PHILIPPINECOLLEGIAN

Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng

Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman

TOMO 91 BLG. 18 LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

4 7 8The Revolution is a PoemA review of Kiri and Sari Dalena’s

“The Guerilla is a Poet”Kultura

Free tuition, dorm slots granted to UPV studentsBalita

A Plea for Kim Lathalain

Viva el Supremo!Bonifacio’s sesquicentennial and art’s role in his revolutionary idealsKULTURA page 9

2 OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

PHILIPPINECOLLEGIAN

2013 - 2014

Punong Patnugot Julian Inah Anunciacion

Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon

Patnugot sa BalitaKeith Richard Mariano

Patnugot sa GrapiksYsa Calinawan

Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro

Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya

Gloiza Rufina Plamenco

Panauhing Patnugot Piya ConstantinoMargaret Yarcia

Mga Kawani Ronn Joshua BautistaMary Joy CapistranoAshley Marie Garcia

PinansyaAmelyn Daga

Tagapamahala sa Sirkulasyon Paul John Alix

Sirkulasyon Gary Gabales

Amelito JaenaGlenario Ommamalin

Mga Katuwang na Kawani Trinidad Gabales

Gina Villas

Kasapi UP Systemwide Alliance

of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad)

College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP)

Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons,

Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon

Telefax981-8500 lokal 4522

Onlinepkule1314@gmail.com

www.philippinecollegian.orgfb.com/philippinecollegian

twitter.com/kule1314PAGPAPATULOY NG MILITANSIYA NI SUPREMO Photo by Om Narayan A. Velasco Disyembre 7, 2007

91 The Philippine Collegian republishes distinguished photographs from its past issues that captured its tradition of critical and fearless journalism.

EDITOR’S PICK

YEARS

Militant groups call for the ouster of then president Gloria Arroyo in front of the Liwasang Bonifacio monument in 2007. On Bonifacio’s 150th birth anniversary the same statue remains a silent witness to the rallying cries of people against corruption.

Ukol sa PabalatDibuho ni Ysa Calinawan

Labis na panlilinlang

HINDI NAGWAWAKAS ANG bawat usapin sa iilang mga tagumpay lamang.

Ang kontrobersya ng pork barrel ay hindi natatapos sa kamakailang desisyon ng Korte Suprema na labag sa saligang batas ang Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) o pork barrel ng mga kongresista. Bagaman maituturing na malaking tagumpay, nangangahulugan ito, hindi ng anumang pagtatapos ng isyu, kundi simula lamang ng mas maigting na laban upang tuluyang panagutin ang mga maysala at ganap na wakasan ang sistema ng korapsyon.

Wala nang dahilan upang ipagpaliban pa ang kagyat na pag-usad ng kampanya laban sa pork barrel, na kung tutuusin ay sintomas lamang ng mas malawakang trahedya ng pamamahala—ang walang habas na panangasangkapan sa gobyerno bilang negosyong maaaring pakibangan at pagkakitaan ng mga nasa puwesto at ng kanilang mga kaalyado.

Wala pa ring napaparusahan simula nang pumutok ang isyu ng P10-billion pork barrel scam na kinasasangkutan ni Janet Napoles at ng ilang kongresista at senador. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin matukoy kung sinu-sino ang

mga mananagot sa bilyon-bilyong ninakaw sa kaban ng bayan.

Ngunit higit dito, nariyan pa rin ang pork barrel ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino III sa porma ng kanyang discretionary at emergency funds at ng Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), na kinatha mismo ng kanyang administrasyon noong 2011.

Katulad ng sa PDAF, nasa Pangulo ang pagpapasya kung saan ilalaan ang pondo ng DAP. Mula 2011 hanggang 2013, umaabot na sa P157.4 bilyon ang pondong nailuwal ng pamahalaan para sa DAP, at 90 porsyento sa halagang ito ang napunta para sa mga proyektong si Aquino ang pumili.

Mistulang bagong pork barrel lamang ang DAP, dahil sa parehong mekanismong ang tunguhin ay patatagin ang kapangyarihan at kontrol ng Pangulo sa gobyerno, lalo na sa lehislatibo. Sa isang privilege speech ni Senador Jinggoy Estrada, isiniwalat ng mambabatas na sinuhulan diumano ni Aquino ang ilang senador upang mapatalsik si dating Punong Mahistrado Renato Corona. Ito ay sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng dagdag pondo sa pork barrel ng mga senador gamit ang badyet ng DAP.

Sa huli, mawawakasan lamang ang korapsyon sa bansa kung pananagutin ng mamamayan hindi lamang ang mga sangkot sa isyu ng korapsyon kundi si Aquino mismo, ang tagapagpaganap ng bulok na sistema ng pork barrel na siyang nagluluwal ng sistemang padrino sa bansa.

Samakatuwid, mahalaga na manindigan pa rin ang Korte Suprema sa pagtuligsa sa pork barrel hindi lamang sa PDAF, kundi sa mga natitira pang pork barrel na hawak ni Aquino. Nararapat lamang

na ideklara rin ang mga ito na ilegal at hindi alinsunod sa konstitusyon. Ibinasura na ang PDAF ng mga kongresista — nararapat lamang na maging ang pork barrel ng Pangulo ay ibasura na rin.

Gayunman, kailangan pa ring magmasid ng taumbayan sa mga susunod pang kabanata sa isyung ito, dahil malaon nang napatunayang walang pangingimi kung suwayin ni Aquino ang batas man o ang desisyon ng pinakamataas na hukom sa bansa.

Matatandaang noong 2012 lamang, ipinag-utos ng Korte Suprema na ipamahagi na sa mga magsasaka ang 4,915-ektaryang lupain ng Hacienda Luisita na pag-aari ng kanyang angkan. Hanggang ngayon, sa ilalim ng isang huwad na sistema ng distribusyon ng lupa, mailap pa rin ang hustisya at ang kanilang karapatan sa lupang ilang dekada na nilang sinasaka.

Hangga’t hindi tuluyang nalalansag ang lahat ng mga mekanismong pinanghahawakan ni Aquino para pairalin ang sistemang napatunayan nang bulok, patuloy lamang ang pandarambong at panlilinlang sa sambayanan. Matatapos lamang ang naratibo ng paglaban sa patuloy na pagpapanagot, pagbabantay, at pagtuligsa ng mamamayan upang tuldukan ang sistemang iilan lamang ang nakikinabang. ∞

BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013 3OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, SETYEMBRE 28, 2013

PA R A S A MG A R E SIDE N T E ng Sitio San Roque sa North Triangle, Quezon City, tanging kilos-protesta na lamang ang paraan para ipaabot sa pamahalaan ang kanilang pagtutol sa nakaambang demolisyon ng kanilang komunidad.

Bandang alas-nuebe ng umaga noong ika-30 ng Oktubre nang muling bumuo ng barikada ang may 30 residente ng San Roque sa tapat ng Vertis North sa Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (EDSA) upang iprotesta ang patuloy na pagbabalewala umano ng lokal at pambansang pamahalaan sa kanilang panawagan.

“Yun na lamang ang nakita naming paraan upang mapansin ng gobyernong… mayayaman lamang ang pinapaunlad," ayon kay Estrelieta Bagasbas, pangalawang tagapangulo ng Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay), isang alyansa ng mga maralitang tagalungsod.

Isa ang North Triangle sa mga komunidad na sakop ng proyektong Quezon City Central Business District (QC-CBD) sa pagitan ng lokal na pamahalaan at ng Ayala Land Incorporated (ALI). Nakatakdang itayo rito ang mga establisamiyento ng mga lokal at dayuhang mga kumpanya.

“Ang barikada ay simbolo na hindi kami titigil hangga’t sa hindi binibigyan ng gobyerno ng kaukulang pondo ang mga mahihirap,” ani Bagasbas.

Isang minutong tumigil ang daloy ng trapiko dahil sa barikada.

Ika-12 ng Oktubre nang bigyan ng babala ng ALI ang mga residente na isasara na ang daanang mula Agham Road papasok ng Sitio. Tinatayang isang libong mga manggagawa at limang daang mga estudyante ang dumadaan sa nasabing kalye, ayon sa Kadamay.

Sinubukang pigilan ng mga residente ang paglalagay ng harang sa nasabing daanan, ngunit hindi sila naging matagumpay, ulat ng Kadamay. Magdamag na nagtipun-tipon ang mga residente upang pag-usapan ang aksyong gagawin nang may dumating umanong mga “naka-asul na guwardiya” na pinaghihinalaan nilang ipinadala ng ALI.

