Reaction on a Concept Paper:

Reaction on a Position Paper

The position paper is basically aimed at stopping the mining activities in the island of Rapu-Rapu, near Sorsogon. It is objective in its point of view, where the statements used to defend the position are objective, impersonal, serious and formal.

It used both the Rational and Non-Rational Mode of Persuasion. In the first half of the paper the writer effectively used Rational mode through "causal inference" using scientific facts, evidences and data statistics to persuade the readers of the truthfulness of his claim. While in the other half, the writer used scientific facts and evidences and brilliantly presented it through non-rational mode of persuasion by "pathos" or the arousal of compassion.

In the first paragraph it already presented scientific data and statistics with a high degree of probability to present a logical argument to the readers. The second paragraph described the conditions that makes the mining more hazardous to its inhabitants while the third and fourth paragraph further validates its position on the issue by using scientific facts to illustrate how things occur.

The fourth paragraph brilliantly used facts in order to arouse the compassion of the readers. It enumerated the probable gruesome harmful effects brought about by the mining in the area and furthered the arousal of compassion by presenting the fact that the harmful effects are not only confined in the Island of Sorsogon but to its neighbors as well. And then lastly it presented that the mining has consequential effects to those who are not directly affected by the mining, but will be affected by the economic regression that the mining will bring about.

In totality, the writer was able to clearly present its argument through skillful use of logical and flawless argument in the first part and in the second part the effective and skillful use of facts and evidences to arouse compassion in its readers.

(http://www.adnu.edu.ph/institutes/inecar/article0801006.asp)

Reaction Paper

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino the son of former Sen. Benigno Aquino and former President Corazon Aquino is going to be the next president. He won in the recent election with a wide margin from his contemporaries. And no doubt about it, he is the most popular among the candidates. He has the support of most Filipinos and the hopes of everyone for a better country.

I agree with what Ms. Manlosa said that Mr. Aquino was a better candidate for blocking the shrewd businessman from taking power and a former President who has been ousted, charged, tried then later convicted of plunder. But I certainly will never agree that Mr. Aquino is the best candidate for the job. Everyone may deny it, but if we, the Filipinos would only use our heads for thinking and not for hallucinating things, then it is plain to see that Sen Dick Gordon and Sec Gilberto Teodoro are the only two qualified candidates for the job. However since, Mr.Aquino is already there by virtue of 13 million votes then might as well give him the benefit of the doubt and let him do his thing.

But what really struck me most is the second candidate tagging Mr. Aquino, who is the ousted President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, tried and convicted of plunder, with his 8 million votes. From this I could say that the Philippines is really pitiful because of the so many people whom we cannot say illiterate maybe uneducated but are surely foolish or dumb by nature. How could they even think of putting back a person in the presidency after he has been ousted, tried and convicted? And I repeat convicted. It only shows the kind of people we have and their pitiful shallow minds. Whence all they know is to cry when the milk is spilled.

Mr. Aquino on the other hand, remains to be seen. But from the way things are in the past, I could not see hope in this person; this person who hasn’t accomplished anything remarkable in all his years as congressman and as senator. This same person who wasn’t even sure of running and despite his calling from the people to run, still had to ask for some time alone to think things over and make the critical decision. If everyone could remember the day when Mr. Aquino announced his candidacy, it gave a clear picture of the kind of person he is. While delivering his speech, he doesn’t seem well to be confident, resolute, intelligent, passionate, and most of all he didn’t appear dignified. On that day as I was watching the television, it was just as if somebody out of nowhere just went up to the stage and said “hey, I wanna be the next president”.

But in the course of time, during the duration of his campaign, in all his interviews and presidential debates, there was a great improvement in his bearing and his speech. I did not know what caused this but I do am sure that this is not the time for learning, six years as head of government and head of state should not be charged to experience. Mr. Aquino was obviously elected not because of himself but because of his parents, most especially the death of his mother the former President Corazon Aquino. This two factors are the only reason that gained him his mass support and not of anything else. Had he ran with his mother still alive, I doubt if he would even have half of the votes that he gained in the recent election. And this again is where I see the pitiful status our country is in because of the many whom I cannot say whether they are shallow minded or that they are just plainly stupid.

Most of the Filipinos fail to see that a person should be judged as he is, not because of someone else. It does not mean to say that his father did great and his mother did great, that we could already presume that he would also do well, especially when his track record doesn’t speak remarkably of himself. Yes, it could be that he has inherited his father’s intelligence or his mother’s values but it should be noted that this is not enough reason for him to be considered a representation of his mother or father because no matter what trait have you inherited, in the final analysis it would all boil down to how did you use it? Or did you even use it? Therefore the assumption that most Filipinos placed on Mr. Aquino is based upon pillars of salt and sand.

Nevertheless, no matter how unconfident I am of his capabilities, I am in no position to judge Mr. Aquino even before he has assumed office and as I have said before “everything remains to be seen”. I hope what’s to be seen is something remarkable that at last would brighten up his track record and clear all the doubts that some Filipinos have for him. That, what remains to be seen, is as what he promised “Dito na tayo samatuwid na daan”, “Kayo ang aking lakas” and ”Hindi ako magnanakaw”. A Philippines that is at last blessed, peaceful, educated and prosperous.

GOD BLESS our country!!! 

The Lake

Around by the side of the lake a modest house stands. It is one story tall and made completely out of wood. Nearby you will find an artisan well. The surroundings were beautifully landscaped, with all the flowers and plants that give the comfort of a home. The whole lot was fenced with bamboo.

Beside the house, a luxurious car would really catch your eyes. Its black color gives it elegance and its shining surface the radiance that makes it more beautiful. Its massive built commands respect on the road and its brand the envy of many.

Outside the gate of the house, on the right side is a gazebo where you will see men with their smokes gathered over a bottle of softdrink or two. Three of them, elegantly dressed, seem to be busy with their cellphones. While the rest of about ten men or more, casually dressed, are talking to themselves with their guns in hand.

On the left side you will see kids playing; enjoying their tender years, as lively and as serene as the lake beside them.

May 10, 2010

It was one early morning, when the sun was yet to shower its rays and the breeze still cool from the previous evening that my family and I started our three hour trip to our hometown. This very early trip caused most of us our precious sleep and haste in our movements because according to my father, this was a very important trip. “A very important trip indeed” reiterated by my Mom and which was answered with silence maybe because of the unwonted early morning trip, not to mention the lack of sleep and haste that we have to go through.

The trip back home was long sought by my parents especially that this time it would not just be the two of them that needed to go, because this time they would be bringing with them their three daughters and two sons. The seemingly very important trip, for my part, was greeted with indifference. For the last twenty years of my life, I have had always heard about it; the hopes that it would inspire, the changes that it would bring, the happiness that it would give and most of all the prosperity that it would promise. But time proved all these wrong, where things anticipated and wished for always turns out to be the opposite. This in some way or another created within me an apathetic feeling of disregard to this event. Most of the time I had always heard people always emphasizing the importance and sacredness of this faithful event but almost always, most of the people preaching are the ones themselves committing dishonesty, fraud and treachery. All the years of contrasting words and actions seemed to have an effect on my early mind that now that I am of mature age, I don’t feel the urge to take part of this event; to go back home on that 10th day of May year 2010.

It was election time. The streets were filled with people and elegant cars. It was like there was a festivity. Not one minute after we have just arrived, when one of my uncles greeted us with a smile accompanied with his campaign for his candidate for board member. He bid us to include this one fellow of which he knew into the five candidates that we would choose. Then as if nothing, he pulled out from his pocket a bundle of money and then handed out to each of us fifty peso bills. I had second thoughts of receiving the money. But as everyone was around, and as I knew the custom that existed there and which is very likely in other parts of the country, my hesitation drifted away in an instant. This was my very first contribution to the underdevelopment of our country.

The act of vote buying has ever since been rampant during election times in our hometown and I believe so, the same is true in other parts of the country, most especially in rural areas. I often question myself why or how could the people themselves allow this to happen? Everyone talks as if this is something that could not be stopped, something that has already been a part of the system that is very hard to remove. And if by chance you could take it away it would be greeted with something that’s inconceivable.

In the Maranao culture there is what we call “kanduri” or what is commonly known as thanks giving and this is what most politicians in our place use as an excuse of vote buying. Whenever a candidate gives you something, he would use “kanduri” for his victory as an excuse, and the receiver having in mind the maxim that “to refuse an offer is an insult” would have no other alternative but to accept. But things doesn’t end here, in our culture because also of another concept which is called “maratabat” the receiver which is the elector would be compelled to the unspoken request of the candidate for the fear of any repercussion against him or any member of his family. Maratabat in plain terms suggests something like pride or the act of injuring the pride thus causing some repercussions. And still another Maranao tradition that helps in the proliferation of massive vote buying, the most gruesome of all, is the concept of “rido” or what is in the vernacular “ubusan nang lahi” or in english, family feud. Although it may sound a bit exaggerated because it is quite impossible for one clan to be extinguish, nevertheless the thought alone or the intention itself is enough to cause violence and unimaginable terror to everyone in the community. This concept of “rido” is how some extreme politicians who lost in their bid manifests there maratabat, where they would go to the place of those electors who did not support their cause and fire guns at them mercilessly. But ofcourse this is not always the case because some politicians express their maratabat in some other way but is still destructive to the welfare of the electorate.

With the facts given, it would sound as if there is no remedy to this disease where those responsible are the same persons that would suffer. Everyone thinks that he is a victim and is helpless to this incurable disease. I say this is madness because in truth and in fact we always have the choice and the capacity for a change. All that is needed is a little enlightenment brought about by thinking and courage. Thinking for a better change, the best things to do and the worst things to stop and the courage to do what you think is for the better. Don’t look around you for you will be swallowed by the so many people that are foolish and corrupt. Look only upon yourself and contemplate well what needs to be done. No matter how impossible it may seem, in the long run the change that started from within will inspire more than the empty words that are always spoken.

The elections that had been conducted in our precinct went well enough. Although it wasn’t that orderly because of some unruly citizens, other than shouting to correct the line there wasn’t any incident to reported upon. The pcos machines that have been used greatly helped in the facilitation of the elections. It hastened the counting thus eliminated chances of “dagdag bawas” and other forms of cheating. In less than twenty four hours there were already proclamations as to some local positions and in our case it did not took us more than a day to know who would be our mayor for the next three years. As far as my memory serves me right, I think that was also the first election where some candidates conceded to other candidates without any remorse or accusations of cheating.

The way I see it, I think the pcos machines did well in its task of enforcing a quick and clean elections. Though I could not say that it was a thoroughly clean elections but I’m satisfied with the way it lessened the chances of cheating and prevented some forms of fraud. And though there are yet many things to be seen with this new system, I would still like to give credit to the COMELEC for the fruit of their hard labor. I hope there will not be any reported acts of frauds through this new system. This is still the start and yet more to come; either if this be for good or for bad it remains yet to be determined not by the system we have but by the change we impose upon ourselves.

GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY!!! 

The Visitor I thought I knew or didn't knew

It was one lazy afternoon when a luxurious car arrived at our house. I was amazed by its beauty; its rims beaming like a luminous mirror, its headlights staring like a tiger’s eyes, its size commanding respect and its appearance displaying its magnificence.

Alighted this vehicle was a woman, a woman equally illustrious as this massive car parked before me.

“Assallamoalaikom” she greeted as she walks towards the house.

“Allaikomisallam”, I responded as I try to recognize this woman who seems to be so familiar to me.

