Bring Back the Melody of Pasig River

"Where are you now? I'm already here at Ospital ng Maynila. Our group will start from here. You should be here by 5AM!" It was 3:30AM and the voice reverberated in my room in the quiet of the early dawn. The call came from Ms. Bebian Lo, our company's Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing.

Two days earlier, Ms. Bebian made a last ditch effort to have our group join the Run for Pasig River 2011 organized by the Gina Lopez-led ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc. (AFI). She gave us eleven registration forms complete with race shirts and race numbers, free of charge. I think each set should have cost the participant at least P450.00. Thanks to Boardwalk, her younger sister's fashion and apparel company which co-sponsored this major environmental concern activity alongside Air 21, Midas Hotel, DOTC, Lopez Group of Companies, Metro Rail Transit Corporation, Prudential Guarantee, ExTribe and other cause oriented groups, we will be saving our weekend allowances.

Online registration was already closed but Ms. Bebian has managed to ask Boardwalk to include our group in the last batch of participants which will be encoded manually by the monitoring group.

The event was listed on a global scale, having broken the Guinness World Record in the most number of participants in a marathon registering a total of 116,086 runners last October 10, 2010 or intentionally 10.10.10. This year's run hopes to break last year's record breaker. But the greater task is to generate funds to help sustain the rehabilitation of Pasig River. This is what AFI has set out to do and arduously strives to achieve since 2009 when the campaign started to gain momentum after the establishment of the Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig (KBPIP).

Our group, composed of last minute recruits from Mt. Zion Memorial, Inc. (Rod, Jocelyn, Abel, Mon and myself), Fil-Estate Manangement, Inc. (Jackie), Global Estate Resorts, Inc. (Tet), Malay Resort Holdings, Inc. (my wife Hapi) and Universal Robina Corporation (Ina) all agreed to convene first at the Renaissance Tower at 4:00AM, Sunday on 11.20.11. Rod's group decided to go ahead via EDSA going straight to Roxas Boulevard as Hapi and I almost missed our cellphones alarm rings. The call from Ms. Bebian made it all the more urgent and exciting. As expected, traffic was incredibly heavy starting from the approach to EDSA MRT Station. I followed Mon's advice to go left immediately upon reaching Roxas Blvd. and make a right going to the DFA and breeze through the SMX parking area. We almost did it but not quite, as we got caught up in the middle when all vehicles grinded to a halt. The race has begun! And we're going to miss the big event.

A call from Rod, Abel and Mon added to our frustration hearing that they were already on the race and have already joined the group category of 10K run while we were stuck in the middle of the road. They were at the opposite direction coming from the Uniwide Coastal Road area. We were nearer going towards Petron Gas Station along Macapagal Avenue where the 3K and the 5K race categories were happening. Assessing the situation, we left the car in the middle of the traffic jam, suited up for the race and joined the fray halfway along the race - a classic shortcut to the finish line. There were very many runners, and walkers with different groups coming in throngs of varied colors - a festive atmosphere, indeed.

I've heard that the biggest contingent came from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines with at least 15,000 entries. ABS-CBN posted a remarkable 5,000 plus runners. It is quite notable to see happy faces doing the marathon or should I say, walkathon. The volume of participants occupying the road made it impossible for the runners to run as there is no more space ahead to cover for more energetic stride. All one needs to do was to keep up with the pace of the race and that was to walk . . . albeit leisurely. In my poor estimation, the participants that came that day far exceeded what was needed to break the previous year's record breaker. I think around 150,000 runners attended.

Reaching the finish line was our greatest achievement that day. And our prize was nothing less than exhilirating - a bottle of Smart C and a pack of Champion Powder soap. I would say that the real winners of this Run for Pasig River 2011 were those who came to shed a few extra pounds and sweat; those who came for bonding with family members and friends and those who came to give an insignificant portion of their fortune to bring back to life the once majestic and poetic Ilog Pasig.

Our hand salute to AFI and the organizers.

East Meets West, the Gibbs-Pontevedra Wedding

You will know that you're getting old once someone asks you to stand as a principal sponsor on her wedding. In the customary Philippine setting, acquaintances are candidates for a slot in a wedding entourage. But of course, friendship or blood relationship is of key consideration.

