Podcast Episode 12 (The 20 Billion Peso Edition)

Topics:

- Pag tinlo sang suba sa Iloilo
- Pag bisita ni P-Noy sa Siyudad
- Mga plano para sa luma nga airport
- Fiesta ni San Vicente!!!

Please comment and share :)

Pic courtesy of Wiki Commons

Just push play

Salamat gid :)

Podcast Episode 10 (Liberation of Panay Edition)

A Special Episode on the Liberation of Panay plus a special announcement :)

Links:

http://www.iloiloviews.com/liberation-of-panay-and-romblon.html

http://capiznon.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/64th-anniversary-of-the-liberation-of-panay-and-romblon/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigbauan,_Iloilo

Just push play

Podcast Episode 7 (The Terminal Podcast)

Topics:

• Prom!
• RAT (Regional Achievement Test) Expose
• EDSA 1
• Iloilo City Civil Registry Office
• Terminal

Small Sub Topics
- Dugangan Tuig sang Klase
- New Zealand
- Online Nga Bulig
- Istorya nila sa EDSA 1

Pic came from Wiki Commons ;)

Palihog comment :) Salamat gid sa tanan nga gapamati....

Episode 7 Podcast

Just Push Play

Iloilo Podcast (Episode 4)

Hi Everyone :) Here's another edition for our podcast.

Topics:

* Jaro Fiesta
* Chinese New Year
* Kidnapping with a Twist
* Facebook "Complicated" Status
* Amigo Rejuvenated


Just push play!



The 4th Episode

Iloilo Podcast (Episode 3)

Hi Everyone :) Here's another edition for our podcast.

Topics this week

* Ibahay incident
* Manila bombing and Makati accident
* Dinagyang aftermath news
* Plazuela de Iloilo Spotlight
* Taxi - mahal na! Sus!
* Appeal for the School :)

Just push play!

The 3rd Episode

Iloilo Podcast (Episode 2)

Ikaduha namon nga podcast :)

Ginistoryahan namon ang (we talked about)....

* Dinagyang (of course)
* Noynoy's Porsche
* Iloilo City Motorcylce
* Job Fair
* Ms. Dinagyang

Please comment :) Thank you. Hala Bira Iloilo! Viva Señor Santo Niño!

Just Push Play!

The Second Episode

Iloilo Podcast (Episode 1)

Hi Guys :)

We've finally done it! Here's our 2nd, first podcast about Iloilo. Made by Ilonggo, for the Ilonggos. Enjoy and don't forget to comment.

Topics:

* Fiesta Villa
* Dinagyang Preview

Just push play :)

The First Episode

Decoding the Hospital System in the Philippines

If you’ve been following my blog, you already know that my topics will be related to healthcare because of experience nearly two weeks ago. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the hospital system in the Philippines.

The hospital system in the Philippines has a love-hate relationship with its people and patients. It doesn’t matter if the hospital is a government or privately owned – people will hate and love the same hospital at the same time. This is the reason why some would prefer one hospital over the other.

Unfortunately, some of us are never given any choice. Because of financial constraints, they are “forced” to use government hospitals.

The Fo(a)rce in Government Hospital

While boarding a taxi, my mother-in-law talked a bit where my wife should go. We have two options: Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital and West Visayas State University Hospital. I asked her to take my wife to “Doctor’s” because of their recent experience there which is favorable to the medical requirements of my better half.

But this doesn’t mean West Visayas State University Hospital is not a good hospital. I have seen thousands of people going in and out of the hospital that were given the cure they need. I even assisted an old guy once who didn’t have any ID and money but gained consultation and x-ray. Now that’s government service.

Unfortunately, something has to be done in our government hospitals particularly here in Iloilo City. The emergency rooms in two hospitals have no air-conditioning system and in this really, really hot weather it’s going to be near-hell for those who don’t feel well. The poor companions will forced to fan their patients for hours. This is the first reason why I didn’t take my better half to the government hospital – she is suffering from high grade fever and conditions in the government hospital would only make her feel worst.

Another challenge to government hospitals is the lack of personnel. I love working with intern doctors because they are so eager to help. But the real doctors are rarely seen because they are also busy on helping others. They are practically overwhelmed that they often focus on those who really need them. I can say that those who were stabbed or shot are the first ones who would be given attention.

The Private Institutions

I don’t have a beef with these private institutions. I respect their way of doing business since they will give a good service but will require a fee. The latter factor has been my problem though.

