I graduated with a baccalaureate degree in philosophy from the University of San Carlos in Cebu City in 1998. Immediately upon graduation I worked as a teacher in an elementary school, took the requisite courses in education at the University of the Philippines to qualify to sit for the LET (Licensure Exams for Teachers), which I took and passed in 2001.
I love teaching. It's like a creative release for me. It enables me to exercise my talent in bringing people to the cusp of realizations, which I think is the ultimate goal of teaching. So what is it about teaching and bringing about "realizations" in my learners?
More than the common perception that teaching is the mere impartation of facts and knowledge, teaching requires a creative impetus to bring about the best in people. I have come to realize through my experience in the classroom, that when the teacher creates an open atmosphere of creativity and free expression, the learner will realize that he has interests, and such interests are compelling as to drive them to do it. Why? because such interests induce in the learner a feeling of bliss, satisfaction and fulfillment.
The "realizations" I am referring to therefore speaks about creating creative outlets that enables the learner to "realize" that he can do things, great things, if he puts his heart and mind to things he is interested in. When the learner realizes that he has potentials, that his potentials are his interests, that his interests provides a feeling of fulfillment - then the learner learns to learn - not the mere facts, information and knowledge that is attendant in the learning process, but even more important, that in learning, he discovers more about himself, his humanity and his surroundings.
Teaching therefore is indeed an art because there is no one fits all formula. The great teacher first of all believes in the educability of his students, the wise teacher is able to harness the learners potentials, and the best teachers know themselves will enough to adapt to the learners idiosyncracies.
Unfortunately, I have painfully witnessed that for some, teaching is only a job, a way to earn a living. They do not live the life of an educator. I have personally experienced teachers who harass their students with humiliating words, give arbitrary grades based on their personal like - or dislike, of particular students, and most tragic of all, foment a sense of unease, fear and even paranoia.
I have realized that the best teachers are not necessarily the most academically gifted. In fact, in my personal experience, most of the most effective educators are those who are most committed to the learning process of their students.
I have also realized that teachers, in the way they manage the classroom and handle the class, inevitably display what their emotional states are, the stability of their personal lives and the sense of fulfillment they have in their careers. Teachers who are arbitrary in the classroom, meting out grades on a capricious and whimsical manner, are those who are most likely unhappy in their private lives. They display palpable arrogance in the classroom by constantly reminding students of their mistakes and failures, in fact, they are projecting their own failed relationships and dreams.
Teachers who rob students of the sense of hope are teachers who are themselves hopeless. They are so unhappy in their personal lives that they lash it out on students because that is the only place where they can have control - and power, over others. This results in a very unhealthy learning environment. Students become fearful of learning, they learn only the facts, not the essence behind them.
In the end, I can only retort that not all teachers can become educators, and not all teachers should even be allowed in the classroom. A bad teacher can irreparably damage the psyche of a learner, forever scarring him of the beauty that is learning, of the wonder that is the world and of the limitless potential that is himself.
Biyernes, Oktubre 16, 2015
Linggo, Oktubre 11, 2015
Why the Philippines should NEVER accept the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (#TPP)
Much has been said about the #TPP. It's the buzz around the business and corporate sectors the world over. As far as the general public is concerned, less is known about the #TPP. It is shrouded in secrecy and dare I say, subterfuge worthy of Cold War tactics.
On October 5, 2015, WikiLeaks published a leaked draft of the Intellectual Property portion of the #TPP. That's unfortunately just a part of the still unknown draft of the #TPP. One thing that is suspicious about the #TPP is that the US initiated and drafted initiative is open only to the participating countries (12 as of date) and the US corporations it is originally intended to benefit. NGO's and other citizen organizations have been conveniently excluded from even an observer status in its deliberations.
Protests in countries that have signed onto its provisions have been rife over the past year. Indeed, vehement protests have been observed in Malaysia, Australia and Japan. Academics have even decried the #TPP as anti-consumer, pro-US corporate profits and will make it hard for ordinary citizens in developing counties quality access to generic medications.
One disturbing by-product of the #TPP is the added cost it will eventually add to the price of generic medications. In fact, it could endanger the lives of ordinary citizens across the developing world. Again, a WikiLeaks report indicates it would "harm public health by blocking patient access to lifesaving medicines." In the same leaked report, Peter Maybarduk of the Public Citizen's Global Access to medicines program said to wit: "If the #TPP is ratified, people in Pacific Rim countires would have to live by the rules in this leaked text. The new monopoly rights for big pharmaceutical firms would compromise access in #TPP countries. The #TPP would cost lives (emphasis supplied)."
It is clear that for ordinary citizens, the #TPP is a killer initiative, literally! Millions of people will lose access to cheap generic drugs, governments would be forced to pay for profits lost due to regulations that may affect corporate profits of pharmaceutical companies.
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel winning economist, even indicated the #TPP presented "grave risks" and "serves the interest of the wealthiest" (check). Even US Senator Bernie Sanders denounced the #TPP as nothing more than a golden goose and a milking cow for US corporations at the expense of the ordinary American worker.
Pundits have criticized the #TPP for its overemphasis on promoting the best interests of US corporations while neglecting the environment, access to cheap medications and curtails the sovereign rights of nations by forcing said nations to conform their respective laws and regulations to the #TPP. In fact, investors can sue governments who violate the provisions of the #TPP, a clear infringement on the right of the Philippine government to be exempt from suit without its consent as stipulated in the 1987 Constitution.
In short, if the Philippines signs the #TPP, only hardships can be gained by the already impoverished Filipino masses. Nothing good for even Filipino corporations can be gained from the #TPP, especially since said corporations were never consulted and made privy to the legalese of its complicated provisions. Filipinos WILL LOSE BIG if the government signs the #TPP, not to mention we will sacrifice our SOVEREIGN RIGHTS as a nation in favor of greedy multinational corporations that are mostly American!
On October 5, 2015, WikiLeaks published a leaked draft of the Intellectual Property portion of the #TPP. That's unfortunately just a part of the still unknown draft of the #TPP. One thing that is suspicious about the #TPP is that the US initiated and drafted initiative is open only to the participating countries (12 as of date) and the US corporations it is originally intended to benefit. NGO's and other citizen organizations have been conveniently excluded from even an observer status in its deliberations.
Protests in countries that have signed onto its provisions have been rife over the past year. Indeed, vehement protests have been observed in Malaysia, Australia and Japan. Academics have even decried the #TPP as anti-consumer, pro-US corporate profits and will make it hard for ordinary citizens in developing counties quality access to generic medications.
One disturbing by-product of the #TPP is the added cost it will eventually add to the price of generic medications. In fact, it could endanger the lives of ordinary citizens across the developing world. Again, a WikiLeaks report indicates it would "harm public health by blocking patient access to lifesaving medicines." In the same leaked report, Peter Maybarduk of the Public Citizen's Global Access to medicines program said to wit: "If the #TPP is ratified, people in Pacific Rim countires would have to live by the rules in this leaked text. The new monopoly rights for big pharmaceutical firms would compromise access in #TPP countries. The #TPP would cost lives (emphasis supplied)."
It is clear that for ordinary citizens, the #TPP is a killer initiative, literally! Millions of people will lose access to cheap generic drugs, governments would be forced to pay for profits lost due to regulations that may affect corporate profits of pharmaceutical companies.
Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel winning economist, even indicated the #TPP presented "grave risks" and "serves the interest of the wealthiest" (check). Even US Senator Bernie Sanders denounced the #TPP as nothing more than a golden goose and a milking cow for US corporations at the expense of the ordinary American worker.
Pundits have criticized the #TPP for its overemphasis on promoting the best interests of US corporations while neglecting the environment, access to cheap medications and curtails the sovereign rights of nations by forcing said nations to conform their respective laws and regulations to the #TPP. In fact, investors can sue governments who violate the provisions of the #TPP, a clear infringement on the right of the Philippine government to be exempt from suit without its consent as stipulated in the 1987 Constitution.
In short, if the Philippines signs the #TPP, only hardships can be gained by the already impoverished Filipino masses. Nothing good for even Filipino corporations can be gained from the #TPP, especially since said corporations were never consulted and made privy to the legalese of its complicated provisions. Filipinos WILL LOSE BIG if the government signs the #TPP, not to mention we will sacrifice our SOVEREIGN RIGHTS as a nation in favor of greedy multinational corporations that are mostly American!
Sabado, Oktubre 10, 2015
The Bombing of MSF #Kunduz Hospital - A Criminal Assault on the Principles of International Law
The recent bombing of the MSF #Kunduz, Afghanistan Hospital was a tragedy of epic proportions - first, in that it was a hospital, second, in that MSF actually informed and in fact gave both sides of the conflict the coordinates for the hospital and third and most painful of all, in that the hospital was not merely bombed once, or twice - but repeatedly!
MSF, naturally, has called for an international independent investigation into the circumstances of the bombing and equally naturally, and I would say predictably, the US has been at best mum on the proposal.
The US should pay damages to MSF for such unmitigated disaster and military officials responsible for the attack, including officers and commanders, should be sacked and banished from Afghanistan. The tragedy was purely unacceptable in that in an age of smart bombs, precision guided missiles, GPS, and the like, such mistake is supposed to be at best a thing of the past, not to mention the fact that the bomber is one of the most technologically advanced military force the world has ever seen.
