Philippine Collegian Tomo 97 Issue 13

PHILIPPINE

COLLEGIAN

The Official Weekly Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Diliman

Volume 97 • Issue 13 • 12 pages Monday, 27 January 2020

KULTURA

NEWS Teachers press for higher salary as pay hike deemed insufficient 3 FEATURES On the warpath Warmongering is a truss of America’s political infrastructure that no next administration is poised to collapse amid seismic shifts threatening to topple the empire.

7

Ulat ng Digma www,phkule.org

Pahina 6 @phkule

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EDITORYAL

DIBUHO • RANIELLA GRAZELL MARTINEZ

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN The Official Weekly Student Publication of the University of the Philippines Diliman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Beatrice P. Puente ASSOCIATE EDITOR Marvin Joseph E. Ang MANAGING EDITOR Kimberly Anne P. Yutuc BUSINESS MANAGER Cathryne Rona L. Enriquez FEATURES EDITOR Richard C. Cornelio

HAMON SA PAGPAPANAGOT Dinadala tayo ng kasalukuyang administrasyon patungo sa landas ng pagkalugmok. Kung kaya sa pagpasok ng panibagong taon, tayo ay inaasahan upang tahakin ang landas ng paglaban at patuloy na ilantad ang mga balikong gawi ng pamahalaan.

Hindi na mapagtatakpan ng anumang palasak at lipas nang retorika ng pagbabago ang kapalpakan ng kasalukuyang administrasyon.

Sa higit tatlong taong panunungkulan ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, wala itong ibang pinatunayan kundi ang walang paumanhing pagpanig sa interes ng iilang makapangyarihan, habang ang kalakhan ay patuloy na nabubulid sa ibayong kahirapan.

Mula sa huwad na giyera kontra droga na kumitil sa higit 20,000 katao, hanggang sa mga palisiyang sagka sa interes ng mamamayan, kabisado na ng rehimeng Duterte kung papaano nito lilipulin at lilinlangin ang mamamayan habang patuloy na nagpapakalat ng huwad na tanda ng pag-unlad.

Malayo sa ibinabandila ng pamahalaang mayamang ekonomiya, papadausdos ang kalidad ng buhay para

02

Kung tunay na solusyon ang nais ibigay ng kasalukuyang administrasyon, dapat nitong matamang tugunan ang pangunahing ugat ng problemang siyang nasa likod ng pagdurusa ng mamamayan

sa mayorya ng mamamayan.

Patuloy ang pagsirit ng presyo ng mga bilihin at pasahe bunsod ng Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion Law, habang ibinababa nito ang buwis na binabayaran ng mga dambuhalang korporasyon upang masiguro ang kanilang karagdagang kita. Hindi malayong ibayong lumaki ang agwat sa pagitan ng mayayaman at mahihirap sa

KULTURA EDITOR Sheila Ann T. Abarra

bansa sa darating na mga taon.

Sa halip na tugunan ng gobyerno ang pangunahing problema ng mga batayang sektor ng lipunan, patuloy na nagkukubli ang kasalukuyang administrasyon sa mabubulaklak na pangako ng pagbabago, ngunit walang aktwal na pagresolba sa tunay na suliraning kinahaharap ng bayan. Nananatiling mataas ang bilang ng mga manggagawang kontraktwal sa bansa, habang sa kanayunan, binabarat ang kita ng mga magsasaka sa ilalim ng Rice Tariffication Law. Bagaman tagumpay na maituturing ang pagtatapos noong nakaraang buwan ng pagdinig at pagkakahatol sa pangunahing maysala sa likod ng Ampatuan Massacre, mananatiling mailap ang hustisya para sa mga kaanak ng biktima kung magpapatuloy lamang ang pag-iral ng kultura ng karahasang kumitil sa buhay ng 58 katao.

Hindi kailanman matutugunan ng mga represibong palisiyang katulad ng Executive Order 70 at Memorandum Order 32 ang lumalalang krisis ng bansa, bagkus ay lalo lamang nitong palalalain ang namamayaning kultura ng kawalang-katarungan at pananagutan. Kung tunay na solusyon ang nais ibigay ng kasalukuyang administrasyon, dapat nitong matamang tugunan ang pangunahing ugat ng problemang siyang nasa likod ng pagdurusa ng mamamayan—kawalan ng

lupang sakahan at substansyal na umento sa sahod.

Kaya isang napakalaking pag-asa ang binuksan ng panunumbalik ng usaping pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas at National Democratic Front na layong lutasin ang ugat ng armadong pakikibaka sa bansa. Armas ng bawat mamamayan ang Comprehensive Agreement on Social and Economic Reforms (CASER) upang ibayong mapaunlad ang buhay ng bawat mamamayang Pilipino.

Kung maipatutupad ang CASER, magagawang protektahan ng mga Pilipino ang ekonomiya nitong labis na nakadepende sa mga dayuhan, at magagawang pakinabangan ang sariling likas na yaman at produkto upang lalong mapabuti ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino. Kung kaya dapat patuloy na tutukan ito ng bawat isa upang hindi masabotahe ang anumang inisyal na paguusap sa pagitan ng dalawang partido, partikular mula sa mga militar na siyang tutol sa usaping pangkapayapaan.

Ngayon, higit kailanman, kinakailangan ng bayan ang lakas at sigasig ng pakikisangkot ng bawat isa upang tutukan ang nalalabi pang taon ng kasalukuyang administrasyon.

Hamunin at panagutin natin ang pamahalaan, hanggang matamasa ang mga karapatanng matagal nang ipinagkakait sa atin. •

DISENYO NG PABALAT • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

GRAPHICS EDITOR Rosette Guia G. Abogado GUEST EDITORS Sanny Boy D. Afable Adrian Kenneth Z. Gutlay Chester D. Higuit Andrea Joyce A. Lucas Dylan P. Reyes STAFF Samantha M. Del Castillo Lucky E. Dela Rosa Polynne E. Dira John Irving D. Gandia Karla Faith C. Santamaria Jose Martin V. Singh AUXILIARY STAFF Amelyn J. Daga Ma. Trinidad B. Gabales Gina B. Villas CIRCULATION STAFF Gary J. Gabales Pablito Jaena Glenario Omamalin ••• UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad) College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) www.phkule.org ••• Sampaguita Residence Hall University of the Philippines Quirino Avenue, Diliman Quezon City

NEWSNEWS

@phkule

DECENT WAGES • Entry-level teachers in the country are projected to receive P27,000 by 2023, following the passage of Republic Act 11466 or the Salary Standardization Law 5. But the law’s promise of higher salary is deemed dubious, for such a measly hike can barely aid government workers to cope amid the rising prices of goods, according to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers. In a January 22 press conference, members of the alliance expressed their dismay over the law’s shortcomings. To resolve the issue, the alliance calls on the government to upgrade teachers’ salary grade level, which would not only increase the latter’s wages substantially, but would also indicate how the government regards teaching as a profession.

NIKKI TENG

Teachers press for higher salary as pay hike deemed insufficient BEATRICE P. PUENTE Andy*, 24, knew from the start that his chosen field is not a lucrative profession. After two years of teaching in a private school, he decided to work in a public school hoping for a higher salary. But upon his transfer in 2017, Andy realized that things were way more difficult— especially if you are working at one of the country’s largest public schools.

It was in a secondary school in Pasig City that he understood the realities of being a teacher. Andy said the school, which has over 10,000 students, lacks enough computers that could have helped them in their jobs. At times, he had to provide for the needs of his students that adds to the burden of being his family’s breadwinner.

“It has become a norm among teachers to shell out their money para sa mga estudyante,” he said.

When Andy learned about the proposed pay hike for government workers, he had kept himself updated from time to time as this may help him make ends meet. But upon the passage of the law, Andy and his fellow teachers were only disappointed.

Disparity Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) 5 that gives higher take-home pay to around 1.4 million government workers, including over 800,000 teachers like Andy. This will be implemented in four tranches until

2023. Cause-oriented groups, however, criticized the supposed benefit as dubious.

“Itong SSL kasi ay mekanismo ng gobyerno [upang makapagtipid] talaga s’ya—tinitipid niya ‘yung kanyang kawani. ‘Yung mga nakatatanggap ng malaking sweldo ay ‘yung may [mataas na] posisyon samantalang ‘yung nasa baba ay nananatiling mababa ang sweldo,” said Raymond Basilio, secretary-general of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT).

Teacher I employees like Andy, classified under salary grade 11, for instance, are set to receive over P22,000 in 2020 that accounts for an additional P1,500 or a seven percent increase. By 2023, they will get as much as P27,000 (see sidebar).

While a 23 percent wage increase is projected for Teacher I employees within four years— the highest percentage hike among everyone else—Basilio said the scheme is rather unfair to government employees belonging to lower salary grade brackets. “Kahit lakihan ‘yung percentage [of increase] ng sweldo, dahil maliit ang base … maliit pa rin ‘yung [total amount].”

