OFW who'd rather play football than study nails CPA board exam on first take

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A 26-year-old Ilonggo who’d rather play football than be in class when he was a kid in school recently nailed his accountancy board exam on first take.

Janiel Alcalde of San Miguel, Iloilo said the sport has instilled disciplines in him that made it possible for him to pass the exam.

“We’re trained to endure, understand and work well with our teammates, play hard and take responsibility for our own development. In being an athlete, it is important to have an understanding of yourself, of what it is you need to work on,” he said. 

He said football taught him “how to play with the advantages I have and deal with the disadvantages facing me” just like how it is when preparing for the board exam. “You need to keep moving on, so you can recover and be ready for the next,” he said.

Saying he had tried his best, Alcalde recalled telling himself after taking the exams, held on June 16,17, and 18, 2024, “It’s now out of my hands.” 

“I moved on. I never bothered to check for the results. I heard it was expected to be (released) on the 3rd of July 2024. So, when the news didn’t come out. I said, ‘Ahhh. Leave it. There’s always another one,’” said Alcade who, back in his grade school and high school days, would spend most of his daily allowance playing video games than in food except for a small pouch of pancit canton. 

He got a call the following day, however, congratulating him for having past the accountancy board exam. “It felt like a large weight dropped from my shoulders,” he said.

Alcalde, who attended University of San Agustin - Iloilo and graduated in 2019 with a degree in accountancy, was in his school’s varsity football team as well as quiz bee teams, winning different awards and accolades. 

“I was a kid who would try to find a way to not study and just play football. I ended up graduating college with awards and becoming a Certified Public Accountant (CPA),” he quipped.

Despite being on the list of pre-board top-notchers, Alcalde skipped plans to take the board following cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He worked at an accounting firm based in Makati before going to Dubai to join his family in June of 2022. He then changed his mind about not taking the exam, noting they still didn’t have a CPA in their brood.

And so, he reviewed and prepared while working at a Swiss-based company engage in luxury goods, where he got on board in February 2023. 

Despite his busy schedule, football didn’t take a backseat. Alcalde still went running around and kicking whenever he could with fellow Pinoys, at times competing against other nationalities.

These days, Alcalde is aiming to hit another goal, in accountancy that is, looking to pursue further studies, gain more experience in the field, and share what he has gained through teaching, especially those preparing for the board exams.

This because, looking back, Alcalde said he has learned – as his father used to say – that “intelligence comes with diligence.” —KBK, GMA Integrated News