PC Games and desires

 The 90’s kid closes his eyes, excited to sleep because the next day is another full eye-soaring, butt-numbing computer play day. Kids like us who nurtured an inordinate relationship with computer games, forgetting the concept of time in the process, have all sorts of stories to share of how you destroyed this or killed that. It was the in thing.

Now, 24 summers after, I look back and can’t help but marvel at how these seemingly hypnotic electricity-wasters contributed so much in how I view life and the things I am passionate about. I do not know if it merely unlocked an “innate” interest but surely it opened a whole new world for me.

The internet is full of literature about the effects of video games. In my case, I can attribute much of my interest and even the choices I make to the games I obsess about.

My first genuine addiction was Age of Empires which was my first ever PC game when I was in 3^rd grade or so.  This is a classic-empire building game that combines both strategy and ancient history. You get to command a small tribe. Extract and gather resources and build cities and armies. And the narrative is quite familiar with conquest on one hand and getting of rich on the other. What were also interesting about this game are the historical campaigns where you get to roughly reenact real historical events. It introduced me to Carthage and Hannibal’s elephants, the Battle of Actium and the fall of the Roman Republic. It also introduced me what and where the fertile crescent was and its role in civilization. Then, I cared less about the historical facts. All I wanted was to destroy the enemy. But this interest led me to want to understand why these “computer players” rose and fell.

Then came Sim city. This “missionless” game is well, endless. You are given a vast track of terrain and you practically build your city on it and once you’ve reached your dream city then it ends there. You can either build another one or destroy it. Sounds dull? But the game is powerful in sense that it gives you endless possibilities of how to design, visualize, and manage a simulated city. The value of this game, I guess, comes from its engaging complexity. There are many variables to consider such as road access, traffic, electricity, water, crime rates, unemployment, economic growth, laws, taxes, or land value much like in the real world. The level of density for example has something to do with the level of population of the whole region. The crime rate has something to do with the unemployment rate which is also connected to the tax rates and policies set. It is an intricate game to say the least. This practically introduced me to the idea of “urban development” and seeing the city as a living organism. These are seeds I believe in my later interest in development economics and public policy.

Just two games I play the most and it have, I believe, influenced me tremendously in my choices now. But I would like to look at these as not the main source of what led me to things I do today. Obviously they are not. They are I guess merely reminders or sign posts - letting me now what I inherently like to do for the rest of my life. 

Critical Engagement: Youth and Local Governance

We had the opportunity to join the city executive branch during their Strategic planning sessions held in Marco Hotel, Cugman of this city.


In a nutshell:

That was one great conversation with the city leadership. The city mayor as well as the city administrator emphasized the need to develop a successor generation political leadership program that allows promising young leaders to sit in actual councils and hold actual responsibilities. And the push for a youth development council has finally made a great leap today with the earnest support of the City Social Welfare office head. We finally see great hope in youth participation in local governance. From Hapsay Dalan engagement to actual policy-making. 

To city officials from Ernesto Neri

Kick the Curve

It is time to take a break and reflect. I am already in my third year in Xavier Law. And if gravity remains constant, then I’ll be done in 2 years. But in all the midst of this mountain of readings and the base of the bar exam mountain looms at the horizon. I ask myself, how am I in this journey?

It seems the law on diminishing marginal utility pronounce itself in this period. I do not wish to deny it but as I compare myself when I was a freshman and today, I have realized stark differences. Before, I would wake up early and be able to finish two subjects before lunch break and every minute seems to count. Now, I start reading after lunch and my mind most often than not wonders in cyberspace. I cannot just blame this to economics but this at the end of the day is a matter of choice.

But this choice happens in a context.

And the context is becoming less interesting. But context is most of the time, a matter of perception. So this made me realize a truth that has been standing in front of me all the time. That how you see things will ultimately be your reality.

So I ought to see the labor I plow into these endeavor as a transformative learning experience that empowers me to reform my community. In my mind frame, this would be the most practical thing to do – connecting it the greater scheme of things.

So as I proceed to the next semester, I ought to sharpen this saw – which means I have to get into the spirit behind the words, the history behind the concept. And the engagements I gravitate towards as a sideline from my majors are the perfect seeds that will hopefully kick off the curve.

Do you believe in signs?

I do subscribe to this idea that a greater power communicates to us in so many ways. This includes giving signs - a series of seemingly random events purporting to give answers. And what gives it such enigma is the order and the timing of these events seem to be so orchestrated or designed to precision that it could never just be mere happenstance. It might be what most of us call the feeling of being at the right place at the very precise moment. It might just be the brain playing tricks but we can never discount the fact that it does happen.

