Puffing Privately

I am at a loss on the usage of the word “enforcement”. 

Yesterday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced a strict enforcement of the no-smoking law in the 17 cities of metro Manila. This got me into thinking if the description of “strict enforcement” is appropriate since “to enforce” means to compel obedience, thus every “enforcement” is ought be strict in nature. Probably, the reason for such description must be because the MMDA wants to put grave emphasis on its campaign against smoking in public places.

According to RA 9211 of the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003, public places - are not allowed for smoking - are defined as “enclosed or confined areas of all hospitals, medical clinics, schools, public transportation terminals and offices, and buildings such as private and public offices, recreational places, shopping malls, movie houses, hotels, restaurants, and the like.” The smokers sector must be grumbling now as their once free world got confined, their freedom limited to their private homes and designated smoking areas. 

If I were to side with the smokers, I would’ve filed a protest to this strict enforcement as a violation of my rights and freedom. But since I am not from their side, I can easily refute that argument by saying that smoking violates the rights of others as they get to inhale second hand smoke which is just as dangerous.

Another good point of discussion among our law makers is the issue to increase the taxes on tobacco. This must follow the logic that since the tobacco prices are higher, fewer people are going to afford this luxury thus lessening the number of smokers. However, in our country where smoking tobacco isn’t seen as luxury but rather a daily need, we see people smoke everywhere that even the less fortunate can spare a few pesos on a stick even while one’s family has nothing to eat.  If we would include smoking in the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, it would have placed beside the physiological needs that must be pacified first before reaching self-actualization. 

You may ask, “Isn’t depriving the poor from smoking by raising the taxes anti-poor?” I digress. If you would see the ill effects of smoking and the possible complications that accompany it, stopping smoking can really be pro-poor as it prevents unnecessary hospitalizations and medical expenses. 

I have to commend the MMDA for such a purposeful campaign of making ways to control pollution levels. I hope that the same effort can be sustained and implemented with such vigor as the same office did with the anti-speeding campaign at the Commonwealth Ave. If the government shall continue to train its citizens to be responsible and law-abiding, the Philippines that we once knew we shall see again.

Photo from http://www.cigarettesflavours.com

Pro-Poor Campaign Project No.1

As I have already taken an oath to help the people in need, my organization (UST Nursing Chorale) together with the Red Cross Youth Council - Nursing Unit and the UST College of Tourism and Hospitality Management have planned to come up with a Medical-Dental Mission at Camarin, Caloocan this month.

Currently, we are still short of resources and I am still looking for sponsors who would like to donate in cash or in kind (medicines and medical supplies). If you are interested in helping out, kindly post a comment or contact me through my mobile number 09275842894. All donations will be highly appreciated. Thank you!

2011 UST SOCC LTS: Faith, Hope, Love

UST Main Building

Being a leader is a continuous learning process – this is what I learned in the 2011 UST Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) Leadership Training Seminar held at Caleruega Retreat Center, Nasugbu, Batangas last May 25-27,2011.

The three day seminar was composed of talks focused on the theme “Tria Haec: Faith, Hope, and Love” which are believed to be the soul of Thomasian leadership.  The event had several speakers, among them were Ms.Erica Bolanos who was a working student and a student leader in her college days in UST talked about Faith, the importance of prayer, and how God’s grace builds upon the senses.

The second talk came from Dr. Clarence Batan, a professor from the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, who shared his viewpoint on the second cardinal virtue of Hope. In his talk, he shared how leaders should have the right motivation for leadership, not just the awards and recognitions one could get from it. I found this very true since there are at times projects that are better seen in the portfolio than in the actual event itself. As leaders, we should strive to come up with projects that are true of their essence, stripped from hypocrisies.

Caleruega Retreat Center

At the near end of  Dr. Batan’s speech, he gave us statistics on the poverty level in the country and the widening gap between the rich and the poor. With us having the most comfortable lives in our homes, it seems that the harsh reality of poverty, hunger, and other social issues are not evident. In the end of his speech, he urged us, Thomasian student leaders, to turn our hopes for a better future into actions, taking a more proactive stance in making a difference.

Dr. Batan recently released a song titled as “Bahay na Bato” which he sang live with so much passion after the talk. I found it very moving because of the lyrics that feature the release of a family from the shackles of poverty. I would feature this song as part of my pro-poor campaign soon.

