Mourning in August

Day 17 0f the 60-day blog challenge

A lot of accidents surfaced during this month. The bus which fell on the cliff of Benguet, the death of a former beauty queen, inhumane treatment of a policeman to a suspect which was shown in a video phone, and the latest, the hostage tragedy last night which caused 8 dead innocent tourist and the hostage-taker.

Even in our family, a lot of bad vibes happened in this month. Which is I'm really looking forward to September. A Chinese friend of mine told me that August is a ghost month in the Chinese calendar. I hope there will be no problems coming around anytime soon.

I was in awe last night. I felt really scared and sad and anxious about the hostage crisis. I felt awful for the innocent tourist who just visited our country for vacation. I felt bad towards the wrong decision of Mendoza to hold a hostage, it's as if he'll get his back job by doing so. It's like a real-life drama everyone's watching for every move the policemen will make. It's been live on telecast in different channels even in the international scene like BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera. Once again, the world looked down on us.

How the policemen solved the crime is another story. Too may indecision. They could have just provided media coverage to Mendoza. They could have thought that the confused ex-policeman was watching how they move outside the bus and the capture of his brother triggered his antagonized role. They could have thought how the lives will be saved without bloods shed. They could have done better if they were really prepared for this kind of situation.

By the way, where was PNoy during the crisis? There hasn't been a press conference held during or even before the crisis enden. PNoy spoke 3 hours after the incident. I appreciated ex-president GMA for her efforts of effective communication when she was the chief of the town then. She knew how crisis management should be handled. PNoy did not show good handling of the crisis. And, as he spoke, he threw the blame on the policemen, on the media, on the crowd, but none for his self. He could have been a decisive leader last night if he gave instructions to prioritize saving lives than pride.

Last night, the heavy rain poured. The heaven cried. The earth shed its tears for the loss of precious lives. And there was mourning in August.

The grown up post

The title reflects my feelings for the past few days. Mainly because of...

1. I exercised my right to vote for the very first time.
2. I am so broke, and that means I should get a job.
3. I can't handle my emotions, and that means I should act like grown ups do.


Last May 10 marked my day as as 'official' adult as I voted for the person I believe and trust enough to lead this country. That day was of first times- first automated elections and first time to vote! Oh well, I congratulate the Comelec for having a really fast and efficient elections despite of some problems in some areas. True enough that we should not fear technology rather embrace it. The whole country is stunned by the fast election results. Everyone thought that election day would be a doom's day for Comelec, that the automated polls is doomed to fail. But that proved everyone wrong. Everyone is so scared and apprehensive of the new technology and wanted to go back to manual-inefficient-and-full-of-cheating counting. I guess everyone's eating their own words right now. I wonder how's that taste like? ;p

The only bad ass in the election process is the long and unorganized lines. Since it was my first time to vote I was excited to go to our precinct I asked my Mama and my Sister if we can vote early. We went to Humayao, our precinct, at around 9am, weary, tired, and pissed off people welcomed us into the school. Some of them are rummaging on thick papers finding for their precinct. Oh gad, they were just disorganized! Goodness! I came prepared so it would be hassle-free but these people, they make their lives complicated! Really! They can just look on their claim stubs or voter's id or check their precincts on Comelec's website. They were complicating theirselves because they follow what others do or believe on what others say. As we enter the school some angry and anguished people encourage us to go back home because the lines are chaotic blah, blah, blah. We didn't believe them otherwise proceed to what we're really ought to do. After an hour, we already finished the process. I was quite nervous that the PCOS machine wouldn't accept my ballot because my shadings were not perfect. Scared and excited as I child holding her first barbecue I deposited the paper in the machine and tada, "Congratulations, your vote has been registered."

Technology isn't that painful eh? We just have to go out of the cave and embrace it, shouldn't we?

The results are almost complete now and I'm still unhappy. Well, as a grown up (hee, pangagatawanan ko na to!) I have to understand that my vote is only one and majority wins still. I wish this country will be better under the Aquino administration. I will just do my part to help this country redeem its beaten pride. I will pay my tax, follow the traffic lights, segregate and throw properly my garbage, follow ordinances and laws, OBEY signage, support the country's tourism by deciding not to travel abroad within this year (Yay, more domestic tours!), partake on national issues by not abdicating my rights as a Filipino, and be a citizen journalist. A watchdog. A conveyor of truth.

Okay this sounds so grown up and so I'm tucking myself to bed tonight with milk and cookies by my side. ;p