Personally, I could not accept that the US could even remotely make such mistake unless such act was in fact planned and calculated, which in the most probable scenario, is the most likely. It should be noted that MSF provided both sides of the conflict the coordinates for the hospital - repeatedly at that! Therefore, a mistaken act of bombing is most unlikely.
It should further be noted that the bombing was not a case of a wayward bomb, in fact, the bombs kept falling more than once - definitely not an accident. The hospital was really the target!
The US initially placed the blame on Afghan officials, who supposedly called the attack. Such a lame, immature, childish excuse I would say. Even if in fact the Afghan officials chose the target, shouldn't the US have confirmed first what the target was? Shouldn't have the US, as prudence would dictate, determined first what the place was used for, who were currently using it, how the facility was being used supposedly by the Taliban?
Negligence seems to me a mild description of this criminal fiasco. The US must be held accountable for such blatant violation of the basic principles of international law, not to mention the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war. Indeed, if other nations committed the same act, America would be the first country shouting at the top of its lungs for justice to be meted.
MSF should only accept an apology if a multinational corps of investigators are finally formed and allowed to investigate the case. Only then can true justice for those who died in the incident can truly be vindicated.
The world should insist on a proper investigation of the case so as to prevent similar events in the future from happening again. We cannot allow the US to get away with this despicable act of irresponsibility, we cannot allow a country - even if it be powerful and rich, to slither away from paying a price for such criminal negligence.
MSF, naturally, has called for an international independent investigation into the circumstances of the bombing and equally naturally, and I would say predictably, the US has been at best mum on the proposal.
The US should pay damages to MSF for such unmitigated disaster and military officials responsible for the attack, including officers and commanders, should be sacked and banished from Afghanistan. The tragedy was purely unacceptable in that in an age of smart bombs, precision guided missiles, GPS, and the like, such mistake is supposed to be at best a thing of the past, not to mention the fact that the bomber is one of the most technologically advanced military force the world has ever seen.
Personally, I could not accept that the US could even remotely make such mistake unless such act was in fact planned and calculated, which in the most probable scenario, is the most likely. It should be noted that MSF provided both sides of the conflict the coordinates for the hospital - repeatedly at that! Therefore, a mistaken act of bombing is most unlikely.
It should further be noted that the bombing was not a case of a wayward bomb, in fact, the bombs kept falling more than once - definitely not an accident. The hospital was really the target!
The US initially placed the blame on Afghan officials, who supposedly called the attack. Such a lame, immature, childish excuse I would say. Even if in fact the Afghan officials chose the target, shouldn't the US have confirmed first what the target was? Shouldn't have the US, as prudence would dictate, determined first what the place was used for, who were currently using it, how the facility was being used supposedly by the Taliban?
Negligence seems to me a mild description of this criminal fiasco. The US must be held accountable for such blatant violation of the basic principles of international law, not to mention the Geneva Convention on the conduct of war. Indeed, if other nations committed the same act, America would be the first country shouting at the top of its lungs for justice to be meted.
MSF should only accept an apology if a multinational corps of investigators are finally formed and allowed to investigate the case. Only then can true justice for those who died in the incident can truly be vindicated.
The world should insist on a proper investigation of the case so as to prevent similar events in the future from happening again. We cannot allow the US to get away with this despicable act of irresponsibility, we cannot allow a country - even if it be powerful and rich, to slither away from paying a price for such criminal negligence.
Miyerkules, Oktubre 7, 2015
Paalam Joker Arroyo
If there is one Filipino politician I have always seen as clean and honest, it is none other than Joker Arroyo. A simple man who tried to do his best in the circumstances he was in, amidst the ubiquitous corruption that is Philippine politics, Arroyo was a long time politician that was never corrupted by money, power or indeed, politics itself.
According to news reports, he never travelled abroad on taxpayers money, had only three staff (a driver, secretary and legislative assistant) and most recently, was one of only three senators who did not vote for the impeachment of former SC Chief Justice Renato Corona, and who incidentally, was also one of only three senators who did not receive the PHP 50 million bribe for said vote.
The Philippines needs more Joker Arroyo's - simple, honest, and dedicated to public service. He never advertised himself as the savior of the masses, nor did he portray himself as a politician dedicated to public service - nay, he lived the life of one who lived for the public good sans the self-serving mantras of traditional politicos who display their names and likenesses in publicly funded buses, ambulances, schools, roads, bridges, buildings etcetera.
Isang matinong Filipino, isang dakilang mamamayan, isang matapang na abogado ng mga naaapi. Paalam Joker Arroyo, ang iyong paglingkod sa bayan ay hindi makakalimutan ng mga tulad kong nagsusulong sa isang Pilipinas na maunlad, malinis, at pantay-pantay.
Paalam Joker Arroyo, naway maging tanglaw at inspirasyon ang iyong buhay sa mga kabataan ngayon para sa isang kinabukasang salat sa kahirapan, pang-aabuso at kurapsiyon sa pamahalaan.
According to news reports, he never travelled abroad on taxpayers money, had only three staff (a driver, secretary and legislative assistant) and most recently, was one of only three senators who did not vote for the impeachment of former SC Chief Justice Renato Corona, and who incidentally, was also one of only three senators who did not receive the PHP 50 million bribe for said vote.
The Philippines needs more Joker Arroyo's - simple, honest, and dedicated to public service. He never advertised himself as the savior of the masses, nor did he portray himself as a politician dedicated to public service - nay, he lived the life of one who lived for the public good sans the self-serving mantras of traditional politicos who display their names and likenesses in publicly funded buses, ambulances, schools, roads, bridges, buildings etcetera.
Isang matinong Filipino, isang dakilang mamamayan, isang matapang na abogado ng mga naaapi. Paalam Joker Arroyo, ang iyong paglingkod sa bayan ay hindi makakalimutan ng mga tulad kong nagsusulong sa isang Pilipinas na maunlad, malinis, at pantay-pantay.
Paalam Joker Arroyo, naway maging tanglaw at inspirasyon ang iyong buhay sa mga kabataan ngayon para sa isang kinabukasang salat sa kahirapan, pang-aabuso at kurapsiyon sa pamahalaan.
Martes, Oktubre 6, 2015
MALIGAYANG ARAW NG MGA GURO!!!
Oktubre 5 ang tinaguriang Araw ng mga Guro ng Mundo. Nahuli ang aking pagsulat ng isang parangal para sa mga milyong-milyong mga guro ng mundo, lalung-lalo na sa mga gurong Filipino, ang haligi ng kinabukasan ng bansa, ang tanglaw ng dunong, ang binhi ng karunungan, dahil sa pagiging abala sa aking pag-aaral sa abogasiya.
Huli man, ang aking kathang-wika ngayong araw ay iniaalay ko sa gurong Pinoy - matiyaga, mapagkalinga, mapag-malasakit at higit sa lahat, mapag-aruga sa mga mag-aaral.
Bilang isang propesyonal na guro mismo, alam ko ang mga pagsubok na hinaharap ng mga guro sa Pilipinas. Ang talamak na kakulangan sa mga gamit pampaaralan, ng mga silid-aralan na pawang hindi kasyang ipasok ang ating mga mag-aaral ay isa lamang sa mga samu't saring mga daluyong araw-araw ng hinaharap ng ating mga guro.
Ano ba ang isang katangi-tanging larawan ang aking nakikita sa isang guro?
Ang guro ay hindi lamang nagtuturo ng konsepto o kaalaman, higit sa lahat, nililinang niya ang mga talento at likas na galing ng isang mag-aaral, ipinapakita niya ang daan sa pag-iisip at nagtatanim ng pag-asa sa mag-aaral na ang nais gusting makamtan ay kayang maabot kung magsisikap at magtiyatiyaga.
Ang guro ay nagsisigurong ang larangan ng pag-aaral ay bukas sa pagtatanong, pananaliksik, pagtutulungan, pagbubukas-isip, pagsasantabi ng mga alinlangan at pagtatanim ng pagkamausisa.
Ang guro ay naniniwala sa kakayahan ng kanyang mag-aaral, ginagabayan ang mag-aaral na mahanap ang kanyang mga kahinaan at tinutulungan na malinang ang kanyang mga tagong talento. Hindi nananakot, hindi nagagalit, hindi nawawalan ng pag-asang kaya ng kanyang mga mag-aaral tahakin ang mundo ng karunungan.
Mabuhay ang mga guro - mabuhay ang mga gurong Filipino!!!!
Huli man, ang aking kathang-wika ngayong araw ay iniaalay ko sa gurong Pinoy - matiyaga, mapagkalinga, mapag-malasakit at higit sa lahat, mapag-aruga sa mga mag-aaral.
Bilang isang propesyonal na guro mismo, alam ko ang mga pagsubok na hinaharap ng mga guro sa Pilipinas. Ang talamak na kakulangan sa mga gamit pampaaralan, ng mga silid-aralan na pawang hindi kasyang ipasok ang ating mga mag-aaral ay isa lamang sa mga samu't saring mga daluyong araw-araw ng hinaharap ng ating mga guro.
Ano ba ang isang katangi-tanging larawan ang aking nakikita sa isang guro?
