when the first cock crows early in the morning, the other roosters follow

kailan ba natin masasabi na happy ang tao? obviously, kung hindi siya nakasimangot at may guhit ng ngiti ang kanyang mukha na pati rin yong mga mata niya ay nangungusap o kumikislap sa ligaya na nadarama.

pero paano natin malalaman na masaya sa trabaho ang isang kawani o mangagawa? siguro kapag malaki ang kita niya o sweldo sa kumpanyang pinapasukan. o di kaya naman ay maraming allowances at insentibo ang binibigay ng kumpanya sa kanila.  ito po ang karaniwang basehan ng mga tao upang tukuyin kung maligaya ba ang namamasukan sa kanyang pinapasukang trabaho.

pero sabi naman po ng mga eksperto base sa kanilang mga pananaliksik ay hindi po financial o pera ‘yong sukatan ng pagiging kuntento o pagiging maligaya ng isang kawani. bagkus ay mga bagay na walang kinalaman sa salapi ‘yong pangunahing dahilan bakit sila kontento at masaya sa kanilang trabaho. isa po dito ‘yong pag-recognize ng management sa mga kontribusyon at mga ideya ng kanyang nasasakupan. pangalawa po rito ay ‘yong sense of belongingness.

hindi naman po sa lahat ng pagkakataon ay tama ‘yong iniuutos o pagkakaintindi ng management sa mga bagay-bagay sa isang organisasyon. tao din sila at hindi sila perpekto. kahit nga presidente natin ay nagkakamali rin sa kanyang desisyon, gaya ng pagtawag nya sa isang comelec commissioner sa panahon ng eleksyon, kaya kinakailangan niya ng mga kabinete para tulungan siyang gumawa ng maganda at mabuting desisyon.  nagiging masigasig at maligalig ang mga manggagawa kapag kinukulsulta sila at pinakikinggan ang kanilang mga ideya. hindi dahil payak na kawani mo lang sila ay wala na silang mabuting maiimungkahi. hindi utos lang ng utos. in that way, processes became efficient and effective. iyong mga empleyado kasi ang nagsasakatuparan ng mga gawain.

sa ganitong paraan ay dahan-dahang mararamdaman ng mga kawani ‘yong sense of ownership sa kumpanya kahit hindi naman talaga kanilang pagmamay-ari ito. sa ganitong paraan din nagiging mas produktibo ang mga kawani.

lagi po nating tatandaan na kailangan isama natin ang mga magagandang ideya o mungkahi ng ating nasasakupan. hindi sa lahat ng panahon ang sinasabi o iniisip ng management ay tama. samakatuwid, kailangan din nila ng tao para isakatuparan ‘yong mga gawain sa kumpanya. hindi nila kaya ‘yon ng mag-isa.

summer in the valley with lola

this happened almost two decades ago. that was a year before my grandma joined our creator. it was during the school break of 1991. i was a fifth grader then. and it was my first time to spend my cool, refreshing summer vacation.

i say cool and very refreshing summer vacation, contrary to those experienced by people in urban areas, because nothing beats the low temperature my lola’s farm has to offer. air conditioning units are not at par with nature’s soothing embrace. deep virgin forest and vast vegetations were there beckoning you to experience their richness.

a small bahay-kubo (nipa hut) was built at the heart of the valley. it was where we stayed for the whole summer. a few steps from the kubo runs a small river. a small one yet dangerous and powerful enough to sink you and roll big rocks during flood season. sorrounding the kubo were a vast field cultivated with corn and planted with coconut trees.

morning after morning i bathed at the nearby river. it is where we do our labada and bathe the carabao too. before sunset, i and my lola would ride on the carabao and fetched water from a cold spring nestled three kilometers away from our kubo. there were small water springs near the river bank, however, during high tide, water from the river overflowed them. it was a convenient ride, than taxi, especially that we would pass through uneven terrain. even at my young age, i was the carabao-taxi driver then.

i spent some of my days their learning how to plow the field, of course, with carabao dragging the plow. even today, farmers in that place don’t use machines to plow the farm. my uncle also made a small balsa for me. i used it to carry loads of root crops and fruits from our other farm located half an hour walk  from the kubo. i usually went there thrice a week. before reaching that farm, you will have to cross three rivers on foot. there were parts of the river then where water was only knee-deep. you can’t do such today since the river is too deep after a mini water dam was constructed there few years ago. (more…)

i am seeing ahead future beautiful sunrise

sunod-sunod yata ang kamalasan na dumating sa aking buhay. dati ayokong maniwala sa mga sabi-sabi tungkol  dito. pero sa ngayon ay parang naniniwala na ako doon. dihins kasi maganda ‘yong tinakbo ng buhay ko lalo na doon sa parte ng aking trabaho. masasabi ko talaga na sa tanang buhay ko na nagtratrabaho ay ‘yong lumipas na anim na buwan ay ‘yong pinakamatamlay sa lahat in terms of my contirbution sa productivity ng kumpanyang pinapasukan ko.

naubos kasi lahat ng aking oras doon lang mismo sa pag-a-adjust sa nature ng aking trabaho. i was not really a marketing man. hindi ko po ini-expect na sa papasukan kung work ay magiging 98% marketing guy pala ako. i was expecting kasi na marketing will be only a small part of it. akala ko kasi na on account management and evaluation lang po ako.

