The ActiveTalker

The Philippines, being a tropical country, is susceptible to rare diseases. According to Microsoft Student, tropical diseases, or diseases found in tropical countries are almost exclusive and most of the time, rare. The spread of these diseases are mostly attributed to climate, poverty, and primitive sanitation conditions.

Malaria is one of the diseases common in tropical countries. It is a single-celled parasite transmitted by anopheles mosquitoes from one person to another in their bites. The disease causes chills and high fever and can lead to death if left untreated. Millions of die each year because of malaria.

However, there are some cases wherein rare diseases affect people from tropical countries. These health conditions result from genetic defects affect around 1 in every 20,000 individuals in the population. Some rare diseases that affect tropical countries like the Philippines are Phenylketonuria, Gaucher Disease, Hunter-Hurler Syndrome and other enzyme-based fat and sugar metabolism diseases.

Phenylketonuria or PKU is a hereditary disease in newborns wherein there is an accumulation of phenylalanine in an affected child’s blood shortly after birth. It can result to mental retardation if not treated early. In the Philippines, a newborn screening is given to diagnose if the infants have this disorder. Affected children can develop normally once detected early, with the help of a strict diet that limits phenylalanine. Another rare disease is progeria. It makes children develop rapidly with symptoms of old age and usually die because of coronary disease by their early teens.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara filed Senate Bill No. 3087 or Rare Diseases Act of the Philippines. The long title of this bill is

An act to help persons afflicted with rare diseases by creating an office of rare diseases in the Department of Health,encouraging the conduct of research and development activities on rare diseases, and providing for fiscal and regulatory incentives for the manufacture or importation of healthcare products for use by such persons.

The bill seeks to help patients, particularly children with rare diseases (sometimes called “orphan disorder“) by providing them better access to medical/health care, information campaign, and medicines needed to treat their condition. I don’t know if this is a part of the priority bills of the Aquino administration, but I think it’s not. The bill was filed on February 23, 2009 and has been pending ever since. 🙁

Please help support the Rare Diseases Act of the Philippines by visiting website of the Philippine Society for Orphan Disorders and sign the petition.

The result of the Pacquiao-Marquez III fight:

You can alternately check the links listed below for the live streaming on the fight night:

LINK 1 | Alternate Link 1 | Alternate Link 2 | Alternate Link 3 | Alternate Link 4 | Alternate Link 5

If you’re irritated by the ad pop-ups, just switch to fullscreen. If the video stream lags/stop, just hit F5 to refresh your browser.

Earlier this afternoon, I decided to eat lugaw at

Paulo’s Gotohan at Mamihan sa Manggahan. I frequently eat at here before going home after work.

I ordered my favorite plain rice porridge and tofu

It cost me 20PhP, 8PhP for the plain rice porridge and 12PhP for the tofu. The seasoning (made from vinegar, salt, ground pepper, soy sauce, and onions) gave the tofu that tangy taste and the chili oil made it more exciting.

I give it 9 stars out of 10.

Last Saturday’s lunch was, as requested by my classmate was at mommy’s because she likes the food there. We were fortunate to come way ahead of the others.

When we arrived, there were only few customers. But when we went in line to buy food, a handful of patrons began pouring in. I just told my classmates to go and reserve seats for us while I remain in the line.

I had a hard time deciding what to order until I decided to just settle for pork stew and barbeque.

Midway through our lunch, the place was already full of customers. Fortunately, we were seated at the farthest table from the counter.

This week, we gave our food 10 stars out of 10.

Eating soon..

ni Pete Lacaba

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!

Mabuhay ka!

Iyan ang una’t huli kong

Tagubilin at habilin:

Mabuhay ka!

Sa edad kong ito, marami akong maibibigay na payo.

Mayaman ako sa payo.

Maghugas ka ng kamay bago kumain.

Maghugas ka ng kamay pagkatapos kumain.

Pero huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay para lang makaiwas sa sisi.

Huwag kang maghuhugas ng kamay kung may inaapi

Na kaya mong tulungan.

Paupuin sa bus ang matatanda at ang mga may kalong na sanggol.

Magpasalamat sa nagmamagandang-loob.

Matuto sa karanasan ng matatanda

Pero huwag magpatali sa kaisipang makaluma.

Huwag piliting matulog kung ayaw kang dalawin ng antok.

Huwag pag-aksayahan ng panahon ang walang utang na loob.

Huwag makipagtalo sa bobo at baka ka mapagkamalang bobo.

Huwag bubulong-bulong sa mga panahong kailangang sumigaw.

Huwag kang manalig sa bulung-bulungan.

Huwag kang papatay-patay sa ilalim ng pabitin.

Huwag kang tutulog-tulog sa pansitan.

Umawit ka kung nag-iisa sa banyo.

Umawit ka sa piling ng barkada.

Umawit ka kung nalulungkot.

Umawit ka kung masaya.

Ingat lang.

Huwag kang aawit ng “My Way” sa videoke bar at baka ka mabaril.

Huwag kang magsindi ng sigarilyo sa gasolinahan.

Dahan-dahan sa matatarik na landas.

Dahan-dahan sa malulubak na daan.

Higit sa lahat, inuulit ko:

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!

Mabuhay ka!

Iyan ang una’t huli kong

Tagubilin at habilin:

Mabuhay ka!

