#citigov

[wander-pam-blog]

It’s The Norm

The interview between Abella and Mehdi Hasan is just like any other Duterte supporter versus a rational person. It was no surprise, simply because how often is it that a president’s spokesperson speaks against his/her own boss? 

Hasan’s questions weren’t filled with technicality and in my opinion, were dumbed down. This wasn’t taken advantage by Abella who chose to beat around the bush, constantly trying to spin what Duterte has already carelessly said. 

There isn’t much to pick up from the interview, but I realized that there are about 15,970,081 Abellas in the Philippines. These are the types who cannot rebut arguments, these are the ones who blindly support a man who promises to abolish oligarchy but is pursuing the burial of a dictator in the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani, these are the ones who accept rape jokes because Duterte said it, the ones who support extrajudicial killings because it’s better to shoot a drug dependent than take him to rehab. 

Statistically speaking, there are 25,404,045 people who did not vote for Duterte but it feels like we’re constantly surrounded by his supporters. What saddens me is the realization that we were once a society filled with compassion, but that went away because we have a president that feeds on the lack of steadfast principles of the majority. Being the most influential person in the country, he is shaping the minds [of those who lack the ability to make moral judgements] to seek violence and neglect human rights. 

It’s now the norm to neglect human rights. It’s now the status quo to shoot to kill. 

[wander-pam-blog]

Dependence

My group mates and I partnered with a rehabilitation non-government organization center. Situated in Bulacan, the center had three buildings in a complex-type setting. The first thing I noticed from the outside was their high, grey walls topped with barbed wires. To be honest, I think I speak on behalf of my group when I say that we were all scared for our safety since we’ve never had first hand experiences with recovering drug dependents. 

When we first stepped in, our bags were tediously checked and they made us leave all our gadgets in a box. We were briefed on their SOPs and rules, specifically that no information about their students should be disseminated after out immersion. 

Student, family, brother, and sister

What really stood out from the administration-client relationship in their organization was their terms of endearment. The administration calls their patients as students, so as to lessen the judgement outsiders have when they hear that a person was a patient of their rehab center. They [students] also collectively call their group as family and call one another brother or sister.

Activities 

The NGO made us conduct our own program in replacement of their usual Saturday agenda. We began with a getting to know game by two forming circles and going around, shaking hands while getting one another’s names. The second activity was a singing game to lift their moods, while showcasing their talents. The third activity was meditation. It was guided by one of the Philosophy majors we were with - he made them repeat mantras such as “Ako ay mabait” “Ako ay mapagkumbaba” “Ako ay hindi mabilis magalit” in silence with their eyes closed. The third activity was mandala making wherein they were free to put anything they wanted to, brought about their experiences from the past or emotions, dreams, etc. 

Volunteerism 

After the two main activities, we asked for volunteers from the students to share their insights. In the mandala making, one of them drew a smiley face because he saw himself as someone who was jolly and that there were a lot of times in his life where people saw him as someone who doesn’t know how to be serious, simply because he found something to smile about in most situations. Another student shared that his hope of getting out of the center never deteriorated. He even said that “kung ang sardinas nga nakakalabas sa can, ako rin balang araw makakalabas dito”

Overall experience

I had no concrete expectations for our immersion, to be honest. Just like any other student, I was there to get over the project. But as cheesy as it sounds, that day changed my perspective in life. Just like any other immersion DLSU made its students undergo, it shaped my perspective. Since it was a facility for drug dependents, every one of their moves were monitored, including eating habits and bathroom runs. I personally think that’s a lifestyle I couldn’t practice. Optimism was one thing I was sure I wasn’t going to get from them, but to my surprise, they were all overflowing with it. I am grateful my group chose a rehabilitation center because it’s not every day you’re given an opportunity to share a conversation with people who are so looked down on by society. 

Conflicted contradiction

One of the things we asked from the org’s head administrator was his opinion on the recent extrajudicial killings and Duterte’s declaration on war against drugs. It took me by surprise how he said he was actually for it. Mind you, this man was also a lay minister at their local parish. I wanted to ask why he worked in the center, at minimum wage and in the middle of nowhere, if he believed drug users lose their human rights. He said if it meant lessening the possibility of his loved ones getting hurt by drug dependents, it’s not an option to think twice about killing them. 

Du30

The first idea I had in my head was that Duterte should have a field trip there so that he could experience the things we experienced for him to realize that drug dependents are capable of changing and they are still human. Second, the administrator is a symbol of people who work for the sake of working even if what they’re doing is not in line with their values and principles. Lastly, I realized that society is looking down at these people because of the social construct that they lose their rights if they rely on drugs - and I also realized the immense hatred on drug dependents only started during Duterte’s reign. In my own millennial ways, I will counter this by letting my voice be heard on social media, advocating the things I believe in such as a person’s capability of redeeming one’s self even after drugs. 

[wander-pam-blog]

This Is How You Eradicate Crime

To say that extrajudicial killings have been rampant in the past month is an understatement. Every day, I hear of names tagged to either be drug users/pushers or a lowly snatcher. 

I realized that I either deal with it or stand up against to it if I were to be an involved and well immersed citizen.

Over the radio yesterday, a human rights activist said that if the suspect were to be presumed a threat, a shot at the leg is hindrance enough for him/her to run away/do harm. Basically, kung nanglaban, hindi dapat babarilin sa dibdib o ulo. What infuriates me is when policemen justify their killings by implying that they had no choice or else sila yung madadali. What is more disgusting that kung hindi pulis, vigilantes. This is the result of having a president that placed the laws into the people’s hands and since people will always perceive things differently, we are as chaotic as ever because of our diverse understandings. 

To be honest, I don’t how to react to the fact that I belong to a society that is so willing to drop principles and forget morals because it is the status quo the new president laid out for us. It makes me sick to the stomach because most of the people I hear of have little to no empathy towards those robbed of their lives in an instant. I agree that proper legal representation and process is mandatory to determine the sentence of an alleged criminal, however, these legal elements are not needed to determine if a person should live or not. Simply because a person’s life is NOT in anyone’s hands but his. 

It may be such a utopian idea, but I rather focus on rehabilitation than eradication. 

[wander-pam-blog]

#Du30SONA 2016

I have seen an ample amount of SONAs in the past but this struck me the most because of how informal it was - although, knowing his character, it wasn’t a surprise. 

It was my first time to vote this year, and not once did I consider voting for him simply because we do not share the same morals. My fear amplified when my classmate simply stated that the infamous Davao Death Squad was real, and that it was considered to be normal and socially acceptable. 

He began his speech by countering how Pres. Aquino would usually begin - pointing fault to the previous administration for the county’s situation. Duterte says “We cannot move forward if we allow the past to pull us back. Finger-pointing is not the way. That is why I will not waste precious time dwelling on the sins of the past or blaming those who are perceived to be responsible for the mess that we are in and suffering from.” This I agree with because it’s almost as if it’s mandatory for a newly elected president to play the blaming game every time they address the public. 

“When I decided to seek the presidency of this Republic, I knew what the ills of our country were; I knew their causes; and I was briefed on those who caused the causes. I heard the people on the streets complain that justice had become illusory; that equity and fairness and speedy disposition of cases had deteriorated into hollow concepts fit only for masteral dissertations. It was, and still is, very sad indeed.” This confirms his successful PR strategy; he knew what dragon to slay. 

What I was most dumbfounded about was when he said, “With this, my administration shall be sensitive to the State’s obligations to promote, and protect, fulfill the human rights of our citizens, especially the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable and social justice will be pursued, even as the rule of law shall at all times prevail.” If you take a peek at the news, a handful amount of deceased people are shown daily and are pegged to either be snatchers or drug users/pushers/lords. Ironically, these extra judicial killings commenced after he was hailed as president yet he claims to lead an administration that promises to promote and protect human rights. 

He also mentioned what comes next after the win on the arbitration case, road development projects, pro-tourism programs, mitigation measures, and of course his never ending battle against drugs. The rest of his speech was composed of his platforms and reforms in the coming years - just like any typical SONA. 

