Salamat 2019, Welcome Sa 'Yo 2020

Eto ang last post ko for 2019, at magiging last post of the decade para sa blog na 'to.



The year that was. Truly, i cannot enumerate one by one the highs and lows; though as i reflect, down the memory lane, the truth remains steady for these two observations that have been consistent in this yet to be finished journey, called life.




1. Our lives are infinitely interconnected to one another. Even the non-human race, more so, of all the living things that surround us, no matter where we are - are all inter-related, direct or implied, will always have the cause and effect across the populace - in this earth, in this universe.

Imagine a simple gesture of "Thank You" given by a total stranger while you are walking toward the parking lot of a mall because you gave a signal that he can take your parking space as you are about to leave.
And that moment of handshake, a no big deal for you, it took less than 30-seconds between you and the stranger to part ways.
But without that 30 seconds, you could've been part of a road accident nearby. If you left without handshaking with the stranger, you may not be breathing any longer. Who knows? Probably rushed in to the emergency room because of a car wreck.


Small things like stopping at a garden to witness the beauty, and smell the aromatic fragrance of roses and flowers around, gave you a sudden glimpse of new perspective. Inspiring you to let go of the heartaches and deal with it head-on.
Which then allowing your loved ones to nourish because your mood and outlook in life has shifted in the positive aura, giving them an awe of wonder on how you've changed, on how you've strove to fight; a good fight without harm, without resentment but pure aim of overcoming the obstacles removing hatred and pain. Influencing them to grow, to deal with life like how it needs to be, to laugh, to cry, to accept defeat if that is to be, to grin and smile without fakeness because of the triumphs you reaped along the way.

All these, on a macro and micro level of incidents, could be accidents, or happenings in your life, one way or the other, it has affected those lives surround you. Eventually, a ripple of effect goes on and on. Intertwining, sometimes, entangling to one another. And the journey or flow goes on.

2.  What You Believe In (what dictates your principles) - the foundation of your moral compass will direct you to who and to where you will be in the future and to what your end-result is in the human race.

I call it - faith, no matter what your faith is - as long as you are not faithless, i'm sure you will have the courage to face 2020 head-on. This is where your true powers would come from, will you be facing the battles driven by faith, principles and morals?
Or, will you go with the flow (most of the time) and let destiny lead you... (hopefully without regrets)?

Note that a decade has passed, your principles and conviction in dealing with uncertainties and victories have been molded (it would've been a strong foundation by now) - allowing you to practice more of it, allowing you now to easily execute these morales you have built in dealing life.

(ie) how do you consistently strive for integrity at work?, or the way you are faithful to your significant other (SO) - can you now easily do it without blemish, day in and day out?

I understand, we are just humans - prone to our weaknesses and errors at times. But what burns these for us to nurture the opposite and encourages us to stay true to our foundation?

It is faith.

Yes, do not lose the spark, the flame, and always rekindle it so that even when hope is almost at the edge nudging us to fall on the cliff, remember that the power of faith can move mountains, it can also lead us to fly. And soar high.

Happy New Year Everyone!




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Nakita Ko Kung Paano Mamatay Si Rizal (A Vivid Masterpiece From The Eyes Of A Drummer In The Firing Squad Of Rizal)

This was sent to me through a groupchat today, my personal experience is quite heart-wrenching because when i was reading the account, it felt like i was there - witnessing the scene of how our beloved hero embraced his death.

Nanikip ang dibdib ko habang tinatapos ko ang artikulong ito. Nanariwa ang pag-ibig muli sa ating bansa at sa mga kabutihan at kabayanihang ipinakita ng ating pambansang bayani.

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"I SAW RIZAL DIE"

There is one eyewitness to Rizal’s execution whose observation was told to a journalist in 1949, or 53 years after the event. A man named Hilarion Martinez, then 72 years old, relayed to Alberto Mendoza of the Sunday Times Magazine what he witnessed during Rizal’s execution.

