Author: Cedric Katigbak

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By Lemuel San Gabriel, Raizza Mae Acuzar, and Cedric Allen Katigbak

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One of the highlights of the  second day of the week-long celebrations for the 18th Bañamos Festival themed “Tagumpay ng Bayan ay Matatamasa ng Mamamayang Nagkakaisa” was the  awarding of the outstanding citizens of Los Baños.

The commemorative program for the 2019 Los Baños Outstanding Citizens and Taxpayers was held at the Multipurpose/Evacuation Center in Brgy. Baybayin. The municipal government recognized the most outstanding teacher, government employee, police officer, and civil society organization, well as the top ten outstanding business establishments for being the most responsible taxpayers.

The awardees include:

1. Outstanding Public-School Teacher: Marlu P. Parot,
2. Outstanding Municipal Government Employee: Irene L. Bautista,
3. Outstanding Police Officer: PSSG. Romualdo B. Esguerra Jr. and,
4. Outstanding Civil Society Organization: Rotary Club of Los Baños

The recognition for the outstanding citizens of Los Baños aimed to acknowledge the individuals’ utmost commitment and competence to their line of work. Parot was recognized for her meaningful contribution to the development of the community, specifically the youth. Bautista, on the other hand, was commended for her dedication for being a public servant and having been efficient beyond office hours. Lastly, PSSG Esguerra Jr. was also recognized for his exemplary efforts for police operations against all forms of criminality which helped the revival of trust and confidence to the whole Philippine National Police.

The top ten business establishments taxpayers were:

1. Los Baños Doctors Hospitals and Medical Center Inc.
2. Waltermart Supermarket Inc.
3. Robinsons Supermarket Corporation
4. Puregold Price Club, Inc.
5. Grand Union Supermarket Inc. (South Supermarket)
6. HealthServ Los Baños Medical Center
7. Sanford Marketing Corporation (Savemore)
8. Laguna Water District Aquatech Resources Corporation
9. Mercury Drug – Los Baños, Laguna
10. Mercury Drug Corporation

These business establishments contributed highly through paying their tax diligently as a responsibility of their line of work. These taxes reflect mostly on the future of the town through different municipal and congressional projects the people ought to see.

Gracing the recognition ceremonies were Laguna Governor Ramil L. Hernandez together with his wife, 2nd District of Laguna Representative Ruth Mariano Hernandez. In her message, Rep. Hernandez emphasized that “the very key to success ay ‘yung sama-samang pagkakaisa ng mamamayan. Hindi namin kaya alone ang mga challenges na kinakaharap natin, we need the support and contribution of everyone.”

Also present in the event were the different schools, barangays, employees of different establishments, and representatives from the different sectors in Los Baños.

Shirley Labita from San Antonio Elementary School shared that the recognition of outstanding citizens serves as an inspiration for the members of the Los Baños community. She added that “…doon sa mga nanalo na lalong higit pa nilang pag-ibayuhin ang pagiging mamamayan ng Los Baños, (at) mamuhay nang alinsunod sa alituntunin ng Los Baños. At sa amin naman na hindi pinalad na manalo, siyempre pinagpupunyagi pa rin naming balang araw ay magiging outstanding din kami.”

Video Report link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YwwqmC6N2DjS29TY6es5KUK5VVEtad5H/view

Los Baños Times link:

Los Baños recognizes outstanding citizens, taxpayers for Bañamos 2019

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Back when I was little,  I always loved to read. My mother told me that one of the most notable abilities that I have is to read fast, and still comprehend.  It is just that, I forgot how to make reading a recreational activity. If the book or the write-up is beyond my field of interest, I start to lose motivation, and, eventually, read forcibly. At first, I wanted to put the blame on the speedy technological advancements that made me want to understand things in an instant. However, I know that I am also at fault because I did not practice myself in enjoying it while actually learning from it. Now, as an aspiring media writer, I know that reading is a crucial activity that I must practice until it eventually becomes part of my lifestyle.

Besides from ‘loves to read’, I did not give a grade of 1.00 for all the other qualities because I want to put a space for learning – to actually expand my horizons and to develop my character of being teachable. As a first year student of Development Communication, I admit that these qualities are not yet excellently instilled in me. Nonetheless, I believe that to possess them soon holistically is not far-fetched. This awareness within myself makes me excited to attend more of our classes and to pursue my ultimate character development: from an amateur to a competent media writer.

I think I would have to start with learning how to gather information – to be able to look for news-worthy stories, and people who can provide valid testimonies regarding those accounts. I believe that to desire to be a media writer is to practice looking for significant human experiences. This is the first step, which is a really big one.

For me, I have developed the skill of writing clearly and effectively the most. This was because of the several experiences I have had for the past years. Firstly, as the Public Information Officer of our school’s student government, I learned how to disseminate information in a manner that is understandable to all. Being in our school’s Radio Broadcasting Team also taught me to write with brevity because the program only airs for five minutes. Just like in the real media world, writing straight-to-the-point is really important especially in this era where every person wants to grasp information promptly.

Performing self-rating as a media writer will make us envision how much work there is to do. Work that will make us equipped for a bigger responsibility in the future: to ignite empowerment, and to foster development.

The meaning of development varies from each development decade. Does this also mean that the characteristics of a dev’t-oriented topic evolve from time to time? If so, what is the criterion that should be met for a topic to be considered developmental?

Thankfully, I was given the chance to ask our own Student Council, our leaders, on what particular characteristics a dev’t-oriented topic should possess. Go over this infographic to know more about their responses!

Their answers vary in form and scope, but the common denominator reminded me of what Flor and Ongkiko stated in 2006, that ‘the true measure of development is man’. Therefore a topic is not development-oriented if its focus is not on the people. A topic can be about a hospital, but a dev’t-oriented one should be about people’s health. A topic can be about the physical structure of a school, but a dev’t-oriented one should focus on the quality of education. Moreover, the top three characteristics that are given by our student leaders all lead to action.

After it focused on the marginalized, it then empowers them. Their empowerment will lead to participation, and booms out to the elevation of their socioeconomic status.

Only then we will realize that a development-oriented topic is an action-oriented measure.

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Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and Virginia Woolf are just some of the female personalities that our male writer looks up to. His interest in feminist poetry led to his sudden strike of awareness that life, in this patriarchal society, is difficult for women. He understood how privileged he is as a male-born Filipino citizen; he recognized that several accounts of inequality is in front of him daily; and he realized that he must start doing something as early as today. Apparently, his once narrow view of the society widened during his Senior High School days when he took up the Humanities and Social Sciences strand.

Men cannot be feminists – is the biggest misconception that he wants to quash. One of his actions in this personal advocacy is by finishing his grounded-theory qualitative paper titled Gender Neutrality as Linguistic Prescription in 21^st Century Western Pop Music. His paper explained the socio-linguistic phenomenon involved in gender politics where women are characterized in sexist ways by several artists in the music industry, which is a very influential platform. He strongly believes that development starts when both women and men are respected in literature, language, and mainstream media. Campus Journalism has also been his haven of expression as he has written articles about gender inclusive education, and the necessity of gender equality in the country’s progress. All of these are with the hopes of utilizing this harmless and non-violent avenue to ignite gender-inclusive movements in his school.

Our writer was just nine-years-old when he started as a Sports Writer in their school publication. After exploring the action-packed world of balitang pampalakasan, he jumped into photojournalism and learned to capture the stories that are worth-telling. From writing and photography, he discovered his desire to speak the truth which expounds why he geared towards becoming the News Anchor of their school’s Radio Broadcasting team.

Now seventeen, he is currently a Development Communication major at the university named after the country. This harnessed his utak, knowing the technicalities in mass media writing, and puso, understanding the need to address the disparity in socio-economic experiences of 108 million Filipinos. As an aspiring lawyer, he believes that the pen is mighty enough to make people realize that women’s rights are human rights.