Waiting Game

The "waiting game" is agonizing. You are somewhat psychology tortured. Doubts clouded your mind. You have a lot of questions. The "what ifs" are endless. But you have no clear answers to your questions. You only guess and pray, pray for the best to come.

Reminiscing my community work

A year after finishing my college degree i landed a job in a non-government organization. My first employment dealt practically on research and decomentation of human rights abuses in the province of Agsuan del Sur where i was assigned. I also Help organized the families of the political prisoners and did documentation of what we call then as "development aggression." The job made me visit almost all the barangays in the province and meeting people from all walks of life. It was somewhat risky, especially when you're visiting places where tension between the armed forces and the rebels is high. But i love the job, it was very rewarding.

After a year and a half, i transferred to another NGO that deals with the Indegionous People in Caraga Region. It was then that i was emerged to the life and culture of the Banwaons, Manobos and the Mamanwas. Gradually i understood thier plight. Especially thier struggle to defent thier ancestral lands. I was given a tshirt before (and i still have it to this day) with the slogan that says: "If ever we take up arms, it is not to oppress other people but to defent our ancestral land." The job taught me many lessons about life's struggle.

My last job as a development or community worker was in the Agrarian Reform Support Project. A special project of the Department of Agrarian Reform co-funded by the European Union and the Republic of the Philippines. I was a Community Organizer from the start and was promoted to Community Organizer Supervisor ten months after. Dealing with farmers was a very moving experience. You share your knowledge to them, and they share their life to you. By just understanding, sympathize and be counted as one them, and they will show their genuine love and care for you. It was really a heartwarming experience.

That was my work before. Now, for almost 8 years, i am enclosed in the the four walls of the office where i work. Every day, same people, same faces....

Oh! how i miss community work.

Supreme Cohort Justices in a Democrazy Country

Today, I will describe the present system of governance in the country as “democrazy”. It is because separation of power between the legislative and the executive departments no longer exist. Many legislators (from the Municipal LGU up to the House of Representatives and Senate – this is my personal view point as I observed while working in the government) are under the control of the executive department. And what is more disheartening to note is that the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court, is no longer spared from the control. The supposedly highest tribunal of the land is no longer performing its primary function to do checks and balances. The concrete example was its ruling on the executive privilege invoke by the former NEDA Secretary, Mr. Romulo Neri in order not to talk certain issues or answer certain questions before the Senate inquiry regarding the controversial NBN-ZTE deal. The Supreme Cohort Justices (majority were appointed by GMA) ruled in favor of Mr. Neri. What will be its implications? Simple. The right of the people to know the truth about the controversy behind the NBN-ZTE deal, whether it is anomalous or not, is denied. And the Senate, as a quasi-judicial body, will be become insignificant should their primary witnesses (secretaries, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, local chief executives and other high ranking officials) in undertaking whatever investigations will appeal to the supreme court to invoke executive privilege and the later ruled to their favor. Mabuang ko bayot!

Law

Countries need laws. Schools need rules and regulations. Banks need policies. Families itself need to have some set of regulations (in most cases it is an agreed set of an unwritten regulations for members of the family to abide). For instance is a curfew agreement between parents and their children. Even every individual has an unwritten law for itself. We set standard for our self. Our dreams or vision for our self improvement made us to do something or restrict from doing something that we believe will help/hinder in achieving it.

Laws evolve. As society change, be it retrogressed or developed, so as the laws of the land. Laws can be predetermined, but the best basis to craft a law is the present situation. Laws are being repealed or modified to respond accordingly based on whatever political, socio-economic or societal change a country is experiencing. The best example was the September 11, 2001 bombing of the Word Trade Center in New York City. Shocked and horrified by such wanton act of terrorism, many countries around the world reevaluated their respective anti-terrorism law.

Is law important? Precisely! Take a look of our society today. There are many laws being imposed, from environment protection to anti terrorism just to make our world safe to live in. Despite having all these laws, however, our society has endless problems. Just imagine if we do not have one.

pre occupied mind

A lot of things preoccupied my mind today. First, i am thinking about my scholarship grant in Australia. I still did not receive the certificate of confirmation from the school i choose to enroll with. Secondly, I am still worried about the result of my medical examination. Although, it's been several months now from the date of my medical test, i still did not have the feedback from DIAC. Maybe the PAHRDF had it already. It worries me since i was diagnosed to have a diabetes. And I do not have any idea if this will affect my scholarship grant. Despite having these uncertainties, however, I am hopeful that everything will be okay.