The last cardinal virtue of “Love” was discussed by Mr.Daniel Cruz who shared that we must always act out of love, loving not only the people we serve but also those random people we meet every day as no work of kindness is wasted. It may not always be reciprocated, but it is never wasted.

The last talk came from Dr. Sherwin Agravio, an alumnus from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and a member of Power of One Foundation, Inc. In his talk, he shared how Thomasian leadership must play a bigger role in our society, changing the usual stereotype for UST graduates as being passive, thus better placed in “support” groups, to the leaders they are just as, if not more than, capable of. 

 He also said about how the Office for Student Affairs is already doing its best to reach out and develop the leader in every student confined within the walls of the university. The SOCC in coordination with several alumni is also planning to release an official leadership manual to further develop the Thomasian leader identity this coming year as one of their projects. 

Dr. Agravio also gave us some workshops on brainstorming and leadership assessment that are very helpful in our future role as leaders in our respective organizations. His talk was very concrete as they are very easy to apply and follow.

This SOCC LTS was good venue to build linkages and future project collaborations with the other organizations. I got to meet interesting people from different faculties and colleges with diverse backgrounds. This also inspired me to do better as a student leader, making use of my time, effort, and talents in truthfully serving for our organization members, college, and the University.

To the new SOCC Executive Board, congratulations and I wish you the best of luck for the coming year!

Tria Haec photo from here

Caleruega photo from www.meetmeatsunset.wordpress.com

Theory of the Unisex Baby

My group mates and I recently did a pilot study for our thesis on the effects of a video-based health education intervention to decrease anxiety, increase knowledge and decrease pain perception on boys about to be circumcised. 

We gave a test to all participants of the study to assess the knowledge of the children and we found out that most of the children undergo circumcision for the wrong reason. Majority of them answered “Para magging tunay na lalaki”. This led our group to thinking what if the child, didn’t actually want to be a man?

Thus came the ingenious flow of ideas from our group. One talked about on why God didn’t make all the babies unisex when they were born and then just grow up a penis or a vagina when one is in the reproductive age. That way, he said, would prevent the less capable of reproducing from having sex. This would also prevent the usual Elektra complex (a girl’s competition with her mother for possession of the father) and Oedipus complex (a boy's competition with his father for the possession of his mother) as the child would not even know that gender he is supposed to be identifying with. 

Another one added a more scientific proposition where the hormones that would determine the gender of the unisex baby would be based on kung ano ang tinitibok ng puso nya or what the child thinks his gender is as one grows up. This would erase the disgusts of those who are not satisfied with their gender and would like to be of the opposite sex as this allows the person to make a choice rather than live by the choice life set for them. He added, “Kung ganun ang mangyayari, wala nang sisihan, di ba?”

My group mates and I have the most random conversations, don’t we?

Digesting the Newspaper

I am newspaper freak. I enjoy reading the headlines in bold, the articles written in Times New Roman script, holding the crisp texture of a freshly printed broadsheet, and the feeling of having in your hands the events that happened a day ago. 

I probably got the habit of newspaper reading during high school back in O.B. Montessori Center (OBMCI). We would have our daily dose of The Philippine Star delivered to our tables before the first subject starts. While waiting for our teacher, my classmates and I would scan through the pages, spreading them widely with our arms stretched as our eyes wander through articles we barely understand. Back then, when I was still ignorant to the incorrigible truth about the world, I would flip through the news pages until I find the page where the horoscope of the day and the “Believe it or Not” is. The horoscope was my news and “Believe it or Not” is my feature.

As a requirement for our highs school Revitalized Homeroom Guidance Program (RHGP) subject, of which scope I find vague, we were required to cut from the Opinions page the columns, “By the Way” by the late Maximo V. Soliven (MVS), “A Point of Awareness” by UNESCO Secretary General Preciosa S. Soliven (PSS) which comes out every Thursdays, and "As A Matter of Fact" by Sarah Soliven-De Guzman, the daughter of the first two mentioned. 

After we cut the said columns from the opinion page of the newspaper, we compile them in a separate O.B. Montessori notebook labeled as “MVS/ SSDG columns” in the front and “PSS Columns” at the back. Yes, our high school only allows a particular brand of merchandise. We have OBMCI Notebooks, OBMCI Quiz notebooks, OBMCI Spelling pads, OBMCI Pencils, OBMCI Clipboard, OBMCI Calligraphy paper (which is no different from the usual pad paper except for having an OBMCI logo and three holes at the side for easy filing in our OBMCI binder), OBMCI Graphing pad paper, etc. Good thing we didn’t have the OBMCI bags back then before I graduated. But the thing is, we lived and breathed the merchandise of our school. 

Going back, we paste the articles in the left side of a page. Yes, paste is more preferred over glue since glue runs quickly and has higher changes of sticking two separate pages together – a lesson learned through experience. On the other side of the page, we write our brief reaction, often composed of 2 to 3 sentences, regarding the article. If I feel extra generous with my talent of writing, I would fill the entire blank side of the page with a reaction as long as the column itself, or maybe even longer, extending the usual 2 to 3 sentences to 2 to 3 pages. How’s that for a brief reaction?

If I were still studying in O.B. Montessori right now, I would ask my teacher on why the columns of those three mentioned above are the ones to be cut and pasted in our notebook while there are just as interesting columns like those of Anna Marie Pamintuan, Jose Sison, and Cito Beltran. Probably their answer would be: Because the Solivens own our school.

This leads me to an interesting observation. Is it just my casual observation or are there really few people who read the newspaper these days? I hardly see the newsstands empty up in the afternoon, or someone carrying newspaper around for them to digest and understand, or even just a person stopping by the newsstands is already quite a hard find. 

I’ve always believed that an informed citizen could be a productive one. As Dr. Allan de Guzman, a research professor from UST said to us in a research consultation, “Knowledge is important because of two things: it guides the decision making process and allows the people to plan.” This made me ponder on the reason why we keep on putting incompetent people to public office then rally to the streets proclaiming they should be ousted when everything seems to be messed up. It is because we never really bothered to know what happened to the past, making us unable to plan ahead, turning the course of the country’s events into a vicious cycle that would just repeat over and over. Now, if we would just read the newspaper, know what is currently happening and the issues that it entails, probably we could keep these things from happening again and focus on the new issues that are yet to be solved.

Please do your country a favor and read.

The Generic Birthday Post

I was supposed to blog today about my bus trip back to Manila and my not so considerate stomach. But after I’ve logged in on my Facebook account, I was just flabbergasted with the number of greetings that I’ve gotten over the day that I scrapped the supposed inappropriate birthday post.

I was so amazed on the 300+ people who remembered my birthday, took their time to click on my profile, and their type their simple “Happy birthdays!” on my wall. I would then reply to each post personally without copy pasting my “thank you’s” to return their effort.  I also received text messages throughout the day which led to the untimely demise of my cellphone (a.k.a low battery).

I had a wide range of people who greeted me today - my loved one, people from the different branches of O.B. Montessori, from my beloved university, from AUF, my family, my badminton buddies, my organization mates, my co-bloggers, choirmates, fellow writers, classmates, teachers in middle school, professors and clinical instructors in college, business acquaintances, people I barely know, people I haven’t met personally, people who do not talk to me in person, people who I lost connection with, and most especially, the people who I do not expect to receive a greeting from. 

I just wish I could talk to all of you and thank you personally for remembering my day. 

P.S.: It would be really nice if the people I barely know who greeted me online would also strike up a conversation with me in person sometime.  Don't worry, I don't bite :)

 

Price Tag by Jessie J Cover

Here's my version of Price Tag. Enjoy! :)

Price Tag

Seems like everybody's got a price,
I wonder how they sleep at night.
When the sale comes first,
And the truth comes second,
Just stop, for a minute and
Smile

Why is everybody so serious
Acting so damn mysterious
Got your shades on your eyes
And your heels so high
That you can't even have a good time

Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We're paying with love tonight
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Chang Cha-Chang.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Blang Ba-Blang
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

Okay!
We need to take it back in time,
When music made us all unite
And it wasn't low blows and video hoes,
Am I the only one getting tired
Why is everybody so obsessed
Money can't buy us happiness
Can we all slow down and enjoy right now
Guarantee we'll be feeling Alright.

Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We're paying with love tonight
It's not about the money, money, money
We don't need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag
Ain't about the (uh) Cha-Chang Cha-Chang.

Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Blang Ba-Blang
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.

Singers and Dancers

Dancers usually manage to wear the most eccentric clothes but still can be cool; Singers, on the other hand, stay with the more formal peices with the tie and all.

Dancers can do sexually suggestive moves and poses, singers cannot - they’d look hideous.

Dancers can transform into different personalities with their moves, costume, and music while singers can only do so with their piece.

