the garden chronicle 2012-13 by Mike Santos

Journalism, the way forward. VOL 9. NO. 1 • THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH PUBLICATION OF FELIZARDO C. LIPANA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL • OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2012

After the DepEd’s proposal to increase the competitiveness of the students

Lipanians ready to go global F by Christian B. Dechosa

elizardo C. Lipana National High School (FCLNHS) is now handling 312 males and 253 females this school year under the change brought by the DepEd-proposed K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum. Along with the implementation of the K to 12 program in the Philippines are public oppositions on the readiness of the teachers to face the new format. Several lecturers and practitioners have already tackled the teachers’ preparedness for the new proposal including “Pagtuki” making elementary and secondary teachers fully equipped to handle the first K to 12 students by conducting seminars and all-inclusive discussions. Dr. Carmencita Dinampo, chief of Department of Education (DepEd)-7’s Curriculum and Security Management Division, the guest speaker of the November 10-episode of “Pagtuki” said that school administrators have already undergone divisional, regional and national trainings – that it is already their duties to propagate the knowledge to their fellow teachers, comprehensively. After implementing K to

12 in all elementary and secondary schools, enrolled students in high school are no longer called first year instead they are now Grade 7 students. FCLNHS Grade 7 teachers were given sufficient in-service training for this curriculum. According to this program, students from Grades 7-10 will be under Junior High School and when they are on grades 11-12 they will be on Senior High School. These students will develop their capacity to self-directed learning, teamwork, and sense of responsibility. In addition to this, Grade 7 students will be assessed at four levels weighted as follows: Knowledge – 15%, Process or Skills – 25%, Understanding – 30%, and Products/Performances – 30%. Their performances will be depicted on the levels of proficiency that have an equivalent numerical value such as the beginning level of proficiency for 74% and below; Developing from 75-79%; Approaching proficiency for 80-84%; Proficient Level for 85-89% and; Advanced Level for 90% and above. Moreover, these levels of proficiency will be represented in letters on the report card written as B – for Beginning; D – for Developing; AP – for Approaching Proficiency; P – for Proficient; and A – for Advanced.

Even the Lipanian teachers are expressing uncertainty and confusion about these curricular changes as quoted by Ms. Marivi Lobederio, Filipino Grade 7 teacher, “It is very hard to capacitate myself with the transitions but given the lectures and great Heads, I’ll be familiar with them in due course.” On its 3rd and final reading, K to 12 bill was institutionalized by the House of Representatives with a landslide vote of 198-8. In addition, as the new measure promotes simple but productive ways to make the students capable of meeting the global standards, it encourages teachers to utilize a mother-tongue, multi-lingual approach to instruction to better facilitate the early learning process of students. Mr. Edgardo. J. Mendoza, Principal III said in an interview that with the implementation of the K to 12 program, students are now able of being recognized abroad. It will equip them for global competition as well as facilitate mutual recognition of Filipino graduates and professionals from all over the world. The proposal will provide students a sound foundation for further development of our socio-economic echelon.

To familiarize students on native traditions

Dayaw moves to boost cultures by Honeylette O. Gulfo

The almost forgotten culture. Indigenous groups gather on stage in celebration of the annual Dayaw Festival.

he honor has been taken by FCLNHS after it was picked to witness the “Dayaw”, a National Festival of Indigenous People last November 29. According to Napoleon Baltazar, cluster head of the program, Lipanians were fortunate to see and experience this kind of event in pursuant of the Presidential Proclamation No. 1906 or the celebration of National Indigenous People’s Month headed by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) with the support of Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado. With its theme, “Katutubong Pamumuhay, Halawan ng Araw sa Buhay,” Dayaw showed different cultural activities from various communities in the country, featuring the Itawit, Yogad, Ibanog and Malaweg (Northern Communi-

ties) that showed how they value the love, courtship and marriage on their tribes. Followed by the Kapampangan, Tagalog and Sambal tribes performing their cultural catch-up lines called “Putungan” that made the students seem to be familiar with. Next was the Apayao Isneg tribe who showcased their sacred instruments like Gangsa and Ludan also introduced the Abra Tingyan tribe locally known as the “Mountain Dwellers.” The last that caught everyone’s attention was the Bicol tribe presenting their native dance, “Pantotina”, where some of the teachers and students enjoyed participating on stage. “Lipanians are very well attentive,” Baltazar stated that the school really deserved this kind of honor as the two hours of sharing their indigenous traditions ended.

To diminish the widespread of mosquito viruses

DOST intensifies battle against dengue by Christian B. Dechosa

Teaming up for ecological advancement. Ms. Virginita Ibaňez, a Biology teacher, tests the DOST-deployed OL Trap kits.

he Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has just recently jumpstarted a program dubbed as “Ovicidal/Larvicidal (OL) Trap” which seeks to obliterate the fast-growing dengue cases in the country. DOST, in conjunction with the Department of Health, is currently intensifying the battle against the dengue outbreak in the Philippines by propagating awareness in public schools and various communities as well as doling out efficient pamphlets and posters since its rollout last year.

FCLNHS’s Science teachers have already tried testing this activity in different brackets from first to fourth year. Every Monday, OL Trap kits are being distributed to all school facilities and teachers assess the outcome every Friday. According to Ms. Virginita Ibaňez, Biology teacher, this newly proposed program is “pacing through the avenue of success” lauding DOST’s primary goal to reduce the death cases in the Philippines because of the dengue virus. “It is rewarding that DOST is now scheming ways to eradicate the deteriorating environment we have.

Not only are the students the ones safeguarded, but even the teachers.” This year, Philippine General Hospital reported that almost 15 percent of their patients are suffering from illnesses brought about by dengue viruses. For its first tranche, DOST provided roughly half a million trap kits nationwide. Along with the kits are leaflets on how to use the kits appropriately. Compliant with President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address, he quoted, “It is too early to claim total victory, our scientists are rigorous about testing, but the initial results have been very encouraging.” Scientists and experts continue to find ways and methods to improve the efficiency of this DOST-proposed program Mosquito OL Trap. DOST is now conducting Metro Manila-wide trainings among teachers through localized seminars on the procedures of using the OL Trap kits.

Advocating the youth. Students put their creativity on “Art Letters.“

‘Tulay Project Phase 5’ spearheads children in JP, PH by John Hely R. Parungao

nternational Children’s Action Network (ICAN) Foundation invited FCLNHS on their “Tulay Project Phase 5” which aims to promote understanding between children in Japan and in the Philippines. Yukiyo Nomura – Geronimo, Japan’s country Director, implied that this project would make children in both countries familiar to different cultures using exchange of “Art Letters”. As ICAN Foundation said, students will create and share their drawings to

one another with the topic, “Ang pinakamahalagang panahon para sa akin” which also promotes children’s globalization. In a letter sent to FCLNHS, Japanese students will give drawn letters after their exhibition this December. In an information, the number of participants from Japan were 22 schools with 2, 500 children while Philippines got ten schools with also 2,500 children. The period for accepting letters was set from September to October 31 and ICAN foundation hopes that Lipanians could join and be a “Tulay” (bridge) between the Philippines and Japan.

The Garden Chronicle

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October - December 2012

Mentors, mentored by John Hely R. Parungao

Teachers already enhanced their access to quality teaching resource after they learned in the Orientation on Learning Resource Management and Development System (LRMDS) last October 30. LRMDS advocated Lipanian teachers to use online portals, an access for what they need in teaching. Amid the discussion, teachers were trained to use this portal and they were registered to be members of LRMDS. In the final orientation, they were ordered to draft a readiness

assessment plan for the proposal of this LRMDS. The educators also made an account on Google which will serve as their communication channel on DepEd along with its principal objective for teachers to be able to have online access on instructional materials that will cater their needs. It will also allow them to interact with the DepEd authorities hence, making it easy for them to share information, suggestions, and other education-oriented essentials.

Fernando breaks new ground by Christian B. Dechosa

Carulasan cops silver in the Division Technolympics by Jazmin Ariane DG. Senon

odrigo Carulasan of IV-Rizal grabbed the second place as he continued the battle for FCLNHS in the Division Technolympics at San Ildefonso North Central School last September 21. After getting the best of other schools and claiming the second place in EDDIS II Techno Olympics in the “Makeup and Hair Dressing” category held at Taal High School, Carulasan paced through the Division Level in spite of being alone and depraved of the support of his co-participants in the competition. According to Carulasan, he felt the pressure of being the only one to compete for the school and it was very difficult. “For me, it’s a big accomplishment not to disappoint but to give honor to FCLNHS,” Carulasan stated with a smile although he had not been given a chance to advance in the Regional Level.

ITY OF MALOLOS — Bulacan Vice Governor Daniel Fernando was hailed as the 2012 Most Outstanding Public Servant in the 11th Gawad America Awards (GAA) held at the Celebrity Centre Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA recently. The award was conferred by the Gawad America Foundation (GAF), a non-profit organization based in California, USA, which honors the accomplishments of young achievers and

Gawad Dangal ng Lipi confers Zerrudo by Christian B. Dechosa

by John Hely R. Parungao

Math warlocks garner awards in MATHCOM by Aaron Andrei R. Evangelista

ath wizards of FCLNHS outperformed the other schools from EDDIS up to the Division Level of Mathematics Competition (MATHCOM) held at Frances National High School in Calumpit last September 17. The wizards did a great job after besting their opponents in the EDDIS Level at Dr. Felipe De Jesus National High School in Plaridel hitting 3rd place in overall results last September 12. The winners named Bryan Dela Torre of I-Sampaguita, won 5th place, Jeremy Seda of II-Diamond with 4th place, Charlene Hernandez of III-Gold with 3rd place and Rozenn Sta. Maria of IV-Rizal with 6th place. After their victory, the math wizards continued to spark as they gave out their best shot making FCLNHS the 5th highest pointer in the Division Level. “As their head teacher, I am proud of what they have brought to our school,” Mrs. Loida D. Hilario stated. In an interview adding to her statement that year-by-year, FCLNHS is customarily winning and improving in this certain field.

Scribes harvest awards by Christian B. Dechosa

nglish staffers hit the 9th place after showing their paramount performance in the Division Secondary Schools Press Conference at Carlos F. Gonzales High School in San Rafael, last September 26-27. After winning 8th place at the Sulivan High School, English staffers took over the second time in the top 10 highest pointer schools. The winners, Aljohn De Leon, claimed the 7th place in the Editorial Writing while Julius Ramos won with a one-point margin being the 4th placer in Sports Writing. According to Ramos, it’s his first time to partake in a competition and he did not expect to be in the Division Level with such a prestigious prize. “It is an overwhelming feeling to grace the center stage as the new school paper adviser. My journalists and my hard work relatively paid off,” Ms. Joanna Marie Billones said.

still serve as a model and inspiration to others,” Fernando said. Other awardees were Vice President Jejomar Binay, Senator Nene Pimentel, Senator Jinggoy Estrada,Senator Loren Legarda, Saranggani Representative Manny Pacquiao, and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno. Moreover, the Vice Governor also received awards such as the Most Outstanding Vice Governor, Exemplary Public Service, Foremost Advocate of Good Government and Best Provincial Official of the year in 2011 given by the Press-Media Affairs Center (PMAC).

On account of her outstanding performance to give quality education to the Bulakenyos

De Leon wins in English tilts fter having won 1st place in the oratorical contest that took place at Jose J. Mariano Memorial High School in Plaridel on September 14, as well as having placed in both EDDIS and Division Level in the 2012 Secondary Schools Press Conference Editorial Writing (English) category, Aljohn De Leon is really bestowing his school just enough reason to laud him. “I have never felt the grandeur of being a winner like this before. It is dumbfounding to be recognized because I was always a loser in school-based English competitions,” De Leon maintained as he looks back on his defeats. According to him, since his freshman to junior years, he has been joining contests within the campus but never did he win at least for once. “I was a walking failure before, and I hope I will not be in the future.” De Leon said that he was not on the tenterhooks to hear his name during such competitions because he knew in the first place that he’s not that good enough. He said that it was also through the school’s and his mentor’s initiative he won. “I need not refuse to look back on her. My mentor, Mrs. Mary Joy Garcia, is also worthy of being acknowledged as she is the one who honed my skills.” For De Leon, it isn’t how many awards that matter but how many lessons you learned.

exemplary citizens who make a difference in their lives and in their communities. According to the foundation, Fernando’s success and remarkable achievements have been recognized not only by the foundation, but also by the local communities in the USA. “Masarap sa pakiramdam kapag nakakatulong ka hindi dahil tungkulin mong tumulong kundi dahil gusto mong makatulong, and it gives me so much happiness being recognized, not because I want to brag the award, but because, through this, I can

You reap what you sow. Dr. Edna Santos-Zerrudo continues to uplift quallity education.

r. Edna Santos-Zerrudo once again proved that her distinction and exemplary leadership being the Schools Division Superintendent in Bulacan remain unparalleled as the 2012 Gawad Dangal ng Lipi awarded her the “Natatanging Bulakenyo” in the field of education last September 17. Zerrudo is considered as a pride of Bulacan for her excellence to put the quality of education in the Province in the leading edge. The annual award-giving body in Bulacan gives rise to all the Bulakenyos who have excelled

in different fields of expertise as well as those who have contributed a lot to convalesce the society. Gawad Dangal ng Lipi was one of the highlights on celebration of “Buwan ng Bulacan” (Month of Bulacan), popularly known as “Singkaban Fiesta.” It is the honor given by the office of the Governor of Bulacan to only a privileged few. Other awardees include: Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara in the field of Public Service – Military; Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe (Professional); Dr. Manolito Bula-

ong (Science and Technology); Feliciano Cruz, Sr., (Entrepreneur); Rev. Herminio Dagohoy (Education); Ernesto Dela Pena (Arts and Culture); Margarita Juico (Health); Angelica Ligas, RN (Bulakenyo Expatriate); Henry Lutao (Commerce and Industry); Bernardino Nunez (Agriculture); Maria Elena Ochoa (Community Service); and Joel Villanueva (Public Service). Holding the distinction and peculiarity as a leader excelling in every field, Dr. Edna Santos-Zerrudo deserves more.

