Society has always used punishment to discourage would-be criminals from unlawful action. Since society has the highest interest in preventing murder, it should use the strongest punishment available to deter murder, and that is the death penalty.

Back then, we reserved the death penalty in the Philippines for the most heinous murders and the most brutal and conscienceless murderers. This is not, as some critics argue, a kind of state-run lottery that randomly chooses an unlucky few for the ultimate penalty from among all those convicted of murder. Rather, the capital punishment system is a filter that selects the worst of the worst. If murderers are sentenced to death and executed, potential murderers will think twice before killing for fear of losing their own life. It is quick, painless, and humane.

The methods of execution have gradually become more humane over the years, so the argument that the death penalty is cruel and unusual is not valid. It appeases the victims or victims’ families. The death penalty can provide families of victims with some closure, which may help them to deal with their suffering. Although the victim and the victim’s family cannot be restored to the status which preceded the murder and some family members of crime victims may take years or decades to recover from the shock and loss of a loved one. Some may never recover. At least an execution brings closure to the murderer’s crime (and closure to the ordeal for the victim’s family) and ensures that the murderer will create no more victims. One of the things that helps hasten this recovery is to achieve some kind of closure. Life in prison just means the criminal is still around to haunt the victim. A death sentence brings finality to a horrible chapter in the lives of these family members.

As for us, we are pro-death penalty for numerous reasons aside from the ones stated above. The death penalty provides justice to the family of the victim, provided that the court itself is unbiased and just. Aside from serving justice, it usually just involves the quick death of a criminal. It does not torture nor humiliate the criminal, thus is still humane and does not violate any international treaties or laws. And right after the said execution, the body is usually returned to the family of the criminal in order to give the person a proper burial. Another point here is that this is only applied to criminals who have committed heinous crimes, as defined by the law. And by definition, a heinous crime is an evil, wicked and intentional deed. This therefore, limits the amount of people to be classified to have done such crimes, making it so that only the people who have done such crimes receive the punishment that they deserve.

Together with our justice system, this can be properly implemented by filtering out those who have been falsely accused by means of a trial where the defendant is assumed to be innocent unless proven to be, beyond reasonable doubt, guilty as charged.

Given our current system, the possibility of a mistrial may be there, however, it is very unlikely that his event will occur, especially regarding these crimes.

The Death Penalty may even save lives by deterring criminals to do the crime in the first place. This can overall, reduce the crime rate that is being experienced by our nation. By serving as a deterrent, it may also preserve the thing that we and other criminals value the most, our very lives.

Is it really separation? Or the meddling of the Church in the affairs of the State? This is one of the things that we really should differentiate. By definition, separation means “the action or state of moving or being moved apart.” It implies that the church has been merged with the State or Government while this issue is ongoing. On the other hand, When we say “The meddling of the Church on the affairs of Government”, it means that the church is attempting to interfere with decisions that only the government should do. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive right into this topic, shall we?

The basic function of the church is to be involved in every facet of the life of the believer. Holding true to this mission, Christ looked at the needs of the people, provided it, and then begun to preach out the good deeds. The church today must live up to its true billing — meeting the needs of the people. Instead, the church as portrayed in the media shows them attempting to meddle with government legislature which they deem to be “against the teachings of the bible”. In this age of Modern Globalization, Religion and Science have become much more important than ever before. Many people rely on religion to give them explanations to things science cannot currently explain. It offers the people moral guidance and help if people are in need. Ever since the events portrayed in the bible, we as humans have progressed so far that we have to abandon some of our beliefs that prevent us from continuing to advance, and so is the case with the Catholic Church.

           The Catholic Church in the Philippines still does retain its influence among the general populous, which is still a dangerous tool. Some government bills such as the Divorce Bill have been blocked by the Catholic Conservatives due to the belief that marriage is a sacred rite. Although there are alternatives such as annulment, these alternatives take much longer in general.  These blocking of legislature due to the influence of the church slows down our progress as a country and destroys our unity as a Filipino people as a result of this divide.

           For me, the best thing that the church should do is to leave the government alone and focus on giving people the guidance that they need. That is the best help that the Catholic Church can give for the Country and its people. Since the government is busy building up our economy, maintaining diplomatic relations, responding to emergencies and running our country in general, the government can’t really tent to all the needs of everyone in our country, and I think that’s why the Catholic Church is there, to help the people, to spread the good news, to give hope where others cannot provide any. It should be the pillar which helps the government, not something which stops it from running.

           In the end, I think it is better if they remain separated and free from each other’s control. We must learn from our past mistakes and do better in the future, for the progress of the people and the entire nation.

Gaming is a form of entertainment that many children love. Because of improvements in technology, video games, online, and mobile gaming has been well known and well loved.

                   When you ask parents or any adults, they frown upon hearing the word gaming. As a parent, they would usually say that these are basically time-wasters and that games corrupt the brain. In reality, of course gaming has good and bad effects, but as a gamer myself, I’ll say the good ones first.

                   First and foremost, not all games corrupt the brain. Some games involve high level of abstract thinking and reasoning in order to win. Because of this, you can say that gaming is actually a real brain workout. The fact that it exercises your brain while it gives you happiness in playing is also another thing. This is better than sitting down and juicing your brain with crossword puzzles and sudokus and other brain things. A good example is problem solving and logic, when games have problems that require solutions, the player trains his brain in order to come up with a creative solution. This improves strategy in children!!

                   Second, games allow body coordination. Some games that have a virtual reality feature requires movement of the whole body, usually, these types of games are shooting ones. These games make use of the body to kill and shoot. Managing to use different body parts one at a time takes practice and gaming trains the body to do so.

                   Games train us to plan and manage resources. Some video games need on the spot planning in order to win, because you don’t pause games and think of a strategy, right? Gaming makes us think quicker and helps us make decisions faster. In order to do so, we analyze first our situation in the game, thus, it also improves our situational analysis.

                   Memory and concentration also improves when gaming. This is why when you look at children playing video games, you’d really see their focus. This is actually a good thing because you’ll see improvement in them.

                   The last thing I’d like to mention, if you’re worrying that your child is missing out on socialization, some games have multiplayer features that allows them to communicate and interact with other children as well.

                   These are just some of the many good effects of video gaming. Now let’s go on to the bad. Even though I’m a gamer, I still admit that there are negative effects, but, these negative effects can be prevented with the help of adult supervision.

                   Number one, gaming has a negative effect especially if the game you are playing involves violence. Study shows that children who play more violent games tend to become more aggressive because their thoughts and behaviors copy the ones they are playing. Those children who watch video games that simulate violence can become immune to them and may be inclined to act violently themselves. They become less empathetic and they become a callous person. This effect is highly debated in research though, because video games don’t really lead a long-term damage to a person’s feelings and behavior. In my opinion, this negative effect may be prevented by guardians of the children for they are responsible for what a child plays. They may guide their children in order for them to know the difference between right and wrong.

                   A child playing video games too much may confuse reality and fantasy. Well this is not a very common effect especially if the child is in his/her teens. Children who confuse reality and fantasy are maybe from children from 4-10 years old since they still need guidance about the real world.

                 Other bad effects of playing video games in children include isolation, obesity, and school problems. As a guardian, make sure that your child does not isolate him/herself when playing. Make sure he still has time to socialize with other people. Proper diet and exercise must not be neglected for the sake of games. Make sure to guide your child to be balanced. Also, you must allot time for gaming and time for studying as excessive gaming really has an effect on your child’s academics.

Are you like me? ―A student that barely passes a lot of subjects in school. A student that has a brain, but not good enough to fit all information being taught. A student that tries hard to understand but still cannot understand and absorb what is going on. Obviously, this blog will be about my student life, mostly about weaknesses and strengths. This is my last year of Junior high school yet I still feel incomplete, incomplete because there’s this question you keep on asking. “What does it feel like to be smart and pass every subject”? What does it feel like to effortlessly absorb these math formulas and stuff?

Obviously speaking, my weak areas in school are those math related. Advanced physics, Mathematics, Selected topics in Mathematics, Computer Science, etc. I am also weak at remembering the terminologies and dates of our contemporary issues subject. It’s not because I’m not trying, I’m actually doing my best. I can’t blame myself for being this weak, I can only blame myself if I know that I didn’t do anything.

Moving on, I should talk about my strengths. I’m actually a bit confident about English, CAT, Chemistry, and MAPEH in general. English is easy for me because it was the first language taught to me when I was young. MAPEH is just really easy, plus the subjects are actually enjoyable. Chemistry is fine, I guess our teacher is very effective. I’m not telling this to brag about the subjects I think are easy, or to tell how difficult the subjects I’m having a hard time with. I’m telling this because I want to remind you that even though you make a lot of mistakes in these subjects, as long as you’re doing your best, that’s okay.

If you often ask the question “How does it feel like to be smart” or other questions that are full of insecurities. Tell yourself that you are enough, that you tried, and that there is so much more outside this world more than those grades. Yes they will help you if you want specialization in career, but in the long run, it’s you and your personality that matters, not those numbers.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton