LINO BROCKA - A FILIPINO MATTERS TRIBUTE

The call for more realistic themes in Philippine films was answered by stage and movie director Lino Brocka. His fresh ideas featured contemporary scenes and brought the film closer to its audience.

This enabled him to capture the Filipino viewing public making him one of the greatest directors ever in Philippine cinema.

Born in Sorsogon, Lino became an avid fan of Hollywood movies and became fascinated in American lifestyle and movie plots. Graduated with honors, he gained a scholarship at the University of the Philippines and took a pre-law course.

He became part of the UP Dramatic Club not as an actor, because of his provincial accent, but as a stagehand pulling curtains. However, his actual directing career started when a friend introduced him to the founder of the Philippines Educational Theater Association (PETA).

He proved his skills in his first movie direction, Wanted: Perfect Mother, a plot based from The Sound of Music. An entry to the Manila Film Festival, the movie gained awards and made a name for him in the industry.

Most of his movies soon won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Director. Aware and sensitive of the times, Brocka made movies that tackled sensitive socio-cultural issues, the struggles of the urban poor and the people’s perspectives of government, among many others.

His movies were acclaimed in the country and abroad. Among his noteworthy classics are Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, a story of a poor man who went to the city to look for his lost love only to find her tragic fate and Insiang, a film about the life of a slum girl in Manila who was raped by her mother’s lover.

This was the first Philippine film ever shown at the 1978 Cannes Film Festival. And in the following years, his movies Jaguar (1979), “Bona” (1981) and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984) were all nominated in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival held in France.

Lino Brocka was not just an artist. He was a social activist who portrayed the life and times of the poor, the social ills and the struggles of ordinary Filipinos. He translated his nationalist passions onto film.

BAYANIHAN - FILIPINO SPIRIT OF COOPERATION

Mutual assistance, group liability, or social group work are some terms used to signify a sense of belongingness, teamwork, social responsibility and unity of purpose among the people in a community. The Filipino word for it is bayanihan, from the root word bayani which means hero.

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Thus, bayanihan would translate to doing a selfless heroic act of helping others without expecting something in return. From this heroic concept of support, the idea of communal action and cooperation in pursuit of a common task sprang up.

Bayanihan is commonly manifested in a neighborhood effort in helping a family move their nipa hut to a new location. Imagine a throng of people carrying a ‘straw and wooden’ house on their shoulders and transporting it in a closely synchronized undertaking with cheers and singing along the way.

Bayanihan is manifested in various communal actions. Farmers ask their fellow farmers to help in planting and harvesting, and reciprocate the favor when asked in turn.

This Filipino trait is likewise observed during emergencies, such as earthquakes, typhoons, fire and other calamities, as well as in times of sickness and deaths of community members where helping others becomes a given.

The concept of bayanihan has come a long way. The internationally-acclaimed national folk dance group Bayanihan Dance Company showcases the best of the Filipino traditional culture through dance.

In the field of information technology, a group of Filipinos developed the Bayanihan Linux, a volunteer effort at developing a local version of the Linux operating system and was coined by Luis Sarmenta.

The Harvard Business Review has featured the term as referring to an appeal for global efforts in corporate social responsibility. In local banking, a savings window has been named the Bayanihan Savings Program to underscore the Filipino value of pooling common resources to help one another. Truly, the bayanihan spirit remains very much alive in every Filipino.

The Western concept of individualism is very difficult for Filipinos to understand. For us, kinship goes beyond our immediate families and extends to distant relatives, neighbors and our communities.

The bayanihan spirit has weathered us through centuries of natural disasters, economic woes and conflicts. Hence, the impulse to help a brother or a sister in distress is a natural Filipino reflex.

2014 PRC MIDWIVES LICENSURE EXAMINATION RESULTS

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 1,401 out of 2,768 passed the Midwife Licensure Examination given by the Board of Midwifery in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Legazpi, Lucena, Tacloban, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga this November 2014.

The members of the Board of Midwifery who gave the licensure examination are
Dr. Alejandro R. San Pedro, Chairman; Dr. Remy B. Dequiña, Dr. Josephine H. Hipolito, Ms. Lolita I. Dicang and Ms. Rhodora L. Lopez, Members.

Registration for the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will be on November 20-21, 2014. Those who will register are required to bring the following: duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal, current Community Tax Certificate (cedula), 1 piece passport size picture (colored with white background and complete nametag), 2 sets of metered documentary stamps and 1 short brown envelope with name and profession and to pay the Initial Registration Fee of P450 and Annual Registration Fee of P420 for 2014-2017. Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals.

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