Philippine Collegian Issue 11-12

Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas - Diliman Tomo 90, Blg. 11-12 Setyembre 5, 2012

BALITA Miyerkules 27 Hunyo 2012

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R FO W S O E N HE T A US R S S E D P IE A N W CH R R R E R A HI B A N C E D ,W E I H A S ON A S I T H S, T H T H TI E W IE G I N A LY T I O UC ED E D RSI E R T L S D E H A E PO U P IV T TR R N S I S HE SUP C O U R D I N HIG D N . ND A M W A UL O A D BLIC O AT I ES T O O PU T W C EG D E L A U IN U OR TH E D OL E R E Q F C S Y V ” A E AP RM A R ATE LY S T H DM EFO R T I ST N G O’ A I R IN O L R TE “R RA O G FO E E M QU T IN S TA VE SE E S S N D A S K A S R C U T H O AP A C E F EN LO , M E FO A T NM E R E R R S T ER LOS EV UTU N. V C OW F I O GO . A , H ING AT TH AP RB UC PA DM TU ED A IS ER RO A D GH I UT H O LIC B PU

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KING’S GAMBIT Punong Patnugot Kapatnugot Panauhing Patnugot Patnugot sa Balita Victor Gregor Limon Patnugot sa Lathalain Patnugot sa Grapix

Mga Kawani

OPINYON Miyerkules 5 Setyembre 2012

Pinansya Tagapamahala ng Sirkulasyon Sirkulasyon

Mga Katuwang na Kawani

IN APPOINTING ASSOCIATE JUSTICE Maria Lourdes Sereno as the 24th chief justice (CJ) of the Supreme Court (SC), President Benigno Aquino III has played one of the oldest tricks in the book – entrenching power in all three branches of government by installing protégés who have proven their loyalty to the executive.

Breaking the time-honored tradition of appointing more senior justices, Aquino chose Sereno – his first appointee in the 15-seat tribunal composed mostly of Arroyo appointees – as the high court’s new leader, confirming fears of the chief executive’s apparent plan to establish influence in the SC. The new CJ’s shining credentials are unquestionable – a product of the UP College of Law where she graduated cum laude and top of her batch, and the first female to be appointed in the SC’s top post. However, her marked ties with the chief executive cast doubts on her capacity to resist intervention from Malacañang.

Sereno’s track record as associate justice is telling – casting dissenting votes against decisions involving former President Gloria Arroyo’s cases, including the former executive’s petition to leave the country, and reportedly expressing willingness to

actively participate in Aquino’s campaign to impeach her predecessor Renato Corona.

What is more troubling is her emerging sympathy for Aquino’s maternal family, the Cojuangcos, in the longstanding land dispute regarding Hacienda Luisita Inc. (HLI), the vast sugar plantation owned by Aquino’s relatives.

In a unanimous April 24, 2012 decision, the SC ordered the immediate distribution of HLI to farmer beneficiaries, provided that just compensation will be given to the Cojuangcos based on 1989 prices, the year the Department of Agrarian Reform first approved the coverage of Hacienda Luisita under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Under such ruling, the whole land estate would be valued at just P196 million or around P40,000 per hectare. The SC also ordered the Cojuangcos to reimburse P1.2 billion to farmer beneficiaries, to compensate for the 400 hectares of the land estate that the family sold to RCBC and the Subic-Tarlac Expressway even if HLI was up for distribution.

While Sereno voted in the affirmative for the said decision, she favors a different valuation for the sugar plantation. In her dissenting opinion on the case,

she explained that the computation for the land’s value should be pegged at 2006 prices, which would effectively bloat the amount that the Cojuangcos are set to receive to over P12 billion.

As the pieces fall into place, it is becoming clear that the doubts various critics have harped about during the Corona impeachment trial – that the whole impeachment brouhaha is linked to Hacienda Luisita – stand on solid ground. The Cojuangco family has already filed a motion appealing that “just compensation” be computed based on 2006 prices. With the ball now in the hands of an Aquino lackey, even farmer beneficiaries themselves fear that instead of them receiving at least P1.2 billion from the Cojuangcos, they would end up owing the family P11 billion.

Aquino’s attempt to consolidate power by blurring the separation of power between the branches of government is reminiscent of his reviled predecessor’s own dirty tricks. Arroyo herself maneuvered the appointment of justices to stay in power and make her immune from criminal charges. With Sereno in place, there is little doubt that Aquino would be able to maintain a considerable sway in the high court’s decision-making.

However, there remains a chance for Sereno to prove that she can indeed reform the judiciary.

After all, she will have ample time to instigate much-needed reforms. At 52, she can serve as CJ until 2030, a period spanning 18 years and three more presidencies. Given such expected long tenure, Sereno must not fall prey to Aquino’s own plots. Being able to stay in power longer than the country’s presidents, Sereno possesses the rare opportunity to lead the SC into becoming an independent body not beholden to anyone except the Constitution and the Filipino people.

The HLI case stands as a litmus test for our new CJ. Will she bow down to Aquino’s influence, or will she take this opportunity to regain the SC’s high ground? As the next moves in the continuing power play unfold, the people will remain vigilant and prepared to strike out officials who abuse their authority.

Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Diliman, Lungsod Quezon Telefax 981-8500 lokal 4522 Email kule1213@gmail.com Website philippinecollegian.org Kasapi Solidaridad: UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations, College Editors Guild of the Philippines Ukol sa Pabalat Dibuho ni Ysa Calinawan

Editor’s Notes “The true color of the judiciary -- that of a gigantic network of injustice and deception, seeking to give the Filipino people the illusion of justice, in reality justifying the abuses of the ruling few.”

UNITY AND STRUGGLE FOR A BASIC RIGHT Benjamin Pimentel Jr. 11 September 1984 As the Philippine Collegian celebrates its 90th year, we revisit lines from prized editorials that helped define the publication’s tradition of critical and fearless journalism.

Pagbuhay sa panukalang dagdag pasahe sa MRT, binatikos Isabella Patricia Borlaza

KINUNDENA NG IBA’T IBANG SEKTOR ang muling pagpapanukala ng pagtaas ng pasahe sa mga pampublikong rail transport para sa taong 2013.

Sa budget hearing ng Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) sa Kamara noong Agosto 23, inihayag ni DOTC Secretary Manuel Roxas III na ipagpapatuloy ang panukalang pagtaas ng pasahe para sa Metro Rail Transit 3 (MRT-3) sa susunod na taon.

Gumasta na ng mahigit P75 bilyon ang gobyerno sa mahigit sampung taong operasyon ng MRT-3. Sa panukalang taas-pasahe, mababawasan ang gastusin ng gobyerno at makapaglalaan pa ng pondo para sa iba pang proyektong imprastraktura, tulad ng bagong railway transit na itatayo sa mga probinsya, paliwanag ni Roxas.

Samantala, ang Light Rail Transit (LRT) ay maaari namang sumailalim sa pribatisasyon upang matustusan ang operasyon nito, ayon sa Riles Laan sa Sambayanan (Riles) Network, multi-sektoral na alyansang tutol sa dagdag pasahe sa MRT. Enero 2011 nang aprubahan ng LRT Board ang panukala ng LRT Authority (LRTA) na magtaas ng pasahe sa rail transport, subalit hindi natuloy ang panukala matapos itong umani ng batikos sa idinaos na mga public consultation noong Pebrero 2011.

Sa naunang panukala, tataas ng mahigit P25 ang pamasahe sa MRT-3 mula sa kasalukuyang P15.

Samantala, tataas ng mahigit P30 ang pasahe sa LRT 1 at 2 mula sa kasalukuyang P20.

Gayunpaman, wala pang bagong listahan ng panukalang pasahe para sa taong 2013, ayon sa LRTA. Maaari pang mabago

ang naunang ipinanukala noong 2011 batay sa mga gaganaping public consultation at iba pang pag-aaral ng DOTC, paliwanag ng ahensya.

Dagdag-pasakit Tinatayang may kalahating milyong katao ang sumasakay sa MRT-3 kada araw, at 76 bahagdan sa mga ito ay may buwanang kita na mahigit P10,000, ayon sa Mega Manila Public Transport Study ng DOTC noong 2007.

Sa hiwalay na pag-aaral ng DOTC noong 2010, nakasaad naman na pinagpapalagay ng ahensya na

gagamit na lamang ng bus o dyip ang nasabing 76 bahagdan kung tataas ang pasahe sa mga tren.

“It appears to us that the LRT and MRT fare hike has the intended result of marginalizing the minimum wage earners and students from maximizing the benefits of a relatively affordable and efficient mode of mass transportation,” ayon sa Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), alyansa ng mga progresibong organisasyon.

Kasalukuyang sinasagot ng gobyerno ang P40 agwat ng P15 na pamasahe ng MRT mula sa

tunay na kabuuang halaga nito na P55.65 para sa taong 2010, ayon sa DOTC. Noong 2010, P1.9 bilyon ang kinita ang LRTA mula sa pamasahe at P12 milyon naman mula sa non-rail revenues tulad ng mga advertisement. Labis pa ito sa P647 milyong kabuuang halaga ng pagpapatakbo ng MRT-3 sa isang taon, ayon sa LRTA. Gayunman, hindi sumasapat ang kita ng LRTA dahil sa mahigit P7.88 bilyong utang ng gobyerno sa pagpapagawa ng MRT-3.

“In essence, commuters are being

TRAIN WRECK. Passengers patiently wait at the platform of Shaw Boulevard Station of the MRT3 as a train couch prepares to stop. Then Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas said that the P30-fare increase in MRT and LRT will push through next year after being suspended for 9 months due to public clamor. Militant groups slammed this statement, arguing that the fare increase would heavily burden the commuters.

UPLB renews anti-tuition hike campaign Ikot UP

SEVERAL STUDENT FORMATIONS in UP Los Baños (UPLB) have revived the alliance which campaigned against the 2006 tuition increase, as tuition and other fees in UP continue to hike through the university’s mandatory Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) Bracket B certification.

On August 27, the UPLB-based student groups League of Filipino Students, Gabriela Youth, Anakbayan, Sigma Rho Fraternity, and Writer’s Club, among others, re-launched UPLB Sectors Opposing Tuition and Other Fees

Increase (STOP TOFI), a mutisectoral alliance first convened to oppose the 300 percent tuition increase in 2006.

In protest of the revised STFAP bracketing scheme, STOP TOFI will hold a solidarity march on September 19 and a local mobilization rally during the September 20 meeting of the Board of Regents (BOR), the highest policy-making body of the university.

“Dahil ang edukasyon ay isang karapatan, muling nabuo ang alyansa [upang tutulan] ang implementasyon ng Bracket B Certification sa UPLB at iba pang UP units, [na isang porma] ng tuition increase,” said Allen Lemence, coordinator of the alliance.

The UP administration first implemented the revised bracketing scheme last academic year. The new policy requires students admitted to the university starting 2011 to submit proofs of annual family income not exceeding P1

million including family income tax returns and vicinity map of residence.

Students admitted from 2007 to 2010, meanwhile, are only asked to accomplish a bracket B certification and submit a vicinity map of their family residence.

By requiring students to certify for bracket B in the STFAP, the “default bracket” is then revised to bracket A, said Lemence. The base tuition in the university is therefore increased by 50 to 67 percent, from P1,000 per unit under Bracket B to P1,500 under Bracket A, he explained.

Prior to the revised bracketing scheme, students who do not declare more than P1 million of annual family income under bracket A or apply for further financial assistance under brackets C, D, E1 and E2 of the STFAP are automatically assigned to bracket B. The “flaw” of automatically assigning students to bracket B has

perpetuated the “wrong” notion of having a “default bracket,” when tuition in the university should be determined by the student’s family income under the STFAP, said UP President Alfredo Pascual in an interview with the Collegian in June.

However, the Atanacio Report, which was adopted by the BOR in 2006 as the basis of the STFAP, specified Bracket B as the default bracket. In the same report, the actual cost of UP tuition under Bracket A was also intended to be implemented only on the upper three percentile of the university’s population.

“Hindi naman ito usapin kung kaya mong magbayad o hindi.

Usapin ito ng karapatan sa edukasyon at pagiging accessible ng UP. Itigil ang tuition hike sa porma ng Bracket B Certification scheme. Make our university accessible to the larger number of Filipino youth and people,” said Lemence.

made to pay for [the] debts incurred by previous administrations due to the wrong policies used during the construction of the MRT,” anang Anakbayan, isang progresibong grupo ng mga kabataan.

‘Pantustos sa utang’ Taong 2000 nang makumpleto ang 13 estasyon ng MRT-3 na tumatakbo sa 17 kilometro mula North Avenue sa Quezon City hanggang Taft Avenue sa Pasay City. Subalit upang pondohan ang nasabing proyekto, pumasok sa isang kasunduang build-leasetransfer (BLT) ang gobyerno sa BALITA MRT Corporation (MRTC) noong Miyerkules 1992, ayon sa Riles Network.

Sa kasunduang BLT, may 05 Setyembre pangakong bahagdang tubo ang 2012 gobyerno sa mga katambal na kumpanya, liban pa sa bayad sa utang na ginamit para sa pagpapagawa ng MRT-3. Samakatwid, lumalabas na pera ng mamayanan ang ibinabayad sa utang ng gobyerno, paliwanag ni Dianne Solmayor, tagapagsalita ng Strike the Hike Movement.

Batay sa kasunduan, P60 ang nakatakdang pamasahe para sa MRT-3. Subalit, dahil 10 bahagdan lamang ng inaasahang 200,000 pasahero ang gumamit ng MRT-3 sa mga unang buwan ng pagsisimula ng operayon nito, binabaan ang pamasahe at gobyerno na ang tumustos sa kakulangan, paliwanag ni Sammy Malunes, isa sa mga convener ng Riles Network.

Liban pa sa MRTC, nangutang rin ang gobyerno sa iba pang mga pribadong kumpanya, pati sa mga institusyong pampinansya ng pamahalaan tulad ng Land Bank.

Nang makumpleto ang MRT-3, lumobo ang utang sa mga kumpanyang ito ng mahigit $678 milyon at tumataas pa dahil sa interes, batay sa datos mula sa LRTA. “Kinakailangang ibasura ang mga kontrata sa mga pribadong kumpanya na ginagawa lamang gatasan ang mamamayanang Pilipino. Dapat gobyerno lamang ang namamahala sa pampublikong transportasyon. Sa ganitong paraan, buong bansa at hindi lamang Maynila ang makikinabang,” ani Malunes.

Sa kabila ng dagdag-pasahe, P5.12 bilyon ang panukalang badyet ng DOTC sa taong 2013 para sa Mass Transport Subsidy na mas mataas sa kasalukuyang P4.29 bilyon. Pinapakita lamang nito na pantustos sa utang ng MRT ang paggagamitan ng dagdag bayarin at hindi para sa mismong pagpapabuti ng serbisyo sa riles, ayon sa Bayan.

Ang pagpasok ng gobyerno sa mga kasunduan sa mga pribadong kumpanya ay nangangahulugan lamang ng pagpapabaya nito sa pagtugon sa mga pangunahing pangangailangan ng kanyang mamamayan at nagreresulta sa patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin, ani Solmayor.

30 pamilya sa Quezon, lumikas dahil sa militarisasyon

BALITA Miyerkules 05 Setyembre 2012

TINATAYANG 30 PAMILYANG MAGbubukid sa Bondoc Peninsula, Quezon Province ang napilitang lumikas mula sa kanilang mga tahanan bunsod ng dumaraming mga paglabag ng karapatang pantao sa ilalim ng militar na nakahimpil sa kanilang mga komunidad.

Nasa 100 katao na ang lumikas sa Bondoc Peninsula mula nang ilunsad ang Oplan Bayanihan, programang kontra-insurhensya ng gobyerno, noong Enero 2011, ayon sa tala ng Save Bondoc Peninsula Movement (SBPM), alyansa ng mga organisasyong nananawagan ng hustisya para sa mga biktima ng karahasan sa Bondoc Peninsula.

“Napakaraming insidente ng pagto-torture [sa mga residente] ng mga sundalo ang nagaganap sa mga barangay namin. Hindi naman kami miyembro ng [New People’s Army (NPA)], pero iginigiit [ng militar na] mga rebelde kami,” ani Ramos.

Walong batalyon ng Armed Forces of the Philippines ang kasalukuyang nakadestino sa dalawang distrito ng Quezon Province upang hulihin umano ang mga miyembro ng NPA, ayon sa Kasama-TK, grupong nagsusulong ng karapatang pantao

ng mga magsasaka sa Timog Katagalugan.

Sa halip na makipagsapalaran sa panganib na dala ng mga sunud-sunod na insidente ng karahasan sa kanilang mga barangay, nagpasya na lamang ang mga residenteng iwan ang kanilang mga tahanan at kabuhayan, ani Aida Ramos, isa sa mga lumikas.

Lima sa mga pamilyang lumikas ang pansamantalang nakatira sa headquarters ng All-UP Worker’s Union sa UP Diliman, habang ang iba naman ay nakituloy sa tahanan ng kanilang mga kaanak sa Maynila.

Matatagpuan ang Bondoc Peninsula sa timog-silangang bahagi ng Quezon, na binubuo ng mga lupaing sagana sa yamang agrikultural at mineral.

Mga kaso ng karahasan Mula Enero hanggang Hunyo ngayong taon, umabot sa 99 ang bilang ng mga biktima ng pulitikal na pamamaslang sa buong bansa habang 17 sa mga ito ay naitala sa Timog Katagalugan, ayon sa tala ng Karapatan - Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights.

Samantala, tatlong nawawalang mga magsasaka sa Bondoc Peninsula ang pinaghihinalaang dinukot ng militar, habang humigit-

kumulang 200 na ang naiulat na biktima ng karahasan sa iba’t ibang komunidad sa Quezon Province ngayong taon, ayon sa SBPM. “’Yung anak ko, sapilitang pinaaamin ng mga militar na isa [siyang] NPA. Dinala siya sa ibang barangay at doon tinutukan ng baril at itak,” ani Ramos.

Matapos ang insidente, dinala umano ng isang saksi ang anak ni Ramos sa barangay hall upang humingi ng tulong, ngunit wala ring nagawa ang mga opisyal ng barangay dahil sa takot sa mga sundalo, saad ni Ramos. Sa takot na maulit pa ang nangyari, ipinagbigay alam na lamang ng pamilya ni Ramos sa pulisya ang nangyari at saka nagpasyang lumikas kinabukasan.

Kasamang lumikas ng pamilya ni Ramos ang pamilya ni Roger Cruz, isang magsasakang residente ng Bondoc Peninsula mula pagkabata. Pauwi siya ng bahay noong ika-5 ng Hunyo nang bigla siyang harangin ng mga sundalo at pagbintangang nagtatago umano ng granada at baril, ani Cruz.

Pinasok umano ng mga sundalo ang bahay ni Cruz at saka dinala sa talahiban kung saan siya binugbog at iniwan. Bagaman naiulat

ang nasabing insidente sa pulis, wala pa ring resolusyon ang kaso hanggang ngayon, ayon sa asawa ni Cruz.

Samantala, anim na buwan na ang nakalipas nang huling makita ni Maria Laston, residente ng Bondoc Peninsula mula pagkabata, ang kaniyang asawang si Carlo Laston, isang magsasaka. Maagang umalis si Carlo ng kanilang bahay upang ibenta ang inaning kopra, isang araw noong Marso at hindi na muling nakita mula noon, anang kanyang asawa.

“May mga nagsasabi[ng] nakita daw nilang kinuha ng mga sundalo ang asawa ko. Sana ay ibalik na siya ng [militar]. Kawawa naman ang anak namin [na] dalawang taon pa lang,” dagdag ni Laston.

Oplan Bayanihan Kinundena naman ng grupong Karapatan ang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao sa mga residente ng Bondoc Peninsula at pinanawagan ang kagyat na pagpapaalis sa mga batalyong nakahimpil sa nasabing lalawigan.

Sa ilalim ng Oplan Bayanihan, ang mga karahasang pinaiiral ng militar ay bahagi ng planong paali-

sin ang mga magsasaka sa kanilang lupa at bigyang daan ang pagpasok ng malalaking kumpanya, ayon sa Karapatan, “Bata-batalyong sundalo ang nasa Bondoc Peninsula ngayon.

Daig pa nito ang mga nakaraang bagyo sa pananalasa sa buhay at kaligtasan ng mga mamamayan,” ani Orly Marcellana, tagapagsalita ng SBPM. Titigil lamang ang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao kung ititigil ng gobyerno ang Oplan Bayanihan, ayon sa Karapatan. Ayon sa grupo, dapat din umanong magpatupad ng bagong mga batas na susupil sa paglabag sa karapatang pantao, isawalang bisa ang mga batas na nagbibigay daan sa pang-aabuso ng kapangyarihan, at makipagtulungan sa mga grupong pangkarapatang pantao.

“Itigil na ng gobyernong ito ang panlilinlang sa mamamayan.

Kahit anong pilit ni Aquino na pagmukhaing pangkapayapaan ang Oplan Bayanihan, bistado na ng mga mamamayan na pananalanta ang hatid ng programang ito,” ani Marcellana.

RED WARRIORS BEAT MAROONS IN BUZZER-BEATER WIN, 79-76

Lavilyn Hysthea Malte

Sportscene

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE East (UE) Red Warriors narrowly escaped another defeat at the hands of the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons thanks to a surprise 79-76 buzzer-beater win, during the second round of the 75th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) men’s basketball on September 2 at the SM Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

The Warriors took the lead during the first three minutes of the first quarter, 8-0. The UP ballers quickly recovered, with Maroons forward Alvin Padilla driving a solid two-point shot and shooting guard Jose Anton Teodoso Manuel firing two three-point shots.

The two teams almost tied at 17-17 at the last minute of the quarter, but Maroons point guard Anjelo Montecastro scored a two-point shot at two seconds remaining, ending the first quarter with a two-point lead by the State U ballers, 19-17.

The Maroons owned the second quarter as the Warriors fumbled to execute an offensive campaign at the start of the quarter. A steady offense flow and impressive three-pointers by Maroons point guard Michael Joseph Gamboa and Maroons rookie Michael Jeffrey Silungan steered UP towards a close second-quarter finish, 40-37.

Hell-bent on breaking their losing streak in the second half, the Warriors rallied to overtake UP. The Maroons responded with a strong defense, with Cris Ball and Padilla notching four points each.

However, the Warriors managed to close in on the Maroons, with UE point guard Roi Sumang, forward Adrian Santos, and team captain John Carlo Duran launching a furious offensive strategy, closing the third quarter at 66-58.

The beginning of the final quarter saw the Maroons buried by a ten-point advantage by the Warriors, 72-62. Determined not to succumb to defeat, the UP team went on an impressive ten-point scoring spree to latch the Warriors into a 76-76 gridlock during the last two minutes of the game.

However, with only a single second left on the clock, Warriors center Christopher Javier risked a three-pointer and managed to beat both the buzzer and the Maroons, ending the game at 79-76.

“We [are] happy but not satisfied. The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement [and] we should always improve our skills, [because that] makes the team better. We have brought back the fighting in the Maroons,” said Maroons Head Coach Frederick Oliver Dandan in an interview.

Now at eighth place, with one win and nine loses, the Maroons will take on the De La Salle Green Archers on September 6 and the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers on September 8 at the SM MOA Arena.

BLOCKED OUT. UST Tigress Maruja Banaticla blocked the attack of UP Lady Maroons Ana Maria del Mundo in the beach volleyball event held at the UE Caloocan Sand Courts on September 1. Despite the Maroons’ 21-19 victory in the first set, the UST volleybelles overpowered UP in the remaining sets 21-10, 15-5.

4 na lider-estudyante, inaresto sa Davao City NAKATAKDANG MAGSAMPA NG kaso laban sa Talomo Police ng Davao City ang apat na lider-estudyanteng inaresto at kinulong matapos ang marahas na demolisyong isinagawa sa Bariquit Compound sa Le Jardin subdivision, Davao City, noong Agosto 24.

Binansagang Le Jardin 4, ang apat na kabataan ay sina Joselito Lagon, Jr., tagapag-ugnay ng Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan (KARATULA), Johnny Urbina at John Michael Lim ng Anakbayan, at Wyrlo Enero ng League of Filipino Students (LFS) – Davao City.

Nakiisa ang Le Jardin 4 sa barikada ng halos 30 pamilya ng Bariquit laban sa nakaambang demolisyong isasagawa para magbigay-daan sa bagong subdibisyong ipatatayo ng mga Villa Abrille, isang kilalang pamilya sa Davao.

Hindi natuloy ang demolisyon, ngunit inaresto at kinulong nang anim na araw sina Lagon, Urbina, Lim, at Enero, matapos ang marahas na dispersal ng mga pulis.

Bagaman pansamantala ngayong nakalaya ang apat na estudyante matapos magpiyansa ng P12,500 noong Agosto 29, nahaharap pa rin sila sa mga kasong direct assault, physical injuries, at damage to properties.

Magsasampa naman ang mga abogado ng Le Jardin 4 ng mga kasong administratibo at kriminal laban sa Talomo Police. Nakatakdang isagawa ang paglilitis sa apat

na lider-estudyante sa Oktubre 4. “[Kami] po ang dapat na magsampa ng kaso, [dahil] kami po ‘yung inagrabyado sa pamamagitan ng pag [sampa] … ng mga kasong … hindi naman namin ginawa,” ani Urbina.

Pandarahas sa kabataan at maralita Kinundena ng mga progresibong grupo ang marahas at ilegal na dispersal sa mga residente at mga kabataang nakiisa sa barikada. Tadyak, suntok, at pangunguryente ang naranasan ng mga lumahok sa barikada, ayon sa LFS – Davao City.

“Walang awang binugbog ang aming [mga] kasamahan, kabilang na po ako. Marami po ang tinamo naming sugat at pasa galing sa [mga pulis],” ani Urbina.

Isang araw bago pa maganap ang marahas na dispersal, tinangka ng mga tauhan ng mga Villa Abrille na magsagawa ng demolisyon sa Bariquit, ani Lagon.

Nagtamo ng malubhang sugat sa paa si Marcela Camumot o “Nanay Silay,” 71, residente ng Bariquit, nang tangkaing harangin ng ginang ang traktorang gagamitin para sa demolisyon.

Sa halip na pumanig sa mga residente, nagsilbi umanong “private army” ng mga Villa Abrille ang mga pulis, ani Lagon.

Sa isang panayam, pinabulaanan naman ni Talomo Police Station Deputy Commander

POLICEBRIEFS

Hinihinalang biktima ng salvage, natagpuan sa Arboretum Isang bangkay ng lalaking hinihinalang biktima ng salvage ang natagpuan sa UP Arboretum Forest sa kahabaan ng Commonwealth Avenue noong ika-29 ng Agosto.

Habang rumoronda dakong 6:00 ng umaga, nakita umano ng guwardiya ng UP Arboretum ang nasabing bangkay malapit sa isang nursery.

Sa paunang imbestigasyon ng UP Diliman Police (UPDP), may tama ng baril sa kaliwang bahagi ng noo ang biktima. Pinag-aaralan ng pulisya ang anggulong salvage

dahil sa kawalan ng mga palatandaang nanlaban ang biktima.

