Thinking Out Loud in my Boudoir: No More 'We-Men"

With even bigger work place now, these roles have expanded into international ground where trailblazing women change the mindsets and actions of others; lead international brands and companies with thousands of employees; influencing households across the globe; and managing the entire nation.

No more men’s world. Period.

It is so nice to see many empowered women at the forefront of corporate management, political leadership, legal administration, scientific studies, fine and performing arts proliferation, and many other industries.

When you watch CNN, you can see Park Geun-hye, Dilma Rousseff, Angela Merkel, Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner, Julia Gilard, Hilary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Queen Elizabeth II, Thokozile Masipa, etc.

When you open books you can read about Cory Aquino, Indira Gandhi, Amelia Earheart, Grace Hopper, Mother Teresa, Maria Montessori, Cleopatra, Mary, etc.

When you surf online, you will be amazed by Arianna Huffington, Tina Brown, Jill Abramson, Anna Wintour, Miuccia Prada, Gisele Bundchen, Tyra banks, Sushmita Sen, etc.

When you scan through broadsheets you will find Sheryl Sandberg, Janet Napolitano, Helen Clark, Sonia Gandhi, Indra Nooyi, Virginia Rometty, Mary Barra, Amy Pascal, Ertharin Cousin, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, etc.

When you turn on TV you see Christiane Amanpour, Oprah, Angelina Jolie, Beyonce Knowles, Jessica Soho, Samantha Brown, Taylor Swift, Monita Rajpal, Sisaundra Lewis, etc.

The time has come when the clear and perceptible boundary between colors, races, and even sexes have gradually evaporated with time.

The border is not completely eradicated yet, as some other nations are still bound by their longstanding traditions and cultures on how they treat and deal with women in society; nonetheless, women empowerment has been a productive effort far and away.

This social campaign [or even personal struggle for many] to stop the discrimination against women and the limitations set on women in terms of opportunities, rights, privileges, and even duties have been in existence since time immemorial.

Mythology and legend used to be the only world where women were hailed as powerful and influential.

But now, it is very encouraging and inspiring to see a lot of girls, ladies, and women excelling and leading in various fields—sports, politics, arts, corporate world, mass media, etc.

Thanks to the great women, both in the international arena and household alike, because they have continuously proved that women can do more than domestic activities through the lives they have lived and the way they have raised their daughters. Not to mention, those secured men who acknowledge the capabilities and strength of women also paved the way for the light of women’s brilliance to shine.

Because of them, we now enjoy this era where we have the power and freedom to go beyond the backstage and speak our voices and exercise our rights; share the same board room and platforms with men;  and conduct exhibitions with equal space with the other sex.

Women then and now have played roles in shaping the minds of the people, leading a pack, influencing the people around them, managing affairs and finances—all these start at home.

With even bigger work place now, these roles have expanded into international ground where trailblazing women change the mindsets and actions of others; lead international brands and companies with thousands of employees; influencing households across the globe; and managing the entire nation.

Having read and watched documentaries about the lives of these powerful women at home and around the globe, I have noticed common attributes:

         1. Balance your mind with heart. Work deliberately and with keen mind, but deal with people with considerate and kind heart.

         2. Know yourself and be familiar with the little voice inside you. Discover your gut and instinct and work with them. Women’s instinct is reliable.

         3. Be confident. Fake it until you make it. Even if you don’t know what you are doing, just fearlessly, creatively, gracefully, and deliberately do it.

         4. Take accountability. Be clear of your responsibilities. When you know your responsibilities and the consequences of your actions, you channel your energy on a particular goal and become efficient in doing the tasks.

         5. Don’t be afraid to fail—and learn from them. When you fall, stand up with grace and class. Failure polishes our character, purifies our intentions, strengthens our core, enhances our endurance, and makes us wiser.

         6. Be compassionate. Treat people how you would like to be treated. Your colleagues aren’t machines, just like you they commit mistakes and fail sometimes.

         7. Prioritize. Know the important and urgent things. Be disciplined to delay gratification—eat the cake first before the icing. But girls that we are, just enjoy what’s at hand!

         8. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable. You are human, you have emotions. We are privileged that our society is more open seeing women cry, compassionate, and empathetic. Your emotions make you creative and interesting.

         9. Live a balanced life. Be the best mother, the interesting wife, the model boss, the cool officemate, the motivating competitor, and the approachable person. Bottom line, live a purposeful and colorful life!

        10. Be you. Be comfortable of your skin, your height, your figure, your features. If you don’t love and respect yourself, no one will.

In women's world, it is not lonely at the top.

It’s good how systematic and innovative women can be. Because women are born with invisible friendship cuff with other women,  many women who seem to be competitors are actually good friends behind the camera like Donatella Versace and Miuccia Prada. Also, many business executives traverse conference table from purely business discussions to motherhood stories to personal interests and vice versa.

Women love to share ideas, give pieces of professional and personal advice, exchange parenting tips, update children’s new trips or interests, gossip about husbands’ funny habits, and open up their vulnerabilities.

Let’s celebrate our womanhood! And continue our quest of empowering others, both men and women alike.

It is in women’s DNA that we care about others and are compassionate of others, we inherit this from our mothers and we grew up seeing this in our big sisters, grandmothers, and aunties.

PS: Let us not forget there are still many girls, ladies, and women suffering from modern slavery. There are estimated 27 million slaves around the world and most of them are females who are being exploited for sexual labor against their will and the average age of victims is 12 years old. So let us stand up, be involved, and support others to break free from their sufferings even in our little ways. Nothing is too small in helping others help themselves.

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Thinking Out Loud in my Boudoir is a column for some of my random thoughts that, perhaps, other ladies my age are also experiencing or thinking of—whether from same vantage point or another. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s just my own voice reverberating in my own world. I will do my best to discriminate my reason in this column, and just write spontaneously the first things and thoughts that a normal lady could think of. Just writing as I think...

Pork Barrel SideBar: Burning Unnecessary Fats

Greed allures one to obliviously live in the allegory of the cave, making one forget the beauty of light, authenticity, and freedom...

Janet Lim-Napoles is in the ridiculous conflict of being a victim, a medium, and a beneficiary. Whatever the real story is, the result of her choices and actions is just about to unfold.

Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) is so hefty for a body whose task is primarily and generally to make laws. For me, PDAF should be abolished. The budget must be wisely rechannelled directly to the LGUs, educ/health/youth/livelihood/environmental projects, and marginalized groups and legit cooperatives of farmers and fishermen. Provided, there is a wise set of standard and safeguards for the budget allocation, project execution monitoring, and post-execution evaluation... Sadly, legislative is the one which can pass or approve such bills.

Whatever we say now, our remedy to our political diseases is found in elections itself. This is one of the reasons why we should know very well the candidates for public office and vote very wisely during elections.

For now, we are just spectators of the political exhibition and acrobatics.

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The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF)

Ø  a lump-sum appropriation in the annual General Appropriations Act to fund the priority development programs and projects of the government; popularly known as “pork barrel”

Pork Barrel

Ø political largesse

Ø spending is subjective as opposed to “earmark”, which is an objective determination

Ø spending which is intended to benefit constituents of a politician in return for their political support, either in the form of campaign contributions or votes.

Ø originated in a pre-Civil War practice of giving slaves a barrel of salt pork as a reward and requiring them to compete among themselves to get their share of the handout. A barrel of salt pork was a common larder item in 19th century households, and could be used as a measure of the family's financial well-being (1919, Chester Collins Maxey).

Soft Pork Barrel

Ø non-infrastructure projects that are more in the vein of financial assistance like scholarships and livelihood programs.

Hard Pork Barrel

Ø projects or infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, school buildings, and the like.

House of Representatives (each Congressman, yearly)

Soft Pork Barrel Project: P30 million

Hard Pork Barrel Project: P40 million

Senate (each Senator, yearly)

Soft Pork Barrel Project: P100 million

Hard Pork Barrel Project: P100 million

Choices of Projects:

 1.        Education – scholarships

 2.        Arts and culture

 3.        Health – financial assistance to indigent patients, purchase of medical equipment

 4.        Livelihood/ social services

 5.        Housing

 6.        Rural electrification

 7.        Irrigation

 8.        Water supply – construction of water system, installation of pipes/pumps/tanks

 9.        Financial assistance – for specific programs and projects of LGUs

10.       Public works – roads, bridges, flood control, school buildings, hospitals, health facilities, public markets, multi-purpose buildings and pavements

11.       Peace and order – purchase of firetrucks and firefighting equipment, patrol vehicles, prisoners’ vans, multicabs, police patrol equipment, construction/repair of fire stations, police stations, jails

12.       Forest management

Ease With Legalese: Bedazzled by Embezzlement

Let us help each other. Together let us build a better community… province… region… better and promising Philippines. 

Let us make a change, contribute, or help... however big or small, remote or convenient our way is. The important thing is we act.

2013 midterm elections is in the offing. Many politicians—newbies, oldies, re-electionists, public servant, or public savant, what have you—are fired up... I mean, “excited”; not ready to fire their guns, you know.

 

It’s just but high time that we know some of the basic and important provisions of the law that we always hear in the news and we even comment on... [Yet] we ironically and sadly, fail to familiarize ourselves with.

