The Augustinian Mirror March 2018

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AU G U ST I N I A N

Truth fears nothing but

concealment

-Proverb

editor’s note THE UNTOLD AND THE KNOWN IN THIS DIGITAL AGE, ACCESSING DATA HAS BECOME AN ALMOST EFFORTLESS TASK. HOWEVER, AS TRUTH TANGLES WITH THESE STREAMS, IT BECOMES A GROUND TO MISLEAD PEOPLE AND DISTORT INFORMATION. IT IS IN OUR HANDS TO DECIDE IF WE ARE ABLE TO HANDLE THE TRUTH EVEN IF IT BECOMES UGLY IN ITS VERY NATURE. KNOWLEDGE IS NOT A MONOPOLY Writing and telling stories have been part of peoples’ lives on a daily basis. The deeper we delve into every issue, the more we get entangled in its complexity.

We are blinded by the ideals that we have before of something or someone until we are confronted with a contrasting evidence of truth that makes us question our beliefs. People tend to look at the bigger picture without noticing the tiniest pixels that compose it.

Indeed, everyone has a take on an issue. After all, Truth is a concept that we cannot fully grasp. Truth can sometimes be elusive, even as we stare at it in the face.

In this issue of The Augustinian Mirror, we present you different angles of stories that

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you might have come across with, but have not indulged in deeply — from issues of a broader scale such as gender fluidity, sexual harassment, faith and beliefs, and the drug wars, to those which border on a microperspective level - the decision to breastfeed, the reason why people undergo plastic surgery, and the choice to engage in smart-shaming.

Every page contains a new story to dissect, a new perspective waiting to be unraveled. We invite you to be bold and join us in our relentless pursuit of the truth lest we fall prey into the claws of falsity. Brace yourself, our dear reader, to find courage as you search for the TRUTH among the truths. Dare to flip through “The Untold and the Known.”

Rj Photograph Allaine Rose M. Emnacen

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AU G U ST I N I A N

Volume 84 // Number 1 // March 2018

How could they see anything but the shadows if they were never allowed to move their heads?

- Plato

Mirror Reflections

The foundation of the University of San Agustin Publications is not merely the creation of trivial tales and frivolous fiction. Our quest has always been to share stories that urge the mind to be restless, critical and creative. Our mission is to provide a responsive, developmental, and research-based campus publication that forces one to think and not just to believe.

In this issue of The Augustinian Mirror, we want to give you something new to ponder upon. We want to give you stories that serve as reminders that knowing the facts is never enough. Everyone should look beyond the face value of every social issue, for the truth is never skin-deep. This is an issue founded on rage: rage against those who seek to monopolize truth, rage against those who mindlessly discredit valid perspectives, and rage against everyone who swallow everything hook, line and sinker. In this issue, we want to give you stories that unravel new truths.

The USA Pub is eternally grateful to all those who have been a part of our journey despite all its twists and turns. To our moderator, Ma’am Maria Cristy Daguay, thank you for understanding us and letting us learn as much as possible. To Mr. Jet Salcedo, our heartfelt gratitude goes to you for sharing with us your creative masterpieces for our fashion spread.

To the Panorama Printing, Inc., especially to Nong Elmer, Ma’am Narle, and Ma’am Mercy, thank you for your patience and support to the USA Pub. To all our eye-opening resource persons and sources, thank you for imparting upon us your first-hand knowledge about our articles despite your busy schedules.To our production staff, photographers, models, and artists, your “heartwork” made this issue possible. To our dearest parents, the Augustinian friars, and the alumni who helped in one way or another, our heartfelt thanks are extended to all of you.

It is time to break free from the bondage of myopia. It is time to look beyond the perspectives forcibly fed to us by false paragons of monopolized truth. Everyone has the power to see, nay, create a new perspective – and the USA Pub will relentlessly pursue its vision of providing responsive, developmental, and research-based campus journalism in respect of these perspectives. We have been a monument of journalism for 90 years and we dare say, in the years to come.

RJ JUNSAY

Editor-in-Chief ERIKA DANIELLE M. PEPITO Managing Editor EDWARD DOMINIC E. EMILIO Associate Editor JOHN MARTIN M. SILAO Circulation Manager MARIA CRISTY E. DAGUAY Moderator

ABOUT THE COVER

ART AND DESIGN TEAM: Romari Charlz F. Diaz (Art Director) Carrie Danielle G. Lao Ravve Jay F. Prevendido Helda Mae P. Godoy (Intern) COMMUNITY AFFAIRS TEAM: Andrea Nicole C. Parce (Community Editor) Junfel G. Sotelo (Intern)

Colophon: This magazine was produced using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Illustrator under Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. Open Sans, Bembo, Cardo, Homestead, and Tulia were used for the text.

CREATIVE WRITING TEAM: Philip Robert C. Alaban (Literary Editor) Athena Gabriella E. Julabar Nicole B. Vargas (Intern) PHOTOGRAPHY TEAM Allaine Rose M. Emnacen (Photography Director) Clyde Allen E. Sollesta Miguel Carlos J. Llamado Colleen Gaile B. Bilbao (Intern) PROGRAM MANAGEMENT TEAM Wilkienson C. Muro (Program Director) Everild Dominique A. Camique Edrea Claire G. Gregore (Intern)

THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR is the official student magazine of the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City, Philippines. It is published regularly by the USA Publications, which envisions itself as an Augustinian center of campus journalism, fostering the advocacy of the common good and acting as voice of the student body through responsive, developmental, and research-based campus journalism. Contributions, comments, and suggestions may be sent to the editors. No part of this publication can be reproduced by any means without permission and authority from the USA Publications.

USA Publications Responsive • Developmental • Research-based

As fact and fiction get tangled, reality becomes hidden in a veil that hides the truth. Only with the force of the pen and the power of words can this veil be destroyed. As the truth exposes itself behind the barrier, new perspectives are given birth, the old and the usual turn into the new and strange. Do not just see. Look deeper and search, because only then can the truth be unraveled.

Photographs: Allaine Rose E. Emnacen, Clyde Allen E. Sollesta, Miguel Carlos J. Llamado, Colleen Gaile G. Bilbao Front Cover: Elizabeth Dorgu

Address: 2/F Alumni Bldg., University of San Agustin, General Luna Street, Iloilo City, Philippines 5000 Phone Number: (033) 337 4842 local 189 Website: www.usapub.net Email: usapublications1@gmail.com

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USA Publications @usa_pub

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@usapub USA Publications

Dress, Hair, and Make-up: Romari Charlz F. Diaz, Carrie Danielle G. Lao, Junfel S. Sotelo, Reynelyn Yorac Production: Rj Junsay, Erika Danielle M. Pepito, Wilkienson C. Muro VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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SIT-SIT PANGINGIBABAW SA PIITAN NG PIGHATI

G O AM SE F M E A A CH RC G A H ICI NG IN A E G NS RS FO A R ND TH R E EA U L N IS LO T ST S

D IN M E TH F O E? IS CE M N O LE ’ PR SI S E ‘EL CE LSE TH E FA A D N F F N OO EO :A YO N NG IA BE IKE A AX L CH GV A EN D

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Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR

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LESSONS IN CULT CHROMA NO ORDINARY FILIPINO CUISINE

HIGIT PA SA NAWAWARI NG ISIP

T BA HE A L M TH RE AN AL D E TE CI AD U A L N A M L L G W B M IN T W O G H UN A ST O E YS F F SI MA TO OR TH ST SK E D GO E O R A ED IE T L TE D CT N AN D THE LAST STRAW

O TO S E, Y M BO TO IG S EB ER TH T TT A OR UN M F O O S C O OY AC ET G T ER #M BI LT Y S: A H E Y W K M U N OT N

VINDICATION FOR A LOST SEX THE BOSOM UNBOUND A STATE OF TRANCE: THE DRUG SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES YOUR XS AND YS THROUGH THE WINDOWS OF THE WOMB TRANSCENDING THE BOUNDARIES OF FAITH

inside the mirror

OPINION

OPINION

Why #MeToo Matters to Me Too

nukes: big toys for the big boys

WHIPLASH

Edward Dominic E. Emilio, AB PolSci ‘18 ashcanaan@yahoo.com

THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR

But the Silence Breakers were not only fighting to put the predators in jail.

They are fighting to unravel the ugly truths about the industries that allow these predators to live, drink, and be merry while their victim’s spirit continues to die.

They are fighting against an entire system where the balance of power has given them the short end of the stick.

Over and above the fight against sexual harassment, #MeToo is about dismantling the patriarchy and misogyny which have ruled and pervaded human culture ever since barbarians started raping women and considering them spoils of war. #MeToo is about dismantling the perverse ideas perpetuated by antiquated

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BUT THE SILENCE BREAKERS WERE NOT ONLY FIGHTING TO PUT THE PREDATORS IN JAIL. THEY ARE FIGHTING TO UNRAVEL THE UGLY TRUTHS ABOUT THE INDUSTRIES THAT ALLOW THESE PREDATORS TO LIVE, DRINK, AND BE MERRY WHILE THEIR VICTIM’S SPIRIT CONTINUES TO DIE.

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Allaine Rose M. Emnacen, BS FS ‘18 allaineemnacen@gmail.com

myths like the story of Helen of Troy which valued women only because of their physical characteristics. #MeToo is about dismantling the culture of abuse, of power, of victimization, marginalization, and exclusion. #MeToo did not start when a disc jockey groped Taylor Swift in the behind.

It started when it was considered okay for men to cheat because it was seen as a symbol of masculinity. It proliferated when women were forced to use their bodies just to be afforded the benefits of life’s necessities. It was at its peak when a man who bragged about grabbing women “right in the pussy” somehow became President of the United States. And a man who angrily insisted that he should have been the first to rape a missionary somehow became President of the Philippines.

This 2018, it is upon us to realize that truth, or to be more precise, the unravelling of truth, has the power to topple down entire abusive systems. Justice must be called not just against the abusers but against the enablers of this rape culture. The year of the Silence Breakers must never happen again, not because abused men and women stopped speaking up, but because they no longer need to.

Care, do care – because the next person to share the #MeToo story could be you, too.

Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz

CATHERINE OF SIENA ONCE SAID, “THE POISON OF SELFISHNESS destroys the world.” In the past, selfishness has been the main reason of conflict between and among states.World leaders only thought of their own gains, interests, and their own obsession to stay in power. As a result, all kinds of war – world wars, cold wars, and proxy wars emerged and killed millions of people. Witnessing the aftermath of wars, the victors developed an international organization to prevent further conflicts that could end human race.

Last February 2, 2018, the United States (US) Department of Defense released a Nuclear Posture Review that aims to develop two new smaller nuclear weapons to deter potential adversaries - Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran from prompting a nuclear conflict. The increase of nuclear activity from the four countries signifies that the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) defense strategy of United States is no longer effective.

The MAD defense strategy is a product of the 1950s United States’ doctrine of massive retaliation which explains that a full-scale use of nuclear weapons of two countries can result to the annihilation of both, thus discouraging both from engaging in a full-scale nuclear conflict. The strategy created fear among the countries and deterred them from making nuclear weapons.The term was popular especially during Cold War era where the Soviet Union (Russia) achieved nuclear parity with the United States. At present, both states possess some kind of cold war mentality which J. Andrew Spindler, President and CEO of Financial Services Volunteer Corps, considered to be a continuing threat to world peace.

The United States’ Defense Intelligence Agency stated in the posture review that Russia possesses an estimated 2,000 non-strategic nuclear weapons. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its disappointment towards Trump’s nuclear policy and viewed it as “confrontational” and “anti-Russian”. Russia also condemned the plan and is ready to take any measure against the attacker to protect its security. Even though the nuclear policy was released mainly to counter Russia’s actions, other countries such as China, Iran, and North Korea also expressed their criticisms toward the policy.

China’s defense secretary Chang Wanquan expressed his strong opposition towards the review after Trump portrayed Beijing as a potential nuclear adversary.

China also urged the United States to abandon its cold war mentality in making nuclear policies. Additionally, Iran believes that the US shamelessly threatened Russia with the new policy. Iran’s foreign ministry even tweeted that the US policy could bring humankind closer to annihilation and argued that the policy violates

Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz

the non-proliferation treaty. North Korea, on the other hand, stood still after all the economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations after the country launched their latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) called the Hwasong-15.

The way the countries respond to Trump’s new nuclear policy shows that the US is taking a wrong strategy in deterring nuclear activities. Instead of preventing the countries from manufacturing nuclear weapons, it seemed that the policy had provoked them to continue even further. This could also encourage non-nuclear states to produce their own weapons for security reasons. In the end, the world will be in a security dilemma where countries protect themselves from nuclear weapons

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IS IT REALLY NECESSARY FOR THE UNITED STATES TO PRODUCE MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS? NO. OBSERVATION TELLS US THAT THE US ONLY WANTS TO KEEP UP WITH RUSSIA’S MODERN NUKES PROVING THAT COLD WAR MENTALITY STILL EXISTS BETWEEN THEM.

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COMING FROM A POLITICAL SCIENCE BACKGROUND, I HAVE endlessly studied and personally witnessed the dynamics of power play. Life, it seems, is just a battle of who gets what and how. Over the course of reading the daily newspapers, my learnings made it impossible for me not to comment on The Silence Breakers.

The actress Alyssa Milano first tweeted with the hashtag #MeToo on October 15, 2017 following the wave of sexual assault allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Countless others shared their stories of being abused on Twitter and two months after the movement took off, the “Silence Breakers” have been named 2017 Person of the Year by Time Magazine.

The #MeToo campaign was founded more than 10 years ago by activist Tarana Burke. The movement inspired many people to share their stories of sexual assault and harassment by powerful men. This led to the downfall of stars in media, politics, entertainment, and business. The movement has since reached more than 85 countries, and the hashtag has been used millions of times, by women and men alike.

If there is one sliver of hope left in these challenging and clamorous times, it’s that people are becoming more aware of the victimization felt by women because of the abusive power dynamics in so many professional, social, and cultural circles.

However, it seems troublesome that, in order to illustrate why one must sympathize with the victim, most people ask those apathetic to imagine “if it happened to their mothers, sisters, and daughters.”The sad implication is that if you do not have a mother, or a sister or a daughter, then it’s okay not to care.

This is a natural human reaction. People only tend to care for what they have now. I did not care about rape victims until someone very close to me told me how she was sexually harassed by a person she was close with. But its being natural does not mean it’s right. It demonstrates not only the littleness of our sympathy, but the narrowness of our views. As investor Morgan Housel wrote, “Seven billion people on this planet share a flaw: they’re out of touch with almost everyone else.”

More frightening, critics have lambasted those in the movement for minimizing women’s sufferings and perpetuating an image of victimhood. Some asked, “Why did it take so long for the Silence Breakers to break their silence?”

Yet it is exactly this kind of question which prevents more victims from coming out and sharing their truths. From the moment abuse or harassment happens, the odds are fiercely stacked against victims, who often enter a state of shock directly after. Just consider how many women who broke their silence have detailed how they felt ‘frozen’ and unable to respond, and after escaping their abuser, broke down sobbing.

When women come out, they receive backlash from the public. Those who stand accused cite their victims’ personal histories and sexual behavior as “evidence of lying.” The expectations are much worse when a man is abused. The public will judge not only the truth of his allegations but also the masculinity left in his veins.

ELLEMYSTIQUE

by using nuclear weapons.

Is it really necessary for the United States to produce more nuclear weapons?

No. Observation tells us that the US only wants to keep up with Russia’s modern nukes proving that cold war mentality still exists between them. Russia and other countries were viewed by the country as a threat to its current standing in the international arena.

If the United States is really thinking about the welfare of the world and not its own interest, then the world is in good hands. However, if this selfishness continues, the world would be really close to annihilation. The world is not the place for trial and error. It would only take one mistake for everything to be too late. The efforts of previous world leaders in achieving world peace must not be wasted. This is not for the United States alone, but for us who are hungry for peace.

VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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OPINION

NOT MY ALTER ACCOUNT DR. BLOOD

Wilkienson C. Muro, B MLS ‘19 chuamwilkienson@gmail.com

inherently anonymous structure of social media and the fact that Twitter’s media policy allows even pornographic content in tweets as long as they are marked as sensitive content.

For example, the growing prevalence of STDs/STIs and incurable diseases like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection that could progress to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are important markers and disadvantages that could be traced down to the activity. For those who use alter

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SOCIAL MEDIA, SUCH AS TWITTER, PROVIDES A PLATFORM TO BETTER EXPRESS OURSELVES AGAINST SOCIAL ISSUES, NOT TO BECOME THE ISSUES OURSELVES. IN THE CASE OF THE ALTER ACCOUNT USERS, HIDING IN THE SHADOW WILL NOT GUARANTEE THEM THE LIGHT THEY RELENTLESSLY SEEK.

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WHAT IS PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE IF YOU CANNOT MAINTAIN SELFRESPECT? Until then, you do not deserve to mourn for self-worth or argue for fairness in social treatment.

Twitter, in its 12th year of establishment, finds itself drowned in the controversy of becoming one of the active social media platforms that flourishes ground for the growing community of ‘alter accounts’. This year, Twitter is on fire because of the issues that beset it including accounts sharing pornography paraphernalia, provoking paid and self-willed hookups, and worst of all, initiating the spread of sexually transmitted diseases or infections (STDs/STIs).

‘Alter accounts’, or simply ‘alter’, as defined by alter account user @master_ argeneau, is a virtual account in the cyber world where people with an alter ego – a side of their personality that they cannot show in the “real” world because of shame or fear of being unaccepted by society – gather. Most people who created these accounts consider the site as an escape from the discrimination they may face in real life or a way to buy some time to reassess what they should do to undoubtedly present themselves not only to the society but also to their loved ones.

These accounts are counterfeit pieces of fabric in the grand tapestry known as social media. A feature article from the New York Times Magazine reports that some estimates count as many as 48 million fake accounts on Twitter although the site itself claims that the number is much lower.Twitter has responded to this issue by denouncing the posting of fake pornographic videos. It has made efforts to remove these fake accounts and has used machine algorithm to identify and eliminate the makers and users of these accounts.

According to a report from ABS-CBN’s “TV Patrol” last January 29, 2018, these alter accounts should be used privately if they do not want cases to be filed against them due to their violation of certain laws governing obscenity and pornography act.

Likewise, one of the alter account users gave her sentiments regarding this issue in an article released by PhilStar Global, “I’m new here, but from what I’ve experienced so far, female alters have been very encouraging towards each other. The compliments don’t feel like objectification, unlike when most hetero male alters comment on a nude photo. Just genuine admiration. Like gay alters, some women also use their alters to hook up or browse porn and that’s okay, too. Better to express sexuality than repress,” said Dolores, not her true name.

On the contrary, this issue is still young as there are no specifics yet regarding the number of alter users, the laws that alter users may violate, the policies or measures taken by Twitter, or the surveillance of these accounts. However, the slightest attention that people are giving this rising problem is still notable because the harms caused by this kind of activity are already identifiable. The problem is condoned by the

accounts in order to seek acceptance, this activity defeats the purpose because they will only be accepted by other alter accounts and not by people in the real world.

People who decide to have alter accounts in order to express more discreetly must have a clear and thorough understanding of the consequences of their decisions – its benefits, its dangers, their roles and responsibilities in the alter world, and the good and bad options available to them. They must also be aware that on the internet, nobody is ever safe and even the protection granted by anonymity is not an iron-clad suit that will protect them from eventual identification and abuse.

Social media, such as Twitter, provide a platform to better express ourselves against social issues, not to become the issues ourselves. In the case of the alter account users, hiding in the shadows will not guarantee them the light they relentlessly seek acceptance takes time to achieve. And this does not depend on the reality that people discriminate and judge, but on the truth that you are capable of empowering yourself and others. After all, more than public acceptance, what is needed is resolute self-respect and the rest will just follow.

Start log out or deactivate those accounts. Let there be more accounts that do not say, “Not My Alter Account.”

SOCIETY

vindication for a lost Sex

“Everything in the world is about sex.

Except sex. Sex is about power.”

- Oscar Wilde

By Edward Dominic E. Emilio Photographs Clyde Allen E. Sollesta Illustration Helda Mae P. Godoy

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Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR

VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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THE GOLDEN RATIO AS APPLIED TO THE HUMAN FACE

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THIS IS “SEXY” - OR AT LEAST A LARGE PART OF IT - DESIGNED MAINLY FOR THE MALE BY THE MALE: THE FRUIT OF THE MALE GAZE ROOTED FROM A SOCIETY THAT VIEWS CHARACTERS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE HETEROSEXUAL MALE.

The Filipino idea of a beautiful woman has taken many forms, but one dominates. The colonial Maria Clara is demure, fair-skinned and virtuous. Fernando Amorsolo’s immortal “probinsyana” woman is of clear skin and fresh color. Even the title Gloria Diaz holds as the first Filipina to be crowned Miss Universe serves only to accentuate her morena features amidst the foreign crowd.

Fast forward five decades later, and we see the model Kim Domingo pose like a modern Cleopatra, with her white Eurasian features, on the cover of FHM Magazine. A new version has emerged – white, voluptuous, exposed – and has pervasively penetrated our magazines, our screens, and our billboards everywhere.

This is “sexy” - or at least a large part of it - designed mainly for the male by the male: the fruit of the male gaze rooted from a society that views characters from the perspective of the heterosexual male. What is sexy had become a political construct, a power play between competing classes.

THE ORIGINS OF SEXY In an interview with The Augustinian, University psychologist Dr. Lisa Ann Gayoles, RPsy, RGC, LPT, PAE, Ph.D. stated that there are gender differences between males and females. “The way we perceive beauty is in how we are conditioned.

For males, they are looking for the breasts and hips because they indicate good mothering of the baby,” she explains.

The idea of attraction to the human body strides along the angles of the biological to the downright lustful. From a certain point of view, sexy means sex — not the human being, but the human body.

As it turns out, that is what the word originally meant. The earliest recorded use of the word came from author Arthur Bennett who,

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THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR

in an 1896 letter, wrote: “Lane had decided… not to handle your work of genius, on the score that it was [sexy] and America did not want no [sex] problems.” Here, the word is being used to mean indecency and bawdiness – not love, not attraction.

SEX AS A POWER PLAY Edna Keeble explained in her book Politics and Sex: Exploring the Connections between Gender, Sexuality, and the State that the strict association between sex and procreation has cultivated, propagated, and reinforced the image of the woman as Madonna: the idea that women are supposed to have sexual purity because they are mothers and therefore must reserve their sexual activity only to the father of their children. This led to the cultural motif which tempered women’s sexuality but still allowed men to harbor sexual desires. “With the idea of the woman as a Madonna,” Keeble writes, “there would have to be a necessary outlet for the husband, and the prostitute would serve that purpose. The prostitute would represent the female sexual appetite, the ‘dangerous sexuality of women’…the Madonna would be worshipped and the whore would be shunned, but both would be central to male control of women’s sexuality.”

This idea of the woman as Madonna is reinforced by an explanation provided by James Mozart Amsua, Academic Supervisor of the General Education - Social Sciences Department, who said, “Men look for women who are sexually attractive

physiologically while women look for men who can provide them with financial security and stability in life.” The idea of the “sexy man” as the protector and head of family and the “sexy woman” as the bearer of children has been explained by Amsua as related to motives for existence of both men and women.

