KULĂŠ
Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman Huwebes 28 Enero 2016 Tomo 93 Blg 9
AMID MILLIONS OF UNPAID RENT BY TECHNOHUB, TOWN CENTER,
UP income from student fees hitS 10-year high While real estate giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is allowed to take its time in paying rent for its use of UP lands for commercial profit, the UP administration's income from tuition and other fees reached a 10-year high in 2014, according to data from the Commission on Audit (COA).
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PAGTUGON SA MANDATO TAON-TAON BINABALIKAN natin ang masalimuot na karanasang sinapit ng mga Pilipino. Ipinagsisindi natin ng kandila at walang pagod na nananawagan ang mga kababayan nating biktima ng marahas na estado. Ngayong Enero, dalawang pangyayari ang ipinapanawagan natin na mabigyang hustisya: ang pagkamatay ng 13 magsasaka sa Mendiola Massacre at ng 68 na namatay kasama ang 44 miyembro ng Special Action Force (SAF) sa Mamasapano, Maguindanao. Iisa ang panawagan ng mga kapamilya ng biktima--- panagutin ang mga taong responsable sa insidente. Mahigit-kumulang tatlong dekada na ang lumipas ngunit hindi pa rin natutugunan ang panawagan ng mga magsasaka na tunay na repormang agraryo. Siyam sa bawat 10 magsasaka ang wala pa ring sariling lupang sinasaka. Sa ilalim ng administrasyong Aquino, may 160 magsasaka ang biktima ng extrajudicial killing. Sa halip na agarang aksyon, iginigiit ng administrasyong Aquino na wala silang kasalanan sa nasabing insidente dahil matagal na umano itong nangyari. Nananatili ang monopolyo sa lupa ng ilang makapangyarihang pamilya, pangunahin na ang Cojuangco-Aquino, dahil sa mga huwad na reporma. Muling binuksan ng Senado ang pagdinig sa kaso ng Mamasapano sa unang taon ng anibersaryo nito. Sa katunayan, hindi na kailangan ng muling pag-aaral para lamang patunayan na sangkot ang pangulo sa nasabing operasyon. Bilang commander-in-chief ng Hukbong Sandatahan ng Pilipinas, kailangan ng basbas ng pangulo
P L AY B A C K What are the consequences of having a stronger US Military presence in the PH?
Tila ginagamit ng pamahalaan ang mga pangyayari upang madaliin ang mga bagong kasunduan at palisiya na hindi mamamayang Pilipino ang makikinabang.
para sa anumang operasyon. Hindi rin tinitingnan na anggulo ang pagkakasangkot ng Amerikanong sundalo sa kaso, sa kabila ng katotohanan na US ang nagsagawa ng pagsasanay sa operasyon sa Mamasapano para sa isang itinuturing na terorista. Tila hindi rin sapat na dahilan ang bangkay ng Amerikanong sundalo na natagpuan sa pangyayari. Kundi man pag-iwas, tila kinakalimutan ng pamahalaan ang pangangailangan ng kagyat na tugon sa isyu kahit seguridad ng bawat Pilipino ang nakasalalay dito. Tila ginagamit ng pamahalaan ang mga pangyayari upang madaliin ang mga bagong kasunduan at palisiya na hindi mamamayang Pilipino ang makikinabang. Isang halimbawa ang pagmamadali sa pagpasa ng Bangsamoro Basic Law na hindi kailanman masasagot ang panawagan ng mga kapatid nating Muslim, sa halip lehitimo nitong ipinapasailalim sa kapangyarihan ng administrasyon ang mga yaman at armas na matagal nilang ipinaglaban.
Pinatatampok din ang isyu ng seguridad ng bansa dahil sa usapin ng terorismo at isyu ng agawan ng teritoryo sa kamay ng mga dayuhan. Ang tugon ng administrasyon, gawing konstitusyunal ang Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Ngunit tuluyan lamang ipinagkakanulo ng pamahalaan ang soberanya ng mga Pilipino sa mga dayuhan. Iisa lang ang panawagan ng mga pamilya ng biktima, panagutin ang mga taong may responsibilidad at wakasan ang kultura ng pandarahas sa iba’t ibang sektor sa lipunan. Sa paggunita ng madilim na sinapit ng mamamayang Pilipino, hinahamon ang mga kandidatong tatakbo na tumaliwas sa nakasanayang gawi ng pamahalaan. Tugunan ang panawagang repormang agraryo at bigyang hustisya ang mga biktima ng paglabag sa karapatang-pantao. Sapagkat ang muling pagtahak sa parehong landas ay walang ipinagkaiba sa ganid at sakim na administrasyong Aquino. ď š
[I}t ties our hands because it gives us a false sense of security that if we have a stronger military alliance with the US, it will resolve the West Philippine Sea dispute. ...Political and diplomatic response is the proper solution, not the strengthening of the military. However I also agree that we should try to strengthen our basic defensive military capability, not offensive. Temario C. Rivera, PhD
Professional Lecturer, Department of Political Science UP Diliman
The danger that the Philippines will once again become principally reliant on the United States in defending its interests in the region has historical roots -- and so too is the consequence that we may find ourselves increasingly entangled in US geopolitical maneuvers. Herman S. Kraft
International Studies Professor Department of Political Science UP Diliman
UKOL SA PABALAT
Dibuho ni Ysa Calinawan
PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 2015-2016
Punong Patnugot Mary Joy Capistrano Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon Tagapamahalang Patnugot Jiru Rada Patnugot sa Balita Arra Francia Patnugot sa Grapiks Guia Abogado / Emmanuel Jerom Tagaro Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya Karen Ann Macalalad Kawani Chester Higuit / Patricia Ramos Pinansiya Amelyn Daga Sirkulasyon Gary Gabales / Amelito Jaena / Glenario Ommamalin Mga Katuwang na Kawani Trinidad Gabales / Gina Villas Kasapi UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad) / College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon Telefax 981-8500 lokal 4522 Online kule1516@gmail.com / www.philippinecollegian.org / fb.com/philippinecollegian / twitter.com/phkule / instagram.com/phkule
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Amid millions of unpaid rent by Technohub, Town Center,
UP income from student fees hits 10-year high ARRA B. FRANCIA WHILE REAL ESTATE GIANT Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) is allowed to take its time in paying rent for its use of UP lands for commercial profit, the UP administration's income from tuition and other fees reached a 10year high in 2014, according to data from the Commission on Audit (COA). From a total of P333 million in 2004, the amount of fees sourced from students' pockets has reached P502 million a decade hence. Tuition fees make up majority of the amount at P473 million, while the remaining amount is from other school fees (OSFs) such as library and athletic fees at P28 million (see sidebar). The rise in student fee collection comes amid the administration’s failure to obligate ALI of more than P205 million worth of rental income, as stated in COA’s annual audit report released within the third week of January. “This shows the lack of control and authority of our administration to manage our land, to uphold our contracts with private entities ... [and that] students are the better-paying customers compared to Ayala,” said Student Regent Miguel Enrico Pangalangan. The COA is an independent constitutional body tasked to examine and audit the financial conditions of all government agencies, including state universities and colleges, through annual audit reports. Uncollected and stale income ALI currently manages and operates the UP Ayala Land Technohub (Technohub) and the UP-Ayala Town Center (UPTC) on land owned by the university. Both establishments are under billion-peso land lease contracts that span at least 25 years. Rental income for Technohub accounts for P76 million of the unpaid fees. Established in 2006, early negotiations for the Technohub described it as a science and technology park aimed to improve research and development in UP. Instead of housing research facilities, however, the 20hectare area became a hub dominated by business process outsourcing companies upon completion. ALI also failed to comply with the necessary payment from January 2013 to November 2014, prompting a 24 percent per annum interest on rent amounting to P3.06 million, based on findings by the COA.
Research by Arra Francia Infographs by Ysa Calinawan Moreover, the auditing body noted a P212.65 million amount of collections from Technohub that was kept inside a Time Deposit Account instead of being used for UP projects. This “depriv[ed] the UP’s stakeholders of the benefits that could be derived from projects to be funded therefrom,” according to the COA report. Similar cases were recorded in UPTC, with P129 million of unpaid obligations augmented by P4.2 million in interest due to delayed payments from October 2013 to July 2014. The establishment also had an undeclared income tax of P24.32 million and a similar Time Deposit Account with P212 million in unspent funds.
