Dito Pa Rin Ako

This BLOG will SOON CEASE to EXIST

2009-04-30T01:53:00.000+08:00

May 1 can't wait. This BLOG will SOON CEASE to EXIST. I love this blog but I have to let go - and move on.

The act of choosing is the oxygen to your soul.

PROJECT DENNIO
Awakening from the deepest slumber:

http://projectdennio.blogspot.com/

Visit it now.

TAMA NA! SOBRA NA! PATALSIKIN SI GLORIA!

2008-02-26T17:00:00.000+08:00

Habang tahimik ang lahat kahapon nakita ko ang isang maliit na papel (actually isang short bond paper) na nakapatong sa aking lamesa. Binas ko ang nilalaman nito. And I liked it. Very timely for wht is happening to our country nowadays. And to what our honorable politicians did with our country.

Seven years is enough, as one group said. And truly, enough is enough. We cannot have more of these scams, scandals, graft, corruption and blatant violation of human rights. We don't need an economist who doesn't even care about her people and all she boasts are the numbers and figures which people cannot eat.

It's about time my fellow Filipinos to take away the power we have given them. It's about time to stand side by side without those politicos around. It is time that we do not depend on the calls of the church or some charismatic leader for us to get involved and stand up for real change in our country.

It is time for us to change the country without them.

And here is a literary piece dedicated to all Filipinos created by Bernard Backman.

REVERSE CREATION

by Bernard Backman

In the end, we destroyed the heaven that was called Earth. The Earth had been beautiful until our spirit moved over it and destroyed all things.

And we said...

Let there be darkness... and there was darkness. And we liked the darkness; so we called the darkness, Security. And we divided ourselves into races and religions and classes of society. And there was no morning and no evening on the seventh day before the end.

And we said...

Let there be a strong government to control us in our darkness. Let there be armies to control our bodies so that we may learn to kill one another neatly and efficiently in our darkness. And there was no evening and no morning on the sixth day before the end.

And we said...

Let there be rockets and bombs to kill faster and easier; let there be gas chambers and furnaces to be more thorough. And there was no evening and no morning on the fifth day before the end.

And we said...

Let there be drugs and other forms of escape, for there is this constant annoyance - REALITY - which is disturbing our comfort. And there was no evening and no morning on the fourth day before the end.

And we said...

Let there be divisions among the nations, so that we may know who is our common enemy. And there was no evening and no morning on the third day before the end.

And finally we said...

Let us create God in our image. Let some other God compete with us. Let us say that God thinks as we think, hates as we hate, and kills as we kill. And there was no morning and no evening on the second day before the end.

On the last day, there was a great noise on the face of the Earth. Fire consumed the beautiful globe, and there was silence. The blackened Earth now rested to worship the one true God; and God saw all that we had done, and in the silence over the smoldering ruins... God wept.

New Post

2008-02-07T16:03:00.000+08:00

Tinatamad pa ako. Pero bago ako maging legal, madami pa ako ilalagay dito na bago, kaya abangan. This was posted in all of my blogs na wala pang post mula noong isang taon.

BAKIT GUSTO KONG MANATILI SA PILIPINAS.

2007-10-11T13:44:00.000+08:00

Ang mga mababasa niyo sa ibaba ay hango sa ginawa kong artikulo na nailathala sa school paper namin noong 2005. Halaw ito mula sa libro ni Bob Ong na "Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino?" Humihingi ako ng paumanhin kay Bob Ong dahil hindi ko siya nabigyan ng karamnpatang pagkilala sa isinulat ko dati. Narito na ang gawa ko na med yo marami atang mga grammatical errors pero narito na nga ang mga pananaw ko noong ako'y 15 y/o. (Parang ang tagal na nun ah, hehe..)

Sa kabila ng kasalukuyang nangyayari sa Pilipinas, sa kabila ng paghihirap na nararanasan natin dito at sa dinami-dami pa daw ng mga maaari kong gawin ay ang manatili pa daw sa walang kwentang bansang ito ang gusto ko. Sabi pa ng mga kamag-aral ko, masyado naman daw akong nagpapaka-martir; maging praktikal naman daw ako. Ngunit para maliwanagan ang lahat, gusto kong ilahad ang aking mga dahilan kung BAKIT GUSTO KONG MANATILI SA PILIPINAS.

Ayokong mahiwalay sa aking mga mahal sa buhay.

Kilala tayong mga Pilipino sa pagiging malapit sa ating mga mahal sa buhay. Kapag may kapamilya tayo (pasensya na sa mga kapuso) na may problema, palagi tayong nandiyan para tumulong at dumamay. Halimbawa na lamang kung walang pera ang isa nating kamag-anak at lumapit sa inyo para humingi ng tulong, hindi ba’t magbibigay kaagad tayo sa abot ng ating makakaya. Kaya kung mahihiwalay ka sa kanila, kanino ka hihingi ng tulong? Sino ang dadamay sa iyo kapag may problema ka?

Isa pang puntong maaari ninyong isipin ay puwede naman kayong lahat ng pamilya mo ay umalis para magkakasama pa rin kayo. Dito ko naman papasok ang sinasabi nilang pagiging “praktikal”. Kung aalis kayong lahat, magkano ang gagastusin ninyong pamasahe papunta ng halimbawa sa Amerika? Paano pa kung wala kayong Visa? Isipin niyo pa ang iba niyo pang gastusin tulad ng pamasahe papunta ng embahada araw-araw para mag-follow up sa aplikasyon ninyo. Pati na ang pagod at hirap na gagawin ninyo para lang makapag-apply. Sana nagamit ninyo na lang ito para ipang-puhunan sa negosyo, ipinang-paaaral o ibinili ng inyong pagkain. Iyong iba mangungutang pa. Kaya lalo lang silang malulubog sa pagkakautang.

Bakit mo pa kailangang umalis kung kayo ay nakakakain ng tatlong beses isang araw, nakakapag-aral ka sa magandang paaralan, may permanenteng tirahan kayo, may trabaho kang disente at hindi kayo nagkakasakit? Hindi pa iyon sapat? Hindi pa ba kayo nakuntento sa mga ganoong bagay. Mas maiintindihan ko pa kung iyong mga taong-grasa ang magsasabi na ayaw na niya dito sa Pilipinas.

Gusto ko pang puntahan ang mahigit 7,100 isla ng Pilipinas at tuklasin pa ang natatanging ganda nito.

Ito naman siguro ang tamang dahilan para sa mga taong nagsasabi na pangit ang Pilipinas at mas maganda pa ang Disneyland at ang pag-ulan ng snow (niyebe). Ano na ba ang mga napuntahan mo dito sa Pilipinas? Siguradong ang una mong ipagmamalaki ay ang Baguio at Boracay at malamang na ito ang alam ng karamihan.

Alam mo ba kung saan ang Calauit Island? Nakita mo na ba ang Hundred Islands? Kung inaakala mong ang Hawaii lang ang pinakamagandang “surfing site”, sa Pilipinas ang Siargao Island ang pantapat natin.

Ilan lamang iyan sa mga maipagmamalaking ganda ng Pilipinas na hindi pa antin marahil nakikita. Sa litrato lamang natin ito madalas makita, pero bakit hindi natin sila ninais na makita pero bakit ang Disneyland naririnig lang natin ito, pero gusto nating makapunta dito

Wala tayong karapatan na maging turista ng ibang bansa kung sa mismong bansa mo ay turista ka.

Ang Pilipinas ang tanging bansang kumupkop sa akin.

Noong ipinanganak ka, tinanggap ka ng buong puso ng Pilipinas kahit hindi niya alam kung magiging pahirap o produktibo kang mamamayan. Kahit na marami siyang pagkukulang, pinilit niya na magkaroon ka ng makakain araw-araw, makapag-aral, maging malusog at mabuting Pilipino.

Kahit na naghihikaos na siya, binubuhay pa rin niya tayo. Hindi siya nagsasawang paglingkuran tayo kahit na iginaganti natin ay pagiging walang kwenta at utang na loob.

Maraming Pilipino ang ayaw sa Pilipinas. Pero naisip ba nila na gusto din ba sila ng Pilipinas. Paano na lang kung noong isinilang tayo, kailangan pa nating maghanap ng sariling bansa? Paano na lang kung may pagsusulit, aplikasyon at kailangan na taon-taon ay mag-renew ng lisensya bilang Pilipino? Ano kaya ang mararamdaman ng ating mga bayani kung nabubuhay sila at makikita tayo na ipinagwalang-bahala natin ang bayang ipinagatanggol nila? Manghihinayang siguro sila sa ginawa.

Mahal ko ang Pilipinas.

