we all need sunscreen

one of my favorites when i was younger is the speech-lyric entitled "sunscreen". it is given as a piece over a nice groovy song but not everybody liked it--- i did, like it. come to think of it, i almost forgot that i had this in my fave-list, until birdie mentioned it once...i was also forced to remember the song when i got sunburned in the first month of re-staying in manila (2008), underneath espana's sun without any protection...gosh i didn't like the feeling (not to mention the 'look')...to my dismay, i rushed to the drugstore and looked for a sunscreen. hahahahaha...but this song is more than skin-deep. read slowly and see what i mean===>>>



Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 99...Wear sunscreen

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years youll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you cant grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...Youre not as fat as you imagine.

Dont worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Dont be reckless with other peoples hearts,
dont put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Dont waste your time on jealousy; sometimes youre ahead,
sometimes youre behind...the race is long, and in the end its only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults;
if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Dont feel guilty if you dont know what to do with your life...the most interesting people I know didnt know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still dont.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, youll miss them when theyre gone.

Maybe youll marry, maybe you wont, maybe youll have children, maybe you wont, maybe youll divorce at 40, maybe youll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...what ever you do, dont congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either - your choices are half chance, so are everybody elses.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can...dont be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, its the greatest instrument youll ever own.

Dance...even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you dont follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

(here, there is a 49-second break in speech -- Quindon singing)

Get to know your parents, youll never know when theyll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. (here i suggest Makati instead of New York and Bataan instead of Northern California).

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, price will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do youll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Dont expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Dont mess too much with your hair, or by the time its 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than its worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen...

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what do you think? nice huh?! :)

one of the best days of 2015

 

THROWBACK:

14 March 2015

One of my favorite life events...

This is when we came together at the University of the Philippines Amphitheater and joined voices for the music video of a song composed by Gary Granada. While Manong Gary said “awiting mala-harana sa bayan”--- a serenade calling for solidarity in promoting nationalism and genuine change, I told my friends and fam that I'd be a part in the making of "Kundiman Para sa Bayan"

Over a hundred voices, young and old came from members of student organizations, cultural groups, choirs, bands, and music enthusiasts of various professions...

this photogrid is from the blogspot of naquem... that lady in maroon and white, that's me :) 

this official group pic is from Karl Ramirez... 
best day of my life. Thank you LAPIS 

POKING THE SCARS, ONCE MORE.

The Philippines, as several decades ago, aspires to be an upper middle-income country by 2022 as stated in the 2017–2022 Philippine Development Plan.  We have come past that, and it is 2023. We tried to commit to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), whose first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. Okay, that is 7 years from now. 

Still, poverty is a main concern, both in rural and urban areas. Although poverty has declined worldwide, progress has still, always been uneven. Then, as extreme poverty, is mainly concentrated in rural areas, it cannot be emphasized any more than it is now that rural development and agricultural productivity growth is very crucial for poverty reduction. 

As it is, poverty cannot be eradicated without addressing the pervasive inequalities in incomes and economic opportunities between and within countries, between rural and urban areas, and between men and women. To be able to reduce inequalities, we need to know where we are in improving access for the poor, basic services, and social protection. And this is not like we are neither aware nor always informed about this. We can check on the following specific areas if we are to move faster in our otherwise almost-elusive dream of poverty alleviation: 

- Monitor the impacts of programs that were made to address the concerns of the most vulnerable households and that they are protected from lifestyle choices that could endanger their health, therefore productivity.

- During calamities or emergencies, responses must be on time, and actions must be proactive, especially requiring local areas with responses using real-time data, along with life-saving aid while supporting people to recover their livelihoods. Improving our resiliency to disasters by investing in mechanisms that reduce the risks is a must.

- While we do so, we should also put Gender-Justice a priority. It can be seen that a lot of women are at the heart of what we do as a country, and programs that aim to build women’s power both in households and firms, local and national must be considered. 

- There is nothing wrong with active citizenship, hence it should always be encouraged. For marginalized sectors - women and young people for example must be allowed and encouraged to exercise their political right to influence decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods.

- There must be constant and consistent presentation and assessment of the implementation of policies and even sharing of best practices to promote to empower the poorest and most vulnerable communities. 

We are dealing with concerns that are almost the same as decades ago--- deteriorating ecosystems, natural resource management that are not sustainable yet, and climate change. Unless these trends are dealt with, the goal of eradicating poverty will remain elusive. Whatever strategies we have that are based on growth and wealth-inequality reduction require both short and long-run horizons. These strategies should always be coupled with what was proven to be effective poverty alleviation programs. The primary struggle here would be a good database so agencies can carry out programs and monitor and evaluate them accordingly. 

