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Tableof Contents 13thEditorial Board The Bosun Editor in Chief Pio Pantaleon Managing Editor Elyze Garcia Associate Editor Sofia Gutierrez Politics and Opinion Ed tor Althea S m & Paul ne Vivar Campus Editor Anr Mendoza Promenade Editors Nadine Medina & Luzy Dayrit Sports Editor Yoela Leonor Broadcast Directors Marco Jav er & Anton Betia Creatives Director Sophia Espina Marketing Directors Nicole Lim & Lyka Manalo Human Resources Directors Leslie Buhat & Vier Barreiro Finance Director Sei Alonzo WRITERS FEATURED IN THIS MAGAZINE Cater na Molo MJ Karaan Stephanie Flores Just n T amson Paul ne Vivar Mariz Angeles Lyka Mana o Mattia Tiaoqu Joshua Ed llon Sofia Gutierrez Elyze Garcia Winona Lo Anri Mendoza Nadine Medina Yoe a Leonor Luzy Dayrit Anton Betia Promenade03 Debunking myths about introverts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 There is no such thing as "my truth" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Org problems that no one really talks about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 Gett ng through the next academic year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Politics&Opinion01 Blockchain voting can put an end to electoral fraud . . . . . . Why we shou dn t lose hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Marcos returns to power what now? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How BBM should address the West Ph lippine Sea dispute . . . . . . PH’s biggest prob em today fuel prices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . It s time for the mask mandate to be l fted . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Campus02 UA&P s final plans for F2F Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . UA&P Salt & Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The making of Uappyverse The Dragon s Realm Unitas Games 2022 . . . Beh nd the Ask Father controversy “ t was a misunderstanding” . . CATALYST wins the Venerable Fulton Sheen Award . . . . . . . USOK Transcr pts "USG can benefit from a mukbang" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . “We always have a lot of work” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . "We didn t expect much from her" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . “He d dn t make any negat ve mpact but he d dn t make any big changes either” “I be ieve in his God given ta ents” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Domus Regum presents paper to the Internat onal Chess Federation (FIDE) . . . . . . . . 91 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 26 . . . . . . . . . . 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . 66 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 73
Politics& Opinion
Due to its public nature, blockchain voting allows everyone to see the count in real time. This allows voters to validate if their vote was counted properly. While blockchain data is public, no one will be able to identify who voted for who. The system ensures that voters are protected. Each vote on the blockchain can be identified through a unique ID. Votes will remain private unless one chooses to publicly reveal their ID.
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There is little public and professional understanding of blockchain technology because blockchain voting, as it stands, faces issues in energy efficiency, relying heavily on multiple energy intensive processes. It also has scalability issues because, as the number of users in a blockchain increases, the higher the cost and time for consuming the transaction. Despite this, it is still preferable to the current system because of its inherent ability to uphold election integrity. Blockchain voting was first implemented in 2018, in Sierra Leone, South Africa. Other countries, such as the US, Japan, and Russia, have also begun its implementation. Last year, the COMELEC ran blockchain voting mock trials. According to James Jimenez, spokesperson for the COMELEC, they are working towards implementing blockchain voting in time for the 2025 midterm elections. Blockchain voting is still in its early stages and faces various issues in implementation. Further research and development are required to execute it on a national scale but, with proper implementation, blockchain voting can lessen political conflicts, re establish people’s trust in the electoral system, and in turn increase voter participation.
Blockchain voting can put an end to electoral fraud
Article by Caterina Molo June 5, 2022 The 2022 National Elections have been full of controversy and induced much anxiety. There have been suspected irregularities concerning its integrity, which have led to various groups protesting in front of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) office. Many have questioned the swift election transmission despite multiple delays mostly due to malfunctioning vote counting machines. The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), however, has addressed these concerns as they reminded people that the 2019 midterm polls were actually transmitted faster. There was also concern about electoral fraud due to the 68:32 “magic” vote ratio circulating on social media. PPCRV’s investigation into this matter revealed that there was no cause for concern, as this is a phenomenon commonly known in statistics as the Law of Large Numbers. These events show that the public has an immense amount of distrust towards the government and the current electoral system. It is no surprise that many feel this way, given the centralization of the current electoral system. One has no choice but to trust in the members of PPCRV and COMELEC as there is no way to ensure that the electoral process stays free from fraud. Humans, however, are not infallible, and trust can be broken.
Blockchain voting is a potential solution to both electoral fraud and the public’s distrust of the current system. The blockchain is a way to record transactions, like Shopee purchases, Grab bookings, or any other exchange. When a new transaction is made, it is recorded as a block that is connected to all previous transactions in a chain. Each block contains a timestamp, data from the previous block, and a hash function, which converts the transaction data into a unique string of characters that serves as an ID for the transaction. For a piece of data to be changed, the hash function of the corresponding block must be recalculated as well as the hash functions of all subsequent blocks. This could take millions of years, which means that no one can delete, insert, or alter transactions in an already validated block without it being noticed. Applying such technology to the Philippines’ voting system would make it virtually impossible for vote manipulations and alterations once cast.
Unlike our current electoral system, blockchain voting is completely decentralized. The entire blockchain database can be accessed by all members of the network. This means that voters would be able to view the election data and count the votes if they wanted to. This addresses people s distrust towards the COMELEC. Do you think the election results are suspicious? In blockchain voting, you would have the ability to verify the results yourself, if you’re up for it.
Why we shouldn’t lose hope
Education and compassion will continue to be our weapons Planning for the future, deciding on colleges, continuing education, and moving on with life might seem futile, but these will be our weapons. Supporters of the opposing candidates have mocked and devalued our education again and again, but it will remain our weapon and shield for what’s to come. In the same way education was the driving force that led us to our movement now, it will also be a weapon that will prepare us to make the coming 6 years better, by doing what we can. However, we must also share this education with others without being too imposing or condescending. The divisiveness of our beliefs is a product of decades of fake news and disinformation, but not everyone has the same access to information and not everyone has the same experiences. We all have different worldviews and experiences that mold how we think, some people are merely blinded by propaganda while others really do believe all the false information despite having access to more reliable sources. Thus, we also have to educate ourselves on how to put ourselves in their shoes and understand where other beliefs are coming from Before we can even begin to educate others, we must first learn how to listen We can’t just preach and dictate to others what they should believe in because that would only paint us as arrogant and selfish It’s only when we let compassion take over and understand their side that we can soften their hearts and really let truth and justice prevail in the lives of all people. Elections are not the end; the fight has just begun This is not the end, it’s merely the beginning of a long journey There are still a lot of opportunities for us to use our voices and use the power that we have as citizens to mobilize the people into fighting for what’s right Our job and power as citizens do not end with the elections We still have a duty to hold accountable those seated officials. It is still in our power to ensure that their promises are kept, our rights are being respected, and our voices are heard Not only that, but we must also do our part in fighting for our countrymen. Even if times are now factious more than ever, we must still strive to fight for the lives of all Filipinos regardless of who they are supporting After all, this fight is for the whole country, not just for a specific candidate.
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Even though there will be people who continue to mock, belittle, or undermine us, we also have our own community who will back us up in times of need. This support system might not be as close or tangible as we want it to be, especially when hostility sometimes comes from our own homes, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s there no matter what form it takes. May it be through the volunteer groups for house to house campaigns or face to face rallies and even through the different online groups made on various social media platforms, we know that we have people who will fight with us.
Article by MJ Karaan June 8, 2022 It’s easy to lose hope when the Philippines seems to be stuck in 1972. The election results are final, and it seems that the next six years will be an uphill battle for the Filipino people unresolved debts, politicians who don’t have the best track record, and a pandemic that continues to rage on. While the rest of the world continues to grow and change for the better, we watch our country continuously fall back to its patterns of dynastic and corrupt rule. Despite the future looking grim and bleak, hope mustn’t be lost. If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that there will always be light, no matter how small, that will work hard to illuminate the darkness. We are not alone The event that polarized the country, divided families, and even severed relationships is also the same event that helped us build a community of like minded people who have been awakened to fight for justice and the truth. We are not alone in this fight: in just a matter of months, we have started a movement and mobilized thousands even millions of Filipinos to stand for the truth. There’s no need to be afraid now because we know that we have people who will stand with us. "If the past few months have taught us anything, it’s that there will always be light, no matter how small, that will work hard to illuminate the darkness."
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Once again, the unthinkable has happened. Despite the blood, sweat, and tears shed by hopeful Filipinos in the 2022 Philippine Elections, we are again defeated. The 1986 People Power Revolution restored democracy in the Philippines and ended the nation’s decades worth of torment. It was an uprising marked by its peaceful means, led by millions of people from all walks of life united to reclaim liberty. But 36 years later, a member of one of the most brutal political dynasties in the nation’s history returns to the Philippine presidency. Only this time, we gave the crown. Walking through the 2022 Philippine Elections President elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was proclaimed victor in the 2022 Philippine Presidential Elections by a landslide. Regan and Coles (2022) report to CNN World that with 98% of the votes counted, Marcos Jr. received 31 million votes and defeated nine other presidential aspirants including his closest rival, the outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo, who received about 14 million votes, partial and unofficial results showed.
It’s tempting to pack our bags and just leave the “inevitable” doom that our country might experience in the next few years, but we mustn’t give up. Keeping in mind Catriona Gray’s words, “the government has the power to change our lives but we have the power to change the government.” Changing the government doesn’t only entail an election or a change in whoever’s in charge. It can also mean that we let our voices be heard and assert that the real power is with us. No matter how powerless we might seem, the constitution still stands strong with its conviction: we are a democracy, the power lies with the people. It’s now time for us to assert that the government serves us, not the other way around.
With that said, may we emulate the kindness and compassion of the frontrunner of this whole movement the radikal na pagmamahal way of Leni Robredo. Despite the unfavorable results of the elections, she never wavered and even found another way to bring about the advocacies that established her whole candidacy. The Angat Buhay NGO is proof of what else we can do as citizens. It serves as a platform for us to continue the effort that sparked hope among the marginalized, the victims of oppressive and violent regimes, and the disillusioned. In the same way our duty as citizens doesn’t end with voting, we also must work hand in hand with the government and among ourselves to help better the whole nation everyone has their own role in our community.
Now, more than ever, the Philippines needs us. Leaving it behind will only make it worse; no matter how daunting the future is, it is only us who can light up the shadows that seem to be cast on tomorrow. We must never think that our campaign efforts were wasted because it would mean giving up on everything we have started. May we ingrain in our minds that there’s no loss in the elections because there’s still so much we can do. Recent events might be disheartening to bear, but we must remember that this fight is not only for ourselves it’s for every Filipino who hopes to live in a nation that cares for its people. When everything seems hopeless, it’s time for us to become the beacon of hope as much as we can Hope is not lost for as long as we believe in our capabilities, stick to the right principles, and stand with the truth. As Leni Robredo once said, “ang namulat, hindi na pipikit.”
A Marcos returns to power— what now?
Article by Stephanie Flores June 19, 2022
The ‘son of strongman’ triumphs in the Presidential elections
The people are angry. It is extremely difficult to simply stay put and accept what we have been given. Especially that we are aware that we are not in good hands and that there are important parts of the bigger picture that remain hidden from the people. To begin with, how was Marcos even permitted to run for the presidency despite sitting on approximately $10 billion of ill gotten wealth which has yet to be recovered? In fact, dozens of these cases are still active today. To make things worse, COMELEC also dismissed petitions to disqualify the president elect over his unpaid taxes and accusations of disinformation, and also junked all four disqualification suits against Marcos Jr. The way I see it, this is rather dubious.
Marcos Jr., who previously served as a senator from 2010 to 2016, has run on a platform of “unity” throughout his campaign together with Davao City s former mayor Sara Duterte Carpio, his running mate for Vice President. Both aspirants topped the election tallies, with a very minimal difference, if not almost the same, number of votes which appeared quite bizarre to the public. Official results of the Presidential and Vice Presidential race showed a huge vote gap between the UniTeam allies and their closest opponent, the Leni Kiko tandem. No doubt in mind that his win against a strong willed and capable woman was no near miss. But the people think it was not a fair one either.
Hajjaji (2021) told Newsweek that the Philippine elections were “beset with technical issues and security concerns.” De Leon (2022) in his article with Rappler mentions reports of automated glitches which marred the conduct of the polls, with some 915 vote counting machines classified as defective and needing to be replaced. Almost 2,000 faulty vote counting machines were reported on election day, COMELEC said. These malfunctioning machines caused several precincts to open much later than 6 a.m. Election watchdog Kontra Daya noted that the VCM breakdown in 2022 is almost double from the past elections, with 1,800 reported malfunctioning machines compared to those in 2019 and 2016. In response, some voters expressed their frustration with social media due to the inconvenience that it caused them. However, COMELEC Commissioner Marlon Casquej said in a media briefing last May 11 that it is “hard to prove” claims of electoral fraud against Marcos. He later adds that “the system went through a certification,” thus cheating in that regard would “not have been possible.” Therefore, the COMELEC has repeatedly disputed allegations of fraud in the country’s May 9 polls.
Concern has also been expressed over his proposal to revive some of his father’s economic plans, such as an oil price stabilization fund that the state eventually had to subsidize, Chad de Guzman told Time. If this happens in the second Marcos administration, it’s best to expect that the Philippine economy will continue to suffer. Marcos’ vague approach makes investors nervous and leaves the Filipino people doubting the future of the Philippine economy with the unfortunate return of a dictatorial family.
The question now is how much Marcos Jr. will give back to those who supported him. Uncertainty and cynicism loom over the Philippine economy amid his win, Michael Beltran (2022) reports to The Diplomat. Throughout their entire campaign, he, along with the daughter of the outgoing president has been running on a broad narrative of “unity”, without declaring much of an actual platform. Unfortunately, “unity” does equal “concrete.” Filomeno Sta. Ana, a business columnist and coordinator for Action for Economic Reforms, explains that their concern lies in the “lack of clarity of Marcos’ plan for the economy.” Furthermore, they are also worried about “his past performance and pronouncements, which clearly defy fiscal and good governance.” Berating the incoming administration, IBON Executive Director Sonny Africa also warns that “the economy will remain weak” which is primarily because “Marcos Jr. has absolutely no record of original thinking or even any interest in economic policies,” Africa adds.
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The May 9 vote was much more impressive considering that it was conducted against the backdrop of a pandemic. Data from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) shows a record breaking voter turnout. It indicated that almost 82.6% of the 67.4 million registered voters cast their ballots to vote for the successor of populist leader Rodrigo Duterte whose term concludes this June, six years since he took office in 2016.
The Philippines is now in the hands of another Marcos. What now?
As outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo once said as she spoke to her dismayed supporters, days after more than half of the votes have been counted: “Wala akong planong abandonahin ang mga bagay na habambuhay ko nang ipinaglalaban. Tuloy ang trabaho ko para i angat ang buhay ng mga nasa laylayan. Tinatawag ko kayong samahan ako dito at sa iba pang mga laban.”
Our country is infamous for accepting political candidates with criminal records to run for government positions. Because of this, the majority fall for one’s popularity and surname instead of focusing on the qualities that a leader should have this may have happened countless times, but we must never let it happen again.
How BBM should address the West Philippine Sea dispute
Article by Justine Tiamson June 27, 2022 In just a few weeks, the Philippines will have a new administration under Bongbong Marcos and one of the immediate issues he will have to face is the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea. Multiple countries claim sovereignty over the vast area and the surrounding islands, with China having the strongest hold with the help of their NineDash Line. Marcos has stated that his solution to the issue would be to continue to talk and engage diplomatically with China despite its aggressive military stance. In this article, I explain what policies the new admin can do to address this issue. Alliances First, we need to form military and political alliances with our neighbors like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia, and India to counter China. These countries also have disputes and claims against the country, therefore they are natural allies. Strong relationships will mean that the Philippines will most likely be supported both militarily and politically in order to strengthen our position in the area and be provided with diplomatic aid towards our claims to the West Philippine Sea.
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The strong willed and determined human rights lawyer continues: “Pinakamahalaga: Hindi pa tayo tapos. Nagsisimula pa lang tayo. May landas na nagbukas, at hindi ito sasara kasabay ng mga presinto. May kilusang isinilang, at hindi ito papanaw sa pagtatapos ng bilangan.”
POLITICS & OPINION
Additionally, our allies can compensate in areas we lack such as in funds and technology. Although we are already allied with the US, recent events such as the withdrawal from Afghanistan and domestic instability have put into doubt whether or not the US will support us in a conflict. Additionally, they are across the Pacific and would take time before they can come to our aid so it would be better to also ally with other closer countries who can provide us with immediate assistance. A common argument, however, would be that China is militarily stronger than the Philippines and that confrontation with them would be fatal. Albeit true, joining forces with our neighbors will gather enough power to deter them.
Military Build-Up
Although Bongbong’s plan sounds good, what is the point of talking if the other party will just ignore us? China has repeatedly been uncooperative with us such as disregarding the 2016 Hague arbitration ruling. They will not engage with us unless we fortify our position at the table, showing them that we are a worthy adversary. These policies are suggested so that we can strengthen our image and platform to be able to properly negotiate with China. With what is happening in the world, it is vital that the new president works to safeguard our sovereignty and national security. acting aggressively in the West Philippine Sea so it makes no difference whether we build up or not. Not doing so would just be appeasing the aggressor which will encourage them to be aggressive. The war in Ukraine has also shown that countries like the US and EU are willing to give aid to smaller nations under attack by a larger one because not doing so would be seen as a sign of weakness and encourage further aggression.
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The war in Ukraine has shown the benefits of a military build up. Before the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine had a very small military. But after, Ukraine began a military modernization and training program, which has proven to be successful and effective as Ukrainians have been able to hold back the Russian army They have shown that even a small country can fight a superpower The Philippines should also replicate this. We can invest in affordable weapons that have proven to be potent during the war such as drones and anti tank/aircraft missiles A military build up will act as a deterrent against Chinese aggression and even if they are still able to defeat us, going to war with the Philippines will come at a higher cost on their end Regarding the argument that a military build up will aggravate China, it is important to note that China is already Soft Power China is using its media influence to spread propaganda about its territorial claims. For example, China often pressures Hollywood movies to edit their scripts in order to conform to their agenda like when the movie Uncharted (2022) displayed a map showing China’s nine dash line covering the West Philippine Sea. This is dangerous for the Philippines as it risks swaying public opinion to China’s side which may lead to decreased international support for our cause. We need our own soft power initiative in order to counter what China is doing. One way to do it is through the infamous “troll armies” that have been used in politics to influence public opinion on social media. Perhaps we could modify them to spread our narrative about the dispute to other nations. However we do it, we need to engage with foreign media and the international community so that world opinion will be on our side.
Ch na s nine dash ine in the Ho lywood movie Uncharted 2022)
which is also expected to raise demand. He further claims that the new factor driving the anticipated rise in the price of various petroleum products is the depreciation of the peso relative to the US dollar. Aside from failing to enlighten the public regarding the real causes of the incessant fuel price hikes, the government seems to be doing nothing to address this. They have little to no effort in regulating the fuel costs despite the opportunity to temporarily suspend the excise tax on fuel, which could improve our current situation. The Department of Finance (DOF) has rejected proposals to suspend the excise tax on fuel, claiming that doing so would only delay the Philippines’ economic recovery from the pandemic. According to them, this is why they are “focusing” on providing relief to vulnerable sectors.
