The Varsitarian P.Y. 2017-2018 Issue 10

Volume XC, No. 10 • June 13, 2018 THE OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF SANTO TOMAS Manila, Philippines

Faculty members elect CBA negotiators; inclusion of union president questioned

By CHRISTIAN DE LANO M. DEIPARINE MEMBERS of the 1,900-strong UST Faculty Union (USTFU) have elected negotiators for the 2016 to 2021 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the University administration, but some have contested the inclusion of union president Dr. George Lim as head of the negotiating panel.

Lawyer Jose Ngo Jr. of the UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy, Edilberto Gonzaga of the College of Science, Rebecca Adri of the Institute of Physical Education and Athletics, and Michelle Desierto and Emerito Gonzales of the Faculty of Arts and Letters,

topped the election for USTFU panel members last May 28.

In a statement, the newly elected members of the panel vowed to negotiate for a CBA that would “improve the terms and conditions of our employment as faculty members.”

“This new negotiation is an opportunity to rectify the errors of the past and rebuild our CBA and thus improve the terms and conditions of our employment as faculty members,” the statement read.

Several faculty members, however, questioned the inclusion of Lim in the negotiating panel as chairman, as he was not elected as a member of the negotiating panel

as required by USTFU rules.

In a meeting with the USTFU Board last May 31, USTFU Treasurer Joyce Tan moved for the approval of the resolution naming Lim to head the USTFU negotiating panel, which prompted the five panel members to stage a walkout.

“It is given that a union can only negotiate effectively if its ranks are united. Thus, we beg Dr. Lim to heed the clamor of the faculty and allow the new panel of CBA negotiators to do its job. And if he would insist in heading the panel of negotiators, then he must follow the USTFU-CBL by subjecting himself to an election or ratification,” faculty members said

in a statement.

Article 13, Section 1 of the faculty union’s charter states that “Collective bargaining for and in behalf of the general membership shall be undertaken by the Board of Officers through a negotiating panel the members of which shall be duly elected by the general membership.”

In response, Lim said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) had ruled that the faculty union’s commission on elections had legal basis to name him as head of the negotiating panel, being president of the union.

Faculty Union PAGE 2

Freshmen tuition up by 6% THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (CHEd) has approved a 6-percent increase in tuition for incoming Thomasian freshmen while tuition in the higher levels will not increase in Academic Year 2018 to 2019.

Tuition for college freshmen will increase by P91 per lecture unit and P182 per laboratory unit.

For Faculty of Civil Law freshmen, the increase is P153 per unit and for the Graduate School, P123 per unit.

Miscellaneous fees will go up by an average of P367.56.

Tuition for Grade 11 students of the Senior High School will increase by P1,920 while miscellaneous fees will increase by 4.05 percent or P150.

Incoming Grade 7 students of the UST Junior High School will pay an additional P4,274 in tuition and an additional P2.68 percent or P140 in miscellaneous fees.

Freshman tuition in the Education High School will go up by P1,005 while miscellaneous fees will go up by 2.67 percent or P102.

Tuition PAGE 2

Supreme Court favors UST in tenureship row AFTER a seven-year legal dispute over tenureship, the Supreme Court has upheld the University’s move to dismiss instructors from the College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD) for failing to obtain master’s degrees.

In a 19-page resolution dated April 18, the Supreme Court backed UST’s decision to dismiss CFAD instructors Raymond Son, Raymund Antiola and Wilfredo Pollarco in 2010. The three were unable to finish their master’s studies in five semesters as agreed upon when they were hired as probationary faculty members.

Article 15, Section 1 of the 2006 to 2011 UST Faculty Union (USTFU) collective bargaining agreement (CBA) provides that a teaching faculty member should be given a tenure-track appointment after rendering six consecutive semesters of “satisfactory service” on a full-time basis, given that they must obtain their master’s degrees within five semesters or they would be removed from service.

The Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools Order of 1992, however, requires a master’s degree for undergraduate professors in their field of instruction, as a minimum qualification to acquire a regular status in a private educational institution.

“When the CBA was executed between the parties in 2006, they had no right to include therein the provision relative to the acquisition of tenure by default, because it is contrary to, and thus violative of the 1992 Revised Manual of Regulations for Private Schools that was in effect at that time,” the court ruling read.

Tenureship PAGE 3

BEGINNING OF LIFE OUTSIDE UST. Thomasians pass through the historic Arch of the Centuries, signifying the end of their college life.

MICHAEL ANGELO M. REYES

Writers, artists honor late UST sends off 8,794 graduates PONTIFICAL University sent God could easily touch you when you literary titan Cirilo Bautista THE off a total of 8,794 graduates in this feel that your life is no longer enough for WRITERS and artists paid tribute to the late National Artist Cirilo Bautista during the necrological service for him last May 10 at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Bautista’s works served as the definition of the Filipino identity, said fellow National Artist F. Sionil Jose.

“You (Bautista) deserve [the National Artist award] because in your works, there is profound rootedness in our own soil and you have this very, very deep affection for our country,” he said.

Bautista, a former Varsitarian literary editor, died last May 6 at the age of 76.

Jose described poets and writers as the nation’s “keepers of memory” and urged writers to follow Bautista’s style of “Filipinizing” the English language in his works.

“Without the memory, there is no nation.

[I] know he has some doubts about his writing in borrowed tongue. His epic is a product of an experimentation in the form. I hope all Filipino poets try to do the same,” he said.

Tribute PAGE 8

year’s Baccalaureate Mass, which was followed by a boisterous march out of the historic Arch of the Centuries.

Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. urged the graduating batch to make their lives a “legacy” for the other Thomasians to emulate and follow.

“Do not prioritize personal ambition over genuine service and selfreferential interest over the common good,” Dagohoy said in his homily on May 24.

He said Thomasians should recognize God’s actions in their lives, which are part of their success as graduating students.

“Everything that we do would never be enough to unleash the power of our dreams unless God has touched us by his hand. [I]t is time for us to let you go. Do not lose that space where

everything. God suffices,” he said.

Graduating students were given “mission crosses” as a symbol of their lifelong mission to put their Thomasian education to good use outside UST. The Mass ended with the “ceremony of light” to remind the graduating students of their duty to spread the light of the Christian faith.

A pyro-musical display accompanied by songs from the hit movie “The Greatest Showman” capped off the rites, followed by a recessional parade through the Arch of the Centuries signifying the end of the students’ college life.

The Faculty of Arts and Letters has the biggest number of graduating students this academic year with 1,187, followed by the Faculty of Engineering with 777 Graduates PAGE 5

2 News

Editors: Maria Crisanta M. Paloma and Hannah Rhocellhynnia H. Cruz

JUNE 13, 2018

Aegis Juris suspects transferred to City Jail MEMBERS of the Aegis Juris Fraternity tagged in the hazing death of UST law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III were turned over on May 23 to the Manila City Jail from the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) by order of the Manila Regional Trial Court, two months after they voluntarily surrendered.

In a court order released on May 22, the Manila court ordered the transfer of Arvin Balag, Mhin Wei Chan, Jose Miguel Salamat, John Robin Ramos, Marcelino Bagtang Jr., Ralph Trangia, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver Onofre, Joshua Macabali and Hans Matthew Rodrigo, who were all formally charged for violating the Anti-Hazing Law last March 8.

The Aegis Juris fratmen were temporarily detained at the NBI last March 23, a day after the court ordered their arrest.

“Upon personal evaluation of the DOJ (Department of Justice) Panel of Prosecutors as well as all the supporting evidence on record, this Court finds probable cause and that there is a necessity for placing all the accused under custody in order not to frustrate the ends of justice,” the court order read.

The court pointed out that violation of the Anti-Hazing Law is a “non-bailable offense.”

The Department of Justice indicted the fraternity members on March 8 for violation of the Anti-Hazing Law, and cleared Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina of any involvement in the hazing incident.

The fratmen filed motions to dismiss or to be allowed to post bail before the Manila court last March 12 but the motions were denied or set for further hearing. MARIA CRISANTA M. PALOMA

UST named 2nd top-performing school in teachers’ exams THE UNIVERSITY was the second topperforming school in the March 2018 licensure examinations for teachers (LET) in the secondary level.

UST registered a 91.80-percent passing rate, or 56 out of 61 examinees making it to the cut. This was higher than last year’s 80.95-percent passing rate, or 51 students passing out of 63 examinees.

The University of the Philippines (UP)Diliman was the top-performing school in the secondary level, with a 98.55-percent passing rate or 68 out of 69 examinees.

Kier Baugbog from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela topped the board exams in the secondary level with a score of 92.40.

The national passing rate for high school teachers rose to 29.91 percent or 22,936 out of 76,673 examinees, compared with last year’s 25.46 percent or 18,482 passers out of 72,584 examinees.

UST’s passing rate in the LET for the elementary level also improved to 87.50 percent or 14 out of 16 takers, compared with last year’s 84.62-percent, or 11 out of 13.

John Michael Delapaz of UP Diliman ranked first in the elementary level board exam with a score of 88.80.

The national passing rate for elementary teachers climbed to 23.62 percent, or 13,774 passers out of 58,323 examinees.

Members of the UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy team celebrate upon winning their second straight Pautakan championship title.

MARIA CHARISSE ANN G. REFUERZO

Accountancy bags 41st Pautakan championship THE UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy brought home its fourth revolving trophy on a two-year winning streak on May 28, defeating the Faculty of Engineering in a close match in this year’s 41st Pautakan intercollegiate quiz competition.

Accountancy and Engineering led the finals round in a neck-and-neck race, which ended in a tie.

Accountancy was declared champion upon the conclusion of the clincher round, with 280 points, while Engineering finished one point short with 279 points.

“We played to our strengths and then… sinubukan naming punan ‘yung mga part na hindi namin alam from previous years. Sinubukan namin i-strengthen (ang weaknesses namin) for this year,” AMV Team Captain Jeanne Dominique Domingo told the

Varsitarian in an interview.

Domingo said the team dedicated their win to coach Elizabeth “Beth” Inoturan, whose coaching stint ends this year.

“Literally nu’ng last rounds na, nu’ng clincher na, ang sinasabi namin, ‘This is for Ma’am Beth.’ Ito yung aming gift for her,” Domingo said.

The Faculty of Arts and Letters landed on third place with 175 points.

The Conservatory of Music placed fourth with 110 points while the College of Education clinched the fifth place with 90 points.

Joseph Matthew Caballas of Engineering reclaimed the championship for the individual category with 270 points, dethroning defending champion Augustus Botrous Gusco from Arts and Letters with 195 points.

Danvhar Nojara from Accountancy

UST keeps spot in 2019 QS world ranking THE UNIVERSITY kept its place in the latest Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS) World University ranking, clinging to the 801-1,000 bracket and placing fourth among the top Philippine universities on the list.

State-run University of the Philippines (UP) remained the country’s top university but went down to the 384th place from last year’s 367th rank.

Ateneo de Manila went down to the 651-700 bracket from the 551-600 bracket last year.

De La Salle University joined UST in the 801-1,000 bracket after sliding down from last

Boards PAGE 5

Recognition of sororities, fraternities suspended next academic year THE OFFICE for Student Affairs (OSA) has suspended the recognition of all fraternities, sororities and “similar organizations” next academic year following the hazing death of Civil Law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III. In a memorandum released on May 21, OSA directed fraternities and sororities to indefinitely “cease and desist” from recruitment of members or “engaging in any kind of activities.”

The memorandum likewise prohibited students from joining fraternities, sororities and unrecognized student organizations pursuant to the University’s Code of Conduct and Discipline.

“In the light of the recent incident involving the hazing death of a law student and in keeping with the duty of the University to take proactive steps to protect the students from the danger of participating in activities that will involve hazing,” the memorandum read.

OSA PAGE 5

finished third with 119 points.

The College of Science placed fourth with 95 points and Music placed last with 90 points.

The veteran resource persons for this year’s Pautakan were Jose Ramon Lorenzo (General Information), Selwyn Clyde Alojipan (Natural Science), J. Neil Garcia (Humanities), Jerome Ong (General History), Jose Victor Torres (UST History) and Anita Ong (Mathematics).

UST’s UAAP Season 78 courtside reporter Angelique Manto and Miguel Bustos, anchor of ANC’s Gametime and Early Edition and NCAA sports commentator on ABS-CBN Sports and Action, hosted this year’s Pautakan.

The 41st installment of the Varsitarian’s Pautakan, the oldest intercollegiate quiz contest in the country, had a retro video games theme. SAMANTHA-WEE LIPANA

QS PAGE 5

Tuition FROM PAGE 1 In a letter addressed to CHEd, Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. said the tuition hike would be used for the benefit of faculty members and University personnel in accordance with their collective bargaining agreements with the UST administration.

“Seventy percent of the incremental proceeds of tuition increases shall be used for the benefit of teaching and non-teaching personnel and other staff,” Dagohoy said in the letter.

“At least 20 percent of the tuition increment shall go to the improvement or modernization of buildings, equipment, libraries, laboratories, gymnasia and similar facilities and to the payment of other costs of operation of the University,” he added.

CHEd Memorandum Order 19

series of 2016 allows the University, as an autonomous higher education institution, to increase tuition even without the Commission’s permission.

Republic Act 6728 or the Expanded Government Assistance to Students and Teacher in Private Education Act requires the University to allocate 70 percent of the increase for the benefit of its teaching and non-teaching staff and 20 percent for the improvement of facilities.

Last academic year, CHEd approved a 5.02-percent hike despite.

Tuition increased by P138 per unit (or 9.96 percent) for freshmen, P97 per unit for second-year students and third-year students (7.02 percent), P131 per unit for fourth-year students (9.72 percent), and P130 per unit for fifth-year students (9.91 percent). JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA

Faculty Union FROM PAGE 1 “Despite these, however, some members persist in spreading [the] wrong information perhaps to intentionally mislead our membership regarding the true issue. They insist that I cannot be a member of the negotiating panel. [I] challenge them to come out in the open and show their legal basis that I, as president of the union and tasked to represent the union at all times, (am) not a member of the negotiating panel,” he said in a statement to faculty members.

He added that the union officers “shall not hesitate to use all the powers and available resources vested

by our [Constitution and ByLaws] upon our positions to settle this matter at the earliest time.”

Formal negotiations for the 2016 to 2021 CBA have yet to begin, but panel members said they had started accepting proposals and recommendations from faculty members for the next CBA. CBA talks between the faculty union and the UST administration reached a deadlock in 2014, which almost led to a strike after USTFU members filed a notice of strike before the DOLE’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board. The CBA negotiations moved forward following “back-channel talks” between Lim and Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P.

Editor: Neil Jayson N. Servallos

JUNE 13, 2018

Special Reports 3

Thomasians slam ouster of Sereno

By MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ

DEFEND DEMOCRACY. Former chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno speaks before campus journalists and student leaders at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila last April 26.

Sangguniang Kabataan polls held; relevance still in question

WITH the resumption of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) in the Barangay elections this year after years of postponements, experts and stakeholders cast doubts on the efficiency of youth councils in training youth leaders and improving lives in the villages.

