2009-01140

Sociology 10

Prof. Cardenas

I need to be strong

I need to endure

I am dependent (most of the time)

I need people (who doesn’t?)

I need time to pause (BREAK!)

I need to stop trying.

I need to.

(A checklist of what I have accomplished so far)

Since the dawn of my existence, I have always tried to prove myself. I wanted to prove to everyone that I can do things by myself, I could  get by things and situations without the help of others, without their concern.

Ever since I started going to school, I have been always an achiever. At first, I didn’t mind- since my parents are proud of me, and I’m lovin’ the attention. But we can’t stay in preschool for the rest of our lives. When I set foo in gradeschool, I was expected to do good at everything. I only had a few friends then. They said having few friends would let you focus. And they were right. I garnered all the awards that my ego can muster. I was the proudest person ever.  And yet, I did again.All I thought back then was, “I need to have good grades, or else.” The situation has always been like this. I would’nt want to experience what my parents said and did when I first let them down.

Highschool was a jungle. I spent two years at an exclusive school, the rest, in a co-educational one. Mingling wiht other people was not one of my strongest assets (at least not, back then). I find it hard to talk to people because I have had this impression that I am “not worth talking to, this person is such a bitch” kind of impression. Well, enough about that. I coped with the situation. I considered it, like an exam. That I need to accomplish this, or else. Having a lot of  friends was one of my greatest joys in life. My friends were wild, stupid, radical, and fun. But all of these can only do so much, its effect felt in the long run. We had trouble in school. I was lucky, I didn’t get expelled. I recieved a failing grade in my conduct grade.

This felt so embarassing. Whatever I do, I will never become the achiever that I was back then. That stupid mark destroyed my entire highschool life. I would have recieved expetional awards in my highschool graduation, but  I was disqualified.I was so ashamed of my parents. They had great hopes. And yet, again. I failed.

College is a new environment. I have a lot of  friends. Good friends. Friends whom I consider fun and smart, happy and have a sense of priority. They are balanced (well, some of my friends tend to be bi-polar. And when I say some, I meant more than one.) And so far, I think I would have good grades. I want to prove myself to everyone else.

The pressure is on, stress lingers, I can endure so much. But I can’t stop. Yes, I have been used to a life of achievements. But that doesn’t mean I have to punish myself by disconnecting myself from my friends, and depriving myself of fun and happiness.

“They are just grades” “Mga marka lang yan” – How I wish they are just that.

But if the hunt for good grades will coerce me to give up my friends, and to seclude myself from fun things, then, I guess my grades would understand if this time, I choose others.

PS: I think this is my stupid-est blog entry ever. But, yeah.

PPS: I am using post scripts again. YAY!

PPPS: Semestral break na. I will my block and my teachers and my non-blockmates.

PPPPS: I hope I get a good Socio grade. :> :> :> But if I don’t, it’s alright. I tried my best.

PPPPPS: Bye! :>

WORD COUNT: 640

Before I begin this entry, I would just like to say – it’s hard to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. At one point, you tend to oversimplify what it’s like to be that person, as to so much you can muster. But in the end, you know in yourself that you can only do so much to live up to everyone’s expectations. If given the chance, I would choose to rather not (and by would rather not, I mean, not at all) be the President of the Philippines. That responsibility is too heavy for me. I can’t even come to school on time, not to mention countless important meetings I have to attend to when I become a representative of the state. But on a more serious note, I really would like to decline the privilege of being a president because personally, I think whoever becomes president; he or she would always disappoint one person or another. As a general rule of thumb, you can’t please everybody. Accompanied with that much responsibility, a promise to alleviate living conditions of the country, be an honest person amidst all the luxuries at hand, and to dedicate my whole existence to something unattainable like to truly bring the Philippines to its prime state (well, at least not in one term, I suppose) – it would even be harder, to an exponential rate, to please everyone. But since this is journal entry, requiring to put myself in the shoes of a President, then I’ll just have to utilize whatever it is I know, and I am pretty certain that I don’t know that much.

If I were to become a president, I would allot a certain time every week, at all the channels in the Philippines, and report the standing of money, the government, social issues, what transpired in the senate, the happenings in Malacanang and the like, so as to remove that brand of keeping things from the public. Although this might sound ridiculous, it’s a way of letting the public know. It will be the report of everything that happened in the week so that people will have no reason to say that they don’t know anything. It’s either they live in a cave, cut off from technology or they can’t comprehend. That’s their problem, not your Excellency.

“Ang kabataan ang pag-asa ng bayan” – or something like that, is a belief that brings so much hope to everyone. Given the depressing state of our nation today, people are looking forward to the youth’s development to improve what’s left of the Philippines in the near future. So as president, I would put emphasis on improving the education of the youth – placing a prime on its development and pushing to improve the rather sad state of it in the present. From the compilation of reactions from everyone in the class, we can conclude that, indeed, the state of education in the Philippines is not at all impressive. Although there have been improvements when it comes to the number of schools, I firmly believe that Quality is still better than Quantity. I would not dismiss the fact that the increase in the number of schools is a good thing, but given the current conditions of public schools here in the Philippines. In the provinces, the education system needs to be improved in terms of the teacher’s ability to instruct students well. In some provinces, there is sufficient lack in the number of teachers fit to teach children. If the teachers themselves are the problem, how can they improve the children’s ability to learn? In some severe cases, there are even teachers who extort from students. A typical situation I am aware of is in our province. Some students prefer not to go to school at all, because whenever they go to school, the school teachers keep selling those things like food, accessories, or some other stuff – and when they can’t buy it, teachers will not give them good grades, or scold them until they buy something. How can that be an indication of improving education? In the metro, the current need to improve the school’s infrastructure – including the classrooms, the school supplies, and the amenities like comfort rooms and desks and chairs – is still high. Who would want to go to school if you are cramped up in a small room where there are hundreds of you in a class, you either sit on broken chairs or stand the entire day, and you have difficulty to understand topics because there are lack of books and lack of instructional materials that would help you learn the topic at hand? Not to mention these conditions are not only bad in terms of education, but also in health. People confined to small spaces, especially with different people for extended periods of time – can pose serious threat of outbreak of diseases, considering that these people are children. Dirty restrooms can be a breeding ground for harmful organisms, making children’s lives in school more miserable. Just recently, Typhoon Ondoy brought thousands of people homeless. Schools are turning into evacuation centers for extended periods of time. Where will students study if refugees are using their classrooms as temporary homes? I am not being selfish, but how can the learning process start when there is no place to start the learning process? Some of the things that I would target as president are:

1. Improve the quality of teachers and protect children from teachers who are either abusive of coercive to students
2. Improve the facilities of the school – including the classrooms, restrooms, chairs and tables, school supplies, ventilation and sanitation in the entire school.
3. In the face of adversity, like that of Typhoon Ondoy, relocate victims from schools used as evacuation centers so that students will be able to go to class and not make up for lost time.

Since the country is a fairly agricultural state, it is better to improve on the conditions of farming, as well as the pattern of agriculture and import subsidies. I would encourage the Department of Agriculture and the PAGASA to work hand in hand, so that they can revise the pattern of agriculture, given the changing and shifting weather we have as of the moment. PAGASA will monitor the weather and climate, and relay their findings to the Department of Agriculture. The Department of Agriculture can make changes in the agricultural patterns, telling farmers what is good to plant for such occasion. In the onset of Global Warming, weather has become rather unpredictable, shifting from the trend long ago. Now, we should adapt to its discourse and try to make the best out of it. Supposing PAGASA monitored a tropical depression approaching (Of course we have to make improvements in the facilities of PAGASA to make their monitoring accurate and more or less, true), they can relay this to the Department. In turn, the Department will advise farmers to either not plant anything, or plant crops that would need a lot of water for example, or plant crops with a lower cost so that in the event that the crops will not endure the weather, opportunity cost would be minimal. Another improvement in the agricultural sector is our problem with importing rice. Rice has been a staple food source in the Philippines. We eat everything with rice. It is surprising that we still import it, when we have the resources to generate our own. Although I have no idea if I were to become president on how to improve this, I would give this fact a focus. Given my lack of knowledge on the said topics, as a president, I would give emphasis on this problem so that experts will give more attention to it, thus creating a solution. Personally, I think it’s not a matter of how much you know, but how you give importance to something you lack knowledge in.

There is much stress in the issue of overpopulation. It’s true that we do have a population problem. If I were to become the president of the Philippines, I would use my power to pass the Reproductive Health Bill. The Bill is actually, not a bad thing. There is just obscurity on how it is interpreted. Just because I passed the bill, it doesn’t mean people can have sex on the street and kill infants. Again, people lack the information behind the concept. The Bill allows and encourages the use of contraceptives so that people will be able to regulate their families. This fact doesn’t mean that people will be having sex all of the time. And if ever that were true, it wouldn’t be harmful, as long as people are careful with their decisions, contraception being a safeguard. The Bill will also legalize abortion. Again, this doesn’t mean that people can kill babies. Abortion is obscurely defined in the bill, and again, people need to understand that this abortion is different from infanticide. Passing the reproductive health bill is just one solution to the problem of overpopulation. If in the future, everyone opposes the said bill, then we are back to square one. We are overpopulated! But that doesn’t mean we become poor and unproductive. That’s a lame excuse. Given the number of people, we should focus more on giving out jobs. This way, citizens will become more productive, and everyone can contribute to make our economy better. Every week or every month, the government should facilitate a job fair to give people an opportunity to use their skills and idle time to become productive. In these job fairs, not only those who finished college have job opening, but also people who are unfortunate to finish their studies. This includes vocational work like tailors, mechanics, and the like.

Legalization of Divorce would also one of my agendas if I were to become a president. Looking at it from a religious point of view, you would say that it is wrong. But then again, this would safeguard women from oppression and empowering them to make their own decisions of the matter. This will also allow “failed” marriages to have formal separation and make ends meet. This will not certainly entail that people will go around marrying and remarrying because there is divorce, the couple can have random partners and it will be alright. Of course, the basis for divorce will be institutionalized, will have a set of standards and rules to make sure that the law will only grant divorce if necessary or couples are in the grounds to be granted one.

Another thing that I would like to impose is taxation on sin products. Prices of cigarettes and alcohol will be raised exponentially, around 60-80%. This taxation scheme aims to 1.) Discourage the patronization of harmful vices and 2.) If ever people can’t let go of their “mantra”, the tax that will be collected from these sin products will be used to make improvements in localities, improvements in infrastructure, go to calamity funds, and make technological advances. Considering that a lot of Filipinos have these certain habits of alcohol and nicotine consumption, they will either quit because maintaining their habit will be costly for them (on a side note, it will improve their health, making them fit for work) or if ever they can’t quit, their morbid consumption will be able to help generate funds for the use of the benefit of everyone. I will also remove taxes on books, and lessen their prices if possible. Learning should be encouraged, not alcohol and cigarettes.

Foreign investors are not at all a bad thing. Bear in mind that they will bring money in revenues and in payments from whatever it is that they need to pay us. The only thing that we should look out for is our resources. These people are con artists. They will try to dupe us into thinking that they can work here, extort our resources, and in the end, we are the losers, the one who hired them in the first place. We should remember to take a step forward and anticipate everything, so that in the end, we will not lose more than we should have earned.

Overseas Filipino Workers will be given privileges in and out of the country. Since one of the most influential economic boosters come from the OFW’s, then I think it is just right that they be given special attention. The government will provide them housing guarantees, given that the OFW will have an extended and active participation in the economic prosperity. Meaning, if they are active in sending loved ones money, and in doing so, they help the peso become stronger, the government will give those people privileges. Tourism will also be give prior importance. There are a lot of beautiful place here in the Philippines. It is such a waste if we keep this natural beauty to ourselves. Exploring the possibilities of tourism, it can invite a lot of investors making the Philippines a business district, attract a lot of tourist, and the Philippines will be known prominently around the world.

All of these are wishful thinking. And again, I have no plan to run for office. If ever I would be forced to become president, because of the things that I’m blabbering about here for 2000 or so words, you will probably find me inside a cupboard, or under someone else’s bed. Spare me the agony and the hurtful words. Becoming a president is not part of my future dysfunctional life.

PS: I would have posted this sooner, if it weren’t for that 5 hour power loss. I am beginning to hate Cainta. God, give me every ounce of patience you’ve got.

PPS: This would be the last core journal entry (well at least for this sem) I will miss cramming socio10 papers :>

PPPS: I love post scripts.

WORD COUNT: 2324

2009-01140

B.A. Speech Communication

Prof. Kenneth Cardenas

Dear Reader,

Unless you’re a fish, a slug, a sea anemone, mildew or fungus, you probably prefer not to be damp. You might also prefer not to read this letter, in which yours truly encounters a brae of emotions, a term here which means “an unfortunate series of events brought about by a recent, rather insensitive storm” of events and an unpleasant amount of dampness, a term here which means “waist high pungent water” as I descend to the depths of despair, amidst the wreckage of typhoon Ondoy.

In fact, the horrors I encountered are too numerous to list, and you wouldn’t want me to mention the worst of it, which includes broken glass doors, three pregnant women going into labour and giving birth, lack of candles, immeasurable amount of work and spoiled dairy.

The night before the incident, rain drops, and a lot of them were making annoying sounds on the roof. I thought this was just an ordinary form of precipitation. I shrugged it off and continued playing Plants vs. Zombies, I mean err.. studying. I slept with the lacklustre sound of rain pitter-pattering on the roof. Thank God I was able to sleep. The next morning I woke up, washed my face, brushed my teeth and noticed that it was still a heavy downpour. Before I continue, I must inform you that I live in a hospital – 4 floors of sick people and professionals, with the addition of me, my sibling and my parents. We live at the topmost floor, and if it makes you feel any better, my family hasn’t incarcerated any disease (at least I think we didn’t). I went down to the first floor to get some bond paper, reckoning all things can be found on the first floor, including the Emergency Room – where all sick people go first before going anywhere else in the hospital, the Laboratory Room – where people get pricked and get their bodily fluids sucked out of their feeble, sickly body for testing, the Radiology Room – where unnoticed broken bones are found and remedied from their detachment to other calcium consuming organs and where pregnant women get a first glance at the little monsters in their big bellies, the Records Section – where innumerable stacks, boxes and bundles of papers are found, it being compilations of receipts to documents from several health providing agencies, and the Pharmacy – where bitter substances called medicine are found, and mostly office supplies since adjacent to it, a term here which means “particularly beside or connected to” is the Billing Department and the Accountant’s Office.

Now back to my story – I was getting bond paper from the Apothecary, a term here which means “a place where medicine and other bitter things that are supposed to be good for your health are found” when I saw that just outside the hospital’s glass doors is a huge amount of murky water. I went outside in amazement and admiration because of two things: (1) since the hospital is sloped from the road, meaning the doors are located at a relatively higher altitude than that of the road, the entire outside looked like a beach. Looking at the flood from the edge of the glass panels, just a few inches from flood water, it were as if you really were in a beach, complete with the sounds of waves, and people wading around, although people are wading through the waters to safety, not to enjoy a refreshing dip in the brown, gloomy water and (2) in my amazement that the water reached us that far. Since the dawn of my sad existence, I have never seen the flood water reach us that high. Normally, the flood would reach, at most, the sidewalk, and most definitely, the slope from the road to the edge of the glass doors were still visible. But now, everything is submerged in a thick concoction of water, mud, and who knows what else that I do not want to find out. Although there was a probability (and a high one at that) that the flood would enter past the glass doors and into the entire first floor, no one did anything – since everyone is confident that the flood water would not go any higher than it already progressed. But we were wrong.

The saying “There’s a first time for everything” is rarely true. Most people die without reaching the peak of their favourite mountain, even for a first time. Some people kick the bucket without leaving the country even once. And I know a lot of people who will probably die without performing and getting involved in a bank heist, or joining the circus. But as rare as the saying is true, it may happen. And clearly, there is a first time for the flood water to enter our humble structure. We locked the glass doors of the hospital to prevent the water from proceeding any further. It was a success at first, but again, we were wrong.

In science class, we learned several concepts – from the water cycle to the tedious process of heat transfer and molecular physics, which a very hard science topic. But one thing that we learned that is otherwise helpful in times is Pressure. Pressure is a force exerted on things. I wouldn’t elaborate more on pressure, so as to not insult your intelligent minds. And we experienced pressure differently, specifically, “a car making a quick U-turn, sending a huge wave of dark water rushing into the glass doors, cracking it and sending a penultimate shattering and flaying of glass in different directions and finally letting the flood inside the hospital” kind of pressure. Seeing as the flood would still get higher, we spent the rest of the day lifting everything that we could get our hands on to the second floor, to save it from being dampened by the raging murky monstrosity. From tables (yes they are heavy) in every room, to chairs, documents, medicine, computers, fans, television sets, medical equipment, reagents, and office supplies. Unfortunately, we could only haul so much, and save too little. We can’t lift the x-ray machine t safety, since it is bolted to the ground, making it impossible to move the humongous thing. We could only utilize our efforts to save what we can, as the water rose at an astonishing pace. Before we knew it, the water was already waist high, there was no electricity, and everything was damp with flood, accompanied with floating matter that we dare not to check if it were pieces of wood or something else that we would regret ever picking up, and a rumoured escaped reptile roaming around. That just adds up to the exciting things to look forward to. Oh, joy!

Day two arrived, and everything was the same. Day three came, and things started to look better in a miniature level. The flood subsided up to the shins, but there was still flood (as if the lessening of flood was any help at all). A multitude of patients, a term here which means “a dozen or more cases of patients who need suturing because of cuts from different things, a dozen and more cases of nail puncture and animal bites, a dozen or more cases of gastro-intestinal problems because people drank flood water, and exactly three women giving birth – all at the same time” came rushing in. Since the hospital was undermanned, a term here which means “everyone was out to save their own homes from utter destruction and their families from certain doom”, I decided to help out. There was a lot of commotion going on. From screams of pain coming from countless injections of medicines and anaesthetic to screams of children peering their eyes for the very first time. Sadly, those children would have to see the destruction left by the typhoon as their first line of vision. Everyone was panicking, so everyone including my siblings opted to lend a helping hand.

I’m glad that everything went well – We were able to help the doctors by locating needed materials in an arboretum of things, a term here which means “a collection of materials frantically saved from an extreme amount of dampness called a flood”, and everyone helped out in restoring the hospital to its original, not flooded state. And as of now, I think everyone is fine, and that is all that matters.

In those three days, a few things sank in my mind – like a rock sinking deep down into the depths of the murky water as it enters intrusively into everyone’s lives.

1.)    You should always be prepared. In the course of the three days of darkness, we shared only two packs of candles, since we didn’t expect the electricity to die on us.  Since we weren’t expecting that the typhoon would last for so long, and it’s aftershocks as well, we didn’t have much supplication. We only had less than 5 litres of safe to drink water, and we have to share it with the hospital employees stuck here as well. We also didn’t have enough food to last us for the difficult days brought about by the typhoon. We had to adjust ourselves with limited food, not to mention our LPG was running out, since we didn’t bother to buy a new one, thinking the typhoon would stop immediately. It’s a sad, sad world. We were so unprepared.