In another groundbreaking framework of thought which liberated women from the patriarchal politics of sex, noted feminist Susan Lyndon explains in her influential essay The Politics of Orgasm that the myth of the vaginal orgasm gave credence the notion that women are subservient to men. According to her, this perception suggested that women’s orgasms and, by extension, their full sexual satisfaction, were dependent on vaginal penetration which could not come about without men. Lyndon challenged this myth by introducing the notion that the female orgasm can be achieved by stimulating the clitoris and suggesting that women do not need men at all to achieve orgasm.

“With the clitoral orgasm,” she wrote in her 1970 essay, “the woman’s sexual pleasure was independent of the male’s and she could seek her satisfaction as aggressively as the man sought his.”

NOTHING TO LOSE BUT CHAINS It was the age of advertising which started to commercialize whatever was perceived as sexy or attractive. In 1929, public relations expert Edward Bernays decided to pay women to smoke cigarettes, a frowned-upon practice for women at that time but one that was considered attractive when men do it, in an Eastern Sunday Parade in New York.

“Today,” A.A. Brill, the psychoanalyst from whom Bernays got his idea, explained, “the emancipation of women has suppressed many of their feminine desires. More women now do the same work as men do. Cigarettes, which are equated with men, become torches of freedom.”

One might think of this as the righteous

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Maganda. Marikit. Marilag.

destruction of sexual stereotypes, but no. It was actually for money. Margaretha Haglund wrote in her article, From SocialTabooto“TorchofFreedom”:TheMarketingofCigarettes to Women that in 1928, the American Tobacco Company realized the potential market that could be found in women and then decided to come up with the Torches of Freedom idea. George Washington Hill, president of the company, said, “It will be like opening a gold mine right in our front yard.”

Sex, and whatever was “sexy,” had been commercialized. Sex, along with whatever were deemed “sexy,” had been subjected to power.

Just recently, TIME Magazine named “The Silence Breakers” as the Person of the Year for 2017. They were a group of people composed of hundreds of women – and of many men as well – who have unleashed the greatest social upheaval in recent times by unraveling a culture of patriarchal abuse and sexual harassment in the entertainment industry which continuously victimizes the weak and vulnerable. The women on the cover of TIME Magazine’s December 2017 issue on the Person of the Year – Ashley Judd, Susan Fowler, Adama Iwu, Taylor Swift, and Isabel Pascual – had different stories, but all involved power plays. They all involved coercive bargaining and speaking up despite a culture of deaf and dumb silence.

Edward Felsenthal, TIME Magazine Editor-in-Chief, explained that the #MeToo movement “unleashed one of the highest-velocity shifts in our culture since the 1960’s.”

He added, “For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing us all to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year.”

More than a century after Jose Rizal published Noli Me Tangere, wherein he typified Maria Clara as the ideal Filipina, “sexy” has taken a vastly different turn. The media have tried to slowly pull down the long dress that covered her from the ankle to the neck and started commercializing what sexy meant. As a result, they have continued to suffer from myopic definitions of physical beauty. The politics of sex and the shallowness of our men had kept females chained to the ground in a patriarchal society. It is only fitting for them to break free.

Source: Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius

VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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SOCIETY

By Erika Danielle M. Pepito Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz Illustrations Carrie Danielle G. Lao

Breastfeeding is a sacred act of parenting that should be tolerated by the general public rather than be frowned upon. milk from the mother contains antibodies that could shield the baby from childhood illnesses like diarrhea and pneumonia. Not only is it good for the infant, but it could also reduce the risk of breast and ovarian cancer, type II diabetes, and postpartum depression for the breastfeeding mothers.

BORDERING SCRUTINY

*Teresa, 23, clutches her child to her bosom as she crouches inside the packed jeepney. She squeezes in and manages to hold herself upright by handling the rusty rail while the slumbering baby lay still.Then suddenly it cries, turning its head and softly landing its small fist on her mother’s chest.

With wary eyes, she surveys her fellow occupants in the jeepney - a teenage boy tapping away on his mobile phone, an old lady clutching a rattan basket full of fresh catch from the market, a couple preoccupying themselves with each other, a middle-aged man chatting loudly over the phone, two women bickering aimlessly on the results of last night’s lottery, a college student flipping through her index cards and mumbling its contents, and a uniformed professional trying to fix his tie. She knew that answering to the call of motherhood right at that very instant may leave her exposed to the other passengers, but she decided to let go of that inhibition and proceeded to feed her baby in the most natural, maternal way.

As the infant helped herself, Teresa could feel nine pairs of eyes watching her and her child and letting the scene unfold. Admiration, curiosity, and discomfort swirled in the irises of the spectators. She hurriedly grabbed a blanket to conceal her nursing of her child and looked at the vehicles speeding past them. She wondered if the sight of breastfeeding her child in a public transport vehicle was a lot for the passengers to take in, and if the unsettling discomfort she feels from the stares will also be felt by her daughter when she grows up to be a mother like her.

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BODY SHAMING? Teresa ranted on why other people would give her funny looks when she nurses her child. “Hindi ko kaintyindikungngaanabothergidangibankunmaybabayi ngamagbreastfeedsangilabata,mostespeciallysapublic, sa mga jeep. Natural na ina para sa nanay kay syempre ginapadedeniyaiyabatakaynagutom.Alanganpagutman mo imo bata, diba? (I do not understand why people are bothered by breastfeeding in public. It is the most natural thing in the world.You cannot let your baby go hungry).”The imperative that breasts are intended for feeding, even before milk formulas and bottle feeding came into existence, has been overshadowed by the sexualization of the female breasts. The female body has been objectified unfortunately to market products or visual entertainers, thus leading to the sexual stigma on the breast and affecting how mothers expose their breasts in public when the need to feed their children arises.

Breastfeeding, according to World Health Organization (WHO), is strongly recommended to provide infants their much needed nutrients for their healthy growth and development. The yellowish, sticky breast milk at the end of pregnancy called colostrum is considered as the newborn’s perfect food initiated within the first postpartum hour. Natural

“Kaagi ko to breastfeed sa isa ka mall, ara kami sa food court. Upod ko to bana ko. May isa ka laki nga ginalantawniyagidakokagangakongbata,inabalanga dugrabegidtulokniyasamon.Tenaconsciousmanko,mayo langgidupodkobanako.Kungwalapatonagbalikidang banakokagnagtuloksangmalainsalalakisiguroastasa paglakatnamonginabantayanpaniyakamigihapon(Once whenIwasbreastfeedingatamall,thisguykeptlooking maliciouslyatme.Goodthingmyhusbandwaswithme.

Idon’tknowwhatelsewouldhavehappenedifIwason my own.),” she nervously laughed as she recalled that incident. I is these types of reacrions that make women feel guilty for fulfillling their roles as a mother.

To avoid these negative reactions that scream that what they are doing is beyond the realms of modesty, some feel compelled to feed their babies in restrooms which is unhygienic, or cover themselves and their babies which could be uncomfortable for the infants and may distract them from focusing on ingesting their mothers’ milk.

Because of the various reactions of the public on breastfeeding mothers, it is deemed important for breastfeeding mothers to engage themselves in support groups. In an interview with The Augustinian, Angie Tanongtanong of Department of Health (DOH) Region VI highlights the importance of having a support system for breastfeeding mothers. “In the community,especially samgagastartpalangnamga nanay, it is really difficult to start breastfeeding so dapat maynagaencouragesaila,maynagateachsailaonhowto breastfeed correctly. (In our community, we encourage first-time mothersto breastfeed and not be ashamed about it. We teach them how to do it properly.)”

These groups are led by health workers and physicians

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THE BOSOM UNBOUND

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SHE WONDERED IF THE SIGHT OF BREASTFEEDING HER CHILD IN A PUBLIC TRANSPORT VEHICLE WAS A LOT FOR THE PASSENGERS TO TAKE IN, AND IF THE UNSETTLING DISCOMFORT SHE FEELS FROM THE STARES WILL ALSO BE FELT BY HER DAUGHTER WHEN SHE GROWS UP TO BE A MOTHER LIKE HER.

MILKING OUT the facts

to discuss how to properly breastfeed, to store and preserve their milk, to proceed with the act in public, to know the physiological changes that could take place as they breastfeed, and to monitor their children’s growth and development.

BRIDGING SOLUTIONS Consequently, the Republic Act (RA) No. 10028, An Act Expanding the Promotion of Breastfeeding, aims to encourage, protect and support the practice of breastfeeding. The RA also corroborates the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women on enabling parents to combine family obligations with work responsibilities, the Beijing Platform for Action and Strategic Objectives on harmonizing the parents’ work and familial responsibilities, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, recognizing the child’s right to life and the State’s duty to ensure the child’s survival and development.

In addition, lactation stations, or breastfeeding areas, are made available in all health and non-health facilities, establishments and institutions such as in malls and workplaces.These spaces must have an easily-accessible lavatory, a refrigerator for storing expressed milk, electrical outlets for breast pumps, a table and comfortable seats.

The DOH Region VI also has programs that assist the mothers and their children involving themselves in breastfeeding. The Mother-Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (MBFHI) is a hospital requirement of the said health branch of the government to ensure that the mothers and their infants are looked after as they practice private and primary breastfeeding.

“The hospital, as part of the licensing requirements, dapat mother-baby friendly hospital sila with regards to breastfeeding so dapat ga advocate sila breastfeeding. The health workers are taught on lactation management so nag-attendsilasang lactation management training,”elaboratedTanongtanong on the features of the MBFHI. The program adopts the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding’ set out by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the WHO. These comprise of a written breastfeeding policy, health care staff training to carry out the policy, information dissemination on the pros of breastfeeding, initiation of breastfeeding within an hour after parturition, exclusive feeding of infants with breast milk, rooming-in or staying of mothers with their newborn in the same room for 24 hours daily, avoidance of artificial teats or pacifiers, and strengthening of breastfeeding support groups.

Another program is the Safe Motherhood Program, rallying for a safer pregnancy and childbirth and a change in the decision-making dynamics concerning the welfare of mothers and infants to bring emergency obstetrics and newborn care facilities closer to the beneficiaries.

As she felt her child unlatch her mouth from her mother’s breast, Teresa quickly fixed herself and made sure that her child was comfortable.

Forget about the disapproving or disgusted stares from strangers. Glancing down at the infant in her arms, she realized that the only look that mattered was her satisfied baby’s.

Breastfeeding? More like “best feeding.”

Source: https://www.health-foundations.com/blog/2013/11/19/15-cool-factsabout-breastfeeding

*not her real name

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Lies, damned lies, and statistics about the Philippine War on Drugs SOCIETY

By Edward Dominic E. Emilio Photographs Miguel Carlos J. Llamado Illustrations Ravve Jay F. Prevendido

In 2002, one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation was passed in the Philippines.

Republic Act (R.A.) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 declared it a policy of the State to pursue an intensive and unrelenting campaign against the trafficking and use of dangerous drugs and other similar substances through an integrated system of planning, implementation and enforcement of anti-drug abuse policies, programs, and projects.

Today, as Rodrigo Duterte marches like a king upon the palace and begins to rule the state, let the drug situation be unraveled, let the nation be briefed, and let the war on drugs, once again, commence.

SHABU: THE NATIONAL PASTIME Demand for methamphetamine has soared continually in the country since 1981 after it was introduced by the Japanese Army to the Philippines following the Second World War. With street prices ranging from 1,200 pesos to 25,000 pesos per gram according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), “shabu”, as it is more commonly known, has become one of the most popular — and profitable — illicit substances in nearly every corner of the world.

The quantities of shabu confiscated by Philippine authorities over the past years reflect the unceasing surge in its production despite the election of President Rodrigo Duterte and his War on Drugs.

According to Philippine National Police (PNP), illegal

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drug seizures in the country from 2014 to April 2016 have resulted in the confiscation of at least 13 billion pesos worth of illegal drugs and the incarceration of close to 100,000 drug offenders. During that same date, the PNP also confiscated 99 kilograms of shabu with an estimated street value of 465 million pesos in separate missions in Manila.

For the first quarter of 2016, a total of 228 kilograms of shabu worth more than one billion pesos were seized. From President Duterte’s inauguration on the last day of June, 2016 up to April 20, 2017, 1,645 kilograms of shabu were seized according to PDEA. On May 28, 2017, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized more than 6.4 billion pesos worth of shabu from two warehouses in Brgy. Ugong, Valenzuela, Metro Manila. The contraband, hidden inside five metal cylinders, was seized in accordance with an intelligence report relayed by the Chinese General Administration of Customs to the BOC. This scandal has resulted in a national outcry and, until now, the mastermind behind the smuggling has not been identified nor prosecuted.

In the Philippines, shabu is primarily manufactured in clandestine drug laboratories. These are usually small-scale and kitchen-type laboratories which do not attract attention from the authorities.

However, giant shabu factories have been discovered in the provinces as well. On September 22, 2016, PDEA and Pampanga local police have discovered what was branded as the biggest shabu laboratory in the country at the foot of Mount Arayat. According to Pampanga Provincial Police Director Senior Supt. Rodolfo Recomono Jr., the apparatus found inside the drug laboratory were capable of producing 100 kilograms of shabu per day.

“This shabu laboratory is bigger than the one discovered in Camiling,Tarlac a few years ago. It could be the biggest clandestine shabu lab in the Philippines.

The syndicate responsible for establishing this lab might have thought that it would not be discovered since it is located at the foot of the mountain and is surrounded by piggeries and poultries,” said Recomono in a published news report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force Spokesperson Chief Inspector Roque Merdeguia explained that the Philippines is not only a potential market for shabu but is also a vital transshipment point for drug rings. PDEA expounded by saying that the country’s vulnerability, particularly its porous borders and vast coastlines, is a factor in the undetected movement of illegal drugs through shipment. “And the Philippines geographically lies at the center of their trade route. [If they] can no longer expand their operations in the West, [they can] look to the East. We are both an attractive market and a potential transshipment point,” explains PDEA Spokesman Derrick Carreon. “The idea, for one, is that the Westerners can bring their products to Asia while Chinese drug lords can supply them with opium,” he added.

According to Jeremy Douglas, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) regional representative for Southeast Asia, part of what makes shabu appealing to drug traffickers is the relatively low startup and overhead costs. “[Drug traffickers of shabu] don’t need to employ thousands of farmers to produce starting materials,” said Douglas. “Basically, they just need to get access to the precursors. It’s a [tight-knit and profitable] business model for organized crime,” he explained in an interview with VICE News.

Producing meth takes only a shipment of relatively easy-to-obtain chemicals and a little bit of scientific knowhow. The drug can be shipped to other countries and sold for an enormous profit.

MARIJUANA: STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN OR HIGHWAY TO HELL The US 2016 International Narcotics Strategy Report and the 2013 Philippine Drug Situation Report both state that marijuana or cannabis is the second most abused drug in the country. According to PDEA, marijuana can cost about 20 pesos to 300 pesos on average. Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has the lowest price of marijuana at 100 pesos per bulk while Region IV-B has the highest price at 500 pesos per bulk.

The Philippines has long been an agricultural country and the remarkable geography of the land has led to a surge of marijuana plantations scattered across different critical areas in the Philippines. Marijuana plantations were identified by PDEA in eight sites in Luzon: Benguet, Mountain Province, Kalinga, Ifugao, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Isabela, and Oriental Mindoro. Three were in the Visayas: Cebu, Eastern Samar, and Southern Leyte. In Mindanao, there were nine: Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Davao Oriental, Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley, North & South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, and Sulu.

Governor Cresencio Pacalso of Benguet said in a news report that legalized marijuana cultivation for medicinal purposes can boost the economy of Benguet province. The cold climate and the mountainous terrain have made the locale a suitable place for cultivating marijuana. However, under R.A. 9165, the importation, sale, maintenance of a den, manufacture, use, and cultivation of marijuana and marijuanarelated products shall be met with life imprisonment

and fines depending on the gravity of the offense.

The CAR has been called by PDEA as a region where “marijuana is rampantly grown”. On October 24, 2013, PDEA recorded the first time a “marijuana tiangge” has been dismantled in the country at a location in Sagada, Mountain Province. Marijuana plantation sites were found and eradicated in the triboundaries of Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Benguet.

Cultivation sites were also found in Kalinga and Ifugao.

The widespread use of marijuana is reflected even in official government statistics.

In 2014, PDEA reported that almost 9 percent

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compassionate use may be allowed [are for] these two events: One, research, and then the other one, its medical benefits for patients who are unresponsive to the traditional modalities of treatment,” said Duque.

In case medical marijuana becomes legal, Benguet has been preparing for what it perceives would be a niche industry: medical marijuana tourism.

According to Benguet Tourism Officer Clarita Prudencio, the abundance of legal medical marijuana plantations in the province could convince medical practitioners, pharmaceutical scientists, and ailing Filipinos to travel up north and visit the place there.

Prudencio also added that businesses could offer

THE PHILIPPINES GEOGRAPHICALLY LIES AT THE CENTER OF THEIR TRADE ROUTE. [IF THEY] CAN NO LONGER EXPAND THEIR OPERATIONS IN THE WEST, [THEY CAN] LOOK TO THE EAST. WE ARE BOTH AN ATTRACTIVE MARKET AND A POTENTIAL TRANSSHIPMENT POINT.

of all drug arrests involved marijuana and that a total of 506 cultivation sites were eradicated that year.

Based on 2015 data coming from the Dangerous Drugs Board, around 25 percent of drug rehabilitation center clients use marijuana. PDEA reported that 22 successful marijuana eradication operations were done within the first seven months of 2015 which resulted in the destruction of 117 marijuana growing sites and the seizure of marijuana valued at approximately 168 million pesos. For the entirety of 2015, PDEA eradicated a total of 286 marijuana plantation sites.

From July 2016 to August 2017, PDEA and the PNP conducted a total of 32 anti-drug operations resulting in the arrest of 56 suspected drug personalities and the confiscation of 8,887 grams of marijuana worth an estimated two million pesos.

However, recent developments have led NGOs to lobby for the legalization of medical marijuana.

PDEA and Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III have expressed their concerns and uncertainties against this proposal.

For its part, PDEA does not object to the passage of the bill provided that there are safeguards to prevent abuse considering that marijuana is a gateway drug which can lead to addiction if not controlled.

PDEA Director General Aaron Aquino said in a statement, “PDEA supports the intention and purpose behind the proposed bill. The agency recognizes the need of patients to have access to safe, affordable, available medical cannabis prescribed by registered physicians in cases where cannabis has been found to be effective in the prevention, treatment and management of chronic or debilitating health conditions.”

However, the medical marijuana bill is dead in the Senate. Senate Majority Floor Leader Tito Sotto III said that the Senate had no medical marijuana bill and that cannabis oil is just one of the 30,000 elements of the marijuana leaf. “There is no hope for such bill here … It’s dead in the water,” said Sotto.

Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also has reservations saying that he approves of medical marijuana for research purposes only. For him, the risks outweigh the benefits.

“There are synthetic forms of medical cannabis.

The research setting under which I have said the

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A STATE OF TRANCE: THE DRUG SITUATION IN THE PHILIPPINES

“[With] crystal meth, the leader appears to be China, but they also produce significant amounts in the Philippines and in Indonesia, and also to some extent in Myanmar,” said Douglas said. “But what we’ve seen in recent years is industrial-scale production from a few labs in China.”

According to the 2016 International Narcotics Strategy Report published by the United States government, Chinese organized crime groups are the primary sources and financiers of shabu in the Philippines. China is the source of precursor chemicals used to make synthetic drugs. In addition, the report also noted the new trend of African-produced shabu being smuggled in the country for further distribution across Southeast Asia.

These findings are corroborated by the 2013 Philippine Drug Situation, an annual report published

by PDEA, which stated that the primary international drug syndicates identified to be operating in the country come from China, Africa, and Mexico. “In addition to the African Drug Syndicates and FilipinoChinese Drug Syndicates, a drug syndicate based in Sinaloa, Mexico, the Sinaloa Drug Cartel, was established to have been operating in the country.

In 2013, various links between the said Mexican drug cartel and the Chinese Drug Syndicate were established on different occasions,” the report stated.

Last January 2015, a man named Horacio Hernandez Herrera was arrested in Manila. Herrera was a suspected leader of the notorious Mexican Sinaloa Drug Cartel which is attempting to gain a foothold in the country. The Department of Justice and even President Duterte himself have already confirmed the presence of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel in the Philippines.The connection between the Mexican and Asian drug syndicates is well-documented.

interactive learning tours showing how marijuana is produced, cultivated, and processed until it becomes medicine which can be legally used.The tourists could also learn about the different varieties and species of cannabis which grow in the cold province.

The unique nature of marijuana has been the subject of interesting discussion. President Rodrigo Duterte, famous worldwide for his brutal anti-drug war, has expressed support for medical marijuana.

Cordillera PDEA Information Officer Joseph Calulut confirmed that coffee shops in Amsterdam were offering “Baguio marijuana” in their menu. Safe to say, marijuana is both a virtue and a vice.

Historically, marijuana was introduced to the Philippines by American veterans from the wars in Vietnam and Korea. At first, it was a harmless vice tolerated by the government and enjoyed by a select few. However, things changed when the nation began to see the evil effects of drug abuse.

On June 26, 1967, four young men coming from rich and powerful families forcibly abducted, raped, and tortured the actress Maggie de la Riva.

They were high – not on shabu, but on marijuana.

After de la Riva testified and produced evidence against them, Jaime Jose, Basilio Pineda Jr., Edgardo Aquino, and Rogelio Canal were all convicted. The first three were executed by electric chair while Canal died from drug overdose in prison.

In response to this tragedy, the Congress of the Philippines enacted R.A. 6425 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 1972, the precursor to the anti-illegal drug law we have today. As soon as the drugs started taking hold of people, the government started taking hold of the illegal drug trade. Only time would tell whether or not the state could make a compromise between marijuana’s alleged healing effects and its malevolent downsides.

COCAINE: WHITE GLITTERS LIKE GOLD TOO The R.A. 9165’s avowed policy was the pursuit of an “intensive and unrelenting campaign against the trafficking and use of dangerous drugs and other similar substances through an integrated system of planning, implementation and enforcement of anti-drug abuse VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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Source: 2013 Philippine Drug Situation, PDEA policies, programs, and projects.” In hindsight, at least part of that goal must have been achieved: cocaine is basically out of the poor’s reach. PDEA reports that it costs around 4,600 pesos to 7,000 pesos per gram.

Due in large part to the ongoing war on drugs conducted by the Duterte administration, the white powder has been known as the rich man’s drug. In a news conference held during the wake of Senior Inspector Mark Garcia who died in a buy bust operation last 2016, President Duterte said that the illegal drugs consumed by the people in Forbes Park are cocaine and heroin. No rich person from Makati or Forbes uses shabu, he added.

Duterte admitted that they get high on cocaine and heroin — which he said were not as destructive to a person as shabu. The President explained that these pricey illegal substances were less harmful because they were made from poppy plant, whereas shabu (dubbed as poor man’s cocaine) was made from car battery liquid. He had said that after six months to one year of shabu addiction, the brain would have shrunk, impairing a person’s discernment of right and wrong.

Moreover, because cocaine is usually reserved for the rich, the consumers can find a way to take the drug in locations beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities. Some snort cocaine while on a plane or in international waters.

“Dadalawanangalangyungjetditosa Philippine Air Force.Gastusan ko pa ng gasoline. Hintayin ko na lang sila bumaba,” Duterte said.

And yet, somehow, cocaine still finds its way to the Philippines.

On October 24, 2013, 8.39 kilograms of cocaine placed in packaging of assorted brands of powdered milk products were seized at Ninoy

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Aquino International Airport (NAIA) from a South African drug courier, a PDEA report said.

