Winning is good, but raising winners is a lot better.
That has been one of my guiding principles in life since time immemorial. There must be more to success than just self-serving achievements. Rather, our accomplishments must also advance the welfare of our neighbors.
The said principle especially suits well with my counter-academic beliefs. I have always viewed education as something that should be more than just high grades and degrees. Instead, true education is something that must uphold the welfare of the society.
But unfortunately, no matter how we try to promote the virtue of social responsibility, there are still people - well-known and powerful people - whose misplaced ideals continue to influence us all in a horribly crooked way.
Below the belt
That has been one of my guiding principles in life since time immemorial. There must be more to success than just self-serving achievements. Rather, our accomplishments must also advance the welfare of our neighbors.
The said principle especially suits well with my counter-academic beliefs. I have always viewed education as something that should be more than just high grades and degrees. Instead, true education is something that must uphold the welfare of the society.
But unfortunately, no matter how we try to promote the virtue of social responsibility, there are still people - well-known and powerful people - whose misplaced ideals continue to influence us all in a horribly crooked way.
Below the belt
Click on the image to view photo source.
A very good example is when Kristina Bernadette Cojuangco Aquino-Yap, or more popularly known as Kris Aquino, came to the rescue of his brother Benigno "Noynoy" Cojuangco Aquino III who is currently running for president.
It has been reported that in her Twitter account, Kris defender her brother by saying, "In politics, ‘Noy has won 3 straight terms sa Congress & won almost 15 million votes sa Senatorial in 2007."
She added, "How sad na he didn't think na in politics- knock out nga sya."
And she stated further, "In politics si Noy ang may napatunayan because Noy has never lost an election! Ika nga, undefeated ang record nya!"
The said statements from the so-called "tactless queen" is widely perceived as a reaction to the line delivered by boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in a political advertisement of Manny Villar as shown below.
It has been reported that in her Twitter account, Kris defender her brother by saying, "In politics, ‘Noy has won 3 straight terms sa Congress & won almost 15 million votes sa Senatorial in 2007."
She added, "How sad na he didn't think na in politics- knock out nga sya."
And she stated further, "In politics si Noy ang may napatunayan because Noy has never lost an election! Ika nga, undefeated ang record nya!"
The said statements from the so-called "tactless queen" is widely perceived as a reaction to the line delivered by boxing champ Manny Pacquiao in a political advertisement of Manny Villar as shown below.
From 0:19 to 0:36
PACMAN: Bilib po ako sa pagtulong niyo. Kung kayo ang maging pangulo, napakarami niyo pa pong matutulungan. Merong iba diyan, laban nang laban sa salita pero wala pa namang nagawa. Kaya para sa isang Manny Villar na nangarap, binibigyan niyo po ng pag-asa ang mga mahihirap.
Did Pacman name a name? No, definitely not.
But his words still hit some guilty heads despite the probability that Pacman just read a script.
Kris, in defense to her brother, argued that Noynoy won 3 straight terms as a member of the House of representatives and bagged more than 15 million votes in the 2007 Senatorial elections while Pacman had lost in his first congressional bid, implying that Noynoy is a "winner" and Pacman is a "loser" as far as politics is concerned.
The said move from Kris is a foul one. It is a below-the-belt move. Instead of refuting the criticisms against Noynoy stating that he has not done anything, Kris chose to make a personal attack on Pacman. Kris' comments do not in any way answer the one million peso question: has Noynoy done anything as a politician?
Yet the more disappointing thing about Kris' comments is not its failure to answer the huge questions regarding Noynoy's political accomplishments. The corrupt underlying notion behind Kris' comments is something that we should seriously disapprove.
Works beyond wins
My guiding principles as a writer of this blog goes beyond the advocacy of the welfare of the differently educated sector. I write primarily to challenge the current moral standing of the Philippine society. We Filipinos have been promoting deformed ethical frameworks for more than a century now.
Traditional academics is just one of those deformed ethical frameworks. The way we Filipinos deify the college diploma is so strong to the point that we are willing to let go of our moral integrity just for the sake of graduation from college. I have written several articles about this.
But what I would like to tackle this time is the way we Filipinos perceive victory. As far as winning is concerned, ours is rather of a questionable footing, both morally and politically.
Have you noticed how some students, upon finally graduating, raise their diplomas as if they were trophies? For a typical Filipino, the diploma is the symbol of victory, and the lack of it is the symbol of defeat.
But what if after the said moment of victory, a college graduate ends up as a bum because he/she cannot get a job? Unfortunately, a lot of Filipinos find it easier to respect an unemployed college graduate than an employed differently educated person. In fact, the unemployed college graduate even gets the sympathy while the differently educated employee gets discriminated as usual.
They would say to the unemployed college graduate, "It's okay, it's really hard to get a job nowadays."
But they would tell the differently educated employee, "When will you finish your studies? You must work over your qualifications. And why didn't you finish college in the first place? Looks like you did not study well."
Here, we can see the shaky concept of victory as promoted by traditional academics. The moment a person "wins" (graduates), it's okay if he/she does not "work" (gets employed) afterwards. After all, he/she has already "won" for he/she has already graduated.
That is the concept of victory that we, the differently educated people, are questioning. For us, educational victory is more than just self-serving metrics and titles. In fact, we believe that everyone must do more than just getting a livelihood. Instead, we promote significance in success. We must work not just for our own gain but also for the benefit of the society as a whole. We must not only aim to be winners, but more importantly we must also inspire others to be winners too! That IS winning.
That being said, Kris' comments got absolutely nothing to do with winning. Instead, what Kris did is whining! Instead of proving the critics wrong by showing Noynoy's real "wins" in terms of legislative accomplishments, Kris chose to "silently say ouch" and brag about Noynoy's electoral "wins" instead. And worse, Kris did that by personally attacking Pacman along the way.
Kris only referred to self-serving wins. She does not know anything about raising winners or inspiring others to win. How many bills has Noynoy passed into law since his first day as a solon? How can a zero record inspire others to have the winner's mindset of delivering nothing less than an outstanding performance?
After winning thrice as a congressman and once as a senator, what work has Noynoy done that Kris can present for all the world to see or at least believe? Is there even one?
I don't know what's with Noynoy's electoral victories that Kris is so eager to brag about. Look at Nick Perlas' track record. Ka Nick has done a lot of good things for the Philippines without the benefit of getting elected into public office, not even once! On the other hand, we have here Noynoy whom Kris presents as someone who got an "undefeated record", but what has he done so far? Nada!
And now she is presenting her brother as a "winner" with an "undefeated record"?
Oh please.
How will we remember them?
But his words still hit some guilty heads despite the probability that Pacman just read a script.
Kris, in defense to her brother, argued that Noynoy won 3 straight terms as a member of the House of representatives and bagged more than 15 million votes in the 2007 Senatorial elections while Pacman had lost in his first congressional bid, implying that Noynoy is a "winner" and Pacman is a "loser" as far as politics is concerned.
The said move from Kris is a foul one. It is a below-the-belt move. Instead of refuting the criticisms against Noynoy stating that he has not done anything, Kris chose to make a personal attack on Pacman. Kris' comments do not in any way answer the one million peso question: has Noynoy done anything as a politician?
Yet the more disappointing thing about Kris' comments is not its failure to answer the huge questions regarding Noynoy's political accomplishments. The corrupt underlying notion behind Kris' comments is something that we should seriously disapprove.
Works beyond wins
My guiding principles as a writer of this blog goes beyond the advocacy of the welfare of the differently educated sector. I write primarily to challenge the current moral standing of the Philippine society. We Filipinos have been promoting deformed ethical frameworks for more than a century now.
Traditional academics is just one of those deformed ethical frameworks. The way we Filipinos deify the college diploma is so strong to the point that we are willing to let go of our moral integrity just for the sake of graduation from college. I have written several articles about this.
But what I would like to tackle this time is the way we Filipinos perceive victory. As far as winning is concerned, ours is rather of a questionable footing, both morally and politically.
