Update on Matters: Letter to PRC Chair, 2nd Board Exams Schedule & 4th/5th Batches Deadlines, & IPCAP

I just had a talk with Dr. Luz Guzman, member of the Board of Guidance and Counseling at the PRC this afternoon before 2PM today Oct. 23, 2008. She relayed to me that Judge Nicolas Lapena Jr.'s wife passed away Wednesday last week (must be Oct. 15, 2008) and was buried last Sunday (must be Oct. 19, 2008). He reported only yesterday for work. Condolences po to our PRC Chair. I myself shall include you and your family in my masses, and your wife's eternal rest in God. Requiescat in pace!

Drs. Guzman and Rosales as Board of Guidance and Counseling were furnished a copy of my letter to the PRC, and Dr. Guzman is willing to follow up that for us. I feel hopeful that the Board and PRC will seriously consider the matter I have raised if only those who must be licensed will be able to get their license under the Grandfather's Clause (Art. II Sec. 14 of R.A. No. 9258). Mimisahan ko ito, and please include this in your prayers. What we pray for is the good of all RGC's so that we can all continue to practice our profession for the good of our people.

She also mentioned that there will be a 5th batch under the Grandfather's Clause the deadline for submission being based on a better understanding of the law, as well as the date for the 2nd Board Exam. Here is her text message:

"Deadline for the last or 5th batch for the Grandfather's Clause is APRIL 26, 2009. The deadline for the 4th batch is January 26, 2009. The 2nd Board exam in Guidance and Counseling is on August 27-28, 2009." Didn't she also mention in my conversation with her that the oath taking is sometime near Valentine's Day, that Guidance Counselors be loving people (including tough love to be true love) hehe. Hey, can't we call this batch the Valentine's Batch! Kami sa September can be called the Confucius Batch because Sept. 28 is the feastday of Confucius, the Chinese sage who proposed reordering our relationships if we are to achieve peace in heaven and earth.

Muchas Gracias mi Senyora. Deo bendice! Dios te agngina, Apo. Yan ang tunay na APO haha. No need for PRC accreditation!



On IPCAP

Applications for IPCAP membership have been coming. I've been receiving texts and phone calls on it. Congratulations in advance to the new applicants who are already RGC's. We even got an email inquiring if we intend to accept non-RGC, Masters level pa naman sila. Ikinagagalak po naming ipabatid na tinatanggap po namin ang mga RGC po. When you get your RGC ID from the PRC, welcome na po kayo!

Again, Let me share here that you may get the application through any one of our IPCAP Board of Trustees (please see an earlier blog on that) or through me. Just email berngu721@gmail.com and I shall attach the Application Form in my reply to you as soon as I get your email. You may deposit the membership fee in the bank account stated in the Application Form. Send your application with the requirements either to the IPCAP address mentioned in the Application Form or straight to me

Fr. Bernardo R. Collera, SVD
IPCAP Secretary
Catholic Trade Bldg.
1916 Oroquieta corner Tayuman Sts.
Sta. Cruz, 1099 Manila
Tel. # 711-1320 to 21
Mobile #s: 0919-6236605; 0927-3842739

The IPCAP stands for Integrated Professional Counselors Association of the Philippines (IPCAP), Inc. It is a legitimate SEC-registered organization, bagong-bago as in a newborn babe (kaya lang may original sin pa rin ba? Nabinyagan na po, thanks God!), duly indorsed by the PRC for SEC registration with SEC Registration No. CN200811283. In no way should IPCAP be stopped from forming itself as this is a guaranteed right under our Philippine Constitutions. We formed this group, we who came together since Feb. 04, 2006, and included the word INTEGRATED because that is what we intend to do: INTEGRATE all RGC's all over the country, without coercion or invalid integration, without padrino or padrina. It was formerly without that magic word INTEGRATED (PCAP po ito dati) but we realized then that the law has always been our foremost inspiration and guide, so we included that fortunate word. I had to write the SEC to allow us to use our name which is not in any way similar to any other, unique na unique po talaga to, and thanks God, we're here.

So, no one has the right to take that away from us until we lay it down ourselves, just as no one has the power to take away the right to join associations for one's development and especially the profession's - Guidance and Counseling in the Philippines. Anyone who keeps anybody from joining us may not be respecting the Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitution of the Philippines. Anybody other than the current Board of Trustees may not be able to accurately describe the IPCAP. Hence, in order that no one gets to misinterpret us, do address your questions to us, not just to anybody. We do not give anybody the right to misrepresent us. I bet nobody really wants to do that, di ba po?

