Christmas in Tubday 2018

decisions decisions

I woke up today at 4:30am thinking I needed to finish a questionnaire that needed to be pretested this week. In my mind I need to email it to my staff today before I leave because we were scheduled to leave at 6am  for Pangasinan for some planning session. So I did, the alarm clock rang I woke up and started working. I managed to read the Bible - today the account of a David and Jonathan and the boy and the arrow. I failed to pray though as my mind was on finishing that instrument. Anyway, I was well buried into it when I suddenly saw the time was 5:57!! Our bus was at 6:00am. I still had to pack my bag, do my kiss and biiiig hugs and apologies to the three small kids and say my excuses and prayer requests to my kindest husband. Weng, our efficient kapamilya has started prodding the two boys. Fast forward. I arrived 6:18am and had to say "patawad" instead of "good morning" to all the probably already angry ma'ams and sirs on the bus.

Now I am sitting on this bus repentant that I was late but at the same time angry at myself for my wrong decisions. Why was I late? Because I was working. Why was I working? Because I was late on my project targets. Well see I also worked half day yesterday for another project with deadline. 

It would have felt much better if I was late because I had to breastfeed my baby, feed my kids, pray with my hubby. Good reasons with shall we say eternal significance.

Now I think something is really wrong and has to change. I feel guilty that I was not able to feed Kharece before I left. I feel guilty that we didn't have breakfast together with my other kids. That I didn't have a respectable time of prayer....

So what can be done?  What should be changed? 
What can I give up? 
1. DA-BAR project - no
2. CHED project - no
3. IPP - no
4. NIA - no it is SSIS related, it is service
5. GIZ - pursued the proposal, pangatawanan na! 
5. ISRD directorship - meetings, planning, mgt. - yes! 

After all, am I not just a lowly Senior SRS step 1 who has no career path at BSU. (oops-sama ng loob ba yan? pero desisyon mo lumipat sa BSU.) 

(Count your blessings. 
(Akala ko reformed ang theology mo. God is sovereign. God is gracious. Wala sa performance. Only by grace.) 

Oo nga.
Thank you hubby for showing me the way of grace. For always reminding me of God's sovereignty and that He is in control. I will try and make better decisions from now. I will keep trying anyway. 
For now, I will go through the motions, contribute what I can. I have two weeks to decide. 

of word logos and slogans

i like word logos. but now where should i put bsu and the institute of social research and development in this layout? maybe it's best this way. i have this research project where if i go for data gathering, the mere mention that i am from bsu, people will start to flinch. so i say i am from the institute of social research and development or isrd and hope hard they won't ask what or where is that. of course in many of my field works, it feels nice to be treated so well just because we said we are from bsu. and of course, other occasions, i'd proudly use the BSU t-shirts (i didn't get a loyalty award back in 1993 for nothing).

(digress)
we were requesting for some data from a government unit and we were told that per an executive order, we need to buy per page. fine with us because as i always say information is never free. problem is we are talking about around 100 pages data. so we requested for soft copy with a note that we were willing to pay. they responded that the executive order says payment per page. so in short, they cannot give us a soft copy. in my mind, then we would have to encode the 100 pages worth of data, when we could have easily paid more and got the encoded one similar to how PSA does it. anyway we purchased the data alright. only to find out that they sold soft copy of the data to another national government agency. apparent conclusion of the matter: they did not sell us the soft copy of the data because we were from bsu?

(digress)
we have this jacket at R&E and the only "tatak" was "R&E". BSU logo was not included. i don't know why they opted not to include the bsu logo. probably so that even if the JOs or COS staff will leave bsu, they can still use. and it was on voluntary basis paid by the staff themselves. but really, times like the above account, a jacket with just "R&E" helps.

back to my obsession for a word logo for isrd, i would like the "i" to be some variant of "bulul" or maybe the shade of some part of the acronym made of ethnic design, but not too much. something like when you see it, you see a human being or a person... for the "social" and some kind of simple graph for "data" that reflects "evidence-based policy etc.." anyway, i give up and admit that word logos are not my craft. for now, i will be content with the above tries for a corporate gift i would like to share.

(sigh) times like this, i sure miss kuya lito bibal (+) of philrice and the legendary dr. abastilla of BSU.

blessed Christmas from isrd!//

Kharece pictorial at 7 months

  

Thanks to Dream Foundation (located at Lion's club) for the nice pictorial even though Kharece was clearly not in a celebrity mode or mood that day. It still amazes me how an extra chromosome can make them all look very similar indeed. Even so, the Sovereign One distinctly gave her to us and was the one who formed her inward parts; and knitted her together in my womb (Ps. 139:13). Thank you Kharichay for continually bringing us the gift of pure joy.

On the value of planning

I've been meaning to blog about planning but never got the time for it.

Anyway, I have been at BSU for four years now and I probably attended more than 10 planning meetings in that span of time. Just to list the major ones:

1. Strategic planning for BSU R&E - La Union (facilitated by an international speaker)
2. Strategic planning for BAPTC - Manila (facilitated by DAP)
3. Operational planning for BAPTC - Baguio city (facilitated by DAP)
4. Strategic planning of HAARRDEC/CorCAARRD - Pangasinan (facilitated by an international speaker)
5. Strategic planning (Roadmap) for IRO - BSU (facilitated by IRO Director)
6. Strategic planning of BSU - NPRCRTC (facilitated by a retired NEDA personnel yata yun)
7. Operational planning for selected R&E centers - Pooten resort, Asin (facilitated by Planning Director)
8. Strategic pre-planning for BSU Internationalization - ATI BSU Compound (facilitated by IRO Director)

I know that strategic planning comes before operational planning and it is more long-term and includes visioning and "strategizing". I also know that planning is one of the major functions of management. With the above experiences, however, and watching how things are unfolding, increasingly I'm beginning to have second thoughts about the value of strategic planning.

