Lugaw

An lugaw baja kay dili na kun pagkaon? If one is fond of reading, s/he might encounter DYSTOPIA - an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic. Most of the characters rebel due to inhumane treatments and eventually topples down leaders of “insane” needs and the hunger to rule over people.

The Philippine Star reported: Rice porridge or lugaw, or any food item for that matter, is considered “an essential good,” Malacanang said on March 31, 2021, following a video that went viral on social media. The video shows a lugaw vendor being prevented by barangay officials from passing through a checkpoint amid the enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

In the video, the woman who is allegedly a barangay official was lecturing the food delivery person in a very confident tone telling the vendor that rice porridge is NOT an essential good but MILK is. A lot of viewers raised their eyebrows on the seemingly-righteous woman who even encouraged the vendor to take a video on the incident so that “we will know” what is ESSENTIAL FOOD.

Netizens were angered over the video, which showed a Grab Food rider being accosted by barangay officials who claimed he was violating the 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew. The rider pleaded his case and said Grab followed the guidelines set by the government on the ECQ, which allowed food deliveries. The local officials, however, refused to let him through, saying the porridge, which he was supposed to deliver, was “not essential” (philstar.com).

Are we living in an post-apocalyptic era when such food is not considered essential anymore?

When information isn’t available, people need to use the conceptual understandings and associations they’ve formed about similar concepts to successfully execute decisions. Conceptual understanding, where people grasp ideas in a transferable way, can help them take what they learn apply it across domains.

In the field of education, teachers venture into the cognitive dimensions to be able to reach the level of competence among learners. It has been said over and over that the educators must be careful in dealing with the delivery of lessons since deficits might occur. Or worse, the wrong information will be instilled to the learner it would be difficult to UNLEARN.

In this case, one can wonder: Is the woman (who seemed confident with what she was talking about) a victim of cognitive and conceptual deficit or someone who was fed with WRONG information? You see, rice porridge is COMMON in the Filipino cuisine!

When abuse of power comes easily, it also becomes an all-too-attractive end for pathological individuals who might try to seize it through any means. When they attain a position of control of an entire society, great tragedy can result (Lee, 2018).

That situation is a scary one. You see, abuse of power occurs where the protagonist has control of the contingencies in a situation (those in power, whether through authority, coercion, dominance or leadership etc), and because of the lack of counter control, acts in ways which are damaging to the other.

Those who are hungry for power might be thriving during situations like a “lockdown” or a enhanced community quarantine or any term one may use. They see the event as an avenue to satisfy their innate need to rule over.

Gabriel Pabico Lalu reported: The uncertainty of “lugaw” or rice porridge as one of the essential goods -and food delivery as an essential service - stems from the national government’s confusing quarantine regulations, an activist said on March 31, 2021. According to Bagong Alyansanng Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes, it is only in the Philippines that there is a need to clarify that food delivery like rice porridge is important that should not be impeded.

So, if we go deeper, why such brouhaha over lugaw? This stems from the unease of the people on being NOT FREE for a long time that even the purchase of simple things like porridge is NOT ESSENTIAL. When too many restrictions are imposed in the midst of a democratic country, things like these happen.

In a study conducted by Mekale, Reggev, et. Al. (2020) they posited that social isolation and loneliness carry a negative impact on both mental and physical health, and quarantine may cause stress symptoms, as well as anger and confusion. Prolonged stress, in turn, can lead to aberrant regulation of the immune system and higher susceptibility to virus infections. These negative impacts can also extend to damage to the fabric of society, as paranoia and related beliefs in conspiracy theories can motivate criminal activity.

Going back to the dystopian plots, are we going to wait for rebellion to come or the pro-active and scientific actions of policy makers in regulating pro-people regulations?

We might as well hear news in the near future on someone running amok when the wearing of slippers will be prohibited.

