The GUIDON - September 2016 (Martial Law Special)

A narrative of persistence When we begin to forget, memorializing the dead becomes the urgent task of the living.

Martial Law Special SEPTEMBER 2016 EDITORS: ROBBIN M. DAGLE AND GABRIELLE M. LOMBOS EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: MAXINE A. BUENAVENTURA AND JAIRUS I. PAUL LAYOUT ARTISTS: DIANA F. DAVID AND NIKKI G. SOLINAP

NEVER FORGET, NEVER AGAIN. Forty-four years ago, the nation was plunged under one of its darkest eras. Today, many of its victims continue to endure not only the memories of sacrifice and silence, but also the suffering of being forgotten.

PHOTO BY DIANA F. DAVID AND GABBY F. JIMENEZ

BY MAXINE A. BUENAVENTURA AND JANELLE H. PARIS

“Wala kaming maipagmamalaking yaman except for the stories that we tell (We have no other wealth but the stories that we tell).”

— MARIE JOPSON-PLOPINIO TRUSTEE, BANTAYOG NG MGA BAYANI

I

nternational human rights orga n izat ion A m ne st y International gives these unrestrained estimates regarding the Philippines’ Martial Law years: 3,240 killed, 34,000 tortured, 70,000 imprisoned.

The dead remain dead and the disappeared remain disappeared. It is the living who tell their stories. But even those who survived to bear the damage caused by the erstwhile dictatorship remain unheard.

And with the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos’ impending interment at the Libingan ng mga Bayani, a burial place for soldiers, heroes, and former heads of state, these narratives are under threat of being erased.

The Bantayog ng mga Bayani complex in East Avenue, Quezon City has seen more peaceful days.

In the recent months, however, it has been the site of civil demonstrations. Last July 29, human rights advocates from various groups launched the Duyan ng Magiting coalition, formalizing a collective effort to counter the planned burial.

It is during these times, according to Marie Jopson-Plopinio, Bantayog trustee and sister of slain youth leader Edgar Jopson, that the foundation actively partners with other human rights groups. They come together when there is a common cause, she said in an interview.

“Whatever is being done is political. Libingan [ng mga Bayani] is a monument, a hallowed place built by the state... there’s a purpose, [people

buried there are meant] to be emulated,” said Plopinio. And former dictator Ferdinand Marcos is not to be emulated.

Bantayog “does not just to seek justice for the victims of Marcos’s martial law” but fights to prevent the repetition of the dreaded era, as well. Bantayog has stood since August 1986, right after the dictatorship fell. According to their website, the organization and the consequent monument exist “to honor those martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom and justice but failed to witness the dawn of freedom.”

“Wala kaming maipagmamalaking yaman except for the stories that we tell (We have no other wealth but the stories that we tell),” Plopinio said. The foundation maintains a library and museum that showcase narratives of the past regime. The

museum takes the visitor through an overview of the era. There is a comprehensive timeline. There are models of detention cells, trinkets recovered from detainees. In an adjacent space are news clippings and even personal letters from victims to their loved ones.

These are all open to the public, and Plopinio especially hopes that the youth get to know the stories of Bantayog’s heroes. “Bantayog does not just exist to lick wounds, [it is here] for the future generations as well,” she said.

Plopinio also thinks there is a danger in too sentimental an approach to this era in history. “I would caution the young against too personal an approach to the issue...ang importante is A NARRATIVE › 3

2

Martial Law Special

Spirit of involvement

BY JOAQUIN B. JACINTO AND JAIRUS I. PAUL

T

he Ateneo de Manila University has had a long tradition of social involvement in Philippine civil society.

From the radical movements in the 1960s, the struggles of Martial Law, and the challenges following EDSA, Ateneans have been active in their efforts to protect and develop the nation. Yet, despite a proud heritage of social activism and involvement, Ateneo is still branded as an institution that educates wealthy, privileged students who are sheltered from the harsh realities that exist outside of campus.

Many deny the accuracy of this stereotype, saying that it is based on perception rather than reality. However, the narrative of the “Ateneo conyo” is grounded in history, and the stories of the past can give insight on the Atenean’s role in civil society today.

DISSECTING THE MYTH

The notion of Atenean elitism can be traced to the university’s long standing reputation for exclusivity.

According to former Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Eduardo E. Calasanz, only a select few could call themselves Ateneo graduates because of the school’s selective admissions process, demanding academic requirements, and strict retention policies.

He describes Atenean elitism as both academic and economic.

“If we want to give a quality education, somebody has to pay for it, and up to now, it is the student’s families who pay for it. Which means only a small segment of the population has access to it,” he says.

The combination of high academic standards and costly tuition fees meant that only a privileged few could experience an Ateneo education. And while there have been efforts to diversify the school’s social demographic, many students still come from middle to uppermiddle class families.

For Arjan P. Aguirre, MA, an instructor at the Political Science Department, the stereotype can be linked to the way that Ateneans speak.

“Our students, because of their passion in engaging things, tend to make statements that are generally not understood by people. And perhaps because of their expression and mastery of the English language, they tend to intimidate the general public,” he says.

This manner of speaking is often misconstrued as arrogance. However, Calasanz says that the famous “Arrhneo” accent is largely a product of Ateneo’s Jesuit heritage.

“The so-called Arrhnean accent is because all the [Jesuit] English teachers in the early 60s were from the New York and Maryland provinces. So of course students imitate the accents of the teachers,” he says.

While not all students behave this way, Calasanz says that up to a certain degree, a student’s social class can be an indicator of his attitude.

“If you were born into a buena familia you were brought up a certain way. Certain things you do, certain [things] you don’t do... And if you’re born into a proletarian family, a worker’s family, or a farmer’s family...you don’t learn these things. It does not make you a better person but it makes you certainly different,” he says.

A story of the hill: A history of Atenean activism RESEARCH BY JUSTIN ANG, JOAQUIN B. JACINTO, DIANA F. DAVID, AND JAIRUS I. PAUL SOURCES THE GUIDON ARCHIVES, CRISTINA MONTIEL AND SUSAN EVANGELISTA’S DOWN FROM THE HILL: ATENEO DE MANILA IN THE FIRST TEN YEARS UNDER MARTIAL LAW (2007)

November 27, 1968

January 13-14, 1971

The GUIDON publishes the “Down from the Hill” manifesto which calls for the social restructuring of the Ateneo de Manila University to serve the Philippine nation.

May 16, 1969

Students of the Ateneo protest a rise in tuition hikes within the campus and boycott entry into the school grounds.

August 19, 1972

GROUNDED IN TECHNOLOGY

Benjamin T. Tolosa, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department, argues that differences in technology played a role in the development of the stereotype.

“Noong panahon namin you had no choice but to watch only a few television stations during Martial Law. Everyone had a common experience with television na pare-pareho. Pero ngayon meron nang stratification eh (During our time you had no choice but to watch only a few television stations during Martial Law. Everyone had a common experience with television that was the same. Now, there is stratification),” he says.

Sharing a common experience made it easier for Filipinos from different social classes to engage in discourse. However, as technology improved, the ways Filipinos had access to information diversified. The result, Tolosa explains, is that the collective experience of responsible citizenship varied across social classes. “[Nowadays] you can practically just choose which channels [to watch] on TV especially if you have cable and other people don’t, [or] if you have access to a smartphone or smart television. I think there is a real, a greater danger of cultural segmentation or cultural separation,” he says.

Because of this, Tolosa stresses that Ateneans must acknowledge the fact that they experience a cultural world very different from majority of Filipinos. “The challenge is greater because there could be more isolation and cultural

“With or without Martial Law, with or without Marcos…[the question was] ‘how can we be of service to the people?’”

— EDUARDO E. CALASANZ FORMER ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Atenean students, led by Edgar Jopson (BS ME ’70), then president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, joined a demonstration of the National Citizen’s Constitutional Convention Movement.

division today. So I think that’s why we have to be more conscious,” he says.

A DIFFERENT BRAND OF ELITISM

According to Aguirre, there is a positive side to the elitism that Ateneans should embrace.

He argues that what qualifies an Ateneo education is not only an adherence to rigorous academic standards, but a thrust to serve people at the margins of society.

“What makes us unique compared to other elites of this country is that our orientation is to serve the poorest of the poor, the marginalized, the laylayan,” he says.

Tolosa says that the inclination to serve others was inspired by similar movements within the Catholic Church such as the Rerum Novarum, Vatican II, and the reorientation of the Society of Jesus towards promoting “a faith that does justice.” The result is a tradition of service shaped by the changes in Catholic social thought.

However, serving people at the margins of society does not come without its challenges.

Bienvenido Lumbera, PhD, National Artist for Literature, recalls that students during Martial Law would have difficulty engaging poor communities because of the language barrier.

“Yun g m ga le a d i n g student intellectuals noon ay nakaramdam na hindi sila—wala silang ugnay sa mga tao sa labas ng Ateneo...

Yung kanilang mga contact sa probinsya ay kulang na kulang sa kakayahan sa kumbersasyon sa Ingles.

At noon nagsimula ang gustuhin ng mga Atenista na matutunan ang wikang P ilipino (T he s t udent

leaders at the time felt that they could not communicate with people outside of Ateneo.

Their contacts in the province had difficulty conversing in English. That was when Ateneans wanted to learn the Filipino language),” he says.

This desire to communicate with Filipinos from all walks of life sparked the Filipinization movement within the Ateneo. The movement was more than a call to learn the language—it was a call for solidarity with the poor, service of the faith, and the promotion of justice.

While it followed the national trend for Filipinization in the late 1960s, Calasanz says that the movement within the Ateneo was unique.

“It was an attempt to sort of focus not just on the internal needs, issues, [and] questions within the university, but to focus on the outside with a less ideological [and] politicized perspective. With or without Martial Law, with or without Marcos…[the question was] ‘how can we be of service to the people?’” he says.

Tolosa says that this apolitical brand of activism was crucial in creating the distinct non-violent alternative that led to EDSA. It is the “same spirit” that animates Atenean activism today.

In the concluding essay of the book Down from the Hill (2005), Tolosa writes: “From 1982 onwards, as we searched for political alternatives that would give expression to what we had learned at the Ateneo, many of us decided on active nonviolent struggle rooted in autonomous people’s organizations as the most consistent with our core values and the objective of democratization.”

Operasyon Sarilikha or Sarilikha is launched, with the aim of mobilizing students of the Ateneo to engage in social and community development.

ACTIVISM DECLINES

Despite a rich history of social involvement, many still label the Ateneo as an institution of privilege.

Aguirre says that Atenean activism today has a “lack of presence” and that students have yet to come out of their comfort zones and make a stand.

For Tolosa, reviving the spirit of involvement is a challenge. “After Martial Law, the challenge of fighting authoritarianism was not as pressing as before… So nawala ‘yung sociopolitical aspect,” he says.

Ateneo’s preference for peaceful alternatives over armed struggle may have played a role as well.

“Part of the reality was once Martial Law was declared and you didn’t want to go underground and engage in armed struggle, you could not openly confront the Marcos government politically,” he says.

This was in contrast with the brand of activism associated with groups such as the Kabataang Makabayan (KM).

The school’s non-violent approach, Tolosa says, has not been highlighted in the familiar stories of activism.

By the same token, Aguirre points out though many people think Ateneans are silent or apathetic, they are neither.

He argues that the “silence” of Ateneans is a quality that embodies Atenean political thought. It shows a sign of discernment that is trademark of Ignatian values and education.

ACTIVISM EVOLVES

A g u i r re c onclude s by encouraging Ateneans to celebrate the positive side of elitism to become men a nd women for ot her s .

“We are part of the elite

because we make a difference… We’re build ing a nation, we’re ser ving the realm,” he says.

Tolosa says that despite the criticism, Ateneans must always stand up for their core values.

“If you stand-up for protection of human rights, [the] rule of law, and non-violence and you get accused of [being] elitist or di mo naiintindihan ang sitwasyon ng tao, I guess you have to stand up for that and say you call it elitist but this is something that we profoundly believe in the sense that it is right,” he says.

For Calasanz, student activism has to evolve, and he encourages students to continue the spirit of involvement after graduating.

“Hopefully they fade away into a new kind of activism.

A more adult kind of activism which they exercise in their professions, in their political involvement, in other forms of social involvement. Whether institutional or otherwise.

They enter politics, they set up businesses. They set up NGOs, political organizations,” he says.

True enough, is an increasing trend of Ateneans pursuing careers in social entrepreneurship, government service, and education.

Activism today has different expressions than activism in the past. Tolosa emphasizes that students do not need to be openly political to also be politicized. The challenge, he says, is connecting your interests to a broader sociopolitical project.

“If people see that what I do is connected to the need for that kind of social transformation, I think it is something we can pursue and be proud of,” he says.

3 September 23, 1972

August 14, 1994

A narrative ‹1

President Ferdinand Marcos declares Martial Law. April 1975

More than 120 students, faculty, and administrators rally at Luneta Grandstand to protest planned reproductive health initiatives by the government.

May 18, 1999 Nine Ateneans are jailed for joining a protest against the presence of United States Naval Bases in the Philippines.

November 2000

The Office for Social Concern and Involvement is created, succeeding Sarilikha.

August 21–September 21. 1983

Ateneo students, faculty, and staff begin to mobilize action and talks against the administration of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

December 7, 2000 Ateneans join the “Jericho March” during Estrada’s impeachment trial.

January 20, 2001

Students, faculty, and administrators of the Ateneo launch protests and demonstrations following the assassination of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr. September 15, 1983 Students of the Ateneo join a newspaper burning of proMarcos daily newspapers.

February 22–25, 1986

Ateneans join People Power II to topple the Estrada’s regime.

March 2006 Ateneans rally against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s promulgation of Presidential Proclamation 1017 which placed the Philippines under a state of emergency following attempts to oust her from power.

February 14, 2008

Ateneans join the EDSA People Power Revolution.

December 1, 1986 Ateneo students mobilize to provide coverage of the coup d’état by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against the government of Corazon Aquino.

January 26, 1987

Students, faculty, and administrators of the Ateneo protest outside the campus following revelation of the ZTE Broadband controversy.

February 18, 2008 Mass and prayer vigils within the Ateneo campus are held for whistleblower Jun Lozada and for justice for the ZTE Broadband controversy.

August 12, 2011

Members of the Alyansa ng Kristyanong Mag-Aaral hold a rally to commemorate the First Quarter Storm.

June 7, 1989

Students join protests against the SMDC regarding the development of a condominium within the Katipunan area.

August 15, 2012 166 faculty members of the Ateneo release a letter calling for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill.

August 26, 2013

40 students and faculty of the Ateneo join a rally in front of the Chinese Embassy to show solidarity and honor the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

May 23, 1991 The Atenistang Laban sa Bases is founded to protest the presence of United States Military bases in the Philippines.

Atenean students, faculty, and officials join protests against the Priority Development Assistance Fund scandal in Luneta Park.

November 24–25, 2013 Atenean students groups hold prayer meetings and vigils to commemorate the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre.

we recognize [and hear] the stories and learn from them,” Plopinio said. There must be a healthy distance from the victims’ stories, which she believes cannot be fully grasped by those who did not bear the worst of the Marcos regime.

But for as long as there are threats to history, Plopinio and Bantayog’s efforts will persist, and it stands just as other organizations such as the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights, the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses to Malacañang, and the Families and Friends of Involuntary Disappearances—that is, for continuous remembrance, for people to never forget.

THOSE WHO GO ALONE

On another hand, there were those who had opted to advocate instead on their own.

Angel Lozari, who had been an advocate against Martial Law, joined a political organization upon reaching college.

The organization was part of a larger group that had fought against Martial Law. “I became part of them because I believed in the cause they were fighting for,” he said. Growing up in a poor community, Lozari had heard stories of his neighbors losing their jobs and being unable to do anything about it due to the stricter conditions and laws that were set into place.

Despite being an advocate at the time, Lozari explained that there wasn’t much that could be done primarily because of the ban against anti-government activities.

“My father worked as a staff for the labor union.

They were being crushed left and right. They couldn’t fight back because antigovernment activities were not allowed, lest they land in jail.

Human rights advocates cannot fight for those in need because they too needed it.

They were being jailed, tortured, killed and even they cannot defend themselves,” he shared.

Stories of activists who had died for their cause are not uncommon and do not go unheard. Names such as Archimedes Trajano, Lorena Barros, and Edgar Jopson, among many others, have circulated since Martial Law and have made a reappearance in more recent times.

The experiences of those who had suffered under Martial Law do not go unnoticed. Lozari himself remembers the damage it had done to somebody he had met who had also been a victim. “When he was eventually released, he was already

praning (paranoid) and couldn’t walk a block without checking his back,” he said.

THE FIGHT CONTINUES

Advocates and activists face a grim reality. Talks of Marcos’ potential burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani has been the source of concern for those who had suffered under the Martial Law regime. Since President Rodrigo Duterte’s announcement of support for the late dictator’s burial, many have voiced out their opinion against it and began acting to fully get their points across.

A day before the Supreme Court’s oral arguments last August 31, an all-women’s group consisting of Martial Law victims gathered outside Malacañang to ask the president to change his mind on the burial. On the day of the argument itself, both individual advocates and groups were spotted outside the Supreme Court to protest the burial. They were not the only ones present outside, however—present as well were those on the side of the loyalists. Meanwhile, inside the Supreme Court were those who had been asked to testify during the oral arguments. A number of them were not ready to recount their experiences; Felix Dalisay, who had been a member of Kabataang Makabayan in the 70s and was arrested and subjected to torture, broke down in tears.

Despite facing challenges, however, more and more individuals rise to show their support for these advocates’ cause.

Different youth leaders and representatives from varied universities gathered in front of the Oblation statue of the University of the Philippines Diliman to show their opposition against the burial. The gathering, called #BawatBato, had the attendees lay stones bearing the names of those who were victims of Martial Law below the Oblation statue. This was similar to the event which had taken place last June 26 in the Libingan ng mga Bayani itself.

Online, however, reception towards such advocates seems to be just as toxic as the reception shown in real life. This is especially true for those who continue to speak out, this time, against the ongoing war on drugs. With the list of casualties reaching over 2,400 and growing steadily each day, opinions against the matter are more often than not met with backlash. On social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, it is now uncommon for an advocate to fully express their opinion without being verbally harassed, regardless whether or not their opinion was backed.

“They are also being threatened and bullied by the people they are actually protecting,” said Lozari. “They are treated as protectors of pushers and users when they are protectors of everyone.”

August 14, 2016

March 6, 2015

August 6, 1992

Ateneo students, faculty, and officials hold an interfaith prayer service following the Mamasapano clash.

March 2, 2016

74 faculty members of the Ateneo sign a statement against the planned operation of the Nuclear Power plant in Bataan.

412 faculty members of the Ateneo release an open letter condemning the rising tide of historical revisionism of the Martial Law era and the legacy of Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Atenean students, faculty, and officials protest at Luneta Park regarding the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

4

Martial Law Special

The GUIDON September 2016

On the shadows of tyranny

BY JC A. BELTRAN AND SEAN S. CHINGKAW

O

n Januar y 26, 1970, Na t ion a l Un ion of Students of the Philippines president Edgar Jopson and University of the Philippines Student Council chairman Fernando Barican organized a demonstration that coincided with the State of the Nation Address of the recently reelected president Ferdinand Marcos. This was to protest the increasing graft and corruption within the administration.

Violence marred the rally as protesters lobbed placards, sticks, and a crocodile paper mâché sculpture towards Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos as they were about to board the presidential limousine. Police present at the demonstration responded by indiscriminately bludgeoning the student protesters with rattan truncheons. A total of 300 protestors and 72 police officers were injured.

This demonstration was but one of many that marked the so-called “First Quarter Storm,” a period of civil unrest and student activism from January to March 1970. Protesters would frequently clash with the police, resulting in four deaths and hundreds of activists injured.

