It’s surreal that a blog I only considered as a pastime – it still is – is now celebrating its second anniversary. I’ve overcome the habit of deleting blogs every time the spirit of laziness possessed me. I think if the COVID-19 pandemic had ever had its silver lining, it’s that I was able to focus on publishing articles, whatever the topic and whenever there is the necessity.
What’s even more surreal is that this pastime has unexpectedly morphed into my identity. That it is already associated with who I am, what I can do and how much irked I can get. It’s a bit flattering, knowing that there are people who can devote their time reading my articles.
And it’s surreal to know how far I can get in operating this blog. When I began posting pubmats of COVID-19 updates or quotes and quotables and initiated a donation drive for victims of a cataclysmic typhoon, I knew that I would keep hold of this pastime for a very long time.
Two years have gone and pass. Society has evolved more than ever. The government’s ordeals have gotten bigger and bigger. And the voters are more than eager to render their judgment at the polling booths.
The Edj View has been my singular platform to castigate whoever I want to, praise whoever needs to be and shower the readers with my personal or academic grievances. While I could have saved them time and stress in another pastime that limits all ideas to a measly 240 characters known as ‘tweeting,’ who cares? Blogging is so much fun in part because there is no character limit to scream in such a formal, dramatic and well-argued manner.
Nonetheless, the honeymoon period is all but over. The question now is whether the tagline “Raw and unfiltered” has been upheld amid attacks aimed at dissenting voices. Are the critiques of the COVID-19 response or the war in Afghanistan raw, let alone unfiltered? Am I scared that the machinery from Washington to Moscow to Beijing to Manila will come down to me like soldiers hunting the world’s most wanted terrorist? And, most importantly, will that tagline stand if its most revered critic comes from your own bloodline?
I’ve made a, somehow, startling declaration last year to make this tagline more of a virtue than a decoration: “I am inclined to speak out what’s on my mind. ‘Raw and unfiltered’ is what my blog declares to be. Not to be swayed, feared or petrified. Cling to what’s the truth and stick to your guts when the truth is being challenged. Blogging has become essential as ever before.”
It’s for you to judge whether the tagline was just for beautification for all or most of two years. Either way, there’ll be a time to contemplate that.
For now, it’s time to look back on what happened in the blog’s 731 days of existence and what I think the future will have for this, for me, for us.
A Drastically Changed World
August 30, 2021, was nowhere near August 30, 2020, though the COVID-19 pandemic is still front and center in the nation’s and the world’s political and medical discourse. At The Edj View’s first anniversary, the Department of Health (DOH) has logged more than 210,000 cases, with a metropolis just coming out from a two-week Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). A year later, the caseload stood more than 1.9 million, an increase of about 900%.
The dreaded virus had evolved in just a year, starting in December, when the Alpha variant emerged just in time as the vaccines were developed and approved. And reopening was delayed as the Delta variant caused the number of cases worldwide to skyrocket, even in countries with high vaccination rates.
But the political rancor has never subsided amid a public health emergency. The Philippines alone saw how much dirty the political cesspool is. And the election season has descended upon us as politicians are starting to shoot themselves in the foot.
“The punches and counterpunches are beginning to land. It is an inevitable squabble between presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls determined to capture the nation’s heart and imagination,” I wrote in June, eleven months before the elections. “Whoever prevails must remember that politicking comes with a price, and leadership is rewarded with fervent trust and support.”
This, as the ruling PDP-Laban is sharply divided into two factions: one headed by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi III, the other by Sen. Manny Pacquiao. The squabbling descended into confusion since none of them would recognize each other’s moves, thus prompting a challenge to the Supreme Court, who will decide which faction is legitimate.
Its chairman, President Rodrigo Duterte, remains the talk of the town nonetheless, eliciting thousands of reactions nationwide over his statements – partly outrageous, partly partisan, partly head-scratching. His decision to run for the vice-presidency alone provoked critics and elated supporters.
Awaiting a decision from God, Mr. Duterte eventually revealed that vying for the vice-presidency was his ticket way out from possible persecution from the International Criminal Court (ICC) over crimes of humanity stemmed from the bloody drug war. Critics accuse him of circumventing the spirit of the Constitution, though there is no explicit prohibition of an incumbent president running from any political office, except the presidency itself.
