DILG SECRETARY ISMAEL SUENO, KINDLY MAKE US MORE MOBILE

What is mobility? it is that capacity to move about, to be always on the go. without any hindrance. It is being able to shift one's location in a jiffy. 

The MRT nor the LRT, nor the PNR does not provide that mobility. We are hampered by their unchanged or updated old and dilapidate parts as well as the lack of spare parts to replace them. When one is dealing with the government, we can almost always expect the delays in transporting people, goods or services through the use  of these transport facilities. 

Since we cannot solve this problem on a citywide nor a national scale, let us concentrate on the barangay. Each barangay has more than a kilometer in diameter. For example, in our barangay, it takes me 500 steps from our house to that point where I can get a public transport. That is about 15 minutes of walking briskly. If I do it lackadasically, I could reach the loading point in 700 steps. 

Meanwhile, our barangay has many shutttle jeeps that ferry officers to deliver, pick up a message, etcetera. I tried hailing one but the driver was in a hurry to go back to the office, which is very near the loading point. The jeep can carry 14 passengers and the driver had only one passenger in front. I did not bother about it because I am used to psyching myself up -- "God does not close one door without opening another," I had told myself. 

Seriously though now, I would propose to the new DILG Secretary to make each barangay provide a shuttle jeep that would carry residents from one point to the other, around the place. Ayala Center has those e-jeepneys which go around it for a fare of P8.00 and 20% less for senior citizens. Ateneo de Manila University in Katipunan provides a shuttle also and for free. 

I don't see the reason why the barangay cannot provide that facility. We have many senior citizens I am sure who want to be able to go to the commerial centers which are found just near the barangay. Yet are too hard up to afford the fares. 

Right now, tricycles are the main transport vehicle. Each ride to the end of the barangay where one can get a ride to Quiapo, to Cubao, or to Divisoria, charge P20 oer oerson. Back to the house that would be another P20.00 So all in all in a day's time, we are spending P40 per day x thirty days and that would amount to P1,200.00 per month. In a year's time, that would be P12,000.00 + 2,400 or P14,400.00. wow! That is already a big sum which we could use to buy us a meal for 144 days or four months at P100 per meal, that is if you have a big meal only once a day. 

The problem is that it is the Quezon City Council which is in control of the fares that the tricycles charge and kahit na magngangawa kami sa barangay office, walang mangyayari pa rin.

And so here is what our first request to the DILG Secretary Ismael Sueno, kindly make us more mobile in our barangay, sans expensive transport fares or a free or almost free shuttle jeep. 

A blessed day to you and your new government family. 

WHAT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS

  THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION 

       STATE POLICY Section 17

   The State shall give priority to education, 

science, technology, 


               ARTS, CULTURE

and sports to foster patriotism, nationalism, 

accelerate social progress and promote total 

liberation and development. 

Mabini's  Programa Constitucional dela Republica Filipina 
(The Constitutional Program of the Philippine Republic, 1898) 
became instrumental in the drafting of what would eventually
be known as the Malolos Constitution.

ARE CULTURE AND THE ARTS IN THE AGENDA?

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Since the nienties, I have been going to the Open Air Auditorium in Luneta and most of the time, I come out thrilled by the presentations there. Tonight, July 25, I watched the performance after 3 decades of existence of the Majestic Band of Muntinglupa City. Composed of more than 40 instrumentalists, with a tenor to boot, the Band boasts of the Bacarra children of Emmanuel Bacarra, founder of the Band way back in 1993, as conductors,  Michael and Mae very able musicians. Mae follows the footsteps of Tita King who also conducted there before. 

I want to focus on the interaction of the performers with the audience. The sequence of the program is that a host talks about it as a whole, and then introduces the Band. After that, a series of musical presentation ensues. I think that is all right if your audience are into music, either as students or faculty of music, or musicians themselves.

But the audience at Luneta are mostly promenaders, young and elderly alike, lovers, students hanging out with friends, who are hardly the type who could care less if the performance is excellent or not, so long as they can be entertained. Of course there are also student-friends of the instrumentalists who could be knowledgeable about music.

Anyway, the Band is very good, based on my understanding of music, as it played pop and standard pieces except for that by Tschaikowsky. I particularly liked the theme of Mission Impossible which Michael Rex O. Bacarra conducted. The playing gave me goosepimples as it started with that familiar intro of Tom Cruise's films. What makes the performed piece highly praiseworthy is that all the sections of the Band could be heard clearly. You could distinguish which section – whether reed, or brass, or percussion, are playing. There was no instance at all of a cacophony of sounds that is usually the characteristic when an ordinary orchestra performs. Michael was able to capture the passionate rendering of the melody, turning it into a suspenseful and intriguing display of interplay of notes, timing and dynamics.

I could only surmise that because now, as the host had introduced him, he is based in the Middle East and performs at posh hotels and probably in front of royalties, he has been challenged to hone his skills while experiencing that fast-paced life in the urbanized country. He was able to project the atmosphere of the western world which the musical piece evokes. And probably also, he has been a witness to how that other part of the world exists and so he is able to make the Band evoke that very well.

Someone said that is also because the score is good. But there are conductors who have mangled a beautiful score of Tschaikowsky also.