Marcos would then use this civil unrest, along with the alleged ambush attempt on then-Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and the Communist and Muslim separatist threats as scapegoats, to issue Proclamation 1081 which placed the entire Philippines under Martial Law. “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan (For the nation’s progress, discipline is needed)” was a popular propaganda slogan then, emphasizing the need for “discipline” by implementing a n aut hor ita r ia n reg ime in wh ich a “ benevo lent st rong ma n” w ill lead the country through this chaotic period.

Many apologists of the regime laud this time as a period of unprecedented peace and security. They claim that the people followed the rule of law, that crime was at an all-time low, and that the Communist insurgency was held at bay.

Even today, one could see the public’s fervent desire for a “strongman” to discipline the nation through the popular support for current president Rodrigo Duterte who at one point described himself as a “dictator.” Despite the controversial, unorthodox, and even “bloody” means with which the president aims to “straighten up” the country, some still continue to justify his stance on crime and punishment.

However, the desire of aut horita ria n leadership is but an effect of a deeper problem that has plagued the nation’s social memory since the fall of Marcos: the inability to recognize the atrocities of the regime and reach a consensus regarding one of the most tumultuous chapters of Philippine history.

SHAPING PUBLIC SENTIMENT

Ac c ord i n g to H i s tor y Depa r tment instr uctor Brian Paul Giron, the public perception on a historical event stems from the idea of

perspective. Giron noticed that many Filipinos tend to believe perspectives that are shaped by popular sentiment.

“Frustrations with the current system sometimes makes people look back and think of a better time. That is a syndrome [which] happens quite easily for many people,” said Giron.

Despite the initial public resentment, t he Ma rcos regime was able to assert its authoritarian rule, according to Carmencita D. Aguilar’s 1988 journal article titled “The Marcos Rule and its Dynamics of Political Control,” published in the Indian Journal of Asian Affairs.

In her article, Aguilar explained that the shift in perspective could be largely attributed by the dominant culture and prevailing attitudes of the people toward the promise of a better economy.

According to Aguilar, the Marcos administration operated on the premise that economic development would only thrive in an authoritarian setting.

“When President Marcos promised to bring about the economic development of the country, many sectors thought, that they would give him a chance to prove himself, if such would be for the benefit of the country,” wrote Aguilar, citing the role of cronies and institutions as an important factor.

A development strategy was executed to enhance the infrastructure for agro-industrial productivity and to create projects that address sectoral issues such as education, family planning, and employment.

“The major reason for the people’s support of President Marcos’ authoritarian government was in an anticipation of fulfilment of programmes which appeared beneficial to the country,” she wrote.

The abundance of infrastructure was one of the celebrated legacies of the Marcos regime. In 20 years, the administration was able to build enduring landmarks such as the Philippine Heart Center, the Cultural Center of t he Ph i l ippi ne s, t he Philippine Rice Research Institute in Los Baños and t he Sa n Jua n ico Br idge connecting the provinces of Samar and Leyte.

Gera rdo Sicat, Ma rcos’ first director general of the Nat iona l E conom ic a nd Development Authority said that among all presidents, Ma rcos t a ke s cred it for having the “most extensive infra st r ucture project ” in t he count r y. He wa s not a bly re sp on sible for t he const r uc t ion of t he Pa n-Philippine Hig hway, a national highway connect ing t he isla nd groups of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

“Nevertheless, his unparalleled achievements and contributions to the country, especially in infrastructure development, albeit persistently shunned from the spotlight, will remain as his lasting legacy. For as long as they stand, Marcos lives,” Sicat said.

Although the strategy seems to remedy the country’s crises, research data have shown that the macroeconomic performance of the country worsened.

Due to financial mismanagement, projects and infrastructures were excessively funded by exorbitant debt, which amounted to USD 24.4 billion by 1982, a significant portion of which went to corruption.

Fast forward to the present, the Marcos family has yet to return their ill-gotten wealth, which is worth USD 10 billion in total.

Aguilar concluded that the Marcos regime failed to meet the expectations of the people. Instead of economic self-sufficiency, access to social services, and public safety, authoritarian rule did not save the government from widespread poverty, emergence of insurgent groups, massive injustices, and corruption.

BUSTING THE MYTHS

Giron warned that there is the danger of failing to recognize other aspects of the era and reducing the conversation of history into a one-sided narrative.

“Human rights are really a big part of the Martial Law regime. But sometimes we focus on human rights to the detriment or the exclusion of the economic scene.

A nd it gives people t he perspective that maybe the economy wasn’t as bad [as it seems to be],” he explained.

“Frustrations with the current system sometimes makes people look back and think of a better time. That is a syndrome [which] happens quite easily for many people.”

— BRIAN PAUL GIRON INSTRUCTOR, HISTORY DEPARTMENT

He also observed that the younger generation has the propensity to develop misguided assumptions on historical events, such as those anchored on economic arguments.

In a Facebook video released by activist group Campaign Against the Return on Marcoses to Malacanang (CARMMA), several youths were asked face-to-face about their understanding of Martial Law, without knowing they were interviewed by human rights victims themselves.

Without hesitation, they showered praise for Martial Law as the glory days of the country. “Mas pinaiiral ang batas, may disiplina ang tao at alam nila ang curfew (The law was followed and people were disciplined and they knew the curfew),” said one of the female interviewees.

After they talked, it was the victims’ turn, this time to share the traumatic experiences they have experienced then including the kinds of torture they endured such as electrocution, psychological torture, and sexual harassment. Right there and then, the youth were apologetic.

“Sorry po talaga. Sana po maintindihan niyo ako. Kasi wala po talaga akong alam sa Martial Law (I’m really sorry. Please understand. I had no idea what happened during Martial Law),” an interviewee confessed.

The short video was part of CARMMA’s campaign to rewrite Philippine history textbooks and

reveal the full story of Martial Law. By the end of August 2016, their petition was able to collect 26,225 signatures.

Giron stressed the role of education in shedding light on the truth about Martial Law. He said that academic consensus contends that Martial Law regime is still “a very dark, very negative catastrophic period of Philippine history.”

“Sometimes, [the younger generation] are basing their in for mat ion f rom socia l media [which] doesn’t cite sources, doesn’t use data, doesn’t use evidence. So ‘yun, different people have different ways of arriving at [history],” he said.

He said that a discursive approach should be used to communicate history to the people. Given the clash of different information, Giron also valued the importance of referencing verified facts over popular sentiments derived from anecdotal evidence.

However, he clarified that the discourse on Martial Law should not be portrayed as a dichotomous debate between the “pro” and the “anti.”

“We really have to engage with these people. We are not out to battle people or to attack the legacy of a dictator or anything. We are out to basically talk to people,” he said.

While telling the truth is critical, Giron said there is a challenge in making information not only accessible but also ap-

ILLUSTRATION BY JILL T. ARTECHE

pealing to empower the masses in navigating history.

“Truth is truth. Whether it is overshadowed or blurred or twisted, as long as there are enough people to remember about how to do correct research and how to hold on to truth-based facts rather than public opinion,” he said.

For the nation to grow out of its authoritarian tendencies, it must first confront the different narratives of the Marcos regime, recognize the facts surrounding it, learn from them, and wake up from the illusions of a supposed “golden age.”

Historical revisionism, as Giron pointed out, is not rooted in the unwillingness to forgive but rather in the absence of accountability. “Holding [the perpetrators] accountable for the things they did are really important for us in moving forward…

There’s no moving forward until we settle the conflict [and] reconcile the truth,” he said.

Doing so will not only sa feg ua rd t he f uture of the Philippines as a democratic nation, but it will also ensure that tyranny will only remain in memory rather than manifest itself once again as reality.

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SPORTS, 9

SPORTS, 11

T H E OF F ICI A L ST U DEN T PU BL IC AT ION OF T H E AT EN EO DE M A N I L A U N I V ER SI T Y VOL. LXXXVII, NO. 2 · SEPTEMBER 2016

theguidon.com

MARTIAL LAW SPECIAL Spirit of involvement Behind the “Arrhnean” stereotype is a history of privilege, activism, and social involvement

Ateneo rallies against extrajudicial killings PH drug war death toll nears 3500 MARTIAL LAW SPECIAL Silenced voices Have we truly left censorship in the past?

SPORTS Shifting gears Entering a new season also marks the birth of a new era of champions

FEATURES Heroes vs. saints If Iñigo de Loyola’s fortitude cost him his legs in defense of Spain, he might as well be a real-life Steve Rogers

BY LIAM C. LU

OPINION Paving the way

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STUDENT GROUPS expressed alarm over the recent spate of killings associated with t he new policies by t he administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. This comes at the heels of a statement released by Ateneo de Manila University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ. Villarin released the statement on July 29, in the wake of the passing of alumnus and Ateneo de Manila high school teacher Emmanuel Pavia.

“The death of anyone regardless of virtue cannot but diminish us, and any society or culture that encourages and multiplies death cheapens life for everyone,” he said.

Villarin called on members of the Ateneo community to “promote reverence for life, respect for human rights, and restorative justice” and “watch over the enforcement of equality before the law, due process, and mandated judicial processes in instances of criminal arrest,” among others.

In addition, he also called for opposition against “the potential reinstatement of capital punishment and the lowering of the age of criminal liability,” a major plank of the Duterte administration. In July, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Duterte ally Pantaleon Alvarez had earlier filed bills seeking the restoration of the death penalty for heinous crimes and the lowering of the age of responsibility from 15 to 9.

However, Villarin also re-cognized the current government’s efforts to “rid our communities of this drug menace and to institute measures that protect persons and property from such violence.”

In spite of these efforts, Villarin said that the new administration would not be able to achieve “authentic social change and personal transformation” with “fear as primary motivation or retribution as auxiliary deterrent.”

“If real change is to happen, it can only come when we hold before us the value and sanctity of every person’s life,” he said.

HUMAN RIGHTS

Various organizations of

the Ateneo expressed support for Villarin’s positions and released stands mirroring the Ateneo President’s words.

In a statement released August 12, AIESEC AdMU reiterated its commitment in “protecting the inalienable, universal human rights of every individual, particularly the right for a fair and just trial in due process under the justice system.”

Moreover, the statement also served to “condemn and stand against any measure utilized by an organization of government in violating such rights and disregarding the dignity of human life.”

According to A I ESEC AdMU Local Committee Vice President for Public Relations & Strategic Initiatives Paolo Palanca, the statement was in conjunction with the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) of the United Nations Development Programme, particularly the 16th SGD, pertaining to peace, justice, and ATENEO RALLIES › 5

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News

VP Vilches mulls ‘Agenda for Hope’ for term priority

BY BEA P. SANTIANO

VICE PRESIDENT for the Loyola Schools (VPLS) Maria Luz C. Vilches, PhD has expressed her plan to focus on four key areas during her term: curriculum, research, outreach, and internationalization.

However, Vilches said she would retain some of the policies put into place by her predecessor. In an interview with The GUIDON, Vilches said that the previous administration of John Paul C. Vergara, PhD left the Loyola Schools in a good state and she wants to continue this.

“Whatever is good that has been done, you just have to continue with it. It’s not a matter of ‘it’s my administration, it was his administration.’ I think that what is good for the Loyola Schools is something that any administration, at a certain time, should be able to do,” Vilches said.

THE NEW CORE CURRICULUM

Vilches said that issues with the new core curriculum will be addressed by the newly created Associate Dean for the Core Curriculum (ADCC).

Recently appointed ADCC Benjamin Tolosa, PhD is in charge of addressing the adjustments caused by the change of the curriculum, of shepherding its implementation and development.

“This first semester, [the ADCC is] going to be busy managing the preparations for the implementation of the new core curriculum, which is really a way of building on what was

already done during the term of Dr. Vergara,” said Vilches.

“We want that office to make sure that these things are done properly. We want to be more deliberate about it, and pay attention to things like [training] faculty. Somebody has to bring this all together, to one coherent theme and make sure that the course objectives are met,” Vergara said.

COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES

Vilches said that although plans for curriculum, research, outreach, and internationalization are tackled individually, the efforts in each actually support each other.

In terms of research and outreach, Vilches envisions more faculty collaborative projtects and publications. There will also be more infrastructure support for research such as two additional floors in CTC for SOSE multi-disciplinary labs and sandboxes in Aréte.

“The sandboxes are places where faculty and other collaborators could generate ideas and harness creativity in addressing ‘wicked’ or complex problems in our society and turn such efforts into publishable work,” Vilches said.

She added that research is relevant in the different disciplines and that continuing research work is important because of its social impact.

“We shall increase internal budget allocation for research and foster greater influx of external funding for research. We aim at doing research not just because it is called for by the disciplines, but because [it is]

relevant to society,” she said.

She will also work on a second “Agenda for Hope” in time for the University’s 160th anniversary as an institution in 2019. The first one was made in 2009, during the 150th anniversary of the Ateneo.

“The Agenda for Hope, part two project is a way of bringing people together in the LS community to tackle certain themes—do research on these collaboratively and find creative ways of conveying their findings more popularly to the public so that the ideas that have been generated and the insights gained may benefit a larger society most immediately. The results of research can also be turned into scholarly journal publications,” she said.

For internationalization, guidelines will be made for the departments to have a more systematic and formal way of linkage with their choice of institutions. With this deepened linkage, collaborative research and student and faculty mobility will become regular, capacity building and sustainable.

“We have so many international university linkages abroad, but I’d like to recommend that each school will cultivate a much deeper relationship with one or two of these, so it’s not just the Junior Term Abroad program that they can pursue.

It’s also collaboration in terms of research, it’s also faculty exchange, it’s also internship, it’s also collaborative programs and the like,” she said.

THRUST TOWARDS INTERDISCIPLINARITY

Meanwhile, former VPLS

THE LADY IN CHARGE. VPLS Vilches promises to retain the policies of her predecessor but expand and improve on research output.

PHOTO BY GAB R. MESINA

Vergara said that interdisciplinarity is something that VPLS Vilches could focus on during her term, noting that her being from the School of Humanities is an asset to this.

“What makes most sense is proceeding with the thrust towards interdisciplinarity, and [Vilches] being a proponent for it. She’d be very good at it, [since she was based] in the Humanities,” he said.

He thinks that it is important to develop more interdisciplinary courses in line with the implementation of the new core curriculum.

“We are really in need of courses that integrate disciplines, because in many ways,

that’s what the Ateneo education stands for. And we’ve been doing that already. With the new core curriculum coming in, we need more and more of those courses that integrate different disciplines,” he said.

Moreover, he sees VPLS Vilches’ term as something that complements the previous administration.

“I think there’s a particular caring character that comes with Dr. Vilches’ type. And that, in a sense, pays attention to things that I probably didn’t pay attention much to. And I look forward to that, more of nurturing,” he said.

Vergara said that coming from different schools, Vergara from

the School of Science and Engineering and Vilches from the School of Humanities, also affects their distinct approach to things.

“I tend to be more science and math about things. But a more holistic way of dealing with this is also crucial, especially in an academic institution,” he added.

He also said that appointing her as the new VPLS would be very beneficial in the opening of the new humanities hub, Aréte, which is set to be finished by the end of the school year.

“She could spea rhead [Aréte] very well. We talked about it also, in terms of administration, programming, what would happen [there],” Vergara said.

Sanggunian TransGov gears for next admin

BY MICHELLE D. ABAD

IN LIGHT of the Sanggunian General Elections this coming September, the Sanggunian T ra n sit ion G over n ment (TransGov) has been making the necessary adjustments in order for the new Constitution to take full effect.

Through the efforts of the Constitutional Convention (ConCon), the new Constitution was approved by majority of the Loyola Schools community through a plebiscite during the second semester of SY 2015–2016.

The consecutive failures of elections in recent years triggered the need for an amendment of the Constitution. One of the most notable amendments in the current Constitution is the abolition of the quota requirement, widely criticized as the cause of election failure.

FEW BUT NOT LACKING

Prior to the ratification of the new Constitution, the quota requirement caused a number of offices in the Sanggunian to remain vacant. However, according to Department of Secretariat Chairperson Railey Montalan, this did not hold the Sanggunian back in fulfilling its responsibilities.

“What we said when we got inaugurated was that we’ll just brave this one last year, because we were really hoping that the [Constitution] would pass. Thankfully, it did, and so we were successful in that aspect—of braving through the sheer problems of not having any people, and a lot of people [still] relying on us,” he said.

Despite this, Sanggunian Coordinator Carmela Vinzon remains satisfied with the work the ConCon has done since the quota requirement in elections will no longer be observed.

“I really think that [the abolishment of quota] will really help Sanggu function fully. At least we were able to remove that obstacle. It’s just a matter of us being able to maximize the new amended constitution,” she said.

UNDER RENOVATION

Since the establishment of the TransGov, officials have ramped up efforts in anticipation of the elections and the succeeding administration.

Montalan said that they are currently working on information systems and engagement programs for the next elections.

“We’ve been preparing, for example, in [the Department of Secretariat], file management systems, knowledge management systems, and fixing protocols with our Code of Internal Procedures. We’re also preparing for the transitioning of files and documents for the next Sanggunian,” he said.

In addition, Montalan said that they also planned to have programs to bring the Sanggunian to the fore in the Ateneo community through seminars and a State of the Sanggunian Address.

“We’re planning to have a State of the Sanggunian Address. We’re planning to have a massive social media reach to introduce new people, especially the freshmen, to the Sanggunian,” he said.

Meanwhile, Vinzon said that they are training the representatives to become more “legislative,” as opposed to “executive.” Vinzon added that they are working to improve their public relations to increase transparency.

“One of our biggest goals as TransGov is to improve the [public relations] in order to let people know what’s happening in Sanggu,” she said.

Overall, Department of Communications Chairperson Cieryl Sardool said that these efforts as will help them gauge their experimentations with how the next administration should handle their governance.

“By the time that the next administration comes in, we may already tell them that this is what works, and this is what doesn’t, from the months that we were working as TransGov,” she said.

A NEW SANGGU

In the last school year, the most active arm of the Sanggunian was the Ateneo Task Force, which engaged the Loyola Schools community with regards

to the 2016 National Elections.

This year, Montalan said that the Commission on Socio-Political Affairs (CSPA) will occupy that position in engaging Ateneans.

“I think that [CSPA] will be one of our more visible and active arms, especially with the happenings now. Given that, I think we’ll be more proactive in launching more initiatives and advocacies, such as when we launched and spearheaded the Martial Law talks, and the Libingan ng mga Bayani movements,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sardool believes that the Department of Communications will be the most active arm due to its ability to relay transparency to the community.

“The Department of Communications handles the face of Sanggu. When I assess that one of the main problems of Sanggu is how it’s presented to the students and how the students perceive it, my department has a big responsibility on that. We make sure everyone knows what we’re doing,” she said.

Come the next administration, Vinzon said that the new officers

will be more prepared, especially when it comes to awareness of their responsibilities.

“I expect the Sanggunian to be more self-aware, to actually know what they need to do, and to function in the best way possible. I expect them to make the most out of what the TransGov has been preparing for them, foundations-wise. I expect the next Sanggunian to know its role within the university,” she said.

Moreover, Montalan said that the Sanggunian exists not as a separate institution, but as a representative sector that roots directly from them.

“I want to say to the Ateneo students that the Sanggunian is here, and not just as an institution. I would want sana that the Atenean students realize that the Sanggunian is them. We defend their rights, we forward their concerns, we take up their initatives and forward them to the national scene. We’re their voice eh, and that is what I would want to foresee in our students,” he said.