Then you have the president’s never-ending war with Vice President Leni Robredo, the possible standard-bearer of the opposition in next year’s polls, and his perceived political opponents, from Leila De Lima and Antonio Trillanes IV to Rappler and ABS-CBN.
“In the middle of catastrophes, the president has managed to produce another one,” I said when he berated the vice president during Typhoon Ulysses’s rage. “His meltdown has brought nothing but headache and anxiety. He may have brought in a new set of ammo to his supporters, but he is doing much injustice to this nation.”
On the other side of the world, American politics has devolved into a circus, culminating in an election season that even scriptwriters haven’t thought of.
The frantic elections began when the debates kicked off between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The melee was so embarrassing that some begged to cancel the succeeding ones.
“The debate didn’t serve its purpose to educate the voters on the positions of the candidates,” I wrote. “Instead, it turned into a platform to denounce each other as if they were in a kindergarten backyard. Pettiness stood out rather than professionalism, integrity, and respect. None of them would calm down because they knew they would be viewed as weak and fragile.”
A month later, after numerous twists and surprises along the campaign trail, Americans voted to deny Mr. Trump reelection – the first occurrence in 28 years – and elect a bipartisan dealmaker and institutionalist to the job. “You’re fired!” 81 million Americans, 25 states and two districts sucked to his face.
However, false allegations of fraud had swirled on the president’s mind, reaching its climax on January 6, 2021, when a deadly insurrection jeopardized the lives of legislators and threatened America’s fragile democracy. Leaving five people dead, the worst security breach at the United States Capitol manifested the sad state of politics.
I bluntly wrote: “The Trump presidency began with a nightmare and will end in a nightmare…No single force has bound the insurrectionists, anarchists, blind followers and loyalists so forcefully as Donald J. Trump. Shielded from accountability, the president, through his words, wasn’t taken aback by the perpetration of American democracy. Truly, he didn’t fit the integrity of the office of the presidency.”
Accountability was thought to be within reach for Mr. Trump after four years of trying to weaken democratic institutions, but his allies were defiant in protecting him from further humiliation.
Societies around the world were rocked by scandals and crises, complicating their situation as the pandemic rages.
Afghanistan alone has been challenged in recent weeks after Taliban insurgents swiftly seized its capital, Kabul, leaving Afghans in shambles. After two decades in the war against terror, darkness suddenly reigned again in the war-torn country.
“But one thing is clear,” I wrote, “the Taliban is back.”
Democracies gradually crumble as autocrats in China and Russia try to pull the levers of the world. Governments are rocked with longstanding problems like pervasive corruption and criminality on top of the rippling effects of COVID-19. In just a year since we celebrated our first anniversary, certain decisions have led to either chaos or peace; pronouncements either frighten or soothe; and partnerships either pave the way to our escalation or de-escalation.
No matter what, there is still a long road ahead towards recovery, filled with roadblocks that will test every facet of society. At our third anniversary, there is hope that progress would be much substantial.
Exposing Myself
Lesson number one if you want a bash-less life: Don’t publicize everything.
Don’t publicize your achievements. Don’t publicize your social connections. Don’t publicize the food that you eat. And, most importantly, don’t publicize your political opinions – the one area where no matter what you do, someone will be outraged.
This is my mother’s long-held belief, who has become increasingly active on social media in the past few months as the coronavirus left her with lots of free time. Facebook was the only social media platform for her. Twitter? Instagram? Those are alien applications.
When the 2019 elections ended with a resounding victory for the administration, I turned to Facebook stories to vent out my anger. That didn’t sit well with her. Even my high school teachers were, somehow, enraged by what I did. For all of my outspokenness, they taught me never to turn social media into a diary.
Instead, I utilized my blog. I was able to tell some stories about myself within the confines of the blogosphere and the realms of the English language. And personal narratives have consistently raked in more views than any other articles, partly because some get a spoonful of inspiration from what I have to say.
