Now, it's 'Pinoy Homecoming'

(The web site for DOT's Pinoy Homecoming 2011 program.)
THE Department of Tourism (DOT) is targeting to increase tourist arrivals by 8 percent to 3.6 million in 2011 by attracting more balikbayan, especially those from the United States, through a reinvigorated visitor program.

Dubbed “Pinoy Homecoming 2011”, the program is being presented by tourism attaches to key Filipino communities in Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco and other US cities with large concentrations of Filipinos.

Department spokesman and Assistant Secretary Benito Bengzon Jr. in an interview with the BusinessMirror said, “It’s basically a renewed campaign to reach out to Filipinos in the US, because it’s home to the largest Filipino overseas community.”

According to DOT data, there were 3.02 million tourist arrivals last year, 197,921 of which were Philippine passport holders permanently living abroad—but excluding contract workers.

Visitors from the United States, which include Filipino-Americans, accounted for 19.31 percent of total arrivals, or 582,537, making it the top source of tourist arrivals for the Philippines.

Based on the arrival/departure cards of the Bureau of Immigration, 688,855 Filipinos who arrived in 2009 came from the US, Canada, Australia, Britain, Japan and others, including 197,921 vacationing overseas Filipino workers.

Bengzon, currently officer in charge of tourism planning and promotions following the resignation of Vicente Romano III as undersecretary, said among the significant events in 2011 would be the 25th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution. “The anniversary strikes at the heart of the Filipinos, considering many of them joined that historic event.”

The Pinoy Homecoming 2011 project was bid out by the DOT and won by BCD Pinpoint with an offer of P2.9 million. The project “covers developing the concept, audio-visual production [five- minute and two-minute versions], and web-site development and content, design of collaterals and a few more,” according to Romano.

The company has set up a web site for the project at www.pinoyhomecoming.com. The site will provide news and updates on travel to the Philippines. "Apart from helping balikbayan plan a fun and memorable visit to the Philippines by providing itineraries, activity calendars and travel guides, it also aims to make travel more attractive to budget-conscious balikbayan with exclusive year-round promos, special offers and discounts,” the web site said.

(Visitor arrivals of overseas Filipinos, 2009)
BCD Pinpoint was the same company responsible for the www.beautifulpilipinas.com web site, introduced in conjunction with the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” brand launching on November 15, but was later shut down due to negative feedback on content and the URL address.

Asked for more details of the BCD project, Bengzon said his office “will have a look at that separate group. As Secretary [Alberto] Lim has mentioned, we will go through the right process, go through soliciting the bids, and studying the proposals.”

Under the term of Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano, the DOT mounted an annual “Ambassador [to Washington, D.C.] and Consuls General Tour of the Philippines” that brought Fil-Ams from the US, Canada and other US territories to the country for a four-day visit, usually including an audience with President Arroyo.

The program was launched in 2005 but was later scrapped in 2008 and 2009 after the American financial meltdown that brought its economy to a standstill.

Bengzon said “all marketing initiatives” started under Romano will be continued. Among these are promotions to attract the overseas Filipinos, “organizing road shows, travel fairs, continued familiarization tours for foreign travel agents and media,” which he said were “effective in communicating with the outside world” the desirability of the Philippines as a tourist destination.

At present, he said, the department has ongoing travel missions to South Korea, Jakarta, as well as India in anticipation of the start of flights to the latter by Philippine Airlines in March 2011.

Bengzon, who leads the high-level delegation to India, said the travel industry players in India will put together and produce their tour packages for the April–June Indian travel season. “With more than a 50-percent increase in target arrivals from India, the mission will help ensure the Philippines will be in the Indian tour operators’ 2011 tour offerings.”

(DOT Asst. Sec. Benito Bengzon Jr.)

The DOT also said a tour group from India recently completed a four-day incentive tour in the Philippines. The group, composed of 224 key people of Nerolac Paints such as chemists, engineers and other paint-technology professionals, visited Manila, Tagaytay and Pagsanjan from December 2 to 5 for sightseeing, casino gaming, nightlife entertainment and shopping.

