Juliana Tan

May 19, 2008     

        One mythical tale from the Philippines tells of the time when the Deities, or Gods, existed beside ordinary human beings and how the daughter of two of these Deities changed all that. The old Legend of Mariang Makiling has been retold by Gaudencio V. Aquino in his book titled, Philippine Myths and Legends. This tale, the author managed to express clues about the culture of the Philippines. He described that during those times, it was an everyday thing when Deities mingle with ordinary people on Earth. The natives communicated with their Gods face to face, even sitting with them under a tree side by side. It is indeed no surprise that Filipinos are very connected with their religion and treat their Gods as if they are family. One character who was an amiable presence in this legend was Maria, the daughter of the two Deities. She was a fairy, who had the perfect heart and was careful about her appearance. Women back then dressed in silk clothing, decorated with flowers and stripes. Filipino women tend to make themselves look presentable in public as this has always been the custom. In the Philippines, respect has always been one of the traditional values. In the story, young men would bow their heads to women. That is their gesture of reverence and to return that, the women would act shy and modest. This was what happened when Maria met Gat Dula, the ruler of the nearby Kingdom of Bay. Gat Dula soon started to court Maria in order to follow the traditional principle of the Philippines’ main religion, Roman Catholic. However, this sparked up anger from Maria’s parents because Gods and mortals are not supposed to fall in love. This anger of theirs rendered the restriction given to Maria to never enter the mortal world again. This was how Gods and people became separated. There was no dialogue written in this retelling of the legend, but words were depicted deeply with gestures. When Maria and Gat Dula met, the small movements they made were enough to communicate their feelings. Filipinos are typically very jovial, expressive, and dramatic people. It is their habit to use their body, instead of just speaking words directly. Words indeed prove less effective than actions for during those days, wars between neighboring kingdoms are common. This happened when Lakan Bunto, the ruler of a nearby territory, raided Gat Dula’s kingdom. It is true that throughout Philippine history, rivalries between kingdoms and chieftains were always major events. There was no national unity, or nationalism, in the country and this could have caused foreigner colonization of the Philippines by the Spaniards and the Americans. On the other hand, Gat Dula managed to prevent Lakan Bunto from colonizing his territory. However, he fell ill due to his yearning for the absent Maria and eventually die. Maria pleaded the God to give her Gat Dula’s soul and this shows how Filipinos believe that when a person who has lived a life of goodness dies, they can go to heaven. To spread the kindness inside of her, Maria, who inherited everything from her parents when they passed away, provided an abundant of fruits for the natives in the forests. She also granted wild animals such as carabaos; an evidence to prove that this story is from the Philippines since carabaos are the country’s national animal. Her last name Makiling happens to be the namesake of a mountain in the Philippines, called Mt. Makiling. One can then picture mountainous terrains as the setting of this story. Maria gave all necessary provisions to the people and yet, they never thanked her for it. As one of the punishments for their mistreatment towards her, she would make heavy rain fall whenever anyone misbehaves. This heavy rain is now known as the monsoons that the Philippines has annually. The moral of this story is simple. Appreciate people for what they give or else their patience will reach its limit, as in the case of the Legend of Mariang Makiling.

Juliana Tan

May 8, 2008

 Analyzing “Nobility versus hyprocrisy”

      A Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper article titled, Nobility versus hypocrisy, discussed about the Catholic Church’s line of attack on poverty in the Philippines. The writer, Jose Ma. Montelibano, works as an opinion columnist for the newspaper. This article was written on April 25, 2008 and depicted a problem that has been happening in the Philippines for a long time. The date that the article was written implies that Montelibano was able to have quite a time to see the situation worsened, detect how it was affecting the country’s poverty, and then conjure up an angle of his own. He is from within the country and this fact greatly indicates the relevance of the article. Being a citizen of the Philippines, he would probably be well-acquainted with the things that are happening because of his personal experiences and that can put a sense of deep purpose into the article. Montelibano knew that his judgment on the situation will be read by people who are interested in the controversial rumors about the church. At some point, especially at the conclusion, he voiced out a hope that the bishops and cardinals will stop dishonoring the country. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that he wanted the church to pay heed to the article as well. Montelibano’s article was written in order to reveal another side to the story of poverty in the Philippines. It sought to emphasize the fact that not only is the government corrupt, but the church might be as well; a proof to show that he wrote this article with his own perspective. Montelibano was trying to convince the audience into believing his personal viewpoint by transmitting negative details about the other face of the church. Even though he made no strong and aggressive comments, his emotion about the state of affairs was still apparent, especially when the subject of impoverishment cropped up. His point of view was at its peak when he directly presented his whole thought in one sentence, “What is generally known but not so talked about is the participation, by commission or omission, of the Catholic Church in causing and perpetuating the situation of poverty and corruption.” All things considered, Montelibano’s article can cement many Filipinos, who also share his viewpoint, together on the issue of fraudulence in the Philippines.

To access this article, click here.

Sona Choi

May 8, 2008

Analyzing “All Hope Lost for 1,800 in Village Buried by Mud”

      The information text I chose to analyze was ‘All Hope Lost for 1,800 in Village Buried by Mud’. It is a magazine article published by Nelly Sindayen in on-line edition of Sunday Times. Nelly Sindayen, who is reporter of Sunday Times wrote this article in the Philippines. I know because she is telling to people what happened in the Philippines to give information to people who are living in the Philippines of living outside of the Philippines.
The audience of this text is people who are living in the Philippines or living aboard. The purpose of this article to tell informs people outside and inside of the Philippines. People would know about what had happened.
The article was written on 2006 because hundreds of schoolchildren and their parents died of mudslide. When the local mayor went there to gather information, mud was everywhere and 1,800 people buried under the mud. There had been small earthquake measuring 6.4. Environmentalists and scientist blamed deforestation caused by loggers who have stripped away the terrain’s natural defences. And in November 1991,about 6,000 people were killed in Leyte by floods and landslides triggered by the tropical storm. And she said that Leyte is no stranger to natural calamities. She was objective because she was just reporting what happened in Leyte. And she is not having any strong emotions in her writing. I think she is not persuasive because she is not sharing any of her opinion about the article.
The article was published on February 19, 2006. This publication date is important because it helps us to know what happened in current event in the country.

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Daniel Viray
Language Arts 8G
Ms. Mowat
May 09, 2008

Analyzing “Philippines Prepares for First Execution in Decades”

      After researching articles about my country, the Philippines, I stumbled across one that immediately caught my attention. It was an article, published by CNN News, called “Philippines Prepares for First Execution in Decades”. The name of the author of this piece is still anonymous, but I distinguished that the creator is a professional journalist, as CNN (a reputable source) published his or her work. This article was written in the Philippines. I know this because at the very beginning of the article, it says “Manila – Philippines”. Although this published writing was written in the Philippines, the author is not Filipino. I assume that he / she is not Filipino because throughout the piece of writing, the journalist talks in third person. He or she says things like, “The Filipino people”, “The Philippines last executed…”. If he / she were to be a Filipino, then he / she would use first person phrases like, “our country’s people”, “We last executed”, etc. That is how I know that the author is from out side of the Philippines. It is important that we acknowledge that the writer is a foreigner because the story in the person’s piece might be over or under exaggerated. The reason being is because the author is not a primary source of this event. Thus, he / she needed to ask other locals to get there perspective on the event. The locals might have given a false story depending on their feelings about the said incident. Hence, the published article is also ‘false’. The public of the Philippines, along with other high class foreigners, were intended to read this. This text was written so that the vast majority of Filipinos can know what was happening in their country and also to discourage more crime. It was significant to know that some one was being executed as this has never happened, in the Philippines, for ten years. The nation should know why this man is being murdered so that they could distinguish the level of violence to receive such a severe punishment. This article was written to make the citizens see that there are consequences, even harsh ones, if crime is done. Therefore, it discourages other people, in general, to do crime. It was also written so that the wealthy foreigners, who usually read CNN, might be able to persuade a change in the plan (killing the culprit). Wealthy foreigners could have altered the execution as they often have power. They usually have power because of their affluence. These rich people might have been able to stop the execution. Because they are foreigners, it also helps persuade the court. It can influence the government because they are getting feedback and perspective of what they are doing from other countries. Since majority of the government in the Philippines agrees with the execution, then they will assume the execution. But, if other country’s governments tell them to not proceed with the execution, then the Philippine’s government will have a second look on what they are doing. That is why this text was also written for wealthy foreigners. The author is not being persuasive about this event; he is being objective. He or she is objective because the author clearly shows multiple opinions on different sides. Also, the writer does not have strong feelings / opinions about this incident. He or she just tells the facts that he / she knows. There are no sentences in the article where it says how the author feels about the execution. “Wife: ‘It will not stop crime’” In this quote, it shows that the writer is showing the wife’s perspective. It is showing us that the wife does not want the execution to happen. “Victim: ‘I want him to die’” In this quote, it shows that the author is giving a different perspective on the execution. He is showing the point of view of the victim. Because the journalist is showing both points of views, he is being objective in his / her writing. The journalist is telling us about the people who do not want the execution to happen and the people who do want the execution to happen. He does not involve his own personal feelings; he tells only about other’s emotions and how they differ from one another. This text was written in January of 1993. It was published before the execution happened; or during the time when the decisions of execution was still being made. The date of this piece is significant because the decision of whether or not the man will be executed was still in play. This article may have affected their decisions because it stated various opinion’s of citizens. Thus, the court’s opinion may have been altered. So, because this article was published before the actual execution, it could have changed the outcome of this event.

Read “Philippines Prepares for First Execution in Decades“

Loris Cohen

May 12, 2008

Analyzing “Rice shortages heigten political crisis in the Philippines”

      This edifying article written by Oscar Grenfell of the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS), is addressed to the rice crisis in the Philippines. Oscar Grenfell anticipates adults 18 and over interested in global economics and business to read this article. One negative aspect to Grenfell’s article is that he wrote it from outside the Philippines. The fact that he is writing the article from a distant country may cause the information to be slightly inaccurate or false. Not only might the information be imprecise, but it may also be bias towards a certain perspective taking part in the issue. For example, numerous parts of the article state that the cause for the increases in Filipino rice prices are because of foolish governmental acts, and the instability and corruption of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s ruling regimes. Oscar Grenfell’s intention is to persuade the Filipino people and everyone else that the reason for increasing rice prices in the Philippines, is because of the political corruption, and the overabundant exports of Filipino rice. He also portrays his strong thoughts and emotions on the issue by adding quotes from Political officials, and local newspaper publishers. Overall, this article written on the 8^th of April 2008, explains in great detail the rice crisis and the different perspectives of the victims and the people responsible for the rice prices’ increase.

To access this article, click here.