I started writing when I was 8. My mom got me a journal where I could rant (prob so I won't be an annoying brat). I stopped writing for 8 years until the pen and then later on the keyboard called on me again. I blog because I like writing and that's just about it. Hope you get inspired though... Bite the apple!
It's National Women's Month and I thought I'd write about it today since I've been seeing in the news that there are people who still won't vote for a woman because they perceive women as weak and can be easily manipulated. In this day and age there are still men who think that they are superior to women. I can easily name a number of known world leaders who don't treat women fairly and we can start here in our own country.
Photo by OhMy Gorecho
If I was their mother. I would bonk their head for being that way. I would give them an earful too. I'm lucky because my parents taught me that I could do and achieve anything if I put my mind to it. I remember my Mom telling me that I should never doubt my abilities. I still do, but whenever I'm faced with a challenge I would just pray, take a deep breath and work on it.
There are many known personalities who laud their mothers for their strength. Many were brought up by single mothers. I could say from experience that being a single mom is a lot of hard work. I was motivated to work hard because I wanted to provide what was best for my son. Being a mother strengthened me and made me a better version of myself.
Through the years I experienced a lot of unfair treatment. I was threatened that I would not move forward because I reported wrongdoing. I experienced retaliation because I was always honest with feedback. I bore all the stress from it because I know fighting for what is right is always the right thing to do. I would cry. I would feel frustrated. I would be exasperated. I would feel down. But I would always get up and fight back.
The future is female. The fight is not about whether you're male or female. It's about who could be the better leader.
I had a difficult time falling asleep last night. I finally drifted off to sleep at half past four. At six thirty in the morning I was woken up by endless sirens. I got up to check if there was an emergency nearby. When I didn't see anything unusual I checked Twitter to find out if there's a fire nearby. I was surprised to see angry tweets from netizens saying they were rudely awakened by the BFP parade. To mark the start of fire prevention month, the Bureau of Fire Protection goes around with sirens on to raise awareness.
It's a great idea, but detrimental for people with heart conditions like me. And yes, I immediately felt unwell after being rudely awakened. It gave me a migraine and it took an hour before I finally fell asleep again. I'm already paranoid enough about my childhood home being old and needing renovations (including rewiring all the electrical stuff), so I didn't need this. Case of bad timing. They could have done it at a more decent time.
Managing PTSD is hard. That was the reason why I had difficulty sleeping last night. It's just unbelievable how systems that are supposed to protect and help you are the ones giving you a death sentence. The biggest fear of my doctors is for me to get infected with the coronavirus. And that's why my family is doing all they can to protect me. It's really frustrating when the support that's supposed to be provided requires you to do things that would put you at risk. Yes, they are the same group that trivialized my illness. Since I'm very fragile, I've asked Sweetie to help respond to them. The stress is already making me unwell.
It'll be bad for me to dwell on it so I asked Sweetie if we could go out to buy vegetables and fruits. We realized it's better to buy from the veggie and fruit stand nearby than ordering it from the supermarket. The produce are more fresh, cheaper and you can select what to buy. It also meant I could go on a joyride haha. I just stayed in the car while Sweetie bought the produce. The best thing about it is we got saba. We super love eating fried banana for merienda.
Oh, we also got gas. I told Sweetie we should probably gas up before the prices go up more. We were given a kilo of free bigas! Wow! I still think government should provide more subsidies for the transportation sector for fuel (they seem to have been very absent lately...).
I was surprised when one of my friends admitted he voted for the dictator's son in 2016 for vice president. He did because he didn't know anything about VP Leni at that time. Now he's voting for VP Leni for president after seeing all her accomplishments. The debated hosted by CNN Philippines last weekend is a good way to get to know the candidates. They invited all the candidates and most showed up. Seeing them side by side for the first time and answering the same questions was a good way to assess them.
2016 presidential elections
It was my first time to hear the other candidates since the other networks did not include them. Here's what I thought about them:
Ernesto Abella - former presidential spokesman of President Duterte. He was eloquent, but I didn't get a good grasp of his platform. I read a bit about him and found out he has a good academic background, was a preacher, got abducted and his release was negotiated by then Mayor Duterte. That's when he started campaigning for him. His government appointments seemed to be due to a favor.
Leody de Guzman - Ka Leody is labor leader. He's very knowledgeable when it comes to labor related issues, but lack experience in other aspects. I hope he can eventually provide inputs for government so that the lives of laborers could be improved.
Norberto Gonzales - he was secretary of national defense for a few months during GMA's time. He seemed to be a troublemaker based on Wikipedia and I didn't see any concrete contributions to government (correct me if I'm wrong, just basing it on what I've read). He was very calm during the event yesterday, but I did not get a good impression that he has enough experience to be president.
Faisal Mangondato - he was introduced as a businessman. In answering the questions he mentioned that the hardships we are going through are due to the abuses of man that's why we are being punished by God. He didn't have a good grasp of the issues and had no solid platforms. Sorry but he struck me as a nuisance candidate.
Jose Montemayor, Jr. - a doctor supposedly with an MBA. I don't think this candidate took the questions seriously. He answered and questioned other candidates more to be noticed than to make sense. He is supposedly a cardiologist... sorry but I wouldn't want him to be my doctor nor president.
I always go back to the post I made on how I will assess presidential candidates. It's been mentioned several times already that they are applying for the job and the 1987 Constitution provides the job description. I went back to my review of Jessica Soho's interview and my thoughts remain the same with regard to the more known candidates. I'm going to need to make time to watch the vice presidential debate of CNN also so I can get to know them better. Those always absent for debates and forums will not be considered by me. When applying for a job, one should show up for the interview noh.