Institute of Political and Electoral Reform Director Ramon Casiple said that while an SK reform law was implemented ahead of the polls, it was “hastened” and does not target the root cause of corruption in the SK, which is the practice of “traditional politics.”

Republic Act 10742 or the SK Reform Act, signed in January 2016 by President Benigno Aquino III, barred children of incumbent politicians from running for SK posts, and raised the required age of officials, among other changes.

For Casiple, traditional politics or “trapo” is learned by SK officials from older barangay officials who pass down the practices of votebuying and plastering names and faces in government and private vehicles, buildings, and other property; and grabbing credit for local government projects such as outreach programs for the poor, free dental and medical care, free circumcision during and others.

Political science junior Gustav Henson, an SK chairman in Pampanga,

said that while the criticisms against the SK are true, the new system must be given a chance.

“The criticisms are indeed true like that of being pressured by the barangay chairman, too young to be held accountable… but [these] are from the past. Our government reformed the system and now we should wait if there are changes,” he said.

Under the reformed SK system, all villages must have a youth council composed of a chairman and seven councilors, which shall develop a rolling youth development plan. Each official has a three-year term.

Dennis Coronacion, chairman of the UST political science department, said the SK is needed in a barangay because it serves as the mouthpiece of the youth, who are not usually heard in policy-making.

“Since the youth are very imaginative and creative, their participation in barangay council meetings will bring in fresh perspectives and ideas in solving old problems,” he said.

Casiple however said the SK is not the right platform and that money should not be involved in training future leaders.

SK PAGE 5

THOMASIANS criticized the Supreme Court quo warranto proceedings that ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for her supposed failure to file her statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) when she applied for her post.

Voting 8-6, the Supreme Court granted on May 11 the quo warranto petition to oust Sereno filed by Solicitor General Jose Calida. Quo warranto is a legal process used to question a person’s legal right or authority over his or her position in public office.

A consitutional crisis could arise as removing Sereno through impeachment could fail will no longer be possible after her appointment was nullified by the Supreme Court, said a Thomasian judge, who asked not to be named.

“How can you impeach [Sereno] if the quo warranto proceeding decided she should have not been appointed in the first place? [...] What is the authority of Senate to investigate her in an impeachment proceeding if she is not qualified to be a chief justice in the first place?” the judge said.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, an economics alumnus, hit the constitutionality of the decision, and called on the House of Representatives to allow the Senate to try the impeachment case.

“Our fundamental law provides a singular route to remove certain public officials, impeachment. I urge the House of Representatives to forward the impeachment article to the Senate,” he said in a statement last May 11.

For Francis Santos, Central Student Council (CSC) president-elect, Sereno’s removal showed the dominance of the Duterte administration among the different branches of government. “[Duterte] has taken control of legislative by having a supermajority in the Congress and now he has control of the judiciary somehow, because they managed to get Sereno ousted by quo warranto proceedings,” he told the Varsitarian.

Echoing Santos, Nicolo Bongolan, political science senior, said the ouster of Sereno proves that staunch critics do not stand a chance against Duterte.

Those who voted in favor of Sereno’s removal were Associate Justices Teresita de Castro, Noel Tijam, Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Samuel Martires, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo.

Four of them were appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte while three were appointed by President Gloria MacapagalArroyo.

Associate Justices Marvic Leonen, Estela Bernabe, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Presbitero Jose Velasco Jr., Mariano del

Tenureship FROM PAGE 1 The Supreme Court said both parties violated the law, citing UST’s practice of hiring “unqualified” faculty members or those without master’s degrees. The instructors, on the other hand, could not insist to be employed on a regular basis as they did not possess qualifications.

The dispute began in 2010 when UST terminated the instructors from service upon their refusal to sign a waiver that required faculty members without master’s degrees forego tenureship.

The three CFAD instructors filed illegal dismissal charges against former UST rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., former vice rector for academic affairs Clarita Carillo, former CFAD dean Cythia Loza, college regent Fr. Edgardo Alaurin, O.P. and the CFAD Faculty Council.

The Office of Labor Arbiter ruled in favor of the petitioners, declaring the University officials guilty of illegal dismissal. The UST officials then filed an appeal before the National Labor Relations Commision

Castillo and Antonio Carpio voted against the ouster.

Sereno was appointed in 2010 by President Benigno Simeon Aquino III. She was expected to retire in 2030.

‘Respect the decision’ Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said ousting Sereno through quo warranto proceedings was “constitutional.”

“The Supreme Court is the final arbiter on how the law should be interpreted. In the system of government, given that the Supreme Court interprets the law, I think it is correct to say that it is constitutional to oust [Chief Justice Sereno] by way of quo warranto,” he said.

Philippine Constitution Association lawyer Danilo Roledo, a UST alumnus, likewise said the high tribunal has the authority to interpret the country’s laws.”

“There will be no end to debates if the ruling of the Supreme Court is not respected. We cannot know better than them as we are not the Supreme Court,” he said.

Dennis Coronacion, UST political science department chairman, stressed that the petition followed due process.

However, impeachment is the proper recourse, he said.

“The primary reason for the inclusion of the impeachment provisions in the 1987 Constitution is to ensure and uphold public accountability. The beauty of the impeachment trial is that it achieves this by allowing public participation in the trial through our legislators,” Coronacion said.

Article 11, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution states that members of the Supreme Court may be removed from office through impeachment because of treason, bribery, graft, corruption and other high crimes, and betrayal of public trust.

Sereno faced an impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon, which was approved by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Justice last March 8.

Gadon claimed that Sereno failed to disclose her wealth, purchased an expensive sports vehicle and delayed benefits of a retired court workers, among others.

Last May 30, Sereno filed a motion for reconsideration against the court ruling, arguing that six justices should have inhibited from the case because of bias.

Sereno noted that Associate Justices de Castro, Peralta, Bersamin, Jardeleza, Martires, and Tijam had testified against her during the impeachment hearings at the House of Representatives. with reports from ARIANNE AINE D. SUAREZ

(NLRC).

The NLRC dismissed UST’s appeal.

After a motion for reconsideration from UST, the NLRC changed course, reversing the arbiter’s decision declaring the dismissal illegal.

A new decision was issued in 2012 by the NLRC’s Special Division, dismissing the labor case against the UST officials, stating that the CBA’s provisions on tenureship were “null and void” as the Commission on Higher Education regulations took precedence over the CBA. The teachers, this time, sought a reconsideration from the NLRC, which reassigned the case to its second division.

The second division granted the faculty members’ motion, reinstating the labor arbiter’s ruling that declared their dismissal illegal.

University officials filed a motion for reconsideration, questioning the “adverse” decisions of the NLRC, which was granted.

In 2014, the instructors filed an appeal on the decision but were denied, which prompted them to elevate the case to the Supreme Court in 2016. JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA and KEVIN A. ALABASO

4 Opinion

JUNE 13, 2018

Editorial

Supreme Court, supreme whore

BY VOTING 8-6 to grant the “quo warranto” petition of Solicitor General Jose Calida against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and effectively ousting her, the Supreme Court has shown its true colors: it’s an adjunct and a satrap of the Executive.

Its justices do not decide a case based on the law, but based on might. It’s really the weakest and the most-bully prone of the three branches of government. It’s not supreme but subordinate; it’s a sex slave, a whore.

What the majority of justices has shown is that the Supreme Court is not an objective, impersonal body that upholds the Constitution and Philippne laws, but a petty, vindictive group of persons that would twist the law based on their personal whims and caprices, their inordinate appetites for power and ambition; they would sacrifice law, justice and democracy at the slightest excuse to satisfy selfserving interests.

The Supreme Court has made a mockery of the law it is supposed to uphold. We agree with the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) of human rights lawyers that the quo warranto case against Sereno had been filed way beyond the required period provided by the law and that it should not be a substitute for impeachment. With the ruling, the Solicitor General becomes the most powerful office in the land after President Duterte, who can now use the ruling to go after impeachable officials who oppose his murderous despotism.

FLAG has said that the ruling ushers in “the new era of judicial obsequiousness to the executive and legislative,” but we beg to disagree. The Judiciary has always been obsequious to the two powerful political branches of the government, and Sereno herself had been a beneficiary of that when she was made chief justice by President Benigno Aquino III to replace Renato Corona, who had been impeached and ousted in an impeachment process that was clearly a political trial, with Malacañang and its allies in Congress forcing its officials, for example, to violate bank secrecy and other laws to expose Corona’s alleged mistatement of his assets and worth.

But while Corona’s ouster was done within the obligatory gestures and surface action of “due process,” Sereno’s ouster through blatant violation Editorial PAGE 5

FOUNDED JAN. 16, 1928 AMIERIELLE ANNE A. BULAN Editor in Chief BERNADETTE A. PAMINTUAN Managing Editor ALHEX ADREA M. PERALTA Associate Editor MARIA CRISANTA M. PALOMA News Editor HANNAH RHOCELLHYNNIA H. CRUZ Assistant News Editor CHRISTIAN DE LANO M. DEIPARINE, THEODORE JASON PATRICK K. ORTIZ Online Editors RANDELL ANGELO B. RITUMALTA Sports Editor NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS Special Reports Editor CHELSEY MEI NADINE B. BRAZAL Features Editor NIKKO MIGUEL M. GARCIA Literary Editor JOLAU V. OCAMPO Patnugot ng Filipino EDRIS DOMINIC C. PUA Science and Technology Editor AUDRIE JULIENNE D. BERNAS Circle Editor SHAINA MAE L. SANTANDER Art Director DEEJAE S. DUMLAO Acting Chief Photographer News Kevin A. Alabaso, Samantha-Wee Lipana, Job Anthony R. Manahan, Julia Claire L. Medina Sports Jan Carlo Anolin, Mia Arra C. Camacho, Ma. Angela Christa Coloma, Ma. Angelica D. Garcia, Ivan Ruiz L. Suing, Justin Robert Valencia Special Reports Maria Consuelo D.P. Marquez, Arianne Aine D. Suarez Features Louise Claire H. Cruz, Daphne Yann P. Galvez, Julia Camille B. Ocaya Literary Karl Ben L. Arlegui, Elmer B. Coldora Filipino Erma R. Edera, Chris V. Gamoso Science and Technology Miguel Alejandro A. Herrera IV, Beatriz Avegayle S. Timbang Circle Klimier Nicole B. Adriano, Kathleen Therese A. Palapar, Lyon Ricardo M. Lopez III Art Mariyella Alyssa A. Abulad, Blessie Angelie B. Andres, Rocher Faye R. Dulatre, Joelle Alison Mae P. Eusebio, Mari Kloie D. Ledesma, Nathanael Jonas S.J. Rodrigo Photography Ann Margaret De Nys, Miah Terrenz Provido, Maria Charisse Ann G. Refuerzo, Michael Angelo M. Reyes, Rhenwil James G. Santos, Vladlynn Nona Maryse L. Tadeo, Pauline Faye V. Tria FELIPE F. SALVOSA II Assistant Publications Adviser JOSELITO B. ZULUETA Publications Adviser

Letters/comments/suggestions/contributions are welcome in the Varsitarian. Only letters with signatures and corresponding contact details will be entertained. Original manuscript contributions must be typewritten, double-spaced, on regular bond paper, and should include a signed certification bearing the author’s name, address, year, and college. The identity of a writer may be withheld upon request. The editors will not be responsible for the loss of materials. Contributions must be sent to THE VARSITARIAN office, Rm. 105, Tan Yan Kee Student Center, University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila.

Graduating, but still without Artlets summer uniform THERE is always a nostalgic and bittersweet feeling every time I try to ref lect on my four-year stay in college.

I tend to look back on my experiences from when I was a regular college student to when I joined the Varsitarian and I could not help but have regrets because of all the things I could have done differently.

For one, I could have used my voice louder to reach out better to our Artlets Student Council (ABSC). Since I stepped into the dim halls of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, I had not received my Type B uniforms that I ordered back when I was a freshman. Instead, I opted to ask for one piece of an old Type B uniform from my senior which I washed twice a week. Where did the money for my Type B uniform go?

I still remember the time when former ABSC president Ma Jann Lazo pushed for the Type B uniforms opting for a cheap yet fast production of the shirts. Lazo then disappeared and around the time of her disappearance, it was found that ABSC funds worth P50,000 had

the matter. After that, no

word has ever been heard Since I stepped into of it. She supposedly even the dim halls of the requested that the attendees of the meetings keep mum on Faculty of Arts and whatever was talked about.

Letters, I had not I should have also reached out better to the received my type B involved offices regarding uniforms that I ordered this issue—and all ABrelated issues, for that back when I was a matter. freshman.

It is truly disappointing gone missing. The Artlets administration then promised to withhold her records but after one year, her papers were released. But the P50,000, that served as funding for other activities of Artlets, was still missing.

Everything could have been helped if only the following student governments were constantly reminded of this dark incident. Sadly, I failed to voice out my thoughts again when Jan Dominic Castro and Ysabela Marasigan became ABSC presidents.

So for the next three years until this graduation, many Artlets like me remained without their Type B uniforms.

I tried to fight back in

my third year in college when then-presidential candidate and Grand Alliance for Progress standard bearer Reymark Simbulan promised those who paid would be given their uniforms. Sadly, I was a fool to believe in politicians and liars.

Who knew that the unresolved issue of the Type B uniforms would go stale and now die down simply because the local Student Welfare and Development Board (SWDB) did not allow the whole Artlets community to know what happened with the shirts? Earlier this year, SWDB Director Fleurdeliz Albela reportedly called all presidents of classes who did not receive their Type B uniforms to discuss

how this issue was never resolved and how very few people seem to remember. What is even more disappointing is how disorganized the entire faculty was from the beginning. Not one of the three student governments that followed Lazo’s disastrous governance were able to resolve the issue despite their promises back when they were campaigning.

As I leave UST, I am hopeful that the students who come after me would do things differently. May the experiences of the graduating batch be a wake-up call to the Artlets community to fix what may be wrong in its administration, official and student.

The real thing WHY DID I take up AB Journalism?

I was in sixth grade when I first applied in the campus press. I became a reporter. In my second year of high school, I became editor in chief.

To my disappointment, in fourth year, I was suddenly replaced by a junior. It was also the same time that our school paper adviser was replaced. But I continued working for the publication.

I kept things at bay and bottled my disappointment just to give way to the decision of the “grown-ups.”

But as Antoine de Saint Exupéry writes in his famous The Little Prince, “Grownups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”

Indeed, at a young age, I knew there was hope amid my failed expectations.

It is now time for the younger writers to step up and apply what I, along with my co-editors, have imparted to them.

Here in UST, I took up AB Journalism and became a news writer of the Varsitarian, a good training ground for journalism aspirants.

I met new friends, went to places I had never been, and covered varied and significant events on and off campus.

In the Varsitarian, I was able to practice the real thing.

I learned how to report accurately and objectively.

