Underdevelopment in the Philippines

by B.P. Familara (2013)

We live in a country that is struggling to rise from the ashes of poverty. A country that was exploited by the whites for the last four hundred years and undergone a series of wars. We were educated far beyond what is needed for development. Spaniards tough us to be afraid of the friars, memorize prayers, and live with the gospels of the saints. Americans, indeed help us to uplift the kind of life we have today. They introduced public education system that was patterned to them. They make sure that the Filipinos are educated according to their will. The downside of this is that, they miseducate us. They let us forget who we are and forcibly change our customs.

Americans flooded our country by their products and spare no one in making their local business to grow. We became a country of buyers wherein we buy more that we produce. Our economy used to be very dependent to the economy of America, but this path slowly fades nowadays.

On the past centuries, the pillars of economy and socio-political have collapsed that makes the gap between rich and poor wider. The rich becomes richer while the poor becomes poorer.  If we illustrate, we could draw a triangle divided into three. The upper is the rich  /BILL PATRICK FAMILAR (c) /people, the middle is the working class, and the bottoms are the urban and rural poor. The unequal distribution of wealth in our country affects great to the development of our economy. The amount of assets that our economy produces is not enough to follow the level of sophistication of the technology that is being used by the mainstream. The result of this is that our locally made product cannot compete to the world market due to the durability and price differences, imported good often cheaper than homegrown / locally produced goods, that often resulting to bankruptcy of local businesses.

This event creates a vicious circle or what other may say, poverty trap. We study hard, but when we graduate there are lesser opportunities on the field that can be found in our country. It is for the reason that we have a mismatch labor force in our society. We produce more scholastic graduates like accountants, engineers, nurses, and ITs but what our country really needs are the skilled labor force that can easily fit in to the needs of in the country and overseas.

History and Underdevelopment

 By B.P. Familara (2013)

After World War 2, most of the countries in Asia, America and European countries were destroyed. Far East Asia and the Pacific territories were greatly affected as the bombing persist decades long. Major cities were bombed like Hiroshima, Pearl Harbor and Manila. Korea and Vietnam were in great tension when the spread of communism spreads and civil wars broke in. This was the darkest time in eastern and south eastern part of Asia.

Before the war, there were only few countries developed faster in terms of economy; Japan who leads in Asian industrialization, China who leads in wide range trade across Asia, Europe and Americas and Philippines that has a strong tight to its central government, the United States.

Philippines used to be one of the most powerful countries in Asia next to Japan. Korea was stocked on a very traditional country as well as Vietnam and Thailand. After the mass destruction of the main cities and the collapsed of the economic foundation resulted by the aftermath of the war, each countries had a hard time to re-establish it. Series of trials of different economic ideals and theories were tried. Some, closed its doors to the world and some let it opened so many foreign direct investments would come to aid the large scarce of the resource, the funds.

During Marcos time, The Philippines was one of the leading countries that can cope up and re-established its economic foundations. With the help of his wife, got very strong ties to the Arab countries that main product is oil. He successfully invited many foreign investors and the economy float.

Fifty years have passed; this was altered when series of unhealthy government and weak governance took over the country. The Philippines was left behind from its neighboring country. China, South Korea and Japan are now the largest manufacturers of electronic devices that is being used around the world. Thailand and Vietnam surpasses Philippines in terms of Economic advancement which are still stocked on agricultural economy.

There are many factors to consider why this event happened. First, the culture, does the history of the country affects the attitudes of the people? My answer is yes. It is because for almost 400 years, the Philippines were under many colonizers like Spain, Britain, Japan and America. We were taught to be workers and the idealism of pwede na yan were e inculcated to our mind that hinders perseverance in terms of development.

PH’s Economic Development History

by Bill Patrick Familara (2013)

Long before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippine archipelago, the natives have already a socio-political and economic system. Tribes are trading to each other and the foreign relations have been established as free trade is already being done with the neighboring kingdoms and empires like China, Indochina and people from Malay Archipelago. This is in the form of a barter system. In Barter system, people do not use notes and/ or currency to exchange goods and services. What they do is exchanging a good that has the same value to other. For example, I will trade my carabao to you in exchange of 15 sacks of rice. This kind of economic system have been used until the late 1600 when the Kingdom of Spain finally took control on the Philippine Archipelago but limited to the Kingdom of Sulu that was reigned until 1962.
When the Kingdom of Spain successfully took over the archipelago, they established an economic system that brought progress and growth to the colony’s economy. The Manila- Acapulco Galleon Trade opened new opportunities to the Indios to acquire new knowledge and skills. This Galleon trade last until 1815 when the Mexican War of Independence put a permanent stop to the galleon trade route. This marked the first time trade truly became global, wherein Asian goods /BILL PATRICK FAMILARA (c)/ were sold to Latin America. It's the first instance in human history when all trade-routes across the planet interlinked, arguably making Manila the world's first Global City and the Manila Galleon route the prototype for global trade.

During the time of the galleon trade, Manila was exclusively trading its goods to Acapulco and limited to the rest of the world. When the Kingdom of Spain was defeated by the British Kingdom, Manila opens its trade to the world market. Thus, the exchange of goods and services expands to the rest of the world. That we could see Manila as the only progressive city in Las Islas Filipinas for the reason that the existence of Hacienda system is being observed and the monopoly of a certain product like Tobacco, Corn and Sugar cane are the only products being produced in the large part of the Filipina Archipelago. This kind of system hinders to the economic development of the provinces.

After the Treaty of Paris, The Republica de Filipinas fall under the control of the United States and successfully established new and modern economic system, adapting what is being used in European and American countries. United States flooded the Filipino Market by their products. They redressed the Philippines from a medieval like society into Americanized one. They introduced more diverse and free trade but limited to the United States market.

After World War 2, The Philippines finally got its independence to the United States. But this time, the capital city was fully devastated by the war. The economy of the newly recognized country had collapsed. And the role of the government is to re-established to fundamental pillars of the economy.
In Marcos time, The Philippines was considered as one of the most progressive country in terms of economy next to Japan. The Bagong Lipunan trend was introduced and said “Ang Pilipinas ay Muling Dadakila”. He established strong foreign economic relations to the far eastern or West Asian countries. Thus, strong foreign direct investments were put in the country’s economy. Series of building new infrastructures like bridges, roads, convention centers, trains helped allot especially on the issue of unemployment when thousands of Filipinos were employed that time.

After what they so-called successful peaceful revolution, Cory Aquino was proclaimed as the new president of the republic. On her time, the economy of the country was freeze. Series of insurgences occurred that resulted to the collapsed of the basic economic foundations of the country. That time, the whole archipelago undergone on a dark age like period.

Nowadays, after the former president Gloria Macapagal Aroyo successfully rebuild and re-established the fundamentals of the Philippine economy. The current presedent is in easy term on facilitating and keeping this track into a good way.

(sorry for grammatical errors)

The Kasambahay Law

This info-graphic material is prepared by Rose-An Jessica Dioquino  and designed by Analyn Perez for GMA News and cited from the Official Gazette (www.gov.ph)

Our Love of Democracy

We celebrate 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution every year to commemorate our recovery of democracy from the Martial Law imposed by the late President Marcos in the 21th day of September 1972. We often reminisce how our countrymen gather together in EDSA to protest and to remove dictator from the office. Every year local TV channels are airing a documentary programs that tells the success of the what we so-called peaceful revolution. Almost 41 years ago today, the spirit of democratic ideals and our love for democracy is still life a wild-fire that burning our heart. They say it was a successful political reformation and rehabilitation, but is it? Yes, the succeeding administration changes all officials but it doesn’t last long. Today, same old names can be seen our government and those who was rid during the Cory Administration successfully back into action.

The 1986 EDSA PPR is not really a successful paradigm shift, but the Martial Law is. When Marcos announced to the public the Proclamation No. 1081, the whole Philippine Archipelago was under Martial Law. Few weeks later, the new draft of the constitution that contains almost everything that the late president wanted including the right to legislate for the duration of the emergency, that emergency lasted long enough to become the New Society. The newly implemented constitution was amended to enable the president to continue issuing presidential decrees that intended to reform the Philippine Society. It was known as the “Bagong Lipunan” movement that aimed to modernize the Philippines.

The Catholic Church and the US Government is silent during that time. That was the church way of disclaiming any participation and association to its members that joins in growing number of protesters. The US government seems to be in favor to the Martial Law due to its silence.

It was during the Martial Law, series of major changes in our foreign policies was implemented. Greater liberalization of foreign investments was made and implemented that would let foreign investors to establish their business inside the country easily. After the expiration of Laurel-Langley agreement, the supreme court ordered the turn-over of American nationals own lands to the Filipinos as part of the reforming the Philippine society.

In short, Martial Law was born in a society that was thought to be resistant to authoritarianism. Martial Law made a great impact to us that strengthen our love of democracy. We may be a victim of the abuses that have been done during that what we called dark years of our country, but it serves as a bridge to have a true meaning of paradigm shift, that was not really happened after EDSA revolution, that was simply disregarded as we became paranoid to protect our democracy.

We always think that authoritarianism was bad and abusive but we forgetting the simple truth that democracy may not be felt by the majority of the people living in poverty line as it in favors to the well-off citizens and the few elites who ran the economy.

Martial Law is now part of history, as well as what we so-called Peaceful Revolution” the 1986 People Power.  Both have a great contribution to our history but were the People Power really succeeds to get its primary goals in resetting our Political System? 

Irrational in Politics

Media is one of the biggest factors why there are many irrational in our politics. In decades, media people always talked about Imelda Marcos, how she dressed, and how elegant she was during the time of the Marcos Era and the late president Cory Aquino especially when the 1st EDSA Revolution celebration is near. Documentaries about the Marcoses and the Aquinos often aired on televisions. We can see the influence of the two in our society there are what we called Imeldific and the color of Yellow that symbolizes unity, courage and democracy. These two people have what we called “Appeal or Charm” which we could not deny that they give great contribution and influence to the people.

Our politics, nowadays, is exhausted of charismatic leaders. We have presidents, senators down to the lowest government position that loved by the people. Erap Estrada for example, an actor, college drop-out was elected as the president of our country and should have won again in the 2010 presidential election if Cory Aquino did not died that resulted to the candidacy of her son Noynoy Aquino. We already known Erap, how he run the government and how he handles issues in our country. Despite of this, still 9,487,837 (according to 2010 election results) people wanted Erap be back in the office. It only means that Erap magic is not dead, magic in the sense that his charismatic appeal to the people is still strong.

As an educated person we don’t only consider the charismatic side of any political candidate. We often demand public debates and political platforms for every candidate in order to ensure that we can choose the right person that we will elect. But we should put in our mind that almost people living in poverty line is much bigger than us. They don’t care about the credentials and the political capability of the person to lead but they usually look into a good looking, charming and already known people they also tend to choose people based on a certain characteristics that respond to their own unrecognized desires. That is the reason why there are many politicians in the country came from the showbiz industry like Erap, and the Revilla clan. The candidates used this charm to win the seat of the office.

In politics, it is not enough to be bright or intelligent, it is also important to have the right faces, faces in terms of personal appeal to others. It is also the reason why the candidates often get celebrities to campaign them for the election, they using the charm or the appeal of the artist to gain popularity. We can’t take away irrational in politics, but we can get along with it and learn how to deal with it so we can still choose a good leader that will serve to their fellowmen seriously and wholehearted.

Why We Elect Bad Leaders

We always get mad and some do a rally whenever a government official both local and national commits mistakes. Their lack of good governance is the first thing we pinpoint every time we complain. The question is who are the one responsible why that official is in the office? Why we keep electing bad leaders? We are the one who elected them to be our leader. It is because our attention easily shifts easily. We easily forget what bad things they have done to our society. We just elect them without considering his/her political maturity and credentials as well as their moral background. We elect leaders who are popular and come from a prominent family and not who is right and credible to be on those positions. We elect people who come from the world of show business, an actor, singer comedian or whatever it is that does not have a background in leading.

Every election period, we encounter the same people running for the same seat. We encounter same surnames on the posters that are posted on the streets. The most popular is the political gimmicks of the politicians that wanted to gather sure votes on the Election Day.

Poverty and lack of education is the key of every politician’s success. They do everything in order pleased people. Many are engaging in vote buying and false promises that the ordinary poor will bite on the ploy.
We can see, our politics is celebrity-oriented, from the from barangay captain to the president. In Bacoor, one family is almost controlling the city. They are from the most prominent family in the country and a family of celebrities. They already build a dynasty, a political dynasty that must be destroyed. I am not against to them, but on the mere fact that their family is almost controlling our city is not good to hear. The mayor did many good things especially on the development of our municipality especially during the process of being a city during his term and I commend him on that.

I believe that there are many aspiring leaders in our society that was not given any chances to lead. Every election is just the battle of the power and popularity. We forget to set criteria in selecting a new leader, a leader that will surely do his responsibility for the betterment of our country and to be committed to give quality service.

This election, let’s try to think seriously and decide who is the right people to put in the position.

It's About Charter Change

Charter change commonly known as cha-cha is an issue that can be traced back since 1998 during the last few months of Pres. Ramos in office.  This is not an issue of amendment of the constitution and what the law in the country allows but the morality behind the real motives why the president wanted to have this cha-cha.

According to the people who are against cha-cha, it is just a move of the outgoing president to prolong their power just like what Marcos did especially when he tried to have a permanent dictatorship over the country.  And according to the church leaders during the time of Ramos that it is just a part of the ploy to keep him in office when his term expires.

The political perspective argues that the constitutions must express the will of the people. As a democratic country, the people have the right to amend the constitution in accordance to the law. By this the amendment of the constitution should be for the benefit of all and not for a specific person.

The question is what is the rationale of the government to decide to amend the constitution? Yes, there are many social issues that our country is facing right now. Charter change may be helpful in solving this issue but the truth lays on the good governance of f our leaders. San Marino, a country inside Italy has the oldest constitution still in effect until now, dated back 1600. Their constitution is very old but why they did not even tried to change it? The reason might be they have a good leaders and law abiding citizens. They just upgrading and adding some provisions to their constitution but the total revision of it as a whole is not been put in their mind.

They say that cha-cha is needed by the Filipinos, is it? It is no matter what constitution we have if the leaders of our country don’t even respect it and protect it, it is nothing. The main idea is that we Filipino must protect value and follow our constitution as well our country with all our heart and our entire straight that good given to us.

