My China Reflections

Having known China from the policy briefs I encounter and decipher from the dossiers of the Department of Foreign Affairs while on my graduate study program in Foreign Service from the Lyceum of the Philippines University, what I have seen upon stepping on my first historic visit to China made me want to uncoil what I have been bombarded with and retrace the steps before I have come to some pertinent conclusions as a graduate student in early 2001.

The China that I used to know was perennially poor, all-too rigid and people are stiff. All my perspective of China was all gray and black. Never as colourful and always with a tinge of strictness and the Chinese people are very much akin to its militaristic past but all these were proven wrong. I was wrong and what I have seen and lived in my entire stay in China completely erased my previous notion of what China is today.

Since day one, when we arrived in Guangzhuo, all the place and people were abuzz with the upcoming Asian Games. You can see flyers and tarpaulins heralding the coming of the Asian Games and even our official airline, the China Southern Airline is the official airline for the Asian Games is continuously playing the advertisements about the games in-flight and the crew on board are as friendly as most I have met on my travels overseas. It has never retained in me that one Chinese person I have met that resembles what my previous preconception of them. All of them were smiling and full of happy spirits. This is very unlike what I have read about human dynamics in the past during the times in 1948 and those of Chairman Deng Xiaoping. I say the Chinese people now have immense confidence on their government and how they have lived their lives in the new millennia.

Upon arriving past 10 in the evening in Guangzhuo, China, I have had the urge to eat late dinner and what an immense impression again was left in my mind. China has KFC, McDonalds, Starbucks and mostly western-styled conglomerates which are the hallmarks of commercialism and to a farthest extent, imperialism. I observed that while we were eating snacks or meals in these establishments, all crew were able to speak few English, another hallmark of the west. Call that globalized linguistic parallelism in which workers, in order to converse well and be understood, adapt to the universality of the language currency. Even Japan and Korea are best examples of this phenomenon.

When we were in China for the China-ASEAN Young Leaders Training, I was expecting nonetheless, of immense exposure to rural areas, where traditional houses of peasants and the vestiges of rural poverty is well around the corner but again, I was wrong. We had been housed comfortably in the China Guangxi International Youth Exchange Institute. The rooms were like of a 5-star hotel, replete with centralized airconditioning unit, cold and hot showers with tub, clean linens, comfy pillows and carpeted floors from the hallway up to our rooms. Even the room key cards are highly technological, of which most hotels in the Philippines will be pale in comparison.

The classes we have had in China were held in well-maintained lecture and academic halls where microphones and interpreters on stand by. We have felt we are somewhere in the West, very much unlike what we have seen to be in China but again, we were wrong. I was wrong. I experienced all the comforts we have had while having our academic lectures. Again, what we have seen there is nowhere to be found near to even the University of the Philippines.
The most distinct impression on me was on the several occasions we audience during the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit in Nanning, Guangxi. It was where we have seen China economically, outside the confines of the lectures we have received from esteemed Chinese economists and scholars. I have seen how China was and is continually ready to do business regionally and bilaterally with the Philippines and Cambodia . We have seen Chinese businessmen undertaking linkages and networking with visiting investors in the Hall of the People in Guangxi, the venue of the CABIS. I have seen them share a cigarette and talk business. This is not strictly politics but rather strictly and formally business.

On our trip to Beijing, I have observed how China is micro-managing inter-regional and sub-regional migration among Chinese. At the Nanning Domestic Airport up until we have arrived in Beijing, I observed that the immigration counters are busy perusing internal and external travel documents of people from place to other. To my interpretation, this has been done to ferret out legitimate workers from those who will only a burden to progressive cities. If you have a skill in China, then you work and get employed. Many constructions of buildings and houses were impressively high and robust. This indicates how the Chinese economy is forever booming amidst the Asian economic crisis and the impending fall of the Euro currency and the economic meltdown in Europe.

While in Beijing, I have seen how busy streets are and how the economy is helping people help themselves.

The Bird’s Nest speaks of the grandeur that is of China today. I need not elaborate as mostly of us, have seen and witnessed the 2008 summer Olympics.

