TOMO 91 BLG.

26 SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014

PHILIPPINE
COLLEGIAN
Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan
ng mga mag-aaral ng
Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman
LATHALAIN page 7
5 9
Imprisonment of
beauty
A Review of Damas de Noche
Kultura
Media, iba pang grupo
nagprotesta kontra e-Martial
Law
Balita
Instigador de la guerra
The invisible hand behind
Venezuelas riots
Lathalain
Examining the state of internet access in the Philippines
LATHALAIN PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2013
Dibuho : Patricia Ramos
DIGITAL DIVIDE
MARCH 1994 MARKED THE FIRST TIME that the Philippines ocially entered the huge,
rowdy, and fascinating world of the Internet.
Twenty years since, the country is now home to arguably some of the most obsessive users
of online spaces such as the social media. As an oshoot of the hype brought by the internet,
Filipino users of the social media website Facebook already ballooned to almost 30 million the
eighth largest in the world, according to analytics website Internet World Usage Statistics.
From a global perspective, the virtual landscape that the internet oers crosses all national
borders and knows no cultural or racial boundaries. Yet even after two decades, the Philippines
is still not geared enough to tap the potential of the Internet for development, especially among
Filipinos living in rural areas. For Internet access remains, even in this day and age, a privilege
enjoyed by only a few.
Gloiza Plamenco
6
2
OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
PHILIPPINE
COLLEGIAN
2013 - 2014
Punong Patnugot
Julian Inah Anunciacion
Kapatnugot
Victor Gregor Limon
Patnugot sa Balita
Keith Richard Mariano
Patnugot sa Grapiks
Ysa Calinawan
Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro
Tagapamahala
ng Pinansiya
Gloiza Rufna Plamenco
Panauhing Patnugot
Piya Constantino
Margaret Yarcia
Mga Kawani
Mary Joy Capistrano
John Keithley Difuntorum
Ashley Marie Garcia
Ronn Joshua Bautista
Pinansiya
Amelyn Daga
Tagapamahala sa Sirkulasyon
Paul John Alix
Sirkulasyon
Gary Gabales
Amelito Jaena
Glenario Ommamalim
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
Telefax
981-8500 lokal 4522
Online
pkule1314@gmail.com
www.philippinecollegian.org
fb.com/philippinecollegian
twitter.com/kule1314
91
The Philippine Collegian republishes distinguished
photographs from its past issues that captured its
tradition of critical and fearless journalism.
Photo by Jiru Nikko Rada
January 17, 2013
Beware, the Panopticon
IF YOUVE GOT NOTHING
to hide, youve got nothing
to fear.
Tis was, in efect, what
President Benigno Simeon
Aquino III told reporters in an
ambush interview a day after
the Supreme Court upheld the
constitutionality of online libel
as a criminal ofense as well as
most other provisions of the
Cybercrime Prevention Law.
Let me repeat: if what you said
is true, then why would you be
unnerved by the issue of libel?
Perhaps Aquino wanted to
appear reassuring--that the
Draconian law supposedly does
not aim to stife freedom of
speech--but the attempt was
ultimately lame and the efect
instead is rather chilling. It
was a stern fnal warning to
Internet users that the Philippine
government from now on shall
be watching and that anyone
suspected of being a criminal
must be very afraid indeed.
Te chief executive of course
admits that he has not yet read
the full text of the high tribunals
decision, but as someone who
has supported the passage of
Republic Act 10175 since day
one, Aquino for once knew what
he was talking about.
For the Courts ruling
shall now decisively vest
unprecedented policing powers
in the state, a Panopticon that
will oversee any and all online
acts and mete penalties to those
it will deem illegal. Already, as
we dread the implementation of
this law, the provisions approved
by the Court threaten one of
the most potent venues for
free speech.
Under the blessing of the
countrys highest ranking
magistrates, online libel as a
criminal ofense shall apply
to the original author of the
post and is subject to a penalty
one degree higher than if
the libelous act is committed
outside cyberspace.
Te state is also free to search,
seize, and examine computer
data it deems suspicious
as long as it secures a court-
issued warrant.
Ultimately, the Courts ruling
is proof of what has always been
obvious--that not all that is
deemed legal is just. Te law itself
has been used many times in the
past to perpetrate injustice, to
limit the very freedoms that must
be held sacred and inalienable.
We see this in history, in
many frightening moments
when the powers of the state and
the interests of the few elite take
precedence over the rights and
welfare of the people. Until now,
the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program Extension with
Reforms has failed and only
further disenfranchised farmers
from their right to own the
land they till. Until now, those
who are lucky to be gainfully
employed sufer the consequences
of contractualization as allowed by
the Labor Code itself.
It is thus far from surprising
that the government must resort to
a cyber-Martial Law. For RA 10175
is a weapon that comes handy amid
brewing public discontent with the
way the Aquino administration is
running the country--negligence
and incompetence in the face
of calamities, continued
landlessness among peasants,
price hikes, low wages, and dire
working conditions.
Yet far from ending the fght for
our democratic right to freedom of
speech, the high tribunals decision
is a call for a more decisive show of
force from the ranks of freedom
advocates. Tough progressive
forces continue to engage in court
battles--and indeed must do so--
the fght against RA 10175 must
necessarily trust from now on
in the strength of warm bodies in
the streets.
For there is no other recourse
than to bring down the Panopticon
and we have nothing else to rely
on other than the frm resolve and
the just anger of a people against
a government that threatens to
silence them.
EDITOR S PICK
YEARS
The #NotoCyberCrimeLaw coalition called on the Supreme Court
to extend the temporary restraining order on Republic Act 1075, a
week before the court order expired in 2013. On February 18, the
high tribunal upheld the constitutionality of online libel, among
other provisions of the law dubbed as the e-Martial Law.
BLACKOUT
Ukol sa Pabalat
Ysa Calinawan
BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014 3 OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN BIYERNES, PEBRERO 14, 2014
BOR selects CSSP dean as chancy,
defers draft CSC approval
New theater may displace CAL
orgs in tambayan complex
THE BOARD OF REGENTS
voted against the reappointment of
Dr. Caesar Saloma as UP Diliman
chancellor and postponed its action
on the proposed Code of Student
Conduct (CSC) last revised under
the chancellors term.
Seven out of the 11 Board
members, including UP System
President Alfredo Pascual, selected
incumbent College of Social Sciences
and Philosophy (CSSP) Dean Michael
Tan to head the universitys agship
campus in the next three years.
Te lone student representative
in the Board, Student Regent Krista
Melgarejo said she voted for Saloma,
along with another sectoral regent,
in a secret ballot held during the
February 27 meeting of the BOR.
One regent, meanwhile, voted for
current Center for Women Studies
Director Sylvia Claudio.
All 11 regents were present in
the 1296th meeting of the highest
policymaking body in the UP
System, which is composed of the UP
System president, Commission on
Higher Education chairperson, four
sectoral regents, three Malacaang
appointees and two representatives of
the Congress.
Following the expiration of her
term, Malacaang appointee Gizela
Gonzalez-Montinola also attended
the BOR meeting but only as an
observer and was thus not allowed
to vote in the selection of the new
chancellor.
Tan had served as CSSP dean
for two terms. Te anthropology
professor is also an aliate faculty
member of the UPD College of
Science and the UP Manila College
of Medicine for his work in medical
anthropology.
My program will align with
the UP System's strategic plan,
emphasizing operational eciency
and academic excellence, said Tan.
Tan said he intends to continue
his predecessors programs,
particularly in relation to the creation
of nurturing and enabling spaces
such as infrastructure projects
that had already completed such
as several buildings in the National
Science Complex.
Student Regent Krista Iris
Melgarejo, who voted for the
reappointment of Saloma,
challenged the new chancellor
to practice good governance
by responding to legitimate
issues of the dierent sectors in
UP Diliman.
From dealing with student
issues to the concerns of the
community surrounding the
campus, [Saloma] has exemplied
what an administrator should be
someone who is able to balance
rules and regulations while hearing
out the concerns and issues of the
sectors, said Melgarejo.
For instance, Saloma allowed
student participation in the revision
of the draft UP Diliman CSC. Te
latest draft CSC was presented in
the BORs last meeting. Te BOR
however has yet to act on the
proposed set of rules governing
student conduct and discipline.
Te CSC was rst proposed
under the administration of Sergio
Cao in 2009. Te University Student
Council (USC) and former Student
Regent Shahana Abdulwahid then
appealed for student representation
in the drafting committee to
no avail.
Student organizations had
criticized the earlier drafts of the
CSC for its anti-student provisions
that seeks to bar freshmen from
joining organizations and require
organizations to recruit at least
half of its members from dierent
colleges, among others.
In 2011, upon assuming
oce, Saloma formed the Student
Review Committee (SRC), a
committee composed of student
representatives, to review the
proposed CSC.
Te SRC ended up drafting the
Student Handbook on Rights and
Responsibilities (SHRR) in lieu of the
CSC. Saloma then formed another
committee including members of
the SRC and the 2009 CSC drafting
committee to consolidate the SHRR
and the draft student code.
Te 2012 draft CSC reduced the
minimum residency requirement for
applicants of student organizations
from one academic year to a
semester. Te latest draft also
requires student representation in
trying disciplinary cases against
students.
But some provisions, including
the residency requirement in joining
student organizations, remain
contentious and unacceptable, said
Melgarejo.
Melgarejo questioned provisions
such as rules prohibiting supposed
involvement in violence in
the University premises and
disrespecting faculty members and
an imposition of a resident rule for
organization membership.
Denitions in these provisions
remain vague such as what can
be considered a violent incident
or a form of disrespect, explained
Melgerejo.
