May the ‘Force’ NOT Be with You

Whether you call it “Ketsana” or simply “Ondoy” in the local Philippine setting, this super typhoon shook the nation once again making history after 40 years.

Ondoy just took everybody by surprise with its magnitude of damages estimated to be Php 4 Billion in agriculture and infrastructure; leaving almost 250 people dead; and more than 2 million Filipinos affected.

Ondoy’s force belted out a month’s worth of rain for only 6 hours, leaving most of Metro Manila, Rizal, and Laguna, neck-deep.

For some people, it was like an endless Judgment Day when nature took its fury against a hapless generation. Many stranded on their roofs overnight thought it’s going to be their end. Properties, businesses, livelihoods, were destroyed by Ondoy.

On a positive note, Ondoy gave a shattering wake-up call to all Filipinos and to the whole world. It gave us a truthful realization that God exists and is powerful. He is capable to sweep everything we hold on to in one strike. Nobody is rich, popular, poor, or impoverished when nature goes against mankind. This time, we are all equal.

On another positive note, Ondoy forced Filipinos to manifest its “Bayanihan” spirit. We thought bayanihan is a bygone we learn from our history books. But in times like these, this Filipino character trait soars and shines, showing the whole world what a great country we are.

May Ondoy’s memory remind us always that life is vain and short. There is a God who is all-powerful and who can save us. We have nowhere else to go but to come to Him. Our lives are in His hands. IF there’s one thing we should fear, it’s not nature, nor Ondoy. It’s GOD.

Let this be our prayer: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12). Life is precious, life is short. Ask God to teach us how we are going to spend every second of it in wisdom and in love.

May the “force” (like Ondoy) not be with us.

In GOD we trust.

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If There Was A Dream

by Jo-Anne Cuyugan

If there was a dream,
I would call it “you”
To take me to places
Where skies are more blue.

Where the lake is more clear
And flowers sing sweetly
Where the birds are free
And the trees are dancing.

Then I would wish to dream
Night after night
In the stillness of the world
I would hold you tight

The sound of your name
Lightens my window
Sprinkling some stars
For my own pallid glow

The music of your voice
Feeds my lonely soul
The fire in your eyes
Rage against my cold

My life, my world
Float like a distant dome
Let my slumber be deep
I’ll drift in your arms once more.

For if there was a dream,
I would call it You.

Help: My Dad Was Missing Since 2005

by James Parmis

It's been 4 years now since my dad was missing last 27th of September 2005. Until now, my family still do not know whether he's dead or alive. My last conversation with my dad over the phone happened last 4 years ago. He just disappeared without any traced at all.

Today, 27th of September 2009 is the fourth year anniversary of missing dad. I am hoping that my family will be able to know whether he's still alive or dead already.

I can still recall the happiest moment together with my dad. When I was a kid around 3 to 6 years old, my dad would always brought me to any place where he conducted his business all over the Philippines. My mom called me, "Dad's Pet."

My dad was a businessman. He was trained to do business with a generous filipino-chinese family in Cebu during his teenage years. He only finished grade three. He didn't even finished his elementary school days. But I am very proud of him because he was able to send me and my siblings to a very prestigious school in St. Peter's College of Ormoc City, Leyte, Philippines.

My dad was a generous giver. He helped a lot of people in my hometown. He was a good provider to his children and a loving husband to my mom. Oh by the way, my dad's name is JAIME RICARTE PARMIS. His friends called him Jimmy, Jim or Jaime.

Dad, I want you to know, that we love you. We missed you so much. We will always remember you. Someday, we will see each other again in heaven. May God bless us always.

JAIME RICARTE PARMIS

(My Missing Dad Since September 2005)

P.S. - If any of you happen to know the whereabouts of my dad, please email me at jamesparmis [at] yahoo [dot] com

P.S. – I want you to love your loved ones while they are still alive. Tell them, “I love you” always! Life is short.

P.S. - To view my dad's full information: CLICK HERE

“And I Love You So” (A Perspective)

by Jo-Anne A. Cuyugan

I usually hate shallow and mushy films and watching them big on-screen. For me, this kind must be confined to home DVDs and better watched by a lazy, Dorito-munching potato couch.

