Accidents happen

We are deeply saddened by the recent tragic accident last week (February 21, 2017) in Tanay Rizal. A Panda Coach tourist bus carrying students from Bestlink College Novaliches lost control and hit an electric post, leaving 15 people (including the driver) dead.

Picture taken from the net (credits to the owner)

My family owns a small tourist bus company and we've been operating since 2005 (or probably earlier than that because we also operated commuter buses prior to tourist buses). I would like to reiterate that we are "small", because majority of the tourist bus companies in the Philippines are just as small as we are.

Up to this time, we are lucky because in the many years of our operation, we have not encountered any major (i.e. death-causing) accident yet. We are continuously praying that we don't experience what the owners of Panda Coach are going through right now.

Because of this accident, The Department of Education and The Commission on Higher Education have issued a moratorium on educational field trips. This, of course, will affect the whole tourism industry, including us. Ganyan naman palagi kapag may naaaksidenteng tourist bus / students sa field trips, damay-damay lahat.

We've been updating ourselves with the news on this accident and sadly, most people are blaming the school and/or Panda Coach for this tragedy. We cannot blame them. When something bad happens, it has to be somebody's fault. But as a bus operator myself (albeit inactive as of this moment), I just wish to give a bit of my perspective on this matter.

Accidents happen. That's a fact. People would argue that the company should be properly maintaining their fleet to avoid road mishaps and I agree. No bus operator would want to receive a call in the middle of the day (or night) learning that their unit got involved in an accident. We are fervently hoping for a smooth trip every time a bus leaves our garage. But experience tells us that it is nearly impossible to guarantee a 100% hassle-free trip to our customers. Again, a lot of things can happen on the road. And no mechanic, now matter how experienced he is, could assure us that no mechanical problem would arise during the trip. Especially since the buses are not really "brand new" to start with.

And this leads to another argument against the bus company -- why are your buses not brand new?

A brand new tourist bus would cost at least six million pesos. There is no way that we could ever recover that amount with the rate that we are being paid with for our services. For a field trip within Metro Manila, we only get paid around Php9,000 to Php10,000 gross. Try to do the Math, factor in the trip expenses - fuel, driver's salary and food allowance, toll fees (since we are from Bulacan), washing. We are lucky if we are left with Php3,000. Oops, that is not net income yet. What about the wear and tear of the vehicle, salary/benefits of employees, spare parts, business taxes, franchise fees, and other operations costs? Tapos mga lagay pa sa LTO, LTFRB, DOT, MMDA, pulis, etc.

Contrary to what many thinks, the bulk of the field trip fees that the schools collected from their students go to the "middle men" -- yung laway lang ang puhunan. Many schools get charterers (i.e. tour operators) to organize their trip. It is them who earn a lot from from the trips. Saka pala yung mga school officials na may commission per pax. We are at the bottom of every transaction. Whatever that's left from the sharing, yun na lang ang binabayad sa amin.

Why can't we charge higher rates? Competition. Colorum buses killed us. They lowered their rates, too low that we who operate legally are having a hard time to keep up. Kaya nga madalas wala kaming biyahe, nasusulot kasi may mas mura raw. Unlike commuter buses, our buses don't run every day. We have to rely on charterers to survive (majority of our trips come from them). Hence, sila ang nagtatakda ng presyo. This is the reason why small tourist bus companies remain small.

Tourist bus companies also get blamed for getting "inefficient" drivers. Yes, the Management is certainly responsible for its employees. But like any business owners or HR practitioners would know, many employees will surprise you later on. You hired them because you've had the impression that they were ok, pero hindi pala sa kalaunan. Or in some cases, your employees are generally good pero nagkakaproblema din syempre paminsan-minsan which affects their performance.

No bus operator would intentionally hire a "bad" (kaskasero, barumbado, adik) driver. That will be business suicide. But because the drivers work "on their own," we cannot observe them all the time. And we can't just fire an erring driver, mind you. There's DOLE that we have to answer to.

I have to be clear, I am not saying that the bus operators are faultless. The school,  the tour operator, the bus owner, and the driver involved have their share of responsibility (and liability) to that accident in Tanay. Even several government agencies can take some blame. To condemn just one party is certainly not fair.

Thousands of field trips are being conducted every year and a single accident does not represent the whole. Accidents happen, whether we like it or not.

No girl, thank you.

I posted these pictures in Facebook a few days ago. Nakatuwaan lang namin ng pinsan ko na gawing girl si Nathan (using apps lang naman).

I was surprised with the comments that I got. Most of them "suggested / advised" that I "make" a girl na since gusto ko ng anak na babae.

I know that those people meant well. Common comment / reaction lang naman yun. But still, I was a bit pissed. Everytime I hear people telling me na mag-anak na uli, naiinis ako. Lalo na pag sinasabing gumawa ng babae. Haler, napipili ba ang gender ng anak?

I would have to admit na kung madali lang sana, mas ok nga din siguro na may kapatid si Nathan. Pero hindi na nga kasi feasible yan sa family situation namin.

I am really tired of explaining to all why I have no plans of conceiving again:

• Iam already 37 1/2 years old right now. Ayaw ko ng magbuntis kasi high risk na talaga.
• I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Nathan. Alam kong mas malala kapag nagbuntis uli ako.
• It's only me and Ford in Canada. We have no one to help us with Nathan kapag nanganak na ako. Kahit nga habang buntis pa lang (I couldn't imagine taking care of a toddler lalo na sa first at last trimester ng pregnancy).
• Nathan was born via C-Section. Ayaw ko ng magpa-hiwa uli. Sobrang tagal ng recovery.
• I am done with taking care of a baby. Ayaw ko na uli ng sleepless nights, etc. 
• I want to upgrade my credentials to be able to find a good job in Canada. The sooner, the better. I am not exactly young. I want to work asap.
• I am already exhausted in raising one child. I am not physically strong. An additional child will put so much toil on my body.

Some friends jokingly call me "selfish." Ayaw ko raw bigyan ng kapatid si Nathan (by the way, Ford wants one more child). Pero I need to preserve my sanity for Nathan din eh. Aanhin niya ang kapatid kung "baliw" naman ang nanay niya?

And for the record, I NEVER WANTED TO HAVE A BABY GIRL. #sorrynotsosorry

When I first learned that I was pregnant, I secretly hoped for a boy (although for sure magbabago din naman ang stand ko kung naging babae ang anak ko). "Boys are easy," sabi nga ng mga Canadians na nakakuwentuhan ko. Low maintenance. Saka Mama's boys.

I don't know how to care of  baby girls. Hindi ako marunong mag-ipit o magtali ng buhok. Ayaw ko din mag-effort masyado kasi girl nga (aka fragile). Saka seriously, ayaw ko ng competition sa pamilya haha. Akin lang ang Louis Vuitton! Gusto ko ako lang ang girl, ako ang center. Siguro kasi nasanay ako na only daughter din. Oo na, selfish nga talaga ako.

In my more than 2 years of being a mother to a boy, napatunayan ko na less effort nga ang kailangan in taking care of them. Hindi kailangang masyadong makinis, hindi masyadong pabebe ang approach. Tamang harutan lang, lol. Plus happy na talaga ako na may magdadala na ng apelido ng asawa ko (so cliche!). Tama na yun.

So there, no more baby girl Blanco. I hope I made myself clear. Nathan is destined to be an only  child. Period. And he won't be kawawa. Ang daming only child sa mundo noh.

No baby shower for Chicklet

Two people had mentioned "baby shower" to me in three days.

First was my aunt who lives in Vancouver. She's very excited for my baby and regrets that they are too far away (about 13-hour drive) to give me a baby shower. It's her thing eh, she loves cooking and decorating, and throwing parties.

And just yesterday, a "new" friend who came over our house to look at it (they want to buy a townhouse din here in our area) saw some of the baby stuff we bought and commented: "Ay sayang, sana hindi muna kayo bumili. Baka may magregalo niyan sa baby shower." She's just given birth 7 months ago and she's had a nice baby shower. I simply answered her: "Haha, sino naman ang magpapa-shower sakin dito?"

Actually, the thought that I won't be having a baby shower here in Canada started a couple of weeks ago when we went to Dollar Tree. They are selling so many cute baby shower stuff and I realized that nobody here in Edmonton would throw a shower for my Chicklet.

I felt a sad, honestly. Aside from a couple of new friends that we've recently met, it's just me and my husband who are living here. I don't work so I have no co-workers who'll party with me. Again, there were times I wished that I am in the Philippines during my pregnancy. There, I have friends and relatives who'll make me feel special and loved. I am sure I'll have a fabulous baby party there if I want to.

But I choose not to dwell on the negative. A party is just for a few hours, I keep on reminding myself. I have to focus on the good side of giving birth here - that is, I'll have a Canadian baby who will reap all the perks of first world living. That's more important than a party, right?

I also reminded myself that a baby shower is a western thing. In the Philippines, hindi naman talaga uso yan simply because we have baptismal parties where the baby receives so much gifts. Redundant na kapag nagpa-baby shower ka pa. Chicklet will be baptized in Pinas so iyon na lang ang party na paplanuhin at ilu-look forward ko.

They say we can't have everything and that is true. I am glad though that even without a baby shower party, our baby will have everything he needs when he finally shows up. Thanks to my hardworking husband!

Some rainy day sentiments

It's a cold and rainy Thursday. I am loving the weather. Parang nakikisama ang panahon, nakikisabay sa maulang lagay ng Pilipinas sa ngayon.

But unlike in the Philippines, there will be no dreadful typhoons here. No destructive winds. No deep floods. Just mere rain showers.

According to my husband, there is hardly any natural calamity here in Edmonton. An earthquake is in fact very unlikely to happen. Whoaah, so ganito pala sa ibang panig ng mundo. While we Filipinos are getting so used to regular calamities and natural disasters (Philippines daw is the 3rd most disaster-prone countries in the world, next to Tonga and Vanuatu), other countries and people are enjoying hassle-free lives. Ni hindi uso ang brownout dito.

Life is really not fair noh?

I am grateful that at 34, I was given the chance to move into a developed country where life is much better and easier. But I am not selfish.  Inasmuch as I am having a good time here, I couldn't help but feel the hardships that my fellow Filipinos are experiencing in our home country right now. I get heart-broken whenever I watch the news, seeing homeless families and hungry children is just too much painful to bear. If only there's something I can do.

Let's just all pray for our beloved Philippines.

--------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Due to strong winds of Typhoon Glenda last July 16 (Philippine time), the huge gate of our garage hit the windshield of one of our buses. My brother also incurred a minor knee injury because he was trying to control the said gate. But other than that, we are thankful that all our family, relatives and friends (and our other properties) are safe.