SINAG Year 48 Issue 2 Online Edition

Year 48, Issue 2 The official monthly student publication of the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines, Diliman

The Failure of Liberals EDITORIAL 2016 will probably be written in history books as one of the most inter-

esting years of the 21st Century. The world was finally on the verge of a new renaissance with the apparent triumph of liberalism. The LGBT community won the right to marry.

The talks on considering drug use as a medical rather than a criminal issue are active. Marijuana legalization was gaining ground in parliaments and public opinion was shifting. Archaic social norms were constantly under attack. People would always use “It’s 2016!” as if it is an argument against bigotry on its own. Then came came the biggest blows everyone did not see coming. We elected a president who vowed to kill thousands in the name of peace and order. The United Kingdom decided to leave the European Union because they did not like immigrants. The Philippine Supreme Court allowed the burial of a dictator, despot, and plunderer at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. And just when we have thought it could not get worse, Donald Trump, a racist, sexist, misogynist ignoramus, won the presidency in the United States.

As UP students, arguably the most liberal subgroup of Filipinos, we are probably among the most surprised by these turn of events. Just how the hell can this happen?

The reason why liberals are so surprised is that we cannot fathom that the masses does not, in fact, reflect our worldview. We live in our bubbles of safe spaces and political correctness that we have forgotten to engage the rest of the world who do not share our worldview. We are very vocal on the internet, completely oblivious to what Trump called the “silent majority.”

These turns of events have huge implications which will ultimately affect the future of humanity. The Brexit shattered the strong belief in the promise of a peaceful, economically and politically integrated world.

The Supreme Court proved that history can successfully be erased and rewritten. The Trump administration, along with the Republican Congress, will appoint a new Supreme Court judge which will tip the scale to conservatism. They will have the power to reverse the social progresses achieved during the Obama administration. Trump, who has vowed to roll back the United States’ engagement in world affairs, could very much put an end to “Pax Americana” and usher a global power vacuum.

The old Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times” is seemingly becoming a reality for all of us. Continued on page 12.

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2 | NEWS

November-December 2016

Widespread protests follow hasty Marcos burial at LNMB

BY ENRIQUE NAVERA The students of UP Diliman showed their rage as they walked out from their classes to stage an indignation rally against the sudden burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Friday, November 18. The burial came less than two weeks after the Supreme Court decision (9-5) which allowed the burial.

Together with some Martial Law victims, administrators, multi-sectoral groups, faculty and staff of the university, they started with a short program at the AS Steps.

The rally then proceeded to Katipunan Avenue to meet the student protesters from the Miriam College.

In the program, stories of torture and harassment during the dictatorship of Marcos continued to be told.

Vice-Chancellor and Martial Law victim Nestor Castro shared his story under the Marcos dictatorship.

“Ako ay isang biktima noong panahon ng Martial Law. Ako ay inaresto noong 1983… walang search warrant, walang warrant of arrest at diniteyn ako illegally sa Camp Dangwa, Benguet.”

“Ang pamilya ko ang nagfile ng writ of habeas corpus sa korte para iproduce ang aking katawan. Pero dumating ang kautusan ni Pangulong Marcos. Ito ang tinatawag na Presidential Commitment Order o PCO na sinasabing wala akong anumang karapatan ayon sa batas at therefore, walang karapatan na ikwestiyon kung bakit ako nakakulong,” he continued.

Castro added, “ako’y tinortyur, pinagbubugbog, pinaso ng sigarilyo ang aking dibdib.”

His story was just among the thousands of reported cases. According to the estimate of Amnesty International, 70,000 people were imprisoned, 34,000 tortured, 3,240 were killed, and hundreds disappeared in the course of Martial law implementa-

tion.

On the other hand, UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan talked about the role of students and the youth in shaping the history of the Philippines.

“There will be no room for historical revisionism because you will write the history. And you will write in that history what happened tonight when we all came out into the streets and said ‘Hindi puwede, si Marcos ay hindi bayani.’”

Some of the shouts in the protest included “Hukayin si Marcos, ibalik sa Ilocos!” “Marcos is No Hero!”

“Makibaka, ‘wag Matakot!” and arguably one of the most iconic cries during the Marial Law era “Marcos: Hitler, Diktador, Tuta!” The latter was first heard during the protests of the 70’s and 80’s as people expressed their grieve disappointment and condemnation to the former dictator’s regime. It also alluded to the noticeable subservience of the former dictator to the dictates of the US through accepting large amount of loans and importation of economic policies in return. There are also condemnations against President Rodrigo Duterte for pushing for the burial.

Earlier that day, a protest action was also launched at the AS lobby as the remains of the former president being buried and given 21-gun salute at the Libingan.

The protest action came shortly after the burial of the late president at the LNMB. The burial was announced few hours before the ceremonies proper.

Protests were also held in different universities including the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, UP-Manila, University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila and the EDSA People Power Monument. --

THE LUMAD VS. THE CAPITALIST. Lumad children present a skit featuring a Lumad whose rights were being violated by a capitalist who had concern only for profits. Photo by Ryan Nicolas

MARCOS: HITLER, DIKTADOR, TUTA! Members of the UP community shouted cries used in protests during the Martial Law regime. Photo by Ryan Nicolas

CAL instructor urges students to volunteer for Lumad communities

BY RYAN NICOLAS In a forum on the plights of indigenous peoples in the country, Instructor Sharon Ann Pangilinan of the Department of Filipino and Filipino Literature, College of Arts and Letters urged students to volunteer as teachers in Lumad communities after they graduate.

Citing the lack of access to education that has constantly plagued these communities, she underscored illiteracy as one of the biggest vulnerabilities of the Lumads.

“May mga pagkakataon pinapapirma sila ng kapirasong papel, dokumento, hindi nila maintindihan yung nakasulat sa dokumento, yun pala, binibili na or inagaw na yung kanilang mga lupa. (There are times when they are made to sign a piece of paper or document that they do not understand, not knowing that they have already sold their land or their land was already taken from them.)”

She further added, “May mga kuwento din na [bibigyan] lang sila ng ilang lata ng sardinas, kapalit na nun ay lupa. (There are also stories where they are simply given a few cans of sardines in exchange for their land.)”

According to her, the Department of Education (DepEd) itself actively hinders access to education by refusing to grant permits to Lumad schools on the basis that Lumad schools allegedly serve as a recruitment agency of the New People’s Army (NPA).

DepEd also builds schools alongside the informal schools established by the Lumads and harass the teachers of the informal schools to force them to close down.

Targets, not mere victims The reason why the schools are being attacked, according to Instructor Pangilinan, is that Presidents Arroyo and Aquino declared Mindanao as the mining capital of Asia. Mindanao is dubbed as the last frontier of the Philippines’ natural wealth.

“Ayon sa isang dokumento, yung mga militar na dapat naglilingkod sa mga mamamayan ay ginawang ‘investment defense force.’ Sila yung nagiging pribadong puwersa ng mga dayuhang transnational companies.”

Executive Order 546, signed by Arroyo in 2006, allows paramilitary forces to operate alongside the Armed Forces to combat the insurgency of the NPA and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. However, it is used as the justification for all sorts of paramilitary forces, including that of the Ampatuan family which was involved in the massacre in 2009. The Investment Defense Forces were created in 2008 by the same administration due to alleged attacks of NPA forces in mining sites.

“Ang EJK, hindi lang sa droga.

Bago pa ang EJK sa drugs, marami nang pinapatay ang pamahalaan at mga dayuhang kumpanya na wala naming ibang ginawa kungdi lum-

aban para sa kanilang mga karapatan.”

She emphasized that the schools are not merely victims of the crossfire between rebels and government forces, but are the actual targets.

Pag merong eskwelahan sa isang lugar, magiging mas stable ang komunidad, mas magiging settled sila dahil magkakaroon sila ng kabuhayan.

Alisin mo yung mga schools, takutin mo yung communities, mag-eevacuate sila.”

Government forces establish military encampments in schools and train soldiers to become para-teachers. Pangilinan questioned the competence of soldier-teachers and the reasoning behind the program when the Lumads are capable of establishing their own schools.

She called for donations of school supplies and textbooks, citing the very low textbook to student ratio.

She also requested that the textbooks’ contents be nationalistic in nature.

She ended her speech with the calls: “Stop the Lumad killings. Save our schools.”

‘Recognize our schools’ In the same forum, Baby Rose Sarsuna, a Lumad teacher from Surigaodel Sur, shared their...

Continued on page 4.

NEWS | 3

November-December 2016

“No compromise on Marcos burial” – BAYAN

BY RYAN NICOLAS Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) Secretary-General Renato Reyes said that there will be no compromise with the Duterte administration on the burial of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

BAYAN is part of the left-wing MAKABAYAN bloc which belongs to President Duterte’s supermajority coalition in the government.

Speaking in a forum on perspectives towards President Duterte, Reyes said that they define their relationship with the incumbent president based on the long relationship the left has had with him since he was just in Mindanao.

“Napakakumplikado. May mga okasyon na magkakasundo kayo. Pero marami ding okasyong maghihiwalay kayo ng daan at magkakatunggalian kayo,” Reyes said describing their relationship with Duterte.

“Sa panahon na maganda ginagawa niya, susuporthan natin. Pero sa mga bagay na hindi tayo umaayon, nagiging bukas din tayo sa pagtuligsa,” he added.

He cited that BAYAN was among those who first filed cases at the Supreme Court to prevent the Marcos burial at the LNMB. They also held various protests and indignations against it.

First anti-imperialist president Reyes discussed the “good” reasons for maintaining the relationship.

First of them is Duterte being the first president to openly criticize the United States and “uphold our national sovereignty.”

“Siya pa lang yung nagsasabihing hindi kami magpapadikta, hindi ako yuyuko… there is such a thing as the dignity of the Filipino people.”

He also cited the president’s opposition to the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (which the President has said will not be repealed as of the writing of this article) and the halting of military exercises with the United States (which will not be totally halted but merely reduced according to the President as of the writing of this article).

He noted that these are only pronouncements so far and is still looking for the actualization as policy but regards them as accomplishments nonetheless.

However, he lamented the fact that just as Duterte was proclaiming independence from the United States, he was clinging on to other global powers, China and Russia.

According to Reyes, whether these pronouncements will ultimately be beneficial to the country remains to be seen, but definitely an independent foreign policy is a good start for us.

