smoking ban + sin tax bill

A year ago, I made this post at i.ph. With the passage of the new Sin Tax Bill, I wonder if students and others would even be as 'determined' to buy cigarette.

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The MMDA’s campaign against smoking in public seems working a bit. I’m guilty for prejudging that it wouldn’t work at all. There are still a few students in nursing uniforms hiding near a smelly creek to smoke. The urge must have been that overwhelming to welcome that water’s stink. haha. Still, the number of smokers in our school’s area has largely diminished. There are still cigarette vendors, but they’re now hiding their merchandise. Reminds me when I use to buy methamphetamine. Joke!!!

Kudos to Mayor Lim for effectively scaring people of imprisonment or a 500-peso fine. I haven’t seen an MMDA or a police officer confront a smoker yet, though their presence is a warning already. They just have to sit outside the police outpost near the school.

There’s one thing though: the anti-smoking campaign works on weekdays only. On weekends, the university belt again is one big pugon. haha.

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I just hope travel camps for teens are not 'plagued' with determined smokers... at least while they are still in their teens. :-)

guest poster of the re-post (hehehe),
eks

addiction

My day never starts without a coffee. Rather, it would be very difficult for me to start a day without a coffee. I’d be a walking zombie, unable to concentrate and constantly spacing out.

I love coffee, but I never frequent those coffee shops. (Well, I am not yet prepared to spend for coffee the same amount as I would spend for a decent meal.) So my cups of coffee are mostly made at home; in fact, one of my happiness (as I’ve written in my happiness is… post) is the smell of coffee prepared by my father first thing in the morning. Ironically, I can’t make a good coffee, but I make them anyway.
Daily, I drink 2 to 3 cups a day. On exam days, I take more cups than I should to keep myself awake. Now, the problem is I’ve become addicted to it. It’s been becoming difficult to function without it (as if coffee is as important furniture part as a cabinet latch). It’s been becoming hard to get a good sleep, and I hope I would never have to use over the counter sleeping pills for it. And it’s true, I jump at the slightest unexpected pat in the shoulder. If there’s one addiction I understand, perhaps it is this one. And maybe, I might need rehabilitation for this one.

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*This is a re-post from my other blog (now inactive, thanks to i.ph). 

happy new year!

i have always been mordsith's go-to guy whenever she cannot attend to updating her blog. like now. :-) i usually make the not-so-interesting topics so, even if i don't have a "signature" in my post, you'll know it was me who wrote the post. (at the moment, in fact, i was thinking of writing how a citizen watches or should watch his or her income so proper taxes can be filed, how the government (read: noynoy's administration) should not be too arrogant on how they run things, or perhaps how the crowd should be allowed to rule instead of a chosen/elected few.

but let's do that later. for now, let me just greet all of you a happy, happy 2013!!!

with love (hehehe),

eks

perfect gift

My mother recently celebrated her birthday. I have no gift for her, which is particularly sad because it's that kind of landmark birthdays, like when one turned 1, 7, 18, etc.

When I was a kid, I make her cards (which were most of the time very unartful) or buy her a blouse (which did not fit) or give her a bracelet (which well, she did not like). In the recent years, my gift almost always means birthday treat, which she appreciates I think. I just suck in giving her gifts.

This is not an emo post, if that's what you're thinking. I think I just had enough of giving her mediocre things. And she's a frank person, so I would always know if I failed. Oftentimes, I do, but one time, she really loved the poinsettia plants I got her when I was in high school. Don't get me wrong that I think she's unappreciative (she says her thanks naman). She just expects what she deserves, I guess. And well, in reality, people do that.

So, I have no gift. I'm thinking of compensating when I am really able, prepared, and creative enough to give her a well-thought out gift. She loves cooking so perhaps vintage kitchen cabinets? Or trip abroad? Or a condo? Or just cash, because she loves shopping.

Sometimes I feel bad that I couldn't provide them a more comfortable life since I decided to take law school.  I felt kind of selfish. At times though, I think I should be understood. But that's almost over now.

