Christmas '08 pics of Evelyn Abueva-Olarte

Kabatch Evelyn Abueva-Olarte shares some of her Christmas '08 pictures. Ingon ni Ibing: my daughter could not spend Christmas day kay working girl siya..(sigh sigh sigh) so December 26 na sya nianhi. she works in san francisco,in an airline company..1 hr by plane kung mag adto siya nako..or 7 -8 hrs drive kung land trip...

According to Ibing: with our neighbor,barney, siya lang tawon ang among bisita December 25, tulo lang mi nag dinner sa hauz sa akong bossing ..
walay pix akong bossing kay siya ang maniniyot... please give my hi and hello to all our batchmates!

(pictures from Evelyn Abueva-Olarte)

If you have Christmas pictures to share with our Kabatch, just email them to: gilbertyaptan@gmail.com

Napulot sa internet: 20 Signs you're watching a Pinoy movie

1. Sasayaw ang loveteam sa likod ng puno ng buko kapag nasa beach ang eksena. Alternate na lalabas ang ulo nila from behind the puno.

2. Ang kontrabidang babae yayakap sa bidang lalaki, sabay taas ng kilay at ngingisi.

3. Ang pansit, nagdadala ng malas. Uuwi ang bida na may dalang pansit para sa kanyang nanay na si Anita Linda. Tatawagin ng bida ang mga bata para kumain at kukumustahin niya ang pag-aaral ng mga bata habang kumakain sila. Biglang may titigil na sasakyan sa harap ng bahay at pauulanan ng bala ang pamilya. Mamamatay si Anita Linda at sisigaw ang bida ng “Inaaayyyy!!!” at mangangakong ipaghihigante ito. Moral of the eksena: Ang pansit ay nakakamatay.

4. Kapag may magkaribal na babae, ‘yung mabait derecho ang buhok at may bangs. ‘Yung salbahe, laging kulot.

5. Sa Pinoy action movies, ang bida hindi nauubusan ng bala.

6. Sa Pinoy action movies, kapag tumakbo ang bida, sa lupa lahat ang tama ng bala ng kalaban.

7. Kapag may mob na pupunta sa bahay kubo ng manananggal, si Vangie Labalan ang laging lider.

8. Alam mong moment of truth na kapag sinabi ng bida ang title ng pelikula (sample: Isang Bala Ka Lang or Kapag Puno na Ang Salop).

9. Ang tawag ng kontrabida sa kanyang mga goons, “Mga bata.”

10. ‘Yung nakababatang kapatid ng bida habang naglalaro, mabibitiwan ang bola at mapupunta sa gitna ng kalsada. Pagkatapos, may darating na sasakyan at itutulak ng bida ang bata at ‘yung bida ang papagitna ng kalsada. Naka-cross ang arms ng bida who is covering his face. Sisigaw ang bata ng, “Kuyaaa!” Next scene: Nasa ospital sila. Simula na ng drama.

11. Kapag bakbakan, hindi nasasaktan ang bida pero umaaray siya kapag ginagamot na siya ng leading lady. Next scene: Nagla-love-making na sila.

12. Kapag sinabi ng kontrabida sa bida ang masama niyang plano, sasabibin ng bida, “Hayop ka!”

13. Ang bidang babae, kapag katulong ang role siguradong iri-reveal ng amo na anak siya nito.

14. Ang nanay ng mayaman ay laging may pamaypay na pang-mayaman at ang nanay ng mahirap ay laging naka-duster.

15. Ang hideout ng kontrabida ay parating mansyon na may chicks na naka-hilira sa paligid ng pool.

16. Ang mga bida sa drama, kapag nakatanggap ng masamang balita laging may pinto sa likod nila para puede sila sumandal habang nag-i-slide dahan-dahan pababa, todo iyak at kung minsan with matching uhog.

17. Kapag hindi nahuli ng mga goons ang bida, sasabihin ng boss sa kanila, “Mga inutil!”

18. Laging nakakapulot ng baril na may bala ang bida kapag kinakailangan niya.

19. Laging mas maganda ang yaya ng bida kaysa sa kontrabidang anak ng amo niya.

20. Kapag ang ending ng movie ay song-and-dance number sa beach o sa resort, ang huling frame shows the cast na tumatalon, sabay freeze.

2009: Year of the Oks!

2009 marks the Year of the Earth Ox or Brown Cow. Here are some Ox-born celebrities:

US President Barack Obama, the Global Chief Ox

Warren Beatty, oldest Toro playboy
Tyra Banks, America's Top Torrera on rampRichard Gere of Pretty Woman fameFast and Furious Paul WalkerMulti-accented Ox, Meryl StreepHe's the One Ox in Matrix, Laurence FishburnLady Pirate Ox, Keira KnightleySeredipitous Ox, Kate BeckinsaleAlmighty Ox Jim CarreyOxing with Charm, Holly Marie CombsEddie Cibrian - Romantic Ox in Ugly BettyMulti-acting Ox, Eddie MurphyAnother aging Toro, Don Johnson

Girl Ox, Ashley Tisdale of High School Musical

Please share your Christmas pictures!

