kanina lang, LSS ako sa start of something new. of all songs, na pwede, yun pa. e ang tagal na nun. meron na ngang high school musical 3. pero wala pa kong napapanood sa mga naging sequel nung unang pelikula. pero nalalayo na ako. pa-intro lang naman kasi iyon sa totoong paksa ng post na ito. Italian Week kasi ngayon sa Departamento ng Lenggwaheng Europea sa Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura. Actually, marami pang ibang aktibidades ang Embahada ng Italya, hindi lang sa UP kundi saan-saan pa. Pero kahapon, nakapakinig ako ng talk tungkol sa mga nais mag-aral sa bansang Italya. Sinundan ito ng pagsasalita ng mga nakatanggap ng mga scholarships para mag-aral dun. Ayun, na-inggit tuloy ako. Sabi ko na nga, dapat EL na lang ang kinuha kong kurso. Nag-aaral na ako ng dayuhang lenggwahe, may pagkakataon pa akong magpunta at mag-aral sa ibang bansa. Kitang-kita na sentro ng buhay Italyano ang kanilang mga piazza. Outdoors ang orientation ng mga mamamayan. kung anu-ano ang mga ginagawa nila sa piazza. Bukod sa pagkain, pag-aaral, pakikipagkita, marami ring mga artists ang namamalagi sa piazza at lumilikha ng kung anong nais nila. Gusto ko ring makaranas ng ganoon. Dito kasi sa Pilipinas, kung hindi mainit ay umuulan kaya hindi namamalagi ang mga Pinoy sa mga plaza kundi sa mall.
Ang mga pananalita ay sinundan ng karaoke-singing contest. ang mga klase ng iba't-ibang Italian sections ay may mga kalahok para mag-interpret ng iba't-ibang Italian songs. iyong kaibigan kong si Joseph na kumukuha ngayon ng Italian 11 ay kasama dun sa representative ng klase niya. at ang kinanta nila ay Breaking Free sa Italian. ayun. hindi ko lang maintindihan kung bakit Start of Something New ang LSS kong kanta. Iba-ibang antas ng creativity ang pinamalas ng mga estudyante ng Italian. Marami sa mga klase ang may mga estudyanteng may talento sa pagtugtog ng mga instrumento kaya't maraming madalas ang mga estudyante ang tumutugtog at umaawit. Maliban pa rito ang mga pag-aarte o pagsasayaw na kasama sa kani-kanilang mga pagtatanghal kung kaya't waring naging MTV ang aming mga napapanood. naging patok sa audience ang bersyon ng isang klase ng Can You Feel the Love Tonight. meron pang nagmistulang Simba, Nala, Timon at Pumbaa. O diba, bongga? Gusto ko rin nito. Sayang last sem, walang ganitong pakulo ang Deutsch at Español departments last sem.
Pagkatapos nun, may Italian food fest. siyempre iyon talaga iyong ipinunta ko dun. di ko naman kasi akalain na karaoke contest iyong tatampukan ni Joseph. nag-enjoy naman ako dun. akala ko sila nga lang ang magtatanghal, pero ayos na rin at napanood ko iyong ibang mga klase. pinarangalan din ang nanalo sa diorama-making contest nila, tsaka iyong essay-writing contest ng Italian embassy ata. tapos ayun nga, may pagkain. kala ko naman todo italian food talaga. pero well, oks lang din iyong andun. may pesto, tapos may isa pang pasta with tomato sauce (nalimutan ko iyong tawag sa pasta), bread na mala-wheat pero moist(a cross between a pudding and wheat bread, ika nga ni joseph) tsaka small round pizzas. at hindi lang pang-isang kainan iyong stub, pwede pang magamit iyong kalahati. tapos may booth dun ang gourmet na merong herbal tea at coffee. so pwedeng isang meal at isang drink iyong isang stub mo.
nung araw ding iyon ko napagtanto na may punto nga ang mga Italyano na pataas sa point na pabagal iyong pagbigkas nila nung parte na iyon ng salita. totoo pala iyon. hehe. ayun, isang araw na napaka-enlightening. gusto ko rin kasing matutong mag-Italyano, pumunta sa Italya at makapgluto ng authentic pizza at pasta. ayan, dagdag pa sa listahan ko ng nais kong gawin.
start here...
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
article: the Filipinos' "diseased culture"
Balikbayan Views: A Diseased Culture
By Arlene Babst-Vokey
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 09:24:00 11/09/2008
MANILA, Philippines - I’ve lived away from the Philippines for almost two decades now. Recently, family obligations require my returning to Manila regularly. I dare say that on these visits, some of my observations on and hopes regarding the Philippines reflect those of fellow balikbayan and Filipinos living in the Philippines. The cynics cross out “hopes” and write “delusions” instead. I’m not among them. I am, however, a realist.
