NAGMAHAL, NAGING MANHID, AT UMASA!

Mahal kita. Oo, sobra!

Mahal kita pero hindi mo man lang magawang suklian ng tama

Nagbabakasakali akong yakapin mo rin ako

Katulad nang pagyakap ng takipsilim sa gintong araw na buong-buo

Mahal kita. Oo, sobra!

Mahal kita, pero hindi mo man lang ako mabigyan ng karampatang halaga

Nangangarap akong halikan mo rin akong muli, kahit makailang dampi lang sa mga labi kong sawi

Paghalik na katulad ng bubuyog sa rosas na kalaunan’y gagawa ng matamis na pulot-gata

Matamis na pulot-gata ngunit bakit ang mga halik mo’y pait ang siyang pinapaalala?

Mahal kita, pero bakit, bakit mo ako binabalewala?!

Sabi mo hinahanap mo ako.. tanong ko lang, ako nga ba o ang kawalan ko?

Ilang teks at mensahe ko ba ang kailangan mong mabasa

Para maiparating sa’yo na iniisip kita tuwina?!

Ilang panaginip pa ang kailangang maranasan

Dahil doon lamang kita nakakasama’t nahahagkan?!

Ilang unan pa ang kailangang mabasa

Tuyot na ang aking mga mata dahil sa pagtulog na wala ka sa aking tabi, sinta?!

Ilang malulungkot na awit pa ang kailangan kong marinig

Para matanto ko na hindi mo talaga ako iniibig?!

Manhid ako, oo sobra!

Manhid na sa palagi mong ginagawa sa akin, mahal

Nakita kita, may kahawak kamay kang iba

Tumindig lang ako

Tumindig lang ako na malayo sa kamalayan ninyo

Hindi ko alam kung sisigaw ba ako ng laban o paalam

O mananatili akong nakatayo at lisanin ng temang pag-aalinlangan

Humabol lamang ang tingin ko sa inyong dalawa, mahal

Pagkauwi mo, inundayan kita ng saksak ng pagkapoot

Subalit sa akin tumama ang sugat ng iyong pagkaharot

Nakakulong ako ngayon sa selda ng katotohanan

Katotohanang isang araw ikaw ay aalis at magpapaalam

Katulad ng pag-alis ng alon sa dalampasigan, babalik na kusa pero hindi alam kung kalian

Katulad ng pag-alis ng melodya ng kanta, pag-alis lang ng isang nota, kahulugan’y mag i-iba na

Ngunit pinipilit kong kumawala sa mga rehas ng pagkabigo

Aantayin ko na lamang na sabihin mo ang “mahal, aalis na ako!”

Umasa ako, oo sobra!

Umasa ako na para kang tala sa kalangitan.

Na nakabitin lang pagsapit ng gabing dadaan.

Kahit tumingala ka sa kawalan, nandyan lamang sila, nag-aabang.

Binibigyan ka ng liwanag sa landas ng pag-iisa.

Para mapawi ang kalungkutan kahit wala kang kasama

Nagniningning. Nakatingin

Nagniningning. Nakatingin

Umasa ako, oo sobra!

Umasa na ikaw ang boses ko sa tuwing ako’y napipipi.

Yung sinasakbibi mo ang tinig ng aking pagkasawi at binibigkas ang mga salitang nais kong isabi.

Nagdaramdam. Nakikinig

Nagdaramdam. Nakikinig

Umasa ako, oo sobra!

Umasa akong hindi mo ako pababayaan.

Katulad ng hindi pagbaya ng araw sa buwan.

Ang pag-ikot ng buwan sa mundo at ang mundo sa araw

Sana ganoon din tayo.

Balanse nating paikutin ang init at lamig na sasanib sa ating pareho.

Na malayo sa ginagawa mong pagpapa-ikot sa aking puso.

Nagbibigay. Nanatili.

Nagbibigay. Nanatili.

Sana bago mo ako hinawakan, tinanong sana kita kung may plano ka bang ako’y bitawan?

Sana bago mo inalam ang aking pangalan, sana nalaman ko na agad na ako pala’y iyong kakalimutan.

Sana bago mo ako inihahatid sa mga tungo ko, sana pinaalala mo na hindi mo na ako susunduin at ikaw’y susuko

Sana. Sana

Mahal na mahal kita at ubos na ubos na ako

Where were you?

When no one seemed to love you

I was there to show you

When you seemed trash to others

I picked you up and made you of a value

When your life seemed to end

I was there to drag you back to hope

When you identified yourself idiotic because that's what people think of you

I was there to believe and to fight for you that they were wrong

And when fate threw the worst of life on me,

Where were you?

You smiled with me in sunshine

But I was alone in the rain

You drifted with me in the calm sea

But I was alone when the waves shook me to misfortune

You shared happy moments with me when we gazed the flowers blossomed

But I was alone as I sadly watched them withered

You were with me to make the most out of being young

But I was alone facing the worst of getting old

During the good times, I gave my all

But in bad times, when I had none of me but a hope through you,

Where were you?

HEALING WITHIN

            Teaching is noble. It is entrenched with excellent moral and intellectual principles to cure ignorance, to refine gross behavior and to shape values according to divine standards. It, being the noblest profession, shall aim to lay down a cradle where small seeds of aspirations will grow and produce leaders, heroes, philanthropies, artists, poets, writers, theorists, priests and all forms of great men that we can all become whose unique contributions complement one another to create wonderful human realm. 

          At this very moment, let everyone enlarge his/her perceptual field and start to scan around if teaching has taught human the way he must be. As eyes meet reality, one can perceive that the realistic promises of noble teaching that once transpired in the past have, unfortunately, gone to Utopia. Look at facts. Look at the mess that clutters moral fibers within conscience: government leaders embezzle the public funds; philanthropies spare almost nothing and acquire decadence; artists display obscenities beyond acceptable art; poets pervert innocence with their expletives; writers perpetrate falsehood; theorists seek supremacy above the Supreme Being; and priests dichotomize common beliefs that destroy unity. There are a lot more to dish out, but their quantity is intolerable and nauseous; their impacts in every conscience precipitate particles of insoluble guilt. Feed ourselves more of the dirt of indecency and we soon get morally sick and live soulless and anarchic.

          Who are to blame? Teachers will never admit it. They never accept even when facts slap them to consciousness or even innumerable facts slap them twice to extreme wakefulness.

          In general, many teachers around the globe model themselves the wrong way. These are undocumented examples. A teacher passed his students in exchange with laptop or in gratification of pleasures from flesh. A teacher spoke ill against another teacher even within the presence of students. A teacher used bad words even within the hearing of students. A teacher came in class late and dismissed his class early. A teacher used students to revenge against another teacher or against a student who acted against the teacher’s will. A teacher connived with students to manipulate receipts and prices for anomalies to be hidden and for truths to be altered. A teacher transacted with business owners who could give them share if he bought school items from them. A teacher wore clothes worse than porn star’s. A teacher spoke ill of another’s belief or religion because he always thought that only his religion is right. A teacher failed students because he hated them. Again, those are just few of the million examples that justify why teaching has lost its nobility, and teachers have earned liability, instead, of respect and gratitude.

          Teachers, therefore, must be in full admission that their precarious teaching has caused moral injuries to significant number of victims, and consequently, they must be open to professional and moral repair or healing.

          Dear teachers, we might have been damaged by an injurious, immoral or improper teaching, but we should always remember to heal the injury within us before we hold the future of the youth, so that we will not cause the same damage that perpetrate divisions, indecency, supremacy, falsehood, theft, revenge and the like. It is not yet too late to renew ourselves. We can still hold the nobility of teaching if we start the healing from within ourselves. If we are healed from negativities by the time we teach, we will not fail to produce great men. In the near future, the continued moral Healing Within every one of us will gradually retrieve teaching profession back to its noblest. Heal oneself. Heal the world.

Confidently Beautiful with a Heart: Squeezing Moral Sweetness from a Bitter Controversy

            Miss Universe 2015 coronation moment remains abuzz over the social media because of a mistaken crowning. Mr. Steve Harvey, the pageant host, announced Miss Colombia the new Miss Universe 2015, and after 4 minutes, he went back to the center stage to apologize and to proclaim the latter candidate the new Miss Universe 2015 instead.

            After taking the lavish and prestigious crown from Miss Colombia’s head by the former Miss Universe 2014 and putting it onto the head of Miss Philippines, other contestants thronged their bets: most of the Latinas sorrounded and comforted the 1st runner-up while most of the Asians approached and cheered for Miss Philippines’ victory.

            As the controversial moment of the Miss Universe pageant was transpiring, peoples across the globe had quickly posted, like a flush of thunder, their negative reactions over the social media. There were emotions of anger directed to the host for his failure to do his job. Others bashed the Miss Universe organization for its failure to halt the explosion of controversy. Supporters of Miss Colombia attacked Miss Philippines with belittlement and hurling her with statements like “she is not beautiful, she is not sexy and so she does not deserve the crown”. Fighting back, countrymen of Miss Philippines drenched her bashers with acidulous utterances telling Miss Colombia “she looks like a gay, she is rude, she cannot accept defeat and so she deserves being a loser”. As the clash between supporters of the candidates shoved into a firm friction, a sudden spark of gargantuan fire devoured the peoples’ moral ascendacies and self-control. Every ego-slap fired against the other elicited beligerent responses, to the extent that the temperature had reached the boiling point. The verbal tussles went beyond who is the true winner; it went to the summit of racism, expletives and supreme boast of sheer superiority and domination of race. a petty bitterness springs off moral and identity derogation. All these are what we get from a revelation of truth after a mistake.

