After long debates, deliberations, consultation and bickerings, the time has now come for Filipino bloggers to answer the inevitable question: Am I joining the National Bloggers' Association, or, to use spearheader Tony Cruz's specific words, "Do you want to become a founding member of the Philippines' first national bloggers organization"?
My answer is NO, and please give me the liberty to tell you why.
I created this blogsite for the sole purpose of making this site a free avenue for allowing my thoughts to be known to the web community; and giving a space for readers (if there are any) to interact and discuss the socially relevant issues for the day.
That I am able to express my opinion on anything I can think of is in itself a fulfillment of my blog. The association and affiliation to other bloggers and blogging communities are by-products. In fact, had this affiliation been my topmost priority, I should have used most of my time blog-hopping and asking for exchange links.
Please don't get me wrong- I have also affiliated and made contact with other bloggers. I've entered into a number of writing contests, and joined some meetups. I have allowed my blog to be used for cause-oriented articles. But the idea of having the necessity to affiliate myself into any organization has never yet occured in my mind (emphasis on the words "necessity" and "yet").
I would go back to the time in the early 2000s when there was so much bruhaha over the latest cellphone models in the land. While everybody else were craving to get a hold of the new 3210 and 3310 Nokia models, I did not dare ask my parents to buy me a new one; nor did I make any efforts to save my money to buy a unit. My reason: I am able to live my life without it.
But the time came when I needed a phone, and so I owned one. In fact, I would daresay today that owning a cellphone (particularly for professionals and businessmen) is indeed a necessity. We are paralyzed without it.
And so for me, the same thing goes with joining the National Bloggers' Association. Today, I am not inclined to join because, well, my blog works perfectly well without having to join an association that "could" limit my freedom to blog whatever I want; an association that could ask me to attend meetups, contribute my time and talents; an association that could require me to divulge my personal information.
To end, let me qualify my position on whether I want to become a founding member of the Philippines' First National Blogging Organization.
My final answer is Not Now. Should I feel the need to involve myself in this association in the future (and if they will allow me to become a part of it), I would do so, but not now.
After all, what privileges does a founding member enjoy that a precedent member could not have?
During the brief moment that Jesus came on earth, His ministry is evidenced by the many miraculous things He performed. The people have witnessed how the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and even the dead are raised. 
Pulse Asia has released its February 24 to March 6, 2011 
