The Fall of Bataan

          The "Araw ng Kagitingan," also known as the "Day of Valor," is a public event held in the Philippines on April 9th each year to commemorate the significance of Filipino warriors during World War II. This unusual day honors the deaths of a thousand Filipinos. It, too, recalls the valor of those who fought for the country.

        When the Japanese resumed their offensive on 3 April 1942, backed by heavy artillery, tanks, and air attack, the American survivors on the Bataan Peninsula were so weakened by disease and starvation that they were unable to offer any effective resistance. MacArthur ordered a general counterattack against the Japanese from the comfort and safety of his new headquarters in Australia, with no regard for the severely weakened physical condition of his abandoned troops or their critical lack of military supplies. Major General Edward King, the commanding officer on Luzon, ignored this ridiculous order. On April 9, 1942, he surrendered his troops, relying on the mercy of the Japanese. Before the surrender, he moved his female army nurses to Corregidor in the hope that they would be evacuated from the Philippines.

       The Japanese did not follow European custom, which honors troops who surrender after a valiant defense and treats female captives with dignity and compassion. Infuriated by the long American resistance on Bataan, as well as their own heavy losses, the Japanese turned their rage on their sick and exhausted prisoners of war, subjecting them to the atrocities of the Bataan Death March and the harsh conditions of Japanese "hell camps."

      President Roosevelt, well aware of the futility of the American position in the Philippines, delegated authority to the senior commander, Lieutenant General Wainwright, to continue the battle against the Japanese or negotiate terms of surrender as he saw fit. General Wainwright, at his headquarters on the fortified island of Corregidor, decided to follow MacArthur's order from Australia and fight the hopeless battle to the end. Wainwright was urged by his senior staff officers to follow MacArthur's example and flee the Philippines by fast patrol boat at night, but he responded calmly: "I have been with my men from the start, and if captured, I will share their lot."

     Nevertheless, the bravery of the soldiers will never be forgotten and will be remembered today and more years to come. 

Reference: https://www.pacificwar.org.au/Philippines/FallBataanCorreg.html  

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q44807646 https://www.flickr.com/photos/150334035@N07/34884743144

Holy Week in the Philippines

        I may be non-Catholic, but I did grow up with neighbors who are Catholic and observed how they participate in this Lenten Season.  I hear that in Western churches it begins on Ash Wednesday, six and a half weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40-day fast (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus Christ's fasting in the wilderness before he began his public ministry.

    Lent, or kwaresma in Filipino, is the season during which Filipinos remember Christ's passion, suffering, death, and resurrection. The Philippines is known as the only primarily Christian country in Asia, and its population is made up of a large number of devout Catholics, which is why Lent Season or Holy Week traditions are commonly practiced in a very unique manner. Here in the Philippines, it is known as Mahal na Araw or Semana Santa, and it begins on Palm Sunday and continues through Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday, Holy Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and concludes on Black Saturday and Easter Sunday.

      Lent is an important religious observance in Christianity because it marks and commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God's Son, our Savior, and Redeemer. It's a good time to think about what it means to be a Christian. 

Resources: https://bemyguest.com.sg/p/lenten-season-festivities-in-the-philippines-a-showcase-of-filipino-customs-traditions-and-artistry  https://www.aethelmark.com/blog/e/e3/ https://tinyurl.com/bdzkxdzy https://tinyurl.com/2nakv748 https://www.insightguides.com/inspire-me/blog/visual/lenten-rites-in-pampanga-philippines 

Kannawidan Festival Delivers Lights of Hope

      Fiestas and celebrations are returning as the Philippines begins to recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak, providing Filipinos with a much-needed dose of levity. Kannawidan 2022, a series of activities aiming at celebrating life and sharing joy, was officially launched by the province administration of Ilocos Sur earlier this month.

      Kannawidan is a festival commemorating the separation of the two Ilocos provinces in 1818 in the province of Ilocos Sur. This celebration features cultural performances, religious rites, and cookery demonstrations showcasing the best of Ilocano cuisine.

