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Media has become a primary source of information in the Philippines, be it the television, Internet, newspaper or radio. According to Minority Media Services, a Filipino's media usage is 211 hours more than that of an American. This shows that Filipinos are more exposed to all kinds of media, most especially advertisements.

Being exposed to media has its positive and negative effects. Unfortunately, people are not aware of these. They do not know that they are subconsciously being affected by what they see; and that media is partly responsible for how they act towards a certain thing. They are not aware that every message they see can affect how they think. If they see an indirectly forwarded racist message in an advertisement, this message will be picked up by their subconscious mind. Later on, that message can affect the way they see a certain race, thus contributing to the increase in racism.

Dark-skinned people are usually discriminated in societies because the white-skinned people classify themselves as the superior race. "Many Asians and non-white people around the world may have the covert and subconsciously instinctive notions to present themselves as more white in some level". (Media and Ethnicity, 2005)

Through media, people have adapted the notion that white is beautiful and dark is not. Such an example is the Claudine Baretto's commercial, which shows her with a picture of herself when she was darker. She emphasized that if she remained dark-skinned, she wouldn't have become a successful actress. Hence dark-skinned people desperately try to whiten themselves to become beautiful. Usually, these advertisements would portray cliched prejudices among the dark-skinned people.

Since, no one wants to be discriminated in society, people are sure to follow whatever is right according to mass media. Dark-skinned people are bound to follow what most advertisements tell them, which is the notion that if a person is dark, barely anyone would notice him. They will adhere to the belief that they are not beautiful and for that reason they must change the way they look. Mass media, therefore, sets the trends in society because "mass media is a powerful tool which shapes the consciousness of society." (Olazo, 2005)

Mass media is an efficient way for conveying messages to a large scale of people. Anyone with a television set or a radio can access and listen to messages shown through media. This is very helpful especially for public announcements and important news.

However, not all messages are very helpful to the society. Some bear racist or discriminating messages, which can change the way, a person perceives a certain thing. A good example of this is the Biolink commercial wherein a lady was being teased because of her skin color. An average person sees around three thousand advertisements a day and half of them are similar to the given example. Therefore, a day's exposure to a television set can modify one's values and morals.

Through those said messages, stereotypes can be formed. If a person constantly sees an advertisement, which contains racist messages, his view about that certain race can change. That is a possible reason for how the stereotype--non-whites are ugly and whites are beautiful--became worse in societies. An example of a racist stereotype is the way Filipinos are considered prostitutes or housemaids by other countries. These stereotypes are due to the messages being forwarded by advertisements.

Through media's discriminating advertisements against dark-skinned people, stereotypes had been created. It is irresponsible acts such as these that perpetuate the belief that Filipinos and other non-White people are inferior because of the colors of their skin (Media Watch, 1994). However, 'mass media is not to be blamed. It is only an instrument used to convey messages. The producers are to be blamed" (Olazo, 2005) because they are the ones creating the concept and placing it in the minds of people.

Mass media greatly affects how a person would think and act. Through the producer's irresponsibility and insensitivity, dark-skinned people are, until now, being discriminated and considered inferior in societies. This causes dark-skinned people to change the color of their skin to prevent themselves from being discriminated. Mass media is indeed the basis of what is important in society because this is where people base their judgment. It has become their guide in which is good and bad or beautiful and ugly.

Much has changed in today's society as compared to the society 10 years ago. Ten years ago, there were no cellular phones, advanced computers, playstation or the Internet. However, some things never seem to fade such as fashion and trends. Every year, something new will be fashionable and others will be out of the trend. Take for example, a few years ago, baggy pants and loose shirts were in. As compared to now, when clothes are considered nice if they show off extra skin.

Beauty had been the most advertised topic in magazines... even several decades ago. However, the concept of beauty does change from time to time. Two decades ago, for a woman to be considered beautiful, she should have big, puffy and straight hair, fair skin and big looking shoulders. Nowadays, however, to be beautiful, a woman must have straight, black hair, slim body, fair complexion and big breasts.

In media advertisements, the typical definition of beauty is only skin-deep. A beautiful woman would usually posses most, if not all, of the aforementioned traits. As mentioned above, a woman must have or be: slim-having the ideal weight of at least 100 pounds; fair complexion comparing to that of an American's; straight black hair-typically the rebonded type of hair; and must be young-women at the age of late twenties are considered old by the society. Moreover, they should have a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet-a lifestyle, which would keep a woman slim and fit. Though, many advertisements do promote easier ways to achieve the ideal weight by the fashion conscious.

Given such description, and looking back at reality, I must say that very little, if any, of my friends fit into this category. Some may have one or two of the ideal characteristics but none of them posses all of the ideal traits. And, if I were to use media's concept as a standard, it would be only right for me to say that none of my friends can ever be considered beautiful. That is, unless they do artificial treatments to achieve the standards of an ideally beautiful person.

However, it is not unlikely for some of my friends to adhere to such standards since media has a great influence over society. Media is a powerful tool of conveying messages to a large scale of people. A person watching television is exposed to many advertisements, which promises the betterment of a person's individuality. Media advertisements can tell audiences that following a certain trend can boost a person's morale and status in society. It can promise confidence, which most of the people in our society lack. Therefore, an advertisement claiming that the woman being showcased is an ideally beautiful person can provoke people to follow the trend and try to imitate the seemingly beautiful woman.

However, in reality, beauty is not skin-deep unlike what media is claiming. Media says that beautiful can be achieved with a dash of make-up here and there, an addition of a few jewelries and a designer's trademark on a woman's outfit. Media claims that beauty can be bought at designer-labeled stores and malls. Hence, this is what reaches the general audience; this is what people start to believe. And, though, there are advertisements which campaigns that beauty can be achieved with a pure heart and acts of kindness, these have not been enough to dispel the old and firm belief about real beauty, as asserted by media advertisements.

It is notable though, that there are different definitions for beauty in different places. In Japan, geishas are considered beautiful by their society. Hence, the ideal characteristics of a beautiful person do not necessarily apply to all societies. It applies to those countries, which were greatly influenced by the American culture like the Philippines; it applies to countries whose citizens are greatly affected by the colonial mentality.

Moreover, beauty can also differ from the young age group to the old age group. Although, there are similarities in each age group's standards of beauty, it will never be exactly alike since young and old people view things differently. For example, young girls consider having straight hair and wearing tight clothes as beautiful. Women, on the other hand, consider having straight hair and wearing less revealing clothes as beautiful.

In "Shape" magazine, advertisements such as Avia, JC Penny Salon and Jergens all show women who have blemish-free, fair complexioned skin, straight and smooth hair, and a body with curves and without excess fat on them. Likewise, "Essence" magazine showcases similar women. The only difference is that "Essence" is a magazine for women with dark complexion. Hence, all women in the magazine are women of dark complexion.

Beauty, as portrayed by the Media, is not always the ideal standard, which women should follow. It is not skin-deep. Real Beauty is found deep within a person. A person of beauty is one who shows acts of kindness and love, and has a pure heart. A beautiful person is not judged by her outer features and the clothes she wears but by the purity of her heart.

The Philippines, since the colonization by the Americans, Spaniards and Japanese, has become very dependent. Yes, we do have our own cultures, customs and traditions but we don't have our own rational minds. Like babies, we cling on to our parents fearing they might leave us alone; we can't support ourselves. Likewise, we fear that the Americans might abandon us. Therefore, we follow their every command or will.

Being dependent, I have to admit has its advantages. Though, they are most of the time short-lived. On the contrary, this causes the increase of mediocre people in our country. We also lose the ability to decide for ourselves. These disadvantages, on the other hand, will surely live on until the generation of our grandchildren's grandchildren.

Clinging to our older brothers only gives us nothing. It only makes our country worse. In turn, some of the Filipinos leave the country just to escape all the problems we've been having.