Ang guro ay hindi lamang nagtuturo ng konsepto o kaalaman, higit sa lahat, nililinang niya ang mga talento at likas na galing ng isang mag-aaral, ipinapakita niya ang daan sa pag-iisip at nagtatanim ng pag-asa sa mag-aaral na ang nais gusting makamtan ay kayang maabot kung magsisikap at magtiyatiyaga.
Ang guro ay nagsisigurong ang larangan ng pag-aaral ay bukas sa pagtatanong, pananaliksik, pagtutulungan, pagbubukas-isip, pagsasantabi ng mga alinlangan at pagtatanim ng pagkamausisa.
Ang guro ay naniniwala sa kakayahan ng kanyang mag-aaral, ginagabayan ang mag-aaral na mahanap ang kanyang mga kahinaan at tinutulungan na malinang ang kanyang mga tagong talento. Hindi nananakot, hindi nagagalit, hindi nawawalan ng pag-asang kaya ng kanyang mga mag-aaral tahakin ang mundo ng karunungan.
Mabuhay ang mga guro - mabuhay ang mga gurong Filipino!!!!
Sabado, Oktubre 3, 2015
Cheering for the 2015 #GilasPilipinas team - Why I cannot do the Same
This week the Philippine social-media scene has been abuzz with the seemingly endless string of victories of the #GilasPilipinas team. My own FB news feed is peppered with various comments about its victories and what nots. It seems that every minute, someone from my friend list is commenting, posting, sharing or liking anything related to or is connected with the #GilasPilipinas team. Rightly so, the #GilasPilipinas team has on its backs a record of amazing wins in the on-going 2015 FIBA World Cup.
Unfortunately, I am not cheering for #GilasPilipinas team! For sure though, I am a passionate Filipinist and patriot. And precisely because of such self-classification that I can never really appreciate the #GilasPilipinas team. For one, it is populated by "produced Filipinos" in the sense that they are foreign - albeit granted with Philippine passports. I suspect that they have been "Filipinized" for solely commercial reasons - winning the FIBA matches. I am not a racist, but I cannot cheer for a team that is basically foreign constituted. I cannot accept that as of date, there are more than a hundred million Filipinos, not to mention that this country is agog and passionate to a fault about playing basketball. In fact, basketball is probably the only team sport that Filipinos as a people know how to play. With that said, isn't there any qualified, skillful, physically capable basketball athlete in the whole of the archipelago that can play the game? Did the organizing committee even try to look for Filipino-born athletes without immediately jumping on importing foreigners?
Geez, this is what is irritating about ourselves. We cannot trust in our own people's capacity to play something that is by the way, common across the archipelago. So common in fact, as has been previously stated in this article, that it is played everywhere, anywhere in the Philippines. Is there one barangay in the Philippines that does not have a basketball court - no matter how dilapidated or basic it may seem? Has anyone found one? I have not - except perhaps in highly urbanized areas. In fact, basketball courts are ubiquitous in this country. Probably the only sporting venue that is de rigueur in each barangay, school, company, etc.
I cannot accept that in order to win, or in order to guarantee winning in the FIBA matches, the only resort is to import "manufactured Filipinos" to represent a hundred million Filipinos! This is colonial mentality at its height and speaks of our own lack of a sense of nationhood.
So yes, I will not cheer the #GilasPilipinas team for its wins because they do not represent the Philippines - if anything, its mostly foreign born corps of athletes represent the veritable fact that up until now, this country is still very much in the clutch of its foreign past. WE ARE STILL SLAVES TO OUR brutal colonial history.
I would rather cheer a losing team made up of real Filipinos - those born, lived and suffered what an average Filipino would experience rather than a bunch of highly skilled athletes who are "nationals of convenience" of the Philippines, not least because we are overflowing with people whose passion in basketball, nay, books have been written of the same, is almost synonymous with the fanaticism of religionists.
So I reject with vehemence the employment of transplanted pseudo-Filipinos to represent a game in which my countrymen are so passionate about anyway. It is ironic that most of my countrymen cheer with utmost glee the wins of #GilasPilipinas, failing to see what is so patently obvious, most of them are not even fighting for the Philippines, only playing the game, no surprise there, as they are not Filipinos by heart and experience, by soul and temperament, by mindset and orientation.
If anything, whoever constituted the #GilasPilipinas team was merely looking for a win (and the commercial success it will bring) - and definitely not a representation of the soul and passion of Filipinos in the game of basketball.
I don't want to be a killjoy, but even if #GilasPilipinas wins the FIBA World Cup this year, I would still feel a great loss, that is because I cannot accept that of the 100 million Filipinos living today, none seemed to be good enough to make up ALL of its ranks!
Then again, AKIN LANG ITO. Ikaw kabayan, anong 'say mo, 'ika nga.
Unfortunately, I am not cheering for #GilasPilipinas team! For sure though, I am a passionate Filipinist and patriot. And precisely because of such self-classification that I can never really appreciate the #GilasPilipinas team. For one, it is populated by "produced Filipinos" in the sense that they are foreign - albeit granted with Philippine passports. I suspect that they have been "Filipinized" for solely commercial reasons - winning the FIBA matches. I am not a racist, but I cannot cheer for a team that is basically foreign constituted. I cannot accept that as of date, there are more than a hundred million Filipinos, not to mention that this country is agog and passionate to a fault about playing basketball. In fact, basketball is probably the only team sport that Filipinos as a people know how to play. With that said, isn't there any qualified, skillful, physically capable basketball athlete in the whole of the archipelago that can play the game? Did the organizing committee even try to look for Filipino-born athletes without immediately jumping on importing foreigners?
Geez, this is what is irritating about ourselves. We cannot trust in our own people's capacity to play something that is by the way, common across the archipelago. So common in fact, as has been previously stated in this article, that it is played everywhere, anywhere in the Philippines. Is there one barangay in the Philippines that does not have a basketball court - no matter how dilapidated or basic it may seem? Has anyone found one? I have not - except perhaps in highly urbanized areas. In fact, basketball courts are ubiquitous in this country. Probably the only sporting venue that is de rigueur in each barangay, school, company, etc.
I cannot accept that in order to win, or in order to guarantee winning in the FIBA matches, the only resort is to import "manufactured Filipinos" to represent a hundred million Filipinos! This is colonial mentality at its height and speaks of our own lack of a sense of nationhood.
So yes, I will not cheer the #GilasPilipinas team for its wins because they do not represent the Philippines - if anything, its mostly foreign born corps of athletes represent the veritable fact that up until now, this country is still very much in the clutch of its foreign past. WE ARE STILL SLAVES TO OUR brutal colonial history.
I would rather cheer a losing team made up of real Filipinos - those born, lived and suffered what an average Filipino would experience rather than a bunch of highly skilled athletes who are "nationals of convenience" of the Philippines, not least because we are overflowing with people whose passion in basketball, nay, books have been written of the same, is almost synonymous with the fanaticism of religionists.
So I reject with vehemence the employment of transplanted pseudo-Filipinos to represent a game in which my countrymen are so passionate about anyway. It is ironic that most of my countrymen cheer with utmost glee the wins of #GilasPilipinas, failing to see what is so patently obvious, most of them are not even fighting for the Philippines, only playing the game, no surprise there, as they are not Filipinos by heart and experience, by soul and temperament, by mindset and orientation.
If anything, whoever constituted the #GilasPilipinas team was merely looking for a win (and the commercial success it will bring) - and definitely not a representation of the soul and passion of Filipinos in the game of basketball.
I don't want to be a killjoy, but even if #GilasPilipinas wins the FIBA World Cup this year, I would still feel a great loss, that is because I cannot accept that of the 100 million Filipinos living today, none seemed to be good enough to make up ALL of its ranks!
Then again, AKIN LANG ITO. Ikaw kabayan, anong 'say mo, 'ika nga.
Lunes, Setyembre 28, 2015
Dissecting the #ALDUB Phenomenon: A Socio-Cultural Perspective
Much has been said, much has been promoted, much indeed has happened and continues to happen as the saga known in the social media world with the hashtag #aldub unabashedly titillates the Filipino sense of "kilig."
Many have commented on the superficiality of the experience - its essentially nothing more than a teenage crush acted upon by essentially young adults pretending (or at least is presented as such) to have never even seen each other in person. Piled upon by the dizzying media coverage and the almost mythic proportions it has attained in the ephemeral mindset of the Filipino psyche, it has attained more than its due (in my opinion) share.
From the national demagoguery it has unleashed comes the quintessentially Filipino propensity for emotional tearjerkers. We are, without a doubt, a people so hung up on emotional states of momentary bliss that we cling to juvenile displays of romantic awkwardness with a mindless gusto of an unrequited lover.
I am reminded of a recent survey which includes Filipinos as one of the most emotional peoples in the world. What is the socio-cultural background of this #aldub phenomenon?
In the interest of full disclosure, be it known that in no stretch of the imagination am I a social scientist. I am, for all intents and purposes, a masa. As a professional educator and nurse however, I can say that I am speaking from a disinterested viewpoint of a secular humanist, citizen of this ever so complex nation. In all my personal and professional experiences, the #aldub PHENOMENON is actually not an aberration nor is it an unusuality, but a regular outburst of national catharsis that is the Filipino experience.