The first time I really unveiled myself as a bare person with blemishes all-around was on May 31, 2020, when the University of the Philippines (UP) rendered its judgment on me in its rigorous application. I failed, learning at around 2:00 AM that my score didn’t reach its standard.
“It’s like as if poop was dropped on your dreams,” I wrote at the time. “A slap on your face. An insult to your intelligence. It’s as if the UPCAT is the validation of your greatness and then it told you that you were nothing but a dumb loser. It’s as if you felt worthless and undeserving.”
A commenter said that there are other doors to enter UP even if I failed UPCAT: “Just dropping by to say that there are other ways to study in UP other than passing the UPCAT. You can appeal, as the note says, or you can transfer to UP on your second year. Some of the most brilliant students that I met in UP did not pass the UPCAT, so I encourage you to also try to appeal or transfer if you can.”
I ended up enrolling in the University of Santo Tomas (UST) as a journalism major, contemplating a year later that no matter what university I ended up studying at, the avalanche of workloads won’t go away.
“So, whether or not applicants passed the UPCAT this year is only a minor roadblock. The real test lies ahead, and it doesn’t consider the school we are in. It is in our hands whether we can be effective and responsive citizens of society, no matter the alma mater indicated in our CV,” I wrote in July, first published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Young Blood section.
As The Edj View entered its second year, I became extremely comfortable revisiting notable moments of my life and published whatever struggles and learnings I got from them.
In April, when I cleaned my bookshelves and saw my dusty diaries, I extracted one entry from January 2016 – an embarrassing moment between me, my CLE teacher and my ex-crush. I just vomited in front of them at a bus – worse, the plastic containing my puke spilled on the floor, infuriating the bus conductor and the passengers beside us.
“The conductor erupted in anger. I couldn’t look at other passengers in shame. I couldn’t talk to Sir CLE. And worst, I couldn’t look at Crush, who was just beside me. I was so humiliated,” I wrote in my diary, which I translated into English. “But it’s okay. Sometimes, that’s just the ordinary way of life. You can’t stop yourself from throwing up, farting, burping, or the like.”
And so, post after post, word after word, readers get a glimpse of what I feel right now and how it’s different from the past.
From “The ACET Diaries,” my journey on how I tried to pass the stringent entrance exam of Ateneo de Manila University – and failed, to “Ake,” my appreciation post on the newest member of our family, it felt like water in a balloon bursting after that rubbery object exploded. And through it all, thousands of characters have been dedicated to forming narratives that may either prompt readers to contemplate about their own lives or simply myself.
But it wasn’t only the words that I tried to inject into the discourse. Photographs, worth a thousand words, evoked a sense of nostalgia, a time when society wasn’t much enthralled with advanced technology and the term pandemic was relatively unknown. My fascination with my 20,000-plus photos pushed me to publish a photographic essay of how my pink digicam became witness to how I grow in this world.
“Navigating through pictures of yesterday,” I wrote in the introductory essay, “I realized how time passes by like light or a Formula 1 racing car. And I noticed how pimples won’t be a problem yet.”
Never mind that the photos are in 480p format or blurred; these snapshots illustrated a life that can be fulfilled with simple pleasures and animated with the company of dear friends and family.
Twenty days after publishing that, I managed to release another one, this time with an accompanying essay, detailing the final days pf March 2020, when the coronavirus was about to shatter our lives and dreams and face-to-face classes were already at their final breath. I have regretted some decisions I made, knowing that the suspension would only take weeks. It turns out that the education system would be recalibrated for the next academic year.
“Sadly, on the last school day, on March 10, some were absent. It was habitual, but it was saddening in a way because of the events that transpired afterward,” I wrote. “No selfie. No group selfie. No lengthy speeches. Just casual goodbyes, then off we go back to our homes.”
As part of exposing myself, I recently resurfaced screenshots of cringe-worthy posts from 2013 to 2016, revealing posts on Facebook that include even the cinema schedule at a nearby mall. From commentaries about the pork barrel scam and the basketball match between the Philippines and South Korea to lectures about stupidities in life and love, Facebook was my first partner in telling my friends whatever the heck I want to say. Well, after years, we got a divorce and now WordPress has become my partner instead.