Construction of the UPTC came at the expense of the old UP Integrated School (UPIS) building, which was then demolished and transferred to the lot vacated by the burned-down Narra Residence Hall. But within months of using the new UPIS building, students have already expressed complaints on its weak structure and incomplete facilities. In the recommendations sent to COA, the UP administration stated that they will finalize the billing process with ALI and make sure that a system of payment reports will be scheduled. “In the first place, hindi na dapat binebenta yung mga lupa for the sake of business. Dapat dinedevelop ang assets sa mismong
academe,” said Anakbayan UPD Chairperson Orly Putong. Decreasing state subsidy For the past years, the government has granted only half of the proposed UP budget. In 2016, UP was allocated P11.6 billion against the P24.7 billion proposal of the Board of Regents, the university’s highest policy-making body. In his 2011 budget message, President Benigno Aquino III praised universities for their capacity to generate income for themselves, stating that it was his administration’s goal to make them self-sufficient. In his vision for the university presented in 2011, UP President
Alfredo Pascual said that his administration will “pursue the development of [land] assets in partnership with the private sector to generate extra revenues for UP ... We shall observe proper safeguards to maximize the financial gains of UP from its assets.” With the constant decrease in the UP budget, the university has been forced to resort to IGPs such as Technohub and UPTC in order to make ends meet. “Mauugat natin ito sa mismong trust ng government na bawasan ang subsidy ng UP at itulak talaga ang privatization niya and self-generation of income,” said Putong.
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Ilang guwardiya sa UP, umalma sa kulang na benepisyo JONA CLAIRE TURALDE MATAPOS ANG ISANG BUWAN, HINDI pa rin natatanggap ng ilang guwardiya sa UP Diliman (UPD) ang kalahati ng kanilang 13th month pay at ilan pang benepisyo para sa nakaraang taon. Ayon sa mga guwardiyang nakapanayam ng Collegian, ika-25 ng Disyembre nang ibigay sa kanila ng ahensyang NorthComm ang kalahati ng 13th month pay nila na aabot ng P5,500 ngunit hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin binibigay sa kanila ang kabuuang bayad na P11,500. Hindi rin umano naibigay ang kanilang clothing allowance na nagkakahalagang isang libong piso para sa nakaraang taon. Batay sa Labor Code, katumbas ng isang buwang sahod ang dapat na matanggap ng mga guwardiya para sa kanilang 13th month pay na ibibigay tuwing Disyembre. Isa si Jose, 38, sa 175 na guwardiya na nasa ilalim ng pamunuan ng NorthComm. Sa 15 taong panunungkulan niya bilang guwardiya sa UP, hindi na raw bago ang pagkaantala sa pagbigay ng mga benepisyo ng mga ahensyang humahawak sa kanila. Para kay Jose, isang malaking abala ang kulang at huling pagbibigay ng 13th month pay dahil ito sana ang kanilang gagastusin noong Pasko. Kinailangan pa nilang umutang para lamang magka-Noche Buena ang kaniyang pamilya. “Medyo na-delay ang kalahati ng 13th month pay, pero mukhang within this month ay makukuha na nila dahil inaayos na ang tseke. Natagalan lang dahil sa pagproseso ng papers," ani Ely del Remedio, isa sa mga kinatawan ng NorthCom. Bukod sa kakulangan sa natatanggap na bayad, hindi rin umano pinapakitaan ng payslip ang mga guwardiya para sa kanilang sahod tuwing buwan. Pinapapapirma na lamang ang mga ito na natanggap na nila ang bayad, ani Jose. Dahil walang payslip na natatanggap, ang mga guwardiya na mismo ang kumakalkula kung tama ba ang nakukuha nilang sahod. “[P]osible na hindi nila maibigay kasi magre-reflect doon kung magkano talaga ang actual na binabayad nila at kung anu-ano ang binabawas nila,” ani Nelin Estocado ng Alliance of Contractual Employees in UP. Subalit ayon naman kay del Remedio, natatanggap naman ng mga guwardiya ang payslip nila. Dagdag ng mga guwardiya, marahil ay kulang ang nabibigay sa kanilang benepisyo dahil mas mababa ang kontratang pinirmahan ngayon ng unibersidad para sa ahensyang mangangasiwa sa kanila.
Dumadaan sa proseso ng bidding ang mga ahensya bago sila kunin ng UP. Nilalatag sa proseso kung magkano ang lalamanin ng kontrata para sa isang taon. Mula sa P67 milyong kontrata sa ahensyang nangangasiwa sa mga guwardiya noong 2015, bumaba sa P61 milyon ang naging bid ng NorthComm. “Actually 61 milyon[g] [piso] ang ibinid na namin ... kaya malaki ang natipid ng UP samin,” ani Romer Villarta, kawani ng NorthComm na nangangasiwa sa billing. “Ang relationship ng agency at empleyado nila ay exploitative [kaya] iyon ang nakakalungkot na sitwasyon na kahit sa loob ng UP ay nangyayari ang ganitong klaseng kalakaran,” ani Estocado.
ONE WITH THE FALLEN John Reczon Calay
Kabataan Party-list first nominee Sarah Elago speaks to fellow student leaders at the Mendiola Peace Arch on January 25 as they commemorate the first anniversary of the Mamasapano bloodbath which took 68 lives including 44 Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) commandos in a mission to capture terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir. The protesters demanded accountability from President Benigno Aquino III for being directly involved in the incident and explanation for the involvement of the United States Armed Forces in the operation.
Maricon placed under stricter rules by Batangas jail JONA CLAIRE TURALDE
UP DILIMAN FILM STUDENT Maricon Montajes and five other political detainees in the Batangas Provincial Jail (BPJ) have reportedly been placed under stricter protocols, after fellow inmates harassed and accused them of hatching an escape plan. The BPJ administration allegedly conducted a search operation in the cells where Maricon, Romiel Cañete, Ronilo Baez, Albert Custodio, Jimuel Velasco and Franco Romoneso were staying on January 5.
Prior to the search, the detainees’ phones were confiscated without warning on January 2 by cell leaders appointed by the BPJ administration. Maricon’s group then reported the incident and other instances of harassment they experienced from the cell leaders to the BPJ officers. The administration has since imposed tighter security measures against the political detainees. For instance, six out of the nine UP students who conducted a jail visit on January 24 were barred from
seeing Maricon’s group after they failed to specify their names in their letter to the BPJ notifying of their arrival. Only three students whose names were mentioned in the letter were allowed to enter. No such rules were demanded during previous visits to the group. “Gayong ang implementasyong ... porma ng pagbibigay parusa sa kalakaran ng jail, gayong wala namang ni isa sa amin ang nakakalabag sa anumang patakaran,” Cañete wrote in a letter given to UP students during the jail visit.
ROLLBACK Kenneth Gutlay A driver speeds his jeepney inside the university grounds on the evening of January 26 for his last trip of the night. Fares in UP Diliman fell to P6.00 amid lower global crude oil prices at $27 per barrel, dropping by 72.16 percent since August 2014. However, youth group Anakbayan calls for a bigger rollback of local oil prices, citing only a 56 percent decline in diesel prices and 36 percent for gasoline.
Maricon is one of the Taysan 3, who were captured on June 3, 2010, while inside a peasant community in Mabayabas, Taysan, Batangas. Maricon was conducting research for her thesis when elements of the 743rd Squadron of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) arrested her, including Cañete, a farmer and Baez, an Anakbayan member. The three were then tagged as members of rebel group New People’s Army. For five years since her arrest, court hearings for Maricon’s case have constantly been delayed and postponed due to lack of evidence and witnesses. Maricon’s petition for bail on December 2 last year has been postponed until March 2, after an officer of the court who was allegedly sick at the time failed to attend the hearing. “[D]inadrag na lang ang case nila. Wala naman talagang substantial evidence against sa kanila. Lahat ay trumped up charges dahil na red tag sila kasi they are immersing with the filipino people,” said Josiah Hiponia, representative of UPD College of Mass Communication to the University Student Council. Various student groups have strengthened their call to free Maricon and other political prisoners. Project FreEdom, a campaign coined after Maricon’s nickname, raises student awareness through jail visits, film exhibits, fora, and other activities.
