Death Penalty

Congress has been busy these days because of a clamor for the restoration of the death penalty.  The idea was rekindled by the rise to power of strongman, Rodrigo Duterte, who, by his own admission, had brought peace and order to Davao with an iron fist, causing deaths to hundreds until he allegedly had rid the city of criminality.  His minions in Congress wasted no time to have the bill passed, ironically putting plunder, treason and rape as exempted from among the crimes to be meted out with the death penalty.  One can only guess why congress would exempt these but it seems like the members would like to save their own skins, just in case. 

The nagging question has always been if the death penalty is a deterrent to crime.  A quick survey of the safest places on earth would yield that in 10 of the countries dubbed as the safest places on earth, only Japan has retained capital punishment and only for heinous crimes.  This tells us that the death penalty has nothing to do with the absence or presence of criminality – that it is not truly a deterrent.  In fairness to the President, he said that the death penalty, is not a deterrent but some form of retribution, a revenge; an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. During his campaign, he unabashedly promised that there shall be six deaths daily once the death penalty has been restored. There is something wrong with the logic as presented here.  If this were the case, I would say then that a man is justified to kill someone who has wronged him gravely.  Why wait for the court to settle it when all we want is to exact revenge?  On another note, what if the death penalty is meted out only for heinous crimes? Is it okay then to implement it for after all, the culprit is like the devil incarnate and should be banished completely here on earth.  Maybe I might have agreed if only there is an assurance that those who face death are truly those that committed the crime. But hell no. In the Philippines, with its corrupt courts, only the poor are the ones who are condemned.  The so called big fish are still wallowing in the murky waters of the Pasig river or the esteros within Metro Manila.

The re-imposition of the death penalty is going back to the middle ages. I would liken it to the Muslim fundamentalists like the Taliban or the renegade ISIS who, under the guise of their Holy Book, rule their subordinates with irrationality. Only the naïve and the simpleton would believe that  death is the proper response to crime.  Such a simple solution is not the answer to a complicated problem that involves poverty, psychology, lack of education, greed, want, lust, and other forms of social malaise. 

S.E.T.I: How far are we from the truth?

 

When I first entered college, I was a nervous wreck. I never knew what I wanted to be and just picked out courses I thought I could handle. Not only that, I had an older friend for an adviser. One of his advices was to take Political Law 2 and Philosophy 2 with him so that we could be together. This proved to be a major miscalculation on my part. These courses, by their very nomenclature are what we call pre-requisite courses. What this means is that one has to take an earlier course before them.  And, of course, Political Law and Philosophy are subjects not to be taken lightly. Naturally, I failed those classes. Fortunately enough, I finally realized what I wanted to be and shifted to the course I really wanted – Fine Arts.  These subjects were not offered in this course.  However, those two failures left me scarred and I did not want that.  So, later on in my life, I took it upon myself to study them on my own. At least have a feel for them.  While I took up Law which amounted to nothing for I did not complete it, I read and read books and articles that would introduce me to Philosophy. I have already began with the lighter stuff like Ayn Rand, Richard Bach, Antoine de St. Exupery and other literary novels which somehow led to Philosophy. Of course, there was Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World which could be a Philosophy for idiots of some sort. After those, I proceeded to heavier stuff like introduction to Philosophy, Rene Descartes, etc. 

Fast forward to today, my friend and co-teacher, Rory Cortel, was often the source of articles especially now that he is taking his Master’s in Philosophy and has successfully read his paper in Australia and Beijing where he read another of his theories on the mind-body problem. One of the articles he shared with me is Terrestrial Planets Across Space and Time by Erik Zackrisson, Per Calissendoff, Juan Gonzalez, Andrew Benson, Anders Johansen and Markus Janson.  This article is highly scientific and very hard to understand. However, I managed to get the whole point – that with the use of powerful technological instruments like transit photometry and radial velocity measurements have, in recent years, allowed the detection and characterization of large numbers of exoplanets in the same size and mass range as Earth. What this means is that there are planets in the universe that closely resembles earth, and its surroundings like galaxy formations. By the comsomologists’ calculations, and according to Joseph Schmitt, there are about 1600 to 2100 confirmed exosplanets in our own galaxy, the Milky Way, alone Using what they term as a recipe for their cosmic inventory to assess whether a planet is an exosplanet are the materials from which a planet is formed. Highest on the list are those heavier than hydrogen and helium.  There are about billions of other galaxies and naturally, there are millions of planets that are similar in condition as the earth’s.  However, in all these observations, not a single planet has been found to support life.  For example, there are planets that are much older than ours which if it had life, then their inhabitants must be much more highly developed than ours.  And yet, none of this has emerged.

This is what my take is, based on the article.  I start with the Copernican principle of a heliocentric universe which it tries to debunk.  According to this principle, neither the sun nor the stars are in a central, specially favored position in the universe, much equivalent to the mediocrity principle meaning that man is not a privileged observer of the universe. This stance gives us the notion that with the vastness of the universe comprised with numerous galaxies, it can be possible that there are planets with very much earth like qualities and based on the Darwinian principle, could have spawn life just like earth. In the article, it provided evidence that there are such galaxies based on the computations and that there are indeed planets that are similar to earth.  Now, debunking the Copernican principle, data have shown that life do not exist in these earthlike planets. What do I get out of this article? That if all variables are the same and yet does not contain life as it should have, therefore, there is only one variable left and that is the existence of a Supreme Being, a God, who created all this and placed us here on earth.  This is taken based on our, hitherto, limited knowledge.

I shall use David Hume when he said, No amount of observations of white swans can allow the inference that all swans are white, but the observation of a single black swan is sufficient to refute that conclusion. Ergo, even if the data gathered to date do say that there are no other life forms in the universe, it is still possible that this has not been discovered yet and that just one evidence will prove the contrary. 

 

 

A Day of Reckoning!

A DAY OF RECKONING!

By Rolly de los Santos

September 21 will always mark a very important event in our lives - or so I thought. I am beginning to feel that I have been disillusioned by the promise of the events in February of 1986 when we were able to topple down the strongman that was Ferdinand E. Marcos.  I witnessed the jubilations in the streets and the world sharing our happiness as we worked hard to gain our freedom.  We saw how no less than Jane Fonda brandish the L sign on American TV during the coronation night of the Oscar’s or that famous group of Peter, Paul and Mary coming over to the country and give out a free concert at EDSA as a dedication to the Filipino people for a fight that was well fought.

During the early 70’s, then President Marcos had a very big problem. His term as President was about to end because the 1935 Constitution only allows the President to be re-elected once.  Marcos was at the end of his rope, so to speak.  But he craved for power. Who would not? Not only was he the most powerful man enjoying all the perks of a booming economy, he probably thinks he had not yet amassed all the wealth he could muster. 

Not only am I one of the only few in school who has experienced Martial Law in its entirety, I am also one of those who have experienced it being hatched and conceptualized.  I was a high school student when the First Quarter storm erupted in the streets.  Student leaders were being killed during demonstrations along Mendiola and Quiapo.  The University of the Philippines was practically a war zone. On the lighter side, the President was rumored to have a paramour in the person of an American actress named Dovie Beams. However, the news was getting worse. Ninoy and most of the Senators exposed that they were being bribed to enact a law favoring the extension of Marcos’ mandate.  The  Liberal Party rally at Plaza Miranda was bombed killing bystanders and injuring most of the candidates and many more.  There was an attempt on the life of then Secretary of the National Defense, Juan Ponce Enrile.

And then by the stroke of a pen, Martial Law was declared.  Everybody was ecstatic. Finally, order was coming.  This was the general sentiment as a result of the promise of a new order, the Bagong Lipunan and its battle cry of “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan.”  (For National development, there should be discipline). The whole machinery was put into place. A new political party, the KBL, was installed with a new anthem in a song composed by Levi Celerio that bears the title, “Bagong Lipunan”.  Television shows would be a platform for propaganda and very popular shows or events like a Muhammad Ali fight, (a similar occurrence when Pacquiao slugs it out in the ring and everybody was glued to the TV) would be interrupted regularly by the president’s address to the nation, etc.  However, as Lord Achton once said, “Absolute power corrupts and it corrupts absolutely.” As history would show us, those who became very powerful became despots and dictators like Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Duvalier, and Muammar Gaddafi. And our Marcos was no exception.

  After several years, the atrocities of the new order were being revealed.  Marcos, in order to gain the Generals to his side, offered them wealth and fortune. Marcos’ Rolex 12 alluding to several of his advisers have been given Rolex watches to gain their support and allow him to have full authoritarian control of the country. He created his own Gestapo, the Metrocom, a spin-off from the military’s Philippine Constabulary and took over the jurisdiction of the police force, who are supposedly the ones to take care of law and order among the civilians.  Slowly, the military was politicized giving them the idea that they can have power and stage several coup d’etats during Cory’s presidency.  Extra judicial killings were happening here and there giving another meaning to the word “salvage”. I can go on and on with a litany of abuses and atrocities committed during this period in our life as a nation but that would only eat up too much space and time.  One of the best readings would have to be “The Conjugal Dictatorship” an opus by Primitivo Henares, who just vanished in thin air and has never been found ever since.

Why do I say that I am disheartened by recent events? It seems like we as a people have forgotten everything. We seem to have a very short memory.  The facebook generation seems to be slowly being brainwashed by disinformation and the young generation seem to be biting hook, line and sinker.  How many times have I seen these young ones being able to read a very short article on facebook and  swear that this is valid research. 

First a disclaimer.  I am not a “Yellowtard”. I have always been apolitical and never supported any candidate openly. My vote is mine and mine alone and I respect everyone’s choice whether or not it is the same as mine. 

On September 14, we were given a talk on Martial Law by no other than Atty. Diokno, the son of the illustrious, one of the most respected senators we ever had, Sen. Jose Diokno.  He advocated that accepting the spate of killings that is happening now is not only peculiar but has already been done before.  Whereas during Marcos’ time, the culprit was communism, today, the battle cry is against drugs.  And many would say that this is alright for after all only those who are guilty are being killed. That only the low life addicts and pushers are being slain so that we, the clean hearted, well-meaning citizens can live in peace.  But really? How would we know that only the guilty are being massacred? That what is happening now is some sort of a soul cleansing, if we are to equate that we as a people have a collective soul? We will never know for the victims are now dead and the police are using the principle of a dead man tells no tale. How I wish I can join the band wagon and admire Duterte just like the others, but I just can’t at this time.  

My only curse probably is that I know what the law is and the principles from where they are based - in a democratic country, at least, and that I still believe the logic.  It is the duty of every Filipino citizen to know what are his/her rights. These are provided in the 1987 Constitution in Art III, entitled Bill of Rights.  This article embodies our basic, inalienable rights for our protection.  Paramount among these rights are: the principle that everyone has a basic right that the State cannot take away such as the freedom of expression, choice, religious beliefs, etc… “presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” as provided for in sec. 14 #s 1 and 2.   This is rooted on the principle that the state would rather let the guilty go scot free than have an innocent man suffer for something (s)he did not do.  This is very important for a person should stand trial and be proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt just so we know that the person whom we are crucifying is truly guilty. There is nothing more sinister than having someone suffer for a crime (s)he did not commit.  What if (s)he has just been framed, with evidence planted on his/her person or a victim of lousy investigation? The spate of killings happening now has thrown this principle out and we will never know who are truly guilty.  My strongest fear against the absence of judicial process is that I have two sons. What if they encounter a rogue policeman and plant evidence on their person? They can easily be killed with the blessings of this government.  What if they come home after a well spent drinking spree with their friends and somehow irritates someone and reports them to the police as being a drug peddler? 

