The Varsitarian P.Y. 2017-2018 Issue 11

Volume XC, No. 11 • July 21, 2018 THE OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF SANTO TOMAS Manila, Philippines

MOVED WITH COMPASSION. Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle embraces Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David during the turn over of funds raised for the orphaned children of Jennifer and Ryan Taburada who were both brutally killed in Caloocan City. The funds were collected in a Mass on July 19, the second day of the 5th Philippine Conference on New Evangelization at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion.

ENRICO MIGUEL S. SILVERIO

Clergy urged: live up to faith amid killings “

Martyrdom is not about dying for a cause. It is about living out one’s faith no matter if it could mean suffering and death.

”

Caloocan Bishop Pablo David

AN ESTIMATED 2,000 members of the clergy and religious were urged to continue living up to the faith amid the recent clerical killings and persecution in the country, during the 5th Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization (PCNE) held at the University from July 18 to 21.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo

4 programs receive Asean University Network quality stamp FOUR undergraduate programs of the University have received the coveted Asean University Network (AUN) Quality Assurance (QA) seal.

UST’s biochemistry, chemical engineering, electronics engineering and nursing programs were granted certifications after an institutional assessment last April by the AUN, an organization of Southeast Asian universities.

Last March, UST’s elementary and secondary education, pharmacy and medical technology programs were granted certifications In August 2017, the accountancy, biology, chemistry and psychology programs of the University received AUN certifications, placing them at par with the best universities in the region.

UST joined the three top Philippine universities, the University of the Philippines (UP), Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University in the AUN in January 2016 when it became an associate member.

Asean PAGE 14

service was beyond upsetting. The cruelty that I had to go through in his hands was nothing compared with the sanction he’d be receiving,” said Arcena, 20, in an online interview.

Viray declined to comment, but told the Varsitarian that he would give a statement after getting in touch with his lawyer.

Viray was found guilty of “inflicting injuries, physical or otherwise, on another person, whether inside or outside the campus,” she said.

Members of the Student Welfare and Development Committee of the College of Science themselves acknowledged that under the Manual of Regulations for Private Higher Education issued by the government, the appropriate penalty for violent or destructive behavior is “exclusion.”

The May 8 resolution of the

OFFICIALS and student leaders of the country’s pontifical and Catholic university slammed President Rodrigo Duterte for calling God “stupid,” saying it was uncalled for and unbecoming of the highest official in the land.

Fr. Napoleon Sipalay Jr., O.P., prior provincial of the Dominican Province in the Philippines and UST vice chancellor, said Duterte must learn to “respect the sensitivity of people’s faith.”

“The Office of the President is the office of authority and it’s an office [that keeps] the order of law. It must respect the sensitivity of people’s faith. [F]or me, it’s unbecoming for a president to make that comment,” Sipalay told the Varsitarian in an interview on June 27.

Duterte had earned widespread condemnation from religious leaders and lawmakers for his remark on June 22 that God was “stupid” for allowing Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, which caused their banishment from the Garden of Eden.

The President, a graduate of Catholic schools Ateneo de Davao and San Beda College, mocked the doctrine of original sin and the practice of hanging crucifixes to remind the faithful of Christ’s sacrifice.

Sipalay said Duterte’s position did not give him to right to “trample on people’s faith” and point fingers at those not living up to it.

“He may have the high office, but he has no right to trample on people’s faith.

We all have our weaknesses. But it doesn’t [allow] us to point fingers at others who aren’t keeping the faith,” he said.

The prior provincial said Catholics “should not just simply stand at the side and watch,” and should be vocal on national and Church issues.

On the government’s proposal for a dialogue with Catholic Church leaders and other religious groups, Sipalay said: “I believe President Duterte has well-meaning advisers. The one who hurts will be the one

Abuser PAGE 3

Duterte PAGE 2

Virgilio David, in a strongly worded homily delivered on the second day of PCNE, said religious life has no room for the fainthearted.

“If a priest is murdered because he is defending human rights, speaking out on environmental protection, protecting the victims of rape and defending the Catholic faith, and he dies and his death causes

you discouragement instead of inspiration, then I advise you to forget about the priesthood,” he said.

David, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), urged the clergy not to despair, saying the slain priests were martyrs who chose to live out their faith PCNE PAGE 12

Victim decries UST’s leniency toward alleged abuser A UST biology student has come out in the open to decry the leniency extended by University authorities to her ex-boyfriend, a fellow student, who allegedly inflicted multiple physical abuse on her earlier this year.

A student discipline committee took a “compassionate approach” and did not expel biology student Kyle Viray even if he was found guilty of violating the Student Code of Conduct and Discipline, said the victim, Diane Arcena.

Arcena told the Varsitarian that Viray was merely asked to render 250 hours of community service as a condition for the release of his graduation credentials, and then barred from attending the solemn investiture or graduation rites of the College of Science. “[T]he fact that he was only sanctioned 250 hours of community

UST officials, student leaders hit Duterte for calling God ‘stupid’

2 News

Editor: Maria Crisanta M. Paloma

JULY 21, 2018

UST wins 5th ‘School of the Year’ in Quill Awards THE UNIVERSITY was named School of the Year for the fifth straight year in the 6th Philippine Student Quill Awards, which recognizes outstanding communication-related works by students from all over the country.

UST bagged the title with 36 wins, beating De La Salle-College of St. Benilde and UST Angelicum College, Inc. in Quezon City, De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, Bataan Peninsula State University and Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Manila.

Winning entries were produced by the Flame of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, Tomasian Cable Television, TomasinoWeb and communication arts and journalism students.

UST’s official student paper, The Varsitarian, brought home five Awards of Excellence and seven Awards of Merit this year.

Asst. Prof. Jose Arsenio Salandanan, chairman of the University’s Communication and Media Studies department, said UST’s fifth win should not allow students to be complacent, and instead inspire them to “go back to the drawing board.”

“We heard that the competition was tougher this year so we feel so humbled and honored that we got our fifth School of the Year Award. But as I say, we are only as good as our last campaign.

We go back to the drawing board and plan for next year,” Salandanan told the Varsitarian in an interview.

The Philippine Student Quill is the junior division of the prestigious Philippine Quill Awards, which recognizes private corporations FIVE-PEAT.’ UST receives the School of the Year Award with its 36 wins in the 6th Philippine Student Quill Grand Ballroom in Pasay .

and government organizations that excel in business communication.

The Student Quill follows a rigid sevenpoint scoring system set by the International Gold Quill Awards given to top corporations across the globe.

The awarding ceremonies took place at the Mariott Grand Ballroom in Pasay on July 9.

ELECTED negotiators of recent election for CBA negotiation,” the letter read.

The event was organized by the Philippine the UST Faculty Union negotiators, said Lim did A SENA filed with chapter of the International Association of (USTFU) for the 2016 to not go through the process the DoLE seeks to provide Business Communicators, a global network of 2021 collective bargaining of election as required by a “speedy, impartial, about 15,500 business communicators in 80 agreement (CBA) with the the union’s constitution and inexpensive and accessible” countries. CHRISTIAN DE LANO M. DEIPARINE University administration by-laws. settlement procedure on and HANNAH RHOCELLHYNNIA H. CRUZ

CBA negotiators bring complaint vs faculty union president to DoLE

Ex-UST rector points out who’s really the ‘stupid one’ FORMER UST rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. has lashed out at leaders who refuse to be held accountable for their actions and deflect criticisms through “a relentless hero complex and scapegoating.”

In a column Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. published in the Manila Bulletin last July 1, de la Rosa said these leaders, whom he did not name, blame others for their wrongdoings in the form of scapegoating to “ease the burden of guilt and accountability.”

“A leader with a hero complex finds it difficult to assume responsibility over his mistakes. His logic goes: ‘I am good. How can these people say I am flawed and defective? I am destined for greatness,’” he wrote.

De la Rosa said this irresponsible attitude is fuelled by the “hero worship” the leaders receive from “relatives, friends, political sycophants, and social media trolls.”

“His supporters and apologists devote their time planning, scheming, gaming, jockeying for advantage in order to convince the world that it is the people who are defective, not the leader.

Attention is then shifted away from the leader’s inability to govern himself to his self-appointed role as a social critic,” he said.

The former Varsitarian Witness (Religion) editor warned that a leader’s loss of credibility due to his “stupid decisions” and unfulfilled promises would cause a “ripple effect” among the poor, triggering a withdrawal of support for the leader.

“Perhaps decades of misery will finally force the poor to say: ‘I am not stupid. Why should I continue to support a leader who is thoroughly bogus and is only good at exploiting my gullibility?

Enough is enough!’” he said. SAMANTHA-WEE LIPANA

have taken to the labor department their complaint questioning the inclusion of union president Dr. George Lim as chairman of the negotiating panel.

In a Single Entry Approach (SENA) filed before the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on June 26, lawyer Jose Ngo Jr., who got the highest votes in the

“We are questioning your qualification as member of the panel because you are not elected as such. The will of the USTFU members was clearly shown in the result of the elections for USTFU panel of negotiators. Your continuing disregard and disrespect of the will of the general members, we are afraid, is the very reason that will delay the CBA

issues concerning labor relations, to prevent fullblown disputes.

In a letter dated June 21, Lim threatened to sack the elected negotiators for causing “unnecessary delay” after they did not honor his call for a CBA panel meeting.

The five negotiators staged a walkout after CBA PAGE 3

De Lima seeks protection of campus journalists from harassment SEN. LEILA de Lima wants the Campus Journalism Act of 1991 repealed to protect campus journalists against harassment and intimidation for their critical stances on school and national issues.

In a statement, the detained lawmaker said she had filed Senate Bill 1868 to amend Republic Act 7079 or the Campus Journalism Act for its “serious flaws and deficiencies.”

“The campus press is expected to uphold the interest of the students and the Filipino people, such as the incessant and unabated tuition and other fee increases, repressive student policies, human rights violations, disregard for national sovereignty, corruption in government, and various assaults to the rights of the people,” de Lima said.

De Lima, a known critic of President Rodrigo Duterte,

said some student journalists had been subjected to harassment and intimidation for protesting school programs or policies “at the expense of the best interest of the studentry.”

De Lima’s bill wants programs and projects that will empower student journalists, to provide them with a “consistent and reliable source of funds” and indepth training to help campus journalists assess the content of their campus papers.

“By repealing the present law, and replacing it with a law that genuinely upholds campus press freedom, we can once again reclaim campus journalism as it once were – an unbiased, untainted avenue of self-expression, critical and creative thinking, and a beacon of nationalism and democracy,” de Lima said.

In April, the Bedan

Roar, the official student publication of the Senior High School of San Beda University in Manila, said its school administration halted the release of 1,700 copies of its magazine for “not passing the school’s standards” and for being “too negative” for the school community.

The magazine’s cover showed President Duterte sitting atop the victims of his war on drugs, against a red backdrop of newspaper headlines on illegal drugrelated killings.

“The students of The Bedan Roar did what any true Bedan would do. Nay, what a true Filipino patriot would do.

They called out the threat of a tyrant. They let him know they are here and that they will not stand for his abuses,” de Lima said in her dispatch letter from Camp Crame in April. JOB ANTHONY R. MANAHAN

Awards last July 9 at the Mariott

MARK DARIUS M. SULIT

Duterte FROM PAGE 1 who heals.”

University Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. said the incident was a challenge for clergymen and schools to improve catechesis.

“It is disconcerting to say the least but this occasion challenges us to do better in the area of catechesis. We [will] continue to accomplish the task given to us by God [in] the best way we can and to find joy in our faith, for the best way to address unbelief is through the life that we live,” Dagohoy told the Varsitarian.

Central Student Council (CSC) Executive Board officers also denounced Duterte’s remarks as “blasphemous and disrespectful” in a predominantly Catholic nation.

“The statement ‘God is stupid’ may be uncalled for and is utterly disrespectful…the true nature of God cannot easily be comprehended by the human mind,” CSC President Francis Gabriel Santos told the Varsitarian.

Public Relations Officer Jeanne Nicole Naval said leaders should be accountable for what they say, keeping in mind other people’s beliefs.

“As individuals, mayroon tayong kaniya-kaniyang beliefs, but as a president, binigay mo (Duterte) na [‘yung] sarili mo sa mga tao, so you should be responsible sa lahat ng sasabihin mo,” she said.

Santos said the issue opened another avenue for the Church to improve the way it teaches the Catholic faith.

“Thomasians must be discerning on what is the nature of God, who is God. ‘Di ba it brings to the question, paano ba natin makikilala si Lord or ano ba ‘yong mga paraan para makilala si Lord? Doon papasok ang role ng Church and ng University and even the theology professors,” the political science major said.

EUGENE DOMINIC V. ABOY, O.P., LEXANNE O. GARCIA, PEARL ANNE M. GUMAPOS, SAMANTHA WEE LIPANA and JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA

Assistant Editor: Hannah Rhocellhynnia H. Cruz

News 3

JULY 21, 2018

Atio’s parents to present evidence vs law dean

THE PARENTS of hazing victim Horacio “Atio” Castillo III has bared plans to present new evidence before the Department of Justice (DOJ) after it upheld its decision last July 18 to clear Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina and other alumni of the Aegis Juris Fraternity.

In a text message to the Varsitarian, Carmina Castillo, Atio’s mother, confirmed that their petition for review filed on April 19 was junked because it was late, as stated in a resolution by the Justice department dated July 5.

The Castillo camp is accusing Divina, who was not involved in the hazing, of negligence. “[The petition] was dismissed because it was filed way beyond the period allowed by law, nothing else. I should say this resolution is actually favorable on our part since we can now file a new complaint with new evidence. A new preliminary investigation,” she said.

The petition questioned the March 6 resolution that indicted 10 Aegis Juris fratmen over the hazing death of the 22-year-old law freshman last September, and cleared Divina and 23 other members of the Aegis Juris Fraternity for lack of probable cause and evidence.

Heavy rains caused by Typhoon Henry flood areas in the University. Classes and office work were suspended for a few days.

HAZEL GRACE S. POSADAS

Schools urged to be ‘innovative’ amid decline in enrollees due to K-12 reform UNIVERSITY Secretary General Fr. Jesus Miranda Jr., O.P. said private schools should pursue innovations but remain anchored on the basics, amid the drop in enrollees due to the implementation of the K to 12 curriculum.

In his opinion piece published in the Sunday edition of The Manila Times on July 15, Miranda urged schools to be more “explorative and daring” in offering programs that would attract more students.

“These trying times call for tough decisions on the part of private tertiary educational institutions. Schools need to be more creative, explorative and even daring as regards possible offering of programs to attract more students and arrest the downslide of enrollment.

However, trying times also call for the organization to be

Abuser FROM PAGE 1

committee, Arcena said, justified the leniency by saying that Viray was a graduating student and that it was his first offense.

It admonished Viray to “faithfully observe the core values of the University and to act in accordance with the principles, traditions and ideals of the Catholic Church.”

Hematoma Viray came under heavy fire on social media over the weekend when a series of tweets revealed the incidents of physical and emotional abuse he allegedly committed against Arcena.

Arcena herself posted photos showing hematoma

strongly moored on the basics once again,” he said.