Remoralizing the Goverment

The graft or corruption didn’t exist before. Public officers are expected to get money and enrich their wealth from the taxes of the people and do not give the needs of his followers. It was not illegal. There was no graft in the conventional society that was ruled by customs. We can review our history that there are no public officers that was put into jail because he uses the money of the people for their personal stuffs. But it is always immoral.

In modern times, way back at the start of heating of the fire of nationalism, democracy and other ideology, morality took over legality. Most immoral acts (depends on the culture) was illegalized. That was the time when graft became illegal.

In the Philippines, many issues regarding with the dishonesty of the public official to their fellowmen can be read and hear in the public media. Series of exposé has been published in the news papers and been aired on TV and radio. One of the hit news about this is the cases of our former presidents namely, the late Ferdinand Marcos, Erap Estrada, and Congw. Glora Aroyo. Though Erap case is different, I may say that it also degrades the dignity of us, Filipino as a Nation. Marcos and Aroyo, both are excellent presidents of our country tried to rebuild our nation. They both have brilliant programs that supposedly   lift our state from the ashes of poverty, but it all went wrong. Funds that were lend from the other countries and other international funding organizations were misused and suspiciously lost. Overpricing of materials and ghost projects have been reported and exposed to the people. Though these presidents somehow does not involved in such issues, the mere fact that it happens under their administration, as the head of state, it reflects how they are serving the country.

Due to this issue, the government is very serious fighting this kind of corruption in all public offices. Laws was passed the “REPUBLIC ACT No. 3019 also known as ANTI-GRAFT AND CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT of 1960”  that will punish and imprison all public officials that will commit such action. Two former presidents were put in jail after the court proved that they’ve stolen money from the government’s funds.

According to the report of ABS-CBNnews.com in 2009, The Philippines ranked 139th among 180 countries included in the index, up from its previous 141st ranking in 2008. The nation scored 2.4 in the TI index, compared to 2.3 in 2008, which ranked it equal to Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Baltic state of Belarus.

The current administration is very serious in cleansing the government and uplifting the country’s dignity that is almost 10 feet off the ground due to corruption. People became conscious to the action of their leaders, and the people themselves are the one who do the report whenever they saw or know any anomalies in the government.

It is the time for us to reshape our future. We should change ourselves for the betterment of the succeeding generation.

Sexualization of Children

By B.P. Familara

I often hear in the news about rape cases involving the parent or other relatives of the victim.  Sexual abuses to the children almost reached in epidemic proportions. In every culture, we cannot hide the fact that pedophilia is present and happening. Many treat our child as a possession they think that they can do whatever they want to do to their child. No matter if it is already violating their human rights. But, the question is this, how we Filipino manage to hide its presence? Maybe our culture might be the answer.  We live in a society that strongly cares about what our neighbor say about us. We tend to hide us much as possible all the scandals or mistakes we have done to avoid to be the center of gossips and to protect our dignity.

Let’s see Sexualization of children in two perspectives.  First is in the viewpoints of the developed country and second in the developing country. In countries like America, and Japan, child prostitution is not because of poverty but because of the needs in material things. Long before, there was a cover of a Newsweek Magazine that places of interest in what it refers to “Japan’s dirty secret: Schoolgirls selling sex” that is known as enjo kosai (Assistance Friendship). According to the deputy director of Tokyo Metropolitan Police juvenile division as the Newsweek have quoted “It has to do with a longing of material things. It is not that they come from poor families who need to support themselves. They just want to have more and more” (PDI, 1996).  The greediness of material things and peer pressure brings them to prostitution just to get what they want.  Ours first came into public awareness in form of street-children of Matro Manila and the young boys of Pangsanjan (PDI, 1996). The recent news about this was broadcast on ABS-CBN on their TV Program Failon Ngayon that was air 2 years ago is about the boys in San Pedro town in Laguna province selling their bodies to homosexual for as low as 20 pesos. One boy has said that he is forced to allow himself to be used by gays for a very cheap price because he has no parents to depend on. Some are aware about the health risk regarding to that activities but they have no choice because they need money to buy food.

There was an incident in Belgium that results a large protest (300,000 people joined) that is known as White March against the sex crimes of children. It is the death of two young girls that was kidnapped and repeatedly raped by the kidnappers.  In the Philippines, I cannot remember that we have a large protest that condemns to any child abuses. Is our society ready to face and fight that problem that was rooted long before our forefathers?
_________________________

based on the article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer that was published last Dec. 29, 1996  with the same title

Understanding Poverty

by B.P. Familara

[A family living under the bridge of CAVITEX]

Poverty is an economic status of being poor. There are many factors why poverty exists. According to C. Wright Mills, an American sociologist, poverty has two main reasons why it exists these are the personal troubles and public issues. Personal troubles are the issues of every individual why they can’t find a job. Some are not qualified to the job they’re applying in, some are over qualified to have that job, but most often it is about the attitude of the person applying a job or their attitude towards work. For example, if the town has population of 200 and 180 of it is employed and only 20 are not. It is an issue that the government cannot do about because there are a lot of opportunities but these 20 unemployed might having a hard time in finding a job. In contrast to this, if 180 are unemployed and only 20 are employed this is what we called Public issue. This is a manifestation that the social structure of a society has been collapsed. There are many work forces but here are less job opportunities combined with some personal troubles.

Poverty in our country is a product of the two realities, the economic underdevelopment and the reality of inequality. The unequal distribution of wealth in our country affects great to the development of our economy. The rich becomes richer while the poor becomes poorer. The amount of assets that our economy produces is not enough to follow the level of sophistication of the technology that is being used by the mainstream. The result of this is that our locally made product cannot compete to the world market due to the durability and price differences, imported good often cheaper than homegrown / locally produced goods, that often resulting to bankruptcy of local businesses.

After world war two, Philippines are next to Japan in terms of economic development but the faith of our country is not that good as Japan.  The question lies on my mind how come we did not develop like Japan? Somehow, it lies on foreign relationship with the US. American put their Military bases that hindered us to explore our full potential. Our preferential agreement in the US market for Philippine sugar, for example, shielded the favored Filipino farmers from urgency of competition and modernization. Comparing the value of Peso to American dollars usually makes us blind to the real situation and to think an illusion of prosperity, prosperity that in reality we can’t even feel. We have not paid attention in the modernization of our agriculture industry and we did not even build more modern infrastructure. Our public education system before was farther good than the private educational institutions. However, we let it to be deteriorated. Nowadays, we choose to educate our children in private schools rather than in the public, thinking that they will be trained well in on that institution.

On the time of the presidency of Marcos, problems during his governance took over his efforts in economic development. He loaned billions of peso for the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, but the money was misused and the world economy entered into recession that resulted to our government cannot pay it. His modernization project also failed because it is untenable. Despite the fact that late President Marcos did wrong, we should honor him for his efforts to rebuild and develop our country, though it was not successful.

Our bad experiences during Marcos about modernization make us blind for the reality that we need a development. We became paranoid, our democratic rights and freedom. During the presidency of the first lady president, Cory Aquino, series of coups‘d’état hindered our economic development and frightens foreign investors to invest to our country.   This coup makes our economy frost while our population is growing fast. Thus, it results to social imbalance and the collapsed of our social structure.

The dilemma nowadays is that the growing economy cannot actually feel by the poor, but only by the few elites that actually controls it. Yes, after the first decade of the 21th century, and according to the news reports, our economy have grown and we are now 3^rd next to Thailand and China which is the 1^st in Asia’s fast growing economy.

The solution to those problem is to the government should provide and meet the basic needs of our society. By rebuilding social trust, the fight for corruption is one of the best example, and re-establishing the social structure of opportunities. Re-establishing it absolutely will produce more job opportunities, but it is still depending on the cooperation and participation of the people to this move.

__________________________________________

This article is based on the article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer,on July 15, 2000 with the same title

Teachers as Leaders

by: B.P. Familara

Teaching as a form of leadership

Where we not just stand in front and teach

Instead we also guide and help them

To attain their goals and dreams

Let’s see teaching in another perspective

It’s not boring,

Not even easy

But teaching is a kind of leading

Doctors cure the sick

Engineers create something from the scrap

Lawyers and attorney help those in need

But teachers are the one how mold them to be.

Higanti

Isinulat ni B.P. Familara (2013)

Isang malakas na hangin ang nagsimulang umihip

Kalangitay nagdilim na pawang nagngangalit

Mga nanggugulat na kulog ang umalingawngaw sa paligid

Na nagbabadya ng isang paparating na panganib

At nagsimulang bumuhos ang mabigat na ulan

Mula sa tila ba’y galit na galit na kalangitan

Tubig sa kalupaa’y mabilis na tumaas

Na pawang nagnanais lunurin ang sanlibutan

Nagsisigawang mga tao ang maririnig sa paligid

Na nagmamakaawang mailayo sa panganib

Mala-karagadang paligid ang simulang mamutawi

Habang ang karamiha’y abala sa pagligtas ng sarili

Paghupa ng ulan ay isang masalimuot na tanawin

Na tila ba’y sinakluban ng langit at lupa ang buong paligid

Nagtumbang mga puno ang nakaharang sa kalsada

Makapal na putik naman ang naiwan sa mga tahanan

Hindi natin masasabi kung kalian at paano

Ang dapat lang natin gawin ay maghanda at manigurado

Na ating buhay ay mailayo sa piligro

Lalo na sa oras ng mapaghiganting dilubyo

IMPLICATIONS OF CELLULAR PHONE USE DURING CLASS IN THE PHILIPPINES

-May 17, 2012-

by: B.P. Familara

Cellular phone is one of the most rapidly growing and developing technologies in the world (Rebello, 2010). Developers and Manufacturers are in deep focus on how to keep their devices up to date that would soothe the needs of the people. 

