Human Welfare Advocates No More.

          I spent almost my whole life in Naga City. Though I was born in Polangui, Albay, I grew up in the Maogmang Lugar which I humbly call as my happy place. Basically, I became conscious and got in touch with reality in Naga. I developed my skills, forged and started relationships, earned life experiences in Naga. Also, the me I am today is the product of my stay in Naga during my developmental years from childhood to adolescence. My happy place is infamous for its Participatory Governance which was started by the late Secretary of Interior and Local Government and my personal idol and inspiration, Sec. Jesse Robredo. It is his leadership style, which is now fondly called as “tsinelas leadership” which I would want to emulate ever since. From my limited comprehension of his leadership style as well as observation during his term as mayor, I guess his “tsinelas leadership” means getting in touch with the people you serve, with the members of your organization and most especially, you walk your talk. Aside from that, tsinelas Leadership for me entails that as a leader, you walk among your people, you guide them but you don’t dictate to them the things that they should do.

                On the other hand, since my first year in college, I was bombarded with the different knowledge and skills expected to a social worker. Aside from that, every now and then, professors would remind us that we have to have the attitude also that social workers are expected to have. I am proud to say that somehow, I learned and I managed to remember some things worth remembering. Among those things is the Principle of Self-Determination. The Principle of Self-Determination is one of the many principles that social workers are expected to adhere. In this principle, social workers are expected to respect the person’s capacity to decide for what is better for himself or to his group. Also, social workers are expected not to dictate or influence the decision-making process of individual unless otherwise the decision of the person is perceived as something that will inflict harm to himself or to other people around him.

                Tsinelas leadership and the Principle of Self-Determination - two different concepts with different origin, one from the public administration perspective while the other from the social work perspective yet they bear the same message: giving the people a chance to raise their voice and determine what is good for them. Throughout my imperfect “career” as a student leader in college (especially when I was the HWA President) and even in high school, the two concepts I mentioned are my top two tenets. The tsinelas leadership which implies simplicity, getting in touch with the member of my organization and walking my talk and the Principle of Self-Determination which gives the members of the organization to opportunity to identify, decide and implement things that they think will be beneficial to the majority of the members. When I was the president of HWA, my battlecry is to empower the members of the organization by reminding them that they are the organization and to involve as many students as possible in the different processes of the organization in such a way to remove the notion that the organization is equal to the officers. Aside from that, some of the important decisions of the organizations were also opened to debate and discussion before finally leaving things to voting. For example, from imposing a theme selected by the officers for a specific event, students were asked to nominate their desired theme, present the idea and most importantly to vote for the theme that they think is the best and beneficial. Good thing that the my fellow officers in the organization shares the same battlecry that I have wherein at the end of our term, we can say that things (though not perfect) have somehow changed such as students’ passivity was transformed to pro-activeness and some became more assertive with regards to their ideas. We tried to institutionalized things by changing the organizational structure of the organization which placed to the top the General Assembly as the highest policy making body of the organizations to make sure that the members (collectively) will still be powerful than the officers and officers will be accountable to the members of the organization and that the decision of the assembly will most of the time (if not always) will be followed or prioritized. My perception then was that we were able to start what I called as “WEvolution” where students became more involved, more empowered and happier of their status as members but I guess that was only a perception – my perception.

                Sadly, things changed and some are continuously changing. I guess I have to remind myself that change is the only constant thing in the world. But what is sadder is that the gains that we have a year ago was slowly being erased and that we are slowly sliding back to where we begin. The existence of the organization and the purposes for which it was established is not anymore being respected. Today, all decisions regarding the organization, crucial or not so crucial, fall into the hands of the omnipotent beings in the department who can simply overturn the decisions of the General Assembly for whatever reason or reasons (mostly subjective, baseless and biased) without lifting a finger. The guidance and supervisory function of the faculty was elevated to decision-making while the members of the organization have no choice but to accept the decision of the faculty regardless of its fairness to the members. The fate of the organization is now rested upon what the faculty dictates which destroys the concept of STUDENT organization. I am not questioning the capability of the faculty to decide for the organization dahil naniniwala naman ako na walang magulang ang gugustuhing mapasama ang kanyang mga anak. But at the end of the day, it is the students who lost their chance to develop better decision-making skills, better assertiveness and better identity as an essential part of the organization and of the department. It is the students who lost their chance to enjoy the privilege that the principle of self-determination offers and it is the students who lost their chance to be heard.

