MisOr Torch

Parents exploit teenager in sex work

by Khareema M. Dimnatang

A 14-year-old

The teachers and the acquaintances of the girl have tried to persuade her to stop after discovering about the matter.

With the temptation of money, the victim and her family refused to stop despite knowing it as an illegal activity.

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the parents may have violated the Republic Act 7160 as they have let their child perform sexual activities to profit money.

“If the situation or case has the parents involved with the abusive acts, they violated the RA 7610,” DSWD social welfare officer III Ms. Florie Lee Marie Berbida said in an interview.

Berbida added that the victim could possibly

KagayUnknown Struggles

face psychological issues such as (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) PTSD, social anxiety, depression, and more after being constantly indulged in sexual intercourse with multiple adults.

Child caring institutions or temporary shelters by DSWD will be provided to the victim if ever the parents will be put behind the bars.

Boyfriend’s helping hand

The subject teacher of the girl exclusively said in an interview that the boyfriend of the victim may have dropped out because of the issue.

According to the teacher, the boy had tried begging the girl to stop from continuing the lascivious conduct.

The victim however, did not put an end in doing the act as she allegedly thinks that it gives a ‘great deal’ of financial benefits to their family.

As she continued being reluctant from her boyfriend’s advice, the couple got into a fight causing them to split up.

The boy then dropped out from MOGCHS with no signs of showing up ever since.

Speculations grew that the boyfriend could not accept her as a ‘prostitute’, being the only close

acquaintance of the girl opposing the act.

Loss of innocence

The victim’s own adviser had also tried to help and get her out of the horrible situation.

However, even her own boyfriend’s parents, including hers, continued supporting the girl as they also got shares from what the victim gets. Even after the continuous warning and advice that the girl had received, she did not bother

to stop; thinking of it as a big ‘help’ to her parents.

Allegations sparked that the girl may have been manipulated by her parents to ignore such behavior, taking away the girl’s innocence.

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student at MOGCHS allegedly turned out to be a prostitute receiving an amount of P4,000 per session.

Pilot implementation

Duterte approves face-to-face classes

by Leslee Marie Getuaban

President Rodrigo

Duterte ratifies the pilot run of limited face-to-face classes in low-risk areas for COVID-19 conducted by the Department of Education.

Presidential

Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing on Monday, September 20, face-to-face classes will not be held daily and instead be conducted for only half-day every other week.

The Philippines is one of two countries that have not reopened schools due to the onset of the pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2020.

“Kelangan may suporta ng local government units sa pamamagitan ng resolution o letter of support at kinakailangan po merong written support and consent ng mga magulang,” Roque said.

(There must be support from the local government units through resolution or letter of support, and it is required to have written support and a parent’s consent.)

Moreover, a maximum of 100 public schools located in areas categorized as minimal risk and have passed the “readiness assessment” will participate in the pilot test, including the 20 private schools jointly developed by the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Department of Health, stated by Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

Kindergarten will have a maximum of 12 learners in a classroom, Grade 1 to 3 will have 16 learners, while Technical-Vocational students in five Senior High Schools (SHS) will have 20 learners as the maximum number.

“Kailangan pumayag ang local governments dahil sila ang mag-host ng mga pilot classes na ito,” Briones added as she repeated Roque’s previous statement that LGU permission is also required.

(The local government must agree as they will host these pilot classes.)

DepEd says parents must also give their written consent allowing their kids to participate in the said event.

DepEd added that no learner shall be forced to attend the pilot implementation of face-toface classes.

The pilot face-to-face classes will run for two months, in which they will be observed with stringent health standards and extreme precautions.

As of now, the DepEd has yet to release the participating schools in the pilot run.

Pandemic IGP Yields

‘Barya para sa Pandemya’ outdo MOGCHS MOOE

by Jewel Rose S. Daguinotas

To ease the burden on the learners that were affected by the pandemic, Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School launched a voluntary collection for the first quarter of SY 2021-2022 and collected P131,000.

Unnumbered Memorandum s. of 2021 was disseminated by the school administration last September 2, The Creativity and Innovation of the Brigada Eskwela working committee, Barya para sa Pandemya, an innovation to generate income the whole year round to be facilitated by all teachers during distribution and retrieval of Self-Learning Modules. The generated amount will be used to purchase anti-COVID health materials given to the stakeholders.

However, in an interview conducted by the student journalists, they stated that the program’s purpose was to help the school to acquire materials, particularly students’ needs including urgent needs that can’t be purchased by the school’s MOOE (Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses).

Chairman of the Creativity and Innovation Committee, Charina L. Bajolo said, “The parents and students benefit from the program because they are given free COVID supplies like alcohol and masks. The teachers will also benefit from it since we provide what they need. The Science Department acquired recording equipment to use for their online lessons as well as seedlings for tree-planting, the Math Department acquired computers and a printer for their laboratory, and the MAPEH Department acquired vitamins and study tables. The school

staff received personal protective equipment (PPE).”

Co-chairman Maria Salvacion Josefa B. Mainar added that they were surprised by the stakeholders’ response in supporting and heartily donating bills instead of coins. However, there were some discrepancies in their claims.

MAPEH Head Teacher Ronjie

C. Rosete said, “We received vitamins from them, but the study table was not included because it was an innovation initiated by our department.”

It was confirmed by Jeasette C. Salera, the chairman of the Mesa Mo, Sagot Ko program, stating that they never received a single centavo from them; instead, their department provided the study tables to learners needing the most help and these learners were identified by their advisers.

Moreover, Breza O. Cosiñero, Science Head Teacher confirmed

that they received the recording equipment.

“The seedlings were provided by the Gulayan sa Tahanan funds by the Department of Agriculture,” she added.

Engr. Vincent Alex R. Reyes from the Math Department confirmed that they received computers and a printer for their laboratory.

These are outputs provided by the program despite DepEd Order No. 41, s. 2012 stating the No Collection Policy, be implemented especially during the pandemic.

The school’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses failed to provide what is needed.

Administrative Assistant

Aide III Araceli P. Amper said, “It’s not associated with the school operating budget or MOOE

DOH to boost healthcare from monkeypox

by Eleah Jaizel T. Cabili

because it has specific financial plans. It has nothing to do with Brigada Eskwela.”

Nevertheless, no collection for the 2nd and 3rd quarters was made since they decided to allow the GPTA to collect P100 school fees that funded the renovation of the quadrangle, now MOGCHS Event Center.

Philippines’ healthcare system is ready to face the monkeypox virus, says a health official on May 27.

Health Undersecretary

Myrna Cabotage stated that essential infection control is the same as COVID-19 actions, which involve “Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat and Reintegrate.”

To prevent monkeypox from entering the country, it will adopt the four-door strategy in the National Emergency Operational Response Plan to prevent and control emerging

DepEd launches second year of distance learning

by Marielle Jane A. Lagahit

Philippines’ educational system hails the second year of distance learning after efforts came out victorious for the first implementation of the school year 2021-2022 despite its discrepancies.

“We are as ready as we can be within the availability of information, within the expertise we have access to and have learned. It’s not as if we’ll repeat the same situations we had to contend with. We have learned, and we are responding. “ Secretary Leonor Briones stated.

Secretary Leonor Briones led an opening program for schools that welcomed and celebrated the 24.6 million Filipino students enrolled, which marked the start of classes last September 13, Monday.

The Department of Education continues to develop ways to

BACK TO HOME-SCHOOLED. Student participates online class as second distance learning began in Philippines.

infectious diseases.

Moreover, DOH is beefing up border screening and ensuring that surveillance systems actively monitor the situation.

In addition, the department stated the case may start to become infectious during the prodromal stage. It develops the first symptoms, including fever, malaise,

headache, sometimes sore throat, cough, and lymphadenopathy or swollen lymph nodes. It is not infectious during the incubation period of five to 21 days.

However, the food and drug administration has not yet approved or recommended any vaccine for monkey pox.

According to health officials, following minimum public health

standards such as wearing the best-fitting mask, ensuring good airflow, handwashing, and physical separation could minimize monkeypox spread.

In a statement from PNA, Cabotaje added that they are also looking at the probable symptomatic treatment and coordinating with global authorities on what else can be done for monkeypox control.

provide quality education, pointing out that they have done what is considered impossible to surpass. But somehow, they achieved it after five months of preparation that included translating printed materials into audio-visual accessible to television,

radio, cellphones, and tablets. In small schools, they utilized the use of walky-talky.

As of October 2021, total enrollees are now more or less 26.3 million after extending the enrollment period to September 30. The institution has achieved 100.3 percent of last school year’s enrollment.

Photo by Mat Joseph Dy

...It’s not as if we’ll repeat the same situations we had to contend with. We have learned, and we are responding.

Art by Mat Dy

Performers sentiments

Artifex airs first virtual recital

by Jewel Rose S. Daguinotas

MOGCHS Special Program in Arts releases its first virtual recital on Youtube last July 6.

Artifex recital is an annual performance to showcase their talents and masterpiece. But the pandemic had to change the course setup.

10th grader Christine Tabuyo commented, “Ang akong maistorya kay tanan sila mga maayo, tsada

What type of learning modality do you prefer?

MOGCHS SPJ classes conducts online PressCon

by Chrystel S. Layan

Special Program in Journalism conducts a week-long virtual press conference for Grade 7 to 9 student journalists to hone their skills.

With the influence of social media usage by students in implementing distance learning, the conference aims to maintain campus press power through virtual training.

Both Filipino and English mediums offer various journalistic forms from News, Editorial, Feature, Science and Technology, and Sports Writing. Editorial Cartooning and Photojournalism were also included in the individual category, while Newsletter making is on both mediums for the group events.

The registered participants were allowed to choose and participate in multiple categories in individual and group events. Official registration started on June 3 to 7.

kaayo’g mga tingog, maayo motugtog ug piano, ug naa pa gyu’y mga edit na background na tsada kaayo.”

She also added that the show was great, especially the vocals, even though it was performed online.

One of the SPA specialists, Pauline Luceño, said that it is a blessing that her students are determined to continue the recital despite the factors of video editing, practices, and the like..

The SPA specialists took around two months to prepare for the said event.

Luceño added, “For the piano, I conducted lessons; weak internet connection is inevitable, so the students

need to record a video of their piece. If there are corrections, I give prompt feedback and even record the music piece for them.”

Vocalists were able to practice on-site but eventually stopped. So they opted to record their teammates’ vocal parts and shared collaboratively practice online.

Jhustin Ucat (one of the vocalists) shared that learning the song on his own is hard. Understanding the music well is essential to being in tune and keeping the right timing.

Other performers also expressed how they have practiced their assigned performance frequently to

Facilitators and judges, including the senior and alumni journalists, organized a seminar-workshop to prepare the participants before the contest conducted through ZOOM and Google Meet on June 12. Each participant was given a day to complete their assigned topic given by the judges in a transcript file. If a participant was found plagiarizing, they are automatically disqualified. But luckily, no one was caught for disqualification.

Participant Rose Hannah said, “It wasn’t too much pressure since we are given enough time compared to the past press conferences, but it was still fun since it has been a while.”

Furthermore, the categories will

execute a good show.

only have 4 to 5 topperforming student journalists selected by the judges posted on MisOr Torch’s Facebook page.

Alexah Simon said, “I believe na inspire mi sa SPJ Vvirtual Press Conference based sa among mga na-join na mga contests same as Hiraya and other online press conference.”

Simon also shared that her fellow campus journalists helped in handling the invitation for judges, designing the E-certificates, and facilitating the event. She added, “I believe aim pud namo na ma-exercise ang power sa SPJ sa MOGCHS especially sa mga lower grade levels ato na time.”

Only a few student journalists were active, but fortunately, they could continue the conference.

Ms. Luceño revealed that editing and mixing parts of the vocals was the most challenging part of making the video. She constantly communicates with the team leaders for them to give her feedback.

Rovir Gayla said, “Miss na nako ang face to face classes even though kulbaan kay daghan tao magtan-aw, lahi ra gyud ang feeling sa personal.”

SPA students are preparing for their next ‘virtual recital’ for 2022 despite wanting to perform personally to the audience. However, no further schedule has been revealed.

MOGCHS sets up community pantry

by Leslee Marie Getuaban

Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School initiated its first community pantry with the theme “Tabang Para sa Nanginahanglan” on May 18.

School Principal Dr. Abdon R. Bacayana said, “We need to support and share our blessings to others.”

The school leads this community pantry as a way of helping parents who are in need. It served 400 parents from different year levels and provided a kilo of rice, fruits, vegetables, canned goods, eggs, and noodles.

He added that the Department of Education shall protect and promote equality, equitable, and consumedbased education to every Filipino.

It was held at the campus quadrangle, participated by the administrators, teachers, and stakeholders.

TLE Dept. opens campus Bar for Bartending

by Jewel Rose S. Daguinotas

TLE Grade 10 Bartending teacher, Ms. Meliza Sonsona, opens MOGCHS Cocktails and Brew for use as

Ms. Sonsona came up with this idea as preparation for face-to-face classes and started to open it on March 9.

MOGCHS Cocktails and Brew offer limited cocktail drinks and nonalcoholic beverages such as juices and coffee.

Therefore, majority of the students in MOGCHS prefer blended learning.

It was one of the priorities for change set by the new administration before the opening of classes in the school year 2022-2023.

GPTA President Marco Cinco said that he wants the event center to look more presentable to visitors. Hence, the collection was necessary and agreed upon by the body and the school head.

He added, “Ang estimated is…sa collection lang ni, sa nahurot namo na resibo ay mga 72 kabook na stub, tas ang isa kastub kay 50 ang sulod ato, so niabot

siya sa almost P379,000.”

Despite the modular-based learning modality, learners are still encouraged to pay to support the school’s advocacy since there’s no sponsor to spearhead the project.

Cinco revealed that the collection progress became slow in the 3rd quarter.

Nevertheless, some alumni who heard about the change wanted to see the new quadrangle and are happy for future activities to be celebrated during face-to-face programs.

“Some of the bar equipment were procured from the school budget or MOOE, the tools were bought from the teacher’s personal money while some of the liquor were donated by the stakeholders,” said Ms. Sonsona during the interview.

The renovation started in February 2022. The transformation includes the sound system equipment and audio room for safety precautions.

Gerby Cuadra, grade 10 learner said, “nice na sya modern style na sayang lang wala nato na try gamiton.”

Cuadra also stated that he is hopeful to use the area for their face-to-face completion ceremony.

SMART Telecommunication launched a partnership signing with the school for a stronger internet

connection last March 10. They provided sims and other products like the pocket wifi to be used by the faculty and learners.

The next project they scrutinize is the main gate, but it depends on their collected amount. Also, they are planning for the adaptive learning program this upcoming June. However, some stakeholders raised questions since the previous GPTA board also made renovations for the quadrangle last 2020 but to no fruition in construction and cash flow transparency.

a class laboratory for Bartending in Food and Beverages specialization.

Yearly school projects continue despite students’ absence on the campus, like voluntarily collecting school fees worth P100 to all learners to aid the renovation of the MOGCHS quadrangle, now the event center.

Artifex Recital has been and will always be the flagship event of our SPA. No pandemic can stop us in showcasing our talents.

RONIEL ASPIRAS. SPA Coordinator

GPTA revamps school quadrangle

by Jewel Rose S. Daguinotas

EVENT CENTER. Upgraded quadrangle now serves as a bustling venue for students’ activities at Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. |

Photo by Gabrielle Timothy A. Ladica

City implements new policy to local indoorestablishment

by Chrystel S. Layan

City Mayor Oscar Moreno announced a “No Vaccine, No Entry” policy for all indoor establishments on December 10, 2021.

The said order was set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) and is only being implemented by the city that is effective on December 11, 2021.

Several indoor venues, such as malls, cinemas, personal care facilities, and others are now permitted to operate with a capacity limit of 50%.

People who want to enter such establishments must present their vaccination card that has a record of full vaccination, including the establishment employees, who must be fully vaccinated.

“I suggest that you carry your vaccination cards always because these will be checked by security guards,” Lawyer Jose Edgardo Uy, chair of Cagayan de Oro’s Regulatory Compliance Board said in the press briefing on Thursday. Barangay exit passes that were issued last year are no longer needed and are being replaced by the vaccination card.

Despite warnings from a group of people that they would take legal action if the “No Vaccine No Entry” policy was implemented, the policy was still implemented.

Health workers ordeal

CDO’s nurses drop in numbers

by Elkanah S. Retor

Several frontline medical experts reported what caused the drop of nurses to work at Northern Mindanao Medical Center.

The healthcare system started to disarray after the hospital stated that they would add a new facility to aid more patients despite a shortage of workers.

In an article by Froilan Gallardo published by Rappler, one nurse stated that they are already burdened by too many tasks. There was a day when she had to attend to 20 COVID-19 patients alone because her fellow nurses were absent.

To address their concern, DOH started releasing funds to reduce the resignation of some nurses in the city hospitals, including the region’s central medical institution, NMMC. (Northern Mindanao Medical Center)

NorMin DOH director Dr. Jose Llacuna stated on August 21 that the funds were released last week to JR Borja and NMCC. He added that they will still give hazard pay to the health workers who are still active.

NMMC also offered special allowances higher than the JR Borja Memorial General Hospital, which provides around P18, 500 each month for entry-level frontline health workers.

There were no exact number released for the active nurses in the city. However, statistics show that the number of nurses per 10,000 of the population in Northern Mindanao received an 8.8 rating as of April 2020 and it IS still dropping.

Anti-Marcos stands back after BBM landslide win

by Khareema M. Dimnatang

Anti-Marcos show their devastation in front of the head office of the Commission of Elections in Intramuros amidst the partial results of the 2022 Presidential Elections on May 10.

The protest sparked as the son of the late dictator, former Sen. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. leads the unofficial, partial results of the presidential race with over 30 million votes that gathered the protesters for the rejection of the presidential ‘winner’ Bongbong Marcos.

Those people who participated in the protest were mostly identified as activists, students, and the victims of Martial Law during the dictatorship of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1972.

“I am here today, as the desolation of the Marcoses is resurrecting. Today, the thieves,

MOGCHS to start limited face-to face classes

by Elkanah S. Retor

fascists, murderers are coming back, and so are the activists in the past,” said Pido Gonzales, one of the survivors of Martial Law.

A lot of people were wondering and enraged about how the data gathered by the COMELEC was counted ’too fast’ for over 30 million votes

MOGCHS receives a safety seal and proceeds on the limited face-to-face class plan on the select grade levels on Monday, May 30.

With the progressive expansion of DepEd to conduct in-person classes, MOGCHS adheres to and complies with the requirements for health protocols inside the campus to gain the safety seal. The safety seal certifies the school’s welfare and ability to conduct limited face-to-face classes.

LGU CDO granted MOGCHS the certification on May 23, stating that the school

has met the requirements, rules, and regulations recommended by the IATF Minimum Public Health Standards on COVID-19 CDRRMC-IMT inspected.

The school is now expecting 15 students from Grade 9 Lewis and Dalton and 15 from one section in Grade 12 to be present on May 30, Monday.

Mrs. Maria Leni Sabulbero, the adviser of Grade 9-Lewis,

Are you still interested in returning face to face classes?

Students undergo counseling programs

stated that they had prepared the class programs and schedules for face-to-face classes.

The class will meet four times a week for four hours daily, which will start at 7 AM and end at 11 AM.

Every Friday is the disinfection day for the school.

for Bongbong Marcos, even though a lot of vote counting machines were reportedly broken which provoked the allegations of mass cheating by the Marcoses.

“That’s okay. That is why we are facing the public and explaining to them. What’s important is, if there is an allegation, the COMELEC must be

able to explain.” Replied COMELEC Commissioner George Garcia on the allegations. Moreover, not even a single COMELEC executive came to the rally despite the protest for their accountability on the ‘failed’ 2022 Philippine Election.

by Marielle Jane A. Lagahit

Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School’s Guidance Counselor, Mr. Jasper F. Canete, initiates a series of counseling programs to address mental health concerns alongside school administrators and teachers.

Earlier this year, the school released a record increase in the rate of students who are suffering from unstable mental health after a thorough evaluation by school administrations, teachers, and school guidance.

These programs were created at the national level of the Department of Education (DepEd) in coordination with the Philippine Mental Health Association and the Guidance and Counseling Association of the Philippines. As schools

continue to settle with new normal ways to continue the learning of students, MOGCHS guidance, following DepEd’s concern, continues to accomplish things to find solutions to provide solutions.

The said program follows a referral system

among teachers who are handling the students. The teacher or adviser, together with Mr. Canete, will communicate with regard to the student’s status.

There were three ways prepared by the school’s guidance; it

begins with psychological first aid or the evaluation of the student’s status. Then, after passing the evaluation test, the student will proceed to several activities that suit them, including but not limited to counseling, music therapy, simulation,

and art activities. This then prompts the second activity, which is the referral to a psychiatrist or psychologist.

We have no choice here. We are overworked and underpaid. We have to sacrifice for our families––even if it means we will not be with them for long.

JAN LEO CALIO. Nurse

and Pound-foolish Pennywise

If given a chance to choose whether to send their child to a nearby private school or a public school, which is almost 30 minutes away from home, most families would choose the most practical way—to send them to an institution with free education.

Nevertheless, Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High school seems to have forgotten that despite the government being in complete disarray, stakeholders are still the one who provides the school with every penny it needs.

Public school is a governmentowned institution for underprivileged families to achieve quality education without worrying about finances. It provides learners with knowledge and practical skills, yet they receive funds from their supposedto-be beneficiaries of free literacy. They even collect from the learners’ struggling parents. If education is free, why do they need to pay fees?

Most departments are collecting funds from learners in all grade levels.

To sum it up, it will equate to a significant sum of money, which does not include the collected funds from different community involvement programs like ‘Barya sa Pandemya’— which claimed to have collected a whopping 131,000 under the façade of the school’s necessities amidst pandemic. Pandemic, they say. How does collecting money make sense when we are still trying to grasp the normalcy of life? Using the possibility of a faceto-face class is nothing but a lame and desperate

excuse, the fact that the school was not able to receive the safety seal to operate. Who would even use those parks and laboratories? Unless they plan to revamp the school into a theme park, it will make sense. To top it all, what could be the purpose of constructing parks and areas on school grounds when the virus is still on the run?

The School Administration has the authority over the funds. They monitor the cash flow of all the donated money. However, when asked for a liquidation, they only provided partial figures obscuring the names of the beneficiaries due to confidentiality.

Thanks to all the donated money,

the school has changed so much in a brief period. Consequently, learners deserve to know where the collections proceeded since others are even going out under the volunteerism umbrella.

According to Dioniel Labuga, a tenth-grade student from section Opal, “We were asked to contribute money and our final grade for the performance task will depend on the amount of cash we give.”

What could they learn from it?

Performance tasks serve their purpose in making learners comprehend a specific topic; the struggle of comprehension is even more pervasive during the pandemic. The students learn nothing from the lesson but more about being compulsive moneymakers.

DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones had reiterated D.O. No. 41 s. 2012, no collection policy in an article from Manila Bulletin. She added that the institution is firm on providing learners with free education in public elementary and secondary schools. Thus, the collection of authorized contributions must remain voluntary, not compulsory. The excuse of volunteerism does not justify that they asked for money and, in some cases—were given options and cash as one of them.

One of the Grade 10 students named Inday said, “Our Science teacher gave us two choices, whether to pay P75.00 pesos for the Science Laboratory or comply with the Performance Task; of course, I would choose to pay because it is more convenient.”

MisOr Torch Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief

Fritzi Mae G. Gapuz

Associate Editors

Joshua Louise P. Solon

Jewel Rose S. Daguinotas

News Editor Jewel Rose S. Daguinotas

Opinion Editor

Catalina Cassandra Uyguangco

Feature Editor

Samantha Mae M. Abanes

Science Editor

Fritzi Mae G. Gapuz

Sports Editor Joshua Louise P. Solon

Head Cartoonist

Kent John L. Eduave

Staff Writers

Marielle Jane A. Lagahit

Eleah Jaizel T. Cabili

Jerelou Mai E. Jabiniao

Wennie Boy S. Baroza

Jeacey A. Paraluman

John Jefferson R. Uy

Esha Zuleyka Morales

Chelsea Kaye

Annilyn C. Pangca

Khareema M. Dimnatang

Chrystel S. Layan

Elkanah S. Retor

Karylle Jyn S. Gama

Rayu G. Tuanda

Desiree Corpuz Pangca

Mat Joseph B. Dy

Leslee Marie Getuaban

Cartoonists

Should people tolerate this kind of shamelessness from the teachers who are supposed to teach both COMMENTARY

Builders’ Shattered Dreams

by Kate M. Villanueva

art by Ethan Rhay Exclamador

What more do they need from the pockets of the learners? As if they are the principal or the shareholders of the school’s yearly funds in the guise of a voluntary contribution. However, will they turn a blind eye and stand still?

Ethan Rhay Exclamador

Ashlee Mae E. Del Pilar

Francis Louis S. Rafisura

Photojournalists

Mat Joseph Dy

Sallendher John S. Bacaling

Layout Artists

Trixie Mae B. Torayno

Flor Angel C. Saromines

Rey C. Macaranas, Jr.

School Paper Adviser Leizel G. Rementizo

Layout Consultants

Richard Ryan A. Daguit

James M. Punsalan

Journalism Coaches

Virgenia Y. Pacardo

Junelyn E. Ceballos

Journalism Coordinator Maria Evelyn B. Labadan

Principal Abdon R. Bayana, Ph.D

House Bill 10234 also known as The Philippines Architecture Act of 2022 seeks to address the shrinking spirit of the architectural industry. The bill was introduced during the 18th congress. It receives criticism from the affected sector. Architects were suspicious about this bill as it ‘disrespects’ their profession, degrades, and limits the scope of work of the architects. The bill amended ‘some’ of the futile section from the Republic Act 9266 which is known as The Architecture Act of 2004—which is still not enough for them to agree with the bill.

The country acknowledges the importance of every profession, especially architecture in the nation’s building and development. Thus, House Bill 10234 is introduced in the Senate. The sole reason for the bill is to elevate the said profession but then ‘arkis’ are still questioning how it can elevate when the bill would allow non-architecture graduates to mentor its students.

As stated in Article III Section 21 (E) which roughly translates: the examiner must have completed the 3,900 hours of Diversified Architectural Experience in guidance/mentorship of an Architect or Engineer. According to Article I, Section 3. (A) “Architecture is the art and science profession of planning, designing and realizing building and structures…” It seems like an insult for an Architectural

professor for engineering graduates to lecture their student.

Furthermore, in Article III Section 23 of the bill amended the passing scores for Architectural Licensure Examination from (70%) with no grade lower than sixty percent (60%) in any given subject to (75%) with no grade lower than sixty-five percent (65%) in any given subject; a reasonable measure to produce the best of the best examiners and soon-to-be architects. In addition, applicants who fail to pass the licensure exam three times will no longer be allowed to take the exam.

Lastly, one of the most crucial and controversial parts of the bill is the Article IV Section 35 2 (A) that any public building not exceeding 100.0 square meters does not require the signature or seal of an architect. However, contractors of

the said establishments will still be held accountable for possible damage, if not done correctly.

Due to the said reasons, United Architects of the Philippines Graduate Auxiliary (UAPGACAMANAVA-HILAGA) filed a petition to stop the bill as it ‘contradicts its purpose. A petition from the affected sectors is a great call for reform. Like any other bill, it has its pros and cons. That is why a thorough study of the bill is highly suggested by everyone in the field.

Nevertheless, every profession contributes to every different aspect of the country’s development. As mentioned, the sole goal of the bill is to amend the Republic Act 9266 which is known as The Architecture Act of 2004. It is undeniable that the Architectural Industry is struggling especially in rural

areas due to the lack of access and privilege to consult one, which pushes the architects to raise their concerns because every infrastructure, small or big, deserves quality. It may have altered the futile sections of the previous bill, but a call for conducting a thorough study from the affected profession should be heard because every profession

What more do they need from the pockets of the learners?

“

knowledge and values?

“

PH Norm: Vote for sale

by Desiree Pangca

Vote buying is a common occurrence. It is commonly regarded as a commercial transaction in which a voter sells his or her vote to the highest bidder. Is this, however, a realistic perspective? What does it mean to buy votes? What various shapes does it take in various parts of the world? This paper, which was presented at an MIT conference, looks at vote purchasing from both the politicians’ and voters’ perspectives.

However, buying votes during an election is not new. For decades, that has been the custom in this country. It is the most certain way to win elections, and it has long been the habit of politicians, particularly conventional ones, in their quest to stay in power.

That is why we cannot blame youth candidates if they believe it is acceptable to buy votes during the SK election, because politicians have long practiced this and it is one of the reasons why they have

Sovereign Triumph of the Tiger

by Samantha Mae Abanes

“It was the worst of the times, the best of crimes.”

oppression and atrocities of the dark past are undermined and almost swept under the rug. With a high 55-percent, ‘Bongbong’ leads the OCTA research on election surveys. The fact that thousands of individuals are blinded by the lies circulating in the depths of social media is unsettling. How did we go from People Power Revolution to ‘indoctrinated apologists’?

victims are media outlets that refuse to portray the dictator as this “makebelieve” hero, journalists who used their voices as weapons, fearless student activists, farmers fighting for their rights, and religious participants committed to their moral duties. It proves the bloody age that marked and cost the Philippines during Marcos’ ruling.

been able to maintain power for so long.

Vote buying will continue to be practiced during elections because it has already pervaded our electoral system to the point where even our future leaders, the youth, have begun to embrace it.

We must recognize that it is difficult to eradicate such criminal behavior during elections because authorities have historically failed to pursue perpetrators. The current election would have been different if they had been more fanatical in enforcing the rule against vote buying.

Press to Break the Silence

by Catalina Cassandra Uyguanco

By the declaration of Martial law on September 21, 1972, the first to experience the said ‘efficacy’ was the free press and mass media. The Press was silenced, tortured, and voiceless. The martial law was not only for the ‘unruly’ people but also for the press, who sought truth and justice behind the lies of the Marcoses.

Under the facade of ‘peace and order,’ they stole the people’s rights, and the country’s democracy and even the media were not an exception.

The day after the declaration, he issued a Letter of Instruction 1 that ordered the military to seize the assets of major media outlets all around the country. On September 23,1972, 464 media outlets shut down, and 8,000 people were arrested, including eight journalists.

Of course, they never heard of the wrong side of the regime since the government held the chain to zip one’s lip, and the paid media broadcasted only the good news. There was no news about suffrage because the press had to sweep under the rug to hide the truth. Achieving peace by issuing unfair orders is not ‘peace and order.’

The primary purpose of the press is to be the watchdogs of society. It is supported and guaranteed by the law on freedom of expression.

Section 4 of Article III in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution 1987 states that “No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or of the right of the people to peacefully assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”

Now that the election is onset and politicians have shown their interest in running, we can see that Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will indeed run for President.

People should refrain from martyrdom to the point of still believing in his lies as he attempts to repeat history. The people and the press have suffered enough, and the Marcoses want us to suffer more. Protect the press freedom by not being fooled once more. Be aware and spread the word.

In hopes of strengthening “unity” in the country, Former Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. filed his Certificate of Candidacy for President under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP); the same party that President Rodrigo Duterte’s supporters had formed. Marcos’ tenacity to run for President despite the dictatorship of his late father shows how sturdy and gutsy the once-was-ousted family is from 36 years ago.

While Marcos loyalists are busy getting blind from the whitewashed history that the notorious family is trying to build, the

Merciless, groundless, and careless are just a few of the terms people usually use to contempt the Marcoses. Going back to history, Ferdinand Marcos Sr. is the former president/dictator of the Philippines. He was known for his dictatorial regime. After winning the presidential elections, he declared Martial Law in 1976. The point where fear and uncertainty started to arise among the Filipinos.

During the Marcos administration, Amnesty International Philippines dropped a record that says 70,000 were imprisoned, 34,000 were tortured, and 3,240 were killed during Martial Law. Most of these

Regarding corruption and embezzlement, $10 B is what Marcos had collected in his duty, according to the consecutive evaluation of the Philippine Supreme Court. It was a massively stolen wealth, considering that his authoritative salary barely made it to $14,000 per year. These validate the poverty that started to escalate in the 1960s. Not to mention that Marcos Sr. holds the Guinness World Record for having the “Greatest Robbery of a government.”

Going back to Bongbong, we cannot deny that his father is a man with accomplishments. Marcos Sr. graduated from the University of

Decriminalize Abortion: A plea for Women’s Right

by Catalina Cassandra Uyguanco

the Philippines; he is a monumental lawyer—a politician with credentials and achievements. On the contrary, Bongbong Marcos insisted that he obtained a bachelor’s degree at the University of Oxford; not to mention he got convicted for evading taxes. He is also running for President with an idealistic platform. For the past few months, concrete plans have been absent— just like his presence in presidential debates, forums, and interviews crucial for becoming a leader.

The Marcoses and their camp have been trying to regain their reputation by painting their family’s bleak tyranny as the socalled “golden era” for the upcoming elections. Could it be an ambitious proclamation to deceive Filipinos’ seemingly hopeful and unknowing minds? Would it be repeated history with our lives at cost if he wins?

As the seasons change and people age, the Philippines’ say on abortion remains the same—Illegal.

Growing up with my mom, who happened to be a nurse, countless times, some pregnant women sought medical help to terminate their pregnancy in secret. I have remembered my mom refusing my aunt, who wanted the same, only to find out years later that her child had been undergoing therapy because he suffered enough abuse and trauma from her mom. Only then did I realize that people should listen to women when they say they cannot afford to have a child because, in the long run, the unwanted fetus could remain undesirable for the rest of its life.

By criminalizing abortion, we dismiss hopeless, unprivileged women from their rights to their bodies. However, by legalizing it, a woman can choose whether to keep it or not rather than just having no other way but to keep and suffer with the child when it grows. Pro-life people should think beyond the idea of killing life because, in the first place—it doesn’t.

According to a research paper on medical ethics conducted by Soroush Dabbagh; a 4-week-old embryo cannot be regarded as a living being as it is nothing more than a complex of cellular elements. If some are planning to bring up religion, the research says that on most ethnicities and religious beliefs, only then can a fetus be recognized as a human being when it is on its 16th week because of what they called ‘ensoulment.’ In other words, getting rid of a fetus in its early ages is not immoral and most importantly, should not be illegal.

Revised Penal Code of 1930 states that abortion is criminalized and should not be performed under any circumstances, even if it imposes a threat on a woman and her health. Even given the mother’s consent, medical practitioners are to be imprisoned for up to six years if they perform an abortion. It had been a promising mandate in attempts to preserve human rights; however, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights, more than half a million had died attempting to perform an unsafe abortion. It had also taken the lives of an estimated 1,000 women in 2008

alone. The Penal Code seeks to prevent abortion only to endanger the lives of many women who need it.

“Abortion is murder” is something a religious and self-righteous person would use as a rebuttal, then how about rephrasing it with: “Abortion is a choice,” as we are in no position to dictate a woman who would want to discard her little string for not everyone has the privilege to raise a child properly; both physically and mentally. Others also say they would agree with the legalization of abortion only under certain circumstances: rape and incest—a somewhat modest way to say women should first obtain rights to their bodies.

Instead of fretting about abortion and how it is immoral, why don’t they initiate fundraising programs to help and support mothers from pregnancy to child support? Foster cares in the country should be given attention as well. If neither of the two suggestions would work, let legal abortion do its job efficiently.

My mom would always say she was the one who brought me to this world—so she has the right to erase me. She has a point, I did not wish to be born, and I’m sure many kids think the same. A mother has the right to keep or discard a mindless fetus, for it cannot decide.

Every child is a blessing, but not every mother can be a blessing to their child.

A child is a wonderful present, but being a blessing won’t save them from a cruel world.” tomorrow.

“

Political Preferences: Conflict of Choice

by Mat Joseph Dy

It would be a shame for journalists who value truth and victims of injustice to believe in something without credible sources, which makes me wonder if it is okay to cut ties over politics?

Unfriending people over politics is quite tricky. This scenario makes you wonder whether it is admissible to unfriend people over politics, but I generally think it is alright to unfriend someone. Politics is a serious topic. It can be viewed as a social concern as well. During the national election campaign in the Philippines, I was amazed by the diversity of the Filipino’s political ideas. What they believe is good for the country and who they support. Majority of my friends and I are unable to vote. However, we are still supporting a candidate. I asked my friends why they chose ‘this’ candidate, and they revealed their reasons. I agreed with some of their grounds, but there are certain points that I secretly beg to differ. They would often base their arguments and dispute their personal beliefs and opinion rather than credible facts.

Asking for facts means that you need more reasons to believe their rebuttal. Facts are verified thoroughly, so the points are actual. One’s argument is always their viewpoint on something that is sometimes not supported by facts. Opinions should

always be based on facts, which means using the “respect my opinion” card is useless— not all opinions deserve respect. Having a political discourse needs to have facts to support our claims. Facts are searchable, and some are sitting right in a corner, waiting for people to be read.

Mistreating others because of political differences and disagreements is another reason to unfriend someone. Mistreating for not having the same political ideology shows who you are. I have witnessed this. They are treating other groups with different political beliefs in a barbaric way.

One of the representations of these cases are BongBong Marcos’ supporters against Leni Robredo’s supporters. The rage between their supporters is insane and unstoppable.

The campaign period caused the rise of misinformation and historical revisionism to cover up ‘this’ candidate’s history or to spread false information to damage the opposition’s image. Just like the memes, incorrect quotations in an interview, and satirical jokes.

The Real Exacerbation

Why do several people not typically unfriend someone because of their political views? It states that it all depends on treating people and a matter of choice, accepting the negative and positive opinions. If someone truly feels like unfriending someone over politics, they would and could. A common saying that would apply in this case is, “If you don’t like someone’s opinion, you are not going to like the others as well.”

There are many reasons why cutting connections with someone over politics is acceptable. Cutting connections with someone will impact your relationship in this regard. In my opinion, it also indicates a person’s character in terms of morals and attitude regarding who they will vote for or what they believe in. It implies that their personality has an impact on their decision-making. Unfriending someone due to their political views is reasonable. It is acceptable since many political views do not respect someone else’s identity. If your rights are invalidated, cutting them out of your life would be the fairest decision. I made enemies because of my

by Jerelou Mai Jabiniao

political ideas, especially among some of my family members. The reason for this is, I cannot change what they believe in. Instead, they stick to their opinions without facts rather than opinions with factual statements.

People will always oppose you with nonsensical statements and sometimes would call names to people who just called them out. Then, starts to preach about human rights and how they want good governance. The hypocrisy!

Vax boost, a risky necessity

by Catalina Cassandra Uyguanco

People are much more at ease since masks aren’t the only thing protecting them anymore. COVID-19 vaccines have already proved their claim on strengthening resistance and severity but not immunity.

Cagayan de Oro City is already on its second dose of the booster vaccine, and it doesn’t seem to end here. They don’t seem to be planning to give the vaccines once every three months to healthy young people—or do they?

“I have taken the booster vax not too long ago, and now there’s another one?” Says Jessica Humamon, a 17-year-old teen who refused to take the second booster shot of the year.

Some experts believe that additional COVID-19 booster shots in a healthy population are unnecessary. The data does not support the recommendation that every fit person must receive a booster shot. The continuous pursuit of booster vaccination prolongs the pandemic.

But still, many are perplexed about what protection it entails. The virus spread quickly. One wrong move will threaten the life of every person inside the house or, worst, the community.

However, vaccines are available, and vaccination for booster shots are still ongoing; the DOH still advises the public to practice protective measures. It is still the best way to protect oneself from the virus.

So, why not stick to the health protocols if the vaccine against this disease was unlikely to prevent actual infection for an extended period? Why is there a need to risk our lives to have booster shots? There is no evidence that healthy people require more than the initial two shots.

The new normal now is a reshaped idea of teaching and learning, with online learning at its heart. Today, it has emerged as an essential resource for students and schools worldwide. Two years had gone since the new normal, and learners had become accustomed to it. But have they remained as progressive as they were when it all began?

Most of us are even unsure when we will have to tolerate being confined at home, gazing at a screen in order to learn something from school. As a result, some are concerned, or they anticipate that it will take them longer to complete their degrees. You can’t expect someone to be as productive and driven when the epidemic has been so difficult for all of us.

As long as they attend, they have an assurance to pass their class. Of course, written works and projects are required, but this is an online course. Everything; every answer, every activity, can be found by just searching.

A Student’s Memento

by Jerelou Mai Jabiniao

It’s as simple as that. As most students pass for the sake of completion, the genuine core of learning is lost cost.

“I was the first one from my family to ever graduate from high school. So I get it. I hear their stories about their commitment to their family, what’s happening with their family and the suffering that they’re going through emotionally,” Vázquez says. “Some students I talk to, and as soon as I look at them and I ask how they’re doing, they start crying, and then I know, you’re having a pretty rough time.”

As a result of this set up, students today do not put out their best efforts

as they formerly did. They submit projects, answer modules, and take online classes without learning anything. Traditional classrooms should not be substituted by online learning. Within that circumstance, it is crucial that the school provide other means of communication between learners, peers, and lecturers. We should reopen schools for face-toface interaction in order to reduce our sentiments of isolation.

Vaccines are far more effective at providing long-term protection against serious diseases. That is not a weaker form of protection; instead, it is a different process that employs memory cells, which work more slowly than antibodies.

Booster shots can pose many potential risks. Achieving herd immunity is futile if it only lasts for a while. Booster immunity does weaken over time but do we need to take a few more shots to extend it? Definitely not.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said that it is premature to discuss the fourth shot because booster shots may not provide significant additional immunity. Some scientists have warned that some immune cells in our bodies may eventually stop responding and become contaminated with the vaccine if there are too many doses. They have said two booster shots are the limit.

The world is benefitting from the vaccine but be that as it may, we need not have to take it repeatedly. Like how you can make an omelet without breaking eggs, as we speak for the youth and the healthy population, how many shots do we have to take until we exhaust our immune system?

The 2022 Junior High School Moving-up Ceremony seems to be almost approaching, and many students from Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS) are ecstatic simply thinking about stepping up to that stage podium and accepting awards for their perseverance over these difficult years. I, for one, can’t believe or simply did not expect to have a face-to-face occasion. It was only appropriate as well as we deserve this recognition.

We need to have something to commemorate at every moving-up ceremony, especially on your last year in your school. Something to appreciate wonderful reminiscence of our past occurrences. That is why MOGCHS created a souvenir program, providing annuals that spotlight and cherish our memories from freshman to junior years. Admittedly, even as a public school, it isn’t provided away for free. If a yearbook is desired, students must pay a fee of three hundred pesos (₱300.00).

I believe the cost is excessive for what is essentially a yearbook. However, the materials needed to make it may be expensive as well. Though I must consider the fact that while we were taking our photographs, we were told that they would be in black and white. In other words, because it is not colored, the yearbook should not be as costly. I was not really surprised when my mother’s face was shocked when she heard about the amount.

I even told her that it was fine if she didn’t give me any money, showing it was only

a yearbook. I did not expect anything less or more from it.

“It’s something you’ll remember when you’re older; high school is the greatest part, you’ll regret not getting that book.” my mother said.

She opened my perspective with only a few words, but I was still hesitant. It doesn’t cost thousands or millions, but it’s still a lot. We’re not even sure if the outcomes will be as good as how we spent our money. Will it be of high quality?

Will there be no complaints about the outcomes?

Jenielito Atillo, a spokesman, said in March 2019 that there should be no mandatory solicitation of money for graduation ceremonies or mandatory payment of yearbooks for students, particularly at public schools.

Moreover, thinking about yearbooks that are built of heavy material, that is applied to perform a better range of excessive photos, it is not possible for them to be distributed for free unless the government is kindhearted enough to sponsor the souvenir program.

Graduating is such a luxury for someone who does not have the necessary funds. No matter how insignificant some people see yearbooks as, they will never go out of popularity. They have always been a delight to come upon, no matter how many times you review your memories within them. Yearbooks will always fulfill the same role that can never be found somewhere else.

A person’s quality can be seen through their decisions.

“

Mandatory Vaccination: Life Threat or Treat?

by Desiree Pangca

When the pandemic struck the world, almost every day was a nightmare. People were in a state of fear and anxiety, patiently waiting for a possible solution, a vaccine that would prevent the spread of the virus.

Now that vaccines have been rolled-out and distributed to all parts of the globe. Many received their first dose, including booster shots. However, some Filipinos’ were hesitant to be vaccinated because of the trauma from the previous incident of the Dengvaxia controversy that had pulled down the country’s immunization rates. In that case, will the government push a mandatory vaccination in the country? If so, do we have the right to choose or to refuse?

On March 2, 2021, a press release marked a historic event in our country since it was the start of the vaccination. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III urged every Filipino to be vaccinated to ensure a safe recovery of the country. Mandatory vaccination can be justified morally if the risk to public health is severe. Without the vaccination, a person’s immune system is weaker than one with the vaccine.

Medical Understaffing, Where are they?

Nurses at the city hall-run Dr. Jorge P. Royeca Memorial Hospital are struggling to take medical care for patients as colleagues contract COVID-19 or quit a dangerously understaffed profession before the pandemic.

“We don’t feel cared for, we are exhausted, but we always keep in mind that we have to help our people because… no one else will,” said Melbert Reyes of the Philippines Nurses Association.

Hospital administrators approached the nurses if they could wear adult diapers and work for 12 hours each shift to reduce PPE expenses. They noticed the shortage in oxygen supply, a lack of test kits and medical gear, and a declining number of medical services laborers. A few medical clinics have reported that many attendants and health laborers have left their precarious positions in light of the difficulties they experience and the

As

Divorce: Life Raft for Failed Marriage

by Marielle Jane Lagahit

low compensation they get.

Official data show COVID-19 wards and ICU bed occupancy rates at more than 70% nationwide as daily cases exceed over 20,000, resulting in hospitals boosting their bed capacity. Health workers have begun to pressure the Department of Health (DOH) to complete the release of several benefits, including a COVID-19 special risk allowance.

President Rodrigo Duterte has requested patience from the government to try to come up with the money. However, overworked and unpaid nurses, the way that they need to fall back on this concern says a lot about the kind of treatment they are getting from the government regardless of their critical job in this health crisis.

As COVID-19 patients disengaged in hospital rooms attempting to remain alive, nurses are the ones serving each job. From caretaker to a chaplain to

Staying together rather than respectfully ending the relationship will only harm both parties and limit individuals’ opportunities to grow and see the best version of themselves.

Choosing to stay in the relationship solely to put others ahead of your own emotions will never help. Be open and choose what’s best. Divorce is not a wrong choice to save oneself.

Marriage is a sacred ceremony that declares the love of two individuals. It’s said to be what most couples wish to strengthen their relationship. It sometimes applies, but often it does not. Marriage doesn’t always turn out as planned, so divorce exists to save individuals.

Growing up, I thought we were the ideal of a perfect family; we went to different places every weekend and enjoyed trips. Only to figure out, my parents were only putting on a show for our benefit. As the years ticked by,

The COVID-19 vaccine is carefully researched, performed several tests, and critically formulated by the best and most renowned medical practitioners. In a survey, mandatory vaccination is highly considered in Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS). People feared that COVID-19 immunizations may kill them, however, tests have proven that the three approved vaccines are effective in preventing severe COVID-19 illness.

However, in terms of public health, a person can risk many individuals in a week; without the vaccination, a person’s immune system is weaker than one with the vaccine since the vaccine’s purpose is to establish immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 without having to become ill. Vaccination is warranted since it protects the individual from the virus and other delta variants.

People feared that COVID-19 immunizations may kill them, however,

by Fritizi Mae Gapuz

substitute friends and family. Also, when those patients bite the dust, nurses and medical workers take that pain of loss upon themselves.

Since the pandemic started, they have shown us kindness and unparallel valor. Our good Samaritans. Our death-defying paladins. That’s the type of selflessness that goes overlooked constantly. To repay their unwavering long night shifts, at least give them the treatment they deserve. Nurses working long hours and earning ten thousand pesos monthly as mandated by the law will help them. Though, we can all agree that they deserve much more.

The point is that there’s a budget allocated for their benefits during the pandemic. Yet, why would they say they are not getting them fully? Is it a problem with negligence, or worse, government corruption?

everything became evident. The surroundings bothered me and didn’t provide me a peace of mind. That’s when I realized, staying together can never save a nearly-dead marriage.

The Philippines’ choice to legalize divorce improved my respect for the country’s concern for its citizens. Initially, we were stereotyped about the subject. However, it’s time to sharpen our views.

Divorce was set as the last thing that a person should do to save their respect and integrity as a person. Because when things go upside down, it serves as a raft to prevent couples from throwing hate and blaming each other. Staying in the marriage will prolong the agony.

Legalizing divorce will ease the burdens of irreconcilable couples. Family strife caused by faded love increases violence against women and child abuse. Thus, divorce is likely a safety net that provides

better opportunities for both the children and couples. It lets them get back on track, follow their passion, focus on their progress, and regain empowerment.

Filipinos are known for strong family ties and do their best to save what they value the most—memories and loved ones. Still, the truth is bittersweet. When marriage leads to draining emotional stress and physical violence, divorce is a good option but not a solution. Does it make sense?

Divorce is a difficult choice to make. Nobody gets married to get a divorce. However, it’s sometimes the answer to a question. Broken homes are prevalent even without divorce. Martyrdom is not an option to choose. Live a life that’s worthy of fulfilling. Find hope and light in times of darkness. It’s not a selfish act to stand for what you think is reasonable. It’s never wrong to save everyone from drowning.

tests have proven that the three approved vaccines are effective in preventing severe COVID-19 illness.

Clinical studies for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines revealed that they were completely successful at preventing serious diseases. The Johnson & Johnson vaccination was shown to be 85% effective against serious infection.

If the government considers mandatory vaccination, many people will protest the idea and retaliate. Compulsory vaccination deprives the rights of every person. On the contrary, the safety and welfare of every individual are at risk. Now, weighing the situation, it has a domino effect on our health and society. It is risky, but it is a necessity. How will we perceive it? Is it a threat or a treat?

Choose according to your heart’s content. In the end, it is our choice.

Self love: Caring more about less

by Fritizi Mae Gapuz

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life as a junior high school student, it would be this: caring too much and withholding emotions burdens the mind.

Honestly, I had to learn this the hard way since I had a very bumpy ride with my attitude and self-discipline as a freshman before, which resulted in me overstuffing my mind with contradictions in every situation. But things do fall into the right place, just as how I survived the four years of high school by not giving a damn about what people think and say about me.

At some point in our lives, especially when we hit puberty, we become more conscious of ourselves and other people’s opinions, leading us to overthink everything. When we overstimulate, the brain becomes our enemy and will take over our mental health. It makes it hard for us to focus on the brighter side.

Caring less does not mean being careless. There is a hefty line between the two. It implies caring more often about fewer things, focusing on what’s significant and taking out what is not, concentrating on your attention, abilities, and success, realizing when to think and what to do, and perceiving what’s adequate and what’s being excessive. Caring less is the foundation of genuine learning, for it brings about less unjustifiable stress, waste, blunders and expands productivity.

As the years continued, I learned

to care less about perfection and more about completion. But I am not implying that I became a lazy student for not exerting enough effort just for compliance. Some people do their best work whenever they don’t often think about the result or outcome. You might achieve more when you care less. When you reduce the tension on yourself to accomplish perfection, you can stream more effortlessly and effectively through whatever you are doing. Always trust your instincts, and experience will direct you. But, I also learned to acknowledge how I will make errors and embrace those future stumbles as the best growth opportunities of my life.

Lastly, nobody cares—whether you missed a deadline, if you forgot your homework, or if you forgot to take a bath. Nobody will even notice. Or if they do, they would not fret over it. You might discover that it isn’t quite as terrifying as you suspected it. It is pretty ironic and lachrymose that caring less makes you more successful and happy. But, the bottom line is that caring less helps you overcome the struggles of complicated and challenging standards of the people and the society.

art by Ashlee Del pilar

Adult diapers. Shaved heads. Exhausted nurses. The government may misunderstand the nature of the economic downturn spurred by the COVID-19.

When marriage leads to high levels of stress and unhappiness, divorce as a solution definitely makes sense

time passes, love changes and both people encounter exhausting and tempting situations that cause them to hurt their partners unknowingly.

Blind Legally

by Catalina Cassandra Uyguanco

The symbol of justice has always been a blindfolded woman with a sword in one hand and a scale in the other, but now it seems to have its hands tied and the scale of fairness has weighed down on injustice. If the law is the truth’s eye, why does it appear to have gone blind?

For the past years, the age of consent has always been as early as twelve. It was a huge hurdle for a 16-year-old rape victim who goes by the name ‘Jenny’. Her virginity was taken away by a relative when she was 13 and attempted to sue charges against the assailant but was immediately declined for the man had said it was consensual.

“The lawyer was the one to set my uncle free because I refused his attempt to touch me. I didn’t know anything back then, I thought it was not a big deal so I said yes to my uncle, I couldn’t do anything anyway, he’s already on top of me.” The lawyer, who happened to be a family friend, extended his hand to handle the case but ended up being the one to silence Jenny’s pleas. Jenny claimed that the lawyer has been maliciously staring daggers at her and was vocal about complimenting her ‘curves’. He was the one who attempted to molest but still had the audacity to turn the tables and side with the rapist all because he got rejected for such filthy action. Her words were used against her by her legal counsel. Saying it was something consensual between the two parties despite the strong disagreement on the victim’s side. Threatened her to remain quiet about the molestation and even went to extreme lengths as to gaslight the child into withdrawing the case, which, unfortunately, she did—and that was it, case closed.

Under Republic Act No. 8533 or the 1997 Anti-Rape Law, a sexual act is considered statutory rape when the victim is under 12 years old or

is mentally unstable. That also means a 12-year-old child and above can give sexual consent anyway. A report way back in 2015 conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) revealed that the minimum age of 12 set by the Philippines stands as the lowest in Southeast Asia and the second lowest worldwide.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) states that from the years 2015 to 2017, aged 14 to 17 are likely to be victims of rape and incestuous activities. A twelveyear-old is typically in 6th grade and has barely, or has not yet gone to puberty. Several studies have proven that the rationality of the mind of a 12-year-old and their understanding of the consequences of their actions have not yet developed and will fully develop by the age of 25. Her body may have developed at an early age but her mind hasn’t yet. Victim-blaming is not a card that should be used against a child victim. A degree holder, specifically a lawyer, is bending justice only because he wasn’t fed on by his lustrous desires. It’s always “Age is just a number”, but a great number of underaged victims aren’t getting the justice they deserve all because of this outrageous age of consent.

The scale of fairness appears to have weighed down the value of truth as the sword of power seized Jenny’s last hope of justice. Now that the pleas of the young victims are finally heard and the age of consent has lifted, she still hopes that there will be a day the symbol of justice finally obtains an eye to uncovering the truth under the blindfold and the lie it hides.

In

Misogyny is still alive and still gripping more women victims up until now. Women are still experiencing physical and verbal harassment and continuous discrimination by men. Due to this prejudicial treatment faced by them, people— including women -- had the internalized beliefs that women should abide by the norms and expectations that men have built.

No matter how a woman digs their path to stay away from the loop that was fostered by men and a one-sided society. Women would still glimpse their feet walking on the same path that can not be dodged. Bringing them back to the loop where they have been before. Even in current times and as opposed to the remote past, society drives people to play certain gender roles, contributing to gender disparities.

In the 20th century, the idea of a woman only staying at home while satisfying the needs of her husband was highly romanticized in such advertisements, films, and magazines. That it became the standardized concept for women. More than that, it is believed that a woman’s body and physiology are considered as weak as they undergo menstrual cycles and pregnancy, hence making them think that women are unsuitable for pursuing careers. All of this leads to the double standards and disparagement of women where validity is only open to men.

When a deed is done by a man, it is most likely to be praised and applauded. On the contrary, a woman would instead be doubted and criticized. In

the recent presidential elections that took place in the Philippines, two candidates; Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. a man, and Leni Robredo, a woman were considered the biggest rivals in the seat. Even though Marcos was known for his controversial background, he officially won against Leni Robredo who has a lot more credentials and cleaner records. In several interviews about why people did not vote for Leni, few claimed that her being a ’woman’ is not seemly good for being a president and saying that she’s too soft for the position.

In this dimmed patriarchal system, women have always been oppressed but the voice of a woman was represented “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wonder if I’d get there quicker if I was a man” The Man by Taylor Swift, disseminates the last dig. That describes the whole loop of women’s deceitful fate back and forth to those men who can devour their rights, but women can not.

Men have locked women in a barless cycle they have manufactured. In a darkened, barless jail, the society played out a loop. And for women, it is ceaseless agony in misogyny that takes a length of time to bury in oblivion. Consequently, it has been consistent who devoured and depraved women’s rights. To confront the difficulties, a woman, the leader in all sectors of life, is relevant.

In the end, the last man standing is a woman.

AGONY in MiSOGYNY

byKarylleJaneGama

Art by Ethan Rhay Exclamador

high heeled shoes and painted nails, are victims of this patriarchal system. They have been the detective to their rights, trying to figure out who has been devouring their liberties. Women have been trapped in a barless loop created by men. A loop that the society played out in a dimmer, barless jail.

Now that the pleas of the young victims are finally heard and the age of consent has lifted, she still hopes that there will be a day the symbol of justice finally obtains an eye to uncovering the truth under the blindfold and the lie it hides.

When life becomes too much, a good massage is a great way to relax and reenergize. Mary Jane Moñez, a 52-year-old massage therapist, survives a day with her touch as a massage therapist, which provides relief from pain and aids the general wellness of clients.

Mrs. Moñez has been working in the field for 4 years. She’s been involved in many hand-working areas, namely, as a nail expert or manicurist, and finally became a masseuse; her current and longest job. Just like anybody, she works to support her family.

After grabbing the opportunity plastered on a placard, along with her husband as a tricycle driver, both have been able to cope and provide for their family with needs. Mrs. Monez earns an amount of ten thousand pesos each month.

With years in the field and smart budgeting, she was able to let her eldest

daughter graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management. Her second and third children are college students at Xavier Ateneo de Cagayan.

Before reaching the path that gave her abundance, Mrs. Moñez together with her family, suffered on days when everything did not go to plan and lack of income that barely provided essentials. They’ve been in a household without electricity—only candles and themselves as one’s shoulder to lean on.

“Sometimes, I lose hope but I remember my family”, Mrs. Monez stated. A mother’s love is unrivaled, it drove her to seek hope for the family she created. It made her stand, and it became a way for her to reach a milestone.

She became one of the most in-demand masseuses by customers of Ragaa Thai Massage located in Divisoria. She was able to gain more

teacher the tender

by Samantha Mae M. Abanes

by Marielle Jane A. Lagahit

from the gratuity or a service charge of her customers.

Kagaymamasahista Unknown Struggles

During the surge of COVID-19, Mrs. Moñez also suffered a financial loss within the first four months of the pandemic. Massage therapy was suspended due to protocols.

Relying only on her husband’s tricycle for their living and receiving help from the Social Security System (SSS), they were still able to get through that phase.

After the first four months, she was able to resume work and immediately strive to support their family.

A mother and a breadwinner all in one are just a few of the spectacular aspects that Mrs. Monez possesses. Working is significantly difficult—let alone being an attentive mom who only looks up to the future of her children.

What does it take to be a teacher?

They teach to inspire—their lessons spread like wildfire. “Lazy” hardly befit the most of them as they take on countless responsibilities. As soon as the pandemic struck, the world was about to face its long-standing dilemma.Gemma, a fifty-yearold Elementary teacher is not an exception as she encounters struggles caused by the new normal.

For a teacher who used to teach in face-to-face classes for more than 10 years, the new alternative presented by the Department of Education (DepEd) is a tall mountain for her to climb. From years of molding herself to be in the best quality of the ‘standard’ teaching, who would have thought a global crisis could change her traditional being? While some are familiar and comfortable using their cutting-edge gadgets for online and modular classes, the puzzled teacher struggles to keep up.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, over 28% of educators reported one of their best achievements was overcoming and learning technology. This small-scale proves that one of the utmost hassles teachers experience during distance-learning is using technology including school-based applications.

“Para nako, dili lalim ang bag-ong pamaagi sa pagtudlo (For me, the alternative way of teaching is not easy)”, Judith utters her candor and concern.

The current situation caused Judith to yearn for the actual presence of students around her—and just like someone who is not accustomed to using digital devices, she constantly needs assistance from her niece or co-workers when submitting online requirements such as Powerpoint presentations.

“I personally think that teaching in person is more convenient because most of the time, students can understand better face-to-face”, Judith shows concern. It seems that the normal days she looked forward to every time she woke up are long gone.

Before the pandemic, Judith’s cycle is just as typical as anyone would experience-- except that hers has its slight significance. Her day would start with shivers from the cold of morning baths to warmth caused by the sunny smiles of her students and peers. Socialization is what Teacher Judith was used to.

“I don’t only share school lessons, but I also tell life stories”, she states her experience of teaching back when it was still face-to-face classes. Judith proves that a teacher can be influential by making a difference and being a memorable individual to students.

Teacher Judith willfully shows her burning passion for teaching as she continues to strive regardless of what trials and tribulations the new normal has brought upon her. She aches, sometimes breaks, and she makes mistakes, but what stands out is—she knows what it takes.

Lives are connected like threads on loom as the chain of struggles. But, even though faced with peals of doubts, gaze etched above an intricate web below.

by Fritizi Mae Gapuz

life in a wheelchair

As the day lays down a blanket of darkness in the sky, people will scrunch to their comfort zone and rest, knowing that whenever they close their eyes there will always be a light sky that awaits. But, it takes a long loop of the night for us to see the impending dawn—the pandemic took so much from us that it veiled us in darkness.

Ayaw ug salig sa Ayuda. Maningkamot aron makakaon tapos magtiyaga lang.

Cyrus, a 47-yearold father of two who has been living with polio asserted how the pandemic has clouded him with an even more heavy burden on his situation and his family. Before the pandemic, he sold candles and worked as a parkedvehicle watcher at the St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral

Working is significantly difficult— let alone being an attentive mom who only looks up to the future of her children.

“

Behind the calloused and wrinkled hands, scattered with lines and sunspots, lies the reason why individuals get to meet needs and essentials despite life’s obstacles. The value of this flawed woman’s hands is flawlessly crucial to her existence.

Untold Stories of CDO Hustlers

Unknown Struggles

of events interweaves an alignment of the parallel doubts, there are those who would stand still with their

of Cagayan de Oro City. But now, he’s struggling in budgeting his 5001000 pesos income from selling candies, snacks, facemasks, and face shields on his wheelchair at the busy expanse of the city hall. To earn with his wheelchair, he endures the heat of the sun, navigates crowded highways, and risks his health. He stays where he regularly displays his products, expecting to make extra profit as the day unfolds. Hustling hard amidst the pandemic scraps off the optimism and energy of individuals gradually. But, they would gamble their weary souls and worried hearts to grasp a silver lining of the dark-entity that they are in.

Nestled in the heart of the myriad of gleamingly distant lights of its avenues and halls, there lies a dark threshold to

Death Defying Driver

by Samantha Mae M. Abanes

All it took was a drop of a catastrophic pandemic to change our promising lives to its extent, but we could not withhold the fact that the heaviest medical burdens lie on the attentive hands of the frontline.

People often depict ‘front-liners’ as doctors, nurses, and any other medical professionals—disregarding the depth of the medical field and its workers who make a living out of a miserly amount. These assumptions lead to overlooking the dull spotlight of extensive health careers.

At the age of 27, Rully Linonhay currently works as an ambulance driver at the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Department (CDDRMD). He has been earning a short amount of nine-thousand pesos each month. Rully’s job as an ambulance driver is as hard as it is in his household; considering the fact that their small-scale income is as tight as their financial plans.

“Budgeting our income is hard because it is not enough for us”, Rully frankly said as he continues to share about the underpaid frontliners.

According to iPrice research, the salary gap between health workers in the Philippines and neighboring countries with a similar cost of living, such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia, is substantial. Malaysian practitioners earn 178 % more than Filipino medical technologists, whereas registered nurses in Thailand and Indonesia earn 95 % more than Filipino nurses. This demonstrates the Philippines’ bleak approach to the medical field in the country.

The nine-thousand pesos salary for each month is hardly enough for him to make ends meet, but that does not stop Rully from striving by driving.

cross the most edged losses and opaque victories in this golden city. Hopefulness in hopelessness is the key to unravel the long blanket in the sky. The night may cast a pall of gloom, but for a survivor’s hue, there will always be a kernel of optimism.

In the middle of a big crisis, a fleck of belief can be your salvation. This was Cyrus’ and a few Kagayanons’: They believed that it is through the complementary grounds of faith and valor that lended them a paddle to row and survive the rogue waves of the unknown.

ORDer UP!

byJeaceyA.Paralumanand JoshuaLouiseP.Solon

From food cooking to food delivering, this is how a chef-turned-delivery driver overcame pandemic problems.

From the heat of the kitchen to the heat of the roads, Jaime Marcelino Jr. worked as a luxury hotel chef prior to the pandemic.

He worked as a chef in a Japanese restaurant where he learned to make Japanese dishes. This served as a stepping stone in his career in the culinary world. Subsequently, he then worked as a chef in a high-end restaurant and made delicious cuisines. Up until the COVID-19 pandemic where millions were affected and lost their jobs, including Marcelino is halting his career and along with the Asian restaurant he worked in.

“When our operations were affected, I thought of finding a new job. I had a co-worker that worked as a rider for Foodpanda on the side, so I asked him to help me out,” Marcelino said.

Looking for opportunities to work for some time and being unable to pay for his family’s bills for an extended period of time, Marcelino was left with no choice but to leave his career as a chef and

Rully is a caring father of a three-year-old toddler and a loving husband to his wife who is also striving at the City Government Office. All his hard work—the blood and sweat he has shredded, is entirely dedicated to his persevering family.

“My exhaustion disappears every time I go home and see them,” Rully said in tenderness.

Firsthand employees like Rully inevitably experience and see the diversity of people as they embark on their career journey. Oftentimes, as they rescue patients, they face encounters that have their own unprecedented stories that will mark front liners for a lifetime.

