On being a father…

I became a father to a bouncing baby boy last April 3. I named him Howard. He was born on March 3, but I had to wait a month before I could bring him home. I had to nurse him as he can’t live without his mother’s milk. I also started feeding him with wet food since he doesn’t have teeth to chew food. He could hardly walk when I brought him home but it only took him two weeks to be very active. He can now jump and is very naughty. He loves to whine, bite and lick. He poo and pee everywhere that my patience is almost always tested. My headache now starts because he loves to bark. I had to purchase a radio to offset the noise he is causing.

By now you know that my baby is a puppy. He’s a white colored cairn terrier. I promised myself that I’m going to love my puppy but I’m just a human being. I am still in the process of adjusting to having a pet dog. I really had to start from scratch as I don’t know anything about dog and how to take care of them. The good thing is, I have access to goggle and it helps a lot because it give you tips on all the do’s and don’ts of taking care of the puppy.

Will I be a good father to Howard? I don’t know, really. There were times when I’m considering selling him to a pet shop. He’s lovable but when he barks, it’s really irritating. A friend of mine told me that having a pet dog is a lifetime commitment. In many ways, Howard will be my test. I’ve been having trouble nurturing relationships and entering into commitments in the past. I’ve meet few wonderful people but it would always go to nowhere. The excitement will always disappear and the ‘sawa’ factor sets in. Magsasawa kaya ako kay Howard? Only God knows!

Turmoil in Thailand

The Thai government was humiliated by the protestors when it failed to contain the protest and was forced to cancel the 16th ASEAN Summit. The Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, has to decree a state of emergency in order to stop the protestors from bringing more humiliation to his government. The protesters were calling elections and demanded the resignation of the undemocratic ascension to power of PM Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The protesters are supporters of the deposed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The pro Thaksin government was also brought down by allegations of fraud last year by series of organized protest of yellow t-shirt wearing protesters. The political divide in Thailand hurt the Tourism Industry more than anything else. The forcible closure of their airport due to protests brought hundreds of millions of revenues.

The current regime has to relent to the pressure of the protesters to call for an early election if it wants peace and save the Tourism Industry. They have to think about their country first before thinking about their own personal interest. They must also honor the election results, which as predicted would bring back the pro Thaksin people back to power. Democracy, how crazy it may be, should be heard because it’s what people want.

Nation of Servants

Filipinos are outraged by the ‘Nation of Servants’ that the Chip Tsao, Chinese National wrote in the Hong Kong daily but before becoming emotional, we should ask ourselves first why the writer wrote that. As an OFW myself, I already swallowed my pride the moment I decided that I want to work abroad. If we ask all OFWs around the world, the reason why they leave the country is to give a better life to their families. I really don’t like that the issue becomes a political one and opposition senators even went out of their way to blame the ‘Nation of Servants’ label to PGMA. It’s true that the president promote employment abroad but who can blame her when there’s no way that she can provide employment to all of those people in her country.

Believe it or not, we are a ‘Nation of Servants’. However, we’re a nation of Doctors, Nurses, Engineers and Teachers as well. If the columnist wrote that we’re a ‘Nation of Nurses’, would it attract this negative comment from Filipinos all over the world? I bet it won’t.

Outrageous Outrage

I’ve read about it, seen it on TV and even encountered several blogs condemning the infamous Boyet Fajardo. I honestly never heard of him but he made himself very popular by just showing his outrageous outrage. Boyet Fajardo bullied the cashier at the Duty Free shop and demanded that he should kneel down and ask for forgiveness. The cashier made a mistake when it asked Boyet Fajardo to sign his unsigned credit card. He felt insulted when the cashier did not recognize him. Who would? Nobody knows him! The incident would have died naturally but the CCTV footage was uploaded in the youtube.

Boyet Fajardo’s blatant display of arrogance ignited a debate condemning him even to the extent of calling a boycott of his brand. He did issued an insincere public apology that people would not hear.

Boyet’s actions reminded me of Malu Fernandez a few years back who belittled the OFWs. This is another case of ‘NEW MONEY’ syndrome. People who are from the high level of society would not do this kind of things. It’s not just embarrassing but it’s an attitude unbecoming of a well educated and well mannered people. I pity him because it maybe too difficult for him to keep up the pretensions that he comes from high society. I have a feeling that while Boyet was growing up, he was alienated from the true blue high society people that he is desperate to be a part of.

This incident should remind everyone, especially to those who are filled with self-importance that the technology today is high tech. One wrong move and the name that you build up over the years could be ruined in just a second.

Abu Sayyaf seized 3 Red Cross Volunteers

We all know that the International Red Cross is impartial to all warring factions. They however underestimate their neutrality when they went to Abu Sayyaf stronghold in Mindanao. Everyone knows that the Abu Sayyaf is a terror organization. Terrorist do not negotiate and governments around the world do not negotiate with them. No amount of inter faith rallies can persuade the terror group to relent the release of those volunteers.

The Red Cross volunteers only created a drama (tele-serye) that put the lives of our active men in uniform at risk. They should have consulted our Armed Forces before they went to that place in the first place. I don’t want to be politically correct so I’m going to say this. Are the lives of the three IRC Volunteers more important than the lives of our soldiers? I don’t think that the lives of these people are worth saving! They put themselves at risk and now they want the government to protect them? The Philippine media, the most irresponsible media in the world does not help the situation either. It even went to the extent of portraying our soldiers as the evil.

The attention that this event brought to the world only made the Abu Sayyaf larger than they are. The world fears them more and they are surely enjoying the free publicity.