Philippine Collegian Issue 23

TOMO 91

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BLG. 23

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

BOR shifts UP calendar, junks bid to revoke CBA renaming

Balita

6-7 Kultura

AFTER THE STORM 8 LATHALAIN

Pagibig at iba pang sakuna

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Shifting grounds: Examining UP’s new academic calendar

Lathalain

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman

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OPINYON

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

Shifting priorities THERE IS NO STOPPING THE academic calendar shift. Or so it seems.

In an impudent show of force, the Board of Regents (BOR) has approved the planned academic calendar shift, which effectively sets August as the start of the first semester and January as the beginning of the second semester.

UP President Alfredo Pascual defended the board’s decision by saying that the academic calendar shift is part of the university’s internationalization efforts and would enable UP to “maximize the opportunities offered

by ASEAN integration and global educational partnerships.”

BOR’s edict will be enforced in all but one campus – UP Diliman (UPD). The UP System administration explained this peculiarity by saying that UPD has yet to finish consulting its stakeholders on the planned shift.

Yet this explanation is bereft of context. The Pascual administration is brushing aside the fact that no less than the Diliman university council – a congregation of all tenured faculty in campus – vehemently opposed the move in their meeting last December 2.

Pascual’s euphemisms also cloud the fact that there is broad opposition to the academic calendar shift.

Organizations of teachers, students, youth, and other concerned sectors have all voiced out concerns about the calendar change. Commission on Higher Education Chair Patricia Licuanan herself – albeit being the chair of the BOR – expressed concern

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PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 2013 - 2014 Punong Patnugot Julian Inah Anunciacion Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon Patnugot sa Balita Keith Richard Mariano Patnugot sa Grapiks Ysa Calinawan Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya Gloiza Rufina Plamenco Panauhing Patnugot Piya Constantino Margaret Yarcia over the “bandwagon effect” UP’s calendar shift may create.

Licuanan, for once, is correct in this observation. For UP has indeed set many trends in the past, and not all of them turned out well. The BOR’s approval of the 300 percent tuition increase in December 2006 created a tidal wave of tuition and other fee increases that swept many higher education institutions in the country.

EDITOR’S PICK

The Philippine Collegian republishes distinguished photographs from its past issues that captured its YEARS tradition of critical and fearless journalism.

Two years ago, the Vinzons Hall robbery that left political science student Lordei Hina in critical condition pressured the UP administration to tighten campus security. Today security threats still hound the University, and justice is not yet served to Hina.

PAGHIHIGPIT Photo by Chris Martin Imperial Pebrero 8, 2012

The aftershock of UP’s so-called tuition reform is still being felt at present, with state universities in North Luzon and Central Mindanao still proposing big time fee hikes.

The BOR’s drastic and undemocratic approval of the calendar reform bodes ill not only for UP constituents, but also students and faculty all over the country.

For one, moving the start of classes to August will discriminate students coming from agricultural families. In a backward agricultural country such as ours, the additional labor provided by students during vacation months, which also coincide with harvest and planting seasons, is a big help for their families. Shifting the academic calendar would then largely offset economic activities in rural areas. Extending classes until the lean summer month of April would also put additional economic burden to agricultural families at a time when money is hard to come by.

Changing weather patterns also invalidate the claim that starting classes in August may save students from the brunt of the wet season.

Recent developments have shown that typhoons now occur during the latter half of the year.

There is truly no compelling reason to change the academic calendar. The posited benefits of internationalization is outweighed by the complications that the shift entails.

Not including UPD in the planned shift will only make matters worse. For how can the Pascual administration continue to banter about its vision of “One UP” when the flagship campus is left out of sync from the

Mga Kawani whole university system, a seeming Ronn Joshua Bautista punishment for a recalcitrant campus Mary Joy Capistrano not willing to toe the infallible Pascual John Keithley Difuntorum line? It is the height of irony for UP to Ashley Marie Garcia aspire to be in step with the rest of the world while sowing discord in its own Pinansya home front.

Amelyn Daga Changing the academic calendar is not as simple as shuffling dates.

Changing the academic calendar Tagapamahala sa Sirkulasyon entails the shifting of priorities.

Paul John Alix For the academic calendar shift signals UP’s move to prioritize Sirkulasyon global trends over national needs Gary Gabales for the sake of increased income.

Amelito Jaena After all, internationalization is one Glenario Ommamalin of the criteria used by institutions like Quacquarelli Symonds to rank universities around the world. And Mga Katuwang na Kawani a leap in the world rankings will Trinidad Gabales heighten the marketability of UP Gina Villas education, thus spurring an influx of foreign students to the national Kasapi university. This would in turn compel UP Systemwide Alliance the UP administration to offer more of Student Publications and Writers’ courses and programs more attuned to Organizations (Solidaridad) global demand than national interest.

The upsurge of foreign enrolment College Editors Guild of the Philippines poses twin possibilities: the crowding (CEGP) out of Filipino students in favor of foreign enrolees, and the imposition Pamuhatan of tuition and other fees that are Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, at par with expensive international Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, rates. As the Pascual administration Lungsod Quezon continue to run UP more and more like a corporation greedy for profit rather Telefax than as a public institution dedicated 981-8500 lokal 4522 to serve the nation, these possibilities may become realities in no time.

The undemocratic and tyrannical Online passage of the academic calendar pkule1314@gmail.com shift should be met not just with www.philippinecollegian.org criticism but militant dissent. For an fb.com/philippinecollegian administration that sows discord for twitter.com/kule1314 the benefit of increased profit does not deserve to be in power.

Ukol sa Pabalat Dibuho ni Patricia Ramos

∞

BALITA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

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BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

BOR shifts UP calendar, junks bid to revoke CBA renaming Julian Inah Anunciacion THE UP BOARD OF REGENTS (BOR) approved on February 6 the shifting of school opening from June to August and other policies that, according to student leaders, will further erode the national university’s public character.

The university’s highest decisionmaking body upheld the renaming of the College of Business Administration (CBA) as Cesar Virata School of Business (CVSB) after deferrals in the board’s previous meetings. Regent Magdaleno Albarracin has earlier negotiated a P40-million donation once the renaming is finalized.

Meanwhile, another building in the new UP Professional Schools Bonifacio Global City (UPPS BGC) will be named after SM Prime Holdings Chief Executive Officer Henry Sy, Sr., following a P400-million donation from the business tycoon.

Student Regent Krista Iris Melgarejo voted against the said policies but was defeated by a majority of the other voting regents.

Shifting out

Following the Board’s approval, classes in all UP constituent units (CUs) except UP Diliman (UPD) will shift from June-March to August-May next year. Due to lack of comprehensive consultations, and citing other disadvantages, various student and faculty formation in UPD have opposed the implementation of the calendar change.

The shift, however, may still take effect immediately in UPD should the University Council, composed of UPD faculty members, and other opposing groups concede.

The UPD Office of the Chancellor thus conducted an open forum on February 10. The next step is to get a census in UPD, and assess our readiness to shift next academic year, UPD Chancellor Caesar Saloma said.

The UP Office of the President first proposed the shift in January 2013 to UP deans and chancellors.

Synchronizing the UP calendar with partner Association of Southeast Asian Nations member universities supposedly aims to promote student exchange and globalized education standards, Pascual explained in the forum.

Institutions such as the OSR, the UPD University Student Council (USC), All UP Academic Empolyees Union (AUPAEU) and Congress of Teachers and Educators for Nationalism and Democracy-UP criticized the decision.

With more pressing problems in UP education [such as budget cuts and fee increases], the readiness of UP for internationalization without sacrificing public character is questionable, AUPAEU Chair Professor Ramon Guillermo said during the forum.

“Nagsusunod-sunod na ang kawalan ng konsultasyon sa mga

estudyante sa decision-making [ng UP].

Isa itong malaking insult sa sangkaestudyantehan… Marapat lamang na paigtingin pa natin ang ating assertion bilang mga [UP students],” USC Vice Chair Jules Guiang said.

International collaboration

The Board also approved the Philippine-California Advanced Research Institutes (PCARI) in line with the UP administration’s aim for internationalization.

PCARI is a five-year program allowing Filipino researchers to earn doctoral degrees in partner Universities like the University of California San Francisco and the University of California Berkley. The Philippine government funds PCARI with a P10billion budget.

“Despite contracts and guidelines, there is no assurance that the beneficiaries of this project will return and use their newly earned degrees for the benefit of the country,” according to the Student Regent’s official BOR report.

CHEd Commissioner Nona Ricafort and Director Carmina Alonzo resigned from their posts due to the project’s vague provisions and anomalies, the report stated. The country’s research and development projects must not rely on a project hounded with controversies but on locally developed scientific initiatives, Melgarejo said.

Renaming issues

Meanwhile, student leaders also denounced the BOR decision to name a building in the UPPS BGC after businessman Henry Sy donated P400 million to the university. The approved memorandum of agreement between UP and SMIC requires UP’s assistance for SMIC to avail of tax exemptions.

This recent project clearly shows the high level of commercialization that education in the premier state university has reached and how willing the UP administration has been patronizing it, Melgarejo said.

Among regents who attended the February meeting, Melgarejo, Staff Regent Anna Razel Punzalan, and Congressman Roman Romulo were the only regents in opposition to the name change.

CBA students, meanwhile, continue to call on the UP administration and the BOR to revoke the decision to rename their college after Cesar Virata, who served as the finance minister of Ferdinand Marcos during the Martial Law years. The name change is a disrespect to UP’s history, said CBA Sophomore Representative Kenji Muramatsu.

Prior to the BOR’s final decision, the CBA Student Council had conducted a survey among CBA students where 97 percent of the students voted against the change. The CBA SC has launched a university-wide campaign to mobilize UP students to protest against the renaming.

∞

MITSA Litrato ni Chester Higuit

Pinamunuan ng National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) at Kabataan Partylist ang pagpupulong ng mga mag-aaral mula sa iba’t ibang unibersidad matapos ang Consultative Forum on Students’ Rights and Regulation of Tuition & Other School Fees sa Batasang Pambansa Complex, Q.C. nitong ika-10 ng Pebrero. Layunin nilang bumuo ng samahan ng mga mag-aaral na mangunguna sa pagpigil sa walang tigil na mga tuition fee increase.

