Sick, Absent, and Banned Part 1
Apolinariang Binibini, Blogs
“TERMINALLY-ILL BOOKS”
The self-confessed so-called Sick Book crusader, Antonio Calipjo Go, reported among other things, that 383 million pesos was used to purchase Sick Books from the publisher, Book Wise (June 2, 2009 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer). Our school children are systematically stupefied by reading not just sick books but books that are terminally ill. The fact the Mr. Go’s reports keep coming up, this means that the issues were never addressed. The deplorable lessons on language and grammar are themselves discomfiting. I wouldn’t have expected much if the book were entitled English Langgwaydz by Jimmy Santos and edited by Melanie Marquez. But more than grammar, just wait until you see the content. The latter is either extremely senseless (there is no apt word to describe it) or culturally damaging. The following example is from a language textbook for the 6th grade.
If you know how to swim
How to try and dream
Then you can be a big whale
In the city or the sea.
The Enamored Whale (Illustration by Alberto+Cerriteño)
No wonder Filipinos grow up neither here nor there! In short, super lutang! Imagine going through school believing that this is education! In a reading textbook for the 4th grade, you have the following example.
Juan Luna’s painting Spoliarium represents several circus slaves dragging dead bodies.
Now one can always be a pilosopo and argue that in some parallel universe, the dead gladiators are circus slaves and that’s it. But what is really really disturbing is teaching the lack of regard for the cultural achievements of the Filipino race. In other countries, children are taught to look up to heroes, admire the excellence and achievements of cultural icons and mark historical events that contributed to nation-building. Give us a few years and this country will lose its soul and we won’t know what hit us. Ang ending nito ay, wala nang kaluluwang matitira sa mga Pilipino.
The Spoliarium By Juan Luna
As a response to this malaise, the government has some ideas up its sleeve. The following programs epitomize the kind of vision that we have for education that has manifestations on the national attitude towards books—(1) Donate a Book and (2) Violate the Florence Agreement.
“ABSENT BOOKS”
The observations of Jagor and Foreman on the culture of learning in the Philippines are correct. They paint a picture of a stagnant intellectual life in the Philippines, no readable books, and publications that are devoted to talking about inconsequential things. These observations referred to conditions during the Spanish times. But what is sad is that we are worse today. Kaya lalong nakakagalit ang mga politiko dahil hanggang ngayon ang palatuntunan pa rin nila ay ang walang kamatayang DONATE A BOOK! You would think that after a century of donating books, there would already be a library in every neighborhood as well as a national library with 14 floors just like in Singapore. But NO siree! We have a National Library that is only partially true to its name. Yes it is a national institution hence the word “National” but whether it is a library remains to be seen.
The sad National Library of the Philippines
Another indication of our sad reading culture is seen in the lack of bookstores in the Philippines. Just check this out. In Korea, as described by Andrei Lankov in the book, Dawn of Modern Korea (2007), “in the 1970s and early 1980s, Korean publishing was growing at a breathtaking speed. From the early 1960s, Korea experienced an education boom and the newly educated youth took up reading. In 1972 Korean companies published 4469 titles. By 1975 this figure had doubled to 9225 titles. Over the next five years it doubled once again, and by the mid-1980s Korean publishers produced some 30,000 titles annually.”
The Kyobo bookstores of Korea (Seoul branches in the photo Photos by Urijamjari and JasonUnbound)
But the following is the best part for me because there’s a so-called “panic.”
“The number of bookstores in Korea has been decreasing at an alarming speed. In 1996 the country boasted 5,378 bookstores of all sizes, but by 2000 their number had almost halved to 3,459.”
That’s still about 3,500 bookstores!!! In the Philippines you only have two relatively large bookstores: Powerbooks and Fully Booked. I did not include National Bookstore because in some places it is a bookstore but in most, a school supplies store.
The only large bookstore in the Philippines – Fully Booked in Serendra, Taguig City in Manila (Photos by Zer Cabatuan)
Given the sick books and worse, no books, the Government thought of adding one more thing—the restricting of books! Absolutely brilliant. There is consistency and uniformity. We have found the perfect formula to produce more slaves that people like Chip Tsao can denigrate.
(To be Continued)
~Apolinariang Binibini
October 20th, 2009 at 08:16 AM
Too sad.. Just like in India, bookstores are everywhere. even in the streets of New Delhi. And books are sold cheaply…
October 20th, 2009 at 04:12 PM
mas dumarami talaga nga ang mga educational books sa bansa natin na maraming typograpical errors.
paano pa kami kaya matututo kung mali partially ang nilalaman ng libro na ginagamit namin sa pag-aaral kung puro nalang hindi tama ang grammar or hindi rin tama ang info na nas loob ng libro.
pati talaga ang tinuturing na “National Library” ng bansa ay di naman lahat ng tao ay pinapagamit ng kanilang mga facilities. dahil one time nang magpunta ako sa national library, para makapagresearch, nagtanong ako sa isang guard kung saan pweede mag browse ng books na pwedeng halungkatin ko ang mga nilalaman nito. sabi ng guard sa akin na, kung mayroon akong library card, dun at yun lang ang time na pwede ako makapagresearch. pero nung time na yun ay wala akong library card, kaya’t sinabihan ako, na bawal raw pumasok ang mga walang library card, o siguro ayaw talaga nilang maging intellectuals ang mga kabataan ngayon. pinalalabas ako at huwag daw ako papasok sa loob. magresearch nalang raw ako gamit ng OPAC or online library nila. tulad ng iba, ayaw kong mangyari na ang ating bansa ay patuloy na maging “A nation of slaves” kaya sana someday ang depED ay ayusin naman at tignan maigi ang mga books na cinertify nila na passing para maayos at hindi mali ang mga nakakalap naming babasahin.
IANGAT NATIN ANG ATING LAHING KAYUMANGGI!!
October 20th, 2009 at 05:50 PM
This is indeed a very sad but true commentary on the general attitude of government towards education. It is still not a priority…but what is? Corruption, that’s what it is.
October 21st, 2009 at 10:59 AM
“As a rule we should read only books of recognized
excellence, and read them with sympathetic intelligence. Trashy books, whatever pleasure they may give, add
but little to knowledge or culture; and immoral books often leave an ineradicable stain upon the soul.”
It’s very ironic because our national hero is the best writer that ever lived! Rizal! It’s sickening to the point that I could almost vomit every gut I have after reading this. I’m one of those Filipinos who still dreams to have my own bookstore full of BOOKS not school supplies and posters. To think we still have so many things to learn and write about our country’s history and natural resources. I’m slapping my face right now because I’m part of the mess. Ang sakit talaga ng katotohanan. Nakakahilo na nakakasuka. Pero ito ang totoo kaya kailangang tanggapin.
October 21st, 2009 at 11:03 AM
it’s no wonder naman eh..dahil even yung mga Ph.D holders na nagsulat o nagedit ng mga educational books natin eh wala ding natutunan dahil baluktot at mali din ang mga bagay na natutunan nila..
at
we believe that we’ve already entered an age where information and learning can be earned anywhere dahil sa internet, pero imbes na magbasa eh pagfi-flirt lang sa mga social networking sites at gaming lang ang ginagawa ng mga kabataan. may mga times na mapipilitan silang magresearch pero halos wala ding natutunan dahil “copy-paste-pronto” lang ang alam..hays..something’s really wrong with us..
nakakalungkot din dahil kakaunti na lang din ang mga narerelease na titles sa contemporary Philippine literature dahil na rin sa lack of market/readers, siya na ding dahilan sa kakaunting “real” bookstores na matatagpuan dito..magtanong ka sa mga tao sa labas kung mayroon silang kilalang Pinoy author, at sigurado si (put the author’s name here) lang ang alam nila.
kung matututo lang talaga magbasa ang mga Pilipino, hindi na tayo ulit maloloko..dahil yung pagiging ignorant natin sa maraming bagay ang sanhi kung bakit lagi tayo nahuhuli at napaglalaruan..
October 21st, 2009 at 09:03 PM
This is very alarming!We are worse than i thought.That’s explains why we never grow and develop as a competent country.The government must be aware of this and must be doing something to solve our stinking problem!We should have realized that donating books is not just the only way to help those poor children.We can look for other ways and we might produce great out of it.Just look for other possibilities.
Now,I know one of the reasons why some children especially poor children just give up their studies.It’s just that they don’t learn the RIGHT and REAL lessons in school.
I have to admit that I’m just a student for now but I know I can help. Someday, I know that I will do something for the hope of our country, the youth.
Someday, I can be a teacher.
Someday, I will be a teacher.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Yes!! inaamin ko na hindi talaga ako book reader pero nag start na akong magbasa last year.. ang hirap talaga pag hindi ka book reader, kasi palaging sumasakit ang ulo ko,, pero ngayon hindi na,,, na anad na ako, balik-balikon nako ang sentence kong dili ko kasabot. But i need to read many books para may ipang laban o may marami akong lam especially our own history… Dapat malaman ko yon, At sana ang Pilipino din ay magbasa ng maraming libro…
October 22nd, 2009 at 12:31 PM
nakakalungkot isipin na pati sa susunod na henerasyon ay wala tayong maiiwan na magandang ipapamana para sa kanila. madalas nating sabihin na ang “tanging maipapamana ko sa iyo anak ay ang edukasyon”… ngunit pati edukasyon ay wala ngn silbi.
kamakailan lang habang tinuturuan ng akin asawa ang akin grade 2 na anak sa kanilang “sibika”.. may naka sulat sa libro niyang ganito…
papano maiingatan natin ang ating mga museo….
