Philippine Collegian Issue 21

TAON 91

3

BILANG 21

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2014

UPCAT edges out the poor—study group Balita

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Power Tripping

The shocking price of electricity under EPIRA Lathalain

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Panata’t Paglaya:

Kasaysayan at Pulitiko ng Himala ng Nazareno Kultura

Ronn Joshua C. Bautista THE PHILIPPINES IS NOTORIOUS for holding world records—ranging from the most mundane to the most outrageous.

In fact, for the past years, the country has held one particular record that beats even countries like South Korea and Singapore.

Power Tripping

The shocking price of electricity under EPIRA

Before losing to Japan only last year, the Philippines was infamous for having the highest power rates in Asia after beating countries like Taiwan and Australia in 2011.

Until now, the Philippines’ electricity still ranks among the world’s most expensive.

This year, Manila Electric Company seems to have plans to take the record further.

Over the holidays, Meralco announced what could have been the largest power hike in history: a whopping P4.15 per kilowatt hour (kWh). Although Meralco claimed it was only a response to “market forces,” this brazen act shows just how—under the government’s neoliberal patronage—powerful electric corporations can cash in big and easily get away with it.

Continued on page 6

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OPINYON

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2014

A cycle of oppression DESPITE DEPARTMENT OF Agrarian Reform’s (DAR) most recent reports of a successful distribution of lands among farmers in Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac Development Corporation’s (TADECO) recent bulldozing of agricultural lands is a more telling picture than what DAR has to say.

Beyond the means of manipulating laws that will supposedly distribute farmers’ lands, TADECO takes further steps by resorting to violence.

Violence is not a new phenomenon to HLI farmers, yet the growing number of police forces deployed in the area present another layer of security threat for farmers, if only to suppress dissent among them.

As TADECO and the police force of Tarlac work together against the farmers, the government seems to turn a blind eye on the worsening exploitation of farmers.

Farmer lands distributed are supposedly owned by TADECO. In fact, the lands are not covered by DAR. However, farmers insisted that this should have been a part of the Supreme Court ruling. Instead of the said 4,336 hectares of farmlands, DAR only started to distribute 4,099 hectares of land.

TADECO surely knows how to play the game of power and manipulation, as they hold influence in the lawmakers and officials who

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PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 2013 - 2014 Punong Patnugot Julian Inah Anunciacion Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon Patnugot sa Balita Keith Richard Mariano Patnugot sa Grapiks Ysa Calinawan Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya Gloiza Rufina Plamenco Panauhing Patnugot Piya Constantino Margaret Yarcia

are landed elites themselves, who will ensure that passed laws, most particularly concerning land reform in the country, remain favorable to their own interests.

Aside from Aquino belonging to the very family involved in the issue of land disputes, other local and national government is filled with law-makers who are also landed

EDITOR’S PICK

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

About 10,000 farmers and members of other sectors called for a genuine agrarian reform as they commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre on January 22, 2010. The call remains for the farmers of Hacienda Luisita despite a landmark ruling of the Supreme Court directing the distribution of the land.

The farmers are decrying the random assignment of farm lots to beneficiaries and the non-distribution of agricultural lands being claimed by the Tarlac Development Corporation.

SANLAKSA Photo by Abigail C. Castillo January 28, 2010

elites possessing the power to bend the law in accordance to their own interests.

One particular instance would be former President Corazon Aquino’s initiative of land reform in the face of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). It only bore out falsities and vague provisions that resulted to the trickery of the HLI farmers through mechanisms such as the stock-distribution option, further plunging them in poverty compared to the millions of pesos that the Cojuangcos earned on the scheme.

And after more than two decades, Aquino is still not keen on giving the lands that the farmers rightfully own. Beset with a series of failed land reforms mostly manipulated to serve the government’s interests, the country cannot truly achieve a genuine agrarian reform.

The said success of the distribution of land through Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA) by the DAR is mainly farce. As the CARPER is about to end under the term of Corazon Aquino’s son, it failed to reach its end goal.

Even with the firm decision of the Supreme Court in 2012 to distribute lands, Aquino found ways to maneuver benefits to his own advantage such as the tambiolo system with its impracticality of land locations and the recent claims of TADECO to already plotted lands.

CARPER has been a living proof of a failed agrarian reform, ever since its inception in the Corazon

Mga Kawani

Aquino regime. The recent dispute Ronn Joshua Bautista only shows how Aquino devised Mary Joy Capistrano CARPER as just another political John Keithley Difuntorum trick he built to his advantage.

Ashley Marie Garcia Aquino’s real intention in pursuing an ineffective agrarian reform Pinansya reveals his intentions of favoring his Amelyn Daga family’s fortune over the right of the people.

Tagapamahala sa Sirkulasyon Some of the faults are the Paul John Alix tambiolo system’s impracticality of land positions wherein the assigned Sirkulasyon land is far from the source of living of Gary Gabales the farmers, and the non-inclusion of lands converted by TADECO prior Amelito Jaena SC decision.

Glenario Ommamalin The series of fake reforms and a stealthy government that makes Mga Katuwang na Kawani use of its power and the people’s Trinidad Gabales resources brings nothing but burden Gina Villas to the people. An assertion on the part of the oppressed is a right and a Kasapi must to end the cycle of oppression.

UP Systemwide Alliance The failure of the tambiolo system is of Student Publications and Writers’ but another addition to an endless Organizations (Solidaridad) collection of Aquino’s manipulations College Editors Guild of the Philippines of laws and reforms for his benefit.

(CEGP) The country is slave to a government that actively subjugates Pamuhatan the people and silences the faintest Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, sound of dissent. We are already in Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, an era where mere understanding Lungsod Quezon and knowing is no longer the only acceptable action. Even after the endless witnessing of forms Telefax of violence, killings of dissident 981-8500 lokal 4522 farmers, and fake reforms by the hands of the family of our own Online President, HLI farmers—instead pkule1314@gmail.com of becoming desensitized—remain www.philippinecollegian.org strong in active opposition to the fb.com/philippinecollegian injustices of the system. ∞ twitter.com/kule1314

Ukol sa Pabalat Dibuho ni Karl Aquino

BALITA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

3

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2013

UPCAT edges out the poor—study group Hans Christian E. Marin Keith Richard D. Mariano ASIDE FROM THE HIGH COST of tuition, the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) also plays a key role in denying the poor access to the national university, according to a study group composed of UP faculty.

Convened by UP President Alfredo Pascual in July 2013, the study group’s review of the university’s admission policy concluded that the UPCAT favours students coming from the upper socio-economic classes.

This year, only 30 percent, or 3,946 out of the 13,028 UPCAT passers, came from public high schools. The representation of public high school students in UP Diliman is even lower at barely 12 percent, or 467 out of 3,913 UPCAT passers. (See sidebar) “Students from private schools have a distinct advantage over those from public schools. This relates to lower quality of education, learning environment and support systems available to the students among the poor families,” according to the group composed of seven UP faculty members.

Admission to UP The university first administered the UPCAT in 1968. Under this admission process, high school students must pass a written exam before they could be admitted to UP. In 1976, however, then UP President Onofre Corpuz expressed his concern about the large upperclass composition of students in UP. The UPCAT has since underwent revisions—from increasing the weight of high school grades to the implementation of a “palugit” and “pabigat” system. (See timeline) At present, the UPCAT is the primary means to get into the university. The UPCAT measures the competence of a student in Language, Science, Mathematics and Reading Comprehension.

Admission through UPCAT considers both the student’s score in a four-hour exam and the weighted average of final grades in the first three years of high school.

The UPCAT score, however, is given more weight at 60 percent.

The current design of the UPCAT also takes into account the socio-economic and geographic situation of the student through the Excellence-Equity Admission System (EEAS), or more popularly known as the “pabigat” and “palugit” system.

For instance, students from public high school students and members of cultural minority groups get a 0.5 palugit or

advantage in the allocation of slots.

A 0.5 pabigat, meanwhile, is given to applicants based on their campus preferences, where UP regional campuses prioritize students from the Visayas and Mindanao.

“In general, however, the selection has still been incurring bias against or in favour of certain sectors in society,” according to the study group.

Limited access From 2009 to 2013, 50 percent of UPCAT passers came from private schools, 20 percent from public science high schools, and only about 30 percent from public general and barangay schools.

“Students coming from poor families have inadequate and inferior preparations compared with their counterparts who experience better educational facilities and overall school environment in the more privileged strata of society,” explained the study group.

The group also said the lack of information on the admission process, cost of application, schedule of the exam and the location of testing centers have discouraged the poor to take the UPCAT. But the small number of UPCAT passers coming from poor families can also be traced back to a “significant flaw” in the adjustment, or standardization, of public high school grades. The admission system assumes that public high schools are more lenient in grading students.

The adjustment of the grades of public high students by 0.16534 would eventually cancel out the 0.05 palugit given to the same students, explained the study group.

“The irony is that UP, the country’s national university and a public institution, can actually be seen as discriminating actively against students from poorer backgrounds.”

Section 9 of the 2008 UP Charter mandates UP, as the national university, to “take affirmative steps which may take the form of an alternative and equitable admissions process to enhance the access of disadvantaged students… to its programs and services.”

