Blockbuster film to hit the cinemas this year. No need for reservations though.
No red carpet entrances, no premiere nights. Every Sundays. Go grab your seats now!
They call it the homily, I call it hypocrisy at its finest.

Forgive me father for I have to cover my ears that one Sunday morning when
you were reciting a litany of words how anti-life the Reproductive Health Bill is.
Killing unborn babies. Disturbing the natural order of things. A work of evil.
Blahs.

THE BILL IS NATIONAL IN SCOPE, COMPREHENSIVE, rights-based and provides adequate funding to the population program. It is a departure from the present setup in which the provision for reproductive health services is devolved to local government units, and consequently, subjected to the varying strategies of local government executives and suffers from a dearth of funding.

The reproductive health (RH) bill promotes information on and access to both natural and modern family planning methods, which are medically safe and legally permissible. It assures an enabling environment where women and couples have the freedom of informed choice on the mode of family planning they want to adopt based on their needs, personal convictions and religious beliefs.

The bill does not have any bias for or against either natural or modern family planning. Both modes are contraceptive methods. Their common purpose is to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

It is more of a revision of the current family planning act we have. And definitely an improved version.

These men in robes should try visiting slum areas and some government hospitals. Now who's unemployed? Hungry and undernourished? Who is lacking attention in health care? Who wants a hospital bed shared by three patients in a medical ward? The bill is not directly the answer to all these. But it could be.

Who says about being anti-life? Killing unborn babies?

It is only the prevention of abortion and management of post-abortion complications. The bill does not legalize abortion. It expressly provides that “abortion remains a crime” and “prevention of abortion” is essential to fully implement the Reproductive Health Care Program. While “management of post-abortion complications” is provided, this is not to condone abortion but to promote the humane treatment of women in life-threatening situations.

We should even be grateful that some government-owned hospitals are rendering vasectomy and inserting IUD's for free. The bill will even save parents the hassle on doing sex education with their kids. Specially-trained school teachers will do it themselves. Easy huh? So the next time they do those experiments while doing “group studies”, they would already know what to do. No teenage pregnancies. No unwanted babies. No family rifts.

The two-child policy per family is not compulsory. It is only recommended. But if you think you have the enough moolahs to feed more than 2 mouths, then go ahead and plant thy seed as much as you want. We want responsible parents, not human sex machines.

CBCP spokesman Monsignor Hernando Carbonel said, “It’s the great disparity of wealth. If the wealthy would share what they have, then population would not be a problem.”

I don't have anything against the church but maybe this sharing of wealth story should start with them. Church donations should be distributed fairly to its parishioners, not on stuff like renovations.

No one's losing faith here, mine is still intact. I just don't understand why the church is opposing the said bill. And definitely not that I'm trying to be self-righteous. We clamor for change, this could be it.

The whole story here: dirp3.pids.gov.ph/population/documents/HB4110.pdf

The online petition to support the passage of the bill here: http://www.petitiononline.com/rhan2008/.

Fashion fades but style remains the same- Coco Chanel

Alright, so you've seen Blair Waldorf in GossipGirl wear those headbands.
Even Angelica Panganiban of local TV is going with the flow.
And then the world became Blairbandland!
There's definitely no problem when we want to update
ourselves with the trends, and be one of the 1st few
to have that maxi dress or gladiator sandals in the workplace/school..
Yet sometimes, we need to use some common sense as well.
Why wear those headbands with humongous ribbons when
you'll look like Cynthia Patag of that Palibhasa Lalake show back in the 90's?
Why stuff yourself with those thick pashminas and scarves when
everybody's complaining how warm it is?
Wearing a pair of Havaianas even if it is inappropriate for the occasion called for?
Just for the sake of being called a fashionista?
Oh, come on.. We have to admit that we can't look good in everything we fancy to wear.
It does not necessarily mean that if it's the trend, then it's fine
to flaunt it in public. We are no supermodels.

I am no authority or expert when it comes to what to wear,
how to mix and match outfits
but I do know that there's really wrong with the picture
when somebody wears an off-shoulder top
and it's freezing cold in the office.

We all know you can afford to buy that latest pair of
gladiator sandals but hey,
it's a no-no if you are one of those vertically challenged, no offense though.
If Katie Holmes is caught by the paparazzi
wearing those loose boyfriend jeans , there's no need for you to have a
complete jean overhaul and forget those skinnies last season.
And for gawd's sake, tights and leggings should go with stuff that will make
you look slimmer, not skimpy and body fit tops that will just make those bulges
more visible. Unless of course if you are one of those few who are gifted with flat tummies.

Vanity is fine, but too much of it is not.
Trends come and go, fashion is always evolving but style remains.
No need to spend thousands of your hard-earned money just to
buy the latest in the runway,just a sense of style is all we need.
There is a fine line between a true blue fashionista and a plain fashion victim,
sometimes we don't even know anymore which is which.
If you'll ask me, the former are those who have a unique style of their own
but is not afraid to try on a new set of wardrobe,
while the latter includes those who mimic every style he/she sees
to the point that he/she forgets one's individuality. Sometimes
they even sacrifice comfort for what they say as fashion's sake.