Natagpuan din sa tabi ng bangkay ang isang papel na may nakasulat na “holdaper ako, susunod na kayo.”

Walang anumang pagkakakilanlan ang natagpuan sa biktima na nakasuot lamang ng itim na shorts at itim na T-shirt.

Wala rin umanong residente ng Arboretum Drive ang nakakikilala sa biktima.

Itinatayang nasa 20 hanggang 25 taong gulang at may taas na 5’3” ang biktimang maputi ang balat at may kulay ang buhok.

Sa kasalukuyan, patuloy pa rin ang imbestigasyon ng mga pulisya sa kaso. Nasa kustodiya ngayon ng Criminal Investigation Unit ang natagpuang bangkay para sa forensic examination.

QCPD, pinaligiran ang headquarters ng UPDP Nabalot ng tensyon ang paligid ng UP Diliman Police headquarters, malapit sa gusali ng College

BALITA Miyerkules 05 Setyembre 2012

ZERO RESULTS. A freshman student searches for his name in the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) results posted in Vinzons Hall, September 3. With only a month before the semester ends, students await the release of the STFAP results for the second semester, which is not yet available as of the moment.

Chief Inspector Aldrin Juaneza ang mga paratang sa pulisya.

Aniya, inaresto nila ang Le Jardin 4 dahil tinangka ng mga itong haranging muli ang traktorang gagamitin sa demolisyon.

Subalit patunay lamang umano ng pagsasawalang-bahala sa karapatang pantao ang paggamit ng dahas ng awtoridad laban sa mga

of Architecture (Arki), nang pinalibutan ito ng mga armadong pulis ng Quezon City Police District Station 9 bandang 5:00 ng hapon, ika-29 ng Agosto.

Bandang 4:00 ng hapon nang iulat ng mga guwardiya ng UP Arboretum Forest sa UPDP na may nakita silang bahay na iligal na itinatayo sa Old Capitol Site na pag-aari umano ng isang Randy Lim. Binaklas ng mga guwardiya ang mga nakabakod na fishnet upang mapuntahan ang nasabing istruktura. Nang paalis na sa lugar, may nagpaputok umano ng baril sa direksyon ng mga guwardiya. Ayon sa mga nakasaksing residente, nagpaputok din ang mga guwardiya bilang depensa ngunit agad din silang umalis sa lugar.

Pinuntahan ng mga pulis ng QCPD Police Station 9 ang UPDP para hulihin ang mga guwardiyang nagpaputok umano sa Arboretum. Gayunpaman, hindi pumayag ang UPDP na arestuhin

kabataang lumahok sa barikada, ani Kabataan Partylist Representative Raymond Palatino.

“We salute youth activists who valiantly fight for the rights of the oppressed, even if it endangers their own freedom. In the same vein, we condemn the police’s sheer lack of restraint and abuse of authority in this particular case,” ani Palatino.

ng QCPD ang mga guwardiyang sina Malipeciado Fiel, Raymundo Abella, Rolando Enriquez, Saturnino Mamacos at Roberto Parpan.

Iginiit ng UPDP na ang pagpasok ng QCPD sa UP ay labag sa Memorandum Of Agreement ng UP na nagbabawal sa pagpasok ng mga pulis sa loob ng kampus nang walang pahintulot ng Chief Security Officer (CSO). Tumangging umalis ang mga pulis ng QCPD at sa halip ay pinalibutan ang UPDP, dala-dala ang kanilang mataas na kalibre ng baril.

Dahil sa mga nakapalibot na armadong pulis sa UPDP, may mga estudyanteng hindi muna lumabas ng gusali sa takot na masangkot sa engkwentro, ayon sa mga saksing manininda malapit sa Arki.

Nabawasan lamang ang tensyon matapos mag-usap sina QCPD Sundan sa pahina 11

Demolisyon at pananakot Taong 2006 pa planong simulan ang demolisyon sa 20-ektaryang lupain sa Bariquit, ngunit naging maigting ang usapin nang ipag-utos na ng mga Villa Abrille ang demolisyon sa nasabing compound upang masimulan ang pagpapatayo ng bagong subdibisyon.

Tinabunan din umano ang mga pananim ng mga residente, habang nagpapaputok naman umano ng baril tuwing gabi ang mga guwardiya ng mga Villa Abrille para takutin ang mga residente, ayon sa LFS-Davao City.

Hindi kinilala ng mga residente ng Bariquit ang ipinakitang “fencing permit” at “permit to develop a lot” mula sa City Engineering Office (CEO), matapos maglabas ng “status quo order” ang Regional Trial Court (RTC). Ayon sa nasabing status quo order, kabilang sa hindi maaaring gawin ng magkabilang panig ang pag-aararo, pagpapaayos ng daan, at paglalagay ng bakod sa mga lupain.

Naninidigan naman ang CEO sa desisyon nitong gawaran ng mga permit ang mga Villa Abrille, dahil nakumpleto naman umano ng mga Villa Abrille ang mga rekisitong papeles, paliwanag ni Engineer Grace Catubig ng CEO sa isang panayam.

Magkakaroon lamang umano ng bisa ang status quo order kung Sundan sa pahina 11

Kulê strengthens appeal for support in crucial budget campaign WITH BARELY A COUPLE OF months left before the semester ends in October, the Philippine Collegian has renewed its urgent appeal to UP Diliman (UPD) students for support in the campaign to adjust the student publication fee from P40 to P72 next enrolment.

“Hindi [na] sasapat ang pondo ng Kulê para maitaguyod ang diyaryo sa susunod na semestre at sa mga susunod pang termino,” said Collegian Editor-in-Chief Ma. Katherine Elona.

Aside from printing expenses, BALITA the Collegian also incurs other management costs, such as honoMiyerkules raria for its staff, phone bills, and 05 Setyembre office supplies needed for its 2012 weekly operations.

“Sa madaling sabi, mawawalan ng hanapbuhay ang anim na staff, mawawalan ng hono ang mga taga-Kule, at mauubusan ng pera para sa mga nakatakdang gawain na pinopondohan ng institusyon, gaya ng semestral na training para sa mga miyembro nito, at taunang editorial examination para matiyak ang mga susunod na termino,” Elona explained.

Gathering just over 3,000 signatures in total as of press time, the official student publication of UPD has yet to secure at least 9,000 additional signatures to obtain the majority vote of the total 24,000 student population in UPD. Launched in February this year during former EIC Marjohara Tucay’s term, the campaign aims to resolve the student paper’s perennial financial crisis.

Since the publication fee was pegged at P40 in 1986, the real value of the said amount has been steadily depreciated by inflation, or rising printing and management costs. As a result, the Collegian incurs an average annual budget deficit of P230,000, compelling the current and previous editorial terms to offset the deficit by resorting to cost-cutting initiatives and fundraising events.

Tucay and Elona’s respective editorial boards, however, decided that a more permanent solution is needed to ensure that the Collegian continues to serve students in the years to come.

In a letter to the administration in October 2011, the editorial board proposed to resolve the Collegian’s annual budget by increasing the Collegian fee from P40 to P72 to diminish the effects of inflation.

In a random sampling survey conducted by the Collegian in February, more than eight out of ten UPD students upheld the Collegian’s importance as the official student publication of UPD. Out of a total 101 students who participated in the survey, 87 out of a total 101 UPD students, or 86.14 percent, said the Collegian is important to their life

in UP, while 81 out of a total 104 respondents, or 77.88 percent, said they agree with the proposed fee increase.

As the Collegian launches a more extensive room-to-room signature campaign during the next three weeks, the staff will also continue its round of consultations with student councils and organizations. Since early this year, discussions on the publication fee increase have been conducted with 14 local SCs. The College of Mass Communication (CMC) SC and the National College of Public Administration and Governance SC have

both released official statements supporting the campaign.

“Kaisa kami sa pagsisiguro na ang mga alternatibong midya tulad ng Kule ay makakapagpatuloy sa pag-iral ng peryodismong hindi lamang nag-uulat, ngunit higit lalo ay nag-mumulat sa tunay na kalagayan ng unibersidad at ng bansa,” the CMC SC statement read.

“Handang maglunsad ang Kule ng konsultasyon sa mga kolehiyo, mga organisasyon, at mga klase upang higit pang makapagliwanag ukol sa isyu. Bukas ang opisina, Facebook, Twitter at email account ng Kule para sa mga katanungan,” Elona said.

Breastfeeding advocates reject proposed milk code amendments BREASTFEEDING ADVOCATES have opposed the proposed breastfeeding and milk regulation bill amending Executive Order (EO) 51, the current national milk code, saying the new bill will only further risk the health of women and children.

Touted as the “Breastfeeding Promotion and Infant Formula Regulation Bill” or House Bill (HB) 3537, the bill is a consolidation of four earlier bills by Representatives Josephine Veronique Lacson-Noel and Rufus Rodriguez (HB 3527), Lucy Gomez and Lani Revilla (HB 3537), Anna York Bondoc (HB 3396), and Atty.

Magtanggol Gunigundo (HB 3525).

The bill aims to supposedly establish a comprehensive program for breastfeeding practices in the Philippines and improve the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the country.

Approved in 1986 during former President Corazon Aquino’s administration, the current milk code restricts milk companies from marketing infant milk products and from advertising information which may mislead consumers into thinking that milk formulas are better than breast milk.

Breast-bottle controversy While the proposed HB 3537 proposes necessary amendments, such as further information dissemination and the provision of breastfeeding facilities in public areas, the new bill will also allow milk companies to promote their products as substitutes for breast milk, according to Save the Babies Coalition (SBC), an advocacy group for children’s health.

HB 3537 seeks to allow milk companies to market products intended for children over six months, conduct promotion on breastfeeding and child care, place health and nutritional claims on their products, and donate infant formula in times of disaster and calamities.

Such provisions will be an economic burden to families with infant children, considering that Filipino mothers are likely to be influenced by advertisements in choosing the right milk for their children, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In 2011, a study commissioned by the WHO found that Filipino mothers who have been exposed to infant formula ads are two to

BAGONG BAYARIN?. Binibilang ng isang kolektor ng pamasahe ang mga nakasakay sa isang jeep sa Katipunan.

Naghain ng petisyon sa Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ang ilang transport group para sa pagtataas ng pamasahe mula P8 hanggang P10 dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng langis. Tutol naman ang grupong Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Opereytors Nationwide (PISTON) dahil hindi umano ito napapanahon at makadaragdag lamang sa hirap na dinaranas ng mamamayan.

four times more likely to stop breastfeeding and feed their babies infant formula.

Breastfeeding advocates also criticized the bill’s provision on allowing milk companies to donate formula milk products in emergency situations. Because of lack of sanitation and poor quality of water during such times, milk made from powdered formulas only exposes children to health risks like diarrhea, said SBC. Instead of this amendment, mothers and their children should instead be clustered together in one shelter during times of calamity and facilitate the mother-to-mother support by sharing breast milk and lactation management for babies on formula feeding, said SBC. It may also serve as an excuse

for employers to neglect their obligation to allow employees to have lactation breaks and breast feed their child according to Makabayan, a coalition of progressive partylists in the country.

HB 3537, not the right solution “Clearly, the consolidated House Bill will only exacerbate the problems faced by Filipino families [and] may cause illnesses or even deaths of children,” said breastmilk advocacy group Lactation, Attachment, Training, Counseling, Help (LATCH) President Buding Aquino-Dee. Rather than propose new amendments to the current milk code, the Congress should instead institutionalize policies which promote exclusive breastfeeding for infants less than six months old, continued breastfeeding

with complementary feeding for children older than six months, and sustained breastfeeding for children more than two years old, said Save the Children Coalition in a statement.

“The currently proposed amendments on the milk code are not in the best interest of … Filipino families, especially [mothers] and [their children]. Rather [these amendments] will only advance the interests of the milk companies.

[We call] for our government and the Filipino community to oppose the currently proposed amendments and to uphold the rights and protect the Filipino families,” the group said.

The committee hearing on the said the bill started last August 16 and will continue on September 4 at the House of Representatives.

Closing credits Ending the vicious debt cycle IN THIS LAST PART OF THE FEATURES SERIES ON THE DEBT DISCOURSE, ALTERNATIVES THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO LIBERATE COUNTRIES LONG TRAPPED BY DEBT ARE EXPLORED, LAYING THE DIFFERENT FRAMEWORKS THAT CAN SAVE THE PEOPLE HELD CAPTIVE

BY POVERTY. Gloiza

Option 1: Do nothing, maintain the current setup Some experts believe that by continuing to pay loans and with sound fiscal management, the country can eventually break free from the clutches of debt in the future.

“Hindi ka naman pwedeng hindi humiram. [Borrowing] is still an option, but you just have to properly manage your debt, and use it properly,” says Prof. Jocelyn Cuaresma of UP National College of Public Administration and Governance.

Government spending amidst shortfall of revenues creates the conditions to borrow money. “Wala tayong ganoon kalaking pera para sa investments, kaya nga tayo umuutang sa ibang bansa,” says Cuaresma.

In reality however, such measure currently adopted has allowed staggeringly high allocation for debt servicing at the expense of scrimping the budget for social services like education and health. For 2013, payment for principal debts including interest amounted to almost 40 percent of the total budget or P783.7 billion, an amount nominally higher by 12.5 percent compared to P696.6 billion for 2012.

Years of paying loans have shown the grim effects of prioritizing debt servicing over social welfare. Yet, continuing this stance disregards the people’s clamor for better and LATHALAIN more accessible social services.

Plamenco

INCURRING DEBTS HAD ALWAYS been a convenient recourse whenever there is shortage of government funds. The grand act of borrowing after all, evolved from the immediate need of governments to fund activities or programs that fall short on finances.