2.)    Everything is rendered useless when there is lack (absence) of electricity. And I do mean everything. All food in our refrigerator spoiled, just a day without proper refrigeration. You can’t read books in the dark, if there is no electricity to light up the spheres of glass with thin strips of metal inside called filaments, commonly known as a light bulb. You can’t watch the television to comfort your soul with funny shows, people that make fools out of themselves called actors, and watch ridiculous music videos that seem to make people happy. You can’t play Plants vs. Zombies and study (yes, I sometimes study too) if your laptop won’t light up and make the gears inside them work wonders. And you can’t hear anything but cries of victims, and crashing of waves from the flood because you’d rather use your radio to defend yourself from a suspected crocodile lurking somewhere in Cainta, where the hospital stands, than to wait for a dysfunctional person speak in a box and say “Kayong mga victims ng bagyo – kayo na nga ang may kailangan ng tulong, kayo pa ang galit.”

3.)    I never appreciated people here in the hospital, but in the midst of anguish and water enveloping our feet, we all worked hand in hand to help each other, even though I don’t know the pretty well. I also never appreciated my knowledge for medical things using them in times when people are at their homes cleaning their own floors, and scrubbing their own walls, and cannot go to the hospital to fulfil their required number of working hours.

4.)    It has never occurred to me how incredibly useless and corrupt our beloved mayor, Mon Ilagan is. I never heard of him helping out (and his constituents for that matter) with the victims, considering Cainta – one of the major places in need of help – is supposedly under his care. I also heard that he was “grilled” in a news program. The news anchors asked, “Sir Mon, diba binigyan kayo ng 10 million ng NDCC as calamity fund to Cainta?” My sister told me that he never gave a concrete answer and was stammering, unable to answer where the 10 million ended up. Perhaps he used it to build his enormous new house in a nearby village and his apparently 2 new cars. Good job Mon! Good luck in the next elections.

I could go on ranting for hours and hours, and spend my entire day telling you all about my happy days in the flood, but I have to attend to other pressing matters, a term here which means “requirements that I need to pass before this semester ends”. Welcome back to school everyone!

With all due respect,

PS: This is supposed to be one of my futile attempts to blog again, at my multiply account, but I’d rather use it as a journal entry. (So as to lessen shitloads of work)

PPS: Adjectives I used to describe people above, and incidents as well, are not to be taken to a personal level. I only used it for emphasis. That would be all

WORD COUNT: 2106

2009-01140

B.A. Speech Communication

Prof. Kenneth Cardenas

Sa darating na 2010 election, sinong iboboto mo? Bakit? Sure ka na ba?

The 2010 election is fast approaching. I can only do so much for this country, because of the fact that I am underage, not having the capability to choose the leaders of this land we call our country. It is unfortunate that I can’t vote yet, and I feel so helpless in contributing to the betterment of society. I admit that I haven’t paid much attention to what has been happening in the country. Funny, I just found out the roster of candidates for the 2010 election, when my professor gave it a bonus coursework. I felt more and more useless. As a student, I now can do something. Seeing as how other people have the ability to elect the future leaders of this country, I can analyze the candidates and the “presidentiables” before hand, so that others will have an idea why people choose to vote for this guy, or for that guy in the coming election.

But do people really know what they are talking about? Do they really know why they are voting, and why did they choose that candidate in the first place? We know that every vote counts – but do these votes go to the proper person, for the proper reason? When my professor gave this specific journal entry, I wanted to immediately start working on it. Why? Because I believe people don’t have enough knowledge to vote, or people don’t have a basis of judgement. In this journal entry, I will be able to find out the reason why people vote for someone – so that in the future, when I become a legitimate voter, I will know how to assess my options well so that I won’t waste the single chance that I have to save this country.

FACE OFF! In the upcoming 2010 election, who will you vote for President and Vice President, supposing that the following are the candidates for the said position?

AQUINO      ROXAS    TEODORO     VILLAR       LEGARDA     ESCUDERO      ESTRADA      FERNANDO

1.  Ethel Bangal – 4^th year B.A. Speech Communication

President:  ABSTAIN

Vice President: ABSTAIN

Reason: I abstain because; I think all the candidates are not in the proper position to run for office. The election will be a battle of the lesser evil, and choosing between the candidates is useless. Noynoy [Aquino] is definitely the strongest of all the presidentiable candidates, but I think nadala lang siya ng clamour – the recent death of his mother. He fell in love with the idea of having a uniting force in the government. It just happens that Ninoy was there at the right time, pressuring him to continue where his parents left off.

2.   Charmaine Manuel – 3^rd year B.A. Speech Communication

President: ABSTAIN

Vice President: ABSTAIN

Reason: “Hindi ako sigurado kung sino talaga yung iboboto ko.” I might as well not vote, instead of wasting my vote on someone, who’s not worth it. “Pero, obviously, si Noynoy yung strongest of all the candidates.“

3.   Jose Belarmino II – 4^th year B.A. Speech Communication

President: Teodoro – mainly because, he’s the lesser evil. I feel that Ninoy is half-baked – “di pa siya ready to become a president – ni wala pa nga siyang napapatunayan eh. Nagmumukha pating ginagamit niya yung death ng nanay niya to gain sympathy, or as a drving force for him to run as president.”

