Pulis Patola

Yes, the incident involving Ted Failon's family has reached epic proportions. But the policemen are as lamentable.

Recently, police representatives have been defending themselves against their bad, "pulis patola" image. They requested media practitioners to give more exposure to "good" policemen, with the hopes of improving their image, and hopefully, public trust.  They requested writers of teleseryes to avoid including pulis patolas (or even funny, or bad policemen) in their shows. I personally hated this, for I believe that these policemen have NEVER (or very rarely) done their part to improve their own images, aside from the fact that artistic expression is prevented from flourishing. Most are still bundat (or big-bellied, despite the existence of a "slimming down" project a few years back). Most are still kotong cops. Makati police wait at night for motorists to terrorize (they run in front of your car to block your path, then try to accuse you of a traffic violation. It happened to us. Good thing we evaded them. Balony.). I never felt they respected the good portrayal by media.

Today, as I watch the news, I see policemen arresting Ted Failon's housemates and his wife's family members. I see a lawyer shrieking for justice, as the househelpers' rights to a lawyer before anything happens should have happened. I see police officers in their desks more eloquent than usual, explaining crime progress. I see a policeman in glasses screaming at Ted Failon's brother in law, ordering arrest, for apparently "obstructing justice' by exerting force to stop the police from arresting his siblings. No warrants.  "Obstruction of Justice" has never sounded more like an excuse to go on an arresting spree. I heard a speculation that Ted Failon was a critic of that certain police branch (or maybe the police in general).

The pulis patolas are on live TV. The teleseryes did not have to do their part. 

Only in The Philippines?

On the way home from Ateneo, I was listening to the evening news through the car radio. The news that caught my attention involved that of a certain former government official who is now being called to testify in front of the senate regarding his alleged anomalous release of funds to government officials not necessarily involved with the goals of that fund. What really got me wondering was not the fact that there was news about possible committed corruption (What's new?), but the statement of a well-known senator (known to be corrupt, but bluntly proven) for the former government official;on TV, he advised the former government official to stop "prolonging the agony," and to start testifying already, as if he, the well-known senator, himself was a righteous man (He may actually be.).

That piece of news just got my attention, but I am not condemning that certain senator for saying that. It is his job to say that, since he is also tasked to do investigations. However, what keeps me bothered is the fact that politicians we usually carelessly brand as corrupt seem to investigate each other on a regular basis already. I wonder what comes to the minds of political investigators when they interview anomalous people. I mean, if they were corrupt too, then they would probably be laughing at the anomalous person they were interviewing for being stupid enough to be caught. We rarely end up proving that a lot of governement officials in the Philippines are corrupt, or have stolen a tremendous amount of money, but we always seem to know, based on rumors, and news of this and that person "allegedly" stealing this and that amount for this or that invalid project. Sometimes, we do not have to prove that someone is bad to know if a system is bad, or dangerous. 

But how the heck did our country end up to be like this? The government functions very much like a company, and we can think of it as the central company that takes care of all major transactions that will benefit the Filipino citizen, its customer and major shareholder. If this company alone is known to be corrupt in itself, then all other companies, or systems attached to it (like the different sectors), are bound to be corrupt in a degree equal to, or less than that of the central government. Therefore, we can say that in our own different work places, like show business or the simple common corporate set-up, different forms of corruption are already present, and they are not limited to stealing money by way of bent transactions. If you noticed, in the Philippines, only the powerful elite help their own kind, and most of the developing kind (those striving to improve their lives immensely) have to struggle against crab mentality, and having to meet the right people at the right time to help them out. Don't we all just wish that our own workplaces felt like school, wherein working hard almost usually meant getting the better grade, and hopefully the better future? PR was not the make or break skill then, but now, the motto seems to be "Who you know will best help you and your company."

As a student nearing the end of my student life, I keep praying not to be eaten up by the damaged culture in my own future workplace, if ever that damaged culture shows up. When we all end up having to decide against our own integrity for what may seem to look better for our own careers, do we succumb to temptation? Seeing that the damaged Filipino culture is an open secret, is being part and king of that system the only way to succeed? When the good people we see are limited to the "heroes" and those who are killed for fighting for what they believe in, can we still be courageous enough to do what's right, and what we love?

We may be afraid to pay the price of doing good, but if we do not do good now, whatever bad we do will eventually contribute to a system that will kill us in the end. I hope more people take the risk. 

A Life on Display

Note: The following article is the 2nd draft of my feature article in my English class. This is my first ever attempt to write something that simply just features somebody. In class, we ended up not having to write the final article because of lack of time. The 2nd draft was checked as if it was the final feature article. 

Museums are a fad because of the variety of items that reveal shadowed parts of the past and glimpses of the future. These items are the stars of the show, and most people would rather observe only them all throughout their visit, instead of the numerous other seemingly boring fixtures in the museum.

One such fixture is George Antolino, a security guard in the famous gold exhibit of the museum. He was tall, dark, but ignored by a lot of visitors. To those who noticed him, he looked like a normal Filipino corporate security guard.  He wore a gray barong and black pants, sported a 3x4 military haircut, and almost-always held a walkie-talkie to his ear. With his pensive expression, you’d think he had a problem with being where he is. But by being a guard for Ayala Museum for four years, he is able to share peculiar insight on his job, on the people going there, and on the stars of the show, the artifacts.

His pensive expression revealed nothing about how he initially desired to work for the Ayala Museum. He found its ambiance refreshing to the senses, after his stint as an SM security guard. According to him, he trusted Ayala’s reputation too. After four years, he has not left, which leads us to ask if he loves his job. “Oo naman,” was his response. His family depends on what he earns from the place, and that is enough to make him happy there.

