...adding experiences to our kids' childhood days...

...as i've promised to our kids, rev and gau, going to the clsu oval became our routine for a week during the suc iii olympics 2010...after watching some games, we used to go around the oval, not because we want to exercise and develop some six packs or so on my tummy just like pacman or make my daughters like krista ranillo's body but to trim some fats,and let out large and small intestines realign to their very comfortable positions to accommodate stuff so we could eat more once again...bwajejajeja..



picture taking is the next big thing to them... the pictures posted here are some of their front page poses ( im sure "healthy kids like them would love them and patronize the magazine given the opportunity to be on front page...hekhekhekhek...)




we also used to hop from one food kiosk to another, (kiosk that does not have food has no appeal to us...jejejeje...because our pockets do not have enough bread to buy any stuff)...and so, as you guessed...we stood by for a couple of minutes to bwajaja, to eat...
...eating seemed to be their habit...mmmhhh including me and their mom who as ive said became "food best friend."

...til then..bye for now...

...mtap division level sa munoz at si rev ang aming panganay...

"wag ka iiyak, nasa labas lang ako..." these were my words to our eldest daughter, ves eva revline, (or rev to us, ves to her classmates and teachers) during her first day in school at the chsi kindergarten back in 2005...

the same statement were my words to her but this time i added "kung di ka makuha sa finals ng mtap."

unexpectedly, she was on top of her class every recognition program. the enormous medals, ribbons and certificate of recognition bestowed to her by the chsi proved that she's undoubtedly skillful and intelligent.

we were surprise when she hurdled the qualifying exam to compete in the final mtap challenge for grade 1 in 2007. to our surprise again, she, together with her classmate jil salas, emerged champion.

this year, in the year of the tiger, she proved again that she can beat her set objective. i thought she was not so serious with her objective of getting a score of forty and above to receive a certificate of recognition. she once told me, "dad i want to receive a certificate, last year i did not get it because my score did not reach 40."

being a mentor, i know that if i will push her to the limit it would do harm to her. it might cause mental, psychological and emotional problem in the future. so instead of reviewing her everyday, i just let her play, watched tom and jerry, mr bean and cinema one. i just let her play the most popular e-net game--farmville and cafe world.



we also used to let her play with her sister, verline, and neighbors, jairus, nadine, roxelle and denise her favorite bubble gun, bubble doll and all the stuff with bubbles. aside from these she was fond of playing lutu-lutuan.

we used to do the math review whenever she wanted to review. for her not to be bored, we used to do it as if it was a normal part of her subjects in school. her mother used to tell her "rev pag hindi ka nakuha sa qualifying, wag ka iiyak, talagang ganoon, may next year pa."

four days before the mtap, we did three consecutive one-hour review (8-9 pm), those were after doing her assignments, played with her neighbors and sister verline, and after she visited her farmville. the tv was on, we know her ears were focused on tv, once in a while she was glancing at the tv to watch santino.


a day before the contest, we just let her watch and relax. we know that this was the best way to relax her mind for the contest.


we went to the venue very early to familiarize her with the venue and for her to feel the new environment. when we arrived at the bantug elementary school, she explored the venue. she went to the pag-asa gym, the covered area. she walked around the school compound and went back to where i parked our car. she went back to me and told me, "dad after this let's eat at rico sagoat kita."

before she went back to the pag-asa gym, i told her, "mag pray ka at wag ka iiyak nandito lang ako."

before 4 pm, her teacher, mrs ellen gan waved her hand to me and informed me, she got 40 out of 50. i thank God for the gift He gave to my daughter.

...pagsabog sa harap ng munoz city hall...at sa naabong pangarap...

as expected the busiest avenues in the science city of munoz a day before the new year were the market, the fruit stalls, the friendship mall, the baratillo, peryaan, rides,food stalls on their new area-the alternative route beside the san sebastian school (baste) going to catalanacan and of course the firecracker stalls in front of the city hall (from end to end) occupying the whole stretch of the lane going to san jose city.

in the afternoon, everyone was rushing hoping to get the best fruits, the most presentable present to his/her love ones, the most delicious delicacies, the most appropriate apparel with tiger like stains or torquise color and the most explosive firecrackers. everybody was preparing to get the most to welcome the year of the tiger, 2010.

the day was so serene, the sky did not allowed the clouds to file up. though before 2 pm there was small rain showers...i don't know but as if it was a premonition..

before four o'clock i heard and saw several explosions in the sky. i told to myself, it was the firecracker stalls in front of the city hall. seconds after, everyone was rushing not because of the fruits, presents, delicacies, and apparel but because of the firecrackers. everybody was so concern with his/her life.

i tried to contact my wife and my daughter. i would like to verify if they were at home. the line was busy.. so i ran from friendship to our house...i went against the flow of the people...they were heading towards the south...thanks God they were there sound and safe. then i went to our store in the market..going there i saw rena and sheng our colleagues, running... so everyone in the house was safe. finally went to the city hall. i took my cellphone and took video.





several minutes after, i saw the remnants of the early accidental revelry... two rushing ambulance carrying injured persons, a tricycle carrying a victims, three burning tricycles, two totally burned honda waves, a mio, an xlt or kc, a van, confused and anxiuos individuals hopeless vendors, kibitzers and the dead body of an old man, a firecrackers vendor ......burned together with all these were the hopes of those who tried to augment income from selling firecrackers..






while the burning and explosions continues, i saw the hopeless faces of the hopefuls... i heard loud cries,


then text messages came... my friends were verifying the incident...
i rushed to the center, i witnessed several victims with many bruises. i saw a man wearing police uniform with the nueva ecija police logo... a man wearing blue shorts and white sando, a very nervous lady in her early 20's, and some kids.





a day after, i went again in the area, i met and talked to a teacher from the deped clsu whom i forget the first name but i know i knew her. she told me that mr. nuque, a very responsible father who has disability passed away because of the wounds and injuries he sustained from the explosions and stampede.
"kasama ang kuya ko sa mga namatay." i felt what she was feeling at that very moment...i know that his brother just wanted to get additional income...

...sa paghahanap ng panghayuma...makikita ang tamsi at asad

...napunta ako sa seminaryo. nagbabakasakaling ito ang magiging tuntungan ko sa pagtakas sa kahirapan.
inabutan ko si zaldy doon. pagkatapos ksai ng graduation, isinama na siya doon ng brother bong angob (pari na siya ngayon). sakto may handaan sa seminaryo sa msc sa e. rodriguez, q.c. nagbukas kami ng halos isang elf na soft drinks. naghakot ng mahigit walong raang monoblocs at table at pagkatapos niligpit din. ganito halos linggo linggo sa mcs. madami lagi bisita.

may sarili kaming quarters...quarters iyon ng mga working students. may inabutan ako doon na taga-pantabangan maliban kay zaldy, taga malbang. valedictorian syang nagtapos sa saint andrew's school (sas). sabi ni brother angob, siya ang tularan ko.

makalipas ang isang linggo, dala ko ang aking gamit, nagpaalam ako kay brother angob at kat fr. joey mission, uuwi ako sa probinsya at doon ko hahanapin ang aking kapalaran. wala silang nagawa kundi ang payagan ako.

nagpaalam ako kay zaldy, ang aking best friend.

habang nasa daan, pa-probinsya. nag-iisip ako ng sasabihin kay nanay. di kasi nya alam na ganito ang desisyon ko. pero talagang ganito ako, di ko kasi nililingon ang aking mga iniiwan.

imbis na deretso rizal mula cabanatuan, sa dyip pa-san jose ako sumakay. nadaanan ko ang clsu. ewan ko pero parang lukso ng dugo, (may lukso nga ba ng dugo para sa isang lugar) magaan ang dating sa akin ng clsu at sabi ko dito ko hahahanapin ang aking kapalaran.

di ko kabisado ang clsu, nadadaanan ko lang pag galing pantabangan, maghahatid kami ng gamit sa simbahan sa munoz. sabi lang sa aking ni father angob, eskuwelahan daw ito.

hunyo, naging late enrolee ako...sabay kaming nag-aral ni kuya nonoy...ayun nakita ko rin ang aking lugar.

...sundan ang karugtong

...seminar sa tsu..

...nag seminar kami sa tca, sa tarlac...

...ganito kami nang matapos bago umuwi...

...maulit sana...

sa simbahan...

...through a scholarship grant, i was able to continue my secondary schooling. with almost bended knees, my mother talked to rev. father jimmy duero, pantabangan parish priest, to accept me as one of the parish scholars. arzaldy belmonte, my best friend was also given a grant.

bingo... the stories mentioned by my mother pricked and pounded father duero's heart, thus, he endowed a scholarship slot to me. when it rains, it pours. your correct, aside from the grant, i was told to reside at the convent so with Zaldy. in short free board and lodging while studying.

to compensate with father jim's generosity, we volunteered to be the cooked of the convent, though we did not have any background in cooking. we just believed that the circumstances would side on us and there were kind-hearted individual who would hepl us in the course of our cooking. so we learned to cook. aside from being a cook, we were also assigned to clean the whole school compound every morning (including the office and faculty rooms and the school comfort rooms and wash rooms every afternoon.

we learned a lot in the convent. i personally treasured my experiences as working student. i knew my dreams which i weaved back in the booster in aya was just few steps away from realization.

i reminisced my birthdays

it was june 11, 1998, my birth date, when i was told to clean the stockroom at the second floor of dcy building.this was in preparation for the opening of classes for school year 1998-1999 at the asian college of science and technology, cabanatuan branch (ACSAT). I was then working in this tertiary academic institution as an English faculty.

while i was trying to haul out of the room the broken mono-blocks with arm rest and the non-functional cpu's, outdated monitors, idle computer tables and assorted documents, i saw students at the ground floor busy teasing each other, eating and chatting about the coming school year. i put a t-shirt on my head to cover and protect my face and my head and to prevent the dust to enter my nose and other openings. there i quickly reminisced my past birthdays which i used to celebrate with the same situation which i was experiencing on that very moment. in almost all my birthdays when i started my teen life,i used to celebrate them with the same as this. i was like an abu sayyaf or a wanted criminal by the authorities for whatever case i had done wrong. unconsciously, i put that t-shirt because i didn't want my students and other students saw me in such a horrible situation. my blue t-shirt turned beige and my maong pants seemed to be a chakki one. i was covered by the dust wholly. no one dared to help and paid attention to what i was doing except dheng, an english faculty, who gave me a snack and morena the school clerk who bought my meal.

i don't know if it was just a coincidence, but for God sake, every time my special day comes, i was covering my whole head for if not planting vegetable in the river's bank or fishing in linwan, pantok or kalbo, vicinity of the pantabangan dam, together with shahong tino or arzalde belmonte, my best friend, i was taking charcoal from the hole where i made as chimney. as i had promised to nanay, this little deeds were my contributions to her to augment the family's income.

four, five six and seven hours after, i presented the newly cleaned room to Engr. Dennis Agtay, our school director. i was then a bit depressed and sad for i felt that education which was supposed to make difference in my life became instrument in making me remember all my past birthdays without cake and candle, without happy faces of friends and guests, without applause and greetings of family and my very special friends and without fireworks and pop songs and without gin-coke or juice as what had been done by teenagers.

the next day, i became happy for the room i cleaned was developed as the school library. i felt satisfied with all my efforts in cleaning the room. my exhaustion during my birthday was very fruitful. the dust which covered me seemed like glitters which will lighten up the dreams and hopes of the students.

the following month, i was promoted and appointed chair of the general education department.(morena was appointed librarian.)

the following year, march 29, 1999, i submitted my irrevocable resignation to Engr. Agtay and bade goodbye to all my colleagues and my students.

on 06-11-99, i celebrated my birthday with nanay, kuya nonoy and myline at my house in #22 h-site m.k.d, talavera, nueva ecija.