I lost interest in politics for a time. I could not find my political bearings right after the elections. It had seemed as if we were going through one political exercise after another without any light at the end of the tunnel. So after electing PNoy what’s next? Sure the hello Garci was going to become history but then there are still things to be ironed out, truths to be uncovered and punishments to be meted out to the many crimes against the people. Everything seemed so gargantuan that starting from anywhere was like a shot in the dark. We could shoot down the issues one by one but new ones crop up.
So here we are, crawling, creeping through with the new administration, which has a lot of new faces except for a few known to have been part of the non-governmental organizational movement. But where are we really in? Are we moving on or are we stepping back and laying the groundwork for another lackadaisical regime to repeat the mistakes of the past, or to just maintain the status quo and hope for the changes to happen, come what may?
As citizens of this country, I believe that we must creatively seek what we can do to strengthen our democratic processes. That should be our main contribution, not any kind of movement that will topple this regime into oblivion. Rather we must find ways and means to make meaningful acts that will redound to the bright future of all generations.
I believe that we must not preach cynicism nor frustration among the people, but rather help them shape values that will be helpful to them and to the country. We can share with them our own ways of moving about to make changes in our lives and society. We can start with doing meditation, which in a way makes us start with a blank mind and then go on to concentrate on breathing in and out.
Then we must make them dig deep into their past and find out what strengths their parents and grandparents have from which they can learn and possibly ape in order to face their present lives.
Thirdly, we can share with them artistic skills – photography, arts and crafts, and even filmmaking in order to make them value cultural work, artworks, which bring out our greatest fears, urges and dreams of a better life.
Lastly, or so at this time, let us create prayers that they can recite in solitude or with others and which will inspire them to continue living, to seek spiritual guidance as they face life’s ups and downs. We need to emphasize to them to always bear in mind that they do not live alone, that the unexamined life is not worth living as Socrates had said, and always to hold on to a dream which they could work for to realize no matter what the odds are.
(This write-up came about because of a news itemabout two days ago that a 15-year old girl in Negros Occ. committed suicide after her grade in Math went down to 78% after reaching the 90's. She had been living with her grandparents.)
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Dear Folks, May I present to you the song, Dreams of Green, the hymn for the UP Biology Homecoming on January 8, 2011 at the UP Bahay ng Alumni with melody composed by Gloria Quitco and lyrics by yours truly. So sorry that I cannot give you the melody now because the file which we recorded got corrupted. But once I am able to save it well, I will send it through the You Tube. Here it goes:
Let's gather round the earth
Fill her with love and care
Let every butterly and deer
Roam free in the verdant hills.
Let's feed the birds and fish
As the mighty oceans roar
While cradling songs of the earth
Winds carry our dreams of green.
Come, come, UP IB alumni
We are the bearers of lore
For every moment we ask, we learn, we impart
Grace and legacy to our race
We are the friends of the earth
We are lovers of life
For it's in living we do love
And it's in loving we are born, to dream, to act and be reborn.
Come, come, UP IB alumni
We are the bearers of lore
For every moment we ask, we learn, we impart
Grace and legacy to our race.
Let's gather round the earth
Fill her with love and care
Let every butterly and deer
Roam free in the verdant hills.
Let's feed the birds and fish
As the mighty oceans roar
While cradling songs of the earth
Winds carry our dreams of green.
Come, come, UP IB alumni
We are the bearers of lore
For every moment we ask, we learn, we impart
Grace and legacy to our race
We are the friends of the earth
We are lovers of life
For it's in living we do love
And it's in loving we are born, to dream, to act and be reborn.
Come, come, UP IB alumni
We are the bearers of lore
For every moment we ask, we learn, we impart
Grace and legacy to our race.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
PHILIPPINE UPDATES
PNoy's hundred honeymoon days is over. It's time to get our microscopes and combs, to remove all the insects and lice that lie beneath the government veneer of invincibility.
Well, I would like to start with the commuter's plight.
1. Have you ever seen the sidewalk for students at Katipunan Avenue (the seat of exclusive schools for the children of the rich and famous -- Ateneo, Miriam, UP, among others)that is only 1 foot in width? That lies at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Katipunan.
2. Then let's go underneath the bus stop at Ortigas-Edsa flyover. Once you get down, you will pass through a very narrow (as in 2 feet wide -- hey how wide is a Filipino individual, eh?) path with steel grills on your left and right, where you will have to climb the staircase to cross from the right side of EDSA over to Robinson's Galleria.
3. Meanwhile, at Philcoa, where the jeeps going to UP are, you will alight from your bus which comes from Quiapo, in front of the Jollibee and Goldilocks restaurants. There you will have to look right and look intently because sometimes a vehicle could be backing up which could run over your foot, as what happened to me last year. (The driver sent a bogus individual to stand in place of him, this Ronnie Aquino who hails from a posh subdivision at Commonwealth Avenue), who claimed that he ran over my foot, but then disappeared suddenly and did not attend the hearing anymore. I complained to the Judge of Branch __ at Quezon City, but nothing happened.)
4. At North Edsa where you find the Trinoma, and the SM North Edsa, I don't understand anymore the urban jungle that the MMDA created when it was still under B Fernando. The pedestrians getting off the jeep will have to pass through a very narrow path (about 1.5 feet wide), then climb the staircase and then go down again to get to the street nearby where they can get a ride going to UP, or to Project 6.
5. If you alight from the Metrorail Transit at the end of Baclaran, here you will see the masses of people, about ten in a row and ten columns long, passing through a staircase that will go through steel bridges.