Tese provisions may be more
lenient but the Oce [of the
Student Regent] stands rm that
any code that aims to limit our
student organizations and activities
curtails our constitutional right to
organize and assemble, added the
Student Regent.
Julian Bato
LABAN KABABAIHAN
Litrato ni Chester Higuit
Nagmartsa ang grupong GABRIELA kasama ang ilang sektoral na grupo mula
Liwasang Bonifacio hanggang Mendiola bilang bahagi ng pagdiriwang sa ika-103
Pandaigdigang Araw ng Kababaihan noong Marso 8. Kinondena ng grupo ang
pagpabor ng administrasyong Aquino sa Public-Private Partnership at ang kawalang-
katarungan sa mga biktima ng bagyong Yolanda.
Julian Inah Anunciacion
THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND
Letters (CAL) administration is
eyeing the relocation of the student
tambayan complex, which is currently
located near the college, to give way for
the construction of a new theater.
A P100-million donation from UP
Diliman alumnus and Euro Towers
International Inc. (ETII) chair Ignacio
Gimenez will fund the construction
of the theatre, said CAL Dean Flora
Elena Mirano. Te administration will
disclose the period of construction
after the theater design is nalized.
Hindi pa nal ang [design], pero
as much as possible ayaw tamaan ng
architect yung slope [ng tambayan
complex]. However sa initial plan
na pinresent ay matatamaan ang
bahagi nito, CAL Associate Dean for
Administration and Development
Regina Banaag-Gochuico said.
Te tambayan complex
currently houses UP Asterisk, UP
Writers Club, UP Lingua Franca,
UP Ugnayan ng mga Manunulat,
UP Speech Communication
Association, UP Graphic Arts in
Literature, UP UP Crculo Hispnico,
and UP Anime Manga Enthusiasts,
among other organizations.
Hindi naman masama ang
ganitong klaseng mga improvements sa
facilities ng CAL, pero sana ay masecure
muna ng administration na maayos
ang paglilipatang espasyo para sa mga
[organisasyon], CAL Student Council
(SC) Vice Chair Micah Magaro said.
Te CAL administration plans
to fund the construction of a new
tambayan complex. Matamaan
man o hindi sa nal design ng
theater ang mga tambayan, the CAL
administration made it a project
to provide the students with a new
tambayan complex, said Mirano.
With the lack of budget, however,
the administration will initially build
a temporary tambayan complex
for the student organizations,
added Mirano.
Te administration is planning
to relocate the tambayan complex
to Pavilion 1, across the current site
of the complex. Te new tambayan
complex will house 15 organizations,
including the colleges student
council (SC) and ocial student
publication, Kalasag.
Each organization will occupy an
estimated space of 3.8 by 2 meters
through the current point system,
Gochuico said in a March 10 dialogue
with CAL organizations. Te college
administration, however, is open
for suggestions for the design
of the new tambayan complex,
Gochuico added.
Te division of space in the new
tambayan complex is problematic
due to the dierences in the size of
organization membership, and as to
which group will be prioritized, CAL
Representative to the University
Student Council Aliona Silva said.
Kailangan ding kilalanin ng
admin ang karapatan ng mga
estudyante sa pagkakaroon ng
tambayan Parte [ang mga
organisasyon] ng buong kolehiyo.
Importanteng bahagi ng [isang
organinsasyon] ang tambayan.
Doon nagaganap ang mga meeting
[at] palitan ng mga kaalaman na
siyang nagpapatatag sa samahan
ng [organisasyon], UP Ugnayan
ng Manunulat President Ram
Hernandez said.
4
BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
ALYANSA wins in 12 of 23 colleges
MORE THAN HALF OF THE 23
academic units in UP Diliman (UPD)
posted a majority vote for the chair
and vice chair bets of Alyansa ng
mga Mag-aaral para sa Panlipunang
Katwiran at Kaunlaran (ALYANSA)
who will lead next years UPD
University Student Council (USC).
According to the ocial tally of
votes from the University Student
Electoral Board (USEB), ALYANSAs
chair candidate Arjay Mercado won in
12 Diliman units, including voter-rich
colleges, in the February 27 elections.
Mercado garnered a total of 5,145
votes in total, the highest number of
votes cast for a chair candidate ever
in UPD USC elections history.
Erra Mae Zabat of the Student
Alliance for the Advancement of
Democratic Rights in UP (STAND UP)
led in 10 colleges to garner a total of
3,034 votes. Carla Monica Gonzalez
of Nagkakaisang Iskolar para sa
Pamantasan at Sambayanan (KAISA)
won in SOLAIR and garnered a total
of 1,416 votes. (See sidebar)
ALYANSAs JP Delas Nieves
dominated the vice chair race after
garnering 5,175 votes. Delas Nieves
won over STAND UPs Allynna-
Haneefa Macapado and KAISAs
Ram Tomaneng, who garnered
3,894 and 766 votes respectively.
Despite Macapado leading in 13
or majority of colleges, Delas Nieves
managed to win after securing
a majority in vote-rich colleges
such as the College of Engineering
and College of Social Sciences and
Philosophy. Delas Nieves won in 12
colleges while Tomaneng failed to
win in any unit.
Tis years elections, meanwhile,
saw independent candidates
leading the councilor race with
Jethro David and Raymond Rodis
securing the top two positions.
PARTY LEGEND
ALYANSA
KAISA
STAND UP
INDEPENDENT
ENGG
CSSP
CS
CBA
CMC
CHE
ECON
LAW
CAL
EDUK
ARKI
STAT
NCPAG
CFA
CHK
AIT
CMu
SLIS
CSWCD
IIS
SOLAIR
SURP
AC
2886/5745
1095/2095
995/2629
863/1212
611/1061
568/1142
559/779
529/625
502/1268
471/1630
362/719
354/546
274/681
239/628
235/597
232/321
165/384
152/340
134/391
40/44
39/376
23/350
14/165
WHICH COLLEGES
VOTED FOR WHOM?
Chair
Vice
Chair
Voter
Turnout
College
USC ELECTIONS OVER THE YEARS
ALYANSA will hold seven of the 12
councilor seats and STAND UP for
the remaining three seats.
Te incumbent ruling party
KAISA failed to clinch a councilor
seat in this years elections. On
February 27, the University Student
Electoral Board (USEB) declared
KAISA councilor candidate Regina
Punzalan as sixth winning councilor,
but it eventually nullied the
proclamation.
Te USEB erroneously used
the number of automated votes for
ALYANSA's Regine Rodriguez to input
the total number of votes for Punzalan.
Te clerical error bloated the number of
votes cast for the KAISA candidate from
1,655 to 3,340, according to the Oce of
Student Activities.
KAISA only won a total of four
seats for college representatives in
the 34-member student council.
ALYANSA dominated in the college
representative race, clinching seven
out of 20 positions. STAND UP won
ve, KAISA got four, and the rest
of the college representative posts
went to independent candidates.
Tis is the rst time ALYANSA
clinched the chair, vice chair and
majority of the council positions in
an election. (See sidebar)
As the dominant party in the
USC next academic year, ALYANSA,
previously in favor for the reforms
of the Socialized Tuition and
Financial Assistance Program, said
it would continue its call for higher
state subsidy to UP and its campaign
to advance gender rights, among
others, Mercado said.
Lower voter turnout
Of the total 24,188 eligible
voters, only 11,626 students or
48.07 percent cast their votes in this
year's elections.
Te Institute of Islamic Studies
registered the highest turnout
at 90.91 percent, followed by the
College of Law, Asian Institute of
Tourism, School of Economics and
College of Business Administration.
Voter turnout increased in
small colleges such as in the College
of Human Kinetics and College
of Social Work and Community
Development. At the same time,
however, less students voted in
bigger colleges such as the College
of Engineering, College of Social
Sciences and Philosophy and College
of Science.
Over-all voter turnout in this
years elections fell from last year's
48.4 percent. Despite the USEB
allowing for an early voting for
graduate students in an eort to
increase the number of voters this
year, only 809 or 12.27 percent of
graduate students participated in the
elections.
Julian Bato
Suspect in on-campus
assault still unidentied
THE UP DILIMAN POLICE (UPDP)
has yet to nd a lead on the identity
of two men who stabbed a parking
attendant to death at the UP Law
Center parking lot on February 20.
Ramon Dy, 25, was with his
live-in partner Esperanza Sevillo
when the incident happened. Dy
allegedly went to nd a secluded lot
to urinate at around 8:30 PM, and
then came back to Sevillo already
bleeding profusely.
Bystanders in the area
immediately brought Dy to the East
Avenue Medical Center. By 9:05 PM,
attending physicians declared him
dead due to severe bleeding from
seven stabs to the chest.
Wala kaming makuhang lead
kung sino yung pumatay dahil yung
[live-in partner] ng biktima lamang
ang nakakita ng dalawang nanaksak,
pero hindi niya mailarawan ang mga
suspek, said UPDP Superintendent
Leslie Gabriel.
Before the incident, however,
two construction workers near the
College of Law had allegedly been in
conict with Dy, according to Police
Ocer CB Oliquino. When Oliguinos
team went back to the crime scene
later in the evening, however, the
suspects have already ed.
To address the incident, the UP
Law Student Government (LSG)
is putting up a petition to tighten
security in the college.
We have a petition in the works
which will be highly publicized for
signatures sometime this week for
tighter security, or at least protection
as our classes end really late, delikado
na, according to the LSG.
As of the second semester, 627
students are enrolled in the College of
Law, according to data obtained from
the Oce of the University Registrar.
Te college oers evening classes to
accommodate working students.
Last semester, crime rates in
the Diliman campus increased by
17 percent, according to the UPDP.
