Rheims | July 2021

PHOTO SOURCES RAPPLER, ONE NEWS, FACEBOOK PAGE OF HIDILYN DIAZ

2 NEWS // THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS

Delta variant infection intensifies; DOH emphasizes protocols Lance Crisostomo

The Department of Health advised the general public to continue observing health protocols and avoid unnecessary travels and gatherings as the local transmission of the Delta variant of COVID-19 persists in the Philippines.

DOH emphasized these advices as the department confirmed to the general public that there are already over 50 cases confirmed resulting from local transmissions of the said variant just in its early stage of transmission.

According to DOH, the detection of the cases and the local transmission of the Delta variant was discovered by the joint phylogenetic analysis and investigation of the University of the Philippines - Philippine Genome Center and DOH Epidemiology Bureau.

In the province of Cavite,

two subdivisions in Bacoor were placed under granular lockdown by the power of Executive Order No. 25 signed by Bacoor Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla after two cases of the Delta variant were tracked in the area last July 24.

On the other hand, a research from Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention gave new information regarding the variant.

In their study, it was found out that the Delta variant grows faster in the respiratory tracts of humans and reaches high levels of infection in comparison with the original strain.

In addition, the study presented that in terms of the copies of the virus inside the respiratory tract of infected people, the Delta variant showed 1,000 more

copies of its virus in comparison with the number of the virus seen in respiratory tracts of people affected with the original strain.

The national government has enhanced the COVID-19 response in areas with cases of the Delta variant, ensuring that there are enough medical supplies, oxygen tanks, vaccines, and critical care equipment.

Local government units are advised to shorten the time period of case detection leading to isolation and to hasten actions in-line with their COVID-19 response.

Meanwhile, DOH and the national government are emphatic to the general public to continue following health and safety protocols to ensure safety and to control the spreading of the new Delta variant.

Galvez aims for 750k

PH nears 660k jabs per day Renz Bautista

The Philippines achieved another feat last July 27 with the administration of 659,029 COVID-19 vaccines nationwide in its national vaccination program, the highest daily vaccination rate the country has so far.

As of July 29, 7,835,715 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated while 11,524,212 Filipinos received their first doses.

National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez is pleased as the country's vaccination capacity following the consistent delivery of jabs for the past two weeks.

“We are very happy that we

were able to achieve milestone after milestone. This shows that we have the capacity and capability to achieve our 500,000 inoculations per day target as long as there's a steady supply of vaccines arriving in the country,” Galvez said last July 28.

The government will still focus on vaccinating the most vulnerable groups, particularly the senior citizens and persons with comorbidities (A2 and A3 groups).

Galvez also stressed that the upward surge of the daily vaccination rate says something about the program, particularly increasing Filipino’s trust and confidence in the vaccine as he aims for 750,000 daily jabs.

“The upward trajectory of our daily vaccination output in all priority sectors says so many things in the ongoing program - our vaccine supply inventory is expanding, and the vaccine confidence of the Filipino people is increasing. We want to keep this trend as we aim for 750,000 daily jabs in the next quarter,” Galvez added.

As of July 30, the Philippines has received a total of 33,860,700 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from different pharmaceutical companies and donations.

The Philippines has secured a total of 164 million COVID-19 vaccines for 2021.

PHOTO SOURCE CNN PHILIPPINES

july 2021 //

Duterte delivers sixth SONA;

Political analysts provides breakdown of speech Renz Bautista & Lance Crisostomo President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his sixth State of the Nation Address Monday, July 26 at the Batasang Pambansa to give a rundown of the administration’s projects and accomplishment in its six-year term.

Duterte highlighted the Build Build Build (BBB) project, war on drugs, and the extension of the validity of Philippine Passports which were the major projects of the administration in the last six years.

The president emphasized on the recently opened Metro Manila Skyway and Kalayaan Bridge which were opened this year and is said to decongest traffic in the NCR.

“..we were able to open Stage 3 of the Metro Manila Skyway in January this year. This decongested EDSA and other major roads in Metro Manila. On Independence Day last month, we also inaugurated the Kalayaan Bridge, part of the BGC-Ortigas Center Link Project, which will reduce the usual one-hour travel time between the two business districts to just 12 minutes,” Duterte stated.

President Duterte also spent much of his speech on the anti-corruption campaign, labor and industry sector, the economic issues of the country and the persisting problem and vaccination progress on COVID-19.

Rye, Raquiza breaks down the speech

Political analysts Ranjit Rye & Marivic Raquiza broke down the SONA to look into key points and missing points of the two hour and forty-six-minute-long speech.

Raquiza, professor of the

University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG), pointed out that the SONA revolved on three major points namely: 1) peace, order, and drugs, 2) social services and COVID response, and 3) economic issues.

Prof. Raquiza pointed out that he expected Duterte to talk about the hunger and lacking of job opportunities problem that Filipinos are facing but these issues were tapped into vaguely.

“Medyo doon ako nakulangan kasi rin ang pinakaimportanting issues na talagang kinakaharap ng kababayan natin ay yung usapin sa kumakalam na tiyan at kakulangan ng trabaho. Kaya I was reeling hoping for the president to start strong his SONA with a message about taking the bulls by the horn and really confronting the issue of quality of life, jobs, livelihood and how do we contain COVID much more effectively,” Raquiza furthered.

On the other hand, Rye stated that the president’s SONA lacked into detailing the blueprint of the nation for economic recovery as the country is slowly recovering from the great effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Dun siguro may nakita akong kaunting pagkulang, kung ano yung blueprint natin for economic recovery, apart from the tax reform packages. And that would be largely contingent on how he responds to COVID,” Rye said.

Rye also added that the issues regarding employment, inflation and COVID-19 response are issues that needed more emphasis and be clarified on.

PHOTO SOURCE ABS-CBN NEWS

Habagat continues intensified rainfalls; PAGASA monitors possible weather conditions Lance Crisostomo & Andrew Dela Plana Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) maintained intricate weather conditions monitoring as southwest monsoons or habagat continue to dominate the weather across the nation.

The intensification of southwest monsoons was triggered by typhoon Fabian which exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) last July 23 at 11:00 p.m.

Fabian, which formed inside PAR last July 16, had maximum sustained winds ranging from 140 km/h to 150 km/h and gustiness reaching up to 170 km/h which led bodies of water such as the Marikina river and Prinza Dam in General Trias to reach critical water levels and bridges such as

Sta. Clara-Vibora Bypass and Sta. Clara-Pinagtipunan Bridge both in General Trias to reach yellow levels up to not passable states.

As the intensification of southwest monsoons continues, the weather forecast for the first days of August showed that the weather condition will stay the same.

Scattered rainfalls are still to be observed in parts of the country, including NCR and CALABARZON regions, having a projected temperature ranging from 25 to 30 degrees.

As of the moment, PAGASA is still monitoring PAR and the nearby regions for possible formations of tropical depressions or cyclones that may eventually form typhoons.

NEWS

3

Remulla bans videoke/ karaoke use in Cavite; BM Anarna steps up for clarifications Lance Crisostomo

Governor Jonvic Remulla and Cavite Board Member Kevin Anarna announced and clarified the ban of videokes and karaokes in the province of Cavite through their respective posts in their social media accounts.

Remulla had his Facebook Live last July 7 where he announced the imposition of a ban on the use of videokes and karaokes everyday, 24/7, in the whole province as a way of helping students to focus on their studies as well as employees who are working from home.

Nineteen days later, Anarna clarified through his social media that videokes and karaoke usage in the whole province of Cavite shall only be allowed during weekends and holidays from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. only.

“Playing of videoke/karaoke systems in residential areas shall be allowed during weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) and holidays regular or special from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM only,” Anarna stated in his official post.

The board member added that amplified audio devices may only be used in public if and only if it will be used for government and religious purposes.

“Amplified audio devices may be used in public places provided that the same is for official/ government functions and religious activities only,” Kevin Anarna said.

The announcement of a new ordinance was in-line and a follow-up of an ordinance released last October 12, 2020, Provincial Ordinance No. 304-2020.

The ordinance states that during this time of public health emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, “the operation/playing of videoke/karaoke systems and other amplified audio devices shall only be allowed from 5:00PM to 8:00PM”.

4 NEWS // THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS

Diaz breaks 97year drought; brings home first PH Olympic gold Lance Crisostomo

government,

10

million

pesos

from

Manny V. Pangilinan, 10 million pesos from Ramon S. Ang, three million pesos from Deputy PHOTO SOURCE ONE NEWS

Speaker Mikee Romero, 2.5 million pesos from local government of Zamboanga, five million

Lasallian Pride and Philippine athlete

home with the first being her silver medal in the

pesos from Dennis Uy’s Phoenix Petroleum,

Hidilyn Diaz bags the gold medal in the

2016 Rio Olympics which ended the 20-year

14 million Pesos worth of condominium unit in

women’s 55 kg weightlifting event by

drought of Olympic win of the Philippines.

Eastwood City from Megaworld, four million

setting an Olympic record of 224 kg

pesos worth of house and lot from Century

cumulative score, ending the Philippine’s

tion to Diaz’s wall of achievements which already

Properties,

and

97-year Olympic gold medal drought at the

contains victories from other competitions such

thousand

miles

Tokyo International Forum, July 23.

as Southeast Asian Games, Asian Weightlifting

Air Asia and Philippine Airlines.

Championship, Asian Games, and many more.

97 kg in the snatch event after lifting 94 kg

Not

Philippines

in her first attempt and 97 kg in her second

secure

Diaz

attempt sharing a tied 2nd place in the said

several

incentives

event with China’s Liao Qiuyun and trailing

private

sectors,

by 1 kg to Uzbekistan’s Nabieva Muattar, who

pledged

set a new olympic record in the event.

from Tokyo after the Olympics.

President Rodrigo Duterte who once again

reiterated

Diaz was able to tally a final score of

A

series

of

Olympic

record

This histoic olympic victory is an addi-

for

only an

Olympic from and

her

as

the

did

it

gold

medal,

government,

Diaz

lifetime

flew

Wednesday,

free

per

flights/80

year

back July

28,

from

to

the

two

days

after her victory and arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 5:00 p.m.

personalities

were

she

back

7:30 p.m., Diaz had her courtesy call with

comes

Over 50 million in monetary incen-

Later

the

that

evening

incentives

that

at

Diaz

around

would

exchanges happened in the clean and jerk

tives and other forms were pledged namely:

receive from the government for bringing home

event as Diaz and Qiuyun continued to increase

10

the First Olympic gold finish of the nation.

million

pesos

from

the

national

the weights that they lifted; Diaz had the last hurrah as she finished with 127 kg in the clean and jerk event - a new Olympic record.

In

the

competition of

224

kg,

end,

with just

a 1

Hidilyn

won

the

cumulative

score

kg

silver

above

medalist Liao Qiuyun and 11 kg above bronze medalist Kazakhstan‘s Chinshanlo Zulfiya.

With

the

win,

Diaz

etched

her-

self in history books as the first Filipino athlete to have brought two olympic medals

PHOTO SOURCE RAPPLER

july 2021 //

NEWS

5

The Lasallian Assembly of Student Officers (LASO) recently had their general assembly last July 26 wherein the new batch of student-leaders for this school year were introduced. For the roster of LASO officers this school year 2021-2022, you may visit the official Facebook page of LASO for updates. PHOTO SOURCE KENT COLOCADO

64% satisfied for first month of AirClass

Students note inconsistent internet connectivity and suggest longer deadlines Renz Bautista Conducting a survey regarding the first month experience of the second year of AirClass can give results for the improvement of its operations; thus, the Lasallian Rheims administered a survey last July 26 to 28 to determine students’ experience during the first month of AirClass S.Y. 2021-2022.

When asked of their overall satisfaction for the first month of AirClass, 7 or 13.2% were completely satisfied, 27 or 50.9% are satisfied, 17 or 32.1% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 2 or 3.8% are dissatisfied, and none are completely dissatisfied.

When asked about the reasons for their ratings, several students who rated satisfied and completely satisfied answered that the quality of education and classes are good, and some students are already used to the routines.

Many feel neutral about their

experience, and some said that the AirClass experience is good, but it can be improved further.

Several students said that there were problems and difficulties that occurred during the first month of AirClass, some of these were device lags, weather conditions in the area, inconsistent internet connectivity, and slow internet speeds.

Meanwhile, frequency of seatworks, homework and quizzes, and power interruptions were considered a major problem by 6% of the respondents.

For a better AirClass experience, the students recommended that there must be more communication and coordination between students, parents, and teachers as well as longer submission dates or lessening of academic loads.

Some also recommended that

recorded lessons and materials should be shared and having a more stable internet connection for the teachers’ side.

Almost all students answered that there were significant improvements for this AirClass compared from the last school year.

Many students reasoned that there was a smoother flow of classes and teachers are more familiar now with the routine and applications used in their instructional delivery.

There were 53 students from the High School department who participated in the survey.

ASJ continues to strive to achieve excellence and quality education in this online paradigm shift.

(See page 9 for the graphical results of the survey.)

6 OPINION // THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS EDITORIAL BOARD School Year 2021-2022

Editor-in-Chief Lance Crisostomo Managing Editor/Layout Renz Bautista Writers Marielle Navarro, Andrew Dela Plana, Kyzzia Paguirigan, Trisha Ilar, Benedict Yalung, Zoeline Honrado, Lemmor Lataza, James Abriza Artists Marcus Buhain, Shawn Teves, Nina Dulce Contributor Mr. Lawrence Fernando Adviser Mr. Kent Bryan Colocado Principal Mr. Richard Pineda School Consultant Ms. Daisy Romero

ALERE FLAMMAM VERITATIS WE ARE OPEN FOR

CONTRIBUTORS! Submit your work at official.rheims@gmail.com

@Rheims2020 facebook.com/Rheims2020 official.rheims@gmail.com issuu.com/thelasallianrheims

Tokyo 2020 Golden Victory: Political colors and false claims seized the moment EURUS

Lance Crisostomo July 23 - series of disturbing moments happened as the historic victory of Hidilyn Diaz in the Tokyo Olympics wasn’t embraced with positivity by some of our fellow Filipinos as political colors and revival of past issues happened left and right. Various social media platforms featured mixed reactions and comments from different netizens minutes after Diaz won the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal. Such posts and claims must be duly broken down to see the context and fallacies wrapped in each one.

The issues and allegations posted against Diaz by some netizens were irrelevant and were already given clarifications in the past. A netizen reposted Hidilyn’s plea for financial help last 2019 to support her in training, daily expenditures, and competitions. The expenses that athletes need to cover amounts to thousands of pesos which may reach even to millions.

Additionally, if we are to look into Hidilyn’s journey, Diaz moved to Malaysia sometime in February 2020 to have more focused training for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as suggested by her coach Gao. However, disaster struck and just weeks after, a series of lockdowns due to COVID-19 were imposed leading her and her team to be stuck in Malaysia. The national government, particularly the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Air Force, has been supporting Hidilyn since the start of her training in China in 2019. However, the support is still insufficient and the Palace admitted it recently, stating that the support they are giving athletes is comparable to minimum wages at work. Luckily, the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation also helped her especially when they were stuck in Malaysia. Athletes do have the right to ask for financial help since they are doing everything they can to condition themselves and represent the country in the international arena. It takes a lot of money to travel from country to country just to compete for qualifying competitions.