Ours is a society of contradictions - where religiosity is outwardly displayed at the same time as massive corruption undercuts our social-political fabric. Where thousands of baccalaureate graduates are produced a year at the same time as millions of uneducated children ply the streets. Where poverty is manifest in the ubiquitous presence of homeless urban dwellers while the ruling elite live in opulent palaces of splendor.
The #aldub phenomenon therefore is a national release against the endemic contradictions of life in the Philippines. It is a national hurrah to the otherwise unbearable complexities of the ordinary Filipino - yes, the #aldub phenomenon wraps the Filipino - me, you, us, with the necessary antidote to the chaos that is our politics, the shattered social fabric that is our increasingly schizophrenic view of what our future should be, what our destiny can be.
For all that has been said about the manifest superficiality of the #aldub phenomenon, one thing clearly shows itself - we are a people so lost in our situation that we find glory in the most juvenile of emotions. There is nothing wrong with that, if only we could start to grow out of this perpetual malaise of created "Neverland", we can start to face our national problems as young adults, not as love-strucked teens. Then again, it's just me.
Many have commented on the superficiality of the experience - its essentially nothing more than a teenage crush acted upon by essentially young adults pretending (or at least is presented as such) to have never even seen each other in person. Piled upon by the dizzying media coverage and the almost mythic proportions it has attained in the ephemeral mindset of the Filipino psyche, it has attained more than its due (in my opinion) share.
From the national demagoguery it has unleashed comes the quintessentially Filipino propensity for emotional tearjerkers. We are, without a doubt, a people so hung up on emotional states of momentary bliss that we cling to juvenile displays of romantic awkwardness with a mindless gusto of an unrequited lover.
I am reminded of a recent survey which includes Filipinos as one of the most emotional peoples in the world. What is the socio-cultural background of this #aldub phenomenon?
In the interest of full disclosure, be it known that in no stretch of the imagination am I a social scientist. I am, for all intents and purposes, a masa. As a professional educator and nurse however, I can say that I am speaking from a disinterested viewpoint of a secular humanist, citizen of this ever so complex nation. In all my personal and professional experiences, the #aldub PHENOMENON is actually not an aberration nor is it an unusuality, but a regular outburst of national catharsis that is the Filipino experience.
Ours is a society of contradictions - where religiosity is outwardly displayed at the same time as massive corruption undercuts our social-political fabric. Where thousands of baccalaureate graduates are produced a year at the same time as millions of uneducated children ply the streets. Where poverty is manifest in the ubiquitous presence of homeless urban dwellers while the ruling elite live in opulent palaces of splendor.
The #aldub phenomenon therefore is a national release against the endemic contradictions of life in the Philippines. It is a national hurrah to the otherwise unbearable complexities of the ordinary Filipino - yes, the #aldub phenomenon wraps the Filipino - me, you, us, with the necessary antidote to the chaos that is our politics, the shattered social fabric that is our increasingly schizophrenic view of what our future should be, what our destiny can be.
For all that has been said about the manifest superficiality of the #aldub phenomenon, one thing clearly shows itself - we are a people so lost in our situation that we find glory in the most juvenile of emotions. There is nothing wrong with that, if only we could start to grow out of this perpetual malaise of created "Neverland", we can start to face our national problems as young adults, not as love-strucked teens. Then again, it's just me.
Lunes, Setyembre 21, 2015
Why I Oppose the Philippine Government's Penchant for Hosting Refugees
I am an unabashed secular humanist and humanitarian. I believe in the principles of secularism. I am also a Filipinist, self-styled nationalist and patriot. Having said that, I am opposed to the government's constant display of pseudo-humanitarianism through its repeated pornographic displays of media-induced hype about the need to host refugees, from the Rohingya's of Myanmar to the now infamous plight of Syrian refugees.
First and foremost, like most of the rest of the educated and cultured societies, Filipinos have seen the horrendous, tragic and brutal experience of the thousands of refugees fleeing their country's seemingly endless descent into oblivion - the Syrian civil war is now on its fourth year and shows no signs of abating. This has inevitably led to one of the worst mass migrations since the end of World War II. The initial lukewarm response of Europe to the influx of the refugees were somehow punctuated by episodes of relief when ordinary citizens across the Eurozone showed their support for the refugees' plight.
Many Filipinos in the social media have been posting messages in various platforms about how the Philippines could somehow help the refugees. Without doubt, typical of Filipino's innate emotional temperament, no less coupled by a culture that puts a premium on pity as a national past time. Indeed, in recent surveys, it has become inescapably clear that Filipinos are the most emotional people on earth today!
I understand my countrymen's views on such matter. I also understand that decisions done and made at the height of emotional upheavals and highs, however they may look, always end up poorly in the end.
Take the case of the Rohingya, hosting them would seem superficially to be the most reasonable course. These are lives we are talking about, as they say. Our shared humanity impels us to help them with all that we can. They too, are humans. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera ad infinitum....
What behooves to all those who are in favor of blindly hosting refugees is that after the media hypes fades in the background, the real task is just beginning. For one, the refugees will have to be fed, housed, afforded medical, dental and economic support. Over the long term, they will eventually have to be given access to education, even jobs.
Can the Philippines really afford all this? Can the Philippines handle all this?
I am a survivor of Supertyphoon Yolanda, and has history has shown, the government's less than stellar handling of the situation - dare I say much, much, much worse than the aftermath of the typhoon itself showed that as a society - WE HAVE A LOT TO FIX, A LOT TO LEARN, AND MOST OF ALL, WE HAVE TO LEARN TO PRIORITIZE!!!
First and foremost, like most of the rest of the educated and cultured societies, Filipinos have seen the horrendous, tragic and brutal experience of the thousands of refugees fleeing their country's seemingly endless descent into oblivion - the Syrian civil war is now on its fourth year and shows no signs of abating. This has inevitably led to one of the worst mass migrations since the end of World War II. The initial lukewarm response of Europe to the influx of the refugees were somehow punctuated by episodes of relief when ordinary citizens across the Eurozone showed their support for the refugees' plight.
Many Filipinos in the social media have been posting messages in various platforms about how the Philippines could somehow help the refugees. Without doubt, typical of Filipino's innate emotional temperament, no less coupled by a culture that puts a premium on pity as a national past time. Indeed, in recent surveys, it has become inescapably clear that Filipinos are the most emotional people on earth today!
I understand my countrymen's views on such matter. I also understand that decisions done and made at the height of emotional upheavals and highs, however they may look, always end up poorly in the end.
Take the case of the Rohingya, hosting them would seem superficially to be the most reasonable course. These are lives we are talking about, as they say. Our shared humanity impels us to help them with all that we can. They too, are humans. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera ad infinitum....
What behooves to all those who are in favor of blindly hosting refugees is that after the media hypes fades in the background, the real task is just beginning. For one, the refugees will have to be fed, housed, afforded medical, dental and economic support. Over the long term, they will eventually have to be given access to education, even jobs.
Can the Philippines really afford all this? Can the Philippines handle all this?
I am a survivor of Supertyphoon Yolanda, and has history has shown, the government's less than stellar handling of the situation - dare I say much, much, much worse than the aftermath of the typhoon itself showed that as a society - WE HAVE A LOT TO FIX, A LOT TO LEARN, AND MOST OF ALL, WE HAVE TO LEARN TO PRIORITIZE!!!
Those who insist that our humanity impels us to help others in need is living in a world of make-believe, a delusion of ersatz humanitarianism and symptomatic of hypocritical religiosity, so prevalent, so widespread, so palpably common in our country today. How can we say we can help others when we can barely provide for our own people - much less plan for the needs and what ifs of the situation we are in when disasters arrive, which is by the way on a regular basis.
We don't need additional mouths to feed when we can barely feed the now astounding 100 million Filipino bodies we have. I cannot understand where the government, and the ordinary Filipinos who actually support the idea that we have to host refugees as a compelling imperative of our historical experience. Geez! That is pure non-sense.
We have catered to other races at the expense of providing a decent, respectable and yes, humane service to our own people. We are concerned about the Rohingya, who were rejected by their fellow Muslim Malaysia and Indonesia and even more rejected by its prosperous easterly neighbor Thailand. What does it say about us?
For some it says that Filipinos are kinder, more humanitarian, more attuned to others' needs. Haha, funny because we have never been adequately attuned to the plight of the millions of our fellow Filipinos languishing in jails because of a poorly managed legal system, or who cannot get timely, sufficient and adequate aid during natural disasters because the agency tasked with helping those in need is shortchanging foreign aid given, or that millions of Filipino children are left on the streets all across this archipelago to fend for themselves. Ironic indeed, ironic that it pains me to see how such blind displays of superficial humanitarianism can afford some to declare on the internet that "they are proud to host refugees although coming from a country that is itself poor, marginalized, chaotic, barely keeping itself afloat and whose economy is essentially kept solvent by the Filipino diaspora working their ass out in foreign soil to eke out a decent future for their children here in the Philippines." It's painful because such hypocrisy abounds in the aristocracy of this nation, in the halls of the power elite, in the closeted academia of the Philippines' intellectual elite.