Pinaputukan pa umano ng mga guwardiya ang mga residente, kaya nagpaulan naman ang mga residente ng mga bato at bote ng tubig upang itaboy ang mga guwardiya.

Ang pagsara ng kalye ay nangangahulugang tuloy na tuloy na ang QC-CBD, ani Bagasbas.

MILITARY OFFICIALS ACCUSED in the abduction of two UP Diliman (UPD) students still have not presented any witnesses since the formal trial of the case began in January last year.

Col. Felipe Anotado Jr. and Staff Sgt. Edgardo Osorio failed to present their first witness during the last hearing on November 11 at the Malolos Regional Trial Court.

If the defense of accused captors fails to procure their first witness next hearing, the court will waive the first defense witness’ right to present evidence, said Atty. Julian Oliva Jr., legal counsel of the mothers of missing UPD students Karen Empeño and Sherlyn Cadapan.

Empeño and Cadapan were abducted on June 26, 2006 while doing community research in Hagonoy, Bulacan.

Barikada kontra QC-CBD, ikinasa ng Sitio San Roque

Defense witnesses in Karen-She case still no-show

Arra B. Francia

Julian Bato

Apektado nito ang may 10,000 residente ng Sitio San Roque, na ngayon ay 7,000 na lamang matapos lumipat ang ilan sa relocation sites sa Montalban, Rizal at San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

Isa si Lourdes Jeremias sa mga apektadong residente ng Sitio San Roque sakaling maitayo ang QC-CBD. Halos 18 taon nang naninirahan si Jeremias sa Sitio kasama ang kanyang asawang manininda at anim na anak.

“Kung tatanggapin namin ang relokasyon, lalangawin lang ang paninda namin doon, gaya ng mga nauna nang mga lumipat at bumalik din naman dahil sa walang kabuhayan,” ani Jeremias.

Ika-23 ng Setyembre, 2010 nang unang magsagawa ang mga residente ng human barricade upang iprotesta ang demolisyon at sa pagpapatayo ng QC-CBD. Noon ay pitong oras na napatigil ng mga residente ang daloy ng trapiko, hanggang mapilitan ng mga awtoridad na ipatigil ang demolisyon.

“Hindi naman kami humuhingi ng libreng pabahay sa gobyerno, ang gusto lang namin ay huwag na kaming paalisin sa tinitirhan namin. Ang administrasyon din ang nagtuturo sa aming magrebelde dahil sa huwad na pag-implementa nila ng batas,” ani Bagasbas. ∞

The excuse of the witnesses was their lack of time and the late mailing of subpoenas, said the defense.

The defense requested the waiving of the presentation if the said witness fails to show up on his or her scheduled hearing date, said Oliva, who also chairs the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL).

The defense hopes this would speed up the progress of the case long-delayed by the defense’s inability to procure a witness.

The court asked the defense to summon each of their eight witnesses on eight hearing days from Januar y 14 to June 9 next year.

The defense witnesses also failed to submit their judicial affidavits, documents enabling them to testify in court. The defense said they would still have to undergo approval from their superiors before they testify in court.

Meanwhile, the prosecution can still present rebuttal evidence unless the suspected masterminds of the kidnapping, Gen. Jovito Palparan Jr. and M/Sgt Rizal Hilario, are arrested by the police.

The families of the missing students would still have to wait until June next year before the court rules a decision. By June next year, it would be the eighth year since Karen and She’s disappearance.

“Matagal pa yung decision sa case, tatapusin muna ang presentation of defense evidence,” said Oliva.

According to judicial rule, the prosecution would have to wait for the defense’s evidence presentation before the court rules a decision.

“Talaga ngang walang mahihintay na hustisya kung iyong maimpluwensiyang mga tao sa tinagal-tagal wala pa rin, di lalo na kaming ordinaryo

DOWNPOUR OF LAMENTPhoto by John Keithley Difuntorum

Relatives of victims of the Maguindanao Massacre brave the rains to join the End Impunity Alliance Mobilization at Mendiola, Manila on November 23. The call was not only to ‘never forget’ the tragedy but also to ‘break free’ from the culture of impunity, bringing into attention the Aquino government’s continued inaction on the Ampatuan Massacre and other unresolved cases of extrajudicial killings and human rights violations.

lang,” added Concepcion Empeño, mother of Karen.

According to human rights group Karapatan, Karen and She’s case is only one among the 206 unresolved cases under former President Gloria Arroyo.

“If the accused are found guilty it would be a big boost for the campaign to end impunity particularly if Gen. Palparan is arrested and found guilty because he is the highest ranking military officer charged in court for violation of human rights,” said Oliva.

Sherlyn’s mother, Linda Cadapan, however remains optimistic that they will achieve justice for their daughters. “Mailap man ang tagumpay sa amin, igigiit ko pa rin na ang aming napresentang ebidensya ay katotohanan.” ∞

BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 20134

THE UP VISAYAS TACLOBAN COLLEGE’S (UPVTC) 1,390 students may enrol for free in other campuses of the UP System and receive financial assistance this semester.

In a November 13 memorandum, UP President Alfredo Pascual instructed all the heads of the system’s constituent units to allow the cross-registration of UPVTC students after super typhoon Yolanda devastated Eastern Visayas.

According to the UP system administration’s report, the typhoon left the UPVTC campus “severely damaged,” displacing a total of 1,543 students, faculty, and staff.

As of press time, at least 220 UPVTC students have already cross-registered in UP Diliman. Whenever possible, UPVTC students were enlisted in subjects they would have taken in their home college, said Office of Student Housing Director Gerardo Lanuza.

The cross-registrants were also automatically granted free tuition under Bracket E2 of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP). Under Bracket E2, the students are entitled to a monthly stipend of P2,000.

The OSSS, however, will still determine if the applicants are eligible for the stipend, based on information provided by the applicants and/or the results of an interview with the OSSS staff.

The same rules apply for any UPD student whose Computerized Registration System records show a permanent address in any of the affected provinces.

Meanwhile, UPD students who had already paid for their tuition this semester may also apply for a refund, according to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs (OVCSA).

Affected UP students may apply for rebracketing by accomplishing and submitting a request form at the Office of Scholarships and Student Services (OSSS). The applicants may then undergo an interview before the rebracketing is approved.

As of press time, the UPD administration has already identified 174 UPD students whose families were directly affected by Typhoon Yolanda. The rebracketing of all students affected by the calamity has already been approved, said Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ma. Corazon Tan.

For additional financial assistance of up to P10,000 per semester, students may apply for the “Adopt-a-Student” program of the OVCSA and the OSSS.

Meanwhile, dormitory fees were waived for the 177 cross registrants currently staying at UPD residence halls. All affected students are given free meals three times a day, towels, toiletries, and clothes under the OVCSA’s “Kalinga kay Isko at Iska” program.

With the limited number of slots in UPD dormitories due to on-going renovations, the OVCSA also launched the “Isko and Iska Homestay Program” to accommodate as many students as possible.

The UP administration’s decision to waive the tuition and fees of affected UP students only reaffirms the call to recognize tertiary education as a basic right, said Eduardo Gabral, national chair of Kalipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP.

“This short-term remedy is a welcome development for now. Nakakalungkot na kailangan pang mailagay sa balag ng alanganin ang buhay [ng mga] kabataan bago ipatupad ang ganitong palisiya. After all, lahat tayo ay biktima ng iba’t ibang uri ng Yolanda na nagpapalala sa trahedya ng pamamahala sa ating bansa.” ∞

Free tuition, dorm slots granted to UPV students

Johnwyn Ace B. Fornal

Sources : National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council , Ibon Foundation, United States Agency for International Development, Senate, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Energy, Rappler.com, National Statistical Coordination Board, Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook.

Note: All figures are accurate as of November 25

Sidebar 1: If you are from a province directly hit by Typhoon Yolanda, you may apply for:

Rebracketing to Bracket E2Submit request to Vice Chancellor for

Student Affairs (VCSA) Ma. Corazon Tan by accomplishing a form at the Office of Scholarships and Student Services (OSSS).

Tuition refundIf already paid tuition under a different

bracket, see Mr. Aristeo Dacanay of the OSSS.

Adopt-a-Student FundSubmit request forms to VCSA Tan.

