The Proponents ♥
Monday, March 2, 2009
Enlite is on its way!!
Today is but another day for the team to take care of their BackPackers Passports project... finally, one of the members of this project noted Pearl Farm of Davao as one of the places here in our City that should be part of the Team's Top 5.
How about you guys? What are you waiting for? Cast your votes now!
February 23, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009Today, we featured the local delicacies found in Davao City in the Backpackers Project. We also posted the different images of the said delicacies with their corresponding citations. Some of the food that we posted are the mouth-watering lechon baboy, kinilaw, chicken barbecue and others.
All articles were from www.davaoboard.com and edited some of its clerical errors.
V4me!
Monday, February 16, 2009February 17, 2009
Finally, we are already done in posting the necessary pictures that our must see places need. To all our team mates and to the rest of Backpackers Passports Group we request you to view these places and we guarantee that you will surely enjoy! To make this more exciting let’s play a game called V4me (Vote for me) the mechanics of the game are as follows:
(1) Grab your Desktop/Laptop Computer’s Keyboards and go to the website www.pioneerss.moe.edu.org, then enter the magical world of the Backpackers Passports Projects. Don’t forget to enter Team I!
(2) Have you entered it already? This time find the word communiqué then click away!
(3) Next step, scramble this word and find it there…afterwards when you found it already view its must sees!
(4) Are you there already? Do your next move by recommending places you’d like to see from Davao City or those places you’re most interested here in our place.
(5) If you are a certified ‘Sport’ you’d wait for three thrilling days in order for you to get a glimpse of these places you’d like to see and when you think it’s worth it then that’s the time you’ll V4me!
What are you waiting for Go! Go! Go! For regular updates on what’s new in team I just visit our Blog spot at www.enlite913.blogspot.com.
February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009We gathered pictures and informations about the tourist spots here in Davao City. We will post them in our assigned website for the backpackers' passport project. Currently, we're working on the editing process for the betterment of the project.
Oh Yes! It's the fifth day FEVER!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009It's the 5th day of the Love month and our group is at the same time PROGRESSING! Just like what the movie 'Meet the Simpsons' motto says "Keep Moving Forward" and that's exactly what we're doing, moving forward.
Right now we are on stage 4 and this serves as our Waiting Post, meaning this stage is about soliciting comments from the rest of the team as to which popular spot here in Davao do they like the most. And if one of the places we've showcased garnered a lot of comments, then this is our GO Signal to go to that place and feature it as one of the Best Spots here in Davao City. Of Course, we are going to do every Documentation necessary for our team member's sake.
Excitement is getting on our last nerves...so to our team members form the Backpackers Passports Project, get a hold on your keyboards and post your comments right away!
Fourth Day... here we COME!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009Today is our Fourth Day! We enjoyed brainstorming yesterday about the places in our city that we’d like to showcase and promote in the Backpackers Passports’ Site. Surely they would be more than willing to post their comments and establish their interest about these places.
And to our team members and fellow members of the Project we surely hope that this project would be an effective collaboration that would measure our worth as effective members of this project and as citizens of this country, all at once.
3rd Day comes our WAY!
Monday, February 2, 2009At last, we did something to showcase our City's treasures! During this Rainy and Cold day we made a lot of progress for our project. Right now, we are on the verge of promoting these must-see places to our team members as well as to those who are working on other projects. We Hope that you guys will appreciate the effort we exerted upon enriching and promoting Davao's Pride across the Globe.
Second Day of Our JOURNEY...
Sunday, February 1, 2009Journey's first day. :) ♥
Monday, January 26, 2009Today we convened in our own groups and we visited the site of the www.aec.asef.org. Since we already had on our minds the project that we are going to join, we chose our group coordinator, the one that would communicate to the project's organizer. We decided to join Backpackers Project because we found it very interesting. We are still students and we are really having fun of travelling, so we joined the project. :) We got lots of thing in our mind and we are really excited to collaborate with the ones who also joined the project. We are really crossing fingers to make the project as cool as we can, but most of all, we are vying to make friends with the other students on the different parts of the world. This was our first day to work with this project, and tomorrow we wish to see and discover more from the project.
FIRST DAY, GETTING TO KNOW DAY! :)
Today we convened in our own groups and we visited the site- aec.asef.org . We read the instructions and the needed things to do about our project. And as instructed by Mr. Binag, the required site for the project is www.pioneerss.moe.edu.sg . This site is where we need to post our outputs, collaborate with other team mates, etc.
Utilizing Knowledge of the Different Text Types
Tuesday, September 2, 2008READING COMPREHENSION: Find out if you have developed this skill after reading the text that follows. Do you know of a person who has been raised under different cultures? Which culture has he/she more dominantly shown?
Two in One
Throughout high school I chose to ignore my Filipino side. The most important thing for me was to fit in – wear the latest clothes, listen to the coolest music, speak the slang spoken between friends. If anyone asked me my ethnic background, I emphasized that I was half-white, leaving out that I was half-Filipino. If prodded any further, I said that my mother was born in the Philippines, but that was she was definitely mixed with Spanish blood. Somehow I had come to the conclusion that to be American meant I should exclude my Filipino heritage. To include it also might mean I wouldn’t fit in with my teenager – I had never been to the Philippines, I spoke only English, and I practiced no Filipino customs. Since I came to college I have been exploring the Filipino culture more as part of my family history than as my own culture. This is a step toward true recognition of my Filipino identity. Though I have been raised in America and have lived the “American” culture, this doesn’t mean I should deny that I am also a Filipino. My Filipino heritage has a claim on me that has been waiting to be explored further – waiting to include me – and I in it. Growing up as mixed Asian and American has made me aware that it isn’t necessary for me to be 100% American. Now, as I begin to study Filipino history and culture through research and from my mother, I integrate this new knowledge with my American culture. This process of integration bridges the two identities that make who I am. Now I no longer say I am all American or all Filipino, instead I can proudly say that I am both.
Comprehension Check
Arriving at the Appropriate Meanings
ACTIVITY: Decide the meaning of value and device that is most appropriate to each of the sentences that follow.
1.) What’s the value of x in the equation?
2.) Their shield bears the device of a menacing tiger.
3.) Strengthening our positive Filipino values may be one of our instruments towards a strong and progressive nation.
4.) An explosive device exploded recently near a mall in Makati.
5.) Can you distinguish the value of re in the piece?
6.) His brother has a hobby of collecting works of strange device.
7.) What’s the total value of their properties?
8.) A T-square is a measuring device commonly used by engineers and architects.
9.) Can you add value to blue?
10.) Many good writers use rhetorical devices in their work.
ANSWERS
ACTIVITIES of Charles
SUBJECT-VERB AGREMENT ACTIVITY
Visit this site and answer the questions that will follow: http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/cw-svagreement.html
ACTIVITY FOR STRATEGIES IN SUMMARIZING A MATERIAL
Go to this site( http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=129998 ) and synthesize the news given using the strategies introduced.
Adjust & Vary Reading Speed and Style to Suit the Text Type, One’s Background Knowledge and Purpose in Reading and the Contact Material Needed
Monday, August 18, 2008
1. Activating Background Knowledge through Effective Titles
The dictionary defines tradition as “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. “It means that the things we know today are already inside of us- passed on by our parents. All we have to do is tap into them, somehow, to activate them, to use them. The same principle holds true when we are reading.
There are times when your teacher asks you questions about a picture, objects or a word introduce a lesson or before you read a selection. When she/he does that, your teacher is actually activating your background knowledge about something. This skills helps you understand better what you are reading or about to read. Can titles help your activate your background knowledge? How?
Look at the title of this lesson. What comes to your mind as you look at the word tradition? In groups of 5, work on the organizer that follows and give as many ideas, thoughts, or reminiscences that you can link with the word tradition.
2. Scanning Newspaper Headlines to Get Information
Newspapers are very much part of our tradition, culture, and history. In fact, they are very mush part of our lives, among students, the newspaper is a very good source of information, especially so, for their assignments and research work.
One of the important parts of the newspaper is the headline, for it carries or banners the most significant news of the day. As fourth year students, your skills in determining specific meaning and information by scanning the headline is another study skill you have to develop.
Go over the sample headline that follows. What information is given in each of the headline? What do you expect to find in the news stories which the headlines represent? What do these headlines mean to you?
1. Meralco Cuts Rates by 43C
Philippines Sunday Inquirer
August 5, 2007
2. RP kids bag gold, 13 bronzes in HK math tilt
The Philippine Star
August 5, 2007
3. Management Man of the Year is ‘every woman’s impossible dream’
Philippines Sunday Inquirer
August 19, 2007
Scan the given headlines and match them with the following extracts from the news stories.
Neither the rain nor flood could keep some of the countries top business executives from honoring one of their own. Much of Metro Manila was under water on August 15 when the Inquirer hosted a testimonial dinner in honor of Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, the Ayala Corp. chair and CEO.
