Interview with Marcelo Santos III

Who couldn't have known Marcelo Santos III and his famous love stories

Pensheet team had an opportunity to interview our fellow blogger and PUPian Marcelo Santos III last week and chitchat goes..

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

-       I’m Marcelo Santos III, 21 years old. Advertising graduate from PUP Sta. Mesa.

 How you first got involved in with blogging? And what interest you unto it?

-       Nung third year college ako. It was on Dec. 2009. Wala lang. Naisipan ko lang ishare yung mga ideas ko online, kasi doon maraming tao. Sa internet na yung focus ng mga tao ngayon. Pero yung pagsusulat ko, nagstart siya nung highschool pa lang ako. More on tula at short stories yung ginagawa ko at yung genre ay more on humorous.

What do you find most challenging about blogging about your topic?

-       Ang challenging part sa akin ay yung magiging perception ng tao tungkol sa mga stories na gagawin ko, kung paano ko tignan yung bawat sides ng love stories.

What inspire you to write stories?

-       Ito ang pinakamahirap na tanong na laging tinatanong sa akin tuwing may mga mag-iinterview sa akin. Minsan kasi nakukuha ko yung inspirasyon sa mga simpleng bagay: mga payo ng kaibigan o ng ibang tao, mga kwento nila, mga taong nag-aabang ng gagawin ko pa. Mahal ko kasi talaga ang pagsusulat kaya siguro kahit anong bagay o pangyayari ay nagiging inspirasyon para sa akin.

 Tell me about some of the people you’ve met while working on your blog?

-       Marami na rin akong nakikilala dahil sa paggawa ko ng mga blogs ko, mga taong nagkukwento ng mga love stories nila. May isa pang mambabasa na inaya pa ako makipagkita sa kanya kasi natutuwa siya sa mga ginagawa ko. May mga teachers din na nagmemessage sa akin na ginagamit nila yung gawa ko sa mga lessons nila. May mga nakilala rin ako sa ibat ibang lugar tulad sa Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Baguio, Palawaan, karamihan sa kanila ay mga estudyanteng nagbabasa ng blogs ko. May mga artista din na nakilala ko dahil sa paggawa ko ng blogs tulad nina Sam Concepcion, Gerald Santos at iba pang personalidad tulad nina Kimpoy at Jamich.

How would (someone) describe your blogging style?

-       Kakaiba daw yung style ko dahil para lang daw akong nakikipag-usap sa kanila. Kakaiba dahil nag-integrate ako ng tatlong elements sa blogging – music, video and the stories itself.

What do you do when you aren’t working on your blog?

-       Nanonood ng mga pelikula, nag-iinternet, kumakausap ng mga tao para makakuha ng inspirasyon.

Are you a full time blogger? How did you get into blogging and why?

-       Hindi po ako full time blogger. Pero maraming time pa rin ang na-spend ko sa pagsusulat.

 What networking do you do that you feel helps your blogging business?

-       Ginamit ko ang Facebook para ishare sa mga tao ang mga nagawa ko. Dahil alam kong halos lahat may facebook kaya mas marami ang mari-reach ng blog ko. Gumagamit din ako ng ibang social networking sites like twitter tumblr and youtube.

 How do you keep coming up with material/content for your blog? Many people struggle with coming up with different articles/posts and they only have one blog.. Whats your strategy with your blog in general?

-       Sa genre ko kasing LOVE, maraming pwedeng maging blog entry. Minsan kumakausap ako ng mga tao para sa mga susunod ko pang blog. Kumbaga, marami akong sources for blog.

 What would you prioritize? Content?? Readers?

-       Siguro yung content. Kasi kung ano ang laman ng blog ko, ayun ako. Nirerepresent niya ang utak at paniniwala ko.

 What’s the best thing a blogger can give to his readers?

-       Inspiration. Siguro ayun na yung maaring mabigay ng isang blogger tulad ko sa mga mambabasa niya.

A lot of people are interested in blogging for the money earning potential. What are some tips for people interesting in making money from blogging? What are some realistic expectations in regards to what can be made?

-       Siguro, dapat  yung blog nila ay interesting. Yung tipong maraming tao ang magvivisit ng blog nila dahil doon magbabase ang earning. May mga bloggers din na nagpapabayad para gumawa ng review for a certain product or services. Siguro, they need to advertise theirselves para makita o makilala ng iba pang clients.

What has been your strategy for creating visibility to yourself and your blog?

-       Thru networking. More on advertising.

What was the most challenging moment in your blog content development process and why?
Everyone has a favorite/least favorite post. Name yours and why?

-       Minsan nararansan natin yung writer’s block. Yung wala tayong masulat. Dun ako nahihirapan. Favorite post: Wishlist Series. Mas marami kasing taong nagandahan sa istorya. At malapits a puso ko yung istorya dahil inspired yun sa mga taong malapit sa akin

 What’s your take on sponsored reviews?

-       Ok lang naman. Pero minsan, hindi nakikita yung negative sides ng isang nagpapareview (kasi nga more on positive reviews dapat) nagiging biased pagdating sa part ng readers.

 If someone was interested in blogging, what would be a few things you would suggest?

-       Wag silang titigil. Minsan kasi dadating yung point na parang walang nagbabasa o pumapansin sa mga gawa mo. Patience lang. Wag mong ipressure yung sarili mo makagawa ng isang blog. Take time.

Education and Juan de la Cruz

Education, as they say, is the great equalizer. It is an avenue where the rich and the poor, big and small become equal. The words of the wise tells us that education is our key to success; the poor man’s passport to a prosperous life.

Education has always played a significant part in the Filipino culture. It has always been inculcated in every Juan de la Cruz that education is an important tool to success. It is always believed that the higher the educational attainment, the more likely that the person would become successful. As a result, parents are willing to sacrifice everything to send a child to the best school they could afford to pay and students strive hard to attain a degree.

In recent years, the soaring cost of education has caused a lot of students to drop-out of school and work instead. As a result, what was once a right enjoyed by every Filipino has now become a privilege, wherein only those who can afford to support a college education or were lucky enough to get a scholarship could get a degree.

The government may not consider it a crisis but the sky-rocketing prices of goods and basic commodities means calamity to the poor Juan de la Cruz who depends everything on his meager income. Like a domino effect, these increases affects all sectors in the society–including the educational sector. With every increase, Juan de la Cruz allots less and less amount for education as he has to prioritize his family’s basic needs more than the schooling of his children.

As this predicament slowly eats the sanity of every Filipino, more and more students opt to stop schooling and choose to work instead. Instead of working to get a degree, these students are now working, oftentimes, in call centers or any other companies who would accept undergraduates in their company.

We cannot blame these students for opting to work because some of them were not given the option to choose otherwise; they have to help support their families especially that their household income is no longer enough to support the entire family. This is a trend that will persist as the economy continues to decline.

No matter how many times the government insists that the economy of the country is growing, it will be hard for ordinary Filipinos to believe it because they are experiencing the exact opposite of this so-called development. Juan de la Cruz is suffering and this is evident in various aspects of his life.

What is more painful is the fact that despite the increase in prices of almost everything—from rice, to fuel, to fare—wages remain the same. “Tightening the belt,” is what every Filipinos reaction to the surge of increases that suddenly made its way into their budgets. This tightening would mean cutting off any important-but-not-urgent expenses in the family budget. Oftentimes, the family would choose to sacrifice the schooling of the children, especially those in college, to minimize expenses.

Although some would argue that getting a degree is not really the basis for success, it would still be practical to have a degree. In a world where competition is fierce, your degree serves as your weapon. Yes, having the skill and the experience is a plus but having a degree is a bonus that could secure your way to the top.

The education sector is just one among the many victims of the declining economy. As prices continue to soar, the value given to education continues to diminish. Ordinary citizens, such as us, do not really have control over the economy and the policies that governs it. We can only voice our opinion, complain and hope that the people in power would hear our tiny voices and do something about it.

Photo courtesy: www.facebook/pup

 

But is this enough? Probably not; activists has been protesting in the streets for so long now and things are still the same. What the country needs right now is cooperation between the government and the people. The Filipino people have already proved to the world that they can overcome even the hardest hurdles when they are united. This is what the country desperately needs right now, unity against poverty.
No matter how big the problem is, the Philippines and Juan de la Cruz will survive if everybody will cooperate and act as one in the fight against poverty and the root of all these problems—corruption. As citizens of this country, we have to do something now because if the economy of our country continues to decline, education—which has become a privilege to the rich—will no longer be an option to the poor.