Cornerstone Christian Academy's Open Letter

June 12, 2010


AN OPEN LETTER to all Homeowners, Residents, and Members of the DEHHA


This is in response to the open letter signed by Mr. Alfonso S. Nepomuceno, explaining the actions of the DEHHA Board against our school’s constituents yesterday, June 11, which inevitably affected and inconvenienced you all. All this time, we have remained quiet despite the accusations and rumors that have been circulated about our institution. But after the traumatic ordeal our students, parents, and staff endured, as well as the biased story aired by a major news network last night, we believe that it is time for us to speak up and defend our good name.

First, complaints for grave coercion have been filed against the security guards, Mr. Nepomuceno, and Mr. Pearlito Garcia at Q.C. Police Station 6, Batasan Hills because they prevented our school’s students, parents, and staff from entering the subdivision, the streets of which have already been donated to the city years ago. The security guards who have been ordered by Mr. Nepomuceno were arrested. City Ordinances Nos. SP-840-S99 and SP-946-S2000 clearly prohibit the closing, obstructing, preventing or, otherwise, refusing to the public or vehicular traffic, the use of or free access to any subdivision or community street within the jurisdiction of Quezon City. What Messr. Nepomuceno and Garcia ordered the guards to do was illegal, which was why the law enforcers from Police Station 6 and the Quezon City Hall had to act on our behalf. Mr. Nepomuceno has said on national TV last night that he intends to do the same thing on Tuesday, June 15.

Second, in March 2009, we received a copy of the Board Resolution of DEHHA in 2008 (No. 2008-12-1), which “strictly prohibits commercial establishments and schools in our subdivision.” Back then, we wondered why they issued such a prohibition after we had been operating in Don Enrique for six years. When our School Board met with the DEHHA Board on May 12, 2009 as a response to the said Resolution, the DEHHA Board could not present a single written complaint against our school regarding noise, traffic, security, etc. Such prohibition must be considered null and void for two reasons: 1) According to the legal principle of Estoppel, a Resolution may not have a retroactive effect, and therefore, our school cannot be covered by it; and 2) since the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) has already ruled that the term of the incumbent DEHHA Board Members has expired as early as December of 2006 and are only on a hold-over capacity, they do not have the authority or right to continue making Resolutions of any kind.

Despite our knowledge that the term of the DEHHA Board has expired, as cooperative members of the community we have been paying our monthly dues on time. We are appalled why they say they do not want our school but continue to receive our payments, issue receipts, and even receive donations for projects like the construction of the sidewalks and security guard house – the very place where our students and staff were coerced yesterday.

Third, Cornerstone Christian Academy of Quezon City, Inc. is not an illegal educational institution. We are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We have had permits from the Department of Education for our preschool, elementary, and high school departments ever since we started, and recently, we have been given Recognition for both elementary and high school departments because we have raised our academic standards and quality of education. The Q.C. Government has always given us locational clearances and business permits since 2003 for the school that we have been operating in the facilities of Cornerstone Community Baptist Church at #5 Don Jose St. It is true that from a handful of students in 2003, our school population had grown through the years, so that in 2006 we had to purchase the lot across the church and began plans about building a structure in 2008. Up to that time, the DEHHA Board or any homeowner had not filed any formal complaint against us with the City Government. It was only when we started to put up the residential structure on #10 Don Jose St. that we encountered written opposition from the DEHHA Board in the form of a Resolution. We would like to clarify that: 1) We did not misrepresent or deceive anyone with our building plans because Mr. Nepomuceno was told we would use the house for our school when he signed the permit to construct the structure. 2) The City Government was informed through a letter dated February 2008 that we would be using the house for our school as a temporary solution for the additional space we needed to decongest our facility due to our financial limitations, until we could buy time to raise bigger funds to transfer to another location. It was only when the DEHHA filed a formal complaint in June 2009 against our presence in an R1 zone that the Q.C. Government inspected our facilities and informed us that we could no longer be given locational clearance and business permit. When we sought advice from the City Government, we learned that the law has provision for the application of a Certificate of Exemption from the zoning ordinance. In the letter dated July 2009 from the City Planning and Development Office, DEHHA was informed that our school was currently applying for a Certificate of Exemption from the City Council, which has the exclusive authority to grant such petitions. Our petition for Exemption was granted by City Council in its 82nd Regular Session in March 2010 (Resolution No. SP-4873, S-2010). Hence, we have the legal right to continue operating in #5 and #10 Don Jose St.

When we filed a complaint with the Department of Public Order and Safety (DPOS) of the City Government against the DEHHA for preventing one of our employees from entering the subdivision last May 21, 2010, their officials paid Mr. Nepomuceno a visit last Thursday, June 3. They showed him our documents, including the Certificate of Exemption, and warned him that if he will order the guards at the gate to prevent entry to anyone, it would be an illegal act. In spite of this, Mr. Nepomuceno padlocked the gates at Commonwealth and ordered the guards to prevent students, parents, and staff from entering yesterday.

Fourth, Cornerstone Academy is not a threat to your security. In fact, we are serving the community already by providing quality Christian education to regular and special students, a number of whom are residents. We believe that whatever inconvenience you may experience by our presence in Don Jose may be easily addressed through peaceful dialogues. We have tried to peacefully and amicably settle with the DEHHA Board in the form of a compromise agreement dated November 2009; however, they rejected our offer. The City Government and the DepEd advised us that we are not the only school operating inside a private subdivision, and most parties have settled many such disputes amicably. They are the government agencies that have the authority to shut us down – not any Homeowners Association, not even the HLURB.

Dear fellow homeowners, we stand by our rights as citizens and we implore you not to support the illegal actions being taken by the DEHHA Board against our institution.


Very truly yours,

CORNERSTONE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF Q.C.
#5 and #10 Don Jose St.

--------------------
Please pass to others!

Well, what can I say?

I watched GMA's 24 Oras to hear what the media can say about my alma mater, Cornerstone Christian Academy of QC. I'm really surprised that all of the guards' verbal harassments can actually end up in locking the gates of the subdivision so as to prevent people from entering.

And the name "Nepumoceno" became an image on television.

So Mr. DEHHA President Nepumoceno was behind all the verbal harassments that Cornerstone Academy students, and even Cornerstone Community Baptist Church members, experience. How rude is that? CA people are willing to come up with an agreement (with the right papers and legal documents), but Mr. Nepumoceno thinks otherwise. In the news, I don't actually see any of the board members with him. Does this mean he's acting only for the benefit of HIMSELF? We may not know. One thing is for sure, locking up the gates with a bond paper posted on the gate saying "CA students are not allowed to enter" are simply rude and are results of very poor decision. Mr. Nepumoceno should have called a meeting or an open forum about this matter. It is very foolish to act on such a matter so harshly.

Will he do this every opening of the school year? Definitely. He already did in the last 3 years or more. As a student, I experienced verbal harassments from DEHHA guards. Not once, not twice, but more than three. I really felt bad that it came down to padlocks. I saw red-haired Zyra holding a guitar (maybe singing all the heat and anxiety away), Daphne squinting from the terrible heat of the sun, and many others who were very uncomfortable.

The news I watched ended with the picture of four uniformed guards in a precinct. The police who came to the incident said that the their guns and their agency's license were expired long ago.

I believe that in a conflict, (usually) two parties are involved. Both parties have contribution in the conflict. I may not know from the minutest detail, but that's how it always goes. Mr. Nepumoceno is one person we should be praying for. Honestly, I hope that CA will declare that they're a school once and for all, especially to the DEHHA board. I want to see a proud banner in front of the school gate, bearing CA's name.

As one of my favorite quotes from The Peacemaker says, "Conflict is an opportunity to glorify God."

Let's continue to show the GOD we are living for, in joy or in sorrow

____________________

11june2010

-just because I am a proud graduate of CA :D

Note: Don't blame the media. In this world, nothing is perfect. Focus on the problem. ^^

BBC Reading list :D

BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Share with your fellow reader friends.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings (trilogy) - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 The Complete Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible (currently :P)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials (trilogy) - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (i haven't, though i have a book somewhere here in my house. :))
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia Series - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres Mais
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

25/100

Wahahaha! I think I'll get some books from this reading list :D

Wan, Tu, Tri!

Ako si Ara. Ako ay nag-aaral sa Paaralang Elementarya ng Lagro. Walong taong gulang lamang ako ngunit nasa ikalimang baitang na ako. Ang alam ko ay tumalon daw ako ng baitang, hindi ko lang alam kung paano nangyari talaga yun. Ang tatay ko ay nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno. Ang nanay ko naman ay nasa bahay lang para alagaan at bantayan kami. Simple lamang ang aming buhay.

“Nay! Papasok na po ako ng eskwelahan.” Aking isasambit kapag alas-singko y medya na ng umaga.

“O sige anak, eto na ang iyong baon.” Laging iaabot ni Nanay ang bente pesos sa aking kamay.

Maaga akong umaalis sa bahay dahil malayo ang paaralan sa aming bahay. Mga tatlompung minuto ang byahe na nagiging isang oras kapag trapik. Mas madalas ang trapik kapag umaga dahil napakarami nang tao na pupunta sa eskwelahan at trabaho. Pagkababa ng sasakyan ay tatakbo kaagad ako sa linya naming sa quadrangle para sa pagkanta ng Pambansang Awit.

