To NCR

Hi Everyone,

At first, I simply planned to leave NCR without so much as saying a word or goodbye. Then I thought, that it wouldn’t be fair of me, NCR has been my home for the past 2 years and 10 months and the least I could do is express my appreciation. I dedicate this post to everybody I met in NCR Cebu and especially to the people who were an inspiration to me in my stay here.

[Warning! This is a very very very long post. Read at your own risk!]

Here we go..

I’m glad I had the opportunity to work here in NCR. It allowed me to meet a lot of amazing people! They all had very different traits and values yet they all stood out in their own unique way. I'd like to mention some of these people and the traits they had that I admire.

Davy Hatamosa - Dave was the person who interviewed me and got me in ACS. Right from the start, people were already telling me how lucky I was to be a part of ACS because "we were in good hands" under him. They were right! From my point of view, Dave was one of the Manger/Team Leader here in NCR that everybody loved. I believe that a lot of people (including me) got sad when he finally turned in his resignation. What do I see in Dave that's so amazing? Two things: He leads by example and he genuinely cared (at least that's how I felt). I find it funny that most managers create rules and impose punishments to make sure those rules are followed and yet you'll find people always coming up with loopholes of those rules to take advantage of. Dave wasn't the type who nagged you about the number of times you got late in arriving in the office or about how you shouldn't do this or that. In short, he doesn't have the typical "I am holier than thou" attitude that most managers seem to have. Just recently here in NCR Cebu, we have the so called "Weekly Hats Off" award that is intended to acknowledge or recognize people who did more than what was required. Right from the start of my stay here, Dave was already doing this, he praised and recognized everyone in his team for their contribution (even if it's as simple as working overtime to get the job done). Dave earned my respect, and it was out of respect that made me want to do everything that I could to make sure that I don't give him any trouble and the most natural way to do that was to follow the rules. In Dave's case, there was no need to find loopholes to take advantage of or be afraid of the consequences.

Roderick Lazaro - My very first impression of Rod was that he was very intimidating (I'm pretty sure you all felt the same at one point). Does he have the knowledge and the skills? Without doubt!! www.askrod.com anyone? Have you ever caught Rod being sick? Have you ever caught Rod being late? (I honestly haven't) I pictured him as an intellectually capable and responsible individual and I made sure not to get in his way. But no matter how great these traits are, they are not the ones that I admire about Rod.

[Flash Back]

When Dave Hatamosa got promoted from a team leader to a manager, Rod naturally became ACS's new team leader under Dave and everything was fine. That is, until Dave resigned… ACS had a rough time then. I saw Rod slowly becoming a tyrant and wanted to rule ACS with an Iron Fist!! (hehe Im exagerating here. para thrilling kunuhay). I personally wasn’t happy with it (obeying rules for the sake of authority isn't my thing). Anyway, it came to the point where everybody wanted to have an open discussion with him. What was the outcome of that discussion? Well, it won Rod my utmost respect and admiration. Rod was very much open to change for the better! In fact, he appreciated ACS for stepping forward and talking to him about the issues and ended the discussion by acknowledging that there is always room for improvement. Was there really an improvement? That is a question that needs no answer. To ACS, I hope you are aware of how rare it is to have a team leader that is open to change, who gives importance to your welfare, and who is not afraid to raise your concerns to the management if needed.

Karl Realiza - Have you ever heard of the saying "Action speaks louder than words"? In my eyes, Karl is a walking example of this saying. He had difficulty expressing/explaining things in general. Ask him to explain to you how to solve a problem and watch him struggle in getting you to understand the solution. What he does instead is show you the solution. I had it easy here in ACS thanks to Karl. Everytime I had a difficult work problem, I instinctively did not worry that much because I knew I could count on his help (It's like having a safety net). I never remembered Karl refusing to help others. Karl has always been the person who contributed the most in helping ACS grow and I considered him the best person within ACS.

Francis Gravador - You might all be wondering what traits do I admire in Mighty. What’s there to admire in that arrogant, hair falling and self loving playboy? Well wonder no more!!! Isn't it obvious? Who wouldn’t admire his car! It's black, sleek, shiny, and it’s brand new! Damn! I wish I own mighty's car! Is this it? Is that all? Nope! Mighty was also a great starcraft player (note ha? "was" dili "is") He kept telling me he was the 3rd best starcraft player in the philippines (demmet grabi pugong nako to not immediately run to my cube, get a paper, and ask for his autograph!). Ask him to talk about it and he wouldn’t stop telling you about how fast his hand reaction is, how many milliseconds it takes him to move the mouse or how he could type the sentence "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog" in less than a second!!!. Taw oi, sorry mights, consider this my last joke sa imu. I see in Francis a trait that all great people have. Some of you may wonder what that is and some of you may have already seen it on your own. What I see behind that person's shiny forehead (ni hirit pa gyud ug joke) is a person who gets things done. It won't matter how difficult or how unrealistic the task is, Mighty will simply get it done. He may not talk much about his work (unless nagpatabang mo niya) but if you take a look at the number of TARs he was able to fix, the time he took to resolve customer issues and help everyone here in ACS -- maybe you'll find them impressive (I certainly do). What’s the point of graduating with honors or having passed a lot of certifications if you still fail to complete your task. I believe that what matters the most is being able to get things done and Mighty does just that (With this in mind, it's no wonder he has the salary that can afford a car)

Bobit Gaviola - The best description I have of Doc Bobit would be a "Role Model Employee" (dili model nga mag ki-ay2x ha? kulatahon gyud mo ni bobbit). A quiet, reflecting, proactive, and hard-working individual. Now, there's a reason why I say these (dili lang ky feel feel ra nako tawagon si Bobit ug reflecting individual haha). I say he's quiet because you wont hear him blabber or complain on things beyond his control. And, I say he's reflecting because I always noticed a certain habit of his during our telecon with our Atlanta manager. When asked something, Bobit does not immediately give the first response that comes to his mind. Instead, he pauses for a moment before giving his answer. Wow! I wish I had that much self-control. If that was me, I'd usually say the first thing that comes to my mind. Now, to be fair, this is merely my perception. I don't actually know what bobbit is thinking when he pauses (it's possible he is thinking thoughts like "Gusto nako mu uli…" hahaha). I say he's proactive because he works on things that is within his influence. An example of this was when Bobit's and Francis' trip to Atlanta got canceled (naa napud si mighty dri? Sikata oi!). If it were you, how would you feel? If that happened to me, you'll probably find me in my cube grumbling about it (In Mighty's case, He was thinking of telling our manager David something like this: "David…. Im Losing hope… huhuhuhu…. You promised… huhuhu..." hahaha sorry gyud mights). But, I never saw Bobit do these things. I simply saw him continue to work hard as if nothing happened. That's a perfect example of proactivity in my book! Why I say he is hardworking? Well I'm sure you have all seen that for yourselves.

Jon Siu - I still remember the conversation I had with Martha 2 years ago. We were talking about how we see other people in our team (in short nang libak mi ninyo!!! aw ako ra hahaha). I told Martha that I see Jon as the perfect example of a contented individual. Someone who acts as if he already has everything he wants in life. To be honest, I really envy him because of that outlook in life. I really wish that someday I, too, would reach that level of contentment (Right now cge ra ko wish nga naa unta ko car pariha ni mighty… gipa sikat gyud tika mights!! Hahaha). I also remember something that Jon said during a team discussion (ga discuss mi about CM: Chika Minute) He said, "Don't compare yourself with others, beacause if you do, you will either be arrogant because you are better than someone, or you will be dissapointed because someone will always be better than you". I guess that's how he is able to be so content. Also, Jon has another trait that I admire. He has the gift to make friends with anyone and make people be at ease. Just like what Michelle said about Jon when she transferred to AS@R: "ka remember pko ka2 bag-o pko acs, feel at home jd ko dayn kay lingaw au ka” I couldn't agree more :)

Ray Llesol -The "Gentleman". Now, I don’t really get to speak with or see kuya ray often. I usually just drop by his cubicle and say a quick hello when the opportunity arrives. Yet, every single time I do talk with him, he always leaves in me a picture of a kind individual (thus the 'gentleman' description). I don’t have any specific event to back up this impression. Maybe it has something to do with his politeness, maybe it has something to do with his generosity (lami kaau kaon sa iya bday!!). Or, maybe it has something to do with his warmness or his gestures perhaps? I don’t really know. What I do know is that it's something good and that it's a trait that I someday hope to have - to leave a certain warmth to everyone and most especially people close to me. Should the day come that I leave people the impression of being a warm individual, well it's Kuya Ray who inspired me to be just that.

Everybody under Rod - I mentioned earlier (In Davy's post) about how I started in ACS with the impression of being in the best team here in NCR Cebu. Let me end my stay here in ACS saying that for the past 2 years and 10 months, that impression has always remained. I truly believe that we are the best! As individuals I look at every single one of you with respect and with every accomplishment that you achieved, I would arrogantly shrug and say to myself "This is natural, after all, are we not the best?" I really hope that my stay here has contributed in leaving that impression to everybody here in NCR Cebu, that we, as individuals and as a team, are naturally good at what we do. A high salary is not an indication of competence. A high position is not an indication of competence. A high title is not an indication of competence. Leading by example, being open to change, letting our actions speak for us, getting things done, being proactive and being content with who we are. To me, having these traits/values is how I define competence and we have all that. Therefore we are the best! Anything less is simply not acceptable.

My Friends - You would probably not hear from me, we might not get to see each other, we might not even hear from each other (Pasyensya na, ingani nagyud ko nga pagka tao). But let me assure you, I will remain your friend. Distance and Time will not matter. When the opportunity does present itself and we do get to meet, you’ll find that nothing much will have changed from me. I'll still be the same guy that you have always known (puti and inut gyapun) and we'll enjoy some good laugh together. I have always prided myself as an individual who values friendship and maybe that's the reason why most of my childhood friends still remain my closest of friends today. Let our friendship be like wine with tastes gets better as it grows older.

To Everyone who continued to read up to this point - From the bottom of my heart, thank you very much for bearing with me and have continued to read up to this point. I take that as a sign that you truly care about me. To be honest, I was very hesitant in writing this because I knew that once I started writing, the result would be a very long one. Yet I also knew that if I really wanted to honestly express myself, this would be the best way. As of this moment, nothing would please me more than knowing there are people who cared enough to continue read this post till the end. You have my gratitude.

Dreams should always be non-negotiable and principles should never be compromised...

- Levon -