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Anong Balita

ISSUE NO. 1

OCTOBER 2023

THIS YEAR’S NAME WHO IS ON BOARD KKAA: THE PERFECT PAIR SPUF AT FRIENDSHIP GAMES PILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH PLAYING AT PILIPINO STREET GAMES

Look Up to the Sky with Barkada WHAT DO THE STARS HAVE ALIGNED?

r e t t e L s ’ t n e d i s Pre Hey Barkada!

It’s Starr-E President Jayson here! I want to give a warm hello and “thank you” to you (yes YOU, the person reading this!) for being a part of this year and reading our first Starr-E Anong Balita issue. Whether you’re a new member or a returner, here for the long run or just here to check us out, I’m really glad that you chose to take time out of your year and be a part of Barkada! Barkada means “a group of friends” in Tagalog, and I can proudly say that we haven’t strayed from that meaning at all, even since I first joined. You’ll hear Starr-E Board and I repeat that a lot, perhaps a bit too much, but bear with us – it’s our name for a reason! Let’s talk a bit more about the Four Pillars of Barkada: academics, culture, athletics, and social. The foundation of our club, and you’ll find that each event of ours is, in some way, tied to a pillar or combination of pillars! Academics – it’s easy to forget, but you’re first and foremost here in college to graduate and get a degree. Hence, the Academics Chair is in charge of P-Grad, study rooms, career-related events, and also deals with our KKAA program. Culture – as a Filipino American club, we’re here to learn more about Filipino culture and history. Our Culture Chair helps by helping lead Pilipino American Culture Night and its practices, handson workshops, and educating us and leading members to helpful related resources. Athletics – sports and e-sports are prominent, but members’ physical and mental health are just as important to this pillar. You’ll be able to join intramural teams, take care of your wellbeing, and live a healthier lifestyle with our Athletics Chair’s help. Social – arguably being upheld each time you socialize with another member, it’s in our nature to interact with and befriend each other! If you want to make friends and hang out with others, look no further than our Social Chair and their fun events. Of course, there’s much more to that – behind the scenes, during actual events, the memories made after – it’s all so much to take in. Each of you this year has brought something to the table yourself, and you help make this experience of Barkada that much more unique. With this semester coming to a close soon, I honestly found it tricky at first, but I’ve gotten to really know so many of your personalities and how you’ve all grown since the year started. From KKAA Reveal to Friendship Games to PAHM, I hope you’ve all found some meaning to what Barkada means to you. To me, Barkada honestly still just means “a group of friends” As I get older in this club, I’ve seen so many of my old friends come and go, but with many more new ones to take their place and shine just as bright. I cherish each memory I’ve made so far, and I’m even more excited for the new ones we’ll all share this year! I hope you all share that same sentiment. Everyone this year grew from a dim light and now shines so brightly, it’s been really beautiful to witness in real time. Keep shimmering and glowing like how you really are – stars. Jayson Herald Binnong Pacio

Written by Zoe Lebrilla Designed by Marjorie Mae Semsem

Hi Barbie! Hi Barbie! Welcome to the first gen at the mojo dojo bahay kubo! Let me introduce you to our Barkada! First Gen is a kickoff to the new school year where all Barkada members, new and old, come together. The new Executive Board (EBoard) gets to introduce what they have been working on over the summer. Culture Chair, Isaiah Pagdanganan, shared his first culture corner of the year. Internal and External, Zoe Lebrilla and Sam McKinnon, organized with other clubs from CPP as well as other Pilipino Orgs from all over SoCal to travel to our First Gen meeting where they got to meet new friends and promote their club. To show off our amazing cultural dance troupe led by CLC, Aiden Ancheta, two dances were performed: Manila Swing and Tinikling. Historian, Markus Thomas, directed the e-board introduction music video where the name for the 2023 to 2024 e-board was finally revealed…STARR-E

🌟

BOARD Let’s all welcome the new Starr-e babies of Barkada!

Then we ended the meeting like we end all Barkada meetings – with a unity clap. The unity clap originated from the “...United Farm Workers Movement. The farm workers expressed their unity through the clap because they didn’t speak the same languages” [S. McKinnon]. A member in the center will place their hand on their heart and begin to clap to the beat of their heart. All members will join in and the speed of the clapping will slowly increase until reaching clap capacity and end with the Barkada chant. Thanks to everyone who came to our first general meeting. “It was the best day ever. So was yesterday, and so is tomorrow, and every day from now until forever” (Barbie) because you’re part of our Barkada.

go wing

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KLING <3 I N I T V U IL

2023-2024 STARR-E BOARD!!

