My Socially Constructed Reality

Students of Mass Communication are convinced that the press, indeed, is considered the fourth estate. Who does not know the cliche which says that "the press is the watchdog of the society?" All right. But where is that media freedom these days? Proclamation no. 1017 (declaration of STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY) is curtailing the freedom of expression in this supposedly democratic country. The raid of an opposition paper, the Daily Tribune, and the tight watch of the military on media agencies are indications of suppression of press freedom. Let me quote an open letter sent to Pres. GMA by Ann Cooper , executive director of the US-based committee to protect Journalists: Democracy in the Philippines has been threatened in the years since the 1986 revolution, but no administration has used the restrictive means your government has taken. It's deeply disturbing to see political unrest threaten the precious and deeply held concepts of press freedom and democracy.* This procla...

There goes Simon Cowell again. He's a fine old critic. All right. He can ruin your day if you let him do so. He can make inferences on alm ost every detail at the American Idol -- considering he isn't American. Anyway, I didn't like what he said last night to one of the contestants. He actually judged the 28-year-old female contestant from Duluth, GA based on her age as related to her performance. He said that this contestant's concern shouldn't be the sharp note but the fact that she is a lot older than the other stunning contestants. To paraphrase what he said, well, he believed that she's too old to be compared with stunning contestants like the 16-year-old lass from Anaheim, CA (Simon didn't specify any young contestant, I just did ) who received positive remarks from Simon Cowell himself. Simon emphasized the young lady's age as an advantage. This is clearly a manifestation of AGE DISCRIMINATION . He deliberately showed preference over young contest...

Look who's checking out mails. He's my high school buddy :-) Gerald works at US Air Force. He lives in California but he is now in Germany. Check out his blog and allow him to make you see the beautiful places he has been: www.sirgerald12th.com .

1. my first name has 8 letters 2. my family name has 8 letters 3. year of birth: 19 7 7 4. birthday: Sept. 2 8 5. year I finished college: 199 8 6. year I got married: 199 8 (of course graduation came before marriage, di ba Nay?) 7. number of times I was on the DEAN's list: 7 semesters (I was a college scholar for one sem) 8. the only subject I got a grade of 1 (uno) : History (it has 7 letters) 9. in high school, I was awarded BEST in ENGLISH - English has 7 letters 10 . the honor I got in high school: 5th Honorable mention, this is the 7 th place, since we had Valedictorian as the first and Salutatorian as the second placer 11. our home address when I was a kid: #25 Inda Maria St., Potrero. (2+5= 7 ) 12. our home address when I lived in Manila with my own family: #26 Pineapple road. (2+6= 8 ) 13. our home address now in Angeles City: #14 43 (last two numbers: 4+3= 7 ) 14. my mobile number : 0000-000- 00 43 ( last two numbers: 4+3= 7 ) 15. the day when my husband ...

1. A teacher was asking the students if it was okay to give additional points to those who delivered their speeches in front of freshman students. TEACHER: Should we (give incentives) or should we not? STUDENT: Should we! (second year na po 'yan) 2. A teacher was proctoring exam. The student noticed that there was no #68 on the test paper but there were two # 67. STUDENT: Ma'am (proctor), pa'no po 'to, walang #68? TEACHER: Dalawa naman yung 67, gawin mo na lang 68 yung isa. STUDENT: Ma'am, alin po sa dalawang 67 ang papalitan ko? (Grrr... obvious ba? Siyempre yung pangalawa...) 3. While taking the exam, a student approached the proctor and asked something. After hearing his/her complaint, the proctor said: " Could you please write a note to your teacher and let her decide for a reconsideration?" The student went back to his/her seat and followed the instruction given by the proctor. At last, the student finished the exam and submitted the paper to the pro...

My Korean students (AUTHENTIC COMMUNICATION class) for four months made me realize that learning can be really fun when shared with kind hearts and willing mind. I will surely miss them: LIEL, APOLLO, CRIS, NICK, TERRY and PRINCESS (not in the picture). They studied ESL at AUF from July to October 2005. LIEL is a sweet young lass. Masipag, mabait, magalang and always smiling. It's easy to be optimistic when you're with her. PRINCESS is also very sweet and really cool kasama. APOLLO is a serious guy pero magalang sa babae. Sweet din, kaya nagkagirlfriend ng Pinay, and he's proud of it! NICK is such a good student. He was always the first to finish classroom activities, never missed any homework, and has a very neat notebook. CRIS is very quiet but super magalang and very reserved. He does not talk (even in Korean) when he doesn't want to. He's always eyeing on pretty PInay in the campus. Pero mabait, magalang, usually in a hurry to finish class and super shy. I ...

