Today's Carolinian - March 2019 Newsletter

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

MARCH 2019 | VOL. 6 NO. 3

NEW SHS BUILDING RISE IN TALAMBAN CAMPUS Blaise Panchio

Photo by Keith Ayuman The Talamban Campus has set its eyes for a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) building for senior high students. The said building will be erected beside the covered basketball court and the nature trail behind the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Science Building. The building will house 55 classrooms and six laboratories exclusive to senior high school students.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held last Jan. 29, 2019 and was led by Fr. Dionisio Miranda, SVD, Fr. Aleksander Gaut, SVD, and other university cabinet members. This month, the preparation and fabrication phase has commenced and construction will soon follow as soon as the permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which was filed in December 2018, will be approved. By August, the structural foundations will be underway and the whole building is expected to be finished by October or December of this year.

Continuation on page 2

On Candidacy

AidUSC Wins 3rd Place at Microsoft Imagine Cup Asia Regionals

NEWS

Page 6

EDITORIAL

Page 7

Study of Roundness and Return LITERARY

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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

Continued from page 1 The project, headed by Architect Mike Torres and his team from ArchiGlobal, with contractor Administrative Employees Association (ADEA) Engineering providing site work and construction. Its designers and project-in-charge officers, Architects Ritchie Sienes and Virgilio Alejado, will oversee progress from the site.

The STEM building will include a theater, air-conditioned rooms, outdoor atriums, sound-proofed classrooms and bridges connecting the chapel grounds and science building. Some existing trees and all water pits within the site, known as detention ponds, will be preserved during its construction.

The project won during a competition headed by the university last May. Five firms, including the School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design’s planning and design team, entered with their concepts for a proposed senior high school building with a budget set to PHP 150 million. However, its actual construction cost may be doubled than the expected budget limit from the competition.

TC

NEWS

MARCH 2019 | Vol. 6 No. 3

The Current State of the USC College Faculty Independent Union Abygale Velasquez The University of San Carlos College Faculty Independent Union (USC-CFIU) has been having board meetings and general assemblies since their landslide win in December. CFIU held its first gathering this year last Jan. 26, 2019 wherein the organization addressed issues and concerns of the faculties from different schools. The second assembly coincided with the eighthyear anniversary of the establishment of the union being registered in the Department of Labor and Employment in March 2011.

Furthermore, on the third week of March, a panel of negotiators made necessary and specific arrangements for the upcoming collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which is expected to convene in April. With this, a list of 12 representatives who will stand for CFIU in the CBA negotiations, together with the management, was duly approved by the general assembly last Feb. 15, 2019.

Financial statements from the years 2015 to 2018 were also requested in line with the preparatory measures of the CBA negotiation.

The finance division obliged and released the documents needed, though lacking, which was another request to the president of the university to furnish the required data and figures that were not part of the previous financial statements.

The members and faculties that can benefit from the organization are in progress. USCCFIU founding president, Mr. Levy Lenaria stated, “We are very optimistic, because

during the elections, we had landslide win, there were I think 105 [101] votes so if the great majority of them will become members then definitely we’re going to have bigger membership. We will keep updating.”

Several areas of concern have also been paid attention to with regard to the CBA negotiations, this includes inadequate and not fixed salaries, overwork and lack of swift response of equipment maintenance in classrooms and other places in the university.

One issue regarding salaries is the concern for summer pay, which is not automatic to some teachers even when they have permanent statuses. They still have to apply for summer activities that would have to be approved beforehand to be assured of summer pay when instead, it should be guaranteed as they are regular faculty members and are entitled fixed summer pay. Another concern is the relationship with some administrators who, based on the feedback and experiences from faculty members, have arbitrary exercise of management prerogative and administration partisanship. One matter which also affected the faculty members is the lack of, or complete absence, of consultation on the crafting or changing of policies and rules, for instance, the emergence of Department of General Education and Mission.

