A child is a gift from above. Why should a child be a hindrance to one’s dreams? My daughter, on the contrary, is my inspiration, my eternal source of Unshattering Hope.
Hope you’d share your thoughts… http://kapenilattex.blogspot.com
Due to a surf-control firewall setup in our office, I couldn’t edit/post in my own blog during weekdays.
I also discovered that people could not comment on the site if they’re not logged in to friendster.
So I decided to move my blog (despite the excellent blogging software here) to http://kapenilattex.blogspot.com.
I’ll be waiting for you guys there 
All the discussions in bed with my wife about the use of language (pretty much the stuff discussed here) might have had a (pleasantly) unexpected side-effect to our (pretty much unwilling) audience, our 4 month old daughter CJ.
Last Saturday while me, my mother, my sister, and my wife Melynn were playing with CJ at my parent’s bedroom, she started babbling incessantly. Not that it was something unusual, CJ would babble once in a while. But by the time she was babbling for 10 straight minutes with little pause, Melynn decided to get the camcorder.
As soon as Melynn stepped out of the room, we were, errr… shocked(?) when all of a sudden CJ blurted out "Mamama!"
My sister Angel (who always teases CJ) then told CJ something to the effect of "oh you could say that but not yet ‘Papa’ huh?" CJ responded by raising her head to look at Angel and then squealing "Papapapa!!"
Right at that moment Melynn got back in the room she continued doing the "Mamamamama" and "Papapapapa" thing with the occassional "Babababa." We caught around 20 minutes worth of babbling on tape.
The following day, my mom got hold of a few of those pediatric magazines and began browsing. She finally found what she was looking for; babies were supposed to babble repetitive syllables at around 6 - 9 months, and be able to learn to say "Mama" and "Papa" at around the same time.
My baby was able to do it at four and a half months.
So much for a talkative family.
Paano nga ba nagiging bastos ang isang salitang tinuturing na bastos? Ilan sa mga personal kong obserbsyon ukol sa pagiging "bastos" ng isang salita ay ang mga sumusunod:
Marahil dahilan na rin sa ating kultura ang puno’t dulo ng pagiging bastos at balbal ang turing sa mga salitang tumutukoy sa sekswalidad. Subalit dahil hindi tayo makahanap ng tiyak at walang-paliguy-ligoy na pamalit sa mga naturang salita, isa lang ang aking obserbasyon; sa kulturang Pinoy, ang pagtatalakay at pagbibigkas ng kahit anong ukol sa sekswalidad ay kabastusan.
No wonder sexual education is such a major problem for us. We can’t even speak about sexuality in our own language without feeling guilt or disgust!
Maaari ding indikasyon ito ng kawalan ng respeto sa sariling wika. May mga kakilala akong natatawa kapag nakikita ang mga karatula ng MMDA sa wikang Filipino. Anong katuwa-tuwa doon?
Ayaw kong maliitin ang sarili kong wika, lalo pa’t dati akong manunulat sa wikang iyon. Hindi ko pinigilan ang paggamit ng mga salitang iyon sa forum na aking mino-moderate. Sa aking paniniwala, kapag iyon ay ginawa ko, sumasang-ayon ako sa pag-iisip ng marami na bastos ang sarili kong wika.
Excuse the chauvinist banter and excuse the slur. It’s just not right anymore.
In the past few months the headlines have been filled with the killings of several journalists and activist leaders, leading observers to state that a culture of violence is enroaching upon the freedom of speech. There have been more killings the past two weeks; that of former Pasig Congressman Henry Lanot, who was shot inside a restaurant in broad daylight with his killer casually walking out the door, a possibly related killing of Nicolo Echiverri, a member of the Abalos clan (the political opponents of Lanot) whose car was peppered with bullets by four gunmen, and DFA official Alicia Ramos, who was strangled inside her own bedroom by alleged Akyat-Bahay Gang members but the circumstances of which indicate that it may be more than just a robbery gone awry.