Bagong mga resolusyon ukol sa matrikula, inihain ng UCSFA Mary Joy T. Capistrano ISINUSULONG NG UNIVERSITY Committee on Scholarships and Financial Assistance (UCSFA) ang pagbibigay ng agarang tulong sa mga estudyante ng UP Visayas (UPV) at paglilinaw sa kung paanong ipapatupad ang Socialized Tuition System (STS) sa susunod na taon.

Umabot sa 13 oras ang ginanap na pulong ng UCSFA sa UP Information Technology Development Center hinggil sa mga resolusyong ihahain ng komite sa Board of Regents (BOR), ang pinakamataas na lupong tagapagpasiya ng unibersidad, noong ika-5 ng Pebrero.

Napagkasunduan ng komite ang agarang paglalagay sa mga apektadong estudyante sa bracket E2, ani Student Regent Krista Iris Melgarejo, isa sa mga miyembro ng UCSFA. Nauna nang inapela ng mga estudyante ng UP Cebu ang hindi agarang paglalagay sa mahigit 200 estudyante at iba pang crossregistrants na pangunahing apektado ng bagyong Yolanda sa pinakamababang bracket ng Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) .

Binatikos din ng mga estudyante ang pagpapasa ng maraming rekisito upang mapabilang sa mababang bracket ng STFAP at patunayang sinalanta ng bagyo.

Sa kasalukuyan, may 804 estudyante sa UP Tacloban sa kabila ng problema sa batayang serbisyo tulad ng akomodasyon, pagkain, transportasyon, matrikula at iba pang pangangailangang pang-akademiko.

Naghain din ng resolusyon ang UCSFA na naglalayong dagdagan ang stipend ng mga estudyante ng UP Tacloban. Sa bisa ng resolusyon, nakatakdang tumanggap ng P4,000 ang mga estudyanteng nakatira sa mga kampus na may dorm at P6,500 naman para sa mga wala.

Gayunman, hindi umano sapat ang P8 milyong pondo ng UP Diliman STFAP na ipamamahagi bilang subsidiya sa mga estudyante ng Tacloban. Tinatayang kukulangin ito ng P1.6 milyon batay sa kalkulasyon ng UCSFA. Samantala, nagkaroon naman ng talakayan hinggil sa mga panunvvtunan sa implementasyon ng STS sa susunod na taon.

Ilan sa mga isinaalang-alang ng komite ang pag-aaral sa mga datos,

pagsasagawa ng home-visit at iba pang espesyal na kaso tulad ng magkapatid na parehong kumukuha ng STFAP subalit magkaibang proseso ng STFAP o STS ang gagamitin na nakabatay sa taon ng implementasyon.

Magkakaroon ng tatlong serye ng workshop upang pag-aralan ng komite ang implementasyon ng STS, ani Melgarejo.

Sinubukan umano ni Melgarejo na ibukas ang nasabing mga resolusyon sa ginanap na pulong ng BOR noong ika6 ng Pebrero ngunit pinayuhan siya ni Vice President Gisela Concepcion na ipagpaliban muna ang nasabing isyu.

Iginiit umano ni Concepcion na kailangan munang magkaroon ng konsultasyon kay Pangulong Alfredo Pascual hinggil sa napag-usapan ng UCSFA. “Hindi [ko] makita kung saan nanggagaling ang alinlangan kung talagang gusto nilang tumulong sa mga estudyante,” ani SR Melgarejo.

Gayunman pilit pa rin umanong hahabulin at muling ilalapit Concepcion ang nasabing usapin upang agarang mabigyang-aksyon, ani Melgarejo.

∞

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BALITA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

Socialized tuition is undemocratic — study group Hans Christian E. Marin OF THE 110 STATE UNIVERSITIES and colleges (SUCs) across the country, UP charges the highest tuition of as much as P27,000 for an 18-unit credit load every semester. In the Cordilleras and Mindanao, studying in UP is even more costly than in private universities.

To supposedly "democratize access” for the poor, UP implements a socialized tuition scheme. Under the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), students may qualify for tuition discounts ranging from 40 to 100 percent based on their capacity to pay.

Ironically, the STFAP has become the Philippine version of India’s caste system, according to a study group of UP faculty headed by Dr. Teodoro Mendoza, coordinator of the Crop Science Cluster of UP Los Banos.

“STFAP is one of the main drivers in the present skewed distribution of UP students in favor of the upper socio-economic class. The 2006 STFAP procedures and requirements were made so difficult so that only few could avail it,” added the study group formally convened by UP President Alfredo Pascual on July 22, 2013.

Socialized tuition

The implementation of a socialized tuition scheme in UP has been recommended as early as 1976.

However, the Board of Regents, the university’s highest policy makingbody, officially adopted the program only on April 28, 1988.

The STFAP was then implemented in the academic year 1989-1990 alongside a tuition increase of 650 percent. From P40, the undergraduate tuition in UP Diliman increased to P300 per unit.

The program then classified students into nine numeric brackets based on annual family income and other socio-economic indicators. Five of these brackets granted free tuition and stipends ranging from P4,500 to P8,250 every semester.

When the UP administration implemented a 300-percent tuition increase in 2007, it further restructured the STFAP into five alphabetic brackets, but with only one non-paying group. In 2009, the administration further classified the non-paying bracket to E1 and E2, limiting the grant of stipend to the latter.

Annual family income serves as one of the main basis in assigning brackets. Taking into account the possibility of understating income, however, the program uses an income function to predict the capacity of a family to pay.

The income function takes into the equation the family characteristics, assets owned, and personal belongings of a family. The income function then applies varying multiplier coefficients to assets such as appliances and devices declared in the 14-page application form to assign them monetary values.

Undemocratic STFAP

“Operationally, STFAP became anti-poor despite the earlier claims that it was to make UP education affordable for students admitted into UP, particularly those coming from poor families,” the study group concluded in a report submitted to the Office of the UP President last month.

Data gathered by the study group reveals that 80 percent of UP students are assigned to the paying brackets of the STFAP and, thus, capable of paying for their tuition. “But this may not be so considering the number of students who are applying for student loans, scholarships, and part-time jobs to finance their studies,” according to the group.

Aside from the tedious application process that have discouraged students from applying, the indicators of the STFAP—particularly the income function—bar students from being assigned to lower brackets, according to the study group.

The “superflous” and “unscientific” multiplier coefficients inflates the income of poor families, making them appear capable of paying, explained the study group. For instance, a higher multiplier coefficient is given to television sets and motor bikes compared to airconditioning units and cars.

The study group also took note of the non-adjustment of the income cut-offs to inflation. In particular, the study group questioned the income cut-off of more than P135,000 for Bracket D, where students start paying for their tuition.

The restructured STFAP considers students with an annual family income above the poverty threshold capable of paying for their tuition. Considering an estimate from the Partido ng Manggagawa, however, the study group projected the poverty threshold income to be P365,000 annually.

Income-generating scheme

Far from what the university administration claims, the flawed design of the STFAP shows how it was intended to rather earn income, according to the study group. “It became the solution to the problem of lack of government subsidy.”

Citing a 2013 report of the officerin-charge of the Office of Scholarships and Student Services, the group of faculties said the university earns

KINAKAMKAM NA KABUHAYAN

Litrato ni John Keithley Difuntorum

about P1.2 billion every year from tuition and other fees collected from students.

The income from tuition and other fees augments the budget of UP from the government. From 2007 to 2013, the UP System proposed an average budget of P15.27 billion to become a full-blown research university. The government, however, only approved less than half, or an average of P6.47

billion, for the same period.

The study group called for a higher budget from the government, citing the economic development of other Asian countries, where the government heavily subsidizes tertiary education.

“Investment in education is a sure way to inclusive growth.

Diminishing it shall lead to ‘education dynasty’ of the well-to-do families of Philippine society.”

∞

Nagpiket ang ilang magsasaka at manggagawang-bukid ng Hacienda Luisita sa tapat ng opisina ng Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) noong Pebrero 5. Kinondena ng grupo ang kawalang-tugon ng DAR sa ginagawang pagsira ng kanilang mga pananim ng Tarlac Development Coporation, isang kompanyang pagmamay-ari ng kamag-anak ni Pangulong Aquino.

SPIKING MAROONS, HINDI NAKABWELO KONTRA EAGLES, 3-1 Hans Christian E. Marin IPINAMALAS NG MAROONS blocker na si Julius Raymundo ang tibay at lakas sa loob ng court, ngunit hindi sapat ang kaniyang team-high 14 puntos, anim mula sa blocks, upang akayin ang UP Spiking Maroons sa tagumpay.

Kinapos lamang ng pinagsamang siyam na puntos ang UP sa apat na sets upang padapain ang determinadong Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, 24-26, 27-25, 20-25, 21-25 sa ginanap na sagupaan sa ikalawang round ng University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Basketball Season 76, ika-8 ng Pebrero sa San Juan City, The Arena.

Sa unang set, napag-iwanan agad ang Maroons, 14-20, ngunit bumangon

ang koponan sa pagkakabaon sa bisa ng mga sunod-sunod na puntos, kabilang ang bumubulusok na spike ni Jeffrey Lansangan na hindi nagawang maibalik ng Eagles upang maipwersa sa deuce ang labanan, 24-24.

Ngunit kinapos ang depensa ng Maroons upang mapigilan ang Eagles na angkinin ang unang set, 26-24.

Nagsagawa naman ng ilang pagaayos ang UP kung saan ipinamalas nila ang kanilang mala-pader na depensa upang makuha ang kalamangan sa kalagitnaan ng ikalawang set, 17-13. Humabol man ang Ateneo, napanatili pa rin ng UP ang kanilang determinasyon upang maitabla ang gitgitang banggaan, 27-25.

Naging dikit din ang palitan ng iskor sa ikatlong set kung saan napalapit ng mala-kidlat na spike

ni Lansangan ang iskor, 20-21 ngunit hindi na napigilan ng UP ang pananalasa ni Ateneo spiker Marck Espejo na naging malaking tulong sa apat na sunod na puntos ng Ateneo sa set, 25-20.

Ipinagpatuloy lang ng Eagles ang kanilang nagbabagang opensa sa pamumuno ni Espejo kung saan nahirapang pigilan ng depensa ng Maroons ang mga matutulis na spikes, serves at blocks ng Eagles sa ikaapat na set, 25-21.

