Philippine Collegian Issue 9

Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas - Dilman Tomo 90, Blg. 09 Agosto 16, 2012

SA

GITNA

NG

SAKUNA

KARANIWAN NA SA MGA PILIPINO ang maglunsad ng iba’t ibang gawaing pambayanihan upang mapunan ang kakulangan ng gobyerno sa pagpapatupad ng maayos at mabisang sistemang pansakuna tuwing panahon ng tag-ulan.

Nito lamang nakaraang linggo, mahigit 500 estudyante, guro, kawani, at alumni ang araw-araw na lumahok sa IskoOperation o University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman relief operations, upang tumulong sa mga pamilyang nasalanta sa hagupit ng malakas at tuluy-tuloy na pagbuhos ng ulan.

Nagtipon-tipon ang mga volunteer sa College of Human Kinetics (CHK) Gym upang mag-pack ng relief goods at ipamigay ang mga ito sa mga komunidad na nasalanta ng baha.

“Overwhelming ang dami ng volunteers at donations na nakuha mula sa pagpa-publicize sa mga social networking site at text messaging, kaya mula sa University Student Council (USC) office ay lumipat kami sa CHK Gym,” ani UPD USC Chair Gabriel “Heart” Diño.

Sa loob ng apat na araw, natulungan ng proyekto ang halos 23,700 pamilya mula sa University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, Valen-

zuela, Bataan, Laguna, Batangas, Taguig, Marikina, Quezon City at Rizal.

Sinuspinde ni UPD Chancellor Caesar Saloma ang klase sa UPD noong mga araw na iyon, mula Agosto 7 hanggang 10. Wala namang naiulat na malaking pinsala sa mga kampus ng unibersidad, ani Student Regent Cleve Kevin Robert Arguelles.

Gayunpaman, nararapat na alalahaning ang pakikisangkot sa mga suliranin ng mga maralita sa lungsod at kanayunan ay hindi dapat na magtapos sa pagtila ng ulan at paghupa ng baha.

Sa unti-unting pagbangon mula sa pinsalang dulot ng kalamidad, humaharap pa rin sa maraming panganib ang mga komunidad: kawalan ng pangmatagalang hanapbuhay, mga banta ng demolisyon, kakulangan ng maayos na serbisyong panlipunan, at iba pang kapabayaan ng pamahalaan.

BEARING THE BRUNT Punong Patnugot Kapatnugot Panauhing Patnugot

Patnugot sa Balita Patnugot sa Lathalain Patnugot sa Grapix

Mga Kawani

OPINYON Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

Pinansya Tagapamahala ng Sirkulasyon Sirkulasyon

Mga Katuwang na Kawani

WHEN A MAINSTREAM BROADsheet announced last week that “Aquino assures victims of devastation,” it was not entirely difficult to look at the syntax error as a mistake which unintentionally reveals a bitter truth—that torrential rains and strong winds weren’t the only things the monsoon brought with it.

As the weather started to clear on Friday night, it also left behind in its wake 92 dead and a total of 89,114 families affected by floods and landslides, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council. Damage to crop and infrastructure amounted to P616 million. And while Metro Manila and the Southern Tagalog Regions were the most severely affected areas, the rest of Luzon was also devastated.

Yet, for a country visited by more than 20 storms every year, most of these damages to life and property could have been prevented, if only the Aquino administration had adopted a disaster management policy that not only opts to merely respond to disasters, but also to seek a long-term preventive solution.

In his recent State of the Nation Address, Aquino highlighted his Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards (NOAH), which

supposedly addresses the country’s perennial flood problems through the use of improved detection technology.

The project is a flood-monitoring program that provides real-time information on water levels and high-risk areas.

However, monitoring information, while vital to safety, does not target the root cause of flooding.

Like so many other disaster management schemes by the government, Project NOAH is yet another proof of the Aquino’s preoccupation with post-disaster programs that steer the government’s focus away from relevant preventive measures, such as the rehabilitation of roads and sewage systems in flood-prone areas.

In 2010, a few months after being sworn into office, Aquino cancelled 19 projects collectively known as “Post Ondoy and Pepeng Short-Term Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project.” This project sought to repair damaged flood control facilities in Luzon during the onslaught of the two typhoons.

The Aquino administration, it seemed, cancelled the projects just because the previous administration initiated it. This, along with the abolition of other

programs such as the P18.7 billion Laguna Lake dredging project that aim to permanently solve flooding, is a testament to the government’s fixation on funding programs that are merely bandaid solutions. Around 79 percent of the P7.5 billion Quick Reaction Calamity Fund, for instance, has already been spent earlier this year, leaving only P1.6 billion for the typhoons that are expected to land on the archipelago this year.

To make matters worse, the Aquino administration puts the blame to the poor whose makeshift settlements are thought to be blocking waterways and drainage systems. Department of Public Works and Highways Sec. Rogelio Singson was even quoted saying, “I just received instructions from the President that [if] push comes to shove, we will have to blast ‘yung mga kabahayan doon kung hindi pa sila aalis within a certain period.”

Aquino apparently does not realize that he is blaming the people he is supposed to be protecting. It is ironic that the urban poor, who either had no choice but to live in the city because of lack of available jobs or were driven away from their ancestral lands because of mining

and land grabbing, are now taking all the blame.

Moreover, Aquino also managed to hold an early campaign while doing relief operations in different locations. While the whole nation is preoccupied with meeting the dire needs of the affected people, the politicians are instead preoccupied with meeting their quota of photo opportunities.

Indeed, the country finds itself in stormy waters as people rely on a government which not only blames them for its own failures but also turns a blind eye to the root causes of its problems.

Rather than blaming the poor, the government must prioritize spending on the improvement of social services from the cities down to every rural community.

The Aquino administration must start spending on projects that aim to prepare the country for calamities we expect annually. Otherwise, more lives and property will be lost should calamities strike again.

There is no greater disaster for a nation than to have a government that is drowning out the calls of the people for genuine change and is instead letting them bear the brunt of its incompetence.

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

Editor’s Note

Men no longer flock to the academe for the love of inquiry and knowledge but to acquire marketable skills to be sold later to the highest bidder.

DIALECTICS OF LEARNING Roan Libarios Hulyo 31, 1981

As the Philippine Collegian celebrates its 90th year, we revisit lines from prized editorials that defined the publication’s tradition of critical and fearless journalism.

DBM slashes P17.5B from 2013 SUCs budget proposal

PAG-USISA. Ginisa ng mga kongresista at mga pinuno ng mga state universities and colleges (SUCs) si Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) chairperson Patricia Licuanan sa isang hearing ng House Committee on Appropriations Budget na ginanap sa Andaya Hall ng Kongreso noong Agosto 14. Sinagot ni Licuanan ang ilang isyu ng mga pribado at pampublikong pamantasan sa bansa patungkol sa badyet.

WHILE THE AQUINO ADMINistration highlights the almost 44-percent or P11.3-billion increase in the budget for 110 state universities and colleges (SUCs) in the country for 2013, data from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reveal that the said amount is still much less than the funding required by public higher education institutions.

In his 2013 national budget message, President Benigno Aquino III explained that his administration has increased the budget of SUCs to improve their performance. “Let me emphasize that these funds must be used to improve the capabilities and skills of our pool of graduates,” Aquino said.

In deliberating the requests of 110 SUCs for 2013, DBM followed the Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) Roadmap of Public Higher Education Reform (RPHER) 2011-2016, the Aquino administration’s main platform for higher education.

RPHER follows the guidelines set in Aquino ’s Philippine Development Plan which states that SUCs need to “produce enough competent and skilled work force that will match domestic needs.”

However, the P37.1-billion budget approved by DBM for inclusion in the National Expenditure Program is only 68 percent of the total P54.61 billion

requested by SUCs for next year, short by P17.5 billion. (See Table 1) For personal services (PS), the fund for salaries and benefits of teachers and employees, the budget agency approved P27.3 billion or 88 percent of the original P31.15 billion requested by SUCs. DBM explained that only filled positions, or line items held by current employees, were funded.

DBM also approved almost 76 percent, or P6.43 billion of the P8.5-billion total proposed budget for maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).

“MOOE followed the [Normative Funding Formula]. Normative funding refers to the application of a set of prescribed objective criteria and norms that are designed to promote and reward quality instruction, research and extension services, as well as financial prudence and responsibility of SUCs,” DBM explained.

Meanwhile, the budget agency only approved 23 percent or P3.37 billion of the total P14.96 billion for capital outlay (CO), the budget for construction of new infrastructure.

“Only those projects that were endorsed by CHEd because of the projects’ alignment to [RPHER] were funded for CO,” according to DBM. “There might be a nominal increase, but if we consider how much SUCs actually need, the budget is still grossly insuffi-

cient,” said Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino.

‘COVER-UP BUDGET’ “Sa unang tingin, mukhang may pagtaas sa badyet ng SUCs. Pero kung titilad-tilarin natin ang bawat component ng badyet, makikita nating mapanlinlang ang pagtaas na ito,”said National Union of Students of the Philippines Secretary General Issa Baguisi.

While the P37.1 billion budget proposed by DBM for 2013 is indeed 44 percent higher than the current P25.8 billion budget for SUCs, the said amounts already include the allotments for Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund (MPBF) and the automatic appropriations for Retirement and Life Insurance Premiums (RLIP), according to DBM. The MPBF contains funds for unfilled positions, and is withheld

by DBM until SUCs request for the said funds and submit proper documentation.

Meanwhile, funds under the RLIP are automatic appropriations for pension of retired employees. “[T]his fund is like DBM’s own pork barrel, which it can dispense at its whim,” Palatino said.

Without the budget for MPBF and RLIP, only P32.77 is allocated for the operation of SUCs, around 37 percent higher than the current P23.8 billion budget directly for SUCs. (See Table 2) Without the RLIP, SUCs will receive a total of P22.97 billion

for PS, which is P2.35 billion or 11 percent higher than the current P20.62 billion. However, the said increase only corresponds to the implementation of the fourth tranche of the Salary Standardization Law III, said Anakbayan National Chairperson Vencer Crisostomo.

For MOOE, SUCs will receive P6.43 billion, an increase by P3.42 billion or more than 88 percent from the current P3 billion. The bulk of the P1.3-billion increase will go to UP, while the remaining P2.1-billion increase will be shared by the remaining 109 SUCs. In line with the NFF, the budget for MOOE of three SUCs, namely: Aurora State College of Technology, Cebu Technological University, and Adiong Memorial Polytechnic State College, were slashed by more than half.

Meanwhile, the budget for CO will receive the highest increase.

From this year’s P190 million budget, which is only for UP, all SUCs will receive CO for next year.

“Previously, CO did not receive any allocations to encourage the use of the SUCs’ own income,” DBM explained.

“The Aquino administration recognizes the severe need for CO support in SUCs, which will receive their CO allocations directly. These will jumpstart developments in infrastructure and enable SUCs to acquire laboratory equipment and other necessary facilities to boost their competitiveness and academic capacities,” DBM added.

However, Crisostomo explained that the P3.37-billion budget for

CO next year is less than a quarter of the total P14.96 billion needed

by SUCs for infrastructure.

“Kulang talaga ang pondo for CO. Dalawang taon nang walang CO, tapos ngayon one-fourth lang ng kailangan ang ibibigay,” Crisostomo said. He cited the situation of UP’s Philippine General Hospital, which will not receive any CO for next year.

“Instead of being all praises for the Aquino administration, students remain unimpressed and BALITA dismayed, as the 2013 budget is a cover-up budget full of potholes Huwebes 16 Agosto and deceptions,” Palatino said.

PRELUDE TO TUITION INCREASES Meanwhile, DBM forecasts that the internal income of SUCs next year will increase by almost P1 billion, to P14 billion from the current P13.1 billion.

The bulk of the projected increase in internal income, or P500 million, will come from tuition revenue, which is expected to increase from the current P6.26 billion to P6.76 billion next year. DBM also projects that income from other fees will increase by P200 million, from the current P3 billion to P3.2 billion next year.

“Maliwanag na kahit pa sabihing may bahagyang pagtaas sa pondo ng SUCs, walang magbabago sa sitwasyon ng edukasyong tersyaryo. Tataas pa rin ang matrikula, tataas pa rin ang iba pang bayarin,” Baguisi said.

“In this light, the youth will continue and even intensify the fight for sufficient government funding for an education sector that truly serves the nation,” Palatino added.

2012

‘Test railway track in UP would lead to privatization, affect communities’

Isabella Patricia Borlaza

AS THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TEST track for an alternative railway system in UP nears completion in December, leaders of different sectors in UP remain firm in asserting that the project is an unsustainable research and development (R&D) project that might make the university more vulnerable to income-generating schemes.

A joint R&D project between UP Diliman (UPD) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the UP Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) is a BALITA 465-meter test track which will BALITA run from the Fine Arts building on Huwebes Huwebes Jacinto Street to the Commission 16 16 Agosto Agosto on Higher Education building on 2012 2012 C. P. Garcia Avenue.

The AGT project aims to test a locally-developed train as mass transport, said UP Vice President for Planning and Development Elvira Zamora. “Being a research university, it only seemed appropriate that UP would take the lead in this project, which President [Aquino] would like to implement in the country,” she explained.

‘HOMEGROWN TECHNOLOGY’ Designed by the DOST Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), the UP-AGT is an electricity-powered train of two coaches with a 30-passenger capacity which will run at a speed of 50 to 60 kilometers-per-hour on an elevated track.

Unlike big train lines like the Metro Rail Transit, the AGT uses only a single axle, making it lighter, more compact, and thus suitable for narrow roads in the Philippines, explained Engr. Brian Rasco, MIRDC Project Officer.

While an earlier prototype is already running on a straight

150-meter track near DOST in Taguig, the UP-AGT is a modified version designed to run through a 25-meter radius curve, Rasco added.

The P62 million cost of construction and operations is fully funded by DOST, according to the MIRDC. Currently, the construction is 30 percent complete and test runs will hopefully be conducted this September, when 300 meters of the track is expected to be finished, according to Rasco.

The administration has yet to plan the fare scheme for prospective passengers, but “there is always cost in building, operating, and maintaining a mass transport system,” said UPD Chancellor Caesar Saloma.

to Student Regent Cleve Arguelles.

“Maganda sana kung ang mga proyekto ng UP na kaakibat ang gobyerno ay nakatuon sa development ng national industries.

Kadalasan, nagagamit lamang ng mga pribadong korporasyon ang mga ganitong proyekto kaysa ng

bansa sa kabuuan,” said Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP chair and Mechanical Engineering student Michael Non.

AFFECTED SECTORS Despite opposition from sectors

‘PREY TO PRIVATIZATION’ Sectors of the UP community, however, expressed opposition to the long-term effects of the railway in campus, saying the project might adversely affect communities and further lead the university into income-generating partnerships with the private sector.

While the Office of the Chancellor and Rasco refused to reveal concrete plans after the test track becomes functional, the administration might consider extending the track to a Philcoa-Katipunan route, Zamora said. “Para hindi naman masayang…, itutuloy na lang,” she added.

However, when the memorandum of agreement (MOA) expires on September 2013, any further developments of the AGT will be left to UP unless another MOA would be signed, said Rasco.

As a result, UP will most likely invest in other partnerships as it cannot support the maintenance of the AGT on its own, according

CLOSE CALL. UP Lady Shuttler Pauline Marie Tan returns the shuttle in the backcourt from defender UE’s Kimverly Gatpolintan in the badminton singles match held at Rizal Memorial Stadium on August 12. Despite winning the singles and doubles event with Bianca Margareth Legaspi, the Lady Maroons still fell short with a tally of 3-2.

of the UP community when the MOA between UP and DOST on the AGT was signed in 2010, the Office of Community Relations assured that the current test track would not affect any communities and jeepney routes since it will only run a short distance.

“Sa ngayon, experiment pa lang ito ng DOST. Pero definitely, may mga matatamaang sectors, partikular na ang mga drivers at communities. Kailangang ma-consider din iyon,”said All UP Workers Union National President Clodualdo Cabrera.

Though the AGT will help the country on many aspects, its likely nationwide implementation would translate to massive unemployment for drivers, said College of Engineering Representative to the University Student Council (USC), Reijiel Gonzales.

Aside from local communities, the project could also disrupt the ecology in the area. “I doubt there was an environmental impact assessment… [This shows] that our administration doesn’t have much interest in taking care of the UP environment,” said Gonzales.

Permits for the Environmental Compliance Certificate are still being processed, but the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will assess the environmental impact of the project, said Rasco.

“Mainam na ma-ensure na walang masisirang mga komunidad at mawawalan ng trabaho.

Dahil ano pa’t research university tayo na naglilingkod sa bayan, kung sa proseso naman nito ay may mga kapwa tayong mawawalan ng tirahan at kabuhayan,” said UPD USC Student Rights and Welfare Committee Chair Aryanna Canacan.

Tams survive Maroons in controversial win, 73-70 THE FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY (FEU) Tamaraws foiled what could have been the UP Fighting Maroons’ first victory for the UAAP’s 75th season, after referees crushed a crucial goaltending call by the Maroons toward the end of the game at the Araneta Coliseum on August 5.

Maroons team captain Mark Lopez and shooting guard Jose Manuel kicked off the game with consecutive two and one-point shots, leading the Maroons by a point during the first two minutes.

However, the lead was slammed by the Tamaraws, as team captain Anthony Hangrove scored two consecutive two-point shots. The Tamaraws eventually hoarded a seven-point lead at the close of the quarter, 22-15.

Unable to break through the Tamaraws’ tight defense, the Maroons slipped 11 points behind, 31-20, during the first half of the second quarter. During the second half, the Maroons tried to catch up with two consecutive layups from point guard Anjelo Montecastro, leaving Tamaraws ahead of only 8 points. The Tamaraws, however, finished the quarter with a nine-point lead, 41-32, after a technical foul was called against the Maroons.

The Maroons were able to shave the Tamaraws’ nine-point lead to only six points after Maroons small forward Diony Hipolito’s two-point shot and Maroons rookie Michael Silungan’s consecutive two and three-point shots. However, with a minute left on the clock, the Tama-

raws managed to keep an eightpoint lead, ending the quarter at 60-51.

The State U ballers continued to lag behind during the first half of the fourth quarter by ten points. However, the Maroons afterwards chipped the score difference to only a four-point lead by the Tamaraws, after Maroons’ center Raul Soyud’s two-point undergoal and Lopez’s free throws.

Toward the end of the final quarter, Maroons’ Cris Ball aimed for a two-point shot but Hangrove foiled the attempt by blocking the ball. Officials refused the Maroons’ allegations of goaltending, despite a video replay showing that the ball has already touched the board when it was swatted away by Hangrove. The missed

goaltending call eventually gave the Tamaraws room to build a five-point lead, 71-66.

“It was definitely a goaltending.

But the referees missed that; unfortunately there are no house rules on reviewing a video to change the call, with regards to goaltending. The call would have changed the events of the game but I don’t think it cost us, there were many faults that made it harder to win the game,” said Maroons Head Coach Frederick Oliver Dandan.

With two minutes left on the clock, Alvin Padilla scored a three-point shot, while Lopez secured a two-point shot, leaving the Tamaraws ahead of only a single point. However, with two seconds left on the ticker, a technical foul was called against the Maroons.

Tamaraws’ Terrence Romeo then scored two points from the free throw, ending the game with only a slim three-point difference, 73-70.

“What our team need to do is to maintain composure from the start to finish, we can definitely catch up with the scores but we have not yet experienced the feeling of being able to win a game, and we need to experience that to be able to build character and confidence,” Lopez said.

The Maroons is set to take on the UST Growling Tigers on August 15, at the Araneta Coliseum.

“Right now we are just revisiting our game plan. UST is definitely a good team, they are very confident in playing and what we need to do is to find a way to disrupt that confidence,” said Dandan.

Paglilitis sa kaso nina Karen at She, sinimulan na Iyanah Camille B. Brucal

WALONG BUWAN MATAPOS sampahan ng mga kasong kidnapping at serious illegal detention ang mga sangkot sa pagdukot sa dalawang estudyante ng UP Diliman (UPD) na sina Karen Empeño at Sherlyn Cadapan, sinimulan na ang opisyal na paglilitis ng kaso sa Malolos Regional Trial Court noong Agosto 6.

Unang humarap sa korte si Concepcion Empeño, ina ni Karen, upang magpakita ng mga dokumentong nagpapatunay na estudyante mula sa UP Diliman ang kanyang anak, ani Atty. Julian Oliva, abogado ng pamilya ng mga biktima.

Ipinakita niya ang birth certificate, school ID, graduation picture,

true copy of grades, at semestral copy of grades ni Karen mula noong unang taon nito upang patunayan na nagtapos siya ng BA Community Development sa UP College of Social Work and Community Development.

Samantala, naluha na lamang si Gng. Empeño nang tanungin siya tungkol sa plano ni Karen na maging social worker sa Zambales, halaga ng sweldong kikitain sana niya at kabuuang halaga ng pera na ginastos ng kanilang pamilya sa paghahanap sa nawawalang anak.

“The court needed to determine the cost of the damage Karen’s abduction has done to us.

However, when I was asked point

blank about the estimated value of the loss, I broke down in tears.

The damage caused by Karen’s absence is immeasurable,” ani Gng. Empeño.

Sa anim na taong paghahanap kay Karen, ilang ulit nang lumiban mula sa trabaho si Gng Empeño na punong guro sa isang mababang paaralan sa Masinloc, Zambales.

Kasamang dinukot noong Hunyo 2006 ang kapwa estudyante sa UP ni Karen na si Sherlyn at si Manuel Meriño, isang magsasaka.

