Heaven, Purgatory and Hell

Abusive

2012-02-29T09:26:00.001+08:00

Over the weekend, some of my colleagues and I were in discussion over text consultations by patients to their doctors and the ethical dimensions surrounding text consultations.

With over 93 million active mobile phones AND 130 billion text messages being exchanged each day in the Philippines (yes, ONE HUNDRED THIRTY BILLION) you can undoubtedly state that text messaging has been widely used, and may I say, disproportionately abused by the Filipino patient.

Text messages fly back and forth between the patient who 99.9% of the time triggers the initiation of text messages, and the physician.

During the discussion, we asked how many of us gave out their cellphone numbers to their patients. Three out of five had their mobile numbers on their calling cards, prescription pads and 100% available to their patients. I give my mobile number to about 30% of my pool of patients. Only one of us REFUSED to give her mobile number to any of her patients.

Some of us buy a second phone (which I think is impractical) or even go to the extent of having a dual SIM phone so that one can be a private number while the other number is an office phone number on the same cellphone. Whatever it is, the bottom line is that once you give out your mobile number - your privacy has been invaded.

Many (if not most of us) do not give pre-arranged instructions which should be something like:

1. They're not allowed to call! I am not your text mate, I don't plan to be and I don't like it when people who are NOT in my contact list call me IF and WHEN they want. I do not save the numbers of my patients in my contact list. And I cannot stand the temerity of some patients who ask me to SAVE their numbers! Duh!!! Most of all, I may not be in town and if I am out of the country, I end up paying for the roaming charges because someone just wanted to find out what they can give their son because he apparently has fever of 37.8C!
RULE NO. 1: TEXT BEFORE YOU CALL. It's only but fair and etiquette dictates it, to see if the other party can pick up your call.

2. They should include their names or identify themselves when they send text messages (because I don't save your names). You should also not expect an answer in the next 5 minutes or when you want a reply. (I may be at meetings or in a plane somewhere or in a movie house [YES we have a life outside of the clinic my dear patients], or doing something in private [ahem, I hope you people get what we mean] or seeing other patients or driving.) In short, we are NOT at your beck and call.
RULE NO. 2: IDENTIFY YOURSELF. Don't waste my money having to text back - "who is this please?" or have to guess "this is the mother of Joaquin..." Joaquin who?!?!! It's not like your son is the only one that has the name Joaquin in the Philippines. You can ask the National Bureau of Investigation and you will get gazillion hits with that name alone!

3. They should be more specific with the concerns that they text us with (if the patient has fever - describe the pattern of the fever and not just text "may lagnat si Junior, what to do?". The reason for this is because we spend replying back to them as well (usually I don't reply back if they don't observe the rules I inform them when I give out my mobile number from the get-go). But because the text message service is probably UNLI, these patients think that it's alright for them to waste other peoples time by engaging in texting back and forth. Of course, if they pay more for the text message, I guess this should put them in the proper perspective of having to think what to text before they send a text message.
RULE NO. 3: Complete the description of the concern. Please avoid having to make me guess what the hell the concern is about by just texting me that there's fever or there's tummy ache or other one liners. Try to be as comprehensive as possible. Be considerate with other people's time.

4. In case of emergencies, DO NOT CALL ME! I am not an emergency room. Just bring the patient to the ER. Period. The ER will call me.
RULE NO. 4: I am not an emergency room.

5. No MMS messaging please! There are those that actually send pictures of a lesion on the skin of their child and expect me to make a diagnosis and a prescription!!!
RULE NO. 5: First of all, I do not prescribe through text. It is unethical to do text consultations and against the LAW to prescribe prescription drugs by text messaging. Besides, sending a picture of patients is like pathetically altogether wrong. You don't see the whole picture and cannot make a clear diagnosis without a good history and thorough physical examination.

6. I can't stand it when patients text me in the middle of my clinic asking if "they can call me" because their kids are sick. They know my clinic hours. They know my schedule. They can call the clinic. But NO!!!! They don't want to do that!!! They don't want to call the clinic because the secretaries are busy assisting me and other patients. They don't want to queue. You can even see how inconsiderate the others are because they will call the clinic, ask the secretary they want to talk to me because his kid got bitten by a mosquito a few seconds ago and they're afraid of dengue!?!?!!?! I want to slap someone today. But puhleezzzz, gimme a break! My secretaries are trained to tell patients that "I am seeing a patient currently and that we will get back to them after office hours".
RULE NO. 6: There is a secretary in the office. Do not text me if you want to find out if we have clinic or not. Text the office or call the clinic.

While these are but a few among my many concerns, these are basic rules that I make patients follow if they want my number. It is ironic that many of them seem to have early onset Alzheimer and forget that these rules.

So there's got to be a way where physicians and patients know that there is and there needs to be a yardstick distance between them. After all, the relationship between doctors and patients is strictly a professional one. We are not removing the human factor of having to relate with patients - showing empathy, explaining the burden of the disease, explaining in layman's terms the treatment options, and most of all staying within the ethical boundaries in the practice of health care.

Somewhere along the way, technology has provided a vast avenue of easier communication between people anytime, anywhere. And like anything that's highly accessible, comes abuse. Without anyone or any other way to regulate this abusive practice, it's bound to get virally blown out of proportion. While text messaging has its positive attributes, it should be relegated to before and after service only. Before service which means that patients inquire only for consultation hours and minor concerns on whether the doctor is around, and after service means that the patients may have concerns on medications or instructions after the consultation or discharge and text messaging is only for clarification purposes.

There is a need to get the whole equation back to professionalism, ethical relationship, and most of all the etiquette of mobile phone usage has got to be taught to the general public ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Wee Nam Kee and the Spa - Fed and Pampered...

2012-02-19T12:27:00.000+08:00

To say that it was a stressful week for me was an understated description on the week that was!

The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of the Philippines Convention held at the Crowne Plaza last February 15 was a huge success. After two lectures and one Breakfast symposium, my week wasn't over. There was the lecture for the residents at Cardinal Santos on Thursday and then rushed to One Esplanade to give my final talk for the week at the Convention of the Philippine Academy for Family Physicians.

I think my partner pitied my so hectic schedule that he decided on treating me to dinner and pampering at the Spa.

First off was dinner at the newly opened Wee Nam Kee at the Alabang Town Center.

Wee Nam Kee is a Singaporean restaurant that serves their famous Hainanese Chicken Rice. I've tried the Wee Nam Kee in Singapore and the natural reaction when it opened in Manila was - at last!!

The interior design of Wee Nam Kee at the ATC mall was sparse and similar to the Singaporean restaurant was designed in enough simplicity and yet an inviting ambience. The tables are really small, so even if you're two, sharing a table for your dinner, make sure you don't order too much as there wouldn't be enough space to put the orders! The queue to the restaurant is relatively long. Obviously, looking at the prices of the food on the menu, you'd probably say that it's relatively cheap for family dining...

Until you see the portions of the order.

We had its famous Hainanese Chicken (which chicken rice and chicken soup). I told my partner not to order the personal size as it is really a small serving (unless the "small lady" in the Senate probe was going to eat that plate). If you are two people sharing, make sure you get the half chicken order (and while it says that it's good for 3-4, believe me - it's really good for two. Again, unless you're part of the construction worker team building the other stalls around the mall who have one bucket of rice with two slices of chicken, then that small order would probably fly.)

To get a taste of both ways of cooking the Hainanese Chicken - order it as roasted or plain white chicken.

Don't forget to mix the sauces - garlic, soya and hot sauce - together to make the flavors stand out.

On my insistence, we ordered the Cereal Prawn (only because I tasted this already in Singapore). Unlike the Singapore version where the Cereal was mixed with Floss, this came out really wanting in taste for the Prawns. (They indicated in the menu that one order would have 4 prawns, but I counted only 3.) There was too much "cereal" covering the whole prawn serving that I thought they did that to cover up what was lacking.

Total bill: P1058.40 ($25)
Recommendation: The hainanese chicken is one of the best but the servings are really small. Get the bigger servings. So that you really feast on a great Singaporean dish - order two sizes up!!! It will be worth the upgrade. Their orders are in reality, single servings. Next time you order, think Singaporean price so that you'd get your moneys worth.
Would I go back? Why not! The food is contemporary and good.

After the dinner we headed off to the Spa to get a relaxing massage. Obviously, this wasn't a first choice. We actually prefer the Mandarin Spa (either at the Casa Vicente of the ATC or Bellevue), but both spas were full (there must have been a lot of stressed people that week). So we settled for the Spa.

While the Spa may have great amenities and a nicer ambience (including jacuzzi, showers, steam room, private lockers and well appointed rooms), at the end of the day - it's the massage that counted! We got the 90 minutes complete rub down and it was pure bliss.

Never mind the mega bucks. And don't forget to get a private room (it will spare you with the noise of the hands slapping against so much flab and fat and the snoring of the other customers.)

As the advertisement would say, everything else there's Mastercard...pampered, relaxed and destressed - priceless!

Total bill: P3300 ($80)
Recommendation: A bit on the steep side but that's because you're paying for both the ambience and the wet floor (jacuzzi, shower, steam). But if you're not really going to use the wet area and want a better rub down, the Mandarin Spa is still the best massage in terms of value for money!
Would I go back? I've been back and forth here - but only when the Mandarin Spa is fully occupied.

It was a great way to cap a stressful week. Being fed and pampered...now I know what a pig feels like before being slaughtered!

Xoi - A taste of Vietnam

2012-02-12T18:27:00.000+08:00

I've been to Vietnam several times to give lectures. Saigon (Ho Chi Minh) in particular.

Aside from the gazillion motorcycles in the country, the once war torn country has amazingly recovered from the devastation of the Vietnam War. Today it is an industrial hub and the economic growth in this country has amazingly surpassed many neighboring Asian countries, including the Philippines.

Besides the modernity amidst the backdrop of once old Saigon, the shopping in Vietnam is one of the best in the Asian region. And then of course, there's the food that you shouldn't miss.

When Xoi (Vietnamese Kitchen) opened at the Alabang Town Center, I wanted to see how authentically Vietnamese the food would be. Of course, there's already Pho Hoa. But the latter has not lived up to the expectation I had of a Vietnamese cuisine - lacking in flavors and originality.

Located right beside PF Chang at the ATC Mall, Xoi's interior is simple and the servers are dressed in well, trying hard Vietnamese outfits. Our server Mai was very helpful and while she may have lacked the Vietnamese look, she compensated with her Filipino hospitality what the place was highly lacking in ambience. The kitchen was open to the dining area and it's interiors looked like it was on a really tight budget - minimal in decor and had a crowded and noisy feel.

Now off to the food.

For appetizers, we had the Fresh Spring Rolls

whose peanut sauce had a dash of Tabasco, which made the flavors of the rolls really stand out well.

The main course consisted of Five Spice Chicken in Herbs

Fried rice with Chinese Sausage

And the piece de resistance of their original Garlic Fried Crabs (with the shell all removed) and a side dish of pasta in parmesan cheese (that came free with the Crabs. Incidentally, you'd get one really large pitcher of Lemon Iced Tea for ordering the Crabs).

The chicken was nicely cooked and had a sweet and salty taste to it. The sauce that accompanied the chicken was nothing spectacular and reminded me of the dipping sauce of Inasal. The rice was a small serving and truly lacking in other ingredients of a Fried Rice meal. It had very sparse amount of chinese sausage and that was about it. It was a bit soggy but tasty. The crowning glory of the meal, however, was the crab! This crab was divinely cooked and meaty and you could taste the freshness of the crab as it was sweet amidst the garlic that peppered it. If you're someone who doesn't like getting his hands tainted with having to peel off the crab shell, this is something you'll appreciate as it comes as a "Naked Crab" - where they peel off the shell completely and serve it all crab meat!

After the main course, we asked if there was a dessert menu. Unfortunately, Mai informed us that they weren't serving dessert as yet.

Total Bill: P2100 ($48)
Recommendation: I would recommend this to friends who would want to try a taste of Vietnamese dish. However, it's not really a far cry from Pho Hoa aside from some of the more authentic seafood that Xoi offered. I wanted to try to mussels in garlic white wine sauce but unfortunately, it must have been a popular choice because they ran out of mussels by the time we had dinner. Incidentally, make sure you have enough cash because the crabs (we had the medium size good for 2 people) are quite expensive - it was 60% of the total bill and they charge an extra P100 ($2.50) for removing the shell for you! Nevertheless, it was worth the bucks!
Would I go back? Definitely. I'd like to try out the other food on the menu. They're really not that pricey but the servings aren't that large either.

The prelude

2012-02-05T18:47:00.000+08:00

It's been a few weeks since I've been doing a bit of pencil pushing and sitting down with all concerned parties regarding a project that would entail the use of digital technology in improving the delivery of health care services between the patient, the pharmaceutical industry, the healthcare business, and the health care providers. Because all these segments are linearly related and cross paths at different angles, it makes sense in providing a business solution at addressing the gaps encountered in the efficient delivery of better, optimum and quality health service and information to all the parties at stake. After all, the healthcare industry, while complex in nature, is the most vital of all services we all seek. There is a price we need to pay for staying healthy, and a greater price we pay for being sick.

For one, it is time that we professionalize the process and services of patients whom we provide health service to on a pay-for-fee basis. We can improve the relationship between the health care provider and the patient by making patients more accessible to doctors to address their needs - from having to queue at the clinic, to responding to requests for information even when we are out of the office. I am sure my friends will agree with me that most of us are selective to whom we give out our mobile numbers to. While we are justified at keeping our private lives less accessible to patients, the latter may have serious concerns that will require our attention after they have consulted us in our clinics. Unfortunately, if there is no regulation at the text messages sent to the doctor, this problem escalates to being simply ABUSED ending in a scenario where patients text messages anywhere from inquiring if you're still in your clinic to asking for a diagnosis or a prescription based on an MMS photo sent as a diagnostic challenge to the physician.

On the other hand, as physicians, we need to provide patients with efficiency in the delivery of our services to them as well. When we say our clinic begins at 9AM, we must at most times, start on time. Unfortunately, many of us would make patients queue till forever because we don't want to wait for them or we would prefer that they're all there already when we start our clinics - which is unfair for the patient who also has other things to attend to or whose time is equally important to them as it is to us.

The age of digital technology has changed the landscape of creating a more productive relationship between patients, the pharmaceutical industry, the healthcare industry and the healthcare provider.

From Apps designed to providing electronic medical records to designing programs where patients can access their health records and linking to pharmacies where they can easily pick up their prescriptions paperless, to having their labs available real time - there are countless ways at improving the interlocking grid of the healthcare industry.

Two decades ago, Pocketbell or the paging system became the defining line as a business solution to providing more efficient service through prompt communication to all. In less than a decade, the advent of mobile phones replaced the paging system. Today, digital technology has literally changed the way we live - from eating to breathing, from fine dining to shopping, from selling to promoting - we have become entrenched in the power of the internet. It has served as the portal for many successes and solutions to improving every imaginable service.

No one can stop an idea whose time has come.

At the end of the day, by putting order in this chaotic complex healthcare system, it becomes the avenue for efficiency so that we can all lead more productive, healthier lives.

Virtually at our finger tips - we can make the healthcare industry work to the advantage of all stakeholders.

My Virtual Health Care Solutions...it's about time.

Pinoy history on a Plate - Crisostomo Restaurant (Alabang Town Center)

2012-01-29T21:20:00.004+08:00

Alright so I'm having a food trip.

There are several restaurants that have opened on the newly expanded Alabang Town Center and my family and I had Sunday dinner at Crisostomo, a quaint Filipino restaurant that seriously had some of the most imaginable names to favorite Filipino dishes.

First of all, I'd like to thank them for accommodating my request for reservations. While the head waiter did not initially want to take in a reservation because it was a Sunday, at my behest and begging, he finally agreed. I think that every good restaurant MUST take in the request for formal reservations. It sets the bar of the restaurant a bit higher and defuses the greed in the owners having to contend with walk-in customers. While I understand that profit is the bottom line here, I also believe that pleasing the more discerning customers are the hallmark of what a good restaurant is. Besides, it's about time that the Filipinos learn to make reservations if they want to eat good food. It's useless queuing for forever on an empty stomach only to end up disappointed.

A party of five (5), our family started off our appetizers with Tiago's Triump (Oysters baked in Bacon and Spinach on a bed of rock salt).

Drinks were ordered with the classic gulaman and sago and traditional calamansi juices

Soup followed. The traditional Tinolang Manok was called Tinolang Matanglawin. Unlike other Tinolang Manok, theirs had a twist of sweetness in the soup because of the buco (young coconut) meat which added a flare of gusto to the broth!

What was lacking, however, was that the vegetables as main ingredients were sparse. But the young coconut was a surprising revelation at how good the soup ended in the end.

Main course were the traditional Spanish Paella (Pinoy Paella) that was divinely filled with pork, shrimps, chicken and chinese sausage;

Pampano Tausi where the fish is sauteed in black tausi and tofu;

And Don Rafael (Crispy Pata), where the pork meat literally melted in your mouth and the pork skin was cooked so crispily divine that the crunch meant a bite of heaven with every munch;

And what would dinner at a Filipino restaurant be without enjoying dessert? So we had the suman (rice cake) in chocolate fondue

and turon (bananas with langka wrapped and fried) in coconut jam!!!

Both desserts were utterly divine and never mind the added calories. Today we ate, tomorrow we burn the calories gained at work or at the gym!

Pinoy food never tasted this good.

Total bill: P3022.00 ($70)
Recommendation: Highly recommended with two thumbs up for value for money and for service. It's homey ambience is a definite plus considering the fact that it's located in the lower basement of the new mall expansion wing. The staff were very attentive and nice and had that Filipino charm in them.
Would I go back? Definitely! For my foreigner friends, this place is a definite try. After all, it's really more delicious eating Pinoy food and having more fun in the Philippines over dinner!

P.F. Chang's Alabang - Authenticity is lacking

2012-01-29T11:08:00.002+08:00

The opening of PF Chang in the Philippines, in particular at the Alabang Town Center, was a much awaited event the past week. With over 200 of this chain restaurant, PF Chang is widely popular in the United States. The first time I tasted the dishes of PF Chang was in the US, where some of my Filipino friends would invite me to dine out in this "Chinese" bistro whichever state I would be in.

While I'm not a fan (and I hope my friends don't get offended because I think some of them think that PF Chang is their definition of "Chinese" cooking), I took the time out to have dinner at the first Philippine branch located in Alabang, Muntinlupa.

Like all newbies, this restaurant was overflowing - either out of curiosity or because some were already fans. The Alabang area is the enclave of the rich and famous in Metro Manila. And while you have the A and B crowd in this part of the Metropolis, you also need to consider that the A and B crowd can get picky and tired of the same food over and over again on weekends. Which makes me wonder why for the first franchise PF Chang, Alabang was chosen as the venue to be. I doubt if the people in the Quezon City area would flock to Alabang just to have a taste of PF Chang!

The ambience at PF Chang in Alabang is a sight to behold. And unlike most the PF Changs in the US, this one stands out uniquely as one hip, chic and bold looking restaurant akin with all the modernities and yet ancient history of Chinese heritage.

The service was impeccable. For a newly opened restaurant, the servers were polite, cheery and delightfully professional. Food came on time and the waiting time was not unduly long despite the packed crowd. It was good that we had reservations and that the restaurant accepted reservations. It is always a fair suggestion to guests that when you dine out, please make sure you have a reservation so that you all don't end up starving and irritable like the other "walk-in" guests. There were foreign (American) servers who are actually here for a month or two to train the local people.

If you're into bottomless iced tea - you need to try to Tamarind Iced Tea. It's something the US market doesn't carry and it's very Filipino. It actually tasted great and refreshing.

Obviously, I cannot blog about all the food on the menu because we simply had the Spicy Shrimp for appetizers

which was hot and crunchy.

And then we had the famous Kung Pao Chicken, Salt and Pepper Prawns and DanDan Noodles for our main course.

The presentation was neat and clean and the servings were good enough for 2-3 people to eat (a bit smaller than the US servings).

Now for the verdict. While the place has potential, the food was not "Chinese" authentic enough. While it is supposed to be a more "fusion" type of Chinese dining, there is something lacking in the gustatory sense of PF Chang meals. The freshness of live seafood was utterly absent and the food tasted very western in origin lacking the Asian flavors and spices and "everything nice" to stimulate the senses of taste and smell. The food wasn't bad tasting, but it wasn't the kind that I'd really recommend friends to go to. It was, after all, just another chain restaurant from the US that lacked the authenticity and audacity of true Asian cooking. The food tasted like "fast food" meals that had staple preparations and no master chef required.

Total bill - P2150.00 ($50).
Recommendation - uhmmm....not really and I'd still recommend King Bee over PF Chang. I would still prefer to dine where the food is good and worth it rather than just dine with the bourgeois just to say that one was "sighted" dining where the stars dine. I've always told my readers that movie personalities will say anything for free meals or get paid to endorse things that are only good for their personal gains.
Will be back - uhmmm...not if I'm paying.

Dipolog City - More Fun in the Philippines Stopovers!

2012-01-23T13:41:00.000+08:00

Year in and year out, I get invitations to speak in various regions and provinces in the Philippines. Seriously, I zap in and out of my lecture venues - the typical excuse where I tell myself "been there, done that". Really now! I've never learned to appreciate much of what the provinces in the Philippines has to give.

I will take time out in my blogsite to help promote tourism in the country. It is, in reality a great one and each of the provinces have their own rich heritage that tells a story.

First stop for this year is Dipolog City.

On the northern part of Mindanao, Dipolog City (Province of Zamboanga del Norte) is the Orchid City of the Philippines. A couple of kilometers from Dipolog is Dapitan City which one can travel by land. Dapitan is where Jose Rizal our national hero was exiled after his being implicated in a rebellion in 1892. While in Dapitan, he built a school, hospital and improved the water system in the peninsula of Zamboanga.

On touchdown on a 1 hr 10 minutes flight from Manila, Dipolog is the way I remember most provincial airports from way back when I was a child. Unknown to many tourists, many of our provincial airports still look like these.

While Dipolog has already evolved with the changing landscape of urbanization, many parts of the city has remained laid back and endearing. The small stores and houses that align the well paved roads, the rows of trees that cower the hot pavement roads, the sea that laps against the beach on the narrow roads leading from one city to another remind me of the relaxing ambience awaiting me.

Dakak Resorts was way beyond my expectations of a premier resort in the midst of Dipolog. I had read unkind reviews from TripAdvisor, but I guess there were people who were expecting a full premier 5 star resort with all the sheebang and glitz of Shangrila Hotel chains and the like. I hate to spoil the fun. True that Dakak was not at par with the high-end touristy hotels, but for the price of accommodations and the quality of food that Dakak served, I had my hands down. It had one of the best meals I have ever had without the tag price from the upper ended hotels in the country where your payment goes to paying their foreign expat GMs for staying in the Philippines to run the hotels here.

The Good:

Service was excellent and the food was superb! Especially the Crispy Pata that tasted so divine - crunchy with little fat and like chicharon that was cooked to a crisp! Heaven on earth never tasted this good. Definitely the best Crispy Pata in the Philippines. The Seafood Bouillabaisse was sumptiously good as well and a must try! It was filled with enough seafood without having to taste fishy in the end. Their Pina Colada had the right twist of fresh pineapples and vodka to make you want more!

The people at the resort try to make you feel at home and the staff is what Filipino hospitality and Filipino smile is all about. There are several things to do including a 24/7 pool for everyone and two gift shops that sell souvenirs without having to spend an arm and a leg!!! Even their drinks and water is affordable and not like other hotels that charge highway robbery just for these service items.

The Bad:

Alright so we were there during the renovation period. I can't complain. They're trying to improve and do their best. Aside from the fact that the amenities are like a 3 star resort, the place in itself is amazing! Despite the morning brownout (for about 20 minutes), they got the airconditioners and lights up and going almost immediately.

Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific fly to Dipolog from Manila. PAL does not have daily flights but Cebu Pac has. I took Cebu Pac on my way there and PAL on my way back. Seriously, if you really don't mind spending a few pesos more, I suggest you take PAL because Cebu Pac is such a lousy airline. On your next vacation, remember that the means of transportation IS PART of the vacation!

Family ties

2012-01-15T11:35:00.000+08:00

The other day, the mother of my patient was frantically texting and calling me concerning the illness of her niece. Apparently, her 14 year old niece was being seen in one of the big hospitals here and was diagnosed to have Dengue. Her niece was never under my care at any point in her life. I do not know any of the relatives at all. And she wanted my opinion on whether what the doctors at that hospital were doing was right or wrong.

I understand how it is when it comes to family ties, most especially in the Philippines. I hate saying it, but I will. The Filipino will take family relationships to the extreme. It takes a Filipino to rub it in you that they are relatives with so on and so forth, even to the nth degree of consanguinity. It takes a Filipino to rub it in you that the father of the mother of the sister of the brother of your third cousin's cousin 's in-law is "closely" related to you. Even being godparents alone for the Filipino is taken to the extreme. I cannot imagine how anyone can have 24 godparents for their baptism - but believe me when I say - only the Filipino can! As my partner would say - OA!

And here's the rub. As a physician, I am aghast whenever I see patients with gazillion relatives at the bedside of my patients when I make rounds. It's like the whole "barangay" of relatives happen to be there and I need to defend my dissertation in front of them. After I explain the illness of my patient to the "crowd" and go through the academic exercise of explaining at my findings, my work-ups, the medications to be given, and of course the prognosis or outcome, it's question and answer time. Parang Miss Universe beauty pageant!!! Santissima madre de Dios!!

Most of the questions come from the kibitzers. Yes. The kibitzers! These are the relatives (many of whom are probably not related directly) of the patient. While I don't mind questions being asked for clarification purposes, I take a direct hatred (with seething eyes) on the kibitzers that come up with comments like "YOU KNOW MY SON HAD THAT DISEASE ALSO BUT HIS DOCTOR GAVE SO AND SO MEDICATIONS TO HIM. WHY AREN'T YOU GIVING THE SAME?" And I ask "SO WHO ARE YOU?". And you get the reply, "OH I'M THE 3RD COUSIN OF THE MOM OF YOUR PATIENT." And then I want to slap somebody in the room.

In short, while I am open to questions, especially when it comes to the illness of the patient and that I believe that the doctor should clarify all things with the patient and that the patient (or his/her legal guardian - usually the parents) should be made fully aware of the situation and that all consent are INFORMED CONSENTS, I have this place in my heart that loathes kibitzers and their uncalled for comments.

And so I told the mom of my patient that:

1. Your niece is not your daughter.
2. You do not have the right to decide for your niece. Her parents are there and you are a kibitzer. All you need to do is listen. If you have a question, you can ask the doctor of your niece. You can clarify things with him.
3. You should not ask me to approve or disapprove the management of another physician on a patient that is not mine, that is not your responsibility, and that I have never seen in my life.
4. It is not ethical to ask for an opinion only because you want to show off to other people that you may have some "knowledge" in the illness and then brag about the little knowledge you have. This is not the part wherein you "Phone a Friend" in order to get haphazard opinions on patients we have never ever seen in our lives.
5. When something goes really bad or really wrong with the patient, remember, all decisions - right or wrong - are the responsibility of the parents. If something terrible happens because you were interfering in the management, that your opinion compromised the outcome - you should be blamed for interfering with the management.
6. To stop texting me regarding the condition of her niece! She's like a resident updating me the platelet count day in and day out! Susmaryosep!

