Killing Myself

Chelyn Torejas

Diverse people from diverse places have once come to colonize our country. Literatures
and pictures stand as a witness of how we endure, struggle and fight that yields forth of what we
regard today as history.
At the heart of our country carves an era that manifolds through the regimes of Spanish
occupation, Japanese conquistadors, American colonialism onwards to the Birth of World Wars.
And the fruit of these all is my unique individuality. I am the child of the west and east combined.
I am a product of so many revolutions. For a time, I was blinded from what is real. For
centuries I was enslaved by people of different blood, color and race.
Spanish colonizers use religion as an excuse to earn the hearts of my race. They taught me to
embrace poverty as a virtue and exposed me to learn gambling and even cock-fighting.
The blond, tall Americans poisoned our way through education. The whites instilled in
me to follow adversial communication hitting my country badly. Their tactic of dividing and
rule has resulted to the regionalistic division we still have today.
The arrival of Japanese has even caused tremendous fears, hardships and pain.
For a time, I have seen the harsh realities filled with chaos, propaganda, hatred, vengeance,
wars, hidden agenda, corruption, greed, lust and every devilish deeds. But Lo and behold, a
new one has come.
I am killing myself. Killing the old Filipino. Within me, came rushing out the stinking blood of
every devilish deeds. My heart has stopped pumping the music of deception. My lungs has
totally exhaled every waste I have inside.
I am a new Filipino. I am bound to make a living history beyond a legend and a real
history in the making that will continue to unfold through time.
The new revolution has given me true victory, a victory by which I am longing for long and the
solution is not through war. This revolution has not been fought in the streets. It will be fought in
hearts of men.

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided. Knowing the present would mean
understanding the past.
I am a new Filipino gaining wisdom from the past. Gone is the Filipino Indolence,
beholding to erase the crab mentality, further eradicating my colonial mentality.
A new Filipino I am. In my blood runs the infitisimal seed of heroic deeds for the sake of
the heavenly and for the benefit of the majority. The seed that drive away the oppressors and
the seed that will further cleanse the filthiness of this country.
I will search the unkown. I will continue to dream my dreams wishing upon the stars and
will never say never. I will continue to move on, to rise up towards the direction of a glorious
tomorrow.
To look on the present onwards the future and to scale how my new country will develop
will serve as an inspiration that is worth and is bound to be followed.
What the people today endures, struggles, and fight towards progress will continually
mold a state of a new history a bright history that is enough to urge individuals to continue to
endure, struggle and fight for action and be a winner in running the race that is set before us,
worthy to be repetitively told and retold. A transparent history free from thwarted truths.
Out of me are the voices of the unheard, the pictures of the unseen, the cries of the deaf and
the truth that is ignored. I am but a dream but will stand to prove that this dream is becoming a
reality.
I am killing myself. Killing the old Filipino. Killing the old me, building a new identity, erasing the
undesirable assimilation from my past, picking the best experience I have before. A new Filipino
I am, worthy to behold.
My eyes have been opened and I can see better now. I am a product of bloodshed, A new
Filipino --free indeed, dreamer and the inheritor of a fruitful tomorrow. To live is to die. Thus, I
am killing myself.
alt Not, true Servants!

Noscire Oteila
Excellence-oriented individuals are the blood line of the Government; Principled and responsive public
servants are the foundation of a strong Republic.
To the judicious members of the board of judges, distinguished guests, dear friends, ladies and
gentlemen an exquisite afternoon to all.
Consciously, we realize that in the absence of committed, responsive and excellence-driven individuals
kingdoms will fall, civilizations will perish and humanity will vanish. Because, behind every organized
societal structure are competent professionals; behind every efficient health service are effective

health care providers; behind the quality education are strong-willed educators, behind an orderly
community are dignified law enforcers; behind a just society are upright judges; behind the
acceleration of the economy are effective workforce ; behind the ease of life are public servants with
untarnished integrity, public servants with uncompromisable principle, public servants with the spirit of
service; and, public servants with undying loyalty to God and country.
Indeed, there may be those who fall short of living up to the Philosophy of Public Service. There are
those who failed to resist the temptation of bribery, indolence and mediocrity. Hence, we hear
individuals who betrayed the trust of the people; we see professionals who are suppose to ensure the
welfare of the people advance their own interests and protect personal motives; we have been
witnesses to but many times of substandard quality of services; we have been victimes of unethical
practices of some servants who act like lords.
Yes, there have been and there are people who find desire to earn much yet work less; there are
people who prefer to dwell in the sphere of indolence and not in the sphere of industry; there are
people who appreciate the culture of mediocrity and notr excellence.
However, let us not forget that there remain numerous individuals teachers, doctors, nurses,
employees, law enforces, and public officials who leave the comfort of their homes to fulfill the duties
they have before God and before their countrymen; who prefer to have the meager hard-earned
renumeration than the amounts of illegitimate possessions; who view dignity and integrity of greater
value than money; who are motivated to render the paramount service to the people realizing that
such is an act of worship to the Almigthy; who fulfill their responsibilities not merely out of obligation
but more greatly out of passion; and, who are willing to sacrifice for the common good.
These people are the modern dat heroes. They lay the foundation of a strong community and country.
I salute these men and women in every office, institution, bureau, and unit working with the drive to
excel and with uncompromisable morale. The effort, honesty and labor you demonstrated will never be
put to waste. It is your unconditional effort that will truly fortify our society. It is your unceasing labor
that will forge the success of our Republic. It is your untainted integrity that will continuously fuel the
light of hope for the generations to come. Your act of true service is an honor to your family and
country. Your unwavering dedication is an example worthy of emulation. Your honest and dignified
work is an inspiration not only to this generation but to the many that are yet to come.
Hence, halt not instead continue to serve with excellence, to work with sincerity, to labor with
dedication, and to effort with compassion. Your names may not be made known to everyone. But, He
who knows everything will never forget who we are, what we do and how we do thing.
Theme:Towards a Philippine Statistics System Responsive to Emerging National and Global
Challenges.
To reduce inequality is the greatest call of our time. Yet, how could solutions be seen in the clouds of
complexity in the field of Public Education, Health Care, Economic Opportunities and for other forms of
silent violence that take so long a time to prevent?
To the keen and honorable members of the board of judges, wisdom-filled and value-oriented
chairman, dedicated members of the organizing committee, honored and respected guests, equallyworthy contenders, dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, my warmest felicitations to all.
No doubt that at present a web of innumerable pressing concerns continues to shoot offspring as the
booming population ushers problems in housing, contributes in the displacements of labor

forces, worsens the state of poverty, tests our health care system, threats our fertile valleys and clear
waters, challenges the strength of our public schools and distorts the balance of supply and demand.
These collectively dent the core of our republic. It is in this regard that the men and women of our
country seek means to find our way out from the labyrinth of difficulties affecting all components- no
matter what portion of the societal pyramid we belong to. Because, we are all intertwined with one
another, making us all part and involve. These are facts carved on stones that only foolish optimists
would not accept the dark realities of the moment.
Many efforts have been put forward. Efforts anchored not on solid grounds, drawn not from figures
that paint the living image of the Filipino people. Hence, such were outworn and ineffective and such
blind the vision for the future and when there are no foresights, nations are enslaved and people
perish. These kinds of actions languish, for they just thrive and bear fruit if wisely crafted and
established on solid and valid grounds the substance of statistics.
Statistics indoctrinates the young generation the value of fortitude, perseverance and wise judgment.
Who would waste the opportunity to study if one is conscious that 48-53 percent of employed Filipinos
are wage and salary workers who are undergraduate and work for forty hours in a week they ,
with a heavy heart I say, are mainly laborers and unskilled workers with the biggest share of lowest
earners. In addition, who, among the youths, would be impulsive and run into unplanned marriage if
knowledge about the increase of Family Expenditure from 124 thousand to 147 thousand or about
18.5 percent is at hand.
On a much greater sense, statistics lay the cornerstone in policy-making and in the amendments of
practices in place. Hence, mindful that 2 out of every 10 Filipinos are not functionally literate; about
one in every 10 Filipinos cannot read and write; about 3 out of 10 of the poor lack numerical skill;
and, the out-of-school youth expands by 1.6 percentage points, we could make actions to bring our
Educational Network closer to our community and better for our people. Further, statistics can mirror
how big our contribution is to world issues in human trafficking, environmental problems, economic
matters, international security and the likes.
In year 2040, the Philippines would have reached 140 million as a predicted by the result of the 2000
census-based population projection. Greater problems will come to rise. Factors, shaping our lives,
will be on stage to play their ordained parts, and our fate of tomorrow is being decided. Convolution
may abound, but there remains a great and unceasing hope the wisdom of statistics.
Through a statistics system, complex things are made simple; vague concepts are made
comprehensible. And when things become comprehensible, we can clearly see the problem its roots
and future fruits. It is the grand step in finding the fitted solution for the government to use the
countrys treasury which would make the most out of the peoples money and countrys resources.
Solutions which would avoid the duplication of wasted resources. Solutions that would not run short
for this generation and for the generations to come. Because, the present owes the future. Thus,
those of us whose destiny is of the present must be visionary so as not to curtail the rights, privileges
and opportunities of those whose times are yet to come. Therefore, there is a need to provide
scientific analysis to our present state and prediction for the future. Doing so, we can visibly notice the
path we are taking and the direction we are heading to.
Empowering our system of statistics will salvage us from the damnation and blunder as results of
lapse in judgment and indifference. Such system can flash warnings early enough to prevent defeat

and destruction of our race. It serves as a tool not only in evaluating the quality of our lives in
measurable scales but more greatly in inculcating wisdoms as catalysts for the betterment of lives, for
the flourishing of worthwhile human activities and for the betterment of our states.
We can cut through the complexities and find lasting answers; we can cut through the complexities
and device a needed plan; we can cut through the complexities and turn the care we all have into
actions. Actions that will make nation building possible and progress within reach. Because, the barrier
that hinders all is too much complexity.
I shall remain untiring in explaining this truth that I may touch the innermost recesses of your minds
and lay before you the task that we must perform, the cooperation that we must give, and the
responsibility which rests upon our shoulders.
Therefore, I plead unto all of you to participate and be an empowering agent of our statistics system.
Let us support its cause and let us aid in its existence; because if we do so, in this time of domestic
and global crisis, we will not just survive but even prosper that even century defying problems
cannot succumb us.

Voice of the Youth

December 15, 2010ischoolsericsonalietoLeave a commentGo to comments

When the great foundations of our Republic are threatened by malice, rudeness, defiance, bribery,
graft and corruption, people seek for heroes to make the wrong right, the crooked straight and the
immoral moral. Most of us lay on the shoulders of other people the burden for reform while
submissively expecting the twist of fate. This ideology must come to an end.
To the keen and honorable members of the board of judges, wisdom-filled and value-oriented
chairman, dedicated members of the organizing committee, honored and respected guests, equallyworthy contenders, dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, my warmest felicitations to all.

At present, despite different contentions about our advancements and triumphs in the different
spheres of life, we remain to realize that social problems prompted by lack of discipline, absence of
sense of service and void of morality continue to nail our country and our people at a lesser scale of
glory.

Hence, undoubtedly, we are stirred to see changes in our system. We aspire of having a public-service
system, be private or otherwise, free from the deep-seated stain of indecency. Our people are hoping
to find the ousting of the rotten character of greed which corrodes good breeding and defies
compassion. With great eagerness, we hope to see the day of having placed national concern as an
integral component of our being. These dreams are never elusive, especially to us Filipinos.

The pages of our history enumerate a grand list of struggles made by our forefathers -their defeats
and triumphs upon which we lay the foundation of our present lives as Filipino of this era. Our
history gives an infinite entry proving that change for betterment is not only a fancy but a fact. Thus,
as we scroll down to read our glorious past, we see that when Aguinaldo, Bonifacio, Tandang Sora,
Trinidad Tecson, Rizal and many others, whose names are our honor, involved themselves and acted to
make the change they dream become a reality to cherish, they succeeded.

They did not take the path of blaming as others did, because the said way leads towards unending
regret and unproductive results. They have not taken comfort in merely complaining for the unwanted
fate. They have lighted the candles while many cursed the darkness, while some accepted to live in
the dark, while many others cower and kept their silence. They have constantly reminded themselves
that salvation comes to those who work for it and that the Lord helps those who help themselves.
They did not only hope; they became the hope.

Although we have more than enough reference as source of our examples, we need to look, as we
seek for social reform for our time, not at others but at a mirror reflecting our very own images. The
time has come for us to oblige, not others, but ourselves to take an active role in having and shaping
a better society. This notion is clearly phrased by our honored mother of Democracy, President
Corazon Aquino when she said We have to change in the sense that for those of us who have done
nothing yet or have done little for the rest of our fellow Filipino its time to wake up and do
something. The said truism awakens us to a reality that we must ponder that change for the
betterment is not a gift awaiting to be received, but a responsibility to be fulfilled.

Thus, reform must first be securely placed in our system altering the ghost of indifference with the
spirit of care, individualism with unity, indolence with industry, avarice with generosity and passivity
with involvement. The strengthening of our values, as the foundation of all actions, will be the
cornerstone of advancement. Although we cannot effectively impose change to others, we can impose
change to ourselves. And such positive transformation, no matter how minute, will be an influential
and will ignite the wick that will light the grand torch of glory brightening all of our lives. This change
is likened to a pebble, small and light weight, thrown into a huge body of water creating a wave that
reaches even the farthest point. Collectively, the changes that begin within us are a potent force that
could ensure the order of our society, guard the blessings of our democracy and usher the glory of our
nation.