Two Chinese nationals and a Russian man were arrested for allegedly smuggling into the country more than 27 kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of 140 million pesos at the NAIA on October 6, 2016.

Philippine authorities arrested a 19-year-old Brazilian woman found with six kilograms of cocaine with an estimated street value of 30 million pesos at the NAIA Terminal 3 on October 15, 2016.

A Malaysian man was arrested upon arriving at the NAIA Terminal 1 on November 14, 2016 for carrying around 4.6 kilograms of high-grade cocaine in his hand-carried bag.

77.63 kilograms of cocaine were seized in 2016, an increase of 575.60 percent compared to 2015, former PDEA Chief Isidro Lapeña reported.

On November 14, 2017, a Colombian drug mule was nabbed at the NAIA for trying to smuggle 8.8 million pesos worth of 79 pellets of cocaine by swallowing them.

Just this year, January 1, an estimated one million pesos worth of cocaine and ecstasy were seized from four suspects in a buy-bust operation along Timog Avenue in Quezon City.

Two days later, January 3, cops and operatives from the PDEA recovered blue plastic containers containing 24 kilograms of cocaine in Sorsogon worth an estimated 125 million pesos. They were simply washed ashore.

It would be reasonable to think that cocaine only enters the Philippines through foreigners and drug mules. The UNODC would support that statement. Colombia and Peru are the two largest sources of the global cocaine trade which is funded

in part by the US – the world’s largest consumer of cocaine.

The white powder from Colombia usually goes towards the north through Central America and Mexico via sea routes using semi-submersible vessels that can carry up to 14,000 pounds per trip. Ordinary boats also drop drugs in the Caribbean with the Dominican Republic being a key transshipment point for cocaine on its way to both Europe and US. Colombian cocaine also moves to Europe through West Africa through Venezuela and Italy where the Mafia controls most of the cocaine trade.

Coca paste from Peru is processed into powder in Bolivia via air bridges used by small private aircrafts which fly from country to country using jungle landing strips. The cocaine then finds its way into Europe through Brazil, West Africa, and Argentina.

Once the coke reaches Mexico, groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel shepherd it overland through regional territories called “plazas” to the US border.

The massive network and infrastructure available to these drug cartels enable the entry of cocaine to the Philippines as noted by PDEA. The same is true with shabu and marijuana. So long as people continue to demand for drugs, organized crime will always find a way to deliver the supply.

So long as people ask, they shall be given. So long as people live, there shall be drugs because, as Plato remarks, “only the dead have seen the end of war.” *Thefactsnarratedinthisarticlewereculledfrom various news and featurestoriesfrom PhilippineDaily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin, Rappler, and VICE News as well as the 2013 Philippine Drug Situation, an annual reportpublishedbyPDEA,PNPcrimestatisticsreports, andthe2016InternationalNarcoticsStrategyReportof the US government.

Your Xs &Ys The endless search for who or what a person really is, goes beyond the multiverse of science. SOCIETY

By Rj Junsay Artwork & Illustrations Carrie Danielle G. Lao

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PREFERENCES CHOICES

AND

She was standing in the corner of the room. People simply pass by, with nary a look at her. Like the rest of the girls in school, she’s in her skirt uniform, though she prefers a haircut much like that of a typical high school boy. She wears no make-up. She is an ordinary girl; but not everybody can tell that she likes a ‘she’ too.

Emz*, as what her family and friends call her, grew up in a simple family. When she was younger, she usually wore her hair short, like the boys in their street.

She bonded well with boys and she liked girls at the age of eight. “I became more like who I am today so that I could stand up against my bullies during elementary.

When I was in high school I found my own circle of friends. Some of them are lesbians like me. My sister once told me if I marry someone of the opposite sex and would have a family, she would support me financially. But whether she would do that or not, I’d still prefer being me as me,” shared Emz. She further narrated, “Coming out was never an issue in our family. It’s just that my mother and sisters are so open about this kind of matter. Sure, I had relationships with some girls. I once tried a relationship with this boy in our class when I was a freshman in high school.

This boy was so persistent, so I said yes.

But I transferred the next school year, so it didn’t last that long.”

“I don’t think homosexuality is a choice. Society forces you to think it’s a choice, but in fact, it’s in one’s nature.

The choice is whether one expresses one’s nature truthfully or spends the rest of one’s life lying about it,” according

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to Marlo Thomas who is an American actress, socials activitist, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

HOW HORMONES WORK According to Angelita Tanongtanong, focal person on Gender and Development of Department of Health Region VI, sex is the nature of a person and it’s biological. It is being male or female based on your sexual organs.

Gender, on the other hand, is socially constructed and culturally defined.

Unlike sex which is a constant, gender, or one’s femininity or masculinity, changes across time, place and culture.

Gender is one of the most pervasive psychological constructs and one of first identities we learn as described by Egan & Perry in 2001 in their study entitled Gender Identity:AMultidimensionalAnalysisWith ImplicationsforPsychosocialAdjustment.

As a multidimensional construct it also encompasses an individual’s sex assigned at birth, current gender identity, gender roles and expectations, gender social presentation, and gender evaluations.

This is according to Tate, et al., in a 2014 study entitled,“Integrating the Study of Transgender Spectrum and Cisgender ExperiencesofSelf-CategorizationFroma Personality Perspective.”

Tanongtanong further explained that, “sexual orientation is being heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.

The recent categorization is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. Being transgender is adapting the ways of how your opposite sex acts. The word is dependent in countries; here in the Philippines it is referred as transPinay or transPinoy. Transexuals are those persons that underwent surgery to change their sex organs.”

Sometimes, some women produce lots of testosterone while some men have lots of estrogen. Gender is a combination of different aspects but more on genetics, Tanongtanong further explains. “During sexual awakening, people tend to ask

themselves what is happening with them.

Such awakening may also be a result of a traumatic experience with a heterosexual partner,” she elaborates.

It is possible for a girl to act in a feminine way but still be macho inside.

“It’s not a choice but I have encountered a certain situation that made me think that it can be a choice. This person who is part of the Butterfly brigade, he used to be a gay. When I met him he told me that he has a family although he still acts in a feminine way. He told me that he chose to be gay when he was a teenage boy because he witnessed that being a gay [means earning more money]since there are more opportunities and side line jobs that [gays] could do. But then he decided to start having a family,” shared Tanongtanong.

On the other hand, Pope Francis stated in a report by Catholic News Outlet Crux that the biological and psychological manipulation of sexual difference, which biomedical technology allows one to see as open to free choice which it’s not is thus likely to dismantle the source of energy that nourishes the alliance of man and woman and makes it creative and fruitful.

NEW PARADIGM In a person’s life, for example if you are heterosexual, there will be a time in your life that you will be attracted to someone of your sex. But it is possible for you to return to your previous preference in a process called gender fluidity.

According to the study of Nicholas JKMK Coney of Linfield College entitled Performing Genders: A study of Gender Fluidity, gender fluidity is a constant but inconsistent fluctuation of the feelings of gender.The feelings of gender accentuate the idea that gender fluidity derives from the Western ontology of gender – that is, gender is related to the body.

Furthermore, an excerpt from the same study explained that as the feelings of gender are connected to the body, they influence how one goes about

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CONEY CONCLUDED THAT THE WORLD OF GENDER IS INDEED MORE COMPLEX THAN SIMPLY BEING MALE AND FEMALE. WHEN IT COMES TO INTERPRETING THE FEELINGS OF GENDER, WE NOT ONLY SEE A VAST COMPLEX RANGE REGARDING HOW PEOPLE SOMATICALLY ATTEND TO THEIR BODIES.

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“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” Harvey Fierstein

perceiving and carrying one’s body. Part of gender presentation entails individuals being attentive to social cues in order to effectively pass as a particular gender. The concept of passing encompasses an audience that includes the ego. Thus, while gender fluidity relates to the inconsistencies of the feelings of gender,a majority of his informants have experienced social and physical dysphoria.

Coney concluded that the world of gender is indeed more complex than simply being male and female. When it comes to interpreting the feelings of gender,we not only see a vast complex range regarding how people somatically attend to their bodies. Gender fluidity is a venue to understand this constant shift of attending the body. As his informants demonstrated, this manner of attending to the body influences how one identifies themselves within their social content.

Emz is just one of the many people who whose sexual preferences changed over time More and more studies will be conducted regarding the complex topic on gender identity and sexual orientation, and human sexuality in its totality in the future.

One thing is for sure: for people like Emz, female or male, feminine or masculine, nothing changes as long as you are a person with a purpose in life.Your preferred sexuality makes you no less of a human being created by God. Nobody really chose what family he or she was born into, or what sex he or she was born with. But everyone deserves to have an opportunity to become a better person regardless of one’s sexual preference. This was emphasized by Harvey Milk, the first self-admitted gay politician to be elected, and who eventually died for his beliefs, when he said, “All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.” *not her real name

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November last year. At first, I did not pay any attention to the signs because I thought it comes with my age. My hips were painful but I thought it was because of my scoliosis. There was also some discomfort in the genitals. Then I started bleeding. That is when I started to be scared),” shared April.

Women who have had sexual intercourse at a young age, have multiple sexual partners, resort to cigarette smoking, take birth control pills, and are at greater risk due to immunodeficiency are the common prey of cervical cancer.

For immunodeficient women, it takes five to 10 years for cervical cancer to manifest in them. For women with normal immune systems, it would take more or less 20 years for the cancer to develop. The cancer starts to make its presence known when the vagina irregularly bleeds, most often postcoital or spontaneously between menses. There could also be a foul-smelling vaginal discharge, pelvic pain, obstructive uropathy or the difficulty for the urine to flow normally, back

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HER VISION WAS BLURRY. HER VISION OF HERSELF SURVIVING WAS BLURRY. CRASHING. CRUMBLING. IT ONLY TOOK FOUR WORDS FOR HER WORLD THAT SHE BUILT FOR MORE THAN HALF OF HER LIFE TO COME CRASHING AND CRUMBLING. “YOU HAVE CERVICAL CANCER.

THROUGH THE WINDOWS OF THE WOMB The physician kept droning on what this news meant to her health, and how this could change everything – the routines will never be the same. Although her eight to five work cycle turned mundane, she could not help but feel that this news would make her feel like she is an invalid. She risked looking at her doctor straight in the eye. She saw the reality that she could spiral out of her existence. The look on the doctor’s face could not lift the heavy feeling from her chest, it aggravated the pull on her emotions more. She could feel her eyes water as she imagined herself fighting this battle for the next few months.

Her vision was blurry. Her vision of herself surviving was blurrier.

It only took four words for her world that she built for more than half of her life to come crashing and crumbling.

“You have cervical cancer.”

THROUGH THE NEEDLE’S EYE “Pakiramdamkoparaakongbinuhusanngmalamignatubignungsinabinasakin ngdoktornamaycancerako.Angdamingtanongangpumasoksaisipko–bakitcancer pa?Bakitakopa?Maayosnamanangakingpamumuhayperonagka-cancerparinako (I felt like I was drenched in cold water when the doctor said that I have cancer.

I had a lot of questions in my head – why does it have to be cancer? Why does

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THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR

The struggle of the Filipina against the second deadliest cancer in the country

By Erika Danielle M. Pepito Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz Illustrations Ravve Jay F. Prevendido

it have to be me? I lived a responsible life but I was still diagnosed with cancer).”

April*, 44, is one of the victims of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women here in the Philippines, and the fourth most frequently occurring globally. An estimated 12 women succumb to the illness daily, and a woman aged 20 can be diagnosed with cervical cancer already.The culprit behind this is the human papillomavirus or HPV,a sexually transmitted infection contracted through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with a HPV-infected individual. 58.6 percent of the cancer is linked to the said virus can lead to genital warts or bumps in the genital area, cervical dysplasia or the lirregular growth of cervical cells, and cancer of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis, anus, and the oropharynx (back of the throat, base of the tongue, and tonsils).

The cervix is the channel connecting the uterus and the vagina. The reproductive structure is approximately the size of a thumb and stays closed during pregnancy to keep the fetus inside the womb. Upon parturition it stretches to provide a passage for the baby. ICO/IARC HPV Information Centre’s Human Papillomavirus and Related Cancers, Fact Sheet 2017 for the Philippines further detailed that an estimated 2.9 percent of females belonging in the general population are victimized by the cervical HPV-16/18 infection at a given time.

CODE RED “NalamankonamaycervicalcancerakonungNovemberlastyear.Nunguna,hindi kopinansinangmgasigns,kasiakalakodalanarinsaedad.Sumasakitangbalakangko, eakalakodahilsascoliosisko.Taposmaykauntingdiscomfortsagenitals.Taposnagstart na ako magbleed. Dun na ako natakot (I was diagnosed with cervical cancer in

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SOCIETY

pain, leg swelling, and the existence of a tumor in the cervix.

The cancer has varying stages depending on the tumor and the scope of the cancer cells. Stage I cervical cancer affected the cervix lining and the deeper tissue but is within the uterus, into involving the lymph nodes. The cancerous area ranges from three millimeters (mm) to five mm in depth, and seven mm or smaller in length. If the cancer cells have already proliferated to nearby areas such as the vagina, there is the diagnosis of stage II cervical cancer. It is still concentrated in the pelvic areas but has not yet spread to other body parts. The tumor is not larger than 4fourcentimeters, and may involve the parametrial area which separates the supravaginal portion of the cervix from the bladder. The tumor has reached the pelvic wall in stage III cervical cancer and may cause the kidneys to swell or stop functioning. Tumor growth may occur in the vagina in this stage. Stage IVA cervical cancer happens when the cells have spread to the

bladder or rectum and lymph nodes, and Stage IVB cervical cancer has affected the other body parts.

The World Health Organization (WHO) provided a comprehensive approach to aid in the prevention and control of cervical cancer. Multidisciplinary in nature, it encompasses community education, social mobilization, vaccination, screening, treatment and palliative care. WHO encourages the administration of the HPV vaccination to girls aged nine to 13 years as a measure of primary prevention before they reach the age of sexual maturity. Other interventions deemed appropriate are the following: education about safe sexual practices, including delayed start of sexual activity; promotion and provision of condoms for those already engaged in sexual activity; warnings about tobacco use, which often starts during adolescence, and which is an important risk factor for cervical and other cancers; and male circumcision.

“I WILL CERVIVE” The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology urges women to have an annual pelvic examination and Pap test for women ages 21 and above or three years after their first sexual intercourse. Pelvic examination is the internal examination of the female reproductive system. Pap test, also known as Pap smear, is a procedure to screen for the presence of cervical cancer. It involved the use of a speculum, a device that opens the vagina so that cervical cells will be scraped and examined under the microscope.

Prevention is better than cure. But the lack of access to effective screening and treatment programs make it challenging to detect the early onset of cervical cancer among women leading to its rising mortality rates. In the Philippines, the Department of Health (DOH) widely promotes Cervical Cancer awareness through testing, programs and provision of vaccinations. With its School-Based Immunization Program, together with the Department of Education (DepEd), the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination for female Grade 4 students in all public schools nationwide has been integrated as the “government’s response to ensure prevention of morbidity and mortality of school age children due to vaccine-preventable diseases,” according to DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones in an interview with the Manila Bulletin. DOH has introduced the vaccine to 9 to 10-year old girls back in 2015 among priority areas and cities.

It may have taken four words for her world to come crashing and crumbling.

But as her feet shuffled to the door and her hand gripped the knob, she heard her physician share four parting words that ignited the will in her to live and endure and conquer the battle.

“There is still hope.” *not her real name

EVERY JUANA IS AT RISK OF HAVING CERVICAL CANCER

Source: https://leirs.wordpress.com/2014/05/05/doh-msd-all-set-for-7th-cervical-cancer-awareness-month/, https://www.medicinenet.com/cervical_cacner/article.htm

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transcending the boundaries of faith

In times of war, who can you trust to save you?

By Rj Junsay & Allaine Rose M. Emnacen Photographs & Illustrations Allaine Rose M. Emnacen

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THE WAY TO SURVIVAL Professor Sorhaila “Sor” L. Latip-Yusoph, a professor of Mindanao State University (MSU), remembered every mile her family trodded while leaving the once peaceful and wealthy city of Marawi to Iligan City.

Enmeshed in her memory were the sleepless nights and shakings of the ground as bombs continuously destroyed their hometown and wreaked havoc over the lives of the people of Marawi.

Latip-Yusoph was busy with her thesis defense. In a blink of an eye, fear was tangible in the atmosphere of the city with the first attack of the “men in black” as what she called them. When Latip-Yusoph heard the news, she was stranded, had no means to go home, and had to wait for her husband. Her children had to endure the fear without their parents. The city that was brimming with life was covered in darkness. The next day, a message brigade informed the people that they had to have an exodus between 7:00 am to 8:00 am because the military will bomb the city.

However, the information turned out to be fake news. “I thought by that time ‘if only I could fly.’ Sino ba naman ang hindi mawawala sa sanity kung maririnig mo ‘yun. My children were texting me that there were people knocking on our gate and I replied ‘just stay put’.”

When Latip-Yusoph and her husband passed the bridge going to their house, an armed man blocked them from entering the heart of the city. She greeted with the complete verse of “As-Saalam-Alaikum” but he did not respond. “Normally, for [someone] who is religious and who understands the power of that, Salam (shorter form for “As-Saalam-Alaikum”) cannot allow you to pass without responding to you with a longer greeting to complete the sundra and blessings of God. When I got the idea that he is not a Maranao and not a Muslim, nag Tagalog ako. ‘Kuya kukunin ko lang angmgataosaloob.’ Nagalityungmgakasamaniyanapinapasokniyakami.”

When they arrived, Latip-Yusoph rushed to her house finding her children at the staircase, shaking, waiting and crying nervously. Her children rushed to their van while her two elder children including her 23-year-old son were trying to lock the gate, thinking they had something to return to.

Suddenly, Latip-Yusoph saw men riding in a motorcycle from the mirror of their van holding long fire arms and looking at his son. She knew that these two men were part of the group of people fighting for their ideology and forcibly taking gentlemen. She emerged from the van and stood at the middle of the street.“Sabi ko sa anak ko, ‘Kuya dali,’ sabi ng anak ko, ‘Hindi ko ma close.’ It is a mother’s instinct. Bumaba ako, ginamit ko ang aking laki wearing my eye glasses with all my veils. I was looking at them fearlessly.

Hindi ako nagsalita. Parang sige, kakasa ka. I [had] no choice.”

When they returned to the van and passed the same bridge again, another armed man inspected their van. She ordered her nine-year old daughter to wear her veil, even if she normally does not allow this to happen. Wearing a veil should be done during the coming of age and she wanted her child enjoy her childhood years. Her 23-year-old son, 13-yearold sons and 15-year-old nephew wore hoodies to hide themselves and not let the armed men know that there were young men inside the van. The rebels asked, “Saan kayo?” She answered, “Sa MSU.” Then the armed men let them through, right from then she knew that the only Maranao among those men is that armed man who talked to them.

Latip-Yusoph’s family decided to go to Iligan City instead of heading to MSU, where there might be less water and supplies for her family’s needs. The 45-minute to one-hour travel from their house to Iligan City became a 14-hour travel as masses fled from the warzone to seek refuge.

KEEPING THE FAITH April Maquete Rapista, a Catholic faculty of Dansalan College for three years, woke up with excitement as the enrollment for the new school

year starts. The college was swarmed with students waiting to be enrolled.

Rapista, on the other hand, did not mind the numbers and continued interviewing the incoming grade seven students for the academic year. In a short span of time, the positive aura that filled Dansalan College was immediately shadowed with terror and confusion.

Rapista travelled all the way from Iloilo with the purpose of helping her family pay for the expenses at home. At first, her family hesitated knowing the ongoing conflict in Mindanao. Still, Rapista insisted because the salary in Marawi was much higher. For three years, she kept in mind the promise she made to her parents and brothers who serve as her motivation to continue working far away from home.

Unfortunately, the day they all feared happened.

May 23, 2017. Rapista and her fellow teachers heard an explosion from afar. At first, they did not mind the explosion as it was common in their place. She received a text message from her Muslim parent telling her to go out of the school immediately. In the text message, it said that their school was the next target of the ISIS-inspired Maute group that have gone on a rampage in the city. According to the Joint Task Force Marawi (JTFM) in a local news of Cagayan de Oro, Dansalan College would be a great target for the militants for it hosts some high rise structures that could serve as machine gun nests and snipers’ vantage positions of terrorist elements.The college also holds a big population of the group’s targets - the Christians.The Maute group takes Christians as hostages and even kill them if they cannot recite a certain verse in the Qur’an.

Trying to stay calm, Rapista went home directly after reading the text.

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IT IS A MOTHER’S INSTINCT. BUMABA AKO, GINAMIT KO ANG AKING LAKI WEARING MY EYE GLASSES WITH ALL MY VEILS. I WAS LOOKING AT THEM FEARLESSLY. HINDI AKO NAGSALITA. PARANG SIGE, KAKASA KA. I HAVE NO CHOICE.

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SOCIETY

Their clothes speak for their religion but their tears speak for the pain that every victim of the Marawi siege endured during the five-month long bombings and killings. The eyes of the Muslim and Christian victims speak the truth.

Around six in the evening, the Maute group started a countdown outside their house. Without second thoughts, Rapista grabbed her bag and ran together with her fellow teachers. Fortunately, their Muslim parent took them for the night thinking that the crisis would only take a day to end.

“MIA TUTUNG!” a Muslim Maranao shouted that made Rapista and the rest clueless of what mia tutung means since they could not speak in Maranao.When they realized that it was a Maranao term for fire, the group of Rapista panicked and even crossed the dangerous highways of the city, not minding the Maute group lookouts scattered all over the city. As they were running away, they passed by a mosque and stayed for a while. They asked help from a Muslim elder with a three-floor house,“Pwede kami da ka stay? Matinir lang bala?” but they were turned down because he knew they were Christians.

In order to survive, Rapista and her companions desperately searched for a way.“Dali kamo di, may agyan kita di,” said Rapista when she found a wall to climb. Rapista shares how hard it was for them to escape.The Maute forces were already scattered around the city with their trained snipers

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THEY IMPOSED RULES IN ORDER TO SURVIVE, BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE RULE THE GROUP COULD NEVER BREAK - SILENCE IS THEIR ONLY WAY TO STAY ALIVE.

THE WILL TO LIVE In an ABS-CBN article ‘Buhay Pa Kami’: Dispatches from Marawi, 38 Christians – 30 of whom are adults, 7 are children, and a 2-month old baby - remained in the lawyer’s house. They imposed rules in order to survive, but there is only one rule the group could never break - silence is the only way to stay alive.

Rapista and the other Christians met several problems in the course of being in the basement for 11 days. Every time they contacted the Philippine Army for help, they only got the same reply - to stay patient - as the Army were having difficulties in breaking through the city. It got to the point when their resources were depleting and this triggered minor fights among the group members. The group even experienced eating only once a day in order to spare some for future meals.

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Finally, the group could not take it anymore. Dead or alive, they decided to escape from Marawi as they cried, “God, ikaw nalangbahalasaamonngamagwa,kayhindinagidnamonkaya.”If not, anytime soon, the Maute group will eventually find them.

The city was in total blackout, all phones were almost dead, and they were no more resources to last another day.

On June 3, 2017 at eight in the morning, without calculating the chances of escaping, the group ran for almost two kilometers towards the Masiu Bridge, the only exit from Marawi City, where members of the Philippine Army were already waiting for them.

They were able to get out of Marawi City but the suffering definitely did not end there.

