What if Martial Law Did Not Take Place?

Just thinking of events (positive ones at least) that could have happened to our country had Marcos not declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 (the actual date was September 23 but since the Great Apo was superstitious and thought that the number 7 and multiples thereof brought him luck, he decided to ante-date the declaration by a couple of days) and had he stepped down as President upon the completion of his second term in January 1973:

1. Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. (Liberal Party) would have assumed office as the 7th President of the Philippine Republic in January 1973.
2. The two-party system would probably still be in place today and both the Nationalista and Liberal Parties would probably still be around as the dominant political parties.
3. The 1935 Constitution, along with its imperfections, would still be in place.
4. As a result of #4, the number of justices in the Philippine Supreme Court would have remained at 9 instead of the current 15.
5. The country would have incurred a lot less foreign debt and thus, a bigger portion of the government's budget would have been available for projects that would have benefited the people.
6. Metro Manila, as a political entity, would not exist. Thus, we would not have an MMDA and would have no need for a Bayani Fernando to lord it over Metro Manila.
7. The country would have been a lot more progressive because private industry would have grown without a lot of intervention from the government.
8. The Philippine Military would have remained as the professional and well-trained force that it was. It would have probably remained better armed too.
9. The Muslim and NPA rebellions would not have grown to become the huge problems they became under Marcos. A democratic and pluralistic society would have kept a lot of those guys legally engaged in the political arena.
10. The Philippine National Police in its current form would not exist. Police control would still have remained under the city and town mayors. The Philippine Constabulary would have remained in existence as well.
11. Cory Aquino would not have become President.
12. Juan Ponce Enrile would not have become a Senator and would not have been in a position to encourage military adventurism among misguided elements in the Philippine military. His long stint as Secretary of Defense under the Marcos Dictatorship enabled him to establish his own band of loyal followers within the military.
13. The Department of Tourism would not exist as a cabinet-level department.
14. The country would have been a lot wealthier than it is now and probably a lot more peaceful.
15. The Catholic Church would not have become as powerful and influential a player in politics as it is today. The two-party system would have prevented such rise to power.
16. A lot less Filipinos would have seen the need to leave their families to work overseas for the economy would have been more vibrant and market-oriented.
17. The likes of Edgar Jopson, Evelio Javier, and thousands of other Martial Law victims would still be around today.

Those are just some of my thoughts. What are yours?

Unintended Consequences

I went to Costco early yesterday to do some food shopping. I was out of eggs, milk, and rice and my supply was a bit low on a few other food items. Thus, I had to make quick trip to this store, of which I am a member, so I can replenish my dwindling supply.

Since rice was high on my list of items, I immediately went to the aisle where they usually have it and the following picture shows the stock they had available on display:


I normally buy only one sack of rice at a time. However, I was a bit saddened, although not surprised, to see the following notice posted above the sacks of rice.

The rice and grain shortage that is being felt in parts of Asia and Africa has finally hit the United States too. Although news reports here are assuring the American public that no shortage currently exists within the United States, the government and the private sector have begun to take steps to manage the current rice and grain supply to prevent hoarding, undue price increases, and artificial shortages from occurring.

The above picture shows the brand and type of rice I buy from that store. The brand is called "Super Lucky Elephant" and Jasmine is the rice variety. The rice was imported from Thailand and comes in sacks that have a net weight of 25 pounds or 11.34 kilograms. For the longest time, this particular sack of rice sold for a little less than $9.00 at this store. However, the last year or so saw its price increase gradually. Yesterday, I bought it at $12.69, a 41% increase from what it was just a couple of years ago.

In and of itself, the increase may not be that much. However, once one adds up all the price increases in other food products such as eggs, milk, meats, fruits, vegetables, and other food items, the cumulative impact on one's food budget can be quite significant.

It would be easy and simplistic to lay all the blame on our oil-producing friends at OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) for indeed, the price of oil has skyrocketed throughout the first decade of this new century. From around $25 a barrel in 1999, Oil is now hovering at $119 per barrel, a staggering 376% increase. (Sources: WTRG Economics and Bloomberg.com) The soaring price of oil has indeed contributed significantly to the jump in food prices worldwide.

However, unbeknownst to many, there is also another culprit that is contributing to the increase in food prices. This culprit threatens to make global warming a lot worse and a lot more disastrous for all of us. And it's called Biofuels.

When the US Congress passed legislation to increase the use of biofuels, the intention was to lower the country's dependence on oil imports and to protect the environment. Ethyl alcohol, or Ethanol, a fuel distilled from plant matter was considered to be the answer to the world's uncontrollable thirst for crude oil.

However, the unintended consequences of such legislation are that it is now driving up food prices, it is actually making the global warming problem worse and it is inadvertently aiding the destruction of huge swaths of forests worldwide.

It was not only the US Congress who passed such legislation that mandated the use of biofuels. The same type of legislation was also passed all across Europe. It's created a ripple effect. As a result of such legislated mandates, global demand for ethanol experienced a huge spike which in turn has made the prices of grain and corn shoot up in the world market. In the US alone, it is estimated that biofuel production will increase from 7.5 billion gallons in 2012 to 36 billion gallons in 2022.

Due to such very favorable market conditions, a lot of grain and corn farmers worldwide have reallocated part of their grain and corn harvest to the production of fuel rather than just food. In short, a lot of hungry people the world over are now competing against cars for a very limited corn and grain supply. Instead of fueling us, a large part of such harvests are now being used to fuel our cars.

What is a big eye opener according to a recent Time magazine article("The Clean Energy Myth") is that the amount of grain needed to fill an SUV's gas tank with ethanol was enough to feed a person for an entire year.

Since corn and grain farming have now become highly attractive economically, a number of governments and businesses around the world have resorted to converting huge areas of farmland and forests to the planting of such crops. This is getting to be a problem in Brazil where huge areas of the Amazon forest are now being cut down to make way for farms devoted to address the high demand for ethanol. The same is true in both Indonesia and Malaysia where rain forests are being depleted at a rapid rate. If such activities continue, then the amount of greenhouse gases will continue to rise at an even faster rate.

There are other worries too. If more and more of the world's farmers shift their farming to corn and grain, such move would have the effect of reducing the supply of other agricultural products and thus driving their prices up too. In addition, dedicating large amounts of land to fuel production would certainly rob the world of one of its most important sources of food.

With everything that's happening in the world today, it is clear that this whole push for ethanol should be reevaluated and, if necessary, pushed back or stopped. Time is of the essence here. At this point, we've already heard of food riots in certain parts of Africa and that high food prices have fomented instability in other poor countries.

Some experts have said that what we're experiencing is just the beginning, that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. But at this point and as a first step towards reversing this growing global problem, we all need to accept the cold hard fact that biofuels aren't really the answer to our global warming problems. They're simply making it worse.

Not Good Enough (Yet) for TV

I drove home Friday from Maryland upon the conclusion of a two-week assignment there. Since our company's office in Maryland was about 190 miles (approximately 300 kilometers) from my place, which was between three to four hours' driving distance, I decided to just drive down instead of fly.

I had rented a car instead of bringing my own. And part of the rental agreement I had with the car rental company was that I was supposed to return the car with a full tank of gas. Failure to do so would surely invite additional charges to an already sizeable rental bill. After making some mental calculations based on my trip route, I noted that there was a rest area that was about 10 minutes away from the car rental facility. I could certainly stop by the rest area, have the car filled up, and drop the car off at the car rental facility without worrying about any additional charges

So that's what I did. I stopped by a gas station in one of those rest areas along the New Jersey Turnpike. The gas station had four fueling bays (or "islands" as we call them in the Philippines) with two fueling pumps each. I noticed that lines of cars, four cars deep on the average, were lined up on each bay. I picked a particular bay and promptly fell in line to wait for my turn.

After a few minutes, I had noticed that the lines on the other bays seemed to be moving a bit faster than the line I was on. At first, I couldn't figure out why that was so when most of the cars in line ahead of me were either compacts or medium-sized cars. So I rolled down my windows and popped my head out of the car just to get an idea of what was going on.

Well, what I saw was a lady with a microphone interviewing the driver of the car that was about two cars ahead of me. Right next to her stood a TV cameraman who had one of those rather long and heavy tv cameras on his shoulder and was busy filming the entire interview. My initial reaction was "Oh man, not now." I was tired and in a rush to get home for I had been on the road for more than three hours at that point. I quickly checked my rearview mirror to see if I could still back my car out to get to the other bays. Too late. There were already at least two cars behind me. Thus, I had no choice but to stay put and keep waiting.

The "interview" and refueling eventually ended after what seemed like an eternity. The car in front of me then pulled up to the first available pump while I pulled up to the second one. But then, guess what? As soon as I asked the gasoline attendant to fill up the car, I saw the lady reporter and the TV cameraman quickly come up towards me.

The lady reporter quickly introduced herself and said that she was a reporter for CBS News. She said that they were doing a piece on the rising gas prices in the country for broadcast that evening. She asked me if I would mind if she ask a few questions about the state of the country's fuel situation. Since she was nice enough, I agreed to be interviewed. However, in a flash, some thoughts quickly zipped through my mind. "Are we already on the air?" "How do I look? Do I look good for the tv camera with my sunglasses on or off? Where's my comb, damn it?!?!" "Will they broadcast this piece in the Philippines?" "Would they let me say hi to my folks and friends back home?" "Could there be any Hollywood agents out there watching who may be looking for some fresh-faced Asian talents?" Ahh.. I guess you can scratch that last thought.

Anyway, once I agreed to be interviewed, the TV cameraman quickly trained his camera on me. The reporter asked me for my full name and thanks to my father's excellent choice of a first name, she asked me to spell my name out for her. Then came the questions.

CBS Reporter: Do you have any travel plans this summer?
Panaderos: Yes, I do.

CBS Reporter: Do you plan to drive or fly?
Panaderos: Fly.

CBS Reporter: Will the continued rise in gas prices affect your travel plans?
Panaderos: It will certainly affect some of my travel plans, but not all. I might have to cut back or cancel some trips.

CBS Reporter: Will you think that many other Americans will also cut back on their travel plans and why?
Panaderos: (Trying to appear scholarly.) I believe so. A lot of families are running on a tight budget these days with both the rising cost of fuel and food. Quite a number of people lost their jobs too as a result of the subprime mess. Those factors all add up.

With that, both the lady reporter and the cameraman thanked me. I paid the gas attendant and drove off to the car rental facility to drop the car off. I then quickly called my SO with the news (no pun intended) that I was interviewed by CBS News. I told her that it was for a piece that they were scheduled to broadcast later that evening.

I rushed home, turned the tv on and tuned it to CBS while I unpacked my stuff. After an hour, the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric came on and sure enough, the news on the rising gas prices was front and center. In a moment that would have made Ayn Rand quite proud of me, I eagerly awaited for my face to be shown on tv, to heck with the gas prices!

