Philippine Collegian Tomo 97 Isyu 06

PHILIPPINE

COLLEGIAN

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

Volume 97 • Issue 06 • 12 pages Wednesday, 9 October 2019

EDI TORYAL

Patid na’ng Kapatiran

Page 12

www,philippinecollegian.org

@phkule

phkule@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

DIBUHO • EBI VILLA

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 EDITORS John Irving D. Gandia Kimberly Anne P. Yutuc BUSINESS MANAGER Cathryne Rona L. Enriquez FEATURES EDITOR Richard C. Cornelio KULTURA EDITOR Sheila Ann T. Abarra

CRITICALLY ILL No one could ever be well in a nation infected by systemic ills.

It has only been two decades since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Philippines free from polio, and yet the country finds itself in a critical condition once again: the Department of Health (DOH) announced a polio outbreak three weeks ago, after it was found out that the disease had struck a 3-year-old girl from Lanao del Sur and a 5-year-old boy from Laguna.

The reemergence of polio is alarming—symptomatic of the state’s gross neglect of duty in providing its citizens with a safe environment, quality healthcare, and basic social services.

Latest figures from Water. org, an international nonprofit organization, show that around 9 million Filipinos still rely on unsafe water resources, while around 19 million lack access to proper sanitation. And with only 476 public hospitals and 2,598 rural health centers established as of 2017, the current health situation is already dire, especially for the poor and marginalized. The reemergence of polio is an unsurprising

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While immunization drives are integral to arresting the epidemic, doing this alone cannot fully cure the malady the nation has long contracted.

development—an added burden to bear for the country’s already ailing people.

For it is an established trend for diseases like polio to wreak the most damage in areas stricken by poverty and violence. Such has been the case in Pakistan where polio remains endemic— around 306 cases were tallied in 2014, marking the country’s worst outbreak in history. The neighboring Afghanistan joins

GRAPHICS EDITOR Rosette Guia G. Abogado

Pakistan and Nigeria on the list of the last countries where polio remains endemic.

However, the government refuses to learn from the tragedies of the past. Up until now, the health agency trusts the widelyheld notion that an aggressive vaccination campaign is the way to eradicate polio. In fact, starting this month, the DOH is set to begin its nationwide immunization project.

While immunization drives are integral to arresting the epidemic, doing this alone cannot fully cure the malady the nation has long contracted. Any attempt to treat this dangerous health condition will be rendered futile, as long as poor social services remain prevalent. As the state focuses on the vaccination program alone, they will most likely fall into the trap of overlooking the root cause of the issue that must be addressed—poverty.

If the government is serious about resolving the polio outbreak and other issues surrounding the health sector, they must actively partake, first and foremost, in the stage of prevention. The burden of preventing the disease from spreading should not fall on the

citizens alone—the state must have a conscious effort to extend services to the poorest sectors in order to mitigate the factors that allow for poor health conditions to thrive.

The state has miserably failed to meet this demand thus far. To make matters worse, an impending P8.9 billion budget cut awaits the DOH next year, which will weaken the power of the agency to launch programs that could help address the horrible healthcare system in the country. This will then leave the nation in a heavily paralyzed state, and the public is bound to suffer even more.

Ending polio, after all, could only happen if lawmakers would have the political will to deliver basic social services to the poorest areas in the country—if they will choose to prioritize the needs of the people rather than advance their own political agenda.

At the end of the day, addressing the root cause of all the ills plaguing the nation is the only plausible way to eradicate the disease altogether.

Until such time comes, the same feebling health conditions will persist, and the nation will be left in a far more miserable state. •

PAGE COVER • JAMES ATILLO

GUEST EDITORS Sanny Boy D. Afable Adrian Kenneth Z. Gutlay Andrea Joyce A. Lucas Jiru Nikko M. Rada Margaret P. Yarcia STAFF Samantha M. Del Castillo Lucky E. Dela Rosa Polynne E. Dira 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.philippinecollegian.org ••• Sampaguita Residence Hall University of the Philippines Quirino Avenue, Diliman Quezon City

NEWS

Frat-related violence prompts calls to strengthen UPD code of student conduct CATHRYNE ENRIQUEZ Less than a year since the last fraternity-related violence (FRV) erupted in UP Diliman (UPD), another similar controversy has once again wracked the campus—this time, involving the Sigma Rho Fraternity. For student leaders who demand accountability over such violent acts, strengthening the code of student conduct is key to ensuring that those involved will be sanctioned accordingly.

Firmly grounding the code on Republic Act (RA) 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Law will provide stricter penalties against everyone involved in committing any form of violence within fraternities, said Sean Thakur, chairperson of the UPD University Student Council (USC).

Officers and members who will be proven guilty of hazing will be expelled from the university, per article IV section 1.3. of the 2012 Code of Student Conduct. But under RA 11053, anyone found guilty of hazing will be jailed for no less than six months, if the victim

TIMELINE An anonymous Twitter account posted screenshots of an alleged online conversation from 2017 of Sigma Rho Fraternity members, showing a photo of an individual with bruises all over his body. The original account is now deactivated, but new accounts posting additional screenshots were created afterwards.

sustained injuries. While the law has been in place for 24 years now, only one case has so far led to conviction.

“The very fact that you are infringing on someone else’s right to be free from harm, kailangan ng greater hold nu’n through the law. Alam naman natin na walang puwang ‘yung violence dito sa unibersidad and even sa labas nito,” Thakur said.

Sigma Rho, a fraternity originally based in the College of Law, but is presently unrecognized, came under fire over the weeks after a leaked copy of the members’ conversation from 2017 circulated online, showing a photo of a battered alleged neophyte.

Misogynistic remarks were likewise expressed in the thread, sparking rage from various formations inside and outside the university (see timeline).

“We will not stand idly by amidst this fraternity’s deplorable actions. The cycle of boys choosing to seek brotherhood in violence and speaking ill of women they call sisters and friends without consequence must end now,” the Delta Lambda Sigma Sorority said in a statement.

The USC filed a complaint against members of the Sigma Rho fraternity before the Student Disciplinary Council (SDC). On the same day, the Office of the Chancellor released a statement disclosing that members of the fraternity who were allegedly involved were put under preventive suspension.

Immediately following this incident, the USC filed a Student Disciplinary Council (SDC) complaint against the fraternity on September 27. The UPD administration, on its end, is also eyeing to file formal charges against the involved members once the investigation is completed, said UP Diliman Chancellor Michael Tan in a text message to the Collegian.

Meanwhile, the UP System administration expressed concern over the incident. “We are committed to eradicating [FRV] and impunity on campus by carrying out a transformation within the culture of the University itself,” the statement read.

Council members who were identified as part of the conversation were immediately put under preventive suspension, barring them from participating in any council work while investigations are ongoing.

USC Councilor Tierone Santos, however, maintained his innocence on the matter, as explained in the letter he sent to the council during the special assembly held October 2. Santos is now facing an expulsion case from the council, after the USC adopted a resolution

LAURA DELA TORRE

Sidebar ARTICLE X. EXPULSION AND DISCIPLINE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS Sec. 2: Any member of the Council may be expelled or suspended, as may be determined by the Council, for any of the following causes: a. Any willful violation of this Constitution; b. Gross neglect of duty; c. Any disorderly behavior during any council sessions; d. Any other form of misconduct which undermines the integrity of the Council

Source: UPD USC 2019-2020 Constitution and House Rules

to file such a case against him for violating article X section 2d of the council’s constitution (see sidebar).

Law Student Government Evening Representative Joel Paolo Salvador, likewise implicated in the leaks, said he had no knowledge of the online conversation.

On the other hand, College of Mass Communication Student Council Vice Chairperson Nacho Domingo resigned from his post on September 27.

Now that investigations are underway, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Jerwin Agpaoa encouraged the student body to aid the investigation by

submitting other pertinent evidence to the SDC. “Kailangan pagtuunan ng pansin kung paano makakakuha ng justice ‘yung mga biktima, and that’s through penalizing these kinds of actions,” Thakur said, noting that the student body has a big role to play in the campaign to end violence within university organizations.

