#medialog1

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At the recent events of the Fiba World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas got into a heated and personal brawl against players of the Australian National Basketball Team, creating commotion among basketball fans around the world. The heat already began since the eve of the match, when Australian players were seen removing the painted sponsor signages on the court floor. During the warmup before the match, Australia player Kickert was already seen taunting and hitting the players of Gilas Pilipinas. Everything broke out in the third quarter, when players of both teams began to have a brawl in the Philippine Arena, resulting to players being ejected and Gilas Pilipinas losing by default. The brawl was ensued with poor security taking place inside the arena. Filipino fans joined the brawl and threw objects such as chairs and the like.

After the game, Gilas Pilipinas explained to the media about the incident. Coach Chot Reyes stated that “The reality is that Kickert was hitting our players during the warm-ups. He hit Carl Bryan Cruz, he hit Matthew Wright, Pogoy, and he hit Calvin Abueva during the warm-ups. We already restrained the players before the game. We already told them, ‘Huwag niyo nang pansinin,’ when Kickert did all of those things at the start during the warm-ups. We already told them to focus on the game. The foul of Pogoy on Goulding was an offensive foul, it was a basketball play,” Reyes added. “But (Kickert) was the one who came in and decked Pogoy. That was the fifth time. You don’t expect to do it to a team five times and not expect us to retaliate. Unfortunately, that triggered the entire brawl.” Other Gilas Pilipinas players also attempted to defend themselves over social media about the brawl, but now they are offering apologies to the Australian basketball team. Basketball Australia has also apologized for Kickert’s “unsavory behavior”, stating that they “do not play the game in that spirit.” It is now up to Fiba to determine the outcome and pass out offenses to the two teams as deemed necessary.

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           This article talks about the conflict arising between the basketball teams of Australia and Philippines, leading to an unexpected brawl between the two teams. Although others may view it as a very unprofessional act, it may have just happened that the players of Gilas Pilipinas acted on their emotions rather than choosing the less violent options. This could have been their initial reaction due to their frustrations prior to the game started. Nevertheless, their actions have caused a great impact upon basketball fans all over the world, especially among Australians and Filipinos in a negative way. The important thing though, is that despite the tensions created and physical harm dealt, the two countries are ready to apologize to each other for what they have done and are ready to face the consequences that Fiba will be handing over to them in the coming days.

Reference

                Twenty-three countries in my 19 years of living – not bad! When I was younger, I never really understood how important traveling is. It is pretty normal for kids to be closed-minded because most of the time, we refuse to see the bigger picture. Through my years of traveling to different places around the world, my experiences in the Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival, Red Light District Tour in Amsterdam, and traveling to see the Northern Lights in Iceland completely changed me as a person. Being complacent would have never granted me my open and free spirit.  

                My parents are always open to new experiences as long as they know I would learn from it. My mom was intrigued by the Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival – a festival with local and international performers done in an amphitheatre surrounded with art sculptures in Puerto Galera, Philippines. This was the year 2014 during my third year in high school. I was quite naïve to think that it was simply just a night of music. My mom came across a familiar smell and she told me to take a sniff as well. It smelled like an herb and as soon as I saw where it was coming from, I immediately ran to my mom. Marijuana was something that I was not really exposed to, although I have heard of it from time to time I still felt a bit tense because I had a clouded idea of it – that it was illegal. My parents helped me get through my tension by keeping calm and telling me that it was only wrong if I use it for the wrong ways. This was when I first opened my eyes to unfamiliar yet extraordinary things. I learned that being afraid of the unknown will not only stun my intellectual and emotional growth, but will also teach me to be complacent.

Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival, Puerto Galera (2014)

               As we got older, we started taking on heavier trips. Our first trip to Europe was a completely different sight to see. Aside from its mix of gothic, renaissance, and modernism, the state of the places itself felt more liberal. Amsterdam, known for legalizing marijuana and prostitute workers, made me more eager to wander off and explore the environment and most importantly, how people lived. The Red Light District, a neighborhood where there is an abundance of sex shops, brothels, and “windows” for prostitutes is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Amsterdam. Of course, we could not visit Amsterdam without taking the tour; we are old enough anyway.

                While walking through the streets, I came across many sex shops with hanging condoms as decors, marijuana cafés, and huge glass windows where the prostitute models for the public. At around nine o’clock, the prostitutes started showing themselves. They were wearing provocative underwear and heavy makeup; I noticed that a number of them were transgender. This is where I felt a huge wave of culture shock hitting and making me stumble. Never in my life have I seen a woman voluntarily exposing herself for a living. The tour guide thoroughly explained how the whole process of prostitution goes and she even took us to the Prostitute Information Center (PIC) where it serves as a help and guidance center for the prostitutes and it also informs people, most especially tourists, about the whole matter. After the tour, I gained respect for sex workers because to them, the act of prostitution is simply business.