Nagsasaliksik noon sina Karen at Sherlyn ukol sa kalagayan ng mga magsasaka sa Hagonoy, Bulacan nang dukutin sila ng mga hinihinalang ahente ng militar.

RECORDBREAKERS. Despite the occasional rains, parents, guardians and high school seniors wait outside the Palma Hall for the annual UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) on August 5. This year, 75,000 hopefuls tried their luck to get into the country’s premier state university. It was also the first UPCAT to include essay questions.

Tinortyur at ginahasa umano ng mga sundalo sina Karen at Sherlyn at sinunog naman nang buhay si Meriño, ayon kay Raymond Manalo, testigo at kapwa-bihag ng tatlo na nakatakas noong 2007.

“I’m sure, buhay pa siya,” ani Gng. Empeño nang tanungin sa korte kung naniniwala itong buhay pa ang anak.

Nauna nang naghain ng “not guilty plea” ang mga akusadong sina Col. Felipe Anotado at S/Sgt. Edgardo Osorio noong Abril. Inilipat sila ng piitan sa Army Custodial Management Unit sa Fort Bonifacio mula sa Bulacan Provincial Jail noong Disyembre 23 matapos nilang igiit na sakop sila ng Executive Order 106 (EO 106), na nagsasabing dapat nasa kustodiya ng militar ang sinumang sundalong nasasakdal.

‘DELAYING TACTICS’ Samantala, hindi ikinatuwa ng kampo nina Karen at Sherlyn ang mga naganap sa paglilitis. “Bakit ba gusto nilang pagtalunan sa korte kung UP students ba o hindi ang dalawa? Pinapahaba lang nila ang panahon ng pag-aantay namin sa hustisya,” ani Erlinda Cadapan, ina ni Sherlyn na dumalo rin sa paglilitis.

Hindi umano nararapat na isali sa paglilitis ang pagkuwestiyon sa pagiging estudyante ng UP nina Karen at Sherlyn, dahil ang tanong na mas dapat sagutin ay kung ano ang nag-aabang na parusa sa mga salarin. Higit sa lahat,

Student leaders nix transfer of school opening to September WITH THE REVIVAL OF TALKS ON moving the start of the academic year from June to September, student leaders maintain that such a policy cannot ensure the safety of students during the rainy season and might even adversely affect learning and access to education.

Earlier this week, Senator Franklin Drilon reiterated his call to pass Senate Bill 2407, which he filed in 2010. “By moving the school opening to September, or about [three] months later, the country will avoid inconvenience and needless damage to life and property,” Drilon wrote in his explanatory note.

The bill also seeks to make school buildings available for use during emergency situations as evacuation centers. “These facilities can be better put to use if they are not being utilized as classrooms and are ready and properly equipped,” Drilon said.

NOT THE RIGHT SOLUTION Merely moving the opening of classes to September will

not resolve the inconvenience of the rainy season, as extreme weather disturbances do not always happen during the first three months of the monsoons, said UP Student Regent Cleve Kevin Robert Arguelles.

“The storms Ondoy and Pepeng, which generated the most destructive floods in decades in the National Capital Region and North Luzon, happened in September 2009. In fact, because of climate change, extreme weather disturbances [occur] all year round,” Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino also said in a statement.

Many areas across the country, such as Bulacan and Metro Manila, are also easily flooded even after only moderate rains, regardless of the season, said UP Diliman University Student Council Chair Gabriel “Heart” Diño.

Furthermore, if the school year starts every September, students and teachers will have to go to school during the summer, which

will make teaching and learning difficult due to the hot weather, Palatino said.

“Before we shift the class opening to September, we must [also] remember that students in the provinces participate in family activities during summer to help in the harvest season… The postponement of class opening could affect access to education if families are not able to save enough money,” the youth solon added.

BETTER DISASTER MANAGEMENT While Drilon claims SB 2407 will help the country “avoid inconvenience and needless damage to life and property,” the best way to protect students in disaster-prone areas is to implement an efficient disaster management mechanism, Palatino said.

“Level up the flood-prevention measures. Expand and seriously implement the disaster preparedness plan. Strengthen the infrastructure to prevent disasters,” he explained.

The Department of Public Works and Highways should focus on improving roads to make schools accessible even in rainy days and construct separate evacuation facilities to avoid the use of classrooms as emergency centers, Diño said.

“Suspension of classes should [also] be based on [local conditions], such as [floodwater] level and traffic situation, not just typhoon signals,” Diño added.

Meanwhile, to compensate for suspended classes due to heavy rains, the Department of Education may want to consider reducing the number of days without classes during holidays, such as the two-week long Christmas break, ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio said.

“Long holiday breaks like this could be shortened to ensure that students spend the required number of days in school,” Tinio added.

dapat ilitaw na ng mga maysala ang dalawang estudyante, dagdag ni Gng. Cadapan.

Dismayado rin sina Gng. Empeño at Atty. Edre Olalia, pangkalahatang kalihim ng National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), sapagkat hindi pa rin naaaresto ang dating heneral na si Jovito Palparan, pangunahing suspek sa kaso, simula nang maglabas ng warrant of arrest ang Department of Justice (DOJ) noong Disyembre 2011.

Ipagpapatuloy ang paglilitis sa Setyembre 10, kung saan nakatakdang humarap sa korte sina Gng. Cadapan at Wilfredo Ramos, isa pang pangunahing testigo sa kaso na kumilala sa isa sa mga miyembro ng militar sa imbestigasyon ng DOJ.

MABAGAL NA USAD NG KASO Samantala, kinundena rin ng mga magulang nina Karen at Sherlyn ang mabagal na usad ng kaso at ang kawalan pa rin ng resulta sa pagtugis kay Palparan at kay Master Sgt. Rizal Hilario, isa pa sa mga suspek sa kaso.

“Hindi talaga mahahanap si Palparan kung hindi naman siya hinahanap. Ni isang salita, wala kaming narinig sa SONA ni [Aquino] tungkol sa karapatang pantao.

Ngayon, nakalaya pa ang boss ni Palparan na si Gloria Arroyo. May maaasahan pa ba kami sa gobyernong Aquino?“ ani Cadapan.

Dapat na magsalita na ang pangulo laban sa mga tulad ni Palparan sapagkat ang kaniyang pananahimik ang nagbibigay ng lakas ng loob sa mga militar na patuloy na lumabag sa mga karapatang pantao, dagdag ni Olalia.

“Nananawagan kami sa mamamayan na kahit saan ninyo makita si Palparan, arestuhin niyo na. Citizens’ arrest na ang kailangan natin, dahil napakainutil ng gobyerno sa paghuli sa kanya,” ani Gng. Empeño. “[This] is justice under Aquino: the rich, powerful, and notorious human rights violators, like Palparan and Arroyo, are mockingly free as preying vultures.

No wonder [Aquino] deliberately omitted [the situation on] human rights and peace in his SONA—[a] signal for state security forces to continue with terror and violence against the people,” ani Cristina Palabay, tagapagsalita ng Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights.

Tinatayang may pitong kaso ng pulitikal na pamamaslang na may mga ebidensyang sangkot ang militar, 107 detenidong pulitikal, at 426 na kaso ng sapilitang pagdukot, pag-aresto, at pagkakakulong mula nang maging pangulo si Aquino, ayon sa Karapatan.

BALITA Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

Cultural table scraps WE FILIPINOS RECEIVE THE LEFTOVERS OF OTHER NATIONS QUITE HEARTILY, BUT OFTEN AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR OWN CULTURAL PRODUCTS AND INDUSTRIAL INDEPENDENCE.

Anton Chua

DESPITE WEDNESDAY’S HEAVY rains, the Smashing Pumpkins concert held at the Araneta Coliseum was a smashing BALITA success. The twentyKULTURA four-year-old Huwebes Huwebes American band 16 Agosto Agosto 16 played thirty songs in a 2012 2012 concert that lasted over two hours. The event was attended by a deluge of people, even as it had been delayed by one day because floods raged on across the city.

Loved as they are by fans, the Smashing Pumpkins are already a relic of the past, a bygone band from a long-gone time. Their success here shows how we are a market for the surplus of other nations. This holds true not just in music, but indeed in all the hand-me-downs from other countries, such as industrial equipment, gadgets, and vehicles.

NOSTALGIC NATURE Nostalgia, says the dictionary, is “a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.” We Filipinos in particular hold this sentimentality close to our hearts. So much evidence to support this claim lies around our homes, in the form of ancient photo albums, old VHS tapes, and rolls of negative film that pay tribute to the past.

The music that we love describes our nostalgic nature.

Radio stations regularly play songs by long-gone artists, and there’s always some kind of tribute concert going on in the city. This is the case too with our old toys and gadgets, with film cameras and cassette tape players still in use in many homes. Even decades-old vehicles are still actively driven.

However, there’s a practical consideration for staying by our turntables and IBM XT white box computers, not just one of sentimentality.

These things were very expensive. If they still work, there is no reason to throw them away.

More importantly, though, our old chattels are part of the culture that we’ve developed for ourselves.

The things in which we put value historicize our lives. It’s the same with our music, which is always a piece of the old days, and tells stories about the past.

Oftentimes, however, the stories of the past are not our own.

Our culture loves to reminisce, but mostly about musicians from foreign countries, or old movies from Hollywood studios. This is because we are a target market for the surplus culture of other nations. We’ll take anything they can give us, even if it isn’t in vogue anymore. “Your childhood was awesome,” so the popular internet saying goes, if you remembered older Western or Japanese cartoons, but rarely local productions.

BYGONE RECYCLING SERVICE One of the reasons why the ukay-ukay is such a phenomenon is that we’re willing to get the surplus, the overruns of foreign lands, even secondhand giveaways, and make them new again. Dusty leather jackets, old speaker systems, even perfectly-usable TVs are brought in and refurbished by ingenious Filipinos who don’t like things being put to waste.

Surplus can also be acquired

cheaply, which is important because only a few people can afford brand-new imported goods.

This flea market frenzy comes into play in these concerts by bygone artists. It’s not so expensive to have a nostalgic concert, given that many of those old-timey artists are probably underbooked. A concert producer can earn a quick buck by finding a radio star killed by video, and ask them to have a concert here.

While we can attribute our liking for surplus to practicality and thriftiness, the reality is that we can’t produce many of the things that we import.

The lack of manufacturing infrastructure contributes to our being a surplus market, so we work with our resourcefulness and make do with the excess of other nations. This resourcefulness yields great results, as seen in the secondhand, 1966 LARC-V amphibious cargo vehicles that braved last week’s floods and saved many lives. Despite such performance, however, it still stands that we’re using ancient, hand-me-down equipment in mission-critical applications such as rescue vehicles, and not brand-new, reliable workhorses with zeroed-out mileage.

This surplus market nature carries over to the foreign concerts that end up playing here. Many of us would love a new, popular foreign act to come here and grace us with the music of the Top 100, but why

would they go all the way here unless they were on a world tour? It still comes down to settling for older things.

Trouble lies, however, in how we accept this surplus and settle for it, even if we have a strong cultural base of old and new acts. Our own cultural products are overlooked in favor of what essentially amount to leftovers from other nations. Local bands are content with small-time performances at malls or bars attended by their fans, but thousands will flock to watch Jeff Timmons live, even without the rest of the members of 98 Degrees. The 3D re-release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace earned millions of pesos, drawing ticket sales away from local productions even if it was just a rehash of a thirteen-year-old movie.

TABLE SCRAPS The Philippines is a surplus market because we don’t have a choice. It isn’t simply a case of nostalgia or practicality. Receiving the surplus of other countries is cheaper and simpler than producing our own, and the leftovers will be well-received. In the shortterm, “cheaper and simpler” sounds economically viable.

However, without the capacity to create critical goods such as vehicles or electronics by ourselves, we are shackling ourselves to the economies and cultures of other nations.

God forbid a terrible economic crisis happen once again, or countries will turn to their own surplus in times of need, and we shall be left with nothing.

The surplus market also commodifies nostalgia, turning from a sentimental yearning into something that money can buy. Discotheque-era performances represent memories that can now be bought at your nearest TicketNet. This devalues the uniqueness of nostalgia, a special experience that differs greatly from person to person.

Culturally, our market is saturated with remakes of foreign TV series, concerts of oldies bands from the West, and we seem to keep asking for more. As we favor foreign culture, we discourage local art. Filipino animators are unique in their creativity and are heralded across the world, but they work abroad because they feel no support here. The same goes for our musicians.

A particularly stinging example is Cynthia Alexander’s recent departure, outright saying that she had no support here. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga tickets could be sold for up to ten thousand pesos, and the money shall flow to her.

Certainly, our culture loves to look at the past, but it should be our past that we view, not the past of other nations.

Certainly, we are great at repurposing the surplus of the world and making it new, but better than that would be creating and supporting our own brands, and building names for ourselves, in our own country. Until then, we seem to be satisfied with table scraps.

DONNING BRIGHT dresses, tights, and balaclavas, female punk group Pussy Riot stormed the altar of Moscow’s historic Cathedral of Christ the Saviour last February to stage a Sex Pistols-style ‘punk prayer’ scrutinizing Russian President Vladimir Putin. Now, three alleged members of the band are at the heart of one of the biggest trials in Russian history.

After their performance’s video went viral online, suspected Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.”

However, investigation experts note the trumpedup nature of the charges. ‘Hooliganism’ is defined

by Russian Law as the “use of weapons” to disrupt public order. Guitars and a sense of conviction were the girls’ only weapons. The only possible crime they committed was emotional offence against Christians, punishable by a fine of 1,000 rubles. Yet a probable 7-year imprisonment was being indicted against them, with the final verdict to be handed down on August 17.

Pussy Riot’s trial has caught worldwide attention, and some of their supporters have resorted to extreme protest stunts: locking themselves inside cages, sewing their mouths shut, and self-crucifixion. Their extreme measures are a response to their government’s disregard to the people’s protests. Likewise, our Philippine government ignores popular criticism that at times lead to hostile demonstrations met with the same hostile response.

Female Davids and a Goliath

KULTURA Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

Russian

i R gRRlso t

Pussy Riot was formed last year after Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev proposed Vladimir Putin’s return to the 2012 Russian Presidency.

Putin’s overdue political power, either as president or prime minister, Heroes since 1999 is considered by many as behind masks an early symptom of an authoritarian Pussy Riot’s masks or regime. In his years in politics, Putin balaclavas serve to hide their resorted to crony capitalism to preserve identities-- from both the State close ties with business organizations to and their fans. They do not claim to be A ensure the growth of Russian economy. superwomen; instead they wish to show A D IC A L R However, anti-Putin movements sparked Russian women that they can all become Pussy K after the alleged fraud of Putin’s victory in this F E M A L E P U N OND Riot. Their masks allow them the anonymity to cease C year’s presidential elections.

SE 1being individual musicians and become a part of the GROUP’S 5 The arrest of Pussy Riot members is a vulgar E C group ideology.

PERFORMAN show of power by Putin’s administration. Defense The group specifically chose the Cathedral of Christ the OLLED lawyers for the trial proceedings have denounced R O C K E D ‘N R IN IS T R AT IO N Savior because of its flexible cultural significance. It was in DM the lack of time allotted for their preparation, this Cathedral where rulers were crowned. Joseph Stalin blew it T H E P U T IN A K IN G W O R L D W ID E and the prohibition of media outlets inside AR P up after the Russian Revolution. Its ruins were turned into a public IN R U S S IA , S S S TO the courtroom. Police have detained 30 swimming pool in the 60s, and it was rebuilt in 1994 to be the E demonstrators wearing Pussy Riot shirts C O N S C IO U S N X P R E S S IO N . tallest Orthodox Church in the world. Eventually, the Cathedral turned E outside the courtroom. Since the 1990s, up as a commercial enterprise not owned by the Russian Orthodox FREEDOM OF repression of anti-government sentiments Church. With the historical impact of the Cathedral as backdrop, Pussy “pornography” in her was rampant in Russia. Journalistic killings Riot heightened Russian feminism after preaching their own political short story “Fairy Tale for the City” have been common, including that of Anna truths on the Cathedral’s altar where only men were allowed. which was banned from further publication.

Politkovskaya, one of Putin’s harshest While the girls discard any notion of being superheroes, Putin crafted Religious groups also campaigned for the cancellation of last critics. Because of these repressions, a contrary political image. In the past decade, media helped Putin mold summer’s Manila concert of international artist Lady Gaga so-called Russian democracy appears to his public image as a tough guy partaking in extreme activities such whose advocacies include homosexual rights. be non-existent. as swimming bare-chested in the cold Siberia River, demonstrating his Dissent is a right in any democracy, and it is the artist’s Aside from the government, the head of martial arts skills in Tokyo, and sedating a tiger in Ussuri. This publicity role to make legitimate political protests. This sentiment is the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch creates the impression of a macho Super-President who can save shared by musicians Pete Townshend, Jarvis Cocker, and Neil Kirill, also demanded severe punishment the day. His larger-than-life fantasy was thwarted, however, by a Tennant who published a letter of support for Pussy Riot’s for Pussy Riot. A priest attempted to 51-second performance by masked young girls who opposed his release in the Times newspaper. disrupt American musician Madonna’s policies through art.

Art must confront erroneous norms set by society, its Moscow concert for her show of support government, culture, and religion. Suppression of this art Art and war for Pussy Riot’s release. This is unsurprising, deadens democracy. Cultural repression by both Church Russia’s and the Philippines’ democracies may signal considering the Russian Church’s long history of and State, either Russian or Philippine, not only weakens a step toward a free society capable of progress. Yet meddling with State affairs from the Tsars to Stalin, democracy but preserves a status quo wherein these the democracies of both are still tied to established and now, Putin. two institutions are the central beneficiaries. Both work social roles based on patriarchal and religious The separation of Church and State is illusory in many arm-in-arm in maintaining the established norms, beliefs. Nonconventional ideas that go against democratic countries including the Philippines. Electoral preventing anti-government, anti-Church forces that the norms are silenced by those in power. candidates court leaders of various religious groups for support. can ruin their supremacy.

Censorship in the Philippines stems Government matters, such as the Philippine Reproductive Pussy Riot’s protest art had hit both the Russian back even from the publication of Noli Health Bill, which promotes access to safe birth control, are Church’s and government’s defective system with Me Tangere. In the 1950s, Estrella being tirelessly checked by some religious leaders. Artworks just one stone. The girls reminded the people that Alfon, one of the most important that are deemed to promote anti-Church ideas are censored, such Russia is democratic, not authoritarian. People in a Filipino fictionists, was accused as Mideo Cruz’s “Poloteismo.” Church and Government alike utilize democracy are free to voice out their political stances, by the Catholic League of the their power to ensure their power over the State. for it is only in a democracy wherein the most Philippines for publishing tantamount power lies among the people.

SIMPLE LANG ANG LOHIKA sa likod ng pangungutang. Mayroong nangangailangan ngunit salat sa salapi, at mayroong may kakayahang magpahiram ng pera. Hindi malayo sa pang-araw-araw na karanasan ng mamamayan ang umutang sa panahon ng kagipitan. Katulad ng mga indibidwal, nangungutang rin ang pamahalaan. Sa katunayan, dito nagmumula ang karaniwang biro sa mga Pilipinong wala ka pang mga anak, mayroon nang utang ang iyong apo sa tuhod. Subalit hindi tulad ng pangungutang ng mga indibidwal, higit na kumplikado kapag pamahalaan ang umutang.

Sa seryeng ito, tatalakayin at bibigyang-linaw ang mga relasyon at prosesong pinagmumulan ng utang ng gobyerno na sa huli’y sambayanan ang pumapasan.

LATHALAIN Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

May dahilan na raw para magdiwang ang naghihirap na Pilipinas. Kamakailan lang, nagpautang ang bansa ng $1 bilyon sa International Monetary Fund (IMF). Muling tumampok ang pagiging “creditor nation” ng Pilipinas, na noong 2010 pa itinalaga ng IMF matapos umabot sa $63.4 bilyon ang reserbang dolyar ng bansa.

“Ang dating sick man of Asia, ngayon, punung-puno na ng sigla… Kung dati po tayo ang laging nangungutang, ngayon, hindi po birong tayo na ang [nagpapautang],” ani Pangulong Benigno Aquino III sa huli niyang State of the Nation Address.

Subalit hindi sapat na batayan ng kaunlaran ang kakayahang magpautang dahil may utang pa rin ang bansa, ani Glenis Balangue, senior researcher ng IBON Foundation, isang institusyong pampananaliksik.

Sa katunayan, mayroong P5.7 trilyong national government outstanding debt o kabuuang utang ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas (sumangguni sa sidebar 1).

Taon-taon, pinopondohan ng gobyerno ang pambayad sa utang o debt service mula sa buwis na ibinabayad ng mamamayan.

Nahuli sa bitag Malapit sa karanasan ng mga Pilipino ang pangungutang kaya’t hindi mahirap maunawaan ang konseptong ito.

Buhay na buhay sa indibdwal na antas ang praktika ng pangungutang, lalo na sa panahon ng kakapusan.

Halos magkatulad ang proseso ng pag-utang, mapa-indibidwal man o pamahalaan, sapagkat itinutulak ito ng kagyat na pangangailangan at kakulangan. Sa pamahalaan halimbawa, napupunan ang mga programa o serbisyong walang sapat na pondo sa isang tiyak na panahon tulad ng mga imprastraktura, pagmimina, at agrikultura, na nababayaran sa pamamagitan ng pag-utang.

Umuutang rin ang pamahalaan upang mapatupad ang mga programa at ipapagawang proyekto, punan ang kakulangan sa badyet, o bayaran ang natitira pang utang.