“We had a good game but Ateneo played better,” ani UP Spiking Maroons captain Carlo Cabatingan.

“We lack adjustment and reading and we failed to convert difficult situations into points.”

Kumamal ng 13 puntos si striker Frederick Abuda habang nag-ambag

din si Lansangan ng 11 puntos at Alfred Valbuena ng 10 puntos para sa Maroons. Naging masakit naman para sa koponan ang kanilang 38 errors kumpara sa 26 lamang ng Ateneo.

Sa kasalukuyan, bumagsak ang panalo-talo kartada ng UP sa 4-9 upang magkasya na lamang sa ikapitong pwesto habang umangat naman ang sa Ateneo, 10-3.

Susunod na makakasagupa ng Maroons ang University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers sa ika-15 ng Pebrero, 8:30 ng umaga sa San Juan.

City, The Arena.

∞

BALITA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

5

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2013

Ekstensyon sa CARPER, tinutulan ng mga magsasaka Mary Joy T. Capistrano SA HALIP NA ITULOY ANG Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) iginiit ng mga grupo ng mga magsasaka na ipasa na ang Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) na nakabinbin sa Kongreso mula noong 2007.

Sa nakatakdang pagtatapos ng CARPER sa ika-30 ng Hunyo, isinusulong ngayon sa Kongreso ang pagpapatuloy ng CARPER hanggang 2019, sa porma ng House Bill No. 3305 na inihain nina Cagayan de Oro Representative Rufus Rodriguez at Abante Mindanao Rep Maximo Rodriguez, Jr. at House Resolution No. 382 nina Akbayan Rep. Walden F. Bello at Ibarra M. Guitierrez III, at Dinagat Island Rep. Kaka Bag-ao.

Tinalakay ng House Committee on Agrarian Reform (CAR) sa Kamara noong ika-5 ng Pebrero ang panukalang ekstensyon ng CARPER upang bigyan umano ng sapat na panahon ang ahensya na ipamahagi ang natitirang 1.2 milyong ektarya ng lupa sa mga magsasaka.

Subalit hindi sinang-ayunan ng Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) ang nasabing panukala na

magpapatindi lamang umano ng karahasan sa mga magsasaka at kahirapan sa kanayunan.

“Pilipinas ang may pinakamahabang reporma sa lupa— pinakamatagal, pinakamagastos, at pinakamadugo. Napakaraming mga magsasaka na ang minasaker [na] hanggang ngayo’y [wala pa ring] hustisya,” ani Rafael Mariano, tagapangulo ng KMP. ‘Mapanlinlang na repormang agraryo’

Tatlong beses nang sumailalim sa ekstensyon ang Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Unang beses noong 1988 sa ilalim ng administrasyong Corazon Aquino, pangalawa noong 1998, at hanggang sa kasalukuyang taon sa bisa ng CARPER. Kinilala maging ng mga miyembro ng Akbayan na hindi nagawa ng CARP ang tunguhin nitong repormang agraryo. Sa loob umano ng 25 taon marami pa ring bilang ng mga magsasaka ang wala pang sariling lupang sinasaka. Gayunman, iginiit nila ang ekstensyon ng nasabing batas.

Sa inihaing resolusyon ng kinatawan ng Akbayan tinakdaan ang CAR na magsagawa ng imbestigasyon hinggil sa implementasyon ng CARP

at magpatupad ng mga kinakailangang reporma.

Gayunman, iginiit ng KMP na isang malaking kalokohan ang muling pagdaragdagdag ng limang taon sa isang batas na may diperensiya.

“Sapat na ang mahigit dalawang dekadang pananamantala at karahasan sa mga magsasaka. [Napatunayan nang] bigo ang nasabing batas na isakatuparan ang tunay na repormang agraryo.” paliwanag ni Mariano.

Patunay umano ang naganap na Mendiola Massacre sa pagsisimula ng CARP na isinulong ng administrasyon ni dating Pangulong Corazon Aquino.

Nagpatuloy naman umano ang pakikibaka ng mga magsasaka laban sa land conversion order o pagbabago ng pisikal na gamit ng pang-agrikulturang lupa sa ilalim ng CARPER, ani Mariano.

Idinagdag din niya ang mga asyenda na nasa ilalim ng pamamahala ng stocks distribution at ilan pang lupain na pinamamahalaan ng mga korporasyon na hindi saklaw ng agrarian reform.

Nauso rin ang pamamahagi ng lupa sa bisa ng isang pirasong papel o Certificate of land ownership award katulad ng ipinamimigay sa mga magsasakang benepisaryo sa Hacienda Luisita.

Continued to page 11

400 schools may hike tuition, other fees next year Julian Bato BARELY TWO MONTHS ARE STILL left before the academic year ends, but around 400 higher education institutions (HEIs) nationwide have already proposed increases in tuition and other fees for the next school opening.

Both public and private colleges and universities plan to increase tuition rates to as high as 40 percent in student consultations held last week, in accordance with the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) Memorandum Order (CMO) 3-2012.

The increase in tuition per unit ranges from 2.85 to 40 percent with the highest percent increase coming from Central Mindanao University, a state university, according to National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP).

This continues the trend of an increasing tuition as posited by a P278.9 increase in average tuition rate from 2001 to 2012, said NUSP. Last year, CHEd approved 354 out of the total 451 proposals to increase tuition by 8.5 percent, or an average of P37.45 per unit.

“Amidst price hikes on other basic commodities and services, school administrators are unmoved by the economic situation of the students, especially those who have been badly affected by recent calamities,” said College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) in a statement.

Faulty regulation

In an effort to regulate tuition and other fee hikes, CHEd required HEIs to hold consultations with their respective student and faculty before implementing any fee increase in 2012, through CMO 3-2012.

“While the Constitution mandates the State to exercise reasonable supervision and regulation of all educational institutions, a perusal of CMO 3-2012 shows that the regulation relates only to the institution of a consultation process in increasing tuition and other school fees,” said Kabataan Party-list Representative Terry Ridon.

The memorandum merely concerns itself with the procedural aspects of consultation, instead of granting the students their right to disagree with tuition increase proposals and subject such disagreement to arbitration, added Ridon.

“Ang nangyari tuloy, basta may consultation na nangyari, na-aapprove na ang proposal. Mayroon ring kahit walang consultation, biglang naapprove,” said Kabataan Partylist Secretary-General Einstein Recedes in a February 10 open forum between CHEd and student leaders.

There were also cases where student leaders who oppose tuition impositions are met by political harassment from school administrators, said NUSP. For instance, student leaders at Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute for Science and Technology were threatened with expulsion because they

exposed the illegal P1,500 development fee collected from students, said NUSP National President Elago.

‘Rise for education’

With fee increases being approved and implemented in HEIs almost every year, Kabataan Party-list has been asking the Congress to impose a moratorium to tuition hikes.

Meanwhile, Ridon filed a resolution asking the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation on CHEd’s existing tuition and other fee guidelines on February 3.

Kabataan Party-list, NUSP, CEGP and other student groups also relaunched last year’s “Tuition Monitor” to unite the student sector against the “commercialization of education.”

“The budget cuts to state universities and colleges and CHEd’s tolerance to tuition and other fees increases are manifestations of the state’s abandonment of education,” said CEGP in a statement.

Both the NUSP and the CEGP filed a total of 100 complaints with CHEd on March 15 last year. CHEd, however, has yet to taken action on the complaints.

This negligence shows that they are not taking these issues seriously, said NUSP Executive President Sheryl Alapad.

“We need to make concrete steps to ensure that unabated tuition and other fee increases would not be left unchecked, and that the right of students to accessible and affordable education would not be continually violated,” Ridon said.

∞

UP’s Ryan Fermin collides with ADMU’s Anthony Sunico in the second round outing of UAAP season 76 football competition held at FEU-Diliman on February 9. Despite the Blue Eagles’ early goal, the Fighting Maroons downed the defending champions as the Diliman squad slotted three goals in the 41st, 50th and 72nd minutes to carve out a 3-1 victory. UP is set to face UST in the semifinals with a twice-to-beat advantage.

TROMPED Photo by Kim Pauig

73 candidates vie for 34 USC posts Arra B. Francia UP DILIMAN STUDENTS WILL BE choosing from a pool of 73 candidates for the 34 seats in the University Student Council (USC) come February 27.

The University Student Electoral Board released the initial list of candidates vying for the positions of chairperson, vice chairperson, 12 councilors and 20 college representatives on February 7.

Alyansa ng mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA) is fielding two incumbent USC councilors to lead its 21-member slate, with Arjay Mercado as the chairperson and JP delas Nieves as vice chairperson.

Meanwhile, incumbent USC Councilor Carla Gonzalez and College of Science Representative to the USC Ram Tomaneng is running for the positions of chairperson and vice chairperson under Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA).

Carrying the banner of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP) are also incumbent USC councilors.

Erra Mae Zabat and Allyna-Haneefa Macapado are vying for the positions of chairperson and vice chairperson.

Only KAISA was able to complete the slate of 12 councilors for this election. However, the party also holds the least number of candidates at 20, including six college representatives.

STAND UP is fielding the most number of hopefuls in this year’s elections with 11 candidates running as councilors and 11 as college representatives.

A total of eight candidates complete

the list of candidates in this year’s elections. Two independent candidates are running as councilors and the remaining six as representatives of their respective colleges to the USC. Of the 73 candidates, however, four have yet to ensure their spots in the race for the positions of USC councilors.

Miguel Enrico Pangalangan and Thomas Benjamin Banaria Roca, both running under STAND UP, have been listed as “disapproved” in the initial list released by the USEB. “I can’t disclose the reason for my disqualification as of now, but it is administrative in nature. I’m sure my candidacy will be upheld once I make the necessary corrections to my documents,” said Roca.

Pangalangan, on the other hand, said that either the Office of Student Activities or USEB questioned his Certificate of Good Standing, which led to his disqualification.

Meanwhile, the candidacy of councilor hopeful Michelle Lao of KAISA is still “pending” the approval of the USEB, together with Michani Leila Tilendo, who is also running as councilor under STAND UP. Tilendo has already completed all academic requirements prior to the deadline of the filing of candidcay, yet her True Copy of Grades failed to reflect this, said STAND UP standardbearer Erra Mae Zabat.

The Collegian tried to contact Lao, through KAISA Election Committee Head Erika Erro and standard bearers Gonzalez and Tomaneng, to inquire on her case and ask for comments but to no avail.

Continued to page 11

Pero nagpapakatatag ako, sigurado magkita man tayong muli o hindi mananatili ako dito kung saan tayo nagsimula ng pangangarap at pag-ibig dahil kung akala nila titigil kami mananahimik kami sa paghahanap sa inyo sa hustisya

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

—metaporang hindi umaangkop, maling salin ng dalawang magkaibang wika, pinakahuling pantig ng mga bersong pilit itinutugma, lumang tulang burado na ng panahon, kailanma’y ‘di na mababasa. Sinubukan kong pagkasyahin ang iyong diwa sa dulo ng pangungusap, sa makitid na espasyong katuglong ng tuldok, sa nag-aalinlangang kurba ng tandang pananong, sa kasumpa-sumpang linya ng tandang panamdam. Iniluklok ko ang mga sintunadong titik ng ‘yong pangalan sa aking pamagat, pinalamutian ng mga pang-uri’t pang-abay, sinulyapan ang mga aninong may sariling uniberso ng balarilang nag-uugnay sa ating dalawang ‘di-makapag-iisang sugnay, tulang binura ng panahon, huling pantig ng mga bersong ‘di nagtutugma, maling salin ng mga magkakaibang wika, metaporang hindi umaangkop: ikaw.

Pag-ibig

at iba pang sakuna

Huwag mong paniwalaan ang lahat ng lumalabas sa aking bibig.

Dahil sa mga gabing tulad nito, nangangapa ang kaba At nagdadalawang-isip ang dila sa kahahagilap ng mga salitang Ipahahapon sa iyong tenga.

Ang halakhak ay maaaring bulong, At ang katahimikan ay maaaring nag-aalumpihit na sigaw.

Maaari ring naninimbang ang mga salita: Kung paano ka sasagot, Kung paano ka magpapailandang Ng magkakarugtong na mga titik Ng kawalang-katiyakan, Laluna’t ang gabi’y singlalim ng pag-aalinlangan.

Iisa lamang ang aking titiyakin Sa iyo at sa iyong mga kaibigan, Na kung papalisin mo ang kamay mong nakaharang, Baka may naghihintay na palad Na nagkukubli’t nahihiyang bumitaw, Nagbabakasakaling ang iyong pagkakuyom Ay bubukadkad na parang tapat na hiling, At nangangarap ng makakahawak.

Carlos M. Piocos III

Berso 7

Iyon ang akala nila.

Mykel Andrada

7

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

Mahirap matagpuan ang sarili sa gitna ng dilim ng gubat.

Paano nga ba natin nagagawang iwan ang lahat para lamang makaligtas?

Kani-kanina lamang ay hinahabol ako ng mga kahol ng aso at mata ng flashlight.

Bago iyon, ay mabilis kong binagtas nang walang lingon-lingon ang tulay na naghihiwalay sa magkalaban nating bayan, nilagpasan ang mga naligaw na tolda sa daan, ang mga nag-iinumang tambay sa tindahan, ang mahihimbing na paghilik ng hatinggabi at mahihinang himig ng dayuhang awit bitbit ng usok mula sa siga ng madalingaraw na pagwawalis ng matatanda.

At ngayon, narito ako sa harap ng pinto ng iyong Lungsod upang magpakupkop.

Tinalikuran ko na ang aking anino, itinakwil ang luma kong apelyido, ikinondena ang sinasambang mga sinaunang anito, tumiwalag sa pinanampalatayaang liwanag, kasama ng alaala ng mga dating lihim, lumang liham at mga sinunog na kasulatan.

Isinusuko ko na sa iyo ang aking kasaysayan at ang mga alamat ng aking pinanggalingan.

Page design : Jan Andrei Cobey

Hayaan mong maging aking bagong nasyonalidad ang iyong pangalan.

Fourteen Boys

at nilalamig ang aking mga talampakan subalit pinapawisan ang aking mga palad.

Nalilito kaya sila sa bagong klima at oras, at panahon, at pagpapalit ng liwanag na laging may bahid ng kulimlim at pangangatal tuwing hapon?

Maraming naglalaglagang mga dahon sa bangketang maayos na pinalitada at ang mga bahay, halos magkakamukha bagama’t alam mong iba-iba ang nakatira, iba ang mga lahi, ibang lasa ng mga pagkain, ibang panaginip at mga wika ang gumagambala at ang akin, ang aking dila ay naghihintay lagi na ibulalas, sambitin at sabihin ng walang pagkukunwari ang mga salitang tulad ng inin, sa kaning nakakapaso sa dila, malagkit ang pawis sa noo at ma-alin-sangan ang alat ng pawis, at ang dagat iniimbita tayo sa isang tampisaw sa tubig na maligamgam at mapanglaw na balat ng karagatan, at ang himpapawid, tulad ng ihip ng hanging nangingibabaw sa malayong dako ng alam kong langit, at higit sa lahat, ang siil ng halik ng labi ng iniwang mangingibig at pag-ibig sa dapit ng papadilim na kanluran. Maggagabi na, magaganda ang mga nalalagas at tumutubong halaman, bulaklak, talulot, at ang mga nilalakaran ko sa pag-uwi, sa pagtakbo para pawisan o sa pagdaan upang makiraan sa hardin nang may hardin, hinahanap ko ang mga maginoo, ang kurap ng kilapsaw, ang talino ng ganda, ang syudad at lungsod ng sigasig at ang suklam sa hindi maipaliwanag na pakiramdam ng di pagkakaayos, ng siksikan, agawan, alimura at amoy ng bagong labang damit sa nakakasulasok ng lungsod ng tao, sa daigdig na iyon na laging may ngisi ang paglubog at kulay kalawang na araw o kailangang mag-ingat sa bawat biyahe at viajero anumang panahon.

Pero ngayon, habang hinihintay ang susunod na tula at dula sa ordinaryong panahon, habang ang pangungulila ang siyang tanging kaibigan hahayaan ko munang pawisan ang aking mga palad at mga talampakan habang maginaw at may naalalang uri ng yakap.

KULTURA

Petersen Vargas

Akala ko, madali ito sa gawain nating mula umaga hanggang gabi dumarating ang balita ng mga biktima ng dahas ng estado pero iba pala, iba pa rin na ang sinisinta ang dinukot ang kasama at katuwang ang desaparecido.

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

Refugee

Pilit kong nilalakasan ang loob ko ngayon pero kapag nag-iisa na lang ako kasama ang rosas na bigay mo pumapatak din ang luha ko, ‘kala mo habang binabalikan ang mga huli nilang ulat sa huli mong pagpapaabot na may sumusunod sa ‘yo hanggang ngayon na di ko rin alam kung magkikita pa tayo o kung ililitaw ka pa nila.

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Balarila ng Sakuna

Tuyo na ang mga bulaklak nang makausap kita ulit ayan ka na naman, sa loob-loob ko miss mo na ‘ko, baka di na tayo magkita ulit nababahala rin ako, ‘kala mo lalo pa’t di mapulang rosas itong relasyon natin may mga panahon ng ligalig at panganib mula sa mga nagwawalay sa mga gaya nating itinuturing nilang tinik at kaaway.

Yakap

Abot-abot ang kantyaw na inabot ko, ‘kala mo dun sa rosas na pinadala mo pero sabi ko sa kanila minsan lang ito kaya sigurado, itatago ko ‘to.

Ipinatong ko sa ibabaw ng mesa ko ang bulaklak para nakikita ko paggising at pagtulog nilalabanan ko rin ang panglaw araw-araw, ‘kala mo pero gaya ng lagi ko sinasabi sapat sa akin ang mga kwento at pangarap na pinagsasaluhan natin sa tuwing mayroon tayong ugnayan kahit magkawalay sa gawain lakasan natin ang loob natin.

Reagan Romero Maiquez

Ma. Cristina Guevarra

Akala

KULTURA

Julian Inah Anunciacion

6

1 Here’s to the boy who waltzed my way out of a dark, empty street and who drew me maps and taught me geography (this city is our city, this river is our sadness, and this restaurant is where you taught me how to recognise the language of every pulse of a heartbeat) 2 Here’s to the boy who lectured me on an introductory course to First Loves, and him who is the sole flame to a harvest of dead branches, keeping me warm at the dead of night—the time I think of him, and his small eyes and his sunset touch and his hurricane breath and his ugly enunciation of the words goodbye, farewell.

3 Here’s to the boy who played me guitar songs through his silence, us naked on his bed, more naked on mine.

4 Here’s to the boy who wrote instead of talked, and whose eyes were signal fires telling me how lost he felt, alone on an island while I am a thousand miles above him, seeing him as a tiny dirt-pixel, but loving him all the same.

5 Here’s to the boy who slept with me on the cold, tiled floor somewhere at a province he’s always loved, while he whispered me stories that reminded me of my own childhood, and whose closeness was like a run-on sentence never perfected.

6 Here’s to the boy who I wished I have never met.

7 Here’s to the boy who I fell in love with inside the confines of a movie theater, keeping me close to spaces in which light was absent, as if I were his least favorite secret.

8 Here’s to the boy who held my hand against the backdrop of a bookshelf, whose palms felt like the pages of a badly-written novel.

9 Here’s to the boy who smoked with me behind a dingy shopping center, early evening, as our lips tasted of apologies and as the cold air felt like a blanket that was ready to separate us at once.

10 Here’s to the boy who knew how to touch me like his fingertips were lit like a birthday candle, and whose smile was like a big occasion worth celebrating.

11 Here’s to the boy who was like a Ciudad song— “my emptiness”.

12 Here’s to the boy who had pictures of himself scattered on the walls of his room and also on the corners of my memory and on the closed gaps of my heart.

