Titser Lang?

I want to share with you guys about an article that I have read in a magazine called Quality Teacher. It is such a good article that I have to re-type it and share it here. It's entitled "Titser Lang?" by Maycee G. Mercado

Just so you know, I am also a teacher that's why I posted an article like this.
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Titser Lang?
by Maycee G. Mercado

"Paano kung bigyan ka ng magandang offer ng isang kumpanya, pipiliin mo pa rin bang maging isang titser lang?"

That's the reaction of a friend when I told her that I plan to teach in ther future. It seemed an innocent question at first. When I thought about it, I figured a hint of apprehension, a tinge of remorse about the idea that I want to teach. She must've thought it was absurd, abominable even, that I wanted to be a teacher. I don't blame her though for feeling that way. It is true that teachers today do not enjoy the same esteem as what professionals like engineers or doctors or lawyers enjoy. Titser nga lang eh.

The phrase teacher nga lang is "just a teacher" when transleted to English. It connotes a deprecated image of the teacher, a slave of the educational system who toils to earn but a measly remuneration. True?

Based of the 5% Across the Board Salary Scale Schedule of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Public School Teacher I rank receives a basic salary of PhP 9,939. Teacher II and Teacher III ranks receive PhP 10,535 and PhP 11, 446 resepectively. And despite the regular increase in the prices of commodities, public school teachers have had no salary increase since 2001. An article about the situation of education from ther website www.bulatlat.com cited the result of a DepEd study during the time of ther late secretary Raul Roco which said that a teacher "has about 16 non-statutory deductions, including payments for insurance premiums and loans." Here is the clincher: according to the Department of Labor and Employment, a family of six needs PhP 17, 820 a month of PhP 594 daily to live decently as of February 2004. It is true, then. Teachers work very hard and get paid very little. Titser nga lang eh.

Titser nga lang ba?
In reality, teachers are not just teachers. They are classroom managers. They are chief operating officers of cramped classrooms with some of the most rowdy and academically challenged students. They manage class discipline, maximize the scarce resources, act as counselors to students, and, as if all those tasks are not enough, they take home a mountain of paper works at the end of the day. And to top that, teachers are second parents, they are confidants, they are mentors, they are friends.

The result of a research made by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) reveals how overworked Filipino teachers are. The study shows that Filipino teachers work for an average of 1,176 hours a year, attending to several classes of over 50 students each.

According to Antonio Tinio, president of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), the standard number of students per class is 25. But here in the Philippines, the average class size is double and sometimes triple the standard. "The Philippines has the worst pupil-teacher ratio in Asia." Tinio said. Further, he cited an assessment report made by Education for All in 2000, "Japan has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio at less than 20:1, followed by Malaysia and Thailand, at 21:1 and 21.5:1 respectively. The closest to the Philippines is Laos (31:1) and Vietnam (31:1)."

But here's what's puzzling. There are teachers that last 25, 30, or even more years in the profession despite being overworked and underpaid. That's a big deal - an incomprehensible sacrifice of putting all the best years of their lives as educators. Titser lang?

Titser lang ah?
Since the early years of Filipino migration jobs overseas, teachers have been on of the country's most popular exports. An article from the University of the Philippines Forum shows that the number of teachers deployed overseas increased five times from 1992 to 2002. And judging from the enormous demand for teachers especially in the United States, the number could be higher today. The same article reports that 45.2% of migrant teachers were deployed in the US, while 18.2% and 5.9% went to teach in Saudi Arabia and Brunei respectively.

The depressing side of teacher overseas migration is that some teachers choose to work abroad as domestic helpers. www.bulatlat.com reported in 2005 that some teachers work as house maids in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Middle East to escape the toil of teaching in the country. Who can blame them?

Notwithstanding the close to unbearable disposition of teachers in the country and the promise of the greenest pastures abroad, there are those that choose to stay to teach the Filipino students. No corporate bigwig, lawyer, politician, or hotshot professional can make the sacrifices that a teacher does. Titser lang! And there would be no corporate bigwig, lawyer, politician, or hotshot professional if not for the teacher.

It is hard to dig gold. That's what regular professinals do. But it's harder to develop potentials and mold minds and hearts to make men and women from boys and girls. Only teachers can do that. Titser lang!

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Source: Quality Teacher Vol. 10. Number 2. Teacher Lang? by Maycee G. Mercado. Page 6-8.

Guardian Angel

It's been a long time since I haven't blog about things like this. I've been blogging about cosplay in the past few months so I just thought of blogging about another topic.

Anyway, do you believe that we have a guardian angel? I do.

Two or three years ago, I talked to my cousin who's God-given gifts has been developed. He told me that every person has a guardian angel and he/she can talk to him/her (guardian angel).

Anyway, I have many experiences that made me believe that they do really exist, although I can't see them personally.

Going back to my cousin, he told me that if I have a wish, I can tell it to my guardian angel. How? Just talk. But my wishes weren't big. Like for example, earlier this day. I can't ride a jeep because most of them are full. So after 15 mins. I asked my guardian angel to send me a jeep which has a vacant seat, at least 1, so that I can sit down. This is what I said:

"Guardian angel, padalahan mo naman ako ng jeep na kahit isa lang ang bakanteng upuan."

Then 5 minutes later, a jeep with 3 vacant seats came in and stopped in front of me. So there, before I boarded the jeep, I thanked my guardian angel.

This is not just a one-time experience. I've been doing this since my cousin told me about that. But I'm not abusing it. For me, I think that our guardian angel grants us simple wishes that isn't greedy, and those that won't hurt other people.

I have many stories to tell about this but that would be too long.

Try talking to your guardian angel. Just believe in him and he's always there, always ready to help you out.

Just believe that you have one. Just believe and pray to God and to Jesus Christ.

2009, A Roller Coaster Ride For Me

2009 has been a roller coaster ride for me. There were a lot of things that happened which is worth looking back. Let's start from the first month of the year. Read on...
(This is a very long post. I hope you won't get tired reading it.)


JANUARY

My 6th month being a bum. After resigning in a call center in 2008, I didn't apply for a job until January. For me, January is a month in which I can call the month of application. That whole month I tried applying to different online English tutorial (for Koreans) and I didn't have even a single bit of luck. So I was hopeless and stopped applying until late February.


FEBRUARY

Ah! The love month! Well, nothing much happened on that month. So let's move on.


MARCH

March is a very memorable month for me because that was my first time cosplaying in an event called TAGCOM which was held at Robinson's Place Manila. We were just costrippers at that time because we didn't bring a picture of the characters we cosplayed. I cosplayed Android 17 because his costume was very easy, although I had to run to Divisoria the day before the event to buy a couple of things; a plain black t-shirt, one yard of orange cloth (for 17's scarf), and blue semi-high cut Chucks. So here is one of my picture in that event.

Android 17 (Me) and Zero

Also, in that event, I first saw Alodia Gosiengfiao personally and Oh!, she was pretty! She's like a doll. I was like looking at her for a couple of minutes. We even tried to take some stolen shots of her which was a failure...not until she passed by infront of me! So here's my shot of her:



My stolen shot of Alodia. What a smile!
And lucky that I was, I even got a picture of Ashley, whom I just known at that event. I didn't even know that Alodia had a sister. Is she pretty? Of course she is! I asked her if I could take a picture of her but I won't post it here. LOL! Just wait for her picture below. XD

Still in March, I had my first cosplay catwalk in an event in PUP which was called PUP Pinoy A*ko. I cospalyed Android 17 again for the second time. I didn't won the event but that was fun eventhough there were only few people who attended that event. It was also memorable because the venue was so darn hot! We were like sweating like crazy! But it was still fun. ^_^


APRIL

Two memorable things happened to me in this month. First was I commissioned 10K from our company (just by typing legal documents ang scolded 1,000,000 times because of typos), and OZINE FEST, the biggest anime/manga event of the year! Let's talk about Ozine Fest. So there, as I have said, it's the biggest anime/manga event of the year, which was held at SM Megamall, and it was 3 days! On the first day of the event, I went there as, again, Android 17. I will never forget that event because it was my first time I joined a cosplay catwalk with such a humongous crowd. I was nervous before I went at the stage to pose but I overcame it. I just did what I have to, and that was to pose. Harhar! It was also fun because there were lots of people who took a picture of me. Some even called me, "Uy, Android 17, pa-picture!)" That was really fun! I also met a couple of new friends because of the cosplay catwalk.

