July 31, 2007. It has been a year since Rambo (Ambo to his friends in school and Rei-Mon his given Christian name) was gunned down by still unknown men. Whoever they are, people are still wondering if they'll still be caught. Yes, I'm saying 'they' because one gunned Rambo down while another was waiting in a motorcycle not far away.

And that ended his life that early Monday morning. It was just a day after he celebrated his birthday with his family when it happened and such an event has caused much grief, pain, and suffering to his parents, his siblings, his friends, and all those whose hearts and lives he has touched and has become part of.

And to celebrate his colorful and fulfilling life, Rambo's family had a get-together of all the people who would want to be with them. They celebrated his birthday last July 30th. My friends and I were supposed to go but some things came up and we were unable to do so. But I was told that on the day of his death, there was a service for him and there were bands who were there to make music to tell people of this person, Rambo, who lived and who died bearing what he truly believed in.

While on Friendster, I came across a bulletin written by his sister and I was really touched by just how much she loved her brother. I could feel the pain and the emotions running through her as she composed that bulletin. I guess it became her avenue, her channel to let out what she was feeling inside.

Tin, Rambo's brother, posted it a couple of weeks before the anniversary of his death. And she was talking about just how painful it was that he was now gone and just how much they are all suffering without his presence. She said that if only she had known that such would happen, she would have done whatever he asked her to do and she woudl have hugged him back when he was making 'lambing'.

I was furthermore intrigued by what Rambo was like to other people and I did find some article referring to the first year anniversary of his death. His sister proclaims,

"He was not alone though, for there are 863+ more and 197 nowhere to be found and many still expected to follow,depending upon the hands of those thinking of themselves as gods."

Also, Inky mentioned,

"Sitting here writing about Rambo is a rather social task for me. Sad as I feel, as a fellow participant in the social movement, I must uphold the same issues both local and national that he fought and died for."

While they were talking about Rambo as a person, Tonyo did talk about what happened during the shooting:

"Although the assailant was unidentified, Guran's political activities raise concerns that he was the target of Philippine security forces who deemed him to be linked to the long-running communist New People's Army (NPA) insurgency. An off-duty policeman was sitting on the bus when Guran was shot, but did not pursue the assailant. Other passengers were there, but not a single witness outside of the family will give evidence to the police. The witnesses say they are too scared, and fear reprisals from the assailants or their backers if they come forward. The police say that they cannot complete their investigation for lack of evidence and have asked Guran's family to plead with witnesses to speak with them."

One of his schoolmates, Gideon, did write about his early demise. He expressed,

"We mourn with indignation the murder of a loving friend, kuya, son and a good servant of the people and of God.

We schoolmates, colleagues, friends and relatives of Ambo have formed the Justice for Ambo Movement to drum up the issue of unabated political killings in the country and to call for justice to the murder of the likes of Ambo.

We knock at your doors for help and assistance (financial and, or in kind) to sustain this advocacy; knowing fully that our prayers, discernment and collective action in search for justice will one day be fulfilled."

And so it has been a year but what changes have happened with regards to his case? I don't know. And I don't think we'll all ever know what's going to happen. It would be one of the unsolved ones that we all just would have to wonder what happened to it. Maybe. But I am not losing hope and I am still praying that the case be solved - well, of course, not for me but to serve as closure to his parents and to his siblings. It is hard to really imagine that somebody who did your son wrong was still walking on the streets alive and free.

But if that does not happen, all I'm praying now is that these people who wanted him dead start to feel the weight of what they did and may they not have peaceful dreams at night anymore.

Rambo, I hope you're now happy wherever you are and I understand you'll find more peace and happiness there. After all, I'm sure your good friend Ivan is also with you. Ingats padi! And while we're still here, we'll try to do whatever we can to continue what you have started.

I am not a fashion guru. Not at all. But I do know that Johnny Depp, despite whatever he puts on, simply can make it work. Oh yeah. It's like he's got his own sense of fashion. Sabi nga, "Kering-keri."



So that's Johnny with his daughter Lily-Rose. He just looks so boy-next-door here.


Two photos of Johnny. The one on the left just makes him plain too handsome in denims cut at the knees, a black and white top, his wrist accessories, and his necklaces. The one on the right is pretty much one of those rare moments when he smiles. But still handsome, if I may say so.


Very much unusual for Johnny Depp to wear this kind of thing. I mean, I do not commonly see him wearing this stuff. But take note, despite the 'formal' get-up, he still has the rugged accessories on. Notice the handkerchief on his left hand and the set of beads that Jack Sparrow has is hanging near his belt.


If I were to wear that faded jacket, I just might not be able to carry it well until the very end. But Johnny does it so well!


Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Sexiness!


In Japan, Johnny arrived in a polo shirt, cargo pants, an Indiana Jones hat, his cool glasses, a scarf, tons of accessories, and plain handsomeness. Put that all together and you get Johnny Depp.


Maybe he was the reason why I started smoking. Not. Well, he is the reason why my heart beats triple time with thoughts of loving him on my mind... *yikes!*


He's looking like a very excited kid here!


That's Orlando Bloom, Jerry Bruckheimer, and Johnny. Orlando and Bruckheimer are both in their business wear but Johnny is surely Johnny. Just look at his wardrobe. It may not be very business-y but he looks far better than those two.


He sure does not tire much of his accessories. I mean, there's the hat, those glases, the wrist accessories, that kerchief, and his set of necklaces. And yes, that cargo jacket just rocks. Notice that Che Guevarra patch peeping through?


Johnny is looking pretty good here. I did notice though that on his right wrist, he's got these accessories that looks as if they were his daughter's. But then again, he just makes it happen and he makes everything look good. I mean, I sure would not dare wearing those kind of bracelets. Especially in a photo shoot.

And finally... The best Johnny Depp fashion photo...





The conclusion? Johnny Depp sure does look good in anything, with everything, or with nothing at all. Yeehaw!

Dear Sky,

You are so talkative nowadays that I sometimes could not fathom just where you get your vocabulary. When you hear something new, you would almost always try to say it yourself.

You love watching TV commercials but you really hate watching shows. You do love watching Elmo's World VCDs over and over again. You get tantrums when you remember Elmo's World and we won't let you watch it.

You do love going outside each morning and each afternoon. However, you now do understand that when it rains, you just have to stay inside or else you'll get sick.

You love playing with balls and with your bicycle. You also love playing with the set of Transformers toys (Bumblebee, Barricade, Optimus Prime, and Megatron) that I got from Jollibee. Yep, those toys I was able to get when your Ninong Allan and I decided to eat that much in just one meal.

You can now say your name although some people may not understand it. But we all do laugh at just how talkative you are. You are now also quick to recognize people you know and you are no longer that little boy who would shy away when there are strangers around. When we tell you to "mano" (read: bless, or kiss the hand of someone older), you go ahead and do so.

You now go to church every Sunday. Last Sunday, it was the first time that I went to church with you. You are such a good boy that you now know how to behave so much so that you do not make a ruckus inside the church. You also do not go outside by yourself unlike most kids your age.

You are growing up to be just like a good little man and I do pray that you continue to do so.


Love you,

Mama (Mamu) *whatever*

Because it is the first night of the working week, you are still very much hyper and very much active. You just got a really good rest over the last two days (of your weekend) so you feel like you can take on everything.

You and your friends (or colleagues) decide to go out. You decide on this new bar in the Albay area (read: Chef's House) and you try it out. You find the environment a wee bit boring. So you decide to transfer to another lot. You car pool to Swaisi but you learn that smoking inside is no longer allowed. You go for it since you think that you can always go out for the smoke and your main purpose here is to drink and to sing. Yes, there's videoke.

You belt your hearts out. Your colleagues decide to do dance numbers during breaks. You also discover that one of your colleagues has this 70's style of dancing. You eat tons of pulutan like those really yummy sisig, a batch of onion rings, some french fries, and cheese sticks. You also down bottles of beer - San Mig Light, San Mig Strong Ice, and Red Horse. You listen to your colleagues sing and dance. You are totally happy because you can sing any song you choose and you would not have to wait for other customers - the place was all yours.

You go home at past 11pm and you car pool back to the Albay area. You go home while thinking that you still do not feel the beer in your system yet despite the fact that your usual load is just 1 to 2 bottles. You remember you have downed almost 4 bottles that night. You decide it's still too early so you go put on a movie and watch Gone in 60 Seconds. You go to sleep at past 1am.

In the morning, you have difficulty waking up. You decide to let three alarms go off before you stand up and face breakfast. You go to work feeling tired and sleepy and you suffer from this seemingly insatiable hunger and thirst - an after effect of drinking too much. You go to work and proceed with work like a zombie. You yawn just plain too much so much so that you start to feel tears rolling down your cheeks.

All the energy you felt during the first night of the week was gone. It was replaced by tiredness and by fatigue. You try to make up for the lost energy and sleep but you just could not. So for the rest of the week, you go to work like a zombie and you just could not get any kind of work done in your usual time span of completing a task. You now start to fear for your life that you may pass out any time because of sleeplessness.

Now, you are starting to look forward to the weekend when you can sleep earlier than usual and you can wake up way later than what you're used to. However, you know deep inside that such might just never happen.

These are the reasons why you should not go out during the first night of the week. Well, for me, that was a lesson well learned. Heehee! But then again, for fun and for time with friends sake, then it's all worth it. Basta ba libre ulit! Yeehaw!