Diplomacy – getting what you want while others think they did too

From What the eyes cannot see

Diplomacy has long been a weapon of peace and of war. Ancient civilizations have sent diplomats far and wide to either beg or bully all in the name of sovereign might. Of course back then being a super power meant having vast amounts of cacao tree farms, enormous acres of sugar plantations, unlimited number of slaves from poor nations, or having bullions of gold deposits.

The queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, has always been thought as a master of this craft on diplomacy; through her intellect and her sensual ways, she had captivated not just the Roman generals Julius Ceasar and Mark Anthony to whom she loved, but she also captivated the hearts of everyone in the world. Shrewd and cunning, she slithered her way passed the pitfalls of her dynasty when she took control of Egypt and almost succeeded in keeping her country as an independent nation against the invading Romans. Her story has a lot to do with the various fields of influencing including the art of persuasion, seduction and diplomatic power.

To lessen your worries, extend your influence over them.

I always had great reverence to those people who can not only create this wide circle of influence around them, but being able to sustain such for an extended period of time. It is very rare these days that we would come across someone so exceptional that their area of concern seems to be the same or continues to shrink down to an even tinier amount.

Diplomatic leverage is like a Holy Grail for me too, how can I continue to work towards getting more control over my life while shaking some gremlins off my back at the same time? Build your network – this has always been the single most important message that our previous Client Manager has taught me. So far things are progressing really well at this stage I am slowly realizing that it is not how much you know anymore, it is about who you know. In this society, diplomatic relations is the name of the game. If you do not know anybody, then you are a nobody. Hell, the Philippines have the USA behind our backs when China starts to push us around on the topic of the Spratley’s, I guess this is the simplest form of Diplomacy at work and it surely did work in our favor.

Oh wait! Just when I was about to post this blog I saw this video showing one of Noynoy’s appointed ambassadors to China! This is very disappointing!




God save us!

Political Dynasties and Corruption of Power

From What the eyes cannot see

There is this show called Investigative Documentaries by Malou Mangahas on GMA News TV about the political dynasties and corruption of power in the Philippines. I honestly did not get the chance to watch the whole set as I only saw the last 20 minutes of it but I can say, I saw what I needed to see. Malou Mangahas and the political analysts that she interviewed easily worded my thoughts about politics and corruption in the Philippines to a T. There were two points that have really come across, that to me is really the root cause of the relentless problems we are facing right now both in our economic competitiveness and our national security.

The root causes of our problems are two-pronged of the same shit – POLITICAL DYNASTIES and LACK OF EDUCATION. Amidst the entire conundrum, it is in these two where poverty, terrorism, criminality, larger gaps between the rich and the poor, lack of national patriotism and pride, hopelessness and the absence of economic attractiveness stems from.

In the documentary, it said that there are 150+ political classes all throughout the 12 regions of the Philippines, this leaves us with more than 10 political clans per region. With a country that has barely 130 cities, this is a big problem. The concept of competitiveness requires a myriad of options to choose from – if A does not work, maybe B will or C or D and so on. It is in the competitive nature of both our local and national politicians that we should be basing our electoral votes from. But how come we still continue to vote for the same people who stole our tax money over and over again? The Amaptuan’s still won (if I am not mistaken) 19 local government positions in Maguindanao during the recent elections even after they have massacred 58 people – two years ago to this month. How can the people of Maguindanao still have this patronage over this clan when they even created 15 additional municipalities in their locality just so they can request for more money through the IRA? Yet when the GMA News team went to these municipalities, they all looked like ghost towns? Isn’t corruption very apparent to these people?

One political analyst said that unless we EDUCATE these people in letting them understand that the Ampatuans did not spend for the education, public infrastructure/services, security and etc for the people in Maguindanao, but rather, these were government monetary allocations for the people of Maguindanao in the first place – only then will they realize that they have been fooled again and again.

In addition to the lack of education in this country, the corrupt political leaders also kept the Philippines’ population for the self-confessed-poor-and-hungry to 30%. Because as part of these corrupt leader’s formula to stay in power is to psychologically have the poor depend on them for their most basic needs. “Unless we address poverty, educating the masses on choosing the correct political leaders will never materialize.” said one political analyst, “Because it is hard to preach to an empty stomach.”

This explains why we still chose political leaders that have the same last names – look at the house of senate and count the dynasties you see in there. How about the house of Congress? Your mayoralty candidates who are these names that are butting heads? Don’t they belong to very well know political dynasties? Now that we have seen what these political dynasties can do to us, why not choose for another candidate to run our government with fresh eyes?

But personally, I think there is still hope for things to change for the better even with the current “stalemate”. It is our job and responsibility as citizens who have a better understanding about these issues to spread the word. We should not grow tired of watching the news and take part in the change that we want to see. We should throw away our concept of “Sa balita, puro pulitika na naman, laging nag aaway, wala na talagang pag-asa ang Pilipinas.” This mindset will only aggravate our situation, we need to start acting as intellectuals and take part in the changes that we can help influence.

The Two Pillow Hypothesis

From What the eyes cannot see

Around two or three nights in month I would get this nasty problem of dozing off into dreamland. Some days are so-so and there are some days that I absolutely cannot afford to be staring at the ceiling the entire night. The tendency of night crawlers like me is that we really have to keep counting the number of hours slept for every 24.

Compulsively, we have this habit of always looking at the clock right before we sleep, and again on the minute that we wake up. This works fine until you realize that those nights where your eyes will stay as wide as an owl’s, not that I am denying that my eyes are already as big since the day I was born, you would find yourself staring at the time and literally see it moving minute by minute, hour after hour! And trust me, this looks all nice in the movies where you see that old grandfather clock move its minute and hour hands really fast but in real life it’s this paaiiiiiinfully slow, mind-joggling, sanity-breaking tortuous experience!

My second sleeping problem has always been that my creative mind is most active when I am in that limbo/slumber state. I can think of the most profound of things, open a can of memories and watch it like a movie, get brilliant ideas out of thin air – all absolutely at the wrong freaking time!

The next logical thing to do to get back the control of my sleeping patterns was to try various techniques that I heard from my friends, read in magazines/newspapers, saw on tv/internet and some classic home remedies. I’ve tried slapping myself, drinking bottles of hot milk, ate to the brim, did some yoga postures and even tried counting sheep but none seemed to work. (Oh, except for drinking myself to sleep of course).

Until came the Two-Pillow hypothesis, the Eureka moment was to trick my own body by not telling it to go to sleep! Hell, that didn’t work for years why not try it in reverse, right? Instead of drinking hot milk, I drank a glass of cold water. Instead of having one pillow for sleeping, I had two to recline by back by 30°! And it worked wonders for me! In a span of around 10 minutes or so, I am able to slowly get some z’s into my system. The part where my head gets all hyperactive? Well, I kept it that way too, since mandatorily shutting down my brain cells won’t make things any better. But to my surprise, this truly worked for me even until today.

The Karnaval

From What the eyes cannot see

One August evening on the night of the mid-year party in the Sarrosa Hotel Grand Ballroom, the Wiproites were treated to a phantasmagorical event that had raised the standards for all party goers. It is no longer just about food, music and fun; but it is also about carnival-like revelry. And that is what our Wipro engagement team The Krewe, gave us, the theme for this year was THE KARNAVAL. Proving that company parties are more than just getting entertained, it is about being part of the occasion. This could not have been more apparent than the princesses that embraced the theme of the festivities as they flaunted their costumes on the red carpet with their tsunami walk.

The huge crowd that night was amazing. The Wiproites came with their best outfits that some people almost could no longer recognize each other; they had to do a second glimpse as everyone was dressed to kill – a 360 turnaround from the daily “look” they got used to seeing in the office.

No one could pump up the crowd better than the dance group, BeaT All-Starz, as they shook up the stage like huge church bells instantaneously gathering up the swarm of people as they kick started the party! BeaT All-Starz, teach me how to dougie!

And all throughout the evening we were serenaded and awed by the performers for the “We’ve Got Talent” competition. All the surviving contestants were vying for the top prize that night so every groove, pitch and melody had that extra dose of attitude that electrified the audiences. Everyone had been brought to laughter, poignancy and all the wavelengths in between by the myriad of performances showcased that night. Truly, everyone was a winner. And kudos to Thony Carl Castro for bagging the biggest prize with his rendition of the F.U. song by Cee Lo Green.

The mid year party is also a night of giving back credit where credit is due because Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) after all. So the certificates of recognition with a couple of gift checks were handed out to those people who deserved them. They did not only work hard for the first two quarters of the year, but they also were top notch in their field. The names were called, the cameras were flashing and every top performer had their glorious moment on stage.

Walking With Mortals

From What the eyes cannot see

The world stands still, yellow lights hit the pavement, cool air around and the moon hangs above. The car engine roars at three in the morning as I whisk through the road leaving clouds of smoke behind. An open black sky serves as the window of heaven where the gods watch me as I squander away my time; baffled as I raise my hand up as if feeling the water from the gust of wind at my palm. I have driven by vehicles and vehicles have driven me by, some seem to be in a hurry and some take their time.

This is a true allegory of life in the fast lane, a life where everything just runs you by whether you are in for the ride or not. No matter how hard you keep up, some will still outrun you and you will outrun some.

By the town’s corner, people are still up working in fast food chains, the crew didn’t look tired at all wearing their smiles well. Who can blame industry when deep inside it is all in a day’s work? Like the newspaper boy lining up his merchandise all geared up for the next six hours, I bet he won’t be smiling though. They all have to make a buck just as I do.

I guess simple dreams are harder to reach these days – they are just too costly. What work requires of us is not essential to our being, but is essential to our existence.

As I move along, I was hypnotized by these big buses whose headlights cut blindingly through the windshield. As if they are Katanas inviting a hara-kiri. Whoever accepts will be enticed to do so, as the whole scene can be masked as a genuine road accident. I opted to swerve away – challenges aren’t supposed to be faced head on; sometimes I have to learn to pick my battles. Like the people walking on the side of the road bringing their net bags as they make their way to the wet markets or the people cooking at four in the morning to fill their eateries with freshly cooked food.

We can never slay a leprechaun, ride a dragon, capture a Sasquatch… these are but dreams. A dosage of unique insights from time to time will help me put things in perspective and sooner or later, put me in a situation of acceptance.

The Born Identity

From What the eyes cannot see

A lot of Filipinos are desperate for identify, a mark or a set of markings that will truly differentiate us from other nations in the world. We try to say that culturally we are very hospitable, warm, prayerful, hard working, family oriented and so on. This need of distinctiveness may have stemmed from the fact that we do not belong to any specific race, we are not pure in blood; we are mixtures of human breeds. The fact is, there are only three major races in the world, these are the Caucasoid “White”, Mongoloid “Yellow” and Negroid “Black” – and the Philippines (previously known as Filipinas) have been a melting pot for these races for thousands of years. And to make matters worse, we never had a chance to have our very own government, we were like little infants when we were conquered by the Spaniards. We didn’t know of any integrated culture before they came, we did not even have inter-island communication then. And so, for almost 400 years we were born, bred and branded by our conquerors. And today we are barely turning on our 66th year of true independence since the Americans – compare that to Egypt’s 5,000 years of independent civilization!

This is why that majority of Filipinos never had that sense of patriotism towards its own flag because we never had any unifying event in the history of our country. We did not forge our government thru the furnace of blood and sweat like the Americans did. We have not instituted our own kingdom dynasties like the Chinese. We do not know of ancient ancestors from which we came from like how people in Africa do. So where do we position ourselves and our true culture and identity (if we have one)? We are just a nation who happens to be living in the shadows of what is being dictated to us by the Spaniards, Japanese and the Americans during their colonial years. We never really worked for the sake of our country and fellowmen; we just did not think of it that way, we were subjugated to be ignorant, we were born and bred just to obey… we just moved our asses because these colonizers might kick our butt if we do not do what they ask of us.

When the day came that we were finally a free country, people were like little children clawing their way to the very top positions of government. Not truly understanding what its essence is - to unite the Filipinos and to serve its people. The sovereignty and its inherent powers seem to attract politicians after politicians whose gargantuan desire for power and corruption just continues, like a bad addiction triggered by years of oppression and colonial rule. Until now, the second generation still have that same mindset of always looking for immediate selfish unwarranted gratification. And sadly, even if it means backstabbing, mud slinging, outright lying or just pure hypocrisy, we seem to still think that we have these positive traits in us – that we are hospitable, warm, prayerful, hard working, family oriented. But seriously, do we truly reckon that these traits are characteristic of a Filipino? Or are we just fooling ourselves?

F and E

From What the eyes cannot see

When you wake up at the break of dawn
Head’s racing, telling you something’s wrong
Negativity flows thru your veins
Like newly found springs of endless pain

Do not give in to your heart’s worries
It will suck your spirit like leeches
Force them all out and be in control
Right before it gobbles you up whole

The true might of our search for resolve
Intrinsic, tucked in a secret cove
Take time to go thru a self voyage
For it’s key to nurturing courage

Remember what fear’s enemy is
It’s neither aplomb nor assurance
Valued even at its thinnest slice
Is the LOVE that has no matching price

When the sky trembles and stars fall
Reach for your phone and give me a call
I’ll pick up at the first waking tone
Never ever fret or be forlorn

I will sprint to you with a surprise
And we’ll just stare at each other’s eyes
Give you your favorite warm brownie cup
To guarantee you’ll have your chin up

No treasure in all present day worlds
Could ever match heartfelt spoken words
When you tell me that you are happy
Coz I too am bursting with gaiety

All I want is to keep you smiling
Know that you’re truly mesmerizing
We hold hands and hug each other tight
Dance thru this life till the morning light