Innovations can keep schools “afloat financially and morally” by investing on quality faculty members, researchers and students, UST’s secretary general said.

“Institutions need to spend time and effort to get the best teachers, school personnel, researchers and even students.

They have to formulate the best policies and to make sure that these are implemented,” he said.

Miranda also stressed that good leadership and management of schools translate to quality education as it “provides the vision, sets values and models the behavior that makes a desirable culture.” “[Good leadership] crystalizes the value proposition of a school, which on parts of her body after a receiving a beating from Viray. She did not name Viray until her interview with the Varsitarian.

The beatings, she said, took place on Dec. 18 of last year and on Feb. 21, March 2 and 23 this year.

“I kept silent for so long and was afraid to speak up because of the trauma. It haunted me every day and even in my sleep.

But I couldn’t keep silent knowing that if I do, there could be others out there who could be victimized as well by his horrendous acts,” Arcena said.

She decried the committee’s decision as a slap on the wrist, adding that Viray’s actions constituted a criminal offense.

“I understand that the University is trying to uphold their values but

would make potential students and their parents be convinced that they would want to be a part of the school and its vision.

[I]n the end, good leadership in schools means good quality education. People are willing to pay for what is good,” he said.

Schools should not veer away from the basics of managing educational institutions, he stressed.

“In these trying times, while it is important to soundly manage again schools, school leaders must also give a hard look on investing in leadership.

Innovations may be a necessity, but it will be regrettable to ignore the basics at one’s own expense,” Miranda said.

The K to 12 curriculum required two additional years in secondary education, cutting enrollment in college programs

this is a major offense and I strongly believe that our case should have not been taken lightly. Even the acts committed qualify as a violation of the AntiViolence Against Women and Children Act of 2002,” she said.

In a letter dated April 2, Arcena’s mother Natividad Cariaga, a physician, appealed to Science Dean Donnie Ramos to impose due disciplinary action on Viray and ensure protection for her daughter.

Arcena said she had the incidents of beating put in the blotter of a police station in Sampaloc, Manila on the same day the letter was sent to Ramos.

Another ex-girlfriend of Viray, also a Thomasian, suffered the same treatment from him, she said.

“One of his exes already reported him to

Divina cleared of charges The petition, however, was filed 35 days after the resolution was released and 20 days past the 15-day period imposed by the National Prosecution Service.

Divina told the Varsitarian he was “happy” that his name was cleared again, and said he wanted “peace and discernment” for the parties involved in the hazing case.

“I am happy to be once again vindicated, this time by the [DOJ], considering there is really no legal or factual basis to include me in the charges,” he said in a text message.

The Justice department also denied the petition of Ralph Trangia, one of the fratmen tagged in Atio’s death, for non-compliance with requirements.

By the order of the Manila Regional Trial Court, the Aegis Juris fratmen charged with the violation of Anti-Hazing Law were transferred to Manila City Jail last May 23, two months after they voluntarily surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation.

Aside from Trangia, the others charged for the hazing death were 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. M. DE JEMEL and J. A. R. MANAHAN

CBA FROM PAGE 2

Fr. Jesus Miranda Jr., O.P..

for the years 2016 to 2022.

Freshmen enrollees in the University totalled 13,578 students during Academic Year 2015 to 2016, but went down to 4,121 enrollees in Academic Year 2016 to 2017, the first year of implementation of the K to 12 curriculum. MAREM A. DE JEMEL

the Student Welfare and Development Committee and guidance counselor of [the College of] Science during the time that she was being abused,” Arcena said.

The Office for Student Affairs and the Office of Public Affairs have yet to issue any statement on the matter as of writing.

Sandra Yvonne Faune, Arcena and Viray’s mutual friend and classmate, said she was asked by the discipline committee about the couple’s relationship. “[Before the beatings], okay sila, like the usual couple na makikita mo.

[They were] sweet, sabay pumasok or umuwi, magkatabi sa class lagi… hindi ko exactly alam bakit biglang naging ganoon relationship nila,” Faune told the Varsitarian.

Faune said Arcena still

USTFU Treasurer Joyce Tan moved for the approval of the resolution naming Lim as head of the negotiating panel in a meeting last May 31.

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.” JULIA CLAIRE L. MEDINA

came to class and thesis meetings after the beatings.

“She usually comes to class na naka-jacket.

Makikita mo lang `yung sa neck niya, akala lang namin noon allergy lang,” she added.

Beyond the deadline Another classmate, Hannah Sinarimbo, said the investigation hearing was “unfair” as the committee allowed Viray’s camp to submit his written explanation beyond the deadline.

“Isang araw lang nangyari `yung hearing.

First `yung side namin then `yung kabila na late pa dumating. Tapos nalaman namin na late pala nag-submit `yung side nina Viray ng counterstatement.

Samantalang in-extend na `yung time para sa kanila na magpasa

kasi nu’ng first na deadline wala pa rin,” she said.

Camie Buan, a friend of Arcena, said she was supportive of the relationship at first but got furious when she found out about the abuse.

“There were times when I couldn’t help it, I would message Kyle about it and he would reason out that he loved Kim so much that sometimes, [he said], nawawala siya sa sarili niya,” she said. KATRINA ISABEL C. GONZALES With reports from MIGUEL ALEJANDRO IV A. HERRERA Editor’s Note: The publication is withholding the release of extremely sensitive details of the case, with the welfare of the victim in mind.

4 Opinion

JULY 21, 2018

Editorial

It’s Duterte who’s stupid IT’S A SHAME for a predominantly Christian country to have a president who fosters the culture of violence, peddles lies, and calls God “stupid.”

Apparently wanting to take a potshot at Catholic bishops, clergy and religious who have protested his strong-arm tactics, hate speech, and anti-poor policies, he called God stupid for allegedly allowing Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree thus causing their banishment from the Garden of Even.

But it is President Duterte who’s really stupid.

Not realizing he was the embodiment of the Gospel injunction against looking at the speck of sawdust in the eye of another, but paying no attention to the plank of one’s own, he committed the oversight that the Genesis story is believed not only by Catholics but also by non-Catholic Christians, some of whom form part of his wobbly political base.

As a result of Duterte’s mockery of the doctrine of the original sin, many non-Catholic Christians not only have distanced themselves from him, but also abandoned him altogether. His spokesman, Harry Roque Jr, tried to arrest the erosion of support for his boss and, trying to strike the pose of an Iglesia ni Cristo minister but ending up much like Hannibal Lecter posed for one his delicious serial kills, defended the President, saying Duterte was entitled to express his own opinion on religion. Roque thus reaffirmed that Duterte has the right to ridicule Christianity and even Islam, since even Muslims accept the Old Testament.

We must therefore correct our headline. It’s not Duterte alone who’s stupid, but also Roque.

But Filipinos, especially Catholics, should not take lightly Duterte’s blasphemy. The Varsitarian shares the view of the pastoral message last June of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, in which he wrote that the attacks to the Church were similar to what happened in the High Middle Ages when St. Thomas Becket was murdered by blind fanatics of King Henry II, who had called the archbishop of Canterbury a “meddlesome priest.” The big difference, however, is that King Henry II became penitent for the murder while the “king” in this country “remains undisturbed.” He even encourages violence, allows thousands of killings and declares he killed four persons while he was mayor of Davao.

Editorial PAGE 14

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, Marem A. De Jemel, Katrina Isabel C. Gonzales, 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, Theresa Clare K. Tañas, Justin Robert Valencia Special Reports Lady Cherbette Agot, Ma. Consuelo D.P. Marquez, Arianne Aine D. Suarez Features Louise Claire H. Cruz, Daphne Yann P. Galvez, Sherwin Dane Zauro C. Haro, Julia Camille B. Ocaya Literary Karl Ben L. Arlegui, Elmer B. Coldora, Francis Agapitus F. Braganza Filipino Joselle Czarina S. Dela Cruz, Erma R. Edera, Chris V. Gamoso Witness Eugene Dominic V. Aboy, Lexanne O. Garcia, Pearl Anne Gumapos Science and Technology Miguel Alejandro IV A. Herrera, Beatriz Avegayle S. Timbang Circle Klimier Nicole B. Adriano, Kathleen Therese A. Palapar, Lyon Ricardo III M. Lopez Art Mariyella Alysa A. Abulad, Nikko A. Arbilo, Blessie Angelie B. Andres, Rocher Faye R. Dulatre, Joelle Alison Mae Eusebio, Marie Kloi Ledesma, Nathaniel Jonas Rodrigo, Jury P. Salaya, Rica Mae V. Soriente Photography Hazel Grace Posadas, Miah Terrenz Provido, Maria Charisse Ann G. Refuerzo, Michael Angelo M. Reyes, Rhenwil G. James Santos, Enrico Miguel S. Silverio,Mark Darius M. Sulit, Jose Miguel Sunglao, Genielyn Rosario M. Soriano, Mary Jazmin D. Tabuena, 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.

Ang luwalhati’t dalamhati ng pagsasalin NAKASALALAY marahil ang kinabukasan ng panitikan ng Filipinas sa lumalawak na kultura ng pagsasalin. Ang patuloy na paghimok sa mga mangangatha na subukan ang naturang gawain ang isa sa mga tagumpay ng pamamahagi ng mga pirasong kultural ng iba’t ibang bansa.

Lubos na nakagagalak kung gayon na nakasuporta ang Unibersidad sa ganitong simulain sa pamamagitan ng pagkikipagugnayan sa Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) upang maitatag ang Sentro ng Pagsasalin sa loob ng kampus.

Iminumungkahing pamunuan ito ng mga premyadong dalubguro na mayroong sapat na kasanayan sa pagsasalin ng mga akdang pampanitikan at akademiko.

Sa pamamagitan ng paglagda sa isang memorandum of understanding, mapalalawig ang mga layunin ng sentro tulad ng patuloy na paghasa sa kasanayan ng mga tagasalin sa pamamagitan ng mga palihan. Kasama rin dito ang pagdaragdag ng mga proyektong pampananaliksik na may kaugnayan sa wika at panitikan.

Gayunpaman, masasabing hindi pa lubos ang kahandaan ng kahit sinong tagasalin kung hindi mauunawaang mabuti ang luwalhati at dalamhati ng sining na ito.

Mauuri itong isang

Nagpapatuloy at naisasakatuparan lamang ang luwalhati ng pagsasalin kapag tumawid na ang karunungan sa isipan ng mambabasang pinatutunguhan. sining sapagkat, una sa lahat, kapansin-pansing minsa’y mas komplikado pa ito kaysa sa mismong pagsulat ng mga akdang pampanitikan. Wika ni Virgiliio Almario, Pambansang Alagad ng Sining sa Panitikan, maituturing na mas mahirap ang pagsasalin kung ihahambing sa pagsulat ng panitikan sapagkat dalawang wika ang dapat pagkadalubhasaan ng tagasalin.

Kung gayon, maikakatwirang dapat na mataas ang antas ng kasanayan ng tagasalin sa parehong Simulaang Lengguwahe (SL) at Tunguhang Lengguwahe (TL) nang sa gayon, maiwasan ang mga di wastong pagtutulad o pagbibigay ng kahulugan sa mga kataga at parirala.

Bilang isa sa mga pangunahing layunin ng pagsasalin ang pagpapaunawa sa mga mambabasa ng isang

banyagang akda, dapat na hindi lumalayo sa orihinal na kahulugan (mula sa orihinal na lengguwahe) ang salin ng katha.

Ayon nga kay Paciano Rizal, “Ang pagsasalin ay iniaayon sa mga salita kapag ito’y mauunawaan, at ginagawang malaya naman kapag iyon ay may kalabuan datapwa’t hindi lumalayo kailanman sa kahulugan.”

Sa ganitong pamamaraan nagiging pagsubok ang pagsasalin. Dito rin pumapaloob ang hamon sa tagasalin kung gaano niya kalalim “babasahin” ang akdang isasalin upang isaalang-alang maging ang mga tinatawag na illocutionary act ng isang pahayag.

Tungkulin at paghamon sa tagasalin kung gayon na “pagmukhaing” orihinal ang isinasaling akda. Ito ang anyo ng pagsasalin na tumatawid sa

gitna ng metaprase at paraprase na isinusulong ni John Dryden, isang tagasalin at kritikong Ingles.

Wika nga ni Almario sa Batayang Pagsasalin ng KWF, alinsunod sa tinagurian niyang “lunggating Dryden,” layunin ng isang tagasalin na “pagsalitain si Virgil sa Ingles tulad ng pagsasalita niya kung ipinanganak sa England at sa ating panahon.”

Sa aking palagay naman, maiaangkop dito ang kaalaman ng isang tagasalin sa lingguwistika, lalo na sa metalinguistics. Ayon kay Adam Jaworski, isang dalubguro sa komunikasyon at lingguwistika sa Cardiff University, pangunahing layunin ng metalinguistics ang tingnan ang wika bilang representasiyon ng mga proseso ng komunikasyon. Pumapaloob dito ang mga pagkilos sa lipunan na sinasabing nakaaapekto sa kung paano ginagamit ang wika base sa pook at panahon ng paggamit nito.

Kung titingnan ang pagsasalin sa ganitong punto de vista, matagumpay na maisasalin pati ang mga illocutionary act o iyong mga gawi ng komunikasyon na hindi tahasang nasasabi o nababanggit sa mga pahayag. Paliwanag pa ni Dagitab PAHINA 14

Art and activism in the active newsroom

ART is revolutionary.

Artists have in fact been using their respective artistic disciplines to protest the regime of injustice and violence fostered by the Duterte administration.

After a year as Varsitarian art director, I have been exposed to the many issues in this society.

We, artists, may not have covered current affairs (unlike those in the news and photography sections), but the active newsroom in the V has fostered collaboration between editors, writers, photographers, and designers, opening my eyes to the social realities facing Filipinos and the many creative ways artists and writers can express criticism and opposition.

While writers have the chance to directly show dissent through their way with words and photographers through

Art should offer information and persuasion; it should stand as a powerful tool that appeals to the mind and heart and move people to action. their powerful images, us artists begin our battles from a single point of pen that transforms into a line by every stroke. We could directly show criticism, but it would likewise be needed to be carried out through evocative visuals that people could understand clearly.

It’s safe to say working in the newsroom made me realize more the power of my art. In here, I found my “artivism.”

Artivism is a

revolutionary movement in which art and activism are used as a tool to voice out the opinions of an artist. It is no new phenomena since film, music, painting and theater have long been used in the Philippines as a form of public protest.

PEN American Center executive director Suzanne Nossel said artists have the ability to “take on different perspectives and to reimagine our worlds.”

“If we can agree that

art’s ability to change the individual psyche is profound and undeniable,” Nossel said, “why have we activists, who are in the business of changing the collective mind, shied away from employing art directly? We favor instead the prosaic tools of letters, press releases, and petitions.”

This should be instilled in every artist’s mind. Art is more than aesthetics. Artists should be involved in social issues. Art should offer information and persuasion; it should stand as a powerful tool that appeals to the mind and heart and move people to action.

There is a danger that, with the detachment of some artists from society, they may be left clueless and ignorant of the sufferings of their fellow countrymen.

It is high time for artists to step up.

