To Whom It May Concern: I Give Up

To whom it may concern,

Ang pangit pakinggan na kung kailan ka tumanda, doon ka pa nagwala. Tumandang paurong. Instead of becoming wiser and a better person, mas lalo kang naging foolish and evil. I pity you, and I'm afraid for your soul dahil hindi mo alam kung gaanong ka-horrible ang place where you'll end up if you'll not repent. I forgave you even though you're not asking forgiveness. I tried to forget what you've done, but now you're doing it again. I gave you chance, but you blew it away. It seems like you don't want my forgiveness at all and you don't want to change for the better.

Akala mo seguro hindi ko alam ang mga ginagawa mo? Hindi lang ako nagsalita even though grabe sa dumi ng ginagawa mo, na kahit sinong tao ang maka alam, will be dumbfounded, pero binalewala ko lahat yun dahil mahal kita at bilang isang Cristiano gusto kong magpatawad at kalimutan lahat ng ginawa mo. Lahat na ginawa ko, hindi kita pinabayaan, ilang beses akong humingi ng tawad sa mga nagawa kong kasalanan sa 'yo noong ako'y unbeliever pa, inilapit kita sa Dios pero ayaw mo, ginawa mo lang panakip ang Dios para magmuka kang inocente at godly while doing your abominable things. Grabe na ang mga kasinungalingan at deception mo. Hindi ka na ba talaga marunong matakot sa Dios? Hindi lang ikaw sa akin nagkakasala, kundi pati sa Dios. Remember that God sees every secret thing you do. You cannot hide from Him. Mabuti ang Panginoon at mapagpasensya, pero meroon ding hangganan ang lahat. Mag-isip kang mabuti, you still have time before He exposes all your wickedness to everyone.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. - Luke 12: 2-3

My heart is crying and bleeding, but not because of the evil things you've done against me, but because of the evil things, you're doing to yourself and to those people who love you. I give up. Bahala na ang Dios sa 'yo, there's nothing more I can do. But don't worry, I still forgive you and praying for you that you may find God's forgiveness. I would rather see you be saved than go to hell. I don't want to treat you as my enemy, but as a person who needs to be saved. Jesus Christ is the only one who can save you. Heed His Word. Repent from all your unrighteousness. Come to Him with a godly sorrow in your heart and He'll forgive you. It has been proven many many times before na nasa huli lagi ang pagsisisi. Repent.

And as for me, I will continue to walk on the path of righteousness. Hindi ako papabayaan ng Dios. Patunay dyan na simula pa lang noong 1972 sa hospital kung saan ako ibinigay ng doctor sa mga kinikilala kong magulang, up until now, hindi ako iniwan o pinabayaan ng Panginoon, in fact, He blessed me with so much. "Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close." (Psalm 27:10). Faithful ang Panginoon. He will never leave me. He will never forsake me. The more you hurt me, the more you hurt yourself. Hindi mo ako kayang saktan. God is my protector. He will deliver me from all of them who fight against me. 

At pagdating ng araw, when you're at your lowest and weakest and nobody wants to help you or pick you up, I will pick you up at aalagaan kita (even though kasamaan ang ipinalit mo sa mga kabutihan ko sa iyo), and you will glorify God at sasabihin mong "Napakabuti talaga ng Panginoon Dios". Sandali nalang ang buhay natin sa mundo, use it to honor God, your creator. I wish you love. Praying for you always. May the good Lord have mercy on your soul. God bless you.


From a person who cares for you.

BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT HEARS ME, WATCHING DAILY AT MY GATES, WAITING AT THE POSTS OF MY DOORS. FOR WHOEVER FINDS ME FINDS LIFE, AND SHALL OBTAIN FAVOR OF THE LORD. BUT HE THAT SINS AGAINST ME WRONGS HIS OWN SOUL: ALL THEY THAT HATE ME LOVE DEATH. - Proverbs 8:34-36 (American KJV)

Quote from Edmund Burke

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil
is for good men to do nothing." 

