Taiwan Fishingboat incident - Rejects Philippine's Apology

It's sad that there has been a casualty with the fishing boat incident a couple of days ago. Taiwan has pressured the Philippines to issue an apology only to reject it. I don't think an apology should have been issued in the first place. As detailed by Max Montero's blog, if our coast guard was right in their actions then our government should have maintained their position in doing clarificatory investigations.

As an OFW, I feel for our countrymen who are currently in Taiwan. With reports coming in that some of them have been physically harmed by some angry Taiwanese. Taiwan already have frozen the hiring of OFWs and I think our government should do the same and send back all the OFWs in Taiwan to protect them and bring them safe back to their families. They can get jobs from other countries or maybe even in the Philippines with our economy getting strong by the day and maybe Taiwan will also realize how important our OFW's roles in their economy.

Our country has been poached by Chinese fishermen for a while now. We kept silent to keep our good relations with them but this is not the right way to do things. We have a territory to protect and I don't think they will react differently if we do the same thing on their own waters.

We just hope that this issue will be resolved in a peaceful manner. With both countries finding common ground to agree and settle the differences.

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Philippines Election 2013 : A Democratic Practice?

Warning: I'm letting off steam.

Voting should be a democratic practice. But election has tainted this with widespread cheating, terrorism, violence and dirty politics.

Three decades has passed in my life and I'm still seeing the same names and surnames in the ballots. I can't wait for the new breed of politicians to arrive from my generation or the younger ones and just breathe new life to the Phillipine public office. And maybe new idealism and less corruption will drive our country to new heights.

Please vote wisely in May 13, 2013.

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A 100 Posts Later

For my 100th post, I look back and can't believe it's been 5 years already and still only 100 posts. I have slacked off posting on this blog for the past couple of years. I was infatuated and got disinterested with SEO. The landscape of blogging has changed tremendously in the past couple of years. Blogger's influence have grown now that businesses acknowledged the shift of media from conventional TV & radio to Internet where majority of the consumers generation spend more of their time with.

I'm far from a perfect blogger because most of my time is pre-occupied with real life stuff – Work and Parenting. Now that I'm finding balance with my career, finances and family... I expect that time for travel and leisure will be finding it's on my schedule. A scheduled 1 month long vacation is highly anticipated and that is what will be in store for the rest of the year for this blog – a chronicle of a well-thought (I hope) schedule to enjoy a well deserved rest.

Food, travel and shopping – probably the best trio of things to look forward to after 12 months of hard-work and sacrifice. More experiences = more content for this ageing blog.

I find my inspiration knowing that someone out there will be reading my blog and being able to share my adventure.

Cheers to a hundred more posts!

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Futureproof Technology

I have a 2011 Samsung Galaxy Ace android phone. At that time, it was still running Gingerbread version out of the box. That seems to be lightyears from now the way that updates are coming out. Samsung has stop supporting updates for my phone after Gingerbread. Then came Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean updates and my phone is proper-outdated.

Luckily, there are people from XDA Forums, who still develop custom ROMs. WTF is a ROM? If you're living under a rock (in a techy geek's perspective) One of the best things about the openness of the Android platform is that if you're unhappy with the stock OS, you can install one of many modified versions of Android (called ROMs) on your device. Thus, my outdated device is not so outdated anymore:



If you compare 2011 smartphone specifications to that of 2012, you'd be surprised to see the gap in terms of chipsets and display. But functionality is unique to every individual. If you use your mobile mostly to play games then graphics and memory specifications are gold to you. But if you're like me who just use it for calls, sms, social networking and playing music - then you don't need any cutting edge specification to get your fix.

Ever since the Nokia 5510 days, Filipinos are enamored by the use of Mobile phones. It has become almost a necessity for any individual. There's also comes the unecessary pressure of trying to keep up with the latest releases if you're that type of person. But to me, I don't feel like I need to invest that amount of money to something that will depreciate in value in a matter of months. I'd rather put my money into traveling - invest in experiences... they last a lot longer. Futureproofed.