13 Here’s to the boy who distanced himself far enough for me to miss him until the day that I die.

14 Here’s to the boy who made me carve our initials on wet cement, as if our love was made of stone.

Pero nagpapakatatag ako, sigurado magkita man tayong muli o hindi mananatili ako dito kung saan tayo nagsimula ng pangangarap at pag-ibig dahil kung akala nila titigil kami mananahimik kami sa paghahanap sa inyo sa hustisya

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

—metaporang hindi umaangkop, maling salin ng dalawang magkaibang wika, pinakahuling pantig ng mga bersong pilit itinutugma, lumang tulang burado na ng panahon, kailanma’y ‘di na mababasa. Sinubukan kong pagkasyahin ang iyong diwa sa dulo ng pangungusap, sa makitid na espasyong katuglong ng tuldok, sa nag-aalinlangang kurba ng tandang pananong, sa kasumpa-sumpang linya ng tandang panamdam. Iniluklok ko ang mga sintunadong titik ng ‘yong pangalan sa aking pamagat, pinalamutian ng mga pang-uri’t pang-abay, sinulyapan ang mga aninong may sariling uniberso ng balarilang nag-uugnay sa ating dalawang ‘di-makapag-iisang sugnay, tulang binura ng panahon, huling pantig ng mga bersong ‘di nagtutugma, maling salin ng mga magkakaibang wika, metaporang hindi umaangkop: ikaw.

Pag-ibig

at iba pang sakuna

Huwag mong paniwalaan ang lahat ng lumalabas sa aking bibig.

Dahil sa mga gabing tulad nito, nangangapa ang kaba At nagdadalawang-isip ang dila sa kahahagilap ng mga salitang Ipahahapon sa iyong tenga.

Ang halakhak ay maaaring bulong, At ang katahimikan ay maaaring nag-aalumpihit na sigaw.

Maaari ring naninimbang ang mga salita: Kung paano ka sasagot, Kung paano ka magpapailandang Ng magkakarugtong na mga titik Ng kawalang-katiyakan, Laluna’t ang gabi’y singlalim ng pag-aalinlangan.

Iisa lamang ang aking titiyakin Sa iyo at sa iyong mga kaibigan, Na kung papalisin mo ang kamay mong nakaharang, Baka may naghihintay na palad Na nagkukubli’t nahihiyang bumitaw, Nagbabakasakaling ang iyong pagkakuyom Ay bubukadkad na parang tapat na hiling, At nangangarap ng makakahawak.

Carlos M. Piocos III

Berso 7

Iyon ang akala nila.

Mykel Andrada

7

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

Mahirap matagpuan ang sarili sa gitna ng dilim ng gubat.

Paano nga ba natin nagagawang iwan ang lahat para lamang makaligtas?

Kani-kanina lamang ay hinahabol ako ng mga kahol ng aso at mata ng flashlight.

Bago iyon, ay mabilis kong binagtas nang walang lingon-lingon ang tulay na naghihiwalay sa magkalaban nating bayan, nilagpasan ang mga naligaw na tolda sa daan, ang mga nag-iinumang tambay sa tindahan, ang mahihimbing na paghilik ng hatinggabi at mahihinang himig ng dayuhang awit bitbit ng usok mula sa siga ng madalingaraw na pagwawalis ng matatanda.

At ngayon, narito ako sa harap ng pinto ng iyong Lungsod upang magpakupkop.

Tinalikuran ko na ang aking anino, itinakwil ang luma kong apelyido, ikinondena ang sinasambang mga sinaunang anito, tumiwalag sa pinanampalatayaang liwanag, kasama ng alaala ng mga dating lihim, lumang liham at mga sinunog na kasulatan.

Isinusuko ko na sa iyo ang aking kasaysayan at ang mga alamat ng aking pinanggalingan.

Page design : Jan Andrei Cobey

Hayaan mong maging aking bagong nasyonalidad ang iyong pangalan.

Fourteen Boys

at nilalamig ang aking mga talampakan subalit pinapawisan ang aking mga palad.

Nalilito kaya sila sa bagong klima at oras, at panahon, at pagpapalit ng liwanag na laging may bahid ng kulimlim at pangangatal tuwing hapon?

Maraming naglalaglagang mga dahon sa bangketang maayos na pinalitada at ang mga bahay, halos magkakamukha bagama’t alam mong iba-iba ang nakatira, iba ang mga lahi, ibang lasa ng mga pagkain, ibang panaginip at mga wika ang gumagambala at ang akin, ang aking dila ay naghihintay lagi na ibulalas, sambitin at sabihin ng walang pagkukunwari ang mga salitang tulad ng inin, sa kaning nakakapaso sa dila, malagkit ang pawis sa noo at ma-alin-sangan ang alat ng pawis, at ang dagat iniimbita tayo sa isang tampisaw sa tubig na maligamgam at mapanglaw na balat ng karagatan, at ang himpapawid, tulad ng ihip ng hanging nangingibabaw sa malayong dako ng alam kong langit, at higit sa lahat, ang siil ng halik ng labi ng iniwang mangingibig at pag-ibig sa dapit ng papadilim na kanluran. Maggagabi na, magaganda ang mga nalalagas at tumutubong halaman, bulaklak, talulot, at ang mga nilalakaran ko sa pag-uwi, sa pagtakbo para pawisan o sa pagdaan upang makiraan sa hardin nang may hardin, hinahanap ko ang mga maginoo, ang kurap ng kilapsaw, ang talino ng ganda, ang syudad at lungsod ng sigasig at ang suklam sa hindi maipaliwanag na pakiramdam ng di pagkakaayos, ng siksikan, agawan, alimura at amoy ng bagong labang damit sa nakakasulasok ng lungsod ng tao, sa daigdig na iyon na laging may ngisi ang paglubog at kulay kalawang na araw o kailangang mag-ingat sa bawat biyahe at viajero anumang panahon.

Pero ngayon, habang hinihintay ang susunod na tula at dula sa ordinaryong panahon, habang ang pangungulila ang siyang tanging kaibigan hahayaan ko munang pawisan ang aking mga palad at mga talampakan habang maginaw at may naalalang uri ng yakap.

KULTURA

Petersen Vargas

Akala ko, madali ito sa gawain nating mula umaga hanggang gabi dumarating ang balita ng mga biktima ng dahas ng estado pero iba pala, iba pa rin na ang sinisinta ang dinukot ang kasama at katuwang ang desaparecido.

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

Refugee

Pilit kong nilalakasan ang loob ko ngayon pero kapag nag-iisa na lang ako kasama ang rosas na bigay mo pumapatak din ang luha ko, ‘kala mo habang binabalikan ang mga huli nilang ulat sa huli mong pagpapaabot na may sumusunod sa ‘yo hanggang ngayon na di ko rin alam kung magkikita pa tayo o kung ililitaw ka pa nila.

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Balarila ng Sakuna

Tuyo na ang mga bulaklak nang makausap kita ulit ayan ka na naman, sa loob-loob ko miss mo na ‘ko, baka di na tayo magkita ulit nababahala rin ako, ‘kala mo lalo pa’t di mapulang rosas itong relasyon natin may mga panahon ng ligalig at panganib mula sa mga nagwawalay sa mga gaya nating itinuturing nilang tinik at kaaway.

Yakap

Abot-abot ang kantyaw na inabot ko, ‘kala mo dun sa rosas na pinadala mo pero sabi ko sa kanila minsan lang ito kaya sigurado, itatago ko ‘to.

Ipinatong ko sa ibabaw ng mesa ko ang bulaklak para nakikita ko paggising at pagtulog nilalabanan ko rin ang panglaw araw-araw, ‘kala mo pero gaya ng lagi ko sinasabi sapat sa akin ang mga kwento at pangarap na pinagsasaluhan natin sa tuwing mayroon tayong ugnayan kahit magkawalay sa gawain lakasan natin ang loob natin.

Reagan Romero Maiquez

Ma. Cristina Guevarra

Akala

KULTURA

Julian Inah Anunciacion

6

1 Here’s to the boy who waltzed my way out of a dark, empty street and who drew me maps and taught me geography (this city is our city, this river is our sadness, and this restaurant is where you taught me how to recognise the language of every pulse of a heartbeat) 2 Here’s to the boy who lectured me on an introductory course to First Loves, and him who is the sole flame to a harvest of dead branches, keeping me warm at the dead of night—the time I think of him, and his small eyes and his sunset touch and his hurricane breath and his ugly enunciation of the words goodbye, farewell.

3 Here’s to the boy who played me guitar songs through his silence, us naked on his bed, more naked on mine.

4 Here’s to the boy who wrote instead of talked, and whose eyes were signal fires telling me how lost he felt, alone on an island while I am a thousand miles above him, seeing him as a tiny dirt-pixel, but loving him all the same.

5 Here’s to the boy who slept with me on the cold, tiled floor somewhere at a province he’s always loved, while he whispered me stories that reminded me of my own childhood, and whose closeness was like a run-on sentence never perfected.

6 Here’s to the boy who I wished I have never met.

7 Here’s to the boy who I fell in love with inside the confines of a movie theater, keeping me close to spaces in which light was absent, as if I were his least favorite secret.

8 Here’s to the boy who held my hand against the backdrop of a bookshelf, whose palms felt like the pages of a badly-written novel.

9 Here’s to the boy who smoked with me behind a dingy shopping center, early evening, as our lips tasted of apologies and as the cold air felt like a blanket that was ready to separate us at once.

10 Here’s to the boy who knew how to touch me like his fingertips were lit like a birthday candle, and whose smile was like a big occasion worth celebrating.

11 Here’s to the boy who was like a Ciudad song— “my emptiness”.

12 Here’s to the boy who had pictures of himself scattered on the walls of his room and also on the corners of my memory and on the closed gaps of my heart.

13 Here’s to the boy who distanced himself far enough for me to miss him until the day that I die.

14 Here’s to the boy who made me carve our initials on wet cement, as if our love was made of stone.

8 Ronn Joshua C. Bautista IT WAS DECEMBER 18, THE day of the famous annual Lantern Parade in UP Diliman (UPD). A group of UP Visayas (UPV) students was about to showcase their lantern before the UP community. Much to the surprise of the audience, however, the students did not have any lavishly decorated float to display after all—no festive banners, no fancy costumes.

In what could only be called an ironic counterpoint to the celebration’s theme of “Maalab Na Serbisyo Publiko ng Mapagkalingang Kampus,” over thirty cross-registered UPV Tacloban students marched in front of the university amphitheater to criticize the response of the UP administration to their plight.

A month after super typhoon Yolanda struck Tacloban and the entire Eastern Visayas, the students were protesting against the UP administration’s order for them to go through another bureaucratic assessment before being granted tuition relief under the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP). “These are our rights. We should not have to beg for them,” their spokesperson told the Parade crowds.

