The Varsitarian P.Y. 2017-2018 Issue 03

Volume LXXXIX, No. 3 • October 25, 2017 THE OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF SANTO TOMAS Manila, Philippines

PERSONS OF INTEREST. Aegis Juris Fraternity members appear before a Senate inquiry into the death of hazing victim Horacio Tomas Castillo III. From left: John Paul Solano, Ralph Trangia, Arvin Balag, Aeron Salientes, Zimon Padro and Jose Miguel Salamat.

JOELLE ALISON MAE P. EUSEBIO

UST refutes claims of indifference

By MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ THE UNIVERSITY has dismissed claims it was indifferent toward the death of hazing victim Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, following criticisms of the school’s response to the tragedy.

In a statement on Oct. 20, UST sought to correct what it claimed was an “inaccurate portrayal” of its efforts to assist in the probe into the death of Castillo, a Faculty of Civil Law freshman who went through the brutal hazing rites of Aegis Juris Fraternity last Sept. 17.

UST said a committee was formed

by Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. to conduct an internal investigation. It did not disclose the names of the committee members, however. “[O]n first day that the news broke out, the University manifested its grief, offered prayers, and conveyed its profound sympathy to the family of Horacio,” the statement read.

Dagohoy vowed last Oct. 18 to improve the rules of the University regarding fraternities and sororities.

“Our first concern is actually to complete the investigation so we would be able to impose the just and reasonable

penalties according to our student handbook. And after that, we would actually…look into the improvement of the policies and procedures of the University regarding these fraternities and sororities. I think it is high time for us to look into the rules,” Dagohoy told the Varsitarian.

does not happen again.

“I hope there [will be] a greater show of outrage against it and a greater cry of justice not simply in terms of punishment but in the sense of righting the wrong and making sure that it does not happen again,” he added.

The prelate also urged the suspects in the hazing death of Castillo to tell the truth, or carry the burden in their consciences for the rest of their lives.

“They will have that in their conscience maybe all their lives long if they do not come out with

THE UNIVERSITY rose 12 notches to 145th place in the 2017 Asian university ranking of the London-based Quacquarelli-Symonds (QS), after two years of decline.

UST jumped from 157th place in 2017, getting an overall score of 37.6 and high marks from employers.

“UST graduates consistently and yearly dominate the top ten in courses with board exams (Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Engineering, Architecture, Accountancy, Education, etc.).

This proves the University’s superior academic programs,” QS said on its website.

The University of the Philippines remained the top Philippine university in the QS Asian ranking, but slipped to 75th in 2018 from the 70th spot in the 2017 edition.

Ateneo de Manila and De La Salle University placed 95th and 134th, respectively, up from 99th and 143rd previously.

Cebu’s University of San Carlos and Silliman University trailed the top four Philippine universities, at the 301 to 350 and 351 to 400 ranges, respectively.

Only UST received four QS stars for employability, facilities, social responsibility and inclusiveness among Philippine schools in the Asian ranking.

Bacani PAGE 6

Asian ranking PAGE 2

Coordination In its statement, UST pointed out that it had coordinated with the Manila Police District and National Bureau of Indifference PAGE 5

Ban Aegis Juris, Bishop Bacani tells UST

Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani

NOVALICHES Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani said on Oct.19 the Aegis Juris Fraternity should be banned in UST following the death of law freshman Horacio Castillo III in initiation rites.

“It is a particularly sad case and such thing should not be happening in the premiere Catholic University of the Philippines. [Hazing] should be remedied and my own suggestion is that Aegis Juris be banned in the University,” Bacani told the Varsitarian in an interview.

Bacani called for a “greater show of outrage and cry for justice” to make sure the incident

Health service conducts drug tests ahead of DepEd mandate THE UNIVERSITY has been conducting drug tests among first-year high school students for prevention and rehabilitation purposes even before the Department of Education (DepEd) made the tests mandatory, the UST Health Service chief bared.

Health Service Director Rhodora de Leon said drug tests for high school students were the “rule” in the University. “[Drug testing has] been in practice even before I came here. Ang aking thinking ay it’s been a practice in the University even before the mandate of DepEd,” de Leon said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Education Secretary Leonor Briones signed DepEd Order 40 on Aug. 8, ordering all public and private high schools to conduct

mandatory drug tests under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Mandatory drug tests are supposed to determine the prevalence of drug use among students, assess the effectivity of schoolbased prevention programs, prevent the use of illegal drugs, facilitate the rehabilitation of users, and strengthen collaboration with agencies working against illegal drugs.

De Leon said no high school student had tested positive under her watch.

“I’ve been here in the Health Service for the past three years. And in my three years [in service], isa [o] dalawa pa lang ang nakita naming nag-positive although… sa college `yun. Based on that, [we] can say [that] UST is drug-free,” de Leon said.

University zooms to 145th spot in QS Asian ranking

First-year high school students are required to undergo drug tests while students in the second, third and fourth years are subject to random drug tests.

The UST Health Service does not require students in the higher years to undergo drug tests.

“Think of the volumes or numbers as well as the tedious work if all students and staff will do that every year. [We will conduct drug tests on] 40,000 students every year? It’s bound to be ignored, I suppose, if students will be required to undergo [drug testing] every year,” de Leon said.

De Leon said students who will test positive should not be discouraged from using drugs and offered counseling and Drug tests PAGE 5

SpecialReport

De Lima urges Filipinos to rise vs culture of death

“

[Filipinos] must come out of their shell to stop fear and apathy.

Page 3

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2 News

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

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Divina hits Kapunan with libel case CIVIL Law Dean Nilo Divina has filed a third libel complaint against Lorna Kapunan, the family lawyer of hazing victim Horacio Castillo III, for her remarks in a story published by the Varsitarian last Oct. 8.

Divina charged Kapunan over her claim that he was liable for the death of Castillo, as dean of Civil Law. “Under the law, the University, the head of the college, and the head of the organization are liable. So all of them must be investigated,” Kapunan told the Varsitarian at the sidelines of the preliminary investigation on Castillo’s death at the Department of Justice last Oct. 4.

Kapunan was also charged with libel for claiming that Divina had knowledge of the hazing activity but failed to prevent it. ”[I] have no personal agenda. I do not know Dean Divina personally. We are just following the law. If he really is a dean, he should know the law. [T]he dean should come forward and not be an obstructionist to justice [because] no one is above the law,” the Varsitarian quoted Kapunan as saying.

Sought for comment, Kapunan told the Varsitarian she had yet to see the complaint filed against her by Divina.

Divina sued Kapunan for two counts of libel on Monday, for linking him to the death of Castillo as well as the corruption allegations involving the chairman of the Commission on Elections, Juan Andres Bautista.

The Anti-Hazing Law of 1995 states that school officials or faculty members who have knowledge of a hazing activity but fail to

Divina PAGE 10 SENATE PROBE. Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina refuses to step down from office saying his conscience is clear.

Bar Exams to be held in UST amid hazing death probe UST WILL host the Bar Examinations for the seventh straight year this November amid controversy over the hazing death of law freshman Horacio Castillo III. Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said the University remained focus on the preparation for the exams despite “momentary distractions.”

“We remain focused on our goals, and the bar exam preparations are in full swing. [There were] momentary distractions but we are back on track,” Divina told the Varsitarian.

Divina said there was “no reason to take a leave of absence” amid claims he bore some responsibility for the hazing incident.

“I cannot abandon our barristers who are weeks away from taking on the biggest challenge of their life and at this point, cannot afford any distraction that can lower their morale,” Divina said in an interview.

“I cannot abandon my students who look up to me for what they hope to be their best course in commercial law. I cannot abandon my studentconstituents at this critical phase of our faculty’s history,” he added.

He said the Supreme Court justices had been “very pleased” with UST as the venue of the Bar Exams for the last six years.

The Office of the Bar Confidant and the office of Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin, chairman of the Bar Exams and a former faculty member of Civil Law, are managing the preparations for the Bar exams, with the assistance of the University.

Special lectures Divina said the Faculty would give special lectures to students who will take the exams aside Bar Exams PAGE 5

UST scores 100 percent in chem tech, improves in other board exams UST POSTED a 100-percent passing rate in the October 2017 licensure exams for chemical technicians, with all 21 Thomasian examinees making to the cut.

Diamond Jeff Paug from the Cebu Institute of Technology topped this year’s exams with a score of 92.50 percent.

Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology was the top-performing school for chemical technicians, after registering an 89.29-percent passing rate.

This year’s national passing rate for chemical technicians was 85.21 percent, equivalent to 720 out of 845 examinees.

UST recorded a higher passing rate in the October 2017 chemistry licensure exams, with a Thomasian landing in the top 10.

Boards PAGE 10

JOELLE ALISON MAE P. EUSEBIO

Thomasian business tycoon dies at 96

Washington SyCip

THOMASIAN business tycoon Washington SyCip passed away on Oct. 7 in a flight bound for Vancouver. He was 96.

SyCip received his bachelor’s degree in accountancy from UST in 1939, graduating summa cum laude at the age of 18.

He passed the Certified Public Accountant licensure exam a year later and studied for a master’s program while teaching at the College of Commerce and Business Administration.

However, SyCip was not able to immediately join the field of accounting because the law required applicants to be 21 years old before

SyCip’s photo from Antonio Vivencio del Rosario of the UST Heritage Library

being licensed.

He left the country in 1940 and enrolled in a master’s program at Columbia University in United States.

Patricia Empleo, dean of the Alfredo M. Velayo College of Accountancy, said SyCip was the perfect role model for accountants and one of the greatest Thomasian alumni.

“Washington SyCip was God’s gift to the Philippine accountancy profession because he defined and gave direction to it,” Empleo said in a statement to the Varsitarian.

Empleo said SyCip was an inspiration to Thomasian accountants as he left a legacy for them to continue.

“He left a legacy that others profess to continue: by being a world-class professional and contribut[ing] to nation-building. He remains to be a guiding inspiration to all accounting professionals in the country,” Empleo said.

Malacañang condoled with SyCip’s family and friends in a statement released on Oct. 8.

“He was a respected voice

Library to open gadget section A NEW “interactive” section is set to open in the Miguel de Benavides library amid a 10 percent-increase in library fees this academic year.

UST Chief Librarian Estrella Majuelo said a new section called “Maker Space” will be opened for Thomasians to interact through the use of different technological materials.

“Nagpaplano kami na mag put up ng isang area na interactive so kahit yung mga gagamitin na furniture doon ay talagang mataas [ang quality] to make it more conducive and enticing to the users. [M]edyo malaki din ang magagastos doon,” Majuelo said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Majuelo said they will make use of the library’s vacant space in the second floor for students who wish to read using the electronic gadgets provided by the University.

The “Maker Space” project will be funded by the 10-percent increase in the library fee this academic year. The increase will also fund the library’s exhibits, facility maintenance and improvement expenses.

“Talagang nagtataas kami [ng library fee] dahil sa pagtaas ng mga cost ng libro tsaka

mga online databases na sobrang mahal talaga.

[Tumataas ang fee up to] 10 to 20 percent every year… [and] meron tayong improvements ng mga facilities, syempre yung cost nung sa mga suppliers, tumataas din,” Majuelo said.

Majuelo also explained that the cost of the online databases from foreign resources increased as dollar rate strengthened in the past year.

“Most of the online resources yung mga databases, dollar lang ang binabayad.

Wala tayong nakakapag-produce locally ng mga ganong [online databases], wala tayong mabibigay sa estudyante kung di tayo [nagsusubscribe from] abroad,” Majuelo said.

Majuelo noted that almost 10,000 volumes of online resources were imported abroad this year.

The chief librarian also urged Thomasians to utilize library resources to maximize what they’re paying for. “‘Yong mga estudyante they should maximize the use of the library para hindi nila ma-feel na sila ay na-aagrabyado sa binabayad nilang library fee,” Majuelo said. SAMANTHA WEE-LIPANA and PAULINE FAYE V. TRIA

in corporate governance and [a] staunch believer in Filipino talent,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

SyCip opened an accounting firm named W. SyCip & Company in 1946. He later on partnered with Alfredo Velayo and Ramon Gorres, co-founding the SyCip, Gorres, Velayo and Company (SGV & Co.).

He also founded the Asian Institute of Management, an international business school, in 1968.

SyCip was a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1992, the Golden Medallion of Professional Excellence and Business Leadership from the Professional Regulation Commission in 2000, New Silk Road Award from the CaliforniaAsia Business Council in 2004, Dr. Jose Rizal Award for Excellence in 2004, Lifetime Achievement Award from Columbia Business School in 2010, Order of Lakandula in 2011 and the Ramon V. del Rosario Award for Nation Building in 2012.

SAMANTHA WEE-LIPANA

Asian ranking FROM PAGE 1 Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University topped all Asian universities, while Hong Kong had the most schools in the top 10.

More than 400 universities were ranked from 17 countries in Asia.

The QS ranking was based on universities’ academic reputation (30%), employer reputation (20%), faculty-student ratio (15%), citations per paper (10%), papers per faculty (10%), staff with doctorate degrees (5%), international faculty (2.5%), international students (2.5%), inbound exchange students (2.5%) and outbound exchange students (2.5%). PAULINE FAYE V. TRIA

Editor: Neil Jayson N. Servallos

OCTOBER 25, 2017

De Lima urges Filipinos to rise vs culture of death

SEN. LEILA de Lima maintains her innocence after eight months in detention, and said she would continue to fight the Duterte administration despite the trumped-up drug trafficking charges against her.

The Varsitarian spoke exclusively to the detained former human rights lawyer in September to hear her side of the story.

“I cry at night because of what [the administration is] doing to me. I am innocent. Drug trafficking charges filed against me were fabricated [and] based on an orchestrated lie,” de Lima said.

‘Personal vendetta’ De Lima claimed that her imprisonment was Duterte’s “personal vendetta” for investigations she had led as Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairwoman.

Duterte had been accused of leading the vigilante group called the “Davao Death Squad” or DDS, when he was Davao City mayor.

“What [Duterte] wants is personal vendetta. He hates me to the core,” she said. “During [the] public inquiry [into the DDS] in March 2009, [Duterte] was raising his voice when I was raising my voice. He was defending [the killings] and he has not forgiven me.”

CHR found in 2009 that the DDS killed 206

Special Reports 3

people, and 107 of them were involved in illegal activities. Some were victims of mistaken identity.

Duterte lashed out at de Lima in his second State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 24, questioning the senator’s morality.

“You show importance to de Lima. [But] you were all here. You heard the witnesses. You saw the video. Is she a credible woman? Can she be a moral person?” Duterte said in his second SONA. De Lima said: “[Duterte’s SONA] is embarrassing to the international community.”

The senator was arrested in February on charges that she accepted money from drug syndicates when she was justice secretary in the Aquino administration.

The witnesses against her are mostly convicts at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa.

Last Oct. 10, the Supreme Court, voting 9-6, dismissed de Lima’s petition to dismiss the charges against her, and ordered her trial to proceed.

De Lima had argued that she could not be tried by regular courts. Being a senator, she said, she should instead be charged before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.

De Lima PAGE 10

Leila de Lima

Poe urges Divina to step down; Aegis Juris cover-up attempt bared CIVIL Law Dean Nilo Divina refused to step down from office amid criticisms he could have done more to help the parents of hazing victim Horacio “Atio” Castillo III or to prevent the tragedy.

During the Senate probe into Atio’s fatal hazing last Oct. 18, Divina stood firm as Sen. Grace Poe pointed out that his law firm, DivinaLaw, was retained by UST and would have to defend both himself and the University.

“Hindi ba sumagi sa iyong isipan na umalis ka muna as dean ng Civil Law ng UST,” Poe asked. “It’s a conflict of interest being a dean and a subject for investigation.”

“I have maintained my neutrality and I have maintained my distance from the fraternity,” Divina, who assumed deanship in 2009, responded.

Poe noted that Divina was not “pro-active” in ensuring that fraternities in UST were not holding hazing rites for new recruits.

“Letting them sign a piece of paper that they will not do hazing is not necessarily a pro-active approach.

Have you done anything beyond having a signed covenant with these different fraternities that they should

not conduct hazing,” Poe asked.

“This alone shows you’re presuming, you’re assuming, but you’re not exactly pro-actively investigating. Having been part of that particular group and system, you should be one step ahead of them.

And as dean, if you’re serious about this, you should have asked, you should have investigated,” she added.

Divina answered that there were no grounds for investigation, but Poe replied that “there is always ground to investigate.”

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri also slammed Divina for not informing Atio’s parents of his death immediately.

Zubiri said he did not believe Divina was powerless to inform the parents, simply because the University was closed during Sundays and that the law dean did not know who the victim was.

“I find your story hard to believe.

It’s your responsibility as the dean of the Civil Law. It is impossible for a dean to not know their students. Put yourself in their shoes. Kung anak mo ‘yan, dean,” Zubiri said.

Rector speaks up UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P., who attended the probe, vowed to improve the rules of the University on fraternities and sororities.

From left: Aegis Juris Fraternity members Marc Anthony Ventura, Axel Munro Hipe and Oliver John Audrey Onofre.

JOELLE ALISON MAE P. EUSEBIO “Our first concern is actually to complete the investigation so we would be able to impose the just and reasonable penalties according to our student handbook. And after that, we would actually…look into the improvement of the policies and procedures of the University regarding these fraternities and sororities. I think it is high time for us to

look into the rules [of the University],” Dagohoy told the Varsitarian.

In the UST Student Handbook, hazing is mentioned under the Maintenance of Peace and Order section. Republic Act (RA) 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law is attached to the handbook as an appendix.

Last Feb. 24, the Civil Law Student Welfare and Development Board released

a memo ordering all fraternities and sororities in the Faculty not to recruit freshmen, and to “strictly follow the Anti-Hazing Law.” “Freshmen students must be given the opportunity to reasonably and intelligently determine the

Senate probe PAGE 9

‘Free Tuition Law will shut down small private schools’

SMALL private schools could be forced to shut down with the passage of the “Free Tuition Law” in state universities and colleges (SUCs), unless the government fully funds the law’s tuition subsidy and loan programs that would benefit private education institutions.

Republic Act (RA) 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act promises free education for those enrolling in SUCs and technical-vocational institutions.

Lawyer Ada Abad of the Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities claimed the law was already taking its toll on enrollment in private schools, which could lead to faculty layoffs.

This could result in the shutdown of small private and parochial schools, she warned.

“It is possible that some private schools may be constrained to close. Decline in enrollment will lead to [fewer] students, and not as many teachers and personnel will be needed as well,” Abad told the Varsitarian.

Vincent Fabella, board member of the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations, said private schools in rural areas serving 2,000 enrollees or less would have difficulty competing with SUCs. “A lot of [private schools] aren’t the big universities. A lot of these are in the rural areas, the places that state universities cannot access,” he said.

Figures from the Planning, Research and Knowledge Management Office of the Commission on Higher Education showed that there are 1,710 private higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country, of which 351 are sectarian schools and 1,359 are non-sectarian.

Delay in loan program Fabella lamented the government’s announcement that full funding for the Student Loan Program, which could benefit students in private

schools, would be delayed. “[The government] doesn’t want to allocate [money for] the student loan [because] there is no mechanism yet to allocate the loan… The government should be looking at the positive [side that] all students will be contributing to the economy,” Fabella told the Varsitarian.

Fabella said the government was eyeing to fully fund the long-term loans in 2019 through the existing Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education or Unifast.

The Student Loan Program for college education offers loans in undergraduate and graduate studies, including review expenses for licensure examinations.

“Payment of the loan amount will commence once the beneficiary secures any gainful employment with compensation,” Section 8 of the new law states.

Fr. Joel Tabora, S.J., head of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, said he doubted that the Free Tuition Law would cause the shutdown of small private schools.

“I do not foresee [the closing of private schools] as a result of RA 10931, provided that the law is properly implemented,” Tabora told the Varsitarian in an e-mail.

He said small private schools should focus on quality.

“In both public and private schools, the importance of quality must now be attended to. A small school will not be able to attract students if its quality is poor,” Tabora said.

‘Prioritize subsidy’ Economist Tereso Tullao, university fellow at De La Salle University, said the law’s proposed Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) should prioritize students from poor families.

“The entire law should be a subsidy for the poor [to] let them choose whether they want to stay either in private or public college or university,” Tullao said.

The TES, under Section 7 of RA 10931, “may, among others, and to support the cost of tertiary education or any part or portion thereof,” including tuition and books. It covers SUCs as well as private HEIs. UST Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, O.P. said the viability of private schools would hinge on the implementation of the TES. Dagohoy also expects UST’s enrollment to take a hit.

“On the introduction of free tuition fee, I don’t know if it would affect us [but] I am not very optimistic whether we would have the same number of enrollees next year because of the free tuition [law],” he told the Varsitarian in an interview.

Dagohoy said the University’s academic programs should be overhauled to mitigate the impacts of the law on the number of enrollees.

Abad agreed, saying private schools must stay “financially afloat” by “creating industrydriven curricula to improve competencies of graduates in the local and global market and ensuring that graduates will be able to find immediate employment in their partner industries.” MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ

4 Opinion

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Editorial

Cheesy ‘Chiz’ Escudero guilty of grandstanding PERHAPS because he has largely paid lip service to the extra-judicial killings (EJK) of the Duterte administration whose Senate coalition he’s a diehard of, and perhaps too because he and his father had supported Ferdinand Marcos and his corrupt and oppressive strongman rule, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero could sound cheesy and brag about his dubious credentials as an advocate of peace and non-violence at the cost of the University already reeling from the trauma of the fatal fraternity hazing of Horacio Tomas Castillo III. Chiz is one cheese that stinks.

In a Senate press briefing, Escudero alleged UST was “lacking concern” and silent on the death of Castillo. Where has he been all along?

The University authorities have cooperated with the investigation since Day One, as the Manila Police District itself has acknowledged.

University authorities such as Vice-Chancellor and Philippine Dominican Province Prior Provincial Napoleon Sipalay Jr., O.P., Faculty of Arts and Letters Regent Fr. Rodel Aligan, O.P., and Dean Michael Vasco have led the campus community in commiserating with the Castillo family in their hour of grief.

Official statements of UST have condemned the killing and other senseless acts of violence, including EJKs and the reimposition of the death penalty, the last two matters of course Escudero and his bloodthirsty pro-Duterte Senate cohorts would rather also ignore and feign not to have knowledge of. Mahirap gisingin ang nagtutulogtulugan. Mahirap makarinig ang nagbibingibingihan.

But as we have said in the previous editorial, the Castillo incident should be seen in the broader and more sordid panorama of killings and violence thriving in the nation’s culture of death. While the Senate majority has ignored EJKs and practically abolished the budget of the Commission on Human Rights, it has been quick to jump on the Castillo bandwagon: they include someone involved in bloodthirsty sport turned Bible-thumping pastor who revels in the literal interpretation of the Old Testament, particularly its more bloodthirsty aspects; a crass comedian whose most memorable role is as a cretin and dunce on a TV sitcom titled “Iskul Bukol” (Literal translation: Academy of Blockheads. You can take the senator out of “Iskul Bukol but you cannot take “Iskul Bukol” Editorial PAGE 5

FOUNDED JAN. 16, 1928 AMIERIELLE ANNE A. BULAN Editor in Chief BERNADETTE A. PAMINTUAN Managing Editor ALHEX ADREA M. PERALTA Associate Editor MARIA CRISANTA M. PALOMA News Editor HANNAH RHOCELLHYNNIA H. CRUZ Assistant News Editor 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 LEA MAT P. VICENCIO Acting Witness Editor EDRIS DOMINIC C. PUA Science and Technology Editor AUDRIE JULIENNE D. BERNAS Circle Editor CHRISTIAN DE LANO M. DEIPARINE, THEODORE JASON PATRICK K. ORTIZ Online Editors

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FEAR came, not change.

If there were anything obvious in this regime of President Rodrigo Duterte, that change would be from bad to worse.

A survey conducted in June 2017 by national polling firm Social Weather Stations revealed that 73 per cent or seven in ten adult Filipinos are “worried” they, or someone they know, would be victims of extrajudicial killings in relation to the government’s war against drugs.