But then, by the title of this post, you surely must know by now what happened. Sadly, my face didn't end up on the news report. They ended up picking some lady whose face I did not see while I was lined up at that same gas station. I guess in the interest of time, they had to pick one out of the several that they had interviewed that afternoon. Oh well, that's life.

Better luck next time. :) Later, Hollywood. (Naks!)

A Blog's Little Milestone

I interrupt this blog's regular programming with the following announcement.

This post marks a milestone in this blog's young life for it happens to be this blog's 100th entry. :-D

To that announcement some of you might react by asking "Eh ano ngayon?" or "So what?"

To that, my humble response would be, "So totoo lang, wala. Gusto ko lang i-celebrate. Bakit?!?! May angal kayo?!?!" or translated in English, "Nothing really. I just wanted to mark the event. Why?!?! You guys have a problem with that?!?!" :)

But seriously....

This blog first saw the light of day in January of this year, when the winter season was at its coldest. The nights were long, the trees were without their leaves and hardly a pretty bird could be seen in the sky. I took my first tentative steps then to find an outlet to express my views on life and things, share whatever knowledge I had to whoever was interested out there, and to basically practice my writing.



It's been close to four full months since that very first post. Winter's over and Spring is in full swing. The various trees have their leaves growing back in different shapes and colors. The days are longer and the birds are back singing in the trees.

In the weeks and months since that very first day, I've gained quite a number of friends online and regular visitors to the site. I've also gained a number of regular readers, some who choose to remain silent. But regardless of whether you post a comment or not, your visits mean a lot to me. To each person I've linked my blog to, I just want to say "Thank you." Thanks for welcoming me to your online "home" and for sharing your talents, knowledge, experiences, and life lessons.

To those who choose to read my blog in silence, I hope you find my posts sensible, if not all, then I hope at least a majority of them. If you think the writing's turned awful, please feel free to break your silence and post a scathing criticism or remark. Although you might hurt my feelings in the process, I promise that I will refrain from asking for your home address, computer i.p. address, and/or phone number (whether landline or cell) just for the sole purpose of inflicting a counterresponse, measured or otherwise. Hehe

But seriously (again), I am truly grateful to all of you who stop by to read and visit. Your reads, visits, and comments are all truly appreciated. Thanks.

Now back to this blog's regularly scheduled programming.

Friendship Tag

I've been tagged by very dear friend Mari to spread this friendship badge:



As such, I included her name on this post. And although the rules of this tag require that I pick four or five of my own featured friends, I am not tagging anyone this time.

Should you decide to do this tag, you have to inform ALL your chosen friends' featured friends to keep the ball rolling.

Note: If you use Blogger, you can add your featured friends using the new page element ‘Link List’. You may read everything about how this Featured Friend started by reading here and here.

Worldwide Link Love Tag

I got tagged by my special friend Mari who has been meaning to get her own domain but has not been quite sold to the idea yet. She's having a hard time making up her mind because thoughts of devouring various cheesecake varieties have been clouding her judgment lately. :)

Anyway, this simple tag simply involves the following easy-to-follow rules:

* start copying here *

Join the Worldwide Link Love!


Benefits of Worldwide Link Love!

1. Make new friends around the world.
2. Feel the Link Love.
3. Gain new readers and subscribers.

Rules:

1. Copy from ~* start copying here *~ to ~* end copying here *~ and paste it on your blog.
2. At the end of the list, put your name and the country your in, it doesn't matter what's your nationality just put the country where you are publishing your blog. Don't forget to put links at your name.
3. If you have many blogs, you can link all of it, just make sure you post the same on each blog.
4. Tag eight or more of your blog friends.
5. Tip for blogspot* users: make sure you copy and paste the code in Compose mode.

Worldwide Link Love! Participants

1. Julia (Philippines)
2. Catherine (Malaysia)
3. Shimumsy(u.s.a)
4. Mitch (Philippines)
5. Hailey (Philippines)
6. Sexymom (USA)
7. Liza (Philippines)
8. Geng (Philippines)
9. SunnySideUp Foodie (Singapore)
10. Caramelcorn (Singapore)
11. Constance (Singapore)
12. Hainankia (Malaysia)
13. Read my Mind (Philippines)
14. Quintessentially I (Philippines)
15. A Man of My Town (USA)
16. add your link here

* end copying here *

And in turn, I'm tagging Princess Dyanie to do this tag in return.

Desktop Tag

I was tagged by Mec to show what my desktop currently shows at the moment.


The screen shot above shows my laptop's desktop screen. The icons on the screen represent the various software programs I use for work and personal stuff on a daily basis. I've placed the icons of those select programs on the screen for ease of access.

The ones I use for personal stuff are ITunes, AIM (AOL Instant Messaging), and Yahoo Messenger (YM). The TurboTax icons are the ones I use for preparing my personal tax returns.

I apologize for the rather plain-looking way my screen looks. I wish I could post pictures on the it but I can't since I take the laptop to work.

The Lords of Discipline

The following little story took place years ago on a college campus somewhere in Manila. This was in the period after Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.'s assasination.

College Boy Panaderos was hanging out with a couple of his college buddies in an empty classroom one weekday afternoon . He and his buddies were talking about the hot-button issues of the day namely, the murder of Senator Aquino and the awful state of the country's political and economic environment. Their talk centered on how evil the country's leadership was and in what ways he and his buddies could help in bringing the Marcos administration down.