In a press statement, DOT Marketing Team India head Raymund Glen Agustin said this is the largest incentive group from India this year, made possible through Cutting Edge, an Indian-based tour operator in partnership with its local associate Shroff International Travel Care. Cutting Edge participated in the familiarization tour for the Indian travel agents in 2009 and has committed to send in 2011 incentive groups covering more than a thousand visitors on a staggered basis.

“The arrival of such a huge group is a direct result of our familiarization trip program for travel agents and media as one of our marketing and promotional efforts for the Indian market,” added Agustin.

Bengzon said since the department budget had come under scrutiny by legislators, the agency is now more focused in its marketing initiatives. “We’ve seen over the last few months that there is a larger stake for the private sector and it has seen the value of participating in trade fairs. We have to include the practicability of having dance groups [perform Filipino dances during the fairs to promote the country], but the centerpiece is the business-matching where Filipino travel agents meet with their counterparts.”

Asked about the initial branding effort that was recently scrapped, the DOT spokesman said there is “no deadline” to come up with a new brand or slogan. “The process will be more deliberate and more thorough. But we hope to have a corresponding TOR [terms of reference] by December. This [process] will take time.”

(My story, originally published in the BusinessMirror on Dec. 10, 2010.)

 

Christmas wishes for the Philippines

(My column in today's BusinessMirror.)

DESPITE the beginnings of the global economic recession late last year, we still managed to cope with the stress of the Christmas celebration. This year’s commemoration of Christ’s birth, however, appears to be more challenging, or the toughest in recent memory.

While the economic downturn has been difficult enough, we found ourselves reeling even more because of certain personal and national tragedies, like the passing of former President Corazon Aquino, and homelessness, hunger and psychological distress due to the natural calamities wrought by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. Now, our kababayan in Bicol face an impeding disaster due to an enraged Mayon Volcano. The massacre of women and journalists in Ampatuan, Maguindanao, by a political warlord in November also continues to weigh heavily on our minds.

How can we have a merry Christmas having gone through or while facing all these adversities?

Fortunately, our national psyche is also wired in such a way, that when dealing with such trials and tribulations, we are pushed to triumph at all cost. And with the national elections coming up in May 2010, most of us have a sense of the changes that we want in government and governance. We can no longer have the same kind of laid-back attitude to life in these islands, because our future, and those of many generations after, is at stake.

So it was no surprise, that when I asked several of our friends in business, government, politics and the arts what their wish was for the Philippines, many of them expressed the same hope for true change to come, such as an enlightened citizenry who would vote for the most responsible candidates in 2010, and a radical transformation of values and attitudes to help make our country work.

Here are their thoughts:


• Alfonso Yuchengco, chairman, Yuchengco Group of Companies, and presidential adviser for foreign affairs

I wish for the Philippines a complete and meaningful freedom. I wish the Philippines would be free from poverty caused by overpopulation and lack of resources; free from corruption in government, and even in the private sector; and free from violence and any threat to peace. I wish each Filipino would be rich in happiness and love this season and always. I wish the Philippines could adopt some form of birth control.


• Corazon de la Paz-Bernardo, president of the International Social Security Association

This Christmas and every day of the year, my wish is for the Philippines to be a haven of peace, prosperity and unity, for the common good. There is a great deal of work and resources needed to strengthen our institutions and improve our infrastructure facilities to meet the demands of our ever-growing population. If we move as one, our country could make progress and provide a more sustainable and prosperous future for our people.”


• Joseph “Ace” H. Durano, secretary, Department of Tourism

I wish Filipinos would appreciate how blessed our country is and to vote for people with the character and competence to use such blessings to benefit as many Filipinos as possible.


• Erramon “Montxu” I. Aboitiz, president, Aboitiz Equity Ventures

I wish that all Filipinos will think of country over self and that we have a peaceful and successful election. I also wish that we take environmental and sustainability issues seriously.

• Ma. Lourdes “Louie” Barcelon Locsin, co-founder, Power of Nine Movement, and candidate for representative, First District of Makati City

My Christmas wish for the Philippines is that the Filipinos learn to love their country and, better yet, one another. Maybe they already love their country. But it wouldn’t hurt to love our country more. And, more important, to show that love.

