Pacquiao Defeated Cotto!

I know this is a day late and a lot have already made posts regarding the fight... However, I still want to say to the world that I am glad and proud that I am a Filipino in this lifetime!

Manny Pacquiao is a living example of a person who had humble beginnings but is now one of the most influential and inspiring people in the world. In spite of all the glory, he still remains humble...that's what I admire most about him. Congratulations Manny!

As for Miguel Cotto, I admire his sportsmanship. He even bothered to go up to Manny and give him a hug. Cotto is a great warrior too, he lasted longer than the others but he's not just tough enough for The Pacman.

For the next few days (or weeks) the Philippines will surely remain in a hazy state due to Pacman's victory. I just hope that after the celebrations, everyone will go back to their normal lives and work hard not only for themselves but also for the country. Elections are coming up and we have to do our duty to choose leaders who will help us make changes! But before that, we should cheer on and vote for Efren Peñaflorida to be the ultimate hero of CNN Heroes. The guy needs our help so he can help more children!

I am proud to be Filipino. I am happy I am Filipino. I believe that we still have a lot to share to the world not only with our natural resources but also with our talents too! The Filipino race is a brave and honorable race. In my own little way, I will do what I can to make my country proud and help restore it back to its glory!

Ninoy: The Filipino Is Worth Dying For

This exact date twenty-six years ago, I was still a one year old tot who played with sand on the beach. My family spent time together and celebrated my mother's birthday a day ahead. August 21, 1983 was a Sunday that's why we were at the beach with our relatives. That day became a memorable day in history, when we got home, the grown-ups found out about the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr., better known as Ninoy Aquino to Filipinos.

Ninoy sacrificed a lot for the nation and with his death, many changes were brought to the Philippines. His spouse Corazon Aquino became a president of the country as she was supported by the people who helped her overthrow a dictatorship.

Ninoy did not die in vain and his spirit will keep on burning for the country. Such a remarkable man will never be forgotten ever.

The Words and Inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi

Some pages of the book...Click to enlarge image ;-)

Be the change you want to see in the world. - Mahatma Gandhi

Yesterday I went walking around the mall and stumbled upon another book sale. I love book sales and every time I stick my nose into one, I always end up finding treasures I never let go off my hands.

As I was rummaging through the old, previously owned, and new books, I cam upon this shelf of new books still sealed in plastic. Some stuff from Blue Mountain Arts caught my attention and my heart really beat faster when I saw one of the volumes: The Words and Inspiration of Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi was a prominent peace leader when he was still alive and even now, decades since his death, he continues to inspire people from all over the world. Born Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2 October 1869, the Indian political and spiritual leader was a pioneer of resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience founded upon total non-violence has led his nation to independence from the British.

Gandhi was born into a middle class family and studied to become a lawyer but his love for his country and fellowmen made him give up all of the possible wealth he could have achieved. By giving into his calling and doing what he was supposed to do, Gandhi gained something more that inspired many nations and many generations all over the world.

Gandhi is more known to the world as Mahatma Gandhi. Mahatma is a Sanskrit word that means Great Soul, and it was first applied to Gandhi by another great man, Rabindranath Tagore.

Gandhi has touched lives on many people and improved the living conditions of his fellowmen. Through non-violent protests, the man has promoted peace without having to harm other people. He became the concrete example of a man who conquered his enemies without using firearms. His wisdom, tolerance, and belief of a better future and justice brought him to his victory.

A man who could have worn a suit with a tie chose to wear the traditional Indian dhoti and shawl, lived a simple life, yet overthrew an empire and regained the country for his fellowmen. A man whose gentle ways sent out roaring messages that brought down walls of disillusionment and tyranny. A person who will remain idolized by people who love peace and who believe that there is still something good to look forward to in this otherwise disenchanted world.

Mahatma Gandhi is officially honored in his beloved India as the Father of the Nation and his birthday, October 2, is a national holiday. It is also the International Day of Non-Violence.

Thank you for the inspiration Great Soul... With what you have shown the world, we could always give peace a chance...

Rest In Peace and Thank You President Corazon C. Aquino

artwork by KDLIG



SALAMAT...



Ipinagmamalaki ko na ako ay isang Pilipino.

You may not be her first, her last, or her only...

You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before, she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters?

She’s not perfect, you aren’t either, the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, admit to being human & making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can.

She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break; her heart.

So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze, and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.


-Robert Nesta Marley a.k.a. Bob Marley

Goodbye Tita Cory

Like that morning in June 25, 2009 I woke up emotional and distraught. The time for one great woman to return to her Creator finally came. Former Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino passed away today, August 1, 2009 at 0318h.

I know a lot of people have already made blog posts since the news broke out and I would not want to say anything more than what had already been said.

To the woman who served as a mother to the Philippines before, during, and after her term; and the woman whose strength and faith inspires me and makes me proud to be a Filipino woman, Tita Cory, rest in peace. Thank you for everything you offered to your country and fellowmen!

Rest in Peace Jacko

Michael Jackson is dead...and a lot of bloggers in the blogosphere are blogging about him just to get traffic. So sad... Even though MJ had his own share of faults, he was a person and a music icon a lot of people look up to.

I don't want to write much. My heart aches because almost every song he sang since he was a kid is a part of my life soundtrack.

I need a working turntable... time to dust off those classic Jackson 5 LPs...

Rest in peace Jacko... your spirit and music will live on...

Santeria a la Maura

Maura singing Santeria

I enjoy watching Maura, an authentic Brasileira singing and doing covers of songs I also happen to love. I have even subscribed to her YouTube channel because I seem not to get enough of her. Hahaha! I love her voice and I think she's got the spunk to make it big someday. I hope somebody signs her up!

I love Santeria. I am still a Sublime fan. However, I think this version is cool!

Happy weekend!

MY Quarter

Where can you find two great people situated opposite each other for eternity?  Only on a coin... an American quarter dollar specifically...

George Washington and Helen Keller can be found on an Alabama quarter.  I happened to find this coin in my purse yesterday and I don't friggin' know how it got there.  Maybe somebody gave it to me as change.  I don't know who...  

I was just amazed with the words on the coin... LIBERTY on one side...COURAGE on the other.  Words that describe what these two great people possessed and fought for when they were still living.  

Why did the quarter come into my possession?  To remind me to have courage in order to fight for liberty?  On what ground?  On what war?  On what situation?  I don't really know...

I am keeping the quarter...  Maybe the greatness of Keller and Washington will rub off on me...someday...someday...

Post Number 100: Thank You Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis of Assisi who was born Giovanni Francesco Bernardone was a friar who founded the Franciscan order or the Order of the Friars Minor. He is the patron of saint of Italy, animals, and the environment. St. Francis was the first recorded account of the stigmata phenomenon.

Weird guy. He was born a rich man yet the abandoned everything and made a vow of poverty, and devoted his life in service to God.

He'll be playing a major role in the next few nonths... Update you about that later on...

For now, I have nothing more to say but "thank you St. Francis".

A Robert Frost Memory

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost

Robert Frost is one of my mother's favorite poets and the last four lines of this poem are on her office desk. I remember reading the words out loud whenever I went to her office. We tackled this poem in high school and I was not too surprised when it was discussed since I already knew whose poem it was.

Those were the days...

Rest in Peace Francis Magalona

For most of us who grew up in the '90s the name Francis Magalona aka Francis M is synonymous to the dawn of rap music in the Philippines. Most of us who were young kids who grew up during that era were introduced to "Philippine Rap" through the music of Francis M.

What I love about the music of Kiko are his messages of nationalism which make me proud that I am Filipino.

Today is such a sad day in the Philippines because Kiko finally left this world and succumbed to his illness. His memory will live on through his music and through his vision. May he rest in peace.