Decades of entanglement with debts, however, had enslaved governments of both poor and affluent countries, trapping them in the vicious cycle of debt. In the Philippines, debt servicing has historically taken the largest slice from the budget pie, amounting to almost a third of government spending since the post-Marcos era.

“Sabi [ng gobyerno,] nama-manage na ang debt, pero at what costs?

Kulang tayo sa social services, dahil nga napupunta sa pagbabayad ng utang,” says Prof. Leonor Briones, president of non-government organization Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC).

Even the world’s strongest economies appear vulnerable to the deadly grip of debt. Of the United States’ (US) $3.8 trillion spending for 2013, $248 billion or 6.5 percent is allocated to pay their debt interest alone. The US’ failure to write off its loans only submits itself to another cycle of borrowing.

As poverty continues to plague developing countries like the Philippines, the imperative for governments and peoples to eradicate public debt intensifies. In these times of chronic crisis marked by skyrocketing prices of commodities and lack of opportunities, finances liberated from debt servicing can be tapped for productive endeavors like social services.

The successful bid of various countries to cancel large sums of their loans proves there is no shortage of alternatives to the debt bondage. Indeed, the narrative of debt has to end, and if governments refuse to act, then it is for the people— the true bearers of the burden—to free themselves from its chains.

Option 2: Waive debt liability through the doctrine of odious debt In 1927, Russian legal expert Alexander Sack formulated the doctrine of odious debt, a legal theory that considers debt as illegitimate when contracted by a despotic regime, not for the needs or interests of its people, but to perpetuate its power. This entitles the successor government leeway to refuse paying contracted loans.

An estimated $726 billion of debts owed by developing countries are odious or illegitimate, according to Canada-based organization Social Justice Committee. There have been various instances when such legal framework was used. In 1949, the Indonesian government defaulted on debts used by the Dutch colonial regime to dismantle the local uprising. Similarly, Ecuador in 2008 did not honor $3.8 billion of its foreign debt, justifying it was not spent by previous despotic regimes for their people’s welfare.

Sack never outlined the actual process on how loans classified by the doctrine of odious debt can be cancelled. However, scholars often cite the case of Cuban debt in 1898 that the US—which owned Cuba then—unilaterally refused to pay Spain.

In the Philippines, several loans used for projects can be considered illegitimate, according to FDC. These include the $80 million used to finance the Angat Water Supply Optimization Project in 1990 borrowed from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

Also, the $2.3 billion Bataan Nuclear Power Plant loaned during the Marcos’ administration and was fully paid on April 2007, could have qualified as odious debt. Pres. Corazon Aquino however, chose to honor all debts upon ascending to power, taking responsibility to pay such liabilities, instead of grabbing the opportunity to cancel it.

Option 3: Increase government income The most sensible solution to eliminate debt and develop the current state of the economy is to increase the income of the government, says Briones.

Briones points that the country’s agriculture must be strengthened. A modernized agricultural sector has the capacity to enhance the domestic economy that could increase government revenues. The government however, does not prioritize the development of agriculture despite the Philippines being an agricultural country. Also, the Agricultural sector has historically contributed the least to economic development, next to the Services and Industry sector.

Another means to increase government income implementing stricter tax collections is.

Uncollected taxes reach to P250 billion annually, according to Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima. If effectively collected, such amount is more than enough to close the P241 billion deficit identified by the Department of Budget and Management for 2013.

Option 4: Reorient debt usage for national industrialization “Hindi lahat ng utang, masama. Ang klase nga lang ng utang [natin] ngayon ay pinapanatili tayong backward,” says Sonny Africa, head researcher of IBON Foundation.

In exchange for loans, financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank impose conditionalities that alter the economic structures of developing countries into one that is vulnerable and heavily reliant to developed countries. These include the selling of government-owned corporations to private entities as what happened to the National Power Corporation and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System.

Africa notes that the first few stages of industrialization might still require borrowing to generate income. When such capital is spent to strengthen basic industries such as agriculture, we will eventually have a strong economy that can generate resources to pay our debts and finally stop depending on it, he adds.

Arduous processes and long period of completion punctuate the road to national industrialization. However, advocates argue that such a paradigm will resolve not only debt reliance but many of the country’s fundamental problems like dependence on foreign investments and imports, high unemployment rates, and environmental degradation.

Such a long-term solution requires a complete reversal of all policies and framework employed by the government.

Miyerkules 5 Setyembre 2012

AFTER YEARS OF DECREASING government funding for state universities and colleges (SUCs), the Aquino administration has announced a whopping 44 percent increase in the allocation for SUCs for 2013, to P37.1 billion next year from the current P25.8 billion.

The proposed budget increase, however, comes with a hefty price. “Paalala lang po: lahat ng ginagawa natin, may direksyon; may kaakibat na kondisyon ang dagdag-budget na ito. Kailangang ipatupad ang napagkasunduang SUC Reform Roadmap ng Commission on Higher Education LATHALAIN (CHEd),” Aquino quips.

The president was referring to Miyerkules the Roadmap for Public Higher 05 Setyembre Education Reform (RPHER), his 2012 administration’s master plan for public tertiary education. It aims to provide “relevant and quality public higher education to all who seek and deserve it,” and contains several reform programs that are set to be accomplished by 2016.

Yet a deeper analysis of the purported reforms shows how it seeks to erode the public character of SUCs, and how it ultimately transforms the public tertiary education system into a

source of cheap labor force for the global market.

Development Plan (LTHEDP), which sought to increase costefficiency, and global competitiveRoad to perdition SUCs were established to pro- ness of public higher education.

In 1997, Ramos signed the vide accessible, quality education Higher Education Modernization to those who cannot afford private college education. At Act (HEMA), which allowed SUCs present, there are 110 SUCs to embark on business ventures in the country catering to over 1.1 with the private sector, privatize management of nonmillion students, a small academic services, and portion of the tradiset their own tuition tionally privateInstead of prioritizing and other charges. dominated C o n s e q u e n t l y, fields that the country higher educastate funding for needs to industrialize, tion sector. higher education Over the RPHER focuses on began to plunge, years, various strengthening areas that as SUCs now barriers to would just feed the global generate higher access – need for cheap labor internal income. coupled with In 2001, President policies by past Gloria Arroyo revised administrations – have the LTHEDP in line with the impeded SUCs to fulfill their mandate to provide affordable government’s plot to make SUCs college education and have self-sustaining, with the eventual instead constricted the public goal of abandoning state funding character of state schools, said for higher education. Arroyo’s National Union of Students of LTHEDP targeted – among others the Philippines (NUSP) Secretary – to reduce the number General Isabelle Baguisi.

In 1996, President Fidel Ramos implemented the Long-term Higher Education

of SUCs, introduce incomegenerating projects in 50 state schools, and peg tuition rates in SUCs to levels comparable to their private counterparts by 2010.

The fiscal reforms implemented by the Arroyo administration resulted to the gradual decrease of the government’s share in the total operating budget of SUCs, from 80 percent in 2001 to 70 percent in 2010. With SUCs being highly encouraged to maximize profits, many state schools implemented tuition hikes. In 2007, UP raised tuition and other fees by 300 percent, increasing the base tuition to P1,000 per unit from the former P300.

“The [RPHER] we have today is the result of the [policies] of past administrations, which RPHER follows quite well,” says Kabataan Party-List Rep. Raymond

This continued until 2012, with the government not providing any allocation for capital outlay (CO), the fund for new infrastructure, since 2010. Many state schools even received massive cuts in their operating budget.

In direct response to the massive demonstrations and criticism against cuts in the funding for SUCs in the past years, the Aquino administration significantly increased the budget for SUCs next year.

Along with the sharp shift in the government’s funding policy for SUCs came RPHER, which revolves around the key word “rationalization,” or the setting of concrete objectives that would justify increasing government spending for

Same old route Aquino’s first year in office made no significant change in the overall policy to decrease state funding for education. In his 2010 budget message, Aquino explicitly explained, “We are gradually reducing the subsidy for SUCs to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and to utilize it for their programs and projects.”

In 2011, the budget for SUCs was slashed by over P1 billion.

RPHER is set to group SUCs into three tiers, based on performance indicators which include enrolment and passing rates. “The strategy is to concentrate public resources in a few institutions in order to achieve critical mass and create appreciable impact,” according to RPHER. By 2016, RPHER targets to produce “three i n t e r n a t i o n a l ly - r e c o g n i z e d SUCs” using this grouping.

CHEd has listed 22 “leading universities” – which include UP and Mindanao State

o r e

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a D Palatino, explaining that RPHER leads public higher education to the same direction followed by its predecessors.

Potholes

higher education.

According to CHEd, RPHER is the government’s response to three fundamental weaknesses of Philippine higher education, which includes the “lack of overall vision,” “deteriorating quality,” and “limited access.”

Following the recommendations of a study released by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) early this year, CHEd has laid down a concrete roadmap of reforms that it intends to accomplish by 2016 (see sidebar). The major reforms that RPHER intends to pursue include the the merging of SUCs, rationalization and closure of “redundant” course offerings, and maximize income generation.

“These reforms are already in LTHEDP. Nothing much in RPHER is new. It is a mere reiteration of past proposals, some already enacted, which the students have long rejected,” says Palatino.

from P15 million to P1.4 billion next year. Tier 1 SUCs will each receive an average of P7 million for CO, while Tier 2 SUCs, will each be allotted around P4 million or less.

RPHER is also set to “phase out inefficient and duplicative” courses, which are already offered by private universities, and close courses which are “outside the mandate” of certain SUCs. In

s u

agri-fisheries, mining, electronics, services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

According to CHEd, more funds will be allotted for the development of the said fields to encourage their development.

However, such prioritization only re-

i D

such way, state schools can focus on developing their specializations, according to RPHER. Under this reform agenda, University courses in SUCs which are already – that would offered by a large number of private receive a lion’s share colleges, such as nursing, busiof the total SUCs budget. ness administration, and hotel Meanwhile, CHEd identified and restaurant management, 37 “Tier 1 developing SUCs” – are set to be abolished to avoid including the Polytechnic Univerduplication. sity of the Philippines and Rizal “I question the criteria of an Technological University – which ‘inefficient’ course. An ‘inefficient’ comes in second priority in terms course may mean a non-marketof government allocation. The reable program—like courses in the maining 51 SUCs are classified arts. Will funding be cut based under “Tier 2 developing SUCs,” that standard?” says Palatino, and are given least priority in explaining that closing the allotment of funds. courses offered by “In this frameprivate univerwork, high-perWhile RPHER purportedly sities such as forming SUCs aims to democratize nursing and would be prioraccess to tertiary education, b u s i n e s s itized over unit is set to usher in further administraderperforming inaccessibility, with the tion only presence of reforms which SUCs. This is benefits the target to intensify SUCs’ unfair,” says Bacapacity to generate income. private sector, guisi, explaining as CHEd would that budget allocabe removing comtion should instead be petition with private based on actual needs of SUCs. universities.

In prioritizing funding for “leadAlso, SUCs are set to be pushed ing SUCs,” the government is igto improve their specializations, noring the fact that underfunding and drop course offerings that has resulted to low performance are “out of their mandate.” For and slow development in many example, an SUC which largely SUCs, Baguisi explains. specializes on agriculture and The effects of RPHER can alfisheries would be encouraged ready be seen in the 2013 budget to drop course offerings that are for SUCs. According to the 2013 not related to the said fields, says National Expenditure Program Palatino.

(NEP), leading SUCs are each set RPHER intends to focus on to receive a CO budget ranging five priority areas, which include

t c re

flects and intensifies the government’s laborexport policy, says Palatino.

While agri-fisheries should indeed be prioritized, the other priority areas in RPHER, especially BPOs and services, only serve to produce more workers for multinational corporations, and supply cheap labor to the global market, Palatino adds.

“Instead of prioritizing fields that the country needs to industrialize, RPHER focuses on strengthening areas that would just feed the global need for cheap labor,” explains Palatino.

Roadblocks While RPHER purportedly aims to democratize access to tertiary education, it is set to usher in further inaccessibility, with the presence of reforms which target to intensify SUCs’ capacity to generate income. Some of the reforms include the revision of the Normative Funding Formula (NFF), adoption of socialized fee schemes for all SUCs, and additional joint business ventures with the private sector.

The NFF is a formula used by CHEd to determine the budget allocation of SUCs based on performance indicators, such as enrolment and passing rates. At present, the NFF covers only the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) component of the budget, the funds utilized for basic operating expenses of state schools, such as purchase of office supplies and payment for utility bills.

RPHER aims to revise the current formula to include personal services (PS), or the funds used to pay salaries of employees, in the equation.

The said revision would mean that the performance of SUCs will now also affect staffing and salaries of employees. “May danger na kapag

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hn

Jo

bumaba ang enrolment or passing rates, maaaring maging dahilan para matanggalan ng mga empleyado at teachers ang ilang SUCs,” Baguisi explains.

RPHER also intends to implement “socialized tuition fee schemes,” similar to UP’s Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), to all SUCs by 2016. Such school fee scheme “would allow cost recovery without limiting access among the poor, guided by the principles underlying the tuition fee scheme where students from financially capable families pay a larger share of the cost,” according to CHEd. However, implementing socialized tuition fee schemes similar to STFAP ignites fears of tuition hikes, says Baguisi. UP’s experience with socialized tuition also reveals that instead of widening access, it has become instrumental in barring entry to the university, Baguisi explains.

Based on Collegian data, two decades of STFAP implementation have decreased the percent of the student population enjoying free tuition, from 20 percent in 1991, to less than a percent at present.

“STFAP has served as a smokescreen to tuition increase in UP. There is reason to worry now that CHEd plans to implement it in all SUCs,” says Palatino.

lco Ma

An S.

