THE ESSENCE OF MAN

My Lenten Reflection

A lot is happening around us. Natural disasters have not been as common now as before. Crime is high, and so does inflation. Wherever you look, it seems as if nothing good exists anymore. I just read a book that talks so much about our stimulus-response action. According to what I have read, there exist a space between stimulus and our response, and in that space lies our choice. The freedom and the power to choose is our birth gift. Everyone has this power. Whatever bad stimulus hits us, our response is determined by our choice. Hence, we are not supposed to be affected by all these negative vibes around us. However, they have adverse effects on us because of our bad choice for a response.

I WAS IN NAVAL, BILIRAN

UBD Workshop in Cathedral School of La Naval

Last April 7 to 9 I was in Cathedral School of La Naval in Naval, Biliran. I was invited by S. Joy, the principal, and Sir Victor, the academics affair head to conduct a seminar-workshop with the teachers on UbD. My stay was fruitful and very rewarding. I was able to rest but at the same time inspire the teachers to write their unit plans for the incoming academic year. CONGRATULATIONS CSN!

THE NATURAL POWERS OF MEN

An Inspirational Message

Last Monday and Tuesday, I went from one room to another bidding the students good luck on their final examination. In those two days I was also able to share some insights about success, failures and foolishness. The latter, foolishness, is to encourage those with failing grades to study harder and pass the exam.

I came across one good definition of a fool. A foolish person keeps on doing the same thing everyday and expects a different result. In a contemporary fable by Robin Sharma, failure is simply a bad decision done each day which grows to be a disaster later on. On the contrary, success is a good decision put into action daily which later becomes a tsunami of victories.

This afternoon you, our dear students, are recognized for the outstanding work you have accomplished. You were no fool and you made every failure a stepping stone towards success. You turned out to be the best among your classmates. However, you should more than know right now that with the honor you receive today comes more responsibilities. These responsibilities are the true measures of your being human. It is not the medal that will be hanged around your neck that makes you human. All of us were endowed with natural powers to be the best. I am now going to tell you the four natural powers we were all given:

1. Being alive and human, you have the power to work each day and express the absolute best within you. All of you here this afternoon have fully harnessed this power. You came to school everyday and worked hard to better your best self next day.

2. Being alive and human, you have the power to inspire, influence and elevate each classmate you have by the gift of great example. Now, this may be your problem. Have you inspired your friends to study as hard as you did? Did they succeed in all the subjects just like you did? Have you influenced your classmates to perform the assigned tasks to the best of what they could? Have you been a good example to your classmates?

3. Being alive and human, you have the power to create positive changes in the face of negative conditions. And this, my dear students, does not need a medal around your neck. Have you been a positive driving force in your class? Have you made a positive change in the family? Kahit wala kang medal na nakasabit sa leeg, kaya mong gumawa ng mga kanais-nais na bagay galing sa wala o’ kaya’y galing sa isang napakapangit na sitwasyon.

4. Being alive and human, you have the power to treat others with respect, appreciation and kindness. This last power sets us apart from other animals. We do not just have the intellect. We also have souls and the heart to love others just like what Jesus Christ did to the last, the least and the lost.

Because of the medals that will soon be hanging around your necks, the challenge to prove among yourselves these powers becomes greater. Yes, you have worked so hard each day. Yes, you have inspired others to achieve more. Yes, you have created a positive change. Yes, you have the heart for the unloved and the unfortunate. Pero itong lahat kayang gawin ng maski sinumang tao, may medal man na nakasabit sa kanyang leeg o’ wala. But because you are recognized to be more than your classmates, you are honored this afternoon, then you share the same dilemma with Peter Parker a.k.a. Spiderman: with great power comes greater responsibilities. Yours beginning this afternoon is, “With great honor, comes greater tasks…and what are these tasks?

Work harder each day and be the best always.

Set a good example to inspire others.

Create a positive change whenever opportunity presents.

Manifest God's love to others.

KAYA BA?

FOREWORDS FORETHOUGHTS

Fear Not My Friend

When people are confronted with things that are new, this causes fear. By nature, we are afraid of anything new because it agitates the status quo. However, it is only when we are threatened that we fight back, strive harder to survive. When you started English I with me, I knew you were afraid. You have so many apprehensions. That was not really my intention. All I want is to challenge you to work harder, aim for more than what you already have achieved.

I know now that all your apprehensions before, all your fears are baseless. If you have faltered then and gave up, you would not have achieved what you have accomplished now. You have realized that you are no longer the same naïve person who first stepped in SMA nine months ago. With sheer effort, patience and diligence, you have overcome your fears and reached more than what you could imagine last June. You have proven to yourself that with the right motivation, support from your parents and determination you can do things. You have the power to create.