Yolanda may have destroyed homes and claimed thousands of lives.

But like the rest of the students of the country’s only national university, UPV Tacloban students are also struggling to weather the devastation wrought by the 25-year long calamity that is the STFAP.

Back to school

Determined to resume their studies after the disaster, UPV Tacloban students had to live through harsh conditions just to be able to enroll again.

With the storm surge virtually washing away everything her family owned, third-year Management student Anna* for instance, had to live without electricity at their wrecked home in Maras Baras for the past three months—just to save enough money for tuition and school allowance.

Yet despite these hardships, she had to face a final roadblock she has always encountered every enrolment.

How would she pay for her tuition?

Before Yolanda, Anna was paying the full tuition rate of P1,500 per unit under STFAP’s Bracket A, despite having three other siblings and parents who only work at the local health center. No aid reached their community, and Anna can only hope for a miracle to raise about P27,000 for her tuition.

The UP administration was quick to announce that it shall extend assistance to students like Anna.

Using a simplified and interviewbased method to more quickly identify students who need aid, the UP administration nonetheless reveals a catch: help will be given not

LATHALAIN to all who deserve it, but to those lucky few whom the university can afford to help.

Varying ‘luck’ UP President Alfredo Pascual has always been firm in his support for the STFAP, which must remain a “needs-based” and “evidence-based” tuition system. Claiming that not all UP Tacloban students reside in the city itself, Pascual believes that not all of them had suffered the same extent of damage from Yolanda and therefore deserve the same tuition relief. “It would be unfair for the other students,” Pascual says.

UPV Tacloban College Student Council Chair Francisco Banguis disagrees. “Just because your house was not destroyed or you are [not geographically affected], you are still affected [by] the high cost of living in Tacloban.” In a study done by the UPV USC, Banguis reported that the inflation rate in Tacloban now stands at seven percent and goods are now being sold for one-half more than their retail price.

According to the results of the

STFAP assessments, only 346 out of 525 students in UPV Tacloban were granted free tuition and stipend under bracket E2. The rest were still assigned in higher brackets—like Anna who was only rebracketed from Bracket A to B. In UP Cebu, only 45 out of 190 UPV Tacloban cross-registrants were rebracketed to E2.

“Nakaka-frustrate. Nabagyuhan din naman kami at naapektuhan ng mga [nagtataasang] prices, [tapos] magbabayad pa kami ng tuition,” Anna says.

Interestingly, better luck found those Tacloban students who crossregistered in other UP units, such as UP Diliman. According to the Office of Scholarships and Student Services, 40 out of the 251 UPV Tacloban students in Diliman were rebracketed to E2 while the rest were given free tuition under E1.

If this varying luck of UPV Tacloban students is any indication, there appears to be a self-contradicting feature in the STFAP. Despite promises of democratizing access to the

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2013

university by giving tuition discounts to those in need, the STFAP in reality operates under only one premise: the abundance of so-called “rich” students, or those classified under brackets A and B, in each UP unit.

Paradox

Admitting that some UP units may be able to provide more crossregistrants with free tuition than others, Pascual explains that these units have more funds to offset the lower-bracketed students.

UPV Office of Student Affairs Director Ruben Gamala agrees,

AFTER THE STORM

saying the income generated from tuition payments under STFAP funds the subsidy for those with tuition discounts. “’Yung mga [re-bracketing], may pondong pagkukuhanan sa STFAP funds [ng bawat UP unit],” he says.

It is not surprising then that UPD was able to provide free tuition for all cross-registrants while UPV Tacloban’s capacity was very limited. After all, one-fourth of the student population in UPD pay under bracket A while there were only 59 students paying the same tuition rate in UPV Tacloban before the typhoon.

As College of Arts and Letters professor Ramon Guillermo points out in his critique of the STFAP, this premise creates a “crowding-out” effect. “An increase in the number of stipend- [and free tuition] receiving students requires an increase in higher tuition-paying students,” he notes.

With such a paradoxical mechanism, the STFAP defeats its own needs-based rationale, with Anna’s situation being a prime example.

Far from being aided by STFAP, her parents now have to work overtime and cut her allowance in half.

From its inception, the STFAP has deprived supposedly “betteroff” students of their equal right to affordable education. Now more than ever, the situation of Tacloban cross-registrants underscored the truth behind the STFAP tragedy: that “socialized tuition” seeks to maximize revenue from as many UP students as possible—something that should have never been an option for a public institution that caters to the poor and marginalized.

“In the first place, hindi naman mamomroblema ang mga estudyante sa pagbabayad ng tuition, kapag ito ay affordable in the first place,” argues Student Regent Krista Melgarejo.

Since the 300 percent increase in 2007, UP’s full tuition rate of P1,500 per unit is now more expensive than the NCR and the national average of P1,186 and P590 per unit, respectively.

As Tacloban show signs of recovery, refugees have begun to gather collective strength to stand up against the injustices they have suffered. In UP, students speak out fearlessly in various dialogues with even Pascual himself. In a meeting in Davao City last month, the General Assembly of Student Councils have also passed a resolution to scrap STFAP and to rollback the tuition to an affordable flat-rate.

For at a time when extreme conditions regularly take a toll on each iskolar ng bayan’s family, students can no longer be merely victims of the STFAP. Students like Anna are now survivors who must unite to rebuild what was once the university of the people.

∞

Dibuho : Patricia Ramos Disenyo ng pahina : Jerome Tagaro

LATHALAIN

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

SHIFT NG GROUNDS I

9

Examin ng UP's new academic calendar

Gloiza Plamenco RUMORS OF MAJOR CHANGES in the UP academic calendar have been rampant for a while, circulating among the community as an interesting tidbit for debate and discussion. However, on February 7, the Board of Regents (BOR) sealed the deal, approving with finality the new policy that would shift the schedule of the school year from June-March to August-May. Except in the Diliman campus and its extension in Pampanga, all seven constituent universities will now implement the new academic calendar starting next school year (See related article on page 3).

Along with other private universities in the country such as the Ateneo de Manila University and Adamson University, UP will shape graduates for competitiveness in the regional and global market — all for the sake of internationalization.

International cooperation Touting the policy as a move in line with the UP Charter of 2008, UP President Alfredo Pascual took the lead in pushing the BOR to approve the shift in the academic calendar. The Charter mandates that UP become “a regional and global university in cooperation with international and scientific unions, networks of universities.”

Pascual claims that synchronizing UP’s academic calendar with the universities in the region will provide greater opportunities for students and faculty to study abroad and conduct research collaborations. The shift will also mean less interruption of class activities caused by the rainy season during the first semester and by calendar holidays during the second semester.

But these benefits are not mutually exclusive, as UP has long participated in faculty and student exchanges and research collaborations. The differences

in schedule even allowed foreign students and teachers to take up shortterm research and teaching fellowships in the country, and according to the statement of the All UP Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU).

Moreover, operational issues beleaguer the implementation of the policy. In an interview with UPD Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ronald Banzon, he enumerates issues that were raised during the University Council (UC) meeting, such as the new academic calendar’s disjunct with board exam schedules, as well as the calendars of the majority of public and private high schools.

Cross-enrolment and transfer of students from other local universities will also be difficult, and internship programs and fieldwork of students will be disrupted. Additional fees for the students are also becoming a concern, as there will be a need to improve ventilation, probably through air-conditioning, for regular classes during summer.

Pascual asks the UP community to give the shift a chance to be implemented, to show the actual benefits that may be quantified and assessed. AUPAEU, however, remains skeptical. “The rush to change the academic calendar without any studies…makes the [policy] unconvincing,” according to AUPAEU. ‘Left behind’ The urgency to implement the shift was triggered by the Philippines’ participation in the forthcoming economic integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by 2015 (ASEAN 2015).

The ASEAN 2015 envisions a highlycompetitive region of ten countrymembers having an integrated, “single market and production base”. ASEAN 2015 will effectively break economic barriers in the region to “accommodate free flow of goods, investments as well as skilled labour within the region,” according to the ASEAN 2015 Blueprint.

Shifting the academic calendar is one step towards producing graduates in the university that will become globally competitive, Pascual argues.

“We can no longer be inwardlooking, because to be inward-looking is to be left behind in our region. When [international companies] hire their key people under ASEAN 2015, they are free to choose from other countries. If we

produce graduates who are not regionally agents lose their jobs within a year, and globally competitive, who do you which is the highest turnover rate in the world, according to Contact Center think should they hire?” says Pascual.

Pascual’s rhetoric bears Association of the Philippines, an resemblance to the government’s long- organization of call center businesses standing policy of encouraging the in the country. marketization of Filipino workers for Flawed premise the benefit of foreign economies and As the country further opens itself to global corporations. For instance, in foreign countries through the economic 2012, the number of Overseas Filipino integration of the Southeast Asian region Workers (OFW) already peaked at 2.2 in 2015, it only encourages graduates in million, while call center agents already the country to become competitive to reached 770,000, according to the make themselves employable for foreign National Statistics Office. businesses — and shifting the academic This employment trend has calendar is the first step resulted in “brain drain” towards this skewed goal. or the loss of skilled Yet, the and knowledgeable competitiveness workers and Now, UP aims fostered in the professionals in to extend this premise of the country. “[The kind of dead-end ASEAN 2015 government competitiveness, at only “undeniably now] allows increase[s] the the expense of its entry of foreign number of Filipinos future graduates workers with the put in vulnerable required skills so situations,” according we can fill up those to independent think[vacant] occupations due to tank IBON Foundation. shortage,” says Rosalinda Baldoz, Workers’ rights and welfare are heavily Department of Labor and Employment eroded, all for the sake of foreign Secretary, in an interview. Among interests. Now, UP aims to extend this the vacant skills include architects, kind of dead-end competitiveness, chemical engineers, fisheries at the expense of its future technologists, geologists, guidance graduates. counsellors and medical technologists.

“Ang pagMoreover, the country is not just synchronize natin ng losing professionals, but its own academic calendar sa labor force. Since 1996, Philippines ibang bansa ay tulad has been the number one exporter lamang ng programang of human labor in Asia.