In times of the brutal deaths of teenagers like Kian Loyd delos Santos, Carl Angelo Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman, the escalating terror of Filipinos is evidently real and alarming. But who can blame the masses if, almost every day, they witness people left dead on streets with gunshot wounds.

Witnesses and families of these victims tell similar narratives: the victim was abducted and the lifeless body would later be found dumped somewhere; that the victim was innocent and was never involved with drugs, they would add.

And the police, every time, would tell a different story: the victim was armed and had to

In a state of fear The last thing the country needs is an administration insensitive to life and human rights, one that lets its people live in fear. be shot. Killing was for selfdefense.

The rising number of extrajudicial killings, which the administration keeps on masking as homicide, clearly gave 73 percent of Filipinos the notion that it is no longer safe in the country.

I personally do not feel as safe as I did before. I am terrified to walk the streets soon after it gets dark, even if it is as early as 5 p.m.

The “bloodless campaign” against drugs is, if not a bluff, a complete failure. Duterte has yet to flinch even with more than 13,000 Filipinos already killed during his term.

Latest fatalities, or what Duterte shamelessly calls

“collateral damage,” are the youth, the innocent who are supposed to be in school.

With less than five years left in his term, there is no sign of him doing something to stop vigilantes and police from conducting irresponsible drug raids and operations.

The Philippine National Police (PNP), cozy behind the “nanlaban ang biktima kaya pinatay” excuse, should be purged of misdirected officers, and should start evoking safety instead of fear.

After all, the police are supposed “to serve and protect” the masses, not execute them.

And while PNP data show that all other forms of crime dropped by 9.8 percent during

Duterte’s first year in office, killings significantly rose by 22.75 percent.

This raises questions on where Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano based his remarks when he said the Philippines has become a “little bit safer” under Duterte.

Duterte, as if numb, still deliberately fails to listen to anyone crying out “due process” for all the victims of his campaign, whether they are international human rights groups, politicians, activists or the families of those killed mercilessly.

While the budget for the total abolition of drug use in the country ballooned to not less than P200 billion (P111.6 billion for the PNP; P1.8 billion for the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; P125.1 million for the Dangerous Drugs Board; P2.5 billion for the Office of the President’s Confidential and Intelligence Funds; P793.7 million for the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency; P2.6 billion for the Department of Health Treatment Lionheart PAGE 10

The President and the wrong side of a revolution PRESIDENT Duterte has reached a new level of mania.

In a recent tirade, he declared that he would overthrow his own government to establish a revolutionary government. Is paranoia enough leverage for him to upend democracy?

Time and again, he has accused all of his critics and detractors of being part of convening for plots to oust him from power. He blames the “dilawan” and “reds,” for any possibility of destabilization of the government.

He has the majority in Congress, Supreme Court and basically everyone in power pliably kowtowing to him and everything he stands for.

What kind of opposition group, in their right minds, would stage an assassination and destabilization when such could easily erase them from the Philippine political landscape?

And for a fact, the communist rebels, which he credits for too much influence, are not as powerful as they were.

Don’t these critics have the right to put misaligned policies and pronouncements to pillory?

If he can’t handle them, why should he put up a revolutionary government?

In retrospect, there had

It is important to keep in mind that revolutions are not always about the triumph of a certain cause, it is also about the blood drawn to ensure every step of the violent power struggle. been two instances of putting revolutionary governments in place: one in 1899 by the Malolos Congress led by Emilio Aguinaldo and another in 1986 by the late former President Corazon Aquino.

The Malolos Congress inaugurated the First Philippine Republic in 1899, an incipient revolutionary government, with Aguinaldo as President. It was established for Filipinos to selfrule, become independent from colonial bondage, but was later put to an end when Aguinaldo was captured and took an oath of allegiance with the United States.

Cory’s revolutionary government, meanwhile, was established when she assumed Presidency via the success of the 1986 Revolution that overthrew the Marcos regime. During

these times, she was ruling by decree following the abolition of the 1973 Constitution that was in force during Martial Law to promulgate the 1986 Freedom Constitution. This government endured until the ratification of the 1987 Constitution by a national plebiscite.

These two revolutionary governments, though shortlived, nonetheless paved the roads toward a certain consciousness of our nation— that we Filipinos, abled by our collective efforts, can put colonial rule and dictatorships to an end.

In a previous conversation that I had with UST Political Science Chairman Dennis Coronacion, he said an important question was left in the dark––what did Duterte mean by “revolutionary

government?”

There is no certainty to what Duterte will do with his, but what the previous leaders did with their own revolutionary government was to eliminate everything that were oppressive of the previous regime’s rule.

Thereby, it is outrageous to compare the principles of these two examples to what he is brewing.

Now, if the president decides to start a revolution against his own government, then our problem would escalate from his asininity to his pure lunacy.

He is on the wrong side of the revolution he speaks of and he is using a threat that he should not have been making.

As always, the consequences of his pronouncement have been totally oversighted, putting out of context the possibility of hundreds of political killings, state-sanctioned drug killings and more.

It is important to keep in mind that revolutions are not always about the triumph of a certain cause, it is also about the blood drawn to ensure every step of the violent power struggle.

Dissent is not a crime, but the President’s pronouncements should be.

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Rubber stamp congress THERE IS strength in numbers. But to the chambers of Philippine Congress, it is a detriment.

It is always a game of numbers in politics: the votes of our representatives—the Ayes and Nays—are crucial in passing laws aimed at making the lives of Filipinos better.

But do district and partylist congressmen still vote on the passage of laws based on the voice of their constituents and their own conscience?

Our Constitution enshrines that the three branches of government are co-equal, tasked with different duties but with a single, unifying mandate: to serve the people.

But it seems that lawmakers vote based on their personal interests and those of their respective political parties these days, completely disregarding what their constituents have to say on legislative matters.

Sad to say, the country’s legislative body has evolved,

The Filipino people can halt this shameful culture and bring about the real coming of change by holding our public officials accountable to break the chains of a rubber stamp legislature.

surely there are more, propagate the culture of seeing our lawmakers as highly, powerful and unreachable people when it is us who elect them to power.

It makes constituents forget to clamor, complain, or even demand for a dialogue with their representative.

Lawmakers take it upon themselves to decide on what would be beneficial only for them, hiding their motives under the cloak of what would be good for their districts.

The lack of awareness from the electorate worsens the present scenario. It maintains and prolongs our failure to demand accountability from our public officials.

The tides have turned these days with some lawmakers from both Congress and the Senate rubbing it to our face that they are serving us as if we should even look at them with a sense of gratitude or “utang

nay, turned into a rubber stamp congress that serve at the pleasure of whoever is sitting in Malacañang.

This has been proven many times not only under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, but also of the previous administrations.

For instance, on Sept. 12, the House of Representatives voted to give the Commission on Human Rights, the constitutional body embattled in the time of Duterte’s bloody drug war, a budget of P1,000 for next year.

Had this move not received public outcry and

humiliation, they would not have decided to restore its budget back to the original P600 million it had proposed.

On March 7, Congress approved the third and final reading the passage of the bill restoring death penalty as capital punishment, with only drug-related offenses punishable.

Congress also railroaded the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health Law on Dec. 17, 2012, dominated by then ruling Liberal Party of former president Benigno Aquino III. These instances, and

out of the senator!): and a Mindanao lawmaker whose integrity and intelligence are as thorny as the exotic pineapple (with apologies to the pineapple, of course).

Escudero’s unfair remarks therefore are calculated to stir up frenzy against UST the better to lengthen the 15 minutes of notoriety that the Castillo case has acquired so as to remove from the public’s concern the genocidal rise of EJKs and violence, abetted exactly by lawmakers and officials who turn a blind eye on the corruption and violence perpetrated by the administration to whom they have given their support and loyalty in the tried and tested old-politics tradition of nepotism, horse-trading and influence-peddling.

It is easy to see that the Senate hearing has merely allowed senators to grandstand while enabling the killers of Castillo and their accomplices to buy

time and buttress their defense, if not altogether make a clean getaway.

Previous high-profile killings due to hazing, involving both law and nonlaw fraternities, have been thrown out of court. Clearly what the Senate should do would be to fill loopholes of the law or pass another law that bans hazing altogether.

But since the Senate is filled with fraternity brethren, it wouldn’t do that. It would just grandstand and crucify institutions like UST that have stood all these centuries for peace, non-violence, justice, and moral integrity, values that are hardly visible in the Duterte administration and the instrumentalities of the state.

Aegis Juris fraternity has conveniently exploited for itself Senate grandstanding in order to improve its legal position, with members invoking their right against selfincrimination and generally refusing to cooperate with the Senate inquiry, which only abets grandstanding senators like Escudero to

do more of the sordid same.

Aegis Juris means “shield of justice” and it is obviously using its legal shield to evade justice and perpetrate larger injustices against the victim, his family, and his school, UST. Aegis Juris may have officially stated it would cooperate with the investigation, but it appears to have been doing the opposite.

In the Senate inquiry on Oct. 18, the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed a closed-circuit television footage from Novotel in Quezon City where at least 19 fraternity members, incumbent and alumni, attended a meeting in the afternoon of Sept.

17, the Sunday of Castillo’s death. It was later disclosed by the PNP that before the meeting, the members exchanged Facebook messages, discussing how they would “cover up, conceal, avoid and evade prosecution.”

Member Ralph Trangia even fled to Chicago. All of this smacks of obstruction of justice.

During the Senate

inquiry, the members kept refusing to answer even the most basic questions, invoking their right against self-incrimination.

It is obvious they were protecting their hide and their fraternity due to loyalty and sheer self-preservation, twisted values that Aegis Juris shares with other Greek-letter fraternities, values that are cultivated by secret societies and criminal syndicates such as the Mafia and the Yakuza.

These same values are in full display in state instrumentalities, including the Senate and the criminal justice system.

They thrive on the old boys’ network of nepotism, horse-trading,influencepeddling, and yes, political granstanding like Chiz Escudero’s. As we have said all along, the culture of death and impunity has been alive all along on and off campus. And that culture has started to smell foul and stinking like Chiz, er, cheese (with apologies to cheese, of course).

Indifference

in a forum at the Ateneo de Manila last Sept. 29.

Arts and Letters Regent Fr. Rodel Aligan, O.P. lashed out at Escudero on Facebook for grandstanding at UST’s expense.

“Where was Escudero when the different student councils of UST offered Mass and condolences and condemned the death of Horacio? Where was Escudero when the Political Science Forum held vigil almost every night seeking for justice?

Where was Escudero when the representatives of the UST administration officiated in the Funeral Mass of Horacio?

This would include the vicegrand chancellor of UST and provincial of the [Dominican Province of the Philippines],” he said.

“By the way, where were you during the death of Atio?

Did you do anything by virtue of your clout as senator? The last time I saw you was during the Star Magic ball of ABSCBN hobnobbing with movie stars,” he added.

De la Rosa defends Divina Former UST rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa meanwhile defended the beleaguered Civil Law dean.

“It is unfortunate that this happened during the term of one of the most God-fearing and effective deans of the UST Faculty of Civil Law. He sacrificed immensely to promote his students’ welfare, maintaining discipline, and uplifting the academic standards of the faculty,” de la Rosa was quoted as saying by the “One with Nilo” Facebook page.

“He even spends his meager salary and a large part of his earnings from private practice for scholarship grants, continuing faculty development, and activities that will promote solidarity among his constituents,” he added. “Being a man of great faith and courage, [Divina] shall emerge unscathed from this hazing controversy.” with reports from IANNA GAYLE S. AGUS AND DAPHNE YANN GALVEZ

Editorial FROM PAGE 4

FROM PAGE 1 Investigation, “which led to the identification of the members of the fraternity and possible perpetrators of the crime.”

UST said it also allowed representatives of the Legal Education Board and the Commission on Human Rights to monitor the proceedings of its investigation despite limitations under the Education Act and the Data Privacy Act. Jose Luis Martin Gascon, the human rights chief, said the commission would monitor the police investigation into the hazing case.

“We send an investigation team and we monitor… whether or not if the state authority, police and [other] ultimately correctional facilities [will] bring justice to this case. What we are all concerned about is ensuring justice is delivered,” he said

Aligan hits Escudero In a press briefing on Oct. 19, Sen. Francis Escudero hit the University administration for its supposed silence on Castillo’s death.

“Mula nang nangyari [`yung pagkamatay ni Castillo], wala pa akong narinig na opisyal ng UST na nagsalita sa kasong ito… sila pa dapat ang nangunguna sana para magbigay ng tama at magandang ehemplo lalo na sa pagpapaharap sa panagutan ng sinumang liable sa krimen na ito,” he said.

Sen. Miguel Zubiri criticized Divina for his supposed lack of support to the probe into Castillo’s death. “[Divina] promised [to help in the speedy justice of the Castillo case] and yet not one of the [Aegis Juris fraternity] members has come out to support this case… It’s unfortunate, you should’ve done more,” Zubiri said in a Senate hearing last Oct. 18.

In the Light PAGE 10

Opinion 5

Diversion programs for CICL needed THE POOR implementation of laws addressing children in conflict with the law (CICL) and children at risk (CAR) leads to the overwhelmingly big number of the youth to be exploited by adults to commit crimes.

Along the streets around the University, a lot of vulnerable youth roam in ragged clothes with their palms stretched to ask for food or money. And while it is stated in our charter, particularly in Presidential Decree 1563 or Anti-Mendicancy Law, that panlilimos is prohibited, apparently, most Filipinos are ignorant about it because of poor implementation of laws.

Republic Act No. 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 follows the international law as prescribed in the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); the law mandates a restorative juvenile justice system for the CICL and CAR. Debunking the punitive approach, the comprehensive juvenile justice law shall provide inclusive tailoredfit intervention and diversion programs in order to reintegrate the child back to the community.

Children’s Rights counsel of the Human Rights Watch Michael Bochenek said there are crimes done by juvenile delinquents that face charges and sentences that are “disproportionate” to what has been committed, thus violating the international law on juvenile justice system.

The Juvenile Justice Welfare Council attributed these accounts of criminality by youth to the prevalence of poverty—the socioeconomic profile of the vulnerable

Utilizing the vulnerable youth to take part in the rampant and bloody drug war is as detrimental as poisoning our own society. youth as a factor pressuring them to not abide the laws.

In a report by the Philippine National Police in 2015, an overwhelming 60 percent of crimes committed by minors are attributed to crimes against property—theft and robbery are among the prevalent crimes.

Thirty-six percent, however, constitutes crimes against persons (i.e. rape, murder, homicide).

According to UNICEF, the fundamental goal of a juvenile justice system is to reintegrate the vulnerable children back to the community. However, there is a need for a holistic effort among the parties involved: the child, the offended, and the community itself.

Government sectors, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the local government units involved in juvenile delinquents’ issues, should come up with inclusive, comprehensive and tailored-fit programs, personalized for every child at risk and in conflict with the law.

But it can be inferred that the current administration’s focus in addressing the issue of juvenile criminality is not on the intervention and diversion programs.

Cassiopeia PAGE 10

Drug tests

Bar exams

FROM PAGE 1

FROM PAGE 2

proper treatment.

“Kung nag-positive man [ang estudyante], hindi mo siya ida-drive away. They have to be counseled. And they have to be treated depende kung how deep ang kanyang addiction,” she said.

“Kung maka-receive kami ng positive na drug test… we talk to the dean or to the principal… and tell them [that] somebody [tested] positive.

Then we talk to the principal and the parents…para aware ang parents [so we can do] the necessary measures in terms of counseling or rehabilitation,” de Leon said.

From July to October 2017, the UST Health Service tested 1,050 Senior High School students while 2,189 students from the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and the Graduate School were subjected to mandatory drug testing.

IANNA GAYLE S. AGUS with reports from JACOB MARVIN D. URMENITA

from the regular pre-bar lectures, to help boost their performance this year.

“We have also compiled [jurisprudence] for their convenient reference [from] the last five years, as well as the ponencias of the [Bar] chairman (Bersamin) in all eight subjects,” he said.

The exams, which will all be essay questions, include the subjects political law, labor law, civil law, taxation, mercantile law, criminal law, remedial law, and legal and judicial ethics.

The 2017 Bar Examinations is slated on all four Sundays of November. Over 7,000 bar examinees are expected to take the exams.

A liquor ban will be implemented around the campus and the selling of beer and other alcoholic beverages will be prohibited.

Last year, UST’s passing rate soared to 96.25 percent with 77 passing the exams out of 80 first-time examinees.

This year marks the 116th edition of the Bar Exams. IANNA GAYLE S. AGUS

6 Witness

Acting Editor: Lea Mat P. Vicencio

OCTOBER 25, 2017

‘Prayer is key to peace,’ La Naval devotees told CUBAO Bishop Honesto Ongtioco on Oct. 8 said chaos in society was rooted in the lack of respect for life, in a Mass for the feast of La Naval de Manila at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.

“Magulo [ang lipunan kasi] wala na tayong paggalang sa buhay ng tao samantalang ang buhay ng tao ay sagrado. Laging may pag-asa ang tao. Diyan tayo lumalapit sa Mahal na Ina na walang sawang ipinagdadasal tayo, binibigyan ng bagong buhay, pag-asa,” he said.

Ongtioco said prayer was the key to peace especially in the Philippines, amid cases of extrajudicial killings linked to President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

“A nation in prayer is a nation at peace. A world in prayer is a world at peace. Dahil sa panalangin nagkakaroon ng liwanag ang kaisipan na [nasa] kadiliman. Ang tao ay [nagpapakumbaba] sa harap

ng Diyos upang hingin ang kanyang awa at pagpapala,” he said.

Santo Domingo Convent Prior Fr. Roland Mactal, O.P. urged La Naval devotees to continue reaching out to the poor and marginalized as part of the celebration of the Year of the Parish this year.

“Ipagpatuloy natin ang ating pakikipag-ugnayan sa Diyos at sa kapwa, pakikilahok sa ating pamayanan at sa ating Simbahan at ang misyon sa ating pang araw-araw na kabuhayan,” he said.

A grand procession of the 424-year-old image of Our Lady of the Rosary of La Naval, along with Dominican saints and saints of the Holy Rosary, followed the Mass.

The annual procession honors the Marian intercession for the victory of Filipino and Spanish troops over Protestant Dutch invaders in 1646.

LEXANNE O. GARCIA

LA NAVAL DE MANILA. Catholic devotees join the procession of Our Lady of La Naval last Oct. 8.

Photos by DEEJAE S. DUMLAO and MARIA CHARISSE ANN G. REFUERZO

Cebu’s Cardinal Vidal passes away at 86 CEBU Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal died on Wednesday days after falling into a coma at the Perpetual Succor Hospital in Cebu City. He was 86.

Msgr. Joseph Tan, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Cebu, said Vidal was in stable condition, but his heart could have given up because of old age.

Tests done on Vidal last week revealed that he suffered from blood infection and a bleeding kidney.

Vidal fell into a coma on Oct. 11 following fever and shortness of breath. His condition improved two days later.

Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, the cardinal’s physician, said the prelate did not suffer from any cardiovascular diseases.

A native of Mogpog, Marinduque, Vidal was born in 1931 and was ordained to priesthood on March 17, 1956.

In 1985, UST gave him a doctor of sacred theology degree, honoris causa.

Vidal was installed as archbishop of Cebu in 1982 where he served for 29 years until his retirement in 2011.

He was elevated to the College of Cardinals at the Vatican in 1985.

The late cardinal was president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in 1986 when he led the the call for a “nonviolent struggle for justice” after the fraudulent 1986 snap elections.

“According to moral principles, a government that assumes or retains power through fraudulent means has no moral basis,” Vidal said in statement after the 1986 snap elections.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop

and outgoing CBCP President Socrates Villegas mourned the death of Vidal.

“Cardinal Vidal cannot die. He who has always shared in the dying and rising of the Lord daily in his priestly life cannot die. He now joins the immortal ones who served the Lord faithfully here on earth.

His wisdom and his humility, his love for priests and his devotion to the Virgin Mary must live on in us whom he has left behind,” he said.

Columnist Fr. Roy Cimagala said the cardinal was “a silent worker astute in his judgements.”

“He knew how to be both very spiritual and supernatural on the one hand, and very human and earthy on the other. He exuded simplicity and humility all the time. His legacy is his holiness, simplicity and generous self-giving,” Cimagala told the Varsitarian in an online interview.

Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP’s permanent Committee on Public Affairs, said Vidal’s demise meant the “loss of a rational and calming voice in the midst of a politically chaotic nation.”

“He was a steady force in the local church of the Philippines, an anchor that stirred clear of political division and provided a clear direction to the Church’s mission,” Secillano said told the Varsitarian.

Vidal was the most senior of the country’s four cardinals, which include Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, and Manila Archbishop Emeritus Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales. KATHLEEN THERESE A. PALAPAR

Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidalleads Mass during the 2016 International Eucharistic Congress.

FILE: ANGELI MAE S. CANTILLANA

Bacani FROM PAGE 1 the truth. [M]agsabi na sila ng totoo. Otherwise, that will be weighing on their consciences.

They might be free legally but deep inside, they will be imprisoned by the groaning of their own conscience[s] against what they have done,” Bacani said.

The 22-year-old Castillo died on Sept. 17 after going through the hazing rites of Aegis Juris, a UST law fraternity, which counts Faculty of Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina as one of its prominent alumni.

Bacani, in a lecture before the UST Theological Society at the Central Seminary on Thursday, lamented the lack of empathy and charity amid violence in society.

“We must read the sign of

the times [and] scrutinize them.

There are many others but these two, violence and indifference, have special prominence to [us],” Bacani said in a conference on Oct. 18.

“We are sheltered for so much violence, but not the rest of the world. Wars and killings are not strangers in our ears.

[B]ut there is this ‘dedma’ (apathetic) mentality. This is the sad reality of our country,” he added. ELMER B. COLDORA

Editor: Audrie Julienne D. Bernas

Circle 7

OCTOBER 25, 2017

UST artists show Filipino identity in ManilArt

“Lanzones” by San Miguel

“Market Scene” by San Miguel

NATIVE themes, meant to conjure up images of Filipino identity, were carried in the works of Thomasian artists who participated in ManilArt 2017, which ran from Oct. 12 to 15 at the SMX Convention Center of SM Aura Premiere in Taguig City.

Customary Filipino scenes are captured as main subjects in the paintings of impressionist Roger San Miguel. To cite, his work “Sampaguita Vendors,” painted only with primary colors, portrays three maidens selling a handful of Sampaguita flowers.

“My subjects are usually Filipino because I want to show that wherever I go, even if I’m an international artist, I instill the Filipino culture and tradition,” said San Miguel, who is known as the “Father of Modern Impressionism.”

An alumnus of the old College of Fine Arts and Architecture, Oliver Ramos marked his comeback in the art scene after years of hiatus.

In the painting, titled “Follow,” Ramos renders a Maya bird perched on a tree branch on a broken antique wood panel.

“I chose a theme close to my heart, my childhood,” Ramos said. “I didn’t think of the theme because it will be a constraint in ideas.”

CJ Tañedo’s “Soot and Stars,” a painting of a man’s poker face with the Latin word “Deus ex machina,” focuses on surviving depression.

The painting, according to the artist, pushes the advocacy on the awareness of mental health issues in the country.

Music alumnus Fitz Herrera mounted his abstraction, titled “Bliss Series #3,” a 60 x 36 in. red- and

San Miguel

Tañedo

orange-hued acrylic painting.

A ManilArt favorite through the years, architecture alumnus Ramon Orlina’s famous glass sculptures welcomed guests, as it always did in past ManilArt fairs. The collection, dubbed as “Brilliance2,” had as its main attraction “Luminous Sunrise Over Cordillera,” an amber optical glass sculpture which resembles a mountain.

On its ninth year, ManilArt had 37 participating art galleries that harbored more than 200 artworks from both young and veteran artists.

Drawing influence from the country’s diverse artistic flavors, the country’s longest-running premiere art fair upheld culture and identity through art with the theme “The Philippines as an ASEAN Cultural Powerhouse.”

“We thought of theme because we are hosting this year’s ASEAN. We

wanted to promote Mindanaoan art styles so we invited them to experience their heritage and culture,” ManilArt organizer Teresa Rayos del Sol told the Varsitarian.

Established in 2009 by the National Committee on Art Galleries of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the fair has since played a role in promoting the creativity of new and upcoming artists and the professionalism of renowned art galleries from all around the Philippines.

“ManilArt is also an event to unite people and show artists who they are though their ‘voices and expressions of arts,’” Rayos del Sol noted.

ManilArt 2017 included workshops, live mural painting demos, art appreciation walking tour and mosaic art demos. KLIMIER NICOLE B. ADRIANO

Iranian fashion designer flaunts traditional dresses RENOWNED designer Shahin Ebrahimzadeh-Pezeshki adorned the mezzanine hall of the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building from Oct. 9 to 11 with traditional Iranian dresses and other colorful Middle Eastern textiles.

Her exhibit, titled “Colors of Diversity,” was brought to the University in partnership with the Embassy of Islamic Republic of IranManila.

Pezeshki, who is the dean of Traditional Iranian Garments Faculty of the Karaj University of Arts and Culture in Iran, visited the country to introduce her country’s culture using her intricately designed folk costumes of Iranian women from their different provinces and tribes.

“I would like to show the identification of each tribe in Iran,” Pezeshki told the Varsitarian. “One is able to discern the identity of a nation through the dresses that they have. It’s also a way of preserving civilization and cultural heritage.”

Among the primary costumes exhibited were the traditional dresses of the Sistani women of Sistan-vaBaluchestan Province, which are made of light-colored cotton fabric.

The Kurdish dress, worn by northwestern tribeswomen of Iran, has layers of silk draped against patterns of fruits, which are accented by gold linings. Meanwhile, the Isfanahi dress, a silk dress with overlays of satin ornamentation, originates from Iran’s central district.

A dress with a long black vest

embroidered with floral patterns and coupled with a purple overhead clothing identifies with the Turkamen ladies from Gonbad City, who usually wear dresses sewn with silk yarn as its primary material.

Shared connections Some Iranian designs, Pezeshki noted, have striking similarities with that of the traditional Philippine designs.

“I saw the National Museum of the Philippines and realized that the ornament and design which they put in the dresses is exactly what we have in one of our provinces in Iran,” she said. “To find such similarities is very interesting considering that our countries are proximately distant.”

These similarities were ideally documented in the materials she used: garments of Kurdish women, for example, are printed with alternating straight and rugged lines at the edges. Dresses from the country’s southern city of Minab are heavy on embroidery while pieces from Gilan, North Iran are embellished with ribbons.

Mohammad Jafarimalak, cultural counselor of the Embassy of Iran, said nature and daily life experiences define the works of Iranian fashion designers.

The exhibit, he said, aimed to bring people together as politics have created tensions and divisions between nation states.

“When we introduce each nation based on their own identity and matter of natural heritage, people get to know each other in a very good way.”

The exhibit had been to the Rizal Park as its first stop, with UST and the University of the Philippines-Diliman as its second and third stop, respectively. KATHLEEN THERESE A. PALAPAR

From left: Director for International Relations Lilian Sison, Embassy of Iran cultural counselor Mohammad Jafarimalak, designer Shahin Ebrahimzadeh-Pezeshki and Public Affairs Director Giovanna Fontanilla

VLADLYN NONA MARYSE L. TADEO

8 Filipino

Patnugot: Jolau V. Ocampo

IKA-25 NG OKTUBRE, 2017

Ang Ikatlong Anti-Kristo: Mga konsepto ng pagdududa MAPANGAHAS ang pinakabagong panulat ng batikang kuwentista na si Eros Atalia na sumungkit para sa kaniya ng ikatlo niyang panalo sa Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Ito ang nobelang “Ang Ikatlong Anti-Kristo” na inilathala na ngayon ng Visprint (290 pahina).

Makapanindig-balahibo ang bagong timpla ng pagsasalaysay ni Atalia ng katatakutan. Inilalangkap na niya ngayon ang relihiyon sa pagtalakay ng realidad ng kasamaan. Sa “Ang Ikatlong Anti-Kristo,” umiinog ang kuwento sa konteksto ng mga napapanahong isyung panlipunan tulad ng suliranin ng mga magsasaka, extrajudicial killings, takbo ng politika sa bansa, hatian sa kita ng mga kontratista, paglaganap ng sugal at droga, at tungkulin ng media sa pagbabalita.

Sa nobela, ang tauhang ikatlong Anti-Kristo ay si Padre Markus, isang hinahangaang pari dahil sa kaniyang natatanging kakayahan sa panghuhula at pagpapagaling ng mga maysakit. Lubos siyang ulila dahil sa oras mismo ng kaniyang binyag ay gumuho ang simbahan ng Sta. Quiteria na ikinasawi ng mga magulang at kamag-anak niya. Mula noon, si Padre Domeng na ang tumayong ama ng

paslit na si Markus.

Hango ang konsepto ng kuwento sa propesiya ni Nostradamus, isang dating doktor na pinaniniwaalaang nabaliw bago gumawa ng libo-libong berso at propesiyang madalas nagkatotoo. Ang unang dalawang anti-Kristo ay sina Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) at si Adolf “Hisler” Hitler (1889-1945). Dahil naging Hisler ang Hitler, ginawang Markus ni Eros Atalia ang “Mabus” na pangalang hinulaan ni Nostradamus na siyang pangatlong anti-Kristo na aniya, mangagaling sa Silangan at isang Katoliko.

Sa kathang-isip na San Isidro ang tagpuan ng nobelang ito. Isa itong pook na mikrokosmo ng Kristiyanismo.

Dito, nakakabit ang pananampalataya sa biyaya. Inilalarawan ni Atalia ang bayang ito na parang may sakit dahil sa nararanasang tagtuyot at pananamlay ng mga ani.

Dagdag pa rito, ipinaliwanag sa nobela na dumarami lang ang tao sa simbahan ng bayang ito kapag may babasbasang patay, may pabinyag, magpapakasal at kapag may okasyon gaya ng pista, Pasko, Bagong Taon at Mahal na Araw. Subalit kapag nakalipas

‘More werpa’ sa wikang dinamiko!

MISTULANG bumabalik ang uso noong dekada 60 hanggang 70: ang pagpapalitan ng mga pantig ng mga salitang Filipino. Kung noon ay may “tomguts,” “batsi,” at “olats,” ngayon ay mayroong “enka,” matsala,” at “petmalu.”

Isa sa mga pasimuno ng panunumbalik na ito ang “What’s your ulam, pare?,” isang Facebook group na mayroong mahigit 100,000 miyembro sa kasalukuyan. Nagbabahagi ang mga ito ng retrato ng kanilang pagkain gamit ang mga binaligtad na salita sa caption.

Ilang mga terminong Ingles din ang inilalangkap sa tila katuwaang ito. Kung tanyag noon ang “jeprox” na mula sa salitang project, tampok naman ngayon sa mga kabataan ang “werpa” na nagmula sa power.

Aakalaing magkakakilala sa labas ng social media ang mga nakikiisa sa baligtad-salita dahil sa tawagan nilang “lodi” na nagmula sa idol, at “repa” na nagmula sa pare, na pinagmulan din ng “Erap,” ang kilalang bansag sa dating pangulong Joseph Ejercito Estrada.

Umani ito ng negatibong pagtanggap mula sa ilan na inihahalintulad ito sa lengguwaheng jejemon na sumikat noong 2010.

Gayumpaman, marami ang naaaliw sa katuwaang pananalitang ito sapagkat nakadaragdag ito sa kulay ng p a k i k i p a g- u s a p.

May kakayahan itong pagaanin ang mga usaping may seryosong paksa. Nagsisilbi rin itong code sa mga partikular na pangkat ng mga gumagamit nito.

Hindi man sang-ayon sa naturang katuwaan ang ilan dahil malayo ito sa pormal at pang-akademiyang pananalita, wala naman itong direktang epekto sa komunikasiyon maliban sa pagpapatunay na malikhain nga at dinamiko ang wikang Filipino.

Sa katunayan, ibinahagi ni Virgilio Almario, Pambansang Alagad ng Sining sa Panitikan at tagapangulo

ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, sa isang panayam sa Varsitarian na sinimulan ng kaniyang henerasiyon ang pagbabaligtad ng puwesto ng mga letra sa salita upang makabuo ng codes sa pagitan ng kani-kanilang mga pangkat.

Binigyang-diin naman ni Joselito delos Reyes, tagapangulo ng Department of Literature ng Unibersidad, na wala naman talagang itinuturing na puro at istandardisadong bersiyon ng wikang Filipino.

Kung gayon, malaya ang mga gumagamit nito na bumuo ng mga panibagong salita mula sa mga nauna nang nalikha, hangga’t nagkakaintindihan at malinaw ang daloy ng kanilang komunikasiyon.

Maaaring tingnan sa ganitong punto de vista ang baligtad-salita: patuloy itong ilalangkap sa kolokyal na wika, habang mananatili namang mga pormal na salita ang gagamitin sa pagsusulat sa akademya.

“More werpa” sa wikang dinamiko, sapagkat tulad ng “astig” na mula sa tigas, “dehins” na mula sa hindi, at iba pa, unti-unting magiging bahagi ng pang-araw-araw na komunikasiyon ang mga panibagong ambag sa nakahuhumaling na paglalaro ng mga salita. WINONA S. SADIA

na ang mga nabanggit na okasyon, nagiging madalang na ang pagsisimba ng mga tao.

Ngunit sa pagdating ni Padre Markus, halos napupuno na muli ang simbahan.

Kakikitaan ang paggamit ng mga berso sa Bibliya at mga terminolohiyang may kinalaman sa pagpapari ang nobelang ito; isang patunay na masuring pananaliksik ang ginawa para dito.

Sa mga diyalogo, makikita pa rin ang likas na pagpapatawa ng may akda sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng mga masiyahing tauhan. Kahangahanga ang pagkakahabi ng kuwento; naipasok ang mga isyung panlipunan nang hindi nasisira ang istorya.

Gaya ng iba pa niyang nobela, maraming bagay sa kuwento ang hindi lantarang nasasagot dahil sa pagtitimping ginagamit ni Atalia.

Ngunit marahil may isang mahalagang tanong ang kikintal sa isipan sa magbabasa ng nobelang ito: Galing ba talaga sa kabutihan ang lahat ng himala o tinitingnan lang natin ang himala bilang mabuti kahit galing ito sa kasamaan? ERMA R. EDERA

Usapang Uste

Pagkakaroon ng programang Mining Eng’g K AU NA-U NAHANG nag-alok ng pangkolehiyong programang Mining Engineering sa Filipinas ang Unibersidad ayon sa ulat ng Varsitarian noong Mayo 1934.

Binuksan ito noong Hunyo 1934 nang ipinasa ng awtoridad ang panukalang pagkakaroon ng gayong programa noong Disyembre 1933. Kinumpir ma ito ni Padre Juan Labrador, O.P., secretar y general ng Unibersidad noong taong iyon.

Sumailalim sa apat na taong pagsasanay na teoretikal at panlarangan ang lahat ng kumuha ng programang ito na kabilang sa Kolehiyo ng Inhinyeriya na mayroong kurikulum na ibinatay sa mga unibersidad sa Amerika at Europa.

Ayon sa tala, taong 1938 nagtapos ang unang gr upo ng mag-aaral na nagkaroon ng degree na Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering.

Kabilang dito sina Vicente Zaragoza at Andres Casanave na nanguna ang nakuhang marka sa gover nment examination sa parehong taon.

Nahinto ang programa noong 1949 bunga ng mababang bilang ng magaaral. Hanggang sa kasalukuyan, hindi na muling naibalik ang nasabing programa.

Tomasino siya Pagmamahal at hilig sa musika ang nagbigay kay Padre Leo Nilo Mangussad ng parangal na Outstanding Thomasian sa taong 2016.

Nakamit niya noong 1984 ang kaniyang degree na Bachelor of Music sa Unibersidad.

Nagtapos din siya bilang magna cum laude sa Pontif ico Instituto de Musica Sacra sa Roma ng Magister in Sacred Music.

Ayon sa ulat ng Varsitarian noong 2005, siya ang nagbuo ng

Liturgikon Vocal Ensemble sa taong 1986 na noo’y kinabibilangan ng 15 de-kalibreng musikero. Nagsilbi siya bilang musical director ng gr upo.