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Unable to pay tuition loans on time
1 in 2 student borrowers tagged ineligible to enroll KAREN MACALALAD
Research by Karen Macalalad Infographic by Jerome Tagaro
Aquino term ends with dismal economy - IBON A N D R E A J O YC E LU C A S
THE ECONOMIC GROWTH BOASTED of by the Aquino administration belies the dismal conditions of the country’s backbone sectors, which remain backward even as President Benigno Aquino III concludes his term, according to independent think tank IBON Foundation. In its yearend Birdtalk on January 21 at UP Diliman, IBON points out Aquino’s missteps in governance, such as globalization and privatization schemes which will haunt the country even beyond his term. Historically speaking, the globalization framework has proven to be outdated and cannot solve the country’s problems, said IBON Executive Director Jose Enrique Africa.
Non-inclusive growth The Aquino administration has consistently favored the finance, trade, and construction sectors as they provided the most profitable opportunities. With the continued rise of business process outsourcing companies, these sectors showed the most growth, increasing as much as 69 percent in the first half of his term. Real estate developments made by the private sector have also triggered a 43-percent rise in the country’s construction sector, while trade registered a 47-percent increase from the previous year. Despite this growth, job creation has remained low throughout Aquino’s term, dropping to 6.4 from 7 percent in 2015, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority. As of April 2015, the number of part-time workers in the country has
ballooned to around 40 percent of the labor force, or over 15.5 million Filipinos. As a result, one out of four Filipinos remains poor, a number that has changed little from the past decade. These growths are not sustainable since they are driven by foreign capital and the demand for cheap Filipino labor, explained IBON. Nationalist and pro-people economic development are solutions that Aquino should have taken, with programs towards higher wages, national industrialization, higher taxes for the rich, and agrarian reform, said Africa. While the Philippines remains an agricultural country, growth for the sector lagged behind at a mere 1.6 percent in 2015. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program has also failed to redistribute land among farmers, with nine out of 10 still landless more than two decades after the act was first implemented.
Persisting problems Come the election of a new president, the country’s problems will persist, as none of the presidential bets have given thought to programs such as genuine agrarian reform and national industrialization, added Africa. In addition, the Aquino administration has become marked by political favoritism, as shown by the number of political clans participating in politics, with a total of 270 families during the 2010 elections. Familiar names like Binay and Marcos will vie once again for top spots in the upcoming elections. Aquino has also endorsed Manuel Roxas III’s bid for the presidency.
This setup will make it easier for the Liberal Party to replicate its landslide victories in 2010 and 2013 in the next elections, as the Philippine electorate has essentially become name-recall, according to IBON Executive Editor Rosario Bella Guzman. “The conduct of Philippine elections is still dictated by the ruling party in order to maintain the status quo. The people’s victory must then be that of analysis and action,” Guzman added.
BURDENED WITH UNPAID TUITION loans for the first semester, one in two UP Diliman (UPD) student borrowers were required to appeal to UP Dilliman Chancellor Michael Tan before they could enroll in the second semester, according to data obtained from the Office of Scholarships and Student Services (OSSS). A total of 1,161 out of the 2,156 student borrowers have not settled their tuition loans, based on data obtained on January 8, barely a week before the registration period (see sidebar). Students with unpaid financial obligations are tagged ineligible unless their loans are settled. Only an appeal to the chancellor will allow them to defer their payment for up to three semesters, based on the revised Article 431 of the University Code. “Students usually apply for loans due to lack of cash at hand, delayed remittance, medical emergency, awaiting scholarship result, loss of job of the parents, and giving way to other immediate expenses in the household,” OSSS Officer-in-charge Neil Kenneth Jamandre said. Tuition loans however do not resolve the problem faced by UP students. “[Loans] would not be necessary in a situation where the poor are able to get scholarship programs,” said Journalism Professor Danilo Arao of the progressive teachers’ group Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy. Besides the 100 percent loan option offered starting in 2013, graduate students may avail of loans equivalent to 85 percent of their assessed fees. Junior and senior students may apply for up to 80 percent, while first and second year students may get 70 percent.
PAGHABOL SA HANGIN Chester Higuit Dahan-dahang hinihiwalay ni Miriam Villanueva ang mga ipa mula sa inaning palay habang tinatawag ng kanyang anak ang hangin sa tabi ng kanyang bahay sa Cavite, ika-24 ng Enero. Saksi si Nanay Miriam sa pagpaslang ng kapulisan sa 13 magsasaka nang magtangka silang ihapag kay dating pangulong Corazon Aquino ang suliranin nila sa lupa noong ika-22 ng Enero 1987. Ngayon sa ilalim muli ng isang Aquino, nananatili ang pangangamkam sa kanilang lupang sinasaka. Walang nagbago sa panawagan ni Nanay Miriam na isulong ang tunay na repormang agraryo at hustisya para sa mga biktima ng karahasan sa Mendiola.
Failure to settle the loan within four months from when they were granted will lead to a six percent annual interest. “Ang malala, ‘yung mga estudyante na hindi nakapagbayad dahil wala silang pera ay mangungutang ulit sa ibang tao [at] kailangan nilang magtrabaho, o [isabay] sa pag-aaral [nila],” said UPD University Student Council (USC) Councilor Beata Carolino.
Cycle of indebtedness Fourth year student Nikko has availed of 100 percent loans for the two previous semesters. Despite having an 80 percent tuition discount under the Socialized Tuition System (STS), Nikko still had to apply for loans since he seldom receives money from his family. The STS is a tuition discount system that assigns tuition rates based on an assessment of a student’s socio-economic condition. “Apat po kasi kaming magkakapatid at tatay ko lang ang nagtatrabaho- school janitor po siya sa isang public school,” Nikko said. To compensate for his rental and academic expenses, Nikko has been working as part-time tutor for three years now. “May mga pagkakataong pumapasok akong inaantok sa klase … dahil ginagabi sa pagtatrabaho.” Nikko had to borrow money from his friend to pay his first semester loan worth P6,078 on January 25, then apply for another full percent loan to pay his 10unit load this semester. “Maiiwasan sana ang ganitong mga loans kung papakinggan lamang nila ang mga estudyante sa panawagan na libreng edukasyon,” Nikko said.
High cost of tuition The introduction of socialized tuition schemes since 1989 in UP left an increase in tuition based on the brackets, said Arao. Following the restructuring of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) in 2007 that effectively increased base tuition from P300 to P1,000 per unit, the average number of loan applicants surged to 2,126 between 2008 to 2015, from the average 1,227 applicants from 1991 to 2007. The shift from STFAP to STS in 2014 has further increased the number of students classified into paying brackets, with only one out of 10 students receiving free education in the past two years under STS, and one out of four appealing for lower brackets, according to the Collegian’s research The number of loan applicants also implies how inaccessible and expensive UP education is, and that the STS does not really work for a state university, Carolino said. “[Dapat] sumama [ang administration] sa united call ng mga estudyante at kawani para sa mataas na budget sa UP.”
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FREE CUT Globalization and the GE Curriculum DANIEL BOONE
COMPARISON OF 2001, 2012, AND 2015 VERSIONS OF GE PROGRAMS 2001 RGEP
Number of Units: 45 units Number of Required GEs: 0 units Number of Free Choices: 45 units Required Courses: None Domains: Arts and Humanities (AH); Math, Science, and Technology (MST); and Social Sciences and Philosophy (SSP)
2012 HYBRID
Number of Units: 45 units Number of Required GEs: 21 units Number of Free Choices: 24 units Required Courses: Math 1, STS, Kas 1, Philo 1, Comm 3, Eng 10, Fil 40 Domains: Arts and Humanities (AH); Math, Science, and Technology (MST); and Social Sciences and Philosophy (SSP)
2015 GEP
Number of Units: 21-36 units (depending on CUs) Number of Required GEs: 21-36 units Number of Free Choices: 0-15 units Required Courses: Students may choose from the following to satisfy their required number of units: - Kasaysayan ng Pilipinas - Wika, Kultura, at Lipunan - Critical Perspectives in the Arts - Philippine Arts and Culture - Critical Perspectives in Communication - Self and Society - Ethics and Moral Reasoning in Everyday Life - Living Systems: Concepts and Dynamics - Probing the Physical World - Science, Technology, and Society - Mathematics, Culture, and Society Domains: Culture and Identity; Language and Expression; Social Systems; and Natural Systems
Illustration by Kevin Cortez Page Design by John Reczon Calay
IT IS A TRUTH UNIVERSALLY acknowledged that all UP students know where AS is. More commonly known by the name of the former college it used to house, the College of Arts and Sciences (AS), Palma Hall is arguably the most famous building in the campus. Named after former UP President Rafael Palma who was among the first UP presidents to advocate the liberalization of UP education, Palma Hall is home to almost half of all current General Education (GE) subjects that make up almost a third of a UP student’s curriculum. Universities throughout the globe describe GE as the “heart of undergraduate life” as it requires students to study essential courses beyond their chosen field, broadening their perspective and knowledge of the world. A Brief History It was only in 1958, however, when the first GE program (GEP) was implemented in UP, requiring students to take 63 units of predetermined courses. Almost three decades later, in 1986, the University Council (UC) approved drastic changes in the GEP. The courses were still predetermined, but the number of units was reduced to 42 units in three specific domains: 12 units for Math, Science, and Technology (MST), 15 units for Social Sciences and Philosophy (SSP), and 15 units for Arts and Humanities (AH). Finally, in 2001, after three years of consultation from faculty members, the Revitalized GE Program (RGEP) was formulated. It was implemented in 2002 and was composed of 15 units per domain. Unlike the previous GEPs, RGEP requires students to choose “freely” the GE courses they want to enroll in. This “free market” style of enlisting subjects, however, fails to guarantee that students will have a broad spectrum of courses. For instance, some students may graduate without taking any courses on literature or sociopolitical theories. This “free market” also seemingly pit colleges against each other, said Journalism professor Danilo Arao of Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND UP). “Talking about marketability and saleability [of subjects] and looking at students as customers, it is as if they’re running the university as one big business,” he explained.
This criticism of the RGEP forced the administration to review it once more in 2010, and in 2012, another GE curriculum was implemented. Dubbed as a “hybrid” of the GE program and the RGEP, the 2012 version still requires 45 units, 21 of which are predetermined while the remaining units are free choice (see sidebar). The predetermined courses however still vary depending on the degree program. In a 2013 interview with the Collegian, then Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Ronald Banzon described the hybrid as a “practical middle ground” saying that if students are free to choose, some courses may be exploited. Since then, there has been a new proposal to further cut down the required number of GE units. The proposed new GE curriculum will require a minimum of 21 units and a maximum of 36—the lowest in the country, if approved. On January 25, the UC voted to keep but review the current GE program. For UP Sagip GE, an alliance of students and teaching personnel, reviewing the hybrid RGEP thoroughly is necessary. “This indicates several possibilities including the retention of the existing 45 units of GE,” the alliance said in a statement. Unwieldy structure Under the proposed new GE program, there would be 11 prescribed courses (see sidebar). Constituent Units (CU) will have to determine the required number of GE units under four interdisciplinary themes: Culture and Identity; Language and Expression; Social Systems; and Natural Systems. According to the draft presented for review by the faculty of CU, “the 2013 UP GE program revision proposal cites two external developments as the most cogent: the implementation of the Enhanced Basic Education or K-12 program, and the internationalization of higher education particularly in the context of ASEAN integration.” Within roughly a year, the first batch of K to 12 students are set to graduate from senior high school and enter university. “We are often reminded that all other nations in Asia already have K to 12. However, the five highest ranking universities in Asia have 36 to 54 units of GE,” UP Sagip GE explained in a separate statement. Youth and student groups meanwhile have condemned K to 12 as a means to meet the global market’s immediate demand for cheap
labor, making college education almost optional. “The proposed downgrading of some GE units to K to 12 is a disservice to future generations of Filipinos,” CONTEND UP added. The proponents of the proposed GE reforms insist, on the other hand, that revising the GEP must consider the “continuing trend towards specialization within the University and the need to enable students to cope with and address increasingly complex issues and challenges.” Specialization While specialized courses provide field-specific training for future professionals, a group of Engineering students however maintain that the new GE curriculum will serve only the country’s labor export policy. “Foreign multinationals desire this development because it increases the amount of available labor, allowing these corporations to depress the wages of the said professionals,” said Engineering for Genuine Change in UP (ENGAGE UP) in a statement. The proposed GE reforms might also present challenges for non-tenured teaching and administrative staff. For instance, since course offerings will be reduced, non-tenured instructors will have less teaching load and might lose their employment in the university. “If there will be a decreased demand for GE courses, of course, the expected results will be those who are not tenured will be [ousted],” said Arao. In a conference held at the AS lobby on January 22, Sociology professor Gerardo Lanuza of CONTEND UP cautioned that other universities look up to UP. “If we adopt the reduction, other universities and colleges will follow suit. There will be a bandwagon effect,” he said. As the leading university in the country, UP’s decisions regarding academic matters must be well planned and executed because everything that UP does will be followed by other universities. “Our GE should be grounded in interests of our people, our language and culture, and, only secondarily, on internationalist aspirations,” said CONTEND UP. For a university whose tradition is grounded on service to the people, this goal sounds eminently reasonable.
LATHALAIN 7
Huwebes 28 Enero 2016
Untangling the plight of SSS pensioners from Aquino’s veto ALDRIN VILLEGAS THE FIRST HINT OF SUNLIGHT peeking through the windows signals the start of the day for Nanay Teresita, 71. Standing on a 20 square-meter lot they rent, the house made of plywood is home to the youngest, Raymond, her three grandchildren and daughter-in-law. After feeding the chickens, Nanay Teresita goes to the backyard with her old rusty bolo to chop branches off the backyard tree for firewood. At noontime, she uses these to boil water and cook the family’s meal. When night falls, the nearby street lamppost and a kerosene lamp are their only sources of light. The family heavily relies on Nanay Teresita’s P3,000 monthly Social Security System (SSS) pension. So when the family first heard of a possible P2,000 across-the-board pension increase, Nanay Teresita thought they could finally have running water and electricity services installed. For two million other pensioners like her, who also lack access to even the most basic social services, social security is almost like a far-away dream. Diminished hope For close to two decades now, the minimum pension has remained at P1,200 while prices of even the most basic commodities have continued to rise, making it more and more difficult for Nanay Teresita to make ends meet. “Isang linggo lang, ubos na yung pension,” she said. Of the P3,000 she receives from SSS, she takes home only P1,500 because the other half goes to a lending company for a loan they used to finance the construction of an electric post that will provide them with electricity. The family had to resort to other loans to keep up with daily expenses: P75 for water supply, P50 for a kilo of rice,
another P50 for food, and milk for the baby. “Buti na nga lang at wala akong sakit,” Nanay Teresita said. She started receiving the pension when her husband Reynaldo died 11 years ago of lung cancer. Back in Negros, Reynaldo worked as an overseer in a hacienda, while Nanay Teresita minded the children and ran the household. However, the family began leaving the province one by one in search for jobs in Manila. Raymond now works as a contractual in an ice plant and earns P1,500 a month to help cover expenses. But prices of commodities kept rising over time, diminishing the actual purchasing power of the pension by around half its value. While the current minimum wage level is not even enough to meet the needs of a family of six, Nanay Teresita’s combined take-home pension and Raymond’s salary is even much closer to the poverty threshold. According to think tank IBON Foundation, families like Nanay Teresita’s need at least P5,033 a month to cover basic needs. Recently, Congress approved House Bill 5842 authored by Rep. Neri Colmenares. The original version of the bill proposed a P5,000-pension increase, but was eventually whittled down to P2,000 after getting past many hurdles. For Nanay Teresita and her family at least, this might mean more years of lamp-lit nights and struggling to put food on the table. Missed priorities To Nanay Teresita’s dismay, President Benigno Aquino III downplays the urgency of the pensioners’ vulnerable position by saying the pension hike will only drive the SSS into bankruptcy. “[W]e cannot support the bill in its present form because of its dire financial consequences,” Aquino said in his veto message.
