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.

biodiversity

“I commend the tourism community for its growing recognition of the importance of conserving the diversity of life on Earth, and I urge all partners to strengthen their commitment to sustainability.” — Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General.

today is world tourism day, themed tourism and biodiversity, with guangdong, china as host. below are two of the winners in this year's photo competition.

i hope to see more of world's hidden treasures. three things: plan ahead, save more and see these places! plus, it would help if i'll have a more decent camera... (",)

year-after

Ketsana brought the worst rainfall to Metro Manila among recorded typhoons since the start of rainfall record keeping, according to PAGASA, producing only moderate winds but hours of extremely heavy rain. President Gloria Arroyo declared a "state of calamity" encompassing most of Luzon after at least 86 people were initially reported dead in landslides and other incidents. Flood water levels reached a record 20 feet in rural areas. As of October 24, 2009, at least 464 deaths in the Philippines were officially reported from the typhoon.

one year ago, ondoy gave pinoys the worst flood of my generation. even the genXers have never seen a disaster of such scale.

mordor

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

RG

classic graf - hingis match, 1999 roland garros final! hingis was leading by 6-4, 5-4, 15-15, serving for her first grand slam title on the dirt. look at graf's topspin backhand at 2:08... that shot gave her the momentum and to many tennis pundits, won her the championship.

regis

rafa's appearance in regis and kelly, after his historic win in the US open. thanks to downtheline. vamos rafa!

NY

i was in the middle of tweaking numbers but my mind was actually not on it. i was preoccupied with the US open men's singles final between rafael nadal and novak djokovic. the match was scheduled yesterday, around 8 am manila time, but was postponed until today due to inclement weather. when i got to the office, i didn't open any tennis sites, but tweeted instead. 3rd from the wall was gototennis's tweet that nole has just won the second set. i took it as a sign to work and not bother looking at any of the sites to see the scores. after almost an hour, i couldn't take it any longer and i opened yahoo tennis site... rafa has just won! waaaaaaa! i wanted to jump and shout! the anticipation of seeing rafa win his career slam had been building up ever since he trounced verdasco in the quarters and on saturday, he beat youzhny in the semis in straight sets. i knew then on that he'll take this one, whether it'll be federer or djokovic on the other side of the net.

rafa won his 9th slam; 42nd title; 3rd slam in a row; became just the 7th man to complete a career slam, winning all four slams at least once; and he's only 24. what an achievement for the modest king from mallorca. but what's more inspiring, admirable and remarkable is how he handles fame, tennis greatness and all these achievements:

Though Nadal has demonstrated himself to be ruthless on court, lording over his subjects and summarily banishing them en route to nine major championships and 42 titles, off court he's anything but imperious. His conqueror persona seems like a character he plays in competition.

With his violently torqued topspin forehand, Nadal's game is thoroughly modern. His demeanor, though, is decidedly Old World.

Away from the rigid geometrical confines of a tennis court, Nadal is a gracious and modest young man, with impeccable manners and respect not only for his rivals but pretty much everyone he comes into contact with: journalists, ballboys, tournament directors, drivers.

If you think this is a kid who was raised right, you're correct. He may have been taught to be a great tennis player, but he wasn't necessarily groomed to conquer the tennis world.

as the gracious runner-up nole puts it, "Nadal … is just proving each day, each year, that he’s getting better. That’s what’s so frustrating, a little bit. He’s getting better each time you play him. He’s so mentally strong and dedicated to this sport. He has all the capabilities, everything he needs, in order to be the biggest ever.”

i know that rafa will achieve more in the coming years. i hope that he stays injury-free. vamos rafa!!!

hope

"I have found it very important in my own life to try to let go of my wishes and instead to live in hope. I am finding that when I choose to let go of my sometimes petty and superficial wishes and trust that my life is precious and meaningful in the eyes of God something really new, something beyond my own expectations... begins to happen for me."

— Henri J.M. Nouwen, Finding My Way Home

fight

UP fight! UP won this year's UAAP cheerdance competition! with our hala bira fiesta theme, UP pep squad trounced FEU and UST. UP regained the crown after placing third last year, while UST came back in the top three.

what's more important, iskos now have another reason to cheer after the "painful" 0-14 slate of the UP fighting maroons in the men's basketball competition. school spirit at its finest! UP fight!!!

ghosts

romantic comedies always figure in hbo's sunday nights. the past weeks have spooned romcoms and last night had a serving of ghosts of girlfriends past, starring matthew mcconaughey, jennifer garner and michael douglas. when you watch these kind of films, it pays not to have any expectations whatsoever. just go with the flow and continue doing what you do on the side (read: cooking nilaga for late night dinner).

the movie tells the story of connor mead (mcconaughey), a bachelor who is haunted by the ghosts of his past girlfriends at his younger brother's wedding. he had a "thing" with jenny perotti (garner) but was swayed not to be committed after she didn't dance with her during their prom. when he came back at their estate to attend his younger brother's wedding, his uncle wayne (douglas), now a ghost, appears before him to make him realize his relationship mistakes. after seeing a ghostly flashback of "the making of connor mead" and a series of slapsticky situations, he finally gave in to his heart's desire, wooed and won jenny once and for all. unlike other romcoms, this one didn't have the obligatory funny male buddies, although it played with the idea of geeky groomsmen and hot and looking-to-be-laid bridesmaids. the funny moments were not that funny and some people who find it hard to differentiate cinematic approach from real life situations might find connor's point of view just plain mean. the "looking back" part was ok, but it was all too stretched when they used it to illustrate connor's "future" to die all alone, with only his brother attending his funeral. all in all, this one was dull and failed to live up to its aim of being "a christmas carol".

Sergeant Volkom: [making his FOTB wedding reception toast in full military dress uniform] It was cold and dark, and we'd been taking fire for hours. Took an incoming mortar hit. I opened up his jacket, and his insides fell out; and I had his bloody guts in my hand. They were warm and mushy and squishy. And I push them back right into his body cavity, and willed him to live with my tears. And THAT is what true love is... hoo-ah!

Connor Mead: Someone once told me that the power in all relationships lies with whoever cares less, and he was right. But power isn't happiness, and I think that maybe happiness comes from caring more about people rather than less...

vanity

this year's US Open is about to close: kim clijsters will play vera zvonareva for the singles titles; both federer and nadal will play their semis today; petrova and huber will play shvedova and king for the women's doubles title; bryan brothers won the men's doubles and bob bryan and huber won the mixed doubles title. here's a little knick from vanity fair.

New Balls, Please
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and the Williams sisters might dominate tennis headlines, but the men’s and women’s tennis tours have hundreds of worthy competitors. From the players’ lounge at this year’s U.S. Open, in New York City, VF.com invited title seekers from the tournament’s field of 384 singles players—and contenders in doubles and wheelchair draw too—to share the spotlight.

(from left to right: hantuchova, lopez, ivanovic; bryan brothers, kuznetsova, dulko & penetta; fognini, kirilenko, ferrer; zvonareva, soderling; harrison, rezai)

pink

In western culture, pink was the color originally associated with males.

The tradition of assigning colors to each gender began back in the 1920s. At this time, pink was deemed more appropriate for boys due to its close associations with red. Blue was assigned to girls since it was more “delicate and dainty” and had close ties to imagery of the Virgin Mary.

This practice continued until the 1940s, when the gender colors were reversed and became the stereotypes that we are still familiar with today.

karimlan

hapon na agad kahit umaga pa lamang.
katawang balingkinitang kuno ay pambulanglang.
ang tindi ng usapan simbigat ng ga-trosong katawan.
lamyos ng tinig 'nit mabubuwal sinuman 'pag nasilayan.

maglalaho ang anumang liwanag.
lalamunin ng dilim ang daigdig.
lulukob ang kalamlaman sa sanlibutan.
sa sandaling manalasa ang karimlan.



higit na maiging di maki-ugnay sa gusot.
makinig lamang 'pag karimlan ay sangkot.
ubos-lakas 'pag nabalot ng dilim.
walang wawa ang dambuhalang nakasusuklam.

subukang sumauli sa gabing kalaliman.
pailalim sa ubod ng kubling dako pa roon.
pakikidawit sa gawain sa iba ipagsangga.
tapusin ang dilim nang numbalik ang sigla ng umaga.

literacy

september 8 is international literacy day. this event highlights the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.

Today one in five adults is still not literate and tabout wo-thirds of them are women while 67.4 million children are out of school. - UNESCO

anghel

i actually slept early last night, but was awakened by the guard's radio. i watched tv again and saw stonefree on music uplate live. good thing coz i again heard this very nice song, anghel sa lupa!

... kahit pa magkaiba
Tayo'y sadyang naging isa
Sa langit ay ba't kumalas
Nahulog ka mula taas
Pakpak mo ay pakibaklas...

grimeys

sa gitna ng pagpa-panic dahil sa mga nakabinbing mga trabaho, nakatuwaan kong buuin ang ilan sa mahuhusay na kuha ni ate pops sa dalawang piktyur! ang aking pamilya... maliban kay kuya bob ay dumating n'ung grimeys parti ko! masaya, punung-puno ng tawanan at kulitan. (",)

filipino

with all the flak the pinoys are getting due to that incident that put the country once again on the global stage of infamy, we need to read and re-post such inspiring and morale-boosting pieces. read on.


The Filipino Today: Let Us All Rise As One People
By Alex Lacson

After the August 23 hostage drama, there is just too much negativity about and against the Filipino.

“It is difficult to be a Filipino these days”, says a friend who works in Hongkong. “Nakakahiya tayo”, “Only in the Philippines” were some of the comments lawyer Trixie Cruz-Angeles received in her Facebook. There is this email supposedly written by a Dutch married to a Filipina, with 2 kids, making a litany of the supposed stupidity or idiocy of Filipinos in general. There was also this statement by Fermi Wong, founder of Unison HongKong, where she said – “Filipino maids have a very low status in our city”. Then there is this article from a certain Daniel Wagner of Huffington Post, wherein he said he sees nothing good in our country’s future.

Clearly, the hostage crisis has spawned another crisis – a crisis of faith in the Filipino, one that exists in the minds of a significant number of Filipinos and some quarters in the world.

It is important for us Filipinos to take stock of ourselves as a people – of who we truly are as a people. It is important that we remind ourselves who the Filipino really is, before our young children believe all this negativity that they hear and read about the Filipino.

We have to protect and defend the Filipino in each one of us.

The August 23 hostage fiasco is now part of us as Filipinos, it being part now of our country’s and world’s history. But that is not all that there is to the Filipino. Yes, we accept it as a failure on our part, a disappointment to Hong Kong, China and to the whole world.

But there is so much more about the Filipino.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Hitler and his Nazi had killed more than 6 million Jews in Europe. But in 1939, when the Jews and their families were fleeing Europe at a time when several countries refused to open their doors to them, our Philippines did the highly risky and the unlikely -thru President Manuel L Quezon, we opened our country’s doors and our nation’s heart to the fleeing and persecuted Jews. Eventually, some 1,200 Jews and their families made it to Manila. Last 21 June 2010, or 70 years later, the first ever monument honoring Quezon and the Filipino nation for this “open door policy” was inaugurated on Israeli soil, at the 65-hectare Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon LeZion, Israel.

The Filipino heart is one of history’s biggest, one of the world’s rare jewels, and one of humanity’s greatest treasures.

