EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Cesar Carlos Heyrosa Associate Editor (Internal Affairs) Paulie Yap Associate Editor (External Affairs) Theresa Kate Palompon Managing Editor for Administration Sofia Isabel Tajos Head of Writing Department Kyn Noel Pestaño Senior Correspondents Laura Posadas and Regie Vocales News Editor - Talamban Campus Dave Carl Bernasibo News Editor - Downtown and South Campus Louisa Concepcion Carredo Features Editor and Literary Editor Paolo Perez Art Director Pamela Urbiztondo
The Progressive Student Publication of the University of San Carlos
UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS Cebu City, Cebu Philippines 6000 VOLUME XXIX No. 14 DECEMBER 2018
EDITORIAL STAFF Operations DEPUTY FINANCE OFFICER Viktor Lequin STAFF SECRETARY Blaise Pancho ONLINE MANAGING EDITORS Jet Mangubat and Christine Diaz ASSISTANT ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR WEB ADMINISTRATOR Julius John Puno WEBSITE DEVELOPER Joshua Tahanlangit, Cathy Aldiano, Marietoni Louise Codeniera DIRECTOR FOR CIRCULATION AND STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT Kerstein Nicole Labay Writing Department NEWS BUREAU WRITERS Faith Chloe Bendanillo, Mary Elizah Castillo, Januar Junior Aguja, Brynch Bonachita, Kim Libarnes, Bernardo Mitra, Maria Consuelo Pacilan, Jel Pamela Pagulong, Abygale Velasquez ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Zachels Nuñeza, Vince Marc Padao, Kate Jacinth Visorro Art Department LAYOUT SUPERVISOR Giann Mikhael Alipar ASSISTANT LAYOUT SUPERVISOR Anton Elijah Lin LAYOUT ARTISTS Janrick Carl Romales, Riza Mae Colon, April Catherine Zafra, Aubrey Joy Morales, Julia Jubac, Janielle Therese Lacandalo, Jose Preben Layola SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Francis Ian Palanca GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Drix Lloyd Ponteres, Diane Therese Diana HEAD ILLUSTRATOR Eduard Jude Jamolin ILLUSTRATORS Phoemela delos Santos, Christ Ian Palomares, Monna Lou Maldo, Christine Mae Alferan, Philip Luke Manghihilot, Sabrina Joyce Tamayo, Charlene Grace Tan (Contributor) HEAD PHOTOJOURNALIST Keith Raymier Ayuman ASSISTANT HEAD PHOTOJOURNALIST Ronald Jufrey Milan PHOTOJOURNALISTS Jessa Marie Pedrola, Lance Matthew Pahang, Garel Sison, Franco Rolito Hermosilla, Jason Matthew Lim Jhessa Marie Ugdamina, Joanne Marie Bolo, Dodds Marvin Campomanes, Christian Rey Caracena, Vanessa Mae Leuterio HEAD VIDEOGRAPHER Robert Michael Lim ASSISTANT HEAD VIDEOGRAPHER Frank Go CINEMATOGRAPHERS Ian Llamera, Christian Paul Naparota, Joseph Michael Tan, Jack Ponpon, Annikka Felicitty Balaga, Maureen Mantos, Michael Vince Paca, Irie Aldana VIDEO EDITORS Daniel Johns Masilang, Keandrei Andrade, Isabella Andrei Orbiso, Julia Toledo
THE COVER Art is a labyrinth — multiple paths, multiple intents, multiple forms. As one gets lost traversing the path of art throughout the years, we see how it has helped shape multiple facets of our culture, our tomorrows and our lives as a whole Words by Cesar Carlos Heyrosa Art Direction and Cover by Pamela Urbiztondo
HOW TO REACH US LETTERS TO THE EDITOR, with the writer’s name, e-mail address and contact number, should be e-mailed to todayscarolinianusc@gmail.com. Letters may be edited for reasons of space and clarity. © 2018. TODAY’S CAROLINIAN All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is strictly prohibited. Today’s Carolinian publishes one to two issues per academic year. Today’s Carolinian may also publish occasional extra issues. An electronic version (PDF Format) of every publication is available in the Today’s Carolinian website.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS stories LIT1101 Spoken Word Poetry When Passion Doesn’t Pay Unforgotten: How Cult Films Shape Pop Culture The World Could Always Use More Heroes Under Fire, Under Pressure: Hollywood’s Casting Glitches Gem Vox Populi The Art Struggle: Of Colony And Post-Colony Philippine MediaCrity USC-TC FOOD MAP When Disaster Strikes Misplaced Artists Heavy Metal Of Political Intramurals and Dynasties Temple of the Light Nostalgia Food for the Thought 20 Visayan Albums You Should Hear Bedtime Stories and Other Tragedies
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videos To watch these videos, open Facebook’s QR code scanner and scan the QR codes found in each page.
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EDITOR’S NOTE
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EDITOR’S NOTE
It begins with an idea on beauty. From this idea, it is given form. Then from form, function. This is the birth of art. It is the careful stroke of a paintbrush. It is the paper’s thirst for ink. Throughout history, art has taken on many forms as a sociopolitical commentary — from Picasso’s Guernica to Orwell’s Animal Farm, from Ut’s The Terror of War to Moore and Gibbons’s Watchmen, from The Rolling Stones’ Sympathy for the Devil to something as recent as Tarrog’s Goyo. Art is a reflection of the human condition that is parcelled into a metaphor. It is the slow dry of a negative. It is the pulsing of a note. Even art for the sake of art itself shows us aspects of humanity that are worthy of fascination. Pop songs about hackneyed messages of love and heartbreak show us that music possesses the power to bring together a collective. Objects as simple as soup cans can be made enthralling under the hands of artists. Personal significances are imposed upon otherwise meaningless canvases. It is the scene that defines a film. It is the spice that flavors the recipe. When we distance ourselves from this traditional meaning of art, we can still see its impact. It takes an artful mind to convince someone to buy a product, to translate scientific principles into working engines, or even to stage revolutions and conquer lands. Even our mundane day-to-day interactions require art — the food that sustains us, the methods that help in understanding a lesson better, the small talk that kills time. It is the laws of science bent for our needs. It is the way that scales are tipped to win wars. Art has indeed taken a multitude of forms, but it still manages to awaken inspiration within us – a sense of beauty, immortality, godhood, in an otherwise uncaring world. However, in the ubiquity of art, we choose to overlook these moments of splendor in favor of the mundane and the superficial, and in doing so, may have very well overlooked how it is to be human. It is the order amidst chaos. It is the chaos amidst order. Truly, what is man? What is beauty? What is art? TC
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FEATURE
Komas
As the Bible once said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” That never really made sense to me until I learned about the art of spoken word poetry. I have always confined my heart’s voices within the pages of my notebook, never to be seen by others until they are read from the pages. I have struggled, and am still struggling, to learn the intricate art of spoken word poetry, but let me share what knowledge I have.
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FEATURE
Always speak about love. Politics? Social issues? Life stories? Depression? Those are mediocre topics. When writing spoken word poetry, always appeal to what the audience likes, never to what you really want to convey. Spoken word, like all other art forms, exists only for the people to appreciate the artist, never for the artist to express himself. So go, tell them for the tenth time how your nonexistent girlfriend broke your heart. They’ll love it.
Take “inspiration” from famous poets. You haven’t written a piece yet, but you want to perform in front so badly? No problem! A quick YouTube search will go a long way. Go to the search bar and type in “spoken word poetry”, look for a piece that isn’t so famous — shoot for one with less than 10,000 views — and change a couple of words around, adapt it to fit “your” life’s “experiences”, and run it through a plagiarism checker. The next thing you want to do is to go to some local coffee shop that claims to support the art but is slowly killing it and get on that stage and perform that piece like you wrote it. Which, technically, you did! Technically. You go, girl! Or man, whatever.
Keep yourself grounded. And by that, I mean never go out and explore different ways of delivering your poems. Stick to the same tempo and rhythm, never dare to experiment on different ways to flow your emotions out, because as I said, spoken word poetry is never about the artist, it’s about the audience. No one really cares about you once you get off that mic.
Milk the cow. If you’ve chosen love or any other topic as your niche, make sure to squeeze every ounce of juice out of it. By that, I mean you should always speak about that one topic in all of your pieces. It doesn’t really matter anyway, people will still like and share it. Remember: It is never about self-expression. It’s always about the “aww” and “ooh” of the audience whenever you say something along the lines of, “She broke my heart but I chose to stay. She left me but still I waited.”
Do not let others tell you what to do. Spoken word poetry is an art and art is subjective. Do not listen to whatever anyone tells you. Constructive criticism is a lie. No one has the right to tell you what to do to your own art, no matter how detrimental or derogatory for the art form it may be. Who knows, you might become the Picasso of poetry — loved by the masses, hated by the critics.
Look for inspiration from other poets. As Newton once said, “I have seen the stars because I stood on the shoulder of giants,” or something along those lines. The point is, every great person starts off from the ideas of other great people, and that is what you should do, should you want to be a great poet. Some great poets I can recommend are Neil Jed Castro, Prince Umpad and the ever famous Lang Leav along with the ever imaginary Michael Faudet. Juan Miguel Severo? I’m not so sure about that guy, but I think with a little more oomph, he can be on par with those two. TC
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LITERARY
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LITERARY
When Passion
DOESN’T PAY Maria Consuelo Pacilan
Illustration by Christ Ian Palomares The office space was cramped, about the size of an average classroom. There were no windows and the temperature was numbingly cold. The walls were white and cubicles that separated each employee were a soft blue. I looked down at my short fingernails as I anxiously chipped off the paint of the desk to my right.
What the hell? What kind of BPO company doesn’t have a working connection?
The time was 10:11 a.m.
I exited the building and waited on the curb. Beads of sweat dripped down my forehead as I attempted to hail a passing jeepney. Finally, one stopped in front of me and I clumsily climbed up the vehicle with my stilettos still on. The passengers looked at me funny but I ignored them, hooked my earphones on, and wondered to myself if I would even tell mom about the events that transpired during the interview.
Six job applicants, including myself, randomly scattered ourselves in rickety office chairs across the room. I looked around me. The girl to my left wore chunky boots, a funky top, and a black skirt. She accessorized her gothic ensemble with a jarring silver necklace and thick bangles. She must have been in her early twenties. “She doesn’t look dressed for the job,” I thought to myself. My train of thought was interrupted when I heard two women giggling across the room. Both were casually dressed in sneakers and shirts. Also in their early twenties, from the looks of it. It seemed as though they were already getting along. In another corner of the room were the two remaining applicants, both young men, equally preoccupied scrolling up and down their devices. The manager had agreed to meet us for an interview at 9:30 a.m. but he was nowhere to be found. An older employee explained to us that the manager was running late because he had just attended a conference last night and had only arrived back in town this morning. 10:20 a.m. “Good morning! Sorry I’m late.” A man, whom I assumed was the manager, swung the door open and came in wearing an olive green bomber jacket, a white shirt and ripped denim biker shorts. He looked the part of Robin Padilla back in his heyday only with a fresh bowl cut. He even wore a silver chain round his neck while the multiple rings on his fingers glistened as he held a motorcycle helmet in one hand. And there I was, a jaded unemployed 30-year-old woman dressed in a white blouse, a blazer, slacks and stilettos for what I thought would be a decent and formal interview, stuck in the middle of these enthusiastic twenty somethings. Frankly, I knew I had no place in this crappy, underpaying office job. I just needed something to tide me over until my next big project. “Guys, I’m sorry to inform you that the internet for the entire building is down. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it’ll be back up in a few days. You’ll just have to return for another appointment then,” announced Robin Padilla’s impersonator.
After making us wait for nearly an hour, he simply sent us off and told us he’d send us a message as soon as the connection was fixed.