Alternative ways To address the underrepresentation of the poor in the national university, the study group proposed a number of changes in the admissions policy of UP. Among the proposals of the study group include the revision of the UPCAT formula to give more weight to the performance of an applicant during high school. From the current 40 percent, the grades of students from public high schools are recommended to account for 60 percent of the UPCAT score.

“Since this will give them higher scores, it will give them higher chances to be included in the UPCAT cut-off score in their chosen colleges of the constituent universities,” according to the study group.

The study group also recommended the publication of UPCAT review materials, waiver of application fee for students coming from poor families, and free

1971-72 UPCAT takes into account the weighted average grade in the first three years of high school and scores in the written entrance exam, or what is now known as the University Predicted Grade.

accommodation of applicants near testing centers.

But a four-hour exam should not determine the rest of a student’s chances to enter UP, added the study group. As in universities abroad, UP must also consider alternative tests including interviews.

The Office of the UP President is already deliberating upon the

1968-69 UPCAT is administered for the first time. Automatic admission for specific groups like valedictorians is still in place.

assessment and recommendations of the study group, said Pascual.

“The country's premiere state university, must uphold its public character by crafting policies which genuinely promote the rights of those who remain to be oppressed,” said Eduardo Gabral, national chairperson of Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP, the system-wide alliance of student councils. ∞

2006

April 28, 1997

The EEAS uses a regression equation for campus admission to avoid “arbitrariness in the distribution of weights to various UPCAT subtests and HSWA.”

UP President Emil Javier issued a policy to ensure an equitable number of qualifiers from the 77 provinces of the country, and from public high schools.

1996

The Excellence-Equity Admission System was adopted to increase the number of poor, ruralbased and public high school students in the university.

March 1977 A project team is formed to make recommendations in an effort to democratize UP, following then President Onofre Corpuz’s concern over the underrepresentation of the poor in UP.

1415. Dis tr Passers ibution of UPC AT by scho ol type SCHOOL

1984

July 30, 1985

UPCAT became the sole mechanism for admitting freshman students. Cut-off grade must not be lower than 2.8, except in UP Diliman, where it must be 2.6.

High school grades were given more weight in the computation of the UPG, from 20 to 40 percent.

TYPE

SYSTEM-

Private Public Science Foreign Total

WIDE

6,364 3,946 2,594 124 13,028

DILIMAN 2,245 467 1,177 24 3,913

Sources: UP Office of Admissions, Democratizing UP Education: A report submitted by the Study Group on Admissions created through Administrative Order No. PAEP 13-70 of 22 July 2013 to University of the Philippines (UP) President Alfredo E. Pascual

UP Diliman collects toll Arra B. Francia ENTRY TO THE FLAGSHIP campus of the national university indeed comes with a price.

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (OVCSA) confirmed that vehicles of non-UP students, faculty and staff are barred from entering UP Diliman unless they pay a motorway toll of P10.

Since December 2013, a photo of a ticket bearing the words “Toll Fee: P10” and the university’s official seal on the background has been circulated in various social media websites.

The photo has since elicited negative comments from students online, with a number of them decrying the policy for degrading public character of the state university.

Other students, meanwhile, were asking for

clarifications whether such policy is truly in effect.

Apparently, the toll has been instituted for at least five years already. According to Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Melania Flores, the policy was first implemented in 2009 to control the number of vehicles entering UP and to consequently ensure the safety of the students.

However, no memorandum instituting the fee exists. The collection of toll was only implemented through an arrangement with the OVCCA and the Office of the Vice Chancellor on Administration, Flores said.

Vehicles, other than the jeepneys plying the campus roads, may enter UP through any of the university portals should a student, faculty or staff of the university present an identification card (ID). Should

motorists fail to present a UP ID, they are only allowed to pass through the University Avenue, where tolls are collected.

Meanwhile, a car sticker renewable for every three years may be purchased at the OVCCA for as much as P800 to be given access to the university. But non-UP students and personnel are prohibited from applying for a car sticker, hence the collection of tolls.

The collected fees will be used for the maintenance of roads in the university, said Flores.

From 2010 to 2013, the government has not allotted budget for UP’s capital outlay (CO), based on the General Appropriations Act. The budget for CO finances the maintenance and construction of infrastructure projects, such as buildings and roads. ∞

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BALITA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2013

Changes to SR selection rules filed anew Ronn Bautista A NUMBER OF STUDENT COUNCILS have again proposed amendments to the set of rules governing the annual process of selecting the lone representative of all UP students in the highest policymaking body of the university.

College student councils from UP Diliman, Manila and Los Banos proposed that the Codified Rules for the Student Regent Selection (CRSRS) impose an academic requirement for nominees, extend voting power to student councils, abolish the role of the Katipunan ng Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP (KASAMA sa UP) in the selection process and adopt a three-year effectivity clause.

The first three amendments have been consistently filed since the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) first adopted the CRSRS in 1997. The assembly approved the amendments in 2005 but immediately repealed them the following year.

Under article 9(5) of the CRSRS, student councils may propose to amend or repeal any provision in the CRSRS subject to the approval of the majority of

councils in assembly. This year, the GASC will deliberate and vote on the proposed amendments at UP Mindanao from January 25 to 26.

Academic requirement

The UP Diliman College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Student Council (CSSP SC) along with the student councils of UP Manila College of Medicine (CM SC) and UP Los Banos College of Agriculture (CA SC) moved that nominees pass at least 49 percent of their total academic unit load.

The requirement ensures that the student regent will not be forced out of office due to academic problems, said CSSP SC Chairperson Yanna Perez. “[T]his criterion reflects the capability of the nominated student. As a student, we must be responsible enough to handle our academics,” UPLB CA SC Chair Reimond Corona added.

Currently, the CRSRS only requires SR nominees to be a Filipino citizen enrolled in the university for at least one year, and to have a track record of student service. Article 3.2 specifies that that no academic requirement is needed.

“The present rule guards our right to autonomous selection process free from administrative intervention such as grade and registration status manipulation,” said former Student Regent Cleve Kevin Robert Arguelles.

One council, one vote

The three student councils proposed giving each college and university

student councils a vote in the student regent selection. “With each student council allotted with one vote, the representation of the student body will be maximized,” Corona said.

Under the CRSRS, the autonomous units of the university like UP Diliman and UP Los Banos wield two votes in the GASC while regional units such as the School of Health Sciences in Leyte have one.

“The voting system in the GASC prevents a candidate from taking the regency by simply winning in heavily populated campuses [and] helps the lesser populated units be relevant during the selection,” explained former Student Regent Ma. Kristina Conti.

Should the voting scheme be adopted, UP Diliman and UP Los Banos

Continued to page 5

UP Booters tumabla kontra Tigers, 1-1

Hans Christian E. Marin GITGITAN ANG NAGING SAGUPAAN ng Fighting Maroons kontra University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers kung saan walang koponan ang gustong magpaiwan sa iskor na 1-1 sa ikalawang round ng Season 76 ng University Athletics Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Men’s Football.

Bigong maikasa ng Maroons ang ikaapat sana nitong magkakasunod na panalo sa torneyo noong ika-19 ng Enero sa Far Eastern University (FEU) – Diliman, matapos nilang harapin ang koponan ng UST nang wala ang isa sa mga alas nito. Hindi pinayagang maglaro ang forward ng UP at miyembro ng Philippine National Under-23 Football Team na si Gerardo Valmayor matapos siyang patawan ng dalawang yellow card sa season.

Sa unang half, naging agresibo kaagad ang pag-atake ng Tigers kung saan napasakamay nila ang mas maraming possessions sa opensa kaysa sa Maroons dahil na rin sa magipit na depensa ng UST. Nasungkit din nila ang ika-unang puntos ng bakbakan sa pamamagitan ng header sa ika-26 minuto ng salpukan.

Bumangon naman mula sa pagkakabaon ang UP sa ikalawang half kung kung saan nagsagawa sila ng ilang pag-aayos sa kanilang opensa.

Nagpakawala naman si middlefielder Gabe Mendoza ng isang mala-kidlat na instep kick matapos mapag-iwanan ang mga defenders ng UST sa ika- 69 minuto upang itabla ang sagupaan.

Hindi na ito nasundan pa ng UP kung saan ilang mga mintis ang muntik na sanang maging goal para sa UP: sa ika-84 minuto sa bisa ng instep kick ni Mendoza at sa ika-90 minuto sa pamamagitan naman ng cross kick ni middlefielder Daniel Gadia.

“During the first half of our game, we aren’t really performing well. We aren’t reading the game much,” ani Michael Simms, captain ng UP. “If we were able to perform during the first half and if Valmayor were playing, we would have a better result,” dagdag niya.

Nitong ika-12 ng Enero lamang nang ikinasa ng Maroons ang isang madaling panalo sa pagbubukas ng ikalawang round ng torneyo. Isinubsob ng UP ang FEU Tamaraws sa sarili nilang bakuran upang matiman ang unang kabiguan sa torneyo, 3-0.

Sa kasalukuyan, hawak ng UP ang 16 puntos upang makopo ang ikalawang pwesto habang 11 puntos naman ang inangkin ng UST para sa ikalimang pwesto. Tatlong puntos ang nakukuha ng mga nagwawagi sa bawat laban habang isang puntos naman para sa parehas na koponan kung tabla at walang puntos ang makukuha ng matatalo.

