Typhoon Ulysses in Central Luzon

I seldom watch the news on TV and the only source of weather update that I have is Facebook. I was aware of the incoming typhoon (Ulysses) but did not expect it to be a super-typhoon like Rolly, after all, the Philippines is a typhoon-prone country. We just needed to prepare for the storm surge or flash floods.

The day just went normal, it was even humid. There was little trace of the incoming typhoon Ulysses except for the number of insects that went out of hiding. By 10:00 PM, it was raining in Central Luzon but not as hard as a typhoon-rain. Meanwhile, in Bicol Region, Ulysses has started to devastate the provinces who were affected by the earlier typhoons like Rolly.

By 1:00 AM, strong winds were beginning to be felt in our area so Meralco had to cut off the power supply for safety reasons. An hour later, the winds
sounded like whistling wolves. The last time I heard of these sounds was two decades ago.

Between 3:30 AM to 4:30 AM, the rain poured heavily as if an ocean of water was thrown against our house. Then the wind blew harder and created slamming sounds against our roof.
I was saving my phone battery so I turned off the data. I was unaware of what was happening outside of our subdivision and the rest of Central Luzon, as well.

It was a long agony of strong winds and heavy rains. The skies were clear by 9:26 AM the following day. I turned on my data to get some updates and to my surprise, the barangay next to us was flooded! What was even more unfortunate was the damage the typhoon has done to Cagayan Valley and NCR (Marikina and Pasig)!

Somehow, I felt guilty for the small inconveniences that I felt when there was no electricity and water supply. By the way, until now, our water supply is limited but it is nothing as compared to the pain and loss of the most affected typhoon victims.

I pray that 2021 will be a better year for all of us.
2020 hit us hard but with everyone’s love and support, we can rise again.

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Online Schooling, Ready Ka Na Ba?

Mainit na topic ngayon ang class opening sa August 24, 2020. Ito ay sa kabila ng banta ng covid-19. Dahil dito, inihahanda na ng mga paaralan ang online class para sa mga mag-aaral. Ang tanong, ready ka na ba sa online class? Pero bago mo sagutin yan, ipaliwanag muna natin kung ano nga ba ang online class.

Sa regular class, ang mga mag-aaral ay inaasahang pumasok sa paaralan para turuan ng mga guro. Dahil sa kakulangan ng pasilidad, kahit ang mga pribadong paaralan ay napipilitang hatiin ang bilang ng mga mag-aaral kaya mayroong pumapasok ng pang-umaga at meron ding panghapon. May mga paaralang dikit-dikit ang upuan para mapagkasya ang mga bata. Bago nangyari ang covid-19 na ito, ang tanging magagawa ng magulang para hindi makahawa ang anak nilang sinisipon o inuubo ay ang huwag ng papasukin muna. Pero may mga magulang at bata na sadyang competitive at talaga namang papasok pa din kahit masama ang pakiramdam huwag lang mapag-iwanan sa lessons. Dahil sa mga limitasyong ito at dahil na din sa hindi pa napupuksa ang pandemya, dalawang bagay ang mainit na pinagdedebatehan ngayon ng mga magulang: online class ba o ipagpaliban ang pasukan hanggang hindi pa available ang vaccine.

Taliwas sa regular class, ang online class ay maaring mahati sa dalawang kategorya ayon sa aking mga nababasa at karanasan na din:

1. 100% Online Class– sa 100% online class, tuloy lang ang buhay. Maglo-log in ang mga bata sa online class website para ma-monitor pa din ang attendance. Dahil online na, kaya nang guro na pagsabay-sabayin ang klase nya; wala ng pang-umaga at wala ng panghapon. Ang graded recitation ay posibleng gawin sa Google Meet kung hindi kaya ng Zoom. Mainam ang ganitong klase ng online class sa mga batang 10 taon gulang pataas dahil hindi na sila intimidated sa teknolohiya kumpara sa mga mas maliliit na bata. Maganda ang set up ng 100% online class kung ang bata ay may kanya-kanyang laptop dahil interactive ang klase. Maganda ang set up na ito kung sapat ang luwag ng bahay ng mga bata para hindi maabala ang bawat isa. At maganda sana ito kung ang internet speed ng bata ay 5Mbps man lang. Ang tanong, ready ka na ba sa ganitong set up?

2. Home Schooling Set Up– online education pa din ito pero very minimal ang interface sa mga teacher; sabihin na nating nasa 25% lang. Sa home schooling set up, may mga guro pa din kada subject pero ang lessons ay ida-download sa online schooling website. Sa home schooling set up, hindi kinakailangan lagi ng internet. Basta may printer ka, ipi-print mo lang ang lessons sabay paturo sa magulang o kung kaya nyo, sa tutor. Ang kagandahan ng home schooling set up, flexible ang oras basta sa loob ng isang linggo, naipasa mo na ang kinakailangang lessons. Ang problema dito ay kung 5 ang anak mo na may 8 subject. Pagtyatyagaan mong aralin ang 40 subjects para sa kanila. Ang mas masakit nito para sa bata ay kung walang tyaga o walang oras ang mga magulang na turuan sila. Ready ka na ba sa home schooling set up?