According to the government, the bill would shorten fund life by 13 years as SSS funds will be wiped out by 2029 instead of 2042. Aquino says this would result in a P16 to P26 billion deficit per year as the SSS would need an additional P56 billion to fund the increase. The veto reveals not only the Aquino administration’s lack of political will but also the administration’s mispriorities and insensitivity to the plight of the poor. “The obsession of the SSS to increase its fund life is trampling on its mandate to provide social justice and protection for its members,” said Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate. The current pension rates are already grossly inadequate for the needs of its pensioners, mostly senior citizens whose particular needs make them one of the most vulnerable sectors of society. This increase is especially critical given how the majority of Filipino households—at least some 66 percent, according to IBON’s estimate—are still severely lacking basic income security. Aquino even goes further by pitting active members against pensioners— supposedly worried about the future of the 31 million members but choosing to be “heartless” in response to the plight of 2.15 million pensioners. This leaves Nanay Teresita wondering how SSS officials were even afforded fat bonuses amounting to P71.612 million, which she believes should have funded better services. The SSS can also improve its revenue-generation from idle assets such as the reported P198 million in foregone revenues from P18 billion in idle assets. In the short term it can also draw on its reported reserve fund of some P418 billion as of 2014. “The proposed P2,000 pension hike is feasible if the government were
to perform responsibly. It can improve its collections such as by collecting the reported P13.5 billion owed by some 164,100 employers delinquent in their payments,” said IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa. System Robbery In her 18 years as a housemaid, Nanay Teresita’s daughter Josephine has felt how discouraging the government treats workers especially in informal sectors. She pins her hopes of a better future on her son, a scholar in UP Diliman, though she has to borrow money at times to support his son’s schooling. Under Aquino’s administration, wages have not been given a substantial hike. It is only recently that Josephine’s salary was raised to P3,000 a month. IBON says the real minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR), already the highest in the country, increased by only P17.06 from P346.78 in 2010 to P363.84 in 2015.
In fact, many of the country’s poorest are not even covered by SSS because of income too small that they cannot set aside even a few pesos every month. According to IBON, some 80 percent of what tomorrow’s pensioners will receive upon retirement will be from their contributions while they were working. These contributions however are low because their incomes today are also very low. Social security is an important scheme of redistribution of society’s resources that can be strengthened with a progressive tax system, and Africa suggests that taxes on large corporations should be increased by at least 35 percent. This was echoed as various sectors across the nation called for Congress to uphold its mandate to its constituents and pass the pension hike. In Southern Mindanao, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan will be holding a four-day protest action from January 28 to 31. In a picket protest in front of the SSS headquarters in Quezon City on January 20, SSS members and pensioners urged Congress to override the veto, which requires two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate. Until these reforms are realized and workers’ rights are upheld, Josephine worries that Nanay Teresita will continue to live her sunset years in poverty without social security. For now, the system has not only failed to protect retirees—it now threatens to rob them of their very dreams of a better life.
Photos by Katrina Artiaga Page Design by John Reczon Calay
8 KULTURA
Huwebes 28 Enero 2016
The
IMITATION GAME A N D R E A J O YC E LU C A S
IT'S REALLY ONLY A SIMPLE STICK figure with a few statements on the side, ending with the predictable "Bill is smart. Be like Bill." With its simplicity and the ease with which it could be edited and reappropriated, the meme was a hit, winning over netizens by the millions, generating new posts, likes and shares by the minute. Now it has even spawned variants like "Tularan si Juan" and "Sé como José." As the meme continues to make the rounds online, the driving force behind "Be like Bill" has evolved as well, from simple policing of supposedly undesirable social media behavior to a more covert political function.
Synthesis The idea of a "meme" as understood today came from evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins. In "The Selfish Gene", he coined the term "meme" to describe ideas as they pass from one mind to another. Memes, he pointed out, change in this process of transmission,
not unlike physiological genes in the Darwinian sense. The meme lives and thrives on propagation, popularization, and subsequent modification. Like genetic traits, it can either take on a superior form or die out. Such an idea of “user-generated” content is not new. It possibly even precedes written language—oral and folk tradition have circulated in this way. Used often as cautionary tales and propagator of lessons, folk narratives, such as legends and origin stories like "Ang Alamat ng Pinya" still survive today because of word of mouth, branching out to have varying versions as they are passed on. The same allowance for flair and personalizing can be recognized in Internet memes as they are known today. They have taken myriad forms, from single panel images and comic strips to videos and other interactive formats. Memes have also been used to deal with a variety of topics and convey a wide range of tones, from praise to scorn. In the case of "Be like Bill," the meme had endorsed and championed a range of likeable characteristics with the fictional persona, from simply being loyal to one's girlfriend to refraining from being a "famewhore" on social media, depending on the attributes that mirror and reinforce a netizen's own set of values.
Propagation A meme's wealth of meaning comes from being easily graspable and accessible to anyone who could go on the Internet. Anyone can contribute to the growing number of circulating memes anytime, to commune with and seek validation from an ever-ready global audience. In such a wide arena of competition, memes develop as best they could towards garnering more popularity, quantified by likes, shares and new posts. In the case of "Be like Bill," the meme had started with a Star Wars allusion slapped onto the image, but it was able to take off successfully, as its creator Eugeniu Croitoru immediately adapted it to suit the taste of netizens. For one, the meme has come to bank on the appeal of being able to deal out blunt derision without being thoroughly offensive. Debabratha Nath, who helps Croitoru manage the "Be like Bill" page has been quoted as saying, "Most people tend to take it in the way it should: as a joke and something which is meant to be funny and not taken seriously." Joke or not, the meme is being used to police behavior that netizens deem disagreeable, such as posting a lot of "selfies" on Facebook. The meme could provide relief by simply saying, "This is Bill. He does not flood others' news feeds with selfies. Bill is smart. Be like Bill." In such a manner, memes like "Be like Bill" prove themselves powerful tools in the competition of ideas in this fastpaced digital age. Conscious or not, Bill
is able to embody a belief or standpoint, and he is none too subtle in trying to impose it, as in the name of the meme itself, "Be like Bill." Where this tone does not alarm, the use of the meme is made rife for abuse. In the Philippines, electoral candidates have already gotten in on the trend, throwing dirt on each other with snarky memes.
Adaptation With its form, "Be like Bill" creates a role model figure that people can look up to, made more powerful by the fact that the initiative comes from the netizens themselves, as opposed to having models being imposed upon them. Besides being a mode of critique, "Be like Bill" can also be a vehicle to carry and convey values that netizens deem important. But memes like “Be like Bill” remain to be a limited vehicle for expression and critique, despite its democratic appearance and sway over social media. On one hand, like folk narratives, they possess the subversive potential of simultaneously anonymous and collective authorship. But whereas folklore requires only word of mouth, memes require internet access, which can't be had so easily in the country. Internet in the Philippines remains slow and expensive—global
broadband speedtest Ookla reveals the country to have the second slowest Internet in Asia, at 2.5 megabits per second on average, and costing around P2000 per month. And so only 1 out of 4 Filipinos have online access, according to 2013 United Nation Broadband Communication report. The creation and survival of memes remain in the hands of the people who consume it. Being aware of this power gives ordinary netizens the ability to examine and, if necessary, challenge the ideas put forth in the memes themselves. The subversive potential of memes thus lies in the sharp sting of its short bursts of humor and the anonymity of their source, qualities that can be employed by netizens as a means to critique issues and repressive institutions. It's really only just an image of a stick figure with a few words explicitly outlining a mode of action. Despite the pressure of likes and shares, it remains in anyone's discretion whether or not he should "be like Bill.”
