Philippine Collegian Issue 25

Army men harass 8 UPLB students in Batangas — Page 3 Philippine Collegian Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas - Diliman 8 Pebrero 2012 Tomo 89, Blg. 25

UPD TO TIGHTEN SECURITY ON CAMPUS AFTER ROBBERY INCIDENT

Student attacked in USC Office still in critical condition Victor Gregor Limon The UP Diliman (UPD) community should expect tighter security measures in the campus following the robbery incident at the UP Diliman (UPD) University Student Council (USC) office on February 1, which left fourth year Political Science student and Center for Nationalist Studies (CNS) secretary-general Lordei Camille Anjuli Hina seriously injured and in critical condition.

In an emergency meeting convened by UPD Chancellor Caesar Saloma on February 2, the UPD Committee on Security and Welfare (CSWC) endorsed a stricter inspection of IDs and bags by security personnel who will be issued metal detectors, according to UPD USC chair and CSWC member Jemimah Garcia.

“There will also be increased UP Diliman Police visibility especially in the vicinity [of Vinzons Hall] where the incident happened in order to rebuild confidence,” said Saloma in a statement on February 3.

The CSWC however deferred its decision on allowing security guards to be equipped with policeman clubs and guns, pending consultations with students, employees, and administrators and the results of a an open student assembly today at the College of Engineering.

Saloma and UP President Alfredo Pascual has been invited in the said consultation to address the students.

An ecumenical gathering will also be held on the same day at 4 PM at the AS parking lot.

Continued on page 4 »

Find your fetish Kultura Page 6

IN THE WRONG. Dan Mar Vicencio, alias Carlo Pecayo, the suspect on the robbery involving a fourth year Political science student, is flanked by media men at the UP Diliman Police HQ on February 1. Vicencio, 35, admitted hitting the victim on the left temple with a scrap metal in the USC Office at Vinzons Hall at around 3 PM. John Keithley Difuntorum

Higit sa seguridad

Is it end of the BPO boom?

Editoryal Pahina 2

Lathalain Page 8

Anonimity Terminal Cases Delfin Mercado Alone, we meet uncertainty. Alone, we learn how to see and to hear, more than the way we see and we hear when we are with company. Alone, we rediscover the self that was buried by the multiplicity of our interactions.

For alone, we retreat to our own inner worlds.

Outside, we are surrounded by nameless, faceless people – walking past us, tripping us, eyeing our food, staring at us blankly – people who each have a destination to go. Wherever it is, we don’t know, and much less care.

They are all faceless, nameless. For in this fast life, names are but fleeting instances of recognition.

What’s in a name? Why do we need names? Names are created to serve as markers, indicators of acknowledgement and familiarity that people who choose not to be alone use.

Alone, we don’t need names. Names are not made for ourselves, but for others, for instances when we choose to be with someone, with anyone. When we hide from the world, we don’t need names, but once the world rediscovers us, it names us, labels us for its sake. *** Names are our first and last prison cells. Once baptised by society, we are chained, imprisoned to live by the expectations wrought by our names.

To name is to assert power. For since Adam, we only named things which are under our dominion, our power. (And that is why, they say, God doesn’t have a name, for there are no names that could chain and imprison God, if there ever was one.)

We strive, every day, to conquer and defeat the names and the labels that society has attached to us. For a name is not enough to encompass our totality, the depth of our identities. In an effort to break away, we compartmentalize our lives, or build separate lives and identities. And for thedaring soul, there is that attempt to conceal, hiding under the cloak of anonymity.

Names are our first and last prison cells. For even if we struggle, in the end, only the name survives. Faceless names on epitaphs, and nothing more.

Multiple identities do not survive in the memory of those left behind. What is left is a singular self, encapsulated, summarized in a name etched on a piece of marble. We are trapped, even in the end, by the labels that society has imposed.

So how do we escape, how do we overpower our names? Do things that are not attached to our names, anonymous deeds that people will remember, acts that were done not for the sake of building your name or reputation. In doing so, what is remembered for posterity is not the name, but the deed.

In anonymity, we create new beings, and in creating anonymously, we destroy the chains that tie us to the names that society created for us. For in anonymity, we name ourselves. And in naming there lies power.

*** Do not ask for my name, for it bears little significance. ●

philippinecollegian.org

2 • Kulê Opinyon

Miyerkules 08 Pebrero 2012

Higit sa seguridad Pinarurupok ng mga siwang ng kakulangan ang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP), at patunay ang nangyaring karahasan sa Vinzons Hall noong nakaraang Miyerkules sa mahinang tikas ng pamantasan sa usapin ng seguridad at kaligtasan.

Hindi na bago sa UP ang malalagim na insidenteng nag-iiwan ng mga biktima ng pandarahas.

Pinakabago sa listahan ang Political Science major na si Lordei Hina.

Noon lamang nakaraang taon, pinaslang si Given Grace Cebanico, isang Computer Science major, sa UP Los Baños.

Samantalang pinupunan naman ng administrasyon ng UP ang tungkulin nito sa pagsisiguro ng kaligtasan sa pamantasan sa pammagitan ng pag-aangkop ng mga hakbang gaya ng paglalagay ng CCTV camera sa ilang gusali at pagpapatupad ng palisiyang “No ID, No Entry,” naging patunay ang nangyari sa Vinzons Hall sa mga kahinaang taglay at kakulangan ng mga hakbang na ito.

Matatandaang nanghingi ng ID sa mga suspek ang guwardiyang nakadestino sa Vinzons Hall noong araw na nangyari ang krimen. Nagbigay ng ID ang isa sa kanila, ngunit nagawa pa rin nilang isakatuparan ang kanilang balak — patunay na may mga palisiya mang gaya ng nabanggit, hindi pa rin sapat ang mga ito upang punan ang maaaring magawa ng sapat na bilang ng mga gwardiya at pulis sa kampus.

Ngunit higit pa sa mga banta ng panganib na maaaring harapin ng unibersidad ang magiging implikasyon sakaling tuluyang higpitan ng pamantasan ang bilang at uri ng mga taong makapapasok dito. Hindi ordinaryong pamantasan ang UP at hindi ito ekslusibo sa mga guro at mag-aaral. Ang UP ay hindi pamantasang pinamumugaran ng mga nakikitirang mamamayan — isa itong malaking komunidad na tinirikan ng premyadong paaralan.

Kaya kailangan nitong panatilihin ang pampubliko nitong katangian, at hindi maaaring gawing opsyon ang pagsasara ng UP sa mga mamamayan na kung tutuusin ay puno’t dahilan ng kaniyang pag-iral bilang pamantasan.

Isa pa rin sa mga pinakamabisang paraan upang masugpo at maiwasan ang krimen sa loob ng UP ang pagkakaroon ng sapat na bilang ng guwardiya at pulis. Higit na magiging epektibo ang pagkakaroon ng mas maraming pulis na rumoronda at mas maraming guwardiya na nagbabantay sa bawat gusali.

Ngunit dulot ng kakarampot na badyet ng UP, nauuwi ang pamantasan sa mga pansamantala’t walang kasiguraduhang hakbang gaya ng palisiyang “No ID, No Entry.”

Ngunit hindi maaaring isantabi ang insidente sa Vinzons bilang isa lamang sa maraming krimen na naganap at posibleng maganap pa sa UP. Bilang isang pamantasan na umiiral sa isang mas malawak na lipunan, nararapat na ilugar din ang pangyayari sa mga implikasyo’t pahiwatig nito sa kultura’t kasanayan sa ating bayan.

Hindi lamang sa UP umiiral ang mga krimen at mga kaso ng karahasan. Madalas na itunuturong dahilang nagtutulak sa mga taong nauuwi sa ganitong gawain ang kahirapan. Ngunit sa malalimang pagsusuri, hindi lamang kahirapan at labis na pangangailangan ang nagbubunga ng mga gawaing iligal; hindi simpleng pagkapiit sa mababang antas ng lipunan ang nagluluwal ng krimen at karahasan.

Dahil kung imamapa sa konteksto ng lipunang Pilipino, mahihinuhang umiiral tayo sa lunang bulag sa tunay na konsepto ng hustisya’t laganap ang huwad na pagkilala sa katarungan.

Pinakatampok na halimbawa rito ang mistulang pagsasawalangbahala sa mga nagkasala sa bayan.

Sa halip na bigyang katarungan ang mga paglabag sa batas na

Editoryal

QUOTED Sa atin naman kahit senador puwede rin namang magartista, ‘di ba?

—Yul Servo, freelancer, on

choosing between acting and politics, www.pep.ph, February 3

5.5 x 3.5 in

In-explain ko sa kanya at sinabi ko sa kanya, ‘Honey, when it’s in front of the TV, it’s pretend.

So ‘pag pretend, it’s okay lang.’

Okay siya doon, basta work.

—Kris Aquino, actress and

TV host, told his son on taking a daring role in the upcoming television series “Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw”, www. abs-cbnnews.com, February 6

Ysa Calinawan

ginawa ni dating pangulong Gloria Arroyo, nauuwi na lamang sa sagupaan ng makakapangyarihan ang paglilitis kay Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Samantala, nananatili namang malaya si Ret. Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan sa kabila ng mga ebidensyang nagtuturo sa kanya bilang utak sa likod ng pagdukot sa dalawang mag-aaral ng UP at pagpaslang sa daan-daang progresibo sa ilalim ng administrasyong Arroyo.

Pinalalaganap ng ganitong pagpapabaya sa hustisya ang pagiral ng kultura ng kawalang hustisya,

na isa sa mga dahilan ng patuloy na paglaganap ng kriminalidad sa loob man o labas ng pamantasan.

Samakatuwid, bukod sa marapat na paggiit ng hustisya para kay Hina, kinakailangang umigpaw ang mga panawagan tungo sa pagsugpo sa tunay na ugat ng problema.

