ah bonus

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s the 10th of November and we are days away to the year-end bonus. Well, that’s based on what I got from TV when it was reported that the budget department has announced the release of funds for the bonus of government employees. But the date of the release is not the point. It is what is being released, err, given out. What is it about bonuses that life has to take an abnormal pace (okey, mode or twist) each time it comes around? I mean why do many of us have to live like there is no tomorrow – shopping, drinking and what have you – during the bonus season. Call me frigid, but I don’t see any sense in it. Do we really have to spend everything the moment bonus is given? Oops, I forgot, we have our individual (and) different priorities in life.

So, Sen. Obama has started to put in place his transition team. Hmm, it’s a far cry from the usual “nadaya kami scenario” in the land of Juan de la Cruz. The scenario happens every three years or each time an election (be it a national or local) happens (although I still need to hear the same thing happening during barangay elections). Back to Obama. Immediately after the election, CNN made a list of priorities for Obama’s foreign policy, and RP was not in the list. Oops, the list was not honorable if I may say. It was that of countries which caused the U.S. headaches – Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea (hmm, bad company). But then there was something about other priorities like Asia and the economy. Still, RP was not in it. There was something about U.S. allies in Asia, but ‘twas only about China and Japan. Oh well…

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Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento is back from Nanjing, China. As reported earlier, he was there upon the invitation of UN HABITAT to moderate two events at the 4th Session of the World Urban Forum. These events are the “Mayors’ Roundtable” and “Land Markets, Social Inclusion and the right to the City”, a high-level panel discussion on the difficulties of socially and physically integrating the urban poor into cities.

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During the last week of October, the Parole and Probation Office in coordination with BJMP Calbayog conducted a 5-day Therapeutic Community Modality Training for the inmates of the Calbayog City Jail.

The activity was participated in by 30 inmates. Present during the activity were Parole and Probation Regional Director Arturo Gabrieles, Chief Inspector Ramil Vestra of BJMP Calbayog and Myrna Tecbobolan of the Parole and Probation Office Calbayog.

The training was aimed at introducing to the inmates behavioral-shaping tools that will be applicable to their reformation and rehabilitation.

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I missed something in my column which came out in time for the all soul’s day celebration. It had something to do with a kalag-kalag tradition in my hometown, something which I always write about each time the commemoration of the dead comes around. It’s the 9-day novena prayer for the dead the exact local name for that is something which I still have to find out as it is commonly referred to as “nobena san patay”; and we usually have old ladies do the prayer. So, what about it? Each time the day for the dead comes around, these ladies always get booked (fully-booked if I may say as the feast gets nearer). And this is what makes me smile (my apologies): oftentimes they get fully booked that instead of nine days, they end up with a 9-hour prayer marathon. Whew! But that’s not the end of it. The prayer marathon also includes breaks in between prayers. And these breaks consist of sinugba, sinakugan, and tuba. Now, you don’t have to imagine how the ladies do it halfway through the prayer marathon, err, session. Of course not all prayers ladies (sorry, that’s the only term I can find at the moment) do marathon session. The old ladies are well, old. It seems like no young people are willing to follow their path. Back to the marathon, you may smile or scoff at it, but hey it’s tradition.

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Wedding bells. Renita Ignacio (of Matobato) got married to Robert Young (of Canada) last Saturday. Church ceremonies were held at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Reception was held at the Centennial Pastoral Center.

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While we (or the world) is still relishing the feat that Obama did, I might as well share with your something which I got via email (yes, you don’t have to guess. Let me leave this for you to smile about this week. (Sorry about some nasty words or terms. Be warned)

Whether Democrat or Republican, you should get a kick out of this!

A little boy goes to his dad and asks, 'What is Politics?'
Dad says, 'Well son, let me try to explain it this way: I am the head of the family, so call me The President. Your mother is the administrator of the money, so we call her the Government. We are here to take care of your needs, so we will call you the People. The nanny, we will consider her the Working Class. And your baby brother, we will call him the Future. Now think about that and see if it makes sense.'

So the little boy! Goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said. Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his diaper. So the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his father in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed. The next morning, the little boy says to his father, 'Dad, I think I understand the concept of politics now.'

The father says, 'Good, son, tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about'

The little boy replies, 'The President is screwing the Working Class while the Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and the Future is in deep shit.

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This is it for now. Have a nice week everyone! Ciao!