From L–R, top row: RAILEY MONTALAN Department of Secretariat Chairperson EJ OFILADA SOM Liaison NEICY PILARCA SOSE Liaison DANE ANCHETA CAIP Head RICHARD MERCADO Intellectual Property Rights Task Force (IPRTF) Head BIANCA ALVA SOH Liaison CIERYL SARDOOL Department of Communications Chairperson From L–R, bottom row: ROXY TRILLANES Executive Secretary CJ LEONG Department of Formation Chairperson CARMELA VINZON Coordinator HYA BENDAÑA Department of Finance Chairperson RAE CRUZ SOSS Liaison PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SANGGUNIAN DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

EDITOR: LIAM C. LU · LAYOUT ARTIST: COLLEEN P. DE LUNA

PHOTO ESSAY

Sanggu intensifies campaign against Marcos burial

BY LIAM C. LU AND TEA A. SISCAR PHOTOS BY JILL R. CHAN AND CHESTER B. TAN

STUDENT GROUPS led by the Transition Government (TransGov) of the Sanggunian ramped up efforts to oppose President Rodrigo Duterte’s plans for the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

According to Sanggunian Coordinator Carmela Vinzon, the Sanggunian wants to take a “punch after punch” approach in rallying against the proposed burial.

“We do not plan to let this fire die down. [We] need to stop the burial,” said Vinzon.

SOLIDARITY. Citizens from all walks of life rallied against the Marcos burial in the Citizen’s Assembly on August 14.

O n Au g u s t 1 2 , t he Sanggunian organized a black shirt campaign, where members of the Ateneo community were encouraged to wear black in protest of the burial.

According to Vinzon, the move was meant to express solidarity with the Ateneo faculty’s stand against historical revisionism. “[The black shirt campaign] was a recall from the ‘Ateneans #NeverForget’ campaign because we will never forget SANGGU › 5

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CRUSADA renamed ‘USAD’ in solidarity with sister parties

BY LIAM C. LU AND BEA P. SANTIANO

THE POLITICAL party formerly known as the Christian Union for Socialist and Democratic Advancement (CRUSADA) announced a change in name to the “Union of Students for the Advancement of Democracy Ateneo de Manila University (USAD AdMU)” to reflect solidarity with the USAD parties of Xavier University (XU) and Ateneo de Zamboanga (AdZU).

In a speech given to freshmen during the Orientation Seminar (OrSem) on August 3, USAD Premier Lanz Espacio outlined the shift in the party’s focus, as it seeks to coordinate with the other social democratic parties in the other campuses.

According to him, the decision was not a unilateral one by the Ateneo de Manila party, but a concerted effort by the regional parties.

In a joint statement together with Sitti Chua and Francis Urbina, the Premiers of USAD AdZU and USAD XU respectively, Espacio said that the name change served to “form the largest network of student political parties across the Jesuitrun Universities in the country.”

The change was prompted by “[USAD’s] expansion in Mindanao Universities and [a] shifting political climate.” USAD AdZU and USAD XU were founded in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

CORE PRINCIPLES

According to the statement, the party sought to present a “genuine expression by the former Ateneo CRUSADA to advance unity and build solidarity in USAD Ateneo.”

According to Espacio, the name change arose out of the expansion of the former CRUSADA to Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro. “[The name change] is an expression of our solidarity with

our sister parties. Being in different campuses and universities, a change in name is symbolic, in many ways, that we’re one with not only our parties, but in general, of Mindanao,” Espacio said.

Moreover, Espacio said that the name CRUSADA conjures images of religious conflict and would not be conducive in the Mindanaoan context. “‘Yung pangalan na CRUSADA has a negative connotation when we bring it to Mindanao, that’s why USAD talaga ‘yung pangalan to begin with in those parties (The name CRUSADA has a negative connotation when we bring it to Mindanao, that’s why USAD was the original name to being within those parties),” Espacio said.

According to Espacio, there were some who questioned the removal of these characteristics in the party name.

“It implies a fundamental change within the party,” he said.

However, Espacio maintained that USAD AdMU would retain its original character. He said that there would be no break in the stances of the party. “ E s s e n t i a l l y, the Constitution of the par ty remains. It’s just the change in name lang talaga,” he said.

He said that the removal of the words “Christian union” and “socialist” in the political party’s name elicited a lot of reactions, but he reiterated that this does not imply a change in vision.

“We remain a Christian union; we remain to have a socialist vision through democratic means... It’s just that we decided to change the name in response to the context that we have right now,” he added.

principles and visions we have as a party,” Espacio said.

Espacio said that the consolidation of social-democratic parties among the Jesuit universities will allow for the greater rapport with other campuses.

“Essentially, we’re in the process of building that kind of network of social-democratic parties, not just within the three universities but also possibly reaching out to the other two universities, that is [in] Naga and Davao,” he said.

As the incumbent Premier of USAD AdMU, Espacio also plans to have a convention where the parties can meet and discuss issues relevant to their regions. “[This convention is] where we can, one, contextualize the different issues within the universities, what is important to every student body in the Ateneo, within Manila, within Zamboanga, within Xavier

University, and second, to also form our members on the same programs that we’re of course contextualizing,” he said.

However, Espacio maintained that the distance between the campuses restricts any coordinated action from happening until the near future.

“In terms of concrete plans, or concrete projects, given that we’re in different geographical locations, I doubt we can mobilize,” he said.

BEYOND THE BALLOT BOX

However, Espacio said that the name change does not have a discernible effect on USAD’s odds in the local electoral politics in the Sanggunian. He said that student politics is not one of their priorities in achieving their advocacies.

“So far, with USAD AdMU, we’ve been firm in saying that for us, the student government

is one of the lesser forms of engaging the politics here on campus,” he said.

He said that election to the student government is “not as an end in itself, but as one of the strategies [USAD] has been identifying.”

Moreover, Espacio wants to engage in activities outside of the local scene, preferring outside engagement with external groups. The former CRUSADA has been involved in the causes of the Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) and the Ateneo Employee s a nd Worker s Union (AEWU).

“Since our student government has been mainly concerned with, say, services, [and] not politicization, we’ve been trying to achieve our vision on campus through other means,” he said.

In light of this, Espacio hopes to introduce a “general

par ty platform” in order to project unity within the network of parties. He said that they hope to achieve this by introducing a “common political education program” to the other campuses, where political education is not as developed as in Manila.

“Since it’s been only two to three years since XU and ADZU have been formed with their respective universities, hindi pa sila ganoon ka-developed, I guess. So with regard to say, the political education, organizational development, we’re helping them out,” he said.

“We hope to bring the kind of training, the intellectual capacity and the political formation that USAD AdMU has been doing for the past six years,” he added.

Ateneo De Manila University (AdMU) Quezon City

NATIONAL NETWORK

Instead, the former CRUSADA’s name change reflects a deeper cooperation and coordination among the three parties.

“We’re beginning to build this national party for students with regards to espousing the very

Xavier University - Ateneo (XU) Cagayan de Oro

Ateneo De Zamboanga University (AdZU) Zamboanga City

NATIONAL NETWORK. Aside from the Manila branch, USAD also has a presence in Ateneo de Zamboanga and Xavier University.

ILLUSTRATION BY DIANA F. DAVID AND COLLEEN P. DE LUNA

The GUIDON September 2016

Experts assess Duterte gov’t social justice record

BY THEA A. SISCAR

SEVERAL MEMBERS of the Ateneo de Manila community held a forum on the opportunities and challenges of democratization and social justice in the face of the Duterte administration on August 14.

The forum, led by Economics Assistant Professor Randy Tuaño, PhD and Political Science Associate Professor Benjamin Tolosa Jr., PhD, saw former Ateneo School of Government Dean Atty.

Tony La Viña, Commission on Human Rights Chairman Atty. Chito Gascon, and former Constitutional Commissioner Ed Garcia as resource speakers.

Also in attendance were Vice President for Social Development Atty. Jaime Hofileña, John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJCICSI) Associate Director Eleanor Dionisio, Associate Dean for Student Formation Bobby Guevara, and Ateneo de Manila student leaders and alumni.

Hofilena said that the forum stemmed from the “common desire of members of the university community and Jesuit institutions based in the Loyola Heights campus” to know how they can contribute in the furtherance of democratization and social justice under the Duterte administration.

According to Tolosa, the forum was part of continuing conversations on the meaning of service of the faith, promotion of justice, and becoming “men and women for others” in light of the country’s current situation.

“If you look at the talks and presentations [during the forum], they’re looking at the Duterte government not in terms of personality,” Tolosa said.

“It’s important to have a forum like this so that we’re not just talking generalities, but really talking about the complex configuration: Who is in government right now, which branches of government can we work with, and what kind of policies are being implemented,” Tolosa added.

ON DUTERTE’S POLICIES

Dionisio said that the JJCICSI found that many first moves of the Duterte administration in

line with the eight principles of Catholic social teaching identified by the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines. “[Duterte] appointed several cabinet members who have a strong redistributive agenda or who express strong preferential option for the poor,” Dionisio said.

However, she sees a contradiction in the war on drugs. “’Yung drug war niya, puro mga mahihirap namamatay, so there’s that contradiction (Only the poor are being killed in his war on drugs, so there’s that contradiction),” she said. “[Duterte] also wants to restore the death penalty which, [as] studies have shown, is biased against the poor because the poor cannot hire good lawyers.”

Dioniso added that Duterte’s attacks on Senator Leila de Lima undermined the proper checks and balances of the national government. De Lima is one of the most vocal critics of the President’s anti-drug campaign and is currently conducting investigations on extrajudicial killings. “[The President] drags [de Lima] through the dirt. It has a chilling effect like ‘If you protest anything that I do, I will bring out your personal stuff.’

The effect of that is people will be afraid to speak. This is a very undemocratic sort of behavior.

He’s the president, when he does that, in effect [it is] policy,” Dionisio added.

On responding to these actions and policies, Hofileña said that “the University would do well to give credit to the taking of measures which prove to be truly laudable and promotive of nation-building, but call it out also for its actions which rather undo or derail that.”

“When criticism is called for, it would do well for the University to enunciate what alternatives there are which should be considered and implemented, going beyond criticizing merely for the sake of doing so,” Hofileña added.

ATENEO AND ‘ELITISM’

Tolosa believes that as a Jesuit, Catholic university, the Ateneo’s response to the Duterte administration comes from a long tradition of certain values that have also been expressed in the past.

Hofileña holds the same belief. “As an academic community of higher learning, the University ought to continue studiously and keenly appraising and responding to such challenges and overall realities in Philippine society, in light of truth and the principled, authentically-humanistic rights and values which the university upholds,” he said. “[Being men and women for others] means continuing to value others as the innately dignified persons that human beings are and to act accordingly: Look out for and protect their nature as such and their human rights,” Hofileña added.

In carrying this out, Hofileña suggested that it can begin with “voicing out critical questions on the issues and events of the present time, and their active participation as well in seeking out—among themselves and their peers from outside the university —the answers to those questions.”

However, Tolosa acknowledges that there are accusations of elitism because of Ateneans’ positions on issues.

“It’s not true that Ateneans have no exposure to life outside the Ateneo. It’s a stereotype or a caricature that Ateneans only talk, but don’t really understand the situation,” he said.

“The challenge is: What does it mean for us to be able to engage society while maintain, at the same time, our core values? We have to grapple with the accusation of elitism, but not in a knee-jerk sort of way,” Tolosa added.

Tolosa said that this notion of being accused of elitism sometimes hinders Ateneans to express their sentiments because of the fear of being labeled as such.

“If you really believe that it’s a valuable perspective, how do you keep on saying it that doesn’t alienate but is able to mobilize and empower?” Tolosa said. “It is something that is distinctive and has made a difference.

And it will continue to make a difference.”

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Sanggu...

PHOTO BY JILL R. CHAN

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and we will never allow this burial to be called a ‘healing’ experience for the nation,” she said. The #NeverForget campaign began after 412 members of the Ateneo faculty had earlier released a statement against the “wilful distortion of history” of events during the Martial Law era.

The campaign was also a prelude to the Citizens’ Assembly, held at the Luneta Park on August 14, where students and faculty gathered with other civil groups in denouncing the Marcos burial. Around 500 Ateneans were in attendance, according to the Ateneo cont ingent orga nizer Miguel Rivera.

STUDENT ACTIVISM

The Sanggunian’s antiMarcos campaign comes at a period of renewed partnership with the other sectors of the student body.

According to Vinzon, the Sa ng g unia n w ill work together with organizations such the Analysis and Discourse Cluster of the Council of Organizations in the project.

“We constantly engage the community and the national administration through ac-

tivities done in partnership with [these groups, other] stakeholder student groups, and faculty and staff,” said Vinzon.

According to volunteer organizer Luis Enriquez (3 AB DS), the project was in coordination with the wider Duyan ng Magiting coalition, of which the Sanggunian is a signatory. The campaign was a response to the stand released by the coalition against the Marcos burial plans.

Members of the Sanggunian and some of the faculty members met with Duyan ng Magiting leaders in order to discuss the agenda of the coalition last July 13.

Economics A ssista nt Professor Philip Tuaño said that the coordination between the students and faculty showed inter-generational support against the burial measure.

“We usually think of Martial Law as an issue of our generation and not really an issue of the younger generation, so it’s great that students are actually supporting that issue,” Tuaño said.

BEYOND CAMPUS GROUNDS

Moreover, Enriquez and Vinzon agreed that the presence of Ateneo students, faculty members, and alumni was “definitely felt” during the Citizens’ Assembly.

“We filled about two and a half buses. Ateneo’s participation was good. [Many] of the alumni and faculty went straight to Luneta to stand with the delegation coming from school,” Vinzon said.

“For something planned on a short notice, that’s fairly decent. The numbers were not disappointing and the Ateneo contingent was one of the larger contingents na napadala,” Enriquez added.

According to Tuaño, the number of Ateneans even exceeded his expectations.

However, there is already a foreseeable difficulty.

“I didn’t really expect that students will be calling on fellow students. We’re really surprised that number of students actually came, but the question really is how to sustain it,” Tuaño said.

Similarly, Vinzon wishes that in the future, there will be an increase in attendance of Ateneans in mobilizations against the burial of Marcos.

“I call for the students to voice out their critical opinions not just behind the screen, but to actually physically participate,” Vinzon said. “Let us not be afraid to get dirty and disturbed, this is about the future of our nation.”

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strong institutions.

AIESEC is a major par tner of the United Nations.

Palanca said that the extrajudicial killings presented a grave threat to the human rights of the Filipino people.

“The issue of [the extra judicial killings], with the estimated death toll going past 500 individuals that have lost their lives, is not only a present issue, but also a pressing one,” he said.

He said that AIESEC AdMU remained committed to due process and the respect for the law, and would continue to fight for the protection of these rights.

“As the youth, we are responsible for the future of organizations, industries, societies, and communities across the globe. It is through the collective collaboration of individual efforts that will

enable us to shape the world as we want it,” he said.

DRUG PROBLEM

Prior to the release of Villarin’s statement, The Union of Students for the Advancement of Democracy (USAD) AdMU also released a stand on July 17 regarding the administration’s methods in fighting the drug trade.

The party cautioned against “vigilante killings” perpetrated under the blind eye of the national government.

“Hindi lamang ang estado ang may hawak ng armas, may kakayahan na rin pati mga bihilante at tulisan na magtakda kung ano ang batas, magbigay-hukom, at maghari-harian sa sari-sarili nilang lugar (It is not only the State that has access to arms and weaponry. Vigilantes and bandits have the capability of laying down the law, to pass

judgment, and act as kings in their own territories),” the party said.

In addition, USAD called for an examination of “oppressive str uctures” that perpetuate the drug problem.

According to their statement, unless there is a change in the systems that spark the discourses surrounding violence, there will be no authentic change and violence will continue across the country.

In a separate interview with The GUIDON, USAD Premier Lanz Espacio said that the party opposes what it perceives to be a “dichotomization” of the drug issue.

“We’ve noticed, as a party, that within campus, and with regards to the broader discourse on the issue is that it’s always focused on arguing that…those who are proex trajudicia l killings are aga inst huma n rig ht s. I

think that’s a very dangerous proposition,” he said. “It dichotomizes the issue, as with many other issues, to pro- or anti-camps.”

Espacio said that what needed to be done was to “look at the broader picture.”

“What our party believes in is to look at the oppressive structures that made it possible for these incidents to happen anyway, and to look at the frustrations of the majority,” he said. “Essentially, [the people are] frustrated with the system that has always, in every way, neglected or denied them of the very right to life.”

ATENEAN DUT Y

Espacio criticized the statement released by Villarin, and said that it does not call on Ateneans to reflect on their current situation in the national context.

“Where has the Atenean

been? The Ateneans have been through Martial Law; we’ve been active in going against the Marcos regime, but post-EDSA, where has the Atenean been?” he said.

He said that the Ateneo needs to engage more in the discourse, and obtain a wider understanding of the issues surrounding the extrajudicial killings.

“I’m very frustrated with the current lack of discourse.

For us, it’s not only intrinsically important, it’s also instrumentally important in the sense that it allows us to understand why these things are happening,” he said.

Palanca echoed Espacio’s statement a nd sa id t hat Ateneans have an obligation to participate in the discussions on human rights.

“There may always be someone else who can speak up or speak out about the issue, but every intelligent opinion

and educated mind added to the conversation raises the quality of the discourse and improves the discussions with their own personal insights and perspectives,” he said.

Palanca called on Ateneans to be brave, and not to waver in the fight for social justice.

“Be courageous and speak your mind, do not sit idly by observing when you can act on the situation today, to improve the situation tomorrow,” he said.

As of press time, the Senate Committee on Justice and Human rights, led by Senator Leila de Lima is investigating cases of supposed extrajudicial killings under the watch of Philippine National Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa.

Editor’s note: Kill count data collected since July 1.

Sourced from Rappler.

6

Opinion

VOLUME LXXXVII, NO. 2 SEPTEMBER 2016

The GUIDON 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.

Frances Christine P. Sayson, AB LIT (ENG) ‘17 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Katrina Isabelle G. Pimentel, BS CTM ‘17 ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Alfonso Miguel N. Sevidal, BS ME ‘17 MANAGING EDITOR

Nicolina G. Solinap, BFA ID ‘17 DESIGN EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Liam Calvin C. Lu, AB EC ‘18 NEWS EDITOR

Beatrice Lauren T. Go, BS MGT ‘17 SPORTS EDITOR

Robbin Charles M. Dagle, AB COM ‘18 BEYOND LOYOLA EDITOR

Adrian M. Goh, BS ME ‘18 FEATURES EDITOR

Rachel Esmeralda Gabrielle O. Lombos, BS ME ‘17 INQUIRY EDITOR

Angela Carmela R. Natividad, BFA CW ‘16/AB PH ‘17 Danielle Clarice D. Reyes, BS LFSCI ‘18 VANTAGE EDITORS

Gabrielle Therese R. Mesina, BFA ID ‘18 Patrick T. Ong, BS MAC ‘18 PHOTOS EDITORS

Diana F. David, BFA ID ‘18 Clarissa Joyce R. Gorreon, BFA ID ‘17 GRAPHIC DESIGN EDITORS

Margarita Claudette V. Chuatico, AB COM ‘17 Miguel Antonio S. Murga, BS MGT ‘17 VIDEO PRODUCTION EDITORS

Carlos Alberto L. Arcenas, BSMS CS ‘19 DIGITAL MEDIA EDITOR

Jamie Lucille C. Catanes, BS LM ‘17 TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Andrea Coleen V. Tubig, BFA CW ‘17 EXTERNALS MANAGER

Briane B. Dela Peña, AB COM ‘18 Janine Ysabel B. Peralta, AB SOS ‘17 SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS

NEWS Michelle P. Abad, Bea P. Santiano, Thea A. Siscar SPORTS Cedric B. Teng Ampo, Carlos H. Cruz, Jamie S. Katigbak, Chino D. Reyes, Colin C. Salao, Vincent D. Soliven BEYOND LOYOLA Maxine A. Buenaventura; Editorial Assistant, JC A. Beltran, Sean S. Chingkaw, Janelle H. Paris, Abelardo M. Torio FEATURES Patricia A. Dy; Editorial Assistant, Saffi C. Arcenas, Andrew D. Cambri, Celine D. Natividad

Paving the Way For the first time in recent decades of Ateneo history, the Sanggunian will be voted in by the students without the restriction of a minimum quota of voters. After a string of failures of election, last year, a Constitutional Convention (ConCon) was formed to amend the provisions in the student constitution that required the quota. Once the constitution became ratified, quota was no more.

Just like any issue concerning the student body, the abolishment of quota was met with mixed reactions.

Some found this progressive, as it meant that there were no more logistical and legal barriers to having a complete slate of officers for all school boards. A complete Sangguni-

an is therefore likely ensured.

Others, however, questioned the decision, saying that it further cemented how distant the student body has become from the Sanggunian. Now that there is no quota, why would anyone feel urgency to vote? Why was the Ateneo student body, in the first place, so afraid to see the institution of the Sanggunian finally fall, once and for all, enough for it to revise the Constitution so that a student government will always be ensured?

The bottom line is this: with these changes, the student body will very likely get a Sanggunian, whether they like it or not. And the responsibility for electing the individuals that will compose the student government still falls in the

hands of the constituents, whether they vote or not.

The Sanggunian remains responsible as the primary liaison between the student body and the administration. It is the student government and the battleground of campus politics. It is still an essential space for discourse, leadership, and governance. Now that any candidate can be elected into a position with minimal votes regardless of whether or not these votes are representative of the constituency, the impetus to vote is greater. The removal of the quota does not absolve students of their responsibility to be involved. Rather, it heightens it now that adequate representation is now not constitutionally mandated, but enacted by the voters themselves.

Aside from the matter of preserving the Sanggunian through the abolishment of quota, the ConCon presents the opportunity to encourage a more involved student body. It revealed the questions and challenges that incoming student officers must tackle, particularly in an institution that has faced controversies over the years.

Now that the most prominent hindrance to establishing a complete Sanggunian has been eliminated, it is essential that student involvement be further encouraged as not merely the responsibility to vote, but also the responsibility to promote discourse, representation, and good governa nce. U ltimately, while the ConCon abol-

ished quota and essentially ensured that the student government will exist regardless of voter turnout, it was an endeavor that demands and continues to demand student involvement and participation beyond merely electing officers into positions.

As the Sanggunian elections near – the first, in years, without the restriction of quota – it is necessary to understand that student involvement is more than the goals of meeting quota and electing officers. Rather, it must be a continuous effort, a developing endeavor, and a sustainable work in progress.

prehends the pursuit of the impossible. A paraphrase of A Step Along the Way (1979) goes: Nothing we do is complete.

No statement says all that could be said.

No confession brings perfection.

No pastoral visit brings wholeness.

No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about.

We plant the seeds that one day will grow.

We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.

This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way.

We a re worker s, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.

Sta nd a nd f ig ht! The people have nothing to lose but their chains.

INQUIRY Jairus I. Paul; Editorial Assistant, Manuel M. Aldeguer, Nio B. Atrigenio, Joaquin B. Jacinto VANTAGE MAGAZINE Luisa C. Jocson; Editorial Assistant, Franco M. Luna; Managerial Assistant, Ching M. Balina, Carlito O. Mortel, Maia R. Puyat

BLUE JEANS

PHOTOS Chester B. Tan; Editorial Assistant, Justin C. Ang, Jill R. Chan, Gabby F. Jimenez, Twinkle R. Liboon, Jeff Pascual, Janine Torre

People of the World, Unite!

GRAPHIC DESIGN Meg F. Villena; Editorial Assistant, Jill T. Arteche, Antonette A. Amoncio, Colleen P. De Luna

BY LORENZO P. ESPACIO

DIGITAL MEDIA Ian De La Cruz, Editorial Assistant; Lorenzo G. Orbeta, Leina R. Santiago TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT Hannah Guinto, Trisha Lim EXTERNALS Javier A. Serrano, Managerial Assistant; Shaira C. Co

Ruel S. De Vera MODERATOR

For comments, suggestions and contributions, email

desk@theguidon.com

Drive the discussion.

The Communist Manifesto (1848) makes a rather poignant point on solidarity: revolution is founded and can only be realized on the basis of international unity, a kind of solidarity that transcends transnational boundaries.

The notion of workers uniting wherever they may be must have been a dream to behold.

More than a hundred years later, this dream appears further from reach, despite technological advancements paving the way for corporatedriven globalization. In the cyber milieu, as we become more “connected” with our virtual selves, we consequently become more disconnected with real others.

Inequality remains rife, the rich and poor become ever so distant in every sphere; authoritarian regimes with au-

tarkic tendencies gain steam in both East and West as humanitarian crises are destroying whole nation-states.

Solidarity in this day and age, in a world so divided and violent, appears utopian.

What is problematic then becomes clear for those who seek to embody solidarity, especially socialist movements and political parties, for in our constitution lies solidarity as a principle. How can we go beyond these boundaries especially in this context?

In wrestling with this question, I turn to the ‘70s and ‘80s.

It was then, during the Martial Law Era, that the Atenean (of bourgeois origin and of privilege) “gifted” with a liberal education broke every norm by going beyond the walls of Loyola—to vulnerable rural and urban communities, in socialist and democratic movements, and a number in communist armed struggle.

“Patient guides and teachers are the masses,” Lacaba (1975) says of his own experience. The peculiar case of the Activist Atenean in solidarity with others shines light on a possible response to the problematic, one that invites us to learn from our history and calls us to do the same as we move forward.

As we do the work we do as a political party, I rest easy hoping there runs in us as in the Activist Atenean of the ‘70s an orientation, however concealed, towards the recognition of the humanity of others which to this day unjust structures and institutions do not recognize.

This kind of commitment to an ideal of transcending worldly limitations of class, gender, or creed in genuine solidarity with others, however utopic is far from futile.

A prayer written for the martyred Oscar Romero ap-

Lanz Espacio is the 6th Premier of the Social Democratic student political party, the Union of Students for the Advancement of Democracy — Atendeo de Manila University (USAD AdMU). USAD is a growing network of Social Democratic parties, currently present in Ateneo de Manila, Xavier University, and Ateneo de Zamboanga.

If you would like to contribute to Blue Jeans and Chalkmarks, e-mail your entry to desk@theguidon.com.

Entries should be no longer than 3,200 characters with spaces.

The GUIDON September 2016

Bildungsroman KATRINA G. PIMENTEL

The safest spaces POSSIBLY ONE of the most traumatizing experiences of my childhood was being the last one left standing during a grade school Math class, when all my classmates had taken their seats because they were able to quickly recite multiples of 2, 3, 4, and so on. When it was my turn, I remember proudly beaming,

Wayfinding NIKKI G. SOLINAP

Gid Ya NOVEMBER 5TH is a provincewide non-working holiday in Negros Occidental. This is in commemoration of our courageous forefathers literally bamboozling the Spaniards into handing us our freedom.

There were some notable events leading up to the bloodless revolt and declaration of the Republic of Negros, but the highlight, to me, is this: just the sight of Generals Juan Araneta and Aniceto Lacson marching into Bacolod with their troops, convinced that the Spaniards should no longer hold the city. From the belfry of the San Sebastian Cathedral, the Negrense forces seemed well-equipped, with nipa stalks carved into rifles and bamboo mats rolled up to resemble canons.

I live seven minutes away from the very cathedral where the Spanish authorities stood and considered laying down their arms a century ago, and

Parallax BRIANE B. DELA PEÑA

To keep or to kill DURING ONE of my classes during a previous semester, the professor mentioned something about a prison that treats its inmates as normal, productive citizens. A year may have passed since then, but today, I suddenly recalled this lesson, centering on the prison that wasn’t necessarily a “jail.”The Bastoy Prison in Norway is an island for criminals to undergo rehabilitation, not by serving time behind bars, but by working together to function as a village. Security officers are assigned there to cooperate with the prisoners, in order to facilitate the sustaining of their livelihood. CNN dubs Bastoy as the world’s nicest prison, because the inmates experience life as if they were free people.

This example shows what re storat ive just ice is a ll about: Correcting people’s mistakes while rebuilding their dignity as individuals and members of society.

Unfortunately, this seems impossible for the Philippines.

Ever since the iron-fisted administration rose to power, the country has become a

while reciting the numbers: “4, 8, 12, 16, 21 …” (Needless to say, I didn’t get to take my seat.)

My teacher got back to me as soon as everyone else had finished and though I had been able to get it correctly the second time around, I had felt rather embarrassed that I had made a mistake.

I felt embarrassed that, for those few minutes, I had so confidently put myself out there, only to be proven wrong.

To me, my modern day equivalent of that nightmare is the fear I get whenever I post something on social media. The eyes staring back at me aren’t just my grade school classmates and my Math teacher anymore; it’s literally everyone. If I thought standing up

in front of a room filled with my peers was horrible, social media can oftentimes make one feel like they’re up on a pedestal – with everyone constantly refreshing until it’s time to throw a tomato or two at someone who posts something out of place.

I’ve always been the type of person who prefers to stay out of online arguments and debates, due to that same fear of being “wrong.” It’s my first instinct to turn a blind eye or find neutral ground to whatever the issue is. But lately, I’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to keep silent and to not feel slightly compelled to share the things I am fighting for.

Every day, more and more

yet my province’s history has always been overridden by histories of other places, of other people. For many, Cinco de Noviembre remains as just a government-issued opportunity to sleep in and laze about. The only pieces of Negros history I was familiar with were from the anecdotes of my lolos and lolas, overheard at family gettogethers. My textbooks never mentioned anything about my province establishing itself as an independent republic. At one point, our teachers even fined us one peso for every Hiligaynon word uttered in class.

It frustrates me that I didn’t get to learn my own history in my high school social studies classes. It frustrates me that all provinces—that is, places that aren’t Metro Manila—are lumped together as an image of mountaintops half-shrouded by clouds, with sugarcane fields laid out like a blanket at your feet (although, to be fair, this is exactly what greets you when you peer out the windows of Bacolod-Silay International Airport). It frustrates me that every time I tell people I’m from Bacolod, I get wrongly used “gid ya”s and “bala”s in response— not because I think everyone should learn Hiligaynon,

but because it doesn’t feel fair that this is the only thing people will ever know about my province. It doesn’t feel fair that even people born and raised in my province will never properly learn our own history; that we will never come to fully appreciate our own heritage.

Everyone knows the stereotype: Ilonggos are malambing.

But Ilonggos are more than just that. We are to the Philippines what the South is to the United States, as one of my professors once said—warm, genteel.

We are easy-going, as you can tell from the sing-song of our dialect. We love food more than your average Filipino, which is inevitable since the province boasts some of the best delicacies in the country.

I love my home. I just wish everyone else, especially those who inhabit the sockshaped island, would learn to love it, too. Learning about our history is the first small but significant step to appreciating how rich our provinces’ cultures are and being proud about upholding it—just as our forefathers proudly marched into the city of Bacolod on 5 November 1898, fake firearms and all.

hotspot for undue killings.

Over time, the media has become dominated by stories of people who were slain for being “associated” with illegal drugs. Even the chief of police, himself, said that it would be rather alarming if the number of deaths falls as the days go by.

What gives me goosebumps is that not everyone part of the body count was hooked on drugs. Some victims have already undergone rehabilitation, while others were ill-fated victims of mistaken identity.

In less than a year, we have seen the terrifying impact of retribution in our country.

I could not even call it “retributive justice” because of the clear negligence of due process in the justice system, as lives are taken away without question by the day and by the hour.

W hy i s it d i f f ic u lt to promote restorative justice?

L ook at our aut hor it ie s, whose present mindset is to kill criminals. Fueled by the failures of past governments, they have come to care only about the human rights and socia l va lue of innocent people. The offenders are ju s t p erc eive d a s mere animals that can be crushed to death anytime.

It is downright upsetting to see desperation in the law enforcers who impose their powers too strongly on the citizens. They are incompetent to forget that they are responsible

for ensuring justice and fairness in all their constituents.

What this nation and the world see today are killing machines in uniforms that are set out to grow a culture of revenge and death.

To implement restorative justice means to be humane enough to see goodness even in the most unjust of human beings. It entails believing in the capability of people to improve themselves, by learning from their mista kes. It highlights hope, fosters faith, and lives on love.

However, re s tor at ive justice is so ideal, that in order to materia lize, it requires a society that is mature enough to not resort so quickly to carnage in order to rectify its problems.

For a nation that currently struggles to clean itself of its internal sickness and corruption, the Philippines faces a question: Will we ever grow and help in bettering the lives of our fellow Filipinos, or will we be stuck in getting rid of the people whom we believe to be the nuisances of our land?

We have yet to give the a nswer, but t his, I a m sure: It may be relatively easier to kill, but it is more progressive (albeit, more difficult) to practice the rebuilding of dignity.

“bad news” shows up my social media feed. Whether it’s the extrajudicial killings or the Marcos burial, it seems like everyone is taking a stand. There is so much information available to us and so much hatred coupled with it.

And this blind hatred we often see from Internet trolls or in the comments sections of media outlets is something that we need to combat with discourse – in a manner that is both engaging and respectful.

It gets tiring to defend yourself to an audience that is scrutinizing your every post or to the relatives that sometimes do not share the same political views as you. It can also sometimes be terrifying, but we must not allow these voices to drown out our own.

Spook GAB R. MESINA

Hair we go GIVEN THIS tiny space wherein I can choose to start discourse about pursuing an art degree in the Philippines today or my personal feelings towards the current administration, I choose to talk about hair instead.

The earliest conscious memory I have of hair, is when I tried to turn my Teresa doll’s brunette locks to blue using a marker.

When I decided it was bath time for her and the rest of her friends, the result of my little experiment was a bluefaced Teresa doll instead.

From then on, my personal fascination with hair began. I went through a cycle of growing my hair up to almost my waist, getting tired of it, exchanging it for a bob, wishing for it to grow quickly, and then cutting it all over again. I would often wish that I could be the Rapunzel doll I once owned

Game Changer BEATRICE T. GO

Rekindling the forgotten spirit THE FIRST image that comes to mind when one hears the word “game” is a stadium filled with a crowd cheering on their favorite team as an athlete makes a run to score. The crowd goes wild as he does and it is truly a sight to behold.

In the context of Ateneo sports, we usually imagine a game to be against our greatest rival school, De La Salle University (DLSU), where historically, families and friends gather in the A r a net a C ol i s eu m to show their support for their school— especially during the glory days of our five-peat champion basketball team under Coach Norman Black.

Howe ve r for t h r e e years now, we have been experiencing a title drought from this once decorated team. Luckily, the second semester has fueled the interest of most supporters, turning to watch our Lady Eagles with their Queen, Alyssa Valdez, bring home

7

If there is something you feel compelled to say, if there is something that you feel you can contribute to a discussion – we must not let our fear of criticism stop us. Engaging in discourse is not a one-way conversation; it entails an exchange of ideas.

But it also means remaining open-minded that you may be “wrong” as well sometimes.

Rather than feeling so embarrassed that it drives you to silence, we must learn to combat this with the humility that we are all learning, too.

It’s important to recognize the areas in which we can participate and advocate for the things we believe in. With social media, we can all become influencers. And

we cannot let the fear of criticism or backlash deter us from using the spaces we have where we can voice our own opinions to their fullest potential. With platforms such as these, we are connected to our social spheres more than ever, with the reach of our voices extending even further than ever. It’s important to engage, encourage questioning, and to find out the answers for ourselves.

Contrary to popular belief, I believe that our opinions do matter. And, if those questions are burning inside of you, why not let them out?

from way back. With just the pull of a string on her back, her hair would shorten automatically, while still being able to get her hair back to normal length whenever I wished.

However, I had to learn the hard way that I didn’t have a magic string to pull on my back whenever I felt uncomfortable with my hair.

It was a normal day during my semestral break back in freshman year when I hatched up the brilliant idea to bleach my hair three times in one sitting. Needless to say, not only did I look like a bad impression of the Weasleys, but my hair was so damaged that every time I tried to comb it – well, let’s just say it was like running a comb through rubber.

From then on, it had been a series of different hairstyles for me, as well as varying adventures with hair in general.

These explorations involved ordering a package of a hundred doll heads off of some Facebook group because I wanted to try my hand at rerooting doll hair. My fascination also led me to order Troll dolls online and then later using them as subjects in my paintings. In my almost three years of college, I have sported 14 different hairstyles already.

I don’t know what it is exactly about changing my hair that I find so fascinating, but I presume it coincides with the fact that I am now realizing that I am growing older. And the pressure to find myself grows stronger and stronger each day. The closer I get to graduating means I take one step towards becoming an adult and this, to me, means that I have to get my life together.

Howe ver, b e yond t he choking reality of growing older and having to figure things out on my own, I reckon that maybe the reason for my changing of hairstyles doesn’t have to be earth-shattering. I like to think that maybe I just enjoy it because I simply do. In this day and age where every opinion and every action gets scrutinized by anonymous juries online, sometimes it’s better to take a page off of Little Mix’s book in their song aptly titled “Hair” and just say, “I don’t really care, just get him out of my hair.”

two championship titles that were once owned by the DLSU Lady Spikers.

But things were different during era of the Lady Eagles’ domination. The top supporters present during these games were not the alumni who are known for their passionate — but at times taunting — cheers nor were they the students who would sometimes even cut their classes to watch a weekday game. Instead, the arenas are now filled with the off-campus fan clubs that support the Blue and White because of the influential players of the Lady Eagles.

We cannot deny the fact that the supporters from our own Ateneo community have been dwindling. For the less popular sports, the situation seems to be even worse.

Though these teams are able to gain championship titles and podium finishes, only a select few exert the effort to attend their tournaments.

On a positive note, this may go to show that the sports teams found their true supporters, though it still does not seem enough for our Blue and Lady Eagles. Why else would each team go through great lengths to schedule a profile picture blast on Facebook? Why would they need to clamor for support and market themselves for the Ateneo community to know that they exist?

The athletes themselves are the ones reaching out to us through different mediums, whether online or word of mouth,

to be able to garner support from the already indifferent Ateneo community.

Although there are people who recognize their efforts online by retweeting news about them and acknowledging their posts, the feeling remains to be different when the physical presence of the people closest to them is felt during their proudest moment of the year.

After a year of toiling in training for their beloved university, the image of empty bleachers in the athletes’ biggest game is not something they want to be returned with.

Forgoing one’s responsibilities is not an easy task— given the distance from Katipunan to Mall of Asia Arena or Rizal Memorial Stadium— but being a friend of an athlete or a supporter from the community tends to give off a comforting presence when spotted on the bleachers.With that sparkle of hope in the athlete’s eyes, a simple gesture of support can go beyond the non-existent encounter in social media. For the Atenean, it encourages everyone to rekindle the school spirit that unites us in strength with the athletes.

The Ateneo school spirit may be fading, but it has not died.

It will not die.

8

News

Atenean Voice “Are you in favor of the burial of Pres. Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani? Why or why not?”

Lanz Espacio Premier, USAD

“We go against this because again, the whole point of Marcos’ burial is to move forward, but we believe that to achieve this on the basis of a lie is to build a unity that isn’t really genuine, and a unity that is based on a lie will not really develop the society that we hope to espouse, which is what everyone wants– a society that is free, that is equal, and that is just.”

Nikki Blanco 4 AB COM

“No, because there is no reason, or we’ve never had a reason to consider him as a hero, and the very name of Libingan ng mga Bayani...to merit being buried there you need to have done something good for the country, and Marcos is not one of them, nor will he be one of them.”

