Commission on Election or Correction?

Pissed. That was how I felt when I fled early to the polling precincts on the 2010 national election day, scanned my name eagerly on the voting list and nowhere was it found.  Pissed I was still when today I dropped by the COMELEC Municipal office, accompanied by Liway and Mac, and verified that my name is no longer in the active voters. Reason: Failed to Vote Twice (FVT). I cannot be in peace for I know I just voted in the 2007 Barangay Election. There must be some kind of a mistake, I thought. So I insisted, in my most courteous way, that I did vote during the elections prior to 2010. I think I heard a resistant sigh from the lady officer but the guy who checked on the database for my name was very polite to dig through the piles of papers to check. I was asked the 2nd time by the lady officer if I was sure I voted in 2007. I answered with a firm yes, even recounting who I voted for.  The guy returned with papers and looked for the file labelled with precinct 98a, skimmed through it and found my name. Before my name was my brother Christian Arc's, marked with FVT. Below his name was mine. Across my name were my fingerprints and signature. For crying out loud, I was still able to vote since 2007! Now who said I failed to vote twice?  The lady officer seemed dubious, she asked for the paper to check it herself if I was really able to vote. The guy passed it on and she kept silent for a while there. The last thing I'd ever like to hear her say when she opened her mouth again was to blame me for not coming to report it to her office at once. I thought I'd like to say something in rebuttal but kept myself composed instead. In fact, I told her in my utmost candor that it's not really a big deal for me now and that I could go back when the next registration starts.  At the back of my mind, solid neurotic matters are insisting it was not really my fault that some morons of this office mistook my name for my brother's and took me out of the voters list instead of him. And as if I didn't notice, she defensively backfired at me like it was my fault from the start. I would understand that people are prone to committing mistakes. Fine. But I was waiting for apologies or assentation, if its the most she could give, and failed. Tsk. Perhaps the COMELEC office in Bugallon might have to undergo some customer service workshop and some encoding refresher course. I'm not being self-righteous. Just a dissatisfied (again) public citizen.  I was advised to be updated about my status thru Mac. Let's see if they apply the necessary corrections for the next elections. God bless the Philippines!   

The Mistaken Call

I was with my friends at the beach, seriously talking about our lives' stuffs when ring-ring goes my phone. It reflected an unknown caller. It was around 5 o'clock in the afternoon which was a very unusual time for Allan to call so it really puzzled me if it was him on the other line. Still, I gladly answered my phone. I knew it was not Allan from the first word the caller mentioned: Tinao.

Someone close, I thought. When he said his name, I was ecstatic. Boy oh boy! I have not heard from him for ages! It was Rannie! Yes, the mistaken identity.

He called directly from Singapore. He called because he was worried I was not replying to his IMs. He called because he thought I was working in Singapore. He called to ask me how i'm doing. I was touched by his thoughts. He called because maybe, just maybe, I was worth talking his Singaporean dollars due for his phone bill.

The call lasted briefly for four minutes. Nevertheless, I think it was like sitting over a McDonald's value meal after hearing the novena mass at the Baclaran church. There were laughters and chismis (mostly about his love of his life). And yes, I never said it before, but if there was a boy version of me, it would be Rannie! Malandi. Haha!

For a while there, I forgot I am having problems. I had a mindshift for several minutes. Thanks Rann for the call!

I Have SCENE It 3: Sheryll Bayan

Seen: It's Sheryll Ann Rodriguez Bayan's birthday today. Such a sweet girl. Not to mention she's cuddly, bubbly, and beary, beary wonderful for a companion. Oops, typo errors. I meant, VERY, VERY.

Learnings: Patience. Kindness. Rationality. Imagine these virtues wrapped in a being named SHERYLL. Happy birthday little one! You are truly a God's blessing to LOGODEF. Funny how we can't label you as a goddess. Only a blessing. Kelangan ka ng Bayan, She!

Kiss Miss

Weeks after my Bohol trip with Allan, I could still excitedly recount the sights and the memorable tour activities we experienced. I was telling a friend all these but all she has got to ask me afterwards was, 'Okay, but did you two kiss?' I would have been offended if that question was coming from someone else. But well, this friend of mine, she has that skill to thresh out unnecessary details to get to the point. Uhm, most of the time, her leading questions would arrive at her preferred points. So I suppose, since she's just that, I should not mind. But to her question, I replied with a bow of embarrassment, closed eyes, coy smile, and a slow, affirmative nod. She was tickled pink. Too late to take that back; too late to think I divulged too much personal relationship information. Of course we kissed! And now is just one of those miserable times that I am missing his kisses. One kiss from him could vacuum ideas off and create rumbling noises in my head louder than my heartbeat. Or perhaps his kisses stop my heart from beating at all I could not even hear it skip. Crazy. That sums it all up. His kisses make me go crazy. Come home in eight weeks please and kiss this Miss. I love you.

If I Were Venus Raj

Venus Raj's major-major answer to the Q&A portion of the Ms. Universe 2010 pageant created some cosmic wave throughout the world. To some, it was a lame answer coming from a beauty queen who should have been already sifted and refined to have reached that level. To others, even unconvincing, suit themselves to saying it was a very hard question. Venus was labeled by many as 'just another pretty face' in the history of this insatiable-and-definitely-relative search for beauty. Can't blame this many. She really is beautiful! My friend instant-messaged me with the question: "What is the biggest mistake you made in your life and how did you fix it?" (I think the latter part went like: what did you do to correct it?) Well, I really did not attempt to put myself in Venus' shoes until my friend shot that question at me. There was not a time to think. I really thought I was in the pageant and the audience awaits for my brilliant answer. It made me feel smart to answer right away. No second thoughts. I knew it by heart that I did commit a lot of mistakes in the past and a few just hit the mark. If I were Venus Raj, I would have said:

My biggest mistake in my life was compromising my family and my dreams for the love and attention of a guy who I actually begged to stay with me even when I knew he didn't love me anymore. What did I do to correct it? I think the natural course of moving on helped. Besides, I no longer had a choice. It would have been too late to correct it. The damage has been done. The pain was irreparable. I guess, the mistake left me lessons though. I did spend more time with my family and picked up my shattered dreams. It's never too late to start with something.