Ready to start.

By now, I would probably have 11 more days to cherish being a bum. The long wait (and agony) of searching for a suitable job has come to a conclusion, as I have finally found something to make me less bored (and for me to at least earn some money too). Yes, I got myself not one, but two jobs. One is a full-time job, the other a part-time job.

My full-time job would involve dealing with raw video footages at ABS-CBN, classifying and labeling them accordingly (or that's how the recruitment people described it to me). Despite the not-so-impressive salary, I decided to take the job for a variety of reasons: one is because I really need to start somewhere if I want to develop a career as a writer-cum-aspiring-journalist, even if the job is not that high-paying (as you would compare for, let's say, working in a BPO or IT industry). Second, since I've interned in ABS-CBN before, I have thought that maybe this is a good opportunity to start off my working life, since I sort of know how is it to be working in that company (and yes, that includes the occasional stressful situations, crazy people inside, and freezing cold office, among one of many), I guessed that the people there will treat me right (even if I'm working for the Technical Operations Division, and not within the News Room as what I originally wanted) and that labor issues would not be that of a problem (despite of my awareness that ABS-CBN is facing a lot of labor issues). Third, is that at least by the fact that I have a job, my parents would lessen their nagging on me on "doing nothing" (like what some of my friends are, sad to say).

And since this full-time job is not exactly high-paying (and that it is a contractual one, being 4 years or so, as what the recruitment people told me), and being the unusually crazy person I can possibly be, I decided to get myself a part-time job, which basically involves doing journalism-related stuff by doing lots of research and essentially being on the hunt for news stories, and probably writing about them, and later on delivering the story to the public. My part-time job is something I like to do, especially if I'm not doing anything else. But how about my supposed freelancing as a photographer? I really don't know; I don't see my future in doing photography for the meantime, that's why for now I'm gearing up for writing and pure, unadulterated, and responsible journalism.

So far, I'm done with all the needed pre-employment papers, and I'll relish the remaining few days that I have as an unemployed bum waiting to start work.

Job-hunting blues.

So yeah, I have just a few weeks before my college life comes to an end, and that it's time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life (which is finding a job, what else).

So came the Job Fair in Ateneo. In my previous entry, I was ranting about on how the Job Fair was, to an extent, biased towards SoM students. As a response, the people from the Placement Office (of which I do have friends there) made some efforts to make the Job Fair as unbiased and unbalanced as possible, and I would commend them for putting in their efforts on it, despite the rains that occurred in the duration of the Job Fair.

Speaking of Job-hunting, I applied (as of this writing) to a total of four companies, namely: Thomson Reuters, ABS-Corporation, Nielsen Media, and Summit Media. And yes, none of them have anything to do with my Major (unless you count journalism in politics as one, in the case of ABS-CBN and Reuters, and that my photography skills do count, as for Summit Media). So finding a job is indeed a challenge as of the meantime.

Although I am hoping (and praying) that I get into ABS-CBN, it does not hurt to have alternative plans, so that is why I applied to other companies as well. Worst case scenario? I can be a freelance photographer, but that will make me a starving artist with an unstable income, and that is not good especially in the world that we live in.

Honestly speaking, I am scared of what will happen after college, and that is why I am starting to act all panicky in terms of finding a job. For some strange reason, I fear of being a bum (or being JUST a freelance photographer of some sorts). I fear about what will happen one these last few weeks of college is finally put to an end.

And to think I'm drowning with papers, field works, and the hope of finding that job.

And no, love life is not a concern for me as of the moment. Hee.

On the Job Fair.

NOTE: This note is simply states my opinions and sentiments on the Ateneo Job Fair, and I am not saying that we should be against or to boycott the Job Fair.

Sure sure sure.

The Ateneo Job Fair is coming next week. Graduating and undergrad students looking for a job after graduation or looking for internships and on-the-job trainings are looking forward to this event that is said to be full of opportunities.

And I tell this upfront: I have mixed feelings on the Ateneo Job Fair.

Not that I do not like the thrill of searching for job opportunities, given the fact that I am going to graduate real soon (and that I do have to find a job), but what the Ateneo Job Fair offers is not equal and fair entirely to everyone here in my school.

Just so you know, there are four schools in Ateneo, namely School of Humanities (SoH), School of Science and Engineering (SoSE), School of Social Sciences (SoSS), and School of Management (SoM). Population-wise, SoM has the highest population, while SoH has the lowest population. And this will make sense on why I hate the Job Fair, especially given the fact that I am studying under a course that is part of SoSS.

Yesterday, a good friend of mine was also ranting about the Job Fair as well. We had the same sentiments about it, with the Job fair being too SoM-oriented, and that it does not really give out any opportunities for the other three schools (well, maybe, I mean MAYBE, SoSE students and a select few SoSS students could grab the opportunity as well). As I glanced through the list of who are participating for the Job Fair, my disappointments on the Job Fair have just been further elaborated.

Most, if not all, of the companies participating in the Job fair are oriented towards business and corporate categories. There are none for media. None for education. None for NGOs. None for governance. Not even for advertising.

Now who benefits from this? SoM people would benefit from these opportunities (to my friends in SoM: take advantage of this opportunity in the Job Fair AND don’t waste it!). But how about those from SoSE, SoSS, and SoH? I am not sure in what manner they would benefit from it.

I do understand that there is a bias towards SoM majors when it comes to the opportunities for the upcoming Job Fair, but to be considerate of things (in behalf of people organizing the Ateneo Job Fair), there are factors that we have to consider as well (and this are based on what my friends said about it).

First is the fact that we live in a world where money makes the world go round. As my friend would put it, “the ones who can effectively attract, wield, and use cash will survive.” This is why most people would like to take up courses such as management, as there is a lot of opportunities in the world of corporate and business. Yet we can’t live on money alone mind you; hence, my friend adds that it is a misnomer that there are no job opportunities for SoSS, SoH, SoSE; there are job opportunities for them, but it just happens that it is these powerful and influential companies that have the capacity to shell out money and be part of these job fairs.

