Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Thou shall not block

If it were not for Mr. Felix Bolocon, the head of HCDC's Instructional Media Center who also gave us an enhancement on Educational Technology, I wouldn't have known that there is this animal called "IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto Guidelines."

The manifesto has a portion that deals with "Barriers." You-who-once-blocked-Facebook-Friendster-etc., listen. The manifesto says:
Access to the Internet and all of its resources should be consistent with the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and especially Article 19:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

The global interconnectedness of the Internet provides a medium through which this right may be enjoyed by all. Consequently, access should neither be subject to any form of
ideological, political or religious censorship, nor to economic barriers.

Barriers to the flow of information should be removed, especially those that promote inequality, poverty, and despair.

In short, you cannot just block Facebook, Friendster, etc. like you did before. Understand?

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Erich Segal, 1938-2010

[caption id="attachment_1579" align="aligncenter" width="293" caption="Erich Segal"][/caption]


The one who made me buy a VCD copy  of "Love Story," read "The Class," "Doctors," and "Man, Woman, and Child"----the one who made me do all that died of heart attack.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Succisa virescit

I wondered if those people at Wowowee can have a motto of their own, but barely follow it, why can't I?

Thus I figured that I, too, should have my own motto not just for today, but for the entire year. And my motto is: "Succisa virescit," or since Latin sounds archaic, I'll stick to the English translation "Pruned, it grows again."

One of the upside of having a motto is that it saves you a lot of time when you find yourself in a dilemma. For example, I was mulling over whether I'd throw the photocopies I've accumulated over the years. Later, I decided to dump them away. As my motto says, "Pruned, it grows again."

I know that by making it as my motto, I will be guided properly. After all, this is also the motto of no less than the successor of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI.

So if you can't decide whether to shave your pubic hair, or to cut your hair short, or to pluck that pesky armpit hair, or to leave that friend who always badmouths you, or to give those clothes you haven't used since you bought them, my advice:

Pruned, it grows again.

The end

Today marks the end of my On-Campus Practicum at Holy Cross of Davao College-High School Department. As a final activity, I asked my students to give their feedback on me in general and on my teaching performance in particular.

I find some of the comments flattering. "Bonjour! Merci for being a good teacher. I adore the way you handle our classes." Some are banal and predictable. "Thank you, Sir, for teaching us. I learned a lot from you." Of course, what are teachers for? Some are downright honest. "Honestly, I find you irritating. Pag nag-discuss ka kulang. Masyado ka ring strikto at maiksi ang pasensya mo. Pero thank you pa rin for the effort."

Teaching is taxing. But what keeps me going is when I received a comment like this:
Sir, thank you for everything. I hope that you'll succeed. Sir, idol gud tika mag-tudlo, mag-education pud ko then sundogon nako imong style para masaya. Good luck, Sir!

To all the fourth year students of sections St. Teresa of Avila, St. Matthew, St. Cecilia, St. Clare, and St. Lorenzo, thank you. For better or for worse, you're already part of what I am today and what I will become tomorrow.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

'Dahil sa pagkakacrisis natin'

Last night, while I was checking the essay part of my students' exam, I have come to the conclusion that they are not only deficient in English. They are deficient as well in Filipino. The evidence:
Ito ay mahalaga dahil ang mga tao ay nangangailangan ng mababang presyo. Dahil sa pagkacrisis natin. Kailangan kasi ito ng mga tao para mabawasan o madagdagan ang kanilang pamimili o makakasya ba sa kanilang budget. Mahalaga din ito sa mga prodyuser dahil dito sila nagbabase sa kanilang kikitain at kung malakas ba ang benta nila.

That's one of my students answering the question "Gaano kahalaga ang presyo sa mamimili at sa prodyuser?" (How important is the price to the consumer and to the producer?) Aside from that, did I mention already that my student has a terrible handwriting?

In defense of Osang


I would be the last person to demand an apology from Osang for dissing the teachers. Not that I'm not sympathetic with the teachers. Hello, I'm an education student, a future teacher. How could I not be sympathetic with them? It's just that part of what she said is true. (Admit it or not, there are teachers who just "repeat what was taught to them," to use Osang's words, who use test papers older than my niece...)