Sapagkat hangga’t hindi natuturol ang tunay na pinagmumulan ng mga suliranin sa lipunan, patuloy lamang na lalaganap ang kultura ng kawalang katarungan at higit na tataas ang bilang ng mga biktima ng karahasan. ●

Philippine Collegian www.philippinecollegian.org Punong Patnugot Marjohara S. Tucay Kapatnugot Richard Jacob N. Dy Tagapamahalang Patnugot Dianne Marah E. Sayaman Panauhing Patnugot Glenn L. Diaz, Larissa Mae R. Suarez Patnugot sa Balita Victor Gregor U. Limon Patnugot sa Lathalain Mila Ana Estrella S. Polinar Patnugot sa Grapiks Chris Martin T. Imperial, Ruth Danielle R. Aliposa Mga kawani Ma. Katherine H. Elona, Kevin Mark R. Gomez, Marianne F. Rios, Ma. Victoria M. Almazan, Ysa V. Calinawan Pinansiya Amelyn J. Daga Tagapamahala sa Sirkulasyon Paul John Alix Sirkulasyon Gary Gabales, Amelito Jaena, Glenario Ommamalin Mga Katuwang na Kawani Trinidad Gabales, Gina Villas Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, Unibersidad ng Plipinas Diliman, Lungsod Quezon Telefax 981-8500 lokal 4522 Email kule1112@gmail.com Website philippinecollegian.org Kasapi Solidaridad: UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations, College Editors Guild of the Philippines

I will not allow myself to be a victim of this farce.

My name is clean, and I have served our great AFP with all my mind, soul and body.

—Retired

Major General Jovito Palparan Jr, in a statement released during the 3rd hearing on EmpeñoCadapan case, February 6

Kung ang CARPER ay basketball may last two minutes na lang ang gobyerno hanggang 2014.

—TFM President Alberto

Jayme, talking about the gearing up of massive protest action of farmers vs CARPER, www.philstar.com, February 6

3 • Kulê Balita

Army men harass 8 UPLB students in Batangas Isabella Patricia H. Borlaza In yet another case of harassment of UP students doing community work, eight members of the UP Los Baños (UPLB) student-based multimedia collective Zoom Out (ZO) reported that military men and local police harassed and intimidated the group during their two-day basic masses integration activity in the community of Barangay Hukay in Calatagan, Batangas.

In the late morning of February 5, military men from the 16th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army and 730 Combat group of the Philippine Air Force questioned the ZO group taking photos and videos in the community and claimed that the students “may show the military in a bad light,” according to UPLB-ZO President Raymart Narciso in a press release.

Later that day, three policemen went to the quarters where the students were staying and asked the group to report to the barangay hall to sign their names in a log book for visitors, which was, according to the local police, mandatory under a local ordinance.

The students and members of the community questioned the existence of the said ordinance and refused to report to the barangay hall. The previous day, the ZO group presented

a letter to barangay captain Romillo Macaladlad to inform him of ZO’s immersion activity, but Macaladlad did not mention any log book the students needed to sign, said Narciso.

The ZO group left the community later that day but was followed by the police until they left the vicinity of Calatagan, according to Narciso.

Barangay Hukay, which covers 2,000 hectares of the 12,000-hectare Hacienda Zobel, has been under military observation for two years, said Narciso. The residents of the community are being evicted from the barangay to convert the lot into a private resort, he explained.

Narciso said that the actions of the police and military men have not discouraged ZO to continue holding immersion activities in oppressed communities such as Barangay Hukay.

“If there’s one thing we’ve learned… it is that with all the injustices in this country and our society, we should get more involved and get more people to be involved,” he said.

The said incident is the second reported case of military harassment of UP students going to the field this year.

On January 21, alleged military men also harassed three UP Diliman students during their community development field work in Porac, Pampanga.

In response to the increasing

number of harassments of UP students doing community work, the UP administration called for a press conference on January 26 which condemned the human rights violations as acts against academic freedom.

Though the image of a UP student continues to be deemed

as “suspicious,” community service will always be part of UP life and UP cannot sacrifice the quality of the students’ work by scaling down the scope and extent of field work, said Student Regent Ma. Kristina Conti.

Students are then given all the more reason to integrate themselves into the community, added Conti.

Miyerkules 8 Pebrero 2012

In 2006, the UP administration formed a task force to further investigate the military abduction of UPD students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan in Bulacan. The continued harassment should push the administration to institutionalize the creation of bodies like this to protect students’ rights and welfare, said Conti. ●

Solons push for comprehensive student loan program Richard Damian Mariano Amid the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) proposal to scrap its Study Now Pay Later Program (SNPLP), several lawmakers in the House of Representatives are pushing for the strengthening of the student loan program.

Seventeen members of the House have filed 12 bills that seek to expand the government’s SNPLP. The bills have been pending at the Committee

on Higher and Technical Education (CHTE) since November 10, 2010.

Among the bills pending at the CHTE include Bill No. 242 or “An Act Providing for a Comprehensive [SNPLP] and Appropriating Funds Therefor” filed by CHTE chair and Aurora Representative Juan Edgardo Angara.

Under Angara’s bill, poor but deserving undergraduate college students may borrow a maximum educational loan amounting to P50,000 every year at an annual interest rate of five to 10 percent.

The loan shall be payable within five years, effective five years after the employment of the student-debtor.

The bill also provides provision of appropriating an initial funding of P5 billion pesos for the program, P10 million of which shall be used for operational costs. The bill also requires that the yearly allocation for the SNPLP be specified in the national budget.

“It is a known fact that countless capable and deserving students are prevented from pursuing higher studies due to their dire financial conditions. An enhanced assistance program shall increase the prospects of poor but deserving students of acquiring quality education and training needed to uplift not only their lot but that of their family and communities as well,” said Angara in his explanatory note.

Scrap SNPLP?

The current SNPLP was created under Republic Act 6014 in 1969 to provide a maximum of P15,000 educational loan for college students.

HIT AND MISS. Fighting Maroon Jouro Librodo prepares to return the ball in a singles tennis match against the NU Bulldogs at the Rizal Memorial Lawn Tennis Grounds in Manila on February 5. UP was defeated in the singles and doubles match, dropping to a record of 1-3 in the 2nd round. Chris Martin Imperial

At an annual interest of six percent, the loan may be paid within 10 years, effective two years after the employment of a student-debtor.

CHEd adopted the program for implementation in 1994.

With the low collection of loan payments, however, CHEd has proposed the scrapping of the current SNPL program. However, CHEd Chairperson Patricial Licuanan said that the commission is still conducting review of the program.

“The SNPLP is just temporarily suspended. [There will be] no new grants for 2012 to 2013 but old grants continue. Reason is very low repayment,” Licuanan told the Collegian.

Only two to three percent of the accumulated student loans have been paid so far, said Angara. The “dismal” turn-out of loan payment can be attributed to the commission’s difficulty to track student-debtors after they graduate, explained Angara.

Angara added that the lack of sanctions to student-debtors and their respective guarantors who would not pay their loans could have also encouraged intentional evasion of payment.

“The implementation largely depends on the good working relations between the CHEd and the scholars. I doubt that the problem is structural but more on the process of tracking [the student-debtors],” said UP Student Regent Ma. Kristina Conti.

SNPLP vs student loans

CHEd cannot be blamed in proposing the termination of the program because the rate of loan Continued on page 5>>

4 • Kulê Balita

Miyerkules 8 Pebrero 2012

K-12 ipatutupad na sa kabila ng mga batikos Ipatutupad na ng Department of Education (DepEd) sa lahat ng paaralang elementarya at hayskul ang programang K-12 sa darating na pasukan sa kabila ng pagbatikos ng mga grupo ng mga mag-aaral at guro na tutol dito.

Bagaman wala pang pormal na kurikulum at walang paghahanda sa mga gurong magtuturo nito, ikakasa na ang pagpapatupad ng K-12 bilang isa sa mga pangunahing programa ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino III sa darating na Hunyo, ani Emmanuel Maninang, Secondary Division Education Supervisor II ng DepEd– National Capital Region (NCR).

Sa ilalim ng K-12, kakailanganin ng mga esudyante na mag-aral ng kindergarten bago tanggapin sa elemtarya. Samantala, gagawing 12 ang kabuuang bilang ng taon ng pag-aaral sa elementarya at PAGHIHIGPIT. “Simula nang mangyari ang pagnanakaw, may kaunting pagbabago sa seguridad,” ani Gerry Docto, guwardiyang nakahuli hayskul, mula sa 10 taong nakabatay sa lalaking nagnakaw sa USC Office sa Vinzons. Kabilang sa mga pagbabagong ito ang pagbibigay ng ahensiya sa mga guwardiya ng mga metal detectors, pagpapatupad ng “No ID, No Entry” policy, at ang pagla-log ng mga taong pumapasok sa mga gusali. Chris Martin Imperial sa kasalukuyang Basic Education Curriculum.

Tatawaging “senior high school” office about applying for a booth in Budget cuts affect security ang dagdag na dalawang taong the upcoming UP Fair. Only Hina and a Various student and youth groups dagdag kung saan makapipili ng fellow CNS member was at the office at denounced the incident as a direct technical-vocational courses ang mga the time. consequence of the budget cuts the estudyante.

When Hina’s friend left her alone university faces every year. For 2012 <<from page 1 Kabilang sa mga tunguhin ng K-12 to buy food at around 2:30 PM, one alone, the government alloted only a ang tumugon sa mababang kalidad of the men returned and attacked third or P5.54 billion of the P17 billion “As the UP administration attempts ng basic education sa bansa at iayon Hina. At around 3:30 PM, Hina’s friend that UP needs. to maintain [Vinzons Hall] and UP ang antas nito sa mga pamantayang returned to the office but Hina was not Under the approved total budget, Diliman...as an open and publicly internasyunal, ayon sa DepEd. answering the door and the office was the government slashed P27 million accessible academic institution it will Paliwanag pa ni Maninang, locked. When she was able to get inside from the university’s budget for continue to develop better ways to the office, she saw Hina sprawled on the personal services, or the source of desidido ang administrasyong ensure the security, safety and well floor, her face and upper body drenched funds for UP employees, including Aquino na ipatupad ang K-12 lalo pa’t being of its faculty, staff, and students in blood.