“When have you last been to church?” were the first words mom greeted me with when I got home. I was the youngest daughter so it didn’t really make a difference that I was already thirty. Mom still treated me like a teenager. “Last week.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it’d nearly been a year. “You’ve had so much bad karma since you stopped attending mass regularly,” she pointed out. When I was much younger, I used to go to mass with my mom on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays each week. I’d even complete the nine-day novena masses. But then, things happened. There wasn’t one particular traumatizing life event that prompted my belief to deteriorate. It was a slow process. I had gradually amassed multiple realizations from different perspectives after meeting more people. Some people lived in utter excess while others had so much taken from them and I just couldn’t make peace with the idea of blindly justifying this upsetting reality with “God’s will”. I wasn’t in the mood to argue, so I chose to ignore her. I approached my dad, and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. Apart from hellos and goodbyes, I don’t remember the last time I actually had a conversation with him. I walked toward the kitchen and the framed graduation photos of both my siblings plastered on the wall stung me sharply. Even I had a place on the wall. Beside my siblings’ diplomas were my medals gleaming gold, silver, and bronze. Once upon a time, I was an exemplary student. Even I used to be certain I’d amount to something. All my family and friends thought I’d be an attorney. It was the more straightforward path to success. I realized a little late that filmmaking was what I actually wanted to do with my life. I had to teach myself and start from scratch. It was tough having everyone around me second-guess my decisions, but sometimes you just know. This was what I wanted to do for
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LITERARY
the rest of my life. I wanted to make people feel things through moving pictures. I just wasn’t there yet.
done. My life was in shambles. At the very least, I might as well look put together.
Today, I occupy myself working odd jobs and dreaming up passion projects, burning through my bank account and endlessly hoping the next one could launch me to success.
I was running late but before I left, I was tempted to stalk him one last time. Crap.
Still, I preach to my friends about pursuing their passions. Even as I lived from paycheck to paycheck, I tell them I’m happy. Even as I still lived with my parents and didn’t have a partner, I insist that I’m content, I’m fulfilled. “I’m too busy for marriage,” I’d always repeat. But deep down, I longed to make them envious, envious of me who got to work on her own terms whenever, wherever. I wanted to see them miserable in their nine-to-fives so I could justify the chances I took, to give myself some semblance of hope that pursuing passion over job stability would eventually pay off for me. I was living the starving artist trope, and boy, it wasn’t glamorous. It was bad.
He had titles before AND after his name. We probably matched since I might have slightly exaggerated the qualifications in my profile. I was a desperate old maid who had reduced herself to catfishing strangers online. I ran out the door before I could change my mind. This was my chance. I’d finally have a plus one. I walked towards the gate trying desperately to ignore the lump that had formed in my throat. Before I knew it, streaks of mascara had now ruined the make-up that took me an hour to finish. I ran back inside and texted him. “Sorry, not tonight. Maybe next time.”
“How was your interview?” mom asked. “I got the job,” I lied. I couldn’t give her the satisfaction of telling me “I told you so.”
I slammed my bedroom door and collapsed on the pile of clothes on my bed. I put my hand over my mouth to muffle my own sobs. How pathetic. It probably wasn’t even an hour when I woke up after I heard buzzing on my phone. My eyelids felt heavy but I grabbed my phone anyway.
6:15 p.m. 8:57 p.m. Ping! “I’ll meet you at 8.”
“The connection has been fixed. Please reply with a YES or NO if you are still interested in rescheduling an appointment for another interview. We look forward to your speedy response.”
It was my Tinder match. “YES.” I hit send. I rushed to take a shower and got dressed. Should I wear a dress? Heels? Or should I opt to keep it casual? A pile of clothes had formed a mountain on my bed. It took me an hour just to get my make-up
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I’ll be sure to wear a graphic tee next time. TC
TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
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Photograph by Ronald Jufrey Milan
“What a weary time those years were — to have the desire and the need to live but not the ability.” — Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye
FEATURE
How Cult Films Shape Pop Culture Paolo Perez
Photo Collage by Giann Mikhael Alipar
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FEATURE
With a slew of up-and-coming talented actors and writers bringing diversity and refreshing new concepts to the silver screen, the masses’ tastes in cinema have grown more and more demanding. Blockbusters may rake in millions or billions of dollars at the box office but be critically panned, with a dollar sign being their only legacy. Smaller films may never get the recognition they deserve in mainstream consciousness but earn the adoration of critics. Then there are the ones who get neither. “Cult classic” is an ominous-sounding, but ultimately affectionate title for films whose cultural following far outstrips their revenue or critical acclaim. Separate from, but not mutually exclusive with, indie films with small budgets or satires, cult films can be difficult to define, but are beloved by the subcultures they have generated. From so-bad-it’s-good dramas turned comedies like The Room and Plan 9 from Outer Space to low-budget B-movies, it is very likely that one encounters dozens of references to cult films, even in popular culture, that whoosh right over our heads. As it should be, considering that the small, tight-knit fan bases are just another factor that makes cultfilms what they are. In-jokes and references feed the subcultures of these films, piquing interest and sustaining an influx of fans who can learn to appreciate them for what they are. Take The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a beloved musical, but one that rests firmly in the periphery of the public consciousness. While many are familiar with Tim Curry’s cross-dressing Dr. Frank N. Furter and the ear worm that is the Time Warp, fewer have memorized the entire script or written lines for the audience to interject into the margins. The ones who have, however, can be found parked at old drivein theatres at midnight, yelling at Janet to “buy an umbrella!” in what many consider the true Rocky Horror experience.
Comedies, such as the Monty Python films and Airplane! are also considered by many to have cult followings, although with their reputations growing steadily and substantially in the years since their release, some may argue that they have metamorphosed into “sleeper hits”. Perhaps the best example of a comedy film becoming a true cult classic is Rob Reiner’s The Princess Bride, a movie that has been referenced in popular culture but is rarely directly acknowledged by the public. Film’s quirky, oddball screenplay contrasted against its romantic fantasy backdrop has made it so memorable that fans instantly cotton onto quotes and references, even after only one or two viewings. Although it can be difficult to discern what truly defines a cult classic, quotability is always a good place to start. Perhaps the single most famous of these films is Tommy Wiseau’s aforementioned The Room, a film that was critically panned for its awkward everything upon its release in 2003. With the advent of YouTube and ironic humor, The Room is now a hallmark of cinema, beloved, quoted and recommended by thousands, simply because of how bad it is. Many have gone so far as to call it the “best worst movie ever”, and its notice has even reached mainstream Hollywood, with Seth Rogen and James Franco producing a star-studded Hearts of Darkness-esque adaptation of the origins and production of The Room. Such mainstream attention challenges the entire definition of a “cult” classic, but one thing is for sure: for all of its impact, The Room didn’t make any of it by being a traditional movie. There are hundreds of movies considered cult classics, but in the end they do what any movie aims to do: leave an impression on their audience, give them a good time and leave a legacy. It may be on a much smaller scale than traditional cinematic titans, but to the people they mean the most to, no blockbuster will ever have the impact of movies like Rocky Horror, The Princess Bride or, yes, even The Room. TC
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“Stop longing. You poison today’s ease, reaching always for tomorrow.” — Robin Hobb, Fool’s Errand Illustration by Phoemela delos Santos
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OPINION
THE WORLD
COULD ALWAYS USE MORE HEROES Cesar Carlos Heyrosa
Photos courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
In May 2016, Blizzard Entertainment released Overwatch, a first-person shooter video game. Since then, it has grown into a notable success in video gaming — what with professional competitions and constant stream of sales and numerous game of the year awards. It is even hailed to be one of the greatest video games of all time in the year of its release.
of an artist-creator or the game mascot who happens to be lesbian.
One of the crowning achievements of the development team of Overwatch is its roster of 29 — and counting — characters, aptly called “heroes”, available for players to play. One could play the genetically modified hamster, the undead femme fatale or the cyborg ninja. However, more importantly, one could play the architect on a spectrum, the passion project
Just this year, Osama Dorias, game designer at Warner Brothers Montreal, praised Overwatch in Game Designer Conference 2018 for its contribution to Muslim representation, especially in a climate of Islamophobia. In Overwatch, Egyptian hero Ana is portrayed to be a sympathetic mother figure, and her daughter Pharah is a
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“It’s about trying to be welcoming to a lot of people and thinking about others,” said Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan, and indeed the game has achieved this.
OPINION
committed soldier for the United Nations. Fascinating are the elements in their design: Ana’s default appearance has the elements of the shayla while Pharah has the option to wear the hijab, which are both garments for Muslim women. Dorias further praised Overwatch for depicting an Iraqi city as a technological marvel instead of the country’s common portrayal as a war-torn desert. Another hero notable for being representative is Symmetra, who was since confirmed to be autistic. Played quite rightly with light-based abilities, in a comic from Blizzard Entertainment, Symmetra was shown to see herself as someone different: “Asking where I fit on the spectrum, it used to bother me because I knew it was true. It doesn’t bother me anymore because I can do things nobody else can do.” As a response to a fan letter, Kaplan stated that is in an effort to do an excellent job “of representing just how awesome someone with autism can be”. Perhaps the most popular example of representation in Overwatch, however, is its hero Tracer — who was shown to be a lesbian in the game’s holiday comic in 2016. It is a brave move from the Overwatch team to make a minority its mascot and — with Tracer being a butch queen — present a visible stereotype in the LGBTQA+ community in a very positive light. The game has since been attracting more praise than criticism in this act. Among these three, one could also play Torbjörn, an engineer with dwarfism; Bastion, a robot portrayed to have post-traumatic stress disorder; Orisa, the brainchild of an African inventor; and a wide variety of other heroes. Even people of different walks of life are portrayed: Mei, a Chinese climatologist; Zarya, a Russian athlete; Mercy, a Swedish doctor, among others. Even the interactions among heroes
are equally wholesome and diverse: a scientist looking to recruit a mute robot as an assistant, a war-scarred soldier asking for an autograph from a famous pop star and a Dalai Lama figure promising to protect someone who hates his kind, to name a few. More fascinating, however, is the part that this is happening within a video game, where among the most vocal are those asking for so less or so much representation that either way is toxic. The pool of heroes in Overwatch strikes a balance. This is representation done right — not through retconning an Albanian snake into a Korean woman, or retconning a straight character played by a gay actor into someone gay. Even the sudden changes in race in comic books and their adaptations can be counterproductive, like how Starfire, who is an orange-skinned alien in the comics, is now a black woman in a TV series. These changes to well-remembered characters can make fans shun the concept of representation, or, as in J.K. Rowling citing Southeast Asian culture for the changes to Nagini, can flesh out a creator’s ignorance on the matter. What makes representation work in Overwatch is that all characters are portrayed equally the same. They have goals they set out to achieve. They are working for such goals. Their qualities — race, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation or even species — have nothing to do with what they do. Everyone is special because no one is treated special. Regarding this, Kaplan responded in another fan letter, “I want humanity to start realizing how beautiful — and better yet, NORMAL — we all are.” The world could always use more heroes, and in these times when toxic representation has saturated into the mess that it is, this video game is a hero in its own right. TC
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FEATURE
UNDER FIRE, UNDER PRESSURE:
It isn’t rocket science to know that Hollywood movies have a formula — cookie-cutter white actor plus a mediocre script. Put that up on the big screen and the bucks flow freely into the producer’s face. Venturing towards a radical take on films holds no place. For an industry where making money is high on the priority, it does not come as a surprise to see no diversity in movie posters. As a result of perpetuating this formula, people of color are denied the opportunity of top billing in a potentially highgrossing film. This practice has continued for so long until, recently, people noticed such trend unfolding about the same time when the sepias transformed into high-definition pictures. The woke began to see the discrepancy in all its hues and identified the glaring discrimination Hollywood has committed since its inception. In turn, movements have been initiated in order to call out racist practices and put them to a halt. However, the entertainment giants have come back with a stronger and tougher armor to combat these issues. They’ve rebranded, repackaged and remastered pieces of filth up their
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sleeves after being under pressure to cast people of color for the audience to see. This time, Hollywood overturns the standard of casting white actors to star in their films; people of color are now given pivotal roles to make it to the big screen. Recently, Asians and African-Americans have played important roles in the big screen. A perfect example is Black Panther and its depiction of a utopian society, Wakanda. Another example is the all-Asian cast of the movie adaption of Crazy Rich Asians. One might be familiar with Viola Davis and her portrayal of Annalise Keating, a criminal defense lawyer and a black woman who grapples unjust political systems in the United States, in How to Get Away with Murder. The list could go on. These shows were highly celebrated not just for their scripts and screenplays but for a bold new take on diversity. With these fresh sources of entertainment, one can only hope to see more films giving opportunities for people of color to rise among the ranks of top-notch actors and producers in award shows. While they have come into prevalence, it cannot be denied that shows which put the people of color to shame still exist.
