RHIR - Rank has its RESPONSIBILITIES

I just received a comment asking permission to include my blog on his bloglist. Upon reading the contents of that blog I kind of realized how I have not been writing so much about issues not related to my life. I mean I do have my own opinions about things tha I have written before its just that in as far as my intellectual status is concerned those things are not really in my immediate concern... until now!!!

In the documentary that I orchestrated for my law class, we tackled the issue on the role of the military in the elections. This issue was a result of the Memorandum of Agreement signed last 12 October to specify the roles of the military in the elections so as not to have a repeat of the controversies that has hounded the organization in the past. Aside from wanting to get a good grade for the subject, the whole process of really making that documentary was in fact also a learning experience.

For the purpose of putting credibility, I chose to interview two people who have knowledge regarding in the mechanics of the elections in this country. One was a lawyer who once served for the Commission on Elections as a Regional Attorney, and the other was a military officer who was a Company Commander during previous elections. Well I will not be dealing much with what they have said since I will be posting the documentary in this website. Instead, I will go over some questions that struck me as a soldier and as a Filipino as I throw questions to cover all aspects of the documentary I was making.

In a hypothetical question, I asked our lawyer interviewee about the possibility of doing damage to the electoral process if indeed the soldiers wants to. The answer was a yes and it just made me think if there has really been instances that it has been done in the past.

At this point of my training, there is never a day that responsibility keeps on bothering me. With my impending promotion to the top of the cadet hierarchy in 14 days time, I can't help it but fear the amout of responsibility I am expected of as an Immaculate (that's what we call the graduating cadets). Even in an acting capacity now with the graduating cadets in their OJT, I can't help it but just wish that life is easier. Now the point is of why I am saying is that I have all the chance to do what I please as I go up in the ladder of the cadet hierarchy. This phenomenon will not stop here because when I finally (hopefully really) graduate come 2008, there will be more of that power. I will have armed soldiers under my authority, the necessary logistical capability and of course I will be influential. This then draws us back to the point of whether or not those in the position to do something really did something. The thought makes me worried but I know that I will have to come into terms with that reality, believing that the charaater that I will form this early in my career as a soldier will become the foundation of the character I will exhibit as a military officer. Just as the reality of choosing my branch of service will determine the outcome of my life, the reality of facing and handling responsibility will define me as a person. I just hope that at the time of reckoning, I will be true to my oath as a soldier and to the creed of my alma mater... I know I will... I hope I can!!!

Taking the path

I am supposed to be preparing for tomorrow's parade. The parade tomorrow will be the first time that my class will act as Cadet Officers in a Saturday parade. But then there are just some thoughts that I feel I have to write, for some reason I can not help it.

Just before I went here, we were briefed about the choice of branch of service we will be making by next Saturday. For those who do not know why this is done, the Philippine Military Academy us the primary source of Officers for the Armed Forces, meaning each class is distributed to the three branches of service of the AFP namely: Air Force, Navy and the Army. For each class, there is a quota that is determined by the branch of service of which we will fill up. For our class, the basis for priority will be our merit list as of last semester. It is from this angle that I will begin to construct my point.

I have always said that PMA is a big community of dreamers. For most of us here, we went through all that we went through because we dared to pursue big and difficult dreams. I wouldn't want to go through the challenges that one can be contended with as a cadet but generally, it takes effort to survive each day inside this Academy wearing the cadet uniform. It is from those dreams that one can say that generally our choices here will determine what happens with our lives in the future and in the case of my class now this choice is on which service each of us will join.

I am a die-hard Army as many of us would put it. Although I can be lazy at walking and having with me a heavy backpack, I know it is the life that I want. Well, that really isn't a big problem since in most cases, it is the Army that gets the biggest share of yearly PMA graduates. I think after leaving the lecture hall earlier, many of my classmates, especially those who did not make it in the quota of their preferred branch of service are in a sort of troubled state. The choice that all of us will be making come March 10 will be the life that we will be living for the next 30 years or so of our life. It is not just some ordinary choice that we can back out at one point, we will be joining a WAR where lives are at stake, somehow the choice that we will make will affect our chance of staying alive.

