T RU T H
BE YON D
K N OW I N G
VOL . 63 N O. 2 | M AY T O J U N E 2018
DISCUSSION Is being eco-friendly currently treated as a genuine movement or just another passing fad? Read on page 2
FEATURE Read more about the first SAMALAYA SAGES candidate in 10 years to be elected as USG president! Read on page 2
LOCAL Find out why there is an ongoing debate as to Bacolod’s real Charter Day. Read on page 3
PHOTO ESSAY A contrast between the city’s development and the struggle of its people. Read on page 4
WIKATIONARY Familiarize yourself with lesserknown gender identity and sexual orientation terms. Read on page 7
—MARIANO O. JAVIER
EMBRACING THE RAINBOW. Bacolod held its first-ever Pride Party, The Burning House, last June 30 at the House of Frida.
Pride Month: From Riot to Revolution BY HEZRON G. PIOS
When the New York City Police Department (NYPD) raided The Stonewall Inn on June 27, 1969, the rainbow banner bustled in full color. Four hundred frequenters witnessed how the bartender, the doorman and a few drag queens were harshly cuffed and, eventually, how they themselves swelled into a tally of 2,000 individuals immersed for close combat. The night incited dissent and words such as “Gay Power!” that bounced back and forth with such clarity. At the height of it, beer bottles and trash cans soon exchanged. By 4 a.m., when the hype already thinned, what took place seemed symbolic for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT+)
community. It served as a precursor to a revolution—a revolution of inclusivity and pride. A month later, Brenda Howard, considered to be the “Mother of Pride”, attended a march which commemorated the Stonewall riots. She later organized the first Christopher Street Liberation Day March to honor Stonewall in its anniversary which was tagged as the first Pride parade in the world. Soon, other cities and countries replicated the event and made their own versions, inciting the blueprint for Pride parades internationally. Howard, along with Robert Martin and L. Craig Schoonmaker, coined the term "Pride” while Sylvia Rivera, a trans woman whose speech given on Christopher Street
made waves in the progress of Pride, also championed the word. The said speech concluded with, “I do not believe in a revolution, but you all do. I believe in the gay power. I believe in us getting our rights, or else I would not be out there fighting for our rights. That’s all I wanted to say to you people. [...] The people are trying to do something for all of us, and not men and women that belong to a white middle class white club. And that’s what you all belong to!" In 1999, Pride Month was legitimized by then-president Bill Clinton in the United States. Even former President Barack Obama acknowledged June as the official season of Pride Month for the LGBT+ community.
Meanwhile, 24 years ago in Quezon Memorial Circle, the Metro Manila Pride March was declared the pioneer Pride March in whole Asia. It saluted the Stonewall riots and was moved to December in 2003 to coincide with World AIDS Day (December 1), National Lesbian Day (December 8), and International Human Rights Day (December 10). This eventually transformed into Pride Season, a six-month long celebration. However, it was moved again to June in 2015 but its influence only resonated to the neighboring regions. In addition, LGBT+ ally Sen. Risa Hontiveros has also been eagerly pushing for Senate Bill No. 1271 or the “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Expression
(SOGIE) Equality Bill that is currently being processed by the 17th Congress. “Love is the currency of our struggle. We are still here to march for equality, for our right to decide and become who we are, for our right to love. We march to show that the same rights we have pushed before are the same rights we are pushing for now. We assert the space of the [LGBTQIA+] community. We march for Jennifer Laude. We march for our kids bullied in school. We marched for those who cannot,” Hontiveros said during last year’s Pride March at the Marikina City Hall. This year, the march was set on June 30 with the theme “Rise Up Together”. Furthermore, the then Negros Island Region and its premier
cities are catching up as well, with both of them organizing Pride parades and parties: Bacolod City celebrating a Pride party entitled “The Burning House” at the House of Frida, whereas Dumaguete commemorated #6200Pride at Portal West. The Philippines, in spite of its historically-charged Christianity, continues to untangle itself of the many variations of discrimination and violence growing, especially in this fast-paced age. The LGBT+ community nonetheless sustains. What began as a riot now proliferates in the form of a rainbow, that is as infrequent but ubiquitous as ever, but with quantities of hues sprawling in all directions, and love as its major currency.
WHEN IN LA SALLE: A FROSHIE’S GUIDE TO COLLEGE BY CHAD MARTIN Z. NATIVIDAD
This is how it begins. It seemed like only yesterday when you’d rise at the crack of dawn, button your uniform, then shimmy through an eight to nine hour-sleeve of school. Although, you still can (the waking and buttoning part), for some, school for a day barely even amounts to, well—a day. Some classes now only occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays, others that meet every other day, beginning Monday, and there are classes where you only ever assemble once a week! You have heard this already, but here it comes again: Welcome to college! At first glance, it's not much different from the dimension called high school. There are teachers and discipline officers, but now, there are deans and department chairs, too. Familiar classes like English or History are still around, while some have been rebranded, into Religious Studies or General Science. The scotch schedule feels almost unreal, maybe even charitable. Here, free time can
merit you half a season of your followed show. But don’t let that firecracker freedom fool you. Where vacant hours abound, workload comes stalking. Thesis and on-the-job trainings wave like momentary strangers from afar. No pressure intended, but college life is last to the trifecta that is formal education. It’s the final line of “whatever you want” between the great and unknown reality that is the working world. While this doesn’t have to be your dream course yet, hopefully, you’ve enrolled in a profession that you could one day see yourself performing. Hopefully, again (for hope is in demand here), you’d have already pinned down your room assignments, been briefed of the college counterpart to quarters (terms and semesters), and found an ally or two among your fellow classmates (or should we say, blockmates). It should be said: there is no universal walkthrough into succeeding and surviving the undergraduate years before you. College experience is varied even
ILLUSTRATED BY ANDREA DANIELLE A. GAMBOA
for simultaneously-enrolled twins. Instead, let this be a local tutorial for getting by college, as it is in University of St. La Salle. Lasalle adopts a dualsemester academic year (as opposed to other schools that practice trimesters). Initial
classes should have briefed you that each semester is composed of three terms—the prelim, midterm and end term, to put it explicitly. While the terms have exclusive grade percentages, weigh each part as you would a sum. They will all total your
unified academic package. Only a few teachers require textbooks around here. The popular substitute being printed handouts or downloadable presentation, depending on the professor. While all may be available handily, preserve your virtue of note-taking. The testing style and demand of your classes may vary even after the first skirmish. By now, you should also already know the value of listening. In college, when your final average for all subjects is 85 or better, you get tagged into the Dean’s list, a record of consistent well-performers that are recognized by the university. If you’re aiming for Latin honors, persistent presence in the Dean’s list is a progressive sign that your Laudes are still up for the taking. Of course, college is just as co-curricularly imbued as high school. Each department has its own affiliate club or society run by students of the same course. USLS also has various volunteer groups like the University Student Government (USG) and the Center for Lasallian
E-MAIL thespectrum.usls@gmail.com · FACEBOOK facebook.com/thespectrumusls · ISSUU issuu.com/thespectrumusls
Ministries (CELAM), for students of leadership, dialogue or service. Keep an eye out for posters and television ads sprawled across the campus to find openings and instructions for application. The university club fair in the coming month is also a great chance to meet your curricular comrade for the next few years. Keep in mind though: you’re a student first before anything else. You’ll also find that specific academic weeks or months are decorated with their own occasions. There’s a Sportsfest for the sport-passionate and a University Week to celebrate our identity as Lasallians. Department clubs also hold culminating nights, where students of the same course could gather and catch up. Like they say, don’t say no, till you’ve tried it once. It may seem intimidating at first, or dull if you’re not directly participating, but there’s always more to a program than its main events. If you don’t want to subscribe for FROSHIE / PAGE 3