1. wag magtapon ng basura.
nakalungkot na ang ibabahagi sa mga bata para ma-preserba ang ating mga museo ay wag pag tapon ng basura.
October 22nd, 2009 at 11:24 PM
Upon reading this article, I have been reminded when I have been to the National Library one time after watching a play in San Sebastian. When I heard of the National Library at first it was very presentable and conducive for the students to search for more references for their research. When I have been through it, everything changed.
The books there were not updated, the remaining floors of the building are not open to all. Their OPAC was very slow unlike in my school you don’t experience difficulty. Thus, I have been to Fully Booked in The Fort and Rockwell it is completely different.
It is also completely unpredictable when they are books with too much typographical error and distortions of the right facts that a student must know. It is really alarming because students get used to it. They don’t have personal copies of their books from school wherein they are free to put notes with it. One set of books is for one student which he has no right to put his answers there but he leave that book until the next batch would use it again.
“Our school children are systematically stupefied by reading not just sick books but books that are terminally ill. The fact the Mr. Go’s reports keep coming up, this means that the issues were never addressed. The deplorable lessons on language and grammar are themselves discomfiting. I wouldn’t have expected much if the book were entitled English Langgwaydz by Jimmy Santos and edited by Melanie Marquez. But more than grammar, just wait until you see the content. The latter is either extremely senseless (there is no apt word to describe it) or culturally damaging. The following example is from a language textbook for the 6th grade.”
Students today have to rely with the English language in terms of its grammar from the celebrities here. Thus,there are no expansion of knowledge is taking place because the televisions today are the books. Technology too is another hindrance for the expansion of knowledge because they are not trained to write anymore their notes and insights about the lessons tackled. In addition, spellings are now done on a text messaging system like “I mis u”. Through this kind of spelling, they are completely misguided. It is really devastating when the youth today does not experience hardcore training with their spelling hence they will seek for consideration it they misspelled the word wrong.
October 23rd, 2009 at 02:55 AM
*That explains why we never grow and develop as a competent country.
October 25th, 2009 at 02:09 AM
kawawa talaga ang susunod na henerasyon. mas lalala pa sila, tayo sa “monkey”. sa eskwelahan nga lang namin ay mabobobo ka lang lalo. paano ka ba naman makakapag-aral ng mabuti kung ang mga librarian ay nagpiprint sa loob ng library, okay lang sana kung laser, eh yung maingay na printer ang gamit nila, yung pinaka unang labas na printer..sa public library naman sa siyudad namin, yung mga librarian pa ang nag-iingay!!! nakakainggit talaga ang Singapore..sge lang, may itatayo naman 14 storey na library eh.. yun ang magiging sagot sa problema natin sa edukasyon…hintay lang tayo…:)
October 25th, 2009 at 02:17 AM
^Singapore at Korea po…:)
October 25th, 2009 at 03:33 PM
It is saddening how these things happen, like publishing books with typographical errors. In our school before we had this algebra book and i was more of like wondering why we don’t get accurate results..i mean look, they also have typos in other subjects.The same as with reading, we don’t really practice it..that’s why most are just preferring ignorance..no wonder our country is like this..i’m an avid reader and i envy korea..how they invest with book and all..how will we learn if we have so many excuses on not reading naman..
October 26th, 2009 at 12:55 PM
grabe!!! talaga subra na to!!!! ayo ko na!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nakaka matay, nakaka depressed, pwede ba akong mamatay ng matapos na tng aking dinadala pls!! lang maa wa naman kayo hwag naman ninyong patayin ang ibang buhay na pwede pang mabuhay!!!!!!!!
October 27th, 2009 at 01:34 PM
“In other countries, children are taught to look up to heroes, admire the excellence and achievements of cultural icons and mark historical events that contributed to nation-building. Give us a few years and this country will lose its soul and we won’t know what hit us. Ang ending nito ay, wala nang kaluluwang matitira sa mga Pilipino.”
ginagawang mga ignorante ang mga kabataan ngayon para hindi magrebelde sa mga korakot!!!
ika nga sa The First Filipino, “an educated native is a dangerous native.”
tayo nalang ang magbasa nga mga libro para sa kanila. tayo ang magmulat sa kanilang mga mata balang araw.
paano na ang mga bata? ang susunod na henerasyon? nakakalungkot dahil mayroon akong kakilalang bata na matalino pero baka maging biktima nitong mga librng walang saysay!
sa MRT, pag sakay mo ay mayroon kang maririnig na mga ad na patungkol sa mga sex…ito na ang pinapakain sa publiko. nakaka panic na dahil mga kabataan rin ang nakasakay duon! LASON! LASON sa isip, puso at kaluluwa! dag dag pa pagka ignorante, ang kawalan ng direksyon sa buhay. kung walang pinanghahawakan, kung ano ano nalng ang tinatanggap nila. :’(
“OUR TIME WILL COME”
our dawn of redemption will come. >:I
BRYYYOOORRRRGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!
October 27th, 2009 at 07:28 PM
If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it. ~Toni Morrison
This will never be a civilized country until we expend more money for books than we do for chewing gum. ~Elbert Hubbard
October 30th, 2009 at 11:37 AM
nothing to contest. this is a natural scenario in the Educational setting of the Philippines. some books are not healthy for our young learners, as we can see errors on the books already published and distributed to schools, especially to public schools. there are misspelled words, wrong sentence construction, unrelated pictures, no further explanations which left questions on the parking lot, and others. this is because our government go with the publishers that sells books with low price, and with less quality with regards to information. they will not choose to buy and distribute books which are being sold in a higher price, but very informative books. really sad.
October 30th, 2009 at 01:39 PM
Our books are so sick! If you go to a bookstore the first thing you see is a tower of “twilights,” “new moons.” It just want to make you puke! Many of our youth are illiterate, more are alliterate, and the worst is they would just rather read senseless books that wouldn’t help them in their intelligence. A couple of Bob Ong books, that speak rather the truth but it will just make you ashamed of your own country. Several magazines, some twilight, Harry Potter, etc.
And everyone else would rather watch wowowee, twilight, a Manny Pacquiao fight than to read a good book….
November 2nd, 2009 at 02:04 PM
Is it not sad, I said to my countrymen, that we have to learn from a foreigner about ourselves? Thanks to the German scholars we get accurate information about ourselves, and when everything in our country has been destroyed and we wish to verify the historical correctness of certain facts we shall have to come to Germany to search for these facts, in German museums and books! – Dr.Jose Rizal
*Letter to Blumentritt (13 April 1887)
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:32 PM
sana nga po ay maramdaman na nating mga Pilipino na hindi na kailangan ng donating books but instead, MAKE OUTSTANDING BOOKS!!! we already have lots and tons of books but are those of good quality? are those books that have hearts for others? WALA GAANO! at lalong kakaonti pa ang mga librong gawang Pilipino! dahil ba sa iniisip lang natin ay ang ating mga sarili, para sa pera? hindi ba’t ang mga libro ay para sa iba, para sa ikaayos ng ating kaalaman at puso, para sa bansa? pinapakita lang nito na talagang NAGKUKULANG TAYO SA PAGMAMAHAL sa bansa. naglalabas lang tayo ng mga NAGPAPASIRA sa bansa!
December 2nd, 2009 at 01:54 PM
grabe po, nakakahiya at sobrang nakakadurog…
hindi ko po maipaliwanag yung mararamdaman ko noong sinabi ng mga prof ko na sa CHED daw po mangongontrata ang leaders ng dalawang tao para gumawa ng textbooks, kahit na ang mga taong ito ay wala naman talagang kaalam-alam sa field na tinatalakay ng libro…as in walang kaalam-alam. At pag ipinacheck na ng CHED sa mga prof namin dito, sobrang grabe daw po ang content…talagang mali-mali. Hindi lang po senseless e kundi mali-mali. Tapos, ang sabi nung prof ko, nakahanap pa raw sila ng mga kaaway sa pagchecheck na iyon ng mga libro dahil nagmamarunong raw sila ayon dun sa mga gumawa na wala namang kaalam-alam…
Parang nagkaroon tuloy ako ng pag-iisip na LAHAT ng textbooks na ginawa at nilimbag dito sa Pilipinas ay walang kuwenta. Kawawa naman tayo
February 18th, 2010 at 01:16 AM
alam ko na alam ninyo na mayroon tayong sariling wika at titik…sa panahon ngayon kinakailanga na pagaralan natin ito ng mabuti..gaya ng ating sariling letra.ang puso ko ay talagang nalungkot dahil napansin ko na karamihan ngayon sa mga nagaaral ng ating sariling letra ay mga dayuhan..NAKITA ko kung gaano kaganda ang BAYBAYIN o alibata na sa ganda nito ay walang papantay..sana huwag nating hayaan na dumating ang araw na mawala sa atin ang mga letrang ito nawa ay pahalagahan natin ito….
May 20th, 2010 at 05:41 PM
well para sa akin, good news and bad ang fully booked saka powerbooks. Good news kasi it lets foreign books come into our country so we can have a scope of what’s up and what’s brewing in the minds of other countries. Bad news naman dahil sa ang mga laman ng foreign books na ito ay mga walang kwentang bagay lang din mostly.
we have potential to make better bookstores actually, marami lang wala masyadong ginagawang paraan para mangyari yun. well i hope this bryorg generation…our generation would do something about it. XD