DUGYOTERS. I have previewed and shotlisted one Imbestigador episode that tries to answer this question. Are we really that messy, filthy, foul, polluted and grubby? The episode is quite sure and positive. It answered a big YES. Footages of people throwing away their garbage on road center islands, men peeing on concrete fences, corners. Some even caught defecating on empty lots and dirt sidewalks. I also vividly remember an I-Witness episode exposing the lack of toilets and bathroom facilities in some Filipino homes.
HEARTBREAKERS. It always breaks my heart when I see people in public transport, both young and old, throw their trash on the road. Kids from school throw away food packaging, plastic cups, food sticks out of the jeepney window.
I just thought, how can they do that?! Did they ever thought of the people living in the area where they are throwing their trash? Come to think of it, those garbage would be piling up and clogging the waterways in the area.
Did their mothers and fathers taught them to throw away garbage anywhere? Is it the Filipino mentality that if a lot of people do it, it is considered legal? "Marami namang gumagawa kaya ako din ginagawa ko na rin..." Mag-isip naman sana tayo.
I had enough of the flooding here in Valenzuela and generally in our area here in Camanava. I know you don't want garbage to be thrown in your backyard or smoke to be fumed on your face.
Please help us in cleaning up our world. Please be a responsible citizen. Prove that we Filipinos are not dugyot.
Here are just a few of the countless reminders: (what MMDA might call urbanidad :D):
* When riding in public transport, walking on streets or just waiting for a ride, please do not throw away your litter in trash bins and proper garbage containers. If you can't find one, place it in your bag, in your pocket or just hold on to it. Don't let it get away until you find its proper container.
* Plan your trips, where you will eat and where you can relieve your bladder so you don't have to pee anywhere.
* Segregate and try to save up. Recycle paper and carton boxes. Sell it to Manong Junk Shop. The money may be quite small but it helps to save up in these trying times.
* Teach kids on proper waste disposal. It helps to start young for you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
It all boils down to discipline, responsibility and accountabilty. Remember that no man is an island and we're living in an open system. Anything that we do affects everyone around us and, ultimately the entire planet.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
A Note to Irresponsible Smokers
June 9, 2009. On my way to work, I boarded an ordinary bus bound south. I sat near the end, right beside the window to catch a glimpse of the train construction on EDSA. I was enjoying the music fed through my ears but I noticed that there was a familiar scent but quite odd in that place on the road. I surely know it wasn't the fumes from a smoke-belching diesel engine nor the dusty musk of EDSA traffic.
I turned to my back, saw a man looking out of the window and realized what the whiff was. Yeah, friends, he was smoking inside the bus right beside the window. I tried to restlessly look back to him, like saying "Manong, pwedeng paki-patay na yan..." When the wind blew towards us, I can smell the fumes of his yosi. Well, the manong didn't quite understand my message for maybe he was quite occupied with other things or just enjoying the ride and the ciggy.
June 10, 2009. I was on my way home past 12MN from work. Waiting inside the jeep bound to our town proper, I was quietly sitting on the innermost part of the jeep, right behind the front passenger area. Quite tired and exhausted from the eight-hour duty, I needed some breathing space to relax and hopefully end my day peacefully.
But one of my life's horrors came and sat down on the front passenger seat. A teenager, maybe a high schooler's age, was trying to finish fuming on the jeep to secure a seat. She, and not a he, finished up the cigar with me coughing up on her fumes.
In that same jeepney, another passenger was smoking, maybe to pass time waiting for the jeep to go. After finishing his yosi, he just threw away the cigarrette butt outside the jeep entrance onto the murky puddle on the road.
All these things reflect a majority of Filipino smokers. Smoking in public transport shows lack of etiquette and respect towards other passengers. Studies have shown that passive smoking, or inhaling secondhand smoke is more dangerous compared to active smoking. A non-smoker inhaling cigarette smoke may increase the risks of having lung cancer by 20-30% (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Second-hand+smoking). Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) also noted that around 75,000 Filipinos die of smoking-related ailments such as pulmonary and heart diseases.