K-12 — mas lalo Employment in foreign businesses lamang nitong based within the country are also hinahanda unstable. In export processing zones ang mga mag(EPZ) where most businesses are owned by foreign companies, workers barely have any labor rights — for instance, women working in the Cavite EPZ work 12 hours in average everyday, while living in unsanitary, cramped quarters. Also, around 60 to 80 percent of the time, call center

aaral upang mag-trabaho sa ibang bansa o sa mga dayuhang kumpanya [dito] sa bansa, sa halip na paunlarin ang mga industriya natin,” says Student Regent Krista Melgarejo.

“Hindi dapat kapakanan ng mga dayuhang interes ang pangunahing tugunan ng mga graduates. Dapat nating tugunan bilang isang public university ang pangangailangan ng edukasyon, at maging tunay na iskolar ng bayan na tutulong na paunlarin ang bansa,” says Ramon Guillermo, President of the AUPAEU. Instead of treating Filipino graduates as commodities for sale to foreign employers, education should be geared towards the necessities of local job creation, and of national development.

This blind obedience to the dictates of the international market belies UP’s history as a leader in the field of education and national policy — UP should step up, instead of joining the bandwagon. ∞ Page design : Jan Andrei Cobey

10

OPINYON

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Filial pieties

John Keithley Difuntorum

WHEN I WAS 7 YEARS OLD, my mother unknowingly taught me how to cry—an act she had hoped I would never learn.

My father just left us to work abroad. I remember vividly how my mother never shed a tear, bidding my father the coldest of goodbyes.

Later that night, a series of sobs from the toilet woke me up. I instantly knew it was from my mother, so I checked to see if she was alright. She wasn’t. Her eyes were swollen red and her expression only showed dejection.

She said it was just a bad case of stomach cramps. All of a sudden, my tear ducts gave way to what my young mind could not comprehend.

To weep was not a selfish and cowardly act; it was an honorable one, borne out of an intense desire to do something—anything— for the one you love dearest but ultimately failing to do so.

Many years later as I was photographing a mother cradling her child surrounded by the ruins of the nowdemolished Sitio San Roque in Agham Road, I would recall the day my mother hugged me

in my sleep, whispering that everything would be alright.

It was a particularly long day. Fresh from a violence of the dispersal, the residents were hoping to catch a break and pick up the pieces. But the demolition squad had orders. Apparently, Quezon City Business District waits for no one.

Business as usual, they say.

I arrived at the area with only a camera on hand, hoping to chronicle the desolation of the aftermath. I readied my equipment and took aim, pouncing stealthily on subjects amid chaos. And then I saw them, surrounded by piles of rubble and concrete, a mother holding her child, kissing his nape, whispering that everything would be all right.

In my experience as a photojournalist, I eventually learned that preparation for the horror of every situation is a must; but sometimes, certain images assault us with their somber, forlorn nature, leaving us vulnerable with longing. I was brought back to those nights of my youth when I would wake up screaming because of a nightmarish

But the demolition squad had orders.

Apparently, Quezon City Business District waits for no one.

Business as usual, they say.

fear, a malevolent uncertainty that devoured my childish delusions of fantasy leaving me with a gaping hole and a terrible desire to run to my mother, to ask her to drive the demons away, to sleep in her safe embrace.

But it was not the same for the mother and child I encountered.

There was no bed to rest their tired bodies. There was no roof to warm them of the cold night air. There were no tables and chairs for playing hide and seek. There were no promises of unicorns and rainbows for the child, only a measured embrace and a whispered lullaby from the mother, amid mountains of fallen concrete, demolished dreams, and looming uncertainties.

As I was scrolling through the photos I took at Sitio San Roque, I remembered something important, something that was unforgivably put on hold, creeping through my veins as I nervously dialed the numbers on my phone. Warmth and devotion, things born inside the comforts of a home, were all condensed on a single sentence: “Happy Valentine’s Day, Mom.” ∞

Hapagkainan Jerome Tagaro

DATI KO NANG UGALI ANG MAGING mapagmasid sa daan, lalong-lalo na tuwing pupunta sa mga kainan.

Laging may dalang ligaya ang dala sa akin ng pagmamasid tuwing napapansin ko ang bawat galaw ng mga nasa paligid ko. Para sa akin, isa itong pagtakas mula sa arawaraw kong pagkasuya sa buhay.

Ngayon, nakaupo na naman ako sa isang kainan, at pansin na pansin ko ang bawat pitik ng mga kamay sa kabilang mesa, ‘yung pa-simpleng sulyap ng lalaki sa kasama niya sa tuwing nakatingin ito sa malayo, o kahit ‘yung gusot sa damit ng babaeng nasa dulong mesa. Kakilala ko man o hindi ang mga customer sa kahit saan na kainan, laging may mga natatanging tauhan sa mumunting espasyong ito.

Security guard Unang-una na bubungad pagpasok pa lamang sa isang kainan ang bruskong security guard. Madalas siyang mag-isa, minsan nagmamasid-masid sa paligid o babati ng “Welcome po!”

Baton lamang ang hawak niya at isang baril na walang lamang bala. Maaaring ito lamang ang

Kakilala ko man o hindi ang mga customer sa kahit saan na kainan, laging may mga natatanging tauhan sa mumunting espasyong ito.

kailangan sa mga kainan, dahil kapag may dumating na mga masasamang loob, madali lang namang humingi ng tulong. Sana lang hindi sila ganoon kadami para hindi siya mabuyo bago dumating ang back-up niya.

Crew Susunod na sasalubong ang masisipag na crew. Lagi silang may ngiti sa mukha, handanghanda nang kunin ang order ng mga customer. Madalas man silang contractual at mababa ang sahod, patuloy silang kumakayod upang mayroong maipakain sa pamilya.

Chef Lagi man siyang natatago at ’di man siya nakikita madalas, ang taga-luto pa rin ang susunod na magbibigay serbisyo. Buong araw siyang nagluluto ng pagkaing hindi niya naman nakakain, at nakaharap sa kusinang hindi niya naman pag-aari. Hindi ko rin alam kung nakakain na ba siya, o kung kaya niya man lang bilhin ang niluluto niya, pero siya ang gumagawa noon para sa mga customer at para sa pamilya niya. Dapat siyang pasalamatan.

Manager Napakaraming manager na ang nagdaan sa itinagal ng kainan, at bawat isa sa kanila ay magkakaiba ng palakad. Mayroong mga tutulogtulog, mahigpit sa oras, o tutok sa trabaho, pero may isang katangian ang hawak ng karamihan sa kanila — at ‘yun ay unahin ang interes ng kainan, na tiyaking marami pa rin ang kita, higit pa sa kapakanan ng mga customer.

Customer Walang nakakaalam kung magiging sino at ano ang bawat customer na lalabas sa kainan, pero nasa pangangalaga sila ngayon ng kainan. Binabayaran man ng bawat customer ang pagkain nila, nananatiling may maliit na kalayaan sa loob ng kainan. Dapat laging may pagkilala na ang bawat isang butil ng bigas na inihahain ay pawis at dugo ng mga taong nagtatrabaho rito.

Madalas napapangiti na lang ako sa tuwing nahuhuli ko ang sarili kong pinag-iisipan ito sa bawat kainang nasusubukan ko. Ngunit siguro ay maigi lamang na maibahagi ko sa mga makababasa nito na ang lahat ng ito ay sumasalamin sa mas masalimuot pang negosyo sa lipunan.

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014

OPINYON

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Continued from page 5

11

BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2013

EKSENANG PEYUPS

TEXTBACK

NEWSCAN

Ekstensyon sa CARPER, tinutulan ng mga magsasaka “Ito yung mga bagay na kailangan nating makita [na] tumatalakay sa tunay na kalagayan ng mga magsasaka,” ani Mariano.

‘Tunay na reporma’ Nagsagawa ng kampanya sa publiko ang KMP, Anakpawis, Kabataan Partylist, at Pagkakaisa para sa Tunay na Repormang Agraryo upang isulong ang GARB. Unang inihain sa Kongreso ang nasabing batas na kinilala bilang House Bill No. 3059 sa pangunguna ng Anakpawis Partylist, Bayan Muna at Gabriela Women’s Party noong Nobyembre 2007.

Nakasaad sa nasabing batas ang libreng pamamahagi ng lupa at pagpawi sa pananamantala ng mga magsasaka.

Pangunahing tunguhin umano ng GARB na wakasan ang monopolyo sa lupa ng iilan at patuloy na kontrol ng dayuhang interes sa lupain ng Pilipinas.

[Taliwas] sa isinusulong ng CARPER kung saan may-ari ng lupa ang nagdidikta ng halagang babayaran hanggang sa hindi na kayanin ng mga magsasaka ang pagbabayad ng amortisasyon, ani Joseph Canlas, tagapangulo ng Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon.

Gayundin, hindi obligado ang mga magsasaka na magbayad ng amortisasyon. Sa halip, bibigyan ang mga magsasakang benepisaryo ng mahusay at sapat na programa sa suportang serbisyo.

“GARB is only the serious bill on land reform and national development.

It proposes to liberate farmers from landlessness, poverty and indebtedness to pump up agricultural development,” ani Canlas sa isang panayam.

∞

Continued from page 5

73 candidates vie for 34 USC posts

Under Section 1, Article III of the Revised UPD Student Election Code, only students who are of good academic standing and are carrying a normal load in the same semester of the elections could qualify for the student elections.

Furthermore, candidates “must not have been found guilty of any disciplinary case of any act involving moral turpitude as defined in the Revised Penal Code,” according to the election code.

All three candidates from STAND UP have submitted an appeal to the USEB on February 10.

The electoral body composed of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ma. Corazon Tan, professors Fidel Nemenzo and Rocelyn de Vera, and student representatives Mikayla Therese Teodoro and Lee Yhenchie Ann Gerez is set to deliberate on the appeals on February 11.

The final and official list of candidates for the university-wide elections will be released on February 12. Candidates, however, will not be allowed to campaign until February 17. The official campaign period will run for two weeks until a day before the elections.

For the complete list of candidates for the USC elections, like us on www.facebook. com/philippinecollegian.

∞

The diskarteng walablife edishun!

HALER MGA KA PEDER! MALAPIT na ang Araw ng mga Nguso, este Puso!