Money is always a question in private institutions but they are very subtle. I like the way they support their patients. They treated my wife as soon as she arrived in the hospital, no questions asked. After 4 hours and a couple of tests (that I paid for) her results arrived with the diagnosis.

Private hospitals will always provide patients with an option – you can always deny the hospitals recommendation for some tests. In fact, you can go home as soon as possible if run out of funds. You can just ignore their pleading for tests.

But who can ignore these recommendations. I can’t say no to X-rays, blood and urine tests since this are the only way my wife would be diagnosed and a cure would be formulated. They subtly are telling me that “yes, we’re not forcing you but this is a matter of life and death”. Fortunately, I was able to get Philhealth’s help which slashed the hospital bill 60% (maybe more).

Stay tuned for more articles related to health care system. Up next: Interns!

My Learning Experience in Philhealth

As I’ve said in my previous blog post, I’ll be providing some thoughts on what I learned while my better half is in the hospital. In this blog, I’ll be tackling Philhealth which is our insurance system.

I always thought that when it comes to national healthcare, we’re a bit better compared to Americans until their national healthcare system was pushed through their congress a few months ago. Through Philhealth, we’ll be able to have some discounts in medicine, hospitalization and even in doctors. Almost every hospital in the country is accredited by Philhealth which means I can easily walk to every hospital and ask for some assistance thinking that the Philhealth will help me with the bills.

While staying in the hospital, I often find myself going back and forth to the Philhealth liaison to check if my drug I’m about to purchase is covered by Philhealth. Imagine my grin when they stamp “Ok” on some prescriptions. It has saved me more than 2 thousand pesos just on medicine. When I checked out, I also asked for a couple of deductions in the room which was gladly provided by Philhealth. There are also prescriptions that I personally bought during the stay in the hospital that I gave to Philhealth. They told me to wait for 3 months for a reimbursement. Sounds great right?

But along the way, I have realized why many are complaining about Philhealth. I was a bit frustrated running around just trying to confirm my wife’s Philhealth membership. Luckily, I was able to get what I need and saved some money in the process. Yes, I’m still broke but not too broke.

Here are the things I learned about Philhealth:

• Better go on individual paying member rather than employed member – when you are employed, the documentations required by Philhealth is very difficult to access especially when you’re dealing with a big company. An added difficulty comes in when the person in the hospital is the person employed and you have to be there as a representative. But an individual paying member only needs to show the receipts of their payment to Philhealth.

• Look for a doctor accredited by Philhealth – I know there’s a doctor that is a proud member of Philhealth but I didn’t seem to find one in the hospital. I could have saved more in the process.

• If employed, double check with Philhealth every six months – I don’t know how you can do this but you have to double check with Philhealth to make sure the contribution is actually forwarded to Philhealth.

• Be paranoid on names – Philhealth is very, very strict in names. Double check the name, last name and middle name of the person so that you’ll get confirmed immediately.

• Look for the Philhealth office immediately and get the required documents. Complete the documents early so that you don’t need to run after documents when you’re getting out of the hospital.

Stay tuned for more articles regarding my hospital experience.

I Missed Blogging and Learned Many Things

For one week I was not able to write anything in this website and I'm sorry about that. But there is always a valid reason why I have to leave my responsibility (yes, this is my responsibility) a bit. Luckily, I also learned a couple of things why I missed my posts.

You see, a week ago (almost 1am Thursday) I took my wife to the hospital. She was suffering from fever for more than 2 days and after some medication and visit from the popular "manog-hilot" nothing happened. At the emergency room, she was given some tests on her blood.

Alas, she has to stay in the hospital...for 4 days. So I was stuck in the hospital from Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon. It was very humbling experience because I was left with nothing to do. Screw the money - I can sell everything just to buy the medicine or yank someone to take a look at my wife. Have you ever felt helpless while your love one just laid there suffering? It's really bad - I've seen this stuff in the movies and it actually freaked me out.

Well enough for my feelings. My better half is better than ever. My proof? She made me Jellp before she went to sleep. Ah..good times.

Looking back, I learned a lot of things and I'll share them in this blog. It's semi-political so it should still be relevant.

Here are some hints: Philhealth and Insurance, Hospitals, Student Nurses and Public Hospitals in Iloilo City.

Stay tuned. It's going to be a better week.