pero di bale na kasi medyo naka-adjust na ako ngayon sa work ko. kahit ‘yong marketing strategy ko ngayon ay nagwo-work na naman. ‘yon nga lang, it took me almost six months to make it somehow effective and to produce good result.

natakot nga ako na matanggal sa trabaho this month. ‘yong unang kontrata ko kasi ay hanggang ngayong end of month lang tapos magiging regular employee na ako if madeliver ko yong expected output dito sa desk office sa northern mindanao. tulad ng nasabi ko nga, i was not effective to deliver the desired output dahil na rin matagal akong nakapag-adjust sa work.

sabi naman ng manager ko na she recommended for the extension of my contract for the next six month at pagmaganda naman ‘yong performance ko, they can outrightly install me as a regular employee kahit hindi pa tapos ‘yong extension na six months. sabi nga niya na gusto daw ng president namin na ilipat ako doon sa cebu.  sabi po naman ni area manager na ipaglalaban nila ako kasi sayang naman ‘yong mga ginugol ko na panahon to prepare some good accounts na ngayon lang magma-materialize. i am thankful sa kanila for that. (more…)

waray klaro..?!

i’m on my way to CDO.. ya-miss lang kita nan sobra kuman hon coz i saw a person na ka-profile mo..but you are more wafa than her… luvu mwaahhh..!

that’s the sms message that started it all!

sa pagsugod pagsilak nan adlaw, madayaw na mga pagbati an ipada sa mga sms. da na ngadto an mga kalipay na yasinati tungod sa gugma na gadako sa isa ka kasing-kasing nan duha ka tao na gahinigugmahay sud sa upat ug tunga na katuig.

sa hapit na min-abot an ting-paniudto hangtod sa sinugdanan sa hapon, mga plano sa umaabot an tag-estoryahan.. yaon an plano kon hain da gayod maghuya na lugar.. yaon sab an plano kon kinun-o dapat magkabata.. iban na sab an plano kon pila da kabata an dapat hinangon..

gawas sa yaon, may mga plano sab na dili lamang adto da maghuyaon sa isa ka lugar sa isa ka-tuig.. dapat sab na kada tuig yaon sab mga lingaw-lingaw sa iban na mga tourist spots sa pilipinas parehas kibale nan bora, bohol hastan sa iban pa.

wara sab kalimti an plano na dapat dili lang magtrabaho kundili maghanap sab nan sideline na makuhaan nan kwarta para mapalit an mga butang na gusto paliton.

isa pa sab an pag-estorya sa kun dapat ba moundang an isa sa pagtrabaho para mag-iban na gyud sa  isa da ka bay.. yalakip isab an estorya kon kinun-o gyud dapat moundang an isa sa iya trabaho tapos uno an mahimo niya na lingaw kon siya moundang na kay sigurado malaayers kon waray matrabaho sa sud nan paghuya.

pag-abot sa sayo sa dom, tungod sa yadton yahisuwat sa permero, an tanan mga ya-estoryahan yawa ug yatapos na.. kibale bura nan sabon na minhuyos kay yahuyop nan hangin.. tanan plano dili na mahitabo pa kay utod na an tulay or an lastiko na gabugkot sa duha ka tao na ga-estorya nan yadton mga plano kaina.

an babaye yakigbuwag nasab kay lagi kuno dili siya makasalig sa iya laki.. tapos an iya lagi laki kuno waray klaro. pero kon imo tan-awon, yadton mga estorya na yahisuwat sa taas, an laki an una na gasulti nan yadto.

so kuman sin-o sa kaha sa ila duha an waray klaro o gaduwa-duwa sa ila relasyon? 

plight of a farmer’s son

everyone may not be familiar of the NBN-ZTE deal controversy that haunts our country today. but everybody, from the urban centers to the farthest part of the country, knew about the insufficient supply of rice that our country faces annually. we have a rice crisis. this is not a new issue for our country, though we have vast agricultural land, has been or is a biggest rice importer in the world for many years. 

it is only now that the issue has been much publicized because this was raised in the political arena where opposition and administration politicians are fighting to taste the rice milk or get highest political thrown. i don’t see this grappling between these opposing powers negatively. i am even grateful that after almost losing the ZTE-NBN deal battle, the opposition capitalizes on the issue of rice shortage in the country.

with this issue on the political forefront, i knew new agriculture programs will be developed and implemented; and old programs will be revisited and improved.

reality is, even those farmers who grow palay experienced hunger - once or  twice a year; worst even is six months in a year. being a son of a third generation farmer in our family and being a farmer at heart, i have witnessed and experienced the life of being a palay farmer.

it was hard times for us during those years when we were dependent on the income of my father as a palay farmer. i had a taste of a better life only during the time when my mother decided to work not in the farm, supplementing my father’s income or their combined income in the farm.

in other countries, farmers are the financially and economically blessed even it is hard to do agriculture there. in our country, farmers are among the poorest of the poor even we have abundant fertile land. it is wrong to accused that farmers are lazy. we are hardworking, only that we are taken advantage by the affluent and are on the last priority of the government. we feed the nation including the most powerful few in the country.

i can still remember the high hopes painted in the faces of my grandfather, my father and our neighbors in the ’80s when the drainage system construction started, which will be used for the Tago River Irrigation project under the National Irrigation Administration. (more…)