Apologia Pro Maestro sa Sekundarya

Minsan na akong nangarap na maging isang pulis o sundalo. Mas lalo pang tumindi ang pagnanais ko na maging pulis nung nalaman ko na pulis pala ang dalawa kong Ninong.

Noong Grade 6 ako, tinanong kami kung ano ang gusto naming maging. Ilalagay daw ang response namin sa School Yearbook. “To be a soldier,” ang sinulat ko.

When I was about to enter college, napagtanto ko na imposibleng magkatotoo ang pangarap kong maging pulis o sundalo. According to my Ninong, dapat matalino ka sa Chemistry or Trigonometry. Mahina ako sa Chemistry. That I admit. Noong pinatupad ang Zero-Base sa mga public schools, bumagsak ako sa isang Grading Period sa Chemistry noong Third Year ako. Hindi naman sa bobo ako sa mga subjects na ‘yon. Nakakawalang-gana lang talaga makinig sa guro namin sa Chemistry.

Ang talagang problema kulang ako sa height. 5’3” lang ako, give or take an inch. Eh may height requirement daw kung ikaw ay papasok bilang isang pulis o sundalo.

I really don’t know why. Bakit kelangan may katangkaran ang mga pulis o sundalo? Does it follow na kapag mataas ang height, mataas din ang IQ mo? Rumarampa rin ba sila tulad ng mga kandidata sa Miss Universe?

Nagtataka rin ko kung bakit requirement din na maganda ang mga ngipin mo. Ano ba ang gyera ngayon, LIPS-TO-LIPS?

Graduate ako ng Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Social Studies. Sa dinami-rami ng mga course na available sa college, bakit Education? Bakit Secondary?

Ano ba ang gusto mong sagot sa una mong tanong? ‘Yong pang-showbiz slash pang-politika? O ‘yong totoo?

Bakit Nga Ba Ako Nag-Resign sa Stella?

Ang Stella Maris Academy of Davao ay ang aking employer sa loob ng tatlong taon. Marahil sa aking pag-resign, ikaw ay natuwa, nalungkot, nanibago, nagulat, natatae, naluha, o naasar. Hindi kita masisisi. We live in the Philippines. Lahat tayo ay may karapatang mag-react sa mga nangyayari sa ating paligid. Pero huwag ka naman mag-react na para bang ang pag-resign ko ay ang paghihiwalay nina Janine at ng kaniyang boyfriend.

If you ask me kung ano talaga ang dahilan ko why I left Stella where I was gainfully employed, o sige pagbibigyan kita at sasagutin ko ang tanong mo. Sasagutin kita dahil hindi para tuparin ang iyong kahilingin o pasayahin ka. Kundi sasagutin ko ang tanong mo dahil hindi lang ikaw ang nagtatanong sa akin ng ganyang tanong. FYI, marami kayo. At para na rin hindi na ako tatanungin pa ulit ng ibang tao.

Batid ko naman na hindi lahat ay may FB at makakabasa nitong blog entry ko. Problema na nila ‘yon. I don’t really know why. Sa panahon ngayon na kahit sa Php 5.00 puwede ka ng magkaroon ng access sa Internet, marami pa rin ang nagtatanong tungkol sa mga bagay na puwede naming i-Google.

Sa susunod na may magtatanong sa’yo kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng salitang “quagmire,” sabihan mo, “i-GMG mo! Google Mo, Gago!”

Huwag niyo akong kastiguhin. Hindi sa akin galing ‘yan. Nakuha ko lang ang GMG kay Lourd de Veyra nung binasa ko ang speech na binigay niya sa graduation ng UP MassComm.

But I’m digressing na. So eto sasagutin ko na ang tanong.

A Different Kind of Samal

That small patch of land in Davao Gulf is the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCoS)—an island because it is completely surrounded by water; garden because of its diverse coral species; and city because it’s flaunted as an “Urban Center in a Rural Setting.”

Samal is one of the cities of Davao del Norte. In its official website, Samal has been characterized as "the place which has it all".  

But what this exactly means?

As an island, a garden, and a city, it has SEAS, the SAND, and the SUN.  It has enchanting mountains, fertile plains, and scenic hills. Its group of islands are located in the Gulf of Davao about 700 meters south of Davao City. 

IGaCoS is now host to more than 30 commercial resorts scattered along its more than 118 kilometers of shoreline with white sand beaches.  Resorts vary from the high-end ones that cater to the highly-discriminating guests, to the rustic type that are preferred mostly by backpackers and adventurers.