So watchdogs, before we cast your votes this coming elections, let us first understand some provisions of the law related to public officials and their performances of their duties as public servants.

Article 217 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) talks about PRESUMPTION OF MALVERSATION OF PUBLIC FUNDS OR PROPERTY.

We always hear in the news that politician X had a road project which gone worse even before it existed; mayor Y received millions of royalties from a natural resource found in his jurisdiction but there was never a project done until his term expired; or governor Z kept on building infrastructure projects but the buildings were always substandard and not in keeping with the budget the projects reflected.

What really is malversation?

Etymology of the word is traced from Middle French malverser or to be corrupt; from Latin male versari or male as in badly; from Indo-European versr or to behave. The word was first used in 1549 (Merriam-Webster).

The lexicon meaning says malversation is a misbehavior and especially corruption in an office, trust, or commission (Merriam-Webster); corrupt behaviour in a position of trust (Oxford); wrongdoing (Cambridge); behaviour that is illegal or not moral (Macmillan British).

Under the Article 217 of the RPC, the acts punishable as malversation are:

1. Appropriating public funds or property
2. Taking or misappropriating funds or property
3. Consenting, or through abandonment or negligence, permitting any other person to take such public funds or property
4. Being otherwise guilty of the misapropriation or malversation of such funds and property

Within the ambit of Chapter Four of the RPC, malversation is otherwise called as embezzlement or taking of funds/properties for one’s own or personal use.

Now, you may ask what makes an act a crime of malversation committed by a public officer.

There are still other acts of malversation other than those mentioned above. But all these acts have common elements that make them felonious or in violation of the RPC.

1. That the offender be a public officer
2. That he had custody or control of funds or property by reason of the duties of his office
3. That those funds or property were public funds or property for which he was accountable
4. That he appropriated, took, misappropriated, or consented, or through abandonment or negligence, permitted another person to take them.

It is very important to note that what is controlling is the nature of the duties of the public officer, and not the name of his office. Also, the term “public officers” embraces every public servant from the highest to the lowest positions. The RPC wipes out the standard distinction in the law of public officers between “officer” and “employee”. Hence, a temporary performance of public functions by a laborer makes him a public officer.

Even an emergency employee entrusted with custody or collection of public funds or property may be held liable for malversation.

The funds or property must be received in the official capacity or by virtue of his duty. Thus, if a public officer had no authority to receive the money/property and he misapporpriated it, what he committed is estafa not malversation.

You think a private individual can escape charge of malversation? No.

Private individuals may commit the crime of malversation in these cases:

1. Conspiracy with public officers guilty of malversation
2. Accessory or accomplice to a public officer
3. Custodian of public funds or property in whatever capacity
4. Depositor or administrator of public funds or property

So even you, yes you, can be charged with malvesation under Article 217 of the RPC.

When demand is made to the accountable officer to account for the funds or property and the officer cannot provide the funds/property, then the law presumes that he has put such missing funds or property to personal use.

Whether the public officer misappropriated the fund/property with malice or through negligence or imprudence, it doesn’t matter... Once the essential elements are all present, he is still liable for malversation under Article 217 of the RPC.

Demand and damage to the government are not necessary in malversation. Actually, damand merely raises a presumption. So whether there’s demand or none, a public officer may still be held liable.

Return of the malversed funds will only lessen the punishment, but the officer will still be liable.

So now... do some names just ring in your head?

We still have ample time to observe, background check, and evaluate…

Let us help each other. Together let us build a better community… province… region… better and promising Philippines.

Let us make a change, contribute, or help... however big or small, remote or convenient our way is. The important thing is we act.

Let’s all be informed, aware, and be engaged!

Vote based on your wise observation and evaluation.

Bayan natin, mahalin natin!

President Barack Obama's 2nd Inaugural Address

President Barack Obama's second inaugural address  delivered Monday, January 21, 2013, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.:

"We have always understood that when times change, so must we." ~ President Obama

Vice President Biden, Mr. Chief Justice, Members of the United States Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens: 

Each time we gather to inaugurate a president, we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution.  We affirm the promise of our democracy.  We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names.  What makes us exceptional – what makes us American – is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

Today we continue a never-ending journey, to bridge the meaning of those words with the realities of our time.  For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing; that while freedom is a gift from God, it must be secured by His people here on Earth.  The patriots of 1776 did not fight to replace the tyranny of a king with the privileges of a few or the rule of a mob.  They gave to us a Republic, a government of, and by, and for the people, entrusting each generation to keep safe our founding creed. 

For more than two hundred years, we have. 