Email me your Christmas pictures so we can share them with our Kabatch.

Email address: gilbertyaptan@yahoo.com.ph

Thanks in advance!

I am Filipino by Alexander Lacson (Reprint)

I am Filipino
By Alexander L. Lacson
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:02:00 01/02/2009

One of the most important things we need today as a people is a beautiful way of looking at ourselves as Filipinos, a positive and healthy image of ourselves, a wonderful definition of ourselves as a people. Our children especially need to believe that there is greatness and beauty in us as a people and as a race.

So much beauty and greatness can spring from a beautiful mind and a faithful heart.

But loving ourselves as Filipinos is not only patriotism or nationalism. There is a reason higher than that. It is primarily about stewardship. It is loving what God has given us. God gave to each one of us the Filipino and the Philippines, for us to love and care for. But how is the Filipino in our hands today? How is the Philippines, the land God gave to us as a people, in our hands today?

It is for this reason that I wrote the poem below. I give this poem as my humble gift to all of you, my fellow Filipinos. You are the brothers and sisters, the family of people, God gave to me.

It is my hope that this poem will help develop in us and in our children a healthy sense of faith and love in the Filipino, in ourselves as a people. For truly, our Creator wants us to have faith in and love for the Filipino.

Here it is:

I am Filipino. I am a child of the One God who is the Creator of all that is in our world and the universe. I am as perfect and as beautiful as my Creator planned me to be, for God created me in His image, out of His perfect love.

I am a beloved child of God, like everyone else in our world, no less than the stars above or anyone else below. As such, I have equal right and claim to all the beauty and bounty that God provided in my country and in the world.

I am an equal part of the family of humanity. I am therefore a sibling to all the men and women of our world, brethren to all Christians, to all Muslims, to all Jews, to all Buddhists, and all other peoples whose faiths lie somewhere else.

I am Filipino. My Creator planted me on a specific spot on earth, where the sun always shines, in an archipelago of 7,107 wonderful islands, which the whole world calls the “Pearl of the Orient.” Pilipinas is the country God gave to me and my people. It is the birthplace of my race. It is the home of the Filipino.

The beauty and richness of my country lured many mighty powers of the world to invade our shores. So today, my blood is a mixture of the best and the finest of the West and the East. My mind is an heir to all the great thoughts of the West, and the great virtues of the East. My heart beats with the romanticism of the West and the passion of the East.

I am Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, Juan Luna, Ninoy Aquino and all those who fought for our land to become a nation of free people. I am the grandeur of Banaue, the enchantment of Boracay, the serenity of Manila Bay, and the depth and breadth of Tubbataha Reef.

I am Filipino. My Creator’s plan is for me to live my life as a Filipino and therefore, in my heart and in my mind, I shall always be a Filipino wherever I may be in the world. God wants me to belong to the Filipino family and as such, I am a “kapatid” [brother] to anyone and everyone who is Filipino, wherever he or she may be on earth.

You will know me by the word “po” in my sentences. You will know my children by their “mano po.” You will know me by the smile on my face and the warmth of my hospitality. Most important of all, you will know me by my loving and caring heart when you are in need of help, even if you are a stranger.

As a child of God, my Creator has a beautiful story for me and my people. And the story we see today is but a fleeting portion of that beautiful story that has yet to fully unfold before the eyes of the world.

I am Filipino. I am who I am today because of the role God wants me to play.

I am born to succeed. God has equipped me, within me and around me, with all the essentials I need to succeed in this world. God truly wants the highest, the best, and the most beautiful for me, because I am His child.

I am destined to be great. God planted seeds of beauty and greatness in me. He truly wants me to be great and beautiful, for God truly wants me to add more beauty and greatest to our world.

I am Filipino. I am born of freedom, in a free country. As such, I dedicate my freedom to ensuring that my people and country shall always remain free. I shall use my freedom to help other peoples, in my country or in other parts of the world, gain their own freedom.

I am born of love, out of God’s immeasurable love, in a country and in a world that can only be made beautiful by love. Love is the reason why God made me. It is what He wants me to bring into this world, so love shall be who I am.

I am born as part of the whole, as part of the answer to the question, as part of the solution to the problem, as part of the hope to our people. I am born to help the Filipino become great not only in the eyes of the world but, more so, in the eyes of our Lord.

I am Filipino. I am a faithful child of God. I shall live my life to do God’s work on earth, to help build a beautiful country for my Filipino family, and a better world for all humanity. And soon the world shall see the full measure of the greatness of Filipino, for truly the world has yet to see what God can do to and through a child, like the Filipino, who is faithful to the Lord.

I am Filipino.

Alexander Lacson is author of the Book “12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country.” Email: alacsonph@yahoo.com.

Sing-along: Bridges

Through this blog, Batch '73 has created bridges all over the world. So here's a toast to us! Sing-along na!:)

A Familiar Haunting on Christmas

A Familiar haunting on Christmas

By Gilbert Yap Tan

(This article was published online by Philippine Daily Inquirer's Inquirer.net on January 9, 2009)

I’M OFTEN described as a cerebral person, in short, a nerd. Wearing eyeglasses doesn’t improve the impression I give to others. I’m always carrying a book everywhere I go. Being a wide reader has its advantages: critical thinking, open-mindedness, a broadened view of the world. On the negative side, there’s my being cynical of things emotional and illogical.

So when eerie things started happening in 1990 after Mama died, I chalked them up to coincidences, at first. I was giving a lecture on feature writing to a big group of high school writers when I gave a descriptive example of how I felt on the day Mama died. While I was recalling the last wishes she told me before she was wheeled toward the operating room for her triple heart bypass surgery, the microphone I was using suddenly turned off by itself. Then the karaoke system emitted sounds from radio stations as if someone was turning the tuning dial. A clerk was called to check on the wires and the mike, but found nothing wrong with them. And that was when I remembered that it was the 40th day after Mama died! I prayed silently for a few seconds before I resumed my lecture. The sound system and the mike worked perfectly after that. And that was the first incident.

A week later, I facilitated a training session for school paper advisers in an air-conditioned lecture hall. I described to the group how Mama, workaholic that she was, would disrupt our sleep whenever she stayed up all night to clean the kitchen, do some hammering (putting up framed family pictures on the wall at 1 a.m.!), or do the laundry (sloshing and drum roll sounds from the washer and dryer). All of sudden, my lecture was disturbed by what sounded like tree branches being blown by a strong wind and scraping against the windows hidden by heavy drapes. When I drew aside the drapes, it was evident to all of us that it was a sunny day and no tree was outside the windows! Among those in the audience who knew about the recent death of Mama were a bit frightened and many crossed themselves at the thought that Mama was making “paramdam” to me. I dismissed the thought by joking to the group that maybe Mama was protesting my use of the word “workaholic.” After all, it was way past the macabre All Saints and All Souls Days.

On the last weekend of November, I faced the dreaded task of cleaning my room in preparation for Christmas. As was my custom, I took the requisite colds and sinusitis meds before arming myself with a broom, duster, dustpan and disposable mask. Usually, a few minutes of dusting and sweeping would be enough to trigger a sneezing marathon and teary eyes from me. But to my surprise, the dust that swirled around me like a mist smelled like Sampaguita flowers. The scent was so strong I could smell it through the mask I was wearing! For the first and last time in my life, I loved dusting and sweeping. I remembered giving Mama a bottle of Avon Sampaguita perfume as a Christmas gift the year before she died. She loved it so much she would spray it on herself anytime she felt like it. I thought to myself then that these events were just coincidental. But these did not prepare me for what happened next.

For the next three weeks leading up to Christmas Eve, I finally came to believe I was haunted by Mama. After a long day in class, I (alone or with co-teachers) would relax over merienda in a local mall before going home. On the first occasion, as soon as I sat with my snack, I heard strains from my favorite classical piece, Meditation from Thais composed by Jules Massenet, over the mall’s Public Address system. I thought nothing of that at first.

However, over the next three occasions at the same mall, I would hear snippets of the familiar music over and over. On the fifth occasion, my curiosity got the better of me so I asked a fellow teacher who was snacking with me if she could also hear it. I even hummed it for her. She shook her head and resumed eating her pansit palabok. That set me to thinking that this was more than coincidental. I planned to investigate the phenomenon the next time it happened.

Dec. 24, as I was doing some last-minute shopping at the mall, I heard it again. I immediately put down the grocery basket and went to the music bar in the mezzanine: it had to come from there as I was in the grocery section directly below it. Once there, I asked the saleslady operating the CD player component if she just played Meditation from Thais. She ejected the CD she just played and showed it to me. It was a compilation of ‘discofied’ Christmas songs. With exasperation written all over my face, I went down to the customer relations desk where the PA system was. Again, the same question. And again, I was shown the CD - Maligayang Pasko sa Inyong Lahat by local singers! At that moment, it dawned on me that I was the only one who can hear it! All reason seemed to have left my body as I went home, forgetting to check out at the cashier the things I shopped for earlier.

In my room, I sat on the bed and had a good cry. Those were tears of joy at the belief that Mama loved me. That on that particular Christmas Eve, from the afterlife Mama reached out for me and embraced me.

(Two years later, on a weekly TV show discussing hauntings, guest Lauro Visconde - whose wife and two daughters were murdered - related how he would often find his youngest daughter’s favorite stuffed toy on the floor of her room when he said goodnight to her before he slept. Another guest remarked that it was a familiar haunting because it was done by departed loved one. A familiar haunting is not scary because it makes use of things familiar to the person being haunted.)

Manny Pacquiao: Reader's Digest Asia Edition December '08 Cover Boy

Reader's Digest Asia Edition December '08 issue features Manny Pacquiao on its cover. The cover story is written by Jim Plouffe and with dramatic photos by Tim Tadder.

Excerpts:

Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao has always had a business plan: Fight my way out of poverty.

Plouffe: What do you think the Philippines needs most?
Manny: Politicians with big hearts to help the people who are suffering.

Plouffe: What do you do to relax:
Manny: My free time? This is my free time, working also. Playing darts, chess, golf and basketball, study.

Plouffe: Study?
Manny: Business management. I go to school Mondays to Fridays . I am a regular student at the Notre Dame of Dadiangas University.

Plouffe: Why Business Management?
Manny: Because I want my money to be in proper investments. I am the one who will manage it when I am not in boxing anymore.

Plouffe: What subject do you like most?
Manny: My favorite subject is philosophy. It's part of my course, as well as algebra -- which is very hard.

Plouffe: So at home, who's the boss?
Manny: I'm the boss [But Maria (Geraldine "Jinkee" Pacquiao) interjects, "With my permission."]

The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

The Invitation

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

Peaceful Words For Times of Conflict (Reprint)

The late Chaim Stern, was liturgist for the reform movement of Judaism. Let some of his writings speak with hope that they help in further discussions of difficult and complex problems ahead. They are taken from his book, Day by Day.

For the times that I could have made peace with my neighbor but picked a quarrel, forgive me; and forgive me, too, for the times when I could have accepted with grace an offering of friendship or reconciliation but did not choose to listen. At times, in my willfulness, I may have closed my heart to the possibility of a healing word: Today - and tomorrow -- let my heart be open.

***

May I be among those who are hard to provoke and easy to appease. May I be a friend of peace at home and at work, and everywhere I go. When I am angry let me reflect whether my anger is proportionate to its cause and appropriate in its expression.

***

Keep me from stubborn insistence on always having my way, even when my cause is doubtful, and the truth is unclear. Keep me however from conceding to wrong and from accepting violence as a way to resolve disputes. O help me to walk serenely and with good conscience, to accept that I am not the only one with integrity. May I seek the good, even when it seems not to my own advantage.

***

Make the door of my heart wide enough to receive all whom I may meet this day. And make it too narrow to allow entrance to envy, pride and strife.

***

Help me to enter into the mind of the one who stands before me, and keep me alive to the feelings of each one present. Let no word or act - mine or theirs - divide me from my kin. Give us all, instead, a quick eye for little kindnesses, and that we may be ready in doing them and gracious in receiving them.

Dominican Sisters' 50th Year in Gensan and ND Gensan Alumni Homecoming

In celebration for the 50th year of the Dominican Sisters in Gensan (culmination will be in May this year) and the annual alumni homecoming of ND of General Santos City on December 30, NDDFG Batch '73 Golden Girls made their presence felt during the said event.

ND of Gensan now merges the former NDDFG and NDLFG into one school. ND-GSC also plans to offer collegiate course next school year. Gilda & Glyn with Sister Estelita Carbon, OPSr. Estelita was among those who shared lunch with the Golden Girls.

Pictures by Glyn Dumanig

NDD Batch '73 fetes Vickee on her birthday

Our Kabatch organized a "surprise" potluck birthday for Vickee Gonzaga-Firmalino a day before her birthday on December 22. The Golden Boys and Girls were on hand to greet the birthday girl. Also present was Angie Catapang-Bongcawil. From the USA, Ebing Abueva made sure Vickee had a birthday cake.Birthday cake courtesy of Ebing Abueva

Toasts, toasts, toasts of non-alcoholic sparkling wines brought by Susan Guatlo & GilbertVickee with Angie

Pictures by Glyn Dumanig

2010 Reunion Poll closed

What month in 2010 is convenient for you to attend our next reunion? (You may choose more than 1 month)

January	4 (5%)
February	3 (4%)
March	4 (5%)
April	10 (13%)
May	8 (10%)
June	6 (8%)
July	6 (8%)
August	10 (13%)
September	3 (4%)
October	4 (5%)
November	3 (4%)
December	63 (85%)

Votes so far: 74
Poll closed

The Batch blog survey on the month preferred for the 37th Reunion of Batch '73 in 2010 shows that DECEMBER is it.

The Gensan-based organizing committee will decide on the date in December 2010. Please keep posted in this blog about the final date of our 2010 Reunion.

In the meantime, start saving up for it. :)