Throwing away cigarette butts anywhere is also dangerous to our health and to our environment. EcoWaste Coalition, an environmental group notes that discarded cigarette butts are "the most littered toxic waste in the country". Though small and sometimes unnoticeable, these are non-biodegradable waste and it would take up to 25 years to break these waste down. (Lopez). Elsie Brandes-de Veyra highlights “Butts may look small but with the Filipinos’ addiction to cigarette and tobacco and the quantity of carelessly thrown butts in the environment, these items can pose real toxic threats to humans and wildlife.”
Our health officials has reminded us of cleaning-up our areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever. As I remember, one health official even noted that a single candy wrapper with stagnant water can be a breeding place for mosquitos. The cigarette butt's just the same as the candy wrapper. These waste may be small but when millions of road users throw such waste around the Metro, piles of cigarette butts and candy wrappers may pose threatening environmental misfortunes.
I don't want to preach something here. I just hope that smokers may be responsible enough to throw away their butts on proper bins and cans. I also wish that they would think not only of their own health but of other's healths and Mother Earth's fitness as well.
References:
I turned to my back, saw a man looking out of the window and realized what the whiff was. Yeah, friends, he was smoking inside the bus right beside the window. I tried to restlessly look back to him, like saying "Manong, pwedeng paki-patay na yan..." When the wind blew towards us, I can smell the fumes of his yosi. Well, the manong didn't quite understand my message for maybe he was quite occupied with other things or just enjoying the ride and the ciggy.
June 10, 2009. I was on my way home past 12MN from work. Waiting inside the jeep bound to our town proper, I was quietly sitting on the innermost part of the jeep, right behind the front passenger area. Quite tired and exhausted from the eight-hour duty, I needed some breathing space to relax and hopefully end my day peacefully.
But one of my life's horrors came and sat down on the front passenger seat. A teenager, maybe a high schooler's age, was trying to finish fuming on the jeep to secure a seat. She, and not a he, finished up the cigar with me coughing up on her fumes.
In that same jeepney, another passenger was smoking, maybe to pass time waiting for the jeep to go. After finishing his yosi, he just threw away the cigarrette butt outside the jeep entrance onto the murky puddle on the road.
All these things reflect a majority of Filipino smokers. Smoking in public transport shows lack of etiquette and respect towards other passengers. Studies have shown that passive smoking, or inhaling secondhand smoke is more dangerous compared to active smoking. A non-smoker inhaling cigarette smoke may increase the risks of having lung cancer by 20-30% (http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Second-hand+smoking). Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines (FCAP) also noted that around 75,000 Filipinos die of smoking-related ailments such as pulmonary and heart diseases.
Throwing away cigarette butts anywhere is also dangerous to our health and to our environment. EcoWaste Coalition, an environmental group notes that discarded cigarette butts are "the most littered toxic waste in the country". Though small and sometimes unnoticeable, these are non-biodegradable waste and it would take up to 25 years to break these waste down. (Lopez). Elsie Brandes-de Veyra highlights “Butts may look small but with the Filipinos’ addiction to cigarette and tobacco and the quantity of carelessly thrown butts in the environment, these items can pose real toxic threats to humans and wildlife.”
Our health officials has reminded us of cleaning-up our areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever. As I remember, one health official even noted that a single candy wrapper with stagnant water can be a breeding place for mosquitos. The cigarette butt's just the same as the candy wrapper. These waste may be small but when millions of road users throw such waste around the Metro, piles of cigarette butts and candy wrappers may pose threatening environmental misfortunes.
I don't want to preach something here. I just hope that smokers may be responsible enough to throw away their butts on proper bins and cans. I also wish that they would think not only of their own health but of other's healths and Mother Earth's fitness as well.
References:
- Lopez, Allison. "Cigarette butts deadly to environment". Philippine Daily Inquirer. ttp://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080306-123214/Cigarette-butts-deadly-to-environment. First Posted 22:11:00 03/06/2008. Accessed: June 10, 2009.