PH’s biggest problem today: fuel prices
Article by Pauline Vivar July 3, 2022 Nowadays, fuel prices are being compared to the grades of outstanding students as prices continue to escalate. This consistent “line of nine” fuel prices inflict adverse effects on motorists, commuters, and consumers. Inflation and slower economic development are two of the key repercussions of the rising prices, making it even more difficult for low to middle income Filipinos to make ends meet each day. However, the government appears to be remiss in alleviating this existing dilemma. Although there is no clear and definite explanation as to why fuel prices continue to rise, some of the reasons include the following: According to Rino Abad, Director of the Department of Energy Oil Industry Management Bureau the European Union’s restriction on the purchase of Russian oil increased the upward pressure on crude prices. However, Teddy Locsin, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, asserted that the price hikes are the result of the oil companies’ “raw greed” and should not be attributed to the war in Ukraine because our nation does not purchase Russian oil. Other factors cited by Abad include the onset of increased demand for oil in countries in the northern hemisphere. This is a result of the summer peak season from June to September as well as the lifting of China’s lockdown, People are losing jobs. Commuters are suffering from higher fares. Commodity prices are spiking. This oil crisis, as a worldwide phenomenon, indeed puts a massive strain on impoverished countries like the Philippines. This calls for the government to intervene immediately and effectively in order to mitigate the inflationary consequences of increased oil prices. First, oil prices must be regulated rather than being left completely in the hands of oil corporations, who often use the situation to maximize their profits, while consumers bear the burden. Second, subsidy programs should be implemented more rapidly and inclusively to guarantee that individuals in need receive adequate aid. Finally the temporary suspension of the excise tax on fuel must push through. Although the government may lose revenue as a result of this, what counts most today is the wellbeing of ordinary Filipinos who have already suffered terribly since the beginning of the pandemic.
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However, the initial subsidy programs are insufficient and do not cover all drivers and operators of public utility vehicles, nor farmers and fishermen who were affected by the price hikes. In fact, the fuel subsidy, which will be distributed through the beneficiaries’ e wallet accounts, has made it impossible for those who do not have devices and internet access, to obtain the aid that they need. Lastly, President Bongbong Marcos has yet to disclose his plan regarding this matter. This is highly concerning given that, as the country’s highest ranking official, he is expected to know exactly what to do in the event of a huge economic shock like what is now taking place. If he has not yet come to a decision, he should at least keep the public informed of his progress.
The next step The research on the effects of masks on the COVID 19 situation has yet to come to a consensus. Many studies have proven that masks can indeed reduce the transmission of the virus.
However, new research calls into question a possible correlation between masking and higher COVID 19 mortality rates. Whether universal masking can truly help everyone or not is debatable, therefore, the mask mandate should be lifted. Removing the mask mandate doesn’t mean that everyone will stop wearing masks. It means that people will now have the choice to wear a mask or not. Freedom comes with responsibility. With their health in their own hands, people will be incentivized to do their own research and make decisions that are beneficial to them. As per the situation, due to insufficient data and research, there is no right or wrong in the question of universal masking. It is therefore more prudent for the public to be allowed to choose whether to wear a mask or not. How is COVID-19 transmitted?
Last June 9, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia issued Executive Order No. 16 which makes the use of face masks optional in well ventilated and open spaces. This proclamation sparked debate on the question of universal masking. After Governor Garcia’s executive order, the Department of Health (DOH) reiterated that the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) still asserts that the public should continue to wear face masks in public places. However, there is enough research currently available to support that the mask mandate should be removed.
Article by Caterina Molo
Rationale behind removing the mask mandate With all these studies demonstrating the effectiveness of masks, what would rationalize removing the mask mandate? The “Foegen effect” occurs when virus carrying particles retained in the mask tissue get re inhaled from a very short distance causing the virus particles to enter the respiratory tract. This phenomenon was recently discovered by a new medical journal report comparing COVID 19 fatality rates during the height of the pandemic. Rather than looking at how many infections can be prevented, this study focused on how many lives can be saved. When comparing the mortality rates with and without mask mandates, the study found that there were around 50% more deaths with mask mandates than without. Another new study on the correlation between mask compliance and COVID 19 outcomes in Europe, found no negative correlation between mask usage and COVID 19 cases and deaths, and even found a “Moderate positive correlation between mask usage and deaths in Western Europe,” which suggests that “The universal use of masks may have had harmful unintended consequences ”
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COVID 19 is known to be transmitted through virus carrying droplets and aerosols originating from infected people speaking, coughing, and sneezing. These particles can be carried in the air for prolonged periods of time, and can land on surfaces. COVID 19 may be contracted from another person either by directly inhaling droplets and aerosols, or indirectly by touching a surface contaminated with the virus then touching the eyes, nose, or mouth. Rationale behind the mask mandate Masks function in two ways: source control and protection of the wearer. According to a study by Yuxin Wang, when an infected person wears a mask, it lessens the release and transmission range of virus carrying particles, though side leakage is possible. When a person wears a mask to protect himself from contracting the virus, the mask helps to reduce the chance of infection by preventing contact with virus carrying particles Various studies conducted on the use of masks have demonstrated their effectiveness, such as a study on the impact of community masking in Bangladesh, a study on the effectiveness of masks in reducing exposure to respiratory infections, and a study on the reduction of secondary COVID 19 in households.
July 5, 2022
POLITICS & OPINION
Politics& Opinion
Campus
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Article by Mariz Angeles & Lyka Manalo June 3, 2022 “With the recent announcement of hybrid face-to-face and online classes for this year’s midyear classes, the university’s management committee aims to shift to face-to-face classes fully by August,” said Jana Alameda, in an interview regarding USG’s plans for the return of face to face classes. She mentioned that these in-person midyear classes, starting this June 2022, are a “big step” that will aid the UA&P Task Force, CSA, and management committee to fully assess if the university is holistically ready to welcome back the Dragons—from the facilities, its staff, and faculty in the upcoming SY 2022-2023 in August.
“The first orientation was for the guidelines released by the University followed by the second orientation for the hybrid classes this Monday, May 23.” Alameda added that since the hybrid classes gave an option for students with comorbidities to not attend on campus classes, it was difficult to address all concerns and disseminate the information to the whole student body given the online situation Alameda then assures the student body, “Whatever concerns each student has, we make sure to discuss them with the higher ups.” With the current USG’s members finishing the last of their tasks before the semester ends, Alameda believes it s up to the next USG to handle what the next school year brings to the table.
For face to face classes, the UA&P Task Force, CSA, and ManCom are the ones are responsible for its success and implementation. Since there are many students from the province and those who are still abroad, there are a number of things that must be taken into consideration. These include whether or not UA&P is ready, that is, whether there is adequate safety equipment and protocols available to accommodate everyone, and most importantly, if the parents will consent to the students’ return.
There were many things placed in consideration, but what’s in it for USG specifically? The USG’s IVP Fran Gonzales has been addressing the students’ concerns, especially when it comes to the guidelines released by the university regarding face to face classes, specifically in medical insurance for 21 year old students and above “To respond to these queries, USG created multiple orientations so we could address the concerns and confusion,” Alameda continues with the programs they set out for the students.
Disseminating information in an online environment has never been easy, especially for the USG, as a significant number of students have a habit of overlooking their announcement emails. According to Alameda, they always announce important matters, such as concerning upcoming face to-face classes, as soon as possible, mainly when they see that the CSA Office and ManCom have announced something. The USG tends to gather all the materials to put all of them on their Social Media to spread the word. Having block representatives is also a massive benefit for the USG in announcing the information to the entire student body.
UA&P’s final plans for F2F classes
UA&P Salt & Light 2022
All the awardees were recognized via an online ceremony and posts featuring more in depth descriptions of the different initiatives on April 30, 2022, on their Facebook page (UA&P Salt & Light 2022). Among the 20 awardees and their outreach activities these initiatives can be divided into 4 categories: Community, Environment, Education, and Calamity Relief.
It was also stated that another hardship they encountered during this process was that the members of the PMT are mostly new, therefore lacking the experience of handling face-to-face events. With this in mind, he shared his key takeaways from the event and what he thinks could be done by the next generation of PMT members for the next Unitas Games to be even more successful.
June 23, 2022
The main objective of this event, according to Ms. Michelle Alejandro, was to promote a sense of compassion, kindness, and mercy within the community, and to inspire others to do the same. “It’s kind of like a celebration of humanity,” shared Ms. Alejandro.
“I won’t sugarcoat it, we were pretty overwhelmed. There were too many things happening; there s a simultaneous event online, and there’s also a physical event. In PMT, we’re really lacking in manpower, but I think we pulled it off naman,” Asinas said while recalling the planning process of the event. Regarding how challenging the face to face aspect of the event was compared to the virtual aspect, Asinas replied saying that both are “two different realms.” Both setups require different skills and materials. “In online, you need to be good in tech, but for physical, there are so many things you need approval for Since we’re in a pandemic, kailangan ng social distancing, kailangan ng health clearance for each player, we have to ensure that, down to the nitty gritty stuff like anong susuotin nila We (the PMT) really have to make sure that all players and all organizers comply,” said Asinas The two were equally difficult according to Asinas – the physical preparation and the online live streaming of events were those mentioned.
One thing that can be taken into consideration for next year is preparation. According to Asinas, the Unitas Games last year were held online, planning having started in January of the same year. This year, they started planning at around the same time. However, he disclosed that the time for preparations was insufficient. This was due to factors such as needing approval from the school for students to participate in the in person events. Regardless of feeling overwhelmed due to the coinciding events and lack of manpower; and all the hindrances the Project Management Team encountered, they still managed to pull off a successful Unitas Games that was enjoyed by all the participants and PMT members. However, they still needed to make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the events were conducted in a safe manner for everyone involved. Ensuring its success required the team to work on a project amounting to two separate events, and under the risk of tightening restrictions. Asinas spoke of their struggles in the planning and building of the hybrid Uappyverse.
Article by Mattia Tiaoqui
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Last April 30, 2022, the UA&P CSA Office of Student Development Civics and UA&P’s Advocates of Community Empowerment, Resilience and Sustainability (ACERS) held a first time event entitled “Salt and Light” to recognize the different outreach initiatives done by the UA&P students, faculty, and alumni. This event was created in line with the international Good Deeds Day that is held during the month of April.
A call for nominations was conducted last April and all those deemed qualified by the screening committee were given recognition. “The highlight actually is, we wanted to give recognition on the initiative, not really on the person,” said Ms. Alejandro. There were 20 awardees in total: 1 student, 6 alumni, and the remaining 13 being employees.
As the University moves closer to the gradual expansion of face to face classes, a significant number of institutions will restart operations, and several students are expected to participate.
Article by Joshua Edillon & Mattia Tiaoqui June 7, 2022
The 2022 UNITAS Games, held last April 25 to 30, 2022, pioneered the transition back to face to face events on campus. In line with the Into the Spider Verse inspired theme, the Project Management Team hosted games across both the online and on campus settings for this year’s event, entitled “Uappyverse: The Dragon’s Realm.” Players competed on behalf of their respective “realities,” or schools, in a multitude of team games that encouraged each team to make use of their strengths. The theme and division of “realities” further encouraged teamwork and established a stronger bond within each school. Following the 2 years of being stuck at home due to the pandemic, Marcus Asinas, a project head, expressed that the general objective of this year s Unitas Games was “to have something to look forward to.” With UA&P taking steps to open the campus for the next academic year, the PMT seized the opportunity to arrange an in person meeting for students and school staff following the pandemic Thanks to the efforts of the PMT they were fortunate enough to be given the green light from both ManComm and the crisis committee to hold events onsite.
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"If there’s one thing that would be different, it would be wearing masks,” Alameda stated when asked about what would be different from when she used to go to campus prior to the pandemic. As a graduating student, she says nothing beats campus life where you can meet your friends during breaks and enjoy their company. “It’s just this time around we have to be more cautious and mindful to not further spread the virus,” Alameda said, referring to the University’s guidelines with hopes that all students duly follow them. She believes that the coming face to face classes will surely be a milestone for many, if not all, as the campus will finally be reignited with the fire once set by Dragons then and now.
The one thing many look forward to as we return to face to face classes is meeting block mates, friends, org mates, and varsity members in person. Despite the restrictions, this is a major step for UA&P since it means increasing everyone’s engagement in the community. “There are so many things that you guys can look forward to, but honestly the big picture here is to get to experience campus life. Especially everyone since you guys are college students,” Alameda finished.
The making of Uappyverse: The Dragon’s Realm – Unitas Games 2022
Especially for the Dragons who began their college life online, they need to have a whole idea of what it is like to be a student on campus and to continue to exemplify and embrace the Unitas spirit as they blaze the trail. Can Dragons finally reignite campus life?
1. Kabagis: Aeta Projects
5. Brgy. Pineda Feeding Activity
Environment Outreaches 1. Feeding the Voiceless A small act of kindness of setting aside a budget to feed stray animals. This outreach was initiated by Mr. Fernand Francis Hermoso, a UA&P employee, from 2019 2022.
These are the most highlighted initiatives they have done through this outreach: Distribution of laptops to school teachers. Proving training workshop (google workspace for education and Teacher Self care). Brigada Skwela and Pagbasa Program. Building computer laboratories by providing desktop computers and learning equipment. Developing a School Record and Management System (ongoing) Proving Training for JAVA programming courses for School Teachers (ongoing)
2. Bantay Kalat Organized by Ms. Paz Maria Santos, another UA&P employee. Ms. Santos observed the accumulation of plastic trash and other debris on the shoreline every day, which posed a threat to marine life. Initially, she started collecting trash on her own during her daily walks along the beach. She then involved the locals as the plastic debris kept building up, prompting the birth of the “Bantay Kalat” project. Ms. Santos shared that she still does her daily beach clean ups to maintain the cleanliness of the area despite volunteers no longer being active.
4. Kapyot Bacolod Mental health was the main focus of the next initiative, organized by UA&P alumni Janica Pabon and Kyra Pulohanan mental health advocates from Bacolod City. “Kapyot Bacolod” mediated between the mentally and emotionally troubled and the professional help, and catered to the former through (1) webinars, (2) psychological firstaid, and (3) referring patients to the professionals and/or facilities.
Ms. Mary Caedo, another UA&P employee coordinated this outreach after a speaker for one of the CAS activities (TILMA Talk) declined her honorarium. They utilized the money and called for voluntary contributions among colleagues to be able to share something with the poor. They chose Brgy. Pineda as their beneficiary since they are the University’s adopted community and given their condition following the pandemic.
Education Outreaches
3. Pop-Up Charity Street Store
Conducted by a UA&P faculty member Dr. Veronica E. Ramirez has two training centers that serve as venues for various skills development and learning for the Aetas: cookery, sewing, literacy, health, carpentry, motorbike maintenance, and module coaching. During the training, they receive free meals, transportation allowance, and tool kits. After the training, they can use the carpentry tools and sewing machines for work, thus enabling them to support their families better.
Community Outreaches
2. Community Pantry Organized by a UA&P employee, Ms. Shirley Tolentino, the organizers believed that they could help augment what the government provided for them during the quarantine period. The goods included rice, bread, and other basic commodities. The organizers were also able to extend the community pantry to beneficiaries in the following areas: Malolos, Bulacan, Imus, Cavite, and Sampaloc, Manila.
1. IT Modernization Project Coordinated by UA&P employees, Ms. Shirley Tolentino, Mr. Anthony Saul, and Mr. Cyrus Paolo Buenafe, the SSE IST extension program started in the year 2019 during the PACUCOA accreditation period. The SSE IST extension program focuses on the digital transformation of the marginalized public schools in the Philippines (mostly in remote areas in Bulacan and Cavite provinces). The four schools included in the extension program are the following: Virginia Ramirez Cruz National High School (VRCNHS) the biggest public high school in Pandi Bulacan, Francisco Mendoza Memorial Elementary School (FMMES) Calumpit Bulacan, Jose J. Mariano Memorial High School (JJMMHS) Plaridel Bulacan, and Gov. Juanito Reyes Remulla Senior High School (GJRRHS) in Imus Cavite.
Projects that initiate giving back to their respective communities whether through acts big or small fall under this category. Given this, 6 outreach initiatives were listed.
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Coordinated by Ms. Marielle Uy Abella, a UA&P employee, the outreach initiative was a “Pop up store” for the homeless wherein they were able to shop for pre loved clothes, shoes, bags, etc. but everything was free. Ms. Abella was also able to provide them with food and grocery items.
6. Date with Heroes Headed by Ms. Janice Mercurio, a UA&P employee, the target beneficiaries of this outreach are the wounded in action soldiers (WIA). Through this initiative, the patients in V. Luna Medical Center were serenaded, and given personal hygiene kits, raffling items, and food.
Covid/Calamity Relief Outreaches
Ms. Juliet Dela Cruz, another UA&P employee, also initiated an outreach last November 2020 for those affected by Typhoon Ulysses Relief foods were donated to Typhoon Ulysses victims in Rodriguez and San Mateo Rizal.
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3. KapitPH Initiated by another UA&P alumnus, Patricia Louise Dy. For every USD $10 raised, KapitPH sent a relief package to a low income household affected by the COVID 19 outbreak in the Philippines.
Due to the pandemic and the aftermath of Typhoon Odette in December 2021, members of the UA&P community reached out to those affected by the events.
3. SIPA PH Fundraiser Co founded by UA&P alumni, Bianca Marañon and Paula Piedad, SIPA PH was formed to help young children with their physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development during the pandemic through an online football program. The sessions were conducted over zoom, and all the lesson plans were created by the two co founders and coaches. A portion of the registration fee for all batches of students was donated to causes related to education because the co founders wanted their donations to be aligned with the goal of promoting education and aiding young children.
2. Read for Hope
Headed by a UA&P faculty member, Ms. Mary Josefti Nito, Read for Hope’s main advocacy is to spread hope through reading and love for stories. Ms. Nito and her team have been setting up libraries for off the grid public schools and communities since 2014. In 2020, they helped some public schools in Antique, Samar, and North Cotabato to cope with the demands of distance learning by raising funds and donating reams of bond paper and printers.
2. Covid Backliners Spearheaded by a husband and wife team and UA&P alumni, Ronilo and Richelle Balbieran. Mr. and Mrs Balbieran coordinated an emergency supply chain of food and medical supplies to support their local hospitals and essential services. The chosen beneficiaries are the frontliners in the whole of Luzon and transport volunteers (those who ferry frontliners daily to and from hospitals).
Each package contained: 10 canned goods, 5 kilograms of rice, 10 packs of cereal drinks, mung beans, and cooking oil. Dy’s organization ensures that all donations will go directly to efforts to lighten the load of the less fortunate. Multiple outreaches were conducted due to Typhoon Odette in December 2021. Among these were #CreatorsUnitedPH headed by UA&P alumnus Jim Christopher Guzman, and other self initiated outreaches by a UA&P student Joseayn Albasin, UA&P alumnus Marikit Naguiat, and a UA&P faculty member Ms. Alyssamae Nuñez. Guzman organized a relief effort in partnership with the Creator and Influencer Council of the Philippines to help the victims of Typhoon Odette. Thanks to donations, they were able to distribute 75,000 liters of water, 55,000 packs of non perishable goods, 5,000 packs of medicines, and 500 packs of toiletries. Albasin spearheaded a donation drive for her classmate who was greatly affected by the typhoon and helped her parents in their efforts to provide help to family and friends in her mom’s hometown. Naguiat organized a call for donations to bring portable gas stoves to the affected areas of typhoon Odette through the PH Navy. Ms. Nuñez was able to raise money to give out 100 food packs, 150 packed lunches, 60 sandwiches, chocolates/wafers to 250 children, and 400L potable water to three barangays in Isabela. Cash donations were handed to organizations that helped the typhoon victims in other remote areas in the Southern part of Negros. Additional outreaches were held for more calamities that severely affected other communities such as an outreach coordinated by Ms. Chiqui Azurin, a UA&P employee with the help of other UA&P volunteers, to help those affected by the Mt. Taal Eruption. With more employee donations (pandesal, hotdog, cooked adobo and rice, water, plates, utensils, paper towels, and even transportation to bring the food and the volunteers from UA&P to Batangas and vice versa) and increasing volunteers, the personal initiative expanded and became a BIGGKAS+ initiative.
