Disappointed

Seems like we Ateneans do not have a monopoly on apathy anymore. Nowadays, the rest of the Pinoy youth are fast becoming a bunch of apathetic kids, and that I can say with certainty.

No, this isn’t about the upcoming national elections. I could barely blame anyone for losing hope over the sorry state of Philippine politics. This is about the open letter – regarding how my younger sister was unjustly eliminated through palabunutan in the National Science Fair – that we dispatched through email. My parents’ friends and contacts reacted strongly to our letter. Many emailed back, saying they were appalled by the palabunutan incident and hoped that Nadya would recover from this traumatizing experience. And through this email brigade, our story reached Jarius Bondoc, a columnist from Philippine Star.

On my side of the Web, however, the reception has been disappointing. I wasn’t really expecting any intense response from my contacts, but I’m still surprised that they hardly seemed to care at all. Several expressed sadness over the incident, but only after I asked them if they had read the letter. One of my high school teachers did email back, but he couldn’t be counted as youth anymore (sorry, Sir, gotta face reality). The rest are probably too engrossed with their personal affairs to be bothered.

Perhaps we are still too young and inexperienced to be deeply affected by an issue like this. But aren’t the youth supposed to be full of lofty ideals and utopian dreams, and brimming with zeal and passion? An email about a palabunutan in a competition, with a young child-scientist as a victim, deserves more than a casual glance or desultory read.

Maybe I’m being overcritical. Maybe I’m just KSP. Maybe I’m asking for too much. I don’t know.

But I’m scared that this overwhelming indifference in the face of such heartbreaking experience might be a preview of how jaded we would be in the years to come.

A Mother's Open Letter

**edit** The open letter was published by Jarius Bondoc, a columnist in Philippine Star, last Monday, February 19. Today, February 21, Dr. Paulina Bawingan explained her side through the same column. Here's the link to the online version.


Hello, everyone. I was finally able to access Blogger today, so I am posting the open letter here. I hope you would take the time to read this and share this with other people. Thanks so much!


-------

A MOTHER’S CRY: WHY ROB MY CHILD OF HER SIMPLE HAPPINESS
(Open Letter to the Association of Science Educators of the Philippines (ASEP)
and Participants of the “National Science Quiz, Fair, Sci-Dama”
held in Baguio City, February 9-11, 2007)


I am writing this letter as a caring and hurting mother to PROTEST the unfairness and injustice committed against my child by ASEP, the organizer of this “National Science Quiz, Fair, Sci-Dama”. Pardon my emotion but I would like to speak out to show my child how we care for her, that we are willing to fight if necessary to correct any wrong done to her.

My daughter, Nadya Patricia E. Sauza, is the First Place winner in the Regional Science Fair (Region 6) and a rightful delegate to this National Science Fair here in Baguio City. She is supposed to present her study, “Biodiesel from Waste Animal Fats in a Meat Processing Plant,” a research project that has earned the praise of DOST office in our province of Aklan.

Unfortunately, Nadya is a victim of unfair and unjust treatment, of a decision devoid of compassion, by this event’s organizers. She was robbed of a simple joy of joining a National Science Fair.

ASEP struck out my child as participant in the Science Investigatory Project (Elementary Level) without the courtesy of informing her or her coach. When we asked why, the chairman of the Science Investigatory Project - Elementary Level (whom I understand is a DepED NCR Director) and members of the panel of judges, Dr. Lloyd Ordonia and Dr. Paulina Bawingan, told us that ASEP cut Region 6’s delegates from four to two. But why Nadya, we further asked. They said it’s the result of “PALABUNUTAN”! What is this, a game of chance? Where is due process here?

Worse, the organizers did not inform my child or her coach that she was not part of the contest anymore. The judges let my child undergo the prejudging process “so as not to disappoint her.” Why deceive the child? Is it because the organizers are ashamed to tell Nadya in her face about their decision? (We were told about the patently heartless decision and other information surrounding it only after we persevered asking, and only after the science congress has already ended at around 4:45PM yesterday.) Tinanggalan na ng karapatan sa kompetisyon, binola-bola pa!