Although salary grade 1 employees such as janitors are set to receive a 15 percent salary increase by 2023, this only translates to a nearly P2,000increase in their base pay. Public officials under salary grade 26, meanwhile, might only get a seven percent hike but this amounts to as much as P8,500.

Besides, the total amount given to entry-level teachers falls way below the P30,000 wage that

27 January 2020 • www.phkule.org

Sidebar • PAY HIKE UNDER REPUBLIC ACT 11466 P155k

SG 29-33a: Executive

P419k

P167k P95k

SG 25-28b: Middle Manager

P27k

SG 11-24c: Professional P11k

P13k

P148k

7%

P90k

teachers have been campaigning for. ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro slammed the sector’s scanty pay hike due to the rising costs of commodities.

“Although gusto natin ng salary increase, napakaliit [nito at] very minimal para sa teacher,” said Castro, who voted against the SSL 5. “Lalong isinasadlak ng [SSL 5] ang mga guro at kawani roon sa mahirap na buhay.”

Andy, for one, also accepts sideline jobs such as hosting and photo and video editing to earn a decent wage. “Minsan nga mas malaki pa ang kinikita ko ru’n kaysa sa pagtuturo.”

Burden While teachers decry measly wages, state forces enjoy a much higher salary compared with civilian employees. Duterte in 2018 signed a resolution that doubled the salaries of the police.

He has repeatedly defended this move, saying they are deserving

Congressman, president, etc.

Director, Executive Director, etc.

Teachers, lawyers, etc. d Clerk, utility worker, etc. a

P83k

b

7 to 23%

P19k

P23k

7%

P137k

P102k P21k

SG 1-10d: Sub-professional

P388k

15 to 17%

for risking their lives for public safety.

Given the government’s capacity to pour this much support for state forces, Andy believes it can also provide budget for a higher salary for teachers.

“We feel na kaya pa namang itaas pa [ang sahod namin] …

Kami nga ‘yung pinakamarami [pero] kami ‘yung pinakamababa ang sahod,” Andy lamented. “’Yung focus ng gobyerno is not really on education … parang mas focus [nila] ‘yung military power.”

The fight, however, is not yet over for teachers’ groups, as the ACT Teachers’ Party-list filed on January 22 House Bill 5990, which seeks to upgrade the salary grade level of entry-level teachers from 11 to 15. Andy and other Teacher I employees will get a little over P36,000 by 2023, should the bill be signed into law immediately.

“Walang ibang propesyong ‘di dumadaan sa mga guro kaya dapat pahalagahan ito ng lipunan

INFOGRAPHIC • RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

c

Salary range by 2023 Current salary range Rate of annual salary hike

… sa pamamagitan ng tamang pasweldo at pagrespeto sa kanyang karapatan at iba pang pangangailangan,” Castro said.

But, if the same problems in the public education system persist, Andy only sees one suitable option left for him: to leave the country and work abroad.

“Di naman naghahabol lang ang teachers for the money— it’s for the students; of course, it’s a vocation. Pero we feel na we deserve a salary na sakto sa pinag-aralan namin, sakto ro’n sa trabaho namin, sakto sa experience namin, sakto ro’n sa binibigay [naming] contribution sa bansa,” Andy said.

“Sobrang daming kailangang turuan nang maayos para maging mas maunlad ‘yung bansa natin in the future. Sila ‘yung future natin e—mga estudyante,” he added. •

*not his real name. The source was given anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

03

NEWS

GRAPHICS • KIM YUTUC

1 in 10 UPD undergrads tagged ineligible for free tuition

Free tuition loopholes bared as some students still pay fees DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ Filmmaking has always been the passion of second-year film student Robe Dagcuta.

Throughout his six years of stay in UP Diliman (UPD), his love of the field did not waver, despite the many hurdles he had to overcome just to follow his dream.

But passion proved inadequate. Dagcuta has been struggling with expenses for his film projects, which fall beyond the scope of the free tuition law.

“Iniiwasan ko muna ang production classes. Kaya mas kumuha ako ng mga courses na lectures, exams, and papers lang yung mga kailangan, out of the knowledge na di ko pa afford mag-production classes,” he said.

Given these issues, Dagcuta mulls over filing his third leave of absence to go full-time at his job as a video editor at a television network. This way, he can save up enough money to sustain his needs once he comes back to the university.

Dagcuta is just one of the many students in UP Diliman who encounter difficulties in sustaining their education, as the promise of the free tuition law is yet to be fulfilled. His college, in particular, ranked fourth last semester among all UPD colleges with the highest ratio of students with no free tuition, pegged at 21 percent (see sidebar 1). Of the 641 undergraduate students in the College of Mass Communication, 133 did not get free tuition, per the Office of the University Registrar (OUR).

Ineligible This scenario, however, is not isolated in Dagcuta’s college. The OUR data showed that a total of

1,622 students were ineligible for free tuition last semester, thus exposing the deficiencies of the law in providing a supposed universal access to tertiary education (see sidebar 2).

The College of Education, meanwhile, has 154 students unable to receive free tuition, out of the 407 enrolled students. This spells a big irony, since the future “guro ng bayan” are the ones who cannot avail of free tuition during their formative teaching education, said Education representative to the University Student Council Kris Miranda.

“Kung sino pa ang inaasahang magmulat at magbigay ng magandang kinabukasan para sa mga bata ay kami pa ang nahihirapan na makatamasa ng free tuition,” Miranda said.

Restrictions Among those considered ineligible for free tuition include bachelor’s degree holders, students in professional schools like law and medicine, and those who are unable to finish their degree by more than a year after their prescribed graduation.

Appeals for extension of eligibility are available, subject to the chancellor’s approval, per the OUR guidelines.

The situation is no better in the College of Law as all of its 1,025 students are disqualified for free tuition. Ben Te, a second year law student, finds this problematic as excluding professional schools in the coverage of the law could keep Filipinos away from pursuing these degrees.

“We are in need of more legal professionals to provide quality legal services to the poor, especially at a time when rights and civil liberties are under direct assault by state forces,” Te said.

Though the socialized tuition system (STS) is supposedly

Sidebar 1 • COLLEGES WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS INELIGIBLE FOR FREE TUITION CAL

17%

848*

CHE

14%

CFA

20%

644*

CMC

21%

641*

ARKI

835*

14%

EDUK

485* 407*

38% 30%

CMu NCPAG

15%

CSWCD

18% 50%

SLIS

created to aid those disqualified from receiving free tuition, the numbers say otherwise. Of the more than 2,500 undergraduate students who applied for STS, only 694 were granted full discount, according to data from the Office of Scholarships and Grants.

STS serves to patch up the shortcomings of the free tuition policy as it allows law and medicine students to apply for tuition discount and a stipend. But the number of students paying in full among those who applied remains at 170 (see sidebar 3).

Calls for the junking of the STS, then, must not stop as this scheme ultimately allows the government to profit from students rather than provide them the right to education, Te said.

Dagcuta, on his end, hopes to earn more and save up enough this semester as he prepares himself to pay for matriculation the next time he enrolls. “Yung tuition, facade lang siya sa marami pang kailangan atupagin

326* 225* 180* 158*

952 out of 14,168 1,622 out of 14,054

* Data from the sidebars were from the Office of the University Registrar and the Office of Scholarships and Grants.

04

With free tuition

ng mga estudyante in terms of finances, kagaya ng housing, school work, pagkain, and other basic needs,” he said.

“Ang hirap sabihing universal [ang edukasyon sa kolehiyo]

Sidebar 2 • UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS INELIGIBLE FOR FREE TUITION 1st SEM, 2018-2019 1st SEM, 2019-2020

* Total undergrad population of college

INFOGRAPHIC • RICHARD CORNELIO

W/o free tuition

kung iilan lang yung tumutuloy at tinatapos ito,” Dagcuta said.

“Ang hirap [ding] i-brand na accessible ang kolehiyo kung may taning yung accessibility [sa libreng edukasyon].” •

Sidebar 3 • STS RESULTS FOR ACADEMIC YEAR 2019-2020 AS OF JANUARY 14, 2020 ND 6.75% PD60

FD

32.06%

7.07%

PD80 12.80% PD33/40 20.82%

FDS 20.5% No Discount Partial Discount 33/40 Partial Discount 60 Partial Discount 80 Full Discount Full Discount with Stipend

170 524 807 322 178 516

TOTAL 2,517 students* * Appeals for STS were pending when data was generated.

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BALITA

‘Pagkakaisa ng akademya, kritikal sa pagkamit ng ganap na hustisya sa Ampatuan massacre’

EDITOR’S NOTE

RACING THROUGH RHETORIC

Nominees weigh in on issues as UPD selects new chancy

Hundreds flock in attendance to hear what lay in store. Within a week, two UP Diliman (UPD) chancellor nominees faced the UP community twice to lay down their visions and plans for the flagship campus, as well as to respond to questions from their constituents.

