When women go to the gym, people assume all we do there is Zumba.

So that’s what people think I do at the gym. When they see me in my post-gym OOTD, they’ll ask, “Gikan Zumba?” And to keep it simple—because I don’t feel like explaining—I just say, “Yes, Zumba.” Even if I just survived two hours of Leg Day, Chest Day, or Back Day. Or an hour of Punch Circuit, which is a circuit-training group class with boxing as one of the stations.

Zumba is the fun part, though. It can be a warmup, a cooldown, or the whole point of showing up.

There are also days when a workout can be Push Day or Pull Day. And for Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla and Senator Robin Padilla, it apparently meant literally pushing each other. Padilla and Senator Pia Cayetano were escorting 18 former Marines to a controversial resumption of the Senate hearing on the flood control scandal on June 4, 2026. Remulla happened to be on his way out of the Senate building just as Padilla and company were on their way in.

Cayetano, by the way, is a triathlete. And I guess Padilla and Remulla exercise too, as proven by their prowess in pushing and shoving. This should inspire the Pinoy to start a healthy lifestyle—just in case he finds himself in a similar situation.

I had that same experience once, back when I was in college. The only difference: I was neither a senator nor an interior secretary, and there were no 18 Marines to escort. I had my four college friends with me, and we were being pushed into the College of Medicine auditorium’s main entrance, which was still closed. Dozens of other students surrounded us, all wanting to be first inside.

I think it was a Martin Nievera campus tour we were about to watch. But before that could happen, the student organizers somehow forgot the concept of forming a line outside the auditorium. It almost felt like they were on an ego trip, watching us behave like sardines squeezed into a can.

When the auditorium’s main entrance finally opened, our group got shoved straight to the table where the student organizers sat checking tickets. One of them shouted at me: “Huwag kayong magtulakan!”

That’s when the Mindanaoan in me woke up: “Anong ‘huwag kayong magtulakan’? Kami ang tinulak! Kung binuksan n’yo lang sana ‘yung main entrance kanina, walang magtutulakan! Kasalanan n’yo ‘to! ‘Yung necklace ng friend ko, ninakaw na diyan sa labas!” And so on and so forth.

My friend really did lose her gold necklace in that pushing and shoving. The ticket checker just sat there, shocked, staring at me. She kept staring while checking our group’s tickets.

We were then escorted by another student organizer to our seats. My four friends were dead silent as we climbed the stairs. Only when we were seated did they finally say, “Netnet, ganyan ka pala kung magalit.” 

Me: “Nawala na nga ‘yung necklace mo, tapos kasalanan pa natin?”