Tag: September 12, 2006

They always say that the public school system in the Philippines is nothing compared to private school education. In terms of facilities and quality of instruction, public schools rate low. But this is not always the case. I should know. I came from one.

Having spent 10 years of basic education in a public school, I pretty much have every memory of what it is like to study in cramped, humid classrooms minus all the amenities.

IMAGINE being punished for “singing while traveling at night,” “killing a fish” and other “crimes” with slavery, beating, slashing, stoning, exposure to ants, cutting of fingers, drowning, burning, boiling, being chopped to pieces, and being fed to crocodiles.

These are what the Code of Kalantiaw, said to be the country’s oldest record of law, rules. Hell hath no fury like Datu Kalantiaw scorned.

THE decision of the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) that this year’s nursing board passers need not retake their exams after the leakage controversy, and that 90 of the 100 questions in the exam’s given-away Test V would just be voided, will do little in redeeming the sullied integrity of the country’s nursing profession.

PITONG buwan na ang lumipas mula nang maganap ang Wowowee stampede sa Philsports Arena na ikinamatay ng 71 katao at ikinasugat ng 800 iba pa. Pinalitan ng mga eksena ng sigawan at hagulgol ang dapat sanang masayang pagdiriwang ng unang anibersaryo ng programa.

UNTI-UNTI nang nanunumbalik ang pag-unlad ng pelikulang Pilipino dahil sa pagsibol ng mura at makabagong teknolohiya tulad ng mga cable TV, internet at digital camera.

Ipinahayag ito ni Edward Cabagnot, isang independent filmmaker, sa ika-16 na “USTingan” talakayang pampanitikan na pinamagatang “Paano ba Talagang Magsulat ng Pelikula?” Ginanap ito noong Agosto 2 sa audio-visual room ng St. Raymund’s Bldg. sa pakikipagtulungan ng UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies.

Langit

Nahuhumaling ang lahat

Sa matatamis na ngiti

Ng dakilang pinagpala,

Habang bumabalot

Sa kanyang katawan

Ang araw at mga ulap

Na nagbibigay ng init

At lamig ng kaginhawaan.

Sumasamba ang lahat

Sa kanyang mga brilyanteng

Mistulang anito

Na nagtatakda ng kapalaran

Ng sinumang nilalang.

Humahabol ang buong mundo

Sa kanyang bawat paghakbang

Tungo sa paraisong palasyo,

BALAK sana ni Jun Cruz Reyes, dating punong patnugot ng Dyaryo Hagonoy at batikang kuwentista sa Filipino, na magtayo ng isang community library katabi ng kanilang barangay hall sa Hagonoy, Bulacan. Dito niya ilalagay ang mga librong pampanitikang kanyang nakalap mula sa iba’t ibang awtor. Ngunit naudlot ito dahil noong Hunyo, inokupahan ito ng mga sundalo. Hindi na rin siya makauwi sa Bulacan dahil bilang isang propesor sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP), minamanmanan siya ng mga operatiba ng Armed Forces of the Philippines sa paghihinalang kaalyado siya ng New People’s Army.

HE CIRCUMNAVIGATED the world even before Elcano did.

Enrique el Negro (Cacho Publishing House, 2003) is Carla M. Pacis’ meta-narrative on the controversial theory of historian Carlos Quirino that Enrique, a Malay native, was the first person to circumnavigate the world and not the Spaniard Sebastian Elcano.

A LITTLE inspiration is all it takes to become a good writer.

But for Filipino-American poet Fidelito Cortes, it takes a good writer to make even the most insignificant thing, event or detail his source of inspiration. A creative artist even in his choice of subject, Cortes draws inspiration for his poetry from the most prosaic occasions like going to the mall, sweeping the floor, walking to the bus stop, or taking photos.

TALL tales may do for kids especially when garnished with history so that history becomes more animating, more alive.

American novelist Chris Eboch, regional adviser of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in New Mexico, has just done another concoction of fact and fiction in her book, The Well of Sacrifice (Clarion Books, 1999). The book is a historical novel set in ninth-century Guatemala during the height of the Mayan civilization. It is intended for fourth grade pupils (10-12-year-olds) in their study of Mayan history.