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When we visited my aunt and grandma, I was unexpectedly welcomed by Duchess, my cousin's beautiful dog. It was very unexpected because Duchess had been sick since she gave birth to Chelsea. Her womanly part got so sore that it was sagging and very red. But that night, Duchess jumped on me very excitedly, like I was her long lost sister who came home from abroad. Chelsea, the only pet she gave birth to, was in her aloof but playful self. She's always been wary of strangers, and that includes me.

maxiadrian photography via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) As we all know, Bianca Gonzales is facing flak nowadays due to her controversial tweet: "Ang dami nating nagtatrabaho para makaipon para sa prime lot at bahay plus buwis pa. Bakit nga ba bine-baby ang mga informal settlers?" I admit. I kinda agreed with her. We, the middle class, strive hard to get a nice paying job so we can provide for our families. We sacrifice our health to take on overtime work or accommodate extra jobs to get more pay and save for our children's future. The poor on the other hand, makes us read letters that appeal to our emotions so they can get from our hard-earned money - like how one's husband has leukemia, how one needs to sell her products to support her education, or how one's son's sickness and death caused the family to have a lot of debt. The middle class professionals pay taxes, filthy rich businessmen evade them while the poor don't pay at all. Now those are

8 years ago at my 2nd job ever, I joined our company outing - a day tour to Corregidor. Looking back, all I can remember is how awesome the Malinta Tunnel Lights and Sounds show was. 8 years later, that important part of the trip is still awesome! This time, my friends and I didn't just walk along the main passage, we also had the chance to explore more of the inner tunnels. We had a tour guide who not only told us lots of stories, but also threw in a few jokes here and there, making our Corregidor experience even more fun and less scary. But more on that later. If you are staying overnight in Corregidor, do your research on what to expect and carefully plan your baggage. Here are 15 things you should bring for an overnight stay in Corregidor Island:

Category: Books Genre: Travel Author: Norman Wilwayco "Nakakahon kang iniuwi ngunit ang kaluluwa mo'y malaya. Naglalakbay sa papawirin, sa mga bundok at gubat at batis at sa iba pang lupalop na ni sa hinagap ay hindi narating ng nakakahon kong isipan..." Nag-enjoy ako dito pramis. Bukod sa marami akong natutunan mula sa librong sinulat ng pinakabastos na manunulat sa bansa, pinamukha rin sakin ng ***dot na librong ito na kung saan may pag-asa, nandun din ang kabiguan. Sinusundan-sundan ka nyang parang langaw na naga-amok ng paluan. Para bang nang-aasar. Hindi nga naman kasi tayo dapat tumigil mabuhay. Eh di kung masaya tayo palagi, ang boring nun diba? Kung palagi kang bigo, wag kang mag-alala dahil there's more to come. the more the merrier diba? Dito, makikita mo na mula sa hayop, sa mga kahayupan hanggang sa mga kahon, may mga kwentong humuhubog sa kailaliman ng buhay ng tao. Yun nga lang, mag-expect ka ng maraming typo error. At b

Our dog Jessie gave birth to 5 cute puppies on January 2 (or 3?) of 2013. We named the two brown ones Margaux and Celine, the pure white puppy - Dong Bek, the one with the dark spots - Spotty (although we gave her a different name at first), and the puppy with the lighter brown spots - Tisoy, who is the only male of the brood. The female dogs we had in the past never got pregnant so it was our first time to have that many puppies at home. They were really adorable. They all love each other so much that we often see them snuggle with each other. But of course, since it's our first time to take care of tiny newborn pups, we found their closeness cute. It was such an exciting experience for us to take care of these delicate creatures. For the first few weeks, they fed on Jessie's breast milk. Unfortunately, there came a time when she ran out of it. And it was then when the problem started.

To all colleagues, co-advocates, supporters and friends - House Bill 6079 has been filed In Congress this year proposing to declare Filipino Sign Language as the national sign language and to be used in all language domains in the classroom, workplace, health facilities, courts and mass media. It shall be a landmark legislation as it addresses comprehensively the exclusion and discrimination that the Filipino Deaf community has experienced over the entire century in access to information and communication. At the House Committee hearing held last Oct. 16, 2012, THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (SPED) HAS STATED THAT IT IS OPPOSING THE BILL. *(Note that it has been in SPED Policy since 1997 that Filipino Sign Language is to be the medium of instruction for deaf students) Participation by the Philippine Federation of the Deaf in the public Committee hearings on the Bill have been hampered by poor communications notice, and lack of official interpreting service. The Deaf community is invoking