As for other doctors reading this blog, let me remind you that it is NEVER GOOD TO PROVIDE YOUR OPINION UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN THE PATIENT. Always give the reply - NO COMMENT!

We have no right "auditing" our colleagues behind their backs unless your professional opinion is sought for by the primary party concerned and not by the kibitzers!

Confusion is brought about by entertaining strangers at the bedside of our patients.

It's more fun in the Philippines

2012-01-08T20:48:00.000+08:00

So I've been practically around the world.

With that said, the new tagline for Philippine tourism entitled "It's more fun in the Philippines" was launched recently by the Department of Tourism.

And I couldn't agree more.

Here are only 25 fun things to do in the Philippines in our poster images of having fun in my country.

And it gets better...

This 2012, make Philippines your destination.

I guarantee you...it's more fun in my country!

Pilipinas - Tara na!

2012-01-08T18:55:00.000+08:00

7,107 islands...

97 million people...97 million smiles...

one of the best food in the world...

the most festive Christian nation worldwide...

one of the most beautiful sunsets and the world's greatest wonders and beautiful beaches...

The Philippines.

It's a wonder why so many of our own Filipinos prefer to go abroad for vacations. Beyond the petty political squabbles and the other diminutive negative press we receive, I have always told my friends here and abroad that the Philippines is one of the, if not the most beautiful countries with some of the most beautiful people in the world.

This is no means of exaggeration. Even my foreign friends and colleagues whom I invite to our country agree with me that the Philippines is a must see destination. Why we never took off with our tourism industry are probably related to negative press releases by other nations who think of the Philippines as a war torn area or criminal ridden nation. While there are still kinks at how slowly progressive our country is in terms of tourism for foreigners, the local people should be proud of our own natural beauty. We can only generate interest among our fellow Filipinos if we experience the beauty of our own country. It is sad that even among fellow Filipinos, we prefer to take our hard-earned pesos on a cheap flight to Macau or Hong Kong or the US or Singapore and are willing to stay in cramped backpack hotels, even if we have not seen the many wonders of our archipelago. This is such a shame, considering that we put our money in other country's economy.

The Department of Tourism has launched a new video, hoping to encourage fellow Filipinos to see, experience, and explore our country.

Come and visit the sites and take pride in the rich heritage, culture and warmth of the Filipino.

Tara na! Tayo naman muna ngayon!

Random thoughts in Hong Kong

2012-01-05T19:30:00.000+08:00

My family and I spent the New Year in Hong Kong.

The respite from work was something all of us were looking forward to. It also was our annual bonding moment.

While we were on the PAL flight PR300, I could not help but recall the unfortunate experience on the ground. We were a party of six. The guy that checked us in was nice. My travel agent informed me that we had pre-assigned seats - all seated together. On check-in, my mom and I were given seats at the tail end of the plane! When I asked why this happened, he checked with his supervisor. She just shrugged him off. He apologized and said that I should contact my travel agent for the mess. Which I did. My travel agent was surprised and I gave my phone to him so they could talk. When he approached the supervisor again, she was dismissive. I blew my top at the bitch and told her that I paid for FULL FARE ECONOMY tickets and that these were premium seat fares! Only those flying on highly restricted plane fares are put at the back of the plane. I drew my ire on the ground supervisor and unleashed a volley of remarks that she was rude, unaccommodating and inconsiderate! Her eyes did not leave the computer and she told the guy who was checking us in to just give us the seats. Since the outsourcing of certain services of Philippine Airlines, I have never been happy with this flag carrier. So much for the local aviation industry.

We stayed at the Excelsior Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong island. Three rooms all Harbor Views. For a Mandarin Hotel, this was one of the times that I gave it a thumbs down in terms of attention to the needs of the customers. While the hotel is within striking distance to the shopping malls and the MTR at the heart of Causeway Bay, the service of the staff was sadly lacking. Even if the hotel was full to the brim because of the holiday season, it was no excuse for inefficiency and poor customer service for a Mandarin Hotel.

We took the streets after getting an afternoon nap. Moving around in HK is easy with the MTR. After those "Kodak moments" at the Tiffany Christmas Tree and Carousel, we went around Central. I could not help but "eavesdrop" on our "kababayans" working in HK. Everywhere we traveled there was a Domestic Helper who happened to be Filipino. It was the Christmas and New Year holiday and they were with other families, far from their own. Real life telenovelas. When we went to Disneyland to see the new Toy Story theme park area, I wandered into one of the souvenir shops. I overheard a Chinese woman telling her Filipina maid "I know you have two kids back home. Go get two shirts from the rack and I will pay for them. You just choose which ones you like." The Filipina maid was flabbergasted and she turned around, lugging her two chinese wards and started choosing two shirts for her own kids. She had this smile on her face that I could not help but empathize with. When I stepped out of the store, the parade was on and you could appreciate several Pinoy performers among the crowd. The band that plays in the promenade are actually Filipinos.

The sacrifices our Filipinos go through in order to send home money or bring home gifts was heart wrenching and depressing. But the simple joy in her smile told me that life was not easy back home and that sacrifices had to be made even in the most difficult circumstances. As we crossed Charter House and Alexandra House that evening for dinner, we noticed a Jollibee store near a BDO bank in the side streets. My nephew hurriedly went to the Jollibee restaurant and we noticed that it only had Pinoy customers queuing for the chicken advertised by a bee.

Of course, the rest of our stay was pure shopping - from Tung Chung to Causeway Bay, from the outlet malls to the high-end retail shopping - it was a shop till you drop scenario!

During the midnight revelry to the New Year countdown, we had buffet dinner at the hotel. The revelry items were provided by the hotel. As it approached midnight, we rushed to the room to watch the fireworks display over Victoria Harbor. Since all our rooms were fronting the harbor, the spectacle was a sight to behold. Like most countries, the fireworks display is only for 5 minutes. There is no individual firework show like the Philippines.

We needed to return to Manila on New Years day. The kids and I had regular work. We lugged back to the HKIA for the 115PM flight from Hong Kong to Manila. Our flight and all other Manila bound flights from Hong Kong were severely delayed. The reason? The NAIA airport was shut down in the morning because of the heavy smog of the revelry the night before. I could only sigh. I have probably never understood the logic of having to spend hard earned money for fireworks - only to burn them in a few seconds! In a country as poor as the Philippines, well I guess it really sounds idiotic, so to speak. And so our 115PM flight left at 4PM, with PAL having to foot HKD$75 per passenger (which meant additional expense for the poor flag carrier) and the plane getting diverted to Clark Pampanga (which meant that we could not land and just kept circling Mt. Pinatubo) and arrived sadly around 7PM. It was indeed (according to my mom), the longest flight we ever had from Hong Kong!!! All because some nut job was polluting the Philippine skylines from 11pm to dawn! Sheeshhhh!!!

There were many lessons learned in this trip and hopefully, the year of the water dragon in the Lunar Calendar brings better fortune and brains to all of us! Happy New Year!!!

Revelry

2011-12-28T19:06:00.000+08:00

This is my final blog for the year. My family and I are spending the New Year in Hong Kong. Away from the pollution in Metro Manila as the New Year blasts its way into town.

I have never been an avid fan of fireworks being blown up in our own home. I actually detest it considering the noise, pollution and garbage it makes after the fireworks in the village. I have never understood why the government has never ever controlled this practice of blowing up the "village" or the city. From what I understand, the Philippines is the only country left blowing up this darn third world nation.

The other day, while I was watching the news, I saw some reporters from ABS-CBN interviewing the multitude of revelers buying fireworks (and illegal ones at that) in Bocaue, Bulacan. While I also understand that Bocaue is the pyrotechnic capital of this country, I wouldn't give a sh*t if this type of business closed.

When some of the interviewees were asked why they insisted on buying pyrotechnics, they all have different and stupid answers. One said that because it is tradition (duh? whose tradition). Another said that they'll light some fireworks on behalf of the victims of Sendong (I wanted to blow up the guy's face right there). While another said that it's only once a year and that they have money to burn anyway (wrong answer - the guy must be a government official)!

There are more reasons on why individual household revelry using pyrotechnics should be banned forever in the Philippines.

For one, it causes damages insurmountable and of course, not repairable if one's health or limb is blown off. Or if a house burns down (or the whole sitio for that matter) because of some reckless idiot who decides to set off illegal fireworks.

Then there's the aftermath of pollution. We all know that climate change has contributed to the vast flooding and natural calamities and that pollution through this insane practice has been a factor. There's also so much garbage after the revelry that the dumpsites get overfilled with just the new year's trash. So much for going Green in the Philippines.

The government spends more money on having to contend with taking care of these miserable pathetic people who get injured in blasts. And when the government needs to take care of them, they're using our money from the taxes collected.

Finally, all these gunpowder can be amassed and used for terrorist activities. Talk about counter-terrorism. It begins by addressing this but the Philippine National Police and government cannot even eradicate this annual habit of individual household revelry.

And if that's not enough, it's also the season when idiots in this country fire their guns in the air to greet the new year! Year in and year out, there are casualties due to irresponsible gun owners (whether legal or illegal) firing their guns in the air?!?!!? Watdfuk are these idiots thinking?

It's about time we make the revelry a social affair. Each town or city is allocated to have ONE place (plaza or seaside or city hall) have the fireworks display for the New Year countdown. Let everyone enjoy the spectacle of greeting the new year in a more orderly, responsible and safe manner.

Happy New Year to all and have a safe one.

The Gatherings

2011-12-26T10:37:00.000+08:00

I heard several news this month on the passing on of some classmates back in high school and college. It reminded me of our mortality and how short life is and how we need to live it fully.

I rarely meet up with colleagues for reunions. It's not that I don't like reunions nor the company. It's because I don't have the time for it or that it conflicts with several of my already piled up appointments for the day.

This December, however, I did take the time to clear some of my calendars to accommodate two reunions.

The first was with some of my batch mates in my college days. We belonged to the class of 1979 for Bachelor of Science major in Mathematics at the College of Science at UST. We were a handful of mathematics majors. Truth be told, we were the best the college ever produced! Most of us are successful by industry standards and well, we've tried to make the most of our lives. While we're still all alive and well, some of us are doting grandparents already! Even if only a bunch of us were able to come to the reunion, hosted by the ever gracious Gigi Bautista-Rapadas (her dad Mr. Felix Bautista was an icon to recon with and I am truly honored to have been under his wings during our Varsitarian days) at her home. Myrna, who I missed during my trip to New York last October but flew in to Manila this month came to the reunion. Husband and wife Benjie and Beth Tan had come straight from work. Agnes took the time to be with us in spite of the distance traveled as well. I cut my clinic short that day, took the time to laugh, catch up with our life stories and uhmmmmm....make that special appearance with classmates from the past who never seemed to have aged a single day (okay so I exaggerated here a bit, but you've got to hand the fact that we all looked great). After 32 years, this was the first time I graced our reunion. And I enjoyed it!

A week ago, some of my co-residents during our residency training in Pediatrics at the UST Hospital had flown in from the US. Again, I missed the chance to be with them during my trip to Boston and New York two months because of "conflicts in schedule". I received a phone call from Gigi that Meg and Babes were going to be in town and could I join them for lunch? Because Gigi called me 2-3 days before the said event, I stared at my iPhone calendar in disbelief at the very short notice. I told her I'd get back immediately. At the mall that afternoon, I had bumped into Connie Paulino and told her of the "gathering". Connie was quick to affirm that she would attend. Period. Where, when and what time were the only questions she asked. Wow! If Connie could clear her calendar, then so could I. I told my secretaries to clear the Monday for me. Never mind if I had to reschedule some meetings but I was having lunch with my friends. At Chef Jessie at the Rockwell Towers, the five of us had huddled like we always did during our residency days. We told stories, swapped lives, looked back at how life during our training days were, talked about sex or the lack of it (LOL!!!) and yes, enjoyed the short time we could with one another.

That evening I had to cut my clinic short as well to go our Christmas Party for the Department of Pediatrics of Asian Hospital. Held at the Ayala Alabang Country Club and organized by my co-chair Bettina, the party (over pasta and pizza) turned out to be a lot of fun, with many of us letting our hair (or whatever is left of it) down and just simply having fun - like children,
once again!

In all the gatherings I attended, the thought that perhaps this would be someone's last get together dawned on me. We are, after all, not getting any younger. And somehow, the people in our past who are still with us today have taken our journey together. Our paths will cross, no matter how near or far, how long you've not seen each other, how well we've done (or not) in our careers, relationships and love life...and we need to be remembered somehow and we need to stay in touch to some degree.

It took these gatherings to remind me how good life has been and how precious friends are. Here's to all my friends out there! Cheers to life!

Lessons from Sendong

2011-12-22T09:52:00.001+08:00

It was quiet in Manila that Saturday night. The rains just poured. In the southern part of the Philippines though, Tropical Depression Sendong was making landfall in Mindanao. This region of the Philippines rarely has typhoons or storms pass through it. But Mother Nature had other plans. It wasn't even a typhoon. It was just a storm. The rains poured all night. It caught the people in the area unprepared with the flash floods.

The morning after was as gloomy as the weather. Houses were washed away. Cars were thrown on rooftops. The water from the mountains had come raging into the cities. And by the time nature stood back to watch its wrath - bodies were coming in from the river basins. Now the death toll is over 1000 and still counting.

While many of Christiandom celebrate the coming of Christmas, one cannot help but empathize with the plight of the people ravaged by Sendong. The easiest answer to this is to blame Mother Nature or Global Warming. But one can never fathom the inexplicable reason answers to the question "why us"?

The pictures posted on the internet were too gory to even look at. When I caught sight of some of them, I could not hold back my tears. It was too painful, even for those with a hardened heart. With rescuers sifting through the decomposing bodies, people holding on to lifeless loved ones, and the total death toll passing over 1000 with hundreds still missing, one cannot help but look for someone to blame.

Whether you're Muslim or Christian, there is no god to blame in this equation. Whatever we have in this world, is so to speak - God-given. And while government will be quick to claim that natural calamity is unpredictable, let's face the fact that both local and national government authorities have actually been responsible for the devastations we experience from one calamity after another. In spite of the multitude of natural calamities that come our way year in and year out, we are NEVER EVER prepared for a disaster. Local government officials make money from government projects that are allocated for the improvement of the community. They undercut the budget so that one peso in one pocket is ten pesos in theirs. National government officials are either too dumb to see that or in connivance with their counterpart thieves in the local government. They tolerate, if not encourage, the crooked political machineries that churn their way using public funds for personal gains. They build their palatial homes in areas where not even high water or strong winds will blow their houses down. At the end of the day, it is we who bury our dead and they who celebrate with our money.

With all the pompous bravado of the Bureau of Internal Revenue running after businessmen and professionals, it becomes understandable why it is difficult for people to pay correct taxes knowing that those who pay their dues correctly actually don't reap the benefits of a legitimate collection. Had the taxes been put to good use, there should be no reason why natural calamities become our nemesis. And when Mother Nature reels its ugly head, we need to dig deeper into our pockets in order to help a community devastated from natural disaster that was caused by the local and national government officials who had no sense of foresight on improving their community so that disasters like these do not ever happen again.

But the Filipinos are a forgetful race. We have short-term memory losses. We forget the evils of a dictatorial government and elect their offsprings into office. We forget the evils of a cheater and back her up because she has been good to Bishops and Generals. We forget the evils of murderers that run in family clans all for the sake of greed. We easily forget because as a people, we are sad to say, masochists. We like the pain that is inflicted on us. Sadly put, we have no pride in our country and in ourselves. The only way we can run away from all these is to migrate and become OFWs or citizens of other countries - hoping to escape from a painful past and never to ever look back again.

Year in and year out, a natural calamity occurs - reminding us on how vulnerable we are. But our leaders never learn. Our people never learn. When the shanties are washed away by floods and they bury their dead, the shanties are rebuilt in the same exact place where peoples lives and limbs are at risk. And the local government looks away because these people living in the "esteros" are their voting population. Government officials will never attempt to find a place to relocate them. Trees in mountains in our provinces are denuded because of illegal businesses. Even pristine beaches are bastardized in the name of big business. And when one natural calamity comes, we watch and weep. Never mind the countless lives in the name of graft and corruption.

I am disheartened and angry at the scenario year in and year out on lives and properties lost senselessly because of greedy and corrupt government officials.

What will it take to awaken our senses? How intense a calamity will it take before the Filipinos learns its lessons from nature's wrath?

How do you solve a problem like Manila?

2011-12-15T14:23:00.001+08:00

It's the Christmas rush. What better place to be peeved than in the roads of Metro Manila. Ho ho ho!!! Even Santa Claus would have a nightmare trying to get Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudolph to land safely without having to smash through some squatters' shanty in Manila.

Yes my dear Virginia, there is no urban planning in the Philippines. I don't think there is a local government official that even has the brains or the balls to consider urban planning as his major platform in trying to make the city they govern liveable. As Filipinos, we reap what we sow and ho ho ho...a jolly joke to us all when we get caught in the nightmare of traffic (and this is all year round) or flooding (and this is scary because just a few raindrops and we're inundated) or fire (and this is not a laughing matter because most of the houses in the city are virtual fire traps), we point the blame at our government officials.

I decided to write this blog at the back of my car, while my driver is getting frustratingly irritated at the traffic in the Metro. In short, here are my unsolicited ideas on how to decrease the traffic in Metro Manila (or should I say, the Philippines):

1. Let's build a sky on EDSA! So the skyway has eased traffic going the south and north of the metro. Thanks to the skyway, but at whose expense? Obviously, it's the average Juan de la Cruz who forks out the costs on this short, but expensive skyway. As a matter of fact, traveling from Buendia to Alabang has been a breeze - takes less than 10 minutes if you take the skyway or 20 minutes if you take the at-grade road below. But you also spend $3.50 for the 16.5 km stretch (or about $0.21 or P9.00 per kilometer) - the most expensive toll fee in the world. But the toll ways is profitable - for both the government (because Kim Henares will not have to worry about tax collection any longer) and the private sector (because it's a one time investment for the builders and it's a one-armed slot machine money making venture all the way thereafter). Imagine - EDSA is about 24 km long. At $0.25 per kilometer they can charge $6 (P261.00) per way from the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City to Monumento in Caloocan City. My simple take is this - you can afford a car, you can afford to pay the road fees however extravagant they may be. The only thing here is where to put the skyway. Higher than the current MRT of course! This can be the next wonder of the world for the Philippines! We will look aesthetically the worst in the world but who the hell cares? It's the Philippines and we're third world anyway.

2. Paradigm shift for MMDA and traffic enforcers. It's about time these pathetic leeches who are inconsequential to the work force except for bribery techniques be vanquished from the face of EDSA or anywhere in the world. Instead of REALLY working to ease traffic congestion, these lackeys congregate with their peers (talk about the literal meaning of "highway robbers"). So here's the take - with the number coding scheme enforced in the Metro Manila area, the robbers...este enforcers...do just that...rob...este enforce the number coding. They run after the private cars. Even if the damn jeeps and buses and tricycles and pedicabs load and unload in prohibited zones AND IN FRONT OF THEIR VERY EYES, they turn a blind eye on this. It makes your blood boil when you see that the root cause of traffic is the fact that these supposed robbers...este enforcers are NOT doing their jobs. Like a horse with blinders on, they just look one way and steal the other way. They're practically busy chatting on the cellphone or texting to God knows who and scamper away when it rains like Gremlins afraid to multiply. What peeves me is that their bosses also turn a blind eye on this problem! NO MMDA HAS EVER ENFORCED DISCIPLINE IN ITS RANKS! For the very love of God - your president PNOY has the slogan - ANG TUWID NA DAAN! PUTANG INANG BAYAN ITO...ASAN ANG TUWID NA DAAN KUNG BALUKTOT ANG DAAN NG MGA LANGGAM? (tsk tsk tsk...lonely battle cry for PNoy). They can keep their jobs but REMOVE THE NUMBER CODING SCHEME so that they focus on what is essential.

3. Let's play KILL THE JAYWALKER. Fueled by the violence of video games, here's one in real life. Never mind the bleeding hearts of the people at the Commission on Human Rights - jaywalking is a crime! And punishable by law! I have never understood this country. We paint so many streets with pedestrian lanes, build so many elevated pedestrian walkways, seriously place barbed wires or high fences in the middle of the road so that these pesky jaywalkers use the right place to cross the streets YET they insist on crossing the road at the point of "most convenience". Never mind if they have to play tag with the oncoming ten-wheeler or if they have to jump over the wired fences (even if you place a high voltage wiring, I'm sure these idiots will find a way to get across them) - they're like the Nike advertisement - JUST DO IT! If you ran over them, it's still the drivers fault (they call it involuntary manslaughter due to reckless imprudence.) If the government came out with a law to the effect that "motorists who run over people that are caught jaywalking or who cross the streets in NON PEDESTRIAN lane zones will be rewarded accordingly: P100,000 for every senior citizen run over, P200,000 for all adults 18-59 years old, and P500,000 for everyone under 18 years old", I'm quite sure that NO ONE will jaywalk anymore. We can alway have a test case and see how that works. Let's just say "MAY PABUYA ANG NAGMAMANEHO PAG NAKASAGASA NG JAYWALKER!" Game ON!!!!

4. No additional public utility vehicles. I don't care if the jeepney is the national symbol of transportation in the Philippines. I don't even give a f*ck who Sarao is. But if there are public transportations I loathe, they are the jeepneys and tricycles. I don't also give a f*ck if the tricycle can house 30 people in one travel. I also don't give a sh*t about the jeepney being colorful and extraordinarily gay and rowdy! Finally, I don't give a damn if the jeepney drivers don't have a job because they don't have a jeep. My line of thinking is simple - jeepney, tricycle and pedicab drivers make up less than 0.5% of the workforce in this country. They don't pay taxes and they don't contribute to the growth of the Philippine economy. They violate so many traffic rules and regulations and are inconsequential in the life of the average Juan de la Cruz. The jeepneys they drive are major pollutants and they only bribe emission testing centers to make their pathetic tin can motored vehicles run on the road. There should be a project on the part of the government to decrease the life expectancy of these jeepneys. For example, in 2012 those jeepneys ending in plate numbers 1 and 2 will not be re-registered by the LTO any longer (like the K12 program by the DepEd). Then in 2013 those ending in plate numbers 3 and 4. In 2014 those ending in plate numbers 5 and 6 and so on and so forth until all the jeepneys are gone in 2016. And an accelerated program for tricycles - all ending in odd numbers will not be allowed to be re-registered in 2012 and all even numbers in 2013. And a full phase pullout of pedicabs in June 2012. Oh how wonderful and happy this country would be!!! Oh joy oh joy oh pure joy!!! There will no more chaos on the streets and road rage would be minimized. We can send the jeepney, tricycle and pedicab drivers to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kazhakstan, and whatever -tan you can think of!

5. Burn all the SM malls. I have nothing against the SM malls itself. While they cater mostly to the C, D and E class, they're also situated in the worst areas of the metro. They're right in the heart of the traffic choke points. These Henry Sy malls shouldn't even be in the areas where they are. This shopping complex is the perfect example of an urban planner that probably got his degree paying his way (or giving his teachers gifts just to pass) for good grades in college and was able to put up his business using grease money. Sanamagan! And they rise up faster than ants building a molehill. Let's face it, if you pulverize these SM malls (except the Mall of Asia) to the ground, traffic will cease by 30%. All local government units must be allowed only ONE SM MALL each. Which means that there should be only ONE SM MALL in Manila, ONE SM MALL in Alabang, ONE SM MALL in Las Pinas, etc. And all the SM Malls should be located inside a village. There should be NO direct access to the main roads. Kidding aside, when I asked a 7 year old patient of mine what the national park of the Philippines is, his answer was - SM! Ewan! I almost slapped the mother (who was terribly happy with the WRONG ANSWER of her son. And we wonder why they needed to add one more year of schooling to the grade school children. Sheesh...).

Come to think about it, the problem with traffic in the Philippines is not that is has NO urban planning. It's the fact that these little towns and cities are so politicized that they local government officials feel and think they have their own kingdoms and do as they wish. I guess even PNoy with his last remaining hurrah will not be able to solve a problem like Manila.

But I challenge PNoy and his cabinet of merry men. Instead of yakking on CJ Corona, please, do something that challenges even the smallest of balls or brains.

Mga echosera ng taon 2011!

2011-12-12T13:55:00.002+08:00

The year is almost over. It's time for my annual countdown. Let's start with the people who made the news this year - yung mga Echosera ng 2011!

1. Piolo Pascual

There's really nothing much more to say, after KC had said her piece. Aired on "The Buzz", KC Concepcion had cried her heart out to the public and to Boy Abunda on her relationship with Papa Piolo. Confirming to the world - in not so many words - the "man" that Piolo isn't. Of course, ABS-CBN has been mum about this and hopefully, as time heals all wounds, the public will keep quiet or quietly drift away from the issue of Piolo's gender. After all, girls, boys and gays shriek over Piolo with or without clothes on. Without any doubt, this hunkaloid wins hands down for the title of Queer...errr..Queen of all ka-echosan this year! Bow!

2. KC Concepcion

If there's anything that zaps a woman's ire most is not the fact that her better half has slept with another woman. It's the fact that her male lover sleeps with men! But her revelation over prime time talk show did not catch the public as a surprise. In short, many knew (or suspected) all along that her beau swung both ways. For someone who was schooled in Paris and has both beauty and brains, it was maniacal on her part to have dreamt that her prince charming would end up being a graceful princess. KC should have just done a Carmina Villaroel. In the midst of the gayness of Rustom, Carmina stood her ground, kept quiet, slowly drifted from the relationship and found eternal happiness in a real man - Zoren Legaspi. KC should provide closure to this matter. Walk away from the bad experience my dear and next time, remember to listen to your gay friends. You were warned!

3. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

In between her alleged "rare" illnesses and the alleged election sabotage during her term as president of the Republic of the Philippines, the "taray" bulilit was at it again. First, was her attempt to leave the country because of her medical illness. Then when she couldn't get a dramatic exit, it had to be another form of drama at St. Luke's Global. The controversy had created a greater rift in the already troubled relationship between the executive and judiciary. As the real-life drama of GMA's "hospital arrest" unfolded, no one was as interested in the travails of the ex-president because no one really gave a damn of what happened to her, except her few staunch supporters (mostly in the Supreme Court) and the people who need to repay back her largesse during her term in office.

4. Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona

No supreme court justice has hogged the limelight as much as the midnight appointee of Ate Glue, in SC Justice Renato Corona. Corona had served as GMAs chief of staff when she was Vice President. He was then appointed SC associate justice in GMAs term and eventually got the plum position as Chief right before the term of GMA ended. With so many decisions in FAVOR of GMA during her term and even after her term in office, it makes the judiciary look scornfully wrong when it comes to deciding on matters of law, especially expediting a request from your former boss to resolve. Even Erap had his day in court and was not treated kindly by the judiciary. And while the Supreme Court justices insist that there is autonomy between the executive and judiciary, there smacks doubt among the citizens of this country on the rationality of decisions being forked out from the magistrates of the high court at the way they're swinging their decisions in favor of the "little girl that should be put to sleep" .

