OPINYON
Abril 25-Mayo 01, 2018
How polluted is the estero near you
(Photo credits to DOST-NCR) Svante, son of Ms. Helena Reitberger who is the
Counsellor, Deputy Head of Mission of the Embassy of Sweden in Singapore, interviews
RD Jose B. Patalinjug III of DOST-NCR regarding the Adopt An Estero Program. The
Reitbergers flew to Manila this morning to join the clean-up of the Conga Creek.
THERE are around 273
waterways (estero) in the
metro alone, according
to Metropolitan Manila
Development
Authority
(MMDA).
It
is
not
uncommon to see polluted
waterways, but as to how
polluted they are should be a
cause of concern. Under the
international standards the
acceptable most probable
number (MPN) should be
less than one up to less than
10 MPN.
The Conga Creek
in Taguig spans around
300 meters with 28 B
MPN/100ml reading of
Coliform and 0 oxygen
The Dumber, the better: Smart-
Shaming in the Philippines
Mary Claire R. Bautista
EVERYONE
seems
to agree in the saying,
“Knowledge is power”
and “Intelligence is the
new sexy” but why is
it that some people in
the Philippines doesn’t
seem to think that way?
How is it, that instead
of supporting each other
in
broadening
their
knowledge, some would
prefer to act dumb and
blend with the crowd?
Don’t get me wrong, there
are a lot of smart and
intellectual Filipinos out
there, but sadly, most of
them chose to hide their
cleverness and pretend
to not know anything.
The reason behind this?
The “Anti-Intellectual”
attitude of the Filipinos.
The Philippines as
a majority is pretty much
anti-intellectual. When
someone seems to know a
lot of things, people would
mock them instead of
giving them support, this
act is commonly known
as
“smart
shaming”
or the act of mocking
someone for being smart,
does it sound stupid? It
absolutely does.
Truth be told, being
smart seems like a huge
crime in the Philippines,
if you speak English in
public, people would
mock you and say, “Edi
ikaw na magaling”, when
you try to correct them
by kindly pointing out
their mistakes, people
will respond with “Edi
kami na bobo” and when
you open an intelligent
topic, you’ll be viewed
as a boastful person and
words like “Ikaw na! The
best ka!” would follow.
Such acts doesn’t help a
person in boosting their
confidence, but rather, it
stops their eagerness to
learn more and strive for
excellence. This words
might seem harmless
to some people, but to
those who receives it on
a regular basis, it is a
serious matter that needs
to stop. Smart-shaming
although not as profound
as bullying, is slowly
spreading in our country
and if not stopped, we
might produce negative
outcome towards the
youth of the country.
Some
people
might contradict and
say that it isn’t true,
but reality check, it is,
and it’s existing for the
longest time now, in fact,
it was existing even in the
younger generations in
the Philippines, take this
for example, when a kid
is being scolded by their
parents, instead of paying
attention and learning
their mistakes, some
would just cover their
ears and refuse to listen,
rejecting
information
from
entering
their
tiny little heads. Some
people are simply too
anti-intellectual to allow
progresses, but it doesn’t
mean that they have
the rights to stop other
people from learning and
striving for more.
Aren’t
we
all
supposed to encourage
one another? To inspire
each other in enhancing
our intelligence, and
not shame them? How
can someone be mocked
for studying a little
harder?
For
sharing
their knowledge? For
wanting to learn? For
speaking their mind out?
Whatever the reasoning
is, smart-shaming and
the anti-intellectualism
of the Filipino’s should
be stopped now. Think
of it, If being smart is
shamed, then who would
want to be one? Words
are powerful, and it can
seriously affect someone
else’s life.
N o w a d a y s ,
smart-shaming and anti-
intellectualism is starting
to propagate in the
Philippines, which then
leads us to questions like,
Is anti-intellectualism a
thing? And if it is, when
did it start? This trend
could all be traced back
in the Spanish era.
For the longest
time, we were colonized
by Spaniards and it is no
water analysis – meaning
that the pollution is way
beyond the acceptable
limit that it used up all
the oxygen. Under such
condition no fish would
ever survive because they
would have to compete with
billions of bacteria.
The Department of
Science and Technology-
National Capital Region
(DOST-NCR)
recently
embarked on a collaborative
undertaking with the local
government
of Taguig
City and other government
agencies to help clean up
the Conga Creek to achieve
a cleaner, safer and healthier
metropolitan environment.
“DOST-NCR aims
not only to help in clean-ups
of the creek but also help
empower the communities
through the Community
Empowerment thru Science
and technology (CEST).
The objective of the
program is to help boost
the areas on Economic
Development, Health and
Nutrition, Human Resource
Development,
Disaster
Risk Reduction and Climate
Change Adaptation and
Environmental Protection
and Conservation,” says
DOST-NCR Director Jose
B. Patalinjug III.
Conga Creek is among the 48 creeks
under the Adopt an Estero
Program of the Department
of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) and
other agencies (private and
government).
DOST-NCR and the
other partners of DENR
will support each other
in the following areas:
information and education
campaigns,
community
mobilization and other
activities that would foster
harmonious
relations;
decongest the pilot site
of
garbage;
introduce
interventions which are
aligned with the DENR
approved measures, such
as planting of bamboo and
other plant species along
the river banks and other
activities.
The other agencies
partners in the Conga
Creek cleanup are the
Metropolitan
Manila
Development
Authority
(MMDA), Department of
Public Works and Highways
(DPWH),
Department
of Interior and Local
Government (DILG) and
the Department of Health
(DOH) under the Adopt an
Estero Program.
(DOST-NCR,
Media
Service)
secret that in the past,
we were treated like
slaves or servants, and in
order to distract us from
the reality of the unjust
treatment that we receive
in our own country, the
Spaniards used Fiestas
and good times to divert
our
attentions,
they
spoon-fed us with little
information
and
had
us in the palm of their
hands, they shaped us
according to their liking
and anyone who dares to
think differently would
be facing consequences.
We are now free from
the colonization of the
Spaniards, but it seems
that the people in our
country has adopted a
lot of traits from the
colonizers. This should
have stopped already, but
instead it continues to
spread like wildfire and
never stopped existing
until today.
It
is
truly
disappointing how people
shame those who have
a wider perception than
them, recently there is a
picture circulating on the
internet with a caption,
“Hindi
nasusukat
sa
grades at galling mag-
memorize ang talino
nang tao.” (A person’s
intelligence
isn’t
measured by their grades
and ability to memorize.)
I am well aware that in
some cases, this is true,
however why should
someone be shamed for
having higher grades
than others? I know some
people who worked really hard to have good grades
in their class yet some
people has the decency to
make them feel like they
don’t deserve it. Why is
this post even created?
To shame people? To stop
their insecurities? or to
feel inferior than others?
It’s 2018 already, it’s time
for us to grow up.
Instead of shaming
other people, why don’t
we just embrace one
another’s separate skills
and learn to create a better
future?
Each
individual
has their own separate
skills and no one should
have the power to make
them feel like they don’t
deserve it. It is time to
put our differences aside
and learn to accept each
other rather than shaming
people for the talents
that they possess. Let us
stop discouraging other
people who strives to
be smarter, who knows,
the information that they
share might be helpful to
us, but if we continue to
shame them because of
their intellectual level,
sooner or later they would
lose interest in sharing
their knowledge because
of the fear of being
judged.
Let’s
stop
dishonoring the bright
and the brilliant and
allow them to shine as
they were meant to.
Smart-shaming
should never exist in the
first place. Intelligence is
a gift, not a curse. Let’s
not treat it like one.