Applications are processed and confirmed with the OSSS.

Subsidized MealsSubmit request forms to VCSA. Ma. Corazon

Tan, OVCSA, Quezon Hall.Students can avail of the meals by presenting

their UP ID to be checked in the OVCSA masterlist.

HousingSubmit request forms to Dr. Gerardo

Lanuza, Office of the Student Housing, Kalayaan Residence Hall.

Counselling ServicesGo to the Office of Counselling and Guidance

(OCG), the Department Of Psychology Wellness Committee CSSP, or at the University Health Services.

Free use of Computer and Free PrintingProceed to Diliman Learning Resource Center

c/o DLRC Officer-in-Charge Rosalinda de Mesa. Present UP ID to avail of the services.

Sidebar 3: UP Diliman offices and other hotlines

Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs: (02) 981-85-00 locals 2587-2588

Office of Scholarships and Student Services: (02) 928-7228

Office of Student Housing: (02) 981-85-00 local 4510

Office of the Student Regent: (02) 981-85-00 local 4512

Sidebar 2: If you want to extend help, you may course aid through:

1. Financial Donations (May be placed under the Adopt a Student Program, Meals, Tuition, Hygiene Kit and other types of donations.)

1.1. Adopt-a-Student Program

1.2. Subsidizing meals

1.3. Donating tuition, Hygiene Kit and others

2. Pledges for housing under the “Isko and Iska Homestay Program

UP DILIMAN TRUST ACCOUNTDevelopment B ank of the Philippines Commonwealth Branch

Account No. 0455-010531-030

Swift Code: DBPHPHMM

Minimum of P10,000/student as monthly stipend. (P2,000/month/student)

P100/day/ student (good for three meals a day.)

Housing for the affected students in the event that dorm slots run out. Could be either homestay for one semester or for the Christmas Break.

Page design //Jan Andrei CobeyIllustration // Rosette Abogado

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BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013 BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013 5

I T W A S N O V E M B E R 2 3 when 58 people, including 32 journalists, were killed in what is now known as the Maguindanao Massacre. Four years has since passed but no one has been convicted for the single deadliest event for journalists in history.

The unresolved massacre has particularly put the Philippines next to conflict-torn Somalia and Iraq in the impunity index of the Committee to Protect Journalists for the third year now.

The Aquino administration downplays the state of media killings in the country. "Kung ihihiwalay naman yung Maguindanao figures…hindi naman ganun kaseryoso o kalala 'yung problemang 'yun," said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma in a press briefing.

Yet, the number of media workers being killed in the Philippines continue to add up under the administration of President Benigno Aquino III. Since 2010, at least 18 new cases of media killings have already been reported, according to international organization Human Rights Watch.

HINDI PA RIN NAKAKATANGGAP ng Performance-based Bonus (PBB) para sa 2012 ang 202 kawani ng UP Diliman (UPD) matapos magkulang ng mahigit P1 milyon ang P27 milyon na badyet para sa PBB ng unibersidad.

Sa inisyal na listahan ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM), kabilang ang 202 sa 3,418 kawani ng UPD na nakatakda sanang tumanggap ng P15,000 hanggang P35,000 para sa nakaraang taon.

Ipinamamahagi ang PBB na bahagi ng Performance-Based Incentives System ni Presidente Benigno Aquino III para sa mga kawaning nagtatrabaho sa iba’t ibang ahensya ng pamahalaan.

Alinsunod sa panuntunan ng DBM, tinatasa ang kalidad ng pagtatrabaho ng mga empleyado batay sa mga markang “poor”, “good”, “better” at “best,” kung saan walang matatanggap na bonus ang mga kawaning may markang “poor.” Samantala, P15,000 naman ang matatanggap ng mga may markang “good,” P25,000 sa “better,” at P35,000 naman sa “best.”

Tuwing pagtatapos ng tuwing nakatakdang ibigay ang PBB, ngunit wala pa ring natatanggap na PBB

Press Deadline

Hans Christian E. Marin

202 kawani ng UPD, wala pa ring ‘performance-based bonus’ang mga kawani sa UPD simula nang maipatupad ang sistema noong 2012.

Noong ika-14 ng Nobyembre, upang makatanggap na ng kahit bahagi lamang ng PBB ang mga kawani, nagpamahagi si UPD Chancellor Caesar Saloma ng panimulang P5,000 bonus bawat kawaning kabilang sa makakatanggap ng PBB.

Gayunpaman, maibibigay lamang ang kabuuan ng PBB para sa mga kawaning kabilang sa “good”, “better” at “best” kapag mayroon nang pinal na listahan ang DBM.

“Ginawa lamang ito para mawala ang galit ng mga kawani. Isang taon itong hinintay ngunit P5,000 [pa lang ang naipapamahagi],” ani Noel Marquina, pangulo ng All UP Workers’ Union (AUPWU) sa UPD.

Nauna nang b inalak ng administrasyon ng UP na ibigay sa lahat ng mga kawani ang kabuuan ng PBB, kahit na kulang pa ang badyet na nakalaan para rito, ngunit ipinagbawal ito ng Commision on Audit, dagdag ni Marquina.

Maliban sa PBB, makakatanggap rin ang lahat ng mga empleyado ng Productivity Enhancement Incentive (PEI) na P5,000.

PAGBANGONPhoto by John Keithley Difuntorum

Nangalap ng suportang pinansyal para sa mga biktima ng bagyong Yolanda ang ilang progresibong grupong pinangungunahan ng Kilusang Mayo Uno habang nagsasagawa ng kilos-protesta sa Mendiola, Maynila noong Nobyembre 22. Ikinondena ng grupo ang diumano’y kakulangan ng gobyernong Aquino sa paghahanda sa kalamidad at sa patuloy na pamumulitika sa gitna ng trahedya.

Ayon sa DBM, layunin umano ng PBB gantimpalaan ang mga masisikap na empleyado. Ngunit ayon kay Marquina, hindi kinakatawan ng PBB ang dapat na

tunay na layunin ng pagbibigay ng bonus.

Aniya, mas mainam na pantay-pantay na lamang ang bonus ng lahat. Sa ilalim ng PBB, tila ang layunin ay

para kumita ang isang ahensya o institusyon kahit serbisyo at hindi negosyo ang dapat na tungkulin ng mga empleyado. ∞

PLAYBACK

“ ““ “

Kira Chan

What must the Aquino administration do to deliver long-delayed justice to the victims of the Maguindanao Massacre?

Why do political/media killings continue under the Aquino administration?

“It should not play down the event as an anomaly, and treat it as a recurring element in the Philippine landscape. The concept of impunity is not acknowledged by the powers that be. There has been no justice for four years, and in addition to the slow judicial process, the government’s denial is what delays that justice.”

“There are no sincere and concrete measures in ensuring justice to victims of media killings. [A]side from [the] Ampatuan Massacre, only nine out of more than a hundred cases of journalist killings are currently on trial, and no mastermind has ever been convicted in the cases that had prospered. Most other cases did not move forward because of sloppy evidence gathering and prosecution work, and of [the] vulnerability of state agencies to influence by warlords and political kingpins. Those conditions embolden those who have the intention, the influence, and the means to silence journalists. If these remain unaddressed, the killings would not stop even beyond PNoy’s term.”

“Bukod sa pagpapabilis at agarang pagdinig ng kaso, ang pagbibigay ng tulong pinansyal o kompensasyon sa mga naiwang pamilya ng mga mamamahayag na pinaslang. Sinabi mismo ng Malacañang na wala raw salapi ang pamahalaan para sa kompensasyon. Ngunit may pera ito para sa korupsyon at militar.”

Danilo AraoAssociate Dean, UP Diliman College of Mass Communications

Rupert Francis MangilitCoordinator, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines - Media Safety Office

Marc Lino AbilaNational Secretary General, College Editors Guild of the Philippines

Marc Lino AbilaNational Secretary General, College Editors Guild of the Philippines

“Ang mga paglabag sa karapatang pantao ng mamamayan ay nagpapatuloy dahil na rin sa kagustuhan ng kasalukuyang rehimen na patahimikin ang mamamayang nagsasabi ng katotohanan. Patuloy ang kahirapan ng mga magsasaka at manggagawa ngunit walang makabuluhang tugon ang pamahalaan sa kanilang mga hinaing. Wala [si Aquino] anumang kredibilidad upang sabihing tapos na ang mga paglabag. Ilan na ba ang naparusahan sa paglabag sa karapatang pantao?”

6 LATHALAIN PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

Ronn Joshua Bautista

Ang anomalya sa pagtataas ng kontribusyon sa SSS

Dagdag-pasanin

SA ABALANG LUNGSOD NG Quezon, tila patok na negosyo ang Social Security System (SSS). Araw-araw, dinadagsa ito ng daan-daang tao para sa mga serbisyong hatid nito. Bagaman malugod silang tinatanggap ng SSS, may presyo itong kapalit—na sa susunod na taon ay balak nitong dagdagan pa.

Simula Enero 2014, maniningil na ng mas malaking kontribusyon ang SSS, mula 10.4 porsyento tungong 11 porsyento ng kita ng mahigit 30 milyong manggagawang miyembro nito. Para sa mga sumasahod ng minimum wage, mababawasan ng halos P150 ang kanilang sahod kada buwan.

Diumano, ilalaan ang karagdagang pondo sa pagpapalawak at pagpapabuti ng mga serbisyo ng SSS. Ngunit sa mas malalim na pagsusuri, lilitaw ang maraming katanungan at pag-aalinlangan tungkol sa panukalang ito.

Tulong sa obrero?Taong 1957 nang itatag ng

administrasyong Quirino ang SSS upang makapagbigay ng tulong pinansyal sa mga karaniwang Pilipinong sasapi dito.

Bilang isang government-owned and/or controlled corporation (GOCC), tinatakda ng pamahalaan kung sino ang mamumuno dito, ngunit tanging sa mga kasapi lamang din ng SSS manggagaling ang kalakhan ng pondo ng ahensya.

Kailangang maghulog ang bawat kasapi ng regular na kontribusyon upang makahiram ng salapi, tulad ng salary advance at housing repair loans. Maaari ding makakuha ng buwanang pensyon pagdating sa edad na 60.

Halimbawa, si Joel, isang manggagawa sa pabrika ng pintura sa Quezon City ay naghuhulog ng P1,422 mula sa kanyang P13,980 buwanang sahod. Matapos itong kaltasan ng iba pang mga bayarin, halos wala nang natitira para sa kanyang pamilya.

Gipit na gipitIsa si Joel sa milyun-milyong

Pilipinong umaasa sa minimum wage na napakalayo sa itinakda mismo ng gobyerno na P28,710 monthly cost of living. Dahil dito, madalas na napipilitan ang mga tulad niyang utangin ang mga susunod niyang sasahurin.

“Hindi kasi sumasapat yung kakarampot na sahod namin sa mga [gastusin ng pamilya] kaya isinasangla

ko ATM card ko,” ani Joel. Dahil hawak na ng pinagkakautangan ni Joel ang ATM card niya, diretsong pambayad-utang na ang kanyang sahod. Sa kagipitan, pinatigil muna ni Joel sa hayskul ang isa sa tatlo niyang anak.

Ayon sa institusyong pananaliksik IBON Foundation, karaniwan na ang ganitong pamumuhay dahil 80 bahagdan ng minimum wage ay inilalaan na ng mga nagugutom na Pilipino sa kanilang pagkain at upa pa lamang.

‘Nawawalang pondo’Para sa mga tulad ni Joel,

karagdagang pasanin ang pagtataas ng kontribusyon para sa SSS, na ayon sa pamahalaan ay tutugon sa “unfunded liabilities” ng ahensya.

Sa kanyang State of the Nation Address ngayong taon, sinabi ni Pangulong Benigno Aquino III na hanggang 2041 na lamang magtutugma ang halaga ng mga kontribusyon at ibinibigay na serbisyo ng SSS. “Kailangan nating tambalan ng inisyatibang mag-impok nang sapat ang pagluluwal natin ng pera… [dahil i]naasahang…mauubos ang pondo 28 taon mula ngayon,” ani Aquino.

Matapos aprubahan ni Aquino ang SSS hike ngayong Setyembre, lalong kakailanganin ng mga tulad ni Joel ang paghihigpit ng sinturon dahil katumbas ng halos P400 kada buwan, o isang buong araw ng sahod, ang 0.6 porsyentong dagdag sa kontribusyon ng SSS. “Kulang na nga ‘yung sahod namin, magdadagdag pa ng kontribusyon. Lalo lang kaming ibinabaon sa hirap,” daing ni Joel.

Tagong yamanTaliwas sa paliwanag ni Aquino

at ng SSS, sasapat ang pondo ng SSS kahit lampas ng 2041. Kung tutuusin, labis pa nga ang kinikita nito.

Ayon mismo sa SSS, lumalaki ang kita nito taun-taon hanggang pumalo na ng P36.2 bilyon noong 2012. Bukod dito, ibinunyag ng Commission on Audit (COA) na may P367 milyong kontribusyon ang hindi pa nasisingil sa mga malalaking employer. Kung gayon, malinaw na hindi nalulugi ang kumpanya.

Sa isang pag-aaral naman ng Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), mayroon ding P350 bilyong investment reserve fund (IRF) ang SSS na ginagamit bilang puhunan ng korporasyon.

Bilang isang GOCC, may kalayaan ang SSS na gawing investment ang ilang bahagi ng portfolio nito tulad sa mga pribadong bangko, paliwanag ni Maria Fe Mendoza, dekano ng National College of Public Administration and Governance. Sa katunayan, ngayong taon, namuhunan ang SSS ng P105 bilyon sa stock market at bumili ng halos 20 porsyentong equity sa malalaking kumpanya tulad ng Philex Mining Corporation at PLDT.

“Such a huge fund… could have been used to upgrade the benefits being provided by the government to workers… [It] proves that the planned SSS premium hike is unnecessary and unjust,” ani EILER executive director Anna Escresa.

“Kailangang ipaliwanag ng pamunuan ng SSS at ng gobyernong Aquino ang itinatambol nitong P1.1 trilyong [utang nito sa 2041], dahil kung sa kontribusyon lamang ng mga miyembro ay mabubuhay na ang SSS. Pinapakita nito ang maanomalyang paggamit ng pamunuan ng SSS sa pondo nito,” dagdag ni Labog. Hanggang ngayon, hindi pa naglalabas ng ulat ang SSS kung bakit umabot ng P1.1 trilyon ang unfunded liabilities nito.

Maagang bonusHindi man maipaliwanag ng

pamahalaan, naibuking na rin ng SSS ang sarili nito kung saan napupunta ang pondo ng GOCC.

Ngayong Hunyo, walong opisyales ng SSS board ang tumanggap ng tig-iisang milyong pisong bonus (sumangguni sa sidebar). Bukod dito, nakakakuha ang mga ito ng P20,000 hanggang P40,000 sa simpleng pagdalo lamang ng isang committee o board meeting.

“Normally, GOCCs at the end of the year would give bonuses to their employees and officers. [T]hat has been a regular thing," paliwanag ni SSS president Emilio De Quiros Jr.

Aniya, isa lamang itong insentibo para sa mahusay na pagpapatakbo ng SSS—na pinabulaanan naman ng mismong COA. Sa pag-aaral ng

COA noong 2012, pinuna nito ang mahahabang panahon na kailangang pumila upang humingi ng tulong pinansyal. Ngayon taon lamang, ilang araw ng trabaho ang nawala kay Joel dahil sa pagpila sa SSS para sa kanyang loan kahit dala-dala niya na lahat ng requirements.

Depensa naman ni De Quiros, tama lang ang bonus nila dahil sa paglago ng pondo ng SSS ng P100 bilyong simula noong 2010 – taliwas sa sinasabi nitong paubos na ang pera ng SSS.

Serbisyo, hindi negosyoTaun-taon, ipinapangako ng SSS

ang pag-unlad ng serbisyo nito. Ngunit sa kabila ng bilyun-bilyong

kita ng institusyon, nakapako pa rin sa P1,200 kada buwan para sa mga

sampung taon na sa SSS, at P2,400 kada buwan sa mga 20-taon at pataas.

“Habang malakas pa ang manggagawa, nagbibigay siya ng kontribusyon sa SSS para pagdating ng araw, matamasa niya ‘yung pinaghirapan niyang puhunan…Pero ano naman ang mabibili mo ngayon sa isa o dalawang libo kada buwan?” ani Labog.

