Thursday, February 17, 2011

News For Sale: The Corruption of the Philippine Media

                            photo: emilyjaneolson.wordpress.com


The article entitled, ““News For Sale: The Corruption of the Philippine Media” written by Chay Florentino-Hofilena approaches the idea of how Philippine Media evolve through the years. It illustrates the peculiarity and distinction of media corruption in the post-Marcos era. The dissertation reveals how steep, more persistent and even more prearranged it was and also how distressingly creative and more intricate to detect such corruption practices in the Media. During the said epoch, dealings and connections have become more refined, and in some cases, even institutionalized. The manner in which the process of corruption is systemized is by means of network structure between journalists, public officials, and professional public relation people. The network itself is somewhat resembling and comparable with the operation of a criminal syndicate or much worst, a mafia of corrupt practitioners. Sadly, corruption in the media really exists. Salaries are low and businesses and politicians often buy favorable coverage. Some radio commentators use their microphones to peddle influence, and the military has also used radio journalists to foment unrest against communist and Muslim insurgents. Basically, the paper tackles the history of media corruption in the Philippines and it investigates corrupt habits in the 1990s, and ascertained how a free press can be bought. Most of all it tells us how the Marcos era began such tradition wherein powerful families are investing in the media to cement political and business influence for future purposes but the most endearing damage done by Marcos' martial law is that, it dismantled the structure of the press, it weakened the professionalism and ultimately politicized the media to a staggering degree.

After reading the whole article, I have come to realized that the Mass Media is not very different at all from other institutions in the Philippines like the government. Although they like to congratulate themselves over how they are the institution people turn to for justice and retribution, the truth is that the Mass Media are just as corrupt as any other government agency, and far more cunning and hypocritical in denying and hiding the fact. Some might portray the media as selfless defenders of press freedom, the reality is, the Mass Media is just as corrupt and dishonest as the people and institutions they attack, criticize, expose and defame. This saddens me a lot, personally I felt betrayed for the Filipino people! Why? Because for me, the media should be one of the principal vehicles for informing the public about corrupt activities, they should not associate themselves with corrupt acts! They must be the one investigating and reporting on corruption. They must be the one who will shed light on the wrongdoings of public office holders and corporate executives alike. Especially at this point in time, the 2010 election is just around the corner. The Filipino people will vote for a new President, Senators, and local government officials that will serve us for how many years. And during elections, Media plays a vital role. They will be the one to present the candidates and make the voters know more about the candidates. They let them talk. They let you see the candidates. They provide vivid pictures of what candidates propose to do. They help build party decisions. They provide reasons for changes in political strategies. They facilitate budgeting financial resources for a campaign ad and for running a campaign. Those who invest in media unwittingly carve pathways either to a lose or a victory in the final counting of votes. The more the investments, the bigger and wider those pathways become. The sturdier the pathways, the better the chances of winning.  The more pathways, the easier becomes the road to an elegant victory in the polls. Media pathways lead to the hearts and minds of voters that is why they must be free from corrupt practices. But in reality, Media is not always about the truth. It may merely be the dishing out of information, or an attempt to dissuade, persuade, or condition a belief.  Unfortunately, candidates who have taken the bold step of talking about their perceptions of the role of the media, as they were invited to candidates’ fora, simply settled for that unpolished objective which is to enable the media to disseminate information, to enable communications to facilitate the diffusion of science and technology. But through all of this, I still believe that there are still few conscientious media people who have leaped to the right direction for the course of life that is there, defined or them and their industry. I cannot help but think that there others in greater number who are emerging to join the flock of the corrupt media, secretly or lacking a sense of embedded profession and the twin sense of excellence in doing their supposedly patriotic and heroic job, to remain misdirected. It is their misdirection that leads voters and candidates to vote for someone incapable of a position in politics and this now affects the present and future of our country.       

Everyone's Allegory of the Cave (Inspired by Plato)


                  photo: extraordinaryintelligence.com

 I believe that in every one of us, there is a unique rare individual that will try to break out of their small little box or shell and with this starts a long, labyrinthine journey wherein this person will tend to discover a higher realm of reality and intellect and realize in the end the true meaning of his/her existence. For me, a person such as this is highly the paramount entity to govern the society. The knowledge of this person is not limited compared to the others but rather this person holds worthwhile knowledge that is ultimately important in life. Because of such uniqueness, this person might be misunderstood and misapprehended by those people who think different from him, by those people below the knowledge that this person has, by those people who are ordinary and have not yet come out of their own little caves. These ordinary people are not seeing reality or in other words they are rejecting what is real but instead they choose to believe and accept what they only know which is just shadowy representation of what is real. I recognized the idea that there is a very important aspect in this life which is that there are unseen and concealed truths behind or lying under the visible surface of things which only these unique, rare and enlightened individuals can only take hold of. Another realization that I have come about is the importance of education; the process of how that rare and unique individual came out of the cave is a process of education. Education is not a manner and means of laying knowledge into unfilled minds but rather of making people realize that which they already know or in other words truth is long been embedded in our minds!!! We just need to tap in enlightenment to achieve such!
  
