I love you my Best Friend..

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

I am always the type of girl who doesn't feel like befriending everyone. I remember my Tita telling me, "few friends, that's enough".. Well don't be mistaken, I'm talking about the "close" ones. 

Ever since, I only have at least one friend with whom I really share my whole life. I have one bestfriend in college, one in high school, one in grade school and one in my childhood years. If you’re gonna ask them my secrets in life, I’m pretty sure, they could tell you a lot. Most of these best friends of mine were the most modest and quiet in class. Well, maybe because I was the antithesis.. hehe. I love these chums very much. Even though I was so talkative all the time, telling stories about good-for-nothing stuff, they wouldn’t mind.. they would love to listen to me. Nevertheless, I am always assured that they keep my trust.

This is why, to lose them is a painful hit to me. It has been my weakness- to lose someone I love most.

And it happened. My childhood bestfriend left me. She passed away at the age of 19 with many memories and dreams yet to be fulfilled.

The day when she died, I was very thankful that I was given a chance to visit her in their house. But, as I was standing in their door, seeing her in sufferings, I couldn’t even come nearer. I couldn’t look at her.  She stuck out too much. She couldn’t move her body anymore. She couldn’t talk and could only half-open her eyes.

But I had to show that I did not feel so sorry for her. I must show optimism so that she would be strengthened despite her situation. I wanted to give her hope but I did not know where to get that encouragement.  I couldn’t even utter a word other than  “Mag-pray ka lang Jen. Magpray ka lang.” the only thing I had in mind was God.. God.. “ Pls. let her live Lord, Save her.”

Albeit, I felt a bit of hesitance on asking whether her family would permit me to lead the prayer or not, I directly invited them to join me in praying. We all prayed that night. I couldn’t help to stop my tears trickling down on my face. I couldn’t help to stammer.

After the prayer, I breathed deeply and said to myself, “Lord, whatever your will is, I know you will be guiding her. I’m entrusting her to You.”

That night, I kept on praying even before I slept. I believed that God answered to my prayers.. that He would take care of my friend. So, I put my hope in Him, and in His will.

Then, I woke up with a sad news. Four hours after I had seen her, my friend was gone. Father took her already.

But then, I am certain that she is being cared by God. Her agony was gone, too. She is already resting in His hands. I know that God is guiding her as she continues her journey to the true life.

For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death. Psalm 48:14

My dear friend, thank you for being part of my life. You are a blessing to me. Thank you for being such a best friend. God knows how grateful I am that you were there during the times when I was trying to accept my being me, when I was learning to change for better, and when I was finding someone whom I could confide to. I would never forget our memories together:  when we were still playing trashed papers because we did not have those expensive dolls, when I was watching you, diligently doing your chores before we could play, when you were waiting for me so that we could go to school together, when we were blushing as we talked about our crushes, when we were defending each other against those who wanted to hurt us, when we were pouring out our secrets, hatred, remorse and disappointments together, when we were eating together, when we were  laughing together, when we  were dreaming together and when we were living together.

I love you soo much my best friend, you will always be remembered. In my heart, you're alive as you used to be. May you rest in peace because I know, you have been through many trials and I salute you for surpassing those.

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."   Revelation 21:4

God, thank you for letting us borrow the 19 years of Jen’s life. She is now with You, have her in peace, O dear Lord.

Goodbye my friend. Thank you for the genuine friendship. I will miss you but I will continue in loving you.

lovelots,

your friend Mae

For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. Romans 14:8

Philippine Democracy Calls for Better Justice System

While people tend to view the threat to democracy in the face of press freedom and poverty in the Philippines, the poor implementation of criminal justice system, particularly the Freedom of the Filipino Citizens from Torture, Threat, and Secret Detention is broadly practiced too.

Thus, in light of democratic politics, this paper will present arguments that will push the need for the said law to be re-examined and revised in order to strongly affirm the Philippine Democracy.