Opinion 5

JULY 21, 2018

Conserving Pampanga culture and heritage I WAS raised in Pampanga.

It saddens me that although much efforts have been made to strengthen our cultural identity, the language still faces threats of extinction.

In her opinion piece published in the Philippine Star, Sara Soliven de Guzman said 10 years after being declared by experts as a “dying language,” the Kapampangan language continues to weaken.

“The conscious and unconscious decision of families in not passing on their language and culture is considered the biggest threat to Philippine languages,” De Guzman wrote.

“These families opted to have their children learn and become fluent in the national language to have a better place in society.

In the process these children lose their identity.”

This reminded me of the frustrations I had while growing up.

Born in Arayat, Pampanga, I was made familiar to Kapampangan folk songs such as the famous “Atin Cu Pung Singsing (I Have a Ring)” at a very young age.

Every December 9,

WHEN I joined the Varsitarian, I thought I would be a mere outlier.

People wondered why I didn’t join an organization closer to medicine since as a pharmacy student. They expressed surprise amid being sandwiched between internships and many academic requirements.

I have a myriad of experiences in the ‘V” that have impacted on my life in a memorable way.

Among the many things I learned is how to compromise with a very diverse group to work towards a certain goal. In the Varsitarian, I got to meet a spectrum of committed people from the different colleges and faculties in UST. This kind of diversity

Contribution

Although much efforts have been made to strengthen our cultural identity, the Kapampangan language still faces threats of extinction.

we celebrate “Aldo Ning Capampangan” (Pampanga Day), which coincides with the Sinukwan Festival. Sinukwan is a deity, equivalent to a bathala, who is believed to be residing on the mountain of Arayat.

In elementary, after our daily morning prayers, one of our language teachers would speak over the school audio system to recite unfamiliar or the almost extinct Kapampangan words. This is done a week or two before the said celebration.

Now that I think of it, I find it quite sad that we only had to do these cultural remembrances a month before we celebrate our province’s foundation.

I also found it appaling that outside Pampanga Day commemorations, we

were given deductions and punishments whenever we speak other languages other than English. I understand their motives in honing our communication skills in the English language yet I find it ironic that they teach us about patriotism and loving our province but prohibits us from speaking our dialect in a learning institution.

Celline Mercado, a Kapampangan native, told me that the language is indeed weakening.

“Kapampangan ako, but I don’t speak the language,” she said . “My parents feel like it does not benefit their children, so they don’t teach it.”

Another native said Angeles and San Fernando

cities have been exposed to a more urban culture hence the less number of Kapampangan speakers, especially among the youth.

Perhaps the geographical closeness of Metro Manila has somehow affected our language.

Regardless of this, how can we instill in the minds of our countrymen if we, native Kapampangan speakers, cannot even preserve our own language? Are we just going to sit back and watch as our language becomes extinct?

At the local Holy Angel University in Angeles City, a Center for Kapampangan Studies has been established to promote Kapampangan language and culture. However, little attention has been made.

Archival texts on grammar and vocabularies as well as a museum which boasts the rich Kapampangan culture are some of the efforts pushed by the center.

It is time for us Pampanga natives to put into active practice the use of our language so as to conserve our culture.

Time to say goodbye The diversity in the ‘V’ made me realize how worthy it is to explore the life out of our comfort zones.

made me realize how worthy it is to explore the life out of our comfort zones. The adjustment and challenge of staying committed was never easy, but just like how the proverbial statement goes, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

I have been exposed to so many opportunities.

Challenges were set before

me, but they were underpinned by the support of the group.

Helping hands were extended and constructive criticism and suggestions were offered.

The Varsitarian gave me the space and freedom to grow.

It allowed me to make my own decisions, learn from my own mistakes, and hone my personality that eventually led to the development of a strong

faith in my own abilities.

My time in the ‘V’ seemed to have passed in a flurry of activities: classes attended (and missed), extra curricular activities and social events.

But then again, my watch ticks closer to its ending.

Someone has said one should know when it’s time to say goodbye.

After a meaningful twoyear journey, I know for sure that it is time. This journey will forever humble and motivate me to be better. My experiences and the lessons I have learned are something that I will bring with me to the future ahead. These have left indelible marks in my life.

Right at this moment, I know for a fact that I’m ready to say goodbye.

Critics can never silence the press TO REMAIN principled amid criticisms is not easy, especially in these times when the government itself uses its power to ridicule the beliefs of the masses. But the Varsitarian’s legacy taught me that to be a good journalist, I should remain founded and truthful to my profession despite the many possible threats I would receive.

The publication like many other journalists who are and were reprehensive of any threatening spike against journalism, has always been brave. It’s known to be the best publisher of awardwinning content and hard-hitting commentaries, may

Amid a cacophony of intimidation coming from everywhere, the Varsitarian stood its ground. it be about politics, culture and the world at large.

For the past 90 years, the ‘V’ likewise faced numerous criticisms. It had a lot of history from people who want to take it down. But because it stood and fought for what is right, reported without fear but with grit and faced whatever there was to face, the ‘V’ remained strong against an uproarious current of peril.

Amid a cacophony of intimidation coming from everywhere, the Varsitarian stood its ground.

It would be an understatement that I “learned so much” about writing from the ‘V’ because it is more than that. In the Varsitarian, I learned so much about myself. I grew in its humble care and followed suit to its truth as a bastion of journalism.

I will be leaving the University as someone who tried to question its ideals and the norms it instilled.

But I remain grateful to the Varsitarian because it taught me to stand by my principles and let my doctrine and dogma morph together, growing into a strong ideal. Never mind how those outside my perspective see these beliefs. What matters to me the most is I’m tending to my beliefs so it blooms violently.

The memories I made as part of the institution’s growing family will forever be in my heart, no matter the enormity of change that took over as time went by.

Leaving the publication is a bittersweet moment for all the seniors that make up the whole ‘V’ family, but it is victory for me. I will be leaving the University and the publication with grace and pride in my heart, knowing that I was the flame that once razed its walls.

Soaring past the maiden years of Senior High School

By RON ERASMO

AFTER a trial-and-error run, around 5,000 senior high school (SHS) students have graduated from the University of Santo Tomas. But what remains to be answered is whether this experimental batch under the K-12 curriculum has been successful or not.

The Department of Education (DepEd) implemented this curriculum to produce graduates that are ready not just for college but also for work. Given that both students and the administration had been flying blindly in these first years, we are still to find out if this vision was carried out.

It is given that the large student population showed diversity and gave its students the chance to build connections outside their classrooms.

While the University has provided avenues for expression like school organizations, one could only hope for more time and opportunities for students to hone their capabilities.

Teachers had to find ways to effectively give their lessons since they handle classes with around 50 students. With most handling about six sections, it is a feat for some who have delivered the quality education that the University has promised. Still, the time constraints and the loaded curriculum forced accelerated lessons which should be addressed both by the administration and DepEd. SHS has provided an academically energetic environment for students where they could maximize their talents and abilities. In a way, the institution shows promise of advancing its and DepEd’s ideals for cultivating and producing

college and job-ready students.

12 students reached the second semester, they were UST offers three tracks for SHS students: the required to purchase traditional textbooks. Those academic track, the sports track and the music, arts and who did not avail of the said textbooks were asked design track. The academic track is further divided to submit a letter from their parents explaining their into strands: the Science, Technology, Engineering, refusal to purchase. and Mathematics strand, the Accounting, Business, Even the use of tablets were not maximized. and Management strand, the Humanities and Social It was mostly used only in 11th grade and the Sciences strand and the General Academic Strand - promise of its incorporation in classes was eventually Health Allied strand, which is a special strand design dismissed. While these resource materials can indeed offered only by UST be good sources to students who plan of information, to pursue health It felt like everyone, especially students still had to sciences. rely mostly on the the office, was unprepared.

While USTpresentations of SHS is still on its their teachers.

There was a lack of foresight way to stability, it is T h e necessary to discuss on the possible problems and it curriculum also its weaknesses. included a grading took a toll on the students.

Before the first scheme where batch entered Grade 45 percent to 50 11, the office released a Facebook post on July 22, percent of the grade is taken from performance 2016 about the details on the use and purchase of tasks (PETA). PETAs range from infographics eBooks and tablets. Even though it pushes a more to portfolios to oral presentations and short films. sustainable and practical path compared to traditional While some teachers do consider the relevance and textbooks, it was still met with substantial amount practicality of the outputs, some of the assigned of criticism. The announcement was too late, for work merely combine the topic to some random instance, since the classes then starts on Aug. 9. and impractical output like weekly 10-minute dance Because of this, students were then allowed to use routines and unending brochures. Closer inspection traditional textbooks. of this scheme reveals that it is only an easier ticket There was no consultation between the parents for passing. and the office regarding this. Even with the best On its second year, SHS students were in intentions, prudence and consideration should have disarray after the strands were distributed across the been observed. campus.The scheduling and classroom assignments In an ironic turn of events, when the Grade

was a nightmare.

On our first month in 12th grade, regular classes were numbered and it took a while for everyone to settle down in the new setup. There happened to be a shortage of teachers in grade levels and strands, with some sections having their first meetings weeks after the actual start of classes.

It felt like everyone, especially the office, was unprepared. There is a lack of foresight on the possible problems and it took a toll on the students.

With teachers assigning requirements near examinations, students had to sacrifice a lot just to cope. When students are overwhelmed with all these, the joy and satisfaction in learning is lost.

The system made the students’ adjustment more complicated. The inconsistencies, the late announcements, the lack of teachers, the crowded classrooms, the crammed lessons— these pounded hard on students.

As the institution remains intact, it only produces desensitized students left at the mercy of a system of education that is merely past its infancy.

If the University does not want to produce impassioned SHS students who are mere pawns of the workforce, it needs to take steps in reevaluating its curriculum and policies. # Ron Erasmo is a graduating Senior High School Student from GAS-HA of the University of Santo Tomas.

6 Filipino

Patnugot: Jolau V. Ocampo

IKA-21 NG HULYO, 2018

Subaybayan kung paano ginagamit ang ‘Jose Rizal’ manga—historyador HINIMOK ng isang historyador ang mga mambabasa ng bagong-lunsad na “Jose Rizal” manga, isang komiks, na maging mapagmatiyag at mapanuri sa lipunang ginagalawan.

Ayon kay Augusto De Viana, tagapangulo ng Departamento ng Kasaysayan sa Unibersidad, dapat itong ipagmalaki ngunit dapat ding isaalang-alang kung paano ginagamit at ipinakikilala rito si Rizal.

“It is a tribute especially if a foreigner is doing it… as long as it is respectful, [we] should be proud [ngunit] dapat tingnan mo rin if how it is being used. Ang maipapayo ko lang ay to look how it is being used,” paliwanag ni De Viana. “Maganda kasi we are exploring other forms of art [subalit] mayroong possibility na ‘yon ay by fad lang [at] after a certain period, wala na.”

Inilunsad ang manga na pinamagatang “Jose Rizal” kasabay ng pagdiriwang ng kaarawan ni Rizal noong ika-19 ng Hunyo. Nakatuon ito sa buhay at hakbang na ginawa ni Rizal upang maipaglaban ang kasarinlan sa ilalim ng pananakop ng mga Espanyol.

Inilalabas ang bagong tomo nito tuwing Martes hanggang ika-28 ng Agosto at maaaring basahin sa Nihonggo at Ingles.

Binabalak ding magkaroon ng bersiyon nito sa Filipino.

Magkakaroon ito ng apat na kabanata na papaksa sa “Unreasonable Life of Filipinos under Spanish Rule,” “The Social Reform born from the Novel,” at “Rizal’s Legacy.”

Sa kasalukuyan, mayroon itong tatlong yugto sa unang kabanata.

Pinangunahan ng TORICO, Creative Connections & Commons Inc. (CCC), isang kompanyang

pampagsasalin sa Nihonggo nakabase sa Davao, ang paglalathala ng manga.

Hi-jacking of icons Payo rin ni De Viana na kailangang tingnan hindi lamang si Rizal kundi pati na rin ang mga personalidad sa bansa na nahahijack para sa iba’t ibang layunin.

“We must also be in the lookout for side na ‘yong ating mga icons ay naha-hijack for some purposes. So far, as I see, kung wala namang desecration na na-i-involve, I think it is okay,” wika niya.

Gayunpaman, iginiit niyang kadalasan, mismong mga Filipino ang gumagamit nito sa kahihiyan at katatawanan.

“Minsan may mga makikita kang mga t-shirts na si Rizal ay naka-shades, o sa cartoons, o kaya ginagamit natin ‘yong pangalan ni Rizal for business, and these are signs of acclamation,” sabi ni De Viana.

Dagdag pa niya, mas maganda ang mga iyon kung isasama sa mga lokal na sining ng mga Filipino.

Binigyang-diin din niya na kailangang kilalanin maging ang nagsulat ng kuwento ng manga na si Takahiro Matsui, isang Hapon na nagtuturo ng Nihonggo sa mga batang Filipino sa Japan.

“We should also examine his background. He may be injecting his own views,” paliwanag niya.

Tampok naman ang dibuho ni Ryo Konno, isang tanyag na mangguguhit na Hapon, sa naturang manga.

‘Rizal is an icon for the Philippines’ Isang karagdagan ang paglalathala ng manga sa mga bagong pamamaraan upang mas maipakilala ang Filipinas sa buong mundo.

Ayon kay De Viana, “’Yong awareness [dulot ng pagbabasa sa buhay ni Rizal,] it also adds to the image of the Philippines.

Rizal is an icon for the country.”

Nabanggit din niya ang mahabang panahong paghanga ng mga Hapon kay Rizal. Nagmula ito sa panahon ni Suehiro Tetcho na nagsalin sa mga gawa ni Rizal hanggang sa Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig kung saan ginamit si Rizal bilang kasangkapan ng propaganda.

Kinuwento rin niya na hiniram din maging ng mga Indonesian ang “Last Farewell” na siyang ginagamit ng kanilang mga mandirigma. Pinasasaulo rin sa kanila ang “Mi Ultimo Adios” bago lumusob sa giyera.

“Even the Indonesians…ang inspiration talaga ay si Rizal. Malaysia naman, they also have adapted kasi pati ang Deputy Prime Minister ay member ng Knights of Rizal and admires the principles of Rizal,” wika ni De Viana. CHRIS V. GAMOSO

UST Sentro sa Pagsasalin, ilulunsad na ITATAGUYOD ang Sentro sa Pagsasalin ng Unibersidad, katuwang ang Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), ang ahensiyang pangwika sa bansa. Pasisinayaan ito ngayong ika-2 ng Agosto.

Sa taguyod ni Allan de Guzman, dekano ng College of Education, iniharap sa Academic Senate ng Unibersidad ang panukalang Sentro sa Pagsasalin na agad namang sinang-ayunan ng Rektor.

“Sa mga darating na taon, tinitingnan ang Sentro na makatatayo gaya ng Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies.

Magkakaroon ito ng sariling direktor, sariling opisina, ng fellows na nagsasagawa ng mga pagsasalin, araling pagsasalin, at magiging awtoridad sa nasabing larang katuwang ang KWF,” wika ni Alvin Ringgo Reyes, tagapangulo ng Departamento ng Edukasyong Pangguro.

Lumagda ang Unibersidad at ang KWF ng isang Memorandum of Understanding upang maging pormal ang kasunduan at maging opisyal ang mga kilos na gagawin.

“Una sa mga gawain ang capacity-

Usapang Uste

building ng mga guro sa Filipino sa UST para matiyak ang teknikal nilang kasanayan sa pagsasalin at araling pagsasalin. Naghahanap na rin ang Kolehiyo ng Edukasyon ng isang espasyo na magsisilbing pirming tanggapan ng Sentro sa Pagsasalin,” sabi ni Reyes.

Ilan sa mga layunin ng itatayong sentro ang makapagsagawa ng dekalidad na mga salin ng tekstong teknikal at pampanitikan, bumuo ng mga bagong saliksik sa araling pagsasalin (translation studies), manguna sa sertipikasyon ng mga kuwalipikadong tagasalin, suriin ang mga salin at tayain ang kalidad ng mga ito upang maisyuhan ng tatak ng kahusayan at manguna sa pangangasiwa ng mga palihan at kumperensiya sa pagsasalin at araling pagsasalin.

Iminungkahi rin ni Reyes na kinakailangan pa ng isang matatag na sentrong tutuwang dahil hindi pa sapat ang pagkakaroon ng ahensiyang nangunguna sa mga gawaing pagsasalin at propesyonalisasiyon ng mga tagasalin gaya ng Dibisyon sa Pagsasalin ng KWF at ang Komite sa Wika at Salin ng KWF dahil

hindi nila kakayanin ang bulto ng gawaing pagsasalin sa bansa.

Pagbubukod sa mga tagasalin Sa itatayong sentro, sisiguraduhin na pipiliin ang mga taong maalam sa teknikalidad ng pagsasalin upang masigurado na dekalidad na salin ang mabubuo sa isang teksto, teknikal man ito o pampanitikan.

“Halimbawa, iyong mga kompanya na isinasakatutubo ang mga produkto at serbisyo nila gaya ng mga website na naghahanda ng bersiyon sa Filipino, mga smartphone na naghahanda ng language pack sa Filipino, mga appliances na naghahanda ng user’s manual sa Filipino, mga network na nagpapasalin ng teleserye mula ibang bansa, dito na sa UST lalapit at tiwala silang mabibigyan sila ng dekalidad na awtput,” paglilinaw ni Reyes.

Binigay rin niyang halimbawa ang mga mauunlad na bansa tulad ng Estados Unidos at European Union dahil sertipikado at propesyonal ang kanilang mga tagasalin.

“Sa US, may tinatawag silang American

Translators Association (ATA). Bago ka makapagsalin, kailangan munang pumasa sa kanilang pagsusulit at mabigyan ng sertipikasyon. Lahat ng nangangailangan ng maaasahang salin sa US, sa ATA lumalapit.

Tiwala silang dekalidad ang awtput,” diin niya.

Ipinaliwanag din ni Reyes na kailangang sumalalim sa mga pagsasanay at pumasa sa mga pagsusulit ang mga magnanais na magsalin upang maibubukod ang nagpapakilalang tagasalin sa talagang maalam sa pagsasalin sa Filipinas.

Lagay ng pagsasalin sa Unibersidad Ayon kay Reyes, mahina pa ang pagsasalin sa Unibersidad dahil hindi sapat ang mga pagsasanay tulad ng nag-iisang pagpaksa rito sa asignaturang Filipino 2.

“Di nakapagtataka, pagdating sa pagsulat ng tesis ng mga estudyante, kani-kanya silang bulabog sa mga naging propesor nila sa Filipino noong nasa unang Pagsasalin PAHINA 15

Simbahang Katolika, handang ipagtanggol ang taumbayan Ni JOSELLE CZARINA S. DELA CRUZ

NOON pa mang panahon ng diktadura ni Ferdinand Marcos, mayroon nang paninindigan ang Simbahang Katolika na ipagtanggol at protektahan ang karapatan at dignidad ng taumbayan.

Ayon sa ulat ng Varsitarian noong 1982, binigyang-diin ito noon ni Jaime Cardinal Sin, dating arsobispo ng Maynila, noong ika-15 Thomas More Lecture sa kaniyang panayam na “The Church and Philippine Society in the 1980s” sa College of Education Auditorium.

Paliwanag niya, nagtataglay ng moralidad ang politika kaya’t maaaring magbigay ng pahayag ang mga pari ukol ditto ngunit ito ay dapat umayon sa “critical collaboration policy,” na nagsasaad na dapat panatilihing nakabatay sa Diyos ang pakikipagugnayan ng Simbahan sa politika.

Nabanggit din ng kardinal na marapat taglayin ng Simbahan ang pagkakaroon ng katapangan at pagasa sa pagpapahayag ng katotohanan at pagbibigay ng pansin sa “trilogy of church-state-people.”

Ipinaliwanag niya na hindi dapat paghinalaan ang mga madre, pari at mga relihiyoso kapag nagbibigay sila ng tulong lalo na sa mga mapanganib na lugar.

Winika rin niya na patuloy na tutulungan at poprotektahan ng Simbahan ang taumbayan kahit na magkakaiba sila ng ideolohiya at pananaw sa politika.

Binanggit din ni Sin na kapag nagsasalita ang Simbahan alang-alang sa taumbayan, nagiging suliranin ito ng institusyon sapagkat nagiging target ito ng panunupil.

Iginiit niya na sa kalagayan ng bansa, hindi lang dapat ituon ang sisi sa gobyerno bagkus pagtuunangpansin din ang taumbayan sapagkat mayroon din silang responsibilidad sa estado nito.

Ayon din sa kaniya, may tatlong pagsubok na kinakaharap ang Simbahan noong dekada ’80: ang pluralism, pagiging saksi sa katotohanan at ang pagdepensa at pagtaguyod ng dignidad ng tao.

Tomasino siya Kinilala ang mga Tomasinong nanguna sa pamamahagi ng Usapang Uste PAHINA 15

Editor: Chelsey Mei Nadine B. Brazal

Features 7

JULY 21, 2018

Artist Jun Impas graduates at 48 WHAT seemed like a usual client meeting for a commissioned work gave hope for the “far-fetched” dream of artist Florentino “Jun” Impas.

After more than 20 years of working, Impas thought finishing college would be impossible. Little did he know that at 48 years old, he would be part of the graduating class of painting students from the College of Fine Arts and Design. “[The] relationships that you meet are really important. Take every possible opportunity,” he told the Varsitarian.

Impas graduated last June 5 with an award of merit for his thesis.

Impas has been working as a full-time artist since 1992. He began with painting signboards, billboards, banners and streamers for different companies.

But even after being able to have three of his four kids finish college, he still longed for a college degree of his own.

“I [have] always felt insecure because I did not graduate college. It was always a dream for me and my siblings to graduate college,” he told the Varsitarian in an online interview.

Impas grew up by the shores of Surigao with nine siblings.

With fishery as his father’s main source of income, money was scarce in the Impas household.

This, however, did not stop him from pursuing a degree close to the arts—an interest he had since he was seven.

After a year of taking up architecture in Surigao del Norte School of Arts and Trade, Impas had to “find better opportunities” and move to Cebu City where he opened a small sign shop.

Since then, he taught himself the basics of painting through practice and art books. He built his style on the works and techniques of artists such as Juan Luna, Amorsolo, and Rembrandt.

Impas said having no undergraduate

Jun Impas

“Panata” by Jun Impas

degree before did not hinder him from becoming an artist. He, however, had difficulties in finding and mastering his own style.

He became inclined to the realism art style, which he used to depict truthful representations of the farming and manual labor in the Philippines. Impas also began painting portraits of notable figures such as His Eminence Ricardo Vidal and Cebu City mayor Tomas Osmeña.

He had his first solo exhibit in 1998 titled “Pangandoy,” a Bisaya term for dream.

Despite the stable income, earning a college degree has been at the back of his mind since only one of his siblings were able to finish college.

To his luck, in 2014, a client referred him to the administrators of the UST fine arts program which offered Impas a scholarship.

Returning to his studies was more difficult than he expected. Impas was confronted with unfamiliar technology and several responsibilities.

“I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it,” he said. “I wanted to learn all the things I may have missed out on my self-learning.”

Even though he was not required to attend the usual classroom setting, Impas still had to create PowerPoint presentations and audiovisual outputs of which was unknown to him.

“My dad is not techy, he doesn’t know how to use MS PowerPoint or movie maker.

He usually asks for our help every once in a while,” said Claudine, one of Impas’ daughters.

“But he was very keen to details, and he dictates us what to put or what to say.”

It was difficult for Impas to manage the workload. “But miraculously, I was able to push through,” he said.

“We were really concerned about him, [although] he was really firm that he could do all—and he did,” Claudine said.

Before entering UST, Impas is already known for being a multi-awarded artist.

He bagged the grand prizes of the 2003 Philippine College of Surgeons Painting Competition and the 2004 Petron Art Competition. He won the excellence award at the 2008 China Asean Youth Artwork Competition and the second prize at the 2009 GSIS Art Competition. LOUISE CLAIRE H. CRUZ and DAPHNE YANN P. GALVEZ

Class of 2018 valedictorians:

Looking behind the gold medals

FIVE minutes before 7 a.m., Catherine Mondejar arrived at the UST main gate from a long, daily commute from Las Piñas.

At the Santisimo Rosario Parish, Fermina Vergara knelt on a pew, muttering a quick prayer for the day ahead.

While listening to morning podcasts, Denise See practiced yoga and meditation to deal with her performance anxiety.

Lahaira Reyes sought comfort in her dorm, studying right before classes started.

Such were the habits that helped mold these young women into becoming batch valedictorians and recipients of the UST’s highest academic excellence award, the Rector’s Academic Award.

This group of distinguished honor graduates is led by the 20-year-old Mondejar. With a general weighted average (GWA) of 1.111, this travel management major is the valedictorian of the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management.

Mondejar said it was not easy. “[Minsan] ‘di mo [na] alam kung matatapos mo pa ‘yong gagawin mo, lalo na ‘pag marami kang kailangang tapusin,” she said.

She believes that despite the struggle of hours-long commute, it

was her study routine that got her to the top.

“Hindi ko i-pu-push ‘yong sarili ko na aralin ‘yong madaming chapters, kasi feel ko sumasakit ‘yong ulo ko ‘pag ganoon,” she shared. “I often chose to sleep if she came near overexertion, and would get up at three or four o’clock in the morning to study.”

Mondejar’s modesty prevented her from succumbing to pressure. “[Huwag] mo i-pe-pressure ‘yong sarili mo. ‘Pag hindi na kaya, you should stop,” she said.

Vergara, 20, graduated with a GWA of 1.129 at the Faculty of Arts and Letters.

“Nakaka-proud [na] ikaw yung batch valedictorian, pero as the years pass by, hindi naman matatandaan [ng tao] ‘yon. What I want them to remember is yung naging contribution ko sa school and society,” she said.

A devout Catholic, Vergara said she was just as disciplined with her church-going routine as she was with her studies. She made it a point to go to church every day before attending class.

Not all of them started on the right foot.

Reyes, 21, failed her first quiz at the UST-Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy. She then

started facing more pressure from the expectations of her peers and professors than her own family.

All she wanted then was to maintain her scholarship. It was to her surprise that her professors said she will be graduating as the college’s valedictorian with a GWA of 1.131.

For Reyes, discipline and acknowledging her best learning style as an auditory learner served as the keys to her achievement. She learned best studying and reciting concepts to herself in her dorm.

“Minsan kasi may students na mas nakakapag aral ‘pag nagc-cram. So alamin siguro kung ano talaga ‘yong learning habit na suitable sa’yo,” she said.

Like Reyes, Conservatory of Music student See, 21, had a different learning style that helped her graduate with a GWA of 1.172.

On her third year in college, See found out that she has performance anxiety after pushing herself to take her junior recital earlier than scheduled. Since then, her nerves would overtake her before every performance, leading her to “forget the piece and play badly.”

“You have to know how to fail with grace. It pays to be content and to know that you have yet to reach your goal, and that’s ok because you

Mondejar, Vergara, See and Reyes

can still work on it,” she said.

See said she owes her success to UST’s piano performance department coordinator, Anthony Say, who had mentored her since she was five.

“He always pushed me and

minsan pinapagalitan niya ako. I share my success with him. Alam ko naman hindi ako nandito if it wasn’t for him,” she said. JULIA CAMILLE B. OCAYA and SHERWIN DANE ZAURO C. HARO

WITN

8

End discrimination toward the poor, Tagle tells youth

“

[Y]ou go where God sends you. It is not always a comfortable place where you are sent. This is not adventurism [but] faith.

Love and faith can enable us to cross borders.

”

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle

MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle urged the youth from across the globe to end discrimination toward the poor, migrants and drug addicts, at the closing Mass of Genfest 2018, an international youth festival held at the World Trade Center in Pasay.

Tagle decried the “scapegoating and endless blaming” of the marginalized for the ills in society, and said they should be seen instead as God’s instruments of love and evangelization.

“Migrants, the poor, drug addicts, they are always blamed as though they can never do anything good.

For all we know, they would evangelize all of us too.

If we allow our eyes to see, they can be God’s chosen instruments of love,” he said in his homily last July 9.

The cardinal, who has been vocal on the plight of migrants and refugees all over the world, lamented how bias, prejudice and discrimination have become “walls” that prevent people from respecting one another.

“Even before we have a concrete personal encounter, we have already set up some walls. No matter how they relate to us, we don’t see them for what they are. What we see is what our barriers, called prejudice and even discrimination, dictate on us,” he said.

Tagle called on the youth to cross their own personal borders or weaknesses by manifesting their faith and love, which transcend economic, social,

Exorcists link depression to demonic influence THE COUNTRY’S top exorcist has linked depression to demonic influence, stressing the sacrament of confession as a preventive measure.

While not in principle disregarding the science of depression, exorcist Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, director of the Archdiocese of Manila’s Office of Exorcism, said it should be seen as a spiritual problem since the devil targets man’s emotions to control him.

“It is very important not only to see depression simply as a psychological problem.

Now we know that psychology has advanced in decades, but why are there more suicides now, four times more than the past? [That’s] because it’s not simply a psychological problem. It is a spiritual problem,” he told the Varsitarian.

Syquia claimed that the increased depression and suicide rates in the country are the normal work of the devil who is “a murderer from the beginning.” God will not let someone experience a mental disorder that will lead to death, he said.

College of Education Regent Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P., who is also an exorcist, pointed to a connection between the decline of faith and increase in suicide rates.

“I would say that the loss of the sense of a reality higher than our physical world leaves many with a disposition to regard as absolute value only the here and now. To prolong happiness through the enjoyment of life and to end it if it is no longer worth living,” said Cabading in an email interview.

He added that exposure to occult or the world of spirits enable evil entities to attach to a person’s emotions, making it the most common cause of “diabolic” depression.

The two exorcists defined diabolic depression as “a combination of clinical, worldly, spiritual and demonic depression that hampers spiritual growth and may lead to spiritual death or the loss of love for God.” One’s refusal of spiritual help from the Church is a symptom of this type of depression.