Umupo si Padre Mangussad bilang rektor ng Mar y Queen of Peace Shrine o EDSA Shrine mula 2014 hanggang 2015.

Nabigyan naman siya ng pagkakataong pamunuan ang Committee on Liturgical Music para sa pagbisita ng Santo Papa Francisco noong Enero 2015.

Nakapagsulat siya ng mga awitin para sa simbahang Katolika tulad ng “Si Cristo ay Muling Nabuhay” at “Munting Alay.” Kaugnay nito, malimit siyang naiimbitahan bilang tagapagsalita o hurado sa iba’t ibang pagpupulong at patimpalak na may kaugnayan sa musika.

Mula pa noong 2007, nagsisilbing tagapangulo si Mangussad ng Composition and Theor y Depar tment ng UST Conser vator y of Music. Siya rin ang tumatayong direktor ng SubCommission on Music ng Federation of the Tagalog Diocesan Directors of Liturgy.

Sa kasalukuyan, itinalaga siya bilang kura paroko ng San Roque de Sampaloc Parish. CHRIS V. GAMOSO

( p n g .)

Tomasalitaan b ú • s a g [ S T ] pagsasalita matinding

nang may galit Hal. Ramdam ang r ubdob habang nakikinig sa busag ng kasintahan.

Mga Sanggunian: The Varsitarian TOTAL Awards 2016 UP Diksiyonar yong Filipino

Editor: Nikko Miguel M. Garcia

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Literary 9

Acknowledge masses’ canon –Thomasian authors to academe LITERATURE is not limited to what your teachers tell you.—This, in a nutshell, was the accent of the trendiest names in Philippine Pop Literature today, who fittingly graced the book talk “The Emerging Genres in the 21st Century Philippine Literature” last Oct. 18.

Held at the Philippine Normal University (PNU), the event had Thomasian authors Joselito delos Reyes and Eros Atalia, and poet Pia Besmonte as speakers.

“Ang panitikan sa atin is a very middleclass concern. Ang masa ang dapat target-in ng akademya,” said Atalia, a three-time Palanca winner, underscoring that the first world countries’ concern is different from that of third world countries, like the Philippines.

“Kasi ang problema sa bansa natin ay ‘yong mga matatalino, sila lang ‘yung mga nag-uusap. Sa mga conference, pataasan sila ng ihi,” he added.

Atalia encouraged those who attended not to undervalue online storytelling platforms, such as Wattpad, which appeal to a majority of aspiring young writers.

“May problema mismo ‘yong akademya.

Sinasabi kasi na hindi tinatanggap sa akademya ang Wattpad, na hindi siya literature,’” he stressed.

Atalia recently bagged the grand prize in the Nobela category in the 67th Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for his “Ang Ikatlong AntiKristo.”

De los Reyes, already a two-time National Book Award recipient, emphasized that there is no problem in reading conversational works, which appeal to a wide audience.

De los Reyes cited Lang Leav, a Thai author and social media sensation, who is criticized for her “generic” poems which has a huge following.

“At least nagbabasa. Hindi na dapat pa nating problemahin ‘yon. Dapat alamin natin ngayon kung ano ‘yong binabasa at tignan natin,” he said.

“Kasi ang hirap na sabihing ‘hindi sila literature e.’ Sino ba ngayon ang nakapangyayari sa mundo?

Tayo ba o silang bumabasa ng Lang Leav?” he added.

De los Reyes was named “Makata ng Taon” by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino in 2013.

The event was hosted by Circulus Literati, an organization of literature students of PNU. ELMER B. COLDORA

Joselito de los Reyes

DEEJAE S. DUMLAO

Explore different literary genres, students urged

Wigley, Pascual, Aguila and Hidalgo answer questions during the open forum.

V. C. C. IMPERIO

Prayer

SCREAMS silenced by gunshots grow even louder inside the head.

Uncertain if prayers will suppress these voices, if I am still not too late.

Is there a place for me among the innocent?

For this I repent.

Instead of triggers and dead bodies, let these fingers pull the rosary.

Let the tongue confess the names of sinners, like how it once sang to every prayer.

Let the hands clasp for salvation the same way done at gunpoint.

Surrender to faith— now should be not the hour of my death.

KARL BEN L. ARLEGUI

FOR AN aspiring writer, finding a genre that best suits her may be a matter of “trial and error.”

“Try writing in all genres. Structure your writing habit in a way that you get to try every genre in each semester,” Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS), told students, who attended the 7th UST Authors’ Series last Oct. 18 at the Tanghalang Teresita Quirino.

Chuckberry Pascual, CCWLS fellow, also said one should know the difference between literary genres in terms of language manipulation.

Senate probe FROM PAGE 3

status of the organizations they would like to become members of,” the document read.

‘Code of silence’ Senators also lambasted the Aegis Juris members for repeatedly invoking their right against self-incrimination on simple questions thrown by the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs.

Poe at first only threatened to cite in contempt Aegis Juris Grand Praefectus Arvin Balag after he invoked his right against selfincrimination when asked if he was the leader of the fraternity.

“For the position you’re holding in the frat, you’re invoking your right?” Poe asked.

“Your honor, being charged with the violation of the Anti-hazing law, it’s one of the elements,” Balag said.

Committee Chairman Sen. Panfilo Lacson then warned Balag that he would be cited in contempt and detained in the Pasay City Jail.

“Ni pagiging meyembro hindi mo aaminin? Anong klaseng leader ka ng iyong fraternity,” Poe asked.

But Balag insisted and invoked his right against self-incrimination anew.

Poe then motioned for Balag to be cited in contempt. The motion was seconded by Zubiri, and was approved by Lacson.

It was the same case with lead suspect Ralph Trangia and his parents when Poe asked what the plate number of their car was.

“May tendency po ‘yung tanong niyo na mag lead sa allegation ng involvement ng pamilya ko,” Trangia said.

“Kung hindi niya aaminin ang plate number ng sasakyan niya, halata naman na na may tinatago dito,” Poe said.

Lacson told reporters that Balag’s detention should serve as a reminder that resource persons should stop evading proper questions.

“We cite resource persons in contempt very sparingly. Pero kung ganoon naman na harap-harapan na parang niloloko na ‘yung committee, hindi na rin kami papayag,” Lacson said.

“Madaldal ka ba o kaya mong i-condense ‘yong gusto mong sabihin?

Kailangan mong malaman ang relasyon mo sa salita. Kung saan ka magaling, iyon ang magtatakda ng genre mo,” he said.

John Jack Wigley, another CCWLS fellow and former director of the UST Publishing House, said writers naturally develop their preferred writing style in time.

“You do not choose the genre, the genre chooses you,” Wigley said.

During the event, the books “Carnival of Hate” by CCWLS fellow Augusto Aguila, “Ang Nawawala” by Pascual and “Lait (Pa More) Chronicles” by Wigley

Aegis Juris members also refused to confirm parts of John Paul Solano’s testimony where they were mentioned.

“Sobrang abused [‘yung right against self-incrimination]. They’re protecting each other to the point na maski mai-incriminate ang iba, ini-invoke pa rin nila ‘yung right against self-incrimination. If they stay that way, lahat sila mapapahamak,” Lacson said.

Horacio Jr., Atio’s father, argued that Aegis Juris members were “just buying time” with their invocation of their right against self-incrimination.

Attempt to cover-up hazing A thread of Facebook messages among Aegis Juris members in the morning of Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 was revealed during the Senate probe, which strengthened the claim of Manila Police District Director Joel Coronel that the fratmen were engaged in a cover-up.

The Philippine National Police presented screenshots of a Facebook conversation between active Aegis Juris alumni and members discussing their next moves after the hazing incident.

According to police accounts, the group chat was created by lawyer Marvi Rosero Abo, an Aegis Juris alumnus.

An elevator CCTV footage was also played, showing the fratmen and elders headed to the function room on the third floor of Novotel in Cubao a day after Castillo was declared dead at Chinese General Hospital.

“It appears that [in these messages], the objective of the Aegis Juris Fraternity is to cover up, conceal, avoid and to evade prosecution. That is the context of these messages,” Coronel said.

Coronel said the two Facebook threads that made up a 38-page report of screenshots were submitted to PNP’s AntiCybercrime Unit for verification.

In one of the messages shown, lawyer Alston Kevin Anarna said Castillo’s family was well off and could get a search warrant on the fraternity library on Laon Laan Street, the crime scene, immediately.

Lawyer Gaile Dante Acuzar Caraan, also an Aegis Juris alumnus, said they had been advised to form a “crisis committee”

were formally launched in the University.

“Ang Nawawala” is a collection of seven short stories about the life of Brigido or “Bree,” a gay barangay hall receptionist, which functions as a “short story cycle,” or stories that are different yet interconnected through one central character.

“Carnival of Hate” is another short story collection that revolves around “hateful” subjects, such as sexual transgressions and academic scandals.

“Lait (Pa More) Chronicles” is a sequel to Wigley’s “Lait Chronicles.” Both are creative nonfiction works containing humorous anecdotes. K.B.L. ARLEGUI

with the primary purpose of reaching out to the Castillo family and preventing them from speaking out.

“Brod, may kaya ‘yang family n’yan.

Bukas makakakuha na sila search warrant sa [fraternity library]. Sana malinis na.

Matangga[l] na ang paddle doon,” the message read.

DNA matches Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Joel Villanueva then asked Aegis Juris members to submit their DNA samples to be compared with the DNA found at the fraternity library.

Divina along with Aegis Juris fratmen Mark Ventura, Trangia, Joshua Macabili and Balag refused to give samples. Jason Robiños, Jose Miguel Salamat, Zimoun Padro and Aeron Salientes agreed to give their DNA, while Oliver Onofre and Mhin Wei Chan agreed provided there was a court order.

Solano said the the test would be positive should his specimen be examined because he performed CPR on Atio.

Last Oct. 13, PNP laboratory found a match between the DNA of Atio’s parents and the blood stains from a paddle and white shirt retrieved from the library.

Solano’s testimony The testimony of John Paul Solano on an executive session last Sept. 25 was disclosed at the hearing. It stated that Onofre called him to go to the fraternity library to revive a fratman who had “collapsed.”

When asked why he didn’t bring Horacio to the UST Hospital, he said it was upon the order of Balag. Solano argued that UST Hospital was just 10 to 15 minutes away from the scene, while Chinese General Hospital was 20 to 30 minutes away.

When he asked Balag what to say to the authorities in the hospital, the frat leader ordered him to explain that he saw the body of Atio in Balut, Tondo.

Solano surrendered to Lacson last Sept. 21 and was released last Sept. 27 by the Department of Justice, the day of Atio’s burial. I.G.S. AGUS AND D.Y.P. GALVEZ

10 Limelight

OCTOBER 25, 2017

TOMA N’ SHAN BY MARIYELLA ALYSA A. ABULAD

SI TALA AT IBA PA BY BLESSIE ANGELIE B. ANDRES

KWENTO NI MATO BY JOELLE ALISON MAE P. EUSEBIO

Boards

examinees, from last year’s 54.86 percent or 559 out of 1,019 examinees.

UST’s passing rate in the chemist board exams rose to 75.51 percent, or 37 out of 49 examinees, from last year’s 73.17 percent, or 30 out of 41 examinees.

Thomasian Mark John Mandigma placed fifth with a score of 88 percent, sharing the spot with King Bryan Gabog of the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños and Charles David Cabigon of Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology.

Gio Ferson Bautista of UP Los Baños led the country’s new batch of chemists with a score of 93 percent.

State-run UP Diliman was named the topperforming school for chemists after posting a 87.93-percent passing rate, equivalent to 51 out of 58 examinees.

The national passing rate for the chemist board exams dropped to 44.02 percent, with just 526 passing the test out of 1,195

Mech eng’g boards UST’s passing rate slipped in the September 2017 board exams for mechanical engineers, but the University still placed seventh on the list of topperforming schools.

A total of 105 out of 119 examinees made the cut, or a passing rate of 88.24 percent.

This was down from last year’s 92 percent, or 115 out of 125 examinees.

State-run University of the Philippines-Diliman was this year’s top-performing school, after registering a 96.15-percent passing rate.

Jay Nelson Corbita of Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro led the country’s new batch of mechanical engineers with a score of 92.20 percent.

The national passing rate slightly declined to 69.01 percent, or 3,517 out of 5,096 examinees, from last year’s 69.57 percent, or 3,110 out of 4,470 examinees. HANNAH RHOCELLHYNNIA H. CRUZ and MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ

FROM PAGE 2

Cassiopeia De Lima FROM PAGE 3

The senator’s camp appealing the ruling.

is

Anti-poor De Lima said Duterte’s drug war – which had claimed the lives of 13,000 people according to human rights groups – had only victimized the poor.

“What kind of drug war is this if it only points out the poor? […]There are a lot more big-time drug lords like the Chinese,” she said.

“It takes years before justice will fall unto these killings. However, the strategy of government [is to] downplay figures of deaths,” de Lima added.

The detained senator also criticized Duterte’s claim on Aug. 30 that prisoners “have

lost the essence of a person.”

“I think what Duterte is really saying, there is no hope for prisoners’ rehabilitation because he is too lazy to do his job [and it] takes more brains, patience, empathy and effort than simply loading and firing a gun,” de Lima said.

“His idea of improving the sufferings of the poor and the defenseless is to downgrade them from the status of being part of humanity and to eliminate them,” she added.

De Lima urged Filipinos to rise against the culture of death and impunity.

“We are not in control of our destiny [but] the tide has started and it will keep on turning. [Filipinos] must come out of their shell to stop fear and apathy,” de Lima said. MA. CONSUELO D.P. MARQUEZ with reports from MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO

FROM PAGE 5

Rather, President Rodrigo Duterte aims to lower crime liability age from 15 to nine. After all, these children are already capable to think with common sense under their noses and in their heads, are they not?

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez filed a bill proposing to lower the crime liability age earlier this year, and Duterte with the strong and stern fist in ending the bloody narcowar wants to put into actualization Alvarez’s bill.

Drug syndicates are tapping on children and minors to be drug couriers.

This may be a preventive action for the vulnerable children to be involved in crimes, particularly those which involve illegal drugs.

It is much worse than exploiting children to scout the streets to beg for money.

Utilizing the vulnerable youth to take part in the rampant and bloody drug war is as detrimental as poisoning our own society.

Alvarez’s bill is a repressive and punitive act that sets the Philippine juvenile justice system backwards.

Some lawmakers who are against lowering the crime liability age even consider this a breach to the anti-child policy.

Diversion and intervention programs should be tailored-fit for the CICL. A restorative approach should instill accountability not only to the child, but as well competency development reintegration.

The community and the offended should also take part in reintegrating the vulnerable youth back to the society.

Paddlers

Unigames

time since 2009.

Tiger Paddler Que took over a team that had less firepower, after losing former MVP Norielle Pantoja and veterans Alberto Bazar and Gil Ablanque.

“Proud ako sa mga teammates ko lalo na kay Maldia dahil hindi siya bumitaw at ipinakita niya na buong-buo ang loob niya kahit na may sakit siya. Masaya din ako para sa kanila dahil na-overcome ng bawat isa ang mga problemang dumaan at nag-perform ng maayos,” Que told the Varsitarian in a separate interview.

Que has two more playing years but is still undecided if he will still suit up for the team next season.

UST will miss the services of Darlucio and men’s doubles player Janssen Cruz, who will both graduate next year.

UST has won a combined 38 titles in the men’s and women’s division since 1978.

rigorous training for the UAAP volleyball season in February.

The Tigresses will also participate in two tournaments in November namely the Philippine Super Liga and the firstever UAAP pre-season stint sponsored by FilOil. “Gusto naming makita `yung tapang hanggang sa dulo, `yung grit na tinatawag. Lahat mababalewala kung wala `yung desire na manalo. So it’s not the passion but the desire [to win] na kailangan nating maibigay sa mga players,” Reyes said.

As for athletics head coach Manny Calipes, “character-building” for new recruits is the main goal of the Male and Female Tracksters. Most players will graduate after the UAAP season. JAN CARLO ANOLIN and IVAN RUIZ L. SUING

In the light

Lionheart

na loob” when it is them who wanted to serve us in the first place.

The Filipino people can halt this shameful culture and bring about the real coming of change by holding our public officials accountable to break the chains of a rubber stamp legislature.

and Rehabilitation Center), the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which continues to lobby and fight for the rights of the victims of the extrajudicial killings, has been given by the House of Representatives a budget of only a thousand pesos from the proposed P649.484 million—as if the commission does not have a function to fulfill for the country’s people!

Insulted, humiliated and rendered useless, the commission would be ineffective of its supposed operations in 2018. House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, a known ally of Duterte, even initially wanted a zero budget for the CHR, and hinted he wants the constitutional body abolished.

Simply put, the Philippines has become a scary, dangerous place, and the last thing the country needs is an administration insensitive to life and human rights, one that lets its people live in fear.

FROM PAGE 11

FROM PAGE 5

Divina

FROM PAGE 2

take any action to prevent it from occurring shall be punished as accomplices.

The 22-year-old Castillo died on Sept.

18 after going through the hazing rites of Aegis Juris, a UST law fraternity, which counts Divina as one of its prominent alumni.

CHRISTIAN DE LANO M. DEIPARINE, HANNAH RHOCELLHYNNIA H. CRUZ and PAULINE FAYE V. TRIA

FROM PAGE 12

FROM PAGE 4

Editor: Randell Angelo B. Ritumalta

Sports 11

OCTOBER 25, 2017

UST Paddlers settle for twin silvers

By JAN CARLO ANOLIN THE UST Tiger Paddlers failed to protect their title against powerhouse National University (NU) while the Lady Paddlers fell short anew against rival De La Salle University in the door-die Game 3 of the UAAP Season 80 table tennis tournament at the UP College of Human Kinetics gym last Oct. 9.

UST trailed Game 3, 1-2, before Bulldog CJ Carrasco pummeled Tiger Paddler Nico Nayre, 8-11, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4, 11-9, to seal NU’s first championship.

Earlier, both teams went down the wire after respective 3-2 victories in Games 1 and 2.

“Actually, tiwala pa rin ako kay Nayre na tatalunin niya `yung kalaban kasi lamang na lamang tayo doon. Siguro hindi lang talaga para sa atin this season,” UST men’s team head coach Jackson Que told the Varsitarian.

Que said the absence of veteran Rian Maldia in Game 3 because of sudden dizziness took a toll on the team.

Maldia, who was supposed to be the team captain this year, has lymphoma and is undergoing medication.

The Tiger Paddlers ended the eliminations with a 13-1 win-loss record en route the top seed. Their lone defeat came against NU, 0-3, in the tournament opener last Sept. 23.

“The whole team did very well and I’m very proud of them. Sobrang binigay talaga nila `yung lahat at wala na ako masabi. Sabi ko sa kanila [na we] should be thankful at umabot tayo rito sa championship,” Que added.

In women’s play, La Salle remained a riddle for the Lady Paddlers, who fell prey for the second-straight season.

UST could not capitalize on its Game 1 win and lost the next two games as La Salle took home its fourth consecutive crown.

With UST down 1-2 in the pivotal Game 3, Lady Green Paddler Jamaica Sy swept Katrina Tempiatura, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4, for the title.

“We made a mistake in the lineup [in Game 3]. Malaking factor ang lineup kasi dapat hindi mahuli ang magaling ko, kasi dalawa ang SEA Games [players] nila,” Lady Paddlers head coach Lorida Wadjad said.

Wadjad was referring to Sy and Emy Dael, who were both instrumental in the Lady Green Paddlers’ dominant championship run.

In the juniors’ division, the girls’ team capped an undefeated season with a championship but the boys’ squad succumbed to NU for the silver.

Overachieving Despite second-place finishes, Tiger and Lady Paddlers team captains Paul Que and Rizza Darlucio said the teams overachieved this year.

“What I saw during the game was more than enough. I saw the hard work, perseverance and dedication of each member of the team to play. I am still thankful na nakaabot kami ng championship in my last UAAP year,” Darlucio said in an online interview.

Last year, the Lady Paddlers broke a sevenyear drought after reaching the finals for the first Paddlers PAGE 10

A Tiger Paddler receives the ball during the finals game against NU.

UE halts Growling Tigresses’ winning streak THE UST Growling Tigresses saw their sixgame winning streak end in a 66-62 loss to the University of the East Lady Warriors in the UAAP Season 80 women’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan last Oct. 22.

The Tigresses, who dropped to an 8-2 winloss record, stormed back with a 16-6 run with 20.5 ticks left in the game.

UE turned the ball over in the ensuing play but UST team captain Jhenn Angeles missed two three-point attempts.

“The bad thing about it is ang laki ng lamang na kailangan namin habulin and time was not on our side, so kinulang kami,” UST coach Haydee Ong said.

UST trailed by 13 points midway in the fourth before things got heated at the 5:10 mark, when Lady Warrior Ruthlaine Tacula committed an unsportsmanlike foul on Tigress Sai Larosa.

The scrappy play continued as Tigress Bets Peñaflor was ejected with 3:07 left in the fourth.

UE’s Love Sto. Domingo was also called for an unsportsmanlike foul.

Tacula led UE with 16 points while Sto. Domingo and Joyce Francisco poured in 13 markers apiece.

Anjel Anies paced UST with 18 points while Angeles added 13 points on a 4-of-20 shooting clip.

The Lady Warriors used their height advantage to outrebound the Tigresses, 51-35.

After the first round Angeles led the league in scoring after the first round with 17 points per game (ppg), including a season-high 24 points against the University of the Philippines on opening day last

Sept. 10.

“Jhenn is playing in her last year. She’s very seasoned now and she’s more mature. She knows when to take care of the ball, when to take the shots and when to take control, so I guess she’s my ace,” Ong said in a previous interview.

Anies, who has been the first mate to the captain, averaged 12 ppg behind Angeles.

The Larosa-Peñaflor tandem has also been UST’s patron under the paint, with the duo combining for 18.4 rebounds per game.

Despite a relatively smaller lineup, UST ranked second in rebounding with 44.4 rebounds per game (rpg) behind number one seed and undefeated National University Lady Bulldogs’ 56.9 rpg.

UST has been taking care of the ball well, and produced the least turnovers in the league with 23.3 per game (tpg). Adamson University turned the ball over the most with 27.4 tpg.

“Actually, `yung five wins namin sa first round, that was our win total last year. I think now they know na malaki talaga `yung inimprove ng UST this season,” Ong said.

Confident with the Tigresses’ overall improvement, Ong said a Final Four appearance was apparent as long as they continued winning and secured the second seed.

“Of course, we have to win pa rin sa mga maliliit na games. [As for the] Final Four, `yung paa namin medyo nandoon na. I’m happy because `yun muna talaga ang target namin this season,” the former national team coach told the Varsitarian in an interview.

Angeles said losses in the previous years were a reminder for the team to step up the game this season.

“Sobrang laki ng improvement ng team especially sa individual [performances]. Bawat isa sa amin ‘pag dating sa court ay nagkaka-isa at ginagawa namin `yung pinapagawa ng coaches which is to follow the system and play as a team,” the team captain said.

In the past two seasons, the Growling Tigresses fell short of the Final Four after succumbing in their stepladder playoff games. JAN CARLO ANOLIN and MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO

Lon Rivera and Sai Larosa

Lady Shuttlers FROM PAGE 12

Four because of the lack of recruits and “better” badminton programs of other UAAP teams.

Bright spot Despite the setback, Ormilla commended his male wards for clinching their first Final Four spot since 2012.

The team finished fourth after losing to the Ateneo de Manila University in the semifinals. “ P a l a g a y ko pressure ang nangyari. Kumbaga it’s either nabigatan sila sa responsibilidad nila sa team. Sobrang di nila mahandle.

[And] maganda din `yung nilaro ng kalaban,” Ormilla, who was part of the 2012 UST badminton team, said.

The duo of Shuttlers’ captain Kristian Barrios and Miguel Santiago will try to fill in the void

left by UST’s prized Mark Sotea and John Edgar Reyes tandem, who had exhausted their playing years.

John Paul Yabut will also have bigger shoes to fill after goto singles’ player Cris Sanchez dropped out of next season’s tournament to focus on his academics.