In 2007, Baldomero M. Olivera, a Filipino, was chosen and awarded as the Scientist for the Year 2007 by Harvard University Foundation, for his work in neurotoxins which is produced by venomous cone snails commonly found in the tropical waters of Philippines. Olivera is a distinguished professor of biology at University of Utah, USA. The Scientist for the Year 2007 award was given to him in recognition to his outstanding contribution to science, particularly to molecular biology and groundbreaking work with conotoxins. The research conducted by Olivera’s group became the basis for the production of commercial drug called Prialt (generic name – Ziconotide), which is considered more effective than morphine and does not result in addiction.

The Filipino mind is one of the world’s best, one of humanity’s great assets.

The Filipino is capable of greatness, of making great sacrifices for the greater good of the least of our people. Josette Biyo is an example of this. Biyo has masteral and doctoral degress from one of the top universities in the Philippines – the De La Salle University (Taft, Manila) – where she used to teach rich college students and was paid well for it. But Dr Biyo left all that and all the glamour of Manila, and chose to teach in a far-away public school in a rural area in the province, receiving the salary of less than US$ 300 a month. When asked why she did that, she replied “but who will teach our children?” In recognition of the rarity of her kind, the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States honoured Dr Biyo a very rare honor – by naming a small and new-discovered planet in our galaxy as “Biyo”.

The Filipino is one of humanity’s best examples on the greatness of human spirit!

Efren Penaflorida was born to a father who worked as a tricycle driver and a mother who worked as laundrywoman. Through sheer determination and the help of other people, Penaflorida finished college. In 1997, Penaflorida and his friends formed a group that made pushcarts (kariton) and loaded them with books, pens, crayons, blackboard, clothes, jugs of water, and a Philippine flag. Then he and his group would go to the public cemetery, market and garbage dump sites in Cavite City – to teach street children with reading, math, basic literacy skills and values, to save them from illegal drugs and prevent them from joining gangs. Penaflorida and his group have been doing this for more than a decade. Last year, Penaflorida was chosen and awarded as CNN Hero for 2009.

Efren Penaflorida is one of the great human beings alive today. And he is a Filipino!

Nestor Suplico is yet another example of the Filipino’s nobility of spirit. Suplico was a taxi driver In New York. On 17 July 2004, Suplico drove 43 miles from New York City to Connecticut, USA to return the US$80,000 worth of jewelry (rare black pearls) to his passenger who forgot it at the back seat of his taxi. When his passenger offered to give him a reward, Suplico even refused the reward. He just asked to be reimbursed for his taxi fuel for his travel to Connecticut. At the time, Suplico was just earning $80 a day as a taxi driver. What do you call that? That’s honesty in its purest sense. That is decency most sublime. And it occurred in New York, the Big Apple City, where all kinds of snakes and sinners abound, and a place where – according to American novelist Sydney Sheldon – angels no longer descend. No wonder all New York newspapers called him “New York’s Most Honest Taxi Driver”. The New York City Government also held a ceremony to officially acknowledge his noble deed. The Philippine Senate passed a Resolution for giving honors to the Filipino people and our country.

In Singapore, Filipina Marites Perez-Galam, 33, a mother of four, found a wallet in a public toilet near the restaurant where she works as the head waitress found a wallet containing 16,000 Singaporean dollars (US $11,000). Maritess immediately handed the wallet to the restaurant manager of Imperial Herbal restaurant where she worked located in Vivo City Mall. The manager in turn reported the lost money to the mall’s management. It took the Indonesian woman less than two hours to claim her lost wallet intended for her son’s ear surgery that she and her husband saved for the medical treatment. Maritess refused the reward offered by the grateful owner and said it was the right thing to do.

The Filipina, in features and physical beauty, is one of the world’s most beautiful creatures! Look at this list – Gemma Cruz became the first Filipina to win Miss International in 1964; Gloria Diaz won as Miss Universe in 1969; Aurora Pijuan won Miss International in 1970; Margie Moran won Miss Universe in 1973; Evangeline Pascual was 1st runner up in Miss World 1974; Melanie Marquez was Miss International in 1979; Ruffa Gutierrez was 2nd runner up in Miss World 1993; Charlene Gonzalez was Miss Universe finalist in 1994; Mirriam Quiambao was Miss Universe 1st runner up in 1999; and last week, Venus Raj was 4th runner up in Miss Universe pageant.