Susunod na makakasagupa ng Maroons ang De La Salle University Green Archers sa ika-26 ng Enero, alasdiyes ng umaga sa FEU - Diliman.

∞

SEGURIDAD? Litrato ni Chester Higuit

Epektibo ngayong Enero 2014 ang 0.6% contribution increase ng Social Security System (SSS) sa mga miyembro nito sa buong bansa. Tataas ng P25 kada buwan ang kontribusyon ng isang ordinaryong manggagawa, pero ayon sa Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), hindi naman madaragdagan ang kanilang benepisyo. Hindi ibinigay ng Korte Suprema ang Temporary Restraining Order na inihain ng KMU laban sa pagtaas ng kontribusyon ng SSS.

UPV council protests ‘no automatic re-bracketing’ policy in Tacloban IKOT UP

Andres Tristram J. Garong UPV College of Management, The Accounts

ILOILO CITY – IT WAS A BLACK shirt day at the UP Visayas College of Management (UPVCM) on January 20 as students affected by the supertyphoon Yolanda are asked to pay for their tuition at the university's Tacloban campus.

The UPV Tacloban College (UPVTC) administration refused to automatically waive the tuition of about 800 students,

who did not cross-enroll in other campuses this semester. Before classes resumed on January 13, the students were asked to formally appeal and submit documentary evidence before they could be assigned to lower brackets under the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP).

Re-bracketing must be made on a case-to-case basis, cosidering the fact that the typhoon’s effect was variable in terms of severity, according to the UPV Office of Student Affairs.

On the other hand, 400 UPVTC students who cross-enrolled in other UP campuses were automatically granted free tuition and monthly stipend under Bracket E2. This was in accordance with a November 13 memorandum from UP President Alfredo Pascual, directing all constituent universities to re-bracket all students hailing from the Yolanda-hit provinces to E2.

"They do not have classroooms, facilities and dormitories conducive for learning, but what's worse is that they

still have to pay the same,” said UPVCM Student Council Chairperson Bea Jan Wong.

The surge in the cost of living in Tacloban after the devastation brought

by Yolanda necessitates the automatic re-bracketing of the students, added the UPV-CM Student Council.

On December 11, the student council of UPVTC asked the Board of Regents to automatically re-bracket all students, who preferred to stay in Tacloban, to Bracket E. The highest policy-making body of the university, however, has yet to act on the appeal as of press time.

During the Black Shirt Day, students at the UPVCM not only called for an automatic re-bracketing of Yolandaaffected students, but also for the scrapping of the socialized tuition scheme. STFAP results have been proven to be inconsistent, according to the UPVCM Student Council, citing an instance where siblings living in the same household were assigned to different brackets.

∞

BALITA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

5

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2013

Kasong contempt inihain laban sa DAR Mary Joy T. Capistrano NAHAHARAP SA KASONG contempt ang Department of Agriculture (DAR) matapos umano nitong salungatin ang desisyon ng Korte Suprema na ipamahagi ang Hacienda Luisita sa mga magsasaka.

Sa 11-pahinang mosyon na inihain sa Supreme Court noong July 2013, iginiit ng Alyansa ng mga Mangagawang Bukid sa Asyenda Luisita (AMBALA) ang paglabag ng DAR sa utos ng katas-taasang hukom nang tanging 4,009 ektarya lamang sa kabuuang 4,915.7 ektarya ng asyenda ang ipinamahagi ng ahensya.

Batay sa paliwanag ng DAR, umabot lamang sa 4,099 ektarya ang kabuuang lupa na ipamamahagi sa mga magsasaka matapos bawasin ang sukat ng residential areas, kanal, kalsada, firebreaks, sementeryo, lawa, pangisdaan at mga gumuhong lupa.

Gayunman, iginiit ng mga magsasaka na ibinawas na sa kabuuang sukat ng asyenda ang mga nasabing lupa sa ilalim pa umano ng bisa ng Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law noong 1989.

Nakasaad din sa nasabing mosyon ang hindi agarang paglalabas ng DAR ng "notice of coverage" sa mga lupang inaangkin ng Tarlac Development Corporation (TADECO). Dahil dito, naisagawa umano ng kumpanya ang pagbabakod at pag-bulldozer sa mga agrikulturang lupa.

“The DAR is doing nothing. They are acting as mere by-standers… [This] is affront to the order of the Honorable Court. Thus, the DAR should be made to

answer for its infraction,” nakasaad sa 11 pahinang mosyon ng AMBALA. Patuloy na karahasan Liban sa pagbulldozer sa lupa, sunod-sunod din umano ang iligal na pag-aresto at pambubugbog ng mga pulis at guwardiya ng TADECO sa mga magsasaka.

Inapela sa inihaing mosyon ang nasabing pandarahas at pananakot ng mga tauhan ng TADECO, dahilan upang hindi makapagtrabaho ang mga magsasaka.

Nitong ika-16 ng Enero lamang, muling nagkaroon ng tensyon sa pagitan ng mga magsasaka at tauhan ng TADECO nang dumating ang 30 guwardiya kasama ang ilang pulis upang mag-bulldozer at magbakod sa Barangay Cutcut.

Nauna nang sinimulan ng TADECO ang pag-bulldozer sa mga pananim sa Barangay Balete noong Disyembre.

Tinatayang aabot sa 30 ektarya ng palay at iba pang mga pananim, na nakatakda nang anihin ngayong buwan, ang napinsala.

Samantala, nakapagtayo na ng bakod sa Barangay Balete kung saan marami pa ring mga magsasaka ang hindi nakakalabas sa kanilang lugar dahil sa pananakot umano ng mga tauhan ng TADECO. “Nakakatakot na ang kalagayan namin dito lalo na sa Barangay Cutcut kung saan mas nadagdagan ang bilang ng mga security guards dahil [sa nakaambang] pagbulldozer ng lupa,” ani Florida Pong Sibayan, taga-pangulo ng AMBALA.

Continued from page 4

Changes to SR selection rules filed anew

Huwad na tagumpay

Sa kabila ng apela ng mga magsasaka, nakatakda nang magtayo ang DAR ng mga muhon, o palatandaan sa hangganan ng lupang sakop ng isang benepisaryong magsasaka. Aabutin ng tatlong buwan ang pagtatayo ng mga mohon, ani Anthony Parungao, Agrarian Reform Undersecretary for Legal Affairs.

“Tapos na ang pamamahagi ng lupa sa Hacienda Luisita [bagaman may] mga panghuling hakbang na kailangang gawin para maitalaga ang mga kwalipikadong manggagawang bukid at mabigyan sila ng [angkop] na tulong serbisyo,” ani Parungao.

Gayunman, pinabulaanan ng mga magsasaka ang matagumpay umanong pamamahagi ng lupa ng DAR. Sa tala mismo ng DAR, tinatayang may 300 benepisaryo pang hinihintay na pumirma sa Application to Purchase and Farmer’s Undertaking (APFU) upang makatanggap ng CLOA. Marami sa kanila ang hindi pumirma ng APFU at tumanggap ng CLOA matapos nilang kwestiyunin ang pamamaraan ng pamamahagi ng mga lupa. Dahil sa idinaan ng DAR sa palabunutan ang pamamahagi ng mga lupa, marami umano sa mga magsasaka ang napalayo sa kasalukuyan nilang sinasakang lupa.

Hindi rin pabor ang mga magsasaka sa pagbabayad ng P70,000 amortisasyon sa loob ng 30 taon. Kung sakaling hindi mabayaran ang halaga sa tatlong magkakasunod na taon, maaaring maging dahilan ito upang kunin muli sa mga magsasaka ang kanilang mga lupa.

“Hindi na kami [dapat magbayad] dahil matagal na kaming nagtatrabaho sa asyenda ngunit hanggang ngayon wala pa rin kaming nakukuhang share.

Matagal nang pinakinabangan ng pamilya Coquangco-Aquino ang lupa,” ani Sibayan.

UP’s Alaine Gonzales denied an attack by UE’s Mark Santos during the fourth set of the UAAP Season 76 Men’s Volleyball tournament held at the Mall of Asia Arena on January 12. The UP Fighting Maroons won 3 sets to 1, capping off the first round of games with 3 wins and 4 losses.

OBLE RISING Photo by Keithley Difuntorum

∞

POLICEBRIEFS could overpower other units as they hold the votes of 33 out of 53 student councils, Arguelles added.

Reducing ‘redundancies’

The student councils from UP Manila and Los Banos, meanwhile, moved to abolish the role of KASAMA sa UP in the selection process to supposedly prevent “redundancy.” “[We] believe that the KASAMA sa UP has already done their part in representing the students. The OSR, in cooperation with student councils from different UP units, can fulfill its duties and responsibilities to the students [alone],” Corona explained.

KASAMA sa UP is a system-wide alliance convened in 1981 to call for the reinstatement of a student representative in the Board of Regents.

When President Corazon Aquino finally amended the composition of the BOR in 1987, the alliance was tasked to select the student regent.

Under the CRSRS, however, KASAMA sa UP is only tasked to launch information drives about the office and the selection process to “ensure

maximum participation of all students.”