I wasn’t a realist in 1980, when I started writing a column that appeared whenever the Marcos censors deigned to allow its publication. Back then, I wasn’t experienced enough to understand that the growth—or stagnation—of a nation is shaped by a force more powerful than a corrupt dictatorship, malignant as that was.
That force is a nation’s culture.
Through the ’80s, I was among many Filipinos who believed that if we could just get rid of the Marcos regime, the Philippines would transform itself into the nation we dreamt of, where the law treated everyone equally whether your name was Marcos, Aquino, Ayala or Sy, or (here, fill in the name of the farmer, janitor, nurse or teacher, etc., as well as Bernabe Buscayno).
We imagined a country where valuable entrepreneurs didn’t have to pay extortion “fees” to a procession of thieves before they could get their licenses or contracts; where government officials weren’t regarded as personal attendants by their bureaucratic bosses or by the Philippine President; where kidnappings and murders weren’t so run-of-the-mill that newscasts breezily squeezed them in between gossip about movie stars, and where the average citizen didn’t harbor such deep distrust of the police, the military, the judges, and most of all, the politicians.
Many of us fervently wanted Marcos out, but we weren’t naïve enough to expect changes to happen overnight. But my exasperation gains context when you remember that hey, more than 20 years have passed! More of those changes should be in place now.
Consider what Japan accomplished between 1945—when the country was on its knees, two of its cities eviscerated by atom bombs--and the mid-60s when it had already taken giant steps towards becoming the world’s second biggest economy. Observe how Thailand tackled problems similar to those of the Philippines within the same time frame of two decades—and compare where it stands today.
What I didn’t understand then was the power of Filipino culture. More than the dictatorship— which it made possible—it is Filipino culture that keeps the Philippines down.
No one need look far to find intelligent, honest, industrious Filipinos—we know innumerable stories of self-sacrificing, courageous Filipinos who beat incredible odds to rise above the poverty and corruption that drown the rest of the country.
But neither do we have to look far to find Filipinos who think that the law applies to everyone—but them. Anyone born in the Philippines, myself included, has acquaintances, friends and relatives, who don’t pay their taxes, steal, cheat in business or elections, or even commit murder. The fact that we all know scoundrels and criminals, and let them get away with their crime, is one of the most common manifestations of the diseased culture that keeps the Philippines in a dismal state.
I use the word culture to mean that discernible pattern of behavior in a group of people or a nation, including those values that are manifested again and again by individuals and the group as a whole until they become the dominant traits, the culture, of that group.
Japanese culture values the hardworking team player. Respect for privacy and egalitarianism are prized in Swedish culture. American culture emphasizes the pursuit of happiness. Italians are proud of the gusto for style in their culture. A strong sense of individual rights and civic responsibility marks British culture.
Even with the inevitable exceptions, there is such a thing as a national culture. And the culture that most Filipinos accept as theirs is (as a much-vilified American writer once wrote) a damaged culture. I call it a diseased culture.
I don’t say that all Filipinos personify the diseased culture of the nation, or that all aspects of Filipino culture are perverse. There’s much that’s positive in Filipino culture, such as the helpfulness innate in most Filipinos; their love for the arts, especially music, dance and painting; their distaste for conflict; their ability to enjoy themselves even under oppressive conditions; and their generosity even when they have little themselves. But I do say that Filipino culture is diseased in some of its fundamental aspects.
Start with the widespread disrespect for law in the Philippines. Too many Filipinos do not hold the cultural value that abiding by the law is essential for nation building, or even for their own self-respect. To cite a common example, many Filipinos laughingly say that traffic lights “are just a suggestion.” Property and lives are endangered or destroyed by such cavalier attitudes towards even basic traffic laws, yet Filipinos don’t recognize the connection between respect for the law and fewer victims. They don’t see respect for law as each citizen’s chance— and duty—to foster the vitally needed sense of community responsibility. With corrosive, disastrous effects, the same attitude is taken towards those laws that govern the very foundation of every nation: the justice system.
Another perverted value: For most Filipinos, family, right or wrong, is more important than law, hence nepotism, political dynasties and unpunished criminal acts flourish; there’s always some relative to spring the family felon out of jail or install the incompetent in-law in public office.
What of the blind adherence to religious dictates? Too many Filipinos feel that a mawkish religiosity is more culturally important than rational, compassionate population planning. Never mind if millions of babies are born in a country without the resources to feed, clothe, shelter or educate them. Policy-makers, starting with the President, won’t put money and resources into population planning for fear of going against the cultural tradition of bowing to the Roman Catholic Church.