College Boy Panaderos had idolized the late Senator ever since he was a kid. This was due to the fact that Panaderos' father was an avid follower of Philippine politics and was a frequent viewer of news programs and news talk shows back in the pre-martial law days. In those days, especially from 1970 to 1972, Senator Aquino was often on tv blasting the abuses and corruption of the Marcos administration. Thus, his was a face that was immediately recognizeable to many Filipino kids who tuned in to those news and public affairs programs.

The late Senator was a gifted speaker, was mentally sharp, and had popular appeal. In the early 1970s, a lot of Filipinos had already assumed that he was destined to be elected the next President of the Philippines come the 1973 elections. However, martial law intervened in September of 1972 and sadly, the rest is history.

Anyway, the discussion about the ills of the Marcos administration made College Boy Panaderos' blood boil. He needed an outlet for his seething anger. Thus, he walked towards the front of the classroom, grabbed a chalk and scribbled "Death to Marcos!" in large letters on the blackboard. However, unbeknownst to our stupid hero, one of the university's Discipline Officers was walking by the classroom at the time and happened to see him scrawl his anti-Marcos rant on the blackboard.

The Discipline Officer walked into the room while Panaderos' back was to him and asked, "What are you doing?" College Boy Panaderos turned around and was shocked to see the Discipline Officer glaring at him. He then replied, "Sir, I was just expressing my anger at the President." The Discipline Officer, looking at what was written on the board, proceeded to ask, "Do you know that what you just did is considered vandalism?" "No, sir," said Panaderos and tried to reason by saying, "I used a chalk anyway and if you'll let me, I'm going to erase what I wrote."

The Discipline Officer then said that such attempt at undoing an offense was no longer necessary. He asked Panaderos to hand over his Student ID. "See me at the Discipline Office tomorrow," were the Discipline Officer's stern parting words to a bewildered and dismayed Panaderos.

So to the Discipline Office went Panaderos the following day. He expected a scolding from the Discipline Officer for what he did and he also expected further sanctions. As soon as he walked in, he saw Mang ("Mister") J, one of the Discipline Office's head honchos at the time. Mang J had a reputation for being a tough but fair man. But even with that, once Panaderos saw him, he (Panaderos) immediately assumed that Mang J was going to hand down other punishments to make sure that our hero learned his lesson.

Mang J motioned for Panaderos to take a seat. Panaderos did so and anxiously waited for Mang J's verdict. "I'm not pleased with what you did, young man," said Mang J, unsmiling as he proceeded to pull a book out of the file cabinet that stood adjacent to his desk. The book turned out to be the College's Discipline Manual.

He put his thick-rimmed glasses on and leafed through the manual until he found the page he was looking for. "I want to show you the offense you committed and I want an assurance from you that you won't do it again. Is that understood, young man?" "Yes, sir. I understand perfectly well, sir," a rather antsy Panaderos replied.

"Very well, this is the offense you committed," replied Mang J as he proceeded to show Panaderos the particular page, section and rule the latter violated. Panaderos' eyes settled on the part of the page where Mang J's finger was pointed and saw the offense he was found guilty of:

Unauthorized use of chalk.

"Never do this again, young man. Am I making myself clear?" warned Mang J. To which Panaderos promptly replied, "Yes, sir. It won't happen again." With that promise, Panaderos' Student ID was promptly handed back to him and he quietly left the office.

Time

Time moves slowly when I'm not with you.

In a Quandary

Something perplexing came up at work this past week. It has to do with a gentleman in our department named SG. SG is one of two or three people who are being groomed for possible promotion to Manager. Having been identified as a candidate for promotion, SG has been put on what our company calls a "leadership development track" or LDT.

A person on the LDT is given additional responsibilities and accountabilities. He/she is assigned team lead responsibilities such as assisting the Project Manager in mentoring the newer team members, handing out work assignments, reporting on the results of a project, and leading meetings. That person is basically given one year to prove he/she is capable of moving up to the next rank.

It was through such meetings and through those mentoring sessions that some people, especially the experienced members of the staff, started questioning SG's grasp of the topics and issues we deal with on a daily basis. The reason for the suspicion and doubt is that whenever there were discussions of Financial concepts, even on ones considered the most basic by Finance professionals, it was observed that SG would often stay quiet. Or if he would say something, it was observed that he would simply regurgitate what another person had said. In short, he did not contribute much to technical discussions on issues, did not provide any additional insights or analysis that would have helped such discussions move towards a resolution.

SG has been with our department for close to two years. When he joined the team, the director who hired him told us that he had the requisite professional certification and credentials to do the job. He is a very likeable person and was found to be a hard worker. As with any other profession, once an employee asserts or claims that he/she has the required professional certification, his/her superior would naturally assume then that he/she possesses a certain degree of knowledge and expertise.

SG had been on my team on several engagements. I found him to be quite observant and a number of his observations eventually ended up on project reports I submitted to senior executives. He provided me with very good inputs on possible control weaknesses whenever we conducted ocular inspections of facilities.

But although I found him reliable, I always sensed that he seemed to have a certain level of discomfort or lack of confidence. I observed both discomfort and lack of confidence whenever he conducted interviews and meetings. At the time, I couldn't quite put my finger on what seemed to be the source of such discomfort. To address the problem, I had advised him spend more time studying the scope of a project before we went out on the field.

I had also noticed a certain "disconnect" in my discussions with him. Whenever I conducted one-on-one sessions to mentor or guide him on certain topics or observations, he would leave me with the impression that he understood perfectly everything that we had talked about. However, I would often find out later, to my frustration and disappointment, that he failed to understand critical points in our discussion.

Some people this week voiced to me their suspicion that SG may have misrepresented his professional credentials not only to us but also to people outside of our department. To a duly certified Finance professional, the topics and matters we deal with are not in the realm of rocket science. However, in our job, we need to arm ourselves with the professional knowledge and experience to be effective and credible champions of change. If he did misrepresent his credentials, something I'm still hoping that he didn't do, then that could partly explain his demeanor.

This is a delicate situation that requires a very sensitive approach. I've raised the matter with a superior and we've both agreed that it's going to be a topic for further discussion once I'm back in the office next week. This whole affair is a question about fairness. Would it be fair to the junior staff, from the standpoint of personal and professional development, if we require them to continue working under someone who may lack the credentials to provide credible technical guidance? Would it be fair to SG if we continue promoting him to a level of incompetence?

Firing him is certainly not an option and I don't believe that any of my superiors would even consider doing that. However, we would need to get our heads together to determine what would be the next steps to appropriately deal with this sensitive matter.

Photo Hunt: Thirteen

This week's Photo Hunt Theme is Thirteen.

My contribution to this week's theme is a picture showing 13 pieces from my diecast car collection. My father introduced me to Matchbox cars when I was a kid. I used to play with them but now I collect them. However, unlike other diecast car collectors who have collections that number in the thousands, mine is not a huge one. My collection is limited to about 40 or so pieces.

Anyway, here are some of them. Have a good weekend, everyone.

photohunt

The Very Thought of You

The very thought of you
And I forget to do
Those little ordinary things
That everyone ought to do.

I'm livin' in a kind of a daydream.
I'm happy as a king.
And foolish though it may seem,
To me, that's everything.

The mere idea of you,
The longing here for you;
You'll never know
How slow the moments go
Till I'm near to you.

I see your face in every flower,
Your eyes in stars above;
It's just the thought of you,
The very thought of you, my love.

There are simply moments when no other words can better express what I feel than these words Mr. Ray Noble wrote many years ago. The words and music keep me company during those days and nights when I long for yours. Although I can't be with you all the time, my thoughts will always be.

The Samurai

I don't know how many Filipinos still recall this particular television series. It was quite popular among adults and kids during the late 1960s to the early 1970s. It was a television series that was imported from Japan and was noted for its magnificent and skillful swordplay. The following video clip shows the program's then familiar opening scene:

This show was called "The Samurai". It was a weekly series shown on Channel 11, a television station the Elizalde family owned that existed during the pre-martial law years.

The show's hero was "Shintaro Akikusa" or more popularly known as "Shintaro", a wandering swordsman played by a Japanese tv actor, Koichi Ose. His sidekick was "Tombei the Mist", played by the late Fuyukichi Maki.

In the story, Shintaro and Tombei battled the evil Koga Ninja, a clan of ninjas that were clad in black in 17th century Japan. Shintaro and Tombei were, in turn, aided by the good ninjas of the Iga Ninja clan.

The show which ran for about half an hour every week was noted for its brilliant swordplay, authentic period costumes, magicianship, and special effects. The ninjas were also noted for their high leaps and lightning fast movement, abilities that impressed so many a Filipino kid that it became a hugely popular tv show at the time.

The show was produced by Japan's Senkoska Film Company and originally ran in that country from 1962 to 1965. It became a huge success in Australia, Japan, and the Philippines, the three biggest media markets in the Asia-Pacific region at the time. Originally produced in Japanese, the show was dubbed into English for release outside the Japanese market.

The Elizalde-owned Channel 11 tv station closed upon the declaration of martial law in 1972. The showing of "The Samurai" was then transferred to RBS-7 (Republic Broadcasting System, the forerunner of GMA-7), a tv station that was then owned by the family of the late Robert "Uncle Bob" Stewart.

In spite of its low budget, the show was a gem. Although the story line was of the simple black-and-white, good-versus-evil kind, the show was so well made and well acted that it was able to successfully capture the imagination of a generation.

Reruns of the show were shown on Philippine television on and off during the 1970s. It made a brief comeback in the mid-1980s but the reruns ended permanently not long afterwards. It is one of those great shows from my childhood that I truly miss.

Ten Things About Me

My buddy, Jane, tagged me to list ten things about myself that you, dear readers, don't yet know about me. But first, the following are the tag's rules:

– Each blogger must post these rules first.
– Each blogger starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
– Bloggers who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
– At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
– Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
–Then at the end you tag 10 other bloggers to keep the fun going.

Here are mine:
1. When I was in elementary, there was one entire school year when my "baon" (packed lunch) every single day was Chicken Adobo.
2. Nearly choked on a fish bone when I was about 8 years old. Thus, I've hated boned fish ever since.
3. I don't like fried seafood. I prefer them steamed.
4. Back in my college days, "Good Ah" was my favorite place to take girlfriends out for dinner.
5. I never smoked a stick of cigarette in my whole life.
6. I learned to use chopsticks "on the spot" to impress a Chinese girlfriend's parents over dinner. It was their first time to meet me.
7. Taught myself ice skating by simply watching people skate on the ice rink.
8. Made my entire class in college fail a critical Finance examination simply because I asked the teacher a "wrong" question during the exam.
9. Was a very talkative student in my early elementary years. Was sent out of the classroom 3 times in one day for talking too much in class. That number was, and still is, a Panaderos family record.
10. Got accepted into UP's College of Journalism. Changed my mind at the very last minute, on the day before the start of class, and took a Finance degree at a different university instead.

This time, I'm not tagging anyone. Please feel free to do the tag if you so please.

Sleepless in Hanover, MD

I am currently on another business trip. I am on a two-week assignment in Maryland, in a town called Hanover. Hanover is about 13 miles (about 21 kilometers) southwest of Baltimore and is about 30 miles (about 48 kilometers) northeast of Washington, D.C. The hotel I'm staying in is called the Hampton Inn which is part of the Hilton chain of hotels.

Anyway, after doing some work in my hotel room earlier this evening, I got a bit bored and decided to take photos of my hotel room/temporary home.


Above photo shows the kingsize bed and right next to it, a small couch with a small center table. Please pardon the mess because I did some reading earlier and was too lazy to fix the bed up for this mini-pictorial.



The above photo shows a wall unit that includes a tv, dresser, a small microwave oven, and a mini-refrigerator. Immediately next to it is a desk with a vanity mirror. Atop the desk is my old, trusty laptop along with other stuff/junk I use while working such as a cup of soda. :D

This is my favorite item in the room. I'm not quite sure exactly what it's called. I simply call it a "breakfast tray" even though it was also designed for other uses. It can be used to set one's laptop on should one decide to do his/her work on the bed. It has a foam padding underneath so that it can be comfortably placed on one's lap. I love this because I can do my work comfortably on the bed while watching tv at the same time.

Overall, I find the room quite comfortable. I also like the location because across the street from the hotel is a big mall with a 24-screen cineplex. Having said that, I might just treat myself to a movie one of these evenings.

Well, it's time to turn in. I have to catch some sleep now for I have a long day tomorrow. Later, folks.

Original Photos by: Panaderos

A Sin I'm Guilty Of

I know you know I've been guilty of this. In the time we've been "US", we've come to know each other very well. Our relationship has had many ups and it certainly has had a few downs. But as we continue our journey, I want you to know that I love you very much. And I'm sorry if I overdo it at times.

I was dreaming of the past
And my heart was beating fast.
I began to lose control.
I began to lose control.

I didn't mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy.

I was feeling insecure
You might not love me anymore.
I was shivering inside.
I was shivering inside.

I didn't mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy.

I didn't mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy.

I was trying to catch your eyes.
Thought that you was trying to hide.
I was swallowing my pain.
I was swallowing my pain.

I didn't mean to hurt you.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
Oh no, I didn't want to hurt you.
I'm just a jealous guy, watch out.
I'm just a jealous guy, look out babe.
I'm just a jealous guy.

- John Lennon "Jealous Guy" (1971)

A Life's Guide

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of the easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
- Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (1922)

I've loved this poem from the very moment I studied it in high school English class. I was awed by Mr. Frost's genius in the simplicity of the words and the imagery he used. It was like a fresh breeze for it seemed, on the surface, a poem that was easy to understand especially when compared to the other literary works we had to study at the time.

I was also profoundly struck by the poem's last stanza. Although the last stanza has been the subject of years of debate among literary critics, for me, it left a message of responsibility, of priorities, and of mission.

I've seen so many lovely woods in my life. Each presented itself to me at a time of its own choosing. All were very enticing and all, in its own way, could have changed my life in one way or another. Some maybe for the better and some, probably, for the worse. I will never know for certain because the last stanza's words constantly reminded me of my responsibilities, of the need to attain a number of goals although quite mundane some of them may have been.

I had to admire those woods from a distance then, sometimes with much sadness. There are times when I deeply regret that I did not stay to admire them a bit longer. Who knows? Maybe I would have learned a thing or two about myself, things that could have helped me later in life.

But I had work to do. I had goals I couldn't compromise on. To compromise on them, would have certainly proved fatal not only to me but also to the ones I love and will love. And so I had no option but to move on.

Many summers have passed since I first read this poem. More summers, God willing, lay ahead. I've accomplished a number of my goals but at the same time, because of changes in my priorities along the way, I've also had to change or give up on some. But what this poem has been and always will be to me is a source of strength and a reminder that although a number of things have been accomplished, there are still a number of things left to be done.

Photo Hunt: Twist(ed)

This week's Photo Hunt Theme is Twist(ed).


The picture above is a rendering of the famous Lombard Street in San Francisco, also known as the "most crooked street in the world". I took this picture at Legoland in Carlsbad, California a few years ago. It was one of a number of city dioramas on display made entirely of Lego bricks. The other cities represented were New Orleans, Washington D.C., and New York City.

The photo above shows the actual world-famous Lombard Street. The street is constructed out of bricks with beautiful flowers lining both its sides. It's one of the popular tourist attractions in the city by the bay.

Photo credit: SFTravel.com (Actual Lombard Street Photo)

Bataan Day

Bataan has fallen, but the spirit that made it stand--a beacon to all the liberty-loving peoples of the world--cannot fall!
- “Voice of Freedom” (Radio Broadcast from Malinta Tunnel, Corregidor, April 9, 1942)

Today marks the 66th Anniversary of the Fall of Bataan. Although the government now calls it Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor, to people of my generation and the ones before us, this day will always be remembered simply as Bataan Day.

It was on April 9, 1942 when, some 70,000 sick, wounded and hungry American and Filipino soldiers under the command of General Edward King finally surrendered to the invading Japanese forces led by General Masaharu Homma after months of fierce jungle fighting. The forces fought valiantly against an enemy that was superior both in numbers and materiel. Corregidor fell a month later on May 6, 1942.

Although our forces were defeated, they were able to extract a high cost from the Japanese in terms of lives and resources. They effectively tied the Japanese forces down for four months. General Homma had to call in reinforcements several times from the Japanese forces stationed in Malaya and Formosa after losing thousands of troops to death and disease in the jungles of Bataan.

The long, drawn-out battle at Bataan and Corregidor gave the United States the time it desperately needed to recover from the defeat it suffered at Pearl Harbor. This preparation culminated in an American victory over the Japanese fleet in the Battle of Midway two months later in June 1942, a victory that put an end to the Japanese offensive and turned the tide of war in the Pacific.

Regardless of the politics these days, this blog takes pause to honor and remember all the lives lost at a time when both Americans and Filipinos fought for the same cause against a ruthless enemy and ideology.

About Those April Fool's Photos

Better late than never. My apologies that this post was a week late in coming but I just wanted to share with you some information about the photos I posted on this blog last April 1. Those two photos were part of a collection of pictures I took when I went on a Universal Studios Tour in California a few years ago.

The set on display was from the movie The War of the Worlds, that was released in 2005 and directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie had starred Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning. The story was about an ordinary guy who lived in New Jersey who found himself battling an army of destructive aliens who had come through his town as part of their overall mission to conquer and destroy all of humanity.

Seems to be a nice and exciting story line. But there's also a bit of history behind the movie's title.

The movie was based on a Herbert George ("H.G.") Wells book of the same title that was originally published back in 1898. The book was one of the first science fiction novels that depicted an alien invasion. In Mr. Wells' book, an army of Martians had landed in a suburb of London on board what were called "fighting machines". The book gained fame and a bit of notoriety back in 1938 when a young Orson Welles broadcasted a radio drama based on the book. Instead of London, he moved the setting to Grover's Mill, a town that actually existed in New Jersey at the time.

Now, please note that these were the days before television. Mr. Welles presented the landing of the aliens in the form of an emergency radio broadcast report. The broadcast was so realistic that it led many in his radio audience to believe that an actual Martian invasion was in progress. Inevitably, the broadcast terrified some people, drove quite a number of them into panic, and prompted a lot of calls to police stations reporting possible alien landings in the area.

Although the radio program generated a lot of controversy, it gained the young Mr. Welles both fame and national recognition. He eventually went on to showcase his genius by directing and starring in the movie Citizen Kane (1941), since ranked as one of the greatest 100 movies of all time by the American Film Institute.

Back to War of the Worlds. Mr. Welles' radio program left such a lasting impression on the American public consciousness that it spawned two movie versions, the first one was released in 1953 and the second one was Mr. Spielberg's version that was released in 2005.

As for Grover's Mill, the town used as the setting for the 1938 radio broadcast, it no longer exists as a separate township entity. It has since become part of the city of West Windsor in Mercer County, the same county where the city of Princeton and Princeton University are situated.

A Man of My Town's New Look

I switched to a new template earlier today. Thanks to one of my dear readers, Fence, who maintains a tech blog on the side, I was finally able to find a template I really liked. Actually, I was ready to do the download early this morning but hesitated a bit because I needed some validation and support for my selection from my beloved SO. (Naks!) But once she gave it her seal of approval, download it I immediately did.

My old template was quite temperamental, to say the least. It was one of those classic Blogger templates. I picked it because I liked the simplicity of the design. Plus, I was new to blogging and was in a bit of a rush to come up with a template for my blog. In short, I didn't really know any better. I had assumed, wrongly, that any blogger template out there would work perfectly. And if it did not, that I would only have minimal problems at the most.

Well, work perfectly it certainly did not. Whenever I posted a new entry, I always ended up spending quite a bit of time fixing its format. I always had problems with spacing in between paragraphs and with the spacing in between lines within a paragraph. I also had problems posting pictures. More often than not, once the pictures were posted, the template failed to set up a proper and working hyperlink in Blogger. As a result, a reader won't be able to enlarge a photo once he/she clicked on it.

Looking at the bright side, I got to learn some basic programming commands in Html. It was born out of my desperation and desire to make sure that my blog entries were properly formatted once they got posted. Thus, I learned Html on a "trial and error" basis.

Well this new template is called Arbol. The simplicity of its design and nice choice of colors and fonts makes it easy on the eye. It was indeed "Very Zen", according to Fence in his write-up about this particular template. The only challenge was that since it was designed by Spaniards, the variable names and variable descriptions on the template's Html code were all in Spanish. Thank heavens that 300 years of Spanish colonization still left me with some understanding of the Spanish language within my diluted Filipino genes. Thus, I was able to figure things out within a few minutes and was able to make the necessary tweaks to the code.

I hope this template works and I hope that it will remain as my blog's "look" for quite a while. Thanks again, Fence.

I Need You

I need you like the flowers need the rain,
You know I need you;
Guess I'll start it all again,
You know I need you.
Like the winter needs the spring,
You know I need you.
I need you.

This is a live version of a beautiful song from 1971 written and performed by the folk-rock band, America.

From simple words and simple music, a beautiful love song emerged. "I Need You" was one of the tracks from America's eponymous debut album. Formed by Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek, all sons of US Air Force personnel, the group hit it big in the 1970s with songs such as "Ventura Highway", "Sister Golden Hair", and "Horse With No Name".

But "I Need You" is my personal favorite for although the words may be quite simple, for me, they capture the sadness, desperation, and longing a man feels for a love he feels he might have already lost.

Dearest BT, this song's for you.

Photo Hunt: Glass

This week's Photo Hunt Theme is Glass.

This is a lamp that has been with my family for at least 30 years. It was a gift from a very close relative who bought it from a New York lamp store back in 1974. It is an octagon-shaped glass lamp done in the contemporary style. The lamp came with a similarly octagon-shaped glass stand.