And you don't castigate a person for telling the truth, do you? Unless you are Rizal's prosecutors.

What then should teachers do? Nothing.

Teachers are public figures and as such, they may, to use Justice Malcom's words, "suffer under a hostile and an unjust accusation." But "the wound can be assuaged with the balm of a clear conscience. A public officer must not be too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon his official acts. Only thus can the intelligence and dignity of the individual be exalted."

Sunday, January 10, 2010

I'm still alive, very much alive!

I received a forwarded e-mail today containing An Accurate 2010 Horoscope. It also comes with a caveat: "This is the real deal. Try ignoring it, and the first thing you'll notice is having a horrible day starting tomorrow morning...and it only gets worse from there."

Just how accurate the horoscope is I wanted to know, so I skipped the other zodiac signs and went straight to Pisces, my zodiac sign. It says:
Caring and kind. Smart. Likes to be the center of attention. Very organized.  High appeal to opposite sex..  Likes to have the last word. Good to find, but hard to keep. Passionate, wonderful lovers.  Fun to be around. Too trusting at times and gets hurt easily.  VERY caring. They always try to do the right thing and sometimes gets the short end of the stick.  They sometimes get used by others and get hurt because of their trusting.   Extremely weird but in a good way. Good sense of humor!!! Thoughtful. Loves to joke. Very popular. Silly, fun and sweet. Good friend to other but needs to be choosy on who they allow their friends to be.  5 years of bad luck if you do not forward.

Is it accurate? Yes and no. Yes, I'm smart, fun to be with, has a good sense of humor, etc. But no, I'm not kind and caring, I don't like to be the center of attention, and I'm not a passionate and wonderful lover.

The e-mail further says that if I'll send it to 1-3 people, I'll have my one minute of luck. And if I'll send it to 38 and more, I'll have "a very lucky life!"

Wow! I was so excited I deleted the e-mail without bothering to send it to 38 people, much less to a single soul. Of course, I want to have a lucky life. But the thing is there's no such thing as a lucky life and I'll have more urgent things to do, more urgent than sending a forwarded e-mail. Besides I have already deleted e-mails before saying that I would die if I delete them.

If you think "chain mails," as they've come to be called, were true, I would have died a long time ago. But look, I'm still alive, blogging about these damn e-mails.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

'Twas a blast

I spent most of my two-week Christmas vacation reading Twisted 6 by Jessica Zafra, who, in fact, didn't like the way people celebrate Christmas. And it was a blast.

But if you're looking for a feelgood book, look for another writer. Refrain from any of Jessica Zafra's book because her books don't make you, well, feel good. Jessica Zafra is that type of writer who vexes you, who doesn't make you sleep well, who disturbs you, and, most importantly, makes you see things in a new way. She doesn't "pander to the morons," to use her expression.

To give you an idea of what I'm saying, a few sampling from Twisted 6:

On Christmas

Christmas. I'm just glad it's over. Christmas is a wonderful concept completely ruined in the execution. Grand notions like peace and love somehow translate into vein-popping stress, frantic mobs in shopping malls, massive traffic jams, and mass hypocrisy as you feign camaraderie with people you'd rather push off the building. Christmas has become a holiday of obligation, underscore obligation. You have to give, give, give, and even if everyone says it's the thought that counts, the terrible truth is that no one really wants another scented candle.

On showbiz personalities entering politics

Unlike those who bewail the influx of showbiz personalities into politics, I see it as a natural development. The more movie and TV stars get elected into office, the closer we will get to the solution to our problems. Are you sick of patronage, mediocrity, corruption, cronyism, abuse of power, aimlessness and all that? Then let's forget this nationhood thing and turn the Philippines into an entertainment center: the Las Vegas of the East!

After all, we've had far more success in entertaining than in governing...