“Bayang magiliw (hingang malalim) perlas ng (hingang malalim) Silanganan…”

Ang bente pesos ko ay napapagkasya ko din sa isang araw. Ang pamasahe ko ay nasa 8 pesos,16 pesos kung balikan. Ang natitirang apat na piso ay ipambibili ko nalang ng biskwit na tig-tatlong piso. Mayroon pa akong ipon na piso!

“Ara, gusto mo ba ng pagkain? Meron pa ako ditong maliit na sandwich,” sambit ng aking kaklase.

Ang isasagot ko naman, “Naku, ayos lang. Busog na ako dito sa tatlong Marie biscuits. Salamat nalang.”

Pero, kung ako’y gutom talaga, hindi ko na tatanggihan ang alok ng aking kaklase.

Isang araw, nauna sa aking umalis si Nanay sa bahay. May nakita akong sulat sa lamesa. “Ara, nauna kami ng tatay mong umalis dahil may kailangan kaming puntahan. Yung baon mo nilagay ko na sa wallet mo. Galingan mo sa school ha. Love, Nanay.”

Nang nakasakay ako sa dyip, kinuha ko ang wallet ko para kumuha ng pamasahe. Nagtaka ako. Bakit walang laman ang wallet ko? Baka nalimutan ni Nanay ilagay sa sobrang pagmamadali nila ni Tatay. Mabuti nalang at may mga naiipon akong tagpipiso araw-araw. Binuksan ko ang isa sa mga lalagyan ng bag ko at binilang ang barya. Saktong labing-anim na piso! Mabuti nalang at may pamasahe ako.

“Manong, bayad po. Sa may Lagro Elem lang po. Estudyante.”

Pagdating ng recess, naririnig kong kumukulo na ang aking tiyan. Naku, gutom na talaga ako. Nagdadasal ako sa Panginoon na sana ay may lumapit sa aking kaklase para alukin man lang ako ng biskwit. Paglaon ng ilang minuto, wala paring lumalapit. Siguro sakto lang din ang mga baon nila. Hindi ko na natiis at bumili ako ng tatlong Marie biscuits. Naku, bawas na ang pamasahe ko.

“Ang blackboard ba ay solid, liquid, o gas?” Hindi ko masyadong marinig ang guro ko sa Science. Iniisip ko kasi kung paano ako uuwi. Maglalakad nalang ba ako pauwi? Masyadong malayo, delikado pa dahil walang lakaran ng tao ang mga daanan. Biglang may pumasok sa utak ko. Kahapon kasi, may nakatabi akong tatlong estudyante sa dyip nang ako’y pauwi na.

“Huwag na tayong magbayad para mayroon tayong pang-PS.”

“Mahahalata tayo ni manong drayber nyan.”

“Hayaan mo, di tayo mapapansin nyan. Gusto ko din kasi ng scramble mamaya. Ang init kasi e.”

“Ms. Foronda? Is the air solid, liquid, or gas?” Ako na pala yung tinatawag ni sir sa recitation.

“Sir, gas po.”

Pagkatapos ng klase, sandali muna akong tumambay sa may stage sa aming quadrangle. Habang ang ibang bata ay naglalaro ng agawan-base at Chinese garter, ako’y nakaupo at nag-iisip kung paano ako uuwi. Sumabit nalang kaya ako? Kaso babae ako e, hindi yata bagay.

“Mag-wan, tu, tri nalang kasi tayo.” Naalala kong sinambit nung mga hindi nagbayad sa dyip kahapon. Wan, tu, tri pala ang tawag sa hindi pagbayad sa manong drayber. Katunog ng mga numerong 1, 2, 3.

“Ara, bakit parang ang lalim ng iniisip mo dyan?” tanong ng aking kaklase.

“Kasi kulang yung pamasahe ko pauwi.”

“Alam mo, mag-wan, tu, tri ka nalang! Meron ka pang pambili ng Chinese garter pag-uwi mo.”

Wan, tu, tri nanaman. Mukhang usung-uso yun sa aking mga kaklase at sa ibang mga mag-aaral. Ako nalang yata ang nahuhuli sa uso.

Naku, ala-una na pala! Kailangan ko nang umuwi! Sa dyip ko nalang iisipin kung ano ang gagawin ko. Tumayo ako’t naglakad patungo sa sakayan. Nakita ko yung kaklase kong nagtanong sa akin kanina. Sabay na kaming sumakay.

“Nakautang ka ba ng pamasahe?”

“Hindi nga e. Mukhang nagsiuwian na yung iba nating mga kaklase.”

