Opinion

Overhaul / Bull’s eye

(Scaling greater heights of impossibilities and bring them down to the realm of the possible)

In a country wallowing in worsening poverty and graft and corruption, efforts of each citizen aimed to endure and survive is obvious. Dubbed as the only Christian country in Asia, the nation continues to wobble in scarcity.

The world has already produced brilliant officers, geniuses, religions and denominations yet the problem brought by curse remains. For centuries, intellectuals are grouped in political, religious and various arenas to find consensual answers to address and completely eradicate these old-rotten problems, but the acts always fail. The key towards a way out seems elusive.

The outbreak in 1896 Philippine revolution emphasized that civic action can be factor but is not the absolute answer. Twenty-two years later, controversial issues pushed politicians to cry for moral revolution but still the problem continues. After those century-fought battles and after our generous heroes shed their blood on the land, still, the root of the problem has not been uprooted. The bull’s eye has not been hit.

No matter how good the system is, what matters most are the people who are running it. Real revolution does not only entail a change of political or social system. The situation calls for the acceptance of spiritual revolution as the mother of moral revolution. With this, comes the need to build an edifice of change not only in the hearts and minds but deep down to the very essence, man’s spirit. This is the power of repentance, a power entitled to every sons and daughters of the Father which will change not only the hearts and minds of men but so is his spirit.

Man has been fenced out blinding him of his capacity, disarming him of faith and hope. Man’s capacity was limited. But with the power to break free not only from political paralysis but from the bondage of sin through repentance, nothing is impossible.

This revelation empowers individuals to soar beyond what the physical mind can think of and what the average body can perform. This empowers him to get out of the box and shed away fears and deception that is hindering and blinding him for long bringing man into a dimension of possibilities generating unthinkable progress in an unimaginable time.

Today, few Filipinos realize that there can be no real democracy if there is no enlightened citizenry. It is only when people can truly accept and apply repentance that is when the bull’s eye is hit best.

Opinion

STRIVE TO RHYME FOR UNITY IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE FATHER IN THE SON

Elusive

In a country ran by a government of intellectuals, progress seems elusive.
The brilliance of the country in individual sports like boxing, billiard and bowling always outweighs the luster of Filipino teams winning in group sports. The same way with our political system. It is a puzzle as to how brilliant individuals who work as a group still fails to solve our national problems.
One probable reason is because Filipinos do not have the concept of teamwork. Pinoys don’t have the concept of self-sacrificing aimed for the common good.
There is nothing wrong with aiming for the top; all people are entitled to it but Filipinos should remember not to step on other’s shoes in order to get ahead.
There is a need to get rid of the old paradigm which dictates Filipinos to prefer to work individually in the advancement of oneself hampering the group goal.
The nation has already suffered for long. So are its people. If the world could only comprehend the mantra of unity then man will not be solving national problems for long.
If all the nation gets from the current controversies is a choreographed cry for unity or a resolution not to get caught sinning, then the cycle of regression will continue.

ORATION PIECE

Killing Myself

Chelyn Torejas

Diverse people from diverse places have once come to colonize our country. Literatures and pictures stand as a witness of how we endure, struggle and fight that yields forth of what we regard today as history.

At the heart of our country carves an era that manifolds through the regimes of Spanish occupation, Japanese conquistadors, American colonialism onwards to the Birth of World Wars. And the fruit of these all is my unique individuality. I am the child of the west and east combined.

I am a product of so many revolutions. For a time, I was blinded from what is real. For centuries I was enslaved by people of different blood, color and race.

Spanish colonizers use religion as an excuse to earn the hearts of my race. They taught me to embrace poverty as a virtue and exposed me to learn gambling and even cock-fighting.

The blond, tall Americans poisoned our way through education. The whites instilled in me to follow “adversial” communication hitting my country badly. Their tactic of “dividing and rule” has resulted to the regionalistic division we still have today.

The arrival of Japanese has even caused tremendous fears, hardships and pain.

For a time, I have seen the harsh realities filled with chaos, propaganda, hatred, vengeance, wars, hidden agenda, corruption, greed, lust and every devilish deeds. But Lo and behold, a new one has come.

I am killing myself. Killing the old Filipino. Within me, came rushing out the stinking blood of every devilish deeds. My heart has stopped pumping the music of deception. My lungs has totally exhaled every waste I have inside.

I am a new Filipino. I am bound to make a living history beyond a legend and a real history in the making that will continue to unfold through time.

The new revolution has given me true victory, a victory by which I am longing for long and the solution is not through war. This revolution has not been fought in the streets. It will be fought in hearts of men.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided. Knowing the present would mean understanding the past.

I am a new Filipino gaining wisdom from the past. Gone is the Filipino Indolence, beholding to erase the crab mentality, further eradicating my colonial mentality.

A new Filipino I am. In my blood runs the infitisimal seed of heroic deeds for the sake of the heavenly and for the benefit of the majority. The seed that drive away the oppressors and the seed that will further cleanse the filthiness of this country.

