It's not all in the name

Memes - these are edited photos on the internet of persons or situation where the conclusion is either face palm or a poker face because it was too stupid to start with. These are concepts which are bound to be spread all over the web.

Terms such as face palm and poker face grew because of the internet's pervasiveness. They are there to insult and make people realize. At some point, yes, it is fun to like and share these photos on social media sites. Let alone the website that started this all. Now that the campaign period for local candidates is in full swing, photos of them and most especially the senator aspirants have been subject to social media scrutiny because of the family names that they are carrying.

“I am her, the daughter or son of….” is the common tagline we hear in their television commercials, radio jingles and community meetings. They are lucky enough to bring their name of fame wherever and make a big deal out of it. No kidding, it is also a potential attention-grabber for campaign purposes. But I think there is more to be concerned of than just the name.

What really is the motive of these people who are using their parents' or relatives' names for the upcoming may 2013 midterm elections?

We could conclude that they are trying to keep political power within their hands, just like a dynasty. No wonder protest groups are pushing for a bill which abolishes political dynasties to give an opportunity to other leaders with capabilities but with no name to score big. But you couldn't ask a fish to bite the hand that feeds them. A majority of our policy makers come from a long line of politicians. But still that is not our concern.

Or maybe they are using it as a good marketing strategy. It has always an advertising rule of them to clearly retain names in minds of the consumers. That is why some advertisers repeat their name in a commercial two or three in a row. Again, we don't know.

Sometimes, it's not about the name.

We are looking for clear and concrete platforms that will take the Philippines to a higher level, where we will move from a developing country to a more progressive one. We want lawmakers who have the heart to serve and the passion for service. These are not the lawmakers who are too ill to even report for office. It is time for somebody fresh, full of vigor and vision for the country.

What we should care about in the candidate is their ability to answer to the country's problems and their stand on the issues the citizenry. We should ask them about their plans for poverty, the education system and inefficient offices in the civil service. We should not care about the road that is in perfect condition and their attempt to beautify it with the taxpayer's money. Nor their names plastered on billboards with their stale greetings of Easter, a happy summer and what have you.

As informed citizens we should look after the candidates' attempt to go against any COMELEC guidelines with their campaign material. And we would know for sure if they are worth our vote. Not just that, we should guard our integrity with our life. A single shade in your ballot is not worth a couple of hundreds.

While memes deem to be effective and fun in sorting out the best line-up for the 12 senators to be placed in position this year because of the name game, we must remember that there is always more to that.

**Published in The Freeman Newspaper on April 2, 2013

Once again, for Lent

Once again, Kris Aquino says it is the end of her showbiz career. By some kind of sorcery, she swept the country by storm and no, this isn't the first time. The last time she declared the same statement, she said if her brother would win the presidency, it was the end of her celebrity life. PNoy won and we all know nothing happened to her claim.

However, this year's scene may be different, what's in it for her was quite predictable. When she said she was allegedly hurt, her supposedly tears of pain became the new late night soap opera. Her struggle and story hit the headlines.

Once again too, we are on the season of the lent. Similar to Aquino's claim, we hear the same statements people would say over and over again. The world gets crazier as the years pass by, and the concept of the Lenten season is somewhat heading there.

There are those who repent and swear not to do monkey business for the rest of their lives but we know where they are now - doing the same old monkey business.

So what really is Lent? Is it just about the traditional waving of palms on Palm Sunday? Or being faithful and obedient for one week? Or maybe it is about avoiding pork and what-not?

I'm guessing a majority would say that it is now about going to the beach, enjoying your time with family and making this weekend an opportunity to relax from the busy-ness of work.

Over the years the concept of Lent has lost its true meaning. Holy Week has been given different definitions and associations. In fact, the thought of Easter is now being linked with egg-hunting, an event children look forward too. The United States does not even anymore accept the term Easter. Egg hunting Sunday would be more appropriate for them. This skewed thinking has buried the meaning of Lent and has regarded it as an ordinary holiday.

Yet this is not the truth. So once again, I will say this like I did a year ago when this column appeared for the first time - this is Holy Week and not something else.

