Everything that comes first in our life is the most memorable one first love, first heartbreak, first kiss and your very first job right after your college graduation. Being hired after your studies is the most fulfilling things in that particular period as there is that expectation within you to find a new job to help the family in the everyday budget.

Admit it, fresh grads seems not to be ‘choosey’ in getting their first jobs, they will be accepting anything that is available in the job searches online though some may be related to their degrees and skills but they are really overrating themselves which is oftentimes being exploited by their first hiring managers and boss.

Fresh grad means a newcomer in the working world and for corporate companies it also means a new trainee, the youngest in the office and a new officemate that is the easiest to be bullied. A newcomer in the corporate world is much more of your first day in school here you don’t need to introduce yourself, your address and so on but you need to reach their expectation why they hire you. You need to showcase everything in you to impress your officemate and your boss from grooming yourself up to wearing the most-high profiled perfumes.

The country has been shocked by the news that came out in the past few weeks about a murder case in Olongapo City that involves a US military serviceman and a transgender woman who has been bitten, beaten and drowned to death in a motel lodge. 

The case has also gathers massive criticism over a bilateral agreement between the government of the Philippines and the US government that allows an accused US military serviceman to be kept under the custody of US whenever he committed a crime in the Philippine territory until proceedings are completed.

Some parties wants the abolition of the VFA, but some has suggested to show the pros and cons of it, is it really necessary for the welfare and security of our country or is the abolition of it beneficiary to some or is it just our hard feelings that urges us since the victim is our ‘kababayan’?

Above all, Laude is said to be a “Hate Crime” victim. Speculations about his death came out, but there are more questions than answer in the first preliminary investigation as the suspect Private First Class Joseph Scott Pemberton didn’t show in the Olongapo City Prosecutor’s Office last October 21, 2014. 

May mga bagay at taong mawawala sa ating buhay, kailangan nilang mag-paalam upang makatayo tayo sa ating sariling mga paa, upang mangibang bayanmpara mahanapin ang magandang buhay at tuparin ang kanilang mga pangarap, at tahakin na ang isang bagong landas kasama ang iba pang mga karakter na mas magpapakulay pa sa kanilang buhay.  

Masakit ang isang paalam lalo na kung ikaw ay napalapit na at napamahal sa mga taong dati mong kasa-kasama sa hirap at ginhawa. Ang pamamaalam sa isang matalik na kaibigan na mangingibang bayan upang hanapin ang kanyang mga pangarap ay kasing sakit sa pagkawala ng isang kapamilya. Tulad ng pamamaalam sa iyong mga kaeskwela pagkatapos ng apat na taon nyong pinagsamahan sa kolehiyo. Masakit subalit ika nga kailangang mag move-on. Pero darating at darating yung oras na mangungulila ka sa kanila, mamimiss mo yung mga sandaling may di kayo pinagkakaintindihan, yung moment na cramming kayo sa mga school projects, presentations, exams at thesis. Yung mga moments na sabay-sabay kayong nagtatawanan sa klase kasama ang mga ‘kaclose nyong propesor’ tapos gigimik at gagala kayo sa mga vacant periods nyo sa mall maski alam nyong wala kayong pera. 

The growing understanding of the effects of climate change is quite low in the developing countries which happens to be the most vulnerable to the rapidly changing climate. Devastating weather events and phenomena like severe typhoons have brought large scale damages to agriculture, infrastructure and life especially in the urban areas because of the growing population that are moving from the rural areas.

Climate change and global warming is not a yesterday’s issue, it is an issue concerning for the next generation’s sustainability and ability to support life and adapt to our changing world. A world equipped with modern technology and knowledge yet the action for saving our environment is quite slower and unprioritized.

Amidst the efforts of different environmental sectors and group, the numbers of laws and policies in both disaster risk management and climate change adaptation and mitigation which are institutionally integrated and a requirement in the existing plans and policies, still the management approach and bureaucratic treatment of the government officials hampers the efforts of its implementation.

Government officials who focuses on their political life and allies, multi-billion dollar companies that produces solid waste products and an ordinary well-being that has no concern for the environment are likely a ‘star-studded’ cast in the making of the world’s greatest man-made catastrophe. 

“Ito ay para sa mga masa, sa lahat ng nawalan ng pag-asa, sa lahat ng aming nakasama sa lahat ng hirap at pagdurusa. Naalala nyo pa ba? Binigyan namin kayo ng ligaya.”

This was the intro lines of my favorite Eraserhead’s song Para sa Masa. A song that I would like to sing on a grand finals in a musical variety show if given a chance. This song somewhat reflects the Eraserheads itself, as a band, as an inspiration for other bands and as a Philippine icon in the music industry especially in the Philippine alternative and rock and roll music.

It is perhaps a tribute to Ehead’s music and the band’s ruggedness that the country’s music industry has a breath of fresh air in the midst of well-groomed balladeers, belters and crooners at that time.

Their songs reminds us of the simplicity of life, hanging out with friends like the song “Overdrive”  love and breakup in “Pare ko” hope in “Para sa Masa” and the spirit of Christmas in “Fruitcake.” 

The awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the purpose of the newest craze online-the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It went viral online because of the participation of the international and local celebrity even the former President of the United States and many other famous names around the world.

The challenge dares nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. The nominated participants have 24hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.

The donations will be used to conduct more research and studies to fight and find cure for the said disease. The ALS Association is very grateful for the outpouring support all over the world.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body.  

Gaano nga ba kahalaga sa isang bansa ang isang wika? Paano nito napagbubuklod ang kanyang mga mamamayan? At bakit ang isang nagkakaisang wika ang daan sa pag-unlad nang isang bansa?

Ang Pilipinas ay isang watak-watak na kapuluan na nahahati sa tatlong pangunahing isla ang Luzon, Visayas  at Mindanao. Bawat isla ay may natatanging tradisyon, kultura at paniniwala lalong-lalo na ang diyalekto. Luzon ang pinaka malaking isla ng  bansa at binubuo ng limang rehiyon, Ilokano, Tagalog, Bikolano, Agta, Bontoc, Ibaloi, Ifugao, Ivatan at iba pa ang mga pangunahing diyalekto ng mga tao. 

HE WAS the crowd’s favourite during the 2010 Presidential elections. His way to presidency seemed like a "one-night-stand" as if in the next day he was responsible for bearing solutions to the problems of our country.

On his first year in office he inherited the problems and glitches of the past administration while pursuing his goal of achieving the "tuwid na daan" as he started it in the least common ways like the abolition of "wang wang" as declared on his very first State of the Nation Address (SONA).

At the middle of his term, both positive and negative views were seen from his administration. Issues like the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea, the Zamboanga siege, the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda and the undying poverty that has been a problem ever since it is defined. 

This may be the right time to post this:

I may not have been given the privilege to address a speech in front of my co-graduates but I do have my Facebook account and blog to publish it and have it read by everybody. 

Every day we graduate, by the time we open our eyes in the morning up to closing it in the evening, but this day is quite important because it is the day in which we are paying tribute to all the people responsible for our survival in the past college days. 

The last Rayterista ever :(