Sheltered from the tragedy unfolding in our midst, we have continued to show concern to others while at the same time neglecting the same concern to our own people - those old men and women rummaging the streets of cities across the Philippines because they have been abandoned by their families, those young women sold to prostitution to make ends meet for their families, those who die slowly along our bridges, esteros, kalyes because our social services can only handle so much.
YES, this is what is so mind-boggling about my nation, its like watching a Picasso painting, schizophrenic in its field of vision, outwardly admirable acts shown to mask the fundamental problems conveniently ignored. Where the outward religiosity of the populace is matched only by the rapacious greed of its political elite, where the ordinary folks pretend to vote for candidates who pretend to serve, where the religious power of the various churches are shamelessly shoved to fulfill its own vested interests, where education in the English language is seen as the epitome of intellectual development, where progress is measured by the amount of household appliances, where agricultural products in a predominantly agricultural country are actually expensive and at times, prohibitively so.
What have we become as a people? What is happening to the Philippines? What is happening to our collective consciousness?
Are we becoming mere zombies lost in this world?
Welcome refugees to the Philippines - make yourself at home. And to our own internal refugees displaced by the incessant wars in Mindanao, welcome too.
Miyerkules, Nobyembre 26, 2014
Is Globe Tattoo ripping me off?
About an hour ago, I asked a friend to load my Globe Tattoo dongle with PHP 55.00 as I was planning to avail, like I usually do at least once a month, of Globe's Supersurf50 promo. This promo entitles it's user to a 24 hour "unlimited" internet surfing. The last time I used my Globe Tattoo dongle was about a month ago when my SUPERSURF999 finally expired after a month of use.
At 1904HRS I received a message from 2916 which reads:
"You have just been shared P55 by 0917XXXXXXX. P55 load will expire in 30 day(s). TransID: 16926284 11/26/2014 07:04PM."
It should be noted that in order for one to use SUPERSURF50 you have to have an credit of PHP 55 in your account. After about 55 minutes I was ready to activate my Supersurf50 service by sending the code SUPERSURF50 to 8888. However, at 1956HRS I received a message from 8888 which reads:
"Sorry, you don't have enough load to register to Globe SUPER-SURF50. Load now to enjoy SUPERSURF! Minimum balance required is 55 to avail and use SUPERSURF50. Control your internet the way you want to. Try Globe's consumable mobile internet offers. Text POWERSURF to 8888 for more info."
I was surprised by this message since I know full well and as reflected in the message aforestated that I had enough balance to to avail of the SUPERSURF50 service. Without checking my balance, I loaded PHP 10 to my Tattoo dongle account. At 1959HRS I received a message from AutoloadMAX which reads:
"P10.00 prepaid credits was loaded to ur mobile# 0905XXXXXXX by 0927XXXXXXX. Trace No: 1069323870 11/26/2014 07:59PM."
I again sent SUPERSURF50 to 8888 to activate the service but at 20000HRS the following message appeared:
"Sorry, you don't have enough load to register to Globe SUPER-SURF50. Load now to enjoy SUPERSURF! Minimum balance required is 55 to avail and use SUPERSURF50. Control your internet the way you want to. Try Globe's consumable mobile internet offers. Text POWERSURF to 8888 for more info."
Flabbergasted, I checked my actual balance by sending BAL to 222 on my Globe Tattoo desktop app and received the following message frome "GLOBE" at 2002HRS:
"Your balance as of 11/26/2014 20:02 is P46.00 valid til 02/08/2015 22:41 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone."
I was even more shocked because my BALANCE IS ONLY 46! In retrospect I should have a total of PHP 65 (PHP 55 + 10). WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY 19! Be as it is, I had to load another PHP 10 to have a minimum of at least PHP 55!
Finally, at 2005 I received a message from 8888 that says I can now use SUPERSURF50 for twenty-four hours, but not after I loaded PHP 75 for a service that costs only PHP 55!
What is happening here GLOBE PEOPLE! (This is not to mention that your supposed Globe Tattoo new generation dongle with an advertised speed of 14 Mbps has an actual daily speed of less than 1Mbps, AND THAT'S DURING THE BEST OF TIMES!)
At 1904HRS I received a message from 2916 which reads:
"You have just been shared P55 by 0917XXXXXXX. P55 load will expire in 30 day(s). TransID: 16926284 11/26/2014 07:04PM."
It should be noted that in order for one to use SUPERSURF50 you have to have an credit of PHP 55 in your account. After about 55 minutes I was ready to activate my Supersurf50 service by sending the code SUPERSURF50 to 8888. However, at 1956HRS I received a message from 8888 which reads:
"Sorry, you don't have enough load to register to Globe SUPER-SURF50. Load now to enjoy SUPERSURF! Minimum balance required is 55 to avail and use SUPERSURF50. Control your internet the way you want to. Try Globe's consumable mobile internet offers. Text POWERSURF to 8888 for more info."
I was surprised by this message since I know full well and as reflected in the message aforestated that I had enough balance to to avail of the SUPERSURF50 service. Without checking my balance, I loaded PHP 10 to my Tattoo dongle account. At 1959HRS I received a message from AutoloadMAX which reads:
"P10.00 prepaid credits was loaded to ur mobile# 0905XXXXXXX by 0927XXXXXXX. Trace No: 1069323870 11/26/2014 07:59PM."
I again sent SUPERSURF50 to 8888 to activate the service but at 20000HRS the following message appeared:
"Sorry, you don't have enough load to register to Globe SUPER-SURF50. Load now to enjoy SUPERSURF! Minimum balance required is 55 to avail and use SUPERSURF50. Control your internet the way you want to. Try Globe's consumable mobile internet offers. Text POWERSURF to 8888 for more info."
Flabbergasted, I checked my actual balance by sending BAL to 222 on my Globe Tattoo desktop app and received the following message frome "GLOBE" at 2002HRS:
"Your balance as of 11/26/2014 20:02 is P46.00 valid til 02/08/2015 22:41 w/ 0 FREE txts. Pls note that system time may vary from the time on ur phone."
I was even more shocked because my BALANCE IS ONLY 46! In retrospect I should have a total of PHP 65 (PHP 55 + 10). WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY 19! Be as it is, I had to load another PHP 10 to have a minimum of at least PHP 55!
Finally, at 2005 I received a message from 8888 that says I can now use SUPERSURF50 for twenty-four hours, but not after I loaded PHP 75 for a service that costs only PHP 55!
What is happening here GLOBE PEOPLE! (This is not to mention that your supposed Globe Tattoo new generation dongle with an advertised speed of 14 Mbps has an actual daily speed of less than 1Mbps, AND THAT'S DURING THE BEST OF TIMES!)
Biyernes, Enero 10, 2014
Reflections of a Typhoon Yolanda Survivor (Part II)
Immediately after Yolanda effectively destroyed Tacloban, the Philippine national government was essentially absent. The local government was as destroyed as the city it was tasked to govern. For one, the city mayor, Alfred Romualdez and his family barely survived the onslaught of the tsunami-like storm surge, indeed, he and his family were holed up right beside the properties they owned - by the sea!
It is clear that even the city mayor did not know of the impending storm surge, much less the ordinary populace of Tacloban. The absence of a strong national government presence ensured that the looting, rape and murder that would follow Yolanda will terrorize the survivors of Yolanda, not only in Tacloban City, but even in the surrounding municipalities equally ravaged by the supertyphoon such as Tanauan and Palo.
On November 9, the day after Yolanda, I went to the city hall of Tacloban to get any food they could give. I was told that the relief food would be coursed through the barangay. At that time, it seemed a good idea. Boy how wrong I could be - for as is usual in the Philippines, corruption on a massive, really scandalous scale would hound the relief distribution process.
For one, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), supposedly the government arm to take a lead in the distribution of relief efforts, was 'repackaging' aid given from foreign nations, such that imported canned goods were surreptitiously replaced with local made sardines, sardines that in some cases were damaged that the labels were torn, the cans were deformed - among others.
Then came the role of the barangay captains, some of whom also 'repackaged' the relief goods entrusted to them for distribution such that 5 kilos of rice were distributed after deducting two kilos, worse, some barangay captains chose for whom the relief goods were given, even worse, other barangay captains refused to coordinate with NGO's for the distribution of aid within their jurisdictions.
It is ironic that during elections, candidates always to seem to have a complete listing of eligible voters, their addresses and even ages - people whose votes need to be bought are not a problem. After Yolanda, everyone who wants to get help will have to muster all the stops just to be listed and hence, to be able to get the chance of getting relief goods.
Immediately after Yolanda, strife was what would best describe Tacloban, law and order broke down as massive looting, rapes and even murders were committed at an alarmingly unchecked manner. Politics played, as it has always been played in the Philippines, in the effort to help the survivors. Videos abound showing the meeting between DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez whereby the former clearly telling the latter that "...the President is an Aquino and that you are a Romualdez..."
That statement, in retrospect, was how the national government's sclerotic response to the aftermath of Yolanda can best be explained. Politics not only worsened the plight of the survivors, it clearly shows that politics in no uncertain terms is what is killing this nation and effectively impoverishes the vast majority of the Filipino people as patronage politics excludes the public interest in favor of vested interests.
