Out of my mind

While doing visita iglesia yesterday, I couldn't help but note how enterprising some of our kababayans have become. Practically all the churches we went featured the same scene: ambulant vendors selling all kinds of stuff, from fruits to vegetables to various types of kakanin, in one church we even noticed someone selling pirated DVDs spread out on a mat right there on the sidewalk. At least, the titles were wholesome movies. I must admit to a guilty pleasure. I bought a pirated copy of Pursuit of Happyness. My bad. Hehehe. And wherever we went, a number of our kababayans transformed sidewalks into pay parking spaces. Sigh. The sad thing was that even young kids have gotten into the act. At the Pope Pius Center, a band of very young boys were in charge - and they were quite aggressive. In fact we almost witnessed a fisticuff as three boys argued who had prior rights to the spot we parked in. I suppose these boys were under the impression that there is nothing wrong with making a qu...

I woke up very late today. I've been feeling exhausted lately and for some strange reason my blood pressure has been erratic - on some days, my blood pressure would shoot up to 140/110 and then crash to 90/70 within hours. It must be the heat, or the fact that I've just broke my all-time weight record. Don't ask how much I weigh now, it's embarrassing. While doing visita iglesia tonight, I bumped into a dear old friend, someone I was pretty close to about twelve years ago. I have no reason to think that this friend has something against me - in fact, I know this person to be one of the sweetest individuals on earth. We were at the Pope Pius Church and we actually shared a pew. When he stood up to leave, I gave way and I smiled at him. He looked at me, smiled, and moved on. He did not recognize me at all. That's how heavy I have become in the last couple of years, people I knew before don't recognize me anymore. Sigh. Anyway. Doing the rounds of churches has bee...

This is my column today at the op-ed section of the Manila Standard T oday. Anyone out there looking for a case study on one of the most blatant forms of corruption happening in our country is invited to visit, during peak hours, the intersection of Senator Gil Puyat and Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City, just a few meters from the august halls of the Senate of the Republic of the Philippines. It is where the classic case of hulidap happens practically every few minutes during rush hours. The area is not particularly prone to heavy traffic. It usually gets bumper-to-bumper only when nearby Mall of Asia sponsors a giant event such as the recent fireworks competition or that public kissing festival. So what accounts for the fact that on any given day, one would find at least five or six traffic cops lurking in the area? Having the Senate nearby cannot be a justification. Our senators travel with security escorts who drive like the roads of Metro Manila are their private racetracks, anyway. ...