5. Court Administrator Midas Marquez

He was never even famous. No one even knew who he was. But no one in the Supreme Court has been more showbiz than the youngest court administrator called Midas Marquez. The gay columnists are after the "cutie" who's been the controversial spokesperson of the supreme court justices in their riveting decisions regarding the fate of GMA. Midas has had his day (not in court) guesting in various TV shows and, of all places, in Ricky Lo's column in the Philippine Star. Now we all know that the Midas sleeps in boxers, wears large t-shirts and underwear, and size 10 shoes (no it's not the size of his dick), works 15 hours a day, spends weekend at home, doesn't have time for other women, has two children already in high school, hardly goes on vacation, brings his work home, has a satisfactory sex life with his wife...uhmmm...not really a place and an interview for someone who's supposed to be respected by the courts in the land. It's quite obvious that the public nor the press did not react kindly to the falling off of the microphone in an interview, rousing suspicions on his sexual orientation as well. (click on the video above and judge for yourself)

6. Mo Twister

No greater wrath than a man who loses his baby because his lover wanted an abortion. And blabbermouth Mo Twister had been most vocal and viral about the abortion of Rhian Ramos on their baby. With GMA 7 taking sides to this "reproductive health" saga, they're ready to throw the book on Mo Twister. And Rhian has taken the vile side of castigating Mo (even if the guy is really worthless) at the accusations of the abortion. DJ Mo has decided to pack up his bags and leave. He has announced to the world that he is going back to New York City where he has a job waiting for him and he would start life anew. But the airwaves can't seem to keep the tongues wagging and Mo, well...the guy isn't even leaving YET! He says he will still stay in the Philippines to get this controversial issue straightened out. While we are truly, deeply, and emphatically sorry for his loss, we'd like to see him keep his words - LEAVE! MOVE ON! GET A NEW LIFE! And stop stalking Rhian! She has decided to move on - I hope you get the picture Mo!

7. Rhian Ramos

There's no denial in the alleged YouTube video of ex-boyfriend Mo Twister claiming that she's had an abortion. On GMA news, it was just a sobbing Rhian claiming that she's been harassed by the video of Mo. And since there's no word about it from her end, there must be some truth to it. As to why GMA 7 isn't even investigating this allegation of Mo on what Rhian did, and the fact that GMA 7 people are even up in arms to defend Rhian on this, doesn't really speak well of the network condoning murder in the name of showbiz! It cannot be denied that GMA 7 has also produced the most number of stars from their stable that had a child out of wedlock or teen pregnancy. Jenelyn Mercado was the most recent, until of course, this Rhian Ramos scandal. There should be some boundaries defining the thin line of decency in showbiz. And abortion just cuts it right in the middle.

8. Anabelle Rama

Child labor abuse and oral defamation. That's what the big-mouth mother of Richard, Raymond and Ruffa Gutierrez is now facing. She is accused of subjecting the kids of former TV star(?) Nadia Montenegro to grueling hours on camera and time away from school. Now that the case is in court, the verbal abuse of Anabelle caught live on television shows a woman with no education at all - angry and scorned at the world that she thinks owes her big time for her contribution to entertainment. It would be thrilling to see Anabelle behind bars this time and I wonder what the Gutierrez family would say when this verbally abusive woman (?) is finally brought to justice. This woman literally takes home the message "you can take a boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy". [Ang hampas lupa, bihisan mo man ng ginto, eh hampas lupa pa din]

9. Nora Aunor

"Walang himala!!!....kundi sa Pilipinas". And what other country has an open arm policy to has-beens but the Philippines? There is a soft spot for La Aunor. Most probably half the people in the Philippines (except the aging population) have forgotten about the singing lass who rose from poverty to riches and dragged herself into exile, changed her sexual orientation and oh yes, finally decided to come back to the Philippines because there was no work available to her in America. Give it to MVPs TV5 for flying back La Aunor to make a series of TV shows for the network. But the country is a softie for Pinoys who've left and come back to rebuild their lives - Billy Joe Crawford, Gabby Concepcion, Geneva Cruz, to name a few. Last we heard was that the TV series of Ate Guy didn't click, which means that La Aunor would probably have been better off in the US, doing a real-life "Bona" (in this movie she plays an abused housemaid) there. Seriously, in this day and age of Justin Beibers and Lady Gagas, the younger generation can't fathom why La Aunor even became - Superstar!

10. Ramgen Bautista

I saved the last not as the least but as the worst. I have never even heard about this guy Ramgen until he died. When I heard about his death, my household help were abuzz. I asked who died? When they said it was Ramgen-someone, I asked again - who? I mean, I don't even know the guy, but my household help who are rabid TV addicts tell me that he's a new find of the network --- tadaahhhhh - GMA 7. No surprise there. It seems that GMA 7 knows how to pick out these lackeys and I should give them a pat in the back for being able to select these kind of entertainers. Over the next few weeks, the whole Bautista household's (including the life and times of Ramon Revilla, Sr) dirty linen are washed in public! From the schizophrenic mother, to the abusive Ramgen (who's not a good boy as GMA 7 would project after all), to the household fights, locking up the food supply of the younger siblings and financial woes because of the spending spree of Ramgen and mother...a story unfolds each day making the plot thicken the real-life telenovela with more drama and decadent violence! The real life story of this guy Ramgen is actually more interesting than the career of this wannabe-starlet. Somebody should get to the mother and buy the rights to the movie quickly while she is still lucid! This murder is a family affair.

Unbelievably bratty!

2011-12-06T18:51:00.001+08:00

Dear Mr. President,

I campaigned for you and voted for you, believing that your principles on good governance and honesty - much like that of your parents - would finally bring the Filipinos out of the throngs of graft and corruption.

And while I stood back and watched as you honed your governing skills, I disagreed in silence with some of the decisions you had made. Of course, like all presidents, you are entitled to decide on your own with what you thought was right, or wrong.

Last night, I watched you speak before the Criminal Justice Summit and was "shocked" at the way you lambasted Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona. While I understand your misery and frustration at the way the Supreme Court had made its decisions over many of the points you mentioned, I found the speech maligning not only the very person whom you referred to but the judicial system of which the SC Justice represented. It was not very statesman-like of you and I apologize if I will have to say that I am disappointed with it. It was not the proper forum and neither was it the proper time to have castigated the decisions made by the supreme court justices. They are, after all, an independent body from the executive department. The least you could have left them was their dignity.

Frustrations are part of the work that you undertook. Even at our work, nothing comes on a silver platter. We end up frustrated because of disagreements even among managers and the administration. And even when we don't get what we want, there are ways of working around an impasse. This, my dear president, is the test of a true leader. He needs to go beyond the partisan feelings and his own agenda. He works around the barrier in order to achieve his goal. During your swearing into office, you had already created animosity between the judiciary and the executive branch, by NOT recognizing SC Justice Corona. Instead of offering the olive branch and making him migrate to the administration's side, you had isolated him and the other appointees of GMA. While they may have been appointed by the previous president, the initial reaction on your part was wrong altogether.

Just like a bratty child that didn't get what he wanted, you whined and whined and became obsessed with the past administration. It's like having an autistic patient go over and over and over the same game over and over again. I'm not saying that you forget the evils of GMA. While you wanted her to reckon with her wrongdoings, you should remain focused on the future of the Filipinos as a people and the Philippines as a country. Instead, I saw vindictiveness and when you were delivering your speech, you were seething with anger. It was a reflection of a child who didn't get the toy he wanted! It was like watching the male version of your sister Kris, rant and rave on primetime. You can't take the words you spat out back. Even if you have no intentions of taking it back, what has been said has been said. The hurt and damage has been done. And I have lost respect in someone who thinks that by berating the SC in public was the solution to the problem, he gets mileage or "pogi" points with the masses.

Perhaps the masses in the C, D and E crowd may have applauded your guts. But they are inconsequential. To this crowd, they only engage in telenovelas, violence, and pornography. These sum up their everyday lives. Too much drama and comedy and lacking in good manners and right conduct. And you acted just like them!

In your words, this is nothing personal as well. If you feel slighted by this letter, then you should think again how it feels to be in the other shoe.

All I can say is that you were unbelievably bratty in your speech! It was unbecoming of a president, a gentleman, a statesman, a politician and yes, even of an ordinary Filipino. As you say, we are all your boss. And my reaction is - as your boss I'd fire you for the tantrums you threw yesterday.

To those that applauded - unbelievable! So many nincompoops in the stable!

[Photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer]

Of friends, retirement and Sweet Bella

2011-12-04T10:57:00.002+08:00

It was a lunch out I will never forget.

I have made many friends in the pharmaceutical industry. Some are still with the companies I speak and advice for. Some...well, they've retired, moved on or sadly, passed away.

There were musings from Veron on having lunch with her. When she told me that after 19 years with Glaxo Smith Kline she finally hanged her heels of having to work them, I was initially shocked! We've been through a lot and she's practically been not only a colleague, but a wonderful friend whom I've shared many quiet moments of my life and the stories of our cats.

Over lunch, I could tell that she was really happy over the decision to retire from corporate life. This was the part I could relate well with. After 23 years of teaching at the University of Santo Tomas, my retirement from the academe was a decision that only I could appreciate. Like me, Veron had her "moments" with GSK. And retiring from what you routinely do daily does not come easy. But some things just need closure - so we let go and life goes on.

But the blog isn't just about Veron and I.

It's about this quaint restaurant on Burgos Circle at the Fort where we had lunch called Sweet Bella.

First, I'm not a food critic. I just love to eat, and I have a passion for good food. I just hate spending money on fast food chains not because they're cheap, but because they're unhealthy and believe me when I say that it's the road to obesity and heart disease.

The other thing about blogging about restaurants is that while first impressions may be good, sometimes some of the restaurants are unable to sustain their great food and service they initially have. And the review becomes moot and academic. But great raves are due to those that have made good impressions so here's my review on Sweet Bella.

The restaurant has that homey feeling when you enter it. The patisserie is located on the ground floor and what hits you right at the sugar rush level are the macarons on the display cabinets. Alright, so I have a soft spot for macarons and cakes. My experience points to the fact that restaurants that serve great pastries are just pastry restaurants. It's rare that you get to have a cafe or restaurant that serve both great food and excellent pastries.

The menu is not extensive but the choices are quite healthy. Since I was on a diet, I simply had onion soup and seafood pasta. Veron had her all time fave - beef salpicao done medium rare. Beef salpicao medium rare? Now this I gotta see!

The onion soup was just the way onion soups should be prepared. With a lot of onions underneath and not pungent to both the olfactory and gustatory senses. It wasn't salty and neither was it laden with MSG. The onions were crunchy enough without being too soggy. The seafood pasta was perfectly cooked in olive oil. Not too much seafood splashed all over the pasta, otherwise it would have tasted like stench. The pasta noodles wasn't sticking together (pasta shouldn't stick together otherwise it's overcooked) and the texture was perfect. The texture of a well cooked pasta should be slightly firm in the middle when you bite and this was the way my seafood pasta was. I was watching with curiosity how in the world could you make a tenderloin beef salpicao medium rare? I mean, I've ordered beef salpicao in various restaurants and I've never liked them because they end up hard as a rock. In short - the Filipino beef salpicao is just plain "pulutan" (appetizer). To serve it as a whole meal and medium rare - this I gotta see and see it I did! As you sliced into the tender meat, you could see the middle part cooked rare! Their beef salpicao had a warm and moistly pink center - firm on the outside, soft and juicy on the inside - so much like you were eating chunks of tenderloin steak!

The piece d'resistance was the desert. It was, after all, a patisserie!

Veron insisted and I took the challenge to gain an extra pound or so. So I picked the macarons. After all, any pastry shop that makes macarons should live up to the challenge of making the best macarons.

They laid out the 8 flavors on a long plate.

As you can see from the picture - white chocolate, chocolate, strawberry, lemon, passion fruit, rose, coffee (and not in the pic is salted caramel). I picked rose, and had it with TWG tea. To make a great macaron, you had to have the best rose macaron. And a rose macaron is not easy to make nor easy to appreciate. A perfect rose macaron needed to satisfy the olfactory and gustatory senses - you needed to taste it and smell it altogether. And even after the meal, the smell of the rose macaron lingered in my mouth and nose, two hours after the tete-a-tete we had. Seriously, I think they had the best macarons in town - freshly made! It reminded me of Laduree (in Paris) and the macarons were so divine that after a few days I asked Veron to order several boxes for me to give away to some of my friends this holiday season.

It turned out to be a great afternoon.

People come and go in our lives and many of us who go into retirement or exile miss out on the road less traveled - the great bond of friendship we establish along the way. It was a few hours of saying goodbye, telling stories, catching up with life, enjoying a great meal together, laughing our hearts out, making new friends and yes, it was a way of saying - here's to a great friendship.

See you around my friend!

Wishing to be happy

2011-11-30T15:46:00.002+08:00

It takes loneliness to discover happiness. Emptiness to discover fulfillment. Sadness to find contentment. And confusion to find peace of mind.

The road to happiness is not easy. It is full of challenges and more often than not, we end up frustrated and in pain.

Someone once said that "people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they did not slow down to enjoy it." Happiness is relative to each of us. Some may find it in material things, of love lost and then found again and then lost again and then found again, of being cured from a terrible illness, of ambitions gained and winning a jackpot, of redeeming oneself from a wrong accusation, or simply achieving peace of mind after a battle with the evils from within.

When I was young, life was not easy for me and my family. My dad and mom seemingly had to make ends meet, for tuition fees for my sister and I. Celebrating an occasion - birthdays or christmases - would be frugal. During Christmas, my dad would drive us around the metropolis so we could see the various lantern displays and to COD in Cubao to see the mechanical display (in those days, this was considered the place to be) of toys a-dancing and a-singing. There was Holiday on Ice at the Araneta Coliseum, which served as our annual New Year holiday treat.

And I believed in wishing upon a star. Life was not easy for me growing up in an all boys school. The teasing and bullying hurt like hell, and there was no soft spot for me to cry on. I rarely made friends and because we probably were not both wealthy and I had gender problems, I was not popular in school. Focusing on my academics came easy, because it served as an outlet for all my misery. There was a loneliness that only I felt. Even coming home to parents who tried to make ends meet was a dreadful one.

I was surprised that in spite of the meager income, we had food on the table and a roof over our head. My dad made sure that we went to good schools. It was his way of giving us his share of happiness. As I grew older, I never waivered on the hope that some day, my more material and tangible wishes would come true.

Not all my wishes came in a silver platter. There were challenges that came along the painful journey of reality. There was love lost and love found. There was life lost and grief followed. There were questions more than answers. Yet in between the years and tears, I remained optimistic that someday I would look up to a clear night and close my eyes and wish all my might that all the pain would just go away.

I have come full circle in life, knowing now the lessons of wishing to be happy. There will be pain in our journey, but finding happiness and its true meaning is within us. Being happy is not about me. It's about other people. It's about accepting that things that are meant to be come together at the right time and at the right place. There is an alignment of all things that become our final journey - and wishes don't come instantly. It's the same way my parents saw it as they raised us. "Some people suffer but become amazing witnesses to all the graces in this world. Others go through the very same trial and become angry for the rest of their lives."

Remember: The sun that melts ice is the same that hardens clay.

The choice is left to us.

Wrong answer!

2011-11-27T11:37:00.001+08:00

It's the season of Bazaars (a.k.a. Tiangges) in the Philippines. It's the week before December, and well, yes, in this country these make-shift bazaars ply their trade in what I would call a large garage sale - from food to fake designer items.

And while the Bureau of Internal Revenue (a.k.a...Internal Robbers ?), go merry making by tax mapping the doctors clinics in wild abandon, these Bazaars are having a heyday!

Out of curiosity, I called the BIR last Wednesday morning and posed as a writer for a leading newspaper. I told the woman I talked to that I am making a short story for the newspaper about Bazaars and taxes and she hurriedly called the guy in charge for this.

This was how our conversation went: (the comments in italics was what my mind wanted to say to the guy from the BIR)

ME: Good morning. I am ___ and I'm working for the ____. I'm making an article regarding Bazaars and Tiangges and I hope you don't mind if you answer a few inquiries I have for a few minutes so that I can piece my article together.

BIR: Sure. What's your question?

ME: Do these concessionaires in the Bazaars have to issue receipts when customers buy from them?

BIR: Of course. Everyone that does business has to issue a receipt! (Correct answer)

ME: I noticed that whenever I go to a Bazaar, they don't issue receipts. For example, I went to Mercato night food market at the Fort the other week and went to 3 different stall and none of them issued a receipt.

BIR: Humingi po kayo pag di kayo binigyan (Ask from the if they don't give you one) (WRONG ANSWER MORON!)

ME: Why do we have to ask for a receipt? Shouldn't it be SOP?

BIR: Well, yes, but if you have a complaint, you can call us and file a complaint. Some of these Bazaars, we don't know about them. (WRONG ANSWER AGAIN MORON! WHERE ARE THE IDIOTS AT 2AM? WHOM DO I CALL AT 2AM TO ASK FOR A RECEIPT FOR 6 PIECES OF MACARONS?!?!)

ME: But these Bazaars announce way ahead that they have an activity like this. It's even featured on television and is therefore a public affair. Even the TV newscasters endorse them as a lively festivity that ushers in the holiday season. It is unlikely that the BIR does not know about these activities.

BIR: You see sir, I will give you an example. Quezon City alone is a very big city. There are not enough people in the BIR that will monitor all these events and will monitor all these activities so you have to inform us if someone is violating by not issuing receipts. (WRONG ANSWER AGAIN MORON! YOU CAN HAVE THE TAX MAPPERS IN THE HOSPITALS AND DOCTORS CLINICS GO TO THE BAZAARS AND TAX MAP THEM ALSO! SANAMAGAN!!! THEY HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO TAX MAP THE HOSPITALS AND CLINICS BUT THEY DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO TAX MAP THESE BAZAARS? OMG!!! WHAT KIND OF EXCUSE IS THAT? PERHAPS THE BIR IS IN CAHOOTS WITH THESE ORGANIZERS OR SELLERS!)

ME: But these Bazaars only run for a few days. Don't you think that you should check them before they are allowed to operate? After all, they publicly announced weeks before that they have a Bazaar sale. For example, St. James the Great annual bazaar in Ayala Alabang has their signs posted all over Muntinlupa already for their upcoming 500+ or more concessionaires. Isn't it your obligation to talk to the organizers and make sure that they issue receipts when you buy in the bazaars?

BIR: Hindi na namin sakop yan po. (The city is not within our jurisdiction.) (WRONG ANSWER! YOU SHOULD SAY - ALRIGHT I WILL CONTACT THE DISTRICT HEAD FOR THE BIR IN MUNTINLUPA AND INFORM HIM.)
Kung gusto ninyo bigay ko sa inyo ang telepono nila at kayo na tumawag. (If you want, I can give you the telephone number of the Muntinlupa BIR and you can call them). (Naubusan na yata ng English ang taga-BIR.)

ME: Okay, give me the number.

BIR: It's...wait, I cannot read their number (then he calls someone and says that his eyes are failing him and dictate the number of the Muntinlupa office)...It's 5560176 or 8561223.

ME: Okay, thank you for your time.

BIR: You're welcome. (In fairness, the guy was polite, accommodating and well...had all the wrong answers.)

I tried calling the Muntinlupa office from 10AM to 5PM, to no avail. The lines were busy and my secretary gave up after calling gazillion times.

I have nothing against Bazaars. I just wanted to make a point with the taxation system in the Philippines. If you can get away with paying taxes, then so be it. And these Bazaars come and go once a year - but by law should be obligated to pay taxes. Someone told me that at least we get the goods, 12% less because they won't issue receipts. Fine! Whatever! I would give my patients 12% off my rates if they don't ask for receipts as well. Is that the answer to the problem or the question? NO. Wrong answer. Fair is fair. It's either the law applies to all, or to NONE AT ALL.

I headed off to the St. James the Great Bazaar last night. And out of curiosity, headed off to three stalls - one selling ham, one selling pili, and one selling orchids. True enough, I went home without any receipt from any of these stores. When I asked for a receipt with the one selling ham, the girl looked at me and said - wala kaming recibo (we don't issue receipts).

Tangina talaga!

The least, the lost and the last

2011-11-20T13:04:00.016+08:00

I was putting up the Christmas tree this morning and thought about blogging the holiday season. With all the work that's been swamping me, it took me awhile to get into the mood of putting up the lights and ornaments.

I will veer away from the political and showbiz scenario that's been driving the Filipinos into a frenzy from the momentum of Christmas.

The TV stations have their jingling cheers, the Ayala triangle has all the lanterns adorning the warm humid air, the tiangges (a.k.a. bazaars) are back with the holiday sales and midnight madness, the malls are decked in garlands and sparkling glory, and Santa Claus is in warm and humid Manila! While I have nothing against all the festive preparation, I cannot help but wonder why we're all mired in this commercialism.

I guess the main reason why many of us, adults and children alike, look forward to the Christmas season is the bonus and 13th month pay, the exchange gifts and the toys to open on Christmas day, the feeding frenzy of parties and the wild abandon of using the holiday season in order in to indulge in gluttony. Some say that it's that "once a year" that good tidings and cheers are shared by all because of Christmas. And that's what saddens me - that the meaning of Christmas gets lost in the material celebration and the commercialism that has gone into creating an artificial sense of "joy to the world" among people.

I've always been a believer that everyday should be Christmas day. Every day should be a new year - turning new leaves in the chapters of our lives. Every day should be Valentine's day - celebrating the true meaning of love found. Every day should be mother's, father's or grandparent's day - giving due respect to those who matter most. Every day should be your last and that doing good should not be reserved for an occasion and that an occasion should only serve as a reminder that our doing good is worth the celebration.

To most of us who have more "blessings" in life - a roof over our heads, food on our table, people to love and care for us, a family to celebrate occasions with, a good and fulfilling job that provides us with the comfort of life and health - every occasion becomes a vibrant celebration.

But there are those who celebrate Christmas in make shift homes under a bridge or children who wander in the streets on a rainy Christmas day selling sampaguita and singing some carol of good cheer or those who are abandoned by parents or children who wake up each morning hoping that someone would make each day a Christmas day or better yet, a better day for them. Those who are terminally ill and would probably see this as their last Christmas season.

The needy, the hungry, the sick, the thirsty.

We don't really care much for them because we get mired in the thwarted true meaning of Christmas from all the commercialism that's been shoved into our throats. Somehow, somewhere, the meaning of Christmas has become tiring and routine that each year, that many of us have become callous in finding the real meaning of the holiday season. We reason out that because we work hard year in and year out we need to get "rewarded" at the end of the year for all that hard work.

Has business really slapped us in the face and made us look at Christmas in a different way?

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" sends home the true message of Christmas even in modern times - the way that we should truly celebrate. In the character of Ebenezer Scrooge, we see the lives of people who come and go our way. It's changing our lives in the spirit of doing good and sharing with those who need us most that matters. It's that life changing experience of having done something that cannot be repaid in material values but also in sharing goodness to others that makes the spirit of Christmas come alive.

Each year, instead of buying trinkets and gifts to my friends, I simply donate the money to a foundation or a charitable institution that will create an impact on the lives of others. And I sign the gift in their name. And that my "grown up Christmas wish list" would be that some day, somehow, the blessings I have received in my lifetime would have been shared well with the least, the lost and the last.

Wouldn't it be a greater joy if we all paid it forward?

Happy holidays my readers!

[My all time favorite Christmas song - My Grown Up Christmas List by Kelly Clarkson]

Eksena!

2011-11-17T10:40:00.002+08:00

I have nothing against Gloria getting medical treatment for whatever is ailing her today. Whether she gets it in the Philippines or in some other God-forsaken country is beyond me.

What peeves me is the fact that the Arroyos (and all the entourage including that woman called Horn) has the temerity to make a scene (or as Leila de Lima puts it - EKSENA!) in order to gain ground for sympathy among the underdog-loving Pinoys. Their first attempt to leave the country for a supposed medical check-up and treatment in Singapore last Tuesday ended up in a media cavalcade which has become the talk of the town, surpassing the Ramgen murder and Pacquiao fight stories.

For whatever it is worth, let me give my personal opinion as I, an ordinary Filipino citizen, see it:

1. The Arroyo camp insists that Gloria is in pain. You could see from the pictures or the newsfeed that she's wrapped around that thingamagig around her head, neck and body, making her look like little Frankenstein. With that said, I don't think that I would want to travel to Singapore in that contraption via Hong Kong. It would mean that I would have to fly 2 hours to Hong Kong, wait an hour or two at the Chap Lep Kok airport for the next departure from Hong Kong to Singapore which would be a longer route (in terms of both miles traveled and time spent on a cramped airplane - even on Business Class).

Yes. She and husband Mike A. were on a flight to Singapore via Hong Kong that fateful Tuesday night. Watdfuk was that Horn woman talking about when they were drumming up sympathy for Ate Glue! They think that we're all idiots born yesterday! If they needed to go to Singapore, there are direct flights from Manila to the Lion City without having to go through Hong Kong.

There are 4 direct daily flights for Philippine Airlines and Singapore Airlines from Manila to Singapore:
SQ915 departs 0810 and arrives 1145, SQ 917 departs 1415 and arrives 1750, SQ 919 departs 1710 and arrives 2045, and SQ 921 departs 1900 and arrives 2235. PR 0511 departs 0600 and arrives 0930, PR 0503 departs 0720 and arrives 1055, PR 0501 departs 1510 and arrives 1855, and PR 0505 departs 1935 and arrives 2315. Both Philippine Airlines and Singapore have BUSINESS CLASS services on their aircraft.

I did not mention Cebu Pacific because it's a budget airline and has not business class cabin. I don't think the Arroyos (who've been used to flying on chartered planes or on first/business class) are willing to fly a budget airline. For every one's information though, Cebu Pacific flies directly 3 times daily from Manila to Singapore on flights: 801 leaving at 0625 arriving at 0900, 805 leaving 1325 and arriving at 1655, 803 leaving at 2030 and arriving at 1235.

2. The major concern of the senators and some congressmen is that with the defiance of the justice secretary and the President of the Philippines on the TRO (temporary restraining order) of the Supreme Court, a constitutional crisis may emanate. We all know, however, that majority of the sitting justices, including the Chief Justice were all Gloria appointees. And while Renato Corona may be parrying all accusations of bias towards him and the Supreme Court, deciding arbitrarily and quickly for and on behalf of the WLO (hold departure order) for Gloria and hubby, it cannot be denied that justice indeed is not only blind but serves only those whose interests need to get payed back. With so many cases pending in the Supreme Court, what was the rush to address this case? After all, isn't she and her husband getting the "best" of care from the highly touted JCI-accredited center for excellence in health care called St. Luke's Medical Center? And excuse me when I trample the media that Gloria has a rare condition of hypoparathyroidism. Duh?!?! If our endocrinologists in the country can't fix the problem, that's an insult to the hoards of endocrinologists in the Philippines. It is not rare, it is just not common. And there's a difference in this term in medical parlance. The Arroyos, are lucky that they are filthy rich and are already afforded the level of health care matching their life style.

