Malaysian Airline Flight MH370 - What's the Hush-Hush?

Malaysian Airline flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing failed to reach its destination on Saturday, March 9, 2014. The Boeing 777 carried 239 passengers and crew. The plane literally "vanished" as the plane did not make a distress  before being "lost".

Much speculations are a buzz regarding this flight. Aside from the failure of the captain to send out a distress signal,. there were no signs of an airplane crash. There were a couple of debris and an oil slick found near the alleged crash site, and that's about it. There are speculations that the plane turn around right after passing Vietnam. Another speculation is that the plane could have been hijacked as there were at least 4 stolen passports carried by 4 passengers of the flight. Another speculation was the disintegration of the plane at 35,000 feet.

What's strange is that some relatives of the passengers tried to called their mobile phones and  they rang! Unfortunately, the calls were left unattended. What's happening? Why the mystery?

Let us all pray for the safety of the passengers of MAS flight MH370.

  Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries as she walks past journalists at a hotel in Beijing March 9, 2014.
ast swathes of sea around Malaysia and off Vietnam are now being scoured for signs of the Beijing-bound Boeing 777, which vanished on Saturday with 239 people on board. There was no distress call.

Aging Gracefully

Aging brings a lot of changes more so to women. As a woman hits the golden years, her skin's elasticity is almost a thing of the past. The facial  muscle sags, so do the rest of her body. The eyelids :"fold". The bags under eyes become more prominent, making the sagging face look older. I used to "fear" growing old. The notion of a wrinkled-sagging-old face  gave me the jitters. Now that I've reached "that" phase in my life... well, it's not that bad. I just need to learn to grow old gracefully and graciously. I really have to start eating right, exercise regularly, keep a happy attitude and bask in the knowledge that aside from my family, God  loves me!

I still look forward to dressing up and putting on makeup when the occasion calls. The only trouble is I find it hard to tame  my unruly hair. A friend of mine "does" her hair wonderfully by putting on a hairpiece. Here, click for rachel welch hairpiece and see her fave hairpiece of all.  FYI, Raquel Welck is past 70 and she's still gorgeous! Maybe, a great-looking hairpiece is an option afterall.

Dear BIR Commissioner: Doctors are Noble and Not "Cheats"

The medical profession suffered another blow from BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) when the agency approved the release of its latest advertisement regarding the payment of taxes. The AD shows a lady doctor piggybacking on a teacher with the caption : “When you don’t pay your taxes, you’re a burden to those who do. Do your share. knowyourtaxes.ph.”

The Philippine Medical Association headed by Dr. Leo Olarte, voiced out the sentiments of the physicians that the said AD generalized all doctors as tax cheats. The PMA asked the BIR to take down tha offending AD but Commissioner Kim Henares said that AD in question was not offending or insulting since the print AD was a statement of fact.

What is wrong with this?

Yes. There are doctors who do not pay the correct taxes  but there are other professionals who do not pay the correct taxes too. Heck!  I guess most politician and their cohorts do not pay the correct taxes! Why not go after these people? Why not go after those who "fix" their taxes c/o legitimate BIR representatives?

The print ad was in bad taste. Disrespectful. Offending. Insulting. Demeaning. What was Kim Henares thinking? 

Henares forgot to consider the nobleness of the medical profession. True. There are doctors who are filthy rich because of their practice as there are doctors who barely make ends meet because they have dedicated their life in "really" helping those who need their services. It does not follow that those rich doctors and "poor" doctors  are tax cheats!   A survey of the best paying job indicated that doctors ranked only 5th.

I know a particular doctor who does pro bono surgeries on a weekly basis. He said that due to the BIR ruling, he now has to charge his charity patients 100PHP instead of them presenting an affidavit of free medical services.Why? An affidavit costs at least 300 PHP therefore it's cheaper  (for the patient) to just pay 100 PHP professional fee.

In connection, a brief demonstration was led by Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) and Gabriela on Friday, March 6.  Shoulder to shoulder, teachers and doctors condemned the BIR AD that portrays doctors as tax evaders. The  protesting group challenged the BIR to go after  conglomerates and business tycoons instead of doctors (and other professionals).

Kim Henares. What gives? Why are you so fixated with doctors?

The Reason for the Season

 It's Christmas already? The last post I did was in reference to the victims of super typhoon Yolanda. And now look, tomorrow is Christmas and I have not written anything in between my last post and this post.

I think it's just right  for me to say that I (and the rest of the family) went through some trying patches in our life in the past 5-6 months. It's an understatement to say that the trials were minimal. On the contrary. It was predicament after predicament and sometimes, situations overlap each other.

There is a reason for each trial that one goes through.  I know that these trials are not from God for "God is good" all the time. It's just that sometimes, God allows us to experience trials to "test" our faith on Him. People fail us. Money fails us. But God never fails. Jesus never fails. Prayers never fail.