Each of us is endowed with talents and skills. These are God-given gifts for us to enjoy life more the way He wills everything to be. I am very happy that young as you are today, you have realized that you can do so much if only you believe in yourself. Nothing is impossible. Always believe in your power to create. You may have done wrong, but you also have the power to rectify yourself. I hope these new insights about yourself will bring you more successes and happiness in life in the future. I hope you will continue to nurture your giftedness, your skills. Hone them some more. The world is yours… and it will be yours… tomorrow.

ODE TO STILLNESS WHEN YOU WERE GONE

kalalum na sa kagabhion...kangitngit

daw naulaw mopahiyom ang bulan

katugnaw sa hangin

nga sa imong kaunoran

gapukaw ning dughan

nga sa kainit

nakabsan.

dili ba kahapon lang

gaingon ka...

gihigugma mo ako

kalalom na sa kagabhion...kamingaw

maski ang mga gangis

dili mapukaw

sulod sa hagamay kong lawak

anino sa kagahapon miputos

ning kasingkasing kong gaantos.

kahapon lang gaingon ka...

gihigugma mo ako

...kahapon lang

V DAY - IN MEMORIAM

Life is Too Short...
carlo b.

I died...

just before I was born

like the night

that snatched my cradle away

only to elope blind

I am dead...

when I was born

left behind to suckle unfree

crying through the night

when everyone sleeps

I will be dead...

long before the night

allows the new moon

to pass the day

and then the sun shines

ALL IN HIGH FIESTA SPIRIT

300 Years of Inspiration from St. William of Aquitaine

Dalaguetnons have always been known to be deeply pious and religious. Our piety and religiosity went back many years ago when the Spaniards first came to our place. With the inspiration of San Guillermo de Aquitania, Dalaguete has progressed a lot in all aspects of life. The people have become more mature in fulfilling their respective roles in the community. Economically, the town has grown from a lowly fourth class municipality to second class in less than three years. In a cycle, this growth has created more jobs and built more infrastructure which paved more development. These were all accomplished because the people have been steadfast in their faith for a better Dalaguete. This unwavering Dalaguetnon piety and religiosity are inspired by the examples of Sr. San Guillermo.

Dalaguete would not have been in all high spirits today if not for her people. The Dalaguetnons themselves have played a tremendous role in placing Dalaguete where she is now. The farmers in Mantalongon and in other mountain barangays continue to labor, breaking backs to provide the municipality green gold for her coffers. Young professionals always come back to Dalaguete, start their productive lives bringing in more income to the place. The elderly remain active, the retirees continue to work for the good of us all providing the younger generation with the best examples of how age intermarries with success and fulfillment. The wealth of Dalaguete first resides on her people. If not for these hardworking and gallant women and men, Dalaguete would not have been as productive as she is now.

Because of the industry and resilience of her people, Dalaguete has continued to soar up high in terms of economy. In just a short time, the municipality has gone up "high class". Income-wise, the town is doing very well - earning so much from the produce of the land. We are still one of the major vegetable suppliers of the region. Income has also gone up because of the more intensive, effective and efficient revenue collection. Because the Dalaguetnons are now more capable of spending more, their spending pattern and habit have also helped a lot the local economy. Coupled with wise spending and proper planning, Dalaguete and her people will continue to soar high, that becoming a city would never be a dream so far.

Standing in one corner, one is able to see as many as three bakeries in Dalaguete. A lot of buildings sprouted in strategic locations. New roads are opened and old ones are concreted. Now the town has a decent plaza and safe place for children to play. The government exerted much effort for infrastructure to grow with the people. Because of the income provided in by the people, the local government is able to give back to the people in terms of infrastructure projects which will further boost the economic and socio-cultural status of the town. The newly refurbished cultural and sports complex will surely be the envy of other municipalities in this southern part of the province. This is just to name some, but with the people's continued patronage and stewardship of what the local government has done so far and built, we definitely will go a long way farther.

It would have been regrettable if I had left Dalaguete to earn my keep somewhere else. Looking at where she is now and being able to experience personally the pains, the excitement and the victory she has been through always brings back memories and a tear or two in my eyes notwithstanding the awkward lump in my throat. Through the years, I have seen my hometown flourish into one economic hub in southern Cebu because of the the diligence and resilience of my fellow Dalaguetnons. These traits inspired by the life of Sr. San Guillermo in turn give the town's economy a great push resulting to development in infrastructure which we ourselves enjoy today, and hopefully for next generations of Dalaguetnons to come. Celebrating 300 years of grace and pride, Dalaguete and the Dalaguetnons indeed have come a long way through.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY, YOU MADE MY DAY

Hi Joe, I am Juan

Who's handsome? Definitely, I will be the first to say that I am. This Freudian self-worship may not actually be harmful; it even helps sometimes. If the confirmation, however, comes from others then I am doubly happy, it would resurrect my long dead grandfather from whom I have inherited my not-so-Pinoy looks. I have always been mistaken for someone I am not. In one of the high end restobars in Manila, someone congratulated me for winning a motocross event. I have never driven a motorbike, and someone mistook me for an extreme sports athlete. Cool! I have also been mistaken for a priest, not just once but several times. In one of the posh hotels in Cebu, I got past through the body scan and security check. The security personnel asked, "Father, are you attending the convention?" Yes, I said and I got in without the usual hassles of body frisking. To top, I have so many times been mistaken for a foreigner. It should have been the mixed of genetic grace. I am taller than the usual Juan. I got a patrician nose and I grow a lot of facial hair faster than my scalp. Children thought I am "Hi Joe". My former teacher thought I am one too. Just a while ago, coming from school, as I entered the house a fish vendor shouted, "Isda, Sir." I gestured No with my hands. She must not have seen it and thought I did not understand her at first. She shouted again, "Fish, Sir!" and that made my dreary Saturday all too sunny. I entered the house with a smile on my face.

FLOW OF THE RIVER -

Three Secrets of Success

Success remains elusive to most people. To some it represents the essence of life, for what is life if one lives a loser. Taking important lessons from a lowly yet determined river, life indeed can be successful with focused goal, creative resourcefulness and plenty acts of kindness. The river continuous to flow to the sea because right from the start it sees where it is going. To succeed, one needs a goal, a vision to work for. The river when hot goes underground to escape the scorching sun only to re-emerged farther down crystal clear and more determined than before. Lastly, the river does not forget to feed water even to its smallest tributary. Kindness begets kindness. From the lowly river, one needs to focus on a goal, be creative around problems and spread kindness to all to succeed.

KM. 15 - DEAD END

What My Life Will Not Be 15 Years Hence

Fifteen years from now, my life would be worthless if I am loveless, penniless and homeless. Without love, I would not have inspiration. Without money, what's the purpose of living? Without a home but only a house to stay lessens my being into mere animal existence. What is there to live for, therefore, without love, money and the warmth of a home?

Love, money and home are what will make my life fifteen years hence worth living. Love inspires me to work harder and be the best husband for my wife, the best father for my children. Money as they say makes the world go round; thus, my life in riches revolves with the world. A home is not a house where only animals live. Definitely with love, money and home my life would be worth living.

I look around and worthless life is governed by the absence of love, paucity of money and the lack of warm embrace of a home. How many men have been mercilessly broken down into boys because they have not loved at all? How many men live on streets literally begging for their existence? How many men are contented with just boxes for shelter, rags to warm their nights? Should I decide to make my life worth living, I would have loved, earned my keep and build a home fifteen years from now.

MY DAY TODAY

I started early for school today. Though it was a Saturday, we had to be in school for our club moderators' updating. I was thankful I arrived earlier than the resource person. She happened to be a very close friend. Just the same, I still had to prepare the venue, set the AV equipment - all to my discomfort because my sweat was dripping wet my polo barong. I wanted to lose my cool, but I got hold of myself. The day went on with all of us learning new things to prepare us better for our future work as club moderators. (I hope so.) I stayed a while and finished some work for my Reading class next week.

HERE I GO AGAIN

I think I am really growing older. I cannot understand anymore the things that are going on around me. In school and with my teachers, I expect so much that I don't know if they can deliver. I don't want to reason out for my actions and demands. Nobody will understand. I find consolation by drowning myself with work. My two English classes among the freshmen however are a welcome respite. They may still be little children, but I find my time with them so consoling...so inspiring.

WHEN YOU BELIEVED IN ME

Nazia, thank you...

There is always this one teacher who would make such a great positive impact in our lives and in my case it was he - Mr. Carlo Bejarasco, our school principal and English teacher, a simple introduction for a great man like him. Students may have labeled him ''Hitler" or "Attila the Hun" but I was one of the few who looked at him in a very different angle. I secretly looked up to him as an inspiration, a role model and a father. Here is something I made for him, a poem to show how much I appreciate him and how great a person he is. Happy Father's Day Sir !

WHEN YOU BELIEVED IN ME

When you believed in me and talked, I listened
When you believed in me and smiled, I enjoyed
When you believed in me and walked, I followed
When you believed in me and inspired, I engrossed

When you believed in me, you unconsciously became a father
When you believed in me, you made me adore life
When you believed in me, you made me trust myself
When you believed in me, you made a mansion in my heart

When you believed in me, you cleared my road
When you believed in me, you erased my wavering
When you believed in me, you made me care about what I have
When you believed in me, you molded me to be special

When you believed in me, I wanted to be everything I could be
When you believed in me, I could not thank you more
When you believed in me, I secretly became your daughter
When you believed in me, I believed in you

WHERE HAVE ALL THE CHILDREN GONE?

Flores de Mayo as it is no longer as it was

I first learn God and the story of creation, and all that are in the Bible from my Lola Erang. She's not my grandmother actually; she is my aunt. When I was around eight years old, I attended her catechism classes done every May. In these classes, school age children were taught basic Christian prayers in preparation for the first communion, which usually happened by the end of this merry month. I could still remember going to the church after each class, joining other children in honoring the Blessed Mother in a month-long prayer known as the Flores de Mayo. After the mass, we then formed lines to receive attendance tabs which we exchanged for school supplies on day of our first communion. I missed those days not for the fun of them, but today, simply for its significance to my life as an adult.

This afternoon I attended again the Flores de Mayo. For many years now, I have observed that children who attended the novena became less and less. I was so sad today because there were even more beatas than children inside the church. I was consoled though because I saw some of my students there. They were volunteer cathechists. I wanted to ask what happened to the children. Where have all the children gone? I hesitated because I knew they could not also provide me with an answer. It was beyond theirs. It was even way beyond those people inside the church this afternoon. A lot of probable answers danced in my mind. All of them realizations of how much the older generation have taken for granted this significant event in a child's life - the Flores de Mayo and the memories that come with it.

This afternoon was the only afternoon again that I joined other children for the Flores de Mayo. Have I been too engrossed with life and the illusion that comes with living that I failed to go back to my authentic child self? When I was young, I believed that life was to be enjoyed and that life had nothing but happiness to offer us all. It was when I started going againt this law of nature that I started to suffer pain. I went against what nature has long wanted me to be, to believe. I envied the children this afternoon, all smiles waving their lithe armes on air with flowers clasped on hand. Theirs were smile of utter innocence, of that childhood belief that life is beautiful...but there were only few of them and I was not even one.

FOR DESIRE OF ORDER

Formulating Classroom Procedures

I know I have not been so regular in posting entries. I still love to put into writing my thoughts - mostly my pain. It's just that this year has not been as bad as before. There were still rough roads along the way but not as bad as before. My work as HS principal has even become more difficult, more demanding. However, I am more focused now and do not dwell on the negative vibes. Today, we were done revisiting our classroom procedures. For the desire of order, we have to be very clear of our classroom SOPs. We have to make these clear to the students on the first day of class because we mean business - really!

The HS and GS faculty members joined together today and met for this noble endeavour. We were able to rewrite 15 very important classroom routine procedures that need to be understood by heart among our students. Here are some of them:

ROUTINE PROCEDURE FOR STARTING THE CLASS
1. Stand for the prayer.
2. Greet the teacher; wait for the response.
3. Align the chairs and pick up pieces of trash and then sit down quietly.
4. The class beadle reports the attendance of the day. The teacher acknowledges the report.
5. Listen and participate well in the discussion.
6. Once the discussion has ended, keep all things away and be ready for the prayer.
7. Remain seated and silently wait for the next subject teacher.

PROCEDURE FOR CLEANING THE ROOM AFTER CLASS
1. Once your classmates are out, the RT prepares to clean the room.
2. Erase the writings on the board, wipe the chalk ledge and get rid the back of the board of unnecessary things (books, notebooks, etc).
3. The girls start sweeping from front to back; the boys alternately move the chairs by row.
4. The girls continue sweeping outside as the boys arrange back the chairs.
5. Prepare the board for the next day by wiping it with damp cloth.
6. Empty the garbage bins, clean it, and place it back in the classroom.

PROCEDURE FOR LEAVING THE ROOM TO GO HOME
1. Stand and prepare for the dismissal prayer.
2. The person closest to the door will go out first by row. The first three rows will go out first by the front door; the remaining rows will go out next at the back door.

PROCEDURE FOR FORMATION FOR THE FLAG CEREMONY
1. Once the bell rings, proceed right away to the assigned place for the section.
2. With the cue from the Sgt. at Arms, arrange yourselves alternately into four columns, two for ladies, two for boys.
3. Listen to announcements and wait for the prayer leader to begin.
4. Join the community in praying and then...
5. Sing the National Anthem well. Stand on both feet, and place your right hand over your left chest.
6. During the oath, raise your right hand forming right angle with the body.
7. Refrain from making unnecessary movements and listen to the Gospel of the day.
8. Keep quiet and reflect on the Gospel, placing your hands clasped together in front of your chest.

PROCEDURE FOR GETTING BACK INSIDE THE CLASSROOM
1. After the Gospel reflection, listen to the cue of the teacher manager to go back to the classroom.
2. In single file and with your hands clasped over the epigastrium, bow your heads and start moving back silently to the classroom.
3. Once inside the classroom, remain standing by your seat, wait for the teacher to cue for the prayer.
4. Take your seat quietly after the prayer and the greeting, and prepare yourself for the class.

CAMIGUIN...AN ISLAND BORNE OF FIRE

Summer Perks...Thanks to UbD

You were not in Camiguin until you had been to the White Island, actually a sand bar off Mambajao. We went there early to catch the sun, not to burn under it

In background is Mt. Hibok-hibok as seen from the "Island"

'Can't help but jump with joy

I did not miss to take a dip

My first side trip - Katibawasan Falls in Mambajao, Camiguin

Site of the Panaad, a cross-province Lenten observance

Purportedly this is an underwater graveyard, the Sunken Cemetery

16th Century Church Ruins at Guiob, Bonbon, Catarman

Soda Swimming Pool at Catarman, Camiguin

"Tres Marias" - a cluster of volcanoes in Catarman

Sto. Nino Cold Spring still in Catarman, Camiguin

At Fishpen, a restaurant by the lagoon in Mahinog, Camiguin

RSM Sisters tendered dinner for my last night in Camiguin

EDUCATION: CHANGING LIVES

Nurturing Faith, Building Excellence, Developing Service

Four years ago, dear graduates, you barged inside the gates of St. Mary’s Academy without a single knowledge of why you were there…simply but to study. Maybe, it was even your parents’ wishes that you should be with us. They were keenly aware of how important quality education is in your continuous quest of improving your life for the better. They entrusted you to us with all the hope that with Venerable Ignacia’s humility and the Virgin Mother’s fiat, you will someday change your lives and live them according to God’s plan. This is so, and could only be done by nurturing faith, building excellence and developing service – which is actually what the RVM pedagogy is all about.

In Christian Living, you have learned that God is the supreme author of life and that He alone knows what our respective future holds. Mary and Venerable Ignacia knew this well that was why both valiant women lived by God’s will. Their strong faith in God and that God will not forsake His children have led them to set good examples of how life should be lived for the glory of God and for the good of all people. With the opportunities afforded to you in your four years of stay with St. Mary’s Academy, your belief in God has been nurtured more. It is our hope that this fully nurtured faith will lead you more to be living witnesses of the gospel values and thus, change people whose lives you have touched.

It is no doubt that education can be the change agent in everyone’s life. However, this is predicated on quality education that imparts vision. It is the kind of education that teaches the students how to think. St. Mary’s Academy builds excellence among her students mainly through the values of discipline, competence and integrity. A lot of you may have experienced how difficult it is to earn a good grade. You went through lots of pain, but the school has only discipline in her mind. As early as today, you must learn that getting nearer to changing your lives for the better entails self-discipline, above-average competence and uncompromisable integrity. Each of you was honed to be an excellent Ignacian-Marian graduate – well-disciplined, competent and above all, honest in dealing with yourself and others.

Faith and excellence however are all useless if not put into tangible practice. What knowledge you have in your head and what compassion you have in your heart are all for naught if both are not lived as preferential service to the last, the least and the lost. Jesus Christ’s death on the cross is the ultimate example of giving. We will never experience the same but at least in little ways, we may serve those in need. You have learned inside the classroom many social realities where opportunity to be of service is demanded. St. Mary’s Academy does not have to prod you to move and act. It should be every Ignacian-Marian student’s instinct to help others in need, and in so doing change all our lives for the better.

Changing lives through education has been everyone’s elusive dream before. Indeed education has always been thought as the sole solution to our country’s pervading problems of moral decay and material poverty. It is important to note though that moral uprightness and material comfort are not the only positive realities that improve lives. Education in St. Mary’s Academy is centered on Christian living and witnessing because we believe that together with moral uprightness and material comfort, spiritual fullness is needed in order for us to fully change ourselves and lead our lives all for the glory of God. Graduates, you have been schooled in an institution that puts premium on both internal and social renewal. Do not ever forget that you are always an Ignacian-Marian graduate, nurturing faith, building excellence and developing service.

The challenge has just begun. Good luck on your journey!