Showing posts with label opportunity. Show all posts

Hagdan Tungo sa Pangarap

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Pangarap -

Pangarap na hinahabi

Hinahabi at sana ay mangyari

Mangyari at matupad na mga inaasam

Inaasam at tinatanaw nang may agam-agam

Agam-agam na nagbibigay din ng mga alalahanin

Alalahaning baka hindi mapagtagumpayang mga mithiin

Mga mithiin ito na nagbibigay ng lakas at sa atin ay nagtutulak

Nagtutulak sa ating likuran at lakas na sa harap pa rin ay humahatak!

Sighs for Lost Opportunities

Due to Wasted Time and Arrogance

By Apolinario Villalobos

It is always the sigh of regret that one can only heave out of his chest every time he losses an opportunity. Wasted opportunities may result from wasted time as some are just careless in managing their lives. They seem to or deliberately forget that time is a very important element that affects man’s daily life. Many forgot the adage about the hands of time that cannot be moved back. Man is no match to the infinity of time. So many also forgot that nowadays, in order to survive, discipline and resourcefulness are very important factors, and both are affected by time.

Those who slave it out from 8 to 5 every day, lost precious hours deducted from their take home pay every time they report to work late. They always blame the traffic. I cannot understand why they cannot leave home hours before the onset of the traffic which is normally at 7AM.

For those who are looking for jobs, stories are true about intelligent guys who graduated cum laude but oftentimes fail to land a job. These humbugs wonder how other job hunters could ever get a job despite poor scholastic marks for courses earned from unheard of provincial colleges and vocational schools. The cum laudes forgot that the “early birds get the seeds”. Because of pride and overconfidence, they thought that they can always make it because of high marks on their transcript of records with letterheads of prestigious universities. They forgot that nowadays, employers prefer applicants who show interest in the job, and this interest is initially indicated by being the first in the line on the day of interview. Of course, scholastic marks earned from memorizing lessons can help, but job hunting is a different thing. Respect for time and adeptness in reasoning are two most important measures used to know if a person is ready to take responsibilities.

Those who finish high-end courses from universities thought that the job they prefer must fit their course to a “T”. In this regard,  “management course” graduates, expect to be “managers” right away. They do not want to start from the lowest rung as an office staff. As computer engineering graduates, they expect an “engineer” tagged in the position they are applying for. They do not want to start with a job as computer technician or programmer. These losers only have their pride to blame.

As regards the parents who are crying their hearts out because of growing undisciplined children, they should not ask themselves how this could have happened. In the first place, they forgot to implant in the minds of their children the values that should have been the foundation for their developments. They allowed the children to spend precious time with their peers outside their home even during unholy hours. They give their children hard-earned or borrowed money so they can go to internet cafes to play games instead of studying their lessons at home. They give in to the whims of their children for gadgets that are not necessary. These parents had all the opportunities and time to nurture their children properly but wasted them. They equated love with “pampering”!

Children of well-to-do families have more opportunity to prepare for their future. They have money for every thing that they need, especially for education. But they spend more time with barkadas than with their parents, even skipping classes to be with them to play games in internet cafes or hang out in parks and mall. When they grow old, they realize that they have been left behind by friends who have been serious with their studies.

Lawmakers are losing time and opportunity in bringing out relevant issues beneficial to the government and the people, because they waste precious time lambasting each other for the selfish motive of gaining publicity mileage. They pretend to be immaculately clean in person and heroic in their effort as they besmear each other’s image. In the process, they forgot that they are supposed to formulate laws instead of broadcasting intrigues which should be left to the rumor mongering writers and columnists of showbiz magazines and tabloids. Before they know it, no more time is left of sessions that should have been devoted to their basic mission as lawmakers.

Finally, every worship day should have been spent by people who belong to the various religious leanings for the atonement of their wrongdoings. Unfortunately, their effort is thickly coated with insincerity and hypocrisy. Deep in their mind, they believe in God, but deep in their heart, they believe that He is blind and dumb, so that when they come out of their temples of worship, they are back to their old selfish and arrogant characters.  

Life in the Philippines and America

By Apolinario Villalobos

America is touted as the land of prosperity and opportunity which is true, but only for the disciplined and those who are willing to work. I may not have been to the United States but I have eyes that read and brains that comprehend, aside from ears that listen to the stories told by friends who went there as tourists or are still there as immigrants. Take note, physicians diagnose patients and prescribe drugs for them, not because these medical practitioners have had suffered many diseases themselves, but their decisions are based on cases that they have previously handled, written references, and information from colleagues during conventions. I am in that situation. I am making this early clarification because I am aware of the skeptic viewers who may question my right to write about this topic.