Francis M with Parokya Ni Edgar performing Kaleidoscope World

So many faces, so many races
Different voices, different choices
Some are mad, while others laugh
Some live alone with no better half
Others grieve while others curse
And others mourn behind a big black hearse
Some are pure and some half-bred
Some are sober and some are wasted
Some are rich because of fate and
Some are poor with no food on their plate
Some stand out while others blend
Some are fat and stout while some are thin
Some are friends and some are foes
Some have some while some have most
Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world
Some are great and some are few
Others lie while some tell the truth
Some say poems and some do sing
Others sing through their guitar strings
Some know it all while some act dumb
Let the bassline strum to the bang of the drum
Some can swim while some will sink
And some will find their minds and think
Others walk while others run
You can't talk peace and have a gun
Some are hurt and start to cry
Don't ask me how don't ask me why
Some are friends and some are foes
Some have some while some have most
Every color and every hue
Is represented by me and you
Take a slide in the slope
Take a look in the kaleidoscope
Spinnin' round, make it twirl
In this kaleidoscope world

Wilde Words

"Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!"

-The Ballad of Reading Gaol, Oscar Wilde




Earlier tonight I was reading a book, a book my twin friends gave to me for my birthday last year. I have already read the story years ago because a friend of mine lent me her copy yet earlier I've decided to refresh my memory by reading my own copy which I haven't even bothered to open yet.

Just a few pages into the novel, the author quoted the lines of the poem by Oscar Wilde.

Each man (woman) kills the thing he(she) loves...

Agree or disagree???

A Remarkable Man

If this guy had not been shot dead 25 years ago he would have turned 76 years old today. Benigno Aquino Jr. better known as Ninoy was a former senator, governor, vice governor and mayor. Ninoy was a leader of the opposition to the rule of then president Ferdinand Marcos.

Ninoy came from a family involved with political heavyweights which may have influenced him to become the youngest municipal mayor at 22 and as the youngest governor of the country at 27. When he was 29 Ninoy became the governor of Tarlac and by the time he reached 34 he made history by becoming the youngest elected senator in the country.

Ninoy was so vocal about his views towards the Marcos regime and pointed out the wrongdoings done by the president and his cronies. When Martial Law was declared on September 21, 1972 Ninoy was among the first ones to be arrested and imprisoned on fabricated charges of illegal possession of firearms, subversion, and murder.

In April of 1975 Ninoy stated that he was going on a hunger strike as a protest to the injustices of his military trial. During his hunger strike Ninoy relied on salt tablets, amino acids, sodium bicarbonate and two glasses of water every day. Ninoy lost 60 pounds off his original weight yet managed to keep himself Alive.

On November 25, 1977 the government-controlled Military Commission No. 2 found Ninoy guilty of all the charges against him and was sentenced to death by firing squad. Ninoy and many other people especially his family and supporters knew that Marcos would not let Ninoy suffer a death that would make him into a martyr.

In 1978 Ninoy was allowed to take part in the elections for Parliament and urged his supporters to organize and run 21 candidates in Metro Manila. All the candidates of his political party LABAN lost due to widespread election fraud.

In March 1980 Ninoy suffered a heart attach which could have been triggered by his 7 years in prison mostly in a solitary cell. He was taken to the Philippine Heart Centered and suffered from a second heart attack. The doctors did not want to perform a coronary bypass on Ninoy because they did not want to be involved in a controversy and Ninoy himself did not want to be operated on by local doctors for the fear that there may be foul play.

The first lady Imelda Marcos made a visit to Ninoy in May 1980 and asked him if he would like to leave for the United States that evening but he has to agree on two things that if he leaves he will return; and while in the US he should not speak ill against the Marcos regime. Ninoy and his family then flew off to the US.

It was in a hospital in Dallas, Texas that Ninoy was operated on and he made quick recovery. He broke his "pact" with the Marcoses and did what he wanted to do, he spoke out! Years lated Ninoy decided to go back to the Philippines, fully aware of the dangers that awaited him.

On August 21, 1983 Ninoy was shot in the head upon his descent from the plane on the Manila International Airport which is now named after him as the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

"The Filipino is worth dying for."