FEATURE
CASTING CALL Kerstein Nicole Labay
Gone are the days where we see a Chinese guy become a sidekick to a white actor or a Latina housekeeper being yelled at by her American employer. We see less of this comic relief because they now take another of it — casting for pressure’s sake. This is a casting problem because these people are hired just to silence the clamor for representation.
True representation does not only end by casting the people right in front of us. It is choosing the right actor for the part because he has the skill to make the scene work. Hollywood could go on and repackage new pieces to shove up in our noses and cause our cash to drop but it is up to us to see beyond the silver screen.
In order for Hollywood to appeal to their target audience, they cast local actors in their films or television shows. Darren Boghosian, an agent from the United Talent Agency said, “If you’re famous in America, you’re famous all over the world. If you’re famous in China, you’re only famous in China.” The people of color are little more than just talking props to white actors.
Now more than ever, it is time that we acknowledge that pressure casting and other cultural misrepresentation is happening in the media and in our very own society. Let us not shove our local actors to play the lead when they don’t have what it takes; let us push for the right cast that will be able to represent the art that should be effectively embodied in a film. By insinuating that our local actors deserve the role, even when they obviously don’t, this only hinders progression.
Hollywood is a business at its core. It thrives on the people’s hunger for representation. How they turned the cards of racial dispute in their favor is a given and a predictable thing to do. Though they were able to deliver what their audience was asking for by casting Asians, African-Americans and Latinas for that matter, it still doesn’t hit right off the bat.
With Hollywood being under fire and under pressure to introduce diversity to our screens, it is then our time to be under fire and under pressure to see beyond the hunger for diversity because proper representation in the society is what we need. TC
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“That’s the thing about living vicariously; it’s so much faster than actual living.” — Audrey Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry Photograph by Lance Matthew Pahang
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LITERARY
GEM Kim Libarnes
Photograph by Jhessa Ugdamina
It was on that foggy Wednesday, July 17, when fate decided to play around with destiny.
dazed as she slowly lulled unconscious. She studied life every day. She knew what was happening.
Each page in the journey of our book of life is left blank, an unwritten leaf dependent on the course of each one’s path. Lucky are those who attain further volumes, but to some, Death is a librarian for the long overdue. Windows down, the same-old ‘80s hits from Air Supply with the album initialled “R.R,” serenaded the three-passenger sedan. The playlist, the one Ruby always got sick of, was dad’s favorite. The cool breeze masked her just-risen face, exhausted from Tuesday night’s Rodriguez clan get-together in Cagayan, a five-hour trip away from home. She always looked forward to reunions because it meant meeting Lola Angela, who at her departing age never seemed to abandon her sweThe fog thickened.
The smell of the latex-powdered gloves reminded her of last week’s CHEM 1101L practicum, the one she aced, as she always did. The reserved third year college student targeted excellence. Roger and Ellise always stood behind in support of their daughter. The two had been regulars during recognition events since kindergarten. Her name was on every tarpaulin and award notice in the campus. She’d always been up to the task in whatever they threw at her. A veteran in interschool contests, Ruby was the school’s gem. She was drowned with encouragement and affection, love and regard was at an excess for their treasured gift, who barely came to life after Ellise’s 8-month child-bearing proved an inch too close to demise. Maybe they should’ve stopped for breakfast.
They approached Carmen, roughly halfway home, deciding to eat at home rather than stopping for some quick grub. Ruby had her stomach belting out from the homecoming’s chicken adobo, Lola’s much-loved dish. It often did the impossible and stole the spotlight from the lechon. She claimed it was addicting, and Ellise was always denied the recipe. Her mother-in-law hid the secret ingredient from most of her sons’ wives. The meal was also Ruby’s comfort food, which the unica hija wished to replicate. Cooking was the girls’ frustrated pastime, with the man of the house as their sole critic. He’d been temporarily restrained from the kitchen following what happened to three Pyrex containers he had misplaced at consecutive Christmas Eve dinners. This left the cookery a mother-daughter playground — a frolic, a tease that made home feel like home.
Good morning Philippines, good morning Cagayan. This is 96.3 CNA Radio News bringing you the latest news of the day. One dead, and two others injured after car tumbles in cliff. Nineteenyear-old Ruby Rodriguez was pronounced dead on arrival while parents Roger and Ellise Rodriguez were injured following a vehicle collision in Sta. Anna, Carmen. Police reports suggest that the Rodriguez’s, on a gray 2010 Toyota Vios, rolled down the cliff after being bumped by the still unidentified driver who took off following the collision. The pickup left with a mucked up bumper and two broken headlights. The auto was reported to be driving on the side lane, feet from the cliff. Thick fog was also reported to be a likely cause of the accident. Stay tuned for more updates.
For most part, life was simple, colorful. But everything turned black. “There’s two alive! Get the stretcher!” Sirens oscillated and rushed around, a buzz echoed across her ears as a high-pitched ring reverberated. Vision blurred, smudged as she felt rubber-coated hands dragging her across concrete. Her body numb,
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Light crept onto her cheek, precious and delicate as a rose. Her existence cherished by those who spawned her book. Of the millions of stars, to them, they had the most beautiful one. They would do everything, and they did. This wasn’t Pyrex. The glass shards couldn’t be put back together anymore. Perhaps she too would’ve wanted to listen to Air Supply or savor in that chicken adobo one last time. TC
FEATURE LITERARY
25 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
1 VOX POPULI
Given the pertinent documents, is the new tuition fee increase justifiable? Why yes, why no?
TC Online Correspondents
SBE
2
Can the 2019 National Elections bring about positive change? Why yes, why no?
Respondent 1: Martonie R. Naason
1. In my perspective, yes there will be always a positive change when we choose the most deserving candidate that can abide on his/her principles that unites the Filipino citizens and could make change possible. We need a much more competent leader that can provide a better society. As a democratic country the citizens are free to evict an incompetent official and replace him/her with a new that can walk through his/her words. And 2019 national election can be a better Philippine government. 2. No, because way improvement sa ila facilities. 1st sa classroom setting, some chairs kay gubaon lang gihapon mahuman nalang ang semester. 2nd ang library fee sa tanan sya ang pinakadako na in fact some aircon sa DC library gubaon and then limited ra ang seats tas ang fee for printing is too expensive and also for computer usage. Considering na nag increase sila sa tuition fee dapat mutarong “pud ta” ang facilities sa school dili lang kay for academic ilang hunahunaon mas nindot jud bya muskwela pag nice ang facilities sa school. I think justifiable ang pag increase if together ana daghan ug kausaban mahitabo.
Respondent 2: Glysa May A. Blanco 1. I believe that the ‘new tuition fee’ increase is not justifiable despite the pertinent documents given. One of the reasons of this increase is due to the new curriculum. There are other ways in order to raise funds in order to cover expenses incurred in creating the new curriculum. You don’t have to persecute the students for wanting an education. In addition, the increase would be justified IF the facilities were not outdated. In the Downtown Campus, we have so many classrooms that have broken air conditioners and non-functioning projectors. We have old desks and chairs that are either rusty and squeaky or that have nails jutting out here and there. We have a really small canteen (Kolk’s Nook) that cannot accommodate the students during breaks and, in addition to it being small, it seems as if a portion of it is beginning to fall apart. Is this what my parents are paying P40k+ for? The 40k is not even as bad in comparison to other courses that have an even greater increase. The students should have been notified about the administration’s intention to increase the tuition. That way the administration would have been able to receive feed back and reactions from students so that they could look for alternatives, instead of abruptly increasing the tuition without notice. So, despite the pertinent documents that explained why there was an increase or a ‘new tuition fee’ rather, I believe that it is not justifiable. 2. The results of the 2019 National elections can be twofold: positive and negative. I believe that the outcome will depend on who you vote for and who will win. In order for the 2019 National Election to have a positive outcome, we the people, have to elect those who we believe will represent us well in the government. In addition, we have to select those who have the proper experience and background so that we may be confident in the choices that they make. We have to make sure that we can completely trust those who we elect and we must make sure that they are trustworthy, as well. They have to be able to be transparent and they must have integrity. For the 2019 National Elections to have a negative change, we will continue to turn a blind eye to what the current administration is already doing. We will not elect leaders who are good for the government and we will continue to be complacent and not care for what is going on in the government. For the 2019 Elections to have a negative outcome, those who do not have the proper background and experience will be elected and our government will continue to crash and burn, but faster than the pace it is at right now. The outcome of the 2019 Elections solely rely on us, the people, and who we believe will best represent us. If we believe that the government needs a major change, then we can make that change happen for the power of that change is in our hands. So, the election will have both a negative and a positive change, it all depends on you and what you believe the government currently needs. If we believe that a positive change is needed, then we must open our eyes and stop being ignorant to what is going on around us. We must use our power, our vote, to make that positive change. After all, the government would not exist if it wasn’t for we the people.
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Respondent 1: Anon
Respondent 2: Anon
1. For me its a no. Kay maskin nag naay pertinent documents, wa gihapon ni reflect. Guba ghapon ang mga lamisa, lingkoranan og aircon, less equipments og usc wifi nga wa ghapoy gamit kay perting hinaya.
1. No, because as we compare the old and new curriculum subjects there is this drastic change of price per subject but still applies the same methods and prospectus. Their say of saying “ new subject “ is just a rebranding of names... 2. It can be a Yes and it can be a No. Yes because I truly believe that there is this positive changes that will always happen despite of who will win the elections. No because there will be this sacrificial changes that will and can affect the citizens.
Respondent 1: Anon
Respondent 2: Anon
1. Unless they can afford a venue with no issues for a semester or a year, a teacher who can actually do the role of both educator and friend, services that can be done immediately, and facilities that can give full access to students without any conditions, then the tuition fee increase is not justifiable or now.
1. I don’t find the increase justifiable because not only it came out of nowhere without the awareness of the students regarding the change, but also the relevancy of where the fees should go to that best benefits the students
2. The National Elections won’t do anything about it. People are too hyped for their EXPECTED change, and when they don’t get what they want they go and complain. There is no positive change unless the masses agree to the same proposal.
2. No. it depends on the running candidates and the voters. also, some candidates are hypocrites and some voters are there for greed in money that tends to allow people to pay their votes
Respondent 1: Anon 1. I think the 2019 National Elections cannot bring positive change to our country because based on the past elections, no matter how good their platforms were, our country still haven’t developed and it is still also under the third world countries. This election won’t help in bringing change but rather, it will just bring another problem and conflict to the Filipino citizens, like it’s just being a fuss to the society. Also, I think this election isn’t the only solution but the people and leaders itself should change first because no matter how many elections will occur, corruption will still be present if they will also still remain as hypocrites and giving injustices to the people. 2. As a freshman, I think it is not justifiable to have the tuition fee increase because the facilities are old and broken such as the aircon and also, there are other fees that we paid but are not used in our course just like the lab fees which we never have used the lab, not even once. With this, increasing the tuition fee has nothing to do with the new curriculum because I didn’t see any improvements at all. The facilities used in the old curriculum are still the same on what we’re using now and some of it are not functioning and needs to be replaced.
SED
SAS
2. No. It is always the same. walay changes ghapon nahitabo.
SAFAD
VOX POPULI
Respondent 2: Jacob Napoles 1. Kuan in the very first place, they should supposed to inform the norms about the tuition increase beforehand. Katong time nga wala pa’y enrollment or enrollment months pa kay para maka adjust ang mga students to decide either to pursue USC or the program itself. Shockingly, pakalit ra man ang pag display nila sa Ismis ug unjustifiable nga mga bayrunon. Though ilang gipakita ang mga pertinent papers, still dili man tanan mo satisfy sa among pangutana ngano. They mentioned nga New tuition na daw ni sa USC, and because they made lots of adjustments sa vacant nga 2 years in college due to k-12 kay lagi ga senior high pa mi ato. Pero dili man sa ingon nga ilang i increase diha diha dayon, samot naming mga naay laboratory courses. Niya what will happen to us naman diay if mu-abot ang time nga 2-3 lab na per sem (Thinking nga most of the laboratory naa sa more or less 15K), niya naa pay laing minor sub. Either mo shift nami ug course? Or shift nalang jud of school? Alkansi sila . the more manggamay ang population, pasamutan pa nag increase. Honestly, dili man gani tanang facilities nila new gyud, or shall we say na maintain pag-ayo. So far mao pa na. 2. Election, hopefully yes. Seeing that the administration pa gani ni Du30 ga make jud ug literal nga actions ba, on how to solve the country’s major problems - though daghan ang na waste ug ga reklamo tungod patay but asta pud sa economy ba, they plan for it in long term. Mayntag in-ana pud silag aim ba sa Philippines for those who will run for 2019 elections. Niya if ever katong mga makadaog is really doing their job very well , then the old scary calling with regards to politics in the Philippines will soon be forgotten or eliminated. Let’s hope and believe they can do it.
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Respondent 1: Anon
Respondent 2: Anon
1. I do not find the increase in tuition fee justifiable since not all students are able to “makagamit or maka benefit out of sa payment na ilang gibayad” . And the announcement regarding to the tuition increase was sudden, not preparing parents and students.
1. Dili jod justifiable ang tuition fee increase because in the first place, before I enrolled here, I asked them what the tuition will be and they said na wala pa daw, so paabot lang inig 2nd week sa August. Unya? What if wala na inform ang parents that the tuition will be that big yet their child is already enrolled here? I know that USC already established an image not just here in Cebu but in the entire Philippines as well, or it could even be worldwide but still it’s no excuse for them to quickly increase their students’ tuition.
SLG
2. I can’t quite point out yet if it will give positive or negative effects, but what I am sure about is that citizens of our country are more aware of the problems and discrepancies that are occurring in our country so they have an idea on who they will vote for based on the qualities of what a good leader should be to lessen what we are facing right now thus will surely affect not only our country but us citizens in a positive way. But there will always be negative effects so we should just be ready and brace ourselves on what the future will bring us. It all boils down to who will be elected as leaders but no matter who the citizens will vote for, i’m hoping that they are looking at the candidate’s capabilities and intentions.
2. It depends if the citizens who will be given the privilege to vote are wise enough to pick their chosen candidates to represent the specific positions. The change of our country will always be at the hands of its people because the people are the ones who put those in the government in their positions. Yet, even if this issue is fixed, we cannot deny the fact that some candidates are still practicing “vote buying”.
SHCP
VOX POPULI
Positive change will never be achieved if the people are blinded by the masks that the running candidates are trying to show to the public in order for them to win everyone’s votes.
Respondent 1: Anon
Respondent 2: Anon
1. I think that when we talk about money especially in big numbers or amount, we should always be cautious and transparent. The students of the University of San Carlos should have first been made aware of a pending increase from the beginning, before they enrolled to their programs or even earlier, it’s just respect for the hard earned money of the parents and even the working students. Let’s say transparency was given, until such time we no longer have inefficient facilities like broken projectors, portals, air-conditioning units, and even as simple as chairs and desks. We are yet to fully experience the “new tuition” and not an increase as they defended it. It can be justified because of the specified purposes as to where the money would go but even if it is justified, students were never been made aware of it and are now forced to pay an amount they never fully had knowledge of if they want to stay in the university. I also think it will ultimately be justified when the specific details and improvements stated in the purpose of the new tuition would live outside the paper and be experienced by Carolinians.
1. I have been in the university for 12 years and I must say that the recent tuition fee increase or according to the administration, the “new tuition fee” was the most abrupt implementation I have ever experienced. The issue is not only a matter of adjusting to the new curriculum but it concerns the whole student body who were not informed in the first place before enrolling that the tuition would spike up this high. I firmly believe that this so-called new tuition fee is not justifiable since we, the students were not informed ahead, therefore we were not able to express our sentiments nor at least, let our stand be ascertained whether we agree or disagree with it. Our voice was not heard. Therefore, we were left with no choice but to abide by it which is truly unfair. Moreover, the laid out reasons such as for the facilities and such are not valid for the hike to be blown and thrown to the students. Why? Because it was not the student body’s decision to shift to a new curriculum which is more expensive than the old one.
2. In every election we hope for the best, for the best candidate to win who would best lobby our plight. The mid-year election in 2019 does not ring a bell for change for me. There’s no real opposition in the government in any of its branches, it’s the manifestation of a weak democracy. The line-up of candidates are strong for the people attached to the ones in power, if this trend continues, change doesn’t really exists. But a continuation of what us already happening. Tho chances are slim, we still have to vote and vote right at that.
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2. The 2019 elections I would say may somehow bring about positive change if the elected officials would be emanated from the opposition. In the present situation, it is very apparent that the incumbent’s party reigns in the congress which endangers democracy that not many people now about. It is vital and crucial to uphold the principle of checks and balances in order to sustain democracy and to let it thrive. This is only possible if the contestations’ voice would be heard. Furthermore, the approaching elections would only bring about the change which many people seek when suffrage is perpetrated with integrity and when voter themselves choose the candidate whom they share the same vision with, that is a positive one.
SOE
VOX POPULI
Respondent 1: Anon 1. Let me begin by saying that I was one of the people who were completely outraged when I heard about the new tuition fee. Many of my freshmen friends had come to me in hopes that I could provide an explanation. Some of these friends are now considering transferring schools because the new fee is too much for their parents to handle. I was glad when the Admin released a statement about it because I felt like it was long overdue and it finally brought to light some of the reasons for the increase: • That the new tuition was a result of the elevated status of the professors. All of them are now have a Master’s degree or higher and that qualifies them for better pay and the university needs to be able to pay both the teaching and non-teaching staff. • The school doesn’t receive any kind of subsidy from the government so it has to make do with its own revenue • The school has been in a “financial constraint” which is also the reason for the suspension of the Dean’s Lister tuition fee privilege As a student of Industrial Engineering, we were taught the basic concepts of Finance and Economics. I will admit that my knowledge on these subjects are shallow at best, but it is enough for me to understand that because of inflation, certain products/services will become more expensive as time passes even if its value remains the same. If I were going to be level-headed about the situation, the memo mentioned some fair and reasonable points. I can’t say whether the prices themselves are justifiable, though because I’d need better skills in finance and accounting to answer that, I think. But, that aside, I do have something to say about its implementation. The first thing that is not justifiable in my opinion was how the administration said that there were discussions of the increase for quite some time and yet, how come, majority of the students did not have any idea that it was coming? Just because it was labeled a “new tuition fee” instead of a “tuition fee increase”, does that somehow give the school an excuse to not consult the students BEFORE its implementation? Such seemed like a very gross and unsympathetic action, especially considering the fact that this is a Catholic institution. Second, the justification that the prices reflect the improving quality of education in the school is insisted upon the students when, in reality, many students do not even have a point of comparison. Maybe the teachers have higher educational attainment and we have a lot of topnotchers but what exactly is the difference in the general student experience? Many students still
have to make use of decades-old equipment in their laboratories; many students have to put up with substandard wooden armchairs, broken projectors, and so on. Maybe the “improved quality of education” is felt by some but definitely not all. Furthermore, I believe that their definition of quality education has become much too skewed. As a student of this institution, I find it frustrating how we are cultured to believe that grades, results, and board exam passing rates are the most important things. They are important, of course, but really, shouldn’t the most important thing be that we our given the resources and means so that when we leave the institution, we can use what we obtained from the university to improve our lives and the lives of our families? I understand though that USC isn’t the only one to blame for this culture, though. It’s also a problem of Filipino culture in general. Which now brings me to my next point and it’s that I believe that the question whether the new tuition fee is justifiable or not is not just a question to be put into the context of the university. It’s also an issue for the Philippine educational system as well. The skewedness of our perception of “quality education” is a result of society’s tight grasp on old beliefs. In fact, another contributing factor for the price hike is that certain minor subjects such as English, Filipino, PE, etc. are still being taken up by college students who graduated SHS as per the requirement of CHED meaning not much has changed from the old tertiary curriculum. CHED and DepEd have been very unclear and inconsistent with the implementation of the Senior High School program. Many of the things promised with the shift to the K-12 system have not been delivered and, whether they care or not, we are all paying the price. 2. Now the answer to this is not for just me to decide. Positive change begins when we vote for leaders who have the right vision and the right principles, I believe. If you had to make a list of the “most cliché things you have ever heard but should live by” then “Vote and vote wisely” should be at the top or near the top of that list. As someone who will be voting this coming election, I think it’s important to research about the candidates, listen to their campaigns and think critically about who to vote for, because then, if the right people were put into office, it would become easier to start positive change. But for positive change to come about and stay is not decided by a National Elections, it must be brought about by us as individuals with our perception and actions as citizens of this country. I know it sounds too patriotic and optimistic, but it’s what we must go through to see our country become the Pearl of the Orient once more.
Respondent 2: Anon 1.For me, the new tuition fee increase had some points that were justifiable but some were not. Specifically the lrc fees or the miscellaneous fees the freshmen are paying. It’s weird because old students are paying the misc. fees at a lower price than the freshmen wherein we’re just basically getting the same output. 2. As a Filipino citizen, I still have hope for this country to be better since this country has its treasures that are still yet to be discovered. I hope it may bring positive change to us and to our country because I believe that there is a good leader who’ll bring us to the top.
29 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
VIDEO
Tangke
Robert Michael Lim & Frank Cedric Go A narrative on why water is important to all of us, may it be for the living or not, and how it is useful and, at the same time, destructive.
30 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | NOVEMBER 2018
“Thus the little mermaid learned her world’s greatest paradox: that their currency was beauty, and their coin was body parts.” — Esther Dalseno, Drown Illustration by Monna Lou Maldo
31 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
FEATURE
Berns Mitra
Illustration by Eduard Jude Jamolin
32 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
FEATURE
Philippine art history is Philippine history. As a people, our visual expression has always been heavily steeped in the time and space of creation. This connection is the norm in art traditions across the world, what with the entire course of Western art deflected by the traumas of the World Wars. However, the art story of a colony forges a unique relationship between art and the colonized that is especially encumbered with struggle — for independence, for dignity, for identity. We have seen this struggle persist through time, as colony becomes post-colony, and space, as post-colony encounters the world. The Filipino, whatever that might be, persists valiantly. The story of our seemingly eternal wrestle with colonization begins, of course, with the Spanish period. The cultural front of colonization is a history class staple: We were bombarded not just with weapons but with an extravagant cultural influx that dazzled us into accepting the wypipo and their god onto our land. Those who still rejected the hegemony were otherwise forced into it. All the while, our wood that once made anitos became santos, our hands came to memorize the face of a foreign deity, and everything Filipino faded behind the translucent backdrop of our newfound colonial identity.