1. Courage Cebu A project that UA&P faculty member Ms. Gretchen Choa assisted in, was first created in late March 2020, during the COVID 19 lockdown by a group of friends to help raise funds to help provide medical frontliners and essential workers/daily wage earners living in Cebu with PPE’s food, and other necessities. However, when Typhoon Odette struck last December 2021, they revived Courage Cebu to help with the distribution of food, drinking water, blankets, clothes, basins, and aluminum sheets (yero) for roofing to areas that were greatly affected by the typhoon.
Key takeaways to share with the UA&P community Regarding key takeaways that Ms. Alejandro hoped the UA&P community would get from this event, she mentioned that the biggest one is for everyone to know that any initiative big or small when weighed, are the same. When you do good, it creates a ripple effect. Ms. Alejandro shared her thoughts on big and small deeds, “Although most of the time we notice only the large initiatives because people don’t get to hear or talk about simple acts of kindness.” She added, “It’s good that we bring these things into light to inspire [others] and it restores the feeling of hope that the goodness of mankind still exists and even an average person can have a large impact on other people’s lives.”
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Ms. Alejandro also mentioned the initiatives nominated as examples of these, “One of the initiatives we gave recognition to was feeding the voiceless which is feeding stray animals. Initiatives like ‘Bantay Kalat where Ms. Paz Santos encouraged the community to clean the seashore.”
“It’s really good to see people working together like with the calamity relief. Having employees gathering together and bringing it to the community, sends a strong message that we can make things better together, especially during these times. Even when we have our own struggles, there’s still a part of us that wants to reach out and we’re just waiting for someone to take the lead,” she explained UA&P Salt & Light serves as a beacon to inspire others to do good and to restore our faith in humanity It reminds us that no matter how big or small our acts of kindness are, they will always make a difference in others’ lives
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He stated, “We talked to certain individuals in the university, of course, to clarify the issue at hand.
“Give the community venues for their voice, and, even if you may disagree with things they say, you will at least learn to understand.” they stated.
We asked also the USG regarding their stand on it… We simply gave our suggestions on what the student body was thinking.”
Behind the ‘Ask Father’ controversy: “It was a misunderstanding”
He reached out to the Head of the Corporate Communications Office, prompting that JMCs can help in clarifying the recent controversy throughout the student body and Ms. Beng Calma Alcazaren permitted them to do so. Gabiliño told The Bosun that some JMCs talked to friends and some actively posted online in order to shed light upon the issue. He also added, “We never took part at least as a unit we never took part in saying that ‘we stand for this or we stand for that’ but as individuals of the University and as students molded by its character and identity at least for me, I told my team that ‘I’m giving you guys the freedom to actually say what it is you want to say.’”
Student Body
Article by Sofia Gutierrez & Elyze Garcia June 26, 2022
Junior Marketing Communications
UA&P has recently come under fire for allegations of discrimination and homophobia after a post on the UA&P College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Facebook page that described an Ask Father event as “a video reaction discussion on giving hope to homosexual persons and those suffering same-sex attraction.” The original post was later replaced, deleting the word “suffering”. Both posts have since been deleted. Interviews were conducted with the Corporate Communications Office (CCO), CAS, the University Student Government (USG), the Junior Marketing Communications (JMC), Fr. Garrido (the speaker for the talk in point), and a few students. This article is to shed light on the issue using statements from the participants mentioned above.
A significant number of UA&P students belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. Upon seeing the post, many students were justifiably upset. “For a school that teaches both the beauty in using words wisely as well as the inherent dignity of man, I was disappointed,” said an unnamed student. Many found the language used in the post insensitive and that, despite the talk’s intention to help teachers understand the LGBTQIA+ community, the method was not right. The student explained that instead of funneling questions through one man, it would be better to make an effort to make members of the LGBTQIA+ community feel safe enough to communicate.
With JMC being the face of the University, its Captain, John Paul Gabiliño, said that the team contributed to alleviating the situation through suggestions and dissemination of information.
Gabiliño also commented that “It was too short I’m not going to lie to you. It did not give context to the whole thing nor did it appease any of the members of the University or at least the LGBTQIA+ community. [But] I think CAS did what they needed to do in that point of time… I think it was the wisest decision they could have made.”
University Student Government and the College of Arts and Sciences
Immediately after the escalation of the issue, on June 16, 2022 a meeting was held between the incoming and outgoing USG officers CAS Dean Dr. Ma. Asuncion Magsino, Managing Director of CCO Ms. Beng Calma Alcazaren and Fr. Noel Garrido. Fr. Garrido clarified what the webinar entailed as well as its intended audience, while the USG relayed the feedback of the students regarding the poster of the webinar. The USG subsequently released a statement regarding the issue with the support of the faculty and the different Student Interest Groups (SIGs).
Corporate Communications Office
When asked about his opinion on the matter, CAS Representative Rom Teña expressed that he wished to respect CAS and the university regarding their decisions on the situation. “Dissent is inevitable and could be destructive if not handled with both empathy and fairness,” Teña stated. He added that, as CAS Representative, “It is my duty to listen to the student body, CAS, and UA&P without undermining any of the three. As stated by the USG, the truth of the matter is that we stand with the UA&P community in supporting an environment that is safe and inclusive for all regardless of background, beliefs, gender, and identity.”
Ms. Beng had advised the CAS Administration to leave the post alone as deleting it would worsen matters. She mentioned, “I would have hoped and wanted to just let that [the Ask Father post] subside and let it be because this is just me on a personal note and CAS will probably disagree or they actually do disagree that pulling it out added more fuel to the fire.” She thought that letting the controversy diminish on its own would be a better approach however, Ms. Beng shared that “They [CAS Administration] took it down on their own. Without informing this office, they took the initiative to pull it out. It’s been done already, but I did clearly inform them not to pull it out, but they did it.”
After communicating with different institutions and individuals connected to the controversy, Gabiliño said, “At least now after I took a step back and viewed the whole thing, the purpose and intent of the whole thing was not to demean naman the LGBTQIA+ community. But it was actually… worded wrongly.”
CAS’s Apology Statement
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On June 14, 2022, CAS released an official statement apologizing for “the language of the announcement” and “for having offended members of the LGBTQIA+ community”. However, this was met with mixed reactions. “Apologizing for ‘offending’ someone is not the same as apologizing for something that is, on principle, incorrect,” said an unnamed student. “The apology was brief and standard, but at least they apologized for the language, I guess.”
During the interview with Ms. Beng Calma-Alcazaren, Managing Director of UA&P’s Corporate Communications Office, she told The Bosun that the CAS Administration did not inform her or her office about the controversial post. “I was informed through the JMC Captain, JP Gabiliño he was the first responder the first person to inform me about the post and that’s how I came to know about it,” Ms. Beng said. She stated that “It all happened so fast. I think the post came out Monday afternoon. The whole social media rounds happened in the evening I think it was past 10 pm. And of course, by the morning of Tuesday, I was receiving all these messages from Doc Stan, From the operations committee of CAS to meet… So that morning, they were already in a meeting and they had made a decision to take it down to take down the post. So I had recommended something else but they already did what they did and we just let that be.”
So, the session is geared toward listening to some homosexual persons as they speak in a video entitled ‘The Third Way: Homosexuality and the Catholic Church’. The intention is to let the faculty and staff hear from gay people who they are because it helps to understand homosexuality from those who experience it and not only from the books that we read. Then we intend to have a discussion to get deeper in the topic.”
Conclusion The interviews with the respective stakeholders have clarified the events that led to the situation as well as the measures and processes that were taken afterward. As things stand now, the statements released by CAS and the USG communicate that there was no ill intent and that the parties involved have learned from the experience and will, from now on, do better as a university for its students.
Majority, if not all students interpreted the Ask Father initiative as “degrading”, “insensitive” and “discriminatory”, however when asked if it truly were, Ms. Beng gave The Bosun an immediate answer of “Not at all, not at all.” She added that “Father’s intent was to educate and inform us, faculty and staff, on how we can best mentor [on how] we need to be able to see the big picture. And that was Father’s intent. Not to like condemn or to point fingers. ‘Jesus doesn’t love you!’ hindi ganon You’re right, it was very insensitive. The statements were not right It could have been crafted in a much more delicate and tactful way.”
Fr. Garrido Fr. Garrido, the host for the Ask Father webinar also told The Bosun that he was not aware that CAS would post the pubmats as he said it was “prepared for the faculty and staff since they are the audience of the Ask Father get together.”
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Now that the post had been spread throughout social media, many have also looked into the event’s details. It was discovered that the Ask Father webinar was solely meant for faculty and staff and upon knowing this fact, students were even more infuriated as it purposely excluded the student body, especially the LGBTQIA+ community, from a topic such as this. “What happened was, it was sent out to an audience that wasn’t intended to be that audience to a greater public and obviously, they do not have the context. And you know how it is when things get out, you know, you’re able to judge quickly, you’re able to cast a stone immediately without getting facts.” Ms. Beng stated in hopes it could clear out any ill assumptions about their agenda. She added that “There’s formation in the sense that every week, the employees, the faculty, we are encouraged to attend this institutional development program of the university that helps us understand the culture [The LGBTQIA+ community].”
Pertaining to the questions that were mentioned on the second pubmat, Father added that “We inform the audience about the picked topic for the next get together, and we ask them to submit their questions (thus, Ask Father). The inputs we get are the ones that appear on the pub mat.”
Before giving further information, Fr. Garrido wanted to give a brief background on what Ask Father really is. He defined this initiative as “…a regular get together for faculty and staff with one of our chaplains to discuss topics related to faith and morals. It is a natural consequence of our desire to keep living the Christian identity characteristic of our university by knowing more about Church teachings. The topics of our get together are suggested by the audience and the organizers choose the most relevant one. For example, last May, we had as a topic ‘the moral obligation to vote in the national elections.’”
Thus, when the topic of homosexuality was suggested for the get together, I knew how important for us, as educators and mentors, to understand persons with gay inclinations. Because without understanding a person (gay or not), we cannot accept them as they are. And if we cannot accept them, we cannot serve them either. As teachers and mentors, we will fail then in doing our role.
Lastly, in order to gather the full story behind the controversy, The Bosun asked him about his thoughts on the LGBTQIA+ community and what he wanted to initially share in his Ask Father get together. Fr. Garrido shares that “Whenever someone from the LGBTQIA+ comes to talk to me personally, the purpose is always to seek priestly attention and advice. In the years of my priestly work, I realized that persons with gay inclinations come to a priest wanting to understand themselves better while hoping that others come to understand them, too. Because it is truly debilitating for any person to be gravely misunderstood!
CMr. Rentoy formally nominated the organization when he received an email from LCSC inviting CATALYST to be a nominee in the Catholic New Evangelization Awards. He has been involved with LCSC in many previous projects that align with the Christian Evangelization of the non profit. Thus, he believes that his participation and CATALYST’s performance in creating change paved the way for LCSC to send out an invitation CATALYST’s driving force has been to initiate change for the community’s betterment via organized outreach events, medical missions, and chastity talks, to name a few The restriction of the pandemic did not hinder CATALYST’s growth and passion to continue being changemakers to others so their win could be attributed to these reasons Rentoy says, “For using technology to continue doing good, spreading good, and changing society for the better.” True to their nature as changemakers, Rentoy and Ustaris share the same sentiments of encouraging the UA&P community and members of CATALYST to continue being the change to their society Ustaris elaborates that anyone can make a difference, whether it be big or small, as long as they have a genuine heart of being in service to others. On the other hand, CATALYST’s moderator emphasizes that “passionately pursuing change in society” is needed now more than ever, given the current events happening around the country. This prestigious recognition from Live Christ, Share Christ (LCFC) commemorated all the efforts and hard work of the organization this past year. This was a great way for CATALYST to cap off the year and inspired them to look forward to doing more as changemakers in their community.
CATALYST wins the Venerable Fulton Sheen Award
CATALYST of UA&P was recently awarded the Venerable Fulton Sheen Award in the Catholic New Evangelization Awards 2022 last June 4, 2022, in Batangas City. Aaron Ustaris, CATALYST President for A.Y. 2021 2022, and Sir Emmanuel Rentoy, CATALYST moderator, shared their thoughts and experience winning the award. The Catholic New Evangelization Awards 2022 is an annual awarding ceremony by the nonprofit organization Live Christ, Share Christ (LCFC). The event focuses on recognizing individuals and/or organizations that embody Christianity as they create change in their respective communities through their initiatives and events. This year’s awarding ceremony took place in the Batangas City Sports Center Coliseum. Nicole Lim, CATALYST’s Asst. Vice President for Research and Evaluations, accepted the Venerable Fulton Sheen Award on behalf of the organization.
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Article by Winona Lo June 29, 2022
“The Venerable Fulton Sheen Award is presented to a parish, church/youth organization, or church institution with an outstanding communications program in the area of online or social media evangelization. The said group must be present and active in various social media platforms. Their content must be engaging, relevant and impactful to its audience as they continuously expand to reach out to more people” (description taken from this article).
Actually, none. We were supposed to hold a podcast project that Tal suggested, but it’s something that we discontinued due to internal reasons. To be fair, Tal did try to help with our other projects. For example, we had our latest project called SCM Week, and we needed help in terms of promoting. What Tal did was to the person from ICT, if I’m not mistaken, for the announcement of SCM Week to be published on Canvas.
July 4,
What is the most recent project your organization has worked on together with your representative?
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"USG can benefit from a mukbang"
SCM constituent How integrated is your representative in your organization’s board structure?
Article by Anri Mendoza 2022
This article contains the official transcripts of three interviews conducted, one with an individual from Communitas’ Executive Board, and two from the Office of the President
From what I know regarding the other schools, their relationship with their representatives are very intact. They have their own liaison officers. But for SCM, it’s quite different because the representative doesn’t really have a position on the board. Whether the board likes it or not, there’s no actual part in the Constitution which states that the SCM Representative has to do this or that. That’s something I realized through the years, and Tal knows that as well. This school year, we thought that the work dynamics would be really good, since we were friends. That s something we wanted to change because in the past few years the SCM Representative hasn’t really been involved in Communitas. In the past few years, Communitas has done its own thing by conducting projects targeted towards the SCM Community. The SCM Representative does the same thing, but they don’t really go hand in hand. They don’t really work together towards one project targeted towards SCM. Communitas does its own thing, while the USG also does its own thing, sometimes focused towards the whole student body in general. This is something that Tal and I wanted to change in the beginning of the school year. Even though it isn’t stated in the Constitution that the SCM Representative has to do this or that we were talking about how Tal can be more active in Communitas. How often do you and your representative interact?
At the start of the semester, she was really active in Communitas. But as the semester went by, she became less active. But that’s not something I can completely blame her for, because the Constitution doesn’t really say that the SCM Representative has to do this or that. It’s just something that we informally established at the start of the semester. But Tal has been very inactive. How engaged is your representative with Communitas matters? At the start, she was really active but then she became less active as the semesters passed.
[About Increasing Representation] I actually think there were some issues, because from what I’m getting, increasing representation is regarding how clear the USG is in representing people in terms of their feedback to the USG and how much they make those voices heard. I know that there were some issues regarding the first Talumpati. I know that within our office, there were some people who monitored the questions and rephrased them to be asked live because sometimes the phrasing is a bit off. I should have pointed out that there would have been a problem with that and that the person who rephrases the questions; there’s no assurance that they have no bias or that their rephrasing might result in some miscommunication. So I think there was some misrepresentation in that matter. And I also do know of a friend who had their question rephrased and was very unsatisfied with the way that it was rephrased.
What positive contributions has your representative made to your organization so far during their term? Whenever she’s there, she provides useful ideas, especially with the project that we were supposed to hold. She really did have good ideas, it’s just unfortunate that we had to postpone the project. When Tal’s there, she provides great ideas. When I go to her for advice, she’s very helpful as well. But when she’s not there, she’s really not there.
A: They would have a lot of pubmats showing that there were meetings with officers. I think we tried making sure that we put the information out there, it’s just that no one wanted to bother with it because the means of disseminating information was just social media. The likes, shares, or comments are very few, which is shocking because this is our student government. I think only a few people watched the Talumpati, and I think the people who were watching were people from USG. I don’t know if the student body even interacted, but I understand. (About Increasing Representation) No, not that much because the information was not disseminated properly I don’t know about Enhancing Efficiency though. Well, we are in school now. I’d like to think that USG helped with the transition, I just don’t know how And accountability, like I said, would put a lot of videos out there and then pubmats about Talumpati or the projects we’ve done so far. But I guess despite me being in her office, I didn’t feel the presence B: Because I mainly handled the visuals, I actually don’t know about the specifics of each of these projects and platforms, because I didn’t handle anything regarding policy execution. But regarding representation, I haven’t observed any large noticeable difference, speaking from the standpoint of a regular student. I haven’t noticed anything different; the status quo is relatively unchanged
[About Promoting Accountability] This one, I actually have an issue with. I have an issue with the fact that Talumpati is the only sense of accountability the student body gets. The USG updates the student body, but that comes from the USG themselves, so they are free to manage how the information is disseminated, and I don’t think that’s a very safe way to be accountable. They’re being transparent to an extent, even that’s debatable, but I don’t think it makes them accountable either. Accountability is more like making up for something that you’ve missed or lost, whereas I’m not sure that USG has done much of that in total. I’m not saying their officers haven’t, individually. But from what I noticed, there are some officers who don’t seem to be doing much or whose projects don’t seem to be moving forward and they don’t seem to be being held accountable and I know that my communication with my office has been extremely minimal and if there’s little communication and little progress with our projects, there can’t be that much accountability.
[About Enhancing Efficiency] I’ll be honest, I actually haven’t observed much enhancing efficiency. There are a number of proposed projects your officer/representative ended up not implementing, why do you think this is the case? A: [About Stay Gold]. We never had this online banchetto. We never had this, we didn’t even plan for it. The US) had a fundraiser for the phoenix scholars, but not this one. This did not happen. If she ever did talk about it with the other officers, I was not part of that. (About Innovate) I don’t think we had this. This did not happen. (About SCM Hub) No, we didn’t have this. I think they didn’t push through because SCM is really just heavy. It really is, especially in her year. And what I mentioned, there was a time where she was kind of absent. I also think the people who were part of the team were absent also because the ones who wouldn’t attend were SCM students, IMC in particular. All of them were IMC students, and from what I know, they’re very busy. Now that I’m thinking about it, maybe she shouldn’t have gotten older people who now have demanding majors to be part of her office. Maybe we should have balanced the team dynamic because a lot of them were IMC.
Do you feel that your representative has made a meaningful change in the Communitas community? To be honest, no. There’s no meaningful change. In the first place, she hasn’t been very active throughout the whole year. She’s been active in the first semester, but we haven’t really established our core team yet at that time so she hasn’t really made that huge of an impact on them. Even during the latter months, she hasn’t really been active, so there’s no meaningful impact. Office of the President constituents
Do you believe your officer/representative was able to achieve this in their term? Why or why not?
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What did your office accomplish last semester?
What has your office accomplished so far this semester?