In my barangay, the situation was actually worse, since the election the previous October 28, our then outgoing barangay captain lost, the barangay captain elect was due to resume office only by December 1, and so from November 9 up to the end of the month, the out-going barangay captain would still hold office, and boy did she use politics to give help, having lost in our area (Area 1, since our barangay is relatively bi there are three areas for purposes of grouping), no aid was really distributed in our place for the whole of November.
It seems that the out-going captain prioritized her area (Area 2, where she lives). Apparently, she used the remaining days of her office to ensure that her political supporters were taken cared off before she finally leaves power. That, to the detriment of the other constituents of the barangay, who had to use whatever means they have at their disposal to ensure for themselves enough relief to sustain them and their families.
Chaos, corruption and inefficiency was what characterized the relief distribution process. Really, the entire thing was nothing but an exercise in political ineptness, blatant corruption and clearly the failure of the citizens to choose leaders who have the balls, the brains and the sincerity to actually serve. This is the price we paid for bought elections. Elections peopled by candidates who shelled money to win and pretended to serve, and the people who enabled them by demanding to be bought and pretending to choose.
Really, I cannot blame the politics engendered by a citizenry with myopic views of what suffrage is all about and what democracy truly entails, prudence in our choices and discipline in our actions.
The ensuing tragedy in the aftermath of Yolanda was for me the greater tragedy for it showed that the Filipino people as a whole and the victims of Yolanda in particular have a long way to go in order to finally stamp out the scourge of bureaucratic paralysis that seems to characterize not only disaster planning and response in the Philippines but even more so, everyday governance in one of the poorest regions of one of the poorest countries in the world.
Unless the nation wakes up from the slumber of national governance, Yolanda will repeat itself. As the great George Santayana once said, "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it."
Lunes, Enero 6, 2014
Reflections of a Typhoon Yolanda Survivor (Part I)
It's been almost two months since the November 8, 2013 onslaught of Supertyphoon Yolanda, dubbed by CNN as the strongest typhoon in recorded history ever to make landfall, and Tacloban City, the city of my birth, my childhood and my family, is still reeling from the death and devastation that Yolanda brought.
I miss updating this blog, it's been a while since my last entry. Electricity in our place is still down and out, another two months will probably last before we get our power back. Right now I'm in an internet café in downtown Tacloban, one of a few that opened last December. Lucky for this internet café, it's located on the second floor of a concrete building. I spoke with the owner a few minutes back and she said she lost only two computer systems (monitor, CPU, keyboard and the like).
Anyway, having this opportunity to get connected is something I really, really miss - and I relish this moment with the excitement of a three year old getting hold of his favorite candy treat!
Yolanda still permeates many a conversation for a lot of Taclobanons, and I suspect, to a lot of people in Eastern Visayas who had to endure its awesome fury and unimaginable fierceness.
November 8, 2013 will forever be etched in my mind and in the collective memory of those who were directly in Yolanda's path, the people of Eastern Visayas will never forget November 8 or Yolanda or the horrific aftermath that followed.
My house is directly across the street lining Kankabato Bay, a body of water that abuts Tacloban City. It's a moderately sized bay, shallow but has a muddy bed. When I was in elementary, I once witnessed a swimmer who drowned in its waters after apparently getting entangled in its muddy bottom.
I live in a house that is a bungalow, with four rooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens and a two-car garage. It's been my home since I was four years old. I like my house, my neighborhood and my city. My father and I have been living in said house alone since 2009. After my grandmother died, my grandfather on my maternal side decided to live in California, where my mother and two sisters are based. My grandfather loves America, only my grandma's dislike of the California cold prevented him from staying there.
November 4 was a Monday. The previous October 29 I started work as a Legal Researcher in a city law firm. As I entered the office on that day, one of the office personnel blurted out that a supertyphoon is on its way, at that time, Yolanda was way out in the southern Pacific ocean. That night, media reports calculated that Yolanda would make landfall by Friday morning. By Tuesday morning, the office head announced that there would be no office on Wednesday, November 6. That day was as bright as any summer day could be. The sun was out in all its radiant brightness. The sky was sparkling blue with a light smattering of clouds. It was, so to speak, the calm before the storm.
Thursday, November 7 was a rainy day. The sky was overcast with heavy clouds. Rain poured throughout the day and into the wee hours of the next day. I could not sleep the entire night. By 6 a.m., November 8, 2013, I was roused from bed as Yolanda made itself known. The winds were starting to pick up with a ferocity I have never before experienced in a typhoon, then again, Yolanda was not just any typhoon, it was a super-typhoon.
By 6:30 a.m. the winds were pounding our house when the lights finally flamed out. The wind was becoming ferocious by the minute, a few minutes back a classmate texted me hoping that everything will just be fine, and I replied with a hope that indeed everything will just be fine.
7 a.m. and the wind was so strong that it produced a whistling sound unlike any I have heard before. Eerie rumble of sustained hushing sound permeated the skies above. I was truly scared and afraid. The garage roof where our car was parked was being slowly unhinged until it finally collapsed on our car. At that moment I knew the worse is coming, I could only shed a tear as the unknown becomes fearsome as the morning came.
By 7:30 a.m. the main door of our house was suddenly opened free by the rush of what later would be described as tsunami-like storm surge. I shouted at my father to close the door immediately and we rushed to my room, unbeknownst to me, my father went back to his room to save important documents. I waited in the dining hall of my room as the flood slowly rose. I stood on a chair hoping that the water would be at worst knee length - boy how wrong I was as the water slowly reached my chin and over our cupboards and cabinets until finally my father appeared, lips blue and telling me to remove the jalousie windows so we could get out of the house. I was frantic. Floating through the now flooded dining area I calmly tried to remove the first five jalousie's from my windows, the water was barely an inch before it would reach the upper most part of the window sill. I had no choice but to dive under the murky, jet-black, salty water. I alighted on the other side of the window and waited for my father to get out. Instead, he blurted for me to pull him out as he was exhausted. I later learned that he momentarily drowned - hence the blue lips when he first appeared after we got separated.
Outside the house, we clung to the trusses of our roofless house - well at least on the side just outside my bedroom's window. There, we clung for two and a half hours as the flood waters reached 10 feet, in our house at least. The entire time, my body was shaking, trying to produce heat against the cold of the water and the wind and the rain lambasting our bodies.
By 10 a.m., the flood started to subside, by 11 a.m., we went out to survey the damage. Thank goodness our gate held against the water, for it saved us from tons of debris that piled sky high just outside our gate. In fact, as we climbed over the debris to get to the street, a protruding nail from some wooden plank punctured my foot.
Lunchtime and the typhoon has basically passed us by. Leaving a scene that will forever scar the minds of those who lived to tell its tale. Everything outside our village was destroyed. Luckily, all of the ten houses in our village survived Yolanda with a few, including ours, suffering nothing but damaged roofs. Approximately 10 corrugated roofing sheets were flown away by Yolanda. One of my neighbors practically had their entire roof removed!
The same could not be said of other parts of the city such as San Jose, Magallanes Street, and Diit, where practically legions of houses were wiped clean from the face of the earth. Death was everywhere. The national government was nowhere.
People were desperate, hungry, tired, broken and lost in the chaos, destruction and darkness of Yolanda's aftermath. Everything in my house was inundated by the flood, all electronic gadgets were destroyed. The wall of my bathroom was pushed against my neighbors wall by the force of the water that it opened the sides of the wall.
3 p.m., drenched in the flood brought by Yolanda, I walked five kilometers to the city centre to a friend's house to ask for food for me and my father for the night. It was my first meal for the day, November 8.
By 6 p.m., I was walking back to my house. We could not live inside the house for the night, indeed for the next five days so me and my father would sleep in a bus owned by my cousin washed just outside our gate by the flood. The bus floor was muddy but we had to sleep for the night.
WE survived Yolanda on November 8, 2013, but the coming days will test us even more as government inefficiency, corruption and political bickering would claim more lives, hopes and dreams.
Immediately after Yolanda, hospitals and hotels in the city discharged guests and closed shop - for a while until aid organizations and NGO's arrived to take over the relief efforts. One hospital even closed for good and declared bankruptcy. MSF (Medicins sand frontiers) took over its premises a few days later.
In the ensuing days, Tacloban would be gripped by massive looting as the national government idly took time to respond to our plight.
The real tragedy has just begun....
I miss updating this blog, it's been a while since my last entry. Electricity in our place is still down and out, another two months will probably last before we get our power back. Right now I'm in an internet café in downtown Tacloban, one of a few that opened last December. Lucky for this internet café, it's located on the second floor of a concrete building. I spoke with the owner a few minutes back and she said she lost only two computer systems (monitor, CPU, keyboard and the like).
Anyway, having this opportunity to get connected is something I really, really miss - and I relish this moment with the excitement of a three year old getting hold of his favorite candy treat!
Yolanda still permeates many a conversation for a lot of Taclobanons, and I suspect, to a lot of people in Eastern Visayas who had to endure its awesome fury and unimaginable fierceness.
November 8, 2013 will forever be etched in my mind and in the collective memory of those who were directly in Yolanda's path, the people of Eastern Visayas will never forget November 8 or Yolanda or the horrific aftermath that followed.
