Rizal People; They Know

 The electorate had spoken. Only hours since the closing of PCOS machines at 7:00 PM yesterday, things have changed, quickly redefining the Philippines in an obvious attempt to turn the next three, grueling years of our country's political timeline into a soothing landscape fertile enough to serve as a greener pasture. Thanks to PCOS - although with few, minute cloud of doubts formed with questions of mechanical efficiency, generally, everything went well.

Rizal -my beloved town, earlier proclaimed a new, incoming mayor in councilor Lito Andres. As a first timer in a position still being held by incumbent Oly Placido for three, full terms ending in June, expectations are surely running high. The past decade proved to set standards both in public service and public perception for community leadership and he looks so determined to surpass if not match what his predecessors have inculcated within the annals of Rizal's glorious history. The last is a surefire one steep hill to tackle. Tackling it needs summoning all his strength while the people of Rizal is wishing him well...and watching him rather closely.

The citizens of this town are historically cooperative and submissive (not really in that particular order). Never in its richly detailed past ever had shedding of blood for a meager political gain. The past election season may have brought in divided ideals and "some" echoes of murky propaganda practically common during such season, but after the event everyone will end as friends -clasping of arms and hands singing Rizal March by Senor Alunen (+) on top of their lungs. But one thing to note: These great people of Rizal may be that submissive and cooperative but they are keen observer and a quiet skimmer capable of seeing beyond the acts -perhaps a hundred-fold more efficient than the recently reused optical scanner in the manner of detecting what's real and what 's bogus come feeding of the new mayor's official ballot-like resume in the people's imaginative PCOS for his plans and jobs for the next three years. They know, like in a magnifying lens of a scrutinizing clandestine worker, the end justifies the means.

2013 election is done. Faces of varying emotions of happiness, gloom and laid-back ones are now meeting, greeting and consoling each other in attempt to celebrate with the winners, pacify or cheer for the losers and let the wheel of the bus go round and round further down the road of life. Winning or losing yesterday's election may have created huge fuss in our town's total mentality yet again but it's not the final, not the end. Real work is up ahead. Let us all brace up, fasten our seat belts. This is just another beginning of a voyage for the future we are all bound to go. But be careful, because again, the people is watching, the people know.

“Honesty” has proven the innate Rizalian Creativity, once again

Creativity comes in different forms. The artistry that goes with it, though most of the time is considered subjective, has been proven to enhance self-esteem and could bring variations where changes are highly demanded. It could be a rather different development, but such creativity amplified in greater proportions particularly in times of unbridled pressures and surprised announcements.

Such was the scene on the 22^nd of January when the Department of Education –Rizal District held the first-ever activity that magnified the old adage and extracted the infamous phrase down to its roots reminding everyone that still, “Honesty is the best policy”. It is where the classroom educators of Rizal fused in a rendezvous of flowing creative juices concocted to bring up the same old flavor of this popular axiom about honesty in an artistically fresh manner. It was where these souls of mentorship came out with blazing ingenuity despite the time-limited notice for preparation of less than 24 meager hours.

One feature of the event was the typical Poster-Making contest which stirred the participants’ imagination to visualize the popular maxim in the confines of one-fourths of an illustration board. The pressure came here more for the coaches who, undoubtedly, are the ones who surely felt the tension of the emblematic silent competition among them both for the gravity of the need to come up with an awe-inspiring, original craft and for the restricted time given to formulate their mentees’ masterpieces.  Interpretative conflicts were evident as some came up with pieces inclined with the more common Editorial Cartooning being competed every year in the schools press conferences. The tendency to get confused between poster-making and cartooning were obvious but still, every participant showcased unparalleled inventiveness that proved the penchant for artistry by the people of Rizal.

Another exciting feature of the activity was “The Skit” which showcased the dramatic and melodramatic bounds of the actors collectively guided by their coaches’ theatrical schemes. Some performed parodies, spoofs and even comedy which elicited mixed types of entertainment all underscoring the values of honestly and rectitude. The short notice for preparation never stood up as a drawback for they not only displayed consummate elucidation of their own creative scripts but also the uncanny ability to tag along with the dialogues they may only have started memorizing and practicing the afternoon of the previous day.

In the end, the program and the overall activity concluded finely. Winners were identified and awarded which resulted into a frenzy of astonishment and celebration from the late-informed mentors, writers, actors and visual artists.  Losers may have shed some inner tears and went home with a bit of gloom, but everyone left the venue, Rizal Central School, practically contented with the experience -bearing a renewed vigor for the continuous dissemination of the this old, common and overstated proverbial phrase which unsparingly captivates every human soul into a fractional realization of a utopian world one can only dream about.