third installment
the thursday following three boozed nights and early mornings with johnbee and jr, i was actually looking forward to having something other than beer. the group was supposed to run the course at the fort again, and i had my running attire tucked inside my bag. during that morning, i went to work with little expectation that i’d accomplish much. i promised that i won’t show up until after my position has had the stamp of approval. unfortunately, i’ve just been informed that my appointment as attorney III has actually been signed a few weeks earlier, but this development didn’t reach me until this week, and i haven’t had time to work on any of my clearances. so i guess there’s little reason for me to be late on days on end.
at around lunchtime, i left the office on the pretext that i’d be eating out. i actually left for las piñas for the talk we had scheduled with the residents of EMMAUS. a representative of akbayan! and i took a taxi all the way, and the meter was raking up close to P400 by the time we had reached SM in that southern part of the metropolis. we reached the place at around 2pm, and we still had to wait for the reps of Pag-Ibig before we could start the meeting. meanwhile, i scoured the multi-purpose hall to look at the books that had been donated to the community. there was no doubt in my mind that these books were mere museum artifacts left to collect dust and other particles of neglect. no one had been around here to seriously look at any of these materials to read. there were a lot of books there that i’d probably not bother picking up, but there were some useful books for anyone wanting to expand his mind. the fourth part of c.s. lewis’s the narnia chronicles was even part of the collection.
i felt for many of these books, and i took it as my obligation to liberate them from their imprisonment (this is a petty excuse for someone with a shoplifting record). so i decided to filch a copy of this book to sort of improve my english. i may have been an english major and i’m not likely to commit that many mistakes, but i am not a grammarian, and even the simplest rules are absolutely alien to me. if someone asks me which sentence is correct, chances are i’d probably be able to choose correctly, but it’s likely that i won’t manage to explain why. “it just sounds right.”
at around 2.30pm, the Pag-Ibig people arrived and we started the dialogue. i explained what the meeting was all about, and delineated some ground rules. i reiterated that the issues should be confined to what we at akbayan! and what they at Pag-Ibig can actually respond to. any issues concerning MIDFI should be left out. i apparently did not make it any clearer, because some of the questions thrown to us still delved on the problems relating to this foundation. but for the most part, many of the queries were sufficiently answered by us and by the folks at Pag-Ibig. we encouraged the people to look at the idea of restructuring their loans as a great window of opportunity, and was by all means, much better than living in the streets. i spoke in unflinching filipino, and tried to avoid juggling two languages as i painstakingly explained some of the consequences of turning one’s back at this responsibility. i also said that Pag-Ibig was not doing business here, but offered a service to those who could ill-afford loans at entrepreneurial rates.
after we were done with the dialogue, some of MIDFI’s representatives approached me and thanked me for being able to explain the issues thoroughly. i shook their hands and went down the building as they decided to talk further about some matters which didn’t concern me.
while i waited for my stick of isaw to be ready, jr told me that they were going out again. the run was cancelled because mike would not be able to make it. i said sure, i’d join you. after a while, johnbee and i decided to meet outside of bread talk, and we had to suffer more than an hour of traffic along EDSA before we reached pier 1 in tomas morato. dinner was already a little cold by the time we got there, but the lechon kawali and grilled squid were still pretty good. i had no more than 4 beers that night, and we finished at just after midnight. chito was also onboard at the time. and for some odd reason, i agreed to pay without only a little prodding. hay!
pier 1 used to be a hotspot as well, but this is apparently no longer available. in fact, none of the waiters was aware of what wi-fi and internet hotspot meant, but that didn’t bother me. as the night grew older, some burly -- well, fat and muscular, actually -- men arrived. i wondered what their business in pier 1 was but after a while, they changed into identical black t-shirt outfits, and on their left chests were emblazoned the words: “professional bouncers association”. there is such a thing in these parts! wow. amazing.
and then i went home. the following day, friday, i went to work earlier than the usual time that i’ve been getting there, which is anything but short of heroic and sacrificial. thank goodness for exception from the bundy! i was supposed to meet with sonu late in the afternoon for some succession issues he wanted to discuss but i stayed in the office till very late (around 6!) because i had to wait for info regarding a hearing i had to attend in san fernando, pampanga tomorrow tuesday. later that night, i just decided to leave for the gym. i had to pay off my credit card bill anyway.
