Posts

Fell In Love with The City of Love

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  I’ll start this write-up by sharing a quite negative feeling that’s been with me ever since I met my college friends. Envy. I envy them whenever they talk about their hometowns, of how proud they are that they were born in a place where they feel at home. And whenever the bottle spins and points at me, I have nothing to discuss when it comes to ‘hometown’ because, honestly, I feel like I don’t belong in the place where I grew up. I just feel different. I feel like an outcast, too far from the mindset and culture that they’ve passed on from generations to generations. Even when I was in elementary, I’d like to think that I was bullied not because I was “bully-ble” but was too different and too peculiar for them. I also gained little to no friends at all when I was in high school just because I thought maybe I’m either behind or ahead of their culture. Too cut this short, I was just different, I don’t belong to Mina. As much as I like to call myself a Minanhon, I just don’t resonate wi
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El Latino En Mi

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  When I was in high school, probably in 9 th grade, I started discovering foreign songs and started to love singing them. One of the languages I love to sing is Latin or Spanish. And since then, I knew few songs written and sung in Spanish and could confidently sing it in front of a crowd. I also began to idolize singers and artists who are of Spanish/Latin decent such as Lauren Jauregui, Sofia Vergara, Card B., and Maluma. Although I never get to continue self-learning Spanish, I could say that I have a little knowledge on how to read and pronounce some Spanish words. By this time, I could say that if I were given the chance to choose a country and adapt their culture, I would say Mexico and its rich Latin culture.                  Mexico and Philippines almost shares the same culture. But in my case, I never get to experience the pure Filipino culture. I would like to focus this discourse on being family-oriented. Filipinos are naturally family-oriented people. If we weren’t in t
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My City, My Town, My Roots, My Pride

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  "Mina..., Mina Pototan?"      Ever since I was a kid, this phrase has always been the talk of the town, especially when I am asked where I come from. The Ilonggos are still starting to know that my small hometown, Mina, also does big in a lot of things - in culture, history, talent, and economy.        In 1870, Mina was known as "Montogawe". The term came from the Castilian word 'monton' which means mountain or hill, and 'gawe' which means face of a man. According to common beliefs of the residents, the hill resembles a man's face. They also believed that the 'barrio' was enchanted since every time it rains, the 'barrio' remains untouched by the water considering the fact that it just by the Suague River. Another tale involved is a beautiful woman with a golden goat who would be seen roaming the hill in the still of the night but only during a full moon.      The history of Mina follows this misconception. In 1864, Mina, or form
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Say "Sorry"

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       For my first blog here, I have written about what superpower do I want to possess if I ever get a chance to have one, and I answered "the power to turn back time." And I will still stand with that dream of mine, especially if I ever become a journalist. Most of the code of ethics in journalism that I know are quite related to what we were taught when we were kids. This one that I will talk about is pretty memorable, not only personally but to everyone because our parents have taught this rule to us:      "If you made a mistake, say sorry."      Media accountability is an important ethical framework that increases professionalism in media. In media, when something is written, one has to be accountable towards the consequences of the disseminated messages. The mushrooming media and unprofessional journalistic practice have time and again raised the question in the credibility of media. In the race of increasing viewership, sensationalized news, lack of proper s
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Hobby or a Guilty Pleasure?

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            TRIGGER WARNING: Topic and a video attached might give you stress and bad vibes.    Years ago, I see social media as a place where people can be free to share what they think and to feel beautiful. I was an active Facebook user before that I even became one of the sources of information of the fans of Fifth Harmony (an American girl-group). I entered the realms of social media when I was 15. That's when gwiyomi and being an emo guy trended, people call it the jejemon days. But of course, as I grow up, I also became more matured in using social media. I outgrew the jejemon  era and became invested in the woke era. I don't post picture more often anymore and only share memes that I find funny. Then... the COVID-19 panini happened.     It was March of 2020 when we were forced to stay inside our homes. The lockdown was said to last only for 15 days. 15 days became three months. We were promised to be "okay" in December. And now, we are here, still in our beds
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If A Six-Foot-Two Earthling Have Superpowers...

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    "If you have any superpowers, what superpowers do you want to have and why?"     I have been asked by this question a lot of times and I will always answer it with what an introvert, six-foot-two earthling like me would love to have and that is to make myself a little bit shorter and to turn invisible. I also ask my friends this question and they answer "telekinesis", or mind-reading, or super speed, super strength, to be an avatar like Aang, and even shape-shifting. If you ask kids, most probably they will answer you "to be a doctor to make the dead live again" which is the most innocent thing and you're not able to disagree with that or tell them "doctors don't do that" because you will be seen as such villainous adult. We have been dreaming to have this superpowers because they look cool on TV and movies. But I bet we never answered this question once practically because we were always hungry for that cinematic superpow
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