Happy New Year and Welcome 2013

Its New Year's Eve and a lot or should I say most Filipinos are so excited about it. On the day of Christmas Eve is the busiest time for most of us. For me and my friend we woke up really early in the morning of December 31st to go to the wet market to buy all the things we need for "Medya Notche". At 5 AM the streets going to Pasay Public Market is already crowded. Vendors and market goers are almost everywhere. It is practically chaotic!

Filipinos normally triple their expenses during this time of the year maybe because we have a lot of superstitious beliefs that we religiously follow. Here are some that I have observed:

• 12 Round Shaped Fruits which will represents one for each month of the coming year. It is believed that it brings luck in the house.Also, you have to make sure that the fruits are sweet to some the fruit should not also contain black seeds.
• Firecrackers to through out bad luck or make too much noise to scare away evil/bad spirits.
• Serve and eat noodles (pancit, sphaghetti) at the stroke of midnight. The longer the noodles are the better. It signifies long life.
• Make sure that all debt are paid before the new years eve. It is bad luck to have debt during the new year because it would mean you would have financial problem the whole year. 
• Don't prepare milk fish and chicken for "medya notche". This two are symbols of scarcity of food. Accordingly, if this is served during "medya notche" you would have food problem during the year.
• Wear polka dots on New Years Eve. The polka dots signifies abundance of money.
• Prepare sticky foods such as maja blanka, palitaw, sapin sapin. Palitaw and sapin sapin are made up of gluttonous rice. They are believed that it brings good fortune on the New Year.
• Scatter coins around the house like drawers, bedroom, table tops etc. This signifies prosperity on the coming year.
• Open all windows and doors to bring good fortune in and turn on all lights so the coming year would be bright and light.
• It is also believed that you shouldn't be cleaning on the first day of the new year as you may swept good fortune. Also, during the first day of the new year you shouldn't be spending anything as it is believed that your thriftiness foretells your financial capability and money management for the whole year.

And the list goes on and on depending on the region or island. Sometimes beliefs would vary because it would tailor fit the culture within a certain group. This is also the reason why Filipinos flocks on shopping malls and public market to buy all these things and to make sure that they have something prepared on the new years eve.

For me at some point this is good because it helps the cash flow in the country going. One of the reason why I would consider it as a good practice because somehow it brings hope to the people. It brings about the optimism to every Filipino that the New Year somehow is a better year for all of them. This maybe the reason why Filipinos try so hard to have the grandest new year celebration because they believed that if they would have everything set on their table it brings them luck and good fortune on the new year.

What about in your country or in your place? Do you have beliefs during New Year? what are your experiences? Tell me more...

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2013-A New Hope

Mommy Cant Come Home For Christmas

Christmas to some maybe a time to spend for gifts for their children, nephew or niece, for brothers and sisters or for god-children. To some, Christmas is a time to renew your religious vows. Others would mean to see their family way back home because they are working hundred miles.

So this Christmas after our mid-night dinner from a friends house, everyone is noisy, everyone is jolly, everyone is singing their favorite songs in videoke machines. Everyone is happy!

However, I accidentally saw a chat from my friends laptop. Seeing their exchanges of messages nearly broke my heart. I can not imagine how painful it is for her to experience what she has to undergo knowing the fact that she has done everything to make sure she can have her salary in time for Christmas so she could go home in the province to see her children.

So here's the whole story:

My friends co-worker lost her ATM Card approximately 2 months ago. So she was told by the HR PERSONNEL to submit an affidavit of lost which she did. She waited and continue to do her usual work load. After so many cut-off's that has passed, after so many weeks of follow-ups, to no avail her ATM CARD is still not available. In the week of December 25 she was told that her ATM CARD would be release on December 25th. So she planned what kind of gifts she would buy for her children whom she never saw for many months. She wanted to be with her children on the said Christmas Day where every family is usually happy, the only time she had wished to be with her children.

I would say, her children would be very much happy to see their mother on these very special occasion. I imagined her children would be laughing and really really happy 1. to see their mom which they haven't see for many months and 2. opening their Christmas gift from their Mom and 3. having a complete happy family on noche buena.

However, a very unfortunate event, she then visited the HR department with a very high hopes that after her office hour she could immediately pack her things and ride a bus going home. She was told that her ATM with almost 2 months salary and her 13th month pay is not yet available.

Now, she is sleeping in the companies sleeping quarter because she can't go home. She is spending her Christmas in the office at the sleeping quarter alone.