In 1896, a then 20-year old Martinez was a member of the Leales Voluntarios de Manila (Loyal Volunteers of Manila) and was assigned to the drum corps. Martinez and his fellow drum corps members accompanied the condemned man from the time he left Fort Santiago until he reached Bagumbayan. Because of his role in the drum corps, it is said that he occupied a good vantage point from which to observe the execution. Martinez’ complete account is reproduced below:

“It was six o’clock in the morning of December 30, 1896, when we woke up at our quarters at the corner of Sta. Potenciana and Magallanes Streets, in Intramuros, to attend the execution of Jose Rizal, about which we had been briefed the day before. We were in the Leales Voluntarios de Manila, a semi-military organization under the command of Capt. Manuel Leaño. Our immediate officer was a youthful Spanish lieutenant named Juan Pereira. I was twenty years old then, and a member of the drum corps.
“We marched out of Intramuros through the Puerta Real, or where Nozaleda (now General Luna) Street out through the walls on the south, clad in our cañamo uniforms and with our cajas vivas strapped around our waists. We proceeded to what is now Padre Burgos Street, under an overcast sky and a biting December morn.

“Bagumbayan is not the Luneta now. The waters of Manila Bay still reached the other side of Malecon Drive (now Bonifacio Drive) where the new Luneta is located. The Luneta of those days was as far back as the site of the old Bagumbayan police station, near which lush bamboo thickets grew.

“As we rounded the corner of P. Burgos and General Luna Streets, we got a glimpse of the cuadro, a square formation of about ten companies of Filipino and Spanish soldiers. The former occupied the inner portion of the quadrangle, while the latter were at the rear. This formation was strategic because the Filipino soldiers’ position within the cuadro signified that the Spanish authorities wanted Rizal to die in the hands of the Filipino soldiers. If the latter disobeyed the command to fire upon Rizal, the Spanish soldiers positioned at the rear would fire upon them.

“There were civilian spectators, too. The side of the cuadro near the bay was open.
“As we approached the quadrangle, we saw some Spanish military officers earnestly talking in low voices. Rizal was nowhere to be seen – yet. Not having had a glimpse of the man before, I began to wonder what he looked like. I remembered how my mother told me Rizal was so learned, nobody could poison him as he always carried with him his own spoon and fork with which he could detect whether his food was poisoned or not. I heard too, of his fighting for our (Filipino) cause aside from legends that were beginning to be woven around him.

“Soon the small crowd heard the muffle sound of our approaching vivas draped with black cloth during execution ceremonies. A slight commotion broke out at the right end of the cuadro near the bay as some soldiers with fixed bayonets entered followed by a man in black, his arms tied at the elbows from the back, on his head, a derby hat or chistera, on his sides, a Spanish officer and a Jesuit priest.
“When I saw the man, I knew he was Rizal.

“A group of Spanish officers who were standing nearby opened into a semicircular formation or media luna. Then a Spaniard (we would learn later he was Lt. Luis Andrade, one of Rizal’s popular Spanish defenders and sympathizers) affectionately shook the latter’s hand. When Rizal was near the center of the quadrangle, the mayor de la plaza, a colonel, announced at the bandillo: “En el nombre del Rey, el que se levante la voz a favor del reo sera ejecutado.” (In the name of the King, he who raises his voice in favor of the criminal will be executed.)

“A deep silence enshrouded the whole assembly.
“We in the drum corps were about seven paces behind Rizal who then faced the bay. Our commanding officer approached us and told us should Rizal attempt to speak aloud, we should beat our drums hard to drown out his voice. I looked at Rizal. He was of regular build, unshaven, quite pale, perhaps as a result of his confinement but he was visibly composed and serene. A Jesuit approached him, said a prayer and blessed him. Then a colonel approached him too, as our commanding officer ordered us to move two paces backwards, and the firing squad of six Filipinos came forward and took our former position behind Rizal. With visible effort, Rizal raised his right hand which was tied and took off his chistera or derby hat. My heart beat fast, as in all other executions I had witnessed before, I felt tense and nervous. Amidst the silence, Rizal moved his head very slowly up and down, his lips moving as if in prayer.

“Then the commanding officer by means of his saber, signaled the firing squad to aim. Then the saber dropped and there was a simultaneous crack of rifle fire that shattered the stillness of the morning. Jose Rizal wheeled in one last effort and toppled forward with a thud, his face towards the sky and his derby hat thrown ahead. He had fallen in the direction of the bay.

“Many of the reos [condemned criminals] had been caused to kneel and be hoodwinked before they were shot on the head. But Rizal was spared that humiliation.
“Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a small dog appeared and ran in circles around Rizal’s fallen body, barking and whimpering. This incident would much later be the subject of our talk in our quarters. Some of my comrades were quick to conclude that it was a premonition of a coming misfortune.

“Then the capitan militar de la sanidad (medical officer) stepped forward, knelt before the fallen man, and felt his pulse. Looking up, he beckoned to a member of the firing squad to come forward and give the final tiro de gracia, another shot done at close range. I thought I saw a faint haze rise from Rizal’s coat, but it might be a wisp of the morning mist. Seeing the body before me, I felt weak.

“The officers began to show animation again. They fell in formation and marched to the tune of the Spanish national air, the Paso Doble Marcha de Cadiz.
“As was customary in past executions, we filed past the body to view it for the last time. When we were commanded ‘eyes left,’ I did not shut my eyes as I did at the sight of the several reos whose heads were blown off by rifle fire. I wanted to see the face of the man for one last time. Rizal lay dead on the dewy grass. The day had started and I realized that I was gazing on the face of the great Malayan; that I was witnessing history in the making.”

[Source: Alberto Mendoza, “I saw Rizal Die,” Sunday Times Magazine 29 December 1949, pp. 10-11.] |Emil Justimba

Alarm Clock Used In The Past

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Harmony Of Voices In Two

"I think the best duets are those where there's a dialogue back and forth, and then the two singers go into a thing together"

-  John Prine

Let's get this scrutinized, but lo and behold! I was taken by a breeze with the harmony. As a member of the choir - i could comment based on my musical experience that these two did ROCK IT!

It was amazing.


No bias or sorta keeping it afloat for the sake of giving praise because he's part of our English Choir Group at church, but indeed the blending and the apparent chemistry soars.

I can also sense a coolness of innocence from these two - out of singing the song but it radiates the trueness of spirit.



Rock on!!!!







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Ipinagbabawal Na Mga Paputok 2019

The time has come. Paputok here we go. 🤜🤛 🥳


Let's be self-aware at magpa-alalahanan ang bawat isa. Sa mga bibili at papunta palang sa tindahan ng paputok, narito po ang mga "prohibited firecrackers" mandated by DILG.

Alam naman nating hindi regulated ang pagbenta ng paputok sa ating bansa, kaya let's give proper information nalang as part of awareness campaign, para makatulong sa kapwa at hopefully makapag-inspire ng tamang disiplina sa atin at sa sambayanan sa pamamagitan ng social media.

Mga Paputok Na Bawal Gamitin/Ibenta/Bilhin:

1. Piccolo
2. Watusi
3. Giant Whistle Bomb
4. Giant Bwang
5. Large Judas Belt
6. Boga
7. Kwiton
8. Goodbye Earth
9. Goodbye Bading
10. Hello Columbia
11. Super Lolo
12. Lolo THunder
13. Atomic Bomb
14. Atomic Bomb Triangulo
15. Pillbox

Wish ko lang, ang listahan sa itaas, sana di na ito ibenta or bilhin ng mamamayang Pinoy - para sa kapakanan naman natin ito at para sa mapayapang pagsalubong natin sa bagong taon.

Ingat palagi, mga kababayan!

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