Oh my sweet 30th birthday

I am so happy today as I am now on my 30th birthday! On this milestone occasion, I want to take a moment to reflect on all that I have achieved and all that I have yet to accomplish with God's help. I know that will try my best to be kind, intelligent, and driven person, and I am grateful to know about that. As I enter my 30s, I will be always remember to continue pursuing my dreams, to stay true to myself, and never stop learning and growing. May this next decade bring me more happiness, love, and all that my heart desires. Cheers to a fantastic year and many more to come! I am that you're there to support me.

My teacher, my hero 2013

Let me start by defining what a hero is. A hero is a person admired for great deeds or fine qualities, and a person who shows great courage. These qualities are strongly evident in the teachers.

The life of a teacher is very interesting and challenging. A teacher is a guide, a searcher, a counsellor, a creator, an authority, an inspirer of vision, a doer of routine, a story teller and actor or actress, a facer of reality and an evaluator. A teacher takes a hand, opens mind, touches a heart and shapes the future of pupils that are entrusted in her love and care to the fullest contentment. The teachers serve as second parents and models in school. As role models, they must project good public image worthy of emulation.

They must manifest dedication, sincerity, dignity, professionalism, simplicity and self respect. They must also have respect for people, faith in their intelligence and the willingness to enter into human relations on the basis of equality, the give and take relationship with peers and/or co-workers, parents and citizens. The role of the teachers in nation building can never be under estimated. They share a greater bulk of responsibility in molding the minds of the leader of tomorrow, the youth.

Based on the multi tasks, responsibilities and expectations from teachers, I strongly commend that they are really the superheroes of every generation. They deserved to be recognized, honoured and be given merits not only on the occasion of teacher’s day but throughout the days of their lives for their magnanimous and unselfish efforts and dedication in the lives of the pupils that surely redound and enshrined in the hearts of the parents, the community, the nation and most of all, to the world. I salute you dear teachers, the heroes of today, tomorrow and forever.

On strategies and planning

Strategies and planning is not just for the games like chess, soccer, American football and basketball for a team to make it on the top. Managing one’s life also require planning and strategies to build our future and enjoy the bounty of life by experiencing comfort and contentment in life.

Business entities goal is to satisfy its costumers, clientele to make their product saleable or fast moving for them to generate sales that spells success and stability of the business of the economy and in the market competition. In able to compete other business and make it a difference in market competition, shop owners through their business plans strategies.

Separating strategy from planning: strategy is about decision making. It is about trade-off, about deciding how to focus, how to be the best, how to be different, and how to best pursue opportunities. Planning is the process of deciding what actions are needed to achieve the vision or goal of the business.

Planning helps an organization chart a course for the achievement of its goals. The process begins with reviewing the current operations of the organization and identifying what needs to be improved operationally in the upcoming year. From there, planning involves envisioning the results of the organization wants to achieve, and determining the steps necessary to arrive at the intended destination—success, whether that is measured in financial terms, or goals that include being the highest-rated organization in customer satisfaction. Planning promotes team building and a spirit of cooperation. 

When the plan is completed and communicated to members of the organization, everyone knows what their responsibilities are, and how other areas of the organization, need their assistance and expertise in order to complete assigned tasks. They see how their work contributes to the success of the organization as a whole and can take pride in their contributions. Potential conflict can be reduced when top management solicits department or division managers’ input during the goal setting process. Individuals are less likely to resent budgetary targets when they had a say in their creation.

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest rout to victory; tactics without energy is the noise before defeat” quoted by Sun Tzu – The Art of War. Marketing Strategy is something that helps companies achieves marketing objectives. Marketing objectives help achieve corporate objectives and corporate objectives aim to achieve a competitive advantage over rival organizations.

On family, children and relationship

The basic unit of society is the family. The family is the very heart of the society, men’s system of living together in this world. The family is the first socializing agent and the source of strength and stability of its members. A child that is brought forth in this world belongs to a family. The family, therefore, especially the parents, play a vital role in instilling values and attitudes to the children and able to support and give them a bright future.

