Play advocacy, an inter-generational responsibility – youth group

For this group of young people from Positive Youth Development Network, Ideas Positive, and Heads Up PH, to promote and protect play as a matter of right of every child is an inter-generational responsibility. At young age, born from a generation wherein play was an essential part of childhood life, they believed that the power of play must be restored to benefit the holistic well-being of the younger generation. Much more, this generation has transformed play from the fun and active neighborhood activities to digital ones which are more sedentary. It is also worth noting that the value of play has already declined in the country.

A strict perusal of major legislation in the country would reveal that play is one of the neglected areas in child’s development. Our programs mainly focused on nutrition, education, and health. There is nothing wrong with this, but it would be far more beneficial if we employ play as one of the modalities in our programs and initiatives.

Play should not be viewed as an isolated island to be explored when convenient, instead it must be treated as an indispensable element wherein derogation is not allowed.

This year’s National Play Advocacy has reached 15 regions of the country reaching over 200,000 Filipinos. So far this is the largest Play Advocacy Campaign in the country since its conception last 2018. The Play Coalition which is the lead of this year’s campaign is very thankful to all the organizations and institutions who helped in promoting #PlayAsARight last week. Special mention to the Council for the welfare of children who faithfully believed in this advocacy since Day 1.

Like any other rights, play is exclusively mentioned in the enumeration provided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which the Philippines is a signatory. These young people are now anchoring their campaign on Article 31 of the CRC. I see this as  one of the smartest strategies exercised in the history of youth engagement.

For them, they are just starting the movement. They are set to launch a much bigger campaign next year, until a national declaration is in order.

 

Hilario, Leandicho team up for SDG, mental health in Bulacan

August 25, Bulacan— Jefferson Hilario “The Rising Star” and Rainier Leandicho both an alumni of Ideas Positive and members of Positive Youth Development Network’s Communications team deliver a talk earlier before student leaders from Bulacan State University College of Engineering.

Hammering and pounding on the importance of effective youth leadership Leandicho shared how he balanced his roles and responsibilities as a student, healthierPH builder, and a loving son.

Meanwhile, ‘The Rising Star’ encouraged youth leaders to pay attention to mental health in schools especially this issue affects not only students’ performance but also their wellbeing and survival. He posits that when school values mental health, students achieve more not only academically but also in their own personal pursuit of happiness and total liberation. He also encouraged youth leaders to draw inspiration from tested models and interventions found outside of campus. Known for his passion for SDGs, he pointed out the importance of finding local solutions first with potential global relevance.

Bulacan State University College of Engineering Student Council’s move to adopt UNSDGs as main framework of their programming is a laudable strategy; now that young people are seen as drivers of positive change and sustainable development.

#End

Diary Entry: July 13, 2019

Hi friend!

Thanks God its Friday. Had a successful presentation with our superiors. I’m very proud seeing Pauline and Jepoy do the reporting. Everyday, they gave me some good reason to smile and believe that this life is somehow meaningful. I love mentoring them. I want to see them grow and actualize their true potentials. I hope they will understand that sometimes, I use fear and controlled intimidation to raise an important point.

Today also is a challenging one. My depressive symptoms are becoming worse each day. I see broken things as representation of myself, I see no colors except white and black, I hear the laughs of those who betrayed me. I know I have to manage these, but I need help and support. I need peoples’ understanding and patience to view my condition as something that I cannot control. They are innate.

Also,  I thank Jepoy and Carl for sharing with me their humble abode tonight. I am very thankful to have friends like them who are there to lift my already dying heart.

Now I will sleep with the aid of a sleeping pill.

DON’T READ: How one email wins office Pride celebration

My hands were trembling while typing my Appeal for my boss requesting her to honor the contribution of members of the LGBT community especially in attaining our organizational mission and vision. At first, I was cautious because I knew that my message might insult the conservatives in the office. However, one’s religion should not be an issue when one’s worth, dignity, and existence are in the chopping board. I crafted the most passionate email I could ever imagine. Using all the skills I learned from Law School and from the psychology books I read, I laid down a message that they could not possibly disregard. I knew that I was about to test deep-rooted values, solid dogmas, multifarious of biases.

I started the email saying:

The discrimination against members of the LGBT community in the country is not a secret, corollary to this, are their significant sacrifices and selfless contributions in support to our mission and vision as an organization.

That time, tears started to form in my eyes but my vision was not clouded, I was resolute to get the message across.

This dynamic can be seen in our country’s experience with gay and lesbian rights. Since 316 BC, gays were prosecuted, placed inside lion dens, crucified, skinned while alive. Today, these most brutal machinations have evolved into policies, guidelines, and pronouncements that brand LGBTs as immoral, second class citizens, and even considered homosexuality as an illness, until this year, it was overturned by the World Health Organization. However, this stigma concerning members of the LGBT community are enabled by mere silence and insidious and blinded acceptance of the society.

There I immediately built the background. I specifically used 316 BC to emphasize that these cruelty and discrimination are happening since the beginning of time and 21^st century science had already overturned some of their painful generalizations of homosexuals for example. It was necessary also to point out that these barbaric maneuverings in the past have evolved into policies, guidelines, etc that preserve the evils of the past. My third paragraph reads:

I am writing shine a new light to the eclipsed contribution of the LGBT community in nation-building. I am not writing to demand people to accept homosexuals as saints, what I plead, is that, now, we acknowledge that homosexuals etc are like us, they breathe like us, they work like us, they are with us from the beginning.

I was ready that time to hand over my resignation letter. I knew that challenging the system again might result to my demise. But the principle that I am fighting for is more important than any position or any security of tenure. I could not stay silent when I could actually speak respectfully on the possible merits of my advocacy.

Since I started this job, I’m thankful because here, we value inclusion. But how about our LGBT professors and consultants who helped us build our projects? How about the youth LGBT organization in Cebu? how about our gay suppliers, drivers. Are their contributions less compared to straight men and women?

Tears fell and these tears smooched my keyboards. But instead of pressing the backspace to delete my draft, I chose to press the (coma) and continue writing.

Our Facebook page celebrates Fathers day, Mothers Day, International Women’s Day, all of these are celebrations based on sex and marginalization. Sadly, we forget to celebrate our brothers and sisters in the community.

We have (2) days left before the Pride month celebration, the community since 2012 are watching us. I pray that we take the positive stance against discrimination and violence toward LGBT people to promote, increase their visibility as a social group, build community, and celebrate their contribution in building our vision, this Nation, no more no less. They too deserve it.

Then I press send.

Stillness then filled the entire office. My workmates were mute the whole day. No one raised a question or any response to the email I sent. Then, I understood maybe, I hit a string, or maybe my message was not good enough worthy of their attention.

After 24 hours, I received an email from my boss, she said.

Mikee, I acknowledge that their [LGBT’s] contribution and struggle are real. I also understand your empathy and concern for our partners who may not have the same experience of inclusion as we enjoy.

Let’s celebrate PRIDE MONTH later.

The response of my boss made me to love her more. Her words were full of empathy and by mere acknowledging that our contribution and struggle are real, elevated her to be one of the best leaders in the workplace here in the country. Now, I even realized that yes, we may have differences, but mere differences do not divide us, what divides us is our inability to celebrate and acknowledge these differences.

The struggles of the LGBT community are real, yes. And like any other political movements, we should start the movement in the ground. Our strategy should come in a place closest to our hearts. Our legacy should start in one small step at a time, one door at a time, one person, one friend at a time.

All men and women are created equal in dignity and in rights. And my boss upheld this belief and opened her heart for me.

There is hope.

 

 

 

How a 20 year old led the movement against measles outbreak in the Philippines

“Baby Robert” was Lolo Roger’s first grandson from his only daughter Nena. He could never be more than happy becoming a grandfather for the first time and more excited to take care of the little boy. But months after Robert was born, the child showed symptoms of measles, which became the cause of the untimely death of the four-month-old child. The complications killed him.

It was a sudden loss for the family of Lolo Roger, and it could not have happened only if the children in their neighborhood received complete doses of measles-containing vaccine. Robert’s record was the fourth in the barangay where there was a low compliance of only 11%.
This is only one of the many devastating stories arising in the Philippines, as more and more parents refuse to have their children vaccinated. behavior causes the vaccination compliance rate to decrease. This also rips off herd immunity or the capacity of a community to not spread measles virus if the children has at least 85% vaccination compliance.