Then when Michael conducted the Mambo beats, a series of pieces with such a tempo, the audience felt like dancing with the lilting music. I felt like doing the same and so just moved a little bit in my seat.

How about the attempt to make the audience absorb the meaning of the music? I think the host, or the conductor also must relate the contents of the piece he or she will play with the audience. How is this? For example, that piece containing all the Rey Valera compositions could be introduced as particular familiar pieces that we hear with singers. We never expected that they, all sewn into one, could turn out to sound like a classical piece being played by a huge orchestra.

Well, as I listened and watched I also noticed that the clarinet, after all could also sound like the violin. And I have been told by a percussionist whose name I forgot to ask, that usually that is what musicians who transpose an orchestral piece for the band-- the clarinets are made to play the violin parts.

This is the kind of knowledge that I want the audience to get also, not just the sounds of the melodies on stage. Rather, our people's knowledge of music could go up a notch higher instead of just being an accidental experience of a piece.

Maybe the National Parks Development Committee could include in their budget for next year, a provision of a music scriptwriter who would be able to bring out those nuggets of musical wisdom that would deepen our people's understanding and appreciation of not only Band music, but all other types of group performances. When that is done, I am sure our people would turn creative and thus be able to transcend their economic problems. Most of the time, poverty pushes people to retreat to escapist media musical materials which focus on unchallenging themes.

That was the staged performance that I had the chance to see. But earlier this week, I again watched a Jazz Band performance of Blood Spirit Drums headed by Royal Hartigan. The group performed at the Philippine Women's University under the auspices of the US Embassy. Not only did they perform, but they also taught the audience how to dance and sing the way the Africans of Ghana sang their traditional songs. And so, there was swaying of hips, shuffling the feet and chanting, which later on turned into an “imitate my pose” type.

In its first performance, at the beginning of the program, the Jazz Band had a Kalinga gangsa musical piece performed by music students and faculty then gradually the different instruments of set of drums, bass, saxophone and then electronic keyboard mixed into the aural space. I did not like that so much as the ending piece of the group, wherein, the kulintang was the intro and the same gradual entry of the different musical instruments happened. Then towards the end, they also receded into silence until you could only hear the kulintang and the cymbals and drums.

There was more recognition of each other's instruments in that latter part which made the performance almost seem meditative as the melody was repetitive.

I understand the group will perform at the Cultural Center of the Philippines as part of the Jazz Festival opening this coming week.

What does music play in our national life? It is a different language – tones, rhythm, etcetera. Why delve into them? As one of the Jazz Band group said, it is a creative expression in aural space. Actually, even in tribal settings, music is the centerpiece of attention when community people gather together either to celebrate or rue the demise of a tribal mate, or even just to discuss a political issue as the killing of a member of theirs by another tribe, as what I had witnessed in Bugnay, Kalinga when I went there in 1979 and produced “Vochong” a Super 8mm film documentary under the sponsorship of the Ecumenical Center for Development then under Rev. Cesar Taguba. That film went the rounds of the communities in the country as well as in the key cities of Amsterdam, London, and Oberhausen, Germany where I attended film festivals. It came with a slide presentation of the stand of the Kalinga people against the Chico River Hydroelectric Project of the Marcos Government aimed at building dams to generate electricity for the provinces up north -- the Ilocos region and Cagayan. Ilocos is Marcos "country" while Cagayan is of Enrile -- secretary of defense at the time. Luckily, it was scuttled because of the protests which reached high levels, nationally and internationally. 

You see Folks, I think we are quite delayed in putting emphasis on arts and culture in our country. We have had no president, after the People Power phenomenon, who really appreciated them and poured resources so that we could come up with many pieces that we could distribute in the country and abroad for the viewing of our Kababayan OFW who need to connect with our culture more tightly so that they would not be pulled to become TNT or toss their passports and embrace another nationality. The very little budget given to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is so minuscule that we ask, how many pieces are they able to come up with whent there are 101 million people, and it would be a huge assumption if we would say that ten percent of that asartists and performers. Why assumption? Because once you go from province to province, there are folksong guitarists and singers, folkdancers, woodcarvers, even painters and other artists who want to express themselves. In Metromanila, we have classical artists -- in music, dance, and theatre. There are plenty of genres to speak of when talking about arts and culture here. 

Then of course, the budget has to cover all the provinces. 

I think the main reason why the drug problem has persisted is because of that lack of resources to express oneself and which is used as a chance to make a quick buck by drug lords. So the drug users tend to escape by inhaling or getting themselves injected with illegal drugs. Drug users are helpless individuals who have lost their will to live according to their talents and geniuses beause of that lack of strong or inadequate attention to that part of our national life – culture.

And so, I hope that with the new adminsitration, we could have a decent position for culture and the arts in the list of priorities so that our artists need not be looking so pitiful as to always be scouring for private sponsors who would look more kindly on their plight and provide them that much needed support. In fact, my idea is that every barangay should have its own musical group, not just basketball teams all the time, a regular poetry session, a singing contest for original songs, a drama group, a painting and sculpture group, as well as handicraft producers.

It is time that the government provide that much-needed boost to induce the release of our people's creative energies and usher in a more beautiful Philippines for ourselves and others. Our Constitution shows a very supportive provision for artists. 

