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19May/108

Sa Kambas ng Lipunan

I attended a values-formation seminar by a government office. You know, my mom keeps telling me that i "don't have values." Well, mom, that's impossible. We just don't have the same "values." But, anyways, let's proceed to the seminar.

The facilitator (Sorry, I can't disclose names) who happens to be a head of a particular bureau in this government office gave a presentation on values-formation specifically targeted to the youth. That's cool, right? Kidding. I just want to share my insights and probably criticize how the "facilitator" tried to develop our values as a youth.

He asked us to watch a clip. Panoorin mo na rin:

Sa Kambas ng Lipunan

And then what? He asked the participants their reactions slash their realizations after watching the clip. Right after the clip. Emphasis please. Right after the clip. After which, he summarized the realizations of the participants and addressed this to the whole group.

"Hapag ng Pag-asa"

Facilitator:

"What's the cause of poverty? The I. He attributes poverty as a result of combined individual selfish actions. He blames the I. No one should be blamed here except for the I."

"He is conditioning the participants to be apathetic. How? He's imposing on the participants the "we're-fortunate-pa-nga-that-we-eat-three-times-a-day-attitude" and let others care for themselves. Okay na nga tayo dito. Dapat hindi na tayo magreklamo. We don't have the right to complain. We're living a better life than theirs."

"There's no call to action but rather a call to be complacent. Appreciate what you have. That's already good. Kung sila nga ay hindi kumakain at ikaw ay tuyo lang ang kinakain, dapat matuwa ka na. At least, you have something to eat. Kahit tuyo pa yan, at least, you're living a better life. "

"Kapag may nakasalubong kang may car, what do you feel? Inggit? You shouldn't be. You should think of others. Bakit ako maiingit sa kanila? Marami nga na hindi kumakain. Why would I want to have a car?"

"With all of that, we need a leader that will do something. We need a leader. A leader with heart. Not just a good leader but a leader with a good heart."

With all those points, I was like, what the hell is this? Is this really a values-formations seminar or just some political propaganda slash conditioning of the status quo? The said facilitator is known to be a supporter of President-elect Aquino. Kaya nung sinabi niya yung last point, Oh My God! That can't be! You're all conditioning our minds! And everyone is agreeing! OH MY!

My points:

You just can't attribute poverty as the sum of all selfish individual actions. Why don't you show and tell us the real cause of poverty? It's easy, very easy. Why can't you tell these participants that poverty is a result of a systematic oppression of a ruling status quo. Why can't you? Ang daming resources ng Pilipinas but we're still poor. Nasaan ang resources? Please tell me. Why can't you tell the participants that Imperialism should be blame? That capitalism is a systemic form of keeping all in poverty poor and making the rich richer. You can't tell me you don't know. Bakit may nagugutom? We are in the Pacific Ocean (where are the fishes), we have forests (where are the animals, the fruits and the vegetables), we have arable lands and we own a vast reserve of natural minerals. Ano? INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS PA RIN BA? OR SYSTEMIC SIYA?

Why would you condition the participants to just be "okay" and leave things the way they are? After watching this clip, what we need is a call to action! ACTION! You'll tell these people to do their job and look for solutions. You'll not tell them to just appreciate what they have and don't complain. Remember, inaction results to the strengthening of the present system slash condition. Or yun naman talaga ang gusto mo? Do you really want people to stay poor? Eating "tuyo" is not my definition of being fortunate specially when you try to contextualize it. Why can other people afford expensive foods? Why can't I? Sa dami ng available na resources, bakit may gutom? Don't tell me they're just too lazy. They're not. There's something wrong. And we should address that. What we have to do is to find alternative solutions. Let's try to change the present system and let these people eat. Let's try to pressure the government and let them address this. There's so much to do than to say "Hey, I'm okay here." INEQUALITY MUST BE ADDRESSED.

And the clip is trying to insert some religious agenda in it. It's fine. It's good. Ang tanong nga lang e. If people are really believing in Jesus Christ, why is there inequality? In a supposedly Christian country, bakit may kahirapan? Bakit may nagugutom? It's weird, right? CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION OF EQUALITY. WELL, SUPPOSEDLY.

And with all those points, leadership must be contextualized. With the present problems, you need to contextualize what kind of leader we need. Ano nga ba? Siguro, those who want poverty to be eradicated, those who want to solve these things and those who recognize the "real problems" and willing to change the present system of oppression. Yung kakalaban sa status quo. Yung kakalaban sa Imperyalismo. Yung kakalaban sa Kapitalismo. Those are the qualities na kailangan ay meron ang leader. Inequality must be addressed by this leader. At kilala niyo naman sila, for sure. Hello, Satur. Hello, Liza. Hello, KABATAAN. Hello, National Democrats.

Figure it out, people. I know you're not that stupid. Lalo na yung kasama ko ng values-formation seminar.

The Late Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran

P.S. It's Crispin Beltran's Day Today! Kilala niyo siya? He is a genuine, militant, and anti-Imperialist labor leader. See? That's what I'm talking about.

P.S. I will receive a compensation just for attending this particular seminar. Woah! Time for some good pasta!

P.S. Wala na akong proofreader and grammar checker. Poor me.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Tagged as: anakpawis, beltran, canvas, crispin, day, democrats, formation, hapag, inequality, kambas, Leadership, lipunan, National, ng, of, on, pagasa, poverty, sa, seminar, Society, the, values 8 Comments

28Jul/091

PGMA’s Last SONA

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Before I begin my report to the nation, please join me first in a moment of prayer for President Aquino.

