Journal Writing: Building an Archive of Current Events

Photo Courtesy of The Internationalist

I learned to love history. I did not know how and why, but I just felt it. Maybe it’s because I enjoy reading too much of Ambeth Ocampo’s columns at Daily Inquirer that I got convinced history is fun.

Recently, I have come to realize that this passion in events should not only end with reading, but should also be extended to expression so that my opinions may also be heard by others. I want to begin doing this by objectively taking accounts of the recent events. Through this way, I may have history to look back and share with my grandsons someday when I get old.

Gloria, Resign!

I would like to begin my archive with the history of my own country and the events that have recently unfolded when Jun Lozada decided to testify before the inquiry of the Senate’s Blue Ribbon Committee. He divulged the secrets of the National Broadband Deal (NBN) Project, threw in accusations against former NEDA Secretary and now CHED Chairman Romulo Neri, and categorically admitted the participation of former COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos in a corruption plan to get huge commission from the broadband project.

Everything began when Jun Lozada’s family reported to the media that Jun was kidnapped from the airport. Later on, it was learned that he was fetched by a group of policemen under the instructions of PNP Chief Avelino Razon. General Razon said that he gave the order to secure Jun because his wife, Violeta, requested for it. However, Violeta and the family members denied it.

After the policemen fetched Jun from the airport, they gave him a long free ride around the Metro and the nearby province of Laguna. Finally, Jun was brought to the Brother’s House in La Salle Greenhills. That was when the probinsiyanong Intsik decided to speak before the media about what happened and what he knows about the NBN project. In the press conference, he admitted that he was asked to fix and approve the NBN Proposal to allow Abalos get at least $130 million as commission. Even the name of the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo was dragged and was accused of having planned all of these fraudulent acts.

Upon hearing the testimony of Jun about this huge NBN graft and corruption issue, the public violently reacted and promptly went to the streets to ask for the resignation of President GMA. And the last time I checked it, my fellow Filipinos were still out there, on the streets, shouting with all their might – Gloria, Resign!

Welcome to the World of Blogging

The World of Blogging

I don’t want anybody else to read my writings — perhaps, when I’m dead I’d allow it. But for now, I’m satisfied writing for my own eyes only.

I cannot overemphasize the value of writing in my life. It signifies a beginning of another journey, a start to change something about myself. Or, maybe, to promote a campaign that will make me so involved with it that I may develop my talents – if I really have one – without much hardships, and at the same time enjoying it.

Just like now, I am starting to blog to renew my commitment to writing: I want to incessantly develop and improve my skills so that when the day my prayers will be heard, I’ll be more prepared for the tasks that will be given to me.

Blogging is also another beginning, a fresh start to a journey in the world of learning. Not that I have not started that travel yet, it is just that, I want it to be written in the annals of my life’s history so that when one day that I would become as great as Rizal, or as popular as Helen Keller and Anne Frank, my blog may be useful in making my biography. But of course, that is the most ridiculous and impossible thing that can only happen in my dreams.

At present, I’m working at an Outsourcing Company located at Shaw Blvd, near Rizal Capitol, Philippines. I met a friend and officemate who has the same passion as mine – learning just about anything around us, no matter how unrelated it may be to our jobs.

Las Meninas

Let me begin my first blog article with the lesson this colleague of mine shared with me today. It’s about the painting Las Meninas, a Spanish term for The Maids of Honour. It was painted by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660), one of the greatest artists during the Spanish Golden Age. His Las Meninas, which was painted in 1656, is at present exhibited in the Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain.

Although paintings like Las Meninas can be best analyzed by looking at in person, we can still appreciate it through its photos posted on the Internet. Besides, if we don’t have sufficient bucks to travel all the way to Spain, we do not have much of a choice but to surf for it online.

When my officemate informed me about Las Meninas at wikipedia.org, he told me to look at the picture before reading the description of the site. And that’s what I did. I knew that that was simply the best way for me to appreciate Las Meninas.

By looking at it, I have realized how puzzling and intricate the painting’s composition were. Few of the things that I have noticed were:

1. The different directions where the subjects were looking at

2. The background mirror reflecting a couple (I learned later on that this couple was King Philip and Queen Mariana)

3. The oddly depicted man standing on the stairs at the background of the painting

Honestly, I do not know much about paintings. I just love looking at them for they give me a different kind of feeling that always makes me convinced that arts indeed “reveal more than they hide.”

The three points I have observed were simply products of a layman’s perspective who wants to learn what Las Meninas picture can offer. Nevertheless, I enjoyed looking at it.