Who needs the seas, the sand, and the sun? What of its enchanting mountains, fertile plains, and scenic hills?

But Samal is no “place which has it all.” This I was reminded of during our trip around Kaputian, one of the three Congressional districts in Samal. The other week I was with my uncle who is running for the post of the city councilor for the 3rd District (Kaputian) of Samal. We went from one barangay to another. I was lucky to have joined his campaign, for I have seen firsthand the places in Samal, specifically in Kaputian, that do not get visited by tourists precisely because there is nothing pleasant to see except for the abject poverty and sights that tend to make people look away.

A case in point is Purok 3, Sagrada, short for Sagrada Familia (Holy Family). West of it, one gets an overlooking view of Talicud Island. There are about thirty households living in that purok. The overlooking view is spectacular. The view within Purok 3 is not. The people have no electricity to speak of. A little bath tub was built through the help of the Community Extension Service of San Pedro College.

Barely three weeks is left before election day. But according to the locals, of the ten candidates for the city council for Kaputian, only two have visited them. It's a pity because they are neglected, I think, not so much because the road to Sagrada is hardly accessible, as it is because the voters are too few to be given much regard. 

We left as soon as my uncle was done talking to the leaders of the purok. Yet a different kind of Samal lingered in my mind. Suddenly, it has become a "place which has it all," but cannot be had by all.

An Online Coaching Clinic on Answering Bar Exam Essay Questions

Atty. Ralph Sarmiento

In the recent past, the Philippine Bar Exam has been reformed. Where before it comprised merely of Essay Questions, today Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are included. Assuming that you know the answer, there's no problem to answering MCQs. Just encircle, shade, or tick as the case may be the letter of your answer.

But what about the Essay Questions? What a Bar Exam taker needs to hurdle it? 

Atty. Ralph Sarmiento, 10th Placer in the 1997 Bar Exam, Dean of University of St. La Salle College of Law, and Counsel for Petitioner in the Team Patay/Team Buhay Tarpaulin Case (Diocese of Bacolod v. COMELEC), Atty. Sarmiento provides an "Online Clinic and Coaching on Bar Answering Techniques for the 2013 Bar Exams," especially on answering the essay questions:

ZestAir, Marcos, and the Right to Travel and Return

On our way home from our week-long vacation in Baguio and Manila, we were scheduled to leave for Davao at 6:30 PM onboard ZestAir. At the boarding gate, someone announced that our flight would be delayed due to delay in turnaround, whatever that means. Instead, boarding would commence at 7:00 PM. But we boarded the plane, as cabin crews are wont to say, at twenty minutes past the hour of seven in the evening. 7:20 PM, for short.

As if it were not enough, the cabin crew further announced that take off would be delayed. This time it’s due to ground servicing. We took off at 8:30 PM.

That meant we were delayed for two hours. I was about to pity us when suddenly I thought of erstwhile President Ferdinand E. Marcos, the longest serving President of the Philippines. We were far luckier than him—luckier because we were certain to return home, while Marcos, when he left, was not. All we needed to do was to wait. Marcos had to go all the way to the Supreme Court and fight for his right to return.

University of Mindanao-College of Law now Accepts Enrollees

You want to study law, but don't know what to do or where to go. Here's the enrollment procedure for the incoming first year law students of the University of Mindanao-College of Law (1st Semester SY 2013-2014).

Step 1.

For pre-evaluation, submit the following requirements to the Records and Admissions Center (RAC) located at the 2nd Floor, Main Building, UM Bolton:

1. Photocopy of Transcript of Records (TOR) with remarks: "Graduated";
2. Certification of General Weighted Average (GWA) which shall have at least an average of 80% based on the submitted TOR issued by the school where the applicant graduated;
3. Photocopy of Birth Certificate from NSO;
4. Photocopy of Marriage Certificate from NSO, for married female applicant only;
5. Special Order school file, if applicable; and
6. Certificate of Good Moral Character from the school where the applicant graduated

Step 2.

1. After pre-evaluation and approval from RAC, proceed to the College of Legal Education Dean's Office;
2. Bring with you your evaluation sheet which the RAC issued for scheduling of your CEM-LSQT (Law School Qualifying Test) and Essay Exam; and
3. Pay Php 300.00 only.

