Typical Filipino (XLIV) - Typisch Philippinisch (XLIV): Like beating around the bush - Wie die Katze um den heißen Brei

Foreigners who like to get straight to the point at hand often wonder about the purpose of a visit at home or in the office when the visitor merely indulges in gentle small-talk banter - a nice conversation that doesn't add to the visit seems to justify. Of course, the visitor has been waiting the entire time for you to offer him an appropriate occasion. to talk about the purpose of his visit by simply asking (after a pleasant atmosphere for conversation has been established): "What can I do for you?" Often the visitor will not mention the reason for his visit at all, but will only blurt out when saying goodbye, as if it had just occurred to him again: Oh yes, something I almost forgot..."

The prolixity and the time-wasting pleasantries are part of a dynamic that revolves around preserving fragile self-respect. HIYA and AMOR-PROPIO depend on manners that protect valuable self-respect from possible harm, and harmonious, smooth interpersonal relationships can ensure this state.

The difference between interpersonal relationships in Western countries and in the Philippines comes from the fact that we resolve conflicts by consciously initiating them, whereas Filipinos resolve conflicts by avoiding confrontation.

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Ausländer, die gern unverzüglich auf den eigentlichen Punkt zu sprechen kommen, wundern sich oft über den Zweck eines Besuches daheim oder im Büro, wenn der Besucher sich lediglich in sanftem Small-Talk-Geplänkel ergeht - eine nette Unterhaltung, die den Besuch aber nicht zu rechtfertigen scheint. Dabei hat natürlich der Besucher während der gesamten Zeit darauf gewartet, daß Sie ihm einen angemessenen Anlaß bieten. über den Zweck seines Besuches zu sprechen, indem Sie etwa (nachdem ein angenehmes Gesprächsklima hergestellt ist) ganz einfach fragen:"Was kann ich für Sie tun?" Oft wird der Besucher den Anlaß seines Besuches überhaput nicht erwähnen, sondern erst beim Abschied, als fiele es ihm gerade wieder ein, herauszuplatzen: Ach ja, was ich fast vergessen hätte..."

Die Weitschweifigkeit und die zeitraubenden Höflichkeiten sind Teile einer Dynamik, die um die Wahrung der zerbrechlichen Selbstachtung kreis. HIYA und AMOR-PROPIO sind auf Umgangsformen angewiesen, die die wertvolle Selbstachtung vor möglichen schaden bewahren, und harmonische, glatte zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen vermögen diesen Zustand zu sichern.

Der Unterschied zwischen den zwischenmenschlichen Beziehungen in westlichen Ländern und auf den Philippinen rührt daher, daß bei uns Konflikte durch das bewußte Herbeiführen, bei den Filipinos hingegen durch das Vermeiden einer Konfrontation gelöst werden.

Philippine Constitution ‘recognizes women’

BY REY G. PANALIGAN

Mar 5, 2024 01:01 PM 

The Philippines’ 1987 Constitution did better than the Constitutions of other countries in recognizing women.

“Our Constitution has done better because we have in Article 2, Section 14, the wording that the state shall ensure not only a passive act, the fundamental equality before the law of women and men,” said Acting Chief Justice Marvic M.V.F. Leonen in an inspiration speech at the start of the judiciary’s celebration of Women’s Month this March.

“The order of women and men rather than men and women is a conscious decision of the Constitutional Commission when it wrote the Constitution,” Leonen pointed out.

Section 14, Article 2 of the Constitution states: “The State recognizes the role of women in nation-building, and shall ensure the fundamental equality before the law of women and men.”

The judiciary, led by the SC, started its celebration of Women’s Month last Monday, March 4, during its flag-raising ceremony.

In his message, Associate Justice Jhosep Y. Lopez, co-chairperson of the SC’s Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary (CGRJ), said that “out of nearly 2,000 judges, 55 percent are women -- a testament to our commitment to inclusivity, meritocracy, and diversity.”

Lopez said that it would also give so much benefit to have more female magistrates in the SC. “I know that this would no longer be a distant reality because we have Associate Justices Amy C. Lazaro-Javier and Maria Filomena D. Singh trailblazing a path towards an even more diverse court,” he said. Justices Javier and Singh are the only two female jurists in the 15-member SC.

Reacting to Lopez’s statement, Javier said the 13 other SC justices never once made them feel diminished. They are “all progressive men, [who] always heard, respected, and listened to our voices.”

Lopez said “the increasing trend to appoint more and more women to appellate court positions is also very promising.”  However, he emphasized that “the participation of women in nation-building remains an area that needs stronger advocacy and support.”

Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, co-chair of the CGRJ, acknowledged the Court’s consistent efforts in supporting women's month and helping realize the lofty ambitions it aims to achieve.

He cited the five-year Strategic Plan for Judicial Innovations 2022-2027 or the SPJI. “As a core principle in the SPJI, the Court intends to pursue efforts that would ultimately further its desire to foster a culture of inclusivity,” he pointed out.

He also cited the theme of the Women’s Month 2024: “WE for Gender Equality and Inclusive Society.” He pointed out that the “’WE’ stands for women and everyone.”

“This means that all of us are called to contribute to nation-building and that it is only through our collective efforts that we can truly achieve an inclusive society,” he said.

Justice Javier emphasized that “Gender Equality and Inclusive Society is the Court delivering justice on behalf of women and children who are victims of violence as it is you encouraging your wives, mothers, daughters, sisters and the women in your lives to pursue their personal goals and dreams.”