To e n l i g h t e n t h e G r a d e 7 S c i e n c e t e a c h e r s o n K t o 1 2

Ralla gets the job on by Jan Paula Marie T. Macayan

rs. Mary Lilibeth C. Ralla imbibed the honor of being a trainer in the Division Training Workshop for Untrained Grade 7 Public School Teachers on the implementation of the K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum in Science held at FCLNHS last May 2426.

Giving FCLNHS the privilege to host the demo-teaching in Science, Mrs. Ralla was chosen to orient the participants on the salient features and core elements of the K to 12 curriculum. The training workshop already talked about its purpose to disseminate the latest information consistent with K to 12’s instructive materials and also developing their capacity to effi-

ciently and effectively implement the new curriculum. According to Mrs. Ralla, this new curriculum provided an easy and simpler ways of teaching while giving the students enough time to learn. “It’s a pleasure to have the trust of FCLNHS and to be the trainer of the teachers,” Mrs. Ralla added.

Learn it from the expert. Mrs. Ralla is honored to train her fellow mentors in line with the new K to 12

RCPS holds career guidance seminar by Aaron Andrei R. Evangelista

otary Club of Plaridel South (RCPS) provided a career guidance seminar to Lipanian students helping them to choose best courses in college last November 9. On their 14th year of being in service, and for the first time doing a program outside their town, a number of 595 students have been guided by the members of RCPS. “Starting today, it’s time to learn and mold your dreams,” their president, Engr. Benigno “Joey” Jimenez started in the opening remarks and also introduced RCPS president-elect Dr. Danilo “Danny” Hilario who emphasized that they would pick two students from all 4th year brackets who will pass the examination in Bulacan State University to be their scholars. RCPS has discussed the pur-

pose and its principal objective to understand the challenge in job which needs self-awareness in identifying one’s dream, career exploration in knowing the employability of occupation and career planning where a person must belong. RCPS also prepared a fivepart Career Talk informing the students about different courses that

AKRO initiates changes

hile there may be previous records about the initiation rites victims in different Law schools, the Alpha Kappa Rho (AKRO) otherwise chose to challenge the norms as it lent a hand to the FCLNHS administrators to revamp the school’s facilities in commemoration of the annual “Brigada Eskwela” last May 25-26. The 1973’s long-running fraternity AKRO played a part on this year’s “Brigada Eskwela” not to appeal to students to perform this extremely desirable perception that is hazing, but to overhaul the facilities in preparation for the school opening. There are mounting calls for the Law institutions to do more about bringing justice to certain students who are profoundly subjected to such

in college that have been clearly answered by their members. On the closing remarks, Jimenez awarded certificates to Danica Mae Serrano, SSG President, Mr. Michael Santos, Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Loida Hilario, Head Teacher IV - Math and Mr. Edgardo J. Mendoza, Principal III.

APPROVED! Mr. Edgardo J. Mendoza, Principal III, as he unlocks the ceremony by delivering his opening remarks.

To diverge the notion on fraternities by Jazmin Ariane DG. Senon

started with Engr. Ivy Mar J. Ramos in the field of Engineering, Mr. Greg Saclot in Business Education, Ms. Angelyn C. DyTioco in Home Economics/ HRM courses, Mr. Arvin Pagsibigan in computer-related courses and Dr. Remigio R. Musca in Teaching Profession. At the end of the career talk, RCPS let the students throw some questions in making the step toward their future

misdemeanors. The families of the victims, Marvin Reglos, a San Beda College Law student, Andre Marcos from the same school, are now petitioning for fairness. Parents, teachers and students including different clubs are united together to create huge differences in school’s image. Volunteers were tasked to clean all the facilities as the Brigada started, bringing “Bayanihan” in the school. This Brigada has an objective to encourage the students to continue studying by means of giving them a place conducive to learning. Having the purpose of making a unity in the school, participants painted some parts of each facility with one common color green. At the end of the program, the school is now geared up to welcome new students.

SURVEY NEWS Students are much indulgent with internet

Students crap books by Liza May A. Alcantara

7 percent of the Lipanians said that they usually rely on the internet for certain information than books according to the survey conducted last October 7. To know what must be the appropriate guide for students in finding answers to some questions, FCLNHS conducted a survey on “Books vs. Internet.” Almost all of the students casted their vote to the internet saying that it is more efficient than books. Some of the students stated that internet connects people from all over the world. In addition, it is very useful to research news, entertainment and everything you could

imagine. A lot of them said that we needed to move forward through technology and using internet is more reliable. In line with this, Jazmin Ariane Senon of IV-Rizal emphasized that what you could find in a book is similar to what you could have in surfing the net with just a click of a button. The survey also added that most of the students use computers to find the answers whether it has something to do with education or not. Nowadays, there is a fact that it is much easier to access the internet. However, few have said that they still like to have bits of information from books despite technological breakthroughs.

October - December 2012

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The Garden Chronicle

Santos leads the future by Jazmin Ariane DG. Senon

Skabeche band lead vocalist Mike Santos led the way for third year students in decisive preparation for greater challenges they’ll be drawn against by conducting a career guidance seminar from September to October. The said seminar seeks to keep the students in picture to choose the right job that will soon dictate their future and thus, making them aware of the courses they are to choose as they enter college and the world of work. “With this, students are now more competent with the field they prefer,” Santos, the school’s guidance counselor, highlighted.

The seminar lasted up to two months because of the recurrent school brownouts causing an intricate schedule change. According to Santos it was hard for him to deal with the situation, “I had to use generator to use the projector and to get the perfect timing in knowing when the electricity will be restored is another burden.” It started four years ago and has since been done annually. The feedbacks Santos received have been quite good as he maintained, “It is evident that the students are really into the workforce and indulgent with the activity.”

Aquino vows resolution to stop media killings by Christian B. Dechosa

resident Benigno Aquino III appealed to the judiciary for smooth-sailing court trials that involve media killings as the country commemorates the third anniversary of the unfortunate November 23, 2009 Maguindanao Massacre, where 32 journalists and media practitioners were brutally killed. The Aquino administration assured during a media gathering in Tagaytay that its resolution remains firm and that it aims to pursue the case “with vigor”. Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda asserted that one shall “not say that the Aquino administration has no interest in this case. In fact, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, who was previously the chair of the Commission on Human Rights, has been determined to see this case through” and that the administration wants the case to “move faster” although there are certain technicalities involved. Moreover, Lacierda is convinced that a live coverage of the Maguindanao Massacre trial would have made the public even more aware of how the government responds with the issue. However, Ampatuan claimed that a public trial would deprive him of his rights as a human to equal protection and as-

Int’l studes subjected to racism by Christian B. Dechosa

elbourne, Australia-International students occupy about half of the cleaning workforce, and a new report evinces that they are being subjected to bullying, racism, and sexual harassment. Speaking forth in Melbourne at the launch of a report into overseas students working as cleaners, Dr. Helen Szoke said that they were susceptible to various racism crimes as they often refuse to accept that they have the same rights as Australian workers. In an interview conducted by The United Voice to 40 overseas students working as cleaners, it found that they are – more often than not – underpaid and afraid of their service providers who employ them. As per United Voice branch secretary Jess Walsh, they only receive as low as $17 per hour. The report also found international students were more likely to endure sadistic behavior and racism than their colleagues. The same report says overseas students may also be falling victim to “sham contracting” that could cost them up to $250 a week in pay and entitlements. Likewise, Walsh said visiting students working to support their own necessities were encountering the “wrong kind of culture – one of rip-offs, racism, abuse and bullying”. Ms. Walsh said that the Union had conducted the report in spite of small number of responses from students internationally, because of the sheer number of students in the industry. Its workplace visits had found international students comprised about half of shopping center cleaners – up from a third just two years ago. Ms. Walsh attributed the low response rate from international students to fear about talking to people, being communicative. United Voice said proprietors of shopping centers including Westfield, who utilize cleaning contractors, have to stop such exploitation.

Justice is in the interest of the stronger. Pres . Aquino speaks forth during a Media Nation Summit as he vows justice for Maguindanao massacare victims.

sumption of innocence and would further put him under psychosomatic impairment. The mass murder killed 57 civilians, 32 journalists who were on their way for live media coverage of the certificate of candidacy filing of then Buluan town Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu for governor in the 2012 national elections. “As the saying goes, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied,’ so our courts must work efficiently,” Aqui-

no said highlighting that a methodical approach must also be carried out in implementing such judicial reforms. Arguably, the authoritative Ampatuan clan is being condemned as it is allegedly the family that made this unfortunate event possible. Already, three years have passed; however, no one was being convicted, and 92 suspects were still at large, raising comparative concerns on the relatives of the victims.

Human Rights Watch, after the Palace responded in line with this, in contrast, denounced that the resolution of the case and its pace moves slower than that of a turtle, maintaining that the Aquino administration has done little to disarm and discharge militias and paramilitary forces from service three years after the massacre of 58 people by the “private army” of a powerful political clan. Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, insisted that “Three years since the horrors of the Maguindanao Massacre, the trial crawls along, half of the suspects remain at large, and the victims’ families still face threats.” He upheld that the Aquino administration does nothing but pass laws instead of “disbanding the rest of the country’s private armies.” The Committee to Protect Journalists called it as the single deadliest event for journalists in history. The clear number of journalists killed, 34 of the 58 victims, had earned it this notoriety. Over the years, innumerable media people have also been killed. Reportedly, during the reign of then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, 79 journalists were killed in the line of duty, while 10 journalists were killed during Aquino’s term, according to the Center for Media Freedom Responsibility.

DepEd eliminates illiteracy by Jazmin Ariane DG. Senon

n promoting reading and literacy among children to motivate them to learn from the lives and works of distinguished Filipinos, DepEd celebrated the annual “Araw ng Pagbasa” (Day of Reading) on the National Reading Month last November 25. The event commemorated the 20th year of the signing of Re-

Robredo by Sheryl E. Amar

he late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo has been queued up with the biggest people in history after the Malacanang bestowed him the Quezon Service Cross, the highest award that the Philippines can give to a Filipino, last November 26. 100 days after his death, the Congress approved the name of Robredo as the 5th Quezon Service Cross awardee next to four people who have been awarded after its establishment in 1946 including Carlos P. Romulo, Emilio Aguinaldo, Ramon Magsaysay, Benigno Aquino Jr. in 1951, 1956, 1957,

public Act 7165 by the late President Corazon Aquino who created the Literacy Coordinating Council, a part of former Ten-Point Basic Education Agenda, and aiming to establish the “Every Child a Reader,” Program. Araw ng Pagbasa inspires students to promote their heritage and values and make reading a shared physical and mental experience specifically among the youth who has been hooked in online activities. This also

makes

seeks to encourage elementary and secondary students in both public and private schools to participate in such activities like reading list preparation, storytelling session, readers training and readership development program. DepEd added that through the help of the parents in exposing their children to books using different ways could benefit every child to be equipped for learning.

history

2004, respectively. Upon the President’s approval, he executed a letter to the leadership of the House of Representatives in the Senate of the Philippines for Congress’ approval then a Resolution shall be enacted by each chamber concurring in the conferment of the Quezon Service Cross upon an individual. Robredo claimed this prize for his exemplary service in the country. His colleagues in Malacanang and former constituents in Naga hailed him for his “tsinelas leadership” saying that he was approachable and truly connected with common people.

Posthumous appreciation: Malacanang grants Robredo a post-mortem Quezon Service for his excellence.

