Ang Pilipino at ang "Freedom of Speech"

Kahapon, habang nanonood ako ng balita, ipinakita ang iba't-ibang reaksyon ng mga Pilipino ukol sa state visit ni US President Barack Obama sa Pilipinas, at ang paglalagda ng isang agreement na napapatungkol sa "military presence" ng Estados Unidos sa ating bansa. Bawat Pilipino'y may kanya-kanyang opinyon - may mga sang-ayon sa ideyang ito, at meron din namang mga hindi sang-ayon. At dahil sa ating "Freedom of Speech", malaya nating naipapahayag ang ating mga opinyon at saloobin.

Pagkatapos ng Martial Law, malaya na nating na-e-exercise ang "freedom" na ito. Wala nang manghuhuli sa atin, kung sakaling ipapahayag natin ang ating mga opinyon. Malaya na tayong makaka-tuligsa o sumang-ayon sa bawat galaw ng gobyerno. Malaya.

Kalayaan. Freedom. Napakagandang salita. Ngunit mahirap pangatawanan.

Naituro sa amin sa eskwelahan ang paksang "freedom". Ito ay estado na kung saan nagagawa ng isang tao ang mga gusto niyang gawin. Ang gawin ang isang bagay ng walang pumipigil, at walang pag-aalinlangan, ngunit may kapalit - sa bawat kalayaan na naibibigay satin, dapat, may responsibilidad. Kasi, kapag nagamit mo ang kalayaan mo para masira na ang kalayaan ng ibang tao, hindi na iyon maituturing na kalayaan.

Ipinakita sa telebisyon kahapon ang iba't-ibang kilos protesta na isinagawa ng iba nating kababayan bilang pagtuligsa sa Visiting Forces Agreement at ang state visit. May mga nag-welga sa daan, kumain ng itlog bilang tanda ng kanilang "maralitang hapunan" na pinaniniwalaan nilang "tunay na estado ng Pilipinas sa ngayon". Umulan, ngunit hindi pa din napigilan ang kanilang pagpapahayag ng kanilang saloobin. Kung sa persistence lang, napakagandang hakbang nito upang ipaglaban ang sariling opinyon ng may kaakibat na responsibilidad.

Sa General Santos City, isang grupo naman ng kabataan ang pumunta sa isang satellite branch ng Department of Foreign Affairs sa isang mall. Kung tutuusin, kalayaan din naman ito upang ipahayag ang kanilang opinyon. Ngunit iilang sandali lamang, lumapit na ang grupo ng mga kabataan, pinagtatanggal ang mga posts na naka-ayos sa branch, sumugod sa lugar kung saan naghihintay ang mga kababayang namamag-asang makakuha ng passport, pinag-susugod ang mga gwardya at kinauukulan, at ginulo ang mga upuan na dapat sana'y ginagamit ng mga customer nito. Sa madaling salita, isang kaguluhan ang nangyari sa kung tutuusin dapat ay isang tahimik at payapang pag-proseso ng iba sa kanilang mga dokumento.

Palagay mo, "freedom of speech" pa din ba ito?

May bugbugan, may alitan, may away dito at doon, at nang may magtangkang kumuha ng litrato ng insidente, isang raliyista ang sumugod, kinuha ang cellphone na ginamit at akmang sisirain ito. Natigil lang ang gulo nang may isang raliyistang masugatan at naging duguan.

Don't get me wrong. Ayos lang din naman sa akin kung may mga raliyista at tumutuligsa sa isang bagay na sinasang-ayunan ko. Dahil sa kanila, may mga pagsasaayos na nagagawa sa mga batas at mga alituntunin na ipinapatupad ng gobyerno. At dahil dun, nasasaayos ang ating bansa. Win-win situation, diba? Pero kung isinasaalang-alang naman natin ang kaayusan, ang kalayaan ng ibang tao, at ang kaligtasan ng lahat, palagay ko'y dapat magkaroon pa din ng masinsinang pagiisip at pag-aalinlangan kung dapat bang gawin ang isang hakbang. Maraming paraan upang maisagawa ang mga bagay na ito, at marami din namang options na ligtas para sa lahat, at nasisiguradong walang naaabalang tao. Sundin ang mga batas at alituntunin na ibinigay kapalit ng kalayaang gawin ang gustong gawin. I-consider ang mga benefits at risks na maaaring mangyari. Gawin ito sa mapayapang paraan.

