If any of our rich people need a new year resolution, they should read this piece by Sam Harris.
Common, ye god-believers of the world. Show the way. Or Sam Harris, a gnuAtheist, will say "Shame on you."
Friday, December 31, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
SUCs - At A Dime a Dozen
State universities and colleges (SUC) are proliferating throughout the country. There are 110 of them as of last count. Many of these are not viable according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad. Soon another state college will be added. Boxing champion and Congressman Manny Pacquiao is filing a bill for a creation of a state college in his district in Sarangani Province. While the aim is laudable, the end result is not going to be, judging from the experience of many other government-funded tertiary schools.
In the small city (many are saying it should not have qualified as a city) where I live there is a city college touted as the first LGU (Local Government Unit) college in the Visayas. A high school classmate of my child finished his four-year electronics course in the college. But when he applied for a job in a big electronics firm he was refused. It seems the school did not offer training that meet the standard of the electronics industry. He went back to a private university (this time an accredited one) and took up marine engineering instead. But what a waste of time.
I think the government, especially the national government, should focus its attention on the elementary education. Higher education should be left to a few state universities that should meet global standards. Perhaps there should only be one government university in each region. Each one should be properly equipped and manned by the best qualified teachers. Then the government should re-channel the budget now going to substandard SUCs and pour the money into the elementary schools and perhaps some high schools, too.
My three children went to public elementary schools. Wrong decision on my part, I now admit. Their counterparts in private elementary schools, whose teachers were ironically earning less than those in the public schools, came out better prepared for higher learning. I think it's partly because the public schools are overcrowded but mostly it's because the standard of hiring is strict in the private schools than in the public school system. And, yes, the books used in the private schools are better-screened by their administrators while those in the public schools are either non-existent or riddled with errors that made Antonio Calipjo Go sad and mad all these years.
The half-baked products of our public elementary schools and high schools often meet up with ill-prepared teachers in our ill-equipped public colleges. Their diplomas are almost as worthless, in the eyes of would-be employers, as those one can procure in Recto.
The Cebuanos have a phrase for these SUCs and their graduates: tagduhay singko, a dime a dozen.
In the small city (many are saying it should not have qualified as a city) where I live there is a city college touted as the first LGU (Local Government Unit) college in the Visayas. A high school classmate of my child finished his four-year electronics course in the college. But when he applied for a job in a big electronics firm he was refused. It seems the school did not offer training that meet the standard of the electronics industry. He went back to a private university (this time an accredited one) and took up marine engineering instead. But what a waste of time.
I think the government, especially the national government, should focus its attention on the elementary education. Higher education should be left to a few state universities that should meet global standards. Perhaps there should only be one government university in each region. Each one should be properly equipped and manned by the best qualified teachers. Then the government should re-channel the budget now going to substandard SUCs and pour the money into the elementary schools and perhaps some high schools, too.
My three children went to public elementary schools. Wrong decision on my part, I now admit. Their counterparts in private elementary schools, whose teachers were ironically earning less than those in the public schools, came out better prepared for higher learning. I think it's partly because the public schools are overcrowded but mostly it's because the standard of hiring is strict in the private schools than in the public school system. And, yes, the books used in the private schools are better-screened by their administrators while those in the public schools are either non-existent or riddled with errors that made Antonio Calipjo Go sad and mad all these years.
The half-baked products of our public elementary schools and high schools often meet up with ill-prepared teachers in our ill-equipped public colleges. Their diplomas are almost as worthless, in the eyes of would-be employers, as those one can procure in Recto.
The Cebuanos have a phrase for these SUCs and their graduates: tagduhay singko, a dime a dozen.
Monday, October 25, 2010
A classmate after mine own heart
My shorthand for his name in my text messages is Trick. And he is sure to respond when I asked him about topics and events in our law class even if he is in the midst of a regular weekend jaunts with his chums.
He said he has studied in the same school since his elementary grades until he finished a degree in Marine Biology. He thinks that he ought to be given a loyalty discount now that he is taking up law in the same school. He was half-kidding I thought.
But he seemed serious when he said that he is studying to be a lawyer in order to please his father. Reminded me of my daughter who was asked during enrollment time why she was taking up electronics engineering at Don Bosco. Without hesitation she said it was the wish of her Tatay; and that would be me. But I think my daughter is enjoying her studies. She has always been my sidekick whenever I do utility repairs around the house: from electrical to carpentry to electronics repair.
And I think Trick is enjoying law school, too, and not just to please his father. Why else would he be getting those good grades effortlessly while I have to struggle hard to commit a point of law to memory. I used to get good grades when I was a young student in college. But now, as I told my young classmates, much of my brain is like an aging hard drive, already with plenty of bad sectors in it.
But I like his worldview more than his adeptness with the law. He talks about the need to reduce our carbon footprint if we are to save this world. One time Trick refused to eat pizza which was a blowout from one of our professors. It was more about the plastic being used to serve the pizza that bothered him. Most other law students would rather talk only about jurisprudence when they are not busy with their facebook account. Yes, they do that - debate about jurisprudence and update their facebook inside the classroom because our law school is wifi-enabled.
Considering the batting average of the law school, I think he would be a lawyer before too long. Perhaps we'll still meet in court someday. Most probably with with me as his client since it is still an iffy situation for me to finish law school at all knowing that the casualty rate in our law school is bigger than its bar mortality rate.
He said he has studied in the same school since his elementary grades until he finished a degree in Marine Biology. He thinks that he ought to be given a loyalty discount now that he is taking up law in the same school. He was half-kidding I thought.
But he seemed serious when he said that he is studying to be a lawyer in order to please his father. Reminded me of my daughter who was asked during enrollment time why she was taking up electronics engineering at Don Bosco. Without hesitation she said it was the wish of her Tatay; and that would be me. But I think my daughter is enjoying her studies. She has always been my sidekick whenever I do utility repairs around the house: from electrical to carpentry to electronics repair.
And I think Trick is enjoying law school, too, and not just to please his father. Why else would he be getting those good grades effortlessly while I have to struggle hard to commit a point of law to memory. I used to get good grades when I was a young student in college. But now, as I told my young classmates, much of my brain is like an aging hard drive, already with plenty of bad sectors in it.
But I like his worldview more than his adeptness with the law. He talks about the need to reduce our carbon footprint if we are to save this world. One time Trick refused to eat pizza which was a blowout from one of our professors. It was more about the plastic being used to serve the pizza that bothered him. Most other law students would rather talk only about jurisprudence when they are not busy with their facebook account. Yes, they do that - debate about jurisprudence and update their facebook inside the classroom because our law school is wifi-enabled.
Considering the batting average of the law school, I think he would be a lawyer before too long. Perhaps we'll still meet in court someday. Most probably with with me as his client since it is still an iffy situation for me to finish law school at all knowing that the casualty rate in our law school is bigger than its bar mortality rate.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A Professor after mine own heart
One evening our professor digressed into the situation of poor litigants. People who run afoul of the law or who are looking for relief from the court but cannot afford a lawyer are usually extended help by the Public Attorneys Office. But ordinary public school teachers cannot avail themselves of the PAO because they exceed the income bracket to be classified as poor litigants. But sometimes there are people, businessmen in fact, who qualify as poor litigants because they underdeclare their income or they do not file income tax returns at all. They can afford a private lawyer but they want the free services of the PAO.
Consider the Cebu Normal University, he said. It is a government school and was meant to provide education to poor families. But you can see private cars lining along its side fetching children of families who should have been able to afford tuition in private universities.
I also noticed this situation at the Cebu City National Science High School. Three of my sisters-in-law sent their children to Science High. From what I learned, their children were among the few who rode on jeepneys to and from school throughout their secondary school days. When it was our family's turn to send our children to school, we opted to send them to a private high school closer to home altho the school was of a lower caliber. Our family income was not enough to afford a better private high school. At the same time, I did not want to bump off a poorer child from a free schooling at the science high.