Note about the picture: An as yet unidentified frieze depicting the Muses.

http://www.paleothea.com/Gallery/Muses.html

 Kalliope (Calliope), epic poetry; Kleio (Clio), history; Ourania (Urania), astronomy; Thaleia (Thalia), comedy; Melpomene, tragedy; Polymnia (Polyhymnia), religious hymns; Erato, erotic poetry; Euterpe, lyric poetry; and Terpsikhore (Terpsichore), choral song and dance.

ARE CULTURE AND THE ARTS IN THE AGENDA?

By Wilhelmina S. Orozco

Since the nienties, I have been going to the Open Air Auditorium in Luneta and most of the time, I come out thrilled by the presentations there. Tonight, July 25, I watched the performance after 3 decades of existence of the Majestic Band of Muntinglupa City. Composed of more than 40 instrumentalists, with a tenor to boot, the Band boasts of the Bacarra children of Emmanuel Bacarra, founder of the Band way back in 1993, as conductors,  Michael and Mae very able musicians. Mae follows the footsteps of Tita King who also conducted there before. 

I want to focus on the interaction of the performers with the audience. The sequence of the program is that a host talks about it as a whole, and then introduces the Band. After that, a series of musical presentation ensues. I think that is all right if your audience are into music, either as students or faculty of music, or musicians themselves.

But the audience at Luneta are mostly promenaders, young and elderly alike, lovers, students hanging out with friends, who are hardly the type who could care less if the performance is excellent or not, so long as they can be entertained. Of course there are also student-friends of the instrumentalists who could be knowledgeable about music.

Anyway, the Band is very good, based on my understanding of music, as it played pop and standard pieces except for that by Tschaikowsky. I particularly liked the theme of Mission Impossible which Michael Rex O. Bacarra conducted. The playing gave me goosepimples as it started with that familiar intro of Tom Cruise's films. What makes the performed piece highly praiseworthy is that all the sections of the Band could be heard clearly. You could distinguish which section – whether reed, or brass, or percussion, are playing. There was no instance at all of a cacophony of sounds that is usually the characteristic when an ordinary orchestra performs. Michael was able to capture the passionate rendering of the melody, turning it into a suspenseful and intriguing display of interplay of notes, timing and dynamics.

I could only surmise that because now, as the host had introduced him, he is based in the Middle East and performs at posh hotels and probably in front of royalties, he has been challenged to hone his skills while experiencing that fast-paced life in the urbanized country. He was able to project the atmosphere of the western world which the musical piece evokes. And probably also, he has been a witness to how that other part of the world exists and so he is able to make the Band evoke that very well.

Someone said that is also because the score is good. But there are conductors who have mangled a beautiful score of Tschaikowsky also.

Then when Michael conducted the Mambo beats, a series of pieces with such a tempo, the audience felt like dancing with the lilting music. I felt like doing the same and so just moved a little bit in my seat.

How about the attempt to make the audience absorb the meaning of the music? I think the host, or the conductor also must relate the contents of the piece he or she will play with the audience. How is this? For example, that piece containing all the Rey Valera compositions could be introduced as particular familiar pieces that we hear with singers. We never expected that they, all sewn into one, could turn out to sound like a classical piece being played by a huge orchestra.

Well, as I listened and watched I also noticed that the clarinet, after all could also sound like the violin. And I have been told by a percussionist whose name I forgot to ask, that usually that is what musicians who transpose an orchestral piece for the band-- the clarinets are made to play the violin parts.

This is the kind of knowledge that I want the audience to get also, not just the sounds of the melodies on stage. Rather, our people's knowledge of music could go up a notch higher instead of just being an accidental experience of a piece.

Maybe the National Parks Development Committee could include in their budget for next year, a provision of a music scriptwriter who would be able to bring out those nuggets of musical wisdom that would deepen our people's understanding and appreciation of not only Band music, but all other types of group performances. When that is done, I am sure our people would turn creative and thus be able to transcend their economic problems. Most of the time poverty pushes people to retreat to escapist media musical materials which focus on unchallenging themes.

That was the staged performance that I had the chance to see. But earlier this week, I again watched a Jazz Band performance of Blood Spirit Drums headed by Royal Hartigan. The group performed at the Philippine Women's University under the auspices of the US Embassy. Not only did they perform, but they also taught the audience how to dance and sing the way the Africans of Ghana sang their traditional songs. And so, there was swaying of hips, shuffling the feet and chanting, which later on turned into an “imitate my pose” type.

In its first performance, at the beginning of the program, the Jazz Band had a Kalinga gangsa musical piece performed by sic music students and faculty then gradually the different instruments of set of drums, bass, saxophone and then electronic keyboard mixed into the aural space. I did not like that so much as the ending piece of the group, wherein, the kulintang was the intro and the same gradual entry of the different musical instruments happened. Then towards the end, they also receded into silence until you could only hear the kulintang and the cymbals and drums.

There was more recognition of each other's instruments in that latter part which made the performance almost seem meditative as the melody was repetitive.

I understand the group will perform at the Cultural Center of the Philippines as part of the Jazz Festival opening this coming week.

