Ironic

Disaster preparedness trainings are exercises in irony.

You wish a disaster will never happen. But all the while, you're diligently preparing for it.

Text Messages 23

Mahirap kumatok sa pusong nasugatan na. Minsan katok ka ng katok pero nakasara pa rin. Hanggang sa napagod ka na. Ang hindi mo alam may door bell pala.
Mary Anne Andicoy, June 20, 2010

Bunyag
Pari: Unsay ngalan sa bata?
Pedro: Surf padre.
Pari: Di pwede kay ngalan sa sabon!
Pedro: Ang ako asawa lagi Perla man ang ngalan. Unya ang akong ngalan ke Ariel Pedro.
Pari: Aww...Hala, unsa may atong e'bendita ani? Downy o Zonrox?
Edwin Gutierrez, June 22, 2010

Positive multiplied with a negative is still negative. Meaning: The right thing done at the wrong time is still a wrong thing. Simple yet true.
Ate Cathy, June 23, 2010

Boy: Babe, kaw ang yabi sa akong kasing-kasing!
Girl: Unya? Kinsa man to imong kuyog kaganiha?
Boy: Aw...kato? Duplicate nimo.
Mary Anne Andicoy, June 25, 2010

Pastor: Muapil ka sa Army of God?
Juan: Member nako ana pastor.
Pastor: Ngano wala man ka sa simba permi?
Juan: Secret agent man gud ko.
Mary Anne Andicoy, June 30, 2010

Ang kinabuhi nato sama sa usa ka basurahan. Sulod niini ang mga nagtapun-og ug gilangaw natong mga kagahapon. Adunay mga gum-os nga gugma, lata ug gi-ulod nga mga pagmahay, mga silopin sa kasilag ug mga botilya sa mga kasaypanan. Kun kini dili nimo ilabay, mamahimo kining bara sa imong gikab-ot na mga pangandoy.
Mark Salazar, July 2, 2010

Eclipse.
Mag-abot na ang kangitngit ug kahayag. Kahayag sa agtang ni "Noynoy" ug kangitngit sa nawong ni "Binay".
Edwin Gutierrez, July 3, 2010

Morning is God's way of saying, "One more time!"
Live life. Make a difference. Touch one heart. Encourage one mind. Inspire one soul.
Ate Cathy, July 12, 2010

Be happy with what you have, while working for what you want. Remember a happy successful life begins with a "Thank you Lord for what I have!"
Mark Salazar, July 16, 2010

There may be harm in risking. But always remember that there can also be regrets in doing nothing.
Mary Anne Andicoy, July 18, 2010

If we keep saying Thank You to God and Thank You to other people. Someday, the gates of heaven will open for us with the words, "You are welcome!"
Ate Cathy, July 21, 2010

Don't try to understand everything. Because sometimes, it is not meant to be understood but, rather, to be accepted.
Ate Cathy, July 22, 2010

Four Day Workweek

How about a four day work week? How about it?

The Four Day Work Week: Sixteen Reasons Why This Might Be an Idea Whose Time Has Come

How to Implement a Four-Day Workweek

Virginia considers four-day workweek to save money

The 4 Day Work Week

Should Thursday Be the New Friday? The Environmental and Economic Pluses of the 4-Day Workweek

Insurance

I bought insurance. Life insurance. It's probably not a sound decision (like what a book on personal finance I read sometime ago said). I know I'm young, I'm healthy, and I don't have any dependents. But that's the point, I think. Premiums for my age are quite affordable. Besides, one never knows what will happen. It's better to at least be secure.

Now, enough of my justifications. Let's start paying.

Bahay Kubo

I love the bahay kubo. The architectural concept is so simple yet nothing exudes so much beauty.

Other than that, the bahay kubo is the perfect example of what a sustainable shelter should be. Its materials are locally sourced and exude no harmful chemicals. The construction itself places little to no stress on the surrounding environment.

That is why I find it ironic that people gravitate towards more expensive, concrete homes. It's downright unnatural but I guess you can't fault these people for choosing the "safer" and more popular option.

I can presume here that the decision to "forget" the bahay kubo (or bahay-na-bato) concept is market-driven. Banks don't finance houses made of light materials because these are fire and earthquake hazards to begin with. Because of this, consumers shy away from the cheaper alternative and go for the concrete and metal houses. Consequently, developers go for the path of least market resistance, by constructing houses which are both appealing to the consumer and to the banks which will inevitably be approached for financing.

Maybe, one day, the bahay kubo will make sense again. Until then, it's going to be another fast disappearing Filipino icon.

Let's Negotiate

I'm going to write an excerpt from my journal (Yes, I did keep one. Actually, I have several journals spanning the time I got over chicken pox until the time I discovered blogging). It involves me ranting at how overrated debating is and is, admittedly, a bit long-winded (and would probably require more editing). Still, I liked the fact that this excerpt marked one of my truer and utterly spontaneous expressions of opinion. Here goes:

Written on June 29, 2008 inside the Casibang compound (or was this in Market Market?)

Storya ta ug debating. Kay kasagaran man gud sa amua mga newbies ug uban pang mga BT employees from Mindanao kay naay debating experience or naay kaila na naga-debate. Like si Kit, si Pansit. They were debaters man. And sina Lea ug si Uael...Anyways, I really am impressed how the art of the debating has made many English-fluent speakers of us all. Daghan siya ug tabang when it comes to improving the communication skills and strengthening the logic-related capacities of our students. Pero I still think that there is something not quite right with the discipline. Just like everything else in life, such as sports, career and unsa pa man dira, debating fosters competition, not cooperation. Sure, for all its worth, debating is the best training ground perhaps for future eloquent and "systematic" speakers. But it shouldn't be the be-all and the and-all (ambut lang jud kung tama akong paghuram sa cliche, anyway). There must be an art higher than debating, an art of speaking which addresses a deeper and more sincere human instinct. Siguro a lot will balk and say na debating isn't purely competition, na in any debating event, camarederie and goodwill is achieved because rival schools get to meet each other and any debating event becomes an opportunity to foster friendship. But I'm not talking about that (although that's a valid point). What I'm targeting is the process of debating itself. It is fiercely competitive and it must be for that is what debating is. "Cede no ground", "Never give in", "Chop them to pieces", "Destroy their case". These can be the slogans of debating which bear striking similarities to battle cries in battlefields of ages past. Debating is war. It seeks to divide, to entrench communities into two polar positions with no hope for a middle ground. Kay in debating, once you think of a middle ground, a merger between your opponent's side and yours, you lose. And this mentality is what I don't like about debating. Maayo sana kung sa debating proper lang ni mag-surface pero, unfortunately again, this mentality makes itself manifest in other situations as well. I've seen a lot of students exposed to debating and they make debating their life. Some debaters love arguing and love to be confrontational. Kung naa gani tao na lahi ang opinion, argument dayun. Call it friendly debate but I call it unhealthy, neurotic even. Imagine two people arguing, debating on an issue for ten minutes or more tapos afterwards, walay resolution kay both are firmly rooted to their own opinions and belief systems because both have been defending their sides resolutely. Stupid, mind-numbing exercise. There must be something better than this. And I think there is. In the Business World, they call it negotiation, the art of negotiating. Where two parties with their own respective, vested interests strike out an agreement that benefits both. Ambut lang ha. Dili man gud ko Business Administration major, AB-English man gud ko, so I don't know if there's a class of negotiation skills in college...Basically, obviously diay, negotiation is also part-debating. Two sides argue pero in negotiating, both parties attempt to craft a win-win agreement (balik-balik na lang). Kani ang ganahan nako. Cooperation, the human drive to bond and create relationships instead of divisions. This is what debating fails to address. But the question is, how do we transplant the art of negotiating to an academic and controllable atmosphere?

Looking Back

What company is cool enough to feature an MTV contest for their corporate Christmas party?

By the way, that was a rhetorical question. Without further adieu, I'm sharing the BayanTrade Shared Services music video (By the way, we won. Hehe.).

As a side note, someone flagged Ejie's first uploaded video in Youtube because of copyright infringement. Fortunately, I've downloaded this video for posterity. And please, don't entertain the same idea.

Samal

Here's the thing. I wish that, someday, I could buy a beachfront property in Samal and preserve that piece of paradise for generations to come.

Here's to hoping that wish will come true. Cheers.

Writing Stuff

"...to write for those who cannot write"

Or something like that. I'm just trying to recall what I said for a video presented during a Humanities Division Orientation Day. The question was why I decided to become an English major and the first thing that went into my mind was to be the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Right now, it does sound a bit corny and a bit idealistic too. But I've certainly acknowledged that I have this gift and, for every gift, every talent, something is expected in return.

Maybe later on, I'll be speaking and writing for other people. However, for the meantime, all I can do is write for myself using this blog as my medium.

As the old saying goes, "History is just what someone else has written down." In a limited sense, I am making history, a history replete with my personal opinions and experiences. A lot of people say the world is now too noisy but I assert instead that the world is too full of silences. Generally, people, particularly Filipinos, don't write down their experiences.

This can be attributed to a culture which disdains writing. But such a culture begs a change in heart. If we are to grow as a nation, there should be an outpouring of one's selves in writing. Only then can the next generation judge us fairly by the history we've left behind.

Dinabaw

You've probably heard of Dabawenyo-speak. It points to a peculiar way of speaking unique to the residents of Davao City. Technically, it's a mishmash of primarily Tagalog and Bisaya, with some terms from the other tribal dialects thrown into the mix.

Most Tagalogs would frown at someone speaking this way. Pure-bred Bisayas would also cringe in disgust whenever a voice speaking the Dabawenyo-speak is heard nearby. But, as what Clinton would insist, "Sub-colture man yan" and no matter what, Dabawenyo-speak is here to stay. As someone more critical would point out, Dabawenyo-speak isn't just a new phenomenon, it's another manifestation of the Filipino character, of the willingness to assimilate seemingly disparate parts into one, new whole in an act of spontaneous and, ironically, deliberate creativity.

Prolific writer and highly-respected former judge, Jesus V. Quitain already has a new linguistic term for this hybrid language. It's "Dinabaw" and in his column, Ecoland Chatters, in the Davao Catholic Herald, he had several humorous Dinabaw sayings in store:

Igalang at unawain ang taong nabuang sa pag-ibig.

Ang mabilis kumain, dali gutumin.

Ang hinay magkain, maiwanan nang bus.

Ang magtakbo ng mabilis ay hindi mahuhuli.

Ang taong masunurin ay laging uutusin.

Mahiyain man, kung gigutom, magkain din.

Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo. Sa kalabaw ihatag.

Ang hindi marunong magtingin sa likod, baka mabangga ng trisikad.*

Sa pamamaalam ng araw na patungong luksang kanluran, habang ang mga anino'y unti-unting gumagapang sa mga damuhan, abriha na ang suga.

Ibigin ang sariling atin kay mahal ang imported.

Taong kapit sa patalim o kapit tuko, sigurado gyud may problema. Diay.

Magalang man at masipag, pagkatapos makasal, ay basin maging tapulan. Ma oh.

Maaga ka gani magising, ikaw ang magbili ng pan.

Ang last na maglabas sa classroom, maraming pencil ang matigum. Bitaw.

Ang amigo na may problema at maglapit sa iyo, buwisit.

Isda at bisita nagtira sa bahay mo lampas tatlong araw na, manimaho gyud bitaw.

Ano sa Pilipino ang "to taste"?: Present tense = Tikmin, Past Tense = Tilawin, Past Future Tense = Gipasmo

Translate sweating a lot: Pinapawisan ng singot.

Translate I was frightened, the dog bit me: Ala eh, sa laki ng takot ko eh, pinaak ako ng iro.

Tunay na pag-ibig ay hindi matatandog, kahit malakas ang linog.

* So true. I should know. ;-)

Why I Run

I like the hosts of those fun runs. You know, the ones who are hired to get everybody pumped up for a grueling half-hour (or one hour if you're doing more than 5K) of torture. That's because they always the same thing, "We're gonna have fun!"

