Archive for Yabang Pinoy!

The Beginning

{ October 28, 2007 @ 1:36 p10 } · { Yabang Pinoy!, life, love, travel }
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NDC may be over but this is just the beginning of everything.

Just got back from Baguio City. Major weather adjustment.

Anyway, I’m back to reality. But I’m not complaining here. I had fun during the NDC. =)

–Baguio was lovely. I love the weather and I hope that I could bring it with me wherever I go. I just didn’t have enough time to really explore the place. I’d have to come back someday.

–PMA is the most beautiful campus I had ever been to. Words are not enough to describe it. Definitely.

–And of course, being in PMA allowed the NDC participants to meet some cadets and actually take a peek at their everyday lives. After one week in PMA, I now fully appreciate everything that soldiers do just to protect the citizens. They may look stiff in their uniforms and their expressions may tell everyone that they are tough but one week was enough to make me understand that they are human, too. Human beings who make big sacrifices to answer their calling and serve the country. It was fun seeing them laugh, talk excitedly, and all that. Even if they still walk stiffly. =)

–This tournament made me appreciate debate as more than just debate. This tournament showed me that debate is a delicate art that needs time and patience and perseverance for one to succeed and bask in the sense of fulfillment and satisfaction it can give. I met different debaters from all over the country and saw varying degrees of commitment to the craft. And it’s all beautiful.

–My fellow debaters from the SU Debsoc. You guys are super fun to be with. I can never forget all the laughter, late-night to early morning chicka sessions, shopping, eating out, and basically, just being together and being one big happy family. I’ll never ever forget you guys. You made my life even more beautiful. I’m looking forward to more debates and fun in the future. =)

After all that, one question still remains unanswered. What next? I’d have to say that this is just the beginning of everything. After meeting people who are dedicated enough to suffer for our country, people who love debate and value freedom of expression, people who laugh despite the pain, it just made me see life in a different perspective. It made me see that life is indeed beautiful and there’s more to what you have now if you just look in the right place.

I guess I just have to go with the flow. Life will take me to where I’m supposed to be. And while I’m on my way there, I’ll just sit back and enjoy the journey. =)

A center for RP dialects

{ June 18, 2007 @ 1:36 p06 } · { Yabang Pinoy! }
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This is my first entry and I want to introduce myself first before I start ranting about life. =) I am a mass communication student and I love debating. Problem is, I am still a struggling debater so things can get really frustrating. Also, I love culture. So things start from here.

I have Pol. Sci. 51 which is about the Philippine Constitution. If I didn’t enter the debate world months ago, I would have categorized this subject as “just another boring subject”. But thanks to debate, I learned to appreciate it. =)

I was assigned to do a news report today. I was instructed to pick an article from the latest newspaper (in this case, the June 18 issue of The Philippine Daily Inquirer). It was about the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) establishing a center devoted entirely to the different dialects in the Philippines. I have to say that I greatly approve of this project. What better way to appreciate the Philippines more than knowing the different dialects?

 The Philippines is a diverse country. There are over 170 dialects and 87 ethno groups speaking different languages and have different practices. If you are a Filipino, it is absolutely normal for you to know 2 or more languages. In my case, I fluently speak 3 languages: Filipino, English, and Cebuano (arranged in the order of which language I learned first). I am also a frustrated Spanish speaker. I know how to greet people and ask for their names. For the past 2 semesters of my first year in college, all we did was conjugate verbs and recite them in class. I was expecting that we’d learn conversational Spanish but I guess I expected too much.

Anyway, back to the news article. This project, by the way, is in line with Article XIV, Section 17 which states that: “the State shall recognize, respect, and protect the rights of indigenous cultural communities to preserve and develop theircultures, traditions, and institutions. It shall consider these rights in the formulation of national plans and policies.”

The Philippines, as we all know, is a democratic country. But the definition of a “democratic country” should be widened and include the indigenous communities that make the Philippines’ culture a rich one. And also English, considered as one of the official languages in the Philippines, is going to be further enhanced in this center which is a good thing as we really need English proficiency in order to be globally competitive.

This project is really a big advantage to Filipinos and foreigners alike. As long as one is interested in the Filipino culture, the possibilities are endless. =)