VoiZ : Listen to the Youth

2nd Quarter

2Ist Century Literature

2020

VOL. 03 ISSUE 11

ILLUSTRATION BY Neil V. Fernando

27.11—2020

11 mad-4, group 5

It should be no surprise for anyone who truly acknowledges the voices of the youth to think that thoughts like these would possibly dwell in their mind.

- Arwen Manalastas

What goes on your mind when no one hears you?

Written and Illustrated by Arwen Manalastas

Illustrations by Christian Estanislao

7 The Power you Hold 8 The Essence of Morality 9 The Conflict of the World’s Colors

10 Guidance, not Hindrance 11 Different Worlds

16 Dear apolitical gang 16 After Party 17 The Colors of the World 17 Paglalakbay 18 Time to Rebel 18 The Stranded Invader

19 Privileged 20 Social-Distancing

T

ime can be a formidable challenge to one, maybe even a foe to many. Obscurely, we become settled and attached with the Idea of breathing for a second means that we’re living, and at the same time because we are tied to this thinking, unintentionally, we detach ourselves from the true action in the present that we are living through.

Breaking stereotypes has been one of many movements that have flourished in today’s time, a gradual step to revolution as I see it. But these movements in which still instills in aiming to keep the peace seem to have a population that counters these new ideas people are voicing for, bearing conflicts.

What’s hindering us from these changes? Surely it wouldn’t be easy to change. There would be a huge imbalance because of the urge to shift into these new concepts, if only some were to be left behind with their own beliefs, being left all the while everyone else moves, I say we lack unity to be able to push the boulder of change that’s hindering us.

To dissect the creation of VoiZ’s title, it is simply ‘voice’ and ‘Z’ as in Generation Z combined to one.

With this identity, and in this spread, we carry voices on behalf of our fellow youth, we aim to be heard, and In this issue of VoiZ, we –the members of the generation, urge you to listen to the ticking of the remainder of the chance for us the turn everything around. We talk not only about our future but your future alongside us as well.

We hear from you. We’ve adapted your words, and this is us asking you to do the same.

2nd Quarter

2Ist Century Literature

2020

VOL. 03 —ISSUE 11

voizpublishing.lit@email.com

ARWEN MANALASTAS CARYLLE PRESBITERO CHRISTIAN ESTANISLAO IRWIN CORREA JOAQUIN ISORENA PATRICIA CANTOR

arwen.manalastas.shs@ust.edu.ph carylleanne.presbitero.shs@ust.edu.ph christianmark.estanislao.shs@ust.edu.ph irwinmallen.correa.shs@ust.edu.ph joaquin.isorena.shs@ust.edu.ph patricia.cantor.shs@ust.edu.ph

Photographed by Miguel Henrique @unsplash

C

an you imagine how powerful your voice is alone?

“Stop”, “Wait”, “You can do this!”, “Have a great day ahead”, “Thank you”, “Take care”. Simple words and phrases yet can already move and lead to many benefits to the people included in the communication process. Being able to express yourself is an important factor in our everyday life. When communicating with our peers, sharing our insight about a certain issue, being able to give out our thoughts on it can enlighten both parties. That alone can have a lot of benefits already.

Inspiring people, encouraging them, persuading them to switch sides or to do something, making someone’s day, and most importantly our voices being heard are some of those. Nowadays, we see a lot people online using the different social media platforms to voice themselves out or to express their thoughts about a certain topic. There are a lot of apps out there just like Twitter and Facebook, and I honestly think that people are using these apps for good use to share their insights to others. I believe that seeing other people use these platforms can inspire others to use as well. So again, can you imagine how powerful your voice alone is? Kung ikaw palang na nag-iisa makapangyari-

han na ang boses, paano na kung tayong lahat na ‘yan?

You got this! I believe in you. :))

Photographed by Eldon Vince Isidro @unsplash

W

hy do I beg to differ that we shouldn't fight for humanity? Because basic human rights belong to every person in the world. As soon as you live, you have the right to be free and the right to have your personal life.

We are in a world right now where it seems unfair that we strive for something that should be given to us. We are indulged with poor control and lead. The authority to choose a leader is in the power of the people. We do not idolize people sitting in power but we are selected because we stand for what they are doing and we will never turn a blind eye to them. But the people who hold power in these times of the day don't deserve to speak up and they are not suitable for their position. "Kabataan and pagasa ng bayan" they said.

Well, we are. We will never be pressed by mediocre and hatred. We will continue to fight for what is ours, for everyone, and for the country. We will put an end to this incompetency and we will live for tranquility to excel a sensible life that is for everyone.to you, you may rest but never get tired of fighting.

To abhorrence, fight it because you can and you will. To everything that is happening right now, we will always fight back.

And we will always be united as one no matter what the people in power hold us to do because we are one and we will make this country rise again.

Photographed by Clay Banks @unsplash

W

e all were born into this world to coexist with one another and fulfill our role in society. Each and every one of us has a role to fill in order to make peace and order in the world that we inhabit. With the recent events that have occurred, there are still those who choose to ostracize and discriminate people just because they are of different descent and race from them. Some people just really have this mindset of being above or superior among others, and these types of people really make me sick. What makes them so different from us? At the end of the day, we are all just human beings and are capable of things that they can do too. Why must we push them away and treat them differently?

We as fellow humans should all come together and form bridges in order to form unity in all the corners of the world. With that being said, we shouldn’t judge someone just because of the color of their skin and learn to accept their differences and what makes them unique from us. No one should have some sort of superiority complex and see those people as those who are beneath them. It just really baffles me to think that there are really people like this who actually have this way of thinking. It really makes me wonder how this behavior came to be and why they think this way. So, it’s up to us, the younger generation to remove this stigma and way of thinking for the future generations to come. If we use and amplify our voice on this issue it will help the future generations of our world become more aware and teach them how we, as children of our world should act.

Christian Estanislao’s take on the film entitled “3 idiots”

S

tudying has never been easy. “The 3 Idiots” is an Indian film that follows the story of three boys who faced a lot of struggles in their college life. For most students, entering college is both an overwhelming and terrifying experience. New environment, new people, new experiences, in short ‘changes’.

Imagine being in a situation wherein you didn’t even assess yourself if one is capable of adjusting to a place where every single student has to stand on their own two feet and take responsibility for their education and future that for some reason, your parents helped you to build, a pressure indeed.

The film is great, for some people they may discern it only as a comedy film but watching it in a different perspective, you’ll know it’s more than that. Applying the concept of Sociological Criticism, the film per se have shown a lot of issues that are prominent in our society today and one of these is family pressure.

The fear of not being able to live up to your parents’ expectations could be the most pressuring thing that anyone could ever feel and their escape? suicide. As it was shown in the film, a lot of students have killed themselves because of the thought of failing their parents. In today’s world, it’s not a new knowledge to us that the people of our society have this existing notion where they think suicide is an act of selfishness, a sign of weakness, and solely for others to see and for them to pity. The public views this issue so lightly, reaching the point where the people who are suffering with this don't want to open up their struggle, resulting in them completely ending their lives. It’s a universal fact that suicidal acts are deeply rooted in one’s mental health, but we can’t also deny that the society or environment that we’re in also plays a big factor on why people commit such act. The film has successfully shown what family pressure does to a person, specifically in the case of students who are constantly carrying a big burden, not only because of their piles of work, but also because of the immense expectations that their parents have established on them.

In line with that, the concept of controlling parents with their child’s future was also tackled in the film. Today, relationships between parents and children are undoubtedly strained. With our growing and improving world, we can’t really blame ourselves for aiming what we think is best for us but sometimes, our parents have their ways to ruin it. In the film, one of the characters concealed his personal dream just so he could live up to his parent’s wish, to become an engineer. That specific representation really spoke for thousands of people who are also experiencing the same struggle as him, as this concept or specific behavior is also very common especially in the Filipino context. Living in that situation is severely unhealthy for both parents and children, as it is a manifestation of a toxic kind of relationship.

All in all, the film is great, for it is not only a basic comedy film, it also reflects some serious issues that a lot of people are facing in their everyday lives. This film can serve as an eye-opener and reminder for everyone of this serious matter, as a lot of us are still unaware of the prevalence of this kind of issue in our society since not all of us go through the same struggles in life.

Carylle Presbitero’s view on the book “PATRON SAINTS OF NOTHING” written by Randy Ribay

T

he realistic fiction novel Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay was published in June 2019. The story revolves in the life of a 17 year old Filipino American, Jason “Jay” Reguero. Jay lost connection to present day Philippines after leaving the country when he was 10 years old but towards the end of his senior year, he received surprising news that his cousin, Jun: a bright charming optimistic boy, was killed in President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs presumably for using drugs.

The news peaked more of Jay’s interest when he received an anonymous direct message on Instagram, hinting that Jun's death was a suspect. Jun being a cousin, friend and pen pal, whom Jay hasn’t responded to in years, filled with guilt and curiosity, he convinced his parents to let him go on a two-week trip to the Philippines to find out the truth about his cousin’s mysterious death. Backed by the author's use of Catholicism here in the Philippines to argue for the compassionate treatment of drug addicts as well as civil rights of gays and lesbians, the trip resulted in a deeply emotional story about family ties, addiction and the complexity of the truth.

Cultural Identity. Jay being half-American and half-Filipino while living in Michigan for 7 years, he struggles with connecting to his Filipino identity. The novel accurately depicted how overpowering other cultures are against the Filipino culture especially with the culture of the Filipino Americans. I think that knowing who you are and where you came from is very important, in some way, it defines who you are. That's why Jay's journey to discovering himself was refreshing, since most half-Filipinos stuckgetengulfed in assimilation.

Photographed by Gilles Lambert

@unsplasha

Power of Social Media. Jun had an Instagram account called GISING NA PH!, where he takes pictures of the family members holding a picture of the victims of the Extrajudicial Killings.

Jun used social media to amplify the voices of the unheard. In this modern day and age, it is easy to help those in need with the use of social media. Just like what happened during the Typhoon Ulysses, the netizens or the people on the internet used the power of social media to seek donations, call on rescuers for those in affected areas without signal. Social media is a powerful platform, the novel depicted to the older generation that social media might have bad effects on the mental health of the youth but it has greater help in informing and letting the youth know the truth.

Photographed by Margaux Bellot

@unsplash

President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs. According to a survey conduct-

ed by the Social Weather Station, “Pluralities are undecided if the police are telling the truth on whether drug suspects really resisted arrest; people increasingly lean towards disbelief of the police.” This only proves that in the course of the project Filipino people didn't feel safer, like President Duterte promised. It also lost people's trust in the police.

The novel highly targeted human rights during President Rodrigo Duterte’s War on Drugs. It represented the difference of the treatment of the government to the rich privileged Filipinos from the poorer Filipinos.

Thousands rally for and against Duterte.

Retrieved from @philstar < read article!

LGBTQ+ Representation. The novel also showed the current situation of the LGBTQ+ couples here in the Philippines. Jay had aunts that his uncle despises. Homophobia here in our country is still rampant, hate that is backed by our deep roots in Catholicism, teachings that men are for women and vice versa. This novel showed that there is nothing to hate about the queer, they are humans to, Jay’s aunts even have human rights foundations to help victims. It showed that the queer deserves equal civil rights here in our country and I agree with the author.

These are only few of the issues the author has brought to light. The novel truly made me think about what is happening in the Philippines, from the despicable War on Drugs to the culture of families here in our country. Let this brave novel remind us to always seek and demand accountability for the injustices committed to our kababayans. Filipinos for Filipinos!

Written and Illustrated by Arwen Manalastas

AFTER PARTY

Photographed by Cup Fabien @unsplash

The party has ended.

I wish it didn't.

Now that I am all alone, Alone in this dark empty room, Aimlessly staring at the ceiling, Left with the mess we made, The mess from our temporary joys Left with the question, Who truly am I? I guess I’ll never know, Until the next party.

DEAR APOLITICAL GANG dear apolitical gang To whom it may concern, I hope you care, even just a little Some of us don’t have food to plate And some of us are being belittled They are silencing our cries and invalidating our fears Those incompetents you call leaders treat us like cashiers If this nation was a democracy, then why aren’t you using your voice Can’t you empathize for the minority who are not given a choice?

Brutality. Bigotry. Superiority.

Our president won’t wake up as the flood strikes up the cities There are those who aren’t granted even the bare minimum of humanity There are those who are out of touch with reality Your indifference will count for nothing in the change we wish to pursue Just because the gun isn’t pointing at you does not drop the possibility that it could.

Love the country, not the politicians Do not glorify the corrupt ones who dare to make us call them our leaders Deciding on who’s to lead is withing our jurisdiction Make sure to vote wisely in our 2022 votation

THE COLORS OF THE WORLD

Photographed by Clay Banks

@unsplash

The color of our skin matters not For, it does not define who we are May, be it black, brown, or white Each and every color of the world should unite In a world where all live in harmony One where all will fight for what is right I pray that one day that day may come Where no one is cast aside and shunned by society Merely, because of their race.

Where the children of the world go hand in hand And one where our world is a better and safer place.

PAGLALAKBAY

Sa libong mukha ng buhay, ako’y nagdaraan, patuloy na nilalakbay, Inaasam na makita siyang patutunguhan, Pasan-pasan ang mga naipong pangamba mula pa ng nakaraan, animo’y mundo’y tila ba sa aki’y nakadagan, Uhaw sa paglalayong paglalakbay ko’y aking tuluyang matapos, upang sarili’y siya nang makaraos,

‘Pagkat kay tagal na noong simulan ko itong siyang aking paglalakbay, panahong sa kadiliman ako’y nagising mula sa pagkakahimlay.

Kung noo’y hindi ko kailan man hinangad na harapin ang simbuyo ng katotohanan, dala ng takot na kahit anong pilit ay siyang hindi ko matakasan,

Ngayon, ako ay nasa gitna na ng aking paglalakbay, baon-baon ang aking katotohanan na siyang nagsilbing aking kaagapay.

Sa aking mata, tanaw ang bukang-liwayway na sa aki’y sumalubong, walang pasubali’t kaniyang init ay ako’y hinagkan, Isang tanda ng paggunita sa aking matagumpay na paglalakbay.

Photographed by Teddy Osterbloom @unsplash

Ngayo’y aking batid, tarangkahan ng pagtanggap ay siyang abot-kamay ko na, sumusumpa na ito’y ang aking huling pagpapakawala ng malalim na buntong-hininga, ‘pagkat ako’y hindi na isang ligaw, ako’y malaya na.

THE STRANDED INVADER I lie awake where the winds thrive in fields of green just with ease, I breathe with the breeze here freedom smells like peace refreshing as a sweet sixteen

Photographed by Ryoji Iwata

sounding like a childhood dream as the morning light scorch this innocence, I wake and in my sight, you took grasp of the breeze that faltered from the lies you release

@unsplash

your islands they breathe with the smoke of your deceits the trees you claimed they beg as you are chained to your masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peg in the bleak half of a decade, the air we breathe corrupted our lands drenched in desperation as we appear in front of your ignorance that as each second you wasted oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s breath ceases of fear you are no lover, nor fighter you are simply just a stranded invader

TIME TO REBEL people will say, we are nothing or less I beg to differ; we shouldn't fight for humanity we should have solidarity and the principles of anti-fragility in these present times, look around the hatred we carry unleashes the power we hold to speak up that no one will silence us, we will continue unity

from being degraded from being inhumane to continuously pursuing resiliency we will make this country rise again

Privileged This art piece portrays the big difference of the privileged people and those who are not in terms of how they deal and survive in the midst of the pandemic. This comes after the Socialite, Cat Arambulo posted an Instagram story wherein she cursed the people who were risking their lives by going out just to work, as they all struggled financially when the pandemic entered the scene.

Social-Distancing This art piece also portrays the idea of privileged. This is a figurative piece that shows that only the privileged people are capable of totally distancing themselves even in the outer space, as they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any more worries and struggles in life not like the unprivileged ones that need to forgot the idea of â&#x20AC;&#x153;social-distancingâ&#x20AC;? as they risk their lives just to work in order to survive, not only for themselves but also for their family.

27.11â&#x20AC;&#x201D;2020

11 mad-4, group 5