Some Tips for Thesis Presentation for Undergrads

The "season" for the thesis defense has started. I was planning to give some tips on how to make a good presentation but I was not able to organize it well. Anyway, I promised a few students that I will write about it instead so here goes....

Let me just simplify it into four points:

1. First impression starts before the presentation.

• Dress smart. Don't dress funny. Correct code is business attire. The thesis presentation is like a project presentation to a group of decision makers.
• A presentation early and ready. Be at the venue even before your scheduled presentation. There are rare cases that the presenter before you ended up not presenting (for whatever reasons) so the schedules are moved up. You wouldn't want to be penalized for not being there for the new schedule.
• Don't be seen rushing. Have some people do the dirty work of putting up the boards or bringing in the model. The panelists should see you calm and collected.
• Everything functioning. Make sure your laptop is charged or plugged, your files can be opened and will work, especially video and audio. It is not good to let people watch you struggle making things work.
• Set the ambiance. Smile, Talk casually to the panel while waiting. Make sure you are in control.

2, Stick to the rules.

• Keep to twenty minutes. This includes the video! You have to learn to reduce your presentation to fit the time frame. Going beyond bores the panel, ending very early will make them wonder if you are seriously prepared.
• Do not read from the slides. This is an advise given by all teachers starting first year. The moment you break this rule, don't be surprised when the panel doesn't treat you like a good student.
• Use original materias. Do not use music, images or videos that are not yours. If it is necessary to use them, make sure  you acknowledge sources.
• Talk naturally and legibly. Do not change the way you talk when presenting, you will sound funny and artificial. Do not bother to use fancy words, use simple words instead. Try to speak straight English, but if you get stalled by it you can use Cebuano or Tagalog once in a while.
• Explain only the essentials. I have a previous blog about this enitled "Presenting...!"

3. Answer respectfully. 

• Beware of familiarities. Even if the panelist is a family friend, treat everyone formally. Your friend might not mind, but the other panelists will surely take issue.
• If you don't know the answer, say so. Don't try to invent something if you're not sure, Everyone prefers to move on than to keep roaming around the bush.
• If opinion differs, embrace it. State why you came up with your position but also make the panel know that you understand their position also.

4. End with dignity.

• No matter how hard the beating, try not to break down, But if you can not hold it, try to contain it as much as possible. Do not create a scene. Show the panel how mature you are.
• Always give everyone the impression that you are open to suggestions and improvements, and that you are happy for the opportunity to know more.

Finally, one has to understand that the panel are human beings and as such there are technical factors that they have to overlook if they find some potential in the student. I wrote another blog on how I analyze the way they evaluate the students. I called it "The Subjective Rules for Approval."

I hope this helps somehow. I made a lecture once about this topic and the slides I used were circulated among the students. I think they are still being circulated until now, but probably modified by some people. In any case, I do not also discount the fact that some people are simply lucky.

Good luck to all presenters!

Working with Millennials

I supervise a small team for my projects. This team is made up of millennials, those who were born from 1980 to 2000. The dean of my college in the university where I teach keep reminding us that we are approaching the demographic window, and that millennials will be taking over most of the businesses around this time. He therefore encouraged us to prepare for this because the millennials think far differently from its predecessors, the generation X, from which I belong.

Going back to my team. I only have three simple rules that I asked them to follow:

1. Keep me informed.
2. Meet deadlines.
3. Answer my calls.

How does my team fare so far? I would give them a failing grade. I have team members who disappear for days and do not answer my text or calls, not even when I ask about the task I assigned to them. They do not care about deadlines. As long as they log in and had fun, that is all that matters. Bottom line is: you have to be an inefficient and ineffective person to love to work with the millennials. The problem is, sometimes you have no choice, like me.

I know I am making generalities but it is what I noticed among many millennials I know, not only the ones who work for me. There are exceptions of course. There are still those who are professionally mature and responsible. Generally, I find the millennials simply inconsiderate.

They seem to put themselves above everything else. They particularly hate to be reprimanded even if they know they deserve it. They do not inform me if they don't come to work because they are afraid I might get mad. Never mind if I suffer or find myself in trouble because of their absence. What matters is that they are able to avoid being corrected.

Sometimes I fan out work to those who work for me and I give them the instruction to submit anything as soon as they are done so I can review their work while waiting for the other's submission. What they do is wait for everyone else to finish so they can submit all together and avoid being singled out for possible correction. On my part, I am suddenly overwhelmed by the bulk of work to review. Most of the time, they submit near or during the deadline making it impossible for me to review everything, and make revisions, to submit a good work on time.

It is true that they are fun loving, in fact I am happy that they make me laugh despite the problems they gave me. But they seem to think it is alright to give me problems for as long as they can still make me laugh. 

Millennials feel, they don't think. Try observing how they talk or reply to you. Ask them where a person is and the reply would most likely be "I feel that he is not here."

Millennials are always unsure of themselves. Show them an apple then ask them what it is. The answer would most likely be in a form of a question... "Apple?"

Millennials seldom read. In my spare time, I would grab a book or a magazine to read. In their spare time they would go to their gadgets to be lost in the world of game and social media.

Millennials are extremely sensitive with their feelings. Even a brotherly advice can be offensive for them. The next thing you know, they no longer attend a class or show their face at work.

I am not saying that they are all dumb. A lot of them are quite talented and intelligent. My main complaint is that they are inconsiderate. Although I can understand why they are like this, the fact that they put me in a tight spot many times makes me question why I should be understanding to them if they can not be understanding to me. Many of them demand respect, but respect is earned not demanded.

I told somebody that my generation invented all the machines because of our desire to control information. Now that we have done it, this new generation is getting more information than they can handle. Therefore, a mature millennial for me would be someone who knows how to control this avalanche of information. If there is one exam I should give to those who will apply for work, it should be to test how much he can control information.

Revtalizing Old Downtowns: Heritage Conservation Summit 2014

I attended the 3rd Heritage Conservation Summit held in Iloilo last October 25, 2014. It was supposed to be a three-day event, with the first day meant for an exclusive group of heritage building owners and the third day for a tour around Iloilo. I lived in Iloilo for two years so I decided against the tour, and since I'm not a heritage building owner I also skipped that one. (I learned later on that they opened the activity to everyone).