Amidst his refusal to admit his affiliation with the killings, his SONA left me hopeful but knowing better, I do not expect anything more from a person with blood-stained hands. 

[tadane]

Bahay ni Maria - chosen Non-Government Organization for the course Citizenship and Governance

what major insight have I gained so far from my ongoing experiences in engaging in the NGO initiative?

 Commuting everyday form home to university, I encounter quite a handful of different types of people and along with them are different impacts or reactions from me, Robbers, kids, sweet old people, perverts, and other people of different situations. Let me talk about kids as my main subject. Whether it is a lost child in a mall or an annoying crying toddler in a cinema, I always find myself indifferent, as if I unconsciously consider children somehow insignificant, so I do not need to pay attention to them.

This insight of mine changed as I continue to engage in our NGO. Caring for a child not related to me at all and actually caring for someone whom I once thought to be insignificant is a major thing I have never thought I would do anytime soon. As most of us have said during the selection of class representative, we had our hearts touched by them. We were moved. Children that I have cared for in Bahay ni Maria did not try extra hard to make me like them. It is natural.

By this time, I would like to point out that our chosen NGO, Bahay ni Maria, along with other orphanages existing, may have a lot of impact to our future than we give them credit for. Before sports, before academics, before learning quadratic equations, or how King Henry VII killed his queens, children need to know how to be a human. Privileged kids had their parents to teach them, but how about the less privileged? They only have this orphanage and us volunteers.

“They may hold my grade in CITIGOV, But I (along with the NGO,) hold these children’s futures”  

[cg115v1-0-blog]

The Greenpeace Experience

Visiting Greenpeace Southeast Asia has been the most exciting thing that our group has done. Even though we drove through a very rocky and challenging organization hunting, we were able to get the chance of interviewing, what we did not expect as a really accommodating international group.

As our group decided on giving focus on environmental issues and concerns, we settled on inquiring into three agencies/organizations. They were the MMDA, Greenpeace Southeast Asia and Center for Environmental Concerns. We immediately sent an email to MMDA at first, but was unfortunately been rejected by their server right away. So we did call all possible telephone numbers and ended up all hanging for nothing. We did not expect that calling them will not only lose lots of phone credits, time and hope; but also leads us to greater chance of cramming as we now walk through dangerous narrow edges while counting up just a few weeks before the submission.

After contemplating of what probably we should do on our future, we finally took the other possible chance which is Greenpeace. We emailed them, called them several times and waited for almost two weeks for their confirmation. Thankfully we were able to contact them earlier since the available person for them to provide interviews has a very limited time and full-packed schedule; considering that most of them go through lots of office works and activities outside their premises.

As we all have the plans being polished, there comes another challenge, our transportation. Their office is located in Quezon City, far away from where we all live. We all do not know how to commute there through jeepneys and buses. The fastest way to go there is through riding the LRT and the MRT. So we all agreed to push this decision, which is also our last resort setting aside the facts that MRT is dangerous and sometimes could not be trusted, and that this is the first time for most of us to ride the MRT. Pretty exciting, right?

We arrived to our destination alive and with flying colors. From the Vito Cruz LRT Station, we have resisted the urge to jump out of the train until we reached this MRT station called GMA Kamuning. From there, we walked along EDSA until we found transportation going through Tomas Morato. We were a bit early for our appointment. It was eleven o’clock when we reached their office. So we decided to have our lunch to kill off remaining hours.

We had the interview with Ms. Abigail Aguilar, a toxic campaigner of the organization. She sufficiently answered all of our questions and was even delighted to tell how Greenpeace started from its old Canadian roots. She explained mostly everything well that we didn’t even need to ask further questions about Greenpeace. The office tour followed, showing how most of their workers deal literally with the environment. The organization has also allowed us to film inside and take pictures of their work area. At the end of the interview and the tour, Ms. Abi gave each of one of us a little notepad and a sticker as a souvenir and physical advertisement for one of their current programs in their detox advocacy. Of course, we had our group picture together with Ms. Abi in their mural located in their reception area.