Section 3, Article V of the CRSRS limits the alliance from selecting the student regent.

Three-year restriction

Should the proposed amendments pass, CSSP SC and CM SC, which belong to the system-wide student council alliance Bukluran ng mga Progresibong Iskolar, sought to ensure its effectivity for at least the next three years.

The proposed amendment only allows the GASC to repeal or revise the CRSRS every three years. “As policies need time to take effect, passed amendments need to be given due time to be implemented and observed,” Perez explained.

On the other hand, Arguelles argued that such amendment is an attack to the right and power of each council to scrutinize the CRSRS. “If these proponents are confident on the merit of their amendments, why are they afraid of the wisdom of the next GASC to pass judgment on the validity of their amendments?” * With reports from Julian Anunciacion

∞

Chester Higuit

Suspek sa nakawan sa CHE hinuli

Nahuli na ng mga miyembro ng UP Diliman Police (UPDP) ang suspek sa pananalisi umano sa isang estudyante sa loob mismo ng library ng College of Home Economics (CHE) noong Disyembre 13.

Sa isinagawang operasyon nitong ika-8 ng Enero, sa pamumuno ni Capt.

Ruben Villaluna, nadakip ang hindi pa pinangalanang suspek batay sa nakunan ng closed circuit television (CCTV) camera na nakakabit sa CHE library.

Natangay ng suspek ang isang iPad na nagkakahalaga ng P16,000 mula sa bag ng isang second year BS Community Nutrition student. Ayon sa salaysay ng biktima, bandang 2:30 ng hapon nang magtungo siya sa library at iwanan ang kanyang mga gamit sa bag counter.

Makalipas ang dalawang oras, napansin na lamang umano ng estudyante na nawawala na ang kaniyang iPad.

∞

Babae ninakawan, iniwang tulog sa oval

Iniwang natutulog ang isang merchandising assistant sa kahabaan ng Roxas Street malapit sa UP Main Library matapos umano siyang sadyang patulugin at pagnakawan ng isang taxi driver noong Enero 11.

Ayon sa biktima na si Mary Ann Villamos, residente ng Pasig, ika-7 ng gabi nang sumakay siya sa puting taxi sa may Muñoz, Quezon City. Sa kalagitnaan ng biyahe, nakaramdam umano siya ng pagkahilo at tuluyang nakatulog.

Nagising na lamang umano ang biktimang nakaupo sa kahabaan ng Academic Oval at napansing nawawala na ang mga dalang gamit. Ilan sa mga natangay sa biktima ang isang cookware at dinner set, walker at brown na bag na naglalalaman ng ATM card at voucher check.

Bigong makuha ni Villamos ang pagkakakilanlan sa suspek at ang plate number ng sinakyang taxi.

∞

Tablet ninakaw sa Law

Natangay ang Galaxy Tablet ng manager ng isang canteen sa loob mismo

ng UP College of Law nitong ika-13 ng Enero.

Umaabot sa P25,000 ang halaga ng nanakaw na tablet mula kay Daphnen Llanto. Ayon sa biktima, ipinatong lamang niya sa likod ng mesa ng kahera ang nasabing tablet sa pagitan ng ika11 ng umaga hanggang ika-12 ng hapon nang bigla na lang itong mawala.

Kasalukuyan pang iniimbistigahan ng UPDP ang nasabing kaso.

Samantala, hinimok ng pulisya ang mga estudyante, faculty at staff ng unibersidad na agad ipagbigay alam sa mga awtoridad ang ganitong mga kaso.

“Makabubuti kung kaagad magreport sa himpilan ng [UPDP] para agad maaksyunan ang anumang reklamo,” ani Sgt. Cesar Julian.

∞

6

LATHALAIN

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

MARTES,ENERO 21, 2014

Power Tripping The shocking price of electricity under EPIRA Power out(r)age The timing of Meralco’s overcharged power hike could not have been more impeccable.

Just as the country was still recovering from Super Typhoon Yolanda, new tuition rates, higher SSS and PhilHealth contributions, and exorbitant oil and water prices struck ordinary Filipinos like lightning. With nothing but the minimum wage of P466 that cannot even meet what the National Wage and Productivity Commission itself pegs as the minimum cost of living of P956, Juan Dela Cruz can only hope for a miracle if he is to survive a new wave of price hikes.

Already, to pay for the average consumption of 200 kWh, the common worker must set aside five days’ worth of wages. With Meralco’s new rates, workers would have to shell out another day’s worth of pay.

The government however sees no cause for alarm. In a press briefing, Presidential Communications secretary Sonny Coloma justified Meralco’s new prices and in effect told consumers that this was something expected from a privatized utility. “Hindi na tayo dapat maligalig doon sa pagbabago ng presyo ng singil sa kuryente dahil ito ay market-driven… Hindi ito arbitrary.”

But when pressed to take direct action against the power hikes, Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte retorted that the executive is limited by the law. “There is no magic wand to wave.”

Despite Malacanang’s history of mustering support in the legislature like in the Corona impeachment and the Reproductive Health Law, the government’s lack of political will betrays its long and strong relationship with the power corporations that benefit from the status quo.

Grounded During the Arroyo presidency, the government’s first order of business included striking a deal with international financial institutions (IFI) about the country’s power industry. In exchange for foreign loans from the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, Arroyo and Congress ceded control of the power industry to private entities such as Meralco and independent power producers (IPP) through the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (EPIRA).

Today, the industry is open to anyone with enough capital while the market, instead of the state, sets power prices. IFIs argued this would supposedly foster a “competitive” power industry that would lower electric costs, the very same rationale behind the privatization of NCR’s water supply in 1997 and the deregulation of the oil industry later in the Arroyo presidency.

More than a decade later however, like water and oil prices, power prices only further skyrocketed. Since 2001, Meralco’s rates have increased from P4.87 per kWh to P10.35 per kWh in 2010.

“Mali kasi ang assumption na magdudulot umano ng mas mababang presyo ang kumpetisyon sa isang industriya katulad ng kuryente,” explains Glenis Balangue, senior researcher at independent thinktank IBON Foundation.

Sidebar: Power-hungry In reality, companies actually find it more to their Only five corporations dominate the power industry in the whole country. Besides also owning mutual benefit if the power plants in the alleged collusion, these companies also buy-out small electric cooperatives they work together to retain their hold in the industry. SMC for instance, is buying-out the debt-ridden Albay Electric and manipulate the Cooperative despite public opposition. market for higher profits, something Ironically, Meralco posted a not difficult to pull off when the power from an average of P13.74 before the industry is only dominated by a few shutdown—clearly taking advantage booming profit of P17.5 billion for of Meralco’s sudden demand for power. 2013, at least a billion higher than their corporate giants (see sidebar).

Other IPPs at the WESM followed suit, 2012 profit of P16.25 billion. “Pero Abuse of power costing Meralco P22 billion in pinili pa rin ng Meralco na ipasa ang Amid the controversy surrounding generation charges. lahat ng ‘lugi’ nila sa consumers—for a Meralco’s recent power hike, Congress Despite this, Meralco and simple reason: to protect their profits,” solons have deduced that Meralco collaborating IPPs were never at the Bayan Muna Congressman Carlos and its partner independent power losing end. The Aboitiz group’s Therma Zarate explains. producers (IPP) simply staged a series Mobile for instance, while failing to As private entities inherently of unfortunate events to hike prices— deliver its contracted 238 MW to place their own goals above anything with the aid of EPIRA. Meralco, sold 90 MW at the jacked else, cases of collusion are nothing In a petition to the Supreme Court up prices at the WESM. Meanwhile, new under the deregulated industry.

(SC), Bayan Muna partylist noted Meralco had EPIRA as a safety net. So To permanently prevent future that when Meralco’s major power while IPPs made a killing through the cases like this then would entail generator, the Malampaya Gas WESM, Meralco in turn simply passed the state’s reclamation—for unlike Field, underwent its scheduled on the bloated prices to the consumers, private companies, it does not have maintenance shutdown from in the form of its P4.15 per kWh hike. an inherent motive to profit, Balangue November to December If this collusion is any indication, proposes.

2013, Meralco’s contracted EPIRA then turns out to be the Affordable electricity after all IPPs suspiciously also sweetest deal the private sector has is a crucial component to national underwent repairs. struck with the government. In the development. Without it, vital social Citing reasons like end, EPIRA’s purported “competition” services and public works like housing “emergency” repairs not just limited the power industry and roads would be near impossible to and a “leaking tube,” to big corporations who can afford to power. But by running the industry IPPs First Generation play, but also converted electricity to itself and creating cheap power, Corp., Kepco Philippines, Team merely a profitable commodity. industrialization would never have to Energy Corp., AES Philippines, cost the people a hefty price.

DMCI Inc., and Therma Changing currents Yet, before such a feat could be With only an SC Temporary achieved, the state must first sever Mobile’s unavailability then gave the impression that Restraining Order keeping consumers its ties with the elite few and the Meralco had to buy power from from the power hike, Meralco has inherent greed for profits. For only by the Wholesale Electricity Spot lashed out against their critics. In rejecting corporate interests, can the Market (WESM), a marketplace for their 230-page consolidated comment government repeal EPIRA, reinstate readily available electricity, to continue to Bayan Muna, Meralco said that state regulation on the power industry, some IPPs may now refuse to sell and truly bring back “power to doing business.

Interestingly, the owners of them electricity should its power hike the people.” ∞ these IPPs also had sister companies be junked.

“Meralco’s constraints to pay bills selling at the WESM. Moreover, when Malampaya underwent repairs, beyond the P5.6673 per kwh price, Illustration: Karl Aquino their prices surged to as much as the will result in rotating blackout[s],” Page design: Ashley Garcia WESM price ceiling P62 per kWh Meralco threatens.

LATHALAIN

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Kevin Mark Gomez MY DECISION TO TAKE A master’s degree at St. Petersburg, Russia raised some brows, not the least among those who lived through the Cold War. Even with the iron curtain’s fall and the Soviet Union’s (SU) collapse in the 1990s, wide suspicion and scorn of the “communist state” continuously thrive in the popular mind, in a country heavily influenced by the United States.

But Russia’s significance in world politics has yet to wither unlike the SU. Persevering through tumultuous years as the Russian Federation born from Soviet ashes, the former superpower’s prime republic is eager to make a comeback, flexing political, economic, and military muscle.

As Russia filled world headlines in recent years, talks of a “resurgent Russia” have gained ground among experts and analysts. To many, still, Russia remains an enigma—a country reeling in the aftermath of an ex-superpower’s failed socialist experiment. Experiencing firsthand what the fallen iron curtain left, it became clearer for me how Russia’s rich past and present continue to shape the global political landscape, the Philippines included.

Remnants Russia’s history follows the grand pattern of conquest and dominance, of scattered principalities united under the expansionist agenda of a monarchic regime. Spanning centuries, tsars and their nobles ruled the country, waging wars, conquering new territories, and indulging in wealth while the masses languished in poverty—a typical narrative for any great empire I’ve studied in class.

A visit to some famous landmarks like the Winter Palace reminded me how these regal structures of palaces, gardens, and churches tangibly expressed the excesses and grandeur of the Tsar’s family.

History took a sharp turn in 1917, when organized workers or soviets, dissatisfied with massive poverty and the rulers’ neglect of the masses’ welfare, seized political power. Since then, the country sketched a new path and marched towards the unchartered road to communism.

With the SU’s founding, shortly followed by a period of economic prosperity, the possibilities and promises of communism are set to be realized. With the Iron Curtain’s descent after the Second World War, the SU gained prominence as it engaged the US and its allies in

7

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2014

an all-fronts showdown for world supremacy.

The SU had its ups and downs, had achieved significant strides and certainly committed mistakes.

Unfortunately for the system it represents, the SU’s collapse gave western capitalist countries an opportunity for propaganda, to dismiss communism as simply undesirable.

Yet what I find amusing however, is how Russia remains to be seen as “socialist” or “communist,” when it has long turned its back against its ideals, even during the SU’s time.

Resurgence Since settling in the city, it was hard to miss a familiar polar bearhare-leopard cartoon gang that adorned supermarkets, shops, and conspicuous public spaces. They remind pedestrians and shoppers of the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics which, experts agree, meant more than a gathering of world athletes united in solidarity— it was also a celebration of Russia’s return to power.

This is no exception. The 2008 Beijing Olympics for instance, often evokes images of a prosperous China, which symbolically showcased i t s

wealth and might before the world.

Hounded by controversies of human rights abuses of migrant workers, disregard for historical ethnic atrocities, and threats of terrorism, the countdown to the Sochi Olympics flickers in city centers. After all, the sports event superficially represents what Russia has in store for the global public.

As part of “BRICS,” a bloc of economic powerhouses composed

by Brazil, India, China and South Africa, Russia’s role in the world economic order has become more sharply pronounced. The BRICS were seen to be sources of growth amidst the lingering effects of the 2008 financial meltdown on major economies.

According to United Nations estimates for 2014, the Russian economy is projected to grow at 2.9 percent—a figure higher than any of the established powers.

At least in St. Petersburg and its surrounding areas, construction and development of high-rise flats and roads are a common sight.

To complement this economic strength, the country also projects its military might in regions of the Middle East and nearby Eurasia, o f t e n

opposing— if not competing with— official US position, as in the case of Iran and Syria. More recently, Russia skirmished with the European Union in a high-profile tug-of-war over trading concessions in Ukraine, whose bitter decision to side with Moscow triggered wide-scale unrest.

Russia is clearly far from resting its case for global influence, especially in ex-Soviet countries, against the West. This time however, Russia competes not as a harbinger of an alternative setup, but a fledging challenger against oldtimers of the free market—the very system it once challenged.

Reviewed Y e somehow, Russia feels like

t

Illustration: Ysa Calinawan Page design: Ashley Garcia

home. Beset by accusations of massive human rights violations, most strikingly state-sanctioned attacks against LGBTQIs, and crackdown against government critics like the detention of Greenpeace activists, some conditions in Russia resemble things back at home.

Returning President Vladimir Putin and his government for instance, is the subject of countless criticisms, ranging from rigged elections to allegations of corruption.

Contradictions also abound.

Post-Soviet income inequality across the country worsened, with 35 percent of its total $1.2 trillion wealth or $420 billion are owned by only 110 of 143 million Russians, according to Forbes and Credit Suisse data. Although nonconclusive in itself, stories of bureaucratic corruption due to low wages are quite common, and vagrants also loiter the streets—and I have heard these rumors in St.Petersburg, one of Russia’s major cities. It’s hard to tell what stories the countryside would offer.

Several analyses of Russian society conclude that majority of Russians still long for the good old days when the SU enjoyed the status of a superpower. Some even point that this sentiment precisely explains the “support” for Putin, who is perceived to have steered the country to order and progress after the troubled years that followed the SU’s dissolution.

To my generation born in the 1990s, the SU seemed an odd villain from a distant narrative only kept alive by academic discussions, war films, or cultural references.

But for many Russians, it talks of an era when they were on top— virtually unchallenged, except by the Americans.

Still, the revolutionary lessons that propelled toiling Russians to take control of their lives were not in vain. For while the country’s ambitious experiments with communism in the past failed, there is no denying that Russia once opened the possibilities of a better alternative, of a system collectively driven by a people determined to chart their own history.

Although Russia has been assimilated by the system it once fought, the peoples’ aspirations for a more humane and just world order remains. Despite the Russian state’s tight control of democratic freedoms, wave of protests intermittently erupt and disrupt the government’s power monopoly. Whether in Russia, or in the Philippines, or elsewhere, such struggles will continue.∞

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KULTURA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2014

also receives the highest press publicity through the government ban of foreign films during this season.

Additionally, Movie and Television Review and Classification Board rates most MMFF films with a “Rated PG,” encouraging a whole family—not just an individual—to “consume” these cultural offerings.

comic treatment to yield profit. Jose Javier Reyes’s Katas ng Saudi in 2007 reduced the harsh issues on Overseas Filipino Workers by employing comical lines. In 2012, instead of exploring ways to further enlighten audience on Philippine history, Mark Meily’s El Presidente only distorted it by succumbing to exaltation of historical figures to a ready audience.

Boxed office cinema A critique on the Metro Manila Film Festival Julian Bato THERE IS AN UNTOLD STORY THAT movies in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) cannot tell. Backed by their Christmas bonuses, families brave the long lines of theater houses in exchange for the assurance of fleeting two-hour happiness.

Somewhere in the urban jungle, media moguls toast with the festival organizers as the numbers shoot up to six-digits. Unaware of this, the audience allows the dark expanse of the cinema to consume them with every frame.

Ganito kami noon, ganito pa rin ngayon?

Amid the turbulence of the Marcos Regime, the most known local film festival emerged. To provide aid to an ailing local film industry that suffered major losses from competing with foreign films year-long, then-First Lady Imelda Marcos initiated the formation of the MMFF—an ostentatious façade to cover up a repressive government through cultural projects.

The MMFF, like any cultural product at that time, National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera says in his essay “Problems in Philippine Film History,” was an apparatus machinated by the Marcos regime to propagate its Bagong Lipunan ideology and strengthen the dictatorship.

Though devised by the Marcos regime for its own purpose, MMFF films experienced a creative spike in its production quality as it coincided with the second Golden Age of Philippine cinema, characterized by avant-garde films and filmmakers’ assertion amid censorship.

Young directors such as Lamberto Avellana, Lino Brocka, and Celso Ad Castillo, who could not directly express their opposition to the dictatorship, portrayed their subversion through metaphors and other filmmaking techniques that are critical of the Marcos regime.

These filmmakers tackled themes of poverty, sexual abuse, religious hysteria, and torture through MMFF films like Ishmael Bernal’s Himala, Brocka’s Insiang, and Ad Castillo’s Burlesk Queen.

After the collapse of the Marcos regime, a frenzy for profit forced film companies like Viva and Regal to produce commercial films patterned after Hollywood films. MMMF encouraged an influx of this kind of films by changing its criteria for selection, putting larger emphasis on commercial viability over artistic execution or social relevance.