 

Unleashing

 

                                     (image: youtube.com)

Mauka, malangka, magutom, ugsa manggawas kami! Try putting a dog on the leash for so long and record its movements. Chances are the animal would be aggressive. It may even bite since there is a necessity for it to be freed from the leash.

Certain cultures and families, feel that it is in the child’s best interest to put pressure on them.  This pressure can look like academic pressure, career pressure, religious pressure and pressure about marriage and children.  Children feel the stress both physically and psychologically. Later, they feel suffocated and most of the time rebel.

Nothing is scarier than being anxious for no reason. Random thoughts causing you to breakdown at random times, going from happy to sad or mad to hysterical, spells of loneliness that cause you to think that no one loves you or cares about you, whether it be friend or family. It just takes one trigger to create all these moments to happen in an instant (McDaniel, 2017).

Now, what happens when the government is the one to disallow or “limit” you to move around that you feel pressured to stay inside for a long time? What happens if all the resources you have are drained and the constant fear of being hungry and being infected is looming over you? Anxiety and anger come in.

The lancet.com reported: Quarantine is often an unpleasant experience for those who undergo it. Separation from loved ones, the loss of freedom, uncertainty over disease status, and boredom can, on occasion, create dramatic effects. Suicide has been reported, substantial anger generated, and lawsuits brought following the imposition of quarantine in previous outbreaks. The potential benefits of mandatory mass quarantine need to be weighed carefully against the possible psychological costs. Successful use of quarantine as a public health measure requires us to reduce, as far as possible, the negative effects associated with it.

On March 22 to April 4, 2021 Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal are placed under a stricter general community quarantine to control the surge in coronavirus cases in the country. The IATF imposed a two-week GCQ bubble in the aforementioned areas.

A bubble setup, according to CNN Philippines, applies to a cluster of people restricted from going in and out of a covered area unless they are authorized to do so. Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal — also known as the "NCR plus" — are placed under one bubble setup on the said dates, which means only authorized persons can do essential travel into and out of these areas. Essential travel between these provinces is also allowed, National Task Force against COVID-19 spokesperson Restituto Padilla said.

Despite the move, the surge of COVID 19 infection happened. The Philippines reported 9,838 coronavirus cases on Friday (Mar 26, 2021), marking the highest daily jump since the pandemic began, as the World Bank warned that vaccinations needed to be a priority to limit further deaths and support the country's health system. A recent spike in infections has forced authorities to widen tighter restrictions in the capital Manila to surrounding provinces, but once-a-day religious services with up to 10 percent of a church's capacity will be allowed in the week ahead of Easter (Channel News Asia).

Some officials blamed the people for the recent rate of infections. But how can “the poor” survive if their movements are limited? They need to go out to look for a living. Have these false “public servants” experienced living in the squatters’ area where the houses do not have space enough to stretch one’s body? What about the heat you feel since the weather bureau already declared the DRY SEASON commencing?

The Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) – the largest coalition of health groups in the country – issued the plea in a press conference on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, saying the spike in cases shows the failure to sustain safe environments reported Sofia Tomacruz.

Dr Antonio Dans, an internal medicine specialist and epidemiologist, pointed out that there is not much else Filipinos can do to keep safe if areas like malls, workplaces, and public transport are not adjusted to prevent the spread of the virus. "Humihingi kami ng tulong. Tama na 'yung pagbibintang sa mga tao. They are doing everything they can," he said.

Prof. Stephen Reicher from the University of St Andrews has continually said that compliance on health protocols is between 80% and 90%, which is historically very high for such lockdowns. We must ensure that the government is properly and fully called to account for its management of the pandemic and that the public is not used as a scapegoat.

The term scapegoat has evolved to refer to individuals or peoples who are symbolically or concretely made to bear responsibility for the faults or problems of others. For individuals, scapegoating is a psychological defense mechanism of denial through projecting responsibility and blame on others.

Why can’t persons demand for a solid solution on this problem since the elected leaders vowed to serve the people and NOT blame them? Let the people be unleashed. Else, there are those who are readying themselves to BITE!

 

On Leadership, Age and COVID-19 Surge

 

                                      (photo: youtube,com)

Iska tuig na ta di makalihok! The Philippines’ quarantine measures reached overseas publications, citing the country being placed under one of the world’s longest lockdowns. Time Magazine and Vice Asia published reports on March 15, which is considered the “lockdown anniversary” in Metro Manila. On March 12, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte imposed 30-day community quarantine over the National Capital Region to help contain the transmission of the virus which causes COVID-19.

Catalina Ricci S. Madarang of the Philippine Star reported: The quarantine, which others considered as a lockdown, was supposed to only run from March 15 to April of last year. The Philippines is still under such restrictions in different phases—the general community quarantine and the modified version.

But is this measure helpful in preventing the spread of the virus?

In the World Health Organization Wester Pacific’s tally on March 16 of this year, Philippines still tops the highest new infections in 24 hours with 5,395 cases and also the highest in total number of cases with 626,893 on record. The Philippines is followed by Malaysia with 1,208 new cases. In the total number of cases, second place goes to Japan with 448,688.

Over a year into the pandemic, the country has broken its record of highest number of new COVID-19 cases in a day with 7,103 infections on March 19, 2021, the Department of Health reported. CNN Philippines reported: The last record was on Aug. 10 with 6,958 infections.

The total surged to 648,066 with 11.3% or 73,264 active or currently ill patients. It is also the highest active case count since August. At least 93.9% of the active cases have mild symptoms, 3.3% have no symptoms, 1% are in critical condition, 1.1% are in severe condition and 0.59% are moderate cases.

In performing basic research especially in the implementation of certain laws and mandates, the researchers correlate the profile of the implementers to the level of implementation of the orders. With such, recommendations for policy making and even decisions are anchored to the scientific way dealing with crafting them. Also, implications are studied through an array of literature so to better the study.

Yes, the profile of the leader can be correlated to the outcomes of his leadership.

Let us start with gender. It is important to understand variables relevant to effective leadership. Gender is one such variable that must be examined with regard to optimizing leadership effectiveness. The topic of gender and leadership deserves serious and thoughtful consideration and discussion because of professional, political, cultural, and personal realities of the twenty‐first century. Women and men have been, are, and should be leaders.

With the rigid study this writer had on “The Implementation of R.A. 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act” it was found out that there is no significant relationship between the sex/gender of the implementer and the implementation itself.

What about age? We see the president as ageing and he oftentimes accept this fact. Robert Smither, PhD (2020) posited that age doesn’t seem to impact a leader’s willingness to step up, issue directives, and provide rewards for performance.  In contrast, however, age does seem to affect a leader’s openness to change. As leaders grow older, they become less willing to make changes and are less interested in innovation.

A study by Vincent Barker and Geroge Mueller (2002) found that older leaders spent less on research and development than younger ones.

Research also suggests that older leaders are more likely to take a passive approach to their leadership role—for example, delegating many duties and becoming actively involved only in crisis situations. They are also more likely to maintain the status quo rather than respond to new opportunities that arise. In some situations, maintaining rather than innovating would be a positive; in others, a negative (Smither, 2020).

Data analyses are important in decision-making. If older leaders spend less on research, it implies that they are not that interested with the data which are glaringly telling the people something. A set of proactive advisers who are credible to the leader must do the research tasks for them to “influence” his decisions.

And who are “delegated” by the leader to do the leading among the people? A delegating leadership style is a low task and relationship behavior approach to leadership where a leader empowers an individual to exercise autonomy. Employing this approach entails providing the individual with the big picture, then trusting them to deliver agreed-upon results.

This discourse is focused NOT on the age of the president but how his age allowed him to pick the people he delegates to do some important tasks. The Philippine Inquirer reported on May 2020: President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to retain Metro Manila police chief Maj. General Debold Sinas, who was recently embroiled in a “mañanita” controversy, “erodes” the public’s confidence in the government’s ability to enforce quarantine measures, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said.

