My Bucket List

I know. I know some things are better left unshared but heck, this is my blog! ha ha
So starting today i will try to complete a bucket list of ten things i haven't done but would really, really want to before i do the great sign off...

Number 1. Build a school.
Number 2. Travel to Europe.
Number 3. Learn photography.
Number 4. Learn to play the piano.
Number 5. Find and get in touch with my first best friend in Grade I: Matias [i can't recall his full name :( ]
Number 6. Own a rest house with a river or brook nearby.

.... i'm stumped, i'll try again next time. =)

Meanwhile, why don't YOU start your own Bucket List?

The Madness Continues

Ok since i don't work on Mondays and i have a lot of spare time in my hand, here's a third installment of my Baket List for those who care, pero for those who don't give a hoot, eh wag nyo na lang basahin. Hindi naman ako namimilit eh.

Thus, the madness goes on...

Baket 51: Nung high school, madalas akong may dalang gitara sa school kahit makuba ako sa dame ng dala ko.

Baket 52: Pakiramdam ko hindi kumpleto ang gayak ko pag wala akong dalang bag.

Baket 53: I hate it when cashiers ask for coins: "Meron po kayong three pesos?"

Baket 54: While shopping for a bracelet for my partner in a department store, the saleslady actually told me to my face, "Mahal po yan, " instead of showing me the piece from the counter.

Baket 55: On my way to watch a movie i bought some snacks from the lobby. It was too late when i realized i didn't have enough money anymore to buy a ticket. Kumain na lang ako ng hopia at pinagmasdan ng taimtim yun mga pictures on display!

Baket 56: As a very young boy, my favorite playground was a nearby cemetery. Madameng puno ng aratiles.

Baket 57. I enjoy making candies out of kamias fruits. Yummy!

Baket 58. While riding a bus along Taft Avenue (wala pang aircon buses noon, ha), i was almost a victim of an "estribo gang". But when i sensed something was happening behind me and i felt a hand working its way to my back pocket, i stood up and looked at the man trying to reach for my wallet and said smiling, "Wag boss, walang laman yan. Wala akong pera." The group got off the bus without an incidence. Nakuha ko ata sa projection.

Baket 59. Nung Grade One, i didn't enjoy going to church kasi naiinip ako. Yun pala yun Lola ko lang ang mahilig mag-istambay sa loob ng simbahan kahit tapos na yun misa. We used to stay inside for more than three hours!

Baket 60: Nung Grade Two, hindi na ako sumasabay sa Lola ko sa pagsimba.

Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now 2000 lives

Ode to Women Mentors (Part Two)

After serving in government under two Philippine presidents, my career would take a u-turn heading back for the corporate world. It was a time when call centers and BPO's were unheard of here in the country and automated customer service was frowned at: "What? Me talk to a machine?!"

It was an early job interview and i remember that balmy October day i drove my way through Roxas Boulevard to meet a lady who I have always admired since that first time i watched her host a variety talk show on tv. The show was Ms. Ellaneous over at GMA 7 and the lady: Ma-an B. Hontiveros.

The interview went well and so a month later there i was in a conference briefing with the rest of the team, and Ma-an was there, too. The company was TeleMessage Philippines, one of the pioneers in the customer contact services in the country and Ma-an was our CEO.

I have never felt more excited about anything the way i felt that day listening to Ma-an describe the many opportunities the new technology and industry we were about to embark on offered. She was speaking about changing the face of marketing in the Philippines and how new job opportunities would open up. Heck, it was like i was lost in a trance. But it was a good feeling. The one you get when you are mesmerized by someone speaking and you hang on to every word.

That is the effect you get from Ma-an. Various references to her would often describe her as a veteran broadcast/journalist but she is more known for her active and pivotal participation in the First Edsa Revolution. Nowadays, Ma-an is now vice-chairman of Ballet Philippines, a devotion she has kept after serving as its president for sixteen years. Wow, talk about constancy!

For me, Ma-an was the ideal boss. When i became the General Manager for TeleMessage, i saw glimpses of Ma-an's business savvy and expertise first hand. But i would remember her more for her humanity. I remember how she fought for all the employees when the time came that the principals decided to sell out the company as more and more industry players wanted a piece of the BPO action. Ma-an took extra effort to see to it that everyone was well-compensated and even offered her own resources to train some employees for new skills that could help them find work elsewhere.

I recall that afternoon i went to her office to formally bid her goodbye and extend my thanks for the many grand memories. Although i cannot fully remember what brought about the exchange, but her words are marked and i carry them to this day: "Gabby, people like us will never run out of new things to do. We will find other doors. We are never afraid to knock or move on." I must have been staring at her for quite some time before i could respond because i can still see her calm, almost serene, look as she assured me that things would soon be back on their tracks.

I am certain Ma-an was referring to my professional options at that time. But nobody between us knew how those words would come to carry me through one of the darkest, loneliest moments of my life.

Ma-an made me braver and more solid. I learned to summon my own strength the way perhaps Ma-an would at those many times she faced adversity in her own life: with grace and serenity but with an 'in-your-face' attitude. An oxymoron, you might say. But I call her Ma-an Hontiveros.

Ode to Women Mentors (Part One)

I have been blessed. Many times over, i have had the fortune of meeting and working with some of the most influential women in their respective careers. That is not to say that i have never had male bosses, it is just that the ladies seem to outshine the men as far as i can remember.

If there is one thing i can say about my journey towards mentorship that is i seem to have this uncanny ability to gravitate towards women mentors. I am such a lucky bloke!

Consider the following:

Chingay Diaz-Lagdameo (photo, left) was the former dean at Assumption College in San Lorenzo Makati. But i met her first when she was our department head at the Communications Department. I remember as a newcomer in the faculty, i was taken by Chingay's gracious manners and subdued demeanor. She was mentor in its true essence: supportive but wise enough to challenge me every now and then. She always found time to talk to me and discuss my students or classes.

It wasn't long before we developed a bond and friendship that would see us weather some personal strife of our own. But through the years, despite losing touch every now and then, Chingay has remained to be my mentor in the academe world. And i have always appreciated her confidence in my talents. Sometimes i find myself blushing whenever she would introduce me to her friends and colleagues. She was always generous with her praises, but also honest with her admonishments. I distinctly remember her words to me: "do not mistake rights for courtesy". Such simple words, but they do resonate strongly to me up to now.

Chingay, the former chair of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, is now Executive Director of the MMCO, the orchestra-in-residence of the Center for Applied Music in Miriam College.

Renowned veteran broadcaster Tina Monzon Palma (photo, right) was my boss at ABC Channel 5. As our COO, she was instrumental in opening some opportunities for me in the network. From being the Senior Copywriter for the station, Tina moved me to head the programs research department which would later lead me to become part of the Programming Committee. The experience gave me the opportunity to learn more about the television industry and be able to express my ideas and even spearhead some projects. Tina was hardworking and more known for her no-nonsense management style. She may lack the frills that other lady network executives may indulge in, but Tina had integrity, boldness and the "balls".

But what others do not know well about Tina is that is a mother at heart! I think it is a conscious effort on her part not to brandish this part of her persona. After all, despite the celebrity status, Tina is a very private person. On several occasions, Tina and i would trade jokes and have fun over the phone before she went on the air for the late evening news she anchored. Sometimes i would threaten her in jest that someday i will write about her and reveal who she really was! The idea horrified her!

And what do i remember the most among Tina's wise words to me? Well, they came at the eve of my flight to one of ABC 5's provincial network. Knowing perhaps that i was traveling alone, going on an all-expense paid trip down south, far from prying eyes, Tina without much prodding, simply told me in her trademarked modulated voice "Be careful. Do not make a fool of yourself out there."

I'm sure Tina doesn't have any idea how those words really got to me. As a young man, Tina's words made me realize that indeed it had been so easy for me to fall into my own folly, and immensely regret the consequences. I was a changed man when i got to the airport! Changed, and wiser.

Nowadays, Tina is busy at ABS CBN Foundation as Bantay Bata 163 Program Director and as news anchor over at ANC's World Tonight.

