Gwyn's Blog

Pieces and quirks by a heavily caffeinated journalist. UST

[thegldngwy]

“Eh di wow! Ikaw na-”

(*This expression doesn’t have a correct translation, but is usually mentioned in a condescending tone, downplaying a smart statement when an opposition has nothing left to say)

Consumers of Philippine media are a conundrum of themselves: they boast about their sons and daughters finishing as lawyers and doctors, but when presented with facts with well-backed claims, they balk and say, "I'm right because I saw this on Facebook."

The Philippines isn't either the safest place in the world for journalists these days - things are now easier to look up online, so what's the use of them? Some could even claim to be disenchanted by the news, so much because of the influx of fake news spread by internet trolls. Otherwise, maybe your own grandmother thinks it's best to eat garlic everyday to ward off, not only spirits, but also the Covid-19 virus.

    One might ask even why? Why is there a distrust of our own media? Why does such distrust exist when media and all its influences and networking gives us so many chances to be in-the-know, save lives and be informed about matters of the state?

    We have to review once more about how the internet has allowed us free rein over information/content creation. Because of this development, news also had to adapt to a digital platform in order to keep up with the latest trends. This has also allowed more jobs for journalists, especially in the field of investigation and in depth stories. But then, the faster it was to create content, the faster it was to pave the way for fake news.

    Since social media gave huge contributions in news dissemination, it raised an awareness, not only for the common reader but to the journalists as well. Take the Twitter application for example: with just one click, you can find any information just about anything through it. The faster you tweet, the longer it remains to be important. This results into journalists having to rethink how they exactly will be delivering their reports but now basing on the fact that its contents are reviewed "with only half an eye." We are losing quality as fast as we are trying to tweet something just to be updated. This often results into sloppy news-making, considering the need for haste and "what you hear is what you get" kind of mindset.

    Now, back on the Philippines and the resident "chismosas."

    Every alleyway has them, but now with Covid-19 restrictions and quarantines, they are more lively as ever online. These personalities aren't quite labeled as the usual internet troll, but often than not are people who have such a strong entitlement to their own opinions, and perhaps to some others whom they believe in.

    As Barbie Zelizer puts it, individuals have their own personalized bubble of information. This is where they curate the information that they want to "see" themselves. In exposure to the diversity of information presented to them, they form their own opinion- and firmly believe that they are correct no matter what.

    Journalists have been called the Watchdogs, of the state, of the government, of the people. Media had been called up on multiple times to present accurate information wherein what news they present are all backed by substantial evidence. Media also became the voice of the people, the strong symbol of democracy, accountability and public relations.

    To reiterate, the Philippines isn't the safest place for journalists. Counting between the years 1992 and the present day 2020, over 86 journalists were killed in the Philippines alone, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Although it's saddening to think that journalism is a dangerous course to take, the fact that these deaths and discrediting even more journalists are making it look like people are being more afraid of finding out what they truly believe in is disputable, especially when it threatens to pop their bubble of personalized information, to be undermined, to lose control of what you know- and perhaps, being the receiving end of a dominating and irrefutable claim.

    Public distrust is one of the many problems that journalism is facing right now, especially when in order to achieve recognition and legitimacy as a journalist, the latter places themselves in a position to be the arbiter between truth and democracy.

People, despite their aversion towards "nosy" reporters, need these same people in democratic discourse, since these civil debates make each participant known and acknowledged without having to discredit whatever belief or information that they know.

    Despite Philippine media being placed under this skeptical and scrutinizing eye, it still remains a key concept into achieving a well-functioning democracy due to their learned abilities and boundaries to find and produce something newsworthy. What we are always trying to present are facts and timely truths that has the potential to unite us as a whole.

    With journalists, it's not a compliment for anyone to be told, "Eh di wow, ikaw na magaling," rather, "Ikaw na ang matiyaga."

(Published on: 12/13/2020 - Writing Assignment)

[thegldngwy]

Alam mo ba, sis?

[Eng: “Sister, do you know?]

Asians love to talk. Rather, they love to gossip, to hear about the latest drama, to talk about the most scandalous scandal that happened between this or that over afternoon tea. Sometimes these talks would go so far as to becoming Facebook posts where more people can see them, and then react to them. Pinoys, after all being a part of the Southeast Asian continent, were notorious for spreading all kinds of talk around that often even journalists find them eternally a thorn at their side.

