HOPE FOR THE FUTURE

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE My dear countrymen, although I graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP) with an A.B. Political Science degree, I decided to stop writing about politics because I did not find it rewarding, and in fact, I found it rather frustrating. After I graduated from UP, I enrolled in some credits in M.A. English Literature from the Ateneo de Manila University, where I had the good fortune to have the late illustrious art, literature and food critic Doreen Fernandez as my professor. It was from Professor Fernandez that I learned the true meaning of criticism. According to Prof. Fernandez, the purpose of criticism is to bring out the truth, and not to bring out what is bad in an object, or a piece of art or literature. In the process of bringing out the truth, one might bring out what is bad, or what is wrong, but still, that is not the purpose of criticism. If can I recall correctly from what Fernandez taught us, there is no such thing as constructive criticism or negative criticism, because there in only plain and simple criticism, so to speak. After I checked with ChatGPT however, the AI seems to slightly disagree. ChatGPT says that constructive criticism means “feedback aimed at helping someone improve or grow. It focuses on identifying areas of improvement and often includes suggestions for how to address those issues in a positive, supportive manner”. On the other hand, ChatGPT also says that “negative criticism means feedback that highlights flaws or shortcomings, sometimes without offering solutions. If delivered poorly, it may come across as judgmental or discouraging”. After reading what ChatGPT, I still believe in what Fernandez taught me, that there is only one form of criticism. It is the criticism that brings out the truth, even if the truth sounds bad at times, and might even sound offensive or politically tainted at times. To veer away from what ChatGPT calls “negative criticism”, I have made the decision to no longer write about political issues, and to focus instead on technical and economic topics. Being a former Director General of the National Computer Center (NCC) and having learned about economic diplomacy from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), I think I am equipped well enough to talk about these two topics. Despite my efforts to stay away from political topics, I have noticed, based on feedback from my readers, that they always see a political dimension in my writings, not that I say it outrightly, but because they see it from their perspective. For example, when I write about the potentials of the coconut industry because of the so many products that we could make out of that tree, some readers write back that there is no reason to hope because there will always be corrupt politicians who will run away with the money allotted for some good projects. On my part, I will keep on doing what is in my power to do, and that is to keep bringing out the truth, and to keep inspiring my writers to keep hoping that somehow, in some ways, our country will progress and get out of poverty. But since I have nothing else to offer to our people to stem back from the forces of negativism and hopelessness, I will just encourage them to keep praying to God, in the hope that God will cause the corrupt people to turn away from their evil ways. Your friend, IKE SENERES/01-01-25/visit my blog senseneres.blogspot.com