A father and a son

Yesterday a good friend of mine, Rowie Matti sent me a copy of a short Greek film through my Facebook account. I had the chance this morning to browse through my friends’ sharings and saw Rowie’s post. I viewed the film and was deeply moved.

I commented and thanked my friend for sharing this heart warming film with me. It was made in 2007 and this was the first time I saw it. YouTube has currently listed more than 1.1 million views for this video. I’m just glad I became one of them.

I easily related to this story as I am both a father to our four young children and a son to an ageing dad. Like many fathers, mine isn’t perfect or the greatest….but I wouldn’t trade him for another.

The film’s title is “What is that?”

It’s a story about a father and a son….and a sparrow.

May you be blessed as you watch the film…just as I was.

A blessed Dedication Day, Mariella Louise Manipon!

With the proud Christian parents of Mariella Louise

The Manipons – Mark and Sheila are back in town!

Sheila sent a text message last June 9 informing me of their arrival in the country last Friday (June 5). They were gracious enough to have invited me to their daughter’s dedication day celebration that following Sunday (June 14), at the residential compound of Mark’s parents near Tandang Sora Ave.

The dedication ceremony is the closest religious ritual their Christian denomination has to the Catholic Church’s infant baptism.

During the ceremony, the parents make a vow of commitment to the Lord God. They submit their child to God’s Will and promise to raise her according to God’s Word.

The dedication itself was done earlier during the day at the Bread of Life Ministries’ worship center – Crossroad 77 at Mother Ignacia Ave. near our alma mater St. Mary’s College of Quezon City.

Mariella’s pictures through her first 7 months of youthful existence –

she turns 1 year old in September

I saw both old and new faces at the reception. They were high school batch mates of Sheila back at SMC where she and Mark (Elementary) both studied but came from different batches. Unfortunately Sheila’s batch mate Charisse Calingasan and a good friend of mine, was among her SMC friends who were absent.

SMC Alumni H.S. Batch 1997 - Sheila, Jhet, CJ, Shaundy and Melai

I heard that when the Manipon couple leaves for the Middle East I think by early July, they will be leaving behind their daughter to be taken cared of by their parents. That’s sad but I understand their plight considering the person who used to take care of Mariella returned back to country with them but would not be coming back to Saudi Arabia. Since both are working abroad, (Mark is a project engineer working for Bank Aljazira while Sheila is a Human Resource Officer for the International Medical Center) for the moment, it would seem best that the grandparents take care of their young child.

I wish this young family well! After all, I was one of their sponsors during their civil wedding here in the Philippines. I continue to remind them about the importance of having a church wedding at the soonest time possible. Nothing beats the outpouring of God’s blessings to a sacred union forged in His Holy Name and approval. I pray that they may soon enjoy that day of joy and blessings!

For now, I join Mark and Sheila along with their friends and loved ones in welcoming Mariella to the Christian family! May the good Lord bless her and keep her!

Changing of the Guards (…I mean the refs!)

This post may look quite trivial to some readers. But for me, the subject of the post holds among others, a strong sentimental value.

Last June 3, upon my wife’s request I picked her up from work and we went to SM Fairview. I thought we were just going to buy the regular groceries when she told me she loaned some money from their credit association to buy a new refrigerator. She had been egging me regarding the matter for quite some time now. However, I simply had no disposable budget for the purpose during this tuition fee and school supplies etc. buying period. I understood her valid concerns so we went through the available refrigerator units and bought one.

Back home, I found myself looking intently on our old and weary Coolermate ref, an appliance that had served my family for over 18 fruitful years. Along with a Yupangco karaoke, the ref was one of the first items that Odette and I bought even before we even got married in ’91.

Our old but “loyal” Coolermate refrigerator

A marked down display unit that had been used, the Lord knows for how long, its original motor conked out after giving my young family around three years of service. It was replaced with a new compressor motor and since then has considerably been running ok. But the years have taken its toll. A broken freezer door and shelf rack, leaking door gasket and numerous lamp bulb replacements later, it had to be retired.

