My Top 10 Moments of 2014: #9 Passed the LAE

Unlike many people, being a lawyer wasn’t always a life-long dream. As late as second year college, I had thought to myself there were already too many lawyers in the Philippines. It was in the course of my stay in UP that I learned though the value of knowing the law.

For one, whenever there is a debate on social issues which is almost everyday in the University of the Philippines, people will often argue the Constitution is on their side. Either they claim the policy is wrong because it is unconstitutional or it is right because it is enshrined in the constitution. They conveniently ignore that often times the constitution is silent or not definitive on many matters. It becomes absurd when many of these people haven’t even read the entire Constitution. Under the same principle, if you say you believe in the Bible, I advise you to read through it in the entirety. It has always bothered me when people say they agree with something they haven’t actually read in full.

What’s worse is when people put something in the Constitution that isn’t there. I’ll never forget a very prominent University Student Council personality before who claimed that college education should be free based on the Constitution. She was actually ‘educating’ people on this ‘fact’ and citing the vaguest constitutional provision that had nothing to do with. (Hint: There is no actual constitutional provision saying we have the right to free college education. Such right is only limited to grade school and high school education.) I can agree with you that college education should ideally be free but please NEVER EVER twist the Constitution to suit your own advocacies. We may be pursuing the right ends but we should also use the right means.

Other examples are smoking. I remember how very few people know that it is illegal to smoke in public places like universities because these are centers of youth activity. Yes that should include the University of the Philippines. Smoking areas should not be allowed because the entire campus is mandated by law to prohibit smoking. Same goes for jeepney drivers and other public utility vehicles (PUVs). They are not allowed to smoke inside their vehicles. The Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 is only a google search away but few people ever look up our own national laws. Remember if you are caught violating a law, not knowing it is not an excuse. Ignorantia legis non excusat. Ignorance of the law excuses no one.

I believe in the rule of law. I’ve noticed in the Philippines, we lack discipline. Traffic lights are mere suggestions, pedestrians often cross anywhere but the pedestrian lanes, corruption is endemic, shortcuts are proudly considered as ‘diskarte’, and we too easily forgive and forget. Only in the Philippines would we even consider burying a dictator who has plundered billions of pesos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. I strongly believe we should implement the law and punish wrong doers. Dura lex sed lex. The law is harsh but it is the law.

I knew having these opinions about law would not nearly be as credible if I wasn’t a lawyer so I decided to take it up. My training as a public administration student made me realize the importance of institutions and law is one of the building blocks of those institutions.

Still, I knew 4 years of law would be incredibly hard and punishing so I knew I had to be studying at my dream school if I wanted to stay motivated. That was UP Law. I didn’t apply for any other lawschool. My backup was a Masters Degree in Economics if I failed the LAE (Law Aptitude Exam) the first time. I was prepared to wait and retake the LAE how many times till I passed. Right before I heard the news, I was already fixing my application for Masters Economics. Economics is a very interesting field and one that really needs to be prioritized in a third world country like the Philippines where development is sorely needed. It’s something I want to pursue after my law degree.

I took the exam in the morning. I’m still glad I was able to take the test. On the deadline of applications I was so sleepy because I had pulled an all-nighter for student council that on the jeep ride after my class, I had left my envelope with ALL my LAE documents on the seat. It was 1 PM and the deadline was 5 PM. Good thing I did not freak out or give up. I immediately moved all over campus, getting my 1 x 1 pictures, my transcript, stamps, and thanks to some quick talking, I was able to make up the 5 pm deadline.

In truth, the LAE wasn’t particularly hard. It’s a slightly harder version of the UPCAT and in my opinion, something you cannot really review for. Those review centers are quite expensive and mostly are just for confidence building.  The hard part about the LAE is that you are competing among many thousands of applicants so even if the test itself is easy, you have to score in the highest percentile to get a slot. During my own exam, I was able to finish with 30 minutes to spare during the English part but I guessed half my answers in the abstract reasoning portion. To this day, I am really bad at my spatial intelligence.

I found out I had passed in Mushroom Burger of all places when I spoke on leadership for IGNITE-NCPAG. I made sure to record how I felt so that I would never forget.

Everyone was so happy for me.

Ignore the hearts. This is the most platonic relationship ever. They were just proud we were the two orgmates who passed. (C/o Olan Junio)

I had gotten into lawschool. Little did I know that getting in was the easy part. Surviving is a whole different story.

My Top 10 Moments of 2014: #10 Finished Term as NCPAG Chairperson

2014 was the most important year of my young life. I’ve been lucky to receive so many blessings in a span of 12 months (getting into UP Law, being elected to the University Student Council, falling in love) and out of appreciation and a desire to record this while it is fresh, I’ve decided to come up with a list of my top 10 moments in 2014. This is a list of chronological order and does not mean that for example #5 was more important to me than #8.

Top 10 Things About 2014

10. Finished Term as NCPAG Chairperson

When I was a freshman, I told myself I was going to be NCPAG Student Council Chairperson. Looking back, I must have sounded a bit crazy because I was never student council in high school. The closest I ever got to a leadership position was when I was treasurer back in grade 4. I was very much an introvert who preferred to spend his time reading, doing taekwondo, or playing DOTA but when I got into college, I decided that I want to be a politician and I believed that student council would give me important leadership experience.

It was something I set out for myself and people sensed it. I’ve never thought it was a bad thing to tell people your dreams and to go after them so I did. Ambition is only bad if it isn’t coupled with Hard Work and Integrity. I was also motivated by the fact that during my very first year in the college, the only student council officer I knew in a 15 man body was the student council president and only by face. I promised myself that one day, I would lead a student council that students would actually feel. It’s the reason why I say hi to EVERY student I see because I always want students to know they can approach me if they have a concern. It doesn’t matter if we’re not close because I know I shouldn’t wait for the students to approach me, I have to be the one to approach them. Hence the development of my ‘kapal ng mukha.’

I wanted to lead the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) and I, a 1^st year student, had the gall to say just that to the two members of the ruling political party at the time Practice of Administrative Leadership and Service (PALS-NCPAG) when they oriented me in the NCPAG Discussion Room. I would find out later that one of them, who would go on to become USC Vice Chairperson and who I would support for Student Regent, would post in the PALS facebook group that he just oriented the 2013 – 2014 NCPAG SC Chairperson.

Years later, that prophecy would come to fruition, though interestingly I would be doing it as the standard bearer of another party, the Initiative of Genuine Involvement, Transparency, and Empowerment (IGNITE-NCPAG). To write the full story of this would take something closer to a novella but suffice it to say, it was a momentous year for NCPAG student politics. Now imagine the type of controversy this would create in a very small circle. This wasn’t a case of a candidate who was wooed by another party, I was the one who recruited all its members, who gave it its nationalist, reformist, and progressive orientation, and was now its chief candidate.

It was a very different political climate then, PALS has consistently been at the top of college for 21 years and there was no organized opposition. While students now are used to IGNITE majority councils, we were the clear underdogs before. The year before we came, only 1 person ran as an independent. Now independents are the majority.

Let it make it clear though. I have no problem with PALS. I have a lot of friends among them. In fact, it was funny that when I ran for USC, there were more PALS in my campaign team than IGNITE members. I really don’t believe student politics should be inherently adversarial – IGNITE and PALS are just about producing competent leaders so that the students can choose for themselves who they want to lead the student body.

The most awesome 22nd NCPAG Student Council sans Hannah Vargas who would prove to be a very hardworking internal affairs administrator in our student council.

So when I was elected back in March 2013, I promised that I would make the best out of this opportunity. I promised I would be the best goddamn chairperson I could be. Whether you ran under PALS or IGNITE, I wanted us to put SC first. We’d be neutral, we wouldn’t wear our organization shirts, share any org publicity materials, anything. We wanted people to see us as NCPAG SC, not as IGNITE SC or PALS SC. I swore to myself that I would never let anyone feel like they were treated differently because of their affiliation. I was really touched when my Vice Chairperson and good friend Naumie Villarina would tell me after our term that she never felt we came from different political parties. Unlike some other colleges, we believe service can exist best without politics. We’re taught in our very first class PA 11 about the politics – administration dichotomy and how we shouldn’t let one affect the other.

I did my best to be kind to everyone. In this, I was influenced by the chairperson before me, Chess Carlos. She was one of the nicest people I have ever met and the perfect example of a small girl less than 5 feet tall with a big heart. She always called herself my godmother and I appreciated it; what struck me the most about Chess was even though if she was the chairperson, she’d not be afraid to be seen doing the most menial of tasks like sweeping the floors. To this day, I am proud she graduated with honors and now works for Teach for the Philippines.

On my experience proper as NCPAG Chairperson, I could proudly say it was the most wonderful experience of my college life and I will always look back at it with pride. We weren’t the perfect council and there were definitely stressful moments like the issue of the Graduate Tuition Fee Increment (GTFI) and the resignation of our original Internal Affairs Administrator but I’m proud to say we did something with our term. We changed our Student Government Constitution, we restarted the NCPAG Newspaper Umalohokan which is under the very able leadership of their Editor-In-Chief John Robert Espanola and just recently released their first hardcopy, and we were able to host the very first Philippine Good Governance Summit (PGGS) which is the brainchild of Gino Castillo Chan and the rest of the very talented core team (Kim, Mikhail, Reyselle, Ariesa, Kat, Jupa). Most of all, I’m proud that students were a lot more involved as we expanded the use of organizing committees composed of regular students for almost all student government activities. I’ll always think fondly of my councilmates Naumie, Gino, Mimi Chi, Jizen, Hannah, Lui, Ariesa, Kat, Eldon, and Joemier and our late night meetings ordering Chowking and arguing about who will take the student council minutes.

Some regular students made this. It isn’t true but flattery always works on me and saying “Raymond best chairperson evah” was a sweet gesture.

It really is an honor serving your fellow students and being able to represent them. It was doubly empowering being able to represent the college in front of other courses because I’ve always been proud of the fact that I’m a Public Administration student, whenever students from other courses would say that students should attend Educational Discussions (EDs) to know more about social issues, I would always smile to myself because what they do tackle in their extra-curriculars, we study in class.

The lesson I learned most was to love all your constituents. I am proud to say that I love everyone in NCPAG whether you’re from STPA, CIRCA, PAGDU, PALS, IGNITE, unaffiliated, student, faculty, or employee. It’s why I still visit NCPAG from time to time #clingy and why I’m very proud of the current student council for carrying the theme We Are NCPAG. I’m glad to see the future public servants of this country are being empowered about their role in nation building. I believe it takes a lot of guts to serve in government; you’re under appreciated and underpaid yet IF you do your job well, you can make a meaningful difference in a lot of peoples lives.

All good things come to an end though. I would end my term on the last day of the Philippine Good Governance Summit, February 3 at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Ortigas Center because the current NCPAG Constitution requires you to resign when you run for re-election.

I had filed my candidacy for University Student Council. That however is a story for another day.