More than just executions done with hired killers, they were actually assassinations that lack neither finesse nor expertise, the assassins seemingly making sure that people are able to see their faces. They might as well give their calling card bearing "need to kill someone quick? dial this toll free number…" The part that worries me most, however, is that all of this is happening in Manila, not in the provinces where such things have almost become "normal."
Murders like this do not only irk me from an spectator’s point-of-view. In spite of the fact that my involvement to such killings are limited to second hand experience, it has become rather personal; the father of a highschool dorm roommate was shot in rushhour traffic, my aunt and cousin-in-law were forced out of their car which was then used as a getaway vehicle in a high-profile assassination of an Army general a few years back, and my own late father-in-law was gunned down point-blank at the porch of the
family-owned clinic back when my wife was only 13 years old.
I don’t really think that it’s a culture of violence that allows such things to happen; it’s a culture of dicklessness. Men who have short dicks need (and use) loaded guns to extend their penises and prove that they’re "real men." When someone with a longer dick (or larger balls) comes around, and they can’t deal with those, the cowards hire killers to extend their illusion of a very long dick even further.
But this culture of dicklessness is not limited to assassinations and murders. I know of a town mayor who was dickless enough to cut the power off in his town when an expose about his supposed indiscretions was shown on national TV. Unfortunately for him most of the people in his small barrio simply had to take a 5 minute tricycle ride to the next town to be able to watch TV. I know of multitudes of "men" who need to buy large overbearing SUVs or extremely noisy rice rockets to compensate for their small-man complex.
I seriously hope that something serious can be done with all of the above dickless bastards.
Isa sa mga isyu na aking nakaharap sa pagiging isang forum moderator sa PNB intranet forums ay ang paggamit ng mga salitang itinuturing natin na bastos. Umusbong ang isyu mula sa isang "jokes" thread na naglalaman ng mga birong napaka-berde. Nag-private message sa akin ang isa sa mga forumers at inirereklamong masyadong mahalay ang paggamit ng salitang "bulbol" sa isa sa mga post doon.
Tumugon ako sa kanya, at gumawa ako ng hiwalay na thread ukol sa isyu:
"Sapagkat may mga nagrereklamo at nagsasabing mahalay ang ilan sa mga sumusunod na salita, nais kong marinig ang inyong mga suhestyon ukol sa angkop na pamalit sa mga salitang ito:
1. Titi
2. Puki
3. Libog
4. Bulbol
Hindi maaaring sa Inggles o sa ibang wika ang kapalit na salita. Ituring niyo itong isang hamon."
Ngayon aking ihinahain sa mga mambabasa ng aking blog ang hamon na iyan.
Bakit kaya kapag sinabi natin ang salitang "penis", "vagina", "libido" at "pubes" ay ayos lang sa atin? Bakit napakasama ng dating ng mga salitang ito kapag isinalin sa Tagalog?
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May isang maituturing na exception sa isyung ito. Sa Inggles, ang salitang "clit" na impormal na bersyon ng salitang "clitoris" ay itinuturing na bastos. Subalit sa Tagalog, hindi masyadong maraming tao ang umaalma sa salitang "tinggil."
Bakit kaya?
Here in the Philippines such a big fuss is made out of the issue of which language to use in education. A lot of the "elders" claim that our education in English should be reinforced since it is our main "selling point" as a people to a global labor market seeking workers who speak and understand English. Even Manila’s Mayor Lito Atienza has his own strictly-English rule being enforced on all of the city’s public schools.
Hence, even though we’ve exported labor from the time of the Galleon Trade (the first US immigrants being Filipinos who’ve jumped ship off the coast of California), we’re exporting even more people. Based on the 2004 elections there are 3 million OFWs who were hired for their ability to speak and understand English. Locally the call-center industry, catering mainly to US-based companies, has been the only "sunshine" industry, generating thousands of jobs and millions of dollars every year.