In relation to the first argument, another factor that can be considered is the costing of actually participating in a job fair. Being a participant in job fairs is not cheap; you have to pay for booth rentals, for paraphernalia, for the people manning the booth, for electricity, for food, and the like. Ateneo just happens to charge a high price with their job fairs, which is why the big corporate companies are the ones who are able to participate in the Ateneo Job Fair.

Another factor (and something that I may or may not agree when a friend told me this), is that of surveys. According to surveys, there is a high rate of job preferences for the business and corporate industry, which is why it happens most of the time that companies like Nestle, Procter and Gamble, and Unilever are the ones who would participate in these Job fairs. Sure that may be the case, but I do think the voices of those coming from other schools are not heard that well, or not addressed properly.

But it does not mean the Job Fair is inclined more to SoM students that those from the other schools should lose hope; in fact, the Job Fair, said by a friend of mine, should be an opportunity for those from SoSS, SoSE, and SoH to creatively strut off their skills in applying for these companies. After all, nothing is really impossible as long as you are determined for it. It is challenging indeed, but of course you can’t get a job without starting somewhere.

I may hate the Ateneo Job Fair, but that does not mean I am going to sit down and wander, hoping for an opportunity to just come along. We all need to work hard if we want to get good jobs. The Job Fair is just one opportunity; there are a lot of opportunities out there. Kailangang lang maging matiyaga sa paghahanap ng trabaho.

The ultimate shocker.

So today, I went to the laboratory (at Hi-Precision diagnostics) to have a blood test. A week before, I've been suffering from body pains, particularly with my legs, even if I just woke up from bed. So dad suggested that we have a blood test to see the problem.

So I was there at the laboratory, anxiously waiting for my turn for blood extraction. I was just playing Monopoly on my iPhone to kill the time. Then my turn came.

I went inside, then the technician was examining which arm will they extract blood at. They chose the left arm. Then came the needle. And the tubes. I was trying to resist the pain of blood being extracted to me, but something went strange. I started feeling dizzy. My heart was beating fast.

Then I went into a total blackout.

The only thing I remembered then was my dad (who is a doctor btw) waking me up, and giving me candy, on his suspicion that I had a hypoglycemia attack. It took me a while before I was able to barely stand up. Then upon arriving home, feeling weak, I headed straight to bed to get some rest.

A couple of hours later, the result came out. And I was terribly shocked at my results. At age 20, I was borderline diabetic, and my uric acid was WAY high than normal. Ouch. Straight to my heart. I was alarmed. I have to fix up my lifestyle if I wanted to live longer. A total shocker indeed.

And yes, it is a pain for me that at a young age, I have these kinds of sicknesses, something that I used to think that only old people would have. Now I have them, and my dad's letting me drink medicine (on a scheduled basis) AND now I have to go back to the lab every 3 months to monitor my blood levels and the levels of the chemicals in my blood.

After years of not caring about what I eat, now I have to act like an old person, monitoring carefully what I eat. It sucks, but I have to do it still.

And I can't accept the fact that a 20 year old like me has a sickness that 50 year olds have. Or maybe it must be my lifestyle (and the lifestyle of my generation). What do you think?

Why not Law school?

I am going to graduate in a few months with a degree in Political Science (a course that is said to be the best pre-law course), and yet despite that four years ago, I told myself that I will go to law school after I graduate, I decided to postpone (or maybe not pursue at all) on going to Law School, while most of my blockmates in PolSci decided to take the Law entrance exams. And I am one of the few who decided not to pursue further studies in Law School particularly. How come?

A couple of years back, idealism was the in thing for me. I was dreaming then that I would grow up to be the best lawyer out there, that I would help people gain proper justice, among many things. There was this inner feeling that being a lawyer was a profession that was worth it. Anything was possible then.

Then four years later, all of those changed. I no longer see the sense of spending four more years, drowning myself in thousands of pages to read every week, losing the privilege to sleep, struggling through praying that you read the right material for class. Also, in Law school, you will be faced with fraternities and sororities. Conflicts and / or camaraderies are formed during your stay. You are not even sure if it is worth joining these social organizations or do things on your own. You are not sure if you would like to benefit from "additional help" these social organizations may offer you.

I no longer sense the six months preparation for the bar exams, where you do not even know if you will be able to pass it or not. You are not even sure that even if you pass law school, you can make it to the bar. And should you make it, where will your law degree bring you? Not much, unless you are in the cream of the crop from the bar exams. And should you make win a case, what would people tell you? I wished it was praise and victory, but you would not know that people are backstabbing you, telling behind your back that you have "manipulated" results, that you took the case for money, that you used your connections from certain government agencies to help you throughout. Worse, some of your critics call you a liar.

And the most painful thing? No matter how good a lawyer you can be, the justice system here in the Philippines is fucked up. Here, you have cases where after 20 years the real murderers and rapists are yet to be found. Here you have a government agency choosing a witness who manipulated the details to show bias against the other party. Here you have hundreds of unresolved killings. Here you have society releasing the real criminals out of jails, no matter how grave their crime is, while those who have minor crimes rot to death on these prison cells. Here you have the most wicked of criminals being able to get out of jail easily.

Reality defeats idealism. That's the sad story. My sentiments about Law School has changed in light of events that has happened in the Philippines for the past four years. I myself have doubts if that will change. Even my desire to go into media is placed in question, as media is likewise criticized for being biased and not telling the truth.

The debate of whether Law School is still worth it or not has a more or less final verdict for me: with the state of Philippine society and on how Lawyers are seen these days, it is not worth it. And so my life plan has changed: Instead of going straight to Law School, I have decided that I will work (most probably in a News agency, with photography on the sidelines, or maybe be a writer in some magazine or newspaper) for a couple of years, and reflect on whether going to Law School would be still worth it, whether my former idealistic self would see the light once again.

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And even up to now, I am still thinking: Why did I choose Political Science after all, and not some course like Communication arts.

A different view.

This year's Christmas is a tad little different from the previous Christmases I had in the previous years. This year wasn't a fruitful one. Accidents happened, conflicts emerged, injustices are uncovered, classes are oh-so-late-to-finish, among other things.

My lola met an accident, I had a terrible fight with my dad, I had to endure having a hellish semester, my school finished late, and I still have schoolwork to do even during Christmas. A lot of not-so-good things happened to me (and a couple of good ones in between). And add to all the recent events happening in the Philippines, and it makes me wonder if I would still feel the Christmas spirit.

After all, I realized, Christmas was more than the presents, the money, and the material things we would normally get.

In the homily for this morning's Misa de Gallo, I was struck when the priest said that Christmas is all about being together, all about forgiveness, and all about healing. He was right. It's Christmas eve and things seem to be improving here at home. I am now in good terms with my dad. My grandmother can now walk with little aid. I was able to accomplish a part of my handwritten essay. And many more I could not remember.

Yes, we tend to fail to fully understand the true meaning of Christmas, thanks to the event being too capitalist and market oriented. True Christmas, after all, is the appreciation of the simple, non-material things in life.

Merry Christmas!

No Doubt.

Let's start this with a confession: I am not perfect, I am not exactly a good person, and I am irresponsible.

I am not perfect as I am prone to a lot of mistakes (with some mistakes making me sound like a moron). I wanted to have good grades but no matter how hard I may try (or maybe I'm not trying hard enough), a lot of things would get messed up. Believe me: I am forever frustrated of attaining that Dean's List but I never did.

I am not a good person because I have times when I tend to be such a douche. I am mean sometimes to people. Worse, even close at home. I would tend to have arguments with my parents, to the point of me dissing at them badly (yes, I consider myself to be a bad son in that aspect). I am a spoiled brat that whines around when he does not get what he wants.

I am irresponsible because of my tendency to lose things. From important documents to my own savings, I am a klutz in handling my life. It seemed like losing these things would be normal, and I am obviously not proud of it.

Okay enough of that. The biggest problem I have in my life is this: Until recently when my life started to get fucked up big time, I barely believed in God. Yes, the mighty One up there. Sure I may be hearing mass every Sunday (or whenever someone in our family has a birthday or what-not), but I am one of those people who went to church because it is an obligation, not because I wanted to.

I am raised up in a conservative Catholic family, yet I do not really pay attention to prayers, to Gospel readings, and all of that stuff. In short, my faith in God is not really concrete and sincere.

But recently, with all the things that are happening (my lola being handicapped after falling down, some of my stuff like my laptop and headphones getting destroyed, me and my dad not in speaking terms after a certain incident, me losing my savings due to robbery, getting effed up with my orals for Theology), I was in the brink of a breakdown (but I think I broke down to some point), when my mother, cancer-stricken but still fighting hard, approached me and told me one simple favor: to pray and to talk to God.

It may sound very simple but it was hard for me to do so. My mom was trying to tell me to speak to God. I couldn't even utter a word, a sign of me feeling lost in all the chaos surrounding me. It took a while for me to actually pray and talk to God as I was in this state of a mental breakdown. My body could barely move that moment. Eventually, I gathered the power to pray to Him. And it felt different. And mom was right: I should never doubt Him.

Things are starting to improve a bit (even if I just found out today that I actually lost 2k after being pickpocketed without my knowing), and starting now, I should start believing in God and start going to mass because I like to, and not because it is an obligation. No doubts, just believe in Him.

And I write this with mixed emotions as I still need to figure out how to churn out 16 pages worth of Philosophical essays (that happens to be handwritten, in script, and on yellow pad), and is due on the first day of classes. Whoopee.

Reflection: Maintaning a positive disposition amidst all the negativity

No matter how shitty your life sometimes can be, just be thankful of the little things.

Yes, it did surprise me to hear that even with people showing off their smiling, perky faces, lies behind a story of struggle. Their disposition in life is so good, you would not notice that they have problems to deal with.

Sometimes, it is the way you deal with things that would matter the most, and not dwelling on whataver shitty thing is happening to your life.

So yeah.

I would classify my family as being dysfunctional (with a bipolar father, overprotective and conservative grandparents, a mother with cancer, among other things), but thankfully we all manage to live together despite these differences. I was surprised to hear that some of my friends in CADS shared their stories of living with broken families with problems worse than what I am experiencing. At first, I was speechless to hear these stories considering they seemed to be happy with their life, yet deep inside they are struggling as well. What amazed me at them is that they still manage to have a positive disposition in life, something I really, really lacked to myself.

And aside from that aspect, I have been a whiner for practically the whole sembreak for all the shitty things that happened (from my grandmother's accident, my dad's accident leading to one of our cars getting wrecked, my sister getting sick before her performance, me getting hit by a virus badly, among other things), and again I got hit when one of them shared a story on how he almost died a few years back, and here he is, alive and kicking with energy, and on how a captain of a taekwondo team died during a competition, which left the rest of the team shocked. These were stories of struggle worse than what I have been whining about for the whole sembreak.

For one thing, even with what has happened, I should be still thankful for the little good things in my life.

And I woke up with a bright morning.

So its sembreak . . .

and almost the entirety of it got fucked up.

There's a couple of major accidents at home, typhoons, me getting sick, and all those unexpected crap that you would least expect to happen.

Sembreak's almost over (BUT BUT BUT I've got myself booked for vacation . . . finally!) and the countdown to the end of college begins. Mind you, my last semester ain't easy . . . considering 1) I was last batch, and 2) I ended up with terror profs for my core subjects, but happily got all the electives I wanted. Indeed, it's gonna be a crazy last sem, that's for sure.

Oh, and for some reason, I'm worried if I would be able to get work right after graduation (not unless my stint in Storyline / Truths counts as work, since I'm not really paid for it). But yeah, I'm more or less sure of entering myself into the field of journalism, specifically the one that covers, well, politics (much more like a lame way of how to make journalism and political science work together for you). No law school for the meantime, since I am not motivated to go there for the meantime (unless I have a sudden change of mind, that is).

