OktoberFest No More

Days to go and here comes October. Having worked with San Miguel Corporation for more than six years, October ushers in a tremendous ambiance of celebration not just for its employees but more importantly to the entire Philippine drinking population as well. On this period, nothing else comes to mind but overflowing beer, band rages, street parties and widespread fiesta. It’s time for San Miguel’s Oktoberfest!

For several years, I have been a part of Oktoberfest – now an officially DOT recognized event in our country. My employee ID was as good as an entrance pass and my various contacts in the Sales and Marketing Department has given access to enjoy the goodness of free flowing San Miguel beer. The kick off party usually begins on the first weekend of October in various simultaneous parties across the country. Together with friends and officemates, we just stay for a couple of hours because traditionally, as the party gets late, the crowd and the “outside crowd” becomes even more unruly and wild, and risk of being hit with flying empty bottles or showered with beer leftovers is uncompromising.

The Philippines is set to make it to the Guiness Book of World Records for the longest bar in the world--a staggering 600 meters in total, stretching along the length of San Miguel Avenue and winding down to Julia Vargas Avenue in Ortigas, Mandaluyong City. The bar, which easily bests the 240-meter record held by Taiwan, was one of the main attractions of the San Miguel Oktoberfest kick-off party held last September 5. The event, which also featured four stages and around 40 local bands and artists, also attempted to set a world record for the largest beer-toasting crowd. Third Eye Blind was featured as one of the main acts. Dubbed "San Miguel Oktoberfest 120," the event launched the longest-ever celebration of the world-renowned festival, now extended to 120 days.

Now I have resigned from San Miguel and decided to try my luck here in Dubai, Oktoberfest is one thing I truly miss most. Though I am not a beer lover by nature, the moments spent with friends while grooving to the music of the featured bands and the opportunity to just be there when it happens is something that I couldn’t find elsewhere. There are also beer here in Dubai, but as what the famous SMB commercial line said, “iba na ang may pinagsamahan.”

Traditionally, Oktoberfest lasts for a month, but for 2008, in celebration of the company's 120th anniversary, San Miguel has decided to make the celebration a four month long revelry of camaraderie, brotherhood, good times, exuberant parties and overflowing beer starting last September. “Siento biente na!” cried Manny Pacquiao. When there’s nothing left to take out of the wallet, Filipinos are sure to find a cunning way to produce money in time for that special occasion. In splendid irony, “pag sa pagkain walang pambili, pero pag inuman, lumalabas daw ang pera”.

Since I am miles away to be one with my friends in kicking off the celebration of Oktoberfest, only pictures of my friends have reached my mailbox as evidenced that Oktoberfest has indeed started. But hey, I might still be able to catch up the Closing Party if ever I go on vacation this December. If that happens, I will just text you and I will see you then. Cheers!

Sign You are in Office Hell

Ang lobby guard niyo ay si Palito alias Rambuto.

Ang time administrator niyo ay si Cherie Gil at angmorning greeting niya with a smile ay... "Welcome to hell..."Ang HR head niyo ay si Bella Flores at ang EmployeeRelations Officer ay si Odette Khan at ang HR Staffinghead ay si Dexter Doria... At pag pumasok ka na walangID o hindi naka-uniform... kakaladkarin ka nila sa buhok palabas ng opisina pagkatapos kang pagsasampalin.

Ang Employee Benefits head ay si Lolit Solis... cge...magreklamo ka na maliit ang sueldo mo...cgeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... I dare you!!!!

Tuwing may problema ang kompanya, ang Corporate Communications head niyo na si Cristy Fermin angnagbibigay ng official company statement... at angsimula nang kanyang presscon ay... "Galing ito sa isangreliable source at itataya ko ang buhay at karangalan ko dito... wala akong libel case na inuurungan..."

Ang official company driver niyo ay si Vandolph. Do Ihave to explain?

Kapag kasama mo mag-OT si German Moreno... walangtulugan!

Ang Legal Investigator niyo ay si Tony Falcon at ang assistant niya ay si Wengweng... paminsan minsan aytumutulong si Ricky Lo at Madam Auring bilangconsultant.

Tuwing bubuksan mo ang filing cabinet andun si Mahalsa loob para iabot ang file na hinahanap mo.

Nung huling company anniversary ay sumayaw ka ngnakadamit babae at sumayaw sa tugtog na "ang gandako... feel na feel ang long hair ko..." kinabukasandumating si Robin Padilla para itanong sa yo kung niloloko mo ang kapatid niya...

Messenger niyo si Kuya Cesar.

Si Boy Abunda ang career counselor mo at tuwing meproblema ka ang tanong niya ay... "Mag-usap tayokaibigan... kung nasa harap ka ng salamin ano ang sasabihin mo sa iyong sarili?"

Si Love Añover ang voice behind your automated phonesystem. "Mga katsokaran... ip you chuva da numbereklavu... dependots 1... ips not... luz valdez... charing!"

Ang Office Security niyo ay binubuo ng TulfoBrothers... bigla silang darating sa opisina mo atsasabihin "Hephephep... nag-uuwi ka ng bondpaper... tarantadong to ah... manggagantsong buteteka!!!" At pag tumanggi ka... ipapanood nila sa yo ang hidden camera shots na nagpupuslit ka ng 2 pirasongbond paper mula sa printer... habang pinoposasan ka ngmga pulis.

Nung Halloween party niyo ang costume mo ay Lizardo... at dun mo rin first time na-meet ang anak ngmay-ari na ang pangalan ay Tristan... alias Panday.Next halloween me tribute sa buhay mo na ipapalabas.

Tuwing pasko ang prize committee head ay si Bernadette Sembrano at Vicky Morales. Taon taon din ay nanalo kong bananacue at pedicab showcase. At nangangarap ka nasana next time si Willie naman para me jeepney.

Si Michael Fajatin ang laging nagpe-present ng annual report niyo... "Mga Igan... nung umabot sa PhP50M angating kinita... kumita tayo ng PhP50M... matapos natingmagtrabaho ng matindi kumita tayo ng PhP50M pero bagoyan ay nagtrabaho muna tayo saka tayo kumita ng PhP50M."

Boss mo si Big Brother... at alam niya na lampas 15minutes ka nag-coffee break kaya kailangan mo mag-typenang gamit ang ilong mo hanggang patawarin ka niya.

Kaopisina mo si Arnold Clavio at pag naka-leave siya... OIC niya si Arn-Arn.

At ang number 1 sign na you're in OFFICE HELL...department head mo si Mike Enriquez...AT HINDI NIYA KAYO TATANTANAN!!!!

Despedida

Towards the end of 2006, a handful of San Miguel employees, including me, chose to retire from office after years of dedicated service to the company. During the grand despedida party that was given to celebrate the last day in office of the retirees, I secretly made and presented this video to honor each retirees' fruitful years as part of the San Miguel family. This is actually almost an hour long but I am just sharing to you the intro part of the video. It says that as time changes, we also have to make decisions to go with that flow. But no matter and wherever our dreams take us right after, the joys and friendships that we have shared is one that will truly endure the test of times. Check this out:

Unacceptable

It's probably the most horrible thing that has ever happened to my family. It's a bad dream that we hoped we could have easily recovered from. It's a sad luck I wished had never occurred. It was my sister's wedding, an unwanted and agonizing prelude to a disturbing family life. I am not trying to be mean and improperly concerned here; I am just out flowing the very source of some of my family's most heartbreaking ordeals.

My sister's wedding wasn’t something that we have embraced with open arms. Much to our detest, it has cause my mother gallons of tears since their engagement. During the wedding, we were barely represented. Why shouldn't we? It was her wedding, not ours. It was her man, not ours. When my sister met then guy for the first time, she went with him and she never came back home. We were the last to know that she's already runaway with someone we wished we've known. He was a total stranger and she was a total shame.

Before that unfortunate event, at least for us, my sister has already been a pain in the ass. She never finished schooling, that being the case, I assumed might have caused her to never dream big and be of help to my parents. She's always out of the house and when confronted, she would always talk down to my mother. She has given my mother enough heartaches. We could not stop her. Sometimes we wished she gets married if that's the only way to domesticate her. We have no idea that it would come sooner than we thought. We were unprepared.

My mother went hysterical the night that she did not come home. She aptly looked for her and called all her friends if they knew anything about her whereabouts. When news broke that she was seen in the guy's house in a nearby barangay, my mother rushed to them and convinced her to come back home. She's willing to accept her after all that has happened. But she wouldn't. She clung to her man as if they had known each other for the longest time. My mother was all cried out in pain and betrayal. Her daughter was marrying a guy we barely even know and I bet she doesn't know him enough as well. She might have gotten sore of my mother's constant lecturing. She was looking for an escape and she was probably blinded by the guy's words.

We would have been proud and happy if she's getting married to a decent guy, with stable job and a little pleasing personality. Unfortunately, there is nothing redeeming in the side of his character. His hideous, alcoholic and one jobless freak who depends upon his parents for all his needs. He comes from family of stubborn japayukis and mentally troubled clan. She was terribly blinded, by love? I don’t know for sure. Maybe the dark lights that characterized traditional barangay dance parties where they were supposed to have met.

