Iloilo Host Premier Leo Club Fourth Anniversary: PAGULIKID SA GIN HALINAN

Last year, my best friend Sheyme Robledo was the President of Iloilo Host Premier Leo Club District 301-B1. She invited me to get inducted as a member of this club which I approved right away.

Last April 21, 2018 marked the fourth anniversary. 

We have chosen to visit and celebrate with the Aeta community at Brgy. Lanit, Jaro, Iloilo city.

There, we have found a community full of naturally aesthetic dark brown-skinned and kinky textured hair of people to characterize the pure features of Filipinos.

There are a lot of communities of Aetas existing in some isolated places of our beloved country, Philippines. I am one proud Filipina to witness some beauty beyond the color of the complexion. 

Aetas are known to be the descendants of the Philippines and up to this day, we believe, their existence is for us to be reminded of the classic history as well as the root of our ethnicity despite the evolution of our race since the Spanish era. That is why we entitled this affair: PAGULIKID SA GIN HALINAN.

I am humbled to have captured the genuine emotions and visages seen in the few images from my camera.

Certified Native Aetas, mother and her three children.

A proud nanay cuddling her adorable baby. 

It may seem like a melancholic expression of a photo, but, it's a pretty iconic natural howl of a little child's emotion.

Ironacally, I personally like the capture of his seed sized tear perfectly lying in the corner of his eyelid. 

I thought his emotion also matches with his yellow colored smiley juice. hehe

Photos of what I assumed to be that of best of friends.

Aetas testify that Filipinos are innately cheerful and any situation will always be full of beans.

Such a distinct shy smile in the face of a little girl.

You see what I mean by a beauty beyond the color of the skin?

A simple curve of her lips already signals an invite of the sunbeam.

What an exquisite pair of big dark brown eyes he has. 

Oh! The genuiness of a little thing that makes this Nanay grin lovely with the old-school fun glasses.

My last capture of this little guy, peeping through the lens of my camera can't get any authentic; always begets joyful atmosphere.

As a certified Leo member, I am excited to participate in more future projects and events. Being a Leo is one of the best decisions I've ever made. We are able to reach out and volunteer our services for the betterment of this country and more as well as achieve our passion to benevolence through organized and cooperative team work.

Thank you and I hope you'll tune in to more photography sessions and events in my humble blog.

You may email me or send a personal message in my social media accounts linked in my main page for more comments and suggestions.

Ellen Adarna's mumbled words during the interview and Xian Lim's behavior during the Chinese New Year celebration 2014 plus Anne Curtis "I can buy you, your friends and this club"

Regardless of the nature where the society is quick to give opinions to issues...

I think Ellen Adarna, as a human being, had those days of not having been able to put her words together. This might trigger some emotional, mental or physical matters especially when she posted on her twitter account that she was tipsy during the interview. I've seen some of her videos and read how she writes. It's not as bad as what people think just because she failed to deliver good grammar in her one interview. People instantly scrutinize a mistake after witnessing one. One little mistake and she's judged as bad. We often forget to put some benefit of the doubt or dig more about the person. Just like failing a quiz or maybe having a writer's block, she must have experienced that in the moment. Each of us may have experienced a similar situation in the past and maybe in the future.

Regarding Xian Lim's yes, it seems that he offended Charmae Viking (Kim Chiu's kalokalike). That was a foul behavior, but I believe that there was something that bothered him that elicited his bothersome behavior. Sometimes we do offend people inattentively and that doesn't mean that we should provoke them forever. Well, I know that the damage has been done when he humiliated Viking in front of the crowd and all the spectators. Maybe fame has inflated his head but the reality is that sometimes not everyone have the same situation to remind them to slow down. Fame could drive people crazy and blow their tops. This is just another lesson for him. Thank God it happened so that he won't repeat such behavior. If I were Viking I would slap his gorgeous face in front of everybody but well, everything was caught up by the situation and I'm sure he was caught up too.

 In this issue, it also reminded me of Anne Curtis' not so current "I can buy you, your friends and this club" incident. It occurred in my mind that people in the show business could be harsh but that's because we could all be, everyone could be, even the nicest people in the world have their own versions of harshness and unrelenting behavior. It could happen tomorrow, yesterday or even of this moment of time, anytime! But the disadvantage to them is that they live with all eyes of the nation and sometimes the whole world. A lot of spectators in different personalities could easily point out their flaws and turn them down plus it could be recorded as history.

We judge because we don't understand, but you know, we could count on their good side instead without dwelling on their weaknesses. Open our minds and always give benefit of the doubt, give them a chance; they aren't the drug lords or the syndicates, the murderers or the most sinful people, The Cedric Lee, they are still in their minds, like us. If Ellen Adarna couldn't answer the interview well, how much more the people with stage-frights, the illiterates, uneducated and us who are humans?

Maybe if they're too much or uncontrollable, that's when we should agree that they deserve opinionated judgments.

PHOTOS are from GOOGLE.COM

Greg

Not all of us can afford to drink a cup of Starbucks coffee or in any other state-of-the-art coffee shops. Let me qualify this allegory in the story I am about to share.

While waiting for our clinical instructor to arrive in the OPD (Out-Patient Department) recently, we saw a kid, about 12 years old, who was with a lady and two children -- one girl who's about eight years old and a little hyper boy who's about three to four years old. What really caught our attention was the kid, the patient we will call Greg (not his real name).
We noticed seemingly bizarre reactions from the way people were staring at Greg, a mix gestures of horror and sympathy. The sight initially gave us jitters albeit we sympathized with the kid’s predicament. 

Ninety percent of Greg’s body had been burned at the highest degree and he had a tube in his trachea. I can’t imagine seeing myself in Greg’s shoes. The story of the kid’s aunt, who narrated the circumstances that brought him in that state, almost broke our hearts. 
The aunt wiped the mucous coming out from Greg’s tube while using a pai-pai (native hand fan) to shoo away flies. Greg used to live with his grandfather, father, and cousin. Two other children mentioned earlier were actually his younger siblings. Greg lived with them in a small shanty in Dao, Antique. His mother died of infection after giving birth to her last child. To add to his misery, Greg’s father was stabbed dead on June 28, 2012 in neighborhood violence. 
It was on July 18, 2012 when the most horrible tragedy happened in his life. They were sleeping peacefully when a small flame from unknown origin dropped from the ceiling of their shanty. Within minutes, the fire spread, turned into conflagration and became uncontrollable. Greg was trapped and was almost devoured by the inferno. As I was listening to the story from her aunt, I shuddered at the thought he must have agonized worse than trying to survive drowning in the sea or like being consumed by cascading lava. 
Greg was the only one who survived. His grandfather and cousin didn't make it and were swallowed by enormous fire. They were burned beyond recognition, it was learned. His two siblings were fortunate they were not around. Teary eyed, his aunt, who is sincerely helping him get through his current situation, mentioned how Greg would always insist in saying he did not want to live with others but only with her.

I will forever remember Greg and his sad story. He inspired me in many ways. God has plans and reasons why it all happened. I wish some of us will realize we are still fortunate. How shallow for some of us to cry or bellyache over silly things, which is not even a shred of pain Greg had experienced after losing his loved ones in horrific fashion. He was brave. Losing a mother at a tender age is very much painful. A 12-year-old kid still needs a mother to make him feel warm and cozy, someone who can give him unconditional love never found in others. Even adults always go back to find a “mother's touch” when in dire straits or when experiencing simple pains. Losing a father at a young age is also unimaginable. A family needs someone to stand as the wall of a home, a padre de pamilya to protect him from harm and teach him how to ride a bike. 

We are luckier we can still read blogs and books; we can still own a pair of shoes; we still have parents to pay the bills, provide for our basic needs and protect our shells. 
We are still luckier we could stay in bed with proper mattress and pillows to protect our sides; we are luckier we could whine and wail to our parents whenever we wanted certain things or how parents rewarded us with material things that others could not own. We are luckier we could still study and finish our education even if others have dropped out and rebelled. Aren't we so luckier than Greg to be blessed with all the things we have today? 
Others might scrutinize and criticize some of the thoughts and circumstances I've listed here; others might swallow their pride and feign ignorance while on the bright-side, characters with open mind will somehow appreciate this story in one way or the other. I wish I have shared my inspiration.