Lending A Helping Hand
Probably the greatest achievement of The Edj View this past year is not an article that bagged a major award or an opinion piece that reverberated on social media because of its flawlessness. It is an advocacy initiated well outside the realms of blogging.
In November, Typhoon Ulysses unexpectedly wreaked havoc across different parts of the country when everyone thought that a preceding typhoon, Rolly, would be a direct replica of Super Typhoon Yolanda. Rolly was still catastrophic, but people living in the metropolis were caught off-guard with Ulysses.
That evoked memories of Typhoon Ondoy, an unfortunate event I recalled in September. Both typhoons led to heavy flooding in major cities and cost the lives of some.
Commemorating Ondoy’s 11th anniversary, I wrote: “As I turned on the news, I saw the wreckage left by Ondoy. Residents were pleading for help on their roofs. Cars were stacked on top of each other. Everything was covered with flood and mud.”
And when the flood swiftly submerged Cagayan Valley, I said: “Many Cagayeños are reeling right now from the effects of ‘Ulysses.’ People are pleading for help as they are stuck either on the second floor or the roof of their home.”
Amid the coronavirus pandemic, another crisis has tested the Filipino spirits. But the situation is complicated nowadays: They need to save themselves from the flood and COVID-19. Add to that the impending economic toll on top of what had already been lost because of COVID-19.
Thus, I decided to use this platform for goodwill.
The Edj View and Edj TV launched a donation drive, “Saan Makakarating Ang Bente Mo?” where donors sent at least 20 pesos on my GCash account. All proceeds will eventually be given to charitable foundations such as ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya and Caritas Manila.
With the tagline, “Walang maliit na tulong kapag ito ay pinagsama-sama,” 16 people responded to the call, generating a total of PhP1,004.39 – four pesos and 39 cents up from the target PhP1,000. Three-fourths of all donations went to Caritas while the remaining one-fourth to ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya.
It was truly heartwarming to see people allocating a portion of their money to lend a helping hand to their fellow countrymen in need. What’s amazing is that despite donation drives mushrooming at the time, they didn’t simply scroll up their news feed when the advertisement popped up.
Nonetheless, much that calamities highlight the bayanihan spirit, it is my fervent desire not to experience another cataclysmic typhoon ever again – it’s never wrong to wish something like this. Climate change has expeditiously ruined the planet as little action is being implemented. In the coming decades, the Philippines could be a punching bag for super typhoons if humanity won’t take drastic steps to curb this phenomenon.
“If we fail to address this issue immediately, future generations may end up paying the price,” I wrote in September. “We cannot ignore the catastrophe we are heading at. We should do our best to mitigate the consequences of our actions by demanding the government for drastic climate change policies and doing our role in the community to preserve our environment.”
Mother Nature exacts revenge; thus, we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to what’s happening in front of us.
Sorry, Online Classes First
In the past year, The Edj View has published 74 articles dealing with the country’s rocky political terrain to the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
And yet, that number is much lower than the blog’s first year, which saw 87 articles in its arsenal. No articles were published in November 2019, January and February 2020.
So why the decrease in blog count if at least two articles were published every month? The answer is plain simple: There is no free time left for me. The blog has dropped to fourth or fifth in my priorities as I become saddled with numerous responsibilities at home, school and my alma mater.
Though I give time to the blog whenever major breaking news happens, it was not like during the early months of the pandemic when I posted three or four blogs a day on whatever that’s flowing in my mind.
The burden of online classes has forced me to sleep in vacant time, dispelling myths that the current setup is fun and favored to students. In fact, many of them are being challenged right now because of intermittent internet connection, noisy environment and financial difficulties.
The existence of online classes is probably the one topic that I have written with such ease since I just have to relate from my experience. It was this setup that made me miss face-to-face classes like an old lover abroad. I keep wondering when I will experience the traditional setup again, considering that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has no plans to reopen campuses safely yet.
Apparently, the agency seems to be ready to move on from face-to-face classes as students grapple with the travails of online classes.