Ninoy may be known to most people nowadays as the guy on the 500 Peso bill, as the father of Kris Aquino, the late husband of then President Cory Aquino, etc., etc....

But who was Ninoy and what did he do to inspire people to stand up against oppression?

Honestly I am not a big Ninoy fan unlike some people I know who call him a hero. True he can be called a hero in his own right but I'm sorry I am not that convinced with labeling.

Then why did I make this post?

I find Ninoy a remarkable man. Without his intelligence and sarcasm against the oppressors, he would not have caused a stir in society and the people of the nation may have remained deaf and mute towards the reality that there was no freedom during that sad era of Philippine history.

Was/Is Ninoy's death worth it? At that time it might have been worth it, democracy had been "restored"...but if you ask me if his martyrdom 25 years ago still has an impact on our current state, I don't know, I can't speak for myself.

In my humble opinion, we need another hero to "save" us from this ugly spell we are all in. Even though we try so damn hard to live our lives as honestly and as conscientiously as we can, there are people in higher positions either in the government or in the private sector who exploit us.

We are all Filipinos yet we exploit each other...and some of our "trusted" leaders even sell us out to people from other parts of the world, allowing them to exploit our resources either the natural ones, or labor...cheap labor...tsk tskk...

So where am I heading with this post? Hmm... I don't really know... There's no conclusion yet because the sad sorry state our country experienced during Martial Law is still being experienced nowadays...in more discreet yet more morbid ways...

Bottom line:

If Ninoy were still alive today and saw the changes he wanted for our nation, he would have become a grandfather playing with his grandchildren, a father who have guided his children well, a husband who went through challenges with his wife, a man who would have made the Philippines a better place to live...

Since the guy died too early, and had no chance to fulfill my what-if list, I just wish him to rest in peace.

Happy birthday old guy!

Pure Genius

If you do not recognize the face of this person, most likely you have just entered the atmosphere of the Earth! Yes the picture is not serious, it is even kind of weird to see such an old guy sticking out his tongue like that. But then the guy is a genius, an influential international figure, ergo, he can do anything he wants (or wanted...R.I.P.).

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He is popular for his theory of relativity and mass-energy equivalence which is expressed as E = mc². This guy received the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics and was one of the most remarkable people who have walked the planet.

Einstein was the personification of pure intellect. He is proclaimed by a lot of people to be the genius among geniuses because in his musings he discovered that the universe was not as it seemed.

I can go on ranting about this venerated man but that might take up too much of my space and time. However, I want to share quotes which are attributed to this really cool and super smart guy.

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.

All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.

Anyone who doesn't take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.

Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.

God always takes the simplest way.

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice.

I am a deeply religious nonbeliever - this is a somewhat new kind of religion.

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.

Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.

Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.

Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.

The devil has put a penalty on all things we enjoy in life. Either we suffer in health or we suffer in soul or we get fat.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.

True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness.

Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.

You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else.


This one is my favorite:

A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?

Señor Pablo

The great artist Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso (whew! such a looong name) who was born on October 25, 1881 and died on April 8, 1973, was an Andalusian-Spanish painter, sculptor, and draftsman. He's best known for being one of the co-founders of the Cubist movement. Picasso is one of the revolutionary artists of the century having created a great impact in the art world and inspired a new generation of artists and enthusiasts.

Picasso already showed great skill as an artist at a young age and later on developed into a better artist. He studied art in Madrid and made his way to Paris which was then the art capital of Europe. He divided most of his time between Barcelona and Paris during the early part of the twentieth century.

Picasso's art has had several periods and most of his popular works have significant subjects either the people in his life or depictions of social and historic events. He was also known for having several lovers, a wife and four children.

Picasso's Guernica is considered to be one of his masterpieces and it is indeed a sight to behold!

Picasso lived his life in a way which was not the norm during his time. He had famous friends from various fields and he had Communist political views.

Picasso's last words were said to be: “Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can’t drink any more.”

Picasso was one of the brilliant men who walked the earth. His art has inspired a lot of people to break the barriers of classicism and helped paved the way for modern art.

I love this guy and his art!