The Chopped Asset

Inspired by a true story of a friend

Nine years before the end of the twentieth century, a young blood was born in the City of Vaclod. He was the offspring of a royal family of the central south. Having skin as white as snow, adorable eyes, and rightfully placed facial moles, he was his parent’s apple of the eye.

A feast was set to celebrate his birth. Wealthy people from far away land came to attend together with fairies, house elves and other enchanted creatures. Numerous presents were offered and placed on the golden coated chest near the child’s cradle. The people enjoyed the variety of dishes exquisitely prepared by known gourmet hunters who dared to risk their lives and travel their way to the edge of the planet just to have the sought-after ingredients.

Five warlocks came riding their flying broomsticks. They were invited as the child’s godfathers. They appeared in the stillness of the night sky and perfectly round-shaped moon. People applauded as they one-by-one set foot close to the innocent sleeping child. The first four gave their blessings of wisdom, courage, health and prosperity. But a moment before the last warlock was about to take his turn, a dark shadow embraced the entire hall, which was followed by a loud frightening laugh, long enough until a lady figure slowly appeared right before their eyes. "…And why am I not invited by thee?", she shouted with her eyes looking straight at the petrified host- King Racit. She was the King’s evil sister who studied sorcery and magic at Beauxbatons, a prestigious school for witchcraft. Everyone thought she was dead after she connived with Lord Voldemort but lost against the army of Dumbledore. The people in the hall were astonished for they believed the myth and rumors about her unfortunate defeat.

In an instant, she pointed her wand to the child and yelled, "Lust- the gift I shall bestow you…". She laughed once more like a real witch and vanished together with the dark fog.

There was a minute of deafening silence. The guests felt sorry and were depressed for the poor child, same way the warlocks did for they know that their powers were useless to revoke the witch’s enchantment.

Fifteen years passed and the boy heavily endured the curse of his fate. The family migrated to one of the coasts of the Island of the Serpent with the hope that the witch would no longer preoccupy their lives. The witch’s curse gave his uncontrollable lust for physical affection and consistent genital erection. Rubbing does him no good so he had to seek for people to satisfy his ‘unique’ cravings. He kissed more like French and he touched placidly skins- some aggressive moves that were highly praised by a few girls in his time.

The prince dreamt and was aroused by the beauty of some goddesses. Later, because of his strong connections with some colleagues who knew such goddesses and perhaps his swift but accurate moves, he was able to meet and befriended a few of them. He had an affair with goddesses like Maria the blessed, Jenny the charming, Jessica the people’s darling, Kelly the jolly, and Seria the cat lover. But these were no match against his favorite Sandra the kite enthusiast, the pretty girl whose parents were not opposing against their blatant love affair, and Carla the moonlight beauty, the only girl he never dared to touch because of his genuine respect towards her amazing personality.

At first it was hard for him to control his natural dilemma. Out of the eagerness to relieve his own sexual arousals, he resorted to the support of his friends- Cole the damned, Severus the righteous and of course Rubeus the train and rail tracks expert. Rubeus was illustrious because he gave the young blood an authentic vintage robe with a ‘DOWN’ imprint, just as the prince wished. No one knew if he also had an affair with these men, but people will surely understand if he will confess he did.

The night before his eighteenth natal anniversary, the fifth warlock who was not able to grant his blessing on him made an amazing apparition. He was Charlie the monstermaker, his last living godfather after the other four died in the gruesome battle against the so-called faithful servant of Lord Voldemort. He showed an image of himself on the surface of brick wall and then uttered in a soft but heartening voice, "Tonight I shall will you my blessing...". The young prince with great amazement couldn’t believe the great magic taking place in front of him. He was confused and so astonished that he couldn’t speak of any word in response to the magician’s statement. After all, it was the first time that he saw his godfather and the first time that he experienced real magic.

"Open this at exactly 12 midnight tomorrow", the godfather continued as he was reaching his hand towards the petrified young man to render a box containing the present. After having a hold to the box, he stared silently as his last godfather vanished to thin air.

A few hours before his official birthday, his best friend Sesa the ant raiser came for a visit. They French kissed thrice and end up in the man’s bed a few minutes before the break of the new day. He never forgot his godfather’s order so he opened the box at exactly midnight and there he saw nothing but banana-flavored condom. Giggling, he turned to tell Sesa the weird present he received from his godfather but Sesa instantly grabbed his dick and cut it off with a sharp-edged dagger she was suppose to give as a present. The prince screamed for the rest of the day.
From then on, the young blood lived happily ever after out of love and not lust. He married Sesa who agreed to keep as a secret what had happened that strange night. Because of the chopped asset, the witch’s spell against him finally ended and Sesa felt much secured that her husband wouldn’t hit on other girls (or boys for that instance) ever again.

He's with me

By Michael B. Arevalo

“We wouldn’t be this strong if God is not with us. We often forget His presence because of the concerned things we do. But still, God is there to remind us how beautiful life could be with Him.”

My childhood years can never be complete without series of unfortunate events and misfortunes. I was an accident-prone boy, better yet, the king of great disasters. I do not seek accidents - they just seem to follow me.

When I was a kid, I accidentally bumped into a glass wall which was instantly broken into pieces because of high pressure that I personally caused. I had caused me bruises and scars. My face bled when one triangular shaped piece of glass was loosely stuck above my nose, just between my eyes. Mom said I was brave enough not to cry as they tried to clean my face with a clean towel and slowly removed the glass off my face.

I also had a “not-so-good” encounter with a meter-long snake. For a second, I thought was Harry Potter, doing paseltongue with a basilisk. It happened while I was silently asleep. A huge serpent rushed over my foot, probably with a purpose other than befriending me.

I was almost hung by a rope. I fell off a two-meter-high bed and then rolled towards the stairs adjacent to the room. I even bumped my head so hard on the chair in the middle of a mass, and had been bitten by a brown dog when I was ten. Not to mention the time when I stumbled so hard on the ground, hitting my head on a big rock, causing doctors to put a stitch on my forehead (for seeing a part of my skull I felt so miserable and even pitied myself).

Some would say that I wasn’t lucky and I really couldn’t blame them. Considering these “not-so-lucky” tragedies, some may really arrive at a conclusion that I wasn’t loved by God, that He wasn’t concerned about me and that I was a person of great misfortune.

Contrary to such possible beliefs, I personally think that God has always been with me. I feel His very presence in everything I do. I feel Him in the air I breathe, in the water I drink, and in the things that brings a lot of joy to me. I feel Him standing beside me when I screamed my way to my first jeepney ride and when I saw “The Rocketeer”, the very first movie I saw in a in a large screen inside a Theater house. I feel a deep personal connection with God and I am secured that He stands by me taking part in my wondrous life. He guides me towards making right decisions and ultimately towards attaining my very purpose in life, which I don’t really know yet.

I feel that I am a blessed that God protects me in His own special ways. I may have experienced terrible incidents in the past but I solemnly believe that the fact that I am still alive suggests a genuine personal intervention from God. The glass that once hit my face and left a scar which I shall forever bear, proves that He was there at that moment perhaps controlling the glass as it flew towards me so it wouldn’t injure me badly, better yet, by damaging my eyesight. With the swift occurrence of the event and my own proven recklessness, there is a great probability that I could have been hit in my eyes and could have been blind, living the rest of my life in a surrounding of full darkness, a state that gives me a great appreciation of intensity of sound- nothing more, nothing less. The great unexplainable event that it had hit me exactly between my eyes gives me an idea of His divine presence.

