STUDENTS BRACE FOR IMPACT

In light of the proposed Tuition and Other School Fee Increase (TOSFI) for Academic Year 20232024, stakeholders have raised concerns, especially now that we are still in a pandemic and facing a whopping 5.8% inflation rate in the country. While the University administration laid out justification for the proposal, the stakeholders’ concerns should also be considered while deciding.

The TOSFI proposal includes a 5% increase for college and an 8% increase for graduate school to cover personnel costs, guidance fees, library spaces, and study areas, among others. The administration also plans to modernize the AdU Theater and Art Gallery, upgrade musical instruments, and increase cultural programs through technological advancements.

While all of these are valid, the Adamson University Administration should address the concerns while balancing the need for improvements, such as the lack of professors during the prelims, which resulted in difficulties for the whole term.

Students’ representatives in college and graduate school have raised the financial burden that the proposed increase would impose on students, along with the painful swelling of daily expenses.

Adamson University has a responsibility to provide accessible, quality education, and the proposed TOSFI should not unduly burden students. The administration should prioritize the interests of the students and ensure that the proposed tuition fee increase will indeed translate into quality education, should it transpire.

I make sacrifices, too athlete in a Facebook status.

Growing up, I had the fondest memories of my mother. When it was my first day of school during the first grade, I remember her sending me off with a packed lunch that she prepared with so much love. She used to peck me on the cheek every morning. I remember her donning me a red princess costume at my 7th birthday party which she intricately organized.

All thanks to her (and my lolo and lola), I spent most of my childhood never have to worry in life. However, time came when she had to work overseas. It was heartbreaking, at the very least, for a 10-year-old to bid her mother a temporary goodbye. Inevitable, yes, but her going abroad was necessary.

At a very young age, I have learned to do things for myself. While most of my classmates would ask their parents for help on our project, I, on the other hand, would do it independently. Siguro, magiging proud sa akin si Mommy, I thought to myself.

Then, our recognition ceremony came. I was extremely grateful for my grandparents for coming. With a medal hung on my neck and a ribbon pinned to my left chest, I sent a picture to my mother. I knew she would be proud of me.

Many more birthdays, recognition ceremonies, and graduation rites later, I have learned that the closest thing I would have to a celebration with her is a video call from more than 4,500 miles away.

Of course, I had to understand the situation we were in. If she had never taken this opportunity 13 years ago, our lives wouldn’t probably have changed for the better. However, had the country presented more room for progress and advancement, families would never have to be robbed of spending these worthwhile moments together in their lives.

While she would spend one-month vacation every two years, I always felt that it was never enough for the time we spent away from each other. No amount of chocolates and gifts would ever suffice for milestones that she has never personally witnessed.

I am a daughter of an OFW, and I make sacrifices, too.

VolumeXVI No.2

February-April 2023

PH gov’t fails Filipino athletes

From podium finishes to glistening trophies, the Philippine government has been the loudest to cheer for Filipino athletes — but turns mute when contenders struggle and fret.

Last February 8, Ernest John “EJ” Obiena, the first Filipino pole vaulter who bagged bronze in the World Athletics Championship, broke the news that he can’t participate in the upcoming Asian Indoor Championships in Kazakhstan.

“None of the airlines serving Astana will bring the poles. My mentor, James Lafferty, even worked with Pepsi Kazakhstan to drive the poles from Almaty to Astana. That didn’t work as it’s a 17-hour drive,” wrote the struggling Filipino

The government’s little to no expenditure for athletic growth in the Philippines tells their blatant disregard for sports. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time they neglected the struggling Filipino athletes aiming to bring glory to the country.

It can be recalled that Hidilyn Diaz, the first-ever Olympic gold medalist from the Philippines in the weightlifting category, put up a gallant fight trying to fund her bid back in 2019.

“Is it okay to ask [for] sponsorship sa mga private companies towards Tokyo 2020? Hirap na hirap na ako, I need financial support,” begged the Filipina weightlifter in a Facebook post.

More scenarios of sheer dereliction on athletes can be observed — when Filipino-American chess grandmaster Wesley So had to switch representation from PH to the U.S. flag as the Philippine Sports

Commission held back his incentives — when Filipino figure skater Michael Martinez had to set up a GoFundMe page for the 2022 Winter Olympics due to lack of financial support.

Meanwhile, in 2017 and 2018, the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) was allocated a total of ₱400 million. In 2019, the PSC secured ₱5 billion as the country was tasked to host the Southeast Asian Games, not to mention the ₱50 million “kaldero ng Diyos” stunt, followed by a pandemic that caused the realignment of the alreadylittle budget.

That said, where does Philippine athletics head, if not in a future that doesn’t honor the integrity of Filipino athletes? Now’s the time for the government to bat an eye at them — for the government to provide more than just pretentious congratulatory messages.

These water down to one conclusion; that is, the Philippine government