The Varsitarian P.Y. 2014-2015 Issue 10

Volume LXXXVI, No. 10 • July 30, 2015 THE OFFICIAL STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF SANTO TOMAS Manila, Philippines

Aquino picks on UST in SONA ENVIRONMENTAL, architecture, and heritage conservation experts are defending UST after President Benigno Aquino III implied in his final State of the Nation Address (Sona) that the University was to blame for flooding in Manila.

The proposed flood “catchment area,” which the President claimed was opposed by a “big university,” would place UST’s heritage buildings in danger, and there was also no guarantee that it