The Magnificat: "Padayon: Youth in Action" by The Magnificat

Sexual Misconduct: Let’s Talk About It by Tricia Alcantara

Ateneo High School Beginning in the 1970’s, Republican politician Roy Moore had sexual contact with multiple underaged girls, with this information not made public until decades after. Tina Johnson, one of his accusers, said in an interview regarding the topic, “Until we can talk about it and we can come out and talk about it, it’s never going to change.”. While statistics say that only 25% of women have experienced work-related sexual harassment, the numbers only take into account what was reported, leaving inaccurate figures that do not reflect the [true] magnitude of the phenomenon. In most circumstances, sexual harassment goes unreported for the simple reason that the victims were afraid of the backlash they could have received if they were to report. Sexual harassment backlash is something to be feared amongst women, due to a structural oppression that has managed to shift the blame from the attacker to the victim. In most cases, women are given the responsibility to ensure their own safety, avoiding walks at night and dressing conservatively. When they are harassed, they are probed endlessly on what they were wearing or how they were behaving, until they are ultimately considered at fault. A case similar to Moore’s scandal has emerged in recent times that has gained more controversy internationally. The wave of accusations made against high profile director Harvey Weinstein ignited a global movement that empowered and inspired many to come forward with their own experiences of sexual harassment.

At the beginning of October, multiple women, including Ashley Judd, Cara Delevigne, and Lupita Nyong’o, came forward with accusations against Harvey Weinstein, detailing their encounters with the director wherein he offered to help their careers in exchange for sexual favors. Since this, more than 34 prominent male figures have been revealed to be sexual predators, more often taking advantage of their position of power to coerce their subordinates into performing sexual acts. These include Walt Disney and Pixar head John Lasseter, comedian/producer Louis C.K., Gossip Girl cast member Ed Westwick, and American Beauty star Kevin Spacey. Due to the large amount of accusations that have accumulated in the short span of time succeeding the claims made against Weinstein, this social phenomenon that flooded the internet was dubbed The Weinstein Effect, referring to the influx of sexual assault allegations made against prominent figures. Online spectators were also able to participate in the discussion through the creation and use of a hashtag that was brought into circulation by actress Alyssa Milano. #MeToo facilitated an international discourse about the prevalence of sexual harassment that, more often than not, goes unreported.With #MeToo, people were able to offer their support to those who have experienced being [sexually] harassed, and were able to receive support as well as they shared their stories. It gave those who felt as though they had no voice a platform for them to come forward and make their [story] [stories] known. There have been many instances in the past where the system did not do its part in bringing justice to those who have been wronged, where the brave women who stepped forward with their stories were given little to no help and even ridiculed. After years of silence so as not to get blamed for their situation, these women have decided to take matters into their own hands.

ast March 13, 2018, the Austrian Embassy in Manila in par tnership with the Ateneo European Studies Prog ram launched the exhibits “CALLIOPE Austria: Women in Society, Culture and Sciences” and “PAMANA: Pioneering Pinays of the 20th Centur y” with a talk on Women in Diplomacy by Her Excellency, Ambassador of the Re public of Austria to the Philippines Bita Rasoulian at the Faber Hall, Loyola School of Social Sciences.

WOMEN in D I P L O M A C Y

by Frans Regala

Ateneo High School

After being brief ly introduced by Dr. Paderon of the European Studies, Her Excellency beg an by addressing her speech to, “future leaders, both men and women.” She focused on points about Gender Equality, Gender Diversity and a number of other issues concer ning women, especially those in the diplomatic field.

“It’s not about Feminism, it’s about Human Rights.” H.E. Rasoulian emphasized that the fight for Gender Equality still continues in society today. She then mentioned her personal experience first entering the Austrian Embassy in what was once an “all boys network.” She then proceeded to point out that nowadays, ever since the first few female foreign ministers emerg ed in the late 90s to the early 2000s, the diplomatic realm has since taken a more prog ressive stance. However, in spite of numerical parity being achieved, qualitative parity has yet to be addressed. Quoting philosophers Aristotle and Confucius on how, “the state should be g over ned by men,” she proceeded to encourag e the audience to debunk such stereotypes. She then stated that in her experience as a diplomat, she knew she had much to offer so she did. She embraced her femininity despite being a point of criticism on how it is not a mark of seriousness.

“Women and men are dif ferent, and that is good.” H.E Rasoulian pointed out that “Gender Diversity gives it more,” in ter ms of creativity, uniqueness and even perspective. She told audience that, for instance, women had the capacity to break bar riers through traversing for mal and infor mal divide. She commended women, especially diplomats, on their eag er ness to help through being more understanding and exercising extreme patience especially when it came to neg otiations. Such eag er ness was also helpful in communicating with locals of various countries, ultimately allowing different problems to be resolved at the root and not just through a g over nmental perspective.

Apar t from eag er ness and patience, she also applauded women for being the active voice of other women especially the marginalized. She stated how women are more likely to bring up issues concer ning other women to the ag enda. She called them “role models” who are capable of tapping into the whole of society.