Most accomplished in peace talks Reyes also pointed out that the current peace talks have made significantly more progress than during the entire six years of the Aquino administration when political prisoners even increased in numbers.

Currently, there unilateral indefinite ceasefires declared by the Government and the National Democratic Front. Both sides aim to transform this into a more stable bilateral ceasefire but this, according to Reyes, remains difficult to achieve due to the many unresolved issues in the ongoing peace talks, particularly the release of political prisoners.

“Ang malinaw, the Duterte administration has committed to resume the peace talks, has released an initial batch of political prisoners, and has reaffirmed previous agreements.”

Among the issues yet to be resolved are the economy, poverty, land reform, and the wounds of the armed conflict.

“Hindi magtatagal [ang ceasefire] kung hindi magkakaroon ng paguusap at kasunduan dun sa mga substantial issues kung bakit may mga nag-aarmas sa bansa.”

He also lauded the appointment of progressive individuals in the cabinet such as Rafael Mariano, a farmer, as the Secretary of Agrarian Reform and Judy Taguiwalo, professor, former faculty regent, and union organizer at the University.

Major issues One of the major issues they have with the president is his relationship with the Marcoses.

“Yung Supreme Court decision, hindi masyadong nag-dwell sa legalities. May bahagi sa decision na ang talagang layunin ay baguhin, linisin, i-whitewash yung record by saying ‘Marcos was not purely evil.’”

Another thorn is the president’s pronouncements on the continuation of neoliberal economic policies.

If the issues of poverty, inequality, and other reasons why people take up arms are unaddressed, Reyes said the peace talks will be pointless and the aim will not be peace but mere pacification.

Reyes also said that the government is obliged to release political prisoners which include UP students and graduates, as they have signed an agreement with the NDF regarding human rights before.

Maricon Montajes, a film major at the College of Mass Communication, is currently detained in Batangas with bail set at one million pesos.

Reyes called on the audience to not get tired and continue to watch the administration and fight for change.

“The world has shifted” Maria Ressa, CEO of Rappler, said that the world has shifted, the latest

manifestation of it being the win of Donald Trump in the US Presidential Elections.

“This effect began in 2014. It was the impact of technology giving each of us far more power than we ever had in the past,” Ressa said.

Narendra Modi, she claimed, is the first politician to claim power in the current trend. Ressa covered him when he was still Chief Minister of western Indian state of Gujarat over allegations of human rights abuses.

In 2014, he was elected Prime Minister of India.

In the same year, General Prabowo, an associate of the late Indonesian dictator Suharto, almost won as President.

Ressa claimed that as early as January, they already knew based on their data from social media that Duterte was going to win the elections.

People’s leader According to Ressa, one reason many like Duterte is that he is authentic.

She also recalled how Duterte only had three program foci during the campaign when others had many: drugs, corruption, and good governance. According to her, this boldness and his personality translated well in the social media.

The fact that Duterte is from the province, first president from Mindanao, and first to not hail from the political elite also boosted his image.

His social media campaign capitalized on this and won him what Ressa called the first social media elections. “[His social media campaign] was a true grassroots movement. They

took 500 volunteers. Each volunteer was empowered. They divided themselves into four groups: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and OFWs. Each of those groups carried out their own way of distributing central messages.”

Ressa said Duterte tapped the anger in society from the marginalized.

Around July, his campaign began to hit the more fundamental divisions in our society such as class and urban-rural divisions. The campaign empowered the “have-nots” to become the most vocal in social media. However, Ressa lamented that in many cases, this empowerment is being used to stifle others who hold different opinions.

Change has come Ressa also expressed worry on how Duterte, instead of taking things slowly to learn, shook the pillars of the country in his first 100 days. She cited Duterte’s pivot to China and how it was not fully coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

She noted however that the pivot to China may prove to be a wise move in light of Trump’s election. Trump advocated for an isolationist foreign policy throughout the campaign period and wants to cut the US’ military expenditure.

She also expressed concern over Duterte’s replacement of key bureaucratic officials, saying it will harm the government’s performance and lead to institutional amnesia. According to her, Duterte’s action is in stark contrast to what happened after Suharto was ousted when the bureaucracy stayed through the transition.

Duterte’s cabinet appointments were also, according to her, the most transparent in history. While it also

showed clearly that political debts were being paid, Duterte proved to be resolute to keeping his cabinet in check by firing those who were underperforming.

Build bridges Ressa also pointed out that with today’s technology, anyone can be a journalist. However, journalism entails constructing a narrative that is as comprehensive and objective as possible while being subjected to journalistic discipline, standards, and ethics.

Journalism has recently been under constant attack by people online whenever they encounter materials that do not conform to their beliefs and prejudices. In effect, they dismiss credible information from mainstream media and rely on fake news sites that publish propaganda and outright lies.

“We as a society [need to] figure out [how to] build bridges between opposing camps rather than [create] echo chambers where we try to kill each other.”

Duterte 20/20: a look on President Duterte through Different Lenses was organized by the UP Association of Political Science Majors last November 10, 2016 at the Gonzalez Hall lobby. --

THE LUMAD VS. THE CAPITALIST. Lumad children present a skit featuring a Lumad whose rights were being violated by a capitalist who had concern only for profits.

4 | NEWS

November-December 2016

CAL instructor POLSCI DEPT. TO HOR: RETHINK FEDERALISM urges

BY CLARIZZE GRAVADOR

plights that they wish the government would recognize: red-tagging, military encampment, and the harassment of teachers and students.

She asked help from UP students in our own way to get DepEd to recognize the existing Lumad schools in Mindanao.

She also expressed their opposition to the DepEd Memo 221 which allows military presence in schools.

According to her, it violates Republic Act 7610 or the Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act. According to her, in conflict areas such as theirs, the youth are the ones that are most affected because they are prevented from getting education.

“Tinatawag silang unggoy, mangmang, [ignorante].” Restricted access to education which results to illiteracy is the root cause of the discrimination, she said.

Justice denied outright Dulphing Ugan, the co-convener of Kabataan para sa Tribung Pilipino (KATRIBU), discussed how Lumads are systematically being oppressed.

His example was how he ended up being one of the event’s speaker. He replaced Pya Malayao, KATRIBU’s secretary-general, who was injured during the violent dispersal of protestors at the Manila US Embassy earlier that day.

Among many other forms of systematic denial of justice to Lumads, he discussed the cases of rape of minors in their communities, the formal cases of which never progressed as they were actively suppressed by the Arroyo and Aquino administrations.

According to him, in November 23, 2015, Lumads in Haran were evicted by the military to secure and destroy the evidences of the rape of a 14-year-old Lumad girl. Three soldiers were involved but only one was charged because the two already settled with the girl’s family.

Afterwards, they were given permission by Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Davao to go back and were even offered transportation, but they were too afraid to do so because threats to their lives remained.

‘IPit: A Forum on Indegenous People’s Struggle for Human Rights’ was held on October 19, 2016 at the Anthropology Museum, Palma Hall and was organized by the UP Anthropology Society.

--

Seventeen faculty members of the University of the Philippines’ Department of Political Science presented their position paper regarding the shift to federalism before the House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Revision last November 16.

The said position paper was divided into three parts namely process issues, federalism option, and alternative options to the said congressional initiatives to revise or amend the 1987 Constitution.

The department pointed out that the unintended consequences of federalism are hyperpresedentialism; regional discrepancies, dependency and resentment; disparity in the provision and quality of public services; and lack of coordination and cooperation in the government leading to government paralysis and gridlock, to name a few.

In order to improve popular representation and efficiency, some of the suggestions of the faculty members are as follows: that there will be a runoff election, establishment of constitutional courts, and regional rather than national constituencies for the Senate.

Moreover, aside from presenting salient points on the issue regarding federalism and amendments to the constitution, provided recommendations that can immediately done by the body such as the amendment of the 1991 Local Government Code and the passage of the Bangsamoro basic law.

Faculty members who signed the said position paper are Maria Ela L Atienza, PhD, Francis Joseph A Dee, MSc, Teresa S Encarnacion Tadem, PhD, Jean S Encinas-Franco, PhD, Miriam Coronel Ferrer, MA, Perlita M Frago-Marasigan, PhD, Jan Robert R Go, MA, Herman Joseph S Kraft, MA, Maria Anna Rowena Luz G Layador, MIS, MA, Ruth R Lusterio-Rico, PhD, Jaime B Naval, MPP, Rogelio Alicor L Panao, PhD, Dennis F Quilala, MA, Ranjit S Rye, MPA, Jalton G Taguibao, MPM, Jorge V Tigno, DPA, and Jean Paul L Zialcita, PhD. The purpose of the said position paper is to call for the attention of the members of the Congress and the Executive to properly inform the public about their plans, encourage popular participation and to reconsider their plans concerning the shift to federalism.

The complete copy of the department’s position paper on federalism can be accessed through this link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ up-department-of-political-science/ position-paper-of-faculty-members-of-the-up-department-of-political-science-on-t/1470859816263833

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION PROPOSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVISION - Creating regional rather than national constituencies for the Senate to improve regional representation and to make Senators directly accountable to a smaller constituency. Such a mechanism also loweres electoral campaign costs for individual candidates to the Senate.

- Holding a run-off election for when no presidential candidate garners a majority of votes cast so as to strengthen the president’s electoral mandate.

- Reviewing the terms of elective positions and term limits so as to enable continuty in governance reforms but also to provide checks against the monopolization and abuse of power.

- Reserving certain legislative powers for the Lower House so as to give more attention to pressing issues of local concern.

- Instituting a constitutional court that woud hear cases pertaining to constitutionality so as to relieve an overburdened Supreme Court.

LAKBAYAN 2016. UP Diliman students welcome the Lumads as they arrive at the campus. Annually, members of the national minority camp within the grounds of the UP Diliman as they stage a series of protests in the capital to bring awareness about their plights in their communities, particularly the violation of their human rights. Photo by Nina Sinoy

LAKBAYANIHAN: Gabi ng Tula, Awit, at Sayaw. The UP Kabataang Pilosopo Tasyo held a concert for the benefit of the Lumads who are part of the Lakbayan. Among the professors who performed were Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Tess Payongayong and Asst. Prof. Arlyn Macapinlac.

ACLE 2016-2017 First Sem. University of the Philippines Circle of Administrators (UP CIRCA), held “Know the Fact from Fiction: Millennials in the Social Media” last October 12, at the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) AVR, a forum geared towards “contributing in creating a more credible online environment.”

The ACLE featured Professor Rachel E. Kahn from the College of Mass Communication, Ronaldo Lozano Cabaccang from Socialconz Digital, Ana Victorino from Stylehaul Network, and Miles Ocampo from Star Magic.

Photo by Nina Sinoy

November-December 2016

BEYOND CSSP

A curation of news and other articles that we handpicked for our community of social scientists and philosophers Danilo Concepcion is our new UP President.

Student Regent Raoul Manuel voted for him, citing his commitment to the student agenda, including placing a moratorium on tuition and other fees increases.

Law Dean is next UP president (Philippine Collegian) http://www.philippinecollegian.org/lawdean-next-president/

Social media distorts our perception of reality.

Traditional newspapers provide a representative sample of news from the previous day that are written by professionals. The Facebook Newsfeed is designed to provide you only articles that your family and friends like to share, and it is ultimately hurting how democracies work.

How social media creates angry, poorly informed partisans (Vox) http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/26/13413292/social-media-disrupting-politics

South Koreans want to depose their President over a really weird scandal.

It was recently discovered in a corruption scandal that President Park’s friend and Rasputinesque spiritual adviser had access to confidential documents and used her special relationship with the president to extort money from some chaebols. She also had a hand in her speeches, policy formulations, and which clothes to wear. Her approval rate stands at 5%.

A Rasputinesque mystery woman and a cultish religion could take down South Korea’s president Quartz http://qz.com/821612/a-rasputinesquemystery-woman-and-a-cultish-religioncould-take-down-south-koreas-president-park-geun-hye/

Lie and lie until you succeed.

Studies show that the more often people hear a statement, the more likely they will believe it to be true. And with the proliferation of fake news on social media, despots like the Marcoses can effectively erase their crimes in the minds of millions of Filipinos.

Science suggests that frequently repeating a lie creates “the illusion of truth” (Quartz)

http://qz.com/822907/science-suggests-that-frequently-repeating-a-liecreates-the-illusion-of-truth/

Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?

Thanks to anthropologists, we now know: she became a castaway and died in an island alone.

She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic on a plane.

Amelia Earhart’s last chapter was as a heroic castaway (CNN) http://us.cnn.com/2016/11/01/world/ history-rewritten-amelia-earhart-trnd/index.html

Slavoj Žižek, one of the most famous living philosophers, endorsed Donald Trump.

He did so in a public-philosophy vacuum where philosophy has been increasingly irrelevant to daily life and with no one to challenge his position.

Philosophy once helped us make sense of our confusing, ever-changing political world. What happened?

(Quartz) http://qz.com/828644/slavoj-zizek-ondonald-trump-why-wont-other-philosophers-engage-in-public-affairs/

Trump shared fake news.

He tweeted the news that there were at least 3 million illegal voters and thus, he may have won the popular vote by landslide if these were deducted. It came from a dubious source with no actual and credible proof presented.

Donald Trump, editor-in-chief of the fake news movement (Quartz) http://qz.com/846551/donald-trumpeditor-in-chief-of-the-fake-news-movement/

The drug war in the US never worked and they knew it from the start.

“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we we were lying about the drugs? OF course we did.” – John Ehrlichman, White House Domestic Affairs Advisor 1969-1973 Aide says Nixon’s war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies (CNN)

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/23/ politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/

NEWS | 5 The world is turning to authoritarianism.

According to Harvard Scholar Pippa Norris, Trump is only a part of a larger pattern, citing the rise of populists in France and the Netherlands, not to mention Brexit, Erdogan, Modi, Duterte, Modi, among many others. She believes this can be explained by three, interconnected factors.

We are witnessing the rise of authoritarianism on a chilling scale. (Quartz) http://qz.com/643497/we-are-witnessing-the-rise-of-global-authoritarianismon-a-chilling-scale/

You can help DSWD rescue street children via Twitter.

You can tell them where you encountered them via a tweet to @savestreetkids. They also encouraged the public to give food instead of money. Around 30,000 children roam around the streets of Metro Manila.

DSWD taps social media anew for anti-begging campaign (Yahoo!

News) https://sg.news.yahoo.com/dswd-tapssocial-media-anew-000000987.html

People are stupid.

Roughly a third of American voters think that the Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability to each according to his need” appears in their constitution. If people are uninformed, why should we allow them to make key decisions that will affect us all?

Slavoj Zizek

Protesters wear masks of President Park (on the right) and her friend Choi

Prof. Judy Taguiwalo, Secretary of Social Welfare and Development

Amelia Earhart

The Case against Democracy (The New Yorker) http://w w w.new yorker.com/magazine/2016/11/07/the-case-against-democracy

It’s ethical to work for Trump, but…

You have to take it with an open mind and with the belief that you can make a difference. Is it ethical to work for the Trump administration? (Quartz) http://qz.com/834394/a-princeton-philosophy-professor-on-the-ethical-argument-for-working-for-the-trump-administration/ Suspension of the writ of habeas corpus looms anew.

President Duterte says he might need it for his war on drugs and the rebellion in Mindanao. Opposition says there is no legal nor factual basis for the suspension.

‘SHADES OF MARTIAL LAW’ | Lagman on writ of habeas corpus (InterAksyon) http://www.interaksyon.com/article/134265/shades-of-martial-law-lagman-on-writ-of-habeas-corpus

Danilo Concepcion, 21st President of the University of the Philippines

6 | FEATURES

November-December 2016

A Public Service In A Click

BY VERONE OLIVAR

Imagine yourself looking for employment, trying to look for a job that will finally put your hard-earned education into good use. But before anything else, your employers required from you official government documents. You go through the bureaucratic jungle of endless lines and several fixers, trying to expedite the process through cash. The test relies on your patience or your pocket.

Worse, you have to do it again the next day since the whole day of waiting was only for a single document.

And it repeats – and it ends after a month.

Filipinos have always recognized the inefficiency of government service delivery in the country. However, perhaps out of resignation or defeat, they choose to withstand the crookedness.

This distance and the lack of belief for better change is what prompted the creation of a technology that would help solve the problem. Envisioned to rid the country of its worries one problem at a time, Kemuel Belderol, a fresh graduate of Political Science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, created the revolutionary app FormsPH. Belderol sought to contribute something that could prove to be the game-changer in the country’s bureaucracy. He wanted to tell his fellow Filipinos that despite overshadowing issues like poverty and corruption pervading the country, the Philippines possesses immense potential towards development, and so do the citizens that can make it possible.

What FormsPH does FormsPH is an app that consolidates all important procedures and requirements in procuring basic government documents in the Philippines. Services included a range of important and widely requested files such as clearances, government ID’s, Birth and Marriage Certificates, Business Permits, and even application or renewal of passports. This revolutionary development gives Filipinos more control of their time by cutting back unnecessary time spent on laboring through requirements with just few clicks. The app provides the average Filipino an opportunity to experience a more efficient approach with regards to obtaining bureaucratic services, especially in documents provision whose generally slow pace seemed harmless but has proved to be detrimental towards progress.

Kemuel, or Kem for his friends and colleagues, was eager to share to the college that served his home for four years the fruit of his innovation. Stating on a phone interview, he shared his firm belief in the great potential of the app and of technology in helping the country towards progress.

“I believe that there is power in technology which Filipinos and the Philippines have yet to unlock,” he said. With the quantum leaps that the world has already reached when it comes to information technology, Belderol believes that updating the way we utilize our technological resources in the Philippines can create the progress he believes is largely possible.

Frustration as the mother of invention The app was conceptualized out of a vision and for a more pragmatic concern. When he asked his mom regarding the renewal of his passport, he received slightly different steps than what he found online. He noticed the tedious process one has to undergo when procuring documents, much less confirming how to do it. He realized that he can solve this problem by placing all these in one click.

Should this be implemented and used as an e-government tool for all of our departments, then the advantages given to Filipinos will be immense. When asked It’s a hit! Since being made availabe on the Google Play Store, the app has been downloaded more than a thousand times already.

POLSCI major turned app developer. Kem, a fresh graduate from the Department of Political Science, learned app development on his own.

whether he plans to tie up with the government regarding the project, he shared how he was denied six times by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). He repeatedly visited the main office near the UP Open University, complete with a paper proposal, screenshots and a sample of the app. His constant emails remained unanswered for months until he decided that he will release the app independently.

Although rejected, that did not stop him from pursuing his project. With a little help from his colleagues at work, he formally debuted the app last August 2016. In just two months, the app already garnered thousands of downloads.

A Process of Rebirth With its blue-black-white theme and a large emblem of the Republic of the Philippines in the center, FormsPH was not an app you would proudly display and marvel at. He admitted that while he was not an expert on aesthetics, he was glad that the market still received it positively.

Users commended the relative ease it provided them looking past its appearance. Many even requested for an iOS and Windows version, since the app was limited for Android users.

In response to the magnitude of attention it gained, Belderol has now partnered with the company Potato Codes, to create FormsPH 2.0. It

was set to be released the afternoon of the interview (October 22, 2016).

FormsPH 2.0 will be dressed with a better user interface, forms can now be downloaded straight from the app, and you can also use geo-location to find the nearest government branch.

The iOS and Windows version are still being developed.

Pitching in Government Partnerships The app’s nature is of public service, thus this citizen-led initiative cannot fully realize its goal without the help of the government. Although his initial proposal of tying up with DICT did not go as planned, Belderol is optimistic that the app’s success would allow for more government agencies and institutions that will partner with them in the future. He sees the partnership with the government as a crucial step towards the maximization of the app’s full potential.

FormsPH may ‘tech-up’ not only government agencies, but also schools like his alma mater, UP. Seeing the many uses FormsPH can render, Belderol even plans to create a UP version of the app to help in the enlistment lines and to boost the efficiency of the university’s services.

For one, the app could give real-time updates via phone regarding slots and enlistment announcements so that students would not have to undergo the brunt of falling in almost unit-less lines. The app can also be used as a

platform for professors and instructors to give announcements to their classes. He has been a witness to the failure of the recently expanded Student Academic Information System (SAIS), a part of the 700-miliion peso e-UP project that only worsened the enlistment process of the students.

He mentioned how the app will not require millions of funds but will still perfectly suffice in improving the ‘depressing’ lines an Iskolar ng Bayan has to go through just to get his subjects. He plans to hire UP students, or anyone who is willing to help in his project for the University.

FormsPH is on a constant process of recalibration. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate lines on procuring these basic services. Belderol recounts concrete examples of how technology has allowed for easier transactions.

Lines are reduced by cutting back on processes and transferring it via phone – downloading the form, completing biometrics, taking ID photos and sending it directly to the government websites. He wants FormsPH to bring that technology into the Philippines. By lessening the bureaucratic circus that allows for red tape and the proliferation of fixers, the Filipinos will be the ones to benefit in the end.

This app, providing immediate public service, is what Kemuel has long dreamed of – to contribute towards change and serve the people. --

November-December 2016

FEATURES | 7

A Public Service In A Click KAPP HARAYA 2020: TOWARDS A MORE COMPASSIONATE SOCIETY

BY CARYL RAMOS Empathy. Frédéric Vandenberghe argues this is the foundation of the social sciences. He defined empathy as the “apperception of the body of the other as a living body,” simple yet very powerful. He argued that when people view others as a being and not as a thing, understanding would come between them naturally, and materialis-tic tendencies would crumble. As a human science, this is very crucial to the social sciences as this asserts that we do not just simply go with the laws of nature but that we also give meaning to our actions and relationship with others.

The College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, even before its split from the physical sciences and the arts and letters in 1983, has always been faithful to its prom-ise of the advancement of the social sciences as important aspects of human nature and society. It has, time and time again, debunked the stigma of the “soft” sciences and has proved with its countless programs, activities, and research studies that the social sciences can and do change the world as much as the hard sciences. To further con-solidate the hold of the social sciences in the University, as well as in the national and global community, the CSSP established its Vision 2020 or the KAPP Haraya 2020.

The vision Haraya 2020 emboldens the role of the social sciences as a fundamental tool in the improvement of the human condition. By establishing CSSP’s active leadership in the realization of this vision, the College aims to expand the reach and widen the im-pacts of the social sciences, and to fulfill its promise of human growth and develop-ment through these disciplines.

“WE ARE A GLOBAL LEADER IN EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PHILOSOPHY.”

Being a global leader in education solidifies the College’s competency. It allows the CSSP community to interact and work with people with different views from around the worldwide. Thus, expanding it’s the College’s contributions to knowledge produc-tion.

CSSP boasts of its firm foothold in the international academe. Just last Septem-ber, the College co-sponsored the 6th International Conference on Sciences and So-cial Sciences at the Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University in Thailand. With the theme Mutual Community Engagement toward Global Understanding and Sustainable Well-being, the conference featured presentations from experts worldwide covering topics of community engagement, doctoral education and writing of academic articles.

The College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Dean Grace H. Aguiling-Dalisay, PhD was a session keynote speaker – she shared her insights regarding “Community-Higher Education Engagement: Ethical Responsibility and Ethical Practice.” In May 2015, Professor Nestor T. Castro, PhD of the Department of Anthropology was re-elected President of the International Federation of Social Science Organizations, which is composed of universities, research councils and non-governmental organiza-tions from 18 various countries.

Meanwhile, the College’s Third World Studies Center (TWSC) and the UP Popula-tion Institute have partnered with international universities to promote and further strengthen the tradition of the social sciences. Last August, the TWSC and the Univer-sity of Montreal screened their documentaries for the fifth year, narrating the struggles of the Filipino people.

The UPPI is partners with the University of Namur in Belgium for academic exchange programs; it is part of the Erasmus+ programme funded by the European Union “where individuals wishing to enhance their skills, employability, and cultural awareness can apply and spend some time in a partner country.”

“WE ARE A VIBRANT COMMUNITY OF FACULTY, RESEARCH AND EXTENSION PERSONNEL, STUDENTS, STAFF, AND ALUMNI WHO PROACTIVELY CONTRIB-UTE TO THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND ARE ENGAGED WITH GLOBAL ISSUES AND CONCERNS.” At the core of this vision is the CSSP Community. Members pursue numerous activities and campaigns to further strengthen the College’s goals.

The annual CSSP Faculty Planning Conference serves as an arena where fac-ulty members can discuss and exchange ideas about the projects, activities and plan of actions of their respective Departments and the College as a whole. This year’s theme was “KKK: Kumperensya ng Kaguruan tungkol sa K-12” which tackled issues concerning the implementation of the K-12 program such as the qualification stand-ards of instructors, student admission, and course demand.

These conferences allow for the cooperation and project coordination among faculty members. CSSP also held an orientation for the new and untenured teachers last September 19. It aimed to ex-plain the teaching policies, duties, benefits and privileges of their service to the Col-lege and to the University.

Aside from the faculty, the staff also participates in workshops and projects. The librarians of the College were recognized as part of the Office of the Dean’s adminis-trative staff for the first time during a workshop held in July. The library has initiated numerous activities such as book fairs and exhibits which push for the advancement of the social sciences.

They have also done projects in various Metro Manila public li-braries and barangays.

As for the students, the CSSP Student Council releases campaigns regarding issues concerning the University and the society, encouraging the students to take part in these events. The council recently called for the mobilization of students to condemn the Supreme

Court’s decision allowing the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. With the Multi-Sectoral Alliance, the UP community gathered in front of the Oblation decrying the decision, asserting that Marcos is not, and will never be, a hero. A press conference was also held at Vinzons Hall, attended by sectoral leaders, activists and Martial Law victims.

“WE PROMOTE INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL TO IMPROVING THE HUMAN CONDITION.” CSSP is one with the University’s advocacy for indigenous knowledge as well as IP rights. Dave de Vera, graduate of BA Political Science at this university and Ex-ecutive Director of Philippine Association for Intercultural Development, Inc., notes that, compared with other Asian countries, the Philippines is a pioneer in legislating a Republic Act “to recognize, protect and promote the rights of indigenous cultural com-munities/ indigenous people.” It is important that IPs be given recognition and protec-tion if traditional knowledge vital to the everyday life of many parts of the country is to be preserved for future generations – and CSSP strongly supports this campaign.

To prevent the risk of indigenous knowledge being replaced by “formal educa-tion systems,” the College facilitates events and projects in favor of this. DZUP’s Tabi-Tabi Folkloradyo hosted by Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas Profes-sor Melecio Fabors discusses Philippine folktales or “kwentong-bayan,” which are im-portant parts of culture. The CSSP Student Council recently showed its support for the Lakbayan 2016 through donations, volunteers and its call for unity against IP discrimi-nation and militarization.

UP Kabataang Pilosopo Tasyo also launched a program “Lakbayanihan: Gabi ng Tula, Awit at Sayaw” to showcase the talents of students and the Lakbayanis.

“WE ARE A GLOBALLY RECOG-

NIZED INSTITUTION THAT PRODUCES RELE-VANT, INNOVATIVE, CUTTING-EDGE INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND SO-CIAL TECHNOLOGIES.” The Philippine Social Sciences Review, the official publication of the college, is analyzed and evaluated by field experts. It “aims to promote the critical exchange of ideas and research findings in the social sciences and philosophy” both in national and international levels. Another publication is the internationally peer-reviewed Kasa-rinlan: Philippine Journal of Third World Studies, issued semi-annually.

The UP System’s International Publication Award is given to members of the academe who have been published in international journals.

Its goal is to encourage contributions to the body of knowledge in their respective disciplines and to promote the university in the international academic community. In 2014, seven members of CSSP were recipients of the IPA – Felipe Jocano Jr. of the Department of Anthropolo-gy; Gina R. Gatarin and Gerry M. Lanuza of the Department of Sociology, Miguel Paolo P. Reyes of the Third World Studies Center, and Rogelio Alicor J. Panao, Jorge V. Tigno and Teresa S. Encarnacion-Tadem of the Department of Political Science. In 2015, Department of Philosophy’s Jeremiah A. Reyes was recognized for his article “Loób and Kapwa: An Introduction to a Filipino Virtue Ethics.”

“WE PLAY A VITAL ROLE IN NURTURING THE IDEAL UP STUDENT.” The ideal UP student is one who upholds the University’s motto of honor and excellence - honor before excellence and not excellence before honor.

He is aware of the issues concerning the society, and is not afraid to take actions to address these. He puts the welfare of the country and his fellowmen before his own.

CSSP holds various programs and events to help mold the students, encourag-ing them to be aware of and to take part in these issues. In April, CSSP – Workshop on Integrating Service-Learning (CSSP-WISe) was held to encourage students to partici-pate in community engagements while also applying what they have learned inside the four corners of a classroom.

Last September, the College facilitated a forum entitled “Bato-Bato sa Langit, Ang Tamaa’y Patay? A Forum on Extrajudicial Killings” to discuss issues and concepts associated with extralegal killings. Director of the Human Rights Protection Office Atty.

Flora C. Atilano of the Commission on Human Rights and Assistant Professor Dennis Quilala of the Department of Political Science served as speakers.

The CSSP Student Council also takes part in shaping the ideal UP

Continued on the next page.

8 | FEATURES student – the Council organized the Bagong Iskolar ng Bayan Orientation Week or BIBO KAPP last August which aimed to inform students of what it means to be a CSSP major and a UP student in general. Situationers and assemblies were held to inform freshies of what they need to know for their four or so years stay in the University.

A future of hope What Alexander Atrio Lopez, BA Philosophy, Summa Cum Laude, said in his valedictory address will always remain true and relevant: “In a tragedy where 49 peo-ple were shot dead, it’s medical science that heals the victims’ bodies; it’s art that in-spires the survivors to move forward; and it’s philosophy that forms ethics to prevent another moral disaster.”

The role of the social sciences and philosophy in the development of human condition and society cannot be neglected – they have been underrated for a long time now, and it is time that they be not taken lightly. BA degree holders have been the butt of bad jokes: what are you going to do after studying history, curating? But the so-cial sciences offer much wider potentials. Marissa Mayer for example studied psychol-ogy and philosophy, and she is now Yahoo’s chief executive. Our historians are at the forefront of the battle against historical revisionism. Steven Schwartz, Director of the Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences asserts that the human sciences produce individuals who are smart, understands culture, and can communicate properly - the keys to success.

With the Haraya 2020, these disciplines are pushed forward to their advance-ment, so that their impacts will be of greater breadth and magnitude to the UP, the na-tional and global community. It is time that the society cultivate compassion through the understanding of the social sciences, and it is this Vision that will guarantee its ful-fillment.