After they got married, I could still hear my mother cried once in a while. She couldn’t contain her hurt in the same way that I couldn’t contain my hate. If there are people who felt bad about it, I was one of them. Not that I couldn’t accept that she has gotten married, what I could accept is the fact that she has tied the knots with someone who's so disrespectful. Someone whom I could not be a friend to. They rarely visited the house right after, thank God. One less mouth to feed, one less soul to worry.

Living their own separate lives, we thought would spare us of their usual feud. True enough, they have never bothered us of anything. Maybe they were trying to prove that they can survive a happy life even without our blessings. But everything changed when they bore their first child. Though my family's dislike for the couple hasn't completely died down, our love for the baby was absolutely devoid of any hatred and denial. We thought that his birth has nothing to do with how we deal with his parents. Gradually my family's not so pleasant relationship with the two has perished like a fading candle light, all because of the baby whose innocence has brought us to be humble and forgiving. Since then, they would always pay a visit to our house every weekend, all because my parents want to see and play with their first grandchild.

Iskul Bukol : A Trilogy

Episode 1. Grade School: Incredible Winner.
This story took place when I was twelve years old, when I was in grade six to be more particular. I represented my school, a public elementary, to the Division Level of the 5th Caltex DECS DOST Young Scientist Quiz. Most of the participants, totaling fifty, were from private schools and Montessori all over Cabanatuan. It's not really the typical quiz competition wherein sets of questions of varied difficulties are asked of each contestant and they get to answer in papers. It's a plain paper test of sixty questions that we have to answer in two hours. After that the papers would be checked and whoever gets the highest number of correct answers shall be declared winner. Moment of truth came, the third and second placers were already announced and I was ready to go back home. When the contestant number of the first placer was announced, no one was standing; I have no idea that it was me. I bested the best. I won the competition, I couldn't believe it and so were the organizers.

The following day, the Division School Superintendent for Science came to our school, not to congratulate me but to administer the same test that I took the other day. The same exam I have almost perfected and that made me won over a lot of students from different schools. I would have taken that re-taking against the organizers for it appeared that they were doubting the results and so my capabilities. Without malice, I retook the exam, right after; it was checked by the Superintendent herself. Proving that I indeed deservingly and honestly won the contest, I got the same number of correct answers as I did during the actual competition. There wasn't much to say after it, fairly and clearly, I won the contest. I was really the best. In two months, I got to represent the school in the regional Finals. I competed as a team together with the second and third placers though it was made to appear that I was the runner up. Glad we have lost. I couldn't take much of the discrimination. It has to end and it did.

I came from a public elementary school, but it doesn't mean I was inferior and less intelligent. I walked my way to school in slippers but it doesn't mean that I was incapable and incredible to win a contest of pure stock knowledge. I came from a public school, but it doesn't mean that I couldn't be the best

Episode 2. Forbidden School.
Oh my high school life! Would you believe that I didn’t attend my high school graduation? Just as everyone else’s excited to receive their certificates, I chose to excuse my presence in that once in a lifetime event. The reason: failed expectation. I landed on the 5th spot of the honorable mention, to my dismay and resentment. The culprit: the revised criteria for determining the honor list, 50% academic and 50% curricular. I might have excelled well ion academics but in participation with extra curricular activities, so it weighed me down. I felt it so unfair to have the two criteria combined. They could just have given the dumb but talented their some special awards for recognition and let alone academics determine the real honor list. Sad to say, some have to be pleased and some, including me, have to be sacrificed. I could have ruined the occasion by marching in protest, but I realized that the rest of the graduates have nothing to do with what has happened to me and so they deserved a memorable occasion. My silent protest was to be vindicated four years later


Episode 3. Dilemma.
My high school’s experience was a bit traumatic, so entered college, I didn’t stress myself out with too much concentration on studies, home works and assignments. I have found time to relax and focused on some previously unattended aspects such shabby dressing, making some friends, exploring outside school, etc. But soon enough I realized that I couldn’t afford to be lazy and lousy like the rest of my gangs because I have a battle to win and I have to prove something. Caught between the newfound joy of schooling and the ardent desire to get back the honor that was stolen from me in high school, I gave the former, with pain in my heart. Just as I was beginning to love and enjoy school, I was once again isolated from organization, from girls, from friends and from happiness so I could focus more on how to prove my high school wrong. It was a difficult choice. I could have at least as many girlfriends as I would have wanted. What I’ve got after four years was gold medal instead. I graduated at the top of my class. I was vindicated; just the same, I have missed some of the real thing.