For most people, it will take a while before they are contended by choices that will determine the outcome of their life. Even sadder are those whose life has been a result of passive decisions which was a product of mere luck on life circumstances. But I guess for everyone, when the time has come for us to be contemplative of the life we had, we will remember that one moment when we are to make a very important choice in our life. It will not be about other people, it will be about our life.

Sitting in the lecture hall earlier, listening to the speaker in front, I could somehow feel the tension of everyone of my classmates. Although I am sure of what I want, there is still that feeling of uncertainty in me where I wonder if I really am making the right choice, I wonder how harder it is for the others who have no idea what they want. I could just imagine how it would be for each of my classmate come D-DAY to walk towards that piece of paper where they will eventually write their names. From there, each of our life will begin another chapter -- a chapter that everyone of us is totally clueless.

And so I sit in front of this computer contemplating on the choice I will make and realizing that I am already at the stage where I chart my destiny and that my life is in my hands. When I grow old, maybe I can look at this blog entry and be reminiscent of the exact feeling I have right now. I am hoping that when that time comes, I will wear a smile in my face and say that I made the right choice....

Let's go ARMY...

Law Documentary

I feel so great about the documentary we made for our Law Class that I just can't help but want to publish it in this blog. Its about the role of the AFP in the upcoming elections more particularly as stipulated by the Memorandum of Agreement entered upon by the Department of National Defense and Commission on Election. I am still learning how to upload it in Youtube, just wait for it...

Redemption in the Anvil and another article

I have a reason to celebrate. Standing in the rear this morning during the early morning flag raising ceremony, it was announced to the whole PMA community that the Corps magazine was awarded the Anvil Award for best Public Relation Tool as a School magazine (I do not exactly know the official award but this is what I was told). Although I am done with the Corps Magazine now, I have been a part of all the issues that came out in the last 3 years or so and have always aspired to come up with good articles, took the extra effort to really find some good story and really did my best. And so, in my silence standing so far away from where everybody's attention was directed, I could just be glad that somehow I was part of something good for the Academy.

I am actually contemplating on redemption. Its not that I want to take credit for the award but in state, after what I have been through, somehow, I am looking for something that will redeem myself from the allegations thrown at me as a result of the article I was supposed to write. Just imagine how hard it was for me to forego any break until August of this year just because someone was offended when I asked about people's opinion on something that I was writing on. Of course that also include some harsh words, certain deprivation of the things that I like to do (writing that is) and definitely the fear that it has caused me when it dawned on me that I just might lose my cadetship. You could just imagine how redeeming it was when something that you did is recognized. Not to mention the fact that it was my words that carried the Corps Magazine to that Award (I wrote the write-up that came with the 6 issues included in the package that was the basis for the award). I may seem desperate or just craving for recognition, but when my very credibility is questioned and my innocence is doubted its the things that I have done that will somehow redeem me just as how it is with this Anvil Award. I really pray for some redemption what has happened has happened I just want my credibility back.

Well just for your consumption, I am publishing another one of my great pieces (ehem!!!):

THE ROLE OF THE CADETS IN PMA’S PURSUIT OF EXCELLENCE

This one was written when the PMA Command announced an essay writing contest for the 2004 Foundation Day celebrations. I won the cadet category of that contest and was publicly awarded by no less than then the Superintendent and the Commandant of Cadets. The topic is somewhat serious as this deals with PMA's pursuit for excellence but nevertheless I still think this is a good one.... Enjoy.

“I am a member of the Cadet Corps. I live on taxes of my countrymen; I do everything to prepare myself in protecting the Filipino people and when the time comes, I am expected to put my life on the line for the good of my country.”