3 1/2 months to go before college life / school life comes to an end. What should I do then?

Food for the soul.

If you want to live a mediocre life, live in fear"

- BobbyGuev

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Yes mister, that is the legendary Theology 141 professor speaking to us during our discussion about the Prodigal Son today. And yes, I am very honored (despite the struggles in getting a decent grade in his class) to have Sir BobbyGuev as my professor, considering that he is one of those "legends" at the Ateneo, of which is a must to take (for both the challenge and the life-changing lessons he teaches). In short, I simply want to tell you (yes, the person reading this) that this guy will definitely make an impact to your life. You can even ask his past students for some testimonies. and if you are 1) An undergrad, or 2) Haven't taken up Th141 yet, please please get him as your professor (and also hope that you get a decent random number during RegCom should you decide to get him). Yes, BobbyGuev has to be the best professor I have had during my whole college life!

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Going back to the context of the quote, that particular quote has struck me as it made me realize that after all, we cannot be pampered and all, spoiled with what we want and what we need in order to live. It is not a matter of "what I want, I get", but for one thing, the point of the quote is that we should not be fearful of the unknown, and essentially, that IS the point that we tackled today with regards to the story of the Prodigal Son.

I'm not saying that the story of the Prodigal Son IS wrong, BUT it does teach us something else that most of us may not know. When the son wanted to go back to his father and let his father treat him as a hired servant, one would think that the son lost his dignity that is why he said so. In fact, the term "hired servant" is essentially at the same social class as the regular people during that time, as these people actually have homes to live in, so essentially they are not slaves. The point? The son wanted to go back to his father not really because he is sorry for what he did, but he realized that he is dependent with his father, that is why he decides to go back to be a hired servant . . . so that he could "work for what he has wasted".

The point? The son wanted to go back to his father because of his fear for the unknown, the fear of what is new to him, of which almost all of us (the writer of this entry included) can all relate to. We have our tendencies to go back and ask help to our parents as we fear of the new and unknown things that we may soon confront. We fear for change. Hence, even if we confess our sins, the problem with ourselves is that we are having a hard time to change our whole selves for the better, which is the true point of the story of the Prodigal Son. God can easily forgive us, BUT we should be willing to expose ourselves to what is new and unknown to us in order to really cleanse ourselves of sin. I know it is a difficult process, but it is possible. BobbyGuev used the example of the parting of the Reed Sea (and no it's NOT the Red Sea) as an example, where the Israelites decided to face the unknown in the desire for freedom and salvation from the slavery of the Egyptians.

So far, this has to be the highlight class of BobbyGuev, and I'm excited for the second part this Thursday

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(CAVEAT: The content found here has been done spontaneously, so expect lots of errors into it)

To infinity and beyond?

Story 1:

There is this story about a boy who fell in love with a girl. However, the girl, despite being happy with her relationship with her current boyfriend, she still visits her ex-boyfriend and still have sex with the ex. One time, when she had sex with her current boyfriend, she told the current boyfriend that the day before, she had sex with her ex-boyfriend. and the situation is still the same, with the guy still loving his girlfriend, who apparently, has not gone over with her ex-boyfriend.

Story 2:

There is this girl who was involved with a certain scandal back in high school, where she and her then-boyfriend was caught having sex in a public place. A couple of years later, the scandal was long forgotten, as she is happy now with her current boyfriend. Yet despite her changed personality, her past has the potential to haunt her.

Story 3:

This girl has been in a relationship with her boyfriend for 2 years already. What seems to be a steady relationship happens to be a relationship that is starting to crumble, as the boyfriend is "riding on" with another girl who is flirting with him, even if the girlfriend is against it. The boyfriend has started to be unfaithful, yet the girlfriend is trying to find ways to fix the relationship, until she is determined to call it quits.

Story 4:

This girl is normally quiet, and tends to act like she does not have any boyfriend. Ironically, she does have a boyfriend (of 5 years and counting), and happily manages to maintain the relationship well. Sure they may have gone through a couple of petty arguments, but hey, their relationship has to be one of the most stable relationships I've known so far.

_________

Four stories. Different situations. Same theme.

For the past few days, I have been hearing a lot of stories involving about relationships from friends. Although I admit, I feel a bit jealous that most of my friends right now are already in a relationship (and the writer of this entry still remains a single-since-birth person with a dirty mind), I am a bit disturbed with these stories that my friends have told me. The idea of being in a relationship has been puzzling me, especially with these stories involving infidelity, sex, and risks.

The thing about relationship these days is that, unlike the "traditional" form of relationships, the modern view of relationships has significantly deteriorated, such that concepts of integrity, commitment, responsibility, and loyalty are not taken seriously by the youth today. The thing that really disturb me is the notion of sex being "done when the urge is felt". Sure this writer has a dirty mind when it comes to such, but when it happens in real life, you'll eventually feel really disturbed about it. Imagine: infidel couples, unwanted pregnancies, fuck buddies, single parenthood . . . things you see in the movies, actually happening in real life. And to think that we do know that such acts are indeed evil, yet we succumb to doing them.

While on the car and listening to my favorite station, the DJs said one interesting quote that caught me. And it goes: "There are two ways to deal with temptation: it's either you succumb to it or you don't even try doing it." Simply perfect. It is actually a quote that is very applicable to the nature of relationships. Once someone tries to fuck up the relationship, the problem gets worse, but if they make things stable and not fuck things up, then the problem is not encountered. Seems to be an easy-to-understand logical argument, yet people fail to apply it in real life.

Honestly speaking, the problem on why a lot of relationships tend to get fucked up is that we often fall into temptations; by falling into them (even just once) can mean trouble for the relationship. Also, another problem as well is that we lack discipline AND control of ourselves when temptation is lying around the corner. Yes, even the writer has occasionally experiencing such issues, and boy, it is really hard to deal with.

