Footnotes to Every Day

The analogy between the Bahay Kubo and principles of Kali as explained by Tuhon Jay Bataclan is such a powerful concept. It is rich in meaning and insights, and lays down a lot of the foundations of the art.  The Bahay Kubo analogy underscores the simplicity at the same time the complexity of how our forefathers developed and taught the art, especially during a time when they were prohibited by colonizers to practice any form of martial discipline.  The way our forefathers hid concepts and techniques of Filipino martial arts in everyday objects and activities demonstrates Filipino ingenuity, resourcefulness and resilience.  Take for instance our cultural dances, which were used to learn and develop footwork and body mechanics. The famous tinikling is one great example of how triangle footwork can be developed through dance. There is also the maglalatik where the placement of the coconut shells served to teach students vulnerable targets relative to the Spanish soldier...

Our past faults should not define us, instead these should build us up to become better. I know this for a fact, I am a product of my many mistakes, and I know that I am a better person for it.  Thirty years ago, when we were 15 and 16 year olds, our barkada did one of the gravest offense our high school's history. We set an improvised bomb in the Science faculty room.  But before I proceed, just a quick disclaimer: we did it when no one was there, at night, so there was no intention to hurt anyone.  It was meant to be an act of defiance, a misplaced one at that. Yes it was foolish, and yes we paid for it, in more ways than one.  Why did we do it? Long story short, we were boys who wanted to accelerate our manhood. We thought we were being cool, but we were really just being reckless and we didn't know any better.  How did we do it? That is a story best told over bottles of beer, not here.  We almost got away with it too, but we learned early in life that ...

My Beta Sigma journey began 28 years ago, when I made what I consider as my first adult decision. As a college freshman, despite the disapproval of my parents, I joined the Fraternity. I was 16 years old.  It was one of the best decisions of my life.  Beta Sigma was the best training ground for young men like me, the Fraternity prepared us well for life. It set us up for success no matter the path we chose. It provided learning experiences and gave us skills that proved very valuable as soon as we joined the workforce.  Key competencies like interpersonal communication skills, problem-solving, critical thinking, decision-making, negotiation skills, teamwork and leadership. All these I learned from the Fraternity, all these became part of my strengths as a manager, as a leader.  But more than the skills and leadership training, what was even more important was embodying the doctrines of the Fraternity. Foremost among these were our Betan Principles.  The five pr...

Don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself. Over the course of our journey through life there will be many crossroads. Times when we have to make life or career changing decisions.  Almost always, without the benefit of in-depth analysis, most likely forced by circumstances and often only driven by our own instinct. During these crossroads, there are only two possible outcomes, either you succeed or you fail. But regardless of the outcome, you always end up a winner. Why? Well, because you tried. In having tried you learned and in the process improved yourself. Therefore, never be afraid to try. Never stop improving yourself. Because improvement is growth and a clear path to a better you, a wiser you. Nothing beats experience when it comes to learning. If there’s one thing I realized in life, it’s that we should never stop learning. Because learning leads to transformations. Over the past 20+ years of my work life, I have gone through several reinventions, a seri...

If heaven made him – earth can find some use for him. – Chinese Proverb Everyone has a purpose.  It’s about discovering why we’re here. All life has a purpose and we are all here on a mission to fulfill our purpose. Regardless of our ideologies, race or religious beliefs, whether we believe in a god or not, we all have a reason for being. We need to discover what it is and once we have, we need to live it. We need to embrace it. It should become our mantra. Finding one’s purpose is a journey of personal discovery. It requires truly knowing who you are and what you’re passionate about. We need to dig deep within ourselves and get acquainted with our “inner you.” It’s a process of developing a friendship where we exert effort in really knowing someone very intimately, except we do so with ourselves. It requires honesty, being honest with oneself and truthfully answering some of the hard questions, such as: “Am I happy with what I’m currently doing?” “Would I rather be...

(Photo not mine. Credits to the owner.) I've always felt that there was something liberating about writing. The moment you translate your thoughts or feelings into written words something powerful happens, there is creation.  A writer creates and his work, his creation, takes a life of its own if it wills to. What were once thoughts in your head are now released as words on paper, open for people to read, analyze, scrutinize. They may take action or they may not. But somehow, one way or another, a reader will be affected.  Therein lies the power of writing, it elicits a consequence, which can be good or bad, depending on the intent or interpretation. Writing is an outlet, a creative expression, a powerful tool, instrument or weapon. Used in the right way, one can inspire, empower. Used in the wrong way, it can cause hurt, divisiveness, hate.  Unfortunately, these days, we see more of the later, especially on social media. There has never been a time when we have bee...

I have always loved writing. I remember back in high school dreaming of becoming a journalist and having my own newspaper column. Growing up I was inspired by the likes of Teddy Benigno, Juan Flavier, Art Borjal and Max Soliven, whose opinion columns appeared on the Philippine Star. They were legends. I wanted to be like them. They were the reason I took up Development Communication in college, where I initially majored in Journalism. I wanted to be a writer. However, I realized that I sucked at beating deadlines. So I decided to shift majors. My journalism career ended before it even began. But my passion for writing never wavered. Professionally, a huge part of my work had been writing related, although of the technical kind. I wrote technical proposals, reports, manuals, policies, training designs, organizational plans, strategy documents,  and all the other boring stuff that only a few might read. But I loved doing them nonetheless. Any form of writing, any opportunity to c...