I can cite more great Filipinos like Ramon Magsaysay, Ninoy Aquino, Lea Salonga, Manny Pacquaio, Paeng Nepomuceno, Tony Meloto, Joey Velasco, Juan Luna and Jose Rizal. For truly, there are many more great Filipinos who define who we are as a people and as a nation – each one of them is part of each one of us, for they are Filipinos like us, for they are part of our history as a people.

What we see and hear of the Filipino today is not all that there is about the Filipino. I believe that the Filipino is higher and greater than all these that we see and hear about the Filipino. God has a beautiful story for us as a people. And the story that we see today is but a fleeting portion of that beautiful story that is yet to fully unfold before the eyes of our world.

So let’s rise as one people. Let’s pick up the pieces. Let’s ask for understanding and forgiveness for our failure. Let us also ask for space and time to correct our mistakes, so we can improve our system.

To all of you my fellow Filipinos, let’s keep on building the Filipino great and respectable in the eyes of our world – one story, two stories, three stories at a time – by your story, by my story, by your child’s story, by your story of excellence at work, by another Filipino’s honesty in dealing with others, by another Pinoy’s example of extreme sacrifice, by the faith in God we Filipinos are known for.

Every Filipino, wherever he or she maybe in the world today, is part of the solution. Each one of us is part of the answer. Every one of us is part of the hope we seek for our country. The Filipino will not become a world-class citizen unless we are able to build a world-class homeland in our Philippines.

We are a beautiful people. Let no one in the world take that beauty away from you. Let no one in the world take away that beauty away from any of your children! We just have to learn – very soon – to build a beautiful country for ourselves, with an honest and competent government in our midst.

Mga kababayan, after reading this, I ask you to do two things.

First, defend and protect the Filipino whenever you can, especially among your children. Fight all this negativity about the Filipino that is circulating in many parts of the world. Let us not allow this single incident define who the Filipino is, and who we are as a people. And second, demand for good leadership and good government from our leaders. Question both their actions and inaction; expose the follies of their policies and decisions. The only way we can perfect our system is by engaging it. The only way we can solve our problem, is by facing it, head on.

We are all builders of the beauty and greatness of the Filipino. We are the architects of our nation’s success.

To all the people of Hong Kong and China, especially the relatives of the victims, my family and I deeply mourn with the loss of your loved ones. Every life is precious. My family and I humbly ask for your understanding and forgiveness.

distance

ate pops gave me 4 tickets for the advance screening of going the distance last night. with emma, kr and mabel, we headed to greenbelt 3 and were there before 7 pm. the screening started 5 minutes before 8 pm.

this movie tells the story of erin (drew barrymore) and garrett (justin long), who after a chance meeting in new york, embarked on a yearlong long distance relationship and eventually broke up after realizing that "it just won't work". all the staple of a chick flicks are there: funny, intimate and fight-ful moments between the 2 protagonists; attractive would-be third parties (brianna and damon); dorky, kickass and/or slapsticky but very funny buddies; weird family members (christina applegate, who's a neat freak); hard to please bosses; main guy would finally realize to give in to the main girl's demands, since "they love each other so much", and the list goes on.

but i must say that this one was entertaining, lots of funny moments, esp. from deadpan hilarities from garrett's buddies and corinne, erin's sister. one thing that worked against the movie is the tired looking drew barrymore... oh, i actually don't know if i was tired of seeing her in this kind of movies or she was plainly looking tired. but i thought that she looks old for this one. justin long is just not the romantic lead material that the movie needed. although he's capable of carrying the role, to me, he would always be that teener terrorized by the monster in jeepers creepers.

till the next movie, ate pops! hehehehe!