Politics (in a not-so-smart sense)

Obviously, some people may rattle me by saying that this was not well thought of or researched. Yet, I wrote this down for one of my get-to-know papers in DS 130.

Media, both in print and television, and some experts have labeled the problems in the Philippines as rooted in the corruption and negligence of the government, no matter what the date is. Through generations of politicians and policy makers, we see the same problems time and time again, to the point that the ordinary Filipino scoffs at the topic in conversations and would instead give smile sheepish grins and would ask to talk about something else. That is where the rub is: Filipinos have become so used to the mistakes and misgivings of public leaders that they would rather depend on themselves to take their own slice of life. They have depended so much upon themselves, their families, friends and colleagues, to get food for the table, to send kids to school, to earn a career and to buy the necessities 21st century families need. Yet, I sit here thinking that this is still not a very strong philosophy to live by in Philippine society. A huge percentage of the population is still poor and is in dire need of basic necessities. Basically, everyone is both struggling and getting by with what they have with life. Never mind that the government is inefficient or that it’s various agencies can be seriously called "public institutions"; it seems more and more that big business and private individuals with vast resources are the ones running the country. Privatization and deregulation are the talk in administrative and economic circles, with corporate sponsorships and projects providing most of the services that the marginalized need, as well as non-government organizations and initiatives safeguarding the basic liberties of every man, woman and child. It is a bit disconcerting to think that some of these organizations have also become probes and 'watchdogs' on the government's decisions and activities. Scandals and chances to enrich one self abound in a society that has grown numb and paralyzed with the ideas of true democracy and proper administration.

The way politics and society have worked, from the ordinary laborer to the President, is that there tends to be no responsibility towards accountability. Good case examples do exist, however as already stated, the news is almost always 'bad news'. The laws of the land are well written, intelligent and if Filipinos implement and follow them to the letter, the country would become one of the most vibrant and developed nations in the world. Alas, years of bad habits and happy-go-lucky attitudes derail any hopes for such dreams to come true. There is no clear-cut solution to solving the roots of the "bad apples" that pepper the Philippines, no is their an all-in-one step to administer solutions for the myriad of minor cases of indiscipline, inefficiency and the really, the "I don't care anymore" syndrome. If people actually started to believe that they can do, something that they can contribute to a group effort to solve many of the problems plaguing the land, then that would be something. The work has already begun and must continue on its steady, yet dangerous course. Private groups and cooperatives provide basic services. The rich and wealthy, for all their extravagance and influence, do try to care at times by creating foundations and reaching out through their own ways. Corporations are digging themselves into the CSR (corporate social responsibility) paradigm, in that they not only produce for the sake of many, but they would now seek to replenish, sustain and empower their customers. But the youth have become the most influential driving force on the way towards living a better life. College organizations and administrations raise awareness in campuses and provide opportunities for students to step out and see what the real world really is. Church groups spread a brand of formation that is geared towards caring for the poor, while providing the usual activities to enrich the spirituality of its members. This is, I believe, the beauty of community organization; for those who have been wronged or who are appalled at the brutal schemes of bad influences and wrong decisions, then the ability to create groups that have a common purpose and a mission to institute changes and to inspire others, would be one of the greatest examples of the liberty and passion of the human spirit.

Moving On (Final Week of Internship)

The final week of my internship has just passed! After punching in my time card for the final time, I felt relieved that I have accomplished something in my time at ASoG, albeit little in scale to what my office mates do everyday. For me, it was small consolation to actually gain a lot from my experiences.

It was fitting that it was my last day in the office. I had just finished the training proposal Mam had asked of me. Of course, I didn't do it all by myself because I must admit, if I were to have finished the work all by myself, I would get a beating so bad, they won't let me in ASoG again (just kidding). Ate Karen helped me a lot in formatting the document's contents and arranging all my ideas into coherent statements. Writing proposals in a professional environment is very different from what I have learned in my years of schooling. It is not that Ateneo has not taught me the technique and rigor to write in such a manner, I was just giddy and excited for myself, to be able to use the writing skills I learned at an earlier time. I thank all my teachers for teaching me to love and learn writing and at the same time, for teaching me to become someone who is willing to exonerate people for bad grammar.

To be able to work in such a high pressure environment was also helpful, albeit something I'm already used to in college and in the past. Pressure could easily be my middle name really, and work was something that seemed routine. Hours upon hours of logged time in the office gave me a sense (in a nutshell) of a life I could possibly see in my future: a desk job with a few office mates, the droning sound of the airconditioner, an annoying desktop with a screen that fizzles until your eyes blow out of their sockets, so much that I had to bring my own laptop; a boss who constantly looks over your shoulder to check on your work and finally, an eerily quiet atmosphere that suggests the occupants inside are ghosts. "Way to describe your experience!", you might say. Intrepid and intrigued as I am at the prospect of having this career path in the future, I still am hopeful for the future that this may not happen to me. The pressure I experienced at work was for me, necessary for my own good good. And don't people get satisfaction for overcoming pressure?

I sit here thinking what things I could have done better during my short time at ASoG. In spite of a short tenure, Mam Aurma gave me the opportunity to work with them in future, during the school year and beyond. She said that she was grateful for my performance and is willing to help me out as well. I don't know but deep down inside me, I feel that someway or another, I have to return the favor. Is this the last time I will see my time at the office? Time will tell. I am a guy who does seek opportunity, and well I did snag a great one at that this summer. This may well be only the beginning of a wonderful partnership with ASoG.

Just When I Got My Bearings (3rd Week of Internship)

Its already half time of my stay here in ASOG, and just when I thought I could settle down and be comfortable around the people here, its almost time to leave! I sit here thinking what I can do more to make these moments more memorable, but its all that and nothing more. For how can you make something special when it could be as mundane and banal as paper work?

But I digress. There have been moments when I was happy that I chose working with ASOG. The opportunity to work with so many knowledgeable, mature and calm individuals as well as experts made me feel that I belong here. Call me an adult already, but that's just the way I roll when its all about business. Business during the third week here at the office was all good; I pondered more on how to figure out the best way to teach top level executives in high functioning government bodies the values of team work, working together as a cohesive unit and general work-ethic-hard work. For me, it almost sounds juvenile. Imagine, teaching the leaders of our land simple things that you could learn from your grade school counselor! Call me arrogant, but isn't that how the world should work? Petty jealousy and laziness has never been so mortifying.

The best part of the week was probably getting to meet the Dean of ASOG. Dean "Tony" La Vina is a great mentor for everyone here and the things they talked about him were validated in my eyes after listening to one of his talks. From the point of view of someone who takes faith with a grain of salt, he explained almost seamlessly how our beliefs in God could benefit being stewards of the environment. Because of his background in Environmental law as well as his international experience tackling climate change, it may seem awkward at first to combine topics regarding how we should scientifically save the Earth with how we should view the world God gave us, into a stream of enlightening thought. It was a great attempt and I enjoyed the experience.

Work shouldn't be this bad at all. Its just that staring into my laptop for hours that kills the fun.

PS. I got a lot of free food today! Dean Tony fed us with pasta and HELL lots of flannel cake and oreos. We also had food from Mama Corra's birthday!

Rain on the Pavement (Second Week of Internship)

I'm stuck, like a brain drain.

I haven't been stuck in a very long time on something. Sometimes, I try to remember events in my life wherein I was perplexed on a problem that needed a solution, a question that needed a answer, a dumb predicament that needed a smart fix. The assignment Mam Aurma gave me for my 2nd week here fits along those lines.

I trust myself to know how to figure this out. Just give my brain some time... and sooner or later the answers will pop out like bubbles in my bath tub. Its a simple thought as I wallowed through the office hours, staring at helpful remedies that could help me find the words to write down. The training program I'm currently stuck on seems to mock me every time I try to be clever with it. No, I tell myself, this is only a span of time that I have to deal with in poise and precision. Instead, what I have are jitters of nervousness and the dread of not being able to finish this program on time!

So what do I do now that, after promising myself I would do some work over the weekend (which I didn't do. Happy Mother's Day), I am still stuck on the work I began since Wednesday? Maybe, I'll just wash, rinse and repeat. There's nothing really wrong with reworking the brain, to jolt it again into repeating a process that has little chance at success.

Yet, I'll leave this blog, knowing that I must keep trudging on, work, eat, work, drink. The life of an office worker can get any better than this right? Talk about a brain drain.

PS. On a side note, I had lunch with my associates and Mam over a meeting last Thursday. It was nice to get to know a bit more of them over lunch (KFC!). Chicken and conversation never tasted good in the same sentence.

Summer Blues (First Week of Internship)

The computers hummed along like no-nonsense bees, too perturbed with their work, just as so their users are pre-occupied with whatever documents they are working with. I was stuck there myself looking dazed and feeling rather sleepy. There I was in the office, for my first summer internship.

I actually started with my practicum at a later time as compared to my classmates. I was worried I wouldn't make the cut in the organization I was planning to join and get accepted in, let alone remember that I have a definite 200-hour requirement to finish. It was the only thing that boggled my mind, so much so I had to count backwards how many days, from the finals week (on May 23-25) up to the actual day I started counting on, on more than one occasion. I wouldn't say looking for a place to intern was a hassle in itself; it was more of an opportunity to experience "job hunting" and anticipating the fact that this could happen in my future, for a better situation or for worse. Experiencing everything I went through this month therefore was all a way to learn for me.

At the Executive Education Program at ASOG, Mam Aurma asked me for the things that I would expect or want out of the program she was handling. I replied that I didn't expect much really, I just wanted to gain experience like any other student. As if to keep me interested, she told me that she had a lot of projects lined up for the summer and that she was willing to give me the opportunity to relish in this endeavors. I said that I'll do my best, not knowing if I was sure of myself with that answer or if I was giving myself the benefit of the doubt.

