MAGUINDANAO MASSACRE

November 23, 2009 was the date that shocked every one in Maguindanao, Mindoro, Philippines. It was the date when 46 lives were massacred and brutally murdered. One ex-military officer said numbers were actually rising. It was an incident tagged as the Maguindanao Massacre. Morning of November 3, 2008 when a group of women marched to the local commission on Elections (COMELEC ) in the office of Maguindanao to submit the candidacy for Esmael Mangudadatu for gubernatorial position. Unfortunately, Mr. Mangudadatus’ wife and younger sister were among the casualties of this heinous crime. Women were raped before they were murdered. Heads of the victims were bashed and had been decapitated. More about this is contained in my report in Allvoices.

BEGGARS AND SYMPATHY

One of those regular days when i heard the door bell rang. When i opened the door, a woman in dirty clothes was standing in my door step. As i approached, i could smell that she had not taken her bath for maybe a number of days. She held her arms and told me “ Can you give me some money please so i could buy food. I had not eaten since yesterday and i am very hungry. I feel so weak”. My heart fell for her. I thought i would grab a food . Told her to seat in the wooden chair right beside the gate and wait for me. Hence, i replied, “If i will give you money, you still have to walk to buy your food. Why don’t you take a seat and i will give you food. It is not much but i am pretty sure it will sustain you for now. Just give me a minute”. With that she said, “I do not mind walking, i would prefer you give me money”. I replied. “No worry, it is not a bother for me, it will take just a number of minutes and you can already eat”. When i lead her to the wooden chair she just stood. Her face hardened and with irritation in that once soft voice, stated “If you do not want to give me money, never mind. I am asking for money, not your food”. Before i could speak she turned her back and left, walked briskly until i could see her no more. I could not relate to her logic. She is asking for money to buy food but when i am already giving her the food, she stubbornly refused.

I am really not that innocent, you see. When i was a volunteer, a priest gave me an advice. He noted that with what i do in the mission then, my enemy would be myself. If and when i stand before a person who appears to be in dire need, i should be able to differentiate the real need from those who faked being in need. The greatest hindrance is my sympathy. In the real world, there are those who are in dire need because they refused to work. The more i extend to this kind of people, the more i push them to poverty. For those who are religious, the more i sin. Why? Because instead of helping these people get away from their situation, i helped them indulge in slothfulness and laziness. Unfortunately, there are those who uses poverty as an excuse to get the sympathy from people. That is very, very sad indeed.

The above photo came from http://images.google.com.ph

By the way, It is good to be talking to you again.

CENSWORLD.

My apology that i was not able to update for quite a long time. I had been very busy. Always running out of time. Seemed that a day is not enough to accomplish every thing.

I would like to tell you a story about a comment dropped regarding my blog. Just last month, a co-worker greeted another lady co-worker of mine and said “You should be taking pictures of your baby. Better yet, why not create a website of your little precious and post her pictures in this site. You should reserve a site and dedicate it to your child, name it next to hers even, Look at Shirley, she created a blog named after her son and did not even included her child in the content of the articles she had written. “

I turned to look at this co-worker. My composure still intact- explained to this mean person the reason behind, then turned my back as if nothing happened. The comparison he raised is way to cunning that i can not help but to notice the nasty message being delivered in there. Bitchy as it may seem, no cause of high blood pressure. I doubt if this person have something ill towards yours truly. You see, that is his personality. He approaches you with that pleasant greeting and smile, introduces small talk but before he turn his back, he will drop a nasty comment every now and then. This is something he does to any body, seamlessly. Do not be mislead, i am not writing this post on his account. The fact that i misjudged him to be a beautiful soul and turned out to be a sour one indeed have nothing to do with this post. I am writing this to pose a query and a comment. I hope that you, my dearest reader is not having the same question. Because if you are, please allow me to explain.

Vincent is my world. He is every thing to me. Corny as it may seem to some, he was and is still the source of my strength. Censworld, if you would look into the upper portion of the site, says “talk with me about anything under the sun. Share my thoughts and opinions, that is the authors opinion. Not Vincents opinion nor Vincents activities nor Vincents pictures. It just so happen that the authors life revolves around her son, which is my Vincent. And since the authors world revolves on my son, i named the blog “Censworld”. On top of that, my child is already an adult and a very private person indeed. He deliberately refused any share of the lime light. I would like to respect that decision.

On this light, i strongly believe that i have the right to chose the title of my site and the topic that i write. After all, i am the author of this blog.

If by any chance that you ask the same query, i am pretty sure that such does not contain the venom that goes with the question from this insensitive person who first asked the same question to me. I am hoping though, that i am able to explain it to you, should you have such query in mind.

Question Mark image from yahoo.images.com

Thank you for being there..always.