Katulad ng mga sundalo na nasa isang digmaan, hindi ko iiwanan ang aking mga sugatang kasama. Bubuhatin ko sila at ililigatas sa kapahamakan. Sa ating bansa ngayon, marami ang naghihirap, nagugutom, nalilito at naliligaw ng landas.

Sa ganitong mga pagkakataon, mas kailangan tayo ng mga taong ito. Para sa akin, mas gugustuhin kong sama-sama kaming naghihirap at aahon mula dito kaysa iwanan ko silang naghihirap habang maginhawa ang aking buhay. Mas masarap ang pakiramdam kung tayong lahat ay nagdadamayan at sumusuporta sa isa’t-isa sa oras ng kagipitan. Lalong mas masarap kung sabay-sabay tayong nagsusumikap na iahon ang ating bansa.

Ako ay Pilipino.

Masarap ang maging Pilipino. Maraming katangiang bukod tangi sa atin. Ang mga Pilipino ay mababait, matulungin, mapagbigay, masayahin at may takot sa Diyos. Ang mga Pilipino lamang ang kayang madapa at tumayo ng ilang libong beses. Ang mga Pilipino ay matapang; humaharap sa anumang hamon ng buhay. Ilan lamang iyon sa mga katangian ng isang Pilipino. Ngunit ano pa man ang aking dahilan dito pa rin ako sa Pilipinas.

Alam kong maraming pintas ang Pilipinas. Ngunit bakit ba natin ito pinipintasan? Dahil sa tayo’y isang bansang naghihirap at mukhang walang patutunguhan. Itatakwil ninyo pa ang pagiging Pilipino kapag nakaalis na kayo. Pero ito lang ang masisiguro ko, kapag dumating ang nalalapit na panahon na uunlad ang Pilipinas at maghihirap ang mga bansang pinpangarap ninyong puntahan. At sa mga panahong iyon babalik kayo dito at sasabihin ninyo, Pilipino na ulit kayo.

Walang masama sa pangingibang-bayan. Walang masama kung gusto mong lumundag sa isang barkong sa tingin mo ay papalubog. Basta’t huwag mo lamang palulubugin ang barko habang pinipilit at nagsusumikap ang ibang tao na isalba ito.

Ano pa man ang dahilan para umalis o manatili ako dito, mas gugustuhin ko pa rin dito. Tayo ay dapat tumulong sa Pilipinas bilang isang Pilipino. Pilipino ako at hindi ko iiwan ang bayan ko, Ang Pilipinas, ang bansa ng magiting na lahing Pilipino.

Mga Simpleng Bagay

2007-03-29T11:21:00.000+08:00

“Saan ka na pupunta?”

Iyan ang tanong sa amin sa 3rd at huling exam namin sa Kas1. Siyempre, medyo nagulat kami dahil inaasahan namin na iyung 5 librong ini-report ang lalabas sa exam. Pero ganito talaga siya kung magbigay ng test at kakaiba nitong huli. Isang malaking sorpresa. Isang tanong na worth 40 points. “Saan ka na pupunta?”

Sa kalagitnaan ng exam ay ipinaliwanag niya ng maikli kung bakit iyun ang itinanong niya para daw hindi namin isipin na pinati-tripan niya lang kami. Kasi mahalaga daw ito sa “nation – building”. Kung tama ang pagkakaalala ko, ang sabi niya ay mahalaga ito dahil hindi mabubuo ang vision ng isang “nation” kung ang mga mismong tao na dapat kasama dito ay hindi alam kung saan ba sila pupunta.

Oo nga. Simpleng tanong ngunit mahirap sagutin. Ikaw ba saan ka pupunta?

*****

May isang kwento akong ibabahagi sa inyo. Ito ay nasa wikang Inggles galing sa librong The Millenium Stories ni Frank Mihalic. Matatagpuan ito sa pahina 164 at 183. Narito na ang kwento:

What is Our Goal?

Have you heard the anecdote about two men in Mars who were looking down at Planet Earth? As they looked, they wondered why they were scurrying about.
One said to the other, “What they are doing?”

The other replied, “They are going.”

“But,” said the first, “where are they going?”

“Oh,” said the other, “they are not going anywhere. They’re just going.”

“And,” concludes the narrator, “to go just anywhere is the surest way to arrive nowhere.”

So where, then, should we really be going?

The following verse may give us direction.

