Pangangalampag

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An impressive exhibition of raw talent.

This is a facebook video from a friend's friend which I found to have some relevance to some issues in our country.

On a lighter note: Looking at the improvised instruments the guy is using, some funny thought popped up in my mind. I thought if someone would do something like that in Metro Manila today where residents there are experiencing a case of water shortage for days now and are lining up outside the streets bringing with them all sorts of water container they could get waiting for the water trucks to come by, people might think that's probably what happens when frustrated and angry people undergo water crisis -- they'll protest artistically beating their water containers to call government attention to their desperate condition. :-)

On a serious thought: According to reports, about 53% of the water supplied from Anggat Dam to the consumers go to waste through leakages in the distribution system. What a remarkable waste! Also, according to the new DPWH secretary, since the dam was privatized the consumers now are at the mercy of the dam's owners when it comes to matters of priority when low water level conditions occur.

This recurrent persistent water "shortage" situation affecting some areas in Metro Manila seems to remind of the situation of our national government's resources. Huge wastage resulting from mismanagement, inefficiency, corruption, scarcity, etc. are sorrounding the problem. How the new administration handles this water problem will tell something about their quality of leadership. Will they approach the problem the hard but right way, or will they handle it the quick and easy wang-wang way?

Mga Tagapagtangkilik Ng Wang-Wang

"Betrayal" Of Party-list Law
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualified a big businessman who wished to speak for small entrepreneurs, but ruled that a wealthy political scion can represent marginalized security guards and tricycle drivers in the House of Representatives.

The Comelec has voted 4-2-1 to allow Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo to represent the party-list group Ang Galing Pinoy, but Election Chair Jose Melo said the poll body’s latest ruling and that on another party-list group, Ang Kasangga, were “contradictory.”

Election Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle, Elias Yusoph and Armando Velasco—all members of the second division except for Yusoph—approved Arroyo’s assumption of office as the first nominee of a group that claims to speak for the guards and drivers.

Commissioners Gregorio Larrazabal and Rene Sarmiento of the first division dissented, saying a “yes” vote would be a betrayal of the party-list law.

Melo did not take part in the voting.

Asked on Tuesday if it would be dangerous for the Comelec to issue two conflicting decisions on party-list groups, he replied in the affirmative. He also said those opposed to the en banc ruling could seek a restraining order from the Supreme Court.

Militant groups are determined to block Arroyo, the eldest child of the former First Couple and a former representative of Pampanga, from again taking a seat in the House.

Through its secretary general Renato Reyes, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the Comelec ruling “is utterly despicable and truly destroys the essence of the party-list system.”

Reyes also said Arroyo’s presence at the opening of Congress on July 26 would “insult the entire Filipino people.”

Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro Casiño, whose colleagues had earlier sought Arroyo’s disqualification as Ang Galing Pinoy nominee, said the Comelec ruling allowed those in power and in positions of influence to coopt the party-list system.

He said Bayan Muna would appeal the ruling before the high court.

Click here to read full text.

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Kailan kaya tuluyang mawala ang Wang-wang na pag-iisip ng karamihan sa mga taga-Comelec? Pero mga taga-Comelec lang ba ang may bahid ng Wang-wang na mentalidad?

Bakit kaya na kung pagdating sa pagsunod o pagpa-iral sa batas ay hindi pa rin mawala-wala itong ating lumang pag-iisip at pag-uugali na kung may pagkakataon ay sumasamantala sa kapangyarihan upang tangkaing baluktotin o impluwensyahan ang sistema ng ating batas para sa isang hangarin sa pamamaraang labag sa kung ano ang dapat, wasto, at tamang gawa?

Kailan pa kaya tayo tunay na magbago? Kailan kaya ang Wang-wang tuluyang maalis hindi lang sa mga kalsada at mga lansangan kundi lalo na sa mga kalye at mga sulok ng ating mga puso at isipan kung saan dito ang pugad nito?

Binibigyan tayo ngayon ng panibagong pagkakataong magbago, magbago ka ba o wawangwang-wangwang ka pa rin?

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Building Our Nation With Living Stones

An Interview of Dylan Wilks
By Bo Sanchez

Dylan Wilk was born to a poor family. But at the young age of 20, he started a computer games company that made him a millionaire. Soon, Dylan operated in nine countries and ran his own TV channel. Then at the age of 25, Dylan sold his company for multi-million British pounds. He became the ninth richest person in the Great Britain under the age of 30.

But one night, while lying in bed, he was distressed by a nagging question that wouldn't let him sleep.

"God, why am I rich?"