Vice President: Roxas – “Wala lang. I believe in him. Nasira lang naman siya dahil sa plan niya for presidency is too early, an gaga niyang nagbigay ng sentiments about his plan to run for office. Pati, ang desperate lang niya to repeat the Mr. Palengke thing.”

4.   Eileen Kae Relao – 3^rd year B.A. Speech Communication

President: Villar – “Hindi ko alam. Prang solid siya, as a president.”

Vice President: Roxas – “Solid kasi sila eh. Di sila peke, kasi nilabas nila agad sa public na tatakbo sila for elections”

5.   Muriel Linnzi Joble – 4^th year B.A Speech Communication

President: Roxas – “Kasi, lesser evil, pati may nagawa siya nung senator siya, unlike the other candidates.”

Vice President: None – “Kasi walang matinong choice.”

6. Nico Paulo Arguelles – 3^rd year B.A. Speech Communication

President: ABSTAIN

Vice President: ABSTAIN

Reason: It’s hard to trust anyone. I wouldn’t want to waste my vote if in the end, I’ll be cheated on. “Iisang boto na nga lang eh, dadayain pa diba?” Noynoy is the strongest no doubt. But I think he’s riding the hype of her mother’s death.

7.   Cynthia Sarte – 38 years old – Cashier

President: Fernando – “Kahit maraming galit sa kanya, magaling magpalakad si Bayani Fernando. Taga Marikina ako. Sa Marikina, magtapon ka lang ng upos ng sigarilyo, huhulihin ka na. Kahit na medyo may pagkamahigpit ang pamamalakad niya, effective naman siya. At kung titingnan mo nga naman ang Marikina, malaki yung nagging improvement niya.”

Vice President: None – “Kasi wala namang ibang pwedeng iboto eh. Alanganamang si Willie Revillame?”

8.   Zenaida Arnaiz – 54 years old – Mother

President: Aquino – “Kasi siguradong di siya kurakot, honest siya. Siya rin kasi ang gusto ng taumbayan, People’s Choice ba. Galing siya sa line of heroes – siyempre yung nanay niya, the late Cory Aquino, and yung kanyang father, si Ninoy, who died for the sake of the Philippines.”

Vice President: Roxas – “Kasi galing siya sa reputable family. Di din siya mangungurakot malamang, mayaman na siya eh.”

EVALUATION:

Based from the data that I have gathered, I can conclude that most of my respondents chose the “lesser evil” among the choices.

Some people don’t have a clear definition on why they vote a certain a candidate, as seen in some of my respondents statements. I asked college students – but will the same apply to everyone? We must remember that not all people have a systematic and critical way of analyzing their presidentiables. Some people vote for a certain candidate because, he is the most popular. “Kasi sikat siya! Kilala kasi siya ng magulang ko! Close kasi sila ng parents ko eh. Kababayan ko yan!” Taking that into consideration, I personally think that some people really don’t know why they are voting for someone. All they know is, I will vote because I can, but I subconsciously don’t know why. All I know is I need to vote. “Right ko kasi yun.”

It is startling to find out that, based from the reasons they gave, and the things that they have pointed out, most, if not all, of the candidates are not fit to run for presidency. Nonoy Aquino for example, is one of the strongest (and most popular) choices among the lot. But he received a lot of criticism from my respondents. First of all, he hasn’t proven anything yet. He hasn’t done any significant thing when he was a Senator, which did not give the voters enough reason to vote for him. True enough, I can’t remember anything exemplary that he did before he decided to run for presidency. Another comment on Nonoy Aquino was, people either think that he is pressured because of her mom’s recent death, or he just wants to ride the “hype” or the sympathetic emotions of the people, given the demise of the late Cory Aquino. People will most likely vote for him because of the fact that her mom just died, giving him an emotional edge on the voters. Some people believe that Noynoy is just using her mother’s death as a way of getting the voter’s attention or sympathy, which adds to his so called “popularity”. Another candidate in question was Estrada. Estrada also received a lot of comments from my respondents. In the three (3) years he’s been president, he did nothing. He even brought a huge downfall, graft and corruption, and several issues and scandals during his reign as president, preceding that of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term in office. And now, he’s planning to run for president again? Voters are not that stupid. Right now, Estrada is facing a lot of issues involving political killings and his exposed gambling. People are aware of Estrada’s mishaps, giving him a bad chance of winning the election if ever he pursues to run for the next election. Villar and Roxas were also resonant names. People say they are the least likely to steal from the government because they are already wealthy, even before they decided to run for president. But is that really a guarantee? Does that really safeguard our country from the continuous crimes of corruption in government officials? No one really knows for sure. Villar and Roxas were also good senators in the Senate, making people more convinced into placing their votes on the two. Escudero, is admittedly a good speaker, as everyone agrees upon. But the question is, “Is he really up for it?” He can talk the talk, yes. But does he have action? Most of my respondents found holes in Escudero, saying that he never really did do anything, except to talk. When it comes to actions, Escudero hasn’t contributed that much. They also pointed out the fact that he is too young to hold the position, saying – what does he know? “Ang bata pa niya, and wala pa siyang experience sa ganyan kalalaking responsibilidad.”