It is fine to take some risks sometimes.
If you want to wear that purple skinny jeans you've been hiding in the closet,
then go for it!
Just make sure that you wear it because it's comfortable and you know you look good in it,
not because everybody's wearing this and that.

Now you don't need those glossy fashion magazines to tell you what's in or not,
plain common sense will do..

We think too much..
We try to get a picture of all angles possible
only to end up hurting and badly bruised by the experience..

I am thinking today as fast as an ostrich runs,
and I don't want to be consume by it again..
Not anymore..
Is there a switchboard for this thinking machine?
I would like to turn it off for the time being..

And I'm almost done with Murakami's Kafka on the Shore..
I don't know where the story is heading, so full of metaphors
but life would be so boring without metaphors right?

"I think I am as concerned about fairness and justice as anybody. But what disgusts me even more are people who have no imagination. The kind T.S. Eliot calls hollow men. People who fill up that lack of imagination with heartless bits of straw, not even aware of what they're doing. Callous people who throw a lot of empty words at you, trying to force you to do what you don't want to...When I'm with them I just can't bear it, and wind up saying things I shouldn't...Of course it's important to know what's right or wrong. Individual errors in judgment can usually be corrected...But intolerant, narrow minds with no imagination are like parasites that transform the host, change form, and continue to thrive. They're a lost cause"-
Oshima to Kafka, Kafka on the Shore..

So there I was
w a i t i n g..

For the rain to come
so I can open my palms wide
catch the raindrops
and check in each one
if there are messages inside
from heaven to me..

So there I was
l i s t e n i n g..

To the woman with a son in tow,
about 4 years old
sitting beside me on the bus
as she sings to Bread's Everything I Own
playing over the bus' audio system..
I wonder if she really means it,
if she'll give everything she owns
just to have that somebody back again..
For a second there
I thought I saw tears when I looked at her..

So there I was
s t a r i n g..
Staring at you in a distance..
Whoever put you in that pedestal was a fool..
I dreamt of that one summer night
when I wanted to push you into the sea
while we were in that small banca,
you were so drunk that you throw up in front of me
like a choking little girl..
You could have drowned
shouted for help
begged for salvation
and everybody could have laughed out loud
looking at you slowly sinking..

So there I was..

So it's 10 in the morning,you're done with work, time to go home..
Another shift of not hitting your day's target, of getting zero sales
but you're used to it that you don't care at all if you've closed a deal or not today.
You know you'll manage by the end of the month,you always do..
You shut down your PC,cleaned your desk and decided to hang-out for another hour
in the office pantry..
You watched TV, browsed all the websites you can think of over the pantry internet access,
just to kill time and wait for 11AM..
Extra hour for you to file it as overtime, with hopes that
your team head will approve it.
That 100 pesos/hour overtime fee can definitely bring you somewhere.
It can even feed a family of 6 for some.

An hour after, you went out of the office with your boyfriend(for lack of a better word)
who also works in the same office.
It's hot outside, you can feel the sun rays pricking every inch of your skin.
You fumbled for your sunglasses inside your bag and suddenly you
thought of those people who who work 10 hours a day under the
scorching heat of the sun, without even wearing a pair of sunglasses like yours.

Your stomach grumbled and your brain confirms it as hunger.
You and your boyfriend gets inside the nearest chinese foodshop and
you order your favorite chopsuey rice.
You ate but while chewing your meal,
you though of those 6 hungry kids waiting for their beloved father
to come home and bring pancit for dinner..
He works 10 hours a day as a peddler under
the scorching sun,with 100 pesos a day to feed his family of 6..
After lunch, you decided to stroll a little inside the mall
and you ended up checking out some people.
There's that fat lady, tall anorexic teen, the old and the young,
the alta sociedad trying to avoid the areas where the middle class usually hangs out,
virgins and perverts, geeks, artists, drug addicts,single and married, priests, prostitutes..
You looked at them and tried to read their minds if they're also thinking
what's been bothering you almost everyday.
If premarital sex is fine, if true love really exists,
if long distance relationships work,
if you could only find ways on how to understand men better.
You also tried to figure out if they've also felt the same feeling
of being misundertood sometimes.
Those moments when almost everybody demands for an explanation
when in fact you are having a hard time explaining it to yourself.
Of what their proudest moments in life were,
if they followed what they really wanted
in life instead of letting others decide for them..
You wanted to ask them as well who they think is the cuter pair:
the john lloyd-sarah tandem or the more high-end richard-kc..

You check your mobile phone's time,
decide it's time to take the bus homeward bound.
You daydream for 40 mins while listening to Tori Amos in your shuffle,
and then shout “Para nong!”..

You crawl in your bed around 4PM..
An hour later you are still awake, because aside from having a rundown again
of what you were thinking earlier in the mall
you are still wondering if later for dinner tonight,
that father who works 10 hours a day can bring home
the much-waited pancit.
If he can still buy that extra kilo of rice for his family of 6.

You ask yourself how you can feed all the hungry in the world,
maybe playing in freerice.com everytime you go online is not enough.
And then you realize that you can't play God, or even Bush or Gandhi.
You just realize that you're just another idealistic 22-year old,
who thinks that in order to attain world peace, we need to end world hunger first.
Full stomachs lead to rational minds, rational minds lead to world peace.That simple..

And then an idea comes to mind, why not join a beauty contest and
the moment they ask the million-dollar question;
present to them your theory that world hunger is
directly proportional to world peace.

Tomorrow's gonna be another day to figure out how to walk using that
6-inch pair of stilettos for the trademark beauty queen walk..
For world peace's sake..

So you now congratulate yourself to sleep for being so brilliant..

The taxi smelled of LPG, closely related to the type you use in the household.
Morbid images here and there sprout like mushrooms inside my head,
like those annoying pop up ads when using proxy servers for non-stop internet access at work.
Am i gonna die today? Die inhaling too much of the kerosene-like substance exactly in this taxi's backseat.
Will the cab explode minutes from now? Making my death very much alike to that funeral pyres in ancient Greece. Probably I'l just faint, the driver taking me somewhere dark,wet and cold..Robbery, rape and murder all in one in the headlines tomorrow..
I had my fair share of scary taxi experiences, but let's talk about that next time over sisig and redhorse.
Or brewed coffee.. "I'm a changed man, dude.."
So there i was, inhaling small doses of the gas but never saying a word like
"Nong, nsa man rong baho, di ron makamatay?"
No feet shuffling or even of knuckles crackling.
Fine! If I die today, then let it be.
I'm in no mood of complaining and talking like I know what Im talking about.
All I want to do is sit here and listen to "Kung Maminaw Ka sa Hot!"..
Looking outside,aside from the occassional neon lights of pubs along Mango Ave,
i see raindrops hanging on for dear life in the glass window.
Seconds after, I remember this scene in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged (don't quote me on this one, Im having doubts if it's really that book) involving Eddie.
As a kid, he was looking ouside their house through the window one rainy day
and imagines a blurry question mark formed by raindrops on the glassy surface.
Like that mysterious question mark object in the final cut of the book A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Like that question mark signs in the Where Is The Love music video of Black Eyed Peas.
Question Marks, question marks, question marks..
And here it comes again, the Interrogation Part.
Just like in the movies, victim's tied, pushed to eat dust,kicked and forced to speak.
Lights directly pointed to the helpless face,blood spurting out from all angles possible.
What went wrong Kai?
Is it really your life's calling to do it?
To go ahead and fall? So you believed them when they told you that it is in falling that you learn how to fly?
Which to choose? Which to deny?
"Unsa man jud imong ganahan? Mura man ug wa pa ka kahibaw asa ka padulong. ",were my father's words yesterday.
Selfishness or Selflessness?
Is this what they call Quarterlife Crisis? The heck.
I need a goal, a purpose, a destination.
The problem is, i still don't know where.
"Miss, asa ta dapit sa IT Park?.."

also posted here

This love-hate relationship we have is not working anymore for me.
I've had enough. We've made compromises together, adjustments
were made to meet each other's expectations but here we are again,
looking at each other's eyes filled with remorse and regret.
When i thought we'll get along just fine, you proved me wrong.

To be fair with, we have our share of good,old memories.
We even complement each other. You have to admit that we look
good together though, photos for the past 2 years can attest to that.
People often say we're a cool pair,but what happened?

How many times have we said sorry? How many second chances do we need?
You promised me a few months ago that you're not gonna fool around anymore.
"Trust is the key", you told me. It was not difficult for me to do since I've always been the easy-to-please type. For a moment there, i thought you've changed.

Yet when we are together, you seem far and distant.
It's like you want to be somewhere else instead.
I wake up everyday not looking forward to the day ahead because
I know we're gonna fight again, only to hurt each other's pride in the end.

So three weeks ago, I decided to do something about it.
I tried not to care,told myself that you don't exist at all.
Yet everytime I look myself in the mirror, I see you as well.
So the least I can do is tell you that I need some time off, months perhaps. More of like a cool-off. You see, Im still giving you one last chance, that's why Im not breaking up with you yet.
That is how much I Love you.

It's been three weeks. I have to admit that I miss you,very much.
I miss your smell, the feel of my hands touching you, caressing you.
Without you to complement me, I feel worthless,withered.

I AM SORRY HAIR, MY PRECIOUS HAIR.
Sorry that I have to cut you again.
Maybe I was not patient enough to wait.
This time around, I promise not to give in
anymore to my nonsense impulse to give you up.
Maybe i've took you for granted without me noticing it.
I'l give you space, i'l leave you alone.
I promise to give you enough time to grow.

So can we be lovers again, dear hair?

also posted here