Liberty
by Lamberto Avellana
One hundred and fifty years is not a long time in the reckoning of a hill. But to a man it is long enough. One hundred and fifty years is a weekend to an oak tree, but to a man it is two full lifetimes. One hundred and fifty years is a twinkle to a star-but to a man, it is time enough to teach two generations the meaning of liberty-how to use it, how to guard it, when to fight for it, and if indeed to die for it.
But what is Liberty? Of what is it compounded?
Liberty, friends, is a compelling force. It is the noble strength that rang a huge bell and cracked it in the year 1776. It is a flame that came from a torch in the Bastille and lit a thousand other torches-to reduce an overbearing aristocrat to the level of humanity. Thomas Jefferson knew it. Abraham Lincoln wrote about it on the back of a used envelope. Sikatuna. . .Lapu-Lapu. . .they couldn't spell it, but they tore open Spanish breast plates to find it. It made Bataan last those few more years. It saved Capas form becoming Dachau. It made every inch of battlefield a camp of resurrection. Liberty is what made four GIs throw caution to the wind-to plant a battered flag on the summit of Iwo Jima. It is the lightness of heat found in every soldier in every battlefield. It is the night of vigil our women have kept and the tears that they have shed and the pride that they have felt for the brother and the husband and the son who have watched our ramparts and kept our homes safe and sound. It is life itself.
It is not one war widow, or one orphan. It is not a half-said prayer or a half-sung hymn. It is all these. . . and blood and sweat and tears. It is the gratitude we owe a great nation. It is the fear that one day we might find a hammer and sickle where the Crucifix should be. That is freedom. . .That is LIBERTY!
Chin, Ivan John Adelantar
IV-Guyabano

My Life
This is my life. A life where I'm able to treasure every memories. A life which my parents made. A life that is used and never wasted. My life. . .
Although I am not living in a mansion in a palace, my parents thought me knowledge and filled my stomach with thoughts of values. Values that will give me strength to carry on. I was packed with all the things that an ordinary person would do. A normal person that walks in the river of success. I was a child when I remembered my foolishness. Well, in a series of children. I was the third child. And I don't know if I've ever be in this world that carries a smile all the way through the way. In the world I used to grow. I was amazed to all the people I met. My family, friends and classmates. It goes Children Center Grade School is the first school I attended, that was in my nursery. This is located near the house. Then suddenly in my kinder, I was transferred by my parents in the Baptist Learning Center. Together with my brother, we studied there for two consecutive years. I was then suddenly transferred to Lawaan Sacred Heart School. There I learned to trust and have faith to the Almighty God. And again, I was transferred to Iloilo Central Commercial High School. Until now, I am studying here, and spare my life within seven years of stay. There also came a vision in my memory. A very great vision. That was a paradise. There I seek an accompaniment. It just so happen that a lady appeared in nowhere else. She was lovely, has charm and wits. She said, she was meant for me and an angel who will take care of me. Accidentally, I was awake in the middle of the dream. I know it was the most memorable one and I cannot forget it, now I'm living my life with dreams. That someday I can pursue my studies and find my one and only girl.
In my life, I learned also to read books, it was entitled “Prince and the Pauper”, that I was in a mood to write a comment about it. And it goes “In 1835, when Halley's comet streaked across the skies, Mark Twain was born in an obscure farm town. Seventy five years later, when the comet reappeared, Twain died, a famous author. He is a well-loved American writer and the inventor of the mythical epitome of American boyhood< Tom Sawyer.
While his more famous Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was yet unfinished, Twain wrote The Prince and the Pauper. Here we have two people living one another's lives for a brief, instructive time. The reader wants to believe it could happen because he would secretly like to see the beggar boy rise in life, while the privileged prince ling is brought down to have his nose rubbed in reality.
In this tale, Twain shares with us his outrage at the social injustice that exists in the 1500s, 1800s - and that even now in one form or another. By presenting a case of mistaken identity, Twain clearly and simply portrays these injustices. Such a situation seems impossible, but like Twain says, "It may have happened, it may not have happened; but it could have happened.”
Now that I'm in my secondary as a first year high school student. I am enjoying it, kind of concentrating about it. Now, this will be a tough challenge for me. But I know well, with my deep compassion and perseverance, I can managed to succeed in the best that I can be. . .
Project in English
Submitted by:
John Mar Rossell A. Chin