stupid is forever (9 page)

As the author of the Reproductive Health bill in the
Senate, I am preparing my battle gear. After the SONA,
we will be ready for a shootout. I am preparing my Navy
Seals and my stealth bombers so that we can rescue the
people who are suffering from fortress mentality.

I went to see a pulmonologist and then she said,
"I’m sorry but you have cancer,” and I said, "Yes!”
because I wanted a challenge in my life.

If I do not die of cancer, or if I do not die from
the medication, I will die from making a living,
because these cancer pills are so expensive.

I feel like I am going, going, and soon be gone.
Just call me the disappearing senator.
(Miriam on her cancer illness.)

Yes, I am intellectually arrogant. All intellectuals
are entitled to be arrogant. That’s the only way they
can educate the non-intellectual. Inggit lang sila.

I’d normally sit in front where I worship my professor.
I’d stare with lovestruck eyes, take down everything he says
and I don’t even breathe. That’s how I got to be a scholar
because all my professors knew that I adored them.
(Miriam recounting her student days.)

People would be surprised to find
out I don’t scream every day.

I resort to this mischievous way of thinking maybe
to relax the neurons in my brain, especially when I
fight with someone with no neurons whatsoever.

Walk around naked in Metro Manila. I would
walk around naked and display myself to the
general public and say, "Are you happy now?”
(Answer to the question: If there were no rules in your life for
one day and you could be outrageous, what would you do ?)

Hindi naman ako mataba eh. In fact,
I’m so sexy that it overflows.

Wala naman talagang pangit, sadyang
nasobrahan lang ako sa ganda.

Kakatanggap ko lang ng aking medical results. May
sakit daw ako. Habang tumatanda ako, gumaganda
daw ako. Don’t worry, hindi ito nakakahawa.
Iyon nga lang, hindi na daw ako gagaling.

I never wanted to be a warrior. I wanted to be a scholar.
I consider every act of evil a personal challenge.

Lessons of Life

Nothing matters more to the future of this nation than to
ensure that our young women and men learn to believe
in themselves and to believe in their dreams. I believe
one of our country’s most priceless assets is the idealism
of our young people. My generation has invested all that
it has — not only its love, but also its hope and faith — in
your generation.

Hence, allow me to share with you what life has taught
me, and in the end to encapsulate for you the meaning
of life. First, life teaches us that, whether we perceive
it as predestined or random, it is beyond any person’s
control. Human beings have inhabited this planet for
only 250,000 years or .0015 per cent of the history of
life, the last inch of the cosmic mile. The earth worked
perfectly well without us for billions of years, and it will
continue to do so even when we are gone. This fact
makes our existence seem more like a happy accident
than a carefully thought-out plan.

The second important lesson that life has taught me
is this: there is no template for the meaning of life.
Instead, the meaning of life is what you choose to make
it mean. Life is the consequence of our moral choices.

A Meaningful Life

While there is no blueprint for the meaning of life, there
is countless research on ways to have a more meaningful
life. There are three ways to make your life more
meaningful:

First, get connected. While a busy social life with lots
of friends may help keep you happy, it is the deeper
relationships with loved ones that will truly add meaning
to your life.

Second, do not shy away from stress. The things that
add the most meaning to our lives — a high-pressure job
or caring for a loved one — are often the same things that
add the most stress to our day-to-day existence. However,
taking the easy road is not always the better option. The
biggest challenges in life often lead to the biggest gains in
the long run.

Third, find a sense of purpose. Studies show that
people who spend more time pursuing activities that
reflected their sense of self were the people who found
their lives more meaningful. A life filled with meaning
is linked to doing things that express and reflect the self.

Preparing for
ASEAN
Integration

Your school authorities have requested me to talk on
ASEAN integration. Integration means that as a rule,
every ASEAN country will treat people and products
from any country in the whole ASEAN region, as if they
are the people and products coming from the country
itself. Thus, integration will mean that in ASEAN
among ourselves we will pay less taxes, less customs
duties, and less import taxes. The ASEAN countries
will form the equivalent of what used to be called the

European Common Market, and what is now called the
European Union. All separate neighbors will become
bound together into one whole called ASEAN Common
Market, with each country entitled to equal participation
and membership.

In 2003, the ten member-states of the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — the Philippines,
Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam — agreed
to integrate their economies. In 2007, the leaders of the
ASEAN countries approved a "blueprint” to guide each
member on initiatives and measures to achieve regional
integration which is scheduled for 2015.

ASEAN integration will allow the ten countries and
over half a billion people to participate in the free flow of
goods, services, labor, capital, and foreign investment.
Ultimately, integration will foster greater cooperation
and healthy competition in the region.

There are many advantages of ASEAN integration.
One advantage is the opening up of job markets in the
region. While many Filipinos already work in other
ASEAN countries, the process of looking for jobs abroad
will be made easier by the integration. But this also
means that the job market will be fiercer. Filipinos will
have to compete against applicants from other ASEAN
nations. However, we have an advantage because we are
highly adaptable. We can easily adapt to multicultural
workplaces. Our command of the English language is

also an advantage over our ASEAN counterparts.

Another advantage is the regional community
approach to integration of education in the region. The
K-to-I2 program has been instituted to make Philippine
education comparable to the ASEAN and the rest of
the world. The academic calendar synchronization of
ASEAN universities lays the groundwork for increasing
student and faculty mobility within the region. Only the
Philippines starts its academic calendar in June. Most
universities in China, Korea, Japan, and North America
start their classes in August or September.

This integration is the main reason why some
Philippine universities have synchronized their school
calendars in 2014 with those of their counterparts in
other ASEAN countries. The synchronization of the
academic calendar of Philippine universities with most
ASEAN, European, and American academic partners
will create more joint programs and partnerships with
other universities and allow students to get transfer
credits from different universities in the ASEAN.

LPU Laguna is ahead of the curve with respect
to the ASEAN integration. You have the following
desirable assets: experienced educators and mentors;
internationally responsive academic programs; and a
beautiful and world-class campus conducive to learning.
All these make you extremely attractive to foreign students
and scholars.

Conclusion

In conclusion, allow me to recite some stanzas
from the poem "What I Live For:”

I live for those who love me,

Whose hearts are kind and true-,

For the Heaven that smiles above me,

And awaits my spirit too;

For all human ties that bind me,

For the task by God assigned me,

For the bright hopes yet to find me,

And the good that I can do.

I live to hail that season
By gifted ones foretold,

When men shall live by reason,

And not alone by gold;

When man to man united,

And every wrong thing righted,

The whole world shall be lighted
As Eden was of old.

I live for those who love me,

For those who know me true,

For the Heaven that smiles above me,
And awaits my spirit too;

For the cause that lacks assistance,

For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,

And the good that I can do.

I Stephen Jay Gould on the meaning of life.
htlp://www.
brainpickings.org/index.php/20i2/og/17/the-meaning-of-life/

2
http://news.health.com/20i4-/Ol/22/5-ycays-to-have-a-more-meaningful-life/

3 "Is the Philippines Ready for ASEAN Economic Integration in 2015?”. Business
Journal. American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, Inc., October 2013.

Photo by Menchit Ongpin

Miriam Defensor Santiago