Recent developments such as this year’s addition of new awards and sections showed the festival’s ostentatious attempt to revive cultural value to MMFF. The “Gender Sensitive Award,” whose recipient is Wenn Deramas’ Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy, did not reach its full potential of further engaging the discourse on sexuality. The “New Wave” section for independent films received the least amount of publicity from the festival. These attempts served only as cultural embellishments in a commercial institution whose main goal—even from its inception—was political and profit-driven.

Tinanging yaman Though commercial material in films is not a new phenomenon, its dominance in the most known local film festival is at an alarming rate. The amount of space given to advertisements in films such as Marlon Rivera’s My Little Bossings emphasizes, without any pretense, the profit-driven motives that penetrate cultural works.

Film, adds Lumbera, is not only a cultural product but also a consumer item and an end product of the producer’s interests. Upon watching a film, the audience is not just spectator, but also an active consumer of the blatant display of product placements. Media and capital work hand-in-hand; businessmen benefit from a showcase oftheir products to a great audience as their media partners amass great revenue from these advertisements.

Being launched every Christmas season when the culture of excess and consumerism is at its peak, the MMFF possesses the biggest audience market among other local film festivals. It

Pinanday A large percentage of MMFF audience comes from the middle and lower class who have been in a despondent state all year-long, and are not so inclined to purchase tickets for films that make them see the harsh realities they encounter everyday, Professor Glecy Atienza of the UP Diliman Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature explained. This rationale gravitates MMFF filmmakers towards creating formulaic films: shallow take on themes, predictable plot, and popular actors, among others.

In Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy, the possible discourse on gender emancipation only lead to gay sexism and gender commodification. The preference for marketable genres such as the horror film clearly manifests itself, even with the noticeable absence this year of the commerciallysuccessful horror movie series Shake, Rattle & Roll—though replaced with another film of the same genre, Frasco Mortiz’s Pagpag.

Other elements the popular audience may deem palatable are evident in the MMFF entries such as the revival of the action genre in Joyce Bernal’s 10,000 Hours, gangsterism in Chito S. Roño’s Golden Boy, and the Roman Catholic religious propaganda of Francis Villacorta’s Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir.

The culture industry takes advantage of the lower economic classes by making cultural materials’ contents superficial but widely appealing, thus demoting the value of culture, says cultural theorist Theodor Adorno in The Culture Industry.

Filmmakers aiming entrance to MMFF utilize the stories, concocted or co-opted, of farmers, prostitutes, and even of members of the New People’s Army to create a mask of a relevant cinema but clearly fail in pushing the issues on the frontier.

Instead, they end up presenting these issues in romance plots or a

Illust ratio n: P atric ia R am os

Diligin mo ng dugo ang uhaw na lupa Recycled themes resurrected by the same directors, producers and actors from previous festivals make MMFF a big recycling center of mediocrity and commercialism.

In allowing excess commercial intervention in the governmentsponsored MMFF—which has a great potential for mass education through the art of filmmaking— the government actively allows the bastardization of the art in exchange for profit gained through ticket taxes.

The masses deserve a cinema that empowers, says Dean Roland Tolentino of the UP Diliman College of Mass Communication in an interview.

For a semblance of a cultural revolution to happen, nationalist filmmakers should create a collective effort in putting to the silver screen important socio-political issues that stall the masses’ social advancement.

By doing this, the masses take one step further towards liberation.

In addition, an educational reform is necessary, that which includes film education on awareness of how movies have been used to manipulate the minds that play on the masses’ need for escapism and idealism, Lumbera adds.

In producing a better film industry, devoid of the oppressive political and economic interests of the few, there is a need for a fresh roll of film that hopefully record the faithful storyline of the masses and the vision of genuine social emancipation. ∞

References: Adorno, T. (1991). The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture. London: Routledge Lumbera, B. (1989). Pelikula: an essay on Philippine Film. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Lumbera, B. (1997). Revaluation 1997. Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House.

Tolentino, R. (2000). Geopolitics of the Visible.

Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Tolentino, R. (2004). Paghahanap ng Virtual na Identidad. Manila: Anvil.

Pag eD esi gn

:K el Alm az an

KULTURA

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Mary Joy Capistrano HINIHIKAYAT ANG MGA KRISTIYANO na lumapit sa Nazareno sa paniniwalang bibigyang katuparan ng diumano'y naghihimalang imahen ang kanilang kahilingan -- lunas sa karamdaman, pag-ahon sa kahirapan, pag-ibig, anak, kapatawaran sa mga kasalanan, at marami pang iba. Kaya naman kung sa iba'y sapat na ang masilayan ang imahen, marami pa rin ang buwis-buhay na nakikipaggitgitan para makalapit sa imahen, laluna kung Pista ng Nazareno.

Isa si Cristina sa mga deboto, isang saleslady sa tindahan ng mga cellphone sa Quiapo. Bitbit ang maliit na replica ng Nazareno, sumisigaw siya ng “Viva Señor” at tinatanaw ang imahen habang iwinawagayway ang isang maliit na tuwalya— tila sumasabay sa umaalong agos ng prusisyon. Ikalawang taon pa lamang ni Cristina at ng kanyang asawa sa pagiging deboto. Hindi na siya nakikipagsapalarang pang lumapit sa Itim na Nazareno dahil sa komplikasyon sa kanyang kalusugan.

"Hinahayaan ko na lang [ang asawa ko] na lumapit sa Nazareno.

Maiintindihan naman ako ng Poong Nazareno at bibigyang katuparan ang pangarap naming mag-asawa na magkaroon ng anak," ani Cristina.

Samantala sa edad naman na 42 dalaga pa rin si Aling Tina na inialay na umano ang kanyang sarili sa Diyos tulad nang pag-aalay ni Hesukristo ng kanyang buhay upang tubusin ang kasalanan ng mga tao.

“Isang malaking karangalan para sa akin ang makarating dito taon-taon dahil malaki ang pasasalamat ko sa Poong Nazareno lalo na’t ligtas ang mga kapatid ko sa Tacloban,” ani Aling Tina, isang dekada nang deboto ng Itim na Nazareno.

Traslacion

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MARTES, ENERO 21, 2013

Tuwing ika-siyam ng Enero ipinagdiriwang ang Pista ng Nazareno.

Taon-taon itong dinudumog ng mga debotong tulad nina Aling Tina at Cristina. Mula Quirino Grandstand hanggang Quiapo, inililipat ang rebulto sa pamamagitan ng isang prusisyong tinatawag na traslacion.

Pinaniniwalaang nagmula ang imahen ng Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno sa isang nasunog na barko galing sa Mexico noong 1606. Ayon sa mga kuwento, himala itong nakaligtas subalit nagbago ang kulay nito kaya’t mula noo’y binansagang "Itim na Nazareno."

Simbolo ang Nazareno ng pagpapakasakit ni Hesukristo sa krus at ginugunita ito sa pamamagitan ng mga ritwal na isinasagawa ng mga debotong tulad ni Cristina— pagyayapak habang nagpuprisisyon at paghalik o pagpunas sa Nazareno at sa pasan nitong Krus.

Pamana ng kolonyalismong Kastila ang mga tradisyong gaya nito.

Bago dumating ang mga mananakop na Espanyol sa Pilipinas, laganap ang pagsamba ng mga Pilipino sa mga anito, sa mga ispiritung naninirahan sa kalikasan. Politeistiko rin ang mga sinaunang relihiyon sa bansa -- ang paniniwala sa marami at iba't ibang uri ng diyos at diyosa.

Taliwas ang politeismong ito sa monoteistikong Romano Katolisismo na kinakasangkapan ng mga Kastila sa pananakop. Upang mabaka ito, ipinangtapat ng mga kolonisador sa samu't saring diyos at diyosa ang

kanilang Triumvirate (tatlong persona sa iisang Diyos), ang napakaraming mga santo, at ang iba't ibang imahen ng Birheng Maria at ni Hesukristo. Sa sanaysay ng kritikong si Resil Mojares na "Stalking the Virgin," ipinakita niya kung paanong nilinlang ng mga fraile ang mga indio upang magpasaklaw sa Katolisismo at kolonyalismo.

Diumano'y milagrosong sumulpot ang mga relihiyosong imahen tulad ng kay Birheng Maria sa mga lugarpanambahan ng mga indio, ngunit sa aktwal ay inilagak ng mga Kastila ang mga imaheng ito. Ang mga santo'y nagmistulang mga anitong milagroso.

At gaya ng ibang relihiyosong imahen, ang itim na Nazareno ay nagmistulang mapaghimalang Kristo sa anyo ng isang rebulto.

Reduccion

Ang ganitong kultura ng kolonyal na manipulasyon ay bahagi ng geopolitikal na sistemang tinaguriang reduccion o sistemang pueblo. Ayon kay Robert Reed sa Colonial Manila, nagpatupad ang mga Kastila ng sistemang reduccion na nagtatakda sa mga simbahan bilang sentro ng kolonyal na urbanisasyon. Ang lahat ay hinimok na dumugin ang mga cabeceras at manirahan sa kung saan dinig ang tunog ng kampana.

Kung gayon, ang debosyon sa Nazareno at ang paglalakbay tungo sa sentro ng reduccion -- ang simbahan -- ay bunga ng kolonyal na manipulasyon sa pag-iisip at pagkilos ng mga Pilipino. Mula sa traslacion at prusisyon hanggang sa mga nobena at pamamanata, ang reduccion ay hindi

lamang natali sa heograpiya at espasyo ng lugar kundi sumaklaw rin sa katawan at kamalayan ng mga Pilipino.