Every year, the Sept. 21 demonstrations commemorating the declaration of Martial Law always brings out the creativity in Filipino activists. UGATLahi Artist Collective’s effigy for the 2018 rally titled “DAMnation” folds closed to reveal that the people in the trifecta of fascism in the country, namely Rodrigo Duterte, Gloria Arroyo and Bongbong Marcos, are one and the same under the original icon of corruption, Ferdinand Marcos. Creative protest against the status quo is not limited to rallies, however. History repeated itself when Christina Lopez, like the revolutionaries before her, flew to Europe to attend a fine arts program at the Royal College of Art. There, she exposed the country’s plight under the current drug war through provocative paintings and installations — all in a specifically warm shade of black. One piece — rows of glass jars filled with black pills containing news headlines on the casualties of drug enforcement operations — is a poignant reminder of the dehumanization of the average Filipino in the current administration.
Our tendency to create did not falter even under these violent circumstances. To name a few, we had the likes of Juan de los Santos, who made the altarpiece at the San Agustin Church; Isabelo Tampinco, who carved the ceiling of the San Ignacio Church; and Esteban Villanueva, who portrayed the victory of our colonizers in quelling the Basi Revolt. As if to add salt to the wound, the Spaniards commissioned these Filipinos to contribute to maintaining subjugation of their fellow natives.
Post-colonial struggle always places an emphasis on the recovery of an authentic identity, and the artists of the post-colony today appear to contemplate on their place in the world and even in their own country. Cebu-based street artist Soika, whose work occasionally dabbles in social commentary as well, explores specifically Filipino obscenities. What appears crude on the surface reads as his take on the values that feel alien and mismatch. These are hardly ours; hence we end up disobeying them altogether yet live with a lingering guilt and confused moral compass. Jeona Zoleta wrestles with Filipino values as they relate to female “decency,” taking full authority of her female sexuality and the borderlessness of her identity, leading to the final point.
But to perceive the Filipino artist as being a subservient, passive figure non-participatory in the struggle is not accurate, either. The revolutionary artist culminates in Juan Luna, who had the privilege and, with it, the freedom of travelling to Europe. His Spoliarium, which would have been lost to the void of non-history had it been made in the colony, is the prime example of the art struggle. Politically charged and reflective of its revolutionary zeitgeist, it leveraged its location in the less constricting part of the globe in order to get its message across. On top of its subversive value, the piece also brought renown to Filipino artists on an international scale — elevating us from a mere colony to a globally competitive force.
Decolonizing became harder — or more complex, depending on how one sees it — with the coming of globalization. Increased international relations and cultural sharing, along with the inevitable cultural dominance of the West, blurred what was once a clear line between “post-colonial identity” and “global identity”. Globalization, however, also enabled Filipino artists to exert themselves outward into the world. We see this in the example of Pitoy Moreno, whose Westernization of traditional Filipino designs introduced our native fabrics jusi, pina and lepanto to the West. We see this in Leeroy New and Kermit Teosoro, whose unique designs made it to the international stage and on pop star Lady Gaga.
This is the spirit carried on by the Filipino artist-activist today, who continues to challenge authority in the public arena and defy fascist rule. The friars, governor-generals and foreign monarchs are gone, but the current state of things has created the moral imperative to put up an aggressive resistance. Our struggle today is one for identity, authenticity and human dignity.
The Filipino struggle for dignity and selfhood spans centuries. When can we say that we have finally successfully decolonized ourselves? At what point should we be ready to lay down the struggle and proceed with the rest of our national story? This is a discussion that our artists engage in and will continue to have for generations. The struggle continues. The Filipino waits to be known. TC
33 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
OPINION
Theresa Kate Palompon
Photograph by Christian Rey Caracena
34 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
OPINION
Philippine media, in all its glory, remains to be in question because of its tendencies of mediocrity. Not only is it prone to limiting itself with producing programs showcasing repetitive story lines, but it also shies away from subjects that break through the norm, subjects that touch certain realities which, to this day, remains taboo for Philippine society. While not everything about Philippine media can be deliberated as subpar considering the numerous awards and screenings bagged by several Filipino films from international movie festivals, most of its content fail to prosper once assessed using the standards set by its critiques.
media often places emphasis on stories that the audience feel strongly for, which are often ones involving unsolved murder cases or injustices inflicted upon the lowest, socio-economically, of the Filipinos.
Unfortunately, whenever media personalities deviate from conventional Filipino programming, it is disheartening to know that these projects often do not receive the same positive reception from its local audience. For one, there has been a dichotomy between mainstream and independent filmmaking in the movie industry. This division draws the line that differentiates award-winning from top grossing. Also, the same line separates quality from box-office.
Infotainment, which is the offspring of entertainment and informationsharing, seeks to present news in a manner that would be interesting to its viewers. Despite defeating the objectivity of news reporting, most journalists would dig for a backstory or two that, though banal and unnecessary, can catch the attention of its audience.
Despite the much-needed affirmation, garnering awards and recognition is pretty much just the cherry on top. What makes a successful media company is the amount of ratings and ticket sales they get in the process. If we ask why, the answer lies on the aspect of Philippine media that we fail to see. While it is a mode of entertainment and information sharing, it is also in itself a brand, in other words — a business. Just like any other enterprise, its products and services are designed to cater to its primary consumers. In line with this, a probable constraint that keeps Philippine media from evolving involves the mediocrity of its audience’s preferences. Being a customer-driven market, media centers its product development on the demands of its customers, which means that the content produced and aired by these media companies is merely a reflection of its consumers and the society they live in.
For former World Business Academy Chairman, Jim Selman, this dilemma has infested journalism as a whole. According to him, critiques of the media have created a maxim stating that the content of programming reflects what the audience wants. This is in lieu with the rise of “infotainment” which proves to be an instrument for greater returns and higher market shares.
As for the context of Philippine media, whenever a particular story garners a favored response from the audience, current affairs would usually decide to cover it ad nauseam instead of simply broadcasting its facts. From news stations, some of these stories are further dissected in legal and forensics programs. If not, they are often reenacted in different drama anthologies which are often made amusing at the expense of straying the audience away from the facts. Another way to emphasize the tug-of-war between subjectivity and objectivity in Philippine media is the lack of political awareness among its audience. How much do we know about the state of our country? In the spur of controversies, do we truly know what our administrators were able to and failed to do?
As author and marketing consultant, Chris Brogan, puts it: “The key is, no matter what story you tell, make the buyer the hero.”
Instead of objectively presenting both the success and failures of the current administration, the media resorts to headlining the president’s unexpected kissing scene in a state visit to Korea, which is both inappropriate and uncalled for, and may soon take a toll on foreign relations and the president’s trust ratings.
A common example illustrating this point would be Filipino soap operas or what we fondly refer to as teleseryes. The meandering narrative of turning rags to riches and star-crossed lovers turned estranged siblings have plagued Philippine television for several decades.
While these information say a lot about our president’s whereabouts and personal values, his misogyny is not an excuse for the media to steer away from what is truly relevant to the masses — the truth. Not just any kind of truth, but one that shapes the perspective of the people.
Apparently, this attraction towards poverty-centered and romantic themes springs from the audience’s penchant to see a depiction of their own reality on screen and the desire for filmmakers to deliver just that.
Media is a vital component of democracy. However, with our seclusion to themes on poverty and violence, Filipino films, soap operas and even journalism have become a show and tell of our nation’s reality as a compartmentalized cluster of a few problems — contrary to its actually massive linkages of several problems and issues. We must be open to explore other themes that are, albeit beyond our comfort, relevant to today’s society.
Let us remember: The customer is always right, even if this means keeping a soldier turned rebel on air for three years, or showing two very pregnant women attacking each other with Nerf guns in a baby store, not to mention filling an entire arena just to witness the meeting of the dubsmashing “yaya” and the “bae”. In an interview with Forbes, Film Development Council of the Philippines Chairperson, Liza Diño, revealed that as a novelty in international film festivals, Filipino content has often been referred to as “poverty porn” by foreign viewers.
We don’t need our country to be just another reality show. What we really need is a media that would produce contents worthy of the respect of our foreign contemporaries, a media that enshrines the principal values of social justice, truth and nation-building that all Filipinos deserve to have. TC
If we take a closer look, this so-called “poverty porn” is also evident in today’s journalism. Instead of laying down an array of relevant news, the
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“When the sun goes down, the cemetery sparkles with tiny candles. It looks as though the dead are dancing at a children’s ball. Yes, a children’s ball, because the dead are as innocent as children.” — Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being Photograph by Jason Matthew Lim
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VIDEO
Restaurant Row
Isabella Andrei Orbiso A little uneasy, I’ll boil their words until I catch them in my ceiling. Shot and edited in under 48 hours. Restaurant Row is an adaptation of speculative fiction short story of the same name by Dean Francis Alfar.
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PORTAL
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31 38 12
40 6 29
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31 MELTON’S HALO-HALO 7 BROWNCUP
33 MILDSON’S
30 MAMA KIM 6 BIAÑOS PIZZA
9 CAFE BELLE
29 LUGAWAN NI GIANNA 5 BAZURA GRILL
32 MIGALLO’S SISIGAN
28 LOLO PINOY GRILL 4 BBQ BOSS
8 CALDA PIZZA
27 KERRIMO 3 ANNA MIG BAKESHOP
26 KFC 2 ANECITA’S CARENDERIA
PHP 140 - PHP 200 25 KAN-ANAN SA SKINA
PHP 80 - PHP 140
1 7 ELEVEN
LEGEND PHP 20 - PHP 80
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7 47 8 17 20 21 34 36 37
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36 NUGGETS AND FRIES
12 D’SOUL CAFE
42 SINANGAG STATION
18 HENRY’S SIOMAI
24 JULIE’S BAKESHOP
23 JOLLIBEE
48 TURKS
47 TOPOKKIMAN
46 TITA’S CHICKEN
45 TAGALA CHICKEN
21 ICHA 22 JERRY’S CHICKEN
44 SOL’S
20 ICECOLOG
43 SIOMAI MADNESS
41 SILOGAN NI GIAN
17 GREEN DERBY
19 HIKAY NI BIKAY
40 PUNGKO2X SA TC
39 POPOY’S GRILL
15 GARLIC RICE 16 GOLDEN LADLE
38 PAN DE SUGBO
14 EDUARDO’S EATERY
37 ORANGE BRUTUS
35 MINISTOP
11 COLLEEN FOODHAUZ
13 EDD’S NGOHIONG
34 MILKTEA STATION
10 CHEAP COOK
FEATURE
Faith Chloe Bendanillo
Photos courtesy of Philstar and ABS CBN News It’s all over the news: the stories of distress, pain and loss brought about by man-made activities and fortuitous events. We describe these happenings as unfortunate, sometimes even disastrous. According to the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (2007), a disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community of a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources. It is a function of the risk process and results from the combination of hazards, condition of vulnerability and insufficient capacity of measures to reduce the potential negative consequences of risk. These hazards encompass natural and human-induced hazards. Natural hazards are classified by the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (2010) as geophysical (earthquakes, volcanoes and dry mass movement), meteorological (storms), hydrological (i.e. flooding and we mass movement), climatological (extreme temperatures, drought and wildfire) and biological (epidemics, insect infestations and animal stampedes). Humaninduced hazards are either nuclear, technological or chemical in form. But as time passes by, more and more of the ordeals we frequently hear are preventable. This is where the term disaster management comes in. Like any other kind of management, disaster management has a cycle. In When Disaster Strikes… How Communities Cope and Adapt by Wood, Boruff and Smith (2013), it includes four main stages of the disaster management cycle: response, recovery, prevention/mitigation and preparation. Response begins directly after the hazard event where rescue and evaluation are done along with relief and external support. After the response phase, recovery starts with the rebuilding process which goes hand in hand with the prevention/ mitigation phase that involves an ongoing process to lesson the severity of the hazards on people and property. The cycle ends with the preparation for the next possible events through actions such as the deployment of early warning systems and the development of community recovery plans. The Philippines has always been prone to different types of hazards, mostly natural ones because of its geographical location and archipelagic features. Since the country is located within the Ring of Fire between the Eurasian and Pacific tectonic plates, it is vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It is also susceptible to typhoons, floods, landslides and fires. The Index for Risk Management (INFORM), a global opensource risk assessment for humanitarian crises and disasters, gives each country a risk score from 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 the highest) for each of the dimensions, categories, and components of risk, as well
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as overall risk score. The Philippine 2018 INFORM Risk Rating has a Hazard and Exposure risk of 7.8, a Vulnerability score of 4.2, a Lack of Coping Capacity of 4.2, and an overall score of 5.2. The government has established the National Disaster Coordinating Council, now known as the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), and its regional and local counterparts to handle the different disaster cases of the country. Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Reduction and Management Act of 2010 was also enacted to provide a comprehensive, all-hazard, multisectoral, inter-agency, and community based approach to disaster risk management through the formulation of the National Disaster Risk Management Framework. With the action plans laid out for an effective disaster management system, there remains a gap in implementation. The DisasterNet Philippines: Scoping Study Report (2016) by Bolletino et al. discussed the key gaps shared by most of the stakeholders the researchers had met and the specific findings related to each gap. The key gaps include the lack of the needed capacities and resources of the NDRRMC under the mandate of the Office of Civil Defense, the underprepared state of the majority of the country for disasters, and the absence of a national land use plan as the “only permanent solution to the hazard problem.” The specific findings for these gaps start with capacity building. National government agencies and local government units are contemplating on professionalizing disaster management personnel by integrating the training needed by the personnel to develop their competencies in disaster risk reduction and management. Some of the local government units are unable to strategically use the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund (a special fund required by the law for quick response and disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness activities) because of the lack of knowledge on the extent of use of the funds and the determination to set aside enough funds that correspond to the risks they are facing. The institutionalization of the local counterparts of the NDRRMC that are capable to survive the short political cycle of the country (with governors and mayors having a term of three years) is also crucial to ensure stability in capacity building.
