THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ISSUE
7 EDITORIAL
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LOOKING BACK
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SCIENTIA AT 30 The Task at Hand
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Up Close: Dr. Jose Magpantay
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S&T Education: How and For Whom?
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Why Juan Can’t Think
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Purchasing Power
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Editorial 16(1)
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Call to Arms
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Paningkamot: New Approaches
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Dr. Lourdes Cruz: Scientist to the Barrios
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Consultations: Students Have Their Say on the CSC
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THE COVER During the historic Diliman Commune, members of the College of Science (then part of the College of Arts and Sciences) played their role by crafting Molotov cocktails and flamethrowers to defend against state forces. In this issue, we bring back some of our most favorite Scientia pieces reviving the spirit of the Commune scientists.
CONTENTS
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EDITORIAL
Scientia! MAHIGIT TATLUMPUNG TAON na ang nakalipas mula nang nailathala ang unang isyu ng Scientia noong Agosto 1988. At sa loob ng tatlong dekadang ito ay samu’t saring mga suliranin at talakayang pangkolehiyo at pambansa ang natahak ng pahayagan. Ilan sa mga paksang siniyasat ng Scientia ay ang mga isyung tumutukoy sa pambansang industriyalisasyon, estado ng agham at teknolohiya sa bayan, panunupil sa malayang pamamahayag, kalikasan at libreng edukasyon. Sa nakaraang tatlumpung taon ay hindi lamang mga lab report at research paper ang pinagkaabalahan ng mga mag-aaral sa Kolehiyo. Bagkus, nanindigan ang mga Siyentista ng Bayan at binigyang tanglaw at kritika ang mga suliraning bumabahid sa loob at labas ng agham. Ipinagdiriwang ng pahayagan ang patuloy na paglilingkod nito sa mga siyentista at mamamayan! Sa ika-30 taon ng pagkakatatag ng Scientia, patuloy na paiigtingin ng pahayagan ang pakikibaka at palalakasin ang boses ng siyentista lalong lalo na’t ang mamamayan ay humaharap sa mabibigat na krisis panlipunan. Nariyan ang patuloy na kontraktwalisasyon ng mga manggagawa na nagbunsod sa sunod-sunod na protesta. Isa rito ang pagpipiket ng mga manggagawa ng NutriAsia dahil sa pagbuwag ng kanilang unyon, hindi makatarungang pasahod, at hindi makataong kondisyon sa trabaho. Dagdag pang pahirap ang patuloy na pagtaas ng bilihin at pamasahe dahil sa Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. Sa bisa nito, mas bumigat ang pasanin ng mga mamamayan dulot ng dagdag-buwis sa ilan sa mga basic good at commodity upang pondohan
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ang pagpapatayo ng mga imprastakura sa ilalim ng programang Build Build Build na pakikinabangan lamang ng mga dayuhang bansa sa pamamagitan ng pagbayad ng Pilipinas ng malaking interes sa utang. Isa pa sa mga isyung kinakaharap ay ang panghihimasok ng Tsina sa ating pambansang soberanya. Wala pa ring karampatang aksyon ang administrasyon ukol sa pag-angkin ng West Philippine Sea sa kabila ng pagkapanalo ng Pilipinas sa United Nations arbitration case. Kung kaya’t maging ang mga Pilipinong mangingisda sa karagatang ito ay ginigipit ng mga Chinese coast guard na dahilan upang mawalan sila ng sapat na kita. Liban pa sa mga suliraning binanggit ay ang patuloy na pag-agaw ng lupa sa mga magsasaka at pambansang minorya, militarisasyon sa kanayunan, trumped up charges sa mga aktibista at mga human rights defender, ang hindi pag-usad ng usaping pangkapayapaan at marami pang iba. Ipatong pa sa lahat ng ito ang makikitang pagbuhay ng administrasyong Duterte sa diktadurang dati nang bumangungot sa bansa na kinitil ng pwersang masa. Makikita ang nagbabadyang diktadura sa pagdedeklara at pagpapatuloy ng Batas Militar sa Mindanao, sa pagpapatalsik kay Maria Lourdes Sereno bilang Punong Hukom, sa pag-atake sa mga institusyong midya, sa pagtaas ng bilang ng mga extrajudicial killing, sa pag-aaresto sa mga “tambay” at sa pagraratsada sa Charter Change na magpapatindi sa kapangyarihan ng ehekutibo. Noong Pebrero lamang ay mismong si Pangulong Duterte ang nagsabi na isa siyang diktador at ‘di umano’y kinakailangan niyang maging diktador “para sa ikabubuti ng bansa.”
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Ilang pahina mula sa unang isyu ng Scientia. Simula’t sapul, ang Scientia ay nagsilbing isang tanggapan ng talakayan ukol hindi lamang sa mga lokal na isyu sa Kolehiyo ng Agham, kundi sa kabuuang kalagayan ng agham at teknolohiya sa ating bansa.
Kung kaya, sa lumalakas na pananamantala, kinakailangan ang higit na malakas na paglaban. Bilang mga siyentistang mag-aaral, hindi lamang nahahangga sa laboratoryo ang ating kaalaman at kakayahan. Bagkus, dapat makibahagi tayo sa pagtugon sa ugat ng mga suliraning panlipunan. Magagawa ito ‘di lamang sa pakikilahok sa mga talakayan sa social media, kung hindi ay sa pamamagitan ng aktwal na paglubog sa masa na mas magpapaunawa ng totoong sitwasyon ng mga magsasaka, manggagawa, maralita at pambansang minorya. Gayon din, kailangan ang patuloy na pagaaral ‘di lamang ng mga siyentipikong konsepto kundi maging ng ekonomikong kalagayan ng bansa na siya ring nagpapanatili sa bansot at atrasadong agham at teknolohiya. Mula rito, ganap na makapaglulunsad ng mabisang platapormang naglalayong ilahad ang mga hinaing ng mamamayan at magmulat sa mga kapwa siyentista — gaya na lamang ng pahayagang mag-aaral. Inaanyayahan ang mga kapwa siyentista at inhinyero maging ang mga estudyante mula sa ibang kolehiyo, gradwado o ‘di gradwado, na maglingkod bilang kawani ng pahayagan. Mahirap ang buhay bilang estudyante sa ating pamantasan sa dami ng ating kinakailangang ipasang exam at mga requirement. Ngunit makakasiguro kayo na ang bawat pagsisikap ninyo sa papel ay hindi matatapos sa isang grado lamang o makukulong sa apat na sulok ng isang silid. Wala kaming hinihinging prior experience liban sa pagnanais na matuto at pagpupursigi. Sumapi na! bit.ly/JoinScientia2018
EDITORIAL
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LOOKING BACK
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Penned by the second Editor-in-Chief of Scientia, The Task at Hand details a public dialogue hosted by Scientia involving the then three-yearold College of Science Student Council, the College of Science Administration as headed by the College’s first dean Dr. Roger Posadas, and the students who attended the event. The feature highlighted the “unquestionable apathy of CS students,” a phrase which unfortunately still carries truth today. To illustrate, the voter turnout in the College of Science for the 2018 UPD Elections did not even reach 50% at a turnout of 34.32%, lower than last year’s 48.73% turnout. The phrase must die out of any truth. The scientist must be made active and assertive, especially in these trying times when a creeping dictatorship looms the country and the state of science and technology remains stunted by the semi-feudal, semi-colonial character of Philippine society. IT STARTED WITH a power failure. Most of the councilors and staffers sent word that they would be, at the least, late for the program. The refreshments, of all things, became a major problem. And to top it all off, only a sprinkling of curious spectators arrived to witness the event. Were these omens of more bad luck to come? Fortunately not. On September 9, the dialogue bet ween the College of Sci ence Student Council (CSSC), CS Administrators and students, as mediated and sponsored by Scientia, was also showered with blessings. First was the lively and detailed discussion spearheaded by Dean Roger Posadas on one side, and CSSC President Annie Berdin on the other. Second was the positive audience response and active participa tion delivered by the Scientia staffers and the concerned students. Third, the dialogue provided an excellent opportunity for the students to air their sentiments as well as get to know their administrators and CSSC members better, And fourth, well, the refreshments made it on time.