                Gone are the days when the organization can determine the concept of the activities that it wants to implement freely. Gone are the days when members of the organization could vote, suggest and comment on what they want freely. Gone are the days of empowered students. Gone are the days of students’ self-determination. Gone are the days of the Human Welfare Advocates that was established for the students, by the students and of the students. Gone are the days that the Human Welfare Advocates can be branded as a student organization. Self-determination and Participative Governance in the Human Welfare Advocates died and along with it, the very essence and the very reason of existence of the Human Welfare Advocates died. Until the important people in and out of the organization will not redefine their roles in the organization, nothing will change and the Human Welfare Advocates will forever be dead.

justice!

i was tasked by laisa to help her in the lay-out and in the messaging of a tarp that will be displayed infront of the department in connection to what happened to a student of bicol university and this is what i made:

well, i know its just normal but i'm just happy that our condemnation and message was spread directly to 35 persons and was shared with 20 other more persons. calling for justice is not easy, but together, we can make our voices heard. :)

rush

i just got home from Albay, specifically from BU though our semestral break actually started a week before or on the 18th to be particular. i can't blame anybody because the delay in my sought after semestral break is the product of undone academic requirements, heavy load of extra-curricular commitments and personal urges for me to stay in legazpi and have some bonding time with friends which fortunately pushed through in a from of a swimming/excursion in the resort town of Sto. Domingo in Albay.

well, i don't have any motivation in writing this post. haha. i just wanted to post for the sake of self-fulfillment or satisfaction amidst the ordinary stressful days that i have in legazpi coupled with cough, headache and colds thus, making me not so feeling well. and though i'm not that feeling well, i can say that i'm proud of myself because at least, i have performed what was expected of me as the president of the human welfare advocates. though i'm usually late in the morning, at least i was able to help in the facilitation of the community first aid training for the senior social work students plus self defense and i was able to share what i know about Art Therapy as speaker-facilitator during a re-echo seminar workshop.  but then again, i think that's not the reason why i wanted to post here.

hmmm. i remember! we, in bicol university still have our clearances to finished every after semester so that we can enroll for the next sem. something that doesn't exist in the most universities in manila and even in Naga as far as i know. it's as if, only in BU thing. and since i'm the president of all social work students of BUCSSP, i am one of the signatories for the clearance. feeling ko sikat ako dahil maraming humihingi ng autograph ko. come to think of it, i am the self-proclaimed john lloyd cruz of the social work department. haha. moving on, sympre sa pagpirma dapat responsible that's why i signed with vigilance at walang makakontra sa akin dahil takot sila sa akin lalo na ang mga lower years na come to think of it ay hindi pa naman ako nangangain and the last time i checked, i think i am approachable. nagkwento kasi si margie (a friend and the org's treasurer) na nagpumilit daw ang ibang lower years na magpapirma sa kanya at kahit sinabihan na niya na hindi siya pipirma dahil walang resibo (one of the requirements and resibo of payment sa org dues and the other ay ang legibly printed na pangalan ko sa tamang lugar. share lang) eh nagpumilit pa rin kaya pinirmahan niya na. samantalang ako, eh isang sabi ko lang na hindi ako pipirma, walang kumontra at nagmatigas ng ulo. bad trip! takot sila! masama ito! tsktsk. anyway...

ANG KASO:

alam ko nabinyagan na ako ng pangalan of all sorts. both yung medyo realistic na malapit sa pangalan ko at meron din namang halos walang konek na parang nakuha lang sa kanto ng leon sa aureus corner magsaysay ave, going somewhere down the road. ewan. pero isa sa pinakamalapit ay ang RUSH. the good ma'am chavez ang naalala ko sa rush, ngayon pati si madam france din rush ang tawag sa akin minsan at may isang ate na bininyagan na ako ng bagong pangalan, RUSH. haha. ewan. mahirap ba talaga ang four letter name ko? alam ko hindi na bago, pero this is the first time na written kaya sabi ko pagkakita ko, IBBLOG KO TO! kaya ni-blog ko na siya ngayon. haha. :D

groupdy

one of the most challenging requirements that we had for first semester of our junior college life is the practicum in facilitation under the subject, Group Dynamics. well, honestly, i thought that Group Dy will be an easy subject for us to conquer and that only group dynamics activities will be done during the final period at first and I WAS WRONG.