Compared with diabolic depression, Lucila Bance, director of UST Counseling and Career Center, explained that clinical depression may be caused by chemical imbalances in the brain or an experience of loss or a misfortunate event.

Bance warned that suicidal behavior can be contagious. The proliferation of suicide

stories in mainstream media has been attributed to the increase of suicide cases.

Depression may also be associated with the use of social media, where people tend to regard others as better than themselves, she added.

According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of mental illness and disability with more than 300 million people diagnosed worldwide.

In the Philippines, the Department of Health reported that at least 3.3 percent of the country’s population suffer from depressive disorders and another three percent experience anxiety.

‘Spiritual cases require spiritual remedies’ Cabading said sacramental confession is the first step in treating diabolic depression because “the restoration of the sanctifying grace ensures that the demon has no access to the soul.”

“This grace must then be nurtured by receiving and asking from God actual graces, followed by living and striving in holiness and virtue, through persevering prayer, frequenting of the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist, regular confession, spiritual direction, spiritual reading, and a strong support system from family and friends, among others,” he added.

Apart from medical help, Syquia said the faithful must also be oriented with weapons of the Church against the devil such as sacramentals and deliverance prayers.

“Science and faith should work together to help the human person, because the person is both body and soul,” he said.

Cabading also stressed the importance of Catholic psychiatrists and psychologists to determine whether the patient displays demonic influence.

“The help of a professional Catholic psychiatrist who believes in the possibility of the demonic is invaluable as they can judge after a series of tests whether something is clinical or beyond clinical,” he said.

Echoing Cabading, Bance said Christian psychologists may cite God’s messages of hope and faith to mitigate depression.

“Faith can mitigate symptoms of depression.

Faith provides hope, assigns meaning to suffering, Exorcist PAGE 14

cultural, racial and even religious barriers.

“Being able to transcend because there is something higher [is] love. And without love, I don’t know how we can go beyond borders. [Y]ou go where God sends you.

It is not always a comfortable place where you are sent.

This is not adventurism [but] faith. Love and faith can enable us to cross borders,” the Manila archbishop said.

Archbishop Gabrielle Giordano Caccia, the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, encouraged the youth to be the “ray of light for the world” amid different cultures, religions and languages.

“All the colors [and] differences are not against the unity but can be a ray of light for the world. We can see in different languages, in a different way but there is one God, one faith, one baptism. [O]ur world sometimes is in darkness and you who have experienced the beauty of the love of God, you are called to be light of this world, each one of you,” he said.

With the theme “Beyond All Borders,” Genfest 2018 drew over 6,000 delegates from 100 countries. It featured 110 workshops and forums on interreligious dialogue, politics, media, economics, culture, sports and ecology.

Genfest, an international youth festival organized by the Youth for a United World, the youth arm of the Focolare Movement, is held every six years.

The Focolare Movement is a worldwide organization founded in Italy in 1943, committed to promoting unity and brotherhood among people and religions. LEXANNE O. GARCIA

Pension for some retired priests almost ‘symbolic’ HOW CAN a retired, sickly and old priest live with P1,300 worth of monthly pension money?

Retired priests, especially those assigned in Metro Manila have Churchrun retirement homes that are readily available and affordable given that a relatively high pension money is given to them monthly.

Sadly, some priests cannot afford such care and simply fade quietly, said UST sacred theology professor Msgr.

Sabino Vengco, Jr. Vengco, who dedicated more than 50 years of priestly life looking after the welfare of elderly and sick Filipino priests nationwide, said many dioceses around the country, like those in Samar and Leyte, have inadequate pension plans and retirement care for old and sickly priests.

In Palo, Leyte, for example, aging priests rely on private donations for the maintenance of their retirement home.

Other towns are simply too poor to extend such assistance.

Vengco, who founded Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation Inc., an organization looking after such priests, said the retirees under the care of the Archdiocese of Manila were far more fortunate compared with those based in the provinces.

“Their monthly pensions are symbolic, in a sense that it is not realistic. How can you live with P1,300 per month?” Vengco told the Varsitarian.

Fr. Edgar Macalalag, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Pension Plan Committee, explained that all parishes have pension plans, but the amount of money received by retired priests vary nationwide, depending on the resources of a diocese.

“There is no uniform, national pension plan, rather, ‘kaniya-kaniya,’ according to the resources of every local church or diocese,” he told the Varsitarian in an e-mail.

The CBCP established a pension plan in 1975. It is handled by the CBCP

Pension Plan Committee.

Diocesan priests contribute a sum of money each month to the pension plan, which will eventually become their pension.

Macalalag noted that one out of every five priests are not members of the pension plan.

Eligible members of the plan include all bishops and diocesan priests nationwide who are in good and regular standing and not 55 years old, and those to be ordained and incardinated to an archdiocese.

The Code of Canon Law states that priests may retire upon the directive of their bishop at the age of 75, or earlier if they are have serious health issues.

A 2014 census of retirement ministry Kadiwa sa Pagkapari Foundation Inc. (Kadiwa), founded

by Vengco, showed that there were 300 retirees among 5,000 clergymen across the country.

As reported by the Archdiocese of Manila in 2017, there are at least 9,000 ordained priests in the Philippines.

Retirement homes Vengco said sending a priest to a retirement home is not easy.

“Priests first have to learn learn to accept and make the best of old age, and to assist them in a peer group and in their get-togethers with priests in the whole country,” he said, adding that forcing priests to go to retirement homes is not an obligation of the Church.

For 90-year-old Msgr. Vicente Dacuycuy, who decided to live the remainder of his priestly life in the Cardinal Sin Welcome Home (CSWH), aging is a weakness that he has learned to accept upon receiving care from the retirement home.

Dacuycuy is the oldest of the 19 retired clergymen staying at the CSWH. His last assignment as a parish priest was the Christ the King Parish Pension PAGE 15

NESS

9

JULY 21, 2018

ALL IN’ FOR CHANGE. Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, and CBCP Vice President and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David address questions during the press conference of the CBCP’s 117th Plenary Assembly last July 8.

Church leaders hit ‘indifference’ of Catholics amid killings

THE CATHOLIC Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has lamented the culture of indifference among Filipino Catholics amid the tirades of President Rodrigo Duterte against the Catholic Church, his bloody drug war and the spate of clergy killings in the country, as they concluded their 117th plenary assembly.

In their pastoral exhortation released on July 9, the bishops scored Catholics who “see nothing wrong about the killings, who just laugh when our God is blasphemed and who take part in passing on fake news.”

“To those in this world who boast of their own wisdom, those who arrogantly regard themselves as wise in their own estimation and the Christian faith as nonsense, those who blaspheme our God as stupid, St. Paul’s words are to the point: ‘For the stupidity of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength,’” the CBCP said in its exhortation titled “Rejoice and be glad.”

The CBCP said drug addicts, whose

death toll has reached thousands in the Duterte administration’s drug war, should be treated as sick people struggling with addiction.

“Do we not realize that for every drug suspect killed, there is a widowed wife and there are orphaned children left behind — who could hardly even afford a decent burial for their loved ones? Do we not care when poor people’s homes are searched without warrants, or when drug suspects are arrested without warrants, or detained without charges,” the statement read.

Quoting the early Christian writer Tertullian who said “the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians,” the CBCP reminded Catholics that ridicule and persecution in history has only strengthened the Church.

“What is new about priests being murdered for witnessing to Christ? What is new about modern prophets being silenced by the treacherous bullets of assassins? What is new about servant leaders who are maligned because they have carried out their duties as shepherds configured to the person of their

Interfaith dialogue is ‘key to peace,’ abducted priest in Maute siege says INTERRELIGIOUS dialogue is the key to peace and harmony in the world, Fr. Teresito Soganub, the priest who was abducted during the Marawi siege in 2017, said on July 20 during the 5th Philippine Conference on the New Evangelization.

Soganub recounted his moments of captivity under the Islamic terrorist group Maute, and said Islam, like all other religions, is a religion of peace.

“Ang pinakauna kong ginawa na ministry ay interreligious dialogue kaya alam kong hindi ganito, na Islam is a religion of peace.

Masakit na sa giyera makikita, hindi mo alam sa susunod na oras o minute mamamatay ka na, pero still I believe na may religion ang tao dahil giusto niya ay peace, ano man ang religion niya,” he said.

The former vicar general of the Prelature of Marawi City was held hostage for four months and was rescued by

military forces in September.

While he was deprived of his freedom and his life was put at risk, Soganub said he still chos to respond to difficulties with peace and love as “Jesus is the way of peace.”

Bishop Cornelius Sim from Brunei cited his experience in dialogue with intercultural communities in Brunei and said it was a testimony of man’s nature to desire to live in harmony.

“We may have acquired different belief systems but at the end of the day, we want to live in harmony. And this is in the heart of every human being.

Being in Brunei is [a] great opportunity for our little church to witness this fundamental reality,” he said.

acceptance.”

He said sensitivity, regardless of social standing, is an important step in ending discrimination in society.

“Ang daming tao, ‘di lamang dahil sa sexual orientation, madami pang ibang tinatago, itinatanggi, ikinahihiya dahil hindi tinatanggap. [A]ng daming nauuhaw sa katiting na pagtanggap. Ang pagkagutom natin ngayon, sana maging sensitivity sa maraming nagugutom,” he said.

Edwin Valles, president of Courage Philippines, a Catholic apostolate for people with same-sex attraction, added that acceptance and affirmation lead to a life of conversion.

Valles emphasized that identity was rooted in people Hungry for acceptance being “children of God,” not in Manila Archbishop Luis one’s sexual preferences.

Antonio Cardinal Tagle called “Maybe what the secular for acceptance toward those left world would like us to believe behind in society, emphasizing that everyone is “hungry for Dialogue PAGE 12

Chief Shepherd?” the exhortation added.

Caloocan Bishop Pablo David, CBCP vice president, said the Church is an ally and not a political opponent of the government in pursuing the common good.

“We are not political opponents. We are partners. And I wish the government would really hire the Church as an institution, as partners in common endeavors for the common good,” David said in a press conference on July 9.

He said the Church’s social justice programs do not come from a “political perspective” and the institution has never condoned plans to overthrow the government.

“When we get involved in social justice, it’s never from a political perspective. If there are those among us that are joining a political party that is intended to overthrow the government, I can assure you that that is never condoned by the Church,” David added.

The prelate urged the government to take the Church’s initiatives in helping the

marginalized “positively,” adding that the State should be the first institution that should be concerned about the poor.

“When a person like Sister Patricia Fox is helping out the poor farmers, it should be positive. Helping the poorest of poor should be welcomed and bringing the questions of the poor to the government because [it] should be the first institution to be concerned about the poor,” he said.

The bishops called for a three-day period of fasting, prayer and almsgiving for those who “have blasphemed God’s Holy Name, those who slander and bear false witness, and those who commit murder or justify murder as a means for fighting criminality in our country,” from July 17 to 19.

The pastoral exhortation was released at the end of the 117th plenary assembly held from July 6 to 9 in Tagaytay and at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.

LEXANNE O. GARCIA and PEARL ANNE M. GUMAPOS

Thomasian Jesuit on priest killings: Forgive, but don’t remain silent UST alumnus and Jesuit priest Fr. Albert Alejo urged Filipino clerics to forgive the masterminds of the recent killings of Fr. Richmond Nilo and Fr. Mark Ventura, but not cower in silence.

“We can be ready to forgive. Don’t tell us to be silent. Don’t tell us not to shout, resist and stop preaching what is right.

Don’t tell us to dilute the Gospel,” Alejo said in his homily during the Eucharistic celebration organized by De La Salle Philippines and other groups on June 21 at the National Shrine of the Divine Child in Mandaluyong.

Echoing Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas’ statement that “Not even our sins can stop us from preaching the Gospel,” Alejo said imperfections should not hinder a priest from speaking out and fulfilling his vocation.

“Kapag pari ang pinatay, hindi na siya makakapangaral, makakapagbendisyon, makakapagsasabing, ‘pinapatawad na ang iyong mga kasalanan.’ Walang perpektong pari. Nagkakasala na nga kami tatahimik pa kami? Nakakahiya po sa Diyos ang pagtahimik dahil sa pagkakasala,” he said.

Alejo also warned against the desensitization of Filipinos to violence by reducing cases of deaths to numbers.

“Kapag maraming namamatay, ‘yung bawat isang tao, nagiging numero na lang. ‘Yan ang malaking ilusyon, kasinungalingan. ‘Yung 100 na tao, tatlong numero na lang. Binubura natin ang lahat. Nagpapadaya tayo dito,” he said.

The Philippine National Police has recorded at least 23,327 cases of homicide under investigation sincd July 1, 2016, when President Rodrigo Duterte took office.

Jose Luis Martin Gascon, chairman of the Commission on Human Rights, decried the apparent support given by many government officials to Duterte’s bloody war against illegal drugs.

“Malungkot [na] anumang gawin namin para matigil ang pagpapatay na nagaganap [ay] nakikita naman nating hinahayaan ng mga pinuno ng ating bansa. Mahalaga ang karapatan. [K]aya importante na gawin natin ang lahat na mapanagot ang lahat ng salarin,” he told the Varsitarian in an interview.

In a strongly worded statement last June 12, Villegas, former president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said the murders of priests Forgive PAGE 15

10 Limelight

Art Director: Shaina Mae L. Santander

JULY 21, 2018

?

Find me

Editor: Neil Jayson N. Servallos

Special Reports 11

JULY 21, 2018

UST produces almost 1,400 honor grads THIS YEAR’s crop of Thomasian honor recipients rose to the highest proportion of total graduates in almost a decade, which college deans attributed to improved teaching methods and student research.

Out of 8,794 graduates, batch 2018 had a total of 1,365 Latin honor recipients—23 summa cum laudes, 185 magna cum laudes and 1,157 cum laudes. Fifteen percent of the graduates received Latin honors, which was higher than last year’s 13.17 percent or 1,090 honor graduates out of 8,276.

The College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (CTHM) maintained the highest ratio of Latin honor recipients to graduates at 43.51 percent, or 201 out of 462 graduates. It surpassed last year’s 33.25 percent or 137 out of 412 graduates.

CTHM produced this year’s batch valedictorian, Catherine Mondejar, who obtained a general weighted average (GWA) of 1.11.

Mondejar, a travel management graduate, defended her college from those who claim CTHM produces too many honor graduates.

“Although we do not have indepth knowledge on science and math courses unlike other colleges, we are trained to think critically and to display positive attitude since we are in a service-oriented industry,” she told the Varsitarian in an online interview.

Rey Donne Papa, chairman of UST’s Department of Biology, said the number of honor students in the College of Science increased because of improvements in research and teaching.

“I believe that we just maintained and improved on our good practices in the college with regards to exposure in teaching and research, which reflected in the number of honor students,” he told the Varsitarian.

The College of Science’s honor graduates went up, with the college producing 85 out of 660 graduates or 12.88 percent of the total.

Last year, Science had 54 honor graduates out of 574, or 9.41 percent.

Nursing and Accountancy produced 20 honor graduates out of 361 or 5.54 percent, and 62 out of 712 graduates, or 8.71 percent, respectively. Last year, Nursing had a ratio of 4.85 percent or 16 out of 330 while Accountancy had 7.88 percent or 56 out of 711 graduates.