SMP drives to save lighthouse by Marivic D. Javier

Light of Hope. The more than 80-year -old lighhouse in Hagonoy, is expected to be completed before Chistmas

igla Movement of the Philippines (SMP) - Bulacan chapter, has conducted a visual inspec-

4 P s

a g a i n s t

by Jovie A. Prado

tion of the more than 80-year-old lighthouse in Hagonoy last November 26. According to Alfredo Lunes, a village council man, the lighthouse stopped functioning about seven years after its solar batteries shut down. In addition to this, Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado’s last year proposal to mend the lighthouse was approved by the Regional Development Council (RDC) along with the installation of more lighthouses at the coast of Obando and Paombong. “Fishermen’s grievances

epartment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) presented in public their new project called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program/4Ps to support the needs in nutrition, health, and education of children 14 and below.

were over. The lighthouse is crucial for fishermen at night because it serves as their guide as well as a tourist attraction in case its surroundings get a face-lift,” said SMP chairman Grossman Dax Uy. He also stated that it would lead to repairing the lighthouse by granting solar batteries and lamps. The Central Luzon RDC has sent the resolution to the Malacanang about the endorsement on repairing and installing additional lighthouses and now Bulacan’s fishermen are sighting for larger development.

p o v e r t y

According to DSWD, the 4Ps’ main objective is to diminish the overflowing poverty in the country by granting monetary assistance every month to the less fortunate families. Beneficiaries of this program are said to be from Small Area Estimates, list of municipalities having high poverty incidence.

The beneficiaries were chosen via survey or the enumeration of National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction in which the formula of proxy-means test will determine the most economically-deprived families with pregnant member and have children under the said age.

Disciples entertain their masters by Aaron Andrei R. Evangelista

he youth of FCLNHS gave enjoyment for the World Teacher’s Day Program with its theme, “My Teacher, My Hero,” last October 5. Students by year level who were divided into set A and B have given out their best performances for their teachers. Speaking of best performance, senior B students took the crowd’s attention after they performed the popular dance craze, “Gangnam Style,” forcing Mr. Edgardo J. Mendoza, Principal III, to join them on stage. Aside from the talents the Lipanians showed, they also gave gifts, roses and heartfelt messages that made their teachers thankful, happy and proud. Not only the advisers and head teachers, but even the non-teaching personnel were also part of this celebration.

Cavities no more by Lanie Rose J. Luartez

epEd Dental Services visited the FCLNHS for free dental check-up to all Grade 7 students last August 22. The dentists, Gudelia Santos (Dentist II), Antonio De Leon (Dental Aid), Roberto Flores (Dental Aid), and Paulino Martin (Dentist II) served FCLNHS, one on their list of public secondary schools in Bulacan, to continuously perform their mission of giving free dental oral examination. According to Dr. Martin, they were thankful for having the live and good cooperation of the Lipanians. Moreover, almost 60 percent of the students have good and healthy teeth.

ATEC students do the ‘do by Liza May A. Alcantara

Trainees from ATEC Technological Colleges reached the FCLNHS to give free hair cut to students on select days. The ATEC students together with their trainer Francis Vista did their training at FCLNHS’ covered court for haircutting and hairstyling to improve their skills. Not only for themselves, but for students who lack time to do their hair properly. After spending a few hours on the activity, certain students enjoyed their new hair cut asking for an ‘encore’ from the ATEC apprentices. Still, a lot of students joined as the ATEC came back pulling out the same mission. FCLNHS is much honored to have become the students’ training ground as the opportunity to showcase the school’s ability to supervise potential state haircutters that could unlock major breaks towards developing campus facilities has been given to the school. It also gives the less fortunate students who cannot afford paying up to 50php for a restyling a chance to take pleasure in amateur haircutting.

FCLNHS pushes program to wresTLE diseases by Honeylette O. Gulfo

CLNHS commemorated the 38th Nutrition Month under the theme “Pagkain ng Gulay Ugaliin, Araw-araw Itong Ihain” to promote the nutritional and health benefits of vegetables through different activities and programs last July 27. The theme of this celebration encourages the community to be involved on their goal to establish an increased consumption of vegetables for preventing non-communicable diseases to spread. For this purpose, the school has set three competitions in connection with good nutrition such as: cooking contest “Experimental Fish Dish” with the winners, Rina Litte Ang (1st place), Amiela Grace Amador (2nd place), Erlynne Mae Tamsi (3rd place), “Quiz bee” – Christian Santiago (1st), Kevin Bunag (2nd), Sweet Cherry Ann Catindig (3rd), and “Poster Making Contest” – Fernan Gan (1st), Ellen Moore Delocanog (2nd), and Rodel Rizza (3rd). The school has also provided a feeding program for select Grade 7 students giving them the right nutrition in order to have a healthy body.

E D I T O R I A L

Limb from limb

The Garden Chronicle

Gnashing my teeth

ust recently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) pushed a recycling campaign it dubbed “National Ecosavers Program (NEP)” which will involve public school students to preserve waste materials and change them into more efficient resources, where they will take the initiative and receive substantial benefits from their cost-effective efforts. This program basically aims to alleviate the deteriorating mountains of trash our country generates per year, about 36,172.50 tons of waste that is! A program of the DENR, DepEd, DILG, MMDA, and the Galing Pook Foundation, the NEP will first be executed in about 700 public elementary and high schools in Metro Manila in hopes of trimming down the 8,000 tons of garbage engendered by schools and homes within the NCR. Students who partake in this activity will receive school supplies or even cash, and will each be issued Ecosavers Club Passbook in which they will be given comparable points for whatever they recycle. The DENR has so far allocated P50 million for the program’s rollout as an onset for the campaign to be embraced by several stakeholders all over Metro Manila. The program is cause-oriented, however, the fact that it’s only a locally Metro-wide campaign accounts for the government to advocate other officials around the country to do the same. Although Metro

Manila produces a fourth of Philippine garbage, there are several regions in the Philippines needing further concern. Recycling efforts in certain communities and municipalities involving public and private schools have surfaced already in the Philippines, in contrast, a quarter of those programs has relatively become a “ningas kugon” practice. The annual Brigada Eskwela, for instance, although observed yearly, still it is not a good activity that will merely assuage the waste crisis our country is going through and cater to every student as not everybody feels the need to chip in on helping clean the school premises. Why? Because it is self-seeking, the program itself doesn’t contribute to the execution of what we call “profitable waste management.” Where will the waste emitted by the school be? Not all schools utilize recycling machines as those waste materials produced by the students are comparatively biodegradable, thus not recyclable. The recipient of this program is centered solely on some students if not all who, so to speak, instigate and provoke other students to infringe on school prohibitions by throwing wastes everywhere. It is almost like Mother Nature reimbursing us with something we worked hard for, recycling household waste. Do students really deserve it? Do students really need grease on their palms to do something ecological? Perhaps the next pace that must be considered is making expan-

sions out of it for example, stiffening the private-public schools relationship so that the NEP will be widely embraced. The NEP is a very excellent idea to be only confined within the vicinity of Metro Manila and the public schools, just try to envisage the benefits the entire country will get after nationally implementing this program. Not only will the students be the ultimate beneficiaries of this program but even the government, the Filipino people in general, and Mother Nature itself. Some people say that the stakeholders of this program should squarely take into consideration the fiscal situation of the Philippines as it will cost the government too much for the production of machineries that will be used for recycling junks. On the other hand, at the end of the day, it is the government that will scheme ways to attain its goal for the betterment of the environment. A way suggested is “alleviating corruption,” right, because there are always subsidies reserved for major government brackets such as DENR, DepEd and what have you, unless, erroneously feasted. This program, NEP, is en route to a larger progress while at the same time encouraging students to do the same. With the students being its key recipients, NEP is inclined to do what’s best for the slowly degenerating society. The young it carries and the others undecided will remain undecided unless given much enlightenment. And the rest will follow.

Smoking, no longer exchangeable for a grain of salt

axing sin products is justifiable, or so they say. But taxing them at the expense of cutting the spiraling federal deficit, however, is debatable. With a designated price of S$9.20 per pack of cigarette, Singapore can never hold a candle to the Philippines in terms of intricate tax system, not to unfairly belittle our government system itself, you read on and be the judge. A data hoarded by two smokers who put up a website exclusively for the prices of a 20-cigarette pack of Marlboros from all over the world articulates that the cheapest cigarettes can be found in Zimbabwe at $0.60, then in the Philippines at $0.80 (near second), tied alongside Hunan, China and in Pakistan at $1. To be more coherent, a brief survey I have conducted about Marlboro packs traded in Plaridel says, according to the town’s footpath vendors I asked, that a five-piece sachet is priced at P7 to P10, depends on which brand you use; a ten-piece pack is priced at P20 to P25; a flip-top pack ranging from P41 to P50. Through the Philippines’ “tingi” system, cigarettes become much easier to be accessed, which is why the anti-tobacco advocates are petitioning for higher sin taxes. Smoking is one precarious platform of enjoyment and relaxation, I agree, and we all know that its adverse effects may lead to swollen hospital bills or even worse, death – it isn’t a bliss when you try to quit. You cannot simply chastise a smoker to stop smoking and expect a quick response. It critically needs a massive change in habit which can start with the implementation of the Sin Tax Bill. A bill which levies major taxes on sin products and thus, making them even more expensive and less accessible to the poor and teenagers. The government believes that this will be the only way to force the smokers, especially pubescent and prepubescent ones, to cut down on this vice and put it to a full stop. This law, in

“It is accurate that the word ‘freedom” is reiterated six times in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, but that does not necessarily give us freedom to abuse freedom.”

ith numerous Bills being continuously ratified by the Philippine government, a minor one to be formally singled out will just come as a fluke. And with such instances, it seems as if every Senator is only giving his political spectrum a face-lift to be commendably called as a “good political leader”. Republic Act No. 10175 dubbed as “The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012”, or popularly known today as the Cybercrime Law was signed by President Aquino on September 12, 2012, a bill which mandates people who post defamatory criticisms will end up behind bars thus, making them accountable for what they do or write over the Internet. The core definition of the word “democracy” has been universally defined as “freedom” since ancient times, a deep-seated imperative the Philippines lost possession of during the Marcos dictatorship and was recouped by its catalyst, the then-President Cory Aquino, a widow of Ninoy Aquino who also fought for freedom all his life. And as a President whose parents were both advocates of freedom, Noynoy must have been ashamed of sanctioning the Cybercrime Law

October - December 2012

“Alcohol drinking hides behind a sheer picture of contrived enjoyment”

T Bartering recyclables into school supplies, profitable for minority students

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Rizza A. Evardone contrast, requires more sanctions from several sectors, be it public or private. With this piece of legislation, tobaccos will no longer be sold through “tingi” but through “pakete,” something that encumbers many teenagers under the legal age to purchase one, therefore compelling them to mitigate such awful habit. Not that the only target of the Sin Tax Bill is merely smoking, though. It includes gambling, alcohol drinking on the list, to be fair. While we still don’t know which bill deserves to be extolled, the one authored by Senator Miriam Santiago or the one authored by Senator Ralph Recto, we needn’t debase our flair through getting the hang of either bill. Alcohol drinking hides behind a sheer picture of contrived enjoyment, however, its latent health benefits are what impede our government to put it on a smooth sailing thoroughfare. There are many undocumented cases of persons under the influence of alcohol who collapsed in the streets because of intoxication. Alcoholism is an emergent concern in the social and culture life of our country. The government professes the bill to be a health measure – meaning it’s aimed to discourage and curtail the prevalence of smoking in the Philippines, but what the government is keeping under wraps is that this health measure will also amount to massive expansions in government revenues so critical for it to push many health programs including the 2013 elections. Although the sin tax bill’s very aim is to safeguard us from the perils of smoking and drinking, the President being its principal endorser is not just doing it right, heightening the government revenues is not profusely “matuwid.”

Felizardo C. Lipana National High School Sta. Rita, Guguinto, Bulacan

Editorial Board 2012-2013 Aljohn L. De Leon Editor-in-Chief Billy V. Soriano Associate Editor Christian B. Dechosa News

Less accessible, more responsible

Julius C. Ramos Sports Joanne DC. Malasa Feature

Tim Claude A. Pineda which – according to its many proponents – curtails our freedom of speech and expression, something that contradicts what his parents push for. Now the tentative questions being raised by state commentators: What prompted the government to set the Cybercrime Law in motion? Did the Philippine government detract from its oath? Or did it choose what a custom democratic government should not do? Neither or either? In the Philippines, internet use is among the most free and uninhibited in the world with a score of 23 points in a report where a score of zero means “most free” and 100 means “least free” placing the country 6th out of 47 countries in the “Freedom of the Net 2012” list and just the only country in Asia deemed so. The South Korea was parked at a distant second with a score of 34 points, along with India, 39 points; Indonesia, 42 points; and Malaysia, 43 points. And nevertheless, we can still hear many Filipinos clamoring for freedom… on a daily basis. Due to continuous petitions questioning its legality and constitutionality, the Supreme Court (SC) issued a 120-day Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) on the law. Shortsighted citizens say that it is half-baked soliciting the SC to formally hand down its decisions by articulating its unlawfulness, whereas intuitive citizens deem it “not well thought-out” for the reason that it gives irresponsibility a way to prevail more protractedly. It is more fun in the Philippines; only in the Philippines can you oddly see youths throw-

ing insults and harsh profanities at the government, where the perks of living in a free country come every day. What freedom are the Filipinos actually eager for? It is accurate that the word ‘freedom” is reiterated six times in the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, but that does not necessarily give us freedom to abuse freedom. As freedom has its limits. “Ang ating kalayaan at demokrasya ay dapat may kaakibat na pagmamalasakit at responsibilidad.” [Our freedom and democracy should have corresponding compassion and responsibility], an infamous quote excerpted from the speech of then-Philippine Senator Benigno Aquino Jr., father of the incumbent President. One of the Law’s provisions being strongly complained about is the “E-Libel” saying that its general scope violates civil liberties and thus, generally silencing the government critics and the modern-day Mosquito Press. The legislature, however, assured that the law has been revised carefully and thoroughly, that it sees no unconstitutional provision in it. In contrast, as blatantly stated above, you can still be able to toss censures at the government notwithstanding the entire legislation but at the same time abridging the censorious statements, for instance insulting PNoy’s baldness, poking fun because of his age and so on. It is okay to have dissimilar views and opinions, but educating one another should also be taken into account.

