On Carlo Caparas Being a National Artist

Carlo Caparas is not a visual artist. And certainly not a National Artist material.

Gerry Alanguilan has said it best in this online petition

When the highest award for artists in the Philippines can be dispensed through political patronage rather than merit, then it certainly says something about how we, as a nation, regard arts and culture in our country. GMA has committed an outrage that must be redressed. I do hope the Supreme Court rules against the insertion of undeserving National Artists by Malacañang.

The Mike Enriquez effect

I used to watch TV Patrol religiously but I became disgusted with it when the newscast featured longer and longer segments of crime or traffic accidents. When I tune in to my evening newscast, I want to watch news, dammit, not some neighborhood altercation somewhere in Metro Manila that gets to be broadcast on National TV just because some blockhead reporter hangs around police precincts too much and do not sniff out more news worthy stories.

Now, I’m starting to get incensed with GMA news, and I believe it’s because of Mike Enriquez and what he brought to the news and newscasting in general. It may be funny when an impersonator mimics Mike Enriquez in a comedy routine but alas, the real joke is on us.



Mike Enriquez doesn’t deliver the news: he shouts them. He treats his audience as if they are all hard of hearing. When somebody said he should be a hard-hittin’ newscaster, he took it to mean literally. He took it to mean aurally. Maybe one could forgive him in the beginning because his roots are from radio broadcasting, but he’s been on it for years on television and somebody should tell him to tone down his voice--- particularly his bosses from GMA 7.

Mike Enriquez also points out what is already quite apparent. He treats everyone as if they were half-blind. For instance, just before the commercials are shown, he announces that in a small hick town, a bull went rampaging inside a supermarket as caught in a CCTV camera. He says: “O, ayun, nakita ninyo mga kapuso? O, ayun o, sumugod!”. He does this every time. He interjects his inane remarks into his news spiel. Somebody should tell him: “yes, everyone can see that, now stop pointing out the obvious!”.

Mike Enriquez, as the self-styled Imbestigador ng Bayan, also struts about like he’s Zorro: the defender of the poor and the oppressed. Yes, even in the newscast wherein he features himself. We want the news, we don’t want to see your adventures (or more likely, the adventures of your staff wherein you take all the credit as you narrate).

He ceased to be the dark knight of the oppressed for me years ago when I saw in one of the segments in his program the story of a supposedly abused student. This student was apparently being sexually propositioned by a superior in his school, so what the Imbestigador did was to equip that minor with a hidden camera and set-up a sting operation. The child met with the alleged sexual molester in a motel. Only then did they call the police. So when they tried to barge into the motel with cameras and police in tow, the motel management ran interference, fearing it would sow panic in their customers.

It was several hours later when they were finally allowed to secure the child. In the end, the molester was caught, the Imbestigador had good ratings but at what price? The child was molested under their own noses. Under the sting they had poorly planned. To my mind, they were as guilty as the child molester, perhaps even more so. To my mind, Mike Enriquez is also a child molester.

Of course, now, Mike Enriquez carries the Anak-Seal TV award as one of the most admired TV newscaster of children. Ay, if they only knew.

And this is what disturbs me most about this Mike Enriquez brand of newscasting: it’s being legitimized. It’s being accepted as good newscasting even by standard award –giving bodies. Gone are the days of no-frills newscasts from my youth from the likes of Ms. Tina Monzon-Palma and Ms. Cathy Santillan. The worse is, I can sense that the newscasters even from other channels are assimilating the Mike Enriquez Style.

When I watch the evening news, I want to watch more news. Not more newscaster quirks.

My so-called UP Education

On my third year as an undergraduate student of political science at the University of the Philippines, I went AWOL.

My parents couldn’t send me to school. My parents were jobless at that time: my father after suffering from a heart attack/stroke couldn’t pass his seaman’s physical exam anymore and my mother couldn’t find work as a teacher after having been a domestic home-maker for a number of years (the schools were looking for fresh and nubile graduates---or those with political connections). UP may have comparatively low tuition fees vis-à-vis other tertiary institutions but for us then, even my transportation expenses became a burden.

I decided to find work. I took on odd jobs until I got a job at the local factory. I never flaunted my being a UP student. That was, to me, more of a stigma than a badge of honor. I could imagine people talking behind my back: “if you really were a UP student, then what are you doing working here doing manual labor in a lowly factory?”

My work at the factory wasn’t bereft of grief or misfortunes. I was assigned to one of the most physically taxing jobs in the factory. But I focused on my work. I was never late nor absent and I did more than what was expected of me. A fortnight after my contract expired, they re-hired me. I was to become a regular factory hand. And for ten years, I was. (In a sense, I believe I shall always be that lowly factory hand no matter where I work).

Eventually my co-workers got to know my UP background but never from me. This was after I took helm of the cooperative and was elected as one of the top leaders of the labor union. My UP background therefore, did not really figure at all in the campaign. The best anyone can say about a product of UP education, I have gathered is that that person is “smart” or “matalino”---and that can either work for you or against you.

The best thing I got from my so-called “UP education” gave me is social concern. Concern for my fellow workers. I started to read the collective bargaining agreement and the company rules. I learned how some rules are made to stymie dissent and worker’s rights and I tried, in my own small way, to find ways around that; to explain the rules to my co-employees and to seek for better, fairer and more humane work conditions.

I think I have learned more from my factory work than from my two years of “UP education”.

Nevertheless, after a long hiatus, I decided to continue with my formal studies. My siblings have already finished college by then and I have no living parent to support anymore so I have run out of excuses not to. I may have learned much from my factory work but a diploma that hangs on a wall is, I have come to believe, the only piece of ‘education’ that is universally recognized by Filipinos. It’s funny though how people in the academe thinks the same way also. They would ask: “why did you stop studying?” when they meant to say why I stopped going to UP. I would just smile and refuse to answer or answer indirectly but in back of my mind, I would reply: “No, I have never stopped studying.”

And so here I am finally a graduate. But not before I lost my job due to the economic crunch and lost my position as a coop and union leader in the process. This was definitely not how I pictured my world will be after graduation.

Still, my spirit is undaunted. My hands will always be the hands of a laborer. My heart will always strive to serve the people. My mind will always be eager to learn.

So watch out, world: my education will continue.

Filmore Dalisay (1962 - 2009)

Filmore Dalisay, former chairperson of the PLDT Employees Credit Cooperative, director of the Metro South Cooperative Bank, and chairperson of the United Cooperative Movement (UCM), passed away early this month due to lung cancer. He was 46.

He was coop leader who lived by his principles.

When the Cooperative Development Authority tried to shove the iniquitous Memorandum of Rules and Regulations for Savings and Credit Cooperatives (MORR) down the collective throats of cooperatives nationwide despite having no solid legislative foundation, he was among the first to stand up against it. When UCM organized a Metro-manila-wide mobilization against MORR, he convinced me to emcee the event. I told him, I don’t speak at rallies. “I was a unionist”, he insisted. I can do it. In other words, he left me with no other choice.

He stood up for the rights of the cooperative movement. This is how I choose to remember him. The fight will go on. He left us no choice but to fight.

Gary Granada Songwriting 102 & 103

Matapos kong marinig ang protesta ni Ginoong Granada sa net, ipinaskil ko ang MP3 niya sa blog na ito at pinadalhan ko siya ng sulat bilang suporta. Bunsod nito, regular na akong pinadadalhan ni G. Granada ng mga 'update' ukol sa kaso. Pakinggan po natin ang binansagan niyang Songwriting 102 at 103.

FREE LESSONS IN SONGWRITING

Dear friends,

Mas marami pa yata ang nakinig dun sa mp3 na "Gary Granada vs GMA Kapuso" kaysa lahat ng taong bumili ng kanta ko sa buong 30 years ko sa music industry hehe. Kaya bilang pasasalamat sa inyong suporta, gumawa ako ng dalawa pang karugtong nun, at para na rin mas liwanagin kung ano ba talaga ang totoong nangyari.

Songwriting 102: Tungkol sa Isang Salita 4:38
Songwriting 103: Tungkol sa Isang Linya 5:51

As you listen to these recordings, please bear in mind that GMA Network insists that the only thing I can claim I (and I alone) did was change one word. Pinalitan lang yung salitang "pagpupursige" ng "pagpupunyagi".

Maiikli lang ang mga ito kaya tiyagain nyo nang pakinggan. Palagay ko rin makakatulong ang mga ito sa mga gustong matutong mag compose. Magandang learning aid din siguro sa mga klase sa literature, creative writing, music and even arithmetic. Wala rin po sigurong subject na ganito sa law school, kaya I dedicate these recordings to all my lawyer friends.

Enjoy!
(at pakipasa na rin pag nag-enjoy nga kayo)

Songwriting 103(3) by Gary Granada by daybreak

Songwriting 102(2) by Gary Granada by daybreak

Gary Granada

Sad Days (part 1): Lawful Demise

I have pretty much hit rock-bottom the last couple of months starting when I was fired from work.

Actually, it wasn’t just me whose employment was terminated: it was everyone else’s. The Japanese owners of the factory where I work decided that it wasn’t worth saving the Philippine manufacturing plant considering the downturn in the US economy---our main customer---whose consumer demand constitutes about 80% of our monthly exports.

The truth is, it’s not really me I’m worried about. I’m fairly young, sharp, and have re-tooled my skills by going back to school while working full time. There’s a considerable chance I can find employment elsewhere. I’m more worried about my co-workers. Many of them are too old to be considered for gainful employment and most have not honed any marketable skills aside from the factory work they have mastered through the years. As I listened to the spontaneous wails and cries of disbelief as the announcement was being made, I came to realize something which I may have known for years but nevertheless have taken for granted: these people meant more than mere co-workers to me.

They were my family.

Maybe that was the reason why I refused to leave the company (with its pittance pay which I get every week that I have derisively referred to as my “allowance”) even if other employment opportunities abound---like those ubiquitous call centers.

“Anak (son), what will I do,” asks a middle-aged woman. She calls me anak because I happen to be a name-sake of her son. “Don’t you worry, ‘Nay (mom), everything will turn out for the better,” I assured her, not really knowing what I mean. Another woman sidles up to me, tears welling in her eyes and says: “Arnel, both me and my husband work here. What will happen to our children?” Her voice broke and I could not do anything but hug her.

She was, after all, my mother, too.

I may be an orphan but under the roof of my own little factory I have found many mothers and fathers. It took a single day for the company to spring the unwelcome surprise. To bid us all---mothers, fathers, sons, daughters---goodbye and good riddance. The vice-president says they commissioned a third party to compute the severance pay and we could get them on that same day. A battery of lawyers, accountants and Department of Labor representatives suddenly swooped down from nowhere to bear witness to the “lawful demise” of the factory. Don’t worry, we were assured, we can still come back the next day to get our things.

After the announcement, I approached the mic and told the assembly: “Hold your heads high, as you go out of this place. You are workers with dignity, and we have worked for years in this place with grace and dignity.” As a union officer, I also appealed for them not to take the severance pay on that same day. The union will have to meet to plan the next move and we have to remain united in the next collective course of action.

The former union president stood up to declare he’s going to be the first to get “his money” and that I was in no position to tell anyone not to get the money due them. If I were you, he says, I’d get the money since the factory is closing anyway, and the offer may not stand for long.

Everyone knew the real color of that sleaze-bag and that is why he was repeatedly rebuffed during the local elections. But on that day, the people chose to follow him.

As I watched my friends and colleagues, form a queue to get their severance pay, I felt as though a thousand daggers have pierced my heart. I felt numb. Like being orphaned a hundred times over.



It was a sad, sad, sad day for me.


==========================================


The next day, the company allowed us to retrieve our personal belongings. What I took liberally were pictures, instead. Like a madman, I took pictures of every nook and cranny. I was trying to freeze-frame my decade-long memory of the place. The factory, like Willy Wonka’s, had been a special place for me, too.

I took shot after shot even under a light drizzle---something I got to rue later because it ruined the digital camera.

Meanwhile, the rest of the union officers decided to capitulate. The company deviously included the salary for that week into the computation of the severance pay. And since we practically have no more money just before pay day, the check would really come in handy. “Look at it this way,” a fellow union officer opines, “at least the management paid up unlike other companies that closed shop”. Still, I was not convinced.

I was still hurting from the stab wounds I got yesterday.

Then the union president and vice-president talked to me. I, the union secretary, was the last hold-out. They told me it’s a war I can’t win. The people have already surrendered. I knew that, of course. I knew when to accept defeat but maybe, I just needed someone else to spell the same for me.

Finally, as I approach the severance pay counter, I can hear the Department of Labor vultures and their minions heave a sigh of relief as they patted themselves on the back ostensibly, for another job well done. After I signed the check, the Japanese president, sitting at the far end of the table, extended his hand to shake mine.

I turned my back and quickly walked away.

Gary Granada vs GMA Kapuso

Gary Granada vs GMA Kapuso by dosomethingworthwhile

My heart bleeds for Gary Granada, and for all other artists who find themselves in the same predicament.

I know some comix artists gets commissioned by these giant TV networks to design the costumes for their superhero primetime programs and then gets zilch for their effort or waits for an inordinately long time to get paid. It doesn't matter if the artist devoted 15 minutes or 2 days to draw the costume design (or in Gary Granada's case, to compose it), they should be properly acknowledged and peremptorily compensated for their work.

It's high time for these companies, not to mention for all Filipinos, to respect the rights of artists to their work.

We can thank these artists by respecting their rights.

Best and Worst Filipino Film of 2008

The Best Filipino film I saw in 2008 is Paul Alexander Morales' CONCERTO.

I've seen a lot of good films last year from various film festivals like Cinemalaya, Cinemanila and CinemaOne Originals, aside from the usual movies shown in UP Cine Adarna and Robinson Galleria's Indiesine like "Adela", "100", "UPCAT", "Ambulancia", "Imburnal" and the much-ballyhooed "Serbis". I also greatly liked "Endo" but that was technically a 2007 film.

CONCERTO is a period film about a Filipino family striving to retain their humanity amidst the inhumanity of war with the music from the family piano ostensibly serving as the symbol for peace and universal understanding.

In syncopated rhythms, ‘Concerto’ shows how a family strives to carry on a normal life in abnormal times, with the piano as symbol for harmony not only within the family itself but also within the countryside setting that accommodates the Japanese. Instead of frontline encounters, this war diary reveals the quiet interplay of suspicion and trust

The worst film I saw is LALAMUNAN.

Don't even bother. I rue the day I went to its premiere at UP. The lighting,the story, the acting---everything is the pits.

If you don't believe me, try to look up the preview at Youtube. Horrible!

The Call for Moral Renewal

I would like to begin the year for this blog by talking about the call for moral renewal issued by the esteemed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Reynato Puno. Specifically, this was my reaction to an earlier post in my alma mater's yahoogroup (former students of Divine Word college of San Jose) on the same topic.

This is what the original post written by besprenjames said:

From: besprenjames
Subject: DWCsjom Morality Issue
To: dwcsjom@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, January 17, 2009, 9:50 AM

Chief Justice Reynato Puno is talking now moral regeneration,
after someone leaked a document about an electoral issue,
stirring for his ouster through impeachment.

The problem with morality is that it is subjective. What is
moral to a group could be immoral to another sector. What
an impressionist classic painting for Jawo could be porno to
the eyes of Jowa. It is immoral by larger segment to drink
wine, but for the Germans and look-at-me, drinking wine
relaxes reflexes and can induce literati juice. Iglesia ni
Cristo, vampires, and the aswangs hate the cross, but the
Catholics use it, sign themselves with it, at every moment
of low-bat.

What is actually Filipino brand of morality ? Well,
morality changes color at the knock of compromise. Let me
tell a parable:

There is an earthworm looking to the sky where a bird is
gliding gracefully. The earthworm wished: "If I have that
wings, I can be happy and free up to high heavens."

Up in the sky, the bird saw the earthworm, and decided to
approach the latter.

The bird said: "I am hungry and hunting for lunch."

The earthworm answered: "I wish to have wings like you."

Being with different intention, the two decided to compromise,
find the acceptable half way.

In the end, the bird has its lunch and the earthworm is
inside a body with wings.

And this was my reply:

This post by Mr. James or besprenjames---who has a predilection for starting several threads of discussion in this group at a single time that I am tempted to appeal for some moderation---deserves more than a passing thought. He attempted to use the current issue on the call for "moral regeneration" by the current Chief Justice as a springboard of discussion, flippantly dismisses the same by saying morality is subjective, and goes on to relate a "parable" that made me wonder whether it is still related to his main topic of morality or he has wandered off to another topic (for instance, the Filipino's apparent knack for compromise.)

As an aside: I have to say that drinking wine was never considered an immoral issue unless you were in the US during the time of the Prohibition; in which case the morality issue stems more from flouting the law, not on the mere act itself (unless the moralists could overturn the events of the Miracle at the wedding in Cana first). And although I can't speak in behalf of aswangs and vampires, I wouldn't be so quick to conclude that our Iglesia ni Cristo brethrens actually "hate the cross". It's just that they regard the holy Cross not in the same manner we Catholics do. Also, I have to point out that when you say Catholics "sign themselves with a cross" it comes across(no pun intended) as Catholics signing their names with a mark of the cross---in which case that only happens in two instances:when one is a prelate or a priest or when one is dead(in which case, somebody has to sign for you, of course). A better turn of the phrase to avoid confusion therefore is "making the Sign of the Cross". But I quibble.

Now the main issue is the call for Moral regeneration by the Chief Justice. I am no particular fan of Chief Justice Puno but he has earned my utmost respect for leading an independent Supreme Court under his stewardship. Aside from the Church, he is in the best position to call for such a campaign, having an untarnished reputation. Here is a decent man, having no ulterior motives sounding the alarm for the rest of us. Joe de Venecia may have called for the same a few months back but the people naturally did not listen. They know he's as rotten as the rest of them. Also, it is quite unfair to say that CJ Puno only gave this call after he was besieged by the electoral issue since he was essentially saying the same in many of his previous speeches(for instance when he called for a human rights convention that eventually led to the decision for the issuance of the Writ of Amparo).

Impeachment is an extraordinary means to remove a constitutionally-protected public officer. It is the people's last resort against flagrant abuse of public office. What's particularly galling about this rumored impeachment call by former Congressman Paras, a stooge and the usual attack dogs of GMA in Congress is that Puno's supposedly heinous "crime" is just sitting on an unpromulgated Supreme Court decision on the citizenship of Paras' erstwhile political nemesis. It's a flimsy excuse for such an extraordinary constitutional measure as impeachment. More likely it is designed to ensure a favorable decision from a Puno-less Supreme Court on the the proposed cha-cha to extend the terms of the sitting officials as some pundits contend.

And to think that just months before, these same benighted Congressmen junked another impeachment complaint aganst GMA whose supposed crimes against public office run the gamut from the Hello, Garci scandal, to the ZTE scam, the Fertilizer fund scam, the forced disappearances and summary executions of journalists and dissidents, etc. It certainly helped that GMA has the power of the purse to entice Congressmen to look the other way.

But what are we teaching the next generation of children here? That a man who pilfers telephone cables can rot in jail but those who are convicted plunderers like Erap get pardoned; or in the case of Imelda, gets a government contract to have sharing of the loot? PDEA's Marcelino sounds the alarm that bribery maybe afoot in the DOJ, and our DOJ Secretary gets to question the constitutionality of Marcelino assuming his position as PDEA chief, thus jeopardizing all other drug cases filed by PDEA? How did we, as a nation, come to this pass?

I think Chief Justice Puno is challenging us to be ever more vigilant. We must guard against abuses of power by public officials. We need to maintain the integrity of our Courts. We need to re-assert our age-old values...well, despite having to live under the increasing amoral administration of the current illegitimate president.

Yes, what is 'art' to Jawo may be 'porno' to Jowa, but we are not talking about art or aesthetics here. The concept of morality may be culturally and temporally-bound but change does not happen overnight or as the writer puts it "changes color at the knock of compromise". You see, the "morality" CJ Puno was talking about is entirely different from the nebulous morality of what self-appointed moralist of art and literature the writer may be talking about. To refer to such "morality" after using the call of Puno as springboard is intellectually misleading and dishonest. And to dismiss the talk of morality on the account that it is subjective is missing the point entirely.

As far as I know: I was taught by my parents (not to mention my teachers at DWC) that CHEATING IS WRONG, so when I hear that the sitting president may have influenced an election commisioner to make her win by a margin of 1 million votes, I am certain that that is morally wrong. I can't compromise on that. I was taught that LYING IS WRONG so when the sitting president tries to deny knowledge of the ZTE scam and later admits flying in the middle of the night to sign the ZTE agreement, then I know she was dishonest. I was taught that KILLING YOUR NEIGHBOR IS WRONG so when I hear about journalists being killed I know that is wrong and that any government that ostensibly permits the same is wrong. No compromises. When somebody like Chief Justice Puno calls for the moral renewal: he was certainly not talking about our taste in art. He was talking about our values as a society living in this day and age.

And come to think of it, those were the same values Moses advocated when he came down from the mountain.


To know more about the facts of the Puno impeachment issue I suggest you follow this link:

http://newsbreak.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5764&Itemid=88889051

Ako ay Isang Mabuting Pilipino

Madaling sabihin na kapag nagra-rali ka, mahal mo ang bayan higit sa sarili. Ngunit ano nga ba ang ibig sabihin ng pagmamahal sa bayan?

Sa loob ng mga rali, naka-daupang palad ko ang mga intelektwal, mga lider-manggagawa at pisante, mga idealistikong mag-aaral: lahat sila ay may mga makatwirang iginigiit sa ilalim ng umiiral na dominanteng sistema. Lahat sila ay mahal ang bayang ito at naghahangad na bumuti ang kalagayan ng bawat isa. Hindi ko matatawaran ang mga sakripisyo nila, maliit man o malaki, bunsod ng desisyon nilang bumatikos sa gobyerno at sistema.