WRITTEN BY EVELYN RESIDE 1988-89 VOL 1 NO 2
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The dialogue’s theme was “The College of Science Stu dent Council: the Task at Hand”. True to form, the prog ram progressed along that line. A brief year-ending report was presented by a former Chairman of the CSSC, Greg Labanda, and current Chairman Berdin and her councilors gave the audience a preview of the activities planned for their term.
This year’s Student Council is stressing a general program of action that centers on value formation and community building. So what lies ahead for the CS community in the following months? For starters, the CSSC has just recently launched the Students’ Action Line, a welfare project for stu dents whose problems (facilities, student-teacher rela tions, and dropping, shifting and transferring procedures among others) need immediate action and attention. In line with their goal of community building, the council intends to embark on projects such as a CS yearbook, a CS extravaganza (a variety show), a weekly “kapihan”, and a retreat for the seniors. A CS sportsfest was already suc cessfully held early last semester. Owing to the intimacy of the relatively small-group discussion, the students were able to air a number of their problems. Among these were the trans portation dilemma along Roces Avenue (the road leading to the new CS Building). and complaints regarding curricula, the dilapidated lab rooms, and outmoded facilities. On a broader scale, the state of science and technology in the Philippines was also tack led. Concerning this issue, the dean stressed the urgent need for more researchers in order to reverse the seeming back wardness of the country. But the major concern was the unquestionable apathy of the CS students. The poorly a ttended fora, dialogues, and other CS activities are witness to this fact. It was resolved, then, that the CSSC should make an impact — that it should make itself a significant partner in the social and academic growth of each and every CS student. As much as possible, the students must be made active, not just aware. It was at this point that most, if not all, of those present took a quick glance at the almost empty Pilar Herrera Hall and rea1ized once again that the apathy was all around. It filled the room; it was in the empty seats and in the curious faces of CS students who peeked through the huge doors and never bothered to enter. Too bad. They missed one very interesting and enlightening discussion. And they missed refreshments.
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UP CLOSE: DR. JOSE A. MAGPANTAY WRITTEN BY IVY RESIDE 1989-90 VOL 2 NO 2
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Jose Magpantay is one of the most respected professors who worked at the National Institute of Physics. He was serious in his lectures, often exclaiming “Walang misteryoso diyan!” while pointing at an equation on the board. But Dr. Magpantay was also serious in pointing out the need to fund scientific research, emphasizing that we will not become an industrialized country through a miracle. Indeed, in order to become a fully, nationally industrialized country, we must (1) pursue an independent foreign policy, (2) protect and promote our industries which work for our needs, (3) implement genuine agrarian reform, (4) and of course, support our scientists and engineers, and fund scientific research and education. Dr. Magpantay has retired from research just last year, but the fight for national industrialization and an advanced Philippine science and technology will never be retired until we break the shackles that chain our researchers. Walang misteryoso diyan!
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SCIENTIA: When asked, children normally say “I want to be a doctor, or a businessman when I grow up”. So far, I don’t personally recall hearing anyone say that he wanted to be a physicist. So what triggered your interest in the field? DR. M: It actually started in second year high school. Kasi, graduate ako ng Manila Science High School and I had a very good teacher named Mrs. Calumpang. She got my interest in physics going. During that time, what we were discussing was purely mechanics — motion, kinematics — yun naman kasi ang ginagawa pag high school. May mga problems, halimbawa, na bine-base niya kay Superman na he had to fly to catch a falling woman. Ang maganda kasi noon, we started with problems where you are plotting motion so nakikita mo kung ano ang nangyayari. physics is visual kasi ang umpisa, kinematics — you’re plotting motion, you’re doing graphs. SCIENTIA: What can you say about how physics is being taught in the Institute? DR. M: I think teachers should just teach the level of the course they are teaching. There are three levels of general service courses: Physics 21, which is basically high school physics; Physics 51 and 52 for Biology, pre-medical and Architecture students; and Physics 71, 72 and 73 or the calculus-level physics.
SCIENTIA: In your previous response, you sort of used ‘’new instructors” and ‘’new graduates” interchangeably. DR. M: Generally, ang mga new teachers, fresh graduates. Mabilis kasi ang turnover. Usually the faculty members just stay around for two or three years taking a few MS courses, and then they go to the US or Japan for their Ph.D. But we do have some senior instructors here, mga 3, 4 or 5 years nang nagtuturo. The most senior faculty member is retirable in twelve years, and then, after that, retiring in twenty years, thirty years. SCIENTIA: However, the Physics community is still small, despite the fast turnover. DR. M: We have very few graduates. I think the best year was in 1983, when we had 13 graduates! SCIENTIA: What are your plans to make Physics as a course more attractive, especially to incoming freshmen? DR. M: We would like the NIP to be a very good research institute. We would like the NIP to be doing interesting fundamen-
Sometimes there is a tendency for faculty members to use powerful mathematics to make physics easier. But you can’t do that for Physics 51 and 52 because those students aren’t required to know calculus. So the complaint, generally, is masyadong mataas ang level ng pagtuturo ng Physics 51 and 52. So what we did was that every start of the semester we have workshops to orient new graduates, or new instructors, on what is expected of them. And we emphasize the level of each course. We also emphasize to instructors the policy that when they make exams, it should be designed in such a way that the average conscientious student should be able to pass it.
