‘No Excuses for Making ThemSuffer’: #SaveRalph Campaign Calls to Ban Animal Testing in Cosmetics

#SaveRalph Campaign Calls to Ban Animal Testing in Cosmetics

CHARLES KRYXIAN LARA

COSMETICS EUROPE STATES that cosmetics can help improve our mood, enhance our appearance, and self-esteem, and is an important part of social expression. These products undergo many processes to serve their purpose of enhancing our looks and taking care of our bodies. But little did we know they also serve harm, pain, and death to poor animals, such as rabbits, and monkeys, that these cosmetic companies used as testers.

In April 2021, the Humane Society International (HSI) introduced the #SaveRalph Campaign as a movement to stop the suffering of animals at the hands of the big cosmetic companies. Save Ralph is a stopmotion animation film that was combined with the performances by an all-star multinational cast that includes Taika Waittiti, Ricky Gervais, Zac Efron, Olivia Munn, Pom Klementieff, Rodrigo Santoro, Tricia Helfer, and more,

Ralph, the main character of the film, is a rabbit and is being used by a cosmetic company in government-required chemical poisoning tests for cosmetics and their ingredients. The film exposed the horrible daily routine of Ralph as a tester in a toxicology lab. The empathetic story of Ralph and many other animals that are suffering from cruelty engages viewers to support the ban of animal testing of cosmetics once and for all.

Spencer Susser, the director of Save Ralph, said that the animals in the testing labs don’t have a choice and it’s our responsibility to do something about it. “When the opportunity came up to create a new campaign for Humane Society International,

I felt that stop-motion was the perfect way to deliver the message. When you see the horrifying reality of the way animals are treated, you can’t help but look away. What I was hoping to do with this film was create something that delivers a message without being too heavyhanded. I hope that audiences fall in love with Ralph and want to fight for him and other animals like him so we can ban animal testing once and for all,” he added.

According to HSI, rabbits like Ralph are really being neck-restrained and cosmetic products and their ingredients are dripped to their eyes and onto the shaved skin on the back. They’re not given any pain relief and all of them will be killed in the end. Forty (40) countries have banned this kind of testing for cosmetic products, such as India, Taiwan, New Zealand, South Korea, Australia, and more. The European Union banned all animal testing for cosmetics in 2013, yet today this celebrated precedent is being weakened by European Chemicals Agency who demands that cosmetic companies perform new animal tests on chemicals used exclusively in cosmetics. More than 2,000 “cruelty-free” products are being sold worldwide, but HSI warns that these products are in jeopardy if chemical safety legislation continues to demand new animal tests for chemical ingredients used exclusively in cosmetics.

No more animals should be harmed in the name of beauty and to HSI President Jeffrey Flocken, “Save Ralph is a wake-up call that animals are still suffering for cosmetics, and now is the time for us to come together to ban it globally. Today we have an abundance of reliable, animalfree approaches for product safety assurance, so there’s no excuse for making animals like Ralph suffer to test cosmetics or their ingredients.”

The Greatest President ankster

“CHANGE IS COMING,” pledged the person who made almost all of us think that he is the best fit for the position as the president. With that, people saw some light that may lead us into another way of living, but the question is: Is it for the better or for the worse?

Way back May 30, 2016, the 16th Congress of the Philippines proclaimed Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the President-elect of the Philippines after winning the votes of 16.6 million Filipinos. Pabillo thinks that his victory demonstrated Filipinos’ desire for change. He believed it represented the people’s despair to the point that, even if they don’t know what’s new, as long as it promises something new, they will seize the opportunity and take the risk. This was also strengthened by the influence of Duterte’s track record in Davao City that worked in his favor during the election.

It has been more than five years since Duterte has been elected to the presidency. The one-ofa-kind leader who has consistently gone his own way and has been described as a president that is not hesitant to make bold remarks about the country’s important concerns, such as government corruption, criminality, and so on. Since he stepped onto the position, he has constantly reiterated his numerous promises that people are holding on to until now. However, as his final term comes to an end, it’s time to look back on promises made and broken. We should face and acknowledge the fact that all of these things happened---the essence of his words of assurance began to disappear, replaced by the overpowering impact of broken promises.