He asked if there was a reason for his immense wealth. Ironically, he also felt terribly empty inside. This, despite his ability to have any kind of pleasure he wanted. He had just bought himself a brand-new Ferrari and took one holiday after another. But he was discovering that pleasure was like fire... it constantly needed more fuel to keep it going.

And he realized he would never be happy in the path he was taking.

One day, a Filipina friend visited him. She said she felt guilty going there because her plane fare could have built two homes for the poor. That made Dylan pause. How can you build two houses for that measly amount? He decided to investigate.

In January 2003, he visited the Philippines. And for three hours, Gawad Kalinga (GK) Director Tony Meloto brought Dylan to different GK villages for the poor. With his own eyes, he saw something that would change his life forever...

Bo: What did you see on that day?

Dylan: I saw hope. More than newly built houses, I saw transformed lives. We were entering rather dangerous slums, breeding ground for thieves and kidnappers... yet in the middle of that was an oasis...the Gawad Kalinga village. I saw people smiling, men working, children laughing... I've seen many other projects in South East Asia and across the world. And I've never seen anything like GK. This was different. This really worked!

Bo: So what did you do after your trip?

Dylan: I went back to England. I saw my BMW parked in the garage and realized I could build 80 homes with it... and affect the lives of 600 people. I saw the faces of the children I could help. I called up Tony Meloto and told him I was thinking of donating $100,000 to Gawad Kalinga and asked him if that was okay...

Bo: What did Tony say?

Dylan: He said, "No, I don't want your money."

Bo: Only Tony can say something like that. (Laughs.)

Dylan: He said if I was really serious in working for the poor, I should go back to the Philippines. So two months later, I sold my BMW and flew back to Manila. And in June of that year, I made a decision to stay in the Philippines and work for GK for seven more years.

Bo: Wow.

Dylan: I've decided to invest in the poor of the Philippines. Not in stocks or bonds. If I can help in uplifting the poor of this country, I can say that I spent my life well.

Bo: I presume your family wasn't too crazy about that decision.

Dylan: No! They thought I was brainwashed by a religious cult! (Laughs.) So my mother came and spied on me. But she was soon convinced of the beautiful work we were doing and went back home and told my sister about it. And my sister said, "Oh no, they brainwashed you too!" (Laughs.) But today, all of them support what I do.

Bo: You've made a decision to give up your wealth for the Filipino poor.

Dylan: I don't see it as a sacrifice. When you give charity out of pity, you feel pain parting with your money. But when you give charity because you love, you don't feel that pain. You only feel the joy of giving to someone you love. That's what I feel.

Bo: I hear you built an entire village for GK in Bulacan.

Dylan: I don't see it as my village. I just provided the materials. Architects, engineers, volunteers gave their labor. Together, we built 63 houses for the poor.

Bo: Amazing. What else do you do?

Dylan: I go around the world telling everyone that Filipinos are heroic. Because I work with them every day... the volunteers of GK.

Bo: What do you see in the Filipino that we take for granted?

Dylan: You're hardworking. You're always laughing, always eating, always singing. Even in your problems. You're loyal. And honest. Sure, there are exceptions, but generally, that's been my experience. And you have the bayanihan spirit. The pyramids of Egypt are beautiful but they were built by slavery. GK villages are more beautiful because they're made through the bayanihan spirit of the Filipino. It's especially this bayanihan and love of family and community that makes the Filipino more valuable than gold. If you take a golden nugget and kick it on the floor for 400 years, afterwards you won't be able to see much gold, just mud. This was what happened to the Filipino... for 400 years you were slaves and then you suffered under dictatorship and corruption. This is where the crab mentality came from; I don't think it's a natural Filipino quality because every day I see the gold under the surface of ordinary Filipinos. If we wipe away the mud by bringing hope and being brothers to one another in bayanihan, the gold will shine through and the world will see it.

Bo: Let me get personal here. I hear that you don't only love the Filipinos, but you've fallen for a particular Filipina.

Dylan: (Smiles.) Two months ago, I married Anna Meloto, the eldest daughter of Tony Meloto. She grew up with the GK work, so we're totally one in our mission. And yes, I'll be having Filipino children. The best way I can secure a future for my kids is to continue to help raise this country from poverty. Instead of building high walls in an exclusive subdivision to protect us from thieves and kidnappers, I will go to the breeding ground of thieves and kidnappers and help transform their lives.

Bo: Thank you for this interview. You don't know how much you inspired me.

Dylan: Thank you for being our partner in GK. I read KERYGMA every month and I'm happy to see GK stories in every issue.

Bo: It's our immense privilege to tell the world about it and ask others to join the miracle.

Dylan: To me, GK isn't just Gawad Kalinga. It is a part of "God's Kingdom" in this world. Thank you.

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Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently: having been reborn, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, you also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:22-23, 2:1,5).