In a visit to Guilin City, I was fascinated at how the river cruise has served both local and international tourists, but mostly, local tourists. The government has been successful in integrating local tourism to the international appeal of Guangxi amidst its most popular destinations like Xiamen, Shanghai and Beijing.

A visit to a county in Guilin City left me awe-struck. I was impressed at how paved their roads were leading to their already concrete houses of peasants who were growing pomelo and small varieties of melons. I am further impressed at the fact that the same county we visited hosted to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and even the President of an African country and some delegations from Japan. It’s a complete presentation of what a society can gain if we cooperate with each other especially in agriculture and food production. That same county is by a large extent, producer of Chinese marble, very much priced in China.

Upon my return to the Philippines, I was left wanting. I want to know China more. Wanted to taste how local their lives are and experience firsthand how the Chinese people respond to adversity, challenges, trials and potential hiccups in the economy. I wanted to do research in its academic institutions and see how elementary pupils get education. I wanted to see more of the countryside and learn how peasants cooperate for progress. I wanted to see how they do business all the time, daily and on time. But some experiences has to momentarily end. I say I have come back to reality in the Philippines and ask myself, how can we always do business and how our government can better respond to our collective and societal dreams. This made me think if one thing needs to be reformed or perhaps transformed in our manner of dealing with the economy, governance, public service and basically, how individually we can help our country grow. My experiences in China not only corrected my wrong views of China in its entirety but also opened my eyes at how poorly we are managed even in our proud democracy. It has dampen my own perspective of how this Republic can ever withstand the growing demands of a poor population and addressing the gnawing pressures of poverty which for years have not been appropriately addressed. I am impressed of China but remain hopeful for the Philippines.

A letter to Hong Kong (August 29, 2010)

Sadly, as things turned sour and our friendship affected, we tend to reflect. Is life really worth fighting for? Embracing what our national hero, Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino once illustriously said and I asked: Are we really truly “worth fighting for”? I say yes. All of humanity is truly worth fighting for. I apologize for how poorly the hostage crisis was handled by the government. Indeed, there were lapses as we see it unfold. Lives, eight precious lives of our beloved friends were lost. Lost not because they could have wished for it but it was lost because someone decided it for them beyond their own control and beyond God’s will. We see this event unfurled before our very eyes. I pray for their soul and may they rest in peace.

Sometimes, I also wonder why our President behaved the way he did during and after the crisis. Taking it as it was, I say, he was caught off guard, nothing much prepared him for such inevitable situation and we are so sorry. He was ridiculed, seen as insensitive and irked many because of his insensitivities on what has just happened. I, myself is not happy of what he has made of himself on this crisis. I am contend that he has made amends and apologized.

As a Filipino, I never condone such unspeakable attack on innocent civilians, who came to my country to see how it is, feel the hospitality of our people and yet, tragically experienced the end of their lives. These friends could have lived well, productive lives in their homes now but all is lost. Their lives are lost and we truly, as a nation, as a Filipino are sorry for what has happened.

As a Filipino, I appeal for sobriety, calmness and openness of mind. Let not the blunder of some few handicapped policemen be the sole yardstick of our flourishing bilateral relations. China and the Philippines have enjoyed the friendliest of relations, including that of Hong Kong, home to our fellow Filipinos who worked tirelessly to be of significant help to you my friends. I worry for them not because they might lose their jobs but I worry for them because they too, like other OFWs, have their families to feed back home. If they are in danger in Hong Kong, what will become of their families? I say this out perhaps of desperation that our contract workers in Hong Kong may be without jobs or are now on the verge of losing their jobs. They, like you my friends, are humans, who are innocent bystanders of this horrendous and unfortunate crisis.

Truly, I valued your emotions and I felt it. I felt it when my parents passed away. I can feel your pains because you, among our neighbours are one of our closest. We shared culture, language, and many more. I never speak Chinese but I have friends who can and are Chinese. I am proud of them. Most of them even have their forefathers hailed from Mainland China and Hong Kong. Our ties are strong, let us not cut it so abruptly that it will cost us our lives too. Our lives are intertwined. Filipinos work in Hong Kong homes and offices and Filipino families are better off because of the help of our Hong Kong friends and their employers. We are better as friends and we continue to be. We shared everything. As I have said, we are like brothers and sisters, and by it, we share your pains and we felt it much more like you do. This is an unfortunate event that tested us, our spirit and our bond.

I say we have made everything worked out just as it seemed. I apologize for what have happened and seek your understanding for failures of our policemen including our own lapses in not securing the lives of our friends. As they rest in peace, let us send them love. Love where no hatred can ever break. Love where we can heal the wounds inflected by this hostage crisis. Love where we can move on as one, Hong Kong and Manila, Filipinos and Chinese.

I, like many Filipinos demand the same explanation, accountability and sensitivity from our President and those who are involved. We share your indignation and your outcry. We share your pains and your sorrow. I felt the agony of losing someone we hold dear. Losing a father, mother, son, daughter and a friend feels like our world stopped altogether. We felt helpless, pained, robbed and abandoned. We, as a nation, felt it too. We felt the shame of not being able to protect everyone, Filipinos and our guests alike in this crisis. We felt the shame of not being able to act swiftly to save the lives of these innocent friends. We felt the anger you now feel because of this fiasco. But, we stand firmly and side by side with you and of Hong Kong as we move on together. We live our lives as one; we can carry on as one too.

Let peace reign between our shores and our two peoples. We have more to share and learn in this life and yes, we are all “worth fighting for”, of which, I am sure, our President has bravely fought.

Rising above ourselves

The challenges to make our community progress into people-centered communities require us to commit ourselves far beyond our common imagination. It requires us to rise above ourselves and secure for our posterity the stability, soundness and prosperity for our children and their children too. Down the road towards progress and development require us to commit ourselves to loftier ideals and noble practices that empower people to also move the cogs of progressive commitment and the advancement of communities more apparent.


Many communities are not as progressive as other communities however, much more; they have potential to succeed at every front. It only lacks the courageous spirit to chart their future together into a brighter opportunity for those living in those communities. Some communities are even blighted by poverty and some indifference and xenophobia. Some even are hampered due to discrimination by virtue of race, gender, sexual orientation, culture and education. Some even are being discriminated upon because they are old or too young to assume responsibilities. In this context, the prevalent practice is to leave important decisions to the old guards and allow the young cubs to learn the winding road of bureaucratic and institutional protocol, leaving them with lesser responsibilities. When we do this, we not only discriminate but inadvertently teaching them not to have their own decision and mind but depend on someone else’s. This is not how we raise the future.


Empowering others is such a sacrificial and unselfish commitment to the community. In this context, almost all of those who are into positive change and community involvement receive cold responses and many programs and projects are doomed to fail or has failed because people do not understand what “empowerment” means in their collective role. Many in our communities talk about empowering people, change, empowerment, hope, future, and more technical terms but when asked to digest it for the common man or simply define it in rural or context-specific definitions, no one can easily find what these words mean. It may be daunting as I have said but it can be done. Change and empowerment can happen unless we do not want them to happen so frequently in our communities. These, however, are not grandiose comparatively speaking. Many community changes are happening everyday and these, when appropriately documented and highlighted can also be so encompassing that it empowers people. Take for instance in basic education, when a teacher teaches a child to write for the first time, alphabets, numbers and their names, and they get it correctly, change happen. Everytime a woman brings her newborn child to the health centers for a dose of immunization, change in cultural habits happen. Everytime a farmer shifted to new agricultural technologies or adopt bio-organic methodologies in doing agriculture, change happen. These are vignettes of change that can be a powerful tool to liberate communities from poverty, we just do not noticed it because it is so fragmented, small-scale and seemingly, unnoticed because we do not know these people, in this kind of change, it is faceless yet borderless since it happens everywhere.


