It is GMA's birthday today and of course, we wish her a happy birthday. Birthdays are a good time to reflect too, about the things we have accomplished and on the direction that we will take.
It is a known fact that a lot of people and sectors in Philippine society have been asking GMA to step down since some years back. Given this scenario, I was quite surprised to see the write-up about her in the Philippine Star today were I found the following portions which were taken from GMA's own websites.
"...more fondly known as GMA..."
"...one of the most popularly elected officials since her debut in politics in 1992..."
"...she won the Presidential elections for a fresh mandate..."
You have got to hand it to her publicists. They continue with their positive statements even when they know that more and more people are expressing greater dissatisfaction with how things are in the country now. Some people, for example, just call her GMA (instead of PGMA) as they do not recognize her as the legitimate president. One of the most popularly elected officials and winning the elections for a fresh mandate? Hello Garci remains unresolved and continues to haunt her to this very day.
Well, to each his own. If the publicists don't write such positive and glowing articles, then they might be out of a job by now. The trouble begins when they all start to believe what they have been writing all along.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Of Lies and Hidden Truths
It has been almost a month since Jun Lozada testified at the Senate and we still do not know the complete story. People are still telling us conflicting stories.
This is a great time to own a newspaper. Have you noticed those numerous, expensive one page ads that have been appearing left and right in the last few days? They can be in support of or against GMA. From the Assumptionistas, to the former Cabinet officials, to the congressmen, mayors and governors -- you name them, they have a statement to make.
Some years back, I asked a priest about "white lies." He was a strict priest and this was how he replied: "It is either the truth or it is a lie."
More recently, I asked another priest about not telling the truth in the need to accomplish something. This priest being more lenient -- talked about motives and intentions and how not telling the truth should be weighed against the danger or harm that it may cause another person or individual.
In this whole Jun Lozada episode, I ask, is it enough not to tell a lie or to just unmask the lies? What about truths that need to be told? It is very possible for someone not to tell a lie and still be not totally truthful. Which is the greater sin?
I have always believed and have always been told that just to avoid doing something bad is not enough. We must also do good. At the end of our days, we will all be judged not only according to the lies that we lived with but also according to the truths that we left unsaid.
This is a great time to own a newspaper. Have you noticed those numerous, expensive one page ads that have been appearing left and right in the last few days? They can be in support of or against GMA. From the Assumptionistas, to the former Cabinet officials, to the congressmen, mayors and governors -- you name them, they have a statement to make.
Some years back, I asked a priest about "white lies." He was a strict priest and this was how he replied: "It is either the truth or it is a lie."
More recently, I asked another priest about not telling the truth in the need to accomplish something. This priest being more lenient -- talked about motives and intentions and how not telling the truth should be weighed against the danger or harm that it may cause another person or individual.
In this whole Jun Lozada episode, I ask, is it enough not to tell a lie or to just unmask the lies? What about truths that need to be told? It is very possible for someone not to tell a lie and still be not totally truthful. Which is the greater sin?
I have always believed and have always been told that just to avoid doing something bad is not enough. We must also do good. At the end of our days, we will all be judged not only according to the lies that we lived with but also according to the truths that we left unsaid.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Of Goats, Guava Trees, and Paying this Country Back
By this time, we all know what transpired during the Senate hearings on the ZTE deal when Jun Lozada appeared last Friday. I may believe him. You may not believe him but I guess that is beside the point. There comes a time when circumstances may force you to do something -- not for the good of anybody else but for yourself. More than anything else, I think Jun Lozada was concerned about saving his soul. If he saves our country, the Philippines, in the process, then that would be a pretty good bonus.
I am usually amused by Tita Miriam and this case was no exception. My personal favorite was her reference to the imported goats that Jun Lozada bought while he was president at Philippine Forest. With the goat expose and the other things that she mentioned, she had meant to "test the credibility of the witness." I guess that was tit for tat. The witness, after all, was heavily testing the credibility of government and several of its institutions.