Hindi naman masamang mangutang kung nagagamit ito sa pag-unlad ng bansa, ani Sonny Africa, head researcher ng IBON. “Ang dagdag na pondo mula sa labas ay [maaaring] makakatulong sa pagpapabilis ng pagunlad ng ekonomiya – halimbawa, utang na napunta sa pagtayo ng pambansang industriya – o tugunan ang pangangailangan ng mamamayan,” dagdag niya. “[Ngunit] may mga utang na [tulad ng] sa World Bank, na ang kapalit ay [pagbubukas sa pagsasamantala sa] at-

ing likas na yaman at lakas-paggawa, at pagwasak ng ating economic sovereignty. Kumbaga, hindi na nakatulong, sinira pa ang ekonomiya, tapos pinabayad pa tayo ng interes,” aniya.

Naiiba rin ang pangungutang ng pamahalaan, dahil umaani ito ng napakalaking interes na maaaring magmula sa mga international financial institutions (IFIs) tulad ng IMF at World Bank (WB), mga banyagang pamahalaan, at mga pribadong bangko at kumpanya, dayuhan man o lokal.

Maliban rito, obligado rin ang pamahalaang bayaran ang prinsipal na utang at ang kasamang interes nito sa loob ng itinakdang panahon sa kasunduan.

Hindi rin biro ang umutang lalo na iyong nagmumula sa labas ng bansa sapagkat may mga kondisyong ipinapataw ang mga IFIs tulad ng pagpapababa ng buwis sa mga pumapasok na dayuhang kalakal at pagsasapribado sa mga pampublikong korporasyon na madalas nangangasiwa sa mga serbisyong panlipunan.

Sa katunayan, tulak ng mga kondisyong ipinataw ng IMF at WB mula noong 1987 hanggang 2000, ang pagsasapribado sa mga dating korporasyong pagmamay-ari ng gobyerno tulad ng National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR), Philippine National Oil Company, at Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System. Sa halip na direktang magbigay-serbisyo, tanging pangagasiwa na lamang sa pribadong sektor ang tungkulin ng mga ahensiyang ito sa kasalukuyan.

Baon sa utang May pinanggagalingan ang lahat ng utang ng bansa. Sa katunayan, nakapaloob sa kasaysayan ng pananalapi ng bansa ang serye ng pangungutang.

Naganap noong 1957 ang isa sa mga pinakaunang pag-utang ng Pilipinas, kung kailan humiram ng $21 milyon mula sa WB ang NAPOCOR para sa pagpapatayo ng Binga Power Project, isang hydroelectric dam sa Hilagang Luzon.

Nasundan ito ng pangungutang ni dating Pangulong Diosdado Macapagal ng $300 milyon mula sa IMF noong 1962 bunsod nang walang tigil na pag-aangkat ng mga dayuhang produkto sa ilalim ng kasunduang Bell Trade na nagpanatili sa mga dayuhang negosyo sa bansa.

Lumobo ang utang sa panunungkulan ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos mula $2.7 bilyon noong 1972 tungong $28 bilyon noong 1986, ayon sa BSP. Bunsod ito ng malawakang paglustay sa mga proyektong impras-

traktura ng pamahalaan tulad ng $2.3 bilyong Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, at malakihang pagbaba ng buwis sa import, habang pinahahihintulutan ang dayuhang korporasyon na kontrolin ang export sa mga produkto.

Sa halip na gugulin ng gobyerno ang mga pondong inutang sa pagpapatayo ng mga pambansang industriya, ginagasta pa ito sa mga proyektong magbubukas sa bansa sa mga dayuhang negosyanteng pinagsasamantalahan ang mga likas-yaman at lakas-paggawa ng bansa, ani Africa.

Ipinatupad rin sa panahon ni Marcos ang Budget Reform Decree of 1977 na nagpahintulot sa pangulo na awtomatikong maglaan ng kahit anong halaga sa pambansang badyet upang ipambayad-utang, nang hindi na kailangang pang dumaan sa Kongreso.

Ipinagpatuloy ni dating Pangulong Corazon Aquino sa kanyang Administrative Code of 1987 ang ganitong kapangyarihan ng pangulo. Alinsunod sa kanyang “honor-all-debt policy,” inako ng administrasyong Aquino ang lahat ng lumobong utang mula sa diktaduryang Marcos sa halip na kanselahin ito.

Malinaw na malaki ang papel ng pamahalaan sa pagtatakda kung magkano sa pambansang badyet ang inilalaan sa pambayad utang. Sa mga nagdaang taon, makikita kung paanong mas binibigyang pagpapahalaga ng pamahalaan ang pagbabayad ng utang sa halip na serbisyong panlipunan. (sumangguni sa sidebar 2).

Mula 1986, halos sangkatlo ng kabuuang badyet ng pamahalaan ang nakalaan sa debt service, ani Balangue.

Lalo namang nakulong sa siklo ng pangungutang ang Pilipinas sa ilalim ng mga sumunod na administrasyon dahil sa walang katapusang pagbabayad sa lumalaking utang, at sa walang tigil na pagsasagawa ng mga proyektong pinakikinabangan lamang ng iilang mayayamang negosyante.

Masalimuot ang proseso ng pangungutang ng pamahalaan. Bawat panibagong utang ay nagbibigay pagkakataon sa IMF at WB na magpataw ng kundisyong yumuyurak sa ekonomiya ng bansa at pamumuhay ng mamamayan. Isa itong laro sa tatlong aktor—ang pamahalaan, ang mga nagpapautang, at ang mamamayan, na siyang pumapasan sa bigat ng pagbabayad-utang, gayong hindi naman nila ito napakikinabangan.

(Sa susunod na isyu: Ang pandaigdigang kalakaran ng pangungutang)

SIDEBAR 2: HALAGA NG UTANG AT SERBISYONG PANLIPUNAN SA PAMBANSANG BADYET

Alokasyon sa badyet (sa bilyong piso)

900 800 700 600 500 400

A – Kabuuang halagang (prinsipal na utang at interes) ipinangbabayad utang (sa bilyong piso) B – Badyet para sa serbisyong panlipunan (sa bilyong piso)

300 200 100 0 Sanggunian: IBON Foundation, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Statistical Yearbook 2002, Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing 1986-2012

SIDEBAR 1: UTANG NG BAYAN Halaga ng National Government Outstanding Debt (NGOD) para sa 2013: P5.779 trilyon Domestic debt sa NGOD: P3.587 trilyon Foreign debt sa NGOD: P2.191 trilyon o halos $50 bilyon Mga pinanggagalingan ng foreign debt ng bansa: Asian Development Bank: $5.329 bilyon International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, bangko sa ilalim ng World Bank: $3.701 bilyon International Development Association, bangko sa ilalim ng World Bank: $132.571 milyon International Fund for Agricultural Development, ahensiya ng United Nations: $79.112 milyon Pamahalaan ng Japan: $7.039 bilyon Pamahalaan ng France: $59.142 milyon Pamahalaan ng Germany: $25.130 milyon Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries sa Middle East: $4.585 milyon Food for Peace Act ng US Department of Agriculture: $232.830 milyon US Agency for International Development: $37.043 milyon Paris Club Account ng Belgium: $48 milyon Mula sa mga pribadong kumpanya sa labas ng bansa: $1.651 bilyon Foreign debt security o utang mula sa mga dayuhang institusyon bilang paniniguro na mababayaran ng bansa ang utang: $32.078 bilyon

Kabuuang halaga ng external debt ng Pilipinas o pinagsamang utang ng gobyerno at mga pribadong entidad mula sa labas ng bansa sa 2012: $62.9 bilyon Panukalang pambansang badyet para sa 2013: P2.006 trilyon Alokasyon para sa pambayad ng prinsipal na utang sa 2013 badyet: P449.3 bilyon Alokasyon para sa pambayad ng interes ng utang sa 2013 badyet: P333.9 bilyon Bahagdan ng pambayad utang (prinsipal at interes) sa 2013 badyet: halos 40 Alokasyon para sa serbisyong panlipunan sa 2013 badyet: 699 bilyon Bahagdan ng serbisyong panlipunan sa 2013 badyet: 34.8 Sanggunian: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 2012, Bureau of Treasury, Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing 2013

BIGAT NG BAYARIN ANG SIKLO NG UTANG AT PANGUNGUTANG NG PILIPINAS (UNA SA TATLONG BAHAGI)

Mga uri ng utang Ayon sa pinanggalingan: Domestic. Utang ng isang bansa mula sa sarili nitong bangko sentral, sa porma ng mga treasury notes, bonds, o bills. Maaari rin itong manggaling sa mga pribadong kumpanya sa loob ng bansa.

Foreign. Utang na nanggaling sa mga malalaking IFIs, mga dayuhang korporasyon, at mga gobyerno ng ibang bansa.

Ayon sa uri: Multilateral. Uri ng pangungutang kung saan nasasangkot ang mga mga IFIs tulad ng IMF, WB at ADB. Karamihan sa mga umuutang dito ay galing sa mga bansang Third World. Kapalit ng pag-utang kailangang sumunod ang mga bansa sa kondisyon ng mga IFIs tulad ng pribatisasyon sa mga pampublikong serbisyo.

Bilateral. Mga utang mula sa mga pamahalaan ng ibang bansa, kadalasan bilang tulong pampinansiyal o foreign aid.

Commercial. Utang na nagmumula sa mga pribadong korporasyon, dayuhan man o lokal.

Foreign Debt Security. Ito ang perang patago ng Pilipinas sa ibang bansa upang masiguradong makakapagbayad ang bansa ng utang. Ngunit habang tumatagal, ang patagong ito’y nagkakaroon ng interes at lumalaki ang halaga.

Official Development Assistance. Kilala bilang foreign aid o pampinansiyang tulong umano ng

ibang bansa sa Pilipinas ngunit sa katotohanan, ginagamit bilang instrumento ng mga malalaking pampinansiyang institusyon upang maitaguyod ang kanilang mga pang-ekonomiyang palisiya at komersyal na interes tulad ng pagbukas ng kalakal sa pandaigdigang merkado.

Ayon sa maturity: Short-term. Mas maikli sa isang taon ang panahon na inilaan upang mabayaran ang ganitong uri ng utang. Kumpara sa mga medium at long-term debt, maliit ang halaga ng ganitong mga utang na nagagamit sa kalakalan at shipping. Bunsod ng walang tigil na pag-import ng mga kalakal mula sa ibang bansa, pinalitan ng mga short-term debt ang mga long-term debt noong 1980s, na nagdulot ng pagtaas ng utang sa mga sektor ng ng langis, airline at enerhiya na pagmamay-ari ng gobyerno.

Medium at long-term. Tumatagal ang mga utang na ito mula 1 hanggang 5 taon, kung kailan kailangang mabayaran ang kabuuang utang (prinsipal kasama ang interes). Ginagamit ito ng gobyerno sa mga proyekto at programang pangkaunlaran nito tulad ng imprastraktura.

