Out with the old

At the office, in an effort to conserve resources, we print our emails and document drafts on the reverse side of old papers. Last week I brought a stack of old photocopied reading material and scrap papers from my college days to the office to be reused. Yesterday, as I was filing some emails, I happened to glance at the back of one sheet and saw with amusement that it was an Ateneo circular about the guidelines for suspension of classes. Then, I saw with considerably less amusement that one guideline stated classes would be cancelled if an order was issued by President Ramos. PRESIDENT RAMOS. He was still President when I was in college. Ack! Can I be that ancient? I certainly don't feel like I've aged that much. Grown up in a lot of aspects, yes, but also younger in so many other ways. Or maybe that's just denial talking. Haha.

On the other hand, sadly, I definitely don't think our country has progressed that much since Ramos' time. One and a half Presidents later, and we're still stuck in an ever-deepening rut of economic, social, and moral degradation. But I don't feel like getting up on my soapbox today so let me just take this chance to give props to three young congressmen who have the balls to go against their party and stand up for their own personal convictions: Ace Barbers, Dudut Jaworski (never thought I'd ever have good things to say about a Jaworski), and of course, Edmund Reyes, who did not in the least bit deserve to be disparaged so shamelessly by Rep. Manuel "Way Kurat" Zamora. And to think I used to admire Zamora for his simple virtue-- where's the virtue in mocking a colleague's heartfelt, solemn speech? Reyes' "is there no one else?" plea showed his character, courage, and passion, and it was one of the finest oratorical moments I've witnessed in Philippine politics (and as my sister said, a scene straight out of a Pacino film, which is high praise coming from her).

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Just want to give a shout-out to the best bunch of teachers I've ever had the privilege of working with, and the pleasure of calling friends, AP-Annex. I hope you had a happy (ICA) Teachers Day and you're all having fun on your retreat... although I doubt it, seeing as how it's a silent retreat and "silent" is probably the last adjective anyone would use to describe any of us... :p