PAKATAS

Finally my project is finished and here it is - the PAKATAS.

For something that may look so simple, it still took me over a year to turn this idea into a reality.

The Pakatas is really just a simple coffee filter holding device to make drip coffee on demand. For some people, the pakatas may seem just like a piece of twisted metal, but for me, they are objets d'art. There was sacrifice, pain, frustration in its pursuit but there was also great delight and joy in its achievement that made all the effort and trouble encountered well worth it.

Through the pakatas, I learned many things. Not just about coffee and its paraphernalia but also about the nature and true color of people.

The Pakatas. Bow.

Passing of a Hero

Former President Cory Aquino was the hero and face of the 1986 People Power uprising that toppled the ruthless Marcos dictatorship and who restored constitutional democracy in the country. For these alone, Filipinos owe her eternal gratitude and the love they demonstrate for her while she was still alive and now that she has passed away is well deserved.

But in mourning the passing of a beloved President, we must not lose sight of the never ending task of nationbuilding that calls for the engagement of all of us. And we still have a lot of work to do - the flame of our democracy has been reduced to a flicker, inequality mocks our nationhood and our people still cry for social justice.

President Cory may be gone, but let us take courage and inspiration in what she stood for that we may continue to carry the torch she carried to bring light and hope to our country and people.

President Cory is dead. Long live President Cory.

Letter to a Coffee Queen

To: Ms. X
Philippine Coffee Board


Dear Ms X,

I write to express my extreme disappointment with the “don’t call us, we’ll call you” policy practiced by your staff for the organization that you represent.

This practice shows either misguided haughtiness, laziness or a lack of proper education in business ethics where respect and courtesy are given importance. It is also not worthy of an organization that appropriated the name of the Philippines to project representation of a national interest only to be selectively accessible to those who pass the grade of your social economic discrimination.

While I had respectfully written you a letter over a month ago requesting for a meeting, I received no definite feedback from your staff on whether a meeting is possible or not. Cognizant of your busy schedule on account of your work, I had limited my follow up to once a week until I gave up trying to get an answer.

When I happened to see you at the Kape Isla last 28 July 2009, I thought it would be a good opportunity to follow up on my request but I found it incredible that though I was a mere few feet away from you, your staff could still prevent me from having a few seconds of your precious time and haughtily drive me away with a lofty “don’t call us, we’ll call you” mantra.

I could have gone over the heads of your overprotective staff as you had acknowledged my presence with a brief smile. But I had lost interest in my original purpose and only wanted to tell your staff that what they are doing is ugly and wrong. Will they be doing the same if I were white and looking filthy rich or will they grovel and fall over themselves to bring me to you? If it is the latter, what does this make of you?

I bother to write this letter because I held you in high esteem. We may have different stations in life but in the end we are all in the same boat. We may commit ourselves to great missions in life, but in the end, it is the little details of civilized living like courtesy, respect and equal treatment of others that make our society a better place.

Peace.

Just a thought

It is a long lonely road to follow a dream, so one should not let dimwits and pompous assholes stand in one's way.

An OTOPian Idea for Pateros

OTOP stands for One Town One Product. It is a government program to promote entrepreneurship and create jobs.

Pateros, my hometown, would have an ideal OTOP since it has traditionally been known for its duck egg industry, especially the “balut” which is a duck embryo delicacy so loved by many people and reviled by as many others. Unfortunately, the balut industry in Pateros is itself on the wane due to a confluence of several factors.

For one, the river that could sustain duck raising has become very polluted and has almost vanished. For another, the land area of Pateros, by some political administrative decisions have drastically been reduced and urbanization has made it impractical to use precious real estate for raising ducks. Thus only a few old Pateros families cling on to the balut making business.

With a land area of 210 hectares Pateros is the smallest town in Metro Manila. With a population of 62,590 (2008) and very little local resource, it will be very difficult to identify an OTOP product that can be competetively manufactured in the town, create jobs and engage the entire community.

But in every problem, there is an opportunity. Our town may be small, but that does not mean that it can not be great.

I would like to propose to the local government of Pateros and to my kababayans that apart from having our own OTOP, we turn Pateros into the OTOP center of the country. Our barangays can be turned into areas corresponding to the thirteen regions of the Philippines plus that of the NCR, Cordillera and the ARMM. Each barangay can then host the OTOP of the provinces and town of their corresponding regions. Pateros will then be a living, breathing museum and showcase of Philippine products.

The benefits of this idea are many:
- Trade and traffic will increase boosting local income
- Increased traffic will spawn new businesses and create jobs
- The town will be a tourist destination as tourists who can not go to far flung places in the country can just go to Pateros
- Pateros can draw the attention of big business and developers opening opportunities for Pateros to renew and recreate itself as a modern progressive town

This OTOPian idea is admittedly ambitious, But it is not impossible. What is important is for the entire community to buy into the idea and take part in making this idea come true. The alternative is to let Pateros stagnate into insignificance trampled by the economic might of its city neighbors Makati, Pasig and Taguig.

10 Reasons Why Mrs. Dionisia Pacquiao Should be Considered for President

1. She is a good mother. She raised a champion.
2. She truly came from the ranks of the poor.
3. She became rich through honest means
3. She has no record of cheating, lying or stealing.
4. She is deeply religious and her prayers get good results.
5. She is not indebted to politicians or annoying personalities.
6. She is an ideal unifying figure for Pinoys.
7. She has no First Gentleman
8. She is neither a trapo, an activist, reformist, nor a member of Gabriela
9. Her election to the presidency is the better alternative to a bloody revolution
10. She dances a mean tango not cha-cha.

Justice at the stock market at last

At last, after almost a decade, the Supreme Court ruled that the criminal case of the People of the Philippines vs. Dante Tan for the Best World Stock Market scam can now proceed.

This scam nearly brought down the Philippine Stock Market and allowed its perpetrators to steal billions from the economy.

Everyone, but most especially people involved in the stock market should be concerned and working to ensure that this case is brought to its just conclusion.

Until government and the stock market people can prove that they are capable of catching and punishing stock market cheats and manipulators, they should not invite or encourage people to put their money in the stock market. Until this happens, the local stock market will be nothing but a rich man’s instrument to legally take money from the people.

The Sorrow of Our People

The following is a letter of a mother who in a moment of police insanity “in the line of duty” lost her husband and 7 year old daugher during a shootout last December in Paranaque City. In all, sixteen persons lost their lives in that incident including 11 alleged robbers, 1 cop and two other civilians.

Per Jarius Bondoc's backgrounder about that December carnage in his The Philippine Star column last April 03, 2009 entitled “Husband, Daugher Killed: Must She Grieve Alone”:

Initial reports were that they had been hit in the crossfire. Neighbors later recounted that policemen had fired dozens of rounds at Lea Alyana, 7, and her father Alfredo de Vera, 47, as they were exiting their residential subdivision to pick up mother-wife Lilian. The girl was hit first. As the policemen continued shooting, Alfredo lifted his daughter out of the van and ran for cover. The cops approached and fired more shots.

The public raged. The press editorialized. The National Police brass mumbled an apology. Politicians dutifully fumed before the cameras. And then everyone forgot — except Lilian, who to this day seeks justice. Below is her letter, circulating in the Internet, edited to fit this space, appealing so that what happened to her family will not happen to ours:

Two months ago I considered myself one of the happiest people on earth. Why not? I married a man who was the epitome of kindness. Our union was blessed with a daughter who became our main source of joy . . . the center of our lives.

We’re simple folk who led a simple life. We felt happiest even about mundane things — like a sudden trip to Jollibee or a late night raiding the fridge. A perfect family with simple delights, dreams and aspirations ... until that fateful night of Dec. 5, 2008, when my husband and daughter were taken away from me in a very violent way.

That Friday night marked the beginning of my terror, anguish and misery.In keeping with my panata on every first Friday of the month, I went to Quiapo Church to pay homage to the Almighty. My husband and daughter were to pick me up in Pasay City, after which we planned on treating our daughter to Jollibee. While riding a jeep, I tried calling my husband to tell him I was on my way to our meeting place. He didn’t answer. Very unusual, since he seldom missed my calls. In trepidation, I took the next jeep going home and prayed that everything was all right. I promised myself to forgive my husband for not answering my calls and forgetting to pick me up.

I felt relieved when near our place my phone rang. The relief was momentary. The call I got was the bearer of the worst news in my life. My helper said "men in uniform” had shot my husband and daughter to death. The same men who were sworn to protect innocent people from bad guys brutally had slain the two most important persons in my life. They had a duty to preserve lives against harm. Yet they murdered my love ones in the most cruel, savage way.

My husband’s face was unrecognizable because he was shot in the head at close range while kneeling with head bowed. My daughter’s young body was riddled with bullets; one hit her head, blowing her brains out ... all from powerful guns fired by uniformed men at two innocent, defenseless persons.

The men in uniform were allegedly on a mission to take on a gang of robbers. The police shot the van my husband and daughter were riding. Based on witnesses’ narratives, they sprayed bullets into the van with no provocation or shots coming from it. In his last effort to save their lives, my husband grabbed my bloodied daughter and shielded her with his body while running away from the police and taking cover behind a parked jeepney. My husband and daughter were so defenseless. How can you mistake a child for a robber? How can you shoot someone who was already kneeling with head bowed, an indication of helplessness?

My husband and daughter are gone . . . forever. The pain I feel from their loss is too much to bear. My only motivation to go on living is to seek justice for their senseless killing. If the people responsible for their death will be punished, as they deserve, my pain would be alleviated. The misery I live with will lessen. My husband and daughter will be vindicated and I will learn to live my remaining years in peace.

I’m begging everyone who comes across this letter to forward it to all your relatives, friends and acquaintances. Help me bring my cause to the eyes of the people capable of steering the wheel of justice to the right direction. Help me make the loudest cry worthy of attention by those people in charge of rendering justice to all.

Strength comes in numbers; it is where the impossible becomes possible. It is also where the unattainable becomes achievable.

My heartfelt gratitude to everyone who will take a moment from their busy lives to relay this to everyone they know. May God always protect you and your loved ones from harm.

Thinking of Chevening

This time last year was the last day of the British Foreign Commonwealth Office Chevening Fellowship Program on Democracy, Rule of Law and Security I participated in at the Center for Studies in Security and Diplomacy, University of Birmingham, UK.

But after listening to so many experts and meeting many highly placed people, all that I can tell my co-fellows is a quote from the writer Henry James:

"We work in the dark, we do what we can, we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and passion is our task. The rest is the madness of Art."

Chelwood Wing, Chamberlain Hall, Vale Village - our home

for the almost three months of the fellowship program

Our turn

Mr. Chip Tsao

Now that the wrath of the great multitude of Hong Kong based Pinoy domestic helpers, career protesters and pin button nationalists have brought writer Chip Tsao down on his knees and forced him to make a public apology for insulting Filipinos in his magazine column by calling the Philippines a “nation of servants”, maybe it is now our turn to reflect among ourselves- and apologize if needed- on the way we treat people of other races and also our househelps.

I shudder to think of how the people and government of China, India and Korea for example (not to mention the Africans) will react if they could only hear what many of our people say and behave towards their countrymen here in the Philippines. I am also aware that despite the world’s most powerful nation now having a- ahh err – “melanin rich” president, many Filipinos still have a bias against and are even scared of dark colored people.

And while we are on a fighting mood triggered by this inconsiderate assault on our national pride, can we not redirect our fight to advance the rights of domestic helpers here in our own country? For instance, how many futures are ruined when impoverished young women and men are forced to stop schooling and work as domestics? Why is there no legislated wage and benefits for domestic helpers? Is there a Magna Carta of Domestic Helpers Rights?

Mr. Tsao is wrong in calling us a nation of servants. What he may not have known, with the way we treat or allow our house helpers to be treated, the Philippines may well be among the last slave society in the world. But if through his column we can be forced to confront the issue of domestic helpers rights in our country, Filipinos might even thank him one day for his column.

That will be the day. Mr. Tsao started out to write a satire, but ended up with an irony.