Subalit heto si Noel Cabangon, isang musikero at aktibista, na nangahas magtanong sa gitna ng dambuhalang anti-CHA CHA rally sa Makati noong Biyernes, Disyembre 12, 2008; kung sila nga ba ay "Mabuting Pilipino"?

Ipinataas ni Noel ng kanang kamay ang mga nasa rali---maging ang mga pulitiko tulad ng mga senador na dumalo na sina Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, Ping Lacson at Mar 'PI' Roxas---at inudyukang manumpa sa saliw ng musika (na ayon sa kanya ay tila panunumpa sa Panatang Makabayan o sa watawat) sa pamamagitan ng pag-uulit sa mga inuusal niya. Ang simula:"hindi ako mangungurakot".

Hagikhikan ang mga tao. Aba'y hindi lang pala mahusay na kompositor at mag-aawit ang dyaskeng si Noel, tuso rin pala.

(Walang nais mag-ilusyon na paninindigan ng mga nabanggit na mambabatas ang sinumpaan nila sa harap ng pagtitipong ito kung sakaling mahalal sila bilang pangulo o anupaman sa taong 2010 subalit sa maikling sandali kay sarap isipin na napahinuhod ng mga ordinaryong mamamayan ang kanilang mga makakapangyarihang pulitiko.)

Hinikayat ni Noel Cabangon ang mga tao, halip na pangaralan. Ako ay sumusunod sa batas-trapiko. Ako ay Mabuting Pilipino. Ako ay hindi nanunuhol. Ako ay mabuting Pilipino.

Ako ay Mabuting Pilipino.


Minsan, may nakipag-talo sa akin kung ano nga ba ang magagawa ng isang tao para mabago ang mundo. Wala naman daw magagawa ang mga pagra-rali rali na 'yan dahil hindi na magbabago ang sistema.

Ang sabi ko: huwag maliitin ang magagawa ng isa. Hindi kami nag-iilusyong magaganap ang pagbabago sa isang kisap-mata. Tumitindig kami para sa susunod na henerasyon.

Kung gayon, anas niya: umaamin kang wala kayong magagawa sa henerasyong ito kundi mag-rali at mag-ingay sa kalye.

"Hindi ka naman parang isang tao na haharap sa buhawi", sagot ko. Hindi ka naman isang nawawalang manlalakbay na tataghoy lang sa kakahuyan. Kung nais ko man baguhin ang lipunan, batid kong nagsisimula ang pagbabago sa aking sarili. Hindi dapat sinusukat ang tagumpay sa mga makasaysayang mga pangyayari lamang tulad ng pagbagsak ng Berlin wall subalit sa mga maliliit na bagay din tulad ng pagta-tangi-tangi ng iyong mga basura sa bahay.

Ilan ito sa mga binanggit ko:

1. Nagbabayad ako ng tamang buwis. Maging sa pagbabayad ng sedula, hindi ako nagpapanggap na estudyante o walang trabaho para makatipid.
2. Humihingi ako ng resibo sa mga bahay-kalakal o bahay-kainan para masigurong nagbabayad din sila ng tamang buwis. Mabuti na lang at may "Premyo sa Resibo" raffle promo ang BIR kaya lagi akong may dahilan.
3. Hindi ako nagkakalat ng basura. Tanging sa basurahan lang ako nagtatapon o kung sakaling walang basurahan, sa bulsa o sa kamay ko muna. Naisaloob ko na ang kampanyang "Munting Basura, Ibulsa muna" ng lungsod ng Marikina.
4. Inihihiwalay ko ang basura sa bahay: may lagayan sa mga papel at karton, sa mga PET bottles, sa mga plastic at sa nabubulok. Nagdadala rin ako ng plastic bag kapag maggo-groseri.
5. Bumuboto ako sa eleksyon ayon sa aking konsensiya.

Kung sakaling maraming naniniwala sa maliliit na pagbabago sa buhay, tiwala ako na susunod na ang daluyong ng pagbabago sa lipunan.

Hindi ko masasabi na perpekto ako. Marami akong pagkukulang sa lipunan man o sa sarili subalit sa mga maliliit kong pagsisikap tulad ng nabanggit sa taas, sinisikap ko pa ring maging isang mabuting Pilipino.

Araw-araw, ang pagsisikap kong ito; para taas-noong kong masabi: "Ako ay mabuting Pilipino."