Let it be clear that we don’t mind not winning the contest. We only wanted Nadya to have been given a fair chance to join the competition and to present her study to the panel of judges. She deserves this right as a First Place winner of Region 6.

My child worked very hard for her research study. She conducted the research and experiments from June - September 2006. We, her parents, her school, her teacher/coach and her consultants from Aklan State University, supported her all the way—morally, financially and by being there when she needed us.

Her hard work was rewarded when she won in the Aklan Division and Regional Science Fairs (Region 6).

In preparing for the national event, we supported her for the training and logistics. We spent extra hours to hone her skills. We traveled long hours spending hard-earned money just to reach Baguio.

ONLY TO BE BARRED FROM JOINING THE SCIENCE FAIR! Where is compassion in the decision? How my heart melted when I saw Nadya in tears as a result.

The chairman of the Science Investigatory Project (Elementary), blamed DepEd Region 6 for sending more than two delegates so they have to resort to “PALABUNUTAN” to trim the number.

Assuming, without conceding, that DepEd Region 6 is at fault, WHY PUNISH OUR CHILD?! Why not call DepEd Region 6 and resolve the matter bilaterally? Or why not choose the two regional first place winners? (The judges said they did not know who the first placers are. Then why not ask?) Or better yet, why not let the four Region 6 delegates join the contests for the sake of scientific discovery and for the sake of giving simple happiness to our young children?

We will go home hurting as we cry for justice! Nadya will surely be traumatized by this experience. But I will tell her to understand her elders, to keep on thirsting for knowledge despite the damage they have done to her. Hopefully, this sad episode in her young life will not kill the enthusiasm for learning in her. We will tell her that, in our hearts and minds, she is our champion. And that nobody, not even the organizers of this “National Science (Un)Fair” can rob her of that.


ESTER E. SAUZA (Sgd.)
Mother of NADYA PATRICIA E. SAUZA
Baguio City
February 11, 2007

(NOTE: Nadya, 12, is a Grade 6 pupil of Starglow Center for Academics and Arts in Kalibo, Aklan. She is a consistent top student in her class. Among the latest awards she received are the following:

» First Place in Region 6 Science Investigatory Research - Physical Science Category, December 8, 2006.
» “Most Outstanding Elementary Pupil of Region 6” by Private Schools Administrators Association of the Philippines (PRISAAP VI), Feb. 7, 2007.
» Highest Pointer Student Journalist (Elementary Level) during the Regional Schools Press Conference 2006. She won First Place both in Newswriting and Photojournalism (December 2006). She is currently in Baguio for the National Schools Press Conference.
» She represented Aklan in the Regional Super Quiz Bee- Mathematics placing 6th.

We hope that her sad experience in Baguio will not break her spirit and harden her heart.)

name game

hey guys. check out the picture at your right. yep, that's my new (japanese spitz) puppy, almost 2 months old. so sorry i don't have a better shot of him. i just got him last week so we're still in the getting to know each other stage. :P (pau's note: i changed the picture. hope you find it cuter ^_^)

anyway, help me pick out a name! i just ran out of cute puppy names (what, with all those pets who died in the last several months). usually kasi, after someone tells me she's gonna give me a puppy, my mind goes berserk and *boom!* i already have a host of names to choose from. when i get the puppy, i just give him/her the name that fits. but now, i'm having trouble giving him the perfect name. before i knew its sex (and breed), i wanted to name *it* kimmy, after kim clijsters and kim stolz from america's next top model. but when i got him, kimmy just doesn't seem to fit (besides the fact that it's too girly). i'm thinking of a japanese-inspired name, since he's a japanese spitz after all, but my mind is absolutely blank.

the poor thing has been nameless since his birth, so please help me out!