A: Not much, we weren’t reached out to. But we used to have weekly meetings in the first semester, and then it stopped. B: ConCon was our most recent project. Even there, I just did one pubmat. And even then, I thought I was gonna be the one to edit it because I just made the template. And we had to wait for some information to arrive so that it could be edited and posted. But even then, I wasn’t in charge of editing it for the results, somebody else did that. I wasn’t informed about it either.
A: No, I think it was the scheduling of the events. Hatchweek Crossfire was delayed, I’m not sure if that was under our office but it is still USG’s concern, and comparing it to last year we were a bit behind schedule. Maybe a large part of it was scheduling. So we didn’t really meet our goals.
B: Talumpati 2.0 and Concon. Even in the previous Talumpati, what I didn’t appreciate was that the initial idea we had, which I think would’ve been better for the communication, wasn’t really implemented. Lots of changes were made, and I don’t mind changes being made. What I didn’t like about it was that not following the form of my idea meant that it wouldn’t accrue the benefits that the idea had. And Then the actual Talumpati would be more open question and answers, which would be more transparent as well regarding reactions and stuff But lots of things were changed, and I don’t even think Talumpati had a very high viewership. And again, the problem of the updates coming from the USG themselves Problem with accountability there. There was Talumpati 2.0, which, I don’t even know what happened there, to be honest. I really just made the pubmats And ConCon, which the base idea of ConCon wasn’t even ideated by USG themselves. It was someone else. And they were just the body that executed it.
B: I would say not so much, no. I don’t think they were fulfilled as well as they should have been. Because, for one reason, regarding communication lines, we met really few times. There was hardly any communication in the group chat unless a Talumpati event was close by. There were moments when we had a Talumpati that was scheduled earlier, and then I messaged our SCM Rep about it but she did not reply. If I recall, she was out of the country, but even then, I don’t think that was a super good excuse because she never got back to me. And we only got back to it in the group chat and as a group. So that was put on hold, the reasons escaped me as to why it was put on hold, maybe they did have valid reasons, but I was never replied to. In terms of communication, there were faults, but on the bright side, I think that during the meetings that we did have, our SCM Rep had pretty good communication, really got everyone’s input and put it all together, and tried to synthesize it into a project that we all could say that we liked So what meetings we did have, I thought were productive and did have good communication. But beyond the meetings themselves, there wasn’t much And because of that, if I recall there was pretty low activity coming from the Office of the President. And I think that pretty low activity probably marks that some promises were probably not able to be fulfilled, because, obviously, you need activity for promises to be fulfilled. And the only activity that I know that we did were mainly Talumpati, beyond that, I’m not really sure
B: [About Stay Gold] USG could benefit from a mukbang. The only projects I’ve personally handled, and therefore are involved in or aware of, were Talumpatis. I’m not really sure where the delineation is drawn here between SCM projects and president projects, which is probably why the constitutional convention is also a necessity. But I haven’t noticed anything regarding Stay Gold and these other projects. I’m not saying they didn’t happen, I’m just saying that I was not involved in these in any way. While I do know about Project Phoenix, I don’t know about Stay Gold. Based on experience, do you think that the office’s general direction over the course of the current USG administration’s term was in line with the goals and promises set by your officer during their campaign period? If any of these promises or goals set were not followed through, based on your experience and knowledge of working in your office, why do you think they weren’t followed through?
A: ConCon, USG Asks, and we set up a USG Tiktok. We had a talk last March called Restructuring Adulting 101, but our last meeting was last March.
A: We did have Talumpatis, but I don’t know if anyone listened. There was an event that Tal and Fran took over from PMT. I think it was Hatchweek Crossfire. We helped with that., and had some dry runs. B: I think it was just Talumpati, and I was a little bummed out. I was excited to be part of the office of the president because I wanted to be more involved in school politics, even if I was just making pubmats. But when I did just make pubmats, it was just about Talumpati and the replies to Talumpati, like the summary, and I don’t think either of those really did much. To my knowledge, Talumpati was really all we did last semester.
What is your office currently working on?
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A We do have official positions. Some are in charge of design, some are in charge of logistics.
A: I think at the start, she was doing great. As much as she could. By the latter part, we all got tired. She got distant, and didn’t talk in the GC much. I guess she was pretty hands on in the start, but became distant during the second sem, sadly.
How is your office structured?
A: During the first sem, the weekly meetings every 8 pm to 10 pm were quite heavy. We ended up using the whole 2 hours. That was kind of burdening for me because during Wednesdays I had whole day classes for IMC. But that was my only main issue. Tasks were doable with reasonable deadlines and delegated properly according to our strengths.
B: It’s a nice work environment, because I think all of our insights are heard. Even though I mentioned weaknesses within the office, I’d say that Tal is still very friendly, a very good listener very good at getting everyone’s input, and pretty good at delegating tasks. I like the work environment because it doesn’t feel like anyone’s afraid to talk or to say their insight It’s pretty open to discussion, and by the end of it, each of us do have our solid tasks, and post meeting, we do have clear communication lines even if it’s not always often When it does occur, it’s pretty clear. Like clear delineated tasks, and everyone’s friendly with each other, everyone’s nice. We usually check up on the group chat, so I’d say the work environment is pretty good
How involved are you in your office? What does the workload look like in your office in terms of both individual load and collective load?
B: I’m involved to the extent I need to be for the task. I would have liked to be more involved, but again, communication wasn’t very often. It’s few and far between. During the meetings themselves, I’d say I’m pretty involved because I like giving my opinion regarding these things. Giving my opinions and giving my input, so during the meetings themselves, I’m quite involved.
There’s obviously a lot of context I may miss regarding this How is your experience working under the management of your officer?
Outside the meetings, not very involved because there isn’t much communication going on outside of our deliverables. The workload itself is not very heavy because as I mentioned, I don’t think we did that much. For me, it’s working on my individual deliverables which aren’t very difficult. How engaged is your officer with USG matters (projects, initiatives, involvement in issues, etc.)?
B: I think that USG offices aren’t very institutionalized, so there are no set positions. From what I understand based on how our meetings go, it’s usually divided into who will help with the actual execution, the logistics of the execution, if we have to find hosts, if we have to stream, there are people who will handle that. There are usually 2 people who do that then they tap on help outside. And other people usually handle the internal, more policy side of it, like if they have to think of questions, if they have to gather information, there are people in charge of that. So the internals, the execution, then what I handle is technically part of execution, but it’s more of public affairs. There are the public affairs people who are me and another person. I work on the still images the pubmats, and my coworker works on the video part of it. So that’s how it’s divided, kind of, but there’s no set structure. I’m not sure actually if set structures are a thing currently within offices. I believe that it’s gonna be institutionalized still, so there is no set structure. It was one of the first things I asked Tal about. The officers within the office themselves are up to the decision of the representative. The positions within the office are up to the officer to create. So within the Office of the President, it was up to Tal to create the positions within there, herself. Could you describe the work culture your office has?
A: It got frustrating at the latter part B: The interactions that we did have, I enjoyed, but the interactions were few and far between I appreciate how it was managed, but our officer was relatively unresponsive when we weren’t in meetings or we didn’t come from meetings and that’s pretty bad considering that she’s kind of our boss.
A During the first sem, we had weekly meetings and the people around me were easy to work with and they’re amiable enough. We delegated our tasks properly. It was equally delegated based on our skills and from what school we were from. Props to Tal for that, she delegated tasks properly and gave reasonable deadlines. If we know that we can’t make it, we extend deadlines. So I guess that’s also part of the timing in the calendar. But then during the latter part of the year, people became absent, so it would be up to a few people to shoulder the tasks, which is fine. Work culture was great at the start, then it declined.
B: I actually wouldn’t really know because I could only observe her interactions with us. But I’m not sure about her interactions with her other USG officemates. From what I am aware of, generally, there might have been an issue. But I can’t even say this because I don’t even know if it’s accurate. What I do know that is accurate is that there are only certain officers who I’ve seen whose work becomes visible in the operations of the university. That being said, other officers, perhaps are less active in terms of their projects. That might be a sign of poor communication within the USG itself Low productivity of many officers may be a sign that there is poor communication within the USG itself. But again, discretion, I wouldn’t completely know this.
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A: Low activity, a bit distant, not proper gathering of people for the office. A lot of them are IMC majors already so they are busy. Not a smart composition of members in a team.
A: From what I’m hearing, as a former PMT person, it was not that good. At the start, there was a bit of confusion and people did not know which tasks USG would be responsible for. People were confused if USG would be doing this task, or will PMT be heading it. But from what I also heard, MMC did help especially with posting and creatives for UG. I think the relationship improved. But I think in the start, people did not know the other senior managers and the officers. I guess that s why it was rocky and there was a bit of confusion in the delegation of tasks.
B: I’ll say the office of the president is mostly involved with PMT. So from what I’m aware about, we usually have to talk to PMT the most out of all the orgs, and as for our constituents in this case, the only constituent I can really speak of is the general student body and PMT. With PMT, I had interactions when it came to Concon specifically. That’s because we had to combine our manpower. Again, my position here is mostly with regard to creativity and making pubmats, so if there were people tasked with communicating with constituents, I would not be that person. So this is a matter I can’t really elaborate on or say something accurate on. If any, what problems have you encountered working under your officer and/or within your office?
How does your office interact with your constituent committee/s and how often?
Article by Pauline Vivar July 5, 2022 This article contains the official transcripts of two interviews conducted, one with an individual from Communitas’ Executive Board, and one from the Office of the Internal Vice President.
A: I feel like they just needed people to attend the meetings and manpower, and I guess I was there So a bit I hope so, it was
“We always have a lot of work”
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B: The best thing about my contribution was that it looks pretty, no one else there is super adept at graphics, and it means that the people who have to do more important work don’t have to do the pubmats that I will handle So I think my contribution was exactly what was needed Nothing more, nothing less.
B: It’s mostly the communication problem, I think. There are things I wish were just communicated more to us. Actually, there are some meetings that could have gone a bit better with regards to hammering out the concept of Talumpati. It’s connected to communication and I wish we had communicated with the other officers and offices, because things were changed after our meeting. It could have been better. We were also kind of inactive. Do you feel that your contributions in the office are valuable?
Within the organization, aside from our exec board meeting, we also have interactions via chat, and that’s also pretty often. While outside the organization, I would say daily since we also have a group chat for our block. How engaged is your representative with your home org’s matters?
I would say there’s not much, since she has always fulfilled her duties and responsibilities and she doesn’t have that much of a hard time to balance her responsibilities in whatever task we assign her in PHAROS. She’s also always active not only in our board meetings, but even in our monthly meetings with the rest of the PHAROS members.
What positive contributions has your representative made to your organization so far during their term? I would say her HR 2 0 project since it involved other SED students It helped the members have a better view of what HR really entails and it’s not just for HCD students, but also for those who are also taking HR roles Attending that event has helped me and the members to learn and appreciate the value of member relations as well as the value of keeping the members engaged and enthusiastic
Based on experience, do you think that the office’s general direction over the course of the current USG administration’s term was in line with the goals and promises set by your representative during her campaign period?
How often do you and your representative interact?
She’s been pretty active and involved. She was always open to aid her workmates. She’s always willing to take on responsibilities, even outside her scope as a USG representative. For example, she’s always willing to host some of our events if we ask her. She’s also active in joining our team bondings, whether official or not. What is the most recent project your organization has worked on together with your representative?
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Office of the Internal Vice President constituents Do you believe your officer/representative was able to achieve this in their term? Why or why not? So, personally, as an office, we weren’t really involved in her SED specific projects. We were really involved in one of the projects, which is the HR 2.0 that she asked me to host. I think she was able to fulfill that in that aspect because HR 2.0 was a two day event and there were constantly a lot of participants so I would consider it a success on that end. Hearing the other platforms, this is not coming from my personal experience as someone as part of her office but seeing the initiatives of Pharos and the like, I would say that she was able to implement those platforms, it just didn’t involve her office as much because they’re focusing on a lot of school wide projects such as the block reps, the international student’s committee, and public feedback system. The office wasn’t really involved in her SED specific platforms and projects. That’s all the input that I can really give.
Reviewing the projects and platforms, we are able to tackle some of them. Especially with regards to how the stakeholders are being managed and how we are trying to instill leadership at the grassroots level so that we are able to implement some of the proposed projects.
Like what I said earlier, she’s a part of our executive board meetings every week and we also ask for her opinions in terms of the solutions to the problems that we notice in our organization. During our executive board meetings, we have a segment where we ask her to report about her various USG initiatives that concern the organization. So that keeps us well informed, and that keeps her very integrated with PHAROS.
We’re currently working on our Senior Celebration this coming Saturday, she’s also one of our coproject heads for that. If any, what problems have you encountered working with your representative as a board member of their constituent organization?
SED constituent
How integrated is your representative in your organization’s board structure?
Do you feel that your representative has made a meaningful change in the [school] community? Yes, definitely. I would say not just in SED but also for the USG in general. Most of the USG initiatives that I hear of, if I’m not mistaken, are mostly from her For example, the stakeholder meeting regarding the transition to physical classes, which was open for the entire student body, was very helpful It enabled the students to be informed of the University’s plan for the coming semester. So I would say she really made a big impact through her position.
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If any of these promises or goals set were not followed through, based on your experience and knowledge of working in your office, why do you think they weren’t followed through?
understood that there are uncertainties going on within the student body. So instead of people coming to the administration, we wanted to bring the administration to them so that their questions and concerns will be addressed.
I would say that I genuinely enjoy working in the IVP office. I think every one of us has a really good work relationship with one another. Before we start our meetings, we always have an icebreaker and that really helps us to get to know each other better. Also prior to the school year, we had something called an onboarding so that was training for our respective arms but also just to get to know our office members better. So that once we started the actual work we are very comfortable with each other. And I think that really progressed throughout the year maybe because we have meetings really often. And sometimes we would also have Halloween parties or Christmas parties within the office so that really helps develop our work relationship. So we are all very civil with each other, it’s a lot of fun working in the office even though there is a lot of work. How involved are you in your office? What does the workload look like in your office in terms of both individual load and collective load?
I think for stakeholder management and policy development, I would say they have the same workload because even if we are looking at different things there is still a lot because there is a lot of stakeholders and then because of these stakeholders, there is also a lot of input on what kind of policies should be implemented. So because once again there is a lot of stakeholders, stakeholder management arm there is also a lot of work to do though it’s mainly on scheduling and hosting discussions and things like that instead of writing, it’s still quite taxing work because you have to make sure everyone’s schedule align and you also have to facilitate these focused group discussions so you have to be at your best when you facilitate these discussions so that is a skill that I really learn to appreciate. So I would say it’s about half and half specifically for Fran’s projects and platforms as one of the USG offices even though we are supposed to work together as an administration, I didn t really feel that connection with other offices so I’m not so sure if they were able to fulfill their projects and platforms on their part so I can really speak only on the IVP office.
I think, for me, when we make campaign promises, especially in the USG, there‘s not really a disjoint or disjunct. The training for USG specifically comes after that so you’re not really sure what the IVP for example handles or what the IVP stakeholders are I would say that there is a disjoint or disjunct between the campaigns and the platforms and projects that these candidates hold and then once they assume office and once they have this position they realized that “oh we have to take care of this many stakeholders” so how are they going to plug their projects and platforms there? So I guess sometimes the campaign promises can’t be fulfilled as a whole because they don’t really know what their position entails when they are making the promises and the platforms That’s it, I think What did your office accomplish last semester?
How is your office structured? (or how is it organized, based on how’s the work getting done, you can talk about the work process, the people) So in our office, we started out as having two arms, which were the policy development and the stakeholders management. As there were more people who came into the office because we realized we needed more people, there was the addition of a third arm, maybe we can call it an arm but it’s not really an official arm, but it’s more of the admin or the secretary that’s composed of Fran, the director of the office, and the secretary who helps make sure that we’re on track and we’re meeting deadlines. So they are basically the overseers making sure that deadlines are being met, they host, and facilitate office meetings for us Policy development, they are the ones who are focused on making the specific policies and the stakeholder management are those like me who really facilitate focused group discussion just to see whether our stakeholders are doing well and if they aren’t what can be done to help to enhance their school experience more. Could you describe the work culture your office has?
I think one of the major things that the office was able to accomplish last semester is the Institutionalization of the block reps. We passed the policy institutionalizing the Academic Affairs Council (AAC). That really gave the block reps an institutional role. They had more powers, like the power to propose and implement policies. They were also able to strengthen their connection with the USG. We saw that block reps, before, just shared messages and posts in their GCs. We’re trying as much as possible to make them involved in the USG, through the AAC policy, which was approved last semester. We are also trying to host many discussions with them so that we can get their input, and give out training handbooks so they will know their roles better. What is your office currently working on? For this last semester, we’re currently working on another AAC meeting, just a closing get together to formally close the year and give out the block rep training handbooks. We’re also working on formalizing the International Students Committee (ISC). We’re looking into which powers it can hold and what purpose could it serve the student body. What has your office accomplished so far this semester? This semester, one of our major events was the dragon’s assembly. This event aimed to bring all the representatives of UA&P offices to one meeting so that faculty and students could ask questions with regard to face-to-face classes. We conducted this because we
But after that, once we appointed the commissioners COMELEC as a stakeholder was something that we didn’t really mind because they were able to operate by themselves after that. The AAC on the other hand since it’s a new policy is something that we always had to guide throughout the entirety of the year. So we always posted regular sessions with them, and regular meetups sessions with them. So it depends once again on how timely the stakeholders are. But as much as possible we’ve tried to meet with all of our stakeholders at least once so we’ve met with COMELEC, and we’ve met with aac. We also met with the international students’ committee; we also met with the academic student interest groups once this year.
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How engaged is your officer with USG matters (projects, initiatives, involvement in issues, etc.)?
If any, what problems have you encountered working under your officer and/or within your office? I rather say that there were problems in the sense that we have to stop working I think really what happens in our office is that we always have a lot of work. There is no problem with regards to the operation, on how we work it’s just that we work a lot And it gets tiring sometimes but it’s fulfilling work in the end, I think. Do you feel that your contributions in the office are valuable? So I feel that once again since we’re working for a lot of stakeholders as much as possible, even the smallest contribution can make a difference I like to think that my contributions in the office even though I was just someone who is helping with the scheduling of the meetings or the ones who were facilitating discussions who helped with the logistics of the meeting For example when you look at the big picture, it’s really a big event, it’s really a big initiative. All of these small parts coming together, they really make an impact on the overall implementation of the project I think that my contributions and the contributions of everyone in the office really make a difference in the implementation of the big projects So even though we’re working on really small tasks, because of those small tasks they helped make the event work out well so I’d like to keep that. I can say that I was really able to help with the office. So that’s in the arm in general. Individually, once again, since there are only three of us in stakeholder management and we have a lot of stakeholders. The work is pretty evenly split so sometimes some of us would look at the program flows and then some of us would make the scripts and some of us would do the scheduling. I guess it really helps that because there are only a few of us that are constantly working and because there are only three of us we are also very close in the stakeholder management arm so a lot of work will bring us together, I can say.
I think that Fran as much as possible, tries to keep herself updated with the thoughts of the student body, and with regards to the USG in general, they were quite fast when they are thinking about wanting to suspend classes they send out this petitions so that the work can get done although it’s very hard may or may not listen although that’s not something that’s entirely USG’s fault They are very keen on looking at the thoughts and the feelings of the student body and they try to adjust that as much as possible. How is your experience working under the management of your officer?
