teta

tuyot, maalikabok at tigib ng paghihikahos, panghabambuhay na hilakbot at kakaunting siwang ng pag-asa -- ito ang malawakang lapit ng la teta asustada. salaysay ng buhay ni fausta, isang babaing nagdurusa sa isang di-pangkaraniwang kondisyon na tinatawag na "milk of sorrow". ayon sa katutubong paniniwala sa peru, ang kondisyong ito ay nalilipat sa isang bata mula sa gatas ng ina na nagahasa o inabuso sa gitna ng pagdadalang-tao o di kaya ay pagkatapos magluwal ng sanggol. dahil sa gatas ng pagdurusa, nabubuhay si fausta sa walang tigil na takot at pagkalito, ngunit kailangan pa rin niyang harapin ang biglaang pagpanaw ng kanyang ina at makipagsapalaran sa buhay. sa huli, pinili ni fausta na gumawa ng mga hakbang na maglalayo sa kanyang sarili sa kinahinatnan ng kanyang ina.

umaawit ang ina ni fausta sa simula ng pelikula. bagamat may himig ng kantahing bayan, ang awit ng ina ni fausta ay naglalarawan ng ibayong dusa at hilakbot sa kamay ng mga rebeldeng maoista na sendero luminoso. nang mamatay ang ina, pumisan si fausta sa kanyang tiyuhin, napilitang mangamuhan kay aida, isang piyanista, upang makaipon sa pagpapalibing ng kanyang ina sa kanilang baryo. naniniwala si fausta na dahil sa pinagdaanan ng kanyang ina, nasa kanya ang "frightened teat", at dahil dito ay mayroon siyang di maipaliwanag na hilakbot sa kalalakihan. dahil sa kanyang takot na magahasa, namuo na rin sa kanyang isip ang paniniwala sa mga kakatwang gawi tulad ng paglakad sa kalye na halos nakadikit na sa mga bakod o pader ng mga bahay-bahay. naibubulalas lamang niya ang kanyang takot at ang sumandaling paglipas nito sa pag-awit, na nagbigay-daan naman upang magkaroon sila ng tahimik na relasyon ni aida. sa bawat awit ni fausta, binibigyan siya ni aida ng isang perlas. bagamat, natuloy din sa paglisan ni fausta mula sa tahanan ni aida, nagresulta naman ito sa pagkakaroon ni fausta ng panggastos sa paghahatid sa bangkay ng kanyang ina sa huling hantungan. mahaba-habang proseso, ngunit nadala niya rin ang kanyang ina sa tabing-dagat. sa akin, simbulo ito ng paglaya ni fausta sa irasyunal na takot at simula ng pagbabagong-tingin sa sarili at kabuuan ng kanyang pagkatao.

mahusay ang sinematikong mga lapit ng pelikula. ang pag-iiping ng bangkay ng ina ni fausta at trahe de boda ng kanyang pinsan ay paglalarawan ng magkatunggaling tema ng pag-iisang dibdib at kamatayan. halata ang kahirapan sa lunan ni fausta, ngunit ibayong paggugol ng salapi at punyagi ang ginagawa sa bawat kasal, tila sadyang paglimot sa masaklap na buhay na mayroon sila sa panahong iyon. dahil sa nalalapit na kasal ng anak, binigyan ng ultimatum ng tiyuhin si fausta na iuwi na ang bangkay ng kanyang ina kundi ay ilalagak na ito sa likod-bahay. ngunit minsan pag-uwi ni fausta mula sa trabaho, naging mala-swimming pool na ang hukay na ginawa ng kanyang tiyuhin, kumpleto ng tolda, radyo at musika, pati na ang mga batang paslit.

maliwanag ang nais iparating ng buhay ni fausta. ang takot, lalo na ang sariling ipinabata, ay mapaminsala sa kaluluwa ninuman at lumulumpo sa anumang pagbabaka na mabuhay ng matiwasay. di masamang sundin ang nakagawian ng lipunan ngunit ibayong mahalaga ang pagsasanggalang ng sariling kapakanan at paghanap ng kalutasan sa kinasasadlakang dusa. makaraang tanggapin ito at harapin, payapang pamumuhay ay makakamtan. sabi nga ng isang karakter sa pelikula, ang kamatayan lamang ang malaon nang nakatakda sa buhay ng isang indibidwal... ang ibang bahagi ng buhay ay batay sa pinili ng maykatawan.

hindi ito pinalakpakan makaraan ng palabas sa pelicula. inasahan ko na ito dahil maaaring baligho ang maging dating ng pelikula sa karamihan ng manonood na pinoy. tahimik at nasa bingit ng nakababagot, ang la teta asustada ay kakatwa ngunit mahusay. isang pelikulang di agad mababalintuna ng karaniwang manonood ngunit mag-iiwan ng umuukilkil na paksa ng buhay, kamatayan at lahat sa pagitan nito.

tenga

"Ang tenga kapag pinagdikit, korteng puso… extension ng puso ang tenga.