Will loving each other make our country great? I think so. A country is its people, not its landscape or its quaint customs. Good people make a good country.

If you have money to spare—a lot or a little—give it. When you go to church, drop P500 in the collection plate if you can afford it and not the small bills you keep in an envelope. Do something productive in your community. Start a livelihood project, volunteer in a day-care center or a parish weekly activity.

Teach your children that giving is better fun than getting, and that making people happy is the best kind of happiness for oneself. It can be taught. In fact, it can be taught early enough as to become a way of life for future generations.

Give generous bonuses to employees, giving most to the lowest ranking and less to the big executives in the firm. Bonuses are how you bring joy to those who support you in your work and how they, in turn, bring joy to those who help them help you, like their family.

Don’t complain about corruption, especially if you have no proof that will stand up in court or are unwilling to stand up and help prosecute. If you are just going to yak about it in your Facebook account, forget it. Stop preaching about honesty if you keep company with the dishonest.

It’s not hard to be a good Filipino. Let’s all try to be better Filipinos so we can show that we mean it when we say we love the Philippines.

(To be concluded next week....)

Boracay guests rue longer travel time, shorter vacation

THE new runway configuration implemented at the Caticlan Airport in Aklan is already reaping some opposition from resort owners on Boracay Island.

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has promised to look into concerns of tourists to the resort island famous the world over for its long white beach.

In an e-mail, Nenette Graf, owner of Boracay Beach Resort and former president of the Boracay Foundation Inc., the association of resort owners on the island, said: “Our guests are starting to complain because their vacation is now short of half a day because of the travel time to Kalibo.”

As president of the Boracay Windsport Association, Graf said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) rule particularly impacts on those guests coming from Hong Kong on the weekend to windsurf and kitesurf during the current habagat (southwest monsoon) season.

(Photo from Boracay-budgettravel-tips)
“Before, they can still enjoy three hours of kiting before sunset on their first day, or windsurfing if they leave Hong Kong in the morning. Now it is not possible with three to four hours travel time from Manila to Boracay, or more if domestic flights are delayed. Like [yesterday], the guests arrived in Manila at 11:30 a.m. and [were] supposed to fly at 1:30 p.m. to Caticlan with Cebu Pacific, only to be told that their flight is diverted to Kalibo, and the flight will be delayed by an hour-and-a-half. They arrived at 6:30 p.m. in the resort. They traveled for one day and they will go back on Monday via Kalibo again. They complained, and were given a free ticket valid for one year, but I doubt if they will come for the weekend again,” she explained.

Usually, if traveling to Manila via Caticlan, say on a 12 p.m. flight, passengers only have to check out of their resorts and leave Boracay by 10:45 a.m. to make the flight. If traveling via Kalibo, however, guests have to make sure they leave Boracay by 8 a.m.

Edd Fuentes, owner of the Sun Villa resorts also said his guests have been complaining of the inconvenience of traveling via Kalibo. “They’ve been so used to landing in Caticlan which is so near Boracay, just 15 minutes away by boat. They think Kalibo is too far, and now that’s it’s raining, the travel time is slower and longer.”

He added that the problem is even if his guests want to transfer to Seair, which is the only carrier flying to Caticlan, they’re unable to do so “because its flights are limited, considering it’s the low season. I, too have been trying to get a booking with Seair for my trip this Saturday and I’ve been told that all flights are already fully booked. So my guests may not have a choice but to still fly via Kalibo.”

Guests have also started complaining of the confusion in the major carriers’ check-in procedures owing to their pullout from Caticlan.

Gina Policarpio, a housewife on the PAL Express PR 324 return flight to Manila on Monday back to Manila told BusinessMirror that her family was told by the carrier to check into Caticlan “and we will just pick up our bags in Manila. They even told us not to worry about it.”

But when their group arrived in Kalibo, she said the PAL Express counter told them to get their bags and check these again at the counter. “Why were we told to check in Caticlan if we will check in again at Kalibo anyway? Ang gulo nila.”