we went out of the four corners of AH ICTC and went to what i consider as public secondary schools in located in rural Daraga (in our group's case). Banadero, Anislag and Bascaran National High Schools.

my group decided to conduct self-awareness activities, something that our public secondary high school system don't mind because values education is by the books which is something i deem improper. we choose self-awareness because adolescents in high school are experiencing identity vs role confusion (according to Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development). through the activities we had conducted, we want high school students to get to know more about themselves because in knowing more about themselves, they can become better persons and that's what we would want them to become - a better person in relation to others but more importantly to themselves.

honestly, the whole of it (at least 21 hours of exposure) was very, very, very tiring but at the end, the smiles of the participants, their exhibit of appreciation and positive feedback made everything (effort, financial expenses and others) worth it and even worth repeating for. more so, perhaps my dream of becoming a values education teacher someday in my alma mater ncshs provided motivation. haha. ewan. pero parang ganun yun. i'm happy that we were able to experienced this facilitation thing and i'll be glad to repeat it, if given the opportunity. i just hope that the kids we facilitated will become successful in knowing themselves more. :)

(ewan ko lang kung tama ang sentences ko dito but i hope the thought is correct and can be understood well)

agony amidst the darkness

Today is the 5^th day of October, 2011. WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY! Kaya HAPPY TEACHERS’ DAY sa past and present mentors and professors ko simula pa noong isang hamak na bata pa lang ako. Well, the day started just right. Just right pero late pa rin ako sa aking 8:00 am appointment with Laisa. Sabi na nga ba at wag dapat magpapaniwala sa mga oras na sine-set ng College Student Council because the Surprise Tribute Program for the faculty members started at 9:15 am, 1 hour and 15 minutes late. Kakahiya sa faculty and nakakasayang ng effort. Well, maayos naman ang program and I did my part habang humihingal. As the president of HWA (organization of all social work students), I was asked to give a testimonial to our faculty members. English! Wohooo! Pero feeling ko mas benta kung Filipino or even Bicol pero at the back of my mind kahit anong language naman kasi what matters most is the content of the message. So yun, everything just turned out well with my personal favorite mentor winning the Female Fashionista Award for Faculty Members! Rock on si madam vidz!

In the afternoon, basag-ulo, bukas utak, pagod katawan at gutom tiyan ang epekto ng findings, diagnosis at findings and diagnosis sa paggawa ng case study. ANG HIRAP! After the subject, Sir Guab (ethics professor) meet us and naglabas ng hinanakit. Tsktsk. Anyway, pagkatapos ay nag-asikaso para sa group dynamics field exposure naming sa Friday kung saan magfafacilitate kami for the third and last time sa Bascaran National High School, which can be found in the upland Daraga. Ang topic: SELF-AWARENESS. Isa namang nakakapagod pero masaya at fulfilling na araw ang magaganap by helping the students become better individuals through knowing more about themselves.

Ngayon, sa baba ay mababasa ang blow-by-blow account ng pangyayaring hindi ko inaasahang mangyayari. BAD TRIP! Haha. Pero ayos lang.

5:30 PM – Pumunta sa LCC Daraga para magpaprint ng certificates para sa Friday.

6:00 PM – Hindi pa rin kami nakakapaprint  dahil sa technical error at madaming customers.

6:30 PM – Sa wakas ay piniprint na ang aming certificates.

6:35 PM – Binigyan ako ni angel ng pudding pie at nanlibre din si diane ng banana cake at pudding pie habang hinihintay ang certificates.

6:40 PM – Nag-shopping kami ni Diane (aka Ms. Beautiful) ng prizes for the Saturday activity.

6:50 PM – Sinabihan namin si kuya sa paprintan na icut ang certificates namin and he generously did.

6:52 PM – Pumunta si Diane sa department store para tumingin at bumili ng notebook na pandagdag sa prize.

6:54 PM – Bumalik siya at tinawag niya akong MAHAL <3 (pero actually, she was referring to the notebook na mahal daw at sa kabilang store na lang siya bibili)

6:57 PM – Natapos si kuya sa pag-cut at nagbayad kami ng bayad.