Dancers can bear not to look awkward at parties with their awesome moves, singers most of the time sing with the DJ’s mix while doing their barely-moving actions which they call dancing.

Singers can perform in solo, dancers could not make do without a group.

Singers please the ears, dancers please the eye.

Dancers most of the time have well toned bodies, singers have normal to slightly above normal body built.

Singers’ work can be heard in mp3’s, Dancers immortalize through movie clips.

Singers go to the limelight easier. I haven’t seen someone become famous by being a dancer alone.

Singers age in the stage (that rhymed!), dancers retire when they grow old and weary.

But in the end, 

Singers can sing, dancers can’t.

Dancers can dance, singer’s cant.

...but there are always exemptions.

Movie Review: In the Name of Love

Celebrating Star Cinema’s 18th anniversary this year, a movie offering titled “In the Name of Love” hits the Philippine big screen. Directed by Olivia Lamasan, the story is one of those romantic-tragic types that play with the audience’s feelings, revive one's repressed emotions, and capture every sympathy from the audience in the most unique ways possible.

It’s a rare occasion when I would say that a Filipino movie met my expectations. But it’s another thing when I say that a film exceeded my expectations. This movie, being from the later, was a huge breather from the usual Pinoy movies. 

The story was very profound and heart breaking which was told with an equally convincing screenplay. For one, it’s not one of those films that from the very beginning the conclusion would be so obvious you just have to wait until it shows up in the screenplay. Rather, it tells the story from an unconventional viewpoint through its non-linear story presentation that keeps the viewers thinking and glued while the story reveals itself part by part, scene by scene.

There were many wonderful performances from the cast, particularly from the stars. Angel Locsin who plays Cedes showed her versatility and depth as an actress shifting her role from a dancer in Japan to a sophisticated and matured soon-to-be wife of a soon-to-be politician (Jake Cuenca). She was exceptionally good on the scenes in Japan where she follows Aga Mulach (Emman) around. I was like seeing an anime character come to life with her bubbly actions and spirit.

The dancing parts of the movie, which I think are very refreshing from the usual all lines plot, reminded me of the movie “Black Swan”. In this movie, we see Cedes and her major lifestyle overhaul similar to the white swan-black swan transitions of Natalie Portman, this must be the Black Swan of Philippine cinema! 

An interesting observation is that the dances follow the plot of the story. In the earlier part of the story where Aga one again cross paths with Angel in the Philippines, we can see the evasive and stiff elements as they dance the tango. In the latter parts we see the sensual and smooth dance of the characters as their forgotten love story reignites. A heart breaking scene to watch out for was seen near the end where Aga guides Angel from her back as she dances with her fiancé, Jake Cuenca. After a few seconds, we see Aga let go of Angel and decides to watch the couple from the distance. Was that a metaphor? 

Aga Mulach (Emman) played his role efficiently as an OFW working in Japan who later gets gets imprisoned for 7 years due to charges for money laundering. The scene where he dances with a mannequin is again one of those metaphors that really struck me, it was like a cry of desolation and loss. He looked particularly awkward when he danced alone in his studio, or maybe I wasn’t just used to seeing a dancing Aga. 

Although Aga Mulach looks more mature in the film, it actually complements his role unlike those of other films that force love teams despite a wide age gap between the actors. The result? A hideous, barf inducing, mix-matched love team.

The scene transitions where artistically done, especially the one when Angel goes on a monologue about her hardships to free Aga from prison. 

Another thing I liked about this movie is its social relevance. We see the ill effects of a corrupt government, fathers leaving the country to work abroad as OFW, family disintegration, sexism, and the Filipino’s resiliency. This movie reflects the struggles, making it both realistic and timely.

I would usually think that the people you see on TV commercials screaming “No.1! No.1!” or those blurting out their testimonies in front of the camera such as “Sobrang nakakakiliiiggg si blank and blank!” are all overrated and are just some PR strategy to hype up the sales. But in this movie, I figure that the comments are mostly understatements.

I wonder if it would be possible for the next mainstream movies to follow and have the same standard as this movie. There are a lot of stories still yet to be told in many different ways, why do film makers resort to the over-used and age old formula?

In the Name of Love was a breather. Let’s have more of these movies please.

Photo from www.rodmagaru.com

Ten Commandments of the Pro-Poor

As I’ve said in my previous blog post, I now advocate to live a simple life, full of humility and charity.

