Human Securities Act: Does it violate human rights?

How can something which is supposed to uphold an ideal violate it at the same time?

Skeptics have questioned the morality of the Human Securities Act which is primarily aimed at curtailing terrorism of all sorts. The new law is supposed to give assurance and protection to the public and not otherwise. Does it violate human rights? This question can only be raised by those who probably have a stake on the issue. Why? What human rights does it violate if it only aims to protect the citizenry? That is why precisely it is called the Human Securities Act because it purports to crack down on big and small types of terrorism that are openly perpetrated by some groups in our country.

My stand is for us to wait and see. The law is still in its infancy and it is too early to give final judgments. That it violates human rights still needs to be proven. We have to see concrete examples of these violations before anyone hurls any accusation against the new law.

That's just my two cents.

debate

Schools today are training their students in the art & skill of argumentation. Debating clubs exist for this purpose and those that are really serious in molding their students into excellent debaters set a regular training schedule so students can practice their skill.

This is the secret of schools that breed champion debaters----regular practice and training that give the students the opportunity to polish their speaking skills on a regular basis.

If you only start training your students only when you get challenged or invited to a debate, forget about winning. You will only be putting the name of your school to shame.

Practice and train even when there is no invitation. Be prepared always for any battle.

interviewing skills

It pays to know interviewing techniques, how to ask relevant questions and give winning answers.  We are often made to handle situations that require this skill of being able to ask the right questions and answer them as well when they are thrown your way.  It is much like preparing for the interpellation period in a debate or the cross-examination in court.  The skill starts with the ability to LISTEN with your mind.

As the interviewer, you need to listen to the responses that the interviewee is giving, and as the one being interviewed, you need to listen very well to the questions being asked in order to give the best answer.

Follow the thinking of your interviewer. Anticipate questions and responses and be ready to respond accordingly.  It is good to have a set of questions prepared beforehand but use these only as a crutch or to fill in the gaps.  Otherwise, be spontaneous, adjust the situation to the person you are interviewing.  Be flexible and be genuinely interested in the person you are interviewing.

Offbeatmom beat this

Although I started this blog many months ahead of my other blogs, but one of it, OFFBEATMOM, beat this first blog of mine in terms of number of visitors.  Just look at the counter I have on each blog and you would know what I mean.

I miss reading

Because of the many tasks I have to do for our TV show and also as a family woman, I have missed to do one of the things I love and that is reading.  I just envy those people who really find time to read and bury their faces in the pages of a book.  It's a shame because I recently bought two books from the local National Bookstore but until now they have remained untouched.  Sigh....

they want their kids to look their age

The latest singing sensation in the world is a 15-year-old Filipina, a petite girl named Charice who performed in Ellen Degeneres' show where the child impressed the host as well as the audience who gave the girl from the Philippines a standing ovation.  It was not only the powerful voice of Charice which captivated the hearts of foreign audiences.  It is her image as well, an image of a genuine child.

People are tired of child celebrities who are dolled up and dressed up like old entertainers.  They are tired of child celebrities acting and behaving like sexy adults.  The girl from the Philippines will certainly serve as a good role model to all the youth in the world.  Everybody hopes that Charice will not succumb to the lures of the material world, that she will remain as she is.

poor quality of education in RP cited

In yesterday's issue of the Inquirer, a lengthy news feature on the deterioration of the quality of education in the Philippines caught the attention of many.  Am I surprised? Uh--uh.  With 27 years teaching experience I know and I've known that sad fact that the quality of education in this country is really going down the drain.  Ask the students.  Let them speak if they can.  I mean, how many of our thousands of college graduates can truly communicate in good English?  Two out of two thousand?  That's what most call centers are saying, that is why they have no other recourse but to hire those with very poor communication skills in the hope that these guys can be trained.  But they are wrong again because everything should start from the bottom.  If we want to have quality graduates in this country, then we have to strengthen the system from the bottom, pre-school, going up.  Have a very good foundation in the the grade school, then a very strong follow-up in the high school, and a robust training in college.  I mean, it should be collaborative.