Chos! Walablife o melablife, bubusugin ko kayo ng chumochorvang putahe ng maiinit na kachikahan sa ating U. Never na ma-concern dahil wala naman ‘tong bayad, ‘di tulad ng nakaha-highblood na kuryente at tuition fee. Bet! Be readybels na kayo na matuto sa mga putahe ko. Gora!

Dinuguan Over! Ansabe niyo dito sa boylet na walablife at pinaginteresan na ang ka sparing sa JEJEtsu!

Ang sparing match ba naman kasi ay nag-transform to intimate bloody condo eksena. Kaloka! Todo yakap si koya with matching back-and-forth movement pa sa dibdib ni koya B! Sabik sa private thingy ang peg. Ang resulta, literal na naiwang duguan si koya B. Yung mga tigidigdig kasi ni koyang walablife ay nagbahid ng dugo sa T-shirt ni koya B. Kadairy! Madugo tuloy ang shirty ni koya B. Sana mameet na ni koyang sabik sa lablife ang trulalalove niya this coming Araw ng mga Puso, para wala nang iba pang mabiktima. HUHUHU Bola-bola Here pa ang istorya ng isang madiskarteng boylet. Pa-meme mode kunyari si koya kay girlie. May hindi raw siya ma-getchiwa sa lesson ni propesora. Best Actor ang peg! May pa kamot-sa-head pang nalalaman si koya. Kabog naman tong si girlie na to the rescue kay pa-memeng boylet!

Ang mapanghing eksena, habang nagtuturoley si girlie, over makatitig si Boylet while making vola-vola pa with the girl! Kachakot! At biglang may siningit na tanong tungkol sa date! Charing! Pa-torpe type pala!

May tinatagong kulo ang echos! Nashockatok tuloy si girlie kaya basta na lang nag-fly away palayo kay boylet.

Ang harsh! Wawang naiwan si boylet.

Good luck na lng sa Valentines.

Sinigang Ikaw na ang may asim te! Shy na shy naman ako para dito kay girlie mula sa isang clazz. Ang bongga naman kasi nang shorty-shortshorts niya, pati ‘yung cleavage sa likod lumuluwa na! Gipit na gipit sa tela? “The curdled cave” ang chenelyn forte ni ate. Kering-keri ang fashion statement without knowing the secret behind. Wish ko na lang hindi ma-turn off ang mga boylet sa kanya.

Iyan na nga ang aking mga pasabog before valentines, never kayo magaya sa kanila. Keri? Betaway, chochorva na ako, mek sure wag mafo-forget ang acads. Kung walablife, huwag magpakawildlife. Chos! Ciao! Chup-chup!

∞

Kung bibigyan ng kapangyarihang magtakda, ano ang magiging aksyon niyo sa usapin ng Bangsamoro?

personally, i don’t want a part of the philippines be severed through bangsamoro. It might be encouragement for other rebels to follow their example, and in the end, we’d see an archipelago broken to pieces. However, we can’t change what happened. Its already signed. Perhaps the action that can be done is to, at least subliminally, make the people of bangsamoro think it is better to stay with the philippines than to follow, say, the step taken by palestine through bangsamoro. There’s a lot of development that can be done there. We, the filipino people, shouldn’t miss that chance. 201221271 alrap BA Hist bakit pati yung course preferences ng mga qualifiers ginagawang dahilan ng pambabatikos sa gobyerno natin? di ba valid ang sabihing maraming high school student ang talagang mas hilig ang math and science kaysa liberal arts, regardless of what their teachers tell them? or gusto ba nitong article na pag-awayin ang CAL against CS and Engg? 201322755 Engg

Gamit ang limang salita, ano ang inyong buod sa isyung Vhong Navarro?

mali ata ung meaning nio na BS MBB 2010-52638 (buod ng isyung Vhong Navarro) Tangina, di naman ito balita. BA Journalism, 2010-329** mas gusto kong iconvince clang mkiisa sa buong bansa ng di na kinakailangan ng anong agreemnt at ibang treatmnt 4 dem. ibig sabihin babaguhin q ang sistema!

200833848 lyn law 2. a total waste of time 200833848 lyn law Bugbog Vhong, retoke ilong. BOW. 2007*6*9* Vhelow, Engg

Huwag lumandi pag may karelasyon 2007-26811

Comments

napansin ko lang, every two weeks na lang yung release ng kule. Eh dati naman, once a wk tapos fun to read. Ngayon onti lang yung magandang issues. Anyare, sinuportahan namin kayo sa php 70 student fee increase diba, para matuloy ang kule printing. Eh bakit madalang na yung kule, onti pa ng articles?!

2011-**74* CAL We can’t be financing studets na IN THE END ay mag-aabroad at IIWAN ang bansa. :) . Based from Dr. SE Claudio’s statement. Astig. I hope we can all realize this. 10-32100 KULE Punch Bong not Vhong! HAHA #porkbarrelscam 201x-xxx28 CS

Next week’s questions 1. Sa iyong palagay, kailan magkakaroon ng tunay na repormang agraryo?

2. Kung bibigyan ng pagkakataon, sino sa mga USC at college council candidates ang idedate mo? Saan mo siya dadalhin?

Send in your opinions and feedback via SMS! Type KULE <space> MESSAGE <space> STUDENT NUMBER <required> NAME and COURSE (optional) and send to:

0935 541 0512 0908 180 1076 Non-UP students must indicate any school, organization or sectoral affliation.

FACT: One in three women on the planet will be raped or beaten in her lifetime.

That is one billion women. In 2013, one billion women and men worldwide shook the earth through dance to end violence against women and girls.

This year, on 14 February 2014, we are calling on women and men everywhere to harness their power and imagination to rise for JUSTICE. See you on February 14 at UP Diliman for the NCR MAIN EVENT: UP Diliman Amphitheater, 5:30 PM - 8 PM Decentralized OBR events at UP Diliman before the Main Event: 9:00 AM - 12:00 NN @ UP CSWCD 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM @ Quezon Hall OBR events will be held in different provinces and cities nationwide, and different countries worldwide. Last year, Philippines was in the top ten countries with the most number of OBR participants.

Contact Krizz Santos (09163053565) of GABRIELA Youth to join dance practices. www.facebook.com/ events/641179059271596 www.onebillionrising.org

Diliman Learning Resource Center and the UP ALCHEMES Reviews and Tutorials Team brings you two (2) review sessions for Chem 17!

WHEN: February 15, 2014 (Saturday) SESSION: AM - 8:30 AM - 12:00 NN PM - 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM Questions? Contact 09174401036 or message the following on Facebook: UP ALCHEMES - https://www.facebook. com/UPALCHEMES DLRC - https://www.facebook.com/ dlrctutors See you there!

#14YearsofTheoryandPractice Feb 11-14: Anniv Exhibit Feb 13: Org Feud 2014 Feb 15-16: BMEx

CONTACT US! Write to us via snail mail or submit a soft copy to Rm. 401, Vinzons Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

Email us at pkule1314gmail.com.

Save Word attachments in Rich Text Format, with INBOX, NEWSCAN or CONTRIB in the subject. Always include your full name, address and contact details.

Feb 18: Anniv Forum Feb 21: Alum Night Like us on Facebook: http://www. facebook.com/uppraxis Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter. com/UP_PRAXIS UP Praxis.

Realizing Potentials since 2000.

UP SUNKEN GARDEN transforms itself overnight just as vampires do in tales of terror, or creatures of enchantment in sagas of fantastic imaginings.

What I remember from my first UP Fair as a freshman were people skating on the thick of the mud. I remember seeing her in my favorite colors, as she also told me in her distilled voice before the octopus ride began to rattle our guts: “Hey, I love the color of your shirt.” I smiled. A band I did not know was playing a mid-tempo song. In a few hours the fireworks of Valentine’s Day befell us.

The blur of colors, the electric contact between skins, the midtempo music (of a band I did not know) reverberating around the oval that normally was a piece of naked ground, and the temporary happiness inside the Fair walls gave us the cinematic feel when everything seemed to have lost itself but have fallen to the all the right places.

I was quite aware even before my first UP Fair that this one of the most anticipated annual event has been created to be more than just a wonderland escape from midweek acads work—and into an ideal preValentine setting. Student leaders devised it during the post-Marcos era as a form testimony to the youth’s continuing resistance, and a perfect venue to tackle pressing issues through a cultural night, with bands that did not necessarily had to sell, but definitely had something to say: Juan de la Cruz Band, Asin, The Wuz. With the hasty calendar shift that had UP Diliman caught in a center of debates and the blatant selling of the name of one of our colleges in exchange for a generous amount, we really have a lot to talk about, don’t you think? ∞

Inside these walls

Alan P. Tuazon

NOWHERE MAN

ADVOCACY // Fight for national industrialization!

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ABOUT // mahilig manilip FAVE SONG // “Picture, Picture!” by Tanya Markova PICK-UP LINE // “Girls be like, ‘I love your BIG lens.’”

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ABOUT // mahusay ang mga kamay, tayong-tayo IDEAL LAPIS // “Hindi katabaan, pero mahaba’t matulis. Perfect fit sa kamay.“ PICK-UP LINE // “Slide your brush against my canvas.”

ADVOCACY // Sining para sa masa!

ILLUS

KULE TOP MODEL

Gusto mo silang makilala? Akyat sa room 401 Vinzons Hall, magdala ng dalawang bluebook, at hanapin si [name ng bet mo], for a more “intimate” encounter. We’ll be gentle.

Wala pa ring date? Sagot na namin ang Valentine niyo! Text SINGLE <SPACE> ME <SPACE> name ng bet mo <SPACE> describe yourself in one word. Send to 09355410512 or 09081801076. Hintayin lamang ang reply.

ADVOCACY // Katarungan sa mga biktima ng demolisyon!

font Sans-serif and you, sans-pants.”

ABOUT // pangmatagalan MOTTO IN LIFE // “Kahit gaano kahaba, kahit gaano kalaki, kayang pagkasyahin.”

PICK-UP LINE // “I want my

LAYOUT

TYPE MO? TEXT MO!

ABOUT // malaman FAVE TEXTMATE // Pres. A. Pascual PICK-UP LINE // “I love my drafts hard and rough.”

ADVOCACY // Scrap STFAP! Rollback the tuition!

NEWS

KAYOD MARINO

JERSEY NO. 24