Everyone's allegory of the cave can be resembled with a movie house wherein the movie projector will be the fire, the film or the negatives supplants the objects which radiates the shadows, the projected movie or the movie itself will be the shadows on the cave wall, and most of all the echo in the cave will be the loudspeakers or the sounds that surrounds the movie theater.  

Not just a HOUSE but also a HOME



            The house where my family lives in was built in the early 80’s but was originally owned by our Yugoslavian friend. The structure is unique compared to those houses here in our village. It has a mixture of Filipino and American ornamentation and design in the perspective of a Yugoslavian. The house is a three storey structure which stands in a 150 square meter lot. It consists of one master bedroom, three bedrooms, one guestroom, one maids’ and drivers’ quarter, five bathrooms, two living rooms, a dining room and a dirty kitchen, two storage rooms, a garage and a foyer. Our house has two main doors, one is made of wood from an acacia tree and the other is a sliding door made up of thick glass and metal. The walls are made up of cement and stone, the floor is marble, the ceilings are wood. Our ceilings are not that high which is why we usually adopt with the outdoor temperature. Every room has huge and wide windows for air circulation and light passage; also, it has connecting doors for a faster and easy access in every room of the house to save time and for manageable movement. For me, the two living rooms are intended for the family and visitors to interact and socialize, it can be collaborated with the Filipino perspective of extended family and family love. Having many bathrooms is a plus factor, we don’t need to wait for someone to finish, and we don’t need to rush our bathroom activities, if ever a party is held at home the visitors won’t be having any problems too. The drivers quarter is located in the first floor for a reason and that is to keep guard of the main doors while the maids quarter is in the third floor for them to attend with our needs faster, because going down the stairs is easier compared to going up. In addition, the house has two staircases; the first staircase connects the first floor to the second floor and the other stairway connects the first, second and the third floor. For me having two stairways is a positive thing, especially for a big family like us. It may prevent crowdedness and also it leads to a quicker and faster access in the different levels of our house. In the question, how is your house a place versus a space, well first and foremost my house is a place for it has a purpose. It is where my family lives; it is where my family feels safe and secured. For me, my house symbolizes the structure of our family; its size, its interior and exterior design, everything about it manifests what my family is or in short our house mirrors how my family is. Also, it is a place for it is not only a house where we live in but it is more of a home. In this house, we have already experienced a lot of things, meaning it has always been part of our lives and our family history. We have a lot of reminiscences to remember whether these are good or bad memories. Like the first time my family moved in here, the first neighbors we met then later became our friends, my petty quarrels with my sisters, the New Year celebrations and many more. Moreover, it is our family heritage! Our house is not a space for it is not only built just for the sake of building the house, it is not designed to be like this for the sake of designing, but it is built and designed for a reason and that reason is my family’s vision of a home.


            Talking about vision of a home, one interesting minority group here in the archipelago are the Tausug people who are found in Sulu. As I quoted one of my sources “The Tausug house is made up of bamboo and lumber. It has a sala, a rectangular room beneath a thatched roof. Some house showcase elaborate wood carving and have slits instead of windows. This is both for protection and to keep its young maidens from view. They are fond of inviting many guests to their parties thus their sala is filled with thick mattresses and mats covered with colorful cloths, that are laid on the floor and large pillows placed against the wall.” As we can see my family and the Tausug people have commonalities in terms of accompanying visitors but also we can see a vast difference in terms of style, design, structure and reason for building the house. The idea of the house building tradition of the Tausug people where the parts of the house are coordinated with the parts of the human body is very interesting and remarkable. If I was to do that in my house then the masters’ bedroom would be the human heart and the brain, because in our house my mom is a source of love, passion, knowledge and inspiration. The other bedrooms will be the hands and the arms while the maids and drivers quarter will be the legs and the feet because in a house cooperation is needed within the people living inside it, whether you’re the boss or you’re the helper, one cannot complete a task without the help of the other just like with the arms and hands or the feet and the legs. The body will be the main edifice of the house for it supports the other parts of the house. For me, the living room will be the mouth because this is where socialization takes place, then the nose can be associated with the kitchen because the nose can smell various types of food aroma. The windows of the house can be the eyes because we can see the horizon and many things outside the window.


Sources: Cabalfin, Edson. “Intersections and Exoticism.” Reconfiguring the Historiography of Philippine Art Deco Architectures.(2003). Pages 26-39.
Cabalfin, Edson. “Conquest and Resistance”. Intersections of Colonialism and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Philippine Architectures.(2005).
“Philippine Provincial Profile.” The Provincial Profile of Sulu.1998. http://www.geocities.com/lppsec/pp/sulu.htm.

