I don't deserve this government!

It took sometime before I could really feel my government was working for me and that my taxes weren't being squandered by the selfish and the greedy. From Marcos to Arroyo, I think I didn't prosper much bec I was too preoccupied with getting pissed off by my government. PNoy's was a dream. Despite the many problems it needed to face, it made me feel that I was working for a society and country that deserved all my love and concern. It was PNoy's admin wc inspired me to seek government employment despite being quite comfortable as a tenured faculty in a private university. It was time to give back. PNoy and his people (save for a few bad eggs) gave their all for good governance. PNoy gave hope and pride which were missing in many of us for decades. 

Then Duterte happened.

I have no regrets transferring to the public school but this present regime is making me feel abused and deprived again. I would have accepted the fact that delays are norm in the public school system, may it be in documents or in remuneration but what makes things hard for me to go thru day in day out is our leader's utter disregard for the importance of good influence, role models and the high level of appreciation for the pursuit of truth and knowledge which our society needs in order to prosper. This government is so blatant in its insults for the trustworthy, the sincere and the properly educated. Many appointees of Duterte are walking insults to members of society who are consistent in their uprightness and perseverance not to mention their thirst for wisdom. This government gave power to men and women who possess qualities exactly the opposite of what are often aspired. 

Duterte hated school and is disgusted with knowledge thru education. He belittles the scholarly and the scientific and decides on things out of sheer impulse and caprice. He rewards the liar, the fake, the greedy and the crass. For one who has given much premium on education and has devoted many years helping educate the young, how can I feel inspired by the rottenness and shallowness his regime seems to espouse? 

I love my job. I will go on teaching till my retirement but God grant me the resolve to continue on despite the grim atmosphere this government has set for me, our youth and our country as a whole. It's just too tiring at times. I don't, we don't deserve this government.

A Time To Cuss

As a teacher, I try my best not to use cuss words beyond "ulol" and "gago" in my tweets. I also avoid RTing posts that slut-shame women or denigrate certain sectors like the mentally-challenged. I could call Duterte "demonyo" or Arroyo, "makapal" but the most I could say is my fave HT #NaMo or #NaNyo when I am really really disgusted by it all. 

There are many reasons why I should let my guard down. Duterte's government has given me enough instances to forget that I have students who follow me and I should not care anymore if I use words "unbecoming" of my profession. Believe me, it's not easy restraining myself. 

At home, I noticed that I cuss over meals when the TV is on and the news would show our evil president doing what he does best- lie and insult everyone. I really feel guilty bec I know my kids, all grown up and who don't use bad words, feel uncomfortable about it. I know though that they understand where the frustration is coming. They share the sentiment. They know how concerned and disturbed I am about our present predicament as a nation. 

Online, I will leave it to my socmed friends to curse and cuss on my behalf when we are time and again get agitated by this punishment called government. My priority is still to express/share my opinion on issues hoping the younger set would be encouraged to think and form their own take on the never-ending concerns we face as a people. Thank heavens for symbols, punctuations and emoticons for giving me the option when it's time to cuss. So , Duterte, 😡💩😏😡👿$/@&%#€¥%!

Too much

I really don't mind her unsavory past. I take offense at the lies she helps spread especially at the expense of other women like the good senator and the gentle VP. Though it was ironic that she got appointed to the MTRCB at first, I was thinking she would try to fit the job. But she went on disparaging truth and the second highest official of the land. She has influence obviously, but she uses it to mislead people especially our countrymen abroad who aren't critical enough of their news source. 

The former mayor is the worst president we've had. He doesn't care who he insults. He is pure evil. He allowed the bad back into power, he encouraged the slaughter of the very people who looked up to him for support and worse, he continues to ram down our throats the worst appointees ever. 

This government has no shame. It deserves its new ASEC for Comms but then, do we really deserve the way it insults us everyday? On May 9th yet. It's the day some 16 million fools dragged us down to hell. Pilipinas, ang hirap mong ipaglaban. Ang tanga mo kasi. Gustong-gusto mong ginagago ka. Nakakapagod ka na. 

Carebears.

I half-expected it. I know how teachers, whether from private or public schools seem to shun social issues and are only lending all ears when remuneration is the topic. Still, I felt sad that the group of social science teachers didn't rise to the occasion when the topic of human rights came up in the training-seminar. They are teaching social studies, politics and government and now are tasked to handle a very timely course "Community Engagement, Solidarity and Citizenship". I am sure we are all acquainted with issues that confront us as a nation. But...

The young historian who walked us through the curriculum guide for the subject was quite excited on the first day because he said we are going to tackle Human Rights and so he asked the training staff to distribute copies of the UN Declaration. He also dropped some hint on what key issues we would be discussing and the key words are definitely not alien to any of us: EJK, war on drugs, gender sensitivity, etc.

The first activity was already very telling. When asked who do we consider as best PH president, three volunteered the following choices one after the other:

1. Garcia - because a former professor told them of his admin and this teacher was impressed. The fact that she couldn't say much about what Garcia accomplished is as we now say "maliit na bagay". 

2. Marcos- because this teacher was brought up in a family who thinks the late dictator did so much (infra-wise) . 

3. Arroyo- because ,let's face it, argued the teacher, it was in her time that teacher salary began to increase. 

Now, I must admit that I tend to judge others by their political choices. The three above went on my list of co-trainees I wish to interact less with. Well, not really. I could still stand them because tolerance and understanding were also taken up seriously in this seminar. Still, I could only roll my eyes at the prospect of them teaching the soc sci courses to SHS.

When Human Rights came up, there were three who volunteered the following opinion:

1. The US who forced these rights on us is guilty of violating them (cites Gitmo) and so why would we be forced to follow said UN Declaration?

2. We are a weak state with a weak justice system and therefore we may not follow the universal declaration.

3. Drug suspects rape or kill and they are not entitled to the respect for the right to live. 

The resource speaker was obviously having a hard time at this point and his enthusiasm about pursuing the topic waned. He just said it is but a topic in the syllabus and will only be given a few meetings to discuss and so he moved on to the next instead. EJK was not taken up anymore. Not by him. It was mentioned again by the next facilitator but I doubt if anyone would discuss it in the demo teaching scheduled for the next day.

If I were Dep-Ed, Human Rights should have been allotted at least two weeks to discuss. Given the nonchalance these teachers exhibited towards upholding the said rights, it seems it will just be given cursory treatment in class. And EJK will be trivialized if not totally accepted as a day-to-day thing. Teachers didn't care enough for human rights obviously in the same mind with many who think that killing druggies outright is the solution to what this regime has brainwashed many into thinking as the foremost problem of our country.

Aside from corruption, the foremost problem we have it seems is bad education which contributes to the weak instilling of values in many families. 

Sad. 

Going Public

Let me tell you how I got into teaching and why I have decided to transfer to a public school.
1. I started teaching in 1988, five years after graduating from UPD (mayabang ako, proud maroon here). I grew tired of job hopping and commuting to and from the business districts so my HS alma mater beckoned.
2. I stayed with my alma mater for 6 years interrupted only by my getting married and having my first baby.
3. I quit and tried the resto business. It lasted for just over a year and by 1997, I realized teaching is the only job I know well.
4. I started teaching English and Literature. I used to teach Filipino and Araling Panlipunan. After another year, I shifted to tertiary level teaching.
5. I was with AMA, CSB, Manila Times School of Journalism, DLSU, and FEUTech.
6. Last year, osteoarthritis started making things difficult for me so I decided I have to transfer to a school nearby. Also, teaching language and literature to uninterested technology studes has become tiring.
7. Kto12 transition was a blessing. I am now a teacher in Senior HS. Nearer place of work, shorter work hours. Lower salary but I do get home before the hellish rush hours. God is good!
8. I hold a Master's degree in Language and Literature and ABD (All But Dissertation)  in Applied Linguistics. Both from DLSU-M. (Mayabang sabi ako e.)
9. You can call me Ma'amSyj.

