The memo

CHED merges, pg 1

NYELPC seminar, pg1

Xavier Ecoville, pg 1Issue 1, Vol. 1 October 11, 2013

Ched merges state universities and collegesby Isa

Agawin

The Commission on Higher Education has already implemented its nationwide strategic plan for 2011-2016 of which one of the programs is the Regional University System (RUS) or the amalgamation of state universities and colleges into one.

Chief Education Program Specialist, Dr. Juanito R. Demetrio said that the goal of this program is the rationalization of public higher education. All the state colleges and universities her in Region X will be merged into the biggest university in the region.

The universities and colleges involved in the program are as follows; Central Mindanao University (CMU), Bukidnon State University (BSU), Mindanao University of Science and Technology (MUST), Misamis Oriental State College of Agriculture and Technology (MOSCAT), Camiguin Polytechnic State College (CPSC), Northern Mindanao State College of Science and Technology (NMSCST).

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NYELPC partners CHED for balancing work seminar

by Isa Agawin

Cagayan de Oro City—the New York Language Proficiency Center (NYELPC) partnered with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to conduct a seminar to over 30 university and college teachers and professors from September 30 – October 1, 2013 at the Pearlmont Hotel.

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Xavier Ecoville celebrates blessing of by Isa Agawin

Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro City – Xavier Ecoville celebrated the blessing of its 568 permanent homes for the more than 500 victim families of Sendong with its whole day program “Dayun, Padayun, Xavier Ecoville Hope Festival” on Saturday, July 6, 2013.

“One and a half years after Typhoon Sendong, a new dawn has come for Xavier Ecoville," said by Fr. Bobby Yap, S.J., President of Xavier University in his homily during the 8am Eucharistic celebration after which followed the ceremonial blessing of the permanent houses.

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The memoIssue 1, Vol. 1 October 11, 2013 2

The Rise of the by Isa Agawin

A bomb. A death. An appointment.

We all felt bad about what happened to Cagayan de Oro about a month ago. Many lives were lost, many lives were changed. What happened during the bombing here in our city was unforgiveable and unforgettable. None of the victims deserved it. Not even Honorable Roldan Lagbas.A major

Roldan Lagbas was a provincial board member in Misamis Oriental. He was elected by the people in a fair, just and a democratic action practiced by the citizens for decades. After his death, many were wondering who would replace him in office. It has to be someone who was eligible, perhaps, one of those who ran for the office but whose votes fell short in the tally after Lagbas.

No one really imagined that his wife would take the office except a certain bystander who was interviewed by a reporter from the local T.V. Patrol, who suggested that his wife could replace her deceased husband.

The daily, Sun Star Cagayan de Oro subsequently announced that Susan Lagbas, the wife of the deceased Roldan Lagbas, was appointed to replace her husband at the Provincial Office. She took her oath from Gov. Yevgeny Vicente Emano last Monday.

The governor said that Mrs. Lagbas was appointed since their first choice, the son, was unfortunately still 17 years of age.

The news hit me like a bomb! It put to death my tattered hope for a better nation. What has become of Philippine politics? Is it some kind of a dynasty system? Have we adapted the monarchy system, wherefamily succession is the rule? Has public office become like having property rights, where one’s nearest kin could inherit the title? There are a lot of cases in the Philippines today where almost all the members of the family are running for government offices. True, in our own recent history, after Ninoy Aquino was murdered, Cory was people powered to replace Marcos. That was entirely a different thing. She was propelled into office by an overwhelming majority of people who chose her sans election. In the case of Lagbas’ wife, she was appointed to replace her husband. Article 83 Sec B of Local Government Code of 1991 states that “if permanent vacancy occurs in the offices, the second highest ranking Sanggunian member, shall ipso facto assume the position.” It is also stated in Sec C that the eligible

appointee shall come from the same political party and had been elected and whose elevation to the position is next higher in rank.”

The local government code laid down explicitly the restricStions and guidelines on how to run our nation’s political arm in order for it to run smoothly and peacefully. It was clear in the government code, that the candidate second highest in vote and also from the same political party for that position, must assume the office. Did Susan Lagbas run for election? Did his son run for election? No. And to make matters worse, why was the son even considered the first choice to take over his dad’s place? In my naïve understanding, this practice does NOT seem right because it is painting a picture that Philippine Politics is turning into a monarchy or dynasty. Were the votes of the people in the last election just as insignificant or even inconsequential as the will of the majority? What is happening to a just and democratic system? It has become a mockery of sorts because it is no longer a democratic one. When we no longer follow what is stated in the constitution, specifically the appointment to a vacant position is an abuse of power and authority.

A bomb. A death. And the right appointment must be made.

Xavier After the village parade of the 5 hectare site, at

10 am, Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar “Oca” Moreno gave an inspirational opening remarks during the opening program. “Today is the day of victory for humanity,” says Moreno.

In the afternoon, everyone enjoyed the activities offered by the Ecoville Festival. These were the freedom wall, face paint, henna tattoos, art attack and the photo booth which had a long line of enthusiasts; it also included the chalk art, origami making, family bingo and games which the relocated families, enjoyed playing.

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opinio

The memo 3

NYELPC The two day- 16 hour professional

development seminar focuses on the practical understanding and application of best-practices work habits in the academic environment. The training teaches the participants to maintain happiness among the faculty and staff while improving their productivity and performances.

Kerry C. Macneal, President of NYELPC said that the program was patterned by the work habits from the U.S. Military, U.S. State Department and the IBM Corporation.

“The importance of the seminar is the integrated approach to merge your personality so you do your best work, avoid conflict and learn to set priorities and merge your time,” Macneal said.

He added, “The seminar teaches how to reduce debt, increase savings, retire well without burnout or health problems. Have a career which you are happy and retiring well with you and your family.”

Macneal is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command in KY and held a U.S. State position of Senior Governance Advisor to the Holy Najaf province of Iraq. He is one of the speakers of the event along with Atty. Julito D. Vitrolo, Ph.D., CESO III, Executive Director IV of the CHED and Jovita I. Cablao, Managing Director of NYELPC.

The seminar includes talks like Team Resiliency in the Workplace, Master the Skills of Resilient People, Burnout Recovery and Prevention, Stress and Anger Management, Personal Finances: Grow Income, Reduce Debt, Save and Interest, Time Management and Personal Organization, Strengthen Family Ties with New Communication Skills and Techniques for Relaxation and Sleep.

NYELPC has been giving seminars internationally

CHED merges…The purpose of merging these academic institutions is to improve the quality of education in the tertiary level and to solve the problems of the lack of resources and faculty.

There are three stages in the amalgamation process; the complementation in terms of academic, research, and production; federated (each school will operate independently but they will share resources); and the amalgamation or RUS.

Since each college and universities have their own charter or law, presidents from each institution must agree on the new type of academic set-up, before merging. After which a new organizational set-up, accounting and management system have been formed, they will vote for one president for the six state universities and colleges.

Regions which are done with RUS are CAR, Region XI (Davao), Region XIII (Caraga). The concept of the program originated from China, Australia and the USA.

There will be no target date for the RUS since CHED specified that all regions are encouraged to follow

the program.

Dr. Juanito R. Demetrio, Chief Education Program Specialist

Kerry C. Macneal, President of NYELPC

Issue 1, Vol. 1 October 11, 2013

“The importance of the seminar is the integrated approach to merge your personality so you do your best work, avoid conflict and learn to set priorities and merge your time,” Macneal said.

He added, “The seminar teaches how to reduce debt, increase savings, retire well without burnout or health problems. Have a career which you are happy and retiring well with you and your family.”

Macneal is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command in KY and held a U.S. State position of Senior Governance Advisor to the Holy Najaf province of Iraq. He is one of the speakers of the event along with Atty. Julito D. Vitrolo, Ph.D., CESO III, Executive Director IV of the CHED and Jovita I. Cablao, Managing Director of NYELPC.

The seminar includes talks like Team Resiliency in the Workplace, Master the Skills of Resilient People, Burnout Recovery and Prevention, Stress and Anger Management, Personal Finances: Grow Income, Reduce Debt, Save and Interest, Time Management and Personal Organization, Strengthen Family Ties with New Communication Skills and Techniques for Relaxation and Sleep.

NYELPC has been giving seminars internationally

The memo 4Issue 1, Vol. 1 October 11, 2013

featurPainting Yellow: How Fortitude by Isa Agawin

“Well, if ever there is a color for happiness that will be my color. It could be yellow because everyone says that is the color for happiness and I am happy with my course, happy with my scholarship, happy with my friends, I am soo yellow right now.”

She just turned legal last May 28. She’s a full academic scholar and a 2nd year student in Nursing. She left high school with flying colors, a Valedictorian, the Vice President of the Student Government, Letter Bearer of the Drum and Bugle Corps and she traveled the country to join Press Conferences and seminars. Right now, she’s the secretary of the 2nd year level under the legislative body of the Council of Nursing Students and a Red Cross Volunteer. She’s Ma. Minvilu V. Marbella.

Miracle Mite

When you think of miracles, she’s one of them.

People like to call her “Em-Em”, she’s known for being the shy, smart girl in school. She’s got long hair and a beautiful face. She’s the typical dream girl for any guy to look for, but she’s always humbled by her past. “God was merciful,” she kept saying. She’s a menopausal baby, her mother conceived her when she was 45 years old. The struggles a mother who’s bearing a child at that age are difficult. “I could have been a mongoloid,” Em-em says. Both lives were in danger. If her mother went through with the pregnancy, she could have lost her life. If her mother didn’t want to take the risk, Minvilu could have not lived. It was one of the most difficult times in their family. But she has brave parents. Her mother decided to go on, taking all the risks. At the end of the tunnel, they both lived. She had no signs of abnormality. She shared that the first thing her

Her mother, well, she’s healthy. Minvilu is the youngest of 8 siblings. The gap from the first child to hers is 20 years. The gap from the second to the last child is 9. Growing up, instead of having playmates, she had teachers. They taught her how to identify colors when she was an infant and they taught her how to read at an early age. Minvilu was attuned to the idea that school is important.

School Girl

Pink, pink, pink. She wore pink for 10 years.

Minvilu was a scholar in Lourdes College High School since she graduated 6th grade as a salutatorian. Since then, she had to balance co-curricular activities with her academics. She became the Senior Vice President of the student government during her senior year, after serving 3 terms as Year Representative. A Filipino writer then a copy reader for the school paper - Blue Sash, she participated in journalism contests such as the Regional School Press Conference. She also attended a national convention for Student Catholic Action of the Philippines (SCAP) in Manila back in 2011.

Minvilu was also part of her high school’s drum and bugle; a staffer from freshman to sophomore, then a “letter bearer” during her junior and senior year. For a high school student, she already had a lot on her plate, but Minvilu conquered it all, graduating high school as class valedictorian.

Snap decisionHere’s the catch. Nursing was not her first choice, it was accountancy. She changed her mind during the last step of enrolment. Her dream was to be an office girl, not a doctor. When she thought of medicine related topics, her stomach would lurch.

“When I was young, I remember telling my parents, I would never become a doctor. When I see blood, I

She just turned legal last May 28. She’s a full academic scholar and a 2nd year student in Nursing. She left high school with flying colors, a Valedictorian, the Vice President of the Student Government, Letter Bearer of the Drum and Bugle Corps and she traveled the country to join Press Conferences and seminars. Right now, she’s the secretary of the 2nd year level under the legislative body of the Council of Nursing Students and a Red Cross Volunteer. She’s Ma. Minvilu V. Marbella.

Miracle Mite

When you think of miracles, she’s one of them.

People like to call her “Em-Em”, she’s known for being the shy, smart girl in school. She’s got long hair and a beautiful face. She’s the typical dream girl for any guy to look for, but she’s always humbled by her past. “God was merciful,” she kept saying. She’s a menopausal baby, her mother conceived her when she was 45 years old. The struggles a mother who’s bearing a child at that age are difficult. “I could have been a mongoloid,” Em-em says. Both lives were in danger. If her mother went through with the pregnancy, she could have lost her life. If her mother didn’t want to take the risk, Minvilu could have not lived. It was one of the most difficult times in their family. But she has brave parents. Her mother decided to go on, taking all the risks. At the end of the tunnel, they both lived. She had no signs of abnormality. She shared that the first thing her

“When I was young, I remember telling my parents, I would never become a doctor. When I see blood, I

The memoIssue 1, Vol. 1 October 11, 2013 5

The only thing left to complete her enrolment is the signing of the blue form. But, she met up her high school adviser, teacher Tweet and she made her think twice. Her adviser asked “Is that what you really want? Is that all you could do?” On the same evening, her older brother “nailed the coffin” by telling her that he is willing to support her studies if ever she wanted to pursue Medicine for graduate school. In that span of time, it’s amazing how words of encouragement made her decide a career she’ll have to live all her life. She realized how lucky she is and how a lot of people are willing to pursue Medicine but could not, because the lack of financial support. Minvilu grabbed the opportunity and chose the course that would give her proper introduction and training for Medical school - Nursing.

College Lady

You would probably be thinking, “Did she regret making her decision?” or “How is she?” or “Why in the world did she take up nursing?”

Answer? She loves every minute of it. She never realized that she’d be enjoying a course that she’d never choose. She found her true passion like injecting needles. Scratch that – she finds it exciting going on duties, going to different places to assess people’s conditions and she loves administering injections.

Shock was the primary reaction when she started her classes. She was not used to studying on a regular basis because back then in high school she focused more on finishing assignments and projects and a dash of extra co-curricular activities on the side rather than studying and studying ahead (both are different things).

It was different for Minvilu because all her classmates in college were into studying, pouring themselves into books.

“I’m in college, and I have to be serious with

All work, no play, makes Em-em a dull girl?

No. Em-em’s got a trick.

“Stress is somehow minimized because you would think of it as a game. Sometimes, I think of my exams as a game.”

