The Unprepared Filipinos

We cannot deny the fact that when nature’s turn, it is very hard to predict but as what Philippines is experiencing that we always embrace more than 20 typhoons a year and yet, we still remain unprepared.

image from Google

A few weeks ago, East Coast was hit by the phenomenal Super Storm Sandy and yet their death toll is far from what you expect when there comes a strong typhoon most especially if you compare it in our state. What’s the magic? Their population is a bit larger than us and hitherto we still have this same devastation after a strong storm. In the Editorial Section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (pardon me because I can’t remember who said the statement) one said that we Filipinos are used to say that “it’s just a storm, we are Filipinos”. The mentality of being “used to it” seems to be irrelevant now. Filipinos has a strong personality, very courageous, knows how to handle situations and devastation but the mindset of each individual has already been clogged. For instance, Typhoon Ondoy killed thousands of innocent people living a trace of tragedy all over the state and in each emotion of every individual but a few months has passed; another typhoon hit the state and the same catastrophe was experienced. When will we learn?

The government never failed to warn the citizens pertaining to this topic, over and over again and we haven’t still change. The saddest part is, we blame them for the matter. We just don’t simply blame and pin point names because in the first place we have to cooperate nevertheless we just ignore what they say. Typhoon Sendong shocked Cagayan de Oro and Iligan when it washed away all of its belongings including lives and properties living only muddy and wrecked surfaces. This cataclysm denotes how unwary we are. I know that we didn’t expect such tragedy and we even can’t imagine that higher places were also devastated. Time is changing and storms are getting stronger. We have to be prepared. We have to learn from the past because the worst is yet to come.

Becoming a Saint

Last October 21, 2012 new Saints were declared by the Pope Benedict XVI and with this, another Filipino is now a Saint. St. Pedro Calungsod is the 2^nd Filipino saint in which he was originated in Cebu but have you questioned yourself on what is the process of becoming a saint? How saints become saint? But one thing is for sure, the Church does not create saints.

St. Pedro Calungsod

Canonization is the certified process of declaring an individual a saint but before the year 1234, the Church doesn’t have a formal process as what we have today. The martyrs and others who recognize as holy were declared by saints after their death.

In 1234, a procedure was established to investigate the life of a candidate and any miracles he/she attributed before he/she will be declared as saint. In 1588, a council was entrusted to the entire process of canonization and it is called the Congregation of Rites but now called as the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and in the beginning of the year 1634, various Popes had revised by process.

The Holy See Press Office in Vatican City through the Vatican Information Services had made public the following note in the current beatification and canonization procedures in September 12, 1997.

The current canonization process is enclose in the Divinus Perfectionist Magister in which was contained in the Apostolic Constitution contains the process and procedures which should be followed. This was promulgated by Pope John Paul II on January 25, 1983.

The Process

1. It is necessary that the candidate should have passed at least 5 years to begin the cause. This is required so that the emotions will be dissipated and a bigger balance and neutrality would be achieved in evaluating the case.

2. The responsible for the opening of the investigation is the bishop of the diocese. The diocese, parish, religious congregation or association which is also called the promoter group will ask the bishop for the opening of the investigation and once the nulla osta (no impediment) of the Holy See will be obtained, diocesan tribunal will be formed for this purpose.

At this state, all witnesses are called before the tribunal to detail all concrete facts to support the exercise of Christian virtues which is considered as heroic by the candidate. The virtues are ‘theological’ and ‘cardinal’ and all the data and documents collated pertaining to the candidate should be gathered. At this point, the candidate will receive the title Servant of God.

3. When the investigation is finish, the documents will be submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints for evaluation. The Positio will undergo a theological examination by the nine theologians who will giver their votes. If majority wins, the cause will be passed to the cardinals and bishop for the examination which is also members of the congregation. They will hold 2 meeting in a month and if their judgment is affirmative, the results of the entire process will be presented by the Holy Father which approves to draft the virtual decree. The public reading and promulgation of the verdict follows.