By doing this, we have to firmly believe that we can make change happen in manifested fashion. We have to rise above ourselves to make a difference in the lives of those around us. We build on strong communities because we believe in others and how they can also believe on those around them. In this, we have to remain committed and steadfast in our commitment to make change happen for good. When we do, we give ourselves the much needed injection to recuperate from an illness that saps our energy from within. This nation has always been called “sickman” among many countries in Asia and the world and we owe it to ourselves to aid in its transformation. It is not because we wanted to transform societies to be more globalized but because we wanted a better future for ourselves, our neighbours and friends. We have had many great leaders who made this country proud and we have great new ones with determination, pedigree, educationally-adept of the world and are indeed, globalized in their perspective of how things are in our communities, and we have to practice what we say in earnest. We have to put our trust on our nation first, to our communities and ourselves vice versa. It has to be in an orderly fashioning of our commitments that will generate the much needed stamina for this nation to once again, rise above all others and reclaim its place in the world. After all, we only have nothing but one Republic we call the Philippines.

Cagape invited to speak in the XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies in Istanbul, Turkey

The organizers of the 2010 XIV World Congress of Comparative Education Societies announced anew that the research paper of Dr. Wendell Glenn P. Cagape entitled, “Indigenizing English Instruction in the Classroom: Issues, Challenges and Innovations”. Dr. Cagape is the Board Secretary of the JH Cerilles State College. He used to oversee the academic policies and its implementation on courses like Law, Nursing, HRRM, and Information Technology.

The research was conducted in one of the elementary schools in Pagadian City. It talks about how classroom teachers are indigenizing instruction to enhance teaching strategies and foster classroom participation and eventually, encourage better academic results.


Dr. Cagape has presented researches here and abroad. His paper on the “Islamization of the Philippine Basic Education Sector: Mainstreaming Madrasah Education” has been presented in the 1st International Language Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in March 2008 and his other paper entitled, “Ethical Standards in Test Construction and Administration: A Study in Zamboanga del Sur” has been presented in the 13th International Conference on Education in Bandar Seri Begawan, Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam in May 2008. In 2009, he was asked by the Asian Conference on Education to Chair the scientific session on Special Education while he also presented his research entitled “Pursuing a Policy to educate children at risk: A Study on Factors affecting the Cohort Survival Rate in Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines” which he presented in Osaka, Japan. He has been reputably one of the best speakers and paper presenters in the Province. He was invited to sit in the panel of reviewers and reactors in fora, conferences and symposia in education like the PAGE 10 in Cagayan de Oro City.


Dr. Cagape has served as the Provincial Information Officer of the Province of Zamboanga del Sur. He has also served as legislative staff in the Office of Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Senate of the Philippines and a professorial lecturer at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde.

He has his MA in Foreign Service from the esteemed Lyceum of the Philippines University and a baccalaureate degree in Marketing (minor in Economics) from MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology. He obtained his PhD in Education from the La Salle University in Ozamis City.

His research interests are on basic education, educational policies and community-based education. He has an outstanding invitation to present his research at the Hawaii International Conference on Education in 2011.

The 2010 XIV World Congress will be held in Istanbul, Turkey on June 14-18, 2010 and is sponsored by the Faculty of Education, Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Our legacy as we made it

One time, I was driving on my way to work and it suddenly dawned upon me that as a young man trying to live each day, I have been bombarded with thoughts, many and varied thoughts of what will it take to build on my legacy and how can it also affect those whom I have constantly been working, both our staffs in the office and our students as well their parents. This reckoning and nagging question has been such of a weight upon my shoulders that I have to make my own instant “how-to” as to how to build a lasting legacy that is both reflective and up-front.