Para sa isang institusyong ang mandato ay maglingkod sa mamamayan, tila iilan lamang ang nakikinabang sa yaman ng SSS, samantalang pigang-piga na ang mga kakarampot lang ang sinasahod. Kung gayon, napapanahon at makatarungan lamang na ipaglaban ng mga kasapi ang pagbabagong-bihis ng SSS bilang institusyong tunay na para sa serbisyong panlipunan. ∞

Katas ng SSS

Juan Santos, SSS chairman P1.17M Dating chairman ng Nestle Philippines

Emilio de Quiros Jr, SSS vice chairman/president P1.04M Dating executive vice president ng BPI

Diana Pardo-Aguilar, commissioner P1.33M Direktor ng Phoenix Petroleum Philippines

Daniel Edralin, commissioner P1.12M Chairman ng Alliance of Progressive Labor

Eliza Antonino, commissioner P968,000 Dating direktor ng Philex Mining Corp

Marianita Mendoza, commissioner P1.02M Direktor ng Asiatrust Development Bank

Ibarra Malonzo, commissioner P1.41M Dating Arroyo appointee sa TESDA

Bienvenido Laguesma, commissioner P1.3M Director ng Philex Mining Corp

Opisyal Natanggap na bonus

Dibuho : Karl Aquino

Disenyo ng pahina : Jerome Tagaro

7LATHALAIN PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

Photo : Agham NasyunalPage design : Jerome Tagaro

WHEN I WAS FIRST INFORMED of what had happened to Kim—thanks to his colleague in AGHAM, Dr. Gani Tapang—my first question was if he was still alive.

The same as many of us, I had not forgotten what had happened to another scientist, Professor Leonard Co two years ago while he was doing field research. It seemed as if time had stopped and I was only able to breathe after Gani answered that, yes, Kim was still alive, only he was hurt and in the custody of the military.

I found it ridiculous but at the same time not surprising that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had arrested Kim and branded him as a member of the New People’s Army. Years back, I worked for the joint human rights monitoring committee of the GRP and the NDFP, and I had become familiar with all the strategies and tactics—very often brutal and inhumane—of the AFP to arrest and accuse innocent civilians of being NPA members.

The AFP seldom stops at nothing to find as many people as they can and present them to the media as captured NPA just so the military can justify its existence and the billion-peso budget it receives courtesy of taxpayers’ money. So when I was told that Kim had been arrested, part of me wanted to simply roll eyes and heave a sigh of exasperation.

The thing is that I also learned that when real members of the NPA are captured, they hardly have any problems admitting that they are NPAs. I have learned that they even take pride in admitting it because, after all, they are asserting the moral ascendancy of their revolutionary cause by saying that they are NPAs. And in any case, captured NPAs have rights under International Humanitarian Law and under the Comprehensive Agreement for Respect for Human Rights and IHL or CARHIHL between the GRP and the NDFP.

But I digress. To the point now. Kim is not a member of the NPA. He hasn’t been for the last two years—he hasn’t been ever. He is an academic, a researcher, an activist and teacher. He is not a member of the NPA.

Kim came from a poor family in Iligan and studied Physics in

Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, where he graduated Magna cum Laude and Class Valedictorian.

His passion for physics and teaching inspired him to teach at the University of the Philippines, Mindanao Polytechnic State College, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Mapua Institute of Technology. There, he conscientiously explained the need for young scientists and engineers of the country to touch base with the poor and marginalized communities, by promoting science and technology that serves well the needs of the people.

His determination to understand the environment led him to pursue his postgraduate degree

on Chronobiology in Groningen University in the Netherlands, but he came back to the Philippines before finishing his dissertation, to be more involved in the environmental campaigns in the country.

He joined the non-government organization Center for Environmental Concerns and participated in the humanitarian and fact-finding mission for Typhoon Pablo in April this year. Soon, he realized that the rehabilitation work would be needing his full attention.

When he was arrested, Kim was conducting a scoping of the areas ravaged by Typhoon Pablo. He heard a series of gunfire not too far from where he is. He tried to determine its source while he was in a hurry to leave

A Plea for KimKim Gargar is a physicist and a volunteer scientist of AGHAM-Advocates of Science and Technology for the People since 2001.On October 1, 2013, while conducting resource-mapping as part of the rehabilitation program of Panalipdan –Southern Mindanao Region (SMR) in Brgy. Aliwagwag, Cateel, Davao Oriental, Kim was arrested and wrongly accused of being a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Now, he is detained in Baganga Subjail in Davao Oriental. He has since pleaded not guilty to the charges of illegal possession of explosives, attempted murder, and violation of COMELEC gun ban.

the area. While walking along a creek, he slipped into a waterfall about seven meters high. He was unconscious for several hours and when he woke up, his head was bleeding profusely while his right foot is already swollen. In this condition, he was found by the military belonging to the 67th Infantry Battalion, who interrogated him and forced him to admit that he is an NPA.

All his so-called admissions of being an NPA member he made under extreme duress. After all, he was questioned by fully armed and uniformed soldiers just after he had gained consciousness after a bad and painful fall.

When the news report about him came out in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, I had a very difficult time keeping my temper, striving not to lash out against the military stooges who posted comments maligning him and saying that he was better off dead because he was an NPA. I became so angry that I posted “Kim Gargar is a civilian and he has a five-year old daughter whose chipped left toenail is more intelligent than you.” Kim would have agreed.

Now, I plea for everyone’s support in our campaign for Kim’s immediate release and the dismissal of all the inane and made-up charges the AFP and the Aquino government have issued against him.

While I have heard that Kim is already making good use of his time in prison by teaching the inmates basic literacy and science courses, it is still imperative that he be released from prison because he is innocent, because it a violation of his rights that he be kept in prison, and because the Aquino government should not be allowed to continue violating the civil, political and human rights of civilians like Kim with impunity.

On behalf of Kim’s five year-old daughter Kimiko, I urge readers to support AGHAM’s campaign to free Kim, and at the same time assert the rights of all political prisoners of the country. ∞*Ina Alleco R. Silverio is a writer and the author of Ka Bel: The Life and Struggle of Crispin Beltran.

Ina Silverio*

I have learned that they even take pride in admitting it because, after all, they are asserting the moral ascendancy of their revolutionary cause

8 KULTURA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY TO get high on the sheer poetic beauty of the country’s longest-running armed revolution—that of the national democratic movement. It is, after all, a war fought not within the grasp of the city’s reach but waged by peasants and workers under the cover of the mountain forest.

This lyrical image, in fact, dominates the landscapes in Kiri and Sari Dalena’s sprawling film, The Guerilla is a Poet, a documentary drama that borrows a few years in the life of Professor Jose Maria Sison—during the founding of the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army.

Yet it is the film’s greatest credit that it attempts to avoid hollow romanticism, of idealizing the revolution merely for the sake of “humanizing” a movement that the status quo has always demonized out of fear.

In the postmodernist fashion, it would have been considered “trendy” to merely challenge the fascism of operations such as the “Oplan” counter-insurgency campaigns. The state and its powerful anti-communist machine, after all, offer a large target and it would have been difficult to miss it.

As founding members o f the award-winning and militant multimedia collective Southern Tagalog Exposure, the Dalenas are not strangers to the radical tradition. In Guerilla, they chose a less easy road.

Fire and IceThe first thing the audience sees

is a window frosted with ice. Outside, the winds howl in the streets of Utrecht in the Netherlands, where Jose Maria “Joma” Sison is forced into exile after being tagged a terrorist by the Philippine and US governments. It is an alien city and Joma is celebrating his birthday a million miles away from the hot February summer at home where he studied and taught literature and political science at the University of the Philippines.

The small apartment he now shares with his wife Julie is sparsely furnished. Rather than expensive furniture and appliances one might imagine with the way Joma’s detractors criticize him for supposedly living in luxury abroad, their home is more cluttered with books, posters, mementos, and family photographs tacked to the wall—hinting perhaps that the revolutionary couple’s longing to return home more than anything else.

The dialectical relationship of these contradictions is what breathes fire into the film. For while Sison, to the present generation, has become a figure that represents the armed struggle in the Philippines, he is as much a product of his times as he is a voice that has sought to articulate a vision for radical change.

Noteworthy then is the performance of neophyte actor Karl Medina as Joma. His is a portrayal that is quiet and restrained—almost as if he was trying to tell the audience that the film is hardly about Joma alone but about stronger forces which have shaped and continue to shape our consciousness.

The screenplay is written by real-life militants Ericson Acosta and Kerima Tariman, themselves both poet-activists like Joma himself. They lend a sense of realism to the film that perhaps mainstream writers will find difficult to capture. Even when the dialogue borders on the cliché, it still allows the actors depth and even humour that transcend the film’s limitations.

It is a wise choice, since to chronicle the struggles of the movement, the film must capture its language—not just the exotic peculiarities of life in the mountains but also the universality of a cause that resonates even among those who are still beginning to discover that there is simply no other way.

War and poetryIn Joma’s most

popular poem, The Guerilla is like a Poet,

the exiled professor likened the warrior

to a lyricist. Like the poet who must perceive beauty in “the rustle of the leaves / the break of twigs / the ripples of the river / the smell of fire,” the guerrilla must also learn to “merge” and “move” with the elements.

But the film abandons the simile in favour of the metaphor—“The Guerrilla is a Poet”—blurring the lines between revolution and poetry. The lines of Joma’s poems are interspersed between scenes throughout the film, yet a more urgent poetry is revealed through how struggles are collectively fought by revolutionary cadres.

In one scene, where Joma’s mother visits them at their home to try to persuade them into leading a more “normal” life, Joma and Julie both tenderly explain that they stand irrevocably committed their lives to serve the masses.

Like all the other women in the film, Julie’s role is far from that of Ninoy Aquino’s wife, a character whose only appearance in the movie involved serving refreshments to house guests. Julie is Joma’s equal; she would be inducted as a member of the party’s central committee not because she was Joma’s wife but

because of her own courage and hard work in the movement. Joma himself even quips that he has written nothing which did not benefit from Julie’s ideas.

Guerilla’s keenest insight into the national democratic movement, however, is in its portrayal of Joma’s friendship with the first leader of the NPA, Bernabe “Ka Dante” Buscayno. In an interview scene where Ka Dante recalls his collaboration with Joma, he reveals that he considers him almost as a brother.

In many ways, their friendship mirrors the crucial relationship between the CPP and the NPA. For the party and the army perform twin roles—one provides direction, while the other provides strength.

Art and realityThat Guerilla is produced for a

film festival and enjoyed limited screening at a number of big commercial theatres thus becomes a reaffirmation of the ability of even radical films to conquer even the barriers laid by commercial cinema.

Indeed, at a time when mainstream production houses bombard the public with a flood of movies that rarely, if ever, challenge the status quo, the role of militant film artists to fight quantity with quality becomes an important task.

By depicting how Joma and his colleagues have remoulded themselves in their struggles, Guerilla attempts to capture this quality that comes only when art shows how such changes are possible—a change of feeling and perspective that allows for even personal sacrifices.

Towards the end of the film, Joma and Julie are gazing from across a river at dusk. It is a melancholy scene, but it is sadness imbued with optimism. It was as if to say Joma’s poetry has ceased to become his alone, or perhaps that it has never been so from the very beginning. It is an ultimate act of faith—that there are many others who will see that it reaches victory. ∞

Victor Gregor Limon

Illustration: Patricia Ramos

Page design: Ashley Garcia

KULTURA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013 9KULTURA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

THE LIGHTS OF WILFRIDO MA. Guerrero Theatre are dimly lit. A sharp sound of wood striking each other echoes through the theatre. Another pair enters, crisscrossing through the earlier sounds of striking wood. Soon enough a mixture of sounds filled the stage and enveloped the cold expanse of the theater in a sound of fierce fight.

The Supremo entered, called Teatro Porvenir into a halt. The show begins. The audience remains spectator.

Grand EntranceDulaang UP (DUP) stages Tim

Dacanay’s Palanca-winning play Teatro Porvenir under the direction of Alexander Cortez as the country commemorates Bonifacio’s sesquicentennial. Dacanay’s play, whose title was inspired by Andres Bonifacio’s own theatre group, expounds on the revolutionary hero’s mostly unmentioned life in the theatre before becoming the Supremo of the Katipunan.

Together with Bonifacio’s friends, playwright Aurelio Tolentino and actor Macario Sakay, Bonifacio formed Teatro Porvenir, the “theater of the future,” in 1887. This theatre group was an unconventional form of theatre that showcased moro-moro, comedia and zarzuela with subversive undertones, countering the then-traditional Westernized rival theatre group Teatro Infantil.

Dacanay’s play also sets Bonifacio’s Teatro Porvenir apart from Teatro Infantil by utilizing arnis in its plays. In the DUP play, Bonifacio encouraged his men in the theatre to perfect the art of arnis: “Magagamit natin ito sa entablado at sa labas, sa bayang sawi.”

Theatre emerged as a response to colonization. Bonifacio’s theatre featured voices from the margins, the usual spectators to colonial theatre admitted onto the center stage. Much to the disdain of traditional theater, Bonifacio’s modernist Teatro Porvenir changed the characters, setting and treatment of plays such as Bernardo Carpio to suit the time and the general audience.

Most importantly, Bonfacio’s theatre fearlessly utilized Filipino in its plays when Filipino was considered the language of indios. This theatre work that mostly tackled the theme of indio versus colonizers gave Bonifacio the early epiphany for revolution, and that the revolution must step down the stage; thus the Katipunan was formed.

The treatment of Dacanay’s play on Bonifacio as a lover of art attempted to make Bonifacio’s revolutionary image—and the revolution itself—more palatable to contemporary audiences which are mostly composed of the bourgeois and the petty-bourgeois, both of which have reason to fear the term. To have the revolutionary

hero portrayed as a man of art—almost Rizalesque—is deemed as more acceptable.

This added layer of representation to the image of Bonifacio brings about the danger of fictionalization. From the already distorted icon of Bonifacio in red bandana while holding a bolo, now portrayed more subtly is a man of the arts, further caricaturing the hero as a ploy to appeal to a perceived audience.

The current influx of cultural capital on revolutionary figures such as the film The Guerilla is a Poet, the play Lean the Musical, and other biopics on famous revolutionaries such as poet-warrior Eman Lacaba, raises the question of purpose. The use of the brand of revolution in cultural capital ushers the danger of mythmaking. Art, especially whose material involves prominent revolutionary figures, must owe its purpose to the wider scope of audience outside the middle –class consumers of cultural capital.

Main ActDacanay’s Teatro Porvenir regards

theatre as a separate entity from the revolutionary movement. The space between audience and actors which further creates the voyeuristic nature of the audience transforms the revolution into a mere spectacle to the middle class audience of Dacanay’s Teatro.

Spectacle replaces social life with mere representation, forming a society wherein social relationships decline from being into having—and having into simply appearing—Guy Debord said in his Society of the Spectacle. Though art such as theatre can wield people into starting a revolution, the indifference of the current audience to the images of revolution in Dacanay’s play transforms the idea of revolution into a mere idea trapped on stage and fades as the curtain closes.

An artist must not be separate from the ordinary people so that they can access these performances that are also about them. DUP’s

staging of Dacanay’s Teatro Porvenir however falls short in capturing this task. The arena of the revolution remains onstage, for the viewing pleasure of an audience.

Bonifacio, had been portrayed as a revolutionary, yet the play ended on a note that does not, even at the least, foretell the revolution, satisfying the audience that the revolution is a spectacle and that art—with the character of Tolentino closing the stage—is the more important battle to win. The failed revolution was shown, with the actor-heroes dead.

Dacanay however also attempted to present an alternate ending where everybody who died was resurrected into a dream-play. The play’s conclusion made the revolution seem like a menagerie, a play within a play. This adds to the lack of realism for which its main character had died for.

Curtain CallThe thoughts and feelings of

artists must be one with the masses by conscientiously learning the ways of the masses, Mao Zedong said in a speech during the Yenan Forum in 1949. Art—including theatre—is a component part of the revolutionary machine that can be used as a powerful weapon to educate the people into revolutionary change.

Dacanay’s play averted the idea of theatre being a revolution in itself—and not merely a spectacle that makes use for the revolution as its material for profit. It is only when art and theatre is liberated from the idea that art and revolution can co-exist in pursuit of one goal can art be truly art with a purpose.

Such art must acquire its material from among the ranks of the masses, and must attack the common enemy of prevailing postmodern thought where individualism prevails. So long as art that seeks to tackle the revolution is under the monopoly of this kind of intelligentsia from the bourgeoisie, art cannot be truly of the masses. ∞

Julian Inah Anunciacion

Page design: Ashley GarciaPhotographs: Kimberly Pauig

Viva el Supremo!Bonifacio’s sesquicentennial and art’s role in his revolutionary ideals

DALAWANG LINGGO NA ANG lumipas nang masalanta ang Eastern Visayas dahil sa hagupit ni Bagyong Yolanda. Kaliwa’t kanan ang pagbuhos ng tulong hindi lamang galing sa ating mga kababayan — pati buong mundo nakiisa para matulungan ang mga biktima ng bagyo na ngayon ay walang-wala na.

Magandang balita man ito para sa mga nasalanta, ngunit bumuhos rin ang mga batikos sa ating pamahalaan. Mabagal at walang maayos na sistema, sabi ng mga komentong madalas kong nababasa sa Facebook. Nababalita man na nakakatanggap ng relief goods ang mga nasalanta, hindi pa rin maalis sa isipan ng lahat kung saan napupunta ang pagkarami-raming donasyon. Ang daming mga kwentong kumakalat sa mga social networking sites tungkol sa hindi pagdating ng mga relief goods sa dapat nitong paroonan. May mga kwento rin tungkol sa pagbibigay ng tax sa mga donation ibinibigay.

Sabi naman ng iba, tumulong na lang imbes na magreklamo. Pero kung hindi tayo magrereklamo at magpapahayag ng mga hinaing ngayon sa gobyerno, mas lalong hindi kikilos ang mga nasa itaas.

Ilang araw na rin akong hindi nakakapanood ng balita sa TV. Nakakasagap lang ako ng balita kapag naka-online ako sa Facebook, dahil marami sa aking mga kaibigan ay mahilig mag-share ng mga posts na sa tingin ko naman ay importante. Kaya noong abala ako sa pag-scroll down ng mga litrato at status sa news feed ko, nakita ko ang isang video sa GMA news website tungkol sa Diskwento Caravan, isang proyektong pinangungunahan ng Department of Trade and Industry o DTI, na kasalukuyang isinasagawa ngayon sa mga lugar na nasalanta ng bagyo.

Ang Diskwento Caravan ay taun-taon ginaganap sa iba’t ibang lugar. Kasama ng DTI sa proyektong ito ang ilan sa mga kompanya na magbebenta ng kanilang produkto sa mas mababang halaga. Ayon sa balita, 10 hanggang 30 porsyento ang diskwento sa mga produktong ibinibenta ngayon sa mga lugar na nasalanta. Maliban sa mga pangunahing bilihin, nagbebenta rin sila ng mga bagay na hindi kasama sa relief goods tulad ng baterya at flashlight.

Layunin nila diumano na makatulong sa ating mga

nasalantang kababayan kaya nagbebenta sila ng mga kagamitan na bagsak presyo. Pero sa pagkakaalam ko, kaya dinudumog ang mga sale sa mall ay dahil 50 hanggang 70 porsyento ang diskwento. Bagsak presyo talaga?

Bakit kailangan bentahan pa ang mga kababayan nating nasalanta? Hindi ko rin masabi na mabuti na lang at may naitago pa silang pera. Ang iba, naglakbay pa ng malayo para lang makabili. Nasaan ang mga relief goods na tone-tonelada ang dami? Saan napunta ang perang donasyon galing sa iba’t ibang bansa? Nakakalungkot isipin na sa kabila ng pagbuhos ng donasyon, kinailangan pa ng mga biktima na dumepende sa sarili nila. Walang-wala na nga sila, mas nawalan pa. Hindi rin ito dahil sa taon-taon ito nagaganap at nagkataon lang na sa Eastern Visayas ang susunod nitong destinasyon.

Baka mabuti nga ang layunin ng caravan na ito. Pero sa panahong ito, makakatanggap talaga ito ng batikos dahil sa tinatawag nating wrong timing. ∞

Wrong timingAli

10 OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013

kung

hindi tayo

magrereklamo

at

magpapahayag

ng mga

hinaing

ngayon sa

gobyerno, mas

lalong hindi

kikilos ang mga

nasa itaas

ESTIMATED TIME OF DEPARTURE for work is at 6:20AM. A few minutes later would cost an hour and a half longer due to the uncontrolled activity of train queues.

Upon arrival at the MRT station, expect a line of passengers that come in different colors and collars. A sales lady, a street vendor, a group of nursing students and a business man — all are found at the station. Beyond job titles, however, the stranger in front of you is familiar to somebody else. A sister, a neighbor, a best friend and a father may find themselves caught up together in this urban artery.

When it is your turn to jump in the seemingly jam-packed coach, you have no other choice but to make the impossible possible. For every train that you miss, there is the growing probability of the workers behind you also running late with their salaries at stake. It is turning into a different kind of social responsibility.

Countless workers pour in and out at every station. You find yourself caught up in the ebb and flow of people who pump life into the economy. And for a split second, the statistics of its growth must be real due to the awkward proximity of your face to another’s.

Lines other than yours crisscross in reality. At the same time in a different space, the unemployed line up for papers and documents to gamble with opportunities and greener pastures abroad. These long lines exist despite news headlines about discrimination, death sentences and a developing economy.

It’s been seven months since I graduated from the place where the only line I complained about was the painstaking quest for MSTs. I packed my bags with skills, theories and grand ideas of change and set out into the world. Because beyond the university, we continue to learn, unlearn and relearn with the working class.

Society has packaged a tour that will take much longer than the 2-days and 1-night reservation. Each day comes with an itinerary to break with your senses. Billboards left and right can lull you into middle-class fantasies as much as high-rise towers and fancy cups of coffee. But sometimes, all it takes to escape is sharing a chuckle with the person squeezed against you.

Expected departure from work is at 5:00PM. Any minute beyond lessens the chances of getting home by dinner time due to the uncontrolled activity of MRT queues.

Impatience grows with the repetition of narratives. The system is unhealthy. The same headlines haunt the present as the same surnames reap the better half of the economy. And when we are faced with A, B or C, we can always choose none of the above. ∞

Packaged toursMaria Manalac

You find

yourself

caught up

in the ebb

and flow

of people

who pump

life into the

economy

OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN LUNES, DISYEMBRE 2, 2013OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN HUWEBES, DISYEMBRE 3, 2013 11TEXTBACK NEWSCAN

0935 541 0512

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Next week’s questions

2. Sino ang gusto mong ma-knockout sa susunod na laban ni Pacquiao?

1. Ano ang masasabi mo sa pag-apruba ng BOR sa STFAP reforms at Student Code?

THE SINETCH ITEY EDISHUUUNNNN!!

WHERE IS THE LOVE? ♥ Alamin kung saan may magpapatibok ng puso mo! ♥ Tara na sa UP PRAXIS GRAND ORIENTATION!!! ♥ Nov. 29 (Friday) ♥ Tagpuan: Pilar Herrera Hall, Palma Hall (near AS-CAL entrance) ♥ Oras ng tagpuan: 5:30-8PM ♥ Katagpo: Makikila mo din. Yihee! ♥ w/ FREE FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT...and you-know-who *kilig* ♥ Alam na! Fall in love with UP Praxis! For special orientations, please contact Kwin at 09473274736 ♥ #RealizeYerPotential!

Halloowa mga beks! Muling nagbabalik si yours truly upang maghatid ng chizmwakz na aking na-sayt kahit wala pa kong borlog dahil sa haggard na pressworkibels. Anyway, tigilan na natin ang pa charing-charing na usapan and lez get to down to monkey biznez.

1. Sinetch ang koya na ito na naging center of attention dahil umeksena ang ulo ng kanyang.... umbrella! Uyyy aminin ang naisip mo ay medyo green!! Haha. As you know naman, jumulanis ng slight last week so patok na naman ang mga umbrelitis na pang-protect ng mga beauty natin from the rain. No exception dito si koya na bumaba malapit sa kolehiyo ng mga kalbo. Syempre nung una, dedma lang ang mga utaw sa presence ni koya, but wait! Pagbukas ni koya ng umbrella ay biglang tumalsik ang kanyang umbrella head na gumulong pa to the direction of the walking utaw na ofcorz ay na-shocklalu! Todo Lydia de Vega naman si koya sa paghabol ng kanyang prodigal ulo of the umbrella. From being poise na poise ay naging basang sisiw lang ang peg ng lolo nyo! Pero ok lang yan koya, at least you had your moment of fame. Char!

2. Sinophobia naman ang isa pang koyang itong nagsasariling sikap sa conversation, na kung makakasalubong mo habang naglalakad sa Acad Oval ay aakalain mong naka-bluetooth at may kausap sa phone. Pero upon closer inspection ay witteles pala siyang kausap except himself! Eto piso oh, bili ka ng kausap at baka matuloy na sa pagkalurkey yan! Wish ko lang ay makasalubong mo Zorro dahil for sure ay magkakasundo kayo na parang long lost brother lang ang peg. Harhar!

And this iz it, pansit!! Kailangan ko na munang mag-rest in peace kaya magbabalik na lang ako next week. Gotta jet mga fanget!!! Charot!!

Ano ang masasabi mo sa sistema ng pagpapaloan sa UP? Sang-ayon ka ba dito?

Mabilis,hindi maarte at considerate.Sobrang laki ng naitulong sakin ng short term loan.wlang sem na hindi ako ngapply dto at KAhit kelan di nila ko mindali sa pagbabayad. mkatarungan ang interes at hindi ito rason para di k mkpagenroll.napakabait p ng buong opisina nila kahit suki nA ko s mga sobrang late magbayad sa kabila ng bracket e2 na ako at may scholarship/grants dhl alm kong naiintndhan nla ang kalagayan ko sa buhay 10-***** BA Public ADministration

Hindi ako sang-ayon sa sistema ng pagpapaloan dahil kung gusto talaga nilang makatulong, hindi na nila papabigatan ang isko na magbayad pa ng interest. Ginawang negosyo eh! 2012-59935 Juan Carlos Ojano BA Film

para mong inuutangan ung ano talaga ang pagmamay-ari mo—yan ang loan system sa u.p. kung alam ko lang ang pagiging iskolar ng bayan =/= free

EKSENANG PEYUPS

CONTACT US!

Write to us via snail mail or submit a soft copy

to Rm. 401, Vinzons Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City. Email us at pkule1314gmail.com. Save Word attachments in Rich Text Format, with INBOX, NEWSCAN or CONTRIB in the

subject. Always include your full name, address

and contact details.

The UP Singing Ambassadors is Now Open for Auditions! Auditions will run until January 18, 2014. For audition schedule, contact: 09158217770

www.upsingingambassadors.com See you there!

The UP Diliman Office of the Chancellor through the College of Music, Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (OICA, Oica UP Diliman), and the UP Theater proudly presents the much awaited HANDEL’s MESSIAH, A Christmas Concert on Tuesday, December 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the UP Theater.

This year, this annual free event will be offered as a benefit concert for all those affected by the recent calamities. During the show, organizers will be accepting cash donations which will be channeled to the UP Foundation.

The control tickets are available at the UPD-OICA Office, located at the 3rd floor of the UP Theater, Osmena Ave., UP Diliman, QC. For inquiries, please contact Ms. Malou Arandia at 928-1928 (8am-5pm, M-F only).

BE THE CHANGE. Join UNESCO Club UPD!

UNESCO Club UPD is now accepting applicants for second semester!

You can fill up our online form (http://tinyurl.com/UNESCOCLUBUPDapplicationform) or visit our booth on December 3-5 at AS WALK!

Got any questions? Feel free to contact us through the following:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UNESCOClubUPD

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UNESCOClubUPD

On its 50th year, take the stage. The University of the Philippines Chinese Student Association 2nd semester Application Process.

Drop by our Tambayan near AS101 or contact Elroy at 09175661242 to sign up.

"“When bad things happen, I know you want to believe they are a joke, but sometimes life is scary and dark. That is why we must find the light.” –BMO

Palakihan ang aperture at pumunta sa aming APPS' ORIENTATION sa darating na DECEMBER 4 (WED), 4PM, sa College of Mass Communication! \m/

Kontakin lamang sina Mariel (0939-903-5631) o si Drestel (0915-797-8230).

education, nag-admu or dlsu nalang ako 201322755 BS CE

hmmm… ang masasabi ko lang sa loan na yan ay medyo mas dumali naman ang process ngayon.. kasi online na ang pagkuha sa form. charot! lumelevel-up, mas madali yung process lalo na sa katulad kong nagstustudent loan.. :) 2013-*9*3* JustLikeStars Eng’gKung ikaw si Chichay, ano ang isasagot mo sa tanong ni Wacky na, “So, is that a yes?”

No, this is Patrick! 08-62675 MS Chem

“Hindi ko po alam.” 2013-701** Cyan BS CoE

may sinabi ba akong yes? wag kang assuming. nasasaktan ang nga gumagawa niyan! 2013-*9*3* JustLikeStars Eng’gComments/errata

May mali/baliktad sa page5 about DAP. 2010-***** BS BAA

Good job Mr. Nowhere Man! Worth reading. Keep up the good work :) 09-21886 BS Geol

The Office of Counseling and Guidance will conduct an interview with all the UPCOE Freshmen on Dec. 2 (Monday). Attendance is a must. 100% freshmen students have to undergo this study survey.

College of Engineering Freshman Intake Interview and Study Habit Survey

Date: Dec. 2, 2013 MondayTime: 9-12:00 noon 1st Batch :

The UP Press Annual Book Sale!

All UP Press titles, including bestsellers and new releases, will be sold at a 20% discount and all consigned titles at a 5% discount.

The book sale runs from December 2–17, 2013.

For inquiries, call the UP Press Book Store at +63 (2) 928 4391 and +63 (2) 925 3242 local 112.

EEE and MMM1- 4:00 pm 2nd Batch: ChE, IE,

CE, GE, MEVenue: P&G Rm, College of

Engineering

WWW.PHILIPPINECOLLEGIAN.ORG

NOWHERE MAN

Alan P. Tuazon

“YOU AND I MAKE A PERFECT team, the Bonnie-and-Clyde kind of way,” you told me while we were replying bull to vandalisms sprawled all over armchairs in CAL 204.

“Heartbreak vandalism. These people should make a genre out of it!” you laughed.

I was too shy to admit it to you, but I used to participate in such “heartbreak vandalism” in my more vulnerable days. I was a prolific vandal, writing haikus and tanagas in my random classes, most of them now smudged into forgetting.

Ink gets people a sense of immortality—but a fleeting kind. People reach for this temporary permanence in the everyday, in secret, behind doors, on walls, in the comforts of the most desolate bathrooms. By reading such intimacies, one envisions how UP is full of stories to tell, of people wanting to remain anonymous, yet wanting to get their messages across. It is a system of wanting, but not wanting.

Fired by our own ambitions, loves, and losses, we UP students isolate ourselves in our own nice prison. We wake up, brush our teeth, attend our classes, and study diligently, forgetting that we are not robots of an educational system that sums one’s worth through numerical grades: We are students, participative in defending education, not only our own UP education but everyone else’s who, unlike us, would not have the privilege of vandalizing on our classroom walls.

Fewer students will not get into UP for the succeeding years. We saw in the recent Board of Regents meeting how the administration could play its cards cunningly, treacherously over policy-making, disregarding student representation.

“There are worse problems worth occupying people’s minds than your most recent heartbreak or shattered summa cum laude dreams, baby,” you complained, aghast at a confession on your desk. “If it’s such a crime to vandalize on these self-centric vandalisms, I shall be happy to commit it.”

Let us be happy criminals together then, I thought to myself. ∞

Vandalism Stories

SAMU’T SARING KWENTO ANG MARIRINIG SA MGA MAMAMAYAN ng Tacloban matapos ang sigalot ng bagyong Yolanda. Binalot ang paligid ng masangsang na amoy ng basura at bangkay ng tao. Nakahalo ang mga bangkay sa mga sala-salabid na kahoy, poste, yero, sasakyan at kung ano-ano pang mga kagamitan na nagkalat sa daan.

Nagmistulang isang “ghost town” ang Tacloban: walang kuryente, signal, tubig at pagkain ang mga mamamayan. Sa halip na pagbangon ang unang maging hakbang mula sa pagkakalugmok dala ng bagyo, larawan ng labis na karahasan ang tatambad sa bayan—walang awang pagpatay sa nagnanakaw dahil sa kakulangan ng agaran at garantisadong tulong mula sa pamahalaan, kawalan ng hustisya sa pag-uulat ng tunay na bilang at kalagayan ng mga biktima, at ang usad-pagong na pagpapa-abot ng tulong sa mga nasalanta, lalo na sa mga liblib na lugar.

Siklo ng karahasan

Mary Joy CapistranoKeith Richard Mariano