On Miriam Santiago


We know that in politics, allegiances change, loyalties are reassigned, and fighting words are sucked back in. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is not the only person to change her mind---politicians do that every thirty seconds, assuming they have minds. But Miriam was supposed to be different. I kind of miss the old Miriam. call me a nut, but I do.

On the yuppies in the Philippines

It should be noted that while the Philippines quickly adapts to the latest trends from the United States, the yuppie phenomenon is a fairly recent development. It did not really occur on these shores until the late Eighties and early Nineties. Therefore while yuppie is a derogatory term in the rest of the world, in the Philippines it is still considered glamorous.

While watching Avatar...

...there's one word that kept on coming in and out of my mind. Afghanistan.

[caption id="attachment_1538" align="alignleft" width="576" caption="U.S. Marines patrol with Afghan soldiers in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, on Tuesday. Photo by CNN."][/caption]

Spending Christmas with...Jessica Zafra

People before had a hard time guessing what their manito or manita wants. Hence, they invented the Christmas Wish List. I don't normally write there what I really want lest I be accused of avarice. Plus I've had a bad experience before. Once I wrote in the wish list T-shirt, but ended up receiving a photo album.

Last Christmas party, however, was different. I said to myself, it can't hurt if I wrote in the wish list what I've been wanting to be had. So I wrote there: Any Twisted book by Jessica Zafra. My friend was surprised that I was actually wishing for a book. I was surprised that she was surprised. In fact, I should be surprised because she wrote there...I can't remember it, but I know it's something trivial. People wish for trivial things every Christmas anyway!

Perhaps she didn't want to banish from the face of the earth or she just had more money to boot, the one who picked my name gave me...Twisted 6 by the venerable Jessica Zafra.

Monday, January 4, 2010

After the inquiry, what?

When the CHR started looking into the extrajudcial killings in Davao City, I was one of those who cheered. At long last, I thought then, we started talking about it publicly.

Today, however, I begin to wonder what the CHR is really up to. The CHR inquiry, it seemed to me, produced only more heat and and less light. It said it's going to release its report after it's done with the inquiry. But until now, the report is still to be released.

And yet...where's the CHR now? Off it goes to Maguindanao, investigating another incident. Tsk...tsk...tsk...

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Thanks, Mr. Zinsser

Last year, I won. Won where? In the Best Humorous Essay Writing Contest sponsored by Crossroads, the official student publication of our school, HCDC.

Of course, I must---nobody else joined the contest. Nobody, nobody but me. Therefore my winning essay, I told the folks at Crossroads, is not the best choice. It's the only choice.

I suspect the reason no one dared to join the contest, besides me, is not that I can write; the rest cannot. It's more basic than that: Nobody knows just what humor is.

I, for one, grappled with its meaning, so that I have to ask Rowell, the editorial consultant of Crossroads, what do they mean by humor. He isn't of much help either. Did you get me?

Then I remembered I have a copy of William Zinsser's On Writing Well, which has a chapter devoted entirely to humor.

And so, the prize went to me, although until now, I haven't received it yet.

A start of something new

It has become an S.O.P. for everyone to make a New Year's resolution---that list of "to do" that one must (highlight must) do for the entire year. And since we are a people afraid not to do what everyone else does, we do it with much gusto, though the truth is no one really takes it seriously.

Because, I'm told, I'm unique, I will not make a New Year's resolution. I will not list what things I resolutely want to accomplish this year:

  • Read Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe; Read at least one novel per week

  • Pass the Law School Qualifying Test

  • Write at least one article every month for the Mindanao Times

  • I'm about to put "Do the household chores" here, but decided against it; I always do household chores anyway, New Year or not.


But if you've already made a New Year's resolution, please don't be obliged to throw it away just because it's a tradition gone awry.

Happy New Year everyone!

P.S. Lucky color of the year: Yellow and Blue. The astrologers who guested in Mel & Joey came close to admitting that Noynoy and Mar would win in the May elections. This could be the start of something new.

Overly ambitious

"If you set your goals ridiculously high and it’s a failure, you will fail above everyone else’s success." ---James Cameron