That's it. "It's fun." Yes, in a way, I won't contest that. It's fun running a marathon with some friends in tow. It's fun looking at the scenery while doing it. But the actual running? No, it's not fun. It's work, call it a labor of love if you will, but it's still work.

Text Messages 22

Mag-uyab ga-date:
Boy: Naa nabay nag-sulti nimo nga gwapa ka?
Girl (Kigilik): Wala. Ikaw pa.
Boy: Niingon diay ko? Nangutana ra man ko.
Edwin Gutierrez, May 23, 2010

Bob Ong versus Juan Tamad:
Ang Love...
Bob Ong: Parang elevator lang yan. Ba't mo pagsisiksikan sarili mo kung wala nang pwesto para sa iyo. Meron namang hagdan, ayaw mo lang pansinin.
Juan Tamad: Mapuno man ang elevator, sigurado namang babalik din yun at darating din ang panahon na makakasakay din ako. Ba't ko ipipilit ang sarili ko sa hagdan, mas nakakapagod naman yun kaysa sa paghihintay.
Mary Ann Andicoy, June 6, 2010

Shakespeare said:
When you start caring about yourself, you start loving somebody but when you start caring about others, somebody start loving you.
Mary Ann Andicoy, June 7, 2010

I don't believe that laughing has always been the best medicine. Because I know that sometimes, ang buang wala man naayo sa sigeg katawa! Hastang...
Edwin Gutierrez, June 7, 2010

Sometimes, you just can't have what you want when you want it. But it doesn't mean you can never have it. Everything takes place at the right time. It's not No. It's just not Now.
Ate Cathy, June 12, 2010

Minsan, ang pagkukulang ay wala na sa nagbibigay kung di sa isip na lang ng taong binibigyan
Mary Ann Andicoy, June 12, 2010

Teacher: Use fog and shore in a sentence.
Pedro: There's a fog in the sea shore.
Teacher: Very good! Ikaw, Juan?
Juan: Gwapa ka Ma'am? Fog shore ui!
Edwin Gutierrez, June 13, 2010

Kapag maraming hadlang sa landas na gusto mong pasukin, kapag lahat ay nakakabangga at sumasalubong sa iyo, huwag kang magtaka. Exit yan. Dun ka sa entrance. Pasaway ka.
Mary Ann Andicoy, June 14, 2010

Hindi ako mayaman para bilhin ang kahapon pero handa akong utangin ang bukas para makasama lang siya maghapon.
Mary Ann Andicoy, June 14, 2010

7 colors make a rainbow.
7 chords make a music.
7 days make a week.
7 continents make the world.
And 7 beautiful letters make us...
FRIENDS.
Mary Ann Andicoy, June 14, 2010

Let's Talk About Sex

My first formal introduction to the birds and the bees was during our PEHM classes when I was in first year high school. Yes, that could have been a very late introduction by any standard, considering that most of my classmates, boys in particular, already knew the subject quite well ever since Grade 3. Even before sex education became a very controversial topic now, Ateneo had already taught us everything we needed to know about penises and vaginas and what to do with them.

Having said this, I'm expressing my concern over the whole fuss about sex education. My greatest fear is that these advocates will be advocating teaching the wrong things in school, the things we, as a society, must shun away.

I guess what made my sex education in Ateneo complete was the fact that the faculty didn't forget teaching us about values, or sexual values to be more exact. Yes, there was sex, probably God's greatest gift to mankind next to His Son. But our teachers never failed to inculcate in us the immense power of this human act, a great power that, as the cliche goes, must be exercised with even greater responsibility. All in all, I pretty much learned from this education a healthier respect for women and a new understanding of Ecclesiastes 3:1:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Though that education didn't prevent everyone from getting pregnant or impregnating someone out of wedlock, it did impress upon us the seriousness of sex, that it is something sacred and shouldn't be played with.

Nowadays, that idea of sacredness, is lost among today's rhetoric. Instead of teaching young adults about sexual values and moral or social responsibility, most are content about teaching these kids practical responsibility, the stuff about wearing protection and so on and so forth.

It's a sad fact but, amidst all the clamor for sex education, the essential things that should be taught are pretty much left out on the wayside.