CFIU has the prospect of outcomes in the CBA negotiations and therefore are relying on the positive response as the issues are being dealt with. TC

SAFAD Celebrates 21st Design Exhibit and Awards Kim Libarnes The School of Architecture, Fine Arts and Design (SAFAD) celebrated its 21st Design Exhibit and Awards entitled “Find Your Hue” with the theme “Inspiring Creativity, Celebrating Diversity” at SM Seaside City Cebu, from Feb. 18 to March 1, 2018.

The 11-day long event showcased the works and crafts from both the Department of Architecture, and the Department on Fine Arts in a gallery that was made open for public viewing. It highlighted architectural miniatures, portfolios, and designs of freshmen and senior students.

“We wanted to acknowledge the students in their projects and achievements considering the hard work they put in class. We wanted to showcase their works, and not merely just pass it to our teachers,” stressed SAFAD

Council president Richelle Adarna.

BFA Cinema program.

The affair concluded on its final day with a culminating program that gave recognition to various achievements such as “Best Thesis” and other outstanding projects from the previous semester. The program was also packed with performances from both the SAFAD Glee Club and SAFAD Pop Jazz Dancers, with a light dinner afterwards.

The event was also made possible in partnership with SM Seaside City Cebu as it partakes in its first celebration of the Philippine Arts Month in February.

“This event is an exhibition of products of the students’ talents as we celebrate their outstanding works. This year’s exhibit is special since we managed to have it here in Seaside despite our small population.

Overall, everything went very well despite the short notice, we were still able to gather enough displays for the event,” said the head organizer, Mr. Denis Judilla, a faculty of the

“We’re very grateful despite the small hitches.

I am also grateful to my colleagues, who, despite our busy schedules, contributed to the success of this activity, and especially the venue handlers who were very accommodating throughout,” Judilla added. TC

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NEWS

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

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Ecstasy Group Caught in Subsequent Buy-Bust Operations Maria Consuelo Pacilan Ken Kenneth Rosales, 31, one of the major suppliers of ecstasy or “party drugs” in Metro Cebu was killed in an early morning buy-bust operation after two of his dealers were apprehended and named Rosales as their source.

Four sachets of what was thought to be cocaine, multiple packets of ecstasy tablets and Rosales’s firearm were retrieved from him and both his dealers. Another one of Rosales’s private vehicles, a green Mercedes Benz, yielded more of the same party drugs.

Hours earlier, two of Rosales’ dealers were caught in a separate buy-bust operation after a police decoy posed as an ecstasy buyer.

Arriving in a white Nissan Patrol, both dealers were captured and forced to call the big-time supplier while the police was still with them.

Back in 2013, Rosales was also arrested for the selling of illegal drugs but was released on bail.

Rosales was set to deliver the drugs to an agent in Sepulveda St. Barangay Zapatera, Cebu City, in the vicinity of the Downtown Campus, when he began to sense something was amiss and ran away in his black Volvo.

According to reports, Rosales allegedly opened fire first and police shot back.

Rosales sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body and foot. The 31-year-old was rushed to the hospital but died before he could be treated.

“My men had to fire back, they were shot at first by him,” Regional Special Operations Group Chief Ricardo Tero told the media.

Because both his dealers and a recent victim of an ecstasy overdose studied in the same school at the time of her death, intelligence reports suggest that Rosales may have supplied the drug that led to the overdose in a pre-Sinulog party held at the grounds of the Cebu Business Park.

However, Senior Superintendent Remus Medina, Police Regional Office in Central Visayas Regional Intelligence Division (PRO7 RID) said that a direct connection between both groups is yet to be established to confirm the speculations regarding the primary source of the drug that the victim ingested.

According to PRO-7 Director, Debold Sinas, Rosales frequented high-end clubs and

big parties in Cebu where the drugs would be sold.

A former classmate of one of Rosales’s dealers stated that back when they shared classes, rumors were afloat that the dealer used to be part of a volunteer-run community that spearheaded huge parties or music festivals on or before the upcoming days of Sinulog.

The dealer allegedly sold big time during these events attended mostly by teenagers and young adults.

According to Sinas, he is not alarmed by the circulation of party drugs in Cebu since the occasion and the market for these are very specific and are not as considerable as the market for cocaine.

Based on the party drug matrix produced by the Regional Intelligence Division, Rosales still has a few cohorts left, three female suppliers on his same level, circulating drugs in Cebu.

Police already have a list of the names of these female suppliers as well as the clubs that Rosales frequented but these are yet to be revealed to the public so as not to obstruct the ongoing investigation. TC

National Youth Day in Collaboration With University of San Carlos Launches NYD Applications Abygale Velasquez The memorandum of agreement (MOA) signing between the University of San Carlos (USC) and the National Youth Day (NYD) organizing committee, along with the application launching of Kaabay and Pedro’s Journey in line with the celebration of NYD, was held last March 5, 2019 at Archbishop’s Palace, Cebu City.

The NYD 2019 main organizing committee tied in with USC for the upcoming religious event.

The program commenced with a song from Fr. Andre and was followed by an overview of the two applications that were to be launched.

Two groups of graduating Information Technology (IT) students under the Department of Computer and Information Sciences (DCIS) designed NYD mobile applications, as per requirement for the association of NYD committee and the university, naming them Kaabay and Pedro’s Journey. Pursuant to their Capstone class project, the goal of the application is to promulgate information and other linked activities of NYD 2019.

IT students, Jessa Pedrola, Lumiene Buhawi,

Elijah Ruiz and NJ Ompad created Kaabay, a mobile event guide for NYD 2019 participants with Global Positioning System tracking and Short Message Service notifications, making it easier for pilgrims and delegates to actively guide themselves throughout their stay.

As for Pedro’s Journey, it is an e-learning game application which gives trivias in and around Cebu’s historical landmarks, it was generated by another group of IT students, Nicolas Ferraren, Bryan Bispo, Kitt Yap and Penuel Calle.

DCIS chair, Christian Maderazo, read the MOA and had it signed along with the representatives of NYD - Archdiocese of Cebu, Most Rev. Jose S. Palma and USC president, Rev. Fr. Dionisio Miranda. Archbishop Jose Palma then delivered his words of appreciation and reminded the attendees about Saint Pedro Calungsod, being March 5 as the beatification anniversary.

Delia E. Belleza, dean of School of Arts and Sciences and Christen Cacanog, the publicity,

promotions and documentation head were also there during the program.

“We’re very proud to be part of this project and we’re ultimately relieved that the launch of the app was a success,” said a representative of the IT project makers.

The two mobile applications being launched will soon be available on Google Play and Apple Store for both Android and iOS phones.

The NYD 2019 is scheduled to be on April 23 to 28 and will be hosted in Cebu for the first time. Preparatory measures and arrangements are ongoing as the organization hopes for a successful event. TC

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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

FEATURE

MARCH 2019 | Vol. 6 No. 3

The BEEP is Finally in Town!

Kerstein Nicole Labay

Photograph by Jesssa Marie Pedrola

Commuting is a constant battle. The vehicles queue endlessly in the narrow highway, the streets are filled with drivers an inch close from road rage, and sleep-deprived students and professionals sit side by side marinating in the hot, polluted air inside jeepneys. Indeed, Cebu’s traffic situation is as dire as any problem could get.

Over the past few years, the city has seen a surge of employment in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. International business, such as manning call centers, keeps many Cebuanos awake and on the night shift when everyone else is sleeping. Along with the problem of traffic, safety concerns have risen as the attacks towards customer service representatives plague the media every day.

To ensure the safety and convenience of the public, the city has commissioned a fleet of white and blue bus-jeeps, or “beeps” to ferry passengers throughout auspicious areas. Comfortable, air-conditioned and internet-connected, beeps offer a relief from the hustles of commuting. For a minimum fare of PHP 8.00 for the first five kilometers and PHP 1.50 pesos for the succeeding kilometers, the public is given a run for their money.

The 26-seater blue beeps can accommodate a total of 33 passengers including the driver while the white beeps have only 23 seats but can accommodate up to 32 passengers. Since these beeps operate 24 hours a day, it is a convenient choice for professionals working in the BPO industry. Beginning Dec. 20, 2018, 40 vehicles have been deployed in two routes: City Hall to IT Park and Paseo Arcenas in Banawa to Panagdait, Mabolo.