I will search the unkown. I will continue to dream my dreams wishing upon the stars and will never say never. I will continue to move on, to rise up towards the direction of a glorious tomorrow.

To look on the present onwards the future and to scale how my new country will develop will serve as an inspiration that is worth and is bound to be followed.

What the people today endures, struggles, and fight towards progress will continually mold a state of a new history –a bright history that is enough to urge individuals to continue to endure, struggle and fight for action and be a winner in running the race that is set before us, worthy to be repetitively told and retold. A transparent history free from thwarted truths.

Out of me are the voices of the unheard, the pictures of the unseen, the cries of the deaf and the truth that is ignored. I am but a dream but will stand to prove that this dream is becoming a reality.

I am killing myself. Killing the old Filipino. Killing the old me, building a new identity, erasing the undesirable assimilation from my past, picking the best experience I have before. A new Filipino I am, worthy to behold.

My eyes have been opened and I can see better now. I am a product of bloodshed, A new Filipino --free indeed, dreamer and the inheritor of a fruitful tomorrow. To live is to die. Thus, I am killing myself.

Junkyard?

Junkyard?

Chelyn Torejas

The Increasing concerns about the environment have persuaded some to act upon it while to some extent have unleashed protests to the underlying causes.

Despite the progressing number of programs and laws designed to protect the environment, still the problem of pollution along with waste mismanagement is spreading widely and potentially harmful.

Japan and the Philippine Governments have made a treaty labeled as the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA) and is expected to go in effect before the end of 2007.

The agreement has empowered more Filipino healthcare professionals to land a job as workers in the Japanese economy. Among other things, the treaty has also allowed the country to collect tariff on the 11,300 commodities from Japan, in which 141 items are marked as environmentally sensitive. These include medical wastes and muddy deposits among other matters.

But what are we supposed to do with these wastes? Isn’t the country has enough?

Environmentalists are still aiding the Guimaras oil spill, which once have turned some

parts of Visayas waters into a polluted flammable wastewater.

Philippines has witnessed the booming industry of used clothings or the “ukay-ukay” business as best called in our own lingo. Secondhand cars imported from neighboring countries are also a hit to the society.

Though used and considered secondhand, Filipinos with built-in ingenuity behavior have surprisingly managed to utilize matters of all sorts.

. A cement company even plans to utilize the Guimaras oil spill into an industrial fuel.

Toxic substances such as cyanide, mercury and asbestos have benign uses for the society to recycle.

An important way to fight waste mismanagement is for the individuals to learn the effect of their every action. This is another way of producing individuals who can make responsible choices to reduce damage.

If the water can be turned into wine, why can’t a mess be brought back into use? Every mess has a message: recycle, segregate and make your part because every individual effort counts.

E-waste Management, a need

Chelyn Torejas

Do you have a new cell phone, the ones with internet access, mp3, radio, camera, and video camera? Or do you have the slimmest laptop in town? If yes, then, congratulations. You’ve got the latest gadgets.

“There is no question that the world has benefited immensely from the rapid developments in the electronics industry. But most people remain unaware of the negative health and environmental impacts associated with the disposal of electronic products,” Beau Baconguis, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner in Manila said in a report.

PCs, Stereos, VCRs and fax machines among other electronics seem so proficient and user-friendly, but many remain unaware of the dangers it may bring once they become e-waste.

Electronic waste (e-waste), or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) covers all discarded and unwanted computers, mobile phones and electronic appliances which are immensely becoming a growing problem to the country.

The situation has posed both environmental and physical risks. Unwanted electrical appliances if improperly dispose contain biodegradable and toxin-producing substances. Computers’ Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT) can cause human nervous and respiratory impairment. While flame retardant plastics used in electronic casings can discharge elements that can cause human endocrine break down.

Corporations are very active in the production and promotion of various electronic gadgets. However, environmentalists and nature advocates have raised concerns towards companies, which refuse to face environmental concerns.

For the meantime, companies like Samsung, Nokia, Sony, Ericson, LG and Motorola have made commitments to substitute hazardous substances with safer alternatives.

The state of California and some European countries have already enacted electronic waste management. But the Philippines’ unrestricted regulation regarding e-waste management has exposed unfortunate communities and workers towards toxic chemicals including lead, cadmium and mercury, which if improperly recycled could contaminate landfills and eventually pollute the country’s land, water and air resources

Greenpeace and other advocates have demanded electronic corporations to develop durable technology that can be upgraded, recycled and disposed properly. A number of both profit-oriented and non-profit organizations are also accepting and taking electronics for recycling.

As environmental advocates projected, the country’s growing e-waste problem can be regulated through a universal mantra: waste management and recycling. Regardless of whether mandated or not mandated by the law, positive actions should be done to control the e-waste predicament.

So, Do you still want to throw the old ones? Think twice.