Firsts..

President Aquino took a short visit to Davao last May 18. One of his major activities here was to be the keynote speaker of the 104th Philippine Medical Association’s Annual Convention at Grand Regal hotel. I was sent to cover the event. Alone. The doctors and media started anticipating his presence at 9:30 am. More than his presence, people were very eager to know or to hear him talk about the RH Bill in front of all the doctors who were apparently supportive of the bill.



The president arrived at past 10am. I was expecting him to walk side by side with MinDA Chairperson, Secretary Luwalhati. Their picture together was all I needed. Unfortunately, he was escorted by the PMA President, and Secretary Lu walked behind Mayor Sarah Duterte. Fail.



Meanwhile, the eagerness of the media to have their own stories on RH Bill was starting to be infectious. I was getting excited to hear it from Ninoy, too... l-i-v-e. He didn’t fail his audiences, though. He really took the opportunity to further push the bill during his speech. Everything he said were already reported in the past, so there was really nothing stirring for my mind. I also cannot create a story out of that because it would completely be irrelevant to the expected output (from me). Finally, debates on RH bill is already getting boring. The opposing parties are running out of sane rebuttal of the bill.



The only memorable part of this first experience was the exposure to the actual struggle of the media people. I have never wanted to be like them, but I never ceased admiring them. I admired their aggressiveness, their endurance, and their competitiveness. When you are a journalist, you have to be proactive and quick -everything I'm not. This is one of the few instances that I am really certain about myself. I was there, bloated with inferiority, for two main reasons: I was using a point-and-shoot camera, and I was a nobody in that scene while the rest of them were fairly acquainted. THAT is very memorable. It's been ages since I last felt any form of inferiority. I used to be highly self-assured. 

In fact, this new job in general is all about being planted back to the ground. Deeper than usual. This is all about realizing how empty my cup has been. This is about figuring out how to fill that up, before I run out of energy and motivation.

There. The President of the Republic of the Philippines marked my first experience as a newbie - in my workplace, in Journalism, and in Mindanao.