Well, I like the idea of dreams, VMGOs and scenarios, but I'm beginning to believe that more often than not, the how part seems to be just really an exercise, at least considering the nature of government policies, turnover of leaders and system of budget allocations and disbursements.

I like better annual operational planning, and since my last PhilRice semesters, I actually love the idea of the semestral DPCRs for centers, divisions or units, and IPCRs for individual employees. For all its weaknesses, it is this level of planning and targeting (not to mention monitoring and evaluation) that I take very seriously.  I do like planning and setting my targets in the next 6 months.

Of course I still do not like the BSU system of the DPCR being the IPCR of directors and other leaders. My position is leaders ought to have their own IPCRs. After all, the DPCRs are office or department targets, and the director is NOT the department. Even directors have their own individual commitments, even while it is their command responsibility to make sure the DPCR targets are met. Management and supervision of the unit where he or she is designated should be just a part of his or her IPCR. Employees are either faculty members or non-teaching personnel and thus ought to have their own individual targets. I am not a faculty member and do not know how the PES works but it seems it ought to be part of a faculty's IPCR.

In addition, I wish there is a provision for intervening activities and percent offsetting in the current IPCR system of BSU.

I also like the idea of logical frameworks for development and research projects which is essentially a planning and monitoring and evaluation framework. It is not easy to craft though and the theory of change is really often difficult to show.

I also like the concept of final IOB which becomes the bible of disbursement for the agency for that year and supports the operational plans. It should be set considering the operational plans and deemed fixed when released. The final IOB or budget allocations should be available at most by end of January or early February of each year. And the administration, budget or accounting office should NOT be allowed to juggle funds. Not even sector heads. At least not without the knowledge or permission of the units. With a final budget allotment for each sector or unit or program or project, planning becomes more relevant and achievable. Middle managers will have difficulty operating with a noncertain or "moro-moro" budget allocation.

I hope that with ISO certification there will be a protocol before any item in the IOB for that year can be adjusted or before another sector or even another unit can use your fund allotment. Say, every quarter updates of fund utilization by units can become the basis for "borrowing" reallocation after the semester or half year. Of course the monitoring of budget balances and disbursements should be properly done almost real time. As of now, it doesn't seem to be working that way. Issues of overspending and underspending still exist even with external projects.

I think government agencies have a lot to learn from the planning and production management tools in private business management or business administration particularly of manufacturing and service companies. Concepts such as quality control, JIT, Six Sigma, Kaizen, etc are very useful.

Thank you anyway for the opportunity to be a part of the planning processes in the past. I learned a lot and see the value of scenario building and midterm to short-term planning. But really, ironic it maybe considering that my field of specialization is even into intergenerational planning, I have yet to appreciate the value of strategic planning. At least maybe when I see a strategic plan where at least 50% of the strategies are actually operationalized or implemented and not the opposite.

Kharece's first swimming at Pooten's Resort Asin

Happy Fathers' Day 2018 - Ephesians 6 infinity stones!

(This is Chairo and Mama's concept. Khane is out of town. Kharece is sleeping. Chairo was so excited to print. Coincidentally, Ephesians 6 explicitly names at least six components of the whole armor of God.)

The princess who would change our lives

Chairo Paul, Kharece Ayen, Khane Kits

Kharece Ayen C. Launio

Date Due: February 7, 2018
Date Born: January 29, 2018
Time: 4:45 am
Place: Benguet General Hospital, La Trinidad, Benguet
OB/Gyne: Dr. Bancilo
Weight: 3.17 kg
Length: 47 cm

The Name

Kharece is the phonetic spelling of the New Testament Greek word "Charis," which means, that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness; good will, loving kindness, favor; thanks (for benefits, services, favors), i.e., "grace" in the English New Testament.

Ayen is the name of Marlon's grandmother. For her name not to be forgotten, we gave our princess this name.

Chronicles of Grace (Take 3)

May 2017               Pregnancy test kit showed positive.
January 28, 2018    Walked around BSU; Savemore
January 29, 2018 ~ 1am    Labor pains started
January 29, 2018 ~ 2am    Went to BeGH
January 29, 2018 ~ 4:45am    (Princess) Kharece Ayen arrived!

February 6, 2018    Hearing test result: right ear pass; left ear refer to ENT
February 7, 2018    Cardiologist gives Kharece cardiac clearance (meaning her heart is in good condition)

Day 1 (January 29, 2018)

In the hands of Dr. Pacio of BeGH right after birth

With Tita Karen

Day 2 (January 30, 2018)

































Day 3 (January 31, 2018)

Kharece Ayen

Day 4 (February 1, 2018)

Daddy is always the one bathing me. Mama is scared because I'm too fragile.

With Kuya Chairo (Kuya Khane is coughing very badly so he is off limits ading)

Day 5 (February 2, 2018)

Day 6 (February 3, 2018)

    

                        Kharece Ayen, 2018

Who is my look-alike?

Khane Kits, 2007

Chairo Paul, 2011

(We thank our blood family, spiritual family, and friends who have prayed for us, supported us, and who are continually praying for our princess Ayen. Please continually intercede for her, and for grace and strength for our family as we become or be or accomplish whatever our Sovereign God purposed. We will try to live one day at a time, always with prayer and hope in Christ that our dearest Kharece will live and grow her name.)

Our comfort

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose
(Romans 8:26-28, NIV 1984)