At the end of the afternoon, we all went home happy and fulfilled for we have successfully visited and interviewed an organization.

This visit opened our senses on how different organizations (like Greenpeace) are contributing ways on protecting and preserving the environment. This project definitely helped us gain further realistic and logical insights on how we, as individuals should work for it too: to correct and rectify our mistakes and to help the environment grow and survive healthy for our future. As we all know, we are all part of this society. Keeping in our minds that we are all equal in experiencing the benefits and the burdens of this living civilization -- Diaz Additional Personal Experiences

Han

For me, these people like Greenpeace is really working hard to make our environment better. So people should be more conscious with their little action for worsening the environment. It was a nice experience visiting Greenpeace and learn a lot of information.

Aguilar

We went through a lot of trouble to be able to visit the organization and I honestly just wanted to get it over with. It was hard to get their permission and it was hard going there. They say that all will make sense at the end of your troubles. It was true. When we reached Greenpeace, I was honestly happy that we would get to meet the people who work there. Visiting the organization gave me a lot to think about the environment and how I could help change it for the better.

Tanggawohn

Our Greenpeace trip really opened my eye to a lot of things. The compassion of the Greenpeace members really inspired me to be more concerned about our environment. Knowing all the things they've done to make our planet cleaner made me want to make a difference too. I hope that with our video, we get to inspire more people to make a difference.

Mohammad

After my visit to the organization Greenpeace, I came out with a new perspective on how polluted the environment really is and how implementation of new laws does not make society change in a flash. Awareness is key to change that is what I noticed when we started interviewing people from Greenpeace. Their campaigns usually use social media and magazines to make people more aware and take notice issues that are not popular to the public. Some issues that surprised me where ones that involved the ocean or products involving the ocean. Problems that are not massive enough to be popular with the public because it is not worse enough, are being taken care of by Greenpeace before it has a chance to worsen through time. Overall, Greenpeace has made me realize that there are problems yet to arrive involving the environment that havent been taken notice by the government and that if we do not take action it could worsen not only our for our generation but for future generations as well.

Catch more here!: http://cg115v1-0.tumblr.com/post/132721879361/greenpeaceextras

[cg115v1-0-blog]

What are the prospects and limits of your power as a citizen?

Rylan Diaz

As a citizen, I am entitled with my own personal power as a citizen in a state. I am given the freedom that everyone else has. I can exercise my liberty with however I want it to go. My choices are mine and my decisions are also mine. I control myself, my life and my destiny.

Having a power doesn’t mean that I can disrupt government services or even disobey the obedience of the society. It doesn’t give me the right to exploit other people especially their rights as co-members of this society. As a citizen, we are given the same equal power. In a democratic system, I have the power to choose my leaders. I have my free will to say my opinions and to voice out what the government is lacking.

These are just a few of what I can do with my power. What matters is always dependent on how I will use it in the most correct and right way because that’s the reason why the citizen is empowered. We shall use it with dignity and justice. As we all know, we are all involved with the government that gives us the power to gain control over it. But let us remember that our power can be restricted to certain limits that only a few people can have. Our world would all just be in chaos if we individually chose to govern the people. We want our powers to be used according to what is needed to prevent abuse that might inevitably happen.  

[cg115v1-0-blog]

What are the prospects and limits of your power as a citizen?

Shanen Mohammad

As a citizen of a state you are obliged to fulfill your duties as one. Aside from the obligations you are supposed to fulfill, there are certain limits a citizen has. For example, you are not capable of making changes in society on your own. Power in numbers is always what I noticed in the history of the Philippines. As a lone citizen you do not have the power to create change on your own. What's one person compared to a million? There are also certain prospects that a citizen of a state has. One thing is you are expected to comply with the conditions and rules laid out by the government. Another thing is fulfilling your duties as a member of the state. For example, paying taxes. As a citizen of a state, you as a member of society, is obliged to duties as well as being governed by the state. Nevertheless, one should know the limits of being one.