Month: February 2011

Scared to go back

Work at Home

Do you know that feeling of being scared to go back to something you haven’t done or been in for years? That’s how I feel now. I’ve been postponing my corporate comeback for more than a year already. Finding a job would have been easy for me. There are jobs available for my profession and I see it every day when JobsDB.com and Jobstreet.com.ph send me updates.

It’s just that it’s so hard to break a really good routine. I wake up middle of the morning. I sleep around dawn. I work when inspiration strikes me. If not, I can work tomorrow if it isn’t deadline yet. In short, I am in better control of my day. I work when I please and my income depends on how hard I worked in a month.

Do you see why it suddenly scares me to step foot inside a corporate office again as an employee?

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My brother’s best friend

Life in general

Let me digress from my usual rants on the Philippine government and the many issues in our country to tell you a personal story involving my deceased brother and his best friend.

My brother passed away in 1998 due to leukemia. He was 15. He was best friends with another boy his age who was his classmate since grade school. I remember that the night before he breathed his last, his best friend was at his bedside. My brother was comatose that time and we were told by the doctors that he could hear us since hearing is the last to go before a person passes away. His best friend was telling him to fight and that he would be their guest of honor in their summer party. He was telling him that they would go take up courses in college together and have families of their own and grow old as best friends. My brother’s best friend was crying unashamedly. We were all crying, too.

When he said goodbye, that’s when my brother started crying. I will never forget that. His tears were flowing freely even when he was in coma. He heard everything his best friend told him and he held on to the tears until his best friend left. He knew he didn’t have a chance of coming out of coma anymore. Maybe he already knew then that the morning after that he would die. » Read more

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OFWs on death row

Community issues

Every time I hear the news on the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in China who are on death row over drug trafficking charges, I keep wondering why it is only now that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the high government officials are doing something about it. Why now and not a few weeks or months ago when there would have been enough time to appeal their cases?

Aside from the OFWs in China who are on death row, I am sure there are other OFWs rotting in jails in different parts of the world. I wonder if they are being given the assistance they need.

It just makes you wonder if the DFA officials are really doing their jobs. Or if they are, are they giving their best or waiting for the cameras to roll before they appear to be doing their best?!?

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Valentine’s Day commercialism

Society at large

Today is Valentine’s Day. February 14. Heart’s Day. Love Day. Whatever you call it, it’s a day meant mostly to be celebrated with a special someone. It’s a red letter day for lovers out there.

How do you celebrate this day?

Most people will give their special someone roses or bouquet of flowers, chocolates, stuffed toys, cakes, cards. Some would celebrate with a bottle of wine and a special candle-lit dinner. Or a romantic getaway…

Roses Chocolates Wine

StuffedToy Cake Roses Card

What are you getting your special someone?

I would just like to comment on the commercialism of Valentine’s Day and how we are all so eager to celebrate this day. Filipinos love to grab any opportunity to celebrate. That’s why we have a lot of fiestas and the longest Christmas celebration. Valentine’s Day is no different. It’s an opportunity to celebrate so we grab at the chance to do so. Only, it’s become too commercialized! Have you noticed how every single merchandise you see from day 1 of February up to the 14th is meant for this day? You are lured to spend your hard earned money on something, anything, for this day. If you think about it, with these hard times, we should have been saving up instead of spending. There are different ways to celebrate this day without spending too much money. Have you seen the news the past few days? Prices of flowers, specifically roses and those bought for this occasion, have gone up! Is it really wise to shell out so much for something that will be rotten and dead in a few days only?

I am not being a party pooper here. I just want to point out how we are being lured by companies to celebrate a day extravagantly that we can otherwise celebrate simply so they can profit from us.

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Application, processing and release of SSS ID

Community issues

Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) going to Taiwan are now being asked to provide an Social Security System (SSS) ID before their job application can push through.

Back in early 2000, SSS ID processing and release takes approximately two weeks to a month. I thought all the while it’s still the same until my sister told me that it now takes a least six months before an SSS ID is sent to the home of the member. I was shocked! Why would it take that long to print an ID when it would take seconds, a minute at the most, to print that ID.