“Beyond knowing [kung] ano ‘yung implications [ng FRV], it also calls for greater attention within our ranks [that] we should be on the lookout for these kinds of things para matanggal ‘yung culture na nagre-result sa violence,” he added. •

The USC held a special assembly where Santos was supposed to present his evidence of non-involvement in the alleged frat violence, but he did not show up due to health conditions. He sent a letter to the USC instead, which the council discussed alongside the information presented by the fact-finding team (FFT).

College of Mass Communication Vice Chairperson Nacho Domingo resigned from his position, a day after he was put under preventive suspension

The UPD USC held a General Assembly (GA) where they discussed Santos’s involvement in the FRV incident mentioned in the leaked group chat. In his one-minute speech, Santos denied such allegations and asked for due process when it comes to deliberating on his case.

UPD Chancellor Michael Tan issued a statement on the death of a Sigma Rho member, urging everyone to refrain from discussing on social media the sensitive matter as a form of respect to the privacy of the family.

SEPTEMBER 25

SEPTEMBER 27

SEPTEMBER 28

SEPTEMBER 29

OCTOBER 2-3

Three council members were identified as part of the online conversation, including USC Councilor Tierone Santos.

The UPD administration began their investigation on the issue, according to a statement released by Chancellor Michael Tan.

The Law Student Government also discussed the matter in their assembly.

BGC Day Representative Censon said he was not yet part of the fraternity in 2017, hence his innocence, while Evening Representative JP Salvador denied involvement in the alleged case.

Psychosocial services were provided to students, faculty, and staff, following the recent incidents that had transpired.

Citing that the council does not function as a judicial court, student council members recognized the validity of these screenshots as evidence relevant to the case.

Santos was put under preventive suspension immediately, per the USC house rules.

More student organizations and formations also released statements of condemnation, as they demand accountability from the fraternity involved, and seek swift action by the university administration.

INFOGRAPHIC • KARLA FAITH SANTAMARIA

In Santos’s letter drafted by his legal team, his camp said that the evidence used to incriminate him are unverified screenshots, rendering these materials invalid.

Councilor Hernan Delizo, a member of the FFT filed a motion to expel Santos from the council.

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NEWS

INFOGRAPHIC • REIA GORDOVEZ

On year three of bakwit school

Lumad amplify calls vs. Pantaron mining explorations, martial law JOSE MARTIN SINGH Rain poured heavily outside the UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters building. It was a late September afternoon, and the Lumad have moved their bakwit school here, after the Department of Education (DepEd) suspended their community schools a month ago.

Edwin Oribawan Jr. recounts how they could run freely in their fields back in Mindanao.

“Masaya kaming nakakapaglaro, nakakapag-camping sa ilog, at sa paggawa ng kahit ano,” he said.

But Edwin’s face turns somber as soon as he speaks of how military men roam their communities, following the declaration of martial law in Mindanao in May 2017. They had to leave for an evacuation center in Davao, and then to Manila.

“Hinding-hindi ko talaga makakalimutan yung pagpatay sa pinsan ko na si Gary Tumalibatoc… noong September 25, 2017,” he said. “Kaya andito ako sa Maynila para ipanawagan sa ating gobyerno na bigyan ng hustisya ang mga pinatay ng mga militar at paramilitar.”

Edwin hails from Talaingod, Davao del Norte, a scenic municipality overlooked by the glorious Pantaron mountain range. Known for its rich mineral resources, the Pantaron is the most heavily militarized area in the region, with the Save Our Schools Network (SOS) Mindanao noting the presence of at least three battalions since July last year.

The Pantaron: A sanctuary Spanning six provinces in Mindanao, the Pantaron region has an abundance of coal, copper, gold, iron, and nickel, and is home to four major rivers as well as many endangered plant and animal species.

“Ang Pantaron ang pinagkukunan ng mga pagkain at gamot ng Lumad kasi walang mga ospital doon,” said SOS Mindanao spokesperson Rius Valle. “Ito ang

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sanctuary nila kapag may mga bagyo o mga militarisasyon.”

But now, the Pantaron faces threats to its environment and community. Two out of 12 mining firms were cleared by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau last July to explore the mountain range for resources.

“The reality is that the Pantaron range is the life of the indigenous people,” SOS UP Diliman coordinator Edge Uyanguren said.

“Take it away from them and you’ll be killing the people.”

But Valle says the Lumad are ready to stand together–as they have done countless times in the past.

Education for the community Solidarity among the Lumad is fostered especially through the community schools, where they learn about their culture and struggle.

A student at Salugpongan Ta’Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center (Salugpongan) in Talaingod, Edwin dreams of becoming a teacher. “Gusto kong tulungan at i-educate yung mga kabataang Lumad kagaya ko na nangangailangan ng tunay na edukasyon,” he said.

Like Edwin, Jinky Mantogmangibato also wants to serve her fellow Lumad by becoming a doctor to promote access to health in their communities after she graduates from Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation in Compostela Valley.

“Kasi pag merong nagkakasakit lalong lalo na yung kritikal na, hindi na po nakakaabot sa ospital,” she said.

But DepEd stands in the way of their dreams.

The DepEd Southern Mindanao on July 12 suspended 54 Salugpongan schools in Davao.

DepEd was acting on allegations that the schools deviated from the standard basic curriculum, with National Security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. also claiming that they have become breeding grounds for antigovernment activities.

As soon as the schools were suspended, Salugpongan teacher Jenny Rose Hayahay said military units started shouting and

drawing guns at them while they held classes. So, they decided to evacuate.

These incidents add to the long list of human rights violations under martial law in Mindanao, according to SOS. Cases of threats and intimidation rose to 236 during its implementation, affecting a total of 44,612 people (see sidebar).

Struggle for peace Such cases put the Philippines at the top of the list of the most dangerous countries for environmental activists. According to international environment watchdog Global Witness, 113 have been killed under President Rodrigo Duterte’s term, and the violence revolves around the issues of coal, agribusiness, logging, and mining.

The Lumad are the usual targets of such violence because of their battle against corporations trying to take over their ancestral land, thus the difficulty in upholding their right to self-determination.

Out of this struggle, the Lumad and their advocates conceived of the idea of a formalized school in 2007. “Ang paglaban ng mga Lumad dito sa bakwit school para sa edukasyon ay para sa susunod na salinlahi,” Valle said.

Uyanguren stressed that the plight of the indigenous people should be thoroughly considered in the pursuit of development.

“Ang mga tao ay part ng frame ng development na dapat gamitin sa Pantaron at lahat ng lupang ninuno.

Hindi lang dapat nanggagaling sa policymakers or businesses ang direksyon. ” But the way the government and corporations have been pursuing development departs greatly from what the Lumad want: to live in peace and close to nature.

The rain has subsided. A faint ray of light pours through the leaves and windows overhead.

Jinky sits on the tiled floor and hugs her knees. She looks away then shakes her head, after narrating the countless bombings and killings in their communities. “Gusto na po namin ng kapayapaan,” she said. •

Sidebar • ATTACKS ON LUMAD COMMUNITIES FROM JUNE 2016 TO JULY 2019 37 cases • 9,079 victims

THREATS, HARASSMENT, & INTIMIDATION

236 cases • 35,533 victims 44,612 victims 4 cases • 1,383 victims

FORCIBLE EVACUATION

36 cases • 16,866 victims 18,249 victims

MILITARY ENCAMPMENT IN SCHOOLS & COMMUNITIES

13 cases • 3,941 victims 35 cases • 9,208 victims 13,149 victims 3 cases • 9 victims

TRUMPED-UP CHARGES

14 cases • 40 victims 49 victims

FORCIBLE SCHOOL CLOSURES

0 cases • 0 victims AERIAL BOMBARDMENT

5 cases • 2,350 victims 2,350 victims

9 cases • 172 victims 126 cases • 3,461 victims 3,633 victims

Before Martial Law (June 2016 to May 2017) During Martial Law (May 2017 to July 2019)

Total Victims

JT TRINIDAD

BANTA SA PANGARAP • Nakikinig si Lala, 16, isang mag-aaral sa baitang 11 ng bakwit iskul, sa kanyang klase sa asignaturang Personal Development sa CAL New Building, Setyembre 28.

