The sweet taste of goodbye kisses away all the bitter memories of you.

the smile i gave, the look he made....ahhh! perfect! oh my, my lee min ho! here i am, your son ye jin! :-)

Cruel Indifference

To wait seems forever,
for I have stayed here so long.
To hope fades with a glimmer,
for I have almost lived in your shadow.

My world stopped moving,
but it didn't matter to you, I know.
Now I think I made it right this time,
because...

To continue is senseless,
'cause you shun even my slightest attempt.
To love you is worthless,
'cause you break my heart with your cruel indifference.

The love I had wanted to give you is now up for anyone to get. The question is, will anyone ever take hold of it?

Manny: The Plight of the Human Spirit

After his convincing victory over the much bigger and heavier Antonio Margarito, Manny Pacquiao’s luster has been elevated to a level much greater than any other boxer in the modern era. It is without a doubt Manny’s most hard fought battle. I guess that out of all of Manny’s fights, this one deserves every right to be considered the most dramatic one. It is the fight that bared all the aspects of the superstar pugilist’s personality in and out of the ring. It showed us that he possesses both a fighting heart and a compassionate one at that.

Going into the fight, the odds were clearly in favor of Manny. It is an anomaly by logical reasoning since he is in fact smaller and lighter than Margarito. There have been so many David and Goliath stories in the past. Manny’s tale does it in reverse. He is the David that has Goliath’s power. It seems as if we’re made to believe he can put any big man down that gets in his way. Now that’s what you call a myth.

And so Manny, in his usual relentless style of boxing pummeled through a dazzled Margarito, stunned him with lightning quick punches which Margarito often never saw coming. By the end of the fourth round, Margarito’s right eye was cut badly and swollen. It was only then was he beginning to feel the real power of the little man he was facing.

The bigger man had his own moment in the sixth round as he pushed Manny to the corner and hit him with big body shots that for a moment scared the hell out of those who love the national fist, including myself. But like a true champion, Manny moved on to win the succeeding rounds with accurate punches to Margarito’s head which caused the poor man’s eyes to swell even more.

By the end of the tenth round, Margarito was ceaselessly being hammered by Manny’s countless blows. The fight should have ended there but Margarito never stopped fighting. He refused to quit even if it meant endangering his own life. And although, the referee often checked if Margarito could still see after having such a bad cut, it seemed the agony for both fighters was long enough to show us the true plight of the human spirit, the courage of a warrior’s heart and his compassion toward a fellowman.

I have never seen anything like this in recent times. Or maybe I have, but only in films. The courageous Manny we often saw attacking at a chance of knocking out an opponent was human enough to allow his foe to finish his game. He clearly never took advantage of the fact that Margarito could barely see and hit him, rather it became the reason he didn’t want to punish him any more than he had already received.

At the end of the fight, the result was not as important to me as the manner in which Manny handled the entire game. I was in awe. Not only did he prove himself worthy to be listed among the all-time greats in boxing, he has somewhat proved to be one of the few inspirational figures of this era. His rise is a modern day fairy tale and his legend just keeps getting bigger and brighter.

how do i block a stalker?

Because we live in a democracy, we have to live with the majority's choice no matter if it doesn't conform to our own. But there are factors that make a popular choice and not all of those are necessarily about credentials.

It is my dream to see voters who choose a leader based not on emotion but rather on qualification. The inability of a leader will manifest each time no matter how many good people he has around him. You can't hide incompetence. It will burst out however way you cover it.

The success of a leader is the success of the people. In this case, the inability of the leader has caused its people to suffer. It's true what they say, candidates don't win or lose the elections, it is the people who do. Hay, Heaven help us!

It's scary to see a leader who still could muster a smile after a hostage incident that led to the death of many lives...He doesn't even have to fake a sad face. Isn't the mere idea of innocent people getting killed reason enough to feel depressed? If human life is not that big a deal for him, then what else is? How could someone be so cold-hearted?

The hostage taker was desperate and ready to take lives that's why you negotiate. But you don't negotiate by agitating the hostage taker even more. Clearly, those who were supposed to take charge were just as helpless as everyone else. It shouldn't have taken 11 long hours to end the situation, and it shouldn't have ended that bloody way. Media didn't help as well. Where there's freedom, there's also responsibility and compassion. This is like a nightmare that will take a long time to forget.

