Trending: Manila Hostage-Taking

I was trying to check my Facebook account early this morning (Yes, an addict I must admit and a voyeur and narcissist in a way. But that’s an entirely different discussion worthy to be discussed and explored in detail maybe in my next blog posts) and it said that an error has occurred. First thing that came to mind: Did the Facebook server crash due to the influx of status updates and postings about yesterday’s incident: the 12-hour hostage taking of Hong Kong nationals in Manila?

To be honest, I was a bit entertained not by the hostage drama itself, but by all the reactions that affected all people making everyone discuss what happened in almost all networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook. Rants, blames, jokes, lessons learned, preaches, what if’s and should have been’s proliferated all discussions feasting on the crime which only revealed how a single isolated incident could form differences in opinions and manifested people’s feelings and reactions on such topic. I, for one, admits posting an article on my Facebook wall on how the media should have handled the event.

Then here comes the most interesting trending topic: Who’s to blame on what happened? Since the incident happened, people started pointing fingers at all the individuals/groups involved that allegedly didn’t perform their duties well. Some blamed the police for being under-trained on such situations. Some pointed at the media for sensationalizing the event too much. Some were saying it was the bus driver’s fault (I also thought of that since he was the one who allowed for Mendoza to hitch on the bus in the first place when it was actually a tourist bus, not a PUB. I even called him TANGA and BOBO much to my dismay on his actions running towards the crowd crying that everybody’s already dead. Affected much! LOL.). A few even named the passengers. Did they not have a plan to take down the hostage taker themselves (the effect of watching too much action movies and crime dramas)? Let’s not forget the involvement of the crowd, the UZIS, who just stood there watching everything while some others just wanted to have their face caught by cameras that may have contributed to the mishandling of the situation. In fact, ambulances did have a hard time getting through the crowd surrounding the crime scene after the suspect was taken down. Even some actually thought it was a shooting for a movie.

Came the travel advisories issued by other countries making the Philippines look like the most dangerous place to go right now, with all the media frenzy that happened, when in fact it was only an isolated incident. We can blame whoever we want to blame for what happened. Some people don’t even care about the event. I know of people who were apathetic to what happened. I, at first, didn’t let myself get affected by all the ruckus (but here I am blogging about it. Hahahaha!) A friend of mine even exclaimed that we Filipinos have more serious problems to think about and attend to right now than to put so much attention on the hostage-taking. We shouldn’t even be ashamed of us being Filipinos because of what happened.

Things happen: tragedies, crimes, disasters, and we have no control over them. We can’t put blame on a person, event, or thing that may cause anything bad or unfortunate. All we need to do is to pray and work together for a better society. We can only do so much than point fingers and single out every wrong things that we think should be eradicated. And for this particular incident, we are just audiences. We are only spectators.

Life Choices

Decisions, decisions... Everyday of our lives we encounter moments when we need to choose and decide on something. There are even times when just what place to eat or what movie to watch would take a long time to arrive at a choice. But what about if it involves major life decisions? Plus add the pressure other people put on you to come up with it with just a snap of a finger.

It's not easy to say what you really want to do in life when you have so many options and these days you can do almost anything. Thinking about the future involves soul searching. There are many things to consider and risks to take. I have always believed in muni-muni. If I were to ask, thinking about things over the weekend is not even enough. There are so many distractions around nowadays that I personally think a long vacation where you would shut off from all the happenings in the world is the perfect way to think things through.

A lot of people ask me what I really want or if I enjoy what I'm doing. Of course I can't give them an answer point blank. Honestly, I still don't know what I want to do. I'm young and I want to live my life. I believe that I don't want to put pressure on myself yet on my future. With regards to loving what I do, it's never constant. Sometimes I love it; sometimes I don't. As Rob Lowe's character in "Brothers & Sisters" said, "I love my work. I hate the crap around it." Aptly put, right? Because sometimes, no matter how you enjoy and know exactly what you're doing, there are people, situations, and things we have no control over that impedes the completion of our task and the success of our project. There are also days when you're in the mood to perform, some of the time you just want to lay low. Also, there will always be something you will look for. We can't have everything that's why we always look for something more or something else.

The fact of life is nothing is constant in this world. We can never say exactly what we really want. In one way or another, we will always change our minds at any point in our lives. And I believe that the only one who should put pressure to one's self is you alone. All others are just guides and influences that one has to take into consideration because at the end of the day, it's your life. You have all the right to live it the way you want to. You are the only one who knows if you are prepared to take a leap and risk everything.

Goodbye and Let Go

How do you say goodbye when you’re not yet ready to?

I have always wondered how easy it is for one to make friends and establish relationships with others, but after sometime when you need to let go and move on with your own separate lives, it suddenly feels like a part of you is breaking into pieces.

It becomes even more complicated when you have already shared a part of your life with them that created a bond that’s even harder to break. It may sound selfish at first but the truth is, it’s really hard to let go. It‘s a fact of life that there comes a point when we have to move forward, even if it means leaving things and people behind. But the thing is, it hurts when you’re already facing the situation: for both the one who’s leaving and the one being left behind.

It’s hard to admit that it’s ok, that you’ll be fine, but you’ve been attached to them already that they’ve become a part of your daily existence.

My question now is: How do I start? By acceptance? But I can’t even face it. By letting go? But I can’t because I haven’t accepted that it is supposed to happen anytime soon.

Oh, how I wish I didn’t let myself get attached. How I wish I just kept my distance. How I wish we could have more time or if possible, not for this impending doom to happen.

I know I need to start to let go, to accept, and wish them well when it happens. Because at the end of the day, we need to live our own lives. Maybe we won’t be able to get through this easily, but I know this is for the best. This better be! I just need to think that this is not really goodbye because we’re still going to see each other and that our paths will still cross one day…