Ignoring the teachings of their religion’s founder—Love one another; do unto others as you would have them do unto you—the clerics and their converts condemn those advocating birth control as godless, but don’t feel responsible for the hungry, sick and doomed children.
There’s hope for change, though. Hand in hand with their counterparts working within the Philippines, Filipinos abroad fuel this change with the money they remit so their families can build houses, eat healthier, get medical care, and most of all, acquire an education. With financial relief comes the opportunity to heal those diseased aspects of Filipino culture, as millions of Filipinos abroad experience living in societies where law is actually respected; not in every single case but at least on a regular basis.
In societies where the majority of citizens abide by the law, Filipinos fall in line with the national culture and routinely pay their taxes, refrain from shooting the mayor because he comes from a rival clan, dispose of garbage properly instead of dumping it in a neighbor’s yard, and allow pedestrians right of way instead of gleefully running them down. In such societies, Filipinos experience the sanity of contributing to the community at large instead of working only for the good of those to whom one is personally related by blood or social ties.
As these experiences multiply, Filipinos will expect laws to be obeyed even when they’re back in the Philippines. Having had a taste of how real democracies work, they’ll demand that rational economic planning, not religious opinion, guide public policy. They’ll value the common good over personal gain, while respecting the rights of the individual. In brief, their cultural attitudes towards family, religion and the law will undergo that long overdue sea change.
That’ll certainly take more than 20 years; I said I’m a realist. But what are a few more decades when a nation can be healed?
By Arlene Babst-Vokey
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 09:24:00 11/09/2008
MANILA, Philippines - I’ve lived away from the Philippines for almost two decades now. Recently, family obligations require my returning to Manila regularly. I dare say that on these visits, some of my observations on and hopes regarding the Philippines reflect those of fellow balikbayan and Filipinos living in the Philippines. The cynics cross out “hopes” and write “delusions” instead. I’m not among them. I am, however, a realist.
I wasn’t a realist in 1980, when I started writing a column that appeared whenever the Marcos censors deigned to allow its publication. Back then, I wasn’t experienced enough to understand that the growth—or stagnation—of a nation is shaped by a force more powerful than a corrupt dictatorship, malignant as that was.
That force is a nation’s culture.
Through the ’80s, I was among many Filipinos who believed that if we could just get rid of the Marcos regime, the Philippines would transform itself into the nation we dreamt of, where the law treated everyone equally whether your name was Marcos, Aquino, Ayala or Sy, or (here, fill in the name of the farmer, janitor, nurse or teacher, etc., as well as Bernabe Buscayno).
We imagined a country where valuable entrepreneurs didn’t have to pay extortion “fees” to a procession of thieves before they could get their licenses or contracts; where government officials weren’t regarded as personal attendants by their bureaucratic bosses or by the Philippine President; where kidnappings and murders weren’t so run-of-the-mill that newscasts breezily squeezed them in between gossip about movie stars, and where the average citizen didn’t harbor such deep distrust of the police, the military, the judges, and most of all, the politicians.
Many of us fervently wanted Marcos out, but we weren’t naïve enough to expect changes to happen overnight. But my exasperation gains context when you remember that hey, more than 20 years have passed! More of those changes should be in place now.
Consider what Japan accomplished between 1945—when the country was on its knees, two of its cities eviscerated by atom bombs--and the mid-60s when it had already taken giant steps towards becoming the world’s second biggest economy. Observe how Thailand tackled problems similar to those of the Philippines within the same time frame of two decades—and compare where it stands today.
What I didn’t understand then was the power of Filipino culture. More than the dictatorship— which it made possible—it is Filipino culture that keeps the Philippines down.
No one need look far to find intelligent, honest, industrious Filipinos—we know innumerable stories of self-sacrificing, courageous Filipinos who beat incredible odds to rise above the poverty and corruption that drown the rest of the country.
But neither do we have to look far to find Filipinos who think that the law applies to everyone—but them. Anyone born in the Philippines, myself included, has acquaintances, friends and relatives, who don’t pay their taxes, steal, cheat in business or elections, or even commit murder. The fact that we all know scoundrels and criminals, and let them get away with their crime, is one of the most common manifestations of the diseased culture that keeps the Philippines in a dismal state.
I use the word culture to mean that discernible pattern of behavior in a group of people or a nation, including those values that are manifested again and again by individuals and the group as a whole until they become the dominant traits, the culture, of that group.
Japanese culture values the hardworking team player. Respect for privacy and egalitarianism are prized in Swedish culture. American culture emphasizes the pursuit of happiness. Italians are proud of the gusto for style in their culture. A strong sense of individual rights and civic responsibility marks British culture.
Even with the inevitable exceptions, there is such a thing as a national culture. And the culture that most Filipinos accept as theirs is (as a much-vilified American writer once wrote) a damaged culture. I call it a diseased culture.
I don’t say that all Filipinos personify the diseased culture of the nation, or that all aspects of Filipino culture are perverse. There’s much that’s positive in Filipino culture, such as the helpfulness innate in most Filipinos; their love for the arts, especially music, dance and painting; their distaste for conflict; their ability to enjoy themselves even under oppressive conditions; and their generosity even when they have little themselves. But I do say that Filipino culture is diseased in some of its fundamental aspects.
Start with the widespread disrespect for law in the Philippines. Too many Filipinos do not hold the cultural value that abiding by the law is essential for nation building, or even for their own self-respect. To cite a common example, many Filipinos laughingly say that traffic lights “are just a suggestion.” Property and lives are endangered or destroyed by such cavalier attitudes towards even basic traffic laws, yet Filipinos don’t recognize the connection between respect for the law and fewer victims. They don’t see respect for law as each citizen’s chance— and duty—to foster the vitally needed sense of community responsibility. With corrosive, disastrous effects, the same attitude is taken towards those laws that govern the very foundation of every nation: the justice system.
Another perverted value: For most Filipinos, family, right or wrong, is more important than law, hence nepotism, political dynasties and unpunished criminal acts flourish; there’s always some relative to spring the family felon out of jail or install the incompetent in-law in public office.
What of the blind adherence to religious dictates? Too many Filipinos feel that a mawkish religiosity is more culturally important than rational, compassionate population planning. Never mind if millions of babies are born in a country without the resources to feed, clothe, shelter or educate them. Policy-makers, starting with the President, won’t put money and resources into population planning for fear of going against the cultural tradition of bowing to the Roman Catholic Church.
Ignoring the teachings of their religion’s founder—Love one another; do unto others as you would have them do unto you—the clerics and their converts condemn those advocating birth control as godless, but don’t feel responsible for the hungry, sick and doomed children.
There’s hope for change, though. Hand in hand with their counterparts working within the Philippines, Filipinos abroad fuel this change with the money they remit so their families can build houses, eat healthier, get medical care, and most of all, acquire an education. With financial relief comes the opportunity to heal those diseased aspects of Filipino culture, as millions of Filipinos abroad experience living in societies where law is actually respected; not in every single case but at least on a regular basis.
In societies where the majority of citizens abide by the law, Filipinos fall in line with the national culture and routinely pay their taxes, refrain from shooting the mayor because he comes from a rival clan, dispose of garbage properly instead of dumping it in a neighbor’s yard, and allow pedestrians right of way instead of gleefully running them down. In such societies, Filipinos experience the sanity of contributing to the community at large instead of working only for the good of those to whom one is personally related by blood or social ties.
As these experiences multiply, Filipinos will expect laws to be obeyed even when they’re back in the Philippines. Having had a taste of how real democracies work, they’ll demand that rational economic planning, not religious opinion, guide public policy. They’ll value the common good over personal gain, while respecting the rights of the individual. In brief, their cultural attitudes towards family, religion and the law will undergo that long overdue sea change.
That’ll certainly take more than 20 years; I said I’m a realist. But what are a few more decades when a nation can be healed?
Thursday, November 6, 2008
GOAL RUSH 5 INVITE!! :D
MAKE EVERYBODY LOVE FOOTBALL 
Futbol Club SIKAD invites you to the much awaited Futsal tournament--
GOAL RUSH 5!! :D
a men's and women's futsal tournament happening on
NOVEMBER 23, SUNDAY
@ the DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM GYM (DAR).
registration fee is @ 1800php.
get a slot reserved and pay only 1500php when you attend the COACHES' MEETING
on NOVEMBER 7, FRIDAY
7PM 2 MCDO PHILCOA.
RESERVE SLOT/S through 09276478447
For inquiries contact the number above.
Attached are Goal Rush 5 invitation and Goal Rush 5 rules.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!! :D
LET'S MAKE FOOTBALL THE NUMBER ONE SPORT IN THE PHILIPPINES! ! :D
Futbol Club SIKAD invites you to the much awaited Futsal tournament--
GOAL RUSH 5!! :D
a men's and women's futsal tournament happening on
NOVEMBER 23, SUNDAY
@ the DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM GYM (DAR).
registration fee is @ 1800php.
get a slot reserved and pay only 1500php when you attend the COACHES' MEETING
on NOVEMBER 7, FRIDAY
7PM 2 MCDO PHILCOA.
RESERVE SLOT/S through 09276478447
For inquiries contact the number above.
Attached are Goal Rush 5 invitation and Goal Rush 5 rules.
WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!! :D
LET'S MAKE FOOTBALL THE NUMBER ONE SPORT IN THE PHILIPPINES! ! :D
