Objective/s
After viewing the AV plug, the viewers should be to:
- Recognize Pandi, Bulacan as a municipality with upholding history and finest products to sell in the local market.
Author: Marco C. Rapsing
Touching the grass: Outside the DevCom Building
Life as a college student isn’t easy, especially when you are at the sake of having your current goals in life. As a development communication student, we are foreseeing the success and the current paths of the DevCom alumni which we met and were introduced to us. Mrs. Trina Leah Mendoza, a 42-year old assistant professor and Chair of the Department of Development Broadcasting and Telecommunication (DDBT) of the College of Development Communication (CDC) in University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB) shares her life experience and reflections as she drove her way from being a DevCom scholar to being where she is today.
Good writing skills will take you places. Hone your skills at devcom
Trina Leah Mendoza
This is one of the lessons she mostly focuses on as a devcom student. As she take the plight of another page of her lifetime, Mrs. Mendoza says that we have more advantages than any other communication degree. The technical and social sciences electives are preparing us in the field of work we want to pursue and is an edge for us since we are a development-centric degree program which is relevant to many professions.
Being an educator, she said that devcom is beneficial for where she is right now because it is also the specialization she is educating. Sharing the knowledge and skills she obtained before being a teacher but a devcom practitioner, it helped her to fully provide the much needed knowledge a student should grab from a professor to fully understand and equipped them to the field they want to walk through after tertiary education.
As she added, being a devcom practitioner for 14 years really is one effective way to boost and enrich the students she is handling to further hone their talents. She is on the side of mentoring the students, aside from being their professor, that also breaks the limitations of what a student can do which she is happy to share. She told me that there was a time where one of her mentees became a finalist at a conference for thesis participatory videos which is also her field of specialization.
She felt honored to be the adviser of the said mentee because she was able to meet people that are somehow identical to her interest and can share the lessons she has as a practitioner of development communication before being a college professor.
As we come to an end, fighting for mental health problems is one of her advocacies in life. Though she might not be too active in uplifting her life-long campaign, she said that she is translating it by being kind to her students. That is why as a teacher, she keeps on being understandable and considerate to every student she is handling.
I haven’t done much to express these but I try to practice them as a teacher in my everyday life and I hope somehow colleagues and students would feel my efforts.
As we proceed.
Everything has to come on an end. This time, the semester reaches its final phase of the school calendar. We are on the bridge of closing it out and saying goodbye. But before everything else, we should also reflect on everything we have done and achieve before we proceed.
It has been a roller coaster ride of events since the start of the semester, being in a new environment and being able to meet new people, experience more and achieve what we think is unachievable. We experience the greatest and the worst of all and being able to stand until the end is a job well done already.
As I write my Week 3 entry for the Weekly Writes, I said that I am in the middle of everything a media writer should possess. The different aspects a development communicator-in-training must embody is far from what I am before the semester starts, or as I am starting my journey as a development communicator.
For the tribute, I have reflected on the things I pointed out in my entry and thinking of my current place in the landscape of media writing, I can say that I was able to reach something.
My whole point in my Week 3 entry pertains to the fight for credibility, authenticity and uniqueness. Since the start of the pandemic, people have been reliant on social media where they see and read different information. Being bombarded with overwhelming information, they cannot identify what is true to what is not.
Before I started this school year, I was able to start my fight against disinformation and debunking fake news that is timely and prevalent. Now that the semester is about to end, after my first five months in UP, I was able to find different avenues and with the help of being in this prestige school, I was able to encourage and influence others to believe to what I am pointing out.
One of the current landscapes I was able to adhere to in the battle of credibility and authenticity is with the help of UP Community Broadcasters’ Society and their partnership with Leader Ka K!, a youth oriented educational magazine airing on radio, and online every second Saturday of the month. While I was able to be part of the production team of the final episode for its current season, I was opened to the scrutiny of the team and the validity they are critical about when doing the overall production.
With the help of the UP ComBroadSoc, I was able to participate in that socio-civic experience that is also one practice to what field I want when I graduate from the university. Though it isn’t the major role I want to take, I still am grateful to have a task connected in disseminating the information Radyo DZLB wants to give to people.
After all, this semester has pointed out different things to me. It gave me life-long lessons and introduced me to the people who I know, will be beneficial for my growth and development. With this, this is the review in the current semester as we proceed.
Low Pressure Area
It is another task, an obstacle to finish: SAIS.
Last day before the actual start of class, September 12, 2021. It was chaotic as most of us freshies still don’t have our UP mail. It was getting late, the sun set and it was night. Our aspirations of entering our classes the next day are slowly turning into bubbles popping in the thin air.
Then the streak happened. The emails are starting to be distributed together with our UP mail and SAIS credentials for our schedules for the semester to start.
Welcome to UP, says SAIS.
Hard to access, full of confusion and frustrations are the freshmen as they open the site. Though the SAIS site has been good to me, until now, the others experienced a hard time accessing it for the first time.
The night of September 12 is one of the longest as it shifts to the 13th of the month, the start of the class. Not all of us are able to enter our respective classes given that the site still has its issues. Full of mishaps, the first week of class became a maze of where one belongs and who is not enrolled in the class as some students, wanting to attend the sessions, randomly enter different zoom classes to check if they are enrolled in that class.
Nevertheless, after that experience, the semester has been good to us. By now, we are to face another SAIS adventure, and it is our first time adding to cart our chosen courses for the next semester. We wish for the best and we are expecting the worst.
Link to the blog with pictures: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VyB7qKBJA6Pu_DgVF4fxanimGxZt8sMSIR_Qj2lZiSU/edit?usp=sharing
UP Cutie?
It was really nostalgic whenever I think of the time where I received this letter from the UP portal. I didn’t expect this either nor have the thinking of passing. UP is just too high for me and I just gave my shot on the university that a lot of people are dreaming of entering.
It was 9 in the morning when my friend called on messenger. In our circle of friends, I am not the only one who tried my luck in applying in this university. Before that day, I decided on checking my results in the afternoon, prior to the first announcement made by the UP system to avoid the traffic. But then, because of the urgency, I followed my friend’s advice of checking it so it won’t be painful to wait until the afternoon.
Nerves. Tears. Shivering on my bed as I generate my code.
At first, I didn’t believed what I saw and processed it for a while before actually understanding what it says. It is too hard for me to analyze because I know that this school is the top in our country, and I am just a nobody.
Then I chatted my friend. Giving her the big news with a plain, calm tone of words.
Beh, pumasa ako.
Then I cried, with overflowing joy that surpasses all the joy that I experienced in my whole life. That school is where I dream of entering and finishing my undergraduate degree and now it’s finally happening. Entering UP is like a fairy tale that became a reality and I can’t wait to unveil more of myself, be involved in movements of the school and be a proud alumni of this respected institution.
But before this angelic event that changed my 2021, let’s go back on where I started this. 26th of January last year when I decided to apply for the university. I wasn’t that sure and I just want to try since if ever I will pass, I the school doesn’t have a tuition, I can save much money. But I really don’t know why is there a feeling inside me saying that “I shouldn’t worry because this school is for me” that made me complacent that time not until I doubt myself. But here we are now, in the first semester of my first year in the school where I wish to enter and wish to study.
UP Cutie is just a myth, it won’t save you. Together with my triumph and happiness as I passed the school, I am also sad for those who didn’t that are also dreaming big on entering this university. As of now, we’re on the different paths we all are walking but I know they have the potential, also, to be in the university where I belong.
As an UPCA passer, small things are just to remember. Since the start of the application for UPCA 2022, I’ve been receiving a lot of messages from the aspirants asking for guidance and opinions about their chosen degree programs and UP campuses to apply.
As I reflect on the concluded UPCA 2021, my main take away is “If it is yours, then it will be yours”. I will not be too flowery and fabricated on the words that I will use but the best advice a UP aspirant should hear is to believe in themselves. Because whatever the results are, as long as you know yourself and you know your worth, the results will not be your grounds that will pull you down until the end. Not passing UP is not the end of all.
We should always be practical and realistic. That’s the key for us to move on. I may be speaking this in the perspective of an UPCA passer, but I also see my friends in grief and sadness as they didn’t pass the school. The application period is now closed and what we are now expecting is the announcement of the new freshmen to welcome in the university. Always think that not passing this university is not a hindrance of your worth, capacity and excellence. It is always on our hands after we graduate and enter the real world.
Lastly, for the upcoming passers, UP is not the typical university you all are envisioning. We are not gun holders, mountainers, pure rallyists, but are students fighting for our dreams and people working hard for a hard earned scores and grades. As you enter UP, you will be open to the reality and the things which should matter. You will think that you haven’t learned enough and now you are actually learning.
UPCA may not be for all, may bisect privileges and other aspects, but if UP chooses you, then you are deserving. Do not miss the opportunity for quality education that will help for the better nation, to serve the people, as always.
Dear, Marco…
Dear self. It has been a wonderful year, having the unexpected, experiencing the worst, being happy, whirlwind adventures and twisting scenarios, memories to go back.
As I see myself today, I wish I have done better. I wish that I could have been good to myself and to others. Since it’s my first year studying alone. No friends, any closely related, it is also hard to earn friends, and I am just a kid lingering around the corner of every Zoom meeting wishing for it to end because I can’t feel that this is school but just a meet and greet with the professors.
At this point of time, I wish to talk to my past self. The old Marco that used to be a fighter, conqueror and the one who fears no one. He, the one who made me where I am today and achieving all I am dreaming for. Here’s to you.
Get more sleep.
In this current times, typing this entry for my weekly writes, I fell sleepy. For I am always awake thinking of what’s next. I wish I could have given you peace of mind and not to worry of what will tomorrow brings to us. I have this quote of mine that says “You beat yourself everyday” because you are always waking up the next morning. But how can we wake up peacefully if all we have is a deep night thinking of sleepless thoughts?
I am concern of what you have exerted for in the previous years would come to nothing and that’s what keeps me awake from night.
Forget the past, move on.
As the semester is about to end, I’ve met new people in my life and I know that they will be by my side until the time I walk outside the school walking with my diploma. I guess, before the school starts, you shouldn’t have worried about the upcoming but enjoy the new environment. I know, we’ve been through a lot and this transition is too hard because we are to face new people and it is difficult to express ourselves on the strangers who didn’t know us at all.
We shouldn’t be afraid because if they really are eager to be with us, they will understand who you are, who we are. If you just kept yourself open since the beginning, I think, we have more interactions with them as well as how others are enjoying their freshie days.
Believe in yourself.
There are things that came up and you declined because as your reasons says, “Baka hindi ako magaling for that” and “Feel ko mas kaya ni ano“. But look at this microphone. This is when you earned something for your family because you believed in yourself. I wish you were like that at first so that we have experience great and we were more equipped before the semester started.
I guess, this diploma is an indication that you are one of the best. You are the best version of yourself. You’ve been fighting for your dreams for all of your life, why are you being frightened now? What’s blocking you from giving it all? This diploma says your name and what you have reached, a milestone indeed.
Think of today and not the future.
What you do today will depend on what will you have in your future. Work on what you have today and don’t think of what will happen tomorrow, because today is more important. Winning today means you have beaten your yesterday’s self, and we all love that. Don’t worry on what has the next sunrise will offer but worry more on what you have done and will reflect as the sun sets.
Be bright today, work today, give big today so that you will earn something tomorrow. Your mom is always proud of you, since the beginning. I know, you’re doing all of these for her and because of her you’ve been sleepless overthinking of the things that might or might not happen. But you should at least, practice focusing on the path you are on before thinking of the side stories that we are still assuming as of now.
Choose yourself.
Above all, be always there for yourself. I am always here with you and so should you. Do not think of going to another gala is a waste of time and money but if you are happy as you go home, then it’s worth it. What others’ thinking is not yours to take always. Before the semester, you’ve been working on your sidelines to earn money to help your parents but that doesn’t mean that you will not give yourself time.
Last December, I’ve been on so many places I wish you could have visited too. Don’t ever think of a “too much”, because as long as it makes you happy, who are them to judge.
I wish you could’ve seen the last sunset of 2021, where I left everything on that year, but not you. Because you are me before I entered UP. And I will still bring you on until the last day of my breath, telling stories to my kids, grandchildren, other UP aspirants, those people I will have a talk to, or even when I will visit my alma mater. Life will goes on, but you will remain within my identity, Marco before the first semester of academic year 2021-2022.
Ready? Get set. Go.
Aye! Aye! Captain!
As we go deep on finally formulating our devcom story, starting our exercises and doing our respective activities, we should also learn how to stay in fit while doing these activities. We have different ways and strategies on ow we accomplish things and I will share some of what I have.
Recall the topic.
Before starting any of your exercises and activities, always try to find a recap of what you have learned or tackled before. Find the worksheet where you are inserting all the things you need for your exercise. This will serve as your refresher as you start your day in writing the numerous activities and this will help you to be on track as you begin accomplishing your requirements.
Fix your schedule.
This tip will be helpful in making sure that you will accomplish something on a period of time. Planning how many hours will be allotted for a single activity is helpful to exert effort and to remove the disturbance and possible destroyer of attention span. This will conclude to writer’s block or being out of words that is hard to recover again. If we will not align our schedule, we will need up on doing a single task on a long period of time that it eats all the time that can finish numerous number of tasks which is bad for us, who have more tasks to do.
