Tag: No. 3

THE PRESIDENCY is no easy job, but there sure was no shortage of aspirants wanting to take it just the same.

After the five-day period set by the Commission on Election (Comelec), a total of 130 people filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) for president, the highest number in Philippine election history, easily beating 2010’s 99 candidates.

They included a man who described himself as an “intergalactic space ambassador,” another who goes by the name “Archangel Lucifer,” and a few others who said they were running because they had been told by the heavens to do so.

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III has expressed “disappointment” over reports that some college students had asked the filmmakers of the celebrated historical movie, “Heneral Luna,” why Apolinario Mabini is shown sitting in the entire movie, disclosing their ignorance of Philippine history since the “Brains of the Revolution” was a paralytic.

But the gross ignorance of history is merely the tip of the iceberg for the highly inefficient and ineffective Philippine education system.

In all other areas of education, especially sciences and mathematics, and even English language instruction and culture and the humanities, the Filipino student practically wears the dunce cap.

IT’S SURPRISING, to say the least, that as we mark the declaration of Martial Law every Sept. 21, voices expressing approval for the darkest period in our history grow even louder. It’s shocking that many of these voices belong to “Generations Y and Z,” and they go so far as to say Martial Law should be imposed again in the country.

The Generation Y, the so-called “millennials,” or those born between the ‘80s and the ‘90s, and the Generation Z or those born in the early 2000s, are the technologically advanced generation—accounting for 87 percent of Facebook users and 37 percent of Twitter users, according to the Pew Research Center.

NOONTIME television, once the domain of cheap laughs, silly contests and other frivolities, is finally evolving into a medium that can help evangelize the youth.

Church groups such as Youth Pinoy have lauded the efforts of Eat Bulaga’s “Kalyeserye,” the hit segment of the longest-running noontime show on Philippine TV, for promoting values such as modesty and patience to the youth.

Amid positive reviews for the show, Fr. Conegundo Garganta, executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Youth of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, reminded viewers to not only focus on the show’s “kilig factor,” but also the message of purity of love that the characters Yayadub and Alden Richards (collectively, “AlDub”) espouse.

BEING Chinese-Filipino is like swimming through Yin and Yang.

Like many Tsinoys, I was born and raised in the Philippines. I speak better in Filipino and English than in Chinese. I have not even set foot in China and have considered the Philippines as my only home.

I spent my younger years with my other Chinese-Filipino or full-blooded Chinese classmates, talking and acting like typical Filipino children. We were baptized as Christians, but our families also pray and give offerings in Buddhist temples.

We were also taught the values of perseverance, discipline, and humility, but these are not as heavily imposed on us as maybe the case in typical Filipino households.

A Thomasian is making a name in architecture with bamboos.

With passion and determination, Christian Salandanan, found his big break with the use of bamboos, which he considers as “greener alternative” for architecture.

“There are various materials that are being utilized in our modern era, all of which leaves a significant amount of carbon footprint on the long run. We need to find alternatives for those kinds of construction materials,” he said in an interview.

Like the strength of a sturdy bamboo, Salandanan stood firm and steadfast in passing through the challenges he experienced while working with his bamboo thesis during his stay in the University, which he mentioned as “common for any other artists.”

LIKE A finely tuned instrument that produces wondrous harmonies, Kabaitan Bautista’s unwavering nationalism and strong influence among the youth continue to reverberate like the beat percussions.

Bautista, a Baguio native, acquired his sense of nationalism from his parents who gave their kids unique names reflecting their Filipino identity. Bautista eventually used nationalism and patriotism to create his music. Having heavy metal rock as his favorite genre, Bautista had a rough transition from screams and amplified tones to the melodious classical tunes, as he entered the Conservatory of Music.

“Pumasok ako nang hindi ako marunong mag-notate ng notes, nang hindi ako marunong magbasa ng mga score. Naaliw naman ako, kaya ko naman pala,” Bautista said.

WITH a fan base of almost 9,000 followers in the music website SoundCloud, this Thomasian artist is just waiting to be discovered by a bigger audience.

But Chiara “Chir” Cataran already had her own moment in the spotlight. The Musical Theatre student has her own plethora of awards, recordings and formal training to set her apart from other aspiring artists.

In the recently concluded 19th World Championships of the Performing Arts in California, Cataran bagged one of 32 silver medals won by the Philippine contingent for her victory in the Senior Solo Voice category. The team brought home 47 gold medals, 49 bronze medals, 13 industry medals, and even won second place in national costume.

AN HOUR before the last opening act of El Castillo, half of the trapeze team was still missing, the fire breather was busy reading his horoscope in a newspaper, and one of the jugglers was taking a nap on worn-out leather sofa at the far left corner of the stage.

Edmund Reducido wanted to check on the missing trapeze team, tell the fire breather the merits of practice and shake the juggler until he wakes, but he knew better. At exactly nine o’clock the show will start, and the audience—around fifty to sixty people and nothing more—will give an indifferent applause and go home.

THE POETRY of National Artist for Literature Cirilo Bautista was celebrated during a testimonial dinner held in his honor at the Grand Ballroom of the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P Building last Sept. 30.

Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, director of the Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS), said in her opening remarks that the works of artists such as Bautista were valuable contributions to Filipino heritage.

“The [National Artist Award], and the benefits that accompany it, clearly do not measure up to the value of the contributions [of the awardee] to the national heritage,” Hidalgo said. “But as things are today, it is the highest honor the country can give to its artists that it claims as its own,” she added.