UPD policemen. The government also mayroong kasunduan ang DepEd, at so that UP is able to accomplish its According to Vinzons Hall security decreased by P181.7 million UP’s budget iba pang lokal at dayuhang kumpanya stated mandate as a national university,” guard Gerry Docto, he saw the suspect for its maintenance and other operating sa tuwing magkaroon ng consultation Saloma said. leaving Vinzons Hall at around 3:15PM, expenses, the source of funding for meetings. “Graduates of K–12 will Meanwhile, Saloma said he will carrying a backpack. When Docto asked security guards hired through private be considered for employment appoint a new UPD cheif security if he could inspect the backpack, the agencies. requirements... [and] should have skills officer (CSO) soon as current CSO suspect started running and hailed a This year alone, the UPD which will suit the needs of the labor Professor Elvin Abreo ”plans to take a taxi cab. Docto fortunately took down administration implemented a new market,” ani Maninang. rest after serving as UPDCSO for more the taxi’s plate number and reported security arrangement which reduced Unang iminungkahi ng DepEd than nine months.” it to the UPDP. Roving guards then the number of campus security guards ang pagsasaayos ng sistema ng intercepted the taxi cab along Guerrero from 302 to 234, a measure that will Hina still in critical condition basic education sa bansa noong Street in front of Asian Center. save the university about P13 million.

As of press time, Hina is being 2010, sa pamamagitan ng orihinal Among those recovered from the “This incident has been an eyeclosely monitored by doctors at the na programang K+12, kung saan suspect is Hina’s bag, two laptops, and opener for me, [and] not only in terms surgical intensive care unit of the magdaragdag ng tig-isang taon sa a 12-inch ice pick which is suspected as of what needs to be done within the Capitol Medical Center. Hina is still elementarya at hayskul. the weapon used in the crime. university,” Mrs. Hina said in a press unconcious and may remain under The suspect, who called himself conference on February 4. observation for the next six months to ‘Ibasura ang K-12’ “Carlo Pecayo” in initial police “The ability to ensure the safety determine the possibility of recovery, Ayon kay Kabataan Partylist Rep. investigations, has now been identified and security of [all] members of the said the victim’s mother Conception Raymond Palatino, ang tunay na as Dan Mar Vicencio, 38 years old and a UP community is severly compromised Hina. layunin umano ng K-12 ay gawing semiresident of Pasig City.

He is now under by budget cuts [which reflects on the According to medical reports, Hina skilled workers ang mga estudyante the custody of the Quezon City Police reduces] number of security guards in suffered skull fractures and multiple upang tugunan ang pangangailangan District (QCPD) Station 9 and may face the campus as well as the inability of stab wounds in the left side of her ng ibang bansa. Tila aniya nagiging charges of robbery and serious physical the UPDP to maintain sufficient police head and neck, causing acute brain prodyuser lamang ang Pilipinas ng injury, according to Quezon City (QC) presence through the campus, ” said hemorrhages and hematoma, or the murang lakas-paggawasa ilalim ng prosecutor’s recommendation to the CNS-UPD in a statement. solid swelling of clotted blood.

K-12. city fiscal.

According to anti-budget cut group CT scan results also revealed a skull “Ang nakikita ng gobyerno The charges will be finalized UP KILOS NA, the incident is a clear fragment lodged in Hina’s brain. once the QC fiscal approves the city indication that existing alternative ay ‘yung pag-conform sa Mrs. Hina however said a surgical prosecutor’s recommendation and security measures, such as the “No ID, international standards, sa halip operation to remove the said skull the cases raffled off to a judge, said No entry” policy and the installation of na just compensations, maayos na fragment is “out of the question” as it Attorney Jessica Barun, Mrs. Hina’s CCTV cameras in major buildings in the classrooms, at iba pa,” ani Benjo Basas, might further complicate her daughter’s legal counsel, in an interview. campus, cannot address the security pangulo ng grupong Teachers’ Dignity condition.

Meanwhile, a QPD manhunt needs of the university.

Coalition (TDC).

‘Violent attack’ team has still not arrested Vicencio’s “Dumudulo pa rin ang usapin sa Bagaman madagdagdagan ng On February 1, at around 12PM, two accomplice, identified as Dante Santos makabuluhang presensiya ng pisikal dalawang taon, hindi umano ito men who introduced themselves as of Barangay Mambugan, Antipolo City, na seguridad sa anyo ng mga security kasiguruhan na magiging mahusay tatoo artists inquired at the UPD USC Rizal who remains at large. personnel” the group said. ●

UPD to tighten security

ang mga estudyante sa iba’t ibang larangan. “Kahit madagdagan ng maraming taon, kung kulang-kulang sa classroom, libro, teacher, wala ding epekto,” paliwanag ni Basas.

“Our focus should be completely re-oriented to produce a holistically trained workforce that contributes to national industrialization and development,” ani Palatino.

Ipinanawagan din ng TDC at Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) na magiging “trahedya” lamang umano kung ipatutupad ang K-12. “[Maisasakripisyo] ang kalidad ng edukasyon, at [maisasangkalan] ang kapakanan ng mga teachers, dahil [pagtuturuin] nila ang kahit na sino, kahit walang training, kapalit ng sahod na P3,000 kada buwan sa mga preschool teachers,” ani Basas.

Bagong kurikulum

Bukod sa dagdag na taon, mungkahi rin ng K-12 ang pagpapatupad ng “spiral curriculum” sa hayskul, kung saan paulit-ulit na pag-aaralan ang mga asignatura ngunit paiba-iba ang gurong magtatalakay at antas ng pagkatuto sa bawat taon.

“This approach is not really helping the students. That is why we would prefer teaching them pure Algebra or Statistics because it sticks to them. In a spiral curriculum, the students tend to forget the lessons previously taken because of its ‘chopsuey’ design,” ani Frances Castro, pangkalahatang kalihim ng ACT. Hindi umano mapupunan ng bagong kurikulum ang mga kakulangang dapat pagtuunan ng pansin sa mga paaralan, ani Castro.

Samantala, mungkahi ring gawing apat na oras na lamang ang pagtuturo sa elementarya upang maiwasan umanong mapagod ang mga bata sa pag-aaral.

Ngunit ayon kay Dr. Dina Ocampo, dekano ng Kolehiyo ng Edukasyon sa UP Diliman, mas tugon ang mungkahing ito sa paglaki ng bilang ng mga estudyante sa isang klase.

“Masyado nang maraming mga bata, kaya nag-four hours, kailangang i-decongest ang schools,” aniya.

Iminungkahi rin ni Ocampo ang pagtutuon ng pansin sa “mother tongue policy” ng DepEd o ang palisiyang nagsasabing magdudulot ng higit na pagkatuto ng mga estudyante ang paggamit ng mismong mga wikang ginagamit nila sa kanikanilang tahanan sa pagtuturo.

Samantala, ayon sa Kabataan Partylist at Anakbayan, ang dapat na kagyat na tugunan ng gobyerno ay ang mga kakulangan ng sektor ng edukasyon. Bagaman tumaas ang badyet ng DepEd mula P207 bilyon tungong P238.8 bilyon, kulang pa rin ang bansa ng 103,599 na guro, 152, 569 ang mga silid-aralan, 13, 225, 527 na upuan, at higit 95 milyon na libro, ayon sa mga militanteng grupo. ●

5 • Kulê Balita

Miyerkules 8 Pebrero 2012

Kulungan ng mga suspek sa pagkawala nina Karen at She, pinasisiyasat Mary Joy T. Capistrano Ipinag-utos ng hukom sa kaso laban kay retiradong Hen. Jovito Palparan at iba pang opisyal ng militar na magsagawa ng inspeksyon sa Army Custodial Management Unit ng Fort Bonifacio at PNP Custodial Center ng Camp Crame, Quezon City sa Pebrero 10.

Isasagawa ang nasabing inspeksyon upang matiyak ang tunay na kalagayan sa kulungan nina Lt. Col. Felipe Anotado Jr. at S/ Sgt Edgardo Osorio, mga sumukong kapwa akusado ni Palparan sa kasong kidnapping at serious illegal detention sa dalawang estudyanteng UP na sina Karen Empeño at Sherlyn Cadapan noong 2006.

Nauna nang binatikos ng panig ng prosekusyon, sa pangunguna ng grupong National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), ang walang abisong paglipat kina Anotado at Osorio noong Disyembre 2011 mula sa Camp Crame patungong Fort Bonifacio.

Sa pagdinig noong Pebrero 6, binigyan ni Judge Teodora Gonzales ng Malolos Regional Trial Court ng limang araw ang magkabilang panig upang magpasa ng mga karagdagang komento ukol sa isasagawang inspeksyon. Matapos nito, hihintayin na ang resolusyon sa mga ipinasang mosyon.

Gayunpaman, wala pang itinakdang araw ang susunod na pagdinig.

Mabagal na paghahanap

Samantala, matapos ang anim na

linggong paghahanap, kasalukuyan pa ring hindi naaaresto ng mga awtoridad si Palparan at si M/Sgt. Rizal Hilario, isa pa sa mga kapwa akusadong retiradong heneral.

Ayon sa pahayag ni Palparan na ipinakalat ni Atty. Jesus Santos, abogadong dating heneral, sinabi niyang hindi siya pugante at iginiit niyang iligal ang warrant of arrest na inihain sa kanya, dahil hindi umano siya binigyan ng pagkakataong mapahayag ang sariling panig sa pamamagitan ng isang preliminary investigation.

Ilang ulit namang binasura ng korte ang petisyon ni Palparan na iurong ang warrant of arrest at inatasan ang dating heneral na sumuko na sa awtoridad at humarap sa korte.

Ayon sa isang pahayag na inilabas ng grupong Human Rights Watch noong Enero 1, pinoprotektahan umano si Palparan ng ilang mga kasamahan sa militar na nakinabang sa panunungkulan niya bilang pinuno ng counter-insurgency program ni dating Pangulong Gloria Arroyo.

“Hindi siya sumusuko at hindi siya nahuhuli dahil sa palagay ko nasa kalinga siya ng mga kabaro niya.

Sadyang kulang pa ang pagtatrabaho ng mga kinauukulan sa pagtugis kay Palparan,” pahayag ni Erlinda Cadapan, nanay ni Sherlyn.

Kaugnay nito, nanawagan naman si Elaine Pearson, deputy director for Asia ng Human Rights Watch kay Pangulong Aquino na panagutin ang mga opisyal at sundalong militar na nagkakanlong kay Palparan.

“They are not only condoning the heinous and beastly crime he and his

roving band are being charged of but they are perpetuating impunity,” ani Atty. Edre Olalia, tagapagsalita ng NUPL. Dapat ding tukuyin kung sino ang mga nagkakanlong kay Palparan upang maiharap din sila sa hukuman, dagdag ni Olalia.

Samantala, hinikayat naman ni Nicanor Bartolome, Chief Director ng Philippine National Police (PNP) si Palparan na sumuko na upang madepensahan niya ang kanyang sarili sa korte. Binigyang-diin ni Bartolome ang isang milyong patong sa sinumang makapagtuturo sa kinaroroonan ng dating heneral.

Kaugnay nito, inamin naman ni Bartolome na mahirap arestuhin si Palparan dahil sa kanyang karanasan bilang intelligence officer.

Gayunpaman, sinabi niyang may mga planong binubuo ang mga pulis upang mapabilis ang paghuli kay Palparan.

Samantala, ibinasura ni Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jesse Robredo ang panukalang shoot-to-kill order laban kay Palparan. Aniya, dapat mahuling buhay si Palparan upang malitis sa harap sa korte.

kasama ang mga abogado at biktima ng mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao, sa Malolos matapos ang pagdinig sakaso noong Pebrero 6.

Tampok sa nasabing summit ang mahigpit na pangangailangang mahuli at mapanagot si Palparan at ang panawagang hustisya para sa karahasang dinanas ng tatlong community development student

noong Enero 21 sa Porac, Pampanga sa kamay ng mga hinihinalang militar.

“Dapat kumilos na si Aquino para sa agarang paghuli at pagkulong kay Palparan upang lumitaw sa korte para madepensahan ang sarili niya na walang kasalanan.Gayundin, ilitaw na sila Karen at She na sinasabi nilang buhay pa,” pahayag ni Concepcion Empeño, nanay ni Karen. ●

‘Panagutin si Palparan’

Patuloy at mas pinaigting ang kampanya laban sa retiradong heneral hindi lamang ng mga organisasyon ng karapatang pantao sa Pilipinas kundi maging ng mga internasyunal na grupo.

Nagdaos ng “Jail Palparan” summit ang lahat ng organisasyon ng karapatang pantao sa Central Luzon,

POWER STRUGGLE. Linemen from the Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) repair a transmission line in Sta. Mesa, Manila. Labor and small-scale business groups denounce the high power rates in the Philippines, now considered among the highest in the world. About 10-15 percent of the gross operating income of small businesses and laborers’ monthly income go to energy costs which could otherwise be utilized for higher wages and their familes’ basic necessities. Chris Martin Imperial

Student loan program <<from page 3

HUNGER PANGS. A child looks on as he waits for food to be served. Social Weather Stations (SWS) reveals that during the fourth quarter of 2011, the number of families experiencing involuntary hunger rose to about 4.5 million families from 4.1 million recorded in the previous quarter. Contributed Photo

payment is indeed low but scrapping the SNPLP altogether would further deny Filipino students of their right to education, said Kabataan Partylist Representative Raymond Palatino.

Students are already carrying the burden of paying high tuition brought by the cuts in state subsidies to tertiary education, explained Palatino.

The termination of SNPLP would only be feasible if the government provides sufficient financial support to state universities and colleges, he added.

Meanwhile, compared to scholarships that only defray tuition and other fees, SNPLP can be more responsive to the needs of a college students as it covers not only school fees but the daily expenses of a student, said Palatino.

UP’s Socialized Tuition and

Financial Assistance Program, for instance, offers partial to full defrayal of tuition and other fees. “But even students in the Bracket C [that enjoy 60 percent discount in their tuition] might still need to avail of a student loan for his allowance or lodging expenses,” said UP President Alfredo Pascual.

While the university already has a student loan program, Pascual said his administration is planning to create an SNPL scheme. UP’s current student loan program requires studentdebtors to pay towards the end of every semester.

“Under the SNPL scheme, students may study now and just pay when they have a job. Thus, education can be accessible to everybody whether you have money now or later,” said Conti. ●

6-7 • Kulê Kultura

Wala sa lugar

Skirts and school girls

Kiri Ty

Polo Paraiso

Wala akong pinipiling lugar. Sa banyo ng mall, sa masusukal na sulok ng parke o sa bisig ng malalaking ugat ng puno sa Sunken – handa ako kahit kailan, kahit saan. Basta para sa akin, hindi sapat ang kwarto at kama lang.

May mga pagkakataon ngang nagdududa ako kung nasasakyan pa ako ng boypren kong si Andrew. Nagsimula naman kami sa mga nakagawian – kwarto niya, kwarto ko. Pero ako ang tipo ng taong hayok sa eksperimento’t laging balisang makadiskubre. May kakaibang ligaya rin kasi sa pagsuway sa nakatakda, sa posibilidad na mahuli.

At gaya ng maraming bawal, may maliliit na hakbang muna bago namin sinuong ang rurok at sukdulan. Nang minsang bumisita siya sa bahay namin, niyaya ko siya sa kwarto ng mga magulang ko. Nagdalawang-isip pa siya dahil nanonood lang ng TV Patrol ang nanay at tatay ko sa sala. “Huwag kang mag-alala,” sabi ko. “Matatapos tayo bago matapos ang balita.”

Nilampasan namin ang karaniwang 30 minutong buwelo. Pinuspos namin ng halik ang isa’t isa, at agad akong lumuhod para pasayahin siya. Tinititigan ko ang mukha niya mula sa pwesto ko – nakapikit, nakatingala, dama ko ang paglunok niya sa pinipigilang halinghing ng ligaya.

Sinubukan rin namin sa bahay nila.

Napagpasyahan naming sa kusina ito gagawin habang hinuhugasan ang pinagkainan ng pamilya. Sa hapag-kainan pa lamang, habang naghahapunan, tinutukso ko na siya ng mga titig na nanghahalina, hinihimas ang hita niya gamit ang dulo ng mga daliri ko sa paa – basa na ako hindi pa man kami naguumpisa.

Mula noon, tuluyan na kaming lumabas sa apat na sulok ng pribadong kwarto. Mahal namin ang isa’t isa kaya wala akong takot na maharap sa eskandalo. Hindi ako hipokrito, kaya sa bawat date at lakad, pinipili kong mag-eksperimento. Gumitna kami sa pagitan ng mga bookshelf sa library, nakipaghabulan sa pagbaba’t pagtaas ng elevator. Sinubukan rin namin sa museum at hindi ininda ang CCTV camera – masarap ding makipaghabulan sa titig ng mga matang mapanghusga.

Pero kamakailan lang, napansin ko ang pag-aalangan ni Andrew.

Kapag nauuna akong pumasok sa dressing room, matagal bago siya sumunod. Nauunang dumating ang bantay, kaya napipilitan akong lumabas mag-isa. At minsan, kapag humihiling ako ng isa pa, dinadahilan niyang pagod na siya. Posibleng may iba na siya, posibleng nagsawa na. O pwede ring hindi na patas ang tindi ng pagkasabik namin sa ligaya.

Malas niya, hindi ako mabilis sumuko. Kaya bago pa man maputol ang aming ugnayan, nagpasya na akong abutin ang rurok at hamunin ang kuta ng mga nagtakdang mali ang ginagawa naming — niyaya ko siyang magsimba.

“Seryoso ka?” tanong niya. Alam niya ang sagot, alam niya kung bakit.

Alas nuebe ang misa, pero wala pang alas otso’y naroon na kami. Iilan lang ang tao sa paligid, at walang pari sa kumpisalang bukas sa lahat ng makasalanan.

Nauna akong pumasok. Sumunod si Andrew’t sinalubong ko siya ng matatakaw na halik. Nilamas niya ang mapipintog kong suso habang dali-dali kong binuksan ang kanyang zipper.

Naghalinhinan kami sa pagtakam sa isa’t isa. Sa teritoryo kung saan nililinis ang kasalanan, kapwa naming kinikipkip sa lalamunan ang mga ungol na hindi maaaring pakawalan.

Pinatalikod niya ako, pinasok, binayo na parang nakikipaghabulan sa matutuling segundo. Natapos siya sa hudyat ng simula ng pag-eensayo ng koro.

Kapwa kami hinihingal, nanginginig maging mga butil ng pawis na tumatagaktak sa lawas ng aming mga katawan. Ngunit biglang tumigil ang lahat – ang paghinga, ang pangingilabot – nang bumukas ang pinto sa kabilang bahagi ng kumpisalan.

Pumikit ako, huminga nang malalim si Andrew. “Forgive me Father for I have sinned,” sabi niya. ●

He runs a finger across the spines of the books on the shelf without reading the titles, watching her out of the corner of an eye—the thick-rimmed glasses that flash momentarily as it caught the light, the sheer white blouse hugging her round breasts, the swish of a knee-length skirt that revealed glimpses of smooth skin.

He picks up a book and flips through the pages absentmindedly. Later, when he gets home and runs through the things he bought, he would find this same book inside one of the shopping bags but would hardly be surprised. It wouldn’t be the first time he idly bought something in a bookstore because he was distracted by a schoolgirl.

He remembers the first time he went to this bookstore and discovered that students from a nearby all-girls high school went here to buy school supplies.

He got such a big hard-on just being in close proximity to these young girls, their virginal youth, their pure innocence which he felt he needed to violate, as if it were both a coy invitation and a helpless plea: Teach me, but please be gentle.

Once, he went home with one of these girls. In that breathless moment

after he was done with her, panting beside her fetal figure on the bed, the girl suddenly wanted to know what he did for a living. He told her the truth: that he was a clerk in a boring department of a boring insurance company. He had wanted to say something cool: “What do I do? Girls like you.”

Because there really is something with the way a school uniform changes a girl, he tells himself now, perhaps for the thousandth time — the way it offers the exciting prospect of anonymous intimacy, the worthlessness of names and faces, the possibility of pleasure without familiarity.