Annie and I

After the first day, King and I had to sleep over at one of our friend's house. The next day, our group, SKM, had a group cosplay. We cosplayed Genei Ryodan. I was Hisoka at that time. I don't want to post a pic of me wearing Hisoka's costume because it was such an epic fail. So 2 months after the event. I sold my costume to Francis aka poklet13 (which was more suited for him). In the third day of the event, I was only a con-goer. I was still with my cosgroup at that time, taking pictures of cosplayers. :)


STILL IN APRIL (whew!) was another event called Shizen Orchestra. It was held at SMX Function Hall (beside SM MOA). This was the event in which I got a picture with Alodia and Ashley! Of course, I told my friend to take some photos of Ashley. When he came back, she had lots of Ashley pictures...AND ALODIA'S! Here are some sample shots!


Alodia and I

Ashley Gosiengfiao


Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao


Ashley and I


MAY

Nothing much happened in this month except that I went to apply for another company...and still didn't get in. ;(


JUNE

TOYCON! Nothing much happened at the event. I was just there as a con-goer. And again, still on the quest of finding a job...but then again didn't make it.


JULY

Agian, nothing much happened at this month. It's just the same as the month of JUNE, except that there were no conventions (or there is? I forgot). So let's move on.


AUGUST

My birthmonth! Also Manila Comic Convention was held at SM Megamall. I almost did not attend this convention because of my personal reasons...but I'm glad I did! I got to know my long-time crush (whom I was looking at in Ozine Fest Day 1. XD). She's nice! She's cool! So there. I won't say anymore. LOL!

This was also the month were my mom gave me her Nokia 6120 cellphone as a birthday present. I was so happy because I liked that phone so much! :D

I was still on my quest to find a job, but again, same old sh*t. Nothing happened. LOL!


SEPTEMBER

The month that many of the Filipinos will remember for all of their lives. But before we talk about that depressing event, let's talk about CosplayMania '09! This event was amazing! I went there as Feitan, a character from Hunter X Hunter, with my friend Francis, who cosplayed as Hisoka.




Again, I met a couple of friends at this event. Yey! Lots of friends!

Still in September, typhoon Ondoy struck Luzon and left an unforgettable mark in the history of the Philippines. Luckily, our village wasn't that much affected although it flooded outside the house. I have a blog about that so I won't put anymore of that here. :)

Oh, this was also the month that I got addicted to Kamen Rider Decade! And the rest is history!


OCTOBER

I didn't know that this month would be a blessing because at last, I got a job! I didn't really plan on teaching yet but as what Eminem said in his song Lose Yourself, "You better lose yourself the moment you own it...blah blah.. 'cause opportunity comes once in a life time YO!" So I tried applying. Lucky me, I got in!

A typical day... (III-A 12/10/09)

NOVEMBER

A month which was filled with big events, Anime Overload Festival, Mangaholix Mangamania, and Hero Nation. Two of the events, which was AOF and HN, I cosplayed Feitan again. In Hero Nation, we joined the cosplay group competition for the first time. Our skit was Kuroro's Fall, Hisoka's Triumph. We didn't win the event but that was quite an experience! It was fun. I also met a couple of new friends at those events. Happy! :D


DECEMBER

Oh, December, the last last! One of my happiest month of 2009! Also, there was the last convention for 2009 which was Christmas ToyCon. I went there as Moonlight Knight from Sailormoon Sailorstars. It was fun event. Some of the people there still recognized who I was cosplaying. T'was really fun!

