To simply love

Avocado Road on March 26, 2007 was a hub of activity at 4:30 in the morning. Most of us prepared to leave the house in order to skip the traffic. Our destination was the Shrine of the Divine Word at the Christ the King Seminary. We will attend the Episcopal Ordination of Bishop-elect Fr. Leopoldo (Pol) Jaucian, svd. Half-awake, we took the cab towards the site and greeted the sun rising over metro manila.

The Shrine was full of people who had close encounters of him. St. Jude Parish and the Catholic School was in full force. The crowd was a representation of people whom he worked with through the years. There were even guests from outside the country. I could feel the outpouring joy and love by the people for him. There was this lady who clicked hundreds of photos even before the ceremony started. The jubilant response of the people would say it all. The people cheered (even cried) even at the start when Fr. Pol marched down the aisle...


I noticed that the seating arrangement was color coded. We were included into the yellow code that meant 'others'. Still at the very end, our affiliation with Pol cannot be fully identified. I also noticed that it was the unidentified 'others' portion of the shrine that was easily filled up. They were the very people who cheered most and was so excited to catch a glimpse of the new bishop...


The ceremony lasted for a long time. What brought home to all those rituals were the words of Card. Rosales---"the main work of a bishop is to simply love... pray!-- it is in praying that you maintain your intimacy with Jesus... this is the only way that you would remain faithful to your call..." Tough! It made me wake up...

The people listened to the Cardinal on his homily. The order was so tall but the people seem to silently say--he can do it. He did that for a long time! For those who closely know Monsignor Pol, no convincing is needed that indeed he is such a very good person. I CANONIZED HIM! How can I resist from my not doing so? His vocation called for higher things. Now, he will be with his people in Abra. He is there to love.

Brand New Day

I rummaged through my clothes today in search for something lavander to wear. It is women's day and I felt like celebrating. In the messy things in life, I chose to see the brighter side and focus on the things that I can do well and efficiently.

I dress up to give support to my boss who, in the political arena, was accused of betraying her party... It was not that way in the real sense. She was just true to her mandate and tried very hard to collaborate with everyone. However, when it worked, the people in her party were disappointed. The people benefited. However, the city gains did not win her a ticket to her party. She was booted out.

This gave me the necessary excuse to go out with a friend and do some sharing. Caffeine and talk goes together more than anything. One of the questions raised after our talk was 'what power lesson can we get out of it?' I kept quiet and said that the lesson is recycled--- when one goes against the grain, one will get crucified...

So much for this rantings... I just hope to see a new city with higher goals and higher thoughts. I just wish that leaders would look beyond affiliations and for once get moving.

AMEN.

I gave her the 'lamp post' award. She might stand alone but it radiates too much light. It deters crime from happening and attracts all the tiny insects around her... Goodness attracts but may not go well with politicking...

Karaang Balay

I was previliged to watch a play two weeks ago (check out the lifestyle section of the Bohol Chronicle). For lack of time to write, let me show some unedited photos about it. The play was performed at the Malon House, one of the old houses in Baclayon, Bohol that faced the controversial threat of demolition to pave the way for a road widening... The play was directed by Gardy Labad, Bol-anon by heart, blood and choice...

Guests included Inno Manalo of the Ayala Foundation.





More photos on my picasa account...

In praise of Maribojoc Bay

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Bohol Lady Lawyers Mode of Relaxation...

Local vs. Original

Nothing prepared me for my class last Wednesday. I was prepared with my illustrative symbols on how to make local governance be made popular to my class. That portion in the Philippine Constitution is quite ‘boring’ for my students in the College of Education as they have the tendency to shun away from ‘frontal’ politics.

While I was about to steer them to the topic, I asked them about the meaning of the word 'local' for them. They blurted out that it has to be fake and the opposite of original. The educator in me tried doing follow-up questions and found out that they meant it to be that way. The baskets in Antequera are ‘local’ and never original… (This should be the mainstreaming of colloquial thoughts!)

I smiled then flexed my muscles. We went ‘dictionarily bookish’. My students simply smiled. They were sheepish when I told them that I will blog the evening’s event…

In that night, I was more excited ‘informing’ them that the opposite of local is not original and the former is always original… Most of them would not agree that they are locals but they adamantly said that they were very original… It was a fifteen minute probing of how the word was perceived and what was its meaning in the political science perspective.

Just like life, although somehow destinations are clear, we take short stops and encounter unplanned events… Along the way, people are there. These things happen. It was a stop worth taking. I peered into their minds and entered into a discussion with them, which they might hesitate if done in a very formal setting like that of an oral examination.

I could have climbed over the wall and complain about where the academia is going. I could have written a note to the English professors for their information and consumption. Instead, I blogged it as promised. They committed no crime… they were simply honest.