He now imagines this girl standing almost right next to him. She’s lying in his bed, fully clothed, as his hand opens the buttons of her blouse one by one. His other hand slinks beneath her skirt. He thinks about the way he would slide her panties down her legs to her shoes, the way he would lift her skirt to her waist as he moves on top of her, pinning her down, relishing the touch of fine fabric against his own skin.

He would leave the lights on but would not once feel a need to look at her face. In the last seconds before he comes inside her, he would feel her hands on his

FIND YOUR FETISH Whether it’s a fixation toward sweaty feet or a weakness for construction workers, fetishes are never sensible to those whose sexual taste is constantly affirmed by mainstream porn movies. But deviance does not exist outside norms. It exists because there are norms. And in the effervescent arena of pleasure and desire, who is to say that one lust is more valid than another? ●

waist, trying to push him away, in vain. He would grip her small shoulders and close his eyes. He would then— The girl lines up at the counter with an armful of magazines. He abandons his daydreams to relish the last few minutes before she leaves the store. He would have to talk to her the next time she sees her again. For now he memorizes the cut of her blouse, the pleats and patterns of her plaid skirt, the length of her socks, the sensible black leather shoes. She waits patiently in her place at the queue, typing perhaps a text message on her mobile phone, oblivious of his stare.

Tonight, when he gets home, he would lie in his bed and for the last few minutes before he dozes off to sleep, he would be dreaming about her again. ●

Miyerkules 08 Pebrero 2012

Tied and tested

BO Kelly K. Lee Muntik na naman akong maiwan ng tren at mahuli sa trabaho. Kakatapos lang pumito ni Manong Guard nang maisiksik ko ang sarili sa gitna ng nagtatangkarang mga lalaki. Kapantay lang ng balikat nila ang aking ulo, at naamoy ko agad ang deodorant na gamit nila: Axe Dark Chocolate at Axe Score.

Mukhang bagong ligo ang dalawa.

Walang bahid ng pawis ang amoy ng deodorant nila, na humabol sa akin hanggang sa mahanap ko ang pinakamainam na pwesto sa loob ng tren. Sa wakas, nakakuha na ako ng pwesto sa gilid ng mga upuan. Nakasandal ako sa bintana ng MRT, at ipinuwesto ang backpack sa aking harapan upang makalikha ng kaunting espasyo. Para kahit na masiksik ako, may kaunting lugar para huminga.

Pagdating ng Cubao Station, nilusob nila ang tren. Huminga ako nang malalim, at hinanda ang sarili sa muling pagsikip.

Nalanghap ko ang naghalong amoy ng Cubao—ang usok, lansa ng isda, sangsang ng basura—at ang amoy ng iba-ibang tao na pilit tinatago ng iba’t ibang uri ng kemikal: cologne, deodorant at baby powder. *** Kung hindi bihasa sa paghihimay ng amoy, hindi na maaaninag ang natatanging amoy ng katawan ng tao. Ang maalat at malabakal na amoy ng pawis sa kamay. Ang halimuyak ng natuyong pawis sa likod na kinulob ng mga damit. Ang halong asim at tamis ng pawis sa kilikili.

Alam ko ang mga amoy na ito, lalo na ang amoy ng mga kilikili. Iyon ang amoy na nangakit sa akin na galugarin ang tagong sulok na iyon ng katawan—ang kwebang tinutubuan ng itim na mga damo, na para sa mga babae’y kailangang regular na bunutin o ahitin.

Subalit sa lalaki, pinalalago ang mga damo, na nakadaragdag lamang sa pagkalalaki.

Hindi ako kokontra sa paniniwalang iyon.

Sa karanasan, parang bawal na damo ang mga buhok sa kilikili na nagpapasarap sa

pagtatalik. Masarap itong dilaan upang malasap ang magkahalong deodorant at pawis na kumapit sa malagong buhok.

Kinakagat-kagat ko ang sensitibong balat, at hihintaying marinig ang aray bago tumigil, saka lalawayan ang namagang kilikili.

At minsan, sa kalagitnaan ng paglabas-masok, hinahanap ng mga kamay ko ang namamasang kilikili ng aking katalik. Gamit ang isang panyo, iniipon ko ang pawis. Babaunin ko ang panyo, para makaraos kahit saan kung biglang dalawin ng libog.

Pinaamoy ko dati sa isang ex ang sarili niyang pawis sa kilikili.

Kinabukasan, nakipag-break siya sa akin. *** Kapag matagal na akong tigang, tumatalas ang aking pang-amoy.

Pangatlong araw na ngayon mula nang huli akong nakalanghap ng kilikiling pinawisan.

Kaya nang tumapat sa akin ang lalaking may suot na kupas na maong at t-shirt, nalunod ako sa amoy ng kanyang katawan. Matapos busisiin ang bawat hibla ng amoy, nalaman kong Safeguard white ang ipinanligo niya at wala siyang gamit na deodorant—tawas siguro ang gamit niya.

Buendia Station. Biglang tumigil ang tren at nawala sa balanse ang lalaki sa aking harap. Saglit siyang napayakap sa akin, at pagtayo niya, ngumiti siya at humingi ng paumanhin. Itinaas niya ang kanyang kanang kamay at inabot ang libreng handle bar na pinakamalapit sa kanya. Ngumiti ako nang makitang may linya ng pawis at buhok na nakausli sa manggas ng t-shirt niya.

Bumaba kaming dalawa sa sumunod na istasyon. Sa Taft dapat ako bababa, pero hindi ko napigilan ang aking sarili.

Wala pang gumagamit ng tawas sa lahat ng lalaking natikman ko. ●

Con Dominador We are always in season for the embrace of pain. We are always ripe for it. All life is ripe for it.

The experience of pain requires no intelligence, no wisdom and no maturity, yet it took me a long while to realize that pain was all I ever lived for.

It is all humanity ever lived for, yet their so-called rational minds appropriated something else for it. That hypervaluated pleasure, as if it could exist without the precursors of pain.

And when I begin thinking of such grand thoughts, I know full well that I could be zoning off again.

“You limp bastard,” a female voice said as the fine leathery ends of her whip landed on my cold, sweaty chest. The vague familiarity of her voice excited me yet I tried to remain still, my breathing desperate and constrained by tightly wound ropes around my chest and arms.

My hands, aching to grope her even in the darkness of the fold, are restrained by handcuffs chained to the bed. My Master has returned.

“Are you sleeping on me?” The sound of her heels on the wooden floor gets nearer my restrained body. I found myself writhing, trying to haul myself back up but found myself unable to. The pull of the cuffs plus the friction from the ropes could only allow so much movement. Yet, I found that the more the ropes gripped me, the more excited I became. I felt a fevered throb somewhere inside me, and it is not my dear heart.

“How dare you sleep on me? Oh, we’re not yet done, you incompetent prick!” The anger in her voice thrilled me, and I guess it was greatly expressed by my widely grinning face.

“Oh, so you like that, huh? You like it when I get angry? Well, you are not supposed to make me angry! Let’s see if you would like this.” A cold, biting sensation pricked my chest as she clipped metal clothespins on my nipples.

The longer it stayed there, the more resonant the pain became. And it was good. It was so good that I grunted.

“Did I ask you to make a sound, did I, did I?” The fine leathery ends of her whip landed on my bare chest like a thousand heated needles. I could just imagine my Master looking over me and leering at my utter helplessness. I feel her breath getting nearer and nearer my own. She flogs my chest severely, clearly displeased with my groaning, that I think it might be bleeding.

“Honey Mustard,” I finally said. The flogging stopped, and all I could hear is her breathing and the leather whip landing on the wooden floor.

“I like honey mustard on my chicken and fries,” I added, breathing heavily as I go. She takes the blindfold from my eyes, and the fluorescent glow of the room nearly blinded me.

“What’s wrong now?” she asked.

Like my mother used to say every time I coughed heavily at night, went home crying like a girl or gave her a letter from the school principal.

Perhaps a part of me is

begging to be spanked.

“I... I just want to see your face.” For a moment, I saw a semblance of a smile on her face. It made me smile as well, up until she reached for the leather whip again. Hit me with your best shot, baby. I am always ripe for it.

“Nice try, but that’s not part of the scene. Now sit up!” The leathery ends of her whip now land on my face, like the impassioned slaps from a thousand exgirlfriends. And it was good.

I think I’m in love. ●

Dibuho ni Marianne Rios Disenyo ng pahina ni Jerome Tagaro

8 • Kulê Lathalain

Miyerkules 08 Pebrero 2012

John Toledo The whole world patiently listened as one man uttered the fate of America, and consequently, the world. With every crisp pronouncement in his State of the Union Address, United States (US) President Barack Obama charted the lives not only of his countrymen, but of people across continents.

Obama caught the country’s attention when he announced that the federal government will be implementing tax reforms in the coming months, which will end the current practice of giving tax reductions and incentives to USbased companies that outsource jobs.

“It is time to stop rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas, and start rewarding companies that create jobs right here in America,” Obama says.

Indeed, the American Congress has begun deliberating House Bill 3596 or the “Call Centers and Consumers Protection Bill,” which when enacted will force all US-based BPO companies to end their operations overseas.

The ramifications of the US government’s actions extend to the Philippines, where the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry has been hailed by the government as the “sunshine industry.”

With most economies, including the US, still unable to fully recover from recent economic collapses, the prospects of an actual pull-out of BPO companies are inevitable and might leave the country with the unimaginable—the massive layoff of hundreds of thousands of BPO workers.

Sunshine industry

A little past midnight, call center agent Celso de Castro*, 24, is just beginning with his “normal” morning routine—exercising a bit, eating his day’s first meal, and then boarding a bus from his rented apartment in Cubao to Convergys along Commonwealth Avenue.

For seven months now, Celso has to endure a peculiar lifestyle, beginning his shift every 2:30 AM, Thursday to Monday, in exchange for a basic pay of P14,750 per month for nine hours’ work a day. “Sobra talagang stressful ang work. Sanayan lang talaga,” he says.

In the Philippines, where the minimum wage is hardly adequate to provide for decent living, BPO companies offer a lucrative, and almost irresistible deal: a salary ranging from P14,000 to P50,000 compared to the meager P8,520 earned by minimum wage earners monthly in Metro Manila.

Besides this, BPO companies are less stringent in hiring their employees; not even a college degree is required, as long as one has good communication skills and command of the English language.