Most of the incidents, which include
robbery, physical injuries, and
sexual harassment, took place along
Ylanan Street, University Avenue
and Magsaysay Avenue, all of which
are entry and exit points to the
university.
In February 2012, Political
Science student Lordei Camille
Anjuli Hina was stabbed repeatedly
with an icepick in the University
Student Council oce at Vinzons
Hall. Hina has yet to claim justice as
the suspect for the assault remains
to be at large.
Likewise, a security guard
stationed in Sampaguita Residence
Hall received multiple stab wounds
after nearly getting raped by a
construction worker on June 2013.
Following the increase in the
number of security-related incidents
in the university, the UPDP are
setting up tighter security measures
by installing CCTV cameras and
limiting the number of vehicles
entering the university. UPDPs only
police car unit, the MU 114, is also
making rounds to scan the campus
for possible crime incidents and
security breaches, said Garcia.
Constant naman ang
ginagawang pagmamatyag ng
UPDP sa campus para masiguro ang
seguridad ng mga mag-aaral nito,
said Garcia.
Arra Francia
Continued to page 11
5 BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014 BALITA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
CHEd memo allows for automatic tuition hikes
Media, iba pang grupo
nagprotesta kontra e-Martial Law
Sa ika-28 taong paggunita sa
1986 People Power, muling nagtungo
ang ilang grupo ng media, mag-aaral
at iba pang sektor sa EDSA upang
kundenahin ang pagpapatibay ng
Supreme Court sa mga probisyon
ng tinaguriang online na bersyon
ng batas militar, ang Cybercrime
Prevention Act.
Inilabas ng SC noong ika-
18 ng Pebrero ang desisyon nito
hinggil sa 15 petisyon ng ilang mga
grupo kabilang na ang Collegian,
na naglalayong ibasura ang ilang
probisyong nakapaloob sa 14
seksyon ng Republic Act 10175, o ang
Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
Ilan sa mga probisyong
kwinestyon ng mga grupo ang
pagpapataw ng mas mataas na
kaparusahan sa mga paglabag
sa batas gaya ng online libel at
cybersex. Pinapawalang bisa din
ng mga petisyon ang pagbibigay
kapangyarihan sa gobyernong
subaybayan ang paggamit ng isang
tao ng Internet.
Samantala, idineklara ng SC
bilang unconstitutional ang Section
4 (c) (3) ng batas na nagpaparusa
sa pagpapakalat ng unsolicited
commercial communication o spam,
Section 12 na nagpapahintulot sa
pamahalaang mangalap ng real-
time trac data, at Section 19
na nagpapahintulot naman sa
Department of Justice na pigilan
ang access sa mga pinaghihinalaan
nitong computer data.
Gayunman, hindi kinatigan ng SC
ang mga petisyong kumukwestiyon
sa natitirang probisyon ng batas
gaya ng Section 4 (c) (4) na
nagpaparusa at nagpapataw ng mas
mataas na parusa sa online libel, o
ang pagpapaskil ng mga mapanira at
malisyosong pahayag sa Internet.
Cyberlibel is actually not a new
crime since Article 353, in relation
to Article 355 of the penal code,
already punishes it. In eect, Section
4(c)(4) merely arms that online
defamation constitutes similar
means for committing libel, ayon
sa desisyon ng SC.
Habang pinagtibay ang
pagpapataw ng mas mataas na
parusa sa online libel, ipinaliwanag
ng mataas na hukom na hindi
maaaring patawan ng dalawang
beses ang nagkasala sa ilalim ng
Revised Penal Code at Cybercrime
Prevention Act para sa parehong
pagkakataon.
Idineklara din ng SC bilang
unconstitutional ang probisyong
nagpaparusa sa mga taong tutulong
sa pagpapakalat ng malisyoso at
mapanira umanong pahayag sa
Internet. Te terms aiding or
abetting constitute broad sweep
that generates chilling eect on those
who express themselves through
cyberspace posts, comments, and
other messages, ayon sa SC.
Gayunman, naninindigan pa
rin ang mga grupo sa kanilang
panawagang ipawalang bisa nang
tuluyan ang mga probisyon ng RA
10175.
Naghahanda ng mosyon ang
ilang mga grupo katulad ng Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan, Bayan Muna,
National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines (NUJP) at Kabataan
Party-list upang muling suriin ng SC
ang mga probisyon ng batas, lalo na
ang pagapaparusa sa online libel.
By extending the reach of
the antediluvian libel law into
cyberspace, the [SC] has suddenly
made a once innite venue for
expression into an arena of fear,
a hunting ground for the petty
and vindictive, the criminal and
autocratic, ayon sa NUJP.
Ang paggamit sa mga serbisyong
e-mail, chat at social networking
Sa ika-28 taong paggunita sa
1986 People Power, muling nagtungo
ang ilang grupo ng media, mag-aaral
at iba pang sektor sa EDSA upang
kundenahin ang pagpapatibay ng
Supreme Court sa mga probisyon
ng tinaguriang online na bersyon
ng batas militar, ang Cybercrime
Prevention Act.
Inilabas ng SC noong ika-
18 ng Pebrero ang desisyon nito
hinggil sa 15 petisyon ng ilang mga
grupo kabilang na ang Collegian,
na naglalayong ibasura ang ilang
probisyong nakapaloob sa 14
seksyon ng Republic Act 10175,
o ang Cybercrime Prevention
Act of 2012.
Ilan sa mga probisyong kwinestyon
ng mga grupo ang pagpapataw ng
mas mataas na kaparusahan sa mga
paglabag sa batas gaya ng online
libel at cybersex. Pinapawalang bisa
din ng mga petisyon ang pagbibigay
kapangyarihan sa gobyernong
subaybayan ang paggamit ng isang
tao ng Internet.
Samantala, idineklara ng SC
bilang unconstitutional ang Section
4 (c) (3) ng batas na nagpaparusa
sa pagpapakalat ng unsolicited
commercial communication o spam,
Section 12 na nagpapahintulot sa
pamahalaang mangalap ng real-
time trac data, at Section 19
na nagpapahintulot naman sa
Department of Justice na pigilan ang
access sa mga pinaghihinalaan nitong
ECSTATIC
Photo by Airnel
Abarra
Supporters of the
Alyansa ng mga
Mag-aaral para
sa Panlipunang
Katwiran at
Kaunlaran
(ALYANSA) expressed
their joy during the
canvassing of votes
for the University
Student Council
Elections (USC)
held in Vinzons
Hall last February
27. ALYANSA
dominated the polls
and captured majority
of the councilor seats
including the Chair
and Vice-chairperson
positions respectively.
Arra Francia
Hans Christian Marin
computer data.
Gayunman, hindi kinatigan ng SC
ang mga petisyong kumukwestiyon
sa natitirang probisyon ng batas gaya
ng Section 4 (c) (4) na nagpaparusa at
nagpapataw ng mas mataas na parusa
sa online libel, o ang pagpapaskil
ng mga mapanira at malisyosong
pahayag sa Internet.
Cyberlibel is actually not a new
crime since Article 353, in relation to
Article 355 of the penal code, already
punishes it. In eect, Section 4(c)(4)
merely arms that online defamation
constitutes similar means for
committing libel, ayon sa desisyon
ng SC.
Habang pinagtibay ang
pagpapataw ng mas mataas na parusa
sa online libel, ipinaliwanag ng
mataas na hukom na hindi maaaring
patawan ng dalawang beses ang
nagkasala sa ilalim ng Revised Penal
Code at Cybercrime Prevention Act
para sa parehong pagkakataon.
Idineklara din ng SC bilang
unconstitutional ang probisyong
nagpaparusa sa mga taong tutulong
sa pagpapakalat ng malisyoso at
mapanira umanong pahayag sa
Internet. Te terms aiding or
abetting constitute broad sweep that
generates chilling eect on those
who express themselves through
cyberspace posts, comments, and
other messages, ayon sa SC.
Gayunman, naninindigan pa
rin ang mga grupo sa kanilang
panawagang ipawalang bisa nang
tuluyan ang mga probisyon ng RA
FIGHTING MAROONS, PUMANGATLO
SA OVERALL NG UAAP
INANGKIN NG UP FIGHTING
Maroons ang ikatlong pwesto sa over-
all championship ng Season 76 ng
University Athletic Association of the
Philippines (UAAP) upang ungusan ang
ilang mga bigating koponan katulad ng
Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)
at Far Eastern University (FEU).
Naisakatuparan muli ng UP
ang isang over-all podium nish sa
ikalawang sunod na taon, bitbit ang
tatlong gold, anim na silver at tatlong
bronze sa 15 larangan ng pampalakasan.
Naipagpatuloy din ng Maroons ang
hindi pagbaba sa ikalimang pwesto
sa loob ng sampung taon matapos
nilang magkamit ng 235 puntos sa
pangkalahatan.
Some teams did well but some
whom I was expecting to do better came
out short, ani Ariel Juliano, direktor ng
UP Varsity Program.
Lumikom ang pinagsamang Mens
at Womens division ng Maroons ng
mas maraming puntos sa 10 isports
sa UAAP kumpara noong isang taon.
Kabilang dito ang Swimming, Chess,
Table Tennis, Tennis, Badminton, Track
and Field, Fencing, Taekwando, Football
at Poomsae, isang uri ng Taekwando na
tinanghal bilang bagong isport sa UAAP
ngayong season.
Sa kabila naman ng 0-14 na
pagtatapos sa season ng Maroons
basketball team, nanatili pa rin ang
puso ng koponan kahit na tumigil na sa
pagbibigay ng nancial aid ang dating
managers ng koponan na naglalaro sa
pinakasikat na isport sa UAAP, ayon
kay Juliano.
Sapat ang budget na inilalaan ng UP
sa mga koponan nito upang manatiling
mediocre ang kanilang kampanya sa
UAAP, ani Juliano. Umaasa lamang sa
P75 na Athletic fee na binabayaran ng
mga estudyante kada semester at ilang
mga donasyon na galing sa mga alumni
at pribadong kumpanya.
Upang mas tumaas pa ang
pwesto ng UP, kailangan mag-
invest sa recruitment at academic
tutorial services bilang marami
namang magagaling na atleta sa UP,
ani Juliano. Sa kasalukuyan, may
prayoridad na sa pagkuha ng iskedyul
para sa mga klase ang mga atleta at
may mga libreng pagkain na rin na
inilalaan para sa iba.
Despite having high academic
standards, UP still need to prove
that it can compete in athleticism.
Next season, Im eyeing third or
second. Mahihirapan pang mag-
champion lalo at pinaghahandaan
namin ang 2015 bilang UP ang host
doon, ani Juliano.
Hans Christian Marin
M W M W M W M W M W M W M W M W
Basket
ball
Volley
ball
Beach
Volley
ball
Swim-
ming
Chess Table
Tennis
Tennis Bad-
minton
UP 8th 6th 7th 7th 4th 8th 1st 1st 6th 2nd 6th 1st 2nd 4th 4th 3rd
M W M W M W Mixed M W M W M W M W Mixed
Track
and
Field
Fencing
Taek-
wondo
Poom-
sae
Judo Base
ball
Foot
ball
Total points
3rd 4th 4th 6th 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd5th 5th 5th 2nd 4th 110 109 12
Overall
231
(3rd)
Continued to page 11
Continued to page 11
6
LATHALAIN PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
THE STREETS OF CARACAS ARE A
BATTLEFIELD.
For the past few weeks, anti-
government demonstrators have been
wreaking havoc in the Venezuelan
capital, calling for the ouster of Nicolas
Maduro, the elected president and
successor to the late revolutionary
Hugo Chavez.
Mostly from right-wing groups,
protesters are torching buses,
buildings of state-run institutions,
and supply trucks that run the citys
operations. Masked rioters from
private universities are seen in media
reports clashing with the police almost
on a daily basis.
Given the international medias
hyped-up reports about these angry
riots, it is easy to assume that these
calls for Maduros ouster are proof that
all the people of Venezuela are up in
arms against Bolivarian leadership. Yet
behind the cameras, the events that
unfold prove just the opposite.
As tensions escalate in Caracas, the
work of an outside party can clearly
be recognized in these violent riots.
Tey have nothing to lose, and the
whole country to win. With the aid
of bureaucrat cohorts on the ground,
the most powerful enemy of the
Bolivarian Revolution wields great
power and infuence: the United States
of America.
Staged confict
Despite having the mandate of
the people for the past 16 years,
Venezuelas socialist experiment still
faces challenges by vanguards of the
old order.
In recent years, Venezuelas
political opposition, mainly comprised
of wealthy businessmen, have
been organizing protests in the
capital and relentlessly criticizing the
government for supposedly taking
away economic freedom.
Extreme-right wing opposition
leaders such as former mayor Leopoldo
Lopez and 2012 Presidential candidate
Maria Machado for instance, have
continuously blamed the governments
heavy economic regulations for the
countrys perennial shortages.
Since Chavezs death, empty
shelves have become a common sight
in Venezuelan stores. Products like
bread and luxury items like toilet paper
become a rare sight as an ever-growing
infation rate, now at 56 percent, drive
prices through the roof.
However, recent government
investigations would show that this
economic crisis appears orchestrated
rather than a direct efect of the
countrys protectionist policies.
In various parts of the country,
government ofcials have uncovered
40,000 tons of food hidden in remote
locations while some stores have been
discovered to have been selling at 1,200
percent more than the governments
ofcial price.
Remaining staunch in their call
for a reversal of government policy
though, Lopez and Machado still
rallied people from Caracas more
developed districts on February 12,
the Venezuelan Youth Day, to force the
government to do a La Salida, or Exit,
from its present socialist economy
and revert to its pre-Bolivarian free-
market system.
Tese protests have killed at least
20 people since then, according to
government and opposition accounts.
If Venezuelas history is any
indication, the rights La Salida present
grim prospectsfor the past has
proven that Venezuelas old economic
system caused worse crises. Back when
the opposition had been running the
country under a free-trade economy,
the countrys infation rate reached
as much as 100 percent and left the
country vulnerable during the 1980
global recession.
Should the country return to this
economic system, the only ones who
would beneft are business owners
themselves and a power that is not
even Venezuelan at all: the US.
Agent saboteur
Since Venezuelas socialist
transition, the opposition always had
the backing of the US.
According to declassifed US
federal documents, the US has largely
fnanced activities that sought to
destabilize the country including
the oppositions coup detat against
Chavez in 2002.
Trough assistance programs
like the National Endowment for
Democracy (NED) and the US Agency
for International Development
(USAID), the US has channeled more
than $100 million to non-government
organizations and youth groups in
opposition-controlled municipalities
during the past 15 years.
Tere is even little attempt at
being discreet about these
donations. Documents
from online whistleblower
WikiLeaks trace these funds
to opposition political
campaigns and rallies.
Given Venezuelas rich
oil reserves and protected
economy under its current
government, the US blatant
disregard for sovereignty
comes as no surprise. Te
US is known to intervene in
countries politico-economic
afairs in pursuit of natural
resources [especially those] that
protect their economies and resources
for their peoples welfare, explains
Xandra Casambre, senior researcher
at independent think tank IBON
Foundation.
In the past, the US has actually
been involved in more than 1 0
coups in the entire Latin
American region, some of which
had installed dictatorships like in
Guatemala and Honduras that had
only made the countries indebted to
the US.
With Caracas up in fames, the
US is once again forcing itself into
afairs only Venezuelans must resolve.
Should their plot succeed, should
the riots engulf the whole country,
the Bolivarian Revolution that has
uplifted the lives of many will soon
come to an end.
Counter-revolution
Te elite-led riots in Caracas
however provide a valuable insight
that the countrys eforts towards
socialist reconstruction continues
to face strong opponents among US
cohorts at home.
Since Chavezs Bolivarian
Revolution in 1998, the country has
tirelessly pushed for programs that
redistributed wealth to the poor. Using
revenues from its nationalized oil
industry, the government has heavily
invested in comprehensive social
services like free primary to tertiary
education, free healthcare, and
subsidized goods that have efectively
reduced Venezuelas poverty rate from
a peak of 65 percent before Chavezs
election to 23 percent in 2012.
Meanwhile, in terms of jobs, these
programs have drastically lowered
the countrys
unempl oyment
rate from 18
percent in 1998
to almost 5 percent
in 2013.
D e c a d e s
after though, i t s
biggest challenge now
is opposition plots
to usurp power and
sabotage the countrys
Bolivarian project.
In the past, the
country was rocked by several
corruption s c a n d a l s .
Bureaucrats
who were still in power were accused
of brokering suspicious deals between
the government and their own
companies. Te corporation Pro Arepa
which supplies the governments food
program and funded by billions of
dollars of oil exports had been linked
with several top ofcials.
Because of these businessmen who
are still in government, the countrys
socialist agenda have lagged due to the
loss of billions of government revenue.
Unable to continue its national
industrialization eforts, Venezuelas
resources are now being channeled
instead to repaying loans worth $46.5
billion to China.
As Chavezs Bolivarian Revolution
nears its second decade, there remains
the challenge to defend the interests
of the poor and marginalized against
imperialist agenda. Although Chavez
and Maduros supporters continue
to dominate the government, the US
and its accomplices from the landed
elite are still able to shake up the
countrys foundations.
To truly liberate Venezuela,
t h e road to genuine socialism
entails unity among the
Venezuelan people
against their
true enemy.
F o r
clearly, what
kept them
back was never
the government
that they elected
nor the government
that articulated their
desire for genuine and
inclusive change, but the
U S and its agents the enemies
of progress, the instigators of chaos.

Ronn Joshua Bautista
Instigador
de la guerra
The invisible hand behind
Venezuelas riots
Photographs : Patricia Ramos
Page design : Ashley Garcia
7
Illustration : Ysa Calinawan, Ash Garcia
Page design : Jerome Tagaro
LATHALAIN PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
Digital divide
Error 404: Access not found
While the local mainstream media and research
institutions have harped on the popularity of the
internet in the country, there exists a great divide
when it comes to internet access.
Seven of every 10 Filipinos still do not have
internet access, according to estimates from the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an
agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates
telecommunication operations and services
throughout the world. (see sidebar)
Currently, the country is home to 320 Internet
Service Providers, but ownership is dominated
by only three conglomerates Philippine Long
Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), the leading
telecommunications provider in the country, Bayan
Telecommunications, and Globe Telecom all of
which are located in urban areas. (see sidebar)
With the control of private companies over
infrastructure, internet connection in the country
remains slow and expensive compared to other
countries. For the minimum speed of 512 kilobytes
per second (Kbps), Filipino consumers would spend
P990. Tis would already take up nine percent of the
budget of minimum wage employees in Metro Manila
earning around P11,600 every month. On the other
hand, consumers in Malaysia can already have 1.5
Mbps connection speed for around P650.
Te poor accessibility of Internet reects the
lack of infrastructure for internet connection, says
Department of Science and Technology Undersecretary
Louis Casambre, in a press conference. Even basic
utilities in the country are lacking, such as electricity
needed to power computers and mobile phones. As
of June 2012, 29.5 percent of 115,092 barangays in
the country still need to be connected to electricity,
according to National Electrication Administration.
While connecting to the internet is relatively easier
for someone living in highly urbanized areas such
as in Metro Manila or Cebu, only 49 percent of the
municipalities and cities in the country have access to
the internet. A good portion of our population lives
in remote areas with no Internet or wired broadband
Internet access infrastructure, essentially excluding
them from the benets and building capacity of the
Internet, says Casambre.
Limited network connection
Internet should be treated as a public good that will
promote development, says UN Special Rapporteur
Frank La Rue. However, the poor internet access in the
country only reects the governments failure to see
the internet beyond its current status as a commodity
that presents prospects of huge prots.
During the 20th session of the Human Rights
Commission in July 2012, 47-member states have
unanimously passed the resolution to declare internet
access as a fundamental right. South Korea, the
country with the fastest internet connection in the
world, is one of the signatories.
States have upheld their commitment to protect
basic human rights such as the right to expression and
opinion, and have recognized internet access as a right
encompassing the freedom of speech. [T]he same
rights that people have oine must also be protected
online, in particular freedom of expression, which
is applicable regardless of frontiers and through any
media of ones choice, the resolution read.
Surprisingly, the Philippines is not a signatory-
country in the said resolution reecting the current
administrations lack of priority in protecting the basic
rights of the public. In fact, it has even supported
policies that eectively curtailed the freedom of
speech of internet users by passing the Cybercrime
Prevention Law.
Such policies undermine the importance of
establishing freedom of speech in another more
accessible platform such as the virtual world, most
especially in times of political crisis where free speech
is trampled upon by oppressive regimes. At the height
of the political turmoil in the Arab world, popularly
known as the Arab Spring, social media sites Facebook
and Twitter became a vital tool for East Africans in
organizing mobilizations and spreading awareness all
over the world.
Napakahalaga ng kalayaang magpahayag maging
sa internet para sa pagsulong ng pakikibaka ng
mamamayan. Mabilis [itong] daluyan ng impormasyon
araw-araw at komunikasyon sa panahon ng mga kilos-
protesta, lalo na sa panahon ng pampulitikang krisis,
says Sonny Africa, head executive of independent
think-tank IBON Foundation.
Network troubleshooting
Eorts in closing the divide between those who can
and cannot access the internet does not only underscore
its importance in the freedom of speech and expression.
Technology, particularly the internet, has become a
driver for development.
Internet has become a key tool for social and
economic development, and needs to be prioritized,
even in the worlds poorest nations, said ITU secretary-
general Hamadoun Tour.
Not only can internet be used for information and
research, but can also be a tool for developing agricultural
nations like the Philippines. India, for instance, has
engaged local farmers in a project called agrIDS, where
they will send digital photographs of crop situations to
agricultural experts for advice. Not only was the project
ecient for farmers and agricultural experts, but has
also bridged the information gap.
Better use of the internet also allows the
improvement of healthcare services. United Kingdom,
one of the signatories of the aforementioned UN
resolution, allows patients to have medical consultations
with their doctors through the video calling program
Skype. Tis has allowed patients to save more time and
lessen costs.
In the country, online services of healthcare service
PhilHealth are available, where members can check the
payment of their employers in their account online.
Members of Social Security System can also check their
accounts and submit transactions online. Yet, despite
the eorts of the Philippine government in tapping the
internet to make public services more ecient, these
are only limited to those who have internet access
largely coming from the cities. Tis only highlights the
need for an immediate action from the government to
help internet become more accessible for rural areas in
the country.
Te internet, as a medium by which freedom of
expression can be exercised, can only serve its purpose
if states assume their commitment to develop eective
policies to attain access to the Internet. Without [these],
it will become a technological tool that is accessible only
to a certain elite while perpetrating the digital divide,
says La Rue.
For Internet access is a right that every Filipino
is entitled to, and it is the very rst and thus crucial
step towards crashing the countrys twenty years of
digital divide.
Continued from page 1
KULTURA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
8
SIMPLE LANG ANG KANILANG
pananamitpants, long sleeves,
at botas. Mayroon silang bitbit na
bag na may lamang iilang piraso
ng damit, pagkain, gamot, at iba
pang personal na mga gamit. Hindi
rin mawawala ang ilang papel na
kanilang ginagamit sa pagkikipag-
aralan sa mga baryo.
Sila ang mga babaeng gerilya, iba
sa pangkaraniwan dahil umaakyat
sila ng bundok hindi bilang
isang porma ng libangan kundi
upang makibaka.
Sistemang Pang-aalipin hanggang
Marianismo
Namulat tayo sa biswal na imahen
ng isang babaepantahanan,
laruan, biktima, ikinakalakal. Subalit
binibigyan naman tayo ng buhay na
patotoo ng mga kababaihang gerilya
o mandirigma ng New Peoples
Armyna ang lugar ng babae ay
nasa pakikibaka.
Ilan sa kanila ay sina Teresa
Magbanua, Lorena Barros,
at Margarita Favis Gomez
mga kababaihang manunulat,
manggagawang pangkultura, guro
at mandirigma.
Kung babalikan ang kasaysayan
sa panahong primitibo komunal o
mala-komunal, may pagkakapantay-
pantay ang mga mamamayan
anuman ang kanilang kasarian.
Kalakhan ng mga gawain, pilosopiya
at danas ng mamamayan ay nililikha
ng komunidad. Bahagi ang mga
kababaihan sa paglikha ng desisyon
at mga gawain tulad ng pangangaso,
pagtatanim at maging sa pagdepensa
ng kanilang komunidad.
Ang pag-usbong ng panlipunang
urisa pamamagitan ng mga
barangay at pamayanan na
nakapaloob sa sistemang pang-
aalipin at katutubong pyudalismo
ang magbibigay-diin sa hindi pantay
na pagtingin sa lipunan at maging
sa kasarian. Sa ilalim ng ganitong
sistema napupunta sa kamay ng
mga panginoong maylupa tulad ng
mga datu ang lahat ng lupang
kanilang nasasakupan.
Samantala itinuturing namang
babaylan at pinuno ang mga
kababaihang kabilang sa mga
naghahari o mayayamang katutubong
pamilya. May pribilehiyo din silang
kumatawan sa mga giyera. Umigting
pa ang sistematikong pagkontrol
sa kababaihan nang sakupin ang
bansa ng mga Kastila at Amerikano.
Bagamat kasama ang kababaihan
sa pakikidigma sa mga mananakop,
makikita ang tuminding kalagayan
ng dominasyon sa kababaihansa
mga antas ng kasarian, uri at lahi.
Higit na nasadlak ang mga
kababaihan sa reproduktibo at
domestikong gawain (pag-aanak,
panganganak, pag-aruga ng
anak at lalaki), habang tinanggal
sa kaniya ang dating karapatan
sa produktibong gawain
(pangangaso, pagtatanim).
Sa relihiyosong kultura at
kolonyal na urbanisasyon ng mga
K a s t i l a ,
iginiit ang
Marianismo
ang paghulma sa
kababaihang bilang
palasuko, sunud-
sunuran, kimi at
mahinang imahen
ng Birheng Maria.
Ang paghulma
ayon sa imahen
ni Maria ay hindi
lamang pagsunod
sa Diyos maging
ang pagpapasaklaw
sa kolonisador na
Kastila, panginoong
maylupa at lalaki.
Sa katunayan, ang
Marianismong ito at
ang pangkabuuang
ideolohiya ng
pagpapasunod sa
kababaihan ay tumatagos
hanggang sa kasalukuyan.
Armadong Kababaihan
Hindi nakaligtas sa
ganitong kasanayan si
Maita Gomez na nag-
aral sa Assumption
at St. Scholasticas
College sa Maynila. Kilala ang
kanyang pamilya na nagmamay-
ari ng malawak na asyenda sa
Pangasinan. Lumaki siya sa
karangyaan ng buhaymula
sa mga gamit hanggang sa
paaralang pinasukan. Sa murang
edad, narating niya ang ibat ibang
lugar tulad ng Asya, Aprika, Europa
at Amerika nang regaluhan siya ng
kanyang lola sa kanyang pagtatapos
sa sekundarya.
Lalong nagningning ang tala para
kay Maita Gomez nang makamit niya
ang gantimpalang Miss Philippines
noong 1967. Matapos ang isang
taong pagmomodelo, nag-asawa si
Maita at nanirahan sa Philadelphia
at New York kung saan nagtapos
ng pag-aaral at nagtrabaho ang
kanyang asawa.
Bumalik si Maita sa UP upang
magtapos ng kanyang pag-aaral. Dito
ay naging aktibo siya sa paglahok
sa mga demonstrasyon. Naging
kaibigan niya ang mga mahihirap
na estudyante, at narating niya ang
ibat ibang lugar
upang magsagawa
ng medical mission.
Gayunman, tinalikuran ni
Maita ang lahat ng tagumpay at
karangyaan sa buhay upang sumama
sa armadong pakikibaka ng mga
kababaihan. Bunsod ito ng kanyang
pagkakasaksi sa kalagayan ng mga
nasalanta ng Bagyong Yoling noong
1970. Tatlong taon siyang namuhay
sa kabundukan ng Bicol at tatlong
taon sa Gitnang Luzon.
Iniaanak naman sa panahon
ng Batas Militar ang iba pang
kababaihan na nagpakita ng tapang
laban sa mapaniil na estado. Isa na
dito si Maria Lorena Barros, kilalang
makata at aktibista. Kabilang siya
sa mga nagtatag ng Makibaka,
isang progresibong organisasyon
ng mga kababaihan sa ilalim ng
administrasyong Marcos sa panahon
ng Unang
Sigwa.
Ha l a w
sa kanyang
kat auhan
a n g
b a g o n g
Pilipina,
sal ungat
s a
p a g i g i ng
Maria Clara. Bente
anyos pa lang siya
ng maging bahagi ng
New Peoples Army
(NPA). Katulad ni
Maita, iniwan niya
ang mapagmahal
at nakaririwasang
pamilya upang
ialay ang sarili sa bayan.
Nananalaytay sa kanyang
ugat ang pagiging rebelde
katipunero ang kanyang
lolo at dating miyembro
ng Hukbalahap ang
kanyang ina.
Nagtapos siya sa UP ng
kursong Antropolohiya.
Sumama siya sa
mga demonstrasyon
kung saan naantig
ang natutulog niyang damdamin
para sa mga estudyante at
iba pang mga mamamayang
naninindigan at patuloy na
nananawagan ng pagbabago
sa pamahalaan.
Kilala namang rebolusyunaryo
ng Iloilo si Teresa Magbanua, o mas
kilala bilang Nay Isa. Nag-aral siya
sa Maynila ng edukasyon at bumalik
sa Pototan, Iloilo upang magturo.
Nag-asawa siya matapos ang tatlong
taong pagtuturo. Nang sumiklab
ang digmaan laban sa mga Kastila,
sinamahan niya ang kanyang mga
kapatid na sumama sa rebolusyon.
Pinamunuan niya ang mga serye
ng pag-aklas laban sa mga Kastila,
Amerikano at Hapon. Namatay siya
noong Agosto 1947 sa edad na 78.
Muling pagbangon
Naging lunsaran ang madilim
na karanasan ng kababaihan sa mga
dayuhan upang umigting ang pag-
aaklas sa bansa. Dito inianak ang mga
progresibong grupo upang ganap na
lumaya sa kamay ng mga dayuhan.
Pinamunuan ng magigiting na babae
tulad nila Maita Gomez, Lorena
Barros at Teresa Magbanua ang mga
progresibong grupo na patuloy na
lumalaban hanggang sa kasalukuyan.
Ilan sa mga grupong ito
ang Women for the Ouster of
Marcos and Boycott (WOMB),
Malayang Kilusan ng Bagong
Kababaihan (MAKIBAKA),
at Gabriela Womens Party.
Naging tuntungan ang mga
progresibong grupo upang
ipagpatuloy ang sinimulang laban
ni Andres Bonifacio at iba pang
mga Pilipino.
Unang binuo ang MAKIBAKA
ng mga progresibong kababaihan
na naghahangad ng kalayaan noong
Abril 1970. Tumatak ito sa kasaysayan
dahil sa bitbit na adhikaing
pagbabago sa pamamagitan ng
pambansang kalayaan.
Sinasalamin ng paghawak ng mga
kababaihan ng armas ng lumalalang
karahasan na nararanasan sa bansa.
Kagustuhang lumaya sa mapaniil na
katayuan sa lipunan ang nag-udyok
sa mga kababaihan na lumaban.
Isa si Maita sa bumuo ng
Gabriela, isang koalisyon ng
kababaihan na nagsusulong ng mga
pangunahing karapatan ng mga
babae. Napagtagumpayan din ni
Maita ang pagtatayo ng Kababaihan
para sa Inang Bayan (KAIBA),
unang pampulitikang partido ng
kababaihan na nagbalik sa mga
babae na magkaroon ng posisyon
sa pamahalaan.
Samut saring adbokasiya ang
lumalabas upang lumaban para sa
karapatan at panawagan hinggil sa
mga isyung panlipunan. Subalit ilan
pa bang hinirang na beauty queen
ang mangangahas na bumalikwas
sa imaheng binuo ng mga
marahas na sistemang buhat pa sa
mga mananakop?
Bukod sa isyu ng pantay na
pagtingindiskriminasyon at
isteryotipiko ng pagiging mahina
ipinaglalaban din ng mga kababaihan
ang pangunahing isyu sa lipunan
tulad ng pandarahas sa karapatang-
pantao, walang habas na pagtaas
ng presyo ng bilihin at kuryente na
dagdag pahirap sa mga mamamayan,
kawalang aksyon ng pamahalaan sa
panawagan ng mga manggagawa
at patuloy na pagpapasailalim sa
kapangyarihan ng mga dayuhan.
Sa panahong kailangan ng
mas pinalakas na pwersa na
siyang dadalumat sa katayuan at
kalagayan ng kababaihan, tunay
na hindi makatarungang ang lakas
at kakayahan ng mga kababaihan
ay ipagkasya lamang sa pagiging
tila palamuti sa halip na maging
mapagpasya sa pagkamit ng inaasam
na tagumpay.
Mary Joy T. Capistrano
Illustration : Ysa Calinawan
Page design : Ashley Garcia
Gerilyang paraluman
KULTURA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014 9
AS THE STAGE LIGHT RACED
through the territories of their skins,
the womenfve, six in number
writhed in sync with the smooth rifs
and heart-pounding drum beats.
Covered in revealing, virginal-white
corsets and conservative skirts that
fowed down to their ankles, these
women of the night surrendered
their bodies to the music with such
energy as to relay, in desperation,
their anguish through a dance
of defance.
Te virgin, the saint, and
the whore
Adding further bleakness to
realities it stripped naked, Damas de
Noche, a play by writer Joi Barrios,
was devoid of music and dance in
its original production in 2001.
Professor Romulo Baquiran adorned
the text with a libretto enhanced by
UP Underground Music Community.
Tough already on its fourth
restaging, Damas de Noche was not
lost in the ephemeral passing of
histories. Its current restaging by
the UP Repertory Company (UP
Rep), under the direction of resident
UP Rep artists Bryle Leao and Gio
Potes, did not leave the urgency
of the stories trapped at the turn
of the century; instead, the plays
attempt at bringing the story to
contemporary times was evident
with the choreography, execution,
and minimal revisions in the text.
Te play opened in a prison cell.
Te settings characteristic shape of
parisukat limiting the physical and
emotional freedom of the women
characters had been a consistent
motif in the play. In the eyes of a
discriminating public defled by an
established patriarchal order, the
fve main characters were exiled
from the list of women, and were
scrutinized as mujeras de publicas
ladies for the public.
Te narratives of the characters
explicate the intricacies of
hegemonic systems that dominate
women: a tobacco company worker
who turned to prostitution to
save her mother from her abusive
husband, an aspiring zarzuela
actress who got raped by her
recruiter, a lovely young woman
driven to silence and muteness
after being raped by fourteen men,
an ideal-driven woman in love who
was mistaken for a prostitute. In all
of these, Magdalenaputa ng lahat
ng pahanonplayed the Puck of
the story, narrating the events with
utmost frankness and cynicism,
without exposing her own story.
UP Rep remained truthful to
the fragmentary nature of the play,
highlighted by the sensual, frenzied
choreography that bore semblance
to pre-colonial rituals. Appearing
at sporadic intervals throughout
the play, such motif escalated in the
song Nabasag na Banga after which
Maria asked Leonarda what she
would do with her already broken
jar. Pagtatagpiin ko. Baka sakaling
mapakinabangan pa, Leonarda
replied, hinting a shattered history.
In a symbolic-political attempt to
upgrade the womens struggle into
a wider fght for gender equality, UP
Rep cast a man to play one of the
koro girls, Leao explained,. It must
be emphasized that the fght for
womens liberation is inextricably a
fght that must involve all sexes.
Te want of escape from the
prison was both a personal and a
shared sentiment among those who
were oppressed. Te womens need
for freedom was encapsulated as
Maria proposed escape into Palawan
where they could live undisturbed
by the cruelty of hegemonic
systems of patriarchy, feudalism
and capitalism. After momentary
fantasies of escape, fear of being
ostracized overcame them instead.
Emancipation of the female body
Women in the play appeared
alike--mechanical dolls of an abusive
system that weighed the worth of a
woman by how strictly she subjected
herself to conventions of passivity
and obedience, curtailed perfectly by
doctrines of the prevailing religion.
By subscribing themselves to these
hegemonic dictates, these women
lost ownership of their bodies.
For women to conceal their
eroticisma feminine value
distorted by the existing male view
to immorality--to be regarded as
respectable women was a false
belief instilled by a male-dominated
society to maintain its ideologies,
writer Audre Lorde explained in her
critical essay, Te Uses of Erotic.
Stereotypes were attached to
women who veered from these
male-built norms. Believing women
who wandered through the night
to be prostitutes, Leonarda was
automatically tagged as such, even
though she only braved the night to
search for Miguel, her lover.
In keeping stereotypes intact,
the patriarchy was invulnerable.
With a potential of being utilized as
empowerment, eroticism was defled
by men to suit their advantage such
as prostitutiona direct rejection of
the power of eroticism. One of the
songs in the play, Karne, portrayed
this corruption of eroticism
perfectly as the women would sell
themselves as if they would sell meat
in the marketplace.
Te revealing costume of the
koro of women was suggestive of
rebellion against the established
Maria Clara stereotype consistent
throughout the play, succumbing
to eroticism of womena need
for escape.
Te culture of machismo was
prevalent in the colonial setting of
the playan arena controlled by
the power of the Catholic religion.
With the characters stories depicted
as results of having colonizer after
colonizer juggle the country in a rape
of identity, oppression of women
was clearly depicted not only as a
product of ruling class ideologies
and politics. Traditionally, only one
actor played the part of Man in all its
oppressive permutations: a Chinese
employer who made a womans
virginity a business, a revolutionary
lover who never listened, guardia
civil who preyed on women.
Te musical concluded with a
ritual reminiscent of pre-colonial
worship of woman and her body in a
frenzied prayer to a Deity unknown
to the Patriarchal religion brought by
the colonizers. Te symbolic ridding
of the women of the bands around
their wrists was the sole indication
of revolt.
Escape from prison
Damas de Noche did not fall into
the easy trap of blandly depicting
female oppression. Instead, it
sought to hunt for its roots, to
supply explanations and even to
hint solutions.
In the social binary French post-
structuralist feminists indicated,
women were always assigned as
the inferior between the two.
Tis view discarding women
birthed to lack of concern in their
welfare: human trafcking, forced
migration, and lack of reproductive
health law. Desperation to
survive forced the marginalized
female into succumbing to this
societal structure.
Womens groups such as
GABRIELA registered that
the generally negative cultural
perception of women brought by
foreign domination, landlessness,
and political repression could be
overthrown by the overhaul of the
patriarchal, feudal and imperialist
value systems and societal
structures. Otherwise, desperation
would only make it easier for
women to continue to accept their
unfortunate lot.
Diferences among women was
not the factor the divided them
into inaction from countering this
system but silence, Lorde explained.
Tis was the idea was portrayed
by one of the characters, Clara,
who initially accepted silence as her
only escape.
Te play brought to the
contemporary audience the battle
against women oppression, yet
the freedom from prisonsthe
numerous parisukat that limited
women movementmust not be
limited to the stage solely as the stage
lights were shut down. And as what
the ritual dance suggested, collective
action was imperative to struggle
against the hegemony not only of
Man but of these brutal systems
of feudalism and capitalism.
Julian Inah Anunciacion
Photographs : Chester Higuit
Page design : Ashley Garcia
Ladies of the night famish in their own
narratives of struggle against oppression.
Leonarda pines for her lover Miguel as he decides
to leave her due to her degrading reputation.
Imprisonment of beauty
A Review of Damas de Noche
Performed by Te UP Repertory Company
A play by Joi Barrios
Lyrics by Romulo Baquiran
Directed by Bryle Leao and Gio Potes
Musical direction by Gian Odeste
KULTURA PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
LAST NIGHT, I CAME ACROSS
an article which discusses a rather con-
troversial study on fear. Published in
September 2013 by the science journal
Nature, the study was conducted by
American neuroscientists Brian Dias
and Kerry Ressler. According to the
article, the duo provocatively
suggested that fear is a behavior that
may be inherited and may persist
throughout generations.
It was controversial because modi-
fcations in genetic sequence are con-
servatively considered to be the only
way for acquired traits to be transmit-
ted across generations. Its also a little
bit funny, because like many experi-
ments that cannot be done on actual
humans, it involved a number of ill-
fated mice instead, plus the scent of
cherries and almonds, and small doses
of electric shock. Poor creatures, the
things they have to endure in this day
and age.
Other scientists were incredulous,
dealing out harsh judgments like Te
claims they make are so extreme they
kind of violate the principle that ex-
traordinary claims require extraor-
dinary proof. Te science commu-
nity could be a vicious world. But have
these doubtful scientists been to the
University of the Philippines?
Last Friday, I was invited to an
educational discussion hosted by UP
Variates, a student organization in the
School of Statistics. Te primer I pre-
sented was the result of the Collegians
years of research since the Socialized
Tuition and Financial Assistance Pro-
gram (STFAP) was implemented in
1989a time lapse enough for a gen-
eration of students to pass through the
national university.
Id go so far as saying most of those
who attended the forum were con-
vinced that socialized tuition hampers
the universitys duty to open its doors
to all poor but deserving students and
ensure that UP education serves a
nationalist, scientifc, and mass-
oriented agenda.
However, some students and
groups express fear of what may hap-
pen if we scrap the current version of
the STFAP, the Socialized Tuition Sys-
tem (STS). I believe that such fear is
deep-rooted, socially constructed, even
inherited throughout long years of be-
ing led to believe that socialized tuition
is the only way for UP to survive.
For who among us now could re-
member that bygone era when full tu-
ition subsidy for the poor, dorm privi-
leges, and stipends for the needy were
conditions that are actually possible on
a low UP budget and a fat-rate tuition
fee? Why do we fear this?
As the implementation of the STS
looms next year, I am beginning to sus-
pect we are being treated like mice
conditioned to fear the unknown so
that we would choose to settle for the
status quothe safe, the familiar, the
convenient, the supposedly practical.
In a phone interview with UP Pres-
ident Alfredo Pascual early this year,
which I had to do while on a jeep some-
where in Iloilo, he claimed there is no
considerable opposition to the STFAP.
Where are these students who are
against socialized tuition? he asked. I
had to bite my tongue to keep myself
from making a response.
Similarly, the UP Board of Regents
approved the STS, despite objections
from the Student and Staf Regents
a shameless act that seems to display
their confdence that the UP commu-
nity is incapable of fghting fercely for
an alternative to this status quo.
We have been docile for a very long
while already, often choosing to fear
that which we have never yet experi-
encedand only because we have yet
to succeed in making it happen. I say
its time we prove them wrong and
show them whos the boss here.
Whos afraid of fear?
Victor Gregor Limon
10
OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014
We have
been docile
for a very
long while
already,
often
choosing
to fear that
which
we have
never yet
experienced
I HAVE RECENTLY TAKEN A
liking to this meme of a Shiba Inu
dog called Doge.
Having stumbled upon it one day
while looking for dog food recipes
in Google, this meme, literally just
a picture of a Shiba Inu with broken
English phrases in comic sans, has
gotten a worldwide cult-following
during the past year and I have
become a new fan.
Usually using words like wow,
so, and such, Doges face have
appeared on top of seemingly
random pictures in the Internet,
often carrying messages that
are too childishly constructed to
comprehend. Yet, it is this very
incomprehensibility that has made
Doge and Doge-speak so iconic.
Today, I have made Doge my
laptop wallpaper and subscribed
myself to daily Doge memes on
Facebook. But fve months since
my frst encounter with Doge, its
novelty has still not worn of for me.
I still laugh at every reposted
Doge meme. Heck, I still even use
Doge-speak around my friends.
What is it about this otherwise
quiet and well-mannered Shiba Inu
that still amazes me?
I dont know really. Maybe
because I have a dog, too, I guess
not that my dog is a Shiba Inu or
that she speaks in comic sans.
You see, my dog has always been
the highlight every time I come
home to the province after two or
three weeks of torture in Kule and
my classes. My dog would always
run all the way from her cage to
run around me and try to push me
down with her tiny paws. Of course,
she never succeeds. After all, she is
just a foot tall. But I always pretend
I do and sit down to pet her and rub
her belly.
She would be one of the many
great things about coming home.
After maybe thirty minutes of
playing with our dog, I would go
inside our house covered in fur that
has always infuriated my OC parents.
Nonetheless, I would change clothes
and eat my frst homemade meal
in weeks.
For the next few days, I would
be able to procrastinate all day
long because nothing in that house
reminds me of acads. I could waste
the day sleeping in my own bed or
spend it playing catch with our dog.
My almost-monthly trips home
have never been productive, to be
honest. Our house has become
my hiding place from all my
responsibilities at school.
I realize now then that, maybe,
my obsession with Doge has always
just been a longing to go home.
Te hilarious Doge with its golden
coat and random randomness
somewhat have similarities with
our yellow-brown dachshund back
home. With Hell Week just around
the corner, who wouldnt want to
just escape from it all and have a
fufy little creature trying to follow
you around?
Now that Im miles away from
home again, the best I can do now is
just look at Doge. Wow.
Wow this is doge
Ronn Joshua C. Bautista
What is it
about this
otherwise
quiet
and well-
mannered
Shiba Inu
that still
amazes
me?
HALEEEEEERMGACHUKCHAKCHENES
eklavu! Nagbabalik ang
pinakamagandang vaklusheee sa
balat ng unibersidad! Nakakamiss
mang-echos ng mga impaktita lalo na
at napakaraming mga nakakalerkey
na kaganapan ngayon! Sa linggo-
linggong pang vevekizz ko sa Kule, ay
bet, nawit na rin ang most wonderful
time of the year, the elekshuuuun.
Akalain niyo yun, isang buwan kong
napigil ang panlalandi! Kaya naman
Ill share my thoughts about the
election na, bebe.
Sharing # 1. Sa ilang linggong
pang veveckler ni UP Diliman
Heckler sa mga kandidato, ay nako
nakaka-Hagardo Versosa yun ah,
tinalo pa ang pang-eechos ko,
imbyernang yan, kung makagawa ng
mga issue. Aba, akala niya kung sino
siyang maganda, mas malandi pa rin
ako sayo! Pero in fair, binigyan niya
ng ibang kulay ang eleksyon, nako
dapat next year may kulay berde
na, at siyempre, brown, if you know
what I mean.
Sharing # 2. Pero siyempre alam
naman natin na magiging Asul na
ag unibersidad from the Dilaw last
year. Nako congrats sa aking kasister
na si Arjay, im so proud of you dear,
alam mo yan! Walang binatbat sa
iyo ang pearls ni Carla at scarf ni
Erra! At siyempre, bet na bet ko rin
ang pagkapanalo ni Carl Santos,
congrats, bebe luv. Alam naman
natin kung sino ang one true love
mo dba? Sorry na lang sa iba, chos.
How I wish. Kay Menchani Tilendo
naman, nako, mench to be ka nga
talaga to be a councilor girl, ikaw
na! Kawawa nga lang itong si Reg
Punzalan, luhaan, sugatan at hindi
tuloy mapakanibangan, chika!
Sharing # 3. Umasa rin ako sa
mataas sana na voters turnout, nako
lagi naman akong napapaasa lang
e. Sa dinami-rami ng populasyon
sa UPD, 48% lang talaga ang may
pakialam sa nagaganap sa ating
unibersidad. Nako, gising naman
UP, mga iskolar na pag-asa ng bayan!
Wag na puro landi, makialam din
naman pag may time. O baka naman
kasi nawalan na lang sila ng tiwala sa
USC anu?
Kaloka ang mga kaganapan sa
eleksyon, pero sa lahat ng mga ito,
buti na lang magandang vaklushi
pa rin ako. Sana lang at wag mapako
ang mga pangako ng Bagong USC!
Sige mga bakla, Boomkaraka na ako,
Muah muah Chupchup!
OPINYON PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN SABADO, MARSO 15, 2014 11
NEWSCAN
Ze Elekshun Edishun!
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.
ALYANSA wins in
12 of 23 colleges
Continued from page 4
Te University of the Philippines
College of Music
Faculty Concert Series
presents:
EXTREME MAKEOVER
Te UP Symphonic Band
Prof. Rodney Ambat, Conductor
John Lester Armenta, Soloist
March 20, 2014
Tursday, 6:30 PM
Abelardo Hall Auditorium
College of Music
UP Diliman
Featuring original works for symphonic
band by: Arnold Schoenberg, Paul
Hindemith, Alfred Reed, Bert
Appermont, Jan de Haan, Johan de Meij,
and Satoshi Yagisawa.
Tickets are priced at 200 php
50% discount for students
20% discount for senior citizens
For inquiries, please call
929-6963, 926-0036
Trunk line: 981-8500, loc 2639
or email Eva Garcia-Cadiz at
gondour03@yahoo.com
Special thanks to our co-promoters:
UP CMu Student Council,
UP Tiklado,
UP CoNeMus,
UP Tugma, and
UP Dawani Womens Choir!
See you there!!!
REHAB-A-LIB!
We, the Sigma Delta Pi Sorority has
teamed up with Bangon Bayan, UP
School of Library and Information
Studies Student Council and Sigma
Kappa Pi Fraternity, to answer the call
for help of UP Tacloban and Sacred
Heart School in Palo, Leyte for a new
Library.
Support and help us nd book
donations and/or make your own
donation for the rehabilitation of the
libraries of these important academic
institutions. Tey are in need of any
medical, nursing and midwifery books
but other books are also necessary.
Cash donations are also welcome as this
will allow the institutions to purchase
specic books that they need.
You may contact Ms. Ola Gealogo
(09152364084) for your donations
and we will arrange a pick-up of your
donations.
Join us as we rise for womens
empowerment and know how courage
can change a girls life in:
RISE UP
A talk on womens right to education and
a special screening of GIRL RISING.
March 15, 2014 9AM-1PM
UP Film Institute
Learn more about the situation of
gender equality in education here in the
Philippines and why it is important that
we give women access to education. We
will also be having a special screening of
Girl Rising, a lm by Academy Award-
nominated director Richard E. Hobbins,
that showcases the story of 9 girls living
in the developing world: ordinary girls
who confront tremendous challenges
and overcome nearly impossible odds
to pursue their dreams. Prize-winning
authors put the girls remarkable stories
into words, and renowned actors give
them voice.
Pre-register now to avail of discounted
ticket prize! http://tinyurl.com/
RiseUp2014
Tis event is presented to you by:
UNESCO Club UP Diliman
UP Center for Womens Studies
JCI Manilea
Philippine Commission on Women
World Vision
Spark Philippines
KMQR Events
Also brought to you by:
Monde Nissin Corporation
King Louis Flowers and Plants Inc.
In partnership with:
UP Subol Society
Supported by:
UP Buklod-Isip
DZUP Radio Circle
Media Partners:
Rappler
WhenInManila.com
Circuit Magazine
UP Circle of Administrators (UP CIRCA)
in celebration of its 22nd Anniversary
presents
SERIESLY?
Te Pilot Episode
A series quiz bee contest
featuring cosplay as side competition
March 20, 2014
5pm | NCPAG AVR
Form a group of three and
Register here: http://tinyurl.com/
Seriesly2014
Registration fee is only Php150 per team!
CHEd memo allows
for automatic
tuition hikes
Continued from page 5
0935 541 0512
Send in your opinions and
feedback via SMS! Type KULE
<space> MESSAGE <space>
STUDENT NUMBER <required>
NAME and COURSE (optional)
and send to:
Non-UP students must indicate
any school, organization or sectoral
aiation.
Next weeks questions
1. Sa iyong palagay, nakamit
na ba ang hustisya para kay
Kristel Tejada? Bakit?
0908 180 1076
2. Ano ang ocial soundtrak
ng iyong hell week?
10175.
Naghahanda ng mosyon ang
ilang mga grupo katulad ng Bagong
Alyansang Makabayan, Bayan Muna,
National Union of Journalists of
the Philippines (NUJP) at Kabataan
Party-list upang muling suriin ng SC
ang mga probisyon ng batas, lalo na
ang pagapaparusa sa online libel.
By extending the reach of the
antediluvian libel law into cyberspace,
the [SC] has suddenly made a once
innite venue for expression into an
arena of fear, a hunting ground for the
petty and vindictive, the criminal and
autocratic, ayon sa NUJP.
Ang paggamit sa mga serbisyong
e-mail, chat at social networking
upang malayang magpahayag ng mga
opinyon at nalalaman ay maaaring
makitil dahil sa ilang mga parusa
katulad ng pagkakakulong, ayon sa
pahayag ng UP College of Mass of
Communication (CMC).
Hindi rin malinaw ang ilang
probisyon ng batas na maaring ituring
ang paggawa ng memes sa Internet
bilang alteration of electronic
documents na isang krimen sa ilalim
ng RA 10175, dagdag pa ng UP CMC.
Pinirmahan ni Pangulong
Benigno Aquino III ang batas noon
pang Setyembre 2012, ngunit hindi
ito agad naipatupad dahil sa inilabas
ng SC na 120-araw temporary
restraining order. Pinalawig pa ng
mataas na hukom ang restraining
order noong Pebrero ng nakaraang
taon.
Te cybercrime law is a clear
manifestation of state fascism by
directly attacking our freedom of
expression. At present, we have
existing laws against cyber sex,
cyber bullying, [among others]. Tey
just need to be implemented, ani
Eduardo Gabral, national chaiperson
ng Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang
Mag-aaral sa UP.
Media, iba pang grupo
nagprotesta kontra
e-Martial Law
Continued from page 5
Voter turnout has remained
less than 50 percent throughout
the student elections history. Te
highest turnout was recorded at
48.9 percent in the 2012 elections.
(See sidebar)
Medyo nakakadisappoint na
pababa ang trend [sa elections]. It
means na may kailangan pang-iprove
ang student leaders sa mga students
para ma-enganyo sila bumoto, said
Vice Chancellor for Student Aairs
Maria Corazon Tan.
Tan cited weak information
dissemination and the student
leaders lack of involvement in the
student community as possible
reasons for the lower voter turnout
this year.
Kailangan mas iparamdam
ng mga student leaders ang
katuturan at kahalagahan ng USC.
Bukod sa paglilinaw ng programa,
kailangan rin nilang alamin ang
concerns at issues ng students at
estado. Kailangan nilang bumuo ng
programa o platform na based on
student issues, Tan said.
upang malayang magpahayag
ng mga opinyon at nalalaman ay
maaaring makitil dahil sa ilang mga
parusa katulad ng pagkakakulong,
ayon sa pahayag ng UP College of
Mass of Communication (CMC).
Hindi rin malinaw ang ilang
probisyon ng batas na maaring
ituring ang paggawa ng memes
sa Internet bilang alteration of
electronic documents na isang
krimen sa ilalim ng RA 10175,
dagdag pa ng UP CMC.
Pinirmahan ni Pangulong
Benigno Aquino III ang batas noon
pang Setyembre 2012, ngunit hindi
ito agad naipatupad dahil sa inilabas
ng SC na 120-araw temporary
restraining order. Pinalawig pa ng
mataas na hukom ang restraining
order noong Pebrero ng nakaraang
taon.
Te cybercrime law is a clear
manifestation of state fascism by
directly attacking our freedom of
expression. At present, we have
existing laws against cyber sex,
cyber bullying, [among others]. Tey
just need to be implemented, ani
Eduardo Gabral, national chaiperson
ng Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang
Mag-aaral sa UP.
NOWHERE MAN
Alan P. Tuazon
IT WAS ALWAYS EASIER TO
find someone to blame when
things would go wrong.
In a class which I took not
out of requirement but out of
curiosity, the professor set the
class not on a heated debate but
on cold silence. What brought
such silence was the topic of
the academic calendar shift. I
could not trace how the topic
surfaced from a hearty debate
on Rabelais.
It was uncannyseeing
my active and participative
classmates fall prey to silence
when a pressing issue invaded
the room. Had they dismissed
the idea as too mundane for
their refined taste? Why did
the enthusiasm subsided when
such issue surfaced that would
redo the calendar of the State
University to hastily surrender
itself blindly to neoliberal
policies? A pair of freshmen
kept doodling, latecomers at the
back hid behind people in front
of them to avoid being caught
asleep, active students in front
expressed irritation of having
such topic arrive in a discussion
on art.
One could always blame
the changing demographics
of UPpopulated by middle
class kids raised with egoist
ideologies of studying, excelling
and graduating for ones own
welfarefor the existing lack
of interest in social issues.
Who could put blame on them
anyway? An entry to UP was
beyond affordable, and failing
subjects was a waste of financial
resources, they would argue.
They, too, were victims.
As the division between pros
and antis regarding the calendar
shift reached its height this
week, the fear of choosing sides
also pervaded. Taking a stand is
only for the brave, a friend once
told me. Last time I checked
honor and excellence requires
bravery. And now is the time to
prove if our bravery is for the
greater good of the majority
rather than the few.
Sound of silence