The Beauty of the Songbird

Since its her 25th year in the Showbiz Industry... as an avid fan, it is my responsibility to create a masterpiece for my one and only SONGBIRD, Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez...


Ever since I was a child, I have always been an aficionado of the Disney Princesses because they possess and hold an incomparable beauty and glamour. Each Disney Princess has there own exceptional persona and character that really rendered my interests in them.  However I was not only stricken with their beauty and glamour but also I learned to love the different stories that each princess have gone through. Such as Princess Aurora’s 100 years of deep sleep, Princess Ariel’s venture to human hood, Princess Snow White’s apple poisoning and most of all the story of Cinderella. Every story made me realized the other side of beauty, its true sense and meaning.

            What is it? Are there objective standards of beauty? Or is beauty in the eye of the beholder?  Must a person be beautiful to be considered great?  What is the effect of experiencing beauty in life? I have chosen a very interesting topic, as I believe that her story encompasses my understanding of what Beauty really is. 

Before we even heard and knew of her Cinderella story, there was just her phenomenal voice of which was never heard of in the Philippine music history. It became all the more mind-blowing, astonishing and extraordinary when one beheld the singer, a young woman whose delicate frame and features contradict her fragile aura. The infirmity vanishes from the first note of a song and in its place, an astounding blend of deep emotion and perceptible splendor is experienced. That beauty is Regine Velasquez.

                        photo: pinoyexchange.com
Regine also known affectionately as the Asia's Songbird around the world is a true story of rags to riches. Few people who have heard her amazing voice can say that they have never heard her equally inspiring life story. Much like a fairy tale, her humble beginnings in Bulacan have not dismayed this naturally talented singer in surpassing the performance calibers of formally trained singers of her generation. She started to sing at the age of four and upon discovering her incredible singing talent her parents supported her love for music. At age ten, Regine could be found standing neck-deep in the beach singing. It was to train her to use her diaphragm in singing and to strengthen her lungs. Teresita her mom taught her how to evoke emotion while Mang Gerry her dad helped her develop a technique in reaching high notes. She started joining singing contests at the age of ten but triumph was not always on her side. She entered 200 singing contests but only won 67 of them. She got tired of joining such contests but this didn’t stop her because it is their source of income. Her dad quit his job just to support her and be with her in every singing contest she joined. This was her motivation; she strived harder and harder to attain what she has now and what she has achieved. The year 1989 was the start of her booming career especially after winning the Asia Pacific Singing Contest, which was held in Hong Kong at the same year. This contest gave her the coveted title of Asia’s Songbird that gave her celebrity status and made her an Asian superstar. That same year, she collaborated a song with Jacky Cheung entitled "In Love With You," which reached the MTV Asia and Channel V’s top 20 music charts. She has also collaborated with artists such as Paul Anka, David Hasselhoff, 98 Degrees, Brian McKnight, Mandy Moore, Ronan Keating, Stephen Bishop, Jim Brickman, Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osborne, Dave Koz , Lea Salonga, Grasshopper, Coco Lee, Michel Legrand, David Pomeranz, Eduardo Capetillo and Billy Crawford. More blessings came along her way; some of her albums had good response from neighbor Asian countries achieving triple platinum, 2 double platinum and 2 golds from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea. Year after year, Regine gets better by being versatile in her craft. She started to juggle her singing, film, television, and advertising careers. Both foreign and local fans supported her all this years and a manifestation of this are the awards she has received; 2 star awards, 1 Famas, 2 MTV Asia, 3 MTV Phil, 11 Awit awards, 1 Katha Awards, 9 aliw awards, 15 Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Scholarship Foundation. As a fan, I believe that she as a performer and person empowers and allows others to dream, just like what she did before. This is the best part about her. Every time she performs onstage, every time she sings a song, she reminds all of us that there was a time when it seemed like no one wanted to listen. But it is that past that makes her who she is today; strong, generous, human, pained and blessed.

                                photo:abante.com.ph
            People might think that her achievements swollen her so much pride and that she has the “diva” attitude or that she became very conceited and self righteous but I can attest that Regine is still the humble girl from Bulacan. How can I say this? Regine staged numerous benefit concerts for different foundations such as the Bantay Bata and GMA ‘s Kapuso foundation. Also, her MTV Asia special entitled Speak Your Mind was nominated for the UNICEF Child Rights Awards. The production was highly commended for its agendum on child welfare, documenting the plight of homeless children swarming the streets of Metro Manila, in an effort to protect and safeguard their rights. Also, she has helped a lot of foundations such as the Singapore's National Kidney Foundation, the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philippines' Bridges School for Special Children. That is why, for me Regine is at her greatest every time she decides to be small. When she displays her vulnerability and her homegrown valiance, she shimmers like a red diamond. Everything in her life blended so well, it was like everything was meant for her.

