This December, specifically on the week beginning December 17, automated teller machines began conking out. As the long holidays beckoned, ATM outages became common. I actually pitied BPI ATM cardholders. Their cards were next to useless.

I think it was a common sight among BPI ATMs – a piece of paper taped into the machine, telling poor BPI clients that they could only do balance inquiry and bill payments using the ATM. Some of them had paper-taped messages, telling clients of other ATM networks that they could not do any transaction using BPI ATMs. Some ATMs indeed suffered from outages, but BPI’s system clearly had problems this month. Heck, just earlier today, the BPI ATM at Araneta Square in Monumento, Caloocan had that balance inquiry-only message; nearby, a Robinsons Bank ATM was online and was serving non-Robinsons cardholders (I used my PNB card and I got money).

And to think these banks had the gall to charge for every transaction made using ATMs. They could not even serve their customers right.

Do you have any exasperating experience with ATMs this season? Blurt it out in the comments. Specially if you are a BPI account holder.

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I know, not a good thing to end the year. But some things need to be said. Anyway, happy new year! May you have complete limbs by tomorrow.

The year is about to end, and a new one is coming. So many things have happened, yet more remained the same. Is it time for a change?

If you are tired of what’s going on, have you done something to make things better? We are so enamored on looking for our own welfare, we forget about the others, we forget about our social and political institutions. One of them fails, and say goodbye to your own well-being. As part of this group called society, we can better serve our own welfare by making sure our institutions work. By making things better, our own life becomes better. That is why it is essential that do our own fair share.

It all begins with a conscious decision, and sticking to it. First, you must convince yourself that a better society means a better life for you. If you can’t convince yourself, then the status quo is for you and there’s no need to think further. But if you are convinced, then you must have an idea on what kind of life you are getting into. It will not be the same, comfortable, cozy, lazy life that you are used to. It demands your utmost attention. It demands time. It needs critical thinking. It means additional work.

For example, using the pedestrian overpass. On my way home, I have to cross the overpass, and walk several meters BACK to get home. Inefficient, I know. Most of us think that way, so what most of us do is to cross the street, risking our lives for efficiency. But if you meet an accident by crossing the street illegally (Heaven forbid), efficiency goes out the window. You become inefficient, heck, even inefficient PERMANENTLY.

As you can see, doing our fair share to make things better involves a conscious, critical thinking. We keep on equating efficiency with laziness that we cannot see what true efficiency means. This kind of thinking requires hard work. That is why it is a conscious decision. We cannot just decide YES. It is a conscious decision because it is a decision that we have to make every minute of our lives.

Then stick with that decision. Sticking with the decision also means convincing others to do the same. It will be more hard work, but there’s no other way of doing it.

Sticking with the decision to do your share is hard when you see others to be apathetic. It can be a real downer. But I always remind myself that if I succumb to these downers, I lose. My life will continue as it is, and I might as well migrate. But that would also mean I am a loser. I am not. You are not. Again, if you let others dictate what you will do, you will leave a comfortable life. And you will be stuck, when you can have better. Downers are there, so it is more hardwork sticking with your decision.

This is not easy. There is no guarantee of success, and you might not live long enough to see results. If you let those deter you, then you are not unlike the 80 million others. That is why we always end up in the same muck where we began. Breaking that cycle begins by making that decision. Soon, if not now.

Taken from here.

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered. He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the mousetrap – alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house – like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember – when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

Merry Christmas!

Maikling Talumpati ng ina ni Cris Mendez sa National Conference to Stop Hazing na itinaguyod ng Solidarity for Anti-Hazing Via Education (SAVE) at UP Student-Led Anti-Hazing WAtch (UP SAWA)

Magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat.

Ilang linggo lang po ang nakakaraan ay nagtagumpay kaming buksan ang mga e-mails na natanggap ng aking anak na si Cris Mendez bago siya pumanaw noong August 27, 2007.

Isa po sa mga huling e-mails na natanggap niya ay may petsang August 22, 2007 na ang title ay “Sigma Rho Tenets.” Galing po ito sa isang nagngangalang “JJ Ocana” na sinabi niya sa anak ko na memoryahin daw ng anak ko ang mga tenets ng Sigma Rho at idinugtong niya na “see you on saturday. we are looking forward to having you as a brod.”

Doon po sa ipinadala ni Jj Ocana na Sigma Rho Tenets ay kasama yung mga sinasabi niyang “Codes of Action of a Sigma Rhoan.” Ang pinaka-number one po sa mga Codes of Action na ito ay ganito ang sinasabi: “To stand by the side of any brother Sigma Rhoan right or wrong.”

Kahit nakagawa ng mali, kakampihan pa rin nila ang brod nila. Kahit gumawa ng krimen, o pumatay ng tao, pagtatakpan pa rin nila ang brod nila. Walang kwenta sa kanila ang Diyos. Ang batas ay bale-wala rin. Kahit bulong ng konsensya nila ay di pinapansin.

Mag-aapat na buwan na po mula ng saktan at kitilin nila ang buhay ng kaawa-awa kong anak. Ang napakabait kong anak. Kami po ay isang mahirap na pamilya lamang at ako po ay umabot lamang sa high school. Wala po akong gaanong alam sa mga fraternities at ang kanilang mga ritwal. Ang alam ko lamang po ay ang itinuro sa akin ng aking mga magulang na itinuro ko rin kay Cris at sa bunso niyang kapatid na si Renz. Ito ay ang magkaroon ng takot sa Diyos. Ang paggawa ng tama. Ang pagmamahal sa kapwa. Ang pagharap sa responsibilidad at paggalang sa batas. At ang paghingi ng tawad sa kapwa pag nakagawa ng mali.

Kung ito lamang po sana ang tenets ng mga fraternities hindi po siguro nangyari ang nangyari sa aking anak.

Salamat po.

Note: JJ Ocana is a sophomore law student, and was a USC councilor maybe 2 terms ago.