Cuna said there were a number of the factors that helped to bring down the power distributor’s costs in July, resulting in the lower rates beginning August.
The Department of Education lauded the students who harvested the awards… “We are proud of our students and this will inspire us in MTG Philippines to continue developing the teaching skills of our math teachers and finding ways to encourage our students to have math skills, “ Myrna Agtarap of MTG- Philippines told the Star.
3. Utilizing Knowledge of the Different Text Types
As you have learned earlier, there are different types that you will come across. Some of them are technical, some journalistic in style, and some literary. Some examples of technical reports are scientific reports, studies. Researches and business reports. Journalistic texts include straight news or features articles, while literary texts include the different literary genre most commonly found in literature books like poems, essays, stories, plays, and novels, among others.
As students, your ability to recognize and use your knowledge of the differences among these text types will help in processing the information that you read.
Find out if you have developed this skill after reading the text that follows.
Do you know of a person who has been raised under different cultures? Which culture has he/she more dominantly shown?
Two in One
Throughout high school I chose to ignore my Filipino side. The most important thing for me was to fit in – wear the latest clothes, listen to the coolest music, speak the slang spoken between friends. If anyone asked me my ethnic background, I emphasized that I was half-white, leaving out that I was half-Filipino. If prodded any further, I said that my mother was born in the Philippines, but that she was definitely mixed with Spanish blood. Somehow I had come to the conclusion that to be American meant I should exclude my Filipino heritage. To include it also might mean I wouldn’t fit in with my teenager – I had never been to the Philippines, I spoke only English, and I practiced no Filipino customs.
Since I came to college I have been exploring the Filipino culture more as part of my own culture. This is a step toward true recognition of my Filipino identify. Though I have been raised in America and have lived the “American” culture, this doesn’t mean I should deny that I am also a Filipino. My Filipino heritage has a claim on me that has been waiting to be explored further – waiting to include me – and I in it. Growing up as mixed Asian and American has made me aware that it isn’t necessary for me to be 100% American. As I begin to study Filipino history and culture through research and from my mother, I integrate this new knowledge with my American culture. This process of integration bridges the two identities that make who I am. Now I no longer say I am all American or all Filipino, instead I can proudly say that I am both.
Comprehension Check
1.What is the text all about?
3.Which culture, do you think, was predominant in him? Why do you think so?
4.What type of text is it? Why do you think so?
5.Who could have written it? Why do you think so?
4. Using Headlines to Set Purpose in Reading
Headings in text help you see the organization and main ideas of the selection. They also aid you while you skin through the text as you set your purpose in reading.
Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the World.
(An Excerpt)
So it happened that, on March 4, 1933 , this usually thoughtful energetic, and ungainly woman of forty-eight became the first Lady of the Land.
Lorena “Hick” Hicok, who covered politics for the Associated Press, had felt sure that D.D.R’s wife was an exceptional person, and the two women ha become close friends.
But it was not until Eleanor Roosevelt settled into the White house that the whole country began to see what hick had seen. Because she wanted warmhearted figure “to do something for women,: only women reporters were admitted to the First Lady’s weekly press conference, naturally, the handful of female journalist in Washington’s marveled at the American scene.
Mrs. Roosevelt was a person not only needed but also admired. In 1933 alone, three hundred thousand letters, from everywhere in the country were sent to her.
To friends like hick, Mrs. Roosevelt continued wailing about the loss of her personal freedom, what she hated most, she said, was being stared at by mobs of people.
Under ordinary circumstances, Eleanor Roosevelt would have stopped being the First Lady after the 1940 elections, but another terrifying was had begun in Europe the preceding year, and it seemed that the united States might not be able to stay out of the conflict much longer. Because of this great danger the Democrats chose Franklin Roosevelt as their candidate again – event though no other president had ever served more than two terms. Mrs. Roosevelt felt strongly that, for the sake of the nation, her husband be reelected.
“I seem to have a calming effect,” she wrote to her old friend Hick. On countless occasions already – in a coal mine, an auto factory, at the top of the mountain – someone had glanced up and seen a tall woman who looked familiar. Then came the cry: “Gosh, there’s Eleanor!” During the war, American soldiers all over the world had the same experience.
The First Lady became the symbol of home to millions of homesick fighting men. Everywhere she went, she copied down the names and addresses of “the boys” she talked with, and then wrote heart warming noted to their parents in her return.
But on April 12, 1945 , while he was resting in Warm Spring Georgia , Franklin Roosevelt suddenly fainted. A few hours later, while Eleanor was making a speech in Washington , he died.