Pat Ramos 2 AB EC-H

“I don’t support Marcos being buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. I think that place is made for the sole purpose to honor the people who’ve done something more than just steal money from our country, or supposedly hiding their sins through their achievements. When President [Duterte] allows [Marcos] to be buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, it’s also like burying the sins of the Marcoses. We can’t deny that it’s actually real; that there were some reports of corruption and theft. The people [buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani]– they’re people honored for what they did for the country. What did [Marcos] honestly do for the country?”

Isaac Go 3 BS MAC

Jan Chan 3 BS ME

Patricia Kay Laudencia 2 AB COM

“[I am] still not so sure about that because we all know he did in the Martial Law era– all the crimes and everything that he did. No doubt he was a hero as a soldier, but in the end, everyone will not remember him not as a soldier but as the president.”

Chanel Pepino 3 AB Dip-IR

“No, I am not in favor of Ferdinand Marcos’ burial at Libingan. It’s not only disrespectful to those whose lives were taken during his regime, but [it is also disrespectful] to the survivors of Martial Law and the relatives of the victims.

The act of burying him along with known heroes is a disgrace to the Filipino people who have fought for democracy and freedom. Though his family wishes for his body to be respected, how shall it be respected without any apology from his living family members for all the wrong he has done? If his burial at Libingan be granted, it would be a shame to the nation and to the people to let a dictator be buried alongside heroes. He is no [hero] and will never be a hero to me.”

Juan Gabriel Felix 3 AB COM

“I am strongly against the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Even if you try hard and look past the atrocities committed during the Martial Law, the US National Archives itself does not have anything related to the medals awarded to [Marcos] and the guerilla unit he claims to have founded. To bury a liar, least of all a mass murderer, in a cemetery that claims to hold the remains of heroes is an insult of the highest order.”

Clarice Cortes 4 BSM AMF

“I strongly oppose the burial of [President] Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. This decision would do a great injustice for all the victims of Martial Law and all those real heroes who died fighting for the freedom and democracy we are enjoying today. He is no hero and it is just too painful to imagine that our future children should remember him as one.”

Chelsea Paz 4 BS HS

“I’m against it. Burying Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani is a slap to the face of thousands of families who were (and still [are]) affected by Martial law. It is like saying that all the tortures, rapes, salvages, and disappearances that were done during Martial law were nothing. This is telling the families that what happened to them didn’t matter, that it is all forgotten and forgiven.

Sadly, our newly-elected President, [President] Duterte, thinks that way. By allowing the burial of his dear friend’s father’s ‘corpse’ in the Libingan ng mga Bayani, this tells us the he doesn’t care about the victims and their families.

Mas importante pa rin yung kaibigan niya kaysa sa libu-libong mga Pilipinong naghahanap pa rin ng katawan ng mga mahal nila sa buhay at hanggang ngayon, hindi pa rin mabigyan ng katarungan.”

Jose Ma. Edito Tirol, PhD

“Libingan ng Bayani is more than a cemetery. It is final resting place of honour, and a lasting monument for some of our most deserving countrymen.

Ferdinand Marcos, albeit a soldier, through his actions of plunder, corruption of our institutions, committing human rights violations, and leaving a legacy of debt and shame, has forfeited his right to lie alongside true heroes. It would be an insult to the aspirations we have fought for throughout our history, and a mockery of the memory of the victims of his misrule, to now give him a final home in a repository of our nation’s highest values.”

“If the laws are taken as mere lines on the road, with restrictions on where to cross and not to, then it would be fine to bury Mr. Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. As the legal experts argue, this does not violate the law. However, I would like to believe that laws are made to improve or enhance human existence. Thus, it is not enough to uphold laws in their mere definitions.

What good would burying Mr. Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani bring to our country? Why celebrate and honor a person guilty of tyranny, corruption, and abuse? For those who argue otherwise, does burying Mr. Marcos actually promote forgiveness or does it show that it is perfectly fine to be an abusive tyrant in the Philippines? You decide.”

“A man who has stolen so much from this country should not be deemed a national hero. It’s Libingan ng mga Bayani and not Libingan ng ‘oppressive dictator.’ He not only stole public funds, but also robbed people of their lives. I strongly oppose it. Burying him there would disrespect every life that suffered because of him and injustice will live on. The truth will be buried with his body and our country will only be moving backwards by honoring such a person.”

Assistant Professor, History Department

Glimpses Rodrigo, Samar hailed at 4th National Children’s Book Awards

LS Mathematics Department faculty coach winning high school team

Information Systems and Computer Science Graduate Program Director Ma. Mercedes Rodrigo, PhD and Filipino Assistant Professor Edgar Calabia Samar, PhD received praise during the National Children’s Book Awards (NCBA) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on July 19, 2016. “Made in Perfect Weakness,” Rodrigo’s collaborative work with illustrator Patricia Lascano, won the Kids’ Choice Award. The book, published by The Bookmark, Inc., revolves around Ateneo summa cum laude and class valedictorian Roselle Ambubuyog (BS Math ‘01) who has a visual impairment. On the other hand, Samar’s “Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon” won the NCBA Best Reads Award. The book, published

by Adarna House, Inc., is about a young gamer named Janus who investigates the deaths of other players of an online game involving creatures from Philippine folklore. The National Book Development Board and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People deliberated on the results. Thea A. Siscar

Several faculty members of the Loyola Schools Mathematics Department coached the representative team of the Philippines to the 57th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) held in Hong Kong from July 6-16, 2016. The team won two gold medals, two silver medals, and two honorable mention awards. According to the Ateneo website, the IMO may be considered as the most prestigious high school mathematics competition in the world. The team was composed of six high school students selected from the 20 finalists who participated in the Mathematical Olympiad Summer Camp held in April and May. The Atenean faculty who helped train the team included Richard Eden, PhD, Christian Chan Shio, PhD, Gari Chua, Job Nable, PhD, and Timothy Teng, PhD. This is the first time for the team to win a gold medal since the Philippines’ first delegation was formed by the late Atenean mathematician Professor Emeritus Jose Marasigan, PhD in 1998. Michelle D. Abad

Covered walkways built to aid pedestrian traffic in Ateneo

JesCom-produced film “Ignacio de Loyola” commences fifth Ignatian Festival

Covered walkways connecting the different buildings and gates of the Loyola Schools were constructed in order to aid campus walkability of pedestrians. The LS Campus Walkability project, an initiative of the Office of Facilities and Sustainability, commenced on May 19, 2016 and was slated to be completed on July 19. The covered walkways connected Leong Hall to Social Sciences Building, the Social Sciences Building to Dela Costa Hall, the Horacio de la Costa Hall to New Rizal Library, the Horacio de la Costa Hall to Faura Hall, the Faura College Lane crossing to MVP Building, and the Gonzaga Hall driveway to the Gonzaga Hall parking area. In addition, covered walkways were built near Gate 2.5 and 3.5 earlier in the year. JA Rementina Engineering Services served as contractor for the construction of the covered walkways. Liam C. Lu

The fifth Ignatian Festival at the Ateneo with the theme: “Pagtanaw, Paggalaw, Pagsasaaraw-araw” began on the feast day of St. Ignatius de Loyola on July 31, 2016. The theme highlights the important facets of Ignatian Spirituality: viewing, moving, and living out a life dedicated to God. In line with this, a special screening of the movie “Ignacio de Loyola,” focusing on the life and transformation of St. Ignatius, was held on July 27 at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater and premiered on local theaters on the same day. The Loyola Schools Campus Ministry in partnership with the Theology Department, Council of Organizations of the Ateneo, the University Residence Halls, and InTACT, also gave a special screening for the Loyola Schools students in August. This movie, produced by Jesuit Communications for the benefit of the Jesuit Infirmary and Jesuit Scholastics of the Philippines, also happens to be the first Filipino film shown in the Vatican. Bea P. Santiano

vantage.theguidon.com

The GUIDON September 2016

GALLERY OF EAGLES

Shifting...

Jordan Cruz

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instead of shortterm glory.

“Our objective is to build something that is going to be lasting and sustainable around all of these young players,” says Baldwin. “We have a great future with this team, but we recognize that the short-term is going to have some bumps on the road.”

On the volleyball court, a similar predicament looms over the Lady Eagles, who will be playing without the command of Alyssa Valdez and Amy Ahomiro for the first time in four years.

Despite lacking their main offensive engine, much of the previous season’s team still remains intact, as decorated veterans Bea de Leon, Jhoanna Maraguinot, and Michelle Morente look set to fuel the Eagles’ characteristic strength of heart as the tournament appro a che s . W it h t he core of the championship squad leading the charge in Season 79, it seems that the Lady Eagles will be sailing into familiar territory, but without the guidance of their usual navigator.

JORDAN CRUZ. Ateneo’s hidden talent shows the community his hard work and determination in juggling three sports in his college years.

PHOTO BY JANINE TORRE

BY VINCENT D. SOLIVEN

BLUE EAGLE Jordan Cruz is definitely a one-of-a-kind athlete. In an era of athletes focusing on a single sport, he throws us back to the days of multi-sport athletes who wou ld comp ete i n various sports for the Blue and White. As he pursues an undergraduate degree in psychology, he juggles an incredible number of three sports on his plate. “ It ’s a l l a b o u t t i m e ma nagement” is how he describes his way of balancing training for arnis, shooting, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and the Israeli self-defense art of Krav Maga, while attending classes and writing his final t hesis paper. He spends most of his time during the weekends studying due to the numerous training sessions he attends.

He also allots a certain time to sleep for his body to recuperate and feel prepared for all the training sessions.

“I always try to get seven to eight hours of sleep every night because my body won’t be able to function properly otherwise,” he says. It also forces him to use his breaks wisely as he cannot simply pull off an all-nighter when a deadline pops up.

These time constraints mean that he also needs group mates in the academe that understands his busy schedule. “I always tell them immediately of my situation,” recalls Cruz. “I tell them that I will always make my part for

the group but it might not be as immediate because I need to slot it in between trainings and other responsibilities.”

However, he doesn’t get every weekend off, as a lot of competitions are scheduled on these dates. For those occasions, Cruz says that “even during competitions, w h i l e w a it i n g fo r m y match, I study,” especially when events are held on consecutive weeks. “I’ve had consecutive weekends with tournaments. It’s happened to me where I have [three or four] consecutive weekends where I have a tournament, usually because they’re different sports,” he says.

COMPETING IN HIS OWN WAY

Cruz is currently the team captain for both the Ateneo Arnis Varsity Team for Men and the Ateneo Rif le-Pistol Shoot ing Tea m, sta r t ing la st yea r a nd t h is yea r respectively. In addition to his current commitments, he has also been joining competitive leagues for Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as of this year.

In contrast to the sports that are included in the UAAP General Championship, Cruz advocates playing in nonUA AP sports. While most would think that the sports are less prestigious, Cruz has a different perspective on what he loves doing. For him, it is not the prestige or popularity of the sport that counts, it is the self-fulfillment felt in excelling or beating personal bests in one event.

However, this does not mean that he would not like

9

to see the sports in the UAAP eventually. “Of course it would be nice to have it in the league so we can contribute to the general rankings,” he says. Some of them, such as shooting, are known across the world and are currently being featured in major athletic meets such as the Olympics.

In fact, Cruz represented the country in the recently concluded Association of Southeast Asian Nation Universit y Ga mes held in Singapore, where he competed in the 10m air rifle competition, finishing 10th in a field composed of Southeast Asia’s brightest young stars.

He also competed recently in the 14th World Eskrima Kali Arnis Federation World Cha mpionships held in Cebu, a biennial event that brings together the best arnisadors a ll over the world. Cruz was the only collegiate athlete to be part of the national team, with his teammates and coaches coming from various adult arnis squads. He ended up with a trio of 5th place finishes as the Philippines ended up topping t he overall rankings.

He may not be one of the popular Atenean athletes, but in his own way, Jordan Cruz brings recognition not just to the hill of Katipunan, but to the entire Philippine archipelago.

However, the absence of one key player on the court may be the chink in their armor. Battered by multiple counts of injury resulting in gaping holes inside the court, the women’s volleyball team looked shaky entering the preseason, losing their first two matches of the 13th Shakey’s V-League to the Technological Institute of the Philippines and San Sebastian College.

Not off to the best start in the annual volleyball league, the ladies still seemed to be in the process of adjusting to holding down the fort with a Phenom-less six, which left the side vulnerable to opponents seeking to exploit the squad trying to dominate the boards without their leading scorer. But, apart from the difficulty of jumping the hurdles into the post-Alyssa Valdez era, another problem that still haunts the team is finding a player to assume the voice of command, according to junior Bea de Leon.

“One of our biggest problems is trying to look for that perfect leader that everyone has the same respect for and that everyone will

follow,” sha res de Leon.

“Ever yone’s still look ing for who will speak up on the court or who will make the final call so that’s what makes it difficult.”

THE GAME PLAN

However, although the Lady Eagles have met more than a few obstacles beyond the net, the team maintains a positive disposition in their period of regrowth to prepare for another shot at the gold that eluded their grasp last April.

With their trademark strength of heart and never-say-die attitude on the court shining even in the shadow of defeat, the game plan stays as is – to trust the system and keep working towards the long run.

And perhaps it is this mentality that will make the difference come Season 79. With both Ateneo’s basketball and volleyball facing the odds in their next attempt to bag the UAAP crown as the tournament draws nearer, the game changer as the clock winds down could just be the attitude that disting uishes the Ateneo athlete – to keep strength of heart and to give that one big fight.

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Sports

TEAM FEATURE

Blue Babble ready for battle

BY CEDRIC B. TENG AMPO

FOLLOWING A disappointing string of consecutive last place finishes, the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion has made significant number of changes going into the new University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) season, bringing in consistent UAAP podium-placing coach Jacquelin Alota and recruiting a number of exciting rookies.

Blue Babble Battalion Program Head Ralph Aligada believes that the changes to training and routines under former FEU pep squad coach Jacquelin Alota and assistant coach Peter Padilla could be the key to success in the upcoming season. “[Their style] is something we’re not totally used to. They’re very strict, sometimes to the point of students feeling smothered, but it’s very hard to argue against results,” Aligada stated.

to the Battalion’s training schedules— adding three extra sessions a week, in addition to the required weightlifting and dance sessions—Alota has given the team a new sense of purpose and belief.

Tea m capt a in A r t hu r Ailanan believes that the new coaching staff has not only contributed to the development of the team’s physical abilities but also changed the members’ mindsets completely. “The coaches are really thirsty for a win and right now, for the team, we’re getting affected by it too. A lot of us are pushing ourselves even more than we thought we could,” he said.

Co-captain Elena Villanueva concurred with Ailanan further highlighting the intensity and drive the new coaching staff have brought to the team. “The coaches are very goal-oriented.

They always have a target that they want you to hit,” she stated.

FACING THE CHALLENGES

BRINGING BELIEF BACK

Apart from drastic changes

Aside from developing the skills of the members, the

coaches have to face the recurring problems encountered by the battalion. Aligada identifies the problem of discontinuity within the team has played a large role in their three successive defeats. The squad would constantly transition from one coach to another and adjust its program to tailor-fit the new set of members who joined the team each year.

Veterans Villanueva and Ailanan both expressed similar concerns regarding the continuity problem as well.

“We’re half rookies this year, half rookies last year and the year before,” Villanueva stated.

Ailanan added that a lot of those on the team are graduating, while many of those in the previous year have also left the team.

Both veterans suggested that the team needed to first build a foundation in order to continually grow by being able capitalize on the crucial skill sets needed in the UAAP cheerdance competition. They are there hoping to find lifters, flyers, and members who would stay on the team.

The Battalion Program Head also pinpoints recruitments as one of the struggles the team has only recently overcome.

In the past few years, the team lacked scholarship funding, therefore restricting its annual recruitment pool solely to students who applied to the team.

This severely limited the team in terms of experience and ability, leaving the coaches little to work with. “[Because of] the mere fact that at that time we didn’t have any scholarships to offer and no recruits to speak of, we just relied on who applied and sometimes, people who applied had no experience whatsoever,” explained Aligada.

ASPIRING FOR THE FUTURE

In order to address these issues, t he tea m worked closely with the University Athletics Off ice and discussed a new direction for t he pro g r a m wh i le acquiring a few scholarships for the needed recruitments.

Aligada mentions that the

team then moved quickly and aggressively in securing four high-profile recruits for the upcoming season.

Three of the four recruits, Francesca Balburias, Nina Turano, and Regine Reynoso, come from the reigning Women’s National Collegiate Athletic Association and Nat iona l Cheerlead ing Championship champions, St. Paul College Pasig. On the other hand, Rachelle Nolido joins the Battalion from Assumption College San Lorenzo. Aside from their high school cheerleading experience, Turano, Reynoso, and Nolido have also competed on the national level. Aligada believes that the experience and technical abilities the new recruits bring will help propel the team to success this coming season.

Asked about his aspirations for the team, Aligada said realistic goals would be set for the short-term and the longterm. For this coming season, he believes that a finish above

BLUE BABBLE. The official pep squad of the Blue and White is back with a promising performance this season.

PHOTO BY TWINKLE R. LIBOON

eighth place is a must, stating that the team had to make significant progress this year with the new student and coach recruits. However, in the longterm, Aligada hopes that the new freshmen recruits this year would ascend to a podium finish by the end of their stay in the Ateneo.

On the other hand, the veteran captains, Villanueva and Ailanan, aim to change the widespread stigma of the team being the underdogs across all of the UAAP schools.

“Even in basketball games [let’s say], There will be people [leaving] during halftime performance of Babble because they think it’s nothing,” expressed Ailanan. “So the only thing to do is to prove ourselves, to do the best we can, making a name for Babble.”

The GUIDON September 2016

The golden offering of a bygone era

BY CARLOS H. CRUZ AND VINCE D. SOLIVEN

THE GINTONG Alay (GA) Project was an initiative started in 1979 to increase the competitiveness of Filipinos in international competitions.

At the instruction of the Former President Ferdinand Marcos, the GA Project was headed by his nephew, Michael Keon, and marked the start of a renewed focus in Philippine athletics.

Aside from setting up a training facility in Baguio City, the program was able to recruit the coaching services of Olympian Tony Benson, while allowing the import of additional equipment for track and field as well as 17 other sports through Presidential Decree 1742, which was signed in 1980.

The program made its mark on the medal tally of the Philippines in the succeeding international competitions. However, this came to a halt when the Marcos administration fell. The program was in turn replaced by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) in 1990. Except for a few bright spots such as the 2005 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games where the Philippines placed first, there has been a downward trend in the performance of Filipino athletes in international competitions. In 2015, however, Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, then chairman of the Senate Committee on Games and Sports, sponsored Republic Act 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, which aims to revitalize the sports programs of the country through several incentives and benefits.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RESULTS

When the program started in 1979, the country sat at fourth

ILLUSTRATION BY CLARISSA R. GORREON

place in the SEA Games overall tally. However, when the Philippines hosted the SEA Games two years after the inception of the GA Program in 1981, the country’s medal tally doubled from 93 to 187, finishing third in the overall standings. The country’s success in the SEA Games continued as the Philippines finished 2nd overall, with 150 medals in 1983 and 3rd with 129 medals in 1985. After the GA Program was abolished in 1986, the Philippines was at 3rd once again in 1987 with a total of 206 medals and dropped to fifth in the 1989 edition garnering 127 medals in total.

A mong t he fa med GA products are track and field athletes Lydia De Vega, Elma Muros, and Isidro del Prado, as well as swimmers Christine Jacob and Akiko Thomson.

All these athletes were consistent medal winners in the SEA Games, represented the country in the Olympics, and either formerly or currently hold national records in their respective events.

ASSESSING THE PROGRAM

“Off the top of my head, there were a lot of good things GA did,” said Palan Reyes, a history teacher in Xavier School. Reyes indicated that GA gathered together the cream of the crop in selected sports, who shone in national competitions. Also, there was a special fund that was set aside to provide state of the art sporting facilities to aid the training of athletes.

“The idea was really sound,” added Reyes. “In fact, that practice is done in many countries.”

On the other hand, Reyes mentioned that “despite the attention given by Mike Keon, GA was not able to go all out due to funding issues.” Due to the limited funding, only 18

sports were addressed, with track and field being the main concentration of the project.

Sports such as bowling were supported mostly by private donors, often the players’ families. These smaller, less funded sports lacked the specific equipment and specialized coaching needed to keep athletes competitive on the international stage. “What was done to augment the funding was for the athlete to join the army and as part of the army, train for sporting events. This is far from the way it is done abroad, especially in wealthier countries,” commented Reyes.

THE CURRENT SYSTEM

While the GA program was largely a public sector sports program, its replacement, the PSC, is mix of the public and private sectors. The government provides funding to National Sports Associations (NSAs), whose member athletes have been recognized by the Philippines Olympic Committee as the official pool of Olympic delegates. These NSAs are privately led and run. “Some say that the current system produces a lot of bickering and politics among the different actors and that the old system under GA was better because there was less politics and clearer responsibility and accountability in case of success or failure,” said Angara.

Moreover, GA was primarily set to develop track and field athletes, compared to the PSC, which deals with around 40 sports and the various associations that represent them. This would lead to a scramble for a piece of the limited funding of the PSC, often influenced by power playing and politics among the sports leaders.

With such limited resources, the various Philippine sports

depend immensely on private donors, leaving sports without contributors with insufficient funding from the government.

This is less than ideal, as Reyes explained that for a national sports program to be long-term and sustainable, it must be institutionalized with government support and not rely heavily on individual donors. “Once a donor like Manny V. Pangilinan changes his preferences or attention, the funding gets cut—[there is] no permanence,” he said.

A MODEL FOR SPORTS DEVELOPMENT

“[Gintong Alay] was quite a successful program,” comments Angara, with proof being that it produced some of the country’s most famous athletes, while helping the nation consistently place within the top three slots of the SEA Games.

Although it was a program that was limited in funding and relatively short-lived, there is no doubt that GA did produce results. How the nation fared then is a far cry from our current performances as a sporting nation.

“Filipinos are extremely happy w it h weig ht lif ter Hidilyn Diaz’s recent silver medal victory at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Nonetheless, many have remarked that the country’s performances as a whole in international compet it ions like t he Oly mpics, A sia n ga mes, and SEA games have been disappointing,” said Angara.

Given proper f unding and specialized training, the achievements of the GA program continue to remind us that Filipino athletes can indeed keep up against the best in the region.

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EDITOR: BEATRICE T. GO · LAYOUT ARTIST: CLARISSA R. GORREON

10

Sports

THE GOLDEN OFFERING OF A BYGONE ERA

The Gintong Alay project brought about some of the greatest Philippine athletes.

Shifting gears

RENEWED ERA. Returning veterans Aaron Black and Kim Gequillana will be making a more powerful comeback for the Blue and Lady Eagles.

PHOTOS BY JANINE TORRE AND JEFF PASCUAL

BY JAIME S. KATIGBAK

DESPITE THEIR conquest for glory on the court coming to a halt before they could hit the jackpot, the Ateneo Blue and Lady Eagles’ campaigns in the basketball and volleyball tournaments of Season 78 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) were nothing short of phenomenal.

King Eagle Kiefer Ravena led the league in statistics, captaining his team to a final four finish during his last stint for the Blue and White, only to be downed by a Mac Belo buzzer beater in the dying seconds of a heartbreaking semifinal. Meanwhile, on the volleyball court, Alyssa Valdez offered her last term of service while sporting the Ateneo jersey, by successfully defending her title as the league’s Most Valuable Player to secure the Lady Eagles a ticket to another UAAP final, where their attempt to snag a third consecutive crown was thwarted by rivals De La Salle University (DLSU).

However, in retrospect, the walk back to the locker room at the end of a long day hardly echoes in the silence of defeat. Although victory in the country’s most popular collegiate tournament is more often than not determined by the scoreboard and measured in medals, the bigger story that plays out at the end of this walk is a bittersweet tale that transcends the call of the referee and the white lines of the playing field. With the reigning “Phenoms” of the last five seasons hitting the final notes of their swan song and fellow Eagles Amy

A homiro, Von Pessuma l, and Ysay Marasigan making a graceful landing from their final f light, the closing of the previous season and the dawning of the next represents not merely a teary farewell and the end of an era of dominance but, more significantly, the start of a period of tremendous change.

CHANGING THE GAME

Disarmed by the departure of some of the teams’ most crucial sources of firepower, the Blue and Lady Eagles have responded to the daunting prospect of a new frontier ahead with several key recruits of their own on both the coaching staff and roster. With the absence of a single “Phenom” leaving a void of leadership on the floor, Ateneo’s game plan for the challenge of the coming season seems to be to utilize the remaining weaponry at their disposal and to make the most out of growing pains, proving that the teams’ response to drastic change isn’t simply to change itself, but rather to adapt to the situation.

Coming off a lackluster run for gold last year, the Ateneo men’s basketball team ended their campaign in defeat and goodbyes, with Ravena retiring his wings and head coach Bo Perasol announcing his resignation at the end of the season. But the departure of coach and captain was eventually rocked by a glimmer of hope as the arrival of a renowned name on both local and international basketball scenes brought with it years of experience and a steady change of pace as the Eagles open their next chapter on the basketball court.

The appointment of national team coach Tab Baldwin to the post vacated by Perasol serves as the first step of many on the road to rebuilding as a squad and a major investment for the Blue Eagles’ future. Only four upperclassmen will be donning the Blue and White in Season 79, putting the hopes for a championship on the shoulders of some new young names in a relatively unseasoned selection of players. As most have barely taken their first flights in school’s colors, the team’s next run for the crown turns into both a trial through fire and an invaluable learning experience for Blue Eagles to develop as a unit and reestablish their footing as a top contender in the league.

“We’ve been trying to build the team chemistry, understanding all the while that this is a very young team,” admits Baldwin. “One of the big things with young teams is that they’re going to make mistakes, so we’re trying to teach them how to minimize them and that’s a long process.”

With their ranks further thinned by academic ineligibility in the preseason, the Blue Eagles met the first test of their mettle last June at the 2016 FilOil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup, which provided the squad with an early taste of the competition. Despite finishing third behind rivals DLSU and Arellano University, the bronze medal exceeded the Eagles’ expectations, reflecting the new mentality of trusting in the new system and channeling effort into long-term goals SHIFTING › 9

EDITORS: ROBBIN M. DAGLE GABRIELLE M. LOMBOS · EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS: MAXINE A. BUENAVENTURA AND JAIRUS I. PAUL

· LAYOUT ARTIST: MEG F. VILLENA

4

Martial Law Special

RE-VISIONING HISTORY In the current context, the national problem is in the reconciliation of opposing memories.

Silenced voices

BY NIO B. ATRIGENIO

J

ournalists and other media personnel have been hard at work in documenting the happenings in our country at present, from the rapidly increa sing deat h toll of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against drugs to the recent string of politica l controversies, including the burial of Former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

W hat is perhaps not immediately obvious in this scenario is the great deal of danger and risk involved. In dealing with such volatile issues, there is a possibility for the journalists—and at times, even ordinary people who are merely sharing their own opinions—to be stigmatized by online communities, shunned by fellow friends and colleagues, or even attacked by radicals and fanatics. Some people are quick to criticize and raise pitchforks when others are merely exercising their freedom of expression, and this is the unfortunate reality we face in our country today.

In many ways, there are ch i l l i n g si m i l a r it ie s to Martial Law, which is considered by many to be one of the country’s darkest and most trying times. Censorship became one of the most effective and crippling tools at the Marcos administration’s disposal, effectively curtailing the freedom of not only the media, but of ordinary Filipino citizens as well.

every outlet of the media.

“Periodicals classified as antiMarcos [were shut down]… at the same time, leading media men were arrested and detained,” Rosalinda Pineda-Ofreneo details in her article “The Press Under Martial Law,” published in 1984. She adds that only a select number of publications rem a i ne d , a l l of t hem “controlled by persons who identified with or [are] close to the Marcos administration,” such as the Philippine Daily Express, Times Journal, and Bulletin Today.

In the following years, the administration came out with more initiatives to control t he media even f ur t her.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) announced two orders which “stipulated that all media publications were to be cleared first by the DPI and that the mass media shall publish objective news repor ts,” while the second order “prohibited printers from producing any form of publication for mass dissemination without permission from the DPI,’” as outlined by Pineda-Ofreneo.

Several regulatory boards designed to expand the control beyond print media were also established soon after. The first of these committees, the Mass Media Council, was abolished and recreated numerous times over the years, but the principal goal

of curbing public opinion and press freedom stayed the same. From the short-lived Media Advisory Council to the self-regulatory Philippine Council for Print Media, the censorship and repression of the media stayed strong and imposing for a significant amount of time.

ON CAMPUS

While universities such as the Ateneo still maintained some degree of academic freedom back then, they were not untouchable either. “Student publications were completely banned in 1972,” affirms Cristina Montiel, PhD in her book Down from the Hill (2008).

“A year later, the ban was lifted with restrictions,” she adds, but by then, the damage had already been done.

As is to be expected, the censorship rulings changed the landscape of the Ateneo’s student publications drastically. Heights stopped publishing issues entirely.

The GUIDON was rebranded as Pandayan a few years beforehand, but its noticeably more radical and politicized tone did not receive the approval of College Dean Jose Cruz, SJ, eventually resulting in the publication’s funding being cut. Nevertheless, some of the writers were determined to continue. This resulted in the formation of the Rebel Pandayan, an underground publicat ion conta ining

ABSOLUTE CONTROL

It is important to first distinguish the kind of censorship present during the Martial Law period and separate it from what we know of today.

As History Assistant Professor Jose Ma. Edito Tirol, PhD, puts it, “censorship during Martial Law was part of a structure designed specifically to control access to information, and therefore, limit people's reasons and options for actions.”

To put t h ing s into perspective, the first Letter of Instruction was issued on September 22, 1972—signed immediately a day after the declaration of Martial Law— and it ordered the Press and Defense secretaries to take over and control nearly

“Censorship during Martial Law was part of a structure designed specifically to control access to information, and therefore, limit people’s reasons and options for actions.”

— JOSE MA. EDITO TIROL, PHD ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HISTORY DEPARTMENT

several articles that were distinctly anti-Marcos and against Cruz’s administration.

The publication was able to effectively express the students’ desires for social change, but most of its writers eventually left the Ateneo after two issues, voluntarily or otherwise.

The ban on student publications was lifted in 1973 and The GUIDON “was one of the first campus papers in the Philippines to be revived during Martial Law,” as noted

by Montiel. Particularly important to consider in this time period is the shift in article content and subject matter.

Articles that discussed prevalent social issues dropped down dramatically to roughly 16% from the previous 50% pre-Martial Law. Filipinization and student politics remained prominent topics but student activism, political discourse, and anti-Marcos sentiments were nowhere to be found.

The abundance of stale, r u n - of- t he -m i l l a r t icle s published at this time were attributed by many to the efficacy of Marcos’ censorsh ip mea sures. Polit ica l topics were avoided for fear of suspension, expulsion, or arrest, articles were heavily edited and were required to go through faculty advisers, and students were forced to either blanket their social concerns in several layers of subtleties and stymbolisms or find other avenues to do so instead.

Fortunately, toward the latter years of Martial Law, the Marcos administration’s grasp on the media weakened, and the enforcement of censorship eased up as a result.

Matanglawin, which first started as an underground publication in 1975, was one of the bigger inf luences in reinvigorating the Ateneans’ drive for sociopolitical discourse. The GUIDON followed suit eventually, as students “ fe l t m o r e c o u r a g e o u s ab out w r it i ng on more releva nt s o cia l i s s ue s ,” according to Montiel.

AFTERMATH

The Marcos administration was put to an end after the 1986 EDSA revolution, and eventually, the laws and rulings on censorship were repealed. Since then, several laws have been passed that

are meant to protect and preserve the media’s freedom and rights.

A p r i m e e x a mp le i s Republic Act 7079, otherwise k now n a s t he C a mpu s Jour na lism Act of 1991.

Among the provisions listed are the rights and functions of st udent publicat ions, and more importantly, the security of tenure—a much needed response given the unreasonable consequences faced by student writers during Mar tia l Law. The prov ision states t hat “a student shall not be expelled or suspended solely on the basis of articles he or she has written…in the student publication.” At present, The GUIDON, Matanglawin, and Heights remain as the Ateneo’s official student publications, each with specific functions designated by the student handbook and in compliance with the law.

With that said, censorship has unfortunately also endured through the years.

While it has not been nearly as big of an issue since Martial Law, its effects are very much still apparent.

One such issue that has been getting more traction with the Filipino community nowadays has to do with social media and online etiquette. The recent Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 met a great deal of backlash from many different sectors, particularly due to one of its provisions criminalizing online libel. In an 2013 article by former University of the Philippines Manila Professor Teresa Jopson, she says that “the state is unable to police cyberspace uniformly, so that the law may be applied unevenly against its critics.” Furthermore, she adds that “the provisions on libel in the [act] could heighten the online self-censorship of journalists, artists, and the public.” The intrusive and unorderly ways by which the law was intended to be implemented were eventually ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, but the controversy and uproar caused by this incident are enough to prove that the fight against censorship is far from over.

BREAKING THE SILENCE

Shutting down the media through extreme censorship

measures effectively also silenced the vast majority of the people, as they were left isolated with little or no outlets for speaking up against the Marcos administration. This culture of fear and silence fostered by Martial Law has been ingrained in the Filipino people over the years.

What Jopson calls “multile-vel censorship” is now seemingly the norm in our society, with some writers going t hroug h ex tensive self-censorship just to cater to the publishers’ demands.

She believes that “normalized repression, with impunity, and misinformation and lack of information make media practitioners silent by intimidation and the public by ignorance and apathy.”

Lately, people have been f locking to social media as a platform that allows seemingly unshackled and censorship-free exchanging of information for journalists and non-writers alike. However, a closer look at the situation reveals the double-edged nature of the freedom we so desire. A yearly assessment conducted by the independent watchdog organization Freedom House shows that as of 2015, “violent attacks, harassment, threats, and legal action against members of the press [remain] serious problems.” The recent presidential election also comes to mind, especially with the numerous cases of cyberbullying and harassment caused by some overzealous supporters.

In the end, Tirol emphasizes that “Philippine media today is much freer compared to the way it was thirty years ago.”

“Although this has led to some abuse on the part of media…I'd like to think that journalists on the whole are more responsible,” he says.

Indeed, blood and tears were shed by cou nt le s s martyrs in fighting for the freedom that we have right now. In the spirit of the “Atenea ns Don’t Forget ” campaign, we too should remember that we have our own roles to play in making sure t his sa me freedom w i l l not b e a bu s e d or trampled upon ever again—not by any dictator and certainly not by our own friends and countrymen.

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Martial Law Special

A national dictatorship

BY ROBBIN M. DAGLE AND ABELARDO M. TORIO

T

he prevailing narrative of Martial Law has been told and retold: in history books, media, popular culture, and in the national consciousness.

T his na r rat ive is best seen in the textbook-simple story ingrained in us from early on. The characters are of t-repeated and the scenes, deeply inured. Its ubiquity makes it prone to be conf lated with finality.

Its simple dichotomies give it comprehensibility, which makes its audience eschew depth and nuance.

C o n s e q u e n t l y, large swathes of the chronicles of Martial Law are left unheard by many. The limitedness of the familiar narrative erases the stories of the places and people outside of the usual from their place in our history.

Thus, it is necessary that these stories be told alongside t he sta nda rd na r rat ive.

A deeper understanding of that period would lead to better assessments of such, adding shades of gray to the prevalent black-and-white understanding of the period.

NEGROS: BITTER TIMES IN ‘SUGARLANDIA’

For m a ny p e ople, t he declaration of Martial Law was a welcome respite for a nation in turmoil. The morning after Marcos’ address was eerily silent. No rallies. No papers.

No radio. No television.

“It started innocuously for young people like us,” said former student activist Neri Colmenares, then a sixth grader in Bacolod City. It was even a “happy” experience at first, since classes were held off for about a week.

At first, Martial Law for the youth was all about singing the Bagong Lipunan hymn, beating midnight curfews, and sporting short hair to avoid suspicion.

That was until reality kicked in.

stolen. The utopia presented to them in schools and media were nothing but a shadow of a dystopic society.

“Nabe-brainwash kami ng discipline...[tapos] nakikita namin ‘yung mga Martial Law officials, wala namang discipline.

(We were brainwashed on discipline…[but] we saw that the Martial Law officials had no discipline.),” he said.

All of these took a toll on Colmenares, leading him to join the Student Catholic Action (SCA).

He called the student movement “one of the most potent forces” in the resistance because of their idealism, articulateness, and mobility.

In one of his immersions for SCA, Colmenares experienced for himself the plight of the sakadas, the laborers of Negros’ vast sugar haciendas.

Already subject to miserable living and working conditions, the sakadas suffered the most when global sugar prices plummeted in the late 1970s.

Their hopes of owning the land they have worked hard for were never realized as Marcos failed to fulfill his promise of genuine land reform.

“To think they’re the ones who produce billions of pesos worth of sugar. And yet, they cannot afford to buy sugar,” he said. To make their own sugar, the sakadas would have to pick up leftover sugar canes on the road, crush them into powder form, then heat it.

“Your apathy goes out of the window kasi you’re confronted with reality,” he said.

Like many student activists, Colmenares paid a price for his advocacy. He was imprisoned for a total for four years and was also subjected to different kinds of torture such as the “Russian roulette,” where the torturer places a revolver with a single bullet against a victim’s head and pulls the trigger.

One of Colmenares’ friends suffered a worse fate. A sergeant confessed how his friend was placed inside a drum, welded shut and buried alive.

BATAC, ILOCOS NORTE Ferdinand Marcos’ hometown. He is still deeply honored in his hometown where he is regarded as a favorite son.

MANILA NORTH DIVERSION ROAD (NOW NLEX) Manila North Diversion Road (now the North Luzon Expressway)—one of the roads built during the Marcos years. Marcos added a total of 103,321 km to Philippine roads.

“Your apathy goes out of the window kasi you’re confronted with reality.”

— NERI COLMENARES MARTIAL LAW STUDENT ACTIVIST

Telev ision, radio, a nd n e w s p a p e r s e ve n t u a l l y returned. But Colmenares began to notice that the “rosy” picture portrayed by the media did not reflect his reallife experiences.

“I st ill remember na pinapipila ako ng nanay ko sa bigas kasi nirarasyon...noon, kulang eh (I still remember my mom telling me to line up to buy some rice. It was rationed then because supplies were lacking),” he said.

As he was growing up, he began to notice how social services were severely lacking.

Around him were classroom shortages and dying hospital patients whose fund for medicine allocations were

“What cruelty? Puwede mo namang barilin bago mo ilibing eh ‘di ba? Barilin mo na lang para tapos na. But no, you have to bury him alive (What cruelty? You can just shoot him before burying him. Shoot him so that it will be all over.

But no, you have to bury him alive)?” Colmenares said.

The regime proved to be severely intolerant to dissent, to the point of torturing teenage youth leaders. This is part of the “nip-in-the-bud” strategy to deter even the slightest form of opposition.

MINDANAO: ‘SYSTEMIC MARGINALIZATION’

Further south, the situation was arguably worse. Marcos

cited the Muslim secessionist movement in Mindanao as one of the reasons for Martial Law. Yet the secessionists had every reason to be belligerent.

There was the 1968 Jabidah massacre, where at least 23 Muslim soldiers who were trained for a secret mission to invade Sabah were killed in Corregidor a f ter t hey wrote Marcos a letter detailing the abuses they went through in training.