The last time I set foot in Iloilo was 14 years ago. Everything has totally changed of course. The airport is new, SM was not there yet, and even the hotel where I stayed (Sarabia Manor Hotel) was located somewhere else back then. First on my list when I arrived was to eat La Paz Batchoy. I prefer eating Batchoy only when I'm in Iloilo! The next item on my list was to find my old friends. Thanks to the internet, we managed to get connected again.

The summit was a huge success: more people came than expected, everything was on time, the audience actively participated, the place was full of people until the end, and the talks were very relevant. I also got to talk to a lot of people who are advocates of heritage conservation. It was refreshing to share ideas with non-architects. In my table alone there were two ladies from Dumaguete (an interior designer and a teacher in tourism), there was a lady who already migrated to New Zealand (a retired public school teacher), the owner of the Ruins in Bacolod and his three friends.

Iloilo did a very good job in revitalizing their downtown. When I stayed there I didn't notice that all the buildings lining up the street of Calle Real were American period structures. Now that they cleaned up the building, everything just looked different and fascinating. There is a lot to learn in Iloilo in revitalizing a heritage district and I am inspired to bring everything I learned to Cebu.

In the conference, speakers from Iloilo, Escolta, and Vigan shared their success stories. There were also people from agencies who can be partners in the revitalization efforts who shared how they can help. There were also a couple of tech experts who shared some tools in documenting heritage sites and structures using the internet and other visualization software. It had the complete ingredients for the theme of the summit.

In Cebu, where I stay, the mayor just announced that he is setting aside funds to revitalize Colon Street, I wondered if his plan is based on some studies. His effort to revitalize the American-period Osmena Boulevard was a blooper when he announced that he was going to bring it back to its glory during the Spanish era. I am now inspired to organize a similar conference focusing only on Colon St. By inviting the building owners to listen how their businesses can flourish when the place is revitalized, I'm sure that the mayor's plan will be a total success.

I am sure that every participant in that summit is moved, one way or another, to do something for their own hometown. My idea for a conference on Colon Street is just one of the many ideas I came up with. I guess this is the best measure of success of the summit, when it managed to move everyone to action. I am now looking forward to the next summit. I missed the first two previous summits, I am determined not to miss any of it in the future.

Participants of the summit take a group pic. I was at the right. We were so many I didn't fit in the picture. My pose went to waste.

My take on the Green Loop Experiment

The Green Loop Project is a very big project that one can not simply implement in a single stage. It requires complex planning since it involves three local government units and different sectors of society are also affected. At this stage, all we have is a concept. The University of San Carlos may have developed some schemes on how it would look like but these are all conceptual.

As a concept the Green Loop project is a very good project. I think everyone would agree. Imagine a loop that has bike lanes, tree-lined, pedestrian and pwd friendly.Then imagine this road connecting various destinations in the four LGUs then enhancing these destinations by pocket parks and other public places so that people from clustered buildings get together. Imagine this loop to be part of the disaster risk and management plan of Cebu making emergency calls and response very efficient. Who would not like that? The city even endorsed the Green Loop proposal as its entry to the Livable City Design Challenge.

This concept, no matter how beautiful, must be tested to see how it can be refined and made more realistic. I believe that it is in this spirit that the Green Loop experiment was conceived and conducted. The experiment was used to gather data not to make the traffic smooth. Of course it has its inconveniences! In fact, the first time I heard about the experiment I already imagined all the complaints of people, especially the lazy ones. It is laughable to hear all the complaints afterwards.

What I find amusing also is that some complaints are based on "perceived" situations. During the experiment, I was staying in Jolibee in Escario all the time because of problems with my right foot. My students in the graduate program, together with some people from the College of Arts and Sciences of USC were all over the loop doing interviews. I decided to observe the flow of traffic from where I was seated and discovered the traffic was flowing constantly although in a slow pace. It would only stop for less than a minute before it goes again and it takes several minutes in each stop. I was actually expecting traffic to stop for several minutes and flow for only a few seconds (opposite to what actually happened). When I interviewed some people myself (like taxi drivers and bystanders), they told me that traffic was not flowing at all. This was their main complaint.

Some people confuse reality with their imagination. Some people have different standards of calling things. For them, traffic flowing slowly, no matter how constant, is considered not flowing. This is why I decided not to take these opinions very seriously. It would be better to work on empirical data.

After that experiment, I thought of a number of ways that the project should do to move forward. I think everyone will agree that the main problem, where the success of the Green Loop is hinged on, is that there are simply too many cars on the streets. Strategies should be made to lessen the volume of cars. I made an initial list which I hope to study further in this coming days:

1. We can start by putting bike lanes on the streets. Nothing encourages biking more than a permanent bike lane. We have already made so many of these Sunday bike lanes. It is starting to sound impractical. The route should be well studied so that people find it useful and practical so they will actually want to use it.
2. Introduce buses to handle more commuters. This should be very easy to implement but it requires political will (the only factor making it difficult). If people find buses very intimidating then we can make an innovation... let us make the jeepneys bigger! They're starting to make jeeps out of elfs. This should be encouraged and those smaller jeeps should be kept off the streets.
3. Start building walkable communities. This is an idea we got in USC when we were going over the Green Loop project. Identify a cluster of buildings, connect them with a plaza, then provide amenities like stores, toilets, restaurants. The idea is to keep people from going far to eat, to meet, or simply to spend their free time.

These ideas are all implementable with very little inconvenience to the general public. I'm sure that other people have more ideas on how to lessen the volume of cars on the road. I get a lot of comments that Filipinos do not like to walk. Some reasons: no sidewalk and no protection from heat or rain. I worked in Makati for four years and after getting down the bus I would walk several blocks to my office simply because it is faster than waiting and taking the jeepney! Besides, the walk is pleasant with all the sidewalks there. From these we have two learnings: make good sidewalks and make public transport inefficient for short travels. The latter can achieved by enforcing a jeepney stop strategy....

All these problems are solvable. We need people who can do more than just complain. We have a lot of people who are very good in complaining. We might as well have a contest on who complains the most and make money out of this contest.

The Movement for Livable Cebu should not be affected by these complaints, even if it comes from newspapers. For me, they simply don't have anything to write about and they don't have some good ideas in their heads. I even heard a colleague in school saying the Green Loop is a good idea but it is not for us here in Cebu! What a loser!

Through the Green Loop experiment we managed to make more people know about it. This is a strategy of politicians who want to run for office. All they need to do is let their names stick to the minds of people either because they did something good or they did something bad. During election, people tend to vote for names that are familiar to them, regardless if the person is a criminal or a saint.

Through the Green Loop experiment we also identify those people who simply complain and do nothing, especially people who think that progress is not for Cebu and that we should just continue living a miserable life forever. By knowing who they are we will know who to ignore.

Vernacular In Our Time

I was accompanying the team of USC-CTU-FWU students doing a survey in Taloot, Argao, and I decided to walk around the area where they are doing interviews. Our area is along the river leading up to a spring. I noticed that all the houses have the following in common: an outhouse, a "dirty" kitchen, and a lantay.

THE OUTHOUSE

The outhouse is simply a toilet outside the main house. Since the barangay does not yet have a public sewerage system each house resorts to an outdoor toilet above a seepage pit.

This one has walls made of amakan.

This toilet is made of masonry and is shared by two houses, the house of a parent and the house of their daughter.

This is an outhouse of a house made of concrete. This outhouse has galvanized iron sheets for walls.

THE "DIRTY KITCHEN"

The origin of the modern day dirty kitchen which is now attached to the main house. Since cooking was done using firewood and charcoal, the kitchen was placed away from the main house.

THE LANTAY

More than a piece of furniture, the lantay has become a small public space in a cluster of houses. It is a place with seats which are deep enough for sleeping.

The basic lantay is a single seat. It is placed near the pathways so people resting on the lantay get to greet the passers by and engage them in conversation.

This one has two seats form an L to facilitate conversation, especially with a few glasses of bahalina.

Another version of the L-shaped arrangement.

 This version has a protective roofing.

 This is a modified tree house type. It is also placed near the pathway so people can just drop by for a chit chat or simply to rest.

This one has a store attached to it. Perfect for resting with some bottles of beer or bahalina

Thoughts on WAF Shortlisting in USC-CAFA

This afternoon the shortlisting for the entry for the World Architecture Forum was done. To determine who gets to represent USC for the competition, the last year's winners organized a qualifying competition during the summer break.The competition calls for the design of a satellite city which should be on a brownfield area, particularly an old airport site. During the preliminary presentations, the jury decided to make all the participant present again but using the Mactan airport as site instead of a hypothetical one.

There were ten entries but I only got to listen to the last half of the presentors. I am not very familiar with the details of the competition problem but after listening to the groups who presented I thought that all of them should have followed the process below:

First, they should have considered the "existing conditions" when the airport has moved out. Archt Sia pointed out that the MEPZ might also go as a result of this. What else would go? The tourism sector? the golf course? Most of the presenters did not even include land uses and road networks immediately surrounding their sites. It is as if they are designing a purely independent development.

Second, they should have established the relationship of the project with its neighbors: the nearest neighbor around the site, then the more remote neighbor (mainland Cebu). This relationship should then translate to land use and transportation linkages. There were very few who considered this. They did not even bother to indicate how existing roads connect to their development. And land use? No one presented how they arrived at the area allocation of each land use. There was a proposal where majority of the site is open space... will the remaining economic activity sustain the satellite city?

Third, they should have designed for self sustainability. It is true that they have to link up with other places but this is a satellite city after all, so it should be able to stand on its own.

They should have introduced the urban design strategies on land use and transportation as the last step. These are the details. To many presentors, they concentrated on enumerating these at the start not mindful of how they tie up with the grand scheme of things.

Aside from the above observations, I also noticed that most groups do not know how to make good use of the time alloted to them for presenting their proposal. They were only given 10 minutes. This is half of the allocated time to present a thesis. Instead of going directly to their analysis and solution, most of them spend half of their time on the introduction. There really was no need to inform everyone the history of the Philippines or Cebu, or what are the existing conditions (since the hypothetical future is more important). To make it worse, they deliver this with so much theatrics. It gives you the impression that they are more concerned with entertaining the audience than presenting a solution.

Anyway, my friends told me that two groups were selected with the idea of combining them, and a couple of other individuals were also added to the mix. The first is the group of Micmic Kindica, the other is the group of Steffi Go. I didn't get the names of the two other persons.

I didn't get to listen to the group of Micmic, but while they were preparing outside the lecture theater they showed me their boards. I didn't really grasp their solution by looking at the boards alone so I simply pointed out my observation on the relationships particularly the existing road network. Apparently this is something that Archt. Maxwell Espina kept looking for in the proposals I witnessed.

I listened through the presentation of Steffi's group. My impression was that they were designing the city in the manner of modernists. It reminded me of Le Corbusier's City of Three Million but in a very small scale. Archt. Maxwell summed up my observation when he called it "dehumanizing." There was a bright side in their design, but it was all thanks to Archt. Yumi Espina who pointed out that the other half of the site which they left for green space could be treated similar to New York's central garden. The concept was good, although it was not intentional and they need to rework the interpretation.

Overall it was a very good exercise. I hope all the students learned from it. The group of students chosen to represent USC are very good students and I am sure that the jury, composing of no less than architects Buck Sia, Alexius Medalla, Maxwell Espina, Yumi Espina and Bro. Lanyi will help them refine their solutions and come up with the best scheme.

I was very happy that many students took part in this competition despite the half-hearted support they've been getting. I hope that those who were not chosen would not consider all of these as a waste of time. For all they know, they have learned more here that they would in normal circumstances.

What the Year of the Snake brought me

We were planning our preparations for the new year's eve and in the process we talked about how we spent our new year's eve last year. It was in Bukidnon, in the house of my sister. I was a bit excited then because I will get some fireworks again. Fireworks are banned in Davao so we basically have a silent new year celebration every year. We liked it, though, because we didn't have to worry about accidents and cleaning up and health hazards. What I suddenly realized is that, while it happened a year ago, it seemed like it happened just a couple of months ago. Time really move fast, and I wondered how I spent the year 2013.

If I have a great achievement this year it would be finally getting my diploma on my masters in architecture. It took quite a while (and a lot of expense) but I finally finished the program. Because of my thesis I was assigned in Design 9 and also in CHERISH to teach in architectural conservation subject.The workshop we gave the student involved the Pasil district, but in a wider scale it involved the development of the old downtown Cebu as a result of a proposed third bridge to Mactan. This is also related to another involvement I had this year, the MEGA Cebu project. So far, my involvement had been to provide a limited technical service. I'm hoping to be more deeply involved by setting up a GIS office in CAFA to support the project.

CAFA is moving towards doing more research as part of the university's move to become a research university. I got to present my thesis in two occasions: the Annual Conference for Architectural Research and Education (ACARE) in Bicol, and the Biennial Research Forum in USC.  Dr. Green also got me more involved in research by putting me in the research committee. We started some initiatives like the brown bag meetings and the Pecha Kucha. We are also in the middle of a research proposal workshop which we aim to involve our faculty and those from other university departments. We also made a line up of activities for the rest of the semester.

The other year I was very happy when the chairman approved my request to teach the theory subjects other than the history of architecture subjects. I felt that this is where I have more edge than the others. This year I was made head of the history and theory cluster. I find this exciting because our cluster made some plans to offer a separate course on Filipino architecture and I can finally get to make it happen. I also started teaching in the graduate program, something that was part of my long term plan.

There were other things that happened in the university this year that is worth noting: meeting Shigiru Ban, my involvement with Lantawan, and a few other "achievements."

In our professional organization, the UAP-Sugbu Chapter, I was elected secretary for this year. My term will end on June. Although we had a lot of activities so far, it was more because of our president, Other than this, my only other professional involvement outside the university is a restaurant I did for an old client, and the Gabaldon restoration project with the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. which is on hold because of the typhoon Yolanda.

One of my happiest moment this year is a reunion with my old boss when I worked in Manila. Its been seventeen years. I also got to meet another colleague at that time but we met some years ago and she actually facilitated this reunion. We were also planning to have a reunion with the rest of the staff. It was a dream team for me. Not only were they super efficient people, they were also my first true friends after college.

I tried to think of sad part of my year but I couldn't. There was that incident when I wrote a blog denouncing some developments in the University and I got the ire of the college of engineering and even the university administration but that was not something to be sad about. I also had a falling off with a friend because of money matters but, again, it's not something to be sad about. I also "kicked out" my housemates before - five siblings living with me in a two-bedroom apartment! - and got a colleague who also teaches in CAFA as a replacement.

I do remember feeling a little sad when I decided not to be coordinator of the intramural games anymore, haha! Such as petty matter!.There were many instances when I get anxious over problems but after I got to solve them I simply forget about those moments of anxiety or depression. Perhaps this is the greatest thing that happened to me this year: I have become stronger and more confident in myself. I had my time of being meek and mild but instead I became a victim of bullying by people that I used to admire.

All in all I think it was a good year. It went by so fast for me but it was also filled with good things. The coming year is the year of the wooden horse, Reminds me more about the Trojan horse. I already made my goals for this year and I hope to fulfill all of them.

Learning Revit

If there is one resolution I made as a result of attending the UAP National Convention last month it will be this: to learn and use Revit for my projects. One of the talk was precisely about embracing the new technology in setting up an architectural firm. Although the set-up of the office of the speaker was very advanced, I was sold out to the idea of streamlining the process using technology.

This summer I found myself working on a couple of small projects that actually gave me a lot of stress. My main problem is finding time to do the CAD works, the modelling in SketchUp, and the making of estimates and specifications. Hopefully, with Revit, I will be able to spend less time doing all of these tasks.

I am now attending a special tutorial conducted by Archt. Raagas for faculty members who are interested to learn the program. So far, it seems very easy. It is even more efficient than the sheet set feature of AutoCAD. My only problem now is where to get the software for my personal consumption. =)

ACARE 12

I presented a paper for the 12th Annual Conference of Architectural Researchers and Educators (ACARE 12). There were fewer participants than I expected. Perhaps the place was a factor for this. The event took place in Legaspi City, Bicol, last February 7-8, 2013.

From USC, only Rowell Shih and I presented but Archt. Yumi Espina and Bro. Lanyi were there as moral support. It was our first time to present our research paper in ACARE; Rowell, however, had presented his paper during thesis defense. My disadvantage was that I had no idea how to present a research paper in public. When I made the slides, I thought of the rules in presenting a talk or topic, i.e., not putting so many words, using images properly, having only one item point per slide... etc... When we finally presented, I noticed that I had a completely different style. The rest were showing each slide like a section from the technical paper. While I focused on content, they focused on methods.

How hard was it to present to the public? I don't have this problem anymore after having talked to the public so many, many times. This one, however, is different. There is a panel of reactors and our session had three while the others only had two. Moreover, these three reactors are deans of reputable schools in Manila and they all have PhD's. When I finished my presentation I was cold all over.

The reactors asked Rowell many things: why two sets of respondents? why this and that about methodology?,,, When my turn came the first reactor said that my presentation was the most engaging. She wondered, however, about how "sustainable" my solution would be. When I replied that by involving the community in the process the assumption is that they feel ownership over the project and thus makes sure that the system is sustainable, the reactor said that it was a good idea but she was skeptical because we're architects and not sociologists. The second reactor suggested that it is better to present how the proposed solution can be implemented in stages since the scope the study involved so many things. The last reactor commented how I started macro and ended up micro although her point was that somewhere in between I skipped a process which she thinks would have helped bridge the two (although she also mentioned that I might have skipped it on purpose to shorten the presentation).

We were given 20 minutes each and a student was assigned to flash a card to remind us how many minutes are left. Rowell and I stuck to our 20 minutes. Actually, all of us did except for one who couldn't stop from talking. Anyway, on hindsight I could have presented existing studies that proved how community's perception of ownership leads to sustainability, I could have presented the stages of implementation (which I had), and I could have discussed the methodology in better to link the macro issues with the micro issues. Well, I'm revising the slides now, hoping that I still fit everything in twenty minutes.

What bugs me right now is whether to revise the whole approach of the presentation. Should I follow the others where each section of the technical report is presented (problem, hypothesis, significance, methodology, etc...)? Or should I just stick to what I presented and include only on what was commented on. The first reactor did say that in my case she can only comment on the content and not on the methods, but she did not say that I should have presented it the other way... I was waiting for anyone to tell me that during the conference but no one gave any indication.

The reason why I am uptight about it is because I will be presenting the same research again in USC Biannual Research Forum on February 22, 2013. This time, the audience will come from different colleges in USC.

The ABC of Urban Planning Workshop 2

Last Saturday, January 26, I attended the second installment of the ABC of Urban Planning Workshop organized by MLC (Movement for Livable Cebu). Architects Joseph Michael Espina and Omar Maxwell Espina were the speakers.

Archt. Joseph Espina talked about the the three spheres of influence in urban areas and the rise of civil society. Most of his talk, however, was devoted to the development of urban planning in general and in Cebu. It is the same subject matter he wrote for this latest issue of Lantawan except for the part when he stressed about the Marcos era as the golden age of planning in the Philippines. I grew up with Ferdinand Marcos as the president and I was witness to this fact. The Marcoses tried to gather all the best minds in arts and architecture in the Philippines and gave them the projects that mattered. Planning was also so centralized and orderly. Sir "Yumi" went on to say that after the Marcoses left the Filipinos somehow "overreacted." The fear for the repeat of an authoritarian rule and the new found sense of freedom definitely played a big role in the devolution of planning functions to the local government. Unfortunately the local government are not that equipped to make plans. This set up even affected the coordination with national agencies. I remember a news report of former president Arroyo telling the head of the department of public works that he does not know how to plan. It was simply because all their programs were not aligned and coordinated with her office.

I do not think we can achieve the same set up that happened in that "golden age" of planning. The Filipinos have slowly embraced the autonomy of the local governments. I think that it is important to assist the local government instead. This becomes the role of civil societies. Through them the community becomes involved in planning. The private sector should also step in. I think the only time that we can make a sensible urban plan is when these three "spheres": the public, the private, and the community, work together.

During the open forum I learned that the best way to get our local government to act on something we observed is to write a letter. Archt. Joy Onozawa told us that the government works like a corporation, nothing gets acted on unless it is written. Ms. Edna Lee also gave a very good tip: if, after a required number of days to act on community concerns, the local government still did not do anything, we should write a follow up letter and copy furnish the office of the Ombudsman.

Archt. Maswell Espina talked about the theories of urban planning. Since I teach theory of architecture, I was familiar with the content of his talk. What I found most interesting is his statement that gentrification failed because it caused the loss of "soul" of the area being developed. I am trying to "specialize" in urban renewal because I see it as a current need in the Philippines, and among the solutions I found that should be made to work is gentrification. I made a mental note to study how gentrification can be used without causing the developed area to lose its soul.

A workshop followed and I found myself mixed with some first year landscape students from USC, a lady who already lives in the United States, a lady who used to teach in USC, and a colleague in USC-CAFA. Sir Maxwell was our moderator. We discussed a lot of things but what I found more interesting is the topic sir Maxwell first brought up: landmarks. We all agreed that despite the historic landmarks in Cebu there are areas which are a "blur" when it comes to wayfinding. Our streets are simply too complicated for a naming system like New York. The lady from the US suggested using "themes". This worked in their locality. The suggestion was followed up by ideas of putting artworks or art installations as landmarks. I remember how sir Maxwell explained to us why the CAFA building has splashes of color on some walls, he said that it is supposed to help in wayfinding. If you're giving directions and you're not familiar with any of the rooms, you can just mention the color of the wall nearest to it.

The announcements at the end of the workshop were also very interesting. I was impressed on how the youth organized a parallel program to MLC. I was happy to see faces of the the names I often read about in the facebook group. Also, I could not end this blog without mentioning that the cupcakes from Anitas were really delicious. I managed to eat two. I would have wanted to eat more but the students beat me to it. Haha!

I listed many things to do as a result of that workshop.

The Business of Names and Taxes

In our meeting in UAP-Sugbu for this month, we had a speaker from DTI who talked about brand names. The topic was okay but the discussions that followed, even after the talk or the meeting, was very interesting. We discussed taxation, basically.

Someone advised that getting a TIN (Tax Identification Number) should be considered seriously because the moment you get one you are already expected to pay tax. Newly registered architects who are not planning to practice yet or are planning to work abroad can fall victim to this. Even if one does not earn income for the year, they still need to pay a mandatory tax of P500 a month if they already have the TIN.

Most architects start out as single proprietors. It's fine if they use their own name, but if they use another name as business name they should register with DTI. If the business is a partnership or a corporation, they should register their business AND their name to SEC. DTI no longer handles partnerships and corporations. The fees in DTI vary depending on where you establish your office. If you only have one office you pay only the fee assigned to barangay level. If you have a branch office outside of your barangay, you pay the corresponding fee depending on the location of the other offices, whether within city, region, or all over the Philippines. This registration is renewable every five years and the business name can be passed on to others as a legacy. One can also "upgrade" the fees anytime within the five year period if more branches are put up during that time. The great thing about this is that you can do the registration online. Just visit the website of DTI.

Regardless of the nature of business, the business name should also be registered with IPO (Intellectual Property Office) if you want exclusive use of it. Some names, although acceptable for business may not be acceptable for trademark because they are "generic". Archt. Buck Sia shared his experience with his firm "Zubu Designs". "Zubu" is the old name of Cebu and was not qualified for registration as trademark BUT the logo (the graphic representation of the company's name) can be registered.