Batid ko ding mukhang bingi-bingihan minsan ang ating gobyerno tungkol sa mga opinyon at kuro-kuro ng mamamayan. Minsan, ang mga rally at mga petisyon ng mga Pilipino ay naibabaon na lang sa limot. Pero hindi ito masosolusyunan sa marahas na paraan. Sa maayos at masinsinang pakikipag-talastasan, at least, may pag-asa pa din naman. Gumawa ng online petition. Gumawa ng ingay sa social media.At kung titignan mo, ang mga isyu na naipapalabas sa media ay ang mga isyung tinututukan ng gobyerno. Dahil yan ang abot-kaya at ang ginagamit ng kabataan at ng mga mamamayan ngayon, (tulad ng ginawa ni Barack Obama sa kanyang campaign) siguradong may pag-asa pa din para mapakinggan ang ating boses. 

Mabuhay ang bansang Pilipinas!

Is this GEEK talk getting overboard?

It was a plain Friday night when my friends just invited me to crash on a friend's house, buy some snacks, and just talk to each other and update each other on whatever happened to our lives these past few months. 

Yeah, it's the usual meet-up - us munching on food, and others already talking about their cool experiences. One opened up about his new found love, the other, about breakup. Advice has flown from a party to another. One talked about getting a movie, and then sharing it with others, and even planned for a movie marathon. And yeah, yours truly, has thought about how this person will get his movie, and yeah, I talked about torrenting, and explained its concepts, benefits, and risks. Truly something about my life.

"Torrenting is just simple. You take a piece of paper, then transfer it to others piece-by-piece. When your internet connection stops, the "paper distribution" just stops, but when it's on again, you just continue. Unlike regular download, you can resume on your stop point, until you finish. When you finish, you do the paper sharing with others, together with the one who shared it with you."

This is statement I gave to my friends, and they were absolutely stunned - I don't know if I spoke with words they can't digest yet (they're not that tech-savvies), or because I did that "geek talk" again, with no relation whatsoever to what we're talking about. After that long pause, I asked them, "am I that geeky?" Others said "no", but others kept silent.

Then another friend continues the "personal experiences" talk.

I asked myself, am I too geeky? I remember some who told me that I tend to over-expound things, however, they also said that it's better to explain it further than leave it under-explained.

There was one occurrence when a friend asked about what a neurosurgeon (my dream specialization) does. I told him about the usual, performing craniotomy, and other surgeries that involve the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. But I didn't stop there - I talked about craniotomy, how it is done, why it is done, etc. Moreover, I also talked about diseases that may lead to doing craniotomy, using terms that are not that misleading, as much as possible.

I also remember talking about the Stonehenge, and the Great Pyramids of Giza, and their histories, involving the alien-conspiracy theories evolving about these structures, as well as the recent news about these structures while we are talking about a song entitled "Stonehenge".

I don't know. I can't compare myself to the knowledgeable "Kuya Kim Atienza" of the Philippines, but I surely idolize him. I know I tend to over-explain things to people, and talk about additional information wherein they don't even ask for it. Being that way, I think may have its benefits and risks in my chosen career. I may explain a disease condition further to a patient, explain the treatment regimen that I have chosen, what the risks and benefits of performing something, and what to expect. Patients love that. However, there are also risks involved, which may include a patient being bombarded with so much information that it just gets complicated.

I really don't know. I think that this quality is already a part of who I am, with that underlying "researcher" inside me, I think that this "geek talk" will stay that way, and I hope to harness its benefits in the future.

Anyway, Happy Easter, everyone.

Medicine Gone Wrong: Who is to Blame?

The news is spreading - a young woman diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma (a type of cancer involving the lymphatic tissues) succumbs to the said disease. A loss of not only a family, but a loss of mankind. An achiever (cum laude), she could've been the next best news anchor, or one of the most famous writers the world has had. However, due to medicine gone wrong, we just lost that star. And that star, is Kate Tan.

Practice of medicine is a very complex process - you go to school for 5 years to prepare yourself to the practice, pass the board examinations, go to residency, attend additional continuing education to specialize, and go to seminars to continually update yourself with the latest innovations. In order to provide safe care to patients, you have to take all these steps. It's not an overnight course, you can't learn it with a shortcut. 

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