The Philippines’ constitutional laws cannot be trimmed improperly – or other state laws thereof. A law’s implications can either be minimal or detrimental or both, it might suddenly create a firm joint to trigger a country’s downfall well-cooked. In the USA, there are legislations with the very same concept that attempted to surmount over the whole state. The Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) which mutually seek to potentially change the cyberspace negatively not as we know it. Whilst the Obama administration has come out against SOPA, effectively putting it on hold indefinitely, the justabout similar PIPA bill is still animate and well. The prime root of these petitions stems from a lack of communications and enlightenment from both parties. It is utterly important to remember that both the opponents and proponents of the Cybercrime Law have legitimate concerns, whichever side you are on, please consider encouraging a conversation that will move us towards change that is good for everyone rather than extreme measures that won’t help anyone. Freedom should not be abused; it should be preserved for future use. “The liberty of man consists solely in this, that he obeys natural laws because he has himself recognized them as such, and not because they have been externally imposed upon him by an extrinsic will whatever, divine or human, collective or individual.” – Mikhail Bakunin

Amiela Grace P. Amador Jolina G. Pacheco Photojournalists Marvin B. Belen Cartoonist Liza May A. Alcantara, Iveta T. Alonzo, Sheryl E. Amar, Arlyn E. Bacolod, Cristian E. delos Santos, Aaron Andrei R. Evangelista, Rizza A. Evardone, Garegima Zyrene M. Gatdula, Honeylette O. Gulfo, Marivic D. Javier, Jennyfer B.Lllanza, Lanie Rose J. Luartez, Jan Paula Marie T. Macayan, Tim Claude A. Pineda, John Hely R. Parungao, Jovie A. Prado, Ace C. Ramos, Jazmine Ariane DG. Senon, John David R. Surio, Jeremy A. Tuazon Writers Joanna Marie C. Billones Adviser Antifas R. Reyes,Ph. D. Head Teacher III - English Department Edgardo J. Mendoza Principal III Leticia T. Alcantara EPS-I (English) Edna Santos-Zerrudo Ed. D., CESO V Schools Division Superintendent

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“The highbrow discipline of quoting sources and references is in fact known only by those who have gone through the laborious method of research as in the case of writing a thesis.”

Miming the vintage paradigm

Reflections

(Loida D. Hilario – Head Teacher IV Mathematics Dept.)

Sheryl E. Amar

t is an indubitable fact that the internet has made plagiarizing much easier – students actually believe it is morally acceptable. Most students have clung – and are clinging – on Google for their term papers through the copy-paste function on the computer. This lazy, morally offensive, lethargic and unethical practice has become a social norm within our industry. There are attempts to forestall this intellectual dishonesty but the upshots of these endeavors have eyed unfeasibility. Plagiarism, that old-age con, is back in the news. The stalwart RH bill opponent Senator Vicente Sotto III threw himself on the hot water after allegedly purloining the lengthy part of his turno en contra speech from Robert F. Kennedy’s “Day of Affirmation” speech in Africa in 1966. Shortly after hearing the news, the public media resorted to hear Senator’s side. Sotto maintained that he and blogger Sarah Pope (a US-based home economist’s blog author who called him out for plagiarism) were quoting the very same book by Dr. Campbell-McBride. The transcript of the senator’s speech, however, evidenced that the passage under debate matched Pope’s original entry – right down to punctuation faults. “You have a blog, it is meant to

On the skids

The Garden Chronicle

be shared, it’s in the public domain, so it’s not plagiarism,” the senator claimed with swollen pride. There is for sure skill in plagiarizing well, just as there a skill in forging a well-known painting, or a well-written blog entry, or an informative and instructive news article. To be a practiced plagiarist is a backbreaking vocation. It is surprisingly uncomplicated to detect signs of plagiarism from observing changes in writing style and vocabulary. It is then easy to prove plagiarism by skimming original sources, Google sources and many more. Plagiarism is a fundamental offense against the very principles of academic integrity. Literary theft, as it is on the same context as plagiarism, was not always considered as a legal issue, a crime – well at least not until writers have started making a living out of their pens – and readers outside the unkempt and airtight quarters care little about it. Moreover, today’s ambiance presents an especially advantageous climate for plagiarism to blossom very well. Writing fees have plummeted in the past few years, and book publishers, never mind originalities, despite a series of indignities, shamelessly make slight effort to police veracity. Ideas, astoundingly, are also considered as personal property of an individual, which is why there is a dire necessity to acknowledge your sources where you lifted your brilliant ideas from. Plagiarism is not a skill; it is a form of burglary wherein you take pleasure from someone’s work without giving them fair credit they deserve. And be forewarned that there is also

a contrivance for you to be detected. When you graduated with flying honors from a run-after university because of your well-written depravedly plagiarized thesis, you wouldn’t feel as blissful since you have committed a crime just for your own well-being, would you? Yet, after all, the highbrow discipline of quoting sources and references is in fact known only by those who have gone through the laborious method of research as in the case of writing a thesis. This makes the majority of this article’s audience suspect about the qualifications and yardsticks set by the government through selecting a government official whose work greatly involves inputs from other documents, because the standard is rationed to the citizenry of every candidate, age, and his longevity on this field of work. We are living in a financially viable world. You, I, we need to eat. There is a rather lower minimum bar for our conduct. But as creators, as artists, as mere people of our government, we can each pick where we put our artistic energy. Give yourself restrictions so you purposely do not replicate the work of others and claim it as yours. Rebuild your opuses from that small project, borrowing elements one at a time from the entire width of its history. There is still time to create a new boulevard for originality and uniqueness Senator Sotto needs to look ahead. Whether what he did was on purpose or not, the act was in fact committed. There is no amount of excuse which will justify the deed of claiming a person’s intelligent thought as his.

“The condition for citizenship is to be born in that soil or a free choice of swearing to adhere to its Constitution. Nothing more and nothing less.”

The more we anticipate, the less we get Billy V. Soriano

hat makes the United States great? According to the newly reelected President, it is not the vast resources or a great army for anything else but the willingness of its people to sacrifice for each other. It was a closely contested election in which the margin was only about a million votes based on a total vote of over a hundred million. He had to answer for the conduct of the past four years. It is also a nation, not based on ethnicity but on theoretical principles of how to live as a nation in the TV panning of the crowds that attended the conversation in Chicago as well as those in Boston, there appeared on the screen white, black and other ethnic features side by side. The condition for citizenship is to be born in that soil or a free choice of swearing to adhere to its Constitution. Nothing more and nothing less. Within 24 hours after the polls were closed, Gov. Romney called Pres. Obama to concede the elections and congratulate him. No bitterness even after spending enormous efforts, re-

sources and emotions. One can see the difficulty of swallowing such a bitter pill. It was not easy for the vanquished but once defeat was apparent, it was accepted, crying on the inside but smiling on the outside. I wonder, when can we achieve that here in our country? Maybe we never will, but it is an ideal. The 2012 US election was in good measure an evaluation of the leadership of Pres. Obama. Did he fulfill the promises made during the 2008 election? Or at least to what extent was there a valid effort to fulfill them? The challenger, Gov. Romney, had a lot of vague proposals and targeted whose arithmetic did not add up. There was the challenge of change. But will a new comer be better than the old cog in accomplishing the change that will create prosperity and jobs for the millions in the nation? Pres. Obama chose the economic path of quantitative easing or pumping money into the economy rather than the austerity measures of Europe. But the strange arithmetic of macroeconomics is that the debt that will not have to be paid as long as the country can service its debt and other trust its integrity to try to pay the debt when it can. The big advantage of this is that the human resources that get extinguished were utilized. What advantages can we possibly see coming in the future? In many years now, we have been hear-

ing bleak news about the Philippines profiting from the U.S economy. Much more with the BCRs, the largest economies we will no way overpower. For instance, the naval standoff we successfully (alas!) surpassed against the China government, which is now endeavoring to enact a property tax expansion, the largest economy. Where was the USA, the country the Philippines has long rubbed shoulders with, during that today-let’s-consider crisis? As maintained by US secretary of State Hillary Clinton, although Washington still remains committed o Philippine security, the U.S will never “take sides” in the country’s then-maritime standoff in South China Sea. You have to take into account how risky it is to have a broad social, fiscal contact with the biggest economies in the world for we’ll be taken advantage. Many Filipinos have expressed delight right after the re-election of Pres. Obama has circulated around the internet, and the television. One could argue how nonsensical it is for us Filipinos to feel as blissful, but in which virtue? Since we will never benefit from anything the US has to offer, we need not keep our mouths unbolted. That is America, around its grips is a larger economy waiting for monetary assistance, and the Philippines is a diminutive state emanating from greater winds of the unplanned. What happens in America happens in America and we are no way getting any advantage from it.

OPINION POLL What do you think about the Cybercrime Law? How young bloods think

agree with the law as it’s not, in my own understanding, pro-elitists. I, too, am not into the elitists who think that people who do not fit the communal standards are below them. As a victim of cyberbullying, I long for the law’s passage. Our freedom is bounded, though. We are not always allowed to be hypercritical in affairs involving the government. – Edmerson C. Ramiro IV-Rizal

l i k e s

172

Total Sample: 500 randomly selected students from different levels

d i s l i k e s

328

utting this bill into law equates to bringing our freedom to standstill. Obviously, this bill was passed without thorough revision by the Congress. We are living in a democratic country, after all, that manages to acquire a higher economic position without the Cybercrime law for so long. Go figure. – Michael B. Hernandez IV-Bonifacio

As for God, His way is perfect! Psalm 18:30

LET GOD CHOOSE Let God choose for you, it will be the right decision. Let God guide you, it will be the right direction. Let God plan for you, it will be in the right timing. Let God measure for you, it will be the right portion. Let God help you, it will be the right care. Let God instruct you, it will be the right teaching. Let God prepare you, it will be the right training. Let God counsel you, it will be the right perspective. Let God fight for you, it will be the right outcome. Let God work in you, it will be the right result.

The word of the LORD is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in Him. May His peace fill your life and guard your heart and may his love keep you in all your ways. (Numbers 6:24-26)

The Republican Marcelo H. Del Pilar NHS City of Malolos

Warm blood

October - December 2012

EXCHANGE EDITORIAL The Anti-Epal Bill Ana Monica Roque

ecently, the “Anti-Epal Bill” has sparked quite a significant stir among Filipinos. “Epal” meaning show-off, now refers to various politicians who have prematurely begun a sort of subtle campaigns but through bombastic and extravagant means like fragrantly appearing in greeting tarpaulins, and also pasting their names on boards and banners of government funded projects. These said politicians, being targeted by the bill, are truly like pests of our society and age that would fester us if not quash in due time. Politicians have the right to promote themselves but only during the designated campaign period, if fair play is to be laid out. However,

some of them, for some dire reasons discard the concept of these perceived fairness and they cleverly outsmart the law. If they are to prematurely distribute campaign materials, they shall fall due to his rigors of the law surrounding this bill, but if they are to publish materials like banners that say: “Happy Fiesta!” From Mayor…” or “Congratulations to Johny Cruz for Passing the Nursing Board Exam! From Congressman …” they can do so since the material holds externally speaking no bit of campaign, but internally it does. These politicians have thus bypassed the rule. With the coming elections, it is not hard to spot epal posters in the vicinity. If the “Anti-Epal Bill” would not be enforced swiftly, the rules of campaigning would become useless and sadly defunct. Politicians of this deplorable stature would multiply and multiply. Thus, if fair play still holds meaning to us, it is more than high time to have it passed!

