Kannawidan Ylocos Festival

            

“Kannawidan sangsangkamaysatay rambakan.”

Kannawidan is the showcasing of the pride and guts of Ilocanos pertaining to heritage conservation and culture preservation. Coming in the midst of Ilocanos are the festivities which will surely allure our hearts to encompass the true essence of being a proud individual. It gives us a glimpse of how was the life before and how shall we face it today.

Lighting to triumphant torch, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Sur never fails to continue its outstanding ventures to enjoin the people together and applaud its magnanimous culture amidst the modern trends we have in this generation. Inspired with this people, the officials of the capitol, through the leadership of our Governor Ryan Luis Singson, always bring out the best of our people. Remember that he Kannawidan Festival was established and was initiated by former Governor and now the Vice Governor Deogracias Victor “DV” Savellano.

As we commenced our 8^th year celebration of the Kannawidan Ylocos Festival, we shall witness another milestone of quality and majestic programs and activities which will highlight the strengthening overview of a true Ilocano. Expect the enjoyment, the thrill and the excitement of this year’s Kannawidan Ylocos Festival: bringing the best to the Ilocano people which started last January 29 until February 13,2015. This year brings us lots of changes and innovation.

Third Reflection

         Tick tock tick tock. My thought process has ceased. I’ve lost my concentration, and I’ve hit a brick wall. My fingers promptly press the keys but only gibberish is displayed on the computer screen. I delete what I just wrote, and the process repeats.

         Writing essays in a short amount of time has never been my forte.  I would spend countless hours staring at prompts and rewriting sentences. I struggled to write rough drafts because I found it impossible to write a sentence without perfecting the previous. After being frustrated with my inability to fluently spew the ideas and words in my head to the word document, I would surf the web and hope something would come to me in the next few hours.

          However, has changed my approach to writing rough drafts. On the third quarter of class, Eileen shared a very interesting article called Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott. In this article, Lamott advises readers to pour all ideas out and not worry about how absurd the ideas may sound. Ultimately, she emphasizes that writing rough drafts is simply a matter of sitting down and plunging in.

         From this article, I have learned that writing is a delicate process. It takes many tries to perfect a sentence, a paragraph, a paper. Without first scribbling all ideas and thoughts onto a word document, it is hard to move forward and move away from the very first sentence.

New Year, New Me

          New Year has always seemed to me a beginning of a new cycle, or a new path of self-development, but I never write detailed resolutions, having only abstractive understanding of my plans for future. But this year will end with a following resolution.
          First of all, I would like to become more assertive and self-confident. I need thus some more courage in my daily affairs. In addition, I need some courage to esteem my faults and failures and put them on the path of improvement: it seems like I'm becoming dependant upon the opinions of my surrounding (friends, relatives and classmates), so I would like to manage some situations on my own, without relying upon the others' advice or imposition. I want to become more independent in my attitudes and viewpoints and to get the ability to separate my judgments from those of others.
          Then, I would like to become more honest with myself. Sometimes I seem too benevolent and justify inappropriate behaviors of my friends, yet there couldn't be any justification. I also use this technique to justify my own mistakes, yet I should simply accept myself as a human being who has an inclination to making mistakes, because this is the most trustworthy way of gaining experience and knowledge.
          Thirdly, I would like to slow down my life, because it seems too busy, so I have almost no time for self-reflection, introspection and communication with my family. Sometimes it seems like my nearest and dearest people receive too little attention and care from me, so this gap will be filled and I will spend more time with my parents.
          To sum up, I would like to say that I will not keep waiting for New Year and will realize my plan in the nearest future... It is not necessary to wait for new cycle in order to change your life, because some alterations can and must be done immediately. 

Essence of Christmas

          Cool breeze......... Lanterns and Christmas lights on the streets. Christmas trees. When we feel or see those things, it only means that Christmas is near.
          Christmas......... When I heard this word, it reminds me the birth-date of our savior Jesus  Christ. At this point, everyone seems to be excited on that day. There's an essence of celebrating Christmas.
          First is love. We need to love our neighbors whole heart as we love ourselves. Forgive those who have sinned against you. If God can forgive, why people can't? Forget their sins and start a happy memories with them. Everybody deserves a second and last chance. Lower your pride.
          Second is the essence of giving. We have a quotation, " share your blessings." Did you know that giving is more blissful than receiving? Well, that's the meaning of this quotation, "it is more blessed to give than to receive." If we had that grace, share it with other people that are in need. Don't be greedy.
          The essence of Christmas are loving others, forgiving and forgetting and giving. We must have this essence to feel the happiness of celebrating Christmas. 

Climate Change

          Different areas on earth have different climates. If you have been to other places in the Philippines, you may have noticed a similarity in the weather over an extended period of time. This weather is due to the location of the Philippines. The Philippines is in the tropical zone close to the equator. Hence, it receives direct rays from the sun, This produces a warm climate. Areas far from the equator have cooler climates.

          Can climate change? Scientists claimed that the climate of the earth thousands of years ago was different from the climate at present. There are factors that caused the climate to change.

          Major climate changes are caused by the slow drifting of the continents, changes in the sun's energy output and variations in the position of the earth in relation to the sun.

English Month Celebration

Importance of the English Language

          In today's global world, the importance of English can not be denied and ignored since English is the most common language spoken everywhere. With the help of developing technology, English has been playing a major role in many sectors including medicine, engineering and education, which, in my opinion, is the most important arena where English is needed. Particularly, as a developing country, our country needs to make use of this world-wide spoken language in order to prove its international power. This can merely be based on the efficiency of tertiary education. Consequently, English should be the medium of instruction at universities in our country for the following three reasons: finding a high-quality job, communicating with the international world and accessing scientific sources in the student's major field.

          The most important reason, for English to be the medium of instruction in our country, higher education system is that it enables students to communicate with the international world. In these days, in my opinion, the most important thing for both university students and graduates is to follow the development in technology. For this reason, they have to learn common language. Certainly, they should not lose their interest on communicating with the world.

          All in all, the education in universities should be done with English for an important reason. They can communicate with others internationally. In my own opinion, internationally, people need one common language. For many years, English has been the common world-wide language and it will be in the future. For this reason, if you want to follow trends, new gadgets and technology, modernization of the developing world, you have to know English whatever age you are in.

Equal Rights, Equal Oppurtunities

Equal Rights

          Right to equality means the absence of legal discrimination against any one individual, group, class or race. In earlier times certain classes possessed special privileges or were judged by special law.

         The modern tendency is to enforce the same law over all persons in the State and to give all persons equal rights and privileges in the protection of their civil liberties. Democracy can only exist and flourish in a society of equals.

          The Constitution of India makes social and civil equality the bedrock of Indian polity. It guarantees equality of all persons before the law, prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth as between citizens, and abolishes accountability on the one hand and titles on the other. 

          The concept of equality of all persons before the laws has a significant bearing and it is one of the ingredients of what Dicey calls the Rule of Law. The Rule of Law means three things with Dicey. It means, in the first place, the absolute supremacy of law.

          There should be nothing which may be characterized as an arbitrary power and every action of government must be authorized by law. Then, there should be the supremacy of law and no one may be punished except for definite breach of law which must be proved in a duly constituted court of law.

          Thirdly, it means equality before the law, that is, every citizen is subject to the ordinary law of the land and has to stand trial in the same law courts whatever his status or position in society. The Rule of Law is no respecter of persons.

          It is not 'a rule of men', but a measure of liberty enjoyed by the people. Law should neither be arbitrary nor should it guarantee privilege or take account of privilege. Rich and poor, high and low must be equal before the law. But the judiciary must be independent and impartial if the Rule of Law can mean anything real.