Sanggunian: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Bureau of Treasury, IBON Foundation, Boyce, James K. (1993). The Philippines: The Political Economy of Growth and Impoverishment in the Marcos Era. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

SA GITNA NG SAKUNA

(1/8) Ayon sa NDRRMC, humigit sa 3.4 milyong Pilipino ang naapektuhan at umabot sa P616 milyon ang kabuuang halaga ng mga napinsala ng malakas na pag-ulan at pagbaha dala ng habagat.

(2/8) Ibinaba ng MalacaĂąang ang Memorandum Circular No. 33 at sinuspinde ang mga klase sa paaralan at trabaho sa opisina sa Metro Manila at mga karatig probinsya dahil sa walang tigil na pag-ulan noong Agosto 7.

GRAPIX Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

(3/8) Umabot sa 40 bayan at lungsod ang nagdeklara ng state of calamity dahil sa pag-apaw ng ilang mga ilog at dams, tulad ng Marikina River at La Mesa Dam. Ilang araw na binantayan ang pag-abot sa critical level ng mga dam upang mailikas agad ang mga naninirahan malapit dito.

(4/8) Halos 250 paaralan sa Metro Manila at ilang bahagi ng Luzon ang nagsilbing evacuation centers para sa may 90 libong pamilya, ayon sa Department of Education.

Dahil sa napakaraming bilang ng araw na walang klase, lumitaw ang mga mungkahing baguhin ang school calendar sa bansa.

(5/8) Taon-taon, humigit-kumulang 20 bagyo ang tumatama sa bansa.

Gayunpaman, hindi pa rin nagagawang lubusang umangkop ng pamahalaan upang mapaghandaan ang ganitong mga inaasahang delubyo.

(6/8) Maraming Pilipino pa rin ang nagagawang ngumiti sa kabila ng mga pangyayari. Sa panahon ng sakuna, tila sa pagiging masayahin na lamang nakakukuha ng pag-asa at lakas ng loob ang karamihan sa atin.

(7/8) Naging malaki ang tulong ng social networking sites sa pagmobilisa ng tulong para sa mga biktima ng pagbaha. Sa pamamagitan ng mga website gaya ng Twitter, naging maayos at mabilis ang pagkalat ng impormasyon.

(8/8) Halos P7.5 bilyon ang Calamity Fund na inilaan ng pamahalaan ngayong taon. Bukod dito, nakiisa rin sa pagtulong sa mga nasalanta ang iba’t ibang institusyon, indibidwal at sanlaksang mga non-government organization.

LAKAS TAMA

SINO NGA BA ANG MAY SALA?

OPINYON Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

NOONG NAKARAANG UNOS, nagmistulang Atlantis ang buong Metro Manila. Isa ako sa mga mapalad dahil nakatira kami sa mataas at ligtas na lugar. Hindi kami inabutan ng baha, at hindi rin nawalan ng kuryente sa bahay. Hindi ko man naranasang lumusong at lumutang sa baha, o mawalan ng tirahan at mga gamit, nakikidalamhati pa rin ako sa mga naging biktima nito.

Pinanood kong lumubog ang buong Kamaynilaan sa internet at telebisyon. Wala akong magawa o maitulong dahil kahit nakatira kami sa mataas na lugar, dagat naman ang sasalubong sa akin kung gugustuhin kong makaalis sa bahay. Nagpalipas na lang ako ng oras sa internet, nakikialam at nagbabasa ng mga bagay na kahit paano ay baka makatulong.

Sa hindi kagulat-gulat na pagkakataon, napadpad ako sa Facebook. Sinalubong ako ng sunod-sunod na alon ng shares ng mga litrato ng binabahang kalye o overpass, mga infographics na may kinalaman sa bagyo, mga pubmats ng relief operations, at mga meme na pang-comic relief.

Sa lahat ng nakita ko, napansin kong maraming naghahayag ng opinyon tungkol sa kung sino ba ang may kasalanan sa pagbaha sa Kamaynilaan. May nagsasabi na ang gobyerno daw ang may kasalanan.

Mayroon ding mga ‘di sumasangayon at nagsasabing ang mga mamamayan talaga ang dahilan.

Pero bakit nga ba bumabaha?

Bata pa lang tayo, sinasabihan at tinuturuan na tayo na mahalaga ang puno sa kalikasan. Hindi lang dahil pinapatibay nito ang lupa, sinisipsip pa nito ang tubig na maaaring magdulot ng baha at pinsala.

Kung papansinin, walang masyadong puno dito sa lungsod kaya mabilis itong bahain. Sa halip na ilaan ang mga espasyo sa mga parke, eskwelahan, at iba pang pampublikong lugar para sa pagpapalunti sa kalikasan, hinahayaan ng pamahalaan na bilhin

Sa mga nangyari, masasabing hindi pa rin tayo natuto sa mga naganap noong nanalanta ang bagyong Ondoy

ito at tayuan ng commercialized na imprastraktura katulad na lamang ng mga naghihiganteng malls at iba pa.

Bukod doon, hinahayaan din ng gobyerno na patagin ng mga negosyante ang mga kagubatan upang pagtayuan ito ng mga parking lot o kaya ng mas marami pang malls. Dahil sa mga parami nang parami na malls at shopping centers, di rin maiiwasan ang

pagdami ng mga kinokonsumong plastik. At dahil sa mga plastik na ito kaya dumarami ang basurang bumabara sa mga daluyan ng tubig.

Isa pa sa mga rason kaya bumabaha sa lungsod ay ang hindi maayos na drainage system na dapat isa rin sa mga responsibilidad ng gobyerno. Pinahinto pa ng kasalakuyang administrasyon ang mga proyektong naglalayon sanang magbigay ng long term na solusyon dahil lamang pinangunahan ito ng nakaraang pangulo.

May ilang ding isinisisi sa illegal settlers sa mga creek o estero ang pagbaha dahil sila umano ang nagtatambak ng mga basura sa mga daluyan ng tubig. Ngunit hindi naman maaaring isisi sa kanila nang buong-buo ang epekto ng mga kalamidad. Maging sila kasi ay biktima rin, dahil napilitan lamang silang tumira doon. Sa halip na ibigay sa kanila ang kanilang karapatan sa maayos na tirahan, hinahayaan ng gobyerno na doon na lamang sila manatili sa masikip at masangsang na lugar.

Sa mga nangyari, masasabing hindi pa rin tayo natuto sa mga naganap noong nanalanta ang bagyong Ondoy. Hinahayaan lang natin ang mga bagay na lunurin tayo nang paulit-ulit. At hanggang walang pagbabago, lulubog at lulubog pa rin tayo at tatangayin lang ng alon.

PROJECT NOAH HINDI ITO TUNGKOL SA PET website ng gobyerno ukol sa baha.

Tungkol ito sa ibang proyekto.

Oplan hanap-karelasyon a.k.a.

Project Noah.

Nitong nagdaang linggo, naging patok ang biruan na sa sobrang lakas ng ulan, maaaring dumating si Noah sakay ng kanyang higanteng arko. Pero may catch: ang papasakayin lang daw ay ‘yung may mga karelasyon. Pares-pares. Kaya kailangan na talagang maghanap kung ayaw mong malunod.

Hindi ko alam kung binibiro ba ako ng panahon, dahil parang kasama kang inanod ng baha papunta sa ’kin. Sa lahat naman talaga ng oras na pwede kitang makilala, tumapat pa talaga sa panahon kung kailan suno-sunod ang delubyo.

Nagsimula ito isang makulimlim na araw sa Maynila. Doon kita pormal na nakilala, swerte na rin siguro at naimbitahan akong magsalita noong araw na iyon sa pagtitipon ng iyong organisasyon.

Napukaw ako sa iyong mga mata.

Hindi ko maalis sa isip ko kung paano ka tumitig. Tila ba nangungusap sila at nagbubukas ng pinto ng mga posibilidad. Na maaaring sa wakas, sa gitna ng laksa-laksang bagong taong nakikilala ko arawaraw, maaaring ikaw na nga. Sabi ko sa sarili ko, iba ‘to.

Bagaman Hulyo pa naganap ang unang pagkikitang iyon, noong

nakaraang linggo lang talaga tayo nakapag-usap nang madalas. Sa gitna ng relief operations, habang abala ang lahat, maging ako at ikaw.

Kaya ang mga usapan natin, nakasingit lang sa mga sandaling pagtigil upang huminga. Kadalasan nga, wala nang usapan. Kaunting titigan, kaunting ngitian.

Isang araw, niyaya mo akong magyosi break matapos ang isang mahabang araw ng relief operations. Hindi ko makakalimutan ang gabing iyon. Umuulan pa rin kaya kailangang magdala ng payong.

Dala ko ang bago kong payong (na pink) at akmang bubuksan na nang kinuha mo iyon sa aking kamay.

Pinayungan mo ako.

Hindi ako sanay na may naghahawak ng payong para sa akin. Kadala-

Ikaw nga yata ang unang lalaking humawak ng payong para sa akin san, ako ang humahawak ng payong, dahil madalas, mas matangkad ako sa mga nakikisukob sa akin. Ikaw nga yata ang unang lalaking humawak ng payong para sa akin. Ang tangkad mo kasi. Gusto nga kitang pigilan

sa tuwing manghihingi ka ng tawad dahil nababasa ako, o nasasanggi mo ako dahil madilim at makipot ang daan. Hindi mo kailangang humingi ng paumanhin, ako nga ang dapat magpasalamat para sa sandaling iyon.

Unti-unti, napapalagay na ang loob ko sa iyo. Noong una kasi, hindi ko alam kung paano kita lalapitan, kung paano ko sisimulan ang bawat pakikipag-uusap sa ‘yo. Masyado nga yata akong nag-iisip. Pero sa ilalim ng ulang dala ng Habagat, unti-unti kitang nakilala.

Hindi ko sinasadya pero, madalas na kitang pakaisipin. Hindi lang pala baha at walang katapusang ulan ang dala ng Habagat. Minsan, sa mga sandaling hindi inaasahan, doon dumarating ang pinakahihintay.

Mababaw lang naman ako, kaya’t ang mga saglit na pagkikita ay sapat na para mapangiti mo ako. Gusto kong magpasalamat dahil matapos ang mahabang araw ng paggampan sa gawain, lumulutang ka sa isip ko at napapawi ang pagod.

Ngunit ang lahat ay pawang mga posibilidad pa lamang. Walang kasiguruhan. Pero sana, ikaw na nga. Sana nga dito na magtapos ang aking paghahanap. Sana sa mga susunod na linggo, madeklara na nating tagumpay ang Project Noah.

Nakaw-tingin SIMULA NANG NAPANSIN kita sa isang inuman sa Kalayaan, parang dalawang uri na lamang ng tao ang nakikita ko arawaraw—iyong mga hindi ikaw, at ikaw.

Nakakasalubong kita sa Acad Oval, nagkakasalisi tayo sa Vinzons. Tuwing papanhik ako patungong 4th floor, lagi kitang naaabutang naglalakad pababa. Iniiwasan kong sumulyap, pero kapag nasa baba ka na’t paalis na ng building, pasimple kitang sinisilip sa pagitan ng bintanang salamin. Kapag tiyak kong malayo ka na, saka ko lang pakakawalan ang ngiting ilang minuto ko ring pinigilan.

