Uriel on YSEALI Fulbright Program: Public Policy

Greetings, YSEALI Fulbright Team!

Here's the link to my video submission posted on YouTube as video requirement No. 6 Essay item on YSEALI Fulbright Public Policy Seminar form. An embedded window would soon be entered in this area of the page.

Passport Information:  /to be posted here 5th Oct when obtained/
Passport Identification Document File:  /to be posted here 5th Oct when obtained/

1. Tell us about a problem in your community related to the seminar theme
Local Understatement: Being Politicized Corrupts Civics Genuinity And Promoted Social Change
As a cultural dynamics-oriented observer also interested in interrelationships between cultures, I have a lot. But what I wanna acknowledge—which I cannot just carelessly disclose locally—is a hidden, underlying one being the real problem in our country: Locally-based civics spheres and their speaker circuits in our country is largely politicized. I can bluntly say that, basically, they're political parties that just resemble something like civics, officially or implied, and not the other way around, or is boldly only the former. Worse, they're immovable from such deep-seated orientation that, to be viewed as legitimate, maintains image of being outside politics, superficially. Local political view is the social currency sneak-peaked at in initial huddle stages in civics recruitment here, serves as either "unspoken" barriers against or path to least resistance at being absorbed into civics entities here, thus, not fostering dynamic views for collective cognition for social concerns solutions, as deep down they care more, than change itself, about politicizing entities to the same political leanings towards any among political plurality. This is the real problem in our country in civics. I am independently addressing the myriad no. of baseline social concerns that have been subjecting my on-going advocacies under a lot of inconveniences towards fulfillment. Thus, despite my present local civic memberships, I’m essentially self-reliant in my advocacies, seeing the call to focusing on educating my advocacies through writing.
 
2. Why would you be a good fit for this seminar?
Almost No One Else Does
I value my principles. I'm a dissident against wrongs in our own Filipino culture and way of life, i.e. for personal views a minority for a set of insights needing representation too. Our society has deeply-ingrained political extremism; either identification with political faction or adversary as advertisement of oneself mostly implies, in the context of our culture, access to social currency privileges from among political powers that be, that is, either way, still a beneficiary of the system. Systemic socialism (communism) here treats you well in contrasting degrees according to individual bias to political powers that be. Everybody's the beneficiary to gains of pushing advertisements about our own nationalism.
 
(National) "Self-awareness does not comfort" but rather "it disturbs" towards upright, progressive (social) change. I do not present our culture in a sanitized way, i.e. a negative type of nationalism. Socialism (communism) nor nazism (national socialism) aren’t ideologies for progress, but otherwise. Moving forward is proving that we’re truly a freedom-loving people, not through forcing our own nationalism to other nations.
 
Without truthfulness to societal flaws of a system being advertised, hence, a cycle of distorted views on social and cultural understanding, campaigning correlations on areas that the global social order needs fixing on only becomes campaigning for replication of one’s flawed system. To break that vicious cycle, I had to be truthful and objective in assessing our own culture, way of life, society and nation. Else, no one will. My principles is what I offer.
 
3. What do you expect to achieve by attending this seminar?
Systemic shallow-mindedness and primacy of survivorship bias is a prevailing trait in Philippine norms, i.e., acknowledgement of superficial achievement automatically overvalued as competence although often motivated by self-inhibiting egoistic pride and cynicism, given our kind of norms. This cultural capital facilitates social processes that preserve the cycle of corrupt values into local civics, professional and intellectual fields, and colloquial spheres that does provide esteemed member status.
 
This seminar as accomplishment—thus legitimization—amidst collective shallow-mindedness overvaluing outward screaming accomplishments and what the ego of many could have wanted (the rules of the game here which I reject subscribing to), would help validate my advocacies for breaking vicious cycles in our country.
 
People transmit what they don't transform. Most locals do not transform contemporary dis-values but contributes to perpetuating them. Also, in this decade that we Filipinos aggressively advertised our nationalism to other nationalities, we, aside offering only "symbolic" things, have only been good at transmitting our national socialism to those exposed to our race's advertisements. I desire to transform this nazism away so that we don't transmit it.
 
Unlike many other social identities here who’re enabled by the system, hence, fewer alike personas often seen in local civics realms in our country but without representation from certain strand of youth identity. This isn’t just a social validation for myself but for segments of society under inequality due to negative social barriers and stereotyping (especially against social mobility, hence, rarely seen in civics circuits here), to be legitimized into having representation in fulfilling areas of life.
 
4. How can you contribute to the seminar?
I’d relate this topic to my personal advocacies:
The geopolitical and geoeconomic situation needs
 
1. Acknowledgement of certain sovereignity’s vulnerabilities and national economies at high-risk recognized as social facts than collectively denied or avoided conversations, like the need for the PWD sector members' rights for acknowledgement of personal pains and struggles, hence, validated.
 
2. Reshaping of roles that in these years have been pivoted away from an equilibrium that is just, likewise to the need for reshaping of social roles in within our local LGBTQIA+ community that, due to strive in power dynamics, similarly had been reshaped out of equilibrium in these years, that now is some semblance of harsh normalcy where those perceived as "strong,” regardless of individual gender-orientation, are disproportionately enabled by the system, often proven as a convenience to encroach on other members or subgroup's rights.
 
3. Needs innovations, likewise to HIV advocacy needing a cultural and sociological model of transmitting the disease than just the current monopoly of the medical model of understanding its proliferation, hence, addressing wider range of avenues for mitigation. And
 
4. Needs, for restorative justice-purposes, a victim-centered approach optioning for nations victimized by geopolitical and geoeconomic dilemmas, likewise to what needs to be reformed in dealing with drug-addiction cases, i.e. restorative justice to the victim at the receiving end of the addict's negative behaviors.
 
I do have thoughts relating to geopolitical and geoeconomic matters, e.g. supply chains, fiat currency, blindspots on inflation, authoritarian propaganda mediums, WEF, etc. I don’t know much about global politics on petroleum-producing states.
 
I'd love to be able to give some of my personal insights directly relating to geopolitical and geoeconomic matters. In fact those are straightforward ones that also will solve the climate issue, for example, strategize shifting the supply chain from highest emitter of carbon and move the manufacturing in demographics obedient to mitigating such negative effects to climate.
 
5. Tell us your plan of utilizing what you would learn from the seminar upon returning to your home country.
Apologies on lack of passport uploaded yet, rather, screenshots of setting an appointment to our Foreign Affairs Department for obtaining it. I propose that a scanned copy of which be forwarded to YSEALI once obtained, and, for some length of time, posted to webpage provided. I have an additional reason as motivation to process such requirement: a possible meeting at ASEAN Youth Forum outside our country as delegate for our nation in its Regional Executive Board, I seek to represent truth and ethical realities, among other things.
 
This is among where I can potentially make efforts to echo learnings. And, of course, I’m reasonable to not give up membership and participation in local civics despite my love-hate dynamics to it; there still are prudent, genuine and good-hearted people in here, I cannot just dismiss that fact.
 
Also, please pardon if my CV itself—I rarely needed upon entering freelance micro-business—hasn’t much included credentials directly related or proximal to socio-political matters. But do give me a chance for this being part of my valuable credentials and social validation amidst resistance of regressive norms against dissidence.  
 
I have to reclaim 10 years of my youth taken away by a vicious cycle of fascistic norms. Passionately, I desire to publish some books, perhaps mainly containing essays. And, despite marginalization, I am optimistic that I can; optimistic, too, that this program’s learning experience design does bring learning curve to its participants and equally make a difference in the broader world. YSEALI, please allow me this as inspiration.