However, gossip, even being yet another proprietor of fake news most of the time, has almost the same structure as journalism. How can it not be? We listen to a source, only to confirm or even gather more information from others. Sometimes even journalists go out there, trying to catch those "words in the wind" in order to get even the smallest of leads.

But did 'Miss Marites' and Co. know that gossiping could be a paid work? I didn't think of that either, until gossip columns came into play.

Though social media became bigger platforms to talk in rather than our kapitbahay's back street, gossip columns talked just about anything that creates big drama. But no matter how entertaining, these columns are still based on little truths about big people that make you feel like you're "in" on whatever they're being talked about. Despite it being gossip, nobody has the right to call out or intrude on these people based on these claims.

Even freedom has a limitation: journalists shouldn't be too eager to stoop so low for a story that may or may not be true. There certainly is a fine line between being talked about and invasion. Democratic discourse after all is a civilized debate. Gossip can only be good if it doesn't feel the need to sacrifice one's dignity in order to find some "juicy" item that has the potential to destroy one's reputation.

(Discussion Forum: 12/17/2020 - On blind items and gossip columns)

[thegldngwy]

Chiaroscuro - The Country’s Unevenness Portrayed

(Drawing and video credits to DHart Studio - vid)

The issue of starving Filipinos became a song long echoed through the last 10 months that the Coronavirus had stayed in the country.

It became quite clear that the Philippines was slow to adapt and address the worrying issues when the pandemic hit, leaving the government no choice but to place cities under quarantine to stave off the virus. However, this was easier said than done.

Although, it was imperative that people were to be kept off the streets for their own safety with the help of the military, they forgot that 19.8% of the country's population were impoverished. Cases of job losses and establishment closings continued to climb in the news. People who had the means to travel seemed to go on a frenzy, trying to leave the city where the first cases hit. To the rich man, it was an inconvenience on their sleeve; to the middle man, it was a passing storm. But to the poor man, it was a dangerous deluge between staying safe from the virus or starving to death.

From the whole piece, I see this big imbalance, like the whole country is a big ship sinking fast. There is no clear give or take, because if Filipinos are struggling to feed themselves, it poses more problems for medical and military frontliners to keep the virus from infecting them without succumbing to it themselves. If the Filipino citizen dies because of starvation, it also places a load of guilt from morals and ethics from the very same people who are trying to keep them safe. Duterte's imposing figure even seems to place the blame on the ordinary citizen. The statement "We heal as one" also feels ironic to this piece because there is no balance between what we need and what we are given (if not sometimes, we are also deprived of it too).

Working as one of the university's news-publishing cartoon illustrators gave me insight on editorial cartooning: the art piece must hold an ounce of humour, and at the same time present a stark reality of what the article is trying to bring the reader. It must make sense, no matter the humour, and should it have words, it also should be concise and understandable by a glance.

By this somehow-trained glance, DHart's editorial cartoon is realistic, persuasive and makes you think. It presents the Filipino problem in an obvious and evident manner with Duterte looming over them like a dark cloud, and the medical and military frontliners acting as lines of defense before the Covid-19 virus. They are the forefront subjects that the reader should be concentrating on, followed by the imbalance and the questionable moral decision between right and wrong.

It does make one realize that we cannot go back to the usual sense of normal, not with this set-up, not with this government that seems to only cater to money and fame, and not to quality life. Enforced discipline only goes so far when thousands are at the near brink of death. Musn't the dog bite the hand that hits them instead?

(Published on: 12/03/2020 - Editorial Cartoon Discussion Forum)

[thegldngwy]

On Thinking Critically...

Whenever I hear the term "A critical thinker," I always think that the person portrayed behind these words is someone who is particularly good at Math. It almost felt like prejudice whenever I thought that way, but to watch these math-people stare intently at a problem and carefully lay out their answers felt like a Eureka! moment every time.

However, this wasn't always the case. Although shunned by the ability to solve numerical problems, I grew up alongside Philosophy, arguments and more books than I dare care to count. There were different perspectives to visit, more arguments on opposing views and always more angles to a story. Not all things have had to be numerical when it comes to thinking critically after all.

From Success Secret's video, I found myself agreeing to a lot of things.