Do more that move; improve.
Do more that get; give.
Do more than regret; repent.
Do more that look; see.
Do more than sympathize; help.
Do more than attend church; worship.
Do more than build a house; make a home.
Do more than breathe; live.
Do more than live; love.

*****

Kamakailan lang ay nag-oobserba ako sa ugali ng mga Pilipino lalo na sa pagsakay ng dyip.

Madalas nag – uunahan tayo sa pagsakay ng dyip. Minsan naka – pila. Madalas, hindi. At kadalasan mas gusto natin na umupo malapit sa may pasukan. Walang gustong umupo sa dulo. Para nga naman madaling makababa.

Kapag nagbabayad na, kadalasan unintentionally nagkakaroon ng isang designated na taga – abot ng bayad kasi siya ang malapit sa drayber. Pero bibihira naman ang mga tao na pagkatapos pakisuyo ng bayad ang nagpapasalamat. May iba naman na ayaw mag – abot ng bayad ng iba. Kita mo namang nakikita na niya na ipinapaki – abot sa kanya ay hala dedma lang. Iyung iba, biglang natutulog o di kaya magtetext o di kaya titingin sa malayo. May iba namang ubod ng bait na halos lahat ng bayad ay iabot niya kahit pa malayo sa kanya. Pero bihira lang sila.

Kapag may pumara at may sasakay na pasahero automatic na mag – uusuran lahat ng nakasakay na malapit sa may labasan at pahihirapan pa ang sumasakay dahil sa malayo pa siya uupo. Minsan kapag medyo mukhang puno na pero di naman, ayaw umusad ng konti para maka – upo ng maayos ang pasahero. Kapag punuan na, may ilang mga kalalakihan na gentleman at siya ang medyo uusad palabas para makaupo ang ibang pasahero lalo na ang mga babae o di kaya minsan mga matatanda.

Sa pagtakbo naman ng dyip halos lahat ng drayber ay mabilis magpa – takbo. Siyempre ayus lang iyun para sa mga mahuhuli na kaya lang takaw – aksidente naman. Pero may ilan naman na maganda naman ang dyip pero ubod ng bagal kahit walang trapik na hindi mo malaman kung talagang malayo ba ang pupuntahan o may sinusundan kayong libing.

Sa pagbaba naman sa dyip, may ilan na sumusunod sa tamang babaan. Pero sa mga probinsya gaya dito sa Bulacan, talagang kapag pumara kelangan sa tapat mismo ng bahay nila hihinto. Lumagpas lang ng konting metro, nagrereklamo na. Tapos ang nakakinis pa ay iyung may kakababa lang, wala pang sampung metro meron na naman. Anak ng tinapa, para namang mauubos ang energy nila sa paglalakad ng sampung metro. At minsan talagang sunud-sunod na masisira ata ang brake ng dyip kaka-preno.

Hindi pa diyan kabilang ang mga natutulog ng nakabukas ang bunganga at tumutulo pa ang laway (isa ako sa mga ganun…hehe…) iyung mga malalakas magtsikahan ng buhay ng kung sino at iyung mga hindi nagbabayad ng pamasahe.
Pero sa nakita ko, nandoon na sa mga ugaling iyun ang dahilan kung bakit hindi pa rin tayo umuunlad. Sa pagsakay na lamang ng dyip, nag – uunahan tayo. Walang gustong magbigay kasi baka maunahan sa upuan. Unahan. Walang bigayan. Nagtutulakan pa.

Simple lang pala ang paraan para malaman kung bakit hindi tayo umuunlad. Sumakay ka sa dyip.

Lupang Hinirang: Part 2

2007-02-28T14:55:00.000+08:00

The right way to sing the National Anthem

Editor's Note: Published on page A15 of the May 25, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

LAST week, I was invited to a cultural event in one of the shopping malls that started, as always, with a prayer and the singing of the National Anthem. When a young girl approached the microphone, it was fairly obvious that we would not be singing with a taped version of the anthem, and that we would have live singing without any musical accompaniment. Her voice was quite good, definitely "American Idol" material, but the Simon in me reared its ugly head when she started singing slowly as if the National Anthem was the "Ama Namin."

In the Philippines, we seem to equate seriousness and solemnity with slowness. The tempo was so excruciatingly slow that I gave up singing after the second line and asked myself, "Aren't we supposed to sing the anthem as Julian Felipe composed it in 1898: as a military march?"

