FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


POWER OF WORDS


There is no doubt that the media, most especially television, has so much influence in shaping the conversational language or “lingua franca” of any particular people.

I think the glaringly erroneous use of the Filipino pronoun “siya” to refer to anything from insects to inanimate objects such as mud by television reporters and anchors is so alarming that it could damage the foundation of the national language of the Filipinos.

Recently I watched a segment of the The Filipino Channel called “Filipino Ka, Sabihin Mo” teaching the viewers particularly American born Filipinos the proper use of the Filipino pronouns such as “ikaw”(you), “ako”((I), “siya”(he or she), “sila”(they), “tayo”(us), and “kami”(we). The segment host correctly said that all these pronouns refer to persons.

Now let me add that Filipino pronouns that refer to animals or inanimate objects are “ito”(this), “iyan”(that), “iyon”(those) and add the word “mga” before the pronoun to refer to more than one thing.

I want to raise a point that in the Pilipino language, persons are persons and not things.

I call on the Philippine Department of Education, particularly its National Language Branch, to address this issue. I may suggest that they also address the issue of mispronunciation of the Pilipino word “nakita”(I saw) and many others.

American television anchors and reporters are fully trained in the correct and proper use of English in communicating to the public. They are presumed to be the model in the right way to speak English.

I believe the Philippine media and the government have the responsibility to educate the people in the correct grammatical use of the Pilipino language despite the infusion of words from other dialects. There is surely power in words.

End

On Fri, Oct 16, 2009 at 4:09 PM, Jun Policarpio wrote:
FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


A CALL TO SALVATION FROM A CHRISTIAN POINT OF VIEW


When the Serpent at the Garden of Eden succeeded in tempting the first woman, Eve, to eat the forbidden fruit and share it with her husband, Adam, it tells us that man is by nature corruptible and condemned to eternal punishment. So we all need a Savior in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. By the way, as a Christian, I say this to my readers and this is my faith.

Yet history will teach us that a person is essentially evil, not holy. Every human being needs to be reborn spiritually to effect a change from evil to goodness.

So many novels have been written based on true stories about the greed of men and women. A common plot would be about a group of friends who discovered a treasure somewhere and because of greed, each one tried to kill each other to grab the treasure.

Greed may take the form of lust for money or for power or for glory: three temptations used by the Devil to tempt Christ. Jesus is the only man who ever lived to pass this test. Though He was the Son of God, Jesus took the test as a man subject to human frailties.

Without Jesus, no person would be able to reject the Devil’s temptations: an extremely delicious fruit to eat and to have power and knowledge like God in exchange for your soul.

Leaders of the world since time immemorial have sold theirs soul to the Devil that brought about sickness, destruction, and catastrophes caused by wars and violence. Such leaders failed to get power, knowledge, and riches as promised by the Devil. Instead, they were all condemned to die forever as victims of the evil deceiver.

Still most people allow themselves to be deceived by Satan because they miss something in their hearts – a Savior.

The Bible says to fight the Devil, we need the Savior who said: seek, and you shall find; knock, and the door will open; ask, and you will be given Salvation through Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God.

End

FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


LET’S DO WHATSOEVER IS HONORABLE IN THE COMING ELECTIONS


From the lips of one of the most popular young movie stars from the Philippines, she told reporters while reacting to the devastations brought about by the killer floods that hit MetroManila: All the material possessions I have accumulated from my movie career gone in an instance. She was referring to her luxurious mansion, her cars, and all the material wealth she used to possess gobbled by rain waters and mud that overflowed her village.

While we need all these earthly things that fulfill our dreams and satisfy our luxuries, such can perish in a moment’s time. For they are all corruptible. Truly this is a persistent lesson to be learned by every human being on this earth. It’s not worth to sell your soul, your dignity, and your honor in exchange of things that can decay quickly.

Yet man is so corruptible that he or she will succumb to the devil for a few pieces of silver.

Well, the Philippines is known all over the world to have been ruled by a series of corrupt governments. It hurts me to say that as a Filipino by birth but that’s the truth. Most recent survey shows that the Philippines ranks just a few slots behind Indonesia, the most corrupt country in Asia.

Now we hear of a former Philippine president who served time in jail for plunder that is even worse than graft and corruption declaring his candidacy for president for the 2010 presidential elections. What does that make of the mentality of a Filipino who will vote for him?

The late American senator, Ted Kennedy, never tried to run for president after losing a primary to Jimmy Carter. He knew that the American people cannot vote for a person as their president who saved himself from drowning and let his drunken secretary die while trapped inside his car lying at the bottom of the river. He was not even convicted of any crime.

The late American president, Richard Nixon, resigned from the White House for being charged of a cover-up of the infamous Watergate Scandal. He was not even convicted. But the American people seemed to have branded him as unreliable and irresponsible that caused him to live in the shadows until his death.

Let’s hope and pray that the Philippines, the only Christian nation in Asia, remains faithful to things that “moth cannot corrupt” such as honor, integrity, and righteousness and her people to choose honest leaders for the nation.

FROM THE BARREL OF MY PEN
By Gonzalo “Jun” Policarpio


“I KNOW WHO HOLDS TOMORROW”


Natural calamities or disasters can happen anytime, anywhere and can hit anybody- male and female, old and young, rich and poor, Christian or non-Christian.

I believe we, God’s creation, are all subject to His Grand Design that no exceptional genius or savant would be able to decipher. Haven’t you heard of the biblical phrase, “according to His time” to refer to all things to come.

You may read the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 9, verses 11-12 where King Solomon declares: “ I have seen something else under the sun; The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Morever, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.”

The Philippines where majority of the people worship God in Heaven recently suffered one of the worst typhoons and floods that killed hundreds in 40 years according to the record.

Yet last year on May 12, 2008, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake killed 70,000 people with 18,000 missing in Sichuan, China. On September 1, 1923, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake hit one third of Tokyo and almost all of Yokohama and killed 143,000 people.

On November 13, 1970, a cyclone killed almost a million people in Bangladesh. During the ancient times before Christ, the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in Southern Italy destroyed the flourishing city of Pompeii.

We all know that following every disaster comes the restoration. Again, I may say this is God’s Way - from death to life, from the Cross to Easter.

Anyway, still God allows us to be prepared for things to come.

There is no doubt that the ravaging storms and floods caught the Philippines unprepared. Most of the Philippine leaders appear to be more preoccupied with stealing the people’s money for their future than using the resources for the people’s welfare.

Let the incoming leaders to emerge in next year’s elections learn a lesson from this calamity, natural or manmade: the cause, I believe is violation of both natural and human laws that affect our environment.

Let’s pray that the just will rule in the Philippines for once.

End