CFAD and Music’s number of honor graduates reached 140 out of 547 or 25.59 percent, and nine out of 50 graduates or 18 percent, respectively. Last year, CFAD had 102 honor students out of 545 graduates or 18.05 percent, while Music had eight out of 62 or 12 percent.

Standards maintained Academic awardees from the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) increased to 295 out of 1,187 graduates or 24.85 percent of the total number of graduates, from last year’s 214 out of 1,002 or 21.36 percent.

Artlets Assistant Dean Narcisa Tabirara said the faculty had been consistent with the standards in place since last year.

“We didn’t change any standard. Well, we do not take that against the students, neither did we let down our standards but it is really because our students are very achievementoriented,” she said.

The number of Latin honor recipients in the Graduate School, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Engineering, College of

Architecture, College of Nursing, Conservatory of Music, UST-Alfredo M. Velayo-College of Accountancy and College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD) also increased this year.

The Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine and Surgery produced 51 honor graduates out of 250 or 20.4 percent, and 81 honor recipients out of 479 or 16.91 percent, respectively. Last year, the Graduate School produced nine honor graduates out of 102 or 8.82 percent of the total, while Medicine had 65 out of 508 or 12.8 percent.

Engineering had 49 honor recipients out of 777 graduates or 6.31 percent, from last year’s 42 out of 844 or 4.98 percent.

Architecture produced 64 out of 274 graduates or 23.36 percent, from last year’s 54 out of 308 or 17.53 percent.

Declining ratio The Faculty of Civil Law’s honor graduates declined, at just three academic awardees out of 126 graduates or 2.38 percent, compared with last year’s 11 out of 102 or 10.78 percent.

Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said this year’s batch was impressive for producing a magna cum laude after 13 years, but was not able to surpass last year’s crop of honor graduates.

“Last year’s batch was simply extraordinary. The current batch though is also impressive... a student graduated magna cum laude and five others were close to the required average for cum laude Latin honors,” Divina said.

In the Faculty of Pharmacy, College of Education, College of Commerce and Business Administration, College of Rehabilitation Sciences (CRS) and Institute of Information and Computing Sciences (IICS), either the ratio or number of graduate students declined this year.

Pharmacy produced the same number of honor graduates at 175 out of 774 graduates, or 22.61 percent of the total. Last year’s ratio was 28.04 percent or 175 out of 624 graduates.

Commerce produced 30 honor graduates out of 711 or 4.22 percent, while CRS produced Honors PAGE 15

‘More jobs will ease loitering problem’ — sociologist

By MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ A THOMASIAN sociologist has urged the government to put up an interagency program that would focus on generating more stable jobs for Filipinos instead of cracking down on “istambays.”

Clarence Batan, a researcher at the UST Center for Social Sciences and Education, said President Rodrigo Duterte should focus on improving the country’s employment system by tapping various government agencies and not the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“All other government agencies should be tapped for this purpose, not for policing or the criminalization of tambays but seeing these people as potential laborers and future [productive citizens] of the country,” Batan told the Varsitarian in an interview.

An intensified crackdown on loiterers was ordered by Duterte last June 13. The order, Duterte said, was needed to solve the “tambay” problem of the country, which, he claimed, had contributed to the proliferation of illegal drugs, drunken

behavior, smoking and others.

A week later, the President claimed that no arrests of loiterers were made. Data however, from the National Capital Region Police Office, showed that an estimated 27,000 people were arrested since June 13 due to violations of city ordinances on loitering.

Batan described Duterte’s desire to rid the streets of loiterers as a manifestation of a huge gap between the government and the poor.

“We cannot [criminalize them because] meron silang role as they are indicators of social inequality in this country. Mahalaga sila kasi they are maintaining the social hierarchy of the Philippines,” he said.

The Commission on Human Rights has slammed the PNP for its “unlawful” arrests and has called for a stop to the imprisonment of loiterers and to uphold the rights of those who victimized by the policy.

“Mahalagang magkaroon ng malinaw na tuntunin na titiyak na ang pagpapatupad ay hindi magreresulta sa paglabag sa ano mang karapatan,” the commission said in a statement

last June 22.

Ricky Villanueva, an official of Barangay 470 on Gelinos Street in Sampaloc, Manila, admitted that the drive was not properly implemented.

“Only violators of city ordinances should be penalized,” he said.

Section 447, Article 3 of the Local Government Code of the Philippines mandated municipalities to enact ordinances to end habitual drunkenness in public places, vagrancy, prostitution, gambling and drug addiction, among others.

Batan, a published author of studies on the Filipino ‘istambay’ phenomenon since 2005, said “istambays” are mostly composed of the poor and from both rural and urban areas, mostly unemployed males ranging from 15 to 34 years old.

Instead of targeting the youth, barangay officials should survey their situation, especially the number of the out-of-school and unemployed, Batan said.

“Demographically, we are a

young country, we will remain young in the next 30 years. If we target young people who happen to be the human capital potential of this country, then what would be left for us?” he said.

Nicolo Bongolan, a political science graduate of UST, said increasing police visibility would only instill fear among the youth. “[Police] can arrest anyone they want, threaten whoever, and probably the most threatening: harass those who cannot defend themselves. After all, the duty of the police is to serve and protect; but instead they have created an atmosphere of fear,” he said.

I n January of this year, the

Dr. Clarence Batan

Philippine Statistics Authority reported that the country had 2.3 million unemployed persons, of which 29.4 percent were junior high school graduates and 21.9 percent were college graduates.

12 Witness

JULY 21, 2018

Thomasian priest named auxiliary bishop of Antipolo diocese

Antipolo Auxiliary Bishop-elect Nolly Buco

PCNE FROM PAGE 1 despite persecution and death threats.

“Martyrdom is not about dying for a cause. It is about living out one’s faith no matter if it could mean suffering and death. From the moment they chose the path of Christ, they already chose the path of suffering and death,” he said.

Fathers Marcelito Paez, Mark Ventura and Richmond Nilo were shot by armed men in the last seven months, adding to the estimated 23,327 cases of murder and homicide under investigation since President Rodrigo Duterte took office.

Australian missionary Sister Patricia Fox, in one of the plenary sessions, said solidarity is a sign of hope that is experienced by sharing stories with one another. “[It] brings the people together because sharing stories gives us strengths. We have to be involved as this situation gets worst. You look at things differently when you’re with the poor,” she said.

Fox said she wanted to see the world in the eyes of the marginalized, especially in Asia where a majority of the people are poor.

The nun, whose deportation was ordered by the Bureau of Immigration a few hours later, said the people’s prayers kept her going.

“Fortunately, people here are very understanding. A number of people said they were praying for me. I guess that’s what keeps me going, believing that God is somehow seeing what’s happening to you,” she said.

The immigration bureau ordered the deportation of the 71-yearold nun for allegedly violating the terms of her missionary visa by participating in political rallies and protests with cause-oriented groups.

‘Holiness does not mean being less human’ Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said being closer to God does not mean being less human, as he opened the first day of the 5th PCNE at the UST Quadricentennial Pavillion.

“Kasi po kung minsan ang tingin natin inverse proportion. Parang if you want to be more God, you should be less human. In the priesthood of Christ it is not more of God and less of solidarity with humanity, as though more of engagement in humanity will lessen my being attached to God,” Tagle said in his plenary talk.

The cardinal said the clergy and religious should practice “existential solidarity” with sinners instead of “ritual separation.”

“Instead of ritual separation [and] of privilege, we find in Jesus the priest even an extreme lowering of oneself as manifested in the washing of the feet.

This emptying of prerogative and glory becomes the assumption of the human condition,” he said.

Tagle urged the participants of the PCNE to follow Christ who did not let his sufferings become an “occasion to complain, to preserve and protect himself.”

“The perfection of obedience to God comes when you do not understand anymore the will of God. Complete docility to the will of God [is] when you know you will be going beyond what

POPE FRANCIS has appointed a Thomasian priest as the new auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Antipolo.

Fr. Nolly Buco is the parish priest of Our Lady of Light Parish in Cainta, Rizal.

Buco, who hails from Davao Oriental, earned his philosophy degree from the Sacred Heart Seminary in Palo, Leyte and his theology degree from the Immaculate Conception

Major Seminary in Guiguinto, Bulacan.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Antipolo on October 18, 1993.

Buco attended the doctorate in anthropology program at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City between 2002 and 2003.

In 2004, he obtained his doctorate degree in canon law from the University of Santo

is familiar, what is comfortable. But because it is God’s will, you integrate it to your self-offering,” he said.

Thomasian Jesuit priest Fr. Albert Alejo said the Church and its people should not ignore the culture of impunity amid cases of extrajudicial killings in the country under President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs.

“Is it a time for the Church to be more active? Hanggang kalembang lang ba tayo ng kampana? [W]e already know that murder, corruption is wrong, we do not need God to reveal moral laws in an unequivocal manner. What we need instead is for people to speak,” the former Varsitarian Filipino writer said.

The Church too, must “learn the language” of participating in public discourse and should be ready for those who would find faults in it, Alejo added.

Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco, in his homily during the Eucharistic celebration to cap the first day of PCNE, called on the clergy and religious to imitate the Lord’s “self-emptying” by threading the path of humility and selfdenial.

“To celebrate in spirit and in truth we must imitate this self-emptying of the Lord by constantly descending along the path of humility and renunciation, by constantly seeking the last place, seeking the company of the least and the lost and by refusing to regard the priesthood as a career,” he said.

Ongtioco paid tribute to Fathers Paez, Ventura and Nilo, and as those who have “imitated Christ to the point of shedding their blood.”

“The priests who have gone before us must have taken up their crosses, our very own Fathers Marcelito Paez, Mark Anthony Ventura and Richmond Nilo have imitated Christ to the point of shedding their blood. The cross is the altar where Christ offered his sacrifice, the altar where we offer ours should be no different,” the prelate said.

Pope Francis has called on participants of this year’s PCNE to become missionaries of the Gospel not only in the country but to the “vast continent of Asia and even beyond.”

In his message, through Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, on the first day of the 5th PCNE, the Holy Father urged the members of the clergy and religious to “find inspiration in the Lord Jesus who manifested the face of the God of mercy in his command that the disciples feed the multitude.”

“As you gather to prayerfully reflect on the meaning of the Church as communion and explore the necessity of communion-in-mission, [h]e prays that the participants will be challenged to a missionary discipleship and transformation, setting their vision not only within the Philippine archipelago but also to the vast continent of Asia and even beyond,” the Pope said.

This year’s PCNE focused on the clergy and religious with the theme “Moved with compassion… feed the multitude” in line with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ declaration of the “Year of the Clergy and Consecrated Persons.” LADY CHERBETTE N. AGOT, LEXANNE O. GARCIA and PEARL ANNE M. GUMAPOS, with reports from JOSELLE CZARINA S. DE LA CRUZ

Tomas.

Buco, 54, had served as the judicial vicar and member of the Board of Presbyteral Consultors of the Diocese of Antipolo as well as rector of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Seminary.

He was also the parochial vicar of St. Clement Parish and the Immaculate Conception Parish or the Antipolo Cathedral. LEXANNE O. GARCIA

Dialogue FROM PAGE 9 is we are defined by sexual attraction, na lahat ng pagkatao ko is determined by sexual attraction. Our source of identity is much higher than that. That we are all children of God,” he said.

Tagle reminded the participants of this year’s PCNE that following Jesus Christ’s example of mercy, compassion and unconditional love is key to new evangelization.

“Nagtatagpo lahat ang habag ng Diyos kay Hesukristo. [W]alang saysay ang ebanghelisasiyon kung hindi tayo uuwi kay Hesus [n]a mukha, kamay, labi at puso ng Diyos,” he said in his homily during the closing Mass at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccio delivers his homily on the 5th day of PCNE.

Fr. James Mallon, episcopal vicar for Parish Renewal and Leadership Support of the Archdiocese of Halifax-Yarmouth in Canada, shares his experiences on servant leadership on the second day of PCNE.

A nun reads the rationale for this year’s PCNE.

Editor: Edris Dominic C. Pua

JULY 21, 2018

Sci-Tech 13

UST scientists: Chinese activity may destroy PH waters

By MIGUEL ALEJANDRO A. HERRERA IV

UST scientists warned that government inaction toward Chinese activity in the West Philippine Sea will cause further degradation and damage in the marine wildlife and biodiversity in the area.

Prof. Rey Donne Papa, the chairperson of the Department of Biology in the University, said that the government’s “soft stance” on maritime laws and defense of our territorial waters would hasten the degradation of natural resources.

Earlier this month, Chinese fishermen w e r e reported to have been harvesting giant clams in Panatag Shoal, causing major coral reef destruction.

J a y Batongbacal, a maritime expert from the University of the Philippines M a r i n e S c i e n c e Institute, said in a Facebook post on June 15 that Chinese fishermen had been using propellers mounted on small boats to break coral

and dig into the shoal’s lagoon to gather giant clams since 2012.

Papa said the Philippine government did not consider the Panatag Shoal as a priority in spite of its mineral and marine potential.

The Panatag Shoal is a small ring of reefs that lies about 230 kilometers from the Philippines and 650 kilometers from the nearest major Chinese land mass.

According to Marine Science Institute studies since the late 1980s, “the Panatag Shoal serves as an offshore shelter, regeneration area, migration path, and food supply for the fisheries in the South China Sea.” It is rich with marine life that fishermen from the Philippines, China, and Vietnam have tapped for generations.

A July 2016 ruling by the Haguebased Permanent Court of Arbitration recognizesd the “traditional fishing rights” of China and the Philippines to the shoal but calls on the harm done by the massive militarization, plunder, and other activities of the Chinese government in the region.

The abbitral tribunal “noted that the Chinese fishermen have dredged a wide array of sea life, including endangered sea

turtles, giant clams, and large pieces of highly ornamental corals.”

“Large-scale land reclamation and construction of artificial islands had caused severe damage to the coral reef environment,” it added.

“Our government is intent on kowtowing to the whims of China and making sure China is not angered or displeased because of the potential economic benefits the Duterte regime is envisioning to be coming from China,” Papa said.

He said the government must capture and hold poachers accountable regardless of their nationality since it’s our territorial waters.

Prof.

Norman Garcia, UST Natural Sciences Unit chairperson and environmental advocate, told the Varsitarian that China’s aggressive and destructive behavior may have caused permanent coral reef damage in the Panatag Shoal.

“With China’s aggressive and stubborn behavior and total disregard to the natural law, definitely ‘yong ating natural resources and rich marine biodiversity ay talagang mawawala,” Garcia said.

Balik Scientist Act should improve research env’t in PH — researcher

By BEATRIZ AVEGAYLE S. TIMBANG and HAZEL GRACE POSADAS

THE NEWLY-SIGNED Balik Scientist Act can help address national issues involving science and technology if it would improve the research environment in the Philippines, a UST researcher said.

Seigfred Prado, a neurotechnology specialist, said that if the country could now invest in its people through the Balik Scientist Act, it could translate research “into actual innovations” to address issues in health and transportation among others.