You may call that a creed of some sort, a line that maybe frightening as it calls for a sacrifice of life, but then that is what is expected of me and to all the other members of the prestigious Cadet Corps Armed forces of the Philippines. Here in this institution, we are thought to be noble men that will be ready to face anything in defense of the motherland. And so this brings me to the role of the Philippine Military Academy in producing men of noble character, men of great patriotism and of course side by side with this goal is the Academy’s pursuit of excellence. Whatever level of excellence the Academy can offer, that will be the same level of excellence that the graduates will exemplify the moment they are given that elusive rank on their shoulders. In PMA, young men and women with dreams are gathered. They are given a full government scholarship and then in four years time, the country watches as they are molded into the finest men and women of character, of courage integrity and loyalty and, of course, of excellence.

The Philippine Military Academy has been undergoing so many changes. It is also undeniable that so much has been said on these programs. Some say, that it is a desperate attempt to please the people who have been criticizing the way PMA cadets are trained. Still others say that it is because of pressures from various sectors that are angry with the military, the academy included. This is the dilemma, the pursuit for excellence in a changing PMA amidst the various opinions of different sectors, all this in the hope that the graduates will be men that will exemplify the highest order of character and love for country. That, in itself, can be a frightening dilemma, a seemingly impossible goal or maybe an expectation too great to achieve.

This generation of cadets are in a period of confusion. There are those who were already cadets before the changes were implemented such that they have been raised in a different culture that the command is now trying to change. And, of course, the new breeds, those that are totally unaware of how it was before and are the focus of attention of everybody, those that are believed to break the status quo, the hope of the Academy. This is a very interesting characteristic as it provides a distinction on the different points of view of cadets regarding the pursuit of excellence. And so we go to another question, how do we pursue excellence in an environment where everybody does agree on what to pursue? These generations of cadets are the key in pursuing excellence in the academy. In my point of view, pursuing excellence at this point of time is getting rid of the culture of malpractices that have developed through the years. Sad to say, malpractices in the Cadet Corps has become a culture that has evolved through the years, unchecked and becoming more and more grave each generation. Unknowingly, cadets have adopted this practices and accepting it as simply natural and thus the cycle goes on and on creating a status quo that is now deeply rooted within the ranks of the Cadet Corps. When I was a plebe I hated being hazed, being “shabbied” and being subjected to so many things that I can not understand. As a result, I promised myself that I will never do anything that I hated to any of my future underclassmen. Later on, I realized that my attitude has changed towards things. I always reasoned that it is never the fault of any cadet to be exposed to the malpractices that he or she was subjected to or is doing to his or her underclass. I was just convinced that every malpractice that I hated is enough reason for me to go on with my training bearing in mind that in the long run, it will be my turn to be an upperclassmen and when that time comes it will also be my turn to practice what I think is the antidote to those malpractices that I hated. The pursuit of excellence in this changing PMA environment, I believe, is not about programs being implemented by the Command, it is about how to change the existing culture of cadets. The cadets may adapt to the programs being implemented and eventually they will figure out ways on how to tamper with these programs for their advantage, but the way I see it the cadet culture should deviate from this present culture. The new culture should be a culture where a cadet refuses to subject his or her subordinates to the corruption that he has been exposed to. A culture where “snappity” is not based on comparison as to how the previous classes went through cadetship, more particularly plebehood, but based on the how each cadet is trying his best to live up to the ideals of the academy and the expectations of the Filipino people. As a line in Desiderata say:”Do not compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter.” Yes, some cadets are bitter, not for some valid reason but because they chose to be bitter. They’d rather see their underclassmen undergo the same corruption that they were subjected to rather than work towards the elimination of these practices. They are so bitter that they fail to see beyond the malpractice and realize that something must be done to stop this. They are bitter because they do not realize that it is only through their acts of change, being part of the prevailing culture, will this situation be stopped. Little acts, yes, little acts.

This is the sad reality of the present generation of cadets. I do not wish to put the Corps in bad light, but then this is reality and as men of courage, it is an act of courage accept this and make the necessary corrections. The pursuit of excellence of this noble institution is anchored in the kind of attitude that the cadets will exercise in response to the changes being implemented by the administration. It is true that some of the changes that were implemented are drastic yet, it is also the role of any soldier to accept these changes even if they do not necessarily agree with it. Any responsible soldier will accept that no one is fit to command unless he or she has learned to obey. It is in this context that I base my opinion that the cadets play the major role in PMA’s pursuit for excellence. They work hand in hand with the command in doing what is necessary to eliminate the Academy of the prevailing bad culture and at the same time it is also because of them that this bad culture should be eradicated.

All in all, above everything, it is the role of the cadets that should be the top priority in the Academy’s pursuit to excellence. It is only through the effort of each and every member of the cadet corps that PMA will be successful in truly being excellent. As each cadet realizes that the status quo should be broken, each cadet should make the initiative to do what he or she think is right and start planting the seeds for excellence. It is only when one starts doing something that something actually happens. One little effort may not show much effect immediately but sooner or later it will show something. Our stay as cadets here may not be long enough to see the effects of these little efforts but then we do not have a choice, its either we move forward or remain stagnant and prepare for doom. At the end of the day all we can really do is to live up to the highest level of excellence in every aspect of cadetship.

“I am a member of the Cadet Corps. I live on taxes of my countrymen; I do everything to prepare myself in protecting the Filipino people and when the time comes, I am expected to put my life on the line for the good of my country.”

And if I may add:

“Because I am a member of the Corps and because the country is relying on what I can do in making sure that they enjoy all the benefits of our democracy, I should also pursue the highest level of excellence in everything that I do, identifying what should be retained in the current system and taking part in being a catalyst to what lies ahead in the bright future of my beloved Alma Mater and my country in general”

“…Give us that honest purpose in life which seeks fair deal with everyone and shuns all forms of hypocrisy that will enkindle our fighting faith and smother all seeds of cowardice and fear in our hearts; the loyalty to our principles that places all issues above personal considerations and shuns compromise with vice and injustice…”

-- The Cadet’s Prayer --

Blog on a busy life

It has been a while since I was last able to really blog. My last entry was a short storyu that I wrote almost two years ago having decided to post some perviously written articles every now and then. But really, there are just times that I just want to write something in this blog. I just wasn to spit things out and clear up my mind. For some reason this is some kind of a theraphy.

The week has been so busy that I was not able to do some of the thigns that I promised to do. Coming from the hectic alumni homecoming, I thought life would be better not knowing that more is still to come. There is just so many deadlines to meet, projects to do and so many requirements to finish. I have never been this busy in school before and suprisingly I was able to manage. There is still one more multimedia presentation that I need to finish by wednesday, after that its finals week, Graduation week and then finally I am growing another stripe... Imagine I'll finally be in my firstclass year, my last year as cadet. Its surreal but I guess time just flies so fast and the responsibility is little by little dawning in my system. I am beginning to be worried whether or not I will be able to do a good job. We will just have to see.

I am not so sure if I will share this in my blog but somehow I think this will come out in my system so I would rather just put it out. My family is in the rocks again over some stupid thing that one of the people in it did. I will not put any details but this is some trial that people are getting worried about. Not that I am not concerned its just that to a certain point this is familiar territory so I am able to handle it better than the others. I do not know how it really is in the household since I am here but with the stories I am hearing, I am thinking that everyone is in some rough ride. I can just hope and pray that they will be able to go through it thriumpahntly.

I hate to admit it but with the many things that happened, I was not able to write my letter. this is the second week and I am beginning to worry how this thing is being interpreted by the girl who should be receiving this letters. There is just too much to do and I am really looking forward to being able to recover and do something really great for her. I do not know what it is but it is something. The thing is despite the many different developments in my life, she is becoming more and more important. Its something that I do not really understand but there is just this feeling of relief when my thoughts begins to dwell on her. This maybe some crazy thing, I really do not know but with everything that is happening, this is indeed a good spice that keeps my life more bearable despite everything. About a few days ago I reread this letter that I wrote last year for her that I did not send. The letter was so much full of emotions that I never thought I had in me. Somehow it describes all the emotions I am trying to hide because of the obvious gap that we have due to the distance and really not knowing each other. I guess what I am saying is that the adventure continues and just like what I always say in the many things that happen in my life, the wonders will reveal itself in due time... the key is patience.

I am stopping now, I will have to go back to the many things I have to do... I love you people....