i was hoping no one would invite me for anything because i really was interested in investing some time in cleaning my room and resting more than i really should. so it was an unusually uneventful friday for me. and the rest of the long weekend didn’t really keep me busy except to clean my room of a lot of the dust and grime that have collected because i’ve always been out for so many weekends of late. although i was hoping something would happen, to the point that i wanted to take out a few cans of strong ice and just sit it out at the sunken garden, i managed to do a few things while i was unwillingly grounded at home.
at around lunchtime, i left the office on the pretext that i’d be eating out. i actually left for las piñas for the talk we had scheduled with the residents of EMMAUS. a representative of akbayan! and i took a taxi all the way, and the meter was raking up close to P400 by the time we had reached SM in that southern part of the metropolis. we reached the place at around 2pm, and we still had to wait for the reps of Pag-Ibig before we could start the meeting. meanwhile, i scoured the multi-purpose hall to look at the books that had been donated to the community. there was no doubt in my mind that these books were mere museum artifacts left to collect dust and other particles of neglect. no one had been around here to seriously look at any of these materials to read. there were a lot of books there that i’d probably not bother picking up, but there were some useful books for anyone wanting to expand his mind. the fourth part of c.s. lewis’s the narnia chronicles was even part of the collection.
i felt for many of these books, and i took it as my obligation to liberate them from their imprisonment (this is a petty excuse for someone with a shoplifting record). so i decided to filch a copy of this book to sort of improve my english. i may have been an english major and i’m not likely to commit that many mistakes, but i am not a grammarian, and even the simplest rules are absolutely alien to me. if someone asks me which sentence is correct, chances are i’d probably be able to choose correctly, but it’s likely that i won’t manage to explain why. “it just sounds right.”
at around 2.30pm, the Pag-Ibig people arrived and we started the dialogue. i explained what the meeting was all about, and delineated some ground rules. i reiterated that the issues should be confined to what we at akbayan! and what they at Pag-Ibig can actually respond to. any issues concerning MIDFI should be left out. i apparently did not make it any clearer, because some of the questions thrown to us still delved on the problems relating to this foundation. but for the most part, many of the queries were sufficiently answered by us and by the folks at Pag-Ibig. we encouraged the people to look at the idea of restructuring their loans as a great window of opportunity, and was by all means, much better than living in the streets. i spoke in unflinching filipino, and tried to avoid juggling two languages as i painstakingly explained some of the consequences of turning one’s back at this responsibility. i also said that Pag-Ibig was not doing business here, but offered a service to those who could ill-afford loans at entrepreneurial rates.
after we were done with the dialogue, some of MIDFI’s representatives approached me and thanked me for being able to explain the issues thoroughly. i shook their hands and went down the building as they decided to talk further about some matters which didn’t concern me.
while i waited for my stick of isaw to be ready, jr told me that they were going out again. the run was cancelled because mike would not be able to make it. i said sure, i’d join you. after a while, johnbee and i decided to meet outside of bread talk, and we had to suffer more than an hour of traffic along EDSA before we reached pier 1 in tomas morato. dinner was already a little cold by the time we got there, but the lechon kawali and grilled squid were still pretty good. i had no more than 4 beers that night, and we finished at just after midnight. chito was also onboard at the time. and for some odd reason, i agreed to pay without only a little prodding. hay!
pier 1 used to be a hotspot as well, but this is apparently no longer available. in fact, none of the waiters was aware of what wi-fi and internet hotspot meant, but that didn’t bother me. as the night grew older, some burly -- well, fat and muscular, actually -- men arrived. i wondered what their business in pier 1 was but after a while, they changed into identical black t-shirt outfits, and on their left chests were emblazoned the words: “professional bouncers association”. there is such a thing in these parts! wow. amazing.
and then i went home. the following day, friday, i went to work earlier than the usual time that i’ve been getting there, which is anything but short of heroic and sacrificial. thank goodness for exception from the bundy! i was supposed to meet with sonu late in the afternoon for some succession issues he wanted to discuss but i stayed in the office till very late (around 6!) because i had to wait for info regarding a hearing i had to attend in san fernando, pampanga tomorrow tuesday. later that night, i just decided to leave for the gym. i had to pay off my credit card bill anyway.
i was hoping no one would invite me for anything because i really was interested in investing some time in cleaning my room and resting more than i really should. so it was an unusually uneventful friday for me. and the rest of the long weekend didn’t really keep me busy except to clean my room of a lot of the dust and grime that have collected because i’ve always been out for so many weekends of late. although i was hoping something would happen, to the point that i wanted to take out a few cans of strong ice and just sit it out at the sunken garden, i managed to do a few things while i was unwillingly grounded at home.