Overall, once again, Fran as the IVP and an overseer makes sure that we are all getting along well with each other and that we enjoy working in the office rather than just keeping on giving us work. So that is something that I really appreciate because I feel close with all of my office members and it was a lot of fun working in the IVP office. So, she makes sure that we have a good relationship with each other before she gives us a lot of work so working becomes fun in the end. How does your office interact with your constituent committee/s and how often? It depends on the timeliness of when the committees need help. For example COMELEC at the beginning of the year. COMELEC is also one of our stakeholders, and they had a major problem because they were missing a lot of commissioners from different schools so the first month of our first semester was really focused on getting COMELEC commissioners so we scouted potential commissioners from each school and we have to interview them and appoint them accordingly.
July 6, 2022 This
SEC constituent How integrated is your representative in your organization’s board structure?
Okay, so ate Kit is the Liaison officer, [she’s] really just there I mean she has very big role but it’s really just the EVP and the President yung pinaka hands on talaga. They’re the ones required to be hands on with everything in BEA and the liaison officer, hindi talaga you know that’s how it’s done parang the liaison officer not much is really expected of her when it comes to her role in BEA, but ate Kit is super active. Like, I remember when we were starting out, like us as Exec, the three of us, we were talking about our expectations from each other and we told ate Kit na “ate Kit, you know we don’t expect much from you because you’re liaison you’re USG. So, we don’t expect you to give your all in BEA because you have other things also like you’re the liaison officer, you’re part of USG but then thinking about it now, she was really hands on. She would miss meetings but then not a lot of them. Number one: all of us have missed meetings throughout the year. Second, you know, whenever we have things to discuss as Exec, she would always be there whenever we have questions. I mean this sounds so babaw whenever we have questions or whenever I have questions, she’s very active sa GC. So, it’s not hard to reach her. Like when we need her help for BEA, she will be there.
How often do you and your representative interact?
Well we have, the BEA officers, we have a meeting every week that was our standard since maybe late last year? Maybe since October? So we would have meetings every week, every Wednesday, and usually, doon namin siya nakaka interact talaga before or after the meeting.
Though lately, I think ate Kit became much more busy so di na namin actually kami din lahat, we became much more busy especially with Kapeleksyon so wala na masyadong kwentuhan sessions but usually it would happen then and also I get to interact with ate Kit whenever Exec has meetings. So whenever the 3 of us, Nazzi, ate Kit and I would have meetings, doon talaga pumapasok yung kwentuhan session kasi ate Kit always says na parang we haven’t talked or seen each other in so long so babawi siya with the kwentuhan session. ‘Cause Exec doesn’t meet much anymore last year, it was more frequent but then this year parang the 3 of us didn’t meet as often as last year so whenever we would meet ate Kit, parang bumabawi siya sa mga kwento niya, actually also Nazzi. Yun yung nagpapatagal ng meeting namin and that’s when we really get to interact talaga outside of work. That’s when we get to kwento. That’s when Nazzi and I ask advice from her about 5anything.
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"We didn't expect much from her" by Nadine Medina article contains the official transcripts of two interviews conducted one with an individual from the Business Economics Association’s Executive Board and one from the Office of the External Vice President
She’s been active for the whole year, for example, yung Kapeleksyon, she was our internal affairs head. There’s just a lot of different things that she did. A lot of different small but like really helpful tasks that she helped us with, especially when it comes to planning projects, delegating tasks stuff like that, and giving us advice. She’s the liaison officer but I think I can say that she is active. I didn’t expect her to be this active kasi we didn’t expect much from her.
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And then we also have this teacher who, basta, she was very she’s not a good teacher. Yeah, I will not expound but there’s this teacher who we do not like who we think is incompetent and we tell it to ate Kit. She [says] “just tell me, just give me the go signal” and parang “I have your back.” I don’t know what she’s going to do maybe complain about her or something but she’s really [great] when it comes to giving advice when we need something, and [she’s always] ready to defend us She s very willing to complain about that teacher for us things like that
But in terms of BEA, I think her role has also been like that You know, because she’s the most experienced in BEA [and] she’s the one who spent the most years in BEA as a member and as an officer, so we would also come to her for advice on what he thinks about certain decisions that we have. She would cite maybe her experiences from before and, of course a little different things planning projects, planning how to tell the other officers an issue that you want to tell them, [etc]. I mean, many different things, handling a project [like] Kapeleksyon.
If you were to gauge how involved or engaged is your representative was with BEA matters, how would you rate it in a sense? Siguro from 1 to 10 or 5, 5 being the highest, I’d give it a four. What is the most recent project your organization has worked on together with your representative? Yes, it’s BEA Kapeleksyon but I don’t know I mean this isn’t a project really but the most recent activity that ate Kit and I are working on are actually turnovers with, of course, the HR officers. We’re working on BEA turnovers so she’s also very hands on with that because Nazzi is going to be our liaison officer next year. So it’s really ate Kit and I handling it. Now it’s turnovers, but the project per se, Kapeleksyon If any, what problems have you encountered working with your representative as a board member of their constituent organization? Honestly none. In general, the team that we had in that project, we didn t experience any major problems. I think the problems we experience the most were external stuff- the speakers and replying, like our tasks were delayed. But if I were to think [of] a concern I had with Ate Kit, I think- this is really hard. I don’t know like I don’t want to have to make up an issue but to be honest talaga, I have no issues with her. Maybe when it came to checking the outputs of each committees, sometimes ate Kit would be delayed and sometimes I’d have to remind ate Kit again but it was understandable because she’s very busy she s USG. So basically that’s it. Very minor lang naman and it didn’t happen all the time and whenever she was late, she would be apologizing really so [it’s] not a very big issue but sometimes she would be delayed when it comes to checking outputs of committees. What positive contributions has your representative made to your organization so far during their term? Personally, first, I think she’s been very helpful to us in terms of whenever we have issues with our teacher [or] issues with a subject, parang she takes it to heart to give advice to us. We have this one professor, his name is [redacted], and I think the whole school knows that he’s kind of a terror professor but also a really good one. So ate Kit would give us advice about how- not to really act around him but his [know about his] rules [like] what are the observations that the previous batches observed that he likes and does not like in his classes- things like that.
Being, I guess the mediator when we have internal concerns among the officers, she’s the one who kind of mediates What else? She’s done a lot of things or [asking the interviewer] do I have to be specific with it? Because I cannot my brain. Do you feel that your representative has made a meaningful change in the SEC community? Okay, ang bigat. Ang bigat ng tanong. Okay, I think okay, to be honest, I think ate Kit has made a really great impact in our lives personally to those who she works with [and] to those who she speaks to on a weekly monthly basis. Though for the whole School of Economics, I’m not really sorry, I’m thinking about my answer because if I give an answer what’s the basis of my answer? Okay, I think one example of why, gosh I’m so- this is a really heavy question. [asking the interviewer] Sorry, can you repeat the question? I just want to get the certain word, yeah. [The interviewer repeats the question] “Meaningful change.” Okay, maybe for me lang. Personally, I don’t think I have seen a change holistically for the whole School of Econ(omics). For me, though personally, to the people who she’s talked to, I think she’s had a great impact on our lives especially ’cause what she tells us, we [then] disseminate to our batchmates [like], “Okay guys, this is what we should do. This is the best course of action based on ate Kit.” Personally and in terms of our academics, and you know, us na nakakausap niya I think she’s made a really meaningful change, especially in how we conduct our classes. However, when it comes to strictly USG like her projects, unfortunately, the only project I know of her is Forecasting, which is the most recent one that she had- I’m not sure if she had any projects last year or I’m not really aware but I think ate Kit as USG representative is very, very active naman.
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There are a number of proposed projects your officer/representative ended up not implementing, why do you think this is the case? I think she was able to achieve it in a sense. The first thing that comes to mind is her most recent project, which was the Forecasting [seminar]. It was basically a seminar or talk where she invited people like graduates [or] people who were working already- she was able to bring them to give career talks to specific colleges so it was more, I guess targeted in a sense, and it was very effective. Although I was not able to attend because I had finals, I heard there’s a lot of good feedback for it and people were really helped, especially the fourth year students graduating so the project really like- how do I say this? It was able to kind of get the sense of the real world, and they helped with like [how to get] the government IDs thing and I think it was a good initiative. Obviously like there’s kind of a gap when you graduate and when you start working so you really have to learn everything on your own so I think she just bridged that gap in a sense that she was able to bring it to the students and I think it helps both the students and also the people who were giving talks because they were able to share their experiences.
Like, knowing the whole process, you really need to take into account, how much time it will take to get it implemented because there are some projects that have been proposed for years already and it’s only getting implemented now so I think one advice, if I could, is to limit the projects they are proposing when they campaign so that they can really fulfill it and focus on just like at most 2 3 good projects that would really help the student body.
Based on experience, do you think that the office’s general direction over the course of the current USG administration’s term was in line with the goals and promises set by your representative during her campaign period?
Office of the External Vice President constituent
What is your office currently working on? We’re not currently working on anything but the last thing we worked on was the Forecasting seminar and I think on the creative side, there are still two or three posters that still need to be posted. I mean whenever there are important announcements or important donation drives [and] people who need help I think it’s part of their job naman but things like that that’s when I really get to see her as the USG rep and, of course, aside from what she does in BEA, I see most of it sa GC namin and whenever there are announcements about enrollment or projects that we need to attend to or that she invites us to attend to, but in terms of a meaningful change, unfortunately, I don’t see much of it. Maybe because, Nadine, I’m also not as active. I really just focus on my acads and BEA like outside of it, I didn’t really attend to other things like Unitas Games I didn’t even get to attend Forecasting because it wasn’t aligned with my schedule kasi I had a family thing. I think it’s also on my part because I’m not a very active student Yeah, I’m not very active in all of these other projects except for BEA and my studies. So when you say meaningful change, what I think about is something na the whole school knows about like, “Oh, this is what ate Kit did to change the system” but unfortunately, if the USG did do something like that, I am unaware of it. I am so sorry, but yeah basically that’s it
Yeah, I believe it was in line naman. I think Kit really put in the effort to try to implement the most that she could I remember throughout the school year, we were working on well not the marketing team but the other branch, I forgot which one, but they were also working on the Risk Management Project of hers and I know that was very tedious and it took a lot of time from ManComm to approve it and I’m actually still not sure if it’s approved. But I think overall her direction was toward the student body and it was still aligned with everything she was trying to do throughout the school year. If any of these promises or goals set were not followed through, based on your experience and knowledge of working in your office, why do you think they weren’t followed through?
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I think one of the main reasons- I mean I’m just assuming because I wasn’t aware of what she proposed when she was running but I think one of the possible reasons that not everything was implemented was [because] there was actually a lot of projects and such a short time to implement it.
There are a number of proposed projects your officer/representative ended up not implementing, why do you think this is the case?
I think one could be, of course, other than our extracurriculars, we are students first so there are really times that she had to prioritize her studies and her academics and I think that s not something we can hold her against and I think she did her best in terms of keeping everyone on track timewise and maybe one reason that it could not have been implemented, well, could be the lack of planning because there are some projects or some, well- there wasn’t really a project but then, for example, the creatives team was in charge of making like the holiday posters. I think there were times where it wasn’t always posted or they didn t give the content on time so then we had to rush it or whenever we rush it sometimes they don’t end up posting it so it’s kind of like sayang din on our end that we worked on it and it wasn’t going to be posted. I think the lack of planning could be a hindrance on her end and I think the priorities lang. What did your office accomplish last semester?
Last semester? I think the ones who did the Risk Management [Project] when the [really strong] typhoon hit. She was able to create the relief drive for the UA&P students and staff that were badly affected by it so I think that was one of the greater contributions during that semester.
One is because we were already close prior to joining Kit’s office and the second is that we laid out like a how do I say this like a plan to how do we divide work and who takes what so adjusting to each other schedule and we made it in such a way that we kind of take turns whenever there’s deliverables so there’s not just one person doing a lot of work or taking everything and another person’s freeloading, so it was a very collaborative process in that sense and I think that’s why it’s more bearable considering how heavy it was because there were two other people to kind of rotate with the deliverables Then on my individual end, connected to that din, I think I did a lot individually but just as much as my other marketing team members.
How engaged is your officer with USG matters (projects, initiatives, involvement in issues, etc.)? I think she’s one of the more engaged officers in the USG because she s not since I am from the School of Comm [Communication], I would expect to see Tal a little more but I actually haven’t been seeing her or anything that she’s done throughout the school year so I’m glad to have been exposed to Kit who was more hands on than some of the other officers that I’ve seen, yeah.
The weekly meetings are usually set in stone already but if there are some projects that need like extra time to meet again, they’ll plan one and then we also make use of the GCs so sometimes when no one is available or we can’t really meet, we still communicate through the GCs.
IWhat has your office accomplished so far this semester?
offices wouldn’t have any updates because they were not really doing anything yet so it was mostly creatives heavy. Within our marketing team, I think we had a very good work ethic.
Wait, I’m trying to remember but then ’cause I remember the one I was mostly involved in was Forecasting and I think the planning for that and the preparation really took up most of the semester so I think that was the main project How is your office structured? Alright, so the head would be Kit, of course, since she is the External Vice President Then she has a secretary under her who is Aly Rustia, and then there are two branches under operations which is, if I’m not mistaken, PR and Marketing so wait, I think there’s another one but I forgot what it is, but the ones I am mostly exposed to our really just PR and the secretary since they are the ones who kind of work hand in hand with us
How does your office interact with your constituent committee/s and how often?
If any, what problems have you encountered working under your officer and/or within your office? I think the biggest problem already was the thing with MMC [and] that we felt like we were taking all of their load.
Okay so what I like about our office is that we have weekly meetings and that sometimes even if I’m not able to go because of class, I like that we’re able to stay updated with each other and also what’s happening and with I guess the other branches, I think especially in the online setting, it’s really important to communicate and give updates so everyone’s on the right track and the same page. For creatives, I wouldn’t say like abused naman but I feel like we were very work-heavy because there was something internal happening with MMC so a lot of the creatives that should be going to MMC would go to the marketing team of the OEVP and it was kind of heavy since we were only three members under marketing. But then we were able to clarify that because at first, we didn’t really know why we were given so much, and initially, we were also surprised that they were doing creatives for other offices because we didn’t know that that’s what we signed up for. So we talked to [her] about it and she clarified that. They give us the creatives that they think we can handle and whenever it’s like a super big project like Unitas Games, they give it to MMC and whoever can take it from them. So I think the workflow within marketing was good because we were able to plan it out ourselves but in that sense that we had a lot of deliverables and kind of short time to do it was kind of stressful because most of the marketing team is actually IMC students so it’s very heavy [because it includes] our work for academics and we have a lot of meetings, so it’s really difficult to find the time to create the pubmats especially when it’s last minute. How involved are you in your office? What does the workload look like in your office in terms of both individual load and collective load? I’ll start with marketing as a whole. I believe that our workload was heavier than the other branches under OEVP because there would be times in the weekly meetings that the other
Could you describe the work culture your office has?
How is your experience working under the management of your officer? I think it’s pretty good naman. Kit is very understanding as long as you raise your concerns to her. She will find a way to adjust as well so it’s not very strict and it’s a very friendly environment as I tried to be active in, for example, the GCs and the meetings like sometimes I don’t have the brain cells kasi it’s usually after my classes but Kit really finds a way to take care of her team members. I remember last semester she bought Frankie’s for the whole marketing team just to thank us and also for Forecasting, she sent GCash to, I think, all of the members who participated in the preparations.
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We didn’t really see anything from them but once we addressed it and brought it up with Kit, our workload became lighter? Not super light, but lighter in the sense that it was more manageable and it was more what we expected when we accepted the positions. Do you feel that your contributions in the office are valuable? Yeah, I believe it is Sometimes, people think that creatives is just something pretty to look at but I think it is very effective in the sense that we’re able to communicate whatever vibe? If that’s the word The vibe that these events or these reminder posters are trying to communicate just to engage the student body, and I think part of why people get attracted to certain events is because of the creatives part so I’m pretty confident that our contributions were very valuable
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“He didn’t make any negative impact, but he didn’t make any big changes either”
Article by Joshua Edillon July 7, 2022 This article contains the official transcripts of 2 interviews conducted one with an individual from the Sciences and Engineering Society’s Executive Board, and one from the Office of the Chief Finance Officer 66
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[SSEystemizing Your Future] [inaudible] [Redacted], she’s the Secretary of the Office of the CFO and then we talked about my internship, so I told her “you should apply for this kasi bagay sa course mo” but coming from her reaction, I think since [redacted] is from SSE din, she isn’t aware of the different opportunities as an SSE student. So, parang it’s quite [inaudible] for me since [redacted] is SSE tapos [redacted] is working pa talaga sa CFO Office. So parang siya nga, wala siyang alam, how about the others? How about the other students from SSE na parang they aren’t aware of the different opportunities of being an SSE student, so I think that that speaks more din.
We did merchandise together. He helped us design merch with the help of our other blockmates and core team members from other organizations such as SInE and ITeC. We designed merch, he did help a lot with the graphic design and ideas for the merch.
SSE constituent
How integrated is your representative in your organization’s board structure?
Ian helps out; he communicates with us, asks if we need help, and always gets our feedback Because we already established a working relationship before SEnS and USG, it was easier bringing that relationship to a professional level. Soon after becoming officers, we included Ian in our projects and group chats, keeping him in the loop and just letting him know. How often do you and your representative interact?
[Redefining Organizations Through Data] – I think no din for this, kasi I’m the president of [redacted], and we didn’t have any projects or any activities related to this, so I would say no.
Do you believe your officer/representative was able to achieve this in their term? Why or why not? [Optimizing With Systems] So with this, I think no. He didn’t build an avenue for us to realize Optimizing With Systems. So maybe with our office, he was able to impart his knowledge about how to optimize the systems by using Google Workspace, like Google Docs, ganoon. Most especially sa Google Sheets, he’s very efficient with that pero… I won’t agree if it contributes to the whole school in general. Maybe in our office yes, but since yung goal niya is more general, to answer, no.
What positive contributions has your representative made to your organization so far during their term? A big chunk is helping a lot with events Coming to events, I think that’s one big thing because Ian is fourth year in Industrial Engineering, which is not an easy course.
If any, what problems have you encountered working with your representative as a board member of their constituent organization? No, not at all.
Office of the Chief Finance Officer constituents
Do you feel that your representative has made a meaningful change in the Communitas community? I don’t think there’s enough evidence to answer that question. I mean, he didn’t make any negative impact, but he didn’t make any big changes either
He is, I guess, not as involved as the core officers are like the president, vice president and finance officers. It’s because, I guess it’s not in our constitution that they really need to help a lot, and we also don’t have to make a lot of decisions. We always keep him in the loop if we have meetings with the professors, but we don’t have a lot of big decisions to make. I think that’s one reason why we don’t really keep him in the loop with that either. It’s not his fault or anything, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of requirements that need his attention.
What is the most recent project your organization has worked on together with your representative?
I think, since he has USG plus sports, he’s trying to balance everything. The fact that he still attends events for SEnS is honestly a great thing because we want more attendance from the older batches, fourth year students like us. So Ian coming to events like that, joining and participating, is really big for us already He always, if there’s news about school suspensions, canceling classes, petitions, he always messages us asking “can you guys spread this, can you guys do this, so you guys are at least in the loop for it,” so I think that’s a contribution he made
We try to communicate at least once a month. Whenever we worked on events, I think it was once every week or two since he also led or helped out in projects and we’d have to ask him about them. Right now, I’m mostly the one who communicates with him since we can talk in a friendlier way rather than a professional way, and it’s become a pattern of maybe once a month or every two weeks. How engaged is your representative with Communitas matters?
