By the Jal-o River

Paskwa sa Banwa. It's Christmas time in Balete. And every morning starting last Monday, people wake up early for the Dawn Mass at the parish church. It is a panaad , a personal devotion and a pledge to fulfill with the hope of getting something in return come Christmas Day when such sacrifice finds its culmination. It has been ingrained in us. Gifts to receive on Christmas Day or during its long season. We expect to at least receive one from our one of our elusive godparents. This expectation is extended to our doing the Misa de Gallo and the Aguinaldo Mass. It is us and our loved ones that should receive Christmas presents. We often forget that Christmas Day is the birthday of our Lord, or at least, the day we commemorate his "pitching his tent to dwell among us". We often appropriate to ourselves the attention that is rightfully of the Lord laying on the manger. It is us that should receive comfort this Christmas while Jesus remains languishing in cold and dir

Grupo Oeonungan is the political organization that has been ruling the Municipality of Balete since 1998. It has consistently won every political battle from its inception up to the present.  It is composed of all the incumbent municipal officials, all the punong barangays, SK Chairpersons and 98% of all elected barangay kagawads in the entire constituency of the municipality. On Sunday, December 16, 2012, the group is supposed to having its Christmas party together with its supporters and allies. It had planned out all the details about the event as early as November in anticipation of a heavy turnout. In an emergency meeting, the Mayor informed the rest that the core group has suggested and agreed to forego with the party and instead donate its budget to the victims of Typhoon Pablo through the Sagip Kapamilya of the ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc.   This notable gesture on the part of the group attracted the attention of the municipal employees who have been preparing for their 

My life as a ghostwriter keep me grounded on my cubicle for more than eight hours a day for the entire weekdays. In that chamber, only my mind and the fingers do the hard work and yet unable to push out the stale water out of my tired body. Precisely that on weekend, I see to it that I am geared up for the orchard to commune with nature, to rest my weary mind and to stretch out my physique in the hope of regaining its youthfulness. Wishful thinking, that is. Even then, now that my body is perspiring, my creativity is awakened by the visions I was framing along my path into the woods:  As I wandered into the woods, a song played in my mind, "Let thy love play upon my voice and rest on my silence." ( R. Tagore ) The voice seems to say, "Be still and know that I am God." ( Ps. 46:10 ) Then, it seems that it is morning again in my life... My eyes are opened and beheld the wonders He has made. So I went on, following an old trail trodden by ven