What about the right of the people against unreasonable searches and seizures (sec. 2) and the sanctity of ones abode? These rights must have gone down the drain for the present state seem to  deprive us of the right against a warrantless arrest.  As a matter of fact, it is possible that of the more than 1,000 death that occurred from day 1, there could have been instances where an arrest per se, whether valid or not, has been made at all.  All the police shall do is claim that the alleged offender fought it out with them and they even receive praises for their act. 

When Marcos was preparing the people with his plans of declaring martial law, one of the first steps that he did was to suspend the writ of habeas corpus. This means that the police force has no obligation to produce the body of an arrested person.  Hence, they are free to instill torture of physical and/or emotional pain without being checked, a violation of Sec. 19 of the Bill of Rights.  Fast forward to a few weeks earlier, we see one of the Senators, Dick Gordon, suggesting the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus as an added response to the emergency powers accorded to the President with regard to the recent bombing in Davao. 

I am not against the President.  As a matter of fact, I pray that he will succeed as the leader of this battered land. Somehow, I believe that he is well-meaning and incorruptible.  What I fear is that he does not have complete control of both the military and the police force, who at this time has not addressed the killings committed by vigilantes. For all we know, these vigilantes are employed by the same powers that be to silence what these people know.  It is very possible that Duterte may not have complete control of a police force that has not changed its ways of bribery, graft and corruption and other ill-doings these nincompoops do. Duterte has no way of checking these out.  It is still happening now.

If just for the fact that Duterte has started a new trend of Filipinos who are well-disciplined and principled as was the case during his campaign trail where people cleaned up after themselves to show that they are to begin a new era, then I am for it all the way.  If Duterte can provide the poliltical will we so need, then I shall support him with much vigor.  However, there seems to be a division happening now. The Duterte supporters seem to be very sensitive when their idol or his ways are being questioned.  They would easily cry foul and charge that the criticism is made by what they call as “yellowtards” referring to the Aquino government and the Liberal Party who , according to them,  is all out in getting the power back. There will never be a true reconciliation with this seemingly great divide.  There can never be a true exchange of ideas when one answers a criticism with a retort and character assassination.  This is why I resent what Trillanes has done to silence Sen. Cayetano.  Why declare hime out of order when he was about to get to the bottom.  It is not for me to pass judgment of the witness yet for I still have yet to hear him out. And hearing him out would mean that he has to stand the scrutiny of a rigorous interpolation. Let us move forward and let the truth be heard. 

Bayard Rustin said, “If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence.” Are we ready to face the consequences of the violence brought about by the President’s war on drugs?  Does the end justify the means? Are we to consider the innocent who were killed in the crossfire as collateral damage?  Lastly, as Atifete Jahjaga said, Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation.For true democracy to work, there must be a free flow of ideas and when there is a free flow of ideas, there will always be a clash of ideas resulting in a healthy debate. When the populace can speak their minds at no cost of peril on their person, we get to see the right equation to solve our problems.  

Is it Really Yours? An article on plagiarism in school

 

                As teachers, we usually give out projects to the students. Especially now that the grading system has been transformed into a new system whereby a product (project) is required for each subject as a separate grading component. As such, teachers are on the look-out for unscrupulous projects which are submitted by either lazy students or those who just cannot get the lesson right.  In either case, these students turn in a project, be it written or otherwise, which are not of their own creation. They present a project made by somebody else and pass it as their own or make direct quotations verbatim and not citing who the author is or giving an idea made by somebody else and pass it as their own.  As teachers, we should be vigilant and cautious that no student does this in our own subject. We have a term for this. We call it plagiarism. According to Wikipedia, plagiarism is the "wrongful appropriation" and "stealing and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions" and the representation of them as one's own original work.^[1][2] The idea remains problematic with unclear definitions and unclear rules

                As a precautionary measure, our student handbook categorically forbids any student to turn in something which is not his or hers.  The handbook has also scheduled a penalty for such an act.  I have been in the academe for more than thirty years and I have witnessed how students have violated this part of the student handbook. When I was still the Lower Level Coordinator, which I believe is the counterpart of today’s SFO or to be more direct, the Student Prefect of Discipline, I have had, in one or two occasions, been confronted with a case of plagiarism.  There was even a case where almost the whole class was charged with the offense. I do not exactly recall now how the turn of events went but I know that the students received a spanking (figuratively, of course) for what they did.

                How should we handle a case of plagiarism? What we should always remember is that we are a school, a learning institution entrusted with the education of the young. We are not dealing with professionals who have a sense of full responsibility for their actions. These are minors to whom we have been given authority to form their education for them to have a well-meaning, well-lived future.