RECOVERY Nine days after the escape from Marawi, Rapista was able to return to Iloilo with the help of then Janiuay Vice Mayor and now Governor of Iloilo Hon. Arthur M. Defensor, Sr.When she reached Iloilo, many media stations called her to share the experiences from the crisis but she declined for security reasons.

She was also traumatized that even a mild explosion causes her to panic.

To forget the traumatic experience, Rapista kept herself busy by processing her important certifications and papers that were left in Marawi City and is now attending trainings at the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in order to add up to her credentials when she applies for work abroad.

Rapista shared that several schools in Iloilo reached out to the survivors by giving financial aid and donations.

When asked if Rapista would ever go back to Marawi, her response was an immediate no. The crisis has not only alarmed

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ready to shoot anyone. The group even had to crawl through a banana plantation for them not to be seen, not minding their hunger and lack of sleep.

The group felt relieved when they found out that the house on the other side of the wall is owned by their coteacher in Dansalan College. Her co-teacher’s husband, Dando, went back immediately after knowing the teachers of Dansalan College were there. Around eight in the evening, Dando and the other Christians stayed in an abandoned house. He asked help from his employer - a Muslim lawyer - if he could shelter all the Christians in his home. His boss agreed and Dando shuttled them to his employer’s house the next day morning.

The employer offered Dando and his family to go out of the city but the latter declined for he cannot afford to leave his fellow Christians. They hid in the basement for 11 days.

every Filipino, but has also mainly devastated the lives of the residents in Marawi. In World Food Programme’s latest situation report, the five-month siege displaced more than 350,000 residents to different neighboring cities, left 18 billion worth of properties damaged, and sparked the issue on food security.

The siege took away every good memory experienced by the Christians who once adored Marawi, leaving only dread in their hearts.

SANITY AT STAKE Latip-Yusoph shared that the stories of missing persons who were forced to join the Maute group were true. “We are related to this family through my brotherin-law. They have a grocery store and an RTW (ready-to-wear) store where the stocks just arrived. They spent millions to replenish the store. The parents were elderly. The parents of this young man were elderly. Then they threatened him and said, “If hindi ka sasama, papatayin ko parents mo sa harap mo.” The young man had to choose between his life or his family. Eventually, the young man’s parents were shot in front of him. Then he was gone.

There was also a woman living at the newly made mansion behind their house who was well known for selling gold bars. After the war, Latip-Yusoph saw her hugging a pillow tightly while repeatedly saying, “Huwag niyong kunin ito. Ginto ko to. Akin to.” She could not

bear to watch how the war devastated so many lives.

The Fine Arts Major Organization of the University of San Agustin initiated the Dear Marawi project which aimed to give a psycho-social response to the victims of war. During her talk in the University, Latip-Yusoph said,“I cannot help but become very elated. [I am] overwhelmed and very thankful. You do not know how you become our heroes.

You are sitting here but you become our heroes. Finally, I can put a face behind those zines. I only knew Rosa. I never got the chance to meet the people who made those zines. You will see the faces of the children who will say ‘Ma’am amin na po ito?’ in Marawinon language.”

“Indi magkasya sa puso ko ang gratefulness. In fact, I don’t sing the national anthem religiously as I do now.

MedyohindikopafeelangpagigingFilipino ko before. Because of what happened, I understood and I have loved my being a Filipino despite the distance,” she added.

After the war, they speak only about their gratefulness for those people who helped their city and how Allah is great. Their stories of survival and killings were left behind the remains of the once peaceful and wealthy city of Marawi.

Rehabilitation and the clearing operations in the war-torn city will cost billions of pesos. However, the trauma will never be forgotten by the nation, especially by the victims of the Marawi siege.

No one wins in war. No one.

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ENVIRONMENT

The Last Straw “With the continued depletion of marine and aquatic resources, when will we finally decide that we’ve had the last straw?”

By Philip Robert C. Alaban Artwork & Illustrations Helda Mae P. Godoy Photograph Colleen Gaile G. Bilbao

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NAMING THE NUMBERS According to a recent report on plastic pollution by international group Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, the Philippines is the world’s third biggest source of plastic leaking into the ocean. The study, released on October 1, 2017 looked at five of the biggest contributors of plastic pollution in the

THE BIRTH OF A HERO “We named our volunteer group eSTRAWngHero,” Camposagrado added, “from the words straw, hero and estranghero, which means stranger, because [each] one of us belonging to eSTRAWngHero firmly believes that plastic straws as well as single-use plastics are supposed to be strangers to our seas and oceans.” In reality, plastic straws are slowly and silently infiltrating not only our oceans, seas and beaches, but our roads and sidewalks as well. The main issue with single-use plastics and plastic straws is that they are convenient but the manner by which we dispose them is what causes problems.

Ian Lee L. Pepito, the Chairperson for the College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences of the University of the Philippines also stated that “mishandling plastic material is harmful to marine animals because majority of the plastic takes more than a decade to decompose depending on its composition, thus contaminating the bodies of water where they are dumped. Moreover, plastic straws are often inhaled by sea turtles and other sea creatures such as seals and seagulls because the size

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WE ALSO USED TO DRINK MILK, COFFEE, WATER, AND SODA WITHOUT PLASTIC STRAWS. SO, WHAT CHANGED? IT WAS THE PRESENCE OF UNSCRUPULOUS BUSINESSMEN WHO WERE BENT ON MAKING PROFIT FROM THE PRODUCTION OF SINGLE USE PLASTIC AND PLASTIC STRAWS. THUS, THEY ADVANCED AND ADVOCATED THE USE OF THESE PRODUCTS. and shape of these plastic straws exactly fit inside the nasal and throat area.”

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As the sun is slowly tinged yellow, orange, and then finally a dim red, a line of people tying up the thick, frayed nylon ropes strewn along the coast slowly creeped out from the shade provided by the sturdy palm trees along the shorelines of Sta. Cruz,Villa. Amid the tiny crabs scrabbling across the sand and the waves lapping at their feet, the residents of Sta. Cruz form silent and orderly lines and start pulling the ropes in a steady rhythm.

Tug-Pause.

Tug-Pause. TugPause. With a final heave, the large net is finally pulled upon the sandy shore. As water freely flows through its large holes and back into the vast blue of Villa beach, the remaining contents were bared in front of the awaiting spectators: clumps of wrinkled and faded plastic bags, used diapers and feminine napkins haphazardly rolled into wet bundles, plastic bottles, a lone shoe, fishes that are being loaded into containers and a large fish with a bleeding, green mouth. Upon closer inspection, the spectators slowly pulled out a warped, green and red striped straw from the fish’s gaping mouth and hurled it into a waiting pile, along with the rest of the find that would already be useless now. As the fish slowly ceased to twitch, reflected in its eyes were the masks of hunger and the regret of the crowd as they realize the consequences of their own irresponsibility: the loss of livelihood, and the slow loss of marine life.

world’s oceans which were China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Seen from an economic viewpoint, these are countries which seem to be reaping the effects of economic development, reduced poverty and improved quality of living. However, it does not come without a price, and that is a peak in the demand for consumer products without a competent waste management system.

Adrian Camposagrado, a Communications and Media Studies student in the University of the Philippines and the principal lobbyist and sponsor for the Plastic Straw Regulation Ordinance of Tigbauan, shared that, “almost every other illegal environmentally degrading activity is already banned in Iloilo - mining, fishing, kaingin, etc. But the greatest adversary that Mother Nature has so far is one that is legalized and can be found just right under our noses: plastic straws.”

THE GET-GO On January 5, 2018, participants from the Supreme Student Governments of the secondary high schools in Tigbauan gathered for a two-part event: a symposium on the dangers that plastic straws pose on us and our environment, and the committee session where they amended the draft resolution and ordinance prohibiting plastic straws in Tigbauan. The latter was deemed as the highlight of the whole event since it secures the sustainability of the program even after the symposium is finished.

The importance of gathering people in a symposium is to make the process more peopleoriented. Since Tigbauanons are the primary recipients of this ordinance, it is pertinent that their thoughts on how they should be prohibited, limited, and controlled with regards to their plastic use be consolidated.

Camposagrado also mentioned Sarge Colambo, a former Laguna Congressman, who said, “We also used to drink milk, coffee, water, and soda without plastic straws. So, what changed? It was the presence of unscrupulous businessmen who were bent on making profit from the production of single use plastic and plastic straws. Thus, they advanced and advocated the use of these products.”

He also shared a few practical tips in order to reduce the continued use of plastic straws. “The first and most practical way is to just refuse. Just say no. If you can drink directly from a bottle such as sodas and water, then do it. If you more of a caffeine person, then bring along a handy tumbler or a resealable cup to pour you drinks in. Next, is to find alternatives to plastic straws. There are a number of shops both online and among supermarkets or department stores that sell either metal straws or the recently introduced, bamboo straws.” Admittedly, maintaining the cleanliness of these innovative straws may be a tad time-consuming, but in the long run, the reduced use of plastic straws will be more than enough compensation for the little inconveniences that this compromise may entail.

As the people start to head home and the numbers dwindle down, so do the piles of accumulated trash. No longer unaware of the crippling effects of their own carelessness, the people slowly pick up the trash and bring them home in the hopes that the change that starts with them will be carried on generations into the future and they can experience once again the clean, clear waters from before, alive and teeming with fish.

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FEATURE

Going beyond the comfortable confines of human consciousness

By Everild Dominique A. Camique Artwork Carrie Danielle G. Lao

“She would always be confined by what everyone expected of her, because she was too afraid and too unwilling to correct our imperfect imaginings.” - Robyn Schneider, “The Beginning of Everything” THE HAPPENING Hands covered her eyes as tears streaked down her face. Thoughts winded themselves like vines around her mind.

“This is all your fault.”

“You pushed them away.”

“It’s your fault that you are alone.”

Her hands moved towards her mouth and I could hear her muffled screams and words were spoken under her breath.

“Get out, get out of my head, Please, get out of my head,” And then…I realized…that the girl… was me.

EXPOSITION Jing* was clinically diagnosed with depression last February 2016. Before that, she always had an odd feeling about her emotions ever since childhood.

She said she always felt as if there was a large boulder sitting on her stomach. “Every day it gets heavier and heavier; I couldn’t stand it anymore,” she explained. Thoughts were pumping like air into her head, filling it up like a balloon full of selfloathing and guilt. The emotions were cramped, but comfortable in her head.

During her sophomore year, she asked her mother to take her to see a psychiatrist to get some help. But according to her, “She would always decline, telling me I was just overthinking,” said Jing, adding, “To others, having a mental illness would mean ‘crazy’ or ‘not strong enough to face problems.’

The stigma is still there and that’s what stops others from seeking help.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) defined mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to

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beyond the silence of the mind

DUE TO THE EXISTENCE OF THIS STIGMA, IT SEPARATES THOSE WHO HAVE MENTAL ILLNESS TO THOSE WHO DON’T. make a contribution to her or his community.”

In other words, mental health describes the capability of a person to cope with the normal stressors encountered in his or her day-to-day activities. In a paper published by WHO in 2012, entitled “Risks to Mental Health: An Overview of Vulnerabilities and Risk Factors,” it mentioned the three contributing factors to mental health: individual attributes and behaviors, social and economic circumstances, and environmental factors.

INTERACTION According to the paper by WHO, resulting interactions between and among these three factors encompass the mental health and well being of an individual.

A study published last 2013, funded by the National Institutes of Health’s sector, the NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health), identified five mental disorders that maybe hereditary in nature: autism, ADHD, clinical depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The study expounds on common genetic factors shared by these five, one of which is the gene that codes for the protein that regulates calcium flow into the neurons.Variations in the gene CACNA1C affect the individual’s emotions, thinking and memory which are involved in the development of a mental illness.

While genetics is inherently acquired, therefore it strongly dictates much of our physical, emotional and intellectual traits, extenuating factors such as social an economic conditions, and one’s environment, were other variables identified to either work for or against one’s mental state. The kind of cultural background and socio-economic status one is born into, and even national health policies that affect access to basic health services and education, are determinants of mental health on an individual, household, and even community level. Environmental attributes, specifically the home and school, may encourage or discourage the development of selfesteem.When someone is always put down, he or she may see develop low self-esteem.

JURISDICTION There are cases wherein these factors are almost always working against the individual and this can lead to the development of a mental illness. But one must first consult a psychologist before making any conclusions about the current state of their mental

health.

A psychologist is a person who holds a degree of Doctorate in Psychology (Psy.D.) or a Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Ph.D.). They specialize in psychological testing and are the only group of clinicians to do so. They can diagnose a person with a mental illness only if they match the standardized criteria that a patient must meet in order to be diagnosed with a specific illness. They can provide psychotherapy based on their specialization, but they cannot prescribe medication to their patients. That responsibility falls on the psychiatrist.

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor specializing in the field of psychiatry. They can also deliver psychotherapy, but for the most part, they do psychiatric evaluations for the purpose of determining if an individual would be appropriate for treatment with medications. They will also monitor the patient until they are stabilized with the proper dosage. In a nutshell, both of them can diagnose a person with a mental illness, but only a psychiatrist can prescribe medication.

AFFLICTION Mental illness comes in many different forms.

They come as anxiety disorders, mood disorders, personality disorders, eating disorders, obsessivecompulsive disorders, and so much more. Despite the wide variety of mental illnesses, the most common mental health illnesses in the Philippines are schizophrenia, wherein the individual experiences hallucinations, delusions, and mood disturbances; substance abuse, which come in the form of excessive alcohol consumption or the use of illegal drugs, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and finally, depression.

“Oftentimes in our culture, when you say you’re sad, you just say “I’m depressed.” However, when you say that to a medical doctor, specifically a psychiatrist, he will treat you with clinical depression,” said Dr. Lisa Ann Gayoles of the University of San Agustin Guidance Services and Psychological Testing Center.

One must exhibit five of the nine symptoms of depression, namely appetite(absence or excessiveness), sleep (too much or too little), anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure in normally pleasurable activities), dysphoria(the feeling of dissatisfaction with life), fatigue, agitation or retardation diminished concentration, low esteem and feelings of guilt; and suicide or thoughts of death.

DIVISION For the most part, people who suffer from a form of mental illness usually suffer from stigma The sociologist Erving Goffman defines stigma as “the phenomenon whereby an individual with an attribute which is deeply discredited by his or her society is rejected as a result of the attribute. Stigma is a process by which the reaction of others spoils normal identity.”

Edward E. Jones and his colleagues proposed six dimensions of stigma, namely, concealability, course, disruptiveness, peril, origin, and aesthetics.

Concealability is the degree of visibility of the illness which can be either easily seen, in the case of schizophrenia, or hard to spot, like in depression.

Course is the likeliness of the person to recover or benefit from the treatment he is going through.

The dimension of disruptiveness assesses the extent of impact of the disorders on their interpersonal relationships with the people around them. People with mental illness are often seen as dangerous, such as in the dimension of peril, where the people fear those who have a mental illness. Origin dimension describes that somehow, the mental illness that they have is due to their own doing; as if it’s their own fault that they are like this. Finally, the Aesthetic dimension, where afflicted persons are labeled and avoided due to their illness.

Due to this stigma, people who suffer from mental disorders would rather not reveal their pains and sufferings. This in turn may have monumental effects to their condition, such as withholding themselves to seek for professional help, and eventually may lead them to commit suicide. Refusing to speak up, they suffer in silence. Oftentimes, hey bear the burden alone, isolated from the hope that they can be helped, and live the life they truly want to live.

THE REALITY As she continues to cover her face with her hands, she hears a voice. She looks up and she sees her friend.

“What are you doing there?” her friend asks her.

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.

“I’m fine. Just a little stressed.”

Her friend stares at her, then smiles.

“Alright, Let’s join the others.”

Her friend grabs her hand and steers her away.

“Just so you know, you could always talk to me.”

The girl finally allows herself a smile.

“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” - Audre Lorde *not her real name

VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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From the Inside Out

like no one‘Els’

FEATURE

Having a good outlook towards oneself makes the difference between knowing your worth and letting others define it.

FEATURE

Meet the face behind the transcribed life stories of Iloilo’s student journalists

By Everild Dominique A. Camique Artwork Carrie Danielle G. Lao Illustration Ravve Jay F. Prevendido File Photo Philstar.com

By Philip Robert C. Alaban Photograph Miguel Carlos J. Llamado

ARCHIVED When she was in high school, she was known for her knack in writing as a consistent member of her high school publications, so it was no surprise when she joined the Central Echo of the Central Philippine University in her freshman year as an English major. She purposefully stated that it was her innate passion in writing that earned her the ticket to becoming a staffer. Her major was Literature and she states that her personal flair is more on creative, rather than journalistic writing. “However, whatever the category of writing, the medium I use is English and no matter how you use it, English is still governed by the same rules all throughout,” she says with a chuckle. Her eyes are filled with the familiar gleam of nostalgia as she imparts some of the most memorable moments of being a Central Echo staffer, with the declaration of Martial Law by the late President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972 as the most noteworthy, resulting to the temporary halt of their operations for one or two semesters and resuming in the middle of 1974.

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DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE HAVE HONED HER AS A PERSON, SHE STILL FEELS AS IF SHE IS JUST A SIMPLE WOMAN. SHE IS NEVER CONSCIOUS OF ANY TITLE, ACCOMPLISHMENT, OR ACHIEVEMENT.

information arm of the government which practically did what PIA is doing now, which is also the reason why I had no difficulty adjusting to the environment of PIA after choosing to leave government in 1987 and coming back nine years after, in 1996, when NMPC was already dissolved,” she said. The dissolution of the agency occurred in 1986 after the Snap Elections, then was succeeded by the then Ministry of Public Information which eventually became the PIA. Even during her time away from the government, her odd jobs were still inclined towards giving time to better other people, as she worked as a part-time Lecturer/Assistant Professor in both her alma mater and at the West Visayas State University. Ma’am Subong’s training as a journalist and her experience as a Copy Editor played a big role on how effective she was as a College Professor. “I taught journalism, news writing, and practically all the communications as well as sociology subjects,” Ma’am Subong says, eventually taking up sociology as her master’s degree.

Her knowledge in journalism substantiated her teaching career. Although admittedly, she has grown to love anthropology and sociology, journalism still holds a special place in her heart as it “puts soul into whatever you are teaching.”

THE FINAL CHAPTER VIEWS AND REVIEWS At the age of 23, Ma’am Subong initially started out as a Copy Editor of the National Media Production Center (NMPC) under the Office of the President. “The NMPC used to be the prime

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“

As I stepped inside the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Office, the soft glows of the fluorescent bulbs immediately replace the harsh sunlight. The familiar scent of book paper and lemon-scented air freshener overpowered the smells of smoke and city pollution. The low hubbub of conversation between the staff, the scratch of pens against papers, and the hum of computer units filled my ears as the noise of the workers frantically running to and fro became a thing of the past. I sat myself on the red couch situated just past the door and made myself comfortable as I patiently wait for my name to be called. “Philip?

I’m just about ready to start.” I craned my neck and immediately see the homely figure seated in her black office chair beckoning for me to approach her desk.There before me was PIA Information Manager III, Mrs. Elsa Subong.

Presently, Ma’am Subong describes herself a person of various faces because she blends in to almost any situation. She also knows a lot of things about different disciplines which have been very useful in her work as a journalist. After all, being a

Public Information Officer for the government requires one to be knowledgeable and aware about a lot of pressing social issues, programs, projects of the government. Despite her achievements and accolades, Ma’am Subong is still very much a simple woman. “Age mellows you also and what remains of me when I retire this April 2 will not be seen in the list of my accolades, but in the lives of people whom I’ve touched, be it through being a writer or a teacher.” Her experiences speak for themselves. She could not even accurately keep track of what and where she had been to, but she realized that she did not have. The people around her that have grown through her mentorship are already a testament to the fountain of knowledge that she has become.

As she draws our interview to a close, she ends by saying, “Write, write, write every opportunity that you get because the most seasoned writers are developed through extensive writing. Becoming a writer not only entails talent, but also the drive and passion to write.” It is never a walk in the park, no matter what profession you choose and what career path you take. If there is a discipline that you want to be good at, you have to persevere and equip yourself with knowledge and commitment in order to be the best at whatever it is you want. Before she ushers me out of her office, she shares these final words, “Never hesitate to undergo learning experiences.

Be adventurous, explore, don’t be afraid, and, most importantly, don’t be lazy. Be diligent and treat your craft as if it is your lifeline and develop a sense of selfdiscipline because that’s important.”

As human beings, we all have imperfections. When we look at ourselves, the first imperfections we often notice are the physical ones. I am talking about the pimples that never seem to go away, the noses that are not angled “right” enough, and the layers of fat that are so hard to get rid of. Even the most attractive of people can find slight imperfections to what is already considered a beautiful face and body following the standards of society. These so-called “standards” have driven some to pursue the “ideal look” through exercise or diet and beauty regimens.There are moments when these do not feel as effective as one expects they should be. If that is the case, some pursue plastic surgery as a last resort.

The term plastic surgery came from the Greek word plastikos, which means to form or mold. This type of surgery can come in reconstructive and cosmetic procedures. Reconstructive procedures involves correcting defects on the face or body such as physical birth defects like cleft lip and ear deformities; traumatic injuries as in burns; and the aftermath of disease treatment such as cases of rebuilding a woman’s breast after going through treatment for breast cancer. Cosmetic procedures change a part of a person’s body that he or she is not satisfied with. Examples of these procedures include breast augmentation where they make the breasts larger, or smaller in the reduction mammoplasty; liposuction where one removes excess fat from chosen parts of the body; and rhinoplasty or nose reshaping.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, surgical cosmetic procedures performed in the United States have increased by 3.5 percent from 2016 to 2017, and by 99.1 percent from 1997 to 2016. This means that more and more people have undergone surgery to

improve their physical appearance. Studies have also shown that the people who went through these procedures have increased self-esteem due to plastic surgery.

CHANGE HAS COME Rhinoplasty and chin augmentation are the chosen procedures for the makeover of Marlou Arizala. Not only that, he also underwent several medical procedures to straighten out his teeth, make his eyebrows thicker and more “masculine”, his eyelashes longer, his lips more kissable and to remove the wrinkles on his forehead. To complete the total makeover, he got a new hairstyle and even changed his name to Xander Ford.

“The name ‘Xander Ford’ is from my managers.

‘Xander’ is from David Cabawatan and ‘Ford’ is from sir Vince Apostol, the owners of Star Image Artist Management here in Manila (Ang ‘Xander Ford’ nanamepokasiaygalingsaakingmgamanagers.Ang ‘Xander’aygalingkaysirDavidCabawatanatang‘Ford’

ay galing kay sirVince Apostol na mga owners ng Star Image Artist Management dito sa Manila),”explained Ford in an online interview with The Augustinian.

According to Ford, the name was decided on the night before his operation. He said that this was the start of his transformation. “We liked the idea of the name, and that is why I chose to use that name. The name is a big help because the change in my name comes hand in hand with my physical transformation (Nagustuhan po namin ang ideya ng pangalan kaya ito na po ang ginamit ko po. Malaking tulongpoangpangalandahilkaakibatngakingpisikal napagbabagoaykasabayangpagbabagongpangalan).”

Reasons vary as to why some people opt for the enhancement, or reduction in the case of liposuction, of their physical features. There are some who do it out of necessity. Others just do it simply because they are not happy with how they look, and they want to feel better about themselves. Some do it to fulfill a childhood dream. Others do it to become a whole new different person. Some do it to stand out from VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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FEATURE

dengvaxia: a false promise?

Despite halting the mass immunization with Dengvaxia on December 1, 2017 by DOH, alleged death cases of children who received a dose are still increasing

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By Wilkienson C. Muro Photograph Clyde Allen E. Sollesta Illustration Carrie Danielle G. Lao

THE MAIN REAS0N IS TO BE ABLE TO HELP MY FAMILY AGAIN. the crowd or just to fit in with their peers.

But for Ford, it was because of family.“The main reason is to be able to help my family again (Ang tanging rason lang naman po ay iyong makatulong ako ulit sa aking pamilya),”he said.

Arizala at that time, was originally part of the boyband Hasht5, but he left the group to pursue a solo career. The idea of the whole transformation came from his managers Apostol and Cabawatan. “Because of the reason of wanting to be active in work again and in order to help my family.

We are very poor and the only source of income that I have is Marlou.” (“Dahil din po sa kagustuhan namin na maging active ulit sa trabaho. Dahil kailangan ko po kasing tumulong sa aking pamilya. Sobrang mahirap lang po kami ang tanging puhunan ko po noon ay si Marlou.”)

The whole transformation costs around 500,000 pesos and was sponsored by Icon Clinic; but the surgery wasn’t made known to his parents until the big reveal in an episode of Rated K. His parents, Merly Arizala and Aniceto Mabanto, were crying when they saw their son after his transformation.

However, his transformation did not change the way he saw himself. In an interview on Aksyon sa Umaga, he revealed that he never thought himself as unattractive ever since he was Marlou Arizala. According to him, Marlou was only being true to himself; the surgery only enhanced the already attractive features that he has.

FACES AND PHASES Having plastic surgery is not only a form of preference for most people. It could also be an evident sign for some people who are going through something alarming. Body Dysmorphic Disorder, as described by an article done by Mayo Clinic, is a mental disorder when one has persisting thoughts about perceivable defects or flaws in their

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appearance, flaws that are deemed minor or unobservable by others. The symptoms of this illness include constant comparison of one’s appearance with other people and seeking frequent cosmetic procedures, ending up with little satisfaction at the end. Like many other mental illnesses, the cause is not known, but its development is contributed mostly by physiological, genetic, and environmental factors.

One study in the 2015 International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience found that although their respondents’ self-esteem improve after surgery, their self-conceptualisation did not increase significantly.

Essentially, self-concept is our own image of ourselves. Xander Ford thought himself attractive despite the many flaws that he had or still has. That is HIS selfimage.

But nevertheless what he thinks of himself, he chose to become attractive for others. Before the surgery, he received ridicule from many, due to his appearance.

Words spewed off the pages of social media that express apparent dislike towards him. But this occurrence is not uncommon. Many people have been ridiculed, laughed at, or even hated, either verbally or virtually.

Whether we choose to or not, the things that other people say have a lasting effect, especially from the persons that matter to us: our peers, our family, even the strangers whose opinion we value. Their words grow within our hearts, taking root deep into our souls, becoming part of who we are.

We are forests of trees made of words that grew from the seeds of our self-image and of our interaction with the people around us. Even if that is the case, we have a choice on what words to cultivate and which words to cut down.

Which words would you choose?

The 3.5 billlion-peso Dengvaxia immunization program of the Department of Health (DOH) in collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd) is currently under cessation after Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of the multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi, declared that Dengvaxia worsens symptoms of schoolchildren who received a dose without prior exposure to dengue virus.

Dengvaxia, considered as the world’s first dengue vaccine to reach the Philippines and the only effective vaccine against four strains of dengue virus in the present, is undergoing public scrutiny as it already sowed fear and anxiety to Filipinos after being presumed as cause of death of 14 children (out of the 380,0000) following their immunization.

THE PLUNGER In its goal to combat the dramatic growth of global incidence of dengue primarily in Asia and Latin America which was reported by the World Health Organization to pose high risk to about half of the world’s population, Sanofi Pasteur, developed and registered the first dengue vaccine, Dengvaxia, in Mexico in December 2015. It was deemed a successful breakthrough after more than a decade of ‘efficacy and safety studies’ in 10 countries involving more than 30,000 children including the Philippines. Previous reports also showed that 40,000 people from 15 countries participated in 25 clinical tests, which revealed an 80 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalization after being administered the shot. In a report posted on the website of Philippine Daily Inquirer, former

Health Secretary Janette Garin said, “Philippines participated in all three phases of the vaccine’s clinical development with subjects from Cebu and several areas in Metro Manila.”

Eleven countries, including the Philippines, have approved the commercial release of Dengvaxia: Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. The vaccine was approved for sale in the Philippines a few weeks after then-President Benigno Aquino III received executives from the company in a courtesy call in Paris, France, in December 2015. DOH led the marketing of the vaccines under the approval of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 22, 2015 capitalizing to an over 78,000 cases of dengue reported in September 2015. Months following the approval of commercial sale of Dengvaxia in the country, DOH found itself cowering in terror thinking that the vaccine was not safe. Four people had died following their shots but the cases were declared by Garin as non-dengvaxia related death cases.

By April 2016, DOH embarked on its multibillion vaccination program, where free vaccines were given to more than 700,000 Grade 4 public school pupils in three regions with the highest number of dengue cases—Metro Manila, Central Luzon and Calabarzon. “Philippines was first in the world to introduce, adopt and implement the dengue vaccine through the public health system and under a public school setting,” mentioned

by Garin in her interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer.

THE BARREL Since then, the treatment received condemnation both from the public and country’s officials. Then-DOH Secretary Paulyn Ubial flagged Dengvaxia as unsafe in July 2016. Sen. Richard Gordon, in October 2016, raised the need for an investigation of the “undue haste” in using the vaccine despite safety questions. The House of the Representatives also sought for a probe on this case.

In December 2016, Sanofi stopped advertising that said Dengvaxia was available over the counter at FDA’s behest. Dengvaxia (CYD-TDV) is a

live recombinant tetravalent dengue vaccine that should be administered via subcutaneous injection in the upper arm under a 3-dose series on a 0/6/12 month schedule as evaluated in Phase III clinical studies. It has been registered only for use in individuals nine to 45 years of age living in endemic areas of dengue. Likewise, FDA directed Sanofi and Watson’s Personal Care Stores to stop promoting and offering immunization without authorization.

Sanofi was pushed deeper into a tight corner when the death of 14 schoolchildren were reported in suspicion to the possible effects of Dengvaxia.

“A panel of experts from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) will review the circumstances behind the deaths of 14 children who were given the Dengvaxia anti-dengue vaccine under the government’s immunization program,” stated Health Undersecretary Enrique Domingo in an interview with Philippine Daily Inquirer on January 6, 2018.

Domingo added that reports of death or disease in these children will be referred to the PGH for review to see if there was any relationship between the fatality and the vaccine.

FDA ordered the pullout of the vaccine and the suspension of the certificate of product registration for a year of the Sanofi Pasteur. It was also fined P100,000 for the failure to comply with postmarketing authorization requirements for the vaccine.

WHEN BEVEL MEETS THE SKIN In the present, the causes of death of the children aged nine to 11 from Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, and Metro Manila have already been identified. The deaths of the four children were caused by dengue while the others were caused by heart ailments, leukemia and lupus.

Domingo noted that “some of the children VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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THEY FOUND MASSIVE BLEEDING IN THE BRAIN, IN THE HEART, IN THE LUNGS AND IN THE STOMACH. THE EXAMINERS OBSERVED A PATTERN IN THE DEATH OF FIVE CHILDREN WHO HAD RECEIVED DENGVAXIA VACCINE.

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fell ill two weeks to one month after vaccination, while the others became sick six months after. The children also had different symptoms and diagnosis when admitted to hospital for treatment.” He added that it took some time to create a panel whose members would have no conflict of interest in the issue, that the expenses for the morbidity and mortality review would be shouldered by the DOH and PGH alone.

On the other hand, amid the monitoring of the health of more than 387,000 schoolchildren, forensic experts from the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) reported a “link” between the deaths of five children and the controversial dengue vaccine.

Dr. Erwin Erfe, director of the PAO Forensic Laboratory, in an interview with Tina G. Santos, Tetch Torres-Tupas, and Faye Orellana said “the latest to be subjected to forensic examination was the body of a 13-year-old boy who died in Bulacan province on January 3.”

They found massive bleeding in the brain, in the heart, in the lungs and in the stomach. The examiners observed a pattern in the death of five children who had received Dengvaxia vaccine. The body of an 11-year-old boy from Bataan Province was also examined on January 9, 2018 and the cause was identified to be death “within 12 hours” of developing headache and fever. Among the bodies examined by PAO experts were those of Zandro Colite, 11, from Cavite, and Lenard Baldonado, 10, from San Pablo City in Laguna. Similar observations were seen in Baldonado’s body.

The experts observed common cause of death from the bodies of children they have examined. They have enlarged organ and symptoms of severe dengue (commonly septic shock or internal bleeding). PAO is currently pursuing their probe on the said controversy. As for Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, he stated “the DOH welcomed the PAO investigation, and offered to “extend any help in unveiling the truth.”

“Our panel of independent experts and the Philippine General Hospital have been tasked to monitor adverse events following immunization. We see [the] PAO’s efforts as complementary to our own and we would like to see the results of their probe,” Duque added.

For less than two years of the launching of the mass Dengvaxia immunization program of the DOH, Filipinos were treated like sample subjects of a country-sized laboratory.

Despite its immediate cessation, what would be left of those 380,000 schoolchildren who have already experienced the life at the brink of death? Will that shot be reminisced still as a bite of an ant?

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THE MALADAW UNMASKED

In every village she has been to, she loses a part of herself and leaves it there, but gains something new within her.

By Philip Robert C. Alaban Photograph Allaine Rose M. Emnacen

Maria is a woman of stature whose morena complexion is concealed behind dainty fans of beauty and grace. Ondonesa is a native princess born and raised in the heart of the rugged mountains of Mindanao. Salamat, a beautiful creation of God, has her head gracefully bowed in revered gratitude. Maladaw has chocolate brown eyes that show the prologue to the untold stories of explorations and adventures in the Philippines’ native soil. Combining all these with an accidental dash of just a little bit of mischief, you have the University of San Agustin’s very own resident goddess, Ma’am Rosa.

TAKING ROOT It has long been noted that the Philippines has a rich and diverse culture. This diversity mirrors the life of Ma. Rosalie A. Zerrudo, Academic Supervisor of Fine Arts Department of College of Technology.

She views her own growth in different contexts, having been influenced by the various communities she has been to, and the smorgasbord of people she has worked with.

She grew up in what has been touted as the Land of Promise, Mindanao, an island well known for its culture as well as for it terrorists. Then, she experienced some form of re-birth when she lived in Manila where she experienced growth in terms of physical and spiritual maturity, and started to learn about appreciating art and culture after being exposed to a bigger context of venues for their expression.

As she was climbing literal mountains spanning across all 17 regions of the Philippine archipelago, she realized that she was simultaneously climbing and conquering figurative mountains within her as well.

Mindanao also played a crucial role in her growth as a cultural worker and also in grounding herself with indigenous communities, her cultural roots and her understanding of the Filipino culture. She fondly recalls a memory when she was in the southern part of the country, “One of my most awakening moments was when I attended the Mindulaan Festival. There were these T’boli’s dancing to the beat of their handcrafted instruments in their beautiful hand-woven garbs and beaded accessories. I thought to myself, ‘this is the most basic Filipino indigenous figure.’ You’re looking at exceptional craftsmanship, artisanship, masterful music playing and chanting, that is unmatched by any other nationality’.”

Following this was her ironclad resolve to become the voice of those who cannot bear to speak on their own, and to become an “ambassadress of

authentic and indigenous Filipino culture.” For example, when she was doing her development work, she would make sure that the beneficiaries are taken into consideration, and that they understood their part in the project.

She added, “If you’re sensitive to the culture of the local community, it is very important to look at how you can relate your project with regards to their culture. Its purpose is not to only extract information from a certain community, but to completely immerse yourself into their community so you can understand how it means to truly live like them.” As a cultural worker, this is what she incorporates in her art education: using culture in her teaching, either inside or outside her classroom.

TAKING FLIGHT It was after a seven-year stay in the island of Camiguin when thought it would be good to study again. This led her to apply for a Ford Foundation International Fellowship Grant. Having been accepted, she ultimately chose to be based in New York because it offered a more diverse and vast venue for experiencing international culture and arts. The city teems with artists from different parts of the world, and it almost seems akin to having a whole universe encapsulated within the borders of The City that Never Sleeps.

The Ford Foundation International Fellowship Grant was another trajectory, another learning curve for Ma’am Rosa. As she puts it herself, “When you’ve done so much for the community, you realize that you also need to give something back, you need something else that can nourish you and as a result, you have something else to give. Then at some point, the world you live in just gets a little bit too small for you.” Compared to how international members of the community interacted with her in Camiguin,

where conversations were usually fleeting and superficial, the conversations she had with her friends and batchmates in New York University were deeper and richer. Another perk of taking up her master’s degree at the age of 40 is that she has so much to offer based on what she has seen, heard, tasted, and felt during her years of trekking all over the Philippines.

It gave her write-ups the substance that earned her straight A’s from her professors.

On the other hand, it was also an opportune time for her to share the authentic culture of the Philippines. With a laugh, she shares a conversation she once had with an Australian national who commented that the Philippines has no culture, “So I asked him, ‘Oh really? Where in the Philippines have you already been to?’ and he answered ‘Oh I’ve been to Cebu and Manila and Boracay,’ and I told him ‘I’m sorry but you have not even scratched the surface of the Philippines and I don’t think that would be the kind of travel that could give you an authentic Filipino experience.” Filipinos speak more than 200 languages. The Philippines is composed of more than 100 ethnic communities with their respective traditions and thriving way of life and there is almost no other place like the Philippines where even the most native basic dish, adobo, can be cooked and served in 100 different ways.

A karmic birth, a karmic blessing. That is how Ma’am Rosa describes her existence. It was never in her hands to decide where she would be born but that’s where the beauty of Fate lies.You take what the world hands to you, and you learn how to weave a tapestry of bright, blazing colors depicting stories of adventure, excitement, danger, love for the country and just a little bit of luck. This is Ma’am Rosa. This is Maladaw.

VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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Balancing the sister act

A life anchored on vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, Sr. Jill finds meaning in both the sacred and the profane.

By Erika Danielle M. Pepito Photograph Clyde Allen E. Sollesta File Photo Social Advocacy and Community Engagement Office

GUNS AND ROSES

It was almost an hour before noon when I arrived at the library – a silent sanctuary for students racing against time and chasing after their academic marks.

My eyes swept over the hall, hoping to identify the subject of this article even if I have already passed her by a few times along the passageways of Rada. In a sea of students decked in their uniforms, a young woman in a garb of gray stands out. Her hair is concealed, unlike most females who wear their tresses in different styles. She types away in her laptop, with her textbooks and notes as the fortress that blocks her from distractions.

I had to break into the stronghold. But she welcomed me warmly. I found myself in a trance with her adoptive aura even if she was obviously preoccupied.

A native of Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, Sr. Jerelyne C. Doncillo, SCSA or Sister Jill, is a third-year student under the program of Bachelor in Elementary Education, Major in Pre-School Education. At the age of 25, she is a junior of the Sisters of Charity of St. Anne, yet she chose the college life believing it will help her enrich herself and also the people around her.

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The way the parents raise their child says a lot about the child’s vocation in the future. Tremblay, et al. (2015) emphasized that the learned skills of children during their early years are fundamentally dependent on the quality of the interactions they have with their parents. Sister Jill grew up with a lay minister father and a catechist mother. It is no surprise that in the future she would also trod upon the path her parents paved. “In the province, it is always in the center – the Church life. That is why I think at a young age, [the religious life] is already there. I just did not notice that it is going to be like this.” Since majority in her family are men, she was not really the girly type of child. “It was a normal childhood. I guess I am not the type of a girly girl even though my mother would like to see me wear dresses.” She gushed that at some point the idea of taking up Criminology was tossed around in her head, but because she is the only girl in the family (and also the second child), her parents were not big fans of that idea.

However, she started to feel the religious life luring her when she was graduating from high school. Jamie Rivera’s Purpose Driven Life was their graduation song, and the lyric “What am I here for?” stuck with her.

“Even if I kept on hearing that call, still I kept asking for [a] sign. Aside from Criminology, I considered to be a teacher actually. But the chosen school my mother wanted me to go [to], I really did not feel like entering into that school, which is PNU or Philippine Normal University. I didn’t see myself there.” It was one Easter Vigil when she was already begging Him not to [encourage] her to enter, but she bargained and something just clicked in her. “So, I said, ‘let me just try entering for one year.’ After that, a friend of mine was also entering, and I asked, ‘Can I [go] with you?’ And that was how it started.”

Her family, despite the support they provide her, was afraid to allow her to take this leap of faith at first. It even reached the point that her father hid the waiver from her until the day she was bound to leave the province but he gave in to her request a few hours before her departure.

“My mother was okay with it, but my father had a hard time accepting it.

He was able to see how I lived there in the convent with the sisters. In that way, little by little, he accepted. Every time I would go home (once a year for 15 days), the question that he would ask is, “are you still happy? If you are happy then go, but if not, we are still here to accept you.”

Her first year was filled with tribulations, such as being away from her parents for the first time.Taking care of the elderly was also a challenge, according to her. “Taking care of the kids is okay but taking care of the elderly is very hard. Especially if you are going to give them a bath, change their diapers-everything.” Phone calls with her mother, were spent mostly crying to her as she shared her daily experiences, but she saw the joy in doing such things each day. “It is more of a realization that, ‘okay Lord, my

life is for you. Let me give it to you as my service.’”

WITHIN THESE PAGES Nuns usually go through different phases before they are officially ushered into the religious vocation. They undergo spiritual discernment during the stage of two-year aspirancy, which is “more on knowing yourself, knowing the Bible, and those related to the Church” as Sister Jill puts it. One year is dedicated to postulancy or knowing the congregation’s mission by living one’s life in the assigned community.The novitiate stage, which is two years, is spent remaining in the convent to immerse oneself in prayer. This is the transitions towards becoming a fully-fledged nun. The first vow is being confessed by the nuns, and they are ushered into the junior stage. After three years, a fourth renewal takes place for a nun to be totally affiliated with the religious order she chose.

Going back to the academe is part of Sister Jill’s mission. “It was the mission that [inspired] me. Since then I [didn’t] really like taking up the course but then I was undergoing the process na, after my vow, I was assigned to a school. In that way, I was able to love teaching. After one year, I decided to study.” Her relationships with her classmates, instructors, and students are apparent with the innate respect Filipinos have towards religious members of the Catholic Church. “Along with the treatment is also the responsibility. I am not actually allowed to take up any leadership role in the school, but because there is this need of a leader figure, I conceded.” Sister Jill is the president of her class and is also one of the members of the Education Department’s Debate Team.

Just like any other student, Sister Jill often faces the tempting prospect of giving up her academic pursuance. “I am one of the student leaders so at times, I could not contain it anymore.

I feel like telling the Mother Superior that I do not want to go to study anymore. But at the same time, I took it as a challenge. I will [serve better], I will be a better sister and serve the mission if I will finish my studies.” She keeps in mind that going to school is not only about gaining knowledge; it is about enriching yourself as you enrich others.

It is quite easy for her to deal with worldly temptations now, having lived a life of simplicity, aided by their vow of poverty. “For me I am already satisfied with what I have. If I am given something, thank you, as long as these things are

“

your prayer life is at peace, but your community life is not, then the more you will have this struggle.

We, the sisters, we see each other every day. Human as we are, we have conflicts. There are times when we cannot really control our emotions. But we try

IF THERE IS ONE THING THAT SISTER JILL WANTS PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A NUN, IT IS THIS – “PEOPLE ACTUALLY THINK THAT A NUN DOESN’T FALL IN LOVE, BUT WE ARE HUMANS. WE EXPERIENCE CRUSHES. WE EXPERIENCE FALLING IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE.

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really helpful [to] me, in order for me to effectively serve and to nurture my love for God.” Finding the balance between her community life and prayer life is perhaps the biggest test she has to face every waking moment. Living with people of diverse personalities and coming from different cultures is one thing. Reminding herself that they are simply humans and they are bound to commit mistakes and learn from them is another. “The biggest struggles that you will encounter as a nun is living in a community. We have different ages and attitudes – living with your family is difficult, how much pa kaya kung community? In other communities there are different nationalities, they [have] different cultures. They have a different way of treating you, of correcting you. Even though

our best to reconcile or talk it out.”

Amidst these struggles, she finds the greatest joys of being a nun as the sun sets and she slips into a state of quiet solitude. “I will sense the presence, the comfort, the hug of God. Sometimes, I feel like seeing a vision of Jesus smiling at me.” This encounter serves as validation that she did something right, something pleasing to the Almighty. Half a decade from now, she sees herself back in her first assignment in Makati, where she had an epiphany that God calls her to teach children.

As she resumes typing on her laptop, a gift of love from her parents, she believes she is on her way towards becoming a better and holier person. The simple individual that she is, she wishes seeing the people around her grow in their faith in God.

HIDDEN UNDER THE VEIL If there is one thing that Sister Jill wants people to know about being a nun, it is this – “people actually think that a nun doesn’t fall in love, but we are humans. We experience crushes.

We experience falling in love with someone. It is more of a paghanga. But the only difference is that we are able to transcend the feeling.” It is advisable for nuns to at least have one sister to talk about their sentiments to avoid having such feeling to be nurtured. This is because of their vow of chastity, which is technically a vow of celibacy, “a vow to live without an exclusive or sexual love relationship with another human being,” Maureen Fiedler defined in her article Traditional vows redefined for the 21st century.

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The smell of ink and paper was the first thing I noticed as I walked through its doors. I was greeted by boxes upon boxes stacked on a shelf. I looked around and I saw a few glass cases that contained several altarpieces and fossils, an old harp, earthen jars and an entombment of Jesus Christ. The more time I spent inside there, the more I felt like I was in a room from a part of history.

In Urdaneta Hall, there are only six known destinations: the Auditorium, the Clinic, the Registrar, the University Review Center, the Landscape Architecture Office and the open space that is often used by students to practice for their performances.

Very few know that the University houses its own Archives and Museum in that building. Today, both the University Archives and University Museum are housed in the 2nd floor of Urdaneta Hall with Rev. Fr. Arnel S. Dizon, O.S.A, as the University Archivist.

The creation of the University Archives dates back to June 1992 when then University President, Fr. Eusebio B. Berdon, O.S.A., asked Sr. Ma. Elisa Concepcion, F.I., who was then the Director of Libraries and Instructional Media Center, to start archiving the records of the Community of the Augustinian Friars in the University. It wasn’t until August 3, 1998, that the University Archives was established under the presidency of Fr. Mamerto A. Alfeche, OSA. Located in the Library of Friars’ residence, 3rd floor of Herrera Hall, Sr. Ma. Elisa would also become the first university archivist.

From its location in the Library of Friars’ residence, 3rd flood of Herrera Hall, the University Archives was transferred at the 3rd Floor of the newly constructed Fray Luis de Leon Building in May 2000.

Following this transfer, the University Museum was created in June 2002, during the term of office of Fr. Manuel M.Vergara, OSA, as the University President.

It is also located at the 3rd Floor of Fray Luis de Leon Building. In the same year, the USAiana Section of the Archives was also established. This was also the year when theses and dissertations were transferred from the College Library to the Archives.

HOUSING OF OLD CHRONICLES Entering the Archives, we were welcomed by Lourigen Cabillon, the Assistant Archivist. She told us

A retelling of the old and the almost forgotten CAMPUS

A glimpse into the golden past gives hope for a glorious future.

By Everild Dominique A. Camique Photographs Edrea Claire G. Gregore

how these valuable items are handled.

Once the Archives acquire a certain document that has historical value or research value, it is the job of the archivist to facilitate the said preservation. Not all of these records are kept permanently however, it is the job of the archivist to determine what are to be kept and disposed of.

The Archives houses several historical documents.The Certification that granted the school its University status that dates back to March 1, 1953, is preserved and so are old photographs of various school events, of the earliest friar-administrators, and distinguished students of the then Colegio de San Agustin.

Several published works are categorized into the USAiana Section, Panayana Section and the Rare Books section. In the USAiana section, one can find published works by the academic community including campus newspapers, annual reports, yearbooks, and journals. The publications of the University of San Agustin Publishing House can also be found here.

What is fascinating are the books included in the Panayana Section and the Rare Books Section. Generally, the Panayana section is a collection of materials pertaining to the Island of Panay, the people and their culture. Among these materials are the literary pieces and memorabilia of Magdalena Jalandoni, a renowned Hiligaynon writer.

Monographs, centuries-old serials and looks, and published and unpublished material of rare value are found the Rare Books Section.

Past records of the University are also stored in acid-free boxes, but are kept separate from the artifacts in an isolated room. When handling documents and records, one must wear gloves because the natural oils that we have on our hands may damage the objects, especially old books and documents. If the material is fragile, it is encapsulated in polyester to avoid damage.

In addition to these elements, the acidity levels of the objects, especially paper, is considered.

REPOSITORY OF THE PAST The University Museum which should house statues, paintings, stones, and other historical objects has yet to be established. They are now instead kept at the Archives. Miniature figurines, alcohol beverage bottles from the post-war period, statues of different religious figures like Jesus Christ, Sto. Niño and St. Augustine, and several altar pieces and religious vessels are just the tip of the iceberg on the various historical objects found in Archives.

There are also earthen jars, a World War II radio, and several artifacts from the different churches around the province and stones from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in Naples, Italy.

Keeping these very valuable objects in pristine condition takes a lot of work, patience, and great care. These pieces can easily be damaged, so in order to preserve them in their original state, it is an archivist’s responsibility to ensure that the temperature and humidity of the room should be kept constant at all times.

Statues are stored in an isolated room to minimize exposure to external elements such as light and heat. Constant exposure to these elements can hasten the chemical reactions occurring on the surface of the materials thus resulting in faster deterioration. Smaller objects such as the alcohol beverage bottles and relics are stored in acid-free boxes, to avoid their exposure to acid in the outside environment. Altarpieces are kept inside glass cases.

These items made its way to the University from different sources. Some were purchased by the University or forwarded to the Archives for safe-keeping but most of the objects and artifacts were donated.

“It is the feeling of personal satisfaction that an object is being preserved so that its value would be appreciated by the next generation,” said Fr. Vergara, one of the known donors of the University archives.

Fr. Vergara started donating to the Archives during his first term as President of the University.

Most of the artifacts that he acquired were collected during his local and international trips and some were given to him for safekeeping.

His reasons for donating the items he collected were personal. “I know that these are valuable collections and are worth keeping. These are pieces to showcase the value of local and foreign cultures,” he explained.“Historical moments would be preserved and admired, and be valued by the objects which would truly reflect the worthiness of its period.”

As of present, it is only the archives that is accessible to the faculty, students or visiting researchers. The museum, while no an impossible dream, may still take a while to be built, according to Cabillon.

As we await the moment when we can finally showcase our heritage to the public, we cannot but feel a sense of pride as we gently go over these fragile documents and stare in awe of treasures that tell stories of our glorious past. One thing is certain, the valuables housed in that small corner of Urdaneta building made us appreciate our cultural and artistic heritage that truly define us as Augustinians.

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NAMING YOUR POISON

EDI WOW.

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DUMB WAYS TO DIE BESIDES NOT HAVING A DUMMY ACCOUNT

By Andrea Nicole C. Parce Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz Illustrations Ravve Jay F. Prevendido

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He clicked the icon that popped on the left pane of his Mac. A chain of long messages unfolded before his eyes. In disbelief of how ignorant his contender was, he quoted a cryptic kicker from Martin Luther King hoping to be amused by the rebuttal of his opponent.

EDI WOW. The comment read.

An unusual air of machismo flung his windows open, his eyes flaming with rage. In his mind he was sure he tore his opponent’s statement but the consequences prove otherwise.

His next move?

“H-o-w—t-o—r-e-c-o-v-e-r—f-a-c-e-b-o-ok—a-c-c-o-u-n-t—a-f-t-e-r—b-e-i-n-g—r-e-p-o-rt-e-d-?”

FINDING YOUR TARGET Dani’s * case of attack against an intellectual is not isolated. It is a usual go-to mechanism first popularized in the 1960’s by Jose Ortega y Gassett, a Spanish philosopher who greatly influenced the cultural and literary reinaissance of 20th century Spain. In his book the Revolt of the Masses he wrote: “the mass believes that it has the right to impose and to give force of law to notions born in the cafe. I doubt whether there have been other periods of history in which the multitude has come to govern more directly than in our own. That is why I speak of hyperdemocracy.”

In a democratic state such as the Philippines, freedom of speech is a right that is often misconstrued when invoked. Coming from a well-off family, Dani had the means to study in a good school which taught him the command of

language and the skill of logic.

“Whenever I talk, a stranger will automatically look at me in a weird, disturbing manner. Thrice I received ‘te ikaw na kabalo mag-english’ as a reply,” he said.

Dr. Virgilio Enriquez, the father of Filipino Psychology, explains the Filipino psyche in a subtle but dangerous manner. “Togetherness or “kapwa” is the core construct of Filipino psychology. We value conformity, empathy and social relationships, a common trait among Asian countries. But our experience under Spanish and American colonial rule has embedded in our psyche to mistrust constructs that are associated with Western culture like individualism or elitism.”

Gasett also plays the same monotonous piece. He explained that when a present-day writer takes his pen in hand to treat a subject which he has studied deeply, he has to bear in mind the average reader who has never concerned himself with the subject. This scary view of intellectual freedom leads the average reader to a cave listening only to his voice and judging the writer when he is not in agreement with the banalities that the said reader carries in his head.

Historian Richard Hofstadter also wrote about it in 1963 describing anti-intellectualism as resentment and suspicion of the life of the mind and of those who are considered to represent it, and a disposition constantly to minimize the value of that life.

According to the Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey, in 2013, about four million Filipino children are out-of-school. Only 42 percent of the Filipinos finish high school and 25 percent live below the poverty line — a hard fact stating that

Facebook was Dani’s coffee. He wakes up, grabs his phone and checks for the latest news. It was an ordinary day—the birds were chirping, the smell of waffles wafted through the air. But on his phone was the familiar bisaya accent he despised a lot.

“I admit I hate Duterte. But I am not a yellowtard. I hate the Aquinos as much as I hate Duterte,” he confessed. He then started narrating the incident, “The story started at Presidential Communications Page where the President was having a privilege speech. It was a live speech where comments popped out automatically.

Every comment was a message praising the President’s ‘good’ deeds. It just got to the point where I could not take the praises anymore and I dropped the bomb. I called for the dutertards to wake up,” he added.

According to a report called Digital in 2017, Filipinos spent an average of four hours and 17 minutes per day on social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter. The data were based on active monthly user data from social media companies as recent as January 2017. This despite the average fixed-line broadband speed of 4.2 megabits per second (mbps) which is below 6.3 Mbps global average.

The same report revealed that the country’s internet and social media users grew by over 25 percent, up to 13 million and a social media penetration rate of 58 percent, higher than the average of 47 percent in Southeast Asia.

“Before I lost access to my account, I had a series of arguments with different people. When I throw evidences, they talk to me as if I need to be exorcised. They pray that I be enlightened, they stalk my account and comment demeaning statements on my picture or about the office I work. Some curse me because I can go to school and I could not feel what an average Filipino should feel and some even prayed that my family be killed or raped.”

With almost two billion users at the time this article is written, Facebook is the easiest platform to air concerns and is also the easiest

“

IN A COUNTRY WHERE ONE EATS EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS, JOINT EXPLORATIONS AT THE BENHAM RISE, AND GOVERNMENT CLOWNS FOR BREAKFAST, IT WILL ONLY TAKE SECONDS FOR THE TRIGGER TO POP OFF.

platform to silence the enemy.

“

the common Filipino is unschooled and in the hierarchal society, intellectuals sit at the top because they do not belong. They are the burgis that we long to destroy.

Social media is the deep blue sea and Dani was the easy catch.

In a country where one eats extra-judicial killings, joint explorations at the Benham Rise, and government clowns for breakfast, it will only take seconds for the trigger to pop off. When he finally fell for the trap, the internet troll is already scanning his profile filled with pictures of extravagant trips and late-night work sips from an independent government office. The poison was ready to be released from an anonymous account. It was not really that hard.

FUEGO “The next day, I was blocked out of my account. I felt like I lost the battle,” was the last thing Dani uttered. The divisiveness of the Filipinos starting from the strata of yellow and red up to the choice of coffee shop and movies define the culture that this era has established.

In politics for instance, appeal to the masses is an essential requisite. The word “intellectual” is viewed as an insult rather than a quality. The electorate would rather choose a “para sa mahirap” c (for the poor) andidate rather than one with good credentials because apparently, an “intellectual” will never understand the masses.

When it comes to movies, five of the top 10 highest grossing Filipino movies of all time are self-admitted dumb comedies that depend more on pleasantry and pigeonholes than sharp dialogues for laughs. Moreover, the characters that exhibit some degree of intellect are either smart-shamed or portrayed as villains.

Despite the efforts of the Philippine government to better the educational system of the country, a large chunk of the population still view stupidity as an amusing fad. It is not cute nor is it supposed to be a defense mechanism for being wrong. Perhaps it is the time to reverse the psyche.

He clicked the icon that popped on the left pane of his Mac. His response was immediate. After a leaving a cryptic kicker, this time from John Locke, he paused his time and breathed in and turned off the notifications for the comment.

He leaves traces but he is never going to open them again. He is going to win the game.

“In a country where one eats extra-judicial killings, joint explorations at the Benham Rise, and government clowns for breakfast, it will only take seconds for the trigger to pop off.”

Source: Jerico M.Ventura VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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LESSONS IN CULT CHROMA FOOD & LIFESTYLE

Clues to cruising the course in catwalk fashion

By Junfel G. Sotelo Photographs Edrea Claire G. Gregore

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ONCE YOU LEARN TO INTERNALIZE THE SKILL OF MIX MATCHING THE PERFECT DENIM AND KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GHOST WHITE FROM WHITE SMOKE, YOU CAN BE ANYTHING BUT BASIC.

Fashion is a platform of choice. For men and women, of age and of gender, it is an integral part of their lives. They carry some version of one nearly every day, trusting it to express themselves limitlessly, in style.

Coco Chanel has once said, “fashion is made to become unfashionable.” By virtue of being in style, fashion fades as trends come and go. In your quest to be in style, never miss the rule of thumb of being stylish: customizing a trend to suit your own body, age, and circumstance. Practice is key in unravelling your style and with this in mind, you are spared from the telltale signs of being a fashion victim.

CHIC FASHION STAPLE For so long, white and denim were things we actually wear on the regular. A go-to staple, nay, a wardrobe essential. Although your goes-with-everything denim is the perfect canvas to play with colors and textures, pairing it with the right crisp of white is the answer to looking effortlessly chic. What makes this duo work is purpose; from a morning worth of errands to a dinner out date, they got you covered.

The classic white and denim is always out to serve some looks when it is relevantly styled. To achieve that easy-going, summer vibe, wear your white one piece with high-waisted denim jeans and pair it with flat sandals for a morning stroll, but with heels when you’re on for that girls’ night out.

Unfortunately, things can get pretty tedious when all you have for a white top is a t-shirt. But fret not! That only means it’s time to ditch the boring, plain shirt for something uncommon, like a faux fur white top. Although picking what shirts to wear with jeans can sometimes be a little tricky, The Idle Man got you covered: a well-ironed shirt is smart, dark or something navy spices up casual, and the oxford shirt isn’t just formal.

What needs to be understood and not vilified is the fact that there isn’t just one type of white and denim. Once you learn to internalize the skill of mix matching the perfect denim and know the difference between ghost white from white smoke, you can be anything but basic.

“

DON THE RETRO CASUAL Retro wear flaunting pops of other colors filling in the void is a key element in today’s street style around the world. With the word fashion comes reinventing, unraveling what is more to express. And if there is one thing fashion has constantly taught us, it definitely is the absence of something conventional. So, do hues of red go along with mustard yellow? Does the button-down shirt match with my sportswear for casual? Is androgynous a sultry French au pair? Yes, yes, and oh, yes.

If you are dealing with the chronic dilemma, Hypebae, a women’s editorial division that aims to showcase today’s female leaders within fashion and culture, definitely doesn’t only give the quick fix; it also hits the nail on the head every time. In one of their editorials, they shared that in order to ultimately style the 90s uniform, multi-color contrast and incorporation is all-important.

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For a show-stopping look you can call on for all your 2018 fetes, trust your instincts when that silky fabric caught your attention. And who says you cannot wear your sleeping robe to a business appointment? Pair them with your favorite trousers or jeans, and you’re already pulling off the woke-up-like-this look, justifying the leisure in business.

The key to making colors work is great color blocking. Couple that with a complementing accent and it is a game changer. When you are in the mood for some rebellious outtakes, but still want to cut a fine figure between the fancy memo and casual seams, don’t let the fashion police stop you and be like everyone else – don the retro perfection.

THE NEW BLACK IS BLACK While we are not entirely sure about the out-of-this-world, overthe-top trends, we have to admit that going black is not just going in for the safe take out, but rather a bold statement. There is no wrong black ensemble; in fact, anything black just simply works. Wearing an LBD or a black tuxedo will not only make the cut, it will make heads turn. It has the right amount of refinement to stand out amid the pops of vivid colors. A fashion piece in black is significant as its sophistication doesn’t even have to try.

Although Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of the fashion bible Vogue, might not approve of an all-black-everything outfit and claims that colors in harmony makes up variety in fashion, the world still has its way of proving things to be relative (look: Iloilo-based fashion designer Jet Salcedo’s funeral-inspired collection, a paragon of elegance).

In a “Who What Wear” article by Kat Collings, wearing black without looking boring includes being editorial photo shoot-ready. Suit up, ladies; perfect fit is key to a flattering, edgy look (hashtag girl boss).

Colors are great, but are difficult to mix. You have to consider the contrast, blocking, and coordination when working with such striking pieces.What makes black so great is that it goes perfectly with more black (even better than with other colors). So, whoever said that orange is the new black, you are confused.

From the chicest color combinations to stylish black ensembles, we have already spotted major outfit inspiration. And that is what makes fashion worth the celebration – it is not just about looking great, it is also about feeling great with your body, expressions, and choices. Whatever style one swears by, in the name of fashion, make it your cult..

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FOOD & LIFESTYLE

no ordinary filipino CUISINE As fusion of foreign flavors continue to invade Iloilo City, Pedro Bulalohan reminds us that there is no meal like home’s.

By Rj Junsay & Everild Dominique A. Camique Photographs Allaine Rose M. Emnacen & Miguel Carlos J. Llamado

The classic Bulalo, a Filipino dish made by cooking beef shanks along with bones that still contain the marrows, is a sure way to feel warm and comfortable during cold, rainy days. But if it is served by Pedro’s Bulalohan, then it wouldn’t matter what season it is.

CITY’S SPECIALS It was back in July 2015 when the first branch of Pedro‘s Bulalohan opened to the public. Even during that time,Aris Fernandez did not envision a lavish restaurant or a five-star food place in his mind. His brainchild, a onestorey shack located along Pison Avenue, Mandurriao, Iloilo City was initially akin to a carinderia or a refreshment house with the items on the menu only being rice, three kinds of soda, and of course, their bestseller up to date: bulalo.

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RELIGION

higit sa nawawari ng isip

Kung inaakala mong nag-iisa ka sa silid na pinamamalagian mo ay nagkakamali ka - kasama mo sila… hindi mo lang namamalayan.

Ni Wilkienson C. Muro Retrato Miguel Carlos J. Llamado

It is worthy to note, however, that no one in their family was named or ever went by the name Pedro. Even the brothers’ names themselves, Apollo and Aris, do not remotely sound like the name that they christened their establishment with. With a laugh, Fernandez shares with The Augustinian,“Business title lang guid ang ngalan nga‘Pedro’.”

Aris fondly recalls when their operations only relied on a five-man team: their two cooks, one dishwasher, one cashier, and one server.

That was back then. Now, with a second branch along Diversion Road (Benigno Aquino Avenue) in order to accommodate a steady growth of clientele, their employee count has risen to around 50 staff members.

SHOW US WHAT YOU’VE GOT The specialties of Pedro Bulalohan keep customers coming back for more. Take for instance their fish lumpia, which seems to melt in the mouth, and does not have the seafood aftertaste. Even with just plain ketchup, the lumpia alone is Another finger-licking dish is their crisp nacho chips topped with chicken strips, which suites the Pinoy taste. Spicy green and bell peppers garnishing it is enough to whet one’s appetite.

It could have been perfect with a dip on the side that would balance the spiciness of the dish.

The mouthwatering dish nilapag resembles the Filipino favorite macaroni sopas but without the macaroni in it.

The milky soup instead contains chicken strips

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which are boiled to tenderness. Nilapag is a spicy dish, and its zing stays in your mouth for a couple of seconds, enticing you to eat more.

BULALO, THE PEDRO WAY As Filipinos, we typically like to eat our boiled beef dishes in a plate together with steamed white rice, dashed with a seasoning of either patis (fish sauce) or soy sauce, drizzled with the local lime, calamansi. We also love to have a separate bowl of the broth on the side, to slurp down in between mouthfuls of the tender beef.

The bulalo, one of the Filipino classic delicacies, has a lot of varieties but the Pedro Bulalo can be considered as a sure pick of Ilonggos. The beef is a bit gritty but chewing it a little more allows you to enjoy the umami flavor. The vegetables were well-cooked and were packed with a crunch in every bite. The bone marrow has a very strong texture which sticks to the palate. The bony and sinewy parts of the beef have suited the Filipino cravings for a dish with a deep flavored broth extracted through prolonged simmering.

Despite the boom of different restaurants offering unique dishes with foreign flavors, Pedro’s is definitely here to stay. While the food is classic, the very Pinoy feel of the restaurant, the welcoming food servers, and their “secret” ingredients that give a twist here and there to everyday food fare is enough to make one want to come back for more.

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Nag-aagaw dilim na bandang alas sais ng hapon. Binabalot na ng mga lilang ulap ang kalangitan sa paaralan ng Unibersidad ng San Agustin. Isang ordinaryong araw kung aakalain ng bawat estudyante ang mararanasan nila ngayong takipsilim habang sila ay nagsisipag-uwian bitbit ang nakakakubang mga libro. Habang abala sa kanikanilang mga gawain, si Hannah*, estudyante ng programang Medical Laboratory Science, ay tumungo sa opisina ng USA Publications sa ikalawang palapag ng Alumni Building. Gabi-gabi ay doon siya naghihintay sa mga kapwa niyang manunulat para sa isang pagpupulong o pamamalagi lamang.

Nag-iisa siya. At sa gabing tatatak sa kanyang pagwawari, iiba ang mukha ng opisinang minsan niyang inakalang pinamamalagian lamang ng mga ordinaryong nilalang.

Sa hindi maipaliwanag na kadahilanan ay narinig niya ang huni mula sa kanilang kompyuter room kung saan tila may gumagamit ng keyboard ng kanilang kompyuter. Tak Tak Tak Tak … Tak Tak Tak Tak … Binalewala niya lamang iyon dahil nakasanayan niya na ang ganoong sitwasyon.

Umupo na lamang siya sa loob ng kompyuter room para masiguradong titigil na ang tunog habang nagbabasa ng isang pang-akademikong libro. Nang tumigil na ang tunog na nagmumula sa keyboard ng kompyuter ay sumunod ang naglalagubang tunog ng mga paa mula sa kisame. Sa pag-aakalang gawa lamang ng mga mag-aaral na naglalaro sa silid-aralan ng ikatlong palapag ang nakakabulabog na mga tunog ay bumalik siya sa pagbabasa ng kanyang libro ngunit sa ikalawang pagkakataon ay lumagabong nang napakalakas ang opisina. Namatay ang lahat ng mga ilaw. At sa pagliwanag muli ng opisina, naramdaman ni Hannah ang pagtayo ng kanyang mga buhok sa ulo gawa ng isang babaeng balot ang katawan sa puting tela na may maitim at basag na wangis. Doon lamang agad napatakbo palabas si Hannah.

KATOTOHANAN SA LIKOD NG BASAG NA WANGIS Habang tumatakbo si Hannah pababa ng Alumni Building ay ramdam niya ang bigat sa bahagi ng kanyang likuran. Tila pasan niya ang napakabigat na enerhiyang dahan-dahang siyang hinihila pabalik.

Gusto niyang umiyak o sumigaw man lamang. Pero mas pinili niyang lakihan at bilisan ang paghakbang.

Nang nakababa na siya sa nasabing gusali ay naaninag niyang basang-basa ang kanyang buong katawan ng pawis at sa kanang balikat ng kanyang uniporme ay may tila maitim na alikabok na namuo.

“May mga taong nagsasabi na nakakakita sila ng mga tila kaluluwa ng kanilang mga kamag-anak.

Subalit sa pananaw ng simbahan at eksorsismo, ang mga kaluluwang ito ay bahagi ng tinatawag nating preternatural life. Ito ‘yong mundo ng mga dyablo at mga demonyo, mga tiwaling anghel na nagaklas laban sa Panginoon,” pagbibigay-liwanag ni Rev. Fr. Williener Jack Luna, O.S.A., direktor ng Philanthropic, External and Alumni Relations Office sa mga paniniwala ng mga tao ukol sa pagkakaroon ng mga multo.

Matuling tumakbo si Hannah papunta sa mga kasamahan niya na inaakala niyang nandoon pa sa Medical Technology Laboratory (MT Lab) sa ikaapat na palapag ng Mendel Hall. Pero imbis na mga kaklase niya ang madatnan niya doon, iba ang sumalubong kay Hannah – isang panibagong katatakutan.

Inabutan ni Hannah na nakasindi pa ang mga

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ilaw sa MT Lab A pero walang tao. Tatakbo na sana siya pababa ng nasabing gusali ngunit nakita niya ang guro niya sa hematology sa loob ng opisina na napapagitnaan ng MT Lab A at MT Lab B na tila may ini-encode sa kanilang kompyuter. Kumatok siya sa may pinto para makaagaw pansin lang man sana at may panandaliang makasama. Subalit ang sumalubong sa kanyang mga mata ay mukha ng guro niyang tila hindi siya kilala at nadidistorbo sa ginawa niya. Tumayo ang mga balahibo ni Hannah at doon na lamang niya napagdesisyunan na umuwi na lamang at doon bigyan ng katiwayasan ang sarili.

“Ang mga demonyo o dyablong ito ay may kakayahang gayahin ang pisikal na anyo at gawi ng mga tao. Dahil dito nagagawa nilang mag-anyo katulad ng pumanaw na nating mahal sa buhay o kung minsan mga taong kilala nating nabubuhay pa – matatawag natin silang doppelganger,”dagdag ni Luna.

NANINIPIS NA BELO NG MAGKABILANG-MUNDO Pumasok sa silid-aralan nila sa ikalimang palapag ng Mendel Hall si Hannah kinaumagahan.

Hindi niya ininda ang mga pangyayari kahapon.

Makulimlim ang panahon at may kalakasan ang buhos ng ulan. Habang palapit na siya sa ikalimang palapag ng gusali ay tila may naaaninag siyang hamog. Dahil sa pagod niya kakaakyat ay inakala niyang dala lamang iyon ng matinding ulan. Nang marating niya na ang kanyang upuan na malapit sa pinto ay napansin niya na parang mas kumakapal ang usok sa labas ng kanilang kwarto. Inayos niya ang kanyang salamin sa mata at nang titigan niya ang pinto ng pambabaeng palikuran ay nakita niya ang limang taong batang nakaputing damit at lumulutang pababalik-balik sa pasilyo. Napaiyak na lamang si Hannah.

“Hindi natin agad masasabi kung talaga bang multo ‘yong nakikita ng mga tao. Minsan kasi kailangan mo talagang alamin kung ano ang totoo sa imahinasyon lamang. Ngunit sa tinatawag nating parapsychology ay sinusukat talaga ang kakayahan ng isip na makaunawa ng iba’t-ibang mga bagay,” mungkahi ni Dr. Lisa Ann Gayoles, RPsy, RGC, LPT, PAE, Ph.D, naitalagang psychologist ng Unibersidad, ukol sa ugnayan ng sikolohiya sa mga hindi pangkaraniwang bagay o pangyayari.

Hindi mapakali si Hannah sa kanyang mga naranasan sa loob lamang ng dalawang araw. Una niyang pinagkuwentuhan ang mga magulang niya ukol sa mga pangyayaring bumabagabag sa kanya.

Ikinuwento naman ng mga magulang niya na nasa lahi nila ang pagkakaroon ng bukas na third eye. Ito ang kakayahan na makakita ng mga hindi ordinaryong nilalang.

“Nang panahon ni Adan at Eba, mayroon tayong preternatural gifts. May kakayahan tayong makipag-usap sa mga anghel gamit ang ating isip o

magpagalaw ng mga bagay. Subalit nang nagkasala sila sa Panginoon ay nanghina ang ganitong mga kakayahan natin. May mga paraan para panariwain ang ating mga kakayahan. Kung nasa bingit ka ng kamatayan ay lumalakas ang mga ito, kung ikaw ay bata pa, at higit sa lahat ang paggamit ng mga ritwal at dasal,” paalala ni Fr. Jose Francisco Syquia, chief exorcist ng Archdiocese ng Manila, sa mga taong nabiyayaan ng tinatawag nilang supernatural grace.

Ayon naman kay Luna na nagkaroon din ng pagkakataon na makasama sa isang aktibidad pansimbahan si Syquia ay iilan lamang ang may mga aktibong abilidad dahil nakakabahala ang pagpukaw dito – pwede tayong guluhin at abusuhin ng mga masasamang nilalang. Sabi nga ng ‘Greatest Missionary of the Church’, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich,“the opening of the psychic faculty is very dangerousbecausethisopeningcanbedoorwayforevil spirts to harass us.”

SA PAGPAPANARIWA NG KAKAYAHAN Nang makabalik si Hannah sa kanilang opisina ay naikuwento rin ng kasamahan niya ang insidente na nangyari sa isang guwardiya ng Unibersidad mga dakong alas diyes ng kaparehong gabi na nasaksihan niya ang katatakutan. Nakita ng guwardiya ang isang madreng palakad-lakad sa pasilyo nga Blanco Hall, nag-iisa. Ipinikit ng guwardiya ang kanyang mga mata at nagdasal siya ng ‘Ama Namin’ dahil alam niya na imposibleng magkaroon ng tao ang Unibersidad ng ganoong oras. Sa pagdilat niya ay bumungad sa paningin niya ang napakaputing mukha ng madre at sinasambit din nito ang dasal ng Panginoon na parang nanunukso.

Pagkatapos, ikinuwento din ni Hannah ang nangyari sa kanya. Iisa lamang ang naging bukangbibig ng mga kasamahan niya matapos makuwento niya ang mga nakakatakot na eksperyensiya na sa Unibersidad – ang makipag-usap sa alagad ng Diyos.

Dahil sa ganitong pangyayari ay nagpursige si Hannah na lalo pang patibayin ang kanyang pananampalataya sa Diyos. Iminungkahi ng mga kakilala niyang mga madre at pari na tanging pananampalataya sa Diyos lamang ang sasalba at puprotekta sa kanya sa paggising ng kanyang mga kakayahan.

“Ang pagkakaroon ng kakayahan ay biyaya mula sa Diyos. Ngunit kailangan gamitin natin ito sa kabutihan at palagi tayong humingi ng gabay mula sa Poong Maykapal. Siya lamang ang makakagabay sa atin ng lubos para hindi tayo mapahamak.

Maraming sekreto ang mundong ito at sa pagsilip ng iba sa kabilang banda ng belo ay nakakadala ito ng kapahamakan o kaliwanagan,” habilin ni Luna sa lahat ng tao na nangangailangan ng gabay pangespiritwal. *hindi niya totoong pangalan

SIT-SIT ARTS & CULTURE

“Sitsiritsit, alibangbang, salaginto’t salagubang.

Ang babae sa lansangan, kung gumiri’y parang tandang.”

Ni Andrea Nicole C. Parce Laragway Colleen Gaile B. Bilbao

Pagpatak sang alas-sais sang gab-e, naga-umpisa na ang sit-sit.

Daw sa iras ini nga nagalatay sa akon panit kag nagaamat-amat uba sa akon. Ang bagrong halin diri nagakamang sa dapa-dapa hasta sa akon tangkugo.

Dala ang taming, ginpilit ko ang akon paa nga maghulag sang madasig bangud sang kahadlok.

“Sexy, hinay lang nga dalagan. Basi madusmo ka,” Dakop ka. Siling sang sit-sit sa akon nga nagabarangisi.

SITSIRITSIT ALIBANGBANG Ang sitsit nag-umpisa halin sang magtuntong sang dise-sais si Daisy*. Sa kutob sang iya madumduman, siya nagalakat lang sa dalan sang iya naagyan ang isa ka grupo sang mga pamatan-on.

Kalabanan sa ila nagahigop sang puti nga aso kag ang iban naman nagaisip sang sinsilyo.

Wala man siya sang nabatyagan nga malain sadto nga adlaw ugaling gulpi lamang nagpanihol ang isa sa mga pamatan-on. “Bisan pa nga daw sa ginsalapid ang akon tiil, wala ako nag-untat sa pagdalagan,” siling niya.

Sa iya una nga sugata sa sitsit, siya naka-agom sang pilas nga iya pagadal-on tubtob sa siya buhi.

Wala man sang direkta nga pagbadbad sa Hiligaynon, ang catcalling ukon pagpanihol, pagsitsit, pagtawag, kag pagsinggit ukon pagmitlang sang mga tinaga nga naga panugyan sang handum nga magpakig-hilawas sa isa ka tawo, ang amat-amat na nga naga ut-ot sa kaulay sang sosyudad.

Suno sa datos sang UN Women ukon United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women sang tuig 2015, isa ka pagtuon ang ginhiwat sa Quezon City nga may ara apat ka gatos nga babayi kag 400 man ka lalaki nga residente nga naga edad halin 12 tubtob 75 ka tuig ang nagpakigbahin.

Sa nasiling nga pagtuon, nahibal-an nga tatlo sa kada lima ka babayi ang naka-agom na sang pagpangbastos sa dalan. Traynta’y-kwatro ka porsyento sini amo ang biktima sang pagpakita sang kinatawo, public masturbation, kag pagpanghurikap.

Isa pa guid ka pagtuon ang nagasaysay nga indi lamang babayi ang naga-eksperyensya sini. Suno sa Stop Street Harrasment, isa ka organisasyon nga nagapugong sang pagpang-sitsit sa mga dalanon ang naghambal nga ang mga lalaki, kapin pa ang mga agi,bisexual,queer,ukon transgender gina catcall man.

Baynte-siyete ka porsyento sa ila ang gahambal nga

nahadlokan sila maglakat nga naga-isahanon kon gab-i.

Makakilibot lamang nga wala ini gaka-untat bangod masami nga sa biktima mismo nagatupa ang basol.

MEA CULPA, MEA CULPA “Hambal sa akon ni mama, sala ko na kay nagasuksok ‘ko sang shorts kag sleeveless.‘Ti nagpati man ko nga sala ko kag subong magwa ‘ko wala na ‘ko nagasuksok sang bayo nga nagagwa akon panit,” saysay ni Daisy.

Sa isa pa ka survey sang Social Weather Stations (SWS) sang tuig 2016, mas nagapati ang mga babayi nga ang harassment gakatabo tungod sa ila pamayo, panghulag, ukon pang-gawi. Masami man ini nga mabati-an tungod sa mga komentar nga ini ginahimo lamang sang isa ka tawo bangud gusto niya nga mapahalipay ang babayi nga naga-agi sa kilid dalan

ukon ang lalaki nga nagapungko sa bangko.

Nagapamatuod sang ini nga panan-aw ang resulta sang pagtuon halin sa Illinois State University nga ginsulat ni Colleen O’Leary. Pagkatapos sang madamo nga interbyu, ang resulta sang pagtuon nagasiling nga isa ka pamaagi sang pagpataas sang moral ang panulok sang babayi sa catcalling.

Diri man ginpakita nga ang sosyudad naghimo sang isa ka pagsulundan nga nagasiling nga kinahanglanon nga magsugot danay ang iban nga tawo nga ang isa ka babayi may katahum antis ini mapamatud-an.Bilang resulta,ang catcalling nagahimo na nga pamaagi agud mangin butang ang panulok sang lawas sang babayi—pati na para sa mga babayi.

“Kis-a naga-upod nalang ‘ko kay mama maglakat kay para indi ‘ko nila pagtawgon,” siling ni Daisy. Ang iya mga kamot nagakurog samtang ginasaysay ang iya kakulba kon gab-i. “Gab-i na gakatapos [ang] akon klasi amo na magsakay ‘ko sa

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Ang gamay paghambal sang tinaga nga ginalantaw sang kadam-an bilang hamutaway nga akto sang pagpakita sang interes sa isa ka tawo, isa ka salabton nga dapat paga-istoryahan sang maayo indi lamang sa social media kundi pati sa kongreso.

Anom na ka tuig ang nagligad. Antes magbalik si Daisy sa yadtong eskinita, nagsuksok siya sang saya nga hasta sa buko-buko sang tiil ang kalabaon. Ang iya pang-ibabaw isa ka madamol nga kamiseta. Sa pagdumdom nga siya luwas na, wala siya nagdalagan. Apang gulpi lamang siya nakabatyag sang pagpangluya sang tuhod sang makit-an nga gapadulong ang sitsit.

“Ga, ngirit man bi?”

Sadto nga tion iya napat-od nga ang kalabaon sang iya bayo indi amo ang taming.

Laba man ukon lip-ot, damol man ukon nipis, wala sang makapugong sa luyag sang iban nga matabo. Tubtob sa katubtohan, siya gapos sang sitsit—kulong nga alibangbang sa katalunan. *hindi niya tuod nga ngalant

“

ANG CATCALLING UKON PAGPANIHOL, PAGSIT-SIT, PAGTAWAG, KAG PAGSINGGIT UKON PAGMITLANG SANG MGA TINAGA NGA NAGA PANUGYAN SANG HANDUM NGA MAGPAKIG-HILAWAS SA ISA KA TAWO, ANG AMAT-AMAT NA NGA NAGA UT-OT SA KAULAY SANG SOSYUDAD.

PANAGUAY ‘TA Ang catcalling kag iban pa nga mga sahi sini, isa ka paglapas sang kinamatarong sang bisan sin-o man nga tawo. Sa idalom sang layi, ini tanan nagasulod sa tinaga nga sexual harassment nga naga-hambal nga wala sang mahimo magluntad ang tanan nga sahi sang sexual harassment sa sulod sang ulubrahan ukon eskwelahan.

Ang masubo diri kay ang sexual harassment sa

“

sikad kag magliko sa lain nga eskinita gakurog ‘ko sang kulba.”

Tungod sang mga hitabo nga kon tani gakapunggan, ang pagsalig ni Daisy sa iban nga tawo kapin pa sa mga lalaki nga indi niya kilala nagahatag sang mabudlay nga tion para sa iya. Ang mga biktima pareho kay Daisy, suno sa UN Women, ang pwede nga maka-agum sang anxiety,kakulba,kag depression ukon post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Ginatawag ko nila sexy pero imbis nga malipay ko, ginakulbaan ko ya.”

dalanon, wala guid maplastar sang maayo. Luwas sa Quezon City Local Government nga nagbaylo na sang panan-aw kag nag-ilis sang pila ka parte sang ila nga Gender and Development Code kag nagpasaka sang multa batok sa mga nagalapas sang layi, ang iban nga parte sang pungsod nagakulang pagid sang dugang nga pagprotekta sa mga maluya. Dugang pa diri, ang pagtuon sa Pilipinas ukon sa Asya nga nagaistorya sang sini nga balatian, tam-an guid ka limitado.

“Kon tani mag-ubra man sang layi ang gobyerno nga nagaprotekta sa mga pareho sa akon.

Wala man kami sang sala nga gin-ubra pero nga-a ginasilutan kami?”

Gani bilang sabat diri, ang Senate Bill No. 1326 ukon Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2017 nga ginsulat ni Senator Risa Hontiveros nagahandum nga tapnaon na kag pagamultahan ang mga gender-based harassment sa mga publiko nga lugar nga pareho na lamang sang catcalling, wolfwhistling, pagpangmulay, leering, pagpanghurikap, pilit nga pagpangayo sang ngalan ukon numero sa telepono, kag iban pa.

PANGINGIBABAW SA PIITan NG PIGHATI ARTS & CULTURE

Kalayaan sa labas ng kulungan ngunit konsensya ang kalaban o kalayaan sa likod ng rehas ngunit payapa ang kalooban?

Ni Athena Gabriella E. Julabar Mga Retrato FAMO at SACEO

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GAME CHANGERS

REVIEWS

By Junfel S. Sotelo & Erika Danielle M. Pepito File Photos beehy.pe, billboard.com, genius.com

Within every note and every lyric, a hidden message is buried. When played, it rises from the dust.

Masalimuot, mapanglaw at walang pag-asa. Ilan lamang ito sa mga inihahalintulad ng karamihan kapag ika’y nakapinid sa loob ng rehas na bakal. Madilim, malamig at walang katiyakan. Ilan lamang ito sa mga maaaring nararamdaman ng mga indibidwal na nagkasala sa mata ng batas ngunit nagnanais na makakamit ng bagong simula.

Ngunit hindi maipagkakaila na isa lamang si Aileen* sa marami pang ibang umaasam na muling maranasan ang isang buhay na malaya at naglalayong maituwid nila ang kanilang nailihis na landas.

Gayunpaman, habang siya ay nakatutok sa bawat sulok ng selda, namangha siya sa mga tutubi sa paligid nito na waring sumisimbolo sa pag-asa at liwanag na siyang kalakip sa kanyang tanging hangarin.

PAGHAWI NG MGA ULAP Sa pagkakapiit ni Aileen sa rehas na bakal, nanlumo ang kanyang kalooban na may naghihintay pang bukas para sa kanya. Sa hindi inaasahang pagkakataon ay nabigyan sila ng pagkakataong ituon ang kanilang atensyon sa sining.

Nagsagawa ang Fine Arts Major Organization (FAMO) ng Unibersidad ng San Agustin ng proyektong “Hilway Art: Freedom in Prison” na naglalayong matuklasan ng lahat ng mga bilanggo ang kanilang pagkamalikhain.

“Thisprojectstartedasaclassactivity[togetherwith ourteachers].Weimmersedinacommunityofthewomen inmatesoftheIloiloCityDistrictJailFemaleDormitory asapartoftheacademicservicecurriculum(Nagsimula ang proyektong ito bilang aktibidad ng klase na kung saan nakibahagi kami sa isang komunidad ng mga babaeng detenido sa ICDJ Female Dormitory na siyang bahagi ng aming kurikulum),” ani ni Marco Echalar, ang project leader ng nasabing

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proyekto at presidente ng FAMO. Ang nasambit na proyekto ay naglalayon din na makapagsagawa ng mga workshops sa sining upang makabuo ng mga produkto hanggang sa ito’y maging isang creative enterprise.

Nagbigay ng Visual Arts, Dance, Music, Theater, Writing, at Multimedia workshops ang FAMO bilang mga sikososyal na programa kung saan naranasan ng mga kababaihang detenido ang proseso ng rehabilitasyon sa pamamagitan ng sining.

Kabilang si Aileen sa 200 na mga kababaihan na nakilahok sa proyektong ito kung saan inayon sila sa kanilang mga interes. Higit sa 85 na kababaihan ang nakilahok sa paggawa ng hand-embroidered Inday Dolls, 74 na kababaihan ang sumabak sa pagbuburda ng Hugot sa Punda, 25 na kababaihan ang natuon sa Pinta O’bra painting, at higit sa 22 na mga kababaihan ang naitalaga sa accessory design and production.

Naging instrumento rin ang Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) at ang Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) upang maituwid ng mga bilanggo ang kanilang mga buhay sa pamamagitan ng Alternative Learning System.

Gaya ng mga tutubi na siyang malayang gumigitaw sa bawat sulok ng selda, kahit papaano ay muli nilang naranasan ang kalayaan.

PAGLUKOB NG DAPITHAPON Paggamit ng ilegal na droga ang siyang naging kaso ni Aileen – isang pagtiwalag sa kasunduan ng bawat Pilipino at ng estado na mamuhay ng mabuti at marangal.

Sa katunayan, walang sinuman ang nagnanais na mabilanggo pero dahil may batas ang buhay, wala ring sinuman ang maaaring makakatakas dito.

Batay sa tala ng Iloilo City District Jail (ICDJ) Female Dormitory, sa 216 na mga naging detenido sa pasilidad nito, 204 dito ang may mga kaso na may kaugnayan sa droga na siyang naging dahilan kung bakit hindi bababa sa 50 na mga bilanggo ang dapat sumiksik sa isang selda na parang mga sardinas sa isang

lata.

“Ang populasyon ng bilangguan ay mas malaki kumpara sa kanyang ideyal na kapasidad na 35 katao,” ayon kay Jail Inspector Imee Lopera.

Sanhi ng limitadong espasyo, namumuhay si Aileen ng payak sa loob ng piitan hindi lamang dahil sa pangkaraniwang buhay na kanyang mararanasan sa loob ng selda sa bawat araw, kundi dahil din sa kakaunting pag-asa na siya’y makalanghap ng kahit kakaunting kalayaan sa pamamagitan ng mga programang pangrehabilitasyon.

PAGLITAW NG LIWANAG Namutawi ang pag-asa at liwanag kay Aileen sa kabila ng pangkaraniwang sitwasyon sa loob ng piitan na kung saan lahat ay malimit lamang maranasan. Nadatnan na niya at ng kanyang mga kasama ang pag-asang maging malaya sa pamamagitan ng sining.

Upang magbunga ang gawain ng mga bilanggo, ang kanilang mga nabuong produkto ay ipinagtatanghal at ipinagbibili sa mga malls sa lungsod na siya ring nagbibigay ng pagkakakitaan sa kanila.

“We can rehabilitate them better (Maaari pa naming maipabuti ang kanilang rehabilitasyon),” sabi ni Lopera.“Right now, especially with the limited space, we really try to instill discipline among them. I tellthem[that]theirsituationisnohindrancetomaking themselves better persons. (Sa kasalukuyan,lalung lalo na dahil sa limitadong espasyo, sinisikap namin silang disiplinahin. Pinapaalala ko sa kanila na hindi balakid ang nangyari sa kanila upang sila ay magbago.)”

Bagamat hindi pa man nakalaya si Aileen sa mga rehas na bakal, alam niyang balang araw na hindi lamang siya makakalanghap ng kalayaan pero pati na rin ng pagtanggap at ng pag-unawa mula sa mga pilit na kinukulong ang kanilang mga sarili sa mga bahagyang akala. *hindi tunay na pangalan

The complexities of music gice room for people to find solace in the fact that music fills the blanks of those unfinished sentences and unsaid words. Music is a mask donned by musical legends, permitting them to take on different personas yet reveal their innermost sentiments and genuine intents. Music pushes people to be in their own element and to redefine the boundaries that once enclosed them.

For this issue’s album reviews, we give you two artists whose works have shaken up the international and local music scenes that earned them their rights to be called musical prodigies.

HOW I LOVE RATING: 4.5/5 Jess Connelly makes her mark. From releasing independent music on SoundCloud in 2015 to performing on international gigs, the Fil-Aussie songstress is finally taking over the underground scenes and bringing the spotlight to the underrated O.P.M. and local artistry.

Her soulful voice, contemporary R&B tones, and unconventional fashion are what make up the wonder crooner that she is today. Connelly is also recognized as one of the best-dressed celebrities in 2017, but integrating seamless fashion with quality content has not always been easy. What she would opt for when it

comes to the streetwear game is comfort. The way Connelly sees it, trusting the process is as important as waiting for the right time in unraveling the personality and style in her craft. Catering to Filipinos (both international and local) who are into low-key, soulful EDMish, chill music, Connelly, who also refers to herself as “JCON,” is all about the youthful, late-night private party for two with a down-tochill vibe that is worth all the hype.

Starting at a young age, she began her music journey when her mom used to drive her from city to city for voice lessons way back in Australia. As a child, she didn’t believe that her voice was compelling enough; but her parents, who exposed her to music, believed in her potential and boosted her confidence. Although some may have known the younger JCON sporting long, black hair from random clips of her “artista” days from the reality TV show Pinoy Big Brother, she didn’t enjoy being one, and definitely didn’t cling onto what a typical tita would say: become a celebrity to get the chance to record an album.

In an interview with Scoutmag.ph, she discloses that she never wanted to be a leading lady on a silver screen, and that being called pretty isn’t everything to her. “I want to make music and I’d rather people tell me that they love my music,” she quips.

All that and everything in between didn’t happen overnight, though.

Before releasing How I Love, a four-track EP in collaboration with CRWN in 2016, the Connelly - CRWN duo dropped the hit “Under Blankets” on SoundCloud in 2015, which gained her a relatively strong following patronized by the Filipino youth, who predominantly consist her roughly 160,000 followers on her VOL 84 // NO. 1 // MARCH 2018

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collective social media accounts. Everything started coming together from there.

Being a Manila-based indie artist, Jess believes that the local music scene is not that exposed due to the mainstream entertainment industry dominating the media. In an interview with MissBish, she shares that she wants to show that behind the underrated local music, are dops, quality Filipino artists and that there doesn’t have to be a difference between the local and international standard. This pretty much answers the whims and debunks preconceived notions that warp OPM. We are all about the JCON hype - effortlessly cool vibe, stepping out of the comfort zone knack, and woke content.

“Not everyone wants to be mainstream.

It’s 2017, I think it’s time to show that Filipinos have the artistry and [that they have] what an international artist can do — that’s what’s currently going on here. And sometimes with local mainstream, they feel that an audience will only accept this usual routine of what a celebrity has to do.” She also furthers in an interview with Inquirer, “what they don’t know is that there is real artistry going on here. Instead of us feeling like we have to wait for international recognition, I think it’s time to start embracing our own local artists, who [start] from the writing, to the producing, to creating the aesthetic of their album cover — like these artists do everything nowadays.” She quips, “we want to show the world that ‘we do that too!’ and it’s not just something left for the foreign industry — we have that going on here and it’s very much alive.”