Indeed, though not in the most efficient and cost-effective way, the old geezer continued to prolong the freshness of our food and made our drinks cold, a testament to its long term reliability and service. Though inanimate, its loyalty and genuine service to my family will ever be more than what many of our present legislators actually provide their respective constituencies.

A well deserved retirement for our jaded ref

As scheduled, the new refrigerator was delivered to our home last June 6, a rather rainy late Saturday afternoon. A 2-door 8 cubic feet Condura with a manual defrosting system and high EER rating, our jaded veteran paled in comparison to its new and bigger counterpart. Honestly, with the quality of commercial products nowadays, I’ll be very pleased if this new one works well even only for the next ten straight years.

Changing of the guards

Our old ref may be retired for now, but if our new ref doesn’t live up to its reputation, it might just kick the new one’s butt and help us one more time.

NO to CON – ASS!

Public outrage and dismay primarily towards legislators at the Philippine House of Representatives and the Arroyo administration have reached record highs with the adoption of House Resolution No. 1109 convening the members of Congress into a constituent assembly, their latest attempt and by far the most dangerous and self-serving process in amending the 1987 Philippine Constitution.

Basically, all the arguments for and against for amending what provisions of the Constitution have been laid down, including the possible ways of doing them. I’m not going to belabor them in this post. Rather, I simply wanted to be counted as one of the many Filipinos who share in the communal disgust for the brazen arrogance of these “representatives” knowing fully well the popular sentiment which demands that at the very least, renewed debates, schedules and moves to effect any form of charter change would come AFTER the 2010 elections. This “bold and unprecedented” move by the House of Representatives was not successful in anything except in showing their detachment and alienation from the people they claim to represent.

This post is not meant to convince the concerned legislators to change their minds. It would seem from the recent comments of the House Speaker that they would not budge despite strong protests over their actions. These lawmakers, who have been ‘exorcised’ several times in the past for their views on Cha-Cha, would not change their ways short of an actual exorcism ritual.

As always in the past, true social change never comes from the “elite”.

As history would demonstrate, it often comes from the concerted and selfless efforts of ordinary people like you and me.

A caricature version of me hearing about the Con – Ass!

NO TO

CON – ASS!

McDonald’s Summer Kiddie Crew Workshop 2009: Joshua attends the Grand Graduation!

Joshua in front of the Philippine World Trade Center

After a weeklong practicum, Joshua graduated last May 15 from this year’s McDonald’s Kiddie Crew Workshop at its branch in front of Trinoma Mall along North Avenue in Quezon City. The summer work with fun didn’t stop there as we were invited to attend a “grand graduation” on May 30 from 1pm to 5pm at the World Trade Center (WTC) located at Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. Extension corner Diosdado Macapagal Blvd. in Pasay City.

So it came to pass that Joshua and I came to this activity to have fun along with other kids who underwent the same kiddie workshop. Unfortunately, only a maximum of two tickets sold at 50 pesos each could be purchased per Kiddie Crew member so the rest of our family couldn’t join us.

Welcome to McDonald land

We later learned that the program has been running for a long time now, since 1991 to be exact. Since 2006, the activity has been able to generate no less than 50,000 participants across the country.

Joshua tries out one of the free computer games

After entrants registered, kiddie crew members along with their guardians were allowed to roam around the venue and visit the various booths of corporate sponsors present. Joshua had the chance to try out some of those booth games and obtained some freebies in the process.

With a Jelly Bean mascot at the Candy Corner along Hamburglar Avenue

The "Kiddie Crew Graduation Hall”

Kiddie Crew lunch food is served…

…at the Grimace Mess Hall

Inflatable with the popular yellow arches

Father and son bonding time

An inflated obstacle course/giant slide

The Philippine Daily Inquirer corner exhibits a huge world map

Gargantuan Coca Cola bottle bench

The graduation program is about to start

Emcee: “Mac ready na ba kayo?”

Kiddie Crew members: “Mac ready na!!!”

Those were the loud chants that started the formal program that afternoon.