She has uncountable awards and honors but we see that her charms and graces have all blossomed along with her talent, but her beauty and talent is not all about the prestigious awards, honors, fame, and wealth that she acquired. Regine embodies a beauty that is seen only in few people. Her physical beauty is admired by her legions of fans all around the globe, from her gorgeous face, expressive eyes, sexy lips and a body of a goddess. But what makes Asia’s Songbird more attractive? More dazzling? And more divine? It’s her inner beauty, her benign heart, her down to earth persona, her unconditional love to the Filipino people, her patriotism to her motherland, her love and passion for her craft, her being a true person and her just being simply beautiful in her own right. That makes her beautiful! That is the Beauty of a Songbird!

Echoing "The Metamorphosis," "Letters to a Young Poet," and "The Little Prince".

This is my longest blog as of to date. To Those People Who want to know more about me.. READ ON....
 
I may honestly say that I’m not the most responsible and most cynical person to understand the true and deep meaning of such great and famous works like The Metamorphosis, Letters to a young poet and The Little Prince. But as a person, I have my own perspectives, my own understanding of things, my own interpretation and view regarding things, well that is what philosophy is all about isn’t? So for this blog entry , I tam to resonate my own experiences with these three incomparable works in world literature and I plan of making this blog very open and personal as well. Here goes…

                                     photo: amazon.com

Metamorphosis is one of the most famous works in world literature, and possibly has the most memorable opening lines in the history of story telling, “As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning after disturbing dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into an enormous insect”. For me, my interpretation of this allegorical tale is that Gregor's transformation from hard working travelling salesman, providing for his family, to a grotesque useless insect that provokes disgust and pity and ultimately rejection by his family, represents physical disability, and society's treatment of it. I can see this in the story, but his nightmare of the barrier between the public and personal inner world being removed. The private mental life, with its sensitive and raw secrets, its ugly and embarrassing little features, the desires and instincts that we strive to keep hidden, and are forced to repress. The bug is the embodiment of the ugly and raw inside turned out, exposed for the entire world to see. Particularly nightmarish for Gregor is the fact that those who see are those he loves and whose rejecton he fears most of all, his family. For me, the best example that I can relate to this is when I came out to my family, to my friends, to the society as a gay person. It was really hard for me to come out because I was afraid to be rejected, to be looked down by other people, to be pitied by everyone, and to be a disappointment to them. I was so afraid to be open because before I came out and admitted to everyone that I am gay, I am like Gregor Samsa. I was the “BIDA” in the family because when I was in high school, I was a good student; I excel both in my academics and technical subjects in school, a consistent conduct awardee, and part of the class top 10 students for my whole highschool life. I was afraid to tell them because I don’t want them to change the way they look at me and treat me, I don’t want them to be distant. Another thing that’s stopping me before was, my family is somehow known. I knew that I am gay since grade 2 and I kept it until I was in 4th year high school, actually my older sister is the only one in the family that knows about me, and she accepted me without hesitations, she supported me with my interests and endeavors at that time she was enough for me, but as time passes by I was longing for my parents and other family members to accept me. I have attempted to tell my family about my true being but the factors I’ve mentioned above kept on impeding it to happen. For eight years of hiding my true self, I felt very lonely, sad and guilty. Lonely and sad because I can’t show my family the things I REALLY want, the things I’m fond of doing, I can’t share what I truly feel, I can’t show and tell them what bothers me because I was so afraid. I also felt guilty for lying to my family, for being untrue to them and to myself as well. I kept asking myself… why the hell did I end up like this? Am I screwed or what? For eight long years I felt I was living a big lie and that my life was all about pretensions and lies. 


