The best laid plans

I don’t know about you but it seems that when the IATF laid out the protocols for international travel, they clearly didn’t know about us.

If the homecoming accounts of some residents are to be believed, it’s like returning to riot. There is the seven-day quarantine for (a) locally and (b) green-zone vaccinated passengers. And then there is the 10-day quarantine for those from non-green zone countries, whether or not vaccinated therein. These are clearly separate categories.

And, yet, it has happened that locally vaccinated Pinoys who are supposed to sweat out only seven quarantine days are given the longer 10-day period just because they arrive from non-green zone countries. This is clearly an interpretation and implementation error. The seven days for Philippine vaccinees applies, regardless of their travel history. They may have come from the US, UK, Europe or other non-green zone countries but, if fully vaccinated in the Philippines, then they need only do seven days, not 10, when back.

Deliver us. Birth pains from changes in policy are matters we need to endure as their bases evolve. For example, there is the second thought re-insistence on RT-PCR testing even for locally vaccinated returnees. The DICT vaccine portal, the clearing house tasked to provide authenticated vaccine travel certificates, is still down as of yesterday, pending updates of records from LGUs. This is a lag in implementation, which obliges us to be patient. However long it takes them to comply, we respect the science and we wait.

However, if government can lessen the inconvenience caused by the mis-appreciation of their own protocols, as when they bungle 7 and 10, it would be hugely applauded. This should go a long way in restoring confidence both in travel and in government itself.

Trick questions. Labor Secretary Bebot Bello has floated the trial balloon of dispensing with professional licensure examinations. He referenced all board exams but singled out the professions of nursing, engineering and law. He reasons out that the CHED, after all, has accredited the schools that subject graduates to year after year of exams. (Law schools are regulated by the Legal Education Board, not CHED).

His is a popular proposition for schools and students. To society, however, what matters more is bridging the gap between skill and knowledge. Not every profession sees a match between what their graduates know and what the market needs. It’s the classic case of oversupply of knowledge against the undersupply of services.

The riposte here is that professional schools are not trade schools. For professions, especially law and medicine, you get a prolonged period of formal training followed by internship. As a way of controlling admissions, States require strict academic and non-academic qualifications for licensure. After graduation, proof of good moral character and rigorous testing by way of the Bar or Board Exams.

Crossing the bar. Secretary Bello, himself an accomplished member of the Bar, noted that topping the exam was not even an indication of how well lawyers perform in actual practice. In this, he is not mistaken. Bar placement is hardly a measure of a lawyer’s standing. In a survey conducted by the late Supreme Court Justice and former UP Law dean Irene Cortes among justices, judges, law practitioners, professors and government lawyers, the top three qualities that a young lawyer should possess were: (1) honesty and integrity; (2) knowledge of the law and (3) language proficiency. A high Bar grade was only No. 12.

To be sure, the Bar examinations has turned the academe on its head. It comes with its own litany of criticisms. UP president and also former College of Law dean Danny Concepcion calls it the hardest Bar exam in the world. Former solicitor general and Bar topnotcher Pilo Hilbay described it as just an exercise in memory retrieval. The nuances of this debate will fill volumes.

Ex cathedra. Pending that crossroads, the Supreme Court supervises, regulates and promulgates rules and regulation on the admission to the practice of law. From his high perch, Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo has delivered his humble opinion. The profession of law is imbued with public interest. Lawyers are officers of the Court. Even the Constitution expressly acknowledges the Bar. An entire one third of the co-equal departments of government, the Judiciary, can only be populated by lawyers. Our constitutional offices and administrative agencies are largely made up by them.

Mea culpa. Some of our readers tease that I’m a sports columnist in disguise. To me, sport is the great equalizer. Hence, we take note of our world beating athletes with exploits to arouse the nation. They carry us on their shoulders atop the mountain when list after list have us bringing up the rear.

Sport is visceral. Who is not affected by the athlete who leaves it all on the field – blood and guts – in the name of country? No endeavor is more authentic, more passionate as it develops a deep sense of tribe. And, because done in the context of fair play, it facilitates fusing sporting values with the lens for viewing current events.

We should all be affected when Philippine champions rise. Aside from appealing to our nationalistic sense, it also inevitably channels the underdog narrative. US, Europe, Japan and Korea provide massive financing support to athletes, from national associations and sponsorship from private partners. Our locals may receive assistance but at levels far behind their counterparts on the world stage. Even standard of living-wise, there is no comparison. So, breakthroughs will be celebrated with pride in this space. When they win and prove themselves equal to, if not better than, the best, we too are along for the ride.

Glossary. Revenge spending: the activity of shopping more than usual as a reaction to not having been able or allowed to do so for a period of time. Spendemic: a sudden tendency for people to spend money, usually on unnecessary things.(dictionaryblog.cambridge.org)