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The OFW Life

The very bright outlook of the Philippine's economomy can be attributed to two things: 1) The remittance from OFWs and 2) The BPO sector. The latter has been from the longest time the source of many families income. When I was a kid, I often hear a parent of a cousin or a playmate working in Saudi or Abu Dhabi. I don't even have an idea where the hell in the map thouse countries are and in Abu Dhabi's case it's not even a country.

Here I am working as an OFW and from my early experience, I have nothing but the utmost respect to all my countrymen who worked or still working abroad. OFW's are a "different breed of animals" and to get a deeper understanding of this you need to go through the process yourself. I liken an OFW's life to a soldier that has been sent to war. Like a soldier, you get sent to the "enemy's" terrritory. You only hoped that your life experiences have prepared or trained you to face all the obstacles along the way.

You fight the "war" for 1 or 2 years depending your employment contract. Then you get to go home but at the back of your mind nothing will ever be the same. You're not the same person who left the country for the first time. You came back hardened by the tough experiences you went through abroad. Along the way, you meet people who will try to break your will and people who's will have already broken. You keep yourself sane and balance by thinking about the people you left behind. I see myself as a ranking officer of the platoon, who needs to be strong-minded to lead the other soldiers to war and keeep them safe so they can come back to their families.

Like a soldier, you fight for the "cause" -- to liberate your family from proverty or secure them a brighter future.

We often hear that the OFWs are our modern day heroes. People don't know how much of an understatement this is and why I think like soldiers who fought the war, they are not given enough credit due to them. While the Philippines' economy enjoy the fruits of our labor, we OFWs continue to fight everyday to provide food on the table and roof to shelter our families. Maybe it's about time the government do something more for us.

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Reboot - Restart - Refresh

Call it however you like it, this blog is back with a vengeance! It's been a while since my last post (1 year and 4 months to be precise) and now I'm back. Older, wiser and with a lot of stories to tell and nasty(?) opinions to dish out.

I've contemplated if I should close this blog and start a new one. But my sentimental side has gotten the best of me when I realized this site is 4 year old not to mention having a Page Rank 1 isn't too bad also.

To start with, I'm officially an OFW. Rewind to 2008, I quit my then 3 year job for an opportunity to work in Abu Dhabi. Then the sub-prime crisis came in and destroyed my dreams. Fast-forward to 2012, I'm here somewhere in the Middle East working for my newly reformed aspirations. I'm married and have a daughter to come home to after a few more months which could not have been possible if the recession didn't happen in 2008. Interesting how life works. I can throw all the cliches out there like "every cloud has a silver lining" but it's the truest of words.

With new experiences and challenges ahead, there will be changes to this blog because I'm not looking at it as monetary tool anymore. Hence, no ads or paid posts only fresh and unbiased opinions.

So now, here's to a frest start and let The Brix Life ver 2.0 experience begin!
(commencing blog walk to get some audience.. ^^)

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Welcome 2010

Just want to wish everyone a prosperous 2010. Looking forward to writing and reading another chapter in our lives. God Bless. :)

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My Noche Buena

Staying home at Christmas Eve is one of the few times in a year that I get some time to be alone. My family is just chilling in our home and I spend some time in my room either reading, sleeping or listening to music. It’s still a couple of hours before Christmas but here’s what I’ll be indulging for tonight’s celebration (in no particular order):

1) Ice cream - Rocky Road

2) 4 Cans of Beer - Red Horse

3) Potato Chips - Maybe Tortillos or the Ridges

4) Bread and Ham - Staple food every noche buena.

Good thing I’ve lost some weight lately due to being sick with Pharyngitis. I also didn’t party a lot last month that’s why my beer belly is smaller. But I promised myself that I’ll lose the calories that I’ll take in by running and eating healthy after tonight.