                      photo from: smartshopbuy.com

My sister told me that I must tell my family soon in order for me to get out of the dark which I’ve been living for eight years. It hit me and led me to asked my self… must I? and this is where the first letter of Rilke enters the picture. For me the first letter gives the greatest advice anyone can give to someone aspiring to be anything and to do anything. You have to ask yourself the following question: "must I?" If you answer in the affirmative, then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour must become a sign and witness to this impulse. That you must only judge Art by the following value, has it arisen out of necessity? And for me, telling my family at that time was a necessity already. I was already a teen back then, and I was starting to mold my life, I was starting to think of my future, but how can I think of my future if I haven’t polished my present. I got tired with my situation, my sister can’t already bear to see me sad and feel bad about myself and it hurts me to see her feel that way especially when I’m the reason, my friends were also the one who keeps on pushing me to tell the truth. I also consulted our school priests about it and asked him what to do, asked him to tell God that I need him everyday of my life and asked him to tell God not to leave me and if ever I decide to tell my family about me being gay, I asked God to please give them an open mind and also a heart that will accept me as I am. The sixth letter of Rilke concerns the notion of solitude. He said that we all create a vast inner solitude. To walk inside yourself for hours without meeting anyone, that is what you must be able to attain. Through this Rilke added that we gain a child-like perspective, a great wise not understanding in exchange for defensiveness and scorn of adults. That is what I did, it led me to think a lot, led me to reflect so much, led me to many sleepless night and led me to be alone and lonely. He also said that, it’s within the vast ocean of your solitude that we can truly approach and understand the dimensions of divinity that exists. With all of my problems and worries at that time, I find God as the source of my strength, I considered him to be my diary wherein I can share and tell him everything, and I appreciated him more.  How do you confront God? By being patient and without bitterness, and realize that the least I can do is make coming into existence no more difficult for Him than the earth does for spring when it wants to come. With all of this, I got the strength and determination to tell my family. The first one I opened my sexuality to was my mom, because we are so close and I felt that somehow she knows already. She was okay about it but warned me with the consequences of being a homosexual. Then my other sisters, they were not that open with the idea of me being gay because I was the only son in our family, I totally understand them but it hurts me so much whenever they badmouth me and criticize me when we fight about things, somehow they also became cold towards me, they don’t bond with me anymore like we used to and my only source of strength was my eldest sister. News easily spread out, my dad eventually knew about it, he was so disappointed. I felt that he disowned me as his son because when he knew about it, he wasn’t talking to me, he doesn’t even look at me and did not even spare a little time to bond with me, then my cousins knew they were shocked about it, the girls were happy about it but the guys were ashamed of me. We used to be closed before, go to malls, eat together and talk about almost everything but after they knew of me being gay, everything changed! And it broke my heart; it brought me more pain… I asked myself if I did the right thing or not… it took them years to accept me and at present my dad is already okay with the idea of me being gay, even my other sisters, my cousins are also cool about it now but one person who hasn’t grasped the idea of me being gay is my grandfather. He knows about it but rejected to accept it, I was one of his favorites before. He used to bring me all over the world from the United States, Europe and all over Asia when I was still a child and buy all the things I want. But as the news flew in to him, he got so furious, he even fought with my dad and told him that he will disown and disinherit me. I was so depressed… thinking, is this the life I want? I reflected a lot and concluded that this is my life, I can do whatever I want with it, that I don’t live in this world in order to please others but to please myself, be happy with myself and be proud of what I am. I think Rilke’s seventh letter is suitable with this situation in which he takes the notion of solitude and marries it with love. He said love is difficult, but that we must put our trust in what is difficult as Nature does, to exercise our beings to their fullness. With all the rejection and pains I have encountered to this journey of coming out, it was hard for them to accept me, and I think it was hard for them to even give the love they have given me before. That is why I should be the one to love them more, instead of me waiting in solitude I shifted it to love. The act of Loving another human being is the most difficult task for which all other work is mere preparation. It was hard for me to give them love at first because they hurt me so damn much, but I have prepared myself with that kind of situation that even proved my love for them. Each of us must learn how to love. To know that it springs from our oceans of solitude not from a formless merging of ourselves to another. But rather that each of us must ripen into individuals that can experience and give love, to hearken and hammer day and night. To Love is to accept a burden and apprenticeship that allows each authentic person to grow and become rather than fall back and lose what makes them unique and rare. The ultimate aim of life is the love that consists two solitudes that protect and border and greets each other. 

                              photo from: goodreads.com
That is what I have turned into, a wounded-healer which I have already shared with you in my past blogs and if you remember I sighted a part of my personal diary about this. I can relate this part in one of the most famous lines in The Little Prince, as it states: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. For me being a wounded healer as I have transformed into is a great example for this line for it tackles the importance of the heart than the eye, it tackles what the heart encompasses than the eye.  A wounded healer is a person who has gone through suffering, sometimes great, and as a result of that process I become a source of great wisdom, healing power and inspiration for others. In fact, I've gone through a transformation as a result of my wounds, my suffering and pain. I can actually transcend it, and successfully lead myself to a path of service. It is as if the wound itself helps me drive myself to an inner journey that becomes the transformation itself. But for me it, gives freedom and hope. It may no longer be trendy but for me it was life. I began to realize that I was called to share out of vulnerability, not strength. It began to permeate every part of my life. I no longer had to pretend they I had it all. It allowed me to bring into play other important facates of my belief system. Like vulnerability, raw, real, imperfection, and transparency. In finding my own strengths, I help other people to grow stronger. In providing strength for others, I strengthen myself. Another line from the Little Prince that I can correlate with this part of my paper is: What makes the desert beautiful? Is that somewhere it hides a well. A lot of people tell me that I have a nice personality and that I’m approachable, friendly etc. Some also says that my character is mysterious and deep and that my overall personality is vast and unpredictable, I can connect my personality to the beautiful dessert that was mentioned in the line from the Little Prince, and the well that it mentioned I can say that it is the experiences that I have encountered in my life that really made a big impact leading for me to a transformation to a better person and that this well is as deep as the experiences that I have encountered. 

