After my interview this morning with the CFO of the listed company I was targeting, I drove to Ikea this afternoon while listening to the monthly bureau chief call. The beauty of remote working.

My sis-in-law followed me to Ikea from our town and we became enablers of each other. I spent more than I should as a result. 🤣

I’ll just order the girls’ closet online and have it delivered. I already sweated so much lifting these two Alex drawers, so there’s no way I can lift a flat packed cabinet by myself. 😢

What the current administration has done has been taken from the playbook of Ferdinand Marcos Sr. My friends from ABS-CBN are grieving for their fellow workers who would be retrenched due to the closure of DZMM TeleRadyo, one of the casualties of ABS-CBN’s deal with Martin Romualdez’s Prime Media.

We’re just back to where we were 50 years ago.

Marcos Jr now controls the public narrative, with no opposition media left. Of course TV5 will not toe the line because First Pacific owns many businesses that are heavily regulated by the government: Meralco, Maynilad, PLDT, Metro Pacific Tollways, Philex Mining, PXP Energy…When my friend wrote an analytical piece on the Philippine government’s debt with the Chinese, his story was taken down upon the orders of Manny Pangilinan, chairman of PLDT, which owns my friend’s media outfit. He resigned after that, super pissed with what happened. He told me the higher ups told him that the concession of Maynilad at that time was still hanging in the balance and that Duterte has held them by the neck…

So no, TV5 will not toe the line.

The Internet is controlled by the trolls. I was just talking to an older ex-journalist who was one of the primary characters leading to the fold-up of Manila Times under Lisa Gokongwei. He wrote a story that implicated former President Estrada to the shady dealings on the PSE…as a result, the government then held hostage all the Gokongwei businesses, so Lisa had to kowtow and eventually had to close shop and sell Manila Times to an ally of Estrada. So anyway, I was talking to this friend and we talked about what happened to ABS-CBN x Prime Media. He said he initially thought about going back…but then he felt tired just thinking about being harassed by trolls. “I’m already old,” he said.

I said, I don’t blame you. I had been trolled when I criticized one government agency under Duterte. But I will never stop writing about the truth. Trolls are trolls, I said. (Hence, my viral post about the Marcoses).

Until when can I keep doing this when there is no strong opposition?

I had already given up on you, Philippines. But I still maintain this very toxic relationship with you.

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My body clock seems to have been reprogrammed to wake me up at 6:30 am since moving here, while in QC I usually wake up at 8 am. Didn’t cook today since my mom hosts lunch and dinner on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

There were a lot of gamu-gamo (termites with wings) last night, circling around lamps/light bulbs. I told the girls these will die eventually and just keep the screens shut. These flying termites usually come out of the woodwork when there will be a huge storm coming, signalling the end of the hot and dry season (a.k.a. called summer–which is a misnomer because we do not have have summers here).

True enough, I read the news that Guam was being battered by a super typhoon that is headed this way.

And just my luck, my Tuesday meeting (supposedly yesterday) was moved to tomorrow because the CFO had urgent matters to attend to. So tomorrow hopefully the typhoon will not yet make itself felt or else I would be driving along a very wet and slippery SLEX and Skyway. My sis in law will hitch a ride with me and she will do her thing while I do my interview. Then both of us will go to Ikea to buy organizing stuff for my kitchen and a closet for the girls.

Meanwhile, I will be sharing the bed again with my furry babies.

This tweet sums up my feelings for today.

This is how Ferdinand Marcos Sr controlled mass media during his 20-year reign.

Remember, Martin Romualdez, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives and a nephew of Imelda Marcos, raised hell at the plenary regarding the proposed merger of ABS-CBN and TV5 Network. Then now he forced the hands of the Lopezes to have this tie-up.

The late Geny Lopez, chairman of ABS-CBN, was imprisoned by Marcos Sr during Martial Law.

I’m so emotionally tired.

Then the Sandiganbayan acquitted Janet Napoles of graft and corruption charges yesterday. My investigative team in 2013-2014 spent so many days and nights, endangering our lives in the process, pursuing this case. We pored over files upon files of evidence. I have a photo of the ledger of of Napoles that contains the names of several other senators not yet included in the plunder cases filed earlier against Revilla, Estrada, and Enrile. Among those senators is the name “Bonggets” and our whistleblowers said this is the current president.

At that time we were hopeful the three senators will be convicted by the graft court and then the Dept of Justice would proceed to tackling the cases involving “Dahon”, “Bigote”, and “Bonggets”. Our fear at that time was that the DOJ would not be able to process the next graft casses before “Bonggets” runs for presidency.

Now here we are.

I told our former photographer (also in the investigative team) that I will burn the other documents with me (that I dragged all the way from our old house, to my apartment, then here). There’s no hope that these motherf*ckers will be charged, much less imprisoned.

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It seems like my body clock has been programmed now to wake me up at 6:30 am. With that, I was able to cook fried rice for brunch (as my girls woke up really late).

I had been busy setting up my background for Teams/Zoom calls in between work chores/editing. I have to get rid of the mess in my room before I can un-blur my background for video calls.

My bestfriend told me that she met somebody on Bumble and he is from my industry although I don’t know him personally (because he’s from TV). It seems like they’re getting along well. I told her I know of two people who found their partners on Bumble, albeit these are homo relationships. I’m not sure about the success rate when it comes to hetero relationships, I said. Just the same, I told her to have fun.

