of building rapport

At 10:00 AM today, the high school students of Miag ao National High School and Palaca-Damilisan National High School arrived at the doorstep of the ILC.

CyberFace: The Beauty and the Beast Forum will—and must start—in a few minutes.

We, the fourth year BA CMS students under Prof. Vargas organized this seminar as our culminating activity for CMS 198, a subject discussing Contemporary Issues in Media. Since the over-used yet highly imperative and obviously the most prolific medium was the Internet, we decided to delve into its most pressing issues about the five basic social structures—economy, politics, education, religion and family.

As our audience were high school students, my partner and I expected that all the other reporters to discuss in English and Hiligaynon. But when the forum started, most of our classmates were speaking in straight English. Hmm…this is getting too formal, I thought, as I looked behind me and saw that some students were avoiding the eyes of the reporters or were busy doing something else—putting on eyeliner, scribbling and chatting gaily with their seatmates.

I cannot blame them, nor do I blame my classmates. When politics or laws and policies enter the picture, the line between sleep and consciousness is blurred. But sometimes, if we can avoid it, why not speak a few familiar Hiligaynon sentences?

Building rapport is sometimes compromising. When the forum topics—or the teacher—expects you to deliver your topic in fluid and flawless English, more often than not, you lose connection with your audience. What then, is the point of the seminar? Isn’t it to inform?

Standing in front is never easy as well. You tongue should work as fast as your mind. If something uncalled for happens, what do you do? A little dead air can leave your audience on the edge of the cliff, ready to fall if you cannot pull them away from it. Who cares if your grammar is puberty-awkward? Who cares if you mispronounce words as long as both you and the people you are addressing meet at a certain level of understanding? Isn’t it something to shrug off afterwards?

Sometimes it is not always about following the rules. It is also about connecting with your audience and making them feel like you are talking to each of them—even if it yields a not-so-good grade.

Congratulations to my batchmates! We survived CMS 198—with flying biscuits. 

reading Miriam

If Miriam Defensor Santiago dies (knock on wood) one day and her children would decide to sell the parts of her body, I hope to be rich enough to buy her tongue and brains. Now this side of me is a bit twisted, but I guess you get my point.

This woman is simply terrific, lambasting politicians and politics itself. I wonder if her house helpers are really having a hard time, serving her the death threats which she eats for breakfast. In my opinion, all of our politicians should be like Miriam, critical and bound by duty. I am imagining a noisy Senate but a politically stable Philippines.

My curiosity about how she lived her life went on as I graduated high school and went to college. However, I do not think that she is the type who would prefer being written a biography—at least not while she is still alive. I kept hunting for books which are Miriam-related but they were all about laws and policies—until last Tuesday.

My friend Felyn’s bed was always laden with various books raging from Philippine anthologies to legendary horror to war-related accounts. Miriam’s A Frabjous Day was among them. Without thinking twice, I asked Fe if I could borrow it.

Sadly, I did not hit jackpot. Here was another book, Miriam-written, but not about Miriam (if these were her accounts or true-to-life experiences, I am not sure). I would have wanted a book about her and written by her—be it about her personal life or her political enemies. My brain needs a little exercise.

Find me that book and I might change my mind about marrying some conventional mammal who has a stable job.

an eye opener

I think I might have found myself a new person to look up to: Carlos Celdran.

For the benefit of the doubt, Carlos Celdran, one of Manila’s tour guides, was arrested last night (?!) for committing a crime I never knew existed: offending religious feelings. The man donned a Rizal-inspired outfit and went in front of the mass holding up a placard with the word “Damaso”. Catholic groups. Bishops. Eucharistic Celebration. Surely, it attracted national attention.

If he did the act a month ago, many people would not have minded him. After all, it was only a few weeks back when the Reproductive Health Bill issue subsided once more. But what he did was as singularly and nationally spectacular as Venus Raj winning 4th place, Rolando Mendoza “hostaging” tourists and President Aquino allegedly eating New Yorker hotdogs.

Coincidentally, this event is significant for me and all others who are taking up PI 100: The Life and Works of Rizal. For our final exam, we were tasked to create a 15-minuter film depicting Rizal’s ideals. What we had in mind was a modern-day person who, more or less, lived the late National Hero’s life. Hell, if Carlos Celdran was only a few yards away from school, we could have had him as lead character.

For me, what he did was really courageous. I would even think that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision—a response to the Church’s meddling with politics. It was a bit disrespectful, but it was an eye-opener. In Peyups term, “asteeg”.

Nowadays, conventional ways do not attract attention anymore. People are forced to think of new ways to call for action. Why do you think PETA hired actors and actresses to do nudes while doing their advocacy? Why do you think Rolando Mendoza chose to hostage tourists? If you want to be heard, you must either raise your hand higher than anyone else or stand up and answer without waiting for the teacher to call your name. That is the problem with everything being politicized—it makes everything else rotten to the core.

Sadly though, it seemed that CC’s act just froze the comet that is about to strike Earth. It was courageous, yet temporary. However, it is not entirely useless. It was an eye-opener. Would you have done the same if you were he?

the bookworm hiatus

Reading a novel is almost like an unwritten essay for me these days. I just cannot seem to find a time when I could devour it in its glorious splendour altogether. See, it is important for me to read it in one go because I have this STML (short-term memory loss) or at least poor retention skills.

To make up for not reading them lengthy narratives, I make do with the shorties. They are as fun, creative, emotion-laden as the novels. However, I miss reading novels as much as I miss my dead Japanese Spitz.

Here are some of the few books I have yet (and looking forward) to read:

• The Naked Face, The Stars Shine Down and Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon
• Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo by Jose Rizal
• The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
• The Elephant Vanishes, Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
• Veronica Decides to Die, Brida both by Paulo Coelho
• The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
• Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
• The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
• The Power of Beauty (I forgot the author’s name)
• Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
• Kag para kuno abi scholarly, The Great Political Thinkers by William Ebenstein kag The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (Curious ko sang contents nila. :D)

Sooner or later, I hope to lay my hands on them. And when that time comes, I hope time stands still.

‘perSONA’ non grata

Monday will be a day of promises, or at least promises that hide under the guise of “I will try my best to…” Ever since I became a part of an academic institution, I have also become a part of the hearing public who are all ears to politicians and seat-seekers alike.

Every year is a year full of promises, of “I-will-do-this-and-that-if-you-vote-for-me” and all the other flower-laden words which are sure to catch attention as well as earn votes. And every year after the May elections, it has been a tradition for the Filipinos to tune in (optional, as each channel will air the same bespectacled guy wearing a Barong Tagalog) to one channel as the president of the Republic of the Philippines delivers his State of the Nation Address.

It is through this speech that we hear what the new president’s plan is for this beloved country or what he has not fulfilled(to be seen when his term ends) as a leader. We hear praises for those who placed their trust on him, acclaim for those officials who served their countrymen well and the usual “may pag-asa pa” part where the emotional breaks down, clasps her hand and gives her companions with the “i-could-not-have-voted-anyone-better” look.

The sad thing about this SONA is that I would not get to watch it from the UP City campus. We have a departmentalized exam which will be an hour and a few minutes away before the SONA ends. We can never make it back to Miag ao in time.

It disappoints me that I will not be able to see the last delivery of a SONA inside of an academic institution where my critical thinking skills are still raw. For sure, it will be fun to watch it along with other students who, perhaps, have the same line of thinking which I have.

I hope PNoy delivers well what he has to say. I hope that he does it as well as he say it, and I hope that he does not disappoint me as well as the others before him did.