Halalan at ang Kawal Pilipino (second of four parts)

enjoy!!!

Halalan at ang Kawal Pilipino (first of four parts)

This is our video documentary for our Law subject. This deals with the role of the AFP in the elections. Please be reminded that we are not film students nor did we study anything of that aspect so just bare with whawt we have produced. Everything is a result of native talent (hugot in cadet parlance) and the will to have a good grade. This is the first of the four parts, just bear with me as it is very hard to upload files this big... thanks

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...