Maaaring matagal nang nagkakatagpo ang landas natin sa UP at hindi lang kita napapansin. Siguro dahil lagi lang akong nakayuko, o pwede ring dahil sa iba ako nakatingin. Ngayon, hindi ko na maiwasang hanapin ka sa dagat ng mga pamilyar at ‘di pamilyar na mukhang nakakasalamuha ko araw-araw.

Bahagya ngang napatalon ang puso ko nang makita kita sa relief operations sa CHK noong nakaraang linggo. Hindi ko alam ang ikikilos ko kapag malapit ka sa akin kaya ginawa ko ang lahat para maiwasan ka. Kahit niyayaya ako ng kaibigan kong pumunta sa isang station, tumatanggi ako basta tiyak kong naroon ka.

Hindi lang ako nakapalag nang naupo tayo sa iisang bench para magpahinga. Nauna kami roon ng kaibigan ko, at ikinagulat kong doon n’yo rin naisipang tumambay ng kasama mo.

Nakinig ako sa usapan ninyo. Inis na inis ang kasama mo sa mga kagrupo niya sa paghatid ng relief goods sa isang community. Pinagtawanan daw kasi nila ang mga taong basang-basa habang nakapila para sa goods. At bukod pa roon, ayaw din nilang aktwal na mag-abot ng mga donasyon sa mga nasalanta. “Hindi raw sila safe sa squatters, ‘tol,” sabi ng kasama mo.

Nagkasundo kayong hindi sinsero iyong mga nagpapa-deploy sa community pero hanggang pag-iwan lang ng donasyon ang balak gawin.

“Pupunta ka doon ta’s may bitbit kang iPhone?

English-speaking ka pa? Anak ng--!” reklamo ninyo.

Ikinuwento mong sumama ka rin sa isang feeding program noong nakaraang araw. Pagdating ninyo sa evacuation center, may batang nag-celebrate ng kanyang birthday at ginawang handa ang dala ninyong champorado. May isang lugar din kung saan tanging sa basketball court lang nananatili ang mga biktima ng delubyo. Ayaw daw ng prinsipal na doon sila matulog sa mga klasrum, sabi mo.

Kahit nakikinig lang, dama ko ang galit at lungkot sa tinig ninyong dalawa. Ako man ang mapunta sa kalagayan ninyo, baka hindi ko rin mapigilang magalit o maiyak. Paanong nagagawa ng kahit na sino, lalo pa ng isang taga-UP, na pagtawanan ang mga nasalanta?

Ganoon na nga siguro kahiwalay ang turing ng marami sa mahihirap. Para silang bahagi ng populasyon na kailangang tulungan at abutan ng donasyon upang masabi nating mabuti tayong mga nilalang.

Marami pa kayong napag-usapan, hanggang sa napunta ito sa midterms, sa nalalapit na mga exam, at iba pang mga gawain sa eskwela. Napabuntonghininga na lang ako.

“Nakikinig ka ba sa dalawang lalaki kanina sa bench?” tanong ng kaibigan ko nang pauwi na kami.

Oo, sabi ko.

“Tingin nang tingin sa ‘yo ‘yung isang lalaki, te,” dagdag niya. “Baka crush ka.”

Gusto kong tanungin kung sino sa dalawang lalaki, kung gaano kadalas tumingin, kung paano niya nasabi.

Pero inawat ko ang sarili ko. Minsan, masarap ding tumulay sa mga akala’t pagbabaka-sakali.

www.philippinecollegian.org

Eksenang Peyups

Textback KUNG IKAW SI NOLI DE CASTRO, ANONG ISASAGOT MO KAY NOYNOY AQUINO?

Well, at least ako may stable na lovelife. Eh ikaw? Puro ka date, basted naman. Hahahaha! 2012-00904 BS Chem MAGANDANG GABI ,NOYNOY! 2012 79070 MC SAN JUAN Si Grace Lee nga hindi sinagot si Pnoy, si Noli de Castro pa kaya? 201221271 Arius Raposas BA Hist Kabayan: Noynoy, isa kang SPEYSHAL child! 01-70740 kilat Maghanap k n lng ng asawa Noynoy! 12-59037 bs ge

ANO ANG MENSAHE MO PARA SA UP MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM?

Go lang MBT! Ituloy ang pag improve sa mga games at wag pansinin ang mga haters. We’re all here to support you. UP Fight! Hi diony :))-0820676 jaz Ang galing ng UP MBT this year.

Super nag-improve. Never ako magsasawang suportahan kayo kahit sinasabi ng friends ko na malas daw pag nanonood ako ng live kasi laging talo. Hahaha. Umaasa akong mabreak na yung sumpa ko. Forever fan here ;) #UPFIGHT! 2010-333** Em BS CoE Mga repapips, okay lang yan. Minsan nananalo, madalas natatalo. Ganyan talaga ang buhay. Parang Pinas lang sa Olympics. BAKIT? Gobyerno at sistema kasi eh, you know na. 201142913 mrpogi para sa UP basketball team, playing time para kay Mark Lopez kilala ko yan at puso maglaro yan! At please lang

wag naman na mag 3-points si Mike S! Kawalang gana! Palaruin din si Juluis Wong!!! Puso ang kailangan para manalo! 07-48553 Basta pakitaan nila tayo ng clean and exciting game. Hindi kami magsasawa paluan sila ng drums. Haha. Go UP MBT! 09-112** Mech Eng’g pwede nang tawagin na Fighthing Maroons ang MBT, nakikita na lumalaban sila. sana lang magkapanalo na sila. 04 78469 eduds ‘Wag mawalan ng pag-asa, may next year pa! Charoros. Keri lang, isipin niyo na lang acads ang basketball. Lamang na lamang kayo sa kanila, ‘di bear!? Nga pala, pahingi naman ng 1 gram of pure gold (24k) para sa thesis. Please. Thank you so much! Ganda niyo eh! Ansaveh? :-] 2008-30718 Miming BS MetE di kami magsasawang sumuporta sa inyo! onting kembot nalang mananalo na tayo! 201033307 Charlie BS PSYCH UP FIGHT! Mananalo rin tau s basketball. Konti n lng sana talo n ang lasalle at nu. Go YUPII! 12-59037 bs ge

COMMENTS

ang galing! Lakas tama,, pinkahihintay ko olwiez! :)) tska nung “bakit wala parin si Superman” ni Jerome Tagaro ..,.ang Galing padin!! :)) 2011-63438 Venzy BA Psych UPV HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Yan lang ang masasabi ko sa Eksenang Peyups this week. Winner talaga! Tawang tawa ako sa ‘reclaims,’ grabe. =))))) 1128510 Dear Twinkle Almazan, bakit para atang napaka-”mathematical” ng artcle mo? Math major ka ba? Hahaha!

11-28xx2 UPD-CS-NIP! Napaka-negatively biased naman

ng title na ‘Ikatlong SONA ni Aquino, puno ng panlilinlang.’ HAHA. Natatawa na lang ako t’wing naaalala ko ‘to.

I agree with 2012-70572: dapat pairalin ang objective journalism. This izzo disappointing. 2010-59856 Louie Posadas BS Arki Kudos sa kule at sa mga writers nito lalo na sa post SONA critique.

Galing! Magpapasampal ang aming kapatiran sa editor in chief nito for a job well done. 10-36563 Junjun bs nuclear mechanics Ms/mr e.peyups, bigotry cguro ung tinutukoy mo sa Yuck #1,hndi bigamy :) 1078812

SAGUTAN

Para kay 2012-65***: Huwag ganyan, nakakahiya na. T.T 2011-42913 mrpogi Sagot kay 2012-65***: hello po!

Bakit parang assuming ka sa pagmamahal sayo ni Gerwin Tacadena?

Saan mo po sya nakilala? Chika mo naman teh. *winkywink* -112*863 To ‘12-70572, there’s no such thing as objective journalism. Alam mo yan kung Journ major ka, and I guess you’re not. Ang kule ay para sa boses ng mga marginalized students. Nariyan ang kule para sa mga issue na hindi natin nababasa, nakikita o naririnig sa mainstream media. :) ‘10-65868 Para kay 2012-70572, di ko alam kung nasa estado ka lang ng ilusyon o pagiging inosente dala ng pagiging freshie ngunit para sa iyong kaalaman,isangmalaking kalokohan ang pag-iral ng “objective journalism”. Bawat manunulat, publikasyon, istasyon at iba pang midyum ay may kanya-kanyang bias na imposibleng ihiwalay sa kanilang kamalayan sa tu-

Inbox

Newscan

SC stallholders and students fight against rent increase and repressed protest

CSWCD Alumni Homecoming

One of the many tendencies of privatization is to push the eyesore and the superfluous behind a shiny façade.

For many years, the UP Shopping Center (SC) has been serving students and the community by supplying them with their daily and extra needs in good bargains. However, with the prodigious raise in each stall rental from P80 to P577 per square meter, it is clear that the SC is left with very a slim chance of staying in the campus.

In February, the UP Diliman (UPD) Business Concessions Office (BCO) informed the UP Shopping Stallholder’s Association, Inc. (SCSAI) that the monthly rent for every stall will be raised from P80 to P577. Most stalls are about 25 square meters big. If the rent goes up to P577 per square meter, each stallholder would have to pay a P14,425 monthly rent, a 621% increase from the current average P2000 monthly rent. As an inevitable consequence, the stallholders would also have to drastically increase the prices of the items they sell. Or worse, some stalls would just have to close.

You may have noticed the newly painted white walls of SC. Fairly recently, UP Alay Sining closed a partnership with SCSAI to help them in the struggle in keeping the Shopping Center. The project is a mural painting campaign promoting SCSAI’s stand on the new policy and the community’s statement against the commercialization of education.

UP Alay Sining, together with other student organizations, class sections, and Fine Arts freshmen, initiated the project by putting up the primer paint.

However, a representative from the UP administration stopped us just when the last stroke of white paint was to be made. The admin said that the SCSAI and the students need to have a permit approved before the painting could be continued, something the admin never required the SC stallholders before.

This is a clear manifestation of the culture of repression dominant in the society; when the people use their assumed freedom of expression to expose and oppose anti-people policies, the ruling clique kicks back with spiked shoes by repressing the freedom to protest.

The permit for the mural painting is now being processed and should be approved in fifteen days. We invite artists and students to join us in creating this monumental people’s art, in supporting the stallholders’ fight for a just monthly rent, and in continuing fight for accessible education and academic freedom. If the admin denies or delays the issuance of the permit, Alay Sining and other organizations shall still continue with the project.

After all, the repressed have already given us the necessary permit.

Artista ng Bayan, ngayon ay lumalaban!