The rich, if you tolerate them, want freebies in education as well as in their income tax. I was happy to note that the professor and I share at least one line of thinking.
Consider the Cebu Normal University, he said. It is a government school and was meant to provide education to poor families. But you can see private cars lining along its side fetching children of families who should have been able to afford tuition in private universities.
I also noticed this situation at the Cebu City National Science High School. Three of my sisters-in-law sent their children to Science High. From what I learned, their children were among the few who rode on jeepneys to and from school throughout their secondary school days. When it was our family's turn to send our children to school, we opted to send them to a private high school closer to home altho the school was of a lower caliber. Our family income was not enough to afford a better private high school. At the same time, I did not want to bump off a poorer child from a free schooling at the science high.
The rich, if you tolerate them, want freebies in education as well as in their income tax. I was happy to note that the professor and I share at least one line of thinking.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
GOCCs, excessive salaries, etc.
The agency I work with is classified as a Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC). In Cebu the various GOCCs have an athletic association named Government Corporations Athletic Association or GCAA for short. One time the GCAA held its sports activities at the Cebu City Sport Complex (Abellana grounds for the locals). They had these banners emblazoned with GCAA Sportsfest or something to that effect. While parading around the Abellana oval an onlooker surveyed the marching participants and then glanced at the initials on the banners and said "GCAA - Gulang Caayo Ang Athletes". Ouch! You have to be a Bisdak to feel the sting of the comment. (Here's the best essay so far about being Bisdak. And yes, I agree with Prof. Tan that Ms Gloria Diaz was just misquoted.)
This agency I am working with is also categorized as a Government Financial Institution (GFI). However, it is not an ordinary GOCC or GFI because it is one those so-called constitutionally mandated body. You can read Article 20, Section 12 here if you wish to know where I work.
With the latest brouhaha on excessive salaries and perks of GOCCs and GFIs I have been fielding queries left and right from well-meaning friends and acquaintances on whether I am also one of those "greedy" GOCC employees. My stock answer is that if you get the average of what the employees of the lowest and highest paid GOCCs are getting then ours would be somewhere in the middle.
The usual rationalization for high salaries in GOCCs/GFIs is to make the workplace competitive with other institutions. My stand would be similar to the Inquirer editorial:
Up until the beginning of 2010 when I was promoted to another department I used to lecture to school groups who came for institutional visits. Every year we get an average of 500 students from various schools in the Visayas and Mindanao. (Interestingly, I have a current classmate in law school who remembers me lecturing when his group from Silliman University came for a visit. He is now a CPA.)
I always end my lecture by inviting students to work with us. I tell them all they need to bring with them are 3 H's: head, hand, and heart. They must have their heads filled with ideas and knowledge they can contribute to the institution. Next, they must be handy with various skills because they will be wearing several hats. And lastly, and more importantly, they must have the burning desire in their heart to work so that the institution will be able to contribute in nation-building because that's one of the things we need in order to be a progressive country - capable institutions.
What then, did I bring to the institution? Modesty shield down!
I had two years of teaching fisheries, and general science in a government high school. This was followed by several years in the private sector in various avionics and marine electronics job. Later I had 2 years in another government department concerned with environment as writer in its extension and information section. When I transferred to my present work I had enough knowledge of computers. Back then the internet was still a foreign concept in the country. But I was already accessing information through the Fidonet courtesy of some friends who were internet pioneers in Cebu.
My programs which I made to make my work easier are still used in our property management system and payroll claims. (These are in Clipper. I never got to finish converting them to VB.Net because I ran into problem with the SQL Server Express backend. I got a working version in VFoxPro but which I discarded. My dogfooding days ended when I was transferred to my present unit.)
After a little while in the institution I became a founding member and officer of the Association of Government Information Officers - Region 7 (AGIO7). I was also an original officer of the Government Organization for Information Technology, R7 (GO-IT7).
Then in order to be considered for promotion I finished my Masters in Management from the UP where I was a Civil Service scholar during my final year.