Also, I expect denials from viewers who are in situations far from their expectation of immediate success upon setting foot on American soil. These are Filipinos who want prosperity but without a bit of willingness to do menial jobs even temporarily, for immediate sustenance. Some Filipino executives who left their lucrative jobs in the Philippines expect to land in positions similar to what they have left once they set foot in America, but they were wrong. I admire those who have bravely faced the reality and immediately reset their mind to conform to the new situation they are in. In time, by dints of their patience and perseverance, they have achieved what they longed for, although perhaps, not totally. There are still many who failed until now but keep on dreaming about success which just become as evasive because of their finicky attitude.

The following are some of the situations that I can share based on my personal observations in the Philippines and second-hand information from references and friends who have experienced life in America, though not necessarily arranged according to their positive and negative implications:

Hagdan Tungo sa Pangarap

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Pangarap -

Pangarap na hinahabi

Hinahabi at sana ay mangyari

Mangyari at matupad na mga inaasam

Inaasam at tinatanaw nang may agam-agam

Agam-agam na nagbibigay din ng mga alalahanin

Alalahaning baka hindi mapagtagumpayang mga mithiin

Mga mithiin ito na nagbibigay ng lakas at sa atin ay nagtutulak

Nagtutulak sa ating likuran at lakas na sa harap pa rin ay humahatak!

Standardizing the Wage Shall Discourage

The Influx of Job Seekers in Urban Areas

By Apolinario Villalobos

Obviously, the regional wage boards are not doing their job as they have no realistic data on the real situation in the provinces, such as prices of prime commodities that are the same as with Manila’s, also those of education, rental, and many others. The wage issue has been the most neglected since the First Republic. Until today, the labor sector’s cries are not heeded, to give it a serious consideration. As these inutile regional wage boards are useless, they should be removed from the government system, as the people behind them just add to the expenses of the government spending.

The primary reason why job seekers flock to Manila and other urban areas, is the lure of the high wage. A regular employee for instance in the province, earns 6thousand pesos a month, compared to the more than 10thousand pesos of those Manila, and there is still the opportunity of side jobs to augment the take home pay.  The cost of education in Manila is no different from the one in the province, and the student can still work as a service crew in a fast food chain to earn additional allowance. With those situations, the resourceful provinciano can definitely live in Manila with comfort.

The local governments can do their share in enticing investors by offering attractive investment packages. Between Manila and the laid back atmosphere of the provinces, for sure, investors shall choose the latter due to the absence of traffic and clean air. There is no longer a problem with the transportation being an important aspect for commerce, as practically, major provinces, and all cities have airports and those in the coastal areas have safe ports served by Ro-Ro’s and major shipping lines. One can practically leave Manila on a bus and reach Davao or Cagayan de Oro, still on the same bus. Thanks to the intricate transport system which got launched during the incumbency of Gloria Arroyo.

Manila is practically breaking at the seams, giving the national government a headache on how to eliminate depressed areas where many city employees live. The problem with the government is that, it will embark only on projects that are “beneficial” to the corrupt officials. They always think of infrastructures that are heavy with “built-in” commissions. The fact is that, infrastructures are not always the solution to labor and poverty problems. The issue is the WAGE, for which is needed a truthful and serious study….unfortunately, this effort does not promise a fat commission.

Ang  Ulap at Pangarap

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Sa kalawakan, nakakatuwa silang masdan

Lumulutang, animo bulak, iba’t- ibang anyo

Sa isang iglap ay napakabilis ng pagbabago  

Bigay ay ligaya sa nakakaramdan ng siphayo.

Sa kalawakang maaliwalas at kulay bughaw

Animo ay mga gasa at mangilan-ngilan lang

Kaya’t sa kanilang kalat-kalat na kanipisan –

Langit ay mistulang hubad kung pagmasdan.

Mga puting ulap, minsan ay nagkukulay abo

Badya ay masamang panahon, bagyo’t ulan

Sa kapal, kalawakan nama’y nalalambungan

Na nagdudulot ng pagkulimlim sa kalupaan.

Ganyan din ang buhay, mayroong mga ulap -

Sila’y pangarap, maraming hugis, kaaya-aya

Silang sa buhay natin, ang dulot ay pag-asa

At sa bawa’t tao, mga hugis nila ay magkaiba.

Subali’t kung mamalasin ang isang nangarap

Ang magandang hugis nito’t kulay ay nag-iiba

Nagiging abo, nalulusaw, hanggang mawala –

Na sa kalooban ng iba, ang dulot ay panghihina.

Subali’t hindi dapat manimdim ang nakaranas

Dahil may kasabihang sa kabila nitong mga ulap

Ay may pag-asang nakalaan para sa ating lahat –

Basta magtiyaga upang matamo ang pangarap!