“I’ll behave when I’m President,” one of the simplest promises that happened in the month before he took his oath as president. Duterte pledged to quit cursing and to behave in order to honor the Philippine president. However, after two years, Duterte seldom made a statement that did not include multiple foul languages. His dreadful outbursts against critics, offensive jokes, and sexist statements have all become defining characteristics of his leadership.

If the simplest promise cannot be kept, there is a higher risk that the most difficult one will be impossible to fulfill.

Moreover, one of the greatest highlights during his term is all about his bloody war on drugs. His administration’s signature campaign continues to be the anti-drug crusade. As a result, a huge number of people have died due to the police anti-drug operations. Despite Duterte’s promise in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), he still made the wrong decision. He pledged that his administration would be mindful of the country’s duties to advocate, defend, and fulfill our citizens’ human rights, particularly those of the impoverished, disadvantaged, and vulnerable; social justice would be achieved, and the rule of law would be upheld at all times.

On the other hand, Human Rights Watch discovered that official police accounts of these instances usually claimed self-defense to legitimize police killings in the name of the drug war. However, several witnesses have alleged that police kill individuals even if they are not fighting arrest, and that the police frequently put firearms, empty ammo, and drug packets close to the victims’ bodies to support their allegations. They acted without hesitation since Duterte regularly calls on police to “massacre” drug suspects and tells them not to worry if they are accused of abuses for he will pardon them as if he didn’t mind taking innocent people’s lives.

Along with denigrating human rights and threatening human rights advocates, Duterte has also succeeded in suppressing and oppressing the press, proving that he is a determined opponent of the truth as if he is scared of them. He has prohibited journalists from attending Malacañang press conferences. In addition, his administration has concealed critical information about his drug war. He has also exploited the judiciary to antagonize journalists from the Philippine Daily Inquirer to Rappler, as well as the country’s biggest broadcasting network, ABS-CBN, whose legislative franchise he persistently refused to renew. Duterte’s suppressing power could also well be observed in his numerous attempts to imprison the courageous journalist Maria Ressa and former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV with a bombardment of court lawsuits and arrest orders.

We can say that change has arrived, but it is not what we had hoped for.

Another harsh smack just landed on us recently. It was in May 2021 when he declared that his 2016 promise to ride a jet ski to the Spratly Islands and place a Philippine flag there was just a pure campaign joke, labeling those who believed him ‘stupid’. A promise that’s made in response to a query from a Filipino fisherman during the discussion about how the presidential candidates can assist fishermen in fishing securely in the West Philippine Sea without anyone being chased away by the Chinese coast guard. This proved that those reassuring words for the Filipino were just a publicity stunt.

“Hindi istupido ang Pilipinong botante kasi sa tingin ko, hindi naman sila naniniwala sa literal na pagsakay at paggamit ng jet ski pero naniniwala siguro sila na ang Pangulong ito na mahilig din yumakap ng bandila, maraming sinasabing proFilipino remarks, naniniwala sila na ipagtanggol nito ang pambansang interes ng Republika,” stated by Dr. Aries Arugay, a political science professor in UP Diliman. People put their faith in Duterte, believing that he would fiercely defend the Philippines’ claims and sovereign rights in the South China Sea, but he rather betrays and disappoints them.

“Lesson for young voters: Be wary of candidates making ‘jokes’ about serious issues such as national sovereignty, just so they can get elected. Mag-ingat sa mga swindler at manggagancho tuwing halalan,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. said in a Twitter post.

Promises were meant to be fulfilled, not broken nor used as a joke.

Let these events become a wake-up call for those who are called “stupid,” and begin to reflect so that we are not duped again. As elections are about to come, we must be registered voters already to counter those who are not suitable for the position to avoid the same mistakes and negative occurrences all over again. Jokes are supposed to be funny rather than being offensive nor frustrating. National concerns should not be used as a joke, especially in serious matters. Gaining trust and making people believe in him is not a joke. Perhaps, he is a joke. He became the greatest prankster who failed us, his citizens, to be happy and satisfied with his careless actions. We deserve better.

Breakthrough

DANIELLE FRANCES ANNE FAVOR

daniellefrancesanne.favor@unc.edu.ph MOST OF THE time, we satirically compare the speed of the internet connection to a turtle’s pace. Who would also not feel annoyed whenever we get stuck in a traffic jam on the city roads or the long days of waiting just for the products we ordered online to arrive? As much as we want these daily situations to hasten, the people must demand even more for a better vaccination process in our country.

