The Independent Newspaper

Sa Ulo Ng Mga Nagbabagang Balita (Headlines in this Issue)

1. Tenth Anniversary Commemoration, Third Philippine Olympics Successful

2. URA Signs Cooperation Deal with The North Pacific

3. New Membership Drive Shows Promise As Ariusgrad Builds Ties with the Pacifics

4. Philippines Delegate Voting Power Drops in March with Forces Dispersed for Overseas Missions

5. PDF, PEFToN Leads Kalayaan War Games

6. PCARI Admits Independent Defender as New Member

7. Feature: Filipino Characters in Popular Anime

8. Feature: Filipino Words That Were Probably Loaned From Other Countries

9. Feature: COVID-19 Information Campaign

10. Contact Information

The Philippines as a refounded region traces its history back to January 17, 2011, when founders Puan Puri Naduk and Wolficity facilitated the process. In NationStates as a whole, however, the Philippines goes further back to 2003, with Elvaraland as the first World Assembly (WA) Delegate of the region. The initial population of the Philippines in 2011 was four.

Fast forward to 2021, the Philippines boasted a population of more than 100 members, a figure which had been sustained since last year. To commemorate the occasion, Delegate and President Ariusgrad hosted the 3rd edition of the Philippine Olympics, a tradition which began in July 2013. This year's regional meet, held on February 22 to 23, featured what was perhaps the largest contingent of participants with 12 nations from across the world sending their brave athletes to New Clark City.

As expected, the host nation Ariusgrad garnered the top spot as overall champion with three medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). It was followed by Lanaograd (1 gold, 1 bronze), Manilenyos (1 gold), Emperio maharlika (1 silver), Geolagarta (1 silver), and Kalayaan and Sabah Confederacy (1 bronze). Meanwhile, middle-tier nations which also participated so wonderfully despite having won no medals received the Bataan Award as symbolic for their perseverance. The awardees were Fort Ilocandia, Seludong, and United Adaikes.

The following is an excerpt from the host nation's closing remarks:

Ariusgrad wrote:

Sports, as they say, is a great unifier and a harbinger of peace. Despite the competitiveness, we learn that we are all part of a shared community, with a shared history, and a shared affinity for the well-being of all. It is from the sportive tradition that we have derived hardworking heroes and dedicated heroines who represented the virtues of true champions. For as we enter these games in top form, so should we also have satisfaction that we face the best of the best fair and square. May the Philippines continue to be a beacon of liberty and a symbol of freedom, not only in the political sense, but also in every aspect of life as we know it. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang mga atleta ng bayan!

Tenth anniversary celebrations also included remembrance of those who have fallen into inactivity throughout the region's long history, as well as planning for the future. For one, with the success of the Philippine Olympics which extended participation even beyond the region, international meets were eyed to be conducted on a more regular basis. Ariusgrad's emphasis on solidarity, sustainability, and anticipatory governance has also guided forward thinking for the next decade of the Filipino community here. Included in the agenda was raising leaders that will create leaders, as exhibited in the example of Lanaograd, who rose as Vice President of the United Regions Alliance under the active mentorship of Ariusgrad.

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On February 26, 2021, United Regions Alliance (URA) President Suvmia announced that the 30-strong alliance has signed a memorandum of understanding with The North Pacific (TNP). This agreement formalizes ties between the two entities, initiating an exchange of ambassadors and providing a foundation for future cooperation.

Signatories on the URA side were Founder Ellenburg, President Suvmia, and Vice President Lanaograd. Meanwhile, WA Delegate McMasterdonia and Foreign Affairs Minister Praeceps have signed on the side of The North Pacific.

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In line with tenth anniversary future planning, Delegate and President Ariusgrad has initiated renewed recruitment drive with Foreign Relations Minister Emperio maharlika and Media Relations Minister Kalayaan and Sabah Confederacy being the focal nations for the campaign. Since 2021 began, the average number of entrants to the Philippines was pegged at 20. In the first week of March alone, 8 new entrants were already recorded. However, Regional Affairs Minister Lanaograd noted that while new members were coming in, the region's staying power or the capacity to keep membership remained low.

In the week after Ariusgrad announced its intention to launch the recruitment campaign, average weekly membership was at 111 (February 1 to 7), a slight increase from 110 on January 23 to 30, but this has decreased to 107 last week (February 22-28) despite the successful Philippine Olympics being conducted at this time. Lanaograd, however, expressed hope that the boost of recent regional activity might have been delayed due to factors beyond the control of the regional government. It also added that keeping membership above 100 for so long despite the circumstances can be attributed to the stability provided by the Ariusgrad administration for the Philippines.

Meanwhile, international relations continue to be a priority for Ariusgrad as the embassy count nears 160. In a bid to streamline the process, the Philippines delegate has released two weeks ago an embassy policy for the Philippines. It has provided special exceptions to the criteria for members of the United Regions Alliance (URA) and the Philippine Council of Affiliated Regions and Institutions (PCARI). This was also meant to reinforce the longstanding principle of Ariusgrad that the Philippines is not an embassy collector, but a region actively seeking potential allies.

In relation to this, the Philippines had successfully restored ties with The North Pacific (TNP, which Ariusgrad had informal talks in the period 2012-2013) and The East Pacific (TEP, which maintained embassies with the Philippines in the period 2017-2018). The two regions are the second and third largest regions in the world, respectively, in terms of total number of member nations. The Philippines has also opened formal relations with the West Pacific (TWP), one of the largest regions in the world. While these regions in particular had a history of raiding the Philippines, the circumstances have changed since. In fact, TEP was one of the members of the massive defender coalition which assisted the Philippines in the famed Christmas Invasion, an operation that involved over 70 invader nations.

The Philippines has also expressed its interest to be part of the Partnership for Sovereignty (PFS), a World Assembly voting bloc founded by the region's longtime allies, namely 10000 Islands, the Rejected Realms, and the South Pacific. The PFS aims to "defend the values of self-determination, positive community, and respect for the World Assembly and its processes." While Ariusgrad has yet to hear about their decision, it has stated that the Philippines being a member would be a great boost for the cause of small- and medium-sized regions, which remains to be well represented in the august halls of the World Assembly. The delegate added that since it is a legislative bloc rather than a military organization, it saw that the power of ideals and principles would prevail as an aspect wherein the Philippines could actively contribute.

All of the PFS members currently have a membership of over 250 nations. It has also claimed at least 1,580 WA votes from its delegates, second only to the World Assembly Legislative League (WALL) and its estimated voting power of over 2,000. The URA, which the Philippines has been an active member since last year, registered some 550 votes from its delegates.

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In a delegate voting power ranking released by Augustin Alliance, the Philippines dropped 24 places from 119th last month to 143rd in the world as of March 3. In a statement, Ariusgrad attributed this decline to overseas defense missions which the Philippines had committed to. This included a contingent for the much-watched liberation of The Embassy, the largest embassy collector region in the world prior to being invaded, as well as operators sent for rebuilding efforts of at least two small regions. Meanwhile, the delegate has assured that the region's World Assembly membership campaign remains ongoing as efforts continue to pour for the development of new members.

In a related development, the Philippines retained 100 percent delegate endorsement rate in the past two weeks. The remarkable endorsement levels of the Philippines was attributed to one of Ariusgrad's early defensive principles, that of cross-endorsement. While looked down by the region's members back in Ariusgrad's early years as Delegate (it was first elected in 2012) because it theorized a critical mass of at least 20 percent WA membership in proportion to total population and a minimum of 80 percent delegate endorsement rate, the significance of such best practice was seen in action with high influence levels reinforcing a tally of historic defenses. From 23 members above the influence level of 3,000 last month, the Philippines has now registered 24 members in the same level.

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Through the initiative of Philippine Defense Force (PDF) Teniente Letnan and Philippine Expeditionary Force to the Nations (PEFToN) Commander Fort Ilocandia, the Philippines has conducted military exercises dubbed as the Kalayaan War Games through an external platform. Done in conjunction with the commemoration of the EDSA People Power Revolution from February 22 to 25, the War Games saw the engaging participation of 16 of the PDF and PEFToN members to strengthen the region's defensive capacity, camaraderie, and internal coordination. Approved by Ariusgrad, the PEFToN is the affiliated fortress unit of the PDF dedicated mainly to overseas missions and regional defenses. Before the PDF and PEFToN, local affiliated units reporting to the Philippines Delegate such as the Philippine Army had been conducting both regional and global defense operations.

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Inaugurated on February 8, 2021, the Philippine Council of Affiliated Regions and Institutions (PCARI) was spearheaded by Ariusgrad with the Philippines as lead region to further embrace the growing Filipino community in NationStates. The latest member to join was the defender region The Remiferian Armed Forces, established by Remiferia on October 5, 2020 as a peacekeeping force. This development was seen as affirmation to the mission of PCARI as an inclusive consultative body for Philippine-themed regions and institutions all over the world.

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Barangay 143, aired on local television in 2018, and produced by ASI Animation Studios and TV Asahi, may be considered as the first Filipino-created anime. It featured a Filipino cast and a setting in the Philippines. However, Filipinos have also been featured in Japanese anime for quite some time. The following would be a few of them.

Mari Mutoh of Japan Sinks 2020 hailed from Cebu City. In her younger years, she was a swimmer. Later on, she worked in a resort hotel. Her surname came from her husband, lights engineer Koichiro Mutoh.

The cheerful and gentle Shirley of Fate/Zero was a master's degree holder at the age of 13. She was a resident of Alimango Island, supposedly part of Negros Occidental, where Kiritsugu Emiya was also raised.

From left to right: Eleki Battery was the Filipino junior lightweight champion who fought Tatsuya Kimura to a draw in Hajime No Ippo (locally known in the Philippines as Knockout). Morris West, believed to have been based in real life Filipino boxing world champion Morris East, was the Filipino middleweight champion who lost to Mamoru Takamura in a championship qualifier. Nefuma Ozca was also a Filipino boxer in the junior lightweight division. He was ranked 5th when he lost to Kimura.

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Considering the geographical and strategic place of the Philippines in history, it would not be a wonder how Filipinos managed to incorporate a number of foreign concepts as their own. The variety, however, might be more or less surprising with this feature of loan words that were originally not Filipino (in the order from left to right: English - other foreign language - Filipino).

Spanish (Spain)
airplane - aeroplano - eroplano
window - ventana - bintana
eagle - aguila - agila
ice - hielo - yelo
good fortune - buena suerte - buena mano

Sanskrit (India)
delay - antara - antala
deception - dvaya - daya
poor - dukkha - dukha
fiction - katha - katha
topic - paksha - paksa

Cantonese (China)
vermicelli - bihun - bihon
gold - kimtiau - ginto
mung bean cake - hopia - hopia
celery - khinchai - kintsay
spring rolls - lunpia - lumpia

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As early as January 2020, Philippines Delegate Ariusgrad had been concerned about the spread of COVID-19, still known then as nCov (novel coronavirus). Therefore, it had initiated an extensive awareness and information campaign in the region to help fight the said disease, considering even to this day, there were still variables of the illness which remain beyond human knowledge so far. This space is dedicated for the campaign, featuring a helpful infographic from Statista, utilizing various sources for its data.

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Index of past issues: Issue 1 (February 2021) | Issue 2 (Roleplay Edition)

Feel free to telegram or Discord message the following if you have any questions or comments!

• NS Philippines Discord Server

• Delegate and President Contact Info: Ariusgrad, @Ariusgrad#8167

• Vice Delegate and Vice President Contact Info: Ecnav Enitsuj, @Ecnav Enitsuj#4211

• Regional Affairs Minister and URA Voting Representative Contact Info: Lanaograd, @Lanaograd#0904

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Recently the region held poll to decide whether region of India should have the Anime tag or not. The Anime Fans were defeated by 11-15 in the poll. Many people like Vajji and Rihaam have expressed their despondency over the issue. Rihaam said, "Also, I'll oppose this non-inclusion of anime tag constitutionally." Hindu Ram Rajya lead the polls by requesting people to vote against the proposal. Once the poll was won, the people were thanked. Hindu Mahasabha said that it is good that so many people voted in favour, maybe next time the Anime Fans will win the polls to have the Anime tag on the region.

Introduction: When we say a mantra, what is it? If you ask this question to a fool, then he will say it is for praising the god/s, but essentially who is god? By praising the god will we go to heaven? Will others who don’t go to hell? How can one gain this knowledge? These few questions arrive at every conscious mind, but their surrounding can’t provide an answer because it isn’t seeking to know.

