An Open Letter to STI

Dear STI,

          I don’t like the idea that some capitalist is trying to buy our school like it’s just a product of a factory and what I really don’t like, as a student, is someone is trying to close our school like it’s just a disposable product. What is wrong with you STI? Do you really think PWU is just a disposable product? I’m not with STI or with the Benitezes, you’re both capitalists and members of the highest class of bourgeoisie, but I am with the students. We, the students will be the most affected when the school will be finally closed down after its 96 years of existence… WITHOUT STI. What will happen to the scholars? What will happen in our heritage when the ‘first university for women in Asia founded by Asians’ will be closed? Well maybe Ms. Lydia Brown is right when she said ‘It is now very evident that STI is totally disregarding the welfare of PWU.’ And it is also very evident, I see, that STI is a much uncivilized company that doesn’t care about our heritage.

            See how much of a capitalist bastard you are? Dear STI, fuck off!

a Philwomenian,

Jubert Cabrezos 

Is Wattpad Literary?: Opinion ng isang di eksperto

I started using Wattpad somewhere in high school, not to publish anything there, but to see and mock the jejemon love stories of my high school classmates under their jeje pennames like, for example (my favorite), “mhisz.szupladhita.” (Jeje-days!)

I was ashamed to admit that I published two love poems, hoping that someone would discover my poetic talent after I saw in the TV show Jessica Soho that some people get the attention of publishers by just writing on the website.

When I was reading Lourd de Veyra’s Little Book of Speeches I was absorbed by one of his speech entitled “Pop goes the lit.” It was a speech that makes you think of what is “popular literature.” This question eventually branched more questions in my mind like: Is Wattpad literary? Is Marcelo Santos III literary?

Literature, like any other art forms, has no strict rules, and in fact, artists tend to fuck up mainstream ideas. So I guess the requirements of a work to be considered as “literary” must be based on what critically acclaimed literary works are. And critically acclaimed literary works have at least one of the traits mentioned below:

1. Subversion—breaks mainstream ideas.

2. Innovation—suggests development of an idea or a way of literary expression.

3. Offers ideas worthy of debate and discussion.

4. Exposition of real life and humanitarian condition.

5. A nice expression of ideas.

6. Influential.

And here are some critically acclaimed works that are considered “literary” that have at least one of the traits mentioned above:

1. Jose Rizal’s novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo are subversive works that exposes the poor humanitarian condition of the Filipino people under Spain. It influenced and sparked the Philippine Revolution.

2. Niccolo Machiavelli’s Il Principe offered the new idea of political realism, as opposed to political idealism that is mainstream in his time.

3. Charle’s Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, although not intended to be literary, was acclaimed to be an excellent example of scientific literature because it expressed a new evolutionary theory with a non(or at least, less)-nauseatic language, unlike any other nauseatically serious scientific works in Darwin’s time.

4. Bob Ong’s Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ng Libro ang mga Pilipino (the only work in his corpus that I actually liked and I consider as literary) offers ideas worthy of discussion among Lay Filipino people.

5. Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus was a philosophical work that offers new ideas and a new way of expressing ideas. One might find that the book is not literary because of its unusual style, which makes it actually literary. There were no arguments, as you might expected from a philosophical work, but only declarative and self evident statements that identifies the relationship between language and reality. Here is the brief first chapter of the Tractatus:

1 The world is all that is the case.

1.1 The world is the totality of facts, not of things.

1.11 The world is determined by the facts, and by their being all the facts.

1.12 For the totality of facts determines what is the case, and also whatever is not the case.

1.13 The facts in logical space are the world.

1.2 The world divides into facts.

1.21 Each item can be the case or not the case while everything else remains the same.

6. Prof. Ambeth Ocampo’s essays offers a new perspective of the life of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal and 19^th century Philippine history with a popular taste, making it non-boring, as a typical student might expect.

Now let us go back to the question: Is Wattpad and Marcelo Santos III literary? Before we answer that, we must first analyze what Wattpad works and Marcelo Santos III works are. So for Wattpad works, we have Diary ng Panget, Talk Back and Your Dead, She’s Dating the Gangster and all that stuff. For Marcelo Santos III’s works, we have Para Sa Broken Hearted and all that stuff. They are all about love. Not about philosophical investigation of love, but only, sorry for the term, stupid words on relationships, like “May Forever.” If you will read them you can see that these works are just all about teaching the youth to flirt. It is not only useless, for it has no any new revolutionary ideas to offer nor any idea worthy of discussion, but it also does harm in the society. So, obviously, Wattpad and Marcelo Santos III are not literary. 