My BAKET List!

Or things you wouldn't really care to know about me and i can't even begin to explain why... or how? =)

Baket 1: I am slightly dyslexic.

Baket 2: Except for a couple of years in a private all-boys school, i was predominantly educated through the public school system

Baket 3: I cried unabashedly when i visited the Yad Vashem war museum in Jerusalem

Baket 4: I went and stayed at Camp Abubakar in Cotabato during peace negotiations with the MILF before it was taken by the military

Baket 5: I can only use the bathroom comfortably if the tile walls and floor were wet

Baket 6: I once caught a parakeet while walking home from school

Baket 7: I think the Heroes Hall at Malacanang Palace is tacky

Baket 8:An ambulance took me to the orthopedic hospital after the bus i was riding home turned turtle along the north luzon expressway, help came an hour after other survivors and i sat drenched in the rain

Baket 9: I sold newspaper around the old Buendia and Taft Avenue. It was the "Daily Express", the only publication out after martial law was declared.

Baket 10: I edited a travel magazine: Asean Journals.

Baket 11: I swam in the Dead Sea in Israel.

Baket 12: I know how to weave the sulihiya

Baket 13: I'm left-handed but can play the guitar just like any right-handed

Baket 14: I once "re-connected" another man's severed finger after an accident at the filming of Indio

Baket 15: I have blood relatives in Miami who originated from Cuba and they are blonde and blue-eyed.

Baket 16: Nida Blanca is my favorite actress.

Baket 17: I used to page myself in my EasyCall

Baket 18: My driver once left me at the gasoline station thinking that i was at the backseat when he drove away. He came back for me after two hours.

Baket 19: I like Davao City and GenSen.

Baket 20: I was an officer in our high school military cadet training

Baket 21: I won my first award when i was six in a UNICEF painting contest: Seven pesos, which my brother and i spent buying toys and Crazy Foam.

Baket 22: I auditioned for the Miss Saigon

Baket 23: I am not a good salesman

Baket 24: I am electrophobic

Baket 25: I slept on the floors of the Medical City ICU waiting area for five days while waiting for my partner to come out of comma

Baket 26: Pag may topak ako, i can consume half a gallon of ice cream in one sitting... at home only because (see baket 26)

Baket 26: I am lactose intolerant. Sanggol pa lang ako kape na ata pinaiinom sa akin ng ina ko

Baket 27: When i was 8, i strayed away from my mother's side and got lost in the wet market (Carbon) of Cebu City. We were reunited after an hour or so. At least tapos na syang mamili. I have the feeling she never noticed i got lost at all!

Baket 28: For the lack, or absence, of funds, i used to stare at the ducklings sold outside our school gates for hours until the vendor took pity and gave me one weak duckling to take home... it died the next day

Baket 29: I hate ducks.

Baket 30: I am an impulsive shopper.

Baket 31: I once got out of a driving violation (swerving) ticket by flashing my Office of the President id ...unintentionally.

Baket 32: I am a massage addict

Baket 33: For a time, all my shirts were the color blue

Baket 34: My first real (as in not imaginary) girlfriend was a lovely, doe-eyed lass from Palawan. We met at a science camp in high school. She wrote me once. I lost her letter. End of love affair.

Baket 35: I failed zoology once in college.

Baket 36: Whenever i get a recurring dream at night, it comes true.

Baket 37: I like to change the way i part my hair every once in while.

Baket 38: For a very, very long time i thought the lyrics for "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" went like this: you don't have to say you love me/ JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN

Baket 39: My first published poem came out in 1976 in MOP TOP music magazine.

Baket 40: I was the grand champion in the metro manila-wide interschool extemporaneous speaking competition after having picked the lousiest topic from the bunch: generation gap

Baket 41: I prefer to walk than to take a cab

Baket 42: My driver, after realizing i was not seated behind him in the car, tried to look for me in the trunk!!!! When asked why he would look for me in the trunk, the driver replied "Eh baka po nagbibiro si sir!"