It was the 28th of February this year when the first batch of vaccines that will combat COVID-19 got imported to the country, a significant stepping-stone that brought hope to the Filipino community. The Philippines is getting enough support from different countries and private sectors knowing how alarming the threat of the spread of the virus is despite the hard lockdowns and strengthened minimum health standards for the past months. Despite those, the caseloads and number of unvaccinated citizens are still high enough to achieve the goal of massive herd immunity to the whole Filipino community.

Missed Targets

The National Task Force (NTF) is steadily managing the vaccine distributions up until this very time garnering a total of 10,443,407 doses inoculated to the Filipino citizens since June 30th. Despite this effort, a discrepancy in filling their target sectors for vaccination is evident. “We are doing well with health workers but not so good with seniors and persons with comorbidity,” stated Dr. John Wong, member of Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) sub-technical working group on data analytics, as they missed the 21% target both for the elderly and people with comorbidities. This made the caseloads more vulnerable to rise as according to the Department of Health (DOH), 81% of the death records are from people aging 50 and above since the start

Purpose and Interest

WITH THE RISING number of COVID-19 incidents, several government sectors are stepping up their efforts to find ways for everyone to be secured and comply with the current protocols and policies that must be implemented and followed by community members and countrymen as a whole. However, even amid the pandemic, there are still people with different perspectives and personalities who want to take advantage of the situation. Phony delivery, customers being duped, fake products and services harming people, and, perhaps most controversially, the inclusion of politics in contact tracking methods and rules are just a few instances.

A former official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has warned the public that some contact tracing forms being filled out in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak could simply be used to collect people’s data. Gregorio Larrazabal, an ex-Comelec commissioner and lawyer, stated that some parties may have been mining data from information provided by people upon entering business facilities as part of contact tracing regulations.

This act was supported by tons of sentiments coming from the public, that they have been receiving messages, targeted advertisements, and calls from companies offering products. Some people have also expressed their dissatisfaction with the lack of clarity regarding where the data points go after they have been filled in. With this, the opinion of the people is divided. Others argue that using phones to register upon entering is safer, or it may be preferable to write down information manually because it is not immediately entered into a database.

Aside from those data mining incidents, one controversial incident involved politicians that have been using the contact tracing registry logbooks, to gather information of potential voters for the upcoming election. Several photos have been circulating in social media that showed different names of the running candidates, with the information provided by the people through signing into logbooks upon entering establishments. As this incident triggers several Filipinos about the ideology of taking advantage of the situation, on the other hand, the contact

Mirror of Incompetence

JAY VHIE ABUNDA

jayvhie.abunda@unc.edu.ph AMIDST THE DOMINATION of darkness and hunger, Filipinos seem to have found a ray of hope when Ana-Patricia Non started the concept of community pantries. Bannering its motto “Magbigay ayon sa kakayahan; kumuha batay sa pangangailangan”, this small project turned into a huge movement. The Maginhawa Community Pantry gave birth to more community pantries by igniting many individuals and groups to contribute to those who are in need.

Just like the antagonists in every series or movie we watched, some authorities dimmed the light that focused on Non and organizers of the pantries by calling these pantries communist propaganda. It was April 21 when Non was also called as a member of the underground mass organization, Artista at Manunulat ng Sambayanan (ARMAS). The Philippine National Police (PNP) also ran profiling to community pantries organizers last April 19. The modern Bayanihan is something good that happened in our days but it also means that the government failed in doing its responsibilities in our nation. Lights, Camera, Action!

According to the American political scientist, Robert Rotberg, human security is the most important factor in proving the effectiveness of an administration. The citizens always have expectations and the leaders should keep their promises which gives birth to the Social Contract Theory.

If we are to have a retrospective analysis, community pantries arose because a lot of people are starving at this time and this is because the government has not given us the basic needs that we deserve. According to the survey conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) last November 3 to December 3 last year, there’s 62.1% of Filipinos experiencing moderate to severe food insecurity. The people are in desperate times calling for measures and they found it in community pantries that take the initiative for the people to meet their daily needs despite having a low amount of budget.

Now, going back to what Rotberg said, the distinction between a strong state and a weak

Speed Up

of the pandemic. As of the past month, only 2.63 million of the population got fully vaccinated which is still far from the peak goal of 70 million out of 110 million Filipinos this year.

Supply and Roll-out Lapses

The country received over 17.5 million imports of doses of different brands of vaccines since the last week of February. A handful, right? The people’s need for inoculation is high, but the process itself is fluctuating due to supply issues from document and certification mismanagements according to the report of the Philippine News Agency (PNA). There are still more than 7 million jabs unadministered. It is evident that among the massive doses, the rate of vaccine inoculations is just 217, 511 per day which is relatively lower than the targeted 350,000 to 500,000 jabs a day to achieve the 70% immunization rate among the Filipinos before the end of 2021. This even scared the possibility of expiration due to delayed inoculation of the doses.

Public Trust

The enormous efforts for vaccination improvements are just a waste without the affirmations from the people. The Pulse Asia Survey noted this further as the results showed that 6 out of 10 citizens do not want to be inoculated with the given vaccines. This questions the effort of the government in boosting the trust and demand of the citizens for these aids. With this, massive population protection will not be

tracing measures that maximized the usage of phones and convenient ways to trace individuals that might have been with closure to a COVID-19 positive is effective in reducing the chances of the increase in mortality rate, whereas with the help of this, people can be alerted if someone who was in the same facility with them at the same time caught the coronavirus. This allows potentially exposed persons to isolate themselves and monitor for COVID-19 symptoms, boosting the chances of early discovery and prevention.

“Treat you right and serve you right.” This is always part of the goals of a running candidate who would want to run in a certain position in the administration. However, people are not to be blamed for having doubts in terms of what they can do for the people, especially if they engage with such dismaying actions, implying insensitivity with the dilemma everyone is facing right now. If a certain political candidate has been taking advantage of things, especially with a crucial thing like personal information of the people, it may lead to disapproval, especially with the truth that these things are happening before the candidate takes office. If one candidate cannot get hold of integrity in terms of executing actions to gain public support and trust, there will be a disparity between the promises and platforms, and to the candidate’s actions.

Since we are all affected by the current situation, may we all remember to keep within us the honesty and integrity that we should hold. We should open our visions into ways on how to contribute to minimizing and preventing the spread of the virus, by being responsible enough to comply with the safety protocols and existing policies at hand. May everyone be more in control of what is the purpose of existing contact tracing methods, than the interest of a certain individual. Government Efforts

Despite the glitches, the acceleration in the process of vaccination is seen since its beginning

We can never understand what’s on their minds because they are clearly missing one of the main targets in this time of the pandemic. The administration had the wrong priorities at this critical time. Instead of giving long-term solutions, they even started debating who’s going to run for presidential position in the upcoming 2022 elections. They also spend a lot of money on white sand in Manila Bay instead of using it to suffice the needs of the people and give a proper budget for vaccination and frontliners work-related activities. According to the National Budget 2021 release, the Build Build Build has the second-highest allocation with PhP1,323.1 Billion higher than the Department of Health (DOH), being the primary government arm in responding to this pandemic, will only receive PhP210.2 billion. TURN TO 53

Fact or Bluff?

JAYVEE FORTUNO jayvee.fortuno@unc.edu.ph

Antagonistic on Great Ideas

state is in terms of their effectiveness in delivering the “most crucial political goods.” Our country doesn’t even have concrete plans made to feed millions of people and to properly govern them especially in this time of the pandemic. With the help of community pantries, Filipinos can help each other to maximize their sense of security. However, these are only created as a temporary solution. It can’t save us from the virus itself. They can solve the problem at a definite time but the government must still address the complexity of the problems caused by the pandemic especially in the fields of education and health. It is sad that the tables have turned because the government leaders must be the ones to provide these essentials and not the community taking the initiative for the poor to meet their basic needs. stopped their transaction last April 20 since they feel unsafe after the red-tagging and profiling, which is against the privacy law of each organizer whose only goal is to help others. These people shouldn’t be treated like trash and feel fear for doing the things that will help the people. Non also apologize to those who lined up early in the morning on the said date. These are the Filipinos who depend on their needs on community pantries because they don’t have work after the lockdowns happened in the past months. That day, those people didn’t have food caused by the red-tagging of community pantries.

The government should not block the things that are fulfilling its shortcomings. Like what President of IBP, Atty. Domingo Egon Cayosa stated last April 21 after the profiling of the PNP on organizers, “Community pantries should be praised, not profiled; replicated, not red-tagged; supported, not stopped.” achieved instantly and the cases will skyrocket.

In addition, the agitating statements of the president himself waver the confidence of the people in the actions of the administration towards the health crisis. “You choose, vaccine or I will have you jailed,” Duterte said in a televised speech restated by CNN Philippines. He even threatens these “fools” to get immunized with Ivermectin, a vaccine for pigs. This became a hot topic as no Law justifies his words. It even opened up the allegations presented by the International Criminal Court on the war on drugs campaign of Duterte that is allegedly violating Human Rights.

CUT!

Poverty and opening the economy are the

Cutting Jib’s Jib

JIBRIL ALLEEN LORENTE jibrilalleen.lorente@unc.edu.ph

Boxing in Politics

ON THE LEFT corner, the ‘Pambansang Kamao,’ and the President of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDPLaban) Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao. On the right corner, the rest of the PDP-Laban and its Chairman, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. They might be getting ready to rumble!

The stage was set on December 4, 2020, when Pacquiao became the acting party president after Senator Koko Pimentel stepped down from the post, and became the party’s executive vice-chairman. However, the first punches were thrown on May 3, 2021, when Pacquiao criticized Duterte’s handling of the West

Philippine Sea dispute, saying that he found the President’s stance ‘lacking.’ Later on, Department of Energy Secretary and PDP-Laban Vice-Chairman Alfonso Cusi called on the PDP-Laban to convene for a national assembly at the request of President Duterte. The said assembly, held last May 31, was condemned by Pacquiao and even urged members to boycott it as the decision was made without his knowledge.

Then, President Duterte finally countered Pacquiao’s initial jab on the West Philippine Sea issue. In a televised address on June 8, he told the Senator to ‘study more.’ A day later, Pacquiao responded, saying that his statement agrees with the sentiment of the public - that the administration’s stance on the dispute really lacked.

On June 17, Pimentel recommended Pacquiao to be the Party’s 2022 Presidential nominee. Five days later, in an interview with Radyo5, Pacquiao declared that if he will indeed run for President next year, he will wage a war on corruption and deemed it more urgent than the war on illegal drugs.

This angered Duterte, who challenged him to name the corrupt agencies in the government or be subjected to negative campaigning from the President.

Pacquiao then called for a Senate probe on the agencies he claimed to have corruption, such as the Departments of Health, Social Welfare and Development, Energy, and Environment and Natural Resources. Surprisingly, Pacquiao was absent as he was preparing for a boxing match in August.

With the stage for the match set, what does this tell us? As long as the conflict isn’t addressed, the situation can result in the weakening of PDP-Laban and eventual withdrawal of other members as the current administration ends.

As long as the possibility of Pacquiao running for President remains, there are multiple

IN AN ATTEMPT to fix the public’s vaccine hesitancy and vaccine preference, President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered local officials not to disclose the brand name of the vaccine that will be administered to the public. This was due to the increase in mass gathering and queues when the US-made Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was released making the vaccination sites for China’s Sinovac Biotech quieter than the movie ‘A Quiet Place’.

According to Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje, from now on, only people already in line at a vaccination site will be told which shot they’ll get and if they don’t like the vaccines that are given during that time, then they go to the end of the line. This statement sparked a huge debate among the Filipinos since we can’t basically solve an existing problem by creating another one.

In the status quo, our country has the second-highest COVID-19 infection rate in Southeast Asia but the rollout has been slow with only less than one percent of the population of 108 million being fully vaccinated each day. China’s Sinovac vaccine, which has an efficacy of about 67%, makes up the bulk of the doses available in the Philippines. There were only about 200,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, with an efficacy of 95%. As of now, there is still no vaccine supply from Moderna. DengVaxia Dilemma

If we are going to have a retrospective analysis of why the public has been so reluctant in getting the vaccine, the fresh memories of the troubled 2016 rollout of the dengue fever vaccine DengVaxia would probably be the best reason. This vaccine placed thousands of Filipino children in danger after the Department of Health (DOH) was influenced by the guidelines released by the World Health Organization (WHO). As mentioned in the guidelines, they advised countries with high Dengue infection rates to use the said vaccine. During this vaccination campaign, roughly 830, 000 children aged 9 and over received at least one dose of the vaccine.

By November 2017, Sanofi, the French multinational pharmaceutical company that developed the drug said that those children who’ve never been infected by the illness will have it more severely than those who already did. In 2018, the public has already lost their trust in getting the same vaccine causing trouble with the government since even if that happened roughly five years ago, a Pulse Asia survey revealed that 6 in 10 Filipinos did not want to get vaccinated against COVID-19. If the public will not be informed by the possible side effects and the vaccine content, more Filipinos will be hesitant to get an anti-COVID-19 shot.

Let’s get our facts straight

We basically can’t solve the problem with the public’s vaccine hesitancy by disregarding the principle of informed consent which is fundamental in medical ethics. According to the NCBI Bookshelf, a valid informed consent for research includes three major elements namely: 1) Disclosure of information, 2) Competency of the patient to make a decision, and 3) Voluntary nature of the decision. If we were to analyze what the government is trying to push for, the first element is going to be violated since the public

outcomes from this: he could manage to run under the PDP-Laban but is not supported by Duterte and his allies, resulting in lower votes; or he can leave/be removed from PDP-Laban and run under a different party which could draw some of the PDP-Laban voters that support him.

Either way, the conflict is already sowing the seeds for a difficult campaign for the PDP-Laban Presidential bet and Pacquiao.

Shot of Uncertainty

will only be given less information the moment that they are already in the inoculation sites.

If we are to build vaccine confidence and empower the people, they should be given more information, not less. A real ‘informed consent’ is when the public is going to be given more details about the risks, benefits, type of vaccine, and the observed side effects. It is way too impossible for the Filipinos to understand scientific terms in just one sitting since mass vaccination sites don’t have the time to do so. That’s why informing them beforehand would be the best choice.

To boost the vaccine confidence of the public, our government officials must act as vaccine champions and provide more opportunities for the people to openly discuss their views and ask questions about each vaccine brand. They must also educate them about the development process and monitor for safety. The public also needs more assurance in terms of giving health assistance once they experience some severe side effects because we basically can’t neglect the fear that they are feeling given what happened in the past.

This situation also begs the question: what will the opposition do to take advantage of this? Although the conflict has taken media attention away from them, it is quite beneficial to them, because they could still be reevaluating their potential nominees.

In particular, this issue covered 1Sambayan’s problem back on June 13, after their nominees either declined or did not confirm their candidacy yet. If they want to take advantage of the situation, they have to show the people they are now capable of uniting everyone, not just within their coalition but also the voters themselves.

During the 2016 polls, 25.9 million voters did not support Duterte in 2016. Therefore, if the opposition wants to win next year, they have to make sure that the 25.9 million voters are supporting one candidate---a united opposition. After all, that 25.9 million was divided among four other candidates, giving the win to Duterte who got 16 million votes. As such, the opposition must not be complacent with the number of votes that were not for Duterte because there is no guarantee that the same number will be supporting their candidate. They also have to consider the number of candidates for Presidency next year.

As the schism between Pacquiao and the rest of PDP-Laban goes on, all we can do is watch and see how this thing develops as we all try to make our decisions for the upcoming elections as it moves closer with each passing day. four months ago. The PNA states that only 9% who got inoculated did not receive the second dose due to the differences in vaccination schedules according to vaccine type and cases of getting infected by the virus. The Philippines stands 2nd among ASEAN countries in the 7-day daily administered vaccines with 144,402 doses as of June 1. The IATF is widening its vaccine programs clinics, mall parking areas, and public schools and continuous negotiations for supply chain capability to achieve the goal of population protection. Legal studies to discern the COVID-19 situation in the Philippines are also being supported by the officials.

Willing to boost the widespread vaccination in the Philippines, local government, organizations, and businesses started up doing unique and encouraging ways to provoke the people to get inoculated with the vaccines. Just like getting purchase discounts in restaurants and food chains of the National Capital Region for example Jollibee, Burger King, and McDonald’s. The local government of Barangay Sucat in Muntinlupa conducts raffle promos to win a half-sack of rice. The hospital of the city even gives grocery packs to citizens who got inoculated. Also, the City of San Luis in Pampanga brilliantly started the “Baka Para sa Bakuna” raffle draw every month wherein the vaccinated citizens will have a chance to win a cow.

In the end, complementary government and citizens’ efforts must be observed. We see vaccination as the ultimate way to brawl further setbacks of this pandemic. Better management of the government of this procedure is a must particularly that the global supplies are scarce and mostly acquired by richer countries. Execution is nothing without necessary efforts of improvement. And as always, the citizens must be disciplined on following health and safety protocols this time and educating ourselves with the overall impact of vaccines on our health. Turtle episodes cannot be avoided knowing the poor state of our economy these times. Yet, let us trust the gradual process to give significant change for normalcy to be refined in our motherland.

Busted

FRANCINE IVANNA GABAY francineivanna.gabay@unc.edu.ph

FROM PAGE 51 Dobol Trobol...

real problems that the government must focus on in this time of pandemic and not waste their time on accusing someone without any evidence. We should find a way to give the Filipinos a source of income to avoid the number of people who are experiencing food insecurity that will support and help people to survive in their daily lives. Maybe there’s a difference between the beliefs and color of the party but remember that right now the enemy is the virus and we need to support each other. In every situation where we’re wasting days on something that doesn’t help the community, some families are dying because of hunger that may end their life in the long run.

ML tourney celebrates Lapu Lapu’s Mactan victory

MARK ALLYSON FEDERIO

FIVE CENTURIES SINCE Lapu Lapu’s victory over the Spaniards at the Battle of Mactan in 1521, the team ‘Java Rice with Sisig’ won the Mobile Legends Challenge: Lapu-Lapu held on May 1 and was streamed live on the Senior High School Supreme Student Government (SSG) Facebook Page.

The tournament was a best-of-one match. Among the 49 registrants, only 30 learners managed to move forward, composing six teams with five members each.

According to the ‘Java Rice with Sisig’ member Jeremy James Pascual, their team never encountered any difficulties as they managed to win three times in a row without any defeats.

“The teams were unknown species, STEM O NYO PAGOD NA, Midnight abyss, and OLS. We didn’t encounter struggles since we’ve prepared,” he shared, citing the other five teams.

Pascual also shared that each victory was a different experience.

“We didn’t suffer defeats but the feeling when winning every game was amazing since it boosts our confidence to play hard on our upcoming games to showcase our skills,” he continued.

Along with Pascual are teammates Kyle Francis Santillan, John Murphy Bustamante, Michael James Transona, and Ian Reblora.

However, on the day of the tournament, the team ‘Mamamo D’ was disqualified. According to member Hazel Valdeavilla, it happened because one of their teammates could attend the event due to personal reasons.

“Our team already has a complete number of members which is five (4 ABM and 1 GAS) but unfortunately, one of our members didn’t make it on the day of the tournament. Lacking a member became the problem because the rules stated that there should be 5 members to play in the tournament so automatically, we are disqualified,” Valdeavilla explained.

Meanwhile, the team ‘STEM O NIYO PAGOD NA’ composed of Julyan Manahan, Cer Tena, Francis Mika Ibones, Jordan Chavez, and Charles Vincent Imperial were hailed as the first runner-up.

The prizes for the winners include 2570 Mobile legends Diamonds (514 per member) for the Champion. The first-runner up got 1715 Mobile legend Diamonds (343 per member), and 860 Mobile legends Diamonds (172 per member) for the participants.

Aside from Lapu-Lapu’s triumph in the Battle of Mactan, the event also commemorated the 500th anniversary of Christianity in the Philippines and the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation.

According to Learning Facilitator Armando Sta. Cruz, III, the event focused on the theme ‘Victory and Humanity,’ as well as raising awareness among the public about Lapu Lapu.

“The National Quincentennial Committee chairman intends to use this event as an opportunity to put Lapulapu in his right place in history as he is less known in some parts of the country,” Sta. Cruz added.

The said tournament was organized by the University of Nueva Caceres Senior High School Department, with the leadership of Sta. Cruz and the SHS SSG.

UNC Taekwondo Team kicks again amid COVID lockdown

CURT JAIRUS PEREZ

AFTER A YEAR of lockdown, the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC) Taekwondo Team garnered eight medals at the recently concluded 2021 Smart/ MVP Sports Foundation Online Luzon New Face of the Year Speed Kicking Championships and Poomsae Championships.