Given my background as an Editor in an organization, Mam gave me my first assignment of editing a Research on a Training Assessment in 4 provinces for LED (Local Economic Development). The paper itself was interesting and really a down-to-Earth approach for LGUs to initiate their own plans of helping their constituents. The plan dictates that all available offices be "on the same page" in attaining the goal of developing their own offices in leadership and economics, as well as to make sure their offices function for true development. I can say that with all the time I used in editing the documents, including the Recommendations part and the Training Plan to be implemented after the study, that I lost time to orient myself in the office. I've been trying to work too hard, the eager-beaver mentality, if you will.

Its been a time that I am on edge, always ready to accept the next assignment. Last Thursday, after finally finishing the Training Plan portion of the document, I was waiting on Mam for my next assignment. Since Friday, I haven't received any word from her, and my office mates are also waiting on her too.

With the free time I have now, am hoping I can get something to do for this second week. But I might as well bond and feel "at home" here at ASOG. After all, it is the summer.

reposted, from http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150171593398512

Got 'Em Phil

THE WOLF

Phil Jackson’s long-time team philosophy:

Now is the law of the jungle, as old and true as the sky;
And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk, the Law runneth forward and back,
For the strength of the pack is the wolf.
And the strength of the wolf is the pack.

-Rudyard Kipling

taken from Got 'Em Coach.com. (http://gotemcoach.com/). We'll miss ya Phil.

There's a Cheesus for All Of Us

This was an answer I made for our e-discussion thread in Th131 class. Its about the "Grilled Cheesus" episode of the hit show "Glee".

God works in so many ways, in so many angles that we cannot comprehend them all at the same time, not in our lifetimes. Glee's "Grilled Cheesus" episode is a good example of this and its good that they were able to show an episode depicting our religion (in this case Christianity) affects people, particularly the many characters in the show.

Finn had an epiphany when he thought God revealed Himself to him through a grilled cheese sandwich. He thought of revering and praying to God through the sandwich and asked for several "graces", such as winning the first football game of the season, getting to "second base" with Rachel and getting the quarterback job back again. There's really nothing wrong with asking God graces. but we don't have to rely too much and to wait for these prayers to happen. As Christians in faith and action, God, in accepting our prayers, could also ask us to act upon them and to look out for the good that we can see around us. Winning the football game didn't just mean that God willed it; Artie and the rest of the team also had something to do with it, along with a value called teamwork. Rachel wanted it to happen because she wanted to gain Finn's trust and she believed that their love was getting deeper and getting stronger. Finn's sudden surge of belief also had something to do with it too and in this way, maybe God wanted to work it all out in this way. Unfortunately, what happened to Sam by getting tackled by an illegal opposing player and in the process, Finn gets his original job back, demonstrates that some events do not happen as expected or as we want them to be and examples of events such as these involve certain sacrifices, directly towards us or involving others. Emma explained well how God throughout His work with Finn was unpredictable in setting out His plan and that all we can do is pray and believe that whatever plans He may have for us are for the best.

However, Finn couldn't take this revelation because He believed that He had a direct line to God and that every single prayer He would offer could be answered. We are all special indeed in the eyes of God, and He will certainly give answers to our prayers at a specific point in our lives. Yet, it doesn't mean that God is an exclusive hotline one can speed dial for an order of Double Downs from KFC. As we learned in class, God's call is a vocation not involving a chosen few but involves all of us Christians. This calling is not also a one way dial, but a shared exchange between us and God. If God listens to our prayers, then we must be prepared also to answer his calls as well. I personally hope that Finn did not 'lose his religion' in its entirety as he showed with his rendition towards the end of the episode. This is actually a nice plot to follow up in later episodes if the producers wish to do so. This probably also means we may have another e-discussion about Glee as well.

Pertaining to being exclusive with God, Kurt believed through most of the episode he was personally being "picked upon" by God. Yet, man was given freedom by God to love and serve one another and to be stewards of His creation, and sad to say, this is not always the case. With so much freedom, some people just let go of what God wants for us and bully and abuse the weak, the downtrodden, those who are noticeably different from us. Kurt, yes, did not choose himself to be gay or the way he is, yet it doesn't mean that we can already marginalize him. God, again, always has a plan for everything and sooner or later, Kurt may be able to find his place in the world. His disagreements with the other Glee members regarding praying for his dad and for him are understandable in that he does not believe in God for the above reasons. This cannot be the sole reason why he's pushing away his friends who really care for his plight. His friends have a strong faith in God and so dedicate prayers to his family. It is somewhat ironic then, that he denies God's existence because of his circumstances and yet God works through his friends who show compassion and love through His healing spirit. Only through careful prodding and more through Mercedes' great concern for him that he realizes that he can believe in something that doesn't have to be the God he imagines is torturing him. Because after all, in times of crises and loss, we all have something to hold on to and believe in. Again, God works in mysterious ways and probably, this is one of his plans to make us answer His call.