As time goes by…
Important events that happened in the past, present and future.
- Joana Gayeta - GEWORLD(YY12)
Growing up in the 21st has a lot of pros and cons. One of which is having different technologies that makes our life easier but at the same time it affects the environment we are currently living in. In addition to this, there are a lot of important events that have influenced and impacted our lives, either in a good or bad way. Now, this blog will enumerate 2 events in the past, the present, and the future, that have impacted and will have an impact in my life.
PAST
2 world events that impacted on my life before I was born.
- American Colonization in the Philippines (1899–1913)
After defeating the Spanish in the Spanish-American War in year 1898, the Americans gained control over the Philippine Archipelago and exactly two days after the U.S. senate ratified the Treaty of Paris, a war broke out between American forces and Filipino nationalists who wants independence rather than a new colonial ruler.
Although this war has affected the lives of thousands of Filipinos and benefited the Americans in a lot of ways, they (the Americans) still tried to help the Filipinos in some ways. Education was one of those influences that they have taught us which was also for me the most useful and necessary thing. During that time only a small percentage of Filipino people were able to read and write, that’s why the introduction of a public-school system by the Americans were also very beneficial for us since more and more Filipinos will have access to education. In addition to this, Americans have also introduced the concept of secondary level and college level in our education system, which enhanced the skills and potential of the Filipino people.
Truly, the Americans have influenced has with a lot of things, but these influences only made the Philippines dependent to the United States. Our own culture was covered up since a lot of Filipinos focus on the American culture and in addition, we depend on them to continue to prosper economically.
2. EDSA Revolution (1986)
Also known as the People Power revolution, EDSA revolution was a four-day series of demonstrations or a series of peaceful rallies against the Marcos regime. Although the revolution started in the year 1983 after the assassination of Sen. Benigno S. “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., it culminated on February 22–26, 1986 where millions of people gathered at the Epifanio de Los Santos Avenue (EDSA) including the political, military, and religious groups to restore democracy in the country. This revolution was a way to show how the Filipino people were discontented and furious with how former President Ferdinand Marcos uses his position to control the whole country. As a result, President Marcos was exiled together with his family members and Sen. Aquino’s widow, Corazon Aquino, was installed as the eleventh President of the Philippines.
This event has impacted my life since it made me realize that change does not really happen when presidents change, but it is when the whole nation becomes one and unite in order to achieve a certain goal.
PRESENT
2 world events that impacted on my life when I was born.
- Launching of Facebook (2004)
Facebook as we all know is one of the most popular social media platform today. It was launched by a sophomore student from Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg, who only intended to connect Harvard students to one another. From there it expanded rapidly leading it to become one of the most important technology in the 21st century. It has been proven useful and essential since it makes communication much easier and accessible to all people around the world, and that is the reason why I can say that the launching of Facebook in the year 2004 have a great impact in my life. Although it gained criticism in the past years for both selling user’s data and for failing to protect it, Facebook still continues to become popular especially now that online learning is implemented in most parts of the world.
2. Papal Visit to the Philippines (2015)
One of the events that happened recently that has impacted my life was the papal visit of Pope Francis in the Philippines in the year 2015. His visit was the third papal visit next to Pope Paul VI in the year 1970 and Pope John Paul II in the year 1981. According to the organizers it became the largest papal gathering in history since over six million people attended his final mass at Luneta. Although I didn’t get to attend the mass, I remembered seeing him in person during his parade along Roxas Boulevard and felt really lucky and blessed. His visit became a symbol of hope to every Filipino especially those in Tacloban, who were recently hit by a super typhoon. I realized that time that no matter how strong and big our problems can be, someone from above will guide us through it.
FUTURE
2 world events that that will create an impact in my future.
- MARS 2020 (2020)
Mars 2020 is a rover mission that was launched on July 30, 2020 by the NASA’s MARS Exploration Program. It includes the Perseverance rover that whose objective is to seek signs of ancient life and collect rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth in the year 2021. This mission will also help pave the way for future human exploration on Mars. This event could impact my life in the future since this mission can determine whether Mars is a planet where we could live in. Although I have no plans on leaving the Earth as of now, this mission could be the start of a new chapter for the human race and in addition, us slowly destroying our planet because of the chemicals that we produce harming the atmosphere, we might be forced to leave Earth and stay in Mars in the future.
2. COVID-19 Pandemic(2020)
A dramatic loss of human life worldwide. This is how experts nowadays describe the COVID-19 pandemic due to the increasing number of deaths across the world. Although we might already know some of the effects of this pandemic in our society such us the online learning, the confinement measures that prevents local farmers and consumers access markets, and many more, this pandemic will still have a great impact in our future since countries all over the world might impose stricter rules to prevent this from happening again or it might go the other way around, where countries will promote tourism since their economies started to fall and tourism and globalization might be a way to solve this problem. In short, this pandemic will really challenge the judgement of world leaders together with health organizations to come up with a solution on how we can protect the health and security of every individual in the world.
References:
BBC (2015). Pope Francis in Manila: Pope departs Philippines after record-breaking Mass. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30875645
History(2019). Facebook Launches. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/facebook-launches-mark-zuckerberg
NASA(2020) . Mars 2020 Technology: Heritage and Innovation. Retrieved from https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/mission/overview/
Office of the Historian(n.d.) The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902. Retrieved from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1899-1913/war
Official Gazette(2016).A History of the Philippine Political Protest. Retrieved from https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/edsa/the-ph-protest/
World Health Organization (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods, their health and our food systems. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people's-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems
