Personal ANNecdotes

Vraisemblance PS

Cherry Ann A. Rubio
Features and Literary Editor
BSECE, 5th year

Isotropic antenna. Ideal diode. Infinity.

To those who recognize the technical jargons I used, the terms denote a familiar concept everybody can relate to – idealism. [You can do a little googling if you want to prove my point.]

In the presidential forum organized by COCOPEA at the SMX Convention Hall last February 12, 5 out of 9 presidential bets presented their plans upon assuming the position to the youth and members of the educational sector. Its main focus lies on improving the quality of education as an important factor in the progress of the nation.

I spent several hours listening to their blabbering and sweet talks. Unfortunately, the long stretch of hours made me realize I wasn’t getting anything.

All the candidates have laid out goals that pertain only to the ‘general’ aspects of the problems in the country. Adding to my disappointment is the fact that they have also presented ‘ideal’ remedies, things which are not applicable to the real situations we are undergoing. They proposed platforms which are clichés (read: things which the people expect to hear). A perfect example would be the phrase, “alleviate property.”

One candidate expressed his wish of eradicating poverty in the Philippines. He proceeded to giving out figures and statistics on how worse is its condition, pointing out the number of street children, poor households and out-of-school youth in the country.

However, as he went to explain on how to improve the lives of these people, he stressed that he would exert all his efforts in battling corruption. Furthermore, he would serve as a model to his constituents in order for them to abandon their selfish interests. To make this possible, he would investigate and implement a strict transparency system so as to avoid the existence of petty corruption.

Unfortunately, while the justice system in this country remains dormant and the laws; which are expected to have teeth and venom cannot serve their purpose well, his advocacy will become futile.

I remember how my father once said that lawmakers only write laws which are beneficial to them. Moreover, they know how to twist and bend certain provisions in their favor just to evade punishment. This only shows how ‘toothless’ and ineffective our justice system is.

This country has had enough of sweet talks and fragrant promises. And what the people expect to hear are clear and specific plans, not political clichés and general assumptions on battling the problems we are facing. Unfortunately, the people who were present during the said convention are intelligent enough to distinguish who among these candidates have distinct and ‘realistic’ goals in steering the country forward. Flattery and cajoling are not exactly the best methods in winning a vote.

On a lighter note, I was looking forward to meeting my personal bet face-to-face. However, he was not able to attend the said convention. After watching several youth forums and debates, he is, among all the presidential candidates, the only one who has concrete and specific plans to cure the problems of this country. I hope the youth of my generation will recognize him as the best bet for the meantime.

Ideally, when you help a person, you must not expect something in return. But reality points out that it should be a two-way process: both sides must benefit from the bargain.

In the recent bloodletting activity held by the Philippine Red Cross last February 2, I happened to ask a student his purpose for donating his blood. I was expecting him to say that he sincerely wants to help. However, it was utterly disappointing to learn that he did so because he wanted to receive incentives on one of his subjects or even, get exempted from his exam.

While there seems to be nothing wrong with giving merits to encourage students in practicing generosity, what happens is that they get the wrong connotation of expecting something IN RETURN for the good they have done.

In the same way, departments compete in order to receive the Bloodiest department award. God knows what some people would do in the name of tight competition and fame.

Students will pass their subjects through hard work, without having to rely on additional points. Besides, if your intention is clean, you don’t need an award in order to parade what you have done.

I’m just wondering what the outcome of the next bloodletting activity would be without these
pluses. Will the school still be able to generate another 1, 564 bags or even higher than this out of sheer generosity?



In an ideal setup, students must pay their tuition fees on time. But, factors included in the real world hinder them from following this regulation.

Under Memorandum Order 02-2010, a provision stating "higher education institutions shall
allow students with delinquent accounts to take school examinations" made the students and their parents breathe fresh air.

At this point of economic recession and financial turmoil, most families find it difficult to have three square meals a day. They strive hard in order to send their children to school for them to have a better life and enhance their work-related skills.

Tertiary schools rely on tuition and miscellaneous fees in order to provide facilities and other student-related services. However, considering the country’s tight financial condition, they should allow a more flexible timeline for students to settle their accounts.

Even I, sometimes, admit how difficult it is to pay my tuition fee on time. All three of us are in the college level. Our father alone supports our education.

The memorandum issued by CHED is very helpful, especially, to those bright, persevering but financially deprived students.


The Features and Literary section is accepting prose and literary contributions to be published in TIP Voice’s next issue. Interested individuals (students or members of the academic and non-academic departments) may submit their works at our office located at 2nd floor, Building 3, Casal campus or e-mail these at tipvoicemanila@yahoo.com.

Got an idea to share? Trespass the author’s lair at www.vraisemblance.blogspot.com and carve up a piece of your mind at rcyan_kaede@yahoo.com.