My Own Trip to Planet Biyo

Last week, I've read about Planet Biyo - the very noble life lived by a rural teacher who has been recognized as world-class. She is Professor Josette Biyo. I've heard about her back in high school. News spread about naming a minor planet in honor of a Filipino Science teacher. I haven't known until last week about what she really has done to the academe and to our country. She is indeed noble.

Last Saturday, June 7, I met another Biyo. It was when my colleagues in Bayantrade and I were hurrying to Makati for our Berlitz language training. We had to take the next bus, even if it meant standing for thirty minutes on it from the tenement in Taguig. So I stood, tried to finish my sandwich breakfast and tried to balance on the moving bus, with my two hands holding the sanwich and a Sparkle drink. Then someone from my left tapped my elbow. She offered a seat. The left bus seats can only accommodate three adults. There were already three of them seated. However, the lady insisted that I sit down. So I did. But when i tried to fit just one butt, the next lady said something. I didn't clearly get what she said but I was sure that she complained. I think I heard her also say "di na nga kasya..." Then the kind lady politely replied "share na lang tayong lahat...hindi naman atin itong bus. " The other lady didn't answer back anymore.

For thirty minutes inside the bus, I listened to the kind lady story-telling me about how a person will be blessed if he knew to share his blessings also. She told me how lucky she was. She had six children - four of them were nurses, an engineer and a seaman working abroad. The two younger children still study nursing. Her husband was a barangay chairman in their place in Cagayan Valley. She was a teacher there. She went to Manila to look at her daughter's three-storey house in Taguig who had been working in London for eight years. She also told me that she was sending a godchild to school which according to her "para rin guminhawa ang buhay niya at ng pamilya nila..." Her generosity also benefited their neighborhood kids who found it veyr difficult to buy new notebooks and other supplies for the incoming school opening. She offered to buy for them in Manila. She only shared how meager her salary as a teacher was. I then concluded that she was perhaps in a public school because she only got 8,000 Php as her net pay from her 15,000 salary. There were times that she had to use her own money to compensate for materials and the needs inside the classroom. I answered to her the story of Professor Biyo - how noble, passionate and selfless she was as a teacher. She also recalled about her trip to Hongkong with her family. She also kept repeating about being kind and sharing to others. She even gave me words which I should always tell myself - that I should ask God to open my heart, that He is the only one who knows and blesses the people, that He is great.

Yes, He is great because I've met that lady who have made me realize my capabilities of being able to share what I have to others. The next day will be her travel back to the province, bringing along with her the promise she has given to the hopeful kids.

As the bus stopped in Ayala station, I had to bid her goodbye. It was only then that she asked for my name. I gave my first name, but she also asked what my surname was. She also gave hers. She was Monica Tominao.

I'm not even sure if i heard her surname correctly. Yet, I will never forget the face and lessons I learned from the stranger who offered a seat to me.

I think...

I've been in the blogging world since my first year in college. I was still with Xanga that time..Then came blogspot, friendster and now, multiply. For almost three years, my pages have been drowned with emotions that I so kept inside me. Things I cannot tell to real people, I write them to the cyberpeople. I cant avoid the times when I hesitate to talk with people. Actually, I always have such kind of times.

Just recently...I realized that my blog entries are too personal. They all talk about me, my life, my love, my pains, my world. Perhaps, I can redirect what I write. I could talk about political issues, the Arroyo administration, criminal cases, the GMA-ABSCBN survey lawsuits and anything else other than about me. Yes, I can start after this entry.

faith, hope and love

as i was walking in our neighborhood, i got fascinated by the twinkling of the stars in the velvet blue sky. then i saw a shooting star. it happened so fast that as i was about to shut my eyelids and think fast of a wish, it was gone already. sayang, i thought to myself.would my wish come true if only i was as fast enough to cast my wish on that star?

despite that, i tsill believe that all my wishes - everything that my heart desires will come true. it is like Pinocchio who dreams of becoming a real boy. can apiece of wood turn into human flesh? Cinderella - a housemaid, dreams of only dressing up into a nice and simple gown and going to the royal ball. Ariel wishes to trade her tail with a pair of feet and walk on the shores.

what is similar in Pinocchio, Cinderella, Ariel and I is that we believe in what we wish for. people call it faith. it is also hope.