RPHER also pushes SUCs to maximize income-generating schemes, including land leases and partnerships with the private sector, with the end goal of having 22 leading SUCs that are capable of sourcing 50 percent of their budgetary requirement to internal income by 2016.

Divergent path

LATHALAIN

“Clearly, RPHER offers no new alternative for SUCs. It’s not a Miyerkules roadmap that would allow more 05 Setyembre students to enter college. It’s 2012 a roadmap that would prepare state schools for the government’s gradual abandonment of public higher education,” says Palatino.

With CHEd envisioning a future wherein half of the budgetary needs of SUCs come from their own income, it is highly probable that the nominal increase given by the government for SUCs will only last for a couple of years, Baguisi says. “Pagkatapos ng ilang taon, balik-budget cut na naman,” she adds.

Instead of providing a concrete reform program that would address barriers to entry to tertiary education such as prohibitive costs, RPHER will instead pave the way for further commercialization of higher education, continued influence of the global market, and gradual state abandonment. Instituting genuine reforms in public higher education entails providing ample and necessary provisions for state schools that would enable them to be responsive to the country’s real needs.

Sidebar: Goals of the Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform 2011-2016 By 2013 • All SUCs integrated to the tier system of the government • All 22 leading SUCs have income generating projects (IGPs) • 30% of inefficient and duplicative programs phased out • Start of digitization and automation of SUC operations • Establishment of 10 research & development centers wish SUCs 2014 • Formulation of a new socialized fee scheme and application in 10 SUCs • Digitization of operations in 20% of SUCs • Establishment of a Higher Education Academy that would produce future SUC managers 2016 • 50% budgetary requirements of SUCs sourced from IGPs • 100% of inefficient and duplicative programs phased out • Full application of NFF to PS and MOOE • 10 research & development centers • 3 SUCs join the ranks of leading universities in the world

AFTER YEARS OF DECREASING government funding for state universities and colleges (SUCs), the Aquino administration has announced a whopping 44 percent increase in the allocation for SUCs for 2013, to P37.1 billion next year from the current P25.8 billion.

The proposed budget increase, however, comes with a hefty price. “Paalala lang po: lahat ng ginagawa natin, may direksyon; may kaakibat na kondisyon ang dagdag-budget na ito. Kailangang ipatupad ang napagkasunduang SUC Reform Roadmap ng Commission on Higher Education LATHALAIN (CHEd),” Aquino quips.

The president was referring to Miyerkules the Roadmap for Public Higher 05 Setyembre Education Reform (RPHER), his 2012 administration’s master plan for public tertiary education. It aims to provide “relevant and quality public higher education to all who seek and deserve it,” and contains several reform programs that are set to be accomplished by 2016.

Yet a deeper analysis of the purported reforms shows how it seeks to erode the public character of SUCs, and how it ultimately transforms the public tertiary education system into a

source of cheap labor force for the global market.

Development Plan (LTHEDP), which sought to increase costefficiency, and global competitiveRoad to perdition SUCs were established to pro- ness of public higher education.

In 1997, Ramos signed the vide accessible, quality education Higher Education Modernization to those who cannot afford private college education. At Act (HEMA), which allowed SUCs present, there are 110 SUCs to embark on business ventures in the country catering to over 1.1 with the private sector, privatize management of nonmillion students, a small academic services, and portion of the tradiset their own tuition tionally privateInstead of prioritizing and other charges. dominated C o n s e q u e n t l y, fields that the country higher educastate funding for needs to industrialize, tion sector. higher education Over the RPHER focuses on began to plunge, years, various strengthening areas that as SUCs now barriers to would just feed the global generate higher access – need for cheap labor internal income. coupled with In 2001, President policies by past Gloria Arroyo revised administrations – have the LTHEDP in line with the impeded SUCs to fulfill their mandate to provide affordable government’s plot to make SUCs college education and have self-sustaining, with the eventual instead constricted the public goal of abandoning state funding character of state schools, said for higher education. Arroyo’s National Union of Students of LTHEDP targeted – among others the Philippines (NUSP) Secretary – to reduce the number General Isabelle Baguisi.

In 1996, President Fidel Ramos implemented the Long-term Higher Education

of SUCs, introduce incomegenerating projects in 50 state schools, and peg tuition rates in SUCs to levels comparable to their private counterparts by 2010.

The fiscal reforms implemented by the Arroyo administration resulted to the gradual decrease of the government’s share in the total operating budget of SUCs, from 80 percent in 2001 to 70 percent in 2010. With SUCs being highly encouraged to maximize profits, many state schools implemented tuition hikes. In 2007, UP raised tuition and other fees by 300 percent, increasing the base tuition to P1,000 per unit from the former P300.

“The [RPHER] we have today is the result of the [policies] of past administrations, which RPHER follows quite well,” says Kabataan Party-List Rep. Raymond

This continued until 2012, with the government not providing any allocation for capital outlay (CO), the fund for new infrastructure, since 2010. Many state schools even received massive cuts in their operating budget.

In direct response to the massive demonstrations and criticism against cuts in the funding for SUCs in the past years, the Aquino administration significantly increased the budget for SUCs next year.

Along with the sharp shift in the government’s funding policy for SUCs came RPHER, which revolves around the key word “rationalization,” or the setting of concrete objectives that would justify increasing government spending for

Same old route Aquino’s first year in office made no significant change in the overall policy to decrease state funding for education. In his 2010 budget message, Aquino explicitly explained, “We are gradually reducing the subsidy for SUCs to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent, given their ability to raise their income and to utilize it for their programs and projects.”

In 2011, the budget for SUCs was slashed by over P1 billion.

RPHER is set to group SUCs into three tiers, based on performance indicators which include enrolment and passing rates. “The strategy is to concentrate public resources in a few institutions in order to achieve critical mass and create appreciable impact,” according to RPHER. By 2016, RPHER targets to produce “three i n t e r n a t i o n a l ly - r e c o g n i z e d SUCs” using this grouping.

CHEd has listed 22 “leading universities” – which include UP and Mindanao State

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Potholes

higher education.

According to CHEd, RPHER is the government’s response to three fundamental weaknesses of Philippine higher education, which includes the “lack of overall vision,” “deteriorating quality,” and “limited access.”

Following the recommendations of a study released by the Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) early this year, CHEd has laid down a concrete roadmap of reforms that it intends to accomplish by 2016 (see sidebar). The major reforms that RPHER intends to pursue include the the merging of SUCs, rationalization and closure of “redundant” course offerings, and maximize income generation.

“These reforms are already in LTHEDP. Nothing much in RPHER is new. It is a mere reiteration of past proposals, some already enacted, which the students have long rejected,” says Palatino.

from P15 million to P1.4 billion next year. Tier 1 SUCs will each receive an average of P7 million for CO, while Tier 2 SUCs, will each be allotted around P4 million or less.

RPHER is also set to “phase out inefficient and duplicative” courses, which are already offered by private universities, and close courses which are “outside the mandate” of certain SUCs. In

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agri-fisheries, mining, electronics, services and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).

According to CHEd, more funds will be allotted for the development of the said fields to encourage their development.

However, such prioritization only re-

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such way, state schools can focus on developing their specializations, according to RPHER. Under this reform agenda, University courses in SUCs which are already – that would offered by a large number of private receive a lion’s share colleges, such as nursing, busiof the total SUCs budget. ness administration, and hotel Meanwhile, CHEd identified and restaurant management, 37 “Tier 1 developing SUCs” – are set to be abolished to avoid including the Polytechnic Univerduplication. sity of the Philippines and Rizal “I question the criteria of an Technological University – which ‘inefficient’ course. An ‘inefficient’ comes in second priority in terms course may mean a non-marketof government allocation. The reable program—like courses in the maining 51 SUCs are classified arts. Will funding be cut based under “Tier 2 developing SUCs,” that standard?” says Palatino, and are given least priority in explaining that closing the allotment of funds. courses offered by “In this frameprivate univerwork, high-perWhile RPHER purportedly sities such as forming SUCs aims to democratize nursing and would be prioraccess to tertiary education, b u s i n e s s itized over unit is set to usher in further administraderperforming inaccessibility, with the tion only presence of reforms which SUCs. This is benefits the target to intensify SUCs’ unfair,” says Bacapacity to generate income. private sector, guisi, explaining as CHEd would that budget allocabe removing comtion should instead be petition with private based on actual needs of SUCs. universities.

In prioritizing funding for “leadAlso, SUCs are set to be pushed ing SUCs,” the government is igto improve their specializations, noring the fact that underfunding and drop course offerings that has resulted to low performance are “out of their mandate.” For and slow development in many example, an SUC which largely SUCs, Baguisi explains. specializes on agriculture and The effects of RPHER can alfisheries would be encouraged ready be seen in the 2013 budget to drop course offerings that are for SUCs. According to the 2013 not related to the said fields, says National Expenditure Program Palatino.

(NEP), leading SUCs are each set RPHER intends to focus on to receive a CO budget ranging five priority areas, which include

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flects and intensifies the government’s laborexport policy, says Palatino.

While agri-fisheries should indeed be prioritized, the other priority areas in RPHER, especially BPOs and services, only serve to produce more workers for multinational corporations, and supply cheap labor to the global market, Palatino adds.

“Instead of prioritizing fields that the country needs to industrialize, RPHER focuses on strengthening areas that would just feed the global need for cheap labor,” explains Palatino.

Roadblocks While RPHER purportedly aims to democratize access to tertiary education, it is set to usher in further inaccessibility, with the presence of reforms which target to intensify SUCs’ capacity to generate income. Some of the reforms include the revision of the Normative Funding Formula (NFF), adoption of socialized fee schemes for all SUCs, and additional joint business ventures with the private sector.

The NFF is a formula used by CHEd to determine the budget allocation of SUCs based on performance indicators, such as enrolment and passing rates. At present, the NFF covers only the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) component of the budget, the funds utilized for basic operating expenses of state schools, such as purchase of office supplies and payment for utility bills.

RPHER aims to revise the current formula to include personal services (PS), or the funds used to pay salaries of employees, in the equation.

The said revision would mean that the performance of SUCs will now also affect staffing and salaries of employees. “May danger na kapag

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bumaba ang enrolment or passing rates, maaaring maging dahilan para matanggalan ng mga empleyado at teachers ang ilang SUCs,” Baguisi explains.

RPHER also intends to implement “socialized tuition fee schemes,” similar to UP’s Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), to all SUCs by 2016. Such school fee scheme “would allow cost recovery without limiting access among the poor, guided by the principles underlying the tuition fee scheme where students from financially capable families pay a larger share of the cost,” according to CHEd. However, implementing socialized tuition fee schemes similar to STFAP ignites fears of tuition hikes, says Baguisi. UP’s experience with socialized tuition also reveals that instead of widening access, it has become instrumental in barring entry to the university, Baguisi explains.

Based on Collegian data, two decades of STFAP implementation have decreased the percent of the student population enjoying free tuition, from 20 percent in 1991, to less than a percent at present.

“STFAP has served as a smokescreen to tuition increase in UP. There is reason to worry now that CHEd plans to implement it in all SUCs,” says Palatino.

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RPHER also pushes SUCs to maximize income-generating schemes, including land leases and partnerships with the private sector, with the end goal of having 22 leading SUCs that are capable of sourcing 50 percent of their budgetary requirement to internal income by 2016.

Divergent path

LATHALAIN

“Clearly, RPHER offers no new alternative for SUCs. It’s not a Miyerkules roadmap that would allow more 05 Setyembre students to enter college. It’s 2012 a roadmap that would prepare state schools for the government’s gradual abandonment of public higher education,” says Palatino.

With CHEd envisioning a future wherein half of the budgetary needs of SUCs come from their own income, it is highly probable that the nominal increase given by the government for SUCs will only last for a couple of years, Baguisi says. “Pagkatapos ng ilang taon, balik-budget cut na naman,” she adds.

Instead of providing a concrete reform program that would address barriers to entry to tertiary education such as prohibitive costs, RPHER will instead pave the way for further commercialization of higher education, continued influence of the global market, and gradual state abandonment. Instituting genuine reforms in public higher education entails providing ample and necessary provisions for state schools that would enable them to be responsive to the country’s real needs.

Sidebar: Goals of the Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform 2011-2016 By 2013 • All SUCs integrated to the tier system of the government • All 22 leading SUCs have income generating projects (IGPs) • 30% of inefficient and duplicative programs phased out • Start of digitization and automation of SUC operations • Establishment of 10 research & development centers wish SUCs 2014 • Formulation of a new socialized fee scheme and application in 10 SUCs • Digitization of operations in 20% of SUCs • Establishment of a Higher Education Academy that would produce future SUC managers 2016 • 50% budgetary requirements of SUCs sourced from IGPs • 100% of inefficient and duplicative programs phased out • Full application of NFF to PS and MOOE • 10 research & development centers • 3 SUCs join the ranks of leading universities in the world

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HUMOR H AS

KULTURA Miyerkules 5 Setyembre 2012

S O C I E TA L TABOOS, USUALLY discussed behind closed doors, are H I N D I molded through long-established norms. It ALINTANA NI MANG has been customary for parents to meaningfully Boy ang unti-unting pagkahilo give each other a ‘look’ the first time their children ask habang naglalango sa bote-boteng about how babies are created. Some taboos such as incest beer na pinagsasaluhan nila ng kanyang are hardly spoken of for fear of a negative reaction. tropa. Wala rin syang pakialam kung sinlaki na ng bola ng basketbol However, some taboo topics may feature in casual conversations. ang kanyang tiyan—ang “tunay na lalake”, walang abs. At bukas, paggising We can joke on taboo topic of rape-- “Kung balak mong magpa-rape, niya, makikipag-inuman na naman siya sa tropa. Dahil ang “tunay na lalake,” sa may hitsura na!”-- and at tragic realities like poverty and prostitution walang panahon sa kung anu-ano pang shit.