How many papers have examined the performance of the country in poverty reduction?  Which of these gave a thorough assessment of the reasons for the recent figures for economic growth, the numerous shocks we experienced, and government policies and programs, both local and national? With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the gains in early 2013 were probably wiped out.  It is now, more than ever, that the rate of poverty reduction must be focused on, and/or accelerated.

in a time capsule [reentry 2008]

there are a lot of people and events that may come in someone's life but only a few will truly touch and etch a memory. high school without debate is one of them. here you will get to meet people from all walks of life, in several manners, mostly awkward since this is the stage when individuals are battling within--->

i am too young to be an adult, too old to be a child (read: adolescence). in this very stage, we tend to create personalities that we perceive to be pleasing to others. no one to blame: men are social beings- the more they behave the way society dictates them to be, the better it is for everybody. when i was thirteen i met this somewhat deviant classmate-dave. he is not like my bestfriend kristoffer (see him in blog entry BF-EVER), really! he was different!...

at such a young age, he seemed to be unmindful of what others may think of him, of his acts, of his words. don't get me wrong, he was seldom unpleasant but always always surprising. his surge of emotions will bring turmoil to a tamed conforming person. his laughter is contagious but so is his anger. his chivalry will make you smile but his apathy will make you cry too. i have tried to look at dave from a different perspective. (at 13, i thought i was a philosopher, a psychologist, or maybe just another lost soul waiting to be found again).

i saw him persevere as much as i saw him get wasted with foolishness. i saw his leadership, and his hardheadedness as well. i saw him falling in and out of love, hear him shouting and whisper at different times. he was a friend to me (or maybe i was a friend to him) ...i had time with him in a capsule. why dave? coz he reminds me that life is too short to be wasted on hiding and pretending to be so-oh-good when you can taste every detail of badness and somehow learn from it.

but years passed i lost track of my subject--- too many thoughts, too many people, too little time i guess. as we entered the university, i see little and little of him. once i saw him laughing with a group of thug-looking students in a kiosk-they all seem to be enjoying their chat, laughing boisterously at times. once i saw him all alone in a path from one building to another, i tried to catch up on him and ask how he was, he halted, stared at me confusingly, and just smiled. i dismissed it as a call to accept that the dave i knew, though nothing has changed physically somehow isn't exactly the same (who doesn't change anyway?).

i saw him a couple of times in a telecoverage of a campus demonstration (that made me smile and reminded me of my foolishness years before). and then nothing, just news that he graduated and somehow tried to conform in his own way. now...(fast forward) dave has popped out of nowhere and is keeping in touch (truly challenges my thoughts, and philosophies in more ways than one). my time in a capsule with him is opened and remembered but a new capsule is to be made (and so is a new blog entry?). he is a family man, a trusted employee, and a fun friend (though he always refutes coz he has different perspective of the word 'friend').

he still is the dave who helped me cope with culture-shock by making me more shocked (ready, set-laugh!), the dave who helped me bring the trash to the pit (and irritatingly threw the trashcan too when i jokingly suggested so---grrr!), the dave who shouts at her girl in the school campus, the dave who loves to tease --- he is the dave who fought with goliath (read: goliath=the need to conform) and won. there are a lot of people and events that may come in someone's life but only a few will truly touch and etch a memory. dave without debate is one of them.

December 2021 Article: NOTHING FAKE about “FAKE NEWS”

Fake news is rampant and is a growing threat.  High technological advances and high-end gadgets or applications have made it harder to spot. Students and teachers alike speak of “fake news” as a problem but both have become victims of such one way or another. 

"Fake news” is an umbrella term for both misinformation and disinformation. Misinformation is false information that is spread, but not necessarily on purpose (ie. misleading headlines) Disinformation is purposely created to mislead and deceive like deep fakes (videos created with sophisticated artificial intelligence) and shallow fakes (videos that are real but misrepresented). There’s also this new term: malinformation — it is information that was intended to harm others  (revenge porn, doxing). 

As of late, media is no longer passively consumed. It is created, shared, commented on, attacked, and defended in all ways by millions of netizens. The algorithms are also brilliantly designed so that when we go online or log in to a social network we are generally presented with articles and content based on our own searches online. This content, seen by most, tends to reflect our own views, likes, reactions, and beliefs and therefore isolates us from differing views and opinions (the filter bubble).