It takes a lot

of money to pay for the coaches, sustain their daily needs in another country, and for other expenditures.

Several posts also explicitly and implicitly claimed that the victory of Hidilyn is something that she owes to the administration. Let us put it in this way.

Hidilyn is clearly supported by the administration (which she is fully aware of and thankful for); however, it isn’t the administration that trained her for the competition and it isn’t the administration who competed in the event. Why would she owe this to the administration when in fact, it is the responsibility of the administration to support athletes who represent the country on the global stage?

Lastly, an illogical analysis of a photo of Hidilyn was circulated around by the DDS or Diehard Duterte Supporters. The photo pointed out that the color red (which was the backdrop used in the Tokyo International Forum) was a symbol of rebellion against the government, the colors of the barbell are green and red which symbolized ABS-CBN and the Underarmour logo was connected to Pacquiao. To those who believed in these, here are questions that they should answer: 1) Is it Hidilyn’s fault that the hosting country used red as backdrops during the event given the fact that it is one of the colors dominantly used in their nation? 2) Is it Hidilyn’s fault that the barbells were colors red and green but in fact, it is only used to determine the weight and the manufacturers were the ones who decided to use those colors?

And 3) Is Underarmour literally symbolizes Pacquiao when in fact, it is a brand for sporting gear?

Hidilyn is so genuine and kind that she literally said that her victory is not hers alone but in fact, this is the victory of the whole nation. This victory must be celebrated with happiness and pride in our hearts as the Philippines is once again recognized on the global stage. Political interests must not take this victory as an opportunity for premature campaigning and false claims. Hidilyn's victory in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is a refreshing moment that lights hope in the hearts of Filipinos in this time of pandemic.

july 2021 //

From Adobo to Adobeaux:

Bakit inuna pa yung Adobo?

Recently, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) made the move to develop national standards for cooking adobo. Most netizens were questioning the proposal because it disrespects regional and cultural differences as the beauty of Filipino food is found in its diversity between regions. Several individuals immediately thought that when a person cooking the adobo does not conform to the standards made by DTI - knowing how strict they are in implementing consumer laws, law enforcement will come onto their doors the next day. The questions are: What made DTI come up with this idea? And is there really a need to standardize adobo?

There are multiple ways in cooking adobo. Some prefer it with laurel leaf, some prefer it with less vinegar or soy sauce.

Other people swap out chicken to either pork, fish, beef, shrimp, or even mussels.

Regional cooking styles such as adobong dilaw (inclusion of turmeric), adobong Illongo (inclusion of achuete), adobong puti (adobo without the soy sauce), adobo sa gata, and even adobong kangkong are also cooked in the Philippines. There are a lot of adobo recipes available and it will be a long process to formulate the most standardized version of the adobo dish most Filipinos love.

The problem is, how will you develop and ‘standardize’ a particular dish in a country that has regional and traditional cooking realities? When we follow a certain ‘standard’, can we assure that the standardized recipe is the ‘best’ possible way of cooking the said dish? Or would it be the ‘best-tasting’ dish of one’s life if we adhere to such standards? Two of the primary reasons why DTI proposed to standardize the adobo is to find the ‘common denominator among all the known ways of cooking it’ and to help preserve the country’s cultural identity despite of its multiple variations. These intentions of standardizing the adobo are good, but we cannot just set something as a norm that everyone is expected to follow and adhere to.

As for every proposal, there are a lot of pros to be acknowledged and cons to be addressed. The standardization of the cooking technique for the Philippine adobo will help ordinary citizens, foodies, and food businesses determine and maintain the authentic Filipino Adobo taste, as Bureau of Philippine Standards Director Neil Catajay said. However, if this would be implemented, there might be a decrease of value over regional adobo recipes aforementioned as the standardized recipe for adobo will be followed more - contradicting one of DTI’s

OPINION

7

RPTD

Renz Bautista

primary aim, to preserve the country’s own identity. Another con for this is that there is a possibility of stagnation, innovation is not easy to achieve if uniform and identical recipes is made the norm.

One of the reasons why many people, myself included, have questionable reactions into the standardization of adobo is that there are misplaced priorities.

DTI can focus more on the regulation of health and cosmetic products, particularly those circulating on the internet under the influence of multilevel marketing (MLM), since these are purchased by many, unbeknownst of the inaccurate claims of the sellers and the manufacturers. The DTI, with the partnership of the Food and Drug Administration, should take a very urgent action on these cases to ensure that accurate information is always given. It is very vital during the pandemic that we know correct health information.

DTI should reconsider its proposal to standardize adobo and possibly other Filipino dishes and should be promoting these as what it is. Adaptability, fecundity, and diversity are three things Filipino food has. Good food must not just be based on presentation and taste alone, but also the cultural significance which mainly builds up the identity of Filipino food.