May tatlong siglo ang ganitong sistema upang maisakatuparan ang plano ng mga Kastila para sa mga Pilipino—pasunurin sa utos ng Kristiyanismo, ipatanggap ang kolonyal at pyudal na sistema ng pulitika at ekonomiya, at baguhin ang katutubong kultura ayon sa pamumuhay ng mga dayuhang mananakop.

Batay sa reduccion sa katawan at kamalayan ng mga Pilipino, nagsisilbing inspirasyon para sa mga Kristiyanong Pilipino ang ginawang sakripisyo ng Nazareno. Kung kaya naman handa nila itong suklian sa paniniwalang maliligtas sila o bibigyang katuparan ang kanilang mga kahilingan.

Sa dami ng suliraning kinakaharap ng mga Pilipino hindi maiiwasan ang pagkapit nila sa diumano'y mga naghihimalang imahe.

Debosyon

Nagpapatuloy sa kasalukuyan ang pangunahing gamit ng Nazareno -- instrumento ng mga nasa poder ng pampolitika, pang-ekonomiya at pangkulturang kapangyarihan.

Batay sa paliwanag ni Karl Marx, ginagamit ng mga naghaharing uri ang relihiyon upang itatag, panatilihin at patatagin ang sistemang pangekonomiyang pabor sa naghaharing iilan. Isinama ni Louis Althusser ang relihiyon sa tinatawag na Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) o kasangkapan ng naghaharing estado at uri upang kontrolin ang kamalayan ng mamamayan. Kasama ang iba pang superistruktura tulad ng mga institusyon ng reaksyonaryong paaralan at midya, kinakasangkapan ang relihiyon para sa pampolitika, pang-ekonomiya at pangkulturang

kontrol ng lokal at dayuhang naghaharing uri.

Halimbawa, ang Pista ng Nazareno ay hindi lamang isang relihiyosong okasyon. Ito'y tiyak na pagkakataon para sa kita, ganansiya at politikal na panlilinlang. Pangekonomiyang kita at ganansiya ito para sa mga estabisimiyento, laluna para sa malalaking negosyante at mamumuhunan, sa Quiapo.

Panlilinlang naman ito para sa mga tulad ni Pangulong Benigno S. Aquino III na kumasangkapan sa Nazareno at sa Diyos upang pagtakpan ang kaniyang mga kakulangan, kabilang na ang kawalan ng kahandaan at kawalan ng hustisya para sa mga biktima ng mga sakunang tulad ng Yolanda.

“Our unbreakable spirit and ability to recover find root in our firm belief in a benevolent God who has the perfect plan for all of us. These tragedies tell us that, despite all our efforts, we are indeed powerless without God,” pahayag ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino III. Tulad ng isang pangkaraniwang araw sa Quiapo ang Pista ng Nazareno -- naidagdag lamang ang midya, pulitiko, manininda at mga pulis.

Sa Pista ng Nazareno, hindi lamang ang naghihinamalang imahe ang ipinagdiriwang maging ang jackpot na araw ng mga negosyante at naghaharing politiko.

Sa abalang siyudad ng Quiapo, laluna sa Pista ng Nazareno, mahihinuha na hindi naman ang Diyos ang nagbuklod sa mga mamamayan kundi ang kahirapang nararanasan ng kalakhan ng mamamayang Pilipino.

Sa halip na lumayo sa ugat ng problema, dapat tingnan ang Pista ng Nazareno na salamin ng lumalalang kalagayan ng lipunan at ang pagbuwag sa ganitong uri ng sistema ang naiwang solusyon para sa mga Pilipino.

∞

Panata’t Paglaya Kasaysayan at Pulitiko ng Himala ng Nazareno

Litrato : Inah Anunciacion Disenyo ng pahina : Jerome Tagaro

10

OPINYON

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Para kanino ka bumabagon Gloiza Plamenco

“TANGING KAMATAYAN LANG ang makapagtutuldok sa kahirapan at pagdurusa na dinaranas ng bawat nilalang.”

Ang morbid, ‘no? Masayahin ako bilang tao, pero nanlumo ako nang binanggit ito ng guro ko sa Philo. Sa isang sulok ng utak ko, napagtanto kong baka nga ganap lang tayong lalaya kapag hindi na natin nararanasan ang ano mang uri ng pasakit — mula sa ilang taong paghihirap sa pag-aaral, hanggang sa pagsabak natin sa mas mabibigat na suliranin.

Kaya siguro may mga taong hindi na kinakaya ang marahas at mapangapi na lipunan, at pinipili na lang na wakasan ang lahat. Sa telebisyon, uso ang ganitong anggulo ng mga balita at dokumentaryo. Wala nang bago sa ganitong eksena.

Hindi ko naman sinasabi na maniwala kayo sa akin o sa aking guro. Oo, tunog existential. Marahil ay may iba kang pagtanaw sa kung ano man ang tunay na layunin natin sa mundong ito. Baka tanungin mo pa nga kung ba’t pa tayo nabuhay kung iisa lang din naman ang ending ng bawat kwento. Baka

Likas sa ating pagkatao ang mabuhay at umulad, sa kabila ng tiyak na kamatayan

sabihin mo ring matatalo naman din tayo kalaunan, na para saan pa ang patuloy nating pagsabay sa agos ng buhay.

Patawad, wala rin akong sagot diyan. Pero kung ano man talaga ang pakay natin (baka maging ipis rin tayong lahat sa bandang huli), ang ganitong uri ng pagtanaw ay maaaring tignan bilang isang pagkakataon na bumalikwas sa nakasanayan, at mapagwagian ang lahat ng pagdurusa.

Likas sa ating pagkatao ang mabuhay at umunlad, sa kabila ng tiyak na kamatayan. Kung pagbabasehan ang teorya ni Darwin ukol sa ebolusyon ng tao, nakaalpas tayo mula sa paglalakad gamit ang mga kamay at paa, hanggang sa pag-imbento ng washing machine, computer at internet pagkalipas ng bilyon-bilyong taon. Malaon nang napatunayan na likas ang kahit ano mang uri ng radikal na pagbabago — para sa ikadadali ng buhay ng tao.

Sa pagitan ng buhay at kamatayan, patuloy nating sinasalba ang ating mga sarili sa mga bagay na kikitil sa tanging pag-asa at ambisyon na pinanghahawakan

natin. Gayunman, maganda sigurong itanong sa sarili ngayon kung saan natin handang ilaan ang ating buhay (at husay sa kung ano mang larangan). Sabi nga ni Gandalf, kailangan lang nating pagdesisyunan kung saan natin gugugulin ang oras at panahon na mayroon tayo. At sa kasalukuyan, mahalaga na tuwid at malinaw ang pasyang ito.

Malupit ang kalagayan ng ating bansa ngayon, kung kailan nilulunod tayo ng iba’t ibang uri ng pagdurusa — kaliwa’t kanang pagtataas ng presyo ng mga batayang serbisyo, milyon-milyong Pilipinong lugmok sa kahirapan at talamak na korapsyon sa pamahalaan — mas akma kung ilalaan natin ang ating panahon sa mga bagay na magtitiyak ng ating tagumpay, na magkaroon ng isang malaya at pantay-pantay na lipunan, hindi man ngayon, kundi sa nalalapit na hinaharap.

Sa totoo lang, masarap naman talagang mabuhay. ∞

The persistence of being earnest Victor Gregor Limon

SOMETIMES I SWEAR IT IS EASY to just give up whenever the universe is sending me signals that it doesn’t care about what I’m trying my best to accomplish—machines breaking down halfway towards a deadline, people in public places moving at a glacial pace, the omnipresence of cigarettes despite a rather stern warning from a doctor and a desperate new year’s resolution.

Why do we insist so thoroughly on persevering despite the odds?

Why do we even give a rat’s ass?

According to very wise biologists, there is such a thing called “biological imperatives,” a neat term that refers to the needs of living organisms to perpetuate their existence and defend themselves from harm and death. Survival and the desire for a better quality of life are two of these biological imperatives.

It is an enlightening fact, really— considering even bacteria and other lower life forms practice this sort of behaviour. Take street cats for example. Theirs is a cruel world and they go through a lot of undeserved brutality—an unhealthy diet of sewer mice, madmen throwing them into the air by the tail for no logical reason other than a sadist source

Survival and the desire for a better quality of life are two of these biological imperatives

of entertainment, the ever-present danger of being rounded-up and slaughtered for siopao.

Yet we don’t see them dwindling in numbers and we definitely do not hear them whining about feline troubles—they just sharpen their claws and prepare for the next encounter with a bored kid.

Scientists say we humans are no exception. Hard-wired for survival and drawing from an evolutionary experience of about 200,000 years, we try our best to raise the middle finger to the universe whenever faced with obstacles. And by “raise the middle finger,” they meant that it is natural for us to transcend the limits of our persistence—especially those artificial rules imposed by a social order perpetuated by so-called leaders of the pack.