The call center I worked for had their own ID printer so I know how easy it is to print an ID even on those ATM-like cards.

According to the news a while ago, bidding for the ID cards and printing system is still ongoing. It will take months to a year before an SSS ID gets released. So what will happen to those OFWs going to Taiwan now? Wait for a year to claim a freaking ID so they can start working for a better life?!?

Someone in the government should look into this ridiculous SSS ID printing system!

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Blogging, the Big Bad Blogger and me!

Blogging in general

I am sure most of you have already read about the Big Bad Blogger and the Firm. If you haven’t yet, click on the link and read it.

Have you read the About page in this blog? If you did, you might have read already that I started blogging in 2004. Back then, blogging was considered a pastime, an outlet for those who didn’t like to keep a physical journal of their day to day activities. We (me and the bloggers I know then) were content using blogs as online diaries until we heard about the potential of earning from it. If I remember it right, it was around 2006 when monetizing blogs began. We were probably a handful who knew it. Through word of mouth, bloggers increased in number by leaps and bounds! Oh, the possibility of earning so much more!

I admit I became so engrossed with monetizing my blogs. Who doesn’t want to earn $$$, right? I stopped with bloghopping and focused more on finishing paid tasks on time. I used to attend blogging events but that, too, ceased. I didn’t have enough time to spare, busy as I was with my tasks.

It was around 2008 when I started hearing about bloggers organizing themselves to market their blogs to potential advertisers. Instead of going through channels, they wanted to connect directly to the advertisers for bigger share of the profit. I was happy with what I had plus I was not really chummy with those bloggers so I did my thing and ignored them. I knew groups have been formed and I even interacted with some of them from time to time (through Entrecard mostly) but there was never a desire to join any group. As I’ve said, I was busy with my tasks. I also heard some controversial fights between some bloggers. I didn’t want any of that so I made it a point to keep to myself. Anyway, I have a couple of blogger-friends with whom I was friends with for years. I am happy with them.

And then the Big Bad Blogger issue came….

Blogging is no longer a pastime or an outlet for pent-up emotions. It is now a business for so many people. I personally know someone who made this a big business. Hiring other bloggers to write for her. I know groups of bloggers have banded so as to form a community where they get to share their opportunities. What I didn’t know was this issue with food bloggers (and possibly all kinds of bloggers) who think themselves high and mighty to use their ‘influence’ and put pressure on businesses to sponsor them. Wow! What an unsavory practice! It would really give blogging a bad name what with business owners thinking that all bloggers are out to ask for money and freebies or else they will be blogged about unpleasantly.

I use my blog to voice my concerns and often rant about businesses here in the Philippines. My Bayantel DSL connection, Globe Postpaid bill delivery service, and others. The idea behind each of those entries was for the company to act on my complaint faster. Or to make them aware of the bad service they provide. I think it’s reasonable to use a blog this way.

To actually use a blogger’s ‘influence’ to pressure a business owner to give him/her freebies and even a retainer… now that’s something I think is just bad!

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Death of Gen. Angelo Reyes

Community issues

Angelo Reyes, former defense secretary and Chief of Energy, passed away this morning. He reportedly committed suicide at the Loyola Memorial Park, shooting himself in the chest. He was visiting his mother’s grave with his sons and a bodyguard. He reportedly asked his sons to go ahead and wait for him in the car when all of a sudden there was a shot heard.

He was rushed to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center where 45 minutes later he was pronounced dead.

Suicide is never an option. I pray for strength and understanding for his love ones.

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Life insurance plans

Society at large

I think we already know how important a life insurance plan is. Look at the victims of the Eton property gondola crash. Employers should really make it a point to get a life insurance plan for their employees. Even a term life will do.

Which reminds me that I also need to get one for myself and my dad. Majority of the people in this country who have life insurance plans are those employed or the ones who can spare some from their budget to pay for premiums. Ask anyone from the poor sector of the society and they’d tell you they don’t even know what a life insurance entails.

My fellow countrymen still lack the knowledge on a lot of important things that a person needs to know about being secure. I wish the government would take time to educate everyone and that each and every Filipino can afford an insurance plan for themselves.

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