Conversely, despite my young age, I have seen the different aspects of our system that needs reform.
Realizing that merely knowing is never enough, I made myself available and an active part of
organizations working and educating for change. We have imposed cleaning programs to different
places hinting people that it is partnership between the government and the citizenry that leads
towards development. Our hands have been dirtied as we place seedlings in dug grounds to ensure
clean air and water reservoir for many. We speak and say our piece against violence, because silence

aids the criminals and never the victims. We have educated many minds to be aware of how much
grand their contributions could if only they seek to be involved.

Many may doubt if my voice and that of the rest could be heard and our actions could create an
impact. I say, collectively, yes! There is power in number. Therefore, if the young and older
generations speak, act and work together, constructive change is ours to own.

Hence, decide and be reminded that to change the world does not require us to battle an army of
warriors nor to wage war, but to let change take place within ourselves. Change is a decision that
ourselves alone can make. Let us all begin the journey towards a better self and a better society, now!

Love
(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
If I speak in tongues, but do not have love
I am a resounding gong. A clashing cymbal
If I have prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and knowledge,
If I have all faith to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything, if I hand my body over, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient. Love is kind.
It is not jealous. Love is not pompous
It is not inflated. It is not rude.
It does not seek its own interests.
It is not quick-tempered. It does not brood over injury.
It does not rejoice over wrong doing. It rejoices with the truth.
It bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all.
Love never fails.
For we know partially, and prophesy partially.
But when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child.
When I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present, we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face.
At present, I know partially, then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of this, is love.

Reverse Creation
Bernard Backham
In the end, we destroyed the heaven that was called Earth. The Earth had been beautiful until our spirit
moved over it and destroyed all things.
And we said...

Let there be darkness... and there was darkness. And we liked the darkness; so we called the darkness,
Security. And we divided ourselves into races and religions and classes of society. And there was no
morning and no evening on the seventh day before the end.
And we said...
Let there be a strong government to control us in our darkness. Let there be armies to control our bodies
so that we may learn to kill one another neatly and efficiently in our darkness. And there was no evening
and no morning on the sixth day before the end.
And we said...
Let there be rockets and bombs to kill faster and easier; let there be gas chambers and furnaces to be
more thorough. And there was no evening and no morning on the fifth day before the end.
And we said...
Let there be drugs and other forms of escape, for there is this constant annoyance - Reality - which is
disturbing our comfort. And there was no evening and no morning on the fourth day before the end.
And we said...
Let there be divisions among the nations, so that we may know who is our common enemy. And there
was no evening and no morning on the third day before the end.
And finally we said...
Let us create God in our image. Let some other God compete with us. Let us say that God thinks as we
think, hates as we hate, and kills as we kill. And there was no morning and no evening on the second day
before the end.
On the last day, there was a great noise on the face of the Earth. Fire consumed the beautiful globe, and
there was silence. The blackened Earth now rested to worship the one true God; and God saw all that we
had done, and in the silence over the smoldering ruins... God wept.

A Time for Everything

(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8; 16-17; 20)
For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter
Under Heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted,
A time to kill and a time to heal
A time to break down and a time to build up;
A time to weep and a time to laugh
A time to mourn and a time to dance
A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

A time to seek and a time to lose

A time to keep and a time to cast away
A time to tear and a time to sew
A time to keep silence and a time to speak
A time to love and a time to hate
A time for war and a time for peace,
Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of
righteousness, even there was wickedness.
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked for there is "a time for every matter and for
every work."
All go to one place. All are from the dust and to dust all return.

Songs of a Teargassed man

Cirilo Bautista
I love it! I love it!
This teargas sanctifies my corrupted soul.
Ah! The divine odor of it, the excitement
better than demos or rock and roll.
Get a load of it, brother, while it's free,
you may never get another chance;
this is the right stuff, the real MacCoy,
pure, imported chemicals from France.
We may not have money in the bank,
no food on the table, no seat on the Love bus,
but we have secret marshals and policemen
and most of all we have a lot of teargas.
Get a load of it, brother, while it's free,
you may never get another chance;
this is the right stuff, the real MacCoy,
pure, imported chemicals from France.
We may not have houses or running water,
the taxmen may be running after us,
but we have floods, garbage, Amendment 6,
and most of all we have a lot of teargas.
Get a load of it, brother, while it's free,
you may never get another chance;
this is the right stuff, the real MacCoy,
pure, imported chemicals from France.
Don't save your tears, brother,
they are meant to be shed,

you cannot turn them into cash,

but if you join me in this martial festival
you'll get a taste of refreshing tear gas.
Get a load of it, brother, while it's free,
you may never get another chance;
this is the right stuff, the real MacCoy,
pure, imported chemicals from France.