Money or Life

Your money or your life?

This dialogue is often heard in movies and televisions. At gunpoint or knifepoint, the burglar asks you to choose between your money or your life. At some occasions, you’ll end up with both your life and your money taken away from you.

This is now the common scenario aired during the daily nightly news and is printed out in the local and national dailies. Individuals are killed over money. Sometimes, some people intentionally took their own lives to end the poverty.

With the current global economic situation, more and more people are resorting to suicides and murders as answers to the financial crisis. But, is death really the answer? Is your life less significant? Does money rule your life?

When you take your own life or take somebody else’s, are you actually answering the biggest money question or are you just creating another bigger problem?

A lot of us, myself included are not strangers to financial crisis. Some of us are up to our necks in debt but somehow struggled to find answers and solutions to the worsening money concern.

Whether we wallow in shame and desperation or struggle to crawl out of the cocoon of debt, there is always an answer to every problem. It may be shameful but who amongst us does not have any debts or has experienced being in debt?

Death is not the answer. It will never be.

Besides, in the end everything will be okay. If it’s not okay, then probably it’s not the end yet.

Edward's wedding (at the reception)

On sat, the 25th of April, I, together with my daughter and several of my friends attended the wedding reception of my good friend Edward who is also the godfather of my daughter.

We were among the first ones who arrived at the reception. We went there before everybody else because we are not too familiar with the location and apart from that the reception was held in Cebu’s historical place, the Fort San Pedro. Being a place of history, we want to explore the area first before settling down for the program and dinner. We chose to be seated at the back because we brought our kids along with us and we don’t want to distract the program with 2 and 3 year old kids running and shouting around.

The program started with minimum fanfare (which is really quite nice). Just before the dinner started, the lady program host asked us if we know something about the seating arrangements. My friends and I looked at each other baffled by the question. Honestly, we don’t know any seating arrangement at all. The lady host then continued and said that we are seated in such a way because the ones sitting in front were the one who gave the biggest gifts and those sitting at the back were the ones who gave the smallest gift or no gift at all. She tried to retract her statement by saying “joke only.” But joke or no joke, the damage has already been done.

I have been an emcee myself to several wedding receptions and I always keep in mind that the people attending the reception comes from all walks of life. Regardless of the size of their gifts, what matters to the married couple is the mere presence of the people they invited. These people are not just ordinary friends. Knowing Edward, I know he will not invite the regular hi and hello friends. The people gathered around are those who mattered to the couple. The emcee should have thought about that first before she opened her mouth.

With the financial crisis that spread all over the globe, the guests were not really expected to bring grand gifts but since it’s customary to bring one, most of us brought a practical gift for the newlyweds. Some of my friends bought them a gas stove and we bought them a set of casserole. We thought that as husband and wife starting a new life in a new house together would need kitchen utensils and a gas stove and a set of casserole would really come handy.

I am not berating the newlyweds or the reception or the food. I love the couple and I thought the wedding rite was really solemn. The reception, although not grand but it certainly whimsical and I love the touch of history to that. What I think was not right was the choice of words by the lady emcee. She should have thought about it twice.

I believe that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. It may be a satire for her but on a wedding reception, satires are inexcusable.

Relationships: One More Chance

Perhaps many of us have experienced being asked for “forgiveness or another chance” and some of us has actually been forgiven and given another chance.

Did it occur to you if you deserve to be forgiven and be given another chance? After hurting the person you love, what are your reasons for asking forgiveness? And if you’ve been forgiven, would you commit the same thing again thinking that forgiveness does not come with a price and is given freely?

In a relationship, it is NOT unheard of that either one of us commits a mistake. Whether it is intentionally done to hurt the other party or we have simply erred, mistakes and errors are common denominators in relationships.

But considering the fact all of us are humans and they say that human as we are, we are bound to commit errors. Would you take this notion as a common ground to always commit mistakes?

Rules are bent, hearts are broken, trusts are shattered; these are common scenario that happens whenever a relationship crumbles due to erring partners.

Whether we are immune to pain, turned a blind eye or has sought God for divine intervention; everything boils down to us.

Should we forgive and give another chance? Or forgive and move forward?

Either way, it would mean moving on and healing ourselves. So again, it’s your choice.

Relationships: Giving Up

Once or twice or perhaps many times in our lives we find ourselves in a relationship wherein we always end up giving up. Giving up is not always a sign of defeat but rather a sign that we just simply need to move on.



Moving on and forward to the next phase in our lives is the best way to cope up with the inevitable. Whether we like it or not, there will always be relationships that suffocates us. It hinders us from growing and finding ourselves.



With that, you have to choose whether to give up and move forward or be stucked in vicious cycle of the so-called relationship. The choice is yours; after all it was you who made the decision in the first place.

Relationships: Loving Yourself

We always hear people say, “love yourself.” We hear it constantly that it somehow becomes meaningless. People tell us to love ourselves so that it will make us love other people. They say that the love you have within will reflect on the outside and brushes other people as you go along with your life.

But how do we love ourselves? Is there some kind of a method or a process or procedure or a formula perhaps on loving one’s self? It is very easy to tell others to love themselves but do we really know how to do it?

It will always remain a question. It is question, which most people do not have concrete proof of the exact method and answer of how to do it. This question has baffled experts, and even scientists alike.

Does loving yourself pave the way to finding one’s self or does finding one’s self pave the way to loving our selves?

It will always be a question of how. Whether you can come up with great solution or end up frustrated, it’s really up to us in finding the answer to that question.

Relationship : Filling the Void

Many of us are in a relationship with someone whom we are not entirely sure if we truly love him or her. The only reason we are with them because they somehow fill a void within us. And while we are still in search for something or someone who fills that void, we are content living with the current person we are in a relationship with. Oftentimes, this is because we are afraid that if that person leaves, it creates a deeper void within. We forget to realize that the emptiness is already present, haunting us and despite the assurances that we are in a happy and content relationship; we can’t answer the question why the relationship makes us unhappy.

Summer School requirements

My daughter will soon start her summer school at Woodridge School. And here are the requirements:



1 box jumbo crayons (12 colors)
2 pieces Jumbo pencils
1 long plastic envelope with handle
1 pair of scissor
1 Elmer’s glue
40 pieces Long bond paper
40 pieces Short Bond
1 set watercolor
1 set colored paper
1 molding clay

Personal hygiene kit:

1 roll tissue paper
1 bath sop
1 bb powder
1 alcohol
1 hand towel
Extra t-shirt



I am a first time mother and this will be the first time that my daughter goes to school and will be the first time interacting with other children her age. So far, Alix only had one playmate and that is Trixie who is a year older than she is but they don’t even play when they’re together.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings. I am scared. I am excited. But whatever I am feeling right now, I know what I’m doing is the best for my daughter.

Education and the 71-yr old Elementary Graduate

71 yr old

After all the brouhahas of the Chip Tsao scandal, I was delighted to hear in the news that a 71yr old grandma has graduated from elementary. She started in Grade 1 when she was 65 and finished the 6-year elementary education at 71. What's really amazing is the determination of this grandmother to learn just to simply read and write. This act therefore embodies the persevering attitude of the Filipinos.

She is someone that Filipinos should emulate and be proud of. Despite of the circumstances in life, she battled assignments in English, Mathematics and Science.

She is a good example that there is limitless boundary in education. It doesn’t know any age bracket. As long as we live, we should always be in a continuous process to learn and educate ourselves.

It’s never too late to learn the 4th derivative in the equation in calculus or perhaps learn the basics in quantum mechanics. It’s never too late.

So, go on and get that book and be amazed on how Gulliver was captured by the little people in Lilliput.