The KAPP Haraya 2020 is very crucial in Philippine society if we are to preserve our sense of unity and nationalism. We have a very rich culture, a culture that binds us all despite distance and differences. The social sciences offer a deeper scrutiny of this connection, so that we can enhance our relationship with others. It equips us with tol-erance, and thus makes us more accepting and understanding.

These disciplines con-tribute not just to the body of knowledge, but also to the improvement of the society in general. With social and political differences ever more present in the Philippines nowadays, the social sciences help build a bridge between these gaps and help foster a more empathetic community. It is only through the achievement of this that we can truly take a step up that ladder of equal prosperity and success. --

November-December 2016 ORG FEATURE: UP ANTROPOLOGY SOCIETY

Street food in Perspective The UP Anthropology Society (UP AntrhoSoc) is an academic organization based at the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of the Philippines Diliman, that aims to empower the students to take part in the strengthening of the student body in order to seek a more holistic learning opportunity in the field of Antrhopology in the university.

Engrained in the culture and the stomach of a Filipino are the variety of finger food, tusok-tusok or iced snacks found stationed at every corner of the city or cartwheeling through avenues: the street food. Though most countries have their versions of it, it is undeniable that the Filipino street food has a unique aspect that attracted various nationals from all over the world.

This crave-inducing obsessive side of our culinary facet had its roots, which has established our identity then and continues to shape it today.

Filipino street food culture did not simply come about without purpose.

Last October 11, The UP Anthropology Society (UP AnthroSoc) held its Alternative Classroom Learning Experience (ACLE) entitled “Dare to Eat: An Anthropological perspective on Filipino’s Love for Street Food” at PH 311, Palma Hall.

Co-presented by Anthropos Core Group and UP Subol Society, AnthroSoc’s ACLE for this semester is a discussion which aims to enlighten students to the history, evolution, and impact of street food on Filipino culture and identity.

Ms. Christle Cubelo, a registered nutritional dietitian and an instructor at the Department Food Science and Nutrition at the UP College of Home Economics, classified street food according to its nutritional value and how it would be placed in a person’s regular meal, as well as the safety aspects which surrounds street food. Ms. Cubelo said that eating street food is a choice; it satisfies our hunger and it affects our actual perception. We eat street food because of several factors such as taste, variety of choice, traditions, peer influence, cost, social status and its nutritional value.

It can be classified into different categories. Such groups are snacks, viands, desserts, fruits, drinks.

Is there nutritional value in only ‘snacks’? Ms Cubelo asserts that there is no such thing as bad food, since all of these have nutritional values, but there is bad diet. The most basic grouping of foods are Go, Grow, and Glow, which are the most foundational aspects of our food pyramid.

Can street food replace the nutritional value of the standard balanced diet? Ms Cubelo says no.

Even though there are a variety of types of street food that fall under different categories of the food pyramid, its nutritional value is not equal with the standard balanced diet, therefore it cannot replace the standard balanced diet recommended by dietitians and nutritionists. Indeed, street foods that contain vegetables, fruits, carbohydrates and protein will still not replace the proper meal with these items.

She also pointed out some of the safety aspects which people usually encounter when eating street food. Some of the hazards that people may encounter are food poisoning as well as the infection from different microbes such as salmonella, e. coli, staphylococcus aureus, etc. These microbes can contaminate street food when it is not properly handled by the vendors through their hands, hair, or even the containers that they used. In the end, Ms. Cubelo said that it is not bad to eat street food, but people should exercise caution to the food they eat. On the same breath, vendors must also be careful and properly follow guidelines on food handling in order to lower the risk of spreading infectious diseases.

Mr. Miguel Niccolo Rallonza, a high school teacher from the Ateneo de Manila High School and an alumnus of the UP Department of Anthropology and UP AnthroSoc, talked about the anthropological perspective of street food and its connection to the Filipino culture. He defined street food as “the street,” “food,” and the interaction between the two concepts.

Street is the function of the urban, and it is also the semi-public space as well as how it is perceived. Food is the primary need of people – we eat not just to satisfy our biological need, we eat to experience emotions. Food is always more than

just itself, but it depends on how it interacts with everything else around it.

The nature of interaction ensures that there will be differences in how people are affected and how they will react. There are distinctions in the diets of different Filipinos. Mr. Rallonza expressed that instead of arguing why people eat such foods, that we should synthesize these different reasons as an experience, how people experience street food. He said that “street food is the material of food interacting with its context and agent, it is the experience and participation with food that is prepared, bought, sold, consumed and enjoyed according to the dynamics and politics of the urban public and semi-public space. Once you remove the food from the streets, it is no longer street food.”

Why do Filipinos love street food? Mr Rallonza pointed out that Filipinos love street food simply because they love to eat. Our gastronomic apparatus demands food and revels in them. This has been apparent in folklore, such as in the travels of the characters in epics. History demonstrates the same, where such as the Chinese community stalls in Manila, and even during the American and Japanese period – when there scarcity of food, street food was originally a poor man’s fare.

Today, it has gone past that identity and now encompasses different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Why is it loved? Because it’s part of our development, and urbanization is part of us and it will change.

Through street food, anonymity disappears for a moment, making the individual a part of the world of the street, communicating with other people through taste. Street food is more than snacks, it is “pantawid-gutom.” The street scene is still so popular because that is where we have the most access, the most enjoyment, the avenue for our perceptions to mix and match. We can only enjoy the entirety of the street food when we are in the streets.

Mr. Rallonza concluded that street food is a unifying experience, connecting people to a point of compromise. You’re embodying the experience of the street by eating the street food. In the end, food is continually appropriated, it is dynamic, and it will always change just like Filipino culture. -Have your organization featured next! Send us an article about an event or a project that you would like to share with the college at csspsinag@gmail.com.

Photo courtesy of the UP Anthropology Society

November-December 2016

CULTURE AND THE ARTS | 9

Dreaming Dimming Dots

BY EMMANUEL JAYSON BOLATA “By tearing it down, can it erase the memories?”–Dr. Ricardo T. Jose For people who believe that they are still kids, nothing beats a children’s book for keeping oneself entertained and still maintaining awareness of the happenings around oneself. My bedtime story for tonight is Eugene Evasco’s Mga Monumento ni Eman.

It’s a story wherein Eman, together with his friends, investigated why people erect monuments. In the end, they made some themselves. I fall in love with the pointillist illustrations of Jonathan Rañola--- it is very cooperative with what the book’s all about: With a dot symbolizing a memory, a collection of dots providing the book 16 spreads of dotted drawings can be simply interpreted as a collection of memory of something big. Through the image-text collaboration, the book therefore teaches the kids (and those who pretend they are) the significance of a collective memory, especially that of a nation.

Then there is this golden swirl, dotmade of course, enchantingly traversing through the pages. I let myself be taken away.

The magical wave fades out of the horizon, leaving me with this house, crimson-colored, nearly all of its walls scraped off, only its skeletal pillars providing the existence of its large, trapezoidal roof. A fan of Goosebumps can easily visualize it: A look-alike of that in the Welcome to the Dead House, only with parasites making it “malnourished”. It seems to be a melancholic island in the middle of a vast nothingness, a portrayal of someone who’s lonely and weak, yet still has something important to whisper on one’s ear. I close my eyes, waiting for it, and only hears not a who but a whoosh.

Light comes, and I find myself seated in an HQ (aka office) wherein history books anxiously wait for the signal in their varnished trenches (aka shelves) and printed white hills present the battlefield of the HQ master (aka piles of papers to be read and checked). Dr. Ricardo Jose, one of the notable sensei in the history of Japanese Occupation in the Philippines, unfolds the narrative of that house, the Bahay na Pula.

Recently, through the initiative of a local historical association, he met the well-known residence of the Ilusorios in San Ildefonso, Bulacan, the wealthy landlords even before the coming of the Japanese. Maybe the uneasy feeling it gives anyone can be traced from its past as a brothel for the Japanese soldiers during the war. Ma. Ceres P. Doyo wrote an article in Inquirer, which tells about the queuing up of the soldiers for the comfort women. Another states the fascination of a famished survivor to the scent of a burning house--- smelling delicious, as the fire grilled the people trapped inside.

But today’s different. The house is nearing its complete demolition. It

has been seen as a possessor of bad omen and memories. Some believed that it is haunted. With the revolving superstitious thoughts of negativity avoidance, no one dares to treat it as a tourist attraction except for some who appreciate and understand its past and importance. Being a private property, the local and national historical institutions have hard time on addressing the issue. From a significant architectural primary source, it has been little by little ripped off with its hardware parts, woven tales, and dottedness in the pointillist image of our nation’s collective memory. Another bad thing, there was this mischievous man, curving a Count Olaf-ish smile, counting nails and bolts taken away from the poor house, to be sold later as collectibles.

In the issue of heritage preservation, sense of private ownership and commercialization greatly affect how people perceive and value it. Somehow, there is a display of greed on private ownership. “People want to have a part of history themselves… thus becoming a part of a private collection.” Ideally, heritage should always be for the benefit of the community, not only of those who has the power and money as license for turfing. Also, unlike the French who pay respect to the aesthetic and historical value of their landmarks and sightlines by putting the tall commercial structures out of their cultural capitals, here we are in the Philippines where, catering the temporary necessity of metropolitan lebensraum, vandalizes the view where a highly-regarded hero met his death in 1896.

Paraphrasing Dr. Jose, short-sightedness limits us only to the basic, the temporary and the pragmatic. It is not what the bigger civilizations aim and achieve; they surpass the ground level of necessity, if one should cite the alltime favorite Maslow.

Aside from these factors, another bigger question marks appear, concerning the phobia of negative heritage: Should we forget our tragic past? “By tearing it down, can it erase the memories?”

Superstitions can be considered a great root in our culture; at different levels, they act as social control. Most of us fear negativity. It ranges from breaking a jar in the doorstep after the casket has been brought out, to putting into flames the notes on Mcdo tissues, bus tickets, and Kopiko 78 bottle caps of the one who got away. Moving on is synonymous to the removal of the negative. Afterwards we insist the smiles to conquer our lips--- to just let go but not learning. Without learning, we tend to apply the same solution to recurring problems.

