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[tots-on-nstpsanip]

Why do people hate “tree huggers”?

Environmentalists are people who advocate for the protection of the environment (duh?). However, let’s try to look at things from our perspective – let’s look at “our environments” and not “the environment”.

If I go to your house right now and connect my car’s exhaust into your window, it will pollute your environment. I’m guessing that you wouldn’t appreciate that; hence, you advocate for your environment. But this is quite exaggerated, isn’t it? Let’s look at another one.

If a chicken farm is planned to be built half a kilometer from your house whose sole focus was efficiency, it will be terrible for you. It will have a pretty bad smell, there will be trash everywhere, and there will be other nasty things happening. You might feel the urge to form an alliance with your neighbors to mitigate this; now all of you are environmentalists.

If the thought of your neighborhood becoming the site of a big factory does not seem pleasant, your head is in the right place. Now, extend that thought to other people. They feel the same way too. You’re not the only person in the world, they’re human too.

The people who fight for clean air, the preservation of biodiversity, those against mining exploitation, and others, are just doing what you would do except on a larger scale. These people fight for what you fight for, they fight the more powerful enemies that most of us don’t even bother to confront. The word “environmentalists”, “environmental advocates”, or “environmental groups” have been depreciated by political forces with agendas (money) over time. They want the public to think that they are “tree huggers” or “hippies” that are against the progress of society. However, if you look closely and go past the misinformation, this so-called “progress” is irresponsible and will lead to dangers in the future. The truth is, when you get past all this propaganda, everyone is an environmentalist. And an environmentalist is not against progress, as long as it doesn’t lead to the end of the world a hundred years from now.

#9.2

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

We're Fighting Drugs the Wrong Way

Drugs are harmful and that’s a fact. However, are our current actions at stopping it effectively, or has it become another scapegoat that no one bothers to fix?

In 1987, U.S. President Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs – drug abuse was now the public’s worst enemy. Today, we now know that his methods were largely ineffective and had undesirable consequences. It negatively affected the lives of millions of people while billions were spent on useless initiatives that only made cartels more powerful. In 2016, after 30 years, a similar “strongman” strategy was adopted by the current President. This might be an effective strategy if the drug market is price sensitive and obviously, it is not. Drugs will be consumed no matter what they cost; this is why people lose their assets over drug addiction. Hence, if we endlessly chase the supply only, it only encourages the production of more drugs, more dealers, and more availability (Balloon Effect). This in turn causes the authorities (and cartels) to retaliate more causing more suffering and violence in a cycle that never seems to have an end. In addition, many non-violent drug offenders are incarcerated in our subpar prison systems; they’ve become people the government blames when in reality, they are the ones we should help. If we want to fight drugs effectively, we need to reduce demand in the first place. In Switzerland, a major heroin crisis was averted using this approach and it was more effective than the “only chasing the supply” approach. Free heroin maintenance centers were opened where addicts were rehabilitated and treated. They were given regulated heroin with clean needles instead of those in the streets, safe injection rooms, beds, and medical supervision that will help them so they can eventually quit. They were also assisted in finding shelter and other problems in their lives. This was very effective; their situation has drastically improved. It’s still not 100% effective, but it’s certainly much better than what we’re doing today.

Drugs ruin lives, and that’s a fact that no one can deny. However, we should keep an open mind on how we tackle this problem because its market forces are not like those of other everyday products. The war on drugs, the inhibition, these are not the right frameworks for this scenario. Harm reduction is not only much cheaper, but it is a solution that actually works, unlike the famous pure hardline policy approach. Addicts are patients; they also need doctors; guns are not the only answer.

#9.1

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

Basic Life Saving

First aid can decide if a person lives or dies, it’s an important part of the recovery of a patient. First, never do it alone if possible; specifically, ASK for help and give directions to others – the bystander effect is very real. Have someone call an emergency hotline while a capable individual does first aid, do this simultaneously. Remember, don’t just yell “somebody call 911”, explicitly tell someone to do it.

Here’s what to do when calling emergency hotlines:

1. Have someone call 911 (Philippine Emergency Hotline) or 143 (Philippine Red Cross). A dispatcher will guide you through the necessary procedures you can do.

2. Know where you are. At least have a landmark or a street sign on sight. A sign or a piece of mail may contain the address of your current location.