Elementarya pa lang yang sinasabi ko dahil na din sa may mga anak akong nasa elementarya pa lang. Ibang kaso kapag nasa mataas na paaralan na (high school) at kolehiyo. Halimbawa, sa Home Economics (meron pa ba nun?) na subject, paano masasabi ni Ma’am at Sir na pasado ang pananahi ko o pagkakarpintero kung hindi naman nya aktwal na nakita? Paano masasabi ni Sir sa isang dentistry student na tama ang pagkakabunot nya ng ngipin?

Sa madaling salita, hindi lahat ng subjects ay pwede o kayang pag-aralan sa online lang. So, anong mga subjects ang ire-retain at ano ang hindi muna ipapakuha? Hindi ba dapat sa ngayon ay napag-uusapan na kung ano ang magiging guideline sa August 24 na pasukan? Mababawasan ba ang bayarin o baka hindi na maningil ng miscellaneous fee? Ano ang mangyayari sa mga guro sakaling hindi matuloy ang pasukan?

Talagang mabangis ang covid-19. Hindi lamang kabuhayan ang inabala kung hindi pati pangarap ng ating mga kabataan.

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365 Days DraftDownload

I’ve been documenting my daily musings on Facebook since 2016. Nothing special;I just want to end my day thanking God and then resolving my issues by trying to see the good in every bad situation that I might have experienced during that day.

Please take note that the attached file is only 7 out of the 365 days; I just tried my artistic inclination. I will try to finish this within the year.

Hope After the Pandemic

Today is the 52nd day of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon. Some areas have been given a general community quarantine because of the controlled Covid-19 cases but most areas are still under ECQ (enhanced community quarantine). The IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) would have to assess if more areas would be given a GCQ status by May 15th.

Because “freedom” on May 16 is a little impossible on some areas like the National Capital Region (NCR) and Central Luzon, people are getting worried about their fate on the coming days. On the other hand, prioritizing public health and safety is just right if the Covid cases are still high in an area.

There is hope after the pandemic. I’ve seen friends resort to first time online selling while they are on forced leave from work. Some neighbors offer delivery service to the elderly and immuno-compromised individuals for a little fee. Others cook and sell, their customers are those who are on work from home arrangement and are too busy to prepare food for the family. To beat the boredom, some people sign up to a youtube account in the hope to make it to vlogging. In short, I think that most people are on the survival mode nowadays.

The new normal is in and we are forced to adapt while the cure for Covid-19 is how many months away. After all these struggles, I believe that people will be more appreciative of life. People will be more compassionate. People will be more humble. Where do we go from here? To a better tomorrow, I suppose.

The Charlie and Sheerlyn Saga

It all started with Charlie bringing his five young kids in a Tulfo show to get the attention of his erring wife who was into an extra-marital relationship with an engineer in Saudi. We learned that Charlie is a tricyle driver and had a previous offense related to drugs. We learned that Sheerlyn left in 2015 to work in Saudi and that she had a total of three extra-marital affairs. We learned that she was sending PhP19,000 a month to Charlie and half of that went to Sheerlyn’s family so what was left was not enough to feed a family of six. We learned that Sheerlyn recorded lascivious videos of herself and sent those to Charlie to spite him when he asked if she was carrying an affair. We learned that the engineer’s name is Edwin and he challenged Charlie to have him deported. We applauded OWWA Administrator Arnel Ignacio for his quick action in deporting Sheerlyn, which we later realized that it was a blessing in disguise for her rather than risking herself to get jailed in the kingdom for adultery.

The story did not end in her deportation. The part 3 of the youtube video showed Tulfo and Ignacio with a family counsellor, trying to reconcile the estranged couple. We saw a downtrodden Charlie trying to make peace with his wife in spite of what she did to the family and an arrogant Sheerlyn who sneered on Charlie, the man who used to be her life and father to their five children.

It was cringeworthy to watch and I commend Charlie for being a gentleman all throughout his (ex) wife’s baseless accussations on him. In the end, Tulfo promised to buy him his own tricycle. He seemed genuinely resigned to the fact that Sheerlyn would never go back to him anymore.

There are many Sheerlyns out there who immediately have a change of heart the moment “a better” man comes. There are many mothers out there who prioritize their personal interest before the welfare of their children. There are many unfaithful people out there who reverse the story to make it look like they are the aggrieved party so that their infidelity is justified. There are many Edwins out there who listen to what’s in between their legs than what’s in between their ears.  There are many Charlies out there who feel so helpless. There are many children out there who are the product of a broken family.