Illustration by Guia Abogado Page design by Jerome Tagaro
KULTURA 9
Huwebes 28 Enero 2016
J U A N M I G U E L C A A C B AY
AM I REALLY A FILIPINO? MY BIRTH certificate says so. But when I speak, my most fluent tongue is not Filipino but Hiligaynon. For writing and discussion of more serious topics, it’s English. At home at the end of a school day, I prefer to sit back and relax to TV shows like Breaking Bad, Louie, and Curb Your Enthusiasm—not Filipino shows like On the Wings of Love, the other soap in La Presa, and the one with the DOM politician whose family got kidnapped (yet again). My favorite music genre is blues, which originated from African-American slaves in Mississippi. My favorite movie director is Quentin Tarantino, another American. Are we truly so “welcoming with the Americans” just as how Pia Wurtzbach said? Well, the now declared constitutional Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) shows “Filipino hospitality” to US troops by allowing them access to at least eight Philippine bases. I am, indeed, a person who enjoys many American things, but should this stop me from being “nationalistic”? Contradictions Growing up, we were all taught to love, fight, and die for our country. That was what we swore we would do every time we recited the “Panunumpa sa Watawat ng Pilipinas” and “Lupang Hinirang” in flag ceremonies. Loving the country to death, literally, seemed like the fate of every true nationalist: “ang mamatay nang dahil sa’yo.” But as time passed, I noticed parents of friends leaving the country one by one due to economic necessity—to look for better jobs than what was available here. This has resulted in
brain drain, which had prevented the educated from directly contributing their creativity for the betterment of the country except through remittances. It’s possible for someone to loathe the OFWs for deserting the country this way, but when you think about it, they are also dying for their own families. We were also taught in school the country’s long colonial history, from the Spanish colonization to American and Japanese occupations. At the same time, we were taught to be aware of “colonial mentality” and to actively work against it. But after every school day, I remember hurriedly commuting home in order to catch my favorite TV shows: The Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants, and Air Crash Investigation on National Geographic— all of which are American. Predictably enough, like every child I would do my best to emulate everything I saw on the TV. English soon overtook Hiligaynon as my preferred language. Filipino seemed unimportant to learn as nobody I knew spoke it fluently anyway, and I would only hear it from the newscasters delivering “national” news. In my social studies classes, the teacher would tell us how saying “po” and “opo” was an integral part of Filipino culture. This “Filipino” culture further felt like an alien culture because that practice is not part of Ilonggo culture at all. I was a Filipino, but the things I liked, the language I used, the practices I had, weren’t what they called “Filipino.” American Idols We are trying to copy the Americans. One may take a stroll down Katipunan Avenue and see proof of this—bands of students laughing at English jokes and flaunting American accents which feel so alien if you come from a clique
Illustra tion by John Kenneth Zapata Page D esign by John Reczon Calay
which talks largely in Filipino. Fluency in English has indeed become a signifier of the upper class, often associated with better education and employability. In a study by Pew Research Center in 2015, 92% of Filipinos viewed the US as “favorable,” the highest rating amongst all countries in the world. Apparently, this is even higher than USA itself, as only 83% of Americans viewed their country in such a positive light. The recently crowned Miss Universe even said that she had not a single problem with the reestablishment of US bases, but perhaps her reaction is not surprising. In the same study, 7 out of 10 Filipinos believe that China will never overtake the US as the world’s leading superpower. This is again higher than in the US, where only about half of Americans believe the same. Filipinos have more faith in the future of America’s military prowess than Americans themselves. The government also seems to idolize the Americans. We have copied their educational system through K to 12, which seeks to orient the country’s basic education curriculum toward overseas employment in menial jobs, instead of revitalizing our own industries. Our very own university—which was established by the Americans—is toying with a new General Education Program which would exclude Filipino and humanities subjects. After explicitly defining tertiary education as a privilege, this proposal now implicitly transforms tertiary education into a workshop geared to train students to work abroad. Critical Copycats Look at the Oblation who offers himself to the nation. His being without clothes, naked for all to see, could be
said to signify his humility to set aside all biases created by culture—the social acceptability of being clothed—in order to truly understand all the ideas taught in the University. Once he understands these ideas, he is not quick to bear judgment and first sees it from different perspectives, and only then does he decide whether to accept them—that is what critical thought is. I admit that I am a fan of many things that Americans have created or said, but before I accept it as true, worth copying, or even worth fighting for, I think. Then, I decide. I may associate myself with American culture, but I still am and forever will be a Filipino who will offer himself to the nation. In the original UP Naming Mahal, the second verse says: “Malayong lupain, amin mang marating; di rin magbabago ang damdamin.” In 1997, Gary Granada rewrote UP Naming Mahal with more nationalistic lyrics. In the same verse, it instead said: “Malayong lupain, di kailangang marating; dito maglilingkod sa bayan natin.”
10 OPINYON
Huwebes 28 Enero 2016
Para kay K
Larger than Life
CHESTER HIGUIT IKAW ANG LAKAMBINI NG AKING pakikibaka. Magkasama tayong tumutungo sa Mendiola: ako, bilang isang litratista, ikaw bilang manunulat. Ikaw ang nagsisillbi kong lakambini na pumapaimbabaw sa parada na napapalamutian ng pulang mga plakard at bandila. Tinutugtugan tayo ng mga awiting bayan at inaaliw ng pagtatanghal ng mga artista ng bayan. Kasabay noon ang pagkahumaling ko sa pakikiisa mo sa kampanya at panawagan ng iba’t ibang sektor ng lipunan. Tulad ng pagsalubong mo sa daluyong ng 600 na lumad na tumulak sa ating unibersidad. Nagpaanod ka at nakibahagi para sa panawagang kapayapaan. Tanda ko pa ang malamutya mong kasuotan habang nakikinig sa mga kwento ng lumad na ginamit mo sa pamamahayag. Mula noo’y dumalas pa ang pagsasama natin sa pagkilos. Habang magkasama’y patuloy kitang ikininakabit sa aking sarili. Unti-unti kitang hinangaan dahil sa tapang at galing mo sa pakikibahagi sa martsa ng bayan. Lalo na noong kasagsagan ng pagtutol ng kabataan sa Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). Isa ka sa mga matatapang na tumututol sa
mapanlinlang na APEC na naglalayon lamang na nakawan ang ating industriya at likas na yaman. Malayo sa ingay ng protesta, magkasama tayong dumadayo sa isang payapang lugar kapiling ang masa. Mula sa malamig na panghaharana ng lawa sa Laguna, nakitira tayo sa mga mangingisda. Inawitan tayo ng huni ng mga ibon sa lupain ng mga magsasaka sa Bulacan. Matapos iyo’y magkasama tayong nakinig sa kanilang mga litanya na kapwa ukol sa pagsira sa kanilang tahanan at pagkuha ng kanilang ikinabubuhay sa ilalim ng Public Private Partnership ni Noynoy. Katabi sa pag-aaral, hinangaan ko rin ang matalas mong pagsusuri sa mga isyu ng unibersidad at lipunan. Lalo na nang pag-usapan natin ang epekto ng students’ Magna Carta at kung paanong ginagawa nitong legal ang pagtataas ng tuition sa unibersidad. Ang paninindigan mo sa pagtutol sa anumang uri ng suporta sa pagtataas matrikula ay nakabibilib din. Matapos ang lahat, kapag nakalap na natin ang mga larawan at kwento, magkasabay tayong bumabalik sa opisina ng Kule. Sabay tayong naglilimbag ng kasaysayan sa likod ng pahayagan. Tagumpay nating
Sabay tayong naglilimbag ng kasaysayan sa likod ng pahayagan
nailalahad ang hinaing ng masa, mula sa mga inaapi at pinapaslang na mga lumad, sa mga mamamayang sinasagasaan ng pribatisasyon, hanggang sa mga mag-aaral na dapat ay nagtatamasa ng libreng edukasyon. Sa bawat istoryang isinusulat natin sa pahayagan kasabay nating nabubuo ang kwento ng ating samahan. Mahigit isang buwan na ang nakararaan, sa paglapat ng gabi, sinagot mo ako sa ilalim ng di malilimutang liwanag. Hindi alintana ang malamig na hangin, dagli kitang niyakap at hinawakan ang mainit mong palad. Matapos iyo’y magkahawak kamay nating sinimulan ang bagong yugto ng pakikibaka. Ikaw at ako, gamit ang bagong pundasyon, ay nagkasundong mas paglingkuran ang masa. Sa pagharap sa mga isyu ng lipunan, ipagpapatuloy natin ang mas kritikal at mapanuring pamamahayag kasabay ng pakikibahagi sa kampanya ng bayan. Lalo na at nagpapatuloy pa rin ang pangangamkam sa kaban ng bayan, pamamaslang sa mga walang kasalanan, at pagkakait ng karapatan sa mga mamamayan.
