Social Issues

Philippine Flag As Body Paint

Rouge magazine had made their name in the magazine world, but a negative publicity. Their cover model (Joey Mead) is wearing a Philippine flag body paint. The editor, I forgot to take note of his name, said that he is aware that the flag should not be worn and he also said that the law never states that the flag should not be (body) painted. Palusot!

I agree that its an insult to our flag and it deserve to be pulled out from the market plus they should pay the penalty for doing it.

About Rouge Media Inc: As a new general-interest literary lifestyle magazine for the modern Filipino man, ROGUE introduces itself this month as the very definition, reflection, and celebration of modern Philippine life and culture. Balancing image and intellect, ROGUE is designed to stoke the diverse passions of intellectually curious and socially aware men by telling stories full of energy, insight, style, and humor. It aims to maintain a strong literary tradition by featuring thoughtful essays, sharp prose, revealing profiles, and in-depth investigative articles on a wide range of topics written by some of the finest journalists and authors working in the Philippines today.

ROGUE’s long-term mission is to accurately tell the story of our times, our people, and our culture one month at a time; and to capture the people, places, and ideas that define our modern culture. if anything, ROGUE will make a strong statement about who we are, what we do, and why we do it.
They already did. Obviously, its a man’s magazine and its their initial monthly magazine. Well, after being shown on national TV, the readers will be intrigued of what kind of magazine it is. Let’s see what will happen next.

Friday The 13th

At my age, I’ve experienced many Friday the 13THs. It was during my high school days when I got to know the bad luck, that day brings. Filipinos by nature are superstitious, there are also other nationalities have the same superstitious belief.

The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (meaning thirteen), attached to phobía (meaning fear). The term is a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a simple phobia (fear) of the number thirteen appearing in any case.

Determining the origin and history of Friday the 13th bad luck is very hard since it is known that Jesus Christ died on Friday and the last supper consists of 13 persons where one of them died. Other than the movie, Friday the 13th, numerology states that number 13 is bad luck. This is the reason why buildings doesn’t have 13th floor.

When I first got to know Friday the 13th, of course from the movie and from my high school classmates, there are many things considered as bad luck happened to me. At first, I thought there are merely coincidence but when every time that day comes, unlucky days were always there. I guess, there were time that I suffer from paraskavedekatriaphobia when I fear of leaving home for that day.

Fear factor? There was a time that I had a scheduled long awaited appointment that was impossible to cancel. Although, I have doubt on myself on my presentation, I started to keep in mind that Friday the 13th is just like any other day. That day, everything came out right just as I wanted, I’ve closed the deal and with a bonus that I overcome my fear.

Everyone has to overcome the fear of the unlucky day. How can we do that if we stay at home on that day? From the time I’ve experienced the good luck of Friday the 13th… fear was gone already. There’s no such thing as Friday the 13th bad luck. The belief resides within ourselves. Be positive always.

Friday The 13th

Ces Drilon Kidnapped By Abu Sayyaf

I was very busy yesterday in preparation of school opening today, I did forgot to buy some things in the supermarket so I went to a nearby mini grocery where I chance to see our association’s president. Aside from being an entrepreneur, he is also a reporter. Aside from the association topic, he informed me that Ces Drilon and two of her crew were missing in Sulu. That was yesterday and I didn’t watch TV Patrol last night.

Upon checking on the web the “kidnapping” status of ABS CBN reporter Ces Drilon with Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama allegedly, here’s the official statement of ABS CBN:

Three members of our ABS-CBN news team, Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Angelo Valderama, are in Sulu to pursue a story. As they have been out of communication with our Desk for some time, we are now trying to determine their exact location.

The safety of our team is our utmost concern and we appeal to the public to avoid speculation until we ascertain the facts.

I don’t want to speculate but I’ve read some website that it is really kidnapping. Allegedly Abu Sayyaf are asking for 20 million. From another site, it says there that it is 10 million. Let’s just wait for ABS CBN official report, I’m hoping for Ces Drilon’s together with her collegues their safe release from Abu Sayyaf.

My Friend Is Jobless Now

I was checking on my email when I saw that I received an email from a highschool friend with the subject line, “wala na ko trabaho mga tsong!” (I’m jobless now). He’s a friend, my second son’s godfather, lives in New Jersey and we communicate through emails. I admit, I am the type of person who read email if its not forwarded email or chain email. Knowing that my friend who migrated to US with his family is a certified workaholic, I can’t believe that he’s affected of the crisis in the Philippines. This is the reason why I found the subject line catchy and I’m intrigue.

His email says these sentences: For our last company picnic, management decided that, due to liability issues, we could have alcohol, but only one (1) drink per person. I was fired for ordering the cups.

With this picture attached.

LOL…

picnic

Be Kind To Yaya

I was watching the late night documentary show featuring a 19 year old helper who was maltreated by her “amo” (employer). The young girl was beaten up, full of bruises and wounds to different part of her body, her left ear was deformed. The lady employer even had the helper raped by their dog. I can’t imagine how the lady employer did these things, she’s inhuman in every sense of the word. The sufferings of the abused helper came to end when her co-helper went to abused helper’s family and eventually she was rescued by authorities. Tons of legal cases were filed against the abussive employers.

I remember our yaya (nanny) who already left us to start her own family last week. She’s with us for nine years, during that period we consider her part of the family. Imagine, she could have studying children now if she got married nine years ago. People have told me that we were lucky to have her. And I could say that she was also lucky with us as her employer. My dad told us (my sisters) when we were young that the root word of “katulong” (helper) is “tulong” (help), they are there primarily “to help” in household chores. He emphasized that helpers and slaves were two different words and meaning.

Anyway, she’s not just our yaya, she my youngest son’s playmate and second mom when I’m at work. She’s a friend to me as well. I was sad but I have to let her go for her own life. I just hope and pray that she’ll be happy with her married life.