game show host gets too homey and uses pure Visaya in school game show....

Really, I have nothing against our very own Visayan dialect; in fact, that's what I use much of the time. However, hearing it for hours boomed over the microphone by someone who was hosting the event was, to me, the opposite of teaching students to improve on their use of the English language. The said host felt so familiar and homey that the whole time she sounded like she was giving directions to illiterates or to those who have never gone to school and know no English. Why? What is this teaching the kids on the said school? They are playing games all right, but these people can understand instructions and comments in simple English. Couldn't we at least put someone there who can do this? It's a school, and a private school at that. Let us hope that schools will extend better learning environment for the kids even when they are into games.For as long as the kids are on campus, I think it is still the school's responsibility to provide a good learning environment to its students. It does not do any good for these students to be hearing the language that we all use at home and in the streets. It is highly expected that the school should give the kids the kind of education that improves and not diminishes the students' capabilities.

Four months!

I've been away from this blog for four months and I feel guilty about this since this is my first blog. How could I have the heart to neglect this when I have put my heart and soul into this blog? If you go through the first posts I had done, you will be entering a very private zone where I had spilled my everything there--almost. I hope to do better by doing some updates here. "I'll be good. I'll be good. You'll see."

From the Daily Inquirer, May 31, 2010 edition

Director wants kids to see his new film
By Marinel R. Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 16:31:00 05/30/2010

Filed Under: Cinema, Entertainment (general)

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Independent filmmaker Joselito “Jay” Altarejos, whose work “Pink Halo-Halo” is competing in this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, says his goal is to have the movie seen by as many schoolchildren as possible.

Altarejos is one of five filmmakers in Cinemalaya’s first-ever Directors’ Showcase category. “Pink Halo-Halo” is up against Mark Meily’s “Isang Pirasong Pangarap,” Joel Lamangan’s “Sigwa,” Mario O’Hara’s “Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio” and Gil Portes’ “Two Funerals.”

“Halo-Halo” is about Natoy (Paolo Constantino), who finds joy in the simplest things, especially in eating halo-halo with pink gelatin and red sago. Thus he leads his simple and happy life until, one day, he catches a TV report about a wounded soldier pleading for rescue. The soldier is his father. Natoy’s sudden transition into adulthood starts when he and his mother Sonia seek help.

“More than touring the film abroad, I’d like to arrange screenings in at least 20 schools nationwide,” Altarejos told Inquirer Entertainment recently. “Cinemalaya films should reach a bigger audience than those who go to the Cultural Center of the Philippines.”

He added, “It doesn’t matter if they can’t pay for tickets. I’d like students, especially in the provinces, to see this movie.”

“Pink Halo-Halo,” written in 2004, was Altarejos’ final paper in a Creative Writing course at the University of the Philippines. “I dreamt of making a movie out of it,” he said. “It wasn’t exactly easy.”

One-week shoot

Altarejos earlier directed the indie films “Ang Lalaki sa Parola,” “Ang Lihim ni Antonio” and “Ang Laro sa Buhay ni Juan.” While he normally finished a film in three days, he said, “Halo-Halo” took a week.

“We had a lot of day scenes and exterior scenes. Since our lead actor was a minor, we couldn’t work late at night. We were bound by the rules of the Department of Labor and Employment,” Altarejos explained.

The film was shot in San Jacinto, Masbate. He recounted, “We tried to get help from the provincial government, but since it was election period, the officials had other priorities.”

The Directors’ Showcase category is for Filipino filmmakers, who have directed at least three full-length feature films that have been released commercially.

Altarejos refused to be pressured by being pitted against veteran and award-winning directors Lamangan, Portes, O’Hara and Meily.

“I’m not after awards,” Altarejos stressed. “I just want to make a decent film. Winning would be a bonus.”

He added: “It was tough getting into the competition. I have a lot of good friends whose movies were rejected.”

“Pink Halo-Halo” also features Allen Dizon, Angeli Bayani, Dexter Doria and Mark Fabillar. The 2010 Cinemalaya film fest will be held at the CCP from July

My second for 2010, Jejemon text messaging....

I am sorry to be so neglectful to this blog but it seems like I just have too many blogs for a person like me who's got a lot of concerns. Well, here's my second blog for 2010. I do not want to wait another year for my next entry. That would be too thoughtless of me.
So what's new? Jejemon text messaging has recently occupied a lot of space in many local newspapers and even gaining the DepED secretary a number of television interviews. How important or crucial is this issue? Some sectors believe that the DepEd is just wasting so much time and energy on this new trend of text messaging. While it is true that this may negatively affect the communication skills of our students, but there are more important concerns in education that the DepEd people should be working on. For instance, it should get busy training teachers to teach better especially in the area of English. Jejemon or no Jejemon, the students' ability to spell or write or speak in good acceptable English will still depend on the teacher. When students know their spelling and grammar very well, Jejemon will never be able to put them down.

from teaching to television....

From teaching to television hosting. Well, some might consider this career shift too late and too drastic for someone like me who'd been in the teaching profession for a total of 27 fruitful years. But if you ask me, I consider this change a sort of moving forward. Getting stuck in the teaching profession for 27 years wasn't really that bad but we need to grow, right? We need space, we need to see the other side of the pasture if there are some greener areas there for us. Honestly, in my two years of producing and hosting a local TV show, it is only now that I can have some money stashed away for savings. My 27 years of teaching never allowed me to save a single cent. And that meant lots of work and time investment. I believe that there is really nothing wrong with career shifts at any point of your life especially if it leads to better working hours and compensation. Forgive me for saying this but I should have done this 20years ago. But for as long as the clock still ticks and the earth still revolves in its own axis, I'm feeling good with what I have now.