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tal work and interesting applied work in physics. Meaning, we’d like to be on an international level. For the Institute to do that we should have: one, the qualified manpower, which translates into a minimum requirement of a Ph.D. - an aggressive Ph.D.; two, publication in international journals; and three, we don’t just want publication in international journals, gusto naman namin na mga meaningful problems yung sino-solve. But the Institute would also like to be a research-experimental institute. We are developing experimental programs. And experimental physics is really expensive. We’d like the government to realize that it is to the advantage of the country if it supported these experimental programs. But apparently they don’t realize it. Kasi, when the Institute was founded in 1983 and became operational by 1984, the initial budget was 3 million. That was ‘83 - ’84: malaki na ang 3 million noon. Eh ngayon, ang research budget namin ay 1.6 million. Bumaba pa! We’re not really getting support from the government. SCIENTIA: Perhaps the role of physics in progress is not being emphasized. DR. M: Hindi nila nakikita, hindi nila napapansin na lahat ng bagong semiconductors, bagong space technology, hindi nangyayari without developments in physics. The most fundamental of the sciences is physics. Chemistry is applied molecular physics; electronics is based on semiconductor devices which are based on solid-state physics. They keep on saying that they’d like to become a NIC (Newly Industrialized Country) by the year 2000. But I don’t think they know what it takes to be a NIC by then. Maybe they’re hoping for a miracle like EDSA. In this country, we’re always looking for miraculous solutions. It reflects on the way we think. Pag meron tayong
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na-develop na bagong variety of rice, we call it Miracle Rice, or pag fish, Miracle Fish. It’s in the culture. I don’t think we’re looking for hard work; I don’t think we’re ready for hard work. We want to be a NIC by the year 2000 through a miracle. SCIENTIA: Nevertheless, Physics majors are very active in their research projects. DR. M: One thing that we’re proud of is that in this Institute, everything is handson. We buy equipment and we let the students use them. Of course, minsan, may nasisira but that’s part of the learning process. Most of the undergrads are members of the laboratories. They can join the Laser, Instrumentation, Electronics, Material Science or the Plasma Physics Laboratories. The Material Science lab is producing superconductors on thin film, something that advanced laboratories in the US and Japan are doing.
Kaya naman kailangan mong simulan lahat, kasi wala nang ibang institute sa Pilipinas na magsisimula pa. The premier physics institute is this institute. If it’s lousy, then wala na! Ngayon, it’s up to the University to respond. We started these projects, these very important programs, dapat i-fund iyan. Kasi pag hindi, mamamatay sila, and then we’ll have to start again from scratch. For next year, we need a budget of 6 million, and I asked for this budget from Pres. Abueva, pero hindi pa sila nagre-respond kung ibibigay o hindi. But I think we deserve it; since 1980, we have had around 108 publications. We’re a very active Institute. The NIP is very serious in its efforts to develop physics. ●
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Science and Technology Education: How and For Whom? WRITTEN BY SALVADOR CAOILI 1989-90 VOL 2 NO 2
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EDITOR’S NOTE: National industrialization has graced the oldest pages of Scientia and has been called for by the very first movements of Filipino scientists. In this persuasive piece, Salvador Caoili makes the strong case for a better science education, an essential part of national industrialization but which has taken less of the spotlight. Caoili notes that science and technology education must be prioritized and taken seriously not just in order to have better researchers but also to shift the labor force to a higher degree of technical capability, which is required to transition into industrialization. Although the article was written in 1989, many of the traits of Philippine education it stated are still true today. But what’s new is we now have the K-12 education system that only works against industrialization since its promoted need, to make students “job ready,” really just means to ease the production of batches of semi-skilled workers for the exploitation (via contractualization, low wages) of capitalists.
SCIENTIFIC & TECHNICAL (S&T) education doesn’t seem to have that much appeal these days. Economic development through na tional industrialization is the primary concern of the sectors awakening to the need for scientific and technological progress. S&T provides the dynamism and vitality necessary for sustained indus trial growth through a continuous process of research and development (R&D), but this S&T base can materialize only if a nation can generate and maintain a competent and well-oriented S&T workforce of considerable size; the role of S&T education in this respect has been grossly under-emphasized and neglected. Can we reasonably expect to realize rapid industrialization with the inadequate methods of S&T education and with the very limited number of individuals actually receiving it? Philippine S&T education is deficient in both its material and human aspects. The deficiency of the material aspect — the availability of laboratory facilities, equipment and other essential educationmaterials — may be traced to the insufficient
SCIENTIA VOL 25 NO 2
Lumad students tour the UPD Institute of Biology.
Photo from Agham Youth - UPD
budget allocations for education and S&T itself. Due to cost constraints, for example, equipment is frequently absent, limited and/or merely confined to display cabinets for fear of damage — a practice reminiscent of the physics class in Jose Rizal’s novel El Filibusterismo. The inade quacy of the human aspect — the modes and methods of instruction — may also be traced to the lack of financial support for members of an economically unrewarding profession. The deeper reason, how ever, seems to lie in the prevailing neocolonial type of education.
it in an alien ‘international’ language, and is exposed only to foreign S&T ·situations. Consequently, he cannot effectively integrate S&T into his own cultural identity. He is ignorant of the S&T challenges of his own country, and his S&T outlook is distinctively foreign. Thus, the present S&T system educational system provides poor foundations for the development of the values of nationalism and public service, and because the financial opportunities for S&T jobs are far more attractive abroad, the system practically produces S&T personnel for foreign consumption.
In a symposium held at the Philippine Science High School last Science Week, Dr. Norman Quimpo (current chairman of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Math Department) raised a number of interesting points concerning the Philippine S&T educational system. Dr. Quimpo stated the need for S&T to be taught in a meaningful context, noting that the administration of oversimplified and fragmented facts is the prevalent mode of S&T teaching. Students are exposed only to foreign S&T problems and in the process are taught ‘book science’ in which there is minimal refinement of the foreign textbook content in terms of relevant and practical elabo ration. He also discussed the cultural aspect of S&T education. He firmly maintained that Filipino, which facilitates greater reception and understanding on the part of the student, should be used in place of English, and he suggested that the origins of S&T and S&T achievements in the Filipino historical context should be given emphasis in the S&T curriculum to enable the student to culturally identify himself with S&T.