Pinocchio turned into a real boy and Gepetto became not his maker anymore but his father. Cinderella was granted by the Fairy Godmother an elegant pair of glass slippers to match her eye-catching ball gown. the Prince even danced with her until midnight and eventually she became a princess herself. Ariel made wrong decisions at first but then she didn't have to give up being a sea princess, a mermaid and a daughter to King Triton. she and Prince Erik fell in love with each other. not even Ursula can stop such powerful force of faith, hope and love.

though they are fictional characters and many think that only children believe in them, i seem to associate myself with them too. the world i exist in may be the "real world" and not an animation, but the desire of my heart throbs as strongly as theirs - as we see them in fairy tales.

sometimes what we wish for may not have been granted, but it shouldn't disappoint us. it should even give us more strength and courage to persevere, to act and make things happen.

Peter Pan's his name

neverneverland - a place where i don't have to grow old. i could stay as a kid, allowed to do whatever i please, without getting reprimanded. the place was heaven and earth combined. the Mermaid Lagoon was fascinating and the pretty merpeople sang with chilly gold voices. the waters were so blue, reflecting the sky above. kois abound, not piranhas. the clouds seemed like cottoncandies - fluffy and white. birds and butterflies added color in the atmosphere. the caves and forests were inhabited by the Red Indians. i met Princess Tiger Lily and she welcoemd me with a peculiar bird-like dance. different shapes of smoke came out from the orang-red fire put up at the center of the teepees. i tried puffing their cigar and found it minty and refreshing. the Red Indian tribe welcomed me with a dance of which resembled like a disco. we all danced to the sound of the hand-beaten drums and gongs.

then i was with the Children. costumed like a bear, squirrel, skunk, rabbit an a beaver, we acted like the animals. we played for a long stretch of time and weren't afraid of getting dirty and sweaty. we made fun of Tinkerbell's magical gold dust and sprinkled it on ourselves. We were flying! from above, i saw Captain Hook's pirate ship. i knew he couldn't lay a finger or a hook on me. i could hear the ticking sound from the crocodile swimming around his ship, waiting to finally gobble him up. trapped there, Captain Hook could not cause any trouble in neverneverland.

the dust's magic had rubbed off. slowly i landed into a tree - a house inside a tree. it was your home. the second i laid my eyes on you, all was complete. there was nothing else i could ask for. together, we wandered around the island. despite the threat of Captain Hook, i knew then i was safe. you were with me. you showed me what a wonderful world it was to be with you. you made me see things beautifully. you opened my eyed to reality.

i opened my eyes to reality and found myself in pajamas, lying on my bed and tears trickling down from my eyes. yet, the memory of such a place and time with you was still fresh and it will remain a memory.

the aged and the road

i stood on the other side of the road - my hair neatly tied in a ponytail, lips glossed and a freshly powdered face. confidently, i stood there. many people came and stopped to ask me where i was heading. i simply flashed my smile to them. some understand that i keep the answer to myself. some asked further and only got disappointed. they all asked me to go with them because i was alone there. it was perhaps a lonely scene, but i remained my composure.
still patiently i stood there as if my feet were permanently glued to the ground. i kept my composure for i didn't want you to see me lousy and ugly-looking when you arrived. you told me to wait and like an obedient little angel, i did. the sun was high up and my shadow was vertically flat on the ground. then i saw another shadow! for the first time, i moved and changed my position. i thought it belonged to you. i thought it was you. sadly, it was another man's shadow. he jolted as i did. to me was excitement, to him fright. he might have thought i was a statue and my movement scared him.
much time had already passed. i couldn't even figure out what was the date yesterday. yesterday. still it seemed only a day had passed when i started to wait for you. i felt my lips chapped, my hands wrinkled and grey hairs hung down from my crown. oh no! i thought to my self. i didn't want you to see me like this. i have aged! the grace and confidence in me were gone. i tried to stand upright but my back ached. my knees trembled.
tears streamed down from my eyes. horrible. i must have looked terrible and you saw me. you have seen how ugly i have become, and perhaps that was why you never came.
you told me to wait. i still remained there, standing slouched.