This is one Christmas that I did not go gaga shopping for gifts to give. I think I have become stingy in a sense since,  really, making a living is hard. Of course I have gifts for my kids and grandkids but that's where I draw the line. I have become  a proponent of a non-commercial Christmas celebration.

What is Christmas? For Christians all over the world, it is the appointed day that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. True, Jesus Christ was born sometime in April or May  but in this instance, is the date really that important?

Merry Christmas to all of you. Remember that:

Jesus is the Reason for the Season.

Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan): A Wave of Censure

It has been day 10 since the tragic event brought about by the most forceful typhoon ever to make landfall this year in the Philippines (and the world for that matter), and still the Philippine government's rescue, recovery and relief operations in the affected areas in the Visayas are still in their infancy. If not for foreign aid and the private sector, the Yolanda victims would be akin to zombies now.

photo courtesy of www.china.org.cn

There are those who are offended by the seemingly endless gripes and negativity of netizens regarding the government’s response to “Yolanda”. I get the point. It’s not nice to “bash” even your worst enemy. However, when we are talking about the safety, relief and eventual rehabilitation of disrupted lives, I think I’ll take on Peque Gallaga’s side this time. Of course I stand united with the Filipino people regarding “Yolanda”.  I and the rest of my family are doing what we can to aid the victims of Yolanda, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll just close my eyes on the incompetence and inefficiency of the leaders of the community. My gripe is not (primarily) on the seemingly snail-pace deployment of relief but more on the apparently non-existent contingency plan of the government in dealing with the aftermath of a disastrous event.

What have these cabinet members been doing? Probably grand-staging behind their desks on a daily basis. Feeling important attending meetings and other behind-the-desk activities. Busy with their calculators in estimating their mid-year and year-end bonuses. Siphoning off money from the Filipino people to support their (and their family’s and cohort’s) grand lifestyle. Formulating the chain of commands in the event of an emergency situation but forgetting to create a plausible and practical system to deal with the problem. It’s like telling your child to cook a meal but failing to give him the proper training and instruction on cooking that meal.

The Filipinos have short-term memory. Look! Impeached  Ex-President Erap is mayor of Manila! The wife, son and daughter of Pres. Marcos are elected officials!

Filipinos are highly sentimental. Look! BS Aquino is president, thanks to his famous parents! Bong Revilla (and his wife, son, brother and sister), Tito Sotto are public officials just because they are famous actors.

We have spoiled our elected officials by us Filipinos rallying to compensate for their shortcomings. It has always been like that. We have been patient and tolerant of our elected officials for the longest time that we have helped mold them into what they are today - corrupt, incompetent, inefficient, indolent, dishonest and arrogant.

Does a “united” nation in times of plenty and distress equate to a nation where inapt public officials get away with almost everything? Just because you chose to elect an ineffectual fool (better yet, fools as the distinction is not exclusive to one person), you expect the rest of the Filipinos to just bear and grin, then compensate for the lack? Do we say thank you Korina for your donation of blue and yellow slippers with your name stamped on it?  Thank you Jejomar Binay for your packs of goodies with your face and name stamped on each bag.

I personally see no harm with the wave of criticism hitting the government. I think these clamors are like fuses propelling the government’s snail-paced operations into speed.  Hopefully, the din of criticism will also push the government into action in formulating an effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation system for our country.

What? We are just a poor country and have no means for such?  President BS Aquino’s PDAF alone is in the trillions! I don’t even know how many zeros there are in a trillion.

When the DILG top honcho announce to the world (via television) that it is not the Philippine government’s top priority to look for possible survivors of “Yolanda”… what do we do?

 Say “aaaahhh… okaaaayy... yordamhan!”

Puh-leeze....

MMDA's Bus Segregation: Please Do Not Litter

Commuters from Cavite are experiencing difficulty upon the implementation of provincial bus ban. No provincial buses are allowed to traverse the roads of Metro Manila except those that have terminals in Manila. This scheme was implemented to decongest the streets of Manila to prevent traffic and its related pollution. So, commuters coming from Cavite (and part of Batangas) are to get off at the newly constructed bus depot at Coastal Mall, which is located at the corner of Coastal Road and Airport Road. The thing is, the scheme was not well-thought off. Chaos ensued on the first week of implementation as commuters and even bus drivers have no idea where to go. There were a few MMDA people giving out print flyers and everyone scrambled to get a copy in the hopes of reading instructions and information on the new bus scheme/segregation.  Here's what's written on the piece of flyer: Please do not litter.

Singing in the Rain!

Tabby's first time to splash and dash in the rain! She was so excited and happy that she kept singing and humming while in the rain. The umbrella was pretty much a piece of decoration as she kept on throwing it away every now and then. In the end, I had to give her a bath as she was soaked anyway. The joys of childhood... priceless...

D2's "Dura-Dura" Gang Saga

Alabang-Zapote Road is a long stretch of oftentimes congested roadway that links Zapote, Las Piñas to Alabang, Muntinglupa. One is inclined to think that traversing Zapote-Alabang Road is safe enough since it’s quite a busy road with policemen, traffic aids and barangay tanod peppering the route.  On the contrary.

