go away shopping monster

there we were, all set for corregidor when sun cruises called us to say that our trip had been cancelled. since we were all on our way to the meeting place anyway, we had to figure out what to do with our long weekend.

trust the shopping monster in me to rear its ugly head because within five minutes seconds, i thought of spending the day at 168.

glorious, glorious 168. it never disappoints.

[my prize for coming up with a replacement activity: hello kitty stamps

i've always wanted but could never justify buying]

[cheap accessories that fulfilled our respective wishes]

[new watches!]

we got there at around 11 and it wasn't until they were ready to close (at 7pm) before we finally struggled out with our packages. when we got to the condo, we compared with each other how much each of us had spent on getting our goodies and i couldn't believe that in spite of the money i had spent, everything fit in two tiny bags :(

then again, i did indulge on accessories (which don't take up much space) and pretty tape (yes, i am addicted to supplies). several times that long weekend, i recomputed how much i had spent and i still arrived at the same amount. boo, rosa, boo.

still - and this is my favorite excuse ever - if a little bit of money can still buy you happiness (albeit the temporary kind), then i'm all for it. saving money is highly overrated!

p.s. again - please don't be alarmed :) we all actually spent way below our corregidor trip budget so we ended up spending less than what we would've spent had our trip pushed through. and since the trip was planned, we had all saved up for it. so there.

when you turn OC, the world finds all the more reason to screw things up

so there it was -- another long weekend for the taking. and being the schedule conscious person that i am, i had everything figured out even before friday came knocking:

• friday 5:00 - 6:00 - attend exercise thing in the office
• friday 6:00 - 7:30 - travel to alabang
• friday 7:30 - 9:00 - tuloy practice
• saturday 8:00 am - 1:00 p.m. - laundry
• saturday 2:00 - 4:00 - tuloy practice
• saturday 4:00 - 8:00 - fix crappy hair cut, go to salon for root touch-up
• saturday 8:00 onwards - get laundry, pack, clean-up house
• sunday am - travel to cabanatuan
• monday - cemetery
• tuesday - back to manila

it was perfect, it was beautiful. i was going to get loads and loads done.

but then real life intervened.

so on friday night, i barely made it to alabang cause the traffic was crazy horrible. i arrived a little before 9, only to be informed that the CD we use to practice was missing and so they had to cancel practice. so we half-heartedly held a meeting, but everyone (including myself) just wanted to get things done and over with. a long weekend was looming, and i bet we could all think of better places to be in than a warm room in alabang.

on saturday, i tried -- and failed -- to wake up early. and when i finally stumbled out of bed and made it to my laundry area, my washing machine - a 2 1/2 year old american home single tub (i had a separate spin dryer) - spinned its last and just stopped working. it was making the requisite sounds but it wasn't spinning at all. nothing, unless i prompt it with my hands, but that would just be asking for major electrocution, IMHO.

so right there and then, visions of having the bathroom re-tiled, a water heater being installed, and fixtures being replaced flew out the window. whatever extra money i had was going to go towards buying a washing machine. and since i had long promised myself to get an automatic washing machine once we get water in bf, i couldn't exactly buy something that costs less than 5k.

since hair still had to be dealt with, i decided, okay, i'll go to the salon to have it fixed, atten tuloy practice, and then buy my washing machine. which i did, except that at the same time i was making these plans, anto texted.

there's going to be a sabado girls thing. and, after having been absent for a while, i wasn't going to pass that up. since they simply said "central", i figured, three hours of drinking in a dark, crowded place filled to the brim with teenagers isn't goint to be so bad.

well, it wouldn't be, if things went according to plan. except that central turned into dinner at sinangag express, then a trip to ruins to look for dirty dancing, then overnight at pazi's condo which we spent watching korean MTVs, dirty dancing, and letters to juliet. by the time sunday rolled in, i had about two hourse of sleep on a cramped chair, and six loads of laundry waiting to be done at home.

thank goodness for the wonder that is automatic washing machine, but not for the limitation known as low water pressure -- by the time i was done with six loads, it was 2 in the afternoon.

needless to say, it was almost 8 by the time i got to nueva ecija.

but then there was barbecue, and puno's ice cream, and a chilly november 1 spent in the cemetery. so i didn't really care that my schedule was horrible screwed up. we got to practice in tuloy, everything still got done, and i now have crazy short (at least in my case) hair.

a primer on long weekends

thanks to republic act no. 9492, sometimes referred to as "holiday economics", filipinos began enjoying three-day weekends several times a year. save for religious holidays (i.e. christmas) and labor day (may 1, which happens to be international workers' day), all holidays are moved to the nearest monday, thereby making weekends at least one day longer for the lowly laborer.

even better, republic act no. 9492 specifically provides that "the president shall issue a proclamation, at least six months prior to the holiday concerned, the specific date that shall be declared as a nonworking day. translation: as early as six months before the following year, filipinos are made aware of the upcoming holidays AND can begin making holiday plans already (oh, hello, piso fare and seat sales!)

happiness, right?

and then this happened.

my initial reaction? why, noynoy, why? my subsequent reaction: does noynoy have the right to amend the law?

first things first: under the constitution, the three branches of government enjoy separation of powers. this means that the legislative (senate and congress) make laws, the executive enforces laws, and the judiciary interprets laws. and, by virtue of the separation of powers, none of these branches of government can encroach on the power of the other.

therefore, to my mind, since holiday economics is based on a law (ra 9492), then the president, by virtue of a mere proclamation, does not have the authority to effectively amend ra 9492 by declaring that ninoy aquino day (august 21) shall no longer be a movable holiday and shall be celebrated, instead of august 23, 2010, on august 21, 2010 which falls on a saturday.

apparently i was wrong. because in amended the administrative code, ra 9492 also provided that the regular and special holidays declared therein may be "modified by law and or proclamation." in layman's terms, the holidays enumerated therein may be subject to change not only by congress (law) but also by the president (proclamation). and that, my friends, was exactly what noynoy did.

which brings us to another legal topic -- undue delegation of authority. but that's a more complicated matter for another day.

in the meantime, just know this: while we may still enjoy a three-day weekend this august (yay, august 30!), know that the three-day long weekends may soon be a thing of the past.