Year 2004-2005

Day off, Saturday



I don't want to tell anybody about my days off but since this day is almost over, I may as well announce it. Yes it is my day off today.

If you think I did anything magnificent today, I did not, unless you consider sleeping until noon magnificent. I was extremely curious about the events unfolding in the Philippines and made my corresponding reactions to them until last night. Still, as soon as I woke up, I resumed what I really love to do - reading books.

Instead of going to the cafe, I went to the library, (since there is a remote possibility of an SNF calling me to evaluate its admissions, IF it has admissions. I am not on-call or anything but I promised Maria to do evaluations if needed today). So far, no calls. And I really hope there will be no calls.

I was talking about buying books yesterday but I changed my mind since I can not clutter my bedroom anymore. So I ended up going to the library and checking-out the authors I wanted to read: Paul Auster, Garcia Marquez, and the lovely spinner of words Michael Cunningham. All these authors are good to read due to flow of their words. Reading them makes my English smoother (not perfect, but smoother).

If there is anything I discovered about the Filipino since this recent political turmoil, it is the maturity rising out of him.

Perhaps this is it.

This is the time we no longer go for the hysterics and dramatics and entertainment-worthy acts. For once, we are taking everything calmly and like any educated nation, I would like us to objectively analyze, investigate, assess, make corresponding actions and reactions, to what is perceived as anomalous amidst us. This is done without the usual fanfare and preferably within the confines of the chambers of people who are qualified to perform such tasks.

First, we have inferior politics.

Now, I am also mad at how our newspapers and media had turned so inferior in quality of reporting that they are becoming more and more like transcripts in a court house than churners of good quality reports with wonderful analyses and presentations.

Even the newspapers now reflect the decline of Filipino intelligence and education. They look more like a series of "he said this, she said that, they said those" mill. There was a time Teodoro Benigno died and all three major newspapers, in their haste to beat one another attributed different ages for the poor man.

And not one bothered to correct itself.

I've asked this before: Where is the right to privacy, where is the double-checking for veracity, where is the objectivity, and where is the good quality, non-hysterical non-sensational style of reporting?

In the Philippines, all you do is claim something scandalous and the whole country will be focused on you. I mean, do the newsmen there really think catchy news headlines are what an advanced nation is all about?

That's why, we as Filipinos should go back to real learning, to real writing, to real reading. And we should demand better quality of what is being fed to us instead of the daily manure they expect us to pay to read. I don't know about you but I am strict in my reading habits and choices. If I find something of poor quality I throw it away. For these newspapermen thinking they are better because such an award body gave them this and that award, hahaha, that's so pathetic. Any person or institution that considers greatness based on Awards is really pathetic.

What if awarding is gone, would that mean becoming inferior?

This is really the basic problem in our society: we are lingering so much on self-satisfaction without knowing we are sinking very low. Like climbing stairs. We think 5 steps makes us great until we realize the whole world is already 200 steps ahead and more advanced than us.

And there is no way to stop the decline overnight. Don't be deluded into thinking that we are advanced in journalism while the education and intelligence and learning of the nation is on a decline. That's just like North Korea. They have the most advanced nuclear program while the people are dying in poverty.

You can never say the media is not on the level of the audience it serves.

If you have an uneducated mass, then you must have an uneducated everything.

You can see that on the people on the streets, on the writers on webs, on politicians whether admi or anti-admi, you can see that on the types of TV program, on movies. It's all over.

So, lets start from the beginning: Lets all be calm, take inventory of the problems (quietly and objectively), start analyzing, don't guess, make corresponding changes, then explore further ways to improve.

But all this requires one thing: You can never think right in a noisy environment, in rumor-filled environment and opponents screaming at each others environment.

We must all keep quiet. Unless we have something worthy to say.

Then we can proudly claim to be intelligent, prudent, right thinking, well-educated nation.