Power was going off and on yesterday so I had to turn on my pc several times. Work got disrupted. Today is much worse as the NDRRMC issued a red alert for Metro Manila and CaLaBarZon area. Some friends on social media had been posting that flood waters have entered their homes, the first time in years. Reminiscent of “Ondoy” in 2009—the time we had to evacuate Pasig-Cainta and camp out in my sister’s condo in Mandaluyong.

All my interview requests have not come back to me yet. Why do they even bother sending me press releases if they don’t want to have more in-depth coverage?!

For the nth time, I’m so thankful that I’m no longer in Metro Manila.

Yes, this is like Ondoy that engulfed Metro Manila in 2009.

Well of course you can do without them but it’s convenient to have them. I bought this 30m rope that I can use to tie the diving buoy to a boat or weights to anchor it. It has been helpful when my mom was snorkeling two days ago. It was a chaotic affair, with so many boats and all, but we easily found our boat because of this rope. The weights (2 kg each) helped secure the rope.

Once the horrible southwestern monsoon rains have subsided, I will start booking a weekend stay in Anilao to practice freediving. I always end up taking care of others that I couldn’t do my own thing.

It will take two months of waiting though. The habagat season will start in a few days and until Sept then the violent typhoons will start saying hello in Oct-Dec. I have to time it well.

My mom and sister braved the strong waves this morning but the sea grew more violent so they had to content themselves with dipping in the swimming pool. Good thing they have decent pools here.

We are now sandwiched between two typhoons and a low pressure area, which have been sucking the southwest monsoon upwards, hence the violent waves we’ve been having.

The weather is worse in Southern Luzon and Metro Manila today. I hope our flight won’t be cancelled.

I have another call with my boss in a few minutes then I will be whisked away to the airport and fly back to Manila. I guess its bedlam out there due to the typhoon. 😩 Long drive ahead of me.

The spark is gone. I no longer want to come back here. I don’t know where to go; everywhere the coral reefs are dying. I don’t know if Apo Reef, the second largest contiguous reef barrier in the world next to Great Barrier in Australia, has escaped this disaster. It takes a decade to 12 years before a reef can recover without disturbance (like a strong typhoon) or re-bleaching. With rising ocean water temperatures, it’s hard to say if they would be able to recover at all.

So I brought seven of my people to various places in Bohol to erase old memories and create new ones. We did the reverse trip by starting with the ATV driving in between the Chocolate Hills.

I initially drove the motorbike ATV but I changed places with my sister at the 1st pit stop so she can enjoy driving alone while I drive with my mom.

The new thing here is the 2nd pit stop where you can climb one of the hills and take in the view from the top.

I didn’t climb because my thighs are killing me after battling with the waves yesterday to keep my mom from drifting into the big blue open sea. I said I’ll just try climbing the old Chocolate Hills lookout.

But… No. Look at this monstrosity below.

I brought my kids to Chocolate Hills so that they can see for themselves this geological phenomenon.

We visited the Bohol Tarsier Conservation Center so my kids and nephews can see in person the world’s smallest primate. They’re 3-6 inches tall and are very sensitive to everything.

We then proceeded to Loboc for the river cruise because we’re famished.

The last time I/we did the river cruise was in 2019 and it was called Loay River Cruise (different operator). The landing for the Loboc River Cruise is just across the Loboc church and is very much new and improved compared to the 2003 version.

My sister and I said this kind of tour is for the balikbayan and foreigners. But for us locals, we just want to have lunch while going around some parts of the island.

We stopped by the butterfly whatever, which was just a sorry kind of zoo. We should have skipped this one.

We stopped by Baclayon church for my mom’s benefit. It is a Sunday after all.

I don’t remember going inside a museum in 2019 so it felt like this museum is new to me.

Then I showed to my family the site of the Blood Compact between Bool’s (old name of Bohol) Rajah Sikatuna and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, the conquistador. The monument has been moved from the main highway to a few meters down at the back and they made a park so it can accommodate more cars instead of having them clogging the highway.

It was a full day and my kids and nephews enjoyed it.