FEATURE
The second challenge is in bringing scientific information to local communities. Hazard and vulnerability mapping are important tools for community-based prevention, mitigation and preparedness. Various platforms have been made to share these information to the people like the Geohazard Mapping of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Project Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards or NOAH of the Department of Science and Technology but improvements in information dissemination must be done for them to be readily used and understood by the public. The scarcity of data is the third challenge being faced. Considering that the last national census was made in the year 2010 and the 2007 and 2000 census data results are used to establish trends, there is a great dearth of data focusing on the household level. The accuracy of reported census figures is also an issue for the underreporting of vulnerable groups. A national survey on disaster preparedness on the household level is greatly needed to have a better analysis of data to inform policy and programs. The fourth challenge focuses on the limits to community-based efforts. The nature of disaster risk in the country is that a typhoon, storm surge, earthquake or volcanic eruption is likely to affect multiple areas in one event. In this case, focus and harmonization of preparedness and response needs to come from a level higher than a single municipality. The different risks and access to resources every municipality and city has, along with the requirement of permanent Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officers (DRRMO) in each area, also complicate the building of DRRMO capacity. Collaboration challenges across actors exist when there is very little partnership among civil society, the private sector and the government. Feelings of animosity still linger in the air as a non-government organization has been seen as a “competitor” to the local government unit. A better synergy among various organizations is needed to coordinate, strategize and lead how resilience building should look like in the Philippines.
Lastly, special concerns for the private sector, informal settlements and environmental change are brought up. The private sector has a general sentiment that there is very little policy to protect their interests during a calamity. Corporations would resort to creating contingency plans and insurances while the micro-enterprises and the small and medium size enterprises do not have any form of indemnity. Disaster vulnerability is intrinsically linked to poverty because of the lack of resources to mitigate, prepare, cope and recover from a disaster. Their settlements in disaster prone areas create a higher risk for their displacement and resettlement usually has mixed success because informal settlers would return to their old homes where better livelihood opportunities are. Environmental change also poses an increase of disaster risk, especially with the multiple drivers of environmental degradation like overfishing, ocean acidification and climate change. Suggested ways to face the challenges above are the reviewing of the current modules and curriculum development of disaster risk reduction, the case development for best practice sites and the plotting of household-level data collection and analysis in community preparedness. In the review of current modules, guidance and feedback can be gained from basing on international standards and practices and alternate solutions in implementing disaster risk reduction measures. Curriculum development can be done with the partnership of local universities and civil organizations. Certain administrative areas observing good disaster management practices must be studied and documented for other localities to learn and create their own capacity building measures. The much needed data on community preparedness should be extracted through a specific national survey that can provide a baseline disaster preparedness assessment for future use. Managing contingencies and disasters isn’t an easy task but it is up to us to step up and make a difference. It is the 21st century, after all. If we are to ensure our country’s physical and socio-economic longevity, all sectors of society, especially individual citizens, must be armed with the right understanding, drive and a sense of a common destiny in addressing all the disasters the country will inevitably continue to face. TC
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“The muses are ghosts, and sometimes they come uninvited.” — Stephen King, Bag of Bones Illustration by Philip Luke Manghihilot
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“Nel, who did go, believed Eva’s refusal was not due to pride or vengeance but to a plain unwillingness to see the swallowing of her own flesh into the dirt, a determination not to let the eyes see what the heart could not hold.” — Toni Morrison, Sula Illustration by Christine Mae Alferan
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OPINION
ARTISTS Sofia Isabel Tajos
Photograph by Keith Ayuman
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OPINION
To people living in Asian countries such as the Philippines, students not majoring in the degrees they prefer is common. A lot of factors, which may include the job pay and job availability, come in to mind when students think about their degrees. These factors, coupled with the fact that a guardian is almost always breathing down their necks while they choose, make certain degrees seem farfetched. One such degree is art. Will this land me a good job? Will I be able to raise a family with this? Will my parents approve of this? A degree in art is seen by some as a luxury. Something only those who do not need to worry about putting food on the table can have. It is sometimes viewed as an impractical choice, merely a want that can be brushed off to give way for a degree that might “make their family proud”. The School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design is full of gifted, imaginative individuals. Among them are people who have thought long and hard if enrolling in a fine arts degree is worth begging their parents for. The other schools in the university are also full of people who are artists at heart, but have chosen to pursue different degrees. These students, either through circumstances or societal pressure, have convinced themselves to “settle” for the safer, “better” choice. They think, “Why bother with something that might lead me to my downfall?” They know the safer choice might make them unhappy, but at least something that comes with this misery is a way to pay the bills, or a way to make their family finally acknowledge that they can amount to something. For some, the safer choice is the only choice. This should not be the case. Artists may struggle, but at the end of day, no matter how cliché it sounds, they are doing what they’ve chosen to do. There is a certain peace and weight that comes with knowing that everything that happens is arises from your own volition, regardless of it being bad or good. In the grand scheme of things, happiness is often taken for granted. It has become wealth over health, stability over joy. In the grand scheme of things, let us respect everyone who has chosen to let their passions stay in the background. Let us respect every individual who has not yet found contentment in wherever they are today — every person who has sacrificed their dreams in behalf of something they think they have no choice over. The road often travelled may not be the one people want to track, but they can make it theirs. In the grand scheme of things, happiness might just grow. Eventually. TC
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LITERARY
HEAVY METAL
Fick Shore-Head
Photo by Joanne Marie Bolo
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LITERARY
“It’s here,” Langley whispered to me. I stirred in bed and opened my eyes, and almost immediately black smoke stung my eyeballs. I could hear Langley choking and coughing loudly as the black smoke of evil filled the room. “What in hell—” My little sister pounded her chest three or four times. With a gasp and another choke, she finally said, “It’s just mom burning the food containers from yesterday.” “Styrofoam?” asked I. “And what’s here?” Langley was too busy choking and huffing and coughing to answer. She held her neck with one hand and with another, gestured outside wildly. “How metal!” ejaculated I to myself.
I immediately took the plastic box, opened it with much difficulty, took the set of eight metal straws and removed them from more plastic. I held the silver straws, arranged in color, toward the rays of the sun as the black smoke immediately disappeared. Langley stopped coughing and choking. Turtles won’t choke on plastic no more!
The black smoke indeed filled the entire house.
“Will I finally look fancy in coffee shops?” asked I with a smile as wide as Ms. Ray’s.
“Mom, what the h—”
“Yes,” she said, still with her smile.
“You stop complaining, you useless piece of—”
“Will I look rich?”
On she went with her drivel.
“Yes.”
That’s when I noticed some lady in white seated on one of our couches. She stared into emptiness. She slowly turned her head and looked at me. Those empty eyes gazed into my soul. “Are you Mr. Head?”
“Will girls finally hit on me?”
“Yeah, I’m Fick,” said I. I love my name. Love it too much that forgot that I was frightened by this witch in front of me that time. I took a seat in front of her.
“Yes.” “Hey, Fick will you share those?” I heard Langley’s squeaky voice. “No!” Ms. Ray and I screamed in unison. Ms. Ray continued, “But you can buy these 10.5 inch—”
“My name is Ms. Ray. This is your order from Metal Straws Inc., Mr. Head,” said she. “These 10.5-inch—” I hate numbers. I instantly trailed off at that time. Her smile was amazing with her empty eyes. As the black smoke began to thin, though, I saw her teeth were yellow and black. They had pieces of green in between. Then brown — pork? Her breath smelled of fish. “—trendy.” Now she got my attention.
In the corner of my eye, I saw Langley approaching Ms. Ray. I was too busy, however, marveling at the silver straws in my hand, bent into different angles. This one angle was planned for the girls. This one was for looking cool. I didn’t know what to do with the rest. “—trendy.” I heard Ms. Ray say.
“You were saying?” asked I.
“But these are expensive, so broke high school students like you can get the ones made from non-food grade stainless steel,” continued Ms. Ray with a chuckle.
“These 10.5 inch—” “No, I meant about trends.” “These straws are trendy.” Ms. Ray ended trendy with a wide blackyellow-green porky grin and wide bright yellow eyes. I ejaculated, “How metal!”
“How metal!” Langley ejaculated excitedly.
“Are they still safe?” Langley squealed. “Yes,” Ms. Ray said with her smile. That darn smile. I couldn’t help but giggle at that darn smile. I turned to Ms. Ray. “Thank you so much for this, and for Metal Straws Inc. too.” Ms. Ray replied, “Don’t mention it. It’s all about the—” “—trends!” I finished her sentence for her. “I was about to say the environment,” replied Ms. Ray. I snorted. I carefully kissed the metal straws and laid my new babies gently on the table. “The environment,” I repeated. “How metal!” I took the plastic box and other pieces of plastic, stood up and threw them out the window. TC
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“It is hard to make yourself die forever. You sleep short and then return in the beginning.” — Toni Morrison, Beloved Photograph by Dodds Marvin Campomanes 49 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
FEATURE
OF POLITICAL INTRAMURALS AND DYNASTIES: Senatorial Prospects for the 2019 Elections Elizah Castillo
It’s the most awaited moment of the year. Not Christmas, but the kick-off of the Philippine midterm election season. The filing of candidacies and nominations for party-list representatives was held from Oct. 11 to 12 and Oct. 15 to 17, 2018. There are a total of 152 senatorial aspirants for the 2019 midterm elections, all vying for the 12 seats in the Senate of the Philippines come May 13, 2019. Do your senatorial choices possess any or all of these considerations?