State-sanctioned militias and the military carried out at least 21 massacres of Muslim communities from 1970 to 1971. All of these added to the centuries-long discrimination and suppression faced by Moros in the country.

And while the reason for Martial Law was to suppress the secessionists, a new and stronger group actually emerged a month after the declaration: the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Facing a bigger threat, the military focused its resources in Mindanao. According to the International Commission on Jurists, “an estimated 60 percent of the Armed Forces of the Philippines” was concentrated there at that time. Militarization paved the way for more abuses and atrocities.

Perhaps the worst case was the 1974 Malisbong massacre in Sultan Kudarat. According to Raissa Robles’ book Marcos

Martial Law: Never Again, which was published this year, more than 1,500 Muslims were killed at a fight between government forces and the MNLF, including women, children, and elderly.

“The victims, males ranging from 11 to 70 years in age, were brought to the village’s mosque and shot to death. Women were brought to government boats and raped. The fighting on the ground, combined with offshore bombardment by Philippine Navy vessels, all but erased the village from the map,” she wrote.

The militar y was also reportedly involved in burning homes and stealing livestock and even cultural artifacts.

Reading these accounts of discrimination and violence moved Cecille Sunico, then a student at the Ateneo de Davao University, to join the resistance. She wrote articles on social issues for Atenews, Ateneo de Davao’s student publication and later became part of the secretariat for Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, an organization advocating for the release of political prisoners.

“So anong ibig sabihin noon? ‘Di ba ino-obliterate ka, binubura ka from the face of the earth? (So what does that mean? Isn’t it as if you were obliterated and erased from the face of the Earth?),” she said.

The GUIDON September 2016

PROPOSED CHICO RIVER DAM PROJECT, CORDILLERA REGION Kalinga chieftain Macli-ing Dulag fought against one of Marcos’ priority projects which threatened to displace thousands of people and cause harm to the environment.

3

Around the ‘New Society’ RESEARCH BY ROBBIN M. DAGLE, JANELLE H. PARIS, ABELARDO M. TORIO INFOGRAPHIC BY MEG F. VILLENA SOURCES BANTAYOG.ORG, ECON.UPD.EDU.PH, MINDANEWS.COM, MINDANAOTIMES.NET, MNLFNET.COM, RAISSA ROBLES’ MARCOS MARTIAL LAW: NEVER AGAIN

METRO MANILA Among the infrastructure projects Marcos left behind in Manila were the Light Rail Transport Line 1, Philippine International Convention Center, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

In one way or another, Martial Law affected the lives of every Filipino in the country.

SAN JUANICO BRIDGE Opened in 1973, the longest bridge in the Philippines spanning seawater connects the islands of Leyte, Imelda Marcos’ home province, and Samar.

NEGROS ISLAND The sakadas of the island’s sugar plantations suffered from Marcos’ failed agrarian reform policies and cronyism.

JOLO, SULU From February 7-8, 1974, tens of thousands have died as the military bombed Sulu’s capital amid the campaign against the MNLF. This event is now known as the “Burning of Jolo.”

MALISBONG, PALIMBANG, SULTAN KUDARAT Site of the deadliest massacre of Muslims during Martial Law. Amid a brutal war against separatists, the military killed more than 1,500 in September 1974.

ILOCOS REGION: A FAVORITE SON

Marcos and his legacy are not universally reviled. In fact, in some parts of the country, fondness for the late dictator is so entrenched that it has earned itself a moniker: Solid North.

The name refers to the Ilocos region and adjacent provinces, bound by their support for Marcos, his family, and his legacy.

In the 2016 elections, Bongbong Marcos received more than 90% of the vice presidential votes in the region, while Imee and Imelda Marcos ran unopposed.

In particular, Ilocos Norte holds the memory of its

favorite son in the highest regard. Since 1992, members of the Marcos family have alternated between the offices of the Governor and Second District Representative, along with various local posts.

Places dedicated to him make for some of the province's most popular tourist attractions. His birthday, September 11th, is a province-wide holiday, and a lavish “Marcos Fiesta” caps the annual celebrations.

Despite this, Herdy La. Yumul, assistant professor at Mariano Marcos State University in Batac, Ilocos Norte, said that Ilocanos are “armed with enough information and tools for discernment” to “form their own interpretations” on the

Marcos legacy.

Yet he also asserted that despite being “demonized,” the late dictator “enjoys the respect and admiration of a majority of Filipinos.” He says this is true today more than ever since “EDSA has miserably failed to bring in genuine change and prosperity to the nation.”

This was seen, he said, in Bongbong Marcos’ secondplace finish “despite the absence of a strong machinery.”

NATIONAL EXPERIENCE

T he telling of a more inclusive narrative would be instrumental in understanding the situation, decades after Martial Law. Its relevance can

be seen today, with the deeply polarized discourse emanating from contentious issues such as Bongbong Marcos’s candidacy and the proposed Libingan ng mga Bayani burial for Ferdinand Marcos.

In all of these, neither side could claim to have the truth without a comprehensive u nder st a nd i ng of what happened then. This, in turn, requires going beyond convent iona l na rrat ives.

Martial Law did not begin in Malacañang and end in EDSA; it was a national experience, and must be seen as such.

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Martial Law Special

The GUIDON September 2016

Re-visioning history

BY MANUEL M. ALDEGUER

A

T THE corner of EDSA and Quezon Avenue is a place called Bantayog ng mga Bayani. This memorial center is comprised of the Inang Bayan statue, Metro Manila’s only museum dedicated to the memory of the country’s Martial Law era, as well as a Wall of Remembrance inscribed with the names of those who lived and died during those years.

According to the Bantayog website, it was unveiled on November 30, 1992 and has been open to the public ever since.

In another part of the Metro stands the Manila Cathedral.

Located a couple of blocks behind the Cathedral is the Memorare– Manila 1945 Monument, set up in memory of the “over 100,000 men, women, children, and infants killed in Manila during the battle for its liberation, February 3 to March 3, 1945,” or rather, the culmination of the The Manila Massacre during the Battle of Manila, the spree of war crimes committed by Japanese Imperial forces in their final days of occupying the city.

These are just two of the physical manifestations of significant moments of Philippine history and yet they are rarely acknowledged in the public and private spheres of our society. The deficient social memory of Filipinos on these subjects is indicative of a much larger problem occurring at a national scale. As the newly elected government administration seeks to unite the nation, a more mature and open discussion of Philippine memory is a necessity.

TAKING CUES, BEATING PATHS

The origins of memory studies can be traced back to the work of Maurice Halbwachs, a French sociologist who wrote on la mémoire collective (“collective memory”). Although he is widely regarded as the Father of Memory Studies for his research in the social science, the field found new roots in various other disciplines late in the 20th century.

“The ‘memory boom’ already started in the 1980s through institutionalized courses, journals, etcetera, all over the world, but especially in Europe,” says Jocelyn S. Martin, PhD, an Assistant Professor at the English Department.

A pioneer in Philippine memory studies, Martin was introduced to the field while working on her dissertation in Belgium.

“I think that the two World Wars were a big influence to the memory boom in Europe.

It is not by chance that most first thinkers of Memory Studies came from France and Germany,” she adds. It is no surprise that the field of memory studies is presently one that is predominantly Eurocentric. That being said, that is no less reason for the development of non-European memory studies.

Martin expressed that Asian fields of study, particularly those in the Philippine context, must be proposed in the otherwise European-led discourse on memory.

“One might look into the different ways our different languages say ‘to remember’ or ‘to forget’ and how do these compare with the Greek, Latin or Western ways of perceiving memory. [For example,] the word tanda alone both signifies a mark and can, when given the right suffixes, allude to the elderly or learning,” she says.

Mar tin is currently in the process of assembling a group of Filipinos doing resea rch in memor y in order to represent the Philippines in global forums.

She believes this will lead to greater investments in local research projects and more fruitful discourse on national issues of memory.

THE HILL REMEMBERS

In its current state, the field of memory enjoys–or suffers from–relatively obscure existence in the Philippine academe. The Ateneo de Manila University is the only institution in the country that offers courses on memory studies.

Martin pioneered three different electives under the English Depar tment: Literat u re a nd Memor y St ud ie s, Literat u re a nd Trauma Studies, a nd Literature and Black Studies.

All these courses utilize methodology and framework from memory studies and its branches to study literary and, at times, cultural texts.

History Assistant Professor Jose Ma. Edito Tirol, PhD, feels that it is natural and necessary to discuss memory

while discussing histor y.

“I tell my students for the first lecture of History 166 [that] all the writing of history is the product of someone’s memory.

In the same way, the way we remember is affected by the history around us. It goes both ways,” he says.

Tirol is currently working on a History elective on memory and the Martial Law era scheduled for the second semester of the school year. He said he has already come up with a shortlist of guest lecturers from various departments in the Loyola Schools who will provide alternative approaches to the discussion Martial Law. The guest lecturers include Cristina J. Montiel, PhD (Psychology), Fernando N. Zialcita, PhD (Sociology and Anthropology), Nikki B. CarsiCruz, PhD (Interdisciplinary Studies), and former Loyola Schools President Bienvenido F. Nebres, SJ. A memory studies minor program is also a work-in-progress, though it may be several years until the LS can officially offer the program to its undergraduate students.

The further integration of memory studies within the Loyola Schools keeps up with the university’s emphasis on interdisciplinarity, most recently reiterated by Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Josefina D. Hofileña on the August 17 Faculty Day. A NATIONAL SYMPTOM

As much as the field of memory studies has been gaining traction within Philippine academic circles, it would be almost counterintuitive if it remains esoteric in nature.

“We have an incredibly bad short-term memory,” Tirol says of Filipinos in general, particularly on the topic of Martial Law. “Because we don’t study history and memory, look [at] where we are now… Not only do we not understand what happened, we don’t understand why we remember this way, or why we forget this way.”

It would indeed be a failure of studies on memory if they are perceived to complicate the past instead of make sense of it.

“We need to have a language that is part of the everyday language of the everyday people.

Just saying ‘discourse’ and ‘memory’ will not ring any

bells,” says Montiel, who has done much of her research in social psychology.

In addition, Tirol expressed his frustration towards the lack of government efforts in reinforcing memory at a national level, something that he believes is its responsibility.

“It does not help that the institutions that are supposed to help create memory, don’t,” he says.

Both the Bantayog and Memorare were funded and built by private organizations, mostly made up of survivors and their descendants. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani Memorial Fou ndat ion was even responsible for organizing the August 14 rally in protest of the burial of Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“You see,” Tirol continues, “Memory is not something immediate in the brain, it must be constantly reinforced.

And you have to reinforce it by action that will justify a particular kind of memory.”

Martin adds that “some people are accusing historians or ‘Education’ in general for not teaching enough on Martial Law. Whether this is true or not… the point is, the ‘duty to remember’… does not have to depend on institutionalisation. It can and has to start from home.”

However, we must not hold the view that uncovering, exposing, and understanding historical inaccuracies, crimes against humanity, or the dark times of our history is all that memory studies is good for. Memory studies is not an inherently justiceseeking field of study.

On Thursday August 11, 2016, Kritika Kultura organized a lecture delivered by Sharon Delmendo, PhD of St. John Fisher College. She addressed the rumors that were circu lat ing a round local and international media regarding Dwight D. Eisenhower’s involvement in the acceptance of thousands of “Manilaners,” Jews seeking refuge in the Philippines during the Second World War. Her findings showed that Eisenhower had no involvement in the rescue, which was the product of cooperation between then-President Manuel L. Quezon, American ambassador Paul V. McNutt,

“The ‘duty to remember’ does not have to depend on institutionalisation.

It can and has to start from home.”

— JOCELYN MARTIN, PHD ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

and the Filipino people who welcomed the refugees, some of whom still enjoy life in the Philippines to this day.

Delmendo, who has dedicated a large amount of her time to do research on the Manilaners, believes that it is only right to give credit where credit is due. She says her lecture was not designed to discredit Eisenhower in any way, but to give Quezon, McNutt, and the citizens of the Philippine Commonwealth the recognition and respect they deserve.

Martin offered an anecdote about her return to t he Philippines after her 22-year stay in Europe: “I was struck by the frequent singing of the national anthem—in schools, cinemas, etc. I heard myself saying that if one did this in, say, to take an extreme case, Germany, this would be frowned upon. While I was touched by the positive sense of nationalism… at the same time, I was wondering whether such ceremonies were actually still ways of instilling national identity.”

The best t hing t he Philippines, or any country for that matter, could do with its own field of memory studies is to remember and rearticulate its memories for the formation, or reformation, of a national identity.

TOWARDS THE FUTURE

Although memory mostly concerns the present-day study of

the past and its manifestations in the present, Martin forwards the thought that memory studies allows us to come to terms with the past in order to face the future. It also enables us to understand individuals and institutions through the way one curates a museum, conducts flag ceremonies, or translates a written document.

“How are we going to move forward when the institutions that should create memory, generate memory for succeeding generations, don’t know how or won’t? That’s why it’s relevant that today we have things like memory studies,” Tirol concludes.

However, regardless of our efforts to reconcile the differences in our memories, monuments will be built, burials will be protested, and flame wars will rage on. The constant struggle between culturally accepted memory and the individual memories located at the peripheries of society will continue to be a reality. But that is not necessarily a drawback; difference suggests people are still willing and able to remember what they remember.

One of the worst diseases that could afflict a person is Alzheimer’s; the person forgets places, events, people, and eventually himself. It is our responsibility to ensure this never occurs on a national level.

Because the Filipino is worth remembering.

ILLUSTRATION BY MEG F. VILLENA

EDITOR: ADRIAN M. GOH · EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: PATRICIA A. DY · LAYOUT ARTIST: ANTONETTE A. AMONCIO

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Features

SPINOFFS: CHARM OR CURSE?

Fiction lovers have their fanfics, but when is it appropriate for a fiction author to finally say farewell and let go of her prose?

Heroes vs. saints

Just like superheroes, Catholic saints and Biblical figures have strived to fight against evil, and to protect those in need. Yet why is it that when both come onto the silver screen, Filipinos would rather stay shy of the religious fare?

BY ANDREW D. CAMBRI AND CELINE D. NATIVIDAD

P

icture a superhero infiltrating a villain’s lair, knowing that he must defeat him and destroy his nefarious plans in order to save the city. In the process, he must face his deepest sins, failures, and regrets to become capable of saving the world. Now picture a man gifted with superhuman strength by God Himself, slaying lions with his bare hands and defeating armies with the jawbone of an ass, all in a time when Israel had fallen under the Philistines.

Picture that man who, having broken his oath to God, is captured, punished, has his sight taken from him, and is given one last chance to bring retribution to the Philistines: By using his Godgiven strength to destroy a temple, crushing the Philistines with him.

Both are full of action, while playing on the theme of redemption. There seems to be only slight differences and yet, it seems that Filipinos are somewhat lukewarm to anything deemed religious, and perhaps—to some degree—even consider it boring.

Yet, at the same time, they gobble up Hollywood superhero content.

THE QUEST FOR ENTERTAINMENT

Often, the very roots of comic book characters make for riveting superhero movies. Take for example Batman, one of the most popular superheroes. Despite his complete lack of “super” powers, his desire to save Gotham from the crime that deeply infests it is one of the biggest reasons why he appeals to so many people.

Batman franchise films like the Dark Knight trilogy made millions, leading the modern day Marvel and DC superhero movies to start finding their footing and become wild successes. Superhero movies have enraptured the youth today, especially here in the Philippines.

Viewers get to see moral paragons or, at the very least, strong people willing to fight for what is good and bring about a better world with their incredible capabilities.

But then comes a religious film with arguably just the same themes: A former soldier and a changed sinner on a hero’s journey across many lands to perfect his method of spirituality to bring about change unto the Christian world and save it from falling into apathy and evil. Yet, it barely makes a splash in the minds of our fellow Filipino viewers who seem to have latched on the most recent and future releases of comic companies and big-time movie studios.

Pauline Mangilog-Saltarin, co-producer of Ignacio de Loyola (2016), mentions how “[viewers] don’t want to watch [religious films] kasi it’s too preachy, so they’d rather watch something mababaw para ma-entertain sila.” She also adds, “We don’t have as much marketing budget as the bigger films.”

It is possible that a combination of the reputation of religious films, along with the fact that Filipino-made films have far less funding to work with is the reason why Filipinos would rather flock to what has been

tried and tested: Hollywoodmade superhero movies whose main characters people have looked up to more than any saint nowadays.

THROUGH A DIFFERENT LENS

A soldier, a sinner, and a saint.

Ignacio de Loyola or Iñigo—as he is called in the movie—was a soldier who believed that a man should have “a nation to fight for, a king to serve, and a lady to protect.” Despite his prowess as a knight, Iñigo was crippled due to a battle injury. To occupy his time, he started reading books on the lives of saints and could not help but be impressed with them for the bravery and tenacity they had shown. This then prompted Iñigo to follow in their footsteps.

Throughout the film, redemption serves as the central theme. Hand in hand with this is the notion of repentance.

To redeem himself from the wrongdoings he had done, Iñigo isolated himself for months and lived inside a cavern with only his writing journal, a whip, and the thoughts in his head for company. After all this hardship, Iñigo eventually finds a sense of peace after overcoming the largest obstacle he had faced in his life.

The narrative of redemption, repentance, and the hero’s journey can be observed in recent superhero films, with prime examples being the DC and Marvel movie releases. Yet, it seems that many Filipinos would rather prefer watching superhero movies rather than those with religious themes.

Communication Department Associate Professor Nicasio D. Cruz, SJ, also a member

of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board says, “[The Filipino audience] want[s] to watch a film that will be entertaining and escapist in nature to forget the work [that they’ve] done.

And a movie that is reflective and soul-searching, is not the type of [film Filipinos would prefer since] they look at [watching] films as a form of entertainment.”

With the already hectic work lifestyle some Filipinos have, it’s only reasonable that we choose rest over reflection

and this transcends even to our preference of films.

Many would arguably watch a film with a moderately shallow plot line and superb computergenerated imagery than a film that prods one to think, which can be arguably just as tiring as any physical activity because of the sheer effort it takes.

A SHIFT FROM EXPECTATIONS

Filipino-made films featuring our very own national heroes such as Heneral Luna (2015) also show a similar plot to that of the superhero narrative of redemption

“You don’t have a character in Heneral Luna having that illumination during a moment of contemplation as compared to Ignacio de Loyola.”

— NICASIO D. CRUZ, SJ MOVIE AND TELEVISION REVIEW AND CLASSIFICATION BOARD (MTRCB) MEMBER

ILLUSTRATION BY ANTONETTE A. AMONCIO

and repentance. And yet Heneral Luna has won more accolades than Ignacio de Loyola ever did.

Heneral Luna is a historical film that features a lot of explosive action scenes and dry humor. On the other hand, Ignacio de Loyola is a religious film far more soul-searching and reflective compared to an action or comedic film.

The difference is, as Cruz says, “You don’t have a character in Heneral Luna having that illumination during a moment of contemplation as compared to Ignacio de Loyola.” Furthermore, Mangilog-Saltarin adds that, “[The two are only similar] in [the aspect of] finding a hero or being a film about wanting to become a hero.”

The lack of interest in films categorized as religious ones, adds Cruz, is because “we are all nominal Catholics, [meaning only] Catholic in name.”

Mangilog-Saltarin dissents from this view however, saying that “Here in the Philippines there’s a good mix of people who want to see movies like Ignacio de Loyola.” She adds that they’ve gone as far as five weeks in terms of the film’s showing in certain theaters, despite being an indie film with no major backing.

Although it may seem that Filipinos have a tendency to retract from films that can be labeled as religious, the attention garnered

by Ignacio de Loyola, a religious indie film, continues to prove otherwise. It may be a while before films like these gain traction in the Philippines or anywhere abroad for that matter, but regardless of our devotion as Catholics, one thing is certain: We can always find a superhero in our saints.