6:58 PM – Pumunta kami ng JY Department Store at bumili ng notebook.

7:00 PM – Pabalik na kami ng department para sa dagdag preparation at iba pang bagay.

7:10 PM – Nasa department na kami at nadatnan na nagpapraktis ang second year na magkakaroon ng showcase of talents sa Friday na hindi ko mapapanood. SAYANG!

7:15 PM – Nasa HWA kami at nagtatambay habang busy si MAHAL (diane).

7:17 PM – Drinamahan ko si triina dahil pinagpalit niya na ako kay sime gamit ang mga linya sa No Other Woman.

7:20 PM – Hinanap ko si Renna sa practice ng second year dahil gusto ko siyang makitang sumayaw pero hindi ko nahanap

7:25 PM – Naghahanap na ako ng ibang kabubusyhan at wala si renna.

7:30 PM – Dumating si madam vidz at sumugod kami sa kanya para sa pagpapirm ng certificates, nagkwentuhan, nagcopy ng mga movies, kumain ng biscocho, iminom ng tubig, pinanood si renna ng advocacy video na gawa ko para sa deviant psychology naming at kung anu-ano pang kalokohan kasama na ang kokology ni friend.

8:30 PM – Hinatid namin si madam vidz sa sakayan.

9:00 PM – Papunta na kaming FCG (First Colonial Grill) para kumain ng dinner.

9:40 PM – Tapos ang dinner. Home bound.

****DITO NA ANG MAINSTREAM AGONY******

9:50 PM – dumating ako at laking gulat ko ng sarado na ang gate ng nadatnan ko. Agad akong nagtanong sa mga tao sa baba kung sino ang may hawak ng susi pero wala pa daw. Send ako agad ng *808 kay ate Dianne at sa pinsan ko para sa tulong.

10:30 PM – zzzzzzz. Inaantok na ako habang nagpaplano ng over the bakod ko.

10:45 PM – may lumilipad na ipis na dumiretso sa mukha ko. Buti nakasara ang bibig ko. Madilim pero alam kong ipis yun. At nag-umpisag katihin ang bibig ko.

10:50 PM – sinilip ako ni bhem mula sa terrace after one hour pagkatapos kong mag *808, binaba niya ako at tinulungan ako sa pamamagitan ng pagkuha ng bag ko.

10:59 PM – desperado na ako at gustong-gusto ko ng umakyat. Maraming gagawin. Kung walang tambay, nag-over the bakod na ako.

11:00 PM – inaantok na ako habang naghihintay. Zzzzzzz

11:11 PM – Nagwish ako na sana makapasok na ako agad.

11:19 PM – dumating ang may hawak ng susi at presto, nakapasok din ako. Hugas bibig, sipilyo, blog at manonood ng movie na ako.

Well, ang bottomline lang ata ng walang kwentang post na ito ay naumpisahan ang araw ko sa paghihintay kaya natapos din siya sa pamamagitan ng pagpapahintay sa akon ng 1 hour and 20 minutes kung hindi ako nagkakamali. Aba! Ayos! Grabe ang patience ko. Haha. Pasensya! Pasensya! Pasensya! Speaking of pasensya, I was reminded of Mavic. Sino siya? Malalaman mo din sa takdang panahon. Good night! :)

happy birthday margie! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ms. MARGIETHEL B. ECLIPSE! haha. sayang! i missed the opportunity to be a part of the pre-birthday celebration. dapat lumalangoy din ako. anyway, all the best for you kaibigan! :)

oktoberfest!

HELLO OCTOBER! :)

starting october (perhaps the busiest month for the first semester of AY 2011-2012)

with optimism and joy! KAYA TO!

superRUSS

probably you laughed upon seeing the "badly" photoshoped picture of superRUSS. well, again, it is not known to many that i am regarded by atleast two friends as superman. sabi ko nga ay kung si kuya harry daet ang spiderman ng cssp, ako naman ang superman. well, actually it started with kuya lou lauraya who happens to be the BU presidential son and an incoming senior of social work and then the story continued. poknat also calls me superman because according to her, i'm kinda her savior and mavic calls me superman because she thinks that i can do anything or just everything (which is humanly impossible. haha)

of course, i'm flattered with me being associated to superman. it's a whoah! because how come i can be associated to superman. i don't have special powers like the power of flight and the superstrength but perhaps they called me because that's what they see and i thanked them. but then just like spiderman's famous quote, with great power comes great responsibility, with them calling me superman would mean that i should always be that superguy in their eyes. gladly, i'm not the kind of person who lives everyday fulfilling the expectations of others towards me for i think it would be better if i will live according to what i want and who i really am. living with the expectations of others comes second only because i am the driver of my life not them. katunayan, when i have the chance, i expose to them and i try to expose to them my weakness point and the not so superguy attitude. haha. that's life! that's reality!