Have you noticed how some students, upon finally graduating, raise their diplomas as if they were trophies? For a typical Filipino, the diploma is the symbol of victory, and the lack of it is the symbol of defeat.
But what if after the said moment of victory, a college graduate ends up as a bum because he/she cannot get a job? Unfortunately, a lot of Filipinos find it easier to respect an unemployed college graduate than an employed differently educated person. In fact, the unemployed college graduate even gets the sympathy while the differently educated employee gets discriminated as usual.
They would say to the unemployed college graduate, "It's okay, it's really hard to get a job nowadays."
But they would tell the differently educated employee, "When will you finish your studies? You must work over your qualifications. And why didn't you finish college in the first place? Looks like you did not study well."
Here, we can see the shaky concept of victory as promoted by traditional academics. The moment a person "wins" (graduates), it's okay if he/she does not "work" (gets employed) afterwards. After all, he/she has already "won" for he/she has already graduated.
That is the concept of victory that we, the differently educated people, are questioning. For us, educational victory is more than just self-serving metrics and titles. In fact, we believe that everyone must do more than just getting a livelihood. Instead, we promote significance in success. We must work not just for our own gain but also for the benefit of the society as a whole. We must not only aim to be winners, but more importantly we must also inspire others to be winners too! That IS winning.
That being said, Kris' comments got absolutely nothing to do with winning. Instead, what Kris did is whining! Instead of proving the critics wrong by showing Noynoy's real "wins" in terms of legislative accomplishments, Kris chose to "silently say ouch" and brag about Noynoy's electoral "wins" instead. And worse, Kris did that by personally attacking Pacman along the way.
Kris only referred to self-serving wins. She does not know anything about raising winners or inspiring others to win. How many bills has Noynoy passed into law since his first day as a solon? How can a zero record inspire others to have the winner's mindset of delivering nothing less than an outstanding performance?
After winning thrice as a congressman and once as a senator, what work has Noynoy done that Kris can present for all the world to see or at least believe? Is there even one?
I don't know what's with Noynoy's electoral victories that Kris is so eager to brag about. Look at Nick Perlas' track record. Ka Nick has done a lot of good things for the Philippines without the benefit of getting elected into public office, not even once! On the other hand, we have here Noynoy whom Kris presents as someone who got an "undefeated record", but what has he done so far? Nada!
And now she is presenting her brother as a "winner" with an "undefeated record"?
Oh please.
How will we remember them?
Click on the image to view photo source.
I am not in favor of Pacman's political ambition. Not that I think he is not capable of delivering exceptional public service, but I like him better as a boxer. Why? Because as a boxer, he has done what other politicians have always found difficult to do: achieve a zero crime rate! Now tell me one Philippine president who was able to achieve that.
There may be some not-so-good rumors about Pacman's private life like his alleged extra-marital relationships with some showbiz women. But let's face it, Pacman will be remembered best not for Ara or Krista but for his championship matches that has done the (apparently) impossible: uniting us Filipinos.
As for Kris, how will we primarily remember her aside from being an artista and daughter of Ninoy and Cory? How will the Filipino people remember her in her very own character and story? What? Ipe and Joey?
Her statements simply reflect her moral standards.
So if Noynoy wants to secure a sure win, he must get rid of the biggest ghost that haunts his campaign for presidency.
There may be some not-so-good rumors about Pacman's private life like his alleged extra-marital relationships with some showbiz women. But let's face it, Pacman will be remembered best not for Ara or Krista but for his championship matches that has done the (apparently) impossible: uniting us Filipinos.
As for Kris, how will we primarily remember her aside from being an artista and daughter of Ninoy and Cory? How will the Filipino people remember her in her very own character and story? What? Ipe and Joey?
Her statements simply reflect her moral standards.
So if Noynoy wants to secure a sure win, he must get rid of the biggest ghost that haunts his campaign for presidency.
Click on the image to view photo source.
And in that case, it would be more advantageous to Noynoy if he would just tell Kris to leave the campaigning team and/or shut the hell up before things get a lot scarier.
RSS Feed