The GUIDON - November-December 2019 Ateneo 160th anniversary special

Visions of Inclusivity

Ateneo AT 1 6 0 Y E A R S

PHOTO BY ALEXIS WANG ILLUSTRATION BY MIKHAELLA NORLIN MAGAT LAYOUT BY ROMEO A. DESCALSO III

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Visions of inclusivity

Abo the n UNIVERSITIES HAVE undertaken many efforts to cater to the varied concerns of persons with special needs (PWSNs). While certain technological advancements, such as Braille printers and chair lifts, make learning more accessible for physically-impaired PWSNs, schools across the country have yet to standardize the development of programs and equipment for persons with cognitive and developmental conditions. Within the Loyola Schools, efforts to address the needs of students with neurological conditions have been limited to insulated support groups of students and specialized crisis management protocol practiced by teaching faculty and service staff.

The difficulty faced by educational institutions in addressing the varied needs of PWSNs students may be attributed to the fact that neurological disabilities exist on a spectrum. PWSNs are individuals diagnosed with divergent physical, psychosocial, or neurological conditions that manifest in varying degrees. Notably, “PWSN” has been adopted as the recognized umbrella term for all individuals diagnosed with medical conditions, as opposed to the narrower term “Persons with Disabilities” (PWDs), which refers to those with motor and sensory disabilities.

According to the Loyola Schools Office of Health Services, the most common conditions among the Loyola Schools’ PWSNs students are Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and a variety of motor and sensory disabilities. Due to the complex nature of these conditions, much of the general public remains uneducated on the nuances of PWSNs’ education. As a result, the PWSNs sector continues to face social alienation and systemic discrimination.

Stronger national legislation must be enacted to progressively empower the PWSNs sector to live and study without fear of ostracization. Furthermore, premier private institutions such as the Ateneo must take the initiative to institute meaningful education and social integration programs. While the University itself is not a primary center for special education, it must be challenged to establish and maintain a safe and progressive learning environment for all individuals who aspire to learn within its halls.

ON THE NATIONAL SCALE The integration of PWSNs in Philippine society is made possible through the implementation of disability laws that aim to address the barriers that the sector faces in everyday life and protect them against discrimination. One such law is Republic Act (RA) No. 7277, also known as the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons of 1992. This guarantees PWDs equal rights, privileges, and protection from discrimination in accessing the following: Employment, education, health, auxiliary social services, telecommunications, accessibility, and political and civil rights.

In another move to increase sensitivity to PWSNs, the legal terminology for the sector has also changed over the years to become more inclusive. Though the original version of RA No. 7277 only covered PWSNs with physical, mental, or sensory disabilities, the law expanded its legal definition of PWDs to be more inclusive of those with intellectual disabilities through its implementing rules and regulations.

The government has also made efforts to provide PWSNs with financial support. For example, RA No. 10754 of 2016 mandates the State to provide PWSNs with benefits and other privileges such as tax incentives. Under this tax exemption law, PWSNs are entitled to at least 20% discount and Value Added Tax exemption when purchasing certain goods and services from establishments such as grocery stores, hospitals, pharmaceutical chains, and recreational spaces upon presentation of cards identifying them as PWSNs. PWSNs with developmental disabilities that are 17 years old or younger are also entitled to receiving subsidies from PhilHealth, which cover expenses for rehabilitation therapy, and assessments by medical professionals. These subsidies do not cover PWSN adults with developmental disabilities, but RA 11228—signed into law last February—provides all PWSNs with mandatory PhilHealth coverage and may prove to be one step towards the sector’s equal access to health care.

For some, studying in a school such as Ateneo is made much more possible because of access to a developmental pediatrician early on in their lives. This was the case for PWSNs undergraduate Dino Mirasol (3 BS MA) with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who emphasized the importance of making therapy and developmental pediatricians more accessible. “...It’s not something available to a lot of people because it [is costly]. The moment you pass a certain age and you still cannot speak, there’s no returning...even more for someone on a spectrum,” he asserted.

Aside from this, PhilHealth coverage for PWSNs could still be further expanded. A study by researchers from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies found that institutions such as PhilHealth could expand their subsidies to cover nursing or caregiver support and increase their medication subsidies for PWSNs—expenses that are not currently covered by PhilHealth.

FLAWS IN LEGISLATION There are many government initiatives to accommodate the needs of PWSNs, but the question lies in whether they are well implemented. Statistics and studies point to the opposite. Although the Department of Education upholds the rights of PWSNs to education by providing training for public school teachers and facilities to cater to PWSNs, only 2% out of 5.49 million young PWSNs are receiving government assistance for education.

Moreover, the United States State Department’s 2018 human rights report cited the following issues in the

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Philippines’ PWSNs policies: “Weak implementing regulations, insufficient funding, and inadequately focused integrative government programs,” based on the sentiments of advocates nationwide. The report also mentioned continued discrimination alongside other challenges in finding employment as the main struggle faced by PWSNs in that year.

Mirasol attested to how government efforts to integrate PWSNs into society have not concretely translated to increased sensitivity to PWSNs. “There are many Facebook pages that continue to make fun of people with disabilities.

Filipinos don’t know how to ‘meme’ correctly. It’s tasteless and judgmental,” Mirasol explained.

As such, the prevalence of this kind of discrimination calls for the government to push for increased integration of PWSNs into environments like the workplace and in schools.

BUILDING BRIDGES Given the national government’s own lackluster execution of its accessibility and anti-discrimination laws for PWSNs, it is now more important than ever to review how the University has accommodated PWSNs’ spectrum of needs— and how it can further improve down the line.

Aaron Chua (3 BS MGT-H), an undergraduate student who uses a wheelchair, shared how the University is able to comply with the aforementioned provisions. Chua mentioned that offices are always considerate enough to accommodate his requests for ground-level classrooms. In addition, the Office of Health Services encourages him to give them regular medical updates for transparency.

“I also like [how] instead of exempting me from activities that I could not join, the Ateneo would usually give me alternative options so that I could still experience the Atenean life that everyone is experiencing,” he added.

One such example would be Ateneo’s Physical Education program, which offers courses that are PWSN friendly such as Recreational Activities and Foundations of Physical Fitness and Health. Professors of Physical Education also offer substitute requirements if PWSN students are physically or mentally unable to accomplish a certain activity.

However, there are some campus protocols that could stand to be improved to accommodate PWSNs. One of Chua’s biggest concerns was about emergency drills; he remains unsure if the school’s personnel are properly oriented on how to assist him in case of an emergency, given that he is confined to a wheelchair. Chua likewise voiced his troubles with road accessibility, sharing that he has a difficult time navigating ramps and roads due to their misalignment with the asphalt.

Similarly, Mirasol asserted the importance of further encouraging consideration when interacting with PWSNs across the spectrum. “Socially, I would like a little more consideration [when interacting] because it’s already difficult as it is,” he lamented. According to him, he has the

tendency to “say stuff that [he] shouldn’t really say,” which can lead to people talking over him or just outright ignoring him. Mirasol’s concerns echo the need for more programs to raise awareness for the condition of the PWSN sector and the struggles they seek to overcome with the help of empathy from the community.

PWSNs like Mirasol have developmental conditions with specific needs that differ from the concerns of students with sensory or physical disabilities. Given the nuances of each diagnosis, the school must also invest in additional initiatives that accommodate PWSNs with neurological and psychosocial conditions. The University can take inspiration from public schools who have teachers who are trained with special education skills to accommodate PWSN needs. One significant step for Ateneo would be to implement similar programs—perhaps through special education training for its teachers or centers for PWSN education.

FOSTERING DESIGN Aside from the initiatives that could be implemented to make education more accessible for PWSNs, there is still much listening and engaging to be done with PWSNs to meet their socio-emotional needs.

With regard to how professors can better treat PWSNs, Mirasol suggested that they could encourage students to declare if they have any conditions on their student profiles.

“In my three years of being an Atenean, no one has explicitly asked,” he said.

Mirasol likewise expressed wanting to see more programs on awareness about PWSNs across different ends of the spectrum to breed inclusivity within the community on a larger scale. “A lot [of Ateneans] don’t really talk about it,” he said. “I’ve had to explain it a few times.”

Programs focused towards promoting the visibility of marginalized sectors such as PWSNs are the primary directive of student organization projects, such as the Ateneo Special Education Society’s Disability Awareness Week. Together with the recently announced Sanggunian Commission for Persons With Special Needs Inclusion, the students of the Loyola Schools are actively endeavoring to foster an inclusive, empathic community within the University.

For all the University community’s progress towards accessible education for its PWSNs students, the sector still finds itself wanting of more consideration, empathy, and patience. Much of the school’s and the national government’s programs that cater to PWSNs address their physical needs, yet fostering inclusion must go beyond this. Listening to PWSNs who have needs that go beyond the physical must become a community effort and may require more assistance from teachers or specialized education programs to better cater to their abilities. Empowerment and visibility for the PWSNs sector remain concrete goals to aspire towards in supporting the sector’s often drowned-out calls for change.

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Visions of inclusivity

After the storm Amid the University’s many reforms to improve its processes for handling sexual harassment cases, survivors’ needs and voices should be listened to now more than ever.

BY JAY MUNSAYAC AND MALAIKA PACULAN

THE PAST months have seen a number of reforms to the University’s processes for dealing with sexual harassment—from the establishment of the Loyola Schools (LS) Gender Hub to the pending Anti-Sexual Harassment Manual. At the heart of these developments and reforms is a desire to improve the University’s systems for processing sexual harassment concerns and, in turn, make the Ateneo safer for both survivors and the rest of the community.

These efforts come at the heels of the sexual harassment allegations that have surfaced within the University time and again, which brought into question how the administration processes these complaints. In October 2018, the University witnessed a spike in online sexual harassment allegations against professors. In October of this year, an allegation raised on social media against a professor sparked an on-campus protest that demanded further transparency on the University’s handling of sexual harassment cases. The aftermath of the protest saw the formation of Time’s Up Ateneo, a coalition of University students, faculty, and alumni that lobbies for structural reforms in the school’s anti-sexual harassment protocols. Among the reforms they seek are an external audit on existing regulations and more accessible counseling options for survivors.

The movements initiated so far were the result of the community’s confusion, anger, and mistrust with the way sexual harassment cases in the University have been handled so far. While pressing and working with the administration to make changes is necessary, the danger lies in forgetting about the experiences of the survivors themselves. Amid the storm of demands and vocalized anger, sexual harassment survivors must be empowered with the proper platforms to voice their concerns.

from the administration about complaints that have been filed.

In response to the community’s calls for transparency, University President Jett Villarin, SJ, also released a memorandum saying that only seven formal complaints were processed by the Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI), a body that was established in 2017 and tasked with investigating sexual harassment complaints against Loyola Schools employees, among other cases. However, the statement did not explain what the administration defines as a “formal complaint,” a point that caused many to cast doubt upon the memo’s claims.

To address the Ateneo community’s mistrust with the administration, many have called for the University to discuss sexual harassment cases and the processes involved in these situations more openly. Commission on Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) Co-commissioner Aleiana Duque says that the administration should publicly communicate this is-

BLINDSIDED Though there are channels for sexual harassment survivors to process complaints, the University’s public responses to sexual harassment issues may be discouraging for those who wish to come forward. Many of the University’s recent moves to address the issue of sexual harassment publicly have been met with criticism.

After the October 8 protests, the University Marketing and Communication Office (UMCO) released a statement assuring the community that the school was taking action on formal sexual harassment complaints. For others, coursing this message through the UMCO made it seem like the problem of sexual harassment was a mere public relations issue.

Some have also been dissatisfied with the information

sue through events like public forums. “They’re supposed to be serving us, just as the student government serves the student body, but they don’t particularly make the effort to actually reach out to us,” she says.

So far, the LS Gender Hub facilitates conversations about fostering safe spaces upon request.

According to Gender Hub Case and Companion Coordinator Angelique Villasanta, safe space conversations were also held for this year’s Talakayang Alay sa Bayan and for the Philosophy Department and the English Department—after accusations against professors from both of these faculties. She adds that they are also looking to open an online forum where participants can share their thoughts on controversial topics.

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Imagine having to narrate the painful experience again in front of strangers, with a lawyer there to tell you what they can or cannot do for you. None of those answers will include a practical or even human offer to remedy the scars from the experience.

SACHI SIQUIJOR (4 BFA AM)

ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK Despite the existence of systems that attempt to address the issues of sexual harassment, the University can only improve these protocols by reflecting on how survivors can be treated better. Much of the criticism from sexual harassment survivors regarding these systems is directed at its impersonal and overly bureaucratic nature.

Sachi Siquijor (4 BFA AM) filed one of the seven formal complaints processed by CODI. However, she claims that the administration fails to resolve sexual harassment cases in a manner that considers the psychoemotional state of survivors following their experiences. “The institution has no recourse for the actual human cost that the complainants have to pay as a result

of the abuse, physical, mental, or psychological,” she says.

Siquijor further remarks that she felt as if she was “threatened” and “intimidated” by the panel present at her hearing with CODI. “Imagine having to narrate the painful experience again in front of strangers, with a lawyer there to tell you what they can or cannot do for you. None of those answers will include a practical or even human offer to remedy the scars from the experience,” she says. While the committee must remain professional, this sentiment points to a need for the administration to change the way they communicate with survivors.

Siquijor expresses that the processes she went through should have been modified to foster healing. She adds that this goes both ways, as both survivors

and the accused need “healing psychologically, mentally, [and] physically.” “There are names to these people and we should treat them as such,” she says.

SILENT NO MORE Such frustrations with the current proceedings surrounding sexual harassment cases call for a substantial platform for survivors to voice their concerns to the administration.

Siquijor stresses the importance of a safe space wherein survivors can freely discuss their experiences without judgment or concern for their privacy. “That space needs to be secure and comforting so that victims know that they can be honest while also receiving help if they should request it,’’ she adds.

The LS Gender Hub’s care services address survivors’ need to heal from the experience through one-on-one processing sessions even if they do not intend to file a case. Villasanta adds that the Gender Hub does provide post-processing care services if ever students request it.

“I know there’s a lot of distrust already that the students feel towards the admin, but [I ask for] at least just the trust that the Gender Hub is here for them, and that this is a safe space,” she says.

Efforts such as the Gender Hub and Sanggunian’s CASMV are meaningful steps in the right

direction towards providing potential sexual harassment survivors with various outlets for the different types of support they need. However, the dissatisfaction of many with the treatment of their cases reveals a need for the administration to review how it interacts with survivors throughout its processes.

In the same way, CODI can benefit from sensitivity training from the Gender Hub in interacting with survivors and regular internal communications between CODI and the Gender Hub can better improve how cases are processed and handled, especially with regard to the survivor’s well-being.

The University must also make the effort to create avenues for admin-led dialogue about issues of sexual harassment.

The true establishment of a “safe space” for sexual harassment victims begins with a concerned, community effort. Only when all members of the community are involved in making the Ateneo a safer place can we call the campus a place for students to learn and grow without fear of being silenced.

THE OFFICI A L STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE ATENEO DE M A NIL A UNI V ERSIT Y

FURTHER W ITH THE TRUTH

VOL. XC NO. 4

NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2019

DAY OF RECKONING. Outraged students and faculty members protested against sexual misconduct and impunity outside the Horacio dela Costa Hall last October 15 after another professor was accused of sexual harassment on social media. | PHOTO BY JIM DASAL

LS drafts Anti-Sexual Harassment Manual to improve existing processes

BY BILLIE ASUNCION, CHERLINE TRAJANO AND MINA MATA

AN ANTI-SEXUAL Harassment Manual is now being drafted by Legal Counsel for the Loyola Schools (LS) Attorney Nina SisonArroyo. University President Jett Villarin, SJ, announced its creation one day after the mobilization against sexual misconduct and impunity took place in front of the Horacio Dela Costa Hall on October 15.

According to Sison-Arroyo, the manual will replace existing policies regarding sexual misconduct on campus in hopes of establishing clearer guidelines to address these cases more efficiently. It is targeted to be completed by the end of the year.

In line with this, a recent update published by University Gender Focal Point stated that the process of gathering input for the manual from different stakeholders from the Ateneo grade school, high school, and professional schools has since commenced.