but with the different events that happened during the last month of the recently concluded academic year plus the expected pressures, expectations, twist and turns of the junior year in social work (if ever i passed the battery exam), i just think i literally need to become a superman or let's just say superRUSS and let me dissect the different reasons/factors on why is that so.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR. first on my cape, i got on my hands a university based organization but its not a simple UBO - The Order of the Bicol University Blue Feather Society: The Official Honor Society of BU. it is the organization of the cream of the crop of BU. the top 10 and top 15 of the different colleges/units of BU. worse, i am the president or the chancellor once the new draft of the constitution is finalized. actually, our term should end august of AY2011-2012, however, my co-officers are thinking of extending our term so that we could finish one academic year considering the facts that we are elected just one month before the closing of AY2010-2011. Dr. Bibi and the assistant dean of the BU Office of Student Services said that i should be up for reelection once a new election happens on august or perhaps july after we have finished laying the foundations of the organization but i don't really know. for now, i'm into the idea of not running for reelection but i think i can change my mind as the days pass. well, it's not just hard but it's very hard handling a UBO. Second on my cape under extra-curricular is the HUMAN WELFARE ADVOCATES. well, just this march i was promoted from being the HWA secretary by being elected as president with overwhelming votes with Angelo fielded as my opponent but then suggested that voters should vote for me instead thus it's as if i don't have any contender to the presidency. well, HWA is just a small organization, a college based organization and is the organization of all the students of the social work department. eventhough, it's a small organization, soo much is expected from HWA being the Best College Based Organization for AY 2010-2011 and the constant successes it enjoyed during the past years. meaning, i with my officers should strive to maintain the title and to even surpass what last year's hwa had done.

ACADEMIC PRESSURES. Maintain, Improve, Keep whatever academic achievements i have and the rest is self-explanatory being true to any student. haha. :p

THESIS. Though part of academic pressures, thesis deserves a lone spot because of the fact that this is the major stressor of the junior life. sleepless nights, tiresome data gathering, brain cracking write-ups and re-writes - more to come and yet again, the rest is self-explanatory. perhaps i can also add here our counselling subject and the practical for counselling. well, counselling is not that easy.

LOVELIFE. first question, meron ba? haha. hmm. i don't know but just like what i wrote in my Ten Years From Now article in the book of myself, junior year is my lovelife year but i don't think so. if ever, wawa man future girlfriend ko kaya wag na lang. i think i'll just wait until i finish college. haha.

OTHERS. these includes friends (MNT/BESTFRIENDS/NAGA FRIENDS), family and such other things.

well, they are truly some of the facts but i must say that after all, i am quite confident that at the end of Academic Year 2011-2012, i can proudly say that I MADE IT! better yet I MADE IT WITH FLYING COLORS! i am very optimistic and just like what i always bear in mind, positive thinking will transform into positive results. haha. :D

MY decemberFEST

well, i planned to do all my updated posts that should have been posted days or should i say months before. but then, sad to say, i really did not succeed in executing my plan. but then, i believe it's not that late so i'll try to cope up with my supposedly done postings but i'll do it briefly and concise.

moving on, december is always my most awaited month aside from june (which happens to be my birth month) because of the different atmosphere that the Christmas celebration brought and the upcoming entry of a new year plus the sometimes cool temperature that we experience considering the fact that we are used to hot and not-so-hot temperatures. well, speaking of december, i really don't have a plan except the fact that we will celebrate Christmas yet many activities aside from the Christmas celebration itself pushed through. so here is a glimpse of my december:

December 3

Farah's 18th Birthday Celebration at Tabaco City. i was one of the few bucssp-social work students who attended her birthday. nakakahiya kasi, personal niya pang ini-abot ang invitation so despite my colds and sinat, i pushed through in attending her celebration. besides, after her shift in bu tabaco social work, this is the only time that we will see her again. moreover, since she also gained friends in TC (tabaco campus), she also invited them. however, it's so weird that when we arrived, they all... poof! - decided to go home even though they really have no plans of going home yet. tsktsk. moving on, the celebration was okay and we stay in tabaco over night.

