The Results Are In

I was skimming through Tuesday’s issue of The Manila Bulletin and I was surprised to find out that PRC had released the complete list of passers in the 2008 October CPA Board Exams. Dubbed as one of the hardest examinations being conducted annually by the Commission, the CPA Board Exam has undoubtedly produced the country’s top professionals over the years. Majority of those who passed are being encouraged to start their careers in reputable audit firms like SGV, Punongbayan and Araullo, Laya Mananghaya, CL Manabat, to name a few. Some even go corporate in the hope of harnessing their skills in highly competitive workplaces that guarantee far greater chances of career advancement, not to mention, enticing remuneration packages that include opportunities to work or travel abroad. If being employed is not their main priority at hand, they could always jumpstart their careers as ordinary businessmen, consultants or, after the lapse of three years, private practitioners.

The CPA Board Exam has maintained that degree of prestige and public adulation similar to that of the Philippine Bar that only few are chosen from thousands of hopefuls willing to give their all just to have the letters C-P-A affixed to their names. Four years of laborious study and mastery of the science of accounting all lead to that day when not only your intelligence will be tested but your strength of character as well. During our undergrad, we used to complain why we had to take subjects that were irrelevant to our study. Quite a number in our class did not finish with academic distinction because of failing marks in minor subjects like Religious Studies, Botany and Chemistry. The road to becoming a CPA is not a “wide open space.” Instead, it is nearly insurmountable—a tough road to tread even. It demands not just mental preparation but also physical, financial and, more importantly, spiritual preparation.

There was a time when the national passing rate for every board exam ranges from eighteen to twenty percent, perhaps a means employed by PRC to regulate entry into the profession. If it is true that this passing rate serves as “quota” in determining the number of board passers on a given year, that makes passing the board exams particularly difficult considering that you have to outdo seven thousand other examinees all over the country in order to be part of the top 18%. Logically, it follows also that even though you passed the exams but did not qualify in the eighteen-percent limit, you would still fail. That is just a matter of speculation.

Having this mindset and I hope that I am wrong, I believe that, with this list of board passers, the PRC had been more lenient by granting a higher national passing percentage. Out of 6,663 who took the exams in Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Legaspi this month, 2,442 passed, or a whopping thirty seven percent (37%). I begin to wonder. Will this bring about diminution to the profession with this new roster of CPAs who has not undergone rigid pre-qualifying exams? Alternatively, was it simply out of fear that CPAs these days are approaching extinction that the urge for young blood is highly anticipated? You will be the judge.

By the way, congratulations to Ateneo de Zamboanga University for being one of the top performing schools under the 26-50 bracket with a 70.27% passing percentage, putting it on second place next to UP Dilliman.


To view the complete list of passers, click the link.

http://www.mb.com.ph/BDPR20081023138543.html

Oath of Inhibition

I hereby solemnly swear that I won't blog for the rest of the finals week or else I would cut my fingers or jump in a helicopter. So help me God.

Another Round of Pictures: ABC Law School Acquaintance Party

I would not like to think that my blogspot account has been hacked by some pundit in the office for how is it possible that my slideshow had be replaced by pictures of some people I have not even met my entire life. I counter checked "Rockyou" to see if something had gone wrong with their system and tried to hit the refresh button but the pictures were still there. This kind of errors is highly uncompromising! Had it been a switch in my bank account, making millions out of my diminishing balance, that would be alright.

Anyway, since I am not yet out of bail as my jailers from law school have something fishy up their sleeves, I will have to post the right pictures some other day. And for that pundit, one advice: STAY OUT OF MY NITCH!!!

Snapshots of the 65th Birthday Bash of Director Pearl

In Heaven by Stephen Crane

Here's a poem I once had the luxury of memorizing at the age of 7. Before, it was entitled, "The Blades of Grass."

In heaven,
Some little blades of grass
Stood before God.
"What did you do?"
Then all save one of the little blades
Began eagerly to relate
The merits of their lives.
This one stayed a small way behind,
Ashamed.
Presently, God said,
"And what did you do?"
The little blade answered, "Oh my Lord,
Memory is bitter to me,
For, if I did good deeds,
I know not of them."
Then God, in all His splendor,
Arose from His throne.
"Oh, best little blade of grass!" He said.

We’re Done and It’s Final!

We lost our seventh game in the tournament with our heads up high still! Sure, we fell short of our bid for third place after three discouraging defeats last Saturday but we bounced back with three wins to even the match. It is just unfortunate that we lost today when we got our rhythm back.

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling a little nauseous probably due to physical exhaustion. You know me, when I get really tired, I tend to sleep like a pig. True, I woke up at twelve o’clock midday with a growling stomach. Luckily, I still have food left for instant cooking. If I were to count all the noodles I ate in my entire lifetime, it would probably encircle the globe by now. Yes, poor economy brought about this craving for instant noodles, which reminds me, is there such a thing as a vaccine for anti-poverty? If yes, I would gladly oblige to overdose myself.