There’s no positive or negative side to a story or a personality; what matters

is reporting an event or a celebrity factually and fairly.

With effort and perseverance, I became news editor.

Honestly, there are thousands of Thomasians who are more eligible to be part of the “V” and become editors, but I admit that I was just one lucky student.

Now, my college experience is about to end, so does my term as a campus journalist. It is now time for the younger writers to step up and apply what I, along with my co-editors, have

imparted to them.

I am eternally grateful for my college friends, who stayed with me and never held my busy schedule and personality against me.

My gratitude also extends to a few college mentors and professors, who believed in me and my abilities.

Of course, I am thankful to my parents who have been supportive since day one; I would not have set foot in UST without their effort.

As I prepare myself for the bigger world out there, I finally get to answer the question earlier, “Why journalism?”

I took it up not merely because of passion, not because it is where I excelled at during high school, not because it was my parents’ wish, among others, but because I have witnessed enough and I know that I and other people all have a story to tell.

Opinion 5

JUNE 13, 2018

Editorial

Graduates

FROM PAGE 4

FROM PAGE 1

of the Constitution and the laws: it was naked and abject mockery of the law without any sense of decency. Like the extra-judicial killings and genocide of thousands by the Duterte administration, it’s an overkill of injustice and blind disregard of the law. It is lawlessness without apologies. In a way, what this episode has unmasked is the conspiracy among the three branches of government of the Philippine republic. It shows that the Philippine state doesn’t work for Filipinos or for democracy; they work for their own petty self-interests to satisfy their lust for power and ambition.

It shows that the Philippine republic is not a democracy but a whoredom: politicians like Duterte and Calida are the pimps, and jurists like Teresita de Castro and Francis Jardeleza are the prostitutes.

and the Faculty of Pharmacy with 774 candidates for graduation.

The number of graduating students per faculty and college this year is as follows: Accountancy (712), Architecture (274), Canon Law (16), Civil Law (126), Commerce (711) Education (371), Faculty of Philosophy (22), Fine Arts and Design (547), Graduate School (250), Institute of Information and Computing Sciences (546), Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (143), Medicine and Surgery (479 with 20 clinical audiology graduates), Music (50), Nursing (361), Rehabilitation Sciences (248), Sacred Theology (58), Science (660) and Tourism and Hospitality Management (462). JOB ANTHONY R. MANAHAN and JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA

Pananda

OSA

FROM PAGE 3

FROM PAGE 11

FROM PAGE 2

“You remove the money, you remove the temptations from corruption. You also separate it from the barangay council, it should have its own dynamics,” he said.

A 2007 study of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and Unicef found poor performance among youth councils in terms of youth development, submitting reports, coming up with laws and reaching out to their constituents.

ang dalawang pagkilala sa UST (1935 at 2012) na makikita sa Main Building at likuran ng bantayog ni Fr. Miguel de Benavides, O.P.; ang pagkilala kay Dr. Jose Rizal, ang pambansang bayani; at Manuel L. Quezon, isa sa mga Tomasinong naging pangulo ng Filipinas.

Sa kasalukuyan, tanging pananda nina Rizal at Quezon ang tampok sa mobile app na makikita sa loob ng Unibersidad.

Nakalagay ang mga ito sa magkabilang panig ng Arch of the Centuries na nakaharap sa España Boulevard. CHRIS V. GAMOSO

Last April, OSA has also released a memorandum suspending the accreditation of new student organizations in the University next academic year.

The memorandum required existing organizations that were not accredited and were seeking recognition to submit a letter explaining why they should be accredited.

Central Student Council (CSC) President-elect Francis Santos said he already met with Student Affairs Director Ma. Soccorro Guan Hing and suggested that the CSC can accommodate new organizations as part of the council’s “committee or

subcommittee” for them to still be able organize advocacy plans.

“The decision of OSA all the more demands the passage of Student’s Codes so that our rights of affected by this decision will be protected to the full extent of the law,” Santos told the Varsitarian in an online interview.

According to the University Student Handbook, student organizations may be formed upon application for recognition with the OSA, which may be renewed every year upon compliance with renewal of requirements. JOB ANTHONY R. MANAHAN and JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA

QS

Clergy

FROM PAGE 2

FROM PAGE 12

year’s 701-750.

UP remained the only school in the Philippines that ranked in the top 500 universities in the world, while UST is still the only university in the country accredited by QS with a four-star rating.

According to the QS Top Universities website, a university with a four-star rating is “highly international, demonstrating excellence in both research and teaching, and provides an excellent environment for students and faculty.”

UST retained its perfect five-star ranking in employability, facilities, social responsibility and inclusiveness.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was named the top university in the world, followed by Stanford University and Harvard University.

National University of Singapore snatched Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU)’s spot as the top university in Asia, ranking 11th in the world rankings. NTU slid to the 12th spot.

The QS world ranking is based on six factors: academic reputation (40 percent), employer reputation (10 percent), faculty/student ratio (20 percent), citations per faculty (20 percent), international faculty ratio (five percent) and international student ratio (five percent). JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA

that another priest was brutally killed.”

“We strongly condemn this outrageously evil act!”

Valles said in a statement released last June 11.

The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan declared June 18, the ninth day since the killing of Nilo, as a “Day of Reparation.”

Boards FROM PAGE 2 Last year’s passing rate was at 10.39 percent, or 5,600 out of 53,915 takers.

CPA board exams The University recorded a 68-percent passing rate in the May 2018 licensure examinations for certified public accountants, with 68 Thomasian examinees passing the test out of 100 .

UST’s passing rate last year was at 71.82 percent, or 79 passing out of 110 examinees.

Jayson Ong Chan of Saint Paul School of Professional Studies led this year’s batch of accountants, with a score of 92.50 percent.

De La Salle University – Manila was named the top-performing school after recording a 90.11-percent passing rate, or 82 out of 91 examinees.

The national passing rate went down to 28.92 percent or 2,843 out of 9,830 takers, compared with last year’s 30.45 percent or 4,511 out of

SK

Other reforms Under the reformed version, the age requirement for running as an SK official was raised from 15 to 18 years old to 18 to 24 years old.

In a previous report by the Varsitarian, Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice criticized the SK for having minors as officials because “they do not have the legal capacity yet to enter into an agreement, but they are allowed to disburse, transact, and handle government funds.”

Aside from the new age requirement, a new anti-political dynasty provision was added to the law, banning seconddegree relatives, including parents, grandparents, siblings and relations by law or marriage, of government officials from running for SK positions.

“It was meant to reform the SK organization since over the years it has been taken over by political families. It is actually a small yet significant step in realizing the 1987 Constitution’s antidynasty policy,” Erice said. ARIANNE AINE D. SUAREZ with reports from MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ

14,816 examinees.

Chemical eng’g board exams The University recorded a 20.69-percent passing rate in the May 2018 chemical engineering licensure examinations, with six Thomasians making the cut out of 29 examinees.

This was a decline from last year’s 58.82-percent passing rate, or 20 out of 34 examinees.

Peter Matthew Paul Fowler of Mapua Institute of Technology led the country’s new batch of chemical engineers with a score of 83 percent.

De La Salle UniversityManila remained the top school with a 96.55-percent passing rate, or 28 out of 29 examinees.

The national passing rate dropped to 46.54 percent or 296 out of 636 examinees, from last year’s 55.26 percent or 310 out of 561 examinees. SAMANTHA WEE LIPANA, JOB ANTHONY B. MANAHAN and JACOB MARVIN B. URMENITA

Arming priests With the recent killings of clergymen, Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde said last June 12 that the police was willing to arm priests.

“If they request it and if we think that there are threats to their lives, we will assist them to go through the [licensing] process for them to feel safe,” Albayalde said in a press conference.

Valles said there was no need to arm priests, stressing that priests are “men of peace, not violence.”

“We are men of God, men of the Church and it is part of our ministry to face dangers, to face deaths if one may say it that way. But we would do just what Jesus did,” he said in a radio interview with Manila Archdiocese-owned Radio Veritas.

Cebu Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Florencio, who

is also the apostolic administrator of the Military Ordinariate of the Philippines, echoed Valles, saying the proposal would lead to “chaotic” consequences and solve nothing.

With the absence of rules on the safety of priests under Canon Law, the Church relies on the state.

In a press conference last June 8, Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP public affairs committee, said the state holds the foremost responsibility of protecting priests as they are also citizens.

The Code of Canon Law of 1983 only states that whoever harms or uses physical force against a member of the ecclesiastical authority or a cleric receives a “just penalty.”

Canon Law is limited to “spiritual penalties,” said Naboya. The ultimate penalty imposed by the Catholic Church on persons or clerics who assault a Pope, bishop or priest is excommunication.

“The only recourse that we have is the law of the land and bring these abuses against the clergy to the court of justice,” Naboya explained.

Love for the game -- and the ‘V’ GROWING up, I was not gearing towards doing the news or writing long-form narratives. I had many dreams – to play for a band, become a CPA, become a professional baller, among others.

My love for the game of basketball and a string of unexpected events pulled me to journalism, the program I will ultimately take up, and eventually, the Varsitarian.

It wasn’t until I entered the ‘V’ as a sports writer in 2015 that I learned to see the world with a different perspective.

I was shocked at the ridiculous amount of time and energy it demanded, as well as the complex personalities that I had to deal with. With those, I learned how to cope and manage.

The Varsitarian opened my eyes to things I was embarrassingly unaware of and gave me

The Varsitarian opened my eyes to things I was embarrassingly unaware of and gave me momentous memories that I know I will carry for the rest of my life. momentous memories that I know I will carry for the rest of my life.

Through the ‘V,’ I was able to experience both extremes and discover previously unknown areas of my personality vital for my future endeavors.

The whole college experience was pure hustle and hassle. I couldn’t have done it completely alone.

To the outgoing staff, I hope we all learn from and remember the past to guide us in the present and help us battle the unforeseen.

To the incumbent staff, may your principles light the fire when you’re forced to walk in dark alleys. Be better for yourselves.

To everyone else. I hope you eventually find what’s worth your time and effort. Be budding sunshines in the weeping rain.

The long and winding road will never disappear. It will always go on, ready to take you to other doors of life.

Usapang Uste

Mother’s Day

FROM PAGE 11

FROM PAGE 7

Hinirang din siya bilang Professional of the Year ng PRC noong 2010.

Isa rin si Adriano sa mga ginawaran sa The Outstanding Thomasian Alumni Awards noong 2016.

Itinatag niya ang Antonio S. Adriano Furniture, Inc., Tony S. Adriano Design Studio at Tony S. Adriano Liturgical Arts. Nagbigay-daan ito upang mabigyan ng trabaho ang halos 400 na manlililok ng mga muwebles sa Filipinas. ERMA R. EDERA Tomasalitaan panguling – pangngalan. pagsira sa pangako, pagtataksil sa sumpaan Naging karaniwan na ang kaliwa’t kanang protesta sa kalsada dahil sa mga panguling ng pangulo sa taumbayan.

Mga sanggunian The Varsitarian Tomo XL Blg. 1,May 1968; 19681971, p. 10 TOTAL Awards 2016

intensified by the trumpets and horns.

A student of Assoc.

Prof. Herminigildo Ranera, Itugot has conducted several performances of the UST Symphony Orchestra, UST Wind Orchestra, and UST Woodwind Ensemble. He has also arranged numerous pieces for the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.

Among Itugot’s notable arrangements is “Symphonic Suite of Disney Songs,” his winning piece in the 32nd UST Conservatory of Music Sampung Mga Daliri arranging competition held last year.

He also arranged the song “We Are All God’s Children,” which, with singer Jamie Rivera, was performed by the UST Symphony Orchestra, Liturgikon Vocal Ensemble, and Coro Tomasino during Pope Francis’ UST visit last 2015.

6 Features

JUNE 13, 2018

Editor: Chelsey Mei Nadine B. Brazal

Kristel de Catalina spirals to success AFTER gaining an almost perfect score at a nationwide talent search, former Salinggawi member Kristel de Catalina has found her way to the top, and that is through dancing on a spinning, aerial and spiral pole.

The 32-year-old single mother earned a score of 99.67 percent from the public and judges’ votes which made her the grand champion of “Pilipinas Got Talent: Season 6” on ABS-CBN. Her winning performance, a routine to Canadian singer Celine Dion’s “All By Myself,” was dedicated to her 6-year-old son, Troy, and to all single mothers.

“Ngayon, nakikita ko na lahat ng ginawa ko para sa anak ko talaga. It was an amazing experience na after [k]ongma-stress at [mahirapan], [I knew that] the reward, will be for my son and his [future],” she told the Varsitarian.

De Catalina initially caught much attention during the auditions with her routine of Lea Salonga’s version of “I Dreamed A Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables,” receiving the “Golden Buzzer” that sent her directly to the semi-final round.

“The pressure of competing is really high, it will not only train yourself but it will develop you as an artist and pushyou to level up,” she said.

De Catalina’s passion for dancing began at a young age. She was influenced by her father who was also a dancer and choreographer.

An avid fan of the University’s official dance troupe, De Catalina took up interior design in UST and immediately auditioned to Salinggawi Dance Troupe.

“Pangarap ko maging Salinggawi [kaya] ang saya-saya ko[noong] nakapasok ako pero hindi ako ‘yung sobrangmagaling na

kasi wala akong background, pero doon akonatuto,” she said.

De Catalina was part of the 2006 Salinggawi team thatcapped the group’s five-peat championship at the UAAP Cheerdance Competition with a record-high average of 94.96 points.

After two years of working as an interior design consultant, she joined a local contemporary dance company called “Airdance.”

“I realized that I still wanted to be a dancer. Naramdamanko ‘yung calling ni Lord na I have the skills and the passion to go back to dancing,” she said.

She now teaches pole dancing at “CONTEMPole,” a pole and aerial dance studio located at Kapitolyo, Pasig. She established the dance center with fellow aerial artists and dancers.

The pole athlete specializes in pole dancing but she can also do routines using cube apparatuses and aerial ropes, which she used in her semi-final round performance in the talent show.

The Antipolo native began pole dancing in 2012. She bagged her first win in the field the same year at the Vie and Vault Amateur Pole Dance Competition in Manila.

Since then, de Catalina has been joining local and international pole dancing competitions.

She recently won the Solo Professional Pole Women’s Category Award and Best in Choreography Award at the 2017 AIRSTARS Asian Aerial Dance Art Competition in Taipei, Taiwan last October. LOUISE CLAIRE H. CRUZ and JULIA CAMILLE B. OCAYA

Kristel de Catalina

Fine arts alumnus hikes to bring school supplies to poor kids MON CORPUZ treks to bring school supplies in remote areas.

His advocacy began in 2008 when, upon his usual photo trips at Banaue Rice Terraces in Ifugao, he met children living in the mountains, kilometers away from the community school.

Their smiles and waves struck Corpuz, who then only brought some delicacies to give.

Corpuz knew that the community needed more than chocolates and candies. They needed free and sustainable access to basic school supplies.