English instruction of the sciences and humanities has been the paradigm of the country’s educational system for the past 90 years, if anyone ever took notice. What bothers me is that we’re still a "third world" or "developing country" or whatever obnoxious idiom the rich countries invent for a poverty-stricken place. Furthermore, we continue to be one of the countries were students’ aptitude in the sciences stand lowest. Whoever insists that "English is the solution" fails to see this big picture.
Focusing English to get employed by a multinational company doesn’t solve the poverty problem — it merely becomes a short term solution to a long term problem. It trains Filipinos, rather efficiently, to become blue-collar workers with menial jobs (as in the cases of domestic helpers and seafarers) to highly paid-white collar workers (as in the case customer service representatives), the operative word being "worker." Moreover, the kind of English that Filipinos learn, oftentimes, only allow them to communicate at the basic (or for call center agents, cosmetic) level rather than have a truly deep and functional grasp of the English language.
Now I’m not going to say that we should get rid of the way English is taught. Hell no, that would be detrimental to us since we will lose a significant "advantage" over other people. But we should understand that while the Germans, Japanese, and Koreans are now rigorously studying English themselves (a lot of Koreans even go here in Manila or even Bacolod to study English), they’re doing that so as to be able to talk business in an English-dominated global market economy, as opposed to Filipinos who study English so that they could be hired by multinational companies and talk well with their expat boss.
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If some of you were wondering, it was only in 1998 when I was only able to write fairly well in Filipino. That was the year I joined Ang Pahayagang Plaridel of the De La Salle University. Back then I thought that I didn’t deserve respect as a person if I did not acknowledge who I truly was — a Filipino — in my use of language, both in speaking and writing. I could say that back then I could write fairly well in English. I just told myself I can only be called a writer if I wrote well in both languages.
Noong nakaraang taon mayroong isang paksa na tinalakay sa intranet forums ng PNB ukol sa pagmi-migrate sa ibang bansa. Doon, napakaraming tao ang nagsiwalat ng kanilang kanaisang makapunta at manirahan sa Estados Unidos bilang imigrante. Ito ang aking naging tugon, na inaasahan kong hindi sasang-ayunan ng higit sa nakararami…
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Iginugol ng aking lolo at lola (mga magulang ng aking ama) ang kanilang buong buhay sa mithiing maipadala sa Estados Unidos ang kanilang apat na anak.
Nagtagumpay sila sa tatlo maliban sa aking ama. Maraming beses tinangka ng aking ama na dalhin kami sa US, subalit ang naging pangunahing suliranin ay ang aking ina. Hindi nila malaman kung bakit sa dinami-dami ng consul na hinarap at karami-raming papeles na inayos ng aking ina ay lagi pa rin siyang itinatanggi (denied) ng consul.
Isang guro ang aking ina sa Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas noon, at mayroon namang naghihintay na trabaho sa kanya sa isang hayskul sa New York. Dahil dito, naiwan ang aming pamilya dito sa Pilipinas sa isang panahong puno ng kawalang-kasiguruhan; noong mga huling taon ng rehimeng Marcos.
Lubos na nanghinayang ang aming mga kamag-anak noon, lalo na ang aking ama, sapagkat iniisip nilang napakalaking kawalan ang kabiguang makapunta sa Estados Unidos. Wala na kasing pag-asa ang Pilipinas.
Iyan lang ang laging bukambibig ng karamihan.
Lumipas ang mga taon. Hindi man nakalipad ang aking ina sa Estados Unidos, bumusilak naman ang kanyang karir: nalipat siya sa Pamantasang De La Salle, naging Pangalawang Dekano (Associate/Vice-Dean) doon, natamo niya ang kanyang PhD, nakaikot siya sa Pilipinas bilang tagapagsalita sa iba’t ibang lektyur at seminar. Mula noong gitna ng dekada nobenta, marami siyang narating na lugar; ang Japan, Hong Kong at Austria ay iilan lamang. Ilang beses din siyang nakapagbalik-balik sa iba’t-ibang bahagi ng Estados Unidos (maging sa East coast, West coast at Hawaii), minsan upang magbakasyon, pero kadalasa’y upang magsaliksik o umatend sa conference.