Lifeain’tfair. sometimesyou’reupandsometimesyou’redown. howcanyoukeepyoursanitywhenyouknowtomorrowwon’tbethesameasyesterday? howcanyouwakeupwithasmilewhenyouknownooneistheretocelebratelifewithyou? howcanyoulivelifetothefullestifyouknowthere’spaininyourheart? howcanyousmilewhenallyouwantistofrown? Whetherwelikeitornot,emptinesscansometimesbeinourheart. wefeelsomuchforsomeonebutthatsomeonedoesnotevennoticeourfeelings. it’samazinghowlifekeepsgoingonalthoughyouhatetowakeupandseethesunshine. it’samazinghoweveryonefeelssorelaxedwhenyouaresotensedandlonelydeepinsideyourheart. attimes,nomatterhowmuchyoutrytomakeeverythingnormal, youjustcan’tforgetthefrustrationsthatcamealong. Lifeain’tfair.youhavetoworkevenifyourbodywantstosleep. youhavetosmileevenifyoufeellikefrowning. Youhavetosayyesevenifitmeansnoway. youhavetoacceptthetruthalthoughitreallyhurts.whydoesithavetobethisway? whydopeoplehavetolaughonlytosighafterawhile? hydopeoplehavetoliveanddogoodonlytobetakenawaybygod? whydoyouneedtobebeautif...

My four-year-old son, CHARLES, was so sad this morning because I refused to allow him to play computer games before I left home for work. I told him I am not mad at him when he plays PC games but I feel sad if he does it often. I even explained my reasons to him so he won't think that I am trying to deprive him of a chance to play today. Actually, I want Cha to stop playing computer games. At four, he already knows how to play games like Counter-strike, Grand Theft Auto, SIMS, Diablo, Warcraft, Freedom Force and his favorite -- Need for Speed Underground. We give him about two hours a day (or sometimes longer) to play. But I realized he shouldn't be doing this in the first place. I would like him to be prepared for school (kindergarten) by June. So my assignment this summer is to teach him how to read and write. He can already recognize letters and numbers but he can't read yet. Anyway, I am aware of the possible consequences of frequent playing of violent video g...

Blogging can sometimes be so frustrating. No one in this room, where I usually update my blog, understands what blogging is. I can't share with them my thoughts on blogging. I can't even tell them my research proposal about blogging. They think I am always in front of the computer to check mails. They don't seem to understand what blogging can do. Unfortunately, I got no time to explain to them what weblogging is all about. Maybe, If I go to CCS, I would find teachers who do know this. Forgive me. It's actually difficult to find bloggers at AUF. My ABMC students conducted a preliminary survey on the blogging profile of the students here but they found out that very few are aware of what blogging is. I can't blame them. Even teachers don't know what this thing is. But of course, that won't make them "less of a person." But hey, I can't imagine a PR teacher who hasn't encountered this term. For sure, she has no idea that blogs are good PR too...

Exam starts today. I just administered two exams this morning. The second one was with my former students. They used to be my English 1 students -- that was when they first set foot on AUF (first sem, first year). Now, they're on their second year. When the last examinee entered the classroom, I didn't think she was among my former students. She was wearing brown lipstick, complete with well-shaped eyebrows and pink blush-on. A large pair of drop earrings also caught my attention, not to mention the pink accessories that made her hair noticeable. I was sure I've never met her until I signed on her permit. I almost dropped my pen when I saw her name. I couldn't help thinking: "What happened to this girl?" She used to be the simplest student in their class: no lipstick, no blush-on, "untouched" eyebrows, nothing on her ears, no colorful hair accessories. But I've also noticed that some things didn't change: she was still very quiet, and was doi...

I'm currently working on a BOOK which I hope to be published soon. Thank God I've finished viewing DAE JANG GEUM (nice plots and shots; cool ending). Now, I would have another reason to keep myself awake till three in the morning. Actually, working on this project isn't my idea. I was just fortunate to be invited by Dr. Ruben Umaly, AUF's vice-president for Institutional Planning and Development. I said yes because I am really interested on the topic: TEACHING ENGLISH WITH NEWSPAPERS . So, that would keep me busy starting this week. OUr regular meeting for this book will be every Monday, Wed and Friday, from 1-3 p.m. According to Sir Umaly, the book will be used by second year AB English students in Thailand and China. ENGLISH WITH NEWSPAPERS is a three-unit course in selected schools in those countries. I think this book proposal may also be used in teaching ENGLISH 1A to Mass Communication students. The truth is, I was supposed to co-author the revised English text...

Hey, this isn't the newest member of the Backstreet boys. He's the groom who captured the heart of my dear sister. To PHILIP JAMES & VIVIEN: CONGRATULATIONS on your wedding day!

My mum's smile was a proof of what she felt inside. What else could it be but happiness for my only sister?

Heaven and Earth first met on the second half of 2004. Heaven was then very calm and quiet. Nobody has any idea what was behind this -- not even Earth. Heaven was so high and unreachable that even Earth had no chance to discover its secret. One day, Earth accidentally saw light in Heaven. This light made Earth think that that was the way to finding out what lies beyond its borders. But it was too late. Earth didn't see Heaven again. Sure, Heaven was just there, but Earth lost access to it. Fortunately, an unexpected day came. While Earth was having an encounter with the other living creatures on the land, Earth saw Heaven. Heaven was mingling with the other creatures. This made Earth feel nervous but excited. No word could ever explain Earth's feelings then. Heaven didn't care anyway. Sad stories do happen but memories remain. This lack of words to explain Earth's feelings and the absence of reaction from Heaven just killed the feelings. Now, Heaven and Earth don't ...

A Korean drama is keeping me awake till 3 a.m. even if I have classes at 8 in the morning. I couldn't believe it. JEWEL IN THE PALACE (Dae Jang Geum) is such a hit in our home. My sister bought DVD copies of all the episodes so we started being glued on our computer monitor for more than six hours . Although it was terribly difficult to read the English subtitle (the drama is, of course, in Korean language) for several hours, we still chose to watch this. Jewel in the Palace is something new for Filipino viewers like us. This drama gave us a chance to get to know the many aspects of kOrean culture like the food, belief in herbal plants, Korean's male-dominated society in the past, the conservative attitude of women, and of course the life and drama at the King's place in old KOrea. But that was not all. I also like the cinematography and the camera angles used in the drama. The shots really fascinated me. Seeing the character being so sad while showing the nature which see...

I was no longer surprised when I heard the news Saturday morning that a stampede happened at Ultra, where the anniversary special program of Wowowee was supposed to be aired live. A StAmPeDe is not supposed to be an unexpected event during special shows, especially if a large number of people is expected to attend. I heard first-hand stories and experienced being in the middle of a really large crowd so I know that a stampede can always happen especially if the security units of the show are NOT PREPARED with contingency plans. I remember, there was one time when my students, who served as ushers in the silver anniversary special of Eat Bulaga, came to see me after the show to tell me that a stampede happened, which they thought might have caused injuries or slight discomfort on the part of the attendees/viewers. They told me how "unmanageable" the crowd was. Well, that so-called stampede didn't make it to the newspapers' headlines the following day because there wa...

I've just finished watching THE DA VINCI CODE DECEPTION. The docu has a point. Really. But I think Dan Brown also made a point. I think, the so-called inaccuracies in Dan Brown's book don't really matter. Readers should be educated. They should learn to distinguish fact from fiction. Besides, Dan Brown isn't really an expert in Arts, Literature and History of Faith. Even if he claims he has numerous sources, that won't make his book free from inaccuracies. So what? What matters is that readers got puzzled and intrigued and started reviewing and testing their faith. You see, faith is the most taken-for-granted aspect of our lives. We believe, therefore, we think no more. Dan Brown just attempted to challenge our imagination and belief. Dan Brown implied in his book that the publisher of the bible spent money because he had his own agenda. Well... i don't want to elaborate on that. Surely, Dan Brown also had his own agenda when he bravely allowed publication of h...