We often invoke it when we make big life decisions. In my case, I did not really ask for any signs, it just appeared.

It was in the morning of August 14, 2013. As I was scrolling down my facebook feeds, my brother’s chat message icon popped out.

Then my extraordinary experience started. This was beyond ordinary when a 24-year-old student applies alone for a Schengen visa. It is stressful and anxiety-ridden experience, not to mention the long wait for the news. Anyway, I considered this event my first sign because minutes, just minutes before my brother’s chat. I watched a Rome Reports clip on Pope Francis waiving at the crowds in St. Peter’s Square. Mere coincidence but things got a bit interesting. 

The second sign appeared after I submitted all my papers. It was around 2:30 in the morning. I was about to settle in bed after a long tedious study night. I turned on the tv just to ease my senses. Then as I traversed from channel to channel, I landed on Fox news at the most perfect time. The announcer said “buongiorno! To the people watching in Italy, thank you for watching fox news through Italiano tv!”what are the odds? Right as I landed on fox, this message appeared. Come on! Maybe again it’s my mind just trying to connect patterns.

Surprisingly, the morning after, the Italian Embassy called asking for some clarifications. And they called just seconds before I arrived from a chore in Copya de Oro. What would have happened if I stayed longer?

The final sign came 2 days after that call.  After my NSTP processing session, I hurriedly looked for some food to eat. I was starving so as hundreds of other students. No seats were available but luckily I managed to squeeze myself in one table with some 2^nd year law students who are also my friends. As we were so busy eating and chatting, a friend seated in front of me opened her bag and removed her sachet of coffee. And behold, it was the Italian flavor of Kopiko’s European coffee series named Kopiccino. And to top it of, the colors of the Italian flag shimmered in the choco granule sachet. I just laughed the moment I saw it. I even kept the sachet with the Italian flag out of wonder and fascination of how these things could even be possible.

On Tuesday, October 8, I got my passport back at around 10:30 am – approved.

Will someone notice the empty chair? SK abolition

Like in a Frankenstein movie, this institution is thrown back to the laboratory so its creators can assess whether it’s best to just kill it altogether or reincarnate it into a new body.

The nature and impact of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) has been the subject of a long drawn debate with all-too-familiar arguments, but let us just take a minute to see if one day, it will come to an end. Congress finally decided to kill it. Will our society be any different? Will it be better off? It can only keep us guessing. But let us try to imagine what would it be like if it would happen.

For a start, it would save a lot of money. For postponing the SK elections alone, COMELEC is said to have saved P 100 million. Furthermore, if we consider the yearly cost of the Sangguniang Kabataan, which is 10% of the Barangay fund, it would be a staggering aggregate amount of cost reduced or diverted into other expenditures. Let us not forget about their honorarium and educational trip counter parts, which may now be added on to the salaries of barangay tanods and street cleaners. Bottom line, the financial breather would be a definite practical consequence of the SK’s death. Will this make us better off?

With no more “barangay-based” political leadership formation opportunity, the army of 420,028 SK officers will be looking for leadership experience elsewhere if they so desire. They could find it in schools, churches, advocacy groups and so many other youth volunteer groups. It would at least free them from the unavoidable negative influence of barangay politicking, which would tend to pollute their concept of public governance. They could release their energies without thinking of any political calculation and reputation. Much more, they can freely form organic groups – one thing the youth does best - unburdened by their parents’ political plans for them. Will this form our future leader better?

Barangay Sports tournaments would nose dive. In a 2007 study conducted by UNICEF, sports tournaments are the number one reported activity of SK. It comprises 32% of all SK projects nation-wide followed by infrastructure and the environmental projects, which are only 19% each – almost a mile apart from the top 1. This number speaks of volumes. It speaks about priority and quality of representation or the lack thereof as well as where the money is being poured in. So when the SK is gone, so as our beloved sports events. Would an unutilized barangay basketball court be such a depressing scene?

With these rough projections, I do not know if it would be enough to paint a reasonable answer to whether we are better of without the SK. Surely in principle, the death of the SK is a national tragedy. It would be a departure from a proud tradition of youth empowerment, which is not only constitutionally commanded, but also internationally praised. On the other hand, sustaining it with its present form would produce mixed results and a whole lot of division.

In the end, we all agree that the soul of this body should be kept warm and true. Time has come that its reincarnation into a better form is an utmost national concern. Our communities might feel no different in its absence but it does not mean we should forge its worth. There is always a social good in building a lasting mechanism that converts the youths’ ideas and energies into public policy and communal action.