In the same way, it was also a great mystery, or should I say miracle that the serpent have not bitten me when in fact it had a chance since I was weak and helpless lying in bed. Thus, other miserable events of my life may have caused me to suffer from numerous wounds, painful stitches, obscure scars, and a few bruises, but I like to believe that God’s intention was to help me become tougher and never to exercise His power to prove His great superior attributes, neither just to play tricks on me.

There are a lot of other events in my life that would prove that I indeed encounter Him everyday. He is with me because he rewards me. I am among the few who believe in the karma, which states that every good thing one person does come with an expected future reward which is shown in varied forms. My ‘occasional luck’ proves this. After an in-depth contemplation I came to realize that oftentimes something good happens to me whenever I exercise a good deed to others. I remember I won Php2,000 in the Bikol Medical Center Poster-making contest, Php2,200 in Bingo at ALDP mall, a new Sony Ericcson W300i walkman phone in the Pepsi Raffle Promo and various first place certificates in poster-making contests. I like to believe that these are rewards from God that stem from my genuine desire to touch other people’s lives..

God guides me towards great opportunities, leaving me nothing more to do but to decide which option to grab. You see, I never really had any plans about my future precisely because I hate being frustrated especially whenever I wasn’t able to attain such laid out plans. When I graduated in Elementary, I never had experienced being in a “caught in the middle” situation, I mean, when it comes to choosing which school should I enroll into. I felt being indifferent and unsympathetic from my other colleagues who were really thinking a hundred times and excitedly trying to assess which school would best showcase their potentials.

As for me, the only school where I took the entrance exams in NCSHS, leaving me no choice but to spend my high school years in such school. God was there guiding me as I was taking the exam so hard that from the ten examinees from my elementary school, only two qualified. I like to believe that He intervened by showing me signs that it was my fate to be a full-fledged Naguenian. Naga City Science High School uplifted my spirit towards learning, further developed my artistic inclination, and gave me more than a thousand reasons to enjoy life since it was in Sci-High that I experienced the great bond with my peers, and the feeling of truthful belongingness.

When I graduated in NCSHS, God was there giving me a lot of choices with what to pursue in college. I was given a 50% scholarship in Brentwood College of Asia, passed the Department of Science and Technology exam, was among the top 20% of the Naga City scholarship program (Skolar Kan Ciudad), and was able to pass the gruesome interviews to qualify for the Business Management Honors’ Program in Ateneo de Naga University. The fact that I ranked one in the roughly 400 examinees in the entrance exam for Mechanical Engineering course at the Bikol Colleges of Arts and Trade, may have been one of God’s sign. But I have chosen to be a blue blooded Atenian because I reconsidered some suggestions of my family and friends, a decision which I never regretted. It has been a great honor to be an Honors’ Program student, and it gives me a lot of joy that I was able to pass all requisites to be admitted as one.

I encounter God everyday because He gives me a number of reasons why I should thank Him. I greatly appreciate every blessing He bestows me- every meal I eat, every smiling person I bump into each time I walk along the street, and all other small things that mean a lot to me. God gave me a “worth-to-be-proud-of” identity- a person in the care of a perfectly understanding and loving family, and a person with superb qualities of being analytical, result-oriented, responsive and artistically inclined. The gifts of astounding talent and skill, honor of being recognized as a four-time Dean’s lister and three-time President’s lister, and chance to be surrounded positively influential individuals give me the major reason to live each day with a smile on my face. The amazing people I share my life with, my family and friends, shaped the Mike that has always been a person of lasting faith, hope and love.

God warns me by giving consistent signs and by somehow bestowing a part of His divine capacity, more of a power, to foresee the future. Whenever I would face or about to face a major dilemma, an extraordinary storm or a heavy rainfall would come unexpectedly after one bright sunny morning. Being able to have a brief glimpse about the future, seemingly with the occurrence of such catastrophic events, I am able to achieve a mindset and an emotional readiness to accept the possible outcomes that may create a huge impact in my day to day living. The warning signifies a small detail about my incapacity to do a certain work, inability to pass a minor exam even if I studied so hard and even personal fortuitous events relating a loss of penny. It also foretells a happening of a miserable event such as huge consequences of my bad luck and even death of a relative. This proves that God loves me and that He never forgets my welfare.

