Dr. Ariel De Lima Gaspi

Why is it that so many takers of IELTS don’t get their desired bandscore? I’ve been working as one of the administrative officers of an English tutorial company in the Philippines named Achievers’ English by Nouveau Manila English Center, and I’ve seen and heard hundreds of stories of failure and frustrations.

People wanting to migrate, study, or work in English speaking countries may need to take the IELTS and various other exams as proof of their capacity to converse or function in an English speaking country like the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand. Filipinos need to hurdle so many obstacles, produce a ton of documents, secure papers from government and private offices, spend unimaginable amount of money, and so on. And yet, after all these efforts it all boils down to their capability to speak English and hence, the English tests, like IELTS.

What are the things to watch out for in a bus ride in the Philippines?

A bus ride in a third world country like the Philippines is a gruelling experience, Being a “not rich” person governed by corrupt, evil, irresponsible, public servants, means I would have to endure this form of travel just like the majority of my people.

The Philippines is a very beautiful county, blessed with so many natural resources and beautiful places. And its people is its richest resource, so they say. But when it comes to government and provision of public service such as public transport, we terribly suck.

It’s just 9 days before the whole of Philippines goes to polling precincts to cast their votes for the positions of: the president, vice president, 12 senators, 1 congressman, 1 partylist representative, governor, vice governor, provincial board members, mayor, vice mayor, city or town councilors. Thus, the very long ballots. Whew! Are there any countries in the world voting this way?

Philippine Elections 2010