My Socially Constructed Reality

First of all, I’d like to mention that Zeus Salazar was the first scholar that has made a mark on my being, when I was in college. I would never forget how much his idea of “p antayong pananaw ” had sunk into my system. My History professor, during my first year in UP, inculcated in us the value of having history written by Filipinos, and not by foreign authors. That was where the idea of “ pantayong pananaw ” centered on. And of course, I’d always remember this because it was in this subject where I got a grade of 1.0. Well, in UP, students normally say, “Only gods deserve 1.0.” Of course they were only kidding. Zeus Salazar. He knew exactly what Filipinos are like: They would resort to any way just to avoid hurting a fellow Filipino . This is very Filipino, and this is what I sometimes don’t like about Filipinos. In the workplace, when you start voicing out directly how you feel about certain issues, the “normal” ones brand y...

TUESDAYS with Morrie. The Five People You Meet in Heaven. For One More Day. The first one highlights compelling thoughts that Mitch learned from his professor, Morrie Schwartz, whom he met on Tuesdays in his house. Together, they talked about the inevitable realities in life: love, marriage, death, ageing, etc. The second book brings the readers to the so-called heaven, through Eddie, the main character in the story. There, Eddie met five people whom he never thought he would ever meet. T he third story is about Charley Benetto, who, as Mitch describes, has been chasing the wrong things in life. Charley realizes what he is missing when he gets to spend another day with his mom. These three stories are enough to make us fe el that indeed, life isn’t what we see it to be. And sometimes, we need other people to make us realize that there is more to life than just waking up in the morning and going back to bed at the end of the d...

I came at 3:30 p.m. at the scheduled student forum yesterday. I was particularly hoping to see Gibo Teodoro Jr., a presidentiable. Actually, he's the only one whom I think I can accept as the next president of this country. I have admired this guy since I heard him speak at GMA 7's program "Isang Tanong." Gibo, given his background and accomplishments, is such a brilliant personality. So when I knew that he was coming here, I didn't let the opportunity pass without seeing and hearing him speak. There is one problem, however. After the long wait -- the forum started at almost 5 p.m. -- Gibo and Edu entered the venue and they were escorted by a number of politicians in Pampanga. The officials were called one by one. As I heard their names and looked at their faces, I realized, "Aha, this if fun! Seeing a bunch of local officials who all have no credibility. And not surprisingly, they're all on the administration party." #1: Boking Morales. Mab...

Parents train kids to follow rules. Teachers teach children to be obedient. Priests remind young people to do only what is good. And time has taught us that not following rules has consequences -- or punishment. But still, even when we grew old, we still don't know how to follow rules. Married spouses philander. Disloyal friends betray each other. Grown-up students cheat. Adults lie every minute. Kids break the rules. Adults ignore the rules. Oh, well, maybe rules, after all, are made to be broken . The Desperate Housewives know this.

When you look at strangers, you can tell if they're happy or sad . Sad strangers tend to have that serious look,or that lonely face, or even such a blank stare. Happy strangers, on the other hand, tend to smile at you even without any reason. Yes, it's true. It's easy to spot happy strangers. But it is never easy to know what exactly makes them happy. Some are happy because they just got a promotion. Some are glad because they made it in a competition. Still, many are simply happy because they finally got what their hearts desire. The thing is, sometimes, what makes other people happy can actually make others sad . What may bring glory to one may inflict pain to another. This is the sad fact. **********************

Are the housewives in the DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES series really desperate? Desperate Housewives Season 6 shows the lives of 6 housewives who all have strengths to keep them going , weaknesses to overcome , and secrets, lots of secrets, to reveal . Susan Delfino , Mike's wife, has a daughter who was a victim of a violent attack. Susan wants to find out who did it. She suspects that Danny, Angie's teenage son, is the perpetrator but no evidence would point at him. What's more alarming is not that Julie, Susan's daughter, was attacked but that she is doing a lot of things that Susan has no idea about. In one episode, Susan read Julie's diary and commented that Julie seems to be a stranger because she (Susan) has no idea what's going on in her own daughter's life. Lynette Scavo is pregnant (twin) in this episode. The problem is that she just got promoted. She accepted the promotion and decided not to reveal her secret -- that she's pregnant. She is thi...

