Yesterday i went to school i little earlier coz i've got an org meeting to attend at 12pm so i left our home at 'round 11:15am. Everything was ok, i was able to get a bus as soon as i reached the Emilio Aguinaldo H-way here in Cavite and i thought within 45 mins or less i would be at UPM already but to my surprise 30 mins have passed and i'm still stuck in Cavite bcoz of a very tight traffic and i was just a street away from our street.Argh! Then, i thought ok juz have a little patience and i'll be at school just in time for my 1 o'clock class BUT then... another 1 hr have passed and guess what? no signs of toll gate and coastal road yet...i'm still stuck up in this TRAPIK jam in CAv and i was jus 2-4 hundred meters aways from our place....hahaha So everyone in the bus diddn't know what on earth was causing this kind of traffic in our place, it's not the usual rush hour time & so out of curiosity, some of the passengers went out of the bus and took a look of what was happening and the guy seated near me did that & i asked him what was causing the traffic and i kinda laughed at his reply: "may mga JERKS na nagrarally dyan sa my St. Dominic at my 3 firetrucks na nka-harang sa h-way...kya ndi umaasenso mga Pilipino eh, tinutuon nila oras nila sa mga ganitong gawain...at ito namang mga pulis wala din utak, ndi man lng guamwa ng paraaan pra mabawasan ang trapik...." and then someone said "hay naku! ndi naman 'to Ayala eh, pumunta na lng sila dun sa Makati at dun sila mag-rally ndi dito!!!!" the scene in our bus was really funny. Then i looked at my watch and see what time is it already and there it was... 5 mins to 1 and then and there i decided to get out of the bus and find a a ride back home. Haaay so much for that!

Anyway, here's something i've read from a friendster bulletin post and it's an open letter from a concerened Filipino citizen to his fellow Filipinos:

Mga kababayan:

Meron akong gustong ibahagi para sa ating lahat
na
mga PILIPINO. Simple
pero parang mahirap gawin ng karamihan sa atin.
Hindi ito makukuha sa puro daldalan lang or
walang
kabuluhang pagtatalo, kumilos tayo ngayon
na.

Sa ibang bansa: Pag nagkasala ang Pinoy,
pinarusahan siya
ayon sa batas.

Sa PINAS: Pag nagkasala ang ang Pinoy,
ayaw niyang
maparusahan kasi sabi niya mali raw ang
batas.

Sa ibang bansa: Pinag-aaralan muna ng
Pinoy ang mga batas
bago siya pumunta roon, kasi takot siyang
magkamali.

Sa PINAS: Pag nagkamali ang Pinoy, sorry
kasi hindi raw
niya alam na labag sa batas iyon.

Sa ibang bansa: Kahit gaano kataas ang
bilihin at tax sa
USA okey lang, katuwiran natin doble kayod
na lang.

Sa PINAS: mahilig ka sa last day para
magbayad ng tax
minsan dinadaya mo pa o kaya hindi ka
nagbabayad.
Rally ka kaagad kapag tumaas ang pasahe
at bilihin imbes
na
magsipag mas gusto natin ang
nagkukwentuhan lang sa
munisipyo o kahit sa alinmang tanggapan.

Sa Singapore: Kapag nahuli kang nagkalat or
nagtapon ng
basura sa hindi tamang lugar, magbabayad
ka na 500
Singapore dollars.
Sabi ng Pinoy, Okey lang kasi lumabag ako
sa batas.

Sa Pinas: Kapag nagkamali ang Pinoy
katulad nang ganito,
Sabi ng Pinoy, ang
lupit naman ni Bayani Fernando, mali naman
ang pinaiiral
niyang batas eh
akala mo kung sino. Ayun nag-rally na ang
Pinoy gustong
patalsikin si
Bayani Fernando kahit na alam niyang mali
siya.

Mga igan, ilan pa lang iyan baka may iba pa
kayong alam.

Bakit ang PINOY, pwedeng maging "law
abiding citizen sa
ibang bansa ng
walang angal" pero sa sarili nating bayang
PILIPINAS na
sinasabi ninyong
mahal natin, eh hindi natin magawa,
BAKIIITTTTT?????????

ETO PA, "Ang Pilipino NOON at NGAYON":

NOON: Wow ang sarap ng kamote (kahit
nakaka-utot)
NGAYON: Ayaw ko ng kamote gusto ko
French Fries (imported
eh)

NOON: Wow ang sarap ng kapeng barako
NGAYON: Ayaw ko niyan gusto kong kape
sa STARBUCKS
(imported coffee 100 pesos per cup)

NOON: Bili ka ng tela para magpatahi ng
pantalon like
maong
NGAYON: Gusto ko LEVI'S, WRANGLER,
LEE (Tapos rally tayo
"GMA tuta ng KANO") Di ba tuta ka rin
naman.