So when it comes down to it, there really is no clear cut perfect candidate. That’s why most of my respondents prefer to choose, what they say is, “the lesser evil” or abstain completely. In reality, there really is no perfect person, well at least not yet. We have to face the fact that we can’t make all people aware of how important their vote is. For all we know, it only takes one to cast the final vote to decide who among two tied politicians will win, one being good, one being the not so good. One vote is important, and it’s sad that not all people know the reality of how important their vote is. So as a non voter, well at least not yet, I am fully aware of how important I am as a future voter, and I now have an idea on how to assess the proper person to elect. Remember, it’s not all about the fame and popularity, or how good you speak in a crowd, or how much you have given to charities, institutions, fund raisers, and all that “good works” – it’s what you did before you were a president and what your goals are in the future as a leader of this country are your credentials to make you a suitable future saver of this land.

WORD COUNT: 1750

B.A. Speech Communication

College of Arts and Letters

Sociology 10 – Kenneth Cardenas

During the time of my conception, my family already had a strong source of income. My parents are hospital owners. They own a hospital here in Cainta, in which it’s the source of our daily income and sustenance. The hospital was built roughly after my sister’s birth, which is at this time, around 21. I could say that we are a well off family. We are not the richest people in the state, but we are adequate and have more than enough of what we need. Even though we didn’t have much financial woes, my parents never spoiled us. We never received the usual treatment that rich kids get. We don’t have many toys. We didn’t go to fancy malls and places every week, and we don’t eat at expensive five star restaurants and never stayed in hotels. Our parents made us experience the normal life, so that we could understand how it is to be normal – to remind us that, not everything is given to you on a golden spoon or a silver platter – that life is a cruel adventure you must face alone, and prepared.

As I was saying, my parents treated me as a normal kid. They didn’t give me many toys. I had decent ones, but not that many. The only thing that I remember during my childhood was that I had a lot of nannies. Since my parents are both in the medical line of work, they are often times, busy, and didn’t have time to joggle work and parenting at the same time. This made me feel dependent over the years, not to my parents, but to other people. It gave me comfort and security when I know I have someone with me. It may not be necessarily my parents, but friends. Making friends was easy for me. The “normal life” treatment my parents accustomed me to would probably explain why I can relate to people of different classes. During my younger years, my nannies would sometimes take me to the neighbourhood. It was not the kind of neighbourhood like White Plains where everything is clean, nice, orderly, and expensive. It’s more of a slums area. It had small barong-barongs, a lot of sari-sari stores, eskinitas, pedicabs and children playing on the street, not minding the heat and pollution from the nearby highway. When I was young, I was one of those kids – playing on the street, dirty, sweating. I had friends who were stereotypically poor, like the poor you see on television. Even though I am from a rich descent, I chose to have those kinds of friends.

Being the “bunso” of the family, I never did any of the work. Even if I did, they were mere minimalist chores compared to those of my other siblings. The only burden I had was that, I was the smartest of the siblings, and I was given the responsibility to always be good, so that my parents will be proud of me. I was the family pride. Whenever we go to our family reunions, my parents would always make me bring my newest medals and trophies and certificates so that I can show them to my aunts and uncles. You may think that that life is easy, well think again. I felt pressure, and a constant need to improve myself. I never wanted to let my parents down. I never wanted them to get disappointed. And that chore and set of worries beats cleaning the house and mowing the lawn.

Then came the first day of school. I never went to Kindergarten, because my mom said I was exceptionally brilliant for a boy my age. After nursery, I was immediately sent to Grade 1. The first day of school was quite, nerve-wrecking. A lot of students were crying. And they were crying not because they were afraid of school, but because they are afraid to be left alone by their parents. Parents were not allowed in school, of course. But strangely, I remember my mom telling me, I never told her to stay that day. She told me that, I was insisting that she goes already. “Balikan mo nalang ako mamayang hapon, mommy.” That was what I said to my mom.

Grade school was a vital time of my youth. This is the time I discovered my potentials, my strengths and weaknesses, my preferences and my first ambitions. From first to the sixth grade, I was a consistent honor student. I always participated in different competitions. Some, I won, some, I lost. But I was never a sore loser. Being an achiever, I was not comfortable in losing, but I never made such a huge fuss about it. This is where I found my love for Sciences and Languages. I was a good speaker – I liked talking a lot and I usually get scolded for being “too communicative”. I also loved Science. It is my forte, my expertise. I loved science so much during my grade school days that I wanted to become a scientist and an astronaut when I was young. But as time goes by, I had an epiphany that a scientist would never get me anywhere. Besides, it will never be a good source of income in the future. As for the astronaut, I learned to grow up and face the facts. I graduated in my batch as the Second Honorable Mention, falling behind three girls. I was the male with the highest point average in my batch. I only fell behind the First Honorable Mention, because I lack extra-curricular points. That’s laze me, for you.

High school was a real roller coaster ride of experiences and emotions. This was the time I learned to do things on my own. I insisted to be enrolled in a school far from our house because I want to see whether I am independent enough. My grade school was just a 5 minute ride from our house. But when I was enrolled in Don Bosco Technical College in Mandaluyong City, I learned how to manage my time, manage money for food, transportation and personal expenses, and I learned to become independent, because of the distance. I was also challenged by the fact that it’s a new school, a new environment. I have to start all over, from scratch. I have to start again, make a new name for myself, and make a new legacy. All is well in high school at Don Bosco. But my parents had had enough with me commuting. During this time, my dad became a politician in the province. Ever since then, he has been paranoid with things such as kidnapping, crimes and murders. He insisted that I transfer to a relatively nearer school, than in Mandaluyong. They enrolled me in San Beda College Rizal. Not only that, they even ordered me to take School Service. My life in San Beda, was yet again, another change. I had to rebuild what I started. I had to start all over again. I transferred when I was beginning the third year of my high school life. I made new sets of friends, met different people, and forced myself to cope with the people. Unlike the crowd in Don Bosco, which is an exclusive school for boys, San Beda College was CoEd, making it hard to move and blend in with the new people. Since, I was used to meeting new people, not only because I have been to different places and transferred to a lot of different schools, but also with the experiences I had when I was young, me being exposed to different kinds of people.

The eye-opening experience I had during high school, was during the Immersion – a program of the school, wherein we will live in a poor community in the province and stay there for three days, to know more about their culture, experience what they do for everyday, see the reality in things and to feel first hand, the life they live. We were sent to Brgy. Tenejero, in Bulacan. Our class used a buddy system, in which, two students will be living with each other, under the care of one local family. We will be doing what they do, eat what they eat, and live in where they live. My partner and I stayed with a farmer. He had 2 sons. His wife works in the nearby factory. She is a “taga balahibo ng manok”. Every day, she would go to factory at 3 in the morning, and pluck the feathers of poultry after being doused with hot water. She does this for 9 hours every day. She also told us that she already met an accident in that factory. Her hand was doused with hot water because of some technical mishaps in the factory’s machinery. But despite those dangerous circumstances, she still opted to work in that factory because it was the only source of income that their family has, especially when harvest season is over.  They lived in a very small house. It had two beds, a small kitchen, a small bathroom and a television. During our three day stay there, we realized how poor their lives are. We’re not talking only of the family we lived in, but the entire community that our class went to. They weren’t able to enjoy the luxuries that we have like decent houses to live in, good food, and amenities like appliances and hobbies. They cannot stop working because of they do, they won’t have something to set in the table – they won’t have anything to eat. After we left that community, I came to realize how lucky we are, because we are born from a well off family, we never have to experience demeaning labor and we have the ability to get a good education. Then I realized that I wanted to help the community. Not just the community I saw in Brgy. Tenejero, but the whole Philippine Community. I k now it is impossible to save the entire country, but at least, I will be able to influence other people with what I do. So on the way home, I ask myself, “What can I do to help the community, and benefit from it at the same time?”. Of course we also want to get benefits. I mean, I myself, want to help the community, but I also want a career that will help me in sustaining my needs and the needs of my future family.

Fast forward to Graduation day – I didn’t graduate with honors, 1. Because I was a transferee student, and 2. I have one grade that broke my good record streak, I got an 84 in Physical Education. Well, I guess we don’t always get what we want right? And I learned that a long time ago, in Grade School.

I had a hard time choosing schools. I passed all schools that I took an entrance examination on. I passed the University of Santo Tomas in the courses Mass Communication and Medical Technology. I passed The Ateneo De Manila University under the course of European Languages. And I also passed the University of the Philippines, under Speech Communication. I was scrutinizing each course and school. Since I passed all three top Universities here in the Metro, then I should choose the one which I think is the best. I narrowed my choices into the course. I really wanted to take up European Languages in the Ateneo De Manila University, but then, I realized my dream – I wanted to help the Filipino community. How can I do that if I graduate in European Languages? I would automatically go overseas because it is where the skills I have learned, be put to use. So I decided to take up Speech Communication in the University of the Philippines, and I will continue on being a lawyer. I am not planning to delve into politics, but by being a lawyer, I will be able to help people, who cannot voice out their concerns and needs, to try to find a solution.

This dream of mine for the community and for myself may take a lot of work and time, and even financially cashing out a lot, but with this goal in mind, “To help the community become a better place for all people and for the future generation” , I am dedicated to do my best to serve the community and make myself and people proud of me.

WORD COUNT: 2090