A blog ran by Reymark Aquino and Patricia Minimo from the University of the Philippines - Baguio. Posts are arranged from newest to oldest. Each moodboard represents a new section. Enjoy!
I am glad to share with you our batch song, composed by me (Reymark Aquino) and arranged by Kharl Nebres, during my freshman year in UP Baguio. It was our official entry as Math Uno during the Batch SongWriting Competition and we won the title. It was performed and recorded by my classmates headed by Ms. Jisha Lumabao. This song always reminds me of the reason why I chose to study in UP. In general, being an Iskolar ng Bayan is not just limited to having scholarship, but is also a duty, in relation to this course, to communicate and address the need of the nation, to understand individual differences at to promote awareness, life lessons are not limited to the four sides of the room.
The true battle is seen within the society and as they always say, Iskolar ng Bayan, Para sa Bayan!
you are the tune i hum mindlessly on days; the lyrics i know but can't make out of my mouth; the verse i try so hard to memorize; the song that i've long heard and still holds dearly.
there's something dangerous in reading all that slow burns, that pines, that hits too close to the heart. it makes me yearn for things i already put at the back of my mind, shelved in the columns of my memories arranged like a library.
Since we both love to write poems, as our Final Part on our Blog Entry, we decided to make a poem gallery in which we will post our poems that show how letters and words can actually create a very colorful world. A world of pain, happiness, sorrow and even contentment and love, all ran by just letters. Welcome to our world, the field in which we write to express, to perform and to embody society.
I guess culture isn’t really all about the history or the legends—although, of course, they are and they could be—but maybe, culture isn’t just about the past. Maybe it’s also about the present interactions we make, or maybe what we make of today is the future’s culture. Maybe it’s something so miniscule yet repetitive; plain yet dominant. Maybe culture is not tradition, but the embracing of modernity. Maybe it’s not simply just following what’s done, but understanding what is and what could be.
Being an admin of a big online group is not an easy job. I am from Luzon and I manage Student Leaders from Mindanao. Our culture is very different but as their head, I assure that I will respect their beliefs and communicate in a proper manner in such a way that understanding and productivity takes into place smoothly. The importance of communication in culture is obviously seen especially in a very big group. What they believe is literally what they live on and as a future media practitioner, the awareness in this kind of matter will allow us not only to see them as a subject but the most important thing is to be with them as a subject of society. Technically this is what an Iskolar ng Bayan must be, para sa Bayan.
Mr. Reymark Aquino and Mr. Gabriel Bauzon conducted an ethnographic study on Student Leaders Community PH, an online community of Student-Gamers (who technically play and organize Mobile Legends related events). This paper is a part of the requirements and task in Comm 11 Course. Mr. Aquino was able to observe the community personally since he works as an Admin of the said group. This paper aims to promote awareness that cultural differences and even actions were united by a proper system of communication. The drastic growth from 7,000 facebook group members to almost 20,000 within a span of just six (6) months is a positive result of a synchronized and well organized group. Generally, it was brought by the deep understanding on the importance of cultural respect and systematic communication.
Link: (Please use UP Mail for Access)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qkyR1rhmQT2Z5jmDoUpchlm37Bhx2oIq/view?usp=sharing
10 (not-so) fun facts about me; Rodriguez, Rizal; and it's people
To give a bit of background, this essay is supposed to be some sort of us showcasing the culture of our respective place of residence at the moment. Immediately, however, I encountered one tiny bit of a problem— I didn’t know if us, Montalbeños, even had that LOL. I’ve always joked about how we were uncultured swines, despite having the name of the national hero, but now that I’ve thought about it deeply, man, that’s just sad.
So, to give this beloved place of ours an inkling of the respect it deserves 😤, here are 10 random facts about our place that make up the Rizal I know today.
1. It will only take 1 hour to go from Rodriguez, Rizal to Quezon City, and vice versa. This, however, is dependent on the traffic you will experience. 1 ½ to 2 hours if you’re very unlucky, and the former rarely happens.
2. Because of the not-so-distant ride from this place to Quezon City and Metro Manila, it’s one of the main reasons why I think Montalbeños are uncultured swines. We’re not really any different from people in the city (I’m not saying city people are uncultured swines but hey, it seems to be that way); a lot of us study and work there, big schools from Manila have their own branches here and sometimes even own schools here, and etc. I guess the not-so culture culture they have in the city gets passed on to us because of our interactions with them.
3. There has never been a year, or even half of that, when our roads are peaceful. There is always this constant repairing of our constantly destroyed roads because of the business our dear leaders have. I don’t exactly know what they do with it, but trucks here have been a huge problem for us. Not just because they ride at an ungodly hour where everyone is rushing to their schools and work or to their homes, but also because the heavy weight of the trucks here crack our roads. Our roads that, again, the local government refuses to properly repair and put asphalt on. So, like, every 4-5 months, we have to suffer through gruelling hours of traffic while being exposed to so much dust and dirt.
4. Speaking of leaders, a lot of us have never really heard about them LOL. It’s been a running joke here that we don’t know the faces of the people who lead this municipality, and that you’ll only ever hear their name when the topic of those problematic trucks comes up. The only time I actually saw one of the leaders’ faces is because of that 10-second interview he did on the news.
5. In times of natural disasters, Rodriguez fairly goes unnoticed despite being devastated by it. People here are left to help each other without significant support. It’s a good thing that we help each other, but it’s sad that people who have been affected all the same have to be the one to help each other.
6. A lot of transportation before the pandemic came are colorum, or unlicensed, or do carpooling. They even overcharge for it, but what can we do? There’s a lot of passengers and only a few vans and jeeps that could depart and come back on time because of the traffic. The traffic starting from here to QC, and Commonwealth avenue to x place, is a torture and we have classes and work to attend. It’s better late than never.
7. There are a lot of beautiful places that locals and tourists can go and check out here, although I haven’t been to a lot of those places despite being part of it’s community.
8. Despite borderline insulting my place of residence for 6 times in a row, our town actually celebrates the Pamitinan Festival. I have never seen it but apparently it has something to do with the Cave of Bernardo Carpio and it’s legend.
9. Speaking of Bernardo Carpio, you can actually see the mountains or “rocks” he went in between, from a place called the “zigzag” (which is actually just the ascending part of the road that’s in a zigzag motion). I don’t know how plain it would sound to you, but from the zigzag, you can actually see the view of Rodriguez and the mountains that surround it. For some reason, seeing it everyday, especially in the mornings, brings me a sense of peace.
10. We have very competitive students, when it comes to ROPRISA and RIPRISA.
