Pictures of St. Rita de Cascia Church in Philam Homes

This is my first time inside this church.

I didn't know they had a beautiful church here in Philamlife Homes.

Buti na lang may Waze, I confused the West Triangle church with this one kundi naligaw lola mo and ended up attended another wedding!

A Black Bloody Sunday in Patiacan Elementary School

Teachers are often the unsung heroes of our society as they toil quietly day-to-day giving life lessons and teaching academic skills to our students. Peace is one of the concepts teachers want their students to learn but this has been hindered by real life experiences which show how complex it is to achieve peace – even in one’s own surroundings.

On October 16, 2017, a Sunday, at around 3PM, the Math teachers of Patiacan Elementary School, which is located in a far-flung area where the borders of three provinces meet – Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province and Abra – were giving review lessons to their students, in preparation for the Math Festival of their district, Quirino, Ilocos Sur.

Simultaneously, the school’s basketball team was also practicing in preparation for the Inter-Barangay League, so they invited the soldiers of the army detachment in their barangay to train the youth players, which the soldiers willingly did. So the scenario was, the youth basketball team was playing basketball outside with the Army soldiers, while the Math teachers were reviewing their students in the classroom.
That’s when tragedy struck.

Unidentified armed men suddenly descended on the school launched an attack. One army soldier was shot dead, one was severely wounded and one civilian was slightly injured by a shrapnel. The soldiers did not fight back because they knew that the school was considered a peace zone – where no fighting is allowed.

The teachers quietly signalled their students not to make any noise and they remained in hiding inside the classrooms, while they listened to the gunfire outside. Obviously, they were afraid and fearful that the unknown attackers would know that they were there and train the guns on them, unarmed teachers, students and some civilians who ran for cover.

The trauma and the impact that incident was immense and up to now, the students and teachers remember that day with fear and dread, knowing how they barely escaped death. It was a good thing, that their teachers, were quick in thinking on what to do and did not panic when the incident occurred.

The next day, the policemen from the poblacion came to the school to investigate what happened. They had an inkling it could be the NPA who attacked the school but that conclusion could not be confirmed.

The students and the teachers feel sad for the soldier who died and the one soldier and one civilian who were wounded. It is unconscionable how such violence can happen in a peace zone like a school.

To the unknown perpetrators of that attack, your actions are unacceptable because the consequences of what you did, especially if teachers and schoolchildren were killed, will be blood in your hands, and your organization or whoever you are – will have to live with that embedded in your consciences forever.

In solidarity with our community, we, the teachers and pupils of Patiacan Elementary School condemn the cowardly act and wish that it should never happen again.

The Reality of Pagpag Hits So Much Close to Home

I experienced something sad and shocking last night and I wish the government redirected its attention to this more pressing problem rather than attacking other people's faith and religion, which is just a pointless exercise.

I was in a mall in central Manila, I came out from watching a movie and was surprised to see the mall stores and restos still open around 10 in the evening. So I decided to have one more meal before heading home, which is like another 40 minutes away.

So I went to this popular fastfood and since the only food left was their bestseller chicken, I decided to order that, although I don't ever eat it.

Anyway, I quietly finished my meal in about 15 minutes and I was just observing the mall and the stores as they were closing one by one.

Suddenly, this boy, about 10 years old, skinny, wearing a loose blue shirt comes near me and asks for something which I couldn't hear properly.

When he noticed that my reaction time was a bit slow, he picked up the first leftover chicken, bones and all, from my plate and rushed outside. Just as quickly, his shyer friend, who was the same size and look as him, took the other leftover chicken.

Chicken that I just ate - that barely had any more meat in them!

How's that for a lesson on Hunger 101. I felt like I was in Charles Dicken's Oliver Twist novel and a kid says to me, "More soup please, I am hungry!"

Then I remembered that TV episode on pagpag, leftover food which is still cooked again and eaten by hungry families.

It's real and it's happening right now. Hungry children scouring for leftover food just to assuage their hunger at 10PM, which is way past dinner time for most people.

Taking Pride in the Filipino Language

I wonder how my students can pass the UPCAT when they don't even know what mangangalakal is or sinamantala or kamangmangan.

Nevertheless, we do have an Araw ng Wika (not a Linggo or Buwan), actually, it was more of Oras ng Wika, so the kids were asked to make a poster related to the geographical regions of the Philippines.

Unfortunately, Filipino is just a third language here, as more emphasis is given to English and Mandarin. And their AP, which is my counterpart subject, is taught in English.

Yes, they do speak Tagalog, but their knowledge of deeper Filipino words such as those you find in Fili or Noli is a bit wanting.

It's a pity that in our society, to be considered upper class, or educated, you'd have to speak in English. The Italians don't. Have you ever heard Giorgio Armani or Miuccia Prada conduct an interview in English? I haven't. Their attitude is, "Go hire an interpreter and speak to me in Italian."

I wish we had that pride as well for Filipino.

Kian's Shooting Hits Close to Home

I am writing this because the killing of Kian delos Santos has hit close to my line of work.

I am an adviser this year and these are my adorable S4 students.

They are just 2 years younger than Kian and I think this picture was taken the same day that poor boy was shot as he was begging for his life.

Unbeknownst to us, as we were enjoying this groupie (we all had to wear flowery shirts that day), that one of their contemporaries will never be able to achieve his dreams.

If God wielded his magic wand and placed Kian here in this picture, he would not have died that day.

Unfortunately for Kian, his house did not have high walls to prevent the intrusion of policemen.

He did not live in a condo where intruding police would have to contend with the condo security and the condo association, before making any moves.

He did not live in a gated community where the neighborhood association would have demanded the proper papers before any arrests are made.

Kian did not have wealthy parents who can give him a relatively sheltered life, with a chauffeur on call, to whisk him to and from school.

If someone accused him of being a drug dealer, a drug runner, a drug user, or a drug whatever, he cannot use the line, "I will sue you for libel, see you in court!" to frighten his accusers.

And people who are born on the wrong side of the tracks, whether here or in America, usually gets the wrong side of the stick and God only knows if they ever will get justice for the wrong done to them.

I say, just spare the poor drug users. Send them to rehab or send the small fry pushers to jail.

Just concentrate on the bigger fish, the mayors, generals, the top brass, who allow this drug trade to flourish. I'm sure the public has no sympathy for scum like them.