Outwardly calm, Mrs. Roosevelt waited at the White house for Vice President Harry Truman.
Truman’s eyes were filled with tears. His first words to Mrs. Roosevelt were, “Is there anything I can do for you? Mrs. Roosevelt replied as if her own feelings did not matter: Is there anything we can do for you? For you are the one in trouble now.”
Mrs. Roosevelt spent the rest of her life striving to promote the cause of peace. “The First Lady of the World,” President Truman would call her, she continued her work by joining the United Nations.
She retired from the U.N. when she was nearly seventy, but she still continued speaking and traveling. She went to Russia and Japan , to Israel and India , visiting peasants and prime misters, always spreading the message that world peace depends on international friendship.
By the start of the 60s, Mrs. Roosevelt’s health had begun failing. Yet she kept writing and speaking two more years – until a complicated blood disease made her enter a hospital. Shortly after her seventy – eight birthday, on November 7, 1962 , this world-famous woman died.
“She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness,” said Adlai Stevenson. “And her glow ha warmed the world.”
Source: Distant Shore, [n.p.] 1991
Comprehension Check
1.Why do you think Eleanor Roosevelt was called the First Lady of the World?
2.As you were reading the selection, what qualities of Eleanor Roosevelt do you admire most and why?
3.What does the last sentence of the text means?
4.If Eleanor Roosevelt were alive today, what difference, do you think, would she make in this highly modernized world?
SOURCE: Bermudez, V., Cruz, J., Gorgon, E., Nery, R., San Juan, M. English Expressways IV textbook
Determine information from various test types and sources using the card catalogue, vertical index, microfilm, CD – ROM internet, etc.
What are considered primary and secondary sources of information? Can you distinguish if a text comes from a primary or from secondary source?
Materials that provide direct, firsthand information about subjects and events are called primary sources of information. Some examples of this source of information are speeches, journals, original letters, literary works, and historical documents such as the Constitution of the Philippines . On the other hand, secondary sources provide indirect and secondhand information. These facts include those derived from other people’s ideas such as most books and articles in magazines, encyclopedia, and newspapers.
Read the article below, and then answer the questions that follow.
How Barangay Came to Be
An interesting discovery made in Butuan in the early seventies was that of a fossilized balangay, which was a long sailing vessel in common use throughout the Southeast Asian region in the pre-Spanish era. The barangay as a form of government was believed to have originated from the balangay.
A balangay had a hundred households at the most. It was led by a chieftain, called a Datu. Migrants from the Malaysian and Indonesian Islands came to our shores using the balangay. Once here, they formed their own settlements, a cluster of which formed a single town ruled by a lakan or a sultan. A confederacy of several settlements would join forces in case of aggression.
When the Spaniards came, they instituted the barangay as form of local government headed by a cabeza. The change from balangay to barangay seemed to have been made but the Spaniards who could not pronounce the nasal nga of the Filipinos and preferred the r to l. If the balangays of old were meant to preserve the peaceful and harmonious relationships between neighboring settlements, the Spanish barangay was used as a local instrument of the central government to pursue its colonial goals.
Comprehension check
1.What can you say about the archeological findings in Butuan during the seventies?
2.Describe the fossilized balangay. How was it related to the barangay we have today in our community?
3.What was a cabeza? A datu? A sultan?
4.Compare and contrast the barangay of today to the balangay of the pre-Spanish times in terms of structure and purpose.
5 .Does your own barangay live up to the purpose for which it was organized? Why or why not?
6.What is the source of the information presented about barangays?
7.What type of source of information was it? How did you know? Explain your answer.
8.Write a paragraph about the way of life of the people in your barangay.
2. Locating information from General and Primary Sources
There are several sources of information – print materials like news papers, periodicals, general references, and non-print materials like radio and audio tapes, nowadays, the internet is one big source of information where students go to as their need (especially in research ) arises.
As such, there’s a need to develop or enhance your skill in locating information from general and primary sources.
Find out from what source of information the text you are about to read, has been lifted.
Siesta
(An Excerpt)
Leopoldo R. Serrano
When I was a boy, one of the rules at home that I did not like at all was to be made to lie in the bare floor of our sala after lunch. I usually lay side by side with two other children in the family. We were forced to sleep by my mother. She watched us as she darned old dresses, read an awit, or hummed a cradle song in Tagalog.
She always reminded us that sleeping at noon enables children to grow fast like the grass in our yard. In this way, in most Filipino homes many years ago, the children were made to understand what the siesta was. Very often I had to pretend to be asleep by closing my eyes.
Once while my mother was away, I tried to sneak out of the house during the siesta hour. I had not gone far when I felt something hit me hard on the back. Looking behind, I saw my father. He was annoyed because I had disturbed his siesta. I picked up a pillow at my feet, gave it to him, and went back to our mat. The two other children were fast asleep. The sight of the whip, symbol of parental authority, hanging on one of the post, gave me no other choice but to lie down.
During my childhood, whenever we had house guests, my mother never failed to put mats and pillows on the floor of our living room after the noonday meal. Then she would invite our guest to have their siesta. Hospitality and good taste demanded that this be not overlooked.
The custom of having a siesta was introduced in our country by the Spaniards. Indeed, during the Spanish times, the Philippines was the land of the fiesta, the novena, and the siesta.
Many foreigners have noted this custom among our people. Some believed that even the guards at the gates of Intramuros had their siesta. It was a commonly known fact that every afternoon the gates of the city were closed for fear of a surprise attack.
The ayuntamiento of Manila or the commander of the regiment in Intramuros did well in ordering the closing of the gates during the siesta hour. Once, the Chinese living in Parian, just a short way from the Walled City, timed the beginning of one of their revolts by attacking at two o’clock in the afternoon. They were sure that the dons, including the guards and sentinels, were having their siesta. They felt that they would be more successful if the attack came at siesta time.
Even today visits to Filipino homes are not usually made between one o’clock and two o’clock in the afternoon. It is presumed that the people in the house are having their siesta. It is not polite to have them awakened from their noonday nap to accommodate visitors. There is a well-known saying believed by many of our people: “You may joke with a drunkard but not one who has been disturbed during his siesta.”
Our custom of having a siesta has not been greatly affected by American influence. We have not learned the Yankee’s bustle and eagerness or endurance for continuous work throughout the day.
But if only for its health-giving effects, we should be grateful to the Spaniards for the siesta, especially during the hot weather, for the siesta serves to restore the energy lost while working and a hot climate.
Comprehension check
1. What is siesta? Who introduced this practice to the Filipinos?
2. Is siesta still relevant to the modern day Filipino? Explain your answer.
3. Do you agree with the author’s statement at the end of the text? What scientific explanation or concept do you know that may justify a statement?
4. What source of information do you think the text came from? Why did you think so?
5. Make a research from books or through the internet of any activity, custom or tradition in other country that is similar to siesta among the Philippines.
3. Using Definition to Identify a Word in a Text
From time to time, while reading, you will see a word you cannot identify. When this happens, you should use a word identification strategy to identify the word.
One strategy you can use to identify a word in a text is by finding the definition of the word, and what better way of finding the definition of the word than using a dictionary. Look in the dictionary for the word and its phonetic respelling. Use the phonetic respelling to help you pronounce the word. Then look at the definitions provided for the word. Select the definition that best fits the meaning of the word as used in the text. Knowing the pronunciation of the word and its meaning should allow you to identify the word in the text.
Activity
Find the words from the text, Two in One, which mean the same as:
1.Something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor
2.Relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linquistic or cultural origin or background
3.Language peculiar to a particular group
4.Urge someone on or incited to action
5.Customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of racial, religious or social group
4. Deriving information from a Journalistic Text using a Vertical File
One of the best sources of information among the resources available at the library is the vertical file. Current information in the form of pamphlets, handbooks, booklets, and clippings is kept in a set of file cabinets called the vertical file.
For students like you who are into research, the vertical file offers a lot of journalistic texts from which you can derive the information you need.
What Filipino values are you familiar with? Find out if they are among the ones discussed in the text that follows.
The Filipino Way
The Filipino has a strong respect for the dignity of the human person and considers the other as an equal.. He is sensitive to people’s feelings, very trusting to a point of naiveté.
He is capable of genuinely relating to others, empathizing during times of stress, of need (pakikiramay, bayanihan).
On the one hand, this makes a good point d’ appui for a theology of liberation, source of moral consciousness, a Filipino concept of justice based on human dignity.
On the other hand, this very quality makes the Filipino tend to interpret personally any praise or criticism regarding business or work relationships. He has difficulty viewing things objectively.
Contrary to this other-orientedness is the kanya-kanya syndrome, the so-called crab mentality of pulling down, through gossips and intrigues, persons seen to have by – passed one in rank, wealth, and honor.
Family orientation towards, not only the nuclear members, but also the members of the clan (and even kumpadres) gives the Filipino a basic sense of security.