I was supposed to hit the books as scheduled but managed to read at least four pages of Pamaran before opting to blog the rest of the afternoon. This thing is getting more and more addictive. Will somebody put me on exile please? And I mean NOW!?

Rantings and Ravings

Since the hard launching of the Integrated Tax System in our district, a streamlining of internal revenue processes was in placed, thereby making daily transactions in the office seem sleek and trouble-free. The bottleneck often faced by our taxpayers in acquiring taxpayers identification numbers (TIN) and the risk of losing the same since they were given TIN cards for safekeeping, ran low since even this was computer-generated and manually encoded in our database. However, here is the catch, the taxpayers TIN is considered as the most important component in completing every transaction made with the BIR. Aside from the fact that holding two or more TIN is criminally sanctioned under our law, the taxpayers simply have to rely on the "frailty of the human mind" in remembering their TIN in case the cards are lost or misplaced.

Just like in every effort toward modernization, it is not without any drawback. Our system entirely depends on our internet service provider (ISP). If the latter bugs down or experiences technical troubles, our whole operations suffer as well. The national office requested our ISP to appropriate faster download speed to prevent network clogging while granting easy access to the internet. The latter privilege was curtailed to a certain extent to prevent abuse of the internet. Since last week, the district was bombarded by complaints from taxpayers who could not acquire TIN because the system was offline. As mentioned, without the TIN, one-time taxpayers could not pay their taxes in our Authorized Agent Bank (AAB) where the same is required. They will have to wait until the system goes online before they can have their TIN verified and make the necessary payments. What if he was transacting business the tax of which expires on the same day? Logically, he will be charged with interest for every day he was in default in addition to the penalty that will be imposed for late filing and compromise penalty. However, we from the BIR are not some ruthless animals who would take advantage of a bigger collection at the expense of our taxpayers. This problem can be remedied on a condition that the Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR) would not be issued unless the required application for TIN has been made and/or filed and the payment has been provisionally received by a collection agent before whom the taxpayer would appear to present his TIN. So much for that.

Moving forward, the biometrics has remained and will undoubtedly remain as the hottest issue in the district for the coming years, unless someone bold enough will annihilate this thing pronto in the same way Tom Cruise did in his movie Mission Impossible. Armed with the right gadget, I would be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice! Since my coming late to the office on that day when it took effect, I have been early in going to the office-- too early that I did not even care if I had fixed my hair or ironed my clothes for the sake of undoing the wrong impression I had made. I was almost successful at it, had it not for my negligence and sheer lack of foresight of not being able to punch out in the afternoon on five separate occasions, thereby making me absent for that whole five days. I was asked to justify this failure through a memorandum addressed to our chief of office who to my disappointment, allowed only two of the five days I was applying for. I manifested that said failure was an honest-to-goodness mistake and was done without malicious intent, for I could not possibly be absent on the dates where I was the ONETT officer and I have witnesses who could back me up. The said explanation, however, was to no avail. Heartless. What is even worse, those who were also asked to explain their demeanor but made up lies to exonerate themselves were allowed by our chief that goes to show that it is better to lie and lie boldly than tell the truth. That made me remember one lesson I have learned under Mr. Españo’s Religious Studies class back in Ateneo when he said, “Sometimes in life when you do good, you suffer.”

I hope that this whole experience would leave an indelible imprint in my mind of the kind of leader I would become--a leader not by position or rank but a leader whom people follow and emulate. For a leader who could not transcend mere position, rank, or status, and acts only for namesake without command, respect and emulation, is like a person taking a stroll in the park without anyone following him.

“He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.”

They've (We've) Been Robbed (?)

A similar incident occurred at the badminton court today. This time, it is mixed doubles championship match where one of the team suffered no loss en route to the finals. They beat their opponent in one of their previous encounters as the game followed the round-robin format. Anyway, by principle of equity and theoretical justice, and which, by the way, reminds me of my championship match approximately two months ago, the former should have enjoyed the twice-to-beat advantage against the latter but, unfortunately, they lost the said match; hence, the championship! Had they known of the change in the rules of the game, where the top two teams will go head-to-head in one final sweep, that could have spelled a different ending to an otherwise sloppy and lopsided match ever.

From the standpoint of a player, a deciding game should have been afforded this team as recompense for their hardwork in getting to the finals, a tough road to tread considering the wide range of talents this young players have. Otherwise, they would be in no better position than those who were winless at the start but managed to claw their way atop the rankings again. I suffered the same fate once that is why I know how this feels—the frustration, and forever “what ifs” that is going to hunt them. Whether they (we) have been robbed or not, is a question that only the organizers or game committee can decide.

Just for the sake of adding humor to this otherwise gloomy mood, the surest way of winning a tournament is to make yourself head of committee. In that way, you can choose your own line judges, preferably those who are shock prone, and an umpire with a severe case of glaucoma!hahaha!

By the way, we managed to win another game today. That makes us 2-3 in our bracket. We were not that exceptional as always but thanks to our opponents for not throwing the sink at us. Their turnovers worked to our advantage. A win tomorrow or on Friday would entitle us to a slot in the semis and perhaps a shot at the championship. So help us God.