Nasarapan ngunit Nakulangan: Our Camiguin Trip

Our Camiguin trip was like a quickie—instantly gratifying. But precisely because it’s so quick and gratifying, one is satisfied yet is left feeling “bitin,” as we put it in our vernacular.

Camiguin is a small island. Despite that, volcanoes are crammed in this island―there are seven active volcanoes in Camiguin. People who have gone there said that since the island is so small you can actually go around the entire island in just a day.

So we set out on a trip to Camiguin for a day. We were a mixed group of eleven, twelve if you include the driver. Most of us used to be colleagues at work. A few were friends of a friend who were just invited the last minute because some backed out. At the end of the trip, however, we all simply became friends who shared the same harried and hurried trip.

We left Davao City on the 23^rd of April at 2:30 in the morning. The plan was to get to Camiguin via Cagayan de Oro, head to Balingoan Port, then take a ferry boat to Benoni Port in Camiguin. It’s a butt-numbing ride that takes us almost twelve hours, including meal and pee stops.

It was around 1:30 in the afternoon when we reached Camiguin. We took a lunch at an eatery near the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church. After our lunch, we immediately headed to the destinations found on our list: Sunken Cemetery, Old Church Ruins, Walkway to the Old Volcano, White Island, and Ardent Hibok-Hibok Spring Resort where we slept overnight.

The next day, we managed to see the San Nicolas de Tolentino Church, Katibawasan Falls, and that unnamed store where you can buy Vjandep Pastel―that soft bun with yema filling for which Camiguin is also known.

We dropped some places on our list. Had we the luxury of time, we could have visited them all. And since we have a very stringent self-imposed goal—to see as much as must-see tourist spots in Camiguin in a short period of time—what we did was mostly to take pictures, pictures, and more pictures. We neither had time for exploration nor education.

At around 9:30 in the morning, we left Camiguin. My feeling was one of ambivalence. I wasn’t sure if I was satisfied or not.

Perhaps that’s what makes Camiguin enticing to tourists even if it has none of the throbbing nightlife of Boracay or the diverse attractions of Palawan. 

Camiguin gives you the feeling of satisfaction of being able to try it, but at the same time leaves a hollow feeling in you that can only be fulfilled by trying it one more time.

Pay Now, Resign Later: The Dilemma of Private School Teachers Applying in Public Schools

It is but normal that newly licensed teachers seek employment first in private schools before moving on to the public school. This is I think a better move because one might gain professional experiences that cannot be had if one were to apply immediately in public schools. Besides, teaching experience is given a certain point in the recruitment of public school teachers.

Private school teachers who apply in public schools sometimes encounter a problem. For instance, the recruitment process in the public school is long in that one has to wait for months before the result is released. So in the meantime they remain teaching in the private school.

But things get complicated when, in the middle of the school year, the teacher gets appointed to a public school and yet he cannot just leave because the employment contract he signed says he shall pay a certain sum of money once he resigns in the middle of the school year.

Is this allowed under the law? If so, what options do you have when faced with such a situation?

Yes, it is allowed under the law. The obligation arising from that contract is called “obligation with a penal clause” (See Art. 1226, New Civil Code). Its principal purpose is to “ensure the performance of an obligation.” In the case of private school teachers who leave for the public schools, the purpose is to ensure that they remain in the school all throughout the school year.

It is understandable why private schools do this. Private schools, especially those that offer basic education, operate by school year, beginning in June until March. If a teacher leaves in the middle of the school year, it will trigger a series of events that, in the end, will hamper the welfare of the students. The Principal will have to look for a substitute teacher. The substitute teacher will have to be trained anew. She will have to adjust to her new workplace. The students, too, need to adjust to their new teacher.

That’s perfectly right when the Principal can immediately look for a replacement. But worse things happen when she cannot. Students will have to wait for a week or two before their substitute teacher arrives. In the meantime, they must endure a few days of doing seat-works facilitated by someone who knows next to nothing about the subject she’s obligated to take over.

Yet if you feel that you urgently have to leave lest your dream of teaching in the public school will be jeopardized, what you may do?

Of course, the most obvious move is to pay forthright the amount. That is if you have the means, but most often than not you don’t

My proposal is you try to talk to your employer. Your contract is not a petrified document whose terms cannot be changed or eased. Talk to your employer. Tell him the situation. Your employer might refuse to let go of you to avoid the hassle of looking for a substitute teacher. Some employers would even present you with a black-and-white option: either you stay or leave but pay.

Persevere. Negotiate some more. For instance, you can ask your employer that you be given enough time to pay and that you will assist her in looking for a substitute. Trust me. There are employers who prefer to be told frankly about their employee’s plans than to be kept in the dark.