What does music play in our national life? It is a different language – tones, rhythm, etcetera. Why delve into them? As one of the Jazz Band group said, it is a creative expression in aural space. Actually, even in tribal settings, music is the centerpiece of attention when community people gather together either to celebrate or rue the demise of a tribal mate, or even just to discuss a political issue as the killing of a member of theirs by another tribe, as what I had witnessed in Bugnay, Kalinga when I went there in 1979 and produced “Vochong” a Super 8mm film documentary under the sponsorship of the Ecumenical Center for Development then under Rev. Cesar Taguba. That film went the rounds of the communites in the country as well as in the key cities of Amsterdam, London, and Oberhausen, Germany where I attended film festivals. It came with a slide presentation of the stand of the Kalinga people against the Chico River Hydroelectric Project of the Marcos Government aimed at building dams to generate electricity for the provinces up north -- the Ilocos region and Cagayan. Luckily, it was scuttled because of the protests which reached high leves, nationally and internationally. 

You see Folks, I think we are quite delayed in putting emphasis on arts and culture in our country. We have had no president, after the People Power phenomenon, who really appreciated them and poured resources so that we could come up with many pieces that we could distribute in the country and abroad for the viewing of our Kababayan OFW who need to connect with our culture more tightly so that they would not be pulled to become TNT or toss their passports and embrace another nationality. The very little budget given to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts is so minuscule that we ask, how many pieces are they able to come up with whent there are 101 million people, and it would be a huge assumption if we would say that ten percent of that asartists and performers. Why assumption? Because once you go from province to province, there are folksong guitarists and singers, folkdancers, woodcarvers, even painters and other artists who want to express themselves. In Metromanila, we have classical artists -- in music, dance, and theatre. There are plenty of genres to speak of when talking about arts and culture here. 

Then of course, the budget has to cover all the provinces. 

I think the main reason why the drug problem has persisted is because of that lack of resources to express oneself and which is used as a chance to make a quick buck by drug lords. So the drug users tend to escape by inhaling or getting themselves injected with illegal drugs. Drug users are helpless individuals who have lost their will to live according to their talents and geniuses beause of that lack of strong or inadequate attention to that part of our national life – culture.

And so, I hope that with the new adminsitration, we could have a decent position for culture and the arts in the list of priorities so that our artists need not be looking so pitiful as to always be scouring for private sponsors who would look more kindly on their plight and provide them that much needed support. In fact, my idea is that every barangay should have its own musical group, not just basketball teams all the time, a regular poetry session, a singing contest for original songs, a drama group, a painting and sculpture group, as well as handicraft producers.

It is time that the government provide that much-needed boost to induce the release of our people's creative energies and usher in a more beautiful Philippines for ourselves and others. Our Constitution shows a very supportive provision for artists. 

Note about the picture: An as yet unidentified frieze depicting the Muses.

http://www.paleothea.com/Gallery/Muses.html

DISPUTED SEA SPACE IS OURS

CHINA, THE SEA BULLY

Should we bomb the Chinese out of the Scarborough Shoal?

That would be the biggest mistake ever because it would start a huge war between the Philippines and China; between the USA and China; between Taiwan and the Philippines; between Macau and the Philippines. And hopefully we could be asssured that the Chinese in the Philippines would be siding with the Filipino people versus China.

That's hardly what we want at this time this war. We still have many hopes and dreams of living a longer life, enjoying its up and downs with our families, our significant others, our kababayan who are reeling from the many decades of misgovernance till Pres. Duterte whose pronouncements every day center on cleaning up this government. .

Now we are seeing a different world, with different perspectives of existing; that after all we could still look forward to a happy life. What is happiness? Ay, there's the great discussion.

What is happiness for the Chinese?

Actually the Chinese we are looking at do not have an ounce of the Marxist outlook of Mao Ze Dong. They are hardly communists that we would call based on our understanding of communism during the 60's. The Marxists, or Maoists then believed in communal possession of properties; of the leadership of the proletariat and the farmers and all other poor people. They believed, the Maoists, that only an armed struggle would allow them to attain that Utopia where everybody, or almost everybody is happy.

The masses of workers and farmers were iconized, idealized, so much so that during the Cultural Revolution of the 60's, the intellectuals and artists – including musical composers were made to go to the rural areas to serve them, to work and experience their sufferings with them though some of the former regretted having been sent there.

Well the treatment of the Filipino fisherfolks by the Chinese navy hardly exhibits an ounce of sympathy for the plight of the poor. Rather, the Chinese of today, those who are leading the group who have taken over the Shoal, are what are called Communist Government Bureaucrats but not Communists. Their economic policies allow for exploitation of private individuals of the resources, of establishing huge multi-billion companies that would give enough wealth to China. However, it has retained the government structure set up as Communist, minus the original tenets of the ideology. So there are plenty of leaders who rule for life, dictating what should be done economically. That is indeed very far from the democratic way of life we are now experiencing in the country.

In fact, I was reading the biography of Xi Jian Ping and discerned that the Chinese period he lived in, since 1953, when he was born, do not run parallel at all to Philippine history. Whereas our history walked the path to greater and stronger democracy (until Marcos came along who set up martial law), China went the way of chopping off the forces of liberalism through its Cultural Revolution of the 60's. And when Mao Ze Dong died after that, the capitalist forces came in which has created the quick development of the industries of China, the building of large military warfare machinery which are now being used against the Philippines in the Shoal. China is now a world power to contend with.

