Another One Bites the Dust

I was pregnant. And then I wasn’t. As per my last, the heartbeat stopped last week. It was a healthy 115 beats last May 18, and now, it hasn’t grown. The embryo is 7 weeks old. The baby should have been this week today: We are sad of course. Why is it that other women […]

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Life Stories: Candy

Candy is 21 years old with a 4-month old son. Her boyfriend left her after he found out that Candy was pregnant. She was finishing up her studies at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines when she conceived, and stopped her studies because of her growing belly and worrying financial future after she found out […]

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Hiring in the Philippines

Girl A I hired two weeks before texted me the day before she was supposed to start to say she will no longer accept the offer she accepted two days before. Girl B I hired last week came only for a day, and then didn’t report to work anymore. No text, no call, no nothing. […]

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10 Factors I Look Into When Weeding Out Job Applicants in the Philippines

One of our office staff resigned two weeks ago. She’s 22 years old and have been with us for almost two years. Reason for resigning: She wants to try out her luck working overseas in Abu Dhabi as a cashier, despite the fact that she’s earning a decent wage with us in the Philippines. If […]

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Three Bad Lucks

This week, we experienced three unfortunate events: At the beginning of the week, two of our staff went AWOL (Absence without Leave). Both were earning a good sum of money. However, one demanded she be transferred to a store of her choice. The other went drinking and cavorting with her friends and didn’t report to […]

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When Debt is a Ticking Timebomb

My father-in-law warned me from being jealous of the very rich men in the country. He said, “Don’t ever think they are rich just because they say they are rich. You never know, they are even poorer than we are.” What he meant was this, while many businessmen may be paper rich, they may be […]

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“Hindi Pwedeng Hindi” (Never say Never)

When I worked at a prestigious investment bank, I asked my assistant to DHL a very important time-critical document to one of our largest clients. It was her visa, which will allow her to fly to Taiwan that Sunday for a very important two-day conference that following week. My assistant couriered the document to our […]

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Wives: We are the Problem!

I am a part of a popular mommy group. Many of them complain about their husbands. A few complain of their husband’s addiction to video games. “I am exhausted and take care of the baby 24/7, while his nose is stuck in his PS4!” they’d cry. A few tearfully ask about what they’ll do when […]

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