I think I understand where he’s coming from, why he’s, like, focusing on data, and how he’s focusing on organizing the system, on how he can take advantage of his credentials as an SSE student And I understand where he’s coming from, na I understand why he’s focusing on it, but since he’s already kasi, since he’s already appointed as the Finance Officer I think na mas magagamit niya iyon sana, yung platforms niya, yung vision niya Mas magagamit niya sana, you know, in handling finance, in handling the money organization, parang mas madali, mas magagamit yung accounting systems, nagagamit niya yung knowledge niya sa accounting systems. But I think na kulang lang siguro siya ng knowledge, 69 70 CAMPUS o kulang lang siguro siya ng pag adapt o pag collaborate ng knowledge niya as an SSE student and as a CFO so I think na lack lang siguro ng collaboration, or vision to collaborate those two ideas together. What did your office accomplish last semester? We accomplished Money Matters, yung Connecting Trails, we already worked on it. Yung sinabi ko kanina, we weren’t really sure para san iyon, but at some point we had used it naman for our own advantage. And we’ve also worked on the Phoenix Scholarship so that’s the highlight siguro sa amin for this semester, the Phoenix Scholarship, na we were able to gather students who need financial assistance and, yeah. We evaluate them, and I think we’re done naman with that.
Based on experience, do you think that the office’s general direction over the course of the current USG administration’s term was in line with the goals and promises set by your representative during their campaign period? I think no, to be honest. Ian is my friend, but I would say no. Kasi he has his own priorities din, and based on his performance I think working with his committee isn’t really one of his top priorities.
What is your office currently working on? Oh no, we’re done na. What has your office accomplished so far this semester? I think it’s the Phoenix Scholarship lang kasi, it’s a long process kasi na we send out the applications. Parang we posted the applications, tapos nag-apply yung students, tapos we evaluate them, medyo matagal din yung pageevaluate because we had quite a lot of scholars. Then we also posted about asking for more sponsors to sponsor the Phoenix Scholars, so I think that’s the highlight kasi it really took us a long time din, and effort. Kasi it’s not easy din to evaluate students; parang kang naging admissions, parang kang naging scholarship committee ng UA&P. How is your office structured? We have a good distinction naman, like in terms of descriptions. Like, sabi ko, we have the Chief Accountant, External Relations Officer, Secretary, but sometimes kasi nagtatake ng role yung Chief Accountant minsan sa role ko na parang, hindi naman na wala ako pero parang marami, o parang collaboration lang talaga, which is a good thing.
As his colleagues or members, I would say na we aren’t his top priority because as far as I know, he has an internship, tapos senior pa siya, so I think na that’s also the reason bakit hindi kami yung priority. So minsan lang kami nagmi meet, tapos napopostpone pa.
Could you describe the work culture your office has? But I think na kulang kami like, I think minsan, bakit nagdedelay si Ian, kasi minsan siya lang ang gumagawa, na hindi niya sinasabi sa amin. So I think to attain efficiency hindi naman masama if magdadagdag kami ng tao. Magdadagdag kami ng, for example, manpower, or associates siguro, tatlong associate that can help with distributing the emails, ganoon, kasi tatlo kami tapos mayroon kaming iba’t ibang orgs, tapos may internship kami, so parang hindi lang kasi si Ian yung parang least priority niya yung office.
There are a number of proposed projects your officer/representative ended up not implementing, why do you think this is the case?
[Connecting Trails] We already worked on it naman, but he wasn’t transparent or he wasn’t open na kailangan pala na magamit siya ng whole student body. Diba iyon ang deskripsyon niya na it’s for the whole student body, pero we made it because we thought that it was for our office. So I think it’s not in line with his description of what Connecting Trails should be. And then we weren’t supervised that closely talaga, na “you should finish this,” ganyan. Walang deadlines, parang wala lang, ginawa lang namin for the sake of compliance, but not as a resource for us to disseminate to the whole student body. It was like “Okay guys gagawin natin ito for the whole school year,” iyon lang. It wasn’t for the student body na parang organized siya, “ito yung information ng org na ‘to, ito yung information ng company na ‘to,” parang ganoon. [Organization in Numbers] Ah, no. Kasi, as what I’ve said, I’m the president of [redacted], and we didn’t have any activities regarding this. [SSEeking Opportunities] I can’t say that much din, since I’m not from SSE. But one thing, siguro, that I can say about it is, yun nga, kasama namin si [redacted]. She didn’t know about the opportunities of SSE kasi, from our former conversation. So, I think no. I can’t say much.
If any of these promises or goals set were not followed through, based on your experience and knowledge of working in your office, why do you think they weren’t followed through?
If any, what problems have you encountered working under your officer and/or within your office? Wala naman, we have good chemistry together Iyong nga lang yung time and load namin, magkaiba. Do you feel that your contributions in the office are valuable?
I think so, kasi I’m very assertive naman whenever we plan or implement the projects. Like, I give my time, I give my effort, I give my ideas talaga, I’m very transparent, very open and I really try to make my vision clear, so I think I did my part naman. So iyon lang sa, sometimes nahihirapan akong magmanage ng time since I also have my own load, academic load and other organizations, and personal engagements. Pero in terms of efforts, ideas naman, I think I’ve given enough
How does your office interact with your constituent committee/s and how often? Diba under namin yung merch? No, wala kaming engagement with merch, or ako personally as the External Relations Officer, wala. Maybe Ian siguro, but ako, wala. So I haven’t met with the officers, with the members or had a meeting with them, wala Maybe Ian is doing it on his own na. 71 CAMPUS
Parang kami biglang nagiging least priority din namin. Kasi, maybe, for the next school year to be better, kukuha din yung CFO siguro ng people na wala masyadong orgs, wala masyadong commitment, and mas magandang marami din kasi marami din talagang maiisip na projects, for the CFO office. Pero, iyon nga lang, marami constraints, and that would be our time, to be with people, and yung energy din, so iyon yung three constraints na nakikita ko, bakit nadedelay kami.
And some things siguro, na we can improve on, but to move forward, something na the next CFO office can take note of. How involved are you in your office? What does the workload look like in your office in terms of both individual load and collective load? [On workload] Flexible naman, pero to the point of flexible, madali mo lang machachange. Because it’s flexible, parang wala na masyado yung strict talaga na working hours or strict na deadlines. So, napakaflexible niya to the point na parang, minsan makakalimutan mo na na may gagawin ka pala because it’s too flexible. You can easily say “Ian, hindi ako pwede ngayon. Sige, let’s postpone it.” Tapos “Ian, hindi ako pwede,” so postpone, postpone, postpone, nagiging ganoon. So, Ian ended up doing things on his own at some point. How engaged is your officer with USG matters (projects, initiatives, involvement in issues, etc.)? So my friend, [redacted], sometimes we talk about the USG, and she said na kaunti lang silang nagtratrabaho sa USG. She’s very tired na, and when I ask her about Ian, she said na Ian is busy daw, tapos she understands naman that he is busy, pero parang pumasok kasi siya, so dapat panindigan niya. So maybe coming from that, I wouldn’t say that he’s as efficient as the members of the USG, but I think na same lang din sa amin. How is your experience working under the management of your officer? Pero I would still want to have an allowance, or leave an allowance na he’s really trying naman to work, pero he’s also empathizing sa situations namin, na members niya. So I would still give recognition to Ian for being empathetic towards us
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How integrated is your representative in your organization’s board structure?
SMN constituent
Article by Yoela Leonor July 8, 2022 This article contains the official transcripts of three interviews conducted, one with an individual from the Enterprise Management Association’s Executive Board, and two from the Office of the SIGO
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“I believe in his God-given talents”
His job in EMA is a liaison officer. For that, he was active throughout the year in terms of announcements and also connecting and providing insights for us during our project planning. In our general meetings as well, he was also giving us solutions and other concerns that he thinks are evident or needs to be taken care of by us. It’s a good thing that he provides his insight. At the same time, he was also assertive in igniting others to step up and take initiative for them to exercise their own skills to have a good connection and to better serve SMN completely and the whole UA&P. How often do you and your representative interact? Not so much. Maybe we just communicate when it is about organizational work or academic work. It really depends if I need his help or if he needs mine. From time to time, we update on what is going on with the organization like a quick check in or how things are going or what’s happening since I am the one who is giving news and information to others as well. At the same time, we also communicate by talking about our lives and just being friends since we’re friends. If I’m going through something, he is always there for me. If you were to gauge how involved or engaged is your representative was with BEA matters, how would you rate it in a sense? I think he is pretty engaged. As I’ve said, when we have meetings, he is always present. At the same time, he also chats in our group messenger to have a quick update and to check up on everyone and making sure that everything is still okay or if we need help in the USG or if there are other concerns to be addressed. I think Isaac is pretty engaged because he is also good friends with our president, Francis. Most of our board members, he is also friends with. It’s a good thing that he is a liaison officer and at the same time, our friend. What is the most recent project your organization has worked on together with your representative? (Unimplemented projects) Trial By Fire which is actually his project during his time when he was a CICO. His goal was to implement this project yearly or be an annual thing for EMA as a project for the SMN students. Opening the students to join and venture out their own business and have a business pitch competition for them, to help them somehow start and build a foundation for their business; also guide them with mentors like the SMN Prof or if we have gathered a panel. Since this year, it became really busy. He also had different priorities during this time so it wasn’t implemented. We lack on time since it has also not been approved pa by CSA, yun yung parang naging problem.
INT: To clarify, are you guys still working on this project in implementing it?
The second part, yung collaborate with the student body. I am also a member kasi ng [redacted] and other organizations such as [redacted]. Since Isaac was the head of the SIGO, I think Isaac was able to satisfy this second objective for this platform which is to collaborate with the student body kasi very hands on si Isaac. When we are trying to propose projects, sometimes you can see Isaac together with Sir Joel, Miss Mitch when we are trying to present to the CSA. One of the responsibilities of Isaac is to aid, help the student interest groups and organizations. I think that’s one thing. One time, we had a meeting with the DBC board. Isaac was there and we were talking about a collaboration with USG so we were planning about it.
[Inspiring Sustainability, Unity, and Variety] I think that the platform is encouraging the whole USG naman, but him being one of the leaders. For the sustain part, to sustain the impact of previous USG representatives’ projects. From my understanding, were they able to do the projects or exceed the impact of other projects from the previous years; from the most recent event that we had, forecasting 2021 was made last year and forecasting 2022 since I am a part of that this year, it was a huge success despite the very short preparation. That part, yung sustain, Isaac was able to do that with the help of the whole USG. I think that if Isaac is trying to work on the sustain part with the whole USG, siguro the problem lang is better marketing. I think some of the projects of the USG, hindi nag engage most of the students because I know it’s really hard with our current online setup, hindi naman lahat maiinform lahat. Siguro sa sustain part, the other impacts of the projects were able to be sustained sa term ni Isaac but I think that the other projects and activities would have been better if they had better marketing. I just noticed lang na sometimes, kapag hindi ako kasali sa event, kunyari I was busy and so I won’t be included sa main project team. Then malalaman ko na lang na ngayon pala yung event ng USG.’ So parang ako na mismong part ng POOTS (Present Office of the SIGO) mashoshock. But I think overall, the sustain part is a check for me from my observation from Isaac’s performance.
Yes, I believe in his God given talents He was able to hone these skills and these values and knowing his attitude and goals at the same time, it helped us to be more engaged and somehow advocates for the UNITAS Spirit Yes, I believe he did With his strength in handling different people with various personalities, he helped us by giving us more knowledge and he showed us professionalism. He really encapsulates what a leader is In terms of the organization, he was able to establish what he wants for us. He somehow created a more meaningful relationship, in terms with the board having openness to us He also advocates for overall development of the students
ANS: Not anymore since I think it won’t be achieved by the timeline. At the same time, the current board are planning to set the new officers now so it won’t really be doable na. At the same time, I think there’s been a problem with the budget and the approval of CSA. I think it should have been approved or passed to the CSA before, however it was not the case. (Implemented Projects) For the executed ones, he helped most of the time. For example, Holistic Health, he was part of the planning of the first Holistic Health. He also helped us with implementation. For me, he helped me with partnership and also getting organizations to be on board with the project. He also said his insights on how to implement Holistic Health 2.0 better, giving us more help in terms of what topics to choose from or speakers to get to. Overall, in the planning process, he was there naman. If any, what problems have you encountered working with your representative as a board member of their constituent organization? No naman, there was no problem. What positive contributions has your representative made to your organization so far during their term? Since he’s just a liaison officer, I think he doesn’t want to overpower our president’s objective and own ideas for the organization. He was really helping us on the sideline. In terms of project implementation and team building. For me, he gave me that sense of belongingness to be a part of the university. Despite being in a pandemic, he gave me a good experience and also helped me in giving me tips and suggestions when it comes to academics. In the organization overall, he was just there in helping us with project implementation and team building.
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Do you feel that your representative has made a meaningful change in the SEC community?
Office of the Student Interest Groups Officer
constituent There are a number of proposed projects your officer/representative ended up not implementing, why do you think this is the case?
A: [Empowering Trailblazers] I think Isaac was able to achieve this naman. Personally, in my experience, Isaac let me be a leader in a way na hindi niya naman ako sinospoon feed every time. Hinahayaan niya ako maging leader who can serve and who can work with other people. From what I can see, when I was working on the office of the SIGO, I can see how people there are really able to be responsible and have the opportunity to work with USG and become leaders in our own way; establishing a connection and also having the avenue to interact and empower each other to become more than just leaders.
Unfortunately, hindi natuloy yung collaboration na yun but I think with that interaction na pumunta si Isaac sa board meeting namin, he was able to satisfy the second platform which is to collaborate with the student body. I think with the other projects of the USG na nakita ko na nag work si Isaac, he was able to collaborate with anyone or with the students involved in the particular project. I think in this sense Isaac cannot do this alone naman. I am looking at this specific goal in this platform how Isaac works in the USG I think Isaac was able to do this Hindi naman ibig sabihin na lahat ng needs ng students, of course, we have a lot of concerns. Hindi naman niya yun na address specifically, but I think Isaac did a good job in assisting those who are in need especially when you need assistance with your orgs. Sa kanya kami lumalapit, sa kanya kami nag aask ng concerns if we cannot contact Miss Mitch or Sir Joel directly As the head of the office of the SIGO, I think he did his job really well. In a sense, nafulfill niya naman yung mga responsibilities niya in this part Although syempre may mga lapses, but I think good naman So second platform, check ako sa kanya. [Promoting Mental and Emotional Competency] Reading this platform, parang similar siya to the UA&P Check ins Isaac wants to be more hands on in having a program where the student body can be assisted. In this sense, he was able to satisfy it in a way na hindi niya kami pinepressure as a part of his team. He asks us if kaya ba namin gawin yung task, kaya ba namin yung mga inaassign niya samin or if may time ba kami for it, if pasok ba sa schedule namin. If I have a comment about this, nung narinig ko din kasi yung platform na ito kasi syempre part ako ng campaign team ni Isaac, parang ako nag hanap din ako ng concrete program, siguro yun yung kulang. I think USG has efforts, and the whole USG officers collaborated not just on the mental health issues and emotional conditions during the pandemic. The recently concluded elections, the USG has been posting a lot about the program of the Guidance office that they can meet if they want to have a debriefing of the elections. Hindi man pinakita na si Isaac yung sole na gumawa ng project na yun. As part of USG, I think it’s a whole decision naman of the team. Knowing that USG was able to have that, I think they did a good job. I think what’s lacking is if you have this platform, it would have been better kung may concrete program sana because that’s what I was thinking din before. Working with him as an individual and as a head of our office, he was very sensitive and considerate of how the team feels. When we meet naman, di siya puro work work agad. He is very concerned about our conditions. In a bigger avenue, I think Isaac contributed to that.
[Promoting Mental and Emotional Competency ] I said that I think he was able to achieve it as well What I have mentioned, he was very warm and welcoming Not only that but also the organization that we’ve built, even though we’ve talked to each other very limited, the interaction we’ve had is very limited in the current setup where we don’t meet each other personally. We usually discuss on the messenger app or through the Zoom. He makes sure that he asks us what is happening in our school, kung ano yung sitwasyon namin, whether we are okay or not. I think by that, he was able to show himself as someone who we can rely emotionally na pwede namin ituring na kuya or senior sa university na we can share our problems and worries to. There are a number of proposed projects your officer/representative ended up not implementing, why do you think this is the case?
[Inspiring Sustainability, Unity, and Variety] Yes, but when it comes to sustainability, I don’t have much to say about that because this is my first year in the university and I don’t really have much experience on the previous offers. But when it comes to his platforms about unity and collaboration, I think he was able to achieve that Like what I’ve said, he became a bridge for me to meet other people and to interact with them and to create relationships with them that I can use to improve my stay in the university while also creating a positive impact to the whole student community.
B: [Empowering Trailblazers] Personally, I think he was able to achieve it. Based on my experience, when he invited me to be a part of the Student Interest Group [Officer’s Office], it opened up doors for me to meet other people and to connect with them. Making connections in this current set up we have is really hard but I can say that what he did for me, he opened up my connections with other people because I was able to talk to them and relate to them. Nabigyan niya ako ng opportunity to interact with other people and to know more about the university based on the eyes of those people I’ve interacted with.
A: One of the difficulties na hindi niya napropose yung other projects because it has similar projects with other offices and organizations. That is why he wasn’t able to go through with it, especially the one call away since he is partnering with the guidance office. From the start, the guidance office offers this kind of service where you can consult with them and set an appointment with them. [Dragon Business Convention and Click-ommerce Case Competition] Actually, same idea siya. In that case, Isaac was trying to partner with an organization that is closer with the era. One of the board members of Dragon Business Club, isa kami sa inapproach ni Isaac kasi may project kami na malapit sa idea niya. Yun, we declined because super close na. Since Click commerce and Dragon business convention was similar to last year’s Trial by fire. He was trying to find a similar org nalang to partner with para magawa yun. Unfortunately, it did not happen because of the lack of time, so unfortunate for Isaac for not being able to do that.
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B: I really think that we have the current setup to blame for the implementation of these projects. Personally, I think that the lockdown project is very great. Like what you’ve mentioned, it increases productivity because they have someone to rely on while doing all their responsibilities in the university. I think why he failed to do all the projects is because of the lockdown and we have very limited resources. Hindi pwede lumabas palagi, hindi pwede magkita. I think it’s really because of the limitation of the pandemic and the limitation brought by it.
Kailangan tanggapin niya rin na hindi naman lahat magagawa niya. I think one of the things na dapat tignan is the academic calendar. Pasok ba siya, kaya ba siya gawin ng isang USG Officer.
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ANS: One that I am familiar with is the One Call Away because there are guidance counselors who reached out to me last term. It wasn’t really a heavy talk but they asked how I felt about the situation I was in. I can talk to them, I can contact them and ask them for a meeting anytime.
Hindi lang talaga nag push through because marami kasin projects na kailangan niyang asikasuhin inside USG na hiwalay din sa mga gusto niyang projects na gawin so baka di yun na consider. Second is his ability rin because ayaw din naman ni Isaac na may gagawin siyang project na hindi niya maibibigay yung all niya. I think one of the factors is parang iniisip din ni Isaac na, if I can’t do 100% naman on this project, wag na lang natin gawin kaysa we have an unsuccessful project. I think that’s the factor which is affected by kulang siya sa time, kulang din sa resources because Isaac can’t do it alone. Maybe on our part, baka sa office of the SIGO, hindi kami available kaya hindi na lang pinush ni Isaac.