But the left in the country should not be deceived by the name of China who still carries the word “communist” only because it has the semblance of a communist party but in praxis it is hardly what we would call communist, especially in their treatment of the democratic student movement in Hong Kong, the Third World forces, the small fisherfolks who have a difficult time eking out a living now after the Chinese military forces grabbed that Shoal from us and have prevented any entry of foreigners in the area.

Why does wealth blind people to acquire too much wealth to the point of denying others the right to live? Did Marxism draw the Chinese to that direction? But then Vietnam is communist and yet it is giving us that high moral support, as it is a contender also in that area. The victory of the Philippines in the International Tribunal declaring that China does not have any ounce of valid ownership of the waters there has been a source of pride of us in the whole planet, except Macau and Taiwan, and of course China.

How do we solve the big panda problem? My idea is

If our position as decided upon would be upheld in any negotiations with China, we must enter into a discussion with our strong position as defined by the International Arbitration Center. Otherwise, let us gather all the countries of the world to discuss economic sanctions that could be imposed on countries that ignore, reject and dismiss resolutions, covenants, and decisions among others, that have been issued by and adhered to globally.

By doing this, we are strengthening the standing of the United Nations as the last arbiter of conflicts and therefore its acts should be respected and obeyed by signatories to the UN Convention. Wealth and power in this world need not be too glorified as to make a county blind to very humane problems as hunger, thirst, and struggles for existence itself whether internal or external to a country.

By the way, we can also have a fluvial parade around the Scarborough Shoal, with all the fishing folks and their bancas surrounding it while all the Philippine Navy ships are on standby. How is that for a colorful entry into the world politics and confronting the big sea bully?

COLLECTIVE MEDIA HEROES AND HEROINES, BETTER ALIVE!

The killing and shooting of media practitioners will not stop so long as our people are not committed to respecting democracy. 

At the same time, it is  difficult for our colleagues not to practice being truthful and committed to public service as these are the tenets we go by. 

But there is one thing that we can do to stop one of our colleagues being hunted down. Let us have pooled editorials, or pooled opinions when we are up against a seemingly "invincible enemy." Let us pause playing singly, but rather collectively. 

We earn the accolades collectively when our efforts are successful. I think that is better than being a dead hero or heroine, don't you think?

At least, we shall be able to make those neurotic and greedy subjects dizzy from choosing whom they will hunt down. How could they when all the newspapers, all the radio and TV stations in the community are up against them?

PAGPAPAKAMATAY AT PAGPATAY, PAANONG PIPIGILIN?

Anong klaseng mga tao ang nagpapakamatay at pumapatay? 

Napakaraming mga pagbomba ang nagaganap sa buong mundo ngayon at ako tuloy ay parang natatakot ng lumabas ng bahay. Hindi mo alam kung ano ang mangyayari sa iyo sa paglalakad mo, sa pagkain sa isang cafe, o kaya ay sa panonood ng sine. 

Hindi natin masisiguro kung darating dito o hindi ang mga ISIL, yung mga nambobomba sa Gitnang Silangan. Kaya nga tinatagalog ko na ito dahil baka mag-search pa sila ng mga pamilyar na mga salita at mapadpad sila rito sa sinusulat ko. 

Subali't sa aking pananaliksik, talagang nakaturo ang aking pag-aaral ng kanilang pagkilos sa iisang bagay lamang -- ang tendensiyang magpakamatay, ang saktan ang sarili nila kasama na ang iba. 

Maraming pag-aaral tungkol sa pagpapakamatay sa America at sa UK, at masinsin ang mga ito, mula sa ano ang depinisyon, ano ang mga dahilan, ano'ng mga solusyon, paano ang ebalwasyon. At marami pang iba. 

Kaya lang lumalabas na personal ang focus nila. Ang pasyente ay isa at ang gagamot, sa pamamagitan ng therapy ng isang duktor o sa pamamagitan ng pagpasok sa ospital. 

Marahil, dapat nating isipin, paano ang international focus para masolusyonan natin ang ganitong uri ng mga pagpapakamatay?

Naiisip ko na kailangang mahigpit ang pagpapatupad ng mga solusyon upang matigil na ang mga pagtbobomba. 

Una, kailangang malawak ang tingin natin sa problema. Kung malawak, malawak din ang solusyon. Unang unang nakikita ko ay ang mga technologies at media. 

May paraan ba para itigil na ang mga war games sa internet? Parating hinihikayat ng mga ito na maglaro, pumatay, (kahit vicariously). Ewan kung bakit na-develop pa ang ganitong klaseng laro sa internet na walang katuturan kundi ang pumatay ng pumatay. Pati ang mga larong boksing ay dapat ipagbawal sapagka't nakakasakit ng katawan. 

Ang ganitong uri ng laro ay nagpapatingkad ng machismo na lalong nagpapababa ng self-esteem ng mga lalaking may mahinang loob. (NB: machismo -dominasyon ng kalalakihan)

Pangalawa, maaari bang sa mga Facebook, may mga mensahe, na wari'y ads na makatutulong sa may-ari nito na magsuri ng sarili? Isa kasi sa dahilang 
kulang sa positive reinforcement ng mga positibong katangian niya ang mga may tendensiyang magpakamatay. 