This has its source in the extended barangay of pre-Spanish times. Diplomacy (pakikisama), or the ability to have a smooth interpersonal relationship, is a good ground for the Christian virtue of tactfulness, of never wanting to hurt others.
This strong feeling of family relationship, loyalty, and unity becomes an extreme centeredness that can result in a lack of concern for the common good which breeds patronage, nepotism, political dynasties.
The Filipino can easily adjust to any situation. He can improvise. He is flexible. He is creative, perhaps, his history of having been colonized, his openness to western influence at the same time maintaining his Asian traits, account for this.
The present socio-economic situation has also greatly influenced him to make use of whatever materials he has at hand to produce. He needs to survive.
But centuries of colonization have somehow repressed him into a general state of passivity, a lack of initiative, a colonial mentality, and a certain degree of racial inferiority.
He consciously or unconsciously translates white or anything western as superior. A top criterion for personal beauty is fair skin, an aquiline nose: the mestiza, the mestizo.
A thing imported is of better value than a native product. Having stepped “abroad” is a highly desirable social status even if it meant being a “TNT” household help in the States.
The Filipino is innately religious. This is seen in his daily life where he relates personal experiences to the powerful plan of God.
Nasa tao ang gawa, nasa Diyos ang awa (Work is man’s, mercy is God’s). This makes him resigned to any tragic event in his life and a very fertile ground for faith, hope in all the powerful providence of God’s mercy, and for love.
At the same time, there is the danger of defeatism and a reliance on fate. Talagang ganyan ang swerte! (That’s fate!) is often the resigned reaction to any personal or social state of tragedy, calamity, or even the consequence of a wrong decision made.
The Filipino in his religiosity remains an animist at heart. The Filipino has a strong hedonistic approach to life. The number of pleasure-oriented R&R complexes reflects this.
This results in superficiality, a lack of self-analysis and reflection. There is a strong tendency to accept things and people at face value.
This also holds true even in our attitude regarding clothing. The Filipino is reputed to dress beyond his state in life and his affordability level, because of this superficial desire to appear well-off (maporma), instead of looking at things as they are. This sadly shows his utter lack of maturity as a person.
One sign, though, that a nation has come of age is the ability to reflect, to contemplate.
Whether these traits are values, value indicators, or whatever sophisticated term someone else coins, is immaterial. What counts is that these traits, though universal, are very much Filipino because these were shaped by the roots peculiar to the nation that experienced them: family and home environment, socio-economic factors, culture, language, history, education, religion, politics, and media.
The Filipino’s self-actualization, his identify, means the enhancement of all that is positive in him and the purification of his weaknesses.
Comprehension Check
1.What Filipino values are discussed in the selection—positive or negative? Justify your answer by citing proofs in the text.
2.How does the writer view the Filipino values as a whole? Why did you say so?
3.Do you agree with the last sentence of the text? Why or why not?
5.Does history play a role in the Filipino value system? Why/ why not?
A. Determine information from various test types and sources using the card catalogue, vertical index, microfilm, CD – ROM internet etc.
1. Distinguishing Different Types of Sources of Information” How Barangay Came to Be”
What are considered primary and secondary sources of information? Can you distinguish if a text comes from a primary or from secondary source?
Materials that provide direct, firsthand information about subjects and events are called primary sources of information. Some examples of this source of information are speeches, journals, original letters, literary works, and historical documents such as the Constitution of the Philippines . On the other hand, secondary sources provide indirect and secondhand information. These facts include those derived from other people’s ideas such as most books and articles in magazines, encyclopedia, and newspapers.
Read the article below, and then answer the questions that follow.
How Barangay Came to Be
An interesting discovery made in Butuan in the early seventies was that of a fossilized balangay, which was a long sailing vessel in common use throughout the Southeast Asian region in the pre-Spanish era. The barangay as a form of government was believed to have originated from the balangay.
A balangay had a hundred households at the most. It was led by a chieftain, called a Datu. Migrants from the Malaysian and Indonesian Islands came to our shores using the balangay. Once here, they formed their own settlements, a cluster of which formed a single town ruled by a lakan or a sultan. A confederacy of several settlements would join forces in case of aggression.
When the Spaniards came, they instituted the barangay as form of local government headed by a cabeza. The change from balangay to barangay seemed to have been made but the Spaniards who could not pronounce the nasal nga of the Filipinos and preferred the r to l. If the balangays of old were meant to preserve the peaceful and harmonious relationships between neighboring settlements, the Spanish barangay was used as a local instrument of the central government to pursue its colonial goals.
Comprehension check
What can you say about the archeological findings in Butuan during the seventies?
Describe the fossilized balangay. How was it related to the barangay we have today in our community?
What was a cabeza? A datu? A sultan?
Compare and contrast tha barangay of today to the balangay of the pre-Spanish times in terms of structure and purpose.
Does your own barangay live up to the purpose for which it was organized? Why or why not?
What is the source of the information presented about barangays?
What type of source of information was it? How did you know? Explain your answer.
Write a paragraph about the way of life of the people in your barangay.
2. Locating information from General and Primary Sources
There are several sources of information – print materials like news papers, periodicals, general references, and non-print materials like radio and audio tapes, nowadays, the internet is one big source of information where students go to as their need (especially in research ) arises.
As such, there’s a need to develop or enhance your skill in locating information from general and primary sources.
Find out from what source of information the text you are about to read, has been lifted.
Siesta
(An Excerpt)
Leopoldo R. Serrano
When I was a boy, one of the rules at home that I did not like at all was to be made to lie in the bare floor of our sala after lunch. I usually lay side by side with two other children in the family. We were forced to sleep by my mother. She watched us as she darned old dresses, read an awit, or hummed a cradle song in Tagalog.
She always reminded us that sleeping at noon enables children to grow fast like the grass in our yard. In this way, in most Filipino homes many years ago, the children were made to understand what the siesta was. Very often I had to pretend to be asleep by closing my eyes.
Once while my mother was away, I tried to sneak out of the house during the siesta hour. I had not gone far when I felt something hit me hard on the back. Looking behind, I saw my father. He was annoyed because I had disturbed his siesta. I picked up a pillow at my feet, gave it to him, and went back to our mat. The two other children were fast asleep. The sight of the whip, symbol of parental authority, hanging on one of the post, gave me no other choice but to lie down.
During my childhood, whenever we had house guests, my mother never failed to put mats and pillows on the floor of our living room after the noonday meal. Then she would invite our guest to have their siesta. Hospitality and good taste demanded that this be not overlooked.
The custom of having a siesta was introduced in our country by the Spaniards. Indeed, during the Spanish times, the Philippines was the land of the fiesta, the novena, and the siesta.
Many foreigners have noted this custom among our people. Some believed that even the guards at the gates of Intramuros had their siesta. It was a commonly known fact that every afternoon the gates of the city were closed for fear of a surprise attack.
The ayuntamiento of Manila or the commander of the regiment in Intramuros did well in ordering the closing of the gates during the siesta hour. Once, the Chinese living in Parian, just a short way from the Walled City, timed the beginning of one of their revolts by attacking at two o’clock in the afternoon. They were sure that the dons, including the guards and sentinels, were having their siesta. They felt that they would be more successful if the attack came at siesta time.
Even today visits to Filipino homes are not usually made between one o’clock and two o’clock in the afternoon. It is presumed that the people in the house are having their siesta. It is not polite to have them awakened from their noonday nap to accommodate visitors. There is a well-known saying believed by many of our people: “You may joke with a drunkard but not one who has been disturbed during his siesta.”
Our custom of having a siesta has not been greatly affected by American influence. We have not learned the Yankee’s bustle and eagerness or endurance for continuous work throughout the day.
But if only for its health-giving effects, we should be grateful to the Spaniards for the siesta, especially during the hot weather, for the siesta serves to restore the energy lost while working and a hot climate.
Comprehension check
1. What is siesta? Who introduced this practice to the Filipinos?
2. Is siesta still relevant to the modern day Filipino? Explain your answer.
3. Do you agree with the author’s statement at the end of the text? What scientific explanation or concept do you know that may justify a statement?
4. What source of information do you think the text came from? Why did you think so?
5. Make a research from books or through the internet of any activity, custom or tradition in other country that is similar to siesta among the Philippines.
3. Using Definition to Identify a Word in a Text
From time to time, while reading, you will see a word you cannot identify. When this happens, you should use a word identification strategy to identify the word.
One strategy you can use to identify a word in a text is by finding the definition of the word, and what better way of finding the definition of the word than using a dictionary. Look in the dictionary for the word and its phonetic respelling. Use the phonetic respelling to help you pronounce the word. Then look at the definitions provided for the word. Select the definition that best fits the meaning of the word as used in the text. Knowing the pronunciation of the word and its meaning should allow you to identify the word in the text.
Activity
Find the words from the text, Two in One, which mean the same as:
Something transmitted by or acquired from a predecessor
Relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linquistic or cultural origin or background
Language peculiar to a particular group
Urge someone on or incited to action
Customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of racial, religious or social group
4. Deriving information from a Journalistic Text using a Vertical File
One of the best sources of information among the resources available at the library is the vertical file. Current information in the form of pamphlets, handbooks, booklets, and clippings is kept in a set of file cabinets called the vertical file.
For students like you who are into research, the vertical file offers a lot of journalistic texts from which you can derive the information you need.
What Filipino values are you familiar with? Find out if they are among the ones discussed in the text that follows.
The Filipino Way
The Filipino has a strong respect for the dignity of the human person and considers the other as an equal.. He is sensitive to people’s feelings, very trusting to a point of naiveté.
He is capable of genuinely relating to others, empathizing during times of stress, of need (pakikiramay, bayanihan).
On the one hand, this makes a good point d’ appui for a theology of liberation, source of moral consciousness, a Filipino concept of justice based on human dignity.
On the other hand, this very quality makes the Filipino tend to interpret personally any praise or criticism regarding business or work relationships. He has difficulty viewing things objectively.
Contrary to this other-orientedness is the kanya-kanya syndrome, the so-called crab mentality of pulling down, through gossips and intrigues, persons seen to have by – passed one in rank, wealth, and honor.
Family orientation towards, not only the nuclear members, but also the members of the clan (and even kumpadres) gives the Filipino a basic sense of security.
This has its source in the extended barangay of pre-Spanish times. Diplomacy (pakikisama), or the ability to have a smooth interpersonal relationship, is a good ground for the Christian virtue of tactfulness, of never wanting to hurt others.
This strong feeling of family relationship, loyalty, and unity becomes an extreme centeredness that can result in a lack of concern for the common good which breeds patronage, nepotism, political dynasties.
The Filipino can easily adjust to any situation. He can improvise. He is flexible. He is creative, perhaps, his history of having been colonized, his openness to western influence at the same time maintaining his Asian traits, account for this.
The present socio-economic situation has also greatly influenced him to make use of whatever materials he has at hand to produce. He needs to survive.
But centuries of colonization have somehow repressed him into a general state of passivity, a lack of initiative, a colonial mentality, and a certain degree of racial inferiority.
He consciously or unconsciously translates white or anything western as superior. A top criterion for personal beauty is fair skin, an aquiline nose: the mestiza, the mestizo.
A thing imported is of better value than a native product. Having stepped “abroad” is a highly desirable social status even if it meant being a “TNT” household help in the States.
The Filipino is innately religious. This is seen in his daily life where he relates personal experiences to the powerful plan of God.
Nasa tao ang gawa, nasa Diyos ang awa (Work is man’s, mercy is God’s). This makes him resigned to any tragic event in his life and a very fertile ground for faith, hope in all the powerful providence of God’s mercy, and for love.
At the same time, there is the danger of defeatism and a reliance on fate. Talagang ganyan ang swerte! (That’s fate!) is often the resigned reaction to any personal or social state of tragedy, calamity, or even the consequence of a wrong decision made.
The Filipino in his religiosity remains an animist at heart. The Filipino has a strong hedonistic approach to life. The number of pleasure-oriented R&R complexes reflects this.
This results in superficiality, a lack of self-analysis and reflection. There is a strong tendency to accept things and people at face value.
This also holds true even in our attitude regarding clothing. The Filipino is reputed to dress beyond his state in life and his affordability level, because of this superficial desire to appear well-off (maporma), instead of looking at things as they are. This sadly shows his utter lack of maturity as a person.
One sign, though, that a nation has come of age is the ability to reflect, to contemplate.
Whether these traits are values, value indicators, or whatever sophisticated term someone else coins, is immaterial. What counts is that these traits, though universal, are very much Filipino because these were shaped by the roots peculiar to the nation that experienced them: family and home environment, socio-economic factors, culture, language, history, education, religion, politics, and media.
The Filipino’s self-actualization, his identify, means the enhancement of all that is positive in him and the purification of his weaknesses.
Comprehension Check
What Filipino values are discussed in the selection—positive or negative? Justify your answer by citing proofs in the text.
How does the writer view the Filipino values as a whole? Why did you say so?
Do you agree with the last sentence of the text? Why or why not?
Which of the values discussed, do you think, must be strengthened? Why? Which must be discarded? How can the Filipino redeem himself then?
Does history play a role in the Filipino value system? Why/ why not?
Summarize in five statements the information derived from the text.