“The services are good. It’s convenient. Dili lang siya mu-agi duol sa amo,” Shekhaina Bacalan, an office worker working in one of the companies in the Cebu Business Park, recounted.

Could these beeps lessen the heavy traffic situation in Cebu?

Nine designated loading and unloading areas are identified and strictly followed so as not to cause traffic build-up. Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) Chief Francisco Ouano is positive that the beeps will encourage vehicle owners to travel via beep to their destinations.

Unlike public transportation overseas, the beeps only accept cash or coins as the reloadable beep cards are still to be implemented. According to the operators, new routes will be identified and opened in the future.

With this new alternative, there is hope for the improvement of the commuting experience of the general public. The beep is finally in town and we hope it is here to stay. TC

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FEATURE

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

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Photo courtesy of Microsoft Imagine Cup

AidUSC Wins Third Place in Microsoft Imagine Cup Asia Regionals Januar Junior Aguja A 2018 study by the World Health Organization found two billion people are vulnerable to diseases like diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio, as their drinking water source is contaminated with feces. This contamination can lead to 502,000 to 800,000 deaths each year. With this being a widespread problem, three BS IT students might have found a solution with their invention.

AidUSC, a team consisted of Erl Joshua Arcenal, Danielle Ann Piamonte, and Jeremiah Jr Valero, came up with Aqua Check, which won them third place with a cash prize of USD 1,000 in the Microsoft Imagine Cup Asia Regional Champions that took place in Sydney, Australia last Feb 12, 2019.

Aqua Check works by using Azure, a cloud computing service by Microsoft, to allow anyone to analyze liquids for contamination by simply taking a photo from a water sample through a microscope using Azure’s Custom Vision feature. These pictures then map out locations with contaminated waters using Azure Web and Azure Maps.

Jeremiah Valero, Jr. said that they “created a database of image samples of water that is contaminated with E. coli and yeast.” They then uploaded the data and created the model on Custom Vision. He explained, “When a user takes a photo from the microscope, the photo is sent to Azure and it analyzes that photo and gives out what [bacteria] could be present in that water sample.” This was aided with the help of the university’s Department of Biology, which he said assisted in the process of creating the database, including the preparation of the samples and proper usage of the equipment.

The conceptualization of Aqua Check began only a month before the deadline. Valero said that when they submitted their innovation, the project was untitled at that time. He said they chose the name “Aqua Check” as it was the first thing that came to mind.

As the team were friends since high school, what they have in common is that they enjoy taking on challenges. Valero said, “Any competition that we see, any possible opportunity that comes our way, we always jump to that and grab that opportunity regardless of if we’re busy.” They like joining competitions because of the possible impact their innovations would bring in aiding people, hence why they call themselves “AidUSC”.

Valero said that Aqua Check is still in its early stages, and there are plans to integrate it as part of the university’s community extension service. Christian Medarazo, the chairperson of the Department of Computer and Information Science, said, “As Carolinians, part of our responsibility is to create projects and innovations that would help our community.” He also consulted with Fr. Rogelio Bag-ao, SVD about the possibility of missionaries using Aqua Check. He said, “When they go somewhere around the world and before they drink the water the community offers them, they could verify if the water is drinkable.”

Valero hopes their innovation would encourage Carolinians to take huge opportunities as his team did. He said, “You’ll never know unless you put yourself out there. It’s the only way for you to know you will have opportunities like this ahead of you. Opportunities will only be there if you take them.” TC

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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

EDITORIAL

MARCH 2019 | Vol. 6 No. 3

Illustration by Eduard Jude Jamolin

On Candidacy In April, we will begin to see campaign materials for the USC Supreme Student Council — the highest governing body among the Carolinians.

Tarps of the parties of yellow, pink and red will be hanging in university buildings with faces brimming with smiles and texts we barely see. The bravest. The brightest. The best. Ideally.

However, an even more problematic aspect is that the recruitment and orientation for these parties reportedly continue even until election season is about to start. In that short amount of time between accepting members and the start of the campaign period, we are to expect that they can train student leaders that suit our needs.

The next election is just as crucial as ever too, what with the candidates generally falling under three categories: current freshmen, whose experience or inexperience will be tested; graduating students of fiveyear programs, whose time they would rather devote fully on leaving the university; and those who fell behind, whose resources they would rather invest on their classes.

To answer the question on whether we can trust the older members of each party to mold a new generation of leaders, this is simply a lost cause.

The people who are more concerned about organizing events they cannot even market well, the same people who cannot do something as simple as keeping receipts as to where our money is spent — these people will be training the new leaders they recruited a mere few months before the elections. What we make out from that depends entirely on us.

Here we already see a problem: For the older students, what guarantee do we have that they can give what the student body needs? We have already seen members of the SSC disappearing in the middle of the semester, whether from their meetings or the school entirely. We have to consider this, especially that these people are, from all angles, better off saving themselves first.

For the newer students, what guarantee do we have that they know what the student body needs? These students are not yet fully exposed to the problems that plague this university. We have to acknowledge that being part of the SSC in USC is a far different experience than the SSC in high schools, considering the dynamics of students and administrators. We can only trust the insight they have obtained from their respective political parties, but truly, can we do so?

In the past, all aspects of dirty politics have been present during campaign periods — mudslinging, red-tagging, personality politics, empty promises.

At times, we get an SSC that pushes the agenda of its political parties at our expense, such as giving the green light on a calendar shift without our consultation. Other times, we get an SSC that does not feel as if it is there at all. There is more concern for legacies, like what happened with last year’s proposed changes in the SSC constitution, instead of concern for what we need as students. All these make up a system where the three parties, time and time again, control USC politics while proving that they are not enough, as much as we hate to admit it.

However, this problem is not contained in Tingog Carolinian, STAND and SPP only. We students are part of it too. We simply do not understand, or are completely ignorant, of the rationale behind the existence of the SSC and the political and administrative mechanisms with which it operates.

There is a need for us to educate ourselves because this is only in this way that we get leaders who can truly anticipate and answer our needs to the best of the powers granted to them.

What kind of leaders do we need exactly? We need experienced leaders — not ones who can organize good parties or can act in commercials, but ones who can represent us well, particularly to the upper echelons of the administration, who has the courage and the ability to not only refuse but also propose possible solutions or compromises that address the slew of issues we face. We have scholars who cannot get their allowances at the right time. We have ghost fees still existing in our assessments. We have changes in the university without our proper consultation. Admittedly, the past administrations of the SSC drafted programs for these, but they were not sustainable, seen from how such programs do not exist now. Perhaps these problems could have been prevented if we were better equipped in choosing our leaders.

If we dance to the same beat again and again, if we fail to change how we view the council and how we vote on its elections, the problems of the Carolinians will always remain. TC

OPINION

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TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

Kyn Noel Pestano

Education Without a Mission: A Critique on the State of Philippine Basic Education The Philippines is a constitutional democracy; therefore, all authority of our government should ideally come from us. As citizens, we enforce and explicitly express this through voting. The general state of our government and the slate of individuals we elect into power, therefore, can be considered as direct reflections of our collective mindset. However, judging from the kind of individuals that we elect, or even consider electing, that mindset can only be described as moronic.

As an aspiring educator, I don’t think it’s self-serving to say that the pervasive societal ills of our country can almost always be traced back to the classroom. This view was the cornerstone of my choice for taking up Education, and it’s one that I think all of us should seriously look into. Education is often misleadingly seen as a backdrop for national affairs, a national silhouette of the country’s more pressing military, economic and sociopolitical affairs — a monochromatic part of everyday life. This can’t be any further from the truth.

A nation is simply an aggregate of individuals, but education in its most expansive form acts as the principal tool of the state to mold that group of millions into a harmonious whole, with a definite sense of national identity and a clear purpose beyond the nuances of individual existence. What we are as a nation ultimately rests on what the grassroots, those at the lower ends of the socioeconomic hierarchy, identify as.

We look at high state officials with a reverence reserved next to sainthood, deeming them all-powerful, all-knowing, all-privileged relative to us, but this convoluted meekness of the most populous sector of Philippine society is the exact reason why we cannot translate our core ideals and aspirations into votes that align to them. More often than not, we fail to see that what holds the pyramid isn’t the block that sits closest to the sky, but the innumerable ones that labor on the earth. It is for this exact mindset that education, if wielded right, can become the most powerful agency for social change.

It’s not difficult to see the classroom as a double-edged factory for individuals in power, where they can mold both assets and threats at the same time. They have to be educated enough to contribute to national growth — more often than not just a blanket term for how the wealthy can get even wealthier — but not educated enough to incite critical voices and legitimately questioning minds. The noble work of an educator, especially those laboring at the grassroots in the public school system, should therefore be to produce mindsets that can question, assert and inquire with a logical scalpel.

I know how idealistic this comes off, but our formative years are almost exclusively spent in classrooms, so why does our national curriculum, which was drafted and approved by our political and economic elite, not explicitly include subjects that cater to critical thinking, to questioning, to political and economic literacy? During our years in elementary school for example, how many teachers did we have who were trained by the government, that actually encouraged raising critical questions, prodding sensitive issues with child-friendly but still argumentatively sound dialogues, or were simply left uninsulated when a student questioned authority, of which he or she is considered to be the sole proprietor of. How many of us were actually provided by our government the only education that matters?

Whether all these were done intentionally or unconsciously provides us with a bleak picture of the culture of silence and blind obedience that runs rampant in our country, where the sole arm for lasting reform is dismissed and watered down as nothing more but an easy career path for the academically mediocre. We do not need an iron fist to better this country. What we need is an education that upholds the principles of critical thinking, for in a democracy such as ours, our state of mind is the sole determinant of the state of our nation. TC

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OPINION

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

MARCH 2019 | Vol. 6 No. 3

Kerstein Nicole Labay

On Volunteerism and Social Responsibility Volunteerism should be innate and, therefore, free from impure intents. However, lobbying one’s personal interests as an exchange for charitable works deviates volunteerism from its essence.

Individuals who dwell in a social construct that feeds on this view should serve to preserve it by cultivating a progressive mindset towards social responsibility.

It is beautiful and only befitting for a learning institution to instill the heart for philanthropy to its primary stakeholders — students — but to hold their diplomas against them is another. This notion is being perpetuated in some of the leading learning institutions in our country. Much to our dismay, this is also present in our own university. The students from the School of Engineering, for instance, are required to accumulate at least 60 community extension service (CES) points, this is an issue that should not be simply dismissed as there are dangers in mistakenly taking volunteerism for compliance, no matter how harmless it may seem to be.

In fear of not graduating on time, we partake in every CES activity we could get, take as much photos to highlight our good deeds, narrate our experience in the most heartfelt way as possible and submit them to the office hoping to have them be credited enough points. It is no surprise for us to think of the academe is a workshop that molds not just the practical discipline but character of students. With this, however, we begin to doubt the quality of citizens it produces with the way they confuse volunteerism and social responsibility. We ask ourselves this: “What good can volunteerism truly bring when I am obligated to do so?”

The society we live in is a heterogeneous one where the gap between those at the upper hand and at the lower echelon may either widen or end as socioeconomic and political strategies are employed with the goal of stagnating our worsening societal ills. Corporate social responsibility activities by various corporations and enterprises are the best models to see the convoluted view on charity that thrives on compliance. Privilege, which come with these institutions, provides both power to extend one’s traction to lobby an agenda and responsibility to uplift the lives of those who have less.

This is the exact reason why every society celebrates charity and although not wrong, may provide an instance to blur out the conditions upon which acts of kindness are done. More often than not, we see a bleak picture of how our state officials hold their privilege against us. We elect them by the character and advocacies they purvey and put them on a spotless pedestal hoping that these people are meant to weed out the perplexing nuances in our system. For this reason, learning institutions should, more than ever, take further steps in instilling volunteerism banked on one’s honest desire to help.

We see the future of our society in the way schools form the intellect and character of students.

If it breeds a generation that feeds on charity as social trophies, we should not be surprised to see future statesmen who do the same. If the sole goal of a university is to affect change, why do we still pay for an education that slimly encourages the students to assert their opinions regarding oppressive policies? Even inside our campus, why do most of us prefer to stay in our bubble and avoid the political outtakes happening in our surroundings? Finally, why do we, for example, choose to comply our CES points, when we already fully understand the basis upon which charity and service are supposedly given?