“Dati akala ko kailangang may US accent sa call center. Hindi naman pala, kahit regular neutral lang,” says Celso.

As the third largest English speaking nation, with a 72 percent population fluent in English, the Philippines has

End of contract The BPO industry in crisis

become one of the leading BPO hubs in the world, offering high quality of service and cheap labor cost.

In exchange for stable wages, even college graduates are willing to work in the BPO industry. “Noong una, nanghihinayang na ‘di ko nagamit yung nursing course pero ‘pag nag-iisip ako na I have to make something out of what I have right now, medyo OK na rin,” says Celso.

Dimming prospects

The BPO industry first entered Philippine shores in 1992 with private company Accenture establishing call center hub Global Resource Center in Manila. Under former President Fidel V. Ramos’ six-year economic plan hinged on increasing foreign investment, the Philippine market was opened to multinational corporations like Accenture.

Such a thrust was Ramos’ response to the economic turmoil the country faced, marked by significant fall of peso’s value, perennial power crisis across the Philippines, devastating damage left by natural disasters of the 1990s, and political unrest caused by coup attempts against President Corazon Aquino.

Following prevalent trends worldwide, the Ramos government also privatized basic industries such as oil, water, transportation, and even the monopolized telecommunication

industries, relying instead on investments such as that of BPOs to pull the country out of poverty.

The Arroyo administration welcomed the BPO industry’s apparent boom during the last decade, even citing it as “a key economic driver [that] continues to create jobs and drive investments for the country.”

From 2006 to 2012, the number of BPO companies in the country increased from 516 to 770, consequently increasing BPO workers from 236,000 to 525,000, according to financial survey group Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP).

Today, the BPO industry is tagged as an integral sector for economic development, acknowledged by President Benigno Aquino III as “a driving force for economic growth and employment in the country,” in his 20112016 Philippine Development Plan.

Yet in 2011, BPO-generated jobs were hardly significant, employing about 1 percent of the 41.5 million work force, according to independent thinktank IBON Foundation.

Even by 2016, the BPO industry is estimated to create only 1.3 million direct jobs and over 3 million indirect jobs, according to BPAP Chairman Alfredo Ayala. As such, despite popular perception of mass employment by the BPO industry, it actually does very little in reducing the number of unemployed and underemployed at

4.3 million and 7.2 million respectively, according to IBON. In 2010, the whole BPO industry account for P383 billion or 2.5 percent of the total earnings of the country’s services sector, which contributes more than half of the P5.7 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or the overall wealth based on goods and service, according to the Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics.

The government clearly prioritizes “fake industries” like BPOs that do not substantially contribute to our development as an agricultural country, says labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno secretary-general Roger Soluta. In the end, an economy that puts premium to short-lived palliatives like BPO investments over developing basic industries such as agriculture is bound to spawn crises.

Forward shift

Despite the touted promises of BPOs to generate jobs, the country’s labor situation continues to worsen.

The Aquino administration proudly boasts of creating 1.156 million jobs in 2011. However, IBON estimates that four out of 10 newly-created jobs in the agricultural and industrial sectors are mostly part time, have “poor quality” and are for “laborers and unskilled workers.”

Data from the Asian Development Bank shows that the Philippines has

the highest unemployment rate in Southeast Asia at 7.4 percent, beating Indonesia’s 7.1 percent in 2010.

Recent economic crises have caused millions to lose their jobs and sparked global social unrest.

Obama’s pronouncements of forcing BPO companies back to the US, whether purely lip service or serious commitment, manifest the impetus for governments to provide jobs to prevent further political turmoil.

The people must be ready when the US indeed pulls out its BPO companies, leaving thousands jobless and worsening our already dismal economy, says Soluta. As such, Obama’s pronouncements serve both as warning and an opportunity—a chance for the country’s economy to get rid of the shackles of excessive foreign dependence and volatile markets.

Thus, the government must shift its focus and priorities to basic industries such as agriculture, which the country needs and which produces more jobs.

Meanwhile, unmindful of the complexities and economics of BPOs, Celso continues his normal routine, waking up on odd hours, not knowing if it would be the last time that he would go to work. ● *not his real name Artwork by Nico Villarete Page design by Jerome Tagaro

9 • Kulê Lathalain

Sarah Raymundo* For a couple of weeks now, I have been working closely with Kerima Lorena Tariman, a cultural activist since the late ‘90s. She has published poems and other literary works in various anthologies, and was the founding chairperson of cultural organization Kabataang Artista para sa Tunay na Kalayaan in 2000.

In the same year, Kerima was arrested and detained while she was managing editor of the Philippine Collegian. While imprisonment and torture are no longer alien to her, she will never be accustomed to her husband, cultural worker Ericson Acosta’s situation in prison.

My work with Ericson began when we were convenors of the Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic in Rights in UP (STAND UP). Our goal to organize different student organizations into a political party was difficult, to say the least. It is very humbling to see how activists of the different organizations under STAND UP are now at the forefront of the struggle against budget cuts and all forms of repression.

On February 13, Ericson was arrested in Western Samar and has since become a political prisoner.

Miyerkules 08 Pebrero 2012

This conversation is the result of our initial plan to draft a statement for a press conference and cultural activity to be organized by the All UP Academic Employees Union (AUPAEU) and the Free Ericson Acosta Campaign to be held this February 10, 11:30-1:00pm at the Palma Hall lobby, UP Diliman.

Political involvement is a defining feature of the march toward progress.

It is alarming how government assumes sovereign prerogative to detain social activists and label them terrorists.

The prospects of promoting genuine respect for human rights are thoroughly imperilled by the lawlessness of legitimate power.

The fight for freedom is foreclosed when there are more than 350 political prisoners unjustly detained. Meanwhile, the Aquino government claims change and righteousness while it remains loyal to the dictates of foreign interests.

Ericson has remained steadfast in his political work even behind bars. Beyond this lies our people’s infinite potential for ushering in a new order.

On UP and activism

Sarah Raymundo (SR): Is there any experience from our undergraduate days in UP that resonates with your

current undertakings?

Kerima Tariman (KT): When I entered UP, I was particularly struck by the determination of young radicals to establish a broad alliance of mass organizations under the banner of National Democracy (ND). As you know, it was a very challenging period. National democrats were not very popular. With the split in the student movement, the ND line was severely being discredited at the time.

SR: I distinctly remember that newbies of this period joined the movement as walk-ins. Small numbers of activists stake their claims at the tambayans between the Faculty Center and Palma Hall. That specific area was a space for educational discussionjamming, and those who were curious enough would gravitate around mojo sandal-wearing activists who sang and talked about lingering social ills.

KT: True. It was their persistence under conditions of marginalization and stigma that hit me. Looking back, if the young activists then succumbed to populism, I would have had a different view of the necessary connection between the Iskolar ng Bayan and the basic masses. I personally would have not survived my ordeal in 2000 if not for the commitment instilled upon us back then.

SR: I have come to appreciate that commitment as a way of deriving a whole regime of consequences from the First Quarter Storm of the 1970s and the great challenges that shook the movement in the 1980s. It is an endeavour to provide consistency to the practicable truth of the revolution amidst declarations of its failure. This commitment means to proceed with the intention to rectify—a reminder of the need to always begin anew and not

merely continue. However, I clearly recall a time when certain figures in the University called this dogmatism, even naiveté. We called it remoulding and hoped that we would never get old.

KT: We got old?

SR: (Laughter) Of course! How did you reconcile these vile insinuations with your stakes as an artist? We know how the gatekeepers in the arts tend to disavow anything ‘political.’

KT: I’ve been exposed to statesponsored art forms since I was a kid.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines— where my father served as an employee in the 80s—became, by default, a playground for me and my two sisters.

I went to a state-run high school for the arts. This background has actually made it easier for me to see how art is utilized politically, wittingly or unwittingly. But I view the movement as the only venue for me to understand art in theory and in actual practice.

SR: Even the Art for art’s sake movement was a bold claim against feudalism. Nothing can be more political than a claim to autonomy at a time when art was being dwarfed by feudal patronage. That this claim has been diluted and de-historicized is a stumbling block to understanding art as a form of labor.

KT: When one creates art without being apologetic about its political implications, one is actually being quite ethical. Concretely, one is defining her position between reaction and revolution.

SR: I have always noted the bluntness in your poetry.

KT: Poetry is something that I share with my husband. But I feel we have come to go beyond poetry on account of Maoist aesthetics.

On imprisonment and state repression

SR: Your arrest in 2000 created a stir in the cultural scene. But what really shocked me was a feature article by your father (Pablo Tariman) in the Inquirer… there was a picture of a 3-year old ballerina who went to ballet school with the Marcos couple’s youngest daughter.

You never told me about those ballet lessons. But seriously, I was shocked that someone close to me can actually be held in prison for doing what we are all supposed to do as scholars who claim to serve the people. What do you recall of that time?

KT: I was in Isabela on a Basic Masses Integration program. I was only hoping

to gain better understanding of the peasant situation in that area. I was all the while keeping an open mind despite petty inconveniences.

Of course imprisonment was such a remote idea.

But the whole experience, from living with the peasants to my arrest and detention, is an indispensable lesson on the reality of class struggle.

SR: It was indeed an unmistakable validation of the instrumental role of the State in the violent suppression inflicted on peasants and their advocates. My initial shock was followed by a need to forge stronger ties with fellow activists across sectors.

KT: Interestingly, even non-activists came through for me. I observe the same now in our campaign to free Ericson. Not all of our supporters share the same advocacy for national democracy. But I appreciate their recognition of the role of activists and their respect for human rights.

SR: Extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances have mainly targeted organized peasants. Can you tell us how those who have decided to align themselves with the peasant struggle fall victim to state fascism?

KT: At the time of his arrest, Ericson was a volunteer researcher for KAPAWA, a local peasant organization in Western Samar. He wrote articles and reports on large-scale foreign mining and human rights violations. Like most cases of illegal arrests, Ericson has been made to appear like a terrorist, what with trumped-up criminal charges and tedious legal processes that have only delayed the delivery of justice.

SR: What do you think is he missing now?