Barring the fact that current S&T education is qualitatively deficient, the number of students actually receiving it is alarmingly small. It is much more reasonable to expect rapid industrialization to occur in synchrony with a rise in a society’s collective S&T consciousness and competence, rather than with S&T knowledge and skill confined to a small group of individuals. S&T education must go beyond the ranks of the S&T workforce (i.e. the researchers). Industrialization requires the shift from unskilled manual labor to highly skilled technical labor; the labor force itself must attain an acceptable state of technical capability. Well-managed and well-administered S&T education for the working class can help solve the man-versus-machine conflicts, characterized by job displacement due to the mechanization of labor in the industrializa tion process. As new methods and machines are introduced, new needs (e.g. machine maintenance and repair) arise, and the workers may be trained to assume these new functions, or go into new areas of production and processing, thus promoting industrial expansion and diversification.
Dr. Quimpo raised another point concerning the unhealthy, highly compartmentalized nature of the S&T curriculum. Dividing lines between the different areas of S&T have been overstressed; S&T and the social sciences have been mutually excluded from each other. Educators fail to realize that all fields of S&T are in terrelated (and in some ways interdependent), and that S&T knowledge and skill development should be balanced by a corresponding development of social awareness and wisdom if the former is to be translated into positive benefits for society rather than into political or economic tools for those striving for power, wealth and influence.
An extensive and effective S&T educational system for the working sectors of society must be realized as a prerequisite for industrialization. If we are to attain the grand vision of industrialization, we must recognize S&T education as a key factor in the laying of the foundations; we must treat this issue seriously and analytically, realizing its implications with regard to industrialization and making the necessary adjustments. Only through an appropriate S&T education system can S& T awareness and competence radiate throughout society, permeate every concerned sector and provide the basis for an industrialized nation. ●
The Filipino student is taught S&T outside his own native cultural context. He learns
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Why Juan Can’t Think WRITTEN BY ROMMEL LALATA 1989-90 VOL 2 NO 4
A UNESCO SURVEY of elementary teachers in Asia concerning certain mathematical concepts, revealed that less than 20% of Filipino teachers could grasp the concept of square roots. Ask the common individual on the street about simple arithmetic, say two minus four, for example, You’d be surprised to find out how many people have no concept of negative numbers.
but nevertheless potential scientist, our version of science education is pitifully encourages memorization and rote learning. It stifles the spirit of inquiry and is against the noble tradition of what science should be. If the preceding weren’t true, how come our number of Ph.D.’s in the pure sciences remain below a hundred? We could not even guarantee that they are above 50.
Students are no different. The Department of Education and Sports (DECS) even admits that student performance is lowest in mathematics and in the sciences. Lamentable. For a nation whose target is to become a newly industrialized country (NIC) by the year 2000, these indicators reveal a seriously disturbing situation.
So how come we find ourselves in a pea soup not of our own making? Here follows a scientifically sound (but short) delving into the issue:
In the 1960’s, the UP College of Engineering boasted of being numero uno in Southeast Asia. The situation was so favorable that it seems the college chose to stay in that bygone era. Such jokes, unfortunately, cut uncomfortably close to the truth. But we speak of no deterioration in science education here, after all, we never really had quality education in science. We are left behind for a very simple reason: we could not catch up. How could we? Teachers are ill-trained. We have very poor curricula. There are in efficient systems of teaching and administration. Government misprioritizes even as it pays excellent lip service to science. Congress has no science legislative agenda. In other words, there is no life in science. Our science education confirms this. Instead of stimulating the intellect, tickling the imagination of the average individual
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Rommel Lalata’s piece voices the resounding frustration of the state of our science education. In addition to having inefficient pedagogy, fordisplay laboratories and equipment, and inadequately trained teachers that are all inflamed by K-12, we also have a low number of science graduates and enrollees. Crunching the latest ten-year data from the Commission on Higher Education, the average number of science enrollees is about 45,000 whereas the average number of science graduates is about 7,000! And of those 7,000, just how many will go into research in the country? Lalata correctly affirmed that if we were to fix this, we must talk politics and that means addressing the intertwined root problems the country faces which might at first seem to be separated from the struggle of the science and technology sector.
Having no other model with which to pattern our system of education, we chose that of the West or to be explicit, that of the United States. The economic framework laid down for us as a neocolony made our policy-makers adopt a system which will suit the business need of foreign interests. So we have biologists who never become researchers but doctors, engineers who be come managers and never practice, chemists who leave for abroad, and virtually no physicists. We are definitely delving into politics here, after all, science policies are determined by political decisions. So we find ourselves in a stagnant and stunted science situation. We have virtually no industrial base to support a failing economy. No advances to put us in the limelight of scientific history. We cannot even answer the needs of our own people. There is definitely some cause for worry. If we are to speak of a future, we should speak of science. We should speak of education. And if so it is inevitable that we will speak of politics. ●
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Purchasing EDITOR’S NOTE: Published under Atom Araullo, Scientia’s most prominent editor yet, Purchasing Power slammed the controversial Purchased Power Adjustments (PPA) of MERALCO that imposed additional fees (unrelated to actual power utilized) on consumers. To this day, MERALCO continues to hike its rates and power charges in the country remain high. Just last year, data from the Department of Energy showed that commercial and household electricity rates in the country was the highest in Southeast Asia. Announcing its expected rate hike for July 2018, MERALCO advised its consumers to be energy efficient. However, energy inefficiency is not the true source of high rate but the privatization of the power industry through the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) enacted under Gloria Arroyo’s term and the monopolization of public utilities by profit-oriented companies.
instance, part of the PPA is the cost of purchasing electricity from Independent Power Producers like First Gas Company, which is by no small coincidence, also owned by the Lopez family. In the past year, not a single kilowatt-hour was consumed from First Gas, yet everybody paid for it in the form of PPA. Even the electric expenditure of Meralco’s own offices and buildings are charged to the public, electricity used to power computers, coffee machines, complicated hi-fi stereo components, and other things that are perhaps too vulgar for us too imagine. The worst part is, because it is all conveniently bundled up in the form of PPA, the whole charging scheme takes on a very arbitrary nature. Who knows what else we pay for in our monthly electricity bills? The Lopezes after all, have a huge business empire.