It is Going to be a LOUD Summer

The jingles are coming friends and we have to be prepared for it. This is the first day candidates can practically do anything in order to solicit votes. That includes visiting your home, which is ok. They might also place some stickers or posters in your home if you approve it, which is relatively ok. Or they could have some caucuses so that they could offer their ideas for your town, which is actually fun.

But look out for jingles – the songs will be ripped off from popular tunes and will run continuously until Election Day. Here in Iloilo City, you’ll hear “Nobody, Nobody but (You)” blare with a twist. Take note that it’s not election season yet for the locals. But everyone is guilt of electioneering if the COMELEC is serious about it. Everyone will be disqualified.

Now that we’re starting the campaign period for local officials, we anticipate louder music. Take note that it’s very, very easy to create a minus-one or remove the vocals of a popular tune. Many computer geeks and audio-philes can remove the voice in a minute or two. What you just need is very corny lyrics in a local language.

I admit it, I don’t like it…but we have to acknowledge their effort. After all, this is part of the election. Although no one will learn anything from these jingles, this will increase awareness and people might find more information.

But still it’s going to be a very hot and LOUD summer.

Fear and Trembling for Iloilo City (and the Philippines)

First of all, this is not an article regarding Kierkegaard's book.

I am writing this article with fear and trembling. I was thinking of covering the latest video of Gordon with Moymoy Palaboy and the hacked website of Villar. But I’ll just forget about them and do something that’s more important to us: our security.

Why? Because no one is protected anymore. You should no longer feel safe at your home. Take this as a word of warning because bad things might happen out of nowhere. Even though you’re not part of the things happening today, it might happen – so watch out. It’s a lot better to be a bit paranoid than being careless and ends up with a body split in half.

Why am I saying this? Read tomorrow’s newspaper from Iloilo. This morning (around 3AM), someone threw a grenade on the ancestral home of Iloilo City’s Mayor Jerry Treñas. The house is currently owned by his brother. You can read about it online right now.

This incident can be easily pointed to his brother’s possible beef with anyone. But a few weeks ago someone did the exact same thing to the Mayor’s house near the airport. As of this writing, no one was invited for questioning or became the suspect of the grenade bombing.

Does this mean anything to us? A big YES!!! Here are the implications:

• Anyone can become a target and the culprit can get away from it – the City’s most powerful man is susceptible to these attacks. He has an impressive security and we’re just sitting ducks here.
• The police are not ready to do anything – I’m sure they are working double time to find the culprit. But nothing has come out yet. If you become a victim, you’ll most likely end-up looking for a mythical needle in the haystack.

Can we be protected? I don’t know. What we should do for now is to be a bit paranoid about these events. Each candidate could be a target and those who want to inflict harm will do anything to get the job done.

Physical Violence During Elections - This Line Should NOT Be Crossed

I always love politicians debate. Listening to their tirade to destroy each other's reputation is always entertaining. This simply shows that each candidate has a skeleton in their closet. I even listen to paid political programs just to say bad things about the opponent. You have to give them credit for doing their best and braving the storm and dangers of insulting another candidate on the radio.

But when something physical is done to a political candidate, that's just plain wrong. Last year, the whole world was shocked about the Ampatuan Massacre. The thought of people dying because of political power is just wrong and those who do this is pure evil.

Why am I saying this? Because a few days ago our current Mayor's (Jerry Treñas) restaurant which is located beside the Mayor's residence became the recipient of a live grenade. No one died but someone got hurt.

This just muddled the situation of the already sticky state of our election. Why should you care even if you're not in Iloilo City? Because this can happen to anywhere and this scenario will most likely happen.

And what did just happened?

The victim (Mayor Jerry Treñas) cried foul - he has the right to do so because it has endangered his other source of living and his family. No one should die during the election and anyone who did this should be dealt with immediately. He is now pointing to politics and to those who understood (read: everyone else), he is suspecting his opponent: none other than Raul Gonzales Sr.

The opponent (Raul Gonzales Sr.) of course denies the accusation. I mean, who in the right mind will come to the radio and say "Yes, I did it and I'm angry right now because the guys who threw the grenade missed". I'm not saying he did it because it's quite stupid he really commissioned the act. He knows it will just ruin his reputation. But he launched his tirade saying that it's just another stunt.

This has left everyone confused. The voters will be clouded by these incidents instead of making a smart decision on the right candidate.

I wish I could blame the law enforcement officers but the real culprit are the leaders or those who planned this sabotage. Please, our country is already having problem select the right leader do not add to the problem if you can't provide any solution.

