These are the photos I took the day we visited Intramuros. This is my favorite place in Manila not only because 8 years of my life was spent in here, from high school to college, but because the entire surroundings are amazingly beautiful. I know it might not compare to the magnificent cities of America and Europe, if I will base it according to what I have seen from the pictures in the internet, but I really adore Intramuros. I also like San Andres Bukid, but the Walled City is simply the best.

Anyway, I have been wondering what is inside the walls and I finally had the chance to take a peek. I thought there would be skulls and skeletons of the dead soldiers of World War II but all I saw were just pieces of bottles, a couple of guns and bullets, hard hats, and a few church bells.  They seem worthless but they are actually a national treasure. By the way, Intra means inside and Muros means walls, both words are from Spanish origin.

In my imagination, I still see the soldiers fighting and dying. I think I should stop listening to Cranberries’ Zombies. In my head they’re still fighting … Zombie, Zombie … eh eh eh … Especially when I’m staring at that canyon or is that a tank? In my history class, the instructor said that it used to be the capital of the Philippines and the only official city in the entire country. So it means that during those times, when you step out of the Walled City, you are already in the provinces. The students laughed because Intramuros is such a small place.

I hope to take more pictures in the near future. I actually have a lot in my desktop but I’m saving them for my next posts because as of now I’m just too busy with my not-so-important activities to go out for pictorial. Hihihi. There are so many things to blog about Manila! I wish I could have all the time to improve my writing and my blogging and everything. *Sigh.

My knowledge about this university is very limited so you won’t find anything factual in this post. Just pure opinion and nonsense rants However, allow me to share a few things I know about this well-reputed school. First off, it was established for the benefit of the poor but deserving students of the city. It is The People’s University. If you have a GWA (general weighted average) of 85, you are a born in Manila, and your parents’ ITR (income tax return) can prove that your family does not have the ability to send you to college, then you are eligible to take the admission test. Your score in the entrance exam and your grades in high school are two major factors for you to get in. In some cases, students who are born outside Manila are admitted in the condition that they will be forever “paying” students. But the tuition fees are very low, more or less P2000 for a whole semester so it’s still very affordable compared to private universities that charge up to P50000 per semester.

Passing the entrance exam does not automatically allow you to choose your desired course. If you wish to take a “quota course” like Nursing, Accountancy, Chemical Engineering, Physical Therapy, and other courses that will require you to take a license exam in the future, your final grades in Science, English and Math in high school should not be lower than 85. Once you passed the admission test, you are already eligible to enroll in your approved course. Quota courses require students to maintain a GWA of 2.25 every semester while non-quota courses require a GWA of 2.5. Not being able to maintain the required grades is a ground to be kicked out from the university. And they are not joking By the way, failing grades are also big NO in that school.

I took up a non-quota course, the one that is said to be the most boring course in the world. Business Administration, that is. I think that it was a good decision considering that my IQ is somewhat below average and my self-esteem is very low. It helped that the subjects weren’t that difficult for me to pass with so-so grades. I have no regrets. Never mind that I didn’t take Education even if I was eligible for that course. I know a story. It’s a sad one. One of my acquaintances in college, she was actually my batch-mate, failed a subject during our last semester in 4th year. She was supposed to graduate at that time but because of that inconsiderate a-hole professor, she was forced to transfer to another school. Oh well, I think that PLM’s policies are sometimes inhuman.

Contrary to popular belief, not all students in PLM come from poor families. I should know! I spent four years of my life there. Not that I’m bitter about it. I was just surprised that most of my classmates back then came from well-to-do families. They had cars, they lived in subdivisions, they had the latest cellphones, their parents are business owners, their brothers and sisters are working abroad, etc. In other words, they have the freaking money, baby. I have nothing against it tho. After all, they really have the brains and the smarts to study there. HEHE. I just want to establish the fact that not all students in PLM are poor and Manila-born. There is a rumor that if you have a “backer” inside the school, it wouldn’t matter even if you are born outside Manila. But then that’s just a rumor.

So anyway, finishing secondary education in the Philippines is a right. It’s written in the constitution. That is the reason why there are a lot of public high schools scattered around the city. Literally anybody can enroll regardless of age, sex, ethnic, etc. However, college is a different case. Earning a degree is a privilege. So, I was a privileged student and I will be forever thankful for that. I mean, I am still a nobody and I doubt if I will ever become somebody in the future future, but I don’t know what could have happened to me if there was no PLM!