I was branded as the "quiet student" in my junior high days, preferring not to dabble into restless chatter when I can finish my school activities quicker in silence. I weighted my words, and to debate on academic topics tended to be more of a fun exercise, especially when I wasn't forced to talk. Arguing on small things didn't seem helpful at that time, and I guess it stays true up til now.

Being a journalist student also strengthened my theory that every argument is and stays valid just as long as it has the right and fulfilling evidence. The 5 W's and 1 H also became a staple on the topics that I grew curious about. I often felt better once I've also read on different angles on a story - often I understand why this had to be done in order for this to be fulfilled, like a chain of events reviewed from the one who pushed a block then to the one where the last block falls.

I also remember that one quote from Hamlet, "...for there is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so." Because of this, the thinking that there isn't everything constantly right allowed me a venue of changing my mind once I've learned. It's always a refreshing experience to be taught new information and learn from others.

Living in the Philippines' social media society is a challenge in itself too. During the rise of trolls and their enabling by particular political persons, it's almost impossible to win or even spend energy arguing with them. It's simply...pointless. Until, of course, it gets dangerously personal when an opposing (if not aloof and cult-blurred) person starts attacking even the tiniest and nonsensical detail that isn't important to the argument in the first place (example: Senator Bato flaring up against a youth group leader during an ROTC hearing).

And of course with all these thinking, it's impossible not to go beyond. And by going beyond, it's impossible for us not to be anxious and overthink stuff. Often than not, we even get more depressed thinking about the hugeness of this world and its boundless information, its how's and why's and the like. I also do agree that sometimes we push ourselves further over the edge. It's simply impossible not to think. It's almost impossible not to act either.

To the end, there's this one thing that I remember from my public speaking class that always stuck and continues to encourage me to this day, that our words are never wasted. The ability to be curious and continually learning often shine through the way we act and, even for the quietest student, how we speak from what we've learned.

(Journal Entry #5)

[thegldngwy]

Social media and its Unlimitations

Admittedly and as many researchers would come up about a label on us, we are the generation whose phones are treated as a third limb. We are those people who are seldom seen without our phones at the ready, earphones in, or gadget savvy, much to the lament of older generations. Often than not, we've even preferred going online rather than dealing with real life, marking it as drab and lackluster than what we're seeing online.

In Bailey Parnel's TedTalk, she discusses the "unintended" consequences social media induces on our mental health. Social media as we know it has no limitations for anything, though people are doing their best in creating censoring opportunities ... but we do still experience anxiety over not being able to post, depression over the lack of attention and stress over problems like unwarranted harassment. Who wouldn't feel a bit of jealousy over a friend's post on the beach when we're just at home? Who isn't the least bit pressured of keeping up a social media if it weren't for the need to stay in the loop?

This was actually how I felt when I got my first touch-screen phone. It was like being handed a new identity with a new way of being birthed out: by a single tap on the screen. There was so much thinking to be put through, so many decisions to be thought about. Practicality wasn't my strong suit by then, but growing up with a few deadly mishaps left me lessons learned about using it.

Social media is neither boon or bane; I could step my foot firmly between these two labels and agree with Ms. Parnel's idea of practicality and safety, and vouch for the "dark side" of people. Social media in all its unlimitations is only a platform. It's up to us on what to post, on what to show. It's yet also another mouthpiece for people to also voice out those secret dark & dirty thoughts towards anyone, even those who they're close with. It's either and neither boon nor bane; it's only up to us on what to do with it.

Published on: 11/12/2020 (Is Social Media boon or bane? Discussion Forum)

[thegldngwy]

“The Power of the youth through voting”

Last September 1, the application for voters’ registration started under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and Modified GCQ. Amidst the pandemic, physical distancing and following protocols are observed.

In 2016, there were 54,363,844 registered nationwide. Over 54 million Filipinos have signed up to vote in the 2016 national and local elections not including the 1,376,067 registered overseas Filipinos voters (OFV).

According to the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the expected new voters for the year 2022 is about 4 million. The applicants are open for 16 years old and above.

In universities, student voting is important as it reflects how well colleges are fulfilling their civic missions. Last 2016 election, a total of 24, 730, 013 or 45.49% of registered voters belonged to the youth age group. 

In numbers alone, it is no doubt the youth’s vote can make or break a candidate. The youth’s political choices may predict the next leaders who in turn will run the country’s future.

However, a survey in 2017 by the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded 9 percent of Filipinos to be out of school. From most of those who were surveyed, 8 percent were between the ages of 16 and 24, out of school because of family problems, disinterest and financial problems. 

Another study in 2018 from the Far Easten University Public Policy Center entitled, “Does Gen Z Care?” showed that many people from the Generation Z were hesitant to vote. The study claimed that many were “undecided when it came to the most controversial issues of the day.”

These are factors from the past that had stubbornly persisted throughout the year, but now that the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has sabotaged every citizen’s lifestyle, it has forcibly thrust the people into a tiresome state of mind that gave way to the youth’s realization that we weren’t progressing at all. 

With the pandemic and all these health protocols in front of us, there is no denying either that voter registration has come to be more of a hassle for some.

But it is essential that the youth must be aware that those who turn 18 years of age by election day are already eligible to register, keeping in mind that the basis is the day of elections and not the day of registration.

The youth must be prepared to exercise their right to suffrage properly and effectively amid the pandemic. No one can ever take away their right to vote, especially in these trying times, considering that it is crucial for these young voters to continue to use their voices to serve as role models to those who are not yet eligible to vote. 

This is a perfect time to advocate for not only for themselves but also for those who do not have the means or capability to their own votes.

It is every person’s right and duty to go out and vote, an act of will and choice, making one’s voice to be heard, which is now crucial more than ever as we face a never ending crisis of the pandemic. Voting is an essential part of responsible citizenship. 

The future belongs to the youth. All of these are at stake yet achievable if they manage to vote well and sure.

Editorial Board Submission

[thegldngwy]

“Fallacies Observed”

Full title: "Fallacies Observed from a Contradictory Speaker"

2020 is a year full of landmines as everyone knows by now. Covid-19 as the crowning blight of this year is a phenomenon that swept away our normal lifestyles and plunged us into an uncertain future. Though there were chances for countries to contain and eventually stamp out this plague, the Philippines seemed to have lagged behind.

It wasn't long after the 2016 elections that the world has come to know about the country's strong-man president, Rodrigo Duterte. He was an elected mayor of Davao who, with his iron fist, had transformed the crime-ridden city into a safe haven with acts that earned him the nickname of "the Punisher" for his rough but effective handling of crime. As he assumed presidency, he had also put to action the controversial "War on Drugs" that had sparked outrage by human rights defenders, considering that there was roughly 6,000 victims of said war.

Lately, Duterte has once again rose to the approval of 92% of Filipinos in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Pulse Asia, a public opinion polling body in the Philippines.

Though the country's polling body isn't to be questioned, the president's statements and speech misconducts should be reviewed closely, bearing in mind that some of those statements are disputable. Just recently on October 8, Duterte once again held a virtual press conference, opening the floor with a tirade about wanting to serve the country in a "right way."

    A few fallacies that are taken to consideration on the statements on the president in this conference are: Appeal to ignorance where an arguer argues their point without substantial evidence at hand but pressing their point, the Red herring where the arguer raises a point that doesn't have connection with the main topic, and the fallacy that appeals to pity (argumentum ad misericordiam) that depends on emotional manipulation however may emotions could also be relevant to an argument.

"Now, you would notice dito sa ating bayan na kung magkal****-l****, hindi ‘yan sila magtanong kung sino ang may kagagawan o responsable for the mess that we are in right now. Hindi sila magtatanong, wala silang pakialam."

This first statement is a fallacy that appeals to ignorance. The pandemic has hit the country's economy hard. The first thing that Filipinos now have to contend with is hunger and joblessness, with those living at the slums taking it harder than most. People would mind those who were supposed to be responsible for their health and safety, but in response to the protests on said issues, the police had them beaten and even arrested. Duterte, on the other hand, granted himself emergency powers to deal with trouble or violence, rather than the pandemic he said it was intended for.

"Ang gobyerno natin maraming problema. Iyang COVID na ‘yan hindi ‘yan umaalis sa Pilipinas matagal na. Lumilipad lang ‘yang mikrobyo na ‘yan diyan sa — dito sa atin. Kung sino lang ang malas madapuan, iyon na ‘yon."

This second statement could be ruled by the Red herring fallacy. Despite the drawbacks of the government, to mention the coronavirus in such a careless way came out like it's nothing more than a minor inconvenience that people now have to live with.