How would the HR Person feel if this happens to him/her?

My advise for them is to consult the Department of Labor of Employment.

What you should do when you Work from Home?

Working from home is commonly used for freelance workers. Personally, I never had a chance of working from home in my entire career not until I got employed by my current employer. This of course is on a case to case basis. It is an advantage for us (the employees) to at least get the chance to work at home when we need to.

Personally, it was really helpful to have the capability to work anytime at anywhere most specially when you are living in an area where flooding is a usual thing.

Well working from home is a struggle too because it provides you the comfort of your home, an easy access to your bed, fridge, television and a lot more.

Here are my little tips that work best for me.

Make a standard office space – define your work space make it a point to be office like. You can personalize your room but the main take a way here is to make sure that your home office gives you the feeling of not being at home. I made sure that my table is facing a wall and not the window where I could see what’s going on outside that may draw me outside my office. Your home office shouldn’t have a television set or a radio.

Set-up a standard working hours – be consistent on your working hours and never break it up. Manage your hours. Commit yourself to specific hours just like working at the office. The deal here is the more you commit yourself and honestly following your working hours you would likely to get your work done efficiently. Working from home gives you the benefit of choosing your own time. You wouldn’t need to go or report to the office from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM but rather you got to have an option to work at night as well. If you are the type of person who functions better at night (if the kind of work you do permits) then you might want to start working at 7:00 or 8:00 PM. Whichever you choose make yourself a routine and be consistent and committed to your set of scheduled working hours.

Lock up yourself in your office room. The office standards start to slip away when you work from home. Let your family and friends to stay away from you during your working hours. When office is your home your kids may be noisy or a family member would ask you questions that they normally wouldn’t ask you when you go into a normal office set up, or a friend would drop by. It is always best to explain and make it clear to them that you are not available during your working hours and questions and interruption is only reserve for urgent matters.

Make necessary connection – always have this constant communication with your boss especially and with your co-workers. Also, maintain a very good and clear contact with your professional world whether they are your client, your boss or your contact information.

My Stand on RH Bill

“There's no force more powerful than an idea whose time has come, and now the time has come for an RH Law,” Senator Merriam Defensor-Santiago said in her speech as she defends/ explains her answer about the RH Bill.

Indeed the time has come for the Philippines to have a version of a reproductive health bill tailored for the Filipinos and not by whatsoever institution who tries to dictates the government or the people. It is about time to give the Filipino a chance to gain access to the information about sex, of course not information about sexual positions and the like but rather information about how they could take care of themselves. It is time for the Filipinos to gain information about the best method for them to have at least birth spacing, to plan for their family. The bill never said that it favors abortion but rather it favors life by making sure that parents are well informed about the importance of birth spacing or teenagers to be well informed about the disadvantages of pre-marital sex. The bill does not favor death but rather it favors life by giving importance to the life after birth.

The bill is not a solution for poverty and population reduction but rather a chance for everyone to proper education. The bill informs the 6th grader about gender preferences, sexual anatomy, importance and relevance of the human body. It didn't say they would teach the 6th grader the best sex position, or about proper sexual intercourse.

I would rather have the RH Bill passed than seeing people having 8 to 12 children sometimes they even have 15 children and they couldn't even bring their kids to school or buy them at least a decent clothing. I have a lot of this when I am growing up. The time for sex education and family planning is NOW not tomorrow but definitely it should have been strictly implemented yesterday.

I have my own personal views on the RH Bill and I have taken notes of the most common misconception about the Bill. You may or may not agree but these are my opinions.

1. That the RH BILL is designed to attack the Catholic Church.

I was hearing this Congressmen explaining their votes and they keep on repeating an article in the Bill of Rights (see article below) and the bill (RH BILL) is an attack to the Roman Catholic Church.

Section 5. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.

Is the RH Bill really an attack to the Roman Catholic Church? If so, does it also apply to the other Christian denominations in the country and the Muslims too? Philippines have a diverse culture and religions and I personally think that the RH Bill is not meant to attack the moral values of the Filipinos and or the Roman Catholic. For me, maybe the RH BILL was just taken out of context.

2. That RH BILL is pro-abortion

To educate people about the importance of using and choosing the right method is not about killing the unborn it is learning how to prepare the unborn into the life after birth. RH BILL for me is about information and education, about choice and chance, and about family planning. RH BILL is not about killing the unborn. If people think that life begins at sperm ejaculation then most men have committed abortion already (I think you know what I mean hehe) for me I think life begins when the sperm meets the egg cell then the process begins, that for me is the start of life. As long as the sperm never had a chance to have a meet and greet with the egg cell then there’s no life.