-- “Magja-Japan na lang ako.” We laugh at a guy gripes on losing a girl Patuloy na nagbabago ang pagtingin ng mga Pilipino hinggil sa pagkalalake.

-- “magmamahal na lang ako ng bakla.”

Mula sa pagiging matipuno, maginoo, at pagiging titulado,umusbong ang mga In the Philippines, our “motherland,” women issues can be a sensitive tulad ni Mang Boy na isang “tunay na lalakeng” taliwas sa mga katangiang nabanggit. topic because of our traditional regard for women. The worst insult one can Masasabing ang konsepto ng “tunay na lalake” ay nagbunga mula sa nananatiling throw at a fellow Filipino is to tarnish the image of the woman who birthed patriyarkal na pagtingin ng lipunan o ang pananaw na ang kalalakihan ang namamayaning him: “Putang ina mo!” A Filipina is widely believed to have less value when kasarian sa lipunan, at kailangan itong patunayan ng mga lalake. devirginized, making the topic of rape and prostitution cultural taboos.

Isa sa mga nagtataguyod ng imahe ng isang uri ng “tunay na lalake” ang blog na Many Filipinos took issue when American actor Alec Baldwin joked on Hay! Men! (www.tunaynalalake.blogspot.com) na nagbigay ng bagong depinisyon sa mail-ordering a Filipina bride on The Late Show with David Letterman isteryotipikong lalakeng Pinoy, bilang hindi nagsisimba, laging may extra rice, at laging last 2009. may tae sa brief.

It is the idea of a conventional dainty Filipina that is valued. We Kung susuuriin ang mga pamantayan ng pagkakalake ng Hay! Men!, makikitang ang laugh at numerous online memes ridiculing Charice Pempengco’s primaryang layunin nito ay hindi ipagdiwang ang kalalakihan, kundi batikusin at gawing wild new look, far from the sweet girl image she projected on The katatawanan ang kasalukuyang imahe ng lalake sa anyong lampoon. Isa itong satiriko sa mga Oprah Winfrey, and the news of usually-poised actress Claudine machong gawain tulad ng mga pamboboso, pag- inom sa gitna ng sakuna, at paggawa ng kung Barreto’s public rumble at NAIA. The amused reaction to anu-anong kalokohan. these seemingly unusual situations exemplifies society’s ingrained Taliwas dito, iba ang isteryotipo ng pagkalalake sa popular na kultura noong 80s at 90s. behavioral expectations of women.

Sinasabi sa sikat na Chuck Norris jokes, halimbawa, na may kakayahan umano ang lipas na Jokes reaffirming female weaknesses also persist such as memes insisting Amerikanong artista na si Chuck Norris na lumangoy sa lupa, at mas nauna raw siyang that a woman’s place is in the kitchen. Similarly, the classic Filipino joke of na-devirginize kesa sa tatay niya. a husband being “under d’saya” never fails to tickle our funny bone since it Magpasahanggang ngayon, nananatili sa eksena ang ganitong pamantayan ng pagkalalake. highlights the norm of men’s traditional gender superiority.

Ang muling pag-usbong ng Chuck Norris jokes ay maihahalintulad sa pagbabalik ng mga While these appear to legitimize the unequal status quo, one can argue that Hollywood action stars sa pelikulang The Expendables kung saan ang kuwento ay umiikot these jokes manifest backward gender conventions. Through humor, we are lamang sa mga bidang lalaking sumasabak sa mga imposibleng misyon, barilan, bugbugan, able to criticize prejudiced social practices and openly address taboos. at iba pa. Ang mga gawaing tulad nito ay halaw mula sa konsepto ng “alpha male” kung Aside from women, homosexuals are also marginalized in the status quo. Gay saan nagpapagalingan ang kalalakihan sa pakikipaglaban at palakasan para mapatunayang men are viewed as lacking the required macho qualities of a stereotypical male. nakahihigit sila sa iba.

However, a homosexual humor has become very popular, resulting in the success of Iba rin ang larawan ng tunay na lalake na ihinahapag ng mga programang tulad ng Boys Night various TV shows such as Gandang Gabi Vice, Bubble Gang, and Showtime.

Out (Magic 89.9), isang programa sa radyo na nagbibigay ng payo sa mga lalaki upang maging In one of his comedy shows, gay comedian Vice Ganda donned female clothing to ala-Mister Suwabe na magaling dumiskarte sa chiks. Tulad ng mga alpha male, tuwiran rin itong parody former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, joking, “Hanggang nandiyan si nagpapakita ng higit na kalakasan ng mga lalake kumpara sa ibang kasarian.

Gloria, may kahirapan. Hanggang may kahirapan, may lalaking magpapa-chuva.”

Ang iba’t ibang pagsasalarawan sa kung ano nga ba ang “tunay na lalake” ay nagbibigay daan Vice Ganda’s jibe criticized both gender and political taboos. His banter here was used as sa pagtatanong kung mayroon nga bang iisang tiyak na pamantayan ang pagkalalake. Maaaring a tool to discuss sensitive topics without facing serious public condemnation, because his sabihin na kasalukuyang may krisis ang pagiging lalake dahil nabibihag siya sa pangangailangan sentiments were widely understood to be “just jokes.”Furthermore, through the platform of patunayan ang kanyang pagkalalake samantalang hindi niya alam kung anong batayan ang humor, gay comedians are afforded the opportunity to verbalize their experiences and dapat sundin. aspirations in a way that is otherwise frowned upon by patriarchal culture.

Sa kabila ng pagiging “tunay” ng isang “tunay na lalake”, nananatili silang alipin ng kanilang No matter how much people laugh at the humorous means of tackling taboos, we ultimately mapanghusgang manifesto. At kahit pa ikubli nila ito sa katatawanan, maaaring patuloy lamang silang revert back to the customs we are used to. Through humor, we find alternative ways to magpapaalipin kung ito lang ang tutubos sa kanilang pagkalalake. articulate things that are not readily discussed publicly. Humor then becomes a tool Kaya naman kahit hirap sa buhay si Mang Boy, pipigilin niya ang pagkadismaya at maglalasing na lang that may give way to public discourse, which may hopefully lead to our empathy ulit. Dahil para sa kanya, ang “tunay na lalake,” hindi marunong umarte, at walang panahon sa kung and better understanding of certain social realities. ano-anong shit.

Halakhakan LA

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ANG IBA’T IBANG MUKHA NG KATATAWANAN

KULTURA Miyerkules 5 Setyembre 2012

MULA NOONG 2010, TAON-TAON NANG nasasaksihan ng mga Iskolar ng Bayan ang pagkilos laban sa budget cut sa mga state colleges and universities (SUCs). At tuwing araw ng strike sa UP, hindi mawawala ang mga pagtatangahal UP Repertory Company, isang teatrikong grupo, na tumatalakay sa mga napapanahong isyu sa pamamaraang katawa-tawa, o mas kilala bilang satire.

Kadalasang ginagamit na kasangkapan sa pulitika ang satire, isang obrang sining na naglalahad ng katotohanan ng lipunan sa pamamagitan ng mga balintuna, panunuya at panunukso na may kasamang katatawanan.

Mahaba na ang kasaysayan ng satire at malaon nang napatunayan ang pagiging epektibo nito sa pagpapalaganap ng kaalaman ukol sa iba’t-ibang isyu sa lipunan. Noong 446 BC hanggang 386 BC halimbawa, makikita sa mga dula ng kinikilalang Father of Comedy na si Aristophanes, isang Griyegong manunulat, ang pagsalungat sa mapaniil na sistemang panlipunan ng Athens.

Sa pamamagitan ng satire, mas madali rin ang pagbibigay ng mga maanghang na opinyon nang walang namamayaning tensyon sa mga nagpapahayag at mga pinatutungkulan ng biro. Sa Pilipinas, isinalarawan ni Jose Rizal sa nobelang Noli Me Tangere si Donya Victorina bilang isang nagpapanggap na Espanyol na may katawa-tawang kilos at pananalita. Maliban sa komedya, pailalim ding naipahatid ni Rizal sa pamamagitan ng eksaheradong katangian ni Donya Victorina ang pagtuligsa sa iba pang Pilipino na ikinahihiya ang sariling lahi.

Umaangkop din ang satire sa iba’t-ibang porma at daluyan. May mga satirical na cartoons, komiks at pagtatanghal, na naipalalaganap sa pamamagitan ng iba’t ibang media gaya ng telebisyon at internet. Ilang halimbawa ang awitin na Wala ng Kamikazee na tumatalakay sa mga inutil na pinuno at American Junk ng APO Hiking Society na tumutuligsa sa presensiya ng Kanluraning kultura sa Pilipinas. Dagdag pa rito ang mga pagtatanghal ng Amerikanong komedyante na si Mark Russell na kadalasang ginagamit ang tema ng panunuya sa dalawang politikal na partido sa Amerika.

Dahil mahirap sabayan ang pagiging seryoso ng pulitika, ginagamit ng mga komedyante ang satire sa pagpapahayag ng saloobin. Para sa ilan, epektibo ang ganitong paraan sa paggising sa kamalayan ng mamamayan dahil mas simple at magaan ang paglalahad ng mga isyu. Ngunit sa kabilang banda, mayroon din namang pagkakataong ang biro ay nanatili na lamang biro dahil tila nakakaligtaan ng ilan na ihiwalay ang katatawanan sa mga tunay na mensaheng napapaloob sa mga ito.

Hindi tipikal na biro ang satire dahil tinatalakay nito ang mga napapanahong paksa. May partikular na konteksto itong tinutumbok kaya nangangailangan ito ng talas na sasapat upang maiparating ang nais sabihin ukol sa isang isyu. Dahil din dito kaya karaniwan sa satire ang paggamit ng mga pormang agad na nauunawaan at malapit sa tagapanood o tagabasa, tulad ng bugtong, mga awiting isinalin sa Tagalog, at mga impersonasyon ng mga sikat na personalidad.

Bagamat hindi absolutong pwersa ng pagbabago ang satire, hindi naman maipagkakaila ang kontribusyon nito sa pagpukaw sa kamalayan ng marami. Masasabi ring epektibo ang pagiging pulitikal na kasangkapang ito para sa masaklaw at magaang tanaw sa mga suliraning kinahaharap ng bansa.

Sa panahon kung kailan iba’t iba ang paraan sa pagkubli ng katotohanan, ang satire ang nagsisilbing instrumento na nagpapaalala ng realidad ng lipunan sa mga mamamayan.

F O R MANY PEOPLE, laughter is the best medicine for ailments ranging from inclement weather to tragedies and disasters.

Take the recent flooding due to the enhancement of the southwest monsoon last August 7 to 9. Extensive, destructive rainfall led to the rise of a humorous group consciousness on social networks that created such memes as the #SuspendClassesInUPDiliman hashtag, and captioned pictures of Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim in various commanding poses.

When faced with overwhelming odds, it’s far easier to deal with problems when you can laugh about them.

Humor has been known to be an effective coping mechanism for a very long time. Studies and theories as old as Freud have shown that a light-hearted approach to issues can reduce stress and positively influence health. Sharing in the laughter with others suffering similar fates can also make otherwise traumatic experiences far easier. Disasters are somehow communal experiences, and joint laughter reinforces the idea that survivors and victims are not alone.

It’s not always good to laugh things off, though. Making jokes about calamities is a minefield of offensive possibilities. Tell a 9/11 joke to someone who lost family in that tragedy, and you could get into a shouting match. Poke fun at children getting carried away by floodwaters, and get ready for the social media backlash. There remains a fine line between who can and who cannot tell a joke about any issue, and it’s often not immediately visible.

As humor is used to transform problems into something more bearable, it develops patterns that many people consistently laugh at. Laughter is a social mechanism that attracts others, whether or not they actually find anything funny.

This autonomous generation of humor creates a self-reinforcing status quo that exploits a human tendency to laugh when others are laughing. The humorous state can mold minds, associating a given idea with happiness, encouraging it to be spread.

This doesn’t mean that people want it to flood again because it was so much fun, but rather that it would be far easier to deal with future calamities. Student volunteer action, for instance, rose massively and almost immediately in response to the floods – because people genuinely wanted to help, but also because of the fulfilling experiences of student volunteers during the recovery efforts after the Ondoy typhoon.

Laughing at and then recycling the status quo most often surfaces in the media. The recent floods brought a steady stream of humor into the fray, with internet denizens joking about the inefficiency of the government and how nothing had changed even with the lessons learned from Ondoy. However, very few of these self-made humorists actively lobbied for change or improvement. Other times, it is political humor that goes around. “140%” jokes spread like wildfire after the 2011 voting fraud in Russia, criticizing the arrogant Putin regime but not necessarily doing anything about it.

Humor is a strong and effective coping mechanism that certainly can reduce stress and worries during trying times. Once it irresponsibly starts going beyond being the best medicine, though, it becomes a poison that amplifies stereotypes and damages perception.

True coping humor is a mix of jovial ridicule of the situation, and criticality which aims to point out what is wrong. No amount of critical laughter, however, is any substitute for concrete action towards change.

ART EXHIBITS, FILM FESTIVALS, COSPLAY COMPETITIONS, AND EVEN J-POP SINGING CONTESTS GRACED THE ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF THE PHILIPPINESJAPAN FRIENDSHIP MONTH. AS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO NATIONS ARE BEING STRENGTHENED THROUGH CULTURAL EXCHANGE, THE FESTIVITIES SEEMINGLY GLOSS OVER THE ENDURING REMINDERS OF OUR NATIONS’ TUMULTUOUS HISTORIES

KULTURA Miyerkules 5 Setyembre 2012

A THRONG OF PEOPLE have gathered at the UP Film Institute, waiting in eager anticipation for the opening of the Eiga Sai Japanese film festival early this July. Since 1998, Eiga Sai has made contemporary and critically-acclaimed Japanese films more accessible to the Filipino audience, enabling them to partake of Japan’s cinematic sensibilities.

