The destinies of FPJ and GMA

At P30 million, the gym put up by Roberto Pagdanganan for Department of Agrarian Reform employees has got to be at par with those of put up by Makati-based privately owned companies.

Not so. The equipment used in the gym – the original package is said to have cost P15 million with a P15-million extension approved only last month – is pathetic.

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One beneficiary of the current scarcity in dressed chicken is the backyard pig raiser. The farm gate price last Christmas of between P68 and P70 a kilo has increased this month to between P72 and P75 a kilo.

Historically, prices significantly drop after the pigging out (forgive the pun) of the Christmas season.

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If actor Fernando Poe Jr. was indeed born sometime around noon of Aug. 20, 1939, then his destiny is to be the star in whatever endeavor he chooses to enter.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that President Macapagal-Arroyo will lose in the coming May election. Her problem – and that of the Philippines (if she wins) – is that 2006 for someone born in April 5, 1947 is the unluckiest year of her life.

The destiny of former Education Secretary Raul Roco is unclear because these is confusion about his time (two have been given) of birth.

These are some of the readings of Charlie Chua (who sometimes goes by the name Charlie Chao since these two surnames belong to the same family, depending on which Chinese dialect is used).

Mr. Chua is a practitioner of feng shui or geomancy, which uses the time of birth of a person not only to advice a client on the harmonious placement of furniture in an office or a home to maximize good luck but also on, well, one’s destiny. (Mr. Chua, for example, warned then President Estrada to take extra care in the early part of 2001, which Mr. Estrada misinterpreted as an assassination attempt. As everybody knows, Mr. Estrada was ousted from office as a result of EDSA 2).

Everything centers on the time of birth since the year one is born in represents the grandparents; the month one is born in represents the parents (will they die young or will they stay together); the day one is born in represents the client’s past and present; and the time one is born represents the client’s future or destiny.

Mr. Chua sometimes gets into trouble because of two things. One, he thinks in Chinese, which could result in some error when he translates findings into Filipino or in English. (For example, Mr. Chua said Mr. Poe’s major character flaw is mahina ang loob or not gutsy).

Two, he talks about periods in a person’s life in the Chinese sense which, for one, counts a newly born child as one-year old.