I’ve been checking exams and computing for grades the whole day. I need a break. Let me see. I have a lot of things in my mind at the moment – actually, since last night. I slept at about 3 am but I was not doing anything but staring on the ceiling. A lot of thoughts were in my mind last night. I wondered how and when I could go over this health concern. I’ve been processing papers and it’s taking me long making a decision. I was supposed to visit a doctor of ENT today but I still couldn’t make up my mind so I didn’t go. I was also thinking about the movie THE FIVE PEOP LE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN. I’ve read the book by Mitch Albom and I love it, the same way that I love his other books, e.g. Tuesdays with Morrie and For One More Day . When I watched the movie, it made me wonder what I am here on Earth for. I imagined who I want to meet in heaven when I die – ha ha – as if I am sure to go to heaven or as if there is indeed heave...

Ondoy, the worst typhoon that ever hit the Philippines has gone out of the country. The floods that caused lives of almost 300 should serve as a lesson to the Philippine government. If no one will learn from the tragedy, then everything would just be wasted: the lives which were lost, the houses buried with mud, the cars which were damaged, etc. I hope there would be no such typhoon which will hit the country again. I hope the local government had learned that drainage and sanitation systems are critical issues to be dealt with seriously. Floods are not new to me. I have experienced such floods that reached up to the second floor of the house when I lived in Malabon. It was a normal occurrence in Malabon almost every year. This time, the floods brought about by Ondoy took the lives of almost 300 Filipinos. It's really a sad thing for Filipinos to experience this. Ondoy didn't spare my friends in Manila. They were also affected but survived :-) ---------------------------...

A series of dental c-rays. CT Scans. Regular visits at a dental clinic. A few months after undergoing operation for missed abortion, I'm now having another minor operation -- a minor dental surgery. The CT Scans revealed that I have, on the left part of my face and on top of my front teeth, a nasoalveolar cyst (non-malignant, at least). I have been taking medications for months but the medicines are no longer effective so the dentist (Doc Dennis) referred me to a dental surgeon who advised me to have x-rays and CT Scans for accurate diagnosis. The surgeon said that prior to the operation, I need to undergo root canal which is set on Oct. 9. After that, the operation will be scheduled. Sometimes, it frightens me to know that I have to undergo this operation. For me, there's nothing more disturbing than being a regular visitor of a surgeon. I'm not used to being sick. It's because I haven't been really ill. Right now, I don't feel sick at all . In fact, when I...

Some things are good . Some better . Only one is always the best . Some things look bad . Some worse . One could be the worst . I realized that the only thing that matters in this world is how we see things . Good things may sometimes appear bad. On the other hand, all the bad things may be seen as blessings in disguise. ************************

It's been a while since I last posted an entry here. I feel guilty for not being able to update this blog. I have been busy, yes, although I had less jobs. I requested for a leave from ILI on the first week of this month and I also stopped writing for EW because of summer season -- not much order. However, a lot of things are happening so I didn't have time to sit down to blog. Hopefully I can regularly update again....

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Last Saturday, August 8, I participated in an International Convention on Media Communication at UP Film Institute with 99 Comm. students and three faculty from the same department. That wasn't the first time that I've attended an international conference with my students. The first one was during the 17th AMIC Annual conference which was held at the Manila Hotel I attended that event with Manuel, MJ, Lucy, Jaimee, Charles and Ma'am Tina. The second one was when I went to New Delhi with Charles and MJ for the paper presentation of Charles' thesis during the 18th AMIC Conference. The convention last Saturday was sponsored by ICCS, and was titled 1 ST INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON MEDIA COMMUNICATION: TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT AREAS OF BROADCAST JOURNALISM . Among the speakers were Karen Davila (ABS-CBN), Mark Francis (The Discovery Channel), Ric o Hiz on (BBC World News), Rolly Ng , Boy Abunda (ABS-CBN), and Kara David (ABS-CBN). Here are some of ...