devcomm big brainy

jude's dev 108 individual journal journey filled with politics and burritos

[jude-buendia]

On Harry Roque & the Manila Bay White Sands Project: Misguided Efforts for Mental Health (Revised Edition)

On September 19, amid an ever-increasing COVID-19 pandemic, the government unveiled to the public the Manila Bay White Sand project along Roxas Boulevard which filled a corner next to the US Embassy with crushed dolomite sands sourced from Cebu. This received numerous criticism from Filipino netizens, and even cabinet secretaries, of the irresponsible funding allocation during a health crisis which affected also the economic and educational system. In response to the flak of the “beautification” project, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque issued this statement: “I don’t buy that argument. Kasi alam mo, sa gitna ng pandemya, kinakailangan din na pangalagaan ang mental health. I think ‘yung pagpapasyal sa mga lugar gaya ng Manila Bay na may white beach, hindi mo maqua-quantify ang epekto nyan pagdating sa mental health ng ating mga kababayan” (Aguilar, 2020).

The translation (provided by Rappler) of this statement goes “I don’t buy that argument. Because you know, in the middle of a pandemic, caring for the people’s mental health is also a need. I think going to places like Manila Bay that has a white beach, you cannot quantify its effect when it comes to the mental health of our people”. (Agular, 2020).

This statement regarding the government’s “efforts” of uplifting the mental health situation of Filipinos through the Manila Bay White Sands project was enraging to me. In a period of back-and-forth community quarantine ordinances and spreading fear of COVID-19, mental health became worse for most Filipinos (De Vera, 2020). There is a huge unemployment rate, disparaged educational “new normal,” and a president that does not assure anything but profanities. And yet, funds are misallocated to projects whose supposed initiatives only grasp straws.

In no way allocating funds towards cosmetic infrastructural projects is a foundational effort to support the mental health of Filipinos considering the history of the Philippine government in its support for our mental health facilities. Despite the presence of a newly established law, mental health is an ignored facet of our health crisis, and institutions like the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) continue to be disregarded as funds are minimal, facilities are undermanned, and even property was once almost auctioned off (Lalu, 2020; Mocon-Ciriaco, 2020; Salamat, 2011).

If the government was supposedly serious in its efforts to mitigate the mental health crisis amid COVID-19, then it should be able to figure out strategies in order to fund the right institutions that do tackle mental health directly. There should be efforts in capacity building & informing the public about mental health as well as building & empowering organizations that do so. There should be efforts in allocating funds into these institutions and advocates of mental health, not to infrastructural projects that no one will be even able to visit under the community quarantine. The dolomite white sand project will not do anything substantial to the public’s health as it is nothing but a cosmetic effort.

(494 Words)

Sources:

Aguilar, K. (2020) ‘White-sand’ Manila Bay to benefit Filipinos’ mental health – Roque, INQUIRER.net. Available at: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1332269/white-sand-manila-bay-to-benefit-filipinos-mental-health-roque (Accessed: 6 October 2020).

De Vera, A. (2020). ‘Be mindful about mental health,’ public urged. [online] Available at: https://mb.com.ph/2020/09/10/be-mindful-about-mental-health-public-urged/.

Lalu, G. (2020) CHR wants greater attention, budget for mental health amid pandemic, INQUIRER.net. Available at: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1344408/chr-wants-greater-attention-budget-for-mental-health-amid-pandemic (Accessed: 6 October 2020).

Magsambol, B., 2020. DOH Clarifies: Crushed Dolomite In Manila Bay Project 'Not Known Health Hazard'. [online] Rappler. Available at: <https://www.rappler.com/nation/dof-clarifies-dolomite-material-manila-bay-project-not-health-hazard> [Accessed 9 October 2020].

Mocon-Ciriaco, C. (2020) 36 employees, patients at National Center for Mental Health positive for Covid-19 | Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco, BusinessMirror. Available at: https://businessmirror.com.ph/2020/04/08/36-employees-patients-at-national-center-for-mental-health-positive-for-covid-19/ (Accessed: 6 October 2020).

Salamat, M. (2011). Auction of Mental Hospital land, budget cut of Heart Center threaten poor patients. [online] Bulatlat. Available at: https://www.bulatlat.com/2011/07/29/auction-of-mental-hospital-land-budget-cut-of-heart-center-threaten-poor-patients/ (Accessed 6 Oct. 2020).

[jude-buendia]

We Are Here; A Letter For Senator Sonny Angara

Dear Sen. Angara,

I am writing to express my full support in your advocacy of empowering people battling mental health issues. I fully support your efforts along with Sen. Risa Hontiveros in the amendment of the Mental Health Act to be more contextualized in the times of health crisis.