Now keep in mind that I am only an average guy in our institution. So do I and my fellow employees earn our keeps? You tell us!
This agency I am working with is also categorized as a Government Financial Institution (GFI). However, it is not an ordinary GOCC or GFI because it is one those so-called constitutionally mandated body. You can read Article 20, Section 12 here if you wish to know where I work.
With the latest brouhaha on excessive salaries and perks of GOCCs and GFIs I have been fielding queries left and right from well-meaning friends and acquaintances on whether I am also one of those "greedy" GOCC employees. My stock answer is that if you get the average of what the employees of the lowest and highest paid GOCCs are getting then ours would be somewhere in the middle.
The usual rationalization for high salaries in GOCCs/GFIs is to make the workplace competitive with other institutions. My stand would be similar to the Inquirer editorial:
Officials of GOCCs like the MWSS say that their pay must be at par with the pay of private corporations so they can attract talented executives. Has that objective been achieved? Most of the officials and trustees/directors appointed to GOCCs are candidates who lost in previous elections, politicians’ protégés and campaign volunteers who do not have the necessary experience and expertise in the business of the institution to which they have been appointed.So the question is: What necessary experience, expertise and talent does anyone need to qualify for a place in the institution where I work?
Up until the beginning of 2010 when I was promoted to another department I used to lecture to school groups who came for institutional visits. Every year we get an average of 500 students from various schools in the Visayas and Mindanao. (Interestingly, I have a current classmate in law school who remembers me lecturing when his group from Silliman University came for a visit. He is now a CPA.)
I always end my lecture by inviting students to work with us. I tell them all they need to bring with them are 3 H's: head, hand, and heart. They must have their heads filled with ideas and knowledge they can contribute to the institution. Next, they must be handy with various skills because they will be wearing several hats. And lastly, and more importantly, they must have the burning desire in their heart to work so that the institution will be able to contribute in nation-building because that's one of the things we need in order to be a progressive country - capable institutions.
What then, did I bring to the institution? Modesty shield down!
I had two years of teaching fisheries, and general science in a government high school. This was followed by several years in the private sector in various avionics and marine electronics job. Later I had 2 years in another government department concerned with environment as writer in its extension and information section. When I transferred to my present work I had enough knowledge of computers. Back then the internet was still a foreign concept in the country. But I was already accessing information through the Fidonet courtesy of some friends who were internet pioneers in Cebu.
My programs which I made to make my work easier are still used in our property management system and payroll claims. (These are in Clipper. I never got to finish converting them to VB.Net because I ran into problem with the SQL Server Express backend. I got a working version in VFoxPro but which I discarded. My dogfooding days ended when I was transferred to my present unit.)
After a little while in the institution I became a founding member and officer of the Association of Government Information Officers - Region 7 (AGIO7). I was also an original officer of the Government Organization for Information Technology, R7 (GO-IT7).
Then in order to be considered for promotion I finished my Masters in Management from the UP where I was a Civil Service scholar during my final year.
Now keep in mind that I am only an average guy in our institution. So do I and my fellow employees earn our keeps? You tell us!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Back to school
It's back to school for me. My eldest, a daughter, got her CPA license in October 2009 and was lucky enough to immediately find an auditing job. Yes, it is mostly a matter of luck. In fact, if you got the brains to ace the CPA or the Bar thank your lucky star for being born out of the union of the right chromosomes. Which brings me to the point.
I am aiming for the Bar once again. More than a decade ago I made the first steps by enrolling in the law course. It was very difficult but not impossible. But I dropped out eventually because I concluded that it was more feasible for me to finish a Master's degree than an LlB. Much of the reason was my membership in a cult at that time. We were then strict followers of the sabbath and the Jewish holidays; as a matter of fact stricter than the Jews themselves. There was no way I could pass my Criminal Law subject because I was always absent every Friday evening.
When I finished my master's I was already out of the church and anything that has got to do with religion. (Regretfully, many of my friends are still in the clutches of my former cult.) It should have been back to law school. But by then the children were also going to school. The money had to be prioritized for their schooling.
