Author: Kate Rule

Kate is a contributor at The JMarian.

Gong Hei Fat Choy: Happy New Year But Make It Chinese

“Mano Po Series,” “Feng Shui,” and “Ghost Bride” are some of the popular Pinoy movies affiliated with the Chinese culture. The Mano Po series showcase Chinese traditions as well as how power and wealth circulate within the family. This includes who is entitled to make decisions for the whole family. On the other hand, Feng Shui is all about luck and fortune. Its mainstream is in regard to the Chinese beliefs in terms of attracting money. It involves a ‘bagwa’ as the meat of the movie. Lastly, the Ghost Bride is a story wherein a marriage can still happen even if the other half is already dead. It is the Chinese people’s belief that a person should never be alone even in his/her afterlife. To connect the dots, the above-mentioned movies feature the famous Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year celebrates new beginnings. It is a festival held in China Towns dotted with red colors as well dragon symbols.

The 1st of February 2022 is still expected to be well-celebrated despite this pandemic. It doesn’t only entail new beginnings on behalf of the Chinese communities but also provides horoscopes that gave people hints as to how their year will go on as well as those things they have to avoid for bad luck to never happen. According to a well-known Chinese zodiac expert, Nicolas, the luckiest are those who are born in the year of the ox. It is their year to water and cultivates the relationships they have among people. On the contrary, the year of the Tiger is the unluckiest. However, these things may only be in accord with the alignment of the stars based on how the Chinese experts read those. The people’s fates are still dependent on how they live their lives and make decisions. Aside from horoscopes, astrology, and such, Chinese people have this facade of being well-off so they are expected as well to manifest the essence of the said event. After all, it is another year to achieve goals and strive for wealth. Hence, the Chinese New Year is centered on removing the bad and old happenings. It is a sign of moving forward. Aside from that, it is the best time to wish for prosperity. 

Even though this pandemic originated in China, this event is somehow a great deal to the Philippines since traces of the Chinese influences are highly seen even these days. Chinese culture and tradition are also part of the foundation of the Philippine culture such as cuisines, clothing, and norms. The best examples would be Pansit and Barter. I must tell, barter made such a noise on the early days of quarantine at Davao City. Online groups were created just to post their things open for barter being specified on the said post. And of course, observing proper health protocols during meetups. Thus, Chinese New Year depicts letting go. It means letting go of the bad energy you’ve had with you over the past years and starting for something new. Stop living life with a heavy heart but focus on how to live the Chinese way. Your life should be centered on your own growth and how to make money but not to the extent of greediness. After all, Chinese New Year isn’t called as ‘Spring Festival’ if doors for growth and development won’t open. It is indeed a “New Moon” for everyone.

Why we advocate educated voting

“Man is by nature a political animal. “-Aristotle, Father of Political Science 

Have you ever heard of the cause and effect relationship? If so, how do you think it works? Is it applicable among all of the things here in the tangible world?

 The Cause and Effect relationship is characterized when something results out of it. It can be a process since things are born out of certain actions. Therefore, everything has a consequence whether it is good or bad. Say for example, if an individual shows disinterest on a certain topic of discourse, he may become unaware and illiterate of the things happening with regards to it. If I were to relate it on a real to life situation, it could be in terms of politics. So before anything else, let us define politics. According to Kendall (1998), politics is a social institution wherein powered is acquired and exercised by the people in a group. Therefore, politics is a mechanism by which individuals develop power as well as understanding when it comes to proper functioning regarding to democracy. Since there is a populace of people involved, we can tell that they have their distinct preferences when it comes to the things that are related to politics most especially in terms of voting their future leaders. It can be said that the sovereignty lies within the people. The simplest form of politics can be seen in a typical Filipino family. For instance, power determines who gets what, when, and how (Laswell, 1936). Thus, the concept of deciding in a family is a manifestation of the functions of politics itself. 

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To establish the connection, people’s inclination and interest tells how they view politics and give importance to it. After all, anything political is based on the fact that people are inherently social. Politics is due to the human interactions in the society. It is because it is characterized by a conflict-cooperation in which people come together to solve such disagreements through binding solution. It is when politicians, leaders, as well as lawmakers enter in the picture. In order to help the nation get through, these people’s presence are needed. In this context, the people serve as the voters which play a vital role that can open doors for improvements. Thus, politics to people isn’t just a “one-size-fits-all.” You can ask people about their preferences about a good leader and they will gladly show you a list. A list that depicts standards. Moreover, in choosing prospects and future leaders, there are things that should be considered. Technically, it automatically tells us about the conditions of the COMELEC but it is more than that. 

Educated voting means ending up choosing the appropriate people to lead. It is not just representing the people but it can also mean standing in the shoulders of the giants when it comes to winning. A win-win situation for the candidate and the people. It is in a way that he/she can address the needs of the people most especially to his/her voters. Hence, the leaders the people choose has the greatest ability to influence so they must be evaluated skeptically. Commonly, educated voting is done is often done by the state but since today’s in a modern era, these can be seen everywhere especially when the election is fast-approaching. There can be promotional advertisements online and in the papers, webinars, and many more. Based on a thorough research, a good leader should possess the ample attributes. Some of these are namely the effective communication skills, empathic, committed, and a whole lot more. First, a leader should possess an effective communication skills because he will face the public oftentimes. It is no surprise at all since leaders should communicate frequently to their people provided that both sides are able to listen to one another. In this way, people will have a broader understanding on the leaders’ vision which makes it a crucial attribute. Next, a good leader should be empathic. He/she should feel for his people. It is manifested through open-mindedness in order to understand the people to arrive in a corresponding solution to the problem. Aside from that, the leader should have the drive to prioritize his/her people all throughout. Lastly, being a leader means sorting out his/her priorities. Leadership comes with great responsibility so the leader should be committed enough to keep the fire burning when it comes to leading. With this, he must be sure of his goals that may lead to the country’s growth and development. 

To relate the flow of ideas, lack of educated voting can be a downfall to the country. Improvements on the people’s way of life won’t foster. They should come to an idea that they can do more only when they are educated when it comes to voting the right people to lead. The public’s disinterest in expressing their political opinions as well as weighing their prospects in some position may result to a poor outcome. Thus, an outcome of the politics is indeed a domino effect in the sense that the oppressed will suffer more and people with privileges won’t even realize it. So to avoid instances like these, people should advocate educated voting. After all, it will be of advantage to the people anyway.

[OPINION] Marcos: A Dilemma for the Historians

“History doesn’t repeat itself but rhymes…”

In today’s time, technologies are highly-promoted and utilized. These technologies became the foundation of most innovations as well as developments. On the contrary, during the earliest times of history, technology isn’t as updated as what state it is on the present time. Therefore, one won’t be able to tell whether history is true or not unless it is from the words of the mouth from a living witness.  In this context, I can say that it is not strongly-civilized back then. Aside from the rumors about the mass media’s anti-freedom of speech, there are also abusers that is why history is tainted as well as that’s what makes people hard to believe in history. Moreover, the people of the Philippines were reminded of the nation’s most fragile piece of the history last 21st of September 2021. It is due to the fact that it has been 49 years since the Martial Law is declared by his excellency late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. In an opinionated article by Ms. Ambeth Ocampo on the Philippine Inquirer, she took the readers to a history ride with regards to the root cause of the controversial Martial Law.

Martial Law has been one of the most intriguing subject of discourse in the Philippine History. According to Ms. Ocampo, Pres. Marcos has already outlined everything before the incident of Sec. Ponce Enrile’s ambuscade. Truth be told, the Martial Law was put into life to secure the nation and the safety of its people. Hence, it has been a dilemma since people assumed that the Sec. Enrile incident was a bit suspicious. There are a lot insinuations as to the incident is intentional since they woke up with the proclamation. In other words, there are people who assumed that the late president is only waiting for a go-signal to go on with his plans then everything will just follow.  Thus, the circumstances depict that the late president has been a logic even to his people. Furthermore, the Filipino people were alarmed upon hearing President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamation of the Mindanao Martial Law which is caused by the Marawi siege. A repetition of the history as they say. As a result, the people are threatened assuming that the declaration was because of the president’s self-interest and hidden agenda.  According to Benjamin Barretto (2017), a political science teacher in the Ateneo De Manila University, it is instilling fear to themselves (the people) without profound basis. To establish the connection, the two Presidents namely Marcos and Duterte were put into comparison and evaluation.  Basing on Ms. Etta Rosales (2021) statements on a virtual interview, the two president mirrors each other. She even elaborated three reasons as to why she stated that. Ms. Etta Rosales was a Martial Law ‘victim’ way back on the time of Marcos.

To bridge the gap, some of the mass media were prohibited during Marcos’ time because they have been waging a propaganda campaign that distorts and twists the facts that may weaken the support of the government.  In conclusion to this, my idea of history is not the same like most of the people but otherwise. History do not repeat itself but it just rhymes. It is a famous quotation by Mark Twain which I’ve been living quite some time now. After all, there will always be arguments or contradictions on the decisions as well as the governance of the president even on the present time. Worst case scenario, the government is perceived as the bad guy in the picture even when it is only doing what is just based on the power the people has given them. Indeed, the Philippines is a democratic country because the people will always have a say on the current situation when in fact they are only seeing the facade but not what lies within it. Lastly, historians do not exist for nothing. They play a great role in the society. Hence, history is a complex topic on which one has to dig deep and explore critically in order to arrive on an appropriate outcome.