All I Need Is Faith

It is easy to recite 'I believe in God, the Father Almighty...'. Yet when confronted with 'dark night' especially if the night is so long, can we still say I believe?

Many people doesn't really grasp the real meaning of such claim as "I believe". They do claim they have faith in the supreme being when it is all sunshine and they live comfortably.

I have read the story of Job a lot of times. Yes that man who have lost everything: properties, children, health, and whatever else he hold important except one thing, his faith.

And there were some people who tried very hard, really hard to convince him of the futility of his faith. But he held on...

Whatever is in the mind of Job all this time that he had been in the 'dark night'?
Was there a moment when he doubted? The bible does not say.

And then there is the story of Joseph the dreamer. He was thrown in a pit, sold as a commodity to the Egyptians, the Pharoah's wife tried to seduce him and when he refused, he thrown into prison like a criminal. Oh, what was he thinking all the time he suffered injustice? Did he not, even for a moment, doubted the existence of a loving God?

Never ba siyang nagtanong nang 'Lord bakit ako pa?

Job and Joseph, as the bible tells us, that after so much suffering, God, at last, in his bountiful mercy, rewarded them with more wealth and power!

Very dramatic indeed.

There is only one lesson here I guest. God do really want faith from us. To believe in Him even if there is no more reason to believe.

Peace to all...

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Father Amado Picardal Walks 2,060-km

The Inquirer reported today an interesting story of a 57-year old Redemptorist priest
who was able to complete walking from Davao City to Aparri in Cagayan Province. Wow, that's a two-thousand sixty kilometers long. (Kaya ko kaya ito?)

Anyway, according to the report, the priest did it for the environment and to stop extra-judicial killing. And also against the controversial RH Bill. (At least, hindi para mai-dyario tulad ng ginagawa ng iba.)

What makes the report more interesting is that the priest had been diagnosed with a heart disease. And inspite of "heavy downpour and biting cold" and experiences of dehydration and diarrhea, he completed his journey in 57 days from April 1 to May 27.

Mabuhay ka Father. Sana makinig ang Malacanang at taumbayan sa iyong mensahe!

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Pagbabalik

Hello everyone, I'm back!!!!

Miss all of you here. I really miss the "scenes and sins" at blogosphere.

Well, I will start again to blog pag walang magawa. That has been my, say, achilles heel, iyon bang start and stop, then start again. Parang sa telenovela:
magkita, magligawan, magsyota tapos maghiwalay and then magsyota uli.

Sana nga makapagsulat ako ng isang telenobela kahit dito lang sa glampinoy. Kanit walang magbasa, maisulat ko lang.

Iyon ay kung makapag-isip ako, ay este kung may oras akong mag-isip. Sana mayroon.

And this time I hope I will really concentrate.

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Top 20 Individual Taxpayers in 2009

The Bureau of Internal Revenue gas release the names of the highest taxpayers for 2009. They are

1. Manny Pacquiao - the boxing legend
2. Elaine B. Gardiola - well-known DPWH contractor
3. Ronaldo Soliman - with business in real estate
4. Rainero Borja - BPO pioneer
5. Lauro Baja Jt. - UN Ambassador
6. Willie Revillame - Wowowee host
7. Francisco Guerra III - Do we know this guy?
8. Kris Aquino - Who does not know this flamboyant lady?
9. Patricia Zobel de Ayala - sibling of Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel of Ayala group
10. Manuel Zamora Jr. - Philex mining investor
11. Danding Cojuangco of San Miguel Corp.
12. Manuel Pangilinan of PLDT
13. Bea Zobel de Ayala Urquijo of the Ayala group
14. Gigi Chio Ibasco - engaged in construction business
15. Manuel Lopez of Meralco
16. Christopher Salcedo Co - ?
17. Justo Aboitiz Ortiz of the Aboitiz group
18. Piolo Pascual - a famous actor
19. Ramon Ang - president of San Miguel Corporation
20. Federico Lopez - again of the Lopez Group which includes Meralco

Well if you are wondering why some famous names in Philippine politics, business, and entertainment are nowhere in the top ten, well marahil andon sila in the top 100. Pwede kasing bumaba and income nila for 2009 o kaya talaga namang kunti ang income nila as individual pero ung mga kumpanya nila ang nagbabayad ng mas malaking buwis.

Hay naku, if only everybody pays the correct amount of taxes.
And if only the government uses every centavo of the collected taxes for legal expenses at hindi ito naibubulsa. But this another story.

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Entreprenuership

Pwede nga bang yumaman ang isang mahirap?
Syempre naman!

Pero pwede nga bang yumaman ang isang mahirap sa malinis na paraan?
Oo, syempre.

Paano?

Ang Sagot ko dito ay hindi lamang sipag at tiyaga sa pagnenegosyo (entreprenuership)tulad ng sinasabi ng isang pulitiko. Kasama rito ang swerte at tamang paghawak ng pera.

Ito ang aking pananaw. Kahit masipag at matiyaga ka, kung sakitin ka naman, iyong perag naiipon mo napunpunta sa paggamot mo. Paano ka yayaman? Isang pang halimbawa. Paano kung mataas ang suweldo mo o kita mo pero nilulustay mo lang sa pambababae o pagsusugal o sa iba pang bisyo, paano ka yayaman?

Mayroon akong matagal na kakilala. Matagal syang nagtrabaho at naghusay sa isang motorshop. Nagtayo sya ng sarili niyang repair shop. Iyong mga dating customer niya sa boss niya ay lumipat sa kanya. Ngayon mayroon na siyang malaking bahay at maraming sasakyan.

See? Mayroon pa akong isang halimbawa, isang probinsyana na nagtayo ng isang maliit na tindahan sa isang palengke sa Quezon City. Pinalago nya 'yong tindahan na yon. Ngayon may bahay na siya at sasakyan bukod sa nabili niyang sakahan sa probinsya at pinapag-aral ang mga anak sa pribadong paaralan.

Kayo, mayroon ba kayong kakilala na yumaman sa malinis na paraan?

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My Dream Beach Destinations in the Philippines

The following are the beaches in the Philippines that I want to visit before I die:

1. Motyong Beach in Casiguran, Aurora (Luzon)
2. Gota Beach in Caramoan, Camarines Sur (Luzon)
3. San Vicente Beach in San Vicente, Palawan (Visayas or Luzon?)
4. Malapascua Island in Daanbantayan, Cebu (Visayas)
5. Alona Beach in Panglao, Bohol (Visayas)
6. Caliocan Island in Guiuan, Eastern Leyte (Visayas)
7. Dakak Beach in Dapitan City, Zamboanga Del Norte (Mindanao)
8. Dahican Beach in Mati City, Davao Oriental (Mindanao)

If only I were a rich man like Manny Villar or Henry Sy, I would invest a lot to develop these beaches and make it as popular as Phuket in Thailand or Hawaii and thus creating thousands of jobs. In this way, there would be less Filipinos "na naliligo sa gitna ng basura!"

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Change

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the daughter of a former president. If Noynoy wins in this coming election, we will have another scion of a former president as leader of the land. And then in 2016, we will have Mar Roxas as the next president - another scion of a former president. After him, it would be the turn of Kris Aquino. And then she would be followed by Jinggoy Estrada and then Bongbong Marcos and then in the distant future, we would have President James Yap Jr.

And you call this change?

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