So when my daughter finished her studies, I found the siren call of the law irresistible. But a lot of things have changed since I last read a ponencia. Back in the early 1990s you have to get early to the library in order to find the volume of SCRA you needed. And all of my books were not originals. (Read: xeroxed copies. This was before the intellectual property law, ok?) Now, with the advent of the internet you have "free access to law" as proclaimed by the Arellano Law Foundation resource site. Another resource is the Chan Robles site. Thanks, guys! You made my life easier. But I think your postings can profit from a lot of proofreading.
About a quarter of my classmates are bringing PCs - notebooks and netbooks - to the classroom. They have free access to the WiFi facility in the college. I wonder if anybody is having a free ride of the broadband connection while sipping beer in one of those drinking joints beside our school. I hope they are reading the same jurisprudence we have been assigned.
I still cannot decide whether to get a notebook now or wait it out until an affordable Ipad makes it to our shores. I am also considering the Barnes & Noble's Nook. But I wanted to really get my hand on a unit for a live demo before I decide. I'll be happy to have a simple e-reader which would allow me to make notes. Reading from an LCD screen is tiresome. Perhaps they can use the kind of screen of the Ipad on the netbook.
In the meantime, my notebook carries the brand of Cattleya.
P.S. The reason I did not have an entry since May is that I was busy preparing for my return to law school. The entrance exam was one of the hardest I have ever hurdled. The whole of June was spent acclimatizing myself to the rigors of researching and digesting dozens of cases each week and to measure if I have the guts to make it through. This is now July, so far so good.
P.P.S. If I'll make it to graduation I am expecting an award for being the oldest guy. :-)
I am aiming for the Bar once again. More than a decade ago I made the first steps by enrolling in the law course. It was very difficult but not impossible. But I dropped out eventually because I concluded that it was more feasible for me to finish a Master's degree than an LlB. Much of the reason was my membership in a cult at that time. We were then strict followers of the sabbath and the Jewish holidays; as a matter of fact stricter than the Jews themselves. There was no way I could pass my Criminal Law subject because I was always absent every Friday evening.
When I finished my master's I was already out of the church and anything that has got to do with religion. (Regretfully, many of my friends are still in the clutches of my former cult.) It should have been back to law school. But by then the children were also going to school. The money had to be prioritized for their schooling.
So when my daughter finished her studies, I found the siren call of the law irresistible. But a lot of things have changed since I last read a ponencia. Back in the early 1990s you have to get early to the library in order to find the volume of SCRA you needed. And all of my books were not originals. (Read: xeroxed copies. This was before the intellectual property law, ok?) Now, with the advent of the internet you have "free access to law" as proclaimed by the Arellano Law Foundation resource site. Another resource is the Chan Robles site. Thanks, guys! You made my life easier. But I think your postings can profit from a lot of proofreading.
About a quarter of my classmates are bringing PCs - notebooks and netbooks - to the classroom. They have free access to the WiFi facility in the college. I wonder if anybody is having a free ride of the broadband connection while sipping beer in one of those drinking joints beside our school. I hope they are reading the same jurisprudence we have been assigned.
I still cannot decide whether to get a notebook now or wait it out until an affordable Ipad makes it to our shores. I am also considering the Barnes & Noble's Nook. But I wanted to really get my hand on a unit for a live demo before I decide. I'll be happy to have a simple e-reader which would allow me to make notes. Reading from an LCD screen is tiresome. Perhaps they can use the kind of screen of the Ipad on the netbook.
In the meantime, my notebook carries the brand of Cattleya.
P.S. The reason I did not have an entry since May is that I was busy preparing for my return to law school. The entrance exam was one of the hardest I have ever hurdled. The whole of June was spent acclimatizing myself to the rigors of researching and digesting dozens of cases each week and to measure if I have the guts to make it through. This is now July, so far so good.