ASJ's Supervisor Mr. Jose Ramelle E. Javier (far right) arrived in ASJ last June 29. Mr. Ramelle had meetings with the school administrators and conducted observation of classes. FILE THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS

8 OPINION // THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS Andrew Dela Plana

The last State of the Nation Address of this administration finally happened last July 26 and it was long. The mood of the event was warm as music from the live orchestra fills the Plenary Session Hall of the Batasang Pambasa.

As his final State of the Nation Address begins, President Rodrigo Duterte compliments the SONA audience saying that it was the most beautiful SONA crowd that happened. He started by saying that his administration now has fewer visions, but more remembrances, and he reiterated that his job is not to second guess and think over what happened due to unforeseen circumstances, but to respond and bear with it.

Although that is true, a lot could be said about his government's response towards the COVID-19 pandemic. As these said circumstances unfold, we have seen officials and senators like Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa enjoying their lives while most of the middle class are unemployed.

He also said that the country’s economy was supposed to skyrocket until the COVID-19 pandemic “robbed” us of this opportunity. Keep in mind that travel bans and mass testing were suggested early

Insights from Du30’s sixth and last SONA on, but the government did respond to it months after it was brought up.

President Duterte also brought up the military and uniformed personnel pension reform bill and free legal assistance for the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, to help save them from charges that may arise from the performance of their duties. He also made an explicit order to shoot any communists walking around, taunting the International Criminal Court (ICC) and stating that communists are the ones causing great damage to the country.

He also praised Senate President Vicente Sotto III, saying that he could make a good vice president, which is for me, much too early for campaigning for him. He continued to talk about his accomplishments, such as the victory in Marawi, the MRT3 projects, and the infrastructures in different provinces through the Build, Build, Build program. The Drug War, which is something that he is truly proud of, which also claimed the lives of hundreds of innocent people, was mentioned a lot during his speech.

He once again claimed that ABS-CBN owed the government billions, a claim that the Bureau of Internal Revenue said was false.

COVID-19 IN THE PHILIPPINES

TOTAL CASES:

1,580,824

(DATA AS OF JULY 30 2021) ACTIVE CASES:

61,920

(3.9% of total cases)

TOTAL RECOVERIES:

1,491,182

TOTAL DEATHS:

27,722

After crediting his accomplishments, the President finally addressed the issue at hand – COVID-19. He asked the Filipinos to wait for the incoming vaccines a little longer as more vaccines will be arriving soon. He also mentioned the threat of the Delta variant, saying that soon prayer will be our only salvation against the virus.

After different lockdown protocols that were imposed during the pandemic, he said that the country cannot afford to go into more lockdowns and that our resources are thinning and are nearly spent. He called on Congress to amend different laws, as well as to create disease prevention agencies. In the end, he assured us, Filipinos, that they will exert every effort to restore the lost livelihood, saying that the government will work to increase employability and to help the hardest-hit sectors. Like his administration, his last State of the Nation Address was long and hard to go through with. Filipinos should always remember that the number of achievements in these trying times is nothing compared to a concrete plan with concrete solutions, and as his administration is about to end, I’d like to call on to every legal age Filipinos to register and to vote wisely in 2022.

NEW CASES:

8,562

ARRIVED VACCINE DOSES:

33,860,700

As of July 30, 2021

VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED:

19,359,927

As of July 29, 2021

TOTAL VACCINATED (1ST DOSE):

11,524,212

As of July 29, 2021

TOTAL FULLY VACCINATED:

7,835,715

As of July 29, 2021

PERCENTAGE TO TARGET:

13.51%

of 58 M Filipinos before Dec. 31, 2021

DATA FROM DOH COVID-19 TRACKER, ABS-CBN RESEARCH GROUP

YUGTO

The beginning of the end:

july 2021 //

AN ODE TO WHOM Clocking in with one hundred sixty-six minutes, President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his sixth State of the Nation Address at the opening of the Third Regular Session of the 18th Congress of the Philippines. Now set to have been the longest one delivered in the post-EDSA People Power Revolution era, his last report about the condition of our country would surely be one for the books.

However, two questions came into mind after the almost three hours of listening and taking down notes. First, for whom was the speech for? And secondly, is this the real state of our nation?

The speech gave us two facets of this President: the scripted and the unscripted. The scripted one gave us the rundown of what his administration claims as their achievements from the past five years. Ranging from increasing the salaries of uniformed personnel to extending the validity of the Philippine passport. The written script also tried to give a glimpse of what they would like to achieve in the twilight of their government; from the creation of separate departments on migrant Overseas Filipino Workers and on disaster resilience.

On the other hand, the unscripted one gave as the “real” face of the man. Playing the hits such as emphasizing on the war on drugs and against the communist insurgency. Add to that the misogynistic comments and the non-renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise. All of these whilst trying to project a strongman personality especially towards the criminals and the corrupt.

So, for whom were both facets of the President were? All but for the service of his base: his supporters and his enablers. His speech surely touched the issues that made him President; projecting the idea that he had done something aligned to that of his campaign promises. And those he had failed to deliver, though through the eyes of his base were outweighed by his achievements, were lost due to the pandemic. So as what he stated, that was indeed not his swan song. Rather, it was just another late-night rambling of the man from Davao we have been watching weekly

OPINION

9

LEX TALK

Mr. Lawrence Fernando

since the lockdown began but this time in prime time.

Credit must be given when it is due. However, in this administration’s case, such due lacks as they were not the primary movers of most of the “achievements” they have taunted. It just so happened that they were the ones in position when projects were completed and the ones to sign the legislation that were mostly initiated by opposition or long-time advocates.

Now, what is the real state of the nation? That really depends on whom one is asking. For some, it is at a better shape than before. For some, it is at its worst. Sadly, if one shall base it on the last the last few years, our country has so much been divided. The rich and the poor. The DDSs and the Dilawans. The Boomers and the Wokes. Our divisions have now deeply divided us. So much so that we would rather start labelling one another and treat each other as enemies than to find common ground, similarities and points of unity.

Indeed, we are facing tough challenges ahead. The pandemic is still ranging on with cases still going up and the vaccination rollout quite slow. Natural calamities especially those caused by climate change has now been more occurring than ever. The Chinese aggression in our territories had become more troubling as the days go by.

Add to that the societal problems the country has long been facing such as poverty and corruption.

Regrettably, the state of our nation is far from the ideal and the nation has yet to really reach its full potentials. And this administration has frustratingly had served as a roadblock to that. As Duterte’s term is now on its dwindling days and the elections in the horizon, the Filipinos must work towards healing and uniting the nation. Only with such that the Filipinos could surely move forward to become the nation it aspires to be.

To my fellow citizens especially the youth, the situation may be discouraging and dire but we must strive and struggle to progressively move forward as one nation. It’s time for us to stand and fight for a government that we Filipinos truly deserve. A government that is truly of all the People and for all the People.

Graphical results when students were asked to rate their AirClass experience from the month of July. Of the 53 students, 7 or 13.2% answered they were completely satisfied, 27 or 50.9% answered they were satisfied, 17 or 32.1% answered they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 2 or 3.8% answered they were dissatisfied and no student is completely dissatisfied.

DATA FROM THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS

10 features // THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS

Letter to the Editor: Dear Lasallian Rheims editors, Greetings!

I wrote this letter to share my experiences in the first month of school year 2021-2022 and my hopes for the rest of the school year.

My AirClass first month was both exciting and scary. Another year for another experience that I can have in my life. It was exciting because I got to see my classmates again virtually, and scary because I will encounter different subjects that I need to be familiar with again.

Waking up early in the morning, opening my laptop, and gathering the things I needed for my class is how I prepare before entering a Zoom meeting. Facing the teachers I've met in my Grade 11 years helped me to be comfortable in having online classes, I know it's exhausting to experience the same setup we have last school year but we need to adapt to the change that is happening. So far, a month of my AirClass experience is just fine that I am not encountering difficulties in learning.

I am looking forward to finishing this school year with great experience and fun learning. I am still hoping that maybe we can have a face-to-face setup to seize the moment and create memories before graduating from this school and we can have the chance to participate more in the school's activities.

Sincerely Yours, Zosia, Grade 12 St. Miguel Febres

Just the Beginning Marielle Navarro & Lance Crisostomo

“Pasukan na naman?” - The question that rings in every student’s mind whenever a vacation is about to end. As the Academy of Saint John had its opening of classes earlier than other institutions, this question surely lingered in the minds of ASJ students in the morning of June 14. Even so, the start of the S.Y 2021-2022 has been welcomed by the ASJ community with open arms and we are now nearing the end of the first quarter already.

The first few weeks were used for orientation, reiterating the rules to the old students and introducing them to the transferees. As always, students were taught about the rules and regulations, how things work in AirClass, and of course the life of our very own St. John Baptist de La Salle.

Students have finally adjusted after all the academic activities that have been given out this July. During the first encounters with teachers, full-on discussions were already initiated and accompanied with schoolwork. We entered the infamous “Quiz Bee Month” and encountered many quiz bees in the different subject areas including the annual

Vision-Mission Week and Life of St. John contests.

More than a month has already passed since the start of this second online school year. A recent survey conducted by the Lasallian Rheims asked for the assessment of the studentry on their first month of AirClass. The responses showed positive feedback from the students as the majority rated their AirClass experience as satisfied. Although unavoidable problems exist such as lagging and continuous adjustment periods, the testament of improvements are manifesting one step at a time. Even if the start of the school year wasn’t perfect, we can surely say that this year’s start is better than last year’s.

A bit different from last year’s shaky beginning, the ASJ community has gotten a grasp of how things are done in order to push through. It’s a genuine wake-up call for everyone that the academic year has finally started and there is no going back now.

Yes, the school year has now officially started, and ASJ students are bouncing back even better than before.

This is just the beginning of a new normal in which we are to thrive as students in a much better state.

july 2021 //

FEATURES

Health is wealth: Nutrition Month prevails amidst pandemic

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Trisha Ilar, Kyzzia Paguirigan, & Lance Crisostomo

53.9% of all Filipino families experience food insecurity while 21.1% of all Filipino families experience hunger. Additionally, one-third or almost 3.4 million Filipino children experiences growth stunts, manifested by their height. - National Nutrition Council (NNC), July 2021.