Eiga Sai is just one of the myriad festivities meant to celebrate and foster the long-standing connections between the Philippines and Japan.

A friendship of cultures This year marks the Philippines’ 56 years of diplomatic friendship with Japan. On July 23, 1956, the Peace Treaty and Reparation Agreement between the Philippines and Japan was ratified, normalizing the diplomatic relations between the two nations. Thus, July 23 has been designated as the Philippines-Japan Friendship Day, in commemoration of the two nations’ re-established diplomatic relations after the second World War. In 2006, due to the Japanese government’s enthusiasm to share their culture with the Philippines beyond the event’s golden jubilee, the event grew into the Philippines-Japan Friendship Month. The month-long celebrations feature an array of festivities including a J-pop anime singing contest, cosplay

competitions, art exhibits, and concerts sponsored by the Japanese Embassy.

More recently, world-renowned Filipino historian Ambeth Ocampo delivered a lecture entitled “Before the Japayuki” as part of the “History Comes Alive” series. Equipped with what he calls his trove of “useless information,” Ocampo weaved a narrative of early cultural connections between Japan and the Philippines.

These connections could be drawn from trivial knowledge like Tansan being a brand of carbonated Japanese drinks sold in Manila in the early 1900s and that the traditional Filipino dessert halo-halo had its roots in the Japanese kakigori.

The large number of attendees of the film festival and the lecture proves that Filipinos harbor a keen interest towards traditional and popular Japanese culture. This interest is fostered by the Japanese government’s willingness to open their culture to the world, offering programs and classes to teach people their language, cuisine, religion, visual arts, and theatre forms.

In contrast to the Japanese government’s efforts to produce and propagate culture, the Philippines seemingly remain passive consumers of foreign cultural products. The lack of similar festivities celebrating Filipino culture in Japan during this time seems to denote a rather unequal friendship, with the other perceived as the cultural superior.

The Japanese government maximizes the potential of their culture as a means of strengthening diplomatic relations, making their traditional and popular cultural products easily accessible to the world. Through these cultural products, Japanese aesthetics and sensibilities penetrate the global market, providing a new kind of power for Japan.

Marketing Japan Japan is widely recognized as the Asian capital of ‘cool’, with the rise of their otaku fan culture and the mass-commercialization of anime, manga, and other various novelty products. These popular

cultural products pave the way for consumers to explore more traditional aspects of Japanese culture.

Attraction to Japan’s offbeat image, as projected through its popular and traditional cultural products, could easily translate to an attraction to Japanese foreign policy, thereby stabilizing diplomatic relations. Even with its lack of military might and dwindling economic status since the early 90’s, Japan has afforded a “soft power” empire status due to its cultural appeal.

“Soft power” according to Joseph Nye, an American political scientist from Harvard, is a country’s ability to attract and co-opt another nation to alter its behaviour in their favour. In contrast, “hard power” relies on money and military aggression as a means of persuasion.

A state’s “soft power” relies heavily on, but is not limited to, its culture, political values, and foreign policy.

As Nye emphasizes, the potency of a nation’s “soft power” sources relies on its “cultural and ideological appeal”.

Unlike Japan, the Philippines has yet to fully cultivate its “soft power” sources. As much as Filipino hospitality and industriousness are lauded overseas, these same traits also serve as a testament to passivity, aiming to please foreign masters and embrace their cultures. And with the lack of basic national industries, the country has yet to garner economic support to cultivate its cultural industries.

As such, Japan’s “soft power” could only do so much to alleviate its economic status and improve its reputation in the international community. However, the shadow of its past imperial ambitions and wartime atrocities continue to create tension with its nearest neighbours, such as China, South Korea, and even the Philippines.

A violent history As cultural institutions continue with their festivities, certain universities like UP and the Ateneo take part in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Liga ng mga Lolang Pilipina (Lila Pilipina) and their continued struggle against wars of aggression, militarization, and gender violence in warfare.

Lila Pilipina is a group comprised of surviving Filipina “comfort women” during the Japanese occupation. “Comfort women” refer to the thousands of girls and women taken by the Japanese Imperial Army during the war, and were coerced into systematic rape and enslavement. Most of these women come from South Korea, China, Indonesia, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

These advocates, despite their old age, deteriorating health, and diminishing resources, continue their struggle for rightful reparations and an apology from the Japanese government, lest the atrocities of the war be completely forgotten.

In March 2007, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe proclaimed that there was not enough evidence to support the claim that there were over 200,000 “comfort women” coerced into sex slave camps during the war. The proclamation, while prompting backlash from the international community, also intensified the movements of surviving “comfort women” in China, South Korea, and the Philippines.

The Japanese occupation of the Philippines lasted from 1942 to 1945, which some argue is a relatively short period of time compared to the centuries-old friendship that the two nations held prior to the war.

However, the seeming benevolence of Philippines-Japan relations before and after the war shrouds other violent personal histories, such as injustices done to Filipino workers in Japan and Jap-Pinoy offspring who remain unrecognized by their Japanese fathers.

As Ocampo asserts in his lecture, history is about connections.

Cultural exchange should always be embraced, for it establishes connections between nations.

However, cultural fascination and dominance should not render our nations’ tumultuous histories irrelevant. The mutual recognition that atrocities have been committed during the war will not necessarily demonize or victimize a nation, but will only help in making established connections deeper and stronger.

LAKAS TAMA

NOTES FROM OVERSEAS

OPINYON Miyerkules 5 Setyembre 2012

THE TREND BECOMES FAMILIAR for every trip abroad.

A purpose (well not exactly a real one), the inherent excitement that goes with the idea of travelling, a set of must-see destinations, and a company of Filipinos sharing my enthusiasm and admiration for the visited country’s rate of development or advanced technology. No day ends without the snide remarks of how the Philippines seems to be lagging ages behind, or worse, beyond redemption.

Then goes the unsolicited intellectual opinion of what went wrong with the country with its current state of affairs. The ones who had the opportunity to improve their and their family’s lives by working overseas, even go as far as remembering the country in its more glorious days, when the Philippines led the Southeast Asian region in economic development, not the other way around as today.

After that, it will be easier to point the country’s problems—the Filipino’s inherent “lack of discipline,” the widespread presence of informal settlers in urban communities, the rabid greed of corrupt politicians, and the list goes on.

It is quite easier after all, to attribute the country’s current state to factors that conveniently fit our

world view, instead of critically discerning the connections that spawned such unacceptable conditions to the middle class. Perhaps it is easier to identify the symptoms of poverty, then tag these as root causes, rather than to blame a social system—say capitalism or feudalism—for all the strife the country and its people has to endure.

For some, the right combination of sheer initiative and good luck alone sets the difference of outcome in life. “Kung magsisipag

In the grand scheme of things, nothing is ever as it is today without undergoing the process of contradiction lang ang mga Pilipino eh ‘di…kung may disiplina lang eh ‘di sana….” All aspirations will be pegged with the “ifs,” then they begin to recommend solutions which they think could end the country’s dismal situation.

For every conversation, I always withheld my thoughts, wary that my opinion would disrupt the free exchange of ideas.

In my mind however, several questions compete their way through to be articulated: how does land reform fare in the ultimate solutions posited? How about the fact that decent wages for workers remain to be elusive?

Or why the government for the longest time, has deliberately reduced its spending for social services? All these hard-hitting questions never fail to come, or were successful in being voiced out.

The pattern has been all too familiar.

It is in such times when the typical middle class individual’s utter lack or absence of the ability to systematically think of solutions is manifested. And maybe, what sets me apart from such disposition is the awareness of a sharp perspective that tries to systematically make sense of the world’s connections; that in the grand scheme of things, nothing is ever as it is today without undergoing the process of contradiction.

Perhaps the middle class should begin rethinking things beyond their immediate interests. At least from that point, we might have a more comprehensive view of the world—and make the most out of it.

DEACTIVATE. LOG IN. WELCOME BACK TO FACEBOOK! PROFILE. HELLO. AKO NGA PALA si RD Aliposa. *Blank* na taong gulang. Iskolar na nagdodrowing at ini-stereotype na weirdo—sama n’yo a! Hindi ko na sasabihin kung ilang taon na ako sa kolehiyo; bitter ako e. Trabaho? Sus, uso lang yun sa mga ka-batch kong papostpost na lang ng office o freelance life nila. Galing akong Tacloban, Leyte—’yung siyudad na mahal ni Imelda Marcos, ‘yung lungsod kung saan ang San Juanico Bridge at McArthur Park na nakikita sa post cards—anytime you can return.

Gaisano Mall lang meron dati roon, pero ngayon, may Robinson’s na at balak pang umepal ni Henry Sy. Pamilya ko? Well, “HAPPY” naman kami.

Profile Picture. Nakangiti. Kahit emo, galit o sabaw ako, ngiti pa rin! Konting edit sa photoshop ng eyebags para ‘di haggard tingnan, konting crop ng brasong mataba at konting pa-sepia effect para isipin nilang naka-instagram ako.

O panalo!

Status update. Hello world!

Alam kong marami sa inyo ang walang pakialam pero share ko na rin. Ayon sa timeline ko, masaya pa raw ako mula taong 20xx hanggang 2010 dahil marami akong kaibigang kasama araw-araw at

masipag pa ako sa eskwela. Taong 2011, malungkot na ako’t natutong magmura dahil sa pag-ibig na one-sided, dahil na-haggard sa thesis, nabaliw sa ibang subjects at naloka sa pagsali-sali sa mga orgs.

Taong 2012, naging chameleon na ang emosyon ko—bipolar bear na raw ako. Kaloka!

Relationship status. Forbidden 404 ang peg ng love life namin sa facebook—shy-type kasi kami e. Saka na raw kung “Married” na.

Masaya naman kami kasi “It’s not complicated.” Sa totoo lang, pwede ko ring palitan ang status ko ng “divorced” from my elementary friends, “separated” from my high school, college friends and family

Hello world! Alam kong marami sa inyo ang walang pakialam pero share ko na rin.

o kaya “single” dahil minsan, gusto ko lang talaga mag-emo sa buhay.

Photos. Mga bakas ito ng ilang taong nagdaan. Minsan gusto ko nang sampalin ang sarili ko sa mga

nakakahiyang nakikita ko sa albums ko. Maswerte ang mga may kaibigang mayroong DSLR— gumaganda ang oily na mukha nilang tadtad ng blackheads.

May photos ako habang lasing, nakanganga habang tulog, at tumatawang kita na ang, correction, uvula hindi tonsils. Kaso matagal na ‘yung mga ‘yun. Minsan na lang may nagta-tag sa ’kin ngayon.

Iba na ang mga naka-tag sa albums ng mga kaibigan ko at higit sa lahat, nauso na ang instagram na pagkain o kape ang madalas kunan. Pero at least may posters, online stores at photo quotes pang naka-tag sa ’kin—salamat random friends and fanpages!

Friends. May halos limang daan lang ang bilang ng FB friends ko. Iba-ibang mukha, kung saan-saan nakilala. Minsan, ‘di ko na kilala ‘yung mga naka-jejemon ang pangalan. May mga religious at wholesome na mga kamaganak din, at mga kaibigang biglang nanga-unfriend. Pending friend requests? Zero.

Magdi-deactivate man sa hiya, magla-log in din ako mamaya kasi bored at papansin lang talaga ako. Pakialam niyo naman sa ’kin, ‘di ba? RD just shared a post. RD tagged you in a post.

Anong problema ni Tito Sotto?

NOONG 2010, KINUNDENA ni Tito Sotto ang protesta ng mga estudyante laban sa budget cut. “Parang multo ‘yung pinagdedemonstrahan nila,” anang senador na “musician and composer by profession, a sportsman by affiliation, and a public servant by conviction.”

Hindi nagpaaway ang mga estudyante, siyempre. Sumugod pa rin sila sa Mendiola at umani ng ilang daang libong karagdagang badyet mula sa Kongreso.

Kamakailan lang, nasaksihan ng madla ang madamdaming pagtutol ni Sotto sa RH Bill. Hinala niya, contraceptives ang nagdulot sa medical condition ng anak niyang maagang namatay. Dahil nasa demokratikong bansa, maaari namang irespeto ang opinyon niyang taliwas sa opinyon ng mga pro-RH. ‘Yun nga lang, direktang kinopya mula sa isang blog ang kalakhan ng kanyang talumpati.

Marami ang umalma sa ginawa ng senador—o ng kanyang administrative staff. Pero sa halip na humingi ng paumanhin o umaming nagkamali sila, plea of arrogance ang naisipang tugon ng kanilang panig. Anila, hindi dapat sinasarili ang blog posts.

Anila, kailangang i-regulate ang mga blog sa bansa dahil nagagamit ito para sa cyberbullying. Anila, biktima ng cyberbullying si Sotto.

Pero ang pinakapanalong pahayag na pinakawalan ng panig ni Sotto, partikular mula sa chief-of-staff niyang si Hector Villacorta: “Even our image was copied from God. We are all plagiarists.”

Sayang at hindi artista si Villacorta. Kung oo, baka nagawa niyang sabihin iyon nang naluluha’t manginig-nginig pa ang panga. Bukod sa nakakatawa, mapatutunayan lamang nito kung paanong tila sa bigote at hindi sa utak humuhugot ng karunungan ang mga pulitikong tulad ni Sotto.

Kung susundan ang lohika ng kampo ni Sotto, hindi na kailangang paghirapan ang paglagay ng citation sa mga paper. Hindi na rin kailangang i-click ang external link ng mga datos na nakukuha sa Wikipedia—wala rin palang silbi dahil lahat naman tayo, likas na mandaraya. Hindi na rin dapat ikatakot ang suspension o expulsion dahil sigurado, magpapatuloy lang si Sotto sa pagiging senador nang walang hinaharap na parusa hanggang sa humupa ang isyu.

Pero mukhang matagal pa bago tigilan ng intriga ang komedyante. Ilang araw lang ang nakalipas, ipinaliwanag ni Sotto kung bakit hindi niya nais maisama ang LGBT community sa Anti-Discrimination Bill. Malalim daw ang pinag-ugatan nito, simula pa noong nagsisimula siyang mag-artista at iminungkahi ng casting director na gumampan siya sa isang gay role. Aniya, “Kalalake kong tao at bigotilyo pa, pero gusto niya ang gagampanan ko ay uri nila?”

Nakakahiya naman sa bigote ni Sotto. Nahiya din kaya siya kay Dolphy na ilang beses gumanap na bakla sa pelikula? At sa paanong paraan magiging dahilan ang ganoong engkwentro para tuluyang kundenahin ang bakla at lesbyana—sa konteksto pa ng anti-discrimination?

Iyon siguro ang pinag-iba ni Tito Sotto sa mga grupo’t sektor na kinukundena niya. Higit pa kasi sa hugot ng personal na karanasan ang paglaban para sa mataas na badyet sa edukasyon, para sa malaya at tapat na pamamahayag, o para sa karapatan ng mga nasa laylayan.

Pero mabilis ding itinanggi ni Sotto ang nasabing mga kontra-LGBT na pahayag. Katulad ng pagtanggi niyang hindi siya nag-plagiarize, katulad ng pagtanggi niyang may budget cut nga sa mga pamantasan.

At gaya ng nabanggit, hindi malabong malusutan ni Sotto ang mga isyung ibinabato sa kanya ngayon.

Pulitikong umiiyak sa harap ng camera, hindi nakikinig sa mga mamamaya’t nahuling mali sa akto—hindi na dapat nila tayo naloloko.

4 na lider-estudyante, POLICEBRIEFS inaresto sa Davao City

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Mula pahina 5

Test Paper Mary Ann Gigante, College of Engineering TANGHALING TAPAT. Hinahanap ng may 30 estudyante ang kanikanilang mga test paper, nag-aasam na sana, tatambad sa kanila ang pasadong marka. Isa ako sa mga estudyanteng iyon.

Hindi tulad ng ibang estudyante na kumpiyansa na papasa sila, duda ako sa sariling kong tyansa. Noong kinuha ko kasi ang pagsusulit, halos wala akong nasagot. “Mental blocked,” sabi nga nila.

Nang mahanap ko ang test paper ko, unti-unti ko itong binuklat at nagulat ako sa aking nakita.

Pasado ako. Mataas ang markang nakuha ko. Tinitigan ko ang papel na hawak ko. Hindi ako nagkamali—pangalan ko nga ang nakalagay.

Inisa-isa ko ang mga tanong at sagot sa test paper. Doon ko nalaman na isa lang palang pagkakamali ang lahat: hindi dapat ako pasado. Sa madaling sabi, nagkamali ng bilang ang aking guro.

Namutla ako. Sa puntong iyon, hindi ko talaga alam ang gagawin.

Para akong nasa gitna ng kaligtasan at kamatayan. Kapag hindi ko sinabi ang natuklasan ko, siguradong papasa ako. Kapag sinabi ko naman, sa purgatoryo ang labas ko. Kwatro o singko ang maari kong maging marka, at hindi maari iyon sapagkat sa mga marka ko nakasalalay ang aking scholarship.

Litong-lito ako noon. Kung tutuusin, maaaring hindi ko na sabihin sa guro ang natuklasan ko sapagkat naka-record na iyon. Wala ni isang makakaalam sa sikretong maaari kong itago habambuhay. Sabi ko sa sarili ko, isang beses lang naman—kailangan lang talaga para maisalba ko ang aking scholarship.

Kinaumagahan, final exam na. Napagdesisyunan kong kapag naging maayos ang pagsagot ko sa exam, sasabihin ko sa aking guro ang natuklasan ko. Ngunit kapag hindi maayos, pipilitin kong kalimutan ang lahat at magkukunwaring walang natuklasan.

Tulad ng inaasahan, mahirap ang lahat ng tanong sa exam. Ngunit nang matapos ito, sinundan ko ang aking guro at hiniling na makausap siya. Sinabi ko ang katotohan. Sinabi kong, “Ma’am, nagkamali po kayo ng check.” “Okay, salamat” lang ang sinabi niya.

Lumipas ang mga araw at dumating ang hatol. Nakita ko ang grado ko: tres.

Tres na may asterisk sa gilid at linyang “PLEASE SEE ME IN THE OFFICE.” Pumunta ako sa kwarto ng aking guro. Ipinakita niya sa akin ang aking marka—0.03 na lang at papasa na ako. Sa standard ng kolehiyo, ang 0.03 below 60 ay hindi maaring i-round up para pumasa. Ipinaliwanag sa akin ng aking guro kung bakit niya ako binigyan ng tres.

“Na-appreciate ko ang ginawa mong pag-inform sa akin ng correction sa grade mo. Salamat for the courage and honesty that you have shown. You deserve the 3 that I gave you.” Sa puntong iyon, unti-unti nang pumatak ang luha ko.

Limang taon buhat nang nangyari iyon, nagpasya akong isulat ang aking kuwento. Hindi ito para ipagmalaki ang aking naging desisyon, kundi para ibahagi sa iba ang karunungang tulad nga ng sinabi ng aking guro, hindi kailanman matatagpuan sa kahit anong aklat at aralin sa unibersidad.

hindi makapagharap ang mga Villa Abrille ng mga dokumento tulad ng fencing permit. Dahil nauna umano ang fencing permit ng City Housing office kaysa status quo order ng RTC, legal umano ang nasabing “permit to develop.”

Gayunman, iginiit ng mga residente na walang legal na batayan ang demolisyon, dahil hindi umano nakatala sa Land Registration Authority ang certificate of title na hawak ng mga Villa Abrille.

Kaugnay nito, tiniyak ng mga progresibong grupo at mga liderestudyante ang kanilang patuloy na suporta sa laban ng mga residente.

Isa lamang ang Bariquit sa maraming kaso ng demolisyon sa Pilipinas. Nitong Abril lamang, halos 28,000 pamilya ang nawalan ng tahanan sa demolisyon sa Silverio Compound sa Parañaque.

Samantala, habang aabot sa 3.6 milyong pabahay ang kailangang ipatayo ng gobyerno sa 2013, nasa 1.4 milyong pabahay lamang, o 39 porsyento, ang kasama sa Philippine Development Plan ng gobyerno.

“Hangga’t ang pagtrato ng gobyerno sa maralitang tagalungsod ay basura, propesyunal na iskwater, nagpapababa sa halaga ng lupa, humaharang sa pag-unlad ng pamayanan, at kinakailangang itapon sa mga malalayong relokasyong walang trabaho at kabuhayan, lalong titindi ang ligalig at paglaban ng maralitang tagalungsod,” ani Carlito Badion, tagapagsalita ng Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap.

Mula pahina 5 Station 9 Captain Fuentes, CSO Edgardo Dagdag, UPDP Officerin-Charge Major Bermie Baltazar, at Atty. Percival Cortez ng UPD Legal Office.

Hindi ikinulong ng QCPD Station 9 ang mga nasabing guwardiya, at sa kasalukuyan patuloy pa rin ang imbestigasyon ukol sa insidente.

Propesor ng Institute of Mathematics, inireklamo Inireklamo ng isang duktor ang isang miyembro ng faculty ng UP Institute of Mathematics (UP-IM) matapos umanong iwang bukas ng nasabing guro ang sasakyan ng duktor na nakaparada sa likod ng Math Building noong ika-29 ng Agosto.

Ayon sa ulat ng UPDP, ipinarada ni Dr. Virginia Irene Santos ang kanyang puting Mitsubishi Pajero sa parking lot ng Math Building nang dumalo siya sa isang programang idinaos sa UP-IM. Iniwan umano ng duktor ang susi ng kanyang sasakyan sa kasamang propesor mula sa Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU).

Ayon sa salaysay ni Santos sa UPDP, nakaharang umano ang kanyang sasakyan sa sasakyan ng propesor ng UP-IM kaya hiniram ng huli ang susi mula sa propesor ng ADMU. Nang matapos ang programang dinaluhan, natagpuan ni Santos na nakasampa na ang kanyang sasakyan sa gutter at nakabukas ang dalawang bintana nito.

Kasalukuyang iniimbestigahan ng UPDP ang reklamong isinampa ni Santos sa propesor ng UP-IM.

ERMAHGERD!! Nasira ang textback phone ng Kule!!

Patawad sa mga hindi nailathalang sagot at mensahe.

Next week’s questions: 1. Kung psychiatrist ka, anong diagnosis mo kay Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno?

2. Sinong UP student ang gusto mong rumampa sa Cosmo Bachelor Bash?

Key in KULE <space> MESSAGE <space> STUDENT NUMBER <required> NAME AND COURSE (optional) and send to

Non-UP students must indicate any school, organizational or sectorial affiliation.

Newscan Ped Xing: Tatawid Ka Ba Kahit

CLIPTOMANIA 11

UJP-UP Diliman: 24 taon ng

Nakamamatay?

On its 58th year, the UP Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering Association (UP49ers) brings you Cliptomania 2012: It All Ends Here. Cliptomania is a contest for all movie enthusiasts, wherein movie clips will be shown and the participants will have to guess the title of the clips.

It is open to all college students.

So what are you waiting for, just form a team of three, register for only P150 and get a chance to win P6000, P3000 or P1500! For more information you may contact Geof (09177200373), Joyce (09228368365) or visit our facebook page at http://www.facebook. com/CliptomaniaXI.

TALAS at ANGAS

Sa ika-40 nitong anibersaryo, inihahandog ng The UP Repertory Company at ng Office for Initiative in Culture and the Arts ang isang action-comedy full-length tula-dulang pinamagatang, “Ped Xing: Tatawid Ka Ba Kahit Nakamamatay?” Ngayong Sept 8, 17, 22, 24 | 3 and 7pm at Sept 7, 21 | 7pm na sa Aldaba Recital Hall, UP Diliman. Php180 lang ang ticket for UP Students, bili na! Ikontak lang si Serville (0917-600-0161).

Suportahan ang mga dulang Pilipino. Kitakits!

The Union of Journalists of the Philippines – UP Diliman (UJPUP) invites you to a month-long celebration of its 24th anniversary. Everyone is invited to various events to be hosted by UJP-UP on the following dates: September 4-7 UJP Month Exhibit September 14 Hazards of Seeing: Assessing the Witness Protection Program of the Philippines, CMC Auditorium, 1-4 pm | UJP Website Launch September 15 Alumni Assembly September 11-14 Mulat Maninipat Photojournalism Contest Exhibit of Entries at the Old Film Lobby September 14 Mulat Maninipat Announcement of Winners

UP Diliman, magpaTatak na.

The University of the Philippines Diliman University Student Council (UPD USC), through the Education & Research Committee, UP National College of Public Administration and Governance Student Government (UP NCPAGSG) and UP Advertising Core (UP AdCore), bring you Tatak Botante – a whole day voters’ registration and education activity on September 5, 4:30am to 7pm.

Various voters’ education discussions and talks will be held through out the day, while COMELEC offers an onsite registration and related services for all qualified residents of District 4 Quezon City. Your vote carries your dreams and aspiration for the country. Use it - register now!

Eksenang Peyups The laglagan edishun!

Hello there, mga utrez! Kamusta ang linggo ng major major bawi para sa mga major subjects?

Bonggang number of pounds ang nawala ko this week para sa paghahabol ng make up classes. Hay, dami nang naglaglagan this week, pero di naman mga puso, kundi mga laglagang eyebags from post midterms horrors: Laglag 1. Sa kolehiyo with infinite numbers in space, may isang koyang na infinite na ang nabibilang na sheep sa klase. Pero one day, as if by divine intermission, nagising na lang ang koyang nang OPINYON magbigay ng seatwork si Ser. Miyerkules Habang abala ang mga utawz sa 05 Setyembre pinapagawang seatwork, lumapit 2012 si koyang kay Ser at pinaexplain ang tinulugang lecture with his flawless English and matching high chinny-chin-chin. Nang naubusan na ng tanong si koyang, humarap si Ser sa klase, tinuro ang ilong at tinanong: “Dumudugo na ba?” Nakakahiya naman, di kinaya ng sanitary napkin ko ang English mo, koya!

Laglag 2 Sa isang in-betweens play, hot na hot na ang dalawang koya sa kanilang laplapan session nang biglang bumitaw sa halik si other koya at sinabi: “Pwe, bakit ganon ang halik mo?” Nasa script ba yun? Ayiee, all the world’s a stage ang peg ni becky!

Laglag 3 One chow time, di napansin ng isang ateng kulot na nadali niya ang plato ng newlybought, hot and saucy pansit na nasalo naman sa kamay ni katabing ate as if by matrix reflexes.

Nag-isip pa si katabing ate kung anong gagawin sa pansit sa kanyang hands bago ito tuluyang nilaglag sa sahig. Kayo talaga, ang daming mga batang di nakakakain dyan sa tabi! Tsk, tsk, tsk!

Hay, daz all for now. And remember: Setyembre na mga teh.

And in case nakalimutan n’yo: ito ang huling linggo for dropping!

Hohohoho.

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