With all these cards laid in front of us, we grasp how dysfunctional structures in our society came to be and how we can possibly deflate them in favor of a better one. We do not need a system that holds volunteerism against us. We need an education that trains our minds to assert, sharpens our ears to effectively listen and shape our hearts to those who have it less, even at the expense of receiving nothing in return. TC

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OPINION

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

Paulie Yap

Louisa Concepcion Carredo

When Freedom Becomes Silent

The Problem With Connections

We want to act as mere artists, painting over the black and white ruins of our country. Sometimes pretend we are in the field of medicine, putting bandages over wounds and expecting them to heal. But I think hundreds can attest with me that yes, we live in an age of tyranny — and are struggling to get out.

In a column by Randy David on Inquirer, he compared the administration of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte to a passage in the book of Romans stating, “Whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God, and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” He cited that the President could be the personification of God’s authority on earth and that maybe, he really is trying to be God himself. With the entitlement of the administration to every heed of its gains, the shock would be in the opposition.

If one would find several contexts to this, one may arrive at its depiction in universities as well.

Recently, the NYC Chairman Ronald Cardema proposed for the removal of government scholarships of students who protest against the government. Just a few weeks ago, students in universities in Luzon were being monitored and held liable for their criticisms online, and were even up for expulsion. Just because of the truth’s amplification, higher offices cannot seem to handle the fact that they are dysfunctional.

It is certain that we want to empower ourselves and the youth, but it is uncertain if we will still be able to pursue our degree. This shows that in a way, our universities are microscopic epitomes of our current administration.

Fanaticism? Check. Culture of fear amongst students? Check.

Getting caught in the politics of power stakeholders? We decide.

What is alarming is that we students ourselves are simply allowing their rights to be taken away underneath them, may it be because of fear or just apathy. And if this damnation in toxic authoritarian will continue to be tolerated, then maybe we do want to parade the death of our freedom as students, and as individuals. TC

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It has become common knowledge that nothing can be gotten done without knowing someone or knowing someone who knows someone. Queues have become a mere suggestion of who should get their turn because what is really required to get your petition signed or your license renewed is a connection to power.

Whoever said corruption is only for the politicians? It has seeped so deep into the circuit of establishments, protocols and systems of mundane life in the Philippines that acts of nepotism and cronyism are already considered part of the Filipino culture. It is strange that we still get shocked by news of corruption among big leaders when anyone with the slightest amount of power can often be found practicing it in their own ways.

Get a number, they say. Line up, they say. Wait your turn, they say. Come back after lunch they say. You get one, you line up, you wait, and you even come back. It’s a frustrating repetitive cycle.

But what can you do? You are just a customer, an employee, a student, a citizen, and they are the bosses, the chairmen and women and the government. Therefore, unless your aunt happens to be the manager’s best friend or your grandfather used to be the current boss of the boss, chances are you and your concerns are not a priority.

They call the shots and develop systems that require approval signatures from bosses who are almost never there when you need them and monitoring from managers who they themselves need to be monitored. Then instead of opening their eyes wide enough to see past their own egos and selfish apathy to get glimpses of the malfunctions in their own creations, they shut them even tighter and only open them when it affects them personally or the people who affect them.

Seemingly small situations and occurrences like these are the reasons why people decide to look for favor instead of following order. We as customers, employees, students and citizens end up stooping to nepotism and cronyism because the we are fooled into believing a connection can solve our problems. It does. They do. But only temporarily.

Everything starts somewhere. Corruption starts with selfish classroom representatives and school organizations, then with co-workers and leaders. We should not be allowed to expect any group or person of power in this country to solve anything, let alone the virus of corruption, until we teach ourselves and those possessing any amount of authority that there is no place for conceit in fair power.

Allowing yourself to be a connection is selfish because just like everyone else, that someone needs something and should not be valued above the rest.