On June 18, 2011 at Crossroads at Quezon City, I was standing in front of the invited guests holding the microphone as I address the newly wed couple, Liza and Aaron Gibbs,

serving them sermons of married life talisman to help them face their new life as spouses. I was feeling as if I was a sage who has already matured beyond my years, Well, everyone agrees, experience is the best teacher.

Actually I didn't know what to say but logic has carried me to just share a funny anecdote to drive home my point for the new couple. I would've told Aaron this other anecdote. I'll tell him that in the early years of their marriage, when he gets home and if it happens that they have a dog, it surely will bark and his wife Liza will be rushing to get him his slippers. A few years later on, when he gets home, Liza will be barking while the dog gets the slippers. And then I expounded on the significance of the art of communication, where someone has to send the message while the other must receive the message. The end result must be understanding each other.

Liza to me is an acquaintance brought about by our job connections, where we met somewhere at a common point. One of her bosses is my business partner. Liza is a diligent employee who has shown hardwork and integrity in his workplace. And by the wonders of technology, he first met Aaron Gibbs in a computer screen - so near yet so far away halfway across the globe. Born in Texas, USA, Aaron first got a glimpse of Liza when he was still assigned in Iraq as a Power Generator Supervisor. The rest was history as Liza and Aaron hauled their families to Quezon City to tie the knot on the blessed day of June 18, 2011.

I thought Aaron would not notice but I think he was well apprised about the wedding ceremony in the Philippines. I was actually waiting for Aaron to just come by my table and ask me the question, "How come we have more number of people in the entourage than those at the tables?" Well, I guess everybody just wants to have a nice role in this very momentous occasion of Liza's life.

What more can I say? Go ye and multiply. But most of all, love one another for the rest of your lives. God Bless.

Visit Singapore

I won't hesitate recommending Singapore as a tourist destination to my friends. Why? Because I felt safe and comfortable. I think their place is a well-thought master-planned tourist destination. Singapore is not that big and I think it could be just as big as the old Quezon City. But in terms of land use, without the necessity of digging actual city engineering's office data, I can safely say that each square meter has its highest and best use. One can only marvel how all those amazing infrastructure were made to fit in this tiny island nation.

Here are some of the reasons why you should include Singapore in your must-visit list of countries:

1. Safe - Not just safe, I think it is very safe. Singapore's airport was once considered the safest, most beautiful, and most advanced airport in the world. It was recently dethroned by South Korea. Roaming the city by walking, my eight-year old daughter asked why there are no police officers on the sidewalks or on the streets. The laws in Singapore (from traffic to capital offenses) are well enforced. This makes everyone (not just Singaporeans but foreigners as well) law abiding. This has lead to the creation of a famous tag line for for the island, "Singapore is a FINE city." You get fined for every violation you make, or worse end up in jail.
2. Accessible - Singapore's land transit system is one of the finest. 90% of the trains are underground while buses have designated loading and unloading stations, all monitored through GPS. Locations and arrivals can be accessed instantly via handheld phones. One card is used for all public transport facilities which doubles as a debit card for shopping and dining purposes.
3. Tourist-friendly - While Singapore was designed to be Asia's foremost trading hub, the current administration has put equal emphasis on tourism. A big advantage is an almost perfect mix of peace-loving people. Singapore is mainly composed of three large groups: the Chinese who are mostly Buddhists, the Indians who are mostly Hindus and the Malays. Through a national directive, all Singaporeans are asked to welcome and extend a hospitable hand to every tourist that visits their country. Good hotels are aplenty and man-made tourist spots are being developed every year. The most recent addition was the completion of the Sentosa and Universal Studio by the Resorts World. Formula1 Racing facility is underway and an olympic stadium is under construction.
4. No calamity - Singapore is not the usual path of typhoon and storm. Harbor and airport facilities are definitely one of the world's best.
5. Efficient public service - Singapore charges one of the highest tax rates in the world but everything is given back to the people and visitors by way of efficient infrastructure, health services, pension payments (Singaporeans retire at age 40), etc. Taxes go where they should be.
6. Environment-friendly - the rivers are clean, the trees keep growing alongside new "green" buildings and the air is cleaner than you would expect in a highly-urbanized surroundings.