Young generations adapt easily on the new trend of those kinds of devices. A study in Norway, for example, reported that almost 100% of 16 year-olds owned a cell phone in 2001 while less than 20% of 16 years olds owned them in 1997 (Ling, 2001). In Manila, 87% of the population who own cell phone are at the age of 20 and below (J. Toral, 2003)

In recent years, usage of cell phones became popular especially in students in high school here in the Philippines. Schools both in private and public institutions set some guidelines and limitations in bringing and usage of it inside the school premises.

Series of press release form DepEd and NGO’s concerning the effect of cell phone use have been done.

In 2009, DepEd Assistant Secretary Teresita Inciong quoted DepEd Order Numbers 83, series of 2003; 26 series of 2000 and 70 series of 1999, which state that DepEd strictly imposes a ban on the use of cell phones by students during class hours. The officials pinpointed that cell phones can be a helpful in study but it must not be done throughout class. The prohibition applies to elementary and secondary schools nationwide (DepEd Press Release 2009).

Jejemon is a pop culture phenomenon in the Philippines. It is a person "who has managed to subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility (Nacino, 2010)." The Philippine Daily Inquirer describes Jejemons as a "new breed of hipster who have developed not only their own language and written text but also their own subculture and fashion (Marcoleta, 2010)."

The origin of short-handed typing was through the short messaging service, in which each text message sent by a cell phone is limited to 160 characters. As a result, an "SMS language" developed in which words were shortened in order to fit the 160-character limit. On the other hand, some jejemons are not really "conserving" characters; instead, they are lengthening their message (Lim, 2010).

Department of Education (DepEd) strongly discourages students from using Jejemon spelling and grammar, especially in text messaging. Communicating with others using Jejemon "language" is said to cause deterioration of young Filipino students’ language skills (GMANews.tv, 2010). In some other cases, students, with the influence of Jejemonism, often commit blunders in writing formal essays for example.

Critics say that drawbacks to student cell phones outweigh the benefits. The primary concern is that cell phones distract students. Even though most schools require that phones be turned off during school hours, such a rule is difficult to enforce. Cell phones are now so small that students can use them sneakily in class as well, particularly text messaging and video games. Should a phone ring in class, the entire classroom is disrupted--and teachers report that many students will answer the call.

Cheating and inappropriate photos are also concerns associated with cell phones. As cell phones become more sophisticated and powerful, opportunities for cheating increase. Teachers have caught high school students taking pictures of tests to pass along to students in later classes, for instance, or accessing photos of textbook pages or notes during tests. Inappropriate photos taken in locker rooms and restrooms have also become a problem in some schools, which carries the potential for lawsuits; many school systems have banned camera phones while still allowing traditional cell phones (Shaw, 2005)

Mental illness related to cell phones use has been known for the past years. Not only in the Philippines, but worldwide. Consequences of high quantitative bill patrick familara mobile phone exposure included mental overload, disturbed sleep, the feeling of never being free, role conflicts, and feelings of guilt due to inability to return all calls and messages especially during class hours. Furthermore, addiction or dependency was an area of concern, as was worry about possible hazards associated with exposure to electromagnetic fields (Thomee, 2010). This might be the reasons why students often leave the class for a toilet break could use the phone while out of the room and sneak in the use of it during class.

As a Teaching-Learning Aid

Teaching equipment and materials have change over the years, not only to facilitate teaching and learning situations but also to address the instructional needs of individuals or groups (Ema & Ajayi, 2004). maintained that teaching aids are integral components of teaching-learning situations and not just a supplement but a complement to the teaching-learning process. Thus, if there must be an effective teaching-learning activity, the utilization of instructional materials will be necessary (Bolick, 2003). Instructional Materials (I.M.) can be in form of audio, virtual text, printed and video. Social interactions can also be used as a form of I.M.. As the development of cellular phone becomes complex and sophisticated nowadays, usage of it is now not limited in texting and calling. The teacher can integrate cell phone as an I.M. on their lessons or activities. Many teachers also point out that cell phones have justifiable academic uses. Students can conduct phone interviews during class time with teacher supervision, for example. Also, many cell phones now have Internet capability, built-in calculators, and memories able to hold entire books. For schools with limited technologies available to students, cell phones can be use as alternative replacement for the computers that the classroom may lack.

New breeds of cell phones or the “Smart Phones” is now equipped an online and offline e-book reader like what is on iPhones of Apple and other Smart phones like with Android OS which can be used as a new reference materials in the absence of actual books.

Usage of E-books is now being popular is some universities in the Philippines. De La Salle University Manila, for example, is has its own they so-called Ebrary an internet based server wherein students can access electronic books and journals online. ¹

Apple Inc., one of the leading cell phone manufacturers in the world, lunched an application called iBooks in the mid quarter of 2010 as part of an update to the operating system of iTouch and iPhone devices. ^.It is a mobile e-book reader developed by Apple Inc.