Second chances KAREN ANN MACALALAD IF THERE’S ONE THING I LEARNED from all the leadership camps I have attended since high school, it’s the capacity of the youth to spark genuine change. That we can proactively participate in the scope of nation-building and eventually become future leaders in the society. I further hold on to this belief when I entered UP, where I instantly felt the immense power of the student youth manifested by the prolific existence of organizations advancing different advocacies and interests, and independent student councils whose bias is towards the student body. The narratives of youth movements I heard marked with the principle of serving the people inspired me further to join educational discussions, which delves into the issues confronted by the different sectors in the society. It amazes me until now how the youth continues to explore its avenues to bring forth its agenda for societal transformation, amidst state repression and aggression. This is why youth groups such as the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK)
It amazes me until now how the youth continues to explore its avenues to bring forth its agenda for societal transformation, amidst state repression and aggression
should not be totally abolished, but instead be holistically developed. To be honest, I never really learned much of its projects in our local barangay before but wanted to know about it more. Despite claims of SK being corrupt and inefficient, I still believe on its true potential to forward youth-based projects. The passage of the SK Reform Bill into law recently is actually a good start of bringing back the council in its very essence. It is also something I look forward to, since the law includes a provision on political dynasties ensuring that those elected in the SK are not relatives of the incumbent government officials in the area. Aside from providing equal opportunities to aspiring SK officials, the law gives us better chances to having a new taste of youth leadership and governance away from the conventional “trapo” system. My three years in UP taught me that students, or the youth in general, should always be independent and immune to mere politicking, and should always
be in the search of the new and undiscovered. I hope that this anti-dynasty provision in the youth-led council will send ripples towards the national level, since it proves that an antipolitical dynasty law is possible in the Philippines. What can be more refreshing than hearing names other than the Aquinos, Binays, Marcoses, Roxas, and the like? Only a representative from the youth knows what its sector truly needs. I always envisioned the SK as a vehicle where the youth can collectively demand for accessible education and higher state subsidy, just like what the progressive groups here in UP does. A council who’s brave enough to set the discourse higher, not bounded by the concerns of the youth but extended to the masses in general.
Polo F. Imperial
BEFORE SUNRISE OF ALL MY NIGHTS AT THE COLLEGIAN office, tonight is the longest. Clouds of cigarette smoke hover around me like dementors. The caffeinated tempers of the editors flare at the slightest provocation. Writers claw their laptop keyboards furiously like rats scratching on wood. But all I can do is wait patiently—for finished articles to come in so I could proofread them, for the layout team to finally declare the end of presswork, for the morning to come so we would finally meet again and I could receive your answer to the foolishly honest question I asked you earlier this afternoon. If felines were capable of emotions, this must be what Schrodinger’s cat felt like inside the box. For I have finally decided to place myself entirely under your judgment and my existence now depends on your, hopefully considerate, opinion of me. This is of course a hyperbole more than a metaphor, and I never thought until now that I would be capable of such a cheesy exaggeration, or such a pathetic excuse for an appeal to your mercy. Or maybe Heisenberg is right—that all attempts to measure your opinion of me are futile and hopelessly inaccurate at this time, because they are clouded by my endless and various predictions. My anxiety, I guess, draws from guilt, from the knowledge that I have broken my word, and that I have become a hypocrite and a liar, because my wretched heart could not keep what was really a simple promise. For now, however, all I can do is wait. And while I spend the remaining hours before sunrise, correcting errors in spelling and grammar here at Vinzons Hall’s Room 401, I hope morning will not find me regretting my own mistakes. I take refuge in my belief that the phenomenon of waiting is an illustrative example of Einstein’s theory of relativity. The interwoven nature of spacetime affords me solace in the hypothesis that as I count the hours waiting, so do I measure the shortening length of distance between us. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges once wrote, “Time forks unceasing towards endless futures.” I hope that in one of them, Schrodinger’s cat is alive and well.
OPINYON 11
Huwebes 28 Enero 2016
CALPET EGUA’S SURRENDER WAS STAGED AND DONE TO PACIFY THE CLAMOR FOR JUSTICE Kahugpongan sa Lumadnong Organisasyon (KASALO) Caraga Statement 22 January 2016
WE WERE HAPPY UPON HEARING that a member of the bandit paramilitary Magahat-Bagani surrendered last January 21. We felt hopeful thinking that justice for the brutal killing of MAPASU chairperson Dionel Campos, Kiwagan Datu Juvello Sinzo and our ALCADEV school’s executive director Emerito Samarca, was within our reach. But the joy we felt was brief as we were informed that Calpet was immediately released on bail. Who is Calpet Egua? He is the notorious leader, along with Marcos Bocales and Marcial Belandres, of the AFP armed Magahat-Bagani bandit paramilitary group. The group colludes with and joins the fascist AFP units in wreaking havoc in our communities. The same paramilitary group is being used, commanded and perpetrated the killing of our leaders, are extortionists of small businesses in Surigao and Agusan del Sur, are grabbing our ancestral lands and controlling gold mining and falcatta plantations in Prosperidad. Calpet Egua is protected by the 402nd Infantry Brigade under Col. Isidro Purisima and his bandit paramilitary group joins AFP military operations. We witnessed his most trusted hitmen, brothers Bobby and Loloy Tejero and Garito Layno, along with the 75th IBPA, kill our leaders and teacher and threaten to massacre us if we refuse to evacuate from our communities last September 1, 2015. Why was Calpet Egua released after he surrendered? The warrant of arrest issued against him was based on a “robbery” case of a small store in Brgy. Diatagon, Lianga, Surigao del Sur last January 2015. Robbery is a bailable offense. It is easy for an arrested
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person who controls gold mining and falcatta plantations in Manhulayan and Prosperidad-Bayugan to post bail so he can avoid imprisonment and continue leading the bandit Magahat-Bagani in committing crimes. In the recent weeks it came to our knowledge that the military has been planning the surrender of Calpet Egua to the police based on his bailable robbery case. After his surrender, Calpet’s lawyer would then immediately post bail and Calpet Egua will not stay long in prison. This would supposedly be done to silence the demand for justice and to show that there is rule of law. It is true that Calpet Egua surrendered to the PNP in Prosperidad, the place where he remains influential. He immediately posted the Php 80,000 bail and was instantly released. The leader of the group accused of killing Lumad leaders was in the hands of the police and they released him. He was not investigated further on his involvement in the killings, extortion activities and many other crimes. He was not investigated about his trusted members Bobby and Loloy Tejero, Marcial Belandres and Garito Layno. Calpet is free to continue leading the bandit paramilitary Magahat-Bagani. Now, he is again free to collude and engage his men in military operations of the Special Forces Battalion, 75th IBPA or any AFP unit deployed in his claimed territory. He is free to continue committing crimes while we, the almost 3,000 Lumads, continue to suffer in the evacuation center in Tandag City, denied even a glimmer of hope of returning to our communities, rebuilding the livelihood we left
behind and continuing the education of our children in our Lumad schools in the mountains. We are questioning the surrender and immediate release of Calpet Egua by the police in Prosperidad. This demonstrates that the surrender was staged as he was sure to be released immediately because of Col. Purisima and the 402nd IBde who would never abandon and permit him to be investigated and imprisoned. No justice was achieved with Calpet’s surrender because he was immediately released. We are challenging the PNP, NBI and the prosecutor’s office, including the LGU officials of Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur, if you are truly sincere in your efforts of achieving peace and resolving the problem of criminality and killings in the area, you will fully investigate Calpet Egua as many people know him and witnessed his criminal acts. Many are waiting for the right time and for a genuine investigation as their lives are at stake if only minor cases are filed based on his crimes against the people he killed and communities he continues to threaten through his armed paramilitary group Magahat-Bagani. Justice for Dionel Campos, Datu Bello and Sir Emok Samarca! Genuine and impartial investigation against paramilitary groups and their leaders such as Calpet Egua! CONTACT US! E-mail us at kule1516@gmail.com. Save Word attachment in Rich Text Format, with INBOX, NEWSCAN or CONTRIB in the subject. Always include your full name, address and contact details.