The palace needs a set of young researchers who connect the dots, delve deeper into data and allow analyses to take place. They have to be listened since data (quantitative and qualitative) matter.

Squaring the Circle

                                      (image: youtube.com)

Dili malingin an kahon. People justify their actions. Sometimes, others whitewash their deeds with lies for them to look correct. But again, you could not make a circle become square. Lying and covering up for your wrong actions won’t allow you to be changed. Development is then hampered. That is why we’d rather accept our mistakes and grow than remain stunted for the rest of our lives.

A reason is said to be a “normative reason” for acting because it favors someone’s acting. But what does it mean to say that a reason “favors” an action? One way of understanding this claim is in terms of justification: a reason justifies or makes it right for someone to act in a certain way. This is why normative reasons are also called “justifying” reasons.

The term “normative reason” according to Alvarez (2007) derives from the idea that there are norms, principles or codes that prescribe actions: they make it right or wrong to do certain things.

In the society we are living, there are set of norms directly or indirectly prescribed by it. Conforming on them can cause order and demeanor. But once we break the norms we sometimes become the subject of ridicule or tagged as the person who creates chaos and confusion in the community s/he belongs.

The existence of these norms or values depends on a variety of things: logical and natural relations, conventions, rules and regulations, etc. And the norms or values may be moral, prudential, legal, hedonic (relating to pleasure) or of some other kind. There are normative reasons, therefore, corresponding to the variety of values and norms: normative reasons that are moral, prudential, legal, etc.

But what if moral norms are the ones broken?

Moral norms are the rules of morality that people ought to follow. An evolutionary explanation of the emergence of moral norms proceeds in stages. There are different norms for different kinds of social interaction: norms of justice, norms of cooperation, and norms prescribing various kinds of altruistic behavior (Ruse, 2008).

Morality is the belief and understanding of what is right and what is wrong. It refers to the set of standards that enable people to live cooperatively in groups. It’s what societies determine to be “right” and “acceptable.”

Sometimes, acting in a moral manner means individuals must sacrifice their own short-term interests to benefit society. Individuals who go against these standards may be considered immoral (Morin, 2020).

But it is always human nature to justify their actions to perform self-preservation. Yet whatever justifications one can muster if the act is glaringly wrong, the justifications will fall flat. It is somewhat similar to an exercise in futility.

Some scholars don’t distinguish between morals and ethics. Both have to do with “right and wrong.” But some people believe morality is personal while ethics refer to the standards of a community. For example, your community may not view premarital sex as a problem. But on a personal level, you might consider it immoral. By this definition, your morality would contradict the ethics of your community.

Morin continued: Both laws and morals are meant to regulate behavior in a community to allow people to live in harmony. Both have firm foundations in the concept that everyone should have autonomy and show respect to one another.

Legal thinkers interpret the relationship between laws and morality differently. Some argue that laws and morality are independent. This means that laws can’t be disregarded simply because they’re morally indefensible.

Still, we go back to the main discourse: What is wrong is always wrong. If the justification you are arguing benefits the universal values and universal norms, then be it be placed on the table.

Ideas about whether certain behaviors are moral—such as engaging in pre-marital sex, entering into same-sex relationships, and using cannabis—have shifted over time. While the bulk of the population once viewed these behaviors as “wrong,” the vast majority of the population now finds these activities to be “acceptable.”

Some morals seem to transcend across the globe and across time, however. Researchers have discovered that these seven morals seem somewhat universal: Be brave; Be fair; Defer to authority; Help your group; Love your family; Return favors; Respect others’ property.

Let us not just find justifications. Let us live consistent to the universal peace.

Like a Driftwood

                                    (photo: theguardian.com)

Di maka tiner. Sige mibalhin. Sige motapwak bisan hain. It has always been interesting to note that there are people who cannot stay in a job for long. There are those who transfer from one place to another. There also persons who cannot finish a project. And even with friends, they cannot stay from one circle but will then move or create another. They are the drifters.

Drifters, according to Bell Leadership Institute, have difficulty making themselves do things that require order, discipline, planning or follow- through. They often live a chaotic life: lose things; go to the wrong places on the wrong dates; or forget to pay their bills. They are often late.

Those who develop the Drifter extreme personality pattern begin life with the same genetic need for play, freedom, fun, and creativity as do Creators. But typically they grow up in families with little structure and few processes or rules. They just float from one event to another. They build the extreme need to do whatever they feel like and an extreme fear of being confined or restricted or not having fun. They develop the belief that the only way that they can ever be successful and happy is to be uncommitted.

Dr. Gerald Bell (2019) mentions that most Drifters’ parents and other early influence trained him/her to believe that the highest value in life is freedom and fun. Thus Drifters develop extreme personality patterns to do whatever they feel like all the time. Almost all Drifters grew up in a family with few rules or consequences. Most Drifters had parents who had a craving for freedom and play. Their parents were disorganized, messy, and permissive. In some cases, Drifters had parents that were extremely controlling, domineering, and closed-minded causing the Drifter to vow not to be anything like them.

In 1938, Napoleon Hill published “Outwitting the Devil”. Hill attempts to uncover the secrets to freedom and success by evaluating the greatest obstacles that humans face in order to attain their personal goals in life.

He then theorized that drifting includes: Eating wrong sort of food or in a wrong quantity; Money matters in marriage leads to conflict;  Working in a job he doesn’t like or have passion in;  Impulsive spending; Fear of poverty; Other negative thoughts; Procrastination; and Flattery.

He also identified that Drifters: Lack of major purpose in life; Lack of confidence; Overspending; Little or no imagination; Lack of enthusiasm; Doesn’t have control over his emotion; Not attractive personality; Have a lot of opinions, but no knowledge; Jack of all trades but master of none; Neglect to cooperate; Make the same mistake over and over again; Narrow minded and intolerant; Begin many things but complete nothing; Criticize a lot without giving solution; Indecisive; Eat too much, exercise little; Gambling, drugs, liquor; They have to work harder than other to have something; Criticize others in the back but flatter to their faces.

One can identify some of the people in their surrounding who manifest these traits. But then, it is also a necessity for us to evaluate whether we are like them or not. You see, a lot of problems will be encountered personally and with our relationships if we drift.

The inability to complete a task is generally considered a fundamental form of failure. It means that the person who is supposed to complete the task came up short and was not able to fulfill the set standard for completion of the task. The fact that the task remains incomplete connotes a lack or deficiency, not only in the state of the task itself (i.e., because it is unfinished), but also in the person who was unable to complete it.

Drifters often have social anxiety. This often makes it hard to think rationally. Instead of enjoying the moment, they might feel preoccupied with what the other person is thinking. Instead of feeling confident with themselves, they might be worried about looking silly or dumb. Social anxiety can also affect the desire to spend time with other people. For example, they might avoid certain events or turn down invitations. Over time, this pattern can negatively affect their friendships (Arzt, 2020).

 

If we feel incomplete and want to move from one place, task, group of friends to another, it is time for us to ponder. Am I manifesting the traits of being a drifter? If so, how can I improve myself from being a person with no identity or no tangible proof of creating/finishing something?

People who have tried goal-setting in the past without success often think that having goals is useless. But here’s an important truth: The problem is not goals themselves but our attachment to outcome instead of our commitment to process.

Because when we focus on the process, the outcomes take care of themselves. A great way to keep this top of mind is to ask yourself “Who do I need to become in order to achieve my desired outcome?”

Let us stick to our plans and allow them NOT to be drowned by too much longing for FUN. Life is boring. The only thing to make it meaningful is to realize our goals and be of service to others not just to ourselves.