Purchasing Power
INSTINCTIVELY, THE ELECTRICITY we pay for should amount to the electricity we actually consume, and as a consequence of making a business out of the production and distribution of electricity, a certain something called “profit” is ultimately added to the bill. What remains then is settling how large this profit should be, which is wholly a question of how much a company can get away with.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, quick to strut her tough image and liberalist economics, immediately dismissed initial rounds of protest as another conniving scheme of the Left, who she believes are hell bent to “destabilize” her administration. “Destabilization”, it seems, is a very trendy thing to do. She herself was catapulted into office by the broad masses of Filipinos during the second EDSA revolution.
Purchasing Power
The privatization of public utilities makes it possible for the disastrous deregulation of prices, and one has to look no further than the local oil cartel to find a strong case. Spurred by virtual cost fluctuations in the world market, Petron, Caltex, and Shell are able to jack up prices at whim. The stranglehold of “the Big Three” is in fact so tight that it takes no less than the President of the Philippines to plead for cost adjustments. The concept of treating electricity, a very basic and vital commodity, as if it were a piece of fashion in a clothing boutique may be a bit disconcerting, but even by the twisted standards of capitalist profit, the current pricing scheme of Meralco is downright ridiculous. The infamous Purchased Power Adjustment or PPA is, in essence, Meralco’s burden of expense that it passes down to its consumers. For
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But in the end, as support for the anti-PPA cam paign gradually intensified, Arroyo quite simply ate her words. The last state of the nation address saw the president basking in the glory of reduced PPA rates. The cost of electricity is now in fact a top priority of her administration. Remember, this is the same person who only a few months before stressed the non-intervention of government with private businesses, the same president who is resting the fate of the nation under the dictates of an infallible “free market”.
It is a clever chance to find the issue of power in the middle of a president’s pursuit of the same and the reiteration of its presence in collective action. Beyond electricity, the role of power in politics is only too real to be ignored. Power is a concept that always deserve much attention and criticism, lest things get out of hand. ●
2002-03 VOL 13 NO 1
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Editorial 16(1) 2005-06 VOL 16 NO 1
EDITOR’S NOTE: The editorial of the 2005 Scientia issue lamented the ongoing scarcity of jobs in the country for college graduates, accounting fellow scientists who either resorted to applying for jobs wherein they are overqualified such as call center agencies or left for other countries that provide better opportunities. Thirteen years after its publication, the same story still unfolds: for scientists; the lack of industries in the country means substantially lesser to no opportunities for them to fully utilize their specialization, and the “brain gain” initiative Balik Scientist Program of the Department of Science and Technology fails to attract overseas Filipino scientists whose research requires state-of-the-art technology. Add to this the exploitation of workers (in the science sector or not) through contractualization, an insulting minimum wage (e.g. NutriAsia), and the displacement of workers in order to secure the targeted profit quota of companies and/or to avoid labor executive orders of regularizing employees (e.g. PLDT).
FOR THE STUDENT, four to five years of back-breaking struggle to obtain a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in any of the courses offered by the CS serves as good training for whatever line of work he/she may end up in upon graduation. Tongue in cheek, the CS has yet to cover considerable ground in terms of advancing its facilities and equipment (read: lack of funding). This makes even the most routine of procedures in better funded institutions laborious if not altogether impossible here. In order to persevere in these constrained and difficult conditions, students are taught earlier on the value of adaptability. Wherever scarcity abounds, resourcefulness is a cardinal virtue. This resourcefulness provides the students of the college with an invaluable tool which may help them in whatever endeavor they may immerse themselves in following their graduation from the University. The present socio-economic situation presents itself as an ideal application of this ‘adapt or die’ rhetoric. In the face of widespread unemployment, fresh graduates fishing for placements continually find that the problem of finding the job has to take a backseat to finding a job. It is not uncommon to find overqualified college graduates working in what in other countries are high-school graduate-level jobs. This current administration prides itself at having created thousands of new jobs. To be fair, it is a noteworthy cause anywhere in the world for a government to actively work towards the alleviation of unemployment for its people. As a matter of fact, it is an integral part of its mandate to govern. Job outsourcing by international companies has opened a new niche for prospective job-seekers in the form of such places as the call center. For the most part, the jobs offered in these places require little prior work experience and neither do these require any degree in particular. At face value it may seem like these jobs are the panaceas, the cure-alls of the country’s unemployment woes; however
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in the long run it may seem to be quite the contrary. On the surface, these jobs are fantastic — quick fix and no frills. The problem emerges only when the surface is scratched to reveal concerns which are shared by many of the highly trained graduates of this country, among the ranks of which CS graduates belong, and that is the problem of skills utilization. Call centers are no place for chemists, mathematicians, and molecular biologists; and yet still somehow they end up there. This phenomenon is not isolated in nature. It is not simply a matter of unfortunate circumstance on the part of these graduates. This is symptomatic of a larger malady which exists on a societal level. The American sociologist, C. Wright Mills emphasizes this point just made. He writes:
of whatever jobs are available locally. Between the two, the choice is hardly ever simple. Regrettably it is something fewer people may have to make if only the government has been more effective in its drive to generate more and better jobs in the country. To be fair, this is for the most part a difficult task given the current economic situation; but it is by no means impossible. The government is most certainly doing its share in surmounting this problem; however one is left to wonder, one cannot help but wonder, if it is doing enough. More often than not, it seems that politicking needs to take precedence over other more consequential matters such as addressing the needs of the people — this problem has all the hallmarks of government ineptitude.
“When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million, 15 million are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed.”
If this government desires to resolve the problems of its people not least of which is the lack of job opportunities, it has to begin to reassess its priorities. It needs to ask itself if it is enough to simply provide band-aid solutions to the clearly systemic ailments of this country. By being more prudent in its approach to employment generation and by being less bureaucratic in its methodologies for attaining this goal it stands to make in roads in its fight against joblessness.
Mills was referring to the idea of unemployment above; however it would not seem at all a logical faux to stipulate that his argument would also apply to circumstances where there had been a lack of appropriate jobs for skilled graduates. This would after all be another manifestation of the collapse of “the very structure of opportunities”.
The peoples of old had a gift of being optimistic in the face of difficulties. The Greek word Kyros was used to refer to great opportunities that were ripe for the taking. These chances often presented themselves in the face of adversity and once taken and used wisely, profoundly changed the course of history for the better.
To master any craft, a logical prerequisite is its practice. Anything that is not utilized suffers with disuse. Be it a language, or a trade skill, the general rule is ‘use it or lose it’. In this country the trend seems to favor the latter. The lack of appropriate job opportunities encourages on one hand the emigration of Filipino graduates to other countries where better work opportunities exist and on the other hand the abandonment of their profession in favor
The Philippine government is now faced with one such Kyros moment. At no other time has it stood a better chance of positively impacting the welfare of its people than now. By implementing the necessary reforms and more actively engaging the problems at hand (especially with regard to unemployment) it stands to gain everything (for itself and more importantly) for its people. ●
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EDITOR’S NOTE: The 2007 Editorial of Scientia observed that there has been a turning of tides in the College of Science: science majors who were once active in joining mobilizations to fight the injustices of the government seem to have become deaf and apathetic about the issues in our country. But the tides must turn again and we must bring back what was once here in the College: a militancy that dissents from the tyrannical voice of the highest power in the land. RED IS THE COLOR of blood and war, of heart and love, of passion and fire. It is also the color of activism. There was a time not so long ago when the College of Science could boast of a politically active student population, a significant part of whom performed that which the majority branded the ultimate show of activism: donning a red shirt and marching out into the streets to rally. Sadly and unfortunately, they are gradually being replaced. But then again it is quite understandable why we, today’s generation of CS students, turn a deaf ear to those loud voices inviting us to take part in a mobilization. After all, we are students, first and foremost, and so prioritize our academics; this is probably why we always end up cramming the night away. We may have also been warned by our parents and teachers — people we regard with high esteem — that to pledge support in any form to these activist groups would be unsafe, and this must be the explanation why whenever classes are suspended in favor of a discussion forum, we’d rather go to the mall, where there’s just as much possibility of being bombed. Or perhaps we don’t really agree with the ideology they espouse so that whenever we’re asked about our own opinion or stand on an issue, we stutter our way through a halfbaked reply.
situation is far too alarming for humor. Amidst all these justifications that we contradict with our own actions, it becomes apparent now that the real reason we don’t participate is because we don’t want to. It’s as simple as that. We just don’t want to.
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We hide securely behind the belief that as long as we conduct our experiments and solve our classroom problems perfectly, we are fulfilling our niche in society. These are what scientists like us are supposed to do anyway— do our science. We proudly acknowledge this as our form of activism. That we carry this responsibility is irrefutable, but to apathetically do science for science’s sake is just as inconceivable. How can it be activism? How can we say we do it for the people and the country when we don’t bother concerning our science-oriented minds with political and social issues? We may not be able to solve all of them through scientific research, but at the very least, we have to know about them. So we haven’t caught the details about the latest government scandal? So we’re tired of hearing the same old proclamations of graft and corruption and unjust fee increases from just one party that we’re not so certain what’s the truth anymore? All the better, as these barriers allow us to find out for ourselves! It isn’t an excuse to say that we have not the time nor the resources to get to the bottom, or even halfway down, of these. In the end, isn’t that what science is all about? Asking and searching for the answer until we hold it tightly in our grasp? Unless we summon our mind, which is the most powerful weapon we have, to fight a valiant battle, we might as well allow activism — along with our social consciousness — to dwindle to its slow, painful death. Woe befall us then.
●
It might sound funny, but the irony of the
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Paningkamot: New Approaches
I WAS IN FOURTH year high school when a teacher lent me a book entitled Six Young Filipino Martyrs by Asuncion David Maramba. It was a collection of short, gripping stories of young people who dared to dissent and paid for it with their lives. Of the six martyrs, only former Collegian editor-in-chief Ditto Sarmiento died a natural death — the others were all victims of extrajudicial killings. Eman Lacaba, who died at 27, was a literary prodigy. Bobby dela Paz, a doctor to the poor of Samar, was also 27 when he was killed. Lean Alejandro — the “thinker-activist” — was gunned down at 27. Laurie Barros, who graduated cum laude from UP, was killed when she was 28, and Edgar Jopson, who was named one of the country’s Ten Outstanding Young Men in 1970, died 19 days after his 34th birthday. The martyrs’ willingness to pour in their youth and their talents for their convictions won me over. I decided to study in UP, if only to get immersed in its culture of activism. During my first days in the University, however, I immediately saw that the UP of today is a wholly different place from the UP of the First Quarter Storm. The AS lobby, for instance, is now more often a venue for photo exhibits than a starting point of a march to Mendiola. The heyday of student activism in UP, it seems, has already passed.
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EDITOR’S NOTE: Twenty years after The Task at Hand was published, for the third time in this issue, it has been brought up that College of Science students have earned a reputation for being apathetic. But in this piece by Scientia’s tenth Editor-in-Chief on record, the critic’s eye is turned not towards the students but to those who initiate the dissent and call for activism. Timbol says that students do not join rallies or boycotts out of apathy but of more substantial reasons like the antagonist character of some dissenters. Indeed, a great discussion in today’s activism is how to make students partake in deeper social issues, integrate with the basic masses and make them see the power of protests while maintaining the character of a fierce opposition, which it itself is antagonized by a conservative and bourgeois culture of anti-activism.
WRITTEN BY CARLO TIMBOL 2008-09 VOL 19 NO 1
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If science majors today choose not to participate in rallies, they do so out of motivations more substantial than mere apathy. This state of affairs is much more pronounced in the College of Science. None of my peers in the College have ever responded to calls to boycott classes. Expression of dissatisfaction with Malacañang and Quezon Hall, if there was any, has become limited to ranting on blogs. Participating in rallies, on the other hand, has become more of a novelty. All these have earned CS students a reputation for apathy, for a sheltered university life amidst experiments and paperwork. But the College has not always been predominantly moderate. Some student activists have told me of past days when the College was, in their own words, pulang-pula. Science majors do recognize the virtues of student activism and they will take it up when they deem it necessary. If most of them today choose not to participate in rallies and boycotts, they do so out of motivations more substantial than mere apathy. One of these motivations, I believe, is disillusionment over militant groups that demonize those in power. When we air dissent in an antagonistic manner, aren’t we only alienating those people who may otherwise be willing allies? In 2004, radio commentator Grace Padaca made headlines by topping Isabela’s gubernatorial polls and ending a 40-year dynasty by the powerful Dy family. On May 16 this year, she was a speaker at the forum Realizing New Politics, organized by the Philippine Advocacy for Genuine Alternatives to Social Apathy (PAGASA) and the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). She was joined by Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio.