However there may be instances when a child is left by his biological parents in the care of another entity mainly because of poverty. There could be many reasons why the mother would be willing to give up her child to be taken care of by grandparents or relatives. Another reason could be separated parents with both of them having another family again. The child may have been left an orphan as a consequence of the death of parents, either the father or the mother. It may also be because one or both parents went abroad to work because of economic pressure.

Poverty and the demands of daily living have pushed not only the father to work but the mother as well. This has caused a departure in the mother’s traditional responsibility of child rearing and doing the household chores. In addition to child rearing, the responsibilities of housekeeping are already being shared by the husbands of working mothers. But considering that both husband and wife need to go out to work at least 8 hours a day for five days a week to maintain the standard of living of the family and provide for the needs of their growing children, the latter are left to the care of non- biological parents either in another home and in schools. This situation, according to Huh1 has created child rearing and upbringing problems that develop implications in the growth and development of the child. Palispis2 says that any person or institution that shares a person’s values and behavior is an agent of socialization. Although these agents are particularly important in the early years of the life cycle socialization is a lifetime process that continues across the life span.

The causes of change in the family, according to Spocks,3 are the mass media, peer group, parents, and technological change. The media like the television, radio and other broadcast media as well as print media play a very important role in the process of socialization. The radio or television program, to which the child is exposed to, will certainly influence his personality, values, and belief system. Among peers, socialization focuses more on the children’s interest and activities than on the priorities of adults. 

While peer groups are important to all adolescents, they are especially influential when parental guidance, affection and attention are lacking. Alienated and delinquent adolescents are more deeply affected by their peers than adolescents who are not alienated from their families and do not have history of delinquency. Some parents get separated from their children because of economic pressure. 

They know that going abroad raises the household’s standard of living. But emotional, strain, loneliness, and anxiety become major problems both of husband and wife. In this kind of situation of the family, there is tendency that couples separate and children will suffer a lot of difficulties. As technology develops, there are newer video games, internet and music videos. Video games much more than violent movies have the ability to capture children imagination and train their emotions to accept violence because with video games children are active participants. The majority of household now have cable television and with it music videos. Most of these videos contain sexual images often bordering on pornography. Violence is common, including violence against women. There are chat rooms where people can participate in round table discussion in every imaginable subject. Because of these changes, having a healthy family is hard to achieve.

In our society today, it is observed that the children have different behaviors from those of the earlier generation. These behavioral differences may be rooted in the way the different aspects of life are handle, one of which and probably the most influential is how the family has been treated.

The researcher chose this study because of her great concern for the growth and development of the child. It is observed that the major issue in the educational system is the declining standard of education. According to Paloma,4 teachers are accused of being incompetent. It is easy to blame teachers and school administrators when our children bring home failing grades. While it is true that some teachers are not the most skillful, some children are clearly able to learn from them. And even though schools do not have the best facilities, some children manage to get an education there and go on to graduate from college and universities. Why, because what happens at school is only one part of education process. The parents, also, have a vital role in determining the children’s success. Parents may not have realized it, but children’s teachers want help. Most teachers take pride in their work. They are competent and dedicated. Nothing gives greater satisfaction than helping others develop their talents. Through the researcher’s observation as well as those of her co-teachers, the behavior, and attitude of pupils are worsening and their academic performance is decreasing. The reasons are some pupils are observed to be lazy in their seatwork/homework, projects are not accomplished because of poverty and some parents and guardians of pupils are less supportive and guiding at home because majority of parents and guardians have attained elementary level only. There is no challenge or motivation to pursue higher levels of education, there is lack of ambition and are contented with their present life situation dictated by their economic environment so the needs of the children in the school is inadequate. According to the writer and her co-teachers, pupils are seen to become bullies, clowns, hard headed, noisy, selfish, dependent, tactless and aggressive. Others are observed to be kind, attentive, considerate, helpful, polite, independent, obedient, tactful, talented and respectful. The academic performance of some of those who are under the care of biological parents are of low average, some are high as well. This was confirmed based on their Form 137 and Form 138. With these observations, the parents and guardians must be aware of the problem of their children. The researcher would like the parents to teach their children to value education, to do their homework/seat work, to have the right use of television, to communicate, to be honest, and to respect authority so that the children would become successful in their studies.

