BEFORE anything else, I would like to greet Happy Holidays to all Filipino Christians worldwide, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
It may sound a little sarcastic but commercial values aside, it has become an accepted culture that majority of Filipinos do show “symptoms” of holiday when the months of the year end with “ber,” as in SeptemBER. And who doesn’t want a holiday feel?
Holidays mean mostly happy days, and that signify the Filipinos’ desire to be happy most of the time without necessarily buy that multi-vitamin product that promises 24/7 happiness.
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September also means the 10th National Peace Consciousness Month that originally aims to promote a culture of peace, and raise awareness and understanding among the public on the comprehensive peace process.
From the official statement of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (Opapp), Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles said this time of the year is “another great opportunity for the public to engage in empowering venues that encourage positive action and dialogue for peace.”
Well, let’s hope the other camp that seems to be “left out” from the peace process will be more conscious in the spirit and meaning of the word “Peace.”
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A million thanks to Mr. Froilan Gallardo for imparting his precious knowledge and skills in photojournalism to students and guests alike last Saturday in Mindanao University of Science and Technology, a priceless vocation for teaching the craft even just the basics for free for the curious minds and such wisdom to share derived from the decades-long of experience on the field.
Also thanking the organizers who are the students of Bachelor of Science in Technology Communication Management, section 4K3, led by Limar Hermis Virtudazo, of which the very reason why they need to have a grasp on photojournalism, as much as the basics in photography because they will need those skills for their final requirement in one of their courses/subjects.
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Since the release of James Wan’s horror film “The Conjuring,” a quick read to the dictionary was the first course of action as to the meaning of such word was not so familiar and used by the typical Filipino. Basically the root word is “conjure” which means to “to affect or influence by or as if by invocation or spell,” which is also synonymous to “summon, raise, or invoke.”
Interestingly, I find the film more meritorious in terms of investigating the paranormal phenomena rather than being scared to the visual and sound effects applied in the film material.
And what got my attention was how the Warren couple categorizes into three levels of how the paranormal phenomena will occur to the living victims: first the “Infestation,” then the “Oppression,” and lastly “Possession.” These three, which I thought is a timely analogy in the height of the country’s outcry against pork barrel scams and politicians’ image being tainted with corruption.
“Infestation,” is said to be the first level where supernatural elements make contact with the mortals through whispers and other unusual occurrences. Isn’t our government, much to our beloved politicians, been doing that over the decades despite whoever sits as president? Aren’t they doing “unusual occurrences” in government affairs especially in handling peoples’ money and still have the nerve to whisper to us to vote for them?
Next is “Oppression.” In the film, it is the stage where the supernatural elements “break the will” of the living victim, yielding to their whims and making them more weak. Obviously in our country, the “Masa” Filipino has already broken his/her wills, and instead them, the politicians serving the people, it’s the other way around where the people yields to their every whims.
Then comes “Possession,” of which the elements or spirits will occupy the physical body of the living victim and take control of it. In the political contexts, it’s the politician that’s more possessed than those of the people whom they promised to serve. There’s something evil on their chairs that turn them different animals once seated into power.
This isn’t just to politicians but to government officials in various government agencies as well, and it can also show some signs even to the local governments. And speaking of which, series of mini-exposes and hard-hitting issues have sprouted against the new administration in the city government of Cagayan de Oro. It can be just another demolition job attempts, but who knows.
Let’s try to observe these three levels of “paranormal” phenomena, and if these three have been passed and unfortunately found authentic, then we can once again recourse through to what Dr. Antonio Montalvan II wrote in his earlier columns (also in this paper) with a title that says, “Exorcising City Hall.”
(Read: nefoi.bogspot.com, Comment: nefluczon@gmail.com)