It's hard to believe I have not posted anything in six months. I transferred to a new role as manager of a team in a critical situation so it is only now, after turning around the team, that I find some time to reflect on my readings. The "critsit" has taken it's toll on my reading: I only finished six books in the past six months whereas I completed twenty for the same amount of time last year.
Anyway, I am writing about Lonely Planet Philippines, a book I have always wanted to buy because I really wanted to explore the country. I was completely pleased with it: I read it from cover to cover. I now use it as a checklist for traveling. I'm raring to buy a car so I can take my family on road trips to nearby provinces, but we still have other priorities.
I did use the book to explore Manila and see the city with fresh eyes. My wife was not to keen on seeing places she already saw during her grade school field trip so I went to Fort Santiago alone. It was the first time I entered the fort. I saw facsimiles of Rizal's books and sculptures in the Rizal Shrine. I meditated on his sacrifice as I peered into the replica of his cell. I went up the ramparts of the fort and looked across the Pasig River. I sat there proud to be free, but sad that, a century since the Revolution, many remain as poor as they were when the Spaniards ruled.
I admire Rizal as the greatest Filipino. I see his sacrifice as a call to leadership. Our people deserve no less.