Moonlight Knight

Also, our school had a club fair. It was my first time attending such event...AS A TEACHER! Also, as a club moderator, we had this booth called the Wedding Booth. That event was really fun. After manning the booth, I did a couple of magic for my students. Happy, happy, happy! :D

The newly weds!

III-E making their HUGE lantern!

What else? I got a bonus! Oh yeah! :D I ate a lot. So much that I felt like I got tired of eating! LOL!


So there you go! I would just like to say thank you for the friends whom I met this year.

Annie
Akira
Mia
Ashley
FJ
Marky
Derrel
Xheng
Tomomi
Ralph
Deej-man
Ralph Ichigo
Taki
Midori
Kuya Denggoy
Sheila
J-As people
Mayuko
Minami Kotaro (I forgot his name)
RB
Rommel

and many more! Sorry if I forgot to mention your name. Just comment here! LOL!

Whew! What a looooong post! :D

Anyway, I hope that 2010 for me will also be a blast! :D


(Time to make my visual aids for tomorrow! Oh! It's already 9 PM!) LOLZ!!!!


01/04/10
9:25 PM
via Multiply

Some Similarities of Kamen Rider Faiz and Kamen Rider Kiva

After watching 4 Kamen Rider series since my addiction to Kamen Rider Decade, I noticed that the two series that I have watched have a little similarities. These two series are, as you can see in the title, Kamen Rider Faiz and Kamen Rider Kiva. So let's start the battle.

Round 1

Both of the series had the same concept for both heroes, they are both half-human and half monster. Well, technically it's only Wataru (Kiva) who's half-human because Takumi (Faiz) is an Orphenoch. But I assume you got my point. both of them are not 100% human.

Round 2

Both of the series have anti-hero Riders. For KR Faiz, it's Kusaka (Ku-Sucker for me) aka Kamen Rider Kaiza, and it's Nago aka Kamen Rider IXA for KR Kiva. Although IXA switched sides when he knew about Wataru being KR Kiva, he was still an anti-hero in the first place. Don't let me discuss KR Kaiza aka Ku-sucker...errr Kusaka because I am biased when it comes to him! Harharhar!

Round 3

The number 4! What's with the number 4?
The best of the best Orphenoch in KR Faiz is called Lucky Clover, which is composed of 4 members. Same goes for KR Kiva, the ruler of the Fangire race is called Checkmate 4 (King, Queen, Bishop, and Rook). Both of which has a woman in its lineup.

Round 4

Mari-san and Mio-san! The leading lady of KR Faiz is the same actress who played the role of Mio-san, who was the love interest of Wataru. She looked like she never aged a bit. She's still a kawaii onna. :D

Fact: In the final episode of Kamen Rider Decade, she was also the woman who played the role of the Fangire Queen.

Round 5

The belt. I don't mean the appearance of the belt but its requirement for the wearer. In KR Faiz, only those who are Orphenoch can wear the Faiz gear. Normal humans can wear it but after shouting "Henshin" (transform) and puts the cellphone on the belt, it won't function and the belt will just say "error". Same goes to KR Kiva, only those who are Fangire, or who has a Fangire blood can wear the Kivat belt. Those humans who attempts to wear the belt will die.

Round 6

Both the Orphenochs and the Fangires have a King.

Round 7

Kitazaki (Lucky Clover leader) and Rook (One of the Checkmate 4), both play games. If they are bored, they think of some game that will amuse them. The only difference is that Rook has a time limit for his little game. When Rook fails, he punishes himself. But if he did it before the time ends, he rewards himself with Ice Cream!

Round 8

The story of the two series has the same conflict. In KR Faiz, when Takumi's Orphenoch form surfaced again (in his will), he had a dilemma in which side will he be, Orphenoch or the Humans. It's the same in KR Kiva when Wataru discovered that he was half-Fangire although Wataru didn't sulk too much.


Maybe you are thinking that there should be a winner. No, I won't put any because I like both of the series. So there you go! :D

HENSHIN!