I. Running under a slate A key determinant for any successful senatorial candidate is their affiliation and support from established political parties — and for good reason. Philippine electoral dynamics is strongly monopolized by the major political parties such as the Partido Demokratiko-Lakas ng Bayan which is the current majority bloc, Liberal Party of the Philippines, Nacionalista Party, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, and the like. Essentially, the Philippine Senate continues to be influenced by political color. As a rule, most senators both incumbent and aspiring require immense and intelligent political party backing. Senatorial candidates are usually engaged in political horse-trading among the major political parties. There is also disproportional representation, with much power centralized in Manila.
II. Capacity to wage a nationwide campaign May it be the catchy jingles or the tacky posters, campaigning is actually a significant factor to winning a seat in the senate that all candidates must consider. Campaigning communicates the political intentions and ideals of the candidate running for office and projects a desired, if not lucrative, image of the candidates among the voters. One defining and game-changing tactic is campaigning in popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and others, especially since these platforms remain a legal gray area because of the lack of effective campaigning regulations and oversight. The primary purpose of campaigning is to gain the support of voters, and what better way to elicit the immediate support of the masses than through the vast and seemingly omnipotent reach of social media?
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FEATURE
III. Organization and Political Machinery To succeed in the Philippine senatorial elections, one will need friends — a lot of them. Winning the elections entails meticulous crafting of efficient strategies, maneuvers and plans, such as campaigning and legal means. Almost always, the triumphant candidates are those that have executed long-term and thorough electoral tactics. At best, much of the needed organization and political machinery needed for a successful campaign is provided by the major political parties. A well-oiled campaign is less about inspiring competition and representation, but more on motivating political bossism. Senatorial hopefuls are therefore likened to political bosses strengthening their machineries among their own constituencies or balwartes.
IV. Performance in previous elections Same old, same old. Same old faces, names and excuses. Just so, political dynasties are an irreplaceable staple in Philippine politics alongside corruption. The Philippine electorate now has the obligation to study the track record, accomplishments and failures of running-again senators. The children or kin of prominent political families or figures hold more concern for sustaining their respective political legacies than introducing actual and concrete legislative change. Essentially, the Philippine senate continues to be a dull, uninspired and self-consuming institution feeding off its indispensable commodity of senatorial candidates stemming from political dynasties.
V. Popularity or Political Exposure If the financial scandals are not intriguing enough for you to cast your vote, then the staging of coups surely will. Here in the Philippines, negative publicity excites and thrives among the masses preparing for the election season, time and time again. Nowadays, the use of black propaganda continues to be an efficient and trusted electoral apparatus among numerous senatorial hopefuls. Likewise, political exposure entails senatorial candidates withstanding and thwarting numerous attacks on their credibility or political reputation. As a result, aspiring senators must be determined to brave the storm against personal or ad hominem attacks and smear campaigns.
VI. Platforms of government It should come as no surprise that the platforms of government of one’s chosen candidates should be the least concern among the other considerations. The plans and platforms of government proposed by senatorial candidates represent their perceived contributions for the welfare and betterment of the Philippine polity. Government platforms must seek to alleviate recurring socio-economic and political issues or problems. An appropriate government platform is arguably the single most critical determinant for a capable and competent senatorial candidate. However, it continues to be positively downplayed, if not ignored, as Philippine elections substantially favors personality-based rather than policy-based politics.
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LITERARY
“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”
TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince Photograph by Vanessa May Leuterio
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VIDEO
Baslayan
Jason Matthew Lim Two brothers earn their livelihood. But things go haywire when one of them attempts to gamble with a price that would risk their safety, security, and sanity.
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LITERARY
TEMPLE OF THE LIGHT E. Blackthorne
Photograph by Franco Hermosilla
Men often lose themselves intentionally to discover things beyond their own secluded reality. So, I walked these unfamiliar steps — barefooted — full of uncertainty, unaware of what awaits me in this journey. I shall endure and conquer this great distance, so that I may live once again, so I may have a second chance. I shall lose myself hoping I will find my true essence, so I may give answer to my questionable existence. I’ve heard the walls whisper imprudent things, “You cannot reach it, you have no wings,” they encouraged me to become nothing. Unbothered, I continued climbing. I’ve seen sculptures of dancing guys, greeting and judging me with their wicked smiles, as if they see through my glorious lies— I was a naked blasphemy in front of their sacred eyes. The way, I know, would not be simple. I must be brave, I must give it my all. This is my chance to stand after my greatest fall, this is my salvation, my divine call. I stepped on reversed footsteps that tell me stories of men who succumbed to their own frailties. But I was too determined to leave all my devilries, too keen to embrace my future victories. Lo! A few more steps and it’s right before my sight. I looked up and was welcomed of something very bright. At last, my redemption! My wounds — healed, my heart — alright. So, this was it, the temple of the light. TC
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LITERARY
55 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
LITERARY
NOSTALGIA Abygale Velasquez
Illustration by Eduard Jude Jamolin
Look at me, lock your eyes and see Dive into its depth, drown yourself in it It is shining, its colors dancing Can you see? Can you see? Innocence and a whole heart The masterpiece of a perfect time for dreaming I wish I could eat one more piece of chocolate I wish ’twas Christmas already Can you remember? Can you decipher? Reality and a piece of you Was all it took to send the fireworks booming, but it was not I who lit your skies I wish I was skinny, I wish I didn’t meet her Can you believe it? Can I live with it? Ages and acquaintance It took years to let these wings be free It took all of me to breathe again But I couldn’t fathom, I could never Can you wake me up? Fire and anger Some dreams turn into frustrations Others are living it Now I can only remember once upon a time Why can’t those dreams be true? I wish there was more time, I wish time machines existed I wished for the wrong things, but there’s this dream I’d never say out loud Now it turns to smoke, dark and breaking Knuckles turned white from grasping It will break your heart in two, but yes, dreams die too. TC
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LITERARY
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“That’s the thing about living vicariously; it’s so much faster than actual living.” — Audrey Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry Photograph by Lance Matthew Pahang
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OPINION
FOOD FOR THOUGHT Paolo Perez
Illustration by Charlene Grace Tan
Watching what we eat has become more than checking the nutrition facts for trans fats and sodium. The veganism movement has exploded in the last decade, with the number of vegans in the United States alone increasing by 600 percent from 2014 to 2017. Is it really the miracle for the body and the planet that its proponents say it is, though? Before getting into the gritty details, one has to ask first: What is a “vegan”? As opposed to vegetarians, who typically only eschew meat and other products that require killing an animal to harvest, veganism demands a diet completely free of animal products. Dairy and eggs are the most obvious, but some vegans also refuse to use honey, and others extend it to products such as leather and even wool. This may sound like a boring culinary existence, but with so many options removed, vegans and vegetarians have expanded their horizons. Food scientists and chefs have discovered new techniques and ingredients to cater to clients with strict diets. Gone are the days of flavorless blocks of tofu and limp, lifeless salads. Modern veganism has given rise to meringues that use canned chickpea water in favor of egg whites, veggie burgers so similar to meat that they “bleed” when cut, endless variations on hummus and guacamole and, of course, infinite recipes using that darling green superfood, kale.
healthy snack and a source of vegan milk, but the annual almond crop uses more water than Los Angeles and San Francisco combined — a tall order for a state plagued by drought. It is perhaps inevitable that, when trying to feed seven billion people and counting, corners will be cut. It is difficult to argue that veganism is not without its benefits to the planet. Sadly, because many have touted their own lifestyle choices to the point of shaming others for not conforming to their ideals, vegans and vegetarians have been the butt of jokes for years, fostering a toxic environment of mutual enmity, not to mention theatrical stunts such as “funerals” for supermarket chickens that only go into the pockets of factory farms. However, there is a large demographic of people who simply cannot afford to go vegan, whether economically or due to physical illness or limitations, and shunning other ways of lessening the impact of one’s diet — for example, purchasing free-range poultry and eggs from small producers — is as irresponsible as not caring about where one’s food comes from at all.
A major reason why people are so keen to drop meat from their diets in the first place is animal cruelty. Take factory farming, a method which produces 95 percent of farm animals in the United States. Tales of abuse in factory farms are as common as they are shocking. Pigs’ tails and chickens’ teeth are clipped off to prevent infighting and cannibalism. Day-old chicks are sexed, with males who cannot lay eggs being put through a grinder. Many argue that a vegan diet simply trades the deaths of livestock for the deaths of rodents and field creatures killed in the industrial harvest of crops and grains, while others rebut that those same “tractor deaths” occur when harvesting feed for grain-fed beef.
With all this in mind, asking what the healthiest, most sustainable diet is akin to asking what the one true religion is, and the answer is just as similar: It depends. Although the vegan movement is largely propelled by rapid globalization, consider the domestic implications, for example. Despite the prevalence of meat dishes such as adobo in Filipino cuisine, Voiceless, an Australian animal rights group, ranked the Philippines fourth in a 2017 study of countries that are the least cruel to farmed animals. Voiceless reported that the Filipino diet consists of 30.7 percent animal protein, compared to the global average of 35.7 percent. In terms of treating its livestock fairly, the Philippines ranks quite high, and it is certainly safe to say that plastics, mining and deforestation are damaging the local environment more than farms are. With agriculture on a slow decline in our own country, perhaps the answer isn’t importing barrels of quinoa and açaí berries, but reviving, improving and diversifying our own local crops.
Beyond emotion, the meat industry is also under scrutiny for its environmental impact. Runoff from factory farms is a major pollutant of waterways. Farm animals produce enormous amounts of methane and nitrogen, and despite factory farms trading welfare to maximize space, animal agriculture takes up a whopping 83 percent of agricultural land worldwide. Although programs are in place such as the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch to aid customers in making informed seafood choices, overfishing is still a rampant concern, as is the rise of microplastics and methylmercury making their way up the food chain — and eventually, into humans.
When deciding what the “best” diet for one’s lifestyle is, context is critical. In countries with strict regulations on hunting and fishing, harvesting wild game can be much more productive and sustainable than relying on farmed animals. In countries such as our own, with forests and animal populations that have suffered enough, such a way of life would be out of the question. Buzzwords such as “fair trade”, “cage-free”, “dolphin-safe” and the like have popped up to ease consumers’ minds while combing grocery store aisles, but the legislation surrounding the definition of these terms is still in its infancy and many corporations simply use them as a way to boost PR and tick up prices.
However, many have brought up arguments that a vegan diet comes with its own damages to the environment. Produce farming may not use abusive practices on animals, but reports have surfaced that many crops are harvested by undocumented immigrants and members of other marginalized demographics to work in harsh conditions for a sub-living wage. California grows 80 percent of the world’s almonds, lauded as a
It isn’t necessary to go vegan to make a positive impact on the environment and one’s life. However, one should acknowledge the altruistic principles it is rooted in: minimizing cruelty, eating healthy and lessening one’s carbon footprint. Whether one orders a salad or a burger for lunch, we can all agree that those are goals worth keeping in mind. TC
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OPINION
61 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
“He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair.” — Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things Photograph by Ronald Jufrey Milan
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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
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Photograph by Jason Matthew Lim
“Cowards understand fear and they can use it.” — Mark Lawrence, Prince of Thorns
ALBUM REVIEW
20 VISAYAN ALBUMS YOU SHOULD HEAR Keith Ayuman and Robert Michael Lim Once upon a time, a group of Visayan misfits, intellectuals and basket cases picked up an instrument and played their own music. Though not heard by many, they were loved by a few. Those “few” introduced their music to people young and old through CDs, cassettes and bootleg recordings. In the end, while some those bands that used to play in bankrupt bars or “infamous” diners broke up and chose to settle down and live ordinarily, some continued playing in spite of all the changes. Through the years, a new wave of musical acts would emerge and take over the scene’s limelight. Then, another set of aspirants would be influenced, and the cycle would begin anew and throughout those years, albums that have forever made their mark in Visayan music history were made. Ladies and gentlemen, these are some of those albums. (Scan the Spotify codes for each song through your Spotify app to listen.)