With around two-hundred visitors a day, it seems like George is not the only one drawn to the museum. From his observation, schools would normally schedule field trips, and foreigners mostly consisted of Koreans and Japanese. When asked if he had problems with any of the foreigners, he responded with, “Sa totoo lang, mas madali pa ngang kasundo ang mga foreigner na iyan eh. Kaunting sabi mo lang sa kanila na huwag gawin ang ganito o ganiyan, susunod na.” Foreigners were used to being disciplined, while Filipinos who visited the Ayala Museum would only pretend to follow the rules. He could not understand Balikbayans insisting to pay the more expensive foreigner fee, and only shrugged his shoulders at the thought that they might have just been bragging.

George’s daily task is to protect golden artifacts he speculates as simple pieces of metal the revealed history. He thinks they simply look like junk aluminum foil painted gold. Despite this, he eagerly pointed to one particular piece of junk encased in a glass box. Inside the container was a human torso wearing George’s favorite piece, a 24-karat halter with an intricately knitted design, resembling a rope with fine threads.

“Sinuot ‘yan ni Cheche Lazaro sa T.V. Sa Probe. Ako nagbabantay noon eh,” he shared, with pride evident from his eyes, as they intently looked at the halter. He then went back to his duty.

Museums showcase items like the halter that certainly reveal a lot about history by just being on display, and not making any sound. However, certain unnoticed members of the Ayala Museum, like George, when asked to share, can also teach us about our own selves. Sometimes, we may even learn things that no priceless gold artifact can spell out. We just have to get to know them, to maybe get to know ourselves a little better.

I'm Back!

Hi! I'm finally back to writing again! Sorry for the really long break. I was just so busy with my first semester in college, and everytime I'd have a little free time to write for the blog, I'd end up not having the inspiration nor a good topic i felt I should write about.

So here I am now, welcoming you back to my blog. I hope that you can appreciate my next posts like you have my previous ones. God bless you.

Strangebrew at ang Halaga ng Saya

Pasensiya na medyo matagal na rin akong hindi sumusulat dito ah. Nakakain kasi ang oras ko nga mga kung anu-ano sa eskuwela. Ang maganda naman doon, marami akong nakakalap na bagong pagkatuto na puwedeng pag-isipan. Kaya ito, mag-Filipino muna tayo.

Napanood niyo na ba iyong Strangebrew nina Tado at Erning, iyong pinalabas dati sa UNTV, tapos sa Studio 23? Sa nakaraan linggo kasi, nagkaroon ako ng pagkakataon na balikan iyong mga lumang episode nito. Natutuwa naman ako, kasi ang sasaya ng mga episode noon, at kakaiba rin talaga ang lapit nila sa pagkalap ng impormasyon sa pamamagitan ng mga panayam, at pag-arte nang nakakatawa. Kung ako sa inyo, papanoorin ko ngayon iyong mga lumang episode noon sa Youtube. May naglagay.

Kaya bigla naman akong nahumaling muli sa Strangebrew ay sa klaseng Filipino kasi namin, naisip namin ng kaklase kong si Jico na iyon ay gawing presentasyon sa isang sagala sa loob ng paaralan. Subalit, bago namin ito magawa, kailangan namin makumbinsi ang kagawaran na may kahalagahan ang napili naming tema para sa manoonood na Pilipino. Naisip namin na baka naman may matututunan ang manonood sa kung anu-anong pinag-uusapan sa Strangebrew. Totoo naman, na sa dinami-raming nironda nina Tado, marami nga namang matututunan ang mga manonood hinggil sa Maynila at iba pang lugar, sa nakakatawang paraan pa. Matutuwa na nga sila, matututo pa ng bago. O 'di ba? Puwedeng puwede?

Kaso, naisip ko rin na sa kahit anong bagay naman may matututunan ka 'di ba? Kahit na yata sa simpleng pagkain ng tsokolateng Magic Flakes, may matututunan kang bago 'di ba, kahit gaano kaliit? 'Di ba? TAMA! Kaya ito, kailangan pa naming isipin kung ano ang iba pang kahalagahan ng Strangebrew.

Bakit nga ba pinapanood ang Strangebrew? Dahil kay Tado 'di ba? Dahil kay Erning 'di ba? Dahil kay Jun Sabayton at Ramon Bautista 'di ba? TAMA! Natutuwa talaga tayo sa kakaibang lapit ng Strangebrew sa mga pinakakaraniwang bagay. Nakakatuwa siya. Papanoorin ba natin ang palabas na iyon kung gusto lang natin matuto ng tungkol sa Tubero, Barko, at MRT? Malayo yatang magkaganoon. Sobrang astig ng pagkakagawa ng Strangebrew kaya tayo na-hook. Iilan lang ang kagaya ng Strangebrew kaya natin siya pinanood. Bago ang konseptong iyon noong panahong iyon, at natuwa tayo. Masaya lang tayong panoorin iyon.

Ba't nga ba ako naghahanap pa ng ibang kahalagahan? Napakahalaga nga pala ng kasiyahan, lalo na kung kakaiba ito. 'Di ba nga ang karamihan ng tao, naghahanap lang ng kasiyahan sa buhay? Iyong iba nga, kapag masaya na, wala nang ibang hinahanap eh.

Minsan, natatandaan ko, parang natanong ni Tado sa Strangebrew sa isang taong mahilig makipag-gagambahan (o larong pinaglalaban ang mga gagamba) kung ano ang maitutulong ng ginagawa niya sa bayan. Siguro, naisip ng taong iyon, kahit hindi niya marahil nasabi, na "Masaya ito eh." Iyon na iyon.

Kaya kapag oras mo nang matanong ukol sa ginagawa mo, huwag kang mag-alinlanngang sabihing, "Masaya eh," lalo na kung ito ang totoo.