                Having said that, what is my opinion on erring students? My personal belief with regard to plagiarism committed by students is very simple.  For the school to focus on being punitive sanctions does not address the problem. It would even seem that teachers are trying to get back on the students, some sort of vengeance, if you would.  A harsh observation but could be a possible argument used by the offending child’s parents against the teacher.  More than anything else, it may even send the wrong signal to the student. Let us take an offending child meted out a three-day suspension because of the said misdemeanour. What does (s)he think after the sanction has been served? (S)He might think it was relatively easy.  After all, a three day suspension is nothing but a reprieve from the classroom. Hence, said student is off the hook easily and still has not learned to do the assigned task properly. What would I have done?  I would simply just hand back the project, tell the student that he/she turned in a wrong paper or project and give him/her time to repeat and do it correctly. I will tell the student that I know for a fact that (s)he did not write/create the project and tell him/her why. If it is a term paper, I will tell him the parts which are plagiarized, show him where it could be found (remember, the burden of proof lies always on the accuser) and teach him/her the proper way of doing the project. If after this, the student still turns in a paper or project that is not his/her own, I hand the same back and refuse to accept the work until it is done properly.  It may be a long, tedious process but I would have taught the offending child an important lesson in life rather than giving him punishment for a deed which (s)he is bound to repeat again and again for after all, it is just a matter of serving a three day sentence and for something nobody taught him/her to do properly.

The Marriage

 

The Marriage - Diptych

Oil on Canvas

40" X 30"

 

 

The Marriage 1

Oil on Canvas

20" X 30"

 

 

The Marriage 2

Oil on Canvas

20" X 30"

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyuxl4ocqlo

My wife turned sixty on April 20. Just because this is another milestone in her life, the kids decided to give her a surprise party, and surprise she was. On April 16, we told her that as usual, we shall all be staying in a hotel, this time at Hotel Celeste in Makati, a no frills hotel, quaint and simple but clean.  What she didn't know was that we have also invited her close friends from way back in her high school, probably, elementary days. and relatives to grace the occasion.  To even spice it up a notch, I composed this prose and poetry for her, asked our good friend, Redjie to do the voice over and have Mickey do the visuals.  I am reproducing it here for keeps.

----------------------

Jenna Coleman!    Jenna Coleman is an English actress who was made famous by playing the roles of Clara Oswald in Doctor Who and Jasmine Thomas in the soap opera Emmendale.
Jordan Brewster! Jordan Brewster is a Panamanian –American actress who portrayed Mia Toretto in the Fast and furious, Fast Five and Fast and Furious 6 and 7.
Renee Zessweger! Renee Zellweger is an American actress and producer who was became famous with her roles in various films notable of which are her character in Jerry Macguire, Nurse Betty and her award winning role in Bridget Jones’s Diary.

What does Jenna Coleman, Jordana Brewster and Renee Zellweger have in common? They are all celebrities? They are all beautiful? No, neither their being celebrities nor being beautiful has anything to do with the question.  They are all born under the sign of Taurus, the bull.  The bull, a male bovine especially that of an adult, uncastrated, domestic kind.  As such, it is a symbol of virility, tenacity and unspeakable strength.
On April 20 many moons and stars ago, in an unpretentious town in the heart of Manila known as Bacood,  Trinidad Ancheta rewarded  her loving husband Nicasio Toto with their fourth child, the second girl in a brood of six. Together with her siblings Polly, Abet, Lilia, and the younger Marilyn and Angie, this child’s character would be formed into what it is today. Her family might not have lived in opulence but they were not living in dire straits either.  AS a matter of fact, their family owned several vast ancestral lands up north in Bangui, Ilocos Norte where the first windmills were built.  They were happy and contented amidst their modest living.  Her classmates in both elementary and high school will witness her friendly nature, that effervescent personality, enigmatic at times but always ever pleasant nonetheless.   Their humble beginnings made each one of them aspire for nothing less than perfection.   And perfection she did get on her 29th birthday when she was united with her handsome prince with whom she would bear four children, their four angels, Kraiganne, Mizel, Keshia and Jasper. Together they weathered the storms, faced life’s inequities, wept at each other’s misfortunes and glorified by each and everyone’s accomplishments.
Thirty-one years after that 29th birthday and here we are celebrating another milestone in that little girl’s life. She is now sixty years old, a milestone which marks all her accomplishments as a true friend, a dedicated daughter, a favourite sister, a sweet wife but most of all, a loving mother.  Yes, she is a Taurus but none of the violent streak of a raging bull, only the soft, tender lovable character that she is.
If we are to check on what the astrologers say about a Taurean, we shall find that a person born under the sign of Taurus is one who will not venture into the unknown and lead the way.  They must have misinterpreted the stars for Nitz is a natural leader, the one who leads the entire family to progress and possibly the person who will lead her children to no less than perfection and possibly to greatness. Tonight, as we celebrate her birthday, her husband wrote her a poem and it goes like this:

http://titorolly.blogspot.sg/2016/04/httpswww.html#comments

For tonight She Turns Sixty

Tonight, the angels descend

       to sing melodic songs

together with  the chirping of a  bird,

      released from her cage

the hooting of the owl

     satiated by a hearty meal

and the steady call of the cicadas

     after being burrowed for 17 years.
A seeming cacophony of discordant notes,

faint at first until they get louder

     and the air is filled with heaven’s harmony

     all made lovely

for tonight she  turns sixty

Armed with nothing but her ubiquitous smile

      more radiant as ever,

better than the child who first experiences rain

     after a long dry spell

or when she first held  snow in her tiny hands.

As if granted of a wish by her fairy

     she smiles triumphantly

For tonight she turns sixty

She is my morning coffee

My sunshine after a well slept night

She is the light that illumines my path

     on a bumpy, dark, dangerous road.

She is my queen, my glory,

     my present and my distant future.

Together we shall  forever be happy

     washing away the doldrums of idleness

     laughing our way to a journey of happiness. 

Join me and my family as we all sing 

     Happy birthday with all your might

For she turns sixty tonight

rolly

Halloween 2015

My wife is returning from a week long work with students at Baler, Quezon.  She left on Sunday, October 25 when I have just returned from a two day stint at Naga College Foundation with Robert Reyes. My wife and I have not seen each other from the time I left on October 23 until today when she arrives here in DLSU where I have been waiting since 2:30 pm.

It is good enough that I was with Henry when I got here at Taft. This made the library accessible to me as I don't think I could have stayed here waiting for my wife on my own. I don't have a library card and although I worked here, the people I know are no longer here.  Anyway, while waiting for my wife, I figured the best place for me is to tinker with the computer. I can go on for hours in front of this remarkable machine.

The long wait gave me time to ponder the eve of what we know as All Saints' Day and its transformation. I say transformation because how we celebrated November 1 is by far way different from how we do this today.  During my childhood, I have always wanted to become a Boy Scout thinking what a remarkable job they do at cemeteries doing their best to assist elders with the mayhem on what we celebrate as All Saints' Day (or is it All Souls' Day really? I am a bit confused!) All I know is that living beside the Tugatog cemetery, growing up jumping from tomb to tomb while flying a kite. On the last days of November, I would see my friends earning a few cash painting the tombs with white and marvel at Boy Scouts having to camp out at the cemetery so that they could help (I was of the impression that they look for lost children, send them to the station where the parents could pick them up).

I know that the celebration has had some sort of transformation already. How many, I don't know. I recall my sisters talking about a tradition where young men would go from house to house to what they call "mangaluluwa".  I don't know how this goes but if I recall correctly, these young men would go to a house, maybe sing or do something while one fellow would go to the "silong" to steal some eggs.  The source of fun will always go with the times, won't it?

In the nineties, when I was still a budding teacher at DLSZ, trying to learn the ropes, I noticed that the children has started going Trick or Treating!  For several years, this has been going on at Ayala Alabang until the nearby villages caught on.  Several years thereafter, the practice spread like wild fire and now, trick or treat has infected most of Metro Manila.  Ah yes, Bob Dylan's right when he sang "The Times they are a-changin'! And how fast they do!

Composition 1

 

 

Composition 1

Oil on Canvas

42" X 42"



Naga College Foundation

Tomorrow starts a new journey for me as a LASSO Supervisor.  My stint as a consultant in Academia De San Francisco Javier in Nasugbu Batangas is over.  The parochial schools in Batangas have formed some sort of a system just like, probably as I can imagine it, De La Salle System and part of the changes brought by the merger is the severance of ASFJ from the LASSO.  I have known about this when I attended the school's graduation.  It was too good to last.

This year, I have been assigned to a new post, the Naga College Foundation.  This school used to be under the care of Ms. Suzette Dahilan.  I am  to be introduced tomorrow and the documents shall be turned over to me. I leave for Bicol at 11:20 am. As if to draw first blood, I am due to give a talk on the Legal Responsibilities of Teachers on Saturday.  I have already made the necessary adjustments (thanks to my eldest daughter, Kraiganne) to my powerpoint presentation.  As first impressions are very lasting sometimes, I have to put my best foot forward. 

A pearl as white as snow!

I am having mixed emotions right now.  I am both in ecstasy but at the same time sad.  First, the whole family has just got back from a three day respite at Pico de Loro to celebrate my wife's birthday and our 30th wedding anniversary.

First, living with the woman I love for thirty years n all these years, we have produced a loving family as we bred four angels who are now grown ups and have joined the work force.  They are now trying to find their own niches in a world full of drudgeries and sham but we are sure that they can weather any storm as we believe we have raised them well. 

What does it mean to be married for thirty years? It means a lot! It means that the children are all grown up by now and possibly having grandchildren running around the house by then.  Well, not in our case, at least for now.  The perfect gift for this time is a pearl.  After all, it is known as the pearl anniversary.  For many years, pearls have  been considered to be the most valuable.  It is an organic gem as it is derived from a living creature.  An irritant comes into an oyster or mollusk which then produces a "nacre" or what we call a "mother of pearl" that will produce either that black white smooth substance. 

I have tried to purchase a real pearl not knowing how costly they could be.  Needless to say that I was really disappointed that I could not buy my wife a simple luxury.  However, I didn't feel I have lost the battle just yet.  I found the next best thing. I could still buy my wife pearls which are not as expensive.   I found south sea pearls which I bought with Kim.  And so during the eve of my wife's birthday, the whole family had a fantastic dinner at the hotel where I gave her my gift.  She seems to be pleased with it.  And surprisingly enough, she also had something for me which turned out to be a Pierre Cardin wrist watch.   So you see, we can celebrate, too sans the fanfare of really expensive gifts.  What is important is that we are all together as one happy family. 

Talking about unity as a family, while my wife and I knew that we will not have our children by our side forever, I was still caught off guard when my second daughter announced that she will be leaving for Brazil to join her boyfriend.  While it will only be for three months at the most, I know that losing my children has started.  They are all grown up now and will soon leave the nest that my wife and I tried to build over the years.  One by one, they shall flap their tiny wings and fly. All I can do is watch and pray that they could fly the highest mountain or even conquer the heavens as they do. 

Just like a pearl symbolizes a tear from the moon, my gift to my wife are my tears for years past, the glory days and those times when I was at my weakest.  Where have all the years gone?  They are forever etched in my heart and in my mind as I recall the years when we were still struggling to build a family. We hope that we have taught them well and continue a legacy of simplicity, humility, perseverance coupled with hard work and patience with each other.  AS my daughter leaves tonight, I bid her goodbye and send her a kiss that shall be eternally hers until death. 