Fun and Fulfillment in Switching Jobs

…just don’t be choosy

By Apolinario Villalobos

This is about enjoying any kind of job that comes our way. I am sharing my actual experiences which may not apply to new snooty graduates, especially, those from exclusive schools and universities, who expect managerial position in their first job.

Contractualization is a big labor issue today as it smacks of exploitation. It practically douses the job applicant’s quest for job security. While all labor groups are moving heaven and earth to convince the government and employers to scrap it, those looking for jobs, in the meantime should not sulk, but instead, try to make do with any job that they may find, albeit, temporarily. They should console themselves with the thought that somehow, the stint could fill the space on their bio-data that asks for work experience.

I earned my first salary as a laborer in a home-based “factory” where I washed empty bottles to be filled with soy sauce and vinegar. When I was in first year college, I was a working student (today, student assistant), assigned to clean eight rooms and a playground. While in third year college, I was hired as a contract employee by the Department of Social Welfare and Development. I did the various jobs wholeheartedly – with fun. They became my strong foundation when I was hired by an airline company, as they prepared me physically, emotionally, and mentally.

I did not think twice when I was told that my assignment as a ticketing/freight clerk was in the far-flung Tablas island of Romblon. My colleagues in the batch of new hires were assigned either in Davao, Manila, Legazpi and Zamboanga. I did no stay in Tablas for long because I was relocated to Manila to edit our department’s black and white travel magazine. From that job, I moved on to do field sales. Much later, I was moved to another job, this time administrative management in nature, assisting the Vice President of the whole Philippines and Guam Region.

I accepted all assignments without complaint, not even scared despite my limited course which was Bachelor of Arts in English and History. I just enjoyed what I was doing and did my best in learning whatever was necessary to enhance my performance every time a new assignment was given. After leaving the company, I switched again to other jobs to keep me going. I developed operations and training manuals, packaged tours for travel agents, did editing and translation, composed poems posthaste for special occasions, wrote speeches, and accepted commitments as resource person in tourism seminars.

But the ultimate joy I feel is in doing a special kind of “field work” - in slums that some people fear to visit. Proudly, I can say that those I meet in these places which for some are God-forsaken, made me realize more, that indeed, life is like a book filled with diverse and colorful stories of struggle. I am not asking others to do the last mentioned that I am doing, though.

Each one of us has a different kind of advocacy in life which we can enjoy if we treat it as a continuing process and just have fun in what we do.

Everything in Life has a Price

…a consequence that we deserve for each of our deeds

By Apolinario Villalobos

Every deed that we do consciously has a price. It is the consequence that we deserve for each of our actions. Since young, we need not be told that telling a lie is bad, or hitting a friend can hurt him physically. By telling a lie, the conscience is bothered which can be carried on as we advance in age. By hitting a friend, he is expected to retaliate, so that we get the same hurt.

When young people get curious so they indulge in drugs, they become addicts and later become a nuisance to the society, hence, ostracized, viewed by others with disgust. If the parents failed to carry out their responsibility in rearing their children properly, the price they get is the latter’s disrespect, and the proverbial pain in the neck, for constant problems that their children give them.

Because citizens of a country sell their vote during elections, the price they get is a bunch of corrupt officials who steal from the government’s coffer – the people’s money. Add to that the instability that the elected corrupt officials give to the government system, especially economic, resulting to the people’s deprivation.

War is the price for the different nations’ greed for expanded territory. It is the price for the zealots’ or fanatics’ desire to impose their religious belief to other people who resist by all means. It is also the consequence of connivance among strong nations to control weak ones. While pockets of it are happening now in many parts of the world, it is also looming over contested areas that at the moment, are enjoying volatile peace….needing just a single spark to explode.

Devastation of Mother Nature is the price of recklessness and greed in many forms. Forests are denuded for timber that man needs for his comfort. Hills and mountains are pockmarked with diggings for minerals and gems to satisfy his vanity. Fish trawlers deplete oceans of breeding fishes, resulting to deprivation and hunger.

Pollution is the price of progress. Not only is the atmosphere ripped open but its tranquility, as well, is seriously disturbed . Endless line of cars are spilled out by factories – cars that emit residue of fossil fuel 24/7, fattening the pockets of manufacturers at the expense of mankind’s health, and the earth’s deterioration due to the effect on its atmosphere.

Man is practically committing a self-annihilation! The suffering that he is enduring today is the ultimate price that he pays for his vanity, greed and pride!

Alaala ang tula para sa apatnapu’t-apat na minasaker at iba pang nasugatang mga pulis sa Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Sampal din ito sa mga ipokritong tao sa pamahalaan na umitim na ang budhi’t kaluluwa dahil sa kasakiman, mga taong sumisira sa adhikain ng mga Pilipino, at sa isang taong patuloy sa pagmamaang-maangang siya ay magaling, nguni’t ampaw naman pala, dahil magaling lang sa pagsalita, kahit pa diretsong managalog.

Mindanao

By Apolinario B Villalobos

Itinuring na lupang ipinangako -

Ng mga Pilipinong dito ay napadako

Mga naglakas -loob na makipagsapalaran

Hindi inalintana panganib na madadatnan.

Maraming kuwento ang aking nalaman -

May mga kulay ng lungkot at kaligayahan

Nguni’t lahat ay puno ng hangarin, ng pag-asa

Sa lupang ipinangako, magigisnan, bagong umaga.

May mga Pangasinense, Kapampangan, Ilocano

Mayroong Bicolano, Bulakeño, Caviteño, Batangueño

Mga taga-Luzon silang dala ay lakas ng loob, kasipagan

Hindi ininda ang init sa  pagbungkal ng tigang na kabukiran.

Mayroon ding galing sa Antique, Negros, isla ng Cebu

Sumunod ang mga taga-Leyte, Romblon, Guimaras at Iloilo

Ano pa nga ba’t sa malawak, mayaman at luntiang Mindanao

Iba’t iba man ang salita,  pagkakaisa pa rin, pilit na nangibabaw.

Hitik sa kwentong makulay ang buong isla ng Mindanao

Unang tumira’y mga kapatid nating sa relihiyon, iba ang pananaw

Silang mga  taal na katutubo, makukulay, matatapang at mahinahon

Tanging hangad ay mabuhay ng matiwasay, tahimik, sa lahat ng panahon.

Ang mga  Kristiyano, Muslim, Lumad – lahat sila ay nagkakaisa

Nagtutulungan, nagbibigayan, mga paniwala man nila ay magkaiba

Nguni’t dahil sa makasariling hangad ng ilang gahaman sa kapangyarihan

Animo kristal na nabasag, iningatang magandang samahan at katahimikan.

Nguni’t tayo ay Pilipino, iba tayo – lumalaban na may masidhing pag-asa

Sa harap ng masalimuot na mga problema, matatatag na kalasag ay nakaamba

Ito’y ang masidhing paniniwala sa Maykapal, malalim at marubdob na kapatiran

Ugaling nagbuklod sa mga taga-Mindanao, magkaiba man ang pananaw at kaugalian.

Ating isigaw-

Mabuhay ang Mindanaw!

Pagsisikap:  Puhunan ng Buhay

Na Hindi Mawawala at Walang Katumbas

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Ang puhunan ng Diyos nang  likhain niya ang tao ay ang buhay nito na may kasamang talino. Ang tao naman ay dapat na tumbasan itong ibinigay na puhunan, sa pamamagitan ng pagsisikap. Ang pagsisikap ay likas nang bahagi ng ating pagkatao at naghihintay lamang na mapitik upang magising.

Walang katumbas na halaga ng salapi ang pagsisikap at hindi rin ito mawawala kailanman sa ating pagkatao. Habang may buhay tayo, nasa diwa natin ang pagsisikap upang mabuhay. Ang katanyagan at perang makakamit dahil sa pagsisikap ay maituturing na “tubo”. Ang tubong ito ay dapat na ituring na biyaya na dapat ay ipamahagi, hindi dapat maimbak. Maraming matutulungang tao kung ang mga tubong natamo dahil sa pagsisikap, ay magagamit nang walang pag-imbot.

Ampaw ang buhay na walang pagsisikap, dahil walang katuturan ang pamamalagi sa ibabaw ng mundo. Bawa’t tao ay pinaglaanan ng Diyos ng layunin sa mundo na kailangang matupad. Nagkakaiba ang mga layunin ng mga tao. At, lalo na ang pamamaraan ng pagsisikap upang makamit ang layunin ng bawa’t isa. Ito ang dahilan kung bakit hindi tayo dapat manibugho sa mga nakamit ng iba na sa tingin natin ay nakakahigit sa nakamit natin.

Pagdating ng araw ng pagharap natin sa Kanya, hindi tayo tatanungin nang may panunumbat kung gaano kadaming pera ang ninakaw natin sa kaban ng bayan bilang tiwaling  senador o kongresman. Hindi rin tayo tatanungin kung ilang overseas workers ang naloko natin bilang illegal recruiter. Hindi rin tayo tatanungin kung ilang kabataan ang napariwara natin sa pagbenta ng shabu. Ang itatanong lang sa atin ay kung nagamit ba nang maayos ang puhunang ibinigay niya sa atin …kung naging makabuluhan ba ang buhay natin sa mundo…na ang ibig sabihin ay kung pinagsikapan ba nating gawin ito at sa tamang paraan?

Nagawa naman kaya natin?