One has to pay so many taxes for running a business, including an architectural firm. A client or a payee is expected to\withhold tax when paying you for services. This is alright, as long as he also gives you the BIR forms that shows he paid the withheld amount to BIR, and that you don't forget to show this forms when you're paying your taxes. I mentioned earlier that you are required to pay a mandatory tax of P500 if you don't have income to declare but if you do have income to declare the tax would be 3% of that income. Ideally this is processed every month.

There was also a discussion about VAT but it was quite complicated. Archt. Noel Avila told us that the issue of VAT is more significant for contractors. Businesses with income of 1.5 Million or more should include VAT. The input-output aspect of it makes it complicated so it's better to sit down with your accountant to learn more about it.

Those were probably the more significant discussions, at least for me, otherwise I would not forget. It's good that this issues are also tackled because we sometimes get preoccupied with issues relating to fees and unlawful or unethical practices we forget that he have some housekeeping to do also.

Next meeting of the chapter will have the pecha-kucha. I'm supposed to present. Let's see if I can digest my thesis into a 6-minute presentation =)

Documenting Gabaldon Schools in Dalaguete

I went to Dalaguete today. The purpose was gather data about two Gabaldon schools that were assigned to my team. "My team" basically includes Neil Menjares, Sherwin Ramosa, Marian Bas, Pepper Auman and Zee. Our task is to make a conservation management plan of the two Gabaldon schools: the Balud Elementary School, and the Obong Elementary School.

We met in Jolibee Banawa at 7:30am. We were able to leave at 8:30am because the van that the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) provided was late. Apparently, he got delayed because of slow traffic caused by a marathon. Travel to Dalaguete took two hours. When we reached the place, we went straight to the municipal hall where our guide, Engr. Donald Lara, the municipal engineer, was already waiting for us.

The first school building we went to was the Balud Elementary School. The school head, Mr. Arnel Bustamante, opened the school for us and talked to us about the history of the school. It was a Plan-3 type Gabaldon. We did not waste any time, we went straight to work. Mayan was in charge of general photography, Zee was assigned to interview for historical background, Sherwin was assigned to take note of pathology, while the Neil and Pepper took measurements. I was supposed to assist Neil and Pepper but I ended up staying with the municipal engineer and the school head.

Balud Elementary School. (L-R) Zee, Mr. Arnel Bustamante, Engr. Donal Lara, me, Mayan, Pepper, Neil, and Siao.

After working for two hours, we took a break for lunch at a restaurant specializing in Balbacua. In going there we passed by the newly developed government center along the coast of Dalaguete. It was very clean and beautiful. Last semester, a group of Design 9 students went to Dalaguete for their charette. They were further divided into smaller group with one group focusing on the government center.

The second school is the Obong Elementary School. The school head, Mrs. Socorro Sejudo, was already waiting for us. The school building is Plan-2 type. The design is exactly the same as the one in Sumaguan, Argao, which I just documented. I therefore told the team to concentrate on the pathology and historical background. Our work therefore took only about an hour.

Obong Elementary School. (L-R) Siao, Engr. Lara, Mrs. Socorro Sejudo, me, Pepper, Mayan , and Neil.

When I planned this trip I learned about the Obong Spring. I told the guys to prepare some clothes for swimming in case we still have time in our hands. Since we finished early we decided to push through with the plan. Obong Spring was full of people and the beach nearby is not ideal for swimming because of the low tide. After taking pictures, especially with the ruins of a "baluarte" close by, we decided to go to Alcoy and took a dip in the Tingco Beach.

Obong Spring

The ruins of the watch tower, between the Obong Spring and the beach.

Along the beach in Obong

After a refreshing dip in Tingco Beach resort in Alcoy

Going back to Cebu we wanted to go to Dalaguete Church and see its interior. Engr. Lara told us about the conservation work they did there and we wanted to see it for ourselves. Unfortunately it rained hard so we decided to go straight towards Cebu. Since the rain stopped by the time we reached Argao, we dropped by Chitang's Torta store and bought some pasalubong.

The plan was to go to SM as soon as we reach Cebu but Zee and Bryan decided to go home ahead since the our route passed by their houses. In SM, the rest of us had dinner and discussed the next step. Sherwin will make the pathology report for the two schools, Zee will write the historical accounts and analyze the significance of the place. I will make the sketchup model for the two schools while Neil, Mayan, and Bryan will make drawings for the architectural documentation.

Since we will be documenting a few more Gabaldon buildings, I decided to set up a group page in Facebook where we will store all the pictures and information we gathered so that everyone has access to them.

Managing Blogs

I started blogging when I made my Multiply account. After a while I decided to shift to Blogger.com. I didn't have any particular theme then. I just wrote what I had in my mind at the time I want to write.

When I was asked to make a group page in Facebook for our college alumni, I decided to share news about  our college through blogs. Initially I linked my personal blog to it. Later on, I realized that some posts should are not for the whole alumni to read. I decided then to create a new blog: Campus Life. I got the title from a the college magazine, when the article is about the events in the college.

This year, I realized that there are some things I wanted to post on Facebook just to "get them off my chest" but may be misunderstood by some "friends." I realized that I already have so many, and so varied roster of friends in Facebook that I have to post things that are more general. Even my usual way of expressing things can be misunderstood. I therefore decided to create yet another blog. This time I experimented with Wordpress. I entitled the blog as Wit Tweet. These are shoutouts that I would rather not post in Facebook.

Finally, I created another blog entitled Design Notes. This is more for me, to help me understand what I'm studying. I always find it helpful to summarize in my own words the topics that I lecture. Since I tend to lose notebooks, I decided to post them online. Some people might also find it helpful.

So I now have four blogs to manage. Good luck to me. But I thinks I can make this work.

I also realized that I also need to manage blogs that I want to follow. I realized that clicking "follow" on the page doesn't really help. I needed the blog site to send me the new posts through my email. Luckily I found out how I can do it. I am now following two blogs so far. One blog is by an advertising students whose works I admire, the other is by a landscape architect whose posts I find very educational.