3. Calm Down. This should be a no-brainer, but this is very important, you can’t help someone if you're being hysterical.

4. Be Concise. The situation does not care about extensive medical histories and what happened last month. If the patient is hypertensive, say that they are – straight to the point. Don’t waste time by telling “that one time where you went to the hospital last week and they couldn’t find anything wrong, so they let us go home”. If medical history is needed, the dispatcher will ask these questions specifically. Just give a short description of what is happening and the patient's symptoms.

Here’s what to do when performing first-aid:

1. Know what you are doing. Don’t do first aid which you have not been trained in. If the scene is too dangerous for you to enter, just simply call for professional help. Otherwise, you’ll only make it worse. However, if an emergency hotline dispatcher tells you to do something, do it.

2. If the patient is conscious, introduce yourself. Tell them your name, that you are trained in first aid, and ask for their consent. If they refuse, don’t leave them – you should wait for medical responders or for the patient to be unconscious. If a patient is unresponsive, consent is then automatically implied.

3. Survey the scene for only a few seconds. Beware of hazards like spilling gasoline in vehicular accidents. Identify the cause of the patient’s injury along with the number of victims.

4. Don’t cover injuries unless for controlling bleeding. When responders arrive, they need to see the injuries. If there is a long response time, apply a soft, easily removable splint like pillows.

5. Don’t give a patient anything to ingest UNLESS they are diabetic AND alert. If surgery is required, the stomach needs to be empty to avoid complications. When the patient has low blood sugar, give them something to eat.

6. DO NOT put anything into the mouth of someone unconscious. When a patient is suffering from a seizure, biting the tip of their tongue is better than suffocating.

7. If you need to perform CPR, do it on a hard flat surface like the floor. If they are not on the floor, get them there by all means necessary. Tip the chair, grab their ankles, and don’t worry about hurting them – you’re not going to make them more dead. Remember, life over limb.

NOTE: First aid is not a substitute for medical care. Its goal is just to stabilize the patient until help arrives.

#8

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

Natural Disasters are not so Natural

Disasters are not caused by nature; they are caused by us. It is the failure to anticipate, and disseminate, that leads to the destruction disasters cause especially to those unfortunate. The city of Pompeii was wiped out by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius; we still can’t stop volcano eruptions but now we can forecast and evacuate. A volcano eruption was a natural disaster; until it wasn’t. Droughts were disasters caused by the gods until we were able to predict them (and hopefully have done something about them). Droughts were natural disasters; until they weren’t. We shouldn’t accept death and suffering as fundamental to human existence, the same way we didn’t just accept plagues and wildfires as fundamental experiences. Natural disasters are not natural, we can, and we should stop them from happening – not accept them as a part of life.

The Philippines is riddled with all sorts of hazards. Some will say that the populace and the government are already used to it, but every now and then we are still taken by surprise which leads to lots of destruction. When a particularly destructive event yields survivors, the common narrative is that they were not prepared for such levels of destruction. Authorities might say "we did not expect this level of destruction from disaster X". Disasters still strike unexpectedly because of a lack of anticipation. What then do we do to stop this?

Probabilistic Risk Assessment – We should not rely on historical records when planning for disasters because hazards change with respect to time. We should instead invest in technologies that simulate an environment to predict possible dangers. These are available, right now, and all we need to do is invest. We shouldn’t just look at what happened in the past, we should anticipate what we don’t know instead.

People-Centered Early Warning Systems – We should be able to detect impending disasters and issue effective warnings that are timely and reliable. But then, the people must respond accordingly to these warnings. This can be achieved by briefing the populace on the hazards they are exposed to depending on their location. The dangers of disaster must be communicated well to the populace as well.

If we base our plans on accounts from previous disasters, we fail to anticipate the possibility of more destructive forces in the future. This is the reason why Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) destroyed 70% of all evacuation centers in Tacloban City when it struck. The authorities did not incorporate simulation technologies in making hazard maps. The location of evacuation centers was solely planned based on the occurrences of previous storm surges - none of which were as powerful as those brought by Yolanda.

Currently, our warning systems are adequate, but our use of single scenarios in making disaster prevention plans is outdated and dangerous. In making these plans, science and technology MUST be complemented with local knowledge and past history. In this way, we avoid bigger disasters that are yet to happen, or at least we increase our chances of survival.