3. RH BILL is an Evil Bill

To help improve the lives of people by providing them access to information and health care for me I think is not evil. It is that who executes the said right on a different manner makes it evil. I think it is more evil if we don’t have a law about educating and giving people an access to reproductive health care and campaigning to go ahead and have more children even though you can’t feed and give them proper clothing is evil. In the Philippines there are only few who have the capacity to bring their children to school and have a proper clothing and food. There are even people who can’t afford hospitalizations. One reason, I am seeing here is because their income does not suffice the needs of their children at some point because there are just too many of them.

The idea of RH BILL being an EVIL BILL I think is rooted on the idea that a contraceptive kills the unborn. I think there is no LIFE in sperm just yet because they need to unite with the egg cell in order for the process of forming life to begin.

4. RH BILL promotes promiscuity

Really? I don’t think so. For one, a parent should not mislead their children about their gender. Don’t say flower when it is in fact it should be called vagina or call it bird when it should be called penis. One of the provisions of the RH BILL is for Sex Education to be taught at school. I think in my science classes when I was in grade school parts of the body are already taught at school. I don’t think the Philippines Department of Education would design a curriculum that will promote promiscuity. Also, I think it is best that sex education is taught at home and at school where these children are most comfortable with otherwise these children would search it via the internet where there is no adult supervision worst they might end up practicing and exploring it by themselves elsewhere.

We may have different views about the said bill but for me it is high time to have this bill turns into law and should be strictly implemented and I truly understand the views and opinions of those who go against it because without them the RH BILL would have not been polished and become better than the original version. Without the opposition, I wouldn’t have the interest to at least read the bill and make my own stand about it. May be, yesterday there’s a need for the RH BILL but it wasn’t yet its time to become a law. I go with Senator Merriam Defensor-Santiago when she says that the time has come for the bill to be passed and become a law.

We may have our own views, understanding and interpretation about the bill and I want you to share your own idea by leaving a comment not to promote a war zone but rather for all of us to share our own thoughts about a bill that may have an impact amongst us.

Click here to see the complete version of the bill. 

Pass the RH Bill

RH Bill or the Reproductive Health Bill is by far one of the most talked and most debated bill in the Philippines. This bill has been talked in forum and was brought into the minds of the Filipinos. Filipinos families maybe considered as one of the most conservatives and I totally agree to it. However, I think it is high time for the Filipinos to be educated on the following:

• Sexual education (for adolescents in schools) - this of course doesn't mean that teachers would teach the students on sexual position but rather educated them on how teens should handle like peer pressure according to the Bill Reproductive Health Education – refers to the process of acquiring complete, accurate and relevant information on all matters relating to the reproductive system, its functions and processes and human sexuality; and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, interpersonal relationships, affection, intimacy and gender roles. It also includes developing the necessary skills do be able to distinguish between facts and myths on sex and sexuality; and critically evaluate. and discuss the moral, religious, social and cultural dimensions of related sensitive issues such as contraception and abortion.
•  Family planning education - it is just but right for people to be educated on how they should plan for their family like proper birth spacing. This would give them chance to be educated.
• Access to family health care like contraceptives. Of course, Filipinos need an easy access to contraceptives. Give them option as to what is best for them.

Look at the Philippines now, population is rapidly growing fast. The use of contraceptive is not equivalent to abortion.We are not killing life when we use contraceptives. The bible may have said "Go ye and Multiply" for me I understand it as "Go and bring more people into the church of Christ". 

Check this out to know more about the Reproductive Health Bill. 

What about you? Share your idea about the reproductive health bill.

You might also want to read about DENGUE

Another Blog for an Igorot

This will be another blog that I will be managing. Hope you would like the articles that I will be publishing soon.

For the meantime you can visit my other blog:

The Five AM Chat: is another lifestyle blog of mine. I mainly talk about anything under the sun. The places I have visited, the restaurant I have dine in, the gimiks with my barkada and alot more.

Rambak: The Project Mountain Alphabet - Is my blog that mainly talks about my on going project. I have decided to come up with a running project that will help schools in Benguet to at least build or establish their own library. Feel free to visit my blog to know more about my on going project and may be on how you could help me achieve my goal.

Till next time....