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In the open forum, Padaca mentioned her government’s efforts to connect with activist leaders, even allowing some of them to handle administrative posts just so “they’d know the inner workings of governance, kasi ‘yung iba hindi nila alam ang limitations ng bureaucracy kaya rally na lang sila ng rally” (or something to that effect, I’m quoting from memory). In another statement, she appealed to the audience to help her remain firm — the Dys may be out of office right now, but their influence will be far more difficult to uproot. “Pakiramdam ko kasi parang hinihintay lang nila na magkamali ako,” was how Padaca put it. Her statements drove the point home: not all of our leaders are rotten, but those who mean well are already under tremendous pressure from entrenched structures of corruption and impunity. In this light, the overly critical attitude taken by some militant groups towards those in power doesn’t at all seem like the best way to go. This is not to disparage those students who choose to air dissent the way the martyrs of bygone days did it. Radicals and moderates may employ vastly different means, but we all aspire for the same great things for our University and for our nation. But although the fine example of Alejandro, Lacaba, Jopson, Barros, Sarmiento and dela Paz should never be lost on us, we must not forget that new approaches to our struggle may be called for as times change. ●
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DR. LOURDES JANSUY CRUZ: SCIENTIST TO THE BARRIOS WRITTEN BY CARLO TIMBOL REPORTED BY MARY ANTOINETTE SIMON 2008-09 VOL 19 NO 1
EDITOR’S NOTE: Carlo Timbol with Mary Antoinette Simon featured an interview with one of the National Scientists of the Philippines: Dr. Lourdes Jansuy Cruz. Dr. Cruz narrated her experiences in establishing the Rural Livelihood Incubator which meant to provide livelihood for the indigenous people. This article shows that scientists and the national minorities can have a mutual relationship that benefits one another. It is a shame that the current administration continues to terrorize our national minorities such as the Lumad. The fact that national minorities value education as featured here makes a striking contrast with the efforts of the government to militarize or bomb schools.
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THAT CAUGHT DR. CRUZ unawares. Before the query, she has only been telling stories about the students in her CWTS class and their students in her CWTS class and their outreach activities with the Aetas, fishermen and farmers of Morong, Bataan.
“Ganu’n din,” Dr. Cruz stammered. “Wala namang nagbago except nainvite ako one time to give an inspirational talk...” She paused, and then chuckled, “Siguro nga tumatanda na ‘ko.” The University of the Philippines, from which Dr. Cruz got her BS Chemistry degree in 1962, has basically ran out of ways to honor her. When UP named Dr. Cruz Scientist Ill in 2006, it gave her the highest rank under the university’s Scientific Productivity System. The alumni associations of UP and UP Chemistry have also bequeathed her a Professional Achievement Award in Biochemistry and an Outstanding Alumnus distinction, respectively. International institutions that have recognized her work include the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the National Association of Science and Technology and the Sweden-based International Foundation for Science. In a word, Dr. Lourdes Jansuy Cruz— Dr. Luly to the people in MSI — is a veritable superstar. But she hardly looked the part during her interview with Scientia. ‘’Are you not used to talking about your own achievements, Ma’am?” That made her smile. Finally, she seemed to think, this journalist got it “Well,” Dr. Cruz replied. “For someone who works in the lab...“ Laboratory work, indeed, has been Dr. Cruz’s preoccupation ever since her stint as research aide in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1962. Then fresh from college, she went on to work
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as Graduate Assistant in the University of Iowa, where she got her MS and Ph.D. in Biochemistry. She returned to IRRI after obtaining her Ph.D. in 1968, but most of her career was spent teaching and doing research first in UP Manila’s Department of Biochemistry and then in the University of Utah’s Department of Biology. She is presently a full-time professor in the MSI. Dr. Cruz’s research involves poisonous peptides found in the venom of cone snails (Conus sp.), found abundantly in tropical seawaters. Her work with these toxic peptides, called conotoxins, has led in part to the characterization of over 50 biologically active peptides from cone snail venom and the development of conotoxins as probes for observing brain activity. For all her achievements, in 2006 she was conferred the Order of National Scientist — the highest recognition that the Philippine government can give a Filipino scientist. But Dr. Cruz’s legacy does not rest solely on these. In 2001, as president of the Bataan Center for Innovative Science & Technology (BCISTI) she helped establish the Rural Livelihood Incubator (Rural LINC), which aimed to help the rural poor with the use of science and technology. As a start, the Rural LINC was set up in Morong, Bataan, where they hoped to generate employment for its poorest residents — the Pasama-Anahao farmers, the fishermen and the Aetas, who live in an area called Kanawan. It wasn’t easy. “It’s very difficult to bring in technology if the people involved do not know anything,” said Dr. Cruz, referring to the initial lack of understanding among the poor of Morong. “Nauwi tuloy sa education.” This realization drove the Rural LINC to look for volunteers to teach in Morong and soon they trickled in from the
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BCISTI, Eduk Ink (a group of volunteers from among UP alumni), Laging Pahinungod (a group of student volunteers from UP) and the Center for BioMolecular Science Foundation, which also has Dr. Cruz as president. Somewhere along the way, even Dr. Cruz’s CWTS classes got involved. The Rural LINC’s educational programs have its crowing triumph in its collaborations with the Kanawan Aetas. From the beginning, Dr. Cruz was aware that the culture of the Aetas must be respected if the Rural LINC is to really help them. ‘We don’t dictate anything to them. That’s the worst thing we can do,” said Dr. Cruz, who added that all of the Rural LlNC’s projects in Kanawan were conceptualized with the Aetas. The Rural LINC even formulated its own socio-cultural development index to assess the impact of their projects on the Aetas’s way of life. The index was a result of ten months of consultations between the Rural LINC and the Aetas. The precautions paid off, not only in facilitating the entry of alternative and sustainable sources of livelihood in Kanawan (such as beekeeping, ecotourism, use of green charcoal, permaculture, agroforestry, etc.), but also in making the Aetas more fond of education. To illustrate, Dr. Cruz related a study made by graduate student Grace Yu on the medicinal properties of limuran, an Aeta dish made of a certain variety of rattan. The limuran, it was observed, was often taken by persons suffering from stomachaches. It turned out that limuran contained “anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer compounds;’ as well as substances that are possible competitors of a commercial anti-diarrhea drug. The discovery opened a vista into developing and commercializing Aeta traditional medicine — and a possibility of generating money for the Aetas.
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“With traditional medicine, we recognized [the Aetas’s] intellectual property rights;’ said Dr. Cruz. “Since for [the Aetas], traditional medicine is communal knowledge, whatever income is generated from it will have to benefit the whole community.” The Aetas then discussed among themselves where the money will be spent on, just in case. Their decision: invest 40% of the money — the largest share — into education. “Sila na mismo ang nagdesisyong mahalaga ang education,” chirped Dr. Cruz. Despite its successes, the Rural LINC is not without its problems. Dr. Cruz herself related incidences of Aeta children being called bakulaw by their teachers, and teachers coming to class only thrice a week. However these appear to be isolated cases — a growing mutual appreciation between the Aetas and the visitors remains the norm. As for Dr. Cruz’s CWTS classes, the students spend a weekend in Morong during the first semester and three weekends during the second. One of Dr. Cruz’s wards, music major Cristina Maria Cayabyab, composed a song for the Aeta children. “Parang anthem na siya ngayon ng mga Aeta kids,” beamed Dr. Cruz. “’Yung mga bata, ‘pag may nagsimula nang kumanta, lahat kantahan na!” A recording of the song is stored in Dr. Cruz’s laptop, and she let this writer listen to it. “Galing ‘no?” she’d pipe every now and then. It was then Scientia’s turn to stand dumbfounded. ●
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The Consultations: Students Have Their Say on the Code of Student Conduct
EDITOR’S NOTE: Salud-Bautista’s report documents the consultations for the draft of the 2009 Code of Student Conduct. The Code has received an overwhelming disapproval for its anti-student rules and the exclusion of student representatives in the drafting committee. The draft shows how a legal document is brought up in order to impose power on students, but it also shows that students are not ignorant and will resist documents that oppress them. Today, the spotlight is not on the Code, but on a new, stirring document — the UP Diliman Students’ Magna Carta. Unlike the Code, the Magna Carta might not be something as devious — if we judge based on student votes. Ninety-four percent of student participants said yes to the Magna Carta in a petition handled by the university student councils. And the College of Science Student Council has also approved the document. However, the Magna Carta does have some anti-student stratagems as some critics have pointed out, such as leaving the final interpretation of the document to the Board of Regents (§5, Article X of the 2015 Draft) which is absolutely ridiculous considering that the document is about our rights. In any case, documentation of student rights is not at all bad. It must not be seen as something automatically oppressive and must be pursued. But what we must recognize is that what document we approve of is crucial and the collective mobilization of students is still the strongest assertion of our calls.
THE 2009 DRAFT Code of Student Conduct (CSC) is being proposed as the set of rules that will govern matters of student discipline and student organizations in UP Diliman and its satellite campus in Pampanga. Should it be implemented, it will replace all the current rules, which consist of a number of separate documents. The story of the draft code began in 2006 when Chancellor Sergio Cao commissioned the formation of a committee to review the existing rules, a move deemed necessary because of their inefficiency, their inability to address the concerns of the times, and the falling standards of UP honor No student sits on the review committee, in spite of requests for student representation having been passed ever since it was formed. Among the reasons given for this was that the committee was created to represent the University Council (UC), the body that approves guidelines on discipline before they can be implemented, and no student is a member of the UC, which is composed of all faculty with a rank of assistant professor and higher To include a non-member of the UC in the drafting committee has been described as an “abuse of discretion” on the part of the Chancellor, should he happen to make that decision. Despite exclusion from the drafting committee, however, students are not being left out of the drafting process — their participation took place in the form of consultations held in the different colleges from July to September of this year. The College of Science speaks up
WRITTEN BY TERESA SALUD-BAUTISTA 2009-10 VOL 20 NO 2
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The College of Science consultation was held on the 21st of August in the CS Auditorium. The attendees included representatives of 11 of the 20 recognized student organizations of the college, as well as members of the College of Science Student Council (CSSC) and the University Student Council (USC).
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Questions, answers, demands, and reprimands were all common during the student consultations regarding the 2009 draft Code of Student Conduct.
During this consultation, several revisions to the draft code were unveiled: recognized organizations should have 20 members including officers instead of 0.5% of the eligible population; the one year residency necessary before a student can join an org was reduced to one semester; and the terms “recognized” and “university-based” pertaining to student organizations were replaced with “registered” for more clarity. The difference between college and university rules was addressed, as were the operationalization of some terms found to be vague (e.g. “breach of peace”), and the consideration of using students as resource persons in disciplinary hearings in the drafting committee (it came out that there is no specific provision in the UP Charter that says a student cannot help write up new guidelines on discipline), as well as the primarily academic nature of most CS organizations, which, members of the orgs described as having helped in their adjustment to the UP environment instead of being detrimental to a member’s performance in school. The Final Consultation On September 17, 2009, the last of the series of consultations was held at the National Engineering Center, with representatives of student organizations, alliances, and student councils filling the building’s AVR. Dr. Elizabeth Enriquez, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and chair of the drafting committee, shared that they were already going over the draft code in the light of the input from consultations with the faculty and both graduate and undergraduate students, with revisions being made as deemed necessary. The issue of student representation was repeatedly raised by the attendees, as were the concerns and stands of the individual organizations and alliances concerning the draft code. Some students have purportedly ex-
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pressed their appreciation for the job the drafting committee is doing. The opinion more strongly voiced by the UP student body, however, is that of disapproval. Throughout the consultations, and even prior to them, demands were made for the scrapping of the 2009 draft CSC, on the basis of both the manner of its conception and its content. This made for some tension during the consultations. The last one actually ended with chants of “Junk the Code.” What Happens Next A second draft of the Code of Student Conduct was released to the USC and to the local student councils in October, no copy of which was made available online. This new document consists of each page of the first draft accompanied by the comments and suggestions received by the drafting committee in the course of the consultations, along with revisions made to the contents of the first draft. The CSSC submitted its comments on the second draft in the last week of October; in general, the document is still seen as having vague provisions, and it is recommended that better policing be instituted instead of imposing more stringent rules. It is also asked that all studies conducted that justify the creation of the CSC be presented to the students. Following the review of the draft CSC by the drafting committee, the document will be presented to the UC’s Committee on Student Organizations, Activities and Welfare, UP’s Executive Committee, the entire University Council, and finally the Board of Regents (BOR) for approval. Should the 2009 draft CSC be approved by the BOR, it will take effect 15 days after its being posted on the UP Diliman website. ● Some mistakes in spelling were corrected from the original printed article.
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VOL. 25 NO. 2 THE REVIVAL ISSUE AUG. 2018 STAFF
EDITORS
Bhee Jay Robles Jayne Kirsten Lim Jefrey Silang Joemari Olea Jon Bonifacio Jul Jon General Klaidel Concepcion
CJ Palpal-latoc Sofia Federico Janina Alviar
@upscientia
cover art by jefrey silang ed. cartoon by ariane bautista layout design by jon bonifacio
@upscientia
Scientia
upscientia@protonmail.com medium.com/up-scientia SCIENTIA is the official student publication of the College of Science, UP Diliman, formed in 1988. Affiliations: UP SOLIDARIDAD, College Editors Guild of the Philippines
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