Dissecting the Commission on Human Rights (CHR)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Natatawa ako noon kapag nakakabasa ako ng reaction sa supposedly EJK disguised as War on Drugs. Bakit daw yung CHR, nakikialam lang kapag may pinatay at inabuso ang mga pulis na mahihirap na adik o rapists, pero kapag may na rape o napatay yung adik, tahimik at hindi daw kumikilos ang CHR.

Correct me if I'm wrong, is this because the CHR is mainly for the protection against human rights violations perpetrated by those in power like the government police and military, while murders, rapes, and other crimes of individuals to others are assigned to the police?

Kung baga, the CHR is the one that watches the watchers, with the exception of government officials. Wala tayong magawa against the top officials who seemingly have immunity against persecution of the law. Mistulang VIP sila na pinagsisilbihan at kinakakatakutan kahit they should practice being "public servants".

Mga bantay salakay ang karamihan sa mga pulis. Kung sino pa yung inatasang protektahan ang mga tao, sila pa yung mga pasimuno sa mga kabalastugan at kadalasan ay protektor pa ng mga sindikato, drug lords at private army pa ng mayayamang negosyante.

"The Commission was created as an independent office mandated to investigate complaints of human rights violations, promote the protection of, respect for and the enhancements of the people's human rights including civil and political rights.

These rights include the right to life and liberty, personal security, freedom from torture, freedom from discrimination and freedom from arbitrary arrest, among others.

These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence. These values are defined and protected by law."

So malawak ang tungkulin kung babasahin at iintindihin, but could they do so much with so many breathing behind their necks?

When Clickbaits and Intriguing Headlines Are Good Enough to Catch Attention

Wazzup Pilipinas!

With the popularity of breaking news with click-bait headlines inciting us to give our immediate knee-jerk reactions even without reading the story in full, have we truly lost the interest to read news or stories that are well researched and written?

Many would often just react to the headline without getting all the facts laid out within the story. Some would read the comments and react to them instead. We've gone lazy to fully immersed ourselves to the actual story, and just rely on others' statements.

Newsmakers and content creators are also aware of this and some are taking advantage of the situation. You could even say the headlines are a trap to provoke our curiousity, and only after reading the entire article that you'll realize you've been duped to react unnecessarily.

A blogger friend has this to ask "Bakit ayaw magbasa ng mga tao ngayon? Dahil ba mahaba? Tamad? Hindi marunong magbasa? Sana may makasagot."

I told him na "Tamad na magbasa mga tao kaya IN mga vlogs ngayon...papanoorin mo na lang reaction about issues habang kumakain ng popcorn. hehehe"

He replied with "Which is wrong and nakakaiyak. Hindi sa ayaw ko ng mga vlogs and the likes but iba pa din ang reading at ang comprehension that came out from practice reading."

Karamihan ba talaga sa atin ay "ayaw intindihin dahil low attention span and some are non-readers?"  as what another Facebook friend replied to him.

She continues with stating some facts:

"The result of the PISA or Programme for International Student Assessment that the Phils joined last year ay nag-rank ang Phils in the bottom sa 3 core subjects - Math, Science and Reading. May study din isang student (Harvard I think) na many Pinoys are liking social media posts without understanding what they are liking and commenting based on headlines or article titles lang. Best way to observe this ay mga comments sa news. You will see yun train of thoughts ng mga commenters."

The friend then said "I know kaya nga nakakadismaya sa mga manunulat. May laman at pinaghirapan ang isinulat ngunit walang nagbabasa. Nakakadismaya din na makitang yung mga walang sense ang tinatangkilik"

Tempting nga to just follow the trend dahil nagiging useless to write good if noone is giving it more importance. If you just want the views, enough na maging catchy and intriguing ang mga headlines or title ng article mo even without any significant and well-researched content.

"True. Kaya lalong nakakalungkot. A craft is about to be lost and it will take x number of years bago ito marealize ng mga tao and the value of good writing.  Madaling i- corrode ang pinaghirapan ng mahabang panahon kaysa ipagpatuloy ito."

Another reaction was "Sa lifestyle today, everyone wants fast or instant. Making them tamad. What's even more bothering is people making comments with lack of knowledge about a subject."

How do you amend this? "through reading. Reading good materials not just flash stories?"

"Tobey Marcks right now a question runs to mind . . .who do we encourage first, the kids, the parents, the educators, who?"

Well, it has become a survival of the most "creative" in marketing our craft. We will be left behind if we don't play the game. It's now a choice to either join the fad, or be among the rare advocates of good writing.  I'm sure we could do both "good writing" and "creative marketing", but it takes more effort.

Do you prefer to stay relevant with the times or become forever forgotten because you kept your prestige intact?

Believe in Your Brand, Make Use of Your Bashers, Boost Your Presence

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Sa totoo lang, if we won't treat our own, even stinky, shit as a worthy product
, who else will dare to even smell them. One way to do it is with the packaging. Parang food lang yan, wrap or plate them up with something colorful, creative or unique, add some flashy but affordable trinkets, decors, ornaments and whatever knick-knacks you can find, personalize it with a brand logo, product info or thank you card, add extra service that is rarely given by other competitors like some freebies, samahan mo ng endorsements ng mga influencers, take advantage of the free publicity your bashers create, and they would eat up all your shit.

I would have done the same, but something inside of me keeps twisting my arms to do otherwise. I maybe wrong in listening to that voice insidey head, but I have no regrets.

Mayabang, entitled, egocentric, with malicious intentions, wrongly-motivated, self-proclaimed, maingay with those iconic shout-outs, narcissist, hypocrite, kulang sa pansin, at kung ano-ano pa ang mga binabato sa akin noon, hanggang ngayon, dahil sa pagiging blogger.

Honestly, I wanted to get out of this profession,  but I call it an advocacy, though I'm just too opinionated to stay away....and with so much opportunities coming my way almost everyday, how could I resist?

Pasensiya na po. Mahinang nilalang. Marupok, minsang mapaglinlang, umaabuso, pabago-bagong paniniwala, nagmamatigas sa ilang prinsipyo, nagpapakatotoo, nakikipag plastikan, halos lahat pinapasukan at pinapakialaman.

But situations do change. Noon pilit akong pinapaalis na sa pagiging blogger, ngayon suportado na uli ako. Noon nawawalan ako ng gana sa mga nakikita kong pangyayari sa likod ng pagiging blogger, ngayon naisip ko na kung mawawala ako ay nariyan pa rin yung mga tunay na nakakasira sa ating bayan. Mga ipinagpalit ang prinsipyo para kumita lamang.

Napakarami rin namang walang katotohanan sa mga binibintang paratang sa akin. Pero mas madalas akong matuwa at matawa kapag may nakikidebate, panay ang bash at paninira, lahat ng galaw nakikita na parang may CCTV sa akin ay nakaumang 24 oras araw-araw. Tapos babanatan ka ng mga below the belt kapag wala ng logical na masabi in.his or her defense. In fact I miss those days when there's a long thread of people ganging up on me. Asan na ba ang mga bashers ko? Nagsawa na ba kayong punahin ako...hehehe....o baka naman nasa mga shadows lang kayo, waiting for the next opportunity to strike. Even to the point of reaching out to the PRs, events organizers, brands, and fellow bloggers. Ganoon sila ka threatened sa akin pero they disguise it as a concern for the welfare of the brand or the bligging community, so they could keep the opportunities to themselves.

Ang daming nagsabi na inggit lang sila. At least effective daw na napapansin talaga ako. Negative publicity is still publicity at dagdag online presence. The views, the views, the views...It's all about the views. But I never really cared about the views, well not until I've learned you coukd really earn a considerable amount from the views. Lol.

But we've seen so many with a huge following and stats at viral or trending stages but their sites are filled with the usual chismis, showbiz, scandals, rehashed trending topics, controversial issues, etc.. Some were even accused of setting up their own scandalous acts, and we fell for them, thus making their content viral.

I keep repeating this similar statement over and over again because it continues to proliferate and thrive like unwanted weeds in my vegetable garden.

However, has anybody advised you that weeds can be used as part of our compost or fermented plant juice too. Just us how our bashers could also be as useful to our online presence.