The Roll Call

by Sahara Alia Jauhali Silongan

More than willing to participate at the local elections last summer, Koo-koo, my 15-year-old boyish cousin, gathered her strength and went to the nearest voting precinct. Standing outside the window of what happened to be an unfinished construction of an elementary school, Koo-koo observed the voting process as a group of men and women of all ages gathered around the area. A tall soldier in his camouflage uniform blocked the people from passing through the doorway. In his hand was a sheet of paper he held tightly as he read each name out loud.

            “Datu Ali Sarip!” the soldier called out.

            At once, a middle-aged man in his worn out shirt and faded jeans raised his hand and walked toward the soldier. “That’s me,” he said.

            The soldier let him in and called out the next name. From the wooden window, Koo-koo observed Datu Ali as he approached the table where another soldier handed him a ballot sheet. He took a seat in one of the chairs available, along with the other voters, and then filled up the sheet of paper. As soon as he finished, he submitted the ballot to the soldier in charged who had him sign the sheet of paper with his thumb mark.

            It was that easy, Koo-koo thought. Now all she needed was the perfect timing.

            “Norhainie Utto,” the soldier by the doorway summoned as he read the next name on the list. When nobody walked forward, the soldier called once again. “Isn’t there any Norhainie Utto here?” he asked out loud, scanning the queue.

            Sensing that there is no Norhainie Utto in the crowd, Koo-koo took her chance. She raised her hand. “I am Norhainie Utto,” she voiced out. The soldier nodded toward her direction and let her into the small room. In her boy-cut hair, loose shirt and baggy pants, Koo-koo pushed her way through the crowd and approached the soldier by the table.

            “Name,” the soldier demanded.

            “Norhainie Utto,” Koo-koo proudly announced. Her hands in her pockets, she patiently waited as the soldier scanned for the name in the information sheet.

            “Did you say you’re Norhainie Utto?” asked the soldier, throwing her a suspicious look.

            “Yes, I am Norhainie Utto,” said Koo-koo, her head held high.

            “I see,” said the soldier, turning the information sheet over for Koo-koo to see. “You sure don’t look like the woman in the picture.”

            Before Koo-koo could protest, a colored image of an old woman frowned before her.

            “I didn’t realize you’re that old,” said the soldier, crossing his arms on his chest.

            Koo-koo couldn’t look into the soldier’s eyes. How she wished she would just disappear.       

            “Did you dye your hair black?” asked the soldier, sensing her agitation.

            Koo-koo cleared her throat and faced the soldier with a smile. “I’m sorry,” she said, letting out a laugh, “For a moment there, I thought I was Norhainie Utto.”

Before the man could speak, Koo-koo tiptoed her way out of the room with her head bowed and her hands cold inside her pockets. She hurriedly ran outside as soon as she reached the doorway that people followed her with strange looks on their faces.

“Try your luck in the other precincts, young man,” called out the soldier.

Ayoko ng Pork

by Sahara Alia Jauhali Silongan

It was a sunny afternoon probably two or three summers ago. Back then, my parents and I would usually hang out by the garden under the mango tree and have our little chitchat. I stretched my legs and rested them on the round table as I leaned comfortably against the rubber chair. Father sat next to me while Mother was busy spraying her orchids.

“What if,” began my father, “you were starving to death and you only had two choices for your meal: a stewed beef from a stolen cow or a cooked pork that is ‘legally’ yours, perhaps given by a neighbor. Now, which meal would you eat?”

I smiled at my father as I thought hard for an answer. I love it when he posts questions that require a lot of thinking on my part. It makes me feel as if we were both lawyers working for the same law firm and that I was his partner.  “Well,” I said, “I’d rather eat the stewed beef.”

Father must have expected my answer. But of course, he and Mother raised me as a Muslim though I don’t exactly remember them lecturing me not to eat pork or anything that contains swine’s meat or blood. It must have been a common knowledge in the family as if each child was born with the restriction already instilled in his innocent brain. I was surprised to hear my father’s answer though.

“I would, possibly, eat the pork,” he said, flashing a knowing smile at me. “Eating a stolen food might cause me stomach aches. Now I wouldn’t want that to happen.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Yuck,” I said, “I can’t imagine myself eating pork. I’d rather starve.”

Some people, particularly Christians, think it’s hard to restrict oneself from eating pork. “Tubuan ka na ng pakpak niyan,[1]” my friends would say whenever I have to eat chicken meat for an entire week at the school canteen. But I have no complaints. Like what I said to my father, I would rather starve than eat pork even if it is the last choice I have.

Back in Cotabato, mealtime has never become an issue to me because restaurant owners as well as staff at the school canteen know which food to serve their customers. They clearly specify which food contains pork and which one doesn’t as a way of respect to those who don’t eat the meat. But things are different in Davao. Almost every canteen or cheap restaurant I go to have 80% pork in its menu. These people do serve chicken and beef but I fear that they might be using the same utensils or oil when cooking each meal. Even in well-known food chains, I have to do my inquiries. For instance, my friends and I happened to be hanging out in Matina Town Square and we could only afford to eat dinner at Taps. While my peers had already taken their orders, I, on the other hand, had my hesitations. I had to ask the waiter.

“Excuse me,” I said while the waiter in yellow uniform positioned his pad and pen, ready to take my order. “I have to ask. Do you use the same utensils in cooking your meals?”

“No, ma’am,” he said. His face was serious as he answered that I had to believe him.

“What about the oil? Do you use the same oil?”

“No, ma’am. We use them separately.”

“Are you willing to bet your soul on it?” I said lightheartedly, sending chuckles to a friend who sat beside me. I didn’t mean to give the waiter a hard time but I had to make sure. I feel that eating a chicken that is cooked with the same oil as used in cooking a pork meal is almost the same as eating pork per se.

The waiter just smiled and patiently took my order.

I came back two weeks later and did the same inquiry on another waitress. This time, I received a positive answer. The waitress confirmed that they use the same utensils in cooking every meal.  Upon hearing this, I turned away and let out a curse. Then I had to contain myself. I was innocent, I thought. Allah will understand.

It’s a wonder to various individuals why Muslims don’t eat pork. I know a lot of people who respect my food restrictions but I doubt it if they knew the reasons behind this diet. I, for one, believe in two reasons behind this Islamic regulation. First, it is said so in Sura 16, Verse115 of the Holy Qur’an:

He has only forbidden you dead meat, and blood, and the flesh of swine, and any (food) over which the name of other than Allah has been invoked. But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, then Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

            I believe that Allah wouldn’t forbid Muslims from eating pork if it were not for their own benefit. I personally believe that eating pork is unhealthy to the body. Even when I was young, I witnessed how our neighbor’s pigs eat from dirt and I couldn’t imagine eating something that once fed from filth. My non-Muslim friends would defend that pigs are boiled and cleaned before they are cooked so it really is safe to eat them. Others would also point out that chickens and cows often eat from dirt as well. I wouldn’t argue on those points but the thing is, my abstention from eating pork is not just something out of religious belief for it has become something psychological.

I have never been tempted into eating pork no matter how juicy a pork barbeque would look like or how my companions would devour pork chops and lechon baboy while their lips become too glossy from eating. As long as I know that a food contains anything haraam[2], I will never be tempted to eat it regardless of the hunger I feel. It is as if my mind automatically rejects the idea.

            It is only later when I learned the deeper reasons behind this Islamic regulation. Medical reports state how consumption of pork cause a number of diseases such as risks of high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke due to the high cholesterol contained in the pig’s meat, and other ailments carried by harmful germs like tapeworm diseases. Furthermore, Muslim scholars explain that consumption of pork affects an individual not just physically but also in moral and spiritual ways. As Rashid Shamsi puts it in his article, “Why Islam Forbids Pork,”

Anything, which is harmful for the body, hurts the soul as well. Consumption of swine-flesh reduces the feeling of shame and as such the standard of modesty. It creates lowliness in character and destroys moral and spiritual faculties in a man.

            Backed up by physicians and medical experts, Shamsi explains that the process of eating doesn’t just end with the digestive system. What one eats is absorbed by the body system including the brain and this, according to Shamsi, “in no small way affects man’s nature.” He further explains that pigs are naturally lazy, indulgent in sex, dirty, greedy and gluttonous and these traits could be attained by pork-eaters. Shamsi proves this as he states the plight he witnessed among those who eat pork. According to him, “Those nations, which consume pork habitually, have a low standard of morality with the result that virginity, chastity and bashfulness are becoming a thing of the past in Europe today.” This statement may turn out to be disputable to some people for reasons that consumption of pork could not have been the primary cause of moral degradation in some countries. There’s no point on arguing with that because the point here is that aside from a person’s upbringing, education and environment, consumption of pork is a small factor that generally affects a person’s behavior.

As Resil B. Mojares’ writes in his article, “We are what we eat.” I definitely don’t want to be as lazy, sex indulgent, dirty, greedy and gluttonous as pigs. I most certainly wouldn’t want to get a risk of heart attack or catch a tapeworm disease. But then I see that my father has a point when he would rather eat pork than suffer from stomach pains or hunger. Indeed, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful if eating pork is the only way to save one’s life from starvation. But until then, ayoko pa rin ng pork.[3]

Reference:

Shamsi, Rashid. “Why Islam Forbids Pork.” The Muslim World League Journal. Internet.

Online. WWW. Address. http://www.islam.tc/ask-imam/view.php?q=6031.

October 1999.

Lost in the Grease World

by Sahara Alia Jauhali Silongan

Grease

The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture

Robert Stigwood Organization label, 1978.

Re-released by Polygram International, 1998.

After watching Grease on HBO three years ago, I can’t help but fall in love once again with the 70s (although the movie was actually set in the 50s). I love the oldies and I find no better ways of spending a worry-free day than staying at home and listening to Oldies Radio play hits from the 50s to 70s. I confess that listening to songs older than me brings a nostalgic feeling -- as if I long for something that has long been gone. Upon hearing this confession, my father teased that perhaps I am reincarnated from the 50s or 60s. One of my professors even said that I might be lost in a time warp. Indeed, listening to the Grease Original Soundtrack, takes me to a different world some time in the 50s as the music provides me with both wistful as well as fun moments while it plays sentimental music along with the hip and groove of the golden years.

The soundtrack comprises of 23 different tracks that are arranged not in the same order as they were played in the movie. Instead, what the producers did was to put the more popular songs on the first part of the list then arranged the rest in such a way that provides no dull moment for the listeners by playing the blues alternately with the groovy ones.

The album opens with the movie’s official theme song  “Grease” sang by Frankie Vallie and is written especially for the film by former member of the Bee Gees, Barry Gibb. As I listen to the track, I can’t avoid but relive the movie in my head. Undeniably, it’s hard for me to listen to the soundtrack without the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies popping in my mind. When John Travolta starts singing, “Summer lovin’ had me a blast,” in the next track, “Summer Nights,” I become completely lost in the Grease world. I suddenly turn into one of the Pink Ladies singing “Tell me more, tell me more” alongside Olivia Newton John who goes “Summer days drifted away.” This track has become one of my personal favorites and that I often find myself humming to its tune of shoo bop bop and doo bee doop even as I finish listening to the album.

From an upbeat all-cast track that got me swaying to and fro, the next single, on the other hand, is a sentimental love song that had me sit back and relax as I listen to Olivia Newton-John sing “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” The track might be considered a certified oldies hit as it is among our mothers’ favorite songs of all time but listening to the song’s lyrics as sang by Newton-John’s sweet voice makes me feel how it is to be young and in love. I can imagine the shy and charming Sandy Dombrowski (Newton-John) falling for Danny Zuko (Travolta), the leader of the coolest male group in Rydell High, the T-Birds.

Once again, Travolta and Newton-John exhibit their chemistry as they perform a duet in “You’re The One That I Want.” The part of the film on which the single was performed has become the most popular moment in the movie that even twenty years later, the concept of the scene is experienced again in music videos like Jordan Knight’s “Give It To You” and JA Rule’s “Mesmerized” to name a few.

Still hanging on to the bubbly tune of “You’re The One That I Want,” I find myself transported to one of Rydell High’s benches, listening to Danny Zuko express his sentiments as Sandra Dee leaves him. Travolta’s solo performance in “Sandy” proves that aside from being a good actor and dancer, he is not that bad at all when it comes to singing. Meanwhile, from a teen-idol singing voice in “Sandy,” Travolta transforms into an Elvis clone as he deepens his voice in “Greased Lightnin,” a song that clearly illustrates boys’ obsession with cars.

What’s good about the soundtrack is that no matter how old it gets, it would still appeal to the young generation with the songs’ theme encircling on high school experiences. “Beauty School Dropout” sang by Frankie Avalon, for instance, sends a message to high school girls who look forward to shopping and parlor visits rather than going to school. “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee” by Stockard Canning, on the other hand, mocks Sandy’s character as she refuses to drink or swear or cut out her hair. Newton-John performs a single with the same title as her character, Sandy reflects on being “wholesome and pure, so scared and unsure” and that she wants to change. Meanwhile, “There Are Worse Things I Could Do,” again by Canning, turns out to be a confession of a mean girl.

“It’s Raining On Prom Night” by Cindy Bullens, however, is the single that I consider would best remind one of high school days no matter which decade the listener belongs to. From here, the music takes me to Rydell High’s gymnasium where I find myself joining the class of 1958 in their Senior Prom.

In my yellow dress and a flower pinned on my chest, I take a seat with the Pink Ladies and we will have a little chitchat as the performing band, the Sha-Na-Na plays “Those Magic Changes.” A blue-eyed T-Bird suddenly grabs me by the hand and takes me to the dance floor as the bands starts playing “Rock N’ Roll Is Here To Stay” and later on we boogie to the band’s rendition of Elvis’ “Hound Dog.”

Exhausted from swinging and swaying on the dance floor, my partner and I decide to grab a seat and watch as Danny and Sandy, with their dance partners, join the dance showdown to the tune of “Born To Hand Jive.” No less than ten minutes, I find myself back on the dance floor as my partner and I slow dance to the tune of “Blue Moon” and “Tears On My Pillow.” With his arms around my waist, I rest my head on his shoulders and close my eyes in order to feel the moment.

As I open my eyes, I realize that I am back in my own room, one with pink flowered wallpaper. The prom has ended but I haven’t got the chance to ask my partner’s name that out of regret, I start to spend my days alone in my room. Still trap in the 50s, I wonder about my mysterious dance partner’s identity and I comfort myself by listening to “Mooning” by Louis St. Louis and Cindy Bullens followed by “Freedy My Love.” Then I begin to cheer up when Louis and Bullens start singing “Rock N’ Roll Party Queen.”

Some time later, I begin to hear cheers and shouts from outside my room. I look out the window to find the Senior Class out in Rydell High’s field celebrating their upcoming graduation. A sudden urge to join them well up inside me that I run outside. Alongside the leaders of the pack, Danny Zuko and Sandy Dombrowski, together with the T-Birds in their leather jackets and the Pink Ladies in their pink sweaters, I join the class of 1958 as they sing the rama lama lama kiding kiding kidong and shoo bop shoo ba wee bop tunes from “We Go Together.”

My fantasy ends with the movie’s opening themes: the instrumental version of “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing,” and Frankie Valli’s “Grease” which is also the closing theme of the movie.

Its potential to make the listeners sway and harmonize with its music no matter which generation they belong to makes the Grease Original Soundtrack the second biggest-selling in pop history (after the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, to which the film also starred John Travolta). [1] There is certainly no dull moment in the soundtrack that a running length of an hour and four minutes is definitely more than satisfactory. All 24 tracks are worth listening to that there is no need to push the Forward and Rewind or the Previous and Next buttons of one’s music player.  The album is packed with songs that would comfort listener of any age who is in the mood to relax or to simply have some fun and perhaps anyone who is interested to take a trip back to 1958 and witness the excitement happening in Ol’ Rydell High.

A Nostalgia Trip/Review of Björk’s Post
John Bengan
01-62083

Music Review

Artist: NSYNC

Album: Celebrity

I was searching for my Bible in the box. I kept it together with my old photocopies so I had a hard time looking for it. As I took all the photocopies, a cassette tape fall and landed on the Bible. It was my ultimate crush, Justin Timberlake on the cover of the tape. I realized that it was NSYNC’s Celebrity album, the album that I junked in the box two years ago. I took it and I decided to listened to it.

The first song “Pop” was the first song in the album. It was Justin and JC’s angry voices accompanied by fractured drum machines and gritty guitars in the song. I tried to sing with them but I already forgotten the lyrics, so I ended up stamping my feet because though I last played that song two years ago still its beat made me want to dance. It was so NSYNC but with electronic guitars on the background. Then Celebrity, a song wherein there were scratching in the background, the sound effects of the camera and the crowd noise, followed it. I thought that NSYNC intended to include those backgrounds because celebrities were very often have their photographs taken. It was again Justin and JC’s voices that could be heard. It was followed by another dance song “The Game is Over” where bells, whistles, vocoder of a man and computer game blips were the background. The band wail “ how could you think that you do me like that?” over a mental breakdown bit which collapses. I was fascinated by the fact that in this album NSYNC didn’t sing like a typical boy band. I mean, though there were still dance tracks, the songs were not that cheesy anymore. After those dance tracks, RnB, hiphop and ballad songs followed then dance tracks. There were songs entitled “Tell me, tell me baby…” and “Just don’t tell me that” which reminded me of Backstreet Boys’ “The Call” minus the shouting and wailing, computer blips and electronic guitar. The beats were the same, in fact. Another song was played entitled "Selfish", as JC's voice started the song, i realized that this was my most favorite song in the album because it was very sentimental and backed up by JC who sounded like he was crying when he sung the line "Selfishly, i'm in love with you coz i've search my soul i now that it's you... what's wrong with being selfish...". When the song ended, i didn't cry like i did before instead I hated it because it was very cheesy... the cheesiest of all the songs. I didn’t finish listening to the songs in the album because though the songs used modern electronic guitars, with all those computer blips, and the wailings and cuss words, the boyband flavor was still there. They were trying to get away from the boyband brand but its useless because their songs were still very boyband and it was irritating to hear. I couldn’t imagine myself being an obsessed NSYNC fan years ago. I was ashamed of myself.

Lyrically, every track, I guess, on Celebrity was about love and fame. And of all the songs that I’ve heard, I was looking for the other three member of the band’s, Lance, Joey and Chris, voices because only Justin’s and JC’s that I heard. It seemed that they were for chorus only, chorus boys in short.

After listening to some of the songs, I threw it in the box and took my Bible. I couldn’t imagine that the guys from NSYNC were my Gods and their albums were my Bible years ago. I saw that I had NSYNC-featured-magazines in the box. I hurriedly closed the box and started to read the Bible.

