway…I mean the city’s. NOOO!), was all drama! He was berrating me for the story he had not read as it had to come out the next day (tomorrow). He might have gotten the impression that it would definitely "kill" him. And the "culprit" is me, again!


He told me I was never been a fair reporter, a subjective reporter I was, he said. Okay that is your opinion mayor, I told him. But nah, I was close to pressing the end call button of the phone.

He said he was just "saddened" by my story but he was already fuming mad while saying so many things against me. Might as well sue him. But no, I understand that politicians don't actually have balls.

And here's the excerpt of that conversation...

Mayor: "There's no story in that."
Me: "Well, he was seen parking the ambulance in barangay Tanke."
Mayor: "Lies! There are so many people who are trying to put me down. And you are one of them!"
Me: "Of course not mayor."
Mayor: "You always fabricate your stories!!!"
Me: "That's your opinion mayor."
Mayor: "I know the Gullas hired you to destroy me!"
Me: "I don't think so mayor." (ano 'ko powerful!)
Mayor: "Asa kaha kang espirituha dapita."
Me: "Ok." (ngek!) "Uhm, mayor, I will write that story (the PR) some other time."
Mayor: "You can also write that story (the cause of his ire) if you like!"
Me: "I already did!" (but I did not tell him that.)
*click

Shit!



Monday, January 30, 2006

sometimes quizzes just get into you brain and most of the time in your blog

Green! (bayot ako?! hmm..)

You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!


Greta Garbo 2
Your inner classic movie diva is:

Greta
Garbo


This enigmatic screen legend is known for her
unparalleled beauty and mysterious nature.
Never married, and often reclusive, she
enjoyed private time to herself and never
played the Hollywood game, preferring instead
to create a meaningful private life that was
out of the limelight. She enjoyed a simple
life of waking up early, being outdoors
often, and eating healthy food.

"There are some who want to get married and
others who don't. I have never had an impulse
to go to the altar. I am a difficult person
to lead."
-- Greta Garbo

What classic movie diva are you?
brought to you by

Sunday, January 29, 2006

after the games, contests, chuvaness



wengkat, moi, and joeberth after the games of Trimedialympics at the Cebu City Sports Center yesterday.

Very exhausting. What more if I joined!

The great thing here is we won! Even without me.

We are now the new champion of the world! :P

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Mangaon na ta'g tikoy!

+++

I'm bored
I'm broke
I'm done!

Friday, January 27, 2006

The Essence of A Boring Life (is none!)

Finally, i see a meaning to my being here. Char ba lang! Well, ...to do something out of the ordinary, that is.

Next month, before Valentine's day (i don't care if they scheduled it on that very day, i wouldn't really miss a thing. duh!) we will be visiting one of the home cares here. Last night as we discussed our plans for TF Foundation's series of projects I was like this is life (i mean my life).

The home care visit will really be exciting 'cause we will be giving flowers, religious stuffs, other provisions, to old people in Hospicio de San Jose, Barili. And a tv set, too, 'cause we gathered they only have one there and those people, as old as they are, still quarrel over GMA and ABS-CBN. Hmp! (pang Banatanay ang show sa mga lola.)

We will also be preparing games for them like palo-sebo, sack race, five-meter fun-run, swimming, etc. But, I was only joking.

But the most exciting thing will be the trip to Sibonga (that's several kilometers south of Cebu). It's not the trip actually, but what the group is set to do. We will be acting like Mel Tiangco there. Noooo, not in her Magpakailanman show! But the Kapuso Foundation chuva.

Our Gen Manager, Sir Bhoy, got it that there is one school there, in an upland part of the town, which has no proper chairs and desks for pupils.

He first came to the place to supposedly turn over the Dream Satellite unit (with a tv set) but was shocked to see that the rooms the children were in were actually not fit to hold classes. Of the six rooms, only one is "new" but with holes on the roof, while the rest are either rundown or unfinished.

And the kids use empty paint cans as chairs while their desks are the typical long benches we normally see in the side of the streets occupied by tambays.

Our GM just couldn't afford to give them their DS while they suffer from some politician's idea of political will, and he heard that of the six teachers for the six grades one would be leaving soon (samot!). So there...

I am a part of the team assigned to "assess" the situation. By February, we shall have a list of what to do with the place, so we should go and see the place before then (yey!).

Nevertheless, we know what it needs. We suggested we bring ready-made products but because the place was so far from the civilazation that even vehicles, if they had minds of their own, would really back out, we agreed to bring raw materials instead and just do the carpentry :P. Of course, real pandays would be hired, too, or we would probably be stuck there for the next months and still accoplishing nothing (aw, kimay nga mga tudlo sigurado!)

And, we will also go mountain climbing. YAHOOOO! We will be planting trees (God save Ms Eleanor, our copy ed) in June. Ms Eleanor (also a mountaineer) told us the mountain was really steep. Ah, mountain declining without much effot :P

Hmmm...now that's what I call life.

