Best Wishes P-Noy!

verabear Issues of the day 4 Comments

Today is the start of a new Philippines. Or so they say.

The President has been sworn in and the nation tuned in to see the star-studded ceremonies. I was at work and didn’t see it. I fell asleep in the afternoon without having been able to see any videos of the entire thing on the Internet. I’ll try to catch it tomorrow. I did get to read his inaugural speech. Very inspiring. I must admit though, we’ve heard these words before. Somehow, the Pinoys are more hopeful this time around. It’s as if we really are looking forward to a brighter tomorrow where what the President says may actually come true.

Ako din, I want to be hopeful I am hopeful. I truly believe that the fate of the country does not lie in Noynoy’s hands alone, it is an active and responsible citizenry that will bring the change that we have so longed for. P-Noy is but an agent of that change. He will lead the transformation within the government. But we have to take action too.

About the ceremonies though, naisip ko lang, sana they gave a chance for lesser known (but deserving) artists to take center stage. I mean, we probably have other local artists outside of Manila waiting for the chance to show the rest of the country and the world what they have to offer. It would have been a wonderful way to stay true to what PNoy professes to be: a very simple man who will lead a simple life even as he is President of the land. Makes sense? Wala lang, maisingit lang yung sentiment na yun.

Tonight, after the street party for the people, the President will go back home to Times Street. Once his new residence in the Malacañang compound is ready, he will move there, sa Bahay Pangarap.

Best Wishes President Noy! Today you’ve sealed your contract with the Filipino people. Our wish is that you stay true to your word.

We will be watching.

Sex Education in Philippine Schools

verabear Issues of the day 3 Comments

With school year 2010-2011 opening this week (next week for others), there’s been a lot of buzz about the inclusion of sex education in high school and elementary curriculum. The Secretary of Education has announced that Adolescent Reproductive Health will be piloted in some 150 schools across the country. Just as expected, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a statement against this move. They contend that sex education should be left to the parents.

Personally, I’m all for RH in the education system. After all, the teachers won’t be teaching about sex itself but:

Rather than sex alone, Valisno stressed that the modules for sex education will be focused on adolescent reproductive health, rising teenage pregnancies, responsible parenthood, gender equality and sustainable environment. (as quoted from here)

I’m trying to recall if we had anything close to RH when I was in high school… I think my Health teacher in the all-girl Catholic high school I went to talked to us about getting to know your body as a very important step towards learning about reproductive health. I believe it was part of the curriculum. But there definitely wasn’t any talk of sex. I mean, no one would dare teach teenage girls about sex, even if it wasn’t a Catholic school, people would just be so scandalized! Hehe.

I guess my point is that there is nothing wrong about RH in schools. I don’t believe that raising consciousness pushes kids to engage in sex. Of course, the content and methods of teaching has to be carefully prepared. One thing that might help Valisno gain more support for this, is to stop calling it sex education in the first place. It’s not like they’d be teaching kids on how to do it, right? They won’t be promoting Viagra or Extenze, would they?

Educating young people on how to be responsible with their bodies and, eventually, with their sex lives, is a step towards building an educated citizenry. It also wouldn’t harm the efforts to control population growth.

Of course, simply teaching RH won’t guarantee that young people will stop making mistakes. It won’t guarantee that they’d abstain from premarital sex, or that there will no longer be teenage pregnancies. It also wouldn’t stop them from growing up to become adults who will get married and then later have a dozen kids that they can’t feed. Teaching RH in schools won’t be enough. But we have got to start somewhere.

Election 2010 – 2 days later

verabear Issues of the day 7 Comments

For the first time in Philippine history, the elections were automated. It means so many things, in so many levels.

Personally, it was my first time to vote. Around this time last year, I talked about my experience at voter’s registration. A week or two ago, I mentioned how tough it was to make a decision. In the end, I gave my vote to Richard Gordon. He lost. I am not that disappointed though. I have faith in the resilience of the Filipino.

Noynoy, who has a comfortable 4 million lead from his closest opponent (do not get me started on that), is poised to be our next president. With about 40% of votes, his is the closest we’re getting to a majority vote in a long time, or so I hear. What keeps me hopeful is that those who came out to vote, and before that to campaign for their bets, will continue to be vigilant and participate in the affairs of the nation. If not participate in government and its process, I hope that the majority continue to be more participative in activities that promote social change. No, I am not talking about blogging about politics, or joining rallies. I am referring to the spirit that the series of calamities in 2009 seemed to have stirred in the Pinoy.

If there was one thing that Ondoy taught us, apart from the fact that there is no disaster preparedness plan to speak of, is that change happens faster when we take it upon ourselves to act. That every little thing YOU do, counts.

So there, I stayed in line for five hours, suffered under the heat of the sun, to cast my very first vote. I chose my president, VP, 12 senators, party list representative, congressman, mayor, vice mayor, and six city councilors. I had my dad and cousins to keep me company (Ma was prioritized as a senior [although she looks very young], and my brother couldn’t stay the whole time and ended up not voting). The day after, I woke up to news that about 77% of election results have been transmitted to the Comelec. That’s wonderful news to this country where manual counting took months to complete!

Then I heard the sad news: only two of my senatoriables made it to the top 12. Marcos made it, and actors-turned-politicians will be back to dominate the senate. I thought we wanted change people, yet we elect the same old faces that don’t embody that. How many times have those people served in the senate, what have they done? If you think about it, even though I don’t like Jamby, it seems like she did a lot as a Senator. Now, she’s not going back. Neither is Gordon. And that is so sad.

But I’m okay. Though I sweated like a pig yesterday, and the heat caused some breakout of adult acne, and though it made me restless the night before (I had a dream, but now’s not the time to share it), it was all worth it. I will vote again.

How was your election experience?

[yes, I took pictures because there was not much else to do, I will post them next time]