Pangatlo, maaari bang, dalangan, kung hindi itigil na ng mga pulitiko at artistang mayayaman na ipinangangalandakan ang kanilang high society lifestyle -- ang pagsusuot ng ganito at ganireng kamahal na mga damit, ang pagkakaroon ng mga mamahaling mga alahas, ang kakayahang maglibot ng buong mundo, ang makasakay sa mga mamahaling sasakyan?

Ang hirap kasi, kakaunti ang mga taong ito, at mas marami ang mga naghihirap. Yung kakaunting ito, ang mga elite, ay may kakayahan pang ibulgar ang kanilang kayamanan, hindi lamang sa komunidad kundi sa buong mundo. 

Siguro, dito na rin papasok ang responsibility ng media. Sana ay maging mapamili na sila ng kanilang mga isusulat, hindi yung mga sulatin na lalong magpapaigting ng pagkakahati-hati ng mundo sa mayaman at mahirap. 

Higit sa lahat, kailangang iangat ang kamalayan ng pamilya. Sa mga taong may negatibong pagtingin sa sarili, kadalasan ay dahil na rin sa kanilang pamilya. 

Malaki rin ang papel ng eskuwelahan, ng simbahan , ng barangay para maitaas ang kanilang pakiramdam sa sarili. 

Ang papel ng ina, anak na babae, lola, at gurong babae ay napakalaki upang mabawasan ang bayolensiya sa mundo. Sa mga kasamahan ko sa kilusang pangkababaihan, nakalulungkot kung ang lahat ng mga pinag-aaralan natin tungkol sa women's liberation ay hindi natin magamit ng husto; kinakailangang makatulong tayo sa pagpapatahimik ng mundo. 

Sa mga ibang sulatin, magdadagdag pa ako ng mga suhestiyon upang makatulong tayo sa pinakamimithi nating ito. 

KARAHASAN: PAANONG LULUTASIN?

Anong klaseng mga tao ang nagpapakamatay at pumapatay? 

Napakaraming mga pagbomba ang nagaganap sa buong mundo ngayon at ako tuloy ay parang natatakot ng lumabas ng bahay. Hindi mo alam kung ano ang mangyayari sa iyo sa paglalakad mo, sa pagkain sa isang cafe, o kaya ay sa panonood ng sine. 

Hindi natin masisiguro kung darating dito o hindi ang mga ISIL, yung mga nambobomba sa Gitnang Silangan. Kaya nga tinatagalog ko na ito dahil baka mag-search pa sila ng mga pamilyar na mga salita at mapadpad sila rito sa sinusulat ko. 

Subali't sa aking pananaliksik, talagang nakaturo ang aking pag-aaral ng kanilang pagkilos sa iisang bagay lamang -- ang tendensiyang magpakamatay, ang saktan ang sarili nila kasama na ang iba. 

Maraming pag-aaral tungkol sa pagpapakamatay sa America at sa UK, at masinsin ang mga ito, mula sa ano ang depinisyon, ano ang mga dahilan, ano'ng mga solusyon, paano ang ebalwasyon. At marami pang iba. 

Kaya lang lumalabas na personal ang focus nila. Ang pasyente ay isa at ang gagamot, sa pamamagitan ng therapy ng isang duktor o sa pamamagitan ng pagpasok sa ospital. 

Marahil, dapat nating isipin, paano ang international focus para masolusyonan natin ang ganitong uri ng mga pagpapakamatay?

Naiisip ko na kailangang mahigpit ang pagpapatupad ng mga solusyon upang matigil na ang mga pagtbobomba. 

Una, kailangang malawak ang tingin natin sa problema. Kung malawak, malawak din ang solusyon. Unang unang nakikita ko ay ang mga technologies at media. 

May paraan ba para itigil na ang mga war games sa internet? Parating hinihikayat ng mga ito na maglaro, pumatay, (kahit vicariously). Ewan kung bakit na-develop pa ang ganitong klaseng laro sa internet na walang katuturan kundi ang pumatay ng pumatay. Pati ang mga larong boksing ay dapat ipagbawal sapagka't nakakasakit ng katawan. 

Ang ganitong uri ng laro ay nagpapatingkad ng machismo na lalong nagpapababa ng self-esteem ng mga lalaking may mahinang loob. (NB: machismo -dominasyon ng kalalakihan)

Pangalawa, maaari bang sa mga Facebook, may mga mensahe, na wari'y ads na makatutulong sa may-ari nito na magsuri ng sarili? Isa kasi sa dahilang 
kulang sa positive reinforcement ng mga positibong katangian niya ang mga may tendensiyang magpakamatay. 

Pangatlo, maaari bang, dalangan, kung hindi itigil na ng mga pulitiko at artistang mayayaman na ipinangangalandakan ang kanilang high society lifestyle -- ang pagsusuot ng ganito at ganireng kamahal na mga damit, ang pagkakaroon ng mga mamahaling mga alahas, ang kakayahang maglibot ng buong mundo, ang makasakay sa mga mamahaling sasakyan?

Ang hirap kasi, kakaunti ang mga taong ito, at mas marami ang mga naghihirap. Yung kakaunting ito, ang mga elite, ay may kakayahan pang ibulgar ang kanilang kayamanan, hindi lamang sa komunidad kundi sa buong mundo. 

Siguro, dito na rin papasok ang responsibility ng media. Sana ay maging mapamili na sila ng kanilang mga isusulat, hindi yung mga sulatin na lalong magpapaigting ng pagkakahati-hati ng mundo sa mayaman at mahirap. 

