Abdul-Azim D. Ontok

Nominee, 13th and 14th Congressional Internship Program for Young Mindanao LeadersJournal #4June 8, 2012

I am quietly adjusting now to the life in MSU Marawi. In fact, I and my roommates arrived the earliest in MSRC. Our daily training started with a second quiz about the lectures yesterday. Unlike the first quiz, todays quiz does not only require answers in essay form, but it also has answers needed to be enumerated. I did not expect it so Im hopeful to have a passing rating. We were also required to submit our signed contracts after the quiz.

Dr. Hj. Mohammad Guimba Poingan was the resource person for the morning session. He was assigned to lecture about the Ethics, Responsibility, Accountability and Corruption in Public Service. He opened his lecture with a statement that man is an ethical being, that man is good and is bad by nature or that man is good or bad depending on how he interacts in the world. The discussion revolved on the controversy that mans ethical behavior could be traced back to Adam and Eve, the biblical ancestors of the entire humanity. He further focused the discussion on the imperatives of ethics. According to the main imperative of ethics, humans do good and behave well because of their belief that a Supreme Being exists and that He knows every act they commit wherever they are. I like the way that he presented his lecture and statements because he equally supported them with his knowledge in Holy Books of Quran and Bible. There was never been a bias on his justifications.

During the afternoon session, Dr. Moctar Matuan, the Executive Director of the Institute of Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM) of MSU Marawi, was the speaker. The subject of our afternoons class was the Understanding and Strategies in Addressing Conflict. He started the session with an activity by grouping the nominees in pair. Each pair acted as a leader and a follower to each other. I felt stupid from following what my other pair demands me to do. It was done for us to realize the development of conflicts between two persons or groups of people. The activity was effective and I even appreciated more the difficulties surrounding the conflicts in our country.

Emphasis was given by Dr. Matuan to the fact that conflicts exist because the members of a society continuously interact to each other. Conflict arises because of every mans natural and acquired differences. He added that there can never be a society where conflict does not exist. Moreover, he said that conflicts may either result into a good or bad condition. Conflicts may either bring improvement and development to a society or endanger it. He suggested that the best way to respond to a conflict is through a Win-Win approach wherein both parties win their ideas and aspirations. Dr. Matuan was effective in delivering his topic and he further made his lecture more understandable by supplementing interactive activities.

I learned much about the two lectures today. In the morning, I was spiritually enriched and in the afternoon, I was socially enhanced. Both of the speakers were effective and very well competent of their designated topics. I wish that the morning session could have been extended and made into a one day lecture because the topic is morally and spiritually enhancing.