As far back as the late 1800s, fake news has existed. The difference is how fast information goes around because of digital media. This makes it more dangerous. Remember the “Repetition Theory”? The more a lie is repeated, the more likely people are to believe it? Once we buy the lie, changing our minds is a challenge. This is why it pays, to be skeptical at times. Much more if we are in an academic environment like the university. You can’t just take everything at its face value. It also pays to be well-read and well-informed because if you are not, chances are, you’re not going to question anything you read. 

It is best for teachers and students to have a healthy level of skepticism. In our minds, before reacting and most especially before sharing, it would be good to verify the information first: Triangulation (confirming a story in at least three news sources) and Lateral Reading (opening up new tabs in your browser to investigate sites or claims as you encounter them).

THIS MEANS everyone must learn to hold off on sharing posts until it is verified. Teachers must teach students news literacy skills. Students must arm themselves with those skills to be able to spot fake news. This is more important now that social media are being weaponized to suppress dissent and to spread such misinformation and disinformation. Social media has become our public plaza where we get updates, and facts, discuss ideas and share our informed opinions and views. By being very careful and spending extra time on triangulation and lateral reading, we can make informed decisions in the end and be better consumers (or producers) of information.

October 2009: das ist die Frage!

THIS WAS THROWNBACK AS I AM AGAIN IN A VERY DARK PLACE...
FELY IS DEAD, SHE'S KEEPING HER SECRETS TO HER GRAVE.

am i really the alfie girl that you were looking for? what do we need to do to prove this? do we need to prove this? are the words of a dying man enough? what do you think? what do you feel? ...in my conversation with you, i can't help but want to hug you for being so strong and for acting detached the way you knew how. the talk was heavy and i was crying a river...

i have to let you know why i couldn't push this matter any longer. i have to make you see how i feel and how would she feel if i keep on bringing the matter that she has easily dismissed...what more can we do? what more can we talk of? will it be so bad for me, for you, for all of us to just let this river take its own course?

sad thing is, there were sadness, pains and regrets accompanying these questions. there are memories touched that brushed the big scars that i once thought was totally healed...i keep reminding myself that memories are monsters and that the mind should always be stronger than those memories...why do i allow myself to feel this way again?

 what's it all about alfie? is this just for one moment we live? what's it all about when you sort it out alfie? are we meant to take more than we give? are we meant to be kind? what is this all about alfie? that is the question.

June 2022 Article: NOT THE TIME FOR OFF-SCRIPTS. On Climate Change and Leadership

Do you still need more proof? Climate change must become a personal reality, for each and every one of us on this planet.  Scientists reported that the Arctic ice cap is melting faster and by their calculations, 40 % percent of the summer ice covering the Arctic sea will be gone by 2050.  This is the time to convert all political calls to action, a time for all countries to have the moral imperative to discuss climate change with a new urgency. 

Do you not know “value”? Creating value for society is one of the key deciders of success. Today’s leaders must also deliver value in terms of sustainability and societal impact as well as growth. Sustainability and equitability must be placed at the heart of every organization. Climate change is not something that lies outside of business or governance. It operates within the boundaries of its natural environment and can only be sustained in a healthy environment and flourishing society. The earth is more fragile now and the ecosystems that support millions of lives now face significant disruption. Peoples—not only animals—are at risk of being extinct. The effects are being felt by everyone, especially those least able to cope and least responsible for the problem. This is, as always a moral issue. Any response must be guided by the principles of the common good and shared responsibility.

Climate change events including sea-level rise, the increased frequency of extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and heavy rainfall all pose threats to countries like the Philippines. This is due to our vulnerability to natural dangers. Warmer waters damage coral reefs, which can lead to a drop in fish populations, making it a concern related to food security. Rains will result in more flooding, which could lead to landslides in upland areas. The concept of Climate change is very complex but very urgent and will take good and competent leaders to reach out to others to bring each other’s expertise, technologies, and other capabilities together in order to achieve meaningful change.  This is only possible when actions are driven by a purpose. Leadership foremost is about choices and setting new directions. It is about vision and political will—the ability to see ahead, know what we must do, and inspire a force for genuine change. The generation now and those to come will judge us. 

What can we possibly do besides hope for ethical leadership and good governance? Well, perhaps it is to educate ourselves on how best to face the climate change challenges. While it does seem at times that we can do only little as individuals if we arm ourselves with knowledge of the science behind it,  and its effects, we can start taking steps (no matter how little) toward positive change. Much better is to influence others to do the same. But besides asking for urgent action, we can also reflect on our own personal moves. What have we done so far? What are our lessons for? Why are we here?