Keeping a healthy state of being is easier said than done. We can easily say that we should eat healthy, do regular exercise, and avoid vices such as smoking.

However, the execution of such is difficult at some point because some of the tastiest foods known to man, such as burgers and fries, are considered as not so healthy foods because of their oil content. Additionally, people are so busy with work and school that exercise was already removed from their routine and the stress that workloads give people lead some to have vices such as drinking and smoking which they perceive as a stress reliever.

With that being said, the essence of having the Nutrition Month makes a lot of sense. This month is a reminder for all that keeping a healthy state of being is important and can make a difference in our lives. For this year, the NNC focused on a specific health problem - Malnutrition. It has been focused on since the Philippines, even before the pandemic, has been under the pressure of the triple burden of malnutrition undernutrition, overnutrition, and hidden hunger.The pandemic added fuel to the flame which made food access, delivery of health and nutrition services, having exercises, and giving of monetary assistance more difficult.

To raise awareness and spread

information regarding malnutrition and health overall, NNC devised activities this month. In the list are series of webinars regarding different topics like last July 8, a webinar about “Malnutrisyon - Whys and Hows” was conducted via Facebook Live; July 15-16, a national nutrition conference regarding nutrition in the Philippines; and July 30, the culmination of the national Nutrition Month. Not only that, NNC also released contests such as cooking contests, a Facebook photo contest, and a TikTok contest with health related themes.

In the Academy of Saint John, contests were also held as part of the Nutrition Month. The Grade School Department had their contests such as pancake making, headdress making, and Cherifer dance contest last July 29. On the other hand, the High School Department had their fruit bouquet making contest yesterday, July 30.

The problems that the nation has regarding health has been intensified by the pandemic. The limitations set by the quarantine protocols and the grueling effects of the pandemic in all aspects of our lives are very challenging, especially to our health. As the persistence of the pandemic continues, the problem of malnutrition across the nation will also continue to persist. As a nation, we need to make food access, delivery of health and nutrition services more open. Together with the national government, we can start a change right now.

With all the learnings and realizations that this month brought, may we all spark a light in our hearts to help one another go through this problem and change the overall health state of the Filipino people, one step at a time.

The Grade School Department had their Nutrition Month celebration featuring different contests such as pancake making, headdress making, among others.

Featured in the photo are the Grade 2 St. Angela pupils, with their adviser, Ms. Gladys Gereña, wearing their fruit-themed headdress.

PHOTO SOURCE GLADYS GEREÑA

12 features // THE LASALLIAN RHEIMS

MOVIE REVIEW:

LUCA

Marielle Navarro

Disney and Pixar are back at it again with making beautifully animated movies, “Luca” being their latest masterpiece. Released this June 13, 2021 at the Aquarium of Genoa and later on June 18, 2021 as its official release date in Disney+. It is a comingof-age movie about a young sea monster boy named Luca. With a screen time of 95 minutes, this movie was directed by Enrico Casarosa and the screenplay written by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones.

The story is set on the Italian Riviera, a true landmark in Italy, in the 1950-1960s. The movie starts off with two fishermen riding a boat on their way to a secluded fishing spot near the town of Portorosso. This is where the second lead of the story, Alberto, is introduced as he jumps out of the water after being discovered by the fishermen. They throw a fishing spear and open the motor of the boat, riding away to the town as their items sink down below.

At this point, Luca is introduced to the audience as a fish herder in an underwater sea monster village. He finds the items Alberto was stealing, daydreaming about going up the surface. He and Alberto meet, Luca eventually being pulled up the surface. The two formed a friendship, Luca enticed by all that Alberto introduced to him especially the vespa.

Throughout these events, I found myself being pulled into their little world especially with the graphic imagery of Luca’s daydreams. As an avid daydreamer myself, I was glad that they captured the whimsical essence of it all.

When Luca’s parents found out he was spending time in the surface and planned to send him away, Luca ran off to him and Alberto’s hideout where they planned to run away to the town of Portorosso. Their arrival was a definite rollercoaster, establishing the fact that Portorosso was a place unsafe for sea monsters, them encountering Ercole who is the main antagonist of the movie, and meeting Guilia was able to give them an opportunity to get away without being discovered.

The three of them bonded over the want to win the

PHOTO SOURCE PIXAR

Portorosso Cup, a triathlon relay in the town. She brought Luca and Alberto to her home where she introduced her father, Massimo, and their family cat, Machiavelli.

Overtime, Alberto found a father figure in Massimo and Luca and Guilia’s friendship grew over their shared interest in school. Due to this, Luca seemed to distance himself from Alberto’s advice and when Luca said that he wanted to go to school instead of travelling the world, the two fought. By this point I was already tearing up because of the emotional investment I put in this movie, and when Alberto was revealed himself as a sea monster and Luca didn’t even back him up, their facial expressions were enough to make cry.