KT: Aside from monitoring the progress of our son’s two front teeth, he is also being deprived of other simple joys. And I am not even talking about seeing movies or splurging on ice cream.

Our work as peasant advocates has altered our preferences and lifestyle.

I realized this about us when I read his prison diary entries that poignantly depict his yearning for sky and sea. ● *Sarah Raymundo is a faculty member of the UP Diliman Center for International Studies. She is currently the public relations officer of the AUPAEU-System and the secretarygeneral of the Congress of Teachers/ Educators for Nationalism and Democracy.

Regroup!

Conversations with Kerima Tariman Contributed photo Page design by Roanne Descallar

10 • Kulê Opinyon

Miyerkules 8 Pebrero 2012

MARJOHARA TUCAY

NEWSCAN

Kaibigan, gising na* Parati kong sinasabi noon na hindi ko makalilimutan ang kaarawan mo.

Paano ba naman kasi, Nobyembre 17 ka, Nobyembre 18 naman ang kaarawan ng isa pang matalik nating kaibigan, at Nobyembre 19 naman ako. Sabi ko sa ’yo, at sa marami nating kaibigan, hinding-hindi ako makalilimot kapag kaarawan mo na.

Ngunit maging mga espesyal na araw pala’y nakakaligtaan kapag dumarating ang sakuna. Nang tanungin ako sa ospital ng kung ano-ano ukol sa ’yo – pangalan mo, edad, tirahan at kaarawan, halos wala akong maisagot.

Ni kaarawan mo’y ‘di ko maalala.

Blangko ang aking isipan. Mabuti at kasama ko rin ang isa mong matalik na kaibigan doon.

Hindi ko sukat akalaing ganoon ang kahihinatnan ng hapong iyon. Galing ako sa klase (oo, mabibilang nga ang araw na pumapasok ako ngunit oo, nagklase ako noong araw na iyon) bago ako tumungong Vinzons Hall.

Maaga kaming pinalabas kaya naisip ko munang dumaan sa Vinzons bago tumuloy sa sunod kong klase. Hindi ko inaasahan na ganoon ang dadatnan ko.

Buhat ka ng apat o limang tao, kaibigan natin pareho ang ilan, ang ilan hindi ko kilala. Duguaan ka at walang malay. Hindi kita agad nakilala.

Ngunit bago pa ako naunahan ng aking journalist instincts, bago pa ako magtanong-tanong kung ano ang naganap, nadala na ako ng

pagkakataon at sinamahan sila sa pagsugod sa ’yo sa infirmary.

“Sinong may ID? Sinong may ID?” tarantang tanong ng mga tao. “Ako,” sabi ko. “Sunod ka dali, baka kailangan ng ID.” At iyon ang dahilan kung bakit napasama ako sa ambulansya papunta sa ospital.

Kung tutuusin, hindi mo naman ako matatawag na malapit na kaibigan.

Liban sa ilang kwentuhan, ilang pulong na naupuan magkasama, ilang rally, hindi talaga tayo nagkasama. Ngunit isa ako sa nasa tabi mo noong araw na iyon. Talagang hindi inaasahan ang lahat.

At doon nagmumula ang aking agam-agam, ang aking pagsisisi, ang aking pangungulila. Ngayon ko pa ba sasabihing nagsisisi akong hindi tayo naging mas matalik pang magkaibigan? Na hindi natin natuloytuloy ang plano nating magdaos ng triple birthday bash?

Patawad. At salamat rin.

Patawad dahil anumang nais kong maibsan ang paghihirap na dinaraanan mo ngayon, anumang hiling kong makabawi at maging mas mabuting kaibigan, hindi ko na maibabalik pa ang oras. Sana naroon ako noong panahong nag-iisa ka, nang hindi ka na naatake nang ganoon. Iyon sana ang napili kong panahon para makichika, gaya ng madalas nating ginagawa, pero hindi.

Patawad na kinailangan pang

Gising na kaibigan, marami pa tayong dapat pag-usapan, marami pa tayong kailangang iraos na laban

mangyari sa iyo ito upang magising ang UP sa katotohanang hindi sapat ang pondong inilalaan nito maging sa seguridad sa kampus, at na ang sistemang pilit nating nilalabanan ang siya pang bumiktima sa iyo ngayon.

Ngunit sa kabila nito, salamat din. Salamat sa patuloy na paglaban, sa pagkapit sa buhay, sa pagiging matatag. Salamat sa bawat araw na gumigising kami at nakikitang andiyan ka pa rin at lumalaban.

Noong isang araw, pagbisita ko sa iyo sa ICU, nakita ko sa iyong mukha ang pagod, ngunit naroon din ang determinasyon. Alam kong narinig mo ako nang banggitin ko ang pangalan ko sa tonong palagian kong ginagamit kapag ika’y aking binibiro.

Alam kong narinig mo ang binulong ko sa iyo noon – gising na kaibigan, marami pa tayong dapat pag-usapan, marami pa tayong kailangang iraos na laban. ● *Para kay Lordei Hina, kaibigan at kasama. Gising na, may party pa tayong aasikasuhin.

Isang paanyaya sa Araw ng mga Puso ginamit. Mapapansin mo ring hindi ako sumasabay sa mabilis na paggalaw ng daigdig ng mga mananakay ng tren. Sa dagat ng mga nilalang na nagpapatangay sa agos ng oras, naroon ako at nakaposturang naghihintay, pinagmamasdan ang nag-aatubiling mga manggagawa, at pakiwari’y naglalagom sa kasaklapan ng buhay.

Ito ang paborito kong libangan, ang magmasid ng mga estranghero at magpatianod sa daluyong ng mga hinagpis at kasawian na hindi sa akin.

At sa pagsapit ng itinakdang oras ay kagyat din kitang makikita. Nakatshirt ka na kulay abo, suot din ang maong na itsurang pinagsawaan mo na, habang bitbit ang backpack na mistulang mas mabigat pa sa iyong timbang. May bitbit ka pang notebook na sinusulatan mo ng kung anu-anong sumasagi sa iyong isip, at siyempre, ang paborito mong libro. Parang kang bata kung maglakad, sabik sa kung saan siya dadalhin ng kanyang mga paa. Paulitulit mo ring hinahawi ang nakalugay mong buhok na tumatakip sa iyong mukha, mahaba nguni’t medyo kulot, at habang ginagawa mo ito’y nalalantad

Senior Business Management students from UP Diliman Extension Program in Pampanga (UPDEPP) invite you to its annual event “ISKOPRENEUR,” now on its 4th year. The event is themed “ISKARNABAL” which will showcase the innovative and creative minds of young entrepreneurs from UPDEPP. This event will be held on February 16 18, 2012, from 9am to 5pm at UPDEPP’s gymnasium. Admission is absolutely free! For inquiries, contact Glenn Cruz at 09063330508. See you there!

DUP’s The Forsaken House

Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (DUP), the official performing group of UP, in celebration of Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero’s centennial proudly stages Guerrero’s opus, The Forsaken House, directed by theater icon Tony Mabesa.

Starring theater luminaries Irma Adlawan, Tess Dumpit, Leo Rialp, Ces Quesada, Espie Tinio-Garcellano, Menggie Cobarrubias and Joel Lamangan, together with the Dulaang UP ensemble. It runs from February 15 to March 4, 2012, at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, UP Diliman. For more details, contact Ms. Cherry Bong at 0917-7500107, 0910-3777773, cherry_ edralin88@yahoo.com

Foreplay: Escalating Intensity

MATEO MANANSALA

Hihintayin kita sa ikalabing-apat na araw ng Pebrero, sa araw na kailangang umibig ang lahat. Hihintayin kita sapagkat sa araw na iyon ay mangangahas akong magmahal muli.

Ang nais ko lang ay muling maramdaman kung papaano makipaghabulan sa bilis ng tibok ng aking puso. Nais kong muling mautal at maubusan ng mga pangungusap habang kinakausap ng iyong mga mata ang akin. Nais kong tangayin ng boses mo ang aking kamalayan patungo sa isang pangarap. Noong huli kasi akong nangarap na umibig, pinilit kong tahakin ang isang landas na patungo naman pala sa kawalan.

Subalit ayoko nang magalinlangan at manahan sa lilim ng kawalang-katiyakan. Susugal ako sa pagkakataong magtatagpo tayo.

Sa ganap na alas-sais ng hapon, sa istasyon ng MRT sa Quezon Avenue, sa ilalim ng malaking orasan, doon mo nanakawin ang aking puso.

Hindi ka mahihirapang matagpuan ako. Suot ko ang paborito kong asul at pulang striped polo shirt at ang maong na halatang makailang beses ko nang

ISKOPRENEUR 2012

Sa araw na iyon hihintayin kita

ang mga mata mong puno ng buhay at pag-asa.

Sa pagtatagpo ng ating mga mata’y tatamlay ang lahat ng mga tala at ilaw na nasa paligid ng ating uniberso. Wala na akong ibang makikita kundi ikaw at ang nakatutunaw mong ngiti. Sa isang iglap ay matutuldukan na ang talanggunitang humahabi nang kusa at walang humpay sa aking isipan tungkol sa masakit na kahapon. At agad dadampi sa aking damdamin ang tintang bubuo sa unang salitang maglalarawan sa ating unang pagkikita: pag-asa. Untiunting titingkad ang salitang iyon habang papalapit ka sa akin.

Mabilis ang paggalaw ng mga bagay sa ating paligid. Ang kumakaripas na tren. Ang yabag ng mga paa. Ang oras. Subalit wala akong pakialam.

Ang sandaling iyon ay tungkol lamang sa iyo at sa akin, at sa nilikha kong pagkakataon sa pamamagitan ng akdang ito. Iaabot mo ang iyong kamay at mabilis ko itong hahawakan.

Aangkinin natin ang mahaba pang gabi, at yayakapin ang iniluwal na mga posibilidad ng ating pagkikita. Sa araw na iyon, hihintayin kita. Sa araw na iyon, ako ay iibig. ●

UP Lakan and UP Mass Communicators Organization invite you to a night filled with dance, drinks, and play as you party all-night with the hottest crowd on February 10, 2012 at Area 05 Tomas Morato. Free-flowing drinks, a fashion show, and wild games await you on a night that will surely rock your world!