We can still change the current status of our country. Then again, with the things the other countries give us, it is indeed hard to let go. But we must try, must we not? We must have dignity and pride for our country. We have a lot of things we could be proud of. Nevertheless, if we continue being too dependent on other countries, we lose the only things, which make us Filipino. We lose our cultures, customs, traditions... everything.

Our country must be independent once more. We must be someone quite similar, if not the same, as Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo who gave their very own lives just for our country's independence. We must learn to let go; stand on our own feet. We must break away from the other countries. In doing so, we learn to be independent; we retain our cultures, customs and traditions; we attain the development that we’ve been striving hard for; and most of all, we continue to be true Filipinos.

Poverty is one of the most serious and unsolved problems here in our country. Hunger and death are some of its dire consequences. The crisis has been with us since we became an independent country in 1946. Yet, until now, we have not formulated a solution to our problem on poverty, thus, hindering us from attaining total human development.

The best readily achievable solution is to stop its main cause, corruption, at all levels of our society.

Corruption results in inefficiencies in the delivery of basic government projects. The cost of infrastructure projects soar multiple times more than their actual value. We often hear our government officials complain of budget deficits coupled with their proposals to increase the burden of taxation on us who are already suffering extreme poverty. How does the government lose funds? Each one of us know the answer too well…some of our government officials divert public funds to their private pockets. Corruption results in a vicious cycle of increased government borrowings from local and foreign sources which can only be repaid by continuously incurring additional loans. Today, our country has incurred enough external and internal loans that even our great grandchildren would continue to pay for years to come.

We are in a fiscal crisis because of corruption. While the corrupt live extravagant lifestyles, many of us struggle to survive on a daily basis. It might not even be far off when living and breathing would be a burden to our pockets.

Since almost everything is taxed, many people suffer. Poor people become poorer with each passing minute; and the middle income people are striving just to maintain their moderate lifestyles. Poverty breeds a society of thieves, murderers, and other social deviants spawned by the necessities of daily living. With this, poverty only becomes worse; the poverty line only grew bigger. There are also other social consequences to the long term problem of poverty.

There are social issues on health that cannot be addressed because of budgetary constraints. Health problems, whether serious or not, are becoming prevalent. These issues continue from the family tree of problems that corruption has started.

Because of poverty and high prices, working hard nowadays is simply not enough. Like doctors who studied eight or so years of college and spent thousands of pesos just to earn a medical degree yet are now working abroad as nurses! More and more people are leaving our county to become nurses since they are assured of a good future in other countries. With more doctors leaving and less nurses applying for jobs here in our country, who would take care of the sick people now?

Our country is already in a deplorable state. And worse, it continues to stay that way. A lot of mistakes have been made and for most people, only a miracle could take them away from their misery. What could be worse than this? Probably, nothing that anyone could imagine. However, as the song goes, "There's a rainbow always after the rain." Nothing is impossible right? :)

desires, fantasies
formidable thoughts,
lingering in the head,
the thought...the brain.

each one's impetus,
motivation.
driving force.

things we try to achieve,
to reach...to attain.
only to fulfill the needs-
spiritual and mental
of which can only be fulfilled
by the dream.

Race is a little more than and idea... it's a reality. It is not only an opinion written by someone to explain a certain unexplained belief; rather, it is an actuality, with its existence proved. People who have similar physical characteristics, similar culture and common ancestry are not a product of human's wild imagination. They exist and are proved by evidences and facts.

Everyone in this world wants to have freedom. They all want to achieve it but very little of them know what is needed to be free. Freedom is the state of being free. It is not culture-dependent nor is it race-dependent which means everyone can acquire it. Being free, not conforming to everyone else does not make you perfidious to your race. You can have your own beliefs and still belong in your race at the same time.

In the end, race is not the deciding factor for one’s freedom; it is one's will. But, most of them are blinded by the power of the other nations to the point where they succumb to the nations in defeat. Others may have the will although they do not believe in it fully enough to have the guts to do so. One good example of this is Cinque's line when he was narrating his life story to Roger Baldwin: "I was treated like a prince. I was fed, praised and given honor. It was a nice life but I knew I didn’t deserve it." The Africans did not believe fully that they could be free, they had many doubts, but they believed in it nonetheless.

They were so brain-washed by their captors until very little of them stood firm against their captors. The first scene is an excellent example of this. Cinque tried hard to remove the screw which held his chains from leaving the ground. His hands were dire wounded but this did not hinder him from taking it out of the ground. Among a couple of men, women and children, he was the only one who had the determination to free himself and the others.

These mentalities were changed when Atty. Baldwin took the case and refuted them. He proved to them they had the right to be free. Cinque realized this just before they won the case filed in the district court. Shouting with much courage and determination, he said, "Set us free. Give us us free. Give us us free. Give us us free" repeatedly.

Moreover, John Quincy Addams, the former president of America who is against slavery proved to the nine judges of the Supreme Court that everyone is free and no one is owned regardless of one’s race. He said, "Who we are is who we were." Those Africans are certainly not born of slaves thus giving them a right to be free as opposed to what their two remaining captors, Montes and Ruiz, had said. Through this, they won the case and were then freed from their predicament.

Cinque and his fellow Africans went home unscathed. They lived a peaceful life from then on. Their race did not hinder them from becoming free. Because of Cinque's determination and willingness to be free, he and his countrymen attained freedom.

Race is not the deciding factor for one's freedom but rather it is their willingness to be free. To be free, one must believe that he could be free; one must have the courage to stand up for his rights; and one must have the determination to continue struggling until he attains his freedom. But I believe that one need not be free for everyone is free from birth. It is only those merciless leaders who give us the title of 'prisoners'.

And there are times when I wish
I can hide...
and keep all of...
the hurt and the pain
this brings me.

And you ask me.
(or is it really me you ask?)
Why I try
to keep myself as far away
as I can from you.

I leave you no answer and
I stare at you as I
turn my back and leave you
clueless and confused.

I hide and look at
your dumbfounded face.
I stare and wonder at
your anxiety and confusion
as I feel sympathy for you...

And how I wish I
could tell you why
and what and how
and answer all your questions.
How I wish...

For I, myself, am clueless.

how i had wished to find myself.
for i was lost... in my self-created abyss.
i was lost in my own dwelling...
where i hide in fear.

but i think i have found, who
i really am. or so
i think. or so they think.

but why is it that i feel lost, still.
not in my dwelling, but
in myself.

my desperate search for what is real
led me into my own demise.
and i never knew how much i have lost now.
for in the beginning, i realize, i was never lost.

it was them.
them who thought i...
could be better.

them.
them.
them.

and now i wish to find myself,
from them self i have created to
please all of them.
for i have never felt more lost than i am now.

And once again, the sun sets.
We haste for tasks that need be done.
For stressing life's but second nature;
and ignorance--its immediate consequence.

And you have become a slave of ignorance.
Seemingly, stressing life's lured you in and
your every task have been put to priority...
Until you have left me.

So sad as it is to be last.
The list you've made had given me rank.
So sad as it is what work had made you...
forgetful in things you once did.

But is it work or something else?
Better that I've been replaced?
That what used to be seems never-existent;
or everything, have you just forgotten?

What is it with those things?
That you deal with me with such haste.
You've given me home for your own keeping
and throw me in your moldy, dark and dusty attic.

What is it that happened to you?
That you have made me an object for need!
You have forgotten times of before,
I prithee, you won't lose control.

And yet again, the sun sets.
You haste for tasks that need be done...
while I lie still, locked and safely kept
in your moldy, dark and dusty attic.

*revised: Jan 4, 2008

the candlelight fades, darkness grows
chin flat down, eyes focused while
jotting every moment's beauty

passing hours never noticed, still
the queer eye focused, thinking
still lacking quintessence

every word carefully written
describing, defining simplicity and beauty
in all its splendor

the perfectionist, the idealist dreamer
never contented for want of more
still lacking quintessence