“Traditions are still restrictive.” On women in the diplomatic realm, she cited cer tain arguments ag ainst the practice. Case in point, one of the most popular rebuttals is that women cannot ser ve in places that are unsafe. She addressed this by stressing that, “You are seen first as someone re presenting your countr y and second as a woman.” Aside from this exists the argument that women cannot g o to more conser vative areas which she rebutted by citing various female ministers, both cur rent and past who have actually owned up to the challeng e. On the other hand, arguments on family and more personal issues also put women in a backseat. However, she stated her experience of being able to work around these challeng es and in the end, conquer them. Diplomacy posses a hug e challeng e on family and career. She added, however, that it is “ver y difficult but doable.” Fur ther more, H.E told audience that addressing such challeng es involved a lot of sacrifice and compromise on her par t and on her husband’s par t, but because she ke pt her children’s priorities first, she was able to manag e and still continues to manag e to this day.

“We humans have evolved. But our ideas of Gender have not.” Quoting feminist writer Chimamanda Ng ozi Adichie, H.E. Rosalyn ended her speech once ag ain calling out to the members of the audience to concrete action. She reemphasized that “women in diplomacy is no long er an option.” Moreover, she reminded them on how women cannot win the fight ag ainst Gender Inequality alone, but rather through mutual effor ts among all g enders toward countering the societal imbalance. T he open for um then proceeded followed by the for mal ribbon-cutting at the Rizal Librar y for the respective exhibits. PHOTO CREDIT H.R. Bita Rasoulian @ bitarasoulian

H.R. BITA RASOULIAN

Philippine Ambassador of the Republic of Austria

FREEDOM a line drawn in concrete OF THE PRESS by Raf ael Ostrea Ateneo High School

he impor tance of having honest and reliable media and infor mation sources has been highlighted throughout the past two years, with much controversy arising over Inter net personality Mocha Uson’s use of social media to spread news of questionable veracity during the 2016 election campaign period and subsequently incumbent President Rodrig o Duter te’s presidential ter m. T he increased amount of “fake news”, as the popular ter m calls it, being propag ated by cer tain notable personalities and g roups continues to plague the Philippines only highlights how integ ral inde pendent, honest news ag encies are to moder n society. T his issue has only been emphasized in the past year, with the Philippine Securities and Exchang e Commission, or SEC, r uling to have Rappler, a web-based news ag ency known to be vocal in its criticism of the cur rent g over nment especially with reg ards to topics such as the infamous extrajudicial killings that have become prevalent in the past two years, shut down. T he SEC claimed that Rappler operating as a Philippine news ag ency was unconstitutional as it received funding coming from the foreign Omidyar network (CNN 2018). However, this claim has been strongly contested by Rappler, with lawyer Francis Lim stating that the r uling g oes ag ainst the precedent set by the case of Gamboa vs. Teves in 2011, where it was stated that the ‘control’ of the company is based on the composition of the Board of Directors (Rappler 2018). T he r uling of the SEC, which was based on how foreigners had invested in Rappler, therefore, g oes ag ainst this precedent, as Rappler’s Board of Directors is composed of Filipino citizens.

T his, however, was not the only action taken by the g over nment ag ainst Rappler. Last Febr uar y 20, Rappler re por ter Pia Ranada was banned from entering Malacanang Palace, which she lear ned of when she attempted to attend the press briefing of Presidential Spokesperson Har r y Roque. W hen told of this, she asked the guard stationed there questions reg arding who g ave the order to bar her from entering the Palace and how long the ban would last, among others. To the latter question, she received no response (Rappler 2018b). One day later, Ranada stated that she had been infor med that she would no long er be allowed to enter the entire g rounds of Malacanang (ABS-CBN 2018). President Duter te and cer tain other members of the cur rent administration justify their actions ag ainst Rappler by claiming it sensationalizes and misre presents events and that it is a propag ator of fake news.

However, these accusations call the lack of action taken ag ainst Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) assistant secretar y Mocha Uson, who has been known to propag ate objectively false facts through her social media pag es, into question. For example, she claimed in a post that a young girl had been killed by a dr ug addict and questioned why human rights activists and the Commission on Human Rights in par ticular had not commented on it. However, the young girl in question was in fact a nine year-old Brazilian that had been raped and murdered in 2014 (Inquirer). In spite of this eg regious incident, among others, no action has been taken by the Duter te administration ag ainst her. T his inconsistency has not g one unnoticed par ticularly by Rappler itself. Rappler claims that the alleg ations of falsifying infor mation and foreign ownership and the actions the g over nment has taken ag ainst it are an attempt to silence a news ag ency that has been one of the cur rent administration’s vocal critics. According to Rappler, it is an attack on free speech and freedom of the press. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are vital in moder n society, as it is through these channels that the actions of g over nments can be objectively discussed and the wrongdoings of g over nments can be brought to light.

It is through these freedoms that a society protects its members in the case of an abusive and cor r upt administration. T hrough these freedoms, the marginalized and victimized are g ranted a voice with which they can share their stories and call for chang e. A US Senator from the period of the United States Civil War, Carl Schurz, once g ave a statement that is also highly applicable to moder n Filipino society: “My countr y, right or wrong; if right, to be ke pt right; and if wrong, to be set right.” (Water town 2018). It is through freedom of the press and free speech that we know if our countr y is in the wrong. It is through these freedoms that we can begin to set our countr y right.

COUNTERING FAKE NEWS by Adelle Tapia

Ateneo High School

hese days, discer ning what is real from what is fake has proven to be a challeng e. In a world where “alter native facts” and fake news persist[s], both the traditional and online space by which Filipinos acquire and exchang e infor mation are[is] severely threatened.

During the talk conducted at the Ateneo de Manila Senior High School on November 22 with Bea Cupin, a multimedia re por ter for social news network Rappler, she expressed that fake news is propag anda that masquerades as news, as “a deliberate attempt to mislead”. For all its democratizing prowess, the countr y is saturated with so much infor mation that it has become difficult to distinguish which news is factual and objective. A notable example includes filipinewsph.com, which, after being taken down after being f lag g ed as a fake news website by the Center for Media Freedom Responsibility, has been re placed by another website with a similar name, filipinews.info. Despite their disclaimer about making “no re presentation, guarantees, or affir mation with reg ards to the precision, cur rency, or completeness of the substance contain in this website or any sites connected to this site,” the way citizens will constr ue the infor mation presents a real threat because they call themselves a news site. Apar t from this, fake news website clones exist in order to appear legitimate; that is, it’s not enough to focus merely on content, but where and how these ar ticles circulate. T his ref lects the characteristic of fake news websites, which can mor ph as needed or move to other URLs, de pending on whether they have been tag g ed or blocked as sources of fake news. According to “A Field Guide to Fake News,” a collaboration of Public Data Lab and First Draft, “successful fake news stories always appear on several webpag es.” T his is why websites like classifiedtrends. net, leaknewsph.com, and definitelyfilipino.com thrive, because fake news is often become viral through pag es that disseminate clickbait content.

W hat is the actual threat of fake news to the countr y? T he way citizens lear n to for m opinions is through the news, so this issue g oes far beyond news and media literacy and implicates the basic duties of g ood citizenship. Fake news damag es the tr ust founded upon fellow citizens, public institutions, and most notably,

news sources which are actually reliable. With little accountability from the pur veyors of fake news, the g over nment has tried to inter vene by proposing bills ag ainst the proliferation of misleading news and fake infor mation. However, recent hearings on fake news initiated by the Senate committee on public infor mation and mass media have proven to pose yet another threat, especially ag ainst inaccurate ar ticles by otherwise honest and responsible jour nalists. W hen jour nalists r ush to publish a stor y first, they are bound to make mistakes, which are not necessarily malicious. As Cupin emphasized, “Jour nalists g et it wrong too, especially when they are limited to facts that are given at the moment.” Unless the definition of the ter m fake news in Senate Bill No. 1492 is made clear and specific, it may be used to punish jour nalists for their honest mistakes. Knowing this, Cupin sug g ests ways to counter fake news: one is to always fact-check and ensure that at least three re putable sources say the same thing about a specific issue, another is to lear n to make well-infor med judgments based on what is being presented, and lastly, is to be more aware of the threats of fake news.

INTERNET ANONYMITY and the rise of the bully who cannot be named by Niña Isabel C. Diño Ateneo High School

Since the rise of the Internet in the late 1980s, it has only evolved rapidly into a platform that has become fundamental to the life of the ordinary citizen. In status quo, the role of the Internet has shifted from serving as a medium for quick communication and resource gathering to one that is used to connect with people from any place in the world. Individuals have become entrenched in the Internet, especially with the growing number of social networking sites that allow people to communicate with one another. However, not every Internet user has a revealed identity behind his icon on the computer screen. Online anonymity arose from the need to protect one’s privacy and security, particularly in the potentially sinister environment of the Internet that was brought about by the vastness of its reach worldwide. Though it succeeds in keeping one’s identity a secret, can anonymity conversely become a tool to secretly wreak havoc in the online community with a single click? Online anonymity is primarily manifested in social networking sites that are quickly gaining popularity. Ask.fm, for instance, a social media app with over 60 million users, enables registered users to ask questions to different accounts anonymously. Though initially utilized to get to know more about a person, Ask.fm has become plagued with anonymous questions that are vile, repugnant, and intended to victimize individual persons. The alarming repercussions of online anonymity were brought to light with the suicide of fourteen-year-old girl Hannah Smith, who, upon receiving a flurry of hateful messages and brutal insults in Ask.fm, hung herself in her bedroom in 2013. This tragic incident begs the question: does the thrill of receiving anonymous messages compensate for the potential risks that one will be exposed to? Hannah Smith was not the only victim of the cruelty that so easily becomes a norm behind computer screens. On a day-to-day basis, the networks that were established to aid individuals in connecting with one another are transformed into playgrounds for bullies without names and faces to emerge.

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