The woman is of her early thirties and quite large for her height; she was wearing a golden head scarf and a white dress. Although I am not quite familiar with the kind of textiles women in our society uses for their dresses, I could say that hers’ was with quality. In her left hand was a handbag, with its brand printed obviously within sight, and alongside it are endless bracelets made up of gold. Two fingers in her right hand had diamond rings and one in her left had a gold ring. The fragrance of her perfume was very strong that it caught my senses even before the woman reached the house.

“Is your father Mr M.?” she asked.

“Yes Ma’am” I answered. “How may I help you?”

“I am Mrs P, the daughter in law of Mr R who is the second cousin of Mr I who is the former mayor of the municipality of M, who is a friend of your father” she said with some exhaustion. “May I talk to your father?”

“Of course. Please sit for a while”

“Thank you.”

“By the way, can I get you something?”

“Thanks but I’m really full, I have taken some snacks along the way.”

“Ok. Just wait here then. Let me call my dad.”

I went immediately to the study room of my dad and informed him about the visitor. Despite telling him that our visitor respectfully declined my hospitality of serving her some delights, my father insisted on serving her still with some. And then he proceeded to our terrace where the visitor was waiting, and I on the orders I have received.

Their conversation was short, about five minute’s maybe. Then the woman bid us goodbye. I went to the terrace with a rag to wipe clean the center table and as I was watching the woman heading her luxurious car, I noticed a kid that went out of the car and rushed toward the woman. As the boy approached the woman he hugged her gaily. After the warm embrace the woman led the boy back to their car while holding his hand.

But I took notice of something that was not quite right. The kid was about eight years of age but in contrast to the respect that the image of the woman and the vehicle poses, the kid was a total opposite. He was wearing a white shirt with a certain logo imprinted in front and its whiteness almost turning into brown. His shorts were obviously untidy and his slippers colored black and white. A closer look on the kid and you can compare him to those ragamuffins wandering aimlessly on the streets.

I then picked up the tray, with its empty bottle and glass and went back to our kitchen, trying not mind what I have just saw and what just happened. But then, that’s when it came to me in an instant; that the woman was a neighbor of ours in our home town where she rents an apartment just two blocks away from us.

Political Ads

In today’s modern world where technology seems to creep in almost all aspect of human lives, it is not far from happening that technology could be one of the greatest factors to determine the over all well-being of humanity.

In a country like ours, where our leaders are chosen through the votes of the people where the majority are dull or apathetic to what is going on around us, then fame and charisma becomes the primary qualities that a candidate aspires to have more than anything else. It is here where technology comes in, in the form of media, which becomes a conspirator for us electorate, to become conspirators ourselves for the plot of exploiting our own resources for the benefit of some few.

Through the media, political candidates are able to portray themselves the way they want to be perceived by other people. It does not count anymore, whether that candidate is really what he portrays to be in the media, but what counts today are good production, right exposure and play of words. These three things for me constitute the ammunition for a good deception through the use of media as the cannon for shooting.

Good production and right exposure are two things that are difficult to question because of the difficulty to decipher it into words where one could scrutinize, argue and start a discussion about it. No one can question the messages that are conveyed in a good production because messages in this kind of media are usually unspoken. The campaign ad of Noynoy Aquino as seen in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W16OSkUNNd8&feature=related is an example of this where the message is address through the song and the script.

Right exposure is also another thing that’s hard to question, and by “right exposure” I mean the strategy of politicians to go to places or attend gathering where they know would give them public attention. An example of this was when Manny Villar visited the noon time show “Wowowee” as seen in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lvvOGWaUn4 to show to the public his help to the OFWs in the country. No one can question his appearance in that show because everyone is welcome there and no one could also question his extension of help because no one also is prohibited from helping his fellowmen. In this kind of media strategy he need not say anything about himself because the act itself is already speaking in his behalf.

But the third kind of strategy in using media, which is the campaign through addressing the public directly, usually entails a lot of “play of words” where the politician carefully chooses his words and builds up his sentences in such a way that it is succinct and understandable. It is here where most candidates are being scrutinized well and questioned by everyone. It is also here where most candidates expose some fallacies in their assertions.