Meanwhile, Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano expressed concern over the new CAAP ruling on Caticlan’s runway configuration. He promised to look into ways for the Boracay guests to keep flying into Caticlan without compromising their safety.

(The 70-km road from Kalibo, right, to Caticlan. Photo from Travelsmart.net)
The CAAP’s ruling effectively shortened the takeoff and landing distance for planes in Caticlan, forcing major carriers like Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to cancel their routes there. They now fly Boracay guests via Kalibo and are currently footing the costs of transferring passengers to Caticlan. Only Southeast Asian Airlines continues to fly to Caticlan.

In a text message over the weekend, Durano told the BusinessMirror: “We are studying alternative policies now that we can propose to CAAP, policies that ensure safety of flights to and from Caticlan without unnecessarily hampering passenger traffic.”

He declined to disclose what these alternatives are pending their finalization.

Department of Tourism Western Visayas Director Edwin Trompeta earlier expressed confidence that Boracay would still see continued strong tourist arrivals despite the pullout of major carriers from Caticlan.

“There is no major impact because the number of flights of these airlines to Kalibo are the same number of flights before the CAAP measures were imposed.”

In the first half of the year, tourist arrivals in Boracay grew by 6 percent to 383,313 from the 362,228 registered in the same period in 2008.

Since Zest Air’s second accident on June 25 involving its China-made MA60 plane—the first accident being in January 2009—the CAAP had decided to reassess the runway configuration and landing/takeoff procedures at the Caticlan Airport.

Most analysts noted that due to the larger size of their planes, PAL, Cebu Pacific and Zest Air are unable to fly into Caticlan with the shorter runway, especially during the southwest monsoon, when an aircraft is buffeted by strong winds.

Most airlines agree that the permanent solution to the Caticlan Airport is to extend the runway.

In 2007 officials of CEB, then Asian Spirit, and PAL had already discussed funding the runway extension, but nothing came out of it.

On June 22 the Department of Transportation and Communications signed a build-operate-and-transfer (BOT) agreement with a consortium led by McDonald’s Philippines franchise holder George Yang which would upgrade the Caticlan Airport to international standards.

The improvement of the airport, projected to cost some P2.5 billion, will be shouldered entirely by the Caticlan International Airport Development Corp.

Under the terms of the BOT, the company has up to seven years to build and expand the airport, and 25 years to operate the facilities, before it is eventually turned over to the government.

The upgrade includes the extension of the runways, which would allow larger planes to use the airport.

Attached to the project is a commercial component allowing Akean Resorts Corp., owned by investors led by Francisco Alba, former ambassador to the Vatican, to develop the 16-hectare area beside the Caticlan terminal into a hub for hotels, resorts and shops. “Akean” is the old name of Aklan.

The government allows investors in pioneering tourism projects to avail themselves of duty-free importation of capital equipment and income-tax holidays up to five years.

The upgrade of the Caticlan airport has been dubbed as the first-ever privatization of an airport in the country.

(Blogger's Note: This is the unabridged version of my story on how Boracay guests are reacting to the new runway configuration in Caticlan. The original was published in BusinessMirror's Perspective, July 14, 2009.)

Don't.Call.Me.Liz!!!

"But like many in my generation who were born in the age of longhand and who wrote letters, used postage stamps, and mailed their letters (now called snail mail) in their youth, we have noticed how e-mail messaging has virtually reduced official business communication to informality." (Click Something Like Life for the rest.)

Soooo inggit!

MAY I just say right now that I had a ticket to the George Benson and Al Jarreau concert last night c/o Pangs. I am a super fan of Al Jarreau (if you hear him sing "Spain", you will never have any other favorite singer...grabeh ang galeng!), and I was desperate until last Friday for some tickets. Benson was the epitome of the cool jazz guitarist in his younger days, but became more famous as an R&B singer with hits like "This Masquerade", which won him a Grammy. (Earl Klugh nasan ka na?)

Trouble was, I had already agreed to go to the Plains and Prints event at the Edsa Shangri-La Mall which was held at the same time as the concert, just as the rain was pouring in torrents. I didn't think we'd get the tickets so I asked my other friends Ms. RP and Sis to get together for the fashion show at P&P where Rajo Laurel's designs would be featured. (Sorry, I was late so no pics.) So when Pangs called, I had no choice but to let my ticket go. Grrr.

And now I'm so super inggit because Chuvaness not only enjoyed the concert but bumped into Adel Tamano as well! Waaaah! Yeah ghelfrens, if I knew Adel was gonna be at the concert I would drop youse like a hot potato. Hehe, joke. Hindi naman. Pero I've had this guy on my radar (my ate is also a big fan of his...get well soon Gina!) even before he started speaking in public, and oh my, he is the quintessential mabango-looking guy that gheys often fantasize about. Sorry Ace, taob ka ni Adel. Hottie alert! (Question: Doesn't it make you feel a tad ancient when all your crushes are now younger than you? Tsk, tsk.)


Anyhoo here's Adel's photo which I "stole" from Chuvaness' blog to comfort me. Thanks Cecile. (Geez, now I know why I needed to scarf down that Skolatina from Cyma last night!)

And yeah, I agree, 80's music was sooo good...it just gave us the best themes to our often drama-filled parang-pelikula lives in our youth. But boy weren't those days fun?

Hmm...I wonder if Adel's gonna watch the Petula Clark concert? "When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go - downtown..."

Albay is hot!

I SUPPOSE it was the perfect time than any to travel to Albay, especially given that Tourism Secretary Joseph “Ace” Durano is batting for Mayon Volcano to be among the “New 7 Wonders of Nature.” It would be my second time in Albay, and I just couldn’t take enough photos of the grand volcano with its sweeping curvaceous slope ending in a near-perfect cone.

As soon as she came into view as our plane was descending into Albay, I started clicking away on my trusty camera-phone through the plane’s window, and again as I got out into the Legazpi airport tarmac, then everywhere else we went. I have so many photos of Mount Mayon: its enormity shrouded in clouds, a breathtaking one with a clear view of its entire magnificence, and—past sunset—its brooding figure looming in the darkening horizon.

In a way, I envy the residents of Albay for having the volcano in their midst. I mean, how cool it must be to wake up every morning with Mayon visible through your bedroom window, or have coffee and breakfast while gazing at it from your kitchen? Even the locals say they are constantly awed by her presence, and never get tired of looking at her.

Of course, I’m sure the people living around the volcano’s 6-kilometer permanent danger zone have a different view of Mayon, gripped by sheer terror when she rumbles and growls, and then spews off her anger and spite at the world. They then pack up their belongings in a rush and flee, heavy with worry if their houses and farms will survive yet another of her legendary tantrums. (Click here for the rest.)

An interview with Vampyra

YESTERDAY, I was visited by two cute and perky students from De La Salle's Communication Arts Department. Buchay and Patet wanted to interview me for their Introduction to Print class (of Gary Mariano...he of the legendary cute tight ass, as per my ex-classmate Ana P.), on the reasons I entered journalism, and to ask about my interesting and unforgettable experiences in the field (o dava parang slum book?).

Well, I had fun, I dunno about the girls, who were probably stupefied beyond belief because I didn't sound any bit respectable as a journalist ought to be. I mean, I was very candid on why I became a journalist ("chismosa lang talaga ako") and what continues to inspire me to do my work ("KSP siguro ako...I like seeing my name in print"), because betcha by golly wow! it certainly isn't because of the below minimum wage salary! hahaha. Wag naman, magagalit my editors! (Okay, it's because I have the chance to be near Ace Durano...sigh.)

I thought it was refreshing for me to be speaking with young people and sharing with them my experiences, because I really have no regrets joining this profession. I've been a journalist since I was in College (yay, La Sallian!), and everytime I leave the profession for some higher paying job (as a PR, or government information officer), I would end up back in journalism again.

It's really my calling I suppose. I have the knack for news and to this day, even if I have wormed my way into the "easier" job of being a lifestyle writer/columnist, I still have the nose for the hard business news. So I still can't help but write about these business issues even when I'm supposedly covering a lifestyle event. (Let me correct myself there, however, lifestyle writing isn't as "easy" as it sounds, trying to string words and giving different descriptions to the food you eat or the places you travel to is difficult. How many times can you say "fabulous", "great", and "tasty"?)