Don't make it hard, isa lang itong opinion ng isang di eksperto.

An Account of the Apostolic Visit in Universidad de Santo Tomas

“Fancisco”

Walang nang mas liligaya pa
Sa puso ng isang Pilipino
Kundi ang iyong pagbisita
Sa lupa niya at masilayan ang mukha mo

Mahal ka ng sambayanang Pilipino
At bilang Pilipino’y mahal rin kita
Bumubuo ang buhay at puso
Kapag nasisilayan ang iyong mukha

Sa amin, ikaw ay Kristo
Na bumibisita sa Bagong Jerusalem
At ang tanawin ng mukha mo
Ang bumubuo sa kaluluwa namin

Ito ay iyong bayan, Francisco.
Ngunit hawak ang lupain namin
Ng mga buwaya’t demonyo
Iligtas mo, Francisco, ang Bagong Jerusalem.

It is January 17, 9 pm, when my brother, Bug, and I arrived at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) to see Pope Francis tomorrow. The gates of UST are still closed but there are already crowdful of people, mostly students but there are also elderly people, sitting and some sleeping while waiting beside the stinky sidewalks of España Boulevard. To fight sleepiness, we drink coffee in a McDonald’s around UST. People grew in number at 12 midnight.

People waiting beside the sidewalks of España Boulevard with the Arch of Centuries in the background. Courtesy: Paul Quiambao, The Varsitarian.

          Some people made pranks to made the crowd believe that the pope is already there. This made my brother and I stick to the line and we remained in line even after realizing the prank just to be sure. We waited for almost 4 hours until the gates are now open. The line began to slowly move. The movement of the line was slow because of the security. There are people who groin that made some of the people in line to erupt. After more than an hour of swimming in the crowd, and security inspection (the security took our umbrella) we finally made it to the grounds of UST. My brother badly needs to pee that time, but the line to the portalet was very long, so he decided to wait until the end of the mass. We waited for 6 hours until the Pope Arrived at UST at 9:30 am. The crowd was very excited and raised their gadgets to capture his face. (If you did this, fuck you.) Because of this, I could barely see the Pope’s face.

                                   Sea of Gadgets. Courtesy: Basilio H. Sepe, The Varsitarian.

          The pope passed through the Arch of Centuries then went inside his pope mobile. When I saw his face, I cried with joy and so much delighted. All the waiting and suffering was worth it. The pope mobile went through Plaza de Intramuros, meeting with the Miguel de Benavides Monument. The vehicle went around the UST main building then going to the grand stand in the UST football field.

Pope Francis and Cardinal Tagle riding the pope mobile with the Benavides Monument and UST main building in the background. Courtesy: Nazzi M. Castro, The Varsitarian.

          The pope made a mass for the World Youth Day. His homily was also intended for the youth. He said in Spanish that we should learn to cry as Christians and “Reality is more superior to ideas.” (The translator translated the Spanish homily into English for us.) The rain fell throughout the mass. Some guys wear a raincoat, while my brother just used a hooded jacket and I just used a bonnet and a sweater jacket. Some scumbags use an umbrella that escaped the security.

          After the mass, the pope used his pope mobile to go to Quirino Grandstand. We took our umbrella from the security office and waited a bus or UV Express in España. Later, we realized that it is hard to find a bus and a UV in España today, so we decided to take the LRT. We took a jeepney to Quiapo Church and walked to Central Station near Puente de Quezon. We took a line to the ticket booth, bought out tickets and took the LRT. We got out in Roosevelt Station and took a bus to Novaliches Bayan and from there, we took a jeepney to Deparo, our home.

          Today, Pope Francis leaves the Philippines. Good bye Pope Francis! Come Again!

6 Facts About the Papacy

Para makiuso sa Papal Visit, here are some facts about the papacy.

                                                                       Saint Peter

1. The first pope was St. Peter. Before He dies, Jesus handed the keys of Heaven to Saint Peter. He said in Matthew 16:18-19: “I tell you, Peter: you are rock, and on this rock foundation I will build my church, and not even death will ever be able to overcome it. I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven; what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” When He died, Saint Peter traveled to Rome and established the Church of Christ there. When he was martyred, his position as Bishop of Rome was taken by Saint Linus, then followed by Saint Anacletus, followed by Saint Clement I, so on, then, recently, Pope Francis. There is even a complete list of succession of popes. You could even visit Saint Peter’s tomb below Saint Peter’s Basilica. Virtually all historians agree on this history.

