XIV - Stolen Words

Most of us may have committed crimes without knowing it. Illegally downloading pirated movies and songs is one of those, but the worst and heinous is plagiarism. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defined plagiarism as "the act of using another person's words or ideas without giving credit to that person." Yet, people see this act as the same as "borrowing" or "copying" someone's ideas. They fail to see that this is also an act of stealing.

Plagiarism can be intentional or unintentional, but it is still considered the same. Intentional plagiarism occurs when writers or researchers know full well they are passing off someone else's words or ideas as their own, while unintentional plagiarism occurs when writers and researchers use the words or ideas of others but fail to quote or give credit, perhaps because they don't know how. Some students may fail to understand how to quote accurately or paraphrase effectively. It is possible for students to plagiarism without realizing they are doing so. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence.

 

As a student, I admit that at some times I found myself "copy-pasting" some work from the internet and turning it as my own work, for the sake of immediately finishing the assigned task. I thought that it was impossible that the original author won't press any chargers against me, and I also I'm still underage to be arrested. The act of plagiarism is still forbidden by the law. Republic Act No. 8293 or the Intellectual Property of Code of the Philippines protect patents, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property. The expression of original ideas is considered intellectual property and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Although plagiarism can be avoided by citing your sources and references. Also, simply acknowledging that certain material has been borrowed and providing your audience with the information necessary to find that source is usually enough to prevent plagiarism.

There are many ways of avoiding plagiarism. Using our minds and morals is the most effective and preventive way of evading this offensive crime. We should understand the whole concept of plagiarism so that we will not be ignorant regarding this issue. We must take responsibility of our actions and determine if what we are doing is whether wrong or right.

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Sources and references:

http://www.plagiarism.org/plagiarism-101/what-is-plagiarism/

http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Plagiarism

http://www.northwestern.edu/provost/policies/academic-integrity/how-to-avoid-plagiarism.html

XIII - An Artist of Poetry

We consider poems as an art. Poems are where we can express ourselves in words. Through poems, authors leave their messages, thoughts or ideas to the readers, in hopes of them remembering a piece of their personality. One person achieved this—which is none other than Gémino H. Abad.

The poet and literary critic Gémino H. Abad was born on February 5, 1939 in Sta. Ana, Manila. His family moved to Manila when his father, Antonio Abad, was offered professorships at Far Eastern University and the University of the Philippines. His parents are the noted novelist, playwright and essayist in Sugbuanon and Spanish, Antonio M. Abad, who was at one time Chair of the Department of Spanish in UP, and Jesusa H. Abad, professor of Spanish in UP. He is married to Mercedes A. Rivera, with whom he has five children.

Abad co-founded the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC) which published Caracoa, a poetry journal in English. His famous works include Fugitive Emphasis (poems, 1973); In Another Light (poems and critical essays, 1976); A Formal Approach to Lyric Poetry (critical theory, 1978); The Space Between (poems and critical essays, 1985); Poems and Parables (1988); Index to Filipino Poetry in English, 1905-1950 (with Edna Zapanta Manlapaz, 1988) and State of Play (letter-essays and parables, 1990). He edited landmark anthologies of Filipino poetry in English, among them Man of Earth (1989), A Native Clearing (1993) and A Habit of Shores: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English, ‘60s to the ‘90s (1999).

He was also a columnist in The Manila Chronicle, a weekly column called Exchange, with NVM Gonzales, Sylvia Ventura and Luning Bonifacio Ira; The Evening Paper, a weekly column Coming Through, with NVM Gonzales and Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo; Musa: The Philippine Literature Magazine, a monthly column called Vates: Our Poets Speak, and; Flip, a monthly column Poet’s Clearing.

He received numerous awards, local and international:

• University Professorship, University of the Philippines
• Carlos P. Romulo Professorial Chair, University of the Philippines
• Henry Lee Irwin Professorial Chair in Creative Writing, Ateneo de Manila University
• Rockefeller Fellowship, University of Chicago
• Visiting Professor, University of Hawaii at Manoa
• Visiting Professor, Saint Norbert College, Wisconsin
• Visiting Professor, Singapore Management University
• International Writing Program Fellowship, University of Iowa
• British Council Fellowship at Trinity College, Cambridge and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford
• U.P. Outstanding Faculty Award
• U.P. Distinguished Alumnus in Literature
• Ellen F. Fajardo Foundation Grant for Excellence in Teaching
• U.P. Gawad Chancellor Best Literary Work
• Palanca Awards for Poetry
• Philippines Free Press Awards at the Wayback Machine (archived August 31, 2004) for Literature
• Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for Poetry
• National Book Awards from the Manila Critics' Circle
• Asian Catholic Publishers Inc. Catholic Authors Award
• Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas (UMPIL)
• Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan in Literature from the City of Manila
• Premio Feronia, Foreign Author, 2009

He earned his B.A. English from the University of the Philippines in 1964 and Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Chicago in 1970. He served the University of the Philippines in various capacities: as Secretary of the University, Secretary of the Board of Regents, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Director of the U.P. Institute of Creative Writing. For many years, he also taught English, comparative literature and creative writing at U.P. Diliman.

The University of the Philippines has elevated Abad to the rank of University Professor, the highest academic rank awarded by the university to an exemplary faculty member. He currently sits on the Board of Advisers of the U.P. Institute of Creative Writing and teaches creative writing as Emeritus University Professor at the College of Arts and Letters, U.P. Diliman.

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Sources and references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9mino_Abad

http://www.panitikan.com.ph/content/g%C3%A9mino-h-abad

XII - Regrets

A lot of people have regrets. We hope we should have done that one thing that will make us happy. Yet we haven't achieved it due to various forces that contradict our decisions. And that was what happened between me and Julia Salas' forbidden romance.

You can call me a bad lover; an immoral one. I was already engaged with a woman named Esperanza. I have loved her. I courted her with my sweet words and beautiful flowers. I saw my future with her. I thought she was the one until this certain girl caught my eye. We met one night at Judge Del Valle's house. We talked about ourselves and our stories. Her voice soothed me. Her beautiful face touched my heart. Her eyes glimmered with amusement. I felt something that no one has ever made me felt before. Under the light of the moon and stars, sitting in the porch, I felt love. Then I realized, I was in love. But I guess Julia did not felt the same.

We were drawn to each other. The qualities of youth; vigor, passion, and vitality that I lacked of was found in her. We met every Sunday, me avoiding to meet Esperanza for dinner or for her walks. As we learned more about each other, the more I wanted to be with Julia. We both enjoyed each other's company. This did not take long for Esperanza to know. And Julia also learned of my engagement with Esperanza. Both eventually despised me. I was torn. Esperanza and I were viewed by the people as an ideal couple. A couple whose wedding is getting nearer. If I broke my engagement with Esperanza, what would the people say? What would Esperanza feel? And if I will be with Julia, would she really love me?

Eight years later, I thought I'm finally at peace. I was not unhappy with my marriage. But a part of me always slips away from the world in order to dream of another life that could have blossomed, had I chose Julia. But the love I felt for her lost with the years that passed by. I understood, after meeting her again, that it was nostalgia that was taking hold of my heart, and not the "love" that I once felt for her. If there was, we should have been married. It was a welcome changed in my life.  I was comforted by the thought that I was able to meet someone who is different from everybody else.

Why had I obstinately clung to that dream? So all these years--since when?--I had been seeing the light of dead stars, long extinguished, yet seemingly still in their appointed places in the heavens. An immense sadness as of loss invaded my spirit, a vast homesickness for some immutable refuge of the heart far away where faded gardens bloom again, and where live on in unchanging freshness, the dear, dead loves of vanished youth.