Bayan ko? Malaya ka na ba?

         

            1986 nung naranasan nang bansa ang isang malawakang pagkilos upang wakasan ang diktaturyang naghari harian sa loob ng dalawampung taon. Diktaduryang kumitil nang mga buhay, kalayaang pinagkait ng mahabang panahon. Kaya nga siguro nung nakahanap ang mga Pilipino nang pagkakataon upang makalaya, madami agad ang sumunggab sa oportunidad upang makapag simula nang isang malawakang pagbabago. Isang makasaysayang pagkilos na umukit ng kasaysayan hindi lamang sa bansa, ngunit pa din sa iba't ibang panig ng mundo.

                    Ngunit ano ba talaga ang tunay na kalayaan? Ito ba ay kalayaan mula sa mga nanakop? Ito ba ay kalayaan sa maduming kapangyarihan na patuloy na bumalot sa bawat isa? Ano ba talaga ang kalayaan sa isang bansa? Lahat ng ito ay importanteng matandaan. Ngunit ang mainam ata na tanong ay, Malaya na ba talaga tayo?

                  Taong 1946 nung unang nakalaya sa gapos ng panananakop ang bansa. Marahil ay maraming pilipino ang nagbunyi at natuwa dahil sa wakas, malaya na tayo sa bansa nanakop. Daan daan din ang taon na ating inasam asam ang kalayaang sa wakas ay nakamtan.

       

                   Makalipas ang mga buwan, taon at henerasyon, marahil eto na ata ang perpektong pagkakataon upang ating matanong kung tayo pa ba ay malaya? Kung oo, hanggang saan ang sakop ng ating kalayaan? Hanggang kailan ang ating tinatamasang kalayaan? Basa sa kasaysayan, ilang ulit nang nangyari na tayo ay lumaya ngunit kalauna'y nagapos din.

                  Sa kabilang banda, Maaari rin namang, hindi na tayo malaya. Tayo ay muling nagapos ng isang kaaway na hindi natin nakikita? Teka, hindi nga ba? O hinda kaya'y, marami sa atin ang naging bulag sa nangyayari sa ating kapaligiran? Hindi kaya, pinili nating huwag pakinggan ang iyak ng mga biktima ng kagapusan? 

                   

                 Nawa po ngayong araw ng kalayaan, piliin nating maging malaya hindi lamang tayo, pati na rin ang mga indibidwal na ating nakakasama. Piliin at ipaglaban natin ang kalayaang matagal na inaasam asam. Piliin nating magsalita para sa kalayaan ng kapwa natin. Piliin natin ang kalayaan.

                 Ating pong alalahanin na ang laban ay hindi Pilipino sa Pilipino. Ngunit ang tunay na laban para sa kalayaan ay, tayo kasama ang Diyos laban sa kagapusan ng kahirapan, kurapsyon at iba't ibang mga bagay na sumira sa atin sa nakaraan. Ipananalangin natin sa Diyos na tayo ay makalaya sa bawat gapos sa ating bansa, Sumasagot Siya. Ilapit natin ang ating bansa Sa Diyos upang tayo ay makalaya sa bawat gapos na patuloy na sumisira sa ating pagkakapabuklod buklod. Sumasagot Siya.

                   

               Kalayaan para sa lahat!!!

               Kampai!!!

The Shepherd and His Sheeps

John 10: 4

And when he brings his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice

            A sheep knows the voice of its own shepherd and obeys whatever the things the shepherd  says. When he calls it out, the sheep answers. When he wants it to stay put, the sheep stays put. Whatever the shepherd instructs, the sheep willingly answers without any signs of hesitation.

           John chapter verses 11 and 14 introduced Jesus as the Good Shepherd to His flocks. A Good Shepherd who loves His sheep and knows them by their names. A Good Shepherd who never left His flocks unlike the hireling who left those he lead when tragedy strikes. 

           A Good Shepherd who was willing to give His own life to protect His flocks against ravage predators ready to devour His sheep. The Good Shepherd, Jesus, knows who are His and He protects them and loved them, cared for them, looked for them, and laid down His life for His flocks.

          As He loved His sheep, His flocks knows His voice very well and obeys every instructions the Shepherd gives. No matter where He brings them, they followed willingly. Those who doesn't recognize His voice are those who doesn't belong to Him. Yet He welcomes those who chose to come to His. For the Good Shepherd is always ready to welcome those who are willing to be a part of his flock.

         His sheep loves Him, obeys Him and follows Him all the way. Who are the flock of Jesus? They are those who gave their lives to Him. Those who gave their lives to the One who loved them first. Who are the Flocks? It's US!

Credits to:

https://animals.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/737245/

https://medium.com/grmblogs/the-shepherd-and-the-sheep-4f91844b9dbd

The day I destroyed my self

I've based my happiness and my value on other people too much I ended up destructing myself from myself. How do I forgive myself from my own doings?

Long before, I am a ticking time bomb ready to explode anytime soon and when it came, I was destroyed and left blaming myself from the things I have done.

Now I was left with one question.
How do I move forward?
How do I forgive myself?
How do I rebuild myself?
How do I restore the things of which I destroyed?

How?!!!

Lord, help me. Restore me Lord. I dont have the joy I once had before. I dont have the enthusiasm I had when I started.


Help me rebuild my testimony that I destroy. I have to be honest, I destroyed myself for others. I destroyed myself gaining man's approval.

I have no one to blame but me.
I have no right to accuse the others because I did this to myself. It's all me.

When power in authority is abused

The sinful truth is a scandal waiting to happen.

          Recently there is a public discussion between the film “Jacquiline Comes Homes” which tells the story of the after events of the Chiong murder case in 1997, a case which shook the nation and “Give up tomorrow” a documentary film which tells the side of one of the accused and how abuse and unfair justice system played a huge role in the case.

         Evil deeds can ruin one simple innocents' lives, a scary fact one must be aware of. In the case of the Chiong sisters' story, a set of questionable events and reasons for the results of the investigations of one of the main suspect Paco Larrañaga is a convincing display of how authorities can be abused with the help of the manipulation of the media and how can it destroy life.

A Background of the Chiong sisters story

 Eve of July 16 1997, Chiong sisters Marijoy and Jacquiline Chiong was abducted allegedly by Larrañaga and six other men in Ayala Cebu city and 2 days after, Marijoy's body was found dead while Jacquiline's body was never found. Later on autopsy reveals that Marijoy was allegedly harassed by Larrañaga and his cohorts.

Now, a few questions was raised during the case in favor of Larrañaga mainly

Larrañaga was in Manila at the time of the crime, the judge would fall asleep during court hearings, the Chiong's connection to the judge and then president Joseph Estrada, the “suicide” of the judge and the Chiong's star witness that says, he was forced by the police office to testify against the suspects.

          First Verdict against Larrañaga and his cohorts is Life Imprisonment but was soon elevated by the Supreme Court to death penalty last 2004 which was then legal at the time case happened. Death penalty in the country was declared illegal by the presient Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2006. Larrañaga, was saved when the Spanish Government intervened to help him since he is a Spanish citizen.

All of these timeline was stated in the documentary “Give up tomorrow”.

Abuse and Manipulation

Now, how did manipulation and abuse of authority became a part of the case?

Remember when we said that Chiong's parents are related to the judge? He was a friend of them which could make the authority of the court decide in favor of the Chiong family. Not only that, the media then helped in Manipulating the public against Larrañaga and his co horts.

In fact, during the time of the case, the media sensationalized the events even making a re enactment of what was said that happened according to the testimony of the Chiong's star witness. One broadcaster of a major televesion station (ehem, ABS-CB*) even made a personal attack against Larrañaga which a violation of the KBP Broadcast code of the Philippines that states “Side comments expressing personal opinions and insights while news is being reported is prohibited.”

TO CONCLUDE

Abuse of authority combined with media manipulation is a lethal combination that benefits only those who are in authority. Back then, it is easy for liars to blind the people since the only source of information available then was the media which could tell either the truth or lies.

Thank goodness for facebook, informations hidden by the media could now be accessed by the people. There are no reason for one to be blinded by the media anymore unless one chose to do so.

As for the rotten unfair justice system, the majority of the public appeals for a fair judgement. We are not defending the accused nor are we allowing criminal acts to do crimes regularly. We only appeal for a fair judgement from you. Convict only the proven convicted not the innocents.

We do hope and pray for a fair and unbiased judgements. We love the Philippines and it's so painful for us to hear this types of cases. We pray this case get settled fairly.

To God be the Glory!

KAMPAI!

An open Letter to the lost

The moment I went my own way
Became the moment I lost the true way.

The moment l went on my own
Became the time I felt lost alone.

While it might be true for the world
That being on your own is the best thing,
But for me, I lost.

I gained nothing but the unending feeling of being dragged by the feeling of being lost.

I felt like I was searching for a direction so lost and nowhere to be found there was no more way out.

Praying! Praying!

I am blessed for the Lord hears the prayers of the Lost. The Lord hears the prayers of the one crying and begging for directions.

The Lord hears the prayers of the desparate.

"Come as you are" He says'. 'Welcome to My Kingdom' He says. 'I will be your direction' He says. 'I will be your bestest Buddy' He says.

' I am here! I am here!

Heed the my call my dear child, the Lord is begging for the desparate and lost to hear his call.

Now! Take the heed. Hear the call. The Lord is talking. Listen! LISTEN! LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF THE LORD.

HE IS YOUR DIRECTION! He is your companion.

I thank You Lord! I Will heed the call.

Twin Peak Colorado Falls: Unnoticed Beauty

Whenever going to the Benguet province, we usually visit the usual tourist spots within the province, Baguio, Sagada and the Mountain  province. We're so focused in going to these usual places that sometimes we don't notice the places along the way.

Like for example, We found this unadvertised beauty just along Kennon rd. called Twin Peaks Colorado Falls found in Twin Peaks Benguet. To be honest it's not the best and highest falls I've seen, but it's clear and cold waters made it great for a dip. Plus it's free.

There are no facilities within the area except the little store when you enter the falls. No hot showers, No rooms. The falls is basically untouched yet and hopefully it stays that way. Pure natural beauty. The good thing is you can pay the store owner so that you can take a bath at their little bathroom and change and buy some snacks so yeah still pretty awesome.











        Note: Third photo is not mine

Native Pinoy Dish-- in a coffee shop?.

The municipality of Pateros has been known for one thing -balut eggs. A balut eggs are an unborn baby duck, eaten with saltand vinegar. But that's not what this blog is about. Honestly, I just live atleast one tricycle away from the city, but I rarely go there because I thought the city has nothing to offer besides Villa Monice, a private resort where we used to go to when I was a kid, and a cemetery called eternal garden of memories where a lot of my dead relatives are buried so every halloween  go thereto visist their remains.


But, recently I got the chance to come and visit Pateros once again and wow a lot has changed. Improvements are great. Besides that, I never thought that this place can't handle coffee shops but oh boy I was wrong.

Recently, a new coffee shop along M. Almeda St. Pateros City was opened. It's not Starbucks or coffee bean or Seattle's best. It is called Start up Cafe. I just tried their start up cheese burger with a four seasons drink and INUTAK with ice cream... Wait what???? INUTAK with ice cream?

Inutak is a native FILIPINO dish made with layered rice. It's taste is somewhat similar to sapin sapin. In this coffee shop, it is sold as a dessert topped with ice cream. Now, I just discovered while making a research about this, that Inutak with ice cream was already done years ago even before this coffee shop existed (sorry!).

Anyways, I just discovered this and I just tasted it for an affordable price of just P55 per cup, not bad! And besides coffee shops rarely offer a native filipino dish in their menu so it's a huge plus for start up cafe.

The dish is really good. The sweet native taste of Inutak together with ice cream is something that will convince you to visit the place again, oh so good! I promise.

Of course besides this dessert, they also offer the common menus other big coffee shops usually offer at the same price, the difference is the location of this coffee shop is a residential area so that's a huge plus.

So if you're a fan of coffee shops like me, this place is  highly recommended.

 

 

 

If you wanted to know more, you can visit their ,

Startup Cafe Facebook account

 

KAMPAII!!!