Marahil iniisip ng iba na lahat ito’y nagawa niya sapagkat may salapi, subalit iyan ay hindi totoo. Ang aking ina ay ipinanganak at lumaki sa Tondo, hindi kalayuan sa Divisoria, at naulila sa ama noong siya’y nasa hayskul. Nakakuha siya ng mga iskolarsyip sa UST upang makapagtapos ng Batsilyer sa Edukasyon, at noo’y iniisip niyang magiging guro lamang siya sa pampublikong paaralan. Subalit sa pamamagitan ng sipag at tiyaga, at dedikasyon sa kanyang propesyon, siya’y nakaangat sa buhay.
Lahat ito’y nangyayari samantalang ang isa sa aking mga tiya’y nahirapan nang husto sa pamamalagi sa Estados Unidos. Nakakukuha man siya ng trabaho’y hirap siya sa pagtustos sa pagpapalaki ng aking limang pinsan. Ang iba ko namang tiyo’t tiya’y nakaangat sa karir, subalit masyado namang nakahiligan ang mahjong at casino. Ang aking lolo’t lola’y lumipad doon sa pagtatapos ng dekada otsyenta, at doon na sila inabutan ng karamdaman at nahimlay, kamakailan lamang.
Ngayon, ang isa sa mga isyung tinatalakay ng aking ama at ng kanyang mga kapatid ay ang pagbebenta ng mga lupang pagmamay-ari ng aking lola (pabahay ng gobyerno noon sa mga guro, sapagkat guro din ang aking lola). Tinatalakay nila kung paano paghahati-hatian ang salaping makukuha sa pagbenta ng lupang iyon, at paano ito ipadadala sa Amerika.
Kakatawanan, sapagkat maliit na property lamang ang pinaguusapan na hindi hihigit ang halaga sa ilang libong dolyar lamang.
Saan kayo nakarinig ng pamilyang nagre-remit ng pera papuntang Estados Unidos?
Maraming beses sa ating buhay, ang nakikita lamang natin ay ang mga hirap na ating dinadanas, samantalang hindi natin kinikilala ang mga biyayang ating naitatanggap. Napakarami na akong naririnig na taong nagsasabing "kawawa naman kami, hand-to-mouth existence ang buhay dito sa Pilipinas. Kaya gusto na namin mag-migrate sa States." Ngunit kapag ika’y pumunta sa kanilang tahanan, ang makikita mo’y isa o higit pang kotse, mga kasangkapang mamahalin, at mga kagamitang hindi naman kailangan. Maging ang mga taga-skwater dito sa Maynila ay mayroong cellphone, karaoke, at DVD player. Iyan ba ang tinatawag na hand-to-mouth existence?
Binibigyan tayo ng Panginoong Diyos ng maraming pagkakataon sa ating buhay, sa mga paraang hindi natin naiisip o nakikilala. Mapalad ang aking ina sapagkat taglay niya ang kakayahan na kilalanin ang mga bagay na kaya niyang gawin dito sa Pilipinas, imbis na magreklamo sa mga bagay na gusto niya sanang gawin pero hindi niya magawa dito.
Nais kong tularan ang aking ina. Tulad niya, kung saan ko natagpuan ang aking sariling nakadapa sa kahirapan, doon ako babangon at magtatagumpay.
Dito ako sa lalaban sa Pilipinas.
Matagal ko nang naisip na marahil, kung aking ipagmamalaki ang aking sarili bilang manunulat, kailangan ko siguro ng blog. Ngunit ngayon ko lang ginawa. Marahil dulot ng pagkakaroon ng pamilya. Marahil dulot ng rami ng trabaho. Marahil dulot ng katamaran. Ayun, natumbok niyo. Katamaran.
Antok.
Kailangan ko lang ng pampagising, sapagkat inaantok pa rin ako.
Nawa’y magising din kayo sa mga susunod na kabanatang aking ilalathala sa blog na ito.
Magandang araw!