I've considered it a privilege to be working in this profession. The pay might be very low but there are a lot of psychic benefits. I have been able to interview many VIPs in government and in the private sector, both here and abroad. I have been able to travel around the Philippines and in many parts of the world because of invites to press coverages and such, have stayed at really fantastic resorts and hotels, and eaten and the most high-priced restaurants here and around the world (alas, except for French Laundry), because of the press invites.

It's a charmed life I know, and I try not to abuse the privileges given me and the friendships that have been formed from all these. I know that when I'm out of the profession, many of these so-called friendships will no longer be. So I thank the Lord every day, that He has given me such wonderful blessings, like the talent to write well and to be chica enough to know a lot of people. And I just hope that through my work, I've been able to serve Him to His satisfaction.

And with that, let me leave you with a photo of my favorite Cabinet Secretary Ace Durano. Ang kulit ba?!

(The hardworking Ace Durano, Tourism Secretary, with the awesome Mayon Volcano in the backdrop, Aug. 8, 2008. Photo by Philip Sison)
As a journalist, I keep a pretty much objective view of most of the officials I've had the privilege of interviewing, and very few have impressed me as much as Secretary Durano, of the Department of Tourism.

I cannot help but admire Ace (may I call you that, Mr. Secretary? *wink*), because while his lolah, the presidentita, and most of her Cabinet lackeys were in China in the guise of forging investment deals (pero actually they just wanted to watch the Beijing Olympics Opening), he was in Albay inaugurating two new tourism establishments in the area. I was surprised that he traveled without a phalanx of security aides in tow, unlike most government officials (you know who you are!).

And grabeh ha, he was up until past 10:30 p.m., patiently answering questions jorjeous moi and Miggy asked him (daming storya yikes! *hingal*). He knows his tourism issues inside and out, because obviously he studies them, instead of just relying on his undersecretaries. He is so unassuming and very humble. (And as the ghey friends say it, so mabango-looking pa! *kilig*) No wonder this certain local elected official likes hanging around him, too. Aba, me pa-press-press pa sya ng shoulders ni Ace! Kainis ha, inggit ako. Da who is this local offical? Secret!

So I am not surprised that in the recent Pulse Asia survey, the public has rated Ace as one of the top two Cabinet Secretaries (he was edged out by Sec. Jing Lapus of the Department of Education, a good friend of mine from way back his agrarian reform days). The moral of the story is, tigilan nyo na ang kaka-japorms, mga Cabinet Secretaries, and just do your job like Ace.

Yun lang pow.

I know what you did on Good Friday

IF the crowds at the various malls last weekend were any indication, hundreds of families spent the Holy Week just here in Manila. Well, I don’t blame them. Why go to Boracay, where it’s all hot and crowded, when you can enjoy the free air conditioning at the malls? It may have been congested like any other weekend, but at least there were fancy shop windows to look into, and you weren’t all sweaty and icky. Never mind if you never intended to buy anything.

A friend who owns a resort in the new summer capital of the Philippines confirmed the same. He said there were fewer bakasyonista in Boracay last week compared with 2007. (On the upside, those who were on the island were Caucasians and other Asians...a development that will surely be welcomed by our hardworking tourism secretary, Joseph “Ace” Durano. It is, no doubt, the fruit of his relentless marketing efforts abroad.)

Time was when Holy Week meant Visita Iglesia, the pabasa, Seven Last Words, Way of the Cross, and processions of religious images depicting the passion and death of Jesus Christ.

Except for last week, normally, school is officially out by the time the Holy Week rolls around. It also heralds the start of the summer travel season. Families are on grand excursions to the beach or vacations in Hong Kong, Baguio and the US. Those who don’t want to add to the crowds in the nearby tourist destinations, or don’t want to spend ginormous sums of money on resorts unreasonably jacking up their rates for the four-day holiday, now choose to stay put in Metro Manila. And, yes, as was prevalent last weekend, they went a-malling.

Many people I know tried to catch up on their sleep and backlog on books they’ve been wanting to read.

Jeff said he was going to watch old cheesy biblical epics. (My favorite has always been The Robe, starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and that greasy hunk Victor Mature. Ooof!)

Sis had house guests visiting and planned to treat her nephews and nieces to the newly opened Manila Ocean Park everyone has been going gaga about. Even Pangs, who is normally in Bacolod for the Holy Week, was in town working on his editorial assignments, although, lucky dog, he still managed a few laps in the swimming pool.

As for me, the four-day Lenten holiday started out with a visit to a dear friend, Swit, whose brother had passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack. Despite the rather sorrowful circumstances of the visit, it was a rather enjoyable gathering with friends. It took us just an hour from Quezon City to get to Bacoor, Cavite, where the wake was, as there was hardly any traffic on the road. We caught up on the latest gossip and basically laughed ourselves silly, tempting the Almighty to strike us with lightning. (Note to self: Never miss the opportunity to go to a wake in the provinces where funeral parlors donate kakanin to the dead’s bereaved families. I unashamedly devoured a plate of the softest home-made cuchinta courtesy of Samson Funeral Home.)

On Good Friday I started cleaning out my DVD and CD collection, as well as tons of books gathering dust in the attic. While I actually had made plans for Black Saturday, I knew I couldn’t finish the cleaning task in just a day. It eventually turned into an unscheduled spring cleaning of all the stuff I had in storage...and by God! I could not believe the amount of material possessions I had accumulated over the years! I decided to make the spring cleaning my penitencia for the rest of the Lenten weekend.

A lot of my CDs, DVDs and books were still in huge cartons, because that’s where I left them when I went abroad to work for a year. Along with some Pyrex dishes and other houseware, I still hadn’t unpacked them because I kept on thinking I would eventually move out of the parents’ house again and into my own rental one day. The attic dust must’ve shot up straight into my brain as I inhaled, shaking me out of my reverie. How dare I go off into Lala-land and think such crazy unrealistic thoughts! Achoo!

The task was sheer burden as I struggled to decide which items were still worth keeping and which ones I had to let go. Sometimes I had to force myself to label several items as junk just so that I wouldn’t think twice of tossing them out (e.g., college class cards), or undeserved nostalgic shit (e.g., petrified roses from ex-boyfriends).

Twice I had to go through the CDs just to weed out the music I had outgrown, such as the New Age woo-woo and shamanic recordings. (Anyone care to buy my Narada CDs?) As for the books, I decided to keep the classics, bestsellers and all-time favorites (e.g., the Dune series), and let go of authors I really didn’t know but whose books I had bought from the annual cut-price book sale of a popular bookstore chain.

Of course, there were brief moments of amusement amid the grueling task. I sat and sifted through old photographs and marveled at how amazingly thin my friends and I were way back when. True, we may miss our old slender selves (hey, round is a shape!), but not the hideous fashion we wore. It also gave me immense joy to note that over the years, we have remained basically unchanged. To this day, we still have the same ear-to-ear ludicrous grins on our faces. Sure, we’ve grown a bit wiser, but we still haven’t lost our sense of humor and our enjoyment of the ridiculous. Ah, those photos are definite keepers!

Two more days of organizing, filing, cleaning and sweeping...I fell asleep each night utterly exhausted. It was finally over by Easter Sunday evening, and managed to get myself to Mass. Everything was in order, packed and neatly labeled. Piles of stuff I wanted to sell were in one corner, and another pile was for items to give away. After dinner and the usual marathon CSI Sunday shows, I laid back against my pillows and clicked on my downloaded torrent of The Robe. There I lay laughing hysterically at the mala-Goma and Shawie dramatic dialogue between Brando and Simmons, and the constipated expressions on Mature’s face. Before I knew it, I had zonked out, but awoke on Easter Monday completely refreshed.

Thank you, Lord, for a new beginning. I really needed that.

(My column, Something Like Life, is published every Friday in the Life section of the BusinessMirror. Photo from BM)