crisis

Sad news flashed on TV & aired over the radio.

It's rainy season. Flood happens in typhoon-striken places. Passenger ships sank. A big one capsized, a close friend is still missing. Retrieval operations were cancelled due to heavy downpour.

Price hikes of basic commodities especially rice & gas.

Poor Philippines is becoming poorer.

Amidst all these crises, hope you are doing great.

As long as we're breathing, there's still hope for a better tomorrow.

Keep the faith Juan dela Cruz.

The world is often a cruel place but hope you find its pleasures, too.

MV Princess of the Stars

The MV Princess of the Stars' tragedy horrified the world as it capsized amidst typhoon (Fengshen) Frank's aggression somewhere in central Philippines. The ferry was carrying more or less 700 crews and passengers.

It sickened me much when I learned that a friend is on board.

He's one of our closest neighbors ... a childhood playmate. We're raised and grew in the same community. He's a seafarer going home (Cebu) to his wife and 5 kids.

As of this writing, he's still missing together with the hundreds of people on that boat.

Pope Benedict XVI is praying with us all.

I hope and pray that there'll be more survivors, and the remains of those who passed away will be retrieved.