Slings and Arrows (random thoughts)

 
by Oliver Geronilla
 
I don’t live in cloud-cuckoo land; so, I won’t pretend that black is white. For the nonce, let me do a double take at the scintillating points raised in some of the articles here.
Quite interestingly, many of those who make no bones about the way things are being done in Bulan are armchair [...]

We Can Do Much More To Our Country

by Gemma Dimaculangan ( Her letter as posted on the Internet and later published in Inquierer.net)
 
(This letter was forwarded to me by a good friend. I  find it  representative of how today’s Filipinos think and feel about  the issues facing the Philippine politics. I challenge all thinking Bicolanos – particularly Bulanenõs-  to give and share their analysis of  [...]

Life Goes On In Canipaan: The Faces Of Hope

In Remembrance Of Manay Edna
 by: jun asuncion
 
 
 
 
 
 
(click photo to view Teachers’ Gallery)
They were Manay Edna’s faithful daily companions in her work as a teacher to our young Tagabulans- her  teaching colleagues in the Bulan North Central School. We visited them one day in their school which is just across the street where our Manay Edna had lived.
Listening to [...]

Lessons That We Should Have Learned Long Time Ago…

October 15, 2008 at 4:49 pm ·
from rudybellen

 
On Technology Development :
The research agency that virtually turned Taiwan around from an agrarian to an industrialized economy suggests that the Philippines should put up a similar agency that can get technologies take off from the shelves. The Philippines may derive a model from Taiwan in having [...]

When A Shaman Runs Amok

Or,  The Problem Of Depression And Violence In Finland
It happened just a few hours after I have posted my previous article about Finland: In Kauhajoki, Finland, a Finnish gunman ran amok killing  several students in a classroom. This horror echoes last November 11, 2007 ’s student shooting -also at a classroom in Finland- which is known as the [...]

A Lesson From The Shamans, Witches And Magicians

Or, Education in Finland
by jun asuncion
 
What do I know about Finland aside from my nokia handy and the outstanding PISA ranking? I digged down and remembered Alvar Aalto, (February 3, 1898 – May 11, 1976)  a celebrated Finnish architect and designer, the Kalevala which is a book and epic poem compiled from the Finnish and Karelian folklore by the [...]

The Great Filipino Dream

Or, Greed Over Education
 
(This is actually my response to attybenji’s comment on Teachers, Don’t Leave Us Kids Alone!)
You may recall that Mrs. Arroyo refers to college education as the ‘great Filipino dream’. Indeed she’s right this time considering that, as the DepEd says, out of 10 students entering Grade 1, six will complete the elementary course, four [...]

Teachers, Don’t Leave Us Kids Alone!

 
Teacher’s salary should be doubled! A wishful thinking? Yes, this is  maybe a dream but one that rests upon solid foundation- upon our constitution in Article XIV, Section 5 (5) which says that” The State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education and ensure that teaching will attract and retain its rightful share of the best [...]

THE ELUSIVE JUSTICE AFTER 25 YEARS!

August 21, 2008 at 2:55 pm ·
Or, the Prepared Speech That Was Never Read.
By attybenji
Ninoy Aquino said, “The Filipino is worth dying for.”
In retrospect, Twenty Five (25) years after Ninoy Aquino’s death, only his murderer, the alleged hired killer, Rolando Galman (RIP) and the other alleged conspirators, (mostly members of the defunct AVSECOM-MIA), now [...]

“Never To Own Anything That Is Not Ours”

Never to own anything that is not ours? A Confusian analect, Marxist’s dialectic or Nietzsche’s geneaology of morals? No, it’s from the mouth of a poor, malnourished Filipino boy, with barely nothing to put into his mouth but turned in a bag with P18,000.
Yes, I stumbled upon this old news and made me  ponder upon this [...]