The schedule of exam for 1st Semester SY 2013-2014 is as follows:

Exam	When	Where
CEM-LSQT	All Saturdays of April and May (8:00 AM to 12:00 NN)	LE 103, UM Bolton
Essay	All Saturdays of April and May (2:00 PM to 4:00 PM)	LE 103, UM Bolton

The schedule for 2nd Semester will be announced later.

Upon taking the exam, submit the following requirements to the Dean's Office:

1. Photocopy of TOR;
2. Photocopy of Certification of GWA;
3. 1 pc. 1x1 ID picture (White Background); and
4. 1 pc. long brown folder with fastener.

Note that your CEM-LSQT score shall be at least 476 to be admitted to the College of Law. The results of the test will be released two weeks after the applicant took the test. The qualified applicant will be notified (usually, via text message) for the schedule of the interview.

Step 3.

1. Submit to the Dean's Office the Pre-Law Evaluation for the notation "OK to enroll."
2. Proceed to the Admissions Office for the enrollment proper.

For more questions, visit or call: 

University of Mindanao-College of Legal Education 

Bolton Street, Davao City, Philippines

Tel: (082) 227-5456 Loc. 133 

The Secret to Passing the CEM-LSQT: Prepare Like Pacquiao The Boxer

It's the time of the year when fresh college graduates are mulling over whether to take that law school entrance exam. Obviously for anyone who wants to be a lawyer, it's the first exam that one needs to hurdle.

I'm not familiar with other law schools' entrance exam, but here in Davao City, the University of Mindanao-College of Law and ADDU-College of Law both require prospective law students to pass the LSQT (Law School Qualifying Test) provided by CEM (Center for Educational Measurement).

Having taken the test myself and passed it, I know how it feels when your family is constantly egging you on to take the test, and the pressure is building up as the entrance exam date is getting nearer.

Relax! Just prepare. Only if you prepare, and prepare like Pacquiao The Boxer, you can pass the test. The old Manny Pacquiao used to prepare way ahead of his fight. He used to spend long hours of grueling drills and exercises. Here are five steps you might want to take:

1. Research on the nature of exam.

What sort of questions are asked in the exam? How long is the exam?  How is the exam scored? What score should I get to pass the exam?

You must be familiar with the nature of the exam before taking it. Think of how Pacquiao studies his opponent before going up on the boxing ring. Prepare like Pacquiao the boxer.

According to CEM,  the "LSQT, a 240-item test administered for 2 hours and 50 minutes...consists of sub-tests in Verbal Reasoning, Critical Thinking, Quantitative Ability, and Figural Reasoning. It also features an Essay Test designed to assess an applicant's ability to present ideas in written form. Intended users are graduates or graduating students of degree programs.

For additional information on CEM-LSQT, read this LSQT Guide.

2. Determine your strong and weak points.

Remember that the LSQT has four sub-tests:

a. Verbal Reasoning (Don't be bogged down by the jargon, language lang ito.)

b. Critical Thinking (Logic)

c. Quantitative Ability (Math)

d. Figural Reasoning (Abstract)

Of the four, ask yourself where are you good at, and where are you weak at.

3. Make your strong points stronger, but focus most on your weak points.

Give more time to that which you're not good at. But never disregard the others, lest what is formerly your strong point becomes your weak point now.

For instance, I'm not good at Math. So what I did was I asked my Math major friends to tutor me. Talk about tapping human resources.

4. Test yourself.

There is this thing people are addicted to. It's called the Internet. And in the Internet, there are lots of practice tests for each sub-tests of the LSQT. Almost all of them can be had for free.

5. Show up!

Of course, all these things don't mean anything if, because you're crippled by your fear of failing the test, you don't show up. In the first place, how would you know you fail or pass if you haven't taken the test. Take the test by all means.

If, after all, you fail, no big deal. It's better to be an LSQT flunker than a Bar flunker.

Cramming Tourists Part 3: Baguio City Tour in 4 Hours

When Alex, the taxi driver, dropped us off in La Trinidad, he instructed us what jeepney route to take on our way back, or should we take another taxi where to pass so that we could pass by Tam-awan Village.

But Alex ended up following his own instructions. We hired Alex as our tour guide, driver, and photographer, all rolled into one. He at first feigned hesitation, but agreed later on and charged us Php 300.00 an hour.


After strawberry farm, Alex took us to the Tam-awan Village. Located along Long-Long Road, Tam-awan Village was the brainchild of Chanum Foundation, Inc. The brochure of the Village said: "The Chanuma Foundation began to reconstruct Ifugao houses in Baguio with the view of making a model village accessible to people who have not had the chance to travel to the Cordillera interior...The village now has seven Ifugao huts and two Kalinga houses. Using the original materials and adding only new cogon roofs, traditional artisans reconstructed the houses and laid them out resembling the design of a traditional Cordillera village."


Apparently Chanum Foundation is not alone in its quest to preserve what little is left of the traditional culture. A village with a similar purpose could be found in Davao City. It's called Tribu K'Mindanawan Cultural Village. I remember the question my classmate in anthropology posed to our teacher: "If culture is dynamic, why should it be preserved?"

Two hours had already gone by since we hired Alex, and we were still in Tam-awan Village. Our taxi got expensive by the hour---one more hour of wandering in only one place meant another Php 300.00 for Alex. Thus, we told Alex to bring us to our next destination.


The Lourdes Grotto was our next stop. Alex wanted to take us as he looked for a parking space upstairs. But we told him we wanted to start on the very first step of the stairway to the Grotto.

We bought candles, then started our ascent. I tried to count exactly how many steps are there, but I lost count on the 70th step when a half-blind old woman offered me a bundle of three white roses.


Minutes later, we were driving off to Kennon Road, stopped at the  Lion's Head, then dropped by McDo to order lunch. Since we couldn't afford to waste our precious little time, we had lunch inside the taxi while on our way to Camp John Hay.

Inside the Camp is the Historical Core. Inside the Historical Core is a little cemetery with an intriguing title: The Lost Cemetery or Pet Cemetery or Cemetery of Negativism. The idea there, according to our nervous tourist guide, is whoever enters the cemetery must bury whatever negative feelings he had. Ex-Base Commander Major John Hightower thought of establishing it. His goal was to give the weary soldiers a chance to unload their negative feelings that eat away their enthusiasm.


It's I think a brilliant and emphatic piece of work. Other leaders, especially employers, fire their unenthusiastic employees, but Major Hightower acknowledged that soldiers are human beings---physically strong yet emotionally weak---and looked for ways to address that.


Then we went to our penultimate destination: The Mansion. On our way there we passed by the haunted #4 Laperal White House on Leonard Wood Road. Soon we found ourselves in Mines View in the midst of frenzied tourists.


We terminated Alex's service when we arrived in Mines View. I must say that for us cramming tourists, he's a good tutor, having crammed Baguio history, urban legend, myths, and tourism in four hours. But Alex did have another role. He was our chief counsel. "Take good care of your belongings while you're inside," Alex said, "and watch out for pickpockets."

Cramming Tourists Part 2: Baguio City Tour in 4 Hours

La Trinidad is a small town in the province of Benguet. Yet it's big on tourists for, among others, its strawberry farms. It's 3-kilometer North of Baguio and travel time is on the average forty-five minutes.

We would get there in less than that, the taxi driver named Alex promised us. On our way, Alex was generous enough to respond to my questions. But most of the time, he took the initiative of telling us who owns the house that sits on the forested hill alone; the congested Quezon Hill; the sights that could be glimpsed if it's not foggy; the site of the landslide where many died during the Bagyong Ondoy; and a host of other things.

I didn't keep track of time. Perhaps it would have really taken us less than forty-five minutes to get there as promised. But Alex slowed down many times so that we could get a good view of Baguio's different attractions and distractions.


If there's anything that encourages tourists to ever bother visit La Trinidad, it is the strawberry farm. Folks in La Trinidad take their strawberries seriously. They do allow tourists to pick strawberries themselves straight from the shrub. But not without footing a hefty bill---Php 350.00/ Zest-O Box.

Why is it expensive when you can buy it in SM Baguio at a cheaper price? Well, it's what you call maintenance fee. The strawberry plant is not a sturdy plant. You pick the fruit too strong and you might uproot the entire plant.




Being the stingy tourists that we are, we didn't try strawberry picking. We had only our pictures taken with the strawberry farm as our background, posing as though we were picking strawberries.

And we spent the rest of our time in La Trinidad buying souvenirs (keychains, ref magnet, coin purse), and tasting foods that are uniquely local (green pinipig, blueberry and strawberry wine, strawberry taho).