Doors open at 9 pm, tickets are at 250.

For inquiries check http://fb.com/ foreplay2012, or contact Tricia at 09162072090 or Aiel at 09228920256.

Tennis UP Cup 2012

Game. Set. Match. Join Tennis UP Cup 2012! Registration is open to all UP affiliates until February 10, 5 PM at UP Engineering Courts. Registration fee for Men’s Singles is P250, and P300 (per pair) for Doubles (mixed/men/women). Prizes for the singles category are P2, 500 (1st place) and P1, 500 (2nd place), and for the doubles, P3,000 (1st place) and P2,000 (2nd place). For more information, contact Nesty at 09178321921 or Jacob at 09152826864.

IntensiTEACH: Eduk Job Fair

Take part in the IntensiTEACH: The UP College of Education Job Fair on February 13-24, 2012. Submit your resumes personally during the said dates or you may e-mail them at cesc2011.2012@gmail.com. For more details, please check out our FB page www.facebook.com/intensiteach or look for Reez (09175695973). See you there!

11 • Kulê Opinyon

Miyerkules 08 Pebrero 2012

EKSENANG PEYUPS

INBOX

Da pre-Valentayms edishun!

Hustisya para kay Lordei Hina

ANG PAMANTASANG BINABARAT AY PAMANTASANG NAGTITIPID AY PAMANTASANG WALANG KASEGURUHAN AT WALANG KASIGURADUHAN Pahayag ng UP KILOS NA sa insidente ng karahasan sa mag-aaral ng UP Diliman na si Lordei Hina Pebrero 2, 2012 Buwan ng pag-ibig at pagmamahalan ang Pebrero. Ngunit sa unang araw nito ngayong taon, sinalubong hindi ng pagmamahalan kundi ng karahasan ang UP Diliman.

Kinokondena ng UP KILOS NA ang marahas na pag-atake at pagnanakaw sa aktibong miyembro nitong si Bb. Lordei Hina, isang mag-aaral ng BA Political Science ng UP Diliman, miyembro ng Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND-UP), at pangkalahatang kalihim ng Center for Nationalist Studies (CNS). Inatake siya noong Pebrero 1, 2012 sa loob ng opisina ng University Student Council (USC) sa Vinzons Hall kung saan natagpuan siyang duguan at walang malay.

Magpahanggang ngayon, kritikal ang kondisyon at wala pa ring malay sa ospital si Lordei. Hindi kayang abutin ng ating mga hinagap ang lalim ng epekto ng karahasang ginawa kay Lordei: ice pick na tumagos sa utak. At magpahanggang ngayon, iisa pa lamang ang nahuhuli sa mga salarin, isang Danmar Vicencio, habang nagtatago p sa kung saanmang sukal ng impyerno ang iba pa.

Kapwa nakalulungkot at nakapagngangalit rin na ibinaba ng piskal sa kasong serious physical injuries ang kasong frustrated murder na inirekomenda ng kapulisan.

Walang hustisya sa ganitong inseguridad: inseguridad sa kondisyon, inseguridad sa kaso, inseguridad sa mismong seguridad.

Madaling ibunton sa kakulangan ng epektibong seguridad sa UP Diliman ang

nangyaring insidente. Kapwa naghahangad ng pinakamahusay na porma ng seguridad sa pamantasan, administrador man o miyembro ng komunidad ng UP Diliman.

Ano, kung gayon, ang tunay na hadlang sa pagseseguro ng seguridad sa kampus?

Mayroon namang palisiyang “No ID, No Entry” sa ilang mga gusali sa unibersidad. Ngunit ang katotohanan, madali rin namang lusutan maging ang palisiyang ito, tulad nang pagpepresenta ng identification card ng isa sa mga salarin sa naturang krimen at pagsasabing pakikipag-usap tungkol sa UP Fair ang pakay niya sa opisina ng USC. Mayroon namang CCTV cameras sa ilang gusali.

Ngunit bagama’t nakapagbibigay ang mga ito ng “pakiwari ng may nagbabantay” – isang birtwal na paraan ng pagmamasid at pagpigil na gumawa ng krimen – ay hindi naman talaga nito buongbuong nahahadlangan ang aktwal na perpetrasyon ng krimen.

Kinikilala natin na may mga hakbang ang administrasyon ng UP Diliman sa paghihigpit at pagmomodernisa ng seguridad sa kampus tulad ng palisiyang “No ID, No Entry” at paglalagay ng mga CCTV camera sa ilang gusali ng pamantasan. Ngunit kinikilala rin natin na dumudulo pa rin ang usapin sa makabuluhang presensiyang pisikal ng mga security personnel. Ang katotohanan, lumundo mula 149 tungong 112 ngayon taon ang bilang ng mga security guard sa pamantasan.

Buong-buong kasalanan ba ito ng isang pamantasan, o ng kahit na anumang paaralan, opisina, establisimiyento at institusyon?

Kahirapan ang nagtutulak sa kalakhan ng mga krimeng nakakabit sa pagnanakaw, maliit man o malaki. Habang taimtim tayong nananalangin para sa agarang paggaling ni Lordei at pagkamit ng katarungan para sa kanya, lubusan rin nating sinusuring ang mga krimeng tulad nang naranasan ni Lordei ay bahagi ng mas malaking sistema ng karahasang bunga ng kapabayaan ng gobyerno.

Partikular sa UP, katulad ng iba pang state universities at colleges, maiuugat ang kakulangan sa pisikal at modernong seguridad ng pamantasan sa sunod-sunod na pagkaltas sa badyet sa edukasyon ng gobyernong Noynoy Aquino. Malaking porsiyento ng kaltas sa badyet ay nasa Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses at Personal Services. Para sa taong ito, bumagsak mula 82 milyong piso tungong 69 milyong piso ang inilaan ng UP Diliman para sa seguridad.

Hindi dapat ipagwalang-bahala ninuman, lalong-lalo na ng pamahalaan, ang mga insidente ng karahasan tulad ng kay Lordei at sa iba pang mga iskolar ng bayan. Tulad ni Lordei, lider-estudyante na marubdob na nakipaglaban para sa mas mataas na badyet sa edukasyon at serbisyong panlipunan, naninindigan ang UP KILOS NA na ang tanging paraan upang maarmasan ng epektibong seguridad ang

pamantasan ay ang hindi pag-abandona ng gobyerno sa responsibilidad nito sa pampublikong edukasyon. At ang panlipunang hustisya, tulad nang iba pang makatao’t makatarungang mga panawagan, ay hindi inaabangan kundi ipinaglalaban!

Hustisya para kay Lordei Hina!

Hulihin at panagutin ang mga maysala!

Ipaglaban ang makatarungang subsidyo para sa edukasyon at serbisyong panlipunan! **** Panawagan sa donasyon para kay Lordei Hina: Sa mga nagnanais magpadala ng pinansiyal na suporta para sa pagpapagamot ni Lordei Hina, mangyaring makipag-ugnayan sa opisina ng All UP Academic Employees Union at All UP Workers Union sa Room 102, Vinzons Hall, UP Diliman. Magbibigay po ng acknowledgement receipt para sa inyong mga donasyon. Marami pong salamat at padayon!

Hallo hallo der mga beki! Heto na naman ang inyong Grand Mameshka para wisikan kayo ng bago, umaatikabo at kumikislot na mga happeningz na nasagap ng aking radar around ze Unibersidad ng Pelipeniz!

Ilang tulog na lang at Valentayms Day na, kaya tumitindi at umiinit ang jexcitement ng mga couples and zingles out there. Naviolate pa nga ang shining shimmering tantalizing eyes ko sa aking mga nawitness! Nakakaloka talaga ang hindi mapigilang kalivugvug ng mga utrez!

Jexcited #1. Mukhang walang nasungkit na date ang kuyang itez kaya nagpakasasa na lang siya sa isang certain Mariang Palad. Guess where? Sa banyo ng Mcdo Philcoa lang naman te! O ‘di ba kebs niya sa privacy, at ‘di na niya nanotice ang crowd na nawi-witness ang pagtirik ng kanyang eyes sa zoroooop.

‘Wag masyadong i-exercise ang right arm kuya ha? Next time left naman para pantay ang muscles! Hohohohoho.

Jexcited #2. I guess it’s the preValentayms fever, kaya isa pang kuya ang namataan kong nagjajakolski sa kanyang car. O sige na, at least siya nasa car. Pero type yata ni Kuya ang thrill ng public jexcitement kaya sa Bio Pav siya nag-park! Ohmygerrd kuya, you know, your wasting like sperm cells and Y chromosomes genetics chenez chuva… shet wiz ko pala kayang maganda!

Jexcited #3. May-I-peak ulit ang drama ko sa isang kotse na nakapark naman sa kolehiyo ng aaagh-huuum at nahuli kong tinutuklas ng isang couple ang siyensa ng isa’t isa! Zuper make out ang ate’t kuya, inaaral at ina-apply yata ang lessons on anatomy, chemistry and physics na natutunan nila! More fun in real life ang mode, at kitang-kita naman sa not-so-tinted windows ang ligaya nila sa pagtakam sa ngala-ngala ng isa’t isa!

Ngasab kung ngasab, alog kung alog ang drama ng mga ate’t kuya! Kaya habang wala pa akong date sa Feb 14, I’ll look out na lang muna sa mga parking lots, baka may nangangailangan ng aking help… if you know what I mean. Aaaay kaloka! Sige na, bye na! Gudlak sa paghahanap ng date mga co-zingles! Baboooosh! ●

NASIRA ANG TEXTBACK PHONE!

Dahil sa mga hindi inaasahang pangyayari, nabura lahat ng mensaheng inyong ipinadala sa amin noong nakaraang linggo (oo, pati ang mga early valentines greetings ninyo). Para sa susunod na linggo, pansamantala muna naming gagamitin ang numerong nakasaad sa ibaba.

Next week’s questions

1. Anong nararapat gawin upang mapaigting ang seguridad sa UP? 2. Sinong dream date mo?

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

Dibuho ni James Liwanagan

09155678676

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

KulĂŞ The Back Page

Miyerkules 08 Pebrero 2012

Dibuho ni Luigi Almuena