blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

I was in Cebu for a meeting when I heard about the tragedy that befell Ateneo grade school pupil Amiel Alcantara on the school's parking lot last Tuesday. The boy was run over by a van driven by woman who was picking her son from the school. The boy was declared dead on arrival in a nearby hospital. The tragedy was made even more disturbing because it was witnessed by the boy's siblings and the nanny who pushed the other kids from the rushing van. She was also injured. The incident brought back memories of a loss we experienced 30 years ago in March 1979. One of my classmates named Renato drowned in a friend's pool on his birthday. The death was an accident and my whole elementary school was in shock. The teachers had to go on counselling mode and they told the children that no one wanted this tragedy and that it was an accident. No one is to blame not even the kids who attended the birthday party. The teachers said that the best way we can deal with it is to learn from th...

Let me be macabre tonight. Driving along Manila's Funeral parlour strip (Araneta Avenue in Quezon City), there were signs and other marketing "come ons". Way back when my Dad passed away, there were no such things. Methinks the funeral biz has become more cutthroat with parlour owners willing to bite necks for more blood and cash! But then again this represents the nature of our globalized society. For instance, one popular funeral home led the way with free wi fi. Two years ago at a wake of a neighbour, I was to suprised to see the orphaned teenage kids with their late dad's laptop surfing the net. I learned at that moment that free wi fi was part of the memorial package the family had bought. Gee. I thought this was a Dr Arroway "Contact" moment where the young Ellie Arroway tried to contact her recently deceased dad via a ham radio! But the kids were just showing how they can cope with death. The same funeral home is now offering online "burol" ...