For the lack thereof better titles, I ended up tagging my thoughts as “internship perks”. I have been a student intern for People’s Journal and The Manila Times and so far, my assessment of my work is “nice”. LOL. What a stupid word to describe my experience. For me, “nice” is an all-purpose word. How was your day?—Nice. Describe that person please—I think he’s nice. Yeah, whatever, I’m rambling. Anyway, the following were some of the plus sides of my on the job training (OJT).
Meeting MNLF leader Nur Missuari (and other prominent people, but he aced the list)
Whew! What a lengthy breaker I got there huh? Anyway, I have nonchalantly passed by Tony Calvento of the Calvento Files, ABS-CBN reporter Nico Baua and the likes. Too bad I wasn’t able to attend AJ Perez’s (OMG) wake. Tss. May you rest in peace dear, feeling close? One of my co-trainees said that he looked ‘nice’ (LOL) as if he was a mannequin.
Anyway, last Tuesday, I met Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Missuari. Beforehand, we were told not to shake hands with him since the Muslim tradition asserts that only spouses are allowed to have physical contacts whatsoever with the opposite gender. Good thing, I was able to control by wandering hands.
The course of the roundtable was about Mindanao peace talks, Middle East disputes and to some extent, personal details about the Muslim chairperson.
“They [Mindanao people] don’t like war. They only want peace and democratic freedom,” the former University of the Philippines student said. Kudos to the people of Mindanao.
I was enlightened with the issue about them being an autonomous region. He metaphorically linked the topic with the cutting of baby’s umbilical cord. Missuari explained that Mindanao like a newborn, needs to be separated from his mother by slashing the cord. But despite the partition, the baby and mother are still connected.
The ending of the meeting was I doing a timeline article about the history of MNLF.
Free entrance to recreational areas (and the buffet-meal that comes after them)
Covering the new tourist attractions in Manila Ocean Park was not part of my training for I was assigned in the police beat, however, I was tagged to go and see the latest attractions of the tourist spot. I was with my friends—Claire, Care, Zel, Egybu, and Jeccah. After visiting the park, we ate in the nearest bar—Sandbar (for free). What’s funny was I were overly-dress for the occasion! Stated in the invitation was that “prominent bloggers are invited” so I dressed up for the occasion, but much to my dismay, I did not recognize any ‘person’ in the event. However, it was hitting two birds at the same time: covering while having fun. ‘Nice’ right? LOL here we go again with me using “nice” word.
The lists were just some of the few perks I have received, since I’m not yet finished with my OJT surely more bonuses are coming my way. Next week, I’ll be deployed in the Department of Foreign Affairs. Wish me luck. I hope to have a ‘nice’ job. LOL.
*PHOTO COURTESY OF MY CELL PHONE. SORRY
FOR THE LOW QUALITY.
(3RD FROM LEFT)-- MANILA TIMES CEO MR. DANTE ANG, NUR MISSUARI, MANILA TIMES EIC MR. BAS
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