Andrew Heywood, in his work Politics (Chapter IV), defined democracy in a number of ways. But one good thing that is part of his definitions is democracy as “a society based on equal opportunity and individual merit rather than hierarchy and privilege” (p.72). Moreover, in one of the models of democracy that Heywood’s Politics also defines, democracy is “more as a device through which citizens could protect themselves from the encroachments of government, hence a protective democracy” (p. 77). The Thinkquest.org further defines this so called Protective Democracy as where “the primary function of the government is to protect the liberty of the citizens”(http://library.thinkquest.org/26466/protective_model.html). From these, it is implied that democracy is also regarded as a face of equality and protection regardless of hierarchy like being positioned in a public office.

At this note, the Philippine Bill of Rights, Article III Section 12 (2) of the 1987 Constitution, states the Freedom of the Filipino Citizens from Torture, Threat, and Secret Detention. As it says, “No torture, force, violence, threat or intimidation can be used against a citizen by government, military or police officials; Secret detention is prohibited” (Philippine History and Government by Sonia and Gregorio, p.201). As support, in Section 1, there is this a Right of Due Process of Law and Equal Protection of Law that says, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of laws” (Philippine History and Government, p.200).

From these, we could say that the liberty from torture, threat or secret detention cannot just be deprived without the permission of the law. However, it cannot be refused that there are still some, in the said to be “Democratic State of the Philippines”, who use their power to deprive anyone’s liberty without proper investigation, legitimate order, or, as the constitution says, without due process of law. And, as these relate the state security forces, the question is widely focused on the role of the Philippine National Police as the enforcer of the law and the capability of the government to remain as the neutral protector of the people’s liberty.

The TV Patrol World, in September 2010, interviewed an unknown policeman during the time when police tortures were exposed. He asserted that torturing was actually vital in forcing suspects to tell the truth. Thereby, they are not considering this as a torture or hindering one’s liberty, but merely their own process (in a sense that it’s not ordered by the law) to find justice.

             Moreover, few months ago, ABS-CBN showed a naked man being tortured by a chief police, identified as Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug, on the floor of the precinct station in Tondo. It was later determined that the man in the video died because of that abusive act (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net). It was also found out that Binayug had already been accused of several brutal tortures but was still able to freely repeat this since he was not seriously persecuted. This apparent crime was not the only police torture case that was filed on the court but only one of the few which were taken into account. There are many more undone cases that are being set aside especially when it is only an ordinary citizen who is seeking for justice.

These evidences show the leaks in the Philippine Constitution. The statement, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of laws” is very questionable as this is prevalently taken for granted. Additionally, the Philippine government that implements these laws has also leaks that spoil the democracy of the state. This means that the government doesn’t have the total capability to handle the words of “due process of law” as the government officials, themselves, can illegitimately use their power and authority to take away the liberty of the people and can easily turn back to cases involving poor citizens. Consequently, the people lose their confidence to fight for their rights to file cases against them on the courts since they know how the criminal justice in the state runs. In this case, the reputation of democracy in the Philippines is marred because the chance for the citizens to protect their liberty from the encroachments of the government is very weak.

With regard to this long-time but unheard issue in Philippine democracy, it is already the time to check the proper implementation of the Bill of Rights of the citizens. If the government really claims to espouse the liberty of its citizens, then there should be an effective implementation of the laws in which the people could be vastly protected.

Truly, the Filipinos have the right to duly claim the democracy that the state is named after. The authority should not just be an authority; they should be checked and balanced too. The long-time tradition of some police officials, in which they just maltreat anyone who is cuffed and brought to their precincts, should be probed and abolished.  Plus, the people, whether rich or poor, should be given an equal access to the courts and be heard regardless of whoever they are going against.

As a conclusion from the arguments presented, the Bill of Rights Section 12 (2) needs a re-examination and revision with regards to its implementation and/or practice of democracy in protecting the liberty of the people from the encroachments of the government. And, above all of these, it is about time to destroy the unlawful acts of the public officials that stain the justice system and consequently, the reputation of the Philippine democracy.

The history of Facebooking Politics (in my FB account)

It was May 2009 when I first engaged in Facebook. It was just starting in the Philippines but already a fast-growing trend in the US. My friend who encouraged me to sign up there said that Friendster had been too crowded that our privacy was very much invaded, and consequently, got “extremely” boring.  So, I decided to sign up and my friend was right, it was an awesome, quiet environment.