- "Second Hand Smoking". The Free Dictionary. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Second-hand+smoking. Accessed: June 10, 2009.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Lola Letty's Heartwarming Letter
One of our elderly members in church, around 75-80 years of age, asked me a favor to encode and print-out her poetic autobiography written just recently. She did not gave me a deadline so I just left the manuscript in my file tray, planning to work on it some other time.Weeks passed and I somewhat forgot about it until news came in that she will be leaving soon. On Good Friday, I immediately rushed to encode the manuscript to produce a more-than-ten-page document showing her masterpiece. I had it enclosed in a brown envelope and sent to her residence for she missed some Sundays in church. I know I had been a blessing to her just as I was blessed and challenged by what she wrote in her poem. I didn’t charge any amount for this typing job for I learned so much and related her experiences to my own.
After a few Sundays, I was heartened and humbled by her appreciation of what I have done. Calling me by my childhood petname, Elay, her observations of me seem very colorful, vivid, elaborate and detailed. Here’s what the letter says:
Dear Bro. Elay,
Just like Elijah, the biblical prophet, you are always “on the lead.”
1.) A topnotcher in a board examination;
2.) A famous and seemingly dramatic church leader in song and prayer;
3.) young, good-looking, multi-talented, very likeable, possesed of a distinct cheerful disposition; and above all
4.) an undeniably credible and dedicated born-again Christian.
Actually, you have an edge over the original Elijah. Why? Well - unlike him who was a loner, you are gregarious and surely find pleasure in working with others. Consequently, you are loved by everybody.
Dear Elay, thank you for spending much time and effort in producing an excellent masterpiece out of my simple poem (with accurate typing and masked artistry). Kahanga-hanga! At hindi ko rin matatawaran ang iyong pagiging galante. Isipin mong lahat iyon ay libre?
Thank you very, very much. Rest assured that I shall always cherish the memory of this deed of yours, as long as I live.
Most sincerely,
Sis. Lety (Lola)
PS: Now - please allow me to express my own interpretation of the meaning of your name:
E - Energetic
L - Loyal
I - Ingenuous
J - Joyful
A - Attentive
H - Hospitable
And much, much more.
Honestly, I run short of words to describe your wonderful person. Tunay naman, kahanga-hanga ka. How lucky your parents and sister are. Alam mo, masuerte rin ang magiging life partner mo; kids, too.
Thanks again. May God bless you always.
Ako pa rin.
Back to Blogging
Hey! I have been thinking about reviving this blog since I have so many things wandering within my shell for the past few days, or maybe even the past few months. Looking back through my old posts makes me feel proud that I have written so much and experienced a lot and importantly, had the time to write it all down.
Here's my first blogpost for 2009. Seems kinda weird that I got back to this half-way in 2009. I'm truly back... hopefully.
Here's my first blogpost for 2009. Seems kinda weird that I got back to this half-way in 2009. I'm truly back... hopefully.
Monday, May 11, 2009
This Is My Story
I was honored to be invited as one of the panelists in the 2009 National Conference on Library and Information Science Education held last April 13-14 at the Ortigas Foundation Library. This event, sponsored by the Philippine Association of Teachers in Library Science (PATLS), is my very first time to speak in a crowd within my profession, outside school and outside church.
My co-panelists were also topnotchers in the Librarian’s board exam, formally called the Librarian Licensure Examination (LLE). We spoke of ways on how to improve performance in the LLE for the profession and the LIS academe has been quite shaken by the lowest passing rate of the 2008 LLE. We did emphasize that we are not giving tips for the participants to become topnotchers themselves. We only gave our experiences on what helped us hurdle the exam.
Prior to the conference, my co-panelists decided that we should meet to discuss and coordinate what we will be talking about since we cannot just share our experiences. It may cause some overlapping ideas which may result to a waste of precious time. I didn’t attend that pre-conference meeting since I was tied to work at that time. I just shared some pointers that worked for me. Here’s my talk:
I am very delighted and pleased to be with you today to discuss some of the measures that can be accomplished to improve the performance of future examinees of the Librarian Licensure Examination. I know there are a lot of factors involved and a myriad of cases to explore. In the recent 2008 Board exam, there are around 1,003 of these cases. These are a thousand stories of a thousand individuals who have gone through the exam. Some made it and some sadly did not. But I will not speak on their behalf. I’ll just share what I had gone through. I’m not saying that this is the only way to pass the exam and get a license but I do hope you may pick up some points and learn from my God-given experience. This is my story.
Preparation for the examination, like in all other ventures in life, is of prime importance. C.S. Lewis once said “If you give me ten minutes to chop down a tree, I’ll spend the first two minutes sharpening my axe.” In getting ready for the exam, I had read through Mr. Totanes’ past entries in his blog filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com related to the Licensure Exam to get to know the ins and outs of applying for, planning, and taking the test. His tips were very helpful in presenting a clear picture of what I will be getting into. I also made myself endure lengthy sample exams and reviewers and diligently attended review classes in my university. But after all the going through the entire process, I have come to realize that there’s one major factor that helped me in surviving the 2008 Board Exam. It is by having a strong foundation in Library and Information Science courses, practicum training and research work.
Getting ready for the Licensure exam starts in the first day of the first semester of a Library and Information science student. Ang paghahanda para sa pagkuha ng propesyunal na lisensya sa pagiging laybraryan ay nagsisimula sa unang araw ng unang taon ng isang mag-aaral ng Agham Pang-Aklatan. Remember the story of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall”.
I always thank Almighty for I had been blessed with learned and diligent instructors and professors. They had been generous enough to share their knowledge and expertise in the field to make us students more prepared not only in acquiring the professional license, but more importantly, to the actual playing field of the profession.
My once classmates and now officemates expressed their disappointment on not acquiring the needed skills in a certain subject area in the Board exams. They mentioned that they had a hard time in going through one part of the exam because they did not have enough knowledge in the subject area. One of them even mentioned that they did not perform well sadly because their instructor did not teach the subject well. Fortunately, they are now both licensed and employed.
On-the-job training and thesis work also delivered for me what it was designed to accomplish. The two experiences exposed me to what is happening to real world of libraries, letting me apply what I have learned in class lectures. The application of theories and the practice of the skills acquired in the classroom reinforce the information into knowledge and polish the skill to almost-perfection.
I quite remember the practicum and volunteer experiences I had in The Children’s Library in Robinsons Place Novaliches, the Quezon City Public Library and in Data Gateway Philippines, all in Quezon City. In The Children’s Library, I spent a large majority of my summer term cataloging children’s books of various topics. There I had a taste of a myriad of topics for children, coming in different formats including multi-volume materials and audio books. Cataloging and classifying them made me familiar in the rules governing bibliographic description and assignment of headings. I also had an exercise of selection since there was once a time where we had to sort out books to select which ones are for elementary schoolchildren and weed out the ones which are for teens.
The experience in Quezon City Public Library was quite similar. Although we were there only to assist the library in its daily operations as a requirement in the Civic Welfare Training Service, I had been assigned in the Technical Services Section to catalog newly-acquired books. These materials range from fiction novels, university textbooks and professional reference works, all in the nature of a public library collection. It was again another experience of AACR reinforcement for me.
In my last OJT, I entered into an indexing and abstracting company. Data Gateway Philippines is one of the Filipino companies that specialize in off-shore data processing services for its corporate and academic clients. There I had a try of being a full-time abstractor. For a day’s work, I was required to write 14 company profiles. Called business descriptions, these write-ups are based on company filings in the US Securities and Exchange Commission website. Not only did my abstracting skills were put to the test, my English language skills were also quite polished there since we were to write technically. Luckily, I had extra income during that training. Nakapag-OJT na ako, nagkaroon pa ako ng extra income. In the same company, I also was exposed to indexing since they also trained me to be a part of the indexing team for INSPEC indexing database of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). I know my practicum in Data Gateway was God-sent since it greatly helped me in deeply understanding the details in indexing and abstracting.