I recently attended a talk by Joguie Guillermo which challenged the way I think about living a “simple” life. He said that it is not money that makes life complex, it is the lack of it. 

Say for example, you are going to the supermarket with a very tight budget. You go through the aisles, check the prices, compare the price of one product to another, and then finally drop the cheaper brand to your cart. Once you ticked everything from your list, you find yourself materializing before the cashier computing for your cart’s worth, removing items when the cart’s worth exceed the budget. Such a hassle from just a simple errand! 

Granting you have the money, you now have a more flexible budget plan. You can afford go to the supermarket without even devising a list of things to buy, maze through aisles, put everything you want in the cart without comparing the prices, and then pay your dues at the cashier, saving time and effort. Isn’t that more simple?

With my advocacy in mind, I won’t be a hypocrite and hypnotize you into believing that money isn’t everything, that there is more to money and material possessions, and my personal favorite, that you can’t bring your riches to heaven. Saying that would be absurd. Rather, what I’m trying to say about living a simple life is living without the unnecessary extravagance. 

I am reminded by Phil Sajor of one of my Theology professor’s quotable quotes, “Live simply so that others may simply live”. There is so much wisdom one could learn from the Social Teachings of the Church course of Sr. Celia Vinoya,OP. I was not very fond of the readings mostly composed of social encyclicals of the Church during the course, but giving it a second look gives you that more profound understanding of others and the society. 

Well, the whole advocacy thing might be vague to you so let’s get it down to the specifics on how I can live a less extravagant life:

Ten Commandments of the Pro-Poor

1. Thou shall not discriminate the poor and the poor looking.
2. Thou shall buy what you need.
3. Thou shall not buy unnecessary things impulsively.
4. Thou shall not purchase overpriced coffee from overrated coffee shops no matter how tempting it may be.
5. Thou shall not eat, as much as possible, from fast food. It’s expensive, makes you fat and shows you are insensitive to those who can’t eat a morsel.
6. Thou shall give time and effort by joining medical missions and community works by being a volunteer.
7. Thou shall make a collective motion against anti-poor policies, commercials, etc.
8. Thou shall treat beggars humanely. Do not avoid, disrespect, or ignore the them. Say “sorry” or “patawad” when one is unable to give.
9. Thou shall not give monetary alms to the poor who are still capable of working. It’s illegal and promotes dependence.
10. Though shall give gifts to the needy. Feed the hungry, cloth the sick, etc.

Photo from here

Pro-Poor Campaign

Our countrymen have already expressed their disgust over the insensitive money squandering of our public servants amid the hellish economic situation in the Philippines.  In 1986, we witnessed the downfall of the Steel Butterfly Imelda Marcos, who was widely known for her vanity mostly epitomized  by her 2700 (and counting) pairs of shoes. In the year 2009, we have been enraged by the then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she dined in New York along with her entourage with bills raising up to 20,000 dollars. (960,000 pesos) Just recently, we had sparks of controversy over President Noynoy Aquino’s  newly purchased third-hand 2007 Porsche. 

Is this an issue of corruption? Maybe not,  since most of the expenses came from their personal pockets. 

Is this an issue of vanity? Probably. 

How about an issue on insensitivity? Hell yes. 

This got me thinking how the lay people perceive it, who for that matter have hardly anything to eat while their leaders (who are supposed to be one with the masses) feast on food served in golden plates, satisfying their gustatory needs to the heavens.

But are we supposed to be pinpointing the ones only in position? The act of pinpointing is a science. It follows a certain rule that while it may be at times not just, it must always be equitable.

 How about those people who come from the upper class, who dine in the most expensive restos, drink overpriced coffee from overrated coffee shops for not less than a hundred bucks, wear no less than designer clothing, and those who waste their money in buying tokens from amusement parks? You might say that everyone deserves some sort of vanity and recreation, blah, blah, blah… but this is clearly beyond the point! The thing is,  have you ever thought of the others? The others who can’t barely buy a pack of instant mami to be shared by a family of four, the child who didn’t even have time to play because they were busy working their bones off to fund their schooling, the taong grasa who has nothing to wear but torn out garments. The others in poverty. The others not so blessed as you.

I now say publicly that I would now be an advocate of the poor. That I shall express disgust over the countless anti-poor ways as employed in the media through commercials, shows, etc.That I shall eternally vow to commit myself in a simple life, living by works of charity and selfless-giving. 

I shall enumerate the specifics of my advocacy in my next blog post.

Top photo from here