A day in my life as the head of Heraldo Filipino’s operations side may sound simple because I rarely produce written or visual content—but wait until you hear about the daily struggle with the University’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) I have to deal with.

Hmm, how do I start?

One, file the printing of this broadsheet. Two, renew our website, heraldofilipino.org. Three, arrange our staffs’ transportation to produce Exposure (see on social media). Fourth, assist our Office and Circulations Manager (OCM) to get our office lights fixed. Of course, they’re all valid procedures, but the problem is about to begin. Instead of sighing at the word “approved,” I have to go through multiple follow-ups, endless redirections, and countless “We’ll look into it” but never do. In fact, our office has been dim for a few weeks now, but the promise of fixing it has been constantly delayed. No resolution yet as of writing. We couldn’t print our papers because our printer had run out of ink, and we were prohibited to buy it on our own because rules were set to prevent buying the wrong ink. What could’ve been a one-day job extended to four long months of waiting before certain offices could get it for us.

Confused? Me too. I frequently wonder if these are even practical. I did some thinking and even asked the secretaries of some offices to determine why these procedures are the way they are. As I take it from them, it is what it is. I’m still salty about that one time I got reprimanded by an office for processing papers exactly as another office instructed me to do—I felt like Bobbie Salazar asking, “Bakit parang kasalanan ko?”

Exhibit A: The annual admin turnover

Admins undergo a partial turnover every year—some remain, others are replaced. Each has their own preferred way of doing things. Their successor may be more lenient which leads to slightly less back-and-forths, or they can be stricter which otherwise means a lot of walking around campus. I have been an editor under HF’s Operations Department for three years now, and each year comes with a new way of processing things, which is why I am still as equally confused as I was two years ago despite my experience.

Exhibit B: Slow transition to efficient methods

The University has recently adopted Odoo to process financial matters digitally, essentially promising to reduce letters, resolutions, and signatory hunting—a heave of relief at first glance. The only unfortunate thing about it, though, is that we still need to file the same papers IN ADDITION to the new process with the same “approver” of the papers. Now the struggle has doubled. So I ask, why use it when we still have to arrange the paperwork that it’s supposed to eliminate? I once had to walk back-and-forth from our office to Ayuntamiento De Gonzalez (AdG) five times in one day just to secure a signature on a document I had to attach to Odoo. We were unable to call because our telephone line got chewed by rats which took months to fix since job order processing changed in between school years. 

Exhibit C: The loss of autonomous status

The loss of autonomous status meant that the University now had to strictly abide by the provisions of Commission on Higher Education (CHED). My “favorite” additional rules? Medical certificates (₱200–300) and travel insurance (₱103) for every participant in off-campus activities. I get it, it’s for safety… but do we really have to? What if we’re on a tight budget? 

It once rained hard during the summer term but we were unable to protect our office because we lacked Parental Consent Forms (PCFs). Apparently this was now required for in-campus activities during school breaks. Maybe rules are just rules, but it sucks that we couldn’t do anything to prevent the aftermath—a flooded office, moldy ceilings, and drenched stacks of broadsheets.

CHED, I am already 21 years old. Why do I need to ask permission from my parents so that I can go to school? 

***

SOPs are necessary to ensure accountabilities and backtracking. But constantly adding or revising processes just makes life harder for everyone.

At this point, I don’t know which is more exhausting—my Strava history when processing paperworks around campus, or learning new procedures every academic year.

Maybe there’s a good reason; maybe there’s not. I hope they don’t summon me for writing this—I’m just tired.

Okay, I’m done yapping. heraldofilipino.org will not renew itself.

Originally published in Heraldo Filipino Volume 40, Issue 1.