"Pero ang pakiusap ko, ayusin ninyo at isipin ninyo ang Pilipino na nasa ospital ngayon na kailangan ng medisina at iyong mga Pilipinong mamamatay ngayon, ganitong oras na walang gamot, wala lahat, kulang. At hindi ko talaga maintindihan isa pa ito na may mamatay sa ospital ng gobyerno dahil walang medisina."

This last statement is considered to the fallacy of appealing to pity, which seemed ironic considering that there had been P2.2 billion worth of DOH drugs expired in their inventory. Filipinos indeed have a need for medicines; shouldn't the national budget, which was the main topic of these statements, concentrate more on improving services of delivering these medications to hospitals and drugstores so that it wouldn't be as excessively wasted away in their inventories?

Duterte had introduced himself as a "doer" more than a "talker," but in the continuing years, instead of concrete plans, his speeches centered more about trivialities, barely giving out good end goals to remedy the Coronavirus. It's no wonder how his statements are likened to be a cesspool of fallacies and controversies that could give reporters a field day trying to discern which one was debatable because of an older statement or conflicting actions taken by the government under him.

Published on: October 10, 2020 (Editorial Writing #6)

[thegldngwy]

“Cannot open file: 'Tired_students.pdf'”

They said that if they continued education in a country that was still suffering through the unprecedented pandemic, the students would be able to go back to their old "normalcy." The children are expected to function well and display quick flexibility and adaptation as they're placed into a new setting of learning and yet, there the irony lies. This new learning system requires a stable internet connection and a "distraction-less" environment: two things that never seem to go hand in hand. It's hard enough to acquire good internet connection and at the same time have an environment where you could learn without getting distracted by anything. This is just the start of many students' problems, making them hesitate or even refuse to enroll in this school year.

According to DepEd's statistics last July, only 21,344,915 students  were able to enroll in school year 2020-2021. The updated rate of enrollment to public and private schools as of August only went as high as 83.1% , with more than 300,000 private school students transferring to public. 865 private schools were also reported to close down due to the small number of enrollees. Despite the recommendation of DepEd to move the school opening from August 24 to October 5 approved by President Duterte, other schools have started their school year earlier and the results of this new schoolroom setting aren't as encouraging as the government had promised students.

There is no hiding that everyone was hit hard by the pandemic. Economic, business, physical and emotional state - all of these have been in such disarray that makes the quote, "It's more fun in the Philippines," a rusted and overused placard. Even the president's spokesperson, Harry Roque, had admitted that the 'distance-learning' isn't perfect as it still encounters issues.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with being optimistic about the opening of classes, but to affix a permanent attitude of fake or forced happiness while your surroundings reduce into nothing but white sand is tiring.

In a matter of months, students who has had usual routines were ripped out of them, throwing them in a new setting that they did not completely prepare for. The lines between the home and school has diminished. There is no longer a safe time to rest. There isn't either a way of guaranteeing that the teachers would be accommodating to requests or that they think students would have all the time in the world, thus the adding of more activities. Students' academic futures seem to also have been jeopardized, considering that grades and credits have been changed, relying heavily on output that some may or are struggling to finish.

The faltering economy has also become an uncertainty, especially for the graduating students who are about to join the workforce for the very first time. But knowing that the pandemic has wrecked more businesses than anyone could count, affecting not only chances for new jobs also places uncertainty on where parents would get funds for their child to study.

Officials, especially DepEd and CHED being optimistic about school year 2020 seems like a cheap guise, not to mention the loss of almost 4 million students who decided not to enroll due to the problems they are experiencing within their household, or themselves for that matter. Have they been more concerned about their students' number dwindling or the revenues of schools? Did they consider that we are a third-world country suddenly thrust into the setting fit for first-world countries?

None of us have been fully prepared to take on an education squeezed in between a pandemic that continues to skyrocket our cases as we go through the year. Instead of glazing over the need of students to come back to school only for money and being happy about that, officials should have redirected a system capable of effectively making use of resources to keep up with the demands of a family, even more so a student's. The budget allocated for education could also be used to recondition public schools so that jobs would increase as more students engage in this setting, at the same time removing the stigma that public schools are only for the impoverished.

To holistically support the adjustments made to catch up on this new education setting, the value in taking care of the student as a person wholly should be made a priority, not education being an additional burden. We are all in this together, as the famous movie series quote goes. All our students' shouldn't have to feel pressured to go to school over the anxiety of being left behind to an uncertain future by an environment that is severely unanticipated.