These are but few of the things that are high on my list. There are other items worth mentioning but I think that the above would suffice the needs of even the most discriminating tourist. One warning though, cost of living is higher so make sure that you have more cash (or credit card) for your travel, hotel and food expenses.

Overall, Singapore is a fine city.

Keisho-sodai

On occasional visits with friends, I sometimes see a natural beauty of nature miniaturized in a small flat tray. I actually appreciated the beauty but never gave much attention to how it came to being. I am talking about a bonsai. There is always something in this work of art that touches your inner self and imagination. This art coupled with a lot of science actually originated from Japan, hence the word "bonsai" which means literally "small". The fundamental concept of bonsai is called "Keisho-sodai" which means "small size, great similarity". And it was only very recently that I started to dig deeper into appreciating this newfound hobby.

In a hurried world, going into bonsai art is like going against the tide of fast-paced way of living. We live in a world where everything should be done fast and comfortable. So we have fast food, fast ferry, fast internet connection, fast ticket, expressways here and there, fast computer upgrades, accelerated college courses... and the list can go on and on... Bonsai making goes on the reverse. It is actually a balancing act of having a healthy plant which growth is stunted through root and branch pruning and a delimited source of soil nutrient. The art challenges one's capacity to wait, and in most cases to intentionally slow down the process and painstakingly wait for the desired result - Keisho-sodai.

They say that patience is a virtue. It is indeed a virtue specially when your involved in bonsai making. It is like wearing a clock without the hands so that it becomes timeless. It thrives in a world of its own, amid the chaos where time is suspended. As I gaze intently on the roots of my phycus benjamina that now hugs the little block of concrete, I wonder when they will ever grow bigger than my pinky. Maybe years from now. One leaf a day.

Outside, the bonsai brings calm and gentleness. Inside, one will never see the struggle of every small root to absorb the limited nutrients in its harshly made environment. It is that same struggle inside that brings out the best of the tree - a beauty to behold.

Just One More Time

Someone once said, "The day you get angry at your failures is the day you start winning." Translated, winners are simply ex-losers who got mad. We have always associated success to winning in whatever field - be it sports, corporate affairs, sales, politics, economics, religion ... literally in everything. And everybody will be measured. Question is, "by which yardstick?" It's quite difficult to do measurements as it is quite even more difficult to find a perfectly even playing field. It's a good thing Albert Einstein invented the greatest excuse for differing results - the theory of relativity.

Going back to the ex-losers, I mean, winners, I'd like to say that success is measured or achieved by getting up just one more time than you have fallen. Everybody makes mistakes but the problem is very few learns from those mistakes. Worse, they embrace it and forever live a life of obscurity and misery. The great challenge is to get up every time you fall and to keep up the good work and finish the race. Life is not about pristine and unblemished records. Sooner or later, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will be slapped with his first ever loss in his boxing career. And if that loss will not come from Manny Pacquiao, it will be from someone else. Nobody is young forever. Father time is just lurking at the corner.

In the physical world, everything can be measured. And so they say that which you cannot measure, you cannot manage. However, I find beauty and relevance in things that cannot be measured. It gives us the license to bask in the great feeling of amazement. That is why we marvel, we stand in awe. In mathematics, there is a symbol for infinity because mathematicians knew infinity exists. Even the great physicist Albert Einstein acknowledged that there is a vacuum inside the human heart that only a divine being can fill. So let's not be dependent on the physical attributes because they all fade. Let us use the energy that makes a person glow even without the batteries - our heart. When it's aflame, it can very well propel a man to achieving greater heights, or simply to get up just one more time than you have fallen.

Sink or Swim

More than a year ago, the House of Representatives and the Senate signed a new law that sent real estate developers, marketing companies and real estate practitioners into a frenzy. The new law was actually two decades old and was first filed by a gentleman from South Luzon. Rep. Nograles and Senator Enrile signed the law and eventually got into the hands of PGMA and became what we now call as the Republic Act 9646 or the Real Estate Service Act of the Philippines effective June 29, 2009.

What makes RESA very special or shall we call almost controversial? In terms of economics, the law will directly and indirectly affect a P150B industry composed of real estate agents, developers with in-house marketing and other allied real estate services. While the law is geared towards the professionalizing of the real estate service profession through the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), the industry actually has thrived and flourished even without the intervention of the PRC. A good number of real estate practitioners have earned millions of pesos even though they were unlicensed as individuals, riding on to the license of the big developers and marketing companies which were secured from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board. Many developers have sat pretty and comfortable with their in-house agents who showed exemplary performance and loyalty in pushing the sale of their own projects.

Most real estate marketing companies, not brokerage companies, have developed and trained high grade and top caliber salesmen out of their recruits who came from all walks of life - from the plain housewives to drivers to teachers to doctors and other you-name-it-and-they-have-it professions. I personally know a lot of people who rose from the ranks and became senior executives and they have not even reached the tertiary education. Some are not even high school graduates and they have all become millionaires.

The passage of the law has actually placed many individuals and companies in a "sink or swim" attitude. The law has put a minimum educational attainment requirement for the practice of real estate service - at least second year college. This has compromised the performance of many salesmen whose educational attainment is below the minimum as set by the law. They feared losing their jobs or income source which they have so dutifully loved and nurtured. Many will be going underground for fear of being prosecuted. Real estate companies, both developers and marketers, have grown wary and cautious. As a result, their sales production also dropped significantly. But for those who are more defiant, they continued doing their ware as if RESA doesn't exist. They are waiting until such time that someone files a complaint with the PRC. But until then, they will try to save their dwindling sales production.

Our company has chosen to comply. The law may be harsh but it's the law. As a result, we will hold the honor to be the first company to finish a comprehensive review on real estate service course based on the new law as accredited by the PRC. The Philippine Association of Real Estate Brokers (PAREB) sponsored our review classes. It is quite remarkable to see a lot of agents, from young ones to young once, attending the review classes. Our group is of mixed profile from accountants to lawyers to engineers to teachers and doctors. The best thing that happened to this review class is the coming to life of an old saying by Aristotle - "Learning is a never-ending process."

In the end, RESA will be implemented in its full force and this exercise is an early vehicle for us to comply and not be bothered by issues and concerns in the future. The best part is that I became part of the first ever class that is compliant with the law. We will go down in history as the first batch to take the licensure board exams for brokers given byPRC. Now, to pass it is another matter. We will see soon...

The Oddball

In his signature murmur-like speech, Freddie Roach moves his head left to right and vice versa without taking off his eyes before the man holding a highly sensitive microphone positioned a few inches away from a host of other live cameras, microphones and cellphones. Roach declares, "Manny Pacquiao is an oddball. You won't simply see and experience a fighter of his caliber in a generation!" Roach, a former ring pugilist himself, was neither in a marketing program nor into a team aggrandizement propaganda when he made this declaration. He knows what he was saying and definitely knows where his prized ward is going. And that was almost two years ago. Now, the world knows who Manny Pacquiao is - the Fighter of the Decade, the pound-for-pound king and the only man to wear seven glittering loose belts around his waist and not draw a negative comment from fashion icon Tyra Banks.

In today's standards, given Pacquiao's current iconic status in boxing, Roach's declaration that Pacquiao is an oddball is actually an understatement. Wikipedia defines oddball as unusual or eccentric. Pacquiao is more than unusual. He has transcended the not so usual all-victory and no-loss record by many of the boxing greats. It is now about getting into the edge of what is humanly possible, without the magic and the drugs - only skills and determination. This is what people of all races are hungry about knowing. We crave for answers for questions like "Can he demolish De la Hoya?", "Can he absorb beatings from a true welterweight?", "Is he strong enough to put down a steel-chinned 155-pounder?"

Our demands and clamor are actually what defines the quality of fight Pacquiao delivers. He feeds our cravings to see what we haven't seen yet, so promoters and match makers invent something new out of this necessity. These are the things that make Pacquiao different from the rest - a pure eccentric, an oddball. That is why we cannot ask why the world is watching... because you won't simply see a man like Pacquiao in a generation.