With this question, my answer is yes. Isaac was able to guide us, and was able to fulfill his responsibilities in this area. I don’t feel na nabomba kami ng mga tasks na hindi naman namin responsibility. If we had tasks, we make sure that we complete it not for the sake of Isaac but because of the responsibility na kinuha din namin as we said yes to Isaac for being part of the Student Interest Groups and Organizations.
That is one project that I am really familiar with but about the lockdown, it was new to me and I only heard about it now. Based on experience, do you think that the office’s general direction over the course of the current USG administration’s term was in line with the goals and promises set by your officer during their campaign period? From my experience in working with Isaac, I think that all of the things that are required from the office of the SIGO, we did because Isaac was able to guide us. I can confidently say na yung mga pinapagawa sa amin, hindi lang basta kung ano yung mga responsibilities and task ng aming office. If there is a needed assistance, the recently concluded project that we had was a collaboration between the office of the Vice President with Kit Mulliken Buti nalang Kit reached out to the office of the SIGO because even if di naman talaga student interest group yung graduating students, I think that Isaac took that job because he thinks that graduating students are a collective group of students that needs guidance as they graduate.
A: Seeing the platforms and proposed projects and combining my experience of working with Isaac, I think one of the things that challenged Isaac kung bakit hindi niya nagawa yung iilan niyang plans is because of time constraints I think that one of the things that aspiring USG officers should do if they want to run for USG, wag maging far reaching sa mga platforms or projects nila. Kaya nga meron tayong KASANGGA and ANIMA. We have these people from different schools running for different positions. Sana, they have this chance to cross check if this office has the same platform as me and focus on something that I could do. I think time constraints and ability mo rin. You have to assess your ability rin kung kaya mo ba gawin ito because I think one of the considerations that Isaac was not able to apply or hindi niya nagawa, may mga projects yung USG na similar sa post projects niya or kaya may mga projects din yung USG na kailangan pa ulit gawin na pwedeng makatake ng time niya and attention niya.
[School Lockdown] Hindi siya naging possible because the face to face classes, hindi pa naman siya masyado approve. I think di talaga siya pwede magawa since di pa tayo nag face to face. Most of us are required to work at home. [Unitas Leaders Exchange] Ang alam ko Isaac was planning for ULX to be at the end of the year, since ULA is at the start of the year. Para pag nag ULA ulit before the next academic year, it is supplementary knowledge and skill of organizations. I think hindi siya nag push through because this requires collaboration with CAS and the student affair’s office, but maybe connections din with the offices. It’s not all bad. I don’t think irresponsible si Isaac na puro lang siya pangako, in a way. But may mga reasons na similar projects, time constraints, and connections with offices.
I’ve mentioned that I am a first year student and this is my first year in the university. I don’t have much to share about this question because I was not in the university yet when I was campaigning so hindi ko talaga narinig about the projects na he wants to implement on how he carried himself in his campaign so wala ako masyadong masashare about it I cannot relate his performance to his campaign because I was not here yet to witness his campaign last year.
If any of these promises or goals set were not followed through, based on your experience and knowledge of working in your office, why do you think they weren’t followed through?
INT: Just to be clear, which of the projects that I mentioned were the ones that he was able to implement in his term?
INT: Just to ask, how long have you been working with Isaac Ramento? Were you part of his office pre pandemic?
A: Last Semester
B: During this semester, I don’t think if this is just me but personally, I don’t have any connection with the office this semester. Wala akong project na I cooperated with in the office this semester.
What has your office accomplished so far this semester? A: This Semester
If we had a project, they would update in the groupchat. So far, I have not received any message. If I’m being honest, we haven’t done anything, any project this semester.
Forecasting 2022, it is for the graduating students. It is a program to guide them in their specific careers. There were three sessions. The first session is industr specific talk, each school had breakout rooms with speakers where the speakers talk about different industries that they were in to inspire them and introduce them to the challenges. The second session is about the needed government documents when applying for a job. The third one is more on the Human Resource. Some of the office members were able to help with the recently concluded Campus Day.
B: Based on my experience, I think the real problem why these projects were not implemented is the limitation brought about by the pandemic. I remember Kuya Isaac asking if we can or if we are willing to go to the university to prepare for a certain project personally and to meet the whole office na rin. For it to be a time for us to bond and connect more with each other, but the thing is after that, nagkaroon ng lockdown. Everything we planned went down the drain. Kinailangan naming magbago ng plans because of the rules and protocols that were placed. Pakiramdam ko lang if wala talaga itong pandemic, lahat ng project na he promised during his campaign, he’ll be able to implement them kasi sobrang ganda ng community na meron kami with the office. Everyone was willing to help, willing to attend meetings, and to really do what they are supposed to do to help the university and develop the office. Because of the pandemic, there are very limited things that we can do. Because of it, the bigger projects, we were not able to implement them.
A: Kakatapos lang namin last week nung May 21, yung pinaka last namin, yung forecasting 2022 After that medyo rest na kami ngayon. Ang alam ko kasi mag ULA nanaman tapos may re accreditation ulit ng different student groups and organizations kasi you have to do that every year; the recognition of different orgs. I think we are preparing for that. Also, I think that there is an awarding for the performances of the different orgs I don’t think if that will be pushed through this year but that’s what we’re planning. Right now, honestly, medyo rest kami since kakatapos lang namin ng Forecasting 2022
A: Sa Office of the SIGO, mayroon lang kami isang boss, si boss Isaac lang. For the different tasks that we have, sa loob ng office, hindi kami ranked, same kami ng levels. If there is a task, you can explore different roles. I think naging free din kami to take on the roles and responsibilities kasi hindi kami masyado inenclose ni Isaac.
ANS: Since the start of the school year, he asked me to be a part of the office around June or July. I started with the SIGO around August. What did your office accomplish last semester?
Yung UNITAS Fair din since project din siya ng USG. UNITAS Fair is focused on student interest groups and organizations so Isaac worked closely with the different organizations for that. FGDs, Focus Group Discussions of the Registrar Isaac helped in finding the different students who can participate in that. I was able to attend a focus group discussion, yung diniscuss naman sa session namin is what are our expectations with the UA&P sites, face to face, and different offices. It really helped kasi yung focus group discussions, nagging targetive kami sa kung anong needed ng student body UNITAS Awards since it is a project of the USG. Isaac made sure that we can aid with USG.
How is your office structured?
Most of the time, kapag concerned yung programs and events sa student groups and organizations Isaac and the team work hand in hand with the CSA and the different orgs The other projects na ginawa namin na hindi naman concerning sa student groups and organizations is because the other offices needed other people Isa yung office of the SIGO sa mga natatap nila kasi si Isaac masyado siyang ‘G’. 81 82 CAMPUS
B: I don’t have any concrete idea about it. Yung mga projects na heavily involved yung office is UNITAS Fair. I remember talaga na sobrang busy lahat about it and Kuya Isaac, sobrang responsible niya sa pag aayos ng mga mishaps. Mayroong time na nagkaroon ng trouble, yung office talaga namin and Isaac particularly is very hands on in fixing the problem Because of it, naging smooth naman yung program, yung fair, and yung live because it happened on Facebook live What is your office currently working on?
ULA Connected siya sa Arts Month. Kami talaga yung one of the heads nun because of the student interest groups that are connected to arts like Dulaan ROC, Reverb, SQUADRA. They were invited in that event to showcase kung ano yung ginagawa ng orgs nila but they also have exhibits.
B: As far as I know, we are not working on any project right now It’s been a long time since they updated in the groupchat. The last chat and update that we have on the group chat is last March.
A: Hindi kami nahirapan mag work inside the office. I get it na parang, ‘hindi ba panget mag work ng wala kayong structure?’ Para sa akin, hindi kami sobrang karamihan sa office of the SIGO and meron mga concerns sa scheduling and workload. I think naging maganda yung wala kaming definite structure kung sino yung may kaya, sino yung available, and sino yung kaya mag pick up ng task is yung kukuha nung assigned.
ANS: My working experience with them?
INT: So would you say that the work culture that you guys have is pleasant? How would you describe it in general?
ANS: I think everyone in the office was really selected based on their capabilities and what they have to give, what they have to offer in the office and in the community. Because of it, talagang chosen yung bawat isa na alam talaga nila na they are really responsible Working with them was pleasant for me kasi everyone knows what they have to do everyone fulfills their duty well. They are very punctual and they say when they are available or not Every start ng term, kinukuha din namin yung schedule ng isa’t isa. Just to know the proper time to set meetings para available yung lahat Because of it, sobrang ganda ng experience ko Everyone was really responsible Because of it, I was pushed to work harder.
How involved are you in your office? What does the workload look like in your office in terms of both individual load and collective load?
B: In the whole school year, sila talaga kaclose ko na tao sa university because of how welcoming their personalities are, everyone was really warm and welcoming. Masasabi ko na I was able to relate to them because they ask me questions about how I view the world I remember nagkaroon kami ng meeting na hindi kami nag discuss about the office but nag discuss lang kami about sa work ethics namin, ano mga bagay na ayaw namin, mga bagay na gusto namin, mga pinaniniwalaan namin. Dahil dun, I was able to know them, my members, personally kahit na hindi kami nag meet face to face It made me relate to them more kasi nakita ko kung ano naging similarities namin with each other. Nakacreate ako ng connection with them and it was really sad for me not to meet them or not to work with them personally because I think it would be a really great experience and a blast for me because of how great they are as people. Sobrang pleasant ng experience ko na ngayon kahit nasa pandemic tayo, hindi ko sila na meet personally, still, naka create ako ng connection with them. What more if we have done this face to face?
A: I think about 70% because I was able to work on most of the projects naman na Isaac needs our help. Sometimes I declined because of my workload and unavailability. Also, part din ako ng mga board members ng different orgs ko din, hindi lang naman office of the SIGO ang hinahandle ko. In terms of workload, kapag may meetings, sinasakto niya sa kung kelan most of us are free or kaya kung kelan most of the people can attend na wala kang iniisip na other responsibilities. Sa workload, Isaac makes sure na hindi niya binobomba yung mga tao sa office niya. The most workload na I had was two tasks or two roles assigned saakin because kulang yung manpower sa event. In terms of workload individually, I think maganda yung distribution ni Isaac. Sinasabi niya din sa partner office namin na hindi na kaya ng office members ko baka pwede tayo humingi ng tulong sa iba, hindi niya kami pinipilit, yun yung kagandahan with Isaac. Collective naman, same concept, hindi kami pinepressure, humihingi kami ng tulong pag di na kaya considering na nagawa naman namin yung responsibilities na expected from the office of the SIGO. Kung workload individually and collectively, it was not pressuring, not too heavy, and considerate.
B: Different positions are assigned to different members of the office. Kuya Isaac is our head so siya talaga yung madalas na nagseset ng meeting. We also have a secretary, mostly he was the one who was taking notes of the minutes of the meeting, sending out sheets kung kailan kami available to meet. Ever since we started in the office, there are persons responsible for non academic clubs, academic clubs. I think it helped, giving out roles, when it comes to really knowing what we have to fulfill and the duties that we have to do in the organization. Hindi siya magulo since mayroon kaming set up and naka system kung ano yung kailangan and dapat namin gawin and the things that are expected for us to do. Could you describe the work culture your office has?
B: Like what I said earlier, I think I could have done a lot better and I could have made more effort to be more involved in the office than what I did. One aspect to look at is that I am a freshman so I am still in my adjustment period and transitioning period from high school to university life. I think that is one aspect to look at. Although I attended all the meetings that we have inside the office, with the members, with other USG offices, and faculty, I think the project that we had was very limited so I was not able to show my full potential. When it comes to the workload, sobrang light ng workload niya. I think kaya ko pa if nagdagdag sila but because of the limited projects, iyon lang yung nafulfill ko in the whole school year.
INT: The work culture that you have in the office
A: I think one of the most beautiful parts of being part of the office of the SIGO is the people that Isaac chose in the office, mga kaladkarin; mga nakawork ko na din in the past in different organizations. It was really amazing na nakakuha si Isaac ng mga people na kaya mag blend in with each other. Not to the point na lagi kami nag agree sa mga opinions ng iba. We were able to call out each other pag may nakikita kami na mali, kapag may nakikita kami hindi maganda. What was good is meron ng mga bond yung kinuha niya for the office. Also, the work culture, sobrang ganda. Isaac is very concerned, very considerate sa mga schedules namin, workloads namin. Hindi kami napressure at all. Kahit super close kami, we built a culture of respect din in the office. Isaac being our head, naestablish namin na kung Isaac is very understanding and considerate to all of us, we should be considerate and understanding with the members of the office.
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B: It was a fun experience but I just hope that we could have done a lot better and more. Iyon lang talaga wish ko Sana nakagawa kami ng mas maraming projects than what we were able to do. When it comes to his leadership, how he presents himself, how he handles questions and concerns that we have, how we chat, and how he approaches us I think he became an effective channel of communication for our office and others offices to interact and to communicate. Because of his presence, the members of his office were able to talk to other offices and to create a connection and relationship with them. Because of his leadership and personality, the relationship that we have is not limited to our office alone but it goes beyond it. We were able to communicate with people from other offices and the whole USG itself.
How does your office interact with your constituent committee/s and how often?
How is your experience working under the management of your officer?
A: Since the office of the SIGO is one of the big teams under USG, most of the time, they reach out to us if they need manpower. Siguro 80-85% of the projects laging natatap yung office of the SIGO. Very involved kami and very engaged kami sa different activities.
ANS: When it comes to workload talaga, what we did is more on hyping up posts lang. In the USG Office Groupchat, wherein all of the officers of the USG are present, they share links lang of posts. They share links of different groups and often they ask us to hype up the posts, share the posts, and to comment on it. Pakiramdam ko sana nagkaroon pa ng mas more work than that para mas mapakita ng kada members kung anong kaya nila gawin. Through that, mas magiging beneficial din yung whole office sa university. Mas marami kaming magagawa for the university. But because very limited yung actions because of the pandemic, feeling ko rin, hindi na ipakita ng bawat members ng office itself yung full potential niya.
ANS: If I remember correctly, we also had a workshop to discuss the projects that we will have for the school year, as well as the different roles that people have to take. The roles that we had was introduced to us, kung ano yung expected for us to do, and the projects that we have; kung ano ba yung USG, kung ano yung SIGO, kung ano yung expected sa office namin and the power that the office has. How engaged is your officer with USG matters (projects, initiatives, involvement in issues, etc.)?
INT: If you don’t mind me asking, what are usually the topics for discussion in your meetings? As you’ve said, there was a limited workload. Did you guys discuss implementation of projects?
ANS: Yes. INT: Would you like to expound?
When it comes to the different offices, I think that we have a very healthy and open communication with each other. Although syempre mayroon din mga times na hindi maiiwasan yung miscommunication. Other than that, wala naman naging problem communicating with other offices. Everything and every problem that we have with other offices, we were able to solve them smoothly.
B: Regarding the USG, we have two group chats; One is only composed of the SIGO office and the other one is for the whole USG and every other office the USG has. We had a meeting with everyone when the school year was just starting. Inintroduce nila what USG is, kung ano yung different offices and the things that are expected for the offices to do. Mayroon din kami group chat, very active sila doon mag share ng concerns nila and projects na ginagawa ng offices nila.
B: Hindi ko rin nakita how he works. Based on how he manages his facebook account, very engaged siya when it comes to sharing and giving out information In our group chat, he was very active to answer questions, as well as participate in hyping up different posts and connecting with other USG Offices to relay different messages we have and to ask different information that those offices have para mairelay niya sa amin na member ng office niya. I think he’s very much engaged
A: Isaac is the head of the office of the SIGO, kailangan super hands on talaga siya with our team and also the different orgs Most of the time, yung orgs naman talaga yung may different projects for the year so hindi pwede walang involvement si Isaac na hindi siya engaged, hindi siya nag cocollaborate with the different orgs and also the student body Kung irarate ko ang kanyang involvement, siguro about 90%. I can see na super active si Isaac.
A: Para sa akin, I was not pressured, working in the office of the SIGO. If there was pressure, it was good pressure Syempre, you should feel pressured so you could work properly and you have the motivation to do your job as a member of the office of the SIGO. Working under Isaac, he doesn’t treat us as his team members na mag dedelegate siya ng tasks, he’s very hands on Ang napansin ko sa style ng leadership ni Isaac, when he assigns a task to you, hindi niya pinapabayaan. He always makes sure that he assists you He makes sure that he can attend to our concerns Working with Isaac, I think masaya siya. Considering na you’re working so mapapagod ka talaga pero hindi nakakadagdag sa pagod yung pagiging leader ni Isaac kasi maayos yung pag manage niya sa team namin.
INT: Are you saying both individual and collective load are limited?
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If any, what problems have you encountered working under your officer and/or within your office?
A: Di naman siya problem pero concerns lang talaga, na address naman namin. Dapat hindi lang talaga pare pareho yung time na wala kami. Kapag hindi kami makawork na kaming lahat in the office, Isaac makes sure about three or four people can work with him for that project. Yun lang yung hard especially sabay sabay tayo nag mimidterms, sabay sabay nag fifinals. The problem is kapag maraming workload yung mga members mo, how will you make sure that they can work with you. An observation, some members minsan hindi na sila nakakawork for a few projects kasi sobra yung workload nila. Hindi ko naman sinisisi na laging wala siguro graduating. With that, you’re working with the same people. I do not take this against sa di ko pa nakawork or yung wala kasi baka reasonable naman kung bakit di sila available. Baka sa iba maganda siya, yung laging present. I think kailangan din tignan ni Isaac na it’s okay to say no. Sometimes magugulat ka nalang na after a project, meron na naman so it’s good to say no din for Isaac para marest din yung office niya. Kailangan niya din magpahinga. Overall, okay naman.
B: I did my best to contribute what I can to the office for the betterment of the whole community. Like what I’ve mentioned earlier, I think I could have done a lot more without the limitations brought about by the pandemic. If I am going to evaluate myself, I think I was not much of a help when it comes to the projects that we had If I’ll be given a chance to participate and to be a member of an office under USG the next school year, I would take it because I think I am more capable and ready for that since I am already adjusted with my university life I know how to present myself better and to battle the different challenges the pandemic brings. I think I was able to help naman but if what I did was really beneficial, siguro hindi pa Hindi ako nagkaroon ng super laking impact sa office and sa community, sa university.
B: Hindi siya problem caused by our office, it’s something we had to solve because the project concerns us. I think this is with the UNITAS Fair. Nagkaroon ng problem with implementing the live video because nalate sila ng download ng video and nalate yung play. Dapat ipaplay na yung video pero wala padin. Viewers were expecting but the video was nowhere in sight. We weren’t able to show the video on time; Because of that, the whole office was panicking. But if you are asking about a problem I encountered while working for SIGO, we did not have a lot of problems since everyone was participative in sharing their concerns and ideas for the projects that we had. Do you feel that your contributions in the office are valuable?
A: I think naman working on the projects with the office of the SIGO na catered lang for the student interest groups and organizations and working sa project together with other USG offices. I think I won’t work on projects if I think my contributions won’t have any effect or have any contributions I make sure that there is added value whenever I work on a project One of the things that we make sure when we take on a project is how important is the project. Like the recently concluded forecasting 2022, kasi there are other projects na same lang pero nangyari na in the past. Tinake ko yung responsibility ko for that project because it is for graduating students. It is to help them be guided for their future career paths I can confidently say that my contributions to the office has been a valuable contribution kasi alam ko naman na hindi magtatake si Isaac ng projects or tasks na will not do any improvement or good for us members and benefactors or beneficiaries of the projects. It’s not just a matter of how I work, it s also a matter of how Isaac works and how the team works for the project para masabi namin na valuable yung contributions namin. Makikita mo din if may effect yung contributions mo kung naging success yung project When you pass a project proposal, there are objectives listed When you tick off all the objectives, you would know that you had a valuable contribution to the project 87 88 CAMPUS
The mentoring program, headed by Evan George Reyes, was a series of Zoom meetings that lasted for a span of 8 weeks, with each session ranging from 30 minutes to up to an hour. Each session covered different topics, ranging from basic chess mechanics and concepts to difficult puzzles. On the final day, the facilitators held a friendly tournament through the app Lichess. “Only 7 participants registered with the program. However, only 3 completed it...
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On the other hand, the members taught the students about the general etiquette of chess and how it can be useful in the real world. “We emphasized that there is a distinct etiquette in chess that is not acquired in more popular sports. [Some] examples are no coaching, no bluffing, no inappropriate talk, which show great discipline, sportsmanship, and respect for the players and the game,” Dalizon said. The team experienced challenges that were mainly attributed to the limitations of the pandemic, seeing as the students and teachers were unfamiliar with online learning. In spite of this, the webinars were still considered to be a success due to the fact that the event was able to accommodate a total of 100 participants.
Article by Anri Mendoza July 28, 2022 Camille Dalizon, Evan George Reyes, and Billy Gene Balsamo, who are members of UA&P’s chess club, presented their paper entitled “ETIQUETTE OF CHESS: The Experience of Conducting an Educational Chess Outreach Program in Less Developed Areas in the Philippines” in the international conference “Chess in Education.” “Chess in Education” conference
Part Two: The Mentoring Program
Camille Dalizon, the Head of Community Development and overseer of the entire project, mentioned: “Many of the presentations were studies on how we can further promote educational chess, with the teams coming from Russia, Europe, and the United States. We were the only team from Southeast Asia and the only one aside from India from Asia, so it was definitely a proud moment. I’m proud that we were able to share what happened beyond theories and papers but the realities in less developed areas in a country with limited opportunities to begin with, and I think they appreciated that as well.”
Domus Regum presents paper to the International Chess Federation (FIDE)
The two-day international conference, “Chess in Education,” was organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) Chess in Education Commission, along with the Chess Scientific Research Institute. It was held last June 25-26 in Russia but was open to those whose papers had been approved by the organizers. Vladimir Kramnik, a Russian international chess grandmaster, gave the opening speech during the conference.
Part One: The Webinar The Etiquette of Chess Webinar was the first of its kind in the Philippines. It was composed of two webinars that occurred simultaneously. The first webinar was aimed at teachers, while the second webinar focused on educating the students. The teachers were taught by Mr. Chipi Buenafe, Domus Regum’s moderator, about educational chess, as well as online chess applications which may be used as tools for instruction. As per the evaluation, the teachers found this conference enjoyable and useful.
The paper they presented revolved around the conclusions and methodology of a two-part outreach project conducted by the entire organization. The beneficiaries of the outreach project were students and teachers from two public schools in Bulacan, an underdeveloped area in the Philippines. As stated in the paper, the project aimed to educate the target audience regarding the benefits of chess as a means of instruction and a tool for cultivating critical thinking skills as shown by previous studies. The first part of the project was a series of webinars, while the second part was a mentoring program. Additionally, the planning and execution of the project lasted from August 2021 until April 2022.
To summarize their overall findings, it was concluded that the Philippines lacks sufficient ICT infrastructure to cater to online learning in less developed areas. Furthermore, students and teachers in these areas also lack the technical knowledge needed in order to conduct activities online.
The low turnout and completion can be attributed to the students’ accessibility to mobile devices and internet connectivity.”
Behind the scenes of the project
She was also asked about tips that she would give to those planning outreaches directed towards people in less developed areas to which she replied: “You have to have a clear objective and pure intentions! We coordinated for months with the schools and there were a lot of adjustments, so the team has to be adaptable, flexible, and most certainly open on why the changes are necessary. The schools used solely modular learning so before the actual webinar, we had to teach them how to navigate through the platforms we used. We also met a lot of times to explain our org and program. You really have to know you’re doing it for the kids who can be the next grandmasters but do not have people who introduced [to them] what chess is in the first place. You have to remember these students also need an outlet in stressful times of the pandemic and chess can serve as that.”
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Upon being asked about the inspiration behind the project, Dalizon answered: “The Domus Regum’s theme for last year was educational chess. We knew that people, even inside UA&P, did not actively participate in our activities and chess was low in priorities [sic]. We then made it a goal to establish chess both as a hobby and a sport that created opportunities, especially in the pandemic where action and movement were very limited. With the goal and theme, we decided to make an online outreach that introduces chess and what it can offer the Filipino youth and educators. It was something they could do within their homes during the lockdowns and can give them fruitful opportunities eventually.”
The organization is continuously working towards expanding the educational chess outreach. It is not a one-time big event, so everyone can certainly look forward to future outreach events to be held by Domus Regum.
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Article by Luzy Dayrit June 6, 2022 What would you rather be doing on a Saturday after a tiring week of school? Would you rather hang out with a group of people and party, or be alone in your room to read your favorite book in peace? If you’d choose to be alone for the weekend to re energize after a busy school week, you may be an introvert. Introversion is a personality trait in which you find comfort being alone with your thoughts and a small group of friends rather than being around large crowds of people, strangers or not. Introverts are the type of people who tend to have a social battery that drains over time when they socialize. This behavior is entirely normal, as we humans have different ways to relax recreate, and have fun. However, there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to introversion, and the seven below are just some of them. All introverts are shy An introverted person and a shy person aren't the same. Introverts enjoy their time alone because it is their way to recharge after getting drained from socializing. A shy person may not want to be alone but is afraid to interact with others. Introverts tend to spend their social battery wisely with the people they care about or for specific situations. Hence, you might observe that an introvert who keeps to themselves most of the time can become an engaging leader or good conversationalist when needed. Shy people, on the other hand, tend to avoid these situations altogether due to their fears.
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Debunking myths about introverts
All introverts are snobs Another misconception is thinking introverts are snobbish people because they tend to be "choosy" with whom they would want to spend their time socializing. Don't be offended when an introverted classmate of yours seems to be more chatty with another person than you: That may be because they don't know you well enough to have a full blown conversation and would rather be alone with their thoughts than converse with strangers. If you want to befriend that seemingly silent introvert classmate of yours, try to talk more about their interests. Although, make sure not to be too pushy about it.
All introverts are boring If you think introverts are boring, then you are sorely mistaken. Introverts are like any other human being with interests, skills, and aspirations. They don't just curl up in their bed and sleep all day (even though it may be one of their favorite pastimes). They also have hobbies that various people can relate to, like making music, writing a story, gardening, knitting, etc. Just because they tend to keep to themselves doesn’t mean they don’t have a sense of fun. Introverts also tend to be inquisitive. Hence, they do tend to observe and listen more. So don't be surprised if your introverted seatmate knows about your favorite Korean drama because they might have heard you say it at some point.
All introverts are loners. “Loner” is another word often confused with introversion. Introverts indeed enjoy their me-time, but it does not necessarily make them loners. An introvert's social battery gets drained when socializing with people, and there are times that they would rather be alone for a while to recharge. Introverts also prefer to be left alone with their thoughts and feelings. Thus, they might want to spend their energy introspecting rather than socializing with various people to pass time. Introverts hate small talk Introverts are not necessarily asocial people. Plenty of introverts tend to have a friend group that they adore. Surprisingly, silent introverts become the loudest when with their friends. Hence the notion that introverts don't dislike people, but small talk is what they loathe. For introverts, socializing isn't their go to activity to pass time. So when you come up to an introvert and start to initiate small talk, they might become tense and uncomfortable. They'll probably find a way to end the conversation, but this does not mean they hate socializing. It's just that they would rather talk about something they care about than the weather today or who's dating who.
Introverts are reserved and silent people leading to the assumption that they can t manage a team because they can't communicate with various people. Yet introverts, again, are not always asocial people. So if they need to be more assertive and speak their mind, they will. Introverted leaders are excellent listeners who thoroughly consider their team's goals and issues. Due to their tendency to watch and analyze circumstances or problems, they also attempt to develop an appropriate solution. The next time you get paired up with your introverted classmate, don't judge their capabilities so quickly. Let's not assume anything about a person just based on a few personality traits. Not all introverts are quiet loners and not all extroverts are loud, friendly people. We all have different characteristics, habits, and interests that make our personalities unique. The best way to truly get to know someone is not just through their zodiac sign or MBTI test results but by genuinely getting to know them through meaningful conversations, which can form trust and sincerity. Relativism is the belief that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context. In other words, it purports that everything is arbitrary. However, we know from our classes in the University that this is incorrect because truth itself is absolute, that is, it does not and cannot change. It is universal and permanent, regardless of time, place, and perspective.
All introverts are depressed or miserable Introverts indeed have lower levels of happiness than extroverts, but it does not mean that introverts are unhappy and lonely all the time. All personality types go through rough patches, sometimes masking this sadness with fake joy. Therefore, we cannot presume that a quiet introvert is depressed, nor can we assume a bubbly extrovert is not going through any life struggles. We must be sensitive to everyone's feelings and not let stereotypes make us lose our empathy toward others. Introverts can't be leaders If you think your group is doomed just because your assigned leader is an introvert, think again!
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There is no such thing as "my truth"
Article by Caterina Molo
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In a relativist society where cancel culture reigns supreme despite the constant preaching of “tolerance”, what does it mean to stand up for the truth? Before we can answer that question, we must first understand what “truth” really is. One of the classic definitions of truth is, “adaequatio intellectus nostri cum re,” or “the correspondence of the mind to reality.” In simpler terms, truth is reality as it is. It cannot be changed, manipulated, or influenced. It does not depend on a person’s thoughts, beliefs, or perspectives. Truth is simply what is. Now that we have defined what “truth” is, we can return to the question of what it means to stand up for the truth. It requires two things love and strength of the will. To love someone is to want what’s best for them, not necessarily what pleases them and makes them happy, but what is ultimately good for them.
Defending the truth also requires strength of the will. Society will not always be approving of what is right, and disapproving of what is wrong. Regardless of mainstream ideas, right and wrong will never change. Wrong does not suddenly become right even if everyone in the world thinks so. Standing up for what is right isn’t easy, especially because of cancel culture. Even the slightest expression of ideas contrary to what is mainstream can get a person ostracized. However, this doesn’t mean that we should give in. The only thing that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Those who know the truth have the duty to help others come to it. Giving into fear would mean abandoning responsibility, giving into the prevalence of falsity, and ultimately, the prevalence of evil. If we truly want to do what is right, we should stand our ground.
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If we truly want to love and support someone, we must first ask ourselves, “What are we basing our love and support on?” Our love and support for others should not be based on your opinions, my beliefs, his thoughts, or her feelings, but solely on the truth. In order to stand up for the truth, we must be loving enough to risk sharing it with others. As the famous saying goes, “The truth hurts.” Even if some people may be offended by the truth, a loving person would still stand up for it because rejecting it is permitting falsity, which is ultimately bad for everyone, and is therefore not an act of love. Standing up for the truth is not without risk, but overcoming risk is ultimately an act of love.
Article by Anton Betia June 21, 2022
Among these recurring problems are: Lazy members It is an underground fact that many organizations in UA&P suffer from the problem of low member participation, especially when it comes to project execution.
Despite the pandemic and its inherent challenges, many organizations around the university have still managed to make ends meet and fulfill their intended advocacies for the community and country at large. That being said, not everyone feels the same way about the direction some of these orgs are going. The reality is, many UA&P orgs are suffering from similar problems—many of which aren’t spoken about publicly or directly for fear of other people’s judgment.
Org problems that no one really talks about
Although this can be caused by multiple factors such as poor leadership, inherent interpersonal laziness, or inequitable working conditions, an aspect that orgs should look into is their human resource standards and recruitment policies. While having a large quantity of members in an organization looks good on paper, the question then arises: do these members actually contribute to the org? An observable trend, especially for the newer orgs or baby orgs, is that the recruitment standards are often set so low to the point where anyone who applies gets instant membership. This results in an organization’s population becoming saturated with unproductive members.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,” Dr. Seuss said, “nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” If we want to help others, improve society, and make the world a better place, we must become defenders of the truth. Standing up for the truth means loving others enough to be honest with them even if it’s difficult. It requires bravery, for there are many who could get offended by the truth. Even so, we must stand our ground, for J.R.R. Tolkien once said, “Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, feel free to send me an email at adrianamolo@uapasia!
“I don’t wanna name who but in our org, the ones at the very top often have favoritism. No offense, but one of our finance people was only placed in his position because he was our secretary’s best friend. He has no idea how to manage finance, and during our project last year, sobrang sabog,” an anonymous finance officer states
In order for a project or organization to succeed, the right person must always be assigned to the job they are most effective at, and all members must be given the chance to suggest ideas and inputs
“Back then, me and my friends created a project proposal We poured so much time and energy into it, since we wanted to do a project that has never been done before. Upon submission, we were saddened to find out that our executive board already had other plans and selected a different project beforehand without us knowing. This was unfair because we never got to defend ours properly, even though we were promised we could,” an anonymous org HR officer states, referencing their junked proposal. In conclusion Org life in UA&P can be incredibly fun; it’s an experience where one can meet amazing people and hone important skills. In order to safeguard the integrity of these meaningful experiences for the future generation of Dragons, organization leaders must face facts and then take the steps necessary to fix the aforementioned challenges. A considerable number of students have already left their organizations due to these problems and will continue doing so if the situation continues. Although it might be scary, constructive criticism is a vital part of improving organizational performance, and org members should not be afraid of voicing out their concerns to their higher ups. Communication isn’t just about making the other party listen to what you say, it’s more about making them understand what you mean. This is incredibly important now, since face to face classes are just on the horizon, and the increasing number of on campus visitors at UA&P indicates that student life will soon go back to the way it was before.
“Super dami talagang tamad dito. I don’t even know why they joined this org if they don’t even have plans of helping out,” an anonymous org Vice President said. “This is why I quit [that org]. There are too many lazy people and it’s contagious,” an anonymous org ex member stated in response. “Why do you see the same faces acting as hosts and project heads? The answer is simple there are only a select few people willing to step up for this org. Kakadepress diba? I told HR to up their standards before, and I even proposed a recruitment standard reform. They never listen to me,” an anonymous org project head states Too much marketing, not enough impact Although it paints a picture of relevance and impact, it is a sad truth that having a well executed DP blast or social media campaign does not always equate to a real and tangible project impact. A healthy organization has members that are motivated by the genuine desire to help other people, and leave a positive mark on the community. Here’s what some people had to say about this issue: “Dati kasi bro sumali kami sa isang new event. Na-excite kami kasi ang ganda ng mechanics and everything, pero yung event mismo sobrang mismanaged… halatang they were unprepared, tas puro marketing lang ginawa nila,” an anonymous student said, citing his experience joining a competition held by a UA&P org. “I find it funny how some of our members only appear when they want to run for the board. During projects? Nope, nowhere to be found sila. Just because you have many supporters or friends doesn’t mean you are credible,” an anonymous org member exclaims with frustration. “Our marketing department is extremely talented and excellent at what they do. I just hope everything else is worthy of the badging we put out there,” an ex org member says. Nepotism, favoritism and creative bureaucracy
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Interorganizational communication is the key to effective project execution, and it requires every member to have a voice. Sometimes, however, agenda pushers get their way.
Do you have problems in your org, and want to speak out about your experiences? Please let me know. anthony.betia@uap.asia
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“Our org has an exec board, but they never really listen to us. When we complain, all they say is thank you for your suggestion and stuff like that,” a newly inducted org member states, in reference to her experience attempting to voice out an important concern.
If you have difficulty focusing on your work, you may try the Pomodoro technique, where you divide your workday into twenty five minute chunks separated by five minute breaks. There are many other ways to study. You can read this article to find the perfect study technique for you.
If you have math subjects for the upcoming school year, consider using your old notebooks as a scratch book where you write down solutions and such. If you're the type of student who needs to write during class time, this scratch book will also help you save paper and recycle your notebooks. With a scratch book, you can also try the blurting technique that entails skimming a textbook or exam outline, then writing down what you recall or understand.
July 20, 2022
On a smaller scale, you can plan your study sessions weekly by following the suggested schedule of your class syllabus, prioritizing necessary homework and projects, taking note of your professors' consultation hours, and having a buffer time if things fall behind schedule. Remember to set aside time during the week, preferably on the weekend to plan your weekly schedule. Practice time blocking Time blocking is a time management method in which one block represents one activity you will be doing throughout a particular time frame. Time blocking will help you prioritize urgent activities and effectively allocate your time despite juggling multiple responsibilities.
Getting through the next academic year
It can help you practice deep focus, accomplish menial tasks, and gain a comprehensive insight into how you've been spending your day. Also, set some time for non work tasks, like meals, workouts, hobbies, and leisure to keep the balance. Reflect and try different study techniques To prepare for the next school year, reflect and explore new study techniques that may help improve your grades. You can find out your learning style by taking this quiz, or you may surf the internet for more information. After reflecting and discovering what kind of learner you are, try various techniques to enhance your study methods. The flashcard method is a fun and productive way to study and retain information, especially when used correctly. Making your own tests is also a great way to review your material and prepare for upcoming exams. Websites like Quizlet can help you create quizzes and flashcards for various subjects. If you're a visual learner, you can try mind mapping, where you visually organize information through a diagram.
Recycle your old notebooks
Article by Luzy Dayrit
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According to Phineas and Ferb, "there's 104 days of summer vacation." But it's a lie! We at UA&P only have 45 to 60 days of summer break and, of course, we all want to use this time wisely. Whether you spend your summer catching up on sleep, going to different places, or hanging out with friends and family, preparing for the next academic year wouldn't hurt. Planning your school year We all have different ways on how we plan our day. Some use digital apps like Google Calendar and Notion, while others might prefer the traditional way like writing a to do list or journaling Either way, both can help you analyze how you'll spend your time. For a more extensive scope, you can access the UA&P Academic Calendar for 2022 2023 to plan your schedule for study sessions, note revisions, semestral examination, leisure days, and outings
You can create your very own scratch book however you want. If you don t know how, I suggest compiling the pages from your old notebooks, binding them together using a puncher and a fastener, and voila! You have yourself a scratch book to help you in your studies. Have a place to store your physical homework UA&P has announced that it will implement blended learning for the school year 2022-2023. Thus, passing physical homework may be adapted. Keeping your assignment in a clear folder or envelope will help you organize it and keep it easily accessible; this will also help you avoid getting your homework crumpled and misplacing it in your bag. Set up a LinkedIn profile What is LinkedIn? It is an app known as the world's largest professional network on the internet. LinkedIn can assist you in connecting with professionals in your field, finding employment or internship, and learning the skills necessary for your career. College students use LinkedIn to build a credible web profile that could help them develop their future professions. The application can send you job alerts for specific companies, industries, and job titles, so you'll never miss out on opportunities. LinkedIn also helps students establish their professional side, which would allow companies to find them. LinkedIn can also help you research your prospective employers or the company you would like to work for by searching for their profiles; this may even help you in your job interview. If you re wondering, how do I set up a good LinkedIn account? Try reading this article by Valerie Mekki. Remember to do your own research too. Sam Altman once said, "Hard work compounds like interest, and the earlier you do it, the more time you have for the benefits to pay off." So, the next time you're bored out of your wits in summer, try preparing for the next academic year. Doing the work now rather than later will help you more efficiently manage days that don't go accordingly.
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