      Saint Peter’s tomb lies directly below Saint Peter baldachin by the sculptor Bermini. 

2. There was legend about a Female pope. There was a legend written in 13^th century chronicles that there was a female pope named Pope Joan. She was said to be a talented and learned woman. She disguised to look like a man and because of her abilities, she rose in church hierarchy. It was said she gave birth unexpectedly during a public procession, exposing her sex, triggering an angry mob that ended her life. 

                                          The mythical Pope Joan giving birth in public. 

3. The first pope to not use his personal name was Pope John II. The first pope to not use his personal name was Pope John II because his personal name, Mercurio, is the name of a Roman pagan god.

4. Pope John Paul II criticized Ferdinand Marcos. Pope John Paul II criticized Ferdinand Marcos in front of him and the world. As a result, Marcos abandoned his speech and apologized to the pope. Badass Pope John Paul II.

                            Pope John Paul II with Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos beside him. 

5. Pope Francis was considered to be the “pope of many firsts.” Pope Francis was the first pope born outside Europe since Pope Gregory III (731-741) and first from the Americas. He was the first Jesuit pope; first to use the name “Francis;” first to use a non-composed regnal name since Pope Lando (913-914).

6. Before entering the seminary, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pope Francis) worked as a nightclub bouncer.

                                                           Young Jorge Mario Bergoglio

References:

1. Wikipedia.org

2. Filipiknow.net

All pictures from Wikipedia, except the Marcos pic (Filipiknow.net) and the Young Pope Francis pic (catholic.org).

Top 5 Pornstars that Captured our Hearts

While everyone is busy talking about the Papal Visit, we should celebrate because we have the longest visiting time in Pornhub. Yes, we just got USA below us. We should be proud of it because this just shows that we Filipinos watch porn for the plot. Anyway, as a reward for you perverts, here is a list of top 5 porn stars that captured many hearts.

5. Maria Ozawa. According to GMA News, Ozawa was the most searched porn star by Filipinos.

4. Mang Kanor’s girlfriend. Self-explanatory.

3. Tori Black. The most facially attractive porn actress (Loaded Magazine).

2. Sasha Grey. Who’s not gonna open his heart when he heard Sasha Grey’s most famous quote: “Gurhlgurhlgargurhlgarghurl.”

1. Mia Khalifa. The most searched porn star in Pornhub. 

May topak ata ako nung sinulat ko to.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s 8 Books That Should Be Read by Every Intelligent Person on the Planet

When you look to the list of canonical books that they say you should read before you die, you might lose your energy when you see how numerous they are. There are lists like the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die and the Great Books of the Western World that contain thousands of books that you might probably die before finishing reading them all. So, the renowned astrophysicist, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, gives us a list of only 8 books that you should read to be an intelligent person. Here is the list of books that Tyson wants us to read (with reasons by Tyson himself):

                                         Watch out. We got a badass over here!

1. The Bible, “To learn that it’s easier to be told by others what to think and believe than it is to think for yourself.” I already read some parts of it.

                                  The Gutenberg Bible, the first printed Bible. Source: Wikipedia

2. A Treatise of the System of the World or Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica by the great English scientist Sir Isaac Newton, “To learn that the universe is a knowable place.” I tried reading this beauty, but I’m afraid the book is mathematical in nature and I’m mathematically impaired. I only know the book by secondary source materials.

3. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin, “To learn of our kinship with all other life on Earth.” I already read this beauty. It’s such a masterpiece of scientific literature. It is intelligible to the average reader, as opposed to other very serious scientific works.  

4. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, “To learn, among other satirical lessons, that most of the time humans are Yahoos.” I already read this delightful work.

Gulliver Exhibited to the Brobdingnag Farmer, a painting by Richard Redgrave. (Wikipedia)

5. The Age of Reason by Enlightenment philosopher Thomas Paine, “To learn how the power of rational thought is the primary source of freedom in the world.” I didn’t read this yet. I only know this work by secondary source materials.

6. The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, “To learn that capitalism is an economy of greed, a force of nature unto itself.” Didn’t read this yet too. I’m afraid that this is also mathematical in nature, so maybe I’ll just get some secondary source materials.

7. The Art of War by Sun Tzu, “To learn that the act of killing fellow humans can be raised to an art.” Already read this Chinese masterpiece.