“Everytime I work, every individual is unique…I can notice their characters”, Rully stated with amusement in his tone.

Despite the endeavors that have passed Rully Linonhay’s life, the distinct experiences in his line of work—the people he meets on a daily duty will never be a cruel burden as it lifts his weary soul.

venture as a Foodpanda rider.

Food-delivery apps have seen a significant increase since the start of the pandemic as more people prefer the convenience and efficiency of ordering out. With the curbs on social contact, social distancing, and lockdowns, the demand for food-delivery drivers has risen, providing options for individuals who are struggling to find a job during the pandemic.

Marcelino admits that his earnings as a Foodpanda rider are enough to cover his family’s necessities as well as his wife’s online studies and his daughter’s education. The motorcycle he uses to

commute to work has been converted into a delivery van. As he leaves home every day to make his rounds around the city, he uses it to bring food. When asked if he ever gets tired of working long hours, Marcelino says he draws his motivation from his family.

He felt compelled to share their experience and employment because they were facing the same problems and experiences as other delivery drivers. To achieve a decent salary for their family, they endured the heat of the roads, angry clients, traffic, and delays.

Marcelino intends to use the money he earns from Foodpanda to start his own business in the future.

The uncertainties and consequences of the pandemic have significantly impacted the lives of many workers and professionals across the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment has risen over the past two years and shows no signs of stopping. However, as COVID-19 limitations are lifted and more people are allowed to return to work, we may see a glimpse of normalcy among the unusual events of the previous two years.

Mistaking emotion for a mental notion

Façade for Sadness

by Catalina Cassandra Uyguanco

There have been a wide variety of mental health conditions, and sadness is not classified as one. In this worrisome world of woke people, how do you break it to them without bursting a bubble?

Being mentally unstable since the age of 9, Jerica Salon already knew she had it in her—although it was not talent that she has, but a clinical diagnosis of Persistent Depressive Disorder. “If depression is personified, it would most likely be me.” She joked. For someone like Jerica who battles with her mind 24/7, it has been a chore for her to listen to people’s whims about depression and other mental health problems which according to her, was just a fruit of self diagnosis. “It’s so unfair having to read about their posts and how they seem to showcase depression.”

Pertaining to her social media mutual

Disguise of Red

hand, depression is a mental illness and can affect your daily regimen or might as well, severely eat into your ticking time of life if left untreated. They are not a synonym of the other nor can they be considered as two sides of a coin however a lot of people, most especially the present youth, seem to have misunderstood sadness from the latter. ‘Sad’ is an easy word, so why use a complex term such as a clinical condition to describe a fleeting emotion?

“First, they get sad, of course. Next is they search it up on the web and then viola, self-diagnosing takes place.” Jerica said. According

advice from a professional who refuted their self-diagnosis.

Depression is a general term and the mother of all the other mental related illnesses. Depression, Bipolar Disorder and being a psychopath is definitely the holy trinity of most common self-diagnosed mental conditions according to American Journal of Medicine, which are actually pretty serious but are now being vastly romanticized.

There is a visible border from one’s emotion from a mental condition, and it takes a bubble to burst for people to understand that depression as an aesthetic will never work, better

negative trait toward anything. And there is no exception in politics. Red flags of a politician include abuse of authority, deaf to issues, uneducated, liar, violator of human rights, corrupt, sexist, ex-convict, and criminal. Ironically, they have been hailed in the position to observe the nation.

“Ok ra, dli man iyang gi eskwelahan ang importanti kung wala siya naghuman, ug bakak lang ang iyang giingon. Ang naa siyay kabalan sa politiko, naa siyay experience ug naa siyay pagdumala sa Pilipinas ang importanti” (It’s all right, even if he didn’t go to school, didn’t complete, and lied about it. The most important thing is that he has experience and has governance in the Philippines) uttered by a 40-year-old voter, named Inday. A woman who leaned her trust and voted for her presidential bet, shared her thoughts on how she blindly ignored the red flag.

The Philippines has masses of problems lined up. Poverty is one of the biggest problems in the Philippines. Slow to moderate economic growth and failure to grow the agriculture sector are some of the reasons why this problem remains a challenge.

During the 2015 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), the poverty rate among Filipinos was 21.6 percent. On the other hand, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) estimated the population’s poverty rate increased to 23.7 percent in the first half of 2021, up from 21.1 percent in the same period in 2018. This translates to an additional 3.9 million Filipinos living in poverty.

This has been the proof of ignoring the red flag politicians could lead. Which evokes that the Philippines has not been out of the swamp, and is still a third-world country.

A senior high schooler, Mae, who strives for good governance said, “ In the first place, good educational background and a clean slate of criminal records is a big requirement for one to be trusted as a leader. Many of his voters have spoken about him not getting that degree but still, they just turned a blind eye to that.” Mae added,

“This isn’t subjective, but rather objective enough to say those politicians and their red flags and lies couldn’t make the country any less good.”

Mae has been aware of their disguise and unleashed her remarks.

If the positions of subterfuge protectors scream to snippet holes to their own country, in able to obtain their aim. Hence, a vivid future of the Philippines is out of contact.

Despite their best efforts to conceal their red flags, there will always be an eagle-eyed citizen who will spot them. The monochrome appearance that people thought was intended to point to yell more assurance, to escort their safety, is a disguise. Behind it is a color red that can point the nation to oblivion.

understandable, not acceptable

by Joshua Louis Solon

There have always been kids that have chosen to cheat in school. Today’s tech gadgets have made it easier and more common than before. Kids programmed answer sheets into their phones and posted them online, some of them shared their answers to the Facebook page they made.

This pandemic has been tough for all the students who experience very difficult days. A lot of students choose to cheat because they thought it would help them achieve higher grades. Because of these situations some students tend to be lazy and depend on others. Plenty of students go through some bad days and are mentally unstable this past school year until now.

Social media for school has been famous this time like Brainly, Photomath, Quillbot, Grammarly including Facebook. Facebook must be only used to post your status and to connect with friends but this time it is also used to cheat. Students made a Facebook page named ‘Online

Kopyahan’ to share answers, the members of the said group page were students around elementary to college. This group has been reported and shown on national television. But it did not stop the students from making more pages for cheating.

Slow-learners must be guided by. Self-learning modules were monitored by DepEd to be used to learn the lessons. Modules must be the number one source for the students to answer. Going to school must be dangerous nowadays because of the deadly virus that may affect students’ health and may die. Students and parents want to go back to normal or implement face-to-face classes to be more guided.

90% percent of people agreed to be vaccinated in the survey, this helps to lessen the virus and there’s a possibility to implement face-to-face classes. We must learn to face our responsibilities as students and practice to be more independent and find solutions and ways to provide answers to our own questionnaires. This may be understandable in some ways because of the pandemic but it’s not always considerable to cheat. Cheating can cause many damages and it includes us fooling our own selves in gaining achievements we did not work hard for.

by Karylle Jyn Gama

Mind over Money

by Fritzi Mae Gapuz

In conjunction with the past semesters’ narratives of drawbacks and credits, the school is yet to be making progress toward excellence by settling the inadequacies experienced on the grounds. However, there has been an alarming upswing in concerns that resulted in a greater degree of financial stress for parents.

by Marielle Jane Lagahit

Safety Last

Observing water slowly losing its essence is like safety protocols without followers—it leads only to destruction.

The components that make up water – hydrogen and oxygen – are never lost, only separated. But, if humans fail to follow the protocol, and add an agent to separate these two noble gasses from each other, we run the risk of losing all three components. Leading to an alarming state that is now an underlying concern in Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School.

Health protocols have been a major concern for every individual that gives them confidence in visiting places. The health protocols that everyone sees as a savior and act to control the spread were barely observed in MOGCHS during the Grade 10 level moving up pictorial. In almost a month-long activity for the students in the Grade 10 level, safety protocols received the bare minimum focus from the students and other personnel involved. Unexpectedly, the implementation and observance by the school nurse devastatingly turned out to be only an error in its statement. There were no health protocols followed during the yearbook pictorial activity for their moving up a souvenir. The presence of alcohol and sanitation stations has cast a shadow on the pictorial. The checking of vaccination cards of students was not regulated. The expected assistance by the classroom adviser to help control the students was scarcely noticed and some were nowhere to be found. This leads to a more alarming state, as COVID-19 is still a threat despite being under Alert Level 1, and the wide expanse of face-toface classes.

“No choice but (to) simply ignore the reckless actions by the

It starts with money, as it so continually does in Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS). As the whole school community continues to embark on the flexible learning modality this fourth semester of SY. 2021-2022, the circulating controversies about the financial quandaries in the school have stayed disrupted.

Students still receive requests from teachers and school staff to financially support specific activities and things that were already a part and responsibility of the school budget during the pandemic, making it one of the causes of a financial burden as many parents have lost their jobs that led to a significant and unprecedented deterioration of mental health.

“Lisod mangitag kwarta labi na nga adunay pandemya. Ma-stress ko usahay sa mga bayronon sa eskwelahan, pero maningkamot nalang jud ko para sa akong anak.” (It’s hard to make money especially when we are in a pandemic. I get stressed sometimes with the school fees, but I am trying my best just to provide for my kid.) Jocelyn Banuag, 43, shares her frustrations about the school fees as she submits her sons’ modules for the last quarter.

Within the collection of money and the school’s initiative, a question hangs, masking an underlying mystery that needs to be entirely addressed: Why does the school specifically,

students,” Judy Rey C. Jumamoy, the assigned teacher for the pictorial of the students, said.

CANTEEN VENDORS AT GREATER RISK

Following safety, protocols are valuing the lives of others. After successfully getting the chance to sell inside the campus, the canteen vendors, who were also present during the whole month-long pictorial of the Grade 10 students, are at a higher risk. Compared to how the health protocols during the pictorial were inadequate to health protocol standards, the canteen vendors adhere to each and every health protocol for the safety of both the seller and buyer. The school is taking the risk without proper preparation and consideration of how their decisions would affect others. Dr.

Nenita R. Bacol, MOGCHS school nurse eagerly stated how strict they have been during these challenging times, with all the requirements to be observed by the vendors, namely the hairnet, mask, gloves, and sanitizing every item after the vendors finish selling. It is still of no help since the school is lacking and the people are not valuing the health protocols.

UNPREPARED ENVIRONMENT, RISKY DEVELOPMENT

Safety is said to be paramount on campus. The safety of everyone must be valued and is a major concern.

MOGCHS preparations and safety precautions, as of the moment, are now said to be committed to ensuring that all of the students, teachers, and visitors remain safe from harm.

The guards assigned to check everyone entering the school were aware and are strict when it comes

teachers from different departments soldier on collecting money from parents during the pandemic when the school has discretionary funds and an operating budget?

From payments to refunds and other monetary operations, the General Parents-Teachers Association (GPTA) office is the central department that could cater to these concerns, making it one of the most important offices in the school.

It is very unfortunate how the school is not receiving sponsorships from the government and nongovernment units. The only source of funds used for the programs and activities is the GPTA contribution from the parents during the pandemic.

If they already have money contributions from the parents, what is the actual point of collecting money for the ‘Barya sa Pandemya’ and the modification of the reading clinic and club parks? MOGCHS is evidently a goal-oriented school, but they are unable to look for the downside of the situation before proposing something.

Financial stress is not an easy thing to cope with. It can not be solved for a day. Unless you won the lottery, then you could solve any financial problem you have. But, what are the real chances of winning a lottery?

With the big stake chances at 1 out of 5 million, it would cost P5,245,786 million to purchase each and every combination. You will be rat poor

to letting the students enter the school premises. No face mask, no entry. However, countless teachers and students who are working and visiting the school are still against the statement that the school is prepared.

As stated by the teachers, after following the memorandum given by DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones to prepare the classrooms for the New Normal Setup, the school directly complied on this. Earlier this year, for the classroom and school evaluation, they spent their own money on the materials that should be bought to ensure a safe classroom. It took them over two months to become fully equipped with the things and present a properly responsible classroom that inspects and values individuals’ health.

As the school anticipates possible face-to-face classes, all preparations made for the classrooms, health protocols, sanitation items that must be present, and overall preparations are yet to be seen and observed on the campus.

With over 200 plus classrooms in MOGCHS, not all are considered to be ready. Only two classrooms are expected to experience faceto-face classes again. Plenty of classrooms have been acquired which is said to be inappropriate as it lets the bacteria stick to them. The overall compliance of the school is inconsistent and vulnerable. Some classrooms fail the IATF standards. Individuals entering the campus are irresponsible and not aware of the virus.

There is an underlying risk for all personnel entering the school premises. There are only a few that were prepared and mostly unprepared.

before coming up with the perfect combination.

Monetary problems can negatively affect your psychological and actual health, your connections, and your general personal satisfaction. Feeling subjugated by money issues can antagonistically influence your sleep cycle, confidence, and energy levels. While we all know deep down inside that there are a lot more fundamental things in life than cash, while you are struggling, financial dread and stress can control your world and according to HelpGuide, it can lead to sleep deprivation, weight gain, or loss, build tension, relationship challenges, and unfortunate ways of dealing with tough times like drinking and the like.

Faced with a massive change in the outlook to manage the school’s respective financial obligations, consideration may be placed when catering issues in regard to the extent of financial matters that affect the mental health of families.

The simple effort of legitimate prioritization, wise and honest money management, consideration in times of difficulty, and a receptive system, might be sufficient to facilitate the problems of the school’s measly budget that is scarcely covering expenses and a school that barely sees the struggles and challenges of its students and parents during the pandemic.

art by Kent John L. Eduave

Vaccinees Vulnerability

Second dose matters

by Fritzi Mae Gapuz

A remote control that does not respond or control your TV usually means the batteries are low, dead, inserted incorrectly, or mostly the other pair is missing. Missing the other pair of batteries to your TV remote control is the same as missing your second dose of vaccine.

Many people are not getting the message that the second dose matters. An estimated one million Filipinos who have received their first jab missed the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“About 1 million vaccinees, particularly those given CoronaVac or Sputnik V vaccines for their first shot, have yet to get their second jab, which was supposed to be administered a month after their first dose,” Epidemiologist Dr. John Wong said.

The reasons for the delay or deferral of the second dose vary. Some Filipinos say they are worried about side effects, which have broadly been detailed to be worse after the second dose. Some of them thought they were already protected after a single shot. Others say they have transportation and scheduling issues and it’s been hard to reschedule.

Side effects like fatigue, fever, muscle pain, and migraine are more common after the second dose of vaccines. They may be repulsive, but they are manageable and a sign that your body is building a solid resistant reaction.

Beyond the obvious health risks, it is still very important to wear masks and face shields when going outdoors after being vaccinated. Vaccines are not magical barriers, they don’t terminate the virus. But they rather stimulate a person’s immune system to create antibodies—allowing the body to fight the infection before it causes severe diseases or breakthrough infections.

Moreover, immunized individuals who developed COVID-19 will likely have a lower viral load than unvaccinated individuals, which means they are more averse to spreading the infection.

When it comes to the prevention of deaths through vaccines, the cup is estimated to be 80 percent full, but wouldn’t you rather choose to fill it all the way for such an exceptional and irreversible result as death?

The second vaccine dose, like the second battery, matters.

Throw away culture

by Fritzi Mae Gapuz

Recycling is not the perfect lightbulb at the bottom of the world’s waste adversity—not even close. What is wrong with plastic recycling? Why aren’t most plastics recycled?

Plastic production is a complicated process. The plastic we see today for the most part comes from fossil fuel sources. After only one or a couple of uses, single-use plastics end up tossed in the trash and then into our landfills, our oceans, and waterways—adding to plastic waste. Plastic waste is an enormous issue that has been addressed plenty of times with merely bandaid solutions, yet we are still at the rear look. Just like a blind leading a blind.

“Plastic production has more than tripled since the ’90s. It also shows half the world’s plastic was made after 2003. About 150 million tons of plastic—many of it non-degradable—is floating in our oceans,” reported by the World Economic Forum.

For many animal species, plastics are a total eco nightmare. The viral video of a turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nostril led to the plastic straw ban. Most plastics are not biodegradable and cannot be separated normally by microscopic organisms or other residing things, and accordingly, the vast majority wind up in untamed wild habitats where it represents a threat to plants and creatures.

Though the realm of plastics is fundamental to 21st-century living, it can likewise be very risky, particularly when we overproduce, overuse, and over-devour and afterward neglect to reuse, reuse, and discard it appropriately.

The issue of singleuse plastic cannot be addressed by only one individual: we need cultural change and fundamental activity. To achieve foundational change in handling the environmental emergency, we need to handle plastic contamination across the entire plastics esteem chain—from the extraction of nonrenewable energy sources that fill in as the feedstock of plastic, right to the removal of plastic waste.

Wicked Problem

PlastiCaution

by Esha Zuleyka Morales

Plastic is very harmful to human life and the environment. They lead to destroying marine life and polluting Earth. We used to hear that plastics are on different bodies of land and water , and with that it destroyed many. But what if not only in water and soil but also through the air, which is also extremely harmful to human life?

Dark smoke was seen from the Divine Shepherd crematorium facility in Cagayan de Oro City on September 1, 2021 during an investigation by the City Local Environment and National Resources Office (CLENRO).

A video was posted on Facebook on August 7, 2021, about the dark smoke coming from the crematorium facility, located in Barangay Bulua. One of the residents interviewed also claims the facility continuously emits thick smoke for three to six years, causing health problems. He also added that it has been frequent since the pandemic began.

“Black smoke will be released only five minutes from the start of a cremation process. This is because other items will be included in the cremation such as body bags made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) materials; () cellphones, laptops, and other items of those who died during their hospital stay were included in the cremation,” CLENRO Chief Armen Cuenca said.

Cuenca also manages the Management of the Dead Cluster and has negotiated with private funeral service providers to either bury or cremate dead COVID-19 patients.

Burning plastic is harmful to our health because it contains dioxin and furan which are harmful to ourhealth. Cuenca also added that these elements, even if they are small, can cause great damage to us and the environment, which when burned can also cause death. If dioxin is inhaled

it can cause coughing, difficulty in breathing, and dizziness. The most lethal is when you are exposed to it for a long time, which will cause cancer. Plastic pollution has become one of the major environmental issues, as the rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products is making the whole world lack the capacity to deal with or resist them. It is more visible in developing countries in Asia and Africa, where waste collection systems are often inefficient or non-existent. But the developed world, especially in countries with low recycling rates, also has problems with properly collecting discarded plastics. What can we do to reduce the pollution or issue of this plastic? It’s easy, we should help ourselves to not use plastic to reduce it, and if you have plastics in your house just recycle them for more use. We must stop burning PVC or any other plastic for the sake of our environment and continue to follow the 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

ELECTricity MATTERS

Repower Father’s Project

by Jewel Rose Daguinotas

The Bataan Nuclear Plant was built in response to the oil crisis in 1973 during dictatorship of late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and spent 2.1 Billion USD for construction. It can generate 623 MW (MegaWatt). However, the power plant never operated again due to financial and environmental issues, and political liability.

One of the concerns of every Filipino is the electricity rate. According to Business Mirror, the Philippines has the highest average electricity price in Asia next to Japan in 2018. BNPP could achieve lower electricity prices to P2 per kWh (kilowatt per hour) unlike using coal-fired power plants that reach P6 per kWh. Aside from that, the risk of power shortage will be lowered as well.

As climate change is a huge concern in this country, reopening BNPP is definitely not the answer for climate action. It might not release any emissions but it produces radioactive wastes. The fact that there is no way to destroy this kind of waste and even can cause pollution to the environment.

Listen to science

Listen to science

Scientists are often ignored by an ignorant populace. Their scientific knowledge finds them nonsense or boring. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space administration) climate scientist Peter Kalmus and other climate scientists were arrested after chaining themselves in JP Morgan Chase Building’s door in Los Angeles (LA), a bank that is known as the “worst fossil fuel bank”. It is all because they protested to start climate action to prevent catastrophic climate effects.

“I personally feel very strongly that we have a moral responsibility to do everything we can to wake up the public now, especially since it’s very clear that for decades, only residing within the peerreviewed literature has not worked by any means,” Peter Kalmus said in an interview.

A group of scientists including Kalmus is part of the ‘Scientist Rebellion’. According to their official website, “We are activists from a variety of scientific backgrounds, calling on our communities to stand in resistance to the genocidal direction of our governments before it’s too late. If we scientists don’t act like we’re in an emergency, how can we expect the public to do so?” These scientists will

by Jewel Rose Daguinotas

use their knowledge to save everybody’s future.

After the climate scientists showed their courage on the live stream of Scientist Rebellion’s social media pages, scientists from 25 countries joined the stage as well. Same also with Kalmus’ concern, their purpose is to address aggressive climate action to the world governments.

Each group of scientists from different countries has demonstrated their way to protest. According to Margaret Osborne, Spanish scientists threw liquid as fake blood while the Germans glued themselves to a bridge near the German Parliament. The rage and frustration within them went out through protesting. In fact, they did this not for themselves but everybody, especially for the younger generation.

A rally or protest exists to create chaos; it is a way to spread the word alongside the majority. If they did not speak up, how should we know that we still have a few years left to save the earth from climate destruction? That’s why you should listen to knowledgeable ones.

13. 4588

PHP per kWh

MORESCO-1 POWER RATES AS OF DECEMBER 2022

Nuclear power plants are considered reliable sources of power and renewable energy. This power plant basically would not affect any climatic factors and does not release carbon emissions during operation. “A nuclear power plant in full-swing operation can produce energy non-stop for an entire year, which allows for a good return on investment because there is no delay in energy production.” Spring Power & Gas (SP&G)stated.

“BNPP was designed to withstand an intensity 9 earthquake and is located 18 meters above sea level. An intensity 9 earthquake will typically result in a 10-meter tsunami.” He said. BNPP (Bataan Nuclear Power Plant) is located less than a hundred miles away from four volcanoes, and three geographical faults which are the Iba Fault, West Valley Fault, and East Zambales Fault. If any prone accident might happen, the water and food located within 50 miles of the nuclear plant will be polluted.

It is also expensive to rehabilitate a nuclear power plant if ever it reopens and so does the plan of transferring the site to Morong. Upgrading the power plant could cost another 1 Billion USD and could take at least 4 years. The country currently has 13 Trillion USD in general government debt.

Electricity is a huge concern to every Filipino. In this new era, there will be new changes to be implemented by the government; it could be good for them but bad to us or vice versa. What will happen to the Philippines’ electricity rate for the next 6 years?

As the son of the late dictator, former Sen. Bongbong Marcos won the partial and unofficial presidential seat, it is one of his plans to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant which has been closed since 1986.

Electricity is a huge concern to every Filipino. In this new era, there will be new changes to be implemented by the government; it could be good for them but bad to us or vice versa.

Evolution never stops, and so does the growth of information in science. Scientists do their research help solve any practical or logical problems in our lives and on earth. You will realize that the world is dying when a group of scientists seeks help.

Rebel Returnees’ Fresh Start

Rehab Provincial Warriors

by Fritzi Mae Gapuz

From fighting with guns and ammo to planting crops and extracting juices, these protesters from Northern Mindanao are living proof of change and have now become productive villagers.

Department of Agriculture (DOA) turned over production and marketing assistance worth over P3.4 million to former rebels in Bukidnon.

“We thought of making turmeric tea, but it takes a longer time to produce. We have a friend who makes vinegar similar to the Pinakurat of Iligan. We thought this is easy to teach and the earnings are also quite high,” Lt. Col. Rommel Perena, 4Mech Commanding Officer said.

The Municipal Agriculture Office of Cabanglasan under the DOA Region-10, together with the 88th

Infantry Battalion handed over agriculture inputs composed of 900 packets of assorted vegetable seeds, 14 bags of hybrid corn seeds, and 98 sacks of fertilizer to 28 former members of the underground mass organization.

The beneficiaries make use of the agricultural materials for their livelihood and share additional knowledge on basic agriculture with their associates.

Government agencies like the Philippine Army, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of

Jaizel Cabili

Market and Global Economy by Eleah

Mega Changes

Labor and Employment, and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority also provided their respective interventions to participants.

Progress is impossible without change. It’s something that the former rebels and members of communist organizations in Bukidnon province, know very well. It takes grit and hard work through these initiatives. This is the mark that there is unity at the end, and it brings serenity to our region.

Philippines’ economic growth from 2020 - to 2021 resumes to aggravate than how it should be in 2019. It was as if we woke up knowing that poverty had already enveloped us. We may simply ask ourselves, how can one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies falter? Is it necessary to blame everything for the pandemic?

Poor Governance.

Abandoned responsibilities. Unemployed people. Decreasing salaries. The Philippines’ economy is on the verge of collapsing. Early signs of economic recovery were held back by an increase in COVID-19 infections and the

reintroduction of more stringent quarantine regulations. Is the Philippines back to being a sick man?

before the epidemic, not to mention the debt repayments that occurred during the dictatorship.

settling for another method.

2022 PRESIDENTIAL APIRANTS’ AGRICUTURE DEVELOPMENT PLANS

by

Fritzi Mae Gapuz

While the election is just around the corner, what should we potentially expect on the desk for the next agriculture development plans?

The Philippines’ economy is resilient and strong—we have maintained our agriculture, livestock, and livelihood through the economic downturn and prosperity, and in moments of a health crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. By voting for the candidates of our choice, we can continue to uphold and improve our economy’s core functions and values.

“How can it be that we have been investing many billions in agribusiness for many years and the area has not helped farmers advance up the income ladder?”

Financial Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua explained why the Depart- ment of Agriculture (DA) budget plan was reduced from 2020 to 2021.

borrowed more to support pandemicrelated initiatives.

Invasion Effects

PH Economic Landslide

In 2019, the Philippines was dubbed Asia’s “next tiger economy.” The country had one of the fastestgrowing economies due to its production of goods and services. During the economic collapse in the latter of Ferdinand Marcos’ reign, it earned the title “Sick Man of Asia,” which it later shed. The Philippines’ economic recovery began decades

by Eleah Jaizel Cabili

The country is struggling to recover from COVID-19 due to a series of unclear events this year, including the country’s lengthy lockdown and failure to convert to a more efficient containment policy. When COVID threatens to take over the country’s health system, the Philippines government has resorted to draconian mobility restrictions throughout broad sections of the country’s key cities and growth hubs, rather than

The global outlook remains bleak, with big concerns about the pandemic’s progress and the prospect of financial crisis due to high debt levels. Policymakers must strike a tough balance between fostering recovery and ensuring price stability and fiscal sustainability.

The Philippines’ total debt climbed by 18.5 percent, or P1.8 trillion, at the start of 2021, which was shocking news. The government’s debt had climbed to P11.6 trillion as of the end of July 2021, up 4% from June, as the country

When Russia invaded Ukraine, military analysts anticipated how long the fight would go or how severe the repercussions would be in Europe and the rest of the world. As the war enters its third month, the economic consequences of the fighting are becoming obvious, and the future is not promising.

The war between Russia and Ukraine is aggravating supply and demand tensions, damaging consumer sentiment, and threatening global economic growth against a turbulent backdrop of global inflationary pressures due to rising food and energy prices and disrupted supply chains following the pandemic.

The invasion will further disrupt global markets, have short term negative effects on the global food supply, and have long-term consequences for producers as they start a new planting season by affecting natural gas and fertilizer markets. This might exacerbate alreadyhigh food price inflation, posing a major threat to low-income net food importers, many of which have suffered an increase in malnutrition rates in recent years

due to pandemic disruptions.

Ukraine exports 18% of the world’s sunflower seed, saf-flower, and cottonseed oil, as well as 13% of corn, 12% of global barley, and 8% of wheat and meslin.

In terms of absolute figures, corn is Ukraine’s largest export market, bringing in a massive $4.77 billion per year. The Russian Federation was also the world’s top exporter of nitrogen fertilizers and the second largest supplier of potassium fertilizers.

The Philippines has already suffered the effects of rising costs throughout the conflict, especially after inflation reached a six-month high of 4% in March. Fuel import costs are expected to rise in the coming years as global oil prices remain high.

“The convergence of all the global challenges like increasing petroleum prices, distortion of the

global supply chain, increase in shipping costs, increase of prices of agricultural inputs like fertilizers, feeds and now the Ukraine crisis will definitely lead to global food price spike leading to higher food inflation,” Agriculture Secretary William Dar wrote in Viber.

Dar emphasized the importance of increasing agricultural productivity, which will result in increased local food production. At the start of the pandemic, the DA launched the Plant, Plant, Plant program, which aims to boost national agri-fishery output by increasing productivity across all commodities through increased use of quality seeds, appropriate inputs, and modern technologies, ensuring food productivity, availability, accessibility, and affordability amid the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Borrowing from overseas can help countries grow faster by financing productive investments while also mitigating the impact of economic upheavals. However, if a country or government accumulates debt beyond its ability to service, a debt crisis can develop, potentially resulting in significant economic and social losses.

However, the country’s economy should not remain stagnant. If everything has a way, as well as solving the economic problem. If the government is willing to find a process, will economic inflation increase?

Russie-Ukraine War Effect on PH Economy’s Deflation and Inflation Rate

Presidential candidates are preparing growth plans and will freely engage in horticulture and farming activities if elected. These candidates would have to undertake a lot of campaigning to persuade voters that they are the best person for what could be the most difficult job in the country.

Christopher “Bong” Go promised to give “recovery bundles” for MSMEs and the agricultural sector, as well as monetary assistance and zerointerest credit loans to 10 million disadvantaged families. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson also committed to support infrastructure expenditure, but only if “realistic targets” are defined and a “climate-resilient” base is built.

If Vice President Leni Robredo is elected president next year, the agriculture department’s budget will be increased from around 2% to 4% of the entire national budget during a six-year period.

Bongbong Marcos believes that a national agriculture strategy is needed to ensure food security. Manny Pacquiao’s first 100 days as President will be focused on economic recovery: support and raise employment, improve and develop medical care services.

The dust has not completely settled on the election, but everything starts at the top. We can restore the government from this fragile democracy if we choose the right people who are not just strong leaders, but leaders who possess the qualities of wise leadership that will help the country to eliminate graft and corruption, uplift the poor, and see what we can do for our marginalized sector in our society.

The dust has not completely settled on the election, but everything starts at the top.

Stronger Connectivity

SMART and MOGCHS improves InterConnection

by Marielle Jane Lagahit

Smart Communications’ ability to cope releases inventions that show its great alteration of this new norm. From connecting people in the cities to connecting people in their homes.

Internet connections are now used to share information and collaborate on projects. New inventions and new ways to continue the flow of life in the present.

As the successful signing of an agreement between MOGCHS and SMART Communication started, it has been assured that they will be providing the school with SMART Wifi, which will cover the entire school and will provide a more effective online learning experience. It is still with this set-up that the teachers will mostly be the major beneficiaries of the Wi-fi around the campus. The other supported and a newly developed way to let everyone join and experience faster communication is the SMART Infocast.

From the perspective of SMART Communications Development Officer, Joshua Dael, “With the use of SMART Infocast, it will serve as a text messaging broadcast system, which can be used as an official means of communication between teachers and students at the school.”

It was further stated that everyone’s interaction will become faster and more convenient, as teachers can now go directly to give their advisories and announcements in the app, and all members of the group will be notified immediately.

This agreement has assured the school that they will experience better connection and internet access for their teachers and students. SMART Com. is willing to provide and build faster and easier internet access, and will be working on a much stronger relationship, not only between SMART and the school principal and staff but primarily with the students, to address their concerns in connection to how education currently flows.

“This marks the beginning of a fruitful fellowship and exciting activities and programs.” Mr. Dael stated. SMART is ready to undertake activities for a more stable relationship and to expand its organizational goals.

SMART Communications will continue its innovative ideas as time changes and will opt to make greater and brighter ways that will help the lives of many. MOGCHS can now expect improvement in its internet access around the campus.would take legal action if the “No Vaccine No Entry” policy was implemented, the policy was still implemented.

Thrive in Turbulent Times

Apportunities

by Fritzi Mae Gapuz

To survive challenging business conditions, ‘treps need two things: adaptability and flexibility.

As much as we would like to put COVID behind us, things are still unpredictable and businesses will need to continue to be agile. With back-to-back lockdowns persistently approaching, entrepreneurs need all the assistance they can get with modernizing their current services and further developing approaches to reach new customers through online and digital apps.

In just a few years, we’ve changed from deskbound to palm-fixed as we turn to devices in the form of mobile phones but with the smarts of fullblown computers. The popularity of smartphones has also given way to the creation of applications, or simply apps, a familiar ubiquitous word in the global lexicon.

Being an entrepreneur you need to wear many hats: bookkeeping, deals, staff planning, or HR, so discovering great business applications to assist with making life somewhat simpler may be exactly what you need.

“Businesses and consumers that we’re able to ‘go digital’ have helped mitigate the economic downturn caused by the pandemic,” UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Isabelle Durant said.

The trend toward e-commerce is likely to continue throughout the recovery from COVID-19. However, some countries’ customers and organizations haven’t profited from pandemicinduced online business opportunities because of obstructions. These include expensive broadband

Cheaters go Techy

Amid the pandemic shift to remote schools, the rise of cheating is forcing The Department of Education (DepEd) to adapt to the unintended punishment or consequence of students learning from the comfort of their homes.

Online learning is simply not as good as being in the classroom and neither is taking tests online. Even before the pandemic, cheating has always been a challenge to the education system. In a twist from sneaking across a classroom aisle at a classmate’s paper, kids are now messaging and texting each other to get answers.

There’s been a rise in cheating and academic dishonesty as students engage with learning online.

Filipino students were using a Facebook group to share notes and answers to tests with one another during blended learning. “This is alarming. It is not helping that instead of the children putting in their efforts to learn, they just copy from each other,” Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said. The

services, overreliance on cash, lack of customers’ trust, poor digital abilities among the population, and the government’s limited attention to online business.

Two critical stages that stood apart for this sector in the Philippines were Shopee, with around 54.6 million web guests, and Lazada with around 38.3 million month-to-month guests, individually. Physical stores were temporarily shut down due to lockdowns and so as new trends emerge, Filipinos highly consider convenience, live selling, and shopping online—shifting to online platforms for their daily needs including food delivery, groceries, and even financial transactions.

We are hooked on browsing and shopping for goods and services and are described as adventurous shoppers, with 80 percent interested in trying new and different ways of shopping.

We’re all doing our best to learn how to cope and change our game plan to accept this current new norm. When it comes to business, it’s obviously pretty hard. Everything needs to be re-evaluated. To stay relevant and keep some semblance of income coming in, we have to think of ways to move our businesses online.

Business owners who have the ability to recognize the opportunity or necessity of change are quick to pick up and adapt to external factors. This was something that the Filipino ‘treps had to learn the hard way.

by Fritzi Mae Gapuz

“Online Kopyahan” community at one point numbered more than 600,000 members, but after a local TV report aired on Friday, half of the members left the now archived group.

There is still no information if DepEd had addressed the issue to Facebook. However, many are jumping to the conclusion that DepEd allegedly reported it, due to a server error experience including all social networks.

Homework-help sites and apps make it a lot easier to cheat. Kids can crack even complex math equations just by uploading a photo of the problem.

While multiple of these same lecture assistants can also instruct kids how to work out challenges on their own, the temptation to take the quick road is always there.

By focusing too much on how students cheat, a study from the American Psychological Association says we may be

MOGCHS STE conducts rainfall warner research

by Eleah Jaizel Cabili

ignoring some underlying core issues that are driving the behavior. There could be pressure or something significant going on in the student’s life in which they’re not getting enough support to do the work, so cheating becomes a coping mechanism.

As we were shoved into a lot of responsibilities and stress, online learning has become more of a compliance issue for students. Regardless, we failed to understand the real value of education. To learn and adapt one step at a time. But now, we just simply comply and finish the tasks.

Fueling stress has corrupted learning by narrowing and defining achievement as little more than scoring well on an exam. Because they are sitting alone in the privacy of their own home, students can switch between onscreen windows to look up test answers while they are taking online tests.

DepEd has set new measures not necessarily developed to prevent cheating but alternative ways of measuring and assessing the progress of learners. The authorities have taken the lead to prevent academic dishonesty amid the pandemic.

Even if we flip the world upside-down, it’s no rocket science that cheating is a disguised choice. May it be a result of a personal issue or just general laziness, it is still wrong and should never be used under any circumstances.

Students from the Special Program in Science and Technology (STE) at Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS) have developed a research paper titled “Innovate Battery Operated, Light-Emitting Water Level Alarm.” It aims to assist the community and improve the standard of living, particularly during these rainy days.

Flooding is the most common natural disaster in the world and recent events in Cagayan de Oro City. According to Twingkle Martinez, the research leader, they came up with the idea for this study while talking about current events. They were about to choose a topic related to COVID-19 that could help people because of the pandemic, yet they believe their knowledge is insufficient to create it. They did, however, consider the monsoon.

In some cases, the phrase is also used to denote locally heavy but brief rainfall. It is commonly used to refer to rainfall without mentioning the winds. Although technically, there is also a dry phase, the term monsoon is usually used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally shifting pattern. The monsoon is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when the mean surface wind changes direction from summer to winter.

According to Twingkle Martinez, the research leader, they came up with the idea for this study while talking about current events. In some cases, the phrase is also used to denote locally heavy but brief rainfall. It is commonly used to refer to rainfall without mentioning the winds. The monsoon is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs when the mean surface wind changes direction from summer to winter. If the color is yellow, you should be closely monitored and keep an eye out for typhoon updates.

The three-water signal downpour, according to her, will also alert three times and illuminate light.

The project is made out of recyclable materials, it is economical but effective. However, they will employ inexpensive and low-cost components, resulting in a product that is merely restricted in terms of alarming. It will only cover a small number of individuals.

In agriculture, the proposed irrigation technique saves water by automating the process. Rainfall is an important natural occurrence for agricultural activities to meet their water needs. However, we have no way of knowing when pessimism will strike. Nobody knows when, how, or why.

Rainfall is becoming our greatest nightmare as we journey back in time, as we saw Typhoon Sendong in 2011. Indeed, with Martinez’ project we will never see 51,757 homes be washed again by flooding.

Sticky notes. Water bottle trick. The slick trick on sunglasses. Age-old cheating is out, Online Kopyahan is in!

Eumir Marcial takes fourth SEA Games Gold

by Rayu Tuanda

Eumir Marcial made his way to victory after handily beating Delio Anzaqeci Mouzinho of Timor Leste in the men’s middle-weight final at Bac Ninh Gymnasium in Vietnam on May 22, Sunday. Marcial gained his gold medal after his first-round stoppage win as he claimed his fourth straight SEA Games gold and third consecutive middle-weight.

Marcial landed a jab punch on his opponent in the first round as Mouzinho defended himself followed by more punches from Marcial scoring his two standing eight counts before the referee called off the lopsided bout.

Following that, Ladon claimed his flyweight gold after winning over Van Thao Tran of Vietnam, while Bautista punched his way to victory after beating Naing Latt of Myanmar on May 22, Sunday in the bantamweight final. Irish Magno claimed her silver medal in the women’s 48-51kg after defeating Indonesian Novita Sindia on May 20, Friday.

At seven years old, Eumir Marcial learned how to land his first punch. His first coach was his father, Eulalio and as he improved his skills, he also joined in competitions in annual fiestas where local politicians organized amateur boxing. With every win, Marcial received 300 pesos.

Lando Norris misses maiden F1 win

by Joshua Louise Solon

After a disappointing result and retirement with Max Verstappen at the previous race in Italy, Lewis Hamilton kept form and snatched his 100th Formula 1 victory in the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix held in Sochi, on September 26, 2021.

McLaren driver, Lando Norris was set for his maiden F1 victory as he took pole position on Saturday taking advantage of Hamilton’s pitlane incident and led the majority of the race until the final laps of the Grand Prix where rain was becoming an apparent problem as Norris sticks with white-walled medium slicks instead of opting for the greenwalled intermediate tires suited for the wet conditions.

The first signs of rain was on lap 45, where Mercedes were reporting incoming weather towards the racetrack and advised Hamilton with a risk of rain.

On lap 48, McLaren advised Norris that the weather will remain constant towards the end of the race, As rain intensified throughout the last laps of the race, it was harder and harder for all drivers to maintain the slick tires as they struggled to keep their cars under control as evident with Norris going off track in Turn 10 on the same lap.

Struggling to close distance with Norris, Hamilton

follows Verstappen to pit for intermediates in lap 50. Norris stays with his medium tires as he struggles to control his car through the pouring wet track of Sochi. Hamilton catches up to Norris on lap. The McLaren driver aquaplaned at Turn 5, allowing Hamilton who was less than a second behind to take the lead and win the race. Norris finally entered the pits on the final laps of the race for intermediate tires but aquaplaned on the pit entry and crossed the white line that separates the pit lane from the track for which he was penalized.

Norris finished the race in seventh place with his teammate Ricciardo finishing fourth, Carlos Sainz finishing in third, Verstappen taking second from P20 on the grid, and Hamilton winning the race to be the first driver in Formula 1 history to achieve 100 wins.

Hamilton took over the championship lead after winning the race and having a total of 246.5 points, closing the gap with Verstappen by just two points.

During the post-race interview

Lando Norris was unhappy with his result suggesting he should have opted to change to intermediate tires if he had been more information from the team.

“Lahat ng iyon binibigay ko sa mga magulang ko.

Pambili nila ‘un ng bigas tapos makikita ko pagbili nila ng bigas, may kasamang gatas. ‘Yun pala, para sakin iyon para ma-kondisyon habang nage-ensayo, (I have given everything. Just so they can buy rice and milk as well. For me, that conditioned me while practicing),” Marcial said, while recounting his past during an interview with ONE Sports.

Eumir Marcial dedicated himself to spending his time training and developing his skills in boxing to enable him to achieve his dreams, as he continued competing in amateur boxing tournaments at annual fiestas. No matter how big his opponent was, Marcial managed to defeat his opponent.

Although his past experiences in boxing and his hard work made him who he is now. Marcial shows no plans of stopping his boxing career as he focuses on larger prizes and medals.

Thailand’s Supreme Chonburi tramples

Philippines’ Rebisco

PH SEAG BID GOLD SILVER BRONZE

46 66 95

The game started with an out for the Rebisco team. The Young Rebisco players’ errors made Supreme Chonburi take lead. Supreme used the opportunity and began their onslaught to dominate the first set. After the devastating loss in the first set, Rebisco gained some traction in the second set after Kianna Day, the opposite hitter of Rebisco kept the team within a point, 14-15.

Despite being cleared in the quarantine, health and safety protocol Skipper Aby Maraño, Dindin Santiago-Manabat, Eya Laure, and Ivy Lacsina, the Philippine’s Brazilian coach Jorge Souza de Brito, only fielded Ivy Lacsina and kept the rotation but their participation meant little to the veteran Supreme Chonburi players who are third time champions in the Thailand League, as they hauled the two sets

The Rebisco team suffered back-to-back straight defeats in the two sets, regained their morale at the start of the third set with Faith Nisperos and Dindin Santiago-Manabat hitting a score for a 5-1 lead forcing the Supreme Chonburi for a time out. The Supreme Chonburi Thai’s manage to follow up with a 8-7

lead with the 37-years old, multiple Southeast Asian Games Gold medalist, Pleumjit Thinkaow as reinforcement. The Filipino’s didn’t falter and continued their offensive attack.

The Thai fought back after Thinkaow’s game-winning attacks led them to a 12-8 lead. However, the Filipino, Majoy Baron kept Supreme Chonburi at bay with a quick spike, 16-13.But, wing spiker Wipawee Srithong joined Pleumjit on her onslaught in the ongoing game and widened the gap to 22-13. Then the middle blocker, Pleumjit Thinkaow attacked with a hit, breaking the wall block from Rebisco’s Lacsina, putting the Supreme Chonburi at match point, 24-15. With a last spike, Chonburi reigns supreme in the tournament.

The Filipino outing performed with consecutive straight losses in their matches and froze at the bottom of Pool B. Whilst, Supreme Chonburi, shoots up to the top of the standings with their second win. Philippines’ Rebisco who has yet to win in Pool B hopes to claim the win against Sepran Tehran in the preliminaries on October 6 to keep their place.

Yeah, tough one, but on the positive side I guess I got of couple points and Daniel did a good job as well so for the team it was still a decent day.”

“

LANDO NORRIS. McLaren Driver

Supreme Chonburi of Thailand dominated the Rebisco of the Philippines with a, 2511, 25-16, 25-16 final score, marking their second victory at the 21st Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the winners homeground at Terminal 21 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand on Saturday, October 2.

by Anilynn Pangca

Pacman Retires Gloves; Boxing Arena

by Rayu Tuanda

SQUARING HEAD TO HEAD

Manny Pacquiao is retiring from his boxing career after losing to Yordenis Ugas. According to his 14-minute video where he is delivering a message to his fans,supporters and family. He posted it on his official facebook verified account on September 29th.

Manny “Pacman”

Pacquiao has officially announced his retirement from boxing at the age of 42 years old,the eight-division world champion said in his retirement speech a 14 minute video posted on his verified Facebook account on September 29th. Pacquiao has stated that he is retiring from boxing to focus on his political career.

Manny has been a big inspiration in the Philippines . He fought a lot of battles in the ring. He is an eight-division world champion and now is retiring and now running for presidency.

In his own words, he wants to help poor people who are suffering from poverty.

Yordenis Ugas, an Olympic weightlifter, defeated Manny Pacquiao with scores of 115-113, 116-112. Ugas outlanted Pacquiao with a margin of 101 to 88. That leaves Pacquiao with a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts.

Manchester City vs Liverpool 2-2; Liverpool moves up in standings

As Pacquiao delivered his inspirational speech in front of the crowd. He speaks of all his experiences and sacrifices in a Youtube video as he announces his run for president. It was posted on the verified account of Fight Hub Tv on September 20, 2021. “I am a fighter and will always be a fighter inside and outside the ring.” Pacman said.

The legendary Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao was named fighter of the decade in 2000’s. After defeating Keith Thurman, he became the oldest weightlifting champion at the age of 40. In the proceeding years, he had won several world titles that would elevate him to the ranks of one of the best professional boxers of all time.

Senator Manny Pacquiao, the former eight-division world champion, will run for the 2021 Presidential elections.

by Rayu Tuanda

Manchester City and Liverpool draw in one of the most anticipated battles throughout the season, ending with a 2-2 scoreline at Liverpool’s home stadium in Anfield on October 4, 2021.

Manchester City held a dominant advantage during the first half of the game as Foden made life difficult for Liverpool on the left side of the pitch. Liverpool seems to be out of shape and has difficulties trying to keep the ball from City’s hands as they play methodically. Unlike their aggressive performance against Chelsea last week, City takes a backseat and plays defensive against Liverpool for the majority of the first half of the match. Liverpool keeper, Allison Becker, makes a great save against the fighting Foden during the ‘21 minute mark. City takes another shot courtesy of De Bruyne a few minutes later but was cut off from the goal due to the tight corner. Liverpool seems to be increasingly frustrated as Henderson chews off the assistant referee.

Sam Catantan nabs first PH fencing gold

by Joshua Louise Solon

Samantha Catantan wins gold after a victory against Singapore’s Maxine Jie Xin Wong and won the first gold for Philippine fencing with a 14-12 victory in the 31st Southeast Asian Games on May 14, 2022, in Hanoi, Vietnam.

AUS Denies Djokovic Vax Exemption

by Mat Joseph Dy

On January 5, 2022, the Australian government cancelled Tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa as he flew to Australia unvaccinated for COVID-19, which might cause risk to the community.

Djokovic announced on January 4th that he had been granted an exemption to compete in Australia. Which had drawn an immediate rebuke from Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison. He said earlier on Wednesday that Djokovic will have to prove on his arrival why he deserves an exemption from vaccination or he will be “on the next plane home”.

Novak Djokovic travelled from Dubai to Australia to compete in the Australian Open singles championship. On Thursday, he was told that he needs to leave the country after being held for 10 hours by the Australian government at a Melbourne airport.

City keeps their momentum in the ‘34 minute mark as De Bruyne tries to score a goal again but misses. As halftime approaches, City looks like they have the momentum advantage but Liverpool’s keeper, Allison Becker, keeps the match scoreline even in the first half of the game.

Liverpool seems to have gotten traction following the difficult first half. With Liverpool gaining momentum, Jota plays a long pass to Salah and approaches Cancelo at the bottom right edge but gets cut off by Cancelo. Liverpool picks up the pace as Salah gets possession of the ball at the ‘59-minute mark and passes the ball to Sadio Mane pushing deep into City’s defense, Enderson tries to push forward to catch the ball but Mane kicks late and scores 1-0 for Liverpool.

Even though Catantan experienced a hand cramp in the middle of the fight, she managed to win and delivered the Philippine fencing team’s first-ever gold.

The Filipino fencer settled for bronze in the 2019 biennial regional meet and had a smooth 15-4 win over Thailand’s Chayabutphat Shinnakerdchoke in the semifinal.

Wong defeated her compatriot Kemei Cheung, 15-10, in their all-Singaporean semis duel which led to Catantan settling for silver. Meanwhile, Noelito Jose Jr. settled for silver after losing to Vietnam’s Nhat Nguyen Tien, 15-11, in the final of the men’s individual epee.

With Manchester City missing their chances in the first half, Liverpool strikes back in the second half. City’s Rodri fouls Robertson and Liverpool gets a free kick to be acted on by Salah but takes deflection a few yards wide off post. As City loses control of the second half, Foden decides to take matters into his own hands thanks to Jesus’ pass from the center-right of the field and scores a goal for City at the ‘69 minute mark. Equalizing the scoreline at 1-1. Liverpool retaliates with Salah scoring another goal at ‘72, making the score 2-1 in favor of the home heroes, Liverpool. At the ‘81 minute mark, City takes possession of the ball with Foden receiving a wide pass into the Liverpool defense, Foden passes to Walker passing to De Bruyne who scored a magnificent goal for City down the middle, equalizing the

Jose was the only one defeated in the contest after he beat I Jie Koh of Malaysia, 15-5, in the semifinal and beat Jian Tong Si To, 15-12 in the elimination.

He also beat Thai Nattiphong Singkam and Vietnamese Den Nguyen Phuoc with a pair of 5-1 wins in the preliminaries. Regardless, his compatriot, Jian Miguel Bautista failed to advance in the Men’s epee medal match.

Maxine Esteban, a Filipino fencer, was also washed out in the elimination round of the women’s foil after being dominated by Cheung, 10-15.

After settling for bronze in 2019, Catantan aimed for a great comeback.

score to a 2-2. Liverpool tries to find the win as Fabinho tries scoring deep into City’s side but gets denied by Rodri’s ‘tackle of the century’. The match ends with a 2-2 draw.

“It’s one of the most difficult grounds to play at and I thought we dealt with it well today,” said Foden in a post-match interview. Foden has scored more goals against Liverpool than any other club during his stint at Manchester City.

Chelsea leads the Premier League championships with Liverpool and Manchester City falling just behind. Liverpool’s Manager Klopp expressed disappointment in his team’s first-half display.

“We were too passive with and without the ball and played right into City’s hands. That was the worst half we have played against them,” he said.

Expecting to capture a win in the following year. As for Catantan, she once competed against Wong but never got the chance to win and this is her first time defeating Wong.

“Naiiyak na talaga ako habang game, kasi gustong gustong sumuko ‘yung kamay ko pero syempre, mentally, nandoon na ako kailangan ko talagang ilaban para makuha ko ‘yung gold medal. (I’m about to cry during the game, because my hand wanted to give up but of course, mentally, I was there and I really had to fight to get the gold medal.)” Catantan commented after getting cramped during the game.

“Hindi ko naman iniisip na manalo talaga para sa sarili ko ‘e, gusto ko talagang makaambag ng gold medal para sa Philippines and syempre para maiangat ‘yung pangalan ng fencing sa buong Pilipinas. (I don’t really think of winning for myself, I really want to contribute a gold medal for the Philippines and of course to raise the name of fencing throughout the Philippines.)” Catantan said.

Currently, the Philippines have a total of 40 gold medals, 57 silver medals, and 76 bronze medals.

The tennis star was held overnight because of his visa and questions about his evidence supporting his medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine. Djokovic’s exemption should supposedly have allowed him to compete in the Australian Open unvaccinated. But the Australian government questioned why he deserves to be exempted.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison is equally determined saying that the country is strict in Coronavirus protocols without favor.

Djokovic did not leave the country, meanwhile, his team filed a legal challenge to the ruling on Thursday. Djokovic is allowed to remain in Australia until January 10 as his lawyers are looking forward to a hearing.

Thank you to the people around the world for your continuous support. I can feel it and it is greatly appreciated,” said Djokovic in his Instagram story, breaking his silence and thanking his supporters on January 7, 2022. After the country’s Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews says that Djokovic is “free to leave any time” and he is not being detained.

The Serbian world number one is most likely to win the 10th Australian Open that would have him 21 major titles. Breaking Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s tie for the most majors ever in men’s tennis, but it became a situation that might throw the tournament’s field into question before the play starts on January 17.

art by Kent John Eduave

I am thankful to my fans, my family, and to the people who always believe in me and always support me. Thank you. It is difficult to accept that my time as a boxer is over. I’m announcing my retirement. Goodbye, boxing.

Pacers lose pace over Phoenix

by Princess Elisha Caibigan Phoenix

Suns beat the Indiana Pacers with a 113-103 victory on January 22, 2022, at Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona.

The Suns started the unconcerned, taking a 10-4 early lead but became careless, letting the Pacers have open shots. The Suns took the early game easily, while the Pacers quickly grabbed the chance to be in the lead and took a 20-18 scoreline.

Despite being a little behind in the early game, the Pacers still managed to end the first quarter in the lead, 25-24. Chris Paul returned to start the second quarter and brought the Suns back on the lead with the scoreline being 43-35.

Paul plays aggressively and scored 14 points with 9 assists, 2 rebounds and a steal. Mikal Bridges also plays aggressive and contributes to the Suns with 13 points. The Suns began to catch up with a 59-54 scoreline in halftime.

Phoenix point guard, Cam Payne, is out in the remaining second half after getting his wrist injured. Putting Sun’s Elfrid Payton on the game for the second half. Bridges put the Suns up with a 75-61 score, halfway through the third quarter.

The Suns led by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, 92-74, with a huge advantage in the fourth quarter. The Sun’s Jae Crowder left early in the third quarter with a left wrist injury. The Suns finished the game with a 113-103 scoreline and beat the Pacers. The Pacers were not able to duplicate the effort they gave on January 20 in their battle with Golden State.

“I liked our start to the game. We weren’t perfect but we were doing a lot of good things, we were grinding even though we turned it over a little bit and had some off-kilter possessions. What came out of the first with a one-point lead which was a positive and then the second and third were tough, we just didn’t play particularly well, they really picked it up. Third quarter got us back on our heels but I was really encouraged by our fourth quarter, you know Phoenix is a great fourth quarter team so to win that, win the fourth by eight is a positive force but in the end there were too many turnovers and we had some miscommunications on defense which were very costly,” Pacer’s coach, Rick Carlisle, stated in a post-game interview.

Bridges scored 23 points and Bismack Biyombo had 21 points with 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks for the Suns. Paul added 18 points, 16 assists and 4 steals. JaVale McGee had 13 points with 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Devin Booker contributed 11 points.

Indiana’s Chris Duarte and Lance Stephenson each had 17 points. Goga Bitadze scored 16 points with 11 rebounds and Jeremy Lamb had 14 points for the Pacers.

MOGCHS Smacker’s smash ICBC at Llarch Playback

by Joshua Louise Solon

The Cagayan based team performed strongly against ICBC following an advantage they held for their third game as the Iligan City players were unable to capture the win.

“Happy rin kasi nagkaroon kami ng tournament in preparation for the nationals”.

Yung preparation kasi namin since lockdown, ang dami ring hindrance for us to train. Pero at least nag-train ako ng maayos and I think prepared naman ako for this tournament, said Garcia.

MOGCHS Smackers slams

ICBC (Iligan City Badminton Club) in the Women’s Open League Doubles at C-ONE Badminton Courts, Iligan City on May 27, 2022.

The MOGCHS duo dominated Quinly Mar Omanglad, one of the top badminton players in Iligan and her partner Glory Anne Bermudez scoring, 16-14, 15-11 and ending the game with a Smacker’s victory.

MERALCO BOLTS DRAG DOWN IN FIERCE FIGHT

Hotshots take Game One over Meralco Bolts

perform well most of the game and chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Paul Lee added 17 points, including three three-pointers. Jio Jalalon and Mark Barroca gave the Hotshots 12 and 11 points.

Calvin Abueva made several offensive fouls in the fourth quarter which caused him to be temporarily out of the game. However, Abueva produced 13 points for Magnolia, as well as seven assists and two steals.

Bong Quinto stepped up to give Meralco 14 points and 10 assists, while Mac Belo and Anjo Caram

contributed 11 points each. Reynel Hugnatan added 10 while Chris Newsome contributed just eight points after spraining his ankle in the third quarter. The match became more aggressive in the fourth quarter. Cliff Hodge hit a free throw, which gained a 75-72 lead. Abueva slammed off a steal from Meralco guard Caram with just two minutes left in the ballgame. Meralco coach Norman Black called for a technical foul, which led to Barroca having another free throw which resulted in an 83-72 lead with just two minutes remaining. Meralco slowly widened the gap

against Magnolia in the later parts of the game with an 83-72.

Late in the fourth quarter, Meralco center, Raymond Almazan and hotshot coach Chito Victolero struggled with technical fouls due to taunting. Magnolia closed the fourth quarter with 27 points and Meralco with 15 points, 88-79 lead.

“Naging positive lang ako sa nangyari sa loob and then I always talk to my teammates na kahit wala si Calvin, syempre kailangan naming Manalo sa Game One. Lagi lang kaming nagusap-usap sa loob during timeouts or during

PH athletes bag medals in world classic

Jane Erasmo who took part in her first international competition, also won several medals, including four bronze in the sub-junior Women’s 47 kg category, and for the men’s division, Agustin Lorenzo managed to achieve a silver medal in the men’s 74kg subjunior Division of the World Classic Powerlifting Championships.

Veronica won the gold overall in the competition. This was the two-time world breaker in her subjunior years, After that,

“For my family. They are the reason why I am here and to the coach I gave motivation and to the other helped, Ompod said.

The three representatives accomplished their contest today and this is not the end of the three as they strive to triumph and represent their country, the Philippines. Jane and Veronica had a difficult time in the competition after they arrived which deprived them of proper rest but they gave their best to participate in the competition and win.

The association said “Circumstances made it difficult to arrange to arrive earlier but the two young lifters still managed to put up a good performance.”

The three Filipino powerlifters have won a total of nine medals while representing the Philippines in the international powerlifting stage. They managed to collect medals despite their limited sleep prior to the competition.

“I think about what prioritize, studies or training. After all, my parents are old financially,” said Ompod. She is the one representatives of the Powerlifting World Classic to win a gold medal and Veronica was so happy and didn’t expect to get gold in the competition.

by Princess Elisha Caibigan

out-of-bounds ‘yung bola, so ‘yun sabi ko lang maging positive lang kami, mananalo kami dito, at ‘yun nagawa namin,” Sangalang stated after the match. Despite having hounded by Meralco defense, Hotshots still ended the match with a win.

“Sabi nga ni coach Chito na semis na’to so madami talagang emotions, kaya kami nanalo sa game na’to kasi na handle namin ang emotion na’yon, once na handle na namin ‘yun wala kaming iniisip, laro lang kami and sila coach na bahala sa sidelines, mananalo kami,” Sangalang added.

by John Jefferson Uy

Happy rin kasi nagkaroon kami ng tournament in preparation for the nationals.

The Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok took an 88-79 Game One win over Meralco Bolts on October 3, in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup Semifinals, at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.

The Three Powerlifters Representative of the Philippines in Word Classic, Veronica Ompod put in a good performance and led the Philippines with four gold medals when all the competitors of the event failed to gain weight of the 43kg Division in Halmstad, Sweden.

QUINLY MAR OMANGLAD.

Christian Soriano, Rikki Ann Tionson are the silver medalists while Paula Gwynzelle Labadan, Jonathan Kyle Pascua, Hanna Mission, Genesis Into are the bronze medalists. Rohanna Faith Solomon 9th rank, Steven John Bajado 6th rank, Jojane Claire Naguita 8th rank. Managed to bag two silver and four bronze medals.

It was their first event after a long break and with less than a month to prepare. Despite the fact that they were only given a short notice of the event. In an interview, their trainer, James Brian Banaag, stated that he is confident that their team will be able to do a great routine for the event

because the majority of the athletes have been active since 2017.

Poomsae has various forms in Taekwondo.

Poomsae is a series of offensive and defensive movements practiced against an imaginary opponent. Brown belt Christian Soriano, one of the silver medalists, performed Taeguk 7 scored 6.567

Christian Soriano started off with a snappy right-hand blade, left side waist, and tiger stance left side. Then a front kick, left middle block, right side waist in a tiger stance left side. Sealing off his performance with right fist punch, left fist on the left side waist, riding stance. While Paula

WINNING DESPITE CIRCUMSTANCES

Gwynzelle Labadan Red belt, bronze medalist, performed the Taeguk 5 and scored 6.333 begin with a left foot front stance, left fist low block, right fist on the right-side waist then a quick left foot L stance, left fist hammer face attack, right fist on the right-side waist. Finished off with a right front kick, left fist on the left side, right back fist attacks mouth, right cross stance.

Christian Soriano, commented on his performance after his attempt saying “Slightly nervous since I didn’t have proper training and I felt that my performance was not enough”.

“It’s simple; after my class, I eat, then take a bath,

How MOGCHS TKD rise above the pandemic

By Rayu G. Tuanda

then head to MOGCHS for training; after 3 to 4 hours of training, our training ends, and I’ll go home and do my school activity.”

Red belt Paula Gwynzelle Labadan, one of the bronze medalists, acknowledged her performance in the event saying, “should be beautiful and unique”

Some of the athletes nearly thought not to participate in this event.

Paula Gwynzelle Labadan said that the reason she almost did not participate was absence of money, school works, household chores.

Trainer James Brian Banaag was overwhelmed when he saw the results and was motivated to continue

The Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School Taekwondo Cavaliers brought honor to the by bringing home 6 medals, in the Online National Poomsae Championship, held from 24th-25th of April this year via online broadcast through the PTA YouTube channel.

The team, composed of 20 players, three seniors, 13 juniors, and four grade school students, battled in the Seniors and Juniors Category. Performing Taeguk 5 and 6 for the red belters, and Taeguk 7 and 8, for the brown belters. They managed to seize two silver and four bronze in the competition.

Both Christian Soriano and Rikki Ann Tiongson secured silver medals, while Genesis Into, Hanna Mission, Jonathan Kyle Pascua and Paula Gwyenzelle Labadan captured bronze medals each.

Being in the midst of the pandemic brought more challenges to the team, especially in following the government’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols, such as physical distancing and restriction of persons ages 21 below to go outside their homes. This cost

the team valuable time in practice as their trainer had to go house by house to monitor them practicing their routines and train for the competition.

These medals were won through their hard work and training for the said competition, “We only had a month to prepare for the event, so I decided to have at least sessions 3 times a week in the morning and afternoon,” said James Brian Banaag, trainer of the MOGCHS TKD Cavaliers.

But these obstacles only made the team eager to prove that even a pandemic cannot impede them from winning. To prove this more further, last month – September 18 and 19, the team made their way to the Global Poomsae Championship. With 11 players for the event, they managed to snatch one silver and one bronze against

other countries. While the rest of the team achieved 5th and 8th place in their respective categories.

“I was overwhelmed by the results, I was not expecting that we would win on some of the categories.” Banaag stated. Despite the short time to practice and prepare for the event, their efforts were not in vain as they bring pride and honor not only to the school but to the rest of Misamis Oriental.

“Yes, it is really an honor for us in bringing the name of our school MOGCHS in a national and Global Event.” Brian proudly stated. Like a Cavalier serving and protecting its kingdom, MOGCHS Taekwondo Cavaliers made us proud with their triumphal combat in the National and Global Poomsae Championships.”

participating in upcoming online events with the plans on competing in an international poomsae event later this year.

Banaag is confident that further training will lead to better results in future events with an aim to achieve gold. Banaag expects the school’s brown belters and black belters to win the much desired gold medal. “We may be performing the same routine at every event,” “it’s not easy to deliver each routine with power balance and accuracy; we have to practice it over and over,” said Banaag.

CHRISTIAN SORIANO

Senate supports bigger budget hike for PSC

By Joshua Louise Solon

Along with the outcomes of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, a number of senators have expressed support for increasing the budget of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in order to achieve better outcomes at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Senator Joel Villanueva issued a hearing by the Committee of Finance that discussed and covered the allocated budget of several government agencies, including the PSC noting that they will pay special attention and provide the required assistance to fund the Philippines’ sports endeavors overseas.

“We have witnessed that the budget that was allocated for our athletes bore fruit. For the first time ever, we won a gold medal in the Olympics with two silver medals and a bronze,’’, Senate Committee on Sports Chair Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, said.

The PSC has requested an additional Php1.5 billion from the original Php 211 million allocated budget for next year to finance several athletic sports events for the 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, the Beijing Winter Olympics, World Games in the United States, 2023 Phnom Penh SEA Games, and the Hanoi 2022 SEA Games, in which Sens. Migz Zubiri, Pia Cayetano, and Francis Tolentino proposed to approve the budget request for plenary presentation.

PSC Chairman William Ramirez has expressed thanks to the senators who were in support of increasing the 2022 PSC budget and their role in recognizing the key roles PSC played in the success of the Philippine outing during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS) Taekwondo Cavaliers Athletes, Christian Soriano, Rikki Ann Tiangson, Paula Gwynzelle Labadan, Jonathan Kyle Pascua, Genesis Into, Hannah Mission, Rohanna Faith Solomon, Steven John Bajado, Jojane Claire Naguita, participated in the 2021 Smart/MVP Sports Foundation Online Poomsae Championships last May 2021. Via online through Facebook and Youtube.

It’s simple; after my class, I eat, then take a bath, then head to MOGCHS for training; after 3 to 4 hours of training, our training ends, and I’ll go home and do my school activity.