Pilipino-American History Month Written & Designed By Yna Brissel Gatpandan

Starr-e’s Culture Chair Isaiah Pagdanganan

Pilipino-American History Month (PAHM) is celebrated in October to mark the arrival of the original Filipino Americans in the late 1500s. With them, they brought indigenous Filipinos from the island group of Luzon during the Manila Acapulco trade era. This place is now known as Morro Bay, California. After the Civil Rights Movement, the biggest rise in the immigration of Filipinos to the United States occurred. The main reason was the need for more professional labor such as doctors, engineers, and the military. Because of this, many Filipinos were forced to assimilate into the American culture. They refrained from practicing their own culture such as cooking their traditional Filipino cuisine, watching Filipino media, and speaking Tagalog in public.

Generations after generations continued to hide their culture. As a result, they grew ashamed of it. However, nowadays many young Filipino Americans continue to practice the culture as much as possible. Many universities in the United States have their own Filipino American Student Association; an example is Cal Poly Pomona’s Barkada! Every year during October they offer PAHM workshops to not only teach but also give people a chance to practice Filipino culture. This year, the PAHM workshops are led by Starr-e Board’s Culture Chair, Isaiah Pagdanganan. 19

PAHM Workshop: Saranggolas In this workshop, Barkada made saranggolas which translates to “kites.” Kites are a very popular recreation for those who grew up in the Philippines. Saranggolas are also known as “chapi-chapi” which means “assembled fast” or “improvised.” They are made with affordable materials such as string, newspaper, plastic bags, and sticks from a walis ting ting.

Main Features No strings along the other edges Faster to assemble More fragile Very long bottom tail Bent horizontal bar for greater support 20

PAHM Workshop: Making Pastillas In this workshop, Barkada made pastillas. It is a popular dessert in the Philippines from the Manila Spanish Galleon trade. Originally, it was made by turning water buffalo or carabao milk into candy by heating milk before adding sugar. Now, it’s made with cow milk, condensed milk, sugar, or powdered milk. It became more popular in the Philippines because of the carabao farmers of San Miguel, Bulacan.

RECIPE Step 1: Pour about 2 1/2 cups of powdered milk and 1 can of condensed milk into the bowl. Mix well and gradually add condensed milk (NOT ALL AT ONCE). Step 1.5 (optional): Add 1 tbsp food coloring (buko pandan or ube) Step 2: Once powder is set and ready, start molding it into BIG GLOBS Step 3: Start cutting the GLOB into smaller pieces, either a sphere or a little cylinder Step 4: Roll around the cylinders/spheres in the sugar on the plate Step 5: EAT! 21

PAHM WORKSHOP: PACN 34 PACN stands for Pilipinx American Cultural Night. It is a student-led two-act play structure that celebrates the Pilipinx American culture. The play consists of traditional dance performances, acting performances, and talks from prominent figures in our community. In the 1960s, there was a large migration of Filipinos to America. Most of them experienced an “identity crisis.” Therefore, many college students created conventions/gatherings to give Filipino-Americans a chance to experience their culture again. The Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company gave a significant amount of influence and inspiration. The first schools to incorporate PACN were UC Berkeley, UCLA, and SFSU. Now, many other colleges joined the tradition to celebrate Filipino culture. Cal Poly Pomona’s Barkada had its first PACN shown during 1990-1991, which was co-written by Jay Radaza.

MODERN

ING TINIKL

MINDA NAO

MARIA CLARA

ESKRIMA

Written By Zoe Lebrilla Designed By Marjorie Mae Semsem

What is KKAA? The Kuya/Kuyate/Ate/Ading program is Barkada’s mentoring program within Barkada. Kuya means older brother and Ate means older sister. Kuyate is a gender-neutral pronoun for older sibling. Ading means younger sibling in Ilocano. Barkada’s KKAA program is separated into four families: Basa Buddies, Pakwans, SiniGANGGANG, and uBaes! These families have individual lines where new adings can grow and learn within smaller communities within Barkada. KKAA is organized by the Academics Chair for Starr-E year, Kaycie Ambaan! There are three main events where KKAA is built: KKAA Mixer, KKAA Reveal, and KKAA week. All events’ purposes are to help bigs and littles get to know one another more and lead up to the main reveal! From the words of Kaycie: “There’s so much to learn from being part of our KKAA program; adings have a mentor to look up to and guide them, not only in Barkada, but through college in general! For the bigs, it’s a great experience being a role model for their little. KKAA often builds life-long friendships and connections and is one of my favorite parts of being in Barkada.”

Why did you wanna pick up? “I wanted to pick up because I’m the youngest in my family and wanted to be a good kuya figure to my ading (luv ya Dean~!) Also I wanted to make my fam a little bigger since our fam is a really small, yet close-knit :)” Aidan A.

Why did you wanna get picked up? “I wanted to be picked up because as a first year, I wanted to make sure I surrounded myself with good people and saw that in Barkada. With their events that eventually led up to KKAA season, I could see that I wanted to be even more involved to develop a relationship like family on campus.” Dean M.

What are you most excited to do or learn from your ate? “I am most excited to hang out and bond with my Ate over things that we like, like Animal Crossing and shopping for cute things. I love my Ate a lot and I see her as a real Ate. I am excited for the many adventures I would have with her in the future!” Hilary D.

Why did you wanna pick up? “I wanted to pick up because I wanted to be able to be that kuya that there’s for their ading and I wanted to be that kuya who is able to share the same energy as their ading and able to bond with them really well.” Noah M.

Why did you wanna get picked up? “I wanted to be picked up because being far from home made me miss my older siblings, so I wanted a big that would have their same vibe and energy, and be someone that I can have fun with and talk to.” Ethan A.

How has KKAA impacted you? “KKAA has impacted my college life so much :) Even though I've never met my ate in-person since she's picked me up in Fall 2020, Pia made a lot of effort to make me feel welcome! She even shared her former RA experience to help me get the RA job I've had for almost 3 years now :) Getting my first ading Fall 2021 was the best! The rest of my line were either graduating or graduated, but I greatly appreciated the support from my grand Rhea and my other ate Selena in continuing the fam. Even though this program has brought me so much close friends, I'm especially grateful for my first ading Markus. He feels like my actual little brother where we've grown for me to care of him and for him to care of me. We really were a little line(the pun is that I was picked up from "Little Line") but I'm so excited and happy to see how much it's grown . Picking up Lheanna this fall was so exciting! I've learned so much and have felt so much support from my fam that I'm glad to continue sharing it down the line .” Yssa V.

🙂

FRIENDSHIP GAMES POMONA’S BEEN KNOWN 38 TO SPUF, BUT... DESIGN BY ETHAN BOLOS COPY BY ETHAN BOLOS PHOTO BY MARKUS THOMAS, GABRIEL OLIVER, & DEREK JACOBY

One chant is just not enough; it will never be enough to capture Barkada’s spirit, pride, unity, & friendship. As one of the biggest events to kick off the school year, FG on October 14th marked a momentous occasion, especially after all of the exciting SPUF practices at the Bronco Commons and the Pancakes to showcase our club morale. Spearheaded by our charismatic Starr-e Social Chair Tomas Montero, FG 38 was an integral part of PAHM and will live on in our hearts and minds as an event filled with long-lasting memories, personal growth, vibes, and SPUF-coded moments.

POP QUIZ! Who were the mascots of FG 38? Hint: They are the national flower and leaf of the Philippines!

We asked Barkada which SPUF pillar they would represent, and here are the results from the responses!

17.9%

PRIDE

21.4%

UNITY

14.3%

FRIENDSHIP

46.4%

Correct Answer: D)

GOT SPUF?

SPIRIT

A) Narra and Anahaw B) Sampaguita and Narra C) Waling-waling and Anahaw D) Sampaguita and Anahaw

HOW DO WE REDESIGN THE STARS? Marjorie Mae Semsem (Infinit-e), our Public Relations Officer for this year (and also Anong Balita’s Editor-inChief!), describes how she came to design the Starr-e shirt, which was unveiled on the day of FG! “The name for this year's board inspired me to create the design that is currently on our shirts. Since this year's board is called Starr-e Board, I wanted to incorporate stars into our design. I've always had the thought to include 15 stars to represent the 15 positions. In a way, it's like a constellation which I think is cute. I came up with two drafts, but what made this shirt stand out was the allacross chest design instead of our usual pocket design and the sampaguitas branching out from the iconic bahay kubo. Along with the chosen typefaces for the words, I think the mix of a serif, athletic type paired with a cursive type was able to accentuate the streetwear style I was going for. I hope that whenever you look up at the stars at night, you'll think of Starr-e Board! But if it's day time...you'll still see our stars on our purple shirt hehe!”

MAKING HISTARR-E Ever wondered what exactly Friendship Games is? Not sure how to describe the event to friends or family? Here are some quick facts about FG and its history... one of the biggest social events between collegiate Pilipinx American organizations from California, Nevada, and Arizona

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Some of the most cherished memories during FG season happen during practices, where we all get ready for the big day. Here are some top moments from this year’s Friendship Games practices:

held every October at Cal State Fullerton to celebrate PAHM

Nasty.” g The n i y a (Starr-e) “Pl amos R s i nc Fra

day of friendly competition through picnic games as well as SPUFing, in which schools showcase their energy through chants and cheering SPUF, as a concept, originates from Philippine tribes’ creation of chant-like expressions to communicate with each other and also involves gift exchanges attendees can immerse themselves in the appreciation of Pilipinx culture with performances, vendors, and more Reference: https://www.friendshipgames.net/about-fg

h spelling UCLA wrong “Josep duri ng o ne Mia Celz of o (Sp the ic-e ch ) an ts. ” “Checkins.” Gabriel Carreon (Sta rre) for Groundhog.” pants

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In collaboration with XPO, Barkada hosted their annual edition of Pilipino Street Games on October 27th just outside of the BRIC. The event, which was hosted by Athletics Chair Renard Pascual, featured five different games: Tumbang Preso, Patintero, Trip to Jerusalem, Agawan Base and Pepsi 7-Up. “I think it’s important that Barkada members get exposed to Street Games, as it’s an important part of Pilipino culture, especially about youth culture in the Philippines. Once kids ourselves, we’re able to relate with these types of games and have the ability to experience these games firsthand,” said Pascual. XPO, a Filipino-based cultural fraternity, shares many of the same goals as Barkada, and their shared interest in connecting its members to traditions and culture of the Philippines prompted their collaboration. “Seeing as Barkada [honors our heritage] as well through events such as their eskrima workshops and PACN, we’d be more than appy to collaborate with them. We were [more than] down to run it back with Barkada again at this year’s Street Games,” said XPO OnCampus Representative CJ Novales. With many members partaking in games they had previously never heard of, and much less played before, the unique experience provided an avenue for those to socialize while attempting to learn unfamiliar, yet enjoyable games. “The event was really fun for people like me, because I got to talk with people I haven’t met or seen while playing the street games. And with playing the games, I’m trying games that I never heard of when it comes to the culture of the Philippines. It makes me want to get involved with more [Barkada] events,” said Barkada member Joseph Mayoralgo.

ANONG BALITA ISSUE NO.1

BARKADA SPOTLIGHT FEATURE

CHRIS CARLOS

INTERVIEW BY: NICK MARTINEZ DESIGN BY: JAHNEA ORDONA

Q: What type of athletic activities do you like to do on a daily basis?

Q: How do these activities relate to your mental and physical well being?

A: “On a daily basis, I try to incorporate both running and weightlifting into my schedule. I am the Vice President of the running club and that’s my main avenue for running. For weight lifting, I try to do it before running club. It usually takes a total of 2 hours for me to complete both for the day. I do other athletic activities too but sparingly depending on if I have free time. I am currently signed up for the dodgeball IM team for Barkada and I am also a member of the CPP Climbing Club! My greatest achievement for weightlifting is currently benching 285lbs at a body weight of 155. For running, im currently training for the Turkey Trot 5k in Anaheim and my goal is to complete that in under 20 mins!”

A: “Activities such as running club has really made running a very social and rewarding hobby, I’m in love with the sport and I always encourage others to join the club. My physical well being has definitely benefitted from both weight lifting and running -- I feel like I have the perfect balance of both currently. Mentally, I have not really felt much of a difference because I consider myself a generally happy person. Balancing athletics has been much easier due to me now being in the teaching credential. Previously, I was an undergrad last semester for Biology and I had a much harder time balancing academics and athletics. Running and weightlifting serve as a lifestyle for me. I love the culture and activities of both and I find that most of my friends share at least one shared sport with me. I also post most of my workouts on campus in the BRIC lobby chat, haha. It’s kind of a running joke that I do everything athletic related.”

Q: How does working out or doing anything athletic related with other people (Barkada or not) affect your experience? You mentioned running club being social, but overall, how does doing this with other people enhance your experience as a whole? A: “Working out with others really has helped me stay motivated and responsible. Doing these activities with others brings a community in a place I never thought would have been possible. It’s very heart warming to know that there are others that are as crazy as me when it comes to working out or running. Athletics has helped me find a healthy and common interest with others in ways that I never thought was possible.”

Editor-In-Chief Marjorie Mae Semsem

Copy Editor Ethan Bolos

Staff Writers Zoe Lebrilla, Ethan Bolos, Nick Martinez, Yna Brissel Gatpandan, Aileen Janee Corpus

Designers Ethan Bolos, Nick Martinez, Jahnea Ordona, Yna Brissel Gatpandan, Jaiden “JP” Pajulio, Marjorie Mae Semsem

If you are interested in joining Anong Balita Committee, please contact Starr-e PR Officer Marjorie at pr@cppbarkada.org.

@cppbarkada

CPPBarkadaFOREVER

Cal Poly Pomona: Barkada Anong Balita October 2023 Issue