Since the public was informed about the creation of the manual, people have wondered if the move only served as an act to appease public clamor. However, Sison-Arroyo assured that what prompted the creation of the manual was in adherence

to Article 5 of the Safe Spaces Act, which officially took effect last August 3, 2019, as it mandates academic institutions to publish grievance procedures in order to “facilitate the filing of complaints by students and employees.”

Although the manual is expected to be completed by the end of the year, SisonArroyo emphasized that, as of writing, their office still cannot disclose the document’s concrete and specific details because it is still in its early stage of conceptualization.

SETTING CLEARER POLICIES With policies regarding sexual harassment currently in place, Committee on Decorum and Investigation Chairperson Norberto Bautista, SJ, explained that the manual aims to cover the various sexual harassment policies for the different units in the Ateneo—from grade school to the professional schools—by expanding the current protocol for sexual misconduct on campus. The revisions will supposedly focus on updating the “definition of sexual harassment, imposable sanctions, grievance procedures, and modes of intervention and assistance.”

“The contents [of the manual will] be more particular [to] the specific contexts and

circumstances of each unit in the [Ateneo]. I was thinking more concrete, more detail. [It] includes [protocol regarding the] decorum of all the members of the community: The faculty, students, etc.,” Bautista said.

Sison-Arroyo explained how the current policies “are very basic in the sense that [they are] almost just a mirror image of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law of 1995.” Thus rendering limited and unclear procedures in addressing cases of sexual harassment on campus, especially in the modern, highly digital context.

In line with this, the manual will provide an expanded definition of sexual harassment to encompass specific forms of behavior that were not previously recognized as such in the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, but are now identified in the Safe Spaces Act. These include acts like groping, spreading nude photos, and making sexist remarks. The law has also expanded to include peers as possible offenders, even if they were not considered as such under the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law. “What we need to do is to contextualize [the current policies] better in our setting as a University.

We have to translate that language into a language that we [can] understand,” she said.

CLOSING THE COMMUNICATION GAP Sison-Arroyo said that the manual will address the current communication gap between the different offices on campus when processing the cases of sexual harassment. According to her, many are still unaware of the protocols in place, making it necessary for the manual to lay out clear guidelines on exactly how cases are processed.

Sison-Arroyo added that, doing so would help the community understand how all the offices and administrators in the University work together in addressing cases of sexual harassment on campus: “Right now, there are pockets of effort, but it’s not really synergized in the way that we are all acting together towards the same direction. Having [the protocol] in writing in one document will help paint the entire picture.”

Sison-Arroyo described her role in the process of creating the manual as one of a “chronicler,” as she gathers information through various means, including focus group discussions and research on existing sexual harassment policies of other universities, among other efforts.

LS Gender Hub Director Mira Ofreneo, PhD also discussed how the creation of the manual will offer much needed clarity

in understanding the procedures in filing a sexual misconduct complaint. She noted that knowing the process will allow individuals to be more comfortable with coming forward with their grievances.

“What [we want] to arrive at is clarity in the procedure [of processing sexual harassment cases on campus]. And by clarity, I think it’s really identifying each step in the process, what happens there,” she explained.

OTHER AVENUES Among the University’s other efforts to address cases of sexual harassment is the creation of the LS Gender Hub last academic year. Villarin described the LS Gender Hub to be comprised of a committed set of individuals who are willing to assist members of the LS community, especially survivors, in dealing with sexual harassment cases.

“The point is, the Gender Hub was created to address a gap that has been identified previously, which is to have [a] place or a space which will cater to the needs of those who need to file a complaint,” Ofreneo shared.

To ensure that the LS community is heard while policies undergo revisions, the Commission on Anti-Sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) assured that

the LS community is represented through the commission’s presence in meetings with the administration. Under the Sanggunian, CASMV aims to assist student survivors who need further guidance on filing sexual harassment cases. During these meetings, CASMV Comissioner Arianna Sunga said that the feedback received from complainants and other members of the community are raised.

“A CASMV Commissioner has been present in all of the meetings and negotiations with the administration thus far and will continue to be involved in future discussions, providing [CASMV’s] insights on how the handling of sexual harassment cases can be improved,” Sunga explained.

In line with this, Sison-Arroyo stated that feedback from the community is a valuable asset in the creation of the manual. She said that the implementation of the Safe Spaces Act and the re-emergence of discourse pertaining to sexual harassment on campus converged in a timely manner.

“Now is the best time to listen to everyone’s views because there are a lot of views coming out on how the system can be improved, and all that can be taken into consideration as we recraft our policy,” she stated.

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Blue Eagle’s Gym 70th anniversary

More than words

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News

CLOCK OUT. Blue Biyahe passengers enjoy comfortable seats, cool air, and a television show on their way home. | PHOTO BY BRUCE ONG

First semester Blue Biyahe programs mitigate LRT-2 shutdown problems

BY ZOEY C. ATILLO AND CHOLO HERMOSO

AFTER EIGHT weeks of service, Blue Biyahe took its final trip for the semester last December 13.

Following the indefinite shutdown of the Manila Light Rail Transit System Line 2 (LRT-2), the Blue Biyahe programs were an effort to mitigate increased fares and longer travel times as a result of the transport crisis.

The Sanggunian, along with the Office of the Associate Dean for Student and Administrative Services (OADSAS) and the Department of Student Welfare and Services (DSWS), first announced the creation of the programs on October 17. The programs offered transportation services to both the Loyola Schools and Senior High School communities through a shuttle

bus system, carpool services, and ride-sharing initiatives.

To gauge students’ pulse on a shuttle service project, the Sanggunian released two surveys, one on October 4 and another on October 10, that targeted Atenean commuters affected by the LRT-2 shutdown.

On November 4, the Blue Biyahe programs were temporarily stopped for a few days to change the Yellow Dot Transport shuttles into JTB buses. According to Sanggunian President Quiel Quiwa, the original service provider was not able to accomplish the necessary permits with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

Though Blue Biyahe has concluded its run for the first semester, Quiwa added that the programs’ continuation for the next semester will depend on support from the administration given the new bus system’s expenses.

RIDING FOR A CAUSE On October 21, the Sanggunian launched the Blue Biyahe programs’ soft run to effectively aid Atenean commuters on weekdays. The shuttle services, primarily managed by the Sanggunian and OADSAS, previously had nine pick-up and drop-off points, but these have since been reduced to two locations in Robinsons Magnolia and SM Masinag. A total of 49 seating passengers may use the bus service at a time.

As compared to reg ular commuting, which requires several forms of transportation like taking the train and jeepney, Quiwa claimed that the Blue Biyahe programs helped Ateneans “save time and money because [they] only have to ride once, and [they would] be dropped directly in [the] Ateneo.”

He added that this service system was much safer because the Campus Safety and Mobility

Office (CSMO) deployed campus security in each vehicle.

Quiwa stated that the Blue Biyahe fares were waived for scholars.

Moreover, the Php 30 fee was also determined as the regular fare for most Atenean commuters based on data from the Sanggunian’s survey on students’ daily commute experiences. He added that the administration took measures to not exceed the data-determined fare.

“The problem with these kinds of services is that it’s expensive.

Since this is exclusive for the Ateneo community, part of the expenses is subsidized by the administration to make sure that its affordable for the regular commuters,” said Quiwa.

After the shift from shuttle to bus, the administration started shelling out a larger subsidy than the previous 70% for system expenses because these vehicles were more expensive in terms of their renting and maintenance.

BANG FOR BUCK. A passenger hands over her ticket for Blue Biyahe’s bus program. One ticket costs Php 30 for regular passengers. Scholars may ride for free. | PHOTO BY BRUCE ONG

He added that this was the major reason why the administration cut down the number of pick-up and drop-off points.

Ever since the programs’ implementation, the Off ice of Student Services recorded 2,107 ticket sales for trips to and from Ateneo. As of November 11, students availed a total of 1,382 tickets, while employees availed of 725 tickets.

CARPOOL ALTERNATIVE A side f rom t he shut t le ser v ices, t he Blue Biy a he programs also included their DSWS-managed carpool and ride-sharing initiatives.

According to DSWS Chairperson Izo Echaluse, the incentives for students who volunteer to be carpool drivers include a reserved parking slot on campus and a Php 200 rebate on the campus car sticker per semester, which usually costs Php 850.

Echaluse explained that before the LRT-2 shutdown, there were 17 carpool groups. However, with the implementation of Blue Biyahe, the carpool groups only increased by one, for a total of 18 carpool groups.

He then mentioned that many LRT-2 riders were looking for carpool groups to accommodate them. However, due to the influx in the number of students who need to carpool and the lack of drivers, many requests could not be properly accommodated.

Moreover, Echaluse said that to encourage more carpool volunteers, the DSWS is currently trying to increase the car sticker rebate, include a gas rebate, and give food vouchers to carpool drivers. In addition to this, they plan to promote the program via email to reach more students.

COMMUTER FEEDBACK A few commuters were able to share their experience with the LRT-2 closure and Blue Biyahe in interviews with The GUIDON. Ivan Balasia (1 A B MEC) stated that because of the LRT shutdown, he had to spend almost double his usual fare and took a longer time to get home.

He said that the implementation of Blue Biyahe was beneficial for him: “I don’t have to go and

wait for jeeps and go outside of Ateneo to do so. I don’t have to compete with other commuters as well.”

Additionally, Andrea Posadas (1 AB COM) added that the direct route to Ateneo was helpful. Her being a scholar also helped lessen her expenses for the day as scholars could avail of the service for free.

To ensure the Blue Biyahe’s continuation, Quiwa mentioned that the programs require more feedback from experts of the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability and those who utilize the service.

He added that the Sanggunian regularly retrieved statistics and reports from CSMO to ensure that the decisions made for the programs were supported by factual data.

“We are planning to expand the service to the entire Ateneo community if it proves to be effective for the Loyola Schools [as] Blue Biyahe can be a step towards decreasing traffic in Katipunan,” he said.

Quiwa added that the programs’ continuation for the next semester will depend on support from the administration given the new bus system’s expenses.

EDITOR: MICAH AVRY GUIAO | LAYOUT ARTIST: KURT TAN

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THE HIGHWAY. Members of the Ateneo Employees and Workers Union protest the administration panel’s refusal to disclose the total Tuition Fee Increase for the current school year. | PHOTO BY RALPH LIM

CBA negotiations between AEWU, LS admin remain unresolved

BY MOIRA V. CAYABYAB, FRANCHESCA FAJEMOLIN , AND ALIANZA PESQUERA

AFTER SEVERAL conciliation meetings with the Department of Labor and Employment’s National Conciliation and Mediation Board to thwart labor dispute, the Ateneo Employees and Workers Union (AEWU) withdrew their preventive mediation case after all attempts to negotiate with the administration panel have been futile.

Chairman of the Board Boyet Digos said that AEWU officially filed a notice of strike on December 9. Since then, AEWU has organized noise barrages in and along campus for the 2019-2024 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) which resumed after the expiration of the 2014-2019 CBA last May 31.

At present, AEWU has made demands for the admin to provide the Union with pertinent information, like the total Tuition Fee Increase (TFI) for A.Y. 2019-2020, for a transparent evaluation of the admin’s suggested wage increases in addition to other proposals on the new CBA provisions.

The demands have been met with a refusal from the admin, who claimed to be acting in accordance to Supreme Court (SC) rulings and the Data Privacy Act (DPA) of 2012.

Although both parties have expressed willingness to cooperate, their conflicting interpretations of the law hinder them from reaching an agreement.

THE PAST SEVEN MONTHS An administrative memo dated October 25 said that the 2019-2024 CBA negotiations began in late June 2019. However, AEWU’s statement claimed that these began when the AEWU first submitted their CBA proposals on April 3 of the same year.

According to AEWU Legal Counsel Arturo Tan, the Union submitted their proposals to the

admin panel 60 days before the expiration of the previous CBA on May 31.

AEWU proposed an amendment to nearly all articles from the past CBA, with particular focus on the political and economic proposals like Union Rights and Privileges, Job Security and Lay Off, Signing Bonus, Hazard Pay, and Longevity Pay. Admin panel member Carmela Oracion, PhD, said that on April 8, the admin panel provided the Union with their response. The response stated that they would need more days to review the Union’s proposals which were “a bit far than what we imagined them to be.”

Oracion also clarified that the admin panel had to wait for enrollment figures for the coming school year, which could only be finalized and submitted in late June.

In their counter-proposal, the admin proposed their own schema for tuition hike allocation to the gradual increments of employees and the amendment of certain clauses, such as long-term employment raises.

DEMANDS FOR WAGE INCREASE Among AEWU’s proposals, wage increases seem to be the most contested. In the recent negotiations, AEWU proposed for an annual Php 6,000 or 20% increase in the monthly wages of all of its members effective for 2019-2021.

Should AEWU’s proposed wage increase be translated, the Php 29,612 average monthly salary of the maintenance staff—rankand-file employees who compose the majority of the Union— would rise to Php 35,612 in 2019, Php 41,612 in 2020, and Php 47,612 in 2021.

However, the admin panel’s counter-proposal for wage increases to the maintenance staff’s average monthly salary is significantly lower than the amount AEWU proposed. Admin panel Cochair Maria Aurora Bulatao also

clarified that the admin’s counterproposal is only applicable to rankand-file employees that are part of the Union.

According to Oracion, the admin panel’s proposed wage increases for rank-and-f ile employees are as follows: Php 350 per month for the first year, Php 450 per month for the second year, and Php 550 per month for the third year. These proposed increases also included a lump-sum performance bonus up to Php 10,000 annually.

If translated, the average mont h ly s a la r y of t he maintenance staff would amount to approximately Php 29,962 in 2019, Php 30,412 in 2020, and Php 30,962 in 2021.

The admin panel explained that AEWU’s proposal is “neither affordable nor sustainable.” They added that it is rare for “non-profit educational institutions like ADMU” to grant wage increases with a double digit percentage.

However, both Salinas and Ta n re f uted t h is w it h their interpretation of the University’s financials.

“Every year from 2015, ang kinikita ng Ateneo is more than a million...Tapos walang pera? (Every year from 2015, the Ateneo is earning more than a million. Yet they say they do not have the money?)” Tan said.

According to CBA negotiator Luis Dumlao, PhD, Ateneo’s income for the past three years has been roughly Php 100 million per year. However, he maintained that the school receives zero profit as a non-profit organization because income is inevitably spent on numerous bills.

Dumlao reasoned that the ad min pa nel is “ tr y ing to prevent an unconscionable amount of expense.” Meeting AEWU’s demands would entail a tuition increase that would go up to as much as Php 500,000, a c c o r d i n g t o O r a c i o n ’s estimate. Oracion added that wage increases that go beyond the distribution of 70% of the Tuition Incremental Proceeds (TIP)might also entail cutting dow n f unds for laborator y equipment, scholarship funds, and faculty salaries.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AEWU has also since accused the admin of “bargaining in bad faith” due to their refusal to provide the total TFI for the current academic year, the projected TFI for the next three years, and the total annual and average monthly salaries of staff from non-union rank-and-file, supervisory, managerial, and faculty positions—information the Union deems necessary to prove the former complied with the Republic Act (RA) 6728 mandate of allocating 70% of tuition increases to employee wages.

On the other hand, Dumlao guaranteed that the admin has been fully compliant with the law in this regard. The admin countered the Union’s claim by asserting that their actions were guided by SC rulings to interpret RA 6728.

According to the school, SC decisions do not prescribe the distribution of 70% of the TIP because the SC has ruled that private institutions have the discretion on the disposition of t u it ion fee increa ses,

which means the school has a prerogative on the allocation of 70% of the TFI. AWAITING ACTION A E W U P resident Son ny A mata mentioned how retroactivity may ensue due to the negotiation delays, which was expected to f inish last November. This means that any negotiation efforts by the AEWU and admin panel will be futile, since retroactivity would mean the existing terms from past negotiations will be implemented for another term.

Tan added that AEWU will still receive an allocation from the 70% of the TFI for SY 20192020 based on their current salaries since a percent increase in the TFI would automatically mean an increase in their salaries. He also noted that a deadlock can be resolved, but the Union will not agree to anything less than what they bargained for in their latest proposal.

“No one w i l l a g ree to something less than what the law promises you,” Tan said.

UNFALTERING. Ateneo Employees and Workers Union President Sonnie Amata continues to fight for the Union’s demands. | PHOTO BY PAULINA SINGH

4

News BRICK BY BRICK. The road construction behind the Areté promises a new exit path that will lessen traffic within the University. | PHOTO BY PAULINA SINGH

Ateneo Development Goals 2o3o execution in the works

BY LEIKA GOLEZ AND PATRICIA YAP

PROJECTED DEVELOPMENTS for the Ateneo de Manila University have been set in place in the Ateneo de Manila University Development Goals 2030 (AMDG 2030), a detailed blueprint containing the strategic direction for the development of the Ateneo in the years to come.

Facilities and Management O f f i c e ( F M O) D i r e c t o r Architect Michael Canlas said that A MDG 2030 is a largescale guide that goes beyond cha nges to facilities a nd includes leadership, programs, and education.

To achieve this, AMDG 2030 aims to achieve five goals: To strengthen the strategic markets of Jesuit education; broaden our inf luence in building the nation and the Asia Pacific region; increase access to Ateneo education; strengthen University leadership; and sharpen the distinct character of Ateneo’s educational mission.

Furthermore, the blueprint is said to serve as a framework to guide future projects for bet ter u rba n-pla n n ing by taking into consideration where road networks are connected,

where buildable areas are, and w h ich bu i ld i n g s c a n b e expanded vertically.

Canlas also said that while the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President will be in charge of administration and planning, FMO will implement the physical changes with consultations from PGAA Creative Design, a firm that specializes in environmental and urban design planning.

MORE THAN BUILDINGS Vilches said that while the official reasons behind all the AMDG 2030 changes are still under discussion by the administration, she believes t hat t hese mod if ications will improve the “processes and ach ievements” of the University.

She ex pla ined t hat t he ma ster pla n ach ie ves t h is by streng thening Ateneo’s distinctive Jesuit education, which sets the Universit y apart from other institutions that have also been planning for 2030.

In line with this, Associate Dean for Core Curriculum Benjamin Tolosa, Jr., PhD gave an overview of the revised core curriculum during the previous

Loyola Schools Faculty Day on January 18. He explained that the new curriculum will include the new General Education requirements of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

He said that even with the revisions, the curriculum will still be “true to our Ateneo identity as a Filipino, Catholic and Jesuit university.”

The curriculum is organized under four stages: Foundation, Rootedness, Deepening, and Leadership—all of which aims for the students to understand the world and the self for better future engagement with society.

However, for former Associate Dean for Student Affairs and current University Dorm Director Rene San Andres, the success of AMDG 2030 is reliant on the students as well. He explains that a school’s “relevance” will have to depend on what becomes of its students in the future.

“You get caught [on] the technical stuff, you lose sight of the greater purpose. So AMDG 2030 incorporates that greater purpose,” he said. “[It] is the endpoint, the teleological picture, the vision, the picture, the articulation of our desired future. The desired future is actually carried by you.”

A “NEED-BASED” GUIDE With news of the masterplan circulating, Canlas clarified that the blueprint does not specify what specific structures will be set in place. Instead, AMDG 2030 is meant to serve as a guide that various offices like the FMO can use in terms of developing areas of the campus. “[AMDG 2030] is not that firm [because] it’s a case-to-case basis in terms of need,” he said.

Canlas explained that the plan works on a “need-based to supportbased” direction. For instance, all developments that have already been implemented were created based on long-term development projection and were likewise supported by infrastructures guided by the masterplan.

Among the developments that followed this format is the road construction behind the Areté.

Canlas said that this new exit road was built because of the current traffic situation on campus. He said that the project’s long-term effects will aid in easing the flow of traffic and providing other exits for vehicles.

Another existing development within the University is Greenpark, an area built for studying and eating behind the Science Education Complex building A.

According to Canlas, this initiative was both practical and sustainable because the wooden tables were from remnants of campus trees during typhoons.

He also mentioned the reinforcement of Ateneo Grade School buildings to address the safety concern of the West Valley Fault. Ateneo High School also had some road developments like added walkways and expanded lanes to lessen traffic congestion and encourage walking.

NOT A LINEAR PROCESS As far as feasibility for future structural projects is concerned, Canlas said that there will be multiple aspects that have to be taken into account, such as funding, compliance, proper planning, space, and sustainability.

He added that the University tries to find a balance between development and f unding provisions as most projects are either funded by the University or are aided by benefactors.

“We have a lot of aspects [to consider in] putting these things into reality. Sometimes it might not even [push through] depending on the situation,” he said.

Despite the accomplished initiatives, Canlas said that

there were some projects that had to be scrapped. One example he gave was the road extension that would have linked New R izal Librar y to the Moro Football Field in 2018, which was canceled due to its negative effects on the sustainability and the preservation efforts for the School of Management Forest.

In addition to this, Canlas also said that spatial expansions that would be needed for any future infrastructures would not be possible for now due to the lack of vacant properties near the University.

As such, he explained that the provisions will have to depend on the vertical reconfigurations of current buildings. The PLDTConvergent Technologies Center and John Gokongwei School of Management buildings, for example, were once threestory buildings that turned five-stories high.

Despite existing limitations, the masterplan is practical enough to take such factors into consideration: “The masterplan is somewhat a blueprint of our entire campus, which states the size, the number of area in terms of greenery, buildable space and forest reserve,” Canlas said.

HOLISTIC PERSONS. The AMDG 2030 not only improves upon the school’s structural integrity, but also seeks to implement studentcentric initiatives that will contribute to their holistic formation. | PHOTO BY PAULINA SINGH

The GUIDON | September 2018

5

VOLUME XC, NO. 4 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019

Founded 1929 by Rev. Frank O’Hara, SJ First Editor-in-Chief, Manuel C. Colayco, AB ‘30

PURPOSE To serve as a record of Ateneo history in the making; to serve as an organ of journalistic expression; to serve God and country.

Alithea C. Soriano, AB COM ‘20 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Margarita C. Gonzalez, BS PSY ‘20 ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Jyra Zoe T. Ang, BS LM ‘20 MANAGING EDITOR

Jason T. Mariano, BS ITE ‘21 DESIGN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Micah Avry L. Guiao, BFA CW ‘21 NEWS EDITOR

Kirby G. Jalandoni, BS ME ‘20 Joaquin Josemaria A. Santos, BS ME ‘20 SPORTS EDITORS

Danielle Margaux R. Garcia, BS CTM ‘21 BEYOND LOYOLA EDITOR

Andrea Mikaela B. Llanes, AB COM ‘22 FEATURES EDITOR

Kenneth John Tristan R. Chan, AB LIT (ENG) ‘21 INQUIRY EDITOR

Zoe Arianna T. Andin, AB IS ‘21 Annicka B. Koteh, BS ME ‘20 VANTAGE MAGAZINE EDITORS

Tatiana L. Maligro, AB COM ‘22 Patricia Anne D. Villoria, AB COM ‘21 BROADCAST NEWS EDITORS

Ana Sofia Ignacio, BS LfSci ‘21 Ronaldo Gabriel J. Santiago, BS MGT ‘20 PHOTOS EDITORS

Carmela B. Masiglat, BFA ID ‘22 Neil Christian R. Reyes, BS CH-MSE ‘23 GRAPHIC DESIGN EDITORS

Mariana D. Gardoce, AB COM ‘22 VIDEO PRODUCTION EDITOR

Beatrice R. Bacason, AB COM ‘22 VIDEO PRODUCTION DIRECTOR

Frances Isabella D. Martin BFA ID ‘20 Jacob Uriel R. Quintos, BS CS ‘21 DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT DEPUTIES

John Matthew G. Yuching, AB COM ‘21 EXTERNALS MANAGER

Bianca Mae R. Aragones, BS PSY ‘20 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Deana P. Pagtalunan, BS ME ‘20 Bryce R. Rubi, BS ME ‘21 SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS

Koji Bryant P. Baui, BS ME ‘20 Francine Jemima C. Tan, BS ME ‘20 RESEARCH MANAGERS

NEWS Billie Asuncion, Zoey C. Atillo, Moira V. Cayabyab, Franchesca Fajemolin, Leika Golez, Cholo Hermoso, Jillian Lopez, Mina Mata, Allianza O. Pesquera, Frans G. Regala, Cherline Trajano, Patricia G. Yap SPORTS Apa D. Aquino, Joseph B. Banaag, Xavier C. Bautista, Neal R. Beltran, Jeremy L. Chua, Ally S. Crespo, Jaime D. David, Selina A. de Dios, Miguel A. Dimaiwat, Nielbert A. Dy, James B. Gavina, Gio P. Guinto, Gerrick C. Limsiy, Lei P. Macaranas, Javier P. Map,a Joachim Miguel Melo, Juliana Sistine L. Ong, Miguel G. Policarpio, Ra Solomon BEYOND LOYOLA Joaquina Nadine A. Altavás, Pioee B. Bassig, Raphael C. Dela Cruz, Carlo O. Fernandez, Derick M. Gabrillo, Zachary C. Gonzales, George D. Kho, Marco C. Ocampo-Tan, Justine Ferrer Ramirez, Frances C. Roberto FEATURES Benjie Bernal, Adrian Jesper C. Cea, Russell Louis Ku, Enzo Lagamon, Angel Martinez, Eala Julienne P. Nolasco, Keziah Maru Z. Pasion, Aisha C. Said, Adrian Soriano, Genesis Jacinth Tan, Andrea Tibayan, Rence D. Tubon, Aaron D. Tolentino INQUIRY Kiana R. Altoveros, Cat Aquino, Francis Caiga, Sean D. Carballo, Ann Gabrielle Domingo, Eun Seo Ha, Gerard Ignacio, Justin B. Jimenez, Jean Mangaluz, Jay C. Munsayac, Malaika E. Paculan, Marga P. San Juan, Manolo G. Soliven VANTAGE MAGAZINE Zofia Agama, Tiffany Bernardo, Jana V. Codera, Natalie R. Gavino, Justin Ginete, Therese Hipol, Lyrah Lapid, Daniela Lorenzo, Anya Nellas, Roberto A. Orosa, Arnald Paguio, Danielle H. Ramos, Beatriz C. Reyes, Gabriel V. Saulog, Caitlin Anne Young, Nigel Yu BROADCAST NEWS Cristina Batalla, Una Garcia, Belle Gregorio, Samantha S. Onglatco, Martin C. Ramos, Teo A. Ricaforte, Joaquin Salazar, Ria Tenido, Kathleen U. Yap PHOTOS Raya Barreiro, Nate Bosano, Trina Camacho, Julia Carpio, Jim Dasal, Angel Dizon, Jerry Feng, Jamie Go, Ralph Lim, Gabriel Medina, Bruce Ong, Michael Perfecto, Marco Ricafort, Casey Mateo, Regine Salumbre, Cristina Sim, Paulina Singh, Reyneal Vargas, Kelly Veneracion, Alexis Wang, Paolo Yaptinchay, Izza Zamoranos GRAPHIC DESIGN Fidess Bisnar, Tiffany Cu, Cecilia Datiles, Romeo A. Descalso III, Alvin Dy, Tan Yu Ling Fabro, Andy Granda, Frances Lopez, Mikhaella Norlin Magat, Mika Medina, Kaitlyn Mercado, Denev C. Ng, Iverson Ong, Cara Lee Padilla, Cameron Polintan, Geri Puno, Kurt Tan, Viktor Valix VIDEO PRODUCTION Ena Algopera, Angelique Bagapuro, Louise Margaret L. Del Rosario, Fran Enriquez,Yanna Estrellado, Alissa Evangelista, Alexis Nicole N. Ferreras, Therese Macasaet, Julian Michael Maiz, Danielle Angela G. Rosales, Kristine Sinamban, Jaf Tumale, Denise Tumaliuan, Rafa Mikael D. Villon DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT Keith Bartido, Anton Gerard S. Benitez, Andrea Lauren T. Chung, Davin Sean Cuaso, Tomas Falgui III, Giddy Garcia, Kat D. Garcia, Tria Gonzales, Prezil A. Ong, Ezekiel Juanito E. Ordoveza, Miggy Pinaroc, Alannah Mitra, Bea Katrina Sison, Harvey Jay M. Sison, Jonathan Talbot EXTERNALS Tricia R. Alcantara, Tiffany C. Lao, Nikki Macaraig, Hannah Magnaye, Dominique U. Manipor, Marina Patricia B. Peneyra, Donna B. Ramirez, Sofia Sanchez, Katrina Bernice M. Tan, Jorge Alfred R. Taruc HUMAN RESOURCES Bianca Angeles, Margaux Andrea G. Arcinas, Mookie M. Borja, Emerson Enriquez, Marianne M. Goh, Anicia Guanlao, Keisha Mercado, James Vincent Natera, Cielo C. Regalado, Karl R. Salvador, Katchy G. Segui, Regina Mae C. Yu RESEARCH Cedric M. Bata, Christie A. Corpin, Azequiel P. De Luna, Gabriel Carlo T. Gamulo, Miguel H. Palmero, Kiara D. Rodriguez, Lance Y. Tiu, Earl Christian L. Yu SOCIAL MEDIA Jose Angelo Buenaventura, Gia Crisologo, Enrique B. Halili, Joaquin Querido

Luz R. Rimban MODERATOR

For comments, suggestions, and contributions, email:

desk@theguidon.com

More than words AT THE COR E of ou r Ignatian education is a call to be persons for others, manifested in socially-oriented activities. We have long lobbied for sectoral representation in the Sanggunian and seen the rise of its student rights’ commissions. We engage in community initiatives even outside Sector-Based Cluster organizations. We take to the streets and the internet to stand with victims of pressing issues. Hence, when it comes to inclusivity, we say that we walk the talk—yet how we talk about these causes has just as much of an impact.

As inclusivity transforms into a buzzword, the need for truly inclusive wording also grows more urgent. When ideas travel with a click, a slip of the tongue can quickly change public perception of an issue. More often than not, words wielded carelessly are to the detriment of underserved groups, those asserting themselves in the face of discrimination.

CHALK MARKS

The affliction of anxiety

BY MARC OLIVER D. PASCO

THE SLOVENIAN philosopher, Slavoj Zizek once said that anxiety is the only emotion that does not deceive. Anxiety, for another philosopher, Martin Heidegger, brings the human being face to face with the slow, yet relentless drifting of everything into nothingness, including one’s own existence.

Soren Kierkegaard, the thinker most famous for his thoughts on this matter, had defined anxiety as the dizziness of freedom in the face of boundless possibilities of existence. Anxiety not only reveals existence from a safe distance as a concept but sensibly makes us feel its indubitably charged reality, along with its ever-shifting polarities: Its wonder and its terror, its providence and its malice, its brimming beauty

ALL IN THE NAME There is a whole lexicon of how words are tied to social identity, of how they can both strengthen and erode it. However, the latter is the issue at hand, one that many of us unknowingly perpetuate.

When we use words like “retard” or “invalid,” no matter how seemingly innocent, we lord over someone’s intellect or paint disabilities in a derogatory light.

When we refuse to recognize preferred pronouns, we reject the strides that the LGBTQIA+ community has taken with regard to identity.

Yet, some would argue that these are simple words whose meanings are determined by the user’s intent. If one doesn’t mean to hurt, then the words cannot, either. Time spent on the minutiae of political correctness is, therefore, time wasted–or so the naysayers think.

In examining this, let’s go back to how political correctness is defined. In a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, participants defined

the concept as “using language to seem sensitive to others’ feelings, especially those others who seem socially disadvantaged.” Perhaps this is another fault of wording, since “to seem sensitive” is a far cry from actually being sensitive.

And if we leave it at merely appearing sensitive—if we move forward with this selfcenteredness—we run the risk of internalizing a harmful insensitivity towards others.

Nonetheless, we should reframe political correctness as political consideration: Less about the user’s socially acceptable thoughts and more about the subjects they affect.

and its grotesque absurdity.

Anxiety is real, and it makes the real feel all too real, giving it a dark density that weighs upon one’s heart, similar perhaps to how a star might feel just before it implodes into a black hole. Anxiety, to wit, is the world made flesh.

In my relatively long stint as a teacher, I have encountered nu merous st udents w it h anxiety disorders. They reveal this to me sometimes before oral exams, or in the middle of the school year, when they feel that they are not performing as well as they can in class. Their narratives presented me with an image in my head: A person who literally has a monkey on her back she just can’t shrug off—just annoyingly weighing her dow n, getting in the way of her plans, disturbing moments solitude and sowing fear in prospects of solicitude.