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Features

SPIN-OFFS:

Charm or curse?

BY SAFFI A. ARCENAS AND PATRICIA A. DY

T

en years after the release of t he Har r y Potter series’ f ina l insta llment, fantasy writer J.K. Rowling introduced the world to two new additions to her series.

The first is John Tiffany and Jack Thorne’s theatrical play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016), which debuted in the UK in late July, while its script was released as a book in early August. The second is the Warner Bros. Pictures’ movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), which is set to premiere later in the year.

This is not the first time fictional worlds and characters

have had other hands control their fates. Peter Jackson, known for The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003), released The Hobbit film series (2012–2014), which did not only serve as an extension of the first film series, but also added new content not part of the original J.R.R. Tolkien book. Recently, The Walt Disney Company obtained the rights to the Star Wars film franchise, which introduced new characters and additional destinations to the Star Wars universe.

Authors that wish to hold onto their beloved characters and stories a little longer sometimes end up producing either additional books to the series or creating spin-offs to satiate fans who want “more.” More often than not, these garner mixed

"Stories, especially characters, can have a life of their own.

[Stories] can travel through time, so to speak, so they can definitely live on."

— ROBBIE REYES LECTURER, THEOLOGY DEPARTMENT

reviews from critics and passionate fans. Despite the hype and excitement from many die-hard fans, a growing debate still stands as to whether or not these stories should retire.

CONTINUOUS OR AUTONOMOUS

A spin-off is defined as a literary work that resulted from an original franchise. While still latching on to the latter, they occur in the same universe as the initial story, yet it pursues a different story arc. This gives spin-offs the ability to act as “stand-alone” stories.

According to Theology lecturer Robbie Reyes, who has dealt with the subject of Theology in fantasy literature, “Stories, especially characters, can have a life of their own.

[Stories] can travel through time, so to speak, so they can definitely live on.” While some fans enjoy the new content being given to them, others criticize these as not being able to live up to the original series; others even choose to see this as something totally separable from the original franchise.

Filipino Assistant Professor and fantasy writer Edgar Samar, PhD brings up another perspective on these spin-offs. “It is a product of this more complex machinery; we cannot expect a singular reaction, especially [with] a literary or artistic text,” he says, commenting on the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. According to him, when considering critiquing a work, one must also consider not only the “literary and artistic” components, but also the “cultural and commercial” aspects of the production.

In this instance, the Harry

Potter series is already a renowned franchise with a large and loyal following of readers and viewers. Recently, the print release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child became the biggest selling transcript, which sold 847,886 copies worth GBP 8.76 million in its first week according to Independent, a British online newspaper.

This particular case shows how some readers patronize spin-offs based on the critical acclaim of the original franchise these are linked to. The success of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child can be associated back to the fame of the initial Harry Potter franchise.

INTO ANOTHER’S HANDS

For many adaptations and spin-offs, the original author may want to participate in the full creative process, play some part in it, or want nothing to do with it at all. When asked about how the control of fictional characters and worlds may shift from an author to someone else, Samar relates this to his own experience as a writer.

When his book Janus Silang was adapted into a manga, or a Japanese-style comic book, he was present mainly for consultation. “I [gave] them all my trust—my blessing— to make do with the text,” he says, adding that he only stepped in when there were details that may have contradicted the original storyline.

Samar also explains that there are experts in the different fields of adaptations of stories: There are playwrights for plays and artists for comics. He, on the other hand, says that he focuses

mostly on the narrative side and thus appreciates what others can bring to the table.

If, however, the original author does partake in the creative process, he or she may be able to touch on social issues, characters, and plotlines that were not explored in the original. For example, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was mainly written by Tiffany and Thorne.

However, they based the story on Rowling’s original concepts.

One of the controversies that arose regarding the casting of the play was the fact that the actress who played Hermione was dark-skinned. Many, including Rowling herself who claimed in a tweet she never outright stated Hermione’s skin color, embraced the diversity in the casting. However, there were others who expressed their disapproval online, stating the change would go against their own perception of the character—which was someone fair-skinned, much like Emma Watson, who portrayed the character in the film franchise.

Reyes also shares his belief that audiences can still find meaning in these franchises; meanings that the author may not have even intended. “When you truly have a great work of art, [it] will transcend even the original artist,” he adds.

UNCOVER THE CAUSE

With some differences between the spin-offs and original, readers and viewers alike wonder about the reasons behind the revival of a story that has already ended. A decision to expand a series may not fully depend on an author’s creative decisions but on their

ILLUSTRATION BY ANTONETTE A. AMONCIO

publishers’ or producers’ business choices as well.

Reyes says, “When I hear spinoff, what immediately comes to mind is that they’re milking it.” Spin-offs are most likely to occur for stories with a big fan base because the reactions and demand of readers play a big factor in the direction of the franchise. The creation of spin-offs can be viewed through different lenses. For a businessman, it can be a way to “maximize the money that is generated from this franchise.” For an author, “it’s something to extend a background of the character.”

Ultimately, the original franchise of a story can be considered as an art form created by the author. Spin-offs merely extend this art form, thus, the original would always still have reached a greater extent. “In terms of quality, a spin-off is–I don’t want to call it this but–like a parasite, it has to cling on to the original so it has appeal; so the original will always have more substance, more depth,” Reyes adds.

The line often blurs in distinguishing whether a great story should end already or not. Although spin-offs can sometimes be more entertaining, readers cannot help but compare it to the original franchise due to the interrelation. Readers and viewers who fall in love with the original story may either hate it for not living up to the original franchise, or love it precisely because it is connected to the original.

Be it a way to gain money or to appease fans, authors and producers alike find a reason for their stories to live on.

The GUIDON September 2016

The merits of modeling

BY PATRICIA A. DY AND CELINE D. NATIVIDAD

I

t’s officially hell week. Most students have tests lined up, oral exams already booked, and final projects ready for submission. But in addition to this, imagine being booked for a photo shoot on three separate days this week, summoned by your manager at 5 AM for a fashion show tomorrow night, and forced to block off a day to try on a few outfits for a designer. Welcome to the life of a student-model.

With their unwavering poise and perfectly toned figure, it may seem as if they are never crushed by the weight of schoolwork, but that is most definitely not the case. The life of a model has always been deemed as a glamorous and star-filled occupation, and similarly, student-models are also viewed with the same preconception. What most forget however, is that student-models weigh the pros and cons of being a part-time model as well as a part-time student.

JUGGLING EXHIBITION

M a ny s t u d e n t- m o d e l s start out small, be it at a variety show or a sponsored fashion show way back in high school. Neil Dy, a fourth year student-model, began his

career in a variety show in the Immaculate Conception Academy (ICA). “From [then on], ever y yea r I would audition for my school’s variety show and ICA’s variety show,” he shares.

If they see budding potential in a student, people from within the modeling industry—including the directors for such variety shows—then approach these students to ask if they would be interested to model and do test shoots.

In these test shoots, photographers from modeling agencies attempt to do creative shots with the models to see if his or her look fits an image the photographer has in mind.

Student-models are expected to keep up with the body expectations of the modeling industry.

This pressure takes a toll on the students, as young as they are.

They are required to maintain a healthy physique in order to keep up with industry demands.

Dy however, takes this in a positive light. “Worth it yung work out ko at the gym,” he says.

Clearly seeing their hard work in keeping fit through their modeling portfolios, a collection of their modelling pictures which they use to book photoshoots, is definitely something that makes staying healthy worth it.

The side of student-models that most people see are their stints at fashion shows,

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Juggling academics, social life, and sleep already takes a toll on the average college student, but for these student-models, it’s an entirely different story. What may seem like an effortless feat for student-models is actually a struggle to synchronize two very different lives.

selfies, and raw behind-thescenes shots of their magazine shoots. The side that most don’t see, however, consists of the hectic schedules they need to work around, as they try to balance academic requirements, commitments w it h orga n izat ions, a nd social obligations with friends and family.

Some photoshoots usually take up the whole day, with a lot of them starting early in the morning and lasting until past midnight. A studentmodel from boutique talent agency LV X Management Patricia Filart says, “[I’ve had] to cut half of my classes for [a] day or minsan all of [them].”

Modeling takes up a lot of their time, sometimes leaving them with little to no time for their own academics or other extracurricular activities.

CLOSE-UP

Despite the heavy academic workload in college and the pressure from modeling, student-models are still motivated to work part-time and take every opportunity that arises. Filart says, “I chose to continue [modeling because] I really enjoyed it. I [also got] to meet a lot of people [and] I really get a sense of fulfillment. [I like that feeling] of professionalism.” It is no doubt that although model-

BALANCING ACT. Studentmodels like Patricia Filart (pictured) often become experts in balancing academics, organizations, and a growing career.

"You should know how to balance school and work [so that you don’t lose sight of your] studies. [Also, you should] maintain a good image [because] that’s one factor [agencies look into] when they get models."

— NEIL DY STUDENT-MODEL

ing has its downs, it definitely has its own merits. This is dependent on how the studentmodel views this aspect of their lives; whether as an additional chore or as an exciting opportunity to prioritize.

Opportunities often arise for them to interact with both local and international models, photo g r apher s , m a keup artists, stylists, and even brand owners. Filart adds, “If you make a good impression on them or do a good job, they really suggest you as a model and help you get [more] jobs.”

Through part-time modeling, they are able to establish connections which may be useful for future endeavors.

With work also comes the pay. Student-models receive different earnings from different kinds of labels, depending on the type of modeling they were booked for. They either get to keep the clothes they wore for the photo shoot or the show, earn a salary, or sometimes, even both. According to Dy, he is sometimes obliged to post about the items he is given on social media. On other times, he is given free items and, additionally, paid to post about them as well.

With hard work, dedication, and time allotted for modeling, these student-models know not to put the money they earn to waste. Dy says, “I don’t spend [the money I earn from modeling], I just put it in the bank so I get to save it.” They are able to not only do what they enjoy, but also learn life skills and invest in various business potentials to be able to save up for their future.

THAT’S A WRAP!

Being a student-model, one might already expect academics and organizations to factor in greatly within their array of concerns, but the way their peers treat a student-model because of his or her occupation may change as well. Filart shares, “I find it awkward when people bring [my modeling career] up. I don’t want them to see me differently.”

While people are aware of all the advantages and perks that come with modeling—from the glamorous makeup and wardrobe transformations, to the freebie items and the possibility of meeting famous celebrities—sometimes, one may look past the fact that modeling is also an occupation and that

PHOTO BY JILL R. CHAN

student-models, specifically, also get very worn out.

After weighing the pros and cons however, Dy says, “You should know how to balance school and work [so that you don’t lose sight of your] studies. [Also, you should] maintain a good image [because] that’s one factor [they look into] when they get models.”

Aside from screening applicants to fit the tailored image they have in mind, photographers and modeling companies also pay close attention to a model’s attitude, since the rapport between people who work behind the scenes and the models themselves are valued greatly and may affect the turnout of shoots and shows.

On another note, Filart adds, “[Mag-iiba] talaga perception mo of models kasi ako rin before, I thought na sobrang glamorous lang ‘yung life nila (Your perception of models will really change, because I also used to think that models’ lives were glamorous). Pero I’ve met a lot of [people] who really depend on [modeling] as their livelihood.”

Ultimately, being a part-time student and a part-time model comes with a lot of commitments and responsibilities.

The day is over, it’s past midnight, and they’re dead tired from classes and modeling schedules for the day.

They trudge their way up to their respective rooms and promptly pass out on their beds, already expecting the annoying sound of their alarm clock to wake them up in a few short hours, signaling the start of a brand new school day. It’s easy to box studentmodels into the idea that they live such extravagant lives, with the photos they post on their social networking sites about t heir photoshoots, to the stars they meet, and the free items they get from various brands but there is still a dimension of studentmodels that most don’t get a backstage pass to witness.

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Features

The GUIDON September 2016

Silver screens, blue beginnings Every OrSem is marked with the anticipation of a new O-Film. Unbeknownst to the average Atenean, however, the O-Film dates back to the mid-2000s and there is still an ongoing debate about which O-Film stands out the most from the roster.

BY ANDREW D. CAMBRI AND PATRICIA A. DY

T

ransitioning into a new school environment is difficult. But nothing eases stress or fear better than a laugh, some good advice, and the reassurance that others are going through the same motions as you are. All of these are wrapped in a bundle of jokes, endearing characters, and campus traditions shown on a silver screen, through the O-Film. The Orientation Seminar (OrSem) marks the beginning of every Ateneo freshman’s journey. On these two days, the OrSem Committee and the upperclassmen must introduce and welcome them into the Atenean community.

Meanwhile, the Loyola Film Circle (LFC) prepares their part in the initiation: The OrSem Film, or the O-Film for short. Each year, the LFC Production Core must come up with this comedic short film to give the incoming freshmen at the OrSem a taste of the experiences they can expect in the Ateneo.

From drafting the screenplay, to the struggles of shooting, and finally to a successful premiere, the work that goes into these films is done with dedication.

However, like any other production crew, the LFC faces many struggles during the filming process. Expectations continue to increase for the LFC every year. Crewmembers constantly strive to further improve the O-Films—and themselves in the process– for it has become the staple of the freshman initiation.

Those behind the scenes strive to make sure they don’t disappoint.

TIME LAPSE

The O-Film’s origins have become obscured by time.

Even this year’s O-Film director, Cloie Hilomen, mentions how the responsibility for making the O-Film only fell to the LFC “around [the] mid 2000s.” But of course, even then, the essential aspects of the film’s production had already come into being.

Every O-Film is created to spoof a popular film that the members of the LFC decide on, which is usually a comedy.

According to Miguel Feria, co-director of the 2013 O-Film Katipunan Jump Street, the script is written months in advance and the shooting is carried out during the intersession semester.

Regarding his own O-Film, he says, “We spent one to two months working on the script, [and] April was when we shot it.”

The way the films are created allows the crew to make recognizable references and spoofs yet at the same time unleash their creativity in shooting their films.

The recent O-Films have followed this direction with a lot of success. Hilomen makes mention of some O-Films that have grown on her. “My favorites—personal lang—

would have to be Scott PilgrimSantos, and also Katipunan Jump Street. Those are my top faves of the O-Films I’ve seen.”

John Peter Chua, assistant director for this year’s O-Film, says that in this year’s edition however, they lacked time and had a number of production problems. “Kulang ng oras.

[T]he script was given late.

Pero when you compare [The Loyola School of Rock] to this year’s O-Film, I guess nagiimprove na siya,” says Chua.

While there are a few issues with this year’s O-Film, only time will tell how this year’s edition will fare amongst Or Sem’s ever-increa sing collection of O-Films.

JUMP CUT

To bring a film to life, the LFC members go through a systematic process that allows each creative staff to contribute input. According to Chua, it starts with a story decided on by the scriptwriters and officers of the organization. It is then written into script form, and given to the production head. After, the production head creates a “vision” or an interpretation of how they wish to convey the story to their viewers.

This vision becomes what the director and assistant director must instill in the minds of the cast and crew. The director of photography will then make sure the vision is “aesthetically pleasing” or clean-cut and error free. The footage goes to the editor who produces the final cut for the film.

This process does not always run smoothly, however. Problems with scheduling, communication, and personal affairs can arise. Hilomen notes, “The weather [was a problem] kasi it was raining a lot, so we couldn’t film.” There were also challenges in terms of the crew’s dynamic. “You have to feel your way with other people, because you have to know them first.

You can’t just automatically [click],” Hilomen shares.

According to Chua, he himself joined the production a little too late. Because of this, him and his co-workers’ expectations initially clashed.

Fortunately, they overcame their differences as time passed on. “Pero ‘yun, sa latter part, [doon] naging [maganda] yung shooting [namin] (It was during the latter part that our shoot began to look good),” he says. “We were all on the same page.”

The film is then presented to the OrSem committee, to get the initial reactions of the viewers. And finally, it is presented to the target audience: The freshmen. Hilomen exclaims that this was a proud moment for her, especially after hearing positive feedback from the audience.

“I was really proud, because they found it funny. My friends would tell me about their fresh-

men relatives or friends who say, ‘Oh the O-Film was really good,’” Hilomen shares. Feria says, “It’s very surreal when you’re in the Irwin Theatre, and there’s a thousand people laughing at the jokes you made and laughing at stuff you didn’t think was funny.”

An ode to O-Films

BY CELINE D. NATIVIDAD

From finding one’s self within the the university to meeting and encountering new people, O-Films throughout the years have evoked a spirit of belongingness within the Atenean freshmen as they embark on their college journey.

SCOTT PILGRIM-SANTOS

Based on the film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), this O-Film garnered a lot of attention from various batches. A possible reason is its the superb editing work seen through its sound effects and cutscenes. In the film, Scott Pilgrim Santos and his band members decide to join the UAAP Battle of the Bands for exposure and to share their talents. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was crossing paths with an enigmatic girl named Ramona Plowers.

THE EPILOGUE

Both the successes and difficulties that arose during the making of an O-Film contribute to the improvement of LFC members for their future films.

While one cannot truly replicate the glory of the past O-Films, a lot can be learned from them.

Chua believes that the 2011 O -Film, Katipunan Jump Street, stood out the most in terms of aesthetic, vision, script, and overall production design. He justifies this by explaining how everything was planned and done deliberately for the film. “Hindi lang yung ‘Uy, may gamit diyan. Ilagay natin sa scene’ (It wasn’t just like ‘hey, there’s something here. Let’s add it to the scene’),” he says. “No, they literally had to put a desk [and a cabinet] in the Zen Garden just to [simulate] AISIS, the student website.”

Although Scott PilgrimSantos was her persona l favorite, Hilomen agrees with Chua and adds that she took some inspiration from Katipunan Jump Street and borrowed certain ideas for Sibol War. “I think for this O-Film, we took more elements from Katipunan Jump Street. We really liked it,” she says. “I also think it’s because of the humor in Katipunan Jump Street. It did its job. It not only introduces the Ateneo to the freshmen, but it entertains, which is one of the movie’s [objectives], and I really love it.”

The future of the O-Film looks sunny with all the experiences from producing this year’s iteration. “This year’s O-Film is like a steppingstone,” says Chua. “It’s not the best that we can do yet [as an organization] kasi we are yet to bloom [as the] filmmakers and film practitioners that we ought to be.”

Chua makes a rather relevant reference to this year’s OrSem theme, “Sibol,” which in Tagalog means, “to bloom.” Both he and Hilomen are excited to see the talents of the new applicants entering the organization this year. With a little improvement and their relentless passion, the LFC just might blossom with numerous great O-Films in the coming years.

KATIPUNAN JUMPSTREET

The fictional energy drink Meowzan and its adverse effects were the main cause of conflict in this 2013 O-Film. The characters Juan Dee and Ishmeet are tasked to go undercover, infiltrate the dealers, and find the supplier of the drink. Based on 21 Jump Street (2012), the film’s brilliant cinematography could be observed through the dynamic interplay of high contrast lighting and focus.

THE WOLF OF KATIPUNAN

The Wolf of Katipunan (2014) is based off The Wolf of Wallstreet (2013). The film revolves around protagonist Charlie Reyes and his efforts to earn profit from selling Stox Cupcakes, a product that he invests in for the STOX+ Tournament—an online stock market simulation tournament. The film’s hilarious dialogue continuously breaks the fourth wall, heightening the film’s comical mood.

THE LOYOLA SCHOOL OF ROCK

Based on the film School of Rock (2003), the 2015 O-Film features the character Dana Finn, a musician who decides to fill in as an InTACT facilitator. The 2015 O-Film features a diverse range of characters that go through their own stories of personal development. Like many of the past O-Films, this one pokes fun at different Atenean stereotypes such as the jock, the free-spirited classmate, the “fashionista,” the sneaker head, and the anime lover.