“It is women and men enjoying equal rights and privileges under the law as it is all of us consciously using gender-fair language, observing gender-fair etiquette, and abandoning gender stereotypes in all our dealings, especially in the Court,” she added. 
Acting Chief Justice Leonen (Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo is on official leave of absence) congratulated the CGRJ’s efforts.

“Sooner or later, I hope that we can graduate from gender responsiveness to gender justice,” Leonen said.

Also, in line with the SC’s celebration of Women’s Month, officials and employees were encourage to wear purple office attire on all Mondays of the month of March.

Earlier, during the flag ceremony at the Department of Justice (DOJ), Justice Singh rallied the country’s women “to never give up and speak up for your rights and for what you believe that you deserve.”

“Needless to say, a woman does not have to be a particular advocate of feminism or women’s rights. By birth right, kailangan tinataguyod natin ang isa’t isa (we need to promote or endorse each other),” she said.

 

ABS-CBN honored with 11 awards at 1st Perpetualites Choice Awards

Vice Ganda emerges as big winner

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT

Mar 4, 2024 10:43 PM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• “It’s Showtime” won as the Best Noontime Variety Show, while Anne Curtis and Vice Ganda were hailed as Best Female TV Personality and Best Noontime Variety Show Host. 

ABS-CBN continues to receive love and support from the academic community as it earned 11 awards including Best Media Company from the University of Perpetual Help JONELTA System’s 1st Perpetualites’ Choice Awards on Friday (Mar 1).

“It’s Showtime” won as the Best Noontime Variety Show, while Anne Curtis and Vice Ganda were hailed as Best Female TV Personality and Best Noontime Variety Show Host.

Vice also proved that she is still ‘Unkabogable’ and well-loved by the youth as she scooped up three other awards including Best TV Personality, Best Game Show Host, and Most Service Oriented Media Personality.

Star Magic artists, Seth Fedelin and Francine Diaz, also emerged triumphant, winning Best Young Male and Female Media Personality, respectively.  Meanwhile, Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla took home the award for Best Love Team.

"ASAP Natin 'To's" very own Moira dela Torre was also named Best Female Solo Artist. 

The winners of the 1st Perpetualites’ Choice Awards were voted by Perpetualites from the various campuses of the University of Perpetual Help JONELTA System in Isabela, Pangasinan, Manila, GMA, Pueblo de Panay, and Laguna.

Beware of the danger of worldly entrapment

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

THIS worldly entrapment is actually a clear and present danger. But the intriguing part is that hardly anyone is aware of it. Many of us allow ourselves to be caught in the widening web of the modern technologies which, while offering us a lot of conveniences, also hook us into the dynamic of self-indulgence, with love for God and the others practically thrown out of the window.

We are reminded somehow of this danger in the readings of the Mass for Wednesday of the 3rd Week of Lent (Dt 4,1.5-9; Mt 5,17-19) where we are strongly told to give priority to following the commandments of God which actually give us the proper condition for us to be in this life.

In the first reading, a prophet told the people of Israel, “Give heed to the statutes and ordinances which I teach you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you.” 

And in the gospel of the day, we hear Christ telling the crowd who followed him, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.” These words clearly tell us where we can find the fulfillment of the law proper to us—it’s in following Christ.

We should train ourselves to have as our abiding and strongest passion, as our most precious treasure, the need and urge to be intimate with Christ. We actually cannot afford to be without Christ. The only thing to expect in that condition is to get into some form of disaster!

This will, of course, require us a lot of effort, a tremendous dose of faith, hope and charity, to contend with our usual feeling of doubt and awkwardness with respect to this need of ours. But, to be sure, it would all be worthwhile! We just have to humble ourselves and remind ourselves to always pray, to always do things with Christ and for Christ. We should not take this most basic need of ours for granted.

We cannot deny that especially nowadays, the lure and the hook of worldly entrapment that has as its bait the many wonderful technologies we are having these days, can be so overpowering that we can feel helpless before this phenomenon. We really need a lot of discipline to put ourselves always in God’s presence and to consciously follow his will and commandments.

In this we have to help one another. We cannot afford to be casual anymore to this need. All around us are many cases of people in certain types of addiction, obsessions and other forms of bondage.

Even those who appear to be good and saintly-looking can be in the grip of some of these forms of bondage, usually hidden and well covered by all sorts of justifications and rationalizations.

It has to be made clear to everyone that what is proper to us is to have God first and everything else would just follow in their proper order of importance. Let’s never forget that we are meant to be always with God. Our life, given the way we have been created, cannot but be a sharing in God’s life and nature. To stay away from him would be a fundamental anomaly that would have bad consequences for everything else in our life.

We should therefore give priority to our spiritual needs of prayer, recourse to the sacraments, development of virtues, the habit of having the presence of God always, doing everything with God and for God, etc.

Concerto Ottimo

 

Concerto Ottimo

Mar. 22, 2024 | 18:00 - Mar. 22, 2024 | 20:00

Join us at RCBC Plaza on March 22nd, 2024 for an unforgettable evening of classical music. The renowned Manila Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Marlon Chen and featuring special guests, will perform a selection of chart hits, iconic soundtracks and classical favourites, from The Blue Danube to James Bond to Bohemian Rhapsody and many more..

If you want to join us as a company, or simply celebrate with a group of friends (8pax), take a VIP table for 8 which includes a Special Reception, a 6 course dinner for 8, and 8 VIP row viewing seating - BOOK MY VIP TABLE HERE

Join us for an evening you'll never forget.

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