Last June 15, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Balik Scientist Act or Republic Act 11035 which encourages overseas Filipino scientists to return and work in the country through the Balik Scientist program, which will be managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

“Aside from providing competitive financial incentives, the Philippines must also start investing on creating a better culture and research environment for these scientists to successfully bring their research to the country and use this as a ground to perform what they normally do in whichever country they are coming from,” Prado told the Varsitarian.

“We must understand that it would be frustrating for them to return to the country if they [would] not be provided with appropriate research facilities to perform cutting-edge research that they are used to do outside the country,” he added.

He said the legislation was “very timely” since many Filipino scientists were excelling abroad. Therefore, the government must provide “attractive incentives” to convince them that it is worth returning to the country to share their knowledge and skills.

“A Balik Scientist can also enjoy various compensations that include tax and duty exemptions to importation of professional equipment and materials, free medical and accident insurance covering the award period, reimbursement of expenses for baggage related to scientific projects, and even exemption from

in both education and research someday.”

‘renouncing their oath of allegiance to the country where they took their oath,’” a DOST press release read.

Prado also said that Filipinos should change their mentality of doubting the capabilities of fellow experts but should instead give them moral support to help them realize their visions.

“Most of the Filipino scientists prefer

to work abroad because the government, or at least some people, are being too pessimistic and do not fully support what these scientists desire to achieve. I think this is where we should all start,” he said.

“Seeing that the Philippine government now recognizes the importance of research and development gives me hope that we could eventually become a leading nation

Balik Scientists in UST Dr. Rey Donne Papa, a biologist and researcher, said they had hosted some Balik Scientists in the University in the past.

Some of them were Eufemio Barcelon, an associate professor in food technology who has been a member of the Balik Scientist Association since 1997, and Dr. Reginald Salonga from the Faculty of Pharmacy who became part of the Balik Scientist Program in 2017.

“I cannot really credit it to Duterte alone but it is nice for him to sign this into law. We have a good DOST secretary (Fortunato de la Peña) who have lobbied for this to become a law. He and his team should be given credit for this,” Papa told the Varsitarian.

Papa said the government should also give incentives to local scientists with appropriate graduate degrees who chose to serve the country with their skills.

“I am all for encouraging those from abroad to go back, but there should be a system in place which encourages productivity. For instance, the scientific career system should be nationalized, and made applicable not only to governmentbased employees. It may not necessarily be in the form of additional salary, but tax breaks and other incentives may also help a scientific career in the country to be more attractive,” he suggested.

Angelito Silverio, an electronics engineering lecturer from the University, said he thinks the act can furthermore create joint cooperation with international institutions on science.

“I think the act will bolster more of our researchers and scientists that are based in different research facilities and universities abroad to come back and conduct collaborations to further our science infrastructure,” he said. With reports from MIGUEL ALEJANDRO IV A. HERRERA

14 Limelight

JULY 21, 2018

KWENTO NI MATO BY JOELLE ALISON MAE P. EUSEBIO

SI TALA ATBP. BY BLESSIE ANGELIE B. ANDRES

TOMAS U. SANTOS BY NATHANAEL JONAS SJ. RODRIGO

Editorial FROM PAGE 8

Anti-Catholic and hate-filled His tirades against the Church began when the Catholic bishops slammed him for his bloody war on drugs that resulted in the killing of more than 12,000 (and counting) drug suspects. When the Church carried out its prophetic mission and called the Duterte administration’s term a “reign of terror,” Duterte spewed profanities against the institution, calling it “full of shit” or having officials who are “corrupt and womanizers,” as if that is a relevant and legitimate criticism that gives priests no right to speak against his tyrannical, bloody government.

Not surprisingly, violence against the clergy and religious has increased in the past several months. Last year, Fr. Marcelito Paez, a retired Thomasian priest and a land reform activist,

Dagitab FROM PAGE 4 Jaworski, “When we approach language as a discourse and social practice, we naturally view language as a social action. But it is in the interplay between usage and language evaluation that much of the social work of language is done.”

Kung susuriin gayunpaman, hindi lamang dito natatapos ang salimuot ng pagsasalin sapagkat mayroong kinikilalang wikang superyor ang mga tagasalin ng modernong panahon bunga ng ilang siglong kolonisasyon.

Kahit na isaalang-alang ang kaalamang sosyolingguwistika, hindi na maiaalis ang kinaugalian nang paghahanap ng katumbas ng halos lahat ng banyagang salita sa katutubong wika.

Dito umusbong ang akusasiyong “purista” ang mga tagasaling edukado na naging abala sa “paghahanap ng pantumbas, ng equivalence, sa wikang katutubo kaakibat ng paghahangad na maiangat ang kapasidad ng wika ng katutubo bilang wika ng karunungan,” paliwanag ni Almario.

Upang maibsan ang ganitong suliranin ng sobrang pagtutumbas, dapat na maintindihan ang sinasabing dalawang layunin ng pagsasalin: ang imitasyon at ang reproduksiyon.

Sa sertipikong pagsasanay ng KWF sa mga propesyonal nitong

was shot dead in Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija by motorcycle-riding suspects who remain at large. Former Catholic priest Aldrin Aganan, a Catholic lay worker in Masbate, was shot by two unidentified gunmen in March. Last May, Fr. Mark Ventura, another alumnus of the UST Central Seminary, was shot dead in Cagayan after saying Mass. Last June 10, Fr. Richmond Nilo, actively involved in Catholic apologetics, was gunned down in front of the altar of Mayamot chapel in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.

In all of this, Duterte has taken the stance of putting his imprimatur on the violence. In the case of Father Ventura, he went on expressing in so many words his approval of the killing, alleging that the Cagayan priest had had several illicit affairs with local women. Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David promptly upbraided the President, saying that murder is murder no matter the motivation.

Tuguegarao Archbishop Sergio Utleg said Ventura’s death was caused by a “failed system” that tolerated killings, violence, and impunity.

The Duterte administration has even bullied an Australian missionary nun, Sister Patricia Fox, and called for her deportation. The deportation is opposed by the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines co-chaired by a Thomasian, Sister Regina Kuizon, provincial of the Good Shepherd sisters.

The 71-year-old head of the Sisters of Our Lady of Sion has spent 27 years in the country helping poor farmers and other oppressed workers. But Duterte would have none of “meddlesome” religious like Sister Patricia. Labeling her as an “undesirable alien,” Duterte admitted to ordering the arrest of Fox for allegedly engaging in political activities and “trampling with our sovereignty.”

What sovereignty is he talking about? Is it the sovereignty Duterte has ceded to totalitarian and antiGod communist China that has occupied and militarized several islands right on Philippine waters?

The sheer stupidity of it all!

With evil and violence fostered by this demonic administration, it is only appropriate for the Church to launch a crusade for freedom and respect for religion and for the defense of the oppressed and the voiceless. The specter of martial law is back and perhaps it’s worse now: we see looming in the horizon nothing less than a conspiracy between the diabolical Duterte and totalitarian, anti-God China! But as the martyrdom of Archbishop Becket and the rise of Solidarity in Poland and the subsequent fall of Communist Europe should show, the Catholic Church shall prevail in the end.

tagasalin, ipinaliliwanag na isang anyo ng pagtutulad ang imitasyon kung saan “sinisikap na matularan ang isang huwaran.” Kaugnay nito, ginagamit naman ang reproduksiyon upang “ilipat ang orihinal [na akda] tungo sa isang anyong ipinalalagay na mas ninanais basahin ng madla.”

Sa dalawang layuning ito makikitang para sa mas nakararaming mambabasa ang sining ng pagsasalin.

Ginagawa ito upang maipaabot sa karaniwang mamamayan ang karunungang nagmumula sa mga pampanitikan o akademikong akda na orihinal na nakasulat sa isang banyagang wika.

Tulad ng paglalarawan ni Almario sa pagsasalin bilang pakikipaglaro sa wika, marapat maging alisto ang isang tagasalin sa bawat pagkilos ng mga salita tungo sa pagbuo ng iba’t ibang kahulugan. Hindi natatapos ang pagsasalin sa pagbabanyuhay ng isang akda sa isang bagong wika.

Nagpapatuloy at naisasakatuparan lamang ang luwalhati nito kapag tumawid na ang karunungan sa isipan ng mambabasang pinatutunguhan.

pahayagang ito, maraming “wika” ang isinasaalang-alang bago makabuo ng isang dekalidad na isyu kada buwan.

Nagmumula ang mga lengguwaheng ito sa bawat peryodista na bumubuo sa isang institusiyong may adhikaing paglingkuran ang mga Tomasino sa diwa ng katotohanan at sa pamamagitan ng masining na pagpapahayag.

Kung gayon, nais kong pasalamatan sina G. Joselito Zulueta at G. Felipe Salvosa sa walang sawang paggabay sa mga kabataang manunulat, litratista at alagad ng sining tungo sa mga kasanayang hindi madaling makuha sa pangkaraniwang hubog ng edukasiyon sa bansa.

Lubos din ang pasasalamat na nais kong makarating sa pinakamahuhusay na patnugot na aking nakasama sa Editorial Board: sina Kathryn Baylon, Daryl Angelo Baybado, Amierielle Anne Bulan at Alhex Adrea Peralta.

Kung mayroon man akong nais ihabilin sa mga bagong Amihan, ito’y ang malimit sanang pagbabalik-tanaw sa magagandang alaala at pagkakaibigang nabuo sa Varsitarian.

Bilang pangwakas, hiling ko naman sa mga maiiwan at sa mga bubuo ng staff sa hinaharap na ipagpatuloy ang mga dakilang simulain ng mga sinundan. Igawad sana nila ang buong puso sa mga usaping panlipunan at pangalagaan ang kultura, sining at panitikan sa pamamagitan ng matuwid na peryodismo.

Exorcist

*** Kung titingnan marahil ang wika ng Varsitarian bilang SL sa perspektibo ng pagsasalin, masasabi kong hindi ito madaling maunawaan ng iba’t ibang uri ng mambabasa.

Sa aking tatlong taon sa

FROM PAGE 8 and provides a support system and inspiration, which can all be helpful to anyone suffering from feelings of depression or suicidal tendencies,” she told the Varsitarian in an email interview.

Medical studies have found spiritual people less prone to selfdestructive behaviors and stress while possessing a greater total life satisfaction, Bance added.

In his book “People of the Lie”, Morgan Scott Peck, an American psychiatrist, likened evil to an illness which must be diagnosed and cured medically and spiritually.

Peck, who is also the author of the book “The Road Less Traveled,” claimed that psychotherapy is also a form of exorcism in which the patient is relieved of evil thoughts and emotions.

Cabading maintained that demons can only be cast out through the grace of Jesus Christ but recognized that this grace may extend even to nonbelievers.

“I am certain God has a way of helping those among their people who may be under the sway of the evil one…

When there is a spiritual dimension to the problem, the Church is competent to help,” he said. DOMINIC EUGENE V. ABOY with reports from LEXANNE O. GARCIA

Asean FROM PAGE 1 Membership allows the University to join the network’s exchange programs and other projects, as well as initiatives with partner-organizations like the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the European Union.

AUN was founded by Asean member-countries in November 1995. The network includes 30 universities in the countries under the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The AUN provides guidelines for overall academic standards of member-universities, with criteria such as expected learning outcomes, program specification, program structure and content, teaching and learning strategy, facilities and infrastructure, and quality assurance of teaching and learning.

The applied physics program of the University meanwhile was granted Level 1 accreditation by the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities – Commission on Accreditation (Pacucoa). The accreditation status will be valid until 2021.

Applied physics is the youngest program under the College of Science.

According to the Pacucoa website, education institutions granted with Level 1 accreditation means financial deregulation in terms of setting of tuition and other fees and charges, authority to revise the curriculum without Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) approval and priority in the awards of grants, subsidies or funding assistance from CHEd and the Department of Education.

In March 2017, Pacucoa granted Level 4 re-accreditation to five programs under the College of Science, namely: biology, psychology, applied mathematics, chemistry and microbiology, valid until 2021. K.I.C. GONZALES and JOB ANTHONY MANAHAN

Editor: Randell Angelo B. Ritumalta

Sports 15

JULY 21, 2018

Teletigers win back-to-back LVL crowns

By JAN CARLO ANOLIN THE UST Teletigers successfully defended their Garena League of Legends (LoL) Varsity League (LVL) Spring Term 2018 crown with a narrow win over the De La Salle University Viridis Arcus, 3-2, in the best-of-five finals at World Plaza in Taguig last July 1.

With the win, the Teletigers became the first team to secure three titles and the first as back-to-back champions.

The team claimed its first title in 2015 when the league was known as the LoL Collegiate League. UST bagged the first championship under the current tournament name in 2017. “[I]t is a great way to show people that UST is great in this field [and that] we are actually not only excellent in other things but also in video games like League of Legends kasi competitive siya. You can see the international scene growing and we’re seeing UST now growing,” Teletigers captain and support player Theo “Uomi” Ignacio told the Varsitarian in an interview.

The victory also granted the Teletigers an 80,000-peso cash prize and a chance to represent the country in a Southeast Asian tilt still in the works.

“It’s something to be proud

of. Kung kailangan ng UST ng sabihin na nating “added sense of accomplishment” sa ilalim ng pangalan nila, nandito naman kami para ma-recognize at susunod naman kami sa rules,” Ignacio said.

Ignacio, an incoming fourthyear Literature student, bared their main goal is to at least be recognized by UST as official representatives in collegiate LoL tournaments.

If granted, the team could simply recruit and replace players every year like a usual varsity team.

However, the road to recognition is still farfetched since several written documents have to be submitted first to the respective administrators, according to Ignacio, As it awaits formal acknowledgment, the team had to settle tournament requirements and affairs on its own due to a loaded competition schedule – while still juggling academics.

Along with the recognition, team captain Ignacio hopes for at least a stipend or a practice room inside the University like other varsity teams.

“Naghahanap ako ng paraan

Golden Sox

Usapang Uste

FROM PAGE 16

MULA PAHINA 6

and seven innings with 10 runs to turn the tables.

Ventura was part of the national team since 2015 while de la Cruz joined in 2017.

New leader As he heads back to the Golden Sox’s lair equipped with better skillset, de la Cruz hopes to utilize his national team exposure in hopes of bringing a UST team composed of 10 rookies to the championship this upcoming season.

UST finished fourth last Season 80.

“Sa national team kasi, rookie ako roon so ‘yong mga matanda sa akin, ang sabi ‘magtiyaga ka lang mag training, palakasin mo katawan mo, magiging magaling na player ka.’

Gagawin ko ‘yong ginagawa sa akin doon sa mga rookies namin sa UST,” de la Cruz shared.

Golden Sox head coach Jeffrey Santiago said de la Cruz as a veteran will be a big factor in the team’s success next season.

“Aside from veteran na siya, malaking bagay siya para magdeliver for the team kasi ang team natin mostly rookies. Malaking bagay siya sa pitching at hitting.

Kung hindi man siya pupukol, nasa outfield siya,” Santiago said.

ideolohiya at kaalamang magsisilbing liwanag at gabay sa mga susunod na henerasiyon.

Sa ika-80 anibersaryo ng UST Graduate School na may temang, “Refracting the Light, Illuminating the Mind, Reflecting the Glory: Light the Torch, Pass it On,” ginawaran ng parangal mga Tomasinong nagtagumpay sa kanikanilang mga larang sa pagkadalubhasa.

Pinarangalan bilang oustanding alumni sina Augusto Antonio Aguila (Arts and Humanities), Fr. Edgardo De Jesus (Community Service), Fr. Joseph Chusak Sirikut (Church), Ofelia MalateMirando (Education), Giovanni Melgar (Entrepreneuship), Joselito Zulueta (Media), Rowen Yolo (Medicine and Allied

Tracksters FROM PAGE 16 Villagoniza, UST athletics head coach Manny Calipes is confident that the Female Tracksters can extend their reign this coming UAAP season.

“Nakita ko ‘yong potential ng dalawa and nakikita ko talagang magko-contribute sila next season kaya I can declare na kayang i-retain ng women’s ‘yong championship,” the tactician said.

The Female Tracksters are the second-winningest team in the UAAP with eight championships, next to Far Eastern University.

Pension FROM PAGE 9

in Las Piñas, from 1994 until his retirement in December 2002, when served as the CSWH director.

Located inside the compound of Our Lady of Loreto Parish Church in Sampaloc, Manila, the five-story retirement home has 40 rooms, two elevators, a chapel, a reading room, and a gym.

It has 35 staff members, 14 caregivers, and nine inhouse nurses.

The late Manila archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin funded the establishment of the retirement facility in 2002 to provide medical attention and nursing care,

From left: Hortizuela, Padilla, Rinchon, Ting, Isidro, Ignacio and Loberiza

para ma-recognize kami ng admin as a team but not as an organization…

May internet din naman tayo rito, baka puwedeng dito na lang kami maglaro for some hours of the day para hindi na kami gagastos para sa internet café,” he said.

In 2016, the Teletigers suffered their worst tournament showing with a 1-7 record in the eliminations due to

lack of practice and poor work ethic from former members.

The team underwent a revamp the following year and reclaimed the title.

The Teletigers currently consist of Ignacio, Information Technology (IT) fresh graduate Brussel “Sel” Isidro (top), incoming fourth-year Tourism student Laurence “Espiegle” Padilla (carry), incoming Computer

Health), at Julie Barcelona (Science).

Bi n ig ya ng-pa ra ngal din ang mga dalubguro na sina Rosalia Caballero (Pschology), Nora Claravall (Library and Information Science), Rosalito De Guzman (Pschology), Irineo Dogma, Jr. (Science), Edwin Martin (Public Administration), Agnette Peralta (Medical Physics), Enrico Aurelio Torres (Business), at Trinidad Trinidad (Food Science).

Kinilala rin ang mga retiradong dalubguro na sina Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers (Theology), Marcela Leus (Education), Fr. Leonardo Mercado (Philosophy), Rosalinda Solevilla (Pharmacy), at Lydia Tansinsin (Engineering).

Iginawad ang Enterprise Achievement Award kay Vivien Co Say, presidente at direktor ng ICCT Colleges, na nagtapos ng doktorado sa Development Studies sa Unibersidad.

Ginawaran naman ng

Excellence in Community Development Extension Award ang UST Graduate School Psychotrauma Clinic.

Iginagawad ang Outstanding Alumni Award sa mga Tomasinong miyembro ng Graduate School Alumni Association, Inc., praktisyoner sa kaniyang larangan nang hindi bababa sa limang taon, at nagpamalas ng kahusayan sa kaniyang larangan sa loob o labas ng bansa.

maintenance medicines, free food, lodging, and leisure activities.

Dacuycuy said the Archdiocese of Manila had provided more than enough emotional and spiritual care to the residents of CSWH. He said he had long forgone his worries of aging.

“Hindi ko na iniintindi kung ano ang aking kakainin, kung maysakit ako, hindi na.

Inaalagaan kami rito. Ang Archdiocese ng Maynila ang namamahala sa aming kalagayan. Hindi na nain iniintindi ang aing tirahan, pagkain, pati health,” he told the Varsitarian.

Canonically, each ecclesiastical jurisdiction is autonomous from another, hence the healthcare plan of clergy members will depend on whether there is a church-run hospital in the archdiocese or none.

In the Archdiocese of Manila, there are five hospitals where priests can go in case of emergency, but in parishes in the provinces and remote areas, hardly a clinic can be found, said Vengco.

Vengco, however, said dioceses around the country, like the Diocese of Cubao, which started building the Casa de Silencio renewal center, are starting to build their own retirement homes.

He hopes the faithful will start giving help to priests in provinces who may not afford these retirement homes.

“For years, Kadiwa has been trying to convince, prick the conscience of lay people to send help not only in Metro Manila but also in provinces like these,” he said. MAREM A. DE JEMEL

Tomasalitaan alagatâ - (pangngalan) hángarin, pita, lunggatî; arap, pangarap, panaginip, panagimpán.

Nag-uumapaw ang kaniyang kasiyahan nang maisakatuparan niya ang alagata ng kaniyang ina na makapagtapos siya ng pagaaral sa kabila ng kahirapan.

Mga sanggunian The Varsitarian Tomo LIV Blg. 3, February 1982; 1981-1986, p. 1

Science junior Isiah “Cera” Loberiza (midlaner), incoming third-year IT student Van “Nav” Rinchon (top), second-year Computer Science student Wilmer “X1rius” Ting (jungle) and senior high school student Jan Edward “Cresho” Hortizuela (support).

LoL is a fast-paced, competitive online game developed and published

by Riot Games.

Pagsasalin

Pagsasalin, susi sa pandaigdigang kapayapaan at kaunlaran Binigyang-diin din ni Reyes na paraan ang pagsasalin ng interkultural na diyalogo upang maipasa ang kaalaman at kultura mula sa isang lahi tungo sa

iba na maaring maging susi sa pandaigdigang kapayapaan at kaunlaran.

“Sa pagsasalin, naigagalang mo ang pangangailangang likhain muna ang kaalaman sa katutubong kamalayan.

Halimbawa ang mga pilosopong Griyego na sa wika naman talaga nila namilosopo, ang mga siyentipikong Aleman na sa wika nila sumulat, ang mga edukador na Amerikano na sa wika nila bumuo ng pilosopiya,” wika ni Reyes.

Binanggit din niya na nagkakaroon ng kapanatagan sa pagsasalin dahil habang pinakikinabangan ang “kaalaman sa kontekstong ‘atin’, naibabahagi din ito sa ‘kanila’ sa pagsasalin nito sa anyong mauunawaan”.

“Para mas maunawaan ng nakararami, dapat maisalin. Hindi dahil hindi naiintindihan ang Ingles kundi dahil may mas malalim na kahulugan upang mas lumapat ito sa kultura natin.

Matagal na natin ginagawa ito (pagsasalin) at patuloy natin itong pag ibayuhin lalo na sa isang institusyon na singtanda ng UST,” paliwanag ni de los Reyes. ERMA R. EDERA

Honors

Forgive

FROM PAGE 11

FROM PAGE 9

34 honor graduates out of 248 or 13.71 percent.

Last year, Commerce had 4.81 percent or 42 out of 873, while CRS had 14.13 percent or 38 out of 269 graduates.

Education produced 24 honor graduates out of 371, or 6.47 percent, compared with last year’s 6.58 percent or 29 out of 441.

IICS produced 35 honor graduates out of 546 or 6.41 percent, compared with last year’s 9.41 percent or 38 out of 404 graduates. ARIANNE AINE D. SUAREZ and LADY CHERBETTE N. AGOT

will not “muzzle the voice of truth.”

“They are killings our flock. They are killing us shepherds. They are killing our faith. They are cursing our Church. They are killing God again as they did in Calvary. [T]hey want to bury us priests. But they forget that we priests are seeds. When you bury us, we will grow more and flourish. You cannot stop the Gospel from growing. You cannot stop God from being God. You cannot muzzle the voice of truth,” he said.

LEXANNE O. GARCIA

MULA PAHINA 6 taon para magpasalin o magpa-validate ng mga talatanungang isinalin nila sa Filipino,” wika ni Reyes.

Dagdag pa niya, wala ring pormal na degree sa pagsasalin ang Unibersidad.

Para naman kay Joselito de los Reyes, tagapangulo ng Department of Literature sa Unibersidad, dapat maging bahagi ang pagsasalin sa mga programa sa akademiya man o sa mga sangay ng pamahalaan na may kinalaman sa edukasyon.

“Isang malaking hakbang ‘yan na dapat noon pa (ipinatupad). Maraming magagandang obra ang dapat na naisalin noon pa.

Napakaraming dapat isalin sa UST, sa archives pa lang,” giit niya.

Sports

JULY 21, 2018

UST pitchers crucial to PH baseball 3-peat

By JUSTIN ROBERT VALENCIA TWO GOLDEN Sox pitchers were part of the Philippine national baseball team that took home its third-straight crown in the 2018 Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) East Asia Cup held in Hong Kong last June 24 to 28.

Fresh graduate Lesmar Ventura and incoming fourth year Ron Christian de la Cruz played crucial roles in the pitching rotation of the 23-man national squad despite being two of the youngest players in the team.

Both players added depth to a solid rotation composed of veteran pitchers such as former UST assistant coach Jon Jon Robles, Adamson University assistant coach Romeo Jasmin, De La Salle University ace Kiko Gesmundo and UAAP Season 80 Most Valuable Player Jerome Yenson.

Ventura only gave up one run in the RP team’s 12-1 win against Singapore while de la Cruz pitched in the first two innings of its 5-2 victory against Indonesia and allowed only a single run.

“I just prepared myself because coaches told us that we should always be ready. [Sa game namin against Singapore], maganda ‘yong performance ng starter at reliever pitcher so dapat ako rin,” he said

in an online interview with the Varsitarian.

Both Ventura and de la Cruz said playing alongside their former assistant coach was a big boost to their skillset, since Robles gave tips on different pitching styles applicable on different circumstances.

As budding pitchers, the two agreed that being part of the Philippine baseball team was one of the highlights of their young careers since they were able to match up with international squads like Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Hong Kong in the tournament.

Aside from added skills, Ventura and de la Cruz said the national team experience also taught them perseverance and hardwork, especially against Thailand when the team came back from an early deficit and snatched a 10-6 win.

The Philippines was down 0-5 through the first five frames before connecting the sixth

Ventura

De la Cruz

Golden Sox PAGE 15

Palaro standouts now UST Tracksters Lyceum bigman is newest Tiger

By MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO and MA. ANGELICA D. GARCIA TWO PALARONG Pambansa standouts will reinforce the UST Female Tracksters as they gun for a fifth-consecutive crown this coming Season 81.

Hailing from Iloilo, Pamela Marquillero and Elvy Villagoniza are raring to fill in the gap left by team captain Sarah Dequinan, Eloiza Luzon, CJ Ferrera and Glaiza Salcedo.

Marquillero will compete in the 100 and 400-meter hurdles while Villagoniza will play in the long and triple jump events.

Both players were discovered by UST assistant coach Ming Liu during the Palaro 2017 in Antique last April.

“Sobrang nakakapressure pero ‘yong goal namin is maka-contribute talaga sa team at ma-represent with pride ‘yong UST for the first time,” the 18-year-

old Marquillero told the Varsitarian.

Marquillero, a Palaro 2017 gold medalist, started her athletics career in fifth grade when she was discovered by Lersy Del Rosario, her physical education teacher at Pavia Elementary School in Iloilo.

Little did the incoming freshman know that pursuing the sports path will lead to her dream school, UST. Despite offers from other UAAP schools, Marquillero chose the University for its consistent athletics program that she believed will mold her into a better athlete.

“Nag-cha-champion kasi lagi ‘yong Female Tracksters sa UAAP kaya naisip ko na mag-i-improve pa ako kapag pumasok ako rito,” she said.

Being the youngest of four siblings, Villagoniza’s passion for running began at an early age after watching

Marquillero and Villagoniza

her family compete in regional tournaments.

Since starting her career in 2012, Villagoniza has copped several medals including two silvers in the Palaro 2015 and 2016. She was also hailed the MILO Little Olympics 2016 Most Valuable Player after winning two gold medals.

Despite a decorated high school career, Villagoniza is aware that the UAAP is a completely different playing field.

The 19-year-old received offers from seven UAAP schools but opted for UST due to its academic program.

With the addition of Marquillero and Tracksters PAGE 15

THE UST Growling Tigers have found a reinforcement in the paint after former Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Pirate Germy Mahinay’s transfer.

The 6’6” center was on the reserve list of the Pirates for NCAA Season 94 and has not played a single game, making him eligible to play for the Tigers this coming season.

UST head coach Aldin Ayo said Mahinay’s addition “changed the rotation” of the team, which is in need of bigmen to hold the paint.

Zachary Huang and Enrique Caunan, both 6’3” wingmen, played center during the recently-concluded Filoil Flying V Tournament.

“He changed the landscape of the team kasi kailangan namin ng bigman,” Ayo told the Varsitarian in an interview.

“I think it’s fair for the kid [dahil] kung hindi siya makakapaglaro sa NCAA... pwede siya maglaro sa atin.”

Mahinay will back up import Steve Akomo.

The 20-year-old bigman began training with the Tigers last July 7.

Despite his last-minute transfer, Mahinay said he parted ways with LPU and coach Topex Robinson on good terms.

“Pinayagan naman ako lumipat and then noong nakuha na ako rito, tsaka naman ako nagpaalam nang maayos [kay coach Robinson]. Wala namang alitang nangyari,” Mahinay said in an interview.

Ayo said Mahinay would have to trim some weight to be ready for the UAAP. Mahinay averaged 4.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in his last season with the San Beda Red Cubs. IVAN RUIZ L. SUING

Mahinay

2 Softbelles in PH team

By MA. ANGELA CHRISTA COLOMA

TWO FORMER UST Softbelles will don the national colors anew in the upcoming 2018 World Softball Championships at Chiba, Japan on Aug. 2 to 12.

CJ Roa and Ann Antolihao, who earned the UAAP Season 80 Best Slugger and Best Pitcher plums, respectively, are among the 17 members of the Cebuana Lhullier-backed Philippine Blu Girls team.

“It is a pleasure to be part of the Philippine National team again and I am honored to represent the country once more,” Antolihao said in an online interview with the Varsitarian.

Both players were part of the Blu Girls squad which won silver in the Asian Softball Championships last year.

The squad was supposed to play in the USA Softball International Cup this July in California but opted out to focus on the Japan tournament instead.

Antolihao, who was one of the

pitchers of the squad that stunned world no. 3 Canada and world no. 7 Australia in separate tournaments last year, said the team is confident of booking a seat in the 2020 Olympics.

“We’re preparing for it and we are up for any challenge. We are giving our very best sa bawat laro,” she said.

The RP Blu Girls have been training since March.

Held biannually by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, the tournament automatically secures a spot in the 2020 Olympics for the champion team.

The Philippines will battle South Africa in its first game on August 2.

The Blu Girls will need to do well against eight other international teams, including top-ranked USA in Group 1 qualifiers to qualify to the playoff rounds and the championship.