As the UP Board of Regents is yet to sift through the documents and decide on who the next chancellor will be, both nominees still stand on shaky ground amid a multitude of issues confronting the campus they would want to lead.

College of Engineering Dean Ferdinand Manegdeg and Vice Chancellor Fidel Nemenzo seemed unfazed anyway, as they vowed to remain firm and stand alongside the sectors in their campaigns. Their proposed means to resolve these problems, though, vary in more ways than one.

Manegdeg, for his part, believes that there is one easy way to respond to the university’s needs: to look for funding and allocate it where it is needed.

“I think ang problema ay pera, so ang hahanapin lang natin ay pera at bibigyan natin ng pera [ang mga publikasyon],” Manegdeg, who had mistaken student publications for scholarly publications, said rather simplistically.

Due to lack of funding brought by the problematic provisions of the free tuition policy, only two of the six active UPD student publications have been able to publish print issues for this academic year so far. This concern is especially disconcerting not only for the campus press, but also for the student body whom the publications primarily serve.

By the same logic, the fivemonth dean also posited that any scheme or project that helps the university generate additional funding must be kept in place. “Maraming projects

na nagge-generate ng funds kasi kailangan para sa research at extension ng service, both for the faculty and students,” Manegdeg said in a student-led public forum, January 24.

Nemenzo answered similarly, but also highlighted that generating profit must not be the primary goal of the university. “Ang mahalaga is we manage our assets in a manner that is consistent with our image as a public serving university.”

Both responses were what the audience wanted to hear. And much of what had transpired during the fora ran along those lines: magnanimous and safe. While the format of the event may be limiting, still it bared a glimpse of what kind of leaders Manegdeg and Nemenzo intend to be.

The two want to efficiently use the university’s resources to effect reforms. The gap still lies, though, in their widely different execution plans, which significantly matter in deciding who to vouch for.

Manegdeg, for one, told the workers the same rhetoric: “Ang gagawin natin is to implement [the CNA incentive] at maghahanap tayo ng pera para rito.” On the issue of housing, he offered a somewhat similar solution—to construct more housing facilities.

Nemenzo’s response took it a notch higher, as he touched on the larger issue of contractualization that is central to the campaign of workers in UPD and all over the country.

In July 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte vetoed the Security of Tenure bill, saying it must also secure the capital of business corporations as much as it secures the job of laborers.

“From day one, we will move toward the implementation of [banning] contractualization.

Job security is important [so] the UPD admin will see to it, to implement this,” Nemenzo said.

What perhaps spelled the difference between the two

27 January 2020 • www.phkule.org

contenders surfaced when it came to the issue of redtagging and redbaiting. Nemenzo has repeatedly mentioned in his chancellorship bid that he is an activist—about which Manegdeg had nothing much to say.

“Ni minsan, hindi ko tinagong ako ay isang aktibista.

Pero ang pagiging aktibista ay isang label lamang. Mas mahalaga ang meaning nito … If it’s siding with the marginalized, I am an activist,” said Nemenzo.

He promised during the student-led forum to continue to ensure a sanctuary for the Lumad in UPD. Meanwhile, Manegdeg’s remarks about the Lumad situation offended a volunteer for the Save our Schools Network, as he had pointed out that bringing the Lumad here to stay and join protests is not a sustainable way to go.

“Nakakabastos lang pong sasabihin ninyong dinadala yung mga Lumad sa demonstrasyon, when in the first place, wala silang choice.

Kasi kung di sila nagpupunta sa Maynila ... at pinapaingay ang mga isyu, walang matitira sa mga itinayong Lumad schools,” the volunteer said.

What matters most is this: More than having a chancellor who can efficiently work to improve the academic and administrative aspects of the university, what UPD needs is someone who understands the nuances of the plight faced by sectors inside and outside the university. This, after all, is the kind of leadership the campus needs at a time when the university is under attack.

Perhaps it would do well to ponder outgoing Chancellor Michael Tan’s words: “Much of what we’ve built is at risk. We are under siege.” Such prospects may very well be dim, but there is still hope anyway.

“Let’s speak truth to power,” said Tan. “Hindi pa ito ang wakas.” •

PATRICIA POBRE

KENT IVAN FLORINO Isang buwan matapos ibaba ang hatol sa kaso ng Ampatuan massacre, hamon para sa unibersidad, partikular sa UP Diliman College of Mass Communication (UPD CMC), na manguna sa kampanyang nagsusulong ng katarungan para sa lahat ng biktima ng marahas na pagpatay, ani Danilo Arao, propesor ng peryodismo sa kolehiyo.

“We should publicly criticize such violent actions and it would be better if it is coming from the academe. It’s not just issuing a statement but also trying to lend voice, and intervene in the realm of public opinion,” ani Arao.

Bagaman hinatulan ang 197 indibidwal ng reclusion perpetua o 40 taong pagkakabilanggo na walang parole, mayroon pa ring 55 pinawalang-sala dahil sa kakulangan umano ng ebidensya.

“There is still a battle that needs to be won dahil hindi lahat ng suspects ay nakapiit,” ani CMC Student Council Chairperson Gab Ramos. “We aim to strengthen campaigns and alliances with the CMC admin and organizations even outside the college to demand justice for the victims and to end the culture of impunity in our country.”

Mahalaga rin umanong magpatuloy ang kampanya dahil hindi nagkamit ng hustisya ang isa sa mga pinatay noong Nobyembre 23, 2009. Hindi kinilala bilang biktima ang photojournalist na si Reynaldo Momay dahil ang pustiso niya lamang ang natagpuan sa pinangyarihan ng krimen, at hindi ang kanyang buong katawan.

Bilang tugon, nagsumite ng notice of appeal noong Enero 2 ang mga abogado ng pamilya ni Momay upang baliktarin ang desisyon ng korte sa pagpapawalang-sala ng mga nasasakdal. Nais din nilang tuligsain ang konsepto ng double jeopardy na nagbabawal nang litisin ang akusado sa parehong kasong hinatulan na ng korte.

Kasalukuyan namang nakaantabay ang mga biktima sa resulta ng apela ng mga biktima.

“Aktibong susuporta ang mga abogado ng mga kaanak [ng biktima] na igiit na dagdagan pa ang danyos at pananagutan ng

mga nahatulang maysala,” ani National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Deputy SecretaryGeneral Raymund Villanueva.

Sa kasalukuyan, makatatanggap ang bawat pamilya ng hindi bababa sa P350,000 bilang kabayaran sa kaukulang danyos. Bukod pa ito sa matatanggap nilang halaga ng kabuuang kitang nawala sa pamilya mula nang mamatay ang mga biktimang karamihan ay mamamahayag.

Upang maging ganap ang pagkamit ng hustisya, mahalagang makisangkot ang mga mag-aaral at maging ang administrasyon ng CMC dahil kahit sino ay maaaring maging biktima ng karahasan at kawalang-katarungan, ani Arao.

“The faculty [members] involved themselves in the campaign, but there’s not much to say with the college administration.”

Ito ang dahilan kaya nananatiling matibay ang pagkilos ng mga organisasyon at publikasyon ng mga magaaral—upang itaas ang kamulatan ng bawat isa tungkol sa Ampatuan massacre at ipakita ang kahalagahan ng malayang pamamahayag.

“Bago dumating ang ika-10 taon ng [Ampatuan Massacre], unti-unting itong nalilimutan. Kaya mahalagang makapaglathala ang mga campus publications nang sa gayon ay hindi mabaon sa limot ang nangyari; [at] naipapakitang galit pa rin tayo sa kultura ng kawalang-katarungan na pinaiiral ng administrasyon ng bansa” ani Union of Journalists of the Philippines-UP Chairperson Khim Joshua Raymundo.

Inaasahang muling lalapit ang mga organisasyon sa administrasyon ng CMC upang hikayatin ang pamunuan ng kolehiyong makiisa sa mga programang kanilang ilulunsad sa hinaharap.

“Ang gusto naming makita mula sa [CMC] admin ay sila mismo yung manguna sa mga kampanya at sa pagbubuklod sa mga estudyante upang palakasin pa yung panawagan sa paghingi ng hustisya para sa mga biktima,” ani Raymundo.

“Humuhulma sila ng mga estudyanteng kalauna’y magiging mga peryodista at mamamahayag — mahalagang makita ang tindig nila lalo sa ganitong mga klaseng isyu,” dagdag niya. •

05

KULTURA Sinaklot ng lagim ang mundo nang sandaling salakayin ang natitirang huwad na kapayapaan.

Matapos mapaslang ang heneral ng Iran, tila namatay ang tensyon pagkaraan ng ilang araw. Ngunit ang dilim na lumukob ay nananatili.