Life, same as history, features a series not only of fortunate but also unfortunate events. Denying the macabre women abuse in the Bahay na Bato (or instead of reverberating the atrocities during the Martial Law regime, one busies oneself to the “glorification” of “Marcosian” “heroism”) only renders us the least realistic reconstruction of what really happened before. The past

Dr. Ricardo Jose. Photo by Herby Esmeralda

is usually seen as the glorious days of yore, but totally, it isn’t. Moving on from the brutal cases of Liliosa Hilao, Edgar Jopson, Billy Begg, and others who stand against the Marcos dictatorship since they are too gruesome does not make them rest in peace. Mutilating and destroying the Bahay na Bato do not silence the howls of the victims whose bodies and dignity were mutilated and destroyed long ago. “It is even doing injustice to the victims.” Indeed, not only by extracting out these edifices, but also by dimming their dots.

The promotion of negative heritage makes us appreciate and value the positive: the existence of peace, the absence of multifarious inhumane actions. Aside from citing the Colosseum in Rome and the holocaust memorial museums in Washington D. C. and Auschwitz, Dr. Jose told about a tour in the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.

As one goes deeper to this state-sponsored center exposing the mass rape and murders of the Chinese by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1937, one shall feel the intensification of the human Hyde side— they even displayed in a hall the skeletal remains of those found in Jiangdongmen, so-called “pit of the thousand corpses.” Yet, its outdoor exhibit surely triggers the exhalation of perceived evil, and with the natural environment and artistic installations, there is a meditative mood as a point of resolution. Just like the prominent endings of children’s books, there should be hope instilled to the reader, a space wherein the potentiality of goodness on people’s hearts can be transformed into actuality. Reiterating what Mama said to Eman and his friends, “Everything we do is a monument. The good things we do are the loftiest monuments of all.”

Going back to Eman. Here comes the golden swirl again. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with my eyes.

I see gory stuff. Damn it. I see many bahay-na-bato, old mansions, and monuments being swallowed by mechanical fissures. I see commercial skyscrapers and billboards sprouting from

the ground, being themselves wicked gods, as the writer Edgardo Reyes awesomely dropped it. I see the remaining ancients being showered with balls of flame, their narratives melted by the furnaces of forget, and there rises a mountain bust of He-Who-Must-NotBe-Named, overlooking the inferno.

Then I see the mystical golden swirl

reappearing, like Scrooge’s ghost (but much of a smoke lifting itself from the ashes), some warning from the past to be suspected from its scent. I see it forming a word.

Then I see the word.

Fotobam. --

Keanne Pauline O. Samar

Nagsimula ang pageant sa ating bansa noong maipakilala ang mga Carnival Queens sa Maynila kung saan kinailangan ang mga kinatawang magendorso sa mga karnabal ng Pilipinas na siyang nagpakilala naman ng mga produkto ng bawat probinsya at rehiyon. Ang mga nanalong carnival queens ay kalaunang tinawag na “Miss Philippines” pagdating ng 1920’s. Masasalamin sa mga pagkakataong ito na ang mga pageant ay may partikular na “hatak” sa mga manonood at sa buong lipunan.

Beauty Pageant at Lipunan. Masasabing hindi lamang dala ng “hatak” nito sa mga manonood ang pagpatok ng mga beauty pageant. Tulad nga ng iginigiit ng mga sosyolohista, hindi ito kababawan, sapagkat nabibigyang-pagkakataon dito ang kababaihan na magpumiglas mula sa mga tradisyonal at nakagawiang papel na ikinakabit sa kanila. Isa ring pagsasakapangyarihan ang beauty pageant, lalo na sa pagdadala ng panlipunang pagbabago. Microcosm ito ng lipunan pagdating sa pagbuo ng mga pamantayan ng kagandahan at ng ideyal para sa kababaihan; nagiging entablado para sa paglaya sa panlipunang pamantayan at nagiging munting representasyon ng naturang panlipunang pamantayan. Hindi ito basta-basta pang-aliwan o entertainment lamang.

Naitatanghal rito ang pamantayan ng kagandahan ng kada lokalidad na kasali rito. Nagiging lugar din ito kung saan nabubuo ang pambansang identidad ng kababaihan, at nagtatakda na rin ng mga pangkulturang ideyal ng pagkababae.

Continued on the next page.

Pagandahan nga ba?

Tala ng Patnugot: Kabahagi ng may-akda sa pananaliksik na ito ang kanyang mga kamag-aral na sina Alyszea Andria O. Guanzon, Ma. Gianina B. Macaibay, at Loran Therese M. Villano. Maliban sa tangkang paghawan ng daan sa sikolohikal na pagaaral ng ugnayan ng kagandahan, pagkababae, at beauty pageant sa Pilipinas, maituturing din ang akdang ito na pagpupugay sa “kagandahang Pilipina” sa pandaigdigang tagpuan--- pinakahuli rito ay ang pagwawagi ni Bb. Kylie Versoza sa Miss International 2016.

Ang makailang kamuntik-muntikang pagkapanalo ng mga kinatawan natin sa mga internasyonal na beauty pageant nitong mga nagdaang taon, ang isang penomenang naglantad sa pagiging “pageant nation” ng ating bansa.

Naging isa na ang beauty pageant sa mga pampalipas oras ng mga Pilipino.

Kapag ipalalabas ang mga coronation night sa telebisyon, hindi maikakailang nakasubaybay ang sambayanan sa bawat hakbang ng mga nagtataasang heels, bawat kislap ng naggagandahang damit, at bawat taginting ng kabuuang palabas. Magmula noong taong 2010 kung kailan nanalo si Venus Raj bilang 4th runner-up sa Miss Universe pageant, ang itinuturing pa ring pinaka-prestihiyosong pageant sa mundo, hanggang taong 2014 ay tuloy-tuloy ang pagkakaroon ng placement ng ating mga kandidata. Nitong 2015, hinirang na Miss Universe si Pia Wurtzbach – pangatlo ng ating bansa.

At ngayon taon naman, naiuwi ni Kylie Versoza ang korona ng Miss International!

10 | CULTURE AND THE ARTS Sa konteksto ng Pilipinas, kadalasang naiaangkla ang kagandahan sa “loob,” kaya’t ginagamit ang salitang “ganda” upang mangahulugan din ng kabutihan. Gayundin, naituturing na kasingkahulugan ng kagandahan ang kapangyarihan, kaya ang mga sinaunang Pilipino ay naituturing na makapangyarihan kapag marami silang suot na “pampaganda” tulad ng alahas at magagarbong damit. Gayunpaman, madalas mailarawan ang mga babae sa beauty pageant bilang nakokomodipika o naituturing na materyal na bagay dahil sa pagbibigay-diin sa paggamit ng kanilang panlabas na anyo – kabilang ang ganda ng mukha at katawan—upang maging “panghatak” sa mga manonood at mga isponsor.

Beauty Pageant at Beauty Queens.

Madalas na napag-uusapan ang kabuluhan at papel ng mga beauty pageant sa lipunan. Ngunit bago pa man makarating sa lipunan ang kung ano man ang naipamamahagi ng mga pageant, dumadaan muna ang mga ito sa mga beauty queen--sila na nagsasalin ng mga pamantayan o pagsasakapangyarihan ng beauty pageant sa lipunan. Sa kanila ikinakabit ang mga pamantayan at stereotype na mga katangiang nabubuo. Sila ang nako-comodify, ang naituturing na materyal na bagay. Gayundin, sila rin ang nabibigyan ng mga oportunidad at ng pagsasakapangyarihan. Ngunit panlabas na pananaw lamang ang mga bagay na ito para sa kanila. Kung sila ang bibigyan ng boses, naroong maririnig ang ilang mga uha ng patuloy na pagpapanatili sa kanilang mga “magagandang pigura” na nakapagdudulot na ng ilang karamdaman kaugnay sa pagkain. Naroong maririnig din ang ilang mga hiyaw na dulot ng nakukuha nilang paglaya at pagbabago ng buhay mula sa mga pageant. Ano kaya ang motibasyon nila para gawin ito? Kaunti pa lamang ang naisasagawang pag-aaral hinggil dito, bagama’t may mga iskolar na nagbigay ng ilan, tulad ng oportunidad at pag-angat sa buhay. Madalas ding bigyang-tuon ang kanilang pag-

Pia Wurtzbach. Photo from Missosology

November-December 2016 papahalaga sa sarili (self-esteem) at paglalarawan sa sarili (self-image) na bumubuo ng mas malaking ideya ng pagsasakonsepto sa sarili (self-concept).

Mayroong iba’t ibang lebel ang mga pageant sa Pilipinas: may internasyonal, rehiyonal, lokal, panlalawigan, panlungsod, pambayan, at pambarangay. At nariritong binansagang “money contest” o paligsahan ng pera ang mga barangay pageant: nananalo ang mga may-kaya o nakaaangat sa buhay at nakikitang pera lamang ang habol sa mga ito. Iba-iba ang layunin ng kada lebel ng mga pageant, kaya naman tumataas ang pagpapahalaga sa sarili sa pagtaas din ng lebel ng beauty pageant na sinasalihan.

Sa aming ginawang pag-aaral, minabuti naming hatiin sa dalawang bahagi upang mas maunawaan ang 1) ugnayan ng beauty pageant at lipunan, at 2) ugnayan ng beauty pageant at beauty queen. Nilalayon ng nauna na alamin ang mga pagsasakonsepto sa sarili, sa kagandahan, at sa pagkababae ng mga babaeng sumasali at hindi sumasali sa mga beauty pageant. Ano kaya ang epekto ng pagiging bahagi ng beauty pageant kung paghahambingin ang mga tugon ng mga sumasali sa pageant at hindi? Bilang isang kwantitatibong pag-aaral, ang aming hypothesis para sa unang pag-aaral ay mayroong makabuluhang pagkakaiba sa pagsasakonsepto sa sarili, sa kagandahan, at sa pagkababae sa pagitan ng dalawang kategoryang ito.

Nilalayon naman ng ikalawang pagaaral na siyasatin ang motibasyon sa pagsali ng mga babae sa mga beauty pageant; at alamin ang mga pagsasakonsepto sa sarili, sa kagandahan, at sa pagkababae ng mga babaeng nanalo at di-nanalo sa mga elit at di-elit na beauty pageant bago, habang, at pagkatapos nilang sumali. Ayon sa isang panayam kay Prop. Jose Wendell Capili, may-akda ng isang aklat patungkol sa mga beauty pageant sa Pilipinas, ang mga elit na beauty pageant ay yaong tumagal na ng sampu o higit pang taon at mayroong mga respetadong isponsor (apat umano ang itinuturing

Kylie Verzosa. Photo from ABS-CBN News

na elit pageant sa Pilipinas: Binibining Pilipinas, Miss World Philippines, Miss Philippines Earth, at Mutya ng Pilipinas), samantalang ang mga di-elit na pageant naman ay yaong mga hindi pa ganoon katagal ang pag-iral at mas mababa ang lebel (mga rehiyonal, panlalawigan, panlungsod, pambayan, at pambarangay na pageant). Dito, hinahangad naming galugarin ang talagang papel ng mga beauty pageant sa mga beauty queen.