Pangarap maging guro sa kalusugan ni Lala upang makatulong sa mga kapwa niya Lumad. Higit na dumami ang nagkasakit sa kanila nang magbakwit dahil hindi sila sanay sa klima rito. Kinailangan nilang mag-bakwit matapos ipasara ang 136 na paaralang Lumad.

Kasama rito ang banta sa kanilang kaligtasan bunga ng redtagging, militarisasyon, at pagpasok ng malalaking kumpanyang minahan sa kanilang mga lupang katutubo.

LINDSAY MARTINEZ

@phkule

Transport groups strike anew against looming jeepney phaseout DANIEL SEBASTIANNE DAIZ A broad alliance of nationwide transport groups held a strike on September 30 to resist the government’s looming deadline for public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization next year. The groups denounce the jeepney phaseout scheme as coercive for it compels jeepney drivers and operators to yield to modernization at the expense of their already meager livelihood.

The Alyansa Kontra PUV Phaseout, composed of the Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator Nationwide (Piston), Stop and Go coalition, STOP, and the Alliance of Concerned Transport Organizations (Acto) led the grand mobilization to call for the scrapping of the PUV modernization program set to be completed by June 30.

Gaudencio Mateo, a UP Ikot driver for more than 40 years, lives off an average of P700 daily to sustain his family of five. The modernization program, he said, would only starve the families of jeepney drivers. “[Ipha-phase out] nila ang jeep namin, pero ano na ang ipapakain namin sa pamilya namin?”

Around 600,000 jeepney drivers are in danger of losing their livelihood under this scheme, according to Piston. Some jeepney operators and drivers have already spent up to P300,000 to upgrade their units, in accordance to the government’s new franchising requisites. Such demands are already too much of a burden for jeepney drivers, said Piston National President Modeflor Floranda.

The transport groups also fear that commuters will likewise suffer as fares are expected to climb exponentially. The present P9 minimum fare would shoot up to P25 when the modernization program is fully implemented, they said.

The present P537 daily minimum wage of workers in the National Capital Region, meanwhile, might not be able to compensate for the increase in transport expenses.

The situation could even be much worse in the provinces where wages are lower, said Floranda.

“Kaya ang phaseout, hindi lang ito laban ng driver at operator kundi laban [din] ng mamamayan,” Floranda said.

Under the program, the government will offer loans to PUV operators to replace their old jeepney units. Costing more than P2 million with an additional six percent interest per year, the transport alliances project that jeepney drivers need to earn at least P1,500 daily to pay the loan.

“Lalabas na ang kikitain ng mga driver sa loob ng pitong taon ay pambayad lang doon sa loan,” Floranda said.

The Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Memorandum Circular (MC) 2019-013 also aims to consolidate routes to a single franchise holder, enabling private sector to monopolize the transport sector.

However, only companies or cooperatives can avail of the said loan, and individual operators will be barred from renewing their franchise if they are not under a consortium, based on the memorandum.

The said move only proves that the government is trying to profit from the public transport sector by selling them to big private corporations and cooperatives, said Floranda.

As an alternative to the phaseout, the transport groups have also amplified their calls urging the government to support the repair, rehabilitation, and upgrade of public transport.

Drivers and operators who opt to modernize their units will receive a 10 percent government subsidy as starting capital, according to proposed Senate Bill 867 which the transport groups support. A longer 15-year amortization period and lower four percent interest rate would also be employed, according to section 6 of the bill.

“Kung gusto talaga ng gobyerno ng tunay na modernisasyon, magkaroon sana muna sila ng plano sa pagtatayo ng moderno at sariling industriya,” Floranda said. “Dahil kung mayroon tayong industriya, hindi natin pagdedebatehan ang usapin ng modernisasyon dahil lahat ng driver ay nagnanais ng bago at maayos na units.” •

09 Oktubre 2019 • www.philippinecollegian.org

DEBT TRAP • Nag-aabang si Henry Chavez, 50, ng pasahero sa kaniyang dyip upang matustusan ang pangangailangan ng kaniyang pamilya, Setyembre 28. Sa 20 taon niyang pamamasada, pinagkakasya niya ang humigit-kumulang P600 na kita niya araw-araw para mapag-aral at mapakain ang kaniyang dalawang anak. Dahil sa Jeepney Modernization Act, kailangan niyang palitan ang kaniyang dyip ng bagong yunit, kung kaya’t mapipilitan siyang umutang sa Land Bank ng P1.2 milyon hanggang P1.6 milyon.

Kapag naipatupad ang jeepney phaseout, hindi niya kakayaning tugunan ang halagang P800 araw-araw na ipinataw ng bangko sa mga namamasada dahil sa kawalan ng tulong-pinansyal mula sa gobyerno.

Paglutas sa kahirapan, nakikitang solusyon sa child trafficking KENT IVAN FLORINO Tinatayang umaabot sa 100,000 ang kaso ng child trafficking sa Pilipinas taun-taon, ayon sa United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Ngunit taliwas sa mungkahi ng isang opisyal, naniniwala ang mga progresibong grupong hindi kailangang lumikha ng panibagong ahensya upang bigyang lunas ang ganitong kalagayan.

Iminungkahi ni Monica Prieto Teodoro, special envoy of the president to the UNICEF, ang pagtatayo ng panibagong komisyong mangangasiwa sa isyu ng child trafficking matapos tangkain ng isang Amerikanang ipuslit palabas ng bansa ang isang anim na buwang sanggol noong Setyembre 3.

“Hindi ito ang solusyon [sa child trafficking], kundi ang pag-ugat sa mas malalim pang problema na nagtutulak sa pagkapit ng mga mamamayang Pilipino sa child trafficking,” ani Salinlahi Secretary-General Eule Rico Bonganay.

Nangungunang dahilan umano ang kahirapan sa paglala ng child trafficking sa bansa, ayon sa National Baseline Study on Violence

Against Children ng UNICEF. Tinatayang isa sa bawat 10 kaso ng child prostitution sa buong mundo ay nanggagaling sa Pilipinas, batay sa ulat ng Plan International Philippines noong 2016.

“Nananawagan tayo sa mga mambabatas na mas bigyang prayoridad ang edukasyon, pagtataas ng sahod at oportunidad sa trabaho, at iba pang mga batas na naglalayong iahon sa kahirapan ang mamamayang Pilipino upang maiwasang masangkot silang muli sa child trafficking,” ani Kabataan Partylist Rep. Sarah Elago.

Bagaman nananatiling malaking suliranin ang pagsugpo sa child trafficking, kinilala ang Pilipinas sa pagsunod nito sa pamantayan upang labanan ang child trafficking, ayon sa Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report ngayong 2019. Kabilang dito ang pagtatatag ng Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) noong 2012.

“Itinayo ang IACAT in response sa human trafficking at kasama dun yung kabataan. Mawawalan yan ng silbi kung papalitan ng panibagong komisyon.

May sapat na tayong mekanismo para resolbahin yung isyu na yan, ang kailangan [ay] paganahin ang mga ito,” ani Bonganay.

Nabuo ang IACAT nang amyendahan ang Republic Act

(RA) 9208 o ang Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.

Pinangangasiwaan ng Kagawaran ng Katarungan ang nasabing komisyong inaasahang manguna sa pagsugpo sa human trafficking.

Ngunit dahil sa lokal na kapabayaan at korapsyon, tinatayang 1,200 kaso ng human trafficking ang naiwang nakabinbin noong 2017, ayon sa TIP report.

Mula naman sa 441 noong 2016, umabot lamang sa 177 ang bilang ng nilitis na kaso noong 2017, habang 65 lamang ang naipakulong noong taon ding iyon.

“Sa tingin ko, ang mas kailangang gawin ngayon ay pigilan ‘yung kaltas-pondo sa mga komisyon na nangangalaga sa mga bata,” ani Elago.

Mula sa P68.03 milyong pondo ngayong taon, aabot lamang sa P65.1 milyon ang inihaing pondo ng IACAT sa susunod na taon.

“Aanhin natin ‘yang bagong komisyon kung yung mga naitatag na, hindi functional at substantial [at] walang [sapat na] fund para makapag-operate,” ani Elago.

“Isalba natin ‘yung kabataan.

Prove to us that the government is not the number one children’s rights violator by accepting the challenge of improving the lives of the youth [by] protecting them [from] this kind of crime,” ani Bonganay. •

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@phkule

Neither diplomacy nor denialism can stop the planet from careening towards a tipping point. Only by retooling the global political economy can humanity hit at least some brake on the climate crisis.

The sounds on a distant shore might as well be within earshot: the grumble of an ice cap chipping off a summit before plunging into the sea; the swish of a storm surge; the crackle of fires gutting rainforests; and the wailing and weeping of villagers scrambling to stay adrift on a flooded lowland five-thousand miles from where a 15-yearold kid sits hugging her knees, protesting by herself, outside the Swedish parliament.

On August 20, 2018, the day Greta Thunberg decided to quit school to strike and draw attention to the climate crisis, the

unusually shorter monsoon season in Taungoo District, Myanmar bucketed down for hours on end, buckled bridges, and swept houses in 85 villages away in a torrent. Meanwhile, down south, a different version of calamity raged on as drought levels triggered fires in West Kalimantan and other forested areas.

Ecosystems elsewhere knuckle under temperatures so ruinous that they hark back to degrees during mass extinctions far beyond living memory. Biblical forecasts of cataclysms are weather advisories in the making that Thunberg and others before her have sounded the alarms about.

“We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis,” Thunberg said at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties, the decision-making body of the United Nations climate convention, in Poland last year.

“And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.”

Indeed, the fact that the planet’s unwinding has accelerated is a scientific consensus beyond dispute.

What is less

obvious, particularly am nations wedded to global cap is that today’s political econom must be retooled before natural world reels irredeema towards a tipping point.

For neither pretensions stopgap reforms nor visceral for mankind’s fate can keep chaos at bay.

Cathedral thinking, in words of Thunberg, would pr a counterpoint: the need to lay groundwork for a habitable fu while the ceiling of such a struc is yet to be built. This forem requires the rigor to dismantle inequities that undergird societie the very conditions that have le this emergency—while mul movements on all scales strug to cope, organize, and sketch prospects of solidarity and so justice despite, or precisely beca of, apocalyptic threats.

Sweating bullets Pushing back aga doomsayers, denialists, demagogues will be tough. disasters of climate cha compel not so much a reckon with various illiberal forces a rebellion against their overture policies bent on degrading pu life and the environment.

Their likes appear to s through the world, having c from the fringes of the polit arena to seize seats of po President Donald Trump of United States, once a huckste a real estate empire and a joke of reality TV, assumed office eliciting the furies of an electo disillusioned liberal rul

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Taking cue from most populist authoritarians, he relishes conspiracies, lies, and the rejection of reason.

Trump, who has called global warming a Chinese hoax, rolled back 85 environmental rules that could hike up greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This was almost a postscript to his pullout from the Paris Agreement in 2017, rescinding America’s pledge to keep global temperatures below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. On many counts this move squared with his America First policy, a protectionist appeal to white supremacy.

Even countries where the Left once held sway have followed suit.

Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, combative where his predecessors were conciliatory, stocked his ministry with billionaires who have bled natural and indigenous reserves.

Along with Trump, he vowed last September to blaze the trail for “private-sector sustainable development” in the Amazon.

This transpired just weeks after a spate of criminally ignited fires spotlighted how Brazil is lurching in the opposite direction of its Paris Agreement carbon reduction targets.

To be sure, there is no reason to think that strongmen elected on a platform of violence would posture as Earth’s saviors. Yet they demonstrate the futility of prevailing transnational coordination to police crimes against the planet, and the fragility of legal compromises that too disturbingly resemble a lack of conviction.

With their conservative politics, they have done the inadvertent service of throwing into vivid relief the need for a radical alternative.

Such is the kind that recognizes inequalities even of vulnerability, and so welcomes engagement with the very disenfranchised billions who could wind up as the first casualties of this crisis.

Storm in a teacup There is no bleaker irony than in the certainty of the miseries to be borne by the marginalized majority, scapegoated by no less than a wealthy minority liable for an ample share of carbon emissions. The same cast of economic planners, politicians, and policymakers with vested interests convene at global summits—the closest to a progressive response to the crisis at present—held in proverbial corridors of power.

If nothing else, an international agreement built on shared sacrifice is a feat. Yet the Paris Agreement, unlike the Kyoto Protocol of 1997, fails to commit countries to binding limits on carbon emissions based on income or per capita gross domestic product. It presumes that they can all, in good faith and with political will, deliver on their pledges to limit warming to below 1.5°C fast enough to halve their emissions by 2030.

This is a tall order. Even in the unlikely scenario that these commitments are met, neither guarantees that an atmosphere already too far gone would cease to wreak havoc. The palliatives endorsed by the UN, at the nexus of such global alliances, are no less dispiriting.

One such solution is the carbon market, where governments impose a limit on how much GHGs

There is no bleaker irony than in the certainty of the miseries to be borne by the marginalized majority, scapegoated by no less than a wealthy minority liable for an ample share of carbon emissions.

S

firms can emit. The latter can earn credits by funding GHG-saving projects elsewhere. In 2008, this scheme allowed RWE, a German electric utilities company, to build more coal plants in Europe by earning credits for funding the Xiaoxi dam in China, which came under fire for displacing over 7,500 villagers. RWE went on to spew almost triple its legal cap of GHGs and has over the years hedged higher carbon prices.

This cap-and-trade system dovetails with carbon-capture technologies that, in effect, embolden industries to belch coal that they know can be injected back underground. They represent a misnomer, though, as the few such facilities available in power stations cannot soak up carbon concentrations long stored in the air.

At the core of such technofixes is a refusal to wean humanity off wanton petrol use. The human enterprise that first tapped its power over two centuries ago burns through oil reserves to cough out, on average, 21.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually—akin to 128 million blue whales pressing down on the earth’s crust.

All along, this has been the diet that fattened a capital-hungry global order. Market-mending measures aimed at adaptation, from desalination plants to coastal defenses, would thus only whet the appetite for super-profits of businesses that peddle these crutches after crippling the planet in the first place.

Breaking the ice Climate negotiations, led by institutions like the UN, do more than mask the windfalls that corporate culprits snitch. Socalled historic accords like the Paris Agreement are drafted from behind closed doors for liberal democracies to speak on behalf of the rest of the world that they have plundered and laid waste to.

While China, a developing country, has secured a seat at the negotiating table, its neighbors in the Global South have yet to catch up to enjoy the same right to emit.

Such a policy tweak, for example, as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law in the Philippines aims to steamroll a transition from coal-fired electricity by levying higher taxes which power distributors ultimately pass on to consumers.

In the name of shifting to greener economies, low-income nations are forced to march in step with the very imperial powers keen to shirk historical accountability for miring them in underdevelopment.

This underscores how problematic a geopolitically lopsided climate convention is.

For one, the US has dumped the bulk of cumulative carbon dioxide worldwide, at 25 percent, per the Global Carbon Project. Now, having rather tired of pumping Saudi oil, it operates a fracking industry for stockpiles of shale gas. It is on track to become the largest oil producer by 2020, according to the International Energy Agency. Still, it nailed down the dilution of the Paris Agreement in its insistence on voluntary, nonbinding emissions cuts.

Trump is almost certain to sharpen this contradiction.

His contrarian stance has not diminished the stakes of the US in the global climate debate. If anything, it has only shaken what sparse room is left for countries otherwise excluded from decisions that could spell the difference between life and death for their people.