God rendered me to this world as a gift as a response to eternal desire of my parents to bear a child. My parents have not been given a child for three long years of their marriage, until they have resorted to seeking the divine blessing from God for them to have one. They joined immense processions, endlessly prayed and prayed, and talked personally to God about their personal cravings of becoming a family complete with at least one child. God was probably touched by the heart-felt devotion and answered their prayers. On the dawn of the 27th of December 1987, while half of the world was asleep in the comfort of their homes experiencing an enormous typhoon, I was born and have brought great excitement to my parents. That is why even I am a living proof of God’s genuine care and love. God is indeed the reason for my existence, thus, it is rightful to live life for His glory.

I think of God in every decision I make and I believe that that is one approach of being morally upright. I always think whether my action would make Him happy or not. I think a number of times whether I am able to exercise me full humanity by being just and somehow being utilitarian. For this, God truly has caused me great transformation for He is an influential, though not physically present, figure in my life. I owe God my life, and I look forward every morning as I wake up to having an encounter with Him again- probably when I meet a hilarious chick in my tricycle ride to Ateneo, or maybe as I help a really gorgeous lady picking up her books which accidentally fell on the floor.

Online Marketing Seminar- August 4, 2007

On the first week of August, the members of the JCCI of Ateneo de Naga University conducted a seminar entitled Online Marketing, which has been an all day event.
The key note speaker for the said event is Ms. Janette Toral, the author of the DigitalFilipino.com E-commerce Workshop book which became the reference of my E-commerce subject about a year ago.
I learned lot from the seminar. I learned that online marketing nowadays offers lesser risk, especially considering the fact that there are already specific laws implemented by the government that actually secures the way people uses the internet. Thus, even website owners are now very particular about each transaction happening with their site, making it very beneficial to online trading consumers.
As an Internet Addict, I felt the relevance of the talk of Ms. Toral and I am very much willing to apply the tips that she gave to a few of my blogs and webpage. I learned how can I be able to maximize the use of my webpages by linking it to other websites and ensuring that the title page is in line with what is frequently searched in some search engines such as Google.com, Msn.com and yahoo.com.
I also learned how to check the efficiency of my site by using some of the internet websites suggested by the keynote speaker. This is done by checking the number of times people actually has been able to navigate with my site.
The talk is truly very helpful.