She doesn’t enjoy the chore of studying (no one does), but she conditions her mind that lessons are enjoyable, and that, it could help her reach her dream, to attend medical school. It’s one way of applying the things you’ve learned, not by force or for the sake of knowing, instead applying the things learned by heart. “I condition my mind to enjoy what I’m doing instead of pressuring myself to excel. I would never do that to myself, I would surely fail.”

Em-em is currently the secretary of the 2nd

year level under the legislative body of the Council of Nursing Students and a volunteer of Red Cross youth.

It’s not just the title

It’s not that easy to be under a scholarship. The common misconception of others is that, if one’s a scholar, it would be as easy as a pie. It’s not. Scholars have to study two times more, do everything to maintain or reach a high Quality Point Index (QPI). For Em-em, it’s a huge responsibility. It

The only thing left to complete her enrolment is the signing of the blue form. But, she met up her high school adviser, teacher Tweet and she made her think twice. Her adviser asked “Is that what you really want? Is that all you could do?” On the same evening, her older brother “nailed the coffin” by telling her that he is willing to support her studies if ever she wanted to pursue Medicine for graduate school. In that span of time, it’s amazing how words of encouragement made her decide a career she’ll have to live all her life. She realized how lucky she is and how a lot of people are willing to pursue Medicine but could not, because the lack of financial support. Minvilu grabbed the opportunity and chose the course that would give her proper introduction and training for Medical school - Nursing.

College Lady

You would probably be thinking, “Did she regret making her decision?” or “How is she?” or “Why in the world did she take up nursing?”

Answer? She loves every minute of it. She never realized that she’d be enjoying a course that she’d never choose. She found her true passion like injecting needles. Scratch that – she finds it exciting going on duties, going to different places to assess people’s conditions and she loves administering injections.

Shock was the primary reaction when she started her classes. She was not used to studying on a regular basis because back then in high school she focused more on finishing assignments and projects and a dash of extra co-curricular activities on the side rather than studying and studying ahead (both are different things).

It was different for Minvilu because all her classmates in college were into studying, pouring themselves into books.

“I’m in college, and I have to be serious with

All work, no play, makes Em-em a dull girl?

No. Em-em’s got a trick.

“Stress is somehow minimized because you would think of it as a game. Sometimes, I think of my exams as a game.”

She doesn’t enjoy the chore of studying (no one does), but she conditions her mind that lessons are enjoyable, and that, it could help her reach her dream, to attend medical school. It’s one way of applying the things you’ve learned, not by force or for the sake of knowing, instead applying the things learned by heart. “I condition my mind to enjoy what I’m doing instead of pressuring myself to excel. I would never do that to myself, I would surely fail.”

Em-em is currently the secretary of the 2nd

year level under the legislative body of the Council of Nursing Students and a volunteer of Red Cross youth.

It’s not just the title

It’s not that easy to be under a scholarship. The common misconception of others is that, if one’s a scholar, it would be as easy as a pie. It’s not. Scholars have to study two times more, do everything to maintain or reach a high Quality Point Index (QPI). For Em-em, it’s a huge responsibility. It

The memo 6Issue 1, Vol. 1 October 11, 2013

Painting Yellow…Even though nursing is hard, she still enjoys what she is doing, because she found out her passion through nursing. Her motto is “You are free to excel, just learn to love what you do. You have to choose what is in your heart, but you should also be sure not to aim for perfection Cause’ that’s really impossible; at least you can aim for excellence. You can attain that by loving what you do.”

A brave girl, that’s what she is, not afraid of what may be the consequences, all she does is move forward, and never looking back. She took a huge risk without hesitation and she’s glad to take that huge leap of faith. Minvilu continues to paint yellow. She’s like a ball of sunshine, radiating happiness wherever she goes, touching lives and bringing joy to everyone.

“The best thing that can help you budget your time is by doing it in such a way that

you are enjoying it, so that the task of doing so, won’t be so heavy

Xavier Ecoville . . .Organizations of XU, the volunteers from the

Central Student Government, the Glee Club, Soundtable, and some representatives from the Nursing Department also gathered at the relocation site to offer their services to the new residents at Xavier Ecoville.

Some sophomore Nursing students who worked as medics provided the residents free blood pressure reading in the afternoon of the festival.

Ma. Minvilu Marbella, a 2nd year nursing student shared her thrill of helping residents and at the same time the exposure to community health service. “I felt grateful to Xavier University, especially the College of Nursing, for giving me the opportunity to help the people at Ecoville and at the same time, practiced what I’ve learned.”

The festival ended with Dayun, Padayun: The Xavier Ecoville Hope festival Showcase Night which included live contemporary performances, the flying of sky lanterns and a spectacular display of fireworks.

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