Relax yourself.
This time, you need to relax your mind as you refresh the knowledge you have from the previous discussion or meeting. This will help you in having an open mind and calm tone while doing your respective activities. Being relax is a key to have a smooth pass on the activities you wish to do. This is a way for you to meditate and think of how will you start, which one to finish first and such. It can be listening to music, or just being quite, closing your eyes, depending on your preference.
Be Ready.
When I mean “READY”, it means you need to be ready. Ready everything that you need and place everything beside you so that you have an easier access to all of those items. It can be your phone, notepad, the different information you need, foods, drinks, and such that will unable you to be disturbed as you officially start doing your devcom exercises.
Check your interest.
It is hard to do an exercise if w are not willing to do it. Checking our interest means that we are assessing ourselves i we are fit to do the exercises. Do we have the urge to finish it today? Are we having the eagerness to write something? Self-assessment can be a help for yourself so that you will not produce a paper that is full of mess that will be submitted and given back with a lot of errors and revisions to do. It will hit your mental health and cause you to breakdown. We don’t want that to happen.
Those are the five tips a development communication student should remember whenever they are to write their devcom exercise and starting their devcom activities. They can use all, or use one at a time. These tips have helped me and I’m sharing the keys I do to accomplish tasks at a single period of time.
For the locals
I crammed and I presented. That was the summary of when I first presented the first three topics for my DEVC11 Laboratory class. I forgot that there will be an upcoming presentation that’s why I proposed a topic on what flashes on my brain minutes before the class starts.
As expected, all of my topics were rejected, saying that all of them can be reserved for the upcoming devcom courses in the future. Then I think. I think and think fro the possible topic I can propose.
Then as Ma’am Villar opened a conversation about the local trend and industry in our community, the pageants were the first one to pop out of m mind. Since I cannot do a devcom story about the LGBTQ+ community in our municipality, why not make something that is still connected to them?
I then thought of pageants, the gowns, how they cross-dress, and the different styles and fashion they have. With this, I am giving them still a platform to speak up on their struggles as someone more than just a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Since before, I’ve been in fight of SOGIE and also in equality for LGBTQ+ community. They are my backbone, the reason why I am comfortable right now and when I choose freedom, they are the one I lean on. More than the emotional aspect of why I chose this topic, I am also on the side of giving an emphasis on the local product our municipality is selling; barong and saya. Also the gowns and men’s wear to be scene in the beautiful depot of Disenyo Pandi.
Hari at Reyna ng Pandi is nothing without the fantastic designer and dressmakers of the town where the pioneer of the gowns worn by the contestants came. More than the competition of wit and look, Hari and Reyna ng Pandi is also the contest of the dressmakers in the town on who will prevail for the said year. They take gown making as a beauty contest too where they will also compete with the help of the contestant they are taking caring of.
Everyone is envisioning to have a chance that their story will be posted on the newspaper of UPLB, but few are lucky to be given this opportunity. As I said, I chose this because I want to promote my town’s local product. That Pandi dressmaking will be better, will have more audience, will be popular and be known in a landscape with wider range.
This decision is not only for myself, but for the community I belong to, Pandi and the LGBTQ.
Don’t know what to do…
Frustrations, headaches, missing outputs, overwhelming backlogs. These are some of the things a normal college student is experiencing in a daily college life day. Given our different struggles everyday in the different fields we are taking, how do we survive, DevCom freshies, in the new environment we are at?
In line with that, I have asked some, not too old and not too young ate’s and kuya’s from the upper year level. They all came from the UP Community Broadcasters’ Society.
They will be the key source of the tips and keys that a DevCom freshie must have while taking up the degree. The advice will be beneficial as we go deep in our beloved degree program and taking up higher devcom courses.
As a development communication student, it is better if we have some life hacks to start with. These tools will be the support of what we will do for our writing classes.
First is the pen and paper. Back to basics. Our dearest references are using pen and paper before and even during pandemic where we are in an online setup.
As what Ninong Marc Noel Bathan said…
Pen and paper maybe?…annotating sa notepad ng essential details or simply outlining lang talaga ang nag-guide sa akin sa writing. By that, method din, naiiwasan ko mag-plagiarize since after ma-outline, it is my turn to interpret it on my own.
Marc Noel Bathan, Resident Member, UP ComBroadSoc
Next on the line is the infamous online application, Grammarly. This tool has helped Kuya Aaron Sumampong in his writing classes to verify the correctness of his grammar. As he said,
I installed grammarly. Syempre nakaka-frustrate not seeing the blue or red line below a word, iisipin natin if tama ba or not ang sinusulat natin. If the professionals nga nagkakamali pa sa grammar why not us students.
