Guest Blog

I’m now busy with making exams. In the college I’m working for, students are now preparing for their exams.

I’ve been teaching Japanese Language at a college in Davao City for more than 4 years now. But still, there are a lot of things that I cannot understand (or agree with) in Philippine education system, especially in the grading portion.

The Philippines has varied university grading systems. Some universities, particularly public institutions, follow the grade point system scale of 4.00 - 1.00, in which 1.00 is the highest grade and 4.00 is the lowest possible grade. And some have the grade point system scale of 1.00 – 4.00, in which 1.00 is the lowest and 4.00 is the highest. It’s totally vise versa. So, if you are an employer and you want to hire a Filipino university guraduate, be careful about his grade whether which one of the systems is applied.

However, this is not yet a big problem. Because in a grade transcript, you can usually see the chart as shown below. And actually, this is what I most question.

Chart 1 - Grade point in the Philippines

Now In this chart, you can see 0.0 point at the bottom marked as failed, which indicates below 70 % of accademic attainment. And you might think 70% would still be OK if you are a foreigner. But actually, it’s wrong. The percentage stated here is totally fake. It is a box with a fake bottom.

It’s like this. In the Philippines, most (not all) educational institutions apply a base grade point system, which has a fake bottom. The base grade point is the point that will initially be given to a student even without doing anything. In my college for example, base point grade is 40%. It means, students will automatically get 40% as long as they enroll the subject. Please take a look at the chart 2 bellow.

In this system, the grading calculation will be done only with the 60% portion on the right side. The 40% portion on the left side does not matter in any sense. Thus, the passing score 70% means only 50% atteinment in fact. And more, There are some institutions that give 50% for the base grade point. I’ve heard even 60% is given in some elementary schools! 60% for the fake bottom… Is that possible?

So, I think this system plays a crucial role in lowering the academic standard of the Philippines. What do you think?

Today’s Guest Blog is from Jeff John. Jeff has a blog called Davao Blog, give him a visit!

Rice at first might seem like a extremely bland subject to write about and normally it would be. But the reason I focus on this subject is because rice is a huge part of the Filipino culture. I believe the majority of you would know that rice is a normal part of a meal in most Asian cultures, just as I knew prior to my stay in the Philippines. Basically I wouldn’t feel it to be misleading to call rice a life source for the Filipino people. This is by no means a complaint from me, since I absolutely love rice. I must admit its odd that I don’t generally eat rice here in the states but always craved it in the Philippines. The conclusion I came up with is that the rice is better there. Or good rice is easier to find. That or I just plain cant cook rice. I don’t know, but unless I’m delusional the rice tastes different and better in the Philippines. I haven’t shopped for the high end rice here in the states instead I’ve stuck to the generic boil in a bag type. One of the things about rice is that it goes so well with so many different foods. Before I tried it I never would have thought that rice and corned beef and tuna would be one of my favorite foods. Speaking of corned beef and tuna it seems those are the two most popular toppings for rice. I recommend the hot and spicy tuna.

Something I was surprised to observe is that just about every fast food establishment has rice on the menu, even McDonald’s. I’m surprised that Dunkin Donuts doesn’t have a rice donut as it seems that’s the only place that doesn’t have rice on the menu. Speaking of Dunkin Donuts, I highly recommend the place for it’s 10 cent donuts. Thats a dozen donuts for only one dollar. The thing I noticed about the Dunkin Donuts in Davao is that they seem a tiny bit smaller, but surely it can be my imagination. However I have tasted a delicious rice dessert which I forget the name of. Its basically a clump of rice melted together with sugar served in a leaf, they are excellent.

So in closing rice is a normal part meals in the Philippines as its quite cheap and in great abundance.

Today’s Guest Column is from Kevin Smith.

A short while ago, I was informed by the IRS that our nonprofit, the Southern Philippine Children’s Shelter, qualified as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity. This is great news for us as we have been working a long time to see this through. We have been on hold with our activities as we waited for this confirmation. I have used this time to sort out our options as far as what kind of web site to develop. I have decided to go with a WordPress web log site because it is free and can be configured in many ways.

I’m very happy and relieved. Now the hard work begins as we set out to fulfill our mission. We have decided to have a fundraiser to help with food for Christmas in Digos, Mindanao as our first campaign. To do this, and to formally announce our nonprofit, I have just published our web site. I am still learning the ropes with WordPress but I hope to make it interesting and an informative place to visit. Another reason I made the decision to go with a WordPress blog is because I want to have ongoing communication with our donors and also it will be a good way for everyone to see how the donations are being used. I want to thank Bob here for giving me a platform on his site. So check it out and feel free to give me some feedback. Thanks

ON MY DESK, there is a picture in which I am standing on the back of a truck and you can find all the people there wearing T-shirts inside out with big smiles at the foot of Mt. Apo.

As you know, Mt. Apo is the highest mountain in the Philippines — its height is about 3,000 meters. The trails are extremely rough and steep. There’s even a place where you have to continue scrambling over huge rocks for 2 hours right before its peak.

I have climbed the mountain twice. However, I reached its peak only once because on the second time I climbed, we got lost! We, 11 climbers, first scheduled our climbing for 2 nights and 3 days. And none of us except the expedition leader realized that we had missed the right trail until the morning of the third day. She did not want to let us know that she actually forgot the way. She was then a 20-year-old girl and was supposed to be a member of a famous mountain climbing team in Davao City. According to her, she had climbed Mt. Apo several times. We also had another member from the climbing team as our sweeper. But unfortunately, we were all lost.

We almost ran out of water in the early evening of the second day and yet nobody had cared about it because we were supposed to pass the trail where we can refill our water bags. The leader suggested to us to extend our climbing one more day when we were having dinner in the second evening. She said we still had 4 hours to reach the peak and it is dangerous to climb in the dark after here. So we decided to leave early on the following morning. The next morning, I poured the last drop of water into my mouth before departure.

Around 8 a.m. of the third day, after four hours walking up and down without water, there was already an idea in our minds — we are lost, aren’t we? We hadn’t even reached that rocky stretch I mentioned. But nobody brought it up. Maybe we were trying to push the reality away. I also had been denying the idea until we saw the peak in the distance. The leader suddenly shouted to us “Hey! That’s the peak.” We all joyfully turned our faces to the direction the leader pointed and we were speechless. The peak was almost too small to recognize and we were in the middle of the jungle. We were lost. And the leader said “I think we are lost.” “Hey, stop it. Not I think. We are all lost!” somebody bellowed.

In my backpack was a bottle of vodka that had been prepared to warm our bodies. The liquid was swashing inside the bottle, sounding as if it could quench my thirst, and it was driving me nuts. We were munching on some GORP (group of raisins and peanuts) while we were walking. It had been 6 hours since we ran out of water when we finally found a spring.

And now, when we were all gulping water, the leader begged us for a very strange thing. “Please wear your shirts inside out.” I didn’t understand what she meant. Neither other four Japanese members did. But all the Filipino members started turning their clothes inside out and wore them again. I looked for all the possible reasons that could make it purposeful. The most reasonable idea I thought was that that action could be important in connection to water and perspiration because we were all soaked. But finally we asked them and they said “The spirits of the mountain are trying to cheat us. So, we have to do it in order to get the right trail back. It’s a kind of charm.” I followed the instruction although I knew it was not because of the spirits but definitely because of her. Other Japanese members also followed one after another against their will. Because we did have nothing to do useful except that and were really at a straw.

After a few hours, maybe around three o’clock in the afternoon, we at last got the right trail, which was for us actually a new route. We believed that that was the right path because we found a vegetable field and also got the cellphone signal back. We contacted the mountain team right away and they promised to send a rescue team. And we continued waking until the next day without sleeping.

In the noon of the fourth day, we were rescued by a local rescue team from Bukidnon. Actually, we were not literally saved by the team. When the team found us, we had already arrived at the village at the foot of mountain. However, we all still had to be accommodated in the rescue truck because we had called them. Even a local newspaper ran an article about our distress: “Great Success by the Local Rescue Team — 4 Japanese people were saved!” No way! They didn’t do anything for us. And by that time, we all had come to somewhat believe in the charm.

And that is the reason why I have the strange picture on my desk.

Today’s guest blogger is John Browning.  John is a design professional who has over 28 years of experience in the building trade.  John’s business in the States is involved with Basement Design, but as John is moving toward permanent resettlement in Davao City, he is getting more involved in the design of houses that fit the needs of foreigners who want to live in the Philippines.  John’s goal is to help foreigners design homes that are practical for conditions in the Philippines, yet still offer the amenities that a foreigner would be looking for.  You can visit John’s website to get an idea of the work that he does.

Let’s get a question from Reader Bruce:

With the earthquakes in the Philippines I would think building with wood would be better than masonry construction. Yes, I know, there is a termite problem there. But there are products that can stop termite infultration.  You just need to build the slab enough above grade because termites cannot be exposed to sunlight. There is also products to stop them comming in through the holes with the plumbing. I am looking at some of the products and requested information about importing them to Davao.

What does John have to say?  Let’s see:

Concrete is cheaper to build with in the Philippines and works well in this climate. Wood construction is limited by the low production of harvested forest. Much is protected in the Philippines as steel is. If they used poured walls not blocks with more steel in them it does many things as a benefit. No termites, shorter construction time and it has an adobe affect to help keep the home cooler. With enough steel, earthquakes would not harm them but they need to build larger spread footings first.

3 products I do see a need for is insulated glass and seals. expansion foam to seal with and at least ceiling insulation with better attic vents. Even high heat exhaust fans would work better. My house in Davao had this high heat issue and I put in 2 exhaust fans but in the ceilings in 2 bedrooms to push the hot air out of the attic to the outside. It has made a big difference in comfort so far and lower AC bills. Also, recessed lights are nice in the ceiling’s but their brands are open above the unit allowing heat from the attic to come back inside. I may test another exhaust fan inside the main roof Gable vent but this time to suck the air from the attic to the outside which would draw the room air up to the attic with the exhaust fans I already put in. Faster cooling is what may happen. Another product would be a dehumidifier. I feel this would help cool things down as well.