3. Karma is a bitch! That's all I can conclude from this EKSENA! I've always wondered how fondly Ate Glue and company flew in and out without tiring from her trips abroad during her term as president (or did she really steal the presidency and therefore was NOT our legitimate president during her term?). Whatever it was, you could tell how well coiffured she was with matching designer outfits and flying and dining in first class restaurants. There was never a complaint from her nor her doctors about neck pain, was there? During her term as president(?), her annual physical exams were always "perfect"! The stress and pressures of running a country is not an easy one. It behooves me that one year into her more laid back life, she has "suffered" from these unexplainable aches and pains and illnesses. Is is mere drama or is it karma?

4. Joker Arroyo had said that de Lima is ignorant of the law. Talk about big time ignorance. His first name befits him. Once upon a time, his opinions were well respected. But respect is earned. And you can lose respect as easily as you've earned it. For a joker in the midst of the senate, I just lost my respect to this guy. You know that when he opens his mouth now, it's only when his former boss - Ate Glue - is in trouble or that when he has tirades against the current president, PNoy. He's now simply a noise in the gallery. And Miriam - who takes her seriously? She said on TV that she wanted to commit suicide by slashing her wrist! From a woman who has been the humor in the senate, go ahead - make my day! (Now you know why suicide runs in the family and it's no surprise her son took the path of least resistance by committing suicide.) Seriously, while Miriam has a mouthful to say and more often than not makes sense, her tirades are not taken seriously because of mental flipflop. These two make more "eksena" in the senate than anyone else I could imagine. It makes the mental ineptness of Lito Lapid look like a harmless kitty cat.

5. And as all (if not most) lawyers are - it's all about money. You could get the best lawyers if you had the cash and the Arroyos are awash in that. And so they defend their clients to death. After all, they get heftily paid, even if justice looks the other way or is beheaded. It is without doubt that some of the seats that are occupied in Congress by the Arroyo clan are vacant - with Iggy in London for medical care, Gloria on leave for health problems and Mikey - uhmmm, this guy is on tax evasion charges and is leaving for the US for some sort of seminar and talk. I mean gimme a break - Mikey is representing the marginalized sector of security guards! Watdfuk is he going to talk about in the US of A?

As I see it, the Arroyos are all out in their "eksena" to make the Aquino government look bad and gain sympathy to them. While the Aquino government has its faults, seriously, impeachment for not allowing the ex-president to go out of the country for treatment is a bit cockadoodledoodoo even for lawmakers! Come on, gimme a break - she stole the presidency not ONCE, but TWICE! What greater crook was there in history of Philippine politics! All you need is to recall the atrocities and excuses during the Arroyo regime and that in itself would have told you that it's payback time.

As they say in politics - "weather weather lang yan". But take the Pinoys for short-term memory. How easily we even forgot the Marcos atrocities that we even put their families back in the limelight by electing the children and his wife to governmental positions. Susmaryosep! Only in the Philippines!

And like all telenovelas evolving in either Philippine business, politics and showbiz - "eksena" - happens to be the trend of becoming famous after being infamous.

As long as this kind of charade goes on, don't worry about not getting out of the box - we will remain a third world nation and the exodus will continue. After all, the Arroyo drama is as downright pathetic as it gets.

Philippines Worst FSP and Credit Card Program...

2011-11-14T11:27:00.000+08:00

And the winner is.....

Rustan's Credit Card, FSP and Discount Card

You gotta hand it to this Tantoco owned high-end store. They wouldn't have made it to the top of the riches if not for the scheming, raunchy, thieving lousy FSP, Discount Card and now - Credit Card program.

First is the FSP that expires! They don't tell you that it has expired. Sadly, I had to find out when I got to the counter that my FSP2 had expired 2 weeks ago. I asked if I could get whatever I earned in the FSP2 card. The answer was a cold NO! Well thank you for not informing me that the program was about to end. Thank you also for not being considerate, considering that after all, I am a frequent shopper! With their FSP2, you could even hardly get any rebates unless you were spending more than P1M a year to make that FSP program worth your while. When FSP started a few years back, it was more convenient and should I say, more rewarding.

The FSP2 program substituted the original one with more buying in exchange for rebates. Aside from that, the FSP2 is to put it bluntly, one helluva lousy program. You pay a fee to join and you can't even credit consignment sales or purchases from other Rustan's SSI (store specialist stores) to the FSP2! You needed to buy all that junkyard cheapy items at Rustans to get credit.

Their Discount Card is as pathetic as well. You get discounts only for regular items and 10% if paid in CASH! And some of the SSI stores (Gucci, Prada, LV, Bulgari, Hermes, etc) stores are not included. Lacoste, Marks and Spencer, Armani Exchange have their own frequent shopper program and discount card. WATDFUK were the ingenious idiots thinking?!?! Well, they were thinking that they could scam the stupid Pinoy into paying for a discount card but not being able to use it (so many X items or consignment items in the store, so it's not applicable as well).

Finally, is their credit card. When I got a Citibank Credit Card for Rustans when the program started, it looked like a good buy - concierge service, some freebie goodies and services, 3% rebate on Rustans items...and then the other perks just vanished. At P5000 annual dues, this just wasn't worth it! The rebates were also restricted to only SOME SSI affiliates of Rustan's. The concierge disappeared. I had to queue just like the rest and well, there were no more free goods. And each time I attempt to discontinue my card, Citibank offers waiver on the annual fee as long as I enroll my pathetic utility bill. As a Citibank client, I suggest that Citibank stops badgering or encouraging people to stay on the Citibank Rustan's Credit Card or risk losing another client. Even if Rustan's Corporation is far wealthier than I, karma will catch up on sleazy businesses like these eventually.

Strike 3, for Rustan's and congratulations for being the worst FSP/Discount Card/Credit Card program in the Philippines. My advice to all my readers - don't renew your FSP, don't get a Rustan's Credit Card, and finally, don't even bother with the discount card. They serve no purpose in your life!

My advise to everyone who plans to get a Rustan's Credit Card, or even sign up for the FSP or discount card program...read the fine details in print. An stay clear, very very clear from Rustan's promo programs. Believe me when I say that this is one program that has no purpose at all except to scam the Filipino buyer. Shame on the Tantocos!

It's about time we fly right

2011-11-06T20:51:00.000+08:00

All my bags are packed and ready to go...

November is here and I'm quite sure that we've all planned some vacation of sorts for the upcoming Christmas holidays. Some of us spend the holiday season in some other province or country - just to get away from it all. As my niece puts it, we all need a vacation!

I won't blog about destinations but about airlines and flying.

1. I don't really mind flying on economy class so long as the flight is less than 4 hrs. Anything above that becomes quite uncomfortable, so to speak, and I would prefer flying on business class if my budget (or airline miles) will allow it. Seriously speaking, long hauls (more than 4 hours) on economy becomes uncomfortable not only because of the time differences but also because of the level of comfort. In short, why does one want to arrive at his or her destination looking like part of the baggages when you can arrive there in comfort? After all, even the flight itself should be part of a vacation! There's really no better way to fly on long haul flights than on business or first class.

2. You'll have to contend with the seat mates on the plane. Unfortunately, you can't choose the person who sits next to you. I had the unfortunate experience of having an autistic child sit at the back of my seat in one of my flights from Bacolod on Philippine Airlines. The young boy was seated beside his nanny while his grandfather sat on business class. Aside from the fact that he was making several wailing sounds throughout the whole flight, he kept kicking my seat in the 1 hr flight. I simply put on my iPod and drifted into la-la land. When the flight stewardess approached me to ask me to remove my iPod because we were landing already, I whispered to her that I'd slap her if she forced me to remove it. After all, it was all that was keeping me sane from the 1 hr kicking from the poor kid seated behind me. If the airline was going to allow these neurodevelopmentally challenged kids on board, they should place them all the way to the back of the plane where they would have no passenger to harass!

3. Then there's a flight I took going to Cebu the other month. Because it was business, I was allowed to fly on Mabuhay Class. It was when PAL had a bad strike because of retrenching some PALEA employees. I didn't actually mind the in-flight service. I was irked about the fact that the woman behind me was playing Bejeweled Blitz at full volume. It was downright irritating! The bitch was either deaf or dumb! And the flight attendants didn't give a care in the world that her gadget was open during take off and landing!

4. Of course, you'll have to contend with the various types of passengers seated beside you. Those that have body odor...gosh...imagine having to breath the same air as these people. People who are overweight (I mean really obese) should pay for more than one seat, or should be mandated to sit in business class. You can hardly move and breath in your seat or even get up to pee, especially if you're seated in the middle or on the window area. Airlines should leave the bulkheads for the disabled and NOT for those carrying babies. When you're flying on economy, please use the bathrooms reserved for your section. Children (and at times adults) usually zip in and out of the economy area so that they can use the bathrooms reserved for those in the business class section. Don't forget to flush the toilet or lift the toilet seat (if you're a guy) so that the next passenger who uses it isn't inconvenienced or dies from seeing all that sh*t floating in the toilet bowl. A little consideration in an airplane goes a long way.

5. When checking out the flights for your destination - check on line before booking with your travel agent so that you know more or less how much it's going to cost you. Check all available airlines so that you get the best time for your planned destination as well as reliability and frequency of on time service with the particular airline. You can also check for the kind of services the airline provides as well as read reviews of the airline on various websites based on the experience of various customers. Don't forget to enroll in frequent flyer miles and start collecting them. Believe me when I say that it pays off to be enrolled in a frequent flyer because you can get your next flight either free or upgraded from all the traveling one does.

6. A budget airline IS NOT necessarily a budget airline as it claims to be. For example, I was checking for the fare for Cebu Pacific from Manila to Seoul for a certain date and I found out that while the flight going to Seoul cost me about P5780 only, the return flight was horrendous at P17000!!! Which ended up more expensive than the round trip that Korean Air or Asiana Airlines was giving for the same dates! Be warned of supposedly low cost airlines!!! Why is it that the local airlines (Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific) end up being more expensive than foreign airlines? Seriously! It's more expensive flying on our local carriers from Manila to most destinations of the world than flying the flag carrier of other airlines!

Maybe you all have a story or two about your own vacations. I have friends in the travel industry business and they can help you decide by giving you pros and cons on your next journey. Sometimes, the travel agent can even give you fares much lower than purchasing on line! With the internet at our fingertips, you can always verify their claims so that you're abreast of what you're purchasing.

Remember - that it's the journey that counts!

Of relationships and I dos

2011-10-31T18:07:00.000+08:00

It is human nature, regardless of age, to seek for relationships.

Whether it is found in some dark alley or casual/formal introductions or from adopting parents or, in this day and age - online - the bottom line is: it is human nature to seek for love, even in the most unexpected places or circumstances.

I am sure that each of you have stories about love found and love lost. The circle of life dictates that as long as we breath, we attempt to find the Shangrila in our lives. Is there really one? Can we really find happily ever afters? Is there a relationship that has a love ever after ending?

Even married couples, in spite of vows to love and to hold, in sickness and in health till death do them part have storms that come along their way. Perhaps because of the contract they are attached to or for the sake of the children or conjugal properties and investments, they attempt to work out the differences in spite of the odds that come their way. Some manage to stay together, but there's quite a hefty number that prefer to go their separate ways - in search of new relationships.

What draws people together to form a relationship?

There are two drawing points. LOVE is one of them. This four-letter word seems to be widely used and, often time, abused. Of course, for some, the more intimate part called SEX is usually the first reason to get attached. Yet the latter usually dissipates more quickly than love. People in search for a wham-bam-thank-you-Sam will perpetually be in search of relationships that find no meaning except the exercise of their libido. Whichever it is, having the best of both worlds would probably be the perfect scenario. But the strongest bond is that of LOVE.

Unconditional love allows both parties to grow. Each may falter somewhere, but because there is real love in a relationship, it will allow each person to understand the shortcomings that come along the way. After all, no one is perfect. And with that said, it's always a good reminder that when relationships begin to falter, one should remember how a relationship started and where it is at today. Often times, we forget to assess how the relationship began. It is ironic how many of us forget this.

Every relationship is a work in progress. It's based on promises made with the one you've fallen in love with or exchanged "I do". And while promises made are meant not to be kept, there are those that are. Strangely, we often times don't know the person whom we enter a relationship with. While some people lay their cards on the table as you get to know one other, there will always be skeletons in the closet with others. Eventually, these are discovered and while we sweep them under the rug at times, more often than not, there are more dirty or dark secrets revealed WHILE you're in a relationship that lead to a state of misery.

So now you're in a Catch 22 scenario. You can't get out of it or you're in too deep or you're miserable with a BUT! It's strange that we begin to dwell on WHAT IFs and WHYs and WHY NOTs. One party wishes that the other party would just bolt the relationship to end all misery.

We forget that the reason why, as human beings, and as human nature dictates, that we continuously search for relationships because we search for happiness. I am willing to bet that once upon a time, you were both happy, without a care in the world. That many of us had sworn to even beat all odds. Oddly, when push came to shove, we shoved more than we pushed.

Relationships are built on trust, loyalty and understanding. Without the three there would not be a reason to be together. Whether the relationship is one of friendship or two people in love or even an adopted child or family, the three fundamental instruments of maintaining a sustaining and durable relationship without finding fault in every single act should be considered.

It is easy to move in and out of a relationship. After all, finding what makes you happy is the most important goal in life. But this is a selfish outlook on life. It's only fair that while we try to find our happiness, we take into consideration the happiness of others as well.

After all, even the "happily ever afters" began with "once upon a time".

Memories of Boston

2011-10-23T18:16:00.001+08:00

There's a Beatles song entitled "In My Life" that has the lyrics:

"There are places I remember
All my life, though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends, I can still recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all..."

My trip to Boston was in reality both business and pleasure. The American Academy of Pediatrics was holding its Annual Meeting here. This was the business part. After my training in the US, I frequently came home to Boston annually, until 10 years ago. My last trip to Boston was in 2001. I wanted to reminisce the old times and see the places that I remembered so vividly. The autumn season was the best time to be in Boston. This was the pleasure part.

I arrived on a balmy Thursday evening. Spent the night reminiscing the Copley area and Friday registering at the convention and attending the morning sessions before driving off to Maine in the afternoon. The fall foliage was not at its peak yet but you could see traces of it on the way.

Harvard Square. Beacon Hill. Fenway Park. Faneuil Hall. North End. South End. Boston College. Cambridge Circle. The Boston Public Gardens. The Charles River. Chinatown. Traveling by the T. This was how I remembered the days I would spend those lonely days and nights in Boston during my fellowship training.

Of course, time had changed many of these places. The Prudential is now one chic shopping mall but nothing could beat the high end stores on Newbury St. housed in the cement and brick walls that highlighted the architectural beauty of Boston. The Trinity Church at the heart of Copley Square reminded me of the grand architecture that made this building a landmark of Back Bay. The reflection of the church on a cool Sunday morning against the grand John Hancock Tower was the perfection of combining the architectural design of the old against the new. It was this landmark that made me fall in love with Boston. Even the Boston Public Library had a new look with the center of the library housing a fountain and an area where tourists and students could relax in the ambience of its grandeur.

The Hynes Convention Center has been home to many conventions but the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center replaced the former, in that it's bigger and more state-of-the-art. There are several hotels that have been built but several boutique hotels now stand side by side in amenities and luxury if you plan your trip to Boston.

No other city in America has as rich a heritage in history, culture and architecture as Boston. Aside from the Ivy League schools - Boston University and College (it has recently merged with Tufts University), Harvard University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to name a few, it is home to the Berkelee School of Music as well. The city of Boston has a young and elite crowd - perhaps owing to the fact that there are many distinguished schools in the area.

On my flight out of Logan airport, I felt a twitch in my heart on how much I missed this place, which became my second home far away from Manila during my training days. With so much memories still in place, like a newfound love that I left, Boston will remain a part of me.

PAL in transition

2011-10-09T11:54:00.000+08:00

I had to go to Cebu to give a talk last Thursday.

The week before, I was skeptical on the flight arrangements on Philippine Airlines. The strike had practically put most of the flights on PAL to a standstill. The outsourcing plan of PAL was already approved by both the Department of Labor and Employment and of course the office of the President of the Republic of the Philippines. At least 2,600 employees of PAL had to go. They were spinning off most its ground staff and call center to other companies. The latter were also owned by PAL erstwhile owner - Lucio Tan.

When the employees who would be losing their jobs went of strike, both PAL and the riding public ended up losers. According to PAL, they have lost $3M - $5M a day in revenue losses. While PAL was giving chit chat excuses for their massive losses, the riding public was inconvenienced. PAL provided profuse apologies both in media and in flight. They are, according to PAL spokespersons, in a transition phase.

On Thursday, October 6, I had taken the 1245PM flight to Cebu for my talk. When I walked into the NAIA 2 terminal, it was like a ghost town. Only flights to Cebu and Davao as well as International Flights were flying out of NAIA 2. There was very little queue. On the Mabuhay Class lane, it took me about 10 minutes to get my boarding pass. I was tapping my fingers at the counter because the guy at the other end was taking forever. He kept looking at my ticket, then back to the monitor, frowned, back to my ticket, back to the monitor, frowned, then back to my ticket...I had no check in bag. Just myself. After all, I was coming home after my talk on the 1020PM flight. After 10 minutes, he gave my boarding pass but NO apologies for his taking gazillion years to process a boarding pass. I counted sheep - taking into account that PAL was in a transition phase.

At the security check in, the guard reminded me to remove my shoes. While I know that, there were no more baskets for shoes. I always remember that there's a basket for shoes. My Prada bag had to go into the dirty carousel? OMG! My bag was more expensive that the life of that pathetic guard and there were no baskets! Besides, the guy that went ahead of me DID NOT take off his shoes! I told the guard that the guy in front of me did not take off his shoes, so why is he asking me to take off mine? And my Prada bag had to go inside the dirty carousel. Where the hell were the baskets? He just shrugged. Counting sheep and taking into account that PAL was in transition...

Boarding was on time. We were only 6 on Mabuhay Class and the guy at the counter had to put someone beside me on the A330-300 plane. Watdfuk?!?!?!! We could have one seat each on business class and the section would still be spacious! Anyway, it was a good thing that the foreigner just sat somewhere else. He too, was scratching his head and wondering why the hell we were all being put seat together. And don't give me that crap that it provided balance to the airplane. The guy at the check in counter simply didn't know what he was doing. Then the automatic announcement went on - that PAL was apologetic for any inconvenience because they were in a transition phase....

In the middle of the flight, they served snacks. I was used to the original trays that PAL provided for Mabuhay Class customers. The old snack trays provided a bit of chic presentation for the crappy meal they served - some fruit salad, a cup for coffee or tea, some glasses for water or juice, a warm snack in the form of pizza or hors d'ouevre of mini sandwiches and some utensils to boot. This time, the stewardess came out with a tray for herself and started handing out beef calzone (that looked greasily deadly) and a roll of Goldilocks mamon. No tray, just put it on your tray. No white mantle gracing the tray table. She asked me if I wanted water or cola. I said a diet cola. She came out with a glass filled with cola, that looked so diluted that I said, I'd take the water instead. The guy on the other side of the plane was still yacking on his mobile phone while the plane was taxing on the runway. The flight attendants were noisily yakking away on the gallery and no one bothered to ask the guy on the mobile phone to turn it off. One of the flight attendants voice was so loud I wanted to stand up and ask him to shut the f*cK up! We were on the runway for about 20 minutes waiting for the plane to take off. And I could hear the attendants yakking yakking yakking away. There ought to be a requirement that the flight attendants do not talk to each other discussing their pathetic lives while the plane is waiting to take off. It's plain irritating.

We arrived at the Mactan International Airport, 5 minutes off schedule, which wasn't bad. Overall assessment for PAL was dismal. I had to remind myself that they were in transition.

Transition is a terrible and sordid excuse for inefficiency. PAL should have prepared for this. It is a reflection of poor management skills. While my heart bleeds out for the displaced employees, I think we need to see the outsourcing of PAL from the passenger's perspective.

First, I know that the revenues of PAL have been declining over the last year. The question is - WHY? Was it because of the large work force? Or are the top honchos getting more of the pie than what PAL was actually making? PAL management was copying the Cebu Pacific model where most of the ground staff and call center areas are outsourced. Fine. But PAL is not Cebu Pacific.

The airfare tickets of PAL, whether on economy or business class are far more expensive than the tickets on other airlines in the region OR in the world. I speak from experience. When my family and I had our annual Christmas vacation in HongKong 2 years ago, we took Cathay Pacific. The economy class ticket was cheaper by $40 per head on CX than on PAL. Last year, when we had our Christmas/New Year break in Singapore, we took Singapore Airlines. The economy class ticket was cheaper by $35 per head on SQ than on PAL. And these were all online rates and bookings! Flying to the US, the fares on PAL are also more expensive on business class than what Delta or Korean Air had to offer. And the flight carriers of other airlines are by far much better in terms of class of service, amenities, food and comfort than PAL. So why the hell would I want to fly PAL? If there's another airline that would take me from point A to point B offering a cheaper fare and YET better service, I'd just take the other airline.

Second, PAL and Cebu Pacific are not co-equal. In short, it's like comparing apples and oranges. You get what you pay for. CebuPac is a no frills airline. You know that it's an all economy budget plane. You know that meals on board should be bought and are not free. You know that extra baggages are paid for. What you see is what you get. That's why it can offer a lower airfare than PAL. But PAL has a business class that is 3x more expensive than the regular fare! And it's regular economy fare is more expensive than CebuPac. Why scrimp on the customer then? You cannot charge something more expensive for the same quality of service as a budget airline. After all, PAL has Air Philippines, it's budget airline that supposedly competes with CebuPac. In short, if I wanted to fly on a plane that would offer a no frills flight at the no frills fare, why would I want to pay more for it? Then everyone would just settle and fly CebuPac.

Finally, the possible solution to the financial woes of PAL are most probably internal. They need to hire more intelligent people to run the business. If PAL is losing out on its domestic flights to CebuPac, then PAL should shut down all its domestic flights and simply convert half the PAL carriers to AirPhil. Offer all domestic flights as a no frills flight. End of story. If PAL is losing out on its international flights, it should probably review why its airfares are far more expensive than other airlines. Of course, many of the foreign airlines are subsidized by their governments. Because PAL is privatized, there will be no government subsidy. But even on a simple frequent flyer level, PAL offers the worst kind of redemption because it has no other global alliance. So you're really stuck with a raw deal. Even HSBC has pulled out of an exclusive PAL mileage program because Lucio Tan's Allied Bank offer a better exchange for peso spend on ABs credit card. A program like this - where only Lucio Tan will profit - will eventually fail and fall flat on its face. In order to prop up the sales of PAL and lower its airfare, it should sit down with the Department of Tourism and other government agencies in helping PAL be the face of Philippine Tourism. And someone has to give in (especially Lucio Tan). Otherwise, its doom is inevitable.

Being in transition is a lame excuse for inefficiency and poor management. It doesn't placate a lousy customer service. PAL has had its financial woes for the longest period of time. It has never understood the airline industry.

It is time the government look deeper and understand further why PAL is turning out to be the Philippines Lousiest Airline. It may be sunset soon for Asia's supposedly sunniest airline.

The final Job

2011-10-06T10:35:00.000+08:00

Like many of the Mac-addicts, I was one of the rabid followers who woke up early morning of October 5 (October 4 in the US) awaiting for the launch of the iPhone 5. It was a sordid disappointment to see instead an upgraded version of the iPhone 4 which Apple called iPhone 4S. It would be available in stores on October 14. I guess most of the Mac-followers were also quite disappointed with the upgraded version as they (like me) were expecting something out of the extraordinary. After all, with all the fanfare and secretiveness behind the launching of a new iPhone, it was anyone's wild guess what Apple still had under its sleeves.

But nothing, I guess nothing at all, would have been the greater surprise than the news the day after iPhone 4S was launched - STEVE JOBS passed away.

The icon behind all the Apple gadgets was gone. And while many of us knew that he was battling cancer and that his stepping down from the helm a few months ago was a sign that his health was taking a turn probably for the worse, the rabid fans had just held on to hope that a new techie gadget would be around the corner. The news and speculations about iPhone 5 was probably leaked out by Apple insiders as well. Sneaky, yes. It probably was a way to throw out all speculations surrounding the impending exit of Steve Jobs from this world.

And what a way to go! The day after iPhone 4S was launched, Steve Jobs death is announced.

When my niece informed me that Jobs' death was all over the news I was flabbergasted and saddened. I grew up with Apple. My first Apple computer was like my baby. It had this odd yet funky modern design. My mom would wonder why I opted to buy an oblong like desktop with a weird location for the floppy disk. After being hooked on the Apple computers (mind you, this was way before all the newbie styles of Apple came into being), I have never looked back at any other computer brand again. I remember that I used to carry that candy colored (BLUE) laptop that looked like a space capsule to school. Everyone stared at the cool gadget I had. It was distinctly an Apple. It was uniquely Me.

Today, I have a MacBook Pro for my office, a MacAir for my travel, a Mac desktop for my study room, an iPad, an iPhone4 and an iPod. To me, Mac is everything my techie directed life has put me. Thanks to the man behind the discovery and the dream.

My hats off to Steve Jobs and this generation owes much to the icon behind Apple. He has left a legacy that would be a hard act to follow. It is amazing how one man has changed the technology of this world. After all that hard word, today he rests forever - free from all the worries and pain of health uncertainties. Today he rests forever, knowing that he his life in this world though brief, created an immeasurable impact on all.

Steve Jobs will be missed. But Apple will live on.

Bad eggs

2011-09-25T12:47:00.001+08:00

Last week, a few minors hogged the local headlines in what were alarming considering that they committed criminal acts.

The first was a 11 year old boy in Baguio who apparently strangled to death his 10 year old classmate after an argument. News was that he hit by another boy against the blackboard then strangled was strangled by another. What is unknown in this trail of events was what the classmates did while this was going on. While authorities went on the blame game to the teacher, it was odd that the news did not cover what the kibitzer classmates were doing while the older boy was strangulating his classmate.

In Cebu, it was reported that a boy together with an accomplice killed his pregnant mother and 5 year old sister. The boy, a drug addict, admitted to killing his mother and sister because he felt neglected.

Last week at the SM in Pampanga, a 13 year old boy shot his alleged male lover, a 16 year old boy in front of the Astrovision store. After shooting his lover, he turned the gun on himself. Apparently the story trails back to the Facebook account of the 13 year old where he planned the shooting all along. He allegedly was willing to die with his lover. He planned the killing because he found out that there was a third party, another male teenager, involved with his 16 year old lover. After the shooting incident, both boys were brought to the hospital where they eventually died after a few days. A crime of passion. Case closed.

Worst of all is that in one of the pinoyexchange threads, some idiot who calls himself GreenPeas commented "aba violente si atchiii!!! Ayon nga sa kasabihan marz, lokohin mo na ang lasing, wag lang ang bading na nawalan ng booking! etcho" about the incident at SM Pampanga. While the idiot thought it was a joke, the incident poses some critical thinking about the random thoughts and lunacy of a gay boy trying to humor a tragic event. Which shows you the kind of support the community has with an incident requiring empathy and understanding rather than mockery!

The parent of a patient of mine had popped up the question - what's happening to our youth of today?

My expert opinion was sought and I was saddened by the turn of events in the last week.

These were minors. In the words of Etta Rosales, the Commission on Human Rights chair, it is always the parents responsibility on what happens to minors. And while I agree completely with Ms. Rosales on this, I told the mother of my patient - "the youth of today are very different from our generation. I guess the internet age and the technological advancements have made access to information and misinformation much easier to all."

Children do not understand fully the responsibilities of too much information. Parents today are busy juggling between work and career that the child is left to fend off for himself or herself. Many parents think that getting a nanny or having granny take care of the kid is enough. After all, they reason out that they need to make a life for themselves. Most parents today are career-oriented. It's like, the kid or kids they have was the bonus in their relationship. Hence, they're busy making money. Bonding is time shared in a car or in a mall on a Sunday or on a plane and in Hong Kong Disneyland or in a beach somewhere.

I see many patients at my clinic where either the nanny or the granny is the accompanying person. Some of the parents may be reading my blog and if you think you're alluded to, my apologies. It's a personal opinion and I think you need to look at your kids again.

In short, many parents today are not "hands on" with their children. They feel helpless if the nanny isn't around. They need to dump the kids at Kumon because they can't seem to find the time or the brains to tutor their children. And there is always granny to take them to the doctor. They are, sad to say, ambivalent of what is going on in their children's life. The kids are in my waiting room methodically and rabidly texting on their phones or playing with their iPads or DS Lite some violent game. But to the parents, as long as the child is quiet in some dark corner of their house or church or restaurant where in the silence of it all, the parents are not disturbed from their own comfort zone, everything is picture perfect.

Unfortunately, this is not the case.

I've always told parents time and again that there are no bad kids or bad eggs born. We make them. The environment they grow up to is the perfect milieu for either creating a good kid or a bad one. When the milieu is filled with violence, anger, poor supervision, neglect, abuse and a reward system that is altogether wrong, one creates the perfect storm - the product of which is a bad kid. Our children are a mere reflection of ourselves. They mirror our lives and the way we raise them. Kids come into the world without a conscience. The latter needs to get formed. The formation of proper conduct, conscience, and respect actually comes from role modeling. A rotten child does not grow from perfect trees. It grows from trees that are rotten as well.

We cannot and should not keep blaming society or teachers or nannies or grannies for the way our children are today. We cannot and should not keep making our kids happy simply by providing them gratification through gifts and gadgets and money while we are absent in heart and mind. To the young mind, what they grow up with and grow up to during the formative years are what they will grow up to be.

Bad eggs only come from bad breeding.

The dangers of auto-debit

2011-09-18T11:47:00.000+08:00

Why do banks and credit card companies encourage auto-debit for utilities, cellphone bills, country club dues, car loans, housing loans, and the like?

There are pros and cons for both the company and the client.

Pros:

1. No more hassle of having to figure out when your due date is. This avoids the occurrence of late charges and fines ending up in disputes with the credit card companies later on.

2. The banks/credit card companies get paid in full way ahead! Which means that when we have problems in the statement of account or any dispute arising from contestable charges, we take it up with the utility firm or cellphone company, or country club or whoever is the merchant that is charging you. The credit card company simply sits back and relaxes and waits for the reversal of that disputed charge.

3. You earn points for every peso spent or charged! Which means that aside from the fact that your bills can be paid through either a deferred plan or a later deferred date or a minimum amount, you still get to earn points which at the end of the day can result in a free plane fare or gadget or points to waive your annual dues.

Cons:

So here's the story. My monthly statement dues for the Palms Country Club is enrolled in one of my credit cards. I make sure that I check the statement of account when I receive it. I don't know how many people actually check their statements of account when the bills arrive. But I do. This month's statement of account charged me for an EAT and RUN event that was sponsored by the country club last August 28, Sunday. I had four charges for the following people - Faisal Amiv, Bianca Velayo, Enzo Chavez, Robert Borjal! I don't even know these people and I don't f*ckng care about them. What peeves me is the fact that I was charged a total of P1850.00 for their participation and meals in the damn fun run!

Golly gee!!

The statement of account has four columns - Date, Reference (receipt number), Description, and Amount. For these EAT and RUN people, there was no reference at all. It was strange that the billing section of the Palms Country Club had decided to charge it to my account. If that isn't stupid, I don't know what being bright is. Why the hell would you just charge it to my account? Was it a matter of guessing game on whom to bill? Who authorized the charging?

Worst of all is the fact that the charges have been made to my card. Which means that any dispute is between the country club and I. As far as the credit card company is concerned (I called to check if I can stop the payment of the charges to the country club), it is a valid transaction. And that I would need to go to the billing section of the country club, dispute the charges, and have it reversed. Of course, I can always go the extreme of just suing the country club for every last centavo it has left. It would throw the Gotianums and Filinvest a bit poorer.

The fiasco with this statement of account led me to checking all the other bills I had.

Lo and behold, I discovered that my PLDT bill had also something new inserted! It's extra P59 a month for the call forwarding, speed dialing, and call waiting inserted into my billing statement! Watdfuk is happening to our bills? These companies just keep inserting things without notifying us! My Lord! They are like the Bureau of Internal Revenue - they think that when we take a shit, cash comes out of our asses!

There was a time I refused to enroll my Globe Telecom bill in an auto-debit scheme. There have been several occasions wherein I have been billed for calls I never made to God knows which country on this Earth or Mars, but for internet charges which are supposed to be free as it comes with my Platinum plan! And yes, my dear Globe, I do turn off the internet when I am roaming. And no, I do not accidentally turn it on. There is usually free wifi abroad anyway so why bother about turning my cellular data of my iPhone on?

I blog about this topic, to warn everyone of the potential hazard of auto-debitting your utilities. While some of the charges may be small in amount (and some of them extremely large), it's not a nice feeling to get these hidden or unauthorized charges in your bills. It's like thieves robbing you of your hard earned money. No matter, how you look at it, it is still a robbery! And it is a crime!

Someone must punish these erring merchants and shut down the business or pay damages to the customers who are inconvenienced. This is only fair to all. They should also fire the incompetent bastards who made a booboo or their bosses who authorized the illegal charges made.

While technology has provided us massive ease in settling bills via a supposedly hassle-free environment, with matching perks to boot, it has also been the very core of cheating and stealing by large companies in connivance with banking institutions.

Be wary, Beware, and Be Careful! Even your next door banking neighbor can be a wolf in sheep's clothing!

The Twitters

2011-09-15T09:39:00.002+08:00

I have nothing against social networking. And while I use Facebook or Twitter, I think that some people have just taken this social networking thing to the extreme.

There is no exact defining principle on how to use social networking. You can Twit the whole day or just look at your Facebook site and keep posting non-sensical things for all I care. After all, some of your friends may be actually interested in what you're doing or what you have to say. That is, if you're really someone popular or worth "following".

I've noticed lately, how some people use their Twitter account to "update" people on each and every step of what they are doing and where they are. While Twitter encourages people or friends to "follow you", it doesn't literally mean that you're followed all the way to the bathroom or to the gas station!

I'll give you an example of a Twit for the day (this is an actual Twit timeline):

24 hrs ago - Good morning! @DeepakChopra: Encourage unity, discourage divisions
24 hrs ago - I'm at ______________________ (Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City)
24 hrs ago - I knew I left something! My water bottle! :-(
17 hrs ago - Hangdami lang patients today! Waaahhh
16 hrs ago - I look so haggard already. I'm wearing my best yet surmounted by the amount of patient & d'type of cases. Anobamerontoday? World Clinic Day?
14 hrs ago - Ok since a good friend tweeted about it already, let me announce that I'll be at @dj______________ podcast tonight. Stay tuned!:)
13 hrs ago - I'm at Shell (Kamias Road cor Kasing-Kasing St. Quezon City)
12 hrs ago - I'm at Starbucks (Ground Level, Easton Place, Valero St. cor VA Rufino St. Salcedo Village, Makati City)
12 hrs ago - Didn't get lost. Luckily. Thanks to those who helped me with directions stuff. :-))
11 hrs ago - I'm at Easton Place (Valero, Herrera, Makati)
11 hrs ago - So I'm here!!!! Will start in a few minute... :-)
11 hrs ago - Finally here guys! We're ready to start!
11 hrs ago - I'm at @dj_______________ podcast tonight! Love/Sex/Life probs? Call us! 659-6969
11 hrs ago - RT @mnelizedMD: Watch gwapong-gwapo Dr._____ on GTWM now!!! LOL.
10 hrs ago - We're accepting questions! Call us!
10 hrs ago - That caller sounds like Maria Ozawa. No offense. Hahaha. :))
9 hrs ago - Love/Sex/Life probs? We're accepting more calls with @dj___________ podcast tonight! Call us! 659-6969
9 hrs ago - We're giving away a cellphone! :-)
9 hrs ago - Really had fun with GTWM podcast crew! Waaah! Owell. :-) heading home now
8 hrs ago - Home! I love EDSA traffic during this time/ :-)
8 hrs ago - Oh wow. Now I believe it's really her.
8 hrs ago - Thanks to @dj__________ and @GTWMPodcast crew for the opportunity! I really had fun! TC guys! Gnyt!:)
8 hrs ago - There were a lot of unexpected things that happened today! From the _____ to podcasting...Gosh! thank good Lord for today. Gnyt tweeps!

I thought the guy was going to sleep already and was almost grateful that his narration of his life for the day was about to end....

7 hrs ago - Here's the link about tonight's show.
6 hrs ago - I can very much hear the brother @_______ in the other room listening to the podcast...He missed the show so he'll sleep late for it.

And finally, he went to bed....And I clicked on "Unfollow" because it was getting to be irritating already.

For my readers information, I actually deleted some of the tweets in between because it was getting to be a bore.

Like I said, there is nothing wrong with using social networking, but this is an example of how some tweets can get to the extreme! The interaction between the twitter tapping in wild abandon on trying to update people on where you are, what you're doing, what's going on in your life is left to the fab and famous. We cannot create what we're not. Some people just need to get a life!

And it's sad that some people are simply preoccupied with trying to look famous (image making) than to make a life.

Added to that fact is providing more information than what your followers need to know creates a scenario where you're probably looking for trouble. When parents don't know what their kids are doing or are risking themselves especially when exposing too much of themselves in an attempt of trying to create an image. Parents are the last to know when their kids get in trouble because of a senseless random act of being socially carefree.

Take home message is to use the social network responsibly. And while we are personally responsible for what goes on in our lives, we need to utilize social networking sites to promote the better good rather than the interest of one.

[My apologies to the twitter whose twits was used. For your information, it gets a bit irritating when I'm online as well and my phone just keeps alarming each time I get a Twit message that's non-informative.]

Denials and Forgiveness (Beautiful Boy review)

2011-09-11T10:03:00.002+08:00

On my flight from Osaka to Manila via HongKong on board Cathay Pacific, I had hundreds of movies to choose from on their AVOD. Flipping through the list of films in the catalogue, I read a snippet of the film "Beautiful Boy". I've never heard of the movie nor either seen any announcement of it having been shown in the Philippines, I decided to while the time away with this movie over dinner 36,000 feet in the air.

Winner of the 2010 Toronto Film Festival, "Beautiful Boy" stars Maria Bello and Michael Sheen. It's a gripping drama of a middle class couple Bill (Sheen) and Kate (Maria) Caroll who try to find meaning and explanation in their lives after their only child, an 18 year old son massacres 21 people in his school before killing himself.

The movie is fast-paced and well edited. Directed by debuting director Shawn Ku, it departs from the usual massacre movies where the center of the film are the gore and the debauchery. Rather, it psychologically probes into the lives of the parents of Sam who need to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy rather than the lives of the victims.

In a different take from conventional films, the whole plot of the movie revolves around Sam's parents in the aftermath of his crime. Over the next hour, the movie unravels the many whys, hows and what ifs as a rewind in the minds of Bill and Kate, that eventually led to this tragic incident. Their anguish is hidden deeply to the point of denial.

And perhaps like many parents who try to make sense of the world and the children they rear, this was one senseless act where reasons could not just be swept under the rug. Like the Carolls, many of us try to erase guilt feelings, rationalize our rage and despair, and adapt various coping mechanisms so that we can transform our lives to living the way we want to. It is human nature to want to see things the way we want to and the way it ended. We want a piece of Nirvanah or Shangrila or beautiful endings to our life's journey.

The film leaves more questions than answers. Perhaps it is this compelling feeling of challenging our feelings and experiencing with the Castells the pain they were going through in trying to make sense of the whole tragedy that made this movie a unique one.

It makes us look at life differently and takes the hardest part of accepting and letting go, forgiving and forgiveness to the next level.

It's not one of those "feel good" films. It is powerful enough to make you walk away with a disturbing feeling. It is not meant to make you empathize with the Carolls. It is admirable because it leaves you breathlessly enthralled enough to make one reflect on the many denials we have in our lives.

It's a beautifully disturbing piece of work that everyone must see and change our perspectives on denials and forgiving.

[Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 ]

Cancer - the in thing?

2011-09-04T12:09:00.000+08:00

Another one of my friends had succumbed to Cancer. Another one bit the dust. When I told my partner about this, his reply was "It's the In Thing".

On my trip to Europe last July, I had bought my copy of "THE EMPEROR OF ALL MALADIES: A Biography of Cancer" by Siddhartha Mukherjee at Fully Booked, for the long haul read. The 571 pages (actually 472 pages of an excellent dissertation and approach to the origins and current knowledge of cancer and 99 pages of references and bibliography) provided a radically new approach to understanding the malady that has afflicted humans since time immemorial.

Cancer is not something new. Siddhartha writes with poetic brilliance as he describes his own insight into patients he currently sees and then intertwines the history of cancer to its first documented beginnings. He truly deserved the Pulitzer Prize for the writing of this book.

"Recall Atossa, the Persian queen with breast cancer in 500 BC. Imagine her traveling through time - appearing and reappearing in one age after the next. She is cancer's Dorian Gray: as she moves through the arc of history, her tumor, frozen in its stage and behavior, remains the same. Atossa's case allows us to recapitulate past advances in cancer therapy and to consider its future. How has her treatment and prognosis shifted in the last four thousand years, and what happens to Atossa later in the new millenium?...In 500 BC, in her own court, Atossa self-prescribes the most primitive form of a mastectomy, which is performed by her Greek slave. Two hundred years later, in Thrace, Hippocrates identifies her tumor as a karkinos, thus giving her illness a name that will ring through its future..."

Perhaps the literary ingenuity of Siddharta in this non-fiction novel is how he has pored through voluminous published literature and historical facts on the origins of cancer and managed to write it in a way wherein even laymen that read this book would be highly engrossed in the vivid explanation of cancer diagnosis, treatment options, drug discoveries and outcome.

Advances in cancer have come a long way since Queen Atossa. It has taken centuries to reach where we are in the science of oncology, and we still have a long way to go. While we slowly discover that there are risk factors that eventually cause cancer (some of which was the normal "trend" decades ago, such as smoking and binging on alcohol), we also now discover on which type of patients are at highest rate for cure and who are genetically predisposed to poorer treatment outcomes.

"Cancer, then, is quite literally trying to emulate a regenerating organ - or perhaps, more disturbingly, the regenerating organism. Its quest for immortality mirrors our own quest, a quest buried in our embryos and in the renewal of our organs. Someday, if a cancer succeeds, it will produce a far more perfect being than its host - imbued with both immortality and the drive to proliferate. One might argue that the leukemia cells growing in my laboratory derived from the woman who died three decades earlier have already achieved this form of 'perfection'."

"Taken to its logical extreme, the cancer cell's capacity to consistently imitate, corrupt, and pervert normal physiology thus raises the ominous question of what 'normalcy' is. 'Cancer', Carla said, 'is my new normal', and quite possibly cancer is OUR normalcy as well, that we are inherently destined to slouch towards a malignant end. Indeed, as the fraction of those affected by cancer creeps inexorably in some nations from one in four to one in three to one in two, cancer will, indeed, be the new normal - an inevitability. The question then will not be IF we will encounter this immortal illness in our lives, but WHEN."

And as man fights to survive aging and strive for longer lives and search for the fountain of youth or the drug for immortality, so will the cancer cells that live normally in our bodies, waiting for the time to take us to be part of the next in thing.

This is a must read for all, especially my students and all students and practitioners of medicine. It makes you understand and realize the wealth of knowledge in the discovery and researches in an aspect of medicine that we see in our daily lives.

Dear PNoy and Kim...

2011-09-01T14:10:00.000+08:00

Dear President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III and Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares,

To my knowledge, as a private citizen, I am not obligated to inform the government IF and WHEN I travel outside of the country. You are not my employers and I am not indebted to either of you or any other public servant for that matter. Which means that my taxes pay for your salaries and benefits and other perks which you and of course other public officials and employees enjoy.

In short, it is none of your business when I decide not to hold clinic, when I need to attend meetings out of town or as required by my specialty society or any private legitimate social organizations of which I am a respected member of, when I decide to go on vacation and the like. But you can correct me when I am wrong. If I am, I will publicly apologize.

I am officially informing you through my blogsite (you may not be an avid fan, but neither am I an avid fan of yours, so the feeling is but mutual) that I will be in a meeting in Osaka, Japan on September 7-9 and September 20-22, 2011. I will also be speaking in Iloilo on September 14 and in Bacolod on September 27. Which means that I shall not be holding clinic on those days. In short, it also means that the people from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (particularly the ones from the Muntinlupa district) who do the tax mapping at the hospitals should not look for receipts on days I do not hold clinic or am not in town. I cannot manufacture fake patients just to make you people happy. I am not required to explain to you where I go or why I do not hold clinic.

I am writing this because of an incident that occurred last August when my clinic was tax mapped. The assessor indicated my violation was that I did not issue receipts from July 18-July 31, and was required to pay the fine of P10,000 (for first violation??!?!?). When my secretaries saw the violation form, they informed the assessor that I was out of the country (I was in Greece and in Milan - hindi lang kayo ang may karapatan mamasyal) from July 17-29. The assessor informed my secretaries that I should just write and explain myself and show my passport to the district office!?!?!?! So I had to write to the District Officer and had to spend for photocopying my Schengen visa, passport, dates of entry/exit to Greece and Italy and dates of exit/entry to the Philippines. It was not a matter of having to explain my having to go on vacation or photocopying all documents (kung sabagay hindi ninyo pera at oras yung naperwisyo ninyo. Pag dating sa daming oras na walang ginagawa eh diyan magaling ang mga nasa pamahalaan). It was a matter of being inconvenienced by some moronic government employee who performs the task of harassing common citizens like me.

I know you people have a pet peeve towards doctors and lawyers and other professionals who you think are cheating the government by not properly paying taxes. You said it yourself in your SONA. While there may be some bad eggs among our colleagues, we are not all the same. Let's just say that I give the benefit of the doubt (of course more doubt than benefit) among government officials as well. (Pare-pareho lang tayong may bulok na itlog sa ating propesyon. Sa totoo lang, mas madaming magnanakaw sa inyong sanhi kesa sa amin. Kung tutuusin, eh magkano lang ang suweldo ninyong lahat sa pamahalaan pero sandamakmak ang nagpapakamatay para magkaroon ng puwesto kahit bilang isang kagawad sa barangay! Dahil may kurakot! Dahil may inanakaw! At pera namin ang inyong ninanakaw!.) While you may not all be crooks (I think I'm humoring myself), I certainly don't go around checking who's in town and who's not and who's supposed to be in session in Congress or who's just boxing around the world for a profession and is a congressman on the sideline. Nevertheless, the feeling is mutual. I look upon government officials with an ounce of honesty and a kilogram of ineptness and skepticism.

Being realistic about the scenario, some of the doctors and lawyers who "tax evade" through dubious means are actually small fry compared to the circle of friends who traveled with you to China in your recent trip. We are small fry compared to your circle of colleagues and their wives and children who make a pittance from their government salaries and yet tag along LV or Prada or Hermes bags. In short, your idea of filling in more of tax collection in the Philippines by running after these professionals is but a drop in the bucket compared to the real big-time tax evaders whom the government simply cannot or refuse to touch. Even if you make a case against these people, they have the money to battle it out in court and with the way the justice system in this country works, well, you'd both be dead by the time anything is resolved. So you go after the small fries. (Yun lang naman ang kaya ninyong patulan eh).

But I support you in your endeavor on looking for tax evaders and people paying taxes correctly. What I cannot stand, however, is how even the honest tax payers get the brunt of inefficiency on the part of the bureau. Bluntly speaking, you people are barking up the wrong tree and are totally clueless on how to collect more taxes from the appropriate sources - like liquor, cigarettes, other vices and luxury goods.

Of course, since I'm not the president nor am I the commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, I will not tell you how to run the country or the bureau. I am, however, informing you that I will not be in town on these days and that if I get a report again from some idiotic tax mapper or assessor within the area, for not issuing official receipts when I am not around or when I do not have patients for the day, I will not hesitate to take the government to court on charges of harassment. There should be no next time around. I am almost about to retire and will have my whole life ahead of me and more time on my hands to see you people in court.

This is not a threat. It is a promise!

Yours truly

Fish tank, Twitter and Facebook

2011-08-29T17:23:00.003+08:00

I've just learned a few widgets and gadgets and have added it to my blogspot. I don't know how long I'll keep it there, but if you've nothing to do, you can play with the fishes in the right corner aquarium. Put the mouse anywhere in the aquarium and the fish will go to it. Click on the mouse to feed my fish.

And you can follow my twitter and facebook as well. You can follow in Twitter at twitter.com/benjico. Perhaps this way, I can get some of my political messages across to the idiots who should be reading it. I do it as a prelude to my official letter to the President of the Philippines in my upcoming blog update in September.

The flip side in 60 seconds

2011-08-28T09:57:00.002+08:00

During our last staff meeting for the Department of Pediatrics at Asian Hospital and Medical Center, a colleague of mine commented that I should probably blog about my being the incoming Chairman for the department. I laughed when she teased me that it would be my "hell" and that it was a most appropriate description for my blog writings. This is my final blog for the month, so let's take it from there.

I take my job or whatever I do seriously. While I may flip flop on a few decisions at the start, I also have a vision for a generation.

And so I blog about this new turn of event in my life and accept with humility the task of being the next "Captain of the Ship".

When I retired from teaching medical students three years ago and went into private practice, I felt a void in my academic career. I missed the grand rounds, the training and drilling of students with the daily cases, the teaching skills and poring over loads of information in pediatrics, pharmacology and infectious diseases. After all, I had been the residency training officer of two hospitals - one government hospital (Ospital ng Maynila) and one teaching hospital (University of Santo Tomas) - in my not too distant past. So teaching and training to me was the core of my daily habit. My decision to retire from teaching was like having to give up coffee at the break of dawn.

When I was asked if I was willing to take the post as the incoming chair, there was an initial hesitation on my part. After all, I had found a new comfort zone. I have come full circle in my career, have been part of the lives of so many successful and great doctors and at my age, life should simply be about preparing for retirement.

Yet a part of me felt that there was a need to make my colleagues realize that the art of medicine is not about myself or how much I make or how many patients I have made better or cured. Coming full circle is about paying it forward.

At that singular moment when I was asked whether I was willing to take this new post, I felt that the next 60 seconds of decision making was moving in very slow motion. It was not the impulsive me that played central role in saying yes. My flip side, the cautious me, was tugging me back.

The 60 seconds saw my previous life pass me by.

All of us at Asian Hospital have come from a great residency training program. We're all board certified and specialty and subspecialty certified. I've always believed in how great this circle of physicians are. We may come from different schools or have trained from different hospitals both here and abroad, but we've learned from the best.

Call it a legacy, but the best of leaders and healers will always pass the torch to the younger colleagues - to teach them and learn from them. It's only by paying it forward that we learn to be appreciated in life and thereafter. Even after we're gone, somewhere in other people's lives, we leave our mark in their lives. My mentors have left a bit of themselves in my life and I am eternally grateful to them for this.

And the 60 seconds ended with the flip of the coin of accepting this daunting yet humbling task.

And so as I begin the new role of leading a great bunch of pediatricians and friends starting next month, I pray that I lead well.

They say that the true mark of a great leader is succession planning. We simply cannot be invisible men living our own lives. We owe it to our great teachers and mentors to continue the task of passing the torch.

The decision at the flip of the coin was probably a challenge to see "hell" as my colleague said.

All I can say, "I've been to hell and back. But with everyone's help, this new task may just be purgatory. Who knows, if we all pitch in together, we might all get a glimpse of heaven in the end."

A matter of inconvenience

2011-08-25T13:46:00.000+08:00

Last saturday, my driver came to work sobbing.

My maids were running around the house like chickens without a head. They announced to the household that my driver had been robbed - again!

My driver goes home to Batangas because that's where his family is. He earns more than the average family driver (yes, I pay extremely well). In spite of his better earnings, he actually spends 60% of his pay just on transportation. After explaining (I think the right word is "castigating") to him the stupid economics he practices, he decided to reside in Bicutan with his brother (which is a 15 minute jeepney ride to my residence) eventually. It's either that or I told him that he can find another job somewhere. There are days when he goes home to his mother's house in Makati. That's another story.

My driver commutes by public transportation from Alabang to any other destination home - Batangas, Bicutan or Makati. Last March, on his way home from Alabang, he was robbed. Someone slashed the back pocket of his pants and took his cellphone and wallet in the train. I don't think they took much, but he lost his ID, driver's license and of course his cellphone.

He needed to borrow money to replace all these and the hapless employer (that's me) had to lend him money. Of course, since it was a debt, he needed to repay these over the next few months with minor deductions in his paycheck. Which meant that his take home pay would be a bit less and that his family would need to scrimp.

Fast forward to Saturday. So my driver came in that fateful Saturday morning after coming from Makati. His story - while waiting at the bus stop, a couple had approached him to ask for directions going to God-knows-where. He found it strange that the couple had boarded the bus with him and even sat beside him! (Mind you, my driver is not even good looking nor does he dress well at all. If there's an award for dressing down to the pauper - my driver would win hands down.) It was a longer trip from Makati to Alabang. And he fell asleep. When he woke up in the Alabang station, the couple wasn't beside him anymore and when he alighted, he noticed that his cellphone and wallet had disappeared as well.

It was take two for my poor driver. I don't think the thieves really took a lot because he had no money in the wallet except for his driver's license and the old mobile phone was one of my old recyclable unreliable phones.

I blog about this because of the inconvenience and hassle that it brings to ordinary people, living ordinary lives, trying to make a decent living through ordinary means. I am flabbergasted at the many cries of human rights activists who decry that when policemen catch criminal in the act of a crime and beat them up, it's a human right violation! These mendicants and scums of the earth have the temerity to prey not only on the rich, but most despicably on the poor. These robbers who have nothing better to do with their lives and are too lazy to even get a decent job profligate their trade by perfecting their technique at robbing people of their hard earned money. And they have the guile to cry out human rights violation? DUH?!?!!?

I have been robbed several times as well. It's not a good feeling to lose hard earned cash or kind to thieves. It's a feeling of anger, desperation and helplessness. Even if you go and report it to the police, I have serious doubts that they will even help you solve the crime. The cops in the Philippines will simply make a police report, give you a copy, shake your hand and tell you to go file an affidavit of loss. Seriously, I have never even heard of someone going to the cops, reporting a robbery, and a cop following it up or at best, even solving it. It's why these thieves just go on a robbing spree. There's no solution to the crime. It's why people think that the cops are bad. There seems to be collusion to each crime.

It's like an everyday thing in Manila! It's like a run-of-the-mill scenario where kids high on rugby roam the roads, where mendicants tap at your car window begging for scraps or scrape your car, where the traffic enforcer is busier texting in the middle of traffic and running after number coded cars rather than enforcing traffic rules and regulations on the road, where the normal Pinoy will need to piss against any wall because he needs to take a leak, where jeepneys, trikes and buses load and unload in any part of the street they want, because they want to. It's like civil disobedience is a matter of every day life. There are government agencies that are mandated to implement the rule of law. Never mind if the public know that they enrich themselves because they steal, but puhhleeze do something good in return, at the very least. It's despicable enough that they steal from the coffers of tax collection and spend like there's no tomorrow our hard-earned taxes but to turn a blind eye to their job description and even to what they should or should not be doing is a bitch!

And so, the story goes that not only was my driver inconvenienced, but I and his family too. I had to, of course, lend him money to get all these lost documents, again! The police report and the notary public had served no purpose. You needed to enrich the PNP by paying for a police report and then the inutile lawyers who do nothing but issue a notarized affidavit of loss, and so in the end it's these idiots who sit back and do nothing that actual gain from the robbery! Sanamagan this country. It's so third world, so Banana Republic, so idiotically run by amateurs, so politically corrupt.

It also meant that my driver's family will be inconvenienced as well. They will need to buy less rice for this week. The kids will need to walk going to school again. The wife will need to scrimp on a can of milk for the young one. And I will be Santa Claus even before Christmas, again!

The rage that spits from my guts cannot be measured in this blog article. There needs to be some change in the way we look at crime and punishment in the Philippines. Just slapping the culprits on the wrist for the inconvenience caused is not enough. Let the human rights bleeding hearts cry out for all I care. If I were the president, I'd make sure that once these thieves got caught, they'd get their hand amputated in public on a Sunday morning with free admission to all. Drug dealers would get shot by firing squad on a Monday morning live on Magandang Umaga with all cameras focused on their next of kin. Rapists would have their penises amputated on Pinoy Big Brothers as added bonus to the show. Murderers will get executed every Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia or the Araneta Coliseum. Government officials and personnel caught stealing will be hanged in public at the Ayala Malls on Tuesdays to Fridays.

In the Philippines, democracy has a strange way of creating inconvenience to the ordinary people whose ordinary lives are driven mad by people who deserve to just roll over and die.

Ganun na lang ba?

Post-digital age syndrome

2011-08-21T12:37:00.001+08:00

I thought of blogging about this topic after seeing so many teenage patients the past two weeks.

To have that many teenage patients in my pediatric practice meant that I must be gazillion years old because these kids have practically grown up with me.

The experience I have gained over the years of pediatric practice has been a life changing one. Observing how many of my patients have grown to become teenagers and adults, to parents, has been one helluva roller coaster ride, so to speak.

The youth of today are very much different from our times. I'm quite sure that the more "senior" generation will agree with me that technological advancements has correlated with the current state of today's youth.

I call it the post-digital age syndrome.

Let's face it. Even the more "senior" generation (like me) benefits from the technological advancement and that the digital age has contributed immensely to providing information at our fingertips. No more trips to the library, no more having to wait for days for a response from our clients, no more going to the bank to pay the bills, no more having to make long distance calls that charge an arm and a leg in order to speak to our loved ones, no more having to go through third parties to make reservations, no need for the yellow pages - yup, with the new techie gadgets, you've even got email on the go.

The only difference between the technological advancements is the time frame.

Obviously, the pre-digital age syndrome people had the benefit of searching for information in a more medieval way such as trekking to the library or poring over the voluminous books available to read. The post-digital age people just google it and you can even do advanced or narrowed searches. The latter, however, has the drawback that by making the computer and the world wide web or Mr Google search information for you, the information provided may be one that is lacking or biased (some information may not be published and so you won't see it on the net, such as theses or dissertations of graduate school students, etc.). Many information seen on the internet may not necessarily be complete - such as summaries or abstracts being provided as sneak previews - and because getting the full original versions will require payment, a lot of us end up making conclusions based on these summaries - a case of what you see is what you get! What also is distracting is the fact that anything and everything is published on the internet. Discerning what is factual and true is difficult for those that are not experts in the field of interest. This has its major drawbacks especially in the field of medicine, where patients and parents google symptoms in search for diagnosis, without the benefit of adequate knowledge on how to discern the right information to arrive at the correct diagnosis and eventually how to manage the disease. The piecemeal or "chop-chop" knowledge has contributed to a general sense of misconception, confusion, and panic among patients in the self-search of information for disease states.

Indirectly, the post-digital age has contributed to the obesity I am seeing in the clinics. Kids are growing up with just their fingertips doing the exercise. Some can spend days and days in front of the computer or some gamely gadget (PSP, DS Lite, iPad, Celphone or what have you) or in front of the TV surfing channels. I've noticed families at dinner tables (especially in restaurants) with some of their kids having the headsets of their phones or gadgets hooked to their ears (often times to a deafening volume that I can hear it a mile away even in a mall). No conversation, no discussion, just a deafening silence of words except the chewing of food or the clanking of utensils or the sound effects of the gadgets. Ask them to move their butts and many youngsters complain about wasting time on menial exercise. It's more cool to be on Facebook or be Twitting rather than to be sweating out all that fat from those uncool junk food and supposed healthy iced teas that are nothing but a bunch of flavored teas filled with sugar to the hilt!

While the purchasing power of the peso has supposedly dipped because of inflation, in reality, the household expenditure has increased in the post-digital era because of the added expenses in gadgets and top-ups (loads) for their mobile phones, cable, additional gadgets and games (not including apps and other downloadable items) or even for the poorer members of society - time consumed in the internet cafes. Hard earned money that can go to buying added food (eggs, bread, rice or even chicken) is not enough because the need to apportion at least 10% (some families average 20%) of their monthly wages only to keep up withe the techies.

I am saddened by the fact that the post-digital age syndrome has created a void in many families with gadgets and electronic baby sitters substituting for parenthood. While I agree that "we owe, we owe so off to work we go" has been the prime mover of our economy, I'm sure that everyone will agree with me that the quality time we share with our kids has been relegated to having a gadget or some trek to the mall substitute a day in the park or biking with your kids on Sunday. Sitting down with them for their assignments is relegated to Kumon and sending off the 2 year old to a day care center has become a run-of-the-mill solution to introducing kids to basic education because mom needs to make a career out of her life.

I am not saying that the pre-digital age babies had better lives and are probably happier than the post-digital age ones. I'm putting into perspective the influence that the digital era has imposed on many of our lives. Even the older generation has had changing values and lifestyles because of the rapid technological advancements.

I have nothing against technological advancement. But we need to take into perspective the impact it makes on our lives.

There's a saying that "we cannot have our cake and eat it too". There must be a balancing act in our lives in this post-digital age syndrome that should make relationships, families and friends be one where we end up not being strangers at the end. There needs to be more physical and emotional involvement and investment by each one of us. We cannot make technological advancements dictate the pace and quality of living we have. Otherwise, we end up as slaves to them.

It would be sad that as each of one exits this world, even condolences are sent digitally instead of a simple show of respect with our presence during the wake or burial.

There are many people who have found less meaning to life in the post-digital age than in the pre-digital age. Perhaps the rapid pace of technology has contributed greatly to this meaningless world of existence. Perhaps the post-digital age has made many of us engage in nameless and faceless relationships even with our closest of friends and kins because we've simply not valued spending more quality time with them.

Sadly put, the post-digital age syndrome is a lonely one. It may be a great disappointment in our journey of life if we forget to stop and smell the roses along the way.

Travel+Leisure - Where in the world is Manila? (Part 2)

2011-08-13T22:41:00.000+08:00

Before I could post this blog, the Philippines tourism secretary Roberto Lim had resigned. While some may say it's out of political pressure, I say, good riddance.

Travel+Leisure Magazine and website takes us to a closer look on the 10 World's Best Cities (current rank on the left hand side and ranking in 2010 in parenthesis):

[Photo of Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand]

1. Bangkok, Thailand (1) - score 90.49
2. Florence, Italy (3) - score 89.92
3. Rome, Italy (5) - score 88.45
4. New York City, New York, USA (10) - score 88.4
5. Istanbul, Turkey (-) - score 88.18
6. Cape Town, South Africa (-) - score 88.06
7. Siem Reap, Cambodia (-) - score 87.90
8. Sydney, Australia (6) - score 87.84
9. Barcelona, Spain (9) - score 87.83
10. Paris, France (-) - score 87.73

The (-) meant that the property was not among the top ranked in this category last year.

Ironically, Siem Reap in Cambodia did not even rank anywhere in this category and still made it to number 7 place to visit in the world!

Manila, Philippines has its own character, its own feature and its own adventure (and not for the faint hearted). As the song goes - "Manila, Manila....I keep coming back to Manila..."! Only in Manila can you experience the ultra uber mixed culture where SM (Shoemart) is found in gazillion places all over the city, where the pedestrian lanes are good for only one person to walk on, where the pedicabs and jeepneys make a mockery of the streets by loading and unloading passengers on the major thoroughfares, where you get a fantastic roller coaster ride in the dilapidated rugged streets of Metro Manila (usually after the rains, every nook and cranny has a pothole), where you get strangled in the streets because of some Maynilad Waterwork excavating the streets and God knows who decided to patch it together after the excavation that took forever to finish and decided to just throw some rocks into the diggings, where buses just fall from the sky, where you see the crotches of some hunky guy thrown in your face in the major highways of the street, where the traffic enforcers run after number coded cars rather than those not obeying traffic rules and regulations, where traffic enforcers are busy texting on the street corner even when the metropolis is clogged, where the streets of the metropolis have literally turned into an extension of Manila Bay or Laguna de Bay after a torrential rain, where pedestrians play tag with oncoming cars in areas where they shouldn't be crossing (and by golly it's the fault of the driver if you run over an idiot who attempts to cross the street that has warning that you're not allowed to cross here), where when you drive a vehicle in Manila you shouldn't only be looking at the rear view mirror or the left side or right side of your car but at the sky because some loony decides to jump from the overhead pedestrian passage and lands on your car and you're accosted by the cop who files "homicide due to reckless imprudence" charges against you, where snatching of mobile phones is an every second criminal act, where people who get caught smoking in public places have the temerity to go to the supreme court to file charges against the government because they have the right to pollute the air, where squatters have more rights than the owners of the land they squat in...and I could go on and on, but that's the adventure you can experience in Manila for the next 5 days alone! When you land in the Philippines, most of the foreign carriers will have to dock at the NAIA 1. An outdated, outmoded scrappy airport that will not even meet an international airport's standards! Where the bags that come out of the conveyer belts carry boxes and boxes of Balikbayan boxes as if the Filipino that owned it had packed his whole house and included a coffin inside those huge boxes!

Seriously, let's face it. Manila has deteriorated because of very bad urban planning. It is accentuated by the fact that local government officials keep the dumpy squatters in their places because they serve as the voting majority during the upcoming elections. No political will at all. And Sec. Roberto Lim was facing a blank wall when he assumed the post. Since he had no balls to tackle this mess and no ideas at all on how to coordinate and plan how to make the Philippines, let alone Manila become one of the best cities as tourist destination in the world, his exit will not be missed. Neither will be the guy who will need to fill in the shoes and the void in our tourism industry.

But all is not lost. The Philippines IS a beautiful country to visit. Truth be told, in the same Travel+Leisure 2011 Best Islands in the World is Boracay that ranks at number 4! Our only pride left is not to taint the ranking of this beautiful destination by not making it a gambling capital or by building more hotels than what it already carries.

So here's the official list on the Best Islands for 2011:

1. Santorini, Greece (6)
2. Bali, Indonesia (4)
3. Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (-)
4. Boracay, Philippines (-)
5. Great Barrier Reef Islands, Australia (-)
6. Sicily, Italy (7)
7. Big Island, Hawaii (10)
8. Kauai, Hawaii (2)
9. Maui, Hawaii (8)
10. Galapagos (1)

Boracay Island had a star beside it's name. Meaning its the World's Best Debut entry for the year. Three cheers for Boracay!!!

[Photo of Shangrila Boracay, Philippines]

As a seasoned traveler, I've been to most of the cities and islands mentioned and Boracay truly deserves to be in the list, hands down.

Without a doubt, the work of the next tourism secretary is cut out for him. And it may be a tough job, but simply focusing on how to land Manila as one of the best cities in the world will be sufficient to generate income for tourism to the Philippines.

Investing in tourism may be one of the toughest jobs but when done well, should become self-sufficient enough to generate jobs for Filipinos in the land of Juan de la Cruz.

So that next time when we're traveling abroad and people ask us, "so where are you from?", we can hold our head up high and proudly say, Manila, Philippines!

For more informative reading, you can log in to www.travelandleisure.com

Art fart!

2011-08-08T20:57:00.001+08:00

Imelda Marcos decades ago said that art is what is True, Good and Beautiful!

No one has placed the three words to describe it better than the former First Lady. And although her husband may have been a despotic leader, it is without doubt that Marcos is one who can recognize true artistic value.

So when the Cultural Center of the Philippines put up the art exhibit of Thomasian, Mideo Cruz (yes he's a graduate of the University of Santo Tomas, the Royal Pontifical University in the Philippines), I wondered at what the ballyhoo was all about.

And then I saw it.

There is art and there is fart. In a country where religion plays a vital role in the beliefs and faith of its people, it was blasphemous to utilize the very core of religion to profess his supposed "artistic" interpretation of what the CCP classified as a work of "art".

When he was asked what a removable penis at the crotch of the Crucifix meant, he said that it was his interpretation of a patriarchal society. To Cruz, a patriarchal society meant moving a crucifix up and down the cross.

I agree that perhaps "art" like "speeches" are the "artists" license to express their freedom of expression. Perhaps I could take a photo of Cruz in the nude with his whole body shaved to the bone and wrap him in Glad Wrap and say that he resembled a condom with the biggest prick inside it. To me, that's the artistic side of expressing an asshole who has no respect at all for other peoples beliefs and senses.

Artists will always wage a debate on whether there is good art and bad art and how appreciative people are of either of them. Some even profess to use Leo Tolstoy's arguments on "What is Art?" to clearly delineate what is a work of art that functions as a communicative bridge between the artist and the audience. Some pornography producers say that their work of eroticism is art. And of course, justify these works so that it can entice the libido of the consuming public. The dichotomy of good and bad art is left to the audience to decide.

But there is also a thin line between being delusional and schizophrenic. To anyone who appreciated the fact that a penis protruding from the head of Jesus Christ was art is tantamount to saying that the "masterpieces" of Cruz was akin to a pedicab looking like a BMW.

Seriously, Cruz is a nut job and anyone that appreciates his work as a work of art has got to have his head checked by a shrink. Appreciating bad art is like saying that you have no sensibility to even recognize the surreal.

If Cruz is looking for publicity through his controversial work, he definitely has found it. But at what cost? My dog and cat can draw a better masterpiece than this loser.

The irony is, at least the Marcoses can distinguish what is truly art. It's sad that PNoy and his government has distanced themselves from this controversy. Oh well, birds of the same feather, flock together! Talk about autistic people! Geez!!!

Travel+Leisure - my tips for a vacation holiday! (Part 1)

2011-08-07T18:39:00.002+08:00

So my European vacation is over and it's back to reality. I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. And while I'm still having a hangover on how great this vacation was - the food, the shopping, the sight seeing, and most of all the relaxation - I'm dreaming of the next. I guess, I do that to keep the impetus of having to "work hard, play hard" a challenge in my day to day routine work. Truth be told, routine is boring. I always tell my friends that we need a break from the routines of daily life to make each vacation a memorable one.

Vacations are time off from the routines of daily living. Like yeah, I've got a lot of bills to pay, so we work our asses off. And while we can be saving for a rainy day, some of that savings must go to enjoying the fruits of our labor. And that's exactly what a vacation is supposed to be. A time to relax. A time to recharge. A time to throw away the anxieties of daily life. To dream even for a while.

One needs to save enough to enjoy a good vacation.

Which means that I will take a vacation in style - I am not referring to opulence, but rather on not scrimping on necessities during the trip. I don't want to arrive at my destinations looking like part of the baggages that comes out of the conveyer belts of the airlines. (For short trips less than 4 hours, you don't need to fly in business class because it's a waste of money. The very short trip isn't worth the bucks. But for long-hauls, believe me when I say that it's really an uncomfortable ride.)

Which means that I won't be caught dead eating at McDonald's for breakfast or eating at a fast food joint instead of Nabucco in Milan or splurging on the best lobster caught off the coast of Santorini at Katina's just because I wanted to buy a Dolce & Gabanna bag. It also means that I will not take a vacation squeezing myself at the back of economy class for a 17 hours trip just because I have gazillion relatives, friends and co-workers to bring some gifts (read - "pasalubong") for. Immediate relatives will get some token or souvenir but the rest of the crowd do not need to because they did not pay for my vacation and I am not indebted to them in any form. As for my employees, they should just be thankful that they have a job and I am paying them well. They can go ahead and save for their own vacations. I don't need to get them a bit of Paris just to spark envy in their eyes.

I also won't get caught dead sleeping in a hostel or a sleazy bed and breakfast backpacker's place. I have nothing against these places. I know they are cheap and my sister always tells me that since it's only for a few days where we plan to bunk in and that we're usually out exploring the cities, a place to lay our tired bodies is all we need. I always believe that one of the most important things one considers in a trip is lodging. Pampering and the feeling of getting pampered has no comparable experience. Luxury, opulence and relaxation are part of the equation of a memorable vacation experience. You don't want to be writing about your trip where you woke up to bites from bedbugs or had the worst bed that was sagging to the floor that you had backaches all throughout your trip. I'd want to remember the feeling of having slept on a Heavenly Bed with 750 counts of comforter and pillows that are hypoallergenic in nature. I'd want to recall the daily fruit baskets with champagne and Valhorna chocolates on my turned down bed and fluffed pillows for the night. I don't like having to take a bath in a moldy bathroom where even the shower curtains (if there is one) are about to accumulate so much grime or that the shampoos and soaps come in sachets and there's only one towel that's been thinned out from excessive use. After the sightseeing and shopping, I'd like to come home to a hotel where I can sleep in and soak in a bathtub with Aveda or Molton Brown or L'Occitane or Hermes bath products complete with toothbrush, shaving kits, cotton tips and facial scrubs to boot. I'd want to wake up to a fresh cup of coffee made from my Nespresso rather than a three-in-one sachet with hot water which I will need to go down to a dingy makeshift kitchen of the hostel (if there even is one) to get. Getting additional perks of a butler or chamber maid or chauffer with a limo is icing on the cake, but that's only you've got extra cash to ostentatiously splurge.

There's nothing like treating yourself to a taste of heaven while you're on earth. It's what you remember and write about in your "Dear Diary".

Choosing the best flights, best places to go and stay, best spots to see need planning. You need to research thoroughly on these and with the internet at the tips of our finger, it's a great help to see the opinion of fellow travelers who are netizens as well. You need to explore what every place has to offer. Even if one keeps going back to the same vacation spot, it's a good idea to vary some of your itineraries and places of stay so you can compare while enjoying the ups and downs of travel.

Airline flights.
Expedia (www.expedia.com) provides a comparative guide on which airline to take to your destination. Once you've picked your airline, go directly to the airline's website and see what fares are offered. It's also good to keep in mind that choosing ONE common carrier should be the standard as flying on different carriers from your origin to your point(s) of destination is far more expensive. Join a frequent flyer program. You'll be surprised that the miles you've accumulated will more than pay for your next vacation or can be redeemed as miles + cash later on or better yet, get upgrades from the crowded economy seats. Read the fine lines when you plan to book your flights. Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines (our local carriers) offer rock bottom prices but these are not inclusive of taxes and other charges. More often than not, you may be able to get seats at the advertised promo rate but they fly out at 1AM or so and leave you on the street in your final destination until 2PM the following day (which is the regular check-in time).

About your destination.
Tripadvisor.com is a great site for the general public. Others include Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com, Frommers Guide (www.frommers.com), and of course Travel+Leisure (www.travelandleisure.com). I prefer small luxury or boutique hotels because they're not too touristy and the amount you spend on touristy hotels will get you a suite at these hotels. Tablet hotels (www.tablethotels.com) provides information on the latter. And while you're at it, check out the places to see where and when you go. The best time to be there and the offers on the sites. Don't forget to compare the reviews and not just look at the pictures. Many hotels put up websites whose pictures look picture perfect of heaven but when you get there, it's as crummy as hell. They won't give you your money back and neither can you get out of the deal. You'll always see a map of the location of the hotel. Check it out and see if it's the best place that has access to a bus or subway or train station. Some may be a great steal because it's a luxury suite at a low rate but it's located in some deserted God-forsaken area where you'll either need to rent a car or walk a mile before you get there. Remember, you're in unfamiliar terrain and while it's okay to act like a tourist, you don't want to waste your time in your final destination figuring out how to get from point A to point B from dawn till dusk.

Finally (and I say this from experience), it's always best to get your airline or show or park tickets or make hotel reservations online. Of course, you'll need to do this with your credit card (and it must have enough credit limit). Travel agents usually charge you PER PERSON. If you check the prices online, you'll get shocked that the amount you're paying your travel agency actually is the total price PER ROOM per night. Most of the hotels offer great deals with buffet breakfast and special packages for your vacation. Many of the airlines and hotels also have fabulous offers when you're flying during the low season rather than the general holidays.

Remember, it's hard earned money that you're spending. And it's your vacation. And no one deserves a great vacation than the weary traveler in search of an adventure or a dream or simply to relax. It's not about the bags or shoes or clothes or Spam or shampoos or candies or what-nots you buy that a vacation is about.

It's the journey.

[Travel+Leisure is the trademark of Travel and Leisure and you can log in to www.travelandleisure.com.]

4 L's

2011-08-04T13:37:00.000+08:00

Love, Lust, Looks and Loot.

So which of the aforementioned words beginning with the letter "L" is the reason why you're entangled in a relationship?

Interestingly, studies show that the number one reason for attraction between two sexes (or even within the same sex) is physical in nature. Considering sex as a factor, studies show that men prefer lust, loot, looks and love in that order, while women prefer loot, love, lust and looks in that order. Considering age as a factor, the younger generation (those less than 30 years old) prefer lust over loot over looks over love in that order, while those more than 30 years prioritize love over loot over lust over looks in that order.

Women are more confident about themselves and are more practical when it comes to relationships than men. Men have the "wham bam, thank you maam" bravado. Unfortunately, as men age, their bravado yardsticks begin to tame down as well. Ho-hum, so much for the bravado. This probably accounts for the fact that men (especially gay men) engage in relationships out of LUST more than women.

The younger generation understandably have their libidos and raging hormones guzzling up their groins. It would be unmistakable that they plunge into a relationship out of LUST and are in search of LOVE in the most unexpected time and place. And while they're out carousing the various chat rooms on the internet for Mr Wonderful or Miss Fantabulous, they're checking out the vital statistics and the likes rather than the bank accounts.

Of course, these are just statistics from various polls. Polls are reflective of a cross-sectional data, which mean that they are reflective of opinions at only a single point in time. What may be the opinion or preference today may have been different 3 decades ago and may differ even a year from today.

Given the 4 Ls when deciding to initially engage oneself in a relationship, which do you consider FIRST?

Perhaps one of the greatest considerations in the current scenario is money (or loot). Being in a relationship with someone who has loot is being practical. While you may have the looks, these eventually fade with time. Some people even go to the extreme extent of rationalizing that if you've got the moolah, the "pogi" points increase and the value of the individual notches up higher than hunky good looking stud at the corner of the room who's bulging muscles and crotch-line is probably bigger than his pocket. Besides, it's easier to fall in LOVE with someone who can give you a slice of heaven and purgatory, more than someone who'll take you to hell.

And so the paradigm on establishing relationships has shifted gynormously over the last decade (in the era of technological advancements). Money, my friends, seem to be speaking louder than the "face that launched a thousand ships". Nowadays, if you've got the cash, then you're a great catch. Let's get real, I'm sure no one would give a second look at Pacman if he were his old poor self. But my gosh, now that the boxer is a billionaire a million times over, he's got his balls being rubbed even by the lustiest and bustiest girls like Paris H.

So who says money can't buy you love?

IF you're in a relationship (or plan to get hitched soon), look in the mirror and ask yourself deeply - was it out of LUST, LOOT, LOOKS, or LOVE?

Abusive oldies

2011-07-31T12:00:00.000+08:00

I will bash some senior citizens in my blog today.

While I know that sooner or later some of us will turn 60 or senior some time in our lives, I cannot stand the fact that there are senior citizens that are abusive of their being "senior citizen" status.

On my flight back from Milan, my stop over was at DOHA, Qatar. The DOHA airport transports passengers from the airport to the plane by bus (or a BMW if you're flying on first class). When we were boarding for Manila, I had about 8 senior citizens on the business class flight with me. While we boarded the bus to the plane, there was a lady (about 60 or so) with me with her more senior husband who boarded with hoards of goods they bought from the Duty Free at DOHA. I could not help but overhear (alright, so I was eavesdropping) when Granny began befriending a Filipino who sat beside her on the bus. She made small talk and then as we approached the bus, told the guy that they were carrying heavy stuff and that she was too weak to carry all that they bought. She began ranting about how heavy the bottles were and then asked if he would be kind enough to help her carry it on the plane because we had to climb the stairs.

When the guy said, "of course", she thanked him and said that it was the Filipino spirit of helping others that was appreciated. (In the back of my mind, I told myself, it was also the Filipino spirit of being abusive that made my skin creep with disgust at the outcome of the conversation. For God's sake, they shouldn't have bought so much liquor and then have to put some pathetic fool into carrying the load for them. Anyway...)

When the bus came to a halt at our plane, the driver announced that we had to wait for another 15 minutes inside the bus because the plane wasn't done being prepared for the flight yet. Sorry for the inconvenience. Another elderly couple approached the first two elderly couple and lo and behold they knew each other. In the middle of the conversation, the first elderly couple put the OFW Pinoy on the sideline and the elderly men started talking about their love for tennis and their back hand and how frequently they played tennis!!!! Shit! These elderly were in better shape than the poor OFW Pinoy who seemed to be grinning ear to ear listening to them rant about the Zobels and the Jalandonis and whoever they decided to name-drop. (Alright, so I was eavesdropping big time - sue me! It just confirmed my thoughts on the abusive elderly!)

To cut the long story short, the pathetic Pinoy OFW was kind enough to carry the duty free shopping the first elderly woman had deviously asked him to bring for her.

The whole flight was smooth (although some of the electrical devices on the Qatar Airlines flight were not working well...so much for being Skytrax Airline of the Year).

When we landed at NAIA, the second elderly couple had a wheelchair waiting for them when the gate of the plane opened!!! Sanamagan!!! The elderly woman (about 65 or so) was perkier than I was and was carrying her own bag and had climbed the stairs to the plane at DOHA and was up and about in the plane during the whole flight. What happened during the flight?!?!?! Susmaryosep! Was the flight on a flat-bed business class terrible?

Guess what?

At NAIA, there's a lane that's for the disabled and those on wheel-chair. When you use this priority lane, there is NO QUEUE and they assist you by holding your belongings and carry your bags for you. Golly gee wow!! No wonder these elderlies use all the devious ways to get ahead.

I blog about this because being an elderly has some privileges attached to it. Let me correct that. There are some things that are provided for, in order to make life more comfortable for the senior citizen. But there is a thin line delineating its being abused.

Being afforded privileges is somehow prone to abuse. But when it is the elderly that abuse this, that's a different story altogether.

If you're a senior citizen reading my blog - read well. Your existence in this world for over 60 years does not give you the right to abuse the privilege that is afforded you. People get what they deserve and being treated appropriately is done because of respect and not because you've reached a certain age and find a way to get away with being abusive of certain privileges. It is after all a privilege and not a RIGHT!

Sometimes, one can't help but recall the saying...Masamang damo, matagal mamatay!

Milan - of shopping paraside and home to our OFWs!

2011-07-27T05:14:00.000+08:00

After my Greek holiday, it was time to do what I love to do best - shop till I drop.

The EasyJet flight from Santorini to Milan, Italy was a 2 1/2 hrs and we landed at the Malpensa Airport on time. EasyJet is a budget airline. But for the 89euros I paid for, inclusive of 1 baggage check-in (20Kg) and Speedy Boarding (both of which you had to pay separately), the fare was a reasonable one. They board all the "speedy boarders" first on a separate bus (and there were like 10 of us only). When you get inside the plane, it's a free for all seating arrangement, which wasn't too bad at all. And like Cebu Pacific (low budget airlines), everything - from food to water - had to bought.

EasyJet lands at the Malpensa Airport Terminal 2. There's nothing in Terminal 2 though. If you needed to get a ride to the Central Station in Milan, you'd need to go by bus. If you wanted to take the train, you'd still have to take a bus ride to Terminal 1 (about 10 minutes away) then take the train to the Cardona Station in Central Milan. Or you can go by cab - which is about 60 km away from the airport to the hotel - on a fixed rate of 90euros (one way). It seemed kind of difficult to be lugging those luggages up the bus, down the subway, up the subway, down the train, and into the street just to get from point A to point B. And since, I'm not in an Amazing Race contest, I just took the cab.

Camperio House Suites and Apartments was home for the next few days. Camperio used to be a former convent but has recently undergone renovations to being both a hotel and a residential area. The Deluxe Suite was homey and comfy. It had the luxuries of a 5 star hotel and of course, since space in European hotels is really small, the suites at Camperio was sprawling by European standards.

Location of Camperio Suites is excellent as it is not found on the via Dante (which is the main road of all the hotels and shops on Duomo), but is very close to the shops and all the major attractions of Milan proper.

It was a stone's throw away from Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, D&G, Versace, Emporio Armani not to mention the middle and lower end stores H&M, Zara, Mango, etc. Literally a shopaholic's nightmare. Coming in the summer season was the perfect time to shop, with most of the shops (except the high end ones) on 50-70% discount!

On C. So. Vitt Emanuele, one will find the LaRinascente (the equivalent of our Rustan's in the Philippines), a 7 floor edifice that not only houses the most exclusive brands but also the most expensive chocolates in the world - Amedei!

Fronting the LaRinascente is the fabulous Duomo. The intricate design of the Duomo - from the delicate carvings and sculptures on the steel doors to the exterior and interior of the building will hold you (as it did me) in amazement.

The main objective of the side trip to Milan was to shop...till I drop and shopped till I dropped I did. It was not a surprise that there were quite a few Asians in the various shops. But the Italians were extra nice to us, considering that we were on a buying spree.

On my way home from the stores, I noticed a flock of Filipinos walking and chatting the night away. You could tell that they were Filipinos because they were speaking Tagalog. I was telling my partner that you could feel their loneliness in a far away land like Italy. The other day, when we arrived, we noticed two Pinays tugging a bag in the middle of the road. I could not tell if they were coming or going, but it was clear that they were domestic helpers lugging their only possessions in Milan. I mention them in my blog today, not because I look down upon them. Rather, I salute them because I can feel their loneliness and weariness amidst the pompous edifices and rich heritage of Milan. In the midst of plenty, are our Filipinos who trek the road more traveled by many of our countrymen in search of greener pastures for their families. The sacrifices they make, and the dreams they pursue.

Somehow, this vacation has been educational, relaxing, and a learning experience. Perhaps, sometime in the future, we will see many of our countrymen not have to leave the Philippines in search of a better future, but in search of a grand vacation.

My Greek Vacation (Santorini - Dreams Luxury Suites Hotel and Fira)

2011-07-24T16:41:00.000+08:00

When you wake up to a scenery that overlooks the caldera, with breakfast ready for you at your balcony at 930AM, and a warm jacuzzi bath fizzling at your back, you know you've had a taste of heaven on earth.

The Dreams Luxury Suites at Imerovigli, Santorini was home for 6 days.

When we make choices for our stays in various places, we usually look at recommendations on the internet. TripAdvsior is the most frequently googled source. I use tablethotels.com, which has only the best boutique and luxury hotels in the planet. When you combine resources, you've always got to make sure that you read the reviews well and NOT just look at the pictures on the website. Pictures, after all can be deceiving and while something may crop up as picture perfect, you may end up in some place that would be a nightmare for the next few days!

To describe my stay in a few paragraphs would not do justice to how beautiful and breathtaking the place is. From the managers Artemis and Fatima, to the butler George and the chambermaid Maria - these were the people who made this a truly memorable vacation.

Free from the spoils of civilization, and the hubris of the hectic urban life, Dreams Luxury Suites was absolutely divinely spoiling.

www.dreams-luxury-suites.com

The second to the last night was dinner at Assyrtico Wine Restaurant on Fira (the capital of Santorini). It's located right beside Koukoumavlos Restaurant. While Koukoumavlos may have more class in terms of ambience, Assyrtico wins hands down with the taste in all the dishes - from the Calamari appetizer with caviar to the main course of seafood taggliatelle and the final touch of panacotta with tomato cherry.

While I'm blogging this final entry on my Greek vacation, I'm looking out the patio of my room - watching the ships dock to port, the volcano right beneath my suite - I am spending Sunday trying to embrace the luxury of Santorini.

Someday, I will be back to luxuriate in this opulence and enjoy a slice of heaven on earth, even temporarily.

Tomorrow, I leave for my next adventure - Milan, Italy.

My Greek Vacation (Santorini - Perivolos and Oia)

2011-07-22T22:40:00.001+08:00

What is there to do in an island surrounded by the sea? Go to the beach of course!

Amazing water, cosmopolitan shops, the "elite" people of the island. Black sand and crystal clear waters. Perivolos was the pitstop for the day in Santorini. It was a short 20 mins drive along winding roads from Imverovigli to Perivolos.

Anemos bar (situated in a yard of an old tomato factor) was where we stayed for the afternoon. Drinks were brought into the cabana as well as lunch was served in a beach basket.

Of course, the huts were not free as you needed to pay 9euros on top of the meals and drinks. But there was a service button right on the hut which had the waiters literally at your beck and call.

Unlike the powdery white sands of Boracay, the pebbled black sand at the beach in Perivolos was unimpressive. I mean, sure I am after all in Santorini. But the Philippines can compete with any of the best beaches in the world that I've been too and if we were to scale it from 0-10, with 10 as the best beaches, I probably would give Boracay an 8 and Perivolos a 5.

With that said, it was time to get back to the hotel and take a quick dip in jacuzzi, finish my book and well laze again in the sundeck with a glass of champagne.

After the laze at the jacuzzi, it was off to dinner in Oia. Oia is one of the more picturesque villages build on the rim of the cliff side which takes you all the way to a village of 79 churches. Directly below Oia is Ammoudi, the quaint fishing village I had lunch at the yesterday.

Oia is considered the cultural heart of the island as it plays host to a cultural center and art galleries as well as the most beautiful resorts in the island right at the caldera. Oia is practically the highest peak at the north of the island and thus has the best sunset view in all of Santorini. Many of the walk ways are not made of pebble stones but of marble!

Food tripping, I needed to have dinner at 1800 Restaurant situated at the heart of Oia. Distinctly reviewed and highly recommended by the New York Times, you can see for yourself why gourmet dining at 1800 was worth the 100euros just for one!

From aperitif to dessert, Greek dining was at its best and what better place than in Santorini, watching the sunset and enjoying the meal, to cap the day.

(Too bad I couldn't drink because I was driving. This would have been perfect with a glass of red wine.)

My Greek Vacation (Santorini - Ammoudi)

2011-07-21T21:42:00.000+08:00

Santorini is a small island with many interesting villages.

How to go around in Santorini which is 35 kilometers from the north tip Oia to the south tip Akrotiri can be achieved either by bus, taxi or rent a car. With 10euros worth of gas, the rented Nissan Micra should be able to make going around the island far easier and relaxing. And while the locals complain and warn against foreigners who drink and drive and prefer to be adventurous driving motorcycles or mopeds, I told the car rental that I am Filipino. If you can drive in Manila, you can drive anywhere in the world!

On the farthest end to the north side is Ammoudi, a fishing village at the bottom of Oia.

Lunch was at Katina. The New York Time highly recommends the place and nothing gets more authentic than having the most freshly caught seafood served on your platter. With Greek Salad, Visanto wines, and 1 Kg of fresh Lobster, who could go wrong with this place?

On the way back from Ammoudi, we made a short stop in Imerovigli to get some dessert.

Who cares about the poundage I will gain in the next few days? If you're in heaven in a wonderful island like Santorini, you've got to make the most of it.

My Greek Vacation (Santorini-Imerovigli)

2011-07-20T22:33:00.001+08:00

At the break of dawn, I was headed off to the port of Piraeus in Athens where I needed to board the Superfast ship on my way to Santorini.

There were 2 options on going to the island - take the plane or take the boat. The plane was a 50 minute ride, but you still had to be at the airport 2 hrs before the flight. The one way flight was considerably also more expensive (about 150 euros). The fast ferry took about 4 1/2 hrs (with one stop at Ios Island). Aside from the longer travel time, the pros on taking the ferry was to appreciate the islands on your way to Santorini. It was also much cheaper at 58 euros on economy class, one way.

The ferry made a brief stop at Ios, which looked like a sleepy fishing island.

Final destination was Santorini Island.

Santorini is divided into various cities within the city. The major areas are Fira-Firostefina-Imerovigli-Oia. Fira, is the capital of Santorini. It is also where the major nightlife, night spots, and anything that requires a life form to be present. It's a very touristy and noisy area - somewhat similar to the marketplace around Boracay.

The driver had dropped us off at Dreams Luxury Suites, where it will be home to me for the next 6 days. Dreams Luxury Suites has won hands down several of the awards of the most luxury hotel on the planet (for a reason I am about to find out). The Nefeli Suite has its own kitchenette, jacuzzi, champagne breakfast, a dedicated laptop, wireless internet, separate sala from the bedroom, butler service, TV, DVD, iPod dock, champagne and fresh fruits on arrival, Korres Bath essentials and vanity kit, espresso coffee maker and it's own sun deck. There are only 4 suites at this hotel, with the Nefeli Suite being the least pricey.

Overlooking each of the suites, is the caldera.

According to our hostess, the island of Santorini was born out of lava during the eruption in 1660 BC. The middle part of the volcano sank into the sea, leading to what is now known as Santorini. The massive rock formation surrounding the caldera was actually from the lava over the past several centuries.

So after getting here from Athens, this island will be a respite for the next few days and hopefully a restful one. Tonight I rest! Tomorrow, I conquer Santorini!

My Greek Vacation (Athens Day 2)

2011-07-19T20:45:00.000+08:00

It was sweltering outside at 96 degrees fahrenheit.

From the 8th floor Rooftop Garden of the Grande Bretagne Hotel, the perfect view of the Parthenon could be seen. Buffet breakfast was great. I mean, unlike many European breakfasts, this was not simply bagels and yoghurt but fresh fruits, cold cuts and hot meals and excellent Greek desserts.

After breakfast and filling up with enough water in my system to hopefully last this Greek Summer Heat, it was one train ride from Syntagma Station (under our hotel, thank God) to the Acropolis Station. [It's a good idea to take the subway because the subway system in itself had a historical story of Greece with matching sculptures and paintings and other artsy stuff).

The Acropolis Station has many quaint boutiques and restaurants right when you get off the landing. Because of the heat, I was practically thirsty at every stop. It was a good thing to grab a bottle of water at the nearest newsstand.

The trek up the Acropolis was no joke. In the heat, it was like doing a cardio exercise in a dilapidated gym in Manila. I think I lost all the poundage I gained during breakfast. But the view from above and the Parthenon was one thing I would never be able to do all over again.

All the suntan with SPF 50++ had melted all over. But if only to appreciate closely the history of Greek mythology, one needed to make that trip up close and personal.

My Greek Vacation (Athens)

2011-07-19T00:45:00.001+08:00

Onboard Qatar Airways, I left Manila at 0100 for my flight to DOHA, then DOHA to Athens. Athens is the first city in my 2 week vacation.

While recuperating from a very bad bout of Atypical Pneumonia infection just last week, I could not wait to get all my bags packed just to simply - get away from it all. After several hectic weeks, it felt like the world was finally caving in on me. All the stress and pressure from work was pouncing on my flailing immune system.

Qatar Airways has always been an on-time airline. Aside from the fact that I love its flat-bed (and I mean 180 degrees flat) with matching pajamas, slippers, duvet blankets, Molton Brown vanity kit and 5-star cuisine, with over 770 AVOD movies, music and games on your personal 15" touch screen TV and head-sets that had a noise-cancelling property, what else was there to ask for even if the flight would be more than 17 hours?

As in every European trip, it's always good to remember that there's no such thing as filling up entry forms when traveling to Europe. Their visa (which although is multiple entry) is usually only single use.

The temperature is scorching hot in Athens at 36 degrees celsius.

So not everything goes as planned. The taxi drivers are on strike in Athens (which meant that I would need to do a lot of walking if I wanted to go from point A to point B). I wanted to get a prepaid SIM card when I arrived, but lo and behold, most of the stores in Athens close at 3pm because it's a MONDAY!!! I went to one of the bigger stores and the salesgirl told me that in Athens on Monday, most of the retail shops open from 9AM-3PM.

The Grande Bretagne Hotel is one of the most (if not the most) grand hotels with a long history in Athens. It faces the Parliament House where you can virtually see from the hotel lobby the changing of the guards every hour on the hour.

Upon arrival, I checked in my bags and needed to walk to the Kolonaki, which is about 2 1/2 blocks from Syntagma Square, for my lunch. On recommendation of my concierge at the hotel, PRITANLON was a good place to eat. And PRITANLON did not disappoint. The Greek Salad and Seafood Spaghetti was more than two people could finish.

The Grande Bretagne Hotel will be home for the next 3 days.

Dinner was at CIBUS, a quaint restaurant in the National Gardens where you could just literally watch day change into night around 9PM. And you'll know it's night already because the Parthenon on the Acropolis literally lights up!

And while it can be literally dehydrating to sightsee Athens in this heat, I'll try my best to get the best out of my first leg in Athens.

Long goodbyes...

2011-07-10T20:17:00.001+08:00

I've loved this song from India Arie entitled Long Goodbye, from the first time I heard it. It's lyrics are simple and its written by someone who has truly loved and lost. It speaks about relationships - both good beginnings and endings...put up the volume of your speakers and feel the music and melodies of one truly great artist.

The good seed

2011-07-10T18:09:00.000+08:00

In one of the meetings at the office, we were talking about how some of the employees had diverted tactical funds and cash advances for personal use.

Some were using it to finance personal needs, while others were using the company's money for gambling. When push came to shove, the persons involved could only say - mea culpa. Which led us to the discussion of how some people whom my boss described as "good" were led astray because of "temptation" and eventually became "bad".

I had a different take on this. I told the management members (of which I am a member of) that there was no such thing as good people turning bad. Good people will remain good, in whatever circumstance you place them. I believe in the inherent goodness of the human being. Good people do not take advantage of circumstances. Good people will always think and care about his fellow man. Good people will always be there for you even in your worst days. Good people do not take advantage of what is not rightfully theirs. Those whom we caught malversing funds were "bad" people from the get-go. Their evil desires served as fertile ground for finding the perfect storm to resort to actions with malicious intent. Whatever caught up with them was simply "karma".

I have always been a firm believer that there is something inherently good in every human being. Probably in even the worse kind of people. It's like a relationship. Even if you're married into one or simply in a partnership with a significant other, you get to discover both the good and the bad aspects in your lives. It's actually up to us to find and nurture what is inherently the good seed and hope that the good seeds bear fruit.

There's a biblical passage that talks about good seeds being sown on fertile grounds. And then those that grow along the side of the road. Whatever grows out of the good seeds get entangled at times by thorns and bad plants. It takes a lot of love and caring in order to nurture a beautiful plant.

I've had several relationships and while the majority were bad, there were some good ones that came along the way. Circumstances, however, did not permit some of them to blossom into long lasting ones. No matter how much kindness or goodness you share, some of them apparently just don't fit one another. Either one or both become engulfed in materialism, envy, jealousy, greed, infidelity, mistrust, and temptation - and eventually drift apart.

And there's the rub. At times, it becomes frustrating and tiring to see the good in people. Some may influence us in the right way - like good friends or lovers who will always steer us in the right path, while there are others who simply enjoy seeing misery loving company.

In the journey of our lives, it is important to remember that there is something inherently good in every person. And that our lives are intertwined with other human beings. In helping others and ourselves find the right path to making this a better world can we find true happiness, joy and peace of mind.

"Life is good when you're happy. But the better fact is...life is at its best when other people are happy because of you. Never get tired of doing little things for others...because sometimes, those little things occupy the best part of their hearts."

Inefficient

2011-07-07T08:46:00.002+08:00

That's the only word to describe the Philippine government and most government workers in the banana republic. While it may not be pervasive only among government workers, government employees who are paid out of taxes from the people must set a better example of efficiency than those in the private sector.

I was reading a front page article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer today, written by a Filipino who is now working for the London Financial Times as editor and who used to be with the PDI. Perhaps because of the nature of her work, she has articulated excellently her travails with getting an exit pass for all would-be OFWs (overseas foreign workers) at the POEA. Amusing and irritating at times, this was a plain mockery of the governmental bureaucracy and crap that Filipinos will have to contend with in their own motherland.

Inefficiency seems to be a trademark of our government. If there is one thing we are consistent with, it's inefficiency among government workers. They will need to find a reason or rhyme in order to be slowwwww. Really really slow. They will declare that there's a backlog of work (and then they take several coffee breaks or check on their text messages while working) or that the person signing the document isn't around - YET - (perhaps at the nearest Starbucks having machiatto with the pimp from last night) or that the agency's computer system is down or slow (and see them keep rebooting or turning the ancient computer systems on and off so that it can restart)...Yes, a million reasons to justify being inefficient. If you find a government agency that is efficient in this country, you will be mesmerized and possibly think that a miracle had just occurred or that you've been transported to never-never land!

Inefficiency does not come naturally to the lowest employee. The lowest form of animal - the lowly employee who probably is least paid and least minded in the echelon of all the work load - can only be inefficient if the upper management is inefficient. That means the boss is a bozo! The boss will depend on his or her employees to get all the menial work done. And if the boss is a lazy bum who prances into his office if and when he wants to and then skips the office if and when he wants to as well, you've got a bureaucracy that spells inefficiency.

I will not go to the sordid details of how this is exemplified in the government offices in this country. I think all my readers will have stories on their own sad experience. I share this thought with my readers because the president of the Philippines has made anti-corruption has his official battle cry when he was sworn into office.

Corruption is a systemic problem seen in every segment of society - whether it is a private corporation or a government agency. Corruption is deeply entangled in an intricate web that seems difficult to untangle. Corruption is borne out of inefficiency.

Inefficiency drives people to bribe others into expediting things. And the temptation to take what is not rightly theirs is the driver to corruption with inefficiency as its fuel. Once corruption is in place, it is difficult to undo the problem unless the problem of inefficiency is addressed. Addressing the problem of inefficiency therefore, is the first and most formidable step at eradicating corruption.

When it takes the police 1 hour to arrive at a crime scene, even if the crime is committed at a house that is a 5 minute walk from the police station is inefficiency. When it takes a government employee 3 hours to process something that should take 3 minutes because he's taking care of personal business, that is inefficiency. When it takes an ambulance 2 hours to transport a dying patient from the house to the hospital that is only 3 km away because of traffic on the road due to all the Maynilad diggings compounded by potholes on the poor-quality-asphalt-roads-after-the-rain streets of Metro Manila, that is inefficiency. When the "pulis patola" (traffic enforcer) is busy texting on the side street while the whole of Metro Manila is caught in a traffic jam or is busy chasing number coded cars while public utility vehicles load and unload in front of their very eyes in non-loading zones, that is inefficiency (if not downright infuriating).

No amount of drum beating by any president or public official can address the problem of corruption unless the problem of inefficiency is tackled head on.

Only then, can we move forward as a nation and a people - proud of our heritage with heads held up high. Otherwise, we will never see the light at the end of the tunnel if we remain apathetic to the vicious cycle of inefficiency and corruption. God help us!

Conflicts of interest

2011-06-30T19:13:00.004+08:00

Almost the same time last year, I had talked at the postgraduate course of the Department of Pediatrics, University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital on the continuing saga of the doctor and the pharmaceutical industry.

I had mixed feelings giving the lecture. After all, the audience were doctors. They are all my colleagues and many are my friends. Choosing the right words to say was going to be a challenging task. My talk was eventually published in the Philippine Journal of Pediatrics last year.

The issue of conflicts of interest has touched raw nerves in the medical-pharmaceutical community in the Philippines.

Over a decade ago, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran an article entitled "The Med Rep is OUT - with the Doctor". The article highlighted the extraneous relationships between the physician and the pharmaceutical industry through the medical representative. With the increasing scandals involving various forms of gift giving of the industry to physicians, many pharmaceutical companies and medical organizations are dissuading physicians from getting entangled in situations that may question their credibility due to conflicts of interests.

The other day, I overheard in a meeting that a bunch of doctors had decided to boycott a pharmaceutical company because the company did not accept their request to go to a convention somewhere in Europe! The doctors arrived at the conclusion that since the company had not supported them to conventions in the last 2 years, the accumulated 2 years was equivalent to a convention in Europe. Now that took a lot of gall, if not KAPAL NG MUKHA on their part and I felt ashamed that there are doctors that stoop this low just to attend a convention.

Let me call a spade a spade. You may want to un-friend me in your Facebook account after reading this blog. It is my final blog for the month and while I have been quiet, I also thought deeply about writing this entry.

First of all, the fact that doctors are wined, dined and given gifts is NOT an obligation by the company. WE DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS or ENTITLEMENTS to what the company gives as dole outs. If we accept these gifts, so be it. If we don't, then so be it as well. No one coerces us to prescribe a drug. It's not like they put a gun in our heads and then threaten to annihilate our families if we don't provide them the number of prescriptions they ask for. If we prescribe a drug in exchange for a gift, it is a form of indirect bribery. As doctors, we are already paid by patients our professional fee. That is payment in itself. Prescribing a treatment for our patient entails due ethical and medical consideration of the whole clinical spectrum or condition of the patient, before we write down what medicines they need to buy. If the drug is not needed, we should desist from writing down a prescription only to pay back or please the last pharmaceutical company that sent us to some out-of-town lecture or pleasure trip to never-never-land. If the patient does not need a prescription, tell the patient that. Our prescriptions should not be clouded by the incentives or perks that come along with the "field trips" or "excursions" or "lunch baskets" provided the industry. I will go direct to the point - there is no gift that is given without an exchange awaiting. The bigger the gift, the larger the investment of the industry, the larger the expectation.

These conflicts of interest have begun to be scrutinized lately by several ethical, academic and governmental institutions both abroad and locally. Ironically, while it is the industry that now calls on the moratorium to the excessive spending and lavish wining and dining to doctors, it is also the industry that started this marketing ploy that has now caught them in between the devil and the deep blue sea. Like rearing children, the industry has spoiled the kids rotten. The phrase "spare the rod and spoil the child" aptly describes the old disciplinary method of not punishing children when they are caught doing something wrong. As a matter of fact you will hear tales from the industry that doctors literally ASK for anything under the sun - from cars to trips to furniture to laptops to mobile phones to sponsoring their annual dues or convention fees to driving them to and from the airport or picking up their children to school or asking med reps for personal "favors" in exchange for keeping a "close relationship" with the rep in particular and the pharmaceutical company in general. But that's because they allow it and that's because the industry is so deeply mired in this traditional exchange "gift" that the marketing people have not changed the old "tactics" of selling a product.

I tell my students that a good drug, sells itself. A bad drug, needs a gift to go with the bag.

Some of my friends who practice in the United States once asked me how some of my colleagues here are in several conventions in the U.S. or Europe or Asia in a year. When I asked them how they know, they tell me that they read it as "shoutouts" with matching pictures of various tourist destinations from some of our colleagues almost every other month! Some of them even post the pictures on Facebook with the signage of the drug product they were asked to pose and promote.

One of the biggest contributors to sponsorship as an indirect form of bribery are the various organizational societies themselves. Touted as pillars of the medical circle, some of them violate ethical boundaries by demanding from pharmaceutical companies sponsorships in conventions which they collect convention fees and some threaten companies of boycott if they do not "contribute" to the success of said conventions. When the pharmaceutical company agrees to sponsor an event like a convention, the society must maintain its unbiased position by ensuring that the sponsors do not in any form pose bias in the promotion of its company's products by unduly providing more exposure than the other sponsors with lesser financial means. If the society cannot police itself at the get go, how will it expect its members to follow suit?

The National Pediatric Infectious Diseases Seminar (NPIDS) sponsored by the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston spearheaded by Infectious Disease pillars Drs. George McCracken and John Nelson had discontinued their program after almost a quarter of a century of providing unbiased CME programs because they decided to adhere to more ethical standards in the conduct of the seminar. Because industry did not want to sponsor events where there would be less exposure to their products, the pharmaceutical companies threatened to pull out sponsorships if the organizers refused to give them more exposure. Because the cost of running the program without the aid of the industry was a tall order and prohibitive, the organizers decided that it was time to end the program rather than give in to the coercion of the industry. I used to attend this seminar for over 10 years until it closed down several years ago. It was a great loss but I admired the organizers for taking a stand.

The issue on conflicts of interest are not solely the problem of doctors. Each professional field is mired in its own conflict, but the medical field is the only one wherein a second person or more persons are affected by the decision made by the primary person whom that conflict is borne upon - a decision that can affect life, cost/benefit outcome in limited or scarce resources scenario, and burden of treatment or diagnostic procedure when the latter is not required.

During a meeting with one of the pharmaceutical companies, they had expressed exasperation at the attitude of some doctors whom they could not provide "gifts" to. Some of the doctors were either angry or in denial or were bargaining (agreeing to sponsorships for local conventions instead of foreign ones) and I was shocked that some even had the temerity to reply, "paano na ngayon?"

Truth be told, the doctors are one of the highest paid professionals - locally or abroad. Let's face it, our patients know that. They see how grandiose some can be - toting a Hermes or LV or Prada, driving an Audi or Porsche or Pajero, living in posh villages, wearing signature clothes with matching shoes, belts and bags and bling, dining in 5-star hotels or expensive restaurants. The mere fact that we flash around all these largesse and yet ask pharmaceutical companies for "gifts" in any form leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

I am not saying that we don't accept a gift. When a gift is given, it should not expect anything in return. After all, if it is a sincere gesture, it should not expect payback. If the gift provided is part of an exchange deal, then it should not be accepted. It is unethical to demand anything from a company. What the industry provides or gives us is a privilege and not a RIGHT!