 At first, very few people were on my news feed, talking about useful stuff like quotations and significant events. In fact, most of my friends were only those who owned a laptop or a personal computer (but, not me). And, let say or I mean, actually, English was the only language. 

But, as days went by, I noticed that even the rascals on streets with their jejemon language had their own Facebook account. Everybody was leaving Friendster and it turned out to be so obsolete that whoever was still engaging in it would be regarded as left-out.

Deleting of friends, thereby, became a popular move in Facebook and the “sosyal human beings” plus the social climbers got too strict with their privacy, as in you could only see their profile picture.

Later on, I was astounded when I saw a face in the side bar of my FB profile. It was a Filipino politician! And, yes, it was an “omygosh” that they even had their own FB account and now, a “FANPAGE!”.

From then on, everyday got too irritating in Facebook as these political ads started to invade my FB profile. My notifications got too long, including invites, requesting me to like someone’s page or join someone’s campaign. Again, it’s all political.

My news feed was not anymore so interesting to visit since what I could mostly see there were “Vote Manny Villar, ang tunay na mahirap”, political commercials that were not contented with its airtime and were still uploaded and disseminated online, political photos showing Jamby Madrigal picking trash in a dumpsite and so on. The “sosyal” and the social climbers were not able to escape from these, too.

Truly, politics invaded Facebook.

While election campaign period stopped everywhere, in Facebook everything still flowed continuously and irritation was still a problem.

After the election, Pnoy was declared a winner. I thought that their faces would not be shown again in my FB news feed but I was wrong. Pnoy’s pictures, platforms, and speeches crowded in and the losers’ supporters were trying to debate, form a forum via fanpage or simply, a photo comment to vilify Pnoy, as if the election result would be invalidated by their desperate talks.

It took months before these Facebooking politics (FaceBUKING politicians) ended. Though today, political ads still exist in FB, my fear still focuses on the next election. I wonder what would happen to me – either I will transfer to the other social site (if another Harvard student invents one) or I will participate in the commotion to neutralize the effect in me. 

New Media: A Politician’s Challenge and the People’s Excitement

People used to incorporate the word “politics” with the flowery words of a politician. Politics would tend to be a one-way process; it’s all about a politician’s campaign speeches, rallies, donations and other mass appearances to catch popularity, and at the same time, support for the next election. But, as the advent of the new media paves way for a more dynamic politician-and-the-world game, politics today becomes a two-way or even complex process, accommodating the heart of the mass, as well. 

What, then, is the new media?

Wikipedia.org says, “Most technologies described as new media are digital, often having characteristics of being manipulated, networkable, dense, compressible, and interactive.”[1] These characteristics make new media “new” and distinct from the traditional media (TV, films, etc.). It offers the democratic aspect of politics, making the people’s view as significant as campaign’s financial aid. 

First, new media is all about computer and internet which is accessible by most of the people around the globe. With this, it brings politics closest to every home by making the people interact with some other distant people to talk about news that may influence each other’s views. Social networking sites such as Twitter, Yahoo Messenger and Facebook are just some of the popular trends where people meet each other, making everything possible digitally.

Second, since new media provides a living room for social gatherings, politicians come along to interrupt, befriend and influence people by their political advertisements promising a social change. One of the popular modes of these advertisements is usually a personal website where politicians voice out their daily “good” deeds, share their platforms and grants, and even post their “heroic” life story which is a common way of campaigning. But, one good thing about this is the ordinary people can create their own too as website hosting becomes available like Multiply and Blogspot. Thereby, new media becomes the network of all the people in the world- elite or ordinary man, politician or not.

Third, as the mass and the politicians meet in the new media, throwing and exchange of feedback and criticism, and promises become possible at every second. Here, people do not think much about being hunted for their prank feedback since new media is about manipulation, as Wikipedia says, giving them the opportunity to hide their identity. 

Consequently, new media weakens and/or manipulates social hierarchy inasmuch as it is not only politicians influencing the mass, but also ordinary citizen influencing an ordinary citizen. 

Indeed, the power of the new media becomes vast throughout the time as new people try to get an online account each day and later become addicted to it. Hence, politicians try to bring the realm of politics here, trying to control everything. However, the new media is too broad and dense that to control it is, perhaps, an endless trial. These make politics more challenging in the part of the politicians and more exciting in the part of the people.

note:

[1]  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_media

Behind the Beauty of T’nalak

One of the well-known tribes in Mindanao is the T'boli Tribe of South Cotabato. They are alleged to be strongly attached to nature which their culture proves. They also believe that they are the only steward of the Lake Sebuwhere they currently live and which they discovered during a drought. Legends also say that it was a “god” who endowed them the said lake. 

Apart from loving music and dances, T’boli people are also fond of making T’nalak out of abaca. This T’boli craft is treated as sacred and the highlight of their culture and their fame all through-out the country. But, despite their creativity, the T’boli tribe, for a long time, chooses to live in simplicity and in tradition beside the lake where they gently and perfectly make their finest T’nalak. 

According to their tradition, the weavers are supposed to be the women of their community. They are believed to be the only skilled weavers in their land and so, they are given high regards. They live close to nature, specifically near a water-body where seclusion is found. They learn this special skill by watching their mothers weave because everything that T’boli mothers know are taught to their child (female). This is then passed from generation to generation.

Furthermore, the beautiful designs of the T’nalak are wonderfully derived from their dreams because, as a legend says, a goddess taught the early T’boli women this ritual through their dreams. Also according to the said to be “dreamweavers”, when they dream, their spirits travel and then, they would see the T’nalak in a distant. When they wake up, the pattern that they dreamt of is still fresh; hence, they begin to weave it. This imaginative way of creating designs makes their T’nalak unique and incomparable to others. Indeed, dreaming has an emphasis in their culture inasmuch as, for them, you will know nothing when you don’t dream. 

Meanwhile, the process of weaving takes a long time to produce a ravishing effect to the T’nalak.  It is a very tiresome labor and requires patience, good memory, perseverance, and creativity. First, the weavers get abaca and then dye it for few weeks. They do not cut every stride of it because doing so would just wipe out its sacredness. After that, they can now start to weave it with the patterns they dreamt of. During the entire procedure, women weavers are not supposed to sleep with their husbands as this would destroy the designs they have in mind. When the T’nalak is completely produced, it is not sold but given to the couples for their wedding. This exclusiveness of the T’nalak designs only attests that they treat these as sacred and priceless.

However, the T’boli’s traditions are not anymore being complied by some of them. This change happened when the outsiders started to “invade” their land. Their ever-cared lake is not anymore for everyone. T’boli people cannot anymore fully get their food in the lake since some outsiders also fish there. They no longer depend on barter because everything now has price that even their skills are sold forcibly. 

Moreover, the materials used in making crafts are now influenced by the city and the holy T’nalak is now sold to the market. Before, weaving is done slowly but now, many weavers rush it to respond to the high demand and so the T’nalak is no longer that beautiful and pure. Today, men can now weave. The colors of T’nalak start to fade deviating from the original colors of red, black, and the natural tint of abaca to several colors and more than a hundred designs. Consequently, the value of the T’nalak decreases, effacing its reputation as the communion of the weavers to their spirit and as the tapestry of their dreams. 

Nevertheless, few men are still trying to conserve the T’boli styles. Some of them believe that by teaching, their culture would be preserved. Even the dances mimicking animal movements, expressing emotions or implying meaning about their culture, are taught to the young generations so that it would not be forgotten. Some preserve the traditional ways of creating a T’nalak because for them, it will always be sacred and would remain to be their ethnic signature. And, for some T’boli people, anything learned by the T’boli members, themselves, must be reconcile to their culture. 

Mondomanila: A Masquerading Society

Khavn dela Cruz’s film “Mondomanila: or How I fixed my hair after a long journey” is a portrayal of some parts in our country where society pretends to be a society. It strives to present the reality which the community’s people, Manila in particular, would, perhaps, choose to be blind on.

Mondomanila introduces the Paranoid Squad, homosexual Naty and his cop-frustrated father Sgt. Pepper, the loanshark Lovely 5-6 (Whitney Tyson), Shoeshine Pablo the Arsonist (Palito), the dirty old white man, the talented persons with disabilities, Mother Maria “the other way around” (Marife Necesito) and her sons: the caring but mysterious Dino and the main character, Tony D (Timothy Mabalot). 