December 6

Presentation of Proposed Activities of HWA to the Social Work Faculty. my activity was moved and will be fused with other activities to create the 32nd Social Work Days with me as one of the activity chairs.

December 10

Second Human Welfare Advocates General Assembly. we presented the accomplishments and the proposed activities for the 2nd Semester of the organization before its members for their perusal.

Doming's Birthday. who's doming? he is a AB Political Science student who was never my classmate. i mean, he was the classmate of my friends from the other block in one class and since he is the friend of my friends, friends na kami. parang ganun yun. that's why even we're not that close, i still attended his birthday celebration at his house.

First Flag Retreat in my College Life. our organization is the host of the flag retreat this week and since, i am one of the officers plus one of the college student council officers plus nagtatambay lang, i attended the first flag retreat that i actually attended in my college life. i even asked my classmates to join.

Boys Night-Out. i really felt heavy these days. maybe because of disappointment over my friend's unenthusiastic response over our planned Christmas get together and celebration that's why i joined mj in his/her (he's actually a lesbian) request for a night out.

December 15

2 hour special Swimming Class. since we did not meet last time, our professor called for a special class. we actually had our practical exams and gladly i passed with flying fishes. haha. joking aside, i passed the practical exam though i was expecting that i would fail. thank God!

December 16

Christmas Outreach 2010 at Barangay Burgos in Daraga. Barangay Burgos is actually a rural barangay in Daraga with agriculture and pamaypay making as its primary source of income (based on my observations). the class spend some time with the day care children of burgos acting like santa claus. facilitating games, giving foods, gift giving and picture taking are among the activities we did to share the spirit of Christmas and bring the university closer to the community.Moreover, aside from the burgos outreach, i also took part in the outreach of the first year block a in Mabini with Senior Citizens as their beneficiaries as my hwa assignment with melvin. i realized that dealing with lolos and lolas was never really that hard as what i imagined at first. actually, when i see lolos and lolas , there is a strange feeling of 'awa' that struck me out of nowhere. that's why seeing them smile and laughed really touched my heart and made me feel that 'HEY THIS IS CHRISTMAS!' ps. i actually participated in the parlor games especially in the one with the talong. :P

ps. first time kong kumain ng DINUGUAN at hindi pa masarap. tsktsk

December 17

MnT Christmas Celebration and Get Together. After the disappointment, the get together still pushed through. we spend the night swimming and telling stories, sharing laughters and non-sense with sense talks at Manhattan Resort in Sto. Domingo, Albay. It was also my first time in Sto. Domingo. sadly, we didn't have the opportunity to roam around sto. domingo. however, we went to Sto. Domingo Church. their plaza and municipal building is quite spanish looking as if they were preserved since the spanish years just like in Guinobatan.

LAST DAY OF CLASSES FOR 2010!

December 18

Aside from the fact that this is the day when i left Legazpi City to spend the Christmas break in Naga, this is the 2010 Kantang Jovenes: A Christmas Caroling Contest day wherein the City Youth Officials 2010 sponsored the activity. actually, i only helped during the pre-contest preparations such as drafting the contest's mechanics and guidelines, preparing the registration forms and the contest 'logo'. I was able to attend the contest eventhough i arrived in Naga at around 5 pm and that's my additional help: presence.

December 22

Biglaang Food and Ukay-ukay Trip with Jo and Bstfrnd. it was really biglaan. bstfrnd just pm me jo sent me a message in fb inviting me to join them eat. i was really tamad that time at ako na ang tamad. i made them wait for 42 minutes because of the distance of del rosario to centro. haha. well, i enjoyed the food trip. it was nice seeing jo after 7 months and rica again after 10 months. nakakamiss din! thanks jo and bstfrnd! and thanks jo again for the food. :D

December 23

Biglaang Bisita ni Teacher Jaki and Kevin. Teacher Jaki and Kevin are part of my elementary buddies and we live in one subdivision. they decided to pay a surprise visit because it was years when we last saw each other. probably, four or five years. since, teacher jaki is here, we planned to have a mini-jamming/reunion by asking our former classmates and teachers john and zach to join. December 27 was the date of the mini-jamming/reunion.