For details, contact: Iss Bautista (09052409504) and/or Ria Red (09196827642) Alay Sining, 18 years of serving the people online gallery and music library: alaysining.wordpress.com subscribe: facebook.com/alaysining | twitter.com/alaysining

Kayo ba ay may kapamilya, kapuso, kapatid, kapitbahay, kaibigan, katrabaho, kakilala na nagtapos sa UP Diliman College of Social Work and Community Development?

Pakibalita naman na may alumni homecoming sa Agosto 25, 9:30am3:30pm sa aming kolehiyo. Ang honourees: Batch 1952, 1962, 1972, 1987 at 1997. Espesyal ang okasyon sapagkat ika-45 taon ito ng pagbabalik-kolehiyo sa temang “Ipagbunyi ang Kabayanihan ng Alumni.”

Para sa karagdagang impormasyon: cswcdalumniupdates.blogspot. com, cswcd.up.edu.ph, upcswcdaa@ gmail.com, 929-2477 | 981-8500 loc.

4103 o 4106 |929-8438 (fax).

KabataRun: A Run for a Cause

Register to our benefit run and get a chance to win P3000! August 26 @ UP Academic Oval. Categories: 2.2 K, 5K, 11K for P350, P400 and P450 respectively.

KabataRUN is a benefit run for the Balay Aklatan (library building project) and Handog Ngiti (charity event for cancer patients) organized

by UP Beta Epsilon together with UP PRIME and UP MCO. Visit fb.com/ Kabatarun and RSVP at tinyurl.com/ kabatarun2012 for more details!

Burn those fats and win people’s hearts. Join KabataRun. Register now!

Show your love for the environment!

The UP Engineering Society will be having its first Tree Planting Activity on August 19 at the La Mesa Ecopark (tentative).

Adopt a tree now: P250php (with naming rights) and P60 to below P250 (without naming rights). Presence during the event is not re-

wing naglalahad ng balita o iba pang sulatin. Halimbawa na lang ang ABSCBN na hindi maglalahad ng katotohananukol sa tunay na kalagayan ng Hacienda Luisita dahil nasa puder nila si Kris Aquino na isang money-making powerhouse para sa istasyon. Nagkataon lang naang Philippine Collegian ay may malakas na bias sa tunay, palaban at makabayang pamamahayag na sa kasamaang palad ay di mo pa nauunawaan. Sana sa mga susunod na taon ay iyong mapahalagahan ang mga ipinaglalaban ng pahayagan ng Iskolar ng Bayan. 2006-78686 Bachelor in Secondary Education

PANAWAGAN

sana maging poll question niyo, sino ang gusto niyo makatuluyan ni mikay s princess and i? Favorite kasi ng students dito sa up. Lagi ako nkkrinig ng students talking about it.

Interesting 2 hear their say. Tagaup raw mga writers i heard. Thanks.

2011-16785

PABATI

At gusto ko nga palang batiin c Kuya Carlo from MBB. Yo, bro, kumusta na po kayo? Balita ko, Univ. Scholar ka raw? Palibre naman jan, bro! Hahaha! Pag d k nanlibre, ako ang manlilibre! Wahahaha! #JustKiddin’ Miss ka na namin, bro! 11-28xx2 UPD-CS-NIP! Hi kule. Hi din kay Lavilyn Hystea.

NainLAV ako sa name nya ng makita ko ito last time sa issue nyo noong SONA. Aabangan ko pangalan mo every week Lavilyn. :) 201032**5 artstudguy pabati po! sana mapub..belated happy birthday joanna!.. mr.yoso 0910359 bschem

quired. UP Eng’gSoc will be the one in-charge of monitoring the plants.

All sponsors will be included in the acknowledgement page of the ES Magazine. Save lives by nurturing the nature!

For inquiries, contact Nin at 09268247315 or Louie at 09165252419.

JOIN THIS YEAR’S POPSCICLE!

Hanggang saan aabot ang 60 pesos mo? We’ve got something more than just ice cream...

Join this year’s Popscicle, a trivia quiz show on pop culture, literature, science and anything under the sun brought to you by UP DOST SA with Moonleaf, DZUP and Orange Segment.

August 17, 2012 (5:30 pm), Bio Pav 4105.

Register with a partner for P60 at UP DOST SA tambayan, Rm 1 CSSC Complex, Plama Hall. First five pairs to register get free Moonleaf tea drinks! Five tea drinks will also be raffled during the event.

ASIAN FOOD FAIR 2012

This August 22, with the support of the Department of Linguistics, the UP Chinese Student Association, in partnership with UP Arirang, International Club of UP and UP Tomokai, proudly presents ASIAN FOOD FAIR 2012 to foster cultural diversity in the University and promote the Asian Festival Month.

Join us as we bring together the unique cuisine of different countries of the Orient where people from different walks of life experience an incredible feasting experience like no other. Eat with us at the 2nd Floor Palma Hall. See you there!

DA UNDERWATURR EDISHUN

Hallur hallur mga vahklur! Kamusta naman ang paglusong at pagsisid nyo sa julanis morisette last week? Enjoy ba mga ‘te? For more, basahin nyo ang mga nakalap kong chikas underwaturr habang nagmamala-sirena akezh sa baha.

Chika1: May vahklurr na naghasik ng email habang hampas nang hampas (arouch!) ang hanging habagat! Savi ba naman: “Please refuse the first email. It is a void.” The email! Is a void! Is it a black hole? Hmm koyaaaa baka higupin ka nyan hmmm.

Chika2: Be careful tayo sa pagtitext mga ‘te, kasi minsan, delicade (ano daaaw?!) ang magkamali. Like itong koya na sa maling utrez nasend ang message na para sana sa isang powerful girlaaash. “”Wit mong hayaang si *tooot* ang maging fez ng *insert some kampanya here*!” Grrrabe lung ‘te. Kunwari pang ayaw sa politics pero hmmm looks fishy, este, smells fishy...

Chika3: Kulang na lang tumulo ang saliviticus ni kuya habang naiidlip nang nakatayo sa MRT. Pero ang highlight: biglang hirit si kuya ng “PARA!” nang ma-shock na nasa QAve station na pala siya.

Umurong ang salaviticus ni Kuya, but like any bright UPipi schudent, nagpalusot na lang siya ng “Para— paraan po…” habang ginagawa ang kanyang dramatic and comedic jexit. Winnur divah!

So durr mga vahklurr. Kahit nagsubside na ang waturr, hindi naman lumipas ang midturr. So sabay-sabay na lang tayong magpakalunod sa sabaw keriiii. Baboosh na muna for now glog glog glog…

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OPINYON Huwebes 16 Agosto 2012

The RH Bill “recognizes and guarantees the exercise of the universal basic human right to reproductive health by all persons,” and upholds the “protection of women’s rights... [as] central to the efforts of the State to address reproductive health care.”

One of the contested provisions of the bill is its proposal to make artificial family planning an accessible option for couples. Health facilities must supply a full range of modern family planning methods and that the products and supplies for such would be regularly purchased as essential medicines.

“These artificial means [of family planning] are fatal to human life, either preventing it from fruition or actually destroying it,” according to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Supporters of the bill argue that introducing artificial family planning methods such as condom use in the set-up would merely expand the options on how families are planned. As such, the RH bill merely recognizes the people’s right to make free and informed choices.

Apart from the provision on contraceptives, some groups such as the Christian Pro-life Resources for the Philippines (CPRP) oppose the bill that “condone[s] abortion.” “The RH bill has provisions for ‘management of post-abortion complications.’ People who have committed the crime abortion or killed their own children through abortion should be held accountable,” explains CPRP. However, this provision does not seek to legalize abortion but instead ensures that women with such complications would “be treated humanely and given compassionate medical care,” says Sen. Pia Cayetano, one of the bill’s advocates, in her blog.

Much of the opposition against the RH bill stems from the misconception that it quells life. Otherwise, the purpose of the bill becomes apparent, to merely enhance the quality of life through proper planning.

Quelling life

The RH bill aims to promote reproductive health. With the country’s dismal health statistics, a bill recognizing such right is of utmost necessity. Data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) show that the country’s maternal mortality rate increased from 162 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006 to 221 in 2011. “The increase in maternal deaths is a direct and inevitable consequence of poverty, malnutrition, and the inaccessibility of healthcare,” says Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) Rep. Luz Ilagan.

Thus, this “should prompt a significant increase in the budgetary allocation for healthcare and the approval of the RH bill,” explains Ilagan.

With its emphasis on healthcare and increasing awareness, the bill is predicted to greatly impact the youth as well. The bill seeks the provision of age and development-appropriate reproductive health education which will be taught in formal and non-formal educational systems.

“Sexuality and reproductive health education is badly needed as the Filipino youth are becoming more vulnerable to reproductive health problems and unintended and unwanted pregnancies,” says Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino.

In 2011, the Philippine has a teenage pregnancy rate of 54 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19, clearly higher than the 39 births recorded in 2006, NSO data reveals.

“Implementing sex education in schools allows the youth to have proper understanding of sexual values and this helps them in delaying their initiation to sexual relations,” adds Palatino.

Ensuring reproductive health, after all, should not only entail the provision of health services but also increasing the public’s awareness on reproductive health through education.

Harnessing reproductive health

Of all the bill’s provisions, perhaps the most disputed is the bill’s premise of population control as prerequisites for development. This underscores the widely discredited philosophy that a lesser population translates to more access to resources.

“The limited resources of the country cannot be suffered to be spread so thinly to service a burgeoning multitude making allocations grossly inadequate,” according to the bill.

Such principle is reflected in HB 4244 to date, in spite of the fact that “economic Noble laureates…have found no correlation between population and poverty,” says CBCP. Aside from HB 3387 sponsored by GWP, all the other versions of the RH bill included population control as a guiding principle.

“Controlling population through any legislation will not receive this long-standing problem of inequity. To address poverty, we should address its real roots—landlessness, low wages, lack of job opportunities and access to social services,” says Palatino.

As such, Gabriela called for the revision of certain sections of the HB 4244 which emphasized population control. For instance, Gabriela proposes to revise Section 3 to read “resources must [instead] be made to serve the entire population, especially the poor and make allocations adequate and effective.” “[The RH Bill] should not focus on only one aspect of the reproductive health cycle [but]… should be reoriented to become a total comprehensive health package that encompasses all stages of life,” says Palatino.

For the RH bill to create a lasting impact on the parents, couples, women and youth that it seeks to benefit, it must veer away from the obscurity brought about by arguments on population control and instead focus on addressing the problem’s actual roots.

Blaming the population

NO OTHER PROPOSED LAW in recent history has sharply divided the country than the highly controversial House Bill (HB) 4244 or the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, which now stands as the consolidated version of six similar and related bills.

Last week’s termination of the plenary debates regarding the RH bill has ushered a new milestone for such legislative measure whose earliest versions had been in Congress since 1999, but were clearly unsuccessful. On August 14, the bill marks a significant step forward as it entered the period of amendments, prompting both supporters and critics to intensify their vigilance.

RESOLVING THE CONTROVERSIES BEHIND THE RH BILL

Flashpoints