Higit sa lahat, kailangang iangat ang kamalayan ng pamilya. Sa mga taong may negatibong pagtingin sa sarili, kadalasan ay dahil na rin sa kanilang pamilya. 

Malaki rin ang papel ng eskuwelahan, ng simbahan , ng barangay para maitaas ang kanilang pakiramdam sa sarili. 

Ang papel ng ina, anak na babae, lola, at gurong babae ay napakalaki upang mabawasan ang bayolensiya sa mundo. Sa mga kasamahan ko sa kilusang pangkababaihan, nakalulungkot kung ang lahat ng mga pinag-aaralan natin tungkol sa women's liberation ay hindi natin magamit ng husto; kinakailangang makatulong tayo sa pagpapatahimik ng mundo. 

Sa mga ibang sulatin, magdadagdag pa ako ng mga suhestiyon upang makatulong tayo sa pinakamimithi nating ito. 

ANO'NG NANGYARI SA NAKARAANG REHIMEN?

BAKIT NGA BA SIYA NANALO?

BAKIT NANALO SI DUTERTE?

Hanggang ngayon, nagtataka pa ang maraming tao kung bakit nanalo si Duterte? Bakit siya dinala ng taumbayan? Ano meron siya at nakuha niyang bigyan siya ng milyun-milyong boto?

Sabi ng Pangulo, may mga taong tumulong sa kanya. Nguni't totoo, tumulong upang kumbinsihin siyang manalo, nguni't hindi upang manalo. Iba ang tumakbo at tumakbo at manalo.

Maraming mga dahilan kung bakit siya nanalo. Unang una na, disgustado ang taumbayan sa mga ginawa ng isang pangulo na dala-dala ang pangalan ng kanyang ama at ina na tinuturing na nag-ukit ng kanilang kontribusyon sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Si Ninoy ay nagpakita ng katapangan hanggang sa kahuli-hulihang hibla ng kanyang hininga upang ipaglaban ang karapatan ng taumbayan na lumaya sa diktaduryang pamamahala. Si Cory ang nagpatuloy ng laban ni Ninoy na pinatay. Nakisimpatiya ang taumbayan sa kanya at napanalunan natin ang ating pinakamimithing kalayaan at naibalik ang ating mga karapatan, lalo na ang pamamahayag at paga-asemblea sa publiko.

Subali't pagkatapos ng rehimen ni Cory, walang sumunod na maituturing na pro-people na mga gawain. Nang manalo si Erap, na tinuturing ng mamamayan na kakatawanin ang kanyang mga prinsipyo sa pelikula, ang pagtatanggol sa karapatan ng mga naghihirap, umasa ang taumbayan na magbabago na nga. Nanumpa pa siya sa Barasoain Church, na isang makasaysayang simbahan. Subali't naudlot ang kanyang rehimen. At pumalit si Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang bise-presidente noon. Tinawag nilang People Power 3 ang pagkakapanalo niya, na nagtanggal kay Erap subali't sa loob-loob ng taumbayan hindi sila kumbinsido dito. Tinulungan lamang si GMA ni Pangulong Ramos sa pagpapatalsik kay Erap at sa pagpapanatili ng kanyang pagkapangulo ng niyanig siya ng kanyang mga opisyales na tinawag na Hyatt Ten na sabay-sabay na nag-resign.

Nang manalo si Pnoy, dala-dala ang Hyatt Ten, laban sa manok ni Gloria, na nagdulot din ng sama ng loob dahil sa mga private partnership program tulad ng ZTE deal, at nagkaroon ng cordon sanitaire sa paligid niya, naibalik natin ang ating pag-asang magkakaroon pa rin ng pagbabago

Subali't mabigat ang loob natin sa administrasyon ni Pnoy. Maraming mga pangyayari ang hindi natin aakalaing gagawin niya. Una, namatay ang maraming mga turistang taga Hong Kong dahil lamang sa isang pulis na nag amok dahil sa tingin niya ay maling demanda sa kanya para matanggal sa kanyang puwesto. Pangalawa, napatay ang Special Action Forces 44 sa Maguindanao ng mga Muslim, matapos nilang mapatay ang kanilang guro sa paggawa ng bomba na si Marwan. Kaakibat nito, mas pinili pa niyang pumunta sa pasinaya ng isang kumpanya ng kotse sa halip na samahan ang mga byuda ng SAF 44 na sunduin sa airport ang mga labi ng mga sundalo, na kung tutuusin ay mga tauhan niya at siya ang commander-in-chief.

Pangatlo, ang mga opisyales na napili niya ay hindi nakapagdulot ng magandang larawan ng “transparency” sa kanyang rehimen. Ang pinuno ng Department of Budget and Management ay nasama sa mga ibang mga tao na gumamit ng budget sa maling pamamaraan, yung tinatawag na Program Development Acceleration Fund. May mga taong nakulong dahil dito nguni't hindi ito sapat sa mga tao upang iabsuwelto siya sa kanyang mga pagkukulang.