On this context, I shall endeavour to discuss with you on our capacity and ability to lend a hand. As I have been saying our legacy is spelled with a capital L which means we have to exert extra effort to lend a hand, in all and whatever capacity we can. We have to help those whom we have been able to each day. People around us need us for varied and important reasons. Mostly, when one assesses the kinds and quality of those that they need from us, it is never on the money-thing. It is more on our presence and how we can make a difference in their lives by just being there and in this, I infer on our capacity to lend an ear and time. The most precious resource of any human being is time. An hour we give to a friend in distress does not cost more than earning hundreds and thousands working on for that special hour and that is magnanimity and generosity rolled into one. When we are in a friend’s home when they are in the midst of trouble, on a death of a loved one or during their financial distress and lend our time to listen to them and help them find solution is more important than earning an income for us alone. It’s what makes our relationship with our friends, family, associates and neighbours stronger, so it’s never been money.


Second, we have to have the capacity to love more. Loving unconditionally is something one cannot easily give. Especially on platonic relationships. We love because we expect some love to be given to us in return. If that should be, then it is not love. Loving unconditionally is something more meaningful, deeper, greater and unselfish. For instance, a child leaving a home and suddenly returns to serve their parents when they are at the twilight of their greying years, that is unconditional love for a child normally forgets to care back for their parents whenever they are also grown-ups, busying with life and how to make ends meet. Another case is on our capacity to genuinely care and love for someone important in our lives. Conventional definition of love is exclusively between married couples or secured sweethears but love is more than that. It’s more than love that is exclusive because we have to tenderly care for our neighbours who have lost a son or daughter in a war somewhere. We have to feel their pain and their hopes for life and if we think loving is exclusive then the next uncaring words will be “I care less” or “it’s not my problem to solve”. Loving and caring are two important acts of kindness that should be freely given to those whom we serve and even to a battered nation. We have to love more to give more of our time, our skills, our ability and our commitment.


Also, by building on our legacy, we have to lead the way. Leading is too complex of a system to adopt. Mostly, we are afraid to lead the way; in fact, we go usually to a well-established norm, clean roads, even preferred paved ones than those gravel and dirt. The essence of the relevance of the roads in the countryside that is not concrete and not with all the amenities that we have like over-pass or the flyover is its uncanny ability to lead us to nowhere. Actually, all roads in the jungle or forest does lead to nowhere if you do not have the compass, sheer determination and our will to survive but if you have the courage to lead the way, you make ordinary pebbles and stones into important milestones in your life by being the first to trod on a path less or mostly, not even travelled. We have to lead the way no matter how strong the undercurrent against change is. We have to lead the way to make a difference, after all, when we are to be judge, we will be judge not in accordance to our riches but in accordance to what we have made for others. By leading the way, we do not enrich ourselves; in fact we placed ourselves in harm’s way just so that others may pass our trail behind us and also reach safely where we arrived.


The moment we build on our legacy we have to be reminded of our own human limitations. We may care but we have to also temper it against too much dependence and wanton idleness. We may also love unconditionally but we also have to temper it against becoming a safe refuge for childish excuses and potentially, of abuses. We may lead but we have to also temper it against the temptations to provide the wrong direction or to lead those following us in astray. We may have it all, but our legacy is one that will secure our place in history. Remember, no rich man is ever remembered for their riches but are honoured and immortalized by their capacity to build on a strong legacy that benefitted not only them alone but also those whom they care so much and whom they have been affiliated with.

We, the People

In this Republic we claimed ours, we demand certain unalienable rights to democracy and that is one sound judgment that we will wield come May 10, 2010 as we vote for another president, vice president, senators, congressmen, governors, mayors and others. Many have shown courage, determination, fortitude, perseverance, honesty, and truth, all exemplars of public service in the aegis of republicanism which we Filipinos have also borrowed from our colonizers, from the Spaniards down to the American occupiers. We have had the glory of this Republic when our Senate was the bastion of the brilliant men and women who crafted law to preserve the Republic and to wield the power to represent the greater number of Filipinos in chartering the course of the future of this country. Our senate then was the great stabilizing factor in Philippine democracy, so vibrant and alive. Unfortunately, the illustrious Senate we once had was never the Senate we knew now.


Soon, we are voting for senators who have proven track records of public service. There are newcomers and comebackers too. Among the stellar candidates vying for the Senate post, only so few deserves to be there. I would rather that a senator should possess the republican ideals of the Senate and embody the very dynamism of democracy to be able to serve well. We have seen the Senate, in some recent years to be the scene of investigations, politicking and tireless accusations which has benefitted so few in this Republic but also have caused disarray and threatened the very core of what democracy should be. Debates and oratorical prowess are expected of a functional Senate but we, the people demands more. More debates on critical issues that truly has an impact on the ordinary citizen and those who have less opportunity, debates on the political economy that benefits direct investments and encourage investor confidence not scare them away, debates on the environment that promotes sustainable use of natural resources not hinder development, debates on taxes that benefits government function and operations not question why we raise taxes.


We, the people of this Republic are well aware of the personality-based politics in the country. We are well aware of the great pride of every single Senator who wanted to claim the centerstage however; the Senate is a place of equal limelight. If someone steals the limelight for themselves and to advance their own vested interests, that is tantamount to grandstanding and a sham to democracy and on the principles by which the Senate stand. One of the reasons why the Senate in this country is composed of only so few men and women is because we aspire for quality and the wisdom these men and women shares to the formulation of laws is paramount. We do not go for quantity as we search for the best and the brightest among the Filipinos to help us plot the direction and maintain the compass of our journey by legislating laws that helps the government serve the people, not otherwise.



Recently, the events that unfolded in the Senate and the upcoming elections will be another litmus test for the Republic – of whether it will be further strengthened or weakened. Will it be made stronger by electing new breed of Senators or will it just be the same to elect the old vanguards. We have seen the likes of Salonga, Tolentino, Sumulong, Rasul, Saguisag, Herrera, Angara, Enrile, Osmena, Defensor-Santiago and the lists continues, for those who have served this nation well in terms of their inputs to make this Republic even stronger than it seems. We have seen the vanguards performed even beyond our expectations of a good and valiant Senator but the question has to be raised: Will the new ones perform better? Will they have the calibre of a good standing in terms of wisdom and concrete deliberations of issues at hand or will they just be like the others who grandstand at public investigations that have eaten so much of the time of the Senate than in the time spent for lawmaking.

Our Senate should embody the ideals of modern-day republicanism with the grandeur of the past. We have to see the glory of the Senate to be reclaimed by those we elect into the halls of the Senate. We, the people should muster the courage to elect the right men and women, of calibre and character, with forthright dedication to public service and unselfish conviction to help this Republic become strong. We, the people have to elect Senators who can best represent our aspiration, no matter how collective it is, to make it into fruition that one day, our Republic will be made stronger and mightier amidst the squall of uncertainty. We, the people of this Republic should decide who will best represent us in Mindanao, in the Visayas and in Luzon.

A Letter of the young teacher to himself

I was standing down the hallway,
Thinking about my first day in school,
Children, teachers, loitering around,
The clock struck 7 in the morning and I
Felt the breeze up my spine,
Will my first day be fine
Will it be entwined
With all my memories flowing like wine;
Teaching, oh yes, is a calling like mine.

Pupils say teacher, teacher
Come here, the room is wide
Chairs by rows, tables in row
The chalkboard seemed blank
Waiting for my first stroke
Pupils awaiting for our first
Like birds chirping, eager, waiting
Testing? Perhaps but mostly waiting

My spine is at ease
When i heard them sing
Singing is good but for a teacher its frightening,
Will I be out of tune, out of touch, out of reach
Out of sanity, out of senility and out of brush
For as teacher, I paint like
A painter, whose painting is classic
Pastel there, watercolour here,
Pitch black here, oil on canvas there.

Teaching is like learning
We teach to learn
Pupils learn to teach,
They teach us to be children again
They remind us to be them
For we are struck in between
Whether to be children is to be teaching again
Or whether to be teaching is to be children again
Teaching is a calling, yes a mighty calling

Children are like birds chirping,
Far willing, determining, testing, observing, complaining
They have feelings, thinking and needs our mentoring
For they, like us, needs free-thinking
Sharing, bantering? – mostly sharing.



Wendell Glenn Cagape (2010 February 17)