Ang unang pag-aaral na isang sarbey ay nilahukan ng 60 kababaihan (30 sumali sa mga beauty pageant at 30 hindi sumali) kung saan inalam ang pagkakaiba ng dalawang grupong ito sa pagsasakonsepto sa sarili, sa kagandahan, at sa pagkababae. Nakitang mayroong makabuluhang pagkakaiba sa pagsasakonsepto sa sarili ang mga sumali at hindi sumali sa beauty pageant, kung saan ang mga sumasali ay may mas mataas na pagsasakonsepto sa sarili ( M = 5.95, SD = 0.76) kaysa

sa mga hindi sumasali ( M=5.21, SD = 0.93), t(58) = 3.38, p = 0.001. Hindi nakitaan ng makabuluhang pagkakaiba ang mga kalahok sa kanilang pagsasakonsepto ng kagandahan at pagkababae. Nasuportahan ito ng ikalawang pag-aaral kung saan nakipanayam sa 9 na sumali sa beauty pageant (5 sumali sa elit na beauty pageant at 4 na sumali sa di-elit na beauty pageant) at nalamang napagtitibay ng mga babaeng sumasali sa beauty pageant ang kanilang mataas na pagsasakonsepto sa sarili matapos nilang sumali.

Nakita sa unang pag-aaral na ang pagsasakonsepto sa sarili lamang ang may makabuluhang pagkakaiba sa grupo ng mga sumasali at di-sumasali sa mga beauty pageant. Ito rin ay nakitaan na may positibong correlation sa persepsyon sa mga beauty pageant sa dalawang grupo--- nakapagdudulot ng pagtaas ng pagsasakonsepto sa sarili ang pageant. Sang-ayon naman dito ang natuklasan sa ikalawang pagaaral kung saan napagtitibay ang mga nabuong pagsasakonsepto sa sarili, sa kagandahan, at pagkababae matapos sumali ng mga kalahok sa mga beauty pageant.

Sa unang pag-aaral din nakitang may positibong correlation ang kagandahang panlabas at instrumental na kagandahan, ngunit may negatibong correlation ang kagandahang panlabas at persepsyon sa mga beauty pageant ng kababaihang sumasali na rito. Ibig-sabihin, nakikita nila bilang instrumental ang kagandahang panlabas ngunit hindi nila nakikitang commodification at objectification ang kagandahang tinatampok sa mga beauty pageant. Sang-ayon itong muli sa ikalawang pag-aaral kung saan lumabas ang temang kinabilangan ng mga negatibong pananaw at isyu gaya ng commodification at objectification.

Hindi naiugnay sa mga pagsasakonsepto sa kagandahan o pagkababae ang mga isyung ito. Eksternal o pagtinging panlabas ang komodipikasyon at obhektipikasyon ng kagandahan,

pagkababae, at kababaihan sa pageant sa kabuuan. Pagtingin ito ng lipunan at hindi ng mga kababaihang sumasali at bahagi ng mga beauty pageant. Sa ganitong mga kapamaraanan naaapektuhan ng beauty pageant ang lipunan.

Sapagkat hindi nagkaroon ng positibong correlation ang kagandahang panlabas at persepsyon sa mga beauty pageant, makukuhang hindi kagandahang panlabas, na siyang may ugnayan din sa instrumental na kagandahan, ang dapat na naitataguyod sa mga pageant, kundi ang pagbabagong-isip at pagsasakapangyarihan, na sinasang-ayunan naman ng datos sa ikalawang pag-aaral. Para sa mga kalahok, ang panlabas na kagandahan ay instrumental hindi para sa pageant mismo (upang manalo) kundi para sa pagbabagong-isip at pagsasakapangyarihan. Ito naman ang nagiging papel ng beauty pageant sa mga beauty queen.

Sa puntong ito, masasabi pa kayang labanan ng kagandahan ang mga beauty pageant? Nalaman naming hindi ganda ang dapat na hangaan sa isang beauty queen kundi ang kanyang pambihirang mataas na pagpahahalaga sa sarili at pagtindig sa kabila ng batikos sa kanya. Ipinakita ring hindi isang tipo ng ganda ang itinuturo ng mga beauty pageant. Hindi ganda ang pokus ng pageant sa kabuuan; ang pokus ay ang paghubog sa sarili.

Ipinakitang natatabunan ang kagandahan at pagkababae na madalas makitang kakabit ng mga pageant. Kaya naman hindi pagandahan, dahil mas akmang tawaging palakasan ng loob ang mga beauty pageant.

Akmang-akma nga ang sikat na parirala ni Pia Wurtzbach sa kanyang final question sa Miss Universe: confidently beautiful with a heart. Nauuna ang “confident” bago ang “beautiful” na sinundan muli ng “with a heart”. Hindi nga pagandahan. Ito ay palakasan ng loob, ng sarili, at ng puso para sa iba. --

November-December 2016

OPINION | 11

Controlled Explosions

WHERE IS THE LEFT? JEREMIAH REYES

lishment?

In a press conference this past November, the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines Jose Maria Sison, often touted as the figurehead of the Philippine Left, said that the burial of former dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani was a non-issue for him and the National Democratic Front. He said that he didn’t mind Marcos being buried in the Libingan because calling it a “heroes’ cemetery” was in fact a misnomer; he said that there are already traitors and non-heroes buried there. He went on to cite former President Elpidio Quirino as ‘corrupt’ and recounts how most of the people interred there are soldiers of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) and soldiers of the “reactionary military,” and thus Marcos would not be out of place.

While Mr. Sison may have a point, he seems to have forgotten the symbolism of burying a human rights violator in a place many have deemed sacred.

This, coming from the figurehead of the Philippine Left which was arguably one of the most victimized sectors of Philippine society during the Martial Law era. It seems that Mr. Sison, like the rest of the leadership of the Left, has turned a blind eye on the present administration’s actions in exchange for positions in government and the prospect of seizing more power in the future. Is this a sign of the Left leaving its role as the most organized and formidable opposition against the Estab-

The recent remarks of Mr. Sison are not the only indicators of the Left seemingly abandoning its role of opposing the government’s oppressive policies and actions. As the impoverished are being victimized by the socalled ‘war on drugs’ of the administration, both by state and non-state actors, the Left have been deafeningly silent.

The poor, their main constituents, are being murdered on the streets, but the leadership of the Left is being mum on the issue. Members of the Duterte Cabinet from the Left have yet to take a substantive stance on the fact that the main victims of the war on drugs are the poor. If any sizable action from the Left is being taken against the spate of extrajudicial killings in the country, one could cite the student movements, but even their actions seem lacking in the face of other issues.

I would like to believe that the Left have not abandoned their ardent vision of protecting the poor and fighting the system that perpetuates oppression against the marginalized sectors of our society. But ever since the present administration has welcomed them with open arms and given them senior positions of power within the Philippine Government, I have found them to be decidedly silent and absent. Who are protecting the poor now if not the Left?

Who are checking against possible oppressive and repressive government policies if they have become part of the government itself ? Where is the Left? --

failed to retell and educate the youth on the experiences of Martial Law. We forgot to keep telling the story, even if it meant hearing it too many times.

After all, it is in fear of it happening again can we keep our vigilance, and it is vigilance that will keep us on guard of ensuring that certain things never happen again.

The Marcoses were as cunning as we were negligent. While we were tricked for the nth time by their family at noon of November 18, sadly and tragically, we have not done enough to prevent this from happening in the past thirty years. Marcos and his cronies have never ceased occupying important positions in the government, business, military and even media. None of them has ever been held accountable or called out for the crimes they have directly and indirectly committed. On the contrary, they have been elected into public office and have continued amassing great wealth. In the case of Cesar Virata, a known crony and former Minister during the Marcos regime, a school in the University of the Philippines was

LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT ROBBY DE GUZMAN ‘Like a thief in the night’ was the Filipinos’ outcry, as the whole country was stunned and blindsided by the brazen burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani at noon of November 18. Barely 10 days after the Supreme Court’s decision allowing a hero’s burial for the former president, the remains of Marcos was flown from Laoag to the heroes’ cemetery in Taguig via a military helicopter. The stealthy internment, which was hidden from the public until a few hours before it started, is seen by most as a deliberately planned move to escape the vigilance of the Filipino people. A 9-day novena of lualo or prayers for the dead was even started in Ilocos Norte in November 16- which apparently is a red herring to mislead the public as to when Marcos will be buried at the LNMB. For the past 27 years, the final resting place of the late dictator had been highly debated but the Marcos family found their best ally in the person of President Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte, whose father was a former cabinet member and loyalist of the late dictator, has already announced his approval for a hero’s burial for Marcos as early as the campaign season of this year’s election. And true

to the promise he made to the dictator’s family, he immediately ordered preparations for Marcos’ burial soon after his election as president. While the burial might have given the closure his family and supporters have so desired, it undeniably reopened the wounds inflicted by the 21-year Marcos regime marked by corruption and human rights atrocities.

How did we get here?

One may ask himself, “How did we get here?” “How did we came to this point when we are honoring the exact person we ousted 30 years ago?” The dictator whom the people have removed from office in 1986 is buried in the company of people who we call heroes. Unfortunately, we have ourselves to blame.

The Filipino people got complacent.

We thought letting the Marcos heirs win local government posts in their home provinces was alright; we hardly noticed when his son and namesake, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. ran for senator, and won. And it was too late to act when he decided to run for Vice-President.

Meanwhile, memories of the horrors of Martial Law have been sidelined.

Aided by an educational system that has failed to fully account the catastrophe of the Marcos regime, we have

Illustration by John Carl Lastierre

named after him. Indeed, it was our complacency, tendency to forget, and inclination to move forward without looking backward that has gotten us in this truly dark moment of our history.

The shame in a clandestine burial If there is any consolation in this dark moment of our country’s history, it is the reality that there is no real honor in such clandestine burial- only shame and cowardice. Its concealment and brazenness is a clear admission of shame and guilt of the burial itself. This is because if Marcos was truly a hero, a hidden burial is not only unfitting for his stature but a complete disrespect to his dignity and memory. However, the Marcoses opted for a sneaky burial, one that can be compared to shameful criminal deed. Indeed, there is no dignity and heroism to be found in this burial; only a crude attempt to rewrite history and erase the memory of the Martial Law regime.

By choosing to bury their patriarch in stealth, the Marcos family has done nothing but acknowledge that this

burial might be legal but it is definitely not legitimate. After all, it can be argued that legality is an object of power, and not necessarily of justice.

Apartheid, holocaust, slavery and colonialism were all legal at one point of history but this does not make any of it right. Regardless of whether they are legal or not, discrimination, genocide, imperialism, along with dictatorship, impunity and human rights violations are all pure evil.

More importantly, we must remember that the burial of Marcos should not be solely seen as an issue on whether it is legal for the late dictator to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It should be viewed on what it truly represents: that the Filipino people, through the Supreme Court, have surrendered to the belief that Marcos is worthy to be buried in the same pantheon where we honor our meritorious soldiers who have fought for our country. The burial is about the symbolism that we have let historical revisionism and propaganda win in this critical battle that would. ultimately Continued on the next page.

12 | OPINION affect the course of history of our nation.

“Move on, make peace and forgive” It is easy to say “move on and go forward”. And even easier to say “make peace and forgive”. But can there be peace without justice? How would it be possible to say “move on, make peace and forgive” to the families of the 70,000 people imprisoned, 34,000 tortured, and 3,240 killed under the Martial Law? Burying Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani will neither bring peace nor heal the wounds he, himself, has inflicted on the Filipinos.

The atrocities and misdeeds committed and authorized by the late dictator are not bygones to forgive and forget because to do so there must be an admission of offense. There cannot be any healing without accountability, admission of guilt and making up for past wrongs. And until now, there are no admission from the late dictator or the Marcos family of any wrongdoings in his 21-year regime.

While many of the Marcos supporters and apologists have chosen the most tired of phrases, “forgive and forget” and “move on and go forward,” their call is obviously not a call to heal but a call to forget- a call to forget the suffering and pain that the Filipino people endured during the Marcos regime.

National healing does not simply happen when the President or his supporters calls for it. It can only come through a process that lead to genuine justice.

Most importantly, it should come at the

November-December 2016 victims’ terms, not at the perpetrator’s pace nor from those who were not affected by the violations.

Thus, we must remain steadfast in our cause to educate and pass on the stories of Marcos’ dictatorship, corruption and atrocities that prove that he is not, and will never be, a hero. We must remember him as a dictator until his burial, in behalf of all of the Filipinos who have sacrificed their lives in fighting the Marcos regime.

This does not mark an end While one might expect that burials mark an end, the internment of the late dictator in the heroes’ cemetery does not mark one. It is but a step in the Marcos family’s attempt to return to power- a part of a long game in their journey back to the Malacanang.

Thus, we should not be silent. The legacies of those who came and fought the good fight before us should never be forgotten. We should continue telling the stories of their heroism, sacrifice and love for our country. If the Marcos family believe that their act of impunity and disrespect for the judicial process with the stealth Marcos burial is the end of their stay in political limbo, they are underestimating the people’s capacity to fight for what is right.

While they can bury a body of a dictator at the heroes’ cemetery, they will never bury the truth. With his burial, there will be no silence, there will be no healing, and no moving on. The people would always remember that the real heroes are the victims of martial law,

LITERARY

HINDI PUWEDENG HINDI PUMALAG ANDRE BUENAFE “Hindi siya tinatablan ng kahit na ano!” sabi ng taong nakapulang costume pagkatapos niya subukan ang kilos na kanyang pinamagatang ‘wasakkangayon’: winasiwas niya ang kanyang espada nang tatlong beses sa hangin upang lumikha ng isang malaking titik S na parang ginawa ng batang hindi pa tapos sa kinder at hirap sa pagkurba. Sumugod ang malaking titik S sa kalaban. Tumagos lang ito. O nagmintis? Basta hindi tumama pero mukhang nakuha nito ang atensyon ng gusto patamaan. Nagmumuni-muni ang pinatatamaan kung paano sisirain ang buong siyudad na nasa

Illustration by John Carl Lastierre

kanyang harapan nang hindi ito nahihirapan. Tumalikod ito upang harapin ang mga ayaw niya pag-aksayahan ng panahon.

“Paano na ‘yan?” tumindig ang nakaasul na costume. Parehong-pareho ang pagkakayari ng kanyang damit sa nakapula pero iba lang nang kaunti ang ilang mga disenyo. Iba rin ang hawak niyang sandata. Baril itong ternong-terno sa kanyang suot.

“Hindi ako papayag. Pinatay niya si master!” sabay turo ng nakadilaw sa kalabang tumatawa lang ay buong katawan pa ang gumagalaw. Nagsasalita ito pero hindi marinig ang kanyang mga sinasabi ng ating mga bidang sponsored ata ng isang clothing col-

who were detained, made to disappear, tortured, killed, molested, and raped for standing for their principles under the Marcos regime. On the other hand, Ferdinand Marcos, who was their perpetrator will never be a hero for a perpetrator cannot be a hero at the same time that his victims are heroes.

As Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen pointed out in his dissenting opinion on the Marcos burial case, presidents, unlike kings, earn their honors. Their position in itself, as presidents, should not be the basis to glorify them, particularly if they are not worthy of emulation and inspiration by the Filipino people. While President Duterte may attempt to revise the history and put the late dictator on a pedestal, it is only the people that are deserving to determine a president’s place in history. While Marcos and his heirs might have won this battle, they would definitely not win the war of determining their rightful place in our nation’s history.

To borrow the words of nationalist historian Renato Constatino, “...in the end, you cannot cheat history. History will not err in its judgment because no matter how you fabricate achievements, glorify events or conceal truths, a true people’s history will eventually unmask the fake heroes and the judgment on them will be harsh and severe.”

Like a thief in the night, Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972. Like a thief in the night, he was buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Even in death, Marcos remains to be a thief. --

lection ng kung sino mang fashion designer. Pinagsama-sama nila ang kanilang mga sandata; espada, baril at isang mahiwagang libro. Nang makita ito ng kontrabidang nasa katawan ang mukha, ngumiti lang ito.

Pumorma muna ang mga may hawak ng pinagkabit-kabit na sandata, itinutok sa mukhang kinabitan ng mga braso at binti, at biglang sinabing “pagsabog ng tatlong libong araw!” sabay kalabit sa gatilyo ng nakapula.

Lumabas ang napakalakas na enerhiyang hugis bola mula sa tagpi-tagping pamatay-asungot. Umitim ang paligid na kanina lang ay punung-puno ng mga usisero’t usisera. Hindi na rin makita ang mga gusali at mga kabahayan; ngunit kahit madilim ay kitang-kita pa rin ang ating mga tauhan at ang bolang gawa raw sa tatlong libong araw.

“Bakit hindi ako makalakad? Bakit ang dilim? Bakit sila lang ang nakikita ko?” reklamo ng ngayon lang na narinig na kalaban. Sinubukan niya ang lahat ng galaw, mula sa simpleng pagtupi ng kalingkingan hanggang sa pinakaastig na dance move ngunit wala siyang magawa.

Bago pa man tumama ang dapat na tatalo sa kalaban ay tumalikod na ang mga bida. Dahil dito, hindi nila nakita ang malaking pagsabog na sila mismo ang gumawa. Hindi rin nila nakita kung tumama nga ba ang kanilang itinira. Ang alam lang nila, may gusto sila pasabugin at may sumabog. Iyon lang naman ang mahalaga. --

EDITORIAL

(Continued from front page)

The only way we can fight against this current of regression is only to make these times even more interesting. We need to fight it back.

Societies are becoming more and more polarized due partly to the changes in the way we communicate with each other. Various researches have shown that Facebook greatly contributes to this polarization with its algorithms allowing us to see only the information that will validate our preexisting biases. This is why we keep seeing progressive messages and funny memes about Duterte and Mocha Uson on our newsfeeds while all that the President’s supporters see on theirs are lambasts on De Lima, how the Drug War is a “success,” and why Duterte is the best president in the whole Solar System.

Firstly, we need to demand for Facebook and other similar social media networks to be more accountable on the way they deliver information to us. We must push them to take on the same journalistic responsibilities such as integrity that media companies are expected to fulfill.

Secondly, we need to bridge the gap ourselves. Instead of unfriending our hardcore pro-Duterte and Marcos apologist Facebook friends, we need to communicate with people who do not share our beliefs without coming off as being against “them.” Various researches tell us ways how we can convince people while bypassing psychological vulnerabilities that prevent people from changing their beliefs, like this one (http://qz.com/525132/ the-smartest-most-effective-way-towin-any-political-argument/).

Lastly, we need to fight for a better educational system. Data have shown that among college-educated voters in the US, Trump lost but won among non-college educated voters. We need to inculcate critical thinking in basic education and not make it accessible only to those who can afford college. Special attention to the inculcation of critical thinking beginning in early education should be made by those fighting for greater education rights.

If we lose this battle, we will have to apologize to our children and their children for we have allowed an ushering of a neo-Dark Ages which they will have to endure.

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We live in our bubbles of safe spaces and political correctness that we have forgotten to engage the rest of the world who do not share our worldview.

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SINAG Editorial Board 2016-2017 Editor-in-Chief Ryan Nicolas Managing Editor Robby De Guzman News Editor Clarizze Gravador Features Editor Renee Co Culture and the Arts Editor EJ Bolata Literary Editor Simon Malmstrom Graphics Editor John Carl Lastierre Head Photographer Herby Esmeralda Layout Artist Enrique Navera Business Manager Patrick Atabay SINAG was established in 1968 in a time when Philippine democracy was facing its biggest challenge since independence.

The students of then College of Arts and Sciences deemed the need for an avenue to speak their critical minds and take a stand through an official student publication. Its name is a portmanteau of SINing and AGham. Also meaning ‘a ray of light’ in Filipino, its name represents the paper as a source of light, especially in the dark times during which it was founded. While the dictatorship has fallen, the Philippines never left the darkness of social injustice and oppression. Thus, SINAG continues to strive to provide light that we may one day live in the light of true freedom.

Office: SINAG Office, 1/F Palma Hall, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101 Telephone: (02) 981 8500 loc.

2476 Member: College Editors Guild of the Philippines, UP SOLIDARIDAD