Toward the end of the anthem, she picked up speed and people who had given up on the singing earlier started to join in. Then at the last line, she pumped up the volume and belted out the last word in a pitch that caught everyone off guard. Wild applause followed; the audience liked her. Yes, the voice was good, the showmanship superb, but was this the way our anthem was supposed to be sung? Shouldn't the anthem be fast and martial?

This type of singing has its origins in the way Americans invite name performers to sing the US anthem to open major baseball or football matches. But why is the US more lenient with regard to the use of their flag and anthem than we are? Because we have a law that makes us so.

A few months back, Butch Jimenez came up with a brilliant proposal to get young people attuned to the National Anthem by asking various recording artists to do different versions of this familiar tune. The idea of updating the anthem to bridge the generation gap was excellent, except that under the present Flag and Heraldic Code such a project would be unlawful. Can our youth still identify with a tune that is over a century old? Or do we reinvent or repackage that same tune to make our youth sit up, rap, or dance, as they revisit the past?

We take too many liberties with the National Anthem. Watch and cringe over videos shown during the last full-show in movie houses or those aired when television stations sign off. Choral groups are particularly at fault when they change the tempo, tone and pitch of the anthem to suit their artistic expression. Sometime back, one senator had a fit when a choral group performed in the Senate.

The object is to get the audience to sing or feel patriotic. The anthem is not there to showcase the vocal range of choral groups. Nobody seems to care that the Flag Code prescribes that the anthem be sung the way Julian Felipe composed it in 1898. Is this possible? If we take the law literally, then we have to cope with a solo piano version or that of a brass band. If we follow the 1898 Felipe original, either the lyrics will slow down the music or we will be unable to sing and keep up with the music.

One of the things I dug up in the Newberry Library in Chicago was an original lithograph copy of the National Anthem printed in Hong Kong in 1899. I had this photocopied and asked my landlady, a piano teacher, to play it for me, using the metronome setting indicated in the piece. I was surprised that the anthem could be quite lively.

After playing it twice, my landlady asked why this piece was different from other versions of the National Anthem she had sight-read in the past. I explained that the copy in the Newberry Library was what Julian Felipe allowed to be reproduced and disseminated in Hong Kong in 1899. This piece was, after some improvements, how Emilio Aguinaldo heard the tune for the first time in Kawit in 1898. Felipe played it on the piano and, upon Aguinaldo's approval, trained a band to play it for the first time during the Declaration of Independence on June 12, 1898.

People have forgotten that the National Anthem started out as incidental music, that it did not have words when it was adopted as the National Anthem and first played officially during the Declaration of Independence. Jose Palma put in the Spanish words a year later, and this was later translated into English and known to the pre-war generation as "Land of the Morning" but now known to us as "Lupang Hinirang" (or wrongly as "Bayang Magiliw").

The original, which was first composed for piano and later arranged for a brass band, was in 2/4 time. Then in the 1920s to make singing easier, the time signature was adjusted from 2/4 to 4/4 and the key was changed from the original C to G. It is unfortunate that Felipe's original holograph cannot be located, so we cannot see how far we have strayed musically.

In 1924, Felipe attempted and failed to get a copyright for his only memorable composition because it was deemed public property. However, the Philippine Legislature authorized the payment of P4,000 if he could turn over his original manuscript to the National Library.

While I have given up on Felipe's original in Manila, I'm optimistic that the contemporary copy presented to George Dewey in 1898 will be found in the US Library of Congress or in someone's attic someday and returned to the Philippines. If it's extant, it's like the elusive Holy Grail, but I will find it.

Source:http://news.inq7.net/opinion/index.php?index=2&story_id=38046&col=80

Isang Magandang Artikulo

2007-02-28T14:51:00.000+08:00

Passion For Reason: Damaged culture, damaged state

First posted 11:50pm (Mla time) Feb 23, 2006 By Raul Pangalangan Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on Page A14 of the February 24, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

THE REAL TRAGEDY IS NOT THAT EDSA'S legacy will be forgotten, but that it will be misunderstood. During the anti-Marcos struggle, we pined so much for democracy that we romanticized it, and now that reality hasn't lived up to myth, we are tempted to discard democracy and say that fascism wasn't so bad after all.

Democracy is when the majority decides what is good for the country. Philippine democracy is where the majority decides what is good for itself. Between the two is a world of a difference.

Take the jeepney, king of Manila's roads. A "good" jeepney driver will pick up passengers wherever they are conveniently found, and drop them off as close as possible to their destination.

Who cares about loading and unloading zones? They represent a public interest in orderly traffic, but that interest is purely abstract for the Filipino. It becomes real only if you are driving behind an annoying jeepney that stops whenever a passenger boards or disembarks, whether it is in the middle of the road or at the foot of a flyover or right smack in an intersection in front of a green light. Good service is personal service, customized because it is humanized. A driver who respects loading and unloading zones is cold-hearted. Why drop off a taho vendor too far from his daily route? How un-Filipino, to numb oneself to human needs just to conform to callous rules!

No wonder then that the American writer James Fallows was reviled hereabouts--though he has since been vindicated by many Filipinos--when he spoke famously of our "Damaged Culture." Writing in the Atlantic Monthly in 1987, he found the Pinoy as totally bereft of any sense of civic duty.

"Filipinos pride themselves on their lifelong loyalty to family, schoolmates, compadres, members of the same tribe, ... the same barangay. [B]ut their culture draws the boundaries of decent treatment [so] narrowly ... they exclude at any given moment 99 percent of the other people in the country. Because of ... this lack of useful nationalism, people treat each other worse in the Philippines than in any other Asian country ... The tradition of political corruption and cronyism, the extremes of wealth and poverty, the tribal fragmentation, the local elite's willingness to make a separate profitable peace with colonial powers--all reflect a feeble sense of national interest. Practically everything that is public in the Philippines seems neglected or abused."

Haven't you wondered: When we Filipinos march on Edsa, we embody our loftiest civic selves dreaming of a better life for all. Yet the moment we drive on Edsa, it's dog-eat-dog all over again!

The legal philosopher Unger explains that in Third World countries, the declared spiritual ideals are one thing, but the actual code people live by is another. In our "official political dogma," we believe in rights, laws and the "cult of consent." But in real life, we treat "each other as patrons and clients and trading in favors and dependencies, [showing] almost complete disbelief in all institutions not founded on blood, property, or power... as if a moment of personal presence were worth a thousand promises and as if any exercise of power could be tolerated so long as the veil of sentiment covered it."

Our democracy's public face is one big Oprah Winfrey show, where "the political becomes the personal" and feeling and intuition count more than impersonal ideologies--while in its hidden face, real decisions are made a la The Godfather through a tight network of elites. Fallows said that we reminded him of Mafia families: "total devotion within the circle, total war on the outside."

People Power thrives on the "Oprahfication" of politics. The good news is that it empowers the isolated individual, gives him a voice, and tells him not to be embarrassed and to speak his heart. But the heart is moved by theater and dramatic anecdotes, while the public good is often found in cold facts, uninspiring and technocratic. The bad news, therefore, is that because the mass of our people are unorganized and non-ideological, populist democracy becomes an easy tool for what Claro Recto called "political ventriloquism" and allows the best organized conspiracies to project their voices as that of the sovereign.

Edsa restored the sacred principle of "one man, one vote," but it did not give back "Power to the People." It merely restored the old families and local warlords and, next, it purveyed high-profile media celebrity into political power. Saddest of all, the Filipino democrat couldn't complain, because that is precisely how our democracy works.

Edsa installed populist, not a normative, governance. It is a democracy of counting votes, not weighing values. It hearkens the noisiest and most Machiavellian, not the most principled.

Living proof of non-normativity is President Macapagal-Arroyo herself. How can she now insist on "no permit, no rally"? Why, did the crowds at Edsa I and II hold rally permits? Why then does the main beneficiary of Edsa II now impose on her enemies a requirement she hadn't met? Even Marcos and Estrada hesitated to sic their troops on unarmed civilians, yet Arroyo does it sanctimoniously in the name of the law.

How can Arroyo say "The world will not forgive an Edsa III," when she was the main beneficiary of Edsa II, when it is she whose sins now beckon to be sanctified afresh by People Power?

Before GMA worries about the world forgiving an Edsa III, first she must ask whether her own people have forgiven her betrayal of the spirit of Edsa.

Lupang Hinirang at UP students

2007-01-15T10:45:00.000+08:00

Tuwing Lunes ng umaga, sa pagitan ng 8-8:30 ng umaga, pinapatugtog ang Lupang Hinirang at UP Naming Mahal sa AS (Palma Hall). Pinapahinto ang mga sasakyan na dumadaan sa harap ng AS at siyempre dapat na huminto din ang mga naglalakad o kahit pa ang mga nasa loob ng mga classroom.

Paano ba tayo dapat tumindig kapag naririnig na tinutugtog ang Lupang Hinirang? Hindi ba dapat na kahit nasaan ka pa, basta kaya mong tumayo ng tuwid ilagay ang kanang kamay sa kaliwang dibdib at buong pusong awitin ang Lupang Hinirang?

Pero bakit ang ating mga Iskolar ng Bayan ay mukha yatang mas unpatriotic pa kesa sa mga manang natin na janitor? Nakita ko ito kanina lang.

Tinugtog ang Lupang Hinirang. Tumayo ako. Ang mga kaklase ko, hindi. Pero sa labas, si manang na nagwawalis ng corrido, huminto. Tumayo ng maayos at inilagay ang kanang kamay sa kaliwang dibdib. Naisip ko, hindi naman sa minamaliit natin ang mga ating manang at manong na janitor pero karamihan sa kanila siguradong hanggang high school lang ang natapos at malamang may ilan din na hanggang elementary lang. Pero itong mga kaklase ko, malay natin kung sino ang valedictorian peor ganun pa man, mas may pinag-aralan sila at dapat alam nila kung paano ang tamang kilos.

Ang nakakalungkot pa, naturingan pa man din na Iskolar ng Bayan, pero wala namang pagmamahal at pagrespeto sa mga simbolo ng pagiging Pilipino gaya ng Lupang Hinirang. Hindi ba't dapat lang na bilang isang estudyante ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, pangalan pa lang makabayan na, ay maging isang modelo ng pagmamahal sa kanyang bayan? Dahil isa na lamang sa dahilan ay kahit pa tumaas ang tuition at iba pang bayarin, pinag-aaral tayo ng mga Pilipino sa pamamagitan ng buwis nila at dapat lamang na makita nila sa atin na pinapahalagahan ito.

Simple patriotic act yet they didn't do it. Ito na lang ang hinihingi sa atin. Ang simpleng pagrespeto sa bandila at pambansang awit. Hindi naman hinihingi na huwag ka nang umalis ng Pilipinas. Pagrespeto lang. Iyun lang.

Mahal Mo ang Pilipinas? Eeeewww...

2006-12-04T11:07:00.000+08:00

Kadiri bang marinig sa isang tao lalo na ang mga Pilipino na mahal nila ang ating bansa?

Nakakinis ba na makakita ng isang tao na bukambibig ang pagmamahal sa bayan?

O talaga lang mga hipokrito ang mga ito dahil kung titingnan mo naman ang mga damit na sinusuot... Naka-Lacoste. May suot na Rolex Explorer. At hindi kumakain ng adobo, sinigang, mechado, menudo, kutsinta at bulalo kundi mas gusto niya ay steak, iyung medium rare ha...

Doon lang ba natin dapat sukatin ang pagiging makabayan ng isang tao?

Hindi ba puwede na hindi na natin isama ang pananamit o kaya mga pinapanood? Iyun na lang masabio niya na mahal niya ang Pilipinas ay ayos na.

O baka naman para masabi na makabayan ka talaga, lahat ng isusuot mo at papanoorin mo ay mga gawang Pilipino lahat? Ika na sa Ingles, "ultra-nationalism."

Iyun ba ang mga sukatan o may hindi pa ako nabanggit.

Paano mo ba malalaman?

PAANO?

Sabihin mo sa akin ngayon din.

Panimula

2006-11-27T11:13:00.000+08:00

Ang daming tao sa taas noh? Pero kakaunti pa rin iyan kumpara sa mga taong ayaw nang tumira sa Pilipinas. Sana nga lang pagkatapos mong mabasa ang mga post sa blog na ito. Hindi mo na iiwan ang Pilipinas.

Simple lang ang gusto ko. Makita mo na may pag-asa pa dito at talagang meron pa. Simple pero kumplikado. Ang gulo noh?

Sana naman kahit papaano mapupukaw ko ang inyong kalooban na mahalin pa ang Pilipinas... O kung hindi man, mas lalo mong kamuhian... Na huwag naman sana...

Sa Filipino ko isinulat ang blog na ito dahil sino pa ba ang kailangang bumasa nito kundi ang kapwa ko Pilipino. Usapang magkapatid. Walang ibang hahalo. Tayo-tayo lang.

Sana ito na nga ang maging daan para bumangon na ang natutulog mong pagmamahal sa bansa.