Corpuz came back and brought along with him a bag of black pencils which the children were delighted to receive.

This led Corpuz, 38, to establish an online campaign in June 2008 where tourists, advocates, photographers and mountaineering groups could volunteer to fund school supplies for children of indigenous communities. “[I know] that education is the best equalizer and a way for a family to break out from poverty. In far flung areas, it was inspiring to see little children interested to go to school even when if they have to trek for hours and cross rivers,” he told the Varsitarian in an interview.

The online campaign blossomed into a civilian volunteer organization campaign called “The Black Pencil Project.”

The project has worked with more than 13,000 elementary school children in 18 barrio

schools all over the country. It has established networks in different cultural communities in the country such as the Ifugao of the Cordilleras, Ivatans of Batanes, Mangyans of Mindoro, Tidurays of Maguindanaos, among others.

It now promotes a “volunTourism” program where volunteers are welcome to experience cultural immersion in project communities, lead pencil collection drives and deliver the school supplies to mountains.

This is, however, not Corpuz’s first charitable work.

While he was studying in UST as a scholar, he assisted and taught indigent children adopted by the University which earned him the St. Martin de Porres award.

“One doesn’t have to be rich to help a person in need.There’s no monopoly in charity,” Corpuz said. “Start small but dream big. Dream for others, start with a pencil.”

When not working on the project, Corpuz, a fine arts alumnus, works at the media investment company GroupM Philippines as director of user experience research and design.

“I’d like to think that the advocacy is somehow connected to what I do offline. I’m extremely lucky that the company I work with let me do my missions on the sides,” Corpuz said. DAPHNE YANN P. GALVEZ

Mon Corpuz

Editor: Audrie Julienne D. Bernas

JUNE 13, 2018

Circle 7

Thomasian baritone performs in Rossini opera in Barcelona BARITONE Cipriano “Zip” de Guzman performed a key role at Liceo Barcelona’s production of Rossini’s “La Cenerentola, ossia La bontà in trionfo” last April 11 and 12.

De Guzman, who holds two degrees from the UST Conservatory of Music, portrayed Alidoro, a philosopher and tutor of a prince.

De Guzman said he worked with popular Spanish mezzosoprano Teresa Berganza and scenographer Paco Azorín in the production.

De Guzman has been in Barcelona since January this year after finishing his Master’s in Voice at the Elisabeth University of Music in Hiroshima, Japan, where he won first prize in the opera category in the 7th American Protégé International Vocal Competition.

His musical experiences enabled him to attend master classes of Spanish baritone Carlos Álvarez and Spanish bass Eric Halfvarson at the Liceu Barcelona.

The European residency and opera exposure are the latest

achievements for De Guzman, 34, who started his romance with singing as a chorister in a Catholic church in Bambang, Pasig.

“I only wanted to sing in the church and help the choir [when I was younger],” he told the Varsitarian. “I wanted to be in another profession, but whenever I started working or doing another thing, circumstances always would bring me back to singing.”

Before enrolling in UST, De Guzman has earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts at the University of the East Manila as an academic scholar.

But he couldn’t resist the lure of his childhood passion so he studied Bachelor of Music Education Voice Emphasis in 2012 and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance minor in Choral Conducting in 2015 at the UST Conservatory of Music. He graduated cum laude in both degrees.

De Guzman said his mentors were Irma Ponce-Enrile Potenciano and Fidel Calalang Jr. “[Some of the best values I’ve learned in UST] are being Godcentered and being grounded,” he said. “Faith and your relationship

with God are very important,” He later went to Hiroshima to acquire his Master’s in Vocal Performance at the Elisabeth University of Music. His mentor was Japanese baritone Hiroharu Orikawa, While in Japan, he won second place in the 10th Yokohama International Music Competition in 2016.

Before Japan, he was the vocal coach and chorister of Manila Chamber Singers, during which he helped the choir to bag the first prize for both Folk and Cultural Traditions category and the Contemporary Choral Music category at the 15th International Choral Kathaumixw British Columbia, Canada in 2012.

In 2017, De Guzman auditioned and got the role of the bullfighter and boisterous Escamillo in French composer Georges Bizet’s “Carmen,” in a production in Malaysia by the KL City Opera. K. N. B. ADRIANO

Zip de Guzman

UST artist mixes visual and stage arts, circuits

By LYON RICARDO M. LOPEZ III

Itugot onstage with the UST Symphony Orchestra.

Conducting grad turns recital into a Mother’s Day tribute

By KATHLEEN THERESE A. PALAPAR A CONDUCTING student of the Conservatory of Music dedicated his graduation recital at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) last May 12 to his mother and played all her favorites.

The concert was held on the eve of Mother’s Day. Jedrick Itugot, who was graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting, led the UST Symphony Orchestra in playing opera classics.

He might have had a full house, but Itugot only had his mother in his mind.

“This recital is actually for my mother,” Itugot said. “It’s my way of thanking her because I wouldn’t have had my recital at CCP if it weren’t for her and my dad.”

Joining Itugot was fellow senior and Voice major Angella Lista who gave a soulful rendition of the conductor’s arrangement of his mom’s alltime favorite—Wency Cornejo’s “Hanggang.”

Lista also sang Antonio Lucio Vivaldi’s “Motet in Furore Iustissimae Irae, Rv 626” and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “E Susanna Non Vien... Dove Sono.”

“Motet in Furore” saw only the string instruments at play. The repetitive piece describes a man’s plea for mercy after having displeased God with his misdeeds.

Dark foreboding filled the theater when the orchestra played “E Susanna Non Vien,” which

deals with a couple’s broken marriage.

The night’s repertoire also included Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasy.” The piece recounted scenes from William Shakespeare’s classic drama, beginning with the introduction of Friar Laurence rendered in F minor.

Retelling the heated match between the Capulets and Montagues, the piece shifted to B minor accompanied by clashing cymbals and quick 16th notes. Although the song slowed down a little with the recounting of the young lovers’ courtship, the loud battling sound resumed when Rome and Juliet consummated in suicide, building up gradually and continuing all the way to the end.

Following the Tchaikovsky piece was Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47,” the most debated classical piece in terms of song meaning.

A four-movement piece, “Symphony No. 5” infused all of the sections of the orchestra with some parts relying heavily on string instruments, wind instruments, harp-violin-cello trio and strings-flute-bassoon trio.

Opening the second half of “Symphony No. 5” was a soothing melody from the violin group, succeeded by separate flute and oboe solos.

The piece ended with a marching section Mother’s Day PAGE 5

CIRCUIT boards, theater magic, and passion for painting were fused in Milmar Onal’s “VIsceneTY”, at Gallery Nicolas, Glorietta 4 in Makati City May 15 to 24.

A Painting graduate of the old College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA), Onal has fused in the exhibit his many preoccupations: painter, actor, artistic director, production designer, and a former electrical engineering major.

Onal shifted to fine arts from electrical engineering in 1994. By then, he was also exploring the world on stage with his membership in Teatro Tomasino.

Off campus, he had also worked with Gantimpala Theater.

“I tried to put all these elements–the things I’ve learned from engineering, theater, and of course, painting–into my works for this exhibit,” Onal told the Varsitarian.

The depiction of electric circuits in Onal’s paintings had been his “style” of freehand painting. He debuted his first abstractions depicting circuit boards in the exhibit, “Greater Heights,” in August 2017.

“I try to put something new in every work, so I’m always changing my technique,” Onal said. “I think that’s what’s important for artists – to never stop learning.”

Although the works are abstract, they can also be figurative, “Imperial” showed the semblance of a mountain-range. This 36x48-inch acrylic piece was set to a warm background of dark-orange.

Across that piece was “Emergence,” a 48x72-inch acrylic showing a landscape of

Tail Ends by Onal

buildings on the foreground and mountains on the background.

“Urbanization was one of my themes for this one, but I do rejoice if the viewer sees something I didn’t (intend) here,” said Onal. “It’s one of the wonders of abstraction.”

In the Philippines, a career in the arts “does not always bring home the bacon” as Onal recalled during his first few years after graduating.

This prompted Onal to work as a production designer and actor for GMA and ABS-CBN from 2005-2007.

“It’s every artist’s struggle, at least at one point in their life,” he said. “Also, I already had a family by this time, so I had to set my priorities straight; that’s why I tried for a more commercial scene.”

But his passion for painting called him back. In 2007, Onal started joining group exhibits, He also started showing his works at Artist-run Independent Arts Space and GSIS (Government Services Insurance System) Museum.

8

Editor: Nikko Miguel M. Garcia

Reinventing epic poetry, reimagining Philippine history

By KARL BEN L. ARLEGUI THE WORKS of the late National Artist Cirilo Bautista are treasures that continue to be celebrated and probed by Philippine readers eager to unearth their meanings.

A “cerebral poet,” as a critic puts it, Bautista is noted and perhaps criticized for verses that require very discerning readers. His works are “not for a reading culture,” a critic said.

Bautista’s former students at De La Salle University (DLSU) sat down with the Varsitarian to discuss their mentor’s works.

Ronald Baytan, director of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, which Bautista co-founded, admitted that even scholars like him have a hard time in comprehending the works.

“None of us could fully claim that we have fully understood his epic, and I think that is also a source of pleasure because the text is open for many possibilities,” Baytan said. “That is poetry, every time you read it, something new comes out. The journey never ends and that’s what he offers to his readers.”

In his article, “Intensities of Signs: An Interview with the Visionary Cirilo F. Bautista,” found in Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature 2012, Baytan writes that for Bautista, humans are “infinitesimal beings wrestling with language. [They] articulate what cannot be articulated and…unearth what history has buried in the ’boneyard of memory.’”

Shirley Lua, member of the Manila Critics Circle that hands out the annual National Book Awards, likened Bautista to a “minstrel from the

medieval age” and added his poems must be read aloud.

“Those who engage in the verbal joust, when they recite, you would understand because of the musicality of the language,” she explained. “The images will come alive because of the word.

Because you can clearly depict the images, then you can see the kind of a context, of a world, of a city that he imagined.”

“His famous definition of poetry is a monkey on your back, and you need to write to keep the monkey calm,” said five-time Palanca winner John Iremil Teodoro.

Trilogy of St. Lazarus Bautista’s “Trilogy of St. Lazarus” is a rendition of the Philippine history in epic form. It is called as such in reference to the name Ferdinand Magellan gave to the country before, “Las islas de San Lázaro” or “St. Lazarus’ Islands.”

Lua said that through his epic “The Trilogy of St. Lazarus,” Bautista “reinvented history.”

“When you read his works, they are very sharp—his insights, perceptions, the way he reinvented history,” Lua said.

“It is a kind of epic that you can be proud of as a Filipino. [If] Derek Walcott has Omeros, we have the Trilogy of Saint Lazarus,” Baytan said.

Lua said Bautista’s epic telling of Philippine history showed his erudition.

“He studied history, you can say that many of these things [are] capture[d] images of the era.

There are allusions present, there are historical facts that he refers to,” she said.

In “Sunlight on Broken Stones,” for instance, Bautista used the voice of Ferdinand Marcos as a

TomSpeak Favorite passages from Cirilo Bautista’s ouevre THE VARSITARIAN’S Literary team asked writers, students, and teachers their favorite passages from the works of the late National Artist for Literature Cirilo Bautista. Here are their choices: The sea cannot touch me now nor the sky in this room whose arms are your arms (The Sea Cannot Touch, 2012) “‘The sea cannot touch’ [have] no punctuation marks… [Even if] it seems that this is a typical romantic poem, Dr. Bautista is still in his element, [...] playing in language.” -Ronald Baytan, Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, director Some big shots have been using me for target practice. They call it Preparing for Progress. I ask that my taxes be reduced, bang goes my left ear. I demonstrate Against police brutality, bang go my fingers that hold the placard...

(Some Big Shots Have Been Using Me, 2006) “Tignan mo naman kasi parang kahapon lang sinulat. ‘Yong images talagang maganda at malinaw. Hindi mo na kailangan magpaliwanag.”- John Teodoro, five-time Palanca winner Kaya sa katapusan ng araw magbibilang kami ng sugat at tila mga gulanit na kaluluwa (Patalim, 2012) “For me, [these] line[s] mean couples who have conflicts shouldn’t let the day pass without resolving their problem. This ‘resolving’ is the part that fortifies them and lets them know their partners better; making conflicts is essential to a healthy relationship. Nevertheless, conflicts without resolutions are futile since they leave the wounds open.” - Cedric Cruz, third year UST AMV College of Accountancy student Perhaps there was no use in our stealing Its secret wisdom why it cannot die Nevertheless we laughed as best we could Because we are helpless while we are loved.

(Woods: For Rose Marie, 1968) “Pero there’s this one line, the last line in the last stanza, hindi ba ang ganda ng reversal? Are we really weak and helpless and vulnerable while we are loved [and] while we are doing the loving?”

- Edmark Tan, UST AB Literature alumnus; fellow to 2018 UST National Writers’ Workshop At times you pine and pine for beauty gone— Ah never take the same courage, mon ami, Wisdom and the past are never one.

(Addressed to Himself, 1968) “The writings of Dr. Bautista, products of rigor and discipline,

LITER

self-proclaimed “decorated war hero.” ... Why then should I hide anything when I have nothing to hide?

Look at the medals that fill my chests, and the bright citations embracing my walls—are they not the categorical imprimatur on my legitimacy?

The epic trilogy consists of “Archipelago,” “Telex Moon,” and “Sunlight on Broken Stones.”

“The Archipelago,” originally published in 1970 by the San Beda Review, retells Philippine history, from Magellan’s so-called discovery of the country to the trial of Rizal.

“Archipelago is a unique way of telling history. It contains elements of high modernism, complexity,” Baytan said.

Lua commended Bautista’s use of three major voices in his epic: Magellan, Rizal, and Miguel López de Legazpi.

“It is like a parallel universe, something that is looking down on us. Very difficult, but he is still able to show the different voices and portray them in a good manner,” she said.

The late literary giant Ophelia Dimalanta reviewed Telex Moon, originally published in 1981 by the DLSU Publishing House, at Philippine Studies, a refereed journal from Ateneo de Manila University, in 1983.

Poetry PAGE 14

proved that he’s a rare breed of poet who effortlessly brought his readers, like me, to the realms of metacognitive and metaphysical questioning, without compromising lyricism. Only Bautista could run a verse in his own transcendent sense of words.” - Aloysiusi Lionel Polintan IV, Divina Pastora College (Nueva Ecija), Senior High School department coordinator But learn to distrust language that we In constant dreams deem the only fact, Kill it in seduction or heraldry So eagle-like you may invent your act.

(Addressed to Himself, 1968) “In the era of poststructuralism, where everything is relegated as a construct and value seems diminished due to forces that ‘overdetermine’ us (read: labels, language), there is no other alternative but to be autocritical and redefine our perceptions in order to enrich the value of the self and of life.” - Jayjay Avelino, San Pedro College of Business Administration (Laguna), Literature professor One dies again, also, bursting through the skin, and flings his wingless wars to the sun, broken and raining sadness on the soul; but just for a moment, like spumes in air, or the swing of swans to shore, no longer, no better.

(The Fountains at Villa D’Este, Tivoli, 2013) “I love the way he had painted the scenery through his manipulation of language. It was as if he had framed the supposedly dynamic nature of water into a frozen memento of beauty. ‘Yong supposedly transient world of the moment [ay] ginawa niyang imperishable. His poem had turned the ephemeral into something that is eternal.” - Bluei Fausto, UST AB Literature alumna To live again and live rightly, we have to die everyday. That, indeed, is most difficult, if not impossible. It is hard to resolve the tension between the material and the spiritual on top of trying to fulfill our responsibilities and aspirations. But the world is such as we make it, and our soul need proper caring, too. These deaths do not have to spectacular, however. We die according to our ability and capacity. Simple acts of charity and sympathy for the underprivileged everyday, for instance, nurture our spiritual being without straining our resources or spilling our blood.

Resurrection enables us to strengthen our spirit when we sacrifice part of our self for the sake of others. All our dying makes us new persons. (Becoming a New Person, 2011) “That passage in particular always reminds me that, cliché to say, we only have one life. Not everyone is equal. But if you have the capability to make others “happy” I think that is the best form of satisfaction which beats the blinding happiness given by this material world.”- Hans Malgapu, UST AB Journalism alumnus; fellow to UST 2018 National Writers’ Workshop; office secretary and staff writer of UST Social Media Bureau There can never be a ceasefire in the writer’s war with the irrational, the incompetent, and the corrupt… (“Notes on the Literary Life,” from The House of True Desire, 2010) “The most unforgettable of his lines I committed to memory, one that has guided me and shaped my own excursion into the rough and tumble world of the writing life in a country where writers are ignored, if not killed.” - Joel Pablo Salud, The Philippines Graphic, editor in chief; UST Journalism alumnus Compiled by KARL BEN L. ARLEGUI, ELMER B. COLDORA and NIKKO MIGUEL M. GARCIA

The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus, Cirilo Bautista’s magnum opus

Tribute FROM PAGE 1 Ronald Baytan, director of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, said Bautista, his former professor, taught him the importance of kindness and commitment in writing.

“We constantly hold literary events and workshops, because Dr. Bautista is our inspiration. We are giving back. I was one of those who benefitted from his free workshop[s],” Baytan said. “[H]e pushed for actions that would pool more funding for the benefit of the young writers so that more would receive training to hone their craft,” he added.

Prospero de Vera III, officer in charge of the Commission on Higher Education, delivered a message on behalf of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Dr. Bautista’s body of works reminds us that culture and the arts reflect and define our national identity which is vital to nationbuilding,” the President’s message read.

Duterte said Bautista’s life should continue to “profoundly move [Filipinos] as [they] sphere [their] country towards genuine transformation.”

Filipino writers took to social media their expressions of gratitude to Bautista, saying he was instrumental to the flourishing of the country’s literature in English and Filipino.

Joselito de los Reyes, chairman of the UST Department of Literature, remembered Bautista as his “first major literary editor” at Panorama.

“Siya ang nagbigay sa akin ng tsansang makapagmakata kahit papaano, sa labas ng student publication, at maging manunulat kahit pilit na pilit,” de los Reyes wrote in his Facebook post.

Jerry Gracio, commissioner for SamarLeyte languages of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, recalled Bautista’s strong and constant reminder to “think of books.”

“Kaya marahil laging ibinibilin ni Bautista to think of books, hindi para sa pansariling kadakilaan, kung hindi dahil sa paniwala na nasa mga aklat maiimbak ang gunita ng bayan, ang ating sariling mga kalakasan at kahinaan bilang tao, ang mga personal na pagkabigo at mumunting tagumpay,” he said.

Allan Popa, a poet from Ateneo de Manila, describer his former professor Bautista as a jolly mentor.

“Laging masaya ang aming mga pagkikita noon. Puno ng biruan at tawanan,” he said.

State funeral rites followed the tribute. His remains were interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig.

Bautista, who was named National Artist for Literature in 2014, received nine Carlos Palanca awards for his works such as The Cave and Other Poems, 1968; The Archipelago, 1970; Ritual, 1971; The Man Who Made a Covenant with the Wind, 1975; Charts, 1973; Telex Moon, 1975; Crossworks, 1979; and Philippine Poetics: The Past Eight Years, 1981.

Bautista obtained his bachelor’s degree in literature at the University in 1963. ELMER B. COLDORA and JOB ANTHONY R. MANAHAN

RARY

9

JUNE 13, 2018

From humble beginnings to National Artist

By ELMER B. COLDORA

Cirilo Bautista in his 40’s

NATIONAL Artist for Literature Cirilo Bautista, who passed away May 6 after a lingering illness, was acclaimed for reinventing epic poetry and the modern retelling in verse of Philippine history, but if there was epic heroism in his life, it was unassuming and humble.

His humility was mentioned in the text of his official proclamation as National Artist in 2014 by President Benigno C. Aquino III. “Ultimately, Bautista is a shepherd who in his little and humble ways, safeguards the national imagination and nurtures aesthetic sensibility of the Filipino Soul,” Proclamation 809 reads. “For Bautista who spent his life writing and teaching, the Filipino poet, true to his artistic legacy, carries the Archipelago forever in his heart.”

Bautista had been suffering from muscle dystrophy, a congenital disease, and earlier this year, was confined at the Philippine Heart Center.

The condition later affected his lungs and the end came on May 6.

He was 76.

Cliché as it may sound, “from humble beginnings come great things” is still a felicitous truism to characterize the life of Bautista. He can be described as someone who went through fire and water before becoming one of the country’s literary titans.

On the ninth of July 1941, Bautista was born to Claro Cruz Bautista and Victoria Manuel Francisco.

His Latin name meant “lord” or “master,” befitting his later renown as a master of the pen.

Growing up in Balic-Balic, Sampaloc in Manila, Bautista sold newspapers and cleaned the soiled shoes of passersby to help his family earn extra income. His father was a foreman in a cigarette factory, while his mother did domestic chores for their neighbors. His sister worked as a wrapper of sweets in a confectionery shop, while his brother served as a draftsman to an architect.

Despite the family’s rather dire economic situation, Bautista was able to prove that poverty was no hindrance to a determined person. He excelled in school.

He finished his primary education at the Legarda Elementary School in 1954, getting a first honorable mention, and his secondary education as valedictorian at Victorino Mapa High School in 1958.

Being an honor student, he was granted an academic scholarship by the University. His stint in UST, during which he became staffer and later the literary editor of the Varsitarian, became his apprenticeship as a writer.

In 1963, he graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English from the old UST College of Liberal Arts.

Bautista taught at the St. Louis University and while there, took up his master’s in Literature that he finished as magna cum laude in 1968. He was awarded an important fellowship at the University of Iowa’s prestigious International Writing Program from 1968 to 1969.

He later taught at De La Salle University where he obtained a doctorate in Language and Literature in 1991.

The poet’s muse While taking his master’s degree at SLU in Baguio, Bautista met Rosemarie who became his girlfriend and later on, his wife. Rosemarie was teaching in SLU, and one time, had to be the substitute teacher for her friend, who also happened to be the professor of Bautista.

Rosemarie, now 79, told the Varsitarian of her first encounter with Bautista.

Honor Guards carry the remains of National Artist for Literature Cirilo Bautista, from the Cultural Center of the Philippines to the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig. Bautista’s departure honors was led by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra’s rendition of Nicanor Abelardo’s “Pahimakas.”

“One day, I was walking on Session Road and I stopped by a cafe where I usually took my snack, and Bautista and a friend were there. That’s the first time we talked,” Rosemarie said. “Then he asked me if he could visit me, so he did, and then he started writing poems for me—very nice simple poems.”

“From that time, we really became good friends.

Afterwards, I told him I was enjoying being his friend, and he said, ‘I’m not interested in being your friend.’ So, he took our relationship to another level.”

Rosemarie said Bautista’s brilliance, sincerity and love for literature were what she liked about him.

“I love literature and that is what attracted me to him—his poems and his letters—aside from the fact that he was a simple, honest and real human being,” she said. “There was nothing fake about him.”

Rosemarie decided to introduce Bautista to his parents, but her mother did not approve.

“My mother likes good-looking guys, like most persons do. He (Bautista) was a very poor man and that’s why my parents could not imagine how I could have a family with him. My parents were very practical as most Cirilo Bautista PAGE 14

Cirilo Bautista’s own translation of his poem, “Cartographer” (In Many Ways, UST Publishing House; 2017). The handwritten version of the poem, dedicated to his wife Rosemarie, was never published anywhere.

10 Lenspeak

JUNE 13, 2018

Acting Editor: Deejae S. Dumlao

Patnugot: Jolau V. Ocampo

IKA-13 NG HUNYO, 2018

Mga akdang bunga ng pagkahenyo ni Bautista sa panitikang Filipino HINDI lamang sa pagsulat sa wikang Ingles napabantog si Cirlio Bautista, Tomasinong Pambansang Alagad ng Sining sa Panitikan, kundi pati na rin ang mismong pagsusulat niya ng mga akda gamit ang wikang pambansa.

Pinakatanyag sa mga ito ang “Galaw ng Asoge” (2004, UST Publishing House), ang kaniyang kauna-unahang nobela sa Filipino at ang “Sugat ng Salita” (1985, De La Salle University Publications), ang kaniyang unang limbag na koleksiyon ng tula sa Filipino.

Kuwento ni Rogelio Mangahas, makata at kritiko, sa komentaryo nito sa “Sugat ng Salita,” “Noong bago magMartial Law, kabilang siya (Bautista) sa mga makata sa Ingles na pumalaot sa literaturang Tagalog na gumagamit ng paraang Mordernista at nagtataglay ng progresibong pananaw.”

Dagdag pa ni Mangahas, malaki ang ambag sa estetika at sensibilidad ng modernistang panulaan ang mabulas at makabagong klasikong pananagalog ni Bautista.

Napatunayan ito sa “Sugat ng Salita” na bumabagtas sa kapangyarihan ng salita sa karanasan ng isang tao gamit na rin ang ilang simbolismong dudurog sa hiraya ng mambabasa. Naglalaman ito ng 46 na tulang lumabas sa tradisiyonal na paraan ng pagsusulat.

May pagkakataong binasag ni Bautista ang karaniwang kaalaman sa simbolismo tulad ng kalapati para sa kapayapaan.

Sa kaniyang tulang “Ang Kalapati Sa Aking Silid,” naging mapangahas ang kaniyang paglalarawan dito na makikita sa sumusunod na taludtod: Ang kalapati sa aking silid / ay asul ang bituka / at isang talampakan ang pilikmata. / Kapag ibinuka / niya ang kanyang pakpak / sa saliw ng dilim / agad babagsak / sa lakas ng hangin / ang tore ni David / guguho tila / sunod na pangarap.

Gumagamit din siya ng

mga konseptong panrelihiyon, na mababasa katulad na lamang sa kaniyang tulang “Upang Maging Diyos,” upang mas mailahad ang saysay ng buhay at kamatayan: at iaalaay mo sa sariling / multo na may ngiping lagare / ang pormula: kunin kainin / Ito ang aking katawan.

Naglalaman din ang koleksiyon ni Bautista ng tulang iniaalay niya sa ilang mga kinikilalang tao. Ilan dito ang “Tagulaylay” para sa pagyao ni Valdemar Olaguer, dating guro sa Ateneo de Manila, at “Unang Salita” para kay Carlos Cortinez, makata mula sa Chile.

Agaw-pansin din ang huling tula nito na “Sugat ng Salita” bunga ng pagtalikod nito sa makalumang anyo ng panulaan na may sukat at tugma.

Gayon pa man, naiparamdam naman ni Bautista ang sakit ng kawalan ng pagkilala sa kabila ng pagtulong sa kapuwa.

Bakas ito sa mga linyang: itawid / doon sa / kabilang / ibayo / sa bundok / na luntian / sapagkat / maulap / magrasya / sapagkat / may awitan / At kapag / naiupo / mo na kami / sa aming / tuyong bukas / ipapako / ka naming sa / kapirasong / kahoy at / ihahagis / sa dagat / Pagmamasdan / ka naming / malunod / mangingisdang / malungkot / sa saliw / ng aming / halakhak.

Naging paksa naman sa kaniyang nobelang “Galaw ng Asoge” ang tunggalian sa pagitan ng sining at pulitika, pulitika at pamilya, pamilya at negosyo, negosyo at dignidad, at dignidad at pagkatao sa buhay ng mga mayayaman at makapangyarihan.

Gumalaw ang asoge (mercury) sa buhay ni Amado Ortiz, ang pangunahing tauhan sa nobela, pangalawang anak ng nabaldadong negosyanteng si Carlos, noong taong 1965. Dahil sa karamdaman ng kaniyang ama na si Carlos, ipinasa niya ito kay Amado sa paniniwala na maisasalba at mapapalago ang kanilang negosyo katulong ang kaniyang panganay na kapatid na si Clara na galing sa

sawing pag-ibig.

Naging patnubay din ni Amado sa negosyo si Ben, isang maralitang makata na mas maalam at matibay ang sikmura sa pakikipagtunggali sa kapalaran.

Bukod kay Amado, kabilang din sa nobela ang ilang tauhan tulad ni Rosario, ang ina ni Amado na itinuturing na may pinakamatatag na paniniwala at paninindigan sa lahat ng mga tauhan; ang magandang iniibig ni Amado na si Mita Gonzales na nagtaksil sa kaniya; at ang mga kaibigang traydor na mag-amang milyonaryo na sina Don Agustin at ang tuso niyang anak na si Angela na dahilan ng pagbagsak ng ilang negosyo ng pamilya sa ibang bansa.

Nagwakas ang nobela nang matagumpay na si Amado sa mga nais niyang mangyari sa kaniyang buhay subalit naging panandalian lamang ito nang mamatay ang kaniyang ama pero pinili pa rin niya na mamuhay nang matiwasay at maligaya sa piling kaniyang ina at mga kapatid.

Ginamit niyang simbolo ang “asoge” bilang gabay sa pakikipaglaban sa buhay ni Amado, ang pangunahing tauhan- mabilis, malikot at hindi mahulaan ang kilos.

Bi nig yang- dii n din sa nobela na hindi kapangyarihan o kayamanan ang nagpapagalaw sa buhay ng tao kundi ang kapangyarihan ng wika ang makapagpabago ng buhay at pananaw ng isang tao dahil kaya ng wikang “gumamot o kumitil, dumagok at humalik, pumuri at sumumpa, ngumata, at lumuwa ng kaligayahan,

humuli at magpakawala sa mga pitpit ng guniguni, manangis at sumayaw sa kalansay ng patay.”

Dinala ni Bautista ang mambabasa sa iba’t ibang tagpuan sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng mayabong na mga paglalarawan ng bawat tagpo ng kuwento. Mahusay niyang naisipi ang kasaysayan at pilosopiya sa bawat pahina ng kaniyang akda.

Sa halos 15 taong pagsusulat ng nobelang ito, naipakita din ni Bautista kung paano at gaano pinahihitik ang kaniyang husay sa pagsulat bunga ng kaniyang masuring pananaliksik.

Nakasalig sa personal na buhay at karanasan ni Bautista ang mga lugar na pinangyarihan ng mga tauhan sa kaniyang nobela. Gayumpaman, nagmula pa rin sa kaniyang orihinal na kathang-isip at malikot na imahinasyon ang kabuuan nito.

Bukod sa mga nabanggit, nailimbag din ang ilang pang koleksiyon ng kaniyang mga tula sa Filipino na “Kirot ng Kataga” (1995) at “Tinik sa Dila: Isang Katipunan ng mga Tula” (2003). ERMA R. EDERA at CHRIS V. GAMOSO

Filipino 11 Usapang Uste

Sex education sa Unibersidad TANGING mga guro lamang ang maaaring mag-aral ng kursong “sex education” sa unibersidad upang ipamahagi ito sa kanilang mga estudyante.

Ayon sa ulat ng Varsitarian noong 1968, sinimulan ito ng UST Graduate School kung saan limitado lamang sa 15 hanggang 20 ang mag-aaral ng kurso na mas nakatutok sa mga guro sa hayskul, kolehiyo at mga propesyong nangangailangan nito.

Nakatuon ang mga aralin tungkol sa mga pagbabago sa panahon ng pagbibinata at pagdadalaga, iba’t ibang pamamaraan upang maging isang responsableng magulang at mga proseso ng paghahanda sa pagpapakasal.

Layunin ng kurso na bigyan ang mga guro ng sapat na kaalaman at epektibong pagtuturo ng anatomiya at pisyolohiya ng reproductive system maging ang biyolohikal, sikolohikal, sosyo-kultural at moral na aspekto nito upang mas mapangalagaan at mabawasan ang suliraning nag-uugat sa seksuwalidad ng isang tao.

Nauukol din ang kurso sa pagtuklas ng seksuwalidad at moral na aspekto ng pakikipagtalik at mga gampanin ng isang babae at lalaki hindi lamang sa kaniyang pamilya kundi pati na rin sa kaniyang komunidad.

Nakipag-ugnayan ang Unibersidad sa Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction at pinangunahan ang mga nangyaring pagtitipon ng mga dalubhasa katulad nina Vicente Rosales, Fernando Hofilena, Miguela Solis at Magin Borrajo.

Tumagal ang nabanggit na kurso ng anim na linggo at idinaraos ito tuwing Lunes, Miyerkules at Biyernes mula 5:30 hanggang 8:30 ng gabi. Naging bukas ito sa publiko tuwing Miyerkules.

Tomasino siya Kinilala si Antonio Adriano hindi lamang sa kaniyang kontribusiyon sa kaniyang larangan ngunit pati na rin sa kaniyang ambag sa Simbahang Katolika.

Nagtapos si Adriano sa degree na Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design noong taong 1972 sa Unibersidad.

Dahil sa kaniyang natatanging ambag sa pagdidibuho, tumanggap siya ng ilang mga parangal tulad ng Most Outstanding Citizen of Makati noong 1990 at Most Outstanding Letran Alumnus noong 1998.

Kabilang din siya sa Board of Interior Designers ng Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).

Usapang Uste PAHINA 5

Mga makasaysayang lugar sa Filipinas, abot-kamay na MAYROON nang mobile application para sa mga makasaysayang lugar sa Filipinas.

Pormal na ipinakilala sa Google Play Store noong ika-6 ng Mayo ang “Panandâ” kasabay ng pagdiriwang ng National Heritage Month.

Ayon kay Eugene Alvin Villar, ang developer ng app, may mga historical marker ng National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) ang mga pook na tampok. Kasapi ng Wiki Society of the Philippines, isang local non-profit organization na nag-aayos ng mga entry ng Wikipedia sa Filipinas, si Villar.

Sa kasalukuyan, naglalaman ng 520 makasaysayang lugar na may kaakibat na mga larawan ang app.

“Puwedeng makita ang mga lugar sa app sa interactive map o sa isang listahan.

Maaari ding markahan ang mga pook ng ‘visited,’” paliwanag ni Villar sa Ingles.

Gumagamit ng GPS ang app, dagdag niya.

Inilabas ang Panandâ sa ilalim ng Sector4F, ang kompanyang pinaglilimbagan ni Villar ng kaniyang likhang websites at iba pang digital creations.

Pinagmulan ng datos Isang paraan ang Panandâ upang maibahagi ang resulta ng patuloy na paglikom ng datos sa naunang dalawang proyekto ng Wiki Society of the

Philippines.

Nagsimula silang mangalap ng impormasiyon noong taong 2014 sa pamamagitan ng Cultural Heritage Mapping Project (CHMP), na naglalayong magsanay ng mga indibidwal upang maitala ang mga pamanang kultural ng Filipinas sa Wikipedia at Wikimedia Commons.

Nang lumaon, itinatag na rin ang Encyclopedia of Philippine Heritage (EPH) na nagmamapa ng mga pananda ng makasaysayang lugar na itinalaga ng NHCP at paglagay nito sa Wikidata, isang database na katumbas ng Wikipedia.

Ayon pa kay Villar, mas maaappreciate ng ang datos ng kasaysayan ng Filipinas kung kaaya-aya ang presentasyon nito, tulad ng gusto nilang gawin sa pamamagitan ng app.

Mga dapat pang asahan Madaragdagan pa ang mga impormasyon na makikita sa Panandâ.

Kasama sa plano ang paglapit sa NHCP upang pormal na makipagtulungan at magkaroon ng kolaborasiyon ang organisasyon ni Villar at ang ahensiya.

Batay sa datos ng NHCP, mayroong apat na pananda sa loob ng Unibersidad: Pananda PAHINA 5

12 Witness

JUNE 13, 2018

THE CLERGY KILLING FIELDS They shoot priests, don’t they?

By NEIL JAYSON N. SERVALLOS and PEARL ANNE M. GUMAPOS

THE BRUTAL killing of Fr. Richmond Nilo last June 10 has added to the toll of slain clerics in the country, a trend that could grow until the Church shows rage against impunity.

Nilo, the parish priest of St. Vincent Ferrer Parish in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, was killed by unidentified gunmen as he was about to celebrate Mass inside the Nuestra Señora de la Nieve Chapel in Brgy. Mayamot in Zaragoza. Nilo was the third priest to be slain in six months.

Jesuit Fr. Albert Alejo, a UST alumnus, lamented how priests have become “too focused” on their traditional roles in parishes and other Church-run institutions that they have lost focus on their brethren priests and grassroots communities.

Alejo said this act of tolerance on the impunity also manifests on some clerics’ lack of concern over attacks on democracy and freedom.

“Why is there no rage? Even in parishes where a number of people have been killed, not much reaction emerges. [T]he Church needs to also confess its own contribution to this mess,” Alejo told the Varsitarian.

“Perhaps, we have not really preached the Gospel as Gospel; instead we have burdened the laity with unhealthy parochialism,” Alejo added.

Nilo was set to face Iglesia Ni Cristo minister Ramil Parba in a debate on August 31 at Freedom Park in Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. The priest was heavily involved in Catholic apologetics.

A week before Nilo’s slay, Fr. Rey Urmeneta of St. Michael the Archangel

Parish in Calamba City survived an attack by two gunmen.

In almost a decade, six priests have been slain in cold blood by armed men.

In March this year, Fr. Aldrin Aganan, a former priest who chose to live as layperson in Masbate, was shot by two unidentified gunmen, who remain at large.

Fr. Marcelito Paez, a retired Thomasian priest and a renowned land reform activist, was shot by motorcycle-riding suspects last December 2017 in Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija.

Thomasian priest Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura was killed by armed men riding a motorcycle after celebrating Mass in Gattaran, Cagayan, last April 29.

The slay of Paez, Ventura and Nilo came amid criticisms by clergymen of the country’s war on drugs. The police, however, has insisted that these were “isolated cases.”

In 2011, Fr. Fausto Tentorio was gunned down while walking inside the Mother of Perpetual Help Parish compound in North Cotabato. Samar native Fr. Cecilio Lucero was caught in an ambush by an armed group of men in 2009.

These priests, according to Diocese of Malolos Judicial Vicar Fr. Winniefred Naboya, were slain because of their mission to serve the poor and oppressed in small villages in distant parts of the country. “[These priests saw] Jesus in the persons of the poor and afflicted, and [found it to be their mission to be] always in their defense and protection,” Naboya said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Naboya said most of these priests were killed due to their involvement in environmental concerns, land reform, oppression of the poor and land-grabbing.

Their memories, however, were blackened by unconfirmed reports from the government that they were involved in corruption and womanizing.

Media reports meanwhile claimed that Lucero, Paez and Aganan’s killings were politically motivated because of the people they were working with.

According to a 2008 report by Olongapo City-based human rights group Preda Foundation, Lucero was linked by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Arroyo reportedly referred to Lucero as “that communist priest” in a speech at a military ceremony at the Catubig Bridage of Samar in June 16, 2008. Prosecutors, however, dismissed the murder case for lack of substantial evidence.

In line with his work as a land reform activist, Paez assisted last year in the movement to release political prisoner Rommel Tucay, the organizer of militant group Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon, who was reportedly arrested by armed men who presented themselves as soldiers.

Aganan, who was relieved of priestly duties a few years prior to his death, served the remainder of his life as political adviser and campaign manager of politician Narciso Bravo Jr., who belonged to a powerful political clan in the first district of Masbate.

Ventura and Tentorio were both anti-

mining advocates and were known for their work in the indigenous communities.

Ventura’s slay was attributed by no less than Duterte to his “illicit affairs” in a May 21 speech during the town fiesta of Tabogon in Cebu, where he showed a matrix with a title page that read, “Shooting to Death of Father Mark Anthony Ventura.”

Police have yet to report any progress on their investigation into these cases.

‘Killing priests unchristian, un-Filipino’ Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas and the diocesan clergy slammed the killing of Nilo and other priests in the country last June 11, saying that killing is “not Christian and not Filipino.”

“Killing is a sin. It is all wrong. This is not Filipino. This is not Christian... The earth, soiled by the blood of Father Mark Ventura, Father Tito Paez, and Father Richmond Nilo, is crying,” the statement read.

“God’s justice be upon those who kill the Lord’s anointed ones. There is a special place in hell for killers. There is a worse place for those who kill priests,” the statement added.

Villegas and his fellow clerics urged Duterte to stop the verbal attacks on the Catholic Church as such kind of persecution “can wittingly embolden more crimes against priests.”

Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, said the CBCP was “deeply saddened and terribly disturbed Clergy PAGE 5

Persecuted priests urged to find inspiration in St. John Paul II’s life

Fr. Joel Jason speaks during the public veneration of St. John Paul II’s blood relic at the Manila Cathedral last May 19.

WITH THE recent killing of priests and persecution of the religious in the country, the Catholic faithful are being urged to emulate Pope St. John Paul II’s example as a man of dialogue, reconciliation and promoter of the dignity of life.

Thomasian seminarian Mark de la Peña, a devotee of St. John Paul II, said the persecution of the Philippine Church is an opportunity to reflect on how the Church can be a real witness to the people of God’s mercy and compassion.

He said the recent experiences of the Philippine Church were comparable to St. John Paul II’s life and victory over persecutions.

“Having experienced the invasion of the Nazis and the oppressive communist regime in Poland, St. John Paul II saw how human life has become cheap in the eyes of others,” he said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

In 1995, St. John Paul II released the papal encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” or “The Gospel of Life,” which rejected threats to the dignity of life such as murder, abortion, euthanasia and death penalty. St. John Paul

II stressed that man possesses an inviolable dignity, being created in the image and likeness of God. During the Mass for Life that followed the second public veneration of St. John Paul II’s blood relic last May 19, Fr. Joel Jason, en expert on on St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, said in his homily that the late pontiff taught the world how to die with dignity, and to turn hardships into redemptive suffering.

He echoed St. John Paul II’s call to defend life from conception to natural death, saying the faithful should uphold the dignity of life amid extrajudicial killings in the country.

“Marami siyang (St John Paul II) sakit [at] kapansanan, pero hindi niya tinatago ang kanyang paghihirap. He believed that the dignity of the human person is never diminished even at the moment of suffering,” he said.

Be a living witness of Christ De la Peña said the assassination attempt on St. John Paull II on May 13, 1981, allowed the late pontiff to testify to the mercy of Christ.

“He believed that he survived that attempt

because God sees fit to make use of him.

Moreover, as he had said always, ‘Nothing happens by chance, all is decided from on high,’” he said.

Stressing St. John Paul II’s belief in God’s will, de la Peña reminded the faithful that criticism and persecution are a Godgiven reminder to be faithful.

“She must pray for her persecutors and offer her sufferings as a worthy prayer to the Lord for the people. In that way, this seemingly bad scenario the Church is in will be positive. Lest we forget also, the Church has experienced worst persecutions before and she survived. This time she will survive again,” de la Peña said.

In a span of six months, three priests in the Philippines have been killed by armed men. Fr. Richmond Nilo was shot dead last June 10 before celebrating Mass in a chapel in Nueva Ecija. Thomasian priest Fr. Mark Ventura was killed by unidentified men last April 30 in Cagayan. Fr. Marcelito Paez was killed in Nueva Ecija last December 2017.

LEXANNE O. GARCIA

JUNE 13, 2018

Cagayan prelate slams Duterte for ‘destroying’ slain priest’s name TUGUEGARAO Archbishop Sergio Utleg has slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s “uncalled for” scandalization of the killing of Thomasian priest Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura, saying Duterte’s besmirching of the young cleric was based on “mere speculations.”

“Puro haka-haka [ang] sasabihin niya (Duterte) sa publiko, I think it’s uncalled for and I think it’s destroying the memory of the good priest,” Utleg told the Varsitarian.

In a speech during the annual town fiesta of Tabongon in Cebu last May 21, Duterte presented a matrix titled “Shooting to Death of Father Mark Anthony Ventura.” It was unclear how the information was produced.

In the presentation was a diagram titled “Possible Motive (Love Triangle),” accompanied with photos of the 37-year-old Ventura with several women. Previous matrices presented by the President were later found baseless and erroneous.

Utleg said the killing of Ventura, who was the parish priest of Gattaran town, was deeply mourned by Cagayan natives.

“We deeply regret [the slay] of Fr. Ventura, he was a dedicated priest, he did not mind himself. He was loved, he was loved by all,” he added.

Utleg said the slain priest was incapable of committing acts that would violate his priestly vows, as Ventura was always away for missions to help the marginalized in the mountains, where there was little to no electricity and technology.

Utleg said Ventura saw the need to administer the sacraments to those who could not regularly receive them in the parish church, which forced him to frequent the Sierra Madre mountain range to build chapels and offer Church services to the faithful living there.