I'm back! A brief explainer...

Last time I posted was April 9th, 2016 on my WordPress account. I couldn't retrieve it anymore as I have since closed the email addy I used for logging in. I could still see my posts at mssyj.wordpress but could not post anything new anymore. I tried creating a new one but Wordpress is not making it easy. I remember this blog which was my first on Blogger. I used it to post reviews of my fave teleserye then. I was also already active on Twitter because of Coco Martin. I was a huge fan. Still am, but more critical and not anymore the fangurl type. Anyway... 

I plan to use this blog to post more lengthily on topics I tweet about. My current interests are still much on Philippine politics, society, education and soc media. 

Check me out on Twitter @dinaprofmssyj . Warning: I am yellow. :) 

Gabriel

Again, as always, this is a biased post.

How does Gabriel compare with his father Samuel so far? I don't know if Samuel's character flaw, that is falling for another woman when he was supposed to be destined for Isabelle, was intentional or was a product of cretaive adjustment to appeal to more following, but it surely allowed us a prolonged run of our favorite Primetime masterserye. Now well into part 2 with Gabriel keeping us hopeful that the alitaptaps will prevail, Ikaw Lamang and Coco Martin continue to make us tweet excitedly before, during and after each episode.

Samuel was memorable falling in love with Isabelle. He was a disappointment when his character was weakened by his decision to marry somebody else and appear happy with her. He lacked scenes that assured us he still had Isabelle in his heart. He was too upright to even show he still pined for her while married to Mona. Perhaps Coco Martin, known to have so much respect for what is morally and ethically right wouldn't want his character to exhibit a wayward yet common attitude of taking solemn vows for granted. We, SamBelle fans tried too hard to accept this and just looked forward to a promised second chance at love in the next generation. Gabriel it is and this time, the alitaptaps which initially hovered over Natalia, changed their preference and pointed to Andrea.

Part 2 started really happy with a perky Jacq literally colliding with a determined-looking Gabriel. Ikaw Lamang woke us all up to a greater display of chemistyr between Coco and Kim this time via rom-com, light, no tears but 110% kilig. Of course, when characters and events from the past start merging with the present, the laughter is again replaced with a nightly showcase of tears. Gabriel for a while there, kept us worried that he is not going to let go of the bitterness and will choose Natalia over Jacq just so he could satisfy his thirst for revenge.

I breathed a sigh of relief last night when after the initial outburst, Gabriel was able to gladly accept that Manong is actually Samuel, his long lost father. Apparently, among the present generation, Natalia will be the one to keep the bitterness in as she struggles to make things difficult for her mother and sister to win her back. Bahala siyang magkawrinkles sa inis. Gabriel is now reunited with his Papa (that was the best scene of Coco so far, when he uttered the word to Joel Torre's Samuel). There are two things left in Gabriel's sad list of things to settle: his revenge against Franco and his love for Andrea who is Franco's daughter.

It seems that it will take a while before Gabriel surrenders to his real feelings for Andrea but I trust the creative team to give us the twists and turns that make IL a must-see every night. Early enough in Part 2, Gabriel was given the opportunity to realize who he really loves and his interest in Natalia  has no signs of coming back. I hope so. The events now would center on Isabelle and Andrea escaping Franco (this was unsuccessful the first time around with mother and daughter getting separated by the bombing of the ship) and Gabriel finally getting his revenge with the help of Samuel. I would like to think it's going to be Samuel versus Franco to spare Gabriel from staining his hands lest he becomes less worthy of Andrea's love if he gets to kill her father. I wonder how the writers will make SamBelle possible as GabRea becomes a reality. Will SamBelle be official at all?

Happy 150th episode, TeamIL! I hope you will give us the most satisfactory ending with GabRea together, something we didn't get with SamBelle.