Unfolding

People think that when they start to speak their thoughts out, they deserve respect. Respect should never be a default reaction especially when one refuses to engage in meaningful and truthful discourse. More so, such is cowardice and evidence of intellectual immaturity when they hide behind the veil of a pretentious plea for respect and freedom of expression. The freedom to express and respect are supposedly anchored on truth because civil society would disintegrate when lies become the currency of public discourse. People think that opinions are harmless, and they see those who are prepared to question them as annoying. This is because that they never see or refuse to see how opinions spill to the “practical” world. They think that arguments and conversations are the mere exchanges of mere utterances, when in fact, these are the processes to shape and dictate reality’s course. When unchecked opinions dominate the public discourse, then it would be fine to blow up statues of histori...

                Every time I have philosophy and social science-oriented classes with my college students before, I always make it a point to discuss with them the basics of social systems. Poverty is a major topic along with the facts that make it happen such as capitalism, systemic exploitation, and class struggle. The first step in my class is to break the ice of privilege by making students feel the dread of the system. I start with exposing the supply chain of sugar-related products and tying it to a documentary on the plight of the Hacienda Luisita farmers. I make them imagine all products related to sugarcane and reflect how each individual household (their own) has sugar (sometimes put to waste) and coincide it with the facts of the farmers’ blood and sweat (all hard work). I made them think carefully that the farmers receive below 10php as compensation for their weekly hard work. Moreover, add the fact that...

  I was told to not bite the hand that feeds me because I was giving raw data of actual students’ performance during the implementation of distance learning amidst the pandemic. I know that I must be considerate. Since the finals are not here yet, whatever grades that I gave were undeniably temporary because I was still hoping for those students to catch up. I mean no disrespect to the institution, but I would not lie to the system and pretend everything is fine. The problem is present, and it must be confronted. And the hand that feeds me is not the cash disbursing agent of the institution, rather it is those who are taxed. The institution simply reallocated the funds, but as to one feeding me, it is the people via tax. Thus, it is my duty to serve them well by maintaining honesty at all cost. I am at lost being a recipient of an outdated paternalistic pretentious adage of subservience. I know that our students are experiencing a huge toll and burnout in this pandemic. This refl...

    Being a philosophy major has immersed me in the world of thoughts and thinking. And undeniably I came across a magnum opus such as Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason”, Marx’s short but meaty “To Make the World Philosophical – Ruthless Criticism to Everything Existing”, Sartre’s voluminous “Critique of Dialectical Reason”, Marx’s essential “Critique to Hegel’s Philosophy of Right” and the list goes on. Even without the word critique in the title, philosophers still give critiques within their works. You can have Nietzsche’s critique of Europe and Christianity which you can find in his “The Anti-Christ” or any of Kierkegaard’s books critiquing Hegel. Critique has made it possible to help reevaluate anything under its gaze which can even lead to new thoughts, realizations, or even creates new perspectives with the goal of achieving truth. However, critique is scorned upon by those who mistake being criticized as being insulted.     Hurling insults at someon...

               Ignorance is a disease, and from it, is a curse bearing more fruits. Lies, deceit, confusions, misinformation, disinformation, and manipulations are all part of the produce. Add that with a huge missing chunk, or if not, no brain at all from the Filipinos, and you have the perfect mix of idiocy, incompetence, being lost, and plain stupidity. And as a devoted educator and thinker, this terrible situation is alarming and is the reason why I continue to talk.               Thinking, dissecting facts, doing research, and reading a lot are noble things to do. However, a majority do not have the luxury. And the worst is that others have the opportunity but are misguided. With more emphasis on obedience than thinking even in a typical family set up, duping the people or getting duped is a piece of cake. Include a culture of discouraging thinking, and all the means to ge...

              I have been reflecting amidst my isolation from the teaching profession, and I have nothing but meager social media posts and quick conversations that can help me assess my profession’s impact. As much as I poured my heart out to the call, much of the people I came across after their meager time with me in the classroom was more of heartache rather than reaping fruits. Thus, for them, their time with me was just a passing phase in their privileged or desperate academic life. Designing minds cannot be done in a classroom because the school is just a fraction of a student’s time. A student imitates and learns more from the environment he or she is exposed to. Whether it be at home, community, or the virtual, to where they spend most of their time influences them a lot. Moreover, schools, which are synonymous to education, are but a requirement to have a job. And only a rare few can see the value of its enlightening potential.  ...

I never thought I got to see you up close as you walked out of the airport’s terminal exit. I never thought that I got to hold your hand last Friday, neither could I believe that we hugged and kissed as we went to our friend’s car. Your voice never felt so real, and never felt so up close for a very long time. I could not believe the ride to the hotel, hearing you laugh, lending me your handkerchief as I was still sulking in disbelief. Your hands felt so real while you were pressing them hard as I was still emotional. It felt like bliss when you ate your first chicken joy meal in 7 months while getting shocked seeing the cake with a small bundle of roses. You told me that you felt like a woman, and that statement rang in my head because I successfully made you feel like one. And I took a photo of you with your advanced birthday presents. Just 6 days ago, we made love after a long 7 dry month period. Your hugs and kisses were not any more fantasies, but realities. I could not believe ...

I went over my newsfeed, and I saw countless Teacher’s Day posts. I saw cakes, presents, and surprises made or given by students. Moreover, such a day is about venerating the teacher as someone “important”, but how so? Forgive me, for I am not always in a festive mood. There are two things that I would look into. First, I dare question the teacher’s high felt gratitude and sense of dignity because he or she belongs to the "noble profession". Second, what is this phenomenon of students giving trivial gifts to their teachers? Just because it is a day of celebrating the crucial profession in society, should such things happen? Did both really celebrate what being a teacher truly means? I have taught for 7 years, and I have seen the crisis in our education system from within. We have school systems infiltrated by business interests and a proliferation of a decadent culture. I saw my participation in the education lobby as a fistfight against all evils. Although I may have d...

I knew her before as a person who engrosses herself in self-pity. I understand because she told me her history of tragedy. I was even a witness to it. She was trying to fly even before we met. But circumstances pushed her to confusion. A confusion so great because she has not yet found her bearing. She was still caught between the crossfire of religion, family, and personal aspirations. With so much negativity, her weary heart cannot take the blunt hit and chose to rebel without a compass. She ventured to worlds unknown even from my standpoint. She rarely heard praises because her environment was more of cutting her wings to fly. Her environment was more of following a doctrine which was more like of a cult rather than the authentic one they proclaimed. There she lost her compass. When I met her, I saw her as fragile. Easily she cries and weeps. She was not yet confident in any decisions she was making, yet she chose to love me.   When she made mistakes, it was like she was t...

              I wake up every morning and pretend that you are just beside me. In my dreams, I hugged you, but as I opened my eyes, it was just a pillow. Never mind the morning breath, although it is warm, as long as it yours, then I am happy with it. Sad to say, the only warm thing that greets me in the morn is just the sun. It would have been better if it was your thighs pressing my hips. I would feel an itch on my face and it could have been better if it was from your messed up hair. I would have loved the smell of fabric conditioner on our pillowcases, but it was better with your dried drool. The same thing I would say of the sheets, and you know what scent is stuck there. I may have your clothes  and the very articles that make me tingle, but it would be better if those had your scent. I would never mind having those washed for a far long time. It is boring at times that I am just washing my own clothes, and I do not want to be stupid to ...