Brecil Kempis

Kung adunay masunugan og balay, kadaghanan sa inyoha kay masubo gayud kay gahuna-huna mo sa ilang mga gamit nga nasunog ug gani ginasulti ninyo nga maayo nga makawatan mo kaysa masunugan kay aduna pa may mahabilin sa inyong mga gamit ug labaw sa tanan naa pa ang balay nga inyong gipuy-an. Unsa na lang kaha no kung usa ka-baryohan ang masunog? Samot gyud mo nga masubo pag-ayo. Mura og kumuton ang inyong mga dughan pagkakita ninyo sa mga nasunugan. Mura pod og nasinati pod ninyo ang kalbaryo sa mga nasunugan og balay. Apan taman lang gyud mo sa pagkasubo kay imbes nga manabang mo og hakot sa ilahang mga gamit, manabang hinuon mo og tan-aw. Maglurat gyud ang inyong mga mata sa pagtan-aw sa mga nasunugan nga nagsalimuang sa pagbitbit sa ilang mga butang.

Ting paniudto man to di ba katong nasunog ang usa ka baryohan? Nakita ninyo nga adunay magtiayon nga katigulang nga tungod siguro sa karatol, usa ka kaldero lang ang ilang nadala. Gidayungan pa gani nila ang gikagid nga kaldero dayon sa ilang pagdali-dali, nayabo ang kaldero ug milugwa sa inyong atubangan ang nag-inusara nga usa ka-ulo sa isda nga tulay nga gitinola. Naniudto siguro tong mga tigulang dayon pag-ingon nga adunay sunog, kaldero ra gyud ang nabitbit ug nayabo pa gyud ang sulod. Dayon inyoha ra pod gitan-aw ang ulo sa isda uban ang magtiayon. Dayon katong pagkakita ninyo nga mikatay ang kalayo sa inyong simbahan, “Diyos ko! Diyos ko!” lang ang inyong gisulti. Nagadako ang kalayo, nagakusog pod ang inyong pagsulti og “Diyos ko Diyos ko!” Wala gyud mo miundang og sulti taman wala naugdaw ang inyong simbahan. Wala gyud makatabang ang inyong gipangsulti kay wala gyud naminaw sa inyong Ginoo ang kalayo.

Nakita pod ninyo ang usa ka babaye nga ang balay kay duol sa tubig nga duro sa panghakot sa mga gamit sa ilang balay dayon didto lang sa tubig gipanglabay. Nakita ninyo nga gilabay sa babaye ang t.v sa tubig dayon dagko na kaayo iyang singot nga gaal-sa sa mga gisulod og malong nga mga biste dayon gilabay lang pod niya sa tubig. Maskin unsa na lang to iyang gipanglabay kay duol na ang kalayo sa iyang balay. Gitan-aw ra ninyo ang iyang mga gamit nga nanga-anod. Mura bag nanganta og bye-bye-bye ang mga butang sa ilang amo. Pagkahuman niya og panglabay sa iyang gamit sa tubig, miambak dayon siya para mutabok sa fishpond. Pahapay pa gani dayon ang babaye noh pagtunga niya gikan sa tubig. Ug gitan-aw ra ninyo siya nga naghilak kay napamalandungan siguro niya nga naanod tanan ang iyang gipanghakot ug nanghakot pa siya. Gitan-aw ra pod ninyo ang mga bayot nga mga baga kaayo og make-up dayon mga naka-tube nga milukdo og refrigerator dayon ang usa kay ang usa gyud ka lamisa nga kahoy ug dako pa gyud ang gipas-an. Nanan-aw ra gyud mo ba. Gitan-aw ra pod ninyo ang nag-inusara nga bombero nga kagang-kagang ang dinaganan. Nagkuha pa gyud og tubig kay wala diay sulod. Kung sa ilang paghawa, duha pa lang kabalay ang nasunog, pagbalik nila kay napulo na ang nasunog nga balay kay nadautan diay. Gitan-aw ra gyud ninyo ang taya-on nga bombero, basi gani gihuna-huna ninyo nga pwede na ipatimbang sa baligyaan og puthaw tungod sa kadaan na niini. Nanan-aw ra gyud mo.