Letter to the Editor

To the editor, The fast-growing cases of bullying really call for a greater amount of understanding. And as a student, I fear that I might be the next victim. Bullying stems from lack of discipline and of parental assistance. I have recently read an article about the bullying cases in the Philippines and I was alarmed that among ten Filipino students, three of which are victims. I know that there is a law prohibiting such mischief but I think the low-cost fines must be hoisted higher. In addition, bullying – once inflicted – can be very lethal given the fact that, as per my Biology teacher, victims will be at risk of stress-related illnesses and suffer emotional and behavioral problems. I really hope that our school can disseminate information on how dangerous bullying is and further plot ways to stop it. And I also look forward to the assurance of security for minority students so they may no longer live in fear. Respectfully yours, Mark Dave A. Lorenzo, III-Gold Dear Mark Dave, We are gratified to know that students like you are inclined to expedite the solution in response with the dire problem besetting not only our school authorities but your fellow students as well. We agree that propagating information can also reduce this dilemma, or better yet, stop it. Also, we are aware of the psychological illnesses it may bring to the unfortunate subject – that the school, in line with this, is now scheming inventive ways to fully bring to a standstill the bullying cases that plague the wider society. As for the assurance of security, the school is now in the works to proliferate school guards and sentries for a tighter security. Thank you for writing! The Editor

The Garden Chronicle

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October - December 2012

READ ME by Arlyn E. Bacolod

“I cdn’uolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg: the phaonmneel pweor of the hmuan mnid, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porblem. This is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Scuh a cdonition is arppoiaptrely cllaed Typoglycemia.

Miles Away Amzanig huh?

“If you want to go to school, then you have to build your room.” by Gurong Pahinungod 2003

I am on my tenth year of teaching now. Time is undoubtedly fleeting. It’s the second semester already and this school year will be over soon. With almost ten years in the classroom, I still consider myself a neophyte. The endless challenges I face in all my classes in a day make me feel like a beginner. Every year, every class, every student has their own needs. A great amount of patience and dedication is highly needed to still live another day and be with them again. I never dreamed of becoming a teacher though. I loved Math ever since I started to know numbers. And I’ve got great Math teachers as well, that had been influential in my future plans. I am deeply grateful for being one of their students. Their influence would surely last a lifetime. So I thought I’m going to be an engineer or an accountant one day where a lot of playing with numbers is, as I call it. However, never did it happen as years passed. I believe God has better plans for me so I am at the moment contemplating on what to write and share His plans. Thinking back, I was a

teacher volunteer in a remote school in an island. I was a newly grad then with all the worries as to what will happen next because I was very much welcome to the field of unemployment. With Someone, I believe is maneuvering where shall I go, I qualified to be a teacher volunteer in one of the programs of my Alma Mater despite the lack of training in education. The volunteers had signed for a one-year contract with training in education inclusive. And that was when my career in the teaching profession was born. I am already miles away from that first school where I taught but everything seems to have happened only yesterday. My mental faculties would dictate as to how this first year experience had paved the way to my teaching career. It was truly a bumpy road as what beginners would experience. Yet everything made me realize how the real world of teaching goes. A fresh grad as I am, filled with idealism at hand, I was caught off-guard with what I saw in my area of assignment. With almost five hundred students, there were only three concrete classrooms and one makeshift. Students were bringing bamboos and nipa on the first day of school. They were to make their own classrooms! If you

Haiku Haiku by Billy V. Soriano Buried in the past Words written in modern times Art resurrected

Beautiful Touches by Iveta T. Alonzo Fresh air touches my skin Feeling the freshness That blows in my ears Limitations and eternity by Billy V. Soriano Pine trees and fractals Notice any difference? That is hate and love

Friendship by Arlyn E. Bacolod A true treasure grows It brings cold breeze Just hold tight and never let go

Revealing Darkness by Jennyfer B. Llanza One peaceful cold night Light suddenly appears Comes with hopes and dreams

Thefemale optimus prime

by Joanne DC. Malasa “This is a big challenge for me,” Ms. Marites P. San Agustin, or sweeTHES as called by her friends, emphasized before leaving her home, FCLNHS, which she served for seventeen years. Spending long time of her life as a teacher, giving service, sharing knowledge and developing students’ skills, she now claimed a wonderful success being promoted from Head Teacher III to a new principal of Pritil Elementary School (PES). According to Ms. San Agustin, this promotion takes more and bigger responsibilities that added fear on her side. Though she will leave, she is also happy knowing that there is a new family waiting for her. Speaking of changes, she quoted, “Being a leader, the improvement and the future of the school are in your hands.” She only used to supervise one department and also noted that as a principal, replacing the officer-in-charge Mrs. Maryjane L. Locsin, getting this job is not to change PES but to continue what the former principals have started. Having her few hours with the Lipanians, Ms. San Agustin said that she would surely miss all the teachers, the people behind the Science activities who have given their time and especially her mentor, Mr. Edgardo J. Mendoza, Principal III, whom she treated as a father and a good leader. “I will do my best to continue our mission for the sake of education,” Ms. San Agustin stated as she shared the joy of her success. As is Optimus Prime, a valiant, powerful, wise and compassionate leader who puts his flair to use improving the universe around him and portrayed as having a strong sense of justice and virtuosity and has dedicated himself to the protection of all life, particularly the inhabitants of Earth, Ms. Marites provided evidences that her lifestyle has been acclimatized with that of Optimus Prime’s, putting her flair to use herself to bequeath quality education among her students and having a strong sense of responsibility to all the tasks given to her. “It has been an honor serving with you all,” was what Optimus Prime said addressing his troops before their next battle where he plans to sacrifice himself against overwhelming odds – almost the same statement delivered by Ms. San Agustin before bidding adieu to the students and faculty. She truly is the female optimus prime!

want to go to school, then you have to build your room. It seemed to be the rule way back then. It was truly a day to remember. As I try to sleep that night, I came to realize how great those students were. They never thought the cruelty of the situation that was going on. All I saw in them was enthusiasm, the eagerness to have a classroom and sit comfortably inside it with someone to teach them. This had been my daily motivation to come to their classes and teach given limited resources that the school can offer. Thinking of the classroom that I have now, I know that I am in a better environment. This institution had shown me a different world. A substantial number of classrooms houses almost three thousand students. There are ample school facilities to cater the needs of both the students and teachers. One thing that lifted my spirit is the presence of science laboratory. I am a science teacher and classroom instruction would be incomplete if a laboratory is missing. Science learning is fun with hands-on activities and experiments helping the students understand every concept being presented in class. Two years ago I had enrolled in a graduate program seeing the need for professional

development. This widens my horizon and understanding about the recent pedagogy. As I learned a lot from my schooling, I started to understand the nature of my learners. We are in the 21st century and our students are the 21st century learners. How are they different from the rest of the learners before? What do we know about our learners today? With the fast-paced technological development comes the surge of gadgets, cellphones, computers and other electronic devices. The use of these equipment becomes the trend of today’s generation. Thus, a high percentage of the country’s population, young and old, owns one, if not all, of the mentioned devices. The way of living, nowadays, is highly influenced by these technological advancements. As such, our learners today are known to de digital learners or digital natives. They were born surrounded with electronic gadgets, computers and cellphones and they grew with them as well. Knowing the learners and their interests would greatly affect their motivation to learn. This is an issue I always encounter in my daily routine as a teacher. Motivating my students is an endless challenge as long as I am inside the

classroom. Gone are the days where students just sit down, listen and write during classes. Students are more interested in social networks, computers and cellphones. Integrating these in classroom instruction would surely catch their attention. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) now plays protagonist inside the classroom. Teachers need to acquire the skill of ICT integration for the teaching-learning process to become more effective. So how do we call ourselves? We are now the digital immigrants. We are trying to live a lifestyle wherein the digital natives had grown with. See? I am definitely miles away from where I had started - from makeshift classrooms to concrete ones, computers, projectors, gadget – free environment to a digital one and students who need less motivations to students who require more. My ten years in teaching had greatly shown an evolution in the pedagogy. Ten years in the making of how to become effective in class. I know this does not end here. I still have a long journey to go. As I come to school every day, I still ask the question, do I know how to deal with my digital learners?

I love Mother Nature by Garegima Zyrene M. Gatdula I hate nature just as much as I loathe reality. I long for the demise of the Earth. I detest the land I live in. I want everybody to die. I want Mother Nature to drench in hell. Hell seems like a cool place. I have always wanted to pay it a quick visit. You may think I am crazy to set high hopes for the primacy of Mephistopheles in the human planet. The planet that gave us lives, the planet that gave us an ample chance to get pleasure from anything – which by its great virtue – existed. As I satisfy myself with egocentricity, I wonder. I wonder why you are laughing at me. I wonder why people dare laugh at somebody who stands for negativity, a place where they subconsciously stood, too. I want to hear Mother Nature cry its eyes out, but so do you. Everytime you breathe, you obliterate the Earth in small doses. As you are reading this article, you are emitting pollutants. So you see – your hypocrisy is what’s laughable, the cloak you are wearing does not make me less of a human being. A human being who spoils the environment, a human being who means nothing but harm and a human being who doesn’t deserve to be called as one. Oblivious to reality, your everyday practices contribute critically for the fulfillment of these disconcerting avowals. Do you know how harmful a mere candy wrapper is to the Earth? Do you realize how detrimental it is to cut down trees? How many laws did you break today? Can you count

them with your two hands? Or both your feet? Where did you throw that lollipop stick you were holding earlier? How many times did you hurl profanities at your teacher who scolded you? How many times did you ride jeepneys as a medium of transportation? Why didn’t you use a bike instead? Because you will wear yourself out? When you were thinking about draining your energy, did you think about Earth’s too? How many times did you pick a santan and sip its sap? How many times did you pick a certain flower to determine whether he loves you, he loves you not? These indolent practices stem largely from lack of discipline, insufficient information, environment and patriarchal guidance. In contrast, the government officials who feign blindness might as well develop the customary statute of laws for well-developed surroundings we dwell in. Who might have thought that the Philippines generates over 36,172.50 tons of waste per year? That startling fact speaks for itself. Among the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, there is a marked range generation per capita. Malaysia, with a population of 22 million, generated an estimated 5,475,000 tons of solid waste. This is about 0.68 kg per capita/ day in 2001. This was comparative to Singapore’s 5,035,415 tons of waste in the same year. However, Singapore’s per capita waste generation is even bigger because it has a population of only 4,452,700. Provided that, judging by those bigger than life numbers, I have come to a conclusion that there is an uncontrollable urge for the people to

release waste materials. I know that it is inescapable but the fact that the majority of governments across the world tend to overlook these crisis is beyond my reckoning threshold. I haven’t questioned anybody about how determined they are as human beings, not for sheer citizenry, but as a person alone. But this time I have gained enough courage to ask you, what contributions have you done that you think the environment will benefit from? If you haven’t done anything, do you still consider yourself as a human being? We are living in a rebellious world, where teenagers carry themselves in a different kind of way. Where teenagers snivel because the internet has been cut, where teenagers weep because they lost connection with their crushes, where teenagers shed tears because they don’t have iPhones, where teenagers cry because they’re not allowed to join the field trip, where teenagers cry because they want to be noticed. But since pessimism has a significant contribution that pushes a person upon the avenue of discouragement, we should join the matrimony that will encourage everybody to do what’s right and let us join hands in divorcing negativity in our battle against environment deterioration. I love nature just as much as I love reality. I long for a more dynamistic Earth. I adore the land I live in. I want everybody to have a long lasting life. I want Mother Nature to drench in plumb paradise. Paradise is a cool place. I have always wanted to pay it a quick visit.

October - December 2012

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The Garden Chronicle

Upside Down by Jovie A. Prado

Our cognitive index doesn’t have the facility to think of a sentence that reads the same backward as forward, maybe it can, but not just as fast as the time-span we consume for ideological responses such as “Hello, Ma’am”, “Yes, sir” and so forth. Our mind faculty, unless a byproduct of the Elizabethan era, only has the clout to be able to understand the “tenet” between every “toot” given. The following palindromes achieved a greater value of complexity. Although ambiguous, these group of words might render you speechless and knock you for six, as well: • A nut for a jar of tuna • Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did?

• • • • • • • • • •

Hey, Roy! Am I mayor? Yeh! I did, did I? Live not on evil. Madam, in Eden I’m Adam. Name not one man. NOW NO SWIMS ON MON (upside down) Pull up if I pull up. Race fast, safe car! Top spot We panic in a pew.