My undergraduate research work also made me become conscious of current management systems applied to secondary school libraries. Background research work had me flipping through the pages of Koontz, Stueart and Weirich and books on management and leadership. More importantly, it helped me comprehend the situations faced by librarians in library management, particularly the toils and difficulties in public school library leadership.
I am not saying that I had an easy time reviewing for the exams but I would like to highlight that my review for the exams was easier because of what I had learned and gone through before. The word “review” is quite synonymous to the terms “brush up”, “go over” or “have another look at”. Taking a review class is just recalling what one has learned in his or her four or more years in college. Over-all, I believe that my schoolwork, internship and research work are all placed by God so that in the end, it will be easy for me to brush up on all that is needed to be reviewed and pass the Board Exam with flying colors. I may plan my course but I have faith that my steps are ordered of God.
Moreover, it is really by God’s grace that I passed the exam. Spiritually preparing for the exam also helped me since the faith-building experience made me realize that I am nothing without God and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I clearly remember I said to my mom, “Ma, blessing na lang talaga na pumasa ako…” since that time I felt that I would potentially fail the tests. God truly is faithful to his promise that if anyone of us lacks wisdom, we can ask of God (James 1:5).
In the end, one quote says that “the success of tomorrow depends on the work today” so I challenge all of you teachers of Library and Information Science to work persistently in educating our future librarians. British art critic John Ruskin underscored the eternal outcome of what you are developing and can develop today. “When we build let us think that we build for ever.” I believe that by God’s abounding grace, the success of future information professionals depends on how our educational institutions shape and mold today’s students; for them to become well-equipped, if not the greatest and the best of our kind.
Elijah John F. Dar Juan. April 14, 2009.
My co-panelists were also topnotchers in the Librarian’s board exam, formally called the Librarian Licensure Examination (LLE). We spoke of ways on how to improve performance in the LLE for the profession and the LIS academe has been quite shaken by the lowest passing rate of the 2008 LLE. We did emphasize that we are not giving tips for the participants to become topnotchers themselves. We only gave our experiences on what helped us hurdle the exam.
Prior to the conference, my co-panelists decided that we should meet to discuss and coordinate what we will be talking about since we cannot just share our experiences. It may cause some overlapping ideas which may result to a waste of precious time. I didn’t attend that pre-conference meeting since I was tied to work at that time. I just shared some pointers that worked for me. Here’s my talk:
I am very delighted and pleased to be with you today to discuss some of the measures that can be accomplished to improve the performance of future examinees of the Librarian Licensure Examination. I know there are a lot of factors involved and a myriad of cases to explore. In the recent 2008 Board exam, there are around 1,003 of these cases. These are a thousand stories of a thousand individuals who have gone through the exam. Some made it and some sadly did not. But I will not speak on their behalf. I’ll just share what I had gone through. I’m not saying that this is the only way to pass the exam and get a license but I do hope you may pick up some points and learn from my God-given experience. This is my story.
Preparation for the examination, like in all other ventures in life, is of prime importance. C.S. Lewis once said “If you give me ten minutes to chop down a tree, I’ll spend the first two minutes sharpening my axe.” In getting ready for the exam, I had read through Mr. Totanes’ past entries in his blog filipinolibrarian.blogspot.com related to the Licensure Exam to get to know the ins and outs of applying for, planning, and taking the test. His tips were very helpful in presenting a clear picture of what I will be getting into. I also made myself endure lengthy sample exams and reviewers and diligently attended review classes in my university. But after all the going through the entire process, I have come to realize that there’s one major factor that helped me in surviving the 2008 Board Exam. It is by having a strong foundation in Library and Information Science courses, practicum training and research work.
Getting ready for the Licensure exam starts in the first day of the first semester of a Library and Information science student. Ang paghahanda para sa pagkuha ng propesyunal na lisensya sa pagiging laybraryan ay nagsisimula sa unang araw ng unang taon ng isang mag-aaral ng Agham Pang-Aklatan. Remember the story of the wise man who built his house upon the rock. “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall”.
I always thank Almighty for I had been blessed with learned and diligent instructors and professors. They had been generous enough to share their knowledge and expertise in the field to make us students more prepared not only in acquiring the professional license, but more importantly, to the actual playing field of the profession.
