But then again, there are groups that still want this country to be thrown back to the past, like the proposal by party-list representatives who submitted last Tuesday House Bill 1563 seeking to make Filipino the primary medium of instruction in the country. The sponsors of this bill are Gabriela Rep. Liza Masa, Bayan Muna Reps. Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Birador and Anakpawis Reps. Crispin Beltran and Rafael Mariano who want to replace English as the language of instruction in the educational system. These left-leaning people believe that the use of the national language in the country’s schools would better promote love of Filipino. They said the national language is much easier for students to understand. Well, not for us Cebuanos, it ain’t!
Allow me to disappoint these party-list representatives that the so-called Filipino Language still has to be enacted into law and therefore, for all intents and purposes… it doesn’t exist! I also challenge these people to explain to us in Cebu, Panay, Negros, Mindanao or even in Ifugao or the Ilocos provinces, how in heavens can speaking in Tagalog promote love of Filipino. These people should know that a lot of us weren’t born as Tagalogs and believe me, we had extreme difficulty passing high school because of Tagalog, which by the way, was changed into Pilipino, although we know too well, it is 99.9 percent Tagalog.
I suggest that the proponents of this bill go and barnstorm Butuan City, Cagayan de Oro, Dumaguete, Iloilo or Cebu City and let’s see if they can get people to attend their forum. Mind you, the Old Testament in the Bible clearly states in Genesis, in the Tower of Babel, that we speak in different tongues. The New Testament fulfills the Old Testament during Pentecost Sunday, when everyone in the upper room spoke in tongues. Why didn’t they speak in Latin, the lingua franca of the ancient world then, or in Hebrew? It is time for Congress to accept our cultural diversity, rather than waste their time making everyone speak in Tagalog, which is to Cebuanos and the rest of us, a foreign tongue!
Like what we said before, the Fuel Cell (it’s using an electrochemical energy process to convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and thus, produces electricity and heat) technology is already here, but still expensive for as long as oil is still a cheaper alternative. And whether we like it or not, oil is no longer a cheap alternative and worse of all, it has become a political tool of Middle Eastern nations. This is exactly what US presidential challenger Sen. John Kerry said a couple of weeks ago during the Democratic National Convention in Boston that America’s power needs shouldn’t be "dependent on the House of Saud."
The truth really is the oil industry is still big business in America, thus, their interests in oil are common with that of the Saudi Royal Family… and if you didn’t know, US President George W. Bush who comes from Texas represents America’s oil interests. They fueled his election campaign against Al Gore and with oil prices at the highest ever, there’s no doubt that they would make sure that President Bush gets re-elected as business was never this good for the people working in the oil industry!
Thus, never in the history of this world since the horseless carriage became a part of human culture has oil prices been so high. It’s a no-brainer to see that a huge chunk of the $45 or so cost of oil per barrel goes to someone’s pockets as profits and not necessarily for the extraction of oil. So if America doesn’t take the lead in the production of the Fuel Cell, then we can only hope that another country like Japan beats them to that.
"Dear Bobit, With regards to your thought regarding envoys and ambassadors being sent to other lands to learn the best and the brightest ideas so that (they) could be practiced in their native land. Don’t just look at our government officials but include our millions of OFWs who have lived and known very well their adopted homes. If at least 10 percent of these OFWs were able to learn by heart why these countries were progressive and able to teach (this) to their immediate families, then our country would be in a much better shape.
Most probably, it is our attitude, one example is the way our kababayans would fall in line and wait for their turn at the immigration line and entering the plane at the foreign airport. Once the plane lands at the NAIA, all the discipline they are practicing is thrown out. They would stand to get their hand-carried bags in the overhead bins even though the plane is still rolling. I understand their longing for their loved ones but the way a lot of our OFWs are not practicing the right conduct when they are in their native land like properly waiting for their turn, says how much they have disregarded the gift of knowledge and wisdom given by their adopted land.
Again, if we could encourage the OFWs to properly impart the wisdom and knowledge of their foreign bosses and masters to their immediate families, we would be enriching the culture of our society. Regards, Jim Jamias"