In one political ad of Noynoy Aquino (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrAn14NYSAY) where he compared the Philippines to a beautiful house where he says that;

“Ang ating bayan ay parang isang magandang bahay
Na unti unting nasisira
Kasi nadaya tayo sa materyales

Nakurakot ang pondo
Ganyan din and epekto nang korupsyon
Dumadami ang mahirap
Marami ang naapi dahil sa korupsyon

Dati na tayong masipag
Dati na tayong matiyaga
Pero lageh tayong dinadaya
Korupsyon ang problema
Kahirapan and resulta

Hindi pa tapos ang laban
Ipag papatuloy ko”

It is clear that this is a statement of preference where the speaker is declaring his obligation in his last statements, saying that the fight against corruption is not yet finished and it is he who would continue the fight that he thinks everyone presumes his parents started. It is also a statement of preference because the speaker is interpreting an event in his own view point. Here the speaker interprets our country as how he sees it to be; as a beautiful house that is slowly depreciating. According to him, this is because we were cheated on the materials used to construct the house because of the corruption of the budget allocation. This same assertion also is “oversimplified” in that the speaker pays too little heed to the intricacies of the “depreciation” and instead focused only on the aspect of corruption and nothing else. The speaker failed to acknowledge other factors such as the carpentry of the house, the care that the inhabitants give to the house, the atmosphere of the location of the house and other such aspects.

Electorates should be very careful in chosing their candidates and should not allow themselves to be fooled and used by dirty politicians. Instead of focusing too much on media to choose a candidate, voters should pay more attention on their track record. And media ads and other forms of political ads should be examined very well for they may speak a something of the candidate, his perceptions, his personality and his mental ability. Hear their words but listen beyond those words. VOTE WISELY!!! 

Juan Tamad, and Diyablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto

The campaign the movie was waging is very significant in our political context, since we are a democratic country where in our leaders comes from the votes or choices of the people. In our nation, election is the common and easiest way to take part in the political transactions in our country since it would be very difficult to take part in every political decision making the country is facing. It is also with this fact that the simple act of voting becomes our primary and heaviest political obligation for our motherland. Given these facts there are still so many Filipinos who sees voting as an apathetic act of choosing the candidate most appealing to them without due investigation on their background and qualifications. This is because of the simple reason that most Filipinos doesn’t know or fully understand the weight they are carrying when they cast their votes; that the entire nation together with its populace and their children and those that are yet to be born are depending on that simple act of voting for their well-being. The campaign that the movie was waging is very much relevant for the Filipinos to understand the responsibility, weight and sacredness of their votes. That they may truly understand that they are not powerless to aid in the development of the society, that they are not helpless to the machinery of the political candidates and that they can make a change in their own ways.

The film was basically portraying how the Filipinos perceive the elections in this country. In the movie, they were able to successfully relate the common attitudes of the Filipinos with that of elections. It presented the way in which the people view the elections in this country, where most people doesn’t believe in the credibility of the election and where some people even resent the fact of taking part in the process. The film also portrayed the ways by which candidates try to win the votes of the people, through different forms of “deception”. The way the movie presented these issues to the public, I say that it was marvelously done, in a way that it is comprehensible even to the shallowest minded person in the society and in a way that it is innocuous to any political candidate in the arena.

In the first part of the movie I had a clear view of the negative attitudes of most Filipino, as portrayed by the character “Juan” where he is very lazy and always finding justifications for his laziness. His parents representing the typical irresponsible parents where they leave behind their family for work abroad saying that it is for the well-being of their family but in truth and in fact this “well-being" sometimes comes second only to the comfort they experience there abroad, rather than the development of their family. Juan’s grandmother on the other hand portrays the common misconception of parents or guardians where they believe that the total comfort of their children is their primary obligation and would be the best for them even to the point of spoiling the character of their child. These kind of parents doesn’t realize the fact that at times children needs to be subjected to the harsh realities of life, painful teachings of mistakes and hard discipline of dedication. As General Douglas Mc Arthur said,

“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.”