My dream is to see a Philippines that is free from hatred, bitterness and division. How I'd love to see Filipinos moving towards the same direction no matter what social, political and religious advocacy they have. I envision a country finally eradicating crab mentality, selfishness and cynicism. I wish the wounds of the past will be healed quicker so we may be able to move on and start anew. Let us start a new era with positivism, with love and compassion. Let us work together not towards finding a fault but towards finding a solution. Let us take away all the negativity that's been hindering us from seeing the right path.. and may the love of God ultimately reign in our hearts.

My birthday

Yes, it's my birthday! This day comes once in a year and it's been a habit to post about anything each time this day comes. I'll be more spontaneous on this one. It takes a longer time when I think slowly because I have a tendency to edit/re-edit the stuff I write about before I even post it.

Now, I'm very thankful for the wonderful birthday greetings I've been receiving since last night. I never really thought I had that many friends. Really, I'm so grateful!

On this special day of my life, I thank God for allowing me to see the beauty of the world around me. I'm grateful to him for the life He gave me, for the loving family that I belong to and for the friends He gave along the way.

I thank God for the love, hope, peace, joy that this life has been giving me. Words aren't enough to express my gratitude for the strength He was able to provide me in the many tribulations I had faced in the past. I pray to continue on with my battles in life, with Him beside me.

My wish is for my loved ones to stay happy and healthy for my happiness is deeply dependent on their happiness and well-being. I feel so blessed and loved by those who know me. Feeling their presence, their love convinces me more that God has always been good to me.

I pray that love will live in the hearts of people so nobody would demonstrate hate. May all of us live our lives to the fullest and that whatever our calling is, we may serve it to glorify God.

Whatever lies ahead, may the greater good always prevail. And if God will ask me now for a birthday gift, I'll choose to have Gilbert's health...I love my dog so much. An angel for a partner is a possible second option. Haha! Now that one took away all the seriousness from this essay.

Happy birthday to me!!!!

God is good all the time!!!!

My Gilbert

It's just disturbing that some people dwell on hate and negativity as their way to get sympathy. I'm never buying that. Why can't they speak proudly of their merits rather than taint an opponent's name? God himself is the symbol of love and I find it ungodly when a person chooses hate over love.

I pray that whatever the outcome of the coming elections, it will be for the ultimate good of the people and that whoever wins the presidency will finally unite this country and serve as an example of love, peace and dignity for all of us to follow. God bless the Philippines!

You are

You are
the earth that I come home to,
the wind that blows me to places
I've never been to.

You are
the fire that burns within my heart,
the water that gives life to my blood.

You are everything my life is about,
that one person I see in a crowd.

You bring happiness even in the saddest of time,
your smile leads me to the glory of light.

You are what you mean to me.
You are the colors that I wish you to be.

You are mine...
only in my mind.

Watched the Pacquiao-Clottey fight again with my dad. Goodness, I laughed when Mario Lopez said Clottey didn't seem to be as beat-up as Pacquiao. Of course his face would look clean, he just practically covered it the whole time.

My presidential bet

A couple of hours ago, I happened to tune in to a television forum featuring presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro. To begin with, I am one of those who have not decided yet on which candidate to vote. As I watched Gibo answer questions of various concerns, I started to really get all excited by the idea that finally, someone with genuine wisdom and strong moral/spiritual core is being given the chance to serve.

Gibo makes perfect sense. His answers are very practical and logical. He's an eloquent speaker whose arguments are rooted from a very sound moral judgment. He doesn't find pleasure in tainting an opponent's character and does not need celebrities to speak on his behalf. Instead, his conscientious responses to important questions elevate him to the top.

I see him as a man of great moral values with a strong faith in God. The calmness in his rhetoric also adds up to a complete package for an ideal leader. I have yet to see him lose his temper. After watching Gibo and hearing all he had to say, I am convinced that only he can put this country back in the game.

But then, as Gibo himself believes, governance is not a monopoly. A political leader needs to seek the assistance of political advisers, moral and spiritual leaders, etc. because the moment he thinks he knows every thing, it becomes his downfall. Some may not agree with this but it is the truth. A leader must be able to analyze from perspectives other than his own or we're talking dictatorship here.

Come May 10th, I'll be one of millions of Filipinos who will exercise their right to vote. I wanted to skip this one for the lack of qualified candidates to choose from but Gibo convinced me to do otherwise.

Win or lose, I will support Gibo in whatever endeavor he chooses to engage in. I trust he will do only what is right. Yes, finally I trust someone in government. Gibo is my man.