Knowing someone who knows someone is not the key to actual progress. We need our potential leaders, no matter how small what and who we lead may seem to be, to care about what they put all people through and the progress all people make because the more dependence on connections is allowed, the more enabled corruption becomes at slowing down our chances at actual progress. TC

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LITERARY

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

To Walk in Footprints Brynch Bonachita Illustration by Eduard Jude Jamolin

i. how does a mouth claim to walk tattered feet, to pledge allegiance to the ground where sweat seeds soils to feed tongues with gnawing teeth;

iii.

where toils bring

you see, no matter

harvest for ivory

how hands embrace

children while calloused

the sand, no amount

hands are born from

of holding will baptize

earth to earth.

your feet to walk across the ground where

ii. no “I understand” will ever be the hour hand submission, a body’s surrender in a crossfire, the suspension of divine to make gods out of bullets.

they are buried – that they inherit.

TC

MARCH 2019 | Vol. 6 No. 3

http://todayscarolinian.net

LITERARY

Study of Roundness & Return Berns Mitra

Illustration by Sabrina Joyce Tamayo My love collects like rust on the hoop you may jump through (the windowsill) on your way to the applause on the other side You circle the ring (for signs of life) around the circle (the instrument of your glory) That encloses movement to mean (what would not mean) And yet acquires neither the lion’s loyalty or the crowd’s applause I know your appetites well, that of the tamed (untameable) - for meat, for thunder And when you hunt and splatter, I know this rust comes not from age My love collects like coins at the bottom of the well you may fill (with wishes) And tremble with every prayer indiscreetly groaned into the fold when you abandon (care and coin) At my edges where you may (drop and) stay (I can promise no escape) Continue Should I fill, you might hear the dinging of coins (more closely) and feel the trembling (more closely) You may wish (me whole and) yourself free TC

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

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LEISURE

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

MARCH 2019 | Vol. 6 No. 3

H O RO SCO PE ARIES

TAURUS

GEMINI

Hinay-hinayi ang imong pagkaambisyoso. Ayaw palabi sa imong gibati kay basin dili ka makabantay nga daghan na ka og gidasmagan.

Kat-on og tigom para naa kay ikagasto sa imong thesis. Ayaw sige’g padala sa mga food trip sa imong barkada, gawas kung manglibre sila.

Ayaw na sige’g panglibak anang mga tawo’ng wala’y paki nimo. Buhata ang unsa’y angay nga buhaton kay naa’y rason nganong wala na mo nag-uban ron.

CANCER

LEO

VIRGO

Sige’g hilak anang mga dili angay’ng hilakan. Pahiri imong mga luha aron makakita ka sa kahayag sa imong kaugmaon.

Dili na angay huna-hunaon ang mga tawo’ng wala naghuna-huna nimo.

Husto na. Skwela usa.

Wala na ka’y oras sa imong love life tungod sa kadaghan sa mga buhaton. Mahimong sila ang mopaangay, o ikaw ang mobuwag.

LIBRA

SCORPIO

SAGITARIUS

Sige’g hilak anang mga dili angay’ng hilakan. Pahiri imong mga luha aron makakita ka sa kahayag sa imong kaugmaon.

Dili na angay huna-hunaon ang mga tawo’ng wala naghuna-huna nimo.

Husto na. Skwela usa.

Mag-midterms na wala gihapon ka’y notes. Ayaw na pagsige’g laag.

CAPRICORN

AQUARIUS

PISCES

Puro nalang school works ug orgs ang imong gi-atiman. Pahuway pud panagsa ug tagai’g oras ang imong pamilya.

Kapoy na kaayo ning mga balitaa nga dili makatarunganon. Panahon na sa pagpanghinlo sa imong kwarto.

Undangi na ang bisyo sa sige’g pang-istalk. Naa’y mga butang nga dili angay mahibaw-an, ug naa’y mga butang nga dili angay hilabtan.

PHOTO OF THE MONTH

“

LEISURE

TODAY’S CAROLINIAN

Photograph by Lance Matthew Pahang

If we are not committed to saving this earth we will be buying designer air filters and gas masks with little Nike swishes on them.

— Assata Shakur

“

http://todayscarolinian.net

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