Aaron Sumampong, Former Executive Producer, UP ComBroadSoc
Now we have ended the discussion on the tools, let’s look at the gadgets they mostly use in their writing classes. These gadgets became their partners in making their life as devcom students easier.
First is the phone, which became a necessity. According to Kuya Aaron. Consequently, Miss Ricel said that…
Because it is readily available, easy to use, convenient and portable, I use my phone for note-taking and recording.
Ricel Banayos, Chief Anchor, UP ComBroadSoc
Different from what Miss Ricel said, despite having a phone, Kuya Aaron still has a recorder with him. As he explained in my interview with him, he said that…
Malaking tulong ang recorder. Pero syempre kahit may recorder, marunong pa rin dapat tayong mag-take notes incase na magkaroon ng problema, example ay hindi na-save ang recordings.
Aaron Sumampong, Former Executive Producer, UP ComBroadSoc
We’re done with the tools and gadgets. Let’s get more techy as we ask for the equipment they use. Aside from having a gadget by their side, equipment makes a better output. The equipment they are using really helped them in their writing classes.
Kuya Aaron and Ms. Ricel has talked about using DSLR cameras in their writing classes.
I choose to use a DSLR camera for documentation because of its features that yield good results. It is also the equipment that we were taught how to use in our DEVC 103 subjects, so I was able to become acquainted with taking high-quality photos and videos with it.
Ricel Banayos, Chief Anchor, UP ComBroadSoc
Meaningfully, Kuya Aaron added up to the thought by saying..
Mabigat s’ya, pero we sacrifice for our story to top.
Aaron Sumampong, Former Executive Producer, UP ComBroadSoc
And there you have it, the 5 items a development communication student must have. In this juncture, we all know that we are in our different kinds of hardships. Because of this, Ninong Marc Noel Bathan has something to say.
As we come to and end, kind words, suggestions and advice are what Kuya Aaron and Ms. Ricel will give. Kuya Aaron said that,
Lastly, to give motivation, Ms. Ricel ended up by saying..
We have learned the 5 tips from our higher ups a development communication student must have. We also learned from their experiences, and gained advice and motivation from them. So what are you waiting for, sit on that chair, apply what you have learned and be one exceptional writer in your writing class.
Pandi dressmaking drops after COVID-19 invades over a year
The Pandi dressmaking makes a major shift because of the effects of COVID-19 pandemic in the town since March 2020.
“Kumikita pa rin kahit papa’no kaso ‘yung talagang hahanapin namin na presyuhan dati sa presyuhan ngayon, hindi na makikita”
Rowel “Wella” Dela Cruz, a local dressmaker and owner of ‘Illusion Touch’, a bridal shop in Pandi said as he talks about the major changes in the industry since the health crisis reached their municipality on a phone interview last November 9, 2021.
Dela Cruz said that COVID-19 affects them massively to a point where they need to start from scratch to cater the needs of the people. Despite pandemic teaching them to be resilient and to adjust, the negative aftermath of this global health crisis is far worse than the positive effects it provides. Their pre-pandemic rates of 20,000-25,000 pesos are now down to only 5,000-10,000 pesos per client availing a gown. He added that volumes of invitees are also below the usual numbers as well as the reservations they get per month on peak season, compared to as before the pandemic started.
Gerald C. Hernandez, a National Certificate II holder and a local in the town explained that people in and outside Pandi are more prioritizing their basic needs than buying new clothes. Because of the pandemic, people’s trend nowadays is upcycling clothes or ukay-ukay which can be bought in a lower price from different thrift shops rising in the town.
Other Pandienos viewpoints are: health constraints, inadequate production due to a shortage of capital and raw materials, and limited generation of income leading to liquidation as COVID-19’s consequences on the town.
Pandi, Bulacan was known for its Barong and Saya Festival every April in commemoration of their foundation. Their main event is Hari at Reyna ng Pandi, which is always concluded on the last week of the month which promotes Pandi’s best in the field of dressmaking as they showcase the lovely gowns and men’s wear to the prestigious guests and judges. Winners of the pageant will then represent the municipality at the annual Singkaban Festival held in Malolos, Bulacan every September.
In addition, Mr. Dela Cruz suggests, tripling the effort, extending patience and focusing on online platforms ways to survive and start again amidst the pandemic.
sixtyfifty2021 