Refocusing Perspectives

1. A teen in black dress emerging from an ophthalmologist and eyecenter and who speedily walked away from the vicinity. 2. A woman walked calmly through the warzone which upset her friends who shouted, "what the hell are you thinking? There is an ongoing war!" 3. A thick comic Bible read many times and left on a shelf. 4.  Sunsets, sunrise. 5. A disposable Kodak camera handed down while sailing to an island. 6. ... (more)

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Executive Order No. 70 on December 4, 2018. This EO provides for the  institutionalization of the “ whole-of-nation ”  approach in attaining inclusive and sustainable peace, creating a national task force to end local communist armed conflict, and directing the adoption of a National Peace Framework. The EO defines this National Peace Framework as an embodiment of “ principles, policies, plans, programs, for inclusive and sustainable peace; address the root causes of insurgencies, internal disturbances and tensions as well as other armed conflicts and threats in identified areas. It will include a mechanism for localized peace engagements or negotiations and interventions that is nationally orchestrated, directed, supervised, while being locally implemented. ” This Whole-of-A-Nation as an approach is inspired on the Joint Communique of the 50 th  ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Manila on August 5, 2017 which posits the proc...

1.  Enact priority measures mandated by the Bangsamoro law such as Electoral Code, Civil Service Code, Administrative Code, and other relevant policy including rules of proceedings; 2.  Review and integrate the Bangsamoro Development Plan, the Regional Development Plan of ARMM, the Camp Transformation Plan, and other Bangsamoro plans to make them responsive to the current needs. 3.  Study and design the appropriate bureaucracy for the Bangsamoro Government to ensure the right balance between the size of the bureaucracy and the services that need to be delivered as well as the appropriate skills required of people in the bureaucracy; 4.  Set up program that will respond to the pressing social and economic challenges in the Bangsamoro such as poverty, education, health, access to clean water and electricity, job opportunity, agriculture productivity, and access to capital market. These must be complemented with responsive strategic infrastructure in the region s...

[Picked this up from my teeny historic notes I was able to preserve among the collage of photos. Rereading this amused me and made me realized how soberly tangled I was on the idea of peace and political liberty in my teenage days. I cannot remember what sparked this reflection/essay. - V ] I am what I am. This is not a declaration of self-acceptance alone, rather an affirmation of my "I" that primarily defines my essence. I am not what others are thinking and talking about me. I think, I judge, I evaluate. I make my own choice. I resolve my own circumstance. I need nobody to police myself. I am responsible primarily not to anybody but to myself. I love all that I am. I mean what I say and say what I mean. I think, I will, and I act. My hand is my life. My world is my ink. My thought is its soul. The transformation of my thoughts into words are my strength made visible. I don't believe in dreams; dreams are proofs of mediocrity. I believe on my mind, my reason, my...