 

a village raising the child

           
         
            It is interesting that in a far-flung village in Africa there exists a philosophy that I think is filled with wisdom that I take to be entirely correct.   There is this saying in Nigeria: "It takes a whole village to raise a child!" For me, this is a sound belief that is as loud as the clanging of the huge bell of an ancient church announcing to the town that mass will start soon.  This belief could have been spawned by very observant elderlies of the village watching a pride of lions, composed of sisters, as they share in taking care of the young.  This system is seen especially when it is time to hunt.   The cubs shall be left to one female lion who is an aunt, while the others hunt for food.    So too is it true in the wild forests of America or in Europe where a pack of wolves live. For wolves, only the alpha male and the alpha female are allowed to mate; bear pups and those with lower ranks share in taking care of them.  What they would do is hunt, eat the food and regurgitate it to the young on their return.  This sharing responsibility of taking care of the young is also the reason why ant and bee colonies thrive around the world.  I have been thinking, if this is true anywhere, then this should be a universal truth, don’t you  think?

 There is a big problem brewing at Ayala Alabang Village where De La Salle Zobel school is located.  Traffic congestion has always been a perennial problem in any locality where there is a school.  I have been going to Greenhills every Thursday, once a month to attend a meeting and I know it is a commuters’ nightmare that from one to four in the afternoon, cars occupy at least two lanes waiting for students to be dismissed.  This chaotic problem where there are schools is true everywhere and Ayala Alabang is not immune to it. 

This traffic situation has never been a problem before but De La Salle, as one of the country’s leading schools in providing quality education, has grown dramatically both in its physical layout and enrolment size.   With La Salle’s stance of keeping up with global standards, more and more parents are investing their children’s education to the said school.    In return, De La Salle, in its effort to make its brand of education available to as many students as possible, could not close its doors to worthy students regardless of whether they are residents of the village or not.   The increase in enrolment is the root cause of the traffic situation, or so they say. 

It is easier to blame the traffic situation on the escalating number of passers-by.  It is always so easy to point a finger on a single culprit.  As a matter of fact, it is the most convenient.  However, on closer inspection, this may not necessarily be correct at all times.  While it is true that traffic congestion can be attributed to sheer volume alone, I believe there are other factors involved that contributed to the mayhem.   Before this nightmare, there were more roads available to the commuters.   There were streets such as Maria Cristina, Agno, Pantabangan, Ambuklao, etc. which could be used to get to Zobel.  However, these streets were closed one by one to commuters bound for Zobel which left only Madrigal and Acacia roads open to University Avenue as the only ingress and egress to the school.  Naturally, these roads will not be enough during rush hours which will be from 7:30 till 8:00 in the morning and 3:30 till 4:00 in the afternoon. 

With all this traffic turmoil, the Ayala Alabang Village Association (AAVA) Board of Governors has only De La Salle Zobel to blame, not as the main source but the only “culprit” and hence made all it deems as necessary measures to only refer to the school albeit the fact that there are more schools  inside the village.  As such, the Board has made several demands “suggestions” to the school to help ease the traffic to which Zobel has willingly complied even if it had to spend millions of pesos.  I would like to spare you the details and make the long story short.  The Board claims that none of the solutions adapted by the school worked and as a final solution, will implement a color-coding scheme on vehicles coming to and from De La Salle Zobel.

                The color-scheme the AAVA Board wants to implement is, at the very least, impractical to downright ridiculous.  First of all, why implement the scheme when there are barely two months left in the school year? Granting in arguendo that it has been the plan since June as alleged by the Board, nevertheless, to have it implemented today will not serve any purpose but cause a lot of trouble and mayhem to our young students.  The residents, who the Board alleges to be complaining about the traffic, have already managed to bear with the discomfort for practically the whole year -  two more months would cost nothing more than what they have already suffered.    Secondly, the plan needs to be studied more.  In the proposed scheme, there will be cars which will be allowed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, a total of three days; while on the other hand, the others will only be allowed on Tuesdays and Thursdays!  That is totally unfair.   Why will there be students who are blessed with more days to come and study than the others?  On what basis shall a non-resident car owner be awarded a three day slot?  Who decides who will be given a sticker that will allow access to the roads of AAVA on those three  days?

              It  takes the entire village to raise a child.  There is wisdom in that adage.  A child may not be born completely in tabula rasa form but nevertheless, it grows into the kind of environment it lives in.  As such, every child is our responsibility.  We cannot complain about that drug dependent menace or that village thug that constantly disturb the peace.  They are that way because they lived in an antagonistic and uncaring society.  We cannot just blame their parents for raising them that way.  We let them down.  They are our responsibilities.  Should we deprive the little ones in our care of education and have them witness how terrible we treat one another? It takes an entire village to raise a child.  We are trying to raise our future leaders and raise them differently than how our present leaders have been brought up.  Should we let a minor discomfort that lasts for barely thirty minutes be the bane of our existence? Or should we consider our small sacrifice be our contribution to nation building?  To me, the choice is obvious. I hope it is with you, too.   

 

 

 

                

 

 

 

 

 

South Korea, the third time

The prospect of going to another country for the third time might seem less exciting.  Of course, the first jitters of travelling to a new country is no longer there. My first visit to the country was as  a tourist in June of 2008.  It was the second country we visited via the credit cooperative of DLSU.   The second time was as an emissary of the school and companion to then DLSZ President Br. Dennis Magbanua and then Cultural Arts Director, Ms. Lani Maderazo.  Having been to a place twice would seem like you've seen it all and that it has nothing new to offer anymore.  However this was not what I felt on my third trip to South Korea.  I still had the jitters for, believe it or not, it will set several milestones for me.