Monday, January 23, 2006

MABUHAY ANG PILIPINO!

this was taken last August when Manny Pacquiao paid a visit to TF before he went abroad for another fight. and yeah, these are TF people, all eager to pose with pacman.

much have been said about the match that brought the entire nation on its feet after so many years of being pushed to the ground. all are positive and that's really a good sign. whew!

and allow me to say this...thanks pacman :D

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Don't kill them, or you're dead meat!

For the second time since I became a reporter I’ve already witnessed two promulgations of two celebrated cases.

The first one was the murder case of Pagadian City broadcaster Edgar Damalerio. And his killer, former policeman Guillermo Wapille, was sentenced to seclusion perpetua.

It was actually great to personally see the judge hand down penalties to the guilty especially if the crime is as big as murder.

Yeah, I have personal conviction against murderers. And most of them really looked guilty in court, I should know I was a court reporter for six months.

I knew the court would find Wapille guilty. The prosecution was really good (they had the best prosecution lawyers in town-city prosecutor Nicolas Sellon and two of his assistants). While the defense witnesses' testimonies were very lame. It was also a major factor to the prosecution’s win when the defense did not present Wapille to testify.

And just this afternoon, after almost a month of waiting Judge Gako convicted another media man murderer and this time the penalty was death.

I could not believe my ears when he said it. Death man, that was really big-time. But the culprit Edgar Belandres well deserved it! And the judge studied very carefully the evidences before meting him the maximum penalty.

There was actually apprehension that the accused might be acquitted while the 19-page decision was read. I personally felt it especially when it came to the part that the judge said that the three prosecution witnesses, who positively identified the gunman as Belandres, could not even identify the color of the helmet reportedly used by Belandres, thus, it would be impossible for them to identify the man they only saw once.

But thanks to the mobile phones. It was from Belandres’ text messages found from the The Freeman photojournalist’s cell phone that linked him to the crime. He was just too casual to walk out of the crime scene while leaving behind him the photog’s cellphone, which still carried his messages telling they should meet at the place. The very place where he shot him. Better luck next time noy.

We are finally over it. The newsroom is happy with the news, apart from it has a very good story for tomorrow’s banner.

And I, being a friend to our photog, personally went there to see the end of it. Besides, I was there when the prosecution laid all its evidence and the defense tried to discredit it.

May my friend Allan Dizon, whom I saw when he came out from the morque with his face still covered with blood from the operation he had just went through although eventually ending up dead, finally rest in peace.

But sorry friend this is not the right time to say “see ya!”

Just taa taa, okay?

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

That thing again

i'm in gryffindor!
be sorted @ nimbo.net

i'm in gryffindor!

I took the test twice 'coz the first time I did it I made it to the Ravenclaw house and I wanted to be in the Gryffindor. So I tried again.

But, I was already a Gryffindor before. Several months ago the sorting hat (yeah, that same one in the movie) sorted me and put me in the same house with Harry Potter. It was in the HP's official website. I even have my own wand then :P

I don't care if I'm not a winner!

Monday, January 16, 2006

the internet, the song, the heck

it's past 2am and im sitting at Cafe de France making this blog. why i'm here? because im not elsewhere. seriously, i just dont have the guts to go home at this hour. it has been my style that once i am still outside at past 12 i always wait till the clock strikes 4 when those in the list of the next victims of the vigilante killings are already in their beds.

(i got stuck for a while searching for kelly clarkson's music.and after several minutes...i'm now listening to her A Moment Like This single. im still looking for Because of You.)

anyways, i had such a long day today. i watched Narnia with Phoebe and afterwards slept or tried to as it was still early to go out to watch concert. it was already dark when we finally went out of the theater.

but we did not watch any of the many concerts outside the mall. expensive (for a noisy treat), too crowded, and we were too eager to try the chocolate-flavored cigarette we just bought...so we opted to just sit in one corner of the mall's lagoon and watched boys hugged their girls and reflected on the sad reality we were both in (harsh ya?).
luckily, there was that pack of cigarette and boy bawang, which from that moment had married one of us (raise your hand Fibs!).

that ciggy was really chocolaty, i mean the aftertaste. but i don't like it! the sweet taste that lingers in the lips is not exactly the one you want to lick. i mean it could be "lethal". but i licked and swallowed it anyway, the heck!

(by this time, im already listening to Because of You. and i'll be playing this over and over again until we leave. shoot me! :P)

it's 4:28 and i've already dismissed my chatmates kay kapoy nako.
and Because of You has been on its 9th. kelly's gonna spit on my ears if i don't stop this craziness so soon. so gotta go kelly ;)

Saturday, January 14, 2006

the Sto. Niño


















Today, thousands came to walk with the Sto. Niño. It is a six-hour walk. Extremely tiring but they still did it and will do it again next year.

I once tried it when I was in college and it really was bone-tiring. I said then never will I do it again.

And I am right now writing this blog while those Sto. Niño devotees are probably stretching their muscles in some corner of the Basilica.

I am lazy, I admite. But I have my own kind of worshipping. I am not prayerful but I have my own way of communicating with my God.

Still, I admire those devotees who sing the Gozos of the Sto. Niño and raise their hands when singing the chorus part. The manifestation of their faith to the Child is miracle enough.
But the most touching I’ve experienced is during the fluvial parade-the practice of bringing back the Sto. Niño after spending the night in Mandaue City to the Basilica by traversing through the sea.

At the port where the image will dock hundreds or probably thousands of people are lining the sides of the wharf and every available corner of the pier area to meet the Image as it is transported back to the Basilica.

And when the Image is finally seen hundreds of balloons carring the devotees’ petitions are released while everyone starts chanting Viva Pit Señor!

We become one at these times. Even for someone like me who only adores the holy icon because it is antique (well, of course I still respect it for what it is) the feeling of seeing the oneness of the people around you because of their faith is really overwhelming.

But, it is just sad to say that this is just a “display” of faith. Or we wouldn’t have “chismosas” as neighbors, greedy individuals as leaders, the same bad boys and girls as we are, etc. etc.

Hay…we only become better individuals when it’s Christmas or Fiesta.

We never learn.

Monday, January 09, 2006

At the Crocolandia

one day at a conservation park, Crocolandia, vatski met new friends-the crocs, the ostrich named paul (after her photog), turtlee turtles, aguiluz and alwina (mulawin sa Talisay), and some old-time enemies-the pythons. and oh, she also found a new buddy Marnie, the 4-year-old Fil-Italian girl, who told her mom they should buy "something that is like a rat!" (goodness! a guinea pig!)

Ug ni-pose siya...

vatski and the manok, aw, ostrich diay! :P

manok: palagi nalang ako, ako, ako! ahehehe

da mulaween

si aguiluz ug si vatski

vatski and marnie, and the croc (nangawat og eksena)

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Shutting Up

I know some people think you’re stupid by lying straight to your face, that sucks!
I’ve had enough of them.

Now, I’m a total numb! I don’t care if they continue doing suck-ish things to me.
I am busy.

I sure couldn’t beat them so I decided to switch places with my twin sistah to give myself a holiday.

By this time I maybe very very far away, reading a good book or taking a nap under the mango tree minus the mosquitoes.

And this blog and my world will be taken over by Jessica Alba(tross), an entirely different being.

Au revoir les amis. Merci pour faire un idiot de moi.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

The B-gang

More than five years ago, there were 10 girls (half of them were actually boys) who made the rundown theaters in the downtown part of the city as their nightlife hub.

Their story started at the Eden theater. You heard me right, these 10 adventure-hungry individuals trooped to this theater, to “investigate” (as part of their Investigative Journalism class) if there were really illegal drug dealing inside the theater. But the group did not see any illegal activities involving drugs instead they discovered the place being used as a sexual haven for homosexuals and their “boys.”

Bitok: OMG! Liv, ari diri nay nag-blow job!
Liv: GRRR! Ayaw intawn sangpita ang akong sagrado nga pangan, utang buot!
Bitok: Bitaw noh, basin naa imo mama diri. Hehe. (Bitok sending an sms to Liv that read: ari ba!na’y nag-blow job!)
Liv: (reply to bitok: yup yup yup!)

Thus, when the group went out from that theater they decided to use pseudonyms.

Bitok- (real name:grace) she already called her self that even before the b-gang was formed. And later on, she changed it to veetoak. Funny..with her “chinese-chinese” language, and her other antics. Smart (cum laude), and a ghost hunter. Now she’s hunting money at Convergys
Multo-(cherryl) because she was like a ghost (hehe). No, actually in at least one of the group pictures she just stood at the back-- expressionless (mura’g multo). Tigkatawa sa jokes ni Bitok. Now, she’s scaring her workmates in Sykes.
Anod- simply from her real name Donna. Talkative. The number 1 enemy of Sir Teoddie Dumam-ag (STD) because she talked and laughed while the teacher Dumam-ag was lecturing. She’s now in Bohol teaching her two kids how to talk. She married her long-time boyfriend, Taniel, immediately after graduation.
Bodoy (Laarni)- I named her that after a kid friend of mine. The tallest among the group. STD’s number 2 enemy. I think it was because of her tactlessness. And I think she was heard by STD criticizing his grammar. Budoy is in Leyte, where STD can’t find her to tell her: “Yo! I am now a dean. Bleeeh.”
Jaiot- a combo of jackie (real name: jackilou) and bayot (she was also bayot-y in a way). She spoke Tagalog even if she had been living in Cebu since age 9. She’s kind of liberated and a spoiled brat. For the last couple of years, she changes job practically every month because either the people she worked for could not get along with her, or she to them.
JT-(juana tamad/Bless) she’s simply lazy…wanted to stay at her office (Forward, where she was the eic) to “rest” even if she had classes. Everything about her is lavender. She loved her photographer but ended up with her childhood friend. Now she’s working for People Support. And she's a new mom now.
Fetus-(jihan) she had (until now) that babyish face, but thinks beyond her age. A poet and a lover of boys (hehe). She’s currently working at the CCSCST as its President’s assistant, while finishing her master’s degree in literature. She also teaches English 3.
Onyx-(joan) formerly “Kuan” (khwan) because she always had “kuan” (ku-an) in almost anything she said. Well, it’s because she is not a native of Cebu. Right now, she works for a pawnshop in Davao, where she lives.
Fuzi coy-(Arlyn) because she was “fuzzy” (like a cat, according to bitok) and the coy was from her surname-Yucot (tocuy). Bogoy and palahubog. She was the one who taught the rest of the B-gang to smoke one Students’ night. She just arrived from Taiwan and right now she’s working in MEPZ.
Vatski- (apil diay ko? ahehe) the full nick was supposedly Livatski. Bless Bless, as she invented that name while writing it at the box of a pizza pie, and everyone in the group saw it and agreed I should be named such. GRRR, but I had no choice...I submitted, but with modification-I omitted the Li.

B-gang- the group’s name, taken from bahakhak. Because we loved to laugh out loud when we're all gathered at the fifth floor of the school's Biology department, where we consumed packs of Japanese cornick while our classes were going on somewhere.

+++

And yesterday, after 10 years we met again. Multo is healthier, Jihan girl-ier, Fuzi Coy-the same, and the rest are busy with their respective lives so they are whatever.

But nothing’s changed, surprisingly. We still enjoy riding bump cars even if the ticket price is twice as much the last time we were in SM's WOF.

And the shooting games! I did not know you had to duck to save your ass from getting hit by the enemies’s bullets, so in less than a minute I was shot dead! Virtual reality.

We are practically the same 48 years ago. Well, there are some changes though such as Multo's becoming “visible” now because of her excess fats (piz multz :P); the Fetus's wearing “high-heeled shoes” (dalaga na ang kid), Bitok (who was as bogoy as I was/am) is already sporting “syinyampo-ko-lang-‘yan” hair, and some who are like cellphone numbers that are sometimes you can’t reach, while others have become mothers. Ang me…mao japun kaon jabas.

But I miss those days. I miss Eden, Cinema Theater, and all those strange places we’ve been to.

I miss being STD's number 3 enemy. WAHAHAHA!

My birthness

Your Birth Month is September

Tolerant and inspirational, you are wise beyond your years.
You are universally sympathetic and a great humanitarian.

Your soul reflects: Devotion, light, and love

Your gemstone: Sapphire

Your flower: Morning Glory

Your colors: Brown and deep blue

Monday, January 02, 2006

The CowBOYz and the Cactus


Kikay, Moi, Sona, Ramesh (the cactus)

This was taken during TF's Christmas party last Dec 15. Yeah, we pretended we were cowboys and that guy with us the cactus. Lagi, lagi, mura mi'g magsasaka pero we won second biya in our presentation :P

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Hello You, 2006!

After that New Year celebration, I still have my 10 fingers in my two hands, 5 each ha.

Well, you don't get your fingers blasted off if you just sit in one corner of your house while you try to muffle the sound of the angry firecrackers outside by turning the full volume of your music, right?

Nah, nalisang nakos pabuto. While I was on my way home after attending the Holy Mass, those crazy kids, who could not wait to be one with the world, were already scaring the hell out of the passers-by by throwing the firecrackers to the latters' feet.

I was really glad I was quick to shout at to whoever had the guts to try that "joke" on me. Yati noh mabuthan pa nuon ta!

Ang mga trisikad pud, nagpapresyo! When all you wanted was to go home to be safe sila sad nagpagukod!

I was still standing at the side of the street in Poblacion and was almost tempted to hail a cab when that good trisikad driver decided to do a little favor for P10.

From Poblacion to the next barangay, Dumlog, the fare is only P5. But heck, it's still Christmas and sa kalabi magtaxi nalang ta ko!

So at 12, I felt like I had enough of that "spectacle" to last me a lifetime.

++

2006

I just wish this year would be kinder to the Philippines. 2005 was giving this country a roller-coaster ride, and we're still far from seeing the end of it.

But let's be optimistic for once!

++

This blog will be 1 year this February. I've written blogs for that long already, haha! Nonetheless, my grammar (and the spelling, goodness!) is still the same--hopeless. But I'll be careful next time (speaking of optimism, hmmm...) Yo!