I’m not going to try that app. There are a lot of liars out there and I happen to have the bad luck of running into them all the time. Maybe because I’m super gullible, always giving them the benefit of the doubt. As for the guy who watches my IG stories, he hasn’t made any move, therefore, he’s not interested. If he wants to, he will. I am just a message away.

So I keep my peace. I do get lonely at times but I’m ok. I need to be ok because loneliness is not a good reason to jump into a relationship. I will get burned.

First day back at work so I decided to make a light breakfast for me and Twin I. Her sister skipped it because she, her sister, and friends will meet at McDonald’s this morning. Gotta start my work week right.

Last night, we did a big shop at the large supermarket that I had been patronizing since high school or college. That ought to last us for two weeks because carrying groceries up to our house is such a drag. That’s why I’m having a dumb elevator/dumb waiter installed at my stairwell, which will just be a simple pulley system. As for the LPG tanks for cooking, my contractor sub-contracted a company that piped gas into my house from the laundry/utility area (still under construction), which is how they do it for commercial restaurants.

So far I am 80% done with the unpacking and organizing. The last bits are the paintings and my physical files that I have to shove into the top-most part of my tall closet and my steel drawer.

OK, gotta start working now.

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I am about to brief a top official in the next two to three days on how to be interviewed by a hostile media personality under payroll by an entity doing a demolition job. I consulted one of the country’s top crisis PR manager on how to do it and he coached me on how to coach this person I’m going to help. He had a brilliant strategy that I didn’t think of—mainly because I didn’t know the facts that he just told me. If you’re going to be a media strategist/crisis communication manager, it helps that you know each and every media worker within your realm, how they tick, and how to push their buttons. No wonder this crisis PR manager I consulted for free can command millions in acceptance fees. In exchange for his advice, I am giving him (or rather his wife) a favor, which is basically is just on a hobby of hers.

If I do this successfully (or this official I will be coaching comes out of the interview unscathed), I can do this communication strategy consultancy as an alternative career. I had been advising one of my sources on their comms strat—for free. Well, you scratch my back, I scratch yours—that’s how the way the world works in my field.

I just need to cast my net wider. Locally, I can pull strings because of my wide network. But regionally, I am barely scratching the surface. I need to be very visible and be everywhere.

We’re still messy and chaotic but at least I have one less of a problem: My cats have finally settled in and are finding nooks and crannies where they can hide and sleep.

Meanwhile, I have already set up my room according to the most workable layout for Zoom calls.

I prioritized this over fixing the living area because it will be less than 48 hours and I should be back on work mode. The things that are left undone are the paintings and framed needle craft and boxes of bits and pieces of stuff I should be getting rid of.

I had already hung a couple of art (paintings and my landscape/seascape photos) but I ran out of picture hooks so I had to stop. I have to wait for my contractor to assist me in hanging the big paintings because anchoring hooks/pegs on drywall is tricky (the wall between the girls’ room and the living area). I was able to buy butterfly anchors on Lazada but I do not trust myself yet with these things. I think it’s safer to locate the stud first instead of randomly drilling holes. And I don’t have a stud finder while my contractor has one, I think.

I wasn’t in the mood to cook tonight so Twin I and I went to a restaurant owned by a high school classmate. Twin A just came from my mom’s house so she was already fed and sleepy.

So when my kids read this when I’m gone, they will remember the chaos and the difficulty of living in the middle of a construction site. (Because they’re still installing tiles on my stairs and yes, my laundry area and water pressure pump and storage system are still being built).

“Mommy, when are we going to fix the garden?” one of the girls asked (can’t remember now who).

“Anak, I live on a day by day basis. Let me get through clearing our house of the mess we brought with us and getting rid of more stuff before I think about those gargantuan tasks,” I said.

It keeps me busy and my mind alert.

After two network outages this week, Converge finally got it right. My speeds are on par with my QC connection. I can finally work in peace, knowing that my video calls wouldn’t get disrupted by slow connection.

On the last day of my leave of absence, I’m still answering emails when I shouldn’t. Oh well…I’m still far from being finished putting things to order. At least now I have my work station set up. I didn’t change it much from the last time except for neater cable management and less extension cords because this small room has six wall outlets. SIX! The electrician told my contractor that he has never seen a room filled with power outlets. 🤣 It’s better to have more than less.

And finally, I have my airconditioner installed.

Twin I and I walked to pick up our laundry, bought a 10-meter ethernet cable, bought pastries, and had copies of the keys in our new house made all in one go. On foot. The beauty of being in this location is that you don’t have to bring a car to do errands (parking is a nightmare, anyway) . Everything is within reach.

I realized that my clean laundry was too much for us two so we rode the jeep. I taught Twin I what sign board to watch out for to get home.

I realized that I’m already running out of shelves. I have too much food or ingredients for cooking. Oh well, what can I do? I’m a cook. I cooked last night and it feels great that I don’t have to deal with pests. And my kitchen is clean.

It’s deep into the night and I realize that I’m the only one making noise here—playing music. It didn’t bother me before when I was visiting but now as a permanent resident, my city ways may have to change.

It doesn’t feel like home yet as we have yet to establish rituals and habits. We haven’t settled into a routine. It still feels like we’re renting on AirBnB and we’re just here for a short-term stay. I don’t know, I feel like I’m still floating, anchorless, aimless…