Finally we got off and made our way to the victory liner bus station.  Katy got in line and I sat with our belongings in the waiting area.   Sitting there watching the tv everything was pretty much standard.   A stack of glass bottles sitting near by waiting to be recycled gathering more trash as a woman nearby threw some sort of plastic bag on the pile.  Meanwhile the rat that apparently lives behind the refrigerator on the other side of the jumble ran out from its cover to gather something dropped by a passenger and then scurried quickly back to its hiding spot.

We got on the bus and headed on our way.  Shortly after leaving the bay we began to see the change in scenery develop quickly from skyscrapers to warehouses to rice fields.  After only a short time we arrived at Robinsons San Fernando where our guide would be meeting us.

Being told the trip would take 3 hours we left at 1 pm.  Since it only took 2 hours we had some time to kill so we grabbed a bite to eat.  I sent our guide a text relaying that we had arrived early and they came and scooped us up shortly afterward.

Directly from Robinsons we headed to one of the University of Assumption’s Outreach Program’s adopted neighborhoods, and inside the community to their livelihood program.  The women of the community showed us how they handcrafted doormats of very high quality.

We also visited their chapel on a road called St. Josephs Straight (named because the road had no turns).  There we visited the one of the oldest churches in Pampanga.  Afterward we left and went the mall and grabbed another bite to eat with our Filipino friends  from the UA (outreach program). Then we went to UA and retired for the night.

The next morning we awoke late and hurried to get dressed and headed downstairs.  We met our new friends and got on the bus.  Then we proceeded to a children’s home.  The home was set up for children with special needs;  mentally and physically challenged children and adults lived there, although most of the residents were kids.

Arriving just in time for mass we quickly sat down and began.  The conclusion of the mass came and then the students in the outreach program had a special event planned and choreographed for the kids which we watched;  all the kids had a blast.  Then the residents had a program which they performed for us which was awesome!  One of the kids was an amazing singer who sang some famous songs including artists like Chicago.

Then we proceeded to the actual home and they were served lunch and we hung out with them for a while before we left.   That experience really made think about how many people sit around and mope about nothing really when there are people who have things to be upset about and all they do is smile and want to see you smile.

We left and ate lunch then went back to the UA for what is called ciesta which is where you take a nap after you eat.  Being used to waking up much later we accidentally passed out and of course we woke up late again!  Waiting on us downstairs was Weslee, one of our PAS scholars, and a few others, including our board member, Charles Espiritu, and a man named Allen.

We then headed out to the Children’s Joy Foundation’s home.  When we arrived we saw the kids gathering their instruments and they began to play some songs for us.  They were very talented playing the beat box, guitars and violins.  At the end they played Dancing Queen by Abba;  I was definitely impressed. The children sometimes perform at weddings and other activities as such to raise money for the home. We had a great time hanging out with the kids and listening to them. Afterward we met the home’s mother, as they called her.  She was very nice; we talked for a little while and then one of the kids came in and gave us a plate of mirianda prepared by the UAOP.  The kids really enjoyed it.

After dinner at the mall we headed back to UA and slept. The next morning as we were leaving, Fr. Aris caught us on the way out and introduced us to the bishop!  Then we left and met Charles downstairs who instructed Allen to take us to this really old church.  The church was more that 450 years old and still had its original wooden supports! However the most interesting thing about it was that when we entered, we walked through what we thought were doors but actually we were walking through the second story windows where the choir loft used to be.  About 15 years ago a volcanic eruption, in fact the largest eruption in recent history we were told, took place and what they called hard flow covered up half of the church. its still being used today for regular masses.

Then we went back to the mall and hopped on a bus headed for Cubao.  The trip was really something we will remember for the rest of our lives.  I hope you all will pray for these ministries and for PAS that we can support and partner with them.   They are very needed here in such impoverished areas of the world.  So long for now God bless and as always Ingat!!

The World Bank has suggested two strategies to make the poor feel the benefits of a rising economy. The first is to increase income-generating opportunities for the poor. This may be done by an aggressive effort to attract more businesses, which will open more jobs for the poor.

The foreign lender said enticing more investors would require improving the investment climate and spending more on infrastructure.

The other strategy is to improve human capital. Training Filipinos to meet the labor requirements of investors would help reduce unemployment and, therefore, poverty.  Read the rest of the story here.

Hopefully we can be a small part of the solution.  Helping Filipinos to improve their communities and the quality of life will have additional positive effects throughout society.

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – President Benigno Aquino III conducted a brief inspection of two creeks just outside Malacanang, the presidential palace, today, after being told that the waterways, especially those leading to Malacanang, are filthy.

Aquino, accompanied only by his security detail, conducted a 20- minute inspection of the creek along P. Casal bridge, then to another near the Mendiola bridge, and observed that the former needed to be cleaned. Read the rest of the story here.

“Essentially, this is basic education and this is for free,” Lacierda said, adding the idea behind the proposal is for high school graduates to have better opportunities for employment even if they decide not to pursue college education.

Part of DepEd’s proposal is the inclusion of vocational courses to afford high school students with “practical livelihood skills.”

According to Lacierda, any cost in the implementation of the program will be shouldered by the government. Read the rest of the story here.

It appears to be a lose lose situation, as these things usually are.  It boils down to either increasing the burden on train riders by a small amount, or to increasing the burden on everyone by a much smaller amount.  Though each individual suffers less under the second option, the long term effects on the economy of Manila, as in any such case, could be worse than the first option.  Law makers will have to balance the immediate needs and financial capacity of train commuters versus the overall capacity for increased taxes in the community.  Manila Times reports:

A MILITANT youth group launched a signature drive and petition asking the Aquino government not to implement the looming fare hike on the three mass based railway system in the country. The signature drive and petition, which is located at the Cubao Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station, in some Light Rail Transit (LRT) and MRT stations, including North Avenue in Quezon City started at 8 a.m.  Read the whole story…

The Labor chief said that the new minimum wage rates shall apply to all minimum wage earners in the private sector in the region, regardless of their position, designation, or status of employment, and method by which they are paid.