The inability of parents to punish when misdeeds are committed, to console when mistakes happen, to inspire when all seems to fail, to demean when confidence soars the sky, to compel obedience when he most resents, to take orders when he most hesitates, to ignore when he knows so well, to listen when he knows nothing, in short the inability of the parents to teach their children to be “proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory” are for me, the causes for the present character of most citizens today, most especially the young ones.

The film also helped me to realize that the indolence of most Filipinos is really what is causing the country’s downfall and not anything else. As opposed to the common view that it is because of the corrupt officials that totally causes the poverty of the people, I say that it is not just because of these officials that most of us suffer but it is us ourselves who make our lives miserable. A deeper look on things would help realize that this “officials” whom we label corrupt and whom we point to be the cause of our poverty are very little in number as compared to us. All of them add up together may not even constitute a quarter of our number and so the question of how these “few” people in government able to control “all” the people in the country poses to be most intriguing in my mind. Especially with the fact that, although we may differ with the possessions in hand, either material or not, we do not differ in the capacity that was bestowed to us by God. Which therefore goes to say that what those people can do every one of us can surely do. Given these facts, that we are all equal in capabilities and we are greater in number than them, then how the hell can we blame these few people to be the cause of our misery? The answer is simple; it is simply because we allow them to. We allow them to deceive us from the moment the campaign period for elections starts up to the point where they have already extracted all that they can for their own personal use. And then we start whining about everything, saying that we are victims and helpless in their hands when in fact we are not victims but conspirators, not helpless but simply lazy to act. It is our entire fault for turning a blind eye to the right candidate and do nothing for our development and always rely and expecting on others to help us. And if we do not change our attitude then we shall forever remain in this dark abyss that is full of misery and pain.

I totally agree in the three things that the film was trying to convey about our present condition, about how we should change and about our capability to change. The first part of the movie was all about showing us about who we are that we are refusing to see. We are given a chance to view ourselves ad evaluate its truthfulness and of course to ponder about it, whether we should remain as we are or should we change for something better. Second, the movie showed about how we should change for our own betterment; to do away with the past negative attitudes and embrace a new culture of wisdom, activism and prosperity. The third thing that the movie was trying to tell us is for me the most important of all; that we are capable of change just like Juan. The third thing is usually the hardest thing to do and the most vulnerable to fail. If you engage somebody in a conversation you would find out that most people knows what is right and what should be done but when it comes to the practice and execution of what should be, we would also find out that there are only very few people who does what he knows. The ineptitude that lies within each and everyone of us and the difficulty to introduce something that goes against the flow of our culture are two great factors that makes change difficult to impose. This difference between knowing what to do and doing what you know is what spells development from stagnation.

What struck me most about the movie were the lines:

“Ako'y lumaki sa bayang hindi na nananaginip
Mga bilasang pangarap nilalangaw lamang sa pantalan
Ang buhay ng tuod ay mas pinagpala
Hindi maliligaw dahil walang patutunguhan
Bakit ko pa iiwanan ang buhay-tamad?”

For me these few lines contain the root cause of our poverty and misery in the Philippines. If we would analyze this well, then we would see that these lines have all the answer to our questions; why we are beset with misery and poverty. It shows here why we would never prosper because we refuse even the first and easiest step towards development which is the “dream” or “ambition” for a better future. Juan says that the reason for this reluctance to dream or even think of dreaming is the harsh reality that no matter what we do, we would harvest nothing from these endeavors because our land is forsaken by dreams together with its inhabitants and is always doom to fall. Therefore Juan argues that a life of a lazy vagabond is better because he would never lose his way because he has no way to go in the first place. This kind of mentality is what is rampant and is causing our nation great loss which if not given attention could bring the whole nation in a state of pandemonium.

To sum up everything, the movie has three major points in its production, first, to show us who we are; second, to show us how we should change and third to show to us that we are capable of changing. These three things if we could clearly see in our hearts understand it and absorb it without bias then I believe, this is what the movie presenting as the solution for our misery and poverty.