 At present, here I am… living a happy, colorful, creative and gay life.

Gods Existence?

Declarations of different beliefs are stated and many questions are ask, one of this is very interesting for it questions God’s existence and importance.


                                    photo from: mommylife.net

And this is how it goes, what do we mean by saying that existence precedes essence?

It clearly means that man first of all exists before God, then encounters himself, gushes in the world and defines himself. If man is an existentialist and sees himself as not definable, it is because at first he is nothing. He will not be anything until he will be what he makes of himself. Hence, there is no human nature existing because there is no God to be conceived but man simply is. Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself. I kinda agree and disagree with this, because first and foremost I am a Christian, and I believe that I am what I am right now due to the things that I have done and decided before but with God’s grace. Thus, existentialism tells us that man is responsible for himself, but do not mean that he is responsible only for his own individuality, but that he is responsible for all men. So if this is the case, even though that God does not exist for others, values and morality can still be applied! Because man does things for himself, obviously these things would be good and better for him and nothing can be better for us unless it is better for all.  It is just like what my High-school teacher always tells our class, that the fault of one student is the fault of the whole class! That is why we tend to be in our proper behavior in class because we know for a fact that there are other people who will be punished due to our own wrongdoings. So I think that it is still possible for morality to be evident even without God’s existence.








You may or may not agree. don't get me wrong here. I LOVE GOD!

What Viktor Frankl made me Realize

"Man is by virtue of the self-transcendent quality of the human reality basically concerned with reaching out beyond himself, be it toward a meaning to fulfill, or toward another human being to lovingly encounter."

                                  photo from: logotherapy.univie.ac.at

Or simply that being human is relating to something rather than oneself. How can this be done? By exercising our freedom! So does this mean that Frankl and Sartre have the same perspective? In some aspects but what lacks in Sartre’s perspective is when he disregarded human freedom and faith together. As I said awhile ago, I somehow belief in Sartre right? But I also mentioned that something is lacking… and I think this is it, that my freedom is finite freedom which tells me that I am not Godlike and that I am not free from conditions. Now I know… that even though I am free to do things I want for myself, I should remember that my freedom is predetermined. Viktor Frankl also maintained that man is capable of discovering himself and life's meaning through suffering and experience.

I think Frankl wants to say that, the will-to-meaning enables man to find the reason to live. There are critical moments in a man's life when all the traditional reasons why he should live are taken away one after another, and he is made to wait for death, which would terminate a life without meaning. I somehow disagree because for me, everything can be taken from man but one thing and that is the last of human freedoms which is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances and to choose one's own way. For me, this is what it should be!

What Jean Paul Sartre Taught Me...

“Man is nothing else than his plan; he exists only to the extent that he fulfills himself; he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life.”  


                                         photo from: danassays.wordpress.com

Sounds decipherable… isn’t? Heard or read it somewhere? Oh well, this statement was familiarize by a controversial existentialists Jean-Paul Sartre. What he means is that a man is nothing else than a series of undertakings, that he is the sum, the organization, the ensemble of the relationships which make up these undertakings or simply that man, in the course of his life, has invented himself and all the values, meanings, truth, justice and religions; so man’s essence is a spin-off of his existence.

Do you agree?

SOMEHOW I do because in my life, I have been independent since I was a child, the values, meanings, truth, justice and faith taught by my parents were slowly fading as I was growing up due to the entities around me, I was the one who decided whether the values imparted by these entities were good or bad, whether these meanings and truth were deviant with the norms of the society, it was still me who decided to invent which values, justice and faith must I acquire in my life. I feel so free because of it! That is why I somehow believe in Sartre’s perspective with regards to this but I know something lacks in my decision. I know I need something else to complete it. Sartre also claims that his philosophy is rather optimistic as it encourages men to act despite the harshness of reality and that is what I’m doing. Even though that I have been experiencing a lot of hardships, pain, stress and pessimism in my life, I still try to look at the positive side of things despite all of this, I still am living my life as if I don’t have problems around me. So does it mean that my existence is free of conditions? I don’t think so, because our life and freedom is absolute and it is made up of facticity and transcendings. Facticity is where conditions of our existence are evident or simply it is our past while transcendings are the potentials and possibilities that we are going to encounter in the future. But what makes it complicated? Nothingness! How can nothingness enter the picture? It is because humans are the nothingness of yesterday and tomorrow!

I know its getting more complicated… haha!!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

“The Rise of the Masses, The Fall of the Elites”





Since I have been blogging about music, food, love for the past few days... Now, I thought of blogging about my first love which is Politics... Philippine politics per se as the focal point... anyway, for this blog I would like to discuss about Marx ideology on the role of masses and elites in a certain nation. I remember writing about this when I was still in College. So here it is:


The ouster of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada by people power or known as Edsa I & II are manifestations on the idea that a class struggle will be successful mainly because elite capitalism has become far too unstable due to the increasingly powerful masses. It is evident, that Filipino masses increase in their numbers due to a creation of industry which led smaller businesses and low wage workers joining each other in equality and without difference. What made them more powerful is the fact that these people are aided by newfound industrial and political education, the increasingly stronger working class forms the majority of the population that is necessary for a successful political movement. Here in the country, the rise of the masses is seen through out the years, most especially seen and felt during the Marcos regime. Along with this, the fall of the elites and the consequent win of the masses is inevitable. During the 1998 elections, Joseph Estrada ran for the Presidency of the Philippines and he won landslide even if he was against a powerful foe named Jose de Venecia who has a machinery throughout the archipelago. What made Erap win? It is because of his tagline which is “Erap para sa Mahirap”. He portrayed himself as being one with the masses; he depicted an image that is marketable to the masses. The masses believed it, they supported and voted for him because they thought that Erap was the savior and the protector of the mass interests. Months after he took seat from office, different issues lambasted his administration. Issues such as graft and corruption, abuse of power or any typical elitist concern. The Philippine economy was in shambles, it was unstable and worst of all stagnant. The majority of the populace was starving and hungry, they were oppressed by the situation, they were suffering. The so-called “savior and protector” of the masses left them and turn his back from the masses. With this scenario, people were clinging for change, asking for a transformation and most of all crying for a revolution! The revolution happened again in the historic Edsa Shrine. The people mostly the masses gathered in huge groups, showed their force and power, brought their moorings in the street and toppled the Estrada Administration! The problem is now solved for a short time because the masses did not foresee that the new leader that they have chosen is somewhat the same or even worst than that of Estrada. Because of their clamor for change, it somehow blinded them that Gloria Arroyo is another Erap Estrada. What Arroyo did during this time is to get the trust of the people, and she did at first. She depicted herself as the hope that the masses have been looking and waiting for. She made everyone believe that she is the change that the revolution yielded. During those times we were standing at the exact same point like where we were in the Estrada Administration. So the question is, what will the masses do? Are they ready for another social and political revolution? Or are they tired and old of it? As we can see, our history is based on what the middle class and the masses does or do. Like for example, during the Spanish-Filipino war the masses in the leadership of Andres Bonifacio fought for their freedom and liberty. They were successful and then came a new society in the arms of the Americans. Another example is what happened during the Edsa 1 revolution when the masses demonstrated their force and power in the streets that led to the downfall of a very powerful dictator. With these examples including the demise of Erap’s administration, we can see that the course of history is changed and influenced with what the middle class and the masses execute. Our history is in accordance to what these people decide to do. They are the majority, they have the capability, they are the real authors of our history. They have power over the elites but the problem is that, they don’t know how to use it, they don’t know when and some don’t know that they have what it takes to overthrow or overpower those elites that made them suffered and abused their rights for freedom, democracy and a life that is liberated from any prejudices. Now, we have a new President... New Administration... A President from a Powerful Political ELITE family... What will the Masses do? Whats next for them? Lets soon find out...

Is There Anything Original in this World?

Lahat ng Tao GAYA-GAYA... Pilipino ka man, Amerikano o kahit saang sulok ng mundo ka pa nanggaling...

Meron ba talagang ORIHINAL sa mundo? (wala akong maisip na orihinal sa mundo... may alam ka ba?)

Ultimo ang ginagamit kong mga salita ngayon sa blog ko ay hango sa iba't ibang wika o dialekto sa mundo... mapa ingles, kastila, pranses, italyano, arabo, jabacano, ilokano, bikolano at marami pa...

Mapa kultura man, sining, kasuotan, bahay, pagkain, produkto ay pareho pareho lang... iba lang ang tawag... iba lang ang pag gamit, ngunit iisa lang... may orihinal ba talaga?

Sa Kultura halimbawa ay makikita mo ang pagkakahambing natin sa mga nanakop satin... at makikita din natin na may kahambing ito sa mga nanakop sa kanila... (wag mo na akong tanungin kung ano pa yun... alamin mo mag-isa)

Sa Musika naman, kitang kita din ang pagkapare pareho.. sa Amerika meron silang hip-hop, meron din sa atin at sa iba't ibang parte ng mundo... kahit rnb pa yan, rap, po, jazz at kung ano ano pang genre ng music... parepareho lang!!! Sabihin mo ng iba't iba naman ang mga awitin... PERO. parepareho lang din naman ang tema ng mga ito.. LOVE, BETRAYAL, GOD, HOPE, CHILDREN, PEOPLE, COUNTRY etc... pare pareho lang. Tama ba ako? Pati mga mangaawit. Sa Amerika meron silang diva na si Mariah Carey, Sa Canada si Celine Dion, sa Malaysia si Siti Nurhaliza, Sa China sila Anggun, sa Hong Kong si Coco Lee at sa atin jusko... magtanong ka pa sino mga diva dito. Eh bayan ata tayo ng mga diva tulad ni Regine Velasquez na natatanging pinakamagaling na diva ng Asya! hehe...