I was busy preparing dinner when D2 called at around 4:33 P.M yesterday.  She said that she was victimized on the jeep en route to Zapote. She was fine et al  but lost her pouch of chargers, USBs and other laptop/iPhone paraphernalia. That she was currently on board a police mobile car with the suspect in tow. Huh? Rewind please.

D2 got off from work at 4:00 P.M. Wanting to beat the afternoon rush hour; she opted to ride an empty jeepney near West Gate, Alabang going to Zapote, Las Piñas.  Near Alabang Hills, a group of passengers flagged down the jeepney and boarded.

D2 was sitting by the jeepney’s rear entry point.  Seated directly in front of her was a fat guy and beside that fat guy was a man wearing black shirt. Let’s tag the black-shirted man as Guy 1. On D2’s right side was Guy 2 then Guy 3.  The moment Guy 3 seated himself, he started belching and heaving, ready to vomit. After a hundred meters or so, Guy 3 decided to alight since he was about to vomit (allegedly). He made a big show of gagging on his own vomit in front of D2 then got off at Toyota Alabang. The fat guy alighted too so Guy 1 was now sitting directly in front of D2. 

Guy 1 quipped: “Miss, may suka po kayo”. To which D2 replied “anong suka?” as she thought there was no way Guy 3 could have vomited on her. To D2’s horror, she realized that her shoulders, hair and bag had saliva (vomit?!) all over!  Guy 1 was very solicitous in trying to wipe off the “vomit” from D2’s bag. D2, on the other hand, kept on telling Guy 1 to stop helping her as she was starting to have this nagging feeling that something was amiss.  Guy 2, the one sitting beside D2, was seemingly fidgeting and fiddling as D2's bag was being purposely and forcefully pushed towards Guy 2.  Guy 1 was trying to flip over D2’s bag and kept on saying that there was still spit on the bag’s back. 

Guy 1 then got off near Pilar Village, less than 200 meters from Toyota Alabang where Guy 3 and fat guy got off.  Guy 2 got off right after SM Southmall. Little did D2 know that the whole scenario was being scrutinized by two high school students. At the Moonwalk Junction, D2 noticed that her bag suddenly became lighter. She took a look inside and exclaimed that she lost her pouch! The two high-schoolers exclaimed: “sabi na nga ba e! Dura-Dura gang ang mga yon!” (dura is spit)

The high school students pointed out to D2 a mobile car parked along the road. D2 got off near Lozada and ran to the mobile car to tell her story. The very efficient policemen quickly asked D2 to get on the police car hoping to spot any of the cohorts along the road. A few meters away, D2 spotted Guy 2 riding another jeepney. She quickly told one of the policemen and they raced to cut-off the jeepney. 

This  is  Guy 2

Guy 2 is Arnold

 To cut  short Guy 2 was apprehended. He called his cohorts and told them to give back D2’s pouch. The accomplices left D2’s pouch in the restroom of Jollibee Casimiro so D2 was able to recover it.

By the time my son and I reached the sub-station, I was quite decided to tell D2 not file a formal complaint against the culprit. I even talked to the suspect and was quietly “sermonizing” him on the demerits of what he has done. The commanding officer of the sub-station encouraged us to lodge a complaint  against the suspect since the so called Dura-Dura gang has been terrorizing commuters in and around Las Piñas for some time now. 

  

After 5 hours, we were finally able to go home - tired but wiser about double-word-entry MOs: budol-budol; dugo-dugo and dura-dura.

  

Event Stylist: Party Styling Divas: Tabby Turns Two!

Our baby girl turned two! The girls wanted a simple celebration so they decided to hold a "family and close friends" only party at Mcdo! It was a "Candy Crush" themed party so we "hired" ourselves, Party Styling Divas, to do the centerpieces et al. We were not able to really decorate the party venue because it was against McDonald's policy.

For the centerpiece, D3 created a candy-filled dispenser, mini ceramic pots with wafer sticks, marshmallows and everything sweet! The cake was not exactly a "cake" but mini red velvet cupcakes topped with fondant candy crush designs. For party favors, I made some colored "chocolates" in cute animal shapes, than wrapped them in colorful Japanese paper, cellophane and ribbons.

The party did not turn out as we planned it to be - simple and non-stressful. The party turned out to be a parteee.. so many people came! The staff of McDonald were on their toes! I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Who wouldn't? Everyone was high on sugar!

Folded Clothes No More!

My maids decided to go on a loooong vacation which means to say, they  have decided to seek "greener" pastures. I would not have mind IF I didn't have to work for a living, attend to numerous church activities and ministries AND take care of a budding "tornado" of a little girl. Look at the photo above. I spent an hour dutifully folding clothes. I just had to go check something and in less than a minute, this is what greeted me! Noooooooo!!!....