No one has the right to force us to stay in a workplace we don’t want anymore. Employers cannot even prevent their employees from resigning. But let’s remember, “Every person must, in the exercise of his rights and in the performance of his duties, act with justice, give everyone his due, and observe honesty and good faith.”

A Eulogy for the Original "Onyot"

Below is the eulogy I gave at Papa's necrological service. RIP, Antonio "Onyot" C. Ortiz, 1961-2013.

Perhaps the last three years had been the darkest episode of Papa’s life. In April of 2010, on the day of my college graduation, Mama found out that Papa had been cheating on her. Yes, he gave in to temptation. He left our family to live with another woman. He found himself so drowned in debts. Friends and relatives condemned him.

I was so devastated there was even a time I wished that he were dead, so that all the pain that he caused would be undone.

But I continue to ask from God the serenity to accept the things I cannot change and courage to change the things I can.

We did everything we could to win Papa back. But after several failed attempts at convincing Papa to abandon the sinful life that he had fallen into, I told Mama that we should let him go.

Yet something was bothering me. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing Papa just like that. No matter what we all went through, in the end, he is still my father.

So I mustered enough courage and talked to my father. I told him all the things I wanted to tell him. I asked him all the questions I wanted to ask him. Why did he leave us? When is he coming home? I confronted him. I told him my plans. I told him that I longed for the day that he and Mama would be there when I’ll become a lawyer.

When our conversation was over, Papa hugged and kissed me. He never said sorry. But I knew that he was. And he promised that he would go home.

Papa fulfilled his promise. He did finally come home. At the time, there was still fear in Mama’s heart. What if he would leave us again?

But today Mama is not afraid anymore—Papa is home for good. On December 4, 2013, thirteen days before his birthday and twenty-one days before Christmas, Papa died. But I would like to think he just went ahead of us.

There is still sadness in our hearts. And I’ll probably cry whenever I remember Papa, who used to annoy me when he kept on asking the same questions over and over again; who used to make me laugh when he told me his jokes which he told a number of times.

To the people who stood by Papa through his ups and downs, thank you for not easily condemning him. Thank you for seeing the goodness in him. I still would like to think that Papa had been a good father, a good son, a good friend, a good brother, and a good son of God.

Pa, I promise I'll take good care of Mama. And I promise I'll be a lawyer by 2016, but I'm sorry if I cannot make it on time. I know you can wait a year or two.

Goodbye, Pa.

What law students may do this summer?

Law students—the really serious ones—are such a stressed lot. They study hard. They lack sleep. They are poked and pressured everywhere by everyone: professors surprise them by giving surprise recitations; friends keep on inviting them for a drinking spree; bosses keep on asking for that assignment way before the deadline.

But summer is here. It’s time to drop that thick, hard-bound, incomprehensible law book. And if you’re a law student, you may want to do these things this summer:

1. CATCH UP SOME SLEEP. Scientists say that an adult brain needs at least six hours of sleep. But you only get to sleep for an average of four to five hours a day. It’s ironic because your brain is supposed to function well all the time, and yet the lack of sleep precisely disables your brain from functioning well. If you have nothing else to do this summer, you might as well get a six or eight hours of sleep.

2. JOIN AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. Supplement your classroom experiences with real-world experiences by joining an internship program. Some organizations enlist law students as interns in which they are given tasks where their legal education is of great help. Last year, the Alternative Law Groups conducted a month-long internship program. This year, the Asia Foundation is inviting law students to participate in its Hustisyeah! Program, a case decongestion initiative whose aim is to, well, decongest the congested court dockets.

3. ENROLL IN A COURSE NOT RELATED TO LAW. They say working on something you’re not familiar with enhances your creativity. I don’t know how that works. But if there’s no harm in trying, why not enroll in, say, a two-month culinary course?

4. READ YOUR UNREAD CLASS MATERIALS. I know, you’re supposed to enjoy your summer time. So how can you enjoy if you read your class materials? You cannot. But if you derive joy from learning, you actually can. And summer is the best time to catch up on your readings because there’s no pressure. When you read either the textbook or the cases minus the pressure, haven’t you noticed that you retain more information; you learn better?

5. TAKE SUMMER CLASSES. But if you don’t want to break your momentum, enroll in a subject or two. It’s true that a long summer break can make the students sink into sloth. So by the time they go back to school, they need to find again their rhythm, which takes some time. And for busy law students, they cannot afford to waste their time finding their rhythm.

These are just suggestions. Hence, the use of the word “may.” In Statutory Construction, the use of the word “may” denotes discretion, and cannot be construed as having mandatory effect. If you have a better idea, go for it. Share it with others.