You have to hand it to Mr. Jun Lozada. He uttered a lot of memorable lines as he told his story but I particularly liked his tale (a real one) about the guava trees. He narrated that he traveled to the province once and noticed that the guava tree had plenty of fruits. He suggested to the man that he was talking to to get the guavas and sell these so that the man could earn some money. The poor man answered: "Hayaan nyo na yan sa mga ibon." (Let's leave the guavas for the birds.) It was at this point that he felt uneasy about what he had suggested initially. He found it ironic that the man that he was talking to, who did not have much could still be focused on caring for the birds while prominent, well-off people in Metro Manila were so greedy.
Asked about his motivation for doing what he did, he brought up the story of his Chinese father. His father was so poor in China and decided to come to the Philippines. After coming to the Philippines, their family's life improved and his father's businesses prospered. His father then loved the Philippines so much and would remind Jun Lozada from time to time to "pay this country back." To his mind, Jun Lozada had been paying this country back to "pay honor to his father."
That's as good a message as we will be able to get on any day. We all need to pay this country back in our own little ways. For us to pay this country back though, we must first realize just how much good we have received and appreciate just how beautiful and blessed this country is.
What will come out of this Jun Lozada incident? Not much I think. Government will probably remain the way it is and real change will not be effected. Clarissa Ocampo and Jun Lozada can probably have coffee in the near future and talk about the time when they each paid the country back. I hope that they don't need to wait too long though to see more Filipinos doing the same thing.
I am usually amused by Tita Miriam and this case was no exception. My personal favorite was her reference to the imported goats that Jun Lozada bought while he was president at Philippine Forest. With the goat expose and the other things that she mentioned, she had meant to "test the credibility of the witness." I guess that was tit for tat. The witness, after all, was heavily testing the credibility of government and several of its institutions.
You have to hand it to Mr. Jun Lozada. He uttered a lot of memorable lines as he told his story but I particularly liked his tale (a real one) about the guava trees. He narrated that he traveled to the province once and noticed that the guava tree had plenty of fruits. He suggested to the man that he was talking to to get the guavas and sell these so that the man could earn some money. The poor man answered: "Hayaan nyo na yan sa mga ibon." (Let's leave the guavas for the birds.) It was at this point that he felt uneasy about what he had suggested initially. He found it ironic that the man that he was talking to, who did not have much could still be focused on caring for the birds while prominent, well-off people in Metro Manila were so greedy.
Asked about his motivation for doing what he did, he brought up the story of his Chinese father. His father was so poor in China and decided to come to the Philippines. After coming to the Philippines, their family's life improved and his father's businesses prospered. His father then loved the Philippines so much and would remind Jun Lozada from time to time to "pay this country back." To his mind, Jun Lozada had been paying this country back to "pay honor to his father."
That's as good a message as we will be able to get on any day. We all need to pay this country back in our own little ways. For us to pay this country back though, we must first realize just how much good we have received and appreciate just how beautiful and blessed this country is.
What will come out of this Jun Lozada incident? Not much I think. Government will probably remain the way it is and real change will not be effected. Clarissa Ocampo and Jun Lozada can probably have coffee in the near future and talk about the time when they each paid the country back. I hope that they don't need to wait too long though to see more Filipinos doing the same thing.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
The UP Centennial
The University of the Philippines is celebrating its 100th year this year. Naturally, everyone is excited about it and several ways have been lined up to celebrate the event: from regular newspaper features, to car plates, to various memorabilia, to various writing projects, to the setting up of professorial chairs, etc.
Am excited about it too. I will always look back to UP with great fondness and thanksgiving. Not only did it give me a good education (at an unbelievably low price) but it has also introduced me to great friends, super bright students, and the realization that a school does not have to be glitzy to teach you a lot of good lessons.
It may also have been in UP when I started to be proudly Pinoy. I took a lot of electives in Filipino at that time and marveled at the talent of Filipino writers and how rich Philippine literature was. I remember making a term paper on "Ang Babae sa Maikling Kuwento" (Women in Short Stories) and I traced the changing portrayal of women in Filipino short stories through several decades. It was engrossing to say the least.
So to UP on its 100th year, congratulations! To all UP graduates and faculty everywhere, may you live your lives contributing to the betterment of the Philippines in your own little way so that we may all live up to being "mga iskolar ng bayan." (scholars of the nation)
Am excited about it too. I will always look back to UP with great fondness and thanksgiving. Not only did it give me a good education (at an unbelievably low price) but it has also introduced me to great friends, super bright students, and the realization that a school does not have to be glitzy to teach you a lot of good lessons.
It may also have been in UP when I started to be proudly Pinoy. I took a lot of electives in Filipino at that time and marveled at the talent of Filipino writers and how rich Philippine literature was. I remember making a term paper on "Ang Babae sa Maikling Kuwento" (Women in Short Stories) and I traced the changing portrayal of women in Filipino short stories through several decades. It was engrossing to say the least.
So to UP on its 100th year, congratulations! To all UP graduates and faculty everywhere, may you live your lives contributing to the betterment of the Philippines in your own little way so that we may all live up to being "mga iskolar ng bayan." (scholars of the nation)
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Living Under a Rock
I apologize for being so silent for more than a month but the holiday season has left me so busy. Add to that the demands of family, work, and everything else, and so my newspaper reading habit has not been a habit for about a month now.
This is the first time this has happened in my lifetime. Typically, I only don't read the newspapers when I am on vacation. In my previous job, reading the newspapers was something that was required as we constantly had to be updated about industry and company developments.
Not to worry. There will be changes soon and I should be back to my newspaper-reading habit (and more frequent writing habit too!) in no time. I can't wait for that day to come. I will be happier and the world won't seem as dark. I guess that's how it is when you live under a rock.
This is the first time this has happened in my lifetime. Typically, I only don't read the newspapers when I am on vacation. In my previous job, reading the newspapers was something that was required as we constantly had to be updated about industry and company developments.
Not to worry. There will be changes soon and I should be back to my newspaper-reading habit (and more frequent writing habit too!) in no time. I can't wait for that day to come. I will be happier and the world won't seem as dark. I guess that's how it is when you live under a rock.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
A Nation of Isolation
Recently, there have been a lot of "isolated cases." Mariannet Amper was said to be an isolated case. Just a few days ago, news reports on radio had the tourism secretary saying that the Batasang Pambansa bombing was an "isolated case" and that it was safe for tourists to visit the Philippines.
I agree that travel advisories about the Philippines and news reports in other countries about the Philippines tend to be exaggerated. I get a bit irritated though when I hear the words "isolated case." Just to push the argument, it may be true -- but does it make a difference to those who lost a loved one or a friend in that isolated incident?
Then again, there is some truth to such things being an "isolated case." Why do such things happen? They happen because people don't care enough about other people. Individuals are just concerned about their own objectives that it does not matter if someone gets hurt or killed. Philippine society or politics is the way it is because all of us do not care enough about things beyond our homes or families.
Until each lives his or her life, with the good of the greatest number of Filipinos in mind, we will continue to be confronted with "isolated cases" in a nation of isolation.
I agree that travel advisories about the Philippines and news reports in other countries about the Philippines tend to be exaggerated. I get a bit irritated though when I hear the words "isolated case." Just to push the argument, it may be true -- but does it make a difference to those who lost a loved one or a friend in that isolated incident?
Then again, there is some truth to such things being an "isolated case." Why do such things happen? They happen because people don't care enough about other people. Individuals are just concerned about their own objectives that it does not matter if someone gets hurt or killed. Philippine society or politics is the way it is because all of us do not care enough about things beyond our homes or families.
Until each lives his or her life, with the good of the greatest number of Filipinos in mind, we will continue to be confronted with "isolated cases" in a nation of isolation.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Poverty Has A Name
Do you remember Mang Pandoy? Was that during the presidential campaign some years back? Whatever happened to him? Or what about those three boys who had those paper boats during one of the State of the Nation addresses of GMA?
Just a few days ago, we were all shocked by the suicide of a girl called Mariannet Amper. She was a 12-year old girl living in Davao City who felt helpless and hopeless about being poor. She did not even have transportation money to go to school regularly.
So, do you care to listen to statements about how strong our economy is? How we are doing much better in terms of GDP or inflation? They do not mean very much right when a citizen of the nation seems to have seen no other recourse but to end her life?
What were you thinking when you were 12 years old? Did you think of the big problems of this world? People that age are supposed to be in school, enjoying life, with not a care in the world. Sadly, it does not always work that way.
Sadder still is when others refer to it as an "isolated case." How many suicides do we want for us to take notice or take action? When we do not recognize that this is a real problem, then that's the real problem.
I also do not find comfort in the fact that there is an outpouring of generosity and of donations in the wake of Marrianet's death. Wouldn't it have benefited them better had they received the help when Marrianet was alive?
News reports mention that before Marrianet died, she had managed to write a letter to the show Wish Ko Lang. A few days ago, I heard over the radio that Vicky Morales had gone to Davao to condole with the family and to belatedly grant Marrianet's wishes. I can vouch for how many people rely on that show for their dreams and wishes. For some reason, I had referred to that show in some post of mine in another blog. Ever since that time, I have continuously received e-mail from readers I do not know, with some addressing me even as Ate Vicky. They do not care to even read what I wrote about the show. Or how I referred to it. All they know is that as soon as they read the words "Wish Ko Lang," it is the answer to getting closer to their hopes and aspirations.
What do I do with their e-mail? I forward them to Wish Ko Lang although I must say that I have never gotten a reply from them. I don't get any error message too so I guess the messages are getting through. If they catch me at a good time, I try to reply and wish them all the best with their problems and the things they need helping out with. There are numerous Marrianets out there. All with varying concerns, all with difficult problems.
What is my wish? My wish is that sometime, someday, every individual will have the chance to be what he or she would want to be. That every child will have access to food, good education, and opportunities to uplift himself or herself. That no one will be so troubled so as to think that there is no more hope nor help in the days to come.
What can you or I do? Find a good cause to support or to be involved in. Look beyond your family and your home. Do things for others in your own little way. Pray. You and I may not be able to make a difference to all the Marrianets of this world, but there may be one Marrianet in your community that you can help out.
Just a few days ago, we were all shocked by the suicide of a girl called Mariannet Amper. She was a 12-year old girl living in Davao City who felt helpless and hopeless about being poor. She did not even have transportation money to go to school regularly.
So, do you care to listen to statements about how strong our economy is? How we are doing much better in terms of GDP or inflation? They do not mean very much right when a citizen of the nation seems to have seen no other recourse but to end her life?
What were you thinking when you were 12 years old? Did you think of the big problems of this world? People that age are supposed to be in school, enjoying life, with not a care in the world. Sadly, it does not always work that way.
Sadder still is when others refer to it as an "isolated case." How many suicides do we want for us to take notice or take action? When we do not recognize that this is a real problem, then that's the real problem.
I also do not find comfort in the fact that there is an outpouring of generosity and of donations in the wake of Marrianet's death. Wouldn't it have benefited them better had they received the help when Marrianet was alive?
News reports mention that before Marrianet died, she had managed to write a letter to the show Wish Ko Lang. A few days ago, I heard over the radio that Vicky Morales had gone to Davao to condole with the family and to belatedly grant Marrianet's wishes. I can vouch for how many people rely on that show for their dreams and wishes. For some reason, I had referred to that show in some post of mine in another blog. Ever since that time, I have continuously received e-mail from readers I do not know, with some addressing me even as Ate Vicky. They do not care to even read what I wrote about the show. Or how I referred to it. All they know is that as soon as they read the words "Wish Ko Lang," it is the answer to getting closer to their hopes and aspirations.
What do I do with their e-mail? I forward them to Wish Ko Lang although I must say that I have never gotten a reply from them. I don't get any error message too so I guess the messages are getting through. If they catch me at a good time, I try to reply and wish them all the best with their problems and the things they need helping out with. There are numerous Marrianets out there. All with varying concerns, all with difficult problems.
What is my wish? My wish is that sometime, someday, every individual will have the chance to be what he or she would want to be. That every child will have access to food, good education, and opportunities to uplift himself or herself. That no one will be so troubled so as to think that there is no more hope nor help in the days to come.
What can you or I do? Find a good cause to support or to be involved in. Look beyond your family and your home. Do things for others in your own little way. Pray. You and I may not be able to make a difference to all the Marrianets of this world, but there may be one Marrianet in your community that you can help out.
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