NOON: Sabon na Perla OK ng pampaligo
NGAYON: Gusto mo DOVE, HENO DE
PRAVIA, IVORY, etc. may
matching shampoo pa

NOON: Pag naglaba ka batya at palopalo ok
na, minsan
banlaw
lang sa batis pwede na
NGAYON: Naka-washing machine ka na
plus ARIEL powder soap
with matching DOWNY pa para mabango

Alam ko mas marami pa ang alam ninyo
tungkol dito, pero
ilan ilan lang iyan para bigyan ng pansin.

Mga Pilipino ng ba tayo? O baka sa salita
lang at E-Mail
pero wala naman sa gawa.


=====================================
=
==================================
======


My Fellow Filipinos,
When I was small, the Philippine peso was
P7 to the
$dollar.
The president was Diosdado Macapagal.
Life was simple. Life was easy. My father
was a farmer.
My mother kept a small sari-sari store where
our
neighbors
bought sang-perang asin, sang-perang
bagoong, sang-perang suka, sang-perang
toyo at pahinging
isang butil na bawang.
Our backyard had kamatis, kalabasa, talong,
ampalaya,
upo,
batao, and okra.
Our silong had chicken. We had a pig, dog &
cat.
And of course, we lived on the farm. During
rainy season,
my father caught frogs at night which my
mother
made into batute (stuffed frog), or just plain
fried.
During the day, he caught hito and dalag
from his
rice paddies, which he would usually inihaw.
During dry
season, we relied on the chickens,
vegetables, bangus, tuyo, and tinapa. Every
now and then,
there was pork and beef from the town
market.
Life was so peaceful, so quiet, no electricity,
no TV.
Just
the radio for Tia Dely, Roman Rapido,
Tawag ng Tanghalan and Tang-tarang-tang.
And who can
forget
Leila Benitez on Darigold Jamboree?
On weekends, I played with my neighbors
(who were all my
cousins). Tumbang-preso, taguan, piko,
luksong
lubid, patintero, at iba pa. I don't know about
you, but
I
miss those days.

These days, we face the TV, Internet, e-mail,
newspaper,
magazine, grocery catalog, or drive around
The peso is a staggering and incredible P54
to the
$dollar.
Most people can't have fun anymore. Life
has become a
battle.
We live to work. Work to live. Life is not easy.
I was in Saudi Arabia in 1983. It was lonely,
difficult,
&
scary. It didn't matter if you were a man or a
woman.
You were a target for rape. The salary was
cheap & the
vacation far between. If the boss
didn't want you to go on holiday, you didn't.
They had
your
passport. Oh, and the agency charged you
almost
4months of your salary (which, if you had to
borrow on a
"20% per month arrangement" meant your
first year's
pay was all gone before you even earned it).
The
Philippines used to be one of the most
important
countries
in Asia.

Before & during my college days, many
students from
neighboring Asian countries like Malaysia,
Indonesia,
Japan and China went to the Philippines to
get their
diplomas. Until 1972, like President
Macapagal,
President Marcos was one of the most
admired presidents
of
the world. The Peso had kept its value of P7
to the
$dollar
until I finished college.
Today, the Philippines is famous as
the "housemaid"
capital
of the world.

It ranks very high as the "cheapest labor"
capital of the
world, too.
We have maids in Hong Kong, laborers in
Saudi Arabia,
dancers in Japan, migrants and
TNTs in Australia and the US, and all sorts of
other
"tricky" jobs in other parts of the
globe. Quo Vadis, Pinoy? Is that a wonder or
a worry? Are
you proud to be a
Filipino, or does it even matter anymore?
When you see
the
Filipino flag and hear the Pambansang
Awit, do you feel a sense of pride or a sense
of defeat &
uncertainty? If only things could change for
the
better.......
Hang on for this is a job for Superman. Or
whom do you
call? Ghostbusters. Joke. Right?
This is one of our problems. We say "I love
the
Philippines. I am proud to be a Filipino."
When I send you a joke, you send it to
everyone in your
address book even if it kills the Internet.
But when I send you a note on how to save
our country &
ask
you to forward it, what do you do? You chuck
it in the
bin.
I want to help the maids in Hong Kong. I want
to help the
laborers in Saudi Arabia. I want to help
the dancers in Japan. I want to help the
TNTs in America
and Australia.
I want to save the people of the Philippines.
But I
cannot
do it alone.
I need your help and everyone else's.
So please forward this e-mail to your friends.
If you say you love the Philippines, prove it.
And if you
don't agree with me, say something anyway.
Indifference is a crime on its own.