EKSENANG PEYUPS THE UP-RESSION EDISHUN! HARU MGA BEKS! NAGSIMULA NA talaga ang 2nd semester ahuhu. Kumusta ka na? May nagpre-prerogabels pa rin bang mga pogi at super papis sa mga classes mo? Hihi. Haynakers talaga last week bekiru, inabot ng haggardo versoza lvl ang lola mo! Isipin mo, tin-ry kong i-panorama shotz ang oa-ness level ng pila sa enrollment and it took me 3 days to finish the whole shot! Chos. Grabe, wala na talagang tatalo sa ‘oppression level: UP’ mga beks! Pero don’t wurri beshiez kasi malapit na ang UP Fair hihi. Too close yet too far ang peg ng feels. Hemmingway, eto na ang mga chismax ko for da week! Checkirawt na while it’s hot! MAHABA. So there’s this person na kasabay ko no’n sa isang enlistment center sa may building ng mga flat-chested, char. Sa FC ‘to mga beks. Issue kayo eh. Back to da topic, so much gravity ang koya mo no’ng dumating ang mga truepa n’ya just to singit all the way in kasi ni-reserve daw sila ni koya mo. Juice colored! Dumating yung mga ka-truepa niya doing the singit thing with matching theme na ‘tumitindig, sumusulong’ like there’s no one else taking the pila behind them. Hays nako koya, i-shoot ko kayo sa banga eh! Char. MASIKIP. So eto pa ang isang ‘gravy-teh!’ moment for me this week para kay ateng saksakan as in! A stabbing moment para kay ate at sa shorts niya because even oxygen can’t go out sa sa sobrang hapit beks. Gahd I love yung mga masisikip na parts like OMG UGH chos. Pero my gahd kasi she’s trying ata to lure yung prof just to accept her in his classss? Jusmiyo besh wag mong i-lure si paping prof, as if naman papatulan ka niyan CHAR. So in the end, hindi na-accept si gurlalu dahil nagbunutan sila for the prerogz. Okay lang yan ‘te. Better pak este lak next time! MAINIT. Kamusta naman ang koya mong parang niluto sa pugon ng ikot jeep! Awangawa ang lola mo kay koyang pa pwet este wet look sa dulo ng jeep while handing the bayad kay manong kanor. Char. Minsan koya dala dala din ng panyo pag may time ha? Basa na kasi yung hawak mong Form5A with 6 units. *don’t worry alam ko ang sakit bhe* Labyu. OSHA MGA BEKSSS! Ia-update ko nalang ulit kayo sa mga ganap dito sa pamantasang pambihira! Este hirang! Labyu! Pak shoot blag babush! *POOOOF*
ERRATUM
SIPAT SIYESTA Katrina Artiaga
Recto Avenue, Manila January 2016
In the last issue released on January 20, the Collegian published an article entitled “41st GASC strengthens call to junk STS” with the erroneous data stating: “The second proposed amendment would require SR nominees to have a minimum General Weighted Average of 3.0...” Instead of a minimum grade, the correct resolution states that student regent nominees must at least be not on probation. In another article entitled “Bilang ng mga klase at propesor, kulang pa rin sa ikalawang semestre,” the Collegian called Felipe Jocano, Jr. a professor emeritus of Anthropology. The correct title should read Assistant Professor. The Editorial Board apologizes for this oversight and regrets any incident this misinformation may have caused.
Walang mapili na iboboto dahil sa mga pulpol na political ads nila sa TV? Hindi makapagdesisyon dahil sa kaliwa’t kanang isyu sa bawat kandidato? Ito na lang ang pagbasehan mo! The Voter’s Game: 2016 ELECTIONS BOARD GAME! Tayo mismo ang magpupwesto sa kanila sa Malacanang! Nasa ating mga kamay ang kapalaran ng bayan kaya tayo mismo ang maghalal sa taong sa tingin natin ay makapagpapabangon sa bansang Pilipinas!
T H E
VOTER’S GAME 2 0 1 6
E L E C T I O N S
B O A R D
G A M E
Konsepto at Dibuho ni Joshua Stark Rioja
MECHANICS Ito ay isang one-on-one board game showdown. Hatakin si best friend, friend, si forever, ang icing sa ibabaw ng cupcake mo, ang matalik mong kaaway, si prof, at pati na rin si crush! Pumili ng bet na kandidato sa pagkapangulo at unahang maipwesto sila sa Malacanang.
special tiles May dalawang uri special tile sa larong ito: RED TILES na magiging balakid sa pagkapanalo mo at BLUE TILES na makakatulong sa pagkapanalo mo. Makikita ang epekto ng special tiles na ito sa sumusunod:
RED TILES 1 - Kumain ka sa Jollibee nang naka-kamay? (-2 tiles) 2 - Isang “Marcos” ang running mate mo! (-2 tiles) 3 - Binash ka lang sa FB dahil sa pagkain mo sa mug! (-2 tiles) 4 - Mag mando ng traffic habang umuulan? Nope! (-2 tiles) 5 - Star-studded ang music video mo. Saan galing ang pondo? (-3 tiles) 6 - Hindi mo nilabas ang medical records mo. (-3 tiles) 7 - Sabi ng COMELEC, hindi ka raw Filipino citizen. (-3 tiles) 8 - Marami ka raw pinapatay sa pinamunuan mong bayan. (-3 tiles) 9 - Overpriced ang city hall mo. (-3 tiles) 10 - Nagbuhat ka ng sako ng sibuyas, maling hawak sa martilyo, biglang e-epal sa kalagitnaan ng trabaho ng iba. Wa-epek! (-5 tiles) 11 - Ginagawa mong patungan ang tatay mong panday na hindi naman nanalo sa pagkapangulo. (-5 tiles) 12 - Makikipagsampalan ka sa kapwa mo kandidato? Away-bata? (-3 tiles) 13 - Nagpakita si Punisher sa debate! Ikaw nama’y di sumipot at tumambay sa bahay with your tattered shirts! (-5 tiles) 14. Namigay ka ng phone at rosaryo na may tatak ng pangalan mo. Ano ka manufacturer? (-5 tiles)
blue TILES 1 - Matapang! Matalino! Palaban! Death threats ang inaalmusal mo! (+3 tiles) 2 - Mahal ng sambayanang Pilipino ang tatay mong Panday! (+2 tiles) 3 - Walang dudang napaunlad ang Davao! (+1 tile) 4 - Lolo mo ang dating pangulo at bet na bet ka ng kasalukuyang pangulo! (+1 tile) 5 - Marami kang fans dahil sa mga nakakatawa pero totoong banat mo! (+3 tiles) 6 - Galing kang UPIS, nagtapos ng PolSci at Law sa Diliman! (+1 tile) 7 - Chill ka lang at sinakyan nalang ang ginawang alias sayo ng mga tao! (+2 tiles) 8 - Naging miyembro ka na ng three branches of government (+1 tile) 9 - Handang lumabag sa Human Rights para madisiplina ang masasamang tao! (+3 tiles) 10 - Sumikat ang Makati sa ilalim ng termino mo! (+1 tile) 11 - Nagtapos kang Magna Cum Laude sa UP Visayas! (+2 tiles) 12. Inamin mong marami kang ipapapatay na kriminal kung mananalo ka! Naging totoo ka sa sambayanan! (+3 tiles)
mar roxas
grace poe
The Humble Sibuyas
Father’s Legacy
(unique passive) Madalas magpa-humble at magpasikat sa masa! Double ang effect ng anumang red at blue tiles na iyong matapakan.
dice
(unique passive) Tatay mo ang Panday, na hanggang ngayon ay mahal pa rin ng sambayanang Pilipino! Dahil dito, suportado ka ng mga FPJ fans!
miriam defensorsantiago
jejomar binay
rodrigo duterte The Punisher
The Iron Lady of Asia
The Humble Boy Scout Under the Sun
(unique passive) Matapang! Walang inuurungan! Ginawang running mate ang isang Marcos kahit alam niyang maari niyang makalaban ang buong bansa!
(unique passive) Mahilig ding magpasikat at mamigay ng merchandise na may tatak na “Binay”. Ang Boy Scout na hindi kayang tumapak sa baha pero marami pa ring supporters, lalo na matatanda.
(unique passive) Malakas ang personalidad at matapang! Kayang pumatay kung para sa katahimikan ng bayan!
Walang epekto sa’yo ang red tiles.
+1 tile per turn ngunit 2x ang epekto ng red tile at walang epekto ang blue tile sa’yo
+1 tile per turn
Sinumang kalaban ang mauna sa’yo ay aatras ng 3 tiles.