#7

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A Healthy Dose of Nationalism

The love of one’s country isn’t an innately good or bad thing itself. The best of which is nationalism that adheres to freedom and tolerance. One creating a sense of unity through shared culture and heritage. On the other end, the nationalism that tries to silence efforts in creating an inclusive and unitary polity. As I see it, assessing one’s nationality can be achieved by asking two questions. First is, “Do I see societies as they vs. them?”; if one identifies themselves more closely to their nation, rather than humanity, then what difference is nationalism to dividing ideas like classism or racism? If left unchecked, it may evolve into a doctrine of dividing humanity into arbitrary groupings. However, a complete disregard of one’s heritage, especially if that heritage has fought away imperialists for your freedom, is also bad. By doing this, we take for granted the freedom we have; treating it as something that always has been will make us weak to those who wish to take it away. Patriotism is this healthy dose of nationalism that we all must seek; not to think that our country is better than the rest, but to express a feeling of love to our home. Not to put ourselves above the rest, but to foster a sense of unity with those around you to make everyone’s lives better.

What then entails patriotism? In essence, I think it is freedom and justice through unity. An important concept in it is fellowship and civic-mindedness; it’s important to acknowledge that the world doesn’t just revolve around us. We need to see the human behind those around us, to acknowledge their sufferings and rights, and act upon them to let them feel that they belong. Being compassionate towards others, not seeing people as numbers, goes a long way.

Sometimes, it’s nice to just stop and think. It’s the only thing that separates us from other members of the animal kingdom, do it, it’s quite a special experience. And if I may suggest, think about all the nice things you have, and others’ lack thereof. Are they being born such a sin that they deserve fewer rights than you? If your answer is yes, kindly reconsider. If no, then we already know what to do because, in the end, we’re better off when they’re better off.

#6

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

Is it too much to ask for basic fairness?

While conditions are generally better than in the past, many people in the world are still left disadvantaged just because of how they are born. Some of us choose to close our eyes because of the rewards we secured from this unfair system, but how about those who didn’t. I’ve not saddened anymore when I see someone who chooses to be blind to the state of others – it begins to be scary, how powerful greed and apathy is to those with power, and how victims of society hurt others for the sake of twisted views.

Being born privileged, as I see it, isn’t inherently bad in itself; after all, we were all forced to play the same cosmic lottery before we are born, this is something we can’t control. What really grinds my gears are when people dismiss it, don’t acknowledge it, and act as if everyone in the world had equal starting points. Such is the case for race, wealth, and gender; humans suffer just because others choose to ignore that the unfair odds of the cosmic lottery can be changed if we just made the effort to do so.

If we want a more advanced human race in the future and not just some group of elites who will reap the benefits, we need to start developing sustainably. As you can probably infer from what I’ve written already, equality means equal opportunities; this a common misconception that some people have, oppositions of movements for equality attack straw-mans because they think equality means equal outcomes for all. No, it’s just that people are literally handicapped for no reason, so leveling the game isn’t too much to ask for, is it? One particular issue where more than half of the world suffers from is gender inequality – just because of what’s between a person’s legs, the world treats them differently. Some nice, some harsh, some praised, some ostracized, some killed.

Gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, sex at birth, and romantic orientation are all different things; some people – sometimes including me – confuse one from another, it is important to know the differences of these terms though. Gender identity is a person’s conception of oneself as either male, female, neither, or even both. A person’s gender identity can be the same or different from their assigned sex at birth. Gender expression is the way a person presents themselves through their actions; a person is then classified as masculine, feminine, or androgynous (both or neither). Sexual orientation depends on who a person is sexually attracted to, while romantic orientation depends on who a person is romantically attracted to; it is important to note that these are two separate things. Sex at birth might be the most obvious being the one assigned at birth based on a person’s genitalia.

I think that there are very real, and different, issues all genders face as we try to figure out how to attain equality. All the mentioned aspects of sexuality can be a tricky thing to remember for some. I think that a good rule of thumb is that we all step back and see the individual first then gender second. However, this is not a foolproof strategy because everyone, fundamentally speaking, is different. It doesn’t have to be about brandishing who has it worse off, where we dismiss the suffering of everyone who we think is better off than us. I’d be happy to see a world where people say to each other “Oh, that sounds like a hard thing to deal with. How do you think we can make it better?” and proceed to actually listen and act. Is it too much to ask for basic fairness?

