A Bright Nightmare

On the 18th day of June 1991, I first saw the beauty of this world. Joined by the forces of love of Expedito Saguino and Isidra Alcoser, a James was born in a peaceful barrio in Naga, Zamboanga del Sur (but now a part of the Sibugay province).

I learned how to read and write when I was three because my neighbor had a ‘videoke’ machine and I often sing there every night. I started my elementary days when I was five but I stopped after3 months. Imagine! In our English class, for three months, all the lessons were about ‘standing line’, ‘curve line’, ‘sleeping line’ and all the lines. It was so boring so I decided to stop. I transferred to a kindergarten school. It was very fun indeed. There were no ‘line’ lessons at all. What I enjoyed most was the singing and the playing time with my classmates (who were mostly my childhood friends and my neighbors) and with my teacher.

I was a naughty boy before (but now I am not). When I was in Grade 1, my classmates and I were always urinating at the garbage area at the back of our room. One day, recess time, the janitor burned the garbage. We were told by the janitor not to go there. But we still insisted to go. We urinate there. Unfortunately, my companion pushed me towards the blazing garbage. I was badly burned from the feet up to my knees. I was absent from the class for almost a month. During those absences, I cannot use my feet to play. I was in great disappointment those times. But a person I saw in a television show inspired me. He, instead of using the injured part of his body, used the other parts for recreation. I think for a while. He can do it and so can I. I started to write poems and songs. I read many books. I practiced my writing and speaking skills.

Years later, I realized that the disaster I encountered before became a way for me to know myself more. I joined different contests such as ‘story telling’, ‘talumpati’, ‘vocal solo’ and more. I joined the writers guild and voice and speech choir in our school. But the most significant thing that I did was in my Grade 6. I joined the press conference, which is a contest between schools in the field of broadcasting and campus journalism. Since then, I have started to love journalism. I pursue it until high school. I became the editor-in-chief of our school gazette. I have decided to take either Mass Communication or Journalism in college. But my parents were telling me not to take it because of the journalist slaying issues. That is why I am taking accountancy now. But I cannot put away myself from writing. I am still doing it without taking the course.

Even your experiences are comparable to nightmares, there is/are reason(s) why those things come into your way. It is because there will be other consequences that could be beneficial to you in other ways. I did not expect that the inferno that touched me and brought disappointments and frustrations to me could help me know myself more deeply. Without those things, I might not know what my goals and ambitions are. I might not know that I could be happier even if I lost something because in anything lost, there is always a replacement which is more better and could make you feel better than before.

Who is the Greatest Person on Earth?

Who is the greatest person on earth?

Jesus? Buddha? Mohammed? These were all inspiring to some people (not just by ‘some’ people but almost ‘majority’ of the people in the world). Millions have died and billions have undergone persecutions because of religion and these persecutions and sufferings continue at present.

Could it be Galileo Galilee, the ambassador of science, who invented the telescope and was the first to see the universe for what it really is? In the Time 100 List of 2006 for the world’s most influential people, it includes George Clooney, George W. Bush, Oprah Winfrey, Bill and Melinda Gates, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, Hillary Clinton, Mahatma Gandhi and a lot more.

But why did the magazine consider these human beings as the greatest persons in this world? Because they were the people who greatly influenced the world─ changes and molds it into another identity. But why do we really have to recognize them? In fact, it is our will to be influenced. It is our choice.

They do not really have the control to the world. So, who is that person we can really consider as ‘the greatest person on earth’?

Well, who is it? The answer is only a three-letter word— YOU.

Why you? It is because the most important in your world is you. Pause…Think for a while…Who else could it be? Who brushes you teeth? Who changes your clothes? Can those people listed in the Time 100 do these things for you? Of course not!

Is there someone else? Perhaps, there is, but it was when you’re still a kid. But you are not kids no more. You have the control of your world!

What you’ve been doing for many years is to put yourself after everyone else. Has this been effective for you? How has this been working for you?

Here is a story. There was once a high school student. He had many friends. He became the first honor from his first year up to his third year. He became prominent in his school. His attitude changed. He shouts on his classmates whom he considered as ‘dull’ individuals. He just found out that he was losing his friends. One night, he realized that he was becoming a monster. He just slept. And when he woke up, everything had changed. He felt better.

When you feel better, you will be friendlier. When you are friendlier, your world will seem a lot better.

This applies the "Golden Rule". "Do unto others what you want others do unto you." The point is how you are, is reflected to others. Once you give value to yourself, the people you acquainted with will feel you value them. They then will value you. This is what we called mutualism. The thought of putting others before you seems worthless. You should not teach others how to treat you.

Here is another example. Who of you here have been flown in a plane? What is the safety speech when the plane loses pressure and the air masks drop? If you have a companion/s, whose mask do you put on first, yours or his or hers? Why is that?

You put on yours first for you to be able to assist others easily, right? If you look at yourself first, you are in a better situation to help others.

Here is my final example. Do you know the song of Whitney Houston "The Greatest Love of All"? What is the greatest love all? The answer is in the song itself. It goes: "Because the greatest love all is happening to me. Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all."

So, I will ask you again.

Who is the greatest person on earth?

The answer: YOU.

