Do gays have a place in HCDC?

"Where would we be without beauty contests?" asked Adrian Cristobal in his essay "Footnote to the Judgment of Paris." "They are the staple of festivals and charity affairs, and undoubtedly offer new opportunities and open large vistas for the many young women who participate in them, especially those who win the coveted crowns."

Mr. Cristobal is right: beauty contests are "the staples of festivals" and other celebrations. But he failed to mention that it is not only young women who are joining beauty contests. Gays also join in them.

Today, the sight of beauty pageants whose contestants are gays wearing bikinis, strutting their bodies as curvaceous as the women's, showing their talents, and fielding questions from the judges during the Q&A portion, has become so commonplace that it no longer shocked us.

These contests, though, remain to be the province of the secular society. They are scoffed at especially when held in a conservative place like a Catholic school. Never or rarely do Catholic schools host such beauty contests because, as some would argue, they glorify homosexuality. And homosexuality is anathema to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Yet the rare thing happened at HCDC. On February 13, 2010, the day the school celebrated the Student's Day, the Supreme Student Government, in cooperation with the Bread Society, included in its roster of activities the "Divas Night."

The title sounds as if it's a singing contest. But it actually is not. It's a Ms. Gay in disguise.

In including this activity, the SSG explained, it does not encourage others to be gays. Rather, it merely wanted to show that this sector exists and that gays are also part of the HCDC community.

For doing the bold thing, I commend the SSG, especially the President, the very audacious Barack Obama, este, Joel Accion.

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?

Erich Segal, 1938-2010

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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.

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.