A Tribute to NRD

Last 27 July 2007, my affiliation with the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) officially ended. It was a professionally fruitful and personal rewarding stay during my about two years and seven months, two promotions, three chiefs, two directors, and countless overtime (naks!).

I would have wanted to work there straight from university, but it wasn'€™t the case given the hiring moratorium then brought by the national elections. What became my first job was for a sustainable farming project of a non-government organization funded by the United Nations Development Programme. Within the three-month work with the NGO though, I passed NEDA'€™s interview, submitted application requirements, and packed my bag.

The training my office has provided me is irreplaceable, especially to have belonged in a talented pool of staffs. Those five people huddled together were the last of whom I worked with in my division, the (Environment nga ba?) Natural Resources Division, and have to leave behind, somewhere in an old building in Origas Center, Pasig City. We might be half-a-world apart- I here in Germany and them back in the Philippines, yet we I know there's still the connection that binds us as we try our best in doing our little share to save our world.

As an aside, this picture was taken in Trattoria in Shangri-La Plaza, where I had my despedida (one of the many I had), a wish come true! Special thanks to Mayo, my very competent chief (second from right).

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