Personality Sketch

Indefinable land How the word success by Joanne DC. Malasa

was coined

They are the ones in charge of crafting one’s success. But before being given licenses to do so, they undergo through many years of trainings, experiences, uphill struggles before becoming experts in their chosen field thus, pioneering us in preparation for greater challenges in life. Embarking on a certain job is irresolute. In order for us to be able to relish the savory taste of being employed, we need to have something up our sleeves – intelligence. Your boss won’t judge you by your appearance and hire you right away, although there are jobs which instantaneously employ you when you are aesthetically appealing as it’s a crucial requirement. That, however, is not how applying for a job operates. You need scholastic credentials as well as a high-ceilinged educational attainment as an extra point for you to cross the threshold of the labor force. But with the aim of conquering your fear in case of becoming deficient in such requirements, we need escorts. Escorts who will guide us in helping us reach the standards of who the company wants us to be. Escorts who will channel us into the vestibule of success. Escorts who are willing to break new ground for us to discern the beauty of the affluent doorsill. Escorts who we treat as mothers. Who are they? They are our dear teachers. With hundreds of students they come to grips with every year, teachers must have the biggest responsibilities in the whole multiverse. Having to teach many people of different genres is quite a tough task to accomplish. However, at the end of the day, knowing that you have shared at least a cupful of intellect to a single student contributes to the fulfillment of that task a teacher is longing to achieve. Upping your game as an educator is yet another laborious mission, but this English teacher still managed to excel in her chosen battlefield amidst Gargantuan theses, term papers, exams, and what have you. Mrs. Antifas Robles Reyes, known today as Doctor Antifas Robles Reyes after having acquired a doctoral degree, has proven that being an optimum conqueror is not achieved merely through one’s intelligence nor one’s scholastic performances but how far you think you can be, believing in yourself and not taking your ability too lightly are also critical factors toward attaining it. She was once a dreamer, but is now a great achiever! Mrs. Antifas Robles Reyes is an academically acclaimed Head Teacher in English who – by her strong fortitude, courage, and willpower – has been gaining immeasurable accolades and recognitions with respect to her profession. From having taken up Bachelor of Arts Major in English at the Centro Escolar University (CEU) in 1987 to having graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy Major in Educational Management at Bulacan State University (BSU) in 2012, Mrs. Reyes is, without a shred of doubt, a living heroine who continues to put many youngsters to the grind. Mrs. Reyes is not only a great mentor but also a very loving mother (and father!) of two. Since her husband is presently working overseas as a crane operator in the Middle East, she works hard to bequeath her children the genuine guidance of a father so as to alleviate the bereavement her children feel, fatherless. Her children Carl Anthony (17 years old) and Camille Ann Reyes (12 years old) are, as described by Mrs. An-

tifas, both obedient and are also hardworking students just like their mother. She does not detract from her duties as a mother and she does exactly what a “guardian” should do – waking up very early to prepare breakfast for her children, facilitates them as they prepare for school, gives quality time for her family on her days off, and the like. In theory, her aptitude to get many works of hers done at the same time is something people should look up to. Being a “nanay”, a “tatay” and a “guro” at the same isn’t as simple as a, b, c. Educational attainments Mrs. Antifas Reyes completed her doctoral degree in the Bulacan State University (BSU) in 2012, seven years after accomplishing Master of Arts Major in Educational Management at the very same university in 2005. As the old saying goes, hard work always pays off. In Mrs. Reyes’ part, it truly did!

Over 20 years in service We’ve picked a few of her many awards and appearances in certain contests as a professor, as an educator for over 2 decades in service. Some of which are: 2-time Best Reading Teacher awardee in the Division of Bulacan, she has been invited as a judge of different English and literary contests such as speech choir, readers’ theater, jazz chants, extemporaneous and declamation speeches over various towns in the province of Bulacan. As she is inclined to render intelligence among children and aspiring achievers like her, Dr. Antifas has become a trainer in oratorical, declamation, spelling, wordsmith, and other competitions in English. As an addition, she has been the Reading Coordinator and School Paper Adviser in the recent years. Her stances and beliefs One of the principles she stands for as a head teacher has something to do with bringing out the best in you, being all out, putting your worst to carcasses, and what not. She believes that “If you give to the world the best you can, the BEST will come back to you,” a quotation which gives abundant courage for people to do tasks as seamless as possible. Whereas, as a mentor, Mrs. Antifas believes that “You cannot give what you do not have”. Dr. Antifas is also a part-time instructress at Bulacan Polytechnic College teaching Grammar and Composition, Technical Writing, Entrepreneurship and Speech. Teachers have been holding the highest regard for students over the years after their parents. All religions, cultures, traditions, and paradigms preach that students are believed to respect their teachers just as much as they respect their guardians. I, in behalf of The Garden Chronicle staffers, would like to pay homage to all the teachers who continue to put out all the stops and strive hard for the future of their students who, despite many problems they have encountered, have been encountering and will encounter along their time-enduring journey as an essential instrument of success. We are taking pride in you until you arrive at the avenue where you feel like you have accomplished everything and have done everything you are tasked to do, you did us proud. “Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.” – Nikos Kazantzakis

Even Shakespeare couldn't find a word to describe it

by Arlyn E. Bacolod My subconscious tells me that I have traveled Bulacan since my childhood was spent in this beautiful province. But without knowing its many different hidden tourist locations, I might beg to differ. Perhaps one of the most well-known places in Bulacan is the Biak na Bato National Park located almost entirely within San Miguel, a protected area of the Philippines extending to the nearby municipalities of San Ildefonso and Doña Remedios Trinidad. Biak-na-Bato National Park is centered on a mountain ravine wedged by the Balaong River. More than a hundred caves of varying sizes and crystalline mineral formations are spread across the park. Among the most explored caves are the Aguinaldo Cave, once the headquarters of then-President Emilio Aguinaldo, and the Bahay Paniki or Bat Cave, said to be home of at least six species of winged mammals. Another one is the Barasoain Church, at first you must be thinking why people seek after this cathedral when they all have one margined within their towns, but because of the monumental histories it holds, and its very inexplicable mysteries, it is already a prestige to tread on its vestibule. Is that it? Allow me to take you to the land that even Shakespeare was not able to coin a word about, the Province of Bulacan. Lest I forget, Bulacan has become the top ideal tourist destination by foreign visitors who continue to pay the Philippines a quick visit. Thus, gradually gaining a higher stature as it also became the most progressive province in the country. Not singing my own praises, though. Facts speak for themselves. In case you’re wondering why this province is still not in the clause as Makati City, or the NCR in general, or the slowly strengthening Quezon City, you be the judge, my dear. I chanced upon the several places below which, by the virtue of Bulacan, gave me an ample time to thank God, limb by limb. First itinerary, the Casa Real Shrine located at Paseo del Congreso, Plaza Rizal Malolos Bulacan. It can accommodate up to 100 people one at a time and serves as the National Museum and the National Printing Press during the First Philippine Republic. The heart and soul of the country is pivotally felt once you trample your feet on its atrium. Casa Real Shrine is a Bulacan pride as it holds notable histories stemming from the Spanish colonization and Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s great contributions. The building contains exhibits, printing press of the Malolos Republic and a display of the 21 Women of Malolos memorabilia. Also presented inside are the photographs of the 100 Filipino women, each has distinct characteristics in their respective fields. It is also called as “The Government House of Malolos” and is open for public viewing during Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 to 4:30 pm. Next itinerary is in line with the non-secular culture in Bulacan, the Divine Mercy National Shrine located in Marilao. Divine Mercy, as it is locally but informally known, exhibits many different larger than life statues enfolding the vestibule imperially. The place has become a destination for pilgrimages due to numerous cases of healings and conversions. The people who come and pray could attest to the inviolability of the place that combines Nature’s bliss with their yearning to be blessed. The intense feeling as the pilgrims arrive to this place of serenity creates an attraction to always come back and relish their experiences at the Shrine. At the back of church is the model of Calvary with life-sized Station of the Cross. The Guadalupe Chapel at the church basement where the picture of Our Lady is enthroned with its flowing water that many pilgrims attest could heal. The Rosary Hill, Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes where people can pray in silence for good health, the Grotto of the Resurrection for long as they hear the water gush from the falls. A very good destination to put aloft your list in the next vacation, guaranteed! Final itinerary is not that mind-numbing, after all. If you want some amusement, boredom suppresser, or if you want to quench your thirst, I will tour you to one of the most sought-after resorts here in Bulacan, the Jed’s Island Resort. No, this is not some sort of an advertisement thingy or whatever, but unwinding after a stream of heavy workloads is a very fundamental way for you to enjoy this short thing called ‘life’. These tourist destinations evince the fact that not only is Bulacan an indefinable land, but a great place to dwell in for years. And the ecological advancement is just a plus.

The shining proof that Dalagang Filipina no longer exists

AMALAYER??? AMALAYER??? by Iveta T. Alonzo “I’m a liar? I’m a liar? I’m a liar? No! I’m a liar” Those were the exact words uttered by a La Consolacion College student Paula Jamie Salvosa who was seen berating a lady guard at the Light Railway Transit (LRT) Santolan station. Hours after being uploaded to Facebook, the video went viral accumulating over 20,000 comments and 60,000 shares. The student was then subjected to criticisms and hates with the people calling her “AMALAYER GIRL” picking on her side-splitting pronunciation of “I’m a liar” grammatically, “Am I a liar?” Ethical principles are initially taught during childhoods, a fundamental role played by our parents, and the rest is scribed in the school walls. However, it seems as though the Amalayer girl failed to develop her audible range when her parents ‘hauled her

over the coals.” The brief uninteresting story goes like this; Salvosa wasn’t able to put her bag on the conveyor of the X-ray machine for security check, then all of a sudden, in coherent accordance with Salvosa, the lady guard identified as Sharon Mae Casinas yelled “Miss, anong problema mo?” she, however, retorted “You are my problem!” Confusing, isn’t it? What’s more confusing is that Salvosa has been riding the LRT, I suppose, for years now – or months at the very least – yet she doesn’t know the rules and regulations that must be abided by. The hashtag #AMALAYER even hit the trending topic trail on Twitter in the Philippines and worldwide respectively, which totally backs the reason why the Cybercrime Prevention Act has to be passed into law. That is not all. Whether or not Salvosa was the one who primarily raised her

voice, it was obvious that the Amalayer girl played antagonist, the most pivotal character in the scene. Back in the day, the primacy of the “Dalagang Pilipina” (Filipina maiden) or the most Virgin Mary-like, Filipina women who acted the way the women should be was evident but as Science and Technology continues to take over the country, everybody left the archetype. A number of people conform to this tradition although they are mandated to wear below-knee-length skirts, conservative upper garments; their behaviors can sometimes fall under the is-that-even-a-lady category. The values shown by Paula Jamie Salvosa highlighted the real nature of how women behave, not only in the Philippines but in the world. I hope that people can next time seek proper anger management and think hundred times before losing their cool. This country is hospitable, right? Prove it, then!

The Garden Chronicle

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October - December 2012

More is less by Lanie Rose J. Luartez

Countries and journalists are steadfast to their belief that less words, more impact. However, Aristophanes’ preference effaced this principle by tossing out the longest word in print that’s coalesced with different languages. The word being stressed is:

Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimypotrimmatosilphiotyromelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokingklopeleiolagoosiraiobaphetraganopterygon

Absurd, isn’t it? Aristophanes’ More is less belief has propelled many more archaic inventors to global ridicule, alongside, for sure, public admiration. The word, after all, means nothing else more than hash.

Delicacy

that even foreigners

Guiguinto, a chef of progression da is a brioche made with butter instead of lard, and topped with grated cheese (known locally today as keso de bola or any cheese product thereof) and sugar. The next one will be Inipit or “pressed,” a sandwich-like pastry which originated in Malolos. Inipit which is basically two slices of sponge cake with custard filling is an established food product unique at Bulacan. It’s called inipit because the custard filling is “pressed” or inipit by two slices of sponge cake. It was introduced to the public by the late Salome P. De Ramos of Malolos during the 1940’s. It ruly is a great delicacy to masticate while you’re in an absolute need of something to dispense with boredom. This delicacy might be something odd to hear, but surely, it will make you jump out of your skin. The bottled sardines or less commonly known as the “pilchards” – meaning, sardines but confined in a single jar. Sardines are various oily fishes within the herring family of Clupeidae and the term was first utilized in English during the early 15th century coming from the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which sardines were once ubiquitous. And due to modern transformation, even technology in certain parts from all over the country, most particularly in the Bulacan province, bottled sardines emerged. Finally, something that we usually hear emanating customarily from the Pampangueños comes the sweet-flavored longanisa, and Guiguinto will not efface its fine tradition of altering a clichéd food into something worthy of note. The spices and flavorings used in making longganisa differ from town to town across the archipelago (it was spelt Longaniza in Spain, the country from where it originated). In the northern part of the island

of Luzon, in a town called Vigan in Ilocos Sur,longganisang Vigan is marinated in garlic and basi or sugarcane vinegar. Longganisang Lucban from Lucban, Quezon in the southern part of Luzon is made with oregano while the sausages inPampanga, not far from Manila, are sweet and intensely garlic-flavored. Traditional longganisa is made with ground pork and diced pork fat but versions that use chicken and beef abound. These native pork sausages were then given a face-lift by Bulacan through its pioneering machines to make them distinctive. It is incontestable how Guiguinto, Bulacan acquired a noble status in terms of delicacies, tourist destinations, neighborly people, and other grandeur a mere town has to offer. How progression engraved its very core to the town is yet another fact to digest. With these delicacies, I highly doubt these incessant recognitions we have been receiving over the years don’t make the “delicacy that even foreigners would fancy” card precise.

