Hard landing or soft landing?

We don’t know how long the elevated prices and supply squeeze will last. The oil prices at gas stations keep rising and jeepney drivers are throwing in their towels and are now looking for alternative sources of livelihood. They simply can’t make ends meet. Not with this daily price hikes and horrible traffic.

And yet this stupid government is still saying the PHP 20-per-kilo-rice is doable, at the expense of poor Filipino farmers

But Federation of Free Farmers Cooperatives national manager Raul Montemayor said the DAR’s plan would only make farmers end up losing more, especially if the farm-gate price — or the selling price between a trader and a farmer — is further reduced.

Montemayor said if a kilo of rice would be sold at P20, the farm-gate price would have to be about P10 a kilo.

As a rule of thumb, the retail price of rice is at least double the farm-gate price of palay (unhusked rice), which is currently P19 a kilo.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Meanwhile, the outgoing cabinet secretaries of Duterte admin say it simply cannot be done.

These idiots are not even coordinating their press releases 🙄

If these asshats have any iota of intelligence, then the first thing they should fix is the supply chain problems/inefficiencies/bottlenecks, which eat up 40-50% of the cost of goods, especially food, in this country. That alone has an immediate effect on the prices of food, which comprise bulk of the CPI.


I spent the day talking to this investment company that primarily provides mezzanine financing to SMEs. It slightly lifted me out of the doldrums but I’m still having a tough battle with the promotion of my people. Like what the heck?! Why is it even hard to have my good reporters promoted and have their pay raised? What the fuck is this company??? It was like defending my thesis all over again.

I was so angry this afternoon that I refused to work overtime.

I had put my ass on the line by saying that if they don’t give these people their due, they will leave the company—and one of them was already being pirated in front of me by a rival company (which was 100% true). If that happens, my work will be unbearable because I will be plugging the gap by myself and that would force me to look for opportunities elsewhere because I simply cannot overwork myself for little pay, I said.

Now I have to look for Plan B.

Being under this new parent company is much worse than being owned by a PE that squeezes the life out of a business. 🤬

Today just sucked the life out of me. I was feeling sorry for myself since last night until today and this HR issue added to the pain I’m having today.


Oppo Band. To motivate me to move. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m sooooo looking forward to my break next week. I will shake off the bad jujus and tune out. I will love myself and make myself believe that I am not as horrible and unlovable as my ex-partner thinks I am.

I hit bumps like this from time to time because I’m still working through my trauma. It’s part of the process.

Anyway, I took advantage of the sale last Saturday in Glorietta and bought this smart watch that I will test this coming Saturday in Pico de Loro when I dive/swim laps.

Meanwhile, the cats managed to bring a smile to my face last night despite feeling like shit.

Chonky cat. 😻

Lessons from the ground

If there’s one thing that Putin must learn from the Americans, it’s Vietnam. A superpower cannot win against a country that is defended by volunteer citizens who had everything to lose. That’s what the US miscalculated about the Vietnam War. Drunk with its success in WW2 and Korean War, it thought it could win any war it can dip its bloody hands on. It did not see that the Vietnamese, fighting with what was equivalent to sticks, could win a war. The Americans were fighting a war that is not theirs.

Ukraine’s resistance is built on the backs of volunteers

As Ukraine continues to wage a surprisingly successful resistance against Russia, Ukrainian civilians and volunteers are playing a crucial role in defending their county— one for which they have been preparing for the past eight years, since the last major Russian incursion in 2014.

Ukrainian volunteers, one holding an AK-47 rifle, protect a main road leading into Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 25, 2022.
Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

Putin’s war is not Russia’s war. Its citizens have boldly spoken, even to the point of risking death in a country where anything against the government spells “disappearance”.

Russian rapper Oxxxymiron cancels shows: “I know that most people in Russia are against this war”

I read one opinion that this is Putin’s miscalculation. His power/influence in Russia is waning, hence, this desperate act of a despot. Russians may start pushing back and oust him. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has shown grit and determination by being in the frontlines together with the resistance.

As Russians assail Kyiv, Zelensky says Ukraine has ‘derailed their plan’

US defense official says Moscow’s troops increasingly frustrated by ‘very determined resistance’; Ukrainian president urges Russians to pressure Putin to stop invasion

NATO can’t do anything right now because Ukraine is not yet part of NATO. But has NATO done anything of significance in any of the wars in Europe? I really can’t remember…as a student of international affairs/news, I really can’t. I may be wrong but please do remind me. In any case, trade embargoes by US and EU can’t do anything to Russia. It has gas, it has oil, it has rare earth minerals, it has a lot of the raw materials needed to manufacture semiconductors. It can easily turn to China and other rogue states for trade.

Then why on earth people from Asia like me watching the situation in Ukraine with bated breath? Because our version of Russia is China. If US and EU could not stop Putin from invading an independent democratic country like Ukraine, then nothing is going to stop China from invading Taiwan and other parts of Asia like the Philippines (it has been encroaching on our territory, mind you). Xi Jinping is just clapping in Beijing, watching with glee as things unravel from Eastern Europe.

God help us all.


Writing yesterday’s blog entry riled me up so much that I barely slept. I kept waking up every 30 mins and now I have a very nasty headache despite being asleep for most of today. Maybe every conversation with these friends should come with trigger warning signs.

The thing I should learn now is how to train myself from being triggered. My blogging and long-hand journal writing should have helped me with that. I should tell my shrink that it’s not making a dent now…I still exhibit PTSD. How long will I be like this?

In some cases, particularly where it is not treated, PTSD can last a very long time, perhaps the remainder of one’s life. Most people with longstanding PTSD find that the symptoms are not steady in their severity. For some people, PTSD symptoms gradually fade over time. Other people find that symptoms may increase when they encounter reminders of their traumatic events.

Brain & Behavior Reserach Foundation

My reactions to triggering events and my preference to stay indoors and not meet people is my “fight-or-flight” response to this trauma. My abhorrence towards dating and my retreat to my hometown is a manifestation of that. I’m just preserving myself from abusers/predators like J. Survival mode. While I didn’t fight back and didn’t act on getting even with him, I cannot say the same for my friends in the industry and allied industries. I cannot control them.

As a predator, he is the type who will chase anyone with a vagina and I’m not going to be surprised if he’s chasing after some random salesperson or he goes after every one he employed in his lab. The girl he cheated me with is in some kind of networking or multilevel marketing shindig that is equivalent to scamming people. She even calls herself CEO. Duh. I no longer care who he chases, but if his shenanigans reach my doorstep or my turf, he will suffer the consequences.

Fight or flight. One day I will fight back. But I choose my battles. Not today though. Not today.


OOOhh I’m still angry. I’m still riled up. I should light up my lavender candle and start sketching until I fall asleep.

Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I shouldn’t be angry. Anger means I have feelings for him, even if it’s negative. I should teach myself how to be apathetic. Apathy is the best revenge.

Ahh, this song is satisfying. Nice to sing while taking a shower.