Condoms in lieu of Food (Is the Church too hypocrite?)

Filipinos are now more or less 90 million, trying to fit in these small islands with barely 300,000 square kilometers. Further, these 90 million Pinoys are struggling for food which in actuality can only feed around 50 million or less.

The reason why we have food shortage, other than there is a little supply of rice, is that we are overly-populated. The food we produce is too little for our consumers. Just imagine if a tree can produce 5 fruits a day, the would-be eaters is 50, how on earth do you think that will suffice? The jobs we produce cannot even sustain our ballooning population, what more food?

Condoms in lieu of Rice?

Recently, the government announced that it will allocate funds for contraceptives, viz: the use of condoms. But the church vehemently disagreed with this proposition. For the Church, the money to be used for condoms must be used for food instead. The opposition is holy on its face but as sinful as rubber sheaths. For me, it is even hypocritical than sacrificial.

Suppose the government agrees. The condoms are discarded, instead food are bought. My next question is, "How does that help the future of the country", "Does it stop the overcrowding numbers we have---now almost NINETY MILLION? The Catholic Church spokesperson said, that the government should focus on housing and food security. I agree. But while it may be true that social services must always be part of the government's program, I believe it is also part that the government should control the uncontrollable growth of population. The government cannot just produce food and allow the population to rise like rushing tides by the shores.

I firmly believe, it is not just food or housing that the government should provide. They should also provide measures to see that basic commodities are equally distributed and fairly abundant. In this thought: proportionality, equality and abundance can only be achieved if there are fewer people to struggle for jobs, food, housing and use of commodities.

The Church wanted the government to buy food instead of condoms. Why don't they start with their own backyard:

1.) Why not distribute their large tracts of land as housing for the poor?

2.) Why not sell their vast expensive collections for the charity they boast they serve?

3.) Why not put all the money offerings and offerings of goods be donated to the poor 100% instead of giving to the priests?

4.) Instead of beautifying churches, why not establish more orphanages, home-for-the-aged, livelihood centers?

5.) Why not allow Catholic schools like Ateneo, La Salle, UST admit more poor scholars from poorer communities, better open more free Catholic schools in BASECO, Tondo, Payatas and other slum areas?

6.) Why not open their private hospitals for the poor, they own Cardinal Santos, La Salle Hospital and St. Luke's right? Or yet, provide for better schemes to admit more charity-sponsored patients in Catholic hospitals...

7.) Why not use their shares in many corporations and donate the earned dividends for food security?

8.) Why not use their monasteries as farmlands and food be donated to charity?

The Lord said, "by the measure you use, there you shall be measured". Why pinpoint the sins of others, when you cannot practice what you preach? Is the Church too good to see other's mistakes but cannot see its own flaws? Are they becoming too much of a Pharisee and Sadducee?

Just thinking aloud. click to continue...

rant, rant, rant no. 1

The politicians and the ordinary Filipino workers

• Ordinary Filipino workers work for 8 hours a day (and even more) some were even overworked and underpaid. They try to earn as little as 365 pesos, while our politicians do not even come to sessions in Congress to work yet they are being paid, with no deductions and would even receive more than that---about millions of pesos.

• Ordinary workers work under inhumane conditions, crowding their offices, or factories but the stupid congressmen sit doing nothing in the halls of Congress, either listening to nonsense debates or grandstanding speeches of their more stupid colleagues

Taxes of Politicians and Taxes of Workers

• The lowly politicians never mind paying taxes BUT the ordinary workers are automatically taxed, witheld from their salaries. At the end of the month, they are being deducted of an amount while the politicians would even evade paying their own taxes, worst, stealing millions of pesos from our own coffers and kick-backing on government projects at the expense of the poor Filipino.
  

• Businessmen and Politicians evade millions of pesos in taxes, even billions. But the poor ordinary workers can't even get their thousand-peso tax rebate.

Politicians and Visas

• The government officials and congresmen (and all politicians at that), can enter other countries visa-exempt using diplomatic passports or can easily apply for visas while the well-deserving Filipino worker who deserves to have a vacation abroad for years of work, cannot even obtain a tourist/ single-entry visa elsewhere. The politicians would hide their ill-gotten wealth and laundered money from the country to their choice destinations, normally in states where bank secrecy laws are stricter, to deposit their amassed treasures.

Politicians Privilege, Misfortune of Ordinary Workers

• The politicians would not experience the grand and majestic Metro Manila traffic because their cars would have tens of convoys (or hagads) while the poor worker who needs to go to the office early suffer (otherwise, his salary will be deducted or get a disciplinary memo), because they got blocked by the convoys of the government officials who just go to the office to grandstand. I suggest these politicians take jeepney for a change, so it would be more real, don't you think?

More rants to come... click to continue...

Food Shortage in the Philippines?

What happened to:

Rice supply- before we are the leading producer of rice and the center of studies in Rice propagation. Now, we are not just underdog but we lack supply even unable to sustain our own needs.

Suggestion: A police power to order moratorium in converting ricelands to subdivisions. Fund the IRRI and strengthen the cultivation of rice in our fields, for the next 5 to 10 years. Enhance hybrid rice. Search for unused, unirrigated rice paddies and irrigate them. For the next 10 years, no ricefield shall be sold for land development other than planting rice or crops. IF we can make use of more than 1,000 ha of rice fields, we can at least sustain our supply. What happened to National Irrigation? IRRI?

Philippines as an Agricultural country- we should stop dreaming to be like the US. Let us admit it, Food is the new gold mine for economies of the world. We have lands, we have the seas...if we can use all these resources as food production machineries. We can approximate the development in other major agricultural countries. We can increase our exports and lower the
level of inflation and trade deficit.

Agricultural jobs- with the effort of the government, they can spearhead the creation of food companies tilling lands, post-harvest facilities, raw food production factories and others. We should encourage agricultural jobs than call centers, I think. The capital may come from the billions and billions of pesos given as budget to our Congressmen, which unwisely used, in short wasted in nonsense waiting sheds and non-stop repainting of already painted streetwalls. Hay life!

Sustainable Environment- Stricter, harsher penalty for environmental crimes. What happened to the oil spill in Guimaras? What happened to the mining contamination in the waters of Mindoro? to the trash in Bulacan water systems? We should do something.

Farm-to-Market roads- Let us admit this. We have so much produce like eggplants, onions, corn and various fruits from all provinces in Mindanao, Northern Luzon and the Visayas but none of them reach Manila. If we have facilities to cater to the delivery of these foods all over the country the prices will go down, because supply is up.

Suggestion: Pursue the toll-free passage of delivery trucks for food, encourage ships and airlines to deliver food with the incentive of giving the company tax exemption or tax cuts. Organize the local food councils to gather their produce and distribute their excess to other markets in all cities and provinces. Delivery might be done by army vehicles. And what will they do with their ships, planes and loaders? Fill them with ammunition? Why not use them for food, anway there is no war...but there is war on hunger and food security. They should be part.

Ambitious? Well, in some sense yes. But with the growing population, with the growing need for food. We need all suggestions to combat this threat. We do not want Filipinos having so much food around and yet still hungry, wouldn't that be too pitiful to see? click to continue...

Wedding Proposal Recipe

Ingredients:

1 kg of courage
1/2 kg of creativity
1/2 cup of sentimentality
1/4 cup of traditional proposal lines, cut into words
1 ring white gold with diamond (price varies)
your fiancee to be
yourself, remove all the nervousness inside.

Procedure:

1. Plan your wedding proposal ahead. Several circumstances will hinder you, in my case, distance and opposition from family. But I am determined to pursue my love and follow God.

2. Ask yourself and pray for it intensely. You have to ask God and yourself "are you sure?" Put all your 1 kg of courage in a bowl.

3. I planned my trip to Singapore, in your case, in any place. Mix your 1/2 kg of creativity in your 1 kg of courage. Mix it well. Add little water, tea or a coffee break. I planned that it will be under a tree because 6 years ago, I opened my feelings for her under a tree in a building facade so at least I have to replicate the scenario. Let your imagination and creativity run well.

4. Before that, on a separate occasion. I brought a simple white gold ring for her with a simple 2nd rate diamond (not really expensive but genuine). I tried so many jewelries store back home. I couldn't find my piece, until I bumped into one within my budget and fit my taste and my fiancee's personality. I asked the girl to give me the ring, and she gladly gave me a discount---lucky charm.

5. Mix in slowly the 1/2 cup of sentimentality bring her to the lanes of your sweet past and your promised future.

6. We were walking down the "rainforest" inside the Singapore Botanical Gardens that Sunday afternoon after going to Church, we were surrounded by numerous big trees. Tall and strong...like my love 8 years ago that sprung from a seed, the tree is now big to bear fruit. I must preserve it.

7. When we stopped before a tall and huge 'balete' tree. I stopped. Took my ring out, and while she is fixing the camera. I presented to her the ring. She was confused or shocked, why there is a ring---or why I am giving her a ring, did I just picked it up somewhere?

8. Dash it with your traditional wedding proposal lines. I faced her, kneel in front of her and asked her, "Will you marry me?" Will you be my wife? Will you be the mother of my children?
She said, "Of course" at first. Not really convinced, she might be overwhelmed or confused, I repeated just in case, she did not understand. Then she finally said, Yes.

9. I kissed her and we embraced. Serve this proposal with sweet toppings of hugs and kisses.

10. When we went out of Botanical Gardens, I know I planted a seed of love in our hearts. And finally, and officially, she is now my fiancee.

NOTE: Serves only 2. click to continue...

100 days Apart

This is my 3rd time coming over to SG. I learned to love the place. I learned to be familiar with sights and people.

I brought with me, a can of bagoong, laing, mangoes and several Filipino grocery items like: Sinigang flavor mix, paksiw mix, Mang Tomas Sarsa, Chocolate tablet, fish bagoong and whatever you can think that is Filipino.

I saw her after almost 100 days of being apart. Our relationship literally became a virtual relationship. We only see each other through webcams and chat online and made many phone calls. For us, and like many other virtual relationships, the internet is heaven-sent innovation. Webcams is the meeting place, and phone calls is the regular chatbox. Being separated is difficult.

I really planned my trip several months before my expected arrival. After my first visit last December, I promised myself to return...and I did. The long wait is over. I am coming over and would be staying. I hope to stay for good but our dreams won't permit me as of this time.

Seeing SG for the 3rd time is not new, the Terminal 1 is impressive. My thoughts run wild, and I have to see her. See her and embrace her. And when the moment I gazed my eyes on her and saw her waiting outside the airport doors...I suddenly felt, I was home, I suddenly felt complete.

My home is in Singapore now. My heart is here...my life is here...and I will always return so long as my other part remains here. Singapore had a new meaning to me. It means new life, new beginnings and new future for me. click to continue...

My Bestfriend's Wedding--The Male Maid of Honor

My bestfriend Jen tied the knot last April 7. Actually, she is actually not my bestfriend because she is like a sister to me. Knowing her long before I learned to write my name on a paper, and knowing her like the back of my hands, her marriage to her long-time boyfriend, Ferds, become a special day to me as well.

We are breaking the tradition. I am her Matron of Honor, in lieu of a traditional Maid of Honor. Actually, we already planned this "name" long before she had serious relationships with any other man. She told me, since I am her closest friend, and a male at that, I will certainly not qualify for a "Maid of Honor", so I told her, you could either use, Matron or the Bride's Butler....so we choose Matron, the masculine form.

So, there I was, I took the line of the procession, as the male 'maid of honor'. It was such a lovely event, teary because my only female non-blood sister is getting married, but happy because finally she has found the love of her life.

Many things come to my mind: our fondest and cheerful childhood days together, our grade school days, where she would fight for me, whenever I will be teased, she would brace herself against the dogs I fear along the streets. She included me in her valedictory speech when she graduated Valedictorian in high school, and now, I am her Maid of Honor. Truly we've been part of each other's lives.

She might not come in my own wedding but I know, she will be my female, "bestman".

To my sister, friend, prayer partner, gangmate, confidante, childhood buddy, my best wishes. Be rest assured my love for you and your husband Ferds and your cute boy, Kier. Farewell, and see you soon! click to continue...