The end. You might be thinking that the author is insane for putting a constricted boundary at the beginning of the book written by an internationally acclaimed author who you thought would not disappoint you. Why are the words “The End” written at the beginning? Life is abundantly filled with so many mysteries, mysteries that are sometimes illogical but more often than not, didactic. When someone deceases, is he actually deceased or is there more behind a door waiting to be unlocked? The book “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” written by Mitch Albom has all the answers. It all begins with an elderly man named Eddie living a simple life as the head of maintenance at an amusement park called “Ruby Pier” where he and his father worked. Eddie has leg injuries which, in contrast, did not hamper him to continue protecting the young in the amusement park rides. On Eddie’s 83rd birthday, just an average day at least for him, checking the lubes, keeping a lookout for all the passengers, mothering for the children, and what have you, then all of a sudden, one of the rides starts to

malfunction because of a damaged cable. Eddie then proceeded to help release the children from having wedged between the rides and while attempting to save the little girl, after a minute or two, he finds himself awake, safe and sound, feels young and more energetic as if nothing happened. He then found a man dubbed as “The Blue Man” whose real name is Joseph Corvelzchik who he had conversed with for a couple of hours only to find out that he is dead, has descended to heaven and is bound to meet five people who subconsciously – kind of – impacted his life. Behind those five people he will meet underlies a lesson on which he will reflect on. The first lesson he learnt was “there are no random event in life and all people are connected in some way” after having met Joseph he has not even had any acquaintance with. The second lesson was centered highly about the importance of people’s willingness to make sacrifices for others after having met his former captain from the army who saved him from fire. The third was taught to him through his father’s great virtue, which releasing his anger for his father and forgiving him for all the trouble he had caused not in a manner like a person wearing cloak. The fourth was the most romantic – and poignant, and moving too! – after meeting

his late wife, Marguerite who taught him that “love is never lost in death”. Finally, the fifth person Eddie meets in heaven. Tala was the little girl who Eddie saw crawling into the burning fort during the war. She teaches Eddie that his life did have a purpose which was to keep children safe at the pier. To put it briefly, the book discusses a larger dense of intelligence wherein people should be very indebted to what is given. It also focuses on an interesting topic which is the “afterlife” and Mitch Albom, being a marvelous author who always stuns people through his pen himself, has given an uncannily amount of fascination to sway his audience by just simply sitting on their chairs, sipping teas, waiting for a bus, and expelling boredom. The answers may not have been answered coherently but it needs a deeper understanding for us to be able to find them. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is putting our heads up close to the paradise where the things are being spoonfed to us through a large analogy with the real life situation. Mitch Albom has astounded his readers again. The non-readers have been converted into loyal readers. This book is highly commendable. Mitch Albom no doubt deserves the accolades he continuously receives. And he has to have more.

way, the eldest of them said: “One of us, the fourth, is a dullard, having nothing but sense. Now nobody gains the favorable attention of kings by simple sense without scholarship. Therefore we will not share our earnings with him. Let him turn back and go home.” Then the second said: “My intelligent friend, you lack scholarship. Please go home.” But the third said: “No, no. this is no way to behave. For we have played together since we were little boys. Come along, my noble friend. You shall have a share of the money we earn. ” With this agreement they continued their journey, and in a forest they

found the bones of a dead lion. Thereupon one of them said: “A good opportunity to test the ripeness of our scholarship. Here lies some kind of creature, dead. Let us bring it to life by means of the scholarship we have honestly won.” Then the first said: “I know how to assemble the skeleton.” The second said: “I can supply skin, flesh, and blood.” The third said: “I can give it life.” So the first assembled the skeleton, the second provided skin, flesh and blood. But while the third was intent on giving the breath of life, the man of sense advised against it, remarking: “This is a lion. If you bring him to life, he will kill ev-

ery one of us.” “You simpleton!” said the other, “it is not I who will reduce scholarship to a nullity.” “In that case,” came the reply, “wait a moment, while I climb this convenient tree.” When this had been done, the lion was brought to life, rose up, and killed all three. But the man of sense, after the lion had gone elsewhere, climbed down and went home. “And that is why I say: Scholarship is less than sense; Therefore seek intelligence: Senseless scholars in their pride Made a lion; then they died.”

by Jovie A. Prado

Gelatins made of raw skin by Garegima Zyrene M. Gatdula Did you already happen to relish the saccharine flavors of the oh-so yummy oh-so velvety-looking gelatin? It comes with many different flavors, enticing colors, appealing textures and the like – and it is SUCH a shame to miss a bite. It doesn’t have glitches, not in any of its very core. But how could such a beloved food betray us? Gelatin is made from collagen, which is utilized by boiling the bones, skin, connective tissues such as ligaments and cartilage, and organs of various animals, usually cows, but sometimes pigs, lambs and, horses. Feeling hungry yet? Of course, the collagen goes through so many processes of purification and acidization, the U.S.

government no longer even classifies it as a meat or animal product by the time it’s ready for consumption, which sort of seems like the U.S. government is missing the point on why you label things “meat or animal,” but whatever. As a foodstuff, gelatin is the sole basis for jellied desserts; used in the preservation of fruit and meat, and to make powdered milk, merinque, taffy, marshmallow, and fondant. It is also used to clarify beer and wine. Gelatin’s industrial applications include medicine capsules, photographic plate coatings, and dying and tanning supplies. Get a grip, people! It’s not that gelatin manufacturers are that vile to produce a product that can harm their consumers. After all, gelatins still taste good though. And that’s wishful thinking.

Revie

Movie

would fancy

Guiguinto is very popular because of its Cloverleaf located just outside the Tabang Exit which exhibits a very inviting sight of greens and colorful flowers that exemplify Guiguinteños ingenuity with regard to gardening and both landscaping and hardscaping. It is considered as one of the fast-growing municipalities in the province of Bulacan as it houses 89, 000 people and earned roughly 200 million pesos in 2011. Its name’s very origin is a sheer confusion. Some say that it was derived from the Kapampangan word “gigintu” which is the present progressive form of the verb “gintu” (glow like gold, or gold). Thus, Guiguinto means “glowing like gold”, while others substantiate that it was named right from the Spanish colonization in the country with it being an army post where army forces would rest. Their Filipino guides would yell, “Hinto” meaning stop or to pull over, the Spaniards substituted “Gui” (with hard “g”) for the Tagalog “Hi”. The place has since been called Guiguinto. One of the many products not only Guiguinto can offer but the province of Bulacan in general, is the Ensaymada. A very Bulacan style sweet bread with a large snail-like coil shaped aloft, a delicacy that even foreigners would fancy. Although originating from Majorca, Spain and only engraved to our culture papers during the Spanish colonial period, it has evolved over the centuries and is perhaps one of the most popular delicacies in the country, particularly in Bulacan. The ensayma-

book review by Joanne DC. Malasa Friendship. Love. Success. Anyone’s existence simply revolves around these three principles. As to a book, our lives are composed of different stories. It might not have a good beginning, the end, however, always justifies the mean. In this film, we will witness how a naive lad turned to be a great man. On how he jumped over the barriers and how optimistic he is that he gets to be strong for the people who starve for hope and strength. Hirani, Chopra and Aamir are the ones starred in the movie making it a lot more effective. The stroke of their acting skills is what sealed the emotions of the audiences. 3 idiots is Aamir’s next videography after the record-extending GHAJINI. It is Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s third film together, not a film trilogy, though. His ingenuity and cleverness have just inched a huge fringe that even his leeway to cook up ideas gets up a lofty degree. Now let us demystify the

myths by ripping this movie to bits ... 3 idiots, contrary to popular perception, is not generally scoped on merely idiots or nincompoops. It is about the three engineering students who firmly believe in “I’ll Do It On My Terms“ thus, the surfacing of the word “Idiot.” It is plain ordinary that the movie, after all, managed to live up to the expectations of those who anticipated the movie as marvelous as it is. Although it drew parallels between the characters, it is obvious that the whole concept was ideologically on point and not a clinch-what-is-there promontory. To cut the long story short, as you saunter off the cinema room, all you’d like to say is “PERFECT!“ commedning Aamir Khan’s vision to extend his established eminence as a videographer. As a wrap, 3 idiots easily ranks amongst Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vindo Chopra and - last but certainly not least - Aami’s finest films in history. The 3 idiots is entertaining, instructive and poignant - things you seek upon finding a good film to watch.

by Joanne DC. Malasa

Panchatantra T h e L i o n - M a k e r s

by Garegima Zyrene M. Gatdula

This story from the Panchatantra must be considered purely secular literature, but this is at least as old as the Ramayana. The Panchatantra was probably written down in the second century B.C. in Kashmir, but the story is doubtless a great deal older. This story is animal fables and revolves around moral maxims which are sometimes taken from the Vedas. The Hindus were much given to constructing such fables and it is generally thought that the Panchatantra stories had a direct influence on Aesop. The story is, at any rate, early translated into Persian and then Ara-

bic where they became the Fables of Pilpay, in which form they spread all over Europe. It is witty, common-sensical, and irreverent; thus it makes good reading. In a certain town were four Brahmans who lived in friendship. Three of them have reached the far shore of all scholarship, but lacked sense. The other found scholarship distasteful; he had nothing but sense. One day they met for consultation. “What is the use of attainments,” said they, “if one does not travel, win the favor of kings, and acquire money? Whatever we do, let us all travel.” But when they had gone a little

October - December 2012

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Fist to peace by Ace C. Ramos

It has become a tradition that whenever Manny Pacquiao steps in a boxing ring, peace always comes into picture. There’s no doubting that. The level of amity rises up to the highest possible degree that even criminals take some time off to watch his fight. The roads are wiped out, lesser crime rates, a reduced amount of traffic jams, if not zero. Seemingly enough, nobody gets bored watching him fight time and again with the same beliefs toward him winning. Although there are some who don’t enjoy such sports, the non-sports-minded people, or the normies as they are colloquially called; however, they wait to see the results.

Editorial

The day of the Pacquiao-Morales rematch back in 2006 has poled less draft traces of crime in the country as has with his matches with de la Hoya, Diaz, Barrera and others. Such only happens at times like this – when everything else doesn’t matter, except for the bouts he encounters. The infirmities of the society suddenly vanish. The mayhems brought by the politics peter out by leaps and bounds. Everything is sound, nothing else seems important than Manny Pacquiao. While he ventures on a large scale of victory, we will still believe stiffly that he wouldn’t lose in whatever fight he gets on, although he technically would. The honor he gives to his country and his legacy would always remain unparalleled.

Pacquiao – Marquez: from pillar to post I

Sports survey

Modern vs Native Which of which? by Jeremy A. Tuazon

ccording to survey, more than 80 percent of the students in FCLNHS has relatively forgotten some distinctive and unfamiliar Filipino games as majority of them are fonder of playing contemporary sports such as basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, tennis, badminton and the like. The plurality of the contemporary sports mentioned is brought about by the influential exodus of certain foreign countries in the ancient times, case in point, the Spanish colonization. That was, substantially, what triggered such sports to come to light. In addition, the survey also yielded a fairly shocking result upholding that only a few students have a grasp of most of the games Filipino children grew up with, including

The Garden Chronicle

Iring-iring (drop the hanky), Luksong Tinik (jumping over thorns), Aso at Pusa (dog and cat), Tumbang Preso, Syato, Piko (Hopscotch), Agawan Base, Patintero (hopping), Takipsilim (twilight) and the like. This only attests that as days go by, our culture and preconceived notions will continue revolutionizing. Little by little, we fail to remember the games handed over us by our ancestors. We tend to forget the conventional sports the children of today should have been playing at the moment. Regrettably, nothing has been left. There are benefits, however, that we can get from this transformational change. Compared to the yesteryears, today’s game equipments have been revamped into comparatively trouble-free devices. We used to utilize woods, slippers but now under our belts are shuttlecocks, Xbox, Wiis, and many more.

Trivia

by John David R. Surio

JORDAN NO. 12 Michael Jordan had to wear a no. 12 jersey within the basketball field after his jerseys were thieved from the locker room while his whole team was on the road. The beauty of a golf ball A single golf ball consists approximately of 350 dimples. The Logo, The Legend The Hall of Fame Laker Jerry West had become influential during his reign in the basketball field that he was even put on the NBA logo’s silhouette. The no ordinary game Prize fights, a sport similar today with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), lasted up to 100 rounds, prior to 1990. Yo-yo was not as safe as it is Before being introduced to the America as a toy in 1929, back in the day, yo-yo started out as a weapon in the Philippines during the 16th century weighing four pounds and had a 20-foot string. Lefties do it better Compared to right-handed people, lefties are more superior in terms of athletics that require sound spatial judgment and prompt reaction. It’s the men’s world Year 1986, Athens, Greece was where the first modern Olympic Games were held that‘s only attended, unfortunately, by 311 male competitors and 0 female. Once you kill a cow For a one-year supply of footballs, it takes roughly 3,000 cows to supply the National Football League with enough leather. A classic pastime Between 1900 and 1920, tug of war was considered an Olympic event.

t is time to stun the world again. It is time to get ready for the latest episode in the longstanding friendly rivalry between boxing legends Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and “El Dynamita” Juan Manuel Marquez. The two are scheduled to square off for the fourth ultimate battle on December 9 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao and Marquez have their fourth time match because of Pacquiao’s unconvincing triumph against Marquez last November 12, 2011 on majority decision. Pacquiao holds the edge in the series of 2-0-1 though many would call into the dispute the result of all three decisions. The third bout in particular is a major point of contention, with varying oppositions between fans and pundits alike. Pacquiao and Marquez resulted “draw” in their first fight but Pacquiao clinched the second and third match. This fourth fight of the legendary boxers, Marquez wants to prove with authority that he could crush Pacquiao by his

blazing fist and effective strategy. But Pacquiao is not affected on that, instead he firmly believes in God and in the support of the Filipinos. After 36 rounds in the ring, the two have a marginal chance to fail at boxing, to get each other’s best, to catch that career-defining moment, and to pull probably the final cup out the general public as Pacquiao’s previous fight – as you might say – dug his grave. Subsequently, what are the “hypercriticals” plotting about fight no. 4? What rationale do the fight commentators have behind their cloak about Marquez finally securing a belt and cash that’s clearly foreseeable as were the previous three? While many would come to blows about Pacquiao’s unconvincing losses – and winnings – that lashed him out of the map, some would commend Marquez’s parallel victory from his previous fights that are truly behind everything fight fans could make believe. That Pacquiao is drawn against the same rival again for a fourth time in preference to his rematch with Timothy Bradley who was awarded a decision over him in June that

was roundly dismissed by most in boxing, speaks both to the economics of boxing and the fact the undefeated Bradley doesn’t have much of a following. Thus convinced, while we are on the subject, while Pacquiao is commercially considered as one of the most offensive fighters of his time, Marquez might become perhaps one of the best counterpunchers. All three of their fights had remarkable encounters, and there’s no reason to believe the fourth fight will be any different. The said fight will be at 147 pounds, a full 22 pounds weightier than the boxers were in 2004. Marquez, above all, appears to have bulked up, leading Roach to question how natural his weight gain really was. Marquez wore a bulky coat while meeting with reporters as if he were trying to keep his physical figure under wraps. Certain that he has been thrice swindled in his bouts with Pacquiao, Marquez believes that his victory would have to be resolute. He, no less than Pacquiao, is promising an uptake in vehemence.

Sports Feature

Just when you thought you were unlucky, you’re not by Julius C. Ramos

here’s still a clamor for the greatest motivation. We cannot just say that our motivation has gotten a larger margin of fulfillment. As mere students, we do not possess the success we are endeavoring to achieve. We are still in dire need of everything, and it is unfortunate, your internet connection does not count as one. Many people have already committed self-murder because they were not able to fill the last blank in their lives’ mid-term exam. They are too busy clutching the pens of their classmates more than they are finding the last one inside their bag. That last pen will help them answer it but they are self-absorbed. In such cases, they feel like the pen they are trying to get will lead them to radical disgrace. Just when you thought you were unlucky, you’re not. Think of those who strive hard to achieve the victorious fruit of life. Despite challenges they had endured, are enduring and will endure, they still find the courage to continue what they are tasked to do. They are not just your average athletes. They are the athletes to whom you should take your hats off. The Paralympians! For over 60 years of combating prejudice in wider society, after a God-knows-how-manyyears long hiatus, the Paralympics is back again in the more integrated London Olympics 2012. To encourage more physically challenged people to indulge in activities concerning competitive sports are one of the many things the “transformational” Games seek to achieve. After sending athletes of different disabilities to the single-bannered Paralympics, the Philippines was fielding its largest team thus far with nine athletes ready to collect gold in athletics, swimming, power lifting, etc. However, just after the 29th of August, there were rumors circulating that

Standing up despite criticism. the Filipino Paralympians vie for gold in the 2012 London Paralympic Games in spite of having disabilities.

the Philippines brought home nothing. Turned out, the rumors were true. Huge aversions towards how people react to disabled athletes are kind of disturbing. And it would not be a success to hamper it. One example is a Filipina power lifter who is now considered as a “Paralympic legend” given her enthusiasm to compete against the Paralympians in the London Olympics for a sweet victory, as she mused. The 39-year-old Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta who contracted the polio virus or infantile paralysis when she was three years old has proven that disabilities should not impede an individual to continue achieving his goals in different pursuits. Ancheta has been considered as the “only chance” for the Philippines to take hold of a gold medal, if not a bronze at least. She holds the distinction of being the first and only Filipino Paralympian medalist ever, winning the bronze in the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia after beating the world power lifting champion. So far, Ancheta has accumulated a staggering ten gold medals, and three silver medals from a wide variety of contests from all over the world, and a bronze medal in the 2000 Paralympic Games. For over ten years of being into sport, she is now ready to tender a resignation. “I’m planning to retire next year. Maybe I’ll coach or shift to other sports—ar-

chery or bowling,” said she. Not only was Ancheta the one who left an inclusive legacy in the Philippines, so were the other Filipino Paralympian athletes such as Josephine Medina who got closest to winning a bronze, but lost it to Sweden’s Josefin Abrahamsson in the Women’s Singles (Table tennis) - Class 8 Finals, Achelle Guion who cleared the 70 kg in Women’s Powerlifting-44 kg Group A; Beariza Ma. Josephine Roble in Women’s 100m Freestyle - S6 Heats, among others. The nine-athlete delegation who went home empty-handed is now blaming the government for its negligence to give them monetary support – which is, in fact, uncalled-for. Being an athlete is not an easy task to accomplish. It takes a lot of insistence, willingness and allegiance to one’s sport. It is more difficult, especially, when you have a physical disability. This article aims to send out messages over the large walls cleaving the youth and the nation. And that we need to have to create bridges which will be effective tools toward cleaving those walls. We need to honor the handicapped athletes who still fought and fight for the nation amid disabilities. Youth are not allowed to envision themselves being put in a darker box. There is more to come. Just when you thought you were unlucky, you’re not.

Mirabuenos hurls gold in Throwing Event S by Julius C. Ramos

uper Rookie, Raymond M. Mirabuenos reigned in Provincial Meet as he outlasted his foes in their tough fight in all throwing events last November 20-23 at the Bulacan Sports Complex, Sta.Isabel, City of Malolos. Lipanians’ pride, Mirabuenos lifted FCLNHS (EDDIS II) as he nailed three medals in three throwing events, he placed 3rd in shot put event, while second in javeline throw

and first in Discus throw events. The victory of Mirabuenos is the key to compete again in Central Luzon Regional Athletic Association Meet (CLRAA) and he will be a representative of Bulacan for Throwing Event and the CLRAA Meet will be held at Tarlac City in April. “Discipline and hardwork ang pinagtutuunan namin ng pansin kaya’t napagtagumpayan n’ya sa tulong ko ang mga laro sa throwing event,” said his trainer, Regalado

Hernandez. All prestigious schools both public and private that participated in the Provincial Meet are EDDIS I, EDDIS II, EDDIS III, EDDIS IV, San Miguel High School and Mariano Ponce National High School, National Vocational Schools Athletic Association (NVSAA) and Bulacan Private Schools Athletic Association (BULPRISAA). Mirabuenos will undergo a rigid training in March for his fight.

Winners never quit, quitters never win. Raymond Mirabuenos as he casts the discus that propelled him at the transit of sheer victory in the 2012 Provincial Meet.

VOL 9. NO. 1

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FELIZARDO C. LIPANA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Malditas defy inclemency by Ace C. Ramos

here is a large preconceived picture displayed below the walls of communal standards involving sports and athletics, that is, as it were – the notion that only boys are capable of playing games including basketball, tennis and football – but there is, quite the reverse, a notion that otherwise drives a wedge between that of a lady gamer. Presenting… the Malditas! Dubbed so for their enthusiastic attitude inside the game field, the Malditas is shooting straight right to the perpendicular summit of victory in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup last October in Laos, an essential springboard for the World Cup, considering that the majority of the team are relatively younger than the Philippine Azkals

whose novelty to transfigure football as a sport in a less parallel, more modern universe is quite obvious. The eight Thomasian booters are named Aiza Mondero, Jane Pacaña, and Jowe-Ann Barruga as midfielders, Zipporah Luna as goalkeeper, twin sisters Marie and Marice Magdolot and Joma Clemente as defensive stoppers, and striker Nikki Regalado. The team captain of the Malditas, Mondero, said that the team is excited for the commencement of the said event and that they “hope to reach the next level of every striker’s game—the World Cup.” Also, the team hopes that vying for gold in the AFF Cup will motivate more girls, of whatever genre, to join the football league and it seeks to split the erroneous belief that football is only exclusive for wealthy kids.

The conquerors, the pride. the feisty PH Malditas, the Thomasian booters, gear up for their forthcoming encounter in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup Series.

Azkals clash against Lions to a goalless draw by Julius C. Ramos

he Singapore national team and the Philippine Azkals had ended up holding each other to a goalless draw in the first leg of the semifinals series of the 2012 Suzuki Cup that took place at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. In the first half, the Singapore exhibited a feisty attitude within the field holding the dire possession of the game and pacing quick for chances, right before the Philippines arose in the second and did so for the rest of the competition. The second half, the game was, less than how it’s pictured, jampacked with lively attempts exhibited by the Azkals as Patrick Reichelt tossed a counter attack just against the 42-year-old Aleksander Duric’s

wide strength in the 54th minute of the game. After the pure endeavor, Azkals head coach Michael Weiss had stressed that the side was “too cautious and too intimidated.” “We know the opponents and how they play. We have to be more positive,” he added. The scoreless draw denotes that the Philippines is bound to score in Singapore to be qualified for the next game. If the next game does not go in favor of the team, that means they will have extra team to rehearse and stiffen their gears to win. After all, a triumph will toss them over the Finals against the winner between Thailand and Malaysia in the succeeding semifinals. On December 12, the second leg will kick off in Singapore at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

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OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2012

REACHING THE SUMMIT. PH Volcanoes secure the third and last Asian team slot just in time for the distinguished 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens taking place in Moscow.

PH Volcanoes clinch ticket to 2013 World Cup Series by Cristian E. delos Santos

eroic Philippine Volcanoes made history after having outgunned fourth-ranked South Korea with a nerve-frazzling 22-19 victory which sent them to carve out the prestigious 2013 Rugby World Cup Series in Moscow. Philippine lets Volcanoes celebrate their third place pioneered by team Captain Harry Morris at the Singapore leg at the HSBC Asian Sevens Series last November 3. “It is the first time that a Philippine team qualified for a team

sport World Championship and I give credit to the players for doing this for the nation,” said new Philippine coach Al Caravelli, formerly the coach of the USA Sevens team. The National Rugby Team started 2012 with their Hong Kong 7s international tournament debut in March, before advancing to the Division 1 of the Asian 5 Nations tournament in April which put them among the top 5 elite teams in Asia. The tilt was punctuated with highs and lows for the team as they ranked 6th at one set of the entire tournament.Though the Phil-

ippines conquered Guam with an astounding 33-0 score, they were immediately subdued by top-ranking Hong Kong with a 29-12 victory. The Volcanoes then squared off with China in the quarter finals. After a nail-biting 14-7 victory, the Philippine met Asian Rugby Powerhouse Japan in the semis and conceded a 7-17 defeat. “It is just fantastic that we are going to the World Cup. This is the first time that the Philippines will be playing in a World Cup and it is a huge feat for us,” said proud Philippine team captain.

Donaire, new boxing sensation by John David R. Surio

fter crushing Japanese southpaw Tashiaki Nishioka with a 9th round TKO last October 13 at the Home Depot Center in Carson City, California, Donaire is described by the World Boxing Council (WBC) as “one of today’s sensations in boxing.” Donaire’s stunning victory in which he dropped Nishioka, the classy southpaw in the 9th ground with a lightning and perfectly-time uppercut, proudly displayed the WBC Diamond Belt he nailed at the Diaz-Ao title fight. After that legitimate match-up, Jorge “Traviesco” Arce is the next to be dispatched by the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire in December at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told the Manila standard that

“it’s a done deal.” Donaire was at special ringside when Mexico’s Gamaliel Diaz upset defending WBC featherweight champion Takahiro Ao at the Tokyo International Forum in Japan. The WBC reported that Donaire was present to witness the rousing twelve rounds unanimous decision victory of Diaz. The Manila Standard noted that when Donaire trounced Nishioka, there were some Japanese friends and supporters who flew to watch Donaire’s fight although many more arrived from all over Japan to support Nishioka.

VICTORIOUS MEMENTO. Donaire relishes the sweet taste of victory as he ditches the Japanese southpaw, Nishioka