4. In beatification, a miracle attributed to the Servant of God should be verified after his/her death is very necessary. It must be proven through the appropriate canonical investigation. The Holy Father will decide on beatification is the 2 decrees are promulgated which regards the heroic virtues and miracles of the candidate. In this stage, the candidate will receive the title Blessed.

5. In canonization, another miracle is again needed which should be occurred after his/her beatification. To affirm the miracles, the same procedures are as followed for beatification. In this stage, canonization is understood as the recognition of public worship in the Universal Church. With canonization, the Blessed acquires the title Saint.

The long process for becoming a saint sometimes takes a decade, luckily for those who only take 5 or several years. For instance, Sister Teresa when she was a candidate was directly jump in the canonization stage because her supporters pushed Vatican to waive the 5 year rule and late in 1999, the Pope relinquish the 5-year rule and allowed Mother Teresa to begin in the canonization process.

The Catholic Churh had already canonized 3000 people and still counting. Some of are still on process for beatification or canonization and 1 thing is sure, being a Saint is not an award, it is a blessing which denotes that you are in heaven with the Creator. The saints that we today pray for deserves in their position. Saints are there for us to follow what they did when they was still walking in this land, we should emulate their heroic deeds and promulgate love, peace, happiness and charity and hope.

Reference:

http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap070400.htm#ap070402

http://people.howstuffworks.com/question6191.htm

http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0136.html

Anonymous Philipines hacked BSP and MWSS

Yesterday last night, September 26, 2012 (Wednesday) hackers who call themselves as the “Anonymous Philippines” have smeared a government website namely the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) in protest of the new bill, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 or in layman’s term, the Cybercrime Law.

Anonymous Philippines alleged that this new Act wills to “effectively ends” the Article 3, Section 4 of the 1987 Philippines Constitution or the Freedom of Expression which they called to revise that punishes online defamation. Adopting an “80 year-old antiquated libel laws” disappoints Anonymous Philippines for applying this out-of-date system.

Before the BSP recouped their website today (12:26 AM via Rappler), the website was welcomed by a banner with the group name of the hacker and stated their appeal by changing the site’s homepage into a protest one.

“The Philippine Government has just passed a bill that effectively ends the Freedom of Expression in the Philippines.

Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 is the most notorious act ever witnessed in the cyber-history of the Philippines, and the language of the bill is cunningly designed to make you think it only applies to individuals who are deep in cyber-technology and doesn’t apply to everyone, but some part of the bill basically says that it can imprison anyone who commits libel either by written messages, comments, blogs, or posts in sites such as Facebook, Twitter, or any other comment-spaces of other social media in the Internet.

New technologies give us new opportunities to connect a lot of people not only in this country but all over the world. They can also provide us with a medium through which our political, public and even private views can have an immediate and direct impact on individuals, communities and even countries. It is just disappointing that out government, in adopting an our 80-year-old antiquated libel laws to the Cybercrime Laws, again seems to have retarded our march with the rest of the world with respect to giving full force to the people’s freedom of expression.

We ask for a revision of the said bill for the betterment of the Filipino denizens.

 

Protect our right to Freedom of Expression!”

According to Rappler, after BSP have recovered their control on their website which is visited by international bankers and finance manager, minutes later the Philippine Anti-Piracy Team and the American Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines was also victimized by the same hackers.

As a result, “Anonymous Philippines” and “BSP” was a trending topic in the social networking site: Twitter. A twitter user tweeted that “it only shows how low our security is”.

Reference: http://www.rappler.com/nation/13142-bsp-site-hacked-to-protest-cybercrime-law

A view from the controversial BILL.

image from Google.com

Women, men and even teenagers are a bit confuse on what will this RH Bill bring in our state because there is an overload of information coming from the media and for those who have already the knowledge has by now its own bet, whether they are ANTI or PRO but RH Bill has place the state’s so called “Christian country practices” into a test. From this status, ANTIs and PROs started debating on this matter.

PRO’s side

Standing from the reason of “poverty”, PROs believe of “massive population is the cause of poverty”. True, yet there are a lot of contradictions on what they believe. While I was surfing Facebook on anything that can quench my boringness, a status caught my attention. The status came from a writer and was once an Editor-in-Chief on our school’s student publication and he stated that “If the church will go up against the RH Bill, then they should find a way to solve the nation’s augmenting poverty”. The quote was not exactly what the user’s status but its thought is what the quoted part denotes.