Every scene until the ending, from Massimo going out to find Alberto, Luca doing the race by himself trying to fix things and him revealing himself to the whole town in order to save Alberto, Guilia sacrificing her chance to win for them, the whole town accepting them, Ercole getting what he deserved, and Luca reuniting with his family who support his ambitions after watching him race. It was all quite a literal blur of emotions because I was probably crying the whole time.

The grandma’s speech about how not all people may accept Luca as himself, but he sure knows how to find the good ones made me so happy because it’s a beautiful message to a lot of people out there who may be struggling with fitting in society’s norms.

In the end, when Alberto sacrificed the vespa they worked so hard to get in order to get Luca into school and said that Massimo wanted Alberto stay with him in Portorosso, it goes to show how much the two have grown.

The whole movie was a beautiful story with an animation style that fit its aesthetics so perfectly. The theme, the message, the soundtrack, everything broke my heart (in a good way) and mended it back together again. I hope that all the people, young or old, who watched this movie found comfort in it the way I did. Truly, a masterpiece indeed.

july 2021 //

scitech

13

Perseverance continues Mars exploration; takes a step in acquiring Martian samples Renz Bautista

The Perseverance Rover is on its way to make its next milestone as it starts to probe rocks and dust for evidence of past biological life on Mars.

The rover tested its 2-meter mechanical arm and its detectors which use X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) light to examine the rocks. The detectors will also record closeups of the rock segments.

The Planetary Instrument for X-ray Litochemistry, or PIXL fires X-rays to small calibration targets, which enables the other instruments to determine the composition of Martian dust scanned.

Abigail Allwood, PIXL’s principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said that the instrument delivered strong scientific results while it was tested.

The chemical maps of the PIXL instrument alongside with the SHERLOC instrument – which uses UV lasers to identify some of the rock’s minerals are used to get the detailed composition of the material.

The WATSON instrument takes closeup images of the samples which scientists use to determine the texture, and physical appearance of the rocks and how it was formed.

The rover will start its sampling process on the geologic unit “Cratered Floor Fractured Rough” in the Jezero Crater. It will take about 11 days to complete its first sampling.

“The idea is to get valuable data on the rock we are about to sample by finding its geologic twin and performing detailed in-situ analysis,” Vivian Sun, science campaign co-lead at JPL, said.

She also furthered that abrading will be done to scrape off the top layers of the rock and dust to expose unweathered surfaces and then the three instruments will be used.

Sample tubes will be filled with core samples of the studied rock beforehand. The samples are roughly the size of a chalk piece.

“Not every sample Perseverance is collecting will be done in the quest for ancient life, and we don’t expect this first sample to provide definitive proof one way or the other,” Ken Farley, one of the Perseverance project scientists. He also added that these rocks are not great time capsules for organics, they believed that the rocks have been around since the formation of the Jezero Crater and they are valuable in filling the gaps of their geologic understanding of the region.

The rover is now currently doing its first sampling. These samples are vital towards our understanding of Mars. A future mission will retrieve these samples and take them back to Earth for an in-depth observation by state-of-the-art equipment that could not be carried by a rover to Mars.

Chemical mappings made by the PIXL instrument of a single detected rock (left) from the area within the “Cratered Floor Fractured Rough” geologic unit at the Jezero Crater taken last July 8, 2021 by the Perseverance rover (right). PHOTO SOURCE NASA

ART SHAWN TEVES

Mini World in the Fridge As the grey fridge opens its gates Another world full of food awaits A bright yellow little sun inside it radiates Tiny green tree and a mini brown hill that silver decorates On its side giant white boulders line up A white river vertically contained in a cup Yellow blocks of the oily glacier of butter A pitcher filled with fresh lake water We usually call these as, Yellow light as the little sun the fridge has Chocolate as the mini brown hill Water as the fresh lake water fill Broccoli as tiny green trees in summer Butter as blocks of oily glaciers Eggs as lined up white boulders Milk as the vertically contained white rivers Also they have their own expertise Broccoli’s purpose is just like trees As trees prevents soil from eroding In broccoli’s case it prevents cancer from occurring As well as chocolate it has its own mission As the mini brown hill has elevation Chocolates increases happy hormones It also increases your energy to go on Just like strong boulder Eggs can make you stronger As its protein has important use It repairs and builds tissues These are just some of it Indeed, they are all worth to eat Just as how important nature is to us Its abundance greatly impacts us

- Trisha Ilar

Digital Footprint

Calm and steady waters of the mind Ruptured by a sudden gust of air Anger, danger that’s inevitable What it’s become, still unaware Cerulean screen, uniform to the hottest stars Burning through skin, a mask for exposed bone Afraid of the past, barricaded by memory Hiding behind screens as fragile as their own Look up, the screen is not a star you wish upon It will not bring back what is left for dead Shattered glass is what we all will be When it is time to walk the path of regret - Marielle Navarro

Vivisection When dunes rise from the sand Tuned monuments of dissonance Sung with long lost kin A hell for the curated type of sin Where lurching red lanterns And their crimson agony Take note of my disharmony In scorching crosses What poisoned chalices sow In an eerie evening glow A song of regret Stains my wayward tune Indelible, remembered My remaining true feelings are A story where happiness is forbidden

- Justine Benedict Yalung

ART MARCUS BUHAIN