My First Semester as a Real Businessman

by Michael B. Arevalo

Being the one of the forerunners and general manager of SoyWorks, I feel that I carry the greatest burden to carry out business operation. I am involved with all aspect of the business- operations, marketing, management and finance. The reason is for one, the location of the office and the production area of the business is in our residence and second, my group mates, or should I say partners, are not passionate enough to pursue business of manufacturing soy products. That is why I feel like I am tasked to motivate them each time they are losing their grip towards taking a huge effort towards the success of the enterprise.
Business is indeed a hard thing to do. Each decision you make may either give a negative or positive implication to the business. The risk is really high, but at the same time fun and challenging. I remember when we were still in the process of product development; we made some taste test to a group of kids playing along the streets to see whether the product is good enough for the market. At a first glance, they were astonished and somehow attracted to the colorful packaging but unfortunately they did not like the taste. And to worsen the situation, a grownup lady approached us saying that our product isn’t good and her daughter hated it (I think she is just demanding a money back). We really felt “so small” as if we were fully discouraged to pursue business anymore.
But well, here we are, able to meet the sales quota. All thanks to our teamwork and hard work. We now learned that business is like a series of rising and falling, you just have to learn to adapt and go with the flow. That means everything that may happen in the course of the business is inevitable and its negative effects should never be taken as something that is against the partnership but rather an obstacle that would lead to the improvement of the enterprise as a whole. One must never “surrender” because of the feeling of inferiority over his competitors. A starting business must idolize those big businesses and how they are able to capture their market, instead of just envying them without doing anything. A business that is just starting to operate must remain tough and optimistic for all businesses, be it big or super big, have gone through being small before they are able to attain their “bigness”.
A business must be treated as “separate entity”- or simply some sort of individual just like us. And, just like an individual he must exist as a separate individual. In the course of managing the business for almost three months, I fully implemented the general policy stated in all accounting books which is embodied with the GAAPS. This means that a business must exist independently in the sense that all transactions must be accounted for and by the business. It is like saying that “never get a penny on someone else’s pocket”. In no certain cases, that the account of a natural being, the partners in this instance, can be united as one. The principle is universal and applies to all forms of organization. As such, no one can account his personal expenses directly and solely to the organization- it must always be separate.
I also learned that managing a business is really hard. You need to be logical and able to clearly see the possible outcomes of each decision you make. It is not about going “so-so” or just going with the flow. Venturing into a business is a serious matter that must be taken seriously. Every decision that you make must embody the goal or purpose of the business, and each decision that you make must be leaned towards profit maximization and overall business growth.
Business must be carried out despite strong barriers or obstacles- in our case; the greatest hindrance is when it comes to our schedule. There are times that we could hardly focus on our business because of time constraints. We are five in the groups but some of us do not share a common time especially during production days. But despite all these, we are able to produce our products during specific dates- all because of extreme passion and dedication towards work and to actualize the main purpose of the business which is to gain sales.
Adaptation in business is very necessary. One must able to withstand rapid changes- with market prices, supplier responses, etc. Just like an analogy of a bamboo to naturally be strong regardless of the strong winds and climate changes that would somehow try to wreck it apart. As an active partner of the business, I guess the greatest adaptation scheme that I made was to learn to accept the diversity of my partners’ attitude and values. For instance, the way I value time is far different from how Micha and January value time. My attitude of being result oriented is not within the range of Domeng’s attitude. These clear differences were the first obstacles that we have overcome in our business. Our first few weeks as a university-recognized partnership were quite hard, precisely because we have not clearly stipulated a vision towards the attainment of the organizational goals. Our goals were not united as one not enabling us to pass the requirements in the definition of an organization (a group of individuals with a common goal). It was until a heartfelt oath of each partner that all were awakened and such transition is seen to have changed their attitude and values as well. I can absolutely say that now, we are one.
Another great obstacle that we have faced (or maybe, are bound to face) was with regards to one partner who is not doing his part as a partner. I don’t think that stating his name is necessary but at the back of my head, I think I should. He’s name is Miguel Domingo. It is he, who has contributed not even a single cent for the business, and he who rarely appears during meeting and production days- even during our ribbon cutting ceremony for our production area and during trade fairs. His “I don’t care” attitude has lead us to think that he doesn’t exist… at all! Let me clear things up that this doesn’t mean that we are not having teamwork ‘coz we do. Neither should be thought that I am just making this up as a strategy just to “put mud over other people’s face”. I am just being honest because I see that he gives the least effort as far as the business is concerned. I just want to be fair.
I can say that of all the members in the partnership called SoyWorks, it is I who is able to give the greatest participation. More than just being the overall manager, it is I acting as the PIO or some sort, scheduling and sending text messages especially during meetings. It is I who helped in the construction of our production area (well, by carrying hollow blocks and doing construction worker stuff), and it is also I who had to wake up 5 o’clock in the morning just to prepare the needed materials to produce products just in time for the recess of elementary and high school pupils (that’s about 9:30 in the morning). And it is also I who enact all advertising strategies- pins, chaleco, streamers, name it, I did it. And it is also I who keeps all the transaction records, makes most part of the business plan, and makes the portfolio alone.
Business is a new world to me, more like a maze. Though I have a bird’s eye view, I feel a little lost in the wide scope of this unknown world. Every right and left turn has its own implications which may either be beneficial or not. But I am never afraid to decide when and where to turn. In my quest of finding the way out, feel stronger and more knowledgeable about this world. I will soon recognize that business is just a piece of cake especially when you are able to do right turn. In the end, I will figure out to solve the puzzle and find my way out to this land of confusion. Soon, I will become more and more knowledgeable which is my key towards success.