While Ormilla was confident of a Final Four appearance next season, he said the team needed to work on keeping its momentum in close matches.

Early in the season, UST came up short in crucial sets against De La Salle University and UP, finishing 2-3 in the respective matches.

“Medyo kulang pa sila kumbaga sa momentum dahil may iilang crucial games sila na nalampasan,” Ormilla said.

New judo captain wants back-to-back crowns Sherwin de Rosa

AFTER a two-year absence in the UAAP, new Male Judokas team captain Sherwin de Rosa will be competing in his first UAAP tournament since 2014.

De Rosa missed the last two seasons due to “technical matters” he refused to disclose.

He reaped bronze in the extralightweight division in Season 77.

The 20-year-old de Rosa will take over the captaincy from twotime Most Valuable Player Al Llamas, who has exhausted his playing years.

With the departure of Llamas and a UAAP crown to defend, de Rosa

has a big role to fill in the team’s bid for back-to-back titles.

“Malaki `yung pressure.

Galing sa captain na two-time Most Valuable Player tapos four times nakakuha ng gold.

Ako nakapag-bronze pa lang [sa UAAP] pero ginagawa ko ang lahat para [mapunan] `yung iniwan niya,” de Rosa, a the fifth-year sports and wellness management student, told the Varsitarian.

Despite his absence in last year’s UAAP training pool, de Rosa shined for the Male Judokas in pre-season tournaments, winning gold in the Sambo category of the Pre-Asian Indoor Martial Arts Games last May, and silver in the 2017 Diliman Slam championship last June.

“Ginagawa ko ang lahat, mino-motivate ko `yung mga teammates ko na doblehin nila `yung effort nila at kapag training, sinasabi ko na ‘wag silang sumuko,” de Rosa said.

Born in Muntinlupa, de Rosa was introduced to the sport by his father, to keep him away from vices. He started playing in second grade and bore the name of his hometown in invitational tournaments and national competitions in high school.

For head coach Kidao Esteban, de Rosa has earned the trust and respect of the team, making him the rightful leader.

Esteban said the captain’s speed and strength on the mat helped develop the team’s defensive tactics.

With the UAAP tournament set next month, the Male Judokas have intensified their training regimen. Rivals Ateneo de Manila University and University of the Philippines (UP) remain the biggest threats to the crown.

“Just like any defending champion, of course we want to maintain the crown. And I think we can handle it this time. The competition is tough and you can’t really say who is going to be the best among them,” Esteban said.

UP, Ateneo and UST are the only teams that have won the men’s judo title since the event’s

inclusion in the UAAP in 1995. The Male Judokas are the winningest team with 11 championships, including six straight championships from 1998 to 2003.

Despite the competition, de Rosa is confident of the team’s chances of a back-to-back.

“Siguro masasabi ko na [90 percent ready ang team], kasi this season kumpleto kami. Last season kulang kami ng isang player, ngayon kumpleto na kami kaya feeling ko mas malaki `yung chances namin na magchampion,” De Rosa said.

This year’s UAAP judo tournament will be at De La Salle-Zobel in Alabang on Nov. 11 to 12. MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO and MA. ANGELA CHRISTA COLOMA

Sports

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Lady Spikers still queens of the sand

By IVAN RUIZ L. SUING THE UST Lady Spikers bagged their back-toback championship titles after sweeping the Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws in the UAAP Season 80 beach volleyball tournament at the SM Sands by the Bay last Oct. 14.

B u t the Tiger Spikers w e r e dethroned by the National University Bulldogs.

Three-time women’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) Cherry Ann Rondina and Season 79 Rookie of the Year Caitlyn Viray handily defeated FEU’s veteran duo of Bernadeth Pons and Kyla Atienza in Game 2 of the finals, 21-15, 21-19, to cap their undefeated campaign.

The Rondina-Viray tandem defeated an FEU team handled by former UST beach volleyball head coach Emil Lontoc.

The Lady Spikers overcame a six-point deficit in the second set of Game 2 with eight unanswered points, sealed by Pons’ attack error for the win.

“Simula noong day one, alam na namin kung sino kakalabanin namin sa dulo. Hinimay namin `yung gagawin nilang technique,” second-year head coach Paul Jan Doloiras said.

The Lady Spikers barely had enough

Cherry Rondina

preparation after Rondina’s Season 79 teammate Jem Gutierrez opted out of the season to enlist in the Philippine Army.

Rondina bagged her third championship and MVP award in four years, with three different partners.

She won her first title with Rica Jane Rivera in 2014, and secured it again in 2016 with Gutierrez.

“Ine-enjoy ko lang ang laro at malaki ang pagtitiwala ko sa partner ko.

Lagi ko pinapakita sa kanya kung gaano ka-importante ang liga na ito,” Rondina said.

Caitlyn Viray stood out in Game 2 with 18 points while Rondina chalked up 10 markers.

The Lady Spikers are the winningest UAAP beach volleyball team with five crowns.

In men’s play, the Tiger Spikers could not build on their Game 1 victory and surrendered to the National University (NU) Bulldogs in Game 3, 16-21, 21-14, 1513.

In their do-ordie game, Tiger Spiker Anthony Arbasto tried to keep it close after a throughthe-block hit, 14-13, but

Bulldog Bryan Bagunas’ quick kill effectively dethroned UST. NU is now the winningest men’s beach volleyball team with four championships. UST is tied with FEU with three crowns.

Arbasto had 20 points while Kris Roy Guzman tallied 14 points in his last UAAP beach volleyball game.

“Pumikit lang kami sa bandang dulo kaya nag-lapse kami. Pero masaya kami kasi `yung laro, larong walang pinagsisisihan,” Doloiras said.

Guzman finished his UAAP career with one championship and four runner-up finishes, three of them against the Bulldogs.

With Guzman exhausting his playing years, Doloiras said high school standout Jaron Requinton was being eyed as a replacement.

Anthony Arbasto

Junior Male Tigersharks reign anew

THE UST Junior Male Tigersharks bagged back-to-back titles while the Junior Female Tigersharks settled for second place in the UAAP Season 80 swimming tournament last Oct. 12 to 15.

The boys’ team conquered its seventh championship after hauling six gold, nine silver and four bronze medals while the girls’ squad collected five gold, three silver and five bronze medals.

UST’s Brayan Camacho, Jiwh Santos, Angelo dela Cruz and Terrence Buico set a new UAAP record with a 3:52.79 output in the boys’ 4x100 freestyle relay to take the gold in the second day of competitions.

Camacho, Santos, Reynard Gomez and Lanz Dilla also broke

the record in the 4x50-meter freestyle relay event after a 1:43.31 output in the third day.

“Pinakita ng [juniors] ang best nila at alam ko na pinaghandaan nila itong competition kasi last playing year na ng iba, [dahil] majority of the girls’ team are in Grade 12,” UST juniors’ head coach Sharon Parungao-Mangrobang told the Varsitarian.

Junior Female Tigershark Cammile Buico topped her previous career-high after recording 1:04.65 in the 100-meter butterfly for the UAAP record.

Mangrobang said lack of sleep and rest made the swimmers heavier underwater during t h e initial days of the

tournament.

In the seniors’division, the Female Tigersharks capped the swimming tilt at third place with four bronze medals, while their male counterparts remained at fourth place with two bronze Anika Relliquete, Dominique Rivera, Mary Margaret Sanchez and Isabelle Gubat trailed Ateneo de Manila University and the University of the Philippines swimmers in the 800-meter freestyle relay and 4x100 freestyle relay for two bronze medals.

Angelica Saavedra

Lady Shuttlers sacked after winless season

By MA. ANGELA CHRISTA COLOMA AFTER what head coach RJ Ormilla himself described as a “lackluster performance” this UAAP season, the player pool of the UST Lady Shuttlers will be dissolved and replaced effective October.

Ormilla said the team finished the season with a 0-7 card, its worst showing since 1999, because of the team’s lack of determination.

“Hindi sila (players) willing mag-sacrifice sa team. Tapos `yung iba parang tine-take for granted kung ano `yung nakukuha nila, especially `yung scholarship,” Ormilla told the Varsitarian.

All players in the Lady Shuttlers pool will be replaced

by UST badminton’s junior pool, which consists of junior and senior high school students, in preparation for Season 81.

Their training sessions will start in late October.

Ormilla, who has been vocal about his low expectations for the team, said he came up with the decision to replace the players at the start of the season.

He said some of his

players were not willing to balance their time on their duties on and off the court.

“As a student-athlete, dapat binabalanse [ang responsibilidad].

Hindi dapat puwedeng mamili ng isa lang. Hindi lang basta-basta magpapaalam sa akin ‘coach may exam ako’ pero `di gagawan ng paraan na [makapag-conditioning man lang ng katawan]. Iyan ang ayaw na ayaw ko,” he said.

The team found difficulty in finding replacements for former key player Airish Macalino, who transferred to the University of the Philippines, and veterans Steffi Aquino and Kristine G a s p a r, w h o

both exhausted their playing years in Season 79.

To add to the team’s misery, Lady Shuttlers captain Maria Victoria Vizmonte’s knee injury last season took a toll on her performance this year.

“Mayroon siyang history ng injury. Ang nakikita ko lang is mayroon siyang konting pag-iingat sa left knee niya, lalo na kapag kukuha siya ng overhead shot,” Ormilla said.

The hard-lucked Lady Shuttlers crashed to the last seed after succumbing to the University of the East in a 3-2 heartbreaker last Oct. 1.

Since the inception of the tournament in 1995, the women’s team has claimed only one championship, when it defeated Far Eastern University in 2011.

Since then, the team has struggled to make it to the Final Lady Shuttlers PAGE 11

nabbed the team’s third bronze after clinching 1:09.10 in the women’s 100-meter butterfly event.

Female Tigersharks Ryan Regidor, Samantha Cambronero, Celyn Parco and Jana Toledo grabbed another bronze in the 400-meter medley relay event on the last day of the competition.

Tigershark Jux Keaton Solita captured the Male Tigersharks’ two bronze medals in the 1,500-meter and 800-meter freestyle event on the first and last days of the competitions, respectively.

Ateneo conquered the overall championship both in the men’s and women’s division for the fourth time in five years.

UST has 32 and 30 titles in the women’s and men’s division, r e s p e c t i v e l y.

MIA ARRA C. CAMACHO

UST joins Unigames FIVE teams represented the University in the 22nd Philippine University Games (UniGames) from Oct. 22 to 28 in Dumaguete City.

A total of 52 athletes composed of the men’s and women’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, and men’s and women’s athletics participated in the UniGames.

“Mayroon talagang pinapadala kasi it’s our obligation.

[It’s invitational especially in] women’s volleyball kasi we are the defending champion. We need to send them again and for exposure din at the same time,” Rodrigo Sambuang, Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) athletics moderator, told the Varsitarian in an interview.

Sambuang said not all UST teams joined because of budget constraints.

Senior high school students Baby Love Barbon and Ranielle Carmeli Rosales represented the Lady Spikers instead of Cherry Ann Rondina and Caitlin Viray, to groom the former duo for the next UAAP seasons.

“Magandang simula na rin kasi

next year gagamitin ko na ring pangUAAP `yan (Barbon and Rosales).

Si Carmelie bago lang [sa buhangin] kaya mag-aadjust pa `yan pero si Baby Love parang beterano na `pag naglalaro. `Yan sana `yung surprise namin kaya maraming magugulat diyan sa batang `yan (Barbon),” beach volleyball head coach Paul Jan Doloiras said in an interview.

Tiger Spikers head coach Odjie Mamon said the Unigames helped improve the different skill sets of players such as passing, receiving and serving.

UST reached the quarterfinals in last year’s Unigames but fell short against the University of Perpetual Help System DALTA’s Altas. “’Yung goals na na-set ko doon sa dalawang players ko na-attain na [noong Premiere Volleyball League]. `Yung passing at receiving namin tumaas din, it’s 40-percent efficiency.

Pagdating namin sa UniGames dapat ma-surpass na nila `yun,” Mamon said in an interview.

Golden Tigresses head coach Emilio “Kung Fu” Reyes said the Unigames was part of the team’s Unigames PAGE 10