Today's changing landscape in the pharmaceutical industry should be a reason why there needs to be a paradigm change on the Filipino physician's role with the industry. There needs to be a concerted effort at preserving the dignity of each of us in spite of the pressure of some sectors of the industry putting a carrot in front of the rabbit to make the rabbit hop!

After 10-15 years of studying to be the most distinguished profession in the world, we cannot let conflicts of interest destroy our integrity. At the end of the day, our patients should benefit from our judgement. They pay our professional fees, put food on our table, a house over our heads, send our children to good schools. They deserve nothing less than the best standard of care without undue influence from the pharmaceutical industry.

The circus came to town

2011-06-26T20:39:00.000+08:00

It was a rainy weekend, with tropical storm "Falcon" pouring torrents of water in Manila (and the neighboring provinces). The streets of the metro was flooded and I had to cancel clinic on a Saturday.

Saturday was also the day that my family and I had bought tickets to see the circus that came to town. Le Cirque du Soleil had flown in over P700M worth of equipment, stage, acrobats and clowns for the first ever performance of Cirque in the Philippines. That Saturday afternoon, the weather had cleared and it was a childhood fantasy relived all over again.

Varekai was the Cirque version that performed in Manila. I had bought the tickets way back in February and had gotten good seats. Varekai had premiered in Montreal, Canada in 2002 and the plot is basically a take off from the Greek mythology of Icarus, the fallen angel whose wings had melted after flying close to the sun. Instead of drowning into the sea, he falls into a lush forest and the creatures and plants in the forest teach him how to fly again.

I have seen some of the other Cirque shows in Las Vegas and while Varekai falls short of the much more fantasmagoric shows of Cirque, its setting in Manila at a specially built Grand Chapiteau (circus tent) that was fully airconditioned, provided a good atmosphere to enjoy a circus. The show started right on the dot and the rules on no cameras, mobile phone conversations and other gadgets were fully implemented. On a negative note, I guess the full episode of Varekai was not shown because of the limitations of space, so the show simply lasted 1 hr 30 mins with a 25 mins intermission number.

The highlights of the show were the child performers, the clown acts and the grand finale that got ooos and ahhhs from the audience.

While I guess for those like me who had seen other performances of Cirque, Varekai had provided the entertainment to the locals. And I am hoping that this will not be the last performance of Cirque in Manila.

Varekai runs until July 24 at the Luneta Grandstand. And for those who may still want to catch it, get the tickets at the farther end at the upper rows so you can see the stage in full. We were watching from the very front row and had torticollis after the show.

Until the next circus comes to town...enjoy the fantastic spectacle that only Cirque can provide. It's worth the weekend.

Death by kindness

2011-06-22T20:22:00.000+08:00

So you hate someone or you probably are angry at the world. You've been wronged and you want revenge. Who doesn't? In a culture where being "mean" can mean being "in", we've probably gotten a taste of the sore end of being bullied.

There's a story that goes like this:

"A newly married woman was to live with her mother-in-law. On the outset she noticed that her mother-in-law was a little devil. The mother-in-law saw nothing right about her whatever she did in the house. Disturbed and devastated, the young wife went to a chemist-friend and asked for some poison to kill her mother-in-law slowly. The friend gave her a potion that she would drop little by little into the coffee of the mother-in-law who would drop dead in a month. But the friend strictly advised the young wife to be very patient and kind to her mother-in-law so as not to attract attention to her evil design.

So while slowly poisoning the mother-in-law, the young wife treated her very sweetly and kindly. Soon after, the mother-in-law changed and started treating her daughter-in-law very sweetly and kindly, too. This made the young wife guilty and ashamed of what she was doing. She went back to her friend, crying and begging for an antidote to the poison she had been giving her mother-in-law.

Her friend just smiled and said, "that was no poison I gave you, but just some baking powder. What killed her was our kindness. Go home and continue to treat her as you would want to be treated."

The message is clear and simple. We get treated the way we want people to treat us or the way we treat people in return. Sure, there are mean people and sure, we lose our tempers from time to time. No one is born perfect. But in each and every act of kindness we give, we get kindness back in return. Maybe not from the same person...but from other peoples.

A bit of compassion, understanding and love. A piece of our heaven, our purgatory and hell in our journeys in life.

[Photo from John Sokol: AIM ABOVE THE MARK]

Botoxed at 53

2011-06-16T11:56:00.000+08:00

What do you get yourself as a gift for your birthday?

Been there, done that mode.

During our younger years, we couldn't hurry up to be more "mature" looking so that we could pass as adults for our age. Then when we're at the prime of our lives, one day we look at the mirror and start counting the lines across our foreheads, the crow's feet along our eyes, the laugh lines that have deepened, the greying (if not balding) hair, the paunch on our midsection and then we heave a heavy sigh.

It's not of discontent. It's reality sinking in. Yes dear, we're counting down to our senior citizen card.

But why do we want to look like 70 when the wonders of science have changed the landscape of remaining beautiful or younger or sexier even in our prime?

A month ago, I woke up one morning and looked in the mirror at the lines across my forehead and made a frown. Reality check - no Shu Uemura foundation or Triaktiline firming cream or Lancome anti-aging could reverse the process.

The truth of the matter is, I fell for the old trick in the book. I went to Marie-France to enroll in the facial Refirme program. Paid almost P43,000 ($1000) for 4 sessions (3-4 weeks apart) where they staple your face 1000 shots of heat emanating from a gadget. It was like I was getting jolted on the face for an hour. When the session was over, the skin felt smooth and firmed. But that didn't last. After a week, the lines were visible once again. And it went on and on until I decided that all these advertisements were such a scam (I told you they don't work. These endorses just get the programs for free so like Dawn Zulueta or Ping Lacson, they're all photoshopped to sell a spiel.)!!!

A week ago, I decided to take the final plunge. I researched on onabotulinum toxin A (Botox Cosmetics) and called my dear friend Ida (she's my dermatologist at Asian Hospital) and told her about getting a Botox. Yesterday, I finally had 52 units of Botox injected into my face (on the forehead, across the crows feet, on the laugh lines, and along the chin area).

Was it painful? Well, let's put it this way, I had EMLA all over so the pain was tolerable. You can't look down for 1 hour. You can't lie down for 4 hours. You feel like gazillion bees had stung your face and it's red all over. The headache was minimal. And now as I write this blog, my face feels stretched. But the lines, oooohhhh, they're disappearing slowly. You can see the improvement in just 24 hours but the maximum effect is supposedly noticeable in 2 weeks.

So if you bump into me and see the change, it's not because of the cosmetics or the facials I get, it's Botox.

I will not post before and after pictures because it's horrifying (this is supposed to be a general public reading blogspot). When you bump into me one of these days, you'll see the difference. It's aging beautifully that matters now.

And for those that want to know how a Botox is done, watch this video from youtube...

http://www.botoxcosmetic.com/home.aspx

Burying Marcos

2011-06-12T11:28:00.000+08:00

I was a Martial Law child. In 1986, the Filipinos ousted a dictator through People Power.

The world was focused on history in the making. Through a peaceful protest, I distinctly remember the events that led to the dramatic expulsion and eventual exile of a dictator. When the Filipinos had broken into Malacanan Palace, Marcos and his family were gone. With the help of the Americans, his family went into exile in Hawaii. And the rest is history.

Twenty five years and five presidents later, the Philippines has still to get back on track compared to the other Asian countries in terms of economic growth. Ironically, however, every time we seem to falter, we keep pointing back to the same problem - Marcos. While I relatively agree that Ferdinand Edralin Marcos may have been the primary reason why the economy of this country collapsed, I disagree that he is solely to blame. Unfortunately, this is the pathetic reason provided by some lackeys who do not know how to run the country (and are obsessed only with joining government to steal from its coffers).

In one of the lunch conversations on the topic of where, when and how we should bury Marcos, I expressed my ten cents worth of opinion - we just need to bury him with dignity. We need to close the chapter on this history of ours and as Filipinos, stop living in the past, recalling on the crimes and atrocities his 21 years of rule had impacted on individual Filipinos. The problem with some Filipinos and the politicians (not to mention some feeble minded media men) is that they keep resurrecting the ghost of Marcos past as a "scare tactic" or feeble excuse on why current government programs fail.

Indonesia, like the Philippines, was ruled by a dictator under an authoritarian regime. President Suharto was it's second president holding office for 32 years up to his resignation in 1998 due to pressure from the people and the army. His children, friends and relatives were able to set up business conglomerates under a nepotistic rule.

The Vietnam War, a cold war era military conflict occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from November 1, 1955 to April 30, 1975. This costly 20 year war had torn down the very fiber of economy and livelihood in these countries. The devastation in a cold war era was practically insurmountable. It's Asian neighbors and the world had opined that it would take these countries 40-60 years to even begin rebuilding itself.

During World War II, the Japanese and British had fought fiercely for a small island country called Singapore. The history of Singapore is a rich and proud one. On Sentosa Island, you can literally take a tour to find out how proud Singaporeans are of their heritage and roots. It was not until 1963 that Singapore had gained independence from Britain and in 1965, it became a republic. Lee Kwan Yew was its first prime minister in 1959 up to 1990.

Today, many of these countries have left the Philippines almost at the end of the tail in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) and PPP (purchasing power parity) per capita. According to the IMF 2010 data, Singapore ranks 3rd, Indonesia 122, the Philippines 125, and Vietnam 130 in terms of GDP. GDP growth was at 26.3% (rank 34) for Vietnam, 18.45% (rank 81) for Indonesia, and 17.02% (rank 92) for the Philippines. PPP is more useful when comparing generalized differences in living standards as a whole because it takes into account the relative cost of living and the inflation rates of the country (rather than exchange rates which can distort the figures). GDP (PPP) IMF 2010 data showed Indonesia at number 15 (Million$1,029,884), Philippines at number 33 (Million$350,279), and Vietnam at number 40 (Million$275,639). In terms of data of countries by income equality the ratio of the richest 10% to the poorest 10% and richest 20% to the poorest 20% in terms of inequality metrics for income data for the United Nations shows: Indonesia (7.8, 5.2), Philippines (15.5, 9.3), Singapore (17.7, 9.7), and Vietnam (6.9, 4.9). Clearly a disparity among the rich versus the poor, which means that the increasing economic growth reported are only benefiting a few. Finally, based on IMF data of 2010 on real growth rate taking into consideration inflation Singapore ranks 3rd at 14.47%, Philippines ranks 26th at 7.6%, Vietnam is close to us at 39th at 6.784% and Indonesia ranking at 49 at 6.109%.

Clearly, over the past 2-3 decades the driving force of the economy in the Philippines are the BPOs and the OFWs. With the ongoing war in the Middle East, the decline in demand for nursing graduates in the US and Europe - the Philippines stands to lose some ground when it comes to sending funds back home.

Which brings the story back home. 25 years after we have overthrown a despot from political office, the various presidents that have replaced him have seem to be either in disarray or not in luck at transforming the country into one of the more competitive Asian nations, again. Cory was mired in coup after coup with a disgruntled military that was the spill over of the corruption of the Marcos regime. When FVR took over as president in 1992, the former military general seemed to have punched the right buttons when the Asian Crisis had hit home. While the Philippines may not have been gravely affected by this, it was not because of overexposure, but rather underexposure. There was nothing to eat us up during the crisis because the country was basically poor from the get go. In 1998, we elected another president. But votes by popularity in a country where 70% of its population live below the poverty line ended with us having an ex-movie star in Erap as president. After only 3 years in office, People Power II had taken over and installed GMA in 2001 as its president. In the post-Marcos era, only Gloria had occupied the longest position as president. She would go on to steal the next election in 2004 when her inherited term lapsed and go on to becoming president again for 6 years, a total of 9 years under her rule. But alas, the Filipinos tired of People Power revolts. And GMA knew that. Instead of marching back to the streets, the best way to get out of the corrupt system was to migrate. Last year, a reluctant candidate in the form of PNoy ran for president. On the platform of "Kung Walang Corrupt, Walang Mahirap" [without corruption, there will be no poverty] battle cry, the son of Ninoy became our 15th President of the republic. But the reluctant president seemed to show his true colors after one year in office. With basically a political background a tad better than his mother Cory, he depends on friends and acquaintances for advice on what next to do.

25 years after Marcos, the Filipinos had the chance to rebuild its lost glory. Back home, the jeepneys, buses and tricycles still load and unload passengers anywhere it wants on the streets. Back home, the traffic enforcer on the busy streets is busy catching number coded cars rather than paying attention to the traffic on the road. Back home, the men are still using every wall and post along the streets as their public urinal, pissing on the walls as their bladders beckon. Back home, the poor quality of infrastructure still shows after every rainshower when the roads are full of potholes and the government still collects road taxes from every vehicle owner. Back home, the greedy people in the political arena are still jockeying for even the most menial position in politics only to propagate their wealth. Back home, it's quite obvious that even in jail, the rich are able to live a better life than the poor. Back home, as if amnesia or Alzheimer has struck the Filipinos, they still elected Bongbong as senator, his mother Imelda as congressman, his sister Imee as governor.

Bury Marcos.

We are where we are today not only because of Marcos. We have no political will. As a people, we have no love of country. Until we change our paradigm and outlook on self sacrifice, we can never be a great nation ever.

We need to bury Marcos and all the lessons of corruption from this despot. It's time we move on. Many of us may not see the tangible changes in our lifetime, but for the sake of our next generation, our children and our children's children, we need to bury Marcos and whatever he stood for. Only then can we move on as a nation, truly dedicated to serving the Filipino people.

Of truths, propaganda and the "weather weather lang" phenomenon

2011-06-07T19:19:00.000+08:00

We get confusing reports from politicians, which is bad. Of course, every politician will say that half truths and half lies are within the realm of "strictly politics". Whichever administration you're looking at, it's either you're looking at the glass half empty or half full.

So here's the beef. The lack of transparency in any government is hurtful to the people as trust is the hallmark of any political system.

Rep. Anthony Weiner a Democrat congressman in New York was recently in such an imbroglio. There was a lot of flip-flop on the statements the camp of Weiner gave regarding his sending a lewd photo of him to a woman on Twitter. His initial excuse was that his account had been hacked. Then when Andrew Breitbart had exposed more stories, the congressman hurriedly came up with a press conference apologizing for this pervert act, shed a few crocodile tears and refused to resign.

The same thing is observed on a grander political scale. The war and uprising in Libya, Yemen and Syria have baffled the world as to the true picture of what's going on there. Their heads of state refuse to step down saying that insurrection on the part of the people needs to be taken cared of by the government as it is the government's obligation to make sure that it's sovereignty and citizens are protected. But the inconsistencies in the stories coming out of Libya, Yemen and Syria (not to mention Bahrain) have left the kibitzers wondering who's telling the truth and whether NATO allies have the right to invade and meddle in the political affairs of other countries. CNN and BBC show footages of what the governments claim to be insurrection of a few. On the contrary, rebels have shown footages of human rights violations of the government as well. The scenario has NATO excusing themselves for the collateral damage on innocent lives and providing an excuse to the ongoing turmoil. But US and European media have clearly stated that the footages from the governments are merely propaganda from these heads of states in what is explained a justification of violence on its people.

Back home, Edwin Lacierda had initially claimed that the rift at the Department of Transportation and Communication by resigned Ping de Jesus from the Aquino administration was regrettable but the spokespeople in the palace were mum on the real problem of frustration after frustration in the search for decent cabinet members that were not part of the "friends, Inc." of PNoy. It is, after all said, that what PNoy wants PNoy gets. Almost a year in office and the country is till desperately scrambling to fit into the picture of moving forward. While we have to hand over the fact that there's a bit more transparency in the government today, majority of those who had an earnest desire for a great change at the slogan "Kung Walang Corrupt, Walang Mahirap" from the people in the palace. It is said that whoever you put in with the crocodiles will swim like a crocodile eventually. And while the trapos were put aside in the current administration, it is still lacking in complete transparency and defends the wrong of friends very close to home.

Without doubt, the Filipino saying (as echoed repetitively by Kim Atienza on ABS-CBN) that life is "weather-weather lang", fits the kind of government we all have. Corruption creeps to us in various forms. Whether it is "kamag-anak, Inc." (where you have all your relatives in every little nook and cranny of government) to "kaibigan, Inc." (where you have all your buddies in the choicest governmental positions, not necessarily out of talent, but out of friendship) - the ethical and moral dilemma seems to be elusive to people in politics.

Accountability, transparency and trust. Three defining words of a good government official. Sorely lacking. Only when we find someone who will not get swallowed by the system can we truly be a better nation. I have my doubts that we will see a significant change in the Filipino way of life in our lifetime. At the moment, it's every man for himself. Our future, after all, is based on "weather weather lang".

Winning and losing

2011-06-05T11:47:00.000+08:00

09-05-26-30-19-45

Who could imagine that these 6 numbers could change the life of a 60 year old carpenter who lives in a squatters area in Las Pinas City in the Philippines? He only made one P20 ($0.40) bet on these numbers. According to the seller of the ticket, the carpenter was one of the last few bettors of the night in that crowded squatters area. A few hours after closing, he heard screams from the neighborhood, but simply thought it was an ongoing nightly brawl.

The following day, when the newspapers had printed the winning numbers, he knew that the winner bought the ticket from his place. The old carpenter won Php 356,552,917.20 ($8.3M) tax free. He never went back to the shanty he resided in. His whole family would go back to the province to start a new leaf on life.

There are many stories on Lotto winners not only in the Philippines but worldwide. The sudden surge of cash will definitely change the lives of many people. But while there are those whose lives are changed because of winning events like these, there are more who struggle with making ends meet each day - from having a decent meal to struggling with health issues and problems. Everybody loves a winner. The cheers and accolades add hope to the many that have to contend with the routine motto of "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."

It's a fair reminder that happiness does not come in a silver platter.

The art of being happy lies in the power of finding joy in ordinary things. Life does not force us to be the best. To be the happiest. To be the luckiest. It only asks that we try.

The Italian wish "vive bene, spesso l'amore, di risata molto" should serve as our daily reminder to LIVE WELL, LOVE MUCH, LAUGH OFTEN.

After all, at the end of our lives, it's the journey that mattered to the winner.

Googled

2011-06-02T14:06:00.003+08:00

In this day and age of technology at our fingertips, finding an answer to any question is a GOOGLE away.

Which is actually not bad, considering that the trip to the library eons ago took up a lot of wasteful time in search for the answers to our questions.

But does GOOGLING a query provide the accurate answer?

Let me zero in on the perfect example.

A few days ago, a friend on Facebook had "shouted out" that her family would be traveling soon and that they would need to bring their 1 year old child. The mother was apprehensive about the travel ahead and that the child may become eventually "fuzzy" during the long haul. As in any FB "shout-outs", a comment thread follows.

And so the "friends" began providing comments: "enjoy the trip", "put a pacifier", "let her drink milk", and so on and so forth and I provided my ten cents worth of consult over FB as well - "give her 5ml of Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) since that's over the counter 30 minutes prior to the trip."

Walanghiya!!! You should read the comment thread that came after my comment from the do-gooders: "don't give benadryl and then there's suddenly a link from about.com on the cons of giving benadryl!". The trail doesn't end there. The next suggestion you read is "give ibuprofen instead. Then another link to another website about what to give your kids if you're traveling by air". Then another suggestion crops up "give acetaminophen (paracetamol) during the trip. it's not advisable to give drugs to kids as they are harmful." Then you see another link somewhere from another God-forsaken site. Finally, there's a comment that "consult your pediatrician about the Benadryl. It's not good."

I felt tempted to agitate the comment thread, but decided against it for fear of harming the ignorant few.

I believe that while technology has changed the landscape in the search for answers to queries on the information highway, it has also been abused by people who "google" and pass on the "found" answers to others as the "definite remedy to the malady". This is most commonly seen in the medical field, but encompasses all - from entertainment to fashion to gossip to politics to science. What I cannot stand actually are people who are not in any capacity authorized to provide unsolicited advise to others. For example, when someone asks you what is atopic dermatitis, if you're not a doctor, do not attempt to google atopic dermatitis and then pass on the information link and say voila - there's the answer to the question and then pat yourself on the back. You have no idea how seriously dangerous information is in the wrong hands. Unless you are licensed to give a professional opinion on something as ginormous as the life of someone, you should not be Miss Do-Good-Know-it-All answering other people's concerns. You have no business here and should try to get a life! You can experiment on your children or next of kin for all I care (and I seriously pity your whole family with having to live up with your inanities).

And for discussion sake, I will not give the pros and cons of dosing a kid with diphenhydramine on the flight, but would prefer that the 15 hour trip be a restful one for both the parents and the child. After all, it's not their friend that will be carrying the "fuzzy baby" on the lap during the whole flight!

I have a lot of patients parents that come up to me and ask me if the information that is passed on to them as a link is true or not, or that she heard a colleague telling her that my prescription may be harmful to her child, or that she read somewhere that a certain vaccine purportedly has a link to Autism, and so on and so forth. I discuss with them all the issues in a very professional manner. And no, I really do not mind discussing the concerns with them because they have the right to know. Full disclosure and a healthy professional discussion after seeing the patient (even if they have a whole folder or downloaded information) is the right of every patient to quality health care. It is the patients' rights to search and read up on their diseases and the treatment options to it. These rights should extend to the clinic office where the parents discuss these with their health care provider, with the latter providing treatment options where the benefits outweigh the risks. If you have a good doctor, he/she should be capable of answering the questions you post spontaneously at the clinic!

It is inappropriate that the discussion includes a third party who happens to have no professional training nor experience on treating patients or any other credentials to a well informed discussion except the fact that that person is keen in the art of googling. A second opinion means seeking the advice of another professional adept in that field of expertise of concern. It does not mean that you ask your hair stylist on why, for heavens sake, you should not put a steroid cream on the atopic patch of your child. Wala akong pakialam sa payo o kuro-kuro ng manicurista mo!

With that said, let me remind everyone that googling information is an FYI. It does not provide the absolute solution to the problem, especially when it comes to diagnosing or treating patients. It is infuriating that there are so many wannabes that need to realize that while they are probably techie experts in this age of information technology, they are not cerebrally fit to provide opinions that should be left alone to professional providers. And while you can pass on some information, you need to be trained to discern what is correct and what is misinformation. After all, not everything googled is correct!

If you feel you're alluded to in this blogpost and don't get the point, I think you should just roll over and die. The world would be a better place if we googled you had passed away.

My Singapore Fling

2011-05-29T10:26:00.000+08:00

I was invited to speak at the Early Phase Clinical Trials Conference in Singapore.

Singapore is not new to me. Been there, done that. I guess it's one of the most frequently traveled countries on my list. In spite of the fact that I've been to the tiny country of 5 Million people that's bustling in prosperity and bursting out of it's economy gazillion times, Singapore has never ceased to amaze me.

I left Manila on SQ 917 at 210PM on a Tuesday. With a very tight schedule ahead, I was wondering how I would juggle my time there and get to work and play in my 24 hours stay in Singapore.

I arrived at 545PM at Terminal 3 (this was spanking new and they're building Terminal 4 now - geez where did the Philippines disappear to?), cleared immigration and got to the hotel at 630PM. Checked in, dropped my bags in the room and texted Marie that I arrived and would meet my former residents and students for dinner. I just needed to run to Orchard Road to get something. It was rush hour and I got to Ion Orchard at 715PM. Marie, Edmund, Miriam and Flei were already at Uniqlo waiting for me. After 30 minutes of quick shopping, we were off to Boon Tong Kee. Miriam had promised me the best Hainanese Chicken Rice in the world and I was hungry enough to eat.

This was one area of Singapore I have never been to. It's not a touristy area. The restaurant was located in an area of the city that tourists would not access readily. But the queue was long enough and Marie had made reservations so we didn't have to wait. Eventually, Braggy and Vince popped up to join us for dinner.

To say that dinner was great was an understatement. The food was fantastic and I loved everything that was served - from the Hainanese Chicken, Fried Chicken, Spareribs, Fried Tofu, Prawns (that were the size of my hand) cooked in cereal pork (I eventually named it Breadtalk Prawns because it's like the whole Prawn was cooked in Pork Floss just the like famous pork floss bread from Breadtalk) and of course, the rice! While gobbling on the food, my mind was thinking - where was I in all my trips to Singapore? How could I, a frequent traveler, have missed this place? But, yes, it takes a local Singaporean to find the best restaurants in the country. Forget about the Singapore Tatler's 100 best restaurant guides or the concierge at your hotel who makes a buck recommending a swanky place. Hands down, Boon Tong Kee was 5 stars and quadrillion miles away from the chic eateries on Marina Bay Sands! [Thank you Miriam for the dinner].

To say that dinner was fun was another understatement. It was time to catch up on each other. They were my students for God's sake. Which means that they kept calling me Dr. Co. Something that I was uneasy with. I guess it's the heirarchical tradition during medical school that leads us to address the oldies this way (sigh!). But the conversations had started with news about the UST Hospital and their training days there and how they compared the National University of Singapore's training (which had a wide disparity in both training, camaraderie and professionalism). Then it turned to a more relaxed atmosphere with gossiping about the shenanegans of even those wearing a cloak. This elicited so much laughter that we broke out in tears laughing out loud (I think the waitresses were looking at a bunch of crazy Filipinos who were on a day off from work). We talked and laughed for several hours, not minding the fact that they'd just kicked off from work and I just arrived from Manila and had to prepare for my talk the following day. We talked about life in Singapore, life in Manila, plans for the future and the reality that YES THERE IS A WORLD OUTSIDE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS!

How time flew and after 4 hours of food, conversations and laughter, we decided to call it a night. They got me a cab and I got back to the hotel at 1045PM, reviewed my slide presentation and asked the operator to get me a wake up call for 6AM. I hit the sack past midnight.

After breakfast, I had a short meeting with JP from Proclin, a Contract Research Organization for clinical trials based in Singapore and Thailand. I headed straight to the 9AM conference and participated in the round table conference up to 10AM. I then gave a lecture at 11AM on the scenario of Early Phase Clinical Trials in the Philippines as why the country is ripe for the picking (or not!) as an Asia destination for Phase 1-3 clinical trials. After my talk at 1145AM, I was on the next cab back to the airport.

After checking in at 1220PM, I had lunch at a quaint Chinese Restaurant on Terminal 2. Roasted Duck and rice with a large cold lemon ice tea. I was facing the glass enclosure of the terminal building which overlooked the planes on the tarmac. I couldn't help but muse the conversations with my former students (and now colleagues). How time flew and how successful they were in their own rights.

It brought a smile to my face that knowing that as a mentor, they have come to the crossroad in life where they have grown to be mature, responsible doctors. I also realized that while I may be at the twilight of my professional career, I have been part of their lives. Somehow, that makes it worth the effort of having mentored them.

As the doors of SQ 916 at 210PM had closed for my flight back to Manila, I will always remember this 24 hours Singapore fling - where friends will always be the reason why anywhere we are, we will always find a home.

[Photo from Carmelo Braganza - and that's the waitress taking the pic at the mirror's reflection! If I had not thanked you guys enough, here's the blog dedicated to all of you.]