Sa kasuotan.. lahat ng lalake naka short/pants, lahat naka-tshirt.. sa babae naka palda tapos blouse... ganun din sa mga bading... tapos kung mapapansin niyo din pati ang mga minorities naman na naka bahag lang, tapos mga babae nila ay may parang sarong.... magresearch kayo! makikita niyo... parepareho lang kahit saang lupalop pa ng mundo...

Kahit disenyo ng bahay ay magkakahambing ang lahat.... may bubong, bintana, pader at mga pinto.. may mga kwarto din... iba japanese inspired, iba zen, meron namang modern at mga bahay na bato... Pareho-pareho din...

Dito sa Pilipinas, makikita mo din na halos lahat ay GAYA-GAYA.

Sa ABS-CBN palang at GMA eh naggagayahan na... sa noontime shows may Eat Bulaga tapos ngayon may Happy Yipee Yehey, may Diva at may IDOL, may Banana Split tapos may Bubble Gang, Party Pilipinas at ASAP Rocks, pati game shows meron ang isa gagayahin naman ng isa... May the Buzz at meron din Showbiz Central! Tapos dadagdag pa ng isang major player, ang TV 5 kung saan meron din silang pangtapat sa mga nasabi kong shows ng dalawang networks... saan ka pa?! maraming pagpipilian... pero may orihinal ba na konsepto?!

Ano nga ba talaga nag punto ng blog kong ito? Nagrereklamo ba ako dahil puro gayahan nalang?

Minsan hindi dahil maraming pagpipilian, depende sa taste ng tao... Pero minsan naman oo... nagrereklamo ako, dahil puro gayahan nalang... wala bang bago? ibig sabihin ba nito walang ORIGINALITY ang lahat ng tao? eh bakit meron pang nagkakasuhan dahil sa pagnakaw ng konsepto o ideya?

Pero matawa ka man o sa hindi.. isa lang talaga ang dahilan bakit ako nagsulat ng blog tungkol dito...

                                                       photos: facebuko.com

When I was watching TV kanina.. i saw the commercial of Jollibee's new CokeFloat kung saan si Mareng Enchong ang model... Pero even before lumabas yung commercial, I already saw the Jollibee Cokefloat two weeks ago when i had my lunch there... So syempre, because I want to compare kung anong float ang mas masarap... is it Mcfloat or Jollibee Float.... My answer would be..... both... depende sa  panglasa...

McFloat kasi is more dry... hindi ganun kasweet yung syrup and icecream... so okay lang.. While sa Jollibee naman, sweet yung syrup and malasa yung icecream... BUT... madaming ice... LOL

Anyway, This is where I end my blog....

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Ang Pilipino Takot sa Pagbabago?

Marami siguro sa inyo ang napaisip sa title na napili ko... may iba sasangayon at may iba naman na hindi... okay lang sakin dahil lahat naman ng tao may sariling pananaw at paniniwala sa buhay.

Simula pa noong unang panahon takot na ang mga Pilipino sa pagbabago...

Noon maraming mga mananakop ang napadpad sa ating mga isla... mga Espanyol na pinamunuan ni Magellan, mga Amerikanong umano'y tumulong sa atin para makamtan ang kalayaan at mga Japon na sinasabing ang Pilipinas ay para sa Pilipinas lamang..

Marahil tama ang mga sinaunang Pilipino para hindi tanggapin ang pagbabagong inihatid ng mga mananakop na ito... Nagaklas at nag-alsa ang mga forefathers natin laban sa kanila... nakamtan ang kalayaan na ating tinatamasa ngayong mga panahon...

Ngunit...

Hindi ko lang maintindihan kung bakit... bakit hindi natin tinangap ang pagbabagong gusto nilang ihatid sa bansa natin noong mga panahon na iyon... kasi kung titingnan natin ngayon, halos lahat ng GUSTO ng Pilipino ay galing sa kanilang lahat.

Kristiyanismo na galing sa mga Kastila, magagandang bahay na bato at mga Unesco World Heritage sites tulad ng mga Simbahan sa Paoay at sa Vigan ...

Wikang Ingles, hotdog, yosi, Santa Claus, chocolate bars naman na galing sa mga Amerikano...

Disiplina, origami, haiku, pwede nadin ang sushi at kung ano ano pa ang galing sa Japan...

Takot nga ba ang Pilipino sa Pagbabago? Napaisip lang ako....