Hopefully, in her next birthday, I could give her something she really wants to have. She deserves that. Especially that her every birthday now really counts, since that cancer entered our lives. And the truth is, I am very, very thankful for the birthday she just had -- it's God's gift to me.

Happy birthday, Mommy! I will do better.

compensated

It is with humor that I told my friends, "I received my first legal fee!"

Since last semester, I, along with two others, have been helping out a janitor who has been dismissed immediately from work because of a congenital heart disease. After working for 10 years in the company, he was told that he would not receive anything from the company. Imagine the shock and desperation; you are left out of work, and you can't find any other because nobody would accept a janitor with a hole in his heart. You are also left without any means to start over; no cash to start a business or even to support a family. We're helping him to get his separation pay and other unpaid compensations -- all due him.

Although this was just a case assigned to us by the legal aid bureau (which I joined this year), in reality, this is not a job. This is what I wanted to do, and this is what I ought to be. I fear that after law school, I could not do this anymore, or at least not for a time, for obvious lack of resources and for the need to prioritize the family that depends on me. Still, I will maintain this vision. Sooner or later, there will be a way.

After we filed the position paper, Kuya Boy handed me a plastic bag. Inside were pieces of suman prepared by his wife!  It was not a bundle of cash or a yoga mat for sale, but it was fulfilling, overwhelming, and so painfully touching.

"Ma'am, gawa ng asawa ko 'yan. Masarap yan!" Indeed, they are. And they are my strong reminders that whatever is going on in your life, it pays to sometimes live for others.

And it is more with pride that I told my friends, "I received my first legal fee!"

foolish. pride.

People are sometimes foolish or full of pride. Or at times, both.

In recent years, I had come (or was made) to see that pride has different masks. The selflessness was only a mask of pride. The hesitation to ask for help, pride. The strength, pride. And the less subtle one, the refusal to talk, pride. But is it foolish?

Pride wears different insignias  For motherland. For race. For religion. For oneself. Not one larger and nobler than the other.

I am not prepared to say in vehicle lettering that pride is altogether wrong. But I am declaring now that it is one hell of a trait. It's as stubborn as a bull and as strong as a raging hippo. Hell, it could be much stronger than faith. or hate. or love. How many parents have forsaken their children because of pride? How many endings turn out sad because of pride? Countless. Yes, at times, it can be more powerful even than the legendary love.

Then again, pride is an element of success. Countless people strive hard because of it, and often, they succeed. It's a strong motivating factor that can move mountains. Or social status.

Pride. It builds. It destroys. And it's heavy. It's unstoppable. It's incurable. And it's hard to carry.

It can be wise. It can be foolish. And it sure damn hurts to break it.

why i love sotto

They say there should always be attribution. If we do that, all those singing Magkaisa, Balatkayo and songs of VST & Co.,, when they don't say they are the composer, we can charge them with plagiarism if we follow what critics say. - Sen. Vicente Sotto III, http://www.rappler.com/nation/11405-sotto-blasts-critics,-backs-blogging-bill

Sotto's defense so far:

Originally: NO, I DID NOT COPY ANYTHING FROM ANYONE.

And of course we all know they REALLY COPIED the blog without any attribution and even denied that they did that. When they can't deny anymore that they copied the blog, he says:

1.    His staff tried to click the link but it failed to download.
2.    They cannot access the original so they think "copying" the blog which quoted the book they were trying to access is ok.
3.    Plagiarism is not a crime here in the Philippines, so, there's nothing really wrong with what he did.

Kill me now, please. Wait -- I think it's a crime to kill me even if I beg for it. If it's not a law here in the Philippines, maybe it's OK to kill me. I'll sign a waiver.

Or wake me up when 2013 election is over... and I hope by that time, we'll have a new set better public servants.

On a more serious note: Sotto's staff really need to wake up. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they mentioned some gibberish like "pro tools hd musicians friend" and pretend as if they researched it and it's actually their own idea. Tsk tsk tsk…

eks, your next-door neighbor and friendly guest blogger :-)