Lent is the time to contemplate on the life given to you by God. These are days when we remember what Jesus Christ went through in order to save ourselves from sin. It was his choice to be stoned and mocked just so he could share the good news of salvation. He was even the one who carried his own cross even if he was the King of Kings. During the last few moments, he asked God to forgive the people of the world for their wickedness. Not that we are to follow what he went through by hurting ourselves physically, but we are to sacrifice our earthly habits for a few days or so just to keep ourselves focused.

Holy Week is definitely not that the ideal time to wade in the beach, get wild and rowdy while chugging on your favorite liquor. Even the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the same on Sunday, March 24 on the front page of the Philippine Star.

Lent is sacred and must be respected by all denominations of faith. Although spending time with family is good and rare, Holy Week is a time to reflect on the love of God which he sent through his son Jesus Christ.

**Published in The Freeman Newspaper on April 2, 2013

Took her life for an unpaid bill

It was more than a tragedy when freshman Kristel Tejada of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila took her own life for an unpaid bill, a bill which she shouldn't be paying for.

Tejada was asked by the administration to file a Leave of Absence in lieu of her remaining balance for the semester. It was said that she tried to raise money to pay her tuition during the semester, but school demanded too much and it was hard to cope up. She also tried applying for loans, scholarships and wrote promissory notes but this did not help her financial burden. Not even her mother's plea with both knees to the ground worked.

UP's system to determine a student's tuition is supposedly based on the income of his/her parents and their status of living.Tejada was the eldest of five. Her mother was a housewife and her father a taxi driver. She was assigned to bracket D, which meant she had to pay P300 per unit plus miscellaneous fees - the irony of being in a state university.

But still, Tejada was hopeful to finish her education and help her family.

By simple logic state universities are subsidized institutions by the no less than the government. Education is supposed to be given for free or if not with the least amount possible. In the case of UP, it is a state university and also the national university as mandated in Republic Act No. 9500. But in reality, students are burdened to pay tuition and other fees. Not to mention the daily expense of going to school plus the demand of paperwork. This leaves them with no choice but to set aside a meal in exchange for photocopies of today's lesson.

The constitution mandates the government to “protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all”. It also asks the government to “provide a system of scholarship grants, student load programs subsidies which shall be available to deserving students, especially the under privileged.”

But education is not accessible to all, not even to the underprivileged who deserves it more than those who can afford to pay. Promising students are forced to abandon their dreams to graduate on time and land a job for their family and the country. She is only one of the thousands of students who cannot enjoy a good life because something's lacking - education.

One must not forget that to invest in the youth of today is a treasure to reap in the future. But since as early as now this investment has been slowly reduced, there is not much to expect in a country like ours.

Unless there will be change.

Being part of an active student body we are disappointed at the system and angry at the burden that we and our parents have to carry just to be able to get a degree. The incident is not ordinary. This is an eye-opener to future policy makers and individuals who are involved in the education sector of this country.

This May 2013, we are to elect senators and congressmen who are will be our future policy makers. Part of their duty is to allocate the budget for state universities and the other expenses of the country.

Being critical voters, we must choose candidates who are willing to invest in the country's education system, those who have a burden for the youth and understands their role in building this nation.

In a developing country like ours, education is the key to empower our citizens even those who are the poorest of the poor. There should be change and justice to a system who does not recognize the right of every individual, most especially the youth.

**Published in the Freeman Newspaper on March 19, 2013

Women on fire

he is said to be weak and useless. Any good opportunity is snatched from her because it won't do her any good because the home is where she should be.

Others are blessed to be able to work. But work is done day and night as much as her body could handle and paid with a very little amount. Some are bought with a price in exchange for a night while others are shipped off to islands unknown only to come back shattered in pieces. At the end of the day she is a mother, a sister and a friend. She is called a woman.

Overtime, the situation of women in the world has gotten worse. There is the presence of prostitution, human trafficking, gender discrimination, multiple burdens and the list goes on. Only less than 20 percent are being educated, 10 percent of who are in the corporate world and five percent in the realm of politics. In the Philippines, they are given little or no work at all because they are believed to do better in the household.

This goes to show that there has been an unequal representation of gender in an international view. But women do not want to be stepped upon any longer. The traumatic experiences of yesterday have made them fierce and fearless taking a strong step into moving the status of women all over the world higher. The women are on fire.

This is the reality that happens every day. Women, even young as I am fight for human, health and children's rights hoping for the oppression to stop. Being regarded as the weaker sex, there has been a shift of mindset that has awakened the women of today.

And we see their efforts being recognized. Slowly women are stepping on pedestals in our society. With every cry, with every dance being done in the streets is the feeling of empowerment in being a woman. In fact, we have elected two lady presidents and the senatorial seats are slowly filling up with women. Even the fire brigade, police academies and military schools are attracting women. Although not big in number, but with little they can do so much.

This is the challenge of every woman today - to go out into society and prove the stereotype wrong. Women are not weak and useless. Women can do what others can do. There are still parts of the country and of the world where women are not given their rights. In a certain area in Thailand, young girls are not given birth certificates and worse, not even sent to school. The Philippines is blessed to be democratic as we are but we still have to lift every woman up.

Women have rights and such are those that concern their health as mothers, their safety as wives, their proper wage as workers, and their dignity as humans.A peaceful society starts with equality, the cry of every feminist. No one is over the other since we are all created as humans.

As we celebrate women's month, take time to hug every mother, sister, wife and friend with a grateful heart. She is not useless or weak. She is empowered, a woman on fire.

**Published in the Freeman Newspaper on March 13, 2013

Concealed identities

As far as my favorite TV series is concerned, I know Gossip girl was a scandalous website manned by an anonymous person who focused on the lives of the wealthy and the elite teenagers of no other than the Upper East Side, Manhattan City.

As the series went into the nitty-gritty season after season, I patiently wait for the person behind the scheming website. It was shocking to know that the person himself was a trusted man of the clique who wanted to be part of them. It was a complete irony.

Serena and Blair's friendship is none of my business really while they are being talked about on the site with boldness. While they have been the talk of the town for so long on an anonymous website, I fear for my own identity on more or less the same parameters. Little did I know that some internet users are using their authority to trespass over my privacy and looking into my friends' accounts which I deem is my responsibility to protect.

The situation is normal. I am no far from them and the other students of the University of the Philippines (UP) - Cebu. Our identities have been trespassed by anonymous accounts on Facebook with names I shall withhold yet relate to the nature of being a student inside the university. Their posts contain criticisms and mild bashes on the running candidates of the two contending political parties inside the university. While it seems very exciting to have an undercover spy waiting for its cue to spread it's good news, ill effects have been made.

These accounts look into other people's statuses and photos which they make as a basis for their judgment on matters involving politics and more. They reply to comments of real individuals as if they are part of the conversation. They watch and listen, taking advantage of their animosity over the vulnerable.

Why am I sharing a university problem to the rest of the community? One word: caution

I do not know if the same scenario applies to other university elections but sooner or later, the outdoor campaigns of the candidates will migrate online. I'd like to believe that these accounts were patterned after the Anonymous Philippines which I presume still exist up to today. Given that, it creates a stir in the emotions of the innocents whose sole purpose is to express on cyberspace. There is fear, threat and anxiety. However public it may be, we can be as private as we choose to be.

Yet there remains the responsibility of being cautious on whatever we write, post, or tweet on the internet. Granted the freedom that we are enjoying for now on the internet, we have the responsibility of taking care not to trample on somebody else's. Using a fake name or hiding under an anonymous identity gives the person the liberty to say whatever he/she or it wants to say, taking into consideration that he/she or it does not have any obligation to protect rights.

If responsibility is not exercised, then we are bound to have a chaotic cyberspace where highly intellectual individuals trained to be computer literate are becoming barbaric. The more civilized we are, the more we attain the freedom that we want. And that does not include hiding under a fake name. Even Facebook rules mandate on the use only of a real identity, an angle which we can always look at.

If they are not brave enough to reveal themselves, then freedom has lost its sense. Come out of the closet before it's too late.

**Published in the Freeman Newspaper on March 5, 2013

More than love, freedom

Falling in love seems so cliché. For some it may mean the world to them, but to fall in love is just too much. Or it could be just me and my ignorance love itself.

I see love when one gets all giddy inside because flowers and chocolates are waiting on their doorstep. It's all about the sweet notes and love letters signed and sealed with kisses. Romantic love stories seem to make love so surreal and even to the point of being idealistic in nature. Yet, I'd like to believe that love is more than that. That love is more than the cooties we feel from a sweet gesture.

More than the feeling of love that we celebrate every February is the celebration of freedom.

Freedom is such an abstract word. An old adage says “My freedom ends where your nose begins,” which connotes that being free does not guarantee you automatic permission to do whatever you want. Dream on.  There are limitations. They define your boundaries and your space as a person.

Just yesterday, I felt the aura of the wind turn from Valentine's passionate red to a bright yellow. Yellow has always been associated with happiness as its brightness speak for a happy aura. But the meaning of yellow transcends all happiness. In fact, it could be the highest form of happiness. This is freedom.

It has been 27 years since the march along EDSA. I was not there when it all happened, but anecdotes have served me a great deal to celebrate freedom. Martial law was at hand and out of control. People were being robbed of their rights, and even the media was caught in a bad shape.

One thing that I have admired the most about the Filipinos during the time of the people power revolution was when they knew how to stand up for their country. It was a dramatic scene. People from all sectors alike were holding hands walking towards the goal of overthrowing a dictator who has chained the Philippines. Nuns, students, even some of the soldiers and ordinary people brought down their guards and called for a genuinely free country.

We were successful at that. In fact, we even elected our first lady president who then became the symbol of democracy. It was her who changed the rule of the land into the hands of the people. It was her who continued the legacy of her late husband and bought it with her until her own death bed.

Those who enjoy the fruit of their labor are us, the generation after Martial Law. The freedom entrusted to us has become our avenue to be ourselves so we can make the Philippines a better place. Our artists can freely paint their heart's desire on canvass. Dances are expressed out of feelings and songs are sung with the greatest emotion.

The arts that we see today go hand in hand with the freedom that we have just achieved. With the changing paradigm of the country, we have to convince ourselves that we well deserved the freedom that has been fought. It was Spiderman who said, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” The power of freedom to make or break you as person must be handled with care. It is our shared responsibility to take care of this precious gift given to us.

Like a rose given that is given out of love on an occasion such as Valentine's day, so is our democracy. Once it is tattered, it may never go back again to the way it was before.

**Published in the Freeman Newspaper on February 26, 2013

Young campaigns

Exactly a week ago, the campaign period of candidates running for national positions in this year's election came into full swing. Just as expected the streets are now colorfully posted with faces of people who promise to bring light to our country. Even our TV and radio sets are blaring with campaign jingles.

For a first time voter like me, I am excited to vote the set of people whom I think would make policies and laws that would make the Philippines progress. There is that thrill of finding my name outside the precincts and using the PCOS machine for the first time. However, there is that part of me that craves for more information as to whose name I will shade on the ballots when the month of May comes.

Given the airtime granted by the COMELEC, their ads do not give voters a clear picture of what they really want to convey. Some candidates opt for music videos but they don't really present what are their platforms and plans for the Philippines. Even jingles and posters do not help that much. It is kind of alarming how one person could be placed in position because of his fame but we do not really know what they are capable of.

Same goes with university student council elections. With the May 2013 election in fever, it seems like the universities are models of a mini Philippines also into the election fever. And because the youth of today are techie, campaigns are blasted on the internet and on social media sites.

A person's Facebook newsfeed could be so colorfully filled with battling colors of each other's respective party. Degrading statuses are made, photos of insults are up and videos of credibility are posted for the world to see. Yet at the end of the day, it is all about choice.

It is a choice when we want to look at the campaign materials placed before us. Would you rather open your Facebook account and be bombarded by such messages or read a good book instead? The problem with today's youth is they think that the world is all about how you look online and how other people think about this. There is a big real world out there that needs attention, too.

It is choice when we campaign for a person or a party. The power of whose picture you would share on your wall is yours and not somebody else's, unless you were hacked by some powerful creature. As you who own the social media account should know who are campaigning for and why you are doing so. If we are to be deep on this, friendship does not really count. I have known stories of close friends who literally separate during campaign and election times. It also does not help if we campaign based on credentials that are out of the picture, say winning a quiz bowl or a singing contest perhaps.

Lastly, it is choice when we place our votes. Where you pen lands on that sheet of paper is still your will and your power to place whoever deserves to be in position. With our capability to vote, we know who are real leaders and leaders who are just there for recognition.

With the election fever going on for both the bureaucracy and student governments, I wish all the candidates the best of luck. But above all, we must remember that no great position is needed if we want to be leaders in our own rights so we could serve our people. Titles and recognitions do not define who you are as a person.

**Published on The Freeman Newspaper on February 19, 2013