Google lunched an e-book program last December 6, 2010 called Google Books for the customers in the United States (Moren, 2010). It offers universal access and non-restrictive copying for the customers outside United States (Auletta, 2010).

Cellular phones have positive and negative effects to the students. It can help in learning process and it can deteriorate it in many ways. There are no specific universal guidelines about the use of cell phones during class hours. Many studies have been done about that issue, but there are few publications can be read about this issue. Cellular phone use during class hours is not absolutely wrong, or bad, in some other cases, cell phones can be use as an instructional material. In advancement of technology, cell phones evolved from just a wireless telephone into a computer like telephones. But bear in mind that all things that are good can harm when it is too much. Like medicine, you can over dosage when intake is too much. School Administrators should review their disciplinary data to determine the extent to which this problem detracts from instructional time.  Then, if the case can be made that these devices truly create a significant academic or behavioural distraction, share it with the local Board and request that they revisit their current policy to determine if it can be strengthened in order to establish and create specific policies that address the more abused features of the cell phones, such as the camera, etc (Akers, 2008).

Reference:

Rebello, J. (2010). Global wireless subscriptions reach 5 billion. Retrieved from

http://www.isuppli.com/Mobile-and-Wireless-Communications/News/Pages/Global- Wireless-Subscriptions-Reach-5-Billion.aspx

Ling, R. (2001): Adolescent Girls and young adult men: Two subculture of the mobile telephone Kjeller, Telenor Research and development R&D Report 34/2001).             http://www.telenor.no/fou/program/nomadiske/articles/rich/(2001)Adolescent.pdf

Toral, J. (2003). Mobile at Heart – Opportunities and Threats for the Youth Market. Retrieved

            from http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/futuremobile/presentations/toral-presentation.pdf

DepEd.gov.ph (2009). DepEd reiterates cell phone ban during class hours. Retrieved from                         http://www.deped.gov.ph/cpanel/uploads/issuanceImg/jun5-celphone.pdf

Nacino, J. (2010). "Jejemon in the Philippines". CNET Asia. Retrieved from           http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/the-virtual-eye/post.htm?id=63018444&scid=hm_bl

Marcoleta, H. (2010). "Jejemons: The new ‘jologs’". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved from              http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/2bu/2bu/view/20100424-266068/gtJejemons-The-new-jologs

Lim, R. (2010). "How do you solve a problem like the Jejemons?". The Manila Bulletin.    Retrieved from http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/254784/how-do-you-solve-a-problem-         jejemons

DepEd seeks to purge schools of ‘jejemon’ mentality". GMANews.tv. 2010-05-22. Retrieved       from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/191566/deped-seeks-to-purge-schools-of-jejemon-   mentality

Shaw, K. (2005). Students and Cell Phones: Controversy in the Classroom. Retrieved from              http://voices.yahoo.com/students-cell-phones-controversy-classroom-3387.html

^1. DLSU.EDU.PH (2012). Library: Electronic Books. Retrieved from              http://www.dlsu.edu.ph/library/ebooks.asp

Ken Auletta (2010), "Publish or Perish: Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book                                              business?", The New Yorker. Retrived from                         http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/04/26/100426fa_fact_auletta

Moren, D. (2010). Google launches eBookstore with more than 3 million titles Retrieved from                http://www.macworld.com/article/1156194/google_ebookstore_launch.html

Ema, E. & Ajayi, D.T (2004). Educational Technology Methods, materials, machines. Jos:             University Press Ltd.

Bolick, C; Berson M; Coutts, C & Heinecke W. (2003). Technology applications in social              studies teacher education: A survey of social studies method contemporary issues in           technology and teacher education; 3 (3).

Thomee S, Dellve L, Harenstam A, Hagberg M. Perceived connections between information and               communication technology use and mental symptoms among young adults - a qualitative study.  BMC Public Health. 2010;10(1):66. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-66. Retrieved from

            http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3042390/

Akers, J. (2008). Student Cell Phones Should Be Prohibited in K-12 Schools. Kentucky Center    for School Safety Retrieved from http://www.kysafeschools.org/pdfs-             docs/hotpdfs/Cell%20phones.pdf

FYI: When Cooking

by Anonymous 

Proteins
Edible animal material, including muscle, offal, milk and egg white, contains substantial amounts of protein. Almost all vegetable matter (in particular legumes and seeds) also includes proteins, although generally in smaller amounts. These may also be a source of essential amino acids. When proteins are heated they become de-natured and change texture. In many cases, this causes the structure of the material to become softer or more friable - meat becomes cooked. In some cases, proteins can form more rigid structures, such as the coagulation of albumen in egg whites. The formation of a relatively rigid but flexible matrix from egg white provides an important component of much cake cookery, and also underpins many desserts based on meringue.

