Speechless

For once, Papa was speechless!

Today was my Moving Up Day in Little Sandbox. And I received an award!

The teachers voted me the Little Chatter Award for being able to "express my mind freely" and "converse with others fluently."

In other words, because they can't keep me quiet, they decided to give me an award of excellence for being madaldal.

And I choose to chat not with my classmates, many of whom are still in the googoo, gaga stage, but with my teachers. I like telling them stories of where I went on the weekend, the games I played, the places I visited, the people I met.

Sure, I still have to work on my pronunciation and I still mix up my past perfect and past progressive tenses but by and large, I think I am understood by most.

Papa was so surprised by my award. I am sure he was proud of me. But I guess he was more caught off guard by the accolade.

Papa doesn't realize that it's all his fault. He and Mommy have always insisted on talking to me like an adult. Even when I was still in a crib and not yet crawling.

Every morning, while having breakfast and before Mommy wakes up, Papa and I spend the time talking about anything and everything. Today Papa asked me what I wanted to do during the summer. Of course he had to explain to me what summer was and what it meant. That there was no regular school because the teachers needed to rest. But that if I wanted, I could continue to go to school for special classes or join football clinics or swimming lessons.

I enjoy these chats I have with Papa. Not only do I get the chance to learn new words and expressions but I also get a chance to be with my Papa before he sets off for another long day of work.

But why were you speechless, Papa? This we have to talk about.

Sa Totoo Tayo: A Petition for Freedom of Access to Information Law

Team RP statement:

"Secrecy breeds irregularity, fraud, and crime. It allows chicanery, graft, and corruption... A democracy based on ignorance, on misinformation, on conjectures, on suspicion is doomed to fail. The more enlightenment the people have, the more guarantee there is for their success in their collective enterprises, and in the fulfillment of their social aspirations and purposes." -- Justice Gregorio Perfecto

From the de Venecia-Lozada expose, the Hello Garci scandal, and the Spratlys mind-boggler to the North and South Rail questions, events of the recent past clearly highlight how very little we know about the workings of our government, how much difficulty is involved in getting truth to come out and how, albeit fundamental in any republican and democratic state that the government is accountable to the public, we Filipinos are in reality denied direct access to our government institutions and our public servants. As a country that prides itself with democracy, it strikes us with a disquieting reality that we Filipinos have no real access to information to empower us to properly and actively participate in governance.

We in TEAM RP believe that in order for there to be a responsible citizenry that can actively and meaningfully craft the future of the country, there is a need to give teeth to the policy of full public disclosure and the right of the people to be informed as contained in the fundamental law of the land. Moreover, we are aware that if people, especially those who have been bypassed by development, are unaware of laws and procedures for availing themselves of their entitlements or of mechanisms they can use to remedy their plight, then they will always remain poor.

Let us call on our lawmakers to make top priority the passage of a Philippine Access to Information Law which, subject to reasonable and clearly outlined conditions, ensures unfettered access of the people to information of public concern, including government transactions involving public interest.

We urge our lawmakers, let us not delay this any further.

Trying out posting entries on multiply using my mobile. Connection is kinda slow but and the screen interface quite small but hey, it's still easier than having to stop the car, connecting the weRoam kit to my laptop and accessing the site. Oh well, we'll see...