Daily Gospel Reflections Oct 22, 2016

In trying to be fair and avoid being
judgemental to other people, I developed this thinking that everyone is undergoing his/her own set of trials. One problem might be easy for me but harder to the other person. But come a different problem, and our situations might completely be reversed. Why? Because we are created uniquely by God. This is the amazing thing about His creation.

The important thing is that we always try our best in bringing out the best in ourselves and in other people. Moreover, we must realize that our talents and blessings have expiry dates. Hence, we must cultivate it before its too late.

Daily Gospel Reflections Oct 21, 2016

Have an end goal in mind. This is one of the 7 habbits of 'highly effective people' that I am reminded by today's Gospel. Planning is a necessity that each of us should make and it should be based on the signs that God has given us. These signs can be our talents, skills, and abilities. It could even be life changing events and trials that are happening to us. The important lesson is to continue hoping in Christ's plan for us and may that plan coincide with ours.

LORD, let me plan my life from starting today to finish. May all my plans lead to your loving arms.

Daily Gospel Reflections Oct 20, 2016

Conflict. How I always try to avoid it. Upon reading today's gospel, I suddenly feel guilty because there are indeed times when conflict is necessary. Especially in matters of faith, work, and values.

Unfortunately, I have this 'make everyone feel happy' or 'please everyone' concept, which I believe is the main culprint why I have always tried to avoid conflict. I know that this kind of thinking is impossible and unproductive as well. Another reason for my conflict avoidance may also just be my lack of self-confidence in facing the situation, which may be caused by underlying fears, etc.

Anyway, Lord, beyond all these excuses, I pray that you may grant me the strength and confidence to confront the conflicts in my life. It is usually hard when the confrontations may lead to drastic, unpredictable, and dreadful consequences. However, I know that if you are on my side these worries should be put to rest. AMEN.

Daily Gospel Reflections Oct 19, 2016

In today's Gospel parable of the master and his prudent servant, I am reminded how much time I spend for the Lord. Undoubtedly, I spent much time with him through prayer during the difficult periods of my life. But during the ordinary and seemingly boring days, I figure not so much though. Hence, I am challenged to be at least consistent with my prayer and reflection time with Him. I believe those dull and boring days should be spent fortifying the foundations of my faith so when trials arise, I may react just like the prudent servant.

LORD, please grant me prudence, patience, and direction in my life. May the everyday decisions that I make slowly lead me into the path you have planned for me. Thank you and I love you!

No/negative birth certificate/record in NSO

I would like to share this unique experience of mine in obtaining a birth certicate from the National Statistics Office (NSO).

This will illustrate what happens if there is no birth record in the NSO.

We hired a household maid or yaya from the province of Masbate. We paid her transportation expenses and upon coming to Manila I immediately suspected that she looked older than the age she allegedly claimed during her application through text. According to her, she was only 50 y/o but to me she looked more like 65. Upon clarification, she admitted to be 57 y/o. I was disappointed that she had to lie to get the job but sice she was already in Manila, I convinced myself to give her a try.

I required her to get a chest xray to make sure she had no tuberculosis since she will be taking care of my child. I also wanted to enrol her to SSS so I told her to get a copy of her NSO birth certificate. Since she was old and unaware of the procedure, I asked one of our trusted helpers to escort her to the NSO office. We requested a copy of her birth certificate using the information she provided us and voila.... we obtained a NEGATIVE result, which means no such person exists! The scanned copy of the NSO search result in security paper is shown below.

I became perplexed upon learning of the result and decided to terminate her. Afterall, I was able to learn that her true age was 64 y/o through the COMELEC App. It turned out she informed us all correct details except her correct birth year.

Therefore, I learned that the NSO issues an official search result document for negative birth record in their registry, which I uploaded in this blog.

However, it became trivial to me why the NSO did not issue the closest hit to their registry since the place of birth  and the parents name were correct and the date but not the year. Hence, I concluded that the NSO birth certificate is somewhat confidential. You must enter exactly the correct details especially your birthday or else you will have a negative result. Which of course, you would not like to happen since you still have to pay the full amount regardless of the result.

How to get a Barangay Certificate of Indigency

This blog is based on my personal experience. I needed to get a barangay certificate for a relative who happens to be a person with disability (PWD).

This certificate is usually helpful for persons who need financial assistance due to emergency or long term illness cases. I outlined the procedure into 3 steps below:

1) Secure a barangay application form. Provided below is a sample snapshot.

2) Have it signed by your area coordinator.
This is for verification purposes to make sure that the applicant is qualified for the claim.

3) Submit it to the barangay clerk and wait for the processing of the document. No fee is required since this document is for the indigent. Below is the snapshot of the certificate which I obtained.

how to get a barangay certificate (of residence) or clearance

As in most of my informative blog entries, The first step I would always recommend is to perform a phone call to any public/private office you would like to create a transaction with. This step saves a lot of time and effort, 100% guaranteed!!! However, barangay office phone numbers are not usually published online so better ask your neighbors if you would be needing it for the first time. Also, consider saving this number in your personal address book since the barangay could be your nearest neighborhood friend when you need any help.

If you have a lot of free time, going directly to the barangay hall or office could be just a good walking exercise for you. Most offices are walking distance among their respective communities. Below is the picture of our old barangay hall which is a 15 minute walk from our house.

Old Barangay San Vicente Hall

With my experience last June 2015, I needed to get a barangay certificate for my postal ID application. I went directly to the barangay hall since I did not have access to their office phone number. I went to the hall and the clerk there handed me an application form which I inserted below.

Barangay Certificate/Clearance Application Form

Sadly, I was not able to get my certificate during my first visit because I did not have any authorized witness to prove my residency.  An authorized witness signature is required to prove that I was a bonafide resident of our barangay as shown in the application form. Hence, I took the application form and went to our area coordinator to have my form signed. This sample form could be used in other barangays too. The Commuity Tax Certificte (CTC) part is only optional.

On my second visit, I brought the accomplished form and the clerk immediately processed my request. What took some time was to wait for the authorized person to sign my certificate. I waited for around 15 minutes for the signatory since I did not want to come back again. I also paid a processing fee of 30 pesos.

Hope this helps!!!