Why Am I Voting for Mel Carreon

This article is mainly intended for those voting in Iloilo City. But this doesn’t mean you should close the browser and look for other blogs to read tonight. This is practically a blog that represents my realization why researching for the right person who will lead our city to better heights. Let me tell you…it’s frustrating. This is going to be a long blog but I hope you stay with me.

First off, you may already have heard about this person. Mr. Carreon is the first person who filed for the top position in the land when the COMELEC opened their doors last year. But he backed out after a few weeks and sought to run for Vice-Mayor in Iloilo City. He may just be a part of the amusing story of the country but he will perpetually be part of the local elections here in Iloilo city.

Politics is in the blood of Mr. Carreon but it seems that his blood is trying to get out of him because he’s always at the wrong side of everything. He ran for city councilor, mayor and congressman too many times. They say he’s trying to get his name in world records because he will always run for a government position. Last election, he was stopped from running. Rumor has it, he was threatened to be charged with vandalism because someone (supposedly his followers) spray painted his name in public properties particularly on waiting sheds and walls.

Say his name here in Iloilo City and you’ll hear countless tales on what he tries to do to gain public attention. Even if he’s not campaigning, he always wears that eccentric jacket that bear his name and the position he will try on the next election. You’ll constantly see him in a coffee shop in SM City or in front of old Mary Mart Mall (in Delgado St.) talking to some people. When election time comes, people will bet if he will reach 1,000 votes just for fun. His popularity is soaring and the proof is that he is constantly invited in a radio station during weekends to say his “eccentric” political comments. He blurts out things that you haven’t heard before on the radio which is very, very, very amusing.

Most call him crazy, some just refer to him as some dude who just wants to have fun. But he always has something in his mind.

So why will I vote for the guy? Here are my reasons:

· Money is a problem for this guy – I know that some rich people are so rich that they will not care about the money they made in the government. I wish that statement is true but I have a feeling that the rich people who holds position the government are trying to suck more money from the government. If they steal, we won’t notice it because they are already rich. How can we know if they just took one hundred thousand pesos when they already have one billion?

But in Mel Carreon’s case, the moment he tries to steal money, we will be there. This guy is not much when it comes to property. He lives in a home that could be destroyed by signal #1 typhoon, his home doesn’t have any electricity and his property is basically trees with a small, dilapidated house. At least he has trees. He could get a decent salary and improve his property a bit and buy a motorcycle. But once he builds a mansion, we will be there with pitch forks.

· He could be a great wild card in the council – think about him leading the city council…it’s eerie but at the same time he’ll give the councilors a very big problem when it comes to dealing with his eccentricities. If he doesn’t sell out and continuous what he does. The council would be one beautiful mess.

But why will I vote for someone that might make the city council a butt of jokes for the country? This should be a wake-up call for the current local candidates. Everything they do is already the butt of jokes in the country. His presence will just highlight that what they do are not really doing anything in the city.

· At least he will solve one problem (His) – I’m sure Mr. Carreon has too many problems to deal with in his life. But winning in the local elections will mean so much for him because finally, he will have a good source of money that will deal with his problem. I know money is not the answer of everything but it will really help. While writing this, I’m thinking: what have they done to help me or the community that’s really, really visible. Oh yeah: the overpass that’s causing nightmarish traffic everyday and the city zoning ordinance that’s alienating our friends from the province who gives us our daily food. If he wins, he will just take care of his problem. We should just be happy that we are voting for a guy who could solve his problem while highlighting the problem in our city.

· No poster – because he has no money, he can’t put up a poster except for the ones he is posting in front of his house. I’m sick of local candidates reminding the people who they are. One candidate even claims he’s “Mr. Clean Iloilo” but his poster is littering the city. Another candidate always asks questions. I don’t know why but he should just email me and I’ll tell him the answer. There’s also another candidate who seems to introduce each district of Iloilo by making up slogans. Please, stop making our city dirty!!! Mr. Clean, what are you doing about it? Mel Carreon fortunately doesn’t have anything to spend for the election.

If Mel Carreon wins, the city will be in a great position to bring itself up…because it will go terribly down…but aren’t we already in this position?

5 Ways to Know if Your Politician has Election Fever

Election is just months away and even though our automated poll machine has failed miserably on its latest test (only 30 out of 600), the show must go on. Although we're scared **itless about the possibility of massive cheating, the show must go on. Even politicians believe that the show must go on.

And what a show they are putting up. Every three years, our politicians go on a battle far more complicated, brutal and funny than the Battle of Mactan (except the funny part). The politicians are on election fever and there is no cure. In fact, the more we watch the greater the fever.

Here are the indications that your politician is about to be hot on his heels this election season.

1. Increased block time on radio and television - give your politician credit for giving jobs to retired and sometimes, annoying broadcasters. Months before the election semi-journalists (like me) go on a rampage against the opponent. Additional kudos if the politician gains enough money to spend on television shows dedicated to praise what he has done and thrash the opponents.

2. Legal battle has started - one of the many tricks a politician will use to destroy the enemy is to dig up past problems of go to the court. The weird part is that almost everyone knows about the past problems of the politician and only now that the election is coming they have opted to go to the court. Most of these are just threats so that the people will realize what the politician did but these are just ploys.

3. Posters, calendars, t-shirts, caps, jackets, wall clocks, bags, notebooks, pencils with the politicians name - if you receive any two of these before the end of the month from the same politician, then that politician has the fever. Be prepared because they will spend millions on these things. When that time comes, the fever has landed.

4. Challenge to a debate - this is a bit unique in the election much like the legal battles. To show their true supremacy over their opponents, they will usually challenge their enemy to a debate. Of course, the opponent will just walk away, do not reply or say "no". But after the elections, you can't seem to see them shouting at each other to prove their point.

5. Increasing friends - "paid for by friends of". 'nuff said

Zombie Streamers are Coming!!!

The election period will start in January 10 and the current politicians are aware of this restrictions. In fact, they are all aware that they can't tell people to vote for them until the fateful 10th day of January. So what do they do? The circumvent the law and have "political ads" wherein everything is paid for by "friends of...".

The gloves are officially off in January 10, 2010 - Sunday. But it doesn't matter because politicians are already busy convincing people to vote for them one way or the other. You can already see banners of politicians reminding the people what they have done and what they dream for the city. Please take note, they dream of something big but many are still experiencing nightmares.

Before I completely go off topic...I'll just go to my main point. Streamers of politicians are already popping out here in our city and it's only a matter of weeks before the country is engulfed or covered with political banners. These are not just your average banners - they are tarpaulins which costs hundreds of pesos each. The politicians are not just printing 20 banners in an election, tell me if I'm wrong but I think a politician might print no less than 4,000 tarpaulins just to remind people who they are. If a tarpaulin costs 100 (very unlikely) per piece then he or she could be spending 400,000 on tarpaulins alone!

We should also remember the possible implications on paper - we'll ravage forests and cut down trees just to print calendars, leaflets and sample ballots so that everyone will be "guided" on who to vote for in the coming elections. Millions of paper will be wasted just to remind people who to vote for...mother nature is going to go through something difficult this coming election.

All these wasted paper could have been used for books. All these tarpaulins could have been used to shelter someone during a storm. Or at least the money could have been used for something else.

Note to politicians: please tell us who your "friends" who pays for your advertisements and election funds. We also would like to be friendly to them so that we can also have something.

Photo taken from uncyclopedia.com

The 4 "Underdogs" in Presidential Election

In a race, there will always be winners and losers...but that only happens after the race. Before the race, there are underdogs and front runners. Today, we're going to look at the 4 underdogs in the upcoming presidential election. Some may disagree with the tag "underdog" but let's face it, their chances of winning is not the same compared to the front runners.

* Richard Gordon - this guy can easily run a country but along the way of pushing the envelope, he lost the charisma of getting everyone to follow him. I was expecting he run as VP (with Bayani Fernando) but it was actually the other way around. He was a senator but he came to the national spotlight when he became the administrator of Subic Freeport :)

* Jamby Madrigal - she is running as an independent candidate which means she doesn't have any financial backing from a party. Last election, she personally financed most of her push to become senator. It's quite a mystery why she decided to run because of her affiliations with a party but I guess she wanted to prove a point that you don't need a party to become significant opposition in the election.

* Eddie Villanueva - a religious leader and an activist, Bro. Eddie is running for the top position the 2nd time. His group "Bangon Pilipinas" is gaining grounds in various areas but right now, the odds are against them. To be honest, he is one of those genuine politicians who might provide something for the country in case he wins. But there is not enough machinery (read: money) to tell and convince the people about his causes.

* John Carlo de los Reyes - John Carlo or JC is a councilor of Olongapo City running under the party "Ang Kapatiran". He has a Vice President and seven senators. Unfortunately, he came to the national limelight only when he filed for candidacy and this is not a good way to push for presidency.