Published on: October 5, 2020 (Editorial Writing #5)

[thegldngwy]

Day 26 of Online Classes

Lesson: “Be prepared for any reaction.” 

[thegldngwy]

If someone says it’s raining and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the [*] window and find out which is true.

Jonathan Foster, journalism professor

A quote to live by.

[thegldngwy]

“On Preventing Suicide”

Suicide, a topic dubbed as taboo without prior knowledge before, is now something people must give their understanding to, especially now with the coronavirus running rampant around the globe.

Although much debated in progressive and Christian-centric countries, suicide remained a delicate topic throughout the centuries of careful scientific and psychiatric research. Danish physician Heinrich Callisen in 1807 had described it as a form of illness supported by the existence of insanity for it to be categorized as a 'sick' mind. Be it as it may, people's ways of thinking have progressed as well, though as a battle to maintain culture and beliefs over progressed thoughts supported by scientific breakthroughs.

One would not doubt that the Philippines maintains strong connections with Christianity, being the only and largest Christian nation in Asia. With this in mind, the teaching of the importance of life being God-given still stands as a stubborn obstacle against scientific research of mental health problems, which professionals are trying to help people understand instead of stigmatizing the victims.

Enter the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, that has spread chaos around the world until it completely changed people's lifestyles and upended world order.

An editorial from The Philippine Star, "Preventing Suicide," gave a glimpse on the sudden spike on calls to suicide prevention hotlines ever since quarantine started. Reasons for such calls were mostly about depression over being unable to find work to provide for the family, being separated, and even coping up with online classes among students. An organization that started in 1960, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, reported that suicide was behind the 800,000 deaths every year, with each death creating a chain reaction of 25 more following.

On writing this editorial, perhaps one of the many motivations was to highlight citizens' and individuals' rights to be informed of the state of public health in respect and justice of the hardships they are experiencing, offering possible implementations of support to cope with depression and distress. It also brought up the aspect of humanity, a societal value that toned down now that people has had to follow distancing measures in order to stay safe. Things like suicide must never be treated unfairly based from insufficient information in the first place. Being educated over the plight of a country's citizens must also be prioritized over reckless decisions and misplaced priorities by a government.

Prior to the welfare of the citizens, the editorial also showed journalistic principles like impartiality on behalf of the health professionals and ordinary citizens, and the presenting of accurate facts in order for people to understand that there is help and compassion for them too. It didn't seem to be written in favor of any group, but instead focused equally on what the IASP organization reported, what the people's concerns were, and some solutions that involved all kinds of people in preventing suicide of their loved ones - another principle of independence journalists must always observe.

As mentioned earlier, suicide isn't an easy thing to talk about. However, the way the editorial was written provided clear details over the plight of suicides internationally, which are as factual as the numbers go. However, it is uncertain whether the solutions written down are quick fixes or whether people should be doing more on educating themselves on the right information to completely preventing. Perhaps it should have mentioned more solutions, not only concentrating on what a mental health organization could do, but what a country could do as a whole. It does meet the standards of truth-telling, since journalism circulates around fact-gathering to create the 'truth of the now', ensuring that the details provided are accurate and not only the musings of a single entity.

It is certainly about time that the public be made understanding of issues like mental health problems due to the fact that these illnesses are becoming prevalent and even aggravated in times where the sudden isolation caused by the pandemic isn't the easiest to deal with by anyone at all. Does it also serve as a check on the powerful? Yes it does - because of the lockdowns, students struggle with complying to online classes, the others won't even enroll at all since their parents have no more jobs to support a school year. The parents have no source of income because they might have been removed, relocated, resigned from their jobs. People are becoming desperate and yet the government seems to have their eyes elsewhere. Leading to this, journalists are sometimes proclaimed to be stewards for democracy. This editorial had aimed to being humanely informative to the readers, if not lacking some more solutions, something a well-rounded and balanced editorial should be written down as.

Published on: September 15, 2020 (Editorial Writing #3)

[thegldngwy]

“Proper Sanctioning”

The New Normal has forced every Filipino to adjust to new ways of coping with what used to be daily life. Coronavirus, or COVID-19, had proved to be airborne and infectious especially to adults and the elderly who, due to the restrictions placed through every barangay, are the only ones allowed to go out of the house to procure the family's daily needs. However, there are different contexts presented by different breadwinners who manage to go out: the elite, the middle-class, and the poor. There has to be an understanding that these contexts are what set each kind of person apart, especially in a place like the Philippines.