P.P.S. If I'll make it to graduation I am expecting an award for being the oldest guy. :-)
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Why No Bandwagon for Noynoy Altho He is Winning by a Landslide
This Lady Governor is for Gibo. The Governor's father and brother who are congressmen also claim to support Gibo. But two other siblings who also very influential - one is head of a very vital and controversial GFI - are supporting Villar.
It is a common practice for business families and aspiring political clans to divide their loyalties among whoever is in power, whether in Malacañang, the provincial capitol or the city and municipal hall, and a possible winner in the opposition. There was Roberto Ongpin for Marcos and his brother Jimmy for Cory among businessmen. The political families are even more adept at this game. Whoever is in power the family is protected.
During election time loyalties are divided among the front runners. So the division should have been between Noynoy and Villar. So why did this governor and her family choose to be either with Gibo or Villar?
For them it is a matter of palabra de honor to support Gibo whose "winnability" has been in doubt right from day one of the current election campaign. Most probably they are hoping against hope that the administration machinery can still work miracles for Gibo. But just in case the miracles will not come, they better make a side bet for Villar whose vast campaign kitty is being marshaled effectively. Hence the alliance of the other siblings with the Villar camp.
But why not assign other family members to support Noynoy? I think the only reason is that if Noynoy wins there is nothing to fear. Noynoy is such a decent man that he bears no grudge against anyone. So those congressmen or governors or mayors who are campaigning on the other camps have nothing to worry about. They know that their development funds will not be cut off even under a Noynoy presidency.
That is why a Cebu congressman urged the students of his family-owned university to vote and to ask their parents to vote for Noynoy. He was telling them about how Noynoy is an honorable and likable fellow. He said that you could ask even the security guards of the Senate who they would vote for and they would say Noynoy. Yet he is campaigning for Villar. If Villar wins, good for him. If Noynoy wins, no problem for him. He can always claim he campaigned for Noynoy.
Even Arroyo is assured that any viable projects in her district will be funded accordingly. No matter that in the presidency of Macapagal, Noynoy's father, Ninoy, while governor of Tarlac complained bitterly that projects for his province were not given the funds by Malacañang. Noynoy has enough noblesse oblige not to stoop to that level.
It is a common practice for business families and aspiring political clans to divide their loyalties among whoever is in power, whether in Malacañang, the provincial capitol or the city and municipal hall, and a possible winner in the opposition. There was Roberto Ongpin for Marcos and his brother Jimmy for Cory among businessmen. The political families are even more adept at this game. Whoever is in power the family is protected.
During election time loyalties are divided among the front runners. So the division should have been between Noynoy and Villar. So why did this governor and her family choose to be either with Gibo or Villar?
For them it is a matter of palabra de honor to support Gibo whose "winnability" has been in doubt right from day one of the current election campaign. Most probably they are hoping against hope that the administration machinery can still work miracles for Gibo. But just in case the miracles will not come, they better make a side bet for Villar whose vast campaign kitty is being marshaled effectively. Hence the alliance of the other siblings with the Villar camp.
But why not assign other family members to support Noynoy? I think the only reason is that if Noynoy wins there is nothing to fear. Noynoy is such a decent man that he bears no grudge against anyone. So those congressmen or governors or mayors who are campaigning on the other camps have nothing to worry about. They know that their development funds will not be cut off even under a Noynoy presidency.
That is why a Cebu congressman urged the students of his family-owned university to vote and to ask their parents to vote for Noynoy. He was telling them about how Noynoy is an honorable and likable fellow. He said that you could ask even the security guards of the Senate who they would vote for and they would say Noynoy. Yet he is campaigning for Villar. If Villar wins, good for him. If Noynoy wins, no problem for him. He can always claim he campaigned for Noynoy.
Even Arroyo is assured that any viable projects in her district will be funded accordingly. No matter that in the presidency of Macapagal, Noynoy's father, Ninoy, while governor of Tarlac complained bitterly that projects for his province were not given the funds by Malacañang. Noynoy has enough noblesse oblige not to stoop to that level.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