Having an anxiety disorder sounds like being in a perpetual boxing match with an invisible opponent, unexpectedly jabbing you in the face and throwing a left hook to your ribs just when you feel that the match might finally be over. It is a crippling sense of paranoia not just for the

SENSE AND SENSITIVITY In other words, context is key. When it comes to medical conditions, there is an ongoing debate between identity-first or person-first language. Some people who have autism prefer to be called “autistic persons” rather than “persons with autism” to imply that they are not suffering from their condition.

In this regard, mental health writer Natasha Tracy discusses how people should determine how they experience their own condition. If one says they suffer from it, rather than live with it, then they are free to say so.

Political consideration should be a tool for empowerment.

When referring to cultural identities and ethnicities, we must resist derogatory or demeaning labels carried over from a history of oppression.

In the Philippines, people have referred to languages aside from Filipino as dialects for so long, which recently spurred a discussion on how this undermines the cultures of ethnic groups outside imperial Manila. For most of us who have lived here in the metro our whole lives, this was not a problem— until others pointed it out.

A framework called the Muted Group Theory states that language is shaped by dominant gender, race, or socioeconomic groups—which spells bad news for others who aren’t

in the spotlight. Women, the LGBTQIA+, those in poverty, and other sectors are often victims of a biased lexicon. However, being aware of this phenomenon is a good first step towards countering it—and political consideration is one way to do so.

Pol it ica l ly consider ate wording is a challenge to navigate at f irst tr y, but humbling ourselves to learn is the first step. When asking for preferences in terms of language, one should employ channels where subjects can express their identities without fear.

Aside from that, we call for the integration of these concepts into school curricula whenever these groups are discussed, or even through awareness campaigns that nor ma lize politica l consideration. But above this, we cannot rely on others to begin our education. We, ourselves, have to be more aware of the words we use, more open to correction, and more willing to take an inclusive stand—because we have no right to deny anyone’s identity.

future but in every immediate present. It is truly like fighting an indefatigably mischievous monkey that has no other joy but to annoyingly ruin your plans.

Hence, I ask, where might this monkey come from? Does it come from one’s imagination?

Is it a phantom produced by a chemical imbalance in one’s brain? Is it inherited from a former bearer in one’s family?

Does one unwittingly get it during teenage years, perhaps during a fight with a parent?

Perhaps, more importantly, sufferers of this condition ask why the monkey chose them and not others. Some, on the brink of despair, might even silently wish they had a worse physical ailment. It seems like no matter how many times one Googles it in order to know how to treat it, it only grows more powerful with every keyword search and mindfulness website inquiry.

It seems like having an antipanic attack pill ready in one’s pocket only makes its presence loom larger during the day.

Anticipating it makes it real, yet not minding it gives one a sense that it is merely biding its time before it strikes with a knockout blow—like an earthquake but

with fault lines embedded not on the crust, but in the very core of one’s being. It truly is an incorrigible affliction.

W h i le t here a re t he E s c it a lopr a m s a nd t he Alprazolams that are often prescribed to allay one’s symptoms, most people will tell you that anxiety (for instance, GAD or generalized anxiety disorder) does not simply go away. As long as the main cause is not completely treated, one is bound to combat merely its indicators and temporarily hold that monkey in a zoo. Talking about anxiety with a professional can help one untangle the knots of fear and uncertainty that makes it difficult for the mind to function on an optimal level.

Talking externalizes the threat, giving it a face, a definition, and therefore, limits. Water in the sea and sea water in a bucket might essentially be the same, but the bucket provides one with at least the illusion of its finitude, making the sea seem less monstrous.

Speaking to someone about one’s anxiety can supposedly disenchant it, make it lose power over one’s life because, more often than not, the

things that truly pester and fester in our daily lives come from the power we grant to our thoughts—a power that is oftentimes disproportionate to their counter pa r ts in reality. Anxiety reveals the power of our thoughts over our reality. Perception, as some philosophers claim, is reality.

What populates our mind also populates our world.

As someone personally familiar with the affliction of anxiety, I can attest to the radical necessity of consent with respect to this condition. After all is said and done, after all the doctors are consulted and the medicines are taken, one task remains to be undertaken every single day: To choose to open oneself not just to the possibility of healing, but perhaps more importantly, to the impossibility of being healed. It is this task that truly makes one appreciate the gift of grace and reveals to oneself the insurmountable contingency and finitude of human effort and will.

Ironically it is in being beset by absurd fear, that one is afforded the choice to be courageous.

Marc Oliver D. Pasco, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the Philosophy Department.

6

Opinion BLUE JE A NS

When grief arrives

BY ANDREA TIBAYAN

SOMETIMES, I look back and think of my family. At first, I’m certain that there are six of us. A faint montage of memories crawls its way into my mind: Typically one of my dad coming home from work, my older sisters chatting about some television show on our couch, and my mother who had just brought home merienda for all of us to share. However, I

Relevé TATIANA L. MALIGRO

Looking beyond headlines WHEN I first moved to Metro Manila, I dreaded the day a Manileño would ask me, “May giyera ba sa Mindanao? (Is there war in Mindanao?)”

Although the question does not settle well with many fellow Mindanaoans, we cannot blame people who live outside Mindanao⁠ for asking if we are constantly at war.

After all, they have no other way to learn about Mindanao other than from the residents themselves.

National media is not an effective bridge between the three island groups either. In the rare instances when Mindanao makes it to national news, the headlines usually tell stories of suicide bombings in Western Mindanao, the Maute Group behind the Marawi Siege, and other extremist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf.

News coverage is so focused on religious extremism in Mindanao

Strikethrough JYRA ZOE T. ANG

Too much information WITH THE development of communication and technology in today’s society, we suddenly have access to all kinds of information.

The internet fuels a 24-hour database that is constantly being

Silicon COBBIE QUINTOS

Positivity, not satisfaction MAINSTREAM MEDIA has quite a bad habit of portraying that our world is going to crap and that this is the whole story. Daily news about terrorism, homicide, and our nation’s political situation seem to define the state of the entire world we live in. Given this, we should change the way we look at this kind of news.

Many of what these articles and sites report are indeed true. Largescale corruption indeed continues and plagues many countries and governments today; climate change is absolutely one of the defining global problems of our times; and inequality definitely still persists in every single society across the globe, regardless of form and scale.

Concerning events in our world take place every day—this is a fact.

These are as real as it gets, and we should rightfully not undermine

come back to reality and realize that those interlaced images are nothing more than memories of what once was. I often feel a subtle pinch in my heart whenever I remember that our being six was almost a lifetime ago, and there are only five of us now: My dad, my three older sisters, and me.

For many of us who have suffered the loss of a loved one, our lives forever become different after their passing. Our daily routines are no longer the same. Growing up, I’ve become accustomed to my mom waking me up for school at exactly 5:30 in the morning every day, but for the past few years, I would always have to set my own alarm instead and keep reminding myself that

my mother’s voice will no longer be there to wake me up.

It appears on the most random days. Maybe I’m in the middle of walking to class, I’m eating lunch with friends, or I’m just doing a particularly difficult assignment for school. My mind starts to look for her comfort—like a mere hug or words of encouragement to get me through those extra stressful days—but I always have to snap myself out of that haze and come to the painful reality that she’s no longer with us anymore. Sometimes, those sudden flashes of melancholy, of bittersweet nostalgia, of longing for her presence—comes and pangs through the deep recesses of my heart. In other moments,

that it started to build the common misconception that Mindanao is plagued with Muslim terrorists.

A Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility study revealed that the words “terror,” “terrorist,” and “terrorism” appear almost as many times as the words “Muslim” or “Islam” in the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s 70 articles on Mindanao from March to April 2003. On the other hand, Metro Manila gangs are hardly ever referred to as “Christian gangs.” This can lead people to correlate Islam with terror.

To make matters worse, coverage focuses on stories about military efforts to neutralize terrorists.

Another study in 2016 confirmed that Mindanao coverage continues to be biased against Muslims because of reporters’ reliance on government and military sources and failure to contextualize events. Sure, this angle creates a more dramatic story⁠— conflict sells, after all⁠—but it makes it difficult for people outside Mindanao to empathize with the Internally Displaced Persons and see them as fellow Filipinos that need help.

Manila-based news organizations must put more effort into humanizing the stories of victims when covering conflict in Mindanao. Although this requires going on the ground, the

common approach of merely reporting government statistics about affected individuals is counterproductive as it does not help them directly get their stories across.

News organizations should also increase coverage of stories not just of Mindanao, but of other provinces as well. A 2014 study from a University of the Philippines Diliman graduate student showed that 65% of stories from primetime newscast 24 Oras centers on Metro Manila. Expanding coverage to stories in the provinces can cultivate a better level of cultural understanding nationwide.

Social media campaigns such as Xavier University Development Communication’s I am Mindanao can also help to debunk common misconceptions about Mindanao and its Muslim population.

Despite its cultural diversity, the Philippines has a long way to go before cultural understanding among its citizens can flourish. By increasing humanized stories of Mindanaoans, I am hopeful that I’ll live to see the day we are no longer asked if our home is war-ridden.

After all, despite our cultural differences, we are all Filipino.

updated by billions of people from all around the world. Now, everything we will ever need to know (and more) is contained in a device that fits in the palm of our hands. But sometimes, the endless pages that come up with one Google search feel intimidating.

Information overload is a state of feeling overwhelmed by the information one is receiving to the point that one is unable to think clearly and, ironically, feels less knowledgeable. It’s that feeling you get after hours of researching for a paper when your head starts throbbing, your back begins aching,

and your eyes become strained. At that point, you know you just can’t learn anything more about the topic.

Everything new you read suddenly becomes some form of ancient Latin—incomprehensible and uninformative, and so you take a break or move on to something else. According to an article from Business Research, this is a typical occurrence in research-centric occupations, but what we don’t realize is that this phenomenon has already buried itself deep into our everyday life.

Every time we check our Facebook walls and refresh our

these issues as it would be a delusion to do so. But being satisfied and having a positive outlook are two different things: I would argue that there is value in viewing the state of our world—specifically in contrast with the past—with a more positive outlook, which is significantly different from merely ignoring these issues.

If we try to look beyond our immediate surrounding environment and social media feeds and see how far the world has come in terms of economic progress, health, peace and security, and technology, we can easily see that there’s a lot to be hopeful for.

Just to name a few from this Vox article: Extreme poverty, child labor, child mortality, smoking, teen births, global hunger, and nuclear weapon supply have all been on their own steady declines for decades— and all of these are at their lowest points in the entirety of human history. The number of nations at war now is just a fraction of what it was a few decades back.

At the same time, more and more people have been gaining access to many basic rights such as education.

Access to information, thanks to its democratization through the

internet, has driven industries and fields to exponential progress, leading to scientific findings and technologies that benefit the human race. The good news is that all of these aforementioned aspects are just scratching the surface of today’s feats in comparison with how the world was in the past.

I say this from a privileged position. It’s more possible for someone who hasn’t experienced oppression in any form to see the world in such a manner that’s favorable and hopeful. But having a positive outlook doesn’t invalidate or undermine these pressing issues and the realities of those who suffer greatly under such problems, especially if it will allow us to tackle these problems more efficiently and humanely.

By looking at how we’ve been able to accomplish such progress in certain dimensions, we may be able to identify key patterns and factors in history that can help us tackle today’s most urgent problems. By understanding how far we’ve gone with problems that seemed apocalyptic before, we can have hope and trust in our species’ capability to do it again through action.

it just knocks and gently nudges me, a reminder that its presence is there.

Psychologists emphasize the significance of the five stages of grief: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Whenever I’m reminded of my mother, I often ponder which stage I’m currently under, but my reflection always leaves me perplexed. I sometimes find myself feeling that I’ve already accepted her passing. However, in moments of isolation, it also feels like I’m going through every stage all at once. In times of frustration and anxiety, I just wallow in a profound sadness I can never explain nor understand myself.

The more years since her

passing, I’ve come to the realization that grief was never a bunch of stages that I could just magically go through and free myself of. It’s constantly there and will always be there regardless of how much I try to remove it from my life. Some would say undergoing those five stages is essential in moving on, but I’d like to believe in moving forward more than moving on. When you move forward, memories are never just forgotten and left in the past— they’re held to your heart close enough that it would propel you to greater resilience and strength when faced with adversity.

In some ways, I’ve adapted to the changes grief has brought in my existence, but most times,

the grief still remains. And maybe that’s the point. Grief— as we begin to experience it— perpetually stays with us for as long as we’re alive. Whether three months or three years since a loved one has passed, it’s okay to miss them every now and then. In fact, it’s human.

It’s been over three years since her death, but my grief still frequently arrives. Maybe my mom just wants to subtly nudge me every now and then like she used to every morning. Maybe she’s telling me she’s still here, but it has now manifested in a different way. I’d never know for certain.

Andrea Tibayan is a 2 AB Communication major and a Features staffer of The GUIDON.

MY BROTHER was diagnosed with intellectual disability and dyspraxia at a very young age. I won’t go into the specifics of his diagnosis, but I will say that my brother’s disability is not cause for pity. As a family, we can confidently say that we do all that we can to help him reach his full potential without coddling him or limiting his experience of reality. But, we do need help, especially when it comes to my brother’s higher education— help that proper legislation and initiatives from the private sector can provide.

The struggle to find appropriate schooling—whether primary, secondary, or tertiary—for individuals on the persons with special needs (PWSNs) spectrum is an experience that many special education (SPED) families are familiar with, but this shouldn’t be the case. SPED students and

their right to education must be safeguarded as much as anyone else’s, yet lacking legislation and initiatives from the private sector point to an urgent need to bring SPED back into the discussion after decades of being pushed aside.

In terms of legislation, perhaps we can begin by revisiting the late Miriam Defensor Santiago’s proposed Special Education Act of 2008, which still remains at the Committee Level to this very day.

Santiago’s proposal covers the basics: A clear understanding of PWSNs “distinctive circumstances,” the need for “greater commitment” to fulfill their educational needs, and the minimum requirements of “a trained staff,” and “budgetary support for the establishment of [SPED] centers,” among others.

Still, Santiago doesn’t extend SPED beyond secondary education. This is where the private sector can come in to broaden the advocacy. For instance, as a premier educational institution, Ateneo stands at a prime position to provide more SPED avenues for basic education and college-level PWSN students. Ateneo’s 160th anniversary and the gradual implementation of the AMDG 2030 also presents an opportune moment for the University

to explore the possibility of a SPED arm for PWSNs who need specialized conditions, curricula, and facilities for their educational growth and eventual mainstream integration. Perhaps Ateneo’s initiative may even be the spark that lights the fire, inspiring other universities to look into more SPED avenues for PWSNs as well.

I acknowledge that SPED legislation and initiatives may be difficult and costly given the many considerations that have to be taken into account. Perhaps it will take decades to see concrete change, but this only means that we have to start sooner rather than later—alternative entrance exams, SPED modules, special classes, and pull-out programs are only some of the initiatives universities can begin to explore.

My brother is now 17-years-old.

He dreams of going to Ateneo for college, watching the Ateneo Football Team play live, and eating in JSEC (God knows why). His chances of passing and surviving any college without SPED considerations are slim, but we’ll still do all that we can to make that happen. All that we ask is for others, especially those in power and those who have the means, to do the same.

Twitter timelines, there seems to be a new issue or viral post going around. We put our phone away for an hour and we have suddenly missed out on everything that is happening in the world. Consequently, there is a pressure to be updated and able to receive all this information, but sometimes it is just too much.

Social media provides us with so many details, facts, and opinions that we are unable to understand immediately but are pressured to do so anyway. There is this urgency to respond quickly because as sudden as these trending topics rise, they can easily be replaced by something

new. However, this trend toward efficiency has failed to take into account the importance of quality.

We are rushed into making decisions and opinions based on limited knowledge or we risk being irrelevant. Even worse, we are forced to fit our thoughts into an alluring message spanning a few characters because, let’s face it, once you finish that well-researched essay-long message, your group chat has already moved on to a different topic.

They say to live in the moment, but the constant updates have us looking too much on today that we forget about tomorrow. We participate in

multiple conversations at the same time and lose the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships.

In order to survive this endless stream of knowledge, we tend to mechanically partake in discourse like a machine using an algorithm.

Although the rate of information flow shows no signs of slowing down, maybe we should learn to take a step back and, in the words of Socrates, “know that [we] know nothing.” Maybe the only way to reconnect with ourselves, society, and the world, is to start minimizing web noise, turning off notifications, and ultimately disconnecting.

after a typhoon or an earthquake, we Filipinos would be found rebuilding our lives in a snap because we do not wait for help. Instead, we help ourselves. There is nothing wrong with self-sufficiency, but it begs the question of why we don’t seek help.

Filipino resiliency is deeply rooted in the idea that no one will help us, so we might as well help ourselves.

R e c e n t l y, Presidentia l Spokesperson Salvador Panelo accepted the challenge of taking a commute from Marikina to the Malacañang Palace because he believed there was “no transport crisis.” A four-hour commute wasn’t such a big deal for Panelo as he said he was okay even after the travel.

He even encouraged Filipinos to be “more creative and resilient” when it comes to commuting.

The problem was not that he accepted the challenge but that he missed the whole point of it. The government continues to inject the idea of Filipino resiliency because these officials are placed in pedestals that make them ignorant to the realities of Filipinos. They create unfulfilled promises of new infrastructures, safety, and progress, yet turn a blind eye when we ask for a better daily life or a better

transportation system. Resiliency has become less of a trait and more of an excuse for the government to continue giving the bare minimum.

Problems are covered with band-aid solutions because Filipinos have normalized the idea that “this too shall pass.”

Being resilient is not entirely a bad concept. I am very proud to see Filipinos as creative and selfsufficient, but there is more to it. We need to ask why Filipinos have to be resilient and where the administration fails. Street children studying under street lamps or a man submerged in water during typhoons is not an embodiment of resiliency.

We must hold people accountable for failures, especially the government.

I cannot say I have lived a life of an average Filipino. I have yet to experience what it’s like, but these realities have only made me question the government more. It is only when we stop romanticizing resiliency can we recognize ourselves as victims of this failed system. One of my professors once said in class, “The Philippines is not poor. It is only poorly managed.” It took me a while to understand that, but since then, I have never seen Filipino resiliency the same way.

Riptide ALITHEA C. SORIANO

My brother

Blank Canvas CARMELA B. MASIGLAT

Romanticizing the bare minimum NINGAS COGON is a Spanish word for cogon grass that quickly burns out when put on fire. In the Philippines, ningas cogon is one of the many bad habits that people have become desensitized towards. It is the act of performing a task excellently at the start, but slowly becoming too lazy to finish it. This takes the form of procrastination, half-baked work, or empty promises, the last of which the government is known for and may often be the only thing many Filipinos cling onto as they hope for a better life.

These empty promises from the government have forced many Filipinos to become “resilient.”

You would find many stories about Filipinos that remain happy despite challenges. Whether it’s

The GUIDON | November-December 2019

7

LEGACY. Students fill the stands of the Blue Eagle Gym as they support the Blue and Lady Eagles at the annual pep rally. | PHOTO BY MARK ANASTACIO

Blue Eagle Gym’s 7oth anniversary

BY JOSEPH B. BANAAG AND JOAQUIM S. MELO

THE BLUE Eagle Gym has easily one of the most iconic and recognizable fa ç ades in the Ateneo de Manila University. Its frontage, which is adorned with the massive king Blue Eagle and stands parallel to Katipunan Avenue, has become a lasting symbol of the University itself.

Considering its storied history, the Blue Eagle Gym has certainly had an undeniable impact on many generations of Ateneans.

As it celebrates its 70th year in 2019, the Blue Eagle Gym has long symbolized the tradition of excellence weaved into the history of Ateneo. The gym houses student-athletes from sports ranging from chess to volleyball, with the hours—both seen and unseen—spent by these Ateneans serving as a testament to the effort and hard work they put into their craft.

THROUGH THE YEARS Initially known as the Loyola C enter b ack w hen it w a s opened in 1949, the Blue Eagle Gym was only given its present name in the year 2000. But even with this long legacy, the g y mnasium has more or less stayed the same amidst the changing times in the Ateneo campus.

As the ver y first structure in the Loyola

H e i g h t s c a m p u s , t he Blue Eagle Gym witnessed the birth of the school around it—heralding the beginning of the new Ateneo.

The gymnasium has seen little changes over the last seven decades. Originally an aircraft hangar before being transferred to the Ateneo de Manila University campus, the structure itself has kept the same classic look since its birth. Well-ventilated and spacious, the Blue Eagle Gym was ahead of its time. For Director of the University Athletics Office Em Fernandez, its design remains a feat of engineering and architecture to this very day. “ Para siyang LEGO, nakainterlock (It interlocks like LEGO),” Fernandez says regarding the interlocking mechanism of the steel roof, which provides immense stability to the structure.

Moreover, the building layout a llows for ef f icient a ir f low even as the areas surrounding the g y m have b ecome more d e n s e l y popu lated w it h a number of buildings.

Fe r n a n d e z , a n A t e n e a n a lu mnus h i m s el f ( B S MGT ‘93), recalls h o w the Blue Eagle Gym

h o s t e d many events, from concerts to basketball games throughout its long history. “It was fun to have games here, even if the acoustics were bad,” says Fernandez, as he remembers the many basketball games hosted by University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UA AP) back in the 1990s.

A HOME FOR ATENEANS The historic gym has not only served as a mere home court for Ateneans—it has been a first-hand witness of the struggles that made Atenean athletes into champions.

UA AP teams like volleyball, judo, table tennis, baseball, fencing, chess, track and field, and the Blue Babble Battalion all hold their practices in the different rooms of the Blue Eagle Gym. Non-UAAP varsity teams like the Ateneo Rowing Team and the Aikido Club have training and conditioning sessions in the gym as well. This has allowed the Blue Eagle G y m to mold

m a n y Atenea ns i n t hei r formation as athletes, with the unseen hours spent within the g ym’s four walls instilling a kind of work ethic that extends beyond sports.

More than just a practice arena, the Blue Eagle Gym has hosted numerous competitions.

It has been the venue for many of the indoor sports of the UAAP, namely basketball, chess, taekwondo, table tennis, judo, and volleyball. The recently established Premier Volleyball League, which includes current and former Atenean volleyball icons, have played matches in the historic gym as well. The Ateneo Basketball League, a recreational leag ue open to Ateneans young and old, also holds numerous games in the gym during weekends.

Even Ateneans who are non-athletes have memorable experiences inside the gym.

For True Blue Ateneans, it is the home of the Ateneo Grade School Baccalaureate Mass, which usually features an iconic song and dance routine from the graduating batch. It is also the venue of the annual Cheer Rally, where all of Ateneo’s UAAP teams are sent off by the entire Loyola Schools freshman batch. Even if it serves as the hub for Ateneo sports, the Blue Eagle Gym is not exclusive to student-athletes. All Ateneans, past and present, have a place in the legacy of the Blue Eagle Gym. WHAT THE FUTURE HAS IN STORE As another decade is set to begin, the Ateneo de Manila University will put its efforts into the modernization of the Blue Eagle Gym. Veering away from the notion of the g y m as a venue primarily used for spor ting events,

the administration aims to transform the structure into the center of University-wide events.

The goa l of t he school, as Fer na ndez states, is to provide air conditioning in the structure, so as to make the gym more suitable for events such as graduations. The intent is to shift the graduation venue from the Ateneo High School Covered Courts, which has ser ved as the site for many years, to the revamped Blue Eagle Gym. Beyond the added convenience of holding the ceremonies in a place with better ventilation and lighting, the move would also be a fitting symbolic change because of the significance of the Blue Eagle Gym for Ateneans.

The final stop for graduating Ateneans would be a building that, over the past 70 years, has become a historical and cultural symbol for the hard work and passion that comes with being an Atenean.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAMILLE VERGARA PHOTO BY REENA C. PINEDA | ARCHIVED PHOTO FROM THE GUIDON 1952

EDITORS: KIRBY G. JALANDONI AND JOAQUIN A. SANTOS | LAYOUT ARTIST: CAMERON POLINTAN BLUE EAGLE GYM’S 70TH ANNIVERSARY

Sports

The Blue Eagle Gym is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2019. It has remained a constant amidst the ever-changing Ateneo around it, continuing to stand strong as a symbol of the Atenean spirit.

07

GAME OF THE CENTURY. In 1955, Ateneo and San Beda were fierce rivals for the NCAA trophy. The former secured eight championships while the latter held seven. Fans and players eagerly followed their matches, waiting to see whether San Beda would catch up or if the Blue Eagles would pull ahead. | ARCHIVED PHOTO FROM THE GUIDON’S OCTOBER 1, 1955 SPECIAL ISSUE

Making the jump

BY VITO MARTIN AND MIGUEL G. POLICARPIO

AS THE Ateneo Blue Eagles stay f irmly perched in its nest among the prime Philippine col leges of t he Un iver sit y At h letic A ssociation of t he P h i l ip p i n e s ( UA A P), o n e m a y f i n d i t d i f f i c u lt t o believe that Ateneo’s winning ways in the UA A P began only 41 yea rs ago, when the Blue Ea gles made t hei r h istor ic exodus f rom the prominent colleg iate lea g ue at t he time, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCA A), to the UA A P, their current home.

Ateneo’s stor ied jou r ne y a s a compe t it ive at h le t ics program began in the nascent NCA A of the 1920s, harking back to the days when Ateneo called Padre Faura its home base, their closest rivals were San Beda a nd Letra n, a nd t he le g e nd a r y Blue E a g le G y m w as a d rea m aw ay.

Ateneo wou ld slowly r ise to dom ina nce in t he UA A P a nd w i ll fore ver be k now n for its historic rivalries and nu m e r o u s c h a mp io n s h ip s du r i n g its fou r decades of re sidence . Howe ver, t hei r NC A A d a y s l i v e on a s a lo n g - l a s t i n g r e m i n d e r o f Ateneo’s role in the bir th of t he Ph i l ippi nes ’ f i r st- e ver collegiate sports leag ue.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION With the growing prominence of acclaimed colleges in the Manila area during the 1920s, the idea of an exclusive sports leag ue gathered steam. The NCA A was the brainchild of Dr. Regino Ylanan, who introduced the league in 1924, with Ateneo, La Salle, National University, University of Manila, University of Santo Tomas and Colegio de San Juan Letran listed among its founding fathers. It was a grand idea: The top collegiate schools of Manila competing against one another on the grand stage of a premier sporting league.

The NCA A would go on to enjoy its apex with rivalries be t ween A teneo a nd S a n Beda, and Letran and La Salle marking the heyday of the rising collegiate league. Basketball legends such as Caloy “The Great Difference” Loyzaga of San Beda, original king eagle Frankie Rabat, and Lauro “The Fox” Mumar of Letran sparked the popularity of the league.

Buoyed by the passionate interscholastic competition a nd she e r s c ho ol s pi r it , the NCA A rose to unrivalled levels of fame. But as the heat of competition grew greater over t he yea rs, so d id a culture of hooliganism and riotous behavior.

BLOOD, SWEAT, AND JEERS Despite its historic legacy, an era of unsportsmanlike antics and excessive violence began to take hold of the NCAA, eventually pushing Ateneo to depart from the league.”It was getting out of control… [Ateneo’s decision] was really about the violence,” says Ateneo University Athletics Office Director Em Fernandez.

Acts of v iolence tainted Ateneo’s NCA A history with blood and tears, perfectly represented in the cheers of Colegio De San Juan De Letran, one of the founders of the league.

Fernandez explained that they were known to infamously chant, “ manalo, matalo, bugbog pa rin kayo (win or lose, you will still get beat up).”

Stories of Letran players and students raging into Ateneo to pick fights overshadowed Ateneo’s basketball matches against the Intramuros-based squad. The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps had to guard Ateneo-La Salle games to control aggression between the old rivals. Finally, a gruesome brawl between fans of Ateneo and San Beda, eventually leading to the hosting of their championship game behind closed doors, marked Ateneo’s f inal game in the NCA A .

Eventually, Ateneo packed up

and made the change from the NCAA to their rival league, the UA AP, in 1978. Unfortunately, the brutality in the competitions did not stop there, and Ateneo was not any more innocent than the rest. At that point, Ateneo’s Blue Babble Battalion had yet to accept female members, and Atenean fans spewed vitriol at the schools that did. They would jeer at the cheerleaders of La Salle, yelling “Ayan na mga pokpok! (There goes the prostitutes!)”

Fortunately the UAAP proved to be much more capable of resolving these transgressions than the NCA A. Restrictions were put on school cheers, media outlets were told to minimize replays of sequences that may trigger physical reactions from the crowds. Overall, the games were safer for everyone in the arenas. As the dust began to settle following these reforms, the UAAP soon emerged into a league of its own.

GROWING PAINS A f ter ma k ing the ju mp from the NCA A to the UA AP, Ateneo struggled to adjust to the new environment. Despite dominating the NCAA landscape with 14 Men’s Basketball titles, the Ateneo Men’s Basketball team wouldn’t earn their first

championship until 1987, nine years after their maiden season in the UAAP. One of the main agents in Ateneo’s str uggle was the disparity in talent between the NCA A and UA AP at the time.

Although the NCA A was the more popular league then, most national team players were taken from their rival league. “The UAAP was just the far superior league in terms of talent,” says Fernandez. Players like Far Eastern University’s Anthony Williams, who led FEU to a three-peat while being the first foreign student-athlete to win the Most Valuable Player award in the UA AP, and University of the East’s Allan Caidic, who won the 1982, 1984, and 1985 Most Valuable Player awards, dominated the UAAP scene.

Despite these struggles, the school’s league shift ultimately paid off, not just in terms of basketball, but also for the general state of Ateneo sports.

The UAAP proved itself to be more capable of change and expansion than their counterpart. Along with this, more sports such as Judo and Fencing were introduced, women’s divisions were organized, and the league’s media savvy provided greater opportunities for athletes to showcase their talents. As the

UAAP began to diversify its range of sporting opportunities and fanbase, their legacy as a league for the forward-looking would soon be established.

PIONEERS Behind the long-standing success of the Blue Eagles l ies a hu mble beg i n n i n g , as exemplif ied by the school’s dec ision to ta ke a br ave step to compete i n t he Ph i l ippi ne s ’ f i r s t ever college leag ue, du k ing it out a g a inst t he g ia nts of t he NC A A , a nd r ising above a c u lt u re of v iolence to sta ke its place among the titans of Philippine collegiate sports.

While the NCA A and UA A P have progressed separately to astounding levels of success, they a re both rooted in the sa me spir it of school pr ide t h a t h a s c e m e nt e d t h e i r places, and all their member col leges, i n t he a n n a ls of Philippine culture. 41 years have passed since the UA A P welcomed A teneo i nto it s ra n ks, but that raucous, t a ke -no -pr isoner s p a ssion borne from the early days of t he NC A A lives on in each a nd e ver y lea g ue, spor ting event, a nd cheer ra lly around the archipelago.

PHOTO BY GABRIEL J. MEDINA

PHOTO BY REENA C. PINEDA

EDITOR: ANDREA MIKAELA LLANES AND TRISTAN R. CHAN | LAYOUT ARTIST: VIKTOR VALIX MAKING SENSE OF THE LIGHT

Daybreak

In its 160 years of Ateneo Jesuit education, Ateneo has welcomed people of different faiths into its theology classes. Here, we delve into how people who find themselves outside the Catholic faith experience learning about a religion that is different from their own.

04

Understanding the spectrum

BY AARON TOLENTINO AND ANGEL MARTINEZ

WHEN IT comes to persons diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), frequent and persistent features that affect how they interact with others tend to manifest throughout their life.

The Indiana Resource Center for Autism mentions that those with ASD often struggle with picking up on language characteristics and engaging in social communication; these challenges are only amplified in a college setting.

Ateneans diagnosed with ASD also grapple with navigating their social and college lives as they face the additional challenge of raising awareness about the nuances of their condition in hopes of sparking discourse and discussion.

DEFINING A DISORDER The Alaska Division of Public Health—a leading institution in autism studies—describes autism as an umbrella term for developmental disabilities that affect a person’s social, communication, and behavioral skills.

The effects usually vary from person to person, which is why autism is characterized as a spectrum rather than a specific set of symptoms. Autism has since been classified into three main groups: Classic autism, Asperger’s, and pervasive developmental disorder.

Classic autism is also considered the most widely known classification of ASD. The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services’ characterizes classic autism as a developmental disability that tends to impair language use and limit imagination, reflected in repetitive patterns of behavior.

A lesson in empathy

BY AARON TOLENTINO AND ANGEL MARTINEZ ILLUSTRATION BY LIA DATILES

Meanwhile, those diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome tend to exhibit less speech and language delays and cognitive impairments as compared to classic autism.

“Asperger’s is high-functioning, meaning I could talk and I’m pretty intelligent, but I have trouble socializing,” says Ryan Ortega (2 BS CTM), who was diagnosed with the disability at the age of six.

People diagnosed with Asperger’s tend to struggle most with aspects of social interaction, such as picking up on social cues or expressing emotions.

The last classification of autism is pervasive development disorder—most often considered as the mildest form of ASD. Pervasive development disorder serves as an umbrella term used for those who meet the criteria for autism such as atypical behavior or uneven skill development, but lack extreme symptoms like repetitive behavior and intellectual limitations.

SOCIAL STUMBLING BLOCKS Students diagnosed with ASD have take on different outlooks regarding academics and Ateneo’s school environment. “It’s pretty manageable. Sometimes it’s a lot, but I’m always very hopeful that I can pull through,” shares Ortega.

RDM*, a super senior with Asperger’s, says that considerate professors also make the academic college experience more inclusive.

He fondly recalls professors who knew how to communicate with him because of their previous experiences with students who have the same condition. However, there are

still some struggles that Ortega and RDM have to face every day.

RDM shares that his difficulty to verbalize his thoughts affects his performance during class recitation and his ability to socialize with others. “I’m sort of afraid of messing things up when I’m trying to interact with people, because [...] it’s still really hard for me to see body signs or facial signatures,” he says.

The concern then shifts to whether people within the Ateneo community are truly prejudice-free.

RDM adds that he has a lingering fear of informing professors of his condition lest he be viewed differently. “I’m actually scared [...] [because] they might treat me worse because some people have looked down upon people with disabilities.”

In the process of understanding the different manifestations of their symptoms and how this affects their daily lives, students with ASD often find solace in being surrounded by those who understand their situation. Through social integration and acceptance, the Ateneo can move forward in making persons with special needs (PWSNs) feel more at home.

COMFORT IN COMMUNITY An example of positive environments in school is the Ateneo Special Education Society (SPEED)—an organization that “envisions a society that understands and cares for persons with special needs.” RDM was initially surprised to find out that such an organization existed, but SPEED served as a place for him to bond

with others who have cognitive, learning, and social conditions. “I joined [Ateneo] SPEED, since [...] I feel free with them because they actually know about [my condition],” says RDM. PWSNs also help out with the organization’s different projects and initiatives. For Pia Cabañero (1 AB IS), who is diagnosed with ASD, her interest in graphic design is honed through her participation in SPEED’s Creatives Pool. “I did a lot of posters and a lot of art for SPEED. I just really like to show some of my skills,” she says. These opportunities not only give PWSNs the freedom to explore their passions, but also serve as an avenue for empowerment.

Positive communities like these are integral to PWSNs students’ growth, especially when constantly faced with the common misconception that PWSNs can’t function well in society. “Most people would just look at [us and think] na they’re weird in general, and say na they were probably dropped on the head,” RDM says. According to Ortega, this idea cannot be any further removed from the truth.

“A lot of [PWSNs] are [smart] and capable, [especially when] given the chance and help that they need,” he asserts.

PEOPLE FOR OTHERS Without a doubt, PWSNs are capable of contributing to a more inclusive Atenean community.

However, the University itself must look into various efforts to ensure that the school fosters as space for growth and acceptance.

According to Office of Student Services assistant to the Director and SPEED moderator Ma. Estrella Paulino, one such initiative is the integration of a module on PWSNs to the Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions classes. However, this targets only the freshman

ILLUSTRATION BY IVERSON ONG

batch. There have also been efforts to reach out towards University staff. According to Paulino, some teaching and non-teaching staff are given annual training on how to accommodate PSWNs. These sessions—headed by the Office for Student Services—involve Psychological First Aid training.

Additionally, Loyola Schools Office of Guidance and Counseling (LSOGC) guidance counselor Analyn Riptola adds that LSOGC remains in contact with PWSNs students to check up on how they are doing at home with their families and in school among their peers.

These check-ups are done to ensure their general well-being and social integration. Aside from keeping in touch with PWSNs, Ripotola shares that the LSOGC is keen on practicing psychotherapy for students who experience meltdowns during their classes.

When all is said and done, Ortega asserts that fostering empathy towards PWSNs requires a willingness to understand people who are and aren’t on the spectrum. “I think [other people] have to understand that we're human,” he says. “We all have flaws. Nobody's perfect, [...] it's a struggle for everyone to deal with.”

At the end of the day, inclusivity is a “two-way process,” as per Ortega, and perhaps there is no better way to put it. Inclusivity demands action from all members of the University—whether student, faculty, or administrator.

There is much more that can be done in the process of raising awareness about the spectrum; while the University has had some initiatives, it is up to the community itself to foster understanding with one another, regardless of whether they are a PWSNs or not.

2

Daybreak INQUIRY

At the e

In plain sight

BY MANOLO SOLIVEN AND FRANCIS CAIGA

SECTORAL REPRESENTATION in campus is integral to the basic rights of all students. Last August, the Sanggunian announced its plans to inaugurate another commission for the representation of a minority sector on campus, this time for Persons With Special Needs (PWSNs). The Commission on Persons with Special Needs Inclusion (CPSNI) aims to champion the concerns of individuals diagnosed with neurological, physical, or psych logical conditions.

CPSNI is poised to join student organizations such as the Ateneo Special Education Society (SPEED) in advocating for the empowerment and representation of PWSNs on campus. SPEED President Mary Chow notes that despite the organization’s advocacy efforts in the past 25 years, the struggles of the PWSN community mostly remain unnoticedbythepublic.“We’vecreated many projects and initiatives for our students with special needs to help them adjust to the college culture. However, it can be difficult at times to compete with 55+ other organizations in Ateneo, to increase the awareness and attention for our advocacy," says Chow. The planned institution of CPSNI and the University’s collaborations with the Institute on Disability and Public Policy indicate that the University supports PWSN-inclusion. However, most of the adjustments, facilities, and equipment installed on campus are meant to accommodate only certain physical and sensory disabilities. On the other hand, students with psychosocial and neurological conditions must coordinate closely with University offices? and services for their needs to be met.

More than additional campus initiatives to accommodate PWSNs’ specific needs, the PWSNs sector still needs platforms to voice their sector-specific concerns. In addition to awareness programs for the sector’s apprehensions, true inclusion for PWSNs within the community involves empowering them to claim leadership positions that allow them to serve as their sector’s voice.

WHAT IT HAS, WHAT IT CAN University offices do their part to assist PWSNs students by monitoring and accommodating their needs through specialized support groups and faculty sensitivity training. According to Assistant to the Director for the Office of Student Services Estrella Paulino, the Loyola Schools Office of Guidance and Counselling (LSOGC) collaborates with the Loyola Schools Office for Health Services and the Office of Academic Affairs to assist PWSN students with their specific needs upon enrollment into the University. Director of the Office for Student Services (OSS) Cholo Mallillin affirms this, specifying that the LSOGC and LSOHS are “equipped” to assist all PWSNs students who properly declare their conditions through the required Health Report once they are admitted into the school.

Mallillin further notes that the Ateneo has its own established University Wellness Council (UWC), which is tasked with “[creating] policies, protocols and services” for the PWSNs sector within the community. In addition to helping coordinate the access of PWSN students to on-campus mental health institutions such as the Bulatao Psychology Services Center and the Emmaus Psycho-Spiritual

Center, UWC has also formed a Critical Attention Required (CARe) Team composed of the LSOGC, LSOHS, and OSS faculty members. “Under the auspices of the Associate Dean for Student and Administrative Services, [CARe is tasked with] screening, educating [campus] caregivers [for PWSNs students in need], [and] intervention for emergency incidents and continued care for our PWSNs students,” says Mallillin. For the rest of their stay in the Loyola Schools, certified PWSNs students are informed by the LSOGC on the availability status of active campus support groups such as SPEED. Other than establishing social groups for PWSNs students on campus, SPEED also trains its student volunteers to become mentors for PWSNs who are part of SPEED’s partner organizations outside of the University. For all of these University community programs designed to assist PWSNs students, Pia Cabañero (1 AB IS), who has autism spectrum disorder, asserts that these initiatives must be prepared to accommodate the needs of PWSNs students on a case-bycase basis, as neurological and psychosocial conditions exist across a spectrum.

THE CLAWS OF PITY In spite of the University community’s concrete attempts in addressing the needs of PWSNs students, members of the sector still feel apprehensive about disclosing their conditions and engaging themselves with such programs. Cabañero shares that many members of the sector find it difficult to willingly certify their status of disability. “They’re afraid of going public [with their disabilities] since they think they’ll be [pitied],” she says. Cabañero does acknowledge that the University community has been accomodating to her ASD as they check up on her when she is distressed. “When I make any tantrums, faculty and students alike ask me if I’m alright,” she says. “People here just want to make sure that I’m doing fine.”

However, she says that the community’s approach towards PWSNs could still be improved. Despite SPEED’s effortsto acquaint people with the conditions of PWSNs, students with special needs are still apprehensive about experiencing social exclusion from the rest of the student community. Cabañero stresses the need for the community at large to practice empathy for PWSNs students, rather than rigid awareness of the various conditions which may set these students apart. “They should feel a sense of acceptance. We don’t need people to identify that we’re differently-abled, what we need are activities that foster closeness with the PWSNs community on campus,” she states.

Regarding the newly-formed CPSNI, Cabañero hopes that this will serve as an opportunity for PWSNs students to become leaders that will express the sector’s needs and empower fellow PWSNs to voice their struggles. “It feels very appreciative to see this representation coming in because it gives an

opportunity for PWSNs to have a presence on campus and push for inclusion,” she says.

THE URGENCY OF AWARENESS To further strengthen PWSNs inclusion, Chow says that the Ateneo could still push for education about the sector. For Chow, the University still lacks professionals who are well-trained enough to inform the community about the PWSNs sector’s aspirations and concerns.

Paulino further expounds on the need for more educational drives for PWSNs, providing her own suggestions for such initiatives like encouraging the school to set up seminars for teachers and electives that show students how to properly assist distressed PWSNs. Meanwhile, Mallillin notes that pre-existing mental wellness programs implemented by the University must be “recognized and appreciated more,” for their validity in addressing the psychosocial needs of Loyola Schools students.

He cites the examples of the Introduction to Ateneo Culture and Traditions program’s self-care, social skills, and stress management modules as capable of helping the community be aware of their own mental health, and the particular needs of their fellow PWSNs students.

HIGHER AND FURTHER While the University does have initiatives from both administration offices and student organizations to address the needs of the PWSNs sector, the assistance that these projects provide function on the same variations of mentorship structures.

Programs such as SPEED’s “splover-splovee” system and the administration’s CARe initiatives focus on coaching and assisting PWSNs with the development of their social skills and needs.

Though these projects do perform the critical tasks of guiding PWSNs students to develop their own capabilities, there still exists a gap between PWSNs becoming empowered individuals, and empowered as a sector in the University community.

It is critical that PWSNs students are given opportunities to not only interact socially with their fellow students as peers, but politically as representatives of their own sectoral identity. In addition to granting leadership and member development roles to PWSNs students within community groups such as the Sanggunian, projects such as kapihans may be instituted to organize the sector of students with disabilities. As an institution that aims to showcase the excellence of its students, Ateneo may likewise consider establishing electives and modules for interested members of its PWSNs student sector to learn non-academic skills, such as creative expression through the visual arts and paralympic sports.

REJ BAGONOC

Celebrating truths REJ BAGONOC COMING OUT isn’t easy.

Circumstances vary, and the fight for acceptance and equality in a heteronormative society persists. With various initiatives in school like the Sanggunian’s One Big Pride March and the Loyola Schools’ establishment of a Gender Hub, tangible changes are being made to promote a more inclusive campus environment.

However, it can still be a challenge to find solace with one’s own identity. This individual battle is not just a student’s struggle for self-discovery, but one present even among the Ateneo faculty.

Finding this “pride” in oneself can be a long journey of questions and doubts, and three members of the Ateneo faculty can relate to this winding experience.

From learning how to celebrate one’s own truth to honoring unique experiences, and finally, to loving oneself, their common message resounds: At the end of the rainbow, you are not alone.

Biology department Instructor Rej Bagonoc shares what it means to live one’s truth as a gay man. With the onset of Pride March in the Philippines and the increasing culture of self-exploration and acceptance, Bagonoc leaves a

different challenge for everyone: To see beyond the “loudness” and recognize the barriers that keep the quiet unheard.

However, he acknowledges that there are external barriers to realizing one’s truth—as evidenced in his own story.

Bagonoc was aware of his identity at a young age, but did not come out until much later because of pressure and expectations from his immediate family.

“I knew more or less [that] I was gay, but then there was a time [when] I was just content with staying in the closet,” he said. But all of that changed when he entered Ateneo and met a transwoman.

Seeing other people out and proud helped Bagonoc come to terms with himself and open up to his family. “It made me realize [that] maybe this is actually a good environment for living my truth,” he says.

However, another hurdle Bagonoc—and many other LGBTQ+ people—have to navigate is the persistence of homophobia outside the LGBTQ+ community and sometimes, even within.

Specifically, Bagonoc refers to how discourse is primarlily focused on gay men. “The lesbians, transwomen, [and] transmen are still pushed to the peripher-

ies. The bisexuals are even considered invalid because it’s either one or the other,” he adds.

For Bagonoc, this challenge stems from the patriarchal tendency of the Filipino society.

This reality, then, points to a need to cultivate an environment that is more inclusive of all people on the LGBTQ+ spectrum and conducive to those who still seek to discover their individual truths.

His unique position as a teacher has also allowed Bagonoc to discover the little things that can be done to increase sensitivity.

“Even [when] interacting with students, if the student corrects you with pronouns, like what they use and what they prefer— respecting that is already a big validation for [them],” he says.

Ultimately, Bagonoc believes that although biological and neurological processes intersect to form identity, the self and its complexities only truly flourish under nurturing and supportive environments.

As such, simple initiatives that contribute to fostering a more positive community, like respecting terminologies and labels—or lack thereof— are necessary steps towards respecting each other’s individual truths.

The GUIDON | November-December 2019

3

end of the rainbow

BY GENESIS JACINTH TAN AND EALA JULIENNE P. NOLASCO PHOTOS BY REGINE SALUMBRE AND JIM DASAL

Honoring experiences CHARLIE VERIC Even as a child, English Depratment Assistant Professor Charlie Veric was already aware that his identity clashed with a heteronormative society.

“I knew that what I was feeling was different. There was a bit of shame about it, but the shame was not too overpowering as to prevent me from recognizing myself,” he explains.

Veric spent his childhood in Aklan at Panay island, where he lived and grew up as a gay man. His childhood would become his inspiration for one of his books: Boyhood (2017), a story about nostalgic

memories and an eventual coming-of-age through the assertion of one’s sexuality.

In Veric’s case, literature is one of the ways in which he is able to express himself and his truth.

His latest work The Love of a Certain Age (2019) is set in the context of online dating and aims to challenge the homosexual experience by exploring what it means to reach the age of maturity.

Through his work, Veric emphasizes the importance of self-expression, especially on matters of sexuality. “For

people to talk about [asserting sexuality]—it’s uncommon, it’s an experience that’s stigmatized,” he shares. “That’s why [one] should express themselves with courage, especially if one is queer.”

In fact, the stigma against LGBTQ+ expression and education has left people vulnerable. For instance, though there has been a decrease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in the world, the number of HIV cases in the Philippines continues to rise.

Veric relates this vulnerability to the modern invention of online dating.

When

queer people go online and experience things such as romance or sex for the first time, they end up taking big risks—more often than not, it is the only avenue for them to ever experience their sexuality.

Thus, the queer population becomes more vulnerable in environments where they are unable to seek help without feeling ashamed.

In the case of the Ateneo, Veric acknowledges that there are official stances on inclusivity, but perceives these statements to be a result of students and faculty asserting their rights.

Authenticity is key

CHARLIE VERIC

PIA LINA Psychology Department Lecturer Pia Lina’s discovery of her bisexuality was incidental and quite unexpected.

What followed after her initial acknowledgement was a journey into the self that involved more questions that answers.

Lina recalls that she always had girl crushes in her childhood.

However, years later as an adult, she did not think of these incidents as indicative of bisexuality— but she laughingly shares

that life can be unpredictable.

Lina discovered her sexuality at the rather late age of 28—while in a happy relationship with a straight man.

“When I was around 28, I became attracted to someone and then I asked myself the question: ‘Do I have a girlcrush or is this a crush-crush?’

How do I [deal with] that when I’m not sure or afraid of how my parents will accept me?”

However, at the crossroads between ignoring the question and pursuing it, Lina chose to

be authentic and prioritized exploring her identity.

But, as Lina would later learn, the journey into the self is one of harsh terrains and unexpected pitfalls.

“There's this really funny doubt of ‘Am I just trying to be cool? Am I just trying to be different, to stand out?’” she says. Especially for bisexuality, there comes a struggle to seek validity from a society that thinks it’s “a phase” or a “denial that you’re gay.”

Lina’s confusion resulted in self-doubt, which she overcame by challenging herself. “Ask [the difficult] question, because you're just trying to be yourself, and if you never ask yourself these questions… then you're never gonna build your identity,” she says.

Thus, sexuality can be further nuanced by working towards accepting and loving one’s identity, “no matter what it is that you are.” To Lina, this mindset is the beginning of unlocking the true self.

DIFFERENT FACES, DIFFERENT TRUTHS Pride in the LGBTQ+ community is not about extravagance. For Bagonoc, Veric, and Lina, it simply begins with oneself—with accepting who you are and challenging the notions that make coming out difficult.

But more than challenging hindrances, there is a need to understand that the LGBTQ+ community is not represented by one dominant sexuality or gender identity. The march for

pride has not reached the end of its rainbow, not when identities at the peripheries have yet to tell their truths.

Ultimately, the empowerment of the LGBTQ+ community is an open call for solidarity—those who have gone through the difficult journey of self-discovery are encouraged to impart their knowledge to those who continue to struggle. Through this discourse, we find hope and strength to pursue authenticity, share respect, and take downharmful misconceptions.

There's this really funny doubt of ‘Am I just trying to be cool? Am I just trying to be different—to stand out?

PIA LINA LECTURER PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

4

Daybreak

Making sense of the light

BY LAURENCE TUBON, LORENZO LAGAMON AND EALA JULIENNE P. NOLASCO

ONE OF the principal attributes of the Ateneo is an education that is rooted deeply and intimately with the humanities and liberal arts.

The simple reason behind the formation of this curriculum is that an Ateneo education entails the care and development of the whole person. At the heart of Ateneo’s efforts towards holistic formation are the mandatory core subjects, which include history, philosophy, and theology.

While Ateneo theology is rooted f irmly in Catholic and Christian teachings, one aspect that must be taken into consideration is the mu lt i- f a it h d y n a m ic of t he Un iversit y. St udents of different faiths (or nonfaiths) make up Ateneo’s population, which prompts us to wonder how they fare in classes that are typically associated with a religious orientation that is different from their own. More importantly, the reality of a multi-faith community calls for a closer look at the school’s existing theology curriculum and how inclusive it strives to be.

A CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY FOR ALL The Loyola Schools campus houses not only Catholics, but Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and agnostics as well. Jayce Caro (2 BS MGT), for instance, practices Buddhism. Caro understandably

had apprehensions when he decided to spend his college years in a university well-known for its Catholic roots.

“There’s a fear of…‘Oh no!

They’re gonna judge me. I’m the Buddhist,’” he says. Although he came from a Christian background and family, Caro’s chosen religion still made him fear the prospect of being the “outlier” in a Catholic school.

However, this isn’t always the case. For Sparsha Sreedhar (4 BS MGT), a practicing Hindu, Ateneo was just another Catholic school—no different from the schools she enrolled in for her primary and secondary education.

Despite the difference in their perspectives, Caro and Sreedhar share similar experiences in learning about a faith that isn’t their own. Sreedhar, for instance, initially found it difficult, especially in her younger years. “[It was a] struggle in grade school because it was very objective and memorization based,” she explains.

However, she adds that learning about religion in high school and college became “more fun” since the focus shifted to more ref lection-based activities.

Sreedhar’s teachers were more open to the integration of her own faith in papers and other class outputs.

Caro’s sentiments about his first theology class in the Ateneo THEO 11: Faith, Spirituality,

and the Church mirror that of Sreedhar’s. At that time, he was taught by Theology Department Instructor Simone LorenzoPecson, who Caro describes to have been “genuinely curious about different religions.” He particularly appreciates how Lorenzo-Pecson tried her best to make the lessons relatable for non-Christians by integrating the insights of different religions into her lectures.

However, Caro and Sreedhar acknowledge that others still have less-than-ideal experiences when it comes to Ateneo theology.

“What I heard from other [theology] classes [is] shine-shove down their throats yung Catholic beliefs…[it’s all] memorize this, memorize that,” Caro shares. Sreedhar adds that some of her theology classes were also very traditional, in which “everything [was] based on the Bible.”

LOGIC AND CONVERSATIONS Ateneo’s multi-faith reality has caused some to question the necessity of theology as a required subject, especially given its focus on Catholic teaching rather than religion as a whole.

In response to this, Theology Department Assistant Professor Ray Aguas asserts that theology is “an academic subject in a Catholic university…You don’t have to believe in the Catholic faith—but you have to be

able to explain what the Catholic faith believes.”

A common argument that follows is that theology could then be made an optional course.

Aguas disagrees with this, saying, “It’s the same reason why we won’t allow you to not take up Math 10 for the reason that you don’t like math.”

Interreligious dialogue advocate and Interdisciplinary Studies Department Lecturer Maria Africa agrees and emphasizes that Ateneo is a Catholic university, thus theology should still be a mandatory class. However, she emphasizes the need for theology to be taught in a way that does not promote fear among students who want to engage in critical discourse— whether about the Catholic faith or other religions.

“But more than that, theology must also let you see why the Catholic faith is logical and makes sense,” Aguas adds.

On a similar note, Africa notes that students must be aware of the courses they are mandated to study before enrolling in a school.

She adds that the challenge is not accommodating each faith by allowing them to forgo theology, but to cultivate a community of empathy, regardless of the difference in religion.

“We’re all living in one planet together, and we have to collaborate and bring to the forth the highest teachings and ideals

of our respective traditions to respond to the challenges of our time,” she asserts. “We cannot afford to be complacent in Ateneo.”

REMEDY FOR APATHY Despite student insights and faculty efforts, feelings of apprehension still persist among non-Catholic students when faced with the prospect of being immersed in a culture that is vastly different from theirs.

Such is the case of Aina Pandapatan (1 AB POS), who identifies as a Muslim. “It’s not a matter of me and how I react to these people— it’s how would these people react to me,” she says, explaining some of the fears she had about declaring her faith in the University.

“If someone asks me about my religion, I’ll answer. Pero if it doesn’t really come up, I won’t say it because I don’t want people kasi to think of me…‘There’s that Muslim talking about her religion, will she ever stop?’” she says.

Pandapatan’s reservations are much like Caro’s initial fear of judgement. However, Africa shares that she has not received negative feedback about the University environment from students of non-Catholic faiths.

“Students who enroll here have families that are not afraid of sending their students to a non-Muslim school,” Africa shares. To her, the ultimate goal of theological education is to help

in the formation of a “larger global citizenship” where persons of different religions can come together to form a more vibrant Atenean community.

To move towards this collective goal for the University, Caro encourages professors to be more “accommodating and dynamic” in their theology classes. He asserts the importance of not imposing the professor’s personal beliefs onto their students, as it may discourage them from opening up about what they believe in.

Sreedhar adds that when it comes to class requirements such as reflection papers or oral exams, professors should be more open to students who wish to draw a connection between their own religion and Catholic teachings.

At the end of the day, theology is another academic subject that allows students to view and reflect on faith in more nuanced and holistic respects. The core subject is meant to serve as an avenue for students, regardless of faith, to learn and critically assess Catholic teachings in relation to their own contexts and the society they live in.

In turn, this cultivation of acceptance through respectful dialogue allows individuals to adapt a more appreciative understanding of the plurality of the world which Ateneans, for 160 years now, has been beckoned to service.

ILLUSTRATION BY GERI PUNO

EDITOR: DANIELLE R. GARCIA AND TRISTAN R. CHAN | LAYOUT ARTIST: ROMEO A. DESCALSO III

Notes from the margins

MAKING SENSE OF THE LIGHT

In its 160 years of Ateneo Jesuit education, Ateneo has welcomed people of different faiths into its theology classes.

04

Examining the legacy of NSTP-PLUS lum in the 1950s, the Integrated Ateneo Formation Program (InAF) has been an integral component of the University’s educational framework. With the establishment of the Office of Social Concern and Involvement (OSCI) in 1975, the InAF program has since proceeded to mold generations of students as “professionals-for-and-with-others” and “servant-leaders engaged in various fields of endeavor.”

In pursuit of this goal, InAF is structured into four distinct programs corresponding to a certain area of focus distributed to each college year level. Though the introduction of the new academic curriculum in 2016 brought some changes to these programs, the legally-mandated National Service Training Program stays consistently enforced in InAF as the National Service Training Program Preparatory Leadership Undertaking for Sophomores (NSTP-PLUS).

However, over the years, concerns about the effectivity of the old curriclum’s program have arisen. As these issues come to light, opinions have been sourced to further corroborate the concerns and highlight the issues that the new curriculum will improve on.

and instilling said goals are to the discretion of implementing institutions like universities.

Consequently, this gives rise to different NSTP experiences and results.

For instance, a detailed study from Rizal Technology University yielded a positive reception of their NSTP program. However, it also highlighted the inadequacy of funds and the lack of administrative support as outstanding problems.

In addition, The LaSallian reported on narratives of students who detailed recurring accidents during their NSTP immersion.

Instead of comforting the students, their formator berated them for supposedly not taking the program seriously and for “not [praying] hard enough,” further blaming the students for the accident.

When asked about Ateneo’s interpretation of NSTP’s principles, OSCI Director for Programs Eugene Panlilio articulated his response through NSTP-PLUS’ expected learning outcomes (ELO).

The ELOs indicate that after the program, students must “critically reflect on their experience... analyze [this] using the Sustainable Lives and Livelihood framework in the context of vulnerabilities, demonstrate socio-emotional skills in their NSTP engagements, and effectively apply [these newly learned] skills in the area.”

AT YOUR SERVICE As described in the NSTP Act of 2001, citizens have a responsibility to preserve the security of the State. This is fulfilled through the rendering of personal, military, or civil service—coursed through the following NSTP components: The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Civil Welfare Training Service, and Literary Training Service respectively.

Through NSTP, the State aims to promote civic consciousness as well as inculcate patriotism and nationalism. However, interpreting

LIVE AND LET LEARN For many students, the NSTP-PLUS experience is one of enjoyment and self-growth. But for others, it is a grim awakening to the realities faced by some of society’s sectors. Such are the results when bearing in mind some of NSTP-PLUS’ core principles of civic engagement and social formation.

Junmar* and Beth*, AB Communication juniors who underwent NSTP-PLUS during the first and second semester of their sophomore year shared

SINCE THE institutionalization of the old core curricu-

BY RAPHAEL C. DELA CRUZ, ZACHARY C. GONZALES, AND JUSTINE RAMIREZ ILLUSTRATION BY FIDESS BISNAR

their insights on the immersion experience. Junmar was first designated to a farming community to help the locals with harvesting and selling produce. He also visited the area proper twice in a span of a month to experience the residents’ everyday life. Similarly, Beth’s immersion in Isla Verda involved observing her community’s

after a local from the area joked that the students were there “para maobserve…ang (so you can observe the) poor.” What’s more, upon giving her foster father a token of rice, he laughed and said the area was abundant in food and water; medicine was what they needed.

This concern was only brought to the attention of the formators

On her first night in Isla Verde, she was shocked as a local joked that the students were there “para ma-observe… ang (to observe the) poor.”

communication patterns and proposing solutions to facilitate more effective discourse.

Before visiting their partner community, Beth’s section was taught that the locals should not be perceived as helpless or desperate.

Instead, the residents were their partners in understanding realities beyond campus confines. As such, Beth’s formators encouraged the students to think critically about the issues of their areas by creating potential solutions for them.

However, Beth’s experience made the engagement difficult.

On her first night, she was shocked

when Beth raised the issue in a synthesis session.

While discerning whether the activities the participants engaged in were beneficial to their partner communities, AC*, another student who underwent NSTPPLUS, believed that her presence was somewhat appreciated. “[We provided] companionship for the elderly foster parents...we were able to play with the younger kids,” she said. Additionally, AC discussed possible initiatives with the barangay captain that could help the community, such as aiding in the study of agriculture and other possible sources of income.

ALMA MATTERS NSTP-PLUS is geared towards the physical interaction and development of the students with marginalized communities.

Junmar and Beth agreed that participating in the program requires the ability to identify with Filipinos despite their diverse backgrounds. Junmar said, “[It is having] an open mindset [so as] to integrate yourself so that you get to be more understanding and… to see things [in a broader] perspective.”

However, the student body holds sentiments on the program that bring forward NSTP-PLUS’ debatable effects on its participants. RG*, a student who participated in the program from the old InAF curriculum, put it lightly by saying, “I just feel like some students don’t value it as much as others.” AC noticed that “medyo pilit siya… hindi taos-puso na ginagampanan ng iba yung trabaho (It was kind of forced... others weren’t genuinely carrying out the job),” recalling how her batchmates reacted sourly to the community’s impoverished conditions. She believes that the program would be more fulfilling if students saw it as an opportunity rather than an inconvenience.

Likewise, Junmar expressed dismay on the lack of coordination between OSCI and the area heads as well as the lack of a structured schedule of activities. “They seemed to do everything on the spot…then suddenly there were some foster parents who [backed] out…Even foster parents didn’t know what was happening,” he remarked. Indeed, amidst the efforts of the program lie pitfalls, such as the need for better communication with partners in the area proper, that if not addressed, may develop into larger issues that would be difficult to remedy in the future.

“OSCI is aware that it is not the most liked program and we sometimes feel the resistance of students,” Panlilio said. “It is not a perfect program but…OSCI will always be open to the suggestions of students and faculty on how to make the program more effective for students and the community.”

In spite of its shortcomings, the respondents believe that NSTP-PLUS carries the potential to be an effective program in fostering lasting social responsibility among students. “[It serves] as good exposure…the initiatives part of it is very beneficial to society,” AC explained. Furthermore, Junmar similarly noted that some students from his section were eager to maintain their engagement with the community after the program’s end. Although OSCI highly encourages this, it currently does not have provisions in place to support students in reconnecting with their areas once they had fulfilled their required hours.

There are scarce efforts to assess whether NSTP succeeds in instilling deep-rooted civic consciousness on a nationwide scale. There also remains little avenue to hear about the NSTP experience from the side of partner areas across the country.

However, with the launch of the new core curriculum in 2016, OSCI has the opportunity of reviewing the issues and suggestions collated from the student body and its partners over the years. Now restructured and renamed PUNLA under the new curriculum, only time will tell if the shortcomings of its predecessor have been addressed. *Editor’s note: The names of the respondents were changed to protect their anonymity.

2

Notes from the margins

IP inclusion in natio spaces of learni

BY FRANCES C. ROBERTO AND MARCO C. OCAMPO-TAN ILLUSTRATION BY TIFFANY CU

Continuous supervision of how schools integrate IP studies into their respective curricula is crucial, given the depth of sensitivity and expertise needed to teach IP issues properly.

Students are in school as inheritors of the future. Through education, they are expected to obtain the skills, knowledge, and experience necessary to solve tomorrow’s problems. However, society’s greatest challenges can only be addressed when there is an awareness of their existence.

Justice does not prevail where truth is absent—and in the education system, these gaps are all too familiar.

The lack of materials covering indigenous peoples’ (IP) struggles is one shortcoming of Philippine education. With teaching capacity and relevant facilities found lacking, IP-centric issues are rarely tackled in the classroom. As a result, indigenous people who cry out for justice remain unheard—it seems hardly anyone is listening. It’s no wonder then that in the 2017 Philippine Education Summit, 11 IP representatives affirmed DepEd’s efforts to render local education initiatives more inclusive of IP communities, especially of their history, culture, and aspirations.

Although self-education on the plight of IPs is achievable, education on such plights remains the responsibility of academic institutions. Recognizing this, Senator Sonny Angara authored the Integrated History Law or RA 10908, thereby mandating the integration of the history, culture, and identity studies of IPs

and Filipino-Muslims in basic and higher education. In order for schools to effectively do this, the act requires them to consult with experts in IP and Filipino-Muslim fields of knowledge before anything else.

However, despite RA 10908’s implementation in 2016, the law has only been in effect in select schools nationwide. According to the Department of Education, complying schools have mostly hailed from Mindanao.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has recently taken a step towards fast-tracking the bill’s implementation across the country. Last April, it released CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) No. 2, Series of 2019, which similarly directs universities to integrate IP studies into the relevant curricula. Constructed in accordance with the Integrated History Law, the CMO strives to create what Angara believes is “a truly inclusive history that accounts for all Filipinos.”

TURNING LAW INTO ACTION CMO No. 2-2019 builds on the Integrated History Law by providing clearer guidelines as to its implementation and supervision. In effect, higher education institutions are provided two ways to go about integrating IP studies into their respective curricula: Either by incorporating IP topics, contexts, and concepts into

subjects like history, political science, and the social sciences; or by including readings about IPs and Filipino-Muslims in general education subjects.

The Coalition of Ateneans for Indigenous People (CAIP) President Camille Bagaipo reflected on CMO No. 2-2019’s objective, especially within the context of Ateneo. For Bagaipo, implementation of the aforementioned CMO could realize “...a more inclusive approach, which I think is within [Ateneo’s] means right now.” With that, she went on to illustrate how an integrated University curriculum could achieve this inclusiveness.

For instance, the University’s course on Rizal and the Emergence of the Philippine Nation or HI165 could discuss how Muslims and IPs figured into the Spanish Occupation.

For the University’s course on Philippine History or HI 166, the experience of Martial Law can be analyzed from different regional, and often unheard, perspectives such as that of the IPs. Achieving this is possible, since “we have notable professors who have been studying [IPs]” said Bagaipo.

Another important clause in CMO No. 2-2019 establishes a monitoring protocol to ensure compliance with the memo.

The memo requires institutions to submit to their assigned CHED Regional Office

THE GUIDON | NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2019

IPRA for whom?

onalized ing

(CHEDRO) documents that show their plans and completed actions towards complying with the order. These documents include the IP Education Monitoring Forms 1 and 2, relevant course syllabi, and the relevant faculty to handle the IP course. CHEDROs are then tasked to develop and maintain a Regional Registry of IP Educators and prepare status reports on IP education.

CMO No. 2-2019 also provides for the Office of Programs and Standards Development to do the same on a national scale. Continuous supervision of how schools integrate IP studies into their respective curricula is crucial, given the depth of sensitivity and expertise needed to teach IP issues in a nuanced manner.

“One thing that CAIP really wants to get across this year is that IP issues are very complex,” Bagaipo explained. “Even in my own journey of being an advocate, there are things I realize that are not as broad or as simple as they seem to be.”

“There are some Mindanaoan communities, for example, that don’t like being called Lumad,” she maintained. “They want to be called their tribe, which is valid.”

If anything, the complexities of the situation will require a tremendous amount of effort if the University, much less the country, is to ultimately champion the inclusion

of indigenous people. With that, policymakers can perhaps turn to Australia’s education system to learn a thing or two from its efforts on achieving inclusivity.

THE AUSTRALIAN PERSPECTIVE In December 2015, the Australian government introduced the Aboriginal Languages and Torres Strait Islander Languages Framework in an effort to guide the development of teaching and learning of particular Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, thereby supplementing Australia’s current curriculum. The intent is that it will be utilized by state and territory education jurisdictions, schools, and communities to develop language-specific curricula and programs.

It is a timely policy, especially since research has indicated that classroom teachers devote less than five minutes per week to teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curriculum, languages, literature, and cultures, with many not engaged in these activities at all. In learning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, Australians gain a distinctive means of understanding the relationship between their land, environment, and people.

On the tertiary level, Australia has tapped the University of Melbourne to strengthen the Australian student’s

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BY CARLO O. FERNANDEZ

knowledge about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander civilizations across Australia and how they operate. The initiative is being led by prominent academic and historian Professor Marcia Langton.

THE NEXT STEP FORWARD In 2015, the Philippines’ Department of Education (DepEd) responded to the call for IP inclusion with DepEd Order No. 32, s. 2015, otherwise known as the Indigenous Peoples Education Curriculum Framework. With it, guidance to both public and private schools will be provided as they localize, indigenize, and enhance the K to 12 Curriculum. As of 2017, 7,767 public-school teachers and school heads have already undergone relevant training on tools needed to instruct students on indigenous people.

Establishing an integrated approach to IP inclusion via the national curriculum will always be easier said than done.

However, if anything, it is arguably the retraining of educators across all levels by collaborating with IP stakeholders—to thereby allow for understanding, appreciating, and ultimately teaching of indigenous languages and cultures—that will often be the logical step to be taken if we are to solidify any IP-inclusive initiative, framework, and policy.

FORMER PRESIDENT Fidel Ramos signed R.A. 8371 or the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) into law in 1997, becoming the first comprehensive bill to recognize the rights of the country’s indigenous peoples (IPs). Notable highlights include rights of social justice, selfgovernance and empowerment, and cultural integrity.

The bill serves as somewhat of a peace treaty between the IPs and the government after centuries of conflict between legislation and IPs cultural traditions. ending the long fight to have IPs’ rights represented within the law.

COLONIAL ROOTS The disregard of IPs’ rights to land and land tenure originated during the Spanish colonization.

This period introduced the concepts of formal land ownership and agricultural production to Filipino islanders in 1523, leading to the basic principles of land laws in the Philippines. The infamous Regalian Doctrine was also implemented then, stating that by conquest all lands belonged to the sovereign. This dismantled IPs’ rights to land and land tenure.

By 1894, the Maura Law, the last land law implemented by Spain, stated any lands not titled in 1880 “will revert back to the state,” and all untitled lands were deemed forfeited afterwards. This system allowed for the legal exploitation of resources in public domains and cemented the colonizers’ hold on the country’s resources— up until the American period.

Aside from the aforementioned laws, industrialization of the IPs’ native lands and the beginning of mining operations further diminished the IPs’ resources. For instance, the Mining Act of 1905 allowed for the acquisition of public land— including IPs territories—for mining purposes. These changes

refuted land ownership and rendered IPs non-existent, leading to cases of abuse and land grabbing against IPs. Only the 1909 Carino v. Insular Government case, which tackled the use of indigenous land for public and military purposes, ruled in favor of indigenous culture communities in 1909 due to the recognition of IPs’ rights.

This marked the beginning for representation of IPs within the law.

Tracing back ancestral domain rights, Expert Mechanism Member on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—a council in the United Nations—Jose Mencio Molintas concluded “... the contradiction between the state law and the customary law remains persistent. History has proven that the state’s attempts to enforce its own legal system in the guise of “development” have displaced the indigenous peoples, as seen in the cases of the Chico, Ambuklao, and Binga dams.

PROGRESSIVE LAW IPRA was meant to shift focus on IP’s rights rather than land. In relation to the law itself, IPRA conflicts with current land laws due to the principles of former land laws of previous administrations. Due to this, previous administrations have failed to show its support for the law and even challenged its constitutionality.

However, there are benefits for the current administration to support the bill. For instance, the New Zealand Agency for International Development has supplied millions of dollars in revenue to the Philippine government to support pro-IP policies. While the rights of social justice, empowerment, and cultural integrity are now written on paper, these promises are yet to be fulfilled.

Without proper implementation, IPs remain disadvantaged and isolated from Philippine society.

4

Notes from the margins

Roots and blossoms The Ateneo has lent its aid and expertise to advance the advocacy for indigenous peoples’ education, but the institution can still contribute so much more.

BY MARGA SAN JUAN AND ANN DOMINGO, PHOTO BY CASEY MATEO, AND ILLUSTRATION BY DENEV C. NG

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization classifies a community of people as indigenous if they are ethnographically and culturally distinct from the rest of their national population through their distinguishable pre-colonial cultural institutions. While certain IP groups in the country have obtained access to quality education, locales where IPs are the minority have neither the funds nor the opportunities for their members to access basic education. Assistant Coordinator for Faculty Social Involvement and specialist in IP issues Urduja Amor elaborates that in cases where IPs can establish schooling centers within the bounds of their community, they may be faced with inadequate staffing, shortened school weeks, and a lack of school supplies that may inhibit thorough learning.

As one of the premier educational institutions in the country, the Ateneo plays an integral role in promoting the human right of access to education for all people. Other universities have set a standard for this by taking strides to collaborate with local IP organizations and institute academic curricula and modules that acknowledge indigenous identities. Similarly, the Ateneo must seek to institutionally represent and promote the diversity of the Filipino identity through meaningful representation, should it wish to substantiate its claim that it is a Philippine university “for others.” In spite of existing outreach programs and movements that advocate for IP education, the University is still not fully equipped to

become an institution that fulfills the demand for IPs to receive the same opportunities for quality education.

HITTING THE BOOKS Members of the Ateneo community have made their support for indigenous peoples’ education in the Philippines clear in the past. In 2016, students, organizations, and teachers from the Ateneo community came together in a campaign to support House Bill 4220 or the proposed IP Education Systems Act of 2014. Led by the Coalition of Ateneans for Indigenous People (CAIP), organizations such as Baybayin, the Ateneo Assembly, Development Society of Ateneo, Barefoot Philippines, and the Loyola Mountaineers, among others, organized an IP Week to encourage the Ateneo community to learn more about indigenous cultures and support the bill through different activities such as Kapihan sessions, film viewings, and a museum tour.

The University has also further supported the advocacy for IP education through volunteer work and involvement in several initiatives such as the Holy Spirit Aeta Mission.

These engagements focused on addressing the unstable educational systems, erratic teacher turnover, and inaccessibility of schools for IP communities in the mountains of Luzon.

FOR THE PEOPLE For all the University’s efforts to deliver education and academic support to indigenous

communities, few IP students pursue tertiary education through the Ateneo itself. Amor stated that in the 15 to 16 years she has taught in Ateneo, she had only met around five students who expressed that they were from IP communities.

According to Amor, the Ateneo is made unattractive as a prospective university for IP students because of the lack of courses and programs significant to their culturally distinct needs.

Amor also states that many people from IP communities tend more towards courses in education or medicine to practically help their community. In this case, the University’s course offerings rarely align with IP needs for instruction in agricultural innovation and locally sustainable business practices.

Indigenous students may also benefit from the acknowledgement of their culture in other classes. CAIP Co-head Camille Bagaipo states that syllabi and course curricula can be developed to aid the learning adjustment of indigenous students, and better incorporate the narratives of IP communities into the material currently used in the University.

Former Head of CAIP Pierce Manlangit states that the Ateneo needs to “acknowledge the diversity” of its students. “[So far,] Ateneo’s goal is for internationalization. We aim for global competitiveness, but do [we] know [our] locality?” he says.

However, rather than attracting students on the undergraduate level, SocioAnthropology professor and Indigenous Peoples’ advocate Albert Alejo, SJ, suggests a different approach to addressing IPs academic goals: Offering masters-level studies to IPs who wish to pursue leadership positions. Alejo proposes a center of indigenous leadership or management similar to the Apo Governance and Indigenous Leadership Academy he helped develop in Mindanao.

Through such an institution, the University can help train IPs in the organizational skills that will help them maximize their vast resources and knowledge and address the intimately familiar needs of their communities.

Amor further argues that instead of adapting its curricula and developing scholarship programs for the inclusion of potential IP students, the Ateneo de Manila should collaborate with other Jesuit institutions who are more geographically and culturally familiar to the IPs. Ateneo de Davao, Xavier University, and other nonaffiliated institutions such as the University of Cordillera may be assisted in the form of joint research ventures, academic writings, and supplementary materials.

struggles with undisclosed “administrative and logistical hurdles” that make it difficult to implement and will likely not take effect in the near future.

IP students may also be wary of the lack of cultural sensitivity to indigenous identities within the University. Bagaipo’s fellow CAIP Co-head Gyuri Cruz mentions that the University lacks informational resources on IPs and their cultures, and therefore the community may find itself inexperienced and unfamiliar with the proper decorum of interacting with indigenous individuals. Cruz mentions how more classes and programs that discuss Philippine culture, history, and society through the lens of the country’s IP groups should be implemented to improve awareness among students.

On Alejo’s end, he adds that Ateneo can produce more materials, be they print or multimedia, to encourage learning about the rich and diverse cultures of the country’s many IP groups.

Although the University has established concrete foundations for improving the state of IP’s access to education, it could put forward more effort in providing potential IP students culturally appropriate tertiary education.

The school could invest its resources into establishing centers for ethnocultural studies and providing academic opportunities to create more educational material that discusses contemporary indigenous identities and issues.

These initiatives may take years to implement, but Ateneo can still invest in increased efforts to educate the Loyola Schools community about indigenous cultures and explore alternative education programs in collaboration with schools that are much closer to IP communities in the meantime.

Given the school’s prestige, resources, and advocacy, there is no doubt that the Ateneo can— and should—use its position as a premier academic institution to champion the access of quality education for all.

AWAY FROM HOME Regardless of how the University may develop to accommodate indigenous students, Alejo notes that IPs face problems beyond that of finding an ideal university to attend. One significant hurdle that IPs may encounter is the cost of study. CAIP has explored the possibility of a scholarship for IPs in the University, but also

The fight for Lumad schools

BY DERICK M. GABRILLO AND ILLUSTRATION BY DENEV C. NG

ON OCTOBER 8, the Department of Education (DepEd) ordered the closure of 55 Lumad schools run by Salupongan International.

Military officials claim the New People’s Army used the schools as a platform for their subversive propaganda. Though this claim has drawn the most attention and criticism, DepEd argued that their ruling was also for the school’s alleged violations of DepEd curriculum standards and administrative

lapses such as the hiring of unlicensed faculty.

The move was slammed by groups like Save Our Schools (SOS), an organization that fights against violations to children’s right to education, and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) as it threatens access to education for Lumad students.

PUBLIC RESPONSE DepEd’s ruling was met with public backlash and calls for DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones’ resignation due to the perceived injustice to Lumad students.

After the closure, SOS issued a statement saying it “[is] enraged

over the decision,” calling the military’s claims “malicious and false.” SOS called the DepEd fact-finding team’s report “baseless [and] partial” as it only investigated one of the 55 schools.

The CHR’s press release shared similar views. In the release, Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana said the move violates the children’s right to education, citing the Special Protection of Children in Situations of Armed Conflict Law, which shields children from “all forms of abuse and violence,” including recruitment into armed groups.

She argued this must not

“come at the expense of their other rights, as such the right to education.”

In response to the criticism, DepEd insisted that due process was followed in the ruling.

Briones cited evidence of rebel ties in a report by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and the advice of the fact-finding team to close the schools as just cause for the ruling. Esperon said the move was to “protect the nation’s children from recruitment into armed groups.”

BARRIERS TO EDUCATION Lumad learners still lag in their studies compared to

people of Moro or Christian backgrounds due to hurdles like harassment from state forces and limited support for indigenous peoples’ (IPs) education. Though House Bill 4415 was filed in 2016 to give IPs the right to “control their educational systems and institutions,” recognize IPcentered curricula, and provide scholarships for IPs, no such law has been passed as of writing.

The lack of movement on the aforementioned bill and the imposition of martial law in Mindanao in 2017—which allowed the army to act with impunity in the interest of —saw an increase in the militarization

of the Lumad schools. As of July 2019, SOS reported 35 instances of schools being used as camps by state forces since May 2017.

SOS has claimed that in the same period, there were 236 incidents of harassment at the hands of state forces and 13 extrajudicial killings of students and staff.

The closure of the Salupongan schools presents a setback for a region seeking more inclusive growth. It is also a test of DepEd’s commitment to providing quality education to all Filipinos, including Lumad students.