Miss Universe 2015: A Filipino Mask

The most enticing thing that the world could offer to us is beauty itself. Beauty is something that all of us long for; it is in each of us, the urge to do something beautiful or, simply said, be beautiful. Every culture, race, and basically every person has their own different tastes and views about beauty. Embedded in our inner personalities, beauty could often resort to an insatiable thirst that we are tempted to acquire. Even I, honestly, am tempted to do beauty in writing this piece. I have this itch that I feel inside me that if I couldn’t write it in a manner worthy of beauty, then what good will it be? This is what I can describe of that enticement to be beautiful. But it is not my intention to talk about myself or to prove that this piece is worthy of reading. This is about the reality and the auspicious offers of beauty in our society. And one of those offers are being accepted in a caste where people are being looked upon; in this case, the recent and controversial Miss Universe 2015 pageant.

Crowned Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach

         For those of us who have always been so dreamy about acquiring a title that, for us, would be the most lasting beauty that we can have, a crown is a symbol that we can often relate to. It doesn’t always mean a literal crown, but a title that ranks us more significant than others. Recently, everybody was talking about the crowning of Ms. Pia Wurtzbach as the Miss Universe 2015, I mean, who wouldn’t? Everyone was crazy about it. It was, or at least seemed to be, the most controversial Miss Universe Pageant ever. I am sure that every one of us, I guess, saw the pageant or, at least, have heard of it. But there we go; it seems that, for us, those things just happen. We can’t take that fact away; it is in our heads, every time we mention the name of our new Miss Universe, we can picture out the controversy. But for some, the Miss Universe pageant is just a façade that hides the real appearance of our system.

The Philippines is a country where people desire prominence and acceptance to a higher class. It is in the history of Filipinos, that we crave and desire for that elegance. And we, as Filipinos, have adopted it up until today. We can’t take that away, it is the pride of our people to be viewed in a higher level; to be respected and adored. But as we look closer to the Filipino, there is that darkness that lurks and could almost consume him/her. We cannot deny the present situation of our motherland, every time we face the occurrences in our country, we can see that darkness that overshadows us. And there is nothing worth of beauty to be embraced in it. We always say that we cannot appreciate beauty if there is no ugliness that is present. True, but I am not convinced that appreciating one thing is the same as appreciating the whole of it. We have that tendency that if we are appreciated, we have that moral responsibility that we should uplift every one of us. If I haven’t made my point clear enough, let’s look at the Miss Universe Pageant winner. She’s a Filipina, and by saying the term Filipina we, as a people would have that pride that she’s one of us, therefore, we are a better people. Sure, we can think of that, but we should note that not every Filipina could be Miss Universe!

Now, you might be wondering why I said that the Miss Universe is just a “façade.” Let’s go back to the Philippine society. The present darkness or ugliness that persists in our system is difficult to be recouped, and in an attempt to make things look better, we put on a mask. But then, it’s just a mask, isn’t it? Here comes the Miss Universe Pageant, the winner was a Filipina, and we still can’t get over that it was a controversial annunciation. But still, we have that pride inside us (which we should really have), that it was our kind who won the Miss Universe Crown. However, it isn’t just the whole of it. There is much more to be seen in the Philippine side, and we cannot neglect the bitter side of it. My point is not recounting the negative aspects of Philippine circumstance. What I am trying to point out is that we should make ourselves worthy to be accounted beautiful, and not just sending an emissary announcing and advertising that we are entirely good, which is not. We must be vigilant about this kind of doing since it is for our own benefit.

It is really hard to resolve something really, really, wrong; but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. I still believe that the Philippines and the Filipino is, by nature, beautiful. But being called beautiful is not just focusing on climbing in a comfortable situation; it is by being resilient when an ugly condition is at hand. We should remember that beauty is not just limited to having a crown or winning a contest, rather it is a matter we should always achieve every day, and every moment of our lives.

Kudos to Ms. Pia Wurtzbach! Kudos to the Filipino!

The Haunting In Mindanao State University

 

    Mindanao State University, known as “The Melting Pot of the South” it is where people of different origin, ethnicity, and religion converge. That means regardless of what culture and race you belong to, you are welcome to visit and relax in this wonderful place. MSU is also known as the most affordable university in the Philippines, that is why parents who can’t afford sending their beloved children in famous universities or colleges, end up sending them here. The university also offers standard education, so they say, so that people who want to attain a degree of quality education can have their studies in an affordable university. Even foreigners from different parts of the globe want to study here because of the standard education that this university offers. But in spite of these wonderful attributes of the university, there are still demons that haunts and prowls along the premises of this institution. By demons, I am not referring to supernatural entities or ghosts, but to the things that we do not expect to be happening in such a beautiful institution.

   Last Monday, December 8, 2014 MSUans were alarmed at what happened to a student. Crish Lanne Masancay was just a freshman student who was on his way to buying food for his lunch was shot in the head. This awful incident happened just inside the premises of the campus.  Annie (not her real name), who claims to have witnessed the horrible incident says, “We were just going to buy some foods in the store and there was a couple arguing, they were speaking in M’ranao that’s why we can’t understand them. I and Crish happened to watch the noontime show ‘Its Showtime’ and the show was funny so Crish laughed. The couple who was arguing overheard Crish's laugh and the man asked him if he was a M’ranao. Crish answered that he is a Christian, the man took a gun and he shot him. He hit Crish on the shoulder.” Annie was trembling when she said this. “We ran but then he chased us and he shot Crish once again, this time he hit him in the head and Crish fell down dead.” She exclaimed.

   Basing on Annie’s testimony, a person would not have a normal mind if he kills somebody just because he laughs at a noontime show. Another angle that we can also observe is religio-cultural, when the man asked Crish if he was a M’ranao, Crish honestly purported that he is a Christian. In my view of this, it’s racism. Just because the man knew that they have different beliefs doesn’t mean that he should kill him. Another is misinterpretation, Crish laughed because he watched Its Showtime but the man interprets him to be laughing at them while they were arguing. Whatever the reason is, shallow as it may seem, should not be the reason of a person to take another man’s life.

   As I’ve said lately, this university is the Melting Pot of the South, that doesn’t only mean that people of different origins just meeting here. It also means having a bond with each other. This university was created to be an abode of peace and unity, not to train people to be warlike! There are many recorded incidents that happened in this university, not just Crish's murder. Another incident also happened last June during the enrollment period, Samuel Go, also a student was shot dead, for many vague reasons. These two incidents are just portions of all the horrible reports of murders and killings inside the university. The hard part is; are we doing something to prevent these happenings? Is the administration strict enough to be implementing tight security in the campus? Does the Division of Student Affairs acting something to orient students of different beliefs to be aware of the dangers that resonates in this institution? But let us not play the blame-game here. There’s no one to blame if we ourselves are not careful to observe our limitations. That’s the real problem. How do we prevent these demons that haunt us as we walk along the streets of MSU? The kind of demon that taunts us that we’re not safe as we walk in broad daylight in the campus. I think that the answer to this lies in us. Not just the Non-M’ranao occupants living in this campus, but every one of us. MSU is our home, our abode of unity; let’s make that happen through reaching-out with each other. As our home, we must feel secure here. In order to attain that security, we must be united in such a cause that not even the strongest demon can trample it. Love.