Batibot

(excerpt from my blog entry dated July 19, 2012, a Thursday)

I woke up this morning to Tatay’s rather loud calling of Tina’s name. He was somewhere near the kitchen. I thought he was in the bathroom and needed someone to wash him and take care of his business with the bowl early this morning.

As I just woke up, I didn’t feel like getting up already and attending to him. Besides, he was calling Tina’s name. But then I thought I didn’t want him to keep on shouting like that because he’s been down with the cold these past few days and I didn’t want him to strain himself.

And so, as much as I didn’t want to get wet this cold morning, I got up anyway and went out, and it turned out he was in the kitchen and just needed someone to give him his dose of cough syrup. I gave him his meds and was thinking of going back to sleep, but then, what for? I might as well start the day anyway.

Let’s see. I slept around 3 a.m. last night, and woke up at 8 a.m. Five hours of sleep. That’s okay already, I guess. I had my customary four glasses of drinking water and am now writing here with a song in my mind playing over and over again since I woke up. “Sino ang Pilipino?” from Batibot.

I was fortunate to find a video of it on Youtube and I downloaded it. I’ve always liked that song and even sing along to it, never mind that I was already in college when I first heard it. Pambata kasi ‘yung kanta.

Right now, I’m thinking about that idea that came to me a few months ago, which is about coming up with a cable channel dedicated solely to Filipino kids. All the shows will be in Filipino: cartoons dubbed in Filipino, educational shows in Filipino, etc.

Kawawa naman kasi ang mga batang Pinoy ngayon. Puro foreign influences. ‘Di gaano ang memories nila tinged with Filipino life and culture. Kami noon, kahit paano, may Batibot. E ang mga bata ngayon, kundi babad sa computer games, babad naman sa Disney Channel at Cartoon network.

Bihira pa sila lumabas ng bahay. Baka daw kasi madapa o magalusan. Samantalang kami noon, nangongolekta ng bakokang at tibatib. Ahehe. ‘Tong mga nanay na ‘to.

But then, I’m thinking of catering not just to the more affluent kids. Nakakaawa kasi lalo na ‘yung mga bata na salat na nga sa buhay, wala pang redeeming values na napapanood sa TV ayon sa kultura at buhay nila bilang batang Pinoy.

Filipino children need reinforcement from their own life and environment. They need to be exposed to concepts that make them better people. They need learning that would make them self-learners, not just colonial copycats or clones. Most importantly, I think they need a sense of the self, with dignity and nobility of spirit. That’s one project that I’d really, really like to realize soon.

Click on the link for the "Sino ang Pilipino?" Youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKRhnhwWQxc