mi official stint as a writor

I’m happy that my ‘first’ article has now been published (i considered it ‘first’ because the other two were ‘mere’ coverage of a senate or house of representatives hearing translated into a 500-word format), but i can be happier should this article be published with my name on it.

Anyway, for future reference (like if I need to compile something for my portfolio), I’ll post the article here. 😀

 

I WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT HAS BEEN FINALLY PUBLISHED UNDER MY NAME. 😀 and i cant find it. 😥

 

3G: To Good Governance from the Grassroots

“… good governance means not only knowing and implementing what man-made laws – mainly the Constitution and the Local Government Code – mandate but also the spiritual or moral values that underline the whys and wherefores of public service.”

– Nene Pimentel

June 1 marked the day of yet another step towards national transformation. The University of Makati inaugurated its Center for Local Governance, which primarily aims to help upgrade the governance skills of local executives.

Former Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr. led lecturers, discussants and group of evangelicals in “reintroducing the unfeigned concept of politics”; that is, to define policies that are naturally and truly good for the people.

As the primary author of the Local Government Code of 1991, Pimentel still continues to champion his dream to “put integrity back in public service, help rid the government of corruption and transform grassroots politics into a noble profession.”

In line with this, he intends to bring back the delivery of government service at the grassroots with competence and integrity. He emphasized that “integrity does not consist only of refusing bribes, but also of the dedication and passion of the public official to do what is expected of him.”

He recounted that the Center was established when, upon his retirement from public office, people urged him to found an institute through which he could share with government officials the insights he had acquired on local as well as national governance over the years.

Seven months prior to its blessing, the Center has already conducted a series of seminar-workshops on good governance for barangay officials, NGOs, POs and concerned citizens. Specific modules for higher local government officials were also presented.

The first batch of participants had undergone three 12-hour-day workshops, mostly from Manila, Makati, Quezon City and neighboring communities. These workshops target on the craft and science of local governance, imbibing moral values in the real essence of public service.

With 42, 020 barangays, 1, 511 municipalities, 122 cities, and 80 provinces throughout the country, and with the barangay – the smallest unit of government and a microcosm of Philippine politics, local officials could invariably benefit, and ultimately realize, from a program for national transformation.

Pimentel acknowledged the support of Vice President Jejomar Binay, Manila Mayor Fred Lim, and the University of Makati headed by its president, Professor Tom Lopez, in continuously pursuing the advocacy for good governance.

SELL-OUT!

On the day of my birthday, we had a feast. In the office. Mang Inasal for lunch, two rolls of cake and two tubs of ice cream for merienda. Imagine that. Hello there, tummy biggie!

 This is actually my “first” birthday celebration for as long as I can remember. As I’ve said, I don’t do birthdays. Hahah. That came out wrong.

 Anyway, so there. My bosses and officemates greeted me a happy happy birthday, asked how young I am, persuaded me to quit smoking (which I have no plans on doing, well, not in the near future), and sang the ever famous birthday song.

 It was kind of diyahe, for me having that kind of ‘celebration,’ for in the three months that I’ve stayed in the office, witnessing three or four birthdays, I swear I’ve never seen any merriment as cute and sweet as mine. Although I was told that celebrants had two options – that is, to have a birthday treat or enjoy a birthday leave. Obviously, they opted for the latter.

 Being a probationary employee does not give me any office perks, like what they call the ‘birthday privileges.’ Heck, I was never even allowed to take the day off even if I came to the office straight from Legaspi! So I somewhat expected that if I going to ‘celebrate’ in the office, it has to be my treat. From my pocket. From my then newly-released salary.

 But no! The bosses have approved my ‘birthday treat’ allowance, giving us a splashful of food, indulging us with sweets, not minding that most of us are trying (and relentlessly failing) to monitor our diet. Haha!

 

 So this is what we had for lunch. Quarter chicken (or whatever people call it)

and two servings of rice wrapped in the ever aromatic pandan leaves.

 

This is Kim busy with her own chicken thigh.

Can’t get enough of Mang Inasal’s chicken! Diet? Screw that! =))

As Ate Tyziel always puts it, our merienda cena!

Candle-blowing can never be disregarded. I had four candles!

Technically celebrated my 22^nd with these guys.

Naturally, I had to something to show my overwhelming appreciation to these people. So I had to take 4 hours from my 5-hour sleep just to capture my perfect angle and photoshop everything else. Haha!

(fb post: hindi po kasi talaga ako nagcecelebrate ng birthday (my friends can attest to that) so talagang natuwa ako dito. :)) maraming maraming salamat! (oo, kailangang may malaking mukha ako dahil ang ganda ng buhok ko kagabi. 😀 )

you said that. i meant it.

 

I don’t usually celebrate birthdays. It was more of a personal choice not to blow off candles from birthday cakes, for it somehow reminds me another year has passed by without me knowing what I’m gonna, or I should, do with the coming years. But this year, I had it differently, and with a blast.

 

I don’t know how to start with this, but what I’m sure of is that I felt sincerely overwhelmed with the events that had transpired during the past days, in celebration of my 22^nd birthday. It started on August 25 in Legazpi until the end of the long weekend, the 30^th of August, in down south. Different celebrations, different approach to celebrating it, with some of my favorite people in the world.

 

In my succeeding posts, I will try to present the highlights of my so-called ‘birthday celebration.’