With her first EP being a success, streamed for over six million (and counting) on Spotify, later in 2017, Connelly dropped two dreamy, laidback singles “Turn Me Down” and “deep + involved,” and surprised her fans with another single just in time for Valentine’s last February 2018, entitled “Mine.” The visuals of her huge hit “Turn Me Down,” directed by Paco Raterta, have a dreamy vibe that relates to the song. “Visuals bring everything full circle. You can love a song, but having great visuals elevates the music and helps

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communicate the whole message. It’s also another fun thing to create, and for me, music is more than just what it sounds like,” she shares in an interview with Galore.

The JCON hype continues this 2018 as she reveals her first full-length project is on the works.

“I’m also excited for the visuals and merch I’ve been working on alongside it. I’m ready to put out new material of my current self for people to experience.” And with her first single “Turn Me Down,” she definitely is here to stay, and she’s on her way up.

Manila’s underground scene is a gem, and Jess Connelly gives luster to it. Her music only makes you turn the volume all the way up, because you can’t turn her down.

REPUTATION RATING: 4.2/5 “You and me, we got big reputations.”

Taylor Swift surely shed off her (snake)skin in her sixth album, reputation. The highly anticipated album was released through Big Machine Records on November 10, 2017, with a whopping 1.216 million copies grabbed from the shelves in the US alone, and two million copies globally, on its first release week.

This album primarily set off as a revenge platform for Swift after the bad press she received caused by her spiraling feuds with some of the industry’s biggest names (Katy Perry, Kanye West, Kim Kardashian), and allowed Swift to break free from her Nashville roots. It was more of a mix of digitally produced or electropop songs, deviating from the “old Taylor” type of music – a definite 180-degree turn from her country music and sappy songs. The songs also appeared to lean towards R&B, electronica, and rock. reputation is all about catchy beats and pop vibes that seemingly goes with what is in and trendy now, overloaded with synthesized beats and digitized vocals.

She is fearless (a nod to one of the oldTaylor albums), rebellious, dark, and aggressive in this one, heard most especially in her opening track “…Ready For It?”, with a music video that

made the viewers look twice to see if she actually wears a bodysuit. She speaks of her intent to engage in a romantic relationship even with her tainted reputation in the edgy “End Game” in a dream collaboration with Future and Ed Sheeran.

The mellow, drive-along-songs “Call It What You Want To” and “King Of My Heart” reveal Swift’s drama-filled struggles and how her love chose to stay when he had every reason to leave. “Delicate”, another chill track on her quest for a romantic relationship amidst her global fame, was named by Rolling Stone as the top song of 2017.

Swift took a risk in “So It Goes” and “Dress” with both having underlying tones of sensuality.

“Don’t Blame Me” is perhaps a shade-filled song targeting those who contributed to her ‘playgirl’ image, while “I Did Something Bad” came as a shocker, featuring her very first curse in a song.

“Gorgeous” has a more youthful approach, and in this song Swift admitted being intoxicated by alcohol and love. “Getaway Car” and “Dancing With Our Hands Tied” may be catchy but they speak of the complications of her previous relationships. Swift fires her shots back at her public enemies with “Look What You Made Me Do,” making references with artists whom she had public feuds with. The album closer “New Year’s Day,” the most emotional song on this album by far, is full of metaphors and references to her current romantic state and her previous hits.

Sure, Swift rocked the boat with her genreswitching and her self-fulfilling prophecy of embodying how the public perceives her, but the synthetic tunes and the assertive feel of the album were frankly a lot to take in. Most of the album’s hits place love as the central element still, but there are digs aimed at familiar figures she quarreled with. Some lyrics are quite sexual and they put the new Taylor at such a different pedestal. Although she has taken a new image, the lyrical heartstrings are still evident but in a more conversational tone. The album is the end of the revengeful transcendence of Swift with her 1989 album towards fully embracing pop, and now R&B, as her new musical genres.

Of Magicians and Realists REVIEWS

By Edward Dominic Emilio, Andrea Nicole C. Parce, Colleen Gaile B. Bilbao , Rj Junsay & Erika Danielle M. Pepito

In a world divorced from morality, power and spectacle became the engines that keep us moving. Tales of kindness, generosity, and true goodness have been thrown out of the window, especially in a society like ours where the fake and the ruthless have proliferated. As the world of film continues to produce imitations of reality, let us take a look at some pieces of art that have unraveled before us the uglier aspects of mankind and shamelessly expanded the debate about the true nature of humanity.

NARCOS RATING: 4.5/5 Guns, goons, and gold. Another Scarface duplicate — or so it seems. The ‘devastatingly addictive’ Netflix Original series ‘Narcos’ hijacks the pleasure centers in the brain. A vulnerable binge-watcher will choose Narcos over sleep.

It will choose Narcos over food, over sex, over life itself.

Set in Colombia, drug agents Javier Peña (Pedro Pascal) and Steve Murphy (Boyd Holbrook) take on the Medellin and Cali Cartel drug lords led by billionaire cocaine king Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and by the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto (Damián Alcázar) and Miguel (Francisco Denis), respectively.

The first two seasons narrate the 15-year criminal career of drug lord Pablo Escobar up to his eventual downfall. When need be, he sows terror by sending human carcass complete with a fridge to enemies as gifts and kills cops when they choose plomo over plata. Any problems Escobar encounters that can’t be bribed away are solved with violence. In exceptional instances when the evidence in court is unsurmountable, he hires M-19 guerilla to make the Supreme Court disappear – literally.

The engaging dramatic performance from the Brazilian Moura who ‘cashed-in’ 40 pounds and learned Spanish for the role was riveting – and he was, perhaps, the best actor in the first two seasons. It was a tour-de-force.

Come Season 3, the agents, for their love (hate) of narcos, shift the angle to nearby neighbor, Cali Cartel. With the death of Escobar, the second placers now come first.

But in Season 3, Narcos falls short. From a complex drama that commands your utmost attention or else you’ll lose track, it went down into a slope, became static and makes you want to grab a smoothie while you wait for Agent Feistl (Michael Stahl-David) and Van Ness (Matt Whelan) to have a fist fight with the Cali villains.

Narcos is not your normal TV screen. It goes beyond just black and white. As Agent Peña says,“in law enforcement, your only real power comes from the strength of the system that you represent.You got to believe it has your back. But sometimes, it doesn’t. Sometimes it is so compromised, so corrupt that you can’t trust it. What do you do then? When it tries to play you, you look for a way to play it right back,” transcending the stereotypical good meets bad.

The intelligent script is funny, entertaining, and thought-provoking. Every scene is a good reason to pause and memorize your next comeback against a nemesis. You will also surprise yourself after listening to a series of cussing and wanting to major in it on your next Spanish class.

Narcos succeeds where other semi-historical films fail. It paints Colombia as a caricature of different images - one filled with coke and royals, the other with sprites. It is also infused with actual historical clips making sure to remind you that yes, it did happen.

The appealing visuals give a tone of sepia to the frame, bringing you back to 80’s Colombia. The shifting of the camera angles are pretty complex especially when it comes to hot pursuits where the series never forgets to include top views of the streets and shaking just enough to make you feel like a real agent but not too much to make you vomit.

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Like goldilocks, you will have three options. Be good, be bad, or watch Narcos. Believe me, you will choose the last.

HOUSE OF CARDS REVIEW RATING: 4.7/5.0 Plato wrote in Aesthetics that art is an imitation of reality. Indeed, very few TV shows have an uncanny resemblance with reality as the Netflix flagship series House of Cards created by Beau Willimon. Combining elements of a

Shakespearean tragedy and Machiavellian ideology, House of Cards is a gripping political drama filled with ruthless displays of manipulation and political power plays.

Spanning five seasons and countless political scandals, this epic tale of the power couple Frank (Kevin Spacey) and Claire Underwood (Robin Wright) narrates Congressman Frank Underwood’s vengeful quest towards the Presidency of the United States of America after he was passed up as Secretary of State, an appointment promised to him by the newly-elected President Garrett Walker (Michael Gill).Together with his wife, Frank hatches a cunning plan forcing VicePresident Jim Matthews (Dan Ziskie) to abandon his post and allowing Frank to replace him in the position a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Come Season 2, Frank stealthily orchestrates deals with foreign countries and implicates President Walker in the process, leading to his resignation and finally putting Frank in the pedestal of the most powerful government office in the world.

House of Cards is an incisive tale about the intricacies of American politics.

Its cynical worldview does not shy away from displaying the lead character’s amorality or even his downright immorality. Crucially, it portrays the entire political arena – not just one individual – as corrupt. Even journalists like Frank’s mistress Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) and lobbyists like Remy Danton (Mahershala Ali) have their own dark sides, proving that political leaders are not the only ones who are corrupt, the entire system is.

The unique usage of asides, soliloquies, and fourth-wall breaks radiate the feeling that House of Cards is actually real-life --- transcending the borders between the viewer and the screen, between fiction and reality. It becomes more chilling because these privileges are reserved only to the Underwoods, as though they are omniscient and omnipotent bloodthirsty leaders dedicated only to the pursuit of power.

With 13 episodes per season (based on 13 cards per suit), the storytelling travels at just the right pace. The intelligent script, dark imagery, and beautiful framing of each shot coupled with excellent acting (Spacey and Wright were both nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Performances for five straight years) from the leads pulls you within the series’ dark alleys as you slowly realize that all goodness in politics is slowly crumbling like – you guessed it – a house of cards.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS RATING: 3/5 If you want to engage and dive into a mystery film that will keep you on the edge of your seat, then you definitely need to watch this old-fashioned heist film. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, Murder On The Orient Express centers on crimes and unsolved mysteries based on Agatha Christie’s famous 1934 detective novel of the same name.

Hercule Poirot (played by Kenneth Branagh), a legendary Belgian sleuth who is also probably the world’s greatest detective, solves a case of theft in Jerusalem and was invited by his detective friend, Bouc, the director of the Orient

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Express, to come aboard a room on the train. Knowing that Poirot is a great detective, a passenger named Samuel Ratchett talks to him and offers him a ‘job’ as Ratchett’s bodyguard since Ratchett was receiving various blackmails from an unknown sender.

During the night, Poirot hears strange noises from Ratchett’s room so he comes out and sees a man in a red kimono running through the hallway.

Not minding it, Poirot goes back to his room and sleeps until an avalanche derails the train’s engine and renders the passenger stranded. The next morning, they find Ratchett’s body drenched in blood. Bouc asked Poirot to investigate Ratchett’s case and they started investigating, interrogating, and interviewing other passengers in order to trace the culprit.

Murder On The Orient Express is an old crime tale with roots going back

piano lesson. Being in a prestigious school is what Lynn’s father wants even if they are not that well off. As a teacher also, Lynn’s father cherishes his daughter’s education and made many sacrifices all the way. This forced Lynn to make the decision of accepting more recruits for her piano lessons with a rate of 3000 baht per person taking her piano lessons.

As Bank got tangled up with the whole cheating business of Lynn and her so called friends especially during the STIC exams , an international standardized test for university admissions, both Lynn and Bank tend to lose everything at their ends. Both knew that what they are doing is wrong but the circumstances kept pushing them to choose between their dignity and their family’s needs. Will they ever find the right solution to this complex situation with their wants and needs as variables?

Bad Genius became a great avenue for fashion model Chutimon to make a grand debut as actress.The personality of Lynn was well played by Chutimon. Her natural and genuine acting skills blended well with the charismatic, heart-warming and cringing performance of Chanon which spark the chemistry between them.

The characters of Pat and Grace showed the greed of every aggressive youth craving for easy way out for their situations using the weakness of others. Taking advantage of the situation of the two main characters, everything become easier for Pat and Grace.

to a 1934 novel but it maintains a fundamentally similar plot. The film is a classic – many people already know the method behind the murder – but the story still has a great set-up as all the characters were addressed well. The best thing about the movie is the balance given to the characters. It wants the audience to have as much fun as the actors, luring the viewers to the chills and thrills of the search for the true culprit. The body language of every actor really expresses who they are on the film.

The film’s magnificent all-star ensemble cast which includes Branagh himself, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Johnny Depp, and Michelle Pffeifer among others almost makes the world-renowned mystery (oxymoronic huh!) fresh as any viewer who would look at those names would say, “Never mind the story, just look at those names!”. Looking at this angle, it was a wise decision from the production company since everyone was involved in the movie’s main subject in one way or another.

Considering that Christie’s novel has already been adapted multiple times in various forms of media and that knowledge of the killer is already commonplace, it becomes a greater challenge for the director to put up something new. After all, a mystery film is only as good as the secret it refuses to unravel. This 2017 cinematic version spices things up with a Jerusalem-set prologue in which Poirot solves a case of theft involving a religious antiquity in which a priest, a rabbi, and an imam have been implicated.

Overall, the film was an exhilarating ride from start to finish not just because of the story but because of the cast themselves. This old tale has been resurrected by a modern ensemble and gives it that fresh feeling one would rarely expect from an adaptation of a 1934 book.

The scriptwriters of the Bad Genius just keep you holding your breath and heart pounding with every twists and turns of the story. The development of the characters is very spontaneous. The cinematography and the mood of the setting just balanced everything in the portrayal of the story the writers intended to tell.

Bad Genius offers a fresh plot of story portraying real life situations that anybody have encountered which made it easier for movie goers to relate to it.

This made Bad genius grabbed the attention not only in Thailand but also in the international scene. Just like the characters of Bank and Lynn, even if the world cheats on you despite of all the honesty you had offered, the redemption of yourself is still up to you. The world might be unfair but the rest of your story is in your hands.

BAD GENIUS

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

RATING: 4.5/5 “If you don’t cheat, life will cheat on you.”

When we were in elementary, our teachers told us that doing bad things such as cheating, is an evil thing. That is the time when our younger selves tend to believe that life is fair, but the truth is, the world will never be fair. In school, as we grow older, cheating becomes an open secret that no one admits. Some do this to survive but for some it is an opportunity to earn some money to help their family as what Lynn and Bank did.

Thai director Nattawut Poonpiriya took us to this year’s breathtaking film Bad Genius which revolves around two campus geniuses Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) and Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul). It started with an eraser and shoes with answers that Lynn lent to her closest friend, Grace (Eisaya Hosuwan) in their classroom. Then Grace’s millionaire boyfriend Pat (Teeradon Supapunpinyo) encouraged Lynn to help them during exams and called this as

RATING: 4.7/5 “No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.” - Phineas Taylor Barnum Sometimes, all it takes is one person to believe in you. You may not look that far, because perhaps that one person is you.

The Greatest Showman is inspired by P. T. Barnum’s life and love. With Michael Gracey as the main man behind the lenses, and La La Land’s Benj Pasek and Justin Paul as its musical geniuses, it reached a total box office gross of $266 million worldwide since its initial release last December 8, 2017 through 20th Century Fox. One of the songs,“This Is Me”, won the 75th Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and was also nominated during the 90th Academy Awards for the same category. The film was also a potential for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy during the 75th Golden Globe Awards, and Hugh Jackman was also up for the Best Actor – Musical or Comedy.

File Photos Netflix.com, variety.com, whatculture.com

Helping out his father, Philo, a tailor, paved the way for P. T. Barnum (Jackman) to pursue Charity Hallett’s (Michelle Williams). Their innocent interactions bloomed into something more. However, the diverse social statuses of the two caused the disapproval of Charity’s father of their relationship. She left the comforts and luxuries of her life to be with P.T. Barnum and together they gambled with the odds in New York City where he worked for a shipping company, but things started to change when the company went to bankruptcy. Making a risk, he took a large loan to buy Barnum’s American Museum in downtown Manhattan with wax figures. Due to the slow start, he discarded the idea of having artificial forms of entertainment and started looking for ‘unexpected’ individuals who had something to offer underneath their insecurities, such as General Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey), Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), Irish Giant (Daniel Everidge), Dogfaced Man (Luciano Acuna, Jr.),Tattoo Man (Shannon Holtzapffel), Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) and her brother W. D.Wheeler (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), among others.

Constantly looking for ways to climb up the social ladder, P.T. Barnum meets Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) and convinces him to be his playwright and partner in running the shows in the circus. A romance between Carlyle and Anne Wheeler simmers but the former chooses not to act upon it due to his then-social standing and the discrimination the trapeze artist faces. Carlyle arranges a meeting of the whole troupe with Queen Victoria and P. T. Barnum comes across Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson), the Swedish nightingale, and brings her to America with the hopes of revamping his image and gaining more profit.

Everything goes down the drain for everyone as P. T. Barnum starts to forget about the real reason why he gathered his company and completely leaves them in the dark, making them face their demons – the people who harass them and see them differently. Carlyle’s parents finds out about his newfound passion and love. Charity feels that her husband is drifting away from her as he tours with Lind, and Lind starts to fall for P. T. Barnum but he ignores her advances. P. T. Barnum comes home and finds his circus on fire, with Carlyle injured trying to rescue Anne

Wheeler. Left with nothing but a burned down business and a broken family, P. T. Barnum realizes that the worldly riches are nothing but temporary, and the people who support him, “the few good people” who love him, stay.

This 105-minute spectacle, although another cliché rags-to-riches tale, has a lot of valuable pickups to offer to its viewers.The issue of discrimination was given much emphasis, most especially the racial discrimination the Wheeler siblings endured.The said treatment was at a high during the Post American Civil War, the film’s age and setting, when four million Black American slaves finally gained their freedom. This film also portrays the beauty and the harsh reality of the 1870s in New York City. The opulence of social gatherings and the disregard on the lowly seeps through the margin between the elite and the deprived. Whether you are born with a ready wealth or you made money from the scratches in your hand, it never really mattered, as long as you know the tricks of the trade then you already carved a name for yourself.The Barnum daughters remind the viewers to keep the youth in them by having childlike wonder and to listen to the ideas of people who lack experience because sometimes these hold so much potential than the ideas of those who are equipped.

A man of great ambition whose experiences in life unlocked the most legendary of ideas in his wildest imagination, Phineas Taylor Barnum has been a model to many to pursue their dreams amidst the heckles and criticisms thrown at him. P. T. Barnum founded the Barnum’s American Museum, and he Barnum and Bailey Circus, his brainchildren that created the industry which brings art to life, and life to art – show business.

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SEARCHING for the unlost REVIEWS

By Everild Dominique A. Camique File Photos amazon.com & ateneo.edu

“That is the beauty of literature.You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald LOOKING FOR ALASKA RATING: 4.0/5.0 “And his last words were “I go to seek a Great Perhaps.” That’s why I’m going. So I don’t have to wait until I die to start seeking a Great Perhaps.”

Miles Halter has an interesting fascination for famous last words. He attends Culver Creek boarding school, seeking what the dying poet, Francois Rabelais had called, “a Great Perhaps.” His roommate, Chip, “the Colonel” Martin gives Miles the nickname, “Pudge,” as a form of irony of his skinny frame. Colonel then introduces Miles, now “Pudge,” to his friends.

And as a result, he meets the dangerously beautiful girl that is Alaska Young. When she learned about Pudge’s fascination, she shared Simon Bolivar’s last words, in the novel written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The General in His Labyrinth, “How will I ever get out of this Labyrinth!” This piece of information is just one of the many things that Alaska shares with Miles, as she helps him in his search for his “Great Perhaps” and ultimately leading him to his own labyrinth, as he devastatingly, falls in love with her.

Divided into two parts, Before and After, Looking for Alaska delves into the search for a meaningful existence in life. Transferring to a new school gives Miles unrealistic expectations that his life will go out from its normal, boring reality to a suddenly meaningful one. This is immediately trampled by the fact of having an almost prison-like dorm room, a room mate refusing to help him find friends and being a target for pranks of the Weekday Warriors, the rich students of Culver Creek that only go to school during the day.

Nevertheless, This book gives eye opening insight on how one life can affect another, and how the outcome will define their outlook of their future.

Alaska Young’s influence on Miles was one of the main subjects of the book. Helping him find a girl friend, teaching him to smoke and bringing him along to the several prank adventures may be the reasons why Miles started to idolise Alaska, and developing feelings for her.

He then realizes that the person he idolizes and had developed feelings for, is more complicated than he first thought she would be.

Miles’ character is a representation of every person’s search for a life worth living. That if one wants to have meaningful life, one has to go out of their original norms, and make something out of what one thinks is nothing. Judging from the first part of the book and up to the end, Miles had begun to realize that the Great Perhaps is the culmination of every single experience that he had, and not the one thing he had always searched for.

Basing the story on his own experiences at his boarding school, John Green had brilliant novel on trust, friendship, death, loss, and finding in oneself to forgive for the things that one has no control for.

HOW MY SONS LOST THEIR TAGALOG RATING: 4.3/5.0

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“Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa?”

The title, “How My Sons Lost Their Tagalog” penned by Benjamin Pimentel doesn’t really describe what is in store for you when you read this book. Your first thoughts may be about how the sons of the author THE AUGUSTINIAN MIRROR

lost their preference for the language due to a foreign influence. It doesn’t really prepare you for the torrent of emotions that you are about to experience. It makes you wish for a heads-up. However, you wouldn’t be able to love and appreciate all the essays that were compiled in this book if you had one.

It comes in three parts namely, “This Filipino American Life,” “Seriously, Satirically” and “Islands of Hope.” The first part talks about the author’s life as a Filipino journalist living in San Francisco, with his wife and two sons. You could really tell where this book is going for it shows how his sons grew up learning Tagalog only to be overshadowed by the English language when they grew older. One instance is their exposure to the language in their school environment, starting with their eldest son. He passed it on to his younger brother as he continually spoke in English in their house. His younger brother strives to catch up to his kuya, who already spoke in English while he only knows how to speak in Tagalog.

But it takes you completely by surprise as it takes a different turn in the second part, where it portrays a seriously hilarious political satire.The essays were poking fun at public figures in our country, such as Tito Sotto, Imelda Marcos and even Noynoy Aquino.They also dealt with different dictators (Saddam Hussain and Augusto Pinochet, to name a few) over the world such as “Marcos and the Dead Dictators Society.” This section will leave you in stitches and makes the reader want to know more about the public figures that were featured in Pimentel’s work.

Lastly, “Islands of Hope” makes you realize that there is so much that you need know about your country - its history and the people who played small but significant roles in the fight for the betterment of the nation. The essays are a tribute to those who were unrecognized, a part of a story we never knew and a moral that will awaken our sleeping minds, especially in the essay entitled, “Sa Kabataang ‘Di Nakatikim ng Martial Law.” The book is a road trip through history and experience. The author takes the reader for a ride while stopping at destinations such as San Francisco, the Philippines during the time of Marcos, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front base camp. People like Edgar Jopson and Raphael Lotilla will also be met along the way, bearing stories that one can’t help but stay and listen to.You may feel lost at times, especially if you find it hard to relate to the place where the author takes you. When you do, you will learn the history of each place you visit, and the parts the you never knew were missing.

Benjamin Pimentel switches from English and Filipino so easily that one cannot be mistaken that he is proficient in both languages. Every essay is worth reading and worth spending time on. Just be patient at times when you cannot relate to the history involved in some of the essays for it will kindle the spark of curiosity in every one who reads them.

The two books may not discuss what the title itself had told its readers it would be; about how the author’s sons lost their Filipino tongue or searching for the girl that the protagonist had always thought she would be.

But, it gave its readers something more; a chance to be reminded that what was once thought to be lost, had always been there, waiting for the bearer to acknowledge its presence.

Artwork Romari Charlz F. Diaz

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