The Great Sneeze, a good icebreaker was taught the kids at the onset of the ceremonies. Kids took turns in shouting “Nishi”, “Hashi”, and “Hushi”.

Entertainment celebrity and fitness buff Jackie Lou Blanco was present

Jackie Lou Blanco, a well known actress and fitness buff was Ronald McDonald’s special guest during the program, teaching the kids a number of simple but helpful physical exercise routines. Her message to the crew members was very astute: “Make your summer time productive!”

Lively presentations show off the kids’ blooming talents

A special song number ensued which was followed by a dance number from kiddie crew members from McDonald’s – Greenhills.

Ronald McDonald joins the next performance

Other mascots including my personal favorite Grimace take center stage

A senior official from McDonald’s Philippines greeted the participants later in the program, informing the kids that there were similar grand graduation activities across the country, with one in Cebu and another in Davao. Batch 2009 in Metro Manila had four batches of graduating kiddie crew members in the WTC.

Joshua enjoys the kid-friendly program

Ronald McDonald leads the kids in stating the Kiddie Crew Credo

The program culminates when all the Kiddie Crew members take their Oath led by their very own Chief Happiness Officer, Ronald McDonald.

The occasion is made extra special by the fact that Joshua’s batch was the first group to sing the official Kiddie Crew Anthem at the end of the program.

Below are some of the lyrics of the said positively themed anthem. Kids nowadays need more activities and programs that promote and reinforce positive values like teamwork, hard work, responsibility and discipline. I felt that the workshop was a decent corporate attempt to this end.

In the end, Joshua had a great time. I had one too. My daughter Faith couldn’t wait for her turn to attend her own Kiddie Crew Workshop.

Love ko ‘to….McDonald’s Kiddie Crew FOREVER…!!

I will strive to be Diligent,

Responsible, Respectful, Friendly,

And most of all,

I will try to be happy all the time

Always with a smile on my face

Saying “love ko ‘to”…

My Personal Credo

Finally, I was chosen to be a participant to a program that I had been interested to join for quite some time now. Per OMB Office Order No. 09 – 143 dated April 13, 2009, I attended the Ehem! Aha! Self Check Seminar on April 15 held at one of the training rooms of the Office of the Ombudsman (OMB).

A little bit of history. The OMB and the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and createda Technical Working Group (TWG) to implement the Ehem! Aha! anti-corruption scheme. Ehem! was a program developed by the Jesuit Fathers rooted on cultural sensitivity and reflection.

There are four general modules - 1) Experiencing Corruption, 2) Analyzing Causes and Consequences of Corruption, 3) Reflections on Corruption and 4) Action Planning.

I couldn’t finish the seminar course due to the usual intervening assignments over and above my usual tasks. On April 16 I was given instruction to represent the office and participate in a high–level consultative meeting between government officials led by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and representatives from the Japanese Embassy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) held at the NEDA main office.

It would take me more than another month to finish the seminar’s 3^rd and 4^th modules with another batch of OMB employees. So on May 21, 2009, I was able to finish the course and earn my certificate of participation.

Among the various activities that really made a strong impression on me was the formulation of our individual credos. The personal credo was to remind us of our realizations and commitments born out of this endeavor against corruption.

I’d like to share the credo I wrote during the seminar with all the netizens of the cyber world. May it inspire others to take action and contribute in any way, big or small to the establishment of a new Filipino culture of integrity and zero tolerance for corruption.

My Personal Credo

I am a child of God.

A being made in His image and likeness,

Entrusted as steward of all His creation.

And yet through my transgressions,

I have exiled myself from His heavenly kingdom.

I thank Him for the gift of life and salvation

through Christ Jesus.

Despite my unworthiness and brokenness,

Your forgiveness and mercy has again cleansed me

and made me white as snow.

By God’s grace, I will strive to follow His precepts…

The Lord’s will be done…not mine.

His blessings I will share with those in need.

My time, talent and treasure,

will I use for His greater glory!

I am thankful…

…for I am a child of God!