The archbishop said this might have led the President to speculate that Ventura was aiding New People’s Army rebels in the mountains.

“I really regret that the [President] took that stance and hopefully ‘di masira ang memory ng isang tao na napakabait,” Utleg added.

Duterte said the government was not to blame for the priest’s death.

“Then why blame me?

His fellow parish priest is

married to a member of the NPA there in Cordillera... It was the NPA who reported first about his death,” Duterte said in Cebuano during his May 21 speech.

“Look at the matrix. Would you not be killed? You had an affair with the wife of a vice mayor, a police officer, a soldier, a business tycoon. You would really get killed,” Duterte claimed.

Fr. Victor Emmanuel Quintos, Ventura’s friend and a priest in the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao, said that it was “heartless” of the President to conclude “unthinkable” things on Ventura’s life. “[He] should have not said those words. Nobody deserves to die because he did something wrong. And to mar the memory of a dead man, a dead priest, at that is very insensitive,” Quintos told the Varsitarian.

San Isidro Labrador parish priest Fr. Ramiro Geronimo said that instead of focusing on Duterte’s allegations, the archdiocese would dwell on the results of the investigation.

“Alam niyo naman we have a President who is a mad man, ‘di ba?

Uncalled for pa ‘yong ginawa nya.

Lalo na ‘yong pagkabanggit niya because he was invited as a guest speaker doon sa piyesta na ‘yon, tapos ‘yon pa yung sinabi nya,” Geronimo told the Varsitarian.

Ventura was shot dead by armed men riding a motorcycle after celebrating Mass in Gattaran, Cagayan, last April 29.

Reports from Gattaran police showed that the driver of the motorcycle was linked to the murder of a councilor after the 2010 barangay or village

elections. Authorities are now searching for the driver while the gunman remains at large.

Selfless Thomasian priest Friends and colleagues of Ventura still find it hard to believe that he was killed, as he was a dedicated and selfless servant of the poor.

Ventura was the first priest that Archbishop Utleg ordained upon his appointment to the See of Tuguegarao.

The archbishop said his dedication to the missions deep in the Sierra Madre mountains was unmatched by any other priest he knew, even himself.

“I know him as a priest, he is the first priest I ordained, very, very good priest, very friendly, he’s always smiling, [and] he’s dedicated,” Utleg said.

Quintos, Ventura’s classmate in San Jacinto Seminary and in UST, said many Cagayan priests admired his missionary spirit.

“I admire his missionary spirit, his willingness to work with the indigenous people and his love for the poor. He was a very affectionate man. From what I gather, Fr. Mark taught the Aetas how to hug,” Emmanuel said.

Ventura had served as director of the San Isidro Labrador Mission Station at Mabuno village in Gattaran. He was also rector of the St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Lyceum of Appari.

Ventura, who finished his philosophical studies in UST in 2000, was the second priest to be killed in the last six months. Fr. Marcelito Paez, 72, was slain in Jaen, Nueva Ecija also by unidentified gunmen last December 2017.

The killings happened as the Philippine Church marks the Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons, declared by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to begin on Dec. 3, 2017 to and Fr. Mark Anthony Ventura end on Nov. 25, 2018.

LADY CHERBETTE N. AGOT

Catholic nuns oppose deportation of Australian missionary LEADERS of Catholic religious congregations for women in the Philippines have called for the reinstatement of the missionary visa of Australian nun Sr. Patricia Fox and opposed her deportation as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte.

They said that to fight for human rights and for the poor as what Fox had done was part of missionary work and said the Duterte government was picking on the Australian nun because of “misogyny and chauvinism.”

“We again raise our voices in support of the missionary work of Sr. Patricia Fox and all religious who continue to work in the peripheries and all women who stand up against misogyny, chauvinism and the degradation of women,” said the Association of Major Women Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSWP), an influential group composed of the heads of Catholic religious orders, in a statement last May 30.

“We are deeply concerned by the narrow Sr. Patricia Fox

definition of our missionary work,” added the statement of the AMRSWP, headed by Sr. Regina Kuizon, RGS, a journalism alumna of the University of Santo Tomas.

“Service to the poor – lumads, urban poor, farmers, workers, women, children and all who are marginalized – are integral to our missionary work.

They are inextricably linked to our work as religious and consecrated persons. We do not view them as political acts nor interference in the affairs of government,” Kuizon said.

Amid “creeping dictatorship,” they said that they would continue to stand and be in solidarity with all men and women who fight for their own rights and defend democracy.

Emphasizing on their opposition to attacks, humiliation and prejudice against women, they called on everyone to support Fox and other women religious.

“We are women. We are weavers of history. We are nurturers of the Earth. We are givers of life. Babae kami!” the statement added. LADY CHERBETTE N. AGOT

Witness 13

Sanayan lang ang pagpatay Ni FR. ALBERT ALEJO, S.J.

(Para sa sektor nating pumapatay ng tao) Pagpatay ng tao? Sanayan lang ‘yan pare.

Parang sa butiki. Sa una siyempre Ikaw’y nangingimi. Hindi mo masikmurang Tiradurin o hampasing tulad ng ipis o lamok Pagkat para bang lagi ‘yang nakadapo Sa noo ng santo sa altar At tila may tinig na nagsasabing Bawal bawal bawal ‘yang pumatay.

Subalit tulad lang ng maraming bagay Ang pagpatay ay natututuhan din kung magtitiyaga Kang makinig sa may higit na karanasan.

Nakuha ko sa tiyuhin ko kung paanong balibagin ng tsinelas O pilantikin ng lampin ang nakatitig na butiki sa aming kisame At kapag nalaglag na’t nagkikikisay sa sahig Ay agad ipitin nang hindi makapuslit Habang dahan-dahang tinitipon ang buong bigat Sa isang paang nakatingkayad: sabay bagsak.

Magandang pagsasanay ito sapagkat Hindi mo nakikita, naririnig lamang na lumalangutngot Ang buo’t bungo ng lintik na butiking hindi na makahalutiktik. (kung sa bagay, kilabot din ‘yan sa mga gamu-gamo.)

Nang magtagal-tagal ay naging malikhain na rin Ang aking mga kamay sa pagdukit ng mata, Pagbleyd ng paa, pagpisa ng itlog sa loob ng tiyan Hanggang mamilipit ‘yang parang nasa ibabaw ng baga.

O kung panahon ng Pasko’t maraming paputok Maingat kong sinusubuan ‘yan ng rebentador Upang sa pagsabog ay magpaalaman ang nguso at buntot.

(Ang hindi ko lamang maintindihan ay kung bakit Patuloy pa rin ‘yang nadaragdagan.)

Kaya’t ang pagpatay ay nakasasawa rin kung minsan.

Mabuti na lamang at nakaluluwag ng loob Ang pinto at bintanang kahit hindi mo sinasadya At may paraan ng pagpuksa ng buhay.

Ganyang lang talaga ang pagpatay: Kung hindi ako ay iba naman ang babanat; Kung hindi ngayon ay sa iba namang oras.

Subalit ang higit na nagbibigay sa akin ng lakas ng loob Ay ang malalim nating pagsasamahan: Habang ako’y pumapatay, kayo nama’y nanonood.

LAST JUNE 14, I visited the small chapel where Fr. Richmond Nilo was brutally killed. His blood is still sprawling on the elevated portion of the altar. the deep red roses resemble the blood of the martyred priest.

Now, the way the news is directing our minds is toward a religious debate with another church. I don’t buy this. This whole culture of death, or a surplus of cruelty, cannot and must not be reduced isolated acts.

We have been thrust into a social fabric where killing has become a routine. Sinasanay tayo sa patayan. And that is why my poem keeps on reminding us that we must free ourselves from this evil spell.

In my poem, ‘Sanayan lang ang pagpatay,’ I describe the ugly practice of killing, and yet what makes murder worse is the timidity of bystanders. And the whole society at times displays this type of pathology.

The poem is a shorthand for the complex issue of tolerance for violence. Many factors contribute to this---mediatization of violence, routinization of killings as news, trivialization of the death of the poor, etc.

But the Church needs to also confess its own contribution to this mess. Perhaps, we have not really preached the Gospel as Gospel; instead we have burdened the laity with unhealthy parochialism...I attended a meeting of the clergy... There was the comment of a bishop. we priests seem to be too focused on our traditional roles in the parish, in the schools. Despite so many killings, the lay people--and the priests---seem to tolerate the attack on our democratic institutions, on our cultural values, even on our language. Why is there no rage? Even in parishes where a number of people have been killed, not much reaction emerges from below.

Fr. Albert Alejo is a Jesuit priest, anthropologist, artist, activist.

Author of Generating Energies in Mount Apo (social anthropology), Sanayan lang ang Pagpatay (poetry), Ehemplo (anticorruption), among others. Cofounder of Apo Governance and indigenous Leadership Academy. His MTVs, like Meme na Mindana4w (lullaby for peace) are accessible in YouTube. He is also a former Varsitarian Filipino writer.

14 Limelight

Art Director: Shaina Mae L. Santander

JUNE 13, 2018

TOMA N’ SHAN BY MARIYELLA ALYSA A. ABULAD

KWENTO NI MATO BY JOELLE ALISON MAE P. EUSEBIO

TOMAS U. SANTOS BY NATHANAEL JONAS SJ. RODRIGO

Poetry FROM PAGE 8 Dimalanta wrote that the book is both “intellectual and anti-intellectual.”

“The reader is baffled, bewildered, and is oftentimes badly battered, as he struggles through lyric and lore, through a welter of allusions drawn from the poet’s vast readings,” Dimalanta writes.

Baytan, in accordance with Dimalanta, critiqued how Bautista “batters” his readers with his sonic plays and obsession with music.

In “Telex Moon,” Bautista employed a “sonic effect” with “s,” “x,” “c” and “k” sounds: The sex of telex brings the grex an ax, tells exactly the factly lack of lex though in electric stockrooms it is rex; its shocky hair that shakes the air mirific “Sunlight on Broken Stones,” published in 2000

by University of the Philippines Press, suggests hope to the beloved yet broken country of the poet through “straightforward imagery”: Keep the books now the won patrimony all letters not fetters to announce the anthem to the four winds Keep eternal account of our shared griefs and pains gaiety and goals gold lost now recovered birthright returned

Cirilo Bautista FROM PAGE 9 parents are,” she said.

Bautista loved Rosemarie and asked her to be his bride.

When Rosemarie agreed, Cirilo placed in her finger a ring that he borrowed from his friend.

“Anyway, against (my parents’) wishes, I got married,” she said.

Rosemarie bore Bautista a son and two daughters: Nikos, Maria and Laura.

Bautista considered “having wonderful children” as his most significant accomplishment, Rosemarie said.

“He knows how to love greatly and showed it greatly in every way—in his works and in his gestures. He is a very loving man,” she said.

“He has a bad temper at times,

“Broken stones, because our history is in ruins.

Meanwhile, the sunlight is the image for hope,” Teodoro said. “As a poet, he saw all the negative things that transpired in our country. But his trilogy’s ending is still full of hope.”

Dimalanta on Bautista Writing in 2006, the late Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta said readers should be mindful not only of Bautista’s texts but also “subtexts.”

“For Bautista enjoins his readers to read subtexts more than text, read what is not there, which is essentially, the poem,” said Dimalanta (“The Lyric as History,” from The Ophelia A. Dimalanta Reader; UST Publishing House).

In his 2006 poetry collection by the DLSU Press, Believe and Betray, in fact, Bautista asked that one should read “more to the nothing between the silence[s] more than the silence.”

Bautista called Things Happen, published by USTPH in 2014, his “best poetry collection.” Poems in the volume tackle simple things, which the poet takes to another level, said Lua. Lua particularly commended the poem “Style,” which talks about how the young Cirilo saw her mother “mastered” the art of smoking cigarette while doing their laundry: In our village not known for unusual things, it was short of a miracle, the ember not dying in her mouth and her palate not getting burned.

Style is the perfection of design, a habit of usage that strives after elegance, “He has keen perception of the things around

particularly when he cannot write because of noise, but when we had young children, their noise did not bother him.”

Bautista was a teacher all throughout his active life in the institutions that educated him: SLU from 1963 to 1968, UST from 1969 to 1970, and DLSU-Manila from 1970 to 2005.

He was an exchange professor in Waseda University in Japan in 1985 and Ohio University in the United States in 1989. Bautista was also the first recipient of a British Council fellowship as a creative writer at Trinity College in Cambridge in 1987.

Aside from teaching, he was also a co-founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council and a member of major literary writers’ organizations in the country such as Manila Critics

Circle, Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayist and Novelist) and the Philippine Writers Academy.

Bautista also served as a columnist and literary editor of the Philippine Panorama, the Sunday supplement of the Manila Bulletin. He was an associate of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center and a senior associate of the then UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies.

Bautista’s first book, “The Cave and Other Poems,” bagged the second prize for poetry at the prestigious Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 1968.

His next collections won the Palanca first prize: “The Archipelago” (1971), “Charts” (1973), “Telex Moon” (1975) and “Crossworks” (1979).

Also winning first prizes were the short story, “The

him,” said Lua. “It shows that he can turn a lot of things that are ordinary around him into poetry to the level of the sublime.”

What made Bautista even more famous is his versatility in writing; he is also a master of the Filipino language.

Baytan took a swipe at those who knew Bautista only as a writer in English.

“Unfair for people to think that Bautista only writes in English, because he is a bilingual writer,” he said. “I like the videos about him, where they quote his poetry in Filipino or Tagalog because that is the true picture of makata.”

The novel “Ang Galaw ng Asoge” and the poetry collection “Sugat ng Salita” are some of the works written by Bautista in Filipino.

Moreover, Bautista specialized not only in poetry but also in literary criticism. His important work in criticism is “Words and Battlefields: A Theoria on the Poem,” published in 1998 by DLSU Press.

“Words and Battlefields: A Theoria on the Poem,” for Baytan, is “complex” and requires readers to have wide vocabulary.

Teodoro considered Words and Battlefields as Bautista’s “most intellectual work,” a “key contribution” to Philippine poetry.

“I like when he said a poem is not written in a vacuum,” said Teodoro. “His main idea is that poetry is art, a battlefield that you enter because you are wrestling with words.”

Before his death last May 6, Bautista wrote his last poetry collection, “In Many Ways,” published by USTPH last December.

The book is composed of 100 poems, written from 2012 to 2016, which tackle such themes as suffering, pain, war and love.

Ritual (1971),” and the essay, “Philippine Poetics: The Past Eight Years” (1981).

In 1995, Bautista became the first Palanca Hall of Famer for winning at least five firstprizes. Three years later, the third and last part of his Trilogy of Saint Lazarus, Sunlight on Broken Stones, won the Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for poetry.

Published in 1999, “Sunlight” won the National Book Award by the Manila Critics Circle and the Gintong Aklat Award, given by the National Book Development Association of the Philippines.