The population really affects the state’s economy and of course in the field of improvement and on the undying social problem which is “poverty”. For instance, China’s “1 child policy” may sound vindictive but it actually helps its nation to improve in all aspects in the economy.  Philippines of course would not emulate China’s rule but if we really internalize what their state is implementing, it is actually the foremost purpose why their nation is improving. According to one of the articles I’ve read in the latest issue of our official student publication, the Capitol Chronicle (Volume 24 No. 1 June-August 2012) entitled “Two Cents on RH Bill” written by Charlie Simon with interviews by Jocef Ian Rama, the Dean of the College of Nursing, Dean Fidela Ansale said that the terms of the bill is to improve and promote the health and wellness of the people athwart of the lifespan of an individual. In general, the bill not only focuses on family planning but also the wellness of every entity.

ANTI’s side

It was stated, “go to the world and multiply”. As a Christian Country, we believe that God created each individual for a specific purpose. Every purpose is in good intentions. When we see it as not a ‘good intension’ it is because we are blinded by our emotions. In connection, at the moment of conception of a sperm and an egg cell, God had created the very young and delicate fertilized egg its purpose and as what the opposing team sees on the bill, there’s no need for us to control our population for the sake of solving ‘poverty’.

The church views on this bill as what I’ve read and heard through articles on newspapers and on television is an “abortifacient” which implies a type of process or seldom, a drug used to kill a fetus or a cause of abortion (The Pocket Webster School and Office Dictionary: 1990). Churches most especially on Christian countries which of course practicing ‘Christian living’ only concur “natural family planning”. Some says that “population” does not affect the state’s economy and not a major source of poverty, believing that “there are no enough jobs” is the reason why our country is still experiencing this undying social problem which started centuries ago.

To ponder

Philippines have been facing a lot of problems. From the conflict between China, the augmenting crime rate, the increasing number of deaths because of dengue, the garbage, graft and corruption, and this Reproductive Health Bill. As a citizen living in the lower class, I am still hoping for the upcoming era that the nation’s undying problem will soon be in part of the Philippines history and a new Philippines will be born. From these impediments, we will much more appreciate our triumph.

How about you? What’s your take in the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill)?

Bumalik na po KAMI

Kaugnay sa selebrasyon ng Buwan ng Wika, ang artikulong ito ay buong puso kong isunulat ayon sa napapanahong problema ng ating bayan, hindi muna ito sa mga bagay na hindi masyadong napapansin kundi ito muna sa isyung mas dapat pag tuonan ng pansin ngayon dahil sa matinding epektong naidudulot nito sa atin.

Itong artikulong ito ay ang aking kauna-unahang komentaryo na nasa wikang Filipino. Gayon pa man, hindi nawawala ang mga mensahe at aral na aking maihahatid sa aking mga taga basa. Sana kayo ay masiyahan at mahinuha sa iyong sarili ang kahalagahan ng ating wika at ng ating bayan, lalong-lalo na kang inang kalikasan.

Bumalik na po KAMI

Sabi nga ng mga matatanda, “kung ano ang itinanim, siya rin ang aanihin”. Ang mga katagang ito ay hindi lamang sumasalamin sa katandaan ng panahon kundi ang kahalagahan ng pangangaral na siya nga namang nagpatunay sa mga nakalipas na panahon, mapa-personal man o panlipunan, sibilyan man o politiko, mayaman man o mahirap, ang mga pangaral na ito ay sadyang hindi namimili ng tao.

Sa mga nagdaang linggo ay nakaranas ang Pilipinas ng kalat-kalat na pag ulan sa buong bansa, hindi lamang ito isang ordinaryong ulan na maari tayong maging kampante kundi maaring maglagay sa ating mga buhay sa alanganin. Naglaon, nalaman ng buong bansa na ang hanging Habagat ang siyang nagdadala ng malakas na hangin at ulan na siyang naging mitya ng malakas na alon sa Manila Bay.

image from Google

Kinalaunan, nagulantang ang buong bansa sa naging itsura ng Roxas Boulevard at Manila Bay na siyang natabunan ng lawak ng basura. Nag mistulang isang extension ng Manila Bay ang basura na siyang tumambad sa mga tao sa Kamaynilaan. Nag balik na nga sila.

Kung ano nga ang itinanim, siya nga talaga ang aanihin. Huwag sana nating isisi lahat sa gobyerno ang pangyayaring ito. Bumaha man ay hindi nila kasalanan sapagkat hindi sila ay salarin sa pangyayarin ito. Tayo pong mga tao. Tao rin po ako ngunit ako po ay may pangaral sa inyo, “ang responsabling Pilipino ay malinis na Pilipino”. Malinis man ho tayo sa kalooban at sa panlabas na anyo, sana naman ay pati sa kalikasan ay malinis rin tayo. Ang mga basurang gumulantang sa buong bayan ay nagpapahiwatig lamang na panahon na ng pagbabago at hindi ito magsisimula sa gobyerno o sa lipunan kundi ito ay nagsisimula sa ating mga sarili. Bumangon man tayong mga Pilipino sa matinding unos ng kalikasan, babalik at babalik din tayo sa trahedyang iyan kung ipagpapatuloy parin natin ang ating kapabayaan.

image from Google

Malupit man kung maningil ang inang kalikasan, mapipigilan din naman kung tayong mga tao ay magtutulungan.

the truth about mining

image from Google

We are all aware of one of the largest economic solution here in our state but these “economic solution” are diverge into two roads, one has a positive impact an of course the other one is negative. I’m talking about mining.

We citizens in this state don’t have enough background knowledge pertaining to this subject and by that “illiteracy” about mining makes our perception to mining more narrow.

Last June 9, 2012, I hurriedly went home after finishing some office matters to watch Ted Failon’s Failon Ngayon Special Report about mining and it is indeed an enriching episode and I commend the staffs for such an informative episode. Going back, this article was inspired by the show and most of the information cited below came from the show. Let us think what mining can gave us.

#Mining

Wikipedia define mining as “the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from ore body, lode, vein, reef which forms and package economic interest of the miner”.

In order to collect the minerals in a land, it is subject to remove the side waste material which is not really the direct interest of the miner. Furthermore, it will undergo to a mining process which is “the total removal of ore and waste. Also includes the removal of soil in some cases (Wikipedia)”.

When an individual wants to engage on the mining industry, he must locate an 18 million hectare land for him to start the business. With that vast land, a miner can have minerals such as: limestone, gold, nickel, chromites, metals or metal clay. Here in the Philippines, we have 68 companies who are engaged in mining. 33 of those are metallic mining and the remaining 35 are non-metallic mining companies. With these companies, only 2% is the excise tax that the local and national government can incur which is divided into two sectors. In lieu to that, the employees of the mining companies has a minimum wage of Php 250.00 a day

#Requirement2Operate

 

There are 3 requirements for a company to operate and 2 of that (1) is to have a management plan and (2) to give prior consent for the community that belongs to the land area that the mining company will operate. As cited in the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Chapter III Sec. 16 “No Ancestral land shall be opened for mining operations without the prior consent of the indigenous cultural community concern”. In lieu to that, the Tigil Mina Group expressed their dismay by saying “Gulatan ang style”. The spokesperson of the group added that with this type of strategy, the indigenous community can’t do a thing for the surprise operation.

In the other hand, we have 3 pillars to title a mining company a “Responsible Miners”.  The first pillar, “it should have a positive effect in the economy”. Second, It’s environmental aspect and concerns on the land that the mining company is operating and lastly, it should have a “social development towards the community” in the nearby or nearest community.

#Issues

Though it may sound a little bit of relief in our economy, mining is also facing a lot of issues and the two of those issues is the environmental issues and health issues.

Environmental Issue

contaminated water (photo from Google)

It is no surprise that most of us know what are the negative impact that mining would gave us. The popular issues pertaining to environmental issues are soil erosion which is obviously flaunt in mining areas, forest logging, contamination of the soil and ground water and even the contamination of the coral reefs. The ocean is now affected by this because of the release of hazardous chemicals from mining most especially those who operates near the river banks or ocean.

Health Issue

One of the most catastrophic mining incidents in history of Philippine Mining was on March 1996 which was marked as the “Mine Tailing Incident” wherein the victims of this incident were exposed and contaminated by a hazardous chemical known as Arsenic and it led the victims to a serious infection referred as Arsenical Keratosis. Health issues are one of the serious problems that the state is facing. These affect the health of the local population which is caused by the hazardous chemicals that the mining company releases.

**These companies are bound to follow the rules and regulation to minimize the impact of the human health but some of these laws implemented will not be enforced by the local and national government due to the developing world.

Moreover, if a mining company stops to operate it will leave the mining area total dump. Now, more than 5 companies were closed due to bankruptcy and lack of requirements. The mining area was left abandon and there are no chances to live in. The government stated that the total amount for rehabilitation would sum up to Php 300,000,000.00 which includes the eradication of the chemicals that was left on the area.

Come to think of it, our country is now developing but is mining a good solution to our economic problem?

Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining

                                 http://www.psdn.org.ph/chmbio/ra7942.html

                                 Ted Failon’s Failon Ngayon

The Pinoy Big Brother Teen Housemates

The Male housemates

 "Vince" (Vincent Buduan Manlapaz)

"Alec" (Alec Brandon Chai Dungo)

 "Tom" (Tom Johnson Doromal)

"Roy" (Roy Dela Cerna Requejo)

"Ryan" (Ryan M Boyce)

"Kit" (Keith San Esteban Thompson)















"Yves" (Yves Romeo C. Flores) 








  










The Female Housemates

  

 "Joj" (Joj Martin G Agpangan)








  


 
 
  "Claire" (Claire . Bercero)

















"Karen" (Karen Mae Reyes)

"Nikka" (Angelika Felize Barbaza Javier)














"Clodet" (Clodet Ann B. Loreto) 

"Mariz" (Mariz Bejer Raneses)

"Myrtle" (Myrtle Abigail Porlucas Sarrosa)
















"Jai"  (Jyra May G. Agpangan)















(photos and details from the official Pinoy Big Brother Facebook page and website)
 @johnpaulemilia

Pinoy Big Borther Conquered Twitter's TRENDING TOPICS

image from Google

Before Pinoy Big Brother Season 4 (and also Teen Edition 4) was televised on the global Television screens, Gandang Gabi Vice was named as the “Trending Capital” of the Philippines but now a new name was born, and of course it’s the Pinoy Big Brother.

The Trends

If you are a twitter addict, I’m pretty sure you always check those TRENDING TOPICS every now and then and you observed that if not #Uber2012, the name of the housemates is the Trending Topic or either the “word of the day”. The trending topic of Pinoy Big Brother can be seen everyday (wooohh!). Moreover, whether the topic is a negative or positive one, it still trends.

The Reality

            If you have been thinking why Pinoy Big Brother Trends always, then, we are on the same boat! Amidst the late time slot (for primetime episode) everyone is glued on their sits when the show starts. As an observation, it may be because of the genuine emotions, reactions, and attitudes of the housemates where in every individual can relate on each episode. And every episode of the show shows different problems that we also encounter. The situation may be a good one or the opposite, we can still relate to it. TRUE that “ito ang teleserye ng totoong buhay”

We Congratulate

            Every housemate has its own personality, and so are we.  We get easily connected to them for particular reason.  Thanks to the producer and the director of the show for bringing this show here in the Philippines and we wont sop checking our twitter homepage. Keep up the good work guys!

@johnpaulemilia

It’s more FUN in KAGAY-AN !!

image from Google

The Department of Tourism’s (DOT) tourism campaign, It’s More Fun in the Philippines went viral in the internet after it was launched and now, massive photos of Filipino culture, tradition and other remarkable events in the country had embedded the DOT’s slogan.

And since we are talking about FUN, well, it’s more fun in Cagayan de Oro! It is indeed a blessing to born in a place where you can experience enjoyment, from your early childhood to your late adulthood.

image from Google

To enumerate those stuffs: First and foremost, the White Water River Rafting which is a renowned river here in the Philippines; second is the undying support of fellow Kagay-anons during times of devastation; third, the abundant history and Kagay-an folklore and the preserve historical buildings that are still well taken care of and last but definitely not the least is the eternal faith of Kagay-anons that you can actually conclude when you passed by the old Cathedral church every Sunday where in vast of people are there to spare time for the Lord.

Moreover, when we define FUN, literally speaking, we are talking about enjoyment but if we go deep into the word, we can say that FUN is a matter of a person’s happiness during his childhood until the day that he will say goodbye and that’s what I am talking about. It’s more fun in Cagayan de Oro because I can actually feel that I have a sense of happiness every time I remember the things that Cagayan de Oro gave me and I did all my best to give back what this city gave me.

I hope that each one of us has shared already the beauty of our city and I hope that we have paid what this beautiful city gave us.

Good day and have a happy weekend :D

STRESS does MATTER

Life is full of twists and turns and one of the abhorrent things when you encountered that route is stress. Let us all admit that each one of us have already encountered STRESS but the difference is, not all of us understands stress. Stress is not always bad, it is sometimes good in our day to day life but the reason why it becomes negative is that it overcomes us and we make it as a daily habit or routine.

image from Google

            Stress may sound terrifying especially for those individuals who have jobs and for those who do not have. It is because; work is usually a cause of stress. Moreover, in the modern society, stress is now an inch away from us. Our lives now are full of deadlines, anxiety, hassles and nuisance. We may think that the rising technology of today’s generation have gone too far (and cool), think again because it is also one of the root causes of stress. Almost a lot of things that the world and individuals produces nowadays can now be a reason of stress problems.

            Moving on, stress have produces a lot of good and positive effects on the human being and the best example is “striving hard to earn high grades”. Some students reflect studying as a STRESS (so am I. HAHA) and ridiculous but the truth is, studying and making projects and homework for deadlines motivates individuals to strive hard. It helps you to perform under pressure and motivates you to do your best.

            On the contrary, the negative effect dominates an individual. Stress is usually emotional but in some cases, it can also be physical or both at the same time. There are a lot of things that would happen when an individual is engaged to the negative side and the worst scenario that would happen is suicide. It is indeed a very serious problem but stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset but supposedly, we should learn how to handle it and we should know what are the symptoms of this “life-or-death” situation.

 Below are the lists of common stress symptoms:

• ·         Memory problems
• ·         Inability to concentrate
• ·         Seeing only the negative
• ·         Constant worrying

Those are the symptoms of cognitive stress while the emotional symptoms are

• ·         Moodiness
• ·         Irritability
• ·         Inability to relax
• ·         Depression

The aforementioned are the common symptoms that overcomes an individual and it is said that the more signs you notice to yourself, the closer you may be prone to stress overload.

            Each individual should know what are the causes of stress. As I mentioned earlier, technology is now a part of the root cause but there are still a lot of reasons why stress occurs and one of the reasons are (1) Financial Problems, which usually encounters almost all citizens of every country, (2) Work and (3) Relationship difficulties. Those are the external causes of stress. On the other hand, internal causes are (1) Perfectionism, (2) Unrealistic Expectations and (3) Negative Self-Talk. The causes of stress are unpredictable and some of them occur very often and an individual should learn how to handle it.

image from Google

            Handling stress is not as easy as singing ABCD, especially when it is already your daily routine or it has been occurring almost everyday. It takes time for you to handle it and the easiest and simplest form of handling stress is by RELAXATION. Relaxation means a lot for a person who thinks they are stress. Sparing a little time for yourself is enough for you to recover from your stressful life. Once you have already manage to give yourself a break and you give time for relaxation, learn to change your thoughts and point of view of life. Spare some time for your family, friends and colleagues because they are the persons who can give you a LOT of advices for you to change your stressful life. SO that step by step, you can change your hassle life to a new optimistic one.

Reference:

http://helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm