Life, Day by Day

Today, August 18 is the first death anniversary of Secretary Jesus "Jesse" Manalastas Robredo, one of the Philippines' promising leaders. A few days after that fatal accident last year, I wrote about how the death of a good leader can set a country back, especially when that leader is someone like Jesse. There are only a few good men in politics today, the type that can lead, manage and carry out good governance. We just had elections last May and once again, the results were a big disappointment to people like me who had hoped that there would be new faces in the Senate, Congress and local government who would bring about dynamic changes for the country.

Ever since the news of the crash of the airplane carrying DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo just off the shores of Masbate flashed on TV, a lot of mixed feelings arose in me. I do not know the man, nor am I familiar with what he has accomplished, but somehow his death became a personal loss. More so when all the stories about his exemplary life as a public servant started to be told. This country and people need men like Secretary Robredo to bring us out of the rut that we are in.  And what made this so sad was the fact that just as the light at the end of the tunnel seems to grow brighter for the Philippines, one candle was abruptly snuffed out, thus dimming the way once more.  I think I am really grieving for this country's loss.

I rarely watch TV but the other day while waiting for dinner, I sat down with my son and daughter who was watching Kung Fu Panda 2 on HBO. Although I saw the original movie, this sequel for me is a much better one. The adoption part of the story appealed to me being an adoptive mother of 2 kids, my now 21 year old son and my 4 year old daughter.  Needless to say, I sat through till the end of the movie. 

Our group of 5 flew from Bacolod to Mactan International Airport in Cebu on November 10, 1993 to take the PAL flight PR 0302 bound for Kai Tak Airport (this airport closed in 1998) in Hongkong for a 5 day holiday.  We were not part of any tour group so that our travel agency gave us specific instructions on what to do and who to look for when we landed.  During that time, there were no cellphones, so that we had to rely on oral and written instructions which were simple enough I thought.