A current sanction, particularly in Quezon City, is an LGU passed Ordinance No. SP-2957, S- 2020 whose penalty fines are P300 for the first offense, P500 for the second and P1000 on the third offense, where it had been P1000, P3000 and P5000. According to the councilors Franz Pumaren and Diorella Maria Sotto-Antonio, there had been a need for the decrease with the penalties imposed because of our economic situation and that it would be easier for the violators to comply.

However, even if the government should sanction the wearing of face masks in public places and limited gatherings, this system is already flawed. Jobs in the Philippines that were already hard to get to begin with are even harder to attain due to the pandemic's restrictions. Transportation, healthcare, food, these are things that are going scarce, and to get all those, people need the money.

"We need the money." This phrase means so much in different ways.

For food. For my sister's check-up. For my son's online class. For my mother's medicines. For my father's new bike because he can't travel so far just by walking.

To repeat again, the sanctions imposed are inadequate and wrong to even imply to the already-struggling man, which is why there are a lot more cases of robberies of even the simplest items: food and medicine.

It was always be easier to educate people on matters like the importance of wearing a face mask and shields and be equipped with them afterwards. It has become apparent that it is up to the people to help their own, so they do. The middle-class and the elite would perhaps rejoice over the lack of monetary sanctions so it should be made different for them: a sanction that would depend on their salary earned. That way, conferences, face masks and shields would be funded by the sanctions and are easier to access and give to those who struggle. That way the money from the sanction is placed to a better use. That way it would be lighter for everyone who needs face masks and shields to earn a living, and even have the chance to be educated on how dire our situation is and understand the importance of having those items in our daily life.

Published on: September 13, 2020 (Editorial Writing #2)

[thegldngwy]

“Little fins, big heart”

It had been years after moving into the city that I had taken care of a particular animal. I wasn't an outdoorsy person, and we didn't always have the time or resources to take care of any pet since. However, from being a thesis test subject to becoming a general interest, I found that I was keen on taking care of Betta fish.

These fish are a hardy kind with a special labyrinth organ that allows them to breath oxygen, hailing originally from mud paddies of Thailand and Indonesia. They come in varieties of size, color and genes and very much like the peacock, males are often fancier than the females and far more aggressive when claiming territory, which is why they are also called Siamese Fighting Fish. However, these days they are mainly collected as a hobby and the only competition they have are fish pageants, where fin and form are judged over.

(Oak, Dark Galaxy Avatar HMPK betta)

Over the course of my 2nd year in college, I felt the incredible need to place a tank in my room and gaze at the fish that suited me (which I found unavoidable, since there were a lot of colors this fish could come in). After my tank was built by my uncle as a birthday gift, I started planning on how the aquascape would look like. I did set aside some funds because I knew these things weren't cheap, and I did want to design my own tank. I could say that I was moderately knowledgeable in this, but my mother insisted that I should "let the professionals do it," which was a low blow for me. Who's to argue with a Filipino mother anyway?

Then quarantine struck. A month-slong warranty of aquascaping became five months, along with the heartache of losing my first fish who never even got to come home to me.

(Flandre, Red Dumbo Halfmoon betta)

No filtration, no food, no conditioning. It took a while for me to accept the fact that the aquascapers had no fault since we were all prevented from going outside during quarantine. Instead, I vowed that I would do better in taking care of the others.

Betta fish are the most traded fish in Southeast Asia, along with goldfish and others. Due to their size and easy breeding, they are often mishandled in the most unethical ways. Learning about these made me realize that they should be treated as much care as one would with a $3,000 Arowana, not placed in small containers and used like trinkets or props.

(Selene, female Cellophane HMPK betta - to go under medication)

A planted aquarium with healthy fish became a happy sight to me, and one that's helping me get through school and quarantine. Despite my art burnout and the blur of days heavy with heartbreaking news, taking care of my tank and three beautiful bettas provided me breathing space and a sense of responsibility and peace, even excitement.

It's not just a passionate hobby, I've found out; it has become a way of living with the world and the creatures in it.

Published on: August 26, 2020  (Editorial Writing #1)