as of this writing, our country has not yet change president. the people power steam is still on process. support from the different sectors of the society is being solicited for the steam to heat up and the machinery ultimately going. different opinions are being issued and thrown to the public for reflections, to ingest, to digest, to understand, and in the end made them decide to join the power. our country for sure has many intelligent people-wise-assess, wise-cracking, opinionated, ego-istics, full of self-importance, and all has the same want – to be seen and heard. and wanted their one-cent worth of idea be known to the whole wide world.

the opposition wanted the replace the president, asap. the religious group does not call for resignation. the other religious group wanted snap elections. former presidents wanted both. the militants and the frustrated groups wanted to people power. the military does not want to get involved. all of these are happening at imperial manila.

and me? Well, nobody asked for my opinion. maybe, because my opinion does not matter. just like the other Filipinos living in the 7,100 islands in the archipelago, our voices will not be heard and our faces will not be seen. because we are negligible and invisible?

they say that our country has 83 million people. and if the 1 million people in manila, will decide that our country will have a new president through people power, so be it. and the 82 million people will have no choice but to follow.

don’t you find it queer? Really… now, its an idea to reflect, to ingest, to digest, to understand, and finally to decide.

i was away on one of my travels last week. since we left for manila last feb 17 and as of this writing, it has been raining-cats-and-dogs in our region (eastern visayas region). places are flooded. provinces are isolated. roads become unpassable. crops are destroyed. families are evacuated. in fact, the wife of my nephew had her first baby delivered on the car - because the vehicle transporting her to the hospital was stranded due to floods. thank GOD they are both in good health. i am wondering where these rains come from? it seems that the rains is only in our region. the rest of the country is dry and the sun shone brightly. i can't help but relate this to the saying -when-it-rains-it-pours. but, we can only take much.

i'll wait for the sun to smile on us. he is most welcome.

hello, world!!! by the time you are reading this, maybe, just maybe, if the "masa" heed the urging of the "purists" for people power - our country has a new President. why? because the people who are - leftist, rightist, centrist, pro, anti, militants, n.g.o.s, civil societies, government workers, laborers, students, priests, nuns, politicians, liars, honests, witnesses, the dogs and the ants, including the birds are calling for the resignation of the President.

it is that easy in toppling down a government, here in the Philippines. and only-in-the-Philippines. if the people doesn't like the face of their leader, they just formed a "people power", and whammm!!! tomorrow-is-another-day.

when people power was launched to the whole world in 1986, i was very proud. it shows to the whole-wide-world that there's another way other than coup-de-etat and election in selecting a leader. the Filipinos stood proud and tall. we made history. we made a statement. we made a permanent place in history books.

other countries followed suit. . . but the glory of people power became passe in the Philippines. we overdo it. we abuse the "people power". in whatever issue, and whenever we don't like anybody, we used "people power". it became a "common" event. just like a market place. we do "people power" just like going-to-market-everyday. the feeling of triumphed was lost. the feeling of ownership was gone. the "luster" was dimmed. the "inspiration" dulled. suddenly, it-feels-like-the-story-of-the-boy-who-cried-wolf. nobody wanted to believe him.

for now, i am resting my case. . .

here we go, again! another whistleblower came of the woodwork of the institution called - Philippine government. the Senate is (again!) conducting a hearing in-aid-of-legislation. our television screen is (again!) filled with the images of the "hero", the "judges", the "guilty", the "innocents", the "self-righteous", the "so-sure-of-himself", and the "wanted-to-be-seen".

newspapers, primetime and late news are all about this latest "expose " - the anomalies, the corruption, the claiming of the "truth". we, the public is bombarded of these "truth" and "lies" which is like a tennis match - exchanging of accusations left and right. and the networks outdoing each other in coming-up with "exclusives" in different angles.

me, personally? i don't care. this is the stand i am taking. so what, if it is a billion-dollar-peso-expose? so what, if mr lozano is telling the truth? so what, if the palace is guilty? if i know all these, will it make my life richer? will it make my family happy? will i gain lots of friends? will it solved all my financial problems i am facing at the moment? i think, this is what the rest of the Filipino people is asking themselves. watching the live, delayed and replayed telecast of the investigation will not bring-food-on-my-table nor money-in-my-purse. it is a waste of time. just like the previous exposes. . . what were those, again? there were so many whistleblower and so many Senate investigations that it clogged my brain.

but frankly, to tell you the truth, why this kind of reaction? because, i'm so tired na. nothing happened. no one goes to prison. no one is convicted. no one . . . wala lang. dead ma.

who gains? meralco - for the increase in power consumption. smart and globe - for the text messages circulating. the philippine daily inquirer, philippine star, manila bulletin - for the increase in sales. the tv networks (abs-cbn & gma) for the ratings game!

hhhmmmmm ..... next expose, please!!!

D the amazing race 12 was over and the team i'm rooting for wins - tk and rachel. but i'm still glued to the tv set because the amazing race asia 2 is still on. of course, the family is rooting for mark and rovilson. the Filipino team in the left in the race (am glad the other 2 got booted out! it was a shame watching those 2 losers). although, watching mark & rovilson antics sometimes turn-me-off. they are too-sure-of-themselves, that when the two singaporeans boys overtook them for two legs of the race, i was glad. it was a wake-up call for mark & rovilson.

the other thing that kept-me-going-home-early is the search for the american idol. the family really loved this show since we discovered it on cable tv. it was fun watching the auditions of the-really-talented-and-not-so-talented-to-the-no-talent. and the contestants-come-back-reply-to-simon cowell's-neverending-heartrending-brutally-frank-comments. there is no doubt, that simon's comments make-the-day-of-the-american-idol-wannabes. am looking forward to the finals in Hollywood. and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the Filipina who made the cut will make it to the finals. and to borrow the cliche - welcome to Hollywood!!!

As soon as I open my eyes, it connected instantly to our clock. It read 7:15 in the morning. I looked at my daughter sleeping next to me and my husband. Both of them were still asleep. I woke my little girl and asked her – ‘what day is today?’ she replied – ‘it’s Monday.’

My goodness! I forgot what day it was.- Monday. The first working day of the week! How could I? it rattled me as I prepared for work. I was late and how could I forget! I rewind my life for the past week:

- a week ago I was in manila, attending training workshop.
- Last week I was in a meeting and traveled to the project area
- Also last week, my boss was telling me, we had to attend a
meeting in cebu
- Also last week the husband was in cebu
- And last week my daughter has measles
- And my eldest son was having his field work for the first time
- And still last week, the meeting in cebu was transferred to
antipolo
- Also last week, I decided that I won’t be going to antipolo
- Yesterday I was in the province attending the funeral of my uncle
- And somewhere there I was a wife, mother, sister, friend, niece
and an employee
- And this morning I woke up at home!

Whew!!! No, wonder I woke up in a dazed. Maybe it’s my body –telling-me-to-slow-down-and-find-time-to-smell-the-flowers. And I’ll do just that. This week, maybe.