Cramming Tourists Part 1: Baguio City Tour in 4 Hours

Tourist spots in Baguio---Baguio Cathedral, Burnham Park, etc---are easy to locate. But with its mesh-like roads, we felt like experimental mice in a maze looking for their cheese. We still wanted the cheese, but soon wanted to get rid of the maze.


We tried yesterday to visit as much tourist spots as we could by only walking or riding on jeepneys. That proved challenging if you are with your 50-year old mother who couldn't endure long hours of walking. Aside from that, my spatial intelligence had a terrible history of failing me. So we expected to fail in our self-imposed challenge. Fail we really did, but we had our initial success.

After breakfast at Chowking, we headed to Baguio Cathedral. From there we passed by the ukay-ukay in   T. Claudio St., and then went to Burnham Park.


We rented a boat there and rowed in the lagoon. It took us a few minutes before we got the hang of it. It appeared so easy to paddle, but if done improperly, the boat would just keep on turning around without moving forward.

We got excited for our next stop: Strawberry Farm. We asked from the taho vendor the whereabouts of the jeepney terminal for La Trinidad. The man gave us directions we barely remembered. So when we spotted a sweet-corn vendor, we asked the same questions. He gave us the same directions.

Meanwhile, we got tired and impatient. That's when we decided to get a taxi. Thankfully, taxi drivers in Baguio are faithful to their meter and LTFRB-prescribed rate. The driver didn't haggle nor present an alternative tariff rate.

Where to Stay in Baguio? Upstairs Marked-Down Price

While on a trip, I've realized, it's better to stay in a low-budget place than in an expensive hotel for two reasons.

One, the principal goal of travelling is to see the place around. That is only possible if one were to travel on foot, ride on the popular mode of transportation, and see the place as the locals experience it on a daily basis.

Two, it saves one a lot of money, money which could be used for buying pasalubong.

Armed with this different outlook, I looked for such kind of place for our trip to Baguio, and found one. It's called Upstairs Bed & Bath. Unlike commercial websites which advertise every hotel as perfect for every tourist, the blogosphere provides an honest appraisal of a place, and bloggers wouldn't scruple to call it ugly if it really is ugly. See, for instance, this blogger's review.

Upstairs Bed & Bath is very near SM City Baguio. But who cares about SM---it's everywhere. The nice thing about Upstairs is it's cheap yet clean. New linens and towel are provided for every guest.

But the CR and shower are shared with other guests. And it can sometimes be noisy, especially if there are children in the next room, or cavemen acting like tourists or tourists acting like cavemen.


_____

Upstairs Bed & Bath
Address: GSP Building (Near B.I.R.), Leonard Wood Road, Baguio City, Philippines
Contact number: 074-446-GO-UP (8687); 0933 440 1744 (Sun)
Bookings can be made through its Facebook account: www.facebook.com/Upstairs.Bed.and.Bath

What pre-Law course is best to take?

By now those students who will go to college must have already decided what course to take. I've been asking my students about their plans. As with the many Pinoys who answer a question with another question, a few of them ask me back so that the interviewer became the interviewee now.

"What's a good pre-Law course to take, Sir?"

Well, that question could be answered on two different levels.

First, law schools don't prescribe a particular pre-Law course. Whatever course will do, provided your pre-Law course complied with the required number of units in Math, English, and Social Science. But that depends on the university. For example, in the University of Mindanao College of Law, the requirements are: 6 units in Math, 12 units in English, and 9 units in Social Science (History, Psychology, or Sociology).

Second, if by a good pre-Law course means that what course will better prepare your for law school, the answer is there is none.

True some may say it should be AB English or Communication Arts since in law school what matters is not what answers you give, but how to give what you give. Other may say it should be Philosophy, for it trains you to be a critical thinker.

I think it depends on what kind of lawyer you want to be. I have Law professors whose pre-Law courses were varied. My teacher in Constitutional Law 2 took up an Engineering course. My Statutory Construction teacher used to be a MedTech before he took up law. My Persons and Family Relations teacher is a CPA and an MBA holder, then she proceeded to Law.

The field of law is vast. What matters is you have to think first what kind of lawyer you want to be. Then you can fairly determine what pre-Law course to take.

Thus, if you want to be a Commercial Lawyer, a background in Business Administration, Accounting, or Management might come in handy. If you want to enter the government service, a Political Science or a Public Administration course might be useful. Those who relish a courtroom drama and all that verbal brawl might take up AB English or Philosophy.