Condomerie (condom store) in the Red Light District, Amsterdam (2015)

Prostitute Information Center (PIC) in the Red Light District, Amsterdam (2015)

                One of my favorite informational channels would be National Geography. I was watching an episode about the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights. I instantly fell in love with how the luminous lights danced around the sky like it was so happy to visit our atmosphere. Ever since then, I started studying and painting this unique phenomenon. It made it to the number one on my 12 year-old bucket list and it remains number one up until today. On the month of December year 2015, my mom read about how the Northern Lights will start to fade after 2015 because it will be following its 15-year cycle. She immediately had to book us tickets to catch this stunning phenomenon in Iceland a.k.a. my ultimate dream. My mom patterns our long trips to 2 weeks at most, spending 2-4 days in one place or country and move on to the next.

                I have always believed in the law of attraction because every time I apply it, it works. There was never a day wherein I have not imagined myself seeing the lights with my own eyes. My mom allotted five days to catch its timing, which she said is usually the average number of days. The forecast for the first three days were cloudy skies; I was starting to get quite nervous because I only had two days left. I thought to myself that I could not afford to miss my dream; I was only one step away. I checked the predicted forecast for the next two days which then made me more disappointed that I already was. It is impossible for us not to see it. How could we? Our trip was centered on it. My parents noticed my disappointment and said that to miss the lights is a frequent matter to most tourists because we are not in control of nature; however, to miss the present happenings around me due to my disappointment is an unfortunate loss because I am aware to be in control of it. I conditioned myself to think less about missing the lights for the next two days and rather to focus on being mindful of the present and what the universe is giving to me.

View of Reykjavic, Iceland (2015)

Me and my mom

Ice glacier in the south part of Iceland 

Silfra Fissure - snorkeling between two tectonic plates (Europe and North America)

The Blue Lagoon          

     Even as a child, many have dreamt of being successful; it is an ambition to be rich and lavish. In the minds of the Filipino community, the one clear solution to achieve this goal is to pursue a career overseas. However, based on the song, many find themselves in peril instead. The track “Walang Natira by Gloc-9” was then composed in the perspective of a migrant worker and an inquisitive citizen. Moreover, it reflects not only the plight of the Filipino people working overseas to be able to provide enough for their loved ones but also the impotence of the Philippine government to provide sufficiently for the masses.

     Here are several reasons why Filipinos prefer to work in a foreign country rather than in their homeland: (1) Higher Income, (2) Contract Employment Arrangement, (3) Increasing unemployment rate, (4) Poor Benefits, (5) Peer Influence, (6) Discrimination, and (7) Lack of Public Support on Local Businesses.

     As mentioned above, low salary is one of the foremost reasons why many opt to be employed in another country. In the Philippines, fair compensation is not frequently given to people with skill related jobs (i.e. maids, plumbers, construction workers) and to educated professionals as well. The latter leading to another phenomenon called “Brain Drain”. Philippines is an overpopulated country with few career opportunities, making it unsustainable to provide well-compensated jobs to fresh graduates from various universities. This then leads to discrimination wherein employers seek for the most qualified candidate through basing it not only on the individual’s credentials but mostly on the University he or she came from.

     Contract Employment Arrangement is a solution to aid the increasing rate of unemployed citizens in the country. In this arrangement, the employer would hire people on a contractual basis (i.e. 90 days, 3 months, 6 months, etc.) making it possible for other individuals to receive income despite it being only a basic salary. Poor benefits in the Philippines is also an issue as a certain amount of money is deducted on the salary to assist for “social services” which supposedly should include healthcare and education amongst other things.

Living in this generation, every single day we learn and realize that we live in a world full of different people with different beliefs. Our way of living and culture make everyone of us different from each other and to understand one's race would just be possible with an open mind and understanding. Media shows the positive and negative sides of racism and how it affects the people’s way of thinking. Poverty is one of the reasons why people in our country are sometimes forced to take a job in other countries. Filipina women take all the risks to work in Hong Kong as domestic helpers. They do everything to gain money for their families but what do they get in return? Violence and abuse. They lack security and some people treat them very inferior. If we, communication arts and organizational communication students, stand up for these hard-working women and use our words as weapons, I think we could somehow change the perception of the foreign people to us, Filipinos.

Some Filipina domestic helpers are criticized because of their job. There is nothing wrong with their job and in fact, it is a noble job. There are problems that Filipina domestic helpers face. The most common problem is the abuse through impolite speech or nagging. “Stupid” is one common word tagged to the Filipina domestic helpers when their masters are unsatisfied with their performance. Oftentimes, Filipinas are being stereotyped as clumsy and stupid by the Hong Kong nationals. In relation to that, there was this racist commercial in Hong Kong which depicts Filipina domestic helpers as clumsy. Also, in that commercial, the character that plays the role of the Filipina was shown in blackface (a theatrical make up used by performers to represent a black person). The social media, as well as the government was very alarmed on the issue about a certain textbook in Hong Kong that defines Filipinos as domestic helpers. Compared to what that textbook describe other races such as Indians, Chinese and Japanese, the way they described Filipinos is very ‘racist’.