December 24

CHRISTMAS EVE. We attended the Christmas Mass as a family and ate Noche Buena when the midnight struck.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

December 25

Polangui. We went to Polangui and visited our relatives on the mother side.

December 27

Kathy's Birthday

NCSHS Alumni Homecoming. Hindi sana ako mag-attend but because of some underlying factors and people, i decided to attend. I actually stayed for just about an hour since i also have another event to attend to. nonetheless, i still enjoy! seeing my former classmates and friends after some time feels good. i saw mara after (1 year and 2 months), angela (after 7 months), red, jomari, mikee, darren (after 9 days), alfred, jo, claudz, alekks, tin-tin, france, johannes, nikki, kathy, yayen, kitz, iris, dada, erron (namiss ko to!), and so on and so forth.

MdeP Mini-Jamming/Reunion. Bar hopping at magsaysay. we started at Bob Marlin, Mico/Nico (i don't really know) Arch - the one with the ship like facade but no vacant seats, Clubm8 but was closed until midnight, and finally teen-teen's. It was an all-expenses paid by teachers john, zach and jaki. thank you teacher. i had fun remembering those MdeP days.

December 28 - 29

Sipocot. Had time with my relative on the father side, played with my 1-7 years old cousins that's why i realized that nakakamiss din pala ang maging 3-5 years old na bata, missed the opportunity to join mama in her field to Caima (a rural barangay in Sipocot with 45 minutes - 1 hour ride from centrosipocot and 2 hours walk). bottomline, ENJOY!

December 30

Biglaang Bonding with Alekks. postponed na bonding namin nila alekks, trixia, rica and rufo pero natuloy kami ni alekks. CRITICS for a DAY. Double Down sa KFC na nagtataka pa rin ako kung bakit hindi up and down. RPG Metanoia, the first Philippine full length 3D movie na hindi napanood namin ng hindi 3D (sayang!)

December 31

NEW YEAR'S EVE! Attended the New Year Mass, nagpaputok ng lucis at kumain ng cake for media noche.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

gusto kong...

1. matuto ako magswimming at the end of our swimming class;
2. maging successful ang decemberfest ng Social Work Department at BUCSSP dahil ako ay isa sa mga executive chairperson ng parehas na activity;
3. magchristmas na;
4. makapag-tree planting;
5. masunod ang ten little things that i can do for my country na ginawa ko para sa sarili ko at para sa bayan ko;
6. magstart pagwork-out sa gym sa january;
7. matry sumali sa search for mr. and ms. cssp next year kung maging successful at matuloy ang pagwork-out ko sa gym sa january;
8. magbowling lessons sa pe4;
9. matuloy ang social work congress 2011;
10. makapasa sa battery exam;
11. manatiling academic scholar ngaung second semester;
12. manatili sa top 30 dean's listers ng bucssp for ay 2010-2011;
13. magtour na kami sa naga (parang hindi lang ako taga-naga eh) para sa aming rizal class at social welfare perspective;
14. pumuti ng konti;
15. mag-enjoy pagkatapos ng battery exam pasado man o hindi;
16. magawa na ang book of myself ko; at higit sa lahat;
17. maglaro ng badminton sa summer para sa aking work-outs;
18. mag-aral maglawn tennis;
19. magkaroon ng determination na gawin ang mga nakasulat sa taas!; at,
20. makasama siya.

yan muna ang naiisip ko for now. haha. ano pa kaya ang gusto ko?

proud to be here!

BICOL UNIVERSITY:
producers of the BEST social workers in the world!

BU President, Dr. Fay Lea Patria M. Lauraya during her inspiring message before the students and faculty of the Social Work Department told a story about some incidents she encountered with Ms. Tina Monzon Palma (executive director of ABS-CBN Foundation) and an unnamed director of Asian Children's Foundation according to her commended BU Social Work and even named BU as the producers of the best social workers in the world.

acquaintance to the next level!

weeks of repeated delays, struggle to find a venue or to convince our adviser and department chairperson to approve our proposed venue plus some sleepless nights and restless days was worthwhile seeing the enjoyment and happiness in the students' face during the recently concluded 2010 Acquaintance Party and Testimonial Rites of the BUCSSP Social Work Department organized by the Human Welfare Advocates and me as the co-chair of the event together with kuya harry and ate rossana.

