58 dengue cases treated at Pangasinan Provincial Hospital

Fifty eight dengue cases have been admitted at the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City from January to August this year. Two of the patients died.

In July, Dr. Jackson Soriano, provincial health officer, reported a total of 236 suspeted dengue cases in Pangasinan. The figure was higher than last year’s 188 cases for the same period.

Aksyon Radyo Reporter Minnie Alcaide Caburnay filed this report.

My Eraserheads Reunion Concert Story

Yes, this one-night-only reunion concert of one of the most popular Filipino bands of all time did happen, and I was one of the over 40,000 people who were able to witness it.

Against All Odds

To be perfectly frank, there was no intention for me to watch the concert at first, especially since it was free of charge (read: increased dreadful possibility of mosh pits, sharp elbows, and thick faces tenfold). I admit that I didn’t care one way or another about Marlboro/Philip Morris’ involvement in the said event; I thought people tended to overreact a lot about these things (there’s reacting, and there’s overreacting). Every issue raised, I took in with indifference. Bottomline was that — and people may/will bash me for this — the hell I care! The Eraserheads would be performing as one again after 6 long years! @#$%^&*!!!

I was partially grateful for growing up with my cousin who’s about 6 my senior. She was big on Eraserheads when I was in my early grade school years, and “With a Smile” became one of the songs we always looked forward to listening to on the radio. I guess it just stuck, and Eraserheads became one of those bands I liked more than most other bands out there. Then I thought, while I would have liked to go to the concert, maybe I stopped being fan enough to brave the crowd. I decided to let that thought go.

It was announced a few days before “the day” that the concert was canceled, and then the next day that it was pushing through, only this time it wouldn’t be open to the general public. The only moment I said something about the concert was when I heard of the ridiculously high ticket prices. Drinking buddies and I were set to meet up on “the day” just to hang out and get drunk (the latter which didn’t happen…but close enough in the wild-o-meter reading). Just because we couldn’t hope to afford even the general admission ticket. On August 28, vocalist Ely Buendia’s mom died. I thought everything happening was so ridiculous. The concert must be an “against all odds” type of event if I ever saw one, and I was mildly sure that the concert wouldn’t push through.

But, as the saying goes, the show must go on.

Eraserheads Reunion Concert — For Free!!!

The day before “the day,” several text messages were received from my gracious friends and acquaintances that went something like, “Eheads for free!” and “Juned got us free pass for the Eheads concert!” And I went like, ” . .” The only catch was that we had to wear a Red Horse Beer shirt, which I didn’t mind one bit because:

  • it was for free, and any addition to my meager wardrobe collection is welcome
  • it was my free pass to the Eraserheads Reunion Concert…what more could I ask for?
  • all my booze buddies know I’m actually a pretty big fan of Red Horse Beer anyway, and I saw no harm in advertising my most favorite beer

We decided to meet up in Makati at “4PM sharp,” which actually meant an hour or two after the indicated time.

I swear, I’m not trying to make someone feel anything. D

Reunited, and It Felt So Good!

August 30, and I was all revved up for the best month-ender ever. I hadn’t been to a concert in a very very long time. In fact, the closest one I’d seen for the past 5 years was Novaliches High School’s Battle of the Bands two years ago, when I was introduced as one of the judges.

I was ready to scream. I was giddy, dizzy with excitement. Heck, I never even told anyone, except for those people who already knew, that I was going to the concert. In my mind, there were long strings of expletives that explained how I was expecting the whole thing to be an orgasmic experience.

And when I got there and saw the people…man, that was awesome. I felt like bragging. I was gonna watch Ely Buendia, Raimund Marasigan, Marcus Adoro, and Buddy Zabala — together again! I was drunk with frenzied anticipation, bubbling over with delight that I’d get to see Eraserheads play again.

It felt like having sex, only better.

And then….

Ten minutes till show time. The crowd went wild. They couldn’t wait. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…and another 9 minutes to go. People were screaming every minute, and the countdown continued eight more times until the last one. My heart throbbed like crazy, I couldn’t think straight, and, needing to work off some excess energy, I screamed along with the fans around me. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1….

The stage turned dark.

I felt my throat clog up. I was ready to cry. But I shouted like my life depended on it. Overwhelming feeling. A smile. A grin. Then a choked laugh. It was really happening, I screamed inside. There was an AVP, but it was all blurred in my memory. What I remembered was that with the first strums of the guitar, they appeared. With the first beats of the drum, they started. With the first few words, they rocked.

May isang umaga na tayo’y magsasama

And just like that, the crowd went crazy.

The. Eraserheads. Was. Together. Again.

Fuck.

I knew instinctively that “Alapaap” was going to be the opening song, but who cared? No one, really. We were there to jam. We were there to support. We were there to have fun. We were there for E-fucking-heads! But then I figured I was contented to just hear Ely’s voice while the fans sang along with him. It didn’t matter if they didn’t know the lyrics. I was sure some of them were overcome with emotion that they just couldn’t find the right words.

“Woooohhh!!! College days!!!” someone beside me belted out. I looked at him. Eric. We gaped at him because, wow, he was that old? Several funny and some annoying moments ensued, but they didn’t take away the fun from just being there, watching the reunion concert of the Eraserheads.

Sidenote: Ria lies! I didn’t say “kupal” (What the hell does that mean anyway? Pubic hair?) to describe the girls who wormed their way in front of us. I’ve never used that word before now. Seriously. I merely made parinig about how great and thick-faced they were being that time. There’s always room for sarcasm and a little cat fight. I hate being wronged, especially when we’re all in equal footing to start with. I did bash those people smoking in front of us though. What a bunch of fucktards.

With every song, I relived my younger days. With every tune, the music touched the hearts of the fans. We all had my fix of nostalgia, and it was worth damn everything. “Eraserheads, Eraserheads,” my mind kept repeating like it was kind of a mantra or something. It was enough for me that I had been there, along with thousands of people, to see Eraserheads.

I was complete.

But a sudden twist ended the night abruptly. Ely Buendia had to be rushed to the hospital. The crowd understood, and they took it gracefully. They may not had gotten the whole thing, but the whole exhilarating experience made up for it.

It was more than enough. Yes, it was.

Thank you, Red Horse Beer, for making it possible. Thank you, fellow bloggers, for the most excellent company a woman could ever ask for.

Thank you, Eraserheads, for giving me the most wonderful August of my life.

Provincial Board opposes Pangasinan redistricting

Last June, Pangasinan Rep. Victor Agbayani (second district) filed House Bill 4267 or “An  Act Reapportioning the Province of Pangasinan into Seven Legislative Districts.” Representatives Arthur Celeste (first district) and Ma. Rachel Arenas (third district) were co-authors.

Celeste, however, told Aksyon Radyo Pangasinan in an interview that he has withdrawn his signature as co-author because his constituents were against it. Arenas, for her part, said that she was already happy with the composition of the district that she now has, adding that the Agbayani bill is “far-fetched.”

On Monday, the provincial board in Lingayen unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Agbayani bill, saying that political leaders in the province and their constituents were not consulted about it.

Aksyon Radyo commentator Orly Navarro interviewed sixth district Board Member Alfonso Bince.

(Please click the Windows Media Player below to listen to the interview.)

<object id=”MediaPlayer” classid=”CLSID:22D6f312-B0F6-11D0-94AB-0080C74C7E95″ standby=”Loading Windows Media Player components…” codebase=”http://activex.microsoft.com/activex/controls/mplayer/en/nsmp2inf.cab#Version=6,4,7,1112” height=”25″ type=”application/x-oleobject”><param value=”http://off-the-air.prepys.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/bm-bince-interview.mp3” name=”filename”/><embed src=” http://off-the-air.prepys.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/bm-bince-interview.mp3” name=”MediaPlayer” type=”application/x-mplayer2″>