Vist my Hometown Bombon!

Come and Visit!

Bombon is a culturally rich town located here in Camarines Sur. The people are really religious and hospitable people. People are cheerful and accommodating. This can be seen even in their public offices. When I went to Bombon last January 20, 2007 to get some information for the accomplishment of this paper, I was really impressed with how the the people in the government offices treat me. They are really entertaining my questions, in fact, without any hesitations whatsoever, they lent me the original copy of the municipality’s annual accomplishment report. They seem to really trust me even if they know that I am from Naga, as I have explained. Unfortunately, this trait of being accommodating, can only be seen in a few places here in the Philippines. Go to Naga City Hall and you’ll soon be irritated with the poor quality of service- it may even take you days to get a really important paper from them.

Bombon, undoubtedly, is my hometown. Both my parents are originally from Bombon, even though I was raised in Naga City.

Bombon is a really special place to me. It is where that I spend my first four years of childhood. It is in Bombon that I made my first few steps, learned to talk, and a whole lot more. Bombon is a place like no other because it reminds me of my childhood and the happy moments playing and doing crazy stuffs with my cousins. It is also in Bombon that I experienced stupid things such as falling out of the ladder of the church, running over and breaking the glass wall almost making me blind, hanging over the rope, and a whole lot more. Not to mention letting a huge snake rush over my body when I was a baby!

I feel relaxed when I am in Bombon. The place is really calm and peaceful. In fact, there are only a few cases of conflicts of interest between parties (neighbor to neighbor), stealing, and other criminal and civil cases. Bombon is primarily a farm land but it also has its own tourist attraction called the Inarihan falls located in Iraya, the southern part of Bombon.

Bombon is located near Quipayo, Calabanga, Magarao and Canaman. It is composed of eight barangays- . San Antonio, San Francisco, San Isidro (Pob.), San Jose (Pob.), Pagao (San Juan), San Roque (Pob.), Siembre, and Santo Domingo. With a land area of 4, 420 hectares, and a population of 12, 843, Bombon is, according to the Internet, renowned for its very hospitable and religious people. The town’s major sources of employment are agriculture and its complementary industries.

Bombon is the home of religious people. More than 95% of its entire population is Roman Catholic and loyal devotees of several Catholic Saints. The residents still practice old customs and traditions of practicing procession during important and known religious dates, sulong-sulong, pantomina, and so on.

During March to May, huge images of certain saints are paraded all around their place. Procession happens for three consecutive nights with different routes (e.g. Hilawud, or Iraya, the southern part of Bombon). I would always attend to these processions because I love to see colorful way of their expression of worship and love to God.

Sulong-sulong, on the other hand, is done during December, and has a literal meaning of “helping someone by letting him go inside the house and providing him food”. This belief is actually a reenactment of how Mary and Joseph looked for shelter when Mary was about to give birth to Jesus. Sulong-sulong, therefore, is based on the belief that Mary and Joseph would knock in their houses hoping someone would help them. Residents of Bombon believe that they should prepare their houses and prepare some food because Mary and Joseph might go over their house seeking help.

Pantomina is a courtship dance exhibiting the artistic way of a man wooing the lady who is the object of his affection.While the married couple dances the Pantomina, the padrinos, the tagbabaye, the taglalaki and other relatives throw money on the floor in front of the pair. This activity is called as the bitor and whatever amount is collected by the couple is believed to be the foundation in establishing their home.