I might get a Pugad Baboy or Kikomachine book later at Powerbooks as a present to myself. Merry Christmas everyone! :)

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This Time Last Year

Time flew by so fast I can hardly distinguish 2008 and 2009. It feels like this year and last year has been intertwined to creat a hybrid year called 2008-9. Maybe it's because this is the busiest year I had so far since I started my career. First, I'm working in a very dynamic environment where I'm always moving and talking to different people, multi-tasking (a.k.a. working while internet surfing). Second, been to a lot of social gatherings (a.k.a. drinking sessions). To sum it all up, just experiencing a lot of new things that made life more interesting again.

A question came to my mind. Where was I this time last year? I'm not talking about physical displacement (a.k.a. my location) but my state of mind and emotion. I can still remember the cloud of doubts and uncertainty hovering above me this time last year. Presently, I'm more sure of myself and the path that I wanted to take. The sky is relatively clearer. The road is a little more wider.

I don't really know the point of this post other than feeding my blog something new and I should stop those parenthesis a.k.a. plaguing this post before I get used to it's humorous yet annoying tone.

So where were you this time last year?

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If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane

Emo mode... /wrist. This is an excerpt from a book called "Looking for Alaska" (Alaska is a girl's name in that book). :)



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Pinoy Life Hidden in Plain View

I've come across a couple of blogs that talks about life in the Philippines. The author of the blogs are foreigners who are currently living in our country for quite some time. It's very interesting to find out their views with regards to the usual day in the Philippines, which for us Filipinos, are very much ordinary and the same. We're living here ever since we were born and most of the things we experience are just "routine" and so common that we've become blinded to them.

Just like Philfaq's blog article about a Typical Philippine Trip to the Mall where he talks about his experience in shopping in SM Hypermarket. Here's a snippet from the said article:

Our checkout did get interrupted by anther ritual… the Japanese sounding ‘my dog has leas’ tones come over the loud speaker and a voice intones ‘Welcome to SM” and then every employee in the store drops what they are doing , claps their hands three times and chants’ “Happy to serve You,”. It’s not an ingrained ritual or anything, only happens about three times each and every hour.

I remember the first time I've heard this "SM Sales Cheer" for the first time and I've felt a roller coaster of emotions which are 1) Scared - the first time I heard the clap I was like "what the hell is going on? Am I on Punkd or Wow! Mali!?" 2) Embarrassed - Seeing the look on their faces, they seemed to be doing it just because it's a new sales policy. They look embarrassed and in that moment I empathize with them. 3) Weird - Now after the cheer some of them have this stoic look as they went back to what they were doing before the short interruption...at that moment I felt that I'm the only breathing person and the rest are robots or cyborgs programmed to do grocery stuff.

It's amusing how most of us dream a romantic night in Paris or a busy corporate day in New York or a Cherry Blossom season in Tokyo and other adventures in different cities. There's nothing wrong about that but sometimes we forget that there are a lot of things going on right in front of our eyes. All we need is just to see it in an outsider's point of view. Some experiences are funny or just borderline "stupid" others are regrettable and forgetful, and there are some that will make you feel proud as a Filipino. Maybe if we can just realize how great we are as a country, we'll make that realization into reality.

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The Freshman

The Freshman is a song by the band The Verve Pipe which was a big hit during the 90's and incidentally I was a freshman in high school when this song came around. I instantly like this song back then and even now still. When I heard it played in the radio it brought back a lot of nostalgia from my high school days. One thing I've liked about the song is the lyrics. The lyrics are, in many ways, easy to relate with. All of us, in one point in our lives became a Freshman. We were in that stage when we were full of optimism, dreams, idealism, arrogance and carelesness. Looking back at the things that we've done and noticing how flawed and full of shit our lives were, we wish we can turn back time to make things right. But that's where the genius of this song lies, being a Freshman we had the license to commit such mistakes. Less is expected on us back at those days and messing up is like a part of our job description. It's just but a part of life's lessons that we need to learn from our past no matter how regretable and forgetful those experiences were.

Here is the line by line explanation straight from the writer of the song itself, Verve Pipe's vocalist and songwriter Brian Vander Ark:

In 2001, Brian Vander Ark explained what the song means to him on Verve Pipe's bulletin boards:
"When I was young I knew everything" - We all think we know everything at a young age. I thought I did. I realize I didn't know sh*t until I was 36.
"And she, a Punk who rarely took advice" - How many people do we know like that?
"Now I'm guilt-stricken, sobbing, with my head on the floor" - Something happened that caused this reaction, but I wouldn't want to give that away this early in the song, so let's throw in an some ambiguity:
"Stop a baby's breath, and a shoe full of rice, no" - First of all, forget the NO. Stop a baby's breath is just that. Abort the baby. A shoe full of rice is a result of a wedding. So - stop a baby's breath AND then you stop a wedding. She's pregnant, get her to abort, and then there's no wedding. And you know what?
"I can't be held responsible, cause she was touching her face" - When I wrote this song, The Divinyls had a song out called 'I Touch Myself.' The TV was on, she was touching her face in the video. Very sexy. So, I can't be held responsible because she was trying to be sexy, trying to seduce me, etc.
"I won't be held responsible, she fell in love in the first place" - I didn't tell her to fall in love.
"For the life of me, I cannot remember what made us think that we were wise, and we'd never compromise" - What was I thinking back then? Who am I to put a girl though that? Why was I unable to compromise? Guilty feelings.
"For the life of me, I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins, we were merely freshmen" - We were just kids, let it go, we all make mistakes, etc.
"My best friend took a week's vacation to forget her" - He needed to get away because of what happened.
"His girl took a week's worth of Valium and slept" - This is why this song is not that strong literally - it's confusing. HIS girl is MY girl. the same girl that had the abortion has now killed herself.
"Now he's guilt-stricken, sobbing with his head on the floor, thinks about her now and how he never really wept he says" - He has the same guilty feelings that I do about the abortion and death.
"We tried to wash our hands of all of this, we never talk of our lacking relationships" - We rarely spoke after the incident - we just tried to forget it. We never spoke of her or the fact that we can't have a decent relationship with anyone since then.
"We fell through the ice when we tried not to slip" - No matter how careful you might be, there are other perils out there. The girl is real, the abortion is real. the death is not. it's poetic license to make the story more interesting.

The Freshman by the Verve Pipe

When I was young I knew everything
She a punk who rarely ever took advice
Now I'm guilt stricken,
Sobbing with my head on the floor
Stop a baby's breath and a shoe full of rice

I can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

My best friend took a week's
Vacation to forget her
His girl took a weeks's worth of
Valium and slept
And now he's guilt stricken sobbing with his
Head on the floor
Thinks about her now and how he never really
Wept he says

I can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

hey yeah
hey yeah
hey yeah

We've tried to wash our hands of all this
We never talk of our lacking relationships
And how we're guilt stricken sobbing with our
Heads on the floor
We fell through the ice when we tried not to
Slip, we'd say

I can't be held responsible
She was touching her face
And I won't be held responsible
She fell in love in the first place

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen

For the life of me I cannot remember
What made us think that we were wise and
We'd never compromise
For the life of me I cannot believe
We'd ever die for these sins
We were merely freshmen
We were merely freshmen

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Conflict of Interest

I read an article in the Inquirer yesterday that was about the practice of "soft-selling" medicines by Medical representatives to Doctors. Maybe you have heard of the grand parties, hotel accommodations, luxury gifts etc. etc. thrown at Doctors by pharmaceutical companies just to "promote" their brand of drugs. Now we wonder why branded drugs are so expensive compared to the generic ones.

I haven't found a copy of the article online but it says there that the Congress has passed a bill that prohibits and punishes Doctors who accepts such kind of "tokens" from drug manufacturers. It's great to know that someone in the Congress is actually doing their job. I can't help to be pessimistic when it comes to the implementation if this bill becomes a law but still I consider this as one of the rare brilliant moments in Philippine politics.

Conflict of interest is one of the reasons why this bill has been created and I couldn't agree more. How can a Doctor pass his/her judgment with no-bias and clear objectivity if he/she is indebted from accepting lavish gifts from business entities? I'm a professional myself and one of the topics that were discussed in our company during our orientation is integrity. We were told that it's wrong to receive gifts from our clients even how small it is because by doing so we will put our credibility in jeopardy.

I have a friend who's sister is a Pediatrician and I remember her proudly telling us that she will be spending a couple of nights in a posh hotel because her Pediatrician sister got a free accommodation from one of her medical representatives. I envy her before when I haven't realize fully the moral backlash of such an opportunity. But now that I do, I feel lucky that I didn't contribute to the dilemma of patients that have no money to pay for their medicines while such kind of doctors are soundly sleeping their ass off in their cozy hotels. It baffles me why such people who spent at least six to eight years in post-college education and pledged to uphold their duties and responsibilities to their patients first before any other (at the same time gets paid a hefty amount with their services) can sleep soundly knowing the implications of their actions.

I thought that my most hated bunch of people are the corrupt politicians but now, I hate these gift-accepting-doctors equally or to some degree maybe even more. Life is unfair in so many ways but I find comfort knowing that this imbalance will be left here on earth.

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Evolve

"When people suggest we write a song, record, or sound like an previous record, that always floors me. I always wonder if the people suggesting this are musicians. If they are, do they only play the same chords and progressions or do they enjoy learning new chords, new arrangements, new ideas? This is really the case in anything you passionately pursue in life. Who wants to paint the same picture time and time again, write the same poem, live the same day over and over again? My favorite artists always evolve and when they stop, that's usually when I stop listening. Growing is the most important part of living." -Dave Elkins (vocalist of Mae)

I can never agree more on what Dave Elkins said when fans expects bands to write the same songs over and over again and how he related it life and growing up. Personally, I am on a phase what a lot of people dread of doing: moving on.

I've recently was accepted in a new job. After a couple of months of looking for work, I finally landed one and I'm ecstatic to start this coming Monday. Although I have a higher salary in my previous company, I'm still happy that I managed to find a job that I was really hoping to do. Career wise, it's the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm going to live the dream that I had when I was still a newly graduate and after passing the board exams.

I know how a lot of people from my former company thinks it's risky to leave with the amount they are currently earning. But if they know better, that's not a good enough reason to keep them from looking for better opportunities. I can't blame them though. This has been the toughest economic times in recent memory and it's almost suicidal to even ponder anything that's related to job resignation. It's understandable how anyone will think more about the short-term than the long-term results of our actions.

Is it just the money? I don't think so. After working for years on the same environment with the same people and sometimes with the same situations, some people have developed a phobia in experiencing uncertainties or what they call a "comfort zone" syndrome. But like what Dave Elkin said, "Growing is the most important part of living". Change doesn't come with a guarantee of a better life but it does give you the invaluable experience of learning.

What kind of Nail are you?

Photo by Marcos André

Nails (the pin type fastener used in woodworking or construction) comes in different sizes and shapes. Depending on it's use and type of material that it will support or bind together. Personalities are a lot like nails. Some breaks before even putting a dent on the wood, some bend half-way through and there are those who penetrates the wood completely. In life, we get hammered by misfortunes and other sorts of problems but it's up to us to become that nail that will go through any obstacle that's put in front of us.

In sight of the insight

Recent events have lead me to this point in my life where it seems like I'm starting all over again. I'm not gonna lie... I'm scared of all the uncertainties that surrounds me. And in some days, I also feel depressed and lacking self-confidence if I'll be able to pull through this hole that I'm in.

I had a career, stable financial condition and worry free relationship with my girlfriend. Now, everything has turned 180degrees. I'm jobless, limited financial capability and a hot-cold love life. I'm in what is now more popularly known as "Recession".

But I've realized that I'm still blessed because not many people are given the chance to rebuild their lives and I'm in that very rare place where I have the opportunity to carve a path for myself. I don't think I have given my best yet and there's a lot more that needs to be done. Clearly, It's all up to me to do the hard work and focus on what I have right now and the positive things that's still going on.

I know it's not gonna be long that I will see myself looking back to this day and tell myself that I overcame another difficult phase in my life. Knowing that everything will come to full view how these series of events have re-shaped me to become a better person in every way. Equipped with a new set of tools that will help me succeed and more prepared to take on obstacles that life will throw at me in the future.

Like they say "Quitters never win. Winners never quit."

New Year, New Layout, New Post

Holla! I've changed my layout (again...) because I feel that my previous layout was cluttered and unorganized. I've changed to this much simpler layout but I haven't finished customizing my graphics etc. I have to find a way to incorporate my "famous" walkman theme. I'm quite busy the past few days with my new blog which I plan to promote and monetize to have additional income since this blog isn't cutting it for me LOL. Anyway, that's all for now... Will post something new later. Happy new year! :)

Imagine a World Without Filipinos

I came across this article written by an Arab about Filipino OFWs. I am moved by how he sees Filipinos and his appreciation of the contributions of our countrymen in the Middle East. Hopefully, more foreigners will learn to see Filipinos in this light.

Imagine a world without Filipinos
Abdullah Al-Maghlooth | Al-Watan, almaghlooth@alwatan.com.sa

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.” Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work. Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors. So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore. Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said. This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy. We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences. We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work.This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop. We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.

Patience is a Virtue

In life, we always face adversities here and there. Often, our patience is tested to its limits but these are the kind of moments that define who we are as a person. Being the result oriented person that I am, I want to see the fruits of my labor ASAP and when I don't I get impatient and sometimes disheartened. Fortunately enough, I'm too persistent just to give up. Maybe this is what patience is about. Patience is not necessarily just about waiting or being passive and not do anything but to keep going even if the way is tough and slow.

Photo notes: Unintentional underexposure made the image look like it was shot against the sun. Here is a classic example of a "happy accident" that is described in Lomo culture.
Camera: Olympus XA2
Film: Elitechrome 100 (Cross-processed)

Citizenservices: Making Life Easier for the Filipino

Need your Philippine passport ASAP? No free time and patience to line up at DFA in Manila? Then I'm about to tell you something that will make your life easier and that is Citizenservices. Basically, what they do is get your passport requirements and your payment, submit it to DFA and then you choose when you would like to schedule your personal appearance and after a few days, deliver your passport in front of your doorsteps. So how much does it costs? For passport renewal, I paid Php1300 but if I go through the whole process by myself it only costs around Php700. You might say that the Php500 difference is a lot but come to think of it how much would you spend for gas or public transportation if you do this by yourself? Maybe around 300 depending where you are coming from. But what makes this service attractive is you only have to go to DFA once! If that's not enough to convince you here's more: If it's time for your personal appearance, Citizenserv's representatives are on standby to assist you from the entrance of the DFA until you line-up inside the building. Lines?! What Lines?! Hey take it easy i'm not done yet: They have a special priority lane inside the DFA! Guaranteed that you'll be done in less than 15 to 30 minutes. No need to go there around 3:00AM just to make sure you'll make the cut.

I'm not going to get any money from them by posting this on my blog but I'm just glad to share this innovation that will make our life more convenient and hassle-free. I almost forgot to mention that they also have their 24/7 customer care hotline and their website can track the status of your application. When you see the anaconda line of people forming up from inside to outside of the compound you'll tell yourself that's Php1300 well spent.

You can go to their website at for further info:
http://www.citizenservices.com.ph
http://passport.com.ph/