My house is directly across the street lining Kankabato Bay, a body of water that abuts Tacloban City. It's a moderately sized bay, shallow but has a muddy bed. When I was in elementary, I once witnessed a swimmer who drowned in its waters after apparently getting entangled in its muddy bottom.
I live in a house that is a bungalow, with four rooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens and a two-car garage. It's been my home since I was four years old. I like my house, my neighborhood and my city. My father and I have been living in said house alone since 2009. After my grandmother died, my grandfather on my maternal side decided to live in California, where my mother and two sisters are based. My grandfather loves America, only my grandma's dislike of the California cold prevented him from staying there.
November 4 was a Monday. The previous October 29 I started work as a Legal Researcher in a city law firm. As I entered the office on that day, one of the office personnel blurted out that a supertyphoon is on its way, at that time, Yolanda was way out in the southern Pacific ocean. That night, media reports calculated that Yolanda would make landfall by Friday morning. By Tuesday morning, the office head announced that there would be no office on Wednesday, November 6. That day was as bright as any summer day could be. The sun was out in all its radiant brightness. The sky was sparkling blue with a light smattering of clouds. It was, so to speak, the calm before the storm.
Thursday, November 7 was a rainy day. The sky was overcast with heavy clouds. Rain poured throughout the day and into the wee hours of the next day. I could not sleep the entire night. By 6 a.m., November 8, 2013, I was roused from bed as Yolanda made itself known. The winds were starting to pick up with a ferocity I have never before experienced in a typhoon, then again, Yolanda was not just any typhoon, it was a super-typhoon.
By 6:30 a.m. the winds were pounding our house when the lights finally flamed out. The wind was becoming ferocious by the minute, a few minutes back a classmate texted me hoping that everything will just be fine, and I replied with a hope that indeed everything will just be fine.
7 a.m. and the wind was so strong that it produced a whistling sound unlike any I have heard before. Eerie rumble of sustained hushing sound permeated the skies above. I was truly scared and afraid. The garage roof where our car was parked was being slowly unhinged until it finally collapsed on our car. At that moment I knew the worse is coming, I could only shed a tear as the unknown becomes fearsome as the morning came.
By 7:30 a.m. the main door of our house was suddenly opened free by the rush of what later would be described as tsunami-like storm surge. I shouted at my father to close the door immediately and we rushed to my room, unbeknownst to me, my father went back to his room to save important documents. I waited in the dining hall of my room as the flood slowly rose. I stood on a chair hoping that the water would be at worst knee length - boy how wrong I was as the water slowly reached my chin and over our cupboards and cabinets until finally my father appeared, lips blue and telling me to remove the jalousie windows so we could get out of the house. I was frantic. Floating through the now flooded dining area I calmly tried to remove the first five jalousie's from my windows, the water was barely an inch before it would reach the upper most part of the window sill. I had no choice but to dive under the murky, jet-black, salty water. I alighted on the other side of the window and waited for my father to get out. Instead, he blurted for me to pull him out as he was exhausted. I later learned that he momentarily drowned - hence the blue lips when he first appeared after we got separated.
Outside the house, we clung to the trusses of our roofless house - well at least on the side just outside my bedroom's window. There, we clung for two and a half hours as the flood waters reached 10 feet, in our house at least. The entire time, my body was shaking, trying to produce heat against the cold of the water and the wind and the rain lambasting our bodies.
By 10 a.m., the flood started to subside, by 11 a.m., we went out to survey the damage. Thank goodness our gate held against the water, for it saved us from tons of debris that piled sky high just outside our gate. In fact, as we climbed over the debris to get to the street, a protruding nail from some wooden plank punctured my foot.
Lunchtime and the typhoon has basically passed us by. Leaving a scene that will forever scar the minds of those who lived to tell its tale. Everything outside our village was destroyed. Luckily, all of the ten houses in our village survived Yolanda with a few, including ours, suffering nothing but damaged roofs. Approximately 10 corrugated roofing sheets were flown away by Yolanda. One of my neighbors practically had their entire roof removed!
The same could not be said of other parts of the city such as San Jose, Magallanes Street, and Diit, where practically legions of houses were wiped clean from the face of the earth. Death was everywhere. The national government was nowhere.
People were desperate, hungry, tired, broken and lost in the chaos, destruction and darkness of Yolanda's aftermath. Everything in my house was inundated by the flood, all electronic gadgets were destroyed. The wall of my bathroom was pushed against my neighbors wall by the force of the water that it opened the sides of the wall.
3 p.m., drenched in the flood brought by Yolanda, I walked five kilometers to the city centre to a friend's house to ask for food for me and my father for the night. It was my first meal for the day, November 8.
By 6 p.m., I was walking back to my house. We could not live inside the house for the night, indeed for the next five days so me and my father would sleep in a bus owned by my cousin washed just outside our gate by the flood. The bus floor was muddy but we had to sleep for the night.
WE survived Yolanda on November 8, 2013, but the coming days will test us even more as government inefficiency, corruption and political bickering would claim more lives, hopes and dreams.
Immediately after Yolanda, hospitals and hotels in the city discharged guests and closed shop - for a while until aid organizations and NGO's arrived to take over the relief efforts. One hospital even closed for good and declared bankruptcy. MSF (Medicins sand frontiers) took over its premises a few days later.
In the ensuing days, Tacloban would be gripped by massive looting as the national government idly took time to respond to our plight.
The real tragedy has just begun....
Huwebes, Nobyembre 7, 2013
Yolanda Arrives
As of this writing, Tacloban is dark and cloudy, dreary and wet.
Yolanda has been reported to have made landfall in Samar Island and in a couple of hours will move slowly to Tacloban. Rain has stopped for the moment as people quietly wait for the onslaught of a potentially devastating year end experience.
Electricity was cut off for a few minues about 2 hours ago. As of now, no wind can be noted. A drizzle of rain casts overhead. The calm outside belies the power of Yolanda. Described by CNN as the most powerful storm of 2013.
I sincerely hope residents in low lying, flood prone and mountainside hamlets evacuate now. Meanwhile, we wait.
Yolanda has been reported to have made landfall in Samar Island and in a couple of hours will move slowly to Tacloban. Rain has stopped for the moment as people quietly wait for the onslaught of a potentially devastating year end experience.
Electricity was cut off for a few minues about 2 hours ago. As of now, no wind can be noted. A drizzle of rain casts overhead. The calm outside belies the power of Yolanda. Described by CNN as the most powerful storm of 2013.
I sincerely hope residents in low lying, flood prone and mountainside hamlets evacuate now. Meanwhile, we wait.
Miyerkules, Nobyembre 6, 2013
Panic Day
The news of the approaching supertyphoon Yolanda battering Eastern Visayas has spooked a lot of Taclobanons. Officemates of mine were worried of its potential destructive effects and in preparation for such scenario, we rearranged the furniture in the office, sealed up the windows and disconnected all electrical appliances from their sockets.
The day was however bright and sunny, surreal especially compared with the ferocity of an approaching storm. Indeed, the day was so calm, so sunny, so bright that it reminded me of the calm before a really bad storm, and in fact, Yolanda is one hell of a storm that will probably devastate Eastern Visayas, one of the poorest regions in the Philippines, and possibly displace and even kill hundreds of my regionmates.
The day was however bright and sunny, surreal especially compared with the ferocity of an approaching storm. Indeed, the day was so calm, so sunny, so bright that it reminded me of the calm before a really bad storm, and in fact, Yolanda is one hell of a storm that will probably devastate Eastern Visayas, one of the poorest regions in the Philippines, and possibly displace and even kill hundreds of my regionmates.
Martes, Nobyembre 5, 2013
Super Typhoon Threatening the Philippines
Recent reports early this afternoon indicated a brewing disaster on the horizon. It is estimated that Supertyphoon Yolanda is on the hots for the Philippines and will be making landfall in the next 48 hours. This is probably going to be the typhoon of the decade. I remember years back a news broadcast stating that the Philippines is hit by a super typhoon once in a decade, and I think this one has come to roost.
As early as now, and coupled with the chronic poor disaster preparedness planning of the government, a cornucopia of suffering and chaos that will inevitably result. Once again, we will see the mismanagement of resources, the inability to distribute relief goods and the general inefficiency of government responsiveness to the situation that is going to eventually unfold.
Good luck to the Filipino nation on this one heck of a typhoon.
As early as now, and coupled with the chronic poor disaster preparedness planning of the government, a cornucopia of suffering and chaos that will inevitably result. Once again, we will see the mismanagement of resources, the inability to distribute relief goods and the general inefficiency of government responsiveness to the situation that is going to eventually unfold.
Good luck to the Filipino nation on this one heck of a typhoon.
Lunes, Nobyembre 4, 2013
TV SHOW REVIEW: The Walking Dead S04E04
This was probably for me the most boring and least stimulating episode of the entire run of the Walking Dead...by far. However, there is a caveat, dare I say a saving event, shown with increasing clarity, Carol's transformation from the fearful, abused wife that she was when Rick first met her to a take-charge, no non-sense group player that she has become.
Many fans of the show have commented in support of Rick's expulsion of Carol from the prison lair that the group is presently holed up in. They say Carol deserves to be let go from the group as she has become nothing more than a cold, calculated person. That she has lost a sense of compassion and the like etcetera etcetera, etcetera.
