When activists from labor groups and student organizations go out on the streets to voice out their grievances, believe you me, they are not always right.
They cry being marginalized, disenfranchised, trampled upon, deceived, fooled, and unjustly treated.
Two editorial pieces from the Philippine Daily Inquirer today have unmasked these groups for who and what they are.
The Workers
The cartoon editorial shows a Japanese investor cultivating a "land" with fresh investments, but the soil is hard, rocky, almost dead with "corruption," "red tape," "high power rates," and yes, "militant labor."
Labor groups ignore that our labor laws are sickeningly pro-labor. How many times has it been for the past recent years when the minimum wage was increased? This is done across the board regardless of the employees' performance or the lack of it. You go to a mall and what do you see? Salesmen and salesladies gossiping. You go to a community grocery store and what do you see? Cashier and bagger boys taking forever to punch in your goods and bag them for good. And nary a smile on their faces. When you're lucky, you get reprimanded by them for taking the wrong counter, "Express lane, ito! Dun kayo sa kabila."
Jeepney and bus drivers go on strike to demand for lower gas prices. Ask them to drive professionally, be polite, give change, be presentable, not smoke while driving, and you are asked to either take a cab or buy your own car. As if taxi drivers are any better.
The Students
"Squeeze" debunks the claim of state universities and colleges (SUCs) students that the government has cut down the education budget. "How these groups came up with such widely different estimates of the budget cuts suggests either carelessness...or a deliberate attempt to create an issue where there may be none," says the article.
The editorial also states that subsidies for SUCs in 2012 would reach a total of P26.1 billion or 10% more than the appropriation for the current year. Also, SUCs are expected to EARN P12.39 billion from tuition and miscellaneous fees from students, grants and donations, and land lease. Moreover, the Department of Budget and Management estimates that SUCs may have some P22 billion deposited with banks. All in all, SUCs will have P60 billion to spend in 2012. Kabataan party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino said that to be able to deliver quality education and services, SUCs need P45.8 billion from the national government. Don't they teach Math in SUCs anymore?
Yesterday I was in UP Diliman to get something from the Faculty Center. It was the first time I have been there. As I entered the building, I saw students comfortably sitting on the floor of the corridors, never mind that visitors come and use that space for walking to get to their destination.
We turned to a dark hallway. Lining up were rooms with old doors, unscrewed hinges, with announcements as old as Jose Rizal (if he were alive today) stuck on them. The walls were crying out for some wash. The roof appeared to come down with the next wind blow. And a lot of "broken windows." A building doesn't need to be new to look good and fresh. People who spend their time in it need only care. Students, faculty, and management. You have time to go out on the streets to protest but back home your place is a mess. You go out and try to solve the problems of this nation, but you can't even fix your school. Don't you people smell the decay and the old stench?
The new UP President Alfredo Pascual said that his administration's efforts are geared towards research leadership, a demand for a national university. Why doesn't his administration walk around the campus, visit every nook and cranny, and fix everything that needs to be fixed? And don't make a sorry excuse that they can't be fixed because there isn't money. If you aim to be good in research, you have to be outstanding in resourcefulness first.
Mr. President, breathe life to the dying University of the Philippines then do your research leadership initiative later. Or do you need to do some research on what to do with the dying first?
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Kulo Exhibit Revisited
A friend who came with me to UP Diliman this afternoon took a copy of the September 2011 issue of U.P. Newsletter.
An article caught my attention: "UP groups denounce closure of Kulo exhibit."
1. Resignation from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Karen Flores, a UP alumna, and the CCP Visual Arts Director at the time of Kulo exhibit resigned from her post "to uphold artists' rights...stand as a symbol of artistic expression." She also said that religion should "promote a higher self. It should not promote hatred. Instead it should promote tolerance."
Wow! So resigning from one's job is now an artistic expression? I wonder in what artistic manner she did it. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "tolerance" as "sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from one's own." But like tolerance to pain and other types of it, there is always a threshold on how far one can tolerate a deviation. Christianity promotes forgiveness up to seventy-seven times. There is no law that says what we cannot tolerate we forgive. We can forgive a cheating husband but should never ever tolerate him. Tolerance is pushing someone to sin more. Do I tolerate smokers around me?
Me: I'm sorry, but I'm allergic to smoke. May you, please, stop smoking?
Smoker: Oh, I'm sorry. (Extinguishes cigarette and throws it to the metal bin)
Me: Thank you. (With a smile)
Me: Your art exhibit offends me and my faith. May you, please, change it?
Artist: NO! It is my artistic expression and it is none of your business! You don't know anything about the art and the artist! I have artistic rights!
Me: And I have human rights. The most fundamental of all rights.
2. Marcos and Aquino as allies
National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera said, "In the surrender of the CCP (to the pressure of Marcos and Aquino), the rights of individual artists were also surrendered." Incredible! Imelda and P-noy in one sentence! Lumbera even added, "Sino ba si Imelda?" Don't they get it? Even the godless was offended!
3. OA
UPD Department of Arts Studies Chair Cecilia de la Paz said that "the government reaction was knee-jerk and out of hysteria." Madam, with toll going skyward, not just Skyway, and a liter of gas getting more expensive than a burger meal, that is the least this government can do for me. To be hysterical in my behalf.
4. In your dreams!
Former MTRCB Chair and UP College of Mass Communication Professor Nicanor Tiongson said that "art is not just pretty Amorsolo artworks to decorate our walls," and "an artist always dreams of a better world." What does a mother tell a hungry child crying out for food, and there isn't a morsel to spare? She carries the child to her breasts, sings a lullaby, promises that the child's father is on his way, and with plenty of food for him. She doesn't yell at the child, and paint grim pictures of Somalia and Ethiopia where birds of prey wait on the wings until famished children die, and feed on the dead bodies of children.
The mother believes in "easing one life the aching and cooling one pain and helping one fainting robin unto his nest again." Art is beautiful, so beautiful it makes one cry, so beautiful it takes one's breath away, so beautiful one can risk cliches.
An article caught my attention: "UP groups denounce closure of Kulo exhibit."
1. Resignation from the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Karen Flores, a UP alumna, and the CCP Visual Arts Director at the time of Kulo exhibit resigned from her post "to uphold artists' rights...stand as a symbol of artistic expression." She also said that religion should "promote a higher self. It should not promote hatred. Instead it should promote tolerance."
Wow! So resigning from one's job is now an artistic expression? I wonder in what artistic manner she did it. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines "tolerance" as "sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from one's own." But like tolerance to pain and other types of it, there is always a threshold on how far one can tolerate a deviation. Christianity promotes forgiveness up to seventy-seven times. There is no law that says what we cannot tolerate we forgive. We can forgive a cheating husband but should never ever tolerate him. Tolerance is pushing someone to sin more. Do I tolerate smokers around me?
Me: I'm sorry, but I'm allergic to smoke. May you, please, stop smoking?
Smoker: Oh, I'm sorry. (Extinguishes cigarette and throws it to the metal bin)
Me: Thank you. (With a smile)
Me: Your art exhibit offends me and my faith. May you, please, change it?
Artist: NO! It is my artistic expression and it is none of your business! You don't know anything about the art and the artist! I have artistic rights!
Me: And I have human rights. The most fundamental of all rights.
2. Marcos and Aquino as allies
National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera said, "In the surrender of the CCP (to the pressure of Marcos and Aquino), the rights of individual artists were also surrendered." Incredible! Imelda and P-noy in one sentence! Lumbera even added, "Sino ba si Imelda?" Don't they get it? Even the godless was offended!
3. OA
UPD Department of Arts Studies Chair Cecilia de la Paz said that "the government reaction was knee-jerk and out of hysteria." Madam, with toll going skyward, not just Skyway, and a liter of gas getting more expensive than a burger meal, that is the least this government can do for me. To be hysterical in my behalf.
4. In your dreams!
Former MTRCB Chair and UP College of Mass Communication Professor Nicanor Tiongson said that "art is not just pretty Amorsolo artworks to decorate our walls," and "an artist always dreams of a better world." What does a mother tell a hungry child crying out for food, and there isn't a morsel to spare? She carries the child to her breasts, sings a lullaby, promises that the child's father is on his way, and with plenty of food for him. She doesn't yell at the child, and paint grim pictures of Somalia and Ethiopia where birds of prey wait on the wings until famished children die, and feed on the dead bodies of children.
The mother believes in "easing one life the aching and cooling one pain and helping one fainting robin unto his nest again." Art is beautiful, so beautiful it makes one cry, so beautiful it takes one's breath away, so beautiful one can risk cliches.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
"Juan Time" and PST
I find it awkward that Philippine Daily Inquirer's editorial focuses on respecting time and the "Filipino Time."
Today is the day after #PrayforthePhilippines made it to Twitterlandia's trending topic worldwide, the day after Pedring "shut down Metro, lashed Luzon." Even Paulo Coelho tweeted "I join the group, and I just prayed. #PrayforthePhilippines."
What happened to PDI? Suddenly, it has become more important to remind people to be on time than to be prepared for calamities. Or are we done with the obvious?
Be that as it may, the editorial has led me to check my time if it is in accordance to the Philippine Standard Time which is found in the PAGASA website (www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph) I found the time in my computer a minute late, in my cellphone four minutes advanced. Now, I have all my time under PST. And so will all the clocks at the office and at home.
Going off on a tangent, it might seem, today's editorial has taught me something major enough to be bothered by it.
It has also come to my attention that the Department of Science and Technology is pushing for a new "Filipino Time" and it is called "Juan Time." "With Juan Time, Filipino time will come to mean 'on time,' and no longer late," as quoted from DOST Secretary Mario Montejo.
Being on time all the time is not something that may be taught in business training camps. Being punctual is part of an individual's make-up like respect, dignity, honesty and patience. And I'm betting 5 Sing Dollars that those who give a hoot about an editorial on respecting time after a day of Twitter-worthy calamity are the same people who have it in themselves since the day their folks showed and taught them punctuality and respect by example.
Why SD 5.00? It's all I've got in my wallet.
Today is the day after #PrayforthePhilippines made it to Twitterlandia's trending topic worldwide, the day after Pedring "shut down Metro, lashed Luzon." Even Paulo Coelho tweeted "I join the group, and I just prayed. #PrayforthePhilippines."
What happened to PDI? Suddenly, it has become more important to remind people to be on time than to be prepared for calamities. Or are we done with the obvious?
Be that as it may, the editorial has led me to check my time if it is in accordance to the Philippine Standard Time which is found in the PAGASA website (www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph) I found the time in my computer a minute late, in my cellphone four minutes advanced. Now, I have all my time under PST. And so will all the clocks at the office and at home.
Going off on a tangent, it might seem, today's editorial has taught me something major enough to be bothered by it.
It has also come to my attention that the Department of Science and Technology is pushing for a new "Filipino Time" and it is called "Juan Time." "With Juan Time, Filipino time will come to mean 'on time,' and no longer late," as quoted from DOST Secretary Mario Montejo.
Being on time all the time is not something that may be taught in business training camps. Being punctual is part of an individual's make-up like respect, dignity, honesty and patience. And I'm betting 5 Sing Dollars that those who give a hoot about an editorial on respecting time after a day of Twitter-worthy calamity are the same people who have it in themselves since the day their folks showed and taught them punctuality and respect by example.
Why SD 5.00? It's all I've got in my wallet.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
It Will Rain
If you ever leave me, baby,
Leave some morphine at my door
'Cause it would take a whole lot of medication
To realize what we used to have,
We don't have it anymore.
There's no religion that could save me;
No matter how long my knees are on the floor.
So keep in mind all the sacrifices I'm makin,'
Will keep you by my side,
Will keep you from walkin' out the door.
'Cause there'll be no sunlight,
if I lose you, baby.
There'll be no clear skies,
if I lose you, baby.
Just like the clouds
my eyes will do the same, if you walk away
Everyday it will rain.
I'll never be your mother's favorite;
Your daddy can't even look me in the eye.
Oooh, if I was in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing,
Sayin' there goes my little girl
walkin' with that troublesome guy.
But they're just afraid of something they can't understand.
Oooh, well, little darlin' watch me change their minds.
Yeah for you I'll try I'll try I'll try I'll try.
I'll pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding,
If that'll make you mine.
'Cause there'll be no sunlight,
if I lose you, baby.
There'll be no clear skies,
if I lose you, baby.
Just like the clouds
My eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday it will rain.
Don't just say, "Goodbye."
Don't just say, "Goodbye."
I'll pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding;
That'll make it right.
'Cause there'll be no sunlight,
if I lose you, baby.
There'll be no clear skies,
if I lose you, baby.
Just like the clouds
My eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday it will rain.
Leave some morphine at my door
'Cause it would take a whole lot of medication
To realize what we used to have,
We don't have it anymore.
There's no religion that could save me;
No matter how long my knees are on the floor.
So keep in mind all the sacrifices I'm makin,'
Will keep you by my side,
Will keep you from walkin' out the door.
'Cause there'll be no sunlight,
if I lose you, baby.
There'll be no clear skies,
if I lose you, baby.
Just like the clouds
my eyes will do the same, if you walk away
Everyday it will rain.
I'll never be your mother's favorite;
Your daddy can't even look me in the eye.
Oooh, if I was in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing,
Sayin' there goes my little girl
walkin' with that troublesome guy.
But they're just afraid of something they can't understand.
Oooh, well, little darlin' watch me change their minds.
Yeah for you I'll try I'll try I'll try I'll try.
I'll pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding,
If that'll make you mine.
'Cause there'll be no sunlight,
if I lose you, baby.
There'll be no clear skies,
if I lose you, baby.
Just like the clouds
My eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday it will rain.
Don't just say, "Goodbye."
Don't just say, "Goodbye."
I'll pick up these broken pieces 'til I'm bleeding;
That'll make it right.
'Cause there'll be no sunlight,
if I lose you, baby.
There'll be no clear skies,
if I lose you, baby.
Just like the clouds
My eyes will do the same if you walk away
Everyday it will rain.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Bruno Bench Billboards
How's that for alliteration?
I know Pinkhamper is turning shamelessly into a Bruno Mars fansite. It is what they used to call scarlet fever which everyone had to go through.
(Click on the pics for bigger views.)
After the Philippine Volcano billboard fiasco, Bench has decided to redeem itself with these. Now, we all know men can be billboard-worthy even with clothes on.
Bruno Mars: Made in the Philippines. Hmm. Really?
I know Pinkhamper is turning shamelessly into a Bruno Mars fansite. It is what they used to call scarlet fever which everyone had to go through.
(Click on the pics for bigger views.)
After the Philippine Volcano billboard fiasco, Bench has decided to redeem itself with these. Now, we all know men can be billboard-worthy even with clothes on.
Bruno Mars: Made in the Philippines. Hmm. Really?
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