If you want to talk of aesthetics, better postpone for ten moons in the next decades, Folks. There is no such thing here in MetroManila.
The skyway going to Southern Luzon is so low, that you cannot possibly enjoy driving nor riding a vehicle anymore. All you see are dark roads, and that piece of sky which used to be visible is no longer there.
Folks, what are we saying here? The most oppressed people in the cities are the pedestrians.
This is why I have always insisted that all government officials should use three days in a week to taste the lives of ordinary folks, instead of riding their sleek vehicles or the government vehicles which immunize them from the lugubrious experiences of the people.
Well, I would like to start with the commuter's plight.
1. Have you ever seen the sidewalk for students at Katipunan Avenue (the seat of exclusive schools for the children of the rich and famous -- Ateneo, Miriam, UP, among others)that is only 1 foot in width? That lies at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Katipunan.
2. Then let's go underneath the bus stop at Ortigas-Edsa flyover. Once you get down, you will pass through a very narrow (as in 2 feet wide -- hey how wide is a Filipino individual, eh?) path with steel grills on your left and right, where you will have to climb the staircase to cross from the right side of EDSA over to Robinson's Galleria.
3. Meanwhile, at Philcoa, where the jeeps going to UP are, you will alight from your bus which comes from Quiapo, in front of the Jollibee and Goldilocks restaurants. There you will have to look right and look intently because sometimes a vehicle could be backing up which could run over your foot, as what happened to me last year. (The driver sent a bogus individual to stand in place of him, this Ronnie Aquino who hails from a posh subdivision at Commonwealth Avenue), who claimed that he ran over my foot, but then disappeared suddenly and did not attend the hearing anymore. I complained to the Judge of Branch __ at Quezon City, but nothing happened.)
4. At North Edsa where you find the Trinoma, and the SM North Edsa, I don't understand anymore the urban jungle that the MMDA created when it was still under B Fernando. The pedestrians getting off the jeep will have to pass through a very narrow path (about 1.5 feet wide), then climb the staircase and then go down again to get to the street nearby where they can get a ride going to UP, or to Project 6.
5. If you alight from the Metrorail Transit at the end of Baclaran, here you will see the masses of people, about ten in a row and ten columns long, passing through a staircase that will go through steel bridges.
If you want to talk of aesthetics, better postpone for ten moons in the next decades, Folks. There is no such thing here in MetroManila.
The skyway going to Southern Luzon is so low, that you cannot possibly enjoy driving nor riding a vehicle anymore. All you see are dark roads, and that piece of sky which used to be visible is no longer there.
Folks, what are we saying here? The most oppressed people in the cities are the pedestrians.
This is why I have always insisted that all government officials should use three days in a week to taste the lives of ordinary folks, instead of riding their sleek vehicles or the government vehicles which immunize them from the lugubrious experiences of the people.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
HOW MUCH MORE?
NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: Our elections will never occur properly as long as the composition of the Commission of Elections is not overhauled. Why the need for overhaul of its staff and officials? This is because for many decades now it has not been able to give us an honest election, an honest election of leaders who will truly serve the country. It was only this May 2010 that we were able to see a bit of credibility (hopefully) after the elected officials most of them anyhow, show sensitivity to the plight of our long-burdened brothers and sisters.
Still the issue persists that the next elections will not be as smooth, as the last barangay elections have shown – 2,000+ barangays were not able to vote on the assigned date, a clear case of disenfranchisement as the people in those barangays should have voted exactly on the designated date for elections.
The delay is an abnormal operation and should be investigated – not because certain departments did not function as decreed but that the Comelec failed to put its foot down and to order those responsible for printing, distribution and sending of ballots to the regions to do everything with dispatch.
And so what is the problem here? Managerial of course. The image, the capability of the Comelec is heavily questionable at this point. Clearly, it does not have the managerial expertise to conduct elections. Instead it is immersed in political gimmickry, manipulation and or vulnerability to vultures ready to pay up to high heavens just to be able to get elected.
Hence, our concern as citizens of this country is to insist that the Comelec have an overhaul – let us subject it to management audit, check whether the people there are properly appointed, and have credentials appropriate to the positions they are occupying. I think that we have labored too much already from this very inept bureaucratic organization whose achievements fall below the international standards for a government agency that takes charge of facilitating the selection of leaders of the country.
How much more need we suffer?
Still the issue persists that the next elections will not be as smooth, as the last barangay elections have shown – 2,000+ barangays were not able to vote on the assigned date, a clear case of disenfranchisement as the people in those barangays should have voted exactly on the designated date for elections.
The delay is an abnormal operation and should be investigated – not because certain departments did not function as decreed but that the Comelec failed to put its foot down and to order those responsible for printing, distribution and sending of ballots to the regions to do everything with dispatch.
And so what is the problem here? Managerial of course. The image, the capability of the Comelec is heavily questionable at this point. Clearly, it does not have the managerial expertise to conduct elections. Instead it is immersed in political gimmickry, manipulation and or vulnerability to vultures ready to pay up to high heavens just to be able to get elected.
Hence, our concern as citizens of this country is to insist that the Comelec have an overhaul – let us subject it to management audit, check whether the people there are properly appointed, and have credentials appropriate to the positions they are occupying. I think that we have labored too much already from this very inept bureaucratic organization whose achievements fall below the international standards for a government agency that takes charge of facilitating the selection of leaders of the country.
How much more need we suffer?
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