What is a mantra: See the very basics of a mantra is Sound. Whatever you say have reverberations on your body, mind, intellect. Chanting a mantra wrongly can do terrible things, but chanting it correctly can enhance your ability. Like the Stock Market, do the right investment for profit, but this is the easiest stock market. Even if you don’t know the meaning, of the mantra just recite it, chant it. Modern Science has given substantial evidence that if an individual chants the Gayatri Mantra in a wrong manner for 3 to 5 months then he may lose his voice even if all parts of his throat are intact and normal. That’s the power of sound! Mantras as made in such a way that the sound produced from them benefits our body. The word ‘Aum’ is immensely powerful, nowadays people make it ‘Om’ which is not going to help their system. Chanting mantras can greatly enhance our ability, and we can live a full-fledged life. Adding British or American asset while chanting mantra will ruin you because you are adding excess spice to already cooked food! People think that this ‘Aum’ is only in religion, we will also get the religion thing cleared, but before it is not so that only ‘Hindus’ who brand ‘Aum’, it is everywhere, just is that we lack observation. Christianity came from Jerusalem, and there is used to Aramaic language, and so if you may observe, they say “Aaamen”, remove the “en” and we get the sound of “Aum”. In Vatican City, they say as “Aaaaamen” removing “en” we get the sound of “Aum”. Even in Islam, they say, “Ameen”. Take out “een” and we again get the sound of “Aum”. Hence, this science was and is in every culture, but as time passed the word’s distortion happened like today in the US they made “Amen” as “A-men”, in India, “Aum” became “Om”. This can be better understood if I was speaking to you, but anyways. For those people who have bad dreams, nightmares, can’t give attention to a thing or have problems that are difficult to solve, the pronunciation of “Aum” will be transformational, just a few minutes every day can change your life.

Why say Bharatam, and not India or Hindustan: The Rules of sound even follow here. Bharat comes from bha – ra – ta. Bhava means sensation. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching are different types of sensations. Your whole experience of life is sensory right now. Or in other words, sensations are the basis of your experience. Bha means sensation, out of which emotion arises. Ra means raga or the tune. The tune is not yours – existence has already set it. Now you have to find the rhythm, which is the tala. If you find the right rhythm, you are a fantastic human being. If you miss the rhythm, you get crushed by the process of life.
We called this nation Bha-ra-ta, and one of the great kings of the past was Bharata. People say the country is named after him, but actually, he was named after the country. There are so many Bharats and Bharatis in this country – they are named after this nation. King Bharata had nine sons, but when the time to hand over the empire came, he gave it to Bhumanyu, who was the son of the sage Bharadwaj. This boy grew up in the forest. When he came to the court one day, the king looked at him and said, “This boy must become the king – not my sons.” People were shocked because the emperor’s sons, nine of them, were waiting in a queue – probably fighting with each other over who would become the king. People argued, “Who is he? He has grown up in the forest.” Bharata said, “I see an enormous intelligence in his eyes and a raging fire in his heart. He is able-bodied and stable. He should be the king.” This was the first demonstration of democracy in this nation, thousands of years ago. A nation is important because you expand the scope of your passion, involvement, and concern beyond your likes and dislikes. “Why can’t we think about the whole world?” That would be great to have the entire world united, but anyways. A nation is the largest piece of humanity that you can be committed to right now. When you are committed to this nation and its wellbeing, if not to 7.2 billion people, at least you are committed to 1.2 billion people, which is a great step forward from being committed to your wellbeing. Whenever somebody occupies a nation, the first thing they will do is change your name. This is the technology of dominance; this is the technology of enslaving. If you look at African–American history, when the African people were brought to America, the first thing they did was took their African name away and gave them some silly name. That is what has been done to us – Thiruvananthapuram is “Trivandrum.” Chennai is “Madras.” Like this – “India.” What does it mean? It does not mean anything. If I give you a meaningless name, you will become a meaningless, stupid person in front of me because I have a meaningful name. I have a tradition, I have a culture – you have nothing. So in that context, we have become “India.” When we found it, the British said, “Oh! No no, your name is from Greek and Latin which means Indus Valley Civilization.” They just talked about this and that for the sake of convincing us. The concept of a nation must sink into everybody’s mind because a nation is just an idea. When this idea burns through your mind and sinks into your heart, and your passion rises, you have a real nation. Otherwise, “nation” is just on paper. This is the unfortunate reality for us right now. When the British left in 1947, the first thing we should have done is change the name in such a way that it resonates in everybody’s mind. You are using an English name for an Indian nation. Hardly a few per cent of us, Indians can speak English properly in this country. The remaining are essentially left out. I know a whole lot of the intellectual crowd will say, “What is in a name?” When you utter your name, you must understand there is sound. The meaning is only psychological and social. The sound is existential and has power. “Bharat” has power. This power has to reverberate through everybody’s hearts in this country. And the idea of what it means to be an Indian must get across to every human being because if everyone’s aspiration is not the same as the national aspiration, then you don’t have a nation. You can yourself test it, by saying one whole day, “India India India” and one whole day “Bharatam Bharatam Bharatam” then you will see the difference.

Who is god, and what is hell, what is heaven: This is the best part of the story. People of various religions have their own gods, India essentially is a godless culture. When I say, “godless” then many will say about ‘Devas’, ‘Pujas’, ‘Temples’, ‘Idol worship’, etc. So, just read this whole thing. There is a vast difference between ‘gods’ and ‘devas’. Firstly, the word ‘pray’ and ‘worship’ are different. ‘Pray’ means you are becoming the god’s chief consultant while ‘worship’ means you are respecting someone, his/her work. God comes in a belief system, in this culture, there is no belief system. This is a godless culture, there is a whole science behind temples, it isn’t a religious place, because God is a heretic person in this culture there is no heretic person in this culture. The westerners made the term ‘Hindu’ as ‘Hindusim’. They screw up on the word ‘33 Koti Devas’, Koti is a Sanskrit word that has 8 meanings! The poor translator used one meaning which meant 10 million, but the Koti here meant ‘excellent. It means 33 excellent forms of creation! If I tell you today to unscrew 10 screws from a vent without any tools, then you will use your nails, teeth, and end up breaking your nails, and then one day if I give you a screwdriver, you will just know its value, you will worship it. The same is the case here, saints like Sai Baba are worshipped in this culture because of their contribution to our daily life. Like many Marxists worship Karl Marx and Fredrich Angels, many Maoists worship Mao Zedong, and many Nazis worship Adolf Hitler, the same is the case here that’s why we call these people in this culture as ‘Devas’. It is just that Mao and Hitler killed people while others worked to make life better. Marx expected that his socialist theory would be adopted by rich nations, but anyways he also tried something to make life better. The term Hindu came from the Himalayas and Hind Mahasagara which is the Indian ocean. In one Indian family the members worship 3 to 8 different Devas, someone doesn’t worship, someone only does work, someone will only medicate, someone will do crazy things. but still, they are Hindus because it is a geographical identity and not a religion! Few semi-intellectuals and a few pseudo-intellectuals have made the word ‘dharma’ meaning ‘religion’, these western translators have always screwed up, they did it with Koti, they did it with Deva, now they even took Dharma in their list. Dharma means what you should do, and even if you don’t do it, it’s okay. It tells us when we should wake up, what we should do after we wake up, there is a whole science behind it. We can reduce our sleep quota to 3 to 4 hours and live a full-fledged life! If you wish to have a simplistic life, no problem, enjoy.

Temples are the meditation centres in this culture. There is a science in how to consecrate the idols, but nowadays it’s just lost, it is there but after the Bhakti movement, you just take any rock make an idol and worship it, it won’t work though you will have positivity which will help, however, positivity with a consecrated idol is the formula needed for a full-fledged life. Now what is hell, and what is heaven? Can someone forcefully make you suffer? No, it is the reaction that makes you suffer. Tomorrow if I come, and bow down to you and abuse you in a language you don’t know, which won’t, but you will feel that I just asked for your blessings, or I am a nutcase who thinks you are great. But if someone abuses you in the language you know then you will give a negative reaction, isn’t it? So, suffering can’t be forced. Today you have a discriminatory mind who knows when to have joy and when to have sorrow after you die your brain is no more there so we go by our tendencies. The tendencies reach their extreme ends, if you are a negative person by tendency then your negativity will multiply a million folds after your death, and the opposite of same shall happen when you have a positive tendency. Both will reach their extreme ends, and this is what is called Heaven and Hell. So, in this culture, we tell to be joyful for the most time. If you die consciously then there is more in which I won’t go right now. Things like Mahasamadhi, you know?

The Key to Boundless knowledge: As stated in the last part, Knowledge is limited and ignorance is boundless. If you want boundless knowledge then leave your negativity, just leave your beliefs, logic, and just work on what you wish to know. One must rise above this the Left vs the Right, and there should be the realization that we are human first. Instead of presuming something, accept that you don't know by saying to yourself "I don't know" because that "I don't know" is having great potential! To be something, you need to accept something. Few say, "We have pleasure in remaining ignorant." But our human system is of so much potential that we can make every impossible thing possible. Hence, another basic thing is that it is not our job to decide a possibility, it is nature's job to decide a possibility. We have to just concentrate our energies to make everything possible.