“From now on, Flexible Learning will be the norm. There is no going back to the traditional, full-packed face-to-face classrooms,” J. Prospero De Vera, its chairman, said. “If we go back to the traditional face-to-face classroom, we run the risk of exposing our stakeholders to the same risks if another pandemic comes in.”
I joined the chorus of backlash aimed at Mr. De Vera for supposedly giving up on reopening colleges and universities.
“Despite numerous testimonies from students on how the remote setup affected their physical and mental health, CHED managed to stand its ground on an unacceptable proposition,” I wrote. “So, to Mr. De Vera, he must take President Duterte’s approach in deflecting criticisms: to say it’s only a joke. We can always forgive you, dear chairman, for as long as you take the necessary steps for a safe and gradual return to the classroom.”
Stories behind online classes can be at times emotional and inspirational, seeing how many are determined to sail through the academic year.
This June, I shared my story in a lengthy essay, expressing my disbelief that a collegiate life filled with pomp and fashion was prohibited because of COVID-19.
“There are many faces of online classes, which I exhibited at least once in the 291 days we were students. Happy, check. Sad, check. Angry, check. Disappointed, check. Satisfied, check. Validated, check. But behind every feeling was a story worth the attention, the love and the affection,” I shared.
Of course, in every situation, we see a silver lining. Fortunately, I was able to see one: “…it’s that we were forced to learn outside the realms of traditional methods, pushing us – young and old, freshmen and sophomores, professors and deans – to confront the intricacies of today’s technology and think outside the box.”
Online classes prompted me to explore Zoom, Google Meet, Google Docs and OBS Studio, most of which were rarely used by students. Then there were Canva and Kahoot, platforms that make our lives much easier. But most of all, the Learning Management System was such a treat that at one point, I want to learn more about computer programming and IT development.
I would have loved to talk extensively about Mr. Duterte and his late-night speeches, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III and his woes, the political opposition and their chances of electoral victory, Mr. Biden and the roadblocks that impede his agenda and Raffy Tulfo and the complainants that trend on social media. Nonetheless, I don’t have the luxury of time to focus solely on operating the blog as a news outlet.
I hope that government officials find the time to discuss how face-to-face classes can be implemented amid the pandemic because, frankly, many of us are just wishing to float in the air.
The Edj View has been my singular platform to castigate whoever I want to, praise whoever needs to be and shower the readers with my personal or academic grievances.
Through Infinity and Beyond
So two years of The Edj View has come and go. The question now is: Where do we go from here?
Maybe we’ll just have to walk and see what’s on the other side of the road.
Whatever’s at that side of the road, I’m excited. Maybe this blog will one day operate like a news outlet: churning daily articles from viewpoints other than mine. I’m still divided on whether to allow others to write for my blog, named after me. I think I will in the coming months so that I won’t appear to be narcissistic.
No matter what, I’m incredibly grateful to discover WordPress and the hobby of blogging. I learned a lot from our democratic society to the technicalities of writing. Indeed, I fit in the stressful and death-defying world of journalism.
To the 50,000 plus words I’ve typed in the past year, I hope that I won’t swallow any of them to the point that I’ll be chastised bigtime because of them. If that’s the case – and the prediction of Rudy Baldwin of my future – then you’ll see no-word articles frequently floating at my blog, like the one assessing the COVID-19 response of the government – there are no words to explain it, for real.
The challenge now is to ensure that none of my posts will be fodder for misinformation. And that means reading all paragraphs thrice before clicking that “Publish” button. I was committed last year to curtail the spread of fake news, at least on my end.
“I cannot speak for other blogs about the accuracy of their content but I can speak for my own. And I can assure you that above all, veracity and integrity reign,” I wrote last year.
I am committed to doing so this year and in the future to come, whatever it holds.
As I partake in this endeavor, I’m still struck by the words of Andrew Sullivan, to which I try to manifest in every article I post: Blogging is to writing what extreme sports are to athletics: more free-form, more accident-prone, less formal, more alive. It is, in many ways, writing out loud.”
Sure, the grammar police won’t spy too much on my writings, but it would be nice if my blogs are at least 50% grammatically correct.
And more alive? Hell yeah.
The Edj View 
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