Received confirmation yesterday that we were approved to get our booster shots at the NPF Drive Thru vaccination site. We headed to the site an hour before our appointment. I felt like a kid going out for the first time. The sky was a lovely shade of blue, there was no traffic and everything looked serene.
I was amazed with the many new buildings in the Aseana area. The last time I was in the area was in July 2019 after a friend's wedding. I think only Okada and City of Dreams was operational at that time. I felt lost since there were so many new streets and buildings. It felt very unfamiliar. My Mom thought we traveled out of the city, but it was just 15 minutes away from home.
We originally scheduled three of us to get booster shots. Unfortunately, the vaccination site only offered Moderna. My doctor required me to get Pfizer since I'm taking anti-coagulants. My Mom was the only one who managed to get the booster. I guess Miggy and I will need to find a drive-thru service that offers Pfizer.
It was really tempting to go the mall! It was too early though and the boys would not have allowed it. We just got curbside takeaway from Pancake House for breakfast. I think this has been the most exciting joyride I've been on since December (hahaha) even though we didn't step out of the car. I felt antsy though for sitting too long since I normally move around every 30 minutes.
Maybe when gas prices go down we can do a longer joyride outside my city (Aseana is still Paranaque City!). Back home now and will go take a nap to complete my required zzzs.
Happy Sunday everyone!
PS More information here about the drive-thru vaccination.
The campaign rally of VP Leni Robredo and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan was streamed live last night. I was happy I was finally able to "attend" a rally albeit virtually. It was time well spent since I got to listen also to the senatorial candidates and their platforms. The rally was festive and it reminded me of happier times before the gloom settled in.
I would have loved to be there. Realistically though I won't survive a rally so I'm happy to just live through my friends who were there. One described having goosebumps from start to finish. Another said he felt hope. I felt the same even though I was just streaming it to our TV via Chromecast.
Seeing the sea of people was what I needed to see to feel hopeful again. We really need to get back on the right track for things to improve. I like the platform presented by VP Leni and Senator Kiko since it will improve the lives of the general population. I also like the fact that they have been reaching out to the marginalized, the people in the laylayan for consultations. The only way to really improve the lives of people is to understand their needs. You can read more about their platforms here.
#IloiloisPink (Photo by Robredo's People Council)
The rally was a fitting celebration of the 36th year anniversary of the EDSA Revolution. The celebration at the People Power Monument was a simple ceremony, not even attended by the president which was disappointing. The rally in Iloilo made up for it and showed that the force is waking up and we are all over the country. We just need to remember that the success of the EDSA Revolution depends on each and every one of us.
Mama Ogs trended last night!
I was sad though to hear about the retirement of Sen. Franklin Drilon. He is the last from his generation and has served us well. He was a senator for a long time, but made sure that his home city progressed. I've been to Iloilo a few times and I did see the improvements. I saw this firsthand in the last 15 years. It flourished from looking like a charming town to a bustling city. That's a good example of what a good leader should do. Thank you Senator Drilon for your service to the nation all these years.
I will continue to pray for the success of the people's campaign and will pray for the protection of the candidates. Let's all do our part :)
According to Ukraine president 137 have died in Ukraine on day one of Russia's attack. If you scroll through Twitter there are a lot of horrific images. It's truly unimaginable how this could be happening in this day and age.
Went through the history of Ukraine since I'm not familiar with it. They had a very tumultuous history and only gained independence in 1991. They went through a lot of hardship before their economy stabilized (much like here in the Philippines after the EDSA Revolution). In 2004, the Orange Revolution happened. It was a nonviolent resistance that was done to protest election fraud. Their biggest issues include corruption, having trustworthy leaders and the meddling of Russia. They would move forward one step, but be pulled backward several steps due to political issues and a lot of conflicts.
I hope and pray our kababayans being repatriated will all safely get home. I also prayed for peace. Greed truly does not acknowledge boundaries, nor respect. The people of Ukraine fought for independence because they wanted to be free from an authoritarian regime. Similar to what we fought for which culminated in the EDSA Revolution. Despite all the challenges in the past 36 years we have been lucky because we've been able to live freely. We could speak our minds, move around without fear and this has opened a lot of opportunities for each of us to grow.
And we should cherish our freedom. Similar to Ukraine we've been plagued with corruption, untrustworthy leaders, and our sea is being invaded by unwanted aliens. That's why we have to be vigilant and make sure that we have leaders who will fight for us and our territory.
The real success of EDSA depends on each and everyone of us. Let's do our part.
According to the news it looks like the alert level will be lowered to 1 by the first of March. Of course, doctors are giving reminders about following safety protocols since the virus is still around. It's welcome news for many people since it means the economy would be more open. It means more jobs and maybe things can be a bit more normal.
I pinged my favorite doctor yesterday to tell him to be careful since the cases in Singapore has gone up. He said, "It's OMG all over the world. We're fine. We'll all get OMG and then stronger." I'm happy to see he's still funny as ever despite the situation. I worry about my friends in Singapore and Hong Kong since they are experiencing the Omicron surge.
In time we need to learn to live with this virus, just like all the other viruses out there. I'm a magnet though because I'm immunocompromised. This means I need to be extra careful. I've just been home since the start of the year and still got an infection lol. I realized though I can't let being immunocompromised keep me from living my life. I just need to be flexible and be careful.