1.  This is the first time I am going to experience real winter.  In all my trips to Canada, (I have been there four times) it hhas always been spring time.  That is because vacation time in the Philippines falls on that lovely season.  I cannot complain. Spring for me is the best season the northern hemisphere has to offer.  My last visit was in 2012 when I was (lucky me) gifted by my niece, Rommella Moss, who is now a councilor in that little paradise known as Kaslo with yet another tour of BC but (even luckier me) only after I have made a trip to LA and San Francisco with that harrowing experience at the airport enroute to Canada.  In all these times, my chilling experience was only in the higher than 0 degrees temperature.  My   first winter and  experience below zero was in Beijing in 2010 with Nitz, my two daughters, Kuya Ben with his wif, Ate Lilia and their son, Jan, Gregor and Leslie.  The coldest was at minus 2 and it was only late November.  So there was no snow yet.

2.  This is the first time I will not be using a tour guide and commuting in an unknown city.  All throughout my travel, I have been pickedup from the airport and has been toured either by a friend who resides in the area and driving a car  or by an official tourist guide.  This time, we only have Kim's friend, Kaite and her boyfriend, Evgeny who is a Russian born Korean, who are both in the country on a study grant.   

This is the first time that instead of being picked up at the airport by a car, we are riding the train.  There are many airports where you can ride a train to the city.  There's Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and other cool destinations.  Not in Manila though.  Maybe  if and when we transfer the airport to, say, Clark.  But that would be a long time coming. 

3. Most of all, this is the first time we are traveling as a family.  While we have made trips abroad individually, and that I have traveled with my wife alone and with our two daughters, this is the first time that my sons are joining us on a tour.  This is really what made this trip special. Not every family has experienced traveling as one.  We have been blessed and we are taking this blessing and enjoy it while we can.  Soon, the children will have their own family and it will be just me and my wife, the same way when we started.  I am just happy that we were able to do this and hoping this is not going to be the  last time.

 

I am blessed!  I can say that with confidence because of too many things that affirm that statement.  I have very young friends who, despite my age, are willing to do things with me.  I am about to retire from work which I could not call work because I enjoy doing it.  It seems so effortless now.  It should be. I have been working for the same institution for thirty years and I think I already know the ropes.  There is no position that I cannot handle, I think.  I can go back to the classroom anytime. I had been thinking about it.  The only thing that keeps me from resigning from my post is that I like the free time.  I do things my own way.  I don't keep schedules.  I hate doing that.

I am blessed because I work in a school where there are lots of young people. Teachers and students alike are very young and somehow, their enthusiasm, vigor, energy rubs on me.  It is truly invigorating being with young people.  And so, I have deferred going with people my age.  I shall reserve that for retirement.  In the meantime that I can be with the young generation, and as long as I am tolerated, I shall try to be with them all the time. 

My life has been ironical.  When I was a teen ager, I wanted to be an adult so fast that I mixed up with older men and women.  I was in high school and I hang out with those who were already in  college.  Now, it is the reverse.  I am the oldest in any group I hang out with.  Short of saying I cannot be with my own tribe.  But what can I do? I only do things I truly enjoy.  I don't give a rat's ass what other people think.  I do not let anyone dictate who I shall go out with, what I should be wearing or what I shall be doing.  But my age is gaining on me, way too fast.  When I started working here in school, my younger friends would call me Kuya Rolly, an older brother.  Later, it would be Tito Rolly, uncle.  Today, my young female friends call me Sir Rolly or those who are very close Tatay, father!  I don't think I would stay and wait till someone calls me Lolo, grandpa. 

Last night, I attended a concert by a group called Up Dharma Down. As expected, the place was teeming with young people.  I can't help myself feeling old.  I was once these teen agers, dancing and jumping and shouting at concerts.  What fun! Anybody who has not experienced that has missed out on a lot of things. 

Lastly, I am blessed with a very understanding wife and four very responsible children.  I think we raised them well. Me and my wife really make a good team.  Well, basically my wife.  She is the more responsible between the two of us.  She is more determined and has more focus.  Anyway, our children, now that they are all grown up and has entered the adult world, have shown signs of good parenting.  They know how to share, help one another and are really very close.  The other week, I decided that I am going to take my wife out on a date.  It is something we seldomly do. Anyway, when Mickey learned about it, he decided on something which surprised me! He was already having dinner when I announced I was going to pick up his mom. (The other children  were still out).  He asked me to wait then went upstairs.  Then gave me 2 grand and said, "Here, spend this for your date!" I told him I had money and just save it for the family when he decides to give a treat.  But he insisted. Now that made me feel really good.  All of my children have been sharing their blessings with the family. No exceptions.  I so love them all.  What more can one ask for?  I am truly blessed!

new works

Anticipated Vibrations

oil on canvas

30" X 30"

Stop right now, thank you very much

oil on convas

15" X 20"

owner :  Ms. Rose Garcia

Academic Plunge

oil on canvas

15" X 20"
owner: Mr. and Mrs. Manny Magahis

PETA's FnL

Last night, I was contacted by my friend Henry asking if I wanted to join him in watching another play at the PETA theater.  The first time we went there was to watch the Rock (or was it spelled Rak?) of Aegis.  While some of the humor in that play escaped me (maybe because of my age) and notwithstanding the fact that I am not an Aegis fan, I did enjoy the show. So, without any ifs or buts, I decided to give a Filipino play another try.  This time it was entitled FNL, a play written by Rody Vera.

The play starts with a Filam, raised (even probably born) in the States, having a dream about Florante and Laura which albeit the fact that he could neither speak nor understand Filipino, was struck with a Tagalog word "linggatong". His parents are getting ready to take him back to the Philippines as they have gone bankrupt.  Like a typical narrow-minded Filipino living in the States, they believe their son would be their saving grace with his chances of being a rap star  strong with the knowledge that Filipinos love anything Stateside.

Meanwhile, the female protagonist, Flor, who works at a call center who can talk English with an American twang also has suddenly got an attack of Filipino words which is so ancient that none of her colleagues (or the audience for that matter) could understand.  Both protagonists will discover that they share the same affliction of losing themselves and reciting words uncontrollably. It turns out that her patriotic father was   taking possession of her soul while Lance, by Balagtas himself.

