EDITORYAL

Filipinos are known for their resilience. This ability to quickly recover from difficulties is manifested by many after they encounter disasters. However, there comes a time when the resilience becomes bad — when the public fails to receive immediate assistance, when LGUs start pointing fingers because they fail to provide urgent response, and when Filipino Resiliency gets used as an excuse for the incompetence in distributing help and rescue.

The Philippines is located in an area prone to the occurrence of natural disasters. Now that we are still in the middle of a pandem-

Filipino Resilience, not Disaster Lenience

ic with lockdowns, restrictions, and unemployment occurring side-by-side — given that the most disadvantaged are also the ones who suffer the hardest, we should not expect local communities to continue rebuilding disaster after disaster. Instead of focusing on addressing the hazards that could lead to disasters, and discuss minimizing losses and damages; lawmakers are focused on how they could respond and rehabilitate after calamities had already happened — and even on this one, they fail to be competent.

The public’s resilience does not make them any less susceptible to the hardships and dangers brought and caused by disasters — therefore it is not an excuse for those in power to abandon their people, nor a reason for them to pay no heed. Resilience, after all, refers to the Filipinos endurance until [and for] recovery, not adaption to an oppressive government system. To see resiliency as merely the strength of people, CONTINUE TO PAGE 8

Laro ng Buhay sa Panahon ng Pandemya

A

ng buhay ay hindi lamang panantili sa loob ng apat na sulok ng ating tahanan. Ang kalye ay puno ng iba’t-ibang buhay panlipunan ngunit mula ng sumiklab ang pandemyang hindi inaasahan, paano na nga ba ang buhay na kinagawian? Bilang isang Pilipino, isports ay malaking bahagi ng ating libangan – larong kalye man o propesyunal ay talaga naming kinagigiliwan. Mayroon pa ngang koponan na sinusuportahan at nagkakaroon ng pustahan at pikunan tuwing may laban. Marso 2020 noong idineklara ang enhanced community quarantine dahil sa pagtaas ng kaso ng Covid-19 sa bansa. Ang mundong ginagalawan ay tumigil ng walang babala kasabay ng pandemyang hindi batid. Ang dating kalye at malalaking istadyum na palaging puno ng mga hiyawan ay para ng abandonadong lugar dahil lamang sa pandemyang tila naghari sa mundo. Dati-rati, ang pambansang kamao na si Manny Pacquiao lamang na hinahangaan ang dahilan upang lumuwag ang daan, ngayon Covid-19 na ang sanhi at kinatatakutan. Mula ng bumalik ang iilang isports, lalo na ng PBA at NBA, nitong nakaraang buwan, hindi na lamang halaman ang makikita sa social media. Muling nasaksihan ang pagtapos ng NBA kung saan Los Angeles Lakers ang nagwagi at itinanghal si LeBron James ang itinanghal na MVP. Naging usap-usapan din ang pagkapanalo ng Barangay Ginebra sa PBA ilang linggo ang nakaraan at si LA Tenorio na nakakuha ng kaniyang kauna-unahang MVP. Hindi lamang aliw at kasiyahan ang dala ng isports, bawat manlalaro ay may kaniya-kaniyang kwentong maaring magbigay inspirasyon sa manonood, kapwa manlala-

CARTOON NI JANKARL VELADO

ro, at sa mga taong nagnanais ding makamit ang tinatamasa ng kanilang idolo. Hindi rin dahilan ang pandemya sa paghinto ng isports, kailangan lamang na mahigpit na pagsunod sa health protocols. Kung isports ang makagpagbibigay kasiyahan sa mamamayan, bakit natin ito pipigilan kung kaya naming gawan ng paraan. Kung nagawa nga ng bagong PNP Chief General Debold Sinas na magdiwang ng kaniyang kaarawan sa gitna ng pandemya, bakit hindi gawin sa isports na mayroong ambag sa lipunan? Ilang araw na lamang bago mamaalam ang taong 2020 subalit ang kaso ng Covid ay patuloy na dumadami, hindi malaman kung ilang taon, buwan, linggo, o araw pa ang kailangang dumaan bago ito mawala sa sanlibutan. Sa pagbukas ng panibagong taon, nawa’y ang isports na nakasanayan ay bumalik sa dati – muling maririnig ang hiyawan sa istadyum habang itinataas ang bandila ng manok na ating sinusuportahan.

WHY WE WRITE.

Editor’s Message

As Maya Angelou quoted, “the idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.” We, The Hillside Echo- Senior Publication, gladly express that it is our duty as much as our honor to serve the entire student body with truth and excellence. The Publication is elated to introduce our very first and newest Electronic Newsletter that is full of stories and information to tell and voices to be heard. And we say to you, speak the truth and what is right. There’s a big world waiting for you to conquer. And as you traverse the path waiting for you, don’t be afraid to use your voice.

EUSALAN: ‘I AM DETERMINED’

ALYSSA JANE ZULUETA

Allyah Dominique Eusalan, a Grdae 12 HUMSS student of FCU, snatches silver on kickpad kicking and bronze on free kicking during the 2020 Smart/ MVPSF Online National Taekwondo CPJ Championships Speed Kicking, Nov. 28. “It was exciting, at the same time I feel sad. Exciting because it’s new to us and even we have a pandemic, we can still compete in local, national, and international competitions,” Eusalan said. Eusalan started her taekwondo career when she was in 2nd grade for the purpose of loosing weight and so, her parents encouraged her to take taekwondo classes. “I feel sad because I have a lot of games that are wasted because of this pandemic,” Eusalan stated. Spending years in the industry, joining various competitions and taking home different awards, Eusalan still consider 2020 Global Taekwondo Online competition as her biggest achievement where she won the first place. It is because of the people around her that motivates her to go on in times she is in doubt of herself and capabilities. Thus, maybe the “Go Allyah, liyaah, liyaah!” of the crowd awaken the spirit of determination every game. “Push yourself, go beyond your limit, and finish what you’ve started,” she advised.

ALYSSA JANE ZULUETA

Filamer Christian University Student Republic opens Mobile Legends Esports Tournament 2020, sixteen teams fill in the slots, Nov. 24 – 27. Amid the pandemic, FCUSR senators Yancy Azarcon and John Mark Baculi together with the other FCUSR National officials pull off the first esports tournament this academic year that was set to promote collaboration, camaraderie, enhancement of social skills, strategic thinking, and sportsmanship among the participants. “The very event was organized to become one of the factors to help students cope with the adversities they experience. COVID – 19, in the best of our capabilities, will not stop us from serving the studentry. To integrate eSports in the activities of the school means that we are pacing positively forward into the future,” Yancy Azarcon, chairman of eSports, said. It is in no doubt that the event was organized in a different manner as we are currently prohibited to have much of a physical interaction to lessen the risk of getting infected by the circulating virus. “As student leaders, we have to be future-oriented. We already expected difficulties like technical problems and time constraints to occur, for the event will be conducted differently as opposed from the previous ones. To remedy such prob lems, we utilized our flexibility, applied ingenious solutions to overcome these struggles,” Azarcon stated. Among the sixteen competent teams, Valor E-sports bags the championship title while Halfwits takes the 1st Runner-Up, and Celestial Fury on the 2nd.