There is a vast amount of empirical evidence to support this claim. Though we also go through a lot of terrible things that street cats would probably never consider trading places with us, there are many members of our own species who uphold not just the imperative of survival but also the biological need to improve life by working collectively.

They are farmers at Hacienda Luisita. They are union labourers.

They are student activists. They are those who have taken up arms, because history tells us change is possible and necessary amidst crisis.

This high level of evolutionary adaptation is inspiring — so inspiring, in fact, that it makes me sick of myself whenever I am tempted to complain about my own often petty, bourgeois concerns.

For once, I guess it is true that —#YOLO—“you only live once.” For why not fight until the last breath?

I think Darwin himself would have been proud. I have always thought the guy was awesome. ∞

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2014

OPINYON

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

11

MARTES, ENERO 21, 2013

TEXTBACK

EKSENANG PEYUPS

NEWSCAN

Ze Stalker Edishun!

HALLOOOO, THERE! SO NEAR NA the Valenties Day, opkoprz heto na naman ang malamig na hangin para ipangalandakan further ang singular noun n gating relationship status in need of heat. Malamang hunting season na to the hightest level ang peg ng sangkaUPian. Mind yer fezzbok pages na, linis-linis din ng bump-able material ‘pag may time, baka ibang imprezzzion ang masighting ni Bet. You know na, imagimage din.

Sighting # 1: Ze Pa-Oscar Nominee Pegger Such peg. Sinetch iteng former Miss Univerz of College of mga Soyal at Pilisopo who makes sabay sa Oscar Zeazon sa pagcompose ng dramatic speech on ALL her statuseseseses? After surviving daw a month at work, so much drama at thank you acceptance speech na ang peg sa fezzzbook. Inisa-isa pa mga families, friends, Romans, countrymen, testing the limits of the status word count! Pangalandakan mo pa mga biyaya mo sa layf, teh. So much thanks ah, so celebrity. Much wow. You know the meaning of PM, gurrrl? Such knowledge.

Sighting # 2: Ze Image-Maker So much pa-image naman itong si Ateng from Kolehiyo ng mga Pangladlad na Komunikayson with her God-God status every now and then. Supah ineffective na ang style The. And unconvincing. Try another pa-perfume to your image, gurrrrl.

Papahingahin mo muna si God, ples.

We know naman who you are, ate gurl.

Sighting # 3: Ze Celebrity Status Silence is louder than words, sabi ng mga utaws, yet this koya—so hot pa naman—from College of Eng’g loves silence so, so much! He keeps posting vague pa-celebrity status “It’s really hard,” “So much pain,” “I can’t take it,” that accumulates so much comments and likes, but keeps iniignore mga paparazzi-friends!

OMG, Kuya, why u so Feeler? Isa ka sa mga daily problems ng Pilipinas, Teh? Zew, if you want to manhunt/ womanhunt for zis upcoming dreaded season of hearts, wag chumoba sa Fezzbook. So kalurkeyy mga people, just go and make landiii to all nations! Hanggang sa susunod, mga beks! Mwah!

Search for the Next UP Diliman Chancellor Seven names have made it to the list of nominees for the next chancellor of UP Diliman. Who among them should head the university in the next three years? Get to know them as they present their vision papers at the NISMED Auditorium on January 23. i. Faculty: 9:00 AM – 12:00 NN ii. Administrative Staff and REPS: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM iii. Students and Alumni: 3:00 PM5:00 PM

Ano ang masasabi mo sa naging tugon ni Aquino sa pagresolba sa problemang dulot ni Yolanda, lalo na sa Tacloban?

Nagresolba man lang ba siya ng kahit ano? Sabihin na nating meron pero importante ang bilis.

Napakatagal ng response time niya.

2013 - *0*7* From what we endured in Tacloban after the typhoon struck, I NEVER SAW THE PRESIDENT MAKE SIGNIFICANT RESOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE TYPHOON. Once again, the president at his finest.

Of course, it took him forever to get over his hesitance to help Tacloban because the mayor is a political rival.

Pure immaturity if you ask me. Then add Mar Roxas into the mix and I can tell you, the Phils. is very much f*cked. *Sigh* 2013-35153 AlexUPTac Ano ang resolutions mo para sa panibagong semestre?

Wala pa kong resolution para sa panibagong semestre kasi 2nd sem pa din kaya huhuhu :p pero magsisipag na talaga ako kahit nagamit ko na tong line na to n times. KAYA YAAAAN! 201****29 arkiboy Bs arch Resolution ko ay magka-girlfriend this year :D 2011-12079 Comments/Pabati bkt ndami pong articles abt US colonialism in phils nd asia? Y nt talk abt agresivenes of china vs spratly claimants lyk phils? Lets b fair ds aspect, kule. Thanks. Jojit, updepp.

2013-****6

shoutout ito sa crush kong 'di pa inaaccept friend request ko! 2014 na po! lol jk. suggest ko lang, publish naman kayo ng LGBT-related article.

Yehey tengkyu :* 2013-***2* Hi Ana! Happy Birthday!!! :) 2008-17381 Ibang klase at nagsuggest pa ng Super Bracket A o Bracket A+ yung Albarracin na yun "to generate funds for subsidizing lower bracket students!" Di ko rin maintindihan yung ibig sabihin ng pagjunk ng proposal ni SR Melgarejo re: tuition rollback, sabi pa student body ang dapat mag-initiate ng proposal.

Hindi bat ang SR nga ang rep ng mga estudyante sa BOR? O mali lang intindi ko? Tunay ngang galit sila sa estudyante at mahirap! -200929283 Engg Ang galing ng Kule. Sayang na ngayong bakasyon ko lang uli nabasa nang buo. Parang nakikisalamuha sa iba't ibang uri ng tao sa 'kultura'. Sya nga pala, sana ma-update na ang website nyo ng bagong articles.

Starting January 21-30, drop by the UP POLSCi tambayan (beside the Third World Studies Center) to experience Cocacola happiness in exchange of children's book donations!

Books collected will be used in the mobile school project of UP POLSCi in partnership with Coca Cola.

Donate books now!

Lead. Serve. Excel. Breathe Politics.

IMPRESS. January 22, 2014 2:30-4:00PM PH 207 Be confident in your ability to stand out in the crowd. Join us on the first installment of Transform You Norm with Prof. Jonathan Malicsi, Ph. D and Prof.

Aurora Corpuz-Mendoza, Ph. D as they help you work on feeling good in order to look good.

The UP Psychology Society, on its 61st anniversary, presents Instinct! A quiz bee to test your knowledge on PSYCHOLOGY and on SURVIVAL! Do you know what it takes to survive?

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

Email us at pkule1314gmail.com.

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

Form a team of 5 and register here: http://tinyurl.com/ psychsocadhocINSTINCT Registration fee is PHP 50.00 per member.

January 24, 2014; 4-7pm at Palma Hall Rm. 207 For inquiries, contact: Mayumi (09178216324), Vea (09178302771) or Nico (09162426839)

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS?

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

Help kids develop the habit of reading!

2. Ano ang mid-semester comfort food mo?

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

0935 541 0512 0908 180 1076

Non-UP students must indicate any school, organization or sectoral affliation.

THIS YEAR'S UNIVERSITY FRESHMAN COUNCIL is proud to present to you the FIRST UNIVERSITYWIDE 3-day SPORTSFEST exclusively for freshies!

13e active and 13e part of history! Signup now!

KEEP POSTED FOR MORE DETAILS! LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: facebook/ UPDUFC FOLLOW US ON TWITTER: @UPDUFC The UP Junior Marketing Association is turning 56, and we're inviting you to join us in our biggest birthday celebration yet! Be part of The Takeover! February 1-8, 2014 Twitter: http://twitter.com/upjmaweek Facebook: http://facebook.com/ upjmaweek Instagram: http://instagram.com/ upjmaweek

NOWHERE MAN

Alan P. Tuazon Time and convenience TO BEGIN WITH, THE problem is that there is always not enough time.

I am not usually prepared for class, yet this specific report on the Japanese notion of mono no aware, had me researching.

At the middle of my report, a classmate has started shoving his school things to his rucksack—a signal that I should stop—just as the way we all do as professors extend beyond their time slots.

All others have started doing the same. The things you do when seen in others tend to look more hostile.

As deadlines start to bombard us again, time consumes us into blissful ashes like fire from a cigarette. We are full of the short happiness if being alive.

The fleeting is seen as more beautiful, so we try capturing the precious minutes of the rare ringed moon last week.

I remember a heartbreaking scene for me in Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso when the cinema’s projectionist Alfredo told the protagonist Toto to discover the world and enjoy the time of his youth without glancing back to his homeland.

“Life is not what you see in films. Life is much harder. Go away! You are young. The world is your oyster,” the fatherly projectionist has advised a young Toto.

Time’s ephemeral nature makes us choose the convenient that would serve us. We have a lot of convenience stores and instant things to attest to that.

We have a 24-hour fast-food delivery, seven days of the week.

We tend to fall in love with strangers because we know we will never encounter them in the distant future—just a passing beauty, a passing happiness in a world where happiness is calculated in gin bottles and packets of cigarettes.

There is an art in finding time, but we must not wait to master it before realizing that our time must not be dedicated solely to self-gratification. ∞

Kel Almazan