         The celebrations were kicked off by the provincial government of Ilocos Sur, led by Governor Ryan Luis Singson and Vice Governor Jeremias Singson, as well as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and officials and employees from local government units and national government agencies. Different events were held as a celebration of the kannawidan Festival, the first night was a dancing fountain show, a drone light show followed by a fireworks display, and a comedy night held at the Quirino Stadium. The second night was the coronation of the Sanita Ti Ylocos beauty pageant and the Chef Wars Cooking Competition. The third day concluded with LGBTQ Night. The event concluded with "Your Face Sounds Familiar, The Lip Sync Battle." Aside from competitions, the Kannawidan Festival also featured a dog show featuring American bulldogs, a car and motor show, Tinattoan, a bike race, game fowl, a rhythm fest, and the much-anticipated Bakbakan sa Ilocos Sur. 

     We should continue to be united as Ilocanos because, in such a short amount of time we have achieved to celebrate Kannawidan Festival with so many events, this just shows how we are getting back to normal and that Covid-19 is slowly fading in our lives and were trying to live with it.

Resources: 

https://tinyurl.com/mrvwrx3n 

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2022/02/20/ilocos-sur-celebrates-kannawidan-2022/

     

Let's Feel The Christmas Season in Vigan

           My heart can’t just wait for the Christmas season to come, I get excited whenever I see Christmas lights on the houses of my neighbors and on the streets. The cold that touches my skin wherever we go to Vigan City. We may not get rid of Covid-19 yet, but it will not stop us from celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

        As the new variant of Covid-19, Omicron arises it didn’t stop us from celebrating Christmas. Simbang Gabi masses are back and people have come to gather, the streets start to light up with parols and Christmas lights. Families come to Vigan and take a picture with the Christmas theme display in front of our City Hall. Though we must always be careful and obediently follow the protocols to avoid the spread of the virus. Each municipality showcased its own bright Christmas tree to remind us that there is hope and that we can all get through this.

      Christmas doesn’t need to be celebrated extravagantly because the important thing is that we celebrate it sincerely with our hearts and with our families. The Christmas season will always be there and will always come nevertheless. Through these tough times, Christmas reminds us that we made it again and we will always make it.   

References:

 http://vigancity.gov.ph/its-christmas-season-in-vigan-city/

https://tawidnewsmag.com/artes-ita-paskua/

2nd Quarter Treated Me Alright

              This 2^nd Quarter has been a blast in the subject of ICT, I would never expect that I would be making HTML. They are quite easier than I expected, don’t get me wrong there were times where I would be stuck on one task just because I wasn’t putting the right apostrophe or missing a space but I would still be having fun.

             I addressed these challenges by asking my classmates and teacher or just rereading the instructions because sometimes my eyes would skip a few words. LOL. ICT this 2^nd quarter was not too tough for me, and I think I learned a lot from making HTML to designing its contents. I just want to say that there wasn’t much trouble that occurred to me, there were some but my friends helped me so thanks to them.

            Moving on, I very much anticipate this 3^rd quarter and what lessons it will teach us, I am very open to new things and I would very like to learn more from this subject.  

Resources: 

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-add-a-background-image-to-the-top-section-of-your-webpage-with-html

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-add-a-background-image-to-the-top-section-of-your-webpage-with-html

The Fiesta Must Go On!

          Every year on January 25, the Vigan City Fiesta is celebrated in honor of St. Paul the Apostle, the city's patron saint. Locals and tourists alike flock to witness and participate in street dance, carnivals, culinary festivals, and arts and crafts, all of which add to the allure of this UNESCO World Heritage City. The Vigan City Fiesta is usually held over a few days. It involves the commemoration of Vigan's cityhood anniversary, which takes place every January 27.

      I would remember from time to time when I and my family would watch the Street dancers as pass, go to the carnival and ride all the rides, then go to the food fair where we rest and eat foods that are only available when the fiesta is there. 

      We wouldn't be able to experience this year but let us not be discouraged because the fiesta shall go on within our hearts and let the traditions continue. 

       

Reference:

https://www.vigan.ph/attractions/vigan-city-fiesta.html

https://johndenrich23.weebly.com/history-of-vigan

https://yomaps.net/en/PH/ilocos/vigan-grand-carnival-lphT1JVK1.html

New Year, Same Me?

     It has been 2 years since Covid -19 has started and a lot of things have changed, including me. A lot can happen in 1 year, a lot of things have changed; our house changed, I got a new dog who's turning 1 in February, and my brother got taller but for me, a lot of me has stayed and I think I prefer it that way.

       A lot of people make this thing called a ‘’New Year’s Resolution’’, it is a promise to do something different in the New Year. I stopped making New Year’s resolution a year ago because I realized that I wasn’t committing to it so why bother making one this year, right? The new I this new year is that I stop making these promises to myself and instead have goals that I know will achieve.

     The new me this New Year will be a better me will be a wiser me and will be a more responsible me because as I’m getting older that nothing stays, everyday things move and change that is why I also decided to change for my betterment.

References:

https://happyeventday.com/happy-new-year-greetings/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/New%20Year%27s%20resolution

My Essence of Christmas

            Christmas is almost here again, the time when we celebrate the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the past two years, Christmas was a little sad because I could not celebrate it with my loved ones and closest friends. Still, now that almost everyone is getting vaccinated, they come home and celebrate it together.

           The essence of Christmas for me is not about the presents I get or the food I eat; it's about the people with who I celebrate it, the laughter that we share in front of our Noche Buena, while the Christmas songs of Jose Mari Chan is playing in the background. Covid-19 had a massive impact on our lives; it made us realize that you should always cherish one's presence and never take it for granted.

         Every day is Christmas for me because it’s a blessing that I get to open my eyes, wake up and be with my family. I am thankful for all the days that I have been in this world. Celebrating the birth of Jesus shouldn’t just be a one-time thing every year, but an everyday one.

References: https://ph.news.yahoo.com/here-is-why-the-philippines-celebrate-the-worlds-longest-christmas-season-062426338.html

Every Child Deserves a Future

               Child, when we hear this word we think of innocence, fun, free, and happiness. Because we experienced this at one point in our life, to be innocent, and not knowing how to do bad things; to feel fun and happiness and not worry about anything; and to feel free, free to do anything, free to go anywhere, free to be who we want to be as long as we're having fun.

                    Children have rights. The right to be given shelter, the right to be given food, the right to have an education, and the right to play. Every child has its needs that the adults provide because they are brought to this world where anything can happen to them, that is why they have rights to be protected, protected from the things that could harm. Covid 19 is one of them, this pandemic took a lot of opportunities from us especially on children; schools had to stop, and now we are slowly adjusting to this new normal. Covid 19 greatly affected children’s health mentally and physically; that is why we need to care for them and look out for them.  

                 This new normal may be hard, but it will get easier, we are slowly adjusting to this environment and we all try to find ways to make it more manageable not just for us but for the children as well. Because it is the right of the children to have a proper education.

Resources: 

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/key-coronavirus-question-how-are-children-affected/

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/children-over-12-should-follow-same-mask-rules-as-adults-who

What a Quarter...

            This quarter gave me so many new things that I didn’t expect to enjoy. I learned how to make a blog and how it works because I only used to read them and sometimes I’d get fascinated by how interesting a blog is, and how it entertains or inform people in a fun way.

      Sometimes I wouldn’t know what I’m doing in my blog, what to put, I would run out of ideas in writing my drafts, but my friends are always there to help me when I ask, I would try to research stuff about it or take a walk as I clear and reset my mind and I, then would have an idea or would have something to write. I also get tired from my modules, and performance tasks so I try not to think about too much when I’m not doing it, so that I wouldn’t feel anxious and stressed because that ruins my mood for the whole day and I don’t like that feeling, I try to avoid it. I try to do my modules as early as possible because if I don’t, I would have to cram, and I don’t like cramming because I never know if I would be able to finish the whole thing on time; that is why I try to make a schedule for the day of the week so that I know what my priorities are and what to do first.

     In the future, I will try to work harder and put more effort into things I will do, but I will always prioritize my mental health first. I learned a lot this 1^st quarter, I will try to avoid the mistakes that I did this quarter and I’ll just try to have fun while still learning. I always remind myself that if I ever feel stressed or not good, just stop for a moment and take walk or play games just to take my mind off and then continue again. 

References:

https://www.eschoolnews.com/2018/12/19/the-most-important-lessons-we-learned-this-year/

https://luis-goncalves.com/lessons-learned-scrum-coach/

Being Environmentally Conscious is the Way to Go!

  🌳Let's Clean and Blog! 🌳

           I often ask myself, do I do it because I want to? Or I do it because everyone else is doing it. I’m sure we’ve all heard the terms recycling, reusing, reducing, etc. But do we do it every day, every second in our life, or do we do it because someone’s watching or there’s this event? That is why I’ve realized how I can be a better person for this earth, our home planet, which is slowly getting worse.

            As a Grade 10 student who spends most of my time on the internet, I’ve learned quite a lot about the usual things that we are doing to help the environment that isn’t recommended for long-term use. I’ve stumbled across this video once when I was scrolling thru Facebook and it focused on sustainability. Sustainability is described as "meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" (Brundtland, 1987) We can achieve this by continuing on doing the usual things that we do, protecting the things that we have now, and finding more ways on how we can improve it.

       Being sustainable in my community can be challenging; that is why I can start promoting it and teaching it to the people around me. Some people don’t even realize that they are already being sustainable, e.g., going to the ‘palengke’ or local market and using reusable bags instead of plastic bags. Reusing plastic bags or grocery bags for storing, I see this in many households, including mine. Composting leftover foods. And since I live in a province where it’s fairly cool, I can avoid the usage of air cons and heaters that are bad for our environment. Being sustainable is one way of caring for our environment. Doing clean-up drives with our friends and neighbors is another way.

            Cleaning the ‘kalye’ or street with your neighbors can be a quality time, and it can help save the environment. Using bicycles or walking to go around the brgy is better than using motorcycles and cars. Taking care of the trees and plants in your bgry can make it pretty and refreshing for you and the environment.          

 

             Prioritizing our environment is the way to go because if it gets destroyed, we will too. Being environmentally aware is important, and with the help of technology, we can spread more formations on how we can save our planet and save ourselves.   

References: 

https://tinyurl.com/36xjszfr 

The Virtual World

 

          Present ma’am, present sir! Thru a screen we see our classmates and teachers, this has now become the new normal. Since the pandemic started, adjusting to this new normal was first hard, it was all new to me; answering modules by myself, trying so hard to understand the problem, resulting in multiple breakdowns.

  Learning is what’s important, they say. Still, I feel like passing it on time is more valued because they give these deadlines along with workloads of modules, outputs, and assessments. Students like me are having a hard time learning what is needed to be understood; I know that teachers too are having a hard time, but I need to speak up for myself. What is quality education? Can we get it right now when there is a pandemic? But based on my experience these past few days, the teachers are working really hard just to teach us students; I appreciate that so much because we get to learn and understand more on the topic than last year. I also have a good time because I can interact with my teacher and classmates, making me feel glad.

         We can get a quality education as long as each of us works hard for it. As long we all are participating and being united, we can achieve the quality education that we need right now in this time. Though, nothing still beats when it comes to face-to-face classes.

References: https://intaccredorg.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/online-education-some-merits-and-demerits/

UNTIL THE END, WE FIGHT

           The Philippines is a home of many different people; there is someone courageous, loving, caring, hardworking, and hospitable. Any traits you can think of are like those in the Philippines, but everyone here is resilient. Because being resilient helps you stay strong and survive in the Philippines.

         As a Filipino who lived my whole life in the Philippines, I’ve seen a lot of issues and problems that the Philippines are facing; one right now is the Covid 19 virus, because we are running out of healthcare workers, cases of Covid 19 are climbing up, and instead of giving up we continue to fight it, we continue to stop it by just being a responsible person and following the guidelines. We continue to work hard and give everyone the help we can provide to contain this virus.  We have these people around us who continue to support and help, which is why giving up is not an option or an excuse to stop. So we continue to fight.

        The book of 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 says that “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” As long as we do it with love and passion, we will overcome these challenges we are all facing and succeed.

References: https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Why-Filipino-voters-turn-their-lonely-eyes-to-strongman-leaders