#4

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

What can women do against abuse and harassment?

It is important to everyone, especially women, to know when they are being sexually harassed, and how to act when subject to it. As far as I can remember, I have not experienced sexual harassment. I cannot say that I know what people are going through, all I can say is that I sympathize. Dr. Peach Mondiguing of the UP Diliman Office of Sexual Harassment emphasizes that sexual harassment can happen almost everywhere, even in places one is comfortable with and proposes how a person should consider something as such. “Sexual harassment is something that you feel … one thing for you to know that you are being sexually harassed is if you don’t feel good about the action or behavior [of anyone] towards you”, she shows us how to recognize sexual harassment and poses some ways to act upon it. As always, we should be alert, and then tell the offender to stop if we don’t feel comfortable. It is also advisable to have someone you trust accompany you when you are vulnerable, never trust strangers, and also the people we only know at the surface.

However, pure vigilance is sometimes still not enough, especially when the offender is persistent. R.A. 9262 or the Anti-Violence against Women and their Children Act of 2004 seeks to help victims of abuse especially women and their children. It covers, but is not limited to; physical, sexual, psychological, and economic abuse which are most common in abusive relationships where the woman is more commonly disadvantaged. Those abused are urged to file a complaint. Do not be afraid to seek help, here is a list of organizations who would be most happy to;

Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)

NCR Ugnayang Pag-asa

Legarda, Manila

Crisis Intervention Unit (CIU)

Tel. Nos.: (02) 734-8617 to 18

Rehabilitation Unit

Tel. No.: (02) 734-8635

Philippine National Police (PNP)

Women and Children’s Concern Division (WCCD)

Tel. No.: (02) 723-0401 loc. 3480

Call or text 117 (PATROL 117)

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)

Violence Against Women and Children’s Desk (VAWCD)

Tel. Nos.: (02) 523-8231 loc. 3403; 525-6098

Public Attorney’s Office, DOJ

Tel. Nos.: (02) 929-9010; 929-9436 to 37

Philippine General Hospital (PGH)

Women’s Desk

Tel. Nos.: (02) 524-2990; 521-8450 loc. 3816

Women’s Crisis Center

Women and Children Crisis Care & Protection Unit –

East Avenue Medical Center (WCCCPU-EAMC)

Tel. Nos.: (02) 926-7744; 922-5235

KALAKASAN

Tel. Nos.: (02) 735-5555; 735-8303

#5

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

People and Numbers

The concept of Human Rights is a fairly recent event compared to the span of human history. After World War II, after the horrors of the concentration camps, it was not only after World War II that a declaration was made that considered all people equal. The United Nations General Assembly authored the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”; a declaration based on the premise that all human beings are equal in dignity and rights. As noble as its cause may be, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is still just a declaration; this is why many parts of it are still violated to this day.

In George Orwell’s essay entitled “Politics and the English Language”, he states various examples of words and their construction having lost all meaning due to the manipulation of politicians to defend the indefensible. The essay might be written in the context of an early 1950’s United Kingdom, but it’s sad to note that it’s still relevant after almost a century. The government has used terms like “drugs”, “terrorists”, “neutralization”, “self-defense”, “loans”, and others as a tool to report human rights violations in a misleadingly positive light. Certain groups of people are used as scapegoats such as supposed “communists in UP”, (surprisingly, cold war tactics are still effective) and drug addicts to create a false sense of unity out of “common enemies”; while those who give such speeches live in luxury while denying basic human necessities to others. To maintain the cycle of exploitation, they target students and intellectuals while killing people who need help detaching from certain substances. Corruption is something you can’t get rid of completely in a hierarchical institution like governments, but to minimize it as much as we can is the first step towards a society where everyone has dignity and rights.

For the next elections to come, I for one, only have one question in mind that I aim to answer: Does this candidate treat people as people, or as numbers?

#3

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Who are we?