“I felt excited and nervous, seeing that it was my first tournament after a year of quarantine. It also felt liberating, it’s almost as if you came out of prison,” Alexander Manugo, who placed 11th, said in an interview with The PANTOGRAPH.

On the other hand, Jerome Sabido, a gold medalist, said that he felt sad due to the canceled and postponed events because of the pandemic that the world is currently facing.

“Malungkot pa rin po kasi nagko-cope pa rin sa mga hindi natuloy na events due to pandemic. Pero, yah, new beginnings po,” Sabido said.

The Speed Kicking Championship was held on dates of March 20, 27, 28. Meanwhile, the Poomsae Championship happened last March 27-28. Both events were held online due to the restrictions set upon by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and to safeguard the athletes’ well-being.

Speed kicking is a type of category in competitive taekwondo, wherein participants would vie for the greatest number of kicks in exactly one minute. On the other hand, Poomsae is a demonstration of attack and defense stances to determine the knowledge and skill of the performer. The Smart/MVP Sports Foundation Online Luzon New Face of the Year Speed Kicking Championships and Poomsae Championships is an event to revive taekwondo amidst the pandemic. Participants who engage themselves in this event are scouted by scouts from different universities and professional leagues. The competitor who is successfully scouted could be given a scholarship or deals, which is profitable for the athlete to compete in other events and further the athlete’s studies.

Recently, the team received an award and praise from Naga City Mayor Nelson Legacion due to the excellence that they exhibited. The awarding ceremony was also posted online.

“There are actually many events, as I have heard. Most of them are national tournaments and I even hear that there is a regional competition coming up. as for the names of these competitions I have mentioned, I do not know yet,” Manugo stated.

He also shared in the same interview that the competition that they will be joining is not just limited to the Poomsae category. The team is currently shooting their entries for this year’s Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) meet for the Poomsae category.

CURT JAIRUS PEREZ

FOR SPORTS ENTHUSIASTS and athletes, the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing nightmare that has no certainty of ending. Because of the current situation, certain types of sports were restricted and one of these is skateboarding.

Skate parks were closed from the public and international and local skateboarding events were put in to hold. However, this did not extinguish the passion of two young Nagueno skaters, who are skating their way through the pandemic.

One of these skateboarders is Frederick Soriano, a junior at the University of Nueva Caceres (UNC). According to him, his love for skateboarding began when his cousin introduced him to the sport when he was still a kid. During summer, the two would bond together, his cousin would teach him the basics of the sports. He adds that they would often share one skateboard because there is no extra.

The second skateboarder is Rons Beltran, a former UNCean. Beltran started skating after being persuaded by his friend who was experienced in the sport during his sophomore year in high school.

Intangible Feeling

People see skateboarding as a sport with great danger, but for Soriano, skateboarding is a sport that gives a massive ecstasy to a person. Whenever he goes on a ride while listening to music along with his friends, he feels that he is at ease while being carefree and just enjoying the present. This for him is an irreplaceable memory.

He adds with conviction, “Skating isn’t just about the tricks you can do, it doesn’t matter if you can do a lot or a few tricks. The important thing is that you feel the joy of what you are doing.”

Pandemic, School, and Skateboarding

Balancing school life and a hobby while in a pandemic is hard for everyone and the two also admitted this. In Beltran’s words, he faced challenges in managing his time between school and doing what he loves, skateboarding. Due to the pandemic and his academics, he limited his playing time. Now, he would only just play three to four times per week if he is not busy. The Youth

According to the two, the skating community in the Naga is still small and as such are encouraging their fellow youth to try the sport.

“Start skating right now! If you’re waiting for a sign, this is it. When skateboarding, you’ll experience a lot of misfortune, you would be disappointed in yourself, but the best technique there is to try. Try, try, try, fail. Then, try again until you succeed. That’s how it is, it will also test your courage. It’s forbidden to give up right away,” Soriano urged.

Beltran agreed with Soriano’s sentiment, saying that they should not be discouraged by failure as it is needed to succeed. “Don’t be afraid to commit if you (want to) play or you want to do a trick because all skateboarders have experienced stumbling. Continue, if you like what you are doing,” Beltran added.

Although these times may be filled with uncertainty, passion is one of the things that can help you continue. Like Beltran and Soriano, sometimes all you have to do is to keep moving forward and keep rolling. The world may be experiencing a pandemic, but that does not mean this is the end.