Whatever concessions liberals may clinch in these venues, or however fiercely autocrats and skeptics resist them, either way would fail to lead to any change of mythic magnitude before the clock runs down. At this point, to pin any hope on climate diplomacy is a luxury only elite economies and

In the name of shifting to greener economies, low-income nations are forced to march in step with the very imperial powers keen to shirk historical accountability for miring them in underdevelopment.

their institutions can afford.

It is no wonder that such urgency has dawned on the generation of Thunberg, who will not have yet reached their prime by the time the 1.5°C deadline rolls around. They make a case for hope. Equally vital, too, are the voices and wisdom of those on the peripheries, whose destinies are just as precarious at this juncture.

Most of them like the world’s indigenous and racialized communities have grappled with vulnerability long after centuries of colonial dispossession. They serve as nature’s stewards by challenging the notion of land as property and resources as commodities. The role they play as a wellspring of political resilience promises more for a climate justice movement organized on the premise of struggles rather than geopolitical bounds.

The tasks ahead cannot be underrated, and today’s mounting sense of siege cannot be overstated. It could only be so when the global powers-thatbe have yet to push off from their comfortable shores and heed what could be the civilization’s death knell. It is yet another tragedy of the climate crisis that, without upsetting such inequalities, only with radical hope could mankind imagine itself into an unimaginable future. •

RICHARD CALAYEG CORNELIO

tate of Emergency

GRAPHICS • GUIA ABOGADO

Burning Global Capital to Save the Burning Planet

PAGE DESIGN • KIMBERLY ANNE YUTUC

07

KULTURA Profs to Pick

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN UPD

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Easy Uno Come enlistment season, students would often have two tabs open in their browsers: one for CRS and one for Profs to Pick, previously named Rate UP Profs. In the toxic environment of UP and many other universities elsewhere, use of the latter and forms of its likeness has been essential for students to make sure they were not putting themselves in the hands of terror profs or in classes where they are less likely to get high grades.

Whether by way of screen or by mouth, students scramble to ask so they can get to decide.

Just recently, the Profs to Pick website closed down after receiving a cease-and-desist from UP. Nevertheless other forms have sprouted on sites like Facebook and Reddit, showing just how much this is something students cannot do without, and for good reason. The space that professor rating websites provide allows students to create a culture that satirizes the grading system they are set against. While full of remarks

that constantly shift from reliable to dubious, valuable to flippant, these platforms nonetheless attract dependence because their appeal rests on providing users a semblance of control over the torrent of standards and ranks.

Helpfulness It seems fitting to inscribe somewhere in its emblem: “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here,” for indeed stepping into UP is like stepping into the inferno. Its many burdensome policies betray its prestigious edifice and take its toll on those on its scaffolds: its staff, faculty, and not least, its students for whom many different challenges lurk in the snake pit that is UP. Among those is a muchfeared encounter with a terror prof.

Terror professors have long been notorious for being problematic and unreasonable, making them unpopular choices for students. During enlistment, the slots available in their classes can well accommodate the swelling of the others, except no one wants to be anxious every meeting. Platforms like Profs to Pick help students identify terror profs so that they can avoid them

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ISAAC RAMOS

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GRAPHICS • JAMES ATILLO

altogether and opt for those more approachable and understanding.

The premium put on avoidance says much is at stake for students here. The anxious lookout for terror profs is fuelled by a haunting awareness of the need to survive and to do so aggressively, for the rapids that whittle the whole apparatus of education have turned it into a worship of grades; it is grades that are the currency of survival in the economy of competition that molds the educational system and for which end it ultimately functions.

The mythic narrative built around grades makes numbers indicative of intellectual merit, ability, and competency. It is with these numbers that the system evaluates its students and it is these too that students satirize to rate their professors.

Easiness The logic underlying the everyday classroom regimen privileges grades and fosters ‘grade-consciousness’ that intoxicates students with aggressive competition like that of the workplace they are likely to occupy in the future. Both spaces are strangled by the clutches of capitalist ethics: the highest good is to compete well and to be on top.

This arena of cold numbers pushes students to take a more

convenient choice. What space is supposed to be devoted to learning and critical discourse is turned into one of rankings and strata, the locus of development turned to one of stasis. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu says that the education system becomes a tool for maintaining the social order.

Replete with values that reflect those of the dominant class, this superstructure wanders far from its transformative potential.

The whole apparatus of education is made a tool for the reproduction of lopsided relations.

While hierarchical teacher and student relations are maintained, the ways of classification and evaluation employed function to reproduce a capitalist ethos and a culture with no vision of going beyond the grip of capital and its consequent unfettered competition. The end in sight is no changed society but the same one clinging to its rotting foundations.

Pedagogy The trickling down of a systemic fetish for hierarchy and competition to the educational system impedes the cultivation of criticality. With the dominant narrative portraying grades as tickets to success, students are pressed to be greatly competitive players while exchanging the complexities of learning for

CRS Tooltip

PAGE DESIGN • REIA GORDOVEZ

expedience, and are fashioned into automatons made servile and complicit to social reproduction. In the middle of the helplessness that systemic ills produce, students tread paths of subversion. But there is much to be done for reaction to become radical.

While professor rating platforms react to an educational system indifferent to students’ woes, these mechanisms run the risk of becoming illusory in their democratizing efforts and worse, mere spaces of complicity in their latent invitation to give in to the sway of competition.

They ultimately become ways of circumvention. Although they are coping means, they limit the purview of students’ imaginations of resistance.

What years of fighting for academic rights have proven is that students’ power lies in their willingness to contend to create an alternative to the system. But while it takes a protracted effort to attain that alternative, its creation can begin with students challenging the dynamics of the classroom: asserting the grades their efforts warrant and struggling against the existing hierarchical relations; for it is only beyond any semblance of control that students can claim their power: out of fervent struggle, and wherever else their imaginations of resistance come to. •

KULTURA

@phkule

Nakaiwas si Roy sa ibinatong plato ni Annie.

Nabasag ang katahimikan sa baranggay sa pagbagsak ng plato sa sahig.

Tumagos sa tagpi at manipis na dingding ang pasigaw na sagutan.

May kabit, bukod sa nagpapalaboy nang mga anak ay meron pang ibang pinapakain.

Naging sinehan ang harap ng bahay; may teorya ang manonood, at may pasikretong kumukuha ng bidyo.

Sa makalawa’y sa likod na ng iskrin nagbabangayan ang magasawa, at si Tulfo ang taga-hatol.

Tinatalo nito ang mga debate kada eleksyon; nakatutok ang mas malawak na madla sa bawat palitan, may sari-sariling reaksyon sa bawat pahayag.

Ina, Kapatid, Anak Hindi na lang mananatili sa mga kapitbahay ang mga away sa pamamagitan ng Raffy Tulfo in Action. Iniimbita sa palabas ang mga may hidwaan upang mahanapan ng resolusyon ni “Idol” Raffy Tulfo ang mga problema. T3 ang unang tawag dito, lumalapit ang mga tao sa Tulfo Brothers dahil ang mga awtoridad umano ay mabagal at hindi kumikilos.

Bago ang magkakapatid na Tulfo, nariyan ang programang Face-to-Face kung saan malayang magpisikalan, magbatuhan ng upuan o masasamang mga salita ang mga kalahok.

Sa Estados Unidos (US), mayroong Dr. Phil, isa ring palabas na nagtatampok ng iba’t ibang hidwaan at

problema, at sa huli’y bibigyang payo at sagot ng mga eksperto.

Bagaman unibersal na reklamo sa kapulisan ang kabagalan sa pagresponde, mas patok sa mga Pilipino kaysa sa mga bansa tulad ng US ang ganitong uri ng palabas—mas maraming tao sa bansa ang nagmumula sa mababang uri.

Gamit ang mga dramatikong linyahan, minsa’y pisikalan ng mga kalahok, naaakit ng palabas ang masa; na ang problema nila sa asawa o kapitbahay ay nanghihingi ng malaking atensyon at reaksyon, sapat upang ilabas sa publiko.

Kara Mia Nakikita ng manonood ang sarili sa palabas, ang telebisyon ay representasyon ng kanyang reyalidad.