8. Il Principe (I like calling it by its Italian name) by Niccolo Machiavelli, “To learn that people not in power will do all they can to acquire it, and people in power will do all they can to keep it.” I already read this beauty tho.

The Italian political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli with Ezio Auditore depicted in the videogame Assassin’s Creed. (assassinscreed.wikia.com)

          Tyson said that “If you read all of the above works you will glean profound insight into most of what has driven the history of the western world.”

References:

1. dykn.com

The Dark Side of Militant Atheism: Atheism is not always peaceful

While, browsing stuffs on Twitter, I saw the militant atheist Richard Dawkins, retweeted a post saying that militant Muslims and militant Christians do violence, while militant atheists write books and do lectures. I laughed the shit out when I saw it. This Richard Dawkins and a self described atheist author named Michael A. Sherlock, always emphasize that religion is violent and atheism is peaceful. When a small group of Christians committed stupidity, they will assume that whole Christianity is stupid, and if a small group of Muslims committed violence, they will assume that whole Islam is violent. You could see it for yourself. Look at the Twitter accounts of Dawkins and this Sherlock.

          Dawkins is well versed in evolutionary biology, but he is definitely not well versed in philosophy of religion, human nature and history of religion. And this Sherlock was just a self-proclaimed well-versed in the nature of Islam as a result of his “years of research.” But like Dawkins, he lacks understanding of philosophy of religion, human nature, and history of religion. Sherlock even considered the Middle Ages in Europe as really a “Dark Age.”  What he did not know is that the Church is the only institution that maintained the civilization of Europeans after the fall of Roman Empire. These people also did not appreciate the cultural achievements of religion for mankind: Islam preserved the works of the Greco-Roman writers after the Roman Empire; Catholicism revived the works of the Greek and Roman writers during the Carolingian Medieval Renaissances that will give birth to the real Renaissance; Christianity gave the world the Justinian Laws that formed the foundation of virtually all code of laws in the Western World; and so many achievements that man enjoys today.

          The New Republic atheist John Gray said that Dawkins’s militant atheism stems from his lack of empathy. (Another New Republic atheist named Jerry A. Coyne said that Gray must criticize Dawkins's ideas not his character, but Coyne must know that a person's character determines his ideas.) The celebrated physicist Peter Higgs even said that since Dawkins believed that whole Christianity is Fundamentalist, Dawkins is himself a fundamentalist. Even others detected Dawkins’s lack of understanding of human nature, which had led him to be a Fundamentalist atheist.

          Since Dawkins and Sherlock see religion as violent because they saw that a small group of religious people are violent, I have the right to say that atheism is also violent because I saw that Marxist-Leninist atheists are violent. Yes, there is a form of violent militant atheism. (I could feel a flow of conscience to say this, because there are open minded atheists like Gray and Higgs, but for the sake of rhetoric I shall say it.)

          Atheism is not always peaceful, and sometimes it is as violent as Islamic extremism, and you could see this in Soviet Russia’s dynamic political landscape.  The atheist USSR anti-religious campaigns in the 20^th century harassed religious people and gave them little rights. To trigger secularization, the USSR anti-religious campaigns executed thousands of priests and bishops.

An Orthodox icon showing Christian martyrs during the USSR anti-religious campaigns being executed in the Botovo firing range. The icon was drawn in Medieval style. 

          During the late Middle Ages and Early Renaissance in Spain, Catholic monarchs persecuted non-Christians: exiling Jews and Muslims, forcing them to convert to Catholicism if they want to stay and persecute those who are proven to practice their non-Christian religions secretly. The case is also the same in the Middle East today. Islamic extremists are forcing people to convert to Islam and persecute those non-Muslims. It is also the same on what happened in Soviet Russia in the 20^th century. They forced the secularization of Russia and persecuted religious people, forcing people to be atheists. I wonder what Sherlock and Dawkins will do to secularize the western world. Are they going to use force and violence to convert everyone to atheism? Or are they going to push it with writing books, lectures and mere Tweets? Do they really think Tweets and books and lectures will convert the whole western world? Do they really think the western world will be converted to secularism and atheism without using violence? 

          Richard Dawkins had a foundation called “Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science” but his atheism stems from his emotions not reason. 

  

10 Facts about Leonardo da Vinci

As a Leonardo da Vinci enthusiast, I think it is good if I’m gonna make an article about Leonardo da Vinci, so I give you here some facts about the great painter.

