Witness Statement

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Pampanga, Philippines

Our provinces continuous efforts to improve their respective regions are unmistakably living up to the tag that the Philipines is one Asian country worth visiting due to its countless and varied tourist destinations.

Pampanga is one province in central Luzon which lives up to its name: a river bank. Generally the body of land at the side of a river, wherein it reflects the status of the water- may it be a radiant green carpet of grass means reflecting healthy river or the exact opposite.

The province lies on the northern shore of Manila Bay; bordered by Bataan and Zambales at its west, Tarlac and Nueva Ecija at the north, and Bulacan in the northeast. With farming and fishing as the main industry of Pampanga its products revolve around rice, corn, sugar cane, and tilapia.

And may I say that because of its native’s drive to turn it into a metropolitan-like region: from transportation and tourism, water and power, telecommunication, to education systems; they have prospered evidently and now has a wide variety of goods, facilities, and tourist spots.

Pampanga is considered the culinary capital of the Philippines, with well known dishes such as kare-kare (stewed beef and ox tail in peanut sauce usually dipped in shrimp paste), sisig (pork marinated in a sour liquid such vinegar, then seasoned with salt, pepper and other spices), and kinilaw (meat or fish, fruits and vegetables sourly cooked with vinegar or other souring agents flavored with combinations of condiments).

Festivals are held throughout the year, as towns and cities celebrate in honor of their patron saints. Not to mention the prominent events during February and December: Hot Air balloon festival and Giant Lantern Festival respectively.

The city of San Fernando, Pampanga’s capital is the place to be when visiting tourist spots such as the Metropolitan Cathedral, Paskuhan Village, and Benigno Aquino Hall to name a few. Additionally there are several Historical landmarks, museums and monuments, as well as parks to be visited for a truly memorable vacation.

With this we can affirm that the river bank occupied by a rich, diverse flora and fauna reflects how it is presently doing; supporting the ever flowing waters which cater to the needs of its dependants. As well as passively making a name for itself: with its distinctiveness and coping capability.

By: Diane On June 30, 2011

Thursday, June 09, 2011

Scrubs Separates

I've recently taken up the bad habit of just using scrub pants separately from the top. I wear the pants as lounge pants and pajamas at home. They are so comfortable to wear that I wear them almost everyday.My brother, who works as a care giver, acquired this habit of mine. Alas! The other day, we noticed that the top and the pants are not the same color anymore. The pants looked incredibly faded against the top. As a set, it looked sloppy, which is unacceptable for helth care providers.

My solution, buy new scrub pants to match a relatively new looking top. Bottoms can be bought separately anyway. They would not exactly match but it would look neater than what he has now.

As scrub bottoms are being sold separately, I advised my brother to buy extra bottoms to wear at home as lounge pants. And I also asked him to buy extra pairs for me to use at http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ where my aunts and cousins buy their scrubs. I like how their scrubs are specifically designed for women; they produce suits that complement my curves and I look slimmer in them than my normal clothes.

Good thing we learned our lesson with scrub suits. Imagine the cost if my brother wore his pants and coat of his formal suit as separates. The lesson here kids, is to NEVER wear sets of clothes separately.

By: Diane On June 09, 2011

Friday, February 25, 2011

Gawad Kalinga Will Not Solve Poverty

Gawad Kalinga is one of the mainstream movements providing housing and livelihood for the poverty stricken communities in our country. That which started from a project of Couples for Christ, it is now a multi-sectoral partnership which now boasts of hundreds of thousands of volunteers, 900 communities housing 60 to 100 families each community. The GK projects are examples of the synergistic effect of governance. That is, the government, the business sector and the civil society working together.

The success of GK relies on the scientific management of resources. Materials are duly computed and maximized even to the last can of paint. Most of all, the participation and the cooperation of volunteers, the human resource, made the delivery of the service successful. To subordinate personal interest to the interest of others and to serve the people is at the core of the success of each project. Now, together with the National Housing Authority under Vice-President Jejomar Binay, the Gawad Kalinga Model will be applied under the helm of the government.

No contest that the theory of governance as a partnership of government, business sector and the civil society is exemplified by the Gawad Kalinga communities and projects.

Gawad Kalinga boasts of “eradicating” poverty and claims it as a “solution” to poverty. As much as I would want to think that it does indeed eradicate poverty, I do not agree and I think VP Binay is more clear on that. Poverty is a result of a systemic problem of society. It is not a problem separate from the mode of production of the country. It is actually the picture of the failure of our present mode of production in providing for the needs of the majority. The Vice-President stated that he does not necessarily believe that this will solve the poverty problem but will lessen the burden presented by poverty. Gawad Kalinga (more of the volunteers than the recipients) tend to have an insulated mode of thinking that GK recipients will not be affected by the problems of the system as a whole. There must be recognition that livelihood training does not automatically translate to jobs nor income.

A criticism of the Gawad Kalinga Model is that the government has the tendency to use this type of projects to beg off from its actual responsibility. One must recognize that the Gawad Kalinga projects are limited and it cannot actually replace the resources of the government to deliver its services. (In one debate with a classmate, he uses GK to justify the government’s minimal involvement. “Nandiyan naman ang GK kung wala talaga maitulong ang gobyerno”) Stated above, theoretically, GK is a multisectoral partnership. It must be a social commentary that everyone must be an actor and likewise a stakeholder in each project. Unfortunately, some believe that it actually replaces the role and responsibility of the government to its people. However, expecting the partnership of the NHA and GK, it will hopefully increase the role of the government in the model.

The bourgeois thinking propagates within and outside its ranks especially among the middle class is that if the recipients of the houses continue to be poor after the project, then it is the fault of the recipient because they are indolent. I would like to take off from the belief of Gawad Kalinga that to change the individual, you must change the community; to change the community, we must change the society. The well off are critical of how the urban poor live in poverty, but are we critical of why these people are poor and why there is poverty in the first place? Housing is just one of the problems of the urban poor and is not the root cause of why they are poor.

xxx

This is a short reaction I wrote for a class last semester. It was after a dialogue with Vice President Jejomar Binay and Gawad Kalinga Founder Tony Meloto at the National College of Public Administration and Governance, University of the Philippines Diliman on August 10, 2010.

By: Diane On February 25, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

My Locker Story

School lockers are a symbol of high school education. It is a student’s personal space away from home. It holds our books and notebooks. It may also contain some self care products and some clothes. Most, if not all students who had their locker decorated that tiny bit of space according to their personality.

In my younger years, I have always dreamed of renting my own locker. My school does not give locker space for free and I wanted one not because I really need it, but because I have watched too many teenage genre movies and a scene beside a locker is a practically obligatory. My square locker was about 12 inches in width and about 15 inches in depth. My school had a 4 tiered row of lockers and each year, I would get a unit on the top row because I was one of the taller students in my class. I loved my locker. My classmates and I would have a friendly competition on whose locker was the coolest: from the padlock, the nameplate on the locker door, to the contents of the locker itself. I used a vintage dial lock for my locker because I had the tendency to forget my keys at home. My name on my locker is a colorful rendering of my name. I (try to) keep the inside of my locker organized as much as possible. I had little cubbies for pens and other little trinkets. I put in decorative paper on the sides of my locker. I even put fragrance in my locker so that every time I open my locker, the scent would waft through the air. As in the movies, inside the door of my locker is a picture (or practically an altar) to my crush (who at that time was Taylor Hanson)

Fast forward to now. I am redecorating our new apartment and we are in need of storage. I am actually considering getting a couple of lockers and am now looking for lockers for sale. On my wish list now is a row of bright red lockers for my home office. I love the vintage feel and look of a vintage locker and it can truly be a decorative piece at home.

Do you remember what your high school locker looked like? Pity, digital cameras were still expensive at that time. I would've loved to take a picture of my locker. Maybe some of you have a picture of your high school locker. Please feel free to share.

Would you consider getting a locker at home? Share pictures if you already have a locker at home.

By: Diane On February 24, 2011

Saturday, February 19, 2011

On Diane's Cluttered Desk: Young Corn and Burgers

It was one of those lazy weekends when we were bored and absolutely had nothing to do. When you have nothing to do, it means it is the perfect time to fire up that grill to cook some meat.

By: Diane On February 19, 2011