            Looking into the implicit sense of the issue, there are lessons we can get from the incident.  One obvious lesson is acceptance of defeat. One must remember that defeat is not the end of everything; it is just a mark that he has had another worthwhile challenging experience from which he can toughen-up himself in preparation for more challenging adversities in life. Another is, being grounded morally. Each person should bear in mind that losing may be hurting, but it is unhealthy to unleash negative emotions to inflict pain upon others because an offensive responses bring nothing but chasm and dichotomy. Instead of avenging as hard as one has been hurt, remain calm, respectful and ethical because the act of doing good will always yield moral maturity, harmonious relationship and high regards to one’s professionalism and diplomacy. Third is, being careful and accountable. If one is given a task to fulfill, he should give his hundred percent best in accomplishing it.  Complacency should not have a room in his head so that he checks every now and then if he is doing the right thing. In other form of perspective,  reading using one’s eyes more than what idiots need to before he speak up does not make him less of who he is. He should care less of what people think of his frequent gleaning on references; He should rather care about telling the right thing without any regret at the end. Fourth is, admission of fault. It may be difficult to admit mistake because of shame it gives, but that is a better decision to take because it onlymeans that he is human born to make mistakes.. Another is, mistakes do happen, every person is born to commit them anyways. If one is  to be a victim of a bitter fate, he naturally feels the hurt. But he should not sensationalize it with exagerated emotions and then propagates and spreads the exasperation to the rest of his symphatizers. Remember that it is selfishness to share the damage to the rest of the people who support a victim of shame; but it is bravery and heroism to take it alone with grace and glamour especially if it happens within the witness of millions of eyes. Moreoever, truth really hurts, but it hurts even more if its secrecy hunts the conscience for the rest of its silence; hence one must be brave to take the flog of mistakes because by the time his wounds heal, he will live by night and day without nightmares. In addition, beauty is subjective. Whoever is priveledged to judge it, people should respect his view the way every person wanted his/hers to be respected. Finally, the issue may have brought ugly bitterness to many palatabilities, but if we masticate every fiber of the whole story, we can squeeze sweet lessons that can make us confidently beautiful with a heart.

ELECTION 2016: OPPORTUNITY TO CHOOSE THE CHEF OF FATE OF OUR NATION

Election is on its way. Everyone expects for food of promises that each politician serves on the public table thronged by scrawny poor people remaining sanguine of a better tomorrow. While voters turn up their plates and clamor in hunger for the food of great promises for a brighter future, every politician pepares and cooks up for the best recipe of campaign to attract and invite them: he pays for the endorsement of most bankable local actors, constructs words into appealing tagline such as “walang mahirap kung walang corrupt, Ipagpatuloy ang tuwid na daan, Galit ako sa mga Bwaya” and a lot more. He posts gargantuan tarpulin on public places with his face and name so huge and with almost microscopic prints of words of gratitude to successful people in the community. He extends philantrophy to the needy as though he had been doing it unconditionally and for a long time. He demonstrates the most sympathetic actuation within the capture of media trying to emulate the causes of mother Theresa and other saints of goodwill.  He maligns other candidates’ image and reputation as though he were righteous and perfect, and as if he were leading the people away from a rotten leadership. And most of the time, when everything in his menu appears lacking of dulcet taste, he clandestinely buys votes of poor people struggling against famine and pauperism. Every politician has seemed a chef of persuasion and an excellent master of  gustatory hypnosis for the palate of the gullible and starving Filipino people.

Now that another opportunity is coming, we all need to awaken our senses. Before we appoint a chef of our economic fate, we must be extra critical of our choices. We must learn from our failures in previous selections. We must consider a leader who rises above others based not on fame, charisma and media feeds but on a genuine heart who cares and serves for the poorest. We should look into his political experiences, how impactful his contributions have been, and how much does he care for the welfare of the less fortunate Filipinos. We should investigate on our own. The pieces of information we get from different sources must be put together and analyze if his markings in the lives of the majority are worthy and memorable.

Finally, the country has always been a place of penitence for the poor and a bed of roses for the greedy rich. Decades have passed and life has always seemed retrogressing. We have had so much of the worst in life. We should shout out “Enough of suffering. We need change!. And we can be heard only if we do it all at once. And we can claim it if we choose the right one. Who is he/she? Do not just listen to our hungry stomach and empty pockets; otherwise, the upset becomes incessant. Listen to the voice of truth “Change..Change…Change!, and we shall live in the profusion of economic growth and progress. 

SAWI

Nakikita mo ba ang iyong bansang dakila?

Waring walang nabubuong magandang balita

Hindi ka ba natatakot at natataranta?

Saan ka patutungo? Saan? Parang wala na

Nagbubulag-bulagan sa mga kaganapan

O baka alam mong wala nang kahahantungan

Ang pagmamahal mo sa iyong inang bayan

Ay wala nang natitirang kapayapaan

Mga ngitngit at delubyo ng kalikasan

Patunay lamang na ang tao ay gahaman

Sakim sa mga personal na kaginhawaan

Kawawa naman ang aking bansang naiiwan

PICKS OF WISDOM IN THE BATTLEFIELD

Life is a battlefield

Win or lose, either fate one can yield

The winner raise tall

The loser has to fall

In my journey towards success

I have been to many wars and tests

I tried everything just to make sense

But behind those hardships, I always failed and felt tense

I know life is not always good for me

But I treat it favorably

Coz my faith in God makes me stand strong

Even if everything seems go wrong

And so I learned that life is not at all a bed of roses

Coz at times we carry on heavy crosses

But if we choose to move forward

At the end, we reap the greatest reward