Borj

How’s your weekend going?

I just woke up and wanted to share this beautiful album from The Rose.

Listening to music is always part of my morning routine, and lately I keep coming back to their WRLD album to start my day. All the tracks in this album feel like therapy for me, especially the song Nebula.

Does anyone else have a go-to album or song they listen to in the morning?

Look what I found tonight! 😳

I immediately looked for a cafe where I could sit down and start reading, and now I feel like I am illicitly peeking into a part of Kafka's life. 😅

"Be difficult to discourage, but easy to correct." 🤍

Maraming salamat, UP Baguio, for the honor of addressing your graduating class!

I spoke about dreams, failure, ambition, journalism, Macli-ing Dulag, and what it means to be “the right kind of difficult.” It’s a long speech (sorry hehe), but I’m sharing it here for those who might find something useful in it.

Congratulations, Class of 2026!

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The Right Kind of Difficult
UP Baguio 2026 Commencement Exercises

Isang mapagpalayang araw sa inyong lahat. Magandang hapon, UP Baguio!

Bago ang lahat, gusto ko munang marinig ang buong batch na nakaligtas sa deadlines, thesis, enrollment, sociopolitical crisis, at existential crisis. Class of 2026, kung proud kayo, relieved, at medyo hindi pa rin makapaniwala na nandito na kayo, let me hear you make some noise!

Ngayon, magbigay pugay rin tayo sa mga magulang, pamilya, kaibigan, g**o, kawani, at lahat ng tumulong para makarating kayo rito. Sila rin, in their own way, gumraduate ngayong araw. Some emotionally. Some spiritually. And most of all, financially. Gumraduate na rin po sila sa kaka-GCash sa inyo.

Pero jokes aside, isa pong karangalan na makapiling kayo sa espesyal na araw na ito.

Aaminin ko, medyo nakailang graduation speech na ako nitong mga taon. Kaya kung may marinig kayong medyo familiar, please be gentle with me. Huwag ninyo po akong isumbong sa Turnitin. I am the original source of my own clichés.

Ang totoo, challenging magbigay ng payo sa mga bagong graduate. Graduation speakers are expected to give life advice. Pero minsan, nagiging gasgas o palasak na ang mensahe. Maganda pakinggan, pero paglabas mo ng auditorium na ito, hindi mo na alam kung saan gagamitin.

Sabi nila, “follow your dreams.” Tama naman.

“Believe in yourself.” Ok po.

“Failure is part of success.” Totoo, pero minsan failure is just failure. Minsan ang lesson lang talaga ay: basahin nang maigi ang email, sundin ang instructions, at kapag nagising ka na sa alarm, huwag mo na itong patayin.

But it’s true. Out there, life is messy. The choices we have to make are rarely as clean as they sound in a speech.

Noong nagsisimula ako sa journalism, akala ko simple lang ang prinsipyo. Huwag tumanggap ng kahit ano. Don’t let your emotions get involved. Stay objective.

Tapos pupunta ka sa isang liblib na lugar, sa mga komunidad na biktima ng kalamidad o karahasan, at ang unang gagawin ng pamilyang halos walang-wala ay paupuin ka, alukin ka ng kape, saging, o kung ano mang meron sila.

How can you not root for people like that?

Doon mo matututuhan na ang integridad, hindi ibig sabihin palagi kang malinis tingnan. Minsan, ibig sabihin lang nito alam mo kung ano ang hindi mo ibebenta. Hindi suhol ang alok na kape. Pero pag inabutan ka ng sobre, iba iyon. Lalo na kung makapal.

Sa kabilang banda, paulit-ulit ding nababanggit sa mga graduation speech ang kahalagahan ng paglilingkod sa bayan. Siyempre naman, lalo na sa mga estudyante ng UP.

Kung gusto ninyong marinig ang unang draft ng speech na ito, heto iyon:

“Congratulations, graduates. Please abandon joy, money, sleep, and your love life. The nation needs you.”

O, di ba? Courageous. Impressive. Also, not very inspiring. At baka hindi rin very practical. Hindi ako nandito para magpalaki ng isang henerasyon ng martir. Hindi po yan kaya ng konsensya ko, at wala rin naman akong moral ascendancy.

So ngayong araw, susumahin ko na lang sa isang linya ang hiling ko para sa inyo:

I hope you become difficult.

But I don’t mean difficult in the sense of being impossible to work with. Not difficult in the sense na hassle ka bonding. Not rude. Not performative. Not contrarian for clout.

I mean the right kind of difficult.

Be difficult to fool.

Difficult to buy.

Difficult to discourage.

And difficult to turn indifferent.

Let’s break it down, shall we?

First: be difficult to fool.

UP teaches us to question everything. Authority. Tradition. Power.

Pero hindi tayo nagtatanong para lang kumontra. The point of critical thinking is not to become the most annoying person in the room. The point is to become harder to manipulate.

That matters because we live in a time when truth has begun to feel optional. If something gets enough likes, it starts to feel true. If it goes viral, it becomes validated. If it is repeated often enough, it begins to sound like history.

And the powerful have learned this—in government, in business, in propaganda. They have learned to use noise to bury truth. They have learned to turn confusion into strategy. Dahil kapag hindi na natin alam kung ano ang totoo, mas madali tayong pagurin. Kapag pagod na tayo, mas madali tayong patahimikin.

This is where the discipline of journalism becomes useful to everyone.

Not because journalists are always right. We are not. We have made mistakes. We have been careless. Some have been complicit. If we want to be trusted, we have to work to deserve that trust.

But journalism is not only a profession. It should also be a public habit.

It is the habit of asking: Is this true? Who said it? Who benefits? Who is missing from the story? And what happens if we look away?

Those are not questions only for journalists. They are questions for all of us. And as graduates of UP, you have a special responsibility to ask them. Because as recipients of one of the best educations this country has to offer, paid for by the people, we must not be easy to fool. We must not be easy to use. We must not be easy to recruit into cruelty.

Second: be difficult to buy.

Let me be clear. I am not saying don’t make money. Please make money. A reasonable amount is fine. Your parents are tired. Some of them have been tired since your second year. Wanting a good life is not a betrayal of the country. Wanting comfort, stability, even success, is not wrong.

Ang tanong lang: ano ang handa mong ipagpalit para rito?

The problem is not ambition. The problem is ambition without memory. Ambition that forgets who helped you get here. Ambition that forgets who is left behind. Ambition that becomes so polished it can no longer recognize suffering.

Sa totoong buhay, hindi naman obvious agad kung sino ang mga kontrabida. At lalong hindi nila sasabihin sa’yo ng hayagan na “ibenta mo na ang kaluluwa mo” complete with evil laughter. Mas madalas, maliit lang ang hihingin. Konting pananahimik. Konting kompromiso. Konting pakikisama. Konting “huwag na nating palakihin.”

Pero doon nagsisimula yun.

So while you are still young, while the world has not yet made all your choices feel inevitable, decide what is not for sale. Your name. Your integrity. Your compassion. The Filipino people.

You don’t have to kill your dreams in the name of service. Just make sure your dreams don’t require you to kill your conscience.

Third: be difficult to discourage

Akala ko matindi na ang pressure sa amin noon. Pero iba ang pressure sa bagong graduates ngayon. May expectations ng pamilya. May comparison sa friends. May job market na uncertain. May social media pa na araw-araw nagpapakita ng mga taong mukhang na-figure out na ang buhay at age 23.

Sabi nga nila, comparison is the thief of joy. Pero paano iiwasan kung araw-araw mong nakikita ang ibang tao na nagbabakasyon, bumibili ng bahay, umaakyat sa corporate ladder, sumisikat, nagiging influencer, at kung anu-ano pa.

So let me say this first: papalpak kayo. Maraming beses.

Sigurado akong narinig ninyo na ito dati, pero kailangan pa rin ipaalala. It will be a wild ride. Be at peace with your failures, but do not be passive about them. Ask what went wrong, then ask what you can do better next time.

Be difficult to discourage, but easy to correct. That combination will save you.

And while you’re learning from failure, please respect your own timeline.

Noong nasa grade school ako, ang tatangkad ng iba kong kaklase. Kapag sinabi sa amin, “Form a straight line according to height,” lagi akong pangatlo o pang-apat sa pila.

Then puberty hit. Hindi pa rin ako uubra sa basketball ngayon, pero mas matangkad na ako sa marami kong batchmates. Iyon nga lang, wala nang teacher na nagpapapila.

May mga nauuna. May nahuhuli. May naliligaw. May bumabalik. May nagshi-shift ng career. May mga akala late na sila, pero hindi pala. May mga akala panalo na sila, pero kailangan palang magsimula uli.

At real talk: kahit gaano tayo kasipag o kagaling, hindi pantay ang starting line. May mga taong ipinanganak na may mas maraming safety net. May perang masasandalan. May koneksyon. May lugar na mas malapit sa oportunidad. May mga graduate ng school na mas madaling pagkatiwalaan ng mundo.

Hindi ibig sabihin nito walang halaga ang sipag at talino, pero hindi ito sapat sa sistemang hindi patas sa simula palang. Intelligence, skill, and hardwork cannot fully compensate for a world where some people have to work twice or three times as hard just to reach another person’s starting line.

Kaya kung papalarin kayo, huwag isipin na patunay lang ito ng inyong superior virtue. At kung hindi kayo agad papalarin, huwag isipin na wala kayong halaga.

Fourth: be difficult to turn indifferent.

Belive me, the world will try.

Through ambition. Through disappointment. Through comfort. Through fear. Through success. Little by little, the world will try to make you numb.

You will see injustice repeated so often it begins to look normal. At some point, you may be tempted to say: pagod na ako. Ayoko na. Wala rin namang nagbabago.

Naiintindihan ko iyon. Okay lang mapagod at magpahinga. Sa dami ng problema at krisis na kinakaharap natin, makaka-relate tayong lahat sa feeling na iyon.

Ang nakakatakot, kapag sinimulan na nating kumbinsihin ang ating sarili na wala na tayong pakialam. Na mas mabuti pang intindihin na lang ang sarili at kalimutan ang kapakanan ng iba.

Dito ko gustong banggitin ang isang personal hero ko. Isang anak ng Cordillera: si Macli-ing Dulag.

Marami na sa inyo ang nakakakilala sa kanya. Macli-ing was a respected leader of the Butbut people of Bugnay, Kalinga. In the 1970s, he opposed the Chico River Dam Project of the Marcos dictatorship. The project threatened indigenous communities, rice fields, homes, forests, and burial grounds.

On paper, it was development. But for the communities who would be displaced, what was at stake was not just land. It was where they lived, where they worked, where they buried their dead, and where their children would inherit a future.

They were pressured to move. Threatened and militarized. Offered bribes. Told that sacrifice was necessary for progress. But Macli-ing and other Cordillera leaders stood their ground.

On April 24, 1980, he was murdered by government forces in his own home.

There are people whose lives are so brave that we must be careful not to reduce them into advice. Macli-ing Dulag is one of them. His life is not a template we casually hand to new graduates and say, “O, gayahin ninyo.” That would be unfair. And frankly, quite a lot to ask.

But we should still admire, honor, and learn from their courage and sacrifice. They are not supernatural beings sent down to earth to save us. They are people who have looked at the world and saw more meaning in it than serving themselves.

Most of us may never be asked to pay the ultimate price. But his life reminds us that there are moments when the question is no longer, “What do I want?” The question becomes: “What and who must I defend?”

One danger of a comfortable life is that it can make courage look unreasonable. It can make sacrifice look impractical. It can make people who defend land, memory, and community sound like obstacles to progress.

But sometimes the difficult person is not the obstacle. In a world where injustice abounds, often, the difficult person is resistance.

So protect your capacity to care. Let it shape your ambition, not erase it.

Class of 2026, chase your dreams. Seriously. Chase them with skill, discipline, and joy. Build good lives. Help your families. Find work that excites you. Rest when you need to. Fall in love if you must, although please remember that this is not required for nation-building 😬

But as you go, carry something stubborn within you. The country does not need more “successful” people who are pleasant, polished, and harmless. It needs people who are difficult to fool, difficult to buy, difficult to discourage, difficult to turn indifferent.

Not everyone is called to give everything. But everyone is called to protect something. And when the world becomes overwhelming, when you begin to feel hopeless or jaded, I hope you remember this place, these mountains, and the people who taught us that love of country is not an abstract idea. Sometimes, it is the courage to stand your ground so others may keep their dignity, their memory, and their future.

Congratulations, UP Baguio Class of 2026. May you live good and meaningful lives. And when the moment calls for it, may you be the right kind of difficult.

What's for dinner?
Me: 7-day-old chicken afritada 😂

One of the things I’ve learned from living solo is getting used to eating the same food over and over within the same week. It’s time‑efficient since I can cook once and have meals ready for the next three to seven days, plus I save gas because I only need to cook one to three times a week.

When I have work, I usually prepare two dishes over the weekend and eat them throughout the week. Of course, sometimes I get sick of eating the same food and that’s when instant noodles and convenience store meals come to the rescue. 😅

I made chicken afritada last weekend and adobo which I ate alternately throughout this week. It's afritada's turn tonight. 😂

Anyone else living solo who eats like this? 🙋🏽‍♀️
Kain! 😊

Hiiiii!

I'm working on editing a video I filmed last year. Hopefully, I can post it by next week. I'm also planning to post some stories related to teaching.

Do you have any questions you'd like me to answer?

It's not betrayal, I promise.

My first four months as a teacher in an international school in Indonesia's capital were insane in every way.

Two years ago, I was crying from frustration over the things I now realized I was never in full control of. I wished students had more selections of books in the library, better chairs and desks instead of dusty and rusty ones, and better classrooms which did not have dusty, cracked cement flooring and boards that were too old and broken. (Not specific to one but to majority of the public schools out there)

I eventually decided to step back and quit temporarily. Others thought I was taking everything personally. At some point, I thought so too. But I wasn't even asking for something extravagant. I was just looking for things I thought were normal in a school.

Fast forward to the present, I saw that teaching in an international school is a completely different game. A local teacher even approached me and told me how strong I was then added only "strong" teachers thrive in this environment.

I think one of the reasons why I was able to survive in my first months, despite the challenges, was because I knew this was the school I asked for years ago.

Now, I am in a school where students can just focus on studying.

They got:
⭐️ tiled floors
⭐️ library with a decent number of books that students actually like reading
⭐️ and each classroom has: smart boards, WiFi, two ACs, and reading corners with accessible books
among many other things that are considered as "luxury" or "privilege".

I am amazed at how excellent students can be if they study in a school like this. My thoughts would always wander to all the students in public schools, imagining how happy and comfortable they could be if they were in the same environment.

And mind you, I am just talking about the physical environment of schools in this post.

I know there are many other things to consider before we could provide better facilities in public schools. What throws me off is when I hear "Ganyan naman dito ever since" or "Nagagamit pa naman so pagtiisan kung anong andyan" as if education is never a priority.

Until when are we going to tell our own students to just bear with everything and just make do with what's available? Until when do we put them aside?

So for now, I'm sorry, but I need this type of environment. I need to see how great students could be if given the right equipment and facilities and more opportunities to learn and grow.

Sharing my current read and the view from my window tonight

Hope you all have a peaceful night 🌃

Syempre, maniningil po tayo.
Hindi pwedeng basta maghanap tayo ng habit of reading sa mga estudyante.

Teachers, are we still reading?

One time, I told a teacher that I had good references for the subject they were teaching and asked if they would like a copy.

These were books and articles I had read in graduate school and were not easy to find, but I thought they were too good not to be shared. After all, the ones who would truly benefit were the students, which was the very reason I offered to help.

But I was dumbfounded by their response:
"I DON'T READ. I JUST WATCH YT FOR MY CLASSES. IT'S EASIER AND FASTER THAT WAY."

I had too many questions upon hearing that, but I knew insisting on reading and doing research would only waste their precious time.

Yes, we are at that age where even educators teach based on what they have watched on YT and what AI tools have summarized for their convenience.

Of course, some of you will argue that teachers are already overwhelmed by responsibilities and paperwork, hence the choice. Trust me. I am not new in the field. I have seen enough and feel disgusted each time I encounter educators who cannot even spare time to read and deepen their understanding of the subjects they teach.