Charm In Ink

 February 1, 2020 was the very first day that we exchanged text messages, about mundane things really, just about the stuff going on as we were both very busy with tasks assigned to us, little did I know that it would be the start of something special, that it would be the start of our love story. Who would have thought that I would find my special someone in the middle of relief operations and a humanitarian mission, surprisingly that was where it all started. I've been introduced to you a long time before as I was giving a speakers' training to our friends and fellow activists, it was an unremarkable first meeting, I just knew you then as someone who also shared his thoughts as I was discussing how one should speak before a large crowd. Then, we met again on a quick response mission, I was tasked to debrief you and your companions and assess how everything went, still that meeting was nothing special. Then came that massive relief operation that had us holed up in our headqua...

Another year just came and went and just like that, I am once again turning a year older and well I hope another year wiser. The past year has been eventful. It has been filled with many highs and lows. It has been a year of self discovery and of me figuring out many things for myself. What I am now is something that I did not see coming, its very far from what I envisioned myself to be once I turned 23 but that is okay. What I have become is something that I think is so much better. Indeed, I'm at a point in my life where I have decisions to make and things to consider and I know that maybe along the way I would make mistakes and do things that I'd regret but maybe it will all be okay. As I celebrate my birthday this year, away from home, away from my family and loved ones and amidst a pandemic that has kept everyone on lockdown I am forced to think about how I have lived my life. It has got me into thinking of how precious time is and how sometimes I have taken things...

All the bullshit made me strong I ask myself what I did wrong? All the bullshit made me strong I have waited far too long All the bullshit made me strong I've faced every challenge headstrong all the bullshit made me strong why can't we all get along all the bullshit made me strong can't get a sense of what is right or wrong all the bullshit made me strong why do I feel like I don't belong all the bullshit made me strong maybe this is the end, no more fight song

Ano ba talaga ang ibig sabihin ng totoong pagbabago? Nabubuhay tayo sa isang mundo na araw-araw nating napapanood sa mga balita ang mga nakahandusay na katawang wala nang hininga—nababalutan ng itim na garbage bag at plaster; ng kaliwa’t kanang  ligalig sa pulitika; kahirapan; digmaan at marami pang iba. Napakadaling sabihing kailangan natin ng pagbabago—ng totoong pagbabago. Ang totoong pagbabago ay ang pagkain sa mga tiyan ng mga mahihirap nating kapwa kabataan. Tayo ang magbubunsod ng totoong pagbabago—hindi isang indibidwal o bagani. Ang totoong pagbabago ay ang pag-alam sa ating mga sarili at ating kapaligiran at gawin itong mas maayos at mas mabuti. Ang totoong pagbabago ay hindi ang paghihintay kundi ang paglikha ng sarili nating tadhana.   Pero sino ang gagawa nito? Lahat ay may kakayanan ngunit tayong mga kabataan ang may pinaka-interes na baguhin ang lipunan—dahil tayo ang magmamana nito. Ikaw, iyang katabi mo, yung grupo ng mga Iskolar diyan, iyong mga artist...

As another semester and academic year draws to a close, I again find myself overwhelmed with emotion and anxiety and a feeling of restlessness brought about by feelings of being left behind and being way past my prime college years. It truly feels like an end of an era for so many different reasons, some of them good and some not so much. I would not be graduating this year, which means I am way delayed in terms of my studies and original timeline, I should have graduated last year at just 20 years old but look at where I am now. My closest friends and org mates will soon be leaving campus and I am really pained and sad and worried. It is as if the times have come and gone and here I am left behind. I have made choices in the past that I don't necessarily regret but right now those choices seem to not be really the best at this point in time. I am really proud of my friends who are finally graduating and who have presented or will be presenting their theses but I cannot help bu...

2017 was my year of Magpunyagi! It has been a challengingvyear filled with new experiences both good and bad. The entire year has been a roller coaster ride with intertwining highs and lows. I welcomed big changes as 2017 came, changes that were not a choice but changes brought about by circumstance and need. I welcomed such changes and I have learned plenty of things along the way. As I turned 20, I welcomed a new chapter of my life both literally and figuratively. The position that I now hold as UPLB USC Chairperson is an opportunity and experience that I will always be thankful for. It has not been easy navagating my way thru the web of things to do all throughout the year and there were plenty of times that I almost gave it all up and just quit. It has been a year of many firsts and many lasts, it has been a joy and a burden to have experienced everything all at the same time. From organizinv one event and another to talking and meeting with people and more importan...

Today started out just like any other day, it was but just another event that we/I would have to pull off. I expected it to be draining but not too the point that it would be my saturation point. I have been crying uncontrollably this past week but today was unlike any other day, in the sense that it was not just sadness that overwhelmed me, but there was anger and disappointment and to an extent, there was disdain for the people around me, I hated them for making me feel bad about myself, for making me feel like a very insignificant thing in the bigger spectrum of things, it was as though all my efforts were to be defined by a text message or my ability or inability to reply at the rate that they expected me to. Keep going just wasn't going to resolve me or to make me feel any better, I did my part of the bargain but people seemed to have forgotten that very small part I play in the greater scheme of things, The past 3 months has been exhausting and it is finally taking a toll...