Senate President Enrile, Speaker Nograles, Senators, Representatives, Vice President de Castro, former President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, Ambassadors, friends:

The past twelve months have been a year for the history books. Financial meltdown in the West spread throughout the world.

Tens of millions lost their jobs; billions across the globe have been hurt—the poor always harder than the rich. No one was spared.

It has affected us already. But the story of the Philippines in 2008 is that the country weathered a succession of global crises in fuel, in food, then in finance and finally, economy in a global recession, never losing focus and with economic fundamentals intact.

A few days ago, Moody’s upgraded our credit rating, citing the resilience of our economy. The state of our nation is a strong economy. Good news for our people, bad news for our critics.

I did not become President to be popular. To work, to lead, to protect and preserve our country, our people, that is why I became President.

When my father left the Presidency, we were second to Japan. I want our Republic to be ready for the first world in 20 years.

Towards that vision, we made key reforms. Our economic plan centers on putting people first. Higit sa lahat, ang layunin ng ating patakaran ay tulungan ang masisipag na karaniwang Pilipino. New tax revenues were put in place to help pay for better healthcare, more roads, and a strong education system. Housing policies were designed to lift up our poorer citizens so they can live and raise a family with dignity. Ang ating mga puhunan sa agrikultura ay naglalayong kilalanin ang ating mga magsasaka bilang backbone ng ating bansa, at bigyan sila ng mga modernong kagamitan to feed our nation and feed their own family.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Tagged as: 2009, 9th, Address, Arroyo, Gloria, last, Macapagal, Nation, of, PGMA, president, SONA, State, the Continue reading

9Apr/090

Branded Nation: The Marketing of MegaChurch, College Inc., and Museumworld

Category:	Books
Genre:	Reference
Author:	James Twitchell

This is a deviation from my interest. Haha. :D Surprisingly, the author is not Michael Crichton. It's James Twitchell. James Twitchell's style in writing is very interesting. It is not technical nor very non-technical. Haha. It allows the reader to be excited and to maintain their interest on the topic but at the same time to acquire deep knowledge and good understanding of the topic. James is witty, funny but also dense.

The book is about the marketing of the Churches, Education and Museum as a commodity and the way, us, the consumers accepts it. Twitchell's insightful explanations of the marketing strategies of the three domain are very interesting and very real since his insights are not far from what is really happening.

If you are an outsider in Marketing, this book is a real blast. But those who are in the field would find it boring since it states the obvious.

Read this and you will not look at Churches, Universities and Museums the same way again. Though this 300-page book can be easily reduced to a 30-page book, it is still interesting to read.

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4 out of 5. :D

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tagged as: branded, churhces, college, inc., james, marketing, megachurch, musuemworld, Nation, of, review, the, twitchell No Comments

15Jan/090

Stop the Genocide. Stop the War in Gaza.

1208189885_3a709fa325 The embargo in Gaza is a gross human rights violation forcing collective punishment on the entire population, which is a clear violation of international law, condemned worldwide, and yet our government remains silent.

Nakakalungkot no? Arg. :| Life is so unfair. Don't let the Genocide goes on.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tagged as: gaza, genocide, in, stop, the, war No Comments

5Jan/090

Not Me.

Do I think the world should change? No. Why? Because we should bear in mind that there is nothing more difficult to do, more doubtful of victory, and more dangerous to proceed than to initiate change. The one who proposes the change makes a lot of enemies of all those who are comfortable and perfectly living under the present world and only a few from those who are uncomfortable will support. Only few will support because human beings are generally incredulous, never really trusting change unless they have tested them by their own experience.

I am already satisfied by the way the world moves around. My father is doing well in his work and he receives a good sum of money to be able to give our needs. We (siblings) are all studying and receiving a good education and enjoying small luxuries of life. My family is living in a fine home and we enjoy every minute of it. And I am afraid that I will lose these amenities of the present world if I ever initiate a change. This maybe selfishness and unwillingness to sacrifice one’s self but I am just being honest. No one is really happy to lose all the things that he/she have. But what about the others? Others that don’t study in school? Others that don’t eat everyday? Those people who doesn’t have homes? Let me tell this to you straight---let them initiate the change.

I know that change is inevitable ... except, perhaps, from a vending machine. But I would not waste my effort in changing a world that I enjoy. I think I’m getting out of the topic. Do I think the world should change? Of course yes. Why not? I do think the world should change. But I’m not going to do it.

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this will depend pa. :) di ko pa sure kung ipapasa ko to. enlighten me! change my view! :) hahaha. basta. ganito talaga ako. mood by mood lang yan. :]

Popularity: 1% [?]

Tagged as: changing, is, job, my, not, the, world No Comments

13Oct/085

The Day UP DIED.

2008 THE - QS Wold University Rankings ranked UP 22 notches below Ateneo. Ateneo de Manila University ranked 254th and UP landed on 276th place. This is so SAD. UP, study na tayo! Kahit alam natin hindi nagpapadala ng information/data ang UP, this will be another bragging rights for Ateneo.

Click this for the complete World rankings.

ATENEO: 2008 UAAP BASKETBALL inagaw sa DLSU, pati ba naman ang pagiging TOP UNIVERSITY SA PILIPINAS aagawin niyo sa UP? huhu.

Popularity: 1% [?]