This lamp is a personal favorite of mine not only because it's been around for quite a while but also because of its reliability. The lamp still works perfectly after all these years and with the proper care, will probably continue to do so for many more years.

Switching Careers

"Hi Mr. Panaderos, my name is Zack Robert and I'm with Robert & Co. The job market is hot right now and I was wondering if you're considering a possible career move in the next few months. If so, I was...."

"Good morning, Mr. Panaderos. I'm Joe Farley and I'm with XYZ Consulting. I noticed that you've been with your company for x number of years and I was wondering, given the hot job market in your field, if you're contemplating a move back to your previous industry...."

"Hi, I'm Andy Smith and I was wondering if I could interest you in a job in the central part of the state. It's a growing area and this particular client of ours has a need for someone with your expertise....."

From time to time, I get such calls from headhunters/recruiters asking me if I would be interested in a career move. The calls often come from out of the blue. These people often go through the membership rolls of professional associations and pick names that would end up on their list of prospects. Whenever they call, they often ask if I'm seriously considering leaving my job for a new one or for a new industry or for a job that's in a totally different geographic area. They often try to entice me with potential benefits such as less travel, a higher position, better pay, better benefits, and other perks designed to pique one's interest.

Less travel, higher pay, higher position. It should be an easy decision, right?

Well, I admit that the pitches can get very tempting at times. Indeed, there are moments when I feel physically exhausted from all the traveling I do. Although I've been to a lot of cities here in the US, I've never really had the luxury of taking some time off from work to go sightseeing. This is because a good part of my day (and evening) is spent hunkered down either in a cubicle or in a conference room making sure that all of my team's objectives will be met on or close to schedule.

The money can be quite tempting too. Although I'm comfortable and quite happy with the money I make, it's not of an amount that would allow for an early retirement or luxurious living. Although there are things I can certainly buy, it does not necessarily mean that I could afford them. There's a world of difference between the two.

Yes, the travel could be quite tiring at times and yes, the additional money could certainly help, but there are other things one ought to spend a good deal of time pondering on before making a career move.

A new job means starting over and investing valuable time and effort (again) to know a new boss and new co-workers. A new job means dealing with an entirely new set of people and building new professional and personal relationships with them. It's a gamble because we will never know the quality and type of people we will be working with until we join the new company.

On the other hand, staying in our current job means continuing to build on relationships we have with people we already know and who in turn already know us. This people have already seen and appreciated our contributions, know our capabilities and our limitations. What's also important and not to be taken lightly is that a certain degree of trust now exists in our relationship with them, trust that took time to build.

The prevailing culture in a company also needs to be considered. There are companies where the work environment promotes a "survival of the fittest" type of mentality among its workers. Work is often hard and the work hours are long in companies under this environment. On the other hand, there are companies where the culture, although still competitive, still manages to retain both a professional and family-type of atmosphere where a lot of people know and respect each other. Needless to say, the second type of work environment tends to generate a lot more loyalty in its employees than the first.

I've worked in both environments. Back in my IT days, I worked for a Fortune 100 company where it was a "perfect storm" as far as a demoralizing work environment is concerned. My peers and I worked long hours to support the clients' operations but at the same time we were also required to train people from half a world away to replace us. There was a period of three years when hardly anybody in the department, except for the best performers, had a raise. What made matters worse, the company implemented Jack Welch's bell curve system of employee ranking as a basis for firing employees on a quarterly basis. In my department, we had started off with a headcount of 45 people. By the time I left for my current job four years later , our department was down to just three people, the Director included. What started off as a department with a strong spirit of camaraderie among its members degenerated into an "every man for himself" attitude a few years later simply because of the tone the company had set.

In sharp contrast, I've also worked for companies where the work environment was great and where everyone was treated in a very professional manner. Employee rankings were used for what they were originally intended to be: to mentor and help employees develop their skills. Though employees were not paid as well as the ones in my previous job, they were noticeably happier, took great pride in their work, and were fiercely loyal to the company. Employee turnover was a lot lower too.

Last but not least, one has to love what he/she is doing. None of the high salaries, great benefits, and great work environment would matter if one's miserable at one's job. I left my previous job because aside from all the negatives in the environment, I no longer had any passion for the work I did. I was depressed and for a long while, I felt no satisfaction and fulfillment from my work. I was miserable.

All factors considered, I'm staying put for now. I love what I'm doing and I love the work environment. My boss is not perfect but aside from being an intelligent man, he is also a very understanding person, one who's also blessed with a kind heart. My peers are not perfect too but they've been a very supportive and professional bunch. The only downside is that I commute close to two hours to work each way everyday but still, all things considered, I find that a small price to pay.

Horrible Tuesday

Woke up this morning to the sound of a large explosion coming from the back of my house. I jumped right out of the bed to find out what was going on. What I saw shocked me for never in my life have I witnessed such a scene of utter devastation:

It was such a horrible sight. Bodies were strewn all over the wreckage. Emergency crews were rushing in from our town and from neighboring areas. My neighbors and I rushed out to try to see if we could pull anybody from the burning wreckage. However, the heat was too much for us.

At this point, it has not yet been determined as to how many people perished from this crash. The news this morning was that investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were still going through flight records and passenger manifestos to identify both the plane and the flight number. As you can see from the above photo, the heat burned the plane's metal to the point that it made it impossible for investigators to immediately identify the airline involved.

Will keep you all posted.

Original Photos by: Panaderos