Relationships may be as easy as it would seem to be, but given these temptations and complicated situations, maintaining a relationship can be a real pain in the ass. I still remember those lessons that I have had during my Theology 131 class, with the most memorable quote "Love is not a feeling; Love is a choice". The problem I think with modern relationships is that they re often dictated based on what we feel, which should not be the case.

With all these stories that I've been hearing, I guess placing on your social networks that your relationship status is "single" or "in a relationship" is wrong and misleading. The more proper status should be "It's complicated", because whether you are single or taken, the concept of love is a complicated and complex idea.

Some notes to ponder about PNoy's SoNA

Just as so you know, today is the day where President Noynoy Aquino gives out his first State of the Nation Address (SoNA) as President of the Philippines. Having listened to the same old piece of crap that is the SoNA of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the past 9 years, I would consider PNoy's SoNA a different one.

One of the initial observations I noticed with PNoy's SoNA is that he made really good use (and I mean it) of the Filipino language (as compared to PGMA, who has been using the English language for all of her 9 years as the President of the Philippines), signifying PNoy's efforts to address his message to the masa, and not to the elite who understand the English language. Like what most news anchors and field correspondents have commented on the SoNA, PNoy managed to change the notion of the SoNA by stating the real facts, facts that have been hidden for the past how many years.

Starting off, PNoy has noted the anomalies that have been not revealed by GMA such as the expenditures made within the Calamity fund (where a big chunk when to a district in Pampanga), and the severe depletion of the Yearly budget, and various anomalies present within DPWH, MWSS, and Napocor. Contrary to his critics considering it as nothing but mere "rants", this is a very good characteristic of being transparent in the Aquino administration. I guess now is the time for the public to know about how deep in shit is the Philippines after GMA has left it.

After citing the present situation of the Philippines, PNoy has made good note of what his administration has done for the first three weeks. Among one of the accomplishments he has mentioned is the speedy restoration of electricity after typhoon Basyang came along to the Philippines a week ago. Another good accomplishment he has noted is on the hunt down with the tax evaders, starting with Villarica for paying php 25k in taxes where at the same time he was able to buy himself a Lamborghini that is worth php 26m. The efforts with hunting the tax evaders and smugglers are so far so good. Also, his mention of a 50% success rate in resolving extralegal killings is a very good sign for me, something that the PGMA administration failed to address for the past 9 years. By that means PNoy is making an effort to address these killings immediately, making the world of journalism (specifically in the Philippines) a much more safer place.

In addition to this, PNoy also laid out his plans, and in his speech he mentioned the progress of these plans, which again, is a good sign that the Aquino Administration is very transparent and makes the public aware of what is happening. Among one of these plans he has said in the SoNA are the modernization of the Navy, resurrecting the railway system, and the re-structuring of the PhilHealth program. In addition to these plans, he also added the push for the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, Procurement law, Anti-Trust Bill, National Land Use Bill, National Defense Act, and the Whistleblower's bill, all bills pertaining to the Administration's efforts to re-structure a country that is left in a bad shape. In addition to these new bills, PNoy also said that there's a need to revisit other bills, and update them to make the law more consistent and have less loopholes.

Towards the end of his speech, he called for the MILF and the CPP-NPA to give him their plans for peace efforts. As far as the Aquino administration is concerned, they are open to the MILF and CPP-NPA for diplomatic talks. It is up to the MILF and the CPP-NPA on what they plan for the peace talks.

Although I find Noynoy's first SoNA speech generally good, imposing a sense of hope for the country, some issues were not addressed, such as the Agrarian Reform, where the case of Hacienda Luisita is put into question. Still, we all should remember that it has just been 3 weeks since the start of the Aquino administration, and that a lot of things may change or happen for the coming days. But generally speaking, I am satisfied with the message conveyed with the SoNA.

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*Some Quotable quotes from the speech:

-"Paano kung bumagyo bukas? Inubos na ang pondo nito para sa bagyong nangyari noong isang taon pa. Pagbabayaran ng kinabukasan ang kasakiman ng nakaraan."

-"Ang inakala ng taumbayan na natipid nila sa kuryente ay binabayaran din natin mula sa kaban ng bayan."

-"Kung kaya mong bumili ng Lamborghini, bakit hindi mo kayang magbayad ng buwis?"

-"Mayroon po tayong 36,000 nautical miles ng baybayin. Ang mayroon lamang tayo: tatlumpu’t dalawang barko. Itong mga barkong ito, panahon pa ni MacArthur."

-"Negosyante, sundalo, rebelde, at karaniwang Pilipino, lahat po makikinabang dito. Basta po hindi dehado ang Pilipino, papasukin po natin lahat iyan."

-"Kung ang mga gobyernong lokal ay nakikiramay na sa ating mga adhikain, ang Kongreso namang pinanggalingan ko, siguro naman maasahan ko din."

-"Mahirap magsimula ang usapan habang mayroon pang amoy ng pulbura sa hangin."

-"Dapat din po nating mabatid: ito ay panahon ng sakripisyo. At ang sakripisyong ito ay magiging puhunan para sa ating kinabukasan. "

The B side of every story

This is for the nerd that the boys and girls would die for.

This is for the extrovert who prefers chilling at home.

This is for the over-achiever who pretends to be a underachiever.

This is for those who want to break the chains of stereotyping.

With a couple of articles I've written for my Feature Writing Class, in which involved interviewing people, one of my favorite questions to ask is the question "What is something that people do not know about you?"

The thing about that question is that it makes me learn more about the person I am interviewing with. No matter how famous that person is for a particular thing, whether it may be being an actor, or being a writer, or being a photographer, or being a news reporter, they will and always will be a certain characteristic that they hide from the public, or only those who really know them would actually know. Yes, this is what I call the B-Side of every person.

In every one of us, there is a certain characteristic that will surely surprise everyone, even those who actually know them. With this so-called B-Side, stereotypes are easily debunked as stereotypes are basically nothing but a mere means of segregating people for certain characteristics that they have. After all, we are made to be unique beings. Copycats do not (ideally) exist in this world. We are what we decide to make ourselves out of, and we are not dictated by what society wants us to be.