-Edmund Burke

A Summary of My Vacation 2016

Last April/May 2016 I had my vacation in the Philippines. Here are some photos and videos of my vacation.

PHOTOS:

My daughter, Me & Doggy.

Me & my daughter at Pinto Art Museum.

Inside Pinto Art Museum.

At the Light in the City Church in Silay City, Negros Occidental.

Ma'am Silna with Pastor Reno Ulgasan and his wife Ate Ging of LITCC in Bacolod City.

My favorite Taho.

Silay City Plaza.

RCBC in Silay City opposite the public market.

VIDEO PLAYLIST OF MY VACATION:

My Comment to a video on You Tube about the Marcoses.

I like your channel, but this video is just adding confusion to the already chaotic minds of those youngsters who don't know or have already forgotten their history, who were not even born yet when Marcos was the president. Marcos was a dictator. Not that I'm supporting anyone, but because this is the truth. It's history, and no one can change history. I was born in 1972, the time Marcos declared Martial law. The Marcoses were the absolute king and queen of the Philippines. I remember it so well. Prior to People's Power, there were only one or two newspapers in the country and they were all controlled by the government. Have you ever heard of ‘Desaparecidos’? People will just disappear if they speak against the government, never to be found again. Fear gripped the nation. I was already 14 during the People's Power Revolution. We had a field trip in Malacañan palace a few years after the revolution, there were thrones inside in the now called heroes hall, and I can't forget the shoe collections in the basement which I remember being called then the "Mini Rustan's". One pair of shoes, in particular, called the ‘dancing shoes’ have lights in their heels which Imelda used when dancing in one of her Imeldific parties with Hollywood stars. They were living like royalties while the people lived in deep poverty. It's so sad how people have easily forgotten the atrocities of the Marcoses, and have forgotten our heroes who have given their lives for the freedom of Filipinos. This is so wrong. So wrong. God bless you and your family.

"THOSE WHO FORGET HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT." 

At The Philippine Consulate Today

I went to the Philippine consulate here in Jeddah early this morning for the renewal of my passport and also to get my voter's ID which I should have gotten back in 2009. I've finished what I came there to do in just approximately 30 minutes. Quick tips for those who will renew their passports prepare everything ahead of time, download your required form from the (Jeddah) consulate's web page, read it carefully and fill it with the required information correctly so that you won't have to do it on the queue. Be there before 8 AM.

For those of you (here in Jeddah) who applied for a voter's ID from 2009 until 2012 and still have not claimed it, you can check it on the 3rd floor of the consulate. Just provide a valid ID and they will look for your voter's ID for you.

A queue outside the Philippine consulate. #queue #consulate

A video posted by Pépe Cabréra (@cameranicabrera) on Feb 10, 2016 at 11:45am PST

Paying for my passport renewal. #cashier

A video posted by Pépe Cabréra (@cameranicabrera) on Feb 10, 2016 at 11:48am PST

Goodbye Bin Dawood

Yesterday I said goodbye to Bin Dawood my sickly old cat that I rescued 5 months ago at Bin Dawood supermarket on Heraa street. I brought him to the German lady veterinarian (whom I knew since 2012) to be euthanized. 

Bin Dawood's health condition was not improving since I took him in, and it was getting worse. When he uses the litter, he's not covering his poop, he always sleeps on top of the refrigerator and knocks everything on it. Just a few weeks ago he pooped on top of it, that was my tipping point, so I had to let him go.

And also, I took with me my two other male cats to be neutered. All of my rescued cats are all neutered or spayed so that they will not increase in numbers. They were all neutered and spayed by the same doctor free of charge. Thank you, doc!

At the #veterinary house earlier. #cats #spayneuter #spayandneuter #spay #neuter

A video posted by Pépe Cabréra (@cameranicabrera) on Jan 29, 2016 at 3:39pm PST

My #cats after their #neuter #spayandneuter #spayneuter

A photo posted by Pépe Cabréra (@cameranicabrera) on Jan 29, 2016 at 11:55am PST

See You Brother!

This evening we bid our last goodbye to Alfie at the airport. He's leaving for the Philippines for the last time. Praying and hoping that he'll never forget all the things we taught him about the Lord Jesus Christ. Please pray for him especially for his salvation.

#airport #departure for #manila

A photo posted by Pépe Cabréra (@cameranicabrera) on Dec 5, 2015 at 7:20pm PST

Here's Teena!

Here's Teena, one of the four budgies I took from my neighbor after the raid in our building. I tried taking her (assuming it's a "she") out of her cage and letting her fly around the room. I want to give her a little freedom and I want to show her that I'm not a threat. Here she is resting on my hand for the first time.

Police Raid - My Terrifying Experience

A fortnight ago in the middle of the night, terror struck our neighborhood as police came in droves to conduct a raid. We were about to prepare some late night snack a when we heard a loud knock at the main door, then kicking followed accompanied by a chorus of shouts as if a mob has descended upon every terrified soul in the building. While nervously and stealthily peeping through the eyepiece, we can see men in casual clothing, some in their traditional garbs but not one in police uniform. 

Assuming no one was willing to open the door, shouts even grew louder and kicks turned harder they almost knocked it over. Then we decided it was for real. My flatmate asked defiantly albeit nervous "who are you?" They shouted back "it's the police" though we could not see anyone in uniform. My colleague even dared to ask why there was no one in uniform if they were indeed policemen. That didn't sit well with them sensing our reluctance to open the door. My colleague even told them to wait as he would call the building watchman to verify if these people were authorities as they claim to be and if they have permits to break into our apartments. Perhaps it further angered them that they kicked even harder so that we had no choice left but to open it.

As soon as the door opened, five or six of them sprinted down through all house crevices as if frantically looking for contrabands but eventually demanding us to provide our iqamas or residence permits. It was when two or three men in uniform surfaced that assured us the raid was sanctioned by the police. But if the raid came earlier in the week we would not have survived because we only have papers in our possession in lieu of our iqamas that were sent for renewal. And that terrifying episode happened barely four days into the receipt of our new iqamas.

It's funny because some of them cut a frustrated look upon knowing we were legitimate expatriates. I guess they assumed already we would be worthy additional to a busload of illegals they have snagged already. We came to know the raids were done simultaneously in select buildings marked from tipoffs. In the height of the commotion, some of them even noticed our cats that were frantically running to hide and they even asked us where did we get those. My colleague replied, "if you're wondering we have so many cats (9 in total) you should look around at the millions upon millions of cats starving in the streets".

It was then that they left and told us to close the door and as we still talked we can mostly women and some men being dragged down the stairs and being herded to the bus outside, women and even elderly men who were in crutches, all I assumed were illegals.

Oddly enough, when that episode we thought was over some ununiformed "policemen" decided to come back and entered the adjacent flats on the ground floor in stealth while bent over. The next morning we came to know from our building watchman that some smartphones, camera, and wi-fi unit also disappeared; tenants from another building also complained about missing laptops and smartphones during the night raid. To us, it's not surprising if illegals were inflicted double whammy: getting jailed and their belongings ransacked/seized for the culprits to divide the loot, that is.

After the dust has settled, we decided to check on the lovebirds that belong to the tenants of another apartment if they were still there. The fate of their owners was largely unknown to us so we decided to take them in. Until now the four budgies remain with us and in total we have now 13 mouths to feed which is a bit challenging but at the same time exciting. 

The entire experience was indeed terrifying but thank God for the protection when we thought we were safe in the confines of our home. We're still reeling from the trauma, but it served as a lesson that we will never forget. All the glory belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ for His wondrous deeds in our lives!