MY ROCKET MAN’S GOING HOME

After more than a month of sojourn and work to my favorite golden city …  that is San Francisco … my rocket man's finally going home.

in time for the kids trumpets show?

or for our 9^th year?

for Juan Channel?

or to make amends?

Its been a long tiring and rocky month but thanks to Paul McDonald’s
great great version …

Im just glad he'll be boarding that plane on the 29th.

R.A 8485 – THE PHILIPPINE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated” by Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher, Internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948)

I came stumbling into this phrase a long, long time ago and it always made me realize that Gandhi was already ahead thrice or five  times a lifetime than most mortals like us.

Animals, though they come in second to the chain of life in earth, are no more different than us human beings.  They are as intelligent like us, with the chimpanzee, dolphins and orangutans sharing the top 3 positions of smartest animals.  They have their own social and family hierarchy, they celebrate the birth of their kind, look forward to their young entering the clan and they mourn the death of their love ones.  

As far as being rationale, these creatures live a simpler and less complicated life than us.  Food, shelter and survival are their main concern.  They don’t strive to be rich nor aim for power, but they do work hard to provide food for their young and prepare for the rainy reason.  Unlike humans who want to dominate every inch of land, they don’t destroy nature or their habitat. Instead they work and co-exist with the environment for  life. And they only kill for food not for money or for vengeance.  If the animal kingdom aims for sustenance, the human society thrives in complications – we devour lust and we go for dominance.

Thanks to freewill (God’s greatest gift to humanity) we human’s have the freedom to choose what to do, how to feel and how to act. But then again, we have abused that liberty. No wonder human values are loosely set making the family system crumble easily .  This explains why there is morale decay in the society … look at the juvenile delinquents, broken families, animal and environment abuses being committed left and right  …  

Thus it is easy to fathom why there is no such thing as a perfect society or world.  If there exist one, then we’d all want to be there. 

                                          TIARA & TENG-TENG

Here in the Philippines, there stands a law that protects all animals from cruelty and abuse.  It is called Republic 8485 or the Animal Rights Bill:  AN ACT TO PROMOTE ANIMAL WELFARE IN THE PHILIPPINES, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS “THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT OF 1998”.  


The bill holds several sections, but I am only attaching the most significant for me:

 SECTION 6: It shall be unlawful for any person to torture any animal, or to neglect to provide adequate care, sustenance or shelter, or maltreat any animal or to subject any dog or horse to dogfights or horsefights, kill or cause or produce to be tortured or deprived of adequate care sustenance or shelter, or maltreat or use the same in research or experiments not expressly authorized by the Committee on Animal Welfare.

The killing of any animal other than cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles is likewise hereby declared unlawful except in the following instances:

1. When it is done as part of the religious rituals of an established religion or sect or a ritual by tribal or ethnic custom of indigenous cultural communities. However, leaders shall keep records in cooperation with the Committee on Animal Welfare;
2. When the pet animal is afflicted with an incurable communicable disease/s determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian;
3. When the killing is deemed necessary to put an end to the misery suffered by the animal as determined and certified by a duly licensed veterinarian;
4. When it is done to prevent an imminent danger to the life or limb of a human being;
5. When done for the purpose of animal population control;
6. When the animal is killed after it has been used in authorized research or experiments; and
7. Any other ground analogous to the foregoing as determined and certified by a licensed veterinarian.
8. In all the above mentioned cases, including those of cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits, carabaos, horses, deer and crocodiles, the killing of the animals shall be done through humane procedure at all times.

For this purpose, humane procedures shall mean the use of the most scientific methods available as may be determined and approved by the committee.

Only those procedures approved by the Committee shall be used in the killing of animals.

SECTION 7: It shall be the duty of every person to protect the natural habitat of the wildlife. The destruction of said habitat shall be considered as a form of cruelty to animals and its preservation is a way of protecting the animals.

SECTION 8: Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Act shall, upon conviction by final judgement, be punished by imprisonment of not less than six (6) months nor more than (2) years or a fine of not less than One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) or both at the discretion of the Court. If the violation is committed by a juridical person, the officer responsible thereof shall serve the imprisonment when imposed. If the violation is committed by an alien, he or she shall be immediately reported after the service of sentence without any further proceedings.

Now there are only a handful of organizations and foundations in the country today working and fighting tooth and nail to implement the animal welfare act.  They are PETA, AKF, Cara, Dolphin etc, and of course PAWS.  I am part of PAWS.  I am only one of the hundreds of volunteer who rescues animals from danger and abuse and documents our organizations different activities.

                                         JR. PAWS VOLUNTEER 

But since we are here in the Philippines, it takes a hundred times the effort to monitor all animal abuses and a million times the effort to prevent it from happening.   It gets even doubly harder because the Philippines is a third world country and there are as they say more pressing problems than preventing drunkards from butchering a dog or for a businessman not to put his bet on a dog fight or horse fight.

 I wish the law has more teeth and those seated in power more conscience to implement the law.

So for animal lovers like me, volunteer or not, we make do with what we have.  Every day is a race against time to save and rescue dogs and cats from getting hurt or abused.  Every day is a battle to enforce and implement the law to all.  And every day we don’t stop wishing for the wheels of justice to be served to all animal offenders. Because as our  modern day hero for me, PAWS director Ana Hashim Cabrera loves to say “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world” a quote from Margaret Mead, a US anthropologist & popularizer of anthropology (1901 - 1978). 

I look forward every day for change in the way society will treat the animals and wildlife.  Because if that day ever arrives, when men will treat animals with moral care and compassion, then that will be the day when MEN  finally learns how to act like a REAL HUMAN BEING . And if this day arrives, the greatness of the nation men has built can finally be measured …

                                                    BAWNY

LUCKY 14

I’ve always loved the sound of the word JULY.  Contrary to the destruction it usually brings, the way it is pronounced is just right, there’s no stress or tension between the syllables.  I even think that people say it with some sort of endearment.

Despite the tons of rain, flood and havoc it brings, July is STILL one sunny and happy month for me. Four special people in my life plus a dozen more celebrate their birthdays on this month.

And I will always love July.  Because this was the month I broke Husky’s glass. 

No regrets, because after 14 years of bliss madness, crazy storms and insane happiness, no one still tops what me and my one true amore have.
. 

MANIWAYA ON MY MIND

 (late for July 5, 2011 post)

Four days from now, I”ll be given another chance to become a better loving person – a more caring and hands on Nanay, a sweeter, more patient and dutiful daughter I hope and above all else, effortlessly keep my record (that’s according to my Husky) as the coolest wife and best friend a guy could ever have .

I hope to become smarter too. Smarter in life, smarter with the decisions I’ll be making, smarter as I teach my kids, smarter with the words I’ll be using as I speak, smarter with the vacations I’ll be choosing  and smarter with the business partners I will get. 

As far as I can remember, ever since I tied the knot, I never really bugged Husky for anything. He is always the one pestering me with what I want and my parents, who was so used to throwing me a party since I was a kid.  This year though, I have been wanting to see my dear Well friends and UP sistahs, so maybe I’ll be throwing in some japchae and kimchi dinner for them.  Soon.

But lately something has been on my mind.

I couldn’t shake it.  Its there every waking hour of my day for the past 3 months.

Ever since I laid eyes on this, I’ve been bugging if not nagging Husky …. “This! This is what I want for my birthday!  This is what I want for our kids!  This is the kind of life I want to have for our family!  Get me this!  Buy me this! I want this!"

So what has finally got me jumping around … drooling … starting new projects and business to finance what I really want for my July day? Take a look ....

This is Maniwaya.  The next Boracay of the Philippines.  Sitting on pristine white sands that comes a little bit shy to the sands of Boracay but as crystal as the turquoise colored blue waters of that famed island, Maniwaya is the next island beach destination of the country.  Located in Marinduque, the heart of the Philippines and the country’s emerging eco-tourism capital, Maniwaya is still unadulterated by commercialism lest by hotels and resorts.  And I hope it stays that way until ….

                                                                      (PHOTO BY PJ AZURIN) 

Can you smell the breeze of sea air ... the scent of sand?  I do, by just staring at the picture every day I visualize that I am in Maniwaya already, living and running a beautiful modern resort (our one true goal).  I see myself doing the rounds, checking on everything if all is kempt and in place, while Husky is in our office doing consultation work, while my parents (yep, I’ll be importing them from the city and I know they can’t resist island living) are in their own little villa busy writing their book, while my mom is busy growing her own herb garden, managing the resorts yoga studio or whatever suits her mood and heart at the moment. 

                                           (PHOTO BY PJ AZURIN)

                                            
And my kids? 

My girl is out there ...  in our resorts very own quaint but delish café  - yes, it is my dream for her to have her own business even at a young age so she can do all her hearts desire … sitting by the cashier, taking orders, picking flowers and putting it on the table she has just set and of course cook! Its all play for her but at the end of the day she'll earn.. 

What about my terrible three year old boy? Well, I’ll leave the white sands, the seashells and crabs for his chubby little hands to play with and the whole island to run and roam around (I"m pretty sure it"ll keep him busy the whole day.) 

And if you ask me what about their schooling?  Did I forget to mention that we will be holding our classes under these palm trees?  Our classroom is this one big island and should we get bored, we’ll just take a Roro (roll on, roll off) or a fastcraft, hit back to the city or spend some time ... somewhere else.  We live by our motto -TRAVELLING IS THE BEST EDUCATION.  

For the time being, one hectare of this amazing island is just right to keep us on our toes ... to work harder, start and build more projects and save harder.

                                          (PHOTO BY PJ AZURIN)

Oh Maniwaya, I can’t wait to celebrate my next birthday on your shores and renew our 10^th year anniversary in your midst ...

A.POT

My giant sis cum best friend (because she stands 5’10 ft) recently defined me as fun, funky and quirky.  I know what fun means, funky too, and of course quirky.  But quirky? It had me pounding hard on my keys searching for the exact meaning of quirky and there it was … QUIRKY: strikingly unconventional. 

  

For the past 36 years, I enjoyed the feeling of sometimes being different from the rest thru my actions, ways and beliefs in life. A non-conformist I am, I sneak past others to  bend the rules just a little bit and go against the natural flow of how things should be.  (Do you find yourself reading magazines or newspapers by starting with the last page?  Do you eat dessert first before the main meal?)

I take to heart the saying “if its not madness, then it is not love” for to love truly is to love passionately without holding back. I work hard to create a wonderful, loving and safe environment for my kids. I take to heart the meaning of what a daughter, wife and mother should be. One whole lifetime is not enough for me and my husky.  I fear not of what tomorrow might bring as long as I am with my family and 13 pets. I fight hard and right for what I believe in life and most of all, I stay grounded and try to remain true to the meaning of my name.    

 I’ve always kept a diary, and now I am just glad to be back on track, though this time paperless.  So here's sharing you my thoughts about the many things that matters to me and that might matter to you someday somehow should it ever suit your taste.