Prison Without Walls

I love Reader's Digest's condensed books. Packed with so much high-quality writing, every book is a definite must-have for anyone who wants to read and get their money's worth every time(as compared to today's monthly Reader's digest which now sports a lot of pictures but with less written stuff).

There was this one particular book/article, I Chose Prison, by James V. Bennett., which had left a big impression on me. As a background, James Bennett was the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons spanning the period from 1937 to 1964. A heavyweight in prison reform, Bennett pioneered a lot of things, mainly the professionalization of corrections personnel, the shift to more humane yet more effective methods of treatment for inmates, and the de-politicization of appointees to the bureau.

One notable idea he mentioned was the concept of a prison without walls. In his time, he described a system where prisoners are free to walk around and integrate themselves back into society, all the while serving their terms in jail. The usual day would involve leaving the prison camp, going off for work or visiting the family, and returning back to federal prison before curfew. Every now and then, there would be rehabilitation seminars for the prisoners.

Bennett noted that such a treatment shouldn't apply to every prisoner but only to a select few, who have shown exemplary conduct. In such a case, the Prison Without Walls becomes both a reward and a final step to a convict's eventual introduction back to society.

Experiments were done to select communities and, ironically, these communities generally accepted the idea eventually. Even if the fear of having convicts walk around unnoticed in their neighborhood was an everyday presence, the idea had latched onto America's psyche and there was no doubt that this was a better idea than putting everyone behind bars.

This was the same idea expounded by a recent Atlantic article by Graeme Wood. I bet Bennett couldn't have foreseen how surveillance systems had advanced since then. But now, convicts are left on the streets, each being monitored by a tamper-proof device which reports back their every movement (Maybe, later on, we'll graduate to actual chips embedded beneath the skin, which can be tracked via GPS without the need for external power). Among the benefits are reduced admin costs since surveillance is way cheaper than incarceration.

But the most important benefit is the potential of this new system to actually modify the convict's behavior by not subjecting him or her to the toxic environment behind a prison wall. Indeed, prisons are still here to stay, to house the most notorious and most difficult individuals (like those which have dangerous psychological pathologies) but for the majority of those who can be rehabilitated, Prison Without Walls is the best route.

Wish we had something like this in the Philippines. Hmmm...

No Pets Allowed

Now I have an academically sound excuse why I don't like pets.

Well, personally, I do love pets. We've had dogs ever since I was a toddler. Then, we had rabbits, the occasional goldfish and what-not.

But it's a different thing altogether when it comes to taking care of them. I'm humble enough to admit that I don't have the patience nor the time to look after a pet. Unfortunately, my siblings don't share my sentiments. My elder sister and my younger brother have been the major culprits why we keep having these. Right now, we have two dogs, Shobi and Kopiko, both sent to our doorsteps by my two conniving siblings who knew how to bring home a pet but are, nonetheless, perennial amnesiacs when it comes to taking care of one.So now, we have two pets who have been practically forgotten by their original owners.

I pity them actually, which is why I've resolved not to take in an animal unless I'm quite certain I can care for it.

But, I digress. Now what was the reason again?

Well, I just happened to read an article (I forgot the link. Poor me) which basically confirmed the otherwise benign assumption that domestication makes an animal lose its innate instincts and senses. This fact can be taken as common sense but this was the first article that said it and then reinforced it with some scientific evidence on the side. Simply put, if you keep feeding the dog, eventually, that dog's going to forget how to feed itself. That's the gist.

Now, we humans have a thing we call "self-actualization", being that the end goal of every person is to transform one's potential into reality. For an animal, a huge part of its potential lies in its instincts. Surely, every thing has the right to actualize itself but domestication hampers that deal. As observed, all of us take in animals as pets because of a curiously misplaced sense of altruism. But if that mere act means removing from that animal its instincts, then does it follow that we are active agents in limiting that animal's self-actualization? If that's the case, are we supposed to be in a moral conflict with ourselves by encouraging such a process among humans but discouraging it from the animals we so willfully domesticate and "humanize"?

Think about that for a second.