“Sabi ko naman kasi sa’yo, mag-wan, tu, tri ka nalang. Madali lang namang gawin yun e. Dapat mabilis ka lang gumalaw,” pabulong na sinabi sa akin ng kaklase ko.

“Talaga?”

“Oo. Ayan, pababa na ako. Tignan mo kung paano ko gagawin a.”

May pumarang isang ali. Pagkababa ng pumara, dali-daling kumaripas ng takbo ang kaklase ko. Hindi napansin ni manong maging ng kasama niya na hindi pala sya nagbayad. Ganun lang pala kadali yun.

Dahan-dahan kong kinuha ang mga barya sa aking bag.

“Isa, dalawa, tatlo, apat… Isa, dalawa, tatlo, apat…” Pinipilit kong palagpasin ng apat ang aking baya ngunit hanggang sa apat nalang talaga siya. Hinawakan ko ng mahigpit ang apat na pisong hawak ko. Habang papalapit ako sa aking bababaan, lalong pinagpapawisan ang aking kamay at ang mga piso ko. Gayahin ko nalang kaya ang kaklase ko. Kaya ko namang tumakbo ng mabilis dahil sanay na akong maglaro ng mataya-taya.

Medyo masikip ang daanan sa aking bababaan dahil palengke ito. Marami akong pagkakataon para kumaripas ng pagbaba at hindi na mapansin ng drayber. Sige, tatayo nalang ako at tatakbo na habang nakatigil pa ang dyip.

“O yung mga hindi pa nagbabayad dyan, pakiabot nalang ho ng mga bayad ninyo.”

Nanigas ako sa aking kinalalagyan. Alam ni manong na hindi pa ako nagbabayad! Hala, ano nang gagawin ko? Maniniwala ba siya pag sinabi kong kulang ang pera ko? Baka akalain niyang niloloko ko lang siya.

Dito na dapat ako bababa.

“Manong! Pasensya na po, apat na piso nalang ang pera ko. Heto po kunin nyo. Antayin nyo lang po ako sandali, kukuha pa po ako ng apat na piso. Dyan lang po ako nakatira. Antayin nyo po ako a,” lumabas sa aking bibig ng pagkabilis-bilis, halos hindi ko ito namalayan.

Ngunit dahil nasabi ko na, dali-dali na akong tumakbo palabas ng dyip at patungo sa bahay. Binuksan ng nanay ko ang gate.

“Nay, pahingi po ako ng apat na piso!”

“Bakit anak?”

“Basta Nay. Naghihintay si manong dun e.”

Kumuha si Nanay ng apat na piso. Kitang-kita ko sa kanyang mukha na hindi nya naiintindihan ang mga nangyayari. Mamaya ko nalang sasabihin. Tumakbo ako pabalik sa dyip. Mabuti nalang at trapik kaya naabutan ko pa siya.

“Manong (hingal), heto na pa yung kulang ko (hingal).”

“Ay iha, ayos lang. Sa iyo na yang apat na piso. Akala ko nga hindi ka na babalik e. Ipambili mo nalang yan ng ayskendi. Libre ko na yan,” sabay ngiti ni manong drayber at pinaandar na ang kanyang dyip sa maluwang nang kalsada.

Ako naman ay nanatili sa aking kinatatayuan. Akala ko’y susungitan ako ni manong dahil sa pinaghintay ko pa siya. May apat na piso pa tuloy ako ngayon. Napangiti ako bigla, hindi lang dahil sa nakalibre ako kundi dahil sa hindi ako nag-wan, tu, tri. Umuwi ako ng bahay at niyakap si Nanay at kinuwento ko sa kanya lahat ng nangyari.

____________________

31mar10

-Kuwentong Pambata para sa Malikhaing Pagsusulat 10

base sa aking karanasan :)

same old story

before...

i thought i was ready to go on board

young as i am

ambitious as i always have been

i thought i was ready to take over

everything is perfect

it'll be all fine

i thought i was ready to take it in

it's manageable, isn't it

i'm over the top anyway

now...

i am on board

trying to maintain my balance as i walk

i can't even open my eyes to look towards what's ahead

i am on board

holding this on one hand, holding that on another

thinking of everything, anything, something, nothing

i am on board

so tired and exhausted of all the work i did

not realizing that i'm already off-course

later...

"excuse me, but are you in charge here?"

of course i am

i'm just resting

"excuse me, should you really be the one in charge?"

of course i should be

who else can handle it anyway

"excuse me"

what do you think you're doing

who are you anyway

during later...

i wonder why we began moving

i'm still outside

talking to others

i wonder who initiated the move

who took over

with tactless decisions

i wonder

why everyone think its moving

when it really isn't

after later...

is a decision you have to make

____________________

14mar10

-what would you do?

let it adrift?

or admit that you're not in charge?

-ara.janelle