We do not claim to be the APO mentioned in the law because we have not yet petitioned the PRC to be one. If I shall use the developmental psychology framework, baby pa po ang IPCAP, sana tulungan itong makalakad rather than saktan at apihin para malumpo ('wawa naman ano?). Wag naman po sanang pababain ang ating self-esteem by anybody among us. Child abuse po iyan, and we are advocates for the promotion, defense and protection of the young, including the young at heart and the "once younged." Doing abusive behaviors can never be said of us who claim to help others. I know no one among us who intends to do those kasi maling-mali po talaga ang mga yan. Kasalanan po talaga! Remember what Jesus said? "Their (the children's) angels face God in heaven" (Mt. 18,10).

Nevertheless, let it be known that IPCAP was formed at the time there was yet no Board of Guidance and Counseling. And I can attest to everybody that it was at the IPCAP Meetings when the names of the current members of the Board of Guidance and Counseling were suggested and supported, hence its formation only in 2007! Remember that it took two full years (tagal po!) before the Board of Guidance and Counseling was constituted. IPCAP needed no title or PRC Resolution to do its role for the profession. We simply worked silently, seriously and carefully. Thus, I can say that IPCAP has played a very special role in making sure that the law, signed in 2004 be DULY IMPLEMENTED. I am not claiming any honor, just reiterating a fact for us who may have short memories. In fact, the IPCAP history is enshrined in my earlier blogs.

We could not organize a federation. That was a lost cause twice attempted before we were called together (see blog on the Federation document); and the law never mentioned any federation at all. What the law required is an INTEGRATION of all RGC's. Hence, amidst opposition and accusation that with IPCAP is the death of other Guidance and Counseling-related organizations (maybe this is developmentally significant: di ba old people have immediate premonitions of impending imminent death?), we have kept in mind that we will nurture the RGC professional and all Guidance and Counseling organizations. Just look at our fruit: the FPCAP! Ask any of the founders of that organization, and they will proclaim to you the truth. So, for those who may be entertaining paranoid thoughts, please, cure yourself from those thoughts for God's sake! We have no daggers with us. Only the truth that sets us free! And since we intend to always consider the good of all organizations and their members, the Board of Trustees is composed of RGC's from different organizations. Ok po ba?

Hence, when you become a member of the IPCAP, we assure you that our concerns will be topmost for each one of us, the Board of Trustees and the members. Membership here is not obligatory as we are not the APO. It is a right we have the option to exercise responsibly, respecting the rights of others. My personal advocacy is based on legal and moral perimeters. That I can assure everyone as a shepherd. We may not be the organization with the most number of members (anyway, there are only 885 RGC's yet), but with God's blessings and our cooperation in his graces, we shall overcome all obstacles placed before us and increase as we have the one who multiplies Bread and Provides for us all.

We have no secrets to hide, cover or ignore. We remember what Jesus said: "There will be no secret that will not be known." We are open to grow through both nurture and discipline. We intend to be transparent for fear of being discovered "holding the bag" so to say. As proof of that, while we have authorized the President or the Vice-president AND the Treasurer for bank transactions, we have already passed a Board Resolution that they may only do that WITH A BOARD RESOLUTION that carries a majority of the Board, complete with clear parameters to avoid a nasty future that might test our friendships. That provision the Board has decided is enshrined in my certification to the Bank as IPCAP Secretary. Our friendships shall be based on a spirit of professionalism. We will be friends to each other, making sure that the other does not do what is wrong; we will dare to responsibly correct what needs to be corrected. That's our way of respecting each other as professionals, with or without a PhD. It is in this spirit that we are inviting every RGC and even those who have applied to be an RGC to become a member of IPCAP.

Yes, as regards the November 2008 event (21-22), it is just being polished, and I shall immediately blog that here. Pray before Monday Oct. 27, 2008 the invite shall be released.

Aw yes, I got a comment that it is in conflict with the PGCA rerun thing. No intent to compete po. It just so happened that that's the decided time for everyone in the Board since those who are coming are already RGC's, although there may be those who have already applied for the 4th batch of the Grandfather's Clause, welcome po din kayo. And, here's the catch, di po last yan. So relax and pray. God bless