Switching On the Sun

Beyond The Ordinary: Servicing the server... The Rotary Club of Baguio South (RCBS) initiated a recognizing body for a club project that aims to give due recognition among individuals from the grassroots who exemplify the Rotary's core value, "Service Above Self" beyond their livelihood. With the objective to rather bestow due recognition to whom a fitting appreciation is due, the RCBS, through its members, busied themselves from sourcing, identifying and validating worthy honorees for the past months. First to be recognized was Marites Castro of Asin last September 27, 2019 held at the Capital Hall of the Capital Building along Kennon Road. Marites Castro giving her acceptance speech Marites Castro is a masseuse plying her trade through home service for 17 years here in Baguio. Making ends meet, she likewise took it upon herself to support indigent families by helping them send their children to school and pay for their other needs. 📷 Pilipinas...

If we are to analyze the very gist of the “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” story, it appertains to an underdog eventually proving his worth. It alludes to a newbie, underestimated to cope up and do well in the big city against the top guns. Much like how it was with Ret. Gen. Magalong prior to assuming his new role in the political arena. Thus, as for his status on the first few weeks as City Mayor, it can be surmised - “Proving siya ‘no...” Indeed (as much as ‘in deed’), he’s proving himself well so far . That brings us to the question, will he be able to sustain his level of no-nonsense approach on good governance? It has been raised, more so among rivals, detractors and doubters, that it’s just brought about by Magalong’s initial excitement and swaggering around. And for a ‘Ang Probinsyano-like’ storyline, the plot thickens by discrediting the protagonist with a critical devaluation of his good intentions... Let’s put it this way, no losing aspirant/contender with a bloated ego ha...

We can be literal about this as much as figurative... Whether it’s about the temperature or our temperament, it’s both environmental in nature. We used to be cool, as people and Baguio in general. What happened? What’s happening? Funny thing is that, amongst our opinionated society, there’ll be varied reasons why Baguio has lost its “cool breeze”. Yet, they don’t see how similarly cold (and cold-hearted) they’ve become, alienating even from ourselves (more so from non-Baguio or non-Baguio-born residents) the warmth in our good-natured Baguio disposition. Either way, it’s a correlative concern within the communal environment we live in. Same thing with how every one seem to have the answers to every problem based from their standpoint without looking at it from a wider perspective. And it’s also likely that they’re not that accepting of others’ point of view; or pridefully apathetic towards an idea different from that of their own... Worse though is from those who’d downplay a good ...

In a world stage if only to seemingly surprise everyone in disbelief, after the little-known underdog boxer Andy Ruiz Jr. convincingly defeated the heavy favorite unbeaten heavyweight champion of the world Anthony Joshua last June 1, the “given zero chance” underdog Toronto Raptors likewise defied the odds and proved their basketball IQ and prowess to be better than the defending NBA champions Golden State Warriors last June 14. Yet before all these astonishments happening this June, we might as well borrow the Toronto Raptors’ tagline for some character-defining catchphrase, ‘We The North’, as “we the north” folks here in Baguio witnessed it first; a similar awakening after the May 13 local election. The deemed underdog, Ret. Gen. Benjamin Magalong convincingly won the mayoralty race against political bigwigs. In a more familiar arena, Manila’s Isko Moreno unseated Erap Estrada. Whereas in Pasig, the 27-year reign of the Eusebios were similarly overturned by underdogs led by V...

After “inhaling a breath of fresh air”, we exhale that sigh of relief... Election’s over! Much like how one holds her breath from a “stinky gust of air” reeking for quite a while, Baguio could now hopefully smell something that isn’t fishy... We are now to breathe an air of fresh hope and opportunity to start anew under a new brand of governance. More than having a new City Mayor, we have a leader! A new battle for this battle-tested highly-decorated leader... To lead Baguio under a disjoining process of sociological duplicity, members (citizens) should first learn to accept its new headship corresponding with solidarity. One man cannot do it alone. We need to unite. This past election saw how Baguio was in a state of discord. While we were given so many redundant options, it divided us into factions. Manifestation of that sense of entitlement with an assumed claim of exclusive right to Baguio under political inclinations and cultural/societal partiality seemed prevalent. Wit...

No to “Voting Blindly”. A lot are actually blinded by their sense of loyalty. With their condescending belief for that of their candidate to whom they seem to be blindly loyal to, they're swayed that that is the sensible choice... Thus, they believe they’re voting wisely. For us though, our loyalty is for the place where the candidate we are to vote for is likewise loyal to... 'The Soldier of Truth' On a different light (or the lack of it as a matter of unenlightened perception), campaigning has become a hotly contested battlefield of the candidates’ respective supporters as well. Similarly, respect for the “opinionated society’s” preference has been blatantly disregarded with their self-patronizing mudslinging denouncements. If none, they fabricate, hence the fake news, trolls and all. And even so, in defense by the guilty, they pass on those real stories detrimental to their image as fake news. They’re likewise blinded FROM the truth, blinded BY the lie. T...