Liquids
Cooking often involves water which is frequently present as other liquids, both added in order to immerse the substances being cooked (typically water, stock or wine), and released from the foods themselves. Liquids are so important to cooking that the name of the cooking method used may be based on how the liquid is combined with the food, as in steaming, simmering, boiling, braising and blanching. Heating liquid in an open container results in rapidly increased evaporation, which concentrates the remaining flavor and ingredients - this is a critical component of both stewing and sauce making.

Fat
Fats and oils come from both animal and plant sources. In cooking, fats provide tastes and textures. When used as the principal cooking medium (rather than water), they also allow the cook access to a wide range of cooking temperatures. Common oil-cooking techniques include sauteing, stir-frying, and deep-frying. Commonly used fats and oils include butter, olive oil, sunflower oil, lard, beef fat (both dripping and tallow), rapeseed oil or Canola, and peanut oil. The inclusion of fats tends to add flavour to cooked food, even though the taste of the oil on its own is often unpleasant. This fact has encouraged the popularity of high fat foods, many of which are classified as junk food.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates used in cooking include simple sugars such as glucose (from table sugar) and fructose (from fruit), and starches from sources such as cereal flour, rice, arrowroot, potato. The interaction of heat and carbohydrate is complex.

Long-chain sugars such as starch tend to break down into more simple sugars when cooked, while simple sugars can form syrups. If sugars are heated so that all water of crystallisation is driven off, then caramelisation starts, with the sugar undergoing thermal decomposition with the formation of carbon, and other breakdown products producing caramel. Similarly, the heating of sugars and proteins elicits the Maillard reaction, a basic flavor-enhancing technique.

An emulsion of starch with fat or water can, when gently heated, provide thickening to the dish being cooked. In European cooking, a mixture of butter and flour called a roux is used to thicken liquids to make stews or sauces. In Asian cooking, a similar effect is obtained from a mixture of rice or corn starch and water. These techniques rely on the properties of starches to create simpler mucilaginous saccharides during cooking, which causes the familiar thickening of sauces. This thickening will break down, however, under additional heat.

Juan's Problem

It was 5 in the morning of January 28 when I tuned in Myx, a Filipino music channel featuring various music videos from different genres both popular and not and some from the late 1990s. The show Take5 features Gloc-9’s popular songs that morning. Some of it touches my heart especially when I heard the songs that tell a story about poverty and Filipinos going abroad seeking for an opportunity that is not clearly visible in our country.
Understanding why poverty exist is not that easy. Social scientists dig deeper to the root cause of it. Some researchers believed that poverty may have a root cause from the country’s history, culture and foreign relations.
Unemployment is one of the main factors of poverty in the country. In 2009, National Capital Region (NCR) carries about 7 percent of the country’s total population, according from the data gathered by the National Statistical Coordination Board. In the same juncture, approximately 4 out of 10 poor individuals are unemployed in Luzon. In the second quarter of 2012, approximately 10.9 million individuals are unemployed, according to a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
This high count of unemployment rate in our country might have caused by lack of job opportunities and willingness to work.
The songs written by Gloc-9 entitled “Wala ng Natira” is pertaining to the Filipinos going abroad, looking for better or even good opportunities in order to sustain the needs of their family. I quote,

“Napakaraming guro dito sa amin ngunit 

Bakit tila walang natira

Napakaraming nurse dito sa amin

Ngunit bakit tila walang natira 

Nagaabroad sila 

(Gusto kong yumaman4x)”

These lines directly says that people belongs to poor family most likely tend to go abroad, hoping for better opportunities that could raise them up from the ashes of poverty.  But in contrary to his other song “Bakit Hindi” wherein he tells that many people just wanted to sit and stay at home waiting for some GOs and NGOs to extend their help to them. Many of our fellowmen portrays the characteristics of Juan Taman: A young boy that waited for the fruit of Guava to fall into his mouth.

I believe that we Filipinos are great. We can surpass all kinds of problems surrounding us. But before we became as great as other developed countries, we must first develop our own identity, love of country. This is for us to get out inside the box that where we are now for us to attain our dream future.

Colors of the Past ver. 2

On the day that whites conquered our land

Our freedom, wealth and soul were gone.

The color of Red covered the earth

That flowed beneath our raging Sun

People fought and died for us

Against the monstrous tyranny of the EAST

Blood, Toil and Tears that our country men have offered

To regain the stolen freedom of our past

For the aim of freedom a Flag was weaved

With sun and three stars that stand for unity

The color of red that tells that we will fight

And a shade of blue that aims peace among us

Then a hymn started to be heard

And meaningful words changed everything

An anthem that was sang on the 12^th day of June

And a flag that was waved on the balcony that tells that we wereFREE.

After six months of unrecognized independence

A treaty in Paris was signed without our knowledge

By the Trojans who wanted to straighten their will

That exploited our culture and implanted theirs to us.

Then schools were established by Uncle Sam

And made educated every JUAN

The knowledge that wasn't meant for everyone

It was used to conceal their evil plan

For the past centuries

Four conquerors entered and flourished

But we stood and fought together

In order to protect our beloved Nation