My once classmates and now officemates expressed their disappointment on not acquiring the needed skills in a certain subject area in the Board exams. They mentioned that they had a hard time in going through one part of the exam because they did not have enough knowledge in the subject area. One of them even mentioned that they did not perform well sadly because their instructor did not teach the subject well. Fortunately, they are now both licensed and employed.
On-the-job training and thesis work also delivered for me what it was designed to accomplish. The two experiences exposed me to what is happening to real world of libraries, letting me apply what I have learned in class lectures. The application of theories and the practice of the skills acquired in the classroom reinforce the information into knowledge and polish the skill to almost-perfection.
I quite remember the practicum and volunteer experiences I had in The Children’s Library in Robinsons Place Novaliches, the Quezon City Public Library and in Data Gateway Philippines, all in Quezon City. In The Children’s Library, I spent a large majority of my summer term cataloging children’s books of various topics. There I had a taste of a myriad of topics for children, coming in different formats including multi-volume materials and audio books. Cataloging and classifying them made me familiar in the rules governing bibliographic description and assignment of headings. I also had an exercise of selection since there was once a time where we had to sort out books to select which ones are for elementary schoolchildren and weed out the ones which are for teens.
The experience in Quezon City Public Library was quite similar. Although we were there only to assist the library in its daily operations as a requirement in the Civic Welfare Training Service, I had been assigned in the Technical Services Section to catalog newly-acquired books. These materials range from fiction novels, university textbooks and professional reference works, all in the nature of a public library collection. It was again another experience of AACR reinforcement for me.
In my last OJT, I entered into an indexing and abstracting company. Data Gateway Philippines is one of the Filipino companies that specialize in off-shore data processing services for its corporate and academic clients. There I had a try of being a full-time abstractor. For a day’s work, I was required to write 14 company profiles. Called business descriptions, these write-ups are based on company filings in the US Securities and Exchange Commission website. Not only did my abstracting skills were put to the test, my English language skills were also quite polished there since we were to write technically. Luckily, I had extra income during that training. Nakapag-OJT na ako, nagkaroon pa ako ng extra income. In the same company, I also was exposed to indexing since they also trained me to be a part of the indexing team for INSPEC indexing database of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). I know my practicum in Data Gateway was God-sent since it greatly helped me in deeply understanding the details in indexing and abstracting.
My undergraduate research work also made me become conscious of current management systems applied to secondary school libraries. Background research work had me flipping through the pages of Koontz, Stueart and Weirich and books on management and leadership. More importantly, it helped me comprehend the situations faced by librarians in library management, particularly the toils and difficulties in public school library leadership.
I am not saying that I had an easy time reviewing for the exams but I would like to highlight that my review for the exams was easier because of what I had learned and gone through before. The word “review” is quite synonymous to the terms “brush up”, “go over” or “have another look at”. Taking a review class is just recalling what one has learned in his or her four or more years in college. Over-all, I believe that my schoolwork, internship and research work are all placed by God so that in the end, it will be easy for me to brush up on all that is needed to be reviewed and pass the Board Exam with flying colors. I may plan my course but I have faith that my steps are ordered of God.
Moreover, it is really by God’s grace that I passed the exam. Spiritually preparing for the exam also helped me since the faith-building experience made me realize that I am nothing without God and that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I clearly remember I said to my mom, “Ma, blessing na lang talaga na pumasa ako…” since that time I felt that I would potentially fail the tests. God truly is faithful to his promise that if anyone of us lacks wisdom, we can ask of God (James 1:5).
In the end, one quote says that “the success of tomorrow depends on the work today” so I challenge all of you teachers of Library and Information Science to work persistently in educating our future librarians. British art critic John Ruskin underscored the eternal outcome of what you are developing and can develop today. “When we build let us think that we build for ever.” I believe that by God’s abounding grace, the success of future information professionals depends on how our educational institutions shape and mold today’s students; for them to become well-equipped, if not the greatest and the best of our kind.
Elijah John F. Dar Juan. April 14, 2009.
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