I really like it when I have time to write and read.

Staying Connected

I just finished migrating my old blogs from multiplly.com to blogger.com. Thanks to Multiply for informing its subscribers about its plan to remove its media services and offering an easy way to download all the posts made in their site. The only difficulty I had was to decide where the blog posts were going since I ended up with two blogs in blogger.com. I decided to move anything related to CAFA to the CAFA LIFE blog and everything else to this one.

I just realized that I started blogging in 1997. The first blog is about a thesis of one of my undergrad.students. At first I thought it was because of my thirst for intellectual discussions that moved me to start the blog. Now I think that it was because I was preparing for the time that those students will be graduating and leaving the school. Their batch was the first and only batch that became close to me. For the rest of the students I may end up with a few friends among the the batch, but for this one I got close to almost everyone.I'm not saying that I have become a part of their group. In fact, towards the end of their stay in the university, the whole batch was avoiding me because of the controversies around me.

The next batch (2006) was actually close to me as well, but not as much. When I started feeling the cold shoulders of the older batch I could have chosen to fall back to this batch. Instead, I decided to stay away. I actually ended up going to school for classes only then going back home immediately after. I then started hanging out with only a handful of students who remained good friends even after they graduated.

Anyway, going back to the issue of the blog. What I realized is that the blogs were my way to stay connected to friends who have been separated from me but who want to stay in touch. Before this "realization" I was at a loss on why I should continue writing. I thought I needed to share things or seek acceptance or challenge a discussion. When I was blogging in Multiply, my posts were more "intellectual." When I started in Blogger, my posts started becoming personal. When I "left" Multiply and started on Facebook, I decided to just talk about CAFA and use this as update for the group for alumni that I made on Facebook.

Now, I'm finally decided to maintain the two blogs. I certainly don't want the alumni to read my personal thoughts. This decision also means that I have to continue writing. I feel happy about this decision.

Ed's Thanksgiving Party and After Party

The Party

Last March 26, I was invited to a thanksgiving party. It was organized by Ed Dilla and his family. Ed just recently graduated in college. He was my student in some subjects throughout his college years. His friend and thesis partner, Maiko, told me that Ed was under me in a total of five subjects.

The party was held in Montebello. I got to meet Ed's relatives although we didn't really mingle because I was with his batch mates all the time. It was funny because I was in a table with his batch mates who backed out from their thesis. I'll be meeting them in the upcoming first semester.

When the party ended, there was talk of an after-party party. On impulse I told everyone that I will not be joining them.  I was actually afraid of joining them in discos. I only dance if I do a lot of rehearsals, I don't dance impromptu. Besides, at this age, any awkward thing I do can get recorded in video and uploaded in the internet for the amusement everyone. For some reason I actually ended up joining them, and I didn't regret it a bit.

We had a few round of drinks in Pier One in the Walk, I.T. Park, then we went to BTC for a videoke jam session in what was Pod5 before. Afterwards, Robert suggested we have some hot chocolate drink in a place "under the flyover." We didn't expect it to be a sidewalk stall but we still had fun. We parted then because it was already 1am. I know it's still early for the kids but I still have work the following day so I went on ahead. Apparently they also went home after me.

We had a lot of fun! I wondered afterwards whether it would be my last to join them in these types of activities. Formal parties, maybe, but after-parties? I guess that's why I recorded this event is because I have an inkling that there won't be any more activities like this for me. Anyway, I'm very thankful that Ed invited me. I actually felt honored especially because I don't get invited that much =)

The After-Party

Start Blogging

My life revolved around the university so much that I'm starting to feel like this is already a disorder. I want to have a life outside the university! haha! I even changed my blog to CAFA Life!

I decided to create this other blog where I can write anything outside the walls of the university. There are many things I want to share or write about that does not necessarily fall under the category of the other blog. For now, I have to work on how this blog should look like so I get a little inspired writing on it. Haha!

HCDC Grand Alumni Homecoming 2011

After a long wait, the day for the Grand Alumni Homecoming of my high school alma mater, Holy Cross of Davao College, finally came. The activities organized by the school were very simple: a fun run at dawn and the main program in the morning that ended with a fellowship lunch. My batch mates, however, decided to hold our own batch reunion party in the evening.

The fun run was very successful. Those who registered gets a singlet. Only five of my batch mates attended: Nilo Luciano,Hector Barnes, Davis Lasat, Ronnel Saligumba and Alex Mandin. The experience must be very tiring because only Hector and Davis made it to the program later in the morning and he arrived around noon already.

The main program started with a Holy Mass followed by the honoring of the jubilarians, election of officers and finally the fellowship lunch. Batch 1961, the golden jubilarian, have decided to host the event. They were given medals and certificates during the honoring of the jubilarians while the silver jubilarians, my batch, were given pins and certificates. At the time the pins and certificates were given only the following batch mates were present: Radley Barrientos, Nilo Luciano, Rommel Jaron, Marvin Acuna, Wilbert Santos, Roel Malabute and myself. The others arriving afterwards, by the time for the Fellowship lunch the number has doubled. The following guys arrived Arnold Satorre, Alain Fornolles, Davis Lasat, Hector Barnes, Edward Ely Yap, Rene Gil Gallardo, and Chip Estampa.

The fellowship lunch ended late but the next activity for our batch is at 6:00pm. Davis and some guys decided to spend the time in Calda Pizza along Legaspi St. We had pizza and beer as more batch mates arrived. The group of Jorge Hong, Arciaga, Albert Clarito, Rogelio Dignos and Jonathan Sienes arrived. Fred Aguila, Ed Gloriani, Chito Miguel, Ronnel Saligumba, and Troy Rosal also arrived later.As we were leaving for BBQ Boss, Richard dela Torre arrived.

In BBQ Boss, Troy Rosal arranged for an acoustic band. Radley had to construct a stage in two days time to accommodate this. Aldrin Oliva donated a lechon although he failed to show up because he had to meet up with his brother who arrived that night. The following guys started arriving that night: Joel Aguilon, Efren Malimbag, Teddyboy Garcia, Robert Floyd Salise, Ronald Magayano, Anton Aguilar, Berwyn Lira, Arnulfo Alvar, Froilan Diampa, George Jumamoy, Edgar Canda, Baldwin Floresca, Glenn Trinidad, Nerio Penanueva, Meneleo Balolong, Dennis Flores, and Nicandro Martinez.

 While I was in Holy Cross that morning, I managed to talk to Mr. Cruzada and Ms. Separa (now married) and invited both of them. I also got the cellphone numbers of Ms. Mogote and Mr. Dingding. I also invited the school photographer Boy Ugay for the evening get-together. All of them arrived, including Mr. Rosete. Everyone was very happy to meet their mentors again.

 Although we were not able to cook up a program, the acoustic band entertained us a lot especially when Roel Malabute took control of the microphone. Joel Aguilon also sang a few songs after the crowd called out for him. Nilo Luciano celebrated his birthday the day after so by midnight he started the celebration by singing a few songs as well. Most of the group left around 2am.

After the Rain

FLOOD! That's what comes after every rain here in the Philippines! Never mind if the rain is heavy or not. The drainage system here is really disappointing.

In Cebu, the first storm for the year is about to hit come Wednesday. The heavy rain a couple of weeks ago has left our local government scrambling to clear the silted rivers. As a result, what would take years to remove squatters took only a day or two, without much ado. Also, public schools are being condemned since they trap students during floods. New classrooms are being promised for the next school year... Well, well... word has it that the rain will go on until May, wet summer for the sunny Philippines. So I guess these developments are acceptable to everyone. Even those whose houses were demolished.

I just wish that they would do something to keep those demolished houses from rising up again after the sun peeps out for a week or more. A river is supposed to have three meters of easements at both sides. This means that no one should build on that easement. To do so would be like building on the road. The problem with these squatters is that they think that if the land is owned the government, then it should be given to them for free.. that they have all the rights to it (all to themselves!). Anyway, the local government here made plans to develop that easement into a park or something, following models from Singapore. This is the best time to do it... unless they want to be assured of the best kickbacks...

The proposed schools for next semester also caught my attention. In my previous blog I referred to a competition to design the Millennium School. The winning design is supposed to be ideal for the current situation. Someone should tell the mayor to consider studying the prototype.

This is also the time to see how we can harvest the rain since there will be plenty of it. There are so many things we can do productively instead of complaining about the rain and calling for the sun (which will change to complaining about the sun and calling for the rain when it starts to get hot).

Strictly Davao

I’m from Davao City. This place is well known for the Durian fruit, the Philippine Eagle and the Waling-waling orchid. It is well reputed for its cleanliness. It is also known for its notorious mayor, Hon. Rodrigo Duterte. He is no longer the mayor after the last election, he is now the vice mayor while his daughter is the mayor. I guess it is safe to say that nothing really changed.

 I really don’t know how “notorious” Mayor Duterte is and I will not bother to find out. My interest revolves around some city ordinances he introduced which I find… amusing.

The first one is the ordinance that banned the use of pyrotechnics during Christmas and New Year’s eve. At first my family reacted against it. We later realized that we actually benefited from it. My sister, who is a doctor, is now able to join us during these holiday celebrations, and we don’t have problems anymore about cleaning up the mess caused by pyrotechnics the following day.

The other ordinance is the no-smoking policy. I learned about it just before deplaning when the stewardess announced that the Davao is a no-smoking city, which means you can only smoke in private places and some designated public spaces.

Lately, my nephew, who formed a band, told me that there is an ordinance that banned minors from being part of a band. My friend who owns a restaurant also told me that there is a liquor ban at 2am. One time, after midnight, the mayor visited a place which is a popular place for people to hang around for some beer. When he noticed that there were minors around he ordered all the establishments closed, even those establishments that close at 11pm. 

I listen to all of these with a lot of amusement but nothing compares to how the mayor reacted to our parish priest who campaigned against him and his daughter. In some strategic place in our parish he put up billboards that has these words “PIKAT NIMO PETE” (I really don’t know how to translate it in English) and a drawing of an eye. (see photo)

The whole thing reminds me of a book I enjoyed reading: Don Camillo and His Flock. Don Camillo is a parish priest of a small town in Italy, and he is always at odds with the mayor, Peppone, who is a communist. I’m not saying that Duterte is a communist. The story is comical and the conflict between the two characters is very, very amusing.

I think all of these laws are doing the people of Davao a lot of good. The fact that the Dutertes were elected to the mayor and vice mayor position is a sign of the people’s agreement to their policy. I hope everything else goes well.

Remembering Quincy

Unexpected... How else can we describe it? When the text messages came, it was too sudden to react. Quincy Jay Mestio died early this morning. Those words finally sank in when I stood in front of the coffin a few hours ago.

I never knew Quincy until their third year in college. He was the batch president then, and I was involved in organizing activities for the students. My first reaction was to marvel at his name. It took me some time to believe that it was his real name.

What really impressed me about this guy is how he was able to lead the group. He was not the commanding type, in fact he was soft spoken. You also don't get to see him run around the building looking extremely busy. With his simplicity he managed to move his batch mates to fulfill the tasks assigned to them.

It was because of Quincy that I also started noticing everyone else in his batch. We no longer exchange casual greetings, we've started hanging out. Last year, he invited me along with his other batch mates to drink beer in Cheaverz to celebrate his birthday. In the last semester, he consulted me about his thesis once in a while. I know we're not as close as he is with his batch mates but the little time I shared with him and his friends is enough for me to feel the loss that everyone else is feeling right now.

It is my first time to go to the wake of my student. In the past it was always the wake of a student's relative. I must admit it was rather strange for me. I confess that I was saddened by his departure, but after looking around me during the wake I couldn't help but be proud of Quincy as well. He has so many good friends. Their presence in the wake is a testimony of Quincy's good character.

I am thankful to Quincy for leaving me good memories to remember him by. May we do the same to others, may we follow the example he has left us.