UNO-RIAN SENTINEL: Vol. 1 No. 2

UNO-RIAN SENTINEL

BCD celebrates Chinese culture, kicks off Bacolaodiat Festival 2023

A consent to embezzlement

There is nothing thicker than the faces of politicians who have sworn to ensure greatness for the country and its countrymen—but remain to stack major setbacks that caused the Philippines to continually sink into the depths of debt and corruption.

The Bacolod City local government celebrated the chinese new year after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic by launching the three-day Bacolaodiat Festival, held at the Bacolod City Government Center, Jan. 20.

“The Chinese community is an integral part of society and we are here to commune with the Chinese community in their celebration of new year,” Hon. Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez shared.

According to Mayor Benitez, in preparation for the event, several health protocols were implemented and some prohibitions made during the pandemic were also lifted.

“We permit establishments [to continue in normal transactions] and mobility of the people to roam around. Because of that, the confidence of the people to go out despite the virus, [is slowly growing back],” Mayor Benitez added.

Furthermore, as part of the opening ceremony for the aforementioned event, a cultural show was held to express appreciation for the Chinese community.

“This [cultural show] aims to welcome the Chinese community because they have big involvement in the accomplishments of Bacolod,” Cultural Show Coordinator Amy Soberano said.

Bacolod Trinity Christian School Inc., Bacolod Tay Tung High School Inc., and St. John’s Institute (Hua Ming) were invited to showcase their talents and perform during the cultural show.

The opening ceremony began with the ceremonial lighting, followed by the cultural show and a fireworks display.

In addition, festival-goers may look forward to pre-scheduled activities, including the Lantern Street Dance Competition, Lunar Music Festival, and the Mascot Parade.

THE TICKET BEARERS’ BIZARRE EXCHANGE

The bright fluorescent glow, the magnetic red painted bars and seats, and the sheer exhilarating shouts from the students sitting on the revolving, dangerously delightful carnival ride are enough to entice students and visitors alike. But before one can revel in the experience, a conductor requires two things: oneself and the exclusive ticket for the Octopus.

The University Week (U-Week) has resumed its two-year hiatus on a traditional celebration with face-to-face events and activities, seminar workshops, and the most awaited carnival. While the carnival does provide riveting experiences on its electrifying rides and parlor games, it also gave some of our UNO-Rian students a chance to explore the great beyond of the booth and bars – to work as ticket sellers for the carnival rides.

THE TICKET HOLDER

Most people plan their U-Week experience with food and stall hopping and spend some time practicing for competitions. But not for third-year Accountancy student Jake Bryan Lucendo who chose the path less taken -- to man the counter and become the ticket bearer for the amusement ride, Octopus.

“I took the job [ticket clerk] so that I would be preoccupied because there are times that I lose interest in roaming around the school doing the same activities, eating the same food repetitively,” Lucendo explains.

While being a ticket clerk chipped some time off Lucendo’s plate to repeat the same daily tasks, it was quite the opposite for third-year Accountancy student Shane Sisles who doesn’t mind routines. Being a ticket clerk herself, the cash-ticket exchange from sunup to moonlit evenings was barely noticeable as she finds the experience memorable.

“It was a repetitive task [such as] getting money from customers in exchange for tickets, but what made it unforgettable was the people I’ve dealt with,” Sisles shares.

She emphasizes that no matter how monotonous the work is, there is something to look forward to daily. Though both students have taken the roles behind booths, they also have their fair share of good and bad encounters.

FACES AND PHASES

They inevitably encounter different people in their states as they tread their working days. There will be people who are easy to deal with and people who will test your patience. However, it takes good communication and social skills to de-escalate a serious situation. Lucendo reminisces how she managed to handle a crowd in a small amount of time.

“I struggled the most in handling a crowd of customers since each transaction had a limited time in which I had to cope with the speed not to hold up the line and irritate the customer. Thus, the situation pushed me to quickly calculate and accommodate the customers,” he discloses.

On the other hand, Sisles narrates how she usually has children as customers on her morning shift. She says dealing with curious minds is quite a struggle, but she feels happy witnessing the children’s fear turn into excitement.

“They [kids] kept asking a lot of questions about the rides, and I can sense their nervousness at the same time. It was like giving a pep talk to help them overcome their fear, and seeing them enjoy the rides was rewarding,” Sisles smiles.

Sisles also mentions how meeting different people helped her prepare as a future accountant; to deal with and to know what to do in any given situation, especially involving money. More than that, she finds it thrilling to count the sales and turns it over at the end of the day.

HUSTLE

SHORT-LIVED

As all things that exist begin, they must also come to an end. Lucendo looks back at his fiveday experience, which he says he will remember as it opened new opportunities for him to learn. Moreover, it has uncovered new perspectives to prepare him for future endeavors.

“The five days I worked as a ticket clerk [was] a memorable experience. I got another opportunity to have first-hand experience working and interacting with many customers.

The Philippine government has once again been cooking a new, imprudent, and uncalled-for bill coined as the Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF). Earning the firm support of 282 out of the 312 members of the chamber, the bill, which presidential cousin Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez authored, and several other lawmakers, including Martin’s wife Tingog Party List Representative Yedda Romualdez, and the presidential son Senior Deputy Majority Leader Sandro Marcos, is hastily approved despite the controversies surrounding it and the Marcoses’ history of embezzlement.

For starters, MWF is a sovereign fund that the government will use to invest in a variety of outlets, including foreign currencies, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, commercial real estate, and infrastructure projects, among others. But then again, with this bill’s purpose, it all boils down to one question: will it suffice the needs of our country and the poor?

On its initial proposal, the bill is said to have its start-up capital worth P275 billion from the government financial institutions, namely the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Land Bank of the Philippines, Development Bank of the Philippines, and the national budget, but due to public criticism, it was changed for an attempt to counter its dubious motives.

Under the revised version of the bill, the SSS and GSIS are removed as funding sources of the investment fund and were replaced by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas as its new main start-up fund. But given these so-called “refinements” to the bill, does it really make it safe and reasonable? We think not.

MWF definitely brings back the

Despite the struggles and exhaustion, I had fun and learned,” Lucendo exhales almost triumphantly.

happenings of the Coco Levy Fund scam, which initially promised to develop the coconut industry, only to leave many farmers scarred and suffering penury during the term of the late dictator President Ferdinand Marcos. Are Filipinos willing to witness history repeat itself in this new administration led by someone that only spouts unity as the solution for the declining state of our country? Did President Bongbong Marcos not think about the high chances of failure this bill could bring due to mismanagement and corruption? Or did he even think at all?

Plans for this sovereign fund have been stained with a bad reputation due to the Malaysian sovereign fund scandal, wherein the prime minister of Malaysia and his wife embezzled all the money. Given this glimpse of the outcome, how come President Bongbong Marcos still supported this? Despite having frequent tendencies of imbecility and being the son of the dictator— who bagged the title for the greatest robbery of the government, we still hope that he strays away from the path of his father because one wrong move could lead to another economic crisis that we could barely withstand.

The new administration must focus on solving the country’s recession and the financial and food crises instead of gambling on the funds of our country. In this regard, Tolentine Star abhors the implementation of the MWF as pursuing it means setting up the Philippine government for much failure and corruption.

Perhaps the bill truly wishes to improve the country, but it remains a shiny trinket enclosed in a snare. Instead of trying to dupe the Filipino people, the government must focus on establishing long-term projects that will uplift the generational poverty of the citizens. Tolentine Star puts emphasis on the utmost protection of our funds from pretentious vanguards of national reserve.

Filipinos deserve what is rightfully ours and no two-faced, inept leader can ever have the power to take that away.

niche in the real world. As cliché as it may be, it was a roller coaster ride for everyone, perhaps an octo-ride.

CULTURAL COMEBACK. Pupils from different schools showcase their talents through a traditional chinese dance during the opening of Chinese new year 2023, Bacolod City Government Center Grounds, Jan. 26. ■Photo by Lance Joshua Satojito