If we would observe, majority of the casts are not “big” people in the film industry. Nevertheless, what I found good here was the natural way of expressing themselves on the same way that their characters would probably do. I do not know if all of these people already experienced extreme poverty but they released their emotions and lines well and their projection on the camera was fantastic too, taking in account that this is an independent film. Furthermore, I understand, of course, the deficiency of the lights and picture’s quality, but I think, the phasing of the scenes, the camera angling, and the editing did not work well. Yet, apart from these, the venue, the sound effects, the story, and the casting were at its best for an indie film.

This film truly implies that our government cannot really reach out its people and what is even more striking is the reality that it is in Manila, the place where centralization lies, where the government resides. Considering this film, it is not anymore a question for us why many young people fail to receive the education they deserve, why many of them resort to being atheists, and why many seek money by contradicting the rules of the society because, aside from the authority does not care, their families are also incapable of establishing a better home for them. All these stem from the fact that they all fall short to achieve what the society is supposed to offer- education, job, security, better house, and even justice. 

Indeed, Mondomanila shows what is actually beyond the consciousness of the well-off people especially those who do not often go out. I, honestly, found it very horrific and terrible that I can directly rate it as X and a triple rated PG for it is not good for ordinary screening. However, I also cannot deny that Mondomanila just presents the sad truth. I think it would be better if our government officials watch this because, I believe, this would kneel them down for shame. 

As mentioned, though the casts are not famous personalities, the story itself proves that Filipino films are of great quality and can go beyond the tradition. Also, Mondomanila Filmfest MotherFuckers is, apparently, the antithesis of Metro Manila Film Festival, but I guess, they should not be compared for, at some points, our country has still good things to offer like what MMFF does.

All in all, Khavn, together with the staff, deserves a big round of applause for a liberal, realistic and fantastic way of presenting the worst and stinking portions of our nation. Mondomanila was truly influenced by the trends of the society, but in its guts, it can also be a powerful means of changing it. 

Not Yet for Societal Pangulo Regime

Dr. Remigio Agpalo, in his work “The Philippines from Communal to Societal Pangulo Regime”, raised various issues about the political system we have in our country. These include the failure of the Western models of political system (especially parliamentary and presidential systems) in the country, the three political crises which result in government crisis and the need for an evolution from a communal to a societal pangulo regime.

From all of these, Dr. Agpalo concluded that what we needed was a societal pangulo regime with the principles of liberal democracy because it was the only political system that could closely fit our nature. First, it provides a strong government with a strong executive which can tackle adequately and effectively the different crises of the state. Second, this regime is practical because it is accorded on our history and culture. And, finally, it provides an ideal to live by and to live for due to its principles of sharing and caring (“pagdamay”) which are “accordingly” inherent to us.

Truly, Dr. Agpalo‘s article provides a very ideal political system. However, personally, I find some ambiguity on the conditions it offers. First, I cannot agree that our state can be incorporated with the concept of “societal” inasmuch as our cultural diversities pave way to the disparities in traits, particularly cultural values. Second, the Filipino value of “pagdamay” is an emotional approach which is very hard to distinguish and instill to people who are of different ways of interpreting it. Lastly, as Dr. Agpalo also asserted, we cannot assume that the “pangulo”, like the early datos, will not resort to being a dictator. This is because, even just today, when we are still bounded by the presidential system, the “pangulo” already (somehow and indirectly) claims an absolute sovereignty which is contradictory to the present constitution. What more if they are really given the legitimate power to be so?

This type of pangulo regime is indeed ideal. Not only does it establish a moral community or nationhood, but it also renders organization due to its hierarchical structure. However, it is not suitable for the present Philippines. We should not risk to replace our present political system with a societal pangulo regime, unless, we are completely sure that we all can encourage and absorb the “pagdamay” value. The latter should be achieved and must be friendly first to the present political system since, I think, this is where we are at safer (yet, not enough) mode. 

Nonetheless, as Dr. Agpalo asserted, our journey to a societal pangulo regime is yet to be finished and I am one of those who are looking forward to that.