GRIEVING THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE......

It's not very often that one experiences the loss of a loved one. But when it happens, the feeling is undescribable. It has been so many years since i last lost a loved one....several loved ones in a span of only one year or so - my dad, my grandmother, and an uncle. And just last July 22, another uncle of mine passed away. Tito Nene Albert, the only brother of my mom, who peacefully died in the U.S. His loving wife, Tita Marissa de Leon Albert, brought Tito Nene's ashes here in Manila just recently, and his ashes laid at the Santuario de San Antonio mortuary in Forbes Park, for two days - yesterday afternoon, until this afternoon, where his ashes were placed in a crypt. During the mass held this afternoon, i couldnt help but shed tears, not only because of the sadness i felt but the true meaning of losing a dear uncle - a dear relative of mine. It has been so many years since i last shed a tear for a dear relative, and the feeling is so painful, most specially, seeing all your loved ones around you in tears as well. I am so very thankful for my cousin Pepito Albert, who took care of everything, from the priest, to the preparations and the food. I commend him for executing only the best for his dad, and i salute him for that. We will all dearly miss you Tito, and we are all very sure that you are now up there in heaven with my dad, my lola, and my other Titos, and my cousins Kathy and Rosalie. We bid you Farewell...here on earth.

THE HOSTAGE TRAGEDY

August 23, 2010 is one very unfortunate day among all Filipinos and the entire nation. At around mid-morning, former senior police inspector ROLANDO MENDOZA, 55 years old, hostaged a tourist bus with around 16 Hong Kong tourists on board, on their way at the Manila Ocean Park, in Intramuros Manila. It was a long journey for the hostages, which ended tragically, and claimed the lives of 10 people, including the 9 hostages, and the hostage taker himself.
The scenario was covered live by practically all the television networks, and people all over the world watched and viewed the unfortunate incident. The unfortunate ending of the hostage taking was caused by several factors....the police force, the media, and the government.
1. The SWAT force and the PNP lacked in expertise, and equipment, and treated the hostage taking very poorly. One perfect example was when they used ropes instead of cables or some much heavier equipment to pull out the door of the bus.
2. Media was all over the place, and they had a blow by blow account of what was happening, and even broadcasted the measures the SWAT and PNP forces were delivering against the hostage taker, which he himself could see and monitor on the tv screen inside the bus.
3. The mistake of the PNP in handling the hostake taker's brother and relatives, in which they treated his relatives badly, and apprehended them, to the dismay of the hostake taker, which obviously, he was able to watch on television.
4. The government's inability to handle the negotiations properly, and treating it as just an isolated case.
5. The statement of the secretary of tourism Alberto Lim, in saying that the hostake taking incident was just an ordinary situation, and a minor one. This was very much uncalled for.
6. The SWAT and PNP's belief of assuming that all the hostages were already dead, before they even attacked the hostage taker.
7. The lack of security within the hostage taking area, where civilians were all over the place, which turned out to be a circus.

MISS UNIVERSE 2010

The 2010 Miss Universe beauty pageant, held at Mandalay Bay, in Las Vegas, USA, proclaimed Miss Mexico as the new Miss Universe, amongst 82 other delegates from all over the world. This is the 2nd time that Mexico won the title. Her runners up are - Miss Jamaica (1st runner up), Miss Australia (2nd runner up) and Miss Congeniality, Miss Ukraine (3rd runner up) and our very own Ma. Venus Raj of the Philippines as 4th runner up.
It has been 11 years since we last placed in the Miss Universe. The last one was in 1999 when Miriam Quiambao almost won the crown, and placed 1st runner up.
Venus was a consistent favorite among the crowd, and was even leading in the different leaderboards, giving her a top 3 position in the surveys.
The other semi finalists were Albania, Russia, Czech Republic, South Africa, Guatemala, Colombia, Belgium, France, Puerto Rico and a crowd favorite Ireland.
Miss Thailand won the Miss Photogenic and Best National Costume award.
Surprisingly, Venezuela, USA , India and Brazil did not make the semifinals.
Venus was the only Asian to make it to the top 15. Last year, not a single Asian placed among the 15 semi finalists.

KAPUSO HOMEGROWN TALENTS/STARS 2010