Through blood drawn by lash and blood drawn by sword, we learned that no union founded on the principles of liberty and equality could survive half-slave and half-free.  We made ourselves anew, and vowed to move forward together. 

Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce; schools and colleges to train our workers.

Together, we discovered that a free market only thrives when there are rules to ensure competition and fair play. 

Together, we resolved that a great nation must care for the vulnerable, and protect its people from life’s worst hazards and misfortune.

Through it all, we have never relinquished our skepticism of central authority, nor have we succumbed to the fiction that all society’s ills can be cured through government alone.  Our celebration of initiative and enterprise; our insistence on hard work and personal responsibility, are constants in our character.

But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.  For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias.  No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.  Now, more than ever, we must do these things together, as one nation, and one people. 

This generation of Americans has been tested by crises that steeled our resolve and proved our resilience.  A decade of war is now ending.  An economic recovery has begun.  America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands:  youth and drive; diversity and openness; an endless capacity for risk and a gift for reinvention.   My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together. 

For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.  We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class.  We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship.  We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American, she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. 

We understand that outworn programs are inadequate to the needs of our time.  We must harness new ideas and technology to remake our government, revamp our tax code, reform our schools, and empower our citizens with the skills they need to work harder, learn more, and reach higher.  But while the means will change, our purpose endures:  a nation that rewards the effort and determination of every single American.  That is what this moment requires.  That is what will give real meaning to our creed.  

We, the people, still believe that every citizen deserves a basic measure of security and dignity.  We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit.  But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.  For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty, and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.  We do not believe that in this country, freedom is reserved for the lucky, or happiness for the few.  We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, any one of us, at any time, may face a job loss, or a sudden illness, or a home swept away in a terrible storm. The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us.  They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. 

We, the people, still believe that our obligations as Americans are not just to ourselves, but to all posterity.  We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.  Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought, and more powerful storms.  The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult.  But America cannot resist this transition; we must lead it.  We cannot cede to other nations the technology that will power new jobs and new industries – we must claim its promise.  That is how we will maintain our economic vitality and our national treasure – our forests and waterways; our croplands and snowcapped peaks.  That is how we will preserve our planet, commanded to our care by God.  That’s what will lend meaning to the creed our fathers once declared.

We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.  Our brave men and women in uniform, tempered by the flames of battle, are unmatched in skill and courage.  Our citizens, seared by the memory of those we have lost, know too well the price that is paid for liberty. 

The knowledge of their sacrifice will keep us forever vigilant against those who would do us harm.  But we are also heirs to those who won the peace and not just the war, who turned sworn enemies into the surest of friends, and we must carry those lessons into this time as well.

We will defend our people and uphold our values through strength of arms and rule of law.  We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.  America will remain the anchor of strong alliances in every corner of the globe; and we will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to manage crisis abroad, for no one has a greater stake in a peaceful world than its most powerful nation.  We will support democracy from Asia to Africa; from the Americas to the Middle East, because our interests and our conscience compel us to act on behalf of those who long for freedom.  And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice – not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes:  tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice. 

We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall; just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on Earth. 

It is now our generation’s task to carry on what those pioneers began.  For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers, and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.  Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.  Our journey is not complete until no citizen is forced to wait for hours to exercise the right to vote.  Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.  Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm. 

That is our generation’s task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of Life, and Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – real for every American.  Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness.  Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time. 

For now decisions are upon us, and we cannot afford delay.  We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.  We must act, knowing that our work will be imperfect.  We must act, knowing that today’s victories will be only partial, and that it will be up to those who stand here in four years, and forty years, and four hundred years hence to advance the timeless spirit once conferred to us in a spare Philadelphia hall.

My fellow Americans, the oath I have sworn before you today, like the one recited by others who serve in this Capitol, was an oath to God and country, not party or faction – and we must faithfully execute that pledge during the duration of our service.  But the words I spoke today are not so different from the oath that is taken each time a soldier signs up for duty, or an immigrant realizes her dream. 

My oath is not so different from the pledge we all make to the flag that waves above and that fills our hearts with pride. 

They are the words of citizens, and they represent our greatest hope. 

You and I, as citizens, have the power to set this country’s course. 

You and I, as citizens, have the obligation to shape the debates of our time – not only with the votes we cast, but with the voices we lift in defense of our most ancient values and enduring ideals. 

Let each of us now embrace, with solemn duty and awesome joy, what is our lasting birthright.  With common effort and common purpose, with passion and dedication, let us answer the call of history, and carry into an uncertain future that precious light of freedom. 

Thank you, God Bless you, and may He forever bless these United States of America.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Photo by: Christina Steihl, Hollywood Life