Nangangapa ang daigdig, buhay ang pangamba sa Iraq, at di malayong madadamay ang Pilipinas sa sandaling magkaroon ng pandaigdigang gyera. Naaantala ang isyu ng pagpapatalsik sa pangulo ng Estado Unidos (US) na si Donald Trump.

Kunsabagay, ito naman ang layon ng sunud-sunod na agresyon—interes ng mga makapangyarihan na manatili sa pwesto, interes nilang ibayong pananakot at pananamantala.

Pulbura at pangamba Nang pumutok ang krimeng ginawa ng US, malayo ang narating ng bawat balita. Mula sa pamamaslang hanggang sa posibilidad ng gyera, halos lahat ng artikulo, ito ang sinasabi. Kaiba sa tipikal na balita na makukuha agad ang anggulo, pagkukunutan ng noo ang sanhi sa pahayag na baka magkaroon ng ikatlong digmaang pandaigdig.

Tila may hulmahan ang mga balita at artikulong opinyon hindi lamang sa bansa kundi sa ibayong dagat, lalo na sa US. Matapos ilabas ang mga balita ng pagpaslang kay Qassem Suleimani, sinundan ito ng mga paskil tungkol sa ikatlong digmaang pandaigdig; mayroon pang malalimang pagsusuri tulad ng kung bakit magkakaroon ng gyera.

Laganap ang polarisasyon, isa ito sa mga mahahalagang puntos noong 2019 sa taunang pagsusuri ng Reuters Institute hinggil sa balita sa panahong digital. Hinahadlangan ng polarisasyon na kumalat ang iba pang naratibo at pagtingin— tanging ang dominante at ang kabaligtaran nito sa sukdulan ang iikot sa diskurso.

DIBUHO JAMES ATILLO DISENYO NG PAHINA RICHARD CORNELIO

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PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

Ulat ng digma SHEILA ABARRA Ayon sa teoristang si Zygmunt Bauman, kasangkapan ng globalisasyon ang polarisasyon, kung saan naitataas sa pedestal ang nais ng mga makakapangyarihan; bagay na maituturing na dominanteng kultura. Ito ang tataguriang unibersal at namamayaning kalakaran sa pandaigdigan.

Kung kaya, nalalampasan at naisasantabi ang mga reyalidad, ang marahas na kasaysayan ng panghihimasok ng US sa Gitnang Silangan, partikular at lalo na sa Iran. Mainam itong kalatas sa kung paano matamang masusuri ang tunggalian ng dalawang bansa—ano ang tunay na laban ng mamamayan at sino ang tunay na kalaban.

Nakapagbabaluktot din ito ng mga argumento tulad ng pagpapatibay na terorista ang mga taga-Iran, gayong akto ng terorismo ang pagpaslang ng US sa Baghdad. Gayundin, matagal nang nagpapahayag ang US ng digma laban sa Iran na matinding panapal sa isyu ng humigitkumulang 700 bilyong panukala sa depensa.

Kabig at panlulupig Sa paghupa ng usapin sa posibilidad ng ikatlong digmaang

pandaigdig, nariyan ang mga artikulo hinggil sa epekto nito at iba pang maaaring mangyari.

Nagpapahayag ng pagkabahala ang Iraq na naging lulan ng retalyasyon at agresyon ng Iran at US; bagay na nagluwal ng malinaw na pagtingin sa kaganapan na hindi sila papayag na maging lugar ng alitan ang kanilang komunidad.

Kaugnay nito ang tugon ng mga sibilyan at progresibo na ang mga mamamatay at maaapektuhan ay ang karaniwang mamamayan at hindi ang mga nakaupo sa pwesto sa gobyerno. Hindi ito digma ng mga bansa, nilikhang digma lang ito ng imperyo.

Bago makarating sa imperyo, mayroong mga naging tuntungan ito tulad ng hegemoniya, isang politikal na konsepto na ayon sa pag-aaral ni Julian Go ng Unibersidad ng Boston, ay ang relatibong dominansya sa galaw ng pandaigdigang pamilihan.

Nasa kamay ng mga bansa tulad ng US ang kontrol sa ekonomiya ng mundo, sa mukha ng mga pandaigdigang institusyon para sa pautang, mga tagibang na kasunduan, at dambuhalang mga korporasyon.

Taglay ng pag-aaral ni Go ang datos ng karera ng US sa

pagsasagawa ng mga aktibidad at kung paano nito napaunlad ang hegemoniya patungong imperyalismo. Agresibo ito sa wangis ng paggigiit ng tulong, at mapanaklaw sa itsura ng teritoryal na panghihimasok sa pamamagitan ng baseng militar.

Sa isa sa mga panahon ng digma, makikita sa stratehiya ng US ang pagkontrol sa agresyon ng mga bansa tulad ng Alemanya at Hapon sa pinakamatindi, kaiba sa ibang bansa na binigyan lamang ng kaunting atensyon. Sa pagunlad ng imperyo ng US, nariyan ang dumaraming tropang militar sa iba’t ibang bansa at ang mga pagpapautang na nasa tabing ng dayuhang ayuda.

Sa hayag na paggana ng imperyalismo, nangangailangan ito ng armas upang protektahan at lituhin ang mamamayan.

Pagtatala at paglaya Nasagot agad ang palaisipan kung saan kakatig ang Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte—tumugon siya sa kagyat bitbit ang pagsuporta umano sa US kung magkaroon man ng gyera.

May bahid ng indibidwalismo ang pagsipat ng gagawin ng Pilipinas sa tunggalian ng mga dayuhang bansa, sa halip na

paano aambag ang bansa sa kapayapaan ng buong daigdig.

Kahingian ng pagpapatibay ng kapangyarihan ng US ang pananaw na ito upang sa halip na tumayo ang Pilipinas sa sariling lupa at kundenahin ang kabuuan ng agresyon, kakatig ito sa mas makapangyarihan, dahil ito ang lohikal para sa kaligtasang pansarili.

Araw-araw pinapalaganap ng midya ang ganitong kaisipan. Sa mga palabas sa telebisyon ng kwento ng mahirap na nagsumikap upang yumaman, magpakaalipin at huwag magreklamo upang umasenso, nanalaytay ang boses ng makakapangyarihang nagpapatagal sa kani-kanilang posisyon.

Ang pagtutugma ng indibidwalismo sa globalisadong pananaw ang naipapaliwanag sa kolektibismo at pagtanggap sa kahirapan. Bagaman nakakaahon sa kahirapan, ito’y suntok sa buwan. Kung kaya, kailangang mamili ng kolektibo kung saan iaalay ang wagas na katapatan para matulungan sa pagkamit ng pangarap—makawala sa pagiging mahirap.

Ito ang ubod ng mga pangakong tulong ng mga dayuhang bansa sa Pilipinas na kung hindi nakaaambag sa pag-unlad ay nagpapasadlak pa sa pamamagitan ng pananamantala.

Araw-araw inihahanda ang mga bansa tulad ng Pilipinas sa gyera ng mga mayayaman at mapang-api.

Kung patuloy ang midyang magpalaganap ng mga balitang sukdulan at polarisado, malilimitahan ang ordinaryong mamamayan sa mga kurukuro, gigising ang bansa sa higit pang karahasan, sapilitang pagsasabak sa labanan, gyera. •

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@phkule

On the Warpath

How a Democratic foreign policy would fare in the White House RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO “Instead of drifting along toward tragedy, we will set a course toward safety,” said then US President George Bush in a speech on March 17, 2003, warning former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave Iraq or face retaliation. Before his 48-hour ultimatum expired, a few dozen cruise missiles struck Baghdad in a prelude to what would be a series of crimes against humanity ritualized by the US. Donald Trump may have scorned the graveness his predecessors projected to extemporize their way to war, but his belligerence towards the country’s perceived foes abroad has similarly been on daily display.

On January 3, he simply tweeted an image of the American flag, several minutes after the Pentagon had confirmed the killing of Qassem Suleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in a drone strike at Baghdad International Airport—at no less than Trump’s nod.

The murder of Suleimani, the architect of Iran’s sphere of influence in the Middle East, not only startled the world but set this year’s Democratic primaries off to an overdue reckoning with US foreign policy. The consensus Democrats forged on the tactical blunder of Trump’s move conveys the same arithmetic Trump had made about how far he could lurch to the brink of a war the voters would still get behind.

Insofar as the Democratic presidential bets’ pleas for restraint barely come from any principled aversion to war, the country’s tradition of military campaigns overseas is no gesture of mere adventurism, either.

Rather, it is a truss of America’s political infrastructure that no next administration is poised to collapse—out of support for, or utter helplessness GRAPHICS & PAGE DESIGN KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

in the face of, establishment forces keen to bolster an empire that has progressively lost foothold amid new threats of seismic shifts at the world stage.

Collateral damage An electorate expecting to hit some brake on international tensions might be disheartened that the 2020 election would appear far from a referendum on the imperial presidency Trump has carried on. Neither could it be a rebuke of the security threat the US typifies, let alone a sharp shift, promised by Democrats, from a trigger-happy government. The party’s history of warmongering offers both caution and context.

Much of the Democratic Party’s vision of foreign policy harks back to the post-Cold War hubris of US exceptionalism, adopted as a mantra in America’s self-propelled project of guaranteeing global security, by any means necessary, while proclaiming to erect supposedly liberal democracies elsewhere.

“If we have to use force, it is because we are America; we

are the indispensable nation,” said former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 1998, defending why the US was then coercing Iraq into handing its weapons over to UN inspectors.

Such hostility rose in lockstep with the interventionist tradition of Bill Clinton, a Democrat whose fixation on embargoes and regime changes galvanized bipartisan backing.

Object lessons in the Clinton era abound, designed to arouse the crusading mindset of most Democrats.

In 1994, US troops swooped down on Haiti to depose a military junta, one of whose leaders had been on the CIA payroll to help unseat the elected leader whom the US would later restore to power. Echoes of this humanitarian pretext extended to the Kosovo War in 1999, stoked by a bloated death toll among Kosovar Albanians to ratchet up support for airstrikes authorized

by Clinton against Serb civilians.

Overtures to the War on Terror, billed by many as having sprung from post-9/11 hysteria, had also begun way before Bush assumed office. By then the US had splurged over USD1.4 billion on bombs, according to Pentagon data, to drop on Iraq thrice a week along with a string of trade sanctions to famish Iraqis.

Not only did Clinton set the stage for Bush’s occupation of Iraq, he also set the precedent for menacing foreign actors with missiles amid an impeachment trial that would have hogged the headlines.

Over 20 years later, this throwback tactic, for a moment, let off the hook a man whom liberals cannot now rein in.

Shock and awe “The United States once again took the bold and decisive action to save American lives and deliver American justice,” Trump said at his campaign rally in Toledo, Ohio, a week after Suleimani’s death. To varying

d e g r e e s , most critics to his left feigned alarm at the escalation towards Iran, with prefaces about Suleimani’s supposed evil and none about whether militarism must play a part at all in foreign relations.

Democrats like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi instead chided Trump for not having let Congress approve the assassination when, in fact, Democrats could have headed this off last December.

They had passed the USD738 billion defense budget purged of an amendment to lift the “Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists,” a one-sentence rubberstamp on war premised exclusively on presidential fiat.

Though flimsy, what could have been a check on the White House has long been cited to institutionalize a hawkish legacy born on most prominently by Barack Obama, endorsed by the same Democrats crying foul over Trump’s tantrums.

They had expressed no outrage when Obama rained bombs on seven countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

They had gone on to fortify military budgets to let him send troops and warships elsewhere and to entrench a drone program that would fall into the lap of a man who cared little about diplomacy.

Still, Obama is said to have put a human face on the kind of US aggression pursued cleverly. Today’s presidential bets posturing as moderates strike a similar note. “Was taking him out—was the risk worth the reward?” Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden said of Suleimani, which found resonance in Pete Buttigieg’s words: “Just because he deserved it doesn’t mean it was the right strategic move.”

Their stances differ from the left-wing bets’, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, if only slightly.

Warren hewed to the party’s talking points about Suleimani’s savagery before blasting Trump’s

“reckless move.” Yet her record of cheering on sanctions on Iran in 2017 belies the peacekeeping front she now trots out.

Only Sanders has distinguished himself as a radical, save a few discrepancies—his support for Clinton’s bombing of Kosovo, his qualified defenses of drone strikes, and his consent to park some F-35 fighter jets in his state, Vermont—that sully his otherwise consistent antiwar position.

He might offer a shot at an end to endless wars if he could reimagine, and rally grassroots support for, a world committed to peace without America at its center. Otherwise, a lukewarm rejection of war as any foreign policy’s main plank would do little to stop whoever wins the 2020 election from mobilizing over 800 military bases worldwide, as of 2015, and hundreds of classified counterinsurgency efforts in the Global South to foment wars, upend regimes, and decimate populations anywhere outside the US orbit.

“War must be the last recourse in our international relations,” Sanders said in the wake of Suleimani’s death, “and as a caring nation we must do everything we can to prevent the horrible suffering that a war will cause.” His words hold out hope, but a caring nation would not have had to have this discussion in the first place. •

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DEARTH, DROUGHT, DEFIANCE HOW SOLEDAD SOWED THE SEEDS OF RESISTANCE DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ

PAGE DESIGN • KENT IVAN FLORINO

It was close to noon on the rice fields of Brgy.

Soledad in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, just a few kilometers south of the provincial capital Cabanatuan. At the road’s edge, Nanay Emma, 60, uses a makeshift rake in laying out her stock palay seeds to soak in the sun.

Despite her age, she opts to manually dry the seeds instead of using solar dryers to reduce production costs. “Kaunti na nga lang ‘yung naaani namin, ibabayad pa sa pagpapatuyo,” she said. She tries as much as possible to reduce the expenses they incur because palay prices have recently fallen at an all-time low.

“Ngayong taon talaga, bumagsak sa siyete [pesos] per kilo [ang palay], kaya swerte ngayong buwan na umakyat na ulit ng P12.90,” she said.

“Halos ipamigay na nga namin ngayon ang ani sa sobrang bagsak presyo.”

Signed in February 2019, Rice Tariffication Law removed the quantity restriction on rice imports, allowing foreign grains to flood the local markets, hence slumping the price of local rice. Together with other community members, the likes of Nanay Emma strive to

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PHOTOS • LUCKY DELA ROSA AND NIKKI TENG

dampen the devastating effects of the law while dealing with the damning government neglect of the agricultural sector.

Seeding Nanay Angelina, 73, one of the elders, could only say that they have been lucky this planting season since rains graced their fields just in time. “Pero kung [walang tubig] at hindi umulan, di kami makakapagtanim dito,” she said. “Magugutom kami.”

Owing to the dearth of farming infrastructure and facilities in Soledad, they have no choice but to rely on rains on watering their crops.

Because of the uneven flow of rainwater, the swaths of paddy field would show alternating parts of flooded, cracked, or dried-up fields, stunting the growth of palay in some parts. Still, community members have thought to solve their problem by purchasing, through loaned money that they would collectively pay, a small pump to deliver water from a nearby river to irrigate their crops.

The Soledad farmers’ problems are no different from that of the country. Only a third of the country’s 10.3 million-hectare agricultural lands have access to irrigation facilities, while the

millions of hectares left rely on luck and climate variability to water farmers’ crops. But in places where irrigation facilities run, other factors come into play that render them useless.

In Soledad alone, irrigation could have been present had a provincial road not blocked its path leading to the fields.

Soledad’s terrain also leans too steeply for any irrigation system to be built and work, but Nanay Angelina believes the government could have found a way for said infrastructure. “Kung gusto nila, pwede naman. Nagawan nga namin ng paraan, e.”

With nearly everything in the whole planting season at the mercy of nature, still many other farmers’ woes are within the control of anyone but themselves.

Every beginning of planting season comes at a high price that nobody could afford. With little to no starting capital to begin planting, the farming community is left with no choice but to subscribe to predatory loans for funds.

Budding Nanay Emma has been all too familiar with such a scenario as the start of the wet season comes with a dance of hope and despair.

Along with the rain, debt leaves then inundated–just to plant in time. Nanay Emma could only joke that they might as well be trapped in “5-6” schemes. “Hindi nga uso rito ang 5-6 dahil palay naman ang ibabayad namin sa nagpapautang,” she quipped.

Carefully jotted down in her small notebook were the expenditures they have so far accrued.

Compensation for farmworkers, rent of equipment, fertilizers, and pesticides are just the preliminaries. Harvest would come months later only for them to find their carefully tended grains the collateral for their debts. “Halos pambayad lang ang ani namin … sa pasweldo, pagpabuhat ng palay,” she said.

Nanay Emma could not help but reminisce last year’s harvest season when palay prices still stood at P19 to P20, just enough to pay their debts and save enough for the next planting season. She said Soledad has been one of the hardest hit since Rice Tariffication Law came into effect as they have been forced to sell their harvest, this time, at a dreary price of P12 per kilo.

“Nung anihan last year lang kami nakaranas na halos lahat na ng ani namin ay pambayad lang ng utang dahil sa sobrang bagsak ng presyo ng palay,” she said. “Wala na talagang kita, zero na kung zero, lahat pa ng ani, labas.”

Ripening The whole vicious cycle of paying off debts and planting and the post-harvest hassle of selling produce would be pointless so long as farmers do not, in the first place, own the lands they farm, according to Ka Asiong Ortiz, the Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL) Nueva Ecija chapter head.

The whole 18-hectare farmland in Soledad originally belongs to Nanay Angelina and Emma’s grandfather. However, during the land reform fiasco in the 90s, their clan was tricked into signing blank cheques that effectively removed their claim over the lands. Two decades later, together with their organization, they have decided to divvy up the land, after making them arable again, through bungkalan.

“Parang binabawi lang naman namin dito ‘yung ninakaw na lupa ng mga pribadong indibidwal sa mga taga-Soledad–na sila naman talaga ang totoong tagapagmana nung lupa,” said Ka Asiong. He expressed joy as their last year’s bungkalan met no resistance from the landlord who controls their land. As of last November, only six hectares remain uncultivated.

Soledad’s farmlands have become one of the battlegrounds in the fight for genuine agrarian reform. The likes of Nanay Emma and Angelina, together with their organization, have started to fulfill the promise of just and equitable distribution of land that the government has yet to deliver on.

Farmers have little to nothing to expect from a government that prioritizes munitions over grains.

Aside from an agriculture budget that flatlined for the past decade, lawmakers have programmed the 2020 purse to allot four times more money for guns and troops rather than for tractors, irrigation, and the like.

In the face of state neglect and the landed elite’s seizure of farmlands, farmers like Nanay Angelina and Emma will carry on. Until they have been delivered from the grip of landlord greed, and until the state finally acknowledges and treats agriculture as the backbone of the country’s industrial development, the farmers’ fight remains justified. Until then, going against the grain would be their only recourse. •

On the road LOUISE LAFORTEZA

The day had not yet begun, but early commuters already swarmed the Paso de Blas Road, waiting for a bus to pass their way. Rhaion, a sophomore studying at Mendiola, had no choice but to look for an alternative than join the horde trying to cram themselves in a jammed bus even if they have to stand the whole trip.

“Anxious ako dahil ang daming gawain tapos nasasayang lang ang oras kakahintay sa initan,” he said as he booked a P200-ride from Angkas.

Users of the application became worried when the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) released their decision last December 21 to cut the number of Angkas bikers to 10,000. With worsening traffic and pollution, the life on the road has become an inferno—fueled further by a faulty if not absent mass transportation system.

“Hindi lamang mas magmamahal ang pamasahe [ng Angkas]. Mas mahirap din ang pag-book, at maraming drivers ang mawawalan ng trabaho,” Rhaion said.

Last January 20, the transportation department group studying the viability of motorcycle taxi services like Angkas announced the implementation of the stalled ban on Angkas by the following week. The public expressed their support on social media—just like they did when thousands joined Angkas bikers last December—with the hashtag “Save Angkas,” not only to criticize the impending loss of jobs but also to vent frustration with a poorly conceived order amid the government’s lack of sustainable solutions.

customers, which had been some of the commuters’ concerns with regular taxis. These apps did not so much solve traffic as offered convenience. Three years later, Angkas came to the scene to cater to the public with cheaper fare price and less travel time.

Angkas has since employed 27,000 drivers, with the tagline Beat the Traffic as they can weave through congested areas and drop off their passengers quickly. John, 38, shared that applying as an Angkas driver is no easy feat, so those who earned the job could only regard the LTFRB’s decision as unfair.

After submitting the necessary documents, John had been scheduled for a skills assessment test that required him to navigate an obstacle course with a passenger. One mistake would get the application revoked as Angkas is serious about its 99.997 percent safety rate. The company provides the P450,000 accidental insurance under two conditions: if the biker or the passenger dies in an accident, or if the accident happens within the booking period and the documents of proof are supplied.

A written examination was given after a whole-day workshop on safe driving to the 20 who passed the first phase out of 200 applicants.

“Nakakabalisa mawalan ng ganitong trabaho pagkatapos mo paghirapan,” he said.

Despite the rigorous process, working as a part-time Angkas biker, John earns about P2,500 within four to eight hours on the road, higher than his salary in his other job as a call center sales support agent.

“Another thing is that we have to anticipate that Angkas will not

FEATURES exist forever depending on the demand. Kailangan may iba kang pwedeng sandalan,” John said, though acknowledging the advantage of Angkas to bikers who only have the app for livelihood. His choice of working part-time is partly due to the issues Angkas currently faces.

Ride Out In 2017, the LTFRB banned Angkas operations for allegedly violating the Land Transportation and Traffic Code which disallows motorcycles as public transport.

But a technical working group (TWG), consisting of government officials, lawmakers, and transportation safety advocates, assisted in a pilot run in June 2019 to assess the legalization of motorcycle taxis. However, the findings and conduct of the TWG are questionable due to discrepancies and issues of transparency.

Last December, the LTFRB extended the pilot run to do more tests with competitors, MoveIt and JoyRide, in a supposed bid to give more options to the public and break the monopoly of Angkas. But the Lawyers for Commuter Safety and Protection, members of the TWG, called the board out on several irregularities.

The board did not inform them about the inclusion of the two firms which had not been subject to the safety protocols that Angkas had undergone.

They also announced the transfer of the 17,000 cut-off bikers to increase the fleet size of the competitors.

“MoveIt and JoyRide must hire their own drivers and let ours do the decision whether to transfer to them. Angkas is open to competitors and in fact, mayroon na dati,” John said. He said this might

convince some bikers to transfer to habal-habal as there is no guarantee of being hired in the new companies.

Consisting of self-employed motorcycle drivers, habal-habal groups are becoming popular in social networking sites. But, without any tracking application, they fail to provide information about the driver and the passenger and to follow specific safety procedures.

By contrast, Angkas gives an effort to push for its legalization which allows them to be regulated and monitored by the government to ensure accountability and compliance to road safety protocols. Still, the TWG recently declared they were not able to obtain enough data to conclude the safety of motorcycle taxis amid the appeals submitted by Angkas against their earlier decisions.

Rush Hour The demand for motorcycle taxis increases as passengers suffer the toll of the otherwise relentless transport crisis. Aldrin, an employee from Makati, prefers to pay higher than to travel at 6 a.m. and arrive at work at 10 a.m. Going home was worse and so he spends his time sleeping or keeping himself busy along the way.

“Sa lagay ng trapiko dito [sa Pilipinas], lalo na sa Makati business district, mauubos lang ang oras ko na magagamit sana sa pagtulog at pagpapahinga o pagtulong sa bahay,” Aldrin said. “Sa urban centers, importante

talaga ang mobility, dahil kung paralisado ang trapiko, malaki ang dulot nito sa ekonomiya panigurado.”

Short-term solutions through ridesharing are offered by companies such as Angkas. But these services, however reliable, are mere band-aid solutions.

Most urban commuters indeed favor apps like Angkas, which, while making up for the failure of the government in providing basic services, still stands as an example of a private company that capitalizes on the public’s desperate need for access to efficient transportation.

Out of the earnings Angkas drivers make in a day, John said, 25 percent of the fare price of each ride goes to the company revenues.

“Deserved naman siguro ng mga Pilipino ang kalidad na public transportation,” Aldrin said. ”Paano na lamang yung mga walang pambayad [sa Angkas]? Magtitiis na lang siguro sa nabubulok na sistema ng pampublikong transportasyon, ano?”

Improvement on urban transportation systems must be accorded to the growing population, and consultation with local government units and urban planners must be executed to promote a sustainable and inclusive development.•

Beat the Traffic In 2014, the ridesharing applications Uber and Grab gained popularity, providing, among others, reasonably priced taxi services that do not decline

ILLUSTRATION • JAMES ATILLO

PAGE DESIGN • KENT IVAN FLORINO

09

KONTRA-AGOS ATHENA SOBERANO

SAYSAY NG SALAYSAY Magtatatlong linggo na mula nang panoorin namin ang pelikulang “Mindanao,” subalit hanggang ngayon, nanggagalaiti pa rin si Papa sa tuwing magagawi ang usapan dito. Palibhasa’y lakingSurigao, marami siyang opinyon sa paraan ng paglalahad ng kwento ng pelikulang ito. Aniya, malayo raw ito sa Mindanao na kilala niya, sa islang kanyang kinagisnan.

“Ni hindi nga taga-Mindanao ‘yang si Mendoza,” bunghalit niya, saka niya iisa-isahin ang napakaraming pagkukulang at pagkakamali ng pelikula sa paglalahad ng kwento tungkol sa Mindanao. Simplistiko ang pagpakete ng pelikula sa karahasang nanagyayari sa lugar—sa pagitan lamang umano ito ng masama at mabuti, gaya ng kwento nina Raja at Sulayman.

Kung tutuusin, lumaki akong may pagtingin sa Mindanao bilang lupain ng ligalig. Kalimitan sa mga balitang inilalabas tungkol sa lugar ay tinatalakay ang kahirapan at kriminalidad, o di kaya’y ang patuloy na digmaan sa pagitan ng militar at mga rebeldeng grupo.

Dito rin nangyari ang ilan sa pinakamalalagim na masaker sa kasaysayan ng bansa, katulad ng Ampatuan massacre at Kidapawan massacre.

Sa Mindanao rin nangyari ang marahas na pagpapalayas sa libu-libong katutubong Lumad mula sa kanilang lupang ninuno. Bilang

manonood, inasahan kong lalabas ang mga ito sa pelikula—ang tunay na lagay ng lugar na hindi naipatatampok sa midya.

Ngunit bigo ang pelikulang maipakita ang mga ito; hindi nito nagawang umigpaw sa pelikulang nakasanayan. Kalakhan nito’y nakatutok sa kwento ng inang inaalagaan ang anak na may malubhang sakit, habang ang asawa’y nakikipagdigma sa mga rebeldeng grupo. Baog ito sa suri, walang pag-ugat sa sanhi ng kahirapan sa bansa. Higit sa lahat, wala itong inihaing solusyon upang resolbahin ang problemang kinahaharap ng mga karakter— tipikal para sa mga pelikulang itinuturing na “poverty porn.”

Kaya nananatiling hamon para sa mga direktor at sa lahat ng lumilikha ng pelikulang maging sensitibo’t tapat sa materyales na kanilang pinapaksa. Kung aatimin man ng pelikulang maglahad ng kwento tungkol sa masalimuot na mga kwento gaya ng nangyayari sa Mindanao, mahalagang matumbok nito ang partikular ng ugat ng tunggalian upang hindi mabulid sa kwento ng kahirapan at tunay na makapagpamulat sa mamamayan.

Pagkat walang saysay ang salaysay kung ang kwento nito ay hindi tugma sa karanasang tunay na dinaranas ng mamamayan. •

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WALKING THE WAR ZONE ISAAC RAMOS

No one is more familiar with the terrains of this war zone than the people who walk its perilous paths.

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My father in Doha is one of many who have had to leave for the Middle East to be able to support their families. He must have been sleeping when a US missile killed Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and sparked the tension that had the world holding its breath over the past weeks.

While Doha is some 500 miles away from Tehran, that Qatar hosts the biggest US military base in the region leaves me feeling uneasy. I have almost the same anxiety here in Manila, for the US also wields influence over the archipelago, and whenever it stirs conflicts, our military arrangements drag us into the fray.

Even more troubling is that even if this conflict simmers down, the possibilities of its likeness brewing up again are far from remote. For such is the logical conclusion of the war that causes diasporas and dispossession, deaths and distraught. Such is the penultimate weapon of the perpetual war waged by the powerful on the nameless multitudes for the sake of dominance and profit.

The tyranny of capital survives

through undeclared war; its commanders and financiers would have it appear matter-offact. So it goes that poverty is a product of the poor not trying hard enough, not of incessant wealth accumulation by the rich.

To try hard enough means to be one of thousands who leave their families daily to brave the precarity of working in foreign lands. Every day is a day of war.

For warmongers, war precedes salvation. The systemic violence against the middle class, workers, urban poor, peasants, and national minorities through everyday acts of dispossession and exploitation is justified with fantasies of economic growth for the supposedly greater good.

Every day is a day of war.

When the rabble-rousers take it to its extremes, they make it look like a heroic event. When the US government launched the global war on terror in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11, it was later christened Operation Enduring Freedom. It crashed down upon the world and agonized victims whom the despots had promised freedom.

In the Philippines, the continued presence of US troops

through deals like the Visiting Forces Agreement is depicted as a humanitarian intervention, and the local army uses the same ruse to protect transnationals thriving off mineral-rich lands where indigenous communities like the Lumad are driven away, even slaughtered.

The Duterte regime, too, wages its war. Its tax reforms expend an already milked populace, but are packaged as inclusive drivers of national prosperity. Its infrastructure projects bulldoze homes of the already vulnerable urban poor and rural people, whose voices are muffled beneath layers of whitewashed concrete.

The president built his government on the massacre of the most helpless in cities through the so-called War on Drugs and in the countryside through the counterinsurgency programs against its chosen scapegoats.

Every day, ordinary people know they live on borrowed time, despairing in the face of the state’s bloodlust. Every day is a day of war.

It is a war whose masterminds will never in their lives find themselves walking the war zone.

Never will they have to endure the pangs of hunger for days on end or the insecurity of living in a house of cards.

Never will they have to perform the irony of raising someone else’s child to feed one’s own, or be so distressed by homesickness that home itself feels foreign. And never will they be distraught at the disparities bred by this everyday state of war.

No one is more familiar with the terrains of this war zone than the people who walk its perilous paths. The challenge is to mobilize their divided ranks into a unity that recognizes who the true enemy is. Solidarity forged around their shared travails is their most potent weapon. The terrain belongs to them, the oppressed and subjugated.

Every day is war, and every day is for their taking.

My father is coming home for a few days and will probably say something against my politics. But we are victims of a war waged without our knowing, a war that fractures what could be whole. And our only chance of winning it is to bind these severed ties. •

phkule@gmail.com

OPED-GRPX JAMES ATILLO

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PAGKILALA SA PAGKALIMOT POLYNNE DIRA

... mabigat ang responsibilidad na nakaatang sa mga liderestudyante at sa buong hanay ng lumalabang kabataang panatilihing buhay ang diskurso ukol sa mga isyu

Isa iyon sa mga gabing naglagi kami sa CS library buong magdamag para buuin ang bagong isyu ng Rebel Kulê.

Saksi ako kung paanong lumuha ang mga kasapi ng editorial board nang bantaan silang hindi makapagmartsa dahil sa isinampang kaso sa kanila.

Isa ito sa mga pagkakataong napag-isipan kong magbitiw, dahil ang pagtangan ng trabaho pala rito ay pagsugal din ng kinabukasan, kapalit ang paglalathala ng mga kwentong kinakailangang maipahayag.

Matapang na hinarap ng lahat ng kasapi ang dumating na mga pagsubok, kaya nang matapos ang termino ng Rebel Kulê, nakahinga ako nang maluwag. Inakala kong tapos na rin ang lahat ng paghihirap dahil may pera nang panglimbag, at may opisinang pagdarausan ng presswork. Pero hindi pa rin pala nilulubayan ang mga kasama ko ng terminong higit kalahating taon na’ng tapos.

Nilimot na siguro ng pamunuan ng UP na may kaso pang nakabinbin laban sa ilang kasapi ng Kulê. Ngunit para sa mga kasama ko, ang bawat pagsisimula ng semestre ay

27 January 2020 • www.phkule.org

pagpapaalalang hindi pa sila malaya, dahil hinaharangan ng kaso ang pagpaparehistro nila sa mga klase.

Naglabas ng mga pahayag at nagmobilisa ang mga estudyante bilang suporta sa publikasyon ngunit wala pa ring naging pag-usad sa kaso.

Naiwan at halos malimutan na ang kalagayan ng mga mamamahayag hanggang maibalitang may hindi kilalang mga lalaking nagpumilit pumasok sa aming opisina.

Sa parehong paraan, sa kabila ng maraming tagumpay ng UP tulad ng laban sa redtagging at pagsagka sa pang-akademikong kalayaan, may mga laban ding napagiwanan at nalimot sa dami ng pinagdaanan. Saka lang maaalala ang mga suliranin kapag oras na naman para harapin ito.

Ganito rin ang nangyari sa isyung kinasasangkutan ng mga kapatiran. Mahigit isang taon na ang lumipas mula nang manggulo sa loob ng pamantasan ang Upsilon Sigma Phi at Alpha Phi Beta pero wala pa ring ni-isang napapanagot dito.

Tumindi ang galit ng komunidad ng UP nang kumalat sa social media ang mga litrato ng usapan sa pagitan ng mga miyembro ng Upsilon na nagpapahayag ng diskriminasyon laban sa mga babae, LGBTQ, at maging mga Lumad. At sa galit, maging ang kaibigan kong kimi sa mga politikal na bagay ay sumama sa pagkilos laban sa ganitong kulturang nananalaytay sa mga kapatiran at sa unibersidad.

Sa kabila ng mga panawagan ng mga estudyante’t guro, wala pa ring naging pag-usad ang kaso. Walang narating ang mga imbestigasyon--walang naparusahan. Ang kawalan ng pagpapanagot ay tulak na rin ng administrasyong pinoprotektahan ang sarili nilang mga samahan.

Namatay ang usapan matapos ang ilang linggo dahil sa sunod-sunod na pagpasok ng iba pang nakababahalang isyu. Dahil naiwanang walang solusyon, matapos lamang ang ilang buwan ay umusbong ang panibagong kaso ng fraternityrelated violence mula sa kapatirang Sigma Rho. Isa sa dahilan ng matagalang

mga problema ay ang kawalan ng aksyon dito ng administrasyon.

Tila istratehiya na nilang manahimik, palipasin ang oras, at hayaang makalimot ang mga tao sa tuwing nahaharap sila sa mabibigat na isyu.

Kaya naman mabigat ang responsibilidad na nakaatang sa mga lider-estudyante at sa buong hanay ng lumalabang kabataang panatilihing buhay ang diskurso ukol sa mga isyu, at humingi ng tamang aksyon mula sa pamunuan.

Sa huli, nakasalalay ang pagsulong ng ipinaglalabang mga isyu sa pagkilos ng mga estudyante.

Mahalagang makita at maipaintindi sa lahat na ang mga nararanasang kahirapan ay konektado at may pinagmumulang ugat; may ugnayan ang pagpapalaya sa mga nakaaangat at may koneksyong mga kapatiran, at panunupil sa aming mamamahayag na kritikal sa lipunan.

Upang makalaya sa siklo ng mga problema, mahalagang balikan ang mga panandaliang iniwan na mga isyu, gayundin ang mga napagtagumpayan, upang paghalawan ng aral at maging tuntungan ng pagsulong. •

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27 January 2020 Volume 97 • Issue 13

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

BALITANG BARBERO SAM DEL CASTILLO Babad ang telebisyon at dyaryo sa bagong kaso ng patayan, korapsyon, at politika—laging inuulat sapagkat ito ang matimbang para sa mamamayan. Pero kamakailan naging laman ng balita ang nasagap na eksklusibong istorya ng Philippine Entertainment Portal: naghiwalay na sina Nadine Lustre at James Reid, magkasintahang mas kilala bilang JaDine.

Umani ng iba’t ibang reaksyon ang balitang ito. Marami sa mga tagahanga ng dalawang artista ang agad na nanlumo at hindi nakapaniwala. Ngunit hindi rin nagtagal ay pinabulaanan ni Nadine Lustre ang balita, sabay pinuna ang mga nagsulat tungkol sa kanyang pribadong buhay.

Sa mga ganitong klase ng ulat nabubuhay ang mga tabloid: balitang showbiz, celebrity scandal, at sex—pinaparating na artista man ay nagkakamali rin.

Minamanmanan ang kanilang personal na buhay dahil dito umiikot ang industriya ng showbiz, ito ang tiyak na mabenta.

Balita, Buenas, Chika Gaano man karami ang tao, agaw-pansin ang mga tabloid na karaniwang binebenta sa mga bangketa. Naka-imprenta sa malaki at pulang letra ang punong balita. Napupuno ang pabalat ng mga larawan ng politiko at artista, lalo na ng mga babaeng kakarampot ang saplot.

Hindi lang itsura ng tabloid ang nakakaakit ng mambabasa. Kaiba sa mga broadsheet na nasa Ingles, tipikal na mababasa ang tabloid sa pinaghalong wikang Filipino at Ingles—impormal at hindi pino.

Kadalasang sa bastos o balbal na pananalita man inilalahad ang mga istoryang nakalakip dito, hindi maitatangging simple ngunit interesante ang pag-uulat ng tabloid.

Gayong naglalahad ito sa aksesibleng lenggwahe, mas malawak na publiko ang naabot ng tabloid kumpara sa broadsheet.

Kaakibat nito ang mas mataas na sirkulasyon na natatamasa ng

KULTURA

tabloid araw-araw. Ayon sa tala ng Philippine Statistics Authority noong 2012, naglilimbag ang Abante ng 470,600 kopya, habang 600,000 naman ang Bulgar kada araw. Hinigitan nito ang 349,000 dyaryong inilalabas ng Manila Bulletin, at 262,285 ng The Philippine Star mula Lunes hanggang Sabado.

Gaano man kaproduktibo ang industriya ng tabloid, nananatiling mababa ang tingin dito bilang porma ng pamamahayag; at bagaman hinahamak, ito pa rin ang tinatangkilik ng kalakhan.

Sapagkat dito nagiging katuwaan ang lahat, nawawala ang mga problema. Natatakpan ng aliw ang katotohanang dapat harapin.

Habang nagbabagang balita ang hatid ng mga tabloid sa kanlurang bahagi ng mundo, ‘insider scoop’ sa personal na buhay ng mga artista at politiko naman ang nilalako ng tabloid sa Pilipinas. Kung maglalaman man ng mahalagang balita, nabaluktot na ang ibang detalye sa ngalan ng ikasasabik ng mambabasa. Bago pa ang hiwalayan ng JaDine, kilala na ang tabloid sa paglathala ng kwento nang walang pagtiyak kung totoo ito o hindi—labag sa pangakong paninindigan sa katotohanan ng peryodismo.

Salamin ng Katotohanan Nakuha ng tabloid ang pangalan nito mula sa tableta sapagkat maliit man, siksik naman ito sa laman; madadala at mababasa mo ito kung saan man magpunta.

Walang pagkakaila na kontrobersyal at mistulang kababawan na lamang ang tabloid. Subalit may iilang publikasyon na ang bumasag at binabasag ang ganitong pagtingin.

Taong 1930s nang nailathala ang unang isyu ng Sakdal, tabloid na batid ang hangarin ng mga Pilipino para sa tunay na kalayaan mula sa mga Amerikano. Tinampok dito ang mga suliraning hinarap ng ordinaryong Pilipino, partikular

na ang mga magsasaka. Dahil naipapasa pagkabasa ang dyaryo, nakarating ito sa ilang probinsya sa Luzon. Kaiba rin sa mga kilalang tabloid ngayon, tanyag sa ulat ng Pinoy Weekly ang pagbibigay ng karampatang suri sa danas ng mamamayan, lalo na iyong mga nasa laylayan.

Higit pa sa munting pahina na naibabahagi sa marami, likas sa tabloid ang mag-ulat tungkol sa mga isyung lapit sa karaniwang Pilipino. Mababasa rito ang mga kaso ng krimen, kondisyon ng mga OFW, at pinakabagong dagdag-presyo sa kuryente at tubig—mga bagay na mas alintana ng naghihirap kaysa mga mayayaman.

Subalit hindi ito sapat para mapunan ang kakulangan ng tabloid sa makatotohanan at makabuluhang pamamahayag.

Maituturing na alternatibo ang tabloid dahil hindi ito nagpapasagka sa monopolyo ng mainstream na midya. Ngunit litaw ang kahinaan ng katangiang ito sa pag-usbong ng mga alternatibong tabloid na lapat sa tunay na kalagayan ng sambayanan.

Nailatag man ang bago, hindi basta-bastang nalalaos ang showbiz tabloid dahil ito ang mabenta. Ang pagkatali nito sa kapital ang tulak sa paglikha ng kung ano ang pamilyar at popular. Higit, binubunga nito ang publikong hindi kritikal, ayon sa teoristang si Max Horkheimer.

Ngayong umiiral ang midya bilang negosyo, pinatatakbo rin ang tabloid ng mga pamilya at

DIBUHO AT DISENYO NG PAHINA • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

korporasyong may kanyakanyang interes.

Inaalam ang pagmamay-ari ng midya dahil dito matitimbang ang kredibilidad ng impormasyon.

Lalo na sa panahong sinasalakay ng gobyerno ang prangkisa ng midya, binabantaan ang layunin nitong mag-ulat nang walang kinikilingan.

Boses ng Pinoy, Mata ng Bayan Sapagkat binabasa ng marami, malaki ang papel ng tabloid sa paghubog ng opinyon ng publiko. Ang publikong ito ay hindi pisikal na grupo ng tao kundi imahinaryong komunidad na nagpupulong bilang publikong pinag-uusapan ang estado ng lipunan, ayon sa pilosopong si Jurgen Habermas.

Ngunit kailangang kilalaning sa aktwal, ang publikong ito ay primaryang binubuo ng burgesya, ng mga edukadong mas pipiliing magbasa ng broadsheet. Kaya ang marapat na tunguhin ng tabloid ay makabuo ng “counterpublic sphere” na kinabibilangan ng mga karaniwang tao, silang handang hamunin ang awtoridad at interes ng

dominanteng publiko.

Kaya ang kahingian sa tabloid ay iturol nito ang pamamahayag sa pagmulat ng mamamayang kumokonsumo nito.

Hindi nagmamaliw ang pagtangkilik ng taong bayan sa tabloid, sa kabila ng kahunghangan at pagmamalabis nito, sapagkat sa mga pahina nito natutunghayan nila ang nangyayari sa kanilang kapaligiran, nararamdamang sangkot sila sa pagbabago ng lipunan. Taglay ng tabloid ang mga balita at kwentong hindi mababasa sa mga broadsheet.

H a n g g a n g tinatanggi ng tabloid na may gampanin itong ilahad ang katotohanan, mananatili itong kulong sa porma ng libangan, wala nang ilalalim pa. Sa panahong laganap ang kaguluhan, hindi na matatapalan ng aliw ang katiwalian. •