Child's Reflection

Being a son/daughter is not just a mere biological relationship alone, yet a biological relationship out of love. It is undeniable that a big part of our very being (from the tip of our toenails to the tip of our hardstand) is our parents. It is inevitable that we came into existence because of love. Thus it is as well inevitable for us as a son/daughter to bring and pay back the love to our parents through our actions and words.

DEFINITION:

Being a son/daughter is not that bad at all. In fact, it is so nice to be one. It makes you feel that you are not alone─ that you belong in a family and that you have something to lean on in times of troubles ad difficulties.
But in spite of this benefits being a son/daughter, we have still to consider that we have the responsibilities to do:

"Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you". ─ Exodus 20:12

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right". ─ Ephesians 6:1

This is the only responsibility that we are obliged to do: to honor our parents. To honor them means to obey them, love them and respect them. All the time? Not necessarily all the time. You don’t need to love and respect your parents all the time for love fades and perhaps turns to revulsion, disgust .and abhorrence. But instead, honor them all the time for this is the command of God. This is the first commandment with a promise.

Although we have the responsibilities, we have also the rights as son/daughter:

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7610

An act providing for stronger deterrence and special protection against child abuse, exploitation, and discrimination and for other purposes. .

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9231
Special protection of children against child’ abuse, exploitation and discrimination act

Recalling an Experience:

I could personally attest their conditional love for me in everyday of my life for they provided me with my needs and tried so hard to give what is best for me. There is a history that really made me realize of my responsibilities as a son/daughter to my parents.

"When I was born, my mother’s life was in jeopardy. The doctor declared that she had a fifty-fifty chance to live due to complications in giving birth to me. Luckily, she survived.

"My staying and studying here in UPV is a great decision to me because for the reason that I came from a poor family. And since I pursue this thing, I have to strive hard in order to pay back the sacrifices that my parents did and still doing right now. I arrived here at Iloilo last April( too early, right?) alone. I had looked for job and some scholarship grants. Unfortunately, I failed. I was so sad. That is why, every night I cried─ thinking of my parents from far afar who are dropping there bloods and perspirations just to send me money for my food. Last Monday, August 20, 2007, my older sister sent me a SMS. It goes: ‘bro, pwede mo na kuhaon ang kwarta. Amo ni ang Control #:IPIL2-KJ26R*****. Ayaw sa guid daw bayad sa bisan ano. Para sa food lang guid na. Ang kwarta na ina, bala-an mo nga inutang lang na. Indi guid mag-uyang sang kwarta sa mga wala pulos nga butang’. I cried again ─ visualizing again my parents working so hard for me and my brother and sisters".

CONCLUSION:

While recalling these stories, I realized that as a child of my parents, I have a great responsibility for they are willing to gamble their lives for their child’s sake. And that is to pay them by doing those responsibilities and doing what we think that can make them happy.

Sa Bawat Pagpatak ng Luha (Synopsis)

Ang 'Sa Bawat Pagpatak ng Luha' ay kwento ni Carlo, isang estudyante sa UP na humaharap sa napakaraming pagsubok sa kanyang buhay. Hindi sana siya makakapag-aral ng UP dahil sa kahirapan ng kanyang pamilya, na ni pamasahe mula Zamboanga papuntang Iloilo ay wala sila. Subalit talagang pursigido si Carlo na mag-UP dahil alam niya na ito ang magiging sagot sa pangarap niyang maihaon sa kahirapan ang kanyang pamilya. Naging masaya siya dahil natupad ito. Subalit naging mali ang lahat ng kanyang mga expectations. Inakala niya na magiging okay na ang lahat pagkapasok niya sa UP. Maliban sa problema sa pamilya, mas nahaharap pa si Carlo sa isang napakalaking hamon - ang pagiging iskolar ng bayan. Pero dahil sa hamong ito, mas naging matatag si Carlo. Mas naging matapang siya. Ang pagganap sa tungkulin sa bayan ang nakikita ni Carlo na mas magiging solusyon sa mga problema, hindi lamang ng kanyang pamilya, kundi ng buong pamayanang Pilipino. Pinili niyang maging isang student activist na patuloy na lumalaban para sa karapatan ng bawat tao. Siya ay naniniwala na ang kahirapan at pagdurusa ng bayan ay hindi lahat dulot ng mga may kapangyarihan. Kung may mga mahihirap na mas lalong naghihirap at kung may isang taong hindi makakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw, may maling nagaganap. Pero lahat ay may pananagutan sa bawat paghihirap at pagdurusang ito. Bilang UP Student, tayo ay nahaharap sa responsibilidad na ito.

Nabatid ni Carlo na walang magandang maidudulot ang iskeptisismo ng tao. Siya ay tumatawag ngayon ng pagkakaisa sa mga iskolar ng bayan. Tumatawag siya ng pagkilos na sana ay ipaglaban natin ang karapatan ng bawat Pilipino. Huwag na sana nating hintaying may magsimula ng paglaban. Simulan ito sa ating sarili. Tayo ang pag-asa ng bayan. Huwag na nating hintayin maging huli na ang lahat. Huwag na nating hintaying may magdurusa pa at maghihirap. Huwag na nating hayaang papatak pang muli ang kanyang mga luha dahil sa atin lamang nakasalalay ng kung magiging ano si Isko ngayon at bukas.

*abangan ang buong dula sa CM Play Festival sa ika-11 ng Disyembre, 2008 sa UP Auditorium.