5 Things from 2009 and 5 Things from 2010

2010 is here and we're back. It's been a while since the last post but I want to start strong so here you go...

We look back in 2009 and look forward in 2010. These are the things that haunted, entertained and inspired us in the past. Hopefully, everything will be entertainment and inspiration in the future.

5 Things from 2009

* Manny Pacquiao - the guy is practically everywhere: Beating up Hatton and Cotto, joining politics, movies and a little brush up with controversy. I don't think the news will have a vacation on this guy anytime soon.

* The Ampatuans - thinking about them simply makes us think twice about the value of human life. Is it worth to kill a person so that you can stay in the office for only three years? Their utter disregarded for life is just sickening.

* MV Baleno-9 and Catalyn-B - twin sea tragedies...I don't think I'll be in the waters for now.

* Efren Peñaflorida - Hero of the Year. I don't know what this guy did until I heard in the new but it's just astounding.

* Online Connectivity - this is not necessarily news outside the Philippines but personally, I'm just too happy about this because almost everyone can connect to the internet.

5 Things in 2010

* The 2010 Election - this event scares and gives us hope at the same. The hopeful part is that we might be able to change the country one vote at a time. The worst part is that the people we hope to change are the same people who are slowly destroying the country.

* World Cup - Yes, Philippines is not in the world cup but a small portion of Filipinos is crazy about this game.

* Call Center in the Provinces - I live in Iloilo and call centers are growing like mushrooms here and I've seen some aggressive expansions in other cities so I'm pretty psyched about this possibility.

* Worsening Weather - I personally don't care if you believe in global warming or not. But the storms are getting a lot fiercer in the 2nd half of the year.

* Improved Blog! - hey, I get to have one wish :) Please stay tuned to this blog and learn everyday.

A Gruesome Wake Up Call to Everyone

Shock and condemnation are the initial emotions I felt when I first heard the story regarding the Ampatuan Massacre. I always thought that only terrorists who are so blinded by their belief can kill anyone without hesitation or conscience. Apparently some of the citizens in our country will gladly shoot anyone in the face with a shotgun because of money. They don't give a damn about the families of those they kill as long as they have something heavy in their pockets.

What really saddens me right now is the initial response of those in Malacañang. Instead of going after the obvious culprits, they have asked for everyone to be calm, mourn and wait for the results of proper investigation. This only means one thing: the President and anyone else who hold tight to their votes and rely on these goons are willing to delay justice just to get what they want. I know we have to mourn for the loss but we don't have to keep calm - the good people of this country believes that only swift action and arrest of the people responsible is the only solution to this problem. If this goes on for more than two weeks, the President, her party and anyone associated with the alleged and likely culprits will suffer. The people knows too much and the media will never be quite.

For the journalists and broadcasters, please protect yourselves at all times. Yes, we still need heroes who will guide us on what we have to do to make our country prosper but we want our heroes today to be alive, healthy and should live happily until they naturally die of old age. You are not a coward for running away - you simply care for your family and your country. There are still safer ways to condemn the corrupt. Remember that God will still judge them based on their actions.

Note To Journalists/Politicians: We Don't Need Dead Heroes

When I was in college, I was fortunate enough to be part of the PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting). Being part of the extensive seminar, I got bored of rules, laws restrictions and massive ID cards that you have to bring anywhere. But the snacks are free and there are too many great people to mingle with. So I don't mind the endless talks since everything is perpetually free and you learn so many things.

Honestly, there was only one thing I remembered during the seminar. A priest gave a short talk about the dangers and perils we might have to face during elections. I can't recall the exact detail but there was one phrase I will never forget as long as I live:

"We don't need dead heroes…"

His point is this, everyone is better off alive rather than dying for something. There is always a safer better way to convey your message without wasting your life. If you are really serious about spreading the message, you have to spread it for a very long time. Dying while trying to teach everyone about the election will do you no good.

His thoughts on heroism is quite odd, but very true. Nowadays, getting yourself killed to prove your point is not only reckless to yourself but also to your family. A person getting killed during election time can be a husband, wife or kids cared for by anyone. Dying will only place other people in trouble because you are no longer there to guide and provide the needed muscle.

This doesn't mean we will to run away and curl our tails from those who threatened our lives. We run away but resort to legal matters to end the oppression. As gloomy as it seems, there is always someone who can legally protect us and get our message across. If there is danger, run but don't stop the message - there is always another way to get your message across.