MASS | MOTORCADE

well, the whole day event started with a mass at Sta. Rafaela Dormitory Chapel. i was not able to attend because we need to make sure that the next activity which is the motorcade in the major thoroughfares of Legazpi City and Daraga is ready upon the arrival of the students from Sta. Rafaela. the mass started late because of the late arrival of the celebrant. after the mass, the students proceeded immediately to the campus for the motorcade and upon the arrival of the faculty, presto! the motorcade started which lasted for about an hour. i remember ate amy, saying that when they passed at BU-IPESR, the faculty of ipesr applauded for the achievement of the department being the 2010 Top Performing School for Social Work with 94% passing rate.
sad to say, i did not have the chance to join in the motorcade. nakakainggit seeing your friends and most of the department people in the trucks, waving and shouting at the top of their voices.

ACQUAINTANCE GAMES
an innovation for this year's acquaintance was the games. during the planning, i thought it would be good if games will be added so that the freshmen would really be acquainted with their ate's and kuya's. this was the reason why i and other hwa officers did not join in the motorcade. so after the motorcade, the students have their snacks first and after having their snacks - the games started with 10 teams (tutubi, pagung, kuneho, lamuk, atbp). sad to say, because of the heat of the sun some students did not even tried to join. pero mas nakakasad na mismong mga 4th year ang nagumpisa ng pagsigaw ng 'boycott.boycott' at sinabihan pang uto-uto ang mga first year. what an example for the first year! tsktsk. hmm. anyways, some students said that they enjoyed the games while some didn't even bother to join but then the heat of the sun caused some heads to heat up. well, somehow its their kawalan and it could reflect their personality. moreover, i deem the games successful.

pre-acquaintance party
after the games, the officers were instructed to eat first and have some rest. after eating, the officers prepared the hall (Bicol College Gymnasium - its quite ironic that we are celebrating BU's achievement in another school). okay na sana kaya lang some tables c/o the caterer arrived late and caused major delay during the preparation. the program was supposed to start at 4pm but the officers actually leave the venue to prepare themselves at around 3:30 pm. (see how dedicated we are. haha)

2010 ACQUAINTANCE PARTY and TESTIMONIAL NIGHT
this is the moment! eto na ang gabing pinakahihintay ng lahat. the MAJOR ACTIVITY of the organization/department for the first semester - ang acquaintance party and testimonial rites. well, because of some delays the program started late. almost an hour late. but then the moment it started, dirediretso na at naging smooth ang flow ng program. wonderful intermission numbers were given by the students like SI MARIA SOCIAL WORKER NA - a speech choir like presentation of BSSWI-A, dance intermission by the BSSWI-B, the California Girls Dance Number by the Kampon ni Prof. Sales and so on and so forth. the freshmen introduction was speedy and orderly and so as the testimonial rites of the board passers. The Dean of the College (College of Social Sciences and Philosophy), Dr. Noemi L. Ibo arrived and attended the event and gave her congratulatory message but what surprised us most is the attendance and surprise appearance of the university president, Dr. Fay Lea Patria M. Lauraya. Madam President gave her very inspiring message. I was shocked when the opening line of the president was that - Kahit hindi niyo ako inimbita at wala ako sa program ay pumunta ako' my goodness. nakakahiya naman kay dr. lauraya. anyway, she encouraged the students to work hard so that BUCSSP Social Work will be the number 1 in the Philippines for 4 consecutive years and Bicol University as one of the prestigious state university and colleges. btw, some awards were given by the HWA and proud to say that my friends were able to get the awards like the FACE OF THE NIGHT for RENEE LLANA, BEST DRESSED for WYNDELLE LLORCA, the BSSWI-A's SOCIAL WORKER na si MARIA got the BEST INTERMISSION and Team LAMOK as the winner for the AMAZING RACE. so un, natapos ang program and dinner with just 1 hour remaining to dance pro humirit ang mga students and was granted so the party ended at about 9:45 pm. btw, isa pala ako samga host ng program.

POST-PARTY
yup. nagkaroon kami ng post-party celebration and sleep-over at the house of our friend. over-all, i enjoy very much.