Baket 43: I did not fire the driver. He continued to drive for me for 9 more years.

Baket 44: The most painful experience i had was burying my partner who passed away in 2004.

Baket 45: The most expensive material gift i received was a Guy Laroche watch in 1993 and i still wear it up to now

Baket 46: I'm allergic to shrimps, bagoong, crab meat... and BEER

Baket 47: I managed a hip resto bar in Eastwood City for five years

Baket 48: I used to practice crying or shedding a tear in front of the mirror without contorting my face

Baket 49: I can memorize my students names (all 40 of them) after the first day of classes

Baket 50: I always remember other people's birthday a week before the date but completely forget to greet them on the date itself.

To be continued... OC kasi ako eh.

My second love...

Not many know that i am also an actor. I was trained by the likes of Peque Gallaga, Lore Reyes (in photo, right), Gina Alajar, Laurice Guillen and Leo Martinez with the Actors Workshop Foundation way back in the late 80s.

My foray into TV acting was brief but memorable having appeared on tv from bit roles until i moved up to character guest roles: Wakasan, VIVA Love Stories and Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang, etc., etc., etc. My so-called acting career was cut short when i became a network executive over at ABC Channel 5 in the 1990s. But every now and then I appeared in guest roles in the Maryo J. delos Reyes-directed sitcom "We R Family" which starred Gabby Concepcion and Alice Dixson, or in some public affairs talk shows.

But before acting on TV, i was already a trained theater performer under Ms. Chingay Lagdameo and was even a member of the Metropolitan Chorus for a brief time. I've done plays at UP Theater, MET Theater, Meralco Theater and even the AFP Theater. From musicals to dramatic one-act plays.

I became an actor because i have always wanted to act as far as i can remember. I remember spending hours as a young boy in our front yard pretending that i was a tv host or acting a scene. As i grew older i developed a great respect for the craft. Indeed, after teaching, acting is my second passion.

But it is not a mere jealous mistress. Acting has provided me vast insights into the discipline of teamwork. The creative process is never the work of a single person. As an actor you learn to work with people, many people. Great people, small people. And you learn to respect them all. I have been able to share lessons i picked up as an actor to many of my students through the years. Humility, hard work, professionalism, persistence, diligence, creativity and teamwork are just some of the values the world of acting is steeped in.

I was recently invited to do a bit part in TV5's Midnight DJ, now on its 8th season. The multi-awarded director, Lore Reyes, is a friend from way back when i was an editor for a management magazine, Executive's Digest. Lore was our Production Manager who, perhaps, had his sights for bigger, more challenging things: like, say, becoming a part of some of Philippine cinema's unforgettable films.

After two decades i found myself on familiar ground. The call time was 6:30 a.m., somewhere in Antipolo. When my driver finally found the location, it was 7:00 a.m.! Great, i was thirty minutes late for my "comeback"!

And there it was. The set, the cameras, the lights, the crew. The actors waiting for their cues, working on their scripts. PAs shuffling back and forth. The catered food. Ah, the sights and sounds. And i was taking it all in. I felt like Norma Desmond incarnate except for the fact that i did not get to sing "As if We never Said Goodbye". Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

My role was short and sweet. It took all of 30 minutes to shoot my two sequences and before i knew it i was done for the day! The best part was i got paid for it, too!

But real actors do not really do it for the money. Show me a working actor who does it for the dough and i'll show you a ham. It is not uncommon to hear actors working on projects for less or even waiving their fees all for their love for the craft. For them, acting is their passion!

Finally i got to watch the Midnight DJ episode "Demonyong Hunyango" tonight. My family was chiding me for not having asked autographs from Oyo Boy Sotto and Desiree del Valle. I think they were more excited to know that i got close enough to the two stars than my onscreen performance.

True to form, there i was. At least it sounded like me, looked like me and moved like me. But hey, i was trained by the best, so NO ACTING, PLEASE! i was simply 'being' my character and loving every minute of it... all of the three minutes of it!

Direk, i'm ready for my close up!

On Attitude

A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright, quoted in Reader's Digest, June 1995