Heeding the call for health
It was in February 2019 when 21-year-old John Carlo Borja or simply “Borj” to his peers, was on his way home when a post in his social media news feed caught his attention.
The post made Borj stop, and carefully read through the news article. Department of Health had just declared the first outbreaks of measles in five regions of the country namely National Capital Region, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas on February 7, 2019.
According to the article, from 1 January to 27 April 2019, there have been 33,559 recorded cases of measles, a 440% increase from last year.In 2018, there were a total of 21,812 measles cases reported.
With higher number of cases comes the bigger possibilities of fatality. In comparison to 199 deaths from January to December 2018, there was 234% increase in fatalities with 466 deaths recorded from January to April 27, 2019.
The said data reflects a Case Fatality Ratio of 1.39%. While this may seem to be likely a small number, it is considered high by the World Health Organization and UNICEF as measles is supposed to be a vaccine-preventable disease that the country aims to eradicate by 2025.
This issue being a series of lack of accountability and mistrust on the broken public health system has stoked fear to many parents and children. Data showed that Dengvaxia implementing regions had the highest number of individuals infected with measles as 6,010 cases were recorded in Calabarzon and 6,075 in Metro Manila (as of April 13, 2019).
With all these numbers brought by the current measles outbreak, Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore warned about ‘alarmingly high levels’ of measles cases worldwide will have ‘disastrous consequences’ for children if not enough is done to strengthen immunization campaigns.
At one point, Borj tried to think of ways on how a young person like him can help solve this issue. As a Marketing graduate with no background in health, he had doubts.
“Maraming beses na kasi akong nasabihan na kapag wala akong alam, dapat tumahimik na lang ako. Anong alam ko sa measles? Sa outbreak? Tama naman sila, wala.” (I have been told many times that I should just keep my mouth shut when it’s none of my business.. What do I know about measles? Or about the outbreak? Yes, they were right, I know nothing.)
But as days passed, Borj found himself trapped in the idealism that he was not meant to just sit and wait. That maybe, as a youth, and together with his fellow youth, they can make contribute in their unique way and help the government in addressing this health concern.
“As youth leaders for healthier communities, we cannot just be spectators of this alarming realities – we need to act and do our part.”
The story of Baby Robert and Borj’s realization sparked the launching of the YOUth for #VaccinesSaveLives Movement or VSLM, a nationwide campaign that mobilizes the youth as the government’s partner in the promotion of vaccination and conduct of Rapid Coverage Assessment in communities.

Re-activating the youth
It wasn’t a sweet start, as Borj narrates, that the VSLM had only thirteen youth volunteers who first believed that the youth can participate in this nationwide health issue. “Lahat tayo ay may kakayahang tumulong, pero kaunti lang yung nais tumulong (Everyone has the capacity to help, but only a few chooses to do so),” said Borj.
The National Youth Assessment Study (NYAS) 2015 revealed that only seven out of every ten of the respondents were involved in an organization while only 42% attended programs or activities by different organizations.
For most of the youth whom Borj tapped for this campaign, all he got were shrugs and smirks, and some even told him that he was ambitious and that the movement could go not go farther from its conception. But that didn’t stop Borj. It just made him more determined than ever.
With the help of the Ideas Positive Alumni Community, Borj started the movement in Oriental Mindoro and Marikina City with 65 youth and student leaders.
And to further back up the power of the youth, VSLM took over changing the landscape and entering possibilities for legislative actions through the training of Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Councils) Officials.

In a span of one month, they were able to train 163 SK Officials from 27 different barangays or villages lobbying their local ordinances from the localities of Rizal Province, Oriental Mindoro, Cebu City, Iloilo City, and Tacloban City.
“Maybe I was wrong when I said only a few want to help. Because the reality is many of the youth want to engage themselves in something meaningful, they just lack the avenue on how they can turn their ideas into actions,” Borj explained.
Also serving as a Sangguniang Kabataan Chairperson in Barangay Calumpang, Binangonan, Rizal, Borj also found himself conducting the same campaign to his own community, re-educating almost 125 households and 190 children on the importance of vaccination.
For him, it was one of his best times when he was able to revisit the areas of his barangay to spread awareness, debunk the stigma and misconception on immunization, and save more children children from measles.

Making differences together
Since then, the VSLM became a nationwide campaign, from up north in Tuguegarao to Capiz, to down south in Maguindanao,Davao del Norte, and even reaching Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.
With more youth groups geared to implement the VSLM campaign in their own communities, the movement has reached almost 3,408 households, mobilized 261 youth volunteers all over the country, profiled 33 communities, which all led to the vaccination of about 1,105 children.

Forging ties with right partners
It was UNICEF Philippines who first believed that the youth can do much more to address this timely issue. With their support, the movement gained more credibility that led to the Department of Health’s official endorsement of VSLM to its regional offices. Thereafter, it was also recognized as one of the #VaccineHeroes, a strong partner promoting vaccination and ensuring that every child is saved from vaccine-preventable diseases.
“We needed to prove to these big institutions na kaya din ng kabataan. Na sa usapang health, mayroon din tayong ibubuga at nararapat tayong paniwalaan at pagkatiwalaan.”(We needed to prove to these big institutions that the youth can. That when it comes to health, the youth can contribute a lot and they must be trusted for it.)
As of writing, UNICEF and DOH are partnering with the VSLM in conducting and assessing the routine immunization program of the government, in an effort to reach more households and save more children.
Through collaborative partnerships and efforts of the government and organizations, 93% of the target population have been vaccinated already. With the ongoing initiatives and the engagement of the youth through VSLM, Borj is hopeful that sooner or later, the measles outbreak will be halted and declared over by the department, and measles cases will start decreasing.
For Borj, traveling the road less taken and defying the status quo inspired him to start the movement. He thought he could do more, and so he did. What was once his initial goal of making a change led to improving and saving other people’s’ lives. In the end, the experience also changed his life.
Throughout the hardships he encountered, the smiles of the children and their hopeful parents saying ‘salamat po’ (thank you) were all worth it.
For Borj, he vows to continue enabling and inspiring more youth like him to become agents of change for nation-building. And as long as there are children who are left behind in this health issue, the youth will continue to heed the call of building a healthier Philippines, one community at a time.
And as how Borj always loved to write on his social media posts, “Lagi’t lagi, para sa bata at para sa bayan. (Always in the service of the children and the country).”

Mutya: Every Filipino must stand to defend nurses

After what happened yesterday during the oral argument in the High Court, it is clear that the Philippine government is not serious in uplifting the lives of our suffering nurses in hospitals and community health centers nationwide. The Solicitor General said that to increase the salary of nurses has no legal basis and would result to salary distortions among health professionals in the country.

We can agree now that what we have is a government with little regard for the welfare of nurses and now brushing aside its moral duty to render justice behind the cloak of technicalities and legal parlance. For us nurses, who cannot understand these excuses, these are empty words masquerading as valid arguments. We are not lawyers who are expert on statutory constructions, what we understand and feel is that were are: abused, severely overworked, underpaid and undervalued.

To my fellow nurses, there is no need to feel defeated. We must draw strength from the nobility of our calling. During our first year in nursing school, our Theoretical Foundation in Nursing (TFN) taught us about the story of Florence Nightingale. During the Crimean War, she gathered (38) volunteer nurses to render compassionate care saving dying wounded soldiers from typhus, typhoid, cholera, and dysentery. Our profession is noble from the beginning, and we don’t need to beg for the government to acknowledge this fact.

The government miserably failed to understand and to appreciate the significant role of nurses in our healthcare delivery system. What they are concerned only is on how they can protect the lining of their pockets to the extent of overstretching the compassionate heart and hands of nurses. For me, this is a modern form of slavery.

To our legislators, nursing profession is not mentioned in the Constitution, but it is one of the professions which is part of the very fabric of humanity. In fact, it is present from conception up to the time we die.

Nurses don’t take the podium to grandstand, they don’t have the time to debate because they are busy resuscitating patients in hospitals. They don’t have the time to calculate their strategies because they are preoccupied on calculating the drops per minute of inotropes which supposedly delivered by an infusion pump but our poor nurses deliver it not in an ideal way.

Nursing is sui generis, you cannot compare it with other professions.

I want to briefly present some of the nurses’ roles in terms that our legislators can understand.

Nurses are like the executive branch of our government. While we take order from the physicians, nurses execute them with accuracy and competence, preventing that the correct medications will be given to the right patient—thus preventing DEATH.

Nurses are like the independent bodies of the government. Nurses serve as the check and balance in hospitals, nurses prevent malpractice, for example, they make sure that anal suppositories are not given orally.

Nurses are like our Courts of Law. They decide whether the order is good for the patient. They question orders which are tainted with bad faith. They decide whether it is the right time to turn bedridden patients to sides to prevent decubitus ulcers, nurses decide when to embrace patients in order to ease post-surgical pain, to provide tepid sponge bath when patients are feverish and when to clean the diapers (15) minutes before they take their meals. Nurses know when to appeal, to move for reconsideration, or when to use the extraordinary remedy of certiorari.

And this government despite of these offers no solution but to block a petition, a petition for help.

This is not only about the salary grade that we are fighting for, this is about the work dignity that the nurses only deserve. We don’t ask for too much, we are only asking for the rightful, livable amount.

The nurses can’t wait.

#Mutya

Mutya breaks silence…

One of the ironic verities of life, it has been said, is that sorrow is sometimes a touchstone of love.” – Justice Regalado

I wasn’t supposed to write anything about my recent experience, but I want to preserve this feeling for others to learn from it as well. We are always confronted with the question if there is true love or the concept of forever really exists. In telenovela and romantic movies, yes, but in real life it is not that easy to simulate.

Almost 7 years ago, I fell in love with an improbable person. Our relationship initially survived it being underground until it exploded. It landed in the headlines and subjects of gossipers and self-proclaimed showbiz writers. It was difficult, but it did not matter, despite the discrimination, despite the mockery, I strived hard to redefine love. The first point is love is a matter of courage. It not only a good and romantic feeling but also a belief that you need to prove to be true. It is a shared conviction worth dying for. Without courage there is no real love.

It was seven long years of nurturing relationship. From graduating in a nursing school to working in a call center, sailing to Manila, working in a hospital, many more and many more. Because of this seven long years, it is very difficult to move on because every small thing I see, I see him. When I see Jollibee, I remember him, every time I cross EDSA I remember him. His memories bleed across my timelines and my present reality. He became a part of my system. Love offers an experience distinct from other else.

Before he flew to Europe he forged an absolute promise of returning and fighting for what we have built together. He is one of the reasons why I took up law. I want to defend him when the time comes. I want to personally advocate for his rights and privileges. Then suddenly, he told me that he doesn’t love me anymore. He is happy now meeting with other people whom he barely knew. My automatic answer was YES, because depriving him of his happiness is offending the constitution and the fundamental laws of the land.

Love is selfless. Love must be liberating.

What happens now after he inflicted all forms of pain there is to feel?

He is expecting me to be angry. But I’m sorry, I am not that kind of person.

I am thankful. I finally woke-up after 7 years.

I am now happy knowing that nothing will ever hit me quite as hard again. Nothing will ever be beautiful, but neither will anything hurt as much.

“If they were meant to be in your life, nothing could ever make them leave. If they weren’t nothing in the world could make them stay.” – Lang Laev

 

 

Mutya slams House for “cannibalistic” death Penalty bill.

I am Mutya, I am pro-life.

Setting aside party colors, I would like to manifest my total objection to the re-imposition of Death Penalty in the Philippines. It seems that the majority of the House are in hurry to pass the “devilish” bill. Killing our own people is not the solution. If you are losing your hopes, if you are pressured to approve this inhumane measure because of political reasons—–please do not do it.

Killing our fellow Filipinos is cannibalistic and the government should not participate on this. It is not your business, not your mandate, and not even your calling. You are elected to represent the Filipino people across economic background, color and religion, thus you should dismiss bills which threatened our liberty and even they are part of the minority.

Death Penalty is anti-poor. Please check the records. The rich who could afford expert counsel were released alive, like a happy Maya, while the poor who have no access to competent defense suffered the capital punishment of death.

Open your eyes, the Supreme Court said that 7 out of 10 death penalty cases in the past have judicial error. Our criminal justice system is far from perfect. Sad to say, it could even be swayed by money. The blind-folded Lady Justice sometimes is not fair and just. We can’t let the lives of our fellowmen be played under the influence of dirty money and political connections.

Death Penalty is irreversible, thus we don’t have any chance to correct any wrong. Furthermore, it also prevents a person from contemplating and learning from his past mistakes. As a nation, we should aim for restorative justice. Killing a criminal will not heal the victims. It further opens the wound perpetually without closure. Before a person becomes a criminal, he is a human being and as a human being, we are believed to be innately good especially when given the right circumstances. The rise of criminality is the result of poor governance and widespread corruption that results to poverty.

Honorable Representatives of the people, let’s remember the cases of Fernando Galera, a 26 years old, fish vendor, innocent but sentenced to death because he can’t afford to pay competent lawyers, Richard Ong, 33 years old, innocent who was sentenced to death in 1994.  He was tortured and confessed something which he didn’t do. Hideshi Suzuki, 38, Japanese man sentenced to death in 1994 because of marijuana trafficking. He claimed that the marijuana was planted on him by a police officer. (M. Fajardo, Death Penalty in the Philippines).

Clearly, we are not ready for death penalty. We should dismiss this measure and focus on solutions that matter. Let us prevent evil forces from using Death Penalty to silence its critics and from erasing the poor from the crust of the Philippines.

The state has no right to kill a person without granting him the full protection of the laws. No person shall be deprived of life!

#Mutya

 

Greed, deception and blind adoration are more evil than Tarot

Tarot reading by itself is not EVIL especially if you are not conjuring Satan, any inferior demon or at the very least a dead person.

Tarot does not imply that God is not reliable or God is inferior. The art of Tarot reading does not prescribe any religion or belief system; it does not ask any offering, it only guides not coerce.

There is no evil in Tarot reading.

For me there are only three great evils in this physical world.

First is GREED—the feeling of wanting to have it all that results to corruption which is flagrant in any part of the world. It lures even in the most religious and most respected institutions. Clearly, this is more evil than playing Tarot.

Second is deliberately acting as a FALSE PROPHET. In the Holy Bible they are compared to ravenous wolves. They hide their true nature and intention under the cloak of “doing good”. Their inner personal motives direct their actions. They propagate false ideations, they play with words to hypnotize while their canines are hungry, ready to suck out the blood of the innocent. This is more evil than playing Tarot.

Lastly, BLIND ADORATION OF THE EVIL, assisting any evil to commit murder or any illegal act that contributes to the completion of its mission. It also means being too silent amidst all the evil happening around him.

“Tarot cards are not evil.  Forget everything you have heard about this unsubstantiated rubbish! At the end of the day, a Tarot card is just a card. A skilled Tarot reader will use the cards to assist them in a reading; to enlighten the recipient and provide them with guidance for the future in a myriad of ways. It is not possible to use these cards for evil purposes unless the reader has bad intentions and deliberately misguides the receiver of the reading.” – Psychicpower.com

My only intention when I started to study and read Tarot is to help people to believe that there is still goodness in this world, and hope can be achieved by doing good, no more, no less. I hope that people will remain sensitive and respectful to other person’s belief.

For me, religion should be based on actions and not on words.

-Mutya

We are safer with VP Robredo – Mutya

Ultimate loser former Senator Bongbong Marcos accused Vice President Leni Robredo that the lady stole the vice-presidency from him. 

The 200,000+ vote lead of Robredo urged the younger Marcos to infer that there was rigging of the election. He then moved to file a petition before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. 

This is a vicious attempt by Marcos to again undermine the will of the Filipino people. This malicious actions are expected since history would tell us who among the two is capable of violating laws to amass either property, life, liberty or even as noble as a parcel of land in the Libingan ng Bayani. 

The younger namesake of the late dicator if indeed is after the healing of this nation must acknowledge that change must start from their own family. 

No national healing comes to life without genuine acceptance of faults from the perpetrators during the black regime of Martial Law. For the younger Marcos to gain the respect of the Filipino people in general again, he should lead his family with the truth and not to result with same old tactics only fitting to the molding of a ruthless oppressor-dictator. 

While liability should not be passed to the younger generation of Marcoses, responsibility and morality runs in an uninterrupted manner and must be acknowledged by the present generation.

It is clearer now that the Marcoses is again after to seizing power. Between VP Leni Robredo and Marcos, the Philippines is safer with the former whose family’s track record is not painted with deceit, corruption, and human rights abuses. 

#Mutya