It if for this reason that study was conducted to find out the child care practices of parents and guardians of pupils of Santa Isabel Sur Elementary School and its effect on their academic performance.



1Max L. Huh, Psychology: The Science of Information Behavior (New York: Harper & Row, 2004).
2Dr. Epifacio S. Palispes, Introduction to Sociology and Anthropology (Rex Book Store, Inc., Samploc Manila, 1996).
3Dr. Benjamin Spocks. M.D., Baby and Child Care (The One Essential Parenting Book, New York, 2004, Revised by Robert Needileman, M.D.), pp. 465-479
4Epifania N. Paloma, “What Teachers Wish Parents Knew About School,” Modern Teacher (Vol. LI, No. 7, 2002).

Panatang makapalay

“Bilang isang mamamayang Pilipino,
Nakikiisa ako sa panatang huwag magsayang ng kanin o bigas.
Magsasaing ako ng sapat lamang,
at sisiguraduhing tama ang pagkaluto nito.

Kukuha ako ng kaya kong ubusin
Upang sa aking pinggan ay walang matirang kanin.
Ganun din ang aking gagawin kung may handaan
O kung sa laban kakain.

Ang brown rice o pinawa ay susubukan kong kainin,
Pati na ang ibang pagkain bukod sa kanin
Tulad ng mais, kamote at saging.

Ituturo ko sa iba ang responsableng pagkukunsumo
nang mabigyang halaga ang pagod ng magsasaka,
at nang makatulong na maging sapat
ang bigas sa Pilipinas.

Aking isapuso ang panatang ito
dahil sa bawat butil ng bigas o kanin na aking matitipid
ay may buhay na masasagip.”

A brief guide of chess rules

• The chessboard is placed so that the white square is on the right side of the player.
• The player with theWhite pieces always moves first.
• A pawn on reaching the last rank will always be promoted to a piece of his choice, a Queen, Rook, Bishop or Knight as part of the same rows. The effect of this promoted piece is immediate. So if the pawn is promoted to a Queen, the Queen if it is in a position to do so, may check or checkmate the enemy King.
• Each move must be made with only one hand.
• A piece that is touched must be moved unless moving this piece would place the King in check. This is called the “touch-move rule.” If an opponent’s piece is touched then it must be captured if possible. If this is not possible then play continues as if that piece had not been touched.
• A person may adjust on the chessboard on her move by saying “j’a double” which in French for “I adjust.”
• When castling, the King must be moved first and then the Rook brought to stand on the opposite side to the King.
• When using a clock, the button must be pressed with the hand which moved the piece of the chessboard.
• All play should be conducted with respect for the opponent. A player should not distract or annoy her opponent in any way.

Ten rules of making new friends

If you were to make the ten rules of friendship, the following should be included:

• Do things together. Engage in shared activities and experiences, creating memories together that strengthen the connection between individuals.
• Be honest. Practice honesty and openness in communication, fostering trust and transparency within the relationship.
• Talk about ideas, homes and dreams, fears and disappointments. Engage in meaningful conversations about aspirations, fears, and challenges, allowing for deep understanding and emotional support.
• Encourage one another to do what is right. Support and encourage one another in making ethical and morally upright decisions, promoting growth and integrity within the relationship.
• Be trustworthy and trusting. Build a foundation of mutual trust and reliability, demonstrating dependability and faith in each other's actions.

• Talk out problems and disagreements. Address conflicts and differences constructively, by engaging in open dialogue and finding mutually beneficial resolutions.
•  Look out for one another. Demonstrate care and concern for each other's well-being, offering assistance and support during times of need.
• Listen carefully for another. Practice active listening, showing empathy and understanding towards each other's perspectives and feelings.
• Comfort each other in down times. Provide comfort and reassurance during difficult times, offering solace and emotional support to alleviate distress.
• Have fun. Embrace joy and laughter, finding opportunities to enjoy each other's company and create moments of happiness and levity in the relationship.

That's it. Being a good friend will be simple.