When Money Is Not Everything

By: Dora The Mouse
 
When I was a child growing up, I’ve seen poverty and misery at a very young age. I experienced hunger and deprivation like everybody else around my neighborhood.  Those were the years when one can not really comprehend what poverty really like until you experienced it.  When it rains, it poured rain [...]

Poignant Memories of the Distant Past

Our Land Of Paradise
By: Tiger Of Serengeti
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
Once upon a time, many decades ago, there were these beautiful islands sitting in the middle of the vast blue ocean on the other side of the world undisturbed of its beauty. It was like a paradise. It was indeed beautiful with its lush green forest, rivers and springs [...]

A CALL FOR MORAL REVOLUTION?

Or, A Change Must Come From Within!
by: atty. benji
“Watch your thoughts, they become words;
Watch your words, they become actions;
Watch your actions, they become habits;
Watch your habits, they become character;
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
-Anonymous-
Ours is a nation (or a town, province) gravely afflicted with interlocking diseases of poverty, passivity, cheating, graft and corruption, [...]

HONOR THY FATHER & THY MOTHER!

Or, Belated Happy Mother’s Day.
by : attybenji
Honor thy Father and thy Mother – is the best and everlasting presents that child can give to the his/her parents, specially the mother (free of charge), when we all celebrated the MOTHER’s DAY a week ago – though the message is a little bit late, but it does’nt [...]

THERE’S NO FAILURE, ONLY SUCCESS DELAYED!

 
“I have persevered against difficulties,
I rose up against defeats &,
I conquered the failures of the past”.
 
by atty. benji
A billboard in one of the sweepstakes ticket outlets in Quiapo, reads “A quitter never wins; a winner never quits”. Of course, if you quit or stop dreaming you will never win in any contest, challenge or any [...]

Chicken and Egg Question

FEATURED COMMENT:
( A comment sent by J.A. Carizo of “Bik-Lish”, of Legaspi City to atty. benji’s article ” Who is to be blame for Poverty…”. I post it here in front to introduce the author and his writings. The title was taken from the comment itself -and I hope Mr. Carizo approves it!  So make time to visit Bik-Lish! [...]

TAGABULANS TO FIGHT POVERTY

(or Free Bulan from the Bondage of Poverty)
by: atty benji
Origins of Poverty:
Historically speaking, when man came on earth he did not live in a society or hierarchy nor was he endowed with poverty. Good health, longevity, natural cheerfulness were his own even as he found himself amidst plenty.
Ending Poverty:
That poverty can be eliminated through higher [...]

The CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM in the Country:

- dysfunctional system, or effective crime deterrent?
By: atty benji
In Bulan, or in Sorsogon, in particular, do you think criminal justice system is OK?
How about the police? The Prosecutor? The Court? And the Jail or Correctional?
I would recall a year ago during the debate re, abolition of the death penalty law in the country, President Gloria [...]

POLITICAL DYNASTIES IN LOCAL POLITICS- A Lucrative Family Business?

By: Atty. Benji
Section 26 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution reads “the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and prohibit “Political Dynasties” as maybe defined by Law”. Apparently, the enabling law that will define the parameters of the term “political dynasty” has been languishing in the archives of the House [...]

Bulan And The Korean War – by rudybelen

( actually  posted as a comment to A Message To Us Filipinos…but it is important to remember the past and our forgotten heroes of Bulan. So let’s put them here to the front as our tribute. jun asuncion )

April 10, 2008 at 5:59 pm ·

sorry guys, i can’t really help myself but respond to this commentary. [...]

The Fight For Progress

To attybenji,
I like your fondness in going backward in time to ground your arguments to the themes that occupy us today as you draw lessons from history and pieces from written literaure. It’s very educational for all of us. We do hope we are reaching more and more tagaBulans-young and old- as we walk with [...]

A Government Run Like Hell

  Thank you prodebate4 for sharing your thoughts and your battles in life. Our country is still in experimental stage, still searching for the best form of government and leadership, the so called search for identity after the historical traumas that twisted our perception and development, divided and wounded us deep and rendered weak our [...]