Pang-apat, ang pagtugon ng kanyang admiistrasyon sa mga pangangailangan ng mga nasalanta at namatayan ng mga libu-libong kababayan sa Leyte at ibang bahagi ng Kabisayaan dahil sa bagyong Yolanda ay tinuturing na malaki ang naging kakulangan, at may pagtatakip pa sa tunay na bilang ng mga namatay; at higit sa lahat, kulang sa pagtatasa kung magkano talaga ang nagasta para sa ikasasalba ng mga taga-Bisaya sa salot na tumama sa kanila.

Panlima, nakakalungkot subali't ang kabataan na mag-aaral ay hirap na hirap sa pagtatapos, hanggang sa may isang batang babae pang nagpakamatay dahil hindi maka-enrol sa UP Padre Faura dahil kulang ang pambayad ng mga magulang. Ang UP ay tinuturing na pamantasan ng masa subali't hindi nito binigyang kahulugan ang bansag na ito. Ang masama pa, dahil sa mahal na pagkain sa UP,  ang UP Church of the Risen Lord ay may pakain sa halagang P10.00 para sa mga estudyanteng mahihirap (Brackets C, D, and E) sa loob ng UP Diliman kung saan, ang mga kainan ay isinapribado at ang minimum na halaga ng isang ulam ay umaabot sa P30 hanggang P80.00. Ang katwiran ng mga kantina, mahal ang rental sa UP kaya't kailangan nilang bawiin nito. Dati-rati, ang isang tanghalian sa UP bago isinapribado ang mga kantina (at nawalan ng trabaho ang mga taong dekada ang binilang sa pagpapahusay ng pagluto ng masasarap at masustansiyang pagkain para sa mga estudyante ng UP) ay P30 hanggang P40, at kumpleto na – may kanin, dalawang ulam, saging at sabaw. Umiiyak ang isang batang babaeng estudyante na nagsalita sa harap ng tsapel ng UPCRL dahil sa kanyang malaking pasasalamat ng may makakain siya tuwing katanghalian sa UP na napakamura na, malinis at masarap pa. At yung isa naman ay nagkuwentong, kung hindi niya makain ng tanghalian yung pagkain niya ay inuuwi niya para makain niya sa gabi para may hapunan siya.

Mahalaga ang busog na tiyan para makapag-isip ng mabuti. Subali't aanhin ang kaalaman kung kumakalam ang sikmura?

Pang-anim, hindi niya pinirmahan ang pagtataas ng pensyon ng mga retirado ng SSS kung saan ang mga opisyales nito ay kumikita ng milyun-milyong salapi buwan-buwan.

Pampito, na parang panlilibak sa taumbayan, ang mga sentenariyan ay bibigyan ng P100,000.00 kung makaabot sila sa idad ng 100 taon. Malapit ka nang mamatay bago ka mabiyayaan ng pera na maganda sanang gamiting pangkain, pampabahay, pagpapatuloy ng pag-aaral kung naudlot ito, at pangliwaliw kung bata-bata pa ang tao. Siyanga pala, akala ko ay isang milyon. 

Nais kong maglista ng marami pang kapalpakan subali't gutom na ako. Kailangan ko nang mag-almusal.

ON HINDSIGHT: COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

The landslide victory of President Duterte at the polls point to that collective endeavor to seat a person who embodies what their view of a savior is. How did this come about?

Actually there was a confluence of factors that contributed to it: all the presidential candidates, except for one decried the lack of feeling for the masses by the past administration of PNoy. A series of mishaps of that regime forwarded the sentiments of the people to look for an alternative. 

Now the presence of Grace Poe made the image of FPJ, her father rise in their consciousness. He was the epitome of the defender of the weak, the oppressed and the losers in his films. He ran for president in 2004 but was cheated of his victory. When he had filed a protest, he died prematurely. 

So when Grace ran her campaign all over the country, the people liked her very much, initially. But towards the end, they could not see the FPJ image in her, save in her printed posters. I suggested one time in this blog that the voice and image of FPJ could be resurrected in her ads but nothing came out of it. 

And so when Mayor Duterte then arose and then began to speak out against the criminality and druglords and the dire conditions of the country, the masses' collective feelings for FPJ rose up. Here was the guy who epitomized all that FPJ stood for in his movies. He was the guy!,

Then Chiz sadly did not fare well anymore towards the end. His opponents were swapping scathing remarks about the administration but he did not mouthe anything and even said that "i don't want to say bad things about my opponents." and so towards the end, he lost his ranking and ended up in the second or third level.

I think we can learn a lot from the last presidential campaign. When candidates stand for values, they should realize or make those values real in the minds of the people. Pres. Duterte was the simple guy, poor man who rose from the ranks and achieved political power. He is the typical rags-to-power guy, the winner at the end of the movies of FPJ.

Hindi naman sayang ang pagkakaboto kay Pres. Duterte. His background as a lawyer, prosecutor and mayor all prepared him to handle the nitty-gritty problems of running a city, and now multiplied thousands of times over. His environment full of armed groups -- the MILF, the MNLF, NPA and Abu Sayyaf groups -- has steeled him politically. He know the psychology of the masses now. Talk tough and you get their attention. Speak and act mighty. Siga. He did. And so he won. 

Let us mull over the words of a sociologist:

The totality of beliefs and sentiments common to the average members of a society forms a determinate system with a life of its own. It can be termed the collective or creative consciousness.

— Emile Durkheim

Have a good journey, President Duterte and may you earn the accolades of the people till the end of your administration.