Maraming bagay sa mundo na nakakadismaya.

Mabuhay ka.

Maraming problema ang mundo na wala na yatang lunas.

Mabuhay ka.

Sa hirap ng panahon, sa harap ng kabiguan,

Kung minsan ay gusto mo nang mamatay.

Gusto mong maglaslas ng pulso kung sawi sa pag-ibig.

Gusto mong uminom ng lason kung wala nang makain.

Gusto mong magbigti kung napakabigat ng mga pasanin.

Gusto mong pasabugin ang bungo mo kung maraming gumugulo sa utak.

Huwag kang patatalo. Huwag kang susuko.

Narinig mo ang sinasabi ng awitin:

“Gising at magbangon sa pagkagupiling,

Sa pagkakatulog na lubhang mahimbing.”

Gumising ka kung hinaharana ka ng pag-ibig.

Bumangon ka kung nananawagan ang kapuspalad.

Ang sabi ng iba: “Ang matapang ay walang-takot lumaban.”

Ang sabi ko naman: Ang tunay na matapang ay lumalaban

Kahit natatakot.

Lumaban ka kung inginungodngod ang nguso mo sa putik.

Bumalikwas ka kung tinatapak-tapakan ka.

Buong-tapang mong ipaglaban ang iyong mga prinsipyo

Kahit hindi ka sigurado na agad-agad kang mananalo.

Mabuhay ka, kaibigan!

Mabuhay ka!

Iyan ang una’t huli kong

Tagubilin at habilin:

Mabuhay ka!

Overheard on a conversation yesterday:

“Haynako, si Father ha!”

“Bakit?”

“E in-interview niya yung student nating madre. Tinanong kung ilang taon na daw siya. Sumagot si sister, 23 po. Tinanong ulit ni father, ‘nagka-boyfriend ka na ba?’ sumagot naman si sister, ‘opo father.’ ‘Kelan?’ ‘Nung highschool po.’ ‘Ang aga mo namang kumerengkeng!’ [tawanan ang mga estudyanteng nakarining – nasa stage pa naman after ng First Friday Mass]”

The issue here is, is that action (informal interview in this case) ethical for a priest to do? It may be a private joke, but it was said with the priest holding a microphone. And the other students find the joke “funny”.

It was highly degrading for the nun who was embarrassed by the comment given by the priest.

I was not present on the said mass so I wasn’t able to witness the actual “interview” so I will give the whole event the benefit of a doubt. I will not judge what happened by what I heard, but I will look to it as a reminder that before I act or say anything, I must take into consideration the feelings of other people around me who will be hearing my comments or witnessing my actions. In netizens’ lingo, “Think before you click.”

The Puerto Princesa Underground River (Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park) is among the 28 finalists in the search for the New 7 Wonders of Nature. To help it make the list, you can vote for the underground river by clicking HERE.

Please help the longest underground river in the world that has already been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in December 1999 and declared as a National Geological Monument in December 2003. Benigno Aquino III, the Philippine president, through Proclamation No. 182, declared a promotion campaign to encourage the Filipino people to help in the campaign to make the Puerto Princesa Underground River be proclaimed as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

My mom and I went to the public market of Iba, Zambales earlier this day to buy fish for our dinner. Since it’s now the rainy season, it rained a bit when we got there.

I was disappointed.

The market had some puddles of water brought by the rain and the part of the market where you can find fish had water puddles that are dark-colored and stinks (that’s what she told me because I’m anosmic and she told me to just wait for her in front of another store).

The Iba public market burned last December 29, 2009. The tenants rebuilt their stalls on the same area, but unfortunately, it burned again last February 2011.

Back in 2010, going to the market was a burden, it was actually hazardous as the stalls were under two meters away from the main road (actually it is national highway). You always risk of getting run-over by a passing vehicle.

They’ve moved the stalls behind the old site and they have yet to pave the place.

Iba, Zambales is a first class municipality. A lot of establishments are emerging like mushrooms. If shopping complex, fastfoods, and other establishments provide ease to the people, why can’t the authorities make buying basic commodities like rice, fish and vegetables be easy? You have to walk far from the main road to get to your favorite stall just to buy these.

Now, the rainy season is here again, going to the market will be a harder task.

I hope the authorities can do something about this.

Today is World No Tobacco Day (WNTD), an observance celebrated anually every May 31.

Started in 1989, it encourages a 24-hour abstinence from all form of tobacco consumption.

Over 5million people die every year from tobacco-related illness, and some 600,000 people, including children, will die from exposure to second-hand smoke. Secondhand smoke is more dangerous than actual smoking because one could inhale the toxin deposits of a smoker.

Quitting cigarette smoking means continuing to live your life. Continuing to smoke means quitting to live.

Ever wonder if someone opens your facebook account without your knowledge or consent? This happens to people who shares their password with their girlfriend/boyfriend. They open their partner’s account to snoop in their inbox and/or friends list. Or worse, your password might be hacked or stolen if you have a virus or malware in your computer.

To keep other people from opening your account, you turn on a feature on your account setting.

Once you’re in the account settings, you can go Account Security:

You can turn on the feature that sends you an email or text message when an unrecognized computer tries to access your account. It even has this “Login Approval” feature that sends you a text message containing a security code that the unrecognized computer/device needs in order to access your account.

Always remember to sign out after browsing and NEVER save your password if you open your account in shared computers.