It took a while for me to watch a love story in the theaters due to this personal bias I have about mushy romances. I would rather watch sci-fi flicks or grand sagas. However, a friend had to poke her guns on me to watch And I Love You So.

It is not something that will bring you to the edge of your seat. However, it will make you cry rivers. This movie reminded me of P.S. I Love You with Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. The lead females got widowed earlier and the rest of the plot have led to different storylines.

It’s more than sympathizing, it’s empathizing with the characters for what they’re going through because of their severely cut off marriage bliss. The pain just tears your heart out. One premise can be derived out of this movie by Bea Alonzo, Sam Milby, and Derek Ramsay: which is more painful? Separation by death? Or separation by betrayal?

Both instances are betrayal in some way. Your loveone cheats you when he dies and leaves you with a vacant hole in your chest. The other kind of cheating is the literal one where he/she trades with another party behind your back. Both of them are excruciatingly painful. Both are tragic. But which one is more painful? Physical death or emotional death?

I really have no answers to this question. I’m not meant to fill your cup with tea in this corner. I just wanted to give some perspective I have about this film.

The comic relief which is supposed to bring ahhh…yes, relief, is not really relieving. They are lackluster to boot and wasted an entire talent in the persons of Candy Pangilinan and Cacai Bautista. I wish they could have been given more part to really tickle the audience. Candy was at her best in the Richard-KC 2008 movie, For the First Time. I’m not really happy also about Lara’s widowed character acting like a virgin. Her inhibitions are a little overacting.

The cinematic topography of I Love You So is beautiful, and of course, the lead characters’ sporting bods are a feast to the eyes. It certainly is a tear-jerker but this time, without the melodramatic, unrealistic dialogues in the case of Lara (Bea) and Chris (Sam); nor in the case of Lara and her in-law (Coney Reyes). Over-all, it is genuinely a feel good movie that intends to not just make you cry but to think also.

And I Love You So is not your usual tear jerker. It has depth and maturity that tackle specific issues about love and life. It’s more than soggy, it’s real.

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“G.I. Joke???” (A Perspective)

by Jo-Anne A. Cuyugan

It was the epitome of the great American hero, well actually, heroes. They are tough, so technologically advanced, indeed very smart, and possessing powers bordering between technology and the supernatural. They are the fictitious elite military offshoot unit, the G.I. Joe.

Watching the reincarnation of this well-loved 80s popcorn movie is like a travel back in time yet with the outstanding technology involved, you think it’s an original. The G.I. Joe of the 21st century provides a more stellar performance bringing you to the edge of your seat and surprising you with more realistic actions…thanks to 21st century CGI effects. You hardly see the difference between CGI and the real stunts.

What I don’t like about the movie is the ludicrously torrid kissing scenes between the uber seductive Ana or the Baroness (Sienna Miller) and her ex-fiance, ex-husband, and ex-enemy. I don’t think the kissing acts are healthy for young viewers. I have even seen toddlers inside the cinema and they should not be witnessing things like that. I’m not sure if those very torrid kisses are necessary in the first place.

What I loved about the film was the human interest stories behind the characters. Whether they are the Joe heroes or the antagonists, they have a past that led them to who they are and what they have become. The film doesn’t really justify evil for evil. Somehow there is a reason behind to these characters.

For example, Snake Eyes (Ray Park) took a vow of silence when his martial arts master was assassined by his archenemy since childhood, Storm Shadow (Byung-Hun Lee). You can see the ensuing hatred and struggle between the two which started when they were little boys.

The Baroness became an asset to the evil team (Cobra) because of the tragic end of her engagement to her true love, Duke (Channing Tatum). She blames Duke for leaving her and letting her brother ‘die’ in the battlefield. Her brother later on becomes the greatest nemesis of the Joes, The Doctor/Rex (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

The story behind all these characters did not fail to surprise the audience. The drama parts were not superficial in their execution. Over-all, this film is not a really a palate for award-winning bodies, but it surely is a certified Hollywood buster for film buffs like me. I think it hit the box office charts really, really well.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, is more than your typical popcorn movie, in essence, it has depth, material, and great cinematic librettos. Actually, this G.I. Joe is not a joke…at all.

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