Sure there lies the gifted, the academically competent, the talented, the dancer, the writer, the actor, and the likes, but that does not necessarily means that they love the gifts they have. Sometimes, these people tend to resort to their "other side" - the side of which they are more passionate about - and believe me, there are a lot of people out there that are actually like that.

And no, it does not mean we are talking of the B-side that it would automatically refer to the bad side of the person. In fact, when we talk about a person's other side, there's this great tendency that we would realize that the party-goer is a devout catholic, that the daydreamer is a cum laude student, that the blogger is actually a talented writer. Yes, there are endless possibilities with the understanding of every person's other side.

And yes, even the writer of this entry has his "other side".

When shit hits the fan, and you still do your job . . .

. . . that shows your dedication to your work.

One thing that we would eventually learn through the years is that there is no such thing as an ideal workplace where everything is simply perfect, from the ambiance and environment of your work area to who your boss is. Face it: we do not live in a perfect world, hence we should be willing to face these flaws, no matter how grave they can be.

Being a campus journalist, a photographer, a photojournalist, a production assistant, a video editor, a writer, a show monitor, a political scientist, a researcher, and many more, experience is indeed very important especially in terms of mistakes.

Yes, mistakes are not as bad as it seems (well, depends on how big that mistake is though). They teach you a lot in the work place. From first year college until this senior year (where I juggle academics with my equally-awesome internship in Storyline under a great and gorgeous person), I did make A LOT of mistakes. Some minor, some grave, but all of them taught me an important lesson.

From saying wrong remarks to my editor, to spreading false rumors, to neglecting my work, to ethical issues, I sure have had a good dose of these work fiasco situations, and yet these has not stop me from my work. Instead of quitting, I would always come back for more (sounds masochistic, eh?). Simply face it: there will, and will always be, an instance that you will face a situation where shit hits the fan. My advice? Don't panic. Assess the situation. Find possible remedies whenever possible. If there are none, well you have no choice but to face the consequence (and its corresponding punishments). Some may feel devastated by these scenarios (I should know, because it did happen to me . . . that's why I decided to leave campus journalism last year), but remember: as long as you love your work, don't quit. Believe me, it is better to have lots of shit happening in the kind of work you love doing than having a good time woth the kind of work you are not enjoying.

I do know it is hard to love something that induces you to scream out, think of suicidal thoughts, go paranoid, and other crazy thoughts caused by stress. However, if you like your job, you would not worry about going insane and all, as long as you get the job done.

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*Just a thought: For some reason, I get to generate better blog entries if I type them first on my phone (a white E71) than on my laptop (a white unibody MacBook). So much for being on the go =)

Oh snap, I miss the [parking] slot.

You leave the house. You drive your everyday sedan, and proceed to work. The travel time is quite slow due to the morning rush traffic. Then you arrive at your office, just right in time.

Until your realized that you could not park your sedan because your officemate driving a BMW occupied the 2 parking slots in the parking area. Makes your day fucked up, right?

Well, for the past number of years of bringing a car to school, one of the biggest things you would worry is on parking your car. And it has been an issue for me (and other drivers as well), and to add, it is a time-consuming thing especially in cases of a "parking is full" state.

However, there's an interesting aspect within the seemingly ordinary parking slot. Inside the compound, just like a classroom, you can more or less determine who are good drivers and who are the horrible drivers. By the manner of how they park their car, whether it is front first or back first, horizontal or vertical, near or far from the post (or the car beside it) or within or out of the line, it says quite a number for the owner of the car. Believe me, I have my good share of bad and good drivers in the parking lot, no matter if they are driving a Corolla or a Benz.

For one, I remember my friend saying that "it's better to have a so-so car and be a good driver rather than have a nice car and be a crappy driver". Indeed, that saying also applies to the parking lot. Not being mean, but it really makes me laugh when someone riding in his shiny new car ends up hitting it with something . . . . within the parking lot, of all places! I know it's bad to laugh at other people's misery, but I couldn't fathom the stupidity of some people at times. I could not get it on why some people like bringing an new car and yet has difficulty parking it, being more challenged with parking than your grandmother (no offense intended).

And also there are the douchebags that are greedy with the parking slot. Those are the kind of people who (for some selfish reason) would park "out of the line" (you know, those yellow / white lines you see in your typical parking slots), and use up what should be good for 2 cars. Yes, we have our encounters of greedy drivers in our lives, and they kind of piss you, don't they? Well sometimes we have to deal with them, as they are well good drivers, but with a douchebag attitude.

And there are the overly resourceful ones, who would take any space available, no matter how small or narrow it may be, just to park their car. These people are dangerous, especially when you decide to go out of your parking slot. It would take you minutes (or worse, hours) just to figure out 1) how to get inside your car, and 2) how go get your car out without hitting any of the cars beside you. Yes, these guys can be a big pain the ass, so as you know, but hey, at least they know how to park properly. It just happens that they are so extreme, that they make the most up until the last available inch.

Overall, one should not underestimate the wonders of the parking lot. Dull as it may seem to be, the cars parked within tells something about their owners.

Speaking of being awkward.

Yes, there are times that you would face an awkward situation. Last Thursday, while hanging out at the Psyche room with my Psych friends, the awkwardness happened.

So I was with my friends there, who mostly comprise of guys coming from Ateneo High (they are a batch lower than my HS batch, but I know some of them), and a couple of girls. One of the girls has that certain conyo twang, something which these days I'm used to. so we were conversing over various pop culture related stuff, and while chatting around, I came across the Facebook page of turtle, my current crush, and suddenly exclaimed "wow, turtle is so cute in her profile pic!"

And the conyo girl overheard what I've said, and apparently, she knows turtle. Bad call in my part. And not that she know turtle, she's actually her batch mate in Assumption San Lorenzo. Double bad call. And now she then asks me if I like her, and I said an honest yes to it (well yeah, turtle kinda knows I like her, but I still remain as professional as possible, due to org matters). Then she kept on telling me things (of both positive and negative) about turtle, and I was quite ok with it (since I had an impression that turtle has a potential to be a real bitch) since she's nice to me. But of all the things she asked me, I felt the most awkward when she asked me, "so, how long have you liked turtle?"

And my mind went blank. I couldn't say anything more. And I didn't know how to approach the question, ending up with a long "errrrr . . . " in reply. Most awkward question asked to me. Ever. That was the first time that someone (worse, a girl) asked me such question, and I still can't get over it. I can't believe such state of awkwardness happened to me.

But that did not cause any negative thing. In the end, I gained a new friend, out of an awkward situation.

This is reality.

BobbyGuev's story today revolves around the drama behind a tribe (forgot the exact name of the tribe), comprising of 25-30 families, residing along Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija.

When a typhoon struck in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija in 2004, this tribe practically lost everything, since they resided along a river. In effort for rehabilitation, the tribe decided to relocate along the Sierra Madre mountains and start life a new. And their life was good; they learned how to make rattan baskets, they had education, they learned to plant crops, they learned to earn some profit. In short, they were starting to live a good life, starting fresh and progressing very well. However, this seemingly happy situation for this tribe changed into a disaster in 2006, as their place was invaded by the NPA, causing them to leave the place, bringing along with them their things, going back to the river.

Since there were NPAs in the area, of course the Military would take over and attempt to eliminate the Communist rebels, but their intent was tainted. One day, someone from the tribe went back to the mountains to inspect his land. However, the Military mistaken him for being a member of the NPA, and next thing you know is that his body was found inside a sack. Ever since, the tribe never came back to the mountains. And all their hopes gone and vanished in an instant. After that, they ended up going back to the riverside, where their lives are at risk, and start over again, going back to square one.

Stories like this are those stories that will wake you up to the harsh reality outside the four walls of the classroom. Poverty is bigger than what you would expect. Power is far more abusive than how media would portray it. Violence is unimaginable without the blood and the bullets. Society is more discriminating than how television shows would show it. This is the real world, and not what us Ateneans would actually think of, revolving around cars, shoes, partying, gadgets, and what nots. Reality is far from the ideal world that is within the walls of this school. We may get failing grades, or get sanctioned, but we are at least protected within the four corners of this university.

For almost four years at the University, it came to my senses slowly about the harsh reality that awaits us as we leave college.

Because sin is a reality.

One of the most significant things that has happened to me for my last first semester is the very fact that I have the legendary Roberto Conrado "BobbyGuev" Guevarra as my professor for Theology 141. Since my freshman year, I have heard stories on how life-changing is BobbyGuev to his students. I even remember even making an article for our school publication, mentioning him about the school's Praxis program and the immersion program as well. Now on my senior year, it is indeed a dream (at least for me) to have him as my professor.

And boy, his first lecture really hit me hard.

Today, we had our first lecture for the class, and it basically involves understanding that the grace of God is received by practically everyone, even the poor as well. In one of our readings, liberal theologian Jon Sobrino discussed about his journey towards understanding the poor in El Salvador as a means of understanding the poor not in a negative context, but in a positive, hopeful, and meaningful context. Through this reading, I have understood that the poor does not necessarily mean something negative, but it could mean hope as well. A kind of hope that would awaken our senses to the reality of this world and act upon it. However, as we go further with the discussion, the existence of "Original Sin" is actually seen especially with how people prioritize their money on things.

The shocker? From a data obtained from the UN, the top 5 things people spend for are the following (in order): Military expenditures, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and entertainers from Japan. And the bigger irony? These top 5 most-spent items are almost double than that of what is basically needed by man, such as health and sanitation, education, and food. Seeing that set of data really has blown my mind off and made me ask BobbyGuev "where is the justice with that?"

Even the legend himself had quite a hard time answering my question, but he did tell me one thing: That based on the data from the UN, the idea of "Original Sin" is deemed to be true: that the world has all the temptations man can fall for, that it is because of man's desires for worldly ones that causes the existence of poverty, which is rooted down from the exploitations made by First world countries to Third world countries.

And what he said reminded me of the harsh reality that our country by itself is currently facing.

And more is to come as I get myself immersed by his teachings.

Indeed, he is a legend.

The first of lasts, how's my life, and the pop culture scene.

Yes, mister. Today marks the last first day of school I will ever have (but that's assuming I will not pursue further studies, that is). Senioritis is starting to sink into me.

Anyways, my T-TH edition of my professor critiques:

Ph103: Mike Mariano

-Jeff and KD were right about their experience under sir Mike Mariano; he seems to be very strict and that he's going to be a challenge for me. Not that he's a terror professor (he's a cool one, for the very least), but dealing with his requirements will be a challenge especially with those unannounced surprise quizzes and oral exams. Indeed, it's Philosophy taken to a higher level. And should I add that I fear of my difficulty in adjusting? My previous two Philosophy classes under the Philosophy Department Chairperson Doc Guss Rodriguez was in pure, unadulterated Tagalog while sir Mike's class will be in practical, sensible English. I hope I could adjust well to the sudden shift in the language used for teaching. The thing that makes this class interesting? The fact that it deals with the Philosophy of Religion (that's the name of the course). There are times that I tend to really doubt about myself, being a Catholic, especially when it comes to issues that involves the Catholic Church. Learning the Philosophy behind religion will help me understand religions much better (especially with Muslims, of which I believe is the religion that I both hate and misunderstand the most).

PoS160: Joy Aceron

-One thing about this class is that it has given my OJT in ABS-CBN (as an intern for News.com, writing stories and doing several research works) with a lot of relevance. Being focused on the Philippines and its problems, my knowledge of current events from covering the first automated election in the Philippines will definitely help me with this subject. In addition, my thoughts and opinions on the recent turn of events happening with the Philippines will now make sense, as this class will focus on discussing these matters on why they are of a problem, and on how they could be possibly resolved. What makes this class very interesting for me is that it merges the relevance of current events (reported through the media), with regards to the political situation of the Philippines. An exciting class, I say.

Th141: Bobby Guevarra

-BobbyGuev. He's a certified legend in the Ateneo, being a professor that is known to "make an impact in student's lives". I first heard about his name with the Praxis Immersion Program, where I made an article about the said program and became one of my most memorable articles I have made as a News Staffer for The Guidon, our school publication. Theology 141 for me will be an interesting subject not just because the professor is a legend and is a good one, but because the subject itself is of something that puzzles me these days. The subject, entitled "A Theology of the Catholic Social Vision", focuses mostly about social justice in a Theological perspective. The relevance of this subject? The topic of "preferential option for the poor" will be explained in full detail in this course. Another point of interest? The talked about Immersion, where we live in a particular area for 3 days, understanding the people residing in that area. Also, an interesting subject, for both the subject itself AND the teacher.

And so that's my T-Th gameplan. I'll talk about the Wednesday and Saturday Specials in another blog.

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How's my life?

-Internship round 2: Being the unusual individual I am, I decided to join Storyline, a documentary show produced by THE Patricia Evangelista and directed by the well-renowned Paolo Villaluna. Yes, it sounds weird that for a PolSci major like me, I went on to intern for something that is very focused on production (but Storyline has a bit of research, which is the role of finding stories). So far, I'm having a bit of a hard time because aside from being placed under probation (for the many stupid things I did in my first shoot together with the Storyline crew), the internship of Storyline by itself shows the REAL world: The world were not everyone has finished schooling, where people started poor, where long hours have to be dealt with, where the cellphone is an important tool, where going to the field is among the basic things that is being done, and where being a tsimoy is also part of the resume. I do hope I can do really well here.

-A case of technolust (and the evils of consumerism): After getting a new phone for my birthday, and a nice 50mm 1.4 lens for my camera, a lot of new tech stuff has come at bay. First in line is the new Mac Mini, with its sleek design and adequate specs. Then a camera upgrade, possibly either a 40D or a 5D mark 1 (both of them slightly used, but they look like new). Then came the new set of headphones Sennheiser has launched recently (and yes, I HATE SKULLCANDY 'COZ THEY ARE A WASTE OF MONEY). With all these new gadgets coming out of the door, all I could do is just window shop and stare at these items. Being of expensive items, I seriously doubt if I am crazy enough to buy all of these gadgets. Yes, reality tells me that I should only get what I need and NOT what I want. In short, I must discipline myself about these stuff (instead use the money for the bank perhaps).

-That "feeling" again. The more I try to avoid the "feeling", the more it follows me. In my two months stay in ABS-CBN as an intern, I suddenly have developed "feelings" for this certain girl, who is my co-intern. At first, I kind of expected it, as she was one of the co-interns I am very close to, but after the internship, the "feeling" went a bit further, to something that I would least expect: that I happened to like her. Apparently, the closer you are to that person, the higher the tendency that you develop "feelings" for that person. And simple gestures like hugs make the "feeling" much better. Hay nako. Here I am again, feeling kiligated for the nth time.

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In the pop culture scene . . .

-Justin Bieber? GAH. Hate him.

-Lady GaGa? Admit it, you got to love that atrocious lady.

-Jaden Smith (in Karate Kid)? GEEZ. Even someone as young as him does kissing scenes (as in REAL kissing scenes).

-Karate Kid? Your jacket is VERY important. Trust me.

-Toy Story 3? I think it's a good movie.

-Katy Perry? "Daisy Dukes and Bikinis on top."

-Kris Aquino? "Wag ka ngang pakilamera, teh."

-Jojo Binay? "first black vice president of the Philippines."

-Noynoy Aquino? "kelan ka nga ba mag-aasawa?"

-NBA? the Celtics are getting the trophy this year.

-World Cup? I'll never forget that Vuvuzuela.

-How about the iPhone 4? Sorry, but I'm not that impressed with it.

-The iPad? It has potential, but fails to meet (certain) expectations.

Decisions, decisions.

Although I have finally finished my internship for ABS-CBN (Halalan 2010 Cadetship Program), I am back for another one, this time (hopefully) with Patricia Evangelista's "Storyline", an ANC program. I hope all for the best with my interview for the internship this Wednesday (and same goes to my co-cadet / friend Kate Panganiban, who is also applying there and is having her interview on the same day).

Speaking of the future, college is coming to an end real soon. Just a few days left and it will be the last first day of school for me. Being a Political Science major, it is somewhat expected of me to go to Law School (and starting off by taking entrance exams).

However, the thoughts of law school got somewhat distorted again. The entrance exam fees alone are expensive (UP is at 1.3k, San Beda at 1.2k, and Ateneo at 1.5k, as what my friend told me). And as an added pain, applying for Ateneo would mean I need additional English Subjects (not unless I could have some of my Political Science Subjects + some of my Free Elective subjects credited), and that in general, Law School exams are of great difficulty. If college entrance exams are challenging, make that three to fives times more challenging for Law School entrance exams.

Although I do like going to Law school, I am presently unsure of it since I am also aiming for another career in mind, which is being in the media and working as a journalist. After my internship with ABS-CBN, and my work with Guidon, along with a few photography work, I am already considering working with media as well (even if the pay is errr not exactly that high). After all, I had a grand time working for ABS-CBN.

BUT that does not mean I did not enjoy PolSci. I absolutely enjoyed politics, and it's crazy nature especially in the Philippine context. I enjoyed learning how countries deal with each other through international relations. I also enjoyed understanding the ins and outs of how bills are made, and on understanding the different sectors of the government. I also was amused at how philosophy has played a role toward the development of Political Theories, which is very applicable to the politics of various countries. In short, I am really fond of politics.

The clincher to this situation is on what should I take first. It is either (plan a) I take up law school now, (plan b) go into the media, or (the crazy plan c) do both. I'm still not sure about my future but more or less this will be the scenario I will be pondering at for the few weeks.