Gayunman, ang partikularidad ng depiksyon sa mga personal na problema ay nagpapalimot sa manonood na may ugat ang mga ito.

Ang pagdami ng manonood ay nangangahulugang mas maraming kita para sa palabas, at sa istasyon nito. Sa Pilipinas, mga pamilya ang may hawak sa mga korporasyong nagmomonopolyo sa industriya ng midya: ang mga Lopez sa ABS-CBN, Gozon, Duavit, at Jimenez sa GMA, at Pangilinan sa TV 5. Sa iilang angkan na ito napupunta

ang bilyun-bilyong kita mula sa mga palabas na tinatangkilik at pinagbibidahan ng masa.

Sa katunayan, mayroong espasyo noon ang mga tao upang magtalakayan nang walang kontrol mula sa mga negosyante o estado, ayon sa pilosopo at sosyolohistang si Jürgen Habermas. Inilathala sa dyaryo ang mga pananaw na ito, at naging daluyan ng diskurso ang midya. Pagdating ng ika-18 na siglo, nagamit ang midya upang ibalita ang mga batas ng gobyerno.

Ani Habermas, sa puntong ito naging mahalagang institusyon ang midya dahil dito nagkakaroon ng komunikasyon ang estado at ang mamamayan nito.

Sa paglago ng ekonomiya at industriya noong ika-19 siglo, naglathala ang midya upang umani ng kita sa halip na maging daluyan ng mga ideya—naging komoditi ang mga artikulo. Gayundin, nawalan ng kapangyarihan ang ordinaryong mamamayan na ipahayag ang kanilang mga

saloobin, at napunta sa mga may kakayahang magbayad ang espasyo sa midya.

Ito ang tunay na pula at puti: ang masa na nawalan ng impluwensya sa paghubog ng diskurso laban sa makapangyarihan na may kontrol sa diskusyon. Negosyante ang may-ari ng industriya, binigyang monopolyo ng estado upang maging instrumento nito sa paglako ng likong pananaw, samantala pasibong mamimili ang mamamayan sa mga impormasyong inaalok.

Nagbubunga ito sa pagkakaroon ng iisang hulma ng mga palabas: itinatanghal sa buhay ng mahirap ang personal na pakikipagtunggali niya sa kanyang pamilya, ngunit hindi ang dahilan sa kanyang kahirapan.

Kadenang Ginto Isinasapubliko ng midya ang dapat ay pribadong mga bagay, ginagawang dramatiko mula sa maliliit na problema hanggang sa mga balintuna. Ipinapakita lamang ang mga kwentong papatok at magbibigay saya sa manonood, isinasanay ang kanilang mga mata na ang lahat ng dapat makita sa iskrin ay para lamang sa kasiyahan.

At dahil ang palabas ay representasyon ng reyalidad, sa kumpas ng makapangyarihan, naitatanim sa utak ng marami na ang tema rin ng buhay ay umiinog sa pagtataksil at inggitan. Nagagawang ilihis at ipalimot ang primaryang hidwaan lipunan at higit, ang tunay na mga kaaway ng ordinaryong mamamayan.

Naka-censor sa telebisyon ang araw-araw na buhay ng magsasaka, kung saan ang reyalidad niya ay nakasentro sa lupa at kung paano ito inaagaw ng mga asyendero. Tahimik ang balita sa sunud-sunod na welga ng mga manggagawang inaabuso ng mga korporasyon. Hindi papayag ang makapangyarihan, o ang estado, na pumatok ang ganitong klaseng kwento ng reyalidad.

Ang pagpapalabas lamang ng mga eksenang nakakaakit sa usiserong pandinig o mga linyahang nakakaani ng halakhak ay nagpapamanhid sa mga tao. Sila na mismo ang tatanggi sa mga paksang nangangailangan ng seryosong pakikinig at pakikialam, dahil ang panonood ay isang sandali upang tumakas sa hirap ng buhay.

Ngunit wala sa manonood ang sisi. Dahil tulad ng mga magsasaka at manggagawa na inaalisan ng boses sa midya, ginagawa ring bulag ng institusyon at estado ang mga manonood.

Sinasagkaan ang kritikal na pagiisip ng mga tao upang mapanatili ang kasalukuyang kalagayan ng mga bagay: patuloy ang abuso sa mahihirap.

Sa panahong hawak ng makapangyarihan ang midya, tumitindi ang pangangailangang umalis sa kahon ng teleserye at mga kwentong iskripted; lumabas at suriin sa sariling mata ang tunay na karanasan ng ordinaryong mamamayan, at ang paglaban nila para sa sariling kapakanan.

Dahil hindi isasatelebisyon ang kanilang tagumpay. •

SA KINAUUKULAN POLYNNE DIRA

GRAPHICS • MARCY LIOANAG PAGE DESIGN • KARLA FAITH SANTAMARIA

09

KONTRA-AGOS ATHENA SOBERANO ILLUSTRATION • ZOE VIDAL

MEN ARE TRASH Mula nang pumasok ako sa UP, akala ko matatakasan ko na ang toxic masculinity ng tatay ko sa bahay.

Sabi kasi nila, ligtas ako rito dahil may paggalang ang lahat sa bawat isa—may pagkilala sa karapatan, at higit sa lahat, walang karahasan. Pero hindi naman pala.

Nagmamadali ako noong Miyerkules na yun. Nagmamadali ako papunta sa exam nang bulabugin ako ng isa kong batchmate sa chat.

“Nakita mo na ba,” tanong niya sa’kin. Bago pa man ako makasagot, ipinadala na niya sa’kin ang kopya ng panibagong frat leaks na nakapost sa Twitter. Hindi ko na tinuloy ang pagrereview para sa exam, bahala na.

Dali-dali kong binasa ang thread. Wala akong masabi—basta ang alam ko lang, galit na galit ako. Gusto kong magpakatatag, pero hindi ko napigilang lumuha dahil sa matinding panlulumo.

Nakakadismayang hanggang ngayon, buhay pa rin ang atrasadong kulturang gaya nito, kulturang walang respeto sa kababaihan, walang pagtangi sa pagkakapantay-pantay.

Bukod pa, higit din akong nakaramdam ng muhi nang makita ko ang larawan ng isang taong punung-puno ng pasa sa katawan dahil sa hazing. Kinakailangan nilang tuluyan itong iwaksi—iyan ay kung may natitira pang kahihiyan ang kapatirang Sigma Rho, at ang iba pang

BUHAY AT BUKID MARVIN ANG

Ang tunay na takot at duwag ang siyang unang nananakot, lagi sa aking sinasabi ng nanay ko.

10

pormasyong marahas gaya nila.

Gayong wala pang isang taon mula noong huling insidente ng karahasan sa pagitan ng Upsilon at Alpha Phi Beta, isang bagay ang malinaw: habang mas umiigting ang karahasan, patuloy namang nagiging mailap ang katarungan. Dahil sa kapangyarihang taglay ng mga eksklusibong samahan gaya ng mga frat, nagagawa nilang mawalan ng pananagutan sa bawat kasalanang kanilang ginawa—at patuloy na ginagawa.

Dito ko napagtantong isang malaking kasinungalingan ang pagsasabing isang santwaryo para sa iba’t ibang uri ng kasarian ang UP. Malayo sa ideyal na katangiang dapat taglayin ng pamantasan ang lagay nito sa kasalukuyan.

Hangga’t patuloy na buhay ang iba’t ibang porma ng abuso, hindi makakamit ng unibersidad ang kapayapaang ipinamamandila nito.

Kasinungalingan ding sabihing kaya kong takasan ang ganito kadilim na kultura dahil susundan ako nito saan man ako tumungo.

Kaya napagtanto ko ring sa halip na umiwas, matapang ko itong haharapin—kasama ang lahat ng inapi, kasama ang bawat isa, wawasakin natin ang ganitong kultura at pananagutin ang lahat ng may sala.

Hindi natin ito malilimutan. Hindi natin ito dapat kalimutan. •

Hinding-hindi ko malilimutan ang unang beses na nakapunta ako sa Hacienda Luisita. Bukod sa malawak na lupain at sariwang simoy ng hangin, pinakatumatak sa akin ang mga magsasakang nakilala ko roon. Lahat sila, bitbit pa rin ang bagahe ng pangyayaring naganap higit isang dekada na ang lumipas—ang masaker na kumitil sa anim na buhay, para sa karapatan sa lupang sinasaka.

Muli na namang nagmumulto itong kultura ng karahasan.

Kamakailan lamang, sinampahan ng gawa-gawang kaso si Ka Angie Ipong, tagapangulo ng women’s desk ng Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA)—isang desperadong galaw ng gobyerno upang patahimikin ang kaniyang mga kritiko.

Bilang manggagawang-bukid, isa si Ka Angie sa mga nanguna sa bungkalan bilang sagot sa kawalan ng lupang mapagtamnan. Bunga ito ng kaniyang matagal na panahong pag-oorganisa sa mga magsasaka, na siyang dinala niya sa Hacienda Luisita. Sa katunayan, nalimbag na ang isang manwal batay sa kaniyang karanasan kung papaano ito isinasagawa.

Ilang buwan bago kami bumisita, sinimulan nang buwagin ng mga magsasaka ng Luisita ang mga kongkretong pader na sa matagal na panaho’y ihiniwalay sila sa kanilang lupang dapat na sinasaka. Nakapagsasaka na silang muli ngayon sa pamamagitan ng bungkalan—isang sistema ng pagsasakang pamana sa kanila ni Ka Angie.

Bilang organisador ng mga magsasaka ng Mindanao, ipinanawagan niya ang pagbuwag sa mga hacienda, at pamamahagi nang libre ang lupa sa mga magsasaka. Lagi mang nakaamba ang banta ng peligro, hindi niya ito alintana; patuloy siyang nag-organisa, dahilan upang maging mainit siya sa mata ng mga nakaraan at kasalukuyang administrasyon.

Minsan nang nabilanggo si Ka Angie dahil sa kaniyang mga pulitikal na paniniwala. Pandaigdigang araw ng kababaihan noong 2005 nang damputin siya sa bisa ng gawa-gawang kaso ng rebelyon at pagpatay. Inasahan ng rehimeng Arroyo na masusupil nito ang kaniyang palabang diwa, subalit nagkamali sila.

Lalo lamang nitong pinag-ibayo ang pagtindig para sa kaniyang maka-magsasakang paninindigan.

Nagawa pa niyang makapagorganisa sa loob ng kulungan, hanggang sa siya’y napawalangsala noong 2011. Nang makalaya, pinangunahan niya ang Samahan ng mga Ex-detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto, hanggang sa siya’y maitalaga sa UMA. Ganito ring uri ng tapang ang nakita ko sa mga magsasaka ng Luisita—kina nanay Pong, nanay Elsi, at iba pang magsasakang sa matagal na panaho’y pinagkakaitan ng karapatan sa buhay at kabuhayan. Katulad ng kanilang tiyaga sa paglilinang ng lupa, arawaraw silang nakikipagbuno sa hirap na dala ng pagsasaka sa pagasang darating ang panahong aani rin sila ng tagumpay.

Kaya ganoon na lamang kasigasig ang gobyerno sa pagpapatahimik sa mamamayan, lalung-lalo na sa mga magsasaka— pagkat alam nila ang talim ng karit nito ang lalagot sa kanilang pagsasamantala. Ang pagbalikwas ang kanilang tanging armas upang mabuhay, at sa oras na sila’y magkaisa, tiyak na tatagpasin nila

ang pagmamalupit katulad ng mga talahib sa damuhan.

Kung tunay mang nagmamalasakit ang kasalukuyang administrasyon sa kaniyang mamamayan, matatanto nitong hindi bala o dulo ng baril ang sagot sa kumakalam na sikmura ng magsasaka, kundi nasa pagpapabasura sa mga polisiyang pasakit sa kanila katulad ng Rice Tariffication Law. Hindi rin solusyon ang pagsampa ng kaso sa mga lidermagsasaka at manggagawangbukid; pagkat sa huli’t huli, sa libreng pamamahagi ng lupa na isinusulong ng Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill ang siyang lalagot sa tanikala ng kahirapan para sa sektor na ito.

Ang tunay na takot at duwag ang siyang unang nananakot, lagi sa aking sinasabi ng nanay ko. At hanggang patuloy na itinatanghal ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ang interes ng mga makapangyarihan, lagi’t laging mag-aanak ang bayan ng mga katulad ni Ka Angie na matapang na tinatanganan ang laban ng mga magsasaka para sa tunay na reporma sa lupa. •

phkule@gmail.com

OPED-GRPX

LENTE NG PAGLABAN LUCKY DELA ROSA

Pero para saan nga ba ang aking kamera kung hindi nito masisipat ang kondisyon ng mga inaapi?

Hindi na bago sa akin ang kapaligirang puno ng karahasan ng mga pulis dahil ito ang kinalakihan ko, subalit nang masaksihan ko ang madugong pagbuwag sa piketlayn ng mga manggagawa ng NutriAsia, hindi ko naiwasang magalit. Lagpas isang taon na ang lumipas nang sapilitan nila akong hinarang, hinila, at sinubukang damputin, bilang estudyanteng mamamahayag.

Tulad ng paglalarawan ng mga paskil tungkol sa isyu, kasing pula nga ng ketsap ang dugo sa kalsada.

Binato, kinaladkad, at pinagpapalo ng mga pulis ang mga manggagawa.

At nitong Hulyo 6 lamang, nilusob muli ng mga pulis ang barikada, itinumba gamit ang backhoe, at ilegal na inaresto ang 17 manggagawa ng NutriAsia sa Cabuyao, Laguna.

Taliwas sa sarap ng mga nililikha nilang pampalasa, nakapanlulumo ang pagsasamantala sa mga manggagawa. Karamiha’y nanatiling kontraktwal, mababa ang sahod, pinagkakaitan ng benepisyo, at pinagbawalan sa pag-uunyon.

Hindi masarap at masaya basta NutriAsia. Patunay nito ang mahigit sa 900 mga kontraktwal na manggagawa na tumatanggap lamang ng P372 arawang sahod

09 Oktubre 2019 • www.philippinecollegian.org

sa 12-16 na oras ng trabaho.

Samantala, wala ring proteksyon ang mga manggagawa sa loob ng paggawaan. May mga insidente kung saan kasamang naipit ang kamay ng manggagawa sa loob ng makina.

Batid ko rin ang takot para sa aking buhay sa oras na iyon. Pero para saan nga ba ang aking kamera kung hindi nito masisipat ang kondisyon ng mga inaapi? Kumpara sa mga baril at bala ng pulis, armas ko sa bawat araw na paggaod bilang alagad ng midya ang aking kamera at mga litratrong nabubuo nito.

Obligasyon ng bawat peryodista ang pagkober, mapa-rally man o welga, dahil ito ang sandata upang palawakin ang laban ng mga sektor.

Tanda ko pa nga ang sinabi ng kapitbahay kong pulis, baril lang ang katapat sa mga pinagkamalang nagtutulak ng droga at lalo pang mapapabilis ang operasyon kung walang midya. Sa mga piket, minimal lang ang pagpapalampas ng pulisya tuwing walang mga midyang nagkokober. Mas malaya sila sa pandarahas, at sa paggawa ng mga senaryo kung saan ang laging nanggugulo ay ang mga manggagawa.

Talo palagi ang manggagawa sa usapin ng legalidad. Parating may sinasandigang uri ang batas, bagkus nasa hanay lang din nila ang mayorya ng mga representasyon na nagaakda. At sa pagpapanukala kahit panalo man sa papel, hindi pa rin ito naipapatupad sa mga pabrika.

Hindi lingid sa atin ang krisis na ito kaya bilang mamamahayag, alam kong makatwiran lamang ang pagwewelga bilang makapangyarihang ekspresyon ng pagtutol. Nasa atin ang pagpapasya na tumugon at paglingkuran ang pinaka-bulnerableng sektor sa ating lipunan.

Kung tutuusin, dekada 90 nang lumawak ang kontaktwalisasyon sa kilusang paggawa nang ipinatupad ni dating pangulong Corazon Aquino ang Herrera Law. Tukoy na rin ang bawat modus operandi ng sinumang nakaupo sa Malacañang.

Magmula sa pangangampanya hanggang ngayon, palabas lang ang pangako ni Duterte na tatapusin n’ya ang kontaktwalisasyon.

Sa paglunsad ng mga manggagawa ng welgang bayan, suportado sila ng makamamamayang pwersa ng iba’t ibang sektor. Ganito ang tunay na esensya

ng miltanteng tradisyon—ang isa sa mga natatanging aparato upang mapagtagumpayan ang laban ng uring manggagawa at lahat ng uring pinagsasamantalahan.

Naramdaman ko ito noong gabi ng aking pamumuhay sa kanila bago pa man nangyari ang madugong pagbuwag. Hindi man nila maiwasan na panghinaan ng loob sa gabi-gabing pagtaguyod sa piktelayn, ang kanilang asembliya naman ang magiging direksyon ng kanilang pakikibaka.

Minumulto pa rin ako ng pagkabalisa tuwing naalala ko ang aking sinapit. Subalit kaakibat ng aking sakripisyo’t pagsugal ng seguridad ay ang kinabukasan ng mga anak ng mga manggagawa— kapantay o di hamak na mas mahalaga.

Malinaw na pangangailangan ang pagtugon at pagsali sa hamon na maging organisado, dahil mas higit na kailangan natin ang mga pag-aaklas kaysa sa kailangan tayo nito. Ito ang kalatas ng imaheng pumuno sa aking SD Card at gayundin, memorya—mga kwento ng paglaban at pag-aalala, tangan ko sa bawat pagpitik sa aking kamera. •

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PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN

09 Oktubre 2019 Volume 97 • Issue 06 www.philippinecollegian.org

Walang hustisya sa kawalan ng Dumaluyong ang iba’t kongkretong programa sa paghubog ibang sentimyento sa muling sa mga kapatiran, ng mga progresibo pagharap ng pamantasan at higit, ng administrasyon ng mga sa sigalot sa kapatiran ngunit pamatasan tulad ng UP. Patunay nito ang lumutang ay ang dalawang ang hindi matigil-tigil na mga kaso nagtutunggaling linya—gapiin ang ng pagmamalupit, panggagahasa, at masahol na kulturang tunay na pagpatay. kalaban o lusawin nang buo ang Ito ang kinalalabasan ng kapos na lahat ng samahang ito. pagsusuri—sa halip na magpatuloy Matinding dagok ang bawat kaso ang kritisismo mula sa usapin ng ng hazing ngunit iba ang latay ‘pag pagiging primarya ng uri sa lipunan ang sangkot ay mga lider kabataan ng mga indibidwal na miyembro ng at estudyanteng aktibong kritiko ng kapatiran, napuputol na rito. Hindi iba’t ibang isyung panlipunan. Hindi na natutukoy ang epekto ng kultura pa man nakakaahon ang pamantasan ng karahasan na nagsasanga sa iba mula sa nakaraang taon, nilubog pang sekundaryang aspeto tulad ng muli ang mga kabataan sa pagputok mga relasyon, maging dikotomiya ng ng panibagong kaso; higit pa sa EDITORYAL kapangyarihan, pagkalalaki. pagkadismaya, muhi ay may nasawi.

Kung lampasan ang ugnayan ng uri Kay bilis ng mga pangyayari at ang at kasarian, tila nalalampasan ang huli pagdadalamhati ay nananawagan sa konteksto ng matinding problema ng pagbabago—hindi na maaaring sa kapatiran. Lumalagos din ito sa patuloy na gawin iyong mga ginawa at iba pang suliraning panlipunan— ginagawa; gumuhit ng bagong linya. ang gabutil na pagtanggap sa sarili Ang puspusang pag-oorganisa ng mga bakla sa tuwing sasabak sa sa hanay ng mga kapatiran ay mabilisang relasyon sa internet ay mananatiling baog kung hindi kung hindi ihinahanay ng dominanteng nahihimay ang batayan ng pag-iral ng pagtingin sa mga bawal ay inilalagak mga ito. Natatali ang mga organisador ng mga organisado sa dekadensya. sa maningning na naratibo ng Kung gayon, ang bakla at iba pang paglaban ng mga kapatiran noong Wala nang pinakamainam kasariang may mga kritikal na tanong diktadurang Marcos na hindi naman na pananagutan kundi at puna sa pamamaraan ng pagbitbit likas sa kapatiran. Ang mga kondisyon sa kanilang laban ng ibang uri sa ng rehimen ang nagtulak sa kanilang ang pagtanggap sa mga lipunan ay nauunahan ng negatibong maging militante at sa gabay pa kamalian at paghawan ng husga; hadlang sa pag-unlad ng mga mismo ng aktibismo. teorya at suri hinggil sa pakikibakang Kung gayon, anupa’t ang panibagong landas kaiba pangkasarian. nasasalang rason ng pagsilang at Ang antagonismong natatanggap pagyabong ng mga kapatiran ay ang sa mga linyang lipas. ng mga indibidwal sa anumang kasarian, politikal at akademikong konteksto ay tunay rin sa mga kasapi ganansiya, koneksyon sa mabilisang ng kapatiran. Hadlang ito sa kanilang pag-arangkada sa napiling karera. pagpapanibagong-hubog at gayundi’y Maaaring malapitan itong pagtingin nagbubunga ng mga bulag na matang ngunit nananatiling mahalaga at nanghuhusga, daliring nanduduro. nararapat sipatin—tigmak ang mga kapatiran Ang galit ay dapat direktang nakatuon sa sa masangsang na kulturang atrasado. pagtulak sa mga kapatiran na patunayan ang Ang mga makabayang hangarin at programa kanilang mga sarili—matagal nang ibinigay sa ay nariyan, tanda ng pagsulong ng pag-oorganisa kanila ang pagkakataong ito. At sa pagkakataong ngunit ang saklob ng karahasang mayroon ay kay hindi umuusad ang internal na mga pamamaraan dilim at di hamak na pumapara sa paglarga. Kung ng pagbabago dahil bulok, ang mga pwersa ano ang epekto nito sa primaryang isinasaalangat institusyong labas sa mga kapatiran ay may alang na optimismo ay nananatiling anino; tulad ng pananagutan din dito. karampatang parusa sa mga tiyak nitong resulta.

Wala nang pinakamainam na pananagutan kundi Bansot na pagtugon lamang ang pagpapanagot sa ang pagtanggap sa mga kamalian at paghawan ng mga salarin dahil ang pagsuspinde ng administrasyon panibagong landas kaiba sa mga linyang lipas. Kung ng unibersidad sa mga ito ay hindi sapat. Nananatiling ang paggampan dito ay magsisimula sa matamang maluwag ang lahat sa mga kapatirang ito na naglipana pagtatasa, gawing aksesible ito sa lahat, atrasado, sa pamantasan—naghambalang ang mga kotse at progresibo, organisado; gawing bahagi ang lahat nagsulputan ang mga tambayan. ng kritisismo, suri at puna.

Ang batayan ng pagkakaroon ng dalawang Tutal sa malayuang pagtingin, nagtatagpo nagtutunggaling linya ay ang usapin ng hustisya. ang dulo ng anumang linyang hawak at Masakit isipin kung paano masisikmura ng isang pinanghahawakan—ang lahat ay tumatanaw sa babaeng binalasubas ang makitang taas-noo ang lipunang wala nang pananakit, wala nang matinding nanlilimahid na humalay sa kaniya, nananatiling mga pagkakamali, wala nang kapatiran. • nambibiktima’t protektado pa rin ng kapatiran.

PATID NA’NG KAPATIRAN

#EndFRV

DISENYO NG PAHINA • KARLA FAITH SANTAMARIA