PRELUDE
HONEYDROP
For the past years, Honeydrop has helped shape the sound of the Cebu indie music with catchy riffs and lyrics and their DIY approach to recording their songs. Their music is filled with easy-to-sing-to lyrics that gives the listeners a great listening experience and songs that are easy to jam to with friends, which is what makes this EP a good start to listen to. Song recommendations: Break Me Up, You’re Just A Man – Ver.
LOVE CITY EP
MANDAUE NIGHTS
Since their inception as a musical duo in last year’s Vispop v5.0, Mandaue Nights has been known for their unique style of using Cebuano lyrics with a twist of city pop and retro heavy sound that gives them significant presence on both radio and stage. The same energy shows in this EP, Love City. Song recommendations: You and I, Super Sonic Love
HEY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY HEY IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY
With their melancholic sound, this album shows how clever words and ethereal-sounding instruments can produce many greatsounding songs. H!IYB’s album eerily, albeit in a good way, gives the proper amount of coldness in this time full of warmth and happiness using the raw sound and the DIY approach in making songs. Song recommendations: Dead Cat, Hey Buddy
POWERSPOONZ INNA STEREO
This album is not necessarily an album with new songs, but rather a collection of the band’s songs that are compiled in an album for the listeners to listen in online outlets. This album shows the band’s heavy sounding, but jammable songs that are loved by many for their songs’ patrimony of diversity and acceptance. Song recommendations: Barrio, Bakbakan
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ALBUM REVIEW
HOPIA HOPIA
For songs that are fully in the Bisaya language, Hopia’s album contains both wit and meaning. Most of the songs in the album are written in a way that makes the songs easier to digest because of Bisaya’s linguistic nature of leaning towards conversation rather than stringent grammaticality. Song recommendations: Gugma Korni Ba?, Mingawon Ka
WONGGOYS HIGH HELLO
High Hello is the album that kicked off Wonggoy’s popularity in the indie scene in Cebu. This album shows the pop-sounding ambience with easy-to-remember words that crowds can easily vibe to even to their first listen of the album. High Hello is definitely a good listen on a chill afternoon. Song recommendations: Gay Is Ok!, Never Let You Go
UNDER SOUTHERN LIGHT URBANDUB
Let’s take a step back in time and listen to one of Urbandub’s most successful albums. With melodic lyrics paired with moderately heavy riffs, this album shows the prowess of the band in writing songs that pierce the minds and hearts of many Filipinos and even people not from the archipelago. This album is definitely a classic. Song recommendations: The Fight Is Over, Cebuana
FLIRTING WITH THE UNIVERSE LOOP
It is not every day that an album can invoke magic in one’s ears, but Loop does it spectacularly. The songs that are written are in a way, poetic, but still give the listeners a digestive experience using heavy riffs and an angelic voice. Tip: listen to this album from start to finish without skipping and then realize that the whole album is really just one song. Song recommendations: Lite, Lost
KISS AND DISAPPEAR VINCENT ECO
To feel the instant “maoy” by listening to folk songs, then this album is for you. This album is filled with Vincent Eco’s excellent songwriting about his and other people’s experiences, and the songs are performed in a way that we can all relate to, one way or another. Song recommendations: Make You Stay, Fire
VAGRANT UP
KUBRA COMMANDER
Kubra Commander’s Vagrant Up, with reverbed vocals and synthheavy songs, feels nostalgic and ecstatic at the same time. This album is one that anyone can blare out in the car and listen to while the city lights pass by. Song recommendations: Contigo, Colo(U)rless
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ALBUM REVIEW
SINE-SINE (2005) MISSING FILEMON
Missing Filemon’s debut self-titled effort from 2002 was arguably the first “Bisrock” album. Though it received a whole lot of love and backlash during its release, it gained a cult following and influenced a lot of aspiring artist and musicians. Missing Filemon’s second effort, “Sine Sine”, is a trip down memory lane. With love, loss, angst, and nostalgia as its theme, the second album overshadowed the debut effort and spearheaded the band’s national career. Song Recommendations: “Uranus”, “Englisera” and “Sine-Sine”
D’ SECOND COMING (2003) SMOOTH FRICTION
Smooth Friction is one of those rare bands that will slowly grow on you in spite of their approach to the genre. Smooth Friction combines jazz, rock, blues, and heavy Metal metal, which is what makes them so different among from the other Bisrock bands. D’ 2nd Coming not only boasted the band’s ambitious nature as a whole but also the variety of genres that they could pull-off. Different but enjoyable, humorous, and innovative, D’ 2nd Coming is one hell of an album to listen to. Song Recommendations: “Solid ug Lawas”, “El Salida” and “Kanimo”
SIMPLE CHANGES (2004) THE AMBASSADORS
The Ambassadors is an alternative/punk rock band born in between the fall of nu metal, and the rise of alternative rock scene. Known for their clean vocals, pulsating drum beats and crunchy guitar sound. The Ambassadors not only helped in establishing a Cebuano punk scene but also helped in mold a new brand of sound for the scene. Simple Changes is no stranger to some; its catchy chorus, adrenaline fueled beats and unpredictability not only established The Ambassadors as one of the greats, but also the go to soundtrack of nostalgia. Song recommendations: Gugmang Giatay, We Want Change
NADIN
THCRSS (2017)
There’s something magical about THCRSS. Possibly one the few remaining garage punk bands in Cebu, NADIR is energetic, witty, noisy but true, and THCRSS’ approach to rock is melancholic, grim, catchy and straightforward. The album boasted a new form of raw sound and it will always be there to stay and possibly, rock. Song recommendations: A Void in Your Heart (Acoustic), Run
THE LABRATS (2015) THE LABRATS
Imagine this — the lights and the cold midnight air slowly caressing your skin. You drive to the bar, attend a gig, meet a beautiful girl and then verge on a road trip both of you will never forget. That’s exactly what this album feels like. Derived from real-life experiences and the hopeful aspirations of romance, The Labrats’s neo-folk, blues/rock and triphop sound in which the self-titled debut showcases holds on you like no other album does. Experimenting on the possibilities of the soundscape of modern pop music, the self-entitled debut not only felt like home but lingers on you. Song recommendations: Dance Away, This Night Only
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ALBUM REVIEW
DUNGAGI NI... (2006) ENCHI
The crashing waves, Hawaiian costumes and ice-cold beer will feel closer if you listen to this album. Mixing humor and wit with trumpets, groovy basslines and reggae strums, if you’re craving for the beach, and the atmosphere of a perfect getaway, Enchi is the band for you. An album made out of the ska energy, reggae and unadulterated humor. Enchi’s Dungagi Ni… is the album that can take you back to the good old days, or at least to what’s left of it. Song recommendations: Baboy, Ngano
ANESTHESIAC (2015) WOMB
The trip-hop genre was never deemed possible until this trio came. The band’s downtempo and ambient-driven album catapulted the idea of the variety of genres the scene can offer. Womb embraced alienation, frustration and melancholy in such a way that those who felt it was comforted through the album. Underneath the ethereal atmosphere were lyrics of comfort and pain, which Womb molded into a form of comfort and companionship. Song recommendations: 10 Second Forever, Sleepyhead
KANTINDUDG KANTINDUDG
“Kay gi kumot kumot sa dako’g kamot.” No other band can ever fit as many innuendos in one album, can transform cheesy Cebuano phrases, mold them into songs, turn them into an anthem and make jokes land as well as Kantin Dudg does. The album is easy to jam with, effortlessly witty and honestly, none of the tracks in the album is worth skipping. The album feels like a documentation unto the everyday life here in Cebu City. Song recommendations: Gikumot-kumot, Under
LINGIN (2007)
AGGRESSIVE AUDIO
Aggressive Audio takes on a new musical approach unto social commentary and tambay ideology with this 2000’s classic. The guitar distortion, witty lyrics and implication of Visayan culture and style made this album a landmark in Bisrock history. Slowly deriving themselves away from the style and appeal of Missing Filemon to avoid being cited as a copycat, Aggressive Audio is the one band that dared to be different in the Bisrock genre, making them one of the influence of the many Bisrock bands that came after and it’s evident in this album. Song recommendations: Senior Citizen, Lingin
AWITNON BAHANDI SUSAN FUENTES
t would be insane to make a list of Visayan artist without citing one of the pioneering Visayan singing diva Susan Fuentes. Susan Fuentes is probably a personal favorite when it comes to Cebuano songs. Her voice is as beautiful as the music that accompanies it. There’s no denying that Susan Fuentes is an immortal figure to Visayan music and this compilation album is direct proof of that. Song recommendations: Usahay, Mga Kinaham ni Lolo, Siloy
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VIDEO
Wired
Keandrei Andreil M. Andrade An experimental short film, Wired depicts technological slavery in the present age: how students today unable to complete tasks because of social media distractions.
68 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | NOVEMBER 2018
VIDEO
Airbag
Frank Cedric Go A commentary on the traffic system of Cebu, a group of friends encounters a road accident before trying to make a documentary on traffic jams caused by public utility vehicles.
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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
“One race, Many cultures, One place.” — Geoffrey M. Gluckman, Deadly Exchange
Photograph by Dodds Marvin Campomanes
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“Finally, she mused that human existence is as brief as the life of autumn grass, so what was there to fear from taking chances with your life?” — Mo Yan, Red Sorghum Photograph by Vanessa May P. Leuterio
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LITERARY
BEDTIME STORIES
AND OTHER TRAGEDIES Brynch Bonachita
Illustration by Sabrina Joyce Tamayo
Under the blanket of the moon lies a four-wall cage called home and in the darkness of the room you welcome the swallowing sheets. Here, you practice the art of maneuvering: your spine upright in a haunted house with ghosts for dreams and bodies for bones, you do not pray for blessings nor salvation, here, you pray for a god to be out there, to claim what’s left of a half-owned body. Here, the monsters have a bed, they cut with their tongue, hold you with hands for cages then profess love as if pain was needed first for comfort. Here, unheard are lullabies and tales, they live between the shackles of your mother’s mirror and your father’s shadow while your body is mapped with scars. Here, you spend time tracing the lines making meaning out of the wreckage. Now, no longer can you count the days hoping for the dead of daylight, for the rain, for no longer do monsters in the closet remain in the tendrils of the dark. TC
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LITERARY
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PARTING SHOT
“All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings Photograph by Garel Sison
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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
LIQUIDATION
Today’s CAROLINIAN Statement of Cash Flows For the First Semester 2018-2019
Cash Balance, Beginning Cash Receipts: First Semester Budget Interest Income Total Cash Available for Use Cash Disbursements: Campus Media Day Meeting: Food Expense Panel Interview: Food Expense Printing Fees- Grade Sheet General Assembly: Food Expense Printing Fees- Certificates Honorarium Expense Editorial Board Meeting: Food Expense USC Days: Food Expense Production Expense Load Expense Printing Fees: September Newsletter December Magazine Press Shirts Press ID’s Lanyards Other Expenses: Supplies Expense Remittance Fee Transportation Expense Online Maintenance Expense Tax Expense Cash Balance, End
P
324.00
P
P
191,176.22
P
260,108.30 286.21 451,570.73
324.00
726.00 75.00
801.00
1,236.50 144.00 383.00
1,763.50
945.00
945.00
7,624.00 2,500.00 200.00
10,324.00
21,900.00 159,300.00 15,770.00 525.00 6,000.00
203,495.00
72.00 310.00 1,213.00 4,695.00 57.24
6,347.24
223,999.74 P 227,570.99
Prepared By: THERESA KATE PALOMPON Associate Editor - for External Affairs Today's Carolinian
75 TODAY’S CAROLINIAN | DECEMBER 2018
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