Education in the Philippines

They're planning to add two more years to the ten years of education before a student can proceed to college. They believe a 12-year basic education will meet global standards of education. Why only now? I'm not saying it's too late but even if they add twelve or twenty more years to basic education, this is no guarantee that our students will achieve academic excellence.

There is no excellence if teachers are not excellent, well-paid and inspired. A mediocre teacher teaching in a rotting school with flawed textbooks will only produce incompetents. The government now has to know which education problems to fiercely deal with first. I am sure corruption has been killing our already poor educational system.

While the government is trying to fix problems I say to students: LEARN AND GET EDUCATED OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM.... Are parents and TV doing their part as educators? I don't think so.

I ONCE SAW YOU (An Original Poem)

I once saw you talk to a poor little girl.
I saw you give her something
that made her smile.
You played with her
and laughed so hard with her
until she let go of her balloon
that floated toward the sky.

I once saw you sit next to a lonely man
on a bench one cloudy afternoon.
I saw you hold his hand
and this made him bow his head
and wipe his eye.

I once saw you walk past my window.
You looked sad.
I knew not what was hurting you.
Where was the little girl?
Where was the lonely man?
Who was there now for you?

I will never be certain.
I let you walk and walk
away
until I drew the window curtain.

BE BORN AGAIN

In John 3:3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, a Pharisee, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus, the Son of God, is not a liar. He Himself said this in the Scripture. But why do most people don't get this straight? Since most people don't really get it, they don't get born again as a result. They stay where they are, facing the peril of NOT seeing and NOT being in heaven.

Born again means rebirth. It's a spiritual transformation. It is not group membership nor church transfer. To be born again is to have the mind, heart and life changed by God through genuine faith in His Son Jesus, who is God. The Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer's heart. The Spirit, who is also God, will counsel, comfort and convict the born-again of sin.

When one becomes born again, he is saved, forgiven, justified and redeemed. To this new creation in Christ titles and denominations don't matter anymore.

LOVE: Two Haikus

LOVE: Two Haikus

I
They say 'I love you'
But unalloyed with reason.
One day they'll shed tears.

II
Passion, appetite.
Oh, what is love without both?
It will be friendship.

SEX EDUCATION

I am not totally against the Department of Education's latest move to include sex education in the basic education curriculum for public elementary and high school students. My questions are: Are the educators truly equipped and qualified to educate the young on sex? Are these educators wise enough to know which questions to answer and to NOT answer? How will the DepEd gauge the success of this "experiment"?

Now, we keep claiming the Philippines is a Christian nation. But it is a shame that there is no push at all for the reading and application of the Bible. "What does God say about sex? About sexuality?" The Word of God has answers to them. Excluding God from this "experiment" would further saturate the children with "sex" in this already sexually saturated world of ours.

We always forget that God is far above our sciences, our education, our personal moralities. He has the best instructions for us. I strongly assert, "Let God and His Word take over now!"

LET THEM SMOKE!

Let smokers smoke. It's enough that they have been consistently warned of the health risks and dangers they face for puffing smoke habitually. They know that cigarettes have no real health benefits. They know that they can insist that it's their lungs they are damaging and not other people's. They know they have the stubborn right to be and to stay stubborn.

And what do I think of that You Tube video of a 2-year old boy from Indonesia who puffs like a little dragon? Well, it did not shock me. The boy was just unfortunate to have the most irresponsible father. People can start condemning the parents of the kid. People can start calling for stricter policies and regulations on cigartte smoking. But not all people care about personal health. In this world, populated by 6.8 billion people, there will always be the good, the bad and the dead.

Facebook and God

I've been Facebooking for about 16 months now. Just recently I was struck by the conviction that I should daily glorify Jesus Christ on this popular site. Facebook seems to have turned into a temple of the Self. Millions of people tell other millions of people about themselves. People stay on Facebook for hours everyday and Jesus Christ hardly gets a status mention on most FB walls. I admit I have more posts about my "Self" than about the Word of God. As a Christian I must respond to the prompting of the Spirit of God to obey His Word. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."

If one is indifferent towards the things of God, one can turn Facebook into a Babel Tower. The self is glorified. Man and his many doings are magnified. Facebook is the temple of the king named Self. It's a challenge to put Jesus first on Facebook. And I am faced with this challenge in the light of my recent divine prompting. Truly I accept such challenge like a brave Christian. I will do the things that please the Lord even if it requires my permanent leaving of the Facebook temple.

One Very Hot Afternoon (Original Poem)

*One Very Hot Afternoon*

It's one very hot afternoon
and I'm beginning to think of malling

naked;

to think of diving into a swimming pool
of ice cream

naked;

It's one very hot afternoon
and I'm beginning to think of cursing
this tilt of the earth.

There's no winter in my country;
a truth

naked.