Bautista not only excelled in the English language; he was also hailed by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino as the Makata ng Taon in 1993 for his poem, “Ulat Buhat Sa Bulkan.”

Bautista’s other poetry collections are “Boneyard Breaking” (1992), “Sugat

ng Salita” (1985), “Kirot ng Kataga” (1995) and “Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems” (2006) and his novel “Galaw ng Asoge” (USTPH, 2004).

Cirilo’s last book, “In Many Ways: Poems 2012– 2016,” was launched at DLSU last January 30.

On April 14, 2014, Cirilo Bautista was proclaimed National Artist for Literature, the highest state honor bestowed on a Filipino who has made significant contributions to the Philippine literature.

He was survived by his children and his wife Rosemarie, who described the poet’s death as “peaceful and without struggle.”

“I held his hands and told him how much I love him, and he gently passed away,” she said. “He died as quietly as he wrote.”. ELMER B. COLDORA

Tigers FROM PAGE 16 players ‘yong plays pero it is all about finishing it,” he said.

Optimistic Aside from four players in the active lineup from last UAAP season’s roster, the Tigers fielded seven rookies that are either transferees or team B players, and returnee Renzo Subido.

With roughly four months left before Season 81, Ayo is confident the team will be ready to compete. “’Yong mga tinrabaho namin for the past four months, malaki ang inimprove.

Laging may progress. Maganda‘yong mga resulta ng practices namin and hopefully before UAAP starts, ma-reach namin ang gusto naming level of play,” he said.

Aside from the Filoil tournament, the Tigers are also looking to play tune-up games in Iloilo and outside of the country for more exposure. JUSTIN ROBERT VALENCIA

Volleyball FROM PAGE 16 Dimaculangan head into the collegiate level next season, the Junior Tiger Spikers will need to rely on tournament best attacker and team captain Lorenz Señoron along with a young core in its bid to defend the crown.

Fernandez, head organizer of the tourney, tapped 17 Manila-based high school teams namely NU, Hope, Arellano University, Batasan Hills National High School, College of St. Benilde, College of St. Benildo, The Cardinal Academy, Golden Treasure Baptist Academy, Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation, Far Eastern UniversityDiliman, Colegio San Juan de Letran, Arellano University and University of the East to compete. MA. ANGELA CHRISTA COLOMA

Editor: Randell Angelo R. Ritumalta

JUNE 13, 2018

Sports 15

Graduating athletes bid farewell to UST

From left to right: Antolihao, Bricenio, Caorte, Dequinan, Guzman and Jose.

SOME graduating student-athletes will opt to get day jobs, while some will continue their sporting careers, this time for the Philippines as part of the national team.

Like two-time UAAP Best Pitcher Mary Ann Antolihao, who will continue her softball career as a member of the RP Blu Girls and is currently training for the USA Softball International Cup on July in California.

The 22-year-old also aims to juggle softball with work as a gym instructor after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Sports and Wellness Management.

“Tapos na ako sa UST kaya para sa Pilipinas naman. Sobrang mahal ko ang softball kaya sabi ko sa sarili ko na hangga’t kaya ko pang maglaro, maglalaro ako kasi ayaw kong sayangin ang mga opportunity na dumarating sa akin,” Antolihao said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Outgoing fencing team captain and international player Noelito Jose will likewise train for the national team, while also considering a coaching career in UST. Simultaneous duties will not be a problem for Jose, an Athlete Scholar of the Year awardee, since his stint as a student-athlete taught him the value of time management.

Jose recalled days when he would attend classes a day after hard-fought trainings and UAAP matches.

“Hindi ko akalain na maaabot ko ‘yong pangarap ko na maging part ng national team at makarating sa 13 different countries dahil sa UST,” he said.

Four-time UAAP athletics champion Sarah Dequinan will make herself available for the Southeast Asian Games

next year.

Dequinan, who is also a graduate of Sports and Wellness Management, aims also to work in the fitness and wellness industry.

For midfielder Marvin Bricenio, building a name for himself as a professional football player is the next goal after his stint with the Golden Booters.

Despite UST failing to secure the championship this year, Bricenio is confident the team is in good hands and will find redemption next season, even without his help.

Meanwhile, beach volleyball standout Kris Roy Guzman and Lady Tennisters team captain Eb-Eb Caorte will take a different path after graduation.

Former UAAP Most Valuable Player Guzman, who just won a Philippine Superliga beach volleyball championship, said he will dedicate his time with family while reviewing for the October 2018 Electronics Engineer Licensure Exam.

“Five years of representing UST in the UAAP molded me to be a hard worker and to keep my feet on the ground. I had my ups and downs in my career as an athlete and it taught me to rise after I fall and come back stronger,” he said.

Caorte, who ended her stint with a championship, said working in government agencies like the Commission on Audit or Bureau of Immigration is her next target after finishing a degree in Communication Arts.

“I learned a lot during my stay in UST, lalo na when it comes to leadership and handling difficult situations.” MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO and MA. ANGELICA D. GARCIA

SciTech

DENR, Aklan LGU caused Boracay mess THE DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the local government unit (LGU) in Malay, Aklan should be held liable for the ecological problems in Boracay Island, an environmental expert from UST said.

Junie Quilatan, the assistant secretary of Mother Earth Foundation and an assistant theology professor, said the DENR and the LGU in Malay, Aklan neglected their duties in conserving Boracay by allowing some establishments to operate without necessary permits such as the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC).

“There are actually many environmental violations [in Boracay] besides pollution and [poor] drainage or sewerage system. Largescale, obvious violations for a very long period of time could have been prevented and violators immediately stopped and penalized if corruption of officials due to greed was not involved,” Quilatan said.

In a Senate hearing last March 2, Sen. Miguel Zubiri said 173 establishments operated in the island without ECC, one of which was the controversial Boracay West Cove, which had neither building permit nor mayor’s permit.

Last April 4, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the 6-month closure and clean-up of Boracay, which started on April 26.

He warned that its situation was a “disaster” and a “tragedy” that could harm the tourism industry on the island.

Known for its white-sand beaches, Boracay attracts more than 2 million tourists and generates P56-billion revenues annually, as per the tourism department and industry.

Data from the Boracay Foundation showed that around 36,000 people working in various activity centers and transport providers in the island can lose their jobs due to the operations shutdown. “[Sen. Loren Legarda] noted that upon assessing the situation, the DENR identified five key problem areas that will be addressed within six months in Boracay. These are:

(1) drainage and sewerage management; (2) solid waste management, (3) forestlands and easement recovery and alienable and disposable lands management, (4) road and transport; and (5) biodiversity conservation, wetlands rehabilitation, and geohazards management,” a Senate press release last April 12 read.

“We have so many environmental laws already such as Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act [of 2003], [which] are not seriously and fully implemented in Boracay and in many parts of our country. Kulang na lang tayo sa Act—action,” said Quilatan.

She said Boracay rehabilitation should be “holistic” as it should consider the situation of the locals in the island, along with regular monitoring, penalization of violators and strict implementation of existing environmental laws.

“Business resorts with the permits, privileges and protection given to them by the LGU have displaced and violated the rights of the Ati community, the indigenous community— the original settlers of the island,” she said. In 2012, the Boracay Ati Tribal Organization expressed their claim of possession of an ancestral land on Boracay as they created a signboard prohibiting trespassers from entering the area, and pleaded to the government to protect their rights as a claimant had warned to dispel them from their land.

Aside from Boracay, the coastal ecosystems of other tourist attractions in the country such as Cebu are also being harmed thus a “national plan” toward sustainable and environment-friendly tourism should be created, she said.

“I firmly believe that environmental and ecological education should be given to our policy makers, law enforcers, government officials, barangay officials and the community so that they will know and understand why the ecosystem should be protected and what human activities can harm and destroy [it],” she added.

Meanwhile, Quilatan said Miguel Fortes, a marine and coastal ecologist from the University of the

Philippines M a r i n e Science Institute, along with a team of local and Japanese scientists during the term of then-president Corazon Aquino, created a “Boracay Master Plan” but such was not implemented.

The Boracay Master Plan is a five-year study on the coral reef ecosystem aimed at showing how tourism activities have damaged Boracay’s coral reefs and proposed that rehabilitation should have already been done long ago to save the reefs. MIGUEL ALEJANDRO A. HERRERA IV and BEATRIZ AVEGAYLE S. TIMBANG

Sports

JUNE 13, 2018

New-look Tigers disappoint in Filoil Cup

Tiger Joshua Marcos and Heavy Bomber Justin Padua battle for the loose ball in their game last May 15.

RHENWIL JAMES G. SANTOS

IF THE Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup is any indication, nothing much has changed with the newlook UST Growling Tigers despite having one of the best coaches in college basketball.

The Tigers ranked eighth out of nine teams in Group B of the preseason cup, the team’s first tournament with coach Aldin Ayo, who was hired from De La Salle University five months ago.

“Maraming weaknesses pa, kulang sa fundamental skills at conditioning,” Ayo told the Varsitarian. “We are [focusing] more on the small details muna. Hindi pa namin iniisip ‘yong results ng games.”

The team only garnered two wins out of eight games and suffered a four-game skid halfway through the tournament.

After the Tigers’ breakout win against Jose Rizal University last May 15, they lost the next four against Adamson University, College of Saint Benilde, Far Eastern University and Lyceum of the Philippines University before hacking out a win against Arellano University in their last game.

Taking care of the basketball is still one of the main problems of the newlook Tigers, averaging 19.6 turnovers throughout their last five games. They also gave up 90 points off turnovers.

UST also shot the ball poorly from the outside, notching a measly32 percent from the three-point area.

Their early struggles are also partly because they have yet to practice with a complete roster and frontcourt.

Bigman Steve Akomo did not play a single game in the tournament due to a knee injury while returnee Embons Bonleon only suited up in the last two games after a shoulder injury.

The lack of big men left the team’s paint defense thinner.

Akomo averaged 11.4 points, 13.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game last UAAP season.

The Tigers were forced to play 6’2” wingmen Zachary Huang and Nat Cosejo at center.

Ayo also lamented the team’s lack of physical toughness and inability to score on designed plays.

“Alam naman na ng Tigers PAGE 14

UST girls’ team wins inaugural Invitational Volleyball Meet

AFTER claiming the inaugural UST Invitational Volleyball Tournament title in the girls’ division and a fourth-place run in the boys’ division, UST’s junior volleyball teams will shift their focus on preparing for Season 81.

The Junior Golden Tigresses avenged their only loss in the tourney with a 23-25, 25-13, 27-25, 25-21 drubbing of Hope Christian School to claim the title last May 20 at the UST PadreNoval court.

Three days earlier, UST absorbed an 18-25, 20-25 beating from Hope.

Girls’ team assistant coach Ian Fernandez said the tournament showed the team’s strengths as it prepares to snap the four-year reign of rivals Nazareth School of National University (NU) Lady Bullpups in the UAAP. “Marami tayong service ace, kaya laking tulong ‘yon kasi extra points at hindi ka na gagawa sa opensa. Nandoon na rin ‘yong blockings; ngayon kasi mayroon kaming point block at block check. Sa block check, once na-reretrieve ‘yong bola, nakakapag-set ng combo and nakakapag-atake nang mabilis,” Fernandez told the Varsitarian in an interview.

NU did not join the tournament and instead fielded players for the Balipure-NU Water Defenders in the Premier Volleyball League.

Incumbent players delivered in the tournament for UST as Renee Penafiel was awarded with the Most Valuable Player (MVP) plum. Bernadette Pepito and Tanya Narciso won best digger and best setter awards, respectively.

The lack of pre-season tournaments with formal officiating in the juniors’ division was the motivation behind the competition.

In boys’ play, defending UAAP champions Junior Tiger Spikers fell short in a tight 16-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-15, 17-19 battle-for-third clash against NU’s team B pool last May 20.

Head coach Clarence Esteban attributed the dismal finish to the team’s poor defense.

“Kailangan naming mag-improve sa defensive side, ‘yong reception and blocking namin, para mas madali ‘yong laro para sa amin.

Kapag wala kasi ‘yong depensa, hindi kami makaka-score nang maayos,” Esteban said.

To add to the Junior Spikers’ misery, UAAP finals MVP and best opposite hitter Jaron Requinton missed the tournament due to dengue fever in what could have been his last stint with the juniors’ team.

As Requinton and spiker Efraem Volleyball PAGE 14

Junior Tigress Mary Joyce Abueg spikes the ball through two Hope Christian School defenders.

ANN MARGARET DE NYS

Clarino brothers battle out in UAAP football finals

ASIDE from being finalists in the UAAP Season 80 football tournament, the UST Golden Booters and the University of the Philippines (UP) have another thing in common – the Clarino surname.

Golden Booter Gino Clarino and his brothers Ian and Miggy from UP battled it out in the UAAP championships last May 3.

The duo from Diliman ultimately had the last laugh a s eventual Most Valuable Player Ian

nailed the game’s lone goal in the 21st minute en route to the team’s 18th title.

Football is not an unfamiliar territory for the three youngest siblings in the family, having been introduced by their five older brothers and a sister to the sport.

Aside from Gino, Ian and Miggy, four others competed in the UAAP. Gino and Ian said being part of a family of football players is “overwhelming,” but gave credit to their parents for their support.

“Na-overwhelm kami na kilala kami as a football family. But then, tine-take namin siya as something positive,” Gino told the Varsitarian in an interview.

With nine out of 11 children playing football, it was not hard to imagine the competitive vibe swarming the household. Although this year’s encounter by the three brothers had a lighter mood. “[Before], si Ian umiyak kasi he needed to prepare for the game pero sinisira ng mga kapatid ko ang concentration niya. Sobrang bad vibes lang sa bahay,” Gino said. “[Pero] before the game this year, nagba-bonding pa nga kami, we were playing games bago kami umalis ng bahay.”

Aside from Gino, older siblings Aljo, Ginnie and OJ once competed for UST, while Popoy was the first Clarino sibling in UP. Roots Their interest in football began with elder brothers Aljo and Popoy, whom the three considered as their very first coaches.

Their father, Randy, supported the three to enroll in the Marist School football clinic and

were mentored by coach Frank Muescan from preparatory to grade school.

From there, the brothers developed the fundamentals of the sport and tried out for different schools.

Gino was part of Ateneo de Manila University’s junior football team until 2012, while Ian and Miggy played for the Junior Golden Booters in UST until 2013 and 2015, respectively.

Come college, Ian and Miggy transferred and took up Bachelor of Physical Education while Gino took up Architecture in UST. “[N]oong third year high school ako, nakita ko kung paano maglaro ang UP at ‘yong passion ni coach [Anto Gonzales]. Doon talaga nag-start [na magustuhan],” Ian said.

With Ian and Gino out of the UAAP, their focus now is on their respective professional clubs – Gino trains for Stallion Laguna FC while Ian had signed a contract with the Davao Aguilas FC. Miggy, meanwhile, plans to exhaust his two remaining years in the UAAP before trying his luck in flying school. JAN CARLO ANOLIN and IVAN RUIZ L. SUING