                                       Francesco Melzi’s portrait of Leonardo da Vinci

1. Leonardo da Vinci was speculated to be gay. There was a historical document that tells that Leonardo was charged of sodomy (was then an illegal act punishable by death) with a male artist’s model Jacopo Saltarelli and three other men. The anonymous accusation was left in a tamburo or “letter box.” However, the charges upon the five men were dismissed. (Spoiler alert: Eminem is gay). It’s also been speculated that he had homosexual relationships with his apprentice Salai. Moreover, Leonardo himself said that when he was still an infant he had a dream that a bird of prey stuck its tail inside his lips again and again. Sigmund Freud in his 1910 paper Leonardo da Vinci, A Memory of His Childhood said that this dream was a sign of homosexuality. Furthermore, Leonardo’s drawing The Incarnate Angel has a large erecting penis, suggesting homosexuality.

     The Incarnate Angel with a large erecting penis—a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci

2. Leonardo da Vinci could write with his left hand and draw with the right hand at the same time. Seven words: Leonardo da Vinci was so f*cking awesome.

3. Leonardo da Vinci mostly wrote in mirror script. Scholars say that Leonardo wrote in mirror script (you could only read his writings using a mirror) because he don’t want anyone to steal his ideas. But some scholars say that he did it because he’s left handed and if he writes with the normal script, the ink would stick in his hand. (The ink in those days takes time to dry.)

                                 The word “Wikipedia” in Leonardo’s style

4. Leonardo da Vinci did not have a role in Titanic. I have to say that.

5. Leonardo da Vinci was a polymath. Leonardo was not only a renowned painter and sculptor, but also an expert in civil engineering, chemistry, geology, geometry, hydrodynamics, mathematics, mechanical engineering, optics, physics, pyrotechnics, botany, zoology, anatomy, cartography, architecture, writing and aeronautics. Scholars regard him as the epitome of the Renaissance Man.

6. Leonardo had an advance scientific knowledge. Leonardo’s scientific knowledge was so advance that if he had the opportunity to publish his works during his lifetime, the science of the Renaissance would be dramatically revolutionized. He had advance knowledge of fossils, plants, tectonic plates, animals, optics, astronomy and anatomy. He also formulated a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics even before Alfred Wegener developed his own. This advance scientific knowledge could also be seen in his paintings. The plants you see in his painting Virgin of the Rocks were amazingly classifiable to the modern botanist. Moreover, the effects of light in his paintings, notably in the Lady with an Ermine, was also extraordinarily accurate.

                                                              Virgin of the Rocks

                                                             Lady with an Ermine

7. Leonardo was a futurist. Leonardo was also a prolific inventor, that the Italian Duke Cesare Borgia hired him as a military engineer. He visualized the concepts of tanks, helicopter, parachute, car, an underwater breathing device and a robot before they were even invented. He also visualized a large crossbow weapon, an early machine gun, a scythe chariot and an ornithopter.

                                                         Leonardo’s concept of tank

                                                   An early concept of a helicopter

                                                                          Parachute

                                                                    Self-propelled car

                                                              Breathing apparatus

                                                           Huge cross bow with wheels

                                                  Machine gun

                                                                        Scythe chariot

Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter being used by Ezio in the videogame Assassin’s Creed II. Leonardo also appeared in the game.

                                     Leonardo’s robot built based faithfully on Leonardo’s design

8. He’s Vegan. Yes, because he love animals so much. But he’s not a member of PETA and he never go outside naked and urge people not to eat meat.

9. He had a life long quarrel with Michelangelo. The reason why Leonardo never stayed in Florence and spent most of his life traveling is because he had a long time quarrel with Michelangelo, who was based in Florence.

Michelangelo (the sculptor of the famous David and painter of the Sistine Chapel ceiling) and Leonardo da Vinci were mortal enemies. 

10. He was a bastard child. The phrase “da Vinci” in the name “Leonardo da Vinci,” means “of Vinci” in Italian. It’s actually not a surname but only a phrase that tells the birthplace of that person common in many Italian names. (Like “Ezio Auditore da Firenze.”) The reason why Leonardo had no surname is because he was a bastard child of the Florentine legal notary Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci to peasant named Caterina. Leonardo’s full name was “Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci” (literally means “Leonardo [son] of Piero [from the town] of Vinci”).

References:

1. wikipedia.org (once again)

2. tomduhamel.wordpress.com

3. leonardodavincisinventions.com

4. pixgood.com

5. theinventors.org

6. wikiart.org

7. pikdit.com

8. scarleteen.com

9. drheckle.net 

10. assassinscreed.de

12. curiosidades.batanga.com