What is the Self? A soul inside a husk? Is it the consciousness that lets us experience things? Whatever way we define it philosophically, we can’t deny that it is formed with relation to the people around us. Humans are a social species; this is how we survived and thrived for thousand years and is embodies in the saying that “no man is an island”. As cliché it may already sound, how we form ourselves are dependent to others. Here is why; the self is formed from one’s decisions. We may unintentionally uncover bits of ourselves by our likes and dislikes; “ayoko ng damit na ito”, or “gusto kung matutong mag-drive” and all of these decisions are influenced by the people around us (maybe the designer did a bad job, or you admire formula one drivers). We may also intentionally do this by actively planning ahead and tailoring our decisions to gain someone’s approval (or not). The point is: the self isn’t independent of others.

Yeah great, but why bother? One might be compelled to ask the point of knowing the self. However, if you know yourself and its place in the world, then you can understand your role in society. Knowing oneself is knowing the role we play in a show where the only audience is ourselves. I myself try to define who I am whenever the void gets to me. An essential part of this is defining myself in relation with others, in relation with my country. If you are familiar with Sartre’s and Camus’ definitions of life, this is what I currently live by (although I find some parts of it iffy). I choose my being before my essence and seeing all the injustices around me, I feel an obligation to help fix things. Maybe not so much about fulfilling a "contract” (which I believe is living in bad faith) but as a fulfillment of a human's desire to connect and help. I’m not saying that identifying ourselves with something is necessarily bad; I just think that we should relate for the sake of relating, not because someone told us to do so. What better way to do that than living by the phrase "iskolar para sa bayan"

#2

[tots-on-nstpsanip]

Iskolar ng Bayan

Photo by Pao Maraño from FreeImages

For the past 5 years, I’ve been dreaming of studying at the University of the Philippines (mostly because I wanted to study at the National Institute of Physics). Fast forward to now, I’m probably going to finish my degree without setting foot on the campus (jk lol, fate is indeed a cruel mistress). Nonetheless, I’m still thankful that I got in!

As part of every student in the Philippines’ college journey, we undergo the National Service Training Program. It aims to enhance civic consciousness and defense preparedness to equip the youth with the skills to serve the people and shape the nation. As a result, upon completion, one is enlisted into either the National Service Reserve Corps., or the Citizens’ Armed Forces. In this blog, I contemplate the implications of being an NSTP graduate and a student of the University of the Philippines.  

Prof. Monsod gave her last lecture in 2010, and now that I finally am a student in UP – we were recommended to watch it. Honor before excellence – it may already sound cliché with all the forms and checkboxes that have this mantra slapped unto it, but it’s nice to be reminded that it’s not just a string of letters with a lifeless meaning. As Prof. Monsod said, “it’s not excellence before honor, it’s honor before excellence”; prioritizing “excellence” instead of honor is bound to corrupt a person. Once someone becomes accustomed to cheating on the small things, it mostly follows that they exploit, harm, and become part of the problems our society faces. I agree with this sentiment; although cheating is a legitimate strategy in life, I can’t say that it’s the most effective (or even effective at all), nor support it. To choose a life of cheating is to choose a life of no peace.

However, I have to disagree with her on some points. In the video, she mentions that: “if you want to help this country, you’ve got to be in this country”; It reminded me of a person I look up to, GM Wesley So (currently ranked among the top 10 in the international chess scene), who recently got his American Citizenship. He remarked; “I did not have the connections needed to succeed in that culture, I was from the province, not a city boy. Had no money etc. I wanted to go further, and there was only one country a nobody can make it. The USA!”. I agree that we should strive for the betterment of our country, but if Wesley So followed Prof. Monsod’s statement, would he still be one of the best chess players of all time? Would he still be able to inspire countless Filipinos and show us that we CAN be one of the best? Or should he have not left the country, only for his potential to be wasted on the “godfather” system prevalent in this country? In my opinion, not leaving the country when the opportunities present themselves will waste one’s talent. There are many ways to contribute even from the other side of the planet, the world is not a zero-sum game. However, to fulfill one’s duty to the Filipino people, is something that we should never forget. Chasing opportunities, in my opinion, is not bad as along as we are not blinded by it. 

As a member of not just the UP system – but of the Philippines, I have an innate duty of helping my people. The university equips me with the skills to fulfill this duty through the NSTP program, extra curricular activities, and other classes in the curriculum. For me, there’s nothing wrong in furthering one’s career as long as they remain true to their duty of serving the people. I agree that we should help the country but for me, staying is not the only way to do so. As the saying goes, “You can’t help society if you can’t even help yourself.”

#1