Change. Make it Happen.

A reaction to F. Sionil Jose's "Why are Filipinos so Poor?"

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I had to read F. Sionil Jose's article three times before I was able to write, or type, my thoughts. Maybe because I had to make sure I am in the right mood while reading the article. For one, I believe that this article is one of the best pieces that I have read recently. It seems like it has captured me right from the start and reading through it, I ended up asking myself, 'What have we done to ourselves?' 'What have we done to our country?' 'What have we done for our country?'

There are so many valuable points in F. Sionil Jose's article. But I will just focus on a few that really struck me the most.

On Education

...half of all grade school pupils dropped out after grade 5 because they had no money to continue schooling.

According to the article, that was from a survey some 15 years ago. This is just a very unfortunate fact that our fellow Filipinos had to give up education just because of money when in fact it should be accessible for all. Coming from the a teaching curriculum before I shifted to BS DevCom, me eyes have been opened to the reality that until today, money still hinders one's right to learning. There are so many issues that we could tackle under education but as the article stressed, these kinds of poverty, apart from the physical poverty or even economical poverty, are really the more important reasons as to why the Filipinos are so poor. Many of our countrymen are deprived from material possessions but for me, I think there are more Filipinos who are deprived from all those priceless treasures. Sad to say, there is literally a price that we have to pay to be able to have good education.

On 'Yabang'

This, for me, is also true. I could also be wrong, but I also feel like Filipinos value how other people see them individually. We pay attention to physical impressions so much that we sometimes forget that this is not the only thing that matters. We find multitude of ways to look 'sosyal' or classy but if only we could use that kind of resourcefulness to better things in life, we may not have to do so much to impress other people at all.

On Being Filipinos

I have never been more proud of being a Filipino, but I guess not everyone does. If only we could change our way of thinking that Filipinos are inferior to other race, we may not be in this kind of situation we are today. I believe that we are having problems with our being poor. I believe that this is because we have set our standards to that of the Western. Maybe, being poor is dependent on who do we consider as rich. And as I have already mentioned, it's not only material richness that matters. Well, not all rich are happy after all. But I believe that this all boils down to us being Filipinos and how we see ourselves. Not all government officials are blinded by money, as the article even cited examples of clean governance. Filipinos shine all over the world and we take pride in all their achievements. Overseas Filipino Workers are also highly commended abroad because of their hard work and perseverance. You see, we just have to appreciate our own greatness as Filipinos. Everything has to change from within. And only us Filipinos could make that happen.

It's hard to admit, but I think F. Sionil Jose's article said it all as to why are we so poor. As much as we want to shout to the whole world that it's not true, we know deep inside that this is all on us. It's time for us to stop blaming colonialism and start being united in having the strength to change for the better. This, for me, is the challenge imposed on us by the article.

Do we have what it takes to change ourselves? Let's think about it.

Summer Lovin’

S-U-M-M-E-R.

For most students, this six-letter word is equated with beaches and pools, out of town vacations, non-stop parties, and late night gimmicks. It could also mean additional academic time for those who are taking summer classes or internships, and then there are also those who are making their time worthwhile with summer jobs. But then again, there are also those people who are not really outgoing and would rather spend most of the much needed summer break to stay at home than to do all those things. And that was how Kaye Cabal opted to spend the two-month break from school.

Kaye Cabal is a junior student from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. She is a kind of person who would choose an all-day movie marathon alone at home over a day at the mall, or some sleepless nights watching the whole season of Revenge over a night out with friends. And summer 2012 was definitely not an exception as she decided to spend the summer break catching up with new Asian and American drama series that she didn’t get to watch last semester.

This self-declared couch potato can’t even give a number of how many movies and drama series she was able to watch over the break. She was just so happy that she had that much time to spend on one of her simply joys in life mainly because she is already expecting to have her internship next summer. Every time she is being asked as to why she spends hours and hours of watching all sorts of movies and drama series, she says that “there is just this magic that makes you want to have a happy ending just like in those movies and series every time you watch one.” She believes that every story has its own spark that never fails to make her believe in happy endings.

Aside from watching movies and drama series, Kaye also spent most of her summer online. Being a huge fan of Barangay Ginebra Kings of the Philippine Basketball Association, she handles one of the team’s unofficial Twitter accounts (@barangayginebra). She has been doing it since 2009 but according to her, last summer was the best times of her being an administrator of the account. Before, she was just only doing the play-by-play updates of the ballgames but last summer, she became more personal to the account’s followers. They frequently had Twitter games and trending topics which made it to the online news. Being one of the fans of PBA’s crowd favorite, she has never been more proud of being a sports enthusiast. To her, “a summer break without that experience is not to be called a summer break at all.”

But don’t get her wrong. Kaye did not spend the whole summer in her bedroom. She may have spent almost the whole summer watching and surfing the Internet, but she did managed to get herself out of the house, or out of her bedroom, somehow. She was able to go to Zambales in a weekend getaway with her family. And for her, nothing beats going somewhere for the first time ever especially since she was with her family. It may have only been for two days and one night, but it’s still one of the highlights of her summer.

There were also those special little moments during the break that Kaye will never forget. She cheered for Jessica Sanchez, made some beef tacos, and wore four shades all at once just to get a good look at the partial solar eclipse. She may not be the most outgoing person in the world, but she still made the most out of the summer break in her own way. She loved it, she enjoyed it, and for her, that’s all that matters.
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*Written for my journalism class.

Just Ginebra fans being awesome

It was last Tuesday, April 17, when Barangay Ginebra Kings ended their run in the ongoing PBA Commissioner's Cup when they lost to BMeg Derby Ace Llamados in a best-of-five semifinals series. It was a totally painful loss, and I do not want to elaborate on that any further.

Anyway, I just casually posted "Ang summer na walang Ginebra ay napakalamig." on my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Just a few minutes after that, I decided to ask the rest of the Ginebra Tweeps via @BarangayGinebra on how their summer will be without our team. I was surprised to have their overflowing responses! Honestly, I didn't know I will get that much replies since it was already past midnight. Nevertheless, my Twitter feed went insane! Not only did I receive tons of replies, but those were very creative and witty one-liners as well. I never doubted Ginebra fans' creativity and originality, but I just thought that their spirits will be down after the loss. Little did I know that they will enjoy our little Twitter game.

And so, the next day, this is what happened.

Fans ponder summer without Ginebra | InterAKTV

Whoa! I really didn't expect this! To be featured in an online article isn't something that happens on any normal day. I didn't realize that the impact of what Ginebra fans did overnight was this big. Well, I don't know. But for me, this is already big. Sir Tony Atayde tweeted that "Philippine sports has no greater passion than that of a Ginebra fan." I totally agree. You won't be able to find these kinds of fans elsewhere. Fans who cheers and supports the team at all costs. Fans who vents their anger and cries out loud anywhere possible against all odds. Fans who bravely communicate their emotions. Those are Ginebra fans.    

 

I guess, in my almost two years of handling @BarangayGinebra, I have encountered every type of online Ginebra fans that exists. Fans asking Ginebra related questions, fans tweeting "Go Ginebra! Beat (insert team here)", fans ranting, fans cursing, fans bashing, fans praying, fans loving, and even non-Ginebra fans hating. There's more to it than just doing the play-by-play updates during the game. But I'll write about it next time.

For now, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the fans for simply being awesome. I wouldn't have it any other way. *wink*

PS. Read the all the feedbacks on "Ang summer na walang Ginebra ay..." HERE. Be surprised. Be amazed. Be proud. Have fun!

XOXO.

I rarely go out. But when I do...

First post for 2012. Soooooorry. The first quarter of the year has been the busiest months of my college life. Seriously. I am lucky to even get to post this entry. Hahaha! 

Anyway, today was the first time I went out (as in out, out) this summer and of course, where will I be? 

Manila! 

Nah, I didn't really went around Manila today. I was just at Mendiola, Manila. These pictures just made it look like I strolled the whole day.

It's also the first time that I used the monochromatic feature thingy on my camera. I'm glad I used it because I get to have the vintage feel that I wanted although I could also get that from Photoshop. :p

So many first times happened today. Yay!

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Even though I am just stuck here at home (with occasional getaways), I am really happy to have this much needed break. So much happened these past three months that I wasn't able to post here, even though I have made some attempts (ehem. drafts.)

And lastly, were you able to feel the cold summer nights last week? I loved it. :)

Cheers to summer 2012! XOXO.

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So, the title of this post says it all.

These pictures actually started the vintage feel today. A really old model of a radio and a typewriter from the office of my mom. I always see these things every time I go there. I don't know why I took pictures of them today.

We went to Arias Street to check out an apartment. Since we are residing in Cavite and my brothers and my mom are studying/working in Manila, it's good for them to just live nearby during the weekdays. Last year, they were staying at Bicutan during the weekdays --- still far from school. So here, no more long rides home next school year, brothers! Welcome back to Manila after four years!

Here's one out of the three musketeers, Daniel! Go follow him on Twitter! Haha!

After I took these photos, I had a eureka moment! I'll collect street/road name shots from now on. Let this be my driving force to go out of my bedroom, then out of our house, and explore the world. Wish me luck! *game face on*

Arias Street is actually just in front of the Malacañan Palace. Awesome! And for a little trivia, here are 10 things you may not know about Malacañan Palace.

These shots were taken on our way home to Cavite. I do not know the name of the building on the first photo. I just took a shot on the red light. The second photo is the Millennium Clock in front of the Rizal Monument, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

More shots on our way home. I took it from inside our car. It's cool that these photos were clear despite our not so clean windshield. :p

I rarely go out. But when I do... I am always happy. :-)

Celebrate Christmas the Ginebra Way.

First time to attend a fan gathering. Yes, first time. Loser me. :p

My brother and I arrived at the venue a few minutes before seven in the evening, December 26. We were so nervous that we didn't know how will we enter the gazebo. Good thing Ate Arlynn saw us, and we went straight to their table. It was the farthest table from the entrance facing the basketball court, and nearest to the sound system.

Hello, Ginebra friends! ^_^ Haven't seen you guys in forever. :p

Here are some of the familiar faces a few minutes before the party. Familiar faces since I frequently bump into them on Facebook, Twitter, etc. :p

Friends from Panatiko.tk *wave hand*

First time to see these Ginebra fans in person.

Maybe someday.

I was just roaming around the UPLB Freedom Park with my friend Flor at around nine in the morning one Tuesday to take some shots of the campus field when these kids caught my attention. Being a sports fan myself, I am genuinely happy seeing kids play. Maybe they were just doing this for fun but these kids could be the hope of Philippine sports years from now.

Smile!

^_^

Christmas is just around the corner.

(c) kayecabal2011