Kaya kapag marunog kang makinig, marunong kang magmahal.”

bkk

trip to bangkok next week... will it be a sojourn? or hectic work week?

honor

honor and excellence.

malamadre

one of the best films i've seen the past two years, celda 211 is a gripping prison drama that absolutely grabs hold of the audience from start to finish... the story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.

although there were contrived coincidences such as when utrilla took on the mob outside the prison and accidentally hit juan's wife, the movie successfully shown drama, suspense and human emotion in a tale of trickery, ethical questions, justice, will to survive, violence, friendship and death. thanks to competent direction, powerful screenplay and outstanding performances, especially from luis tosar (malamadre) and alberto ammann (juan oliver). the pacing was very good and interlocking flashbacks were fleshed out in an excellent manner, which did not negate the overall approach and progression of the story.

as john hartl asks, how do you protect a necessary lie? how can you maintain a sense of honor while you're participating in an elaborate deception? these were the dilemma of juan, who ultimately won over the cruel malamadre and had an intriguing friendship made along the way. the movie added the ETA factor in it, creating a "local" conflict that spanish audience will be able to relate to. far from hollywood and pinoy approach, this movie's realistic in showing the dehumanization of prisoners, who are committed to wielding pre-homosapiens "predatory moral standards" in order to preserve one's life and advance whatever causes. this was especially highlighted when juan cut utrilla's neck, as the prison officer announced to everyone that juan was indeed a prison officer, moonlighting to be one of the prisoners in order to survive the ordeal. at the same time, the movie also brandished human's capability to trust and strike amity and friendship, no matter what the circumstances the two parties are involved in. what i also liked about this movie is its commitment to its plot, never transgressing into the moralistic stance but ultimately presenting the common issue of prisons, its conditions and how society should approach convicted criminals.

i would have liked it better if juan survived and later reunited with his wife, more for hopeful ending. i think the movie's ending says that life's twists and turns are sometimes unfair. but in the end, one's bad experience could very well translate to redemption for others, even if that means losing one's former stature, in the case of malamadre to apache. certainly, there are no certainties in life, so we have to live by the day and count our blessings.

after seeing a bunch of noteworthy and outstanding films in this year's spanish filmfest, the question is... will we ever see something like celda 211 from pinoy cinema? nowadays, pinoy films are of these kinds only -- sappy romcoms built around today's "bankable" love teams; incompetent horror films; gay soft core films without much story; upfront comedies, with a "funny" lady as central character; and too "indie" indie films that are usually unresolved. haaayyyy...

heigl

hbo's sunday romcom was the ugly truth, with katherine heigl and gerard butler. the movie centered on a control freak morning TV show producer (heigl) who has relationship issues and her chauvinistic correspondent to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love... his clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.

the movie attempted to make a new twist behind the "opposites attract" and "battle of the sexes" formula, but ended up putting stereotypical edge on the two main characters. it didn't have a lot of big laughs, just the usual romcom staple of slapsticky situations such as when abby fell down from a tree or when they went to the baseball game. most of the scenes were just a big allegory to oral sex, which were not depicted funny-ly. what i think worked for the movie was the chemistry between heigl and butler... scenes with their banter were on the plus side. the ending again was already expected, they ended up together and the other guy who was perfect for abby turned out to be just another regular guy.


Abby Richter: The big strong brave men, that we've all been reading about in novels and watching in movies since we've been nine years old, - -that's a fallacy. They don't exist. Men are not strong. Men are not brave. Men, are afraid. Even if they have a moment in a hotel elevator and it's totally romantic and full of potential, men are incapable of copping to it because, why? Men are weak.

Mike: Let me tell you something about women. Women would have us believe that they are the victims; That we break their hearts for sport. That's crap. They say they want romance, they say they want true love, but all they want is a check list. Is he perfect? Is he handsome? Is he a doctor? For you men who fit the criteria, don't kid yourselves. Cuz they're not sleeping with you, they're sleeping with a carefully calculated set of venal choices. Money over substance, looks over soul, polished over principles. No gesture, no matter how real or romantic will ever compensate for a really impressive list of credentials.

guzia

after the payabangan 2010, the whole team headed to guzia café, guijo street. i thought that the night will wind down nicely, since high energy was apparent during the two games we had prior to dinner. but we were wrong.

while the staff were polite and apologetic before we left the place, the service wasn't really up to what we were expecting. for most of what the group ordered, it took them almost 2 hours before delivering the food. it was understandable that some of the orders were not available, but the staff only told us after making us wait close to an hour. the food was ok, nothing to write home about. the place might be good for a quick beer drinking with your close pals, but definitely not for a sitdown dinner in front of videoke.

it's time to discover hidden joints in makati that could offer nice surprises. suggestions?

payabangan

end of FY last thursday. we had double serving of exciting games late in the afternoon, after having another hearty merienda of pizza and greenwich's lugaw-like lasagna.

alice had her own version of charades - best of three sets, with scoring based on how fast the team was able to get the word. category was all-pinoy 90's showbiz, divided into three sets: loveteams; movies; TV shows and theme songs. the team analyze (adeb, elke, allan, k-ann, duy and pam) were at first trailing the team future (mylene, kr, mabel, emma, angel and joseph). but da king's (adeb, who we found out is really a pinoy showbiz fan!!) team won the game, as their dugtungan strategy won them more points based on the least amount of time to guess the word correctly.

after almost 1.5 hours of charades, we went right into my game, payabangan 2010. teams were tasked to write at least five items of the category in question (the items can range from 5 to 10, depending on the category). categories included the following:

 mga anyong lupa
 English irregular verbs
 mga bagay na may numero
 rice-based products
 Tagalized Japanese animated series
 mga pambansang sagisag ng Pilipinas
 mammals na may apat na paa
 Tagalog parts of speech
 Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo characters
 movie titles with numbers
 mga bagay na ginagamitan ng charger
 geographical districts of Manila
 Pinoy kalye games
 Pinoy soap opera/teleserye with proper names as title
 Ang TV kids
 ballroom dances
 mga toiletries na di pangmukha
 LRT 1 stations

there was no time limit, as teams have to stop writing when the other team had already finished writing the necessary number of items. to be fair, members who will write the team's answers have to rotate among themselves. items that were written by both teams will only get one point, while two points will be awarded for items that are not present in the other team's sheet. this will be the very basis for the team with the winning point to be arrogant, contemptuous and boastful, hence payabangan 2010!

true to most aydisi games, a lot of contentions were raised, especially on the rules of each category, e.g. common names only, no proper names for things that use chargers. wrong spelling of course is wrong and i left it to tight alice to decide on other things, hahahahaha! in the end, team future edged out team analyze by a margin of less than 20 points. unlike other aydisi games where bragging rights is what the winning team will only get, there were 350 pesos at stake for both games, while the losing team will got 175 pesos as consolation prize. not bad. till the next game!

credit

since a certain lowlife who relies on harassing debtors to make a living have been calling the office the past weeks, i read on this topic. apparently, people like this sarah are all trained to spew morsels of unimaginable and soap operatic lines to coerce people to pay off unpaid bills. if they don't resort on verbally harassing people, they don't get paid, simple as that. this is due to the banks' rules of "no cure, no pay" terms. the congress should enact a law that would prevent all these uneducated agents and their cohorts from harassing people, just to get pay-outs every 15th and 30th. i hope that they can still live and breathe. read on.

How Should You Deal With The Credit Card Debt Collectors in The Philippines?
Sep 19th, 2010 by click_marbin

Experiencing harrassment from a credit card debt collections agency? Here are some tips on how to deal with these people

You may also read this on my Triond page, How To Deal With Credit Card Debt Collectors in the Philippines?

1. Regardless how much your credit card balance is, you have the right to ask the debt collector a copy of your Statement of Account (SOA ) duly signed and certified by the bank. A letter with the amount of request to be paid, or a letter showing an offer to pay your credit at a discounted rate are not your SOA. If in case they provide you an SOA, make sure to call the bank to verify that is indeed a true copy or just another fraud from a debt collector. No SOA, NO PAY.

2. You are the one to decide on how much you can afford to pay them. Send them a proposal letter via email or snail mail about your proposal of repayment and again should be according to your financial capability.

3. If they provide agreement, it should be a written agreement not verbal so at least you have a proof in case they deny that you are really paying.

4. If they don't agree to your proposal of payment. So don't pay them instead be confident to say that you will just let this be handle by the court. Challenge them to sue you because at the end of the day it is better that small courts handle this in a legal and fair way. Don't be afraid to go into jail, being incapable of paying your debts is not a criminal case though, its only a civil case.

5. I doubt if they will pursue this in court to think that it will surely eat their time , money and effort. It is such a waste of energy for them. But if in case they will do, then lucky you are. The judge is so compassionate for debtor that he will ask you to pay your debt but only how much you can afford to pay the complainant.

6. Police came to your home on behalf of the credit card debt collector? Get their name, precint and their car's plate number. If possible, get them recorded in a video. This is not their job and you can file a complaint against this police. Same story with barangay captains.

7. Credit card debt collector sometimes pretends a sheriff trying to enter your house and get your appliances? You may tell them that you can file criminal case against them ; tresspassing, extortion, unjust vixation etc.

8. Credit card debt collector texted you that you already have warrant of arrest ? Come to think of it, if you are informed in advanced that you have a warrant of arrest...will you not hide immediately? So definitely this is just another fraud from Credit Card Debt Collectors. Warrant of Arrest is just for criminal cases and again not paying your debts is just a civil case. And besides, warrant of arrest is given personally by an authority not over the a phone call, text, fax or email.

9. They don't stop harrasing you over the phone, going to your house and what not. Tell them the same thing" Just sue me in court anytime"

10. They are saying that they can file RA 8484 criminal case against you. Well let me tell you, this are just for people who tried to do credit card fraud. They are just kidding aside.

Why credit card debt collectors in the Philippines are telling lies? One thing for sure this is only because they need to feed their gluttony. So why waste your money with this people. It's time to focus more on your priorities and live a happy life. You are not trying to hide from your obligations anyway, its just that you are not yet capable of paying it.

So now that you know who they are, I feel sorry for these credit card debt collectors because they've just deal with another debtor like you who knows their modusoperandi already.

For more information about How to Deal With Credit Card Debt Collectors in the Philippines,Here is one of the blog about guideline on credit card paranoia where I read all about this. You will surely learn a lot.

Read more: http://www.bukisa.com/articles/356837_how-should-you-deal-with-the-credit-card-debt-collectors-in-the-philippines#ixzz114dZKRS7

2000

2000 tweets! wahahahaha!

kasal

kasalan n'ung sabado.

dalawang kasal - kay chorvs at kay lei.

rumenta pa ng van ang mga taga-aydisi.

nagsipagkita sa antel.

tumulak patungong alabang, naipit sa trapik.

gutom at uhaw dahil cereals lang ang kinain.

kumain sa jollibee, alabang town center.

nagsimula ang misa, ikinasal si chorvs kay pare.

di na kami nakapag-photobooth.

lumisan agad upang makahanap ng taxi pabalik ng makati.

600 daw ang taxi mula alabang pa-makati.

hintay-hintay, kaunting tiyaga, nakakuha rin.

250 ang taxi namin hanggang rockwell.

nagbayad pa ng 60 para sa toll fee.

nakarating din sa manansala loft.

nakita si lei bago pa pumasok sa reception.

kumain na agad pagkatapos ng dasal.

kanin, pesto pasta, lechon, manok, lenggua.

pinakapeborit ko 'yung dory with cream sauce at spinach with egg.

natapos ang maikling programa.

kaunting piktyur kasama si lei at nanay niya.

sa camera ni zel ang mga piktyur sa kasal ni lei.

hinubad ni zel ang nine west niyang sapatos at nagtsinelas.

iniuwi ni zel ang panglamesang mga bulaklak.

naglakad ng kaunti patungong starbucks.

pero di na pala sila magsisipagkita.

umuwi na lang din.

'yun.

jueteng

jueteng: "flower" (jue) and "bet" (teng).

litaw na naman ang isyu ng jueteng. matanda pa sa pag-usbong ng naglalakihang malls ang usaping ito, ngunit heto na naman at hedlayn sa mga peryodiko. pinanggagalingan ng kikbak at badyet ng mga pulitiko't tiwaling pulis ang iligal na sugal na ito. maging ang mga naka-abito, matamang nakikisangkot sa usaping ito. at dahil sa mga pasabog ni oscar cruz, grandstanding ulit ang drama ni miriam santiago. sa mga nakaraang administrasyon, ang isyu ng jueteng at kung sinu-sinong malalaking tao ang tumatanggap ng payola mula sa mga big time na opereytor nito ay palaging laman ng pambansang isyu.

sa mura ng pagtaya rito at dahil sa pagkaugat ng naisin ng bawat pinoy na makasuwerte at tumama ng malaki-laki at biglaang premyo, mahirap sawatain ang suliraning ito. paniniwala ng mas nakararami, higit na madaling tumama ng dyakpat sa jueteng dahil sa kawalan nito ng mahigpit na mga regulasyon sa pagkakasunud-sunod ng mga bilang, di gaya sa lotto o sweepstakes. laganap ito maging at higit sa maliliit, liblib o rural na pamayanan, wala pa riyan ang mga mananaya sa naglalakihang lungsod, kung saan naroon ang higit na bilang ng mga mahihirap. sa mas masusing pagsusuri, ang mananaya at kubrador ay may relasyong batay sa tiwala, dahil sa kawalan ng anumang pruweba ng transaksyon (maliban sa piraso ng papel) at pamilyaridad sa "inaalagaang numero" ng mananaya.

kung tunay itong nakatanim na sa kamalayan ng bumubuo ng maliliit na komunidad, ibig sabihin ay matagal-tagal bago ito masawata mula sa pinakaugat ng suliranin. kung walang pagtangkilik mula sa mga mananayang nagbabakasakali at payag na mamuhunan ng di bababa sa limangpiso bawat taya, di rin naman mamayagpag ang jueteng at mananatili hanggang ngayon. mag-ikut-ikot ka sa mga barangay at tiyak na may makikilalang maybahay o walang trabahong lalaki na may kakarampot na pera na imbis na idagdag na lamang sa pambili ng bigas ay itataya pa ito sa jueteng. anumang eskplosibong mga pagbubunyag ang gawin ng mga gaya ni cruz at santiago at kahit gaano karaming imbestigasyon pa ang mani-obrahin ng senado, sadyang malalim ang ugat at mahaba ang galamay ng jueteng. mantakin mo namang mahalal ang asawa ng pinakamalaking opereytor bilang gobernador, naupo't natanggal ang isang pangulo na kumukubra ng payola mula sa jueteng, angkinin ng asawa ng isa pang pangulo ang operasyon sa ilang lalawigan at maupo sa gabinete ang ilang mga personalidad sa kasalukuyang administrasyon na sangkot sa iligal na laro... sa kangkungan lamang dadamputin ang anumang pagkilos laban sa jueteng. matitigas ang mga mukha ng mga pulitikong sangkot sa jueteng. pangalawa na sa paghinga ang tiim-bagang nilang pagtanggi at pagsisinungaling na walang jueteng sa kanilang nasasakupan o di sila kumukubra ng anumang payola.

sa ganang akin, mas makabubuting gawing ligal ang jueteng. kikita ang pamahalaan mula rito na magiging pantustos sa mga kakulangan sa paaralan at edukasyon. kapag ligal na ang jueteng, magiging higit na propesyunal ang pagtaya rito at di na batay sa ututang dila. ang mga dating simpleng kubrador ay maaaring magtayo ng kani-kanilang mga betting stations na higit na makapagpapalago ng komersyo sa maliliit na komunidad. magkakaroon din ng mga pamantayang binalangkas ng kongreso sa likod ng pagpapatakbo ng industriya ng jueteng. at higit sa lahat, mawawala ang mga singtapang ng tigreng mga panginoon ng sugal. kung wala silang panghahawakang kaban ng pera na tila di nasasaid, di maglalakas ng loob ang mga ito na pagharian ang mga lalawigan at angkinin ang mga ito na parang sa kanilang pamilya lamang.

dalawang paksyon ang laban sa pagsasaligal ng jueteng - simbahan at tiwaling mga pulitiko. ang simbahan ay maaaring tutol dito dahil sa usapin ng moralidad. sa pakikisangkot ng mga naka-abito sa lahat ng isyung moral, di malayong maski rito ay makilahok ang mga pari't obispo at gamitin ang bawat homiliya na pagkakataong maki-pulitika. at siyempre ang mga tiwaling pulitiko naman ay tatanggi sa ligal na jueteng dahil mawawalan sila ng pagkakakitaang labas sa kurakot sa pamamahala o pagsangkot sa droga.