Ngano kaha noh? Taman lang gyud mo sa tan-aw. Pareha gyud ta.

Brecil Kempis

humor(?) writing

Column Writing

            One of our distinguishing traits as Filipinos is our high regard to family ties. Many generations have passed but still our filial bond gets stronger. In different times and places, we find ways to establish and strengthen relationships. We make use of whatever technology could offer in order to bridge distance and space. The different means of communication are indeed helpful in bringing the lives of the Filipinos closer.

            Communication has progressed significantly through time. Sometimes, we identify the improvement of a certain time through the advancement of the technologies including the field of communication.  It is interesting to note that our communities are increasing their potentials through the modern technologies. What had been impossible before can now be achieved.

            I am lucky to have been born in a modern age where almost everything works in just a push of a button. Keeping in touch with my family and friends is easier now compared to the time when my parents were still in college.  In 1970s, when my parents pursued their studies in Cebu, the letter was the most common means of communication for the masa who cannot afford pay for expensive phone calls. My father once told me that he seldom kept in touch with his parents who were in Leyte during his college days. He asked for his monthly allowance through letters. Sometimes the money arrived late because the postal service was slow. On the other hand, my mother who was also studying in Cebu used the same way of communicating. When she wanted to make her letter arrive faster in Butuan City, she sent her letters through her friends in the shipping company.

            When emergency arises, the telegram was the cheapest way to send an express message. The telegram was the earlier version of the test messages that we have nowadays. The difference is that one has to go to a telegram center and relay the message to an attendant. The attendant is responsible in writing the message in short cut. The charge depends on the number of words in the message. The shorter the message is the cheaper is the payment. I remembered the time when my father received a telegram from Leyte informing him of the death of my grandmother. The message was: Uli Leyte. Nanay patay gahapon. -Tatay.  Sometimes telegram messages are funny to read but I realized that its modern counterpart, the text messages are funnier. Well, it shows that we Filipinos are creative in putting down words whether in a paper or in a cellphone screen.

            Another unique way of relaying urgent message with less cost is through the panawagan service in radio stations. This is very popular in provincial areas where there were no modern facilities yet. My maternal grandmother is fond of this. She always went to the local radio station and gave her message to the radio announcer. The disadvantage of this method is that, when the recipient of the message is not listening to radio during panawagan portion, he/she would surely miss the message.

             The telephone is the most convenient way of keeping in touch with someone, especially if there’s an emergency. In my Bislig, during the 1980s, only the rich could afford this necessity. Most of the people went to calling stations in order communicate. In the 1990s, these calling stations installed fax machines so their costumers can have another option.

            The advent of the internet in computers and cellular phones made way to a faster and more advanced way of communicating domestically and internationally. Most of us now prefer to send our messages through e-mail. People could now talk through on-line and voice chat. A web cam is an advantage because one can see the other person who he/she is communicating with on the computer monitor. I keep in touch with my friends in high school through Friendster.com and other e-groups. There are many websites in the internet that gives one linkages to friends, families, companies and other networks. Moreover, my parents could now track me anytime, anywhere through text or call using the cell phone. Nowadays, pen pals become text mates and chat mates. Friendship, family ties and other associations can now be managed with just a few clicks. Even marriage proposal now becomes instant.

            The impressive changes in the field of communication in some ways improved relationship. Distance is no longer a problem. We can now be connected with our loved ones as frequent and as fast as we could. Connecting Lives, a cellphone company uses this slogan promoting their communication gadgets. As time pass by, the tools of communication are getting more sophisticated. We can now have more options in keeping in touch with everyone around the world. These advancements, if used appropriately, could make the bond of relationships even stronger.

            Time can testify how much the Filipinos give much importance to a trait that is now slowly dying in other parts of the world. In different faces and in different means, we uphold the value of relationships, especially family relationships. We could only hope that as our world becomes more modern and complicated, this value will never change and would always be cherished by every Filipino.  

 Charisse Mae Ampo