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Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Youngblood First Posted 23:19:00 12/26/2007 There’s something about the month of December that makes me want to stay in it forever. Perhaps I’m still stuck in my childhood merriment and I don’t want it to slip away. When I was a child, my mom used to deck the house with Christmas trimmings as soon as the ‘ber’ months began. She always did it, and did it very creatively, and scored this with her all-time favorite Gunter Kallmann Choir record, which I liked better than Ray Conniff’s, which she alternately played. You’ve probably heard Gunter on the airwaves or inside the malls, and mistook it for Conniff. I could name the song or recite the sequence of songs in the entire  medley which ends with ‘Hark the Herald’. Mother once warned us, ‘Loose or misplace any record or album but not Gunter Kallmann ’. We didn’t; the old cassette tape is still with us to this day, now with a CD back-up. Once I wrote her a letter with an article on Brown and White Chris...

It was a festival that had the child as the center of the universe. Six films -  Nino Bonito, Debut, Kapogs, Lumang Kahoy, Kinulayang Kiti,  and  Sweet Mandy- looked at the world through the children's smiles and tears in the recent 3 rd  CinePambata Film Festival held at SM Centerpoint. Declared the best of them all was   Nino Bonito. The movie is about Boni,  a young rap-mumbling boy from the slums who squares off with the reality of drugs, petty crimes and dysfunctional family. "The story and the depiction of characters are so clear and compact that they hit right to the bottom of  children's issues," according to the citation.

There is a big difference between conditional cash transfer (CCT) and cash-for-work (CFW).   A classic example of lost in translation by some media reports, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). While both are financial-assistance programs of the Department, the target beneficiaries make the difference. The historic highway robbery of 8 million pesos intended for poor beneficiaries in Catarman, Northern Samar prompted the DSWD to clarify one major point: that the amount referred to is cash-for-work program of the Department contrary to news reports that it is CCT.

No one would think that 17-year-old Ariel Bowagan was a child offender before he became the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)chairman of Barangay Dontogan in Baguio City. Bowagan has indeed changed for the better, thankful that God gave him a second shot at life. He now enjoys his newfound calling as a young public servant.  He actively serves his barangay by leading an anti-drug campaign. Bowagan is not ashamed to admit that he used to be a child in conflict with the law (CICL) ---that is, a person below 18 years old found to have committed a criminal offense. With the help though of a child-sensitive justice system, he has become not just a productive member of society but a role model to many other CICLs. "I went back to my old friends and encouraged them to join me in many good activities in our barangay so that other teenagers can do the same," he said. Bowagan was one of the guests at a recent forum on understanding CICL, who spoke about his transformation as a resu...

At the outset, do not even try.  Let your home be and make it look like Christmas when you really care about doing it.  Feeling it, is one; looking like it, is another.  But both emanate from a natural sense of feeling good while anticipating the Season.   When my mother was alive, she used to decorate our house as early as September.  And when December got closer, all things came picturesque and complete. Growing up, I and my two sisters were already exposed to an environment that regards Christmas as the penultimate celebration.   It is far more important than our own birthdays. My family’s sense of Christmas originated from our parents who together - a sight to behold - donned our home with trimmings with utmost care and affection --- that no matter how old decors were recycled, they still looked good.  Creativity was only secondary. We carried on the tradition.  And so we assemble Christmas decors earlier than our neighbors would...

Who really cares about the bunch of flying reindeer led by the famed red-nosed Rudolph that carries Santa Claus and his gifts across the globe during one night of gift giving?  Santa does.  And they are not reindeer for nothing.  That’s why he keeps their company. According to numerous literatures about these famous Christmas characters, the personalities of Santa’s reindeer vary.  Some say that their names speak for themselves or about their identities. Of the nine imagined reindeers, three are females and six are males.  A female reindeer is called a cow while a male is called a bull. A young reindeer is called a calf. It is born with no antlers. This first eight were the original group created in 1822 via the poem ‘The Night Before Christmas’.  Rudolph was the last addition in the sleigh-pulling team in 1939. A stanza of the poem reveals the original eight. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and call'd them by...

Are things better now for local governments 20 years after the Local Government Code, or Republic Act 7160, was signed into law on October 10, 1991? Former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr,,acknowledged as the Father of the Local Government Code, believes so. The devolution of powers from the central government to what are known today as local government units (LGUs) pursuant to the Code allowed every province, city and municipality to chart its own political destiny without the dictates of so-called imperial Manila. "Monies that were previously collected and disbursed by the central government now go directly into the coffers of local government units," Pimentel said during the celebration of two-decades of the Code at the Philippine International and Convention Center in Pasay City.  "But there are abuses," Pimentel was quick to add. "The looting of public funds does happen unfortunately in some LGUs."

If numbers is a reflection of  love, the Philippines should be a nation that loves children. Media practitioners and journalism students look into samples of stories on children. “But think again,” Frank Rivera, executive director of the National Council for Children’s Television (NCCT) said.  Rivera said that it is ironic that child protection is a right that is oftentimes overlooked in this country, which is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. There are more than 31 million Filipino children, comprising 31 percent of the country's total population of  over 101 million. But many of these children suffer violation of their rights. This was one of the topics discussed during a seminar-workshop in Baguio City that included child abuse in schools and media reportage on children.

President Benigno Simeon Aquino III inducts the officers and trustees of the Philippine   Press Institute (PPI) in a ceremony at the Rizal Ceremonial Hall, Malacañan Palace Monday October 03, 2011 . PPI is a private organization whose principal mandate is to defend press freedom and promote ethical standards for the professional development of the Filipino journalist.  Founded in 1964 and reactivated in 1987, it is also known as the national association of newspapers which represents the interests and concerns of the newspaper sector in media and in all forums.  Its membership includes the 69 major national and provincial daily/weekly newspapers in the country.  ( From left to right) Malaya Publisher Amado P. Macasaet – Chairman and President , BusinessWorld Publisher Vergel O. Santos – Vice-Chairman , Philippine Daily Inquirer Publisher Isagani M. Yambot – Treasurer , Southern Leyte Times Publisher Ruevivar T. Reyes – Board Secretary and Trustee for Visayas ,...

As promised, this is the continuation of my Christmas article. When giving gifts, be willing to give and not pressure yourself into gift-giving.  Remember that people do not demand presents from you but expect you to give gifts in return.  The cycle of gift-giving only stops when 'willing and consenting' parties cut the expectations process.  This does not necessarily undermines generosity but only puts into proper context and perspective the act of being generous:  that either one gives or receives. Of course, there is excitement and thrill at the sight of gifts. And the whole idea of receiving gives a semblance of 'this is the only time when I can get as many gifts as I want'.  Call this the height of materialism or the commercial underpinning of Christmas.  Can we do away with the whole notion?  Only when we embrace the nobility of its purpose. The profundity and pure intentions escape once clear grasp of Christmas when everything appears to b...