But it allows troubled establishments and new business enterprises a one-year exemption from the payment of the new minimum wage, upon application with and approval of the RTWPB. The period for application for exemption shall be within 75 days from publication of its approved Implementing Rules.  Read the rest of the story…

After yesterday’s turnover ceremonies at the MMDA headquarters in Makati City, Francis N. Tolentino, three-term mayor of Tagaytay City (1995-2004), said he has ordered a review of the Unified Vehicular Volume Reduction Program or number coding scheme and at the same time limiting exceptions, such as ambulances and the media.

Mr. Tolentino said flood control projects will be made more effective.

In a statement, Mr. Tolentino said his administration will involve the public in crafting new programs.

Read the rest of the story here.

Katy had the isle seat; I had the middle and in the window seat sat a dark haired middle aged woman. She introduced herself as Mrs. Brown. Presenting her self as she did and introducing her self as Mrs. I didn’t need to ask what she did for a living. I already knew.  Though just for laughs I asked anyways. “I am a teacher” she replied.  I knew because she reminded me so much of my mom. Anyways I told her how we were headed to Quezon city to do some Mission work and explained what we were going to be doing.

The plane landed and we went our separate ways. We got on the next flight at around 2:30 got out to the runway and sat there. Then we sat there some more. After about two hours of literally staring out the window at the massive engine blowing the grass around the pilot got on the intercom and told us that there was a weather formation to the north west directly in our path so they were going to shut off the engines to save gas. After another hour of nothing the pilot came back on and informed us that air traffic control had rerouted our trip and we would be leaving… right after we refueled.

So finally after refueling and sitting some more we took off. That was a long ride however we did meet some interesting people aboard the plane. Including two missionaries who were traveling to somewhere 4 hours north of where we were headed. They told us how they were planning on speaking in prisons and some other things. We have been praying for their safety and hope you will too. After about twelve and a half ours we landed in Nagoya Japan to refuel. On the way down we saw some fireworks going off which was pretty neat. Since we were so behind schedule we just had enough time to get off the plane Use the restroom and board the next flight. The flight lasted about 4 hours.

When we landed we went through customs like everyone else and grabbed our bags and left. Outside we were met by Jayjay, one of the students Philippine Aid Society is sponsoring through college, and Aileen who had a cab for us.  Since the gas tanks are in the trunk of the cabs here we fit as much as we could in the trunk and the rest was in the passenger seat and on our laps.  All four of us sat in the back seat and as Aileen said we were sardines!

Finally we arrived at Tomas Morato Ave about 45 minutes later. We slept most of the trip over so the rest of the night we visited with family.  Sunday we went to Fairvew where we would be working. There was a party being held for Lola (grandmother) because it was her birthday. There were many people there.

After settling in for a while we took a walk with Romy. He took us around the community and showed us the damage from the flooding from Typhoon Ondoy last year. Many people died in this flood. The flood waters rose so quickly that those at the lower lands had little to no time to escape. The pathways are all now covered in the rubble from the houses. He showed us a tree the locals call the Miracle tree. Thirty five people climbed the tree when the flood came and they were saved.

As we walked around we could hardly believe the carnage that was set in the wake of the massive flood. Later we walked back on the way stopping at different communities here and there meeting some people and community leaders.  Finally we made it back home and got some rest. The next day we had a meeting with Tim online and then experienced our first of many Asian rains.

Tuesday we worked together with the people in what is called “Bayanihan.”  This is where everyone works together. We re-built a damaged road with them. It was very rewarding especially afterword daily walking on the road that the whole community helped build. The rest of the week was filled with random tasks such as meetings, paperwork, traveling to Morato area and more meetings.

Saturday we went out with the help of Elvira Cayabyab, Treasurer of the Board of Trustees, and purchased the supplies for the soup kitchen.  Sunday we had our first weekly soup kitchen!! It was a great success. We fed altogether 300+ people plus some had seconds!. Planning for only 200, we were very blessed to have extra and gave the rest away. I hope you will continue reading the blog as we update it. May God be with you and Ingat!!  (‘Ingat’ means “take care”)

Check out some of our photos on the Facebook page.

MANILA — The Philippine government said Wednesday it would give money directly to poor families in an effort to fight a sharp rise in the number of Filipinos enduring severe hunger.

President Benigno Aquino’s new administration said it wanted to act after a survey released Wednesday reported that about 780,000 families in the Philippines, 4.2 percent of the total, felt hunger “often or always”.

The results of the Social Weather Stations survey, covering April to June, amounted to a big increase from the 2.8 percent, or 530,000 families, that reported experiencing hunger in the previous three months.  Read the rest of the story here.

It is quite an experience to travel around Metro-Manila (or any Philippine city) in a crowded jeepney.  Randall at “Dreaming Philippines” wrote a post that brought me back to the busy streets of Manila.

Randall, a fellow Westerner, writes:

I find myself on the side of a crowded highway having just stepped off the Jeepney. Waiting with countless poor and yet smiling faces that I have bonded with in this short stream of consciousness that is, and will ever be a part of my life. I travel with the locals on their most popular mode of transportation. The Jeepney is a Filipino Icon in that it efficiently transports people day in and day out to their desired destinations for such a small amount of Pesos. You see in most parts of the Philippines it is unnecessary to even have a car. To the American it is a forein concept indeed to be without one!  Read more about “Street Level Living in the Philippines”…