Personally, I find depth with the story as it tackles the complexity of our nature as part of the human race.  Our language has not only been outshined by a language of oppressors but has also developed into several dialects ingeniously created by sub cultures like bekimon and jologs talk. The writer's genius is shown by his expertise in handling these languages and pointing out his main thesis of language being the only way that can unite us. This he did without being preachy but, as true to our nature,  with humor. Another aspect I found to be witty was the addition of a lesbian lover of Flor who would recite a poem in English albeit without feelings or emotions implying that while we use the english language for intellectual discourse, it is only in our native tongue that we can feel emotions.

While the thespians of Rak sang a lot better (understandably so for afterall it was purely a musicale than anything else) the songs are not bad and the singers are alright.  My main beef, if I would be allowed to nitpick, is that the humor in both plays rely on contemporary events which given a few months or years will have to be reinvented, otherwise would not work.  Case in point, in Rak, there was this reference to the Vhong Navarro case where the actor was asked "to bring foods".  As the popularity of the issue has waned, the audience did not find it funny anymore.  In effect, a play like this does not become immortal but only relevant today.  Also, while I am not homphobic, it uses gay humor which I feel seems to be ubiquitous in every comedy we have.  In fairness, the play's use of gay humor is justified as it uses gay lingo as one of those dialects that "bastardized" (not my idea but, for me, is the premise of the story).

Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed FnL as it tackles a subject close to my heart. That there are still Filipinos who think that English is better and that anything Stateside is worthy to mull over - that English is far better than our own simply because it is the medium of instruction. That those who speak English well is much more intelligent than those who could not.  With our true identity being lost, as observed by Lance that while he could speak english well, is lost as he could  pass as neither American, African-American nor even a Latino back in the States and a true Filipino here in the Philippines.  It just brings to mind Filipino households trying to rear their children in English but do not have the time to train their children and leave them to their nannies making their children good in neither languages. Too bad, if you ask me.

School Rules

(This post is my own personal opinion and it holds no other purpose but to express my sentiments)

I get it. School rules are necessary and should be followed to the letter.  Rules are issued to instill  discipline among the members of the school community, be it for the students or the faculty alike.  Discipline is "the desired and/or expected norm of conduct." The importance of having rules is clearly enunciated in the case of DLSU vs. CA where the court, in stressing its importance  said : "the essential establishment of rules...may be regarded as vital, not merely to the smooth and efficient operation of the institution, but to its very survival." The court could not be any clearer than that.

Rules are an integral part of schools for their smooth operation.  They are imposed to establish to provide order and  harmony among each member.  Imagine a world where there are no rules. Each one will be acting on his/her own regardless of whether or not such an action is to the detriment of someone, especially another person in the community. Eventually, there will be nothing but chaos. Even the universe has its own rules or laws, the very reason why we live the way we do.

In order for rules to be effective, they should have teeth.  A rule that is ignored is inutile.  However, to make rules really earn its teeth, they have to be known by every member and that there should be a clear reason for their imposition  -  one must not run in the hallways, this is not a playground and one could get hurt;  one should take or use somebody else’s property without permission of the owner – that would be stealing.  There should be a clear reason why this or that is forbidden.  It could either be harmful for the doer or to somebody else.

When the rules are clear and the reason for its imposition is known and accepted, there will be no problem. However, sometimes, rules can be as abstract and unclear.  When this happens, each one can have their own interpretation until it becomes a free-for-all which only brings more confusion rather than enlightenment.

There are  rules which could be obscure to the point of being illogical to the members of the organization.  Often, these rules are viewed as whimsical or capricious as the members do not understand why this is being implemented.  Examples of these could be  the rule on hair color, or one's choice in clothes when a standard uniform is not required.   Let us take hair color for example.  What if there was a rule forbidding someone to teach with his/her hair dyed blonde?  Following the logic posed earlier, it could be assumed that this is so because blonde hair is bad.  But why? Often, they say, "this" is not a teaching hair color - if there is something like that.  What if the person is a natural blonde? He/She shoud not teach because she possesses bad hair.  But is this right? Can one not teach effectively because the color of his/her hair is not the prescribed one? Should the person color his/her hair black because that is the accepted hair color for teachers - in the Philippines, at least?  Why is it bad to have blonde hair in the first place? Does it hamper one’s thought processes? Does that impair a person's judgment? Is it too jarring for students that they cannot follow the lesson because the teacher’s hair is not "au naturel"?

Sadly, these are unacceptable because they do not follow the wishes one, if not all, in the administration.  They probably think this does not display good taste? Just because most Filipino hair is black, we assume that any other hair color is not acceptable? Is this not just a matter of opinion? This fact goes with the choice of clothes and the like.  I have been poring over this and came to one conclusion.  It is bad enough when a person forces his/her own morality on another.  It is even worse when one dictates his/her own personal tastes on anyone.   Just as I do not adhere to censorship, I do not want others meddling with my personal life.   I may not be cool in my choices of clothes, or they may frown on the food that I eat for these are too oily and dangerous to my health or they may not like how I behave in public. But as long as I am not a risk to someone, I don’t care! I am proud that I can be  who I am.  My personal tastes are my own. Allow me to enjoy my freedom. Let me suffer the consequences of my choices.   I  made them on my own.  To standardize such would be synonymous to animals,  who, after having engaged in a mating ritual, returns to the anonymity of the flock.  That is not me. I want to retain my identity wherever I go at any time in my life.  And so, unless the harming consequences of these rules can be explained to me with clarity and with a very convincing argument, I say let me be!