A short anecdote. Two to three years ago, I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder which required me to take antidepressants daily. These tough years not only affected me in my personal and academic life but as well as those around me: my family and friends. Many did not know how to handle my situations of agitation and panic; and these experiences shook much of the foundations in my relationships with my loved ones. Luckily, I am of the best mental health state now and I wish to not let other people experience the same things I did with their relationships of their own loved ones, especially of parents to their children. I wish to remind everyone that we are always here for each other, no matter when and where.

These are tough times for families affected by the pandemic. Aside from the adamant fear of COVID-19, the almost-year long quarantine has brought a rise to mental health issues within individuals. In the months of lockdown, the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) revealed that there was an increase in monthly calls in their “Kamusta Ka? Tara Usap Tayo” 24/7 support hotline from individuals battling depression. From 80 callers per month during the pre-lockdown days of 2020, this number increased five times up to 400 per month.

On September 10, the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a joint statement World Suicide Prevention Day. According to the statement, individuals aged 15-29 (the youth) suffer the most with depression. DOH and WHO now call on all kinds of members in society from institutions and organizations to families to bring forward action in providing holistic treatment and care for individuals with mental health concerns.

Thus, my group had chosen Be The Support, a non-profit organization whose mission is to train individuals, with no background in psychology, to provide initial mental health support to those struggling with mental illness or mental health issues. Be The Support fulfills this social call of action to the vulnerable sector of children and teens by providing the immediate adults close to them such as parents and teachers the necessary skills training in handling mental health issues.

Today, children and teens are transitioning from on-site classes to distant learning environments. Online learning modules are heavier, faster, and more difficult to do for students previously used to fully on-site learning. Stress for school work is already present before; and with the new normal of school work from home, one can imagine the added stress for our students and youth. We ask for your support in our project with Be The Support in filling the knowledge of a group most closely related to them-- their parents and teachers-- who can become figures of change and support when the youth most needs it.

Parents and teachers have a lot to learn about mental health and the skills to approach their children, teens, and students battling mental health issues. I believe that Be The Support and its programs can become a foundational source of knowledge and empowerment for these parents through the use of webinar activities.  Entitled “Mentally, I’m Here,” our project aims to bring together people in personal difficulty of handling loved ones with mental health struggles by providing them with the skills on how to support people in times of mental crisis. This webinar is based on the designed modules and timeframe of activities from Be The Support. It will be composed of short lectures, seminars, and training activities scoped specifically in the context of parents and teachers handling children and students.

As a parent aspiring to prevent the rise of mental illness, especially among the youth, we hope for your best support in any form you can in this project as we see, appreciate, and admire your efforts for a better and healthier community. Despite the distance with each other, we will always remember to remind one another that we are here ;

Respectfully,

Jude Buendia

REFERENCES:

Marquez, C., 2020. Angara Wants Mental Health Act Amended. [online] INQUIRER.net. Available at: <https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1272325/angara-wants-mental-health-act-amended> [Accessed 26 September 2020].

Vera, A., 2020. ‘Be Mindful About Mental Health,’ Public Urged. [online] Manila Bulletin. Available at: <https://mb.com.ph/2020/09/10/be-mindful-about-mental-health-public-urged/> [Accessed 25 September 2020].

Pna.gov.ph. 2020. DOH, WHO Promote Holistic Mental Wellness. [online] Available at: <https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115047> [Accessed 25 September 2020].

ANNEX:

Photos from Department of Health (Philippines) Facebook page

[rj108journal]

Guess the Fallacy pt.2

1. I don’t want to talk to you kasi bobo ka eh

 2. If I fail this quiz I will not be able to graduate and get a good job :(( 

 3. If you say that classes are hard, just say you don’t want to be a student anymore or work hard.

4.  Oh you’re from ateneo, that means you’re conyo asf 5. You murdered someone you’re a bad person “what does bad even mean?” 

[jude-buendia]

1. Ad Hominem

2. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

3. Strawman Fallacy

4. Overgeneralization

5. Red Herring

[mastermindthundery]

Falling Deep Into Fallacies

To sharpen our critical thinking, try to figure out what kind of fallacies these statements are: 

1.

Person: Either you’re a dilawan, or a DDS. Either you’re red, or yellow. 

2.

Karen: I don’t support the BLM Movement! All they do is vandalize and destroy buildings. They’re a nuisance to society. 

3. 

Person 1: This government has failed to manage this COVID-19 health crisis. A lot of people lost their livelihoods, and are struggling to get by everyday.

Person 2: But hey, look at the bright side! At least we have dolomite in Manila Bay. Do you want to come with and film a vlog with me?

4. Person 1: I think it’s time for all men to be held accountable for generations of abuse and violence towards women. Being a nice guy while participating in “locker room talk” doesn’t help.

A guy: Oh you’re one of those men are trash girls. Again, not all men. What a snowflake.

5. 

Person: Before Duterte, our lives are in such shambles because of how bad our government is. Now everything is better! Duterte really changed the Philippines for good!

[jude-buendia]

1. False Dilemma

2. Overgeneralization

3. Red Herring

4. Ad Hominem

5. Post Hoc Ergo Popter Hoc

[biancaferrosjournal]

Guess that Fallacy!

1. Eating pancit canton gave me the stomach flu, therefore, anyone who eats this will get sick. 

2. Joe: “Driving at fast speeds is dangerous for a beginner!”

John: “But you drive fast too and you still haven’t gotten into any accidents!”

3. Joe: “What happened to the alleged corruption scandal within PhilHealth?”

John: “ Well, all I can say is the PhilHealth is handling the pandemic very well!”

4. “Ana is not a good student because she is poor and ugly!”

5. No one has yet provided concrete evidence that he is the murderer, therefore, he is innocent. 

[jude-buendia]

1. Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc

2. Tu Quoque

3. Strawman Fallacy

4. Ad Hominem

5. Appeal to Ignorance

[jude-buendia]

Guess That Fallacy!

Can you guess these fallacies? :)

1. Why do you hate capitalism so much if you’re a rich Atenean?

2. Depression isn’t real. I didn’t have all this mental health non-sense back in my time.

3. You talk so much about the dolomite sand project being an environmental issue. Why are you so against the government!?

4. Supporting the Reproductive Health bill will only lead to more teenage pregnancies.

5. You talk so much about human rights for a person in an organization that is probably funded by communists.

[jude-buendia]

The Wonderful World of Twitter

I have always disliked Teddy Locsin Jr. because of his unprofessional and undiplomatic tweets. As a person who represents a whole nation like the Philippines, one must always uphold respectable and diplomatic discussion in the space of social media. And if there are strong opinions and violent reactions to certain things, one must always handle the situation behind curtains like every other professional.

Teddy Locsin treating the space of Twitter much like his personal rant account represents a negative image on our country: as if we treat our diplomatic relations as something petty high schoolers would do. This is a high official and one must act like one.

If I were to respond, I would not respond at all. I would not engage because there is no use in interacting with such a petty tweet. I do not know much about the Philippine-Malaysia Sabah conflict and the issues connected to USAID; thus, it is more critical for me to get my fullest knowledge of the subject first before engaging in discussion. To get my facts straight before I argue.

[jude-buendia]

Logical Fallacies

What logical fallacies are these? :)

Logical Fallacy 1

Legalizing same-sex marriage will only lead to legalizing marrying animals.

Logical Fallacy 2

Greta Thunberg is too young to talk about something as big as climate change.

Logical Fallacy 3

Why are you so against capitalism? You know you’re reading this from a product of capitalism, right?

[jude-buendia]

Individual Response 1: Module 0 Readings

Group mates: RJ Anonas, Bianca Ferro, Faith Santos

My preferred social media platform will be blog posts from Tumblr.

What your reflections and issues are regarding the readings?

So much has changed in the development world. Practitioner’s perspectives and frameworks have shifted dramatically since the conception of “development” from the agents implementing interventions to them empowering the communities to do the interventions themselves. This shift of development has been noted by Servaes and Chatterjee, and little by Quebral. With the departure of the Western world or the global north from the global south, many development institutions have steered also away from economic development and urbanization as the main framework to use with our communities. Despite the two bringing seemingly “big” change to the members, they are but bandaid solutions if they do not address directly the needs of the community along with what capacity they have to sustain such change.

This decolonization of development has always been interesting to me as I have read various articles and webinars that promote such things. Development aid is to be decolonized. Development interventions are to be decolonized. Developing countries are to finally be decolonized. And, there are a lot of habits and ways of thinking to be learned and unlearned by us; and every day, I gain more knowledge of such things to actually learn and unlearn.

Quebral and Chatterjee have explained the world’s transition from the top-down (global north to global south) model to the bottom-model have given developing countries and poorer communities to govern over themselves with their power and freedom. The global south is as capable as the global north. As resourceful as them. As powerful as them. 

The global south is not voiceless. There is indeed a voice. There are many voices. And in lies where global politicians choose to not hear them. Thus, the importance of Development Communication is highlighted for me. I now see why it’s important to foster dialogue, to create a forum, to use the necessary channels to relay information, to strengthen the communication lines not just between those in power and their constituents but to each other. Vertically and horizontally.

Going into the readings with 0 knowledge of what Development + Communication mean, it was scary to dive into this topic. But having been finally introduced to its definitions, impact, and importance in the development sector, Module 0’s readings are a good introduction to Development Communication. Semantics and definitions aside, the practice is everywhere whether we are aware of it or not because various forms of communication are used every day. People talk to people. People educate people. People write for people. People speak for people. People learn from people. People interact with people. I realized that this subject is far closely connected to everything we will do as students in the Development sector. It is an important skill to be learned, to be mastered, and most of all to be loved.

I still know little but for sure I’m ready to fall in love with this subject.