To cap the day, I went soundtripping by the beach for an hour until evening fell.

Just like the other major diving spots in this country, Balicasag island didn’t escape the massive coral bleaching of the past 4 years. The entire coral ridge is dead. Dead. Deader than dead. No more fish. It’s grey. It’s a graveyard.

I want to cry. Climate change is killing everything.

We skipped the dolphin watching thing because it was such a waste of time, plus it was already late. The sun was already beating down on us when we left the resort.

It was a very rushed affair compared to our trip in 2003 and in 2019. This time, there’s a queue for boatmen and it’s strictly 1 hr: 30 mins for sea turtle swimming and coral snorkeling/diving. Can’t extend because there is still a long queue of tourists waiting for their turn to be ferried by our boatmen.

Compared to 5 years ago, swimming with the turtles now is super chaotic because you bump into so many boats. Same with the coral snorkeling.

Over-tourism is ugly.

Climate change is uglier.

I no longer know how to express this grief. It hurts so much. A scuba diving friend reacted to my Instagram post about the coral bleaching. She said the same thing is happening to Danjugan Island marine sanctuary in Negros Occidental, the coral bleaching has become a problem and the pawikan are getting sick and dying.

I wasn’t able to practice diving deeper because I was assisting my 74-year-old mom. I was tugging my diving buoy that she was holding on to while she snorkled. The waves were strong since it was high tide, so she was constantly being swept away to the open sea. I had to fight back and keep her in place.

I guess I need to go back to Anilao to do my thing before we go to Coron, Palawan…

But then, I don’t think things are better there. Even the Great Barrier Reef in Australia is dead. My sister did scuba diving there and she said the house reef in Eaglepoint Resort in Anilao was much better than that. That’s how bad the coral bleaching there is.

My heart is breaking.

As Joey Ayala sang:

Karaniwang tao, saan ka tatakbo

Kapag nawasak iisang mundo?

I’ve almost forgotten how chaotic domestic flights are, especially with Cebu Pacific. I haven’t taken CEB in five years purposely but this time I didn’t have a choice since I’m not alone and I needed to book for 8 people.

I’ve also forgotten how small the seats are and that these do not recline.

Good thing I had enough sleep (3 hrs) so I’m not as grumpy as normal, which is my default mood during early morning flights.

Low pressure areas/typhoons do follow me anywhere these days. Tomorrow’s dive in Balicasag is still pending; let’s see how the winds are tomorrow. Otherwise I will just bring my brood to tour Bohol.

I lugged our fins around and bought a special bag for my long fins just for this trip. Ah, the commitment to a hobby…

My manager is dampening my mood today. She’s giving me anxiety again. She’s making me feel like everything is my fault. 😣

I think I did ok with yesterday’s one-hour interview. There were four of them and all questions were situational, things that a non-news editor-journo cannot answer well. It was a test of judgment call, whether it was correct or not, depending on the needs and situation. It was also a test whether I would be fit for the role.

I realized during the conversation with them that I wouldn’t have a life. I would be tied to the desk for at least 8 hrs, almost no meal breaks because the job is time-sensitive news. Every second counts. The shift would start at 6 am. 🤦🏻‍♀️The thing is I am definitely not a morning person. It will really be a struggle for me.

Anyway, the next is the three-hour editing test. I need to block time for that because it’s going to be an intense editing session, methinks. If I bungle this, it’s ok. At least I tried. I hate editing under so much pressure so I will just let go and let this be a learning experience.

Again, I would be giving up so much freedom in exchange for the chance to get away from my manager. So it won’t be that bad if I don’t get this; I still have a job albeit I would have to contend with my manager. The only ways I can stay out of her reach is by 1) asking for a demotion; 2) complain to her manager so that I would be moved to another manager, which would create so much crisis in the newsdesks of APAC; and 3) find another job and resign. I took the easiest route (3) but it’s the riskiest of them all.

Doing errands before we leave for the airport at 2 am because our flight to Panglao is at 5:20 am. Considering that this is Terminal 3, all fuck-ups can happen like long snaking lines.