I'll give my take on this, in support actually of Carol's actions. For all that she has experienced, encountered and endured, Carol has come to look upon life as what it should be, a constant calculation between ideals and the practical demands of existence, actually survival, in a world devoid of any semblance of civilization and decorum. More than what most fans of the show will actually admit, life teaches us many things, and sometimes, hard decisions have to be made, in order for survival to be guaranteed. In many circumstances, even Carol's dectractors will do exactly what she has done, and in cases of extreme peril and natural calamities, it is in fact a common phenomenon to secure for one's group, family or tribe a favorable advantage over and above all others. Indeed, in many instances across history, this has in fact become a common feature. While I do not deny that even in such circumstances, some of us actually will do unselfish acts, think of Oskar Schindler, who saved hundreds of German Jews from the genocidal antics of Nazi Germany or Florence Nightingale, whose unselfish service to wounded English soldiers during the Crimean War actually resulted in the birth of the nursing profession, to say that doing what Carol did is inhumane is to say that man is a static creature.
Carol did what she did in the belief that threats to the group must be neutralized as much as possible, and in the earliest possible instance as practicable as can be, and with good reason, the dearth of resources and the uncertainly of daily living has taught Carol to act with prudence and not with emotions. It's sad that Rick expelled her for protecting the group that she has come to love and come to depend upon. What she did in the murder of two of residents of Block C was, when taken within the context of Carol's role and the circumstances of the group, reasonable and in fact understandable.
When faced with similar circumstances, most of us will actually retreat to our ethnic group, then to our tribe, then to our respective families - exactly what Carol did. For after everything has been said and done, she knows too well that sooner or later, the two sickly persons will become a threat to the life and welfare of the entire group, especially the group she has come to know in Herschel's farm, her new family.
Many fans of the show have commented in support of Rick's expulsion of Carol from the prison lair that the group is presently holed up in. They say Carol deserves to be let go from the group as she has become nothing more than a cold, calculated person. That she has lost a sense of compassion and the like etcetera etcetera, etcetera.
I'll give my take on this, in support actually of Carol's actions. For all that she has experienced, encountered and endured, Carol has come to look upon life as what it should be, a constant calculation between ideals and the practical demands of existence, actually survival, in a world devoid of any semblance of civilization and decorum. More than what most fans of the show will actually admit, life teaches us many things, and sometimes, hard decisions have to be made, in order for survival to be guaranteed. In many circumstances, even Carol's dectractors will do exactly what she has done, and in cases of extreme peril and natural calamities, it is in fact a common phenomenon to secure for one's group, family or tribe a favorable advantage over and above all others. Indeed, in many instances across history, this has in fact become a common feature. While I do not deny that even in such circumstances, some of us actually will do unselfish acts, think of Oskar Schindler, who saved hundreds of German Jews from the genocidal antics of Nazi Germany or Florence Nightingale, whose unselfish service to wounded English soldiers during the Crimean War actually resulted in the birth of the nursing profession, to say that doing what Carol did is inhumane is to say that man is a static creature.
Carol did what she did in the belief that threats to the group must be neutralized as much as possible, and in the earliest possible instance as practicable as can be, and with good reason, the dearth of resources and the uncertainly of daily living has taught Carol to act with prudence and not with emotions. It's sad that Rick expelled her for protecting the group that she has come to love and come to depend upon. What she did in the murder of two of residents of Block C was, when taken within the context of Carol's role and the circumstances of the group, reasonable and in fact understandable.
When faced with similar circumstances, most of us will actually retreat to our ethnic group, then to our tribe, then to our respective families - exactly what Carol did. For after everything has been said and done, she knows too well that sooner or later, the two sickly persons will become a threat to the life and welfare of the entire group, especially the group she has come to know in Herschel's farm, her new family.
Linggo, Nobyembre 3, 2013
TV SHOW REVIEW: Dangerous Flights S01E01
While rummaging through Youtube's endless repertoire of videos, I came across a TV show called "Dangerous Flights" that chronicles the adventures of a group of pilots whose job it is to deliver airplanes from the U.S. to worldwide customers. It's actually an adrenaline inducing show with a lot of drama and twists. I was hooked from the moment I saw the first episode.
I cannot wait to finish the entire first season and move on to the second, where a director of the show reportedly died while filming the show. It's not called "Dangerous Flights" for nothing, that's for sure!
I cannot wait to finish the entire first season and move on to the second, where a director of the show reportedly died while filming the show. It's not called "Dangerous Flights" for nothing, that's for sure!
Sabado, Nobyembre 2, 2013
MOVIE REVIEW: Escape Plan 2013
I was surprised I actually liked the movie. It's a new take on prison movies and is presented in a unique and stimulating manner. The action sequences are not so spectacular I would say, but the story line and dramatic flare it provides more than makes up for its lack of spectacular fight scenes.
Sylvester Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a professional dedicated to testing the reliability of prison security and spent his life being sent to prison to test such security, he is then tricked by his partner into going into a prison whose address they did not know and for whom his partner was paid millions to keep him in prison. Eventually though, Breslin escapes after befriending a prisoner Emil Rottmayer played by Arnold Scharzenegger.
Although the movie was starred by big name actors, it's over-all entertainment value is low moderate, in that the action was lethargic at best and the story did not really develop into something mature.
Sylvester Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a professional dedicated to testing the reliability of prison security and spent his life being sent to prison to test such security, he is then tricked by his partner into going into a prison whose address they did not know and for whom his partner was paid millions to keep him in prison. Eventually though, Breslin escapes after befriending a prisoner Emil Rottmayer played by Arnold Scharzenegger.
Although the movie was starred by big name actors, it's over-all entertainment value is low moderate, in that the action was lethargic at best and the story did not really develop into something mature.
Biyernes, Nobyembre 1, 2013
Remembering the Dead
Today millions of Filipinos flock to cemeteries to remember their beloved dead. This occasion marks not only a time of reminiscing our ancestors, it is also the time were families gather and share time and memories. Ironic in that this day marks a celebration of life as it is about the dead. It is a time families actually recognize the finitude of life, the scarcity of time and the preciousness of the moment.
Some Filipinos are known to sleep overnight on the graves and in the mausoleums of their families. Such commitment to our forebears is a manifestation of the Filipino propensity for family.
A memorable day of remembrance for the dearly departed for all Filipinos!
Some Filipinos are known to sleep overnight on the graves and in the mausoleums of their families. Such commitment to our forebears is a manifestation of the Filipino propensity for family.
A memorable day of remembrance for the dearly departed for all Filipinos!
Huwebes, Oktubre 31, 2013
Happy Halloween!!!
Tonight will be a night of revelry for many people. Halloween parties will be held across the Philippines. I am just piqued by the recent rantings of the Catholic Church discouraging Filipinos from donning scary costumes. Instead, the Church wants Filipinos to wear saintly costumes. For one, it is the church who invented the concept of evil to scare the faithful the hell out of thinking independently and blindly follow its so-called "guidance."
Anyway, Filipinos should celebrate Halloween the way they deem proper and enjoyable, not listen to the controlling 'advice' of a church that once sanctioned the murder of innocent men and women for mere suspicion of being a witch, in other words, for thinking outside the dogma of church accepted beliefs. So yeah people, go ahead and wear the scariest costume you can find and hopefully, scare the clergy out of its centuries old hypocritical slumber, maybe then, they would realize that in today's milieu, thinking is actually valued more than hopeful beliefs based on what Christopher Hitchen's would describe as "plagiarism of a plagiarism, delusion of a delusion based on a few non-events..."
Anyway, Filipinos should celebrate Halloween the way they deem proper and enjoyable, not listen to the controlling 'advice' of a church that once sanctioned the murder of innocent men and women for mere suspicion of being a witch, in other words, for thinking outside the dogma of church accepted beliefs. So yeah people, go ahead and wear the scariest costume you can find and hopefully, scare the clergy out of its centuries old hypocritical slumber, maybe then, they would realize that in today's milieu, thinking is actually valued more than hopeful beliefs based on what Christopher Hitchen's would describe as "plagiarism of a plagiarism, delusion of a delusion based on a few non-events..."
Miyerkules, Oktubre 30, 2013
First Day in New Job
Today I started out in my new job as a legal researcher in a law firm. I was immediately drafted to formulate a letter of complaint to the Chairman of the Board of Election Teller in a barangay in Dulag, Leyte for stopping the counting of vote for the sole reason that some voters wrote the middle name of a candidate instead of the full name. The BET's were probably coaxed into suspending the counting after being intimidated by powerful candidates. Obviously, the act was grossly illegal.
In addition, I was also drafted to make decisionary pleadings about a land dispute. It was exciting and difficult at first but somehow I made it through page 6, hoping to finish the document tomorrow.
As far as I can tell as of today, I think I will enjoy the workplace. I just don't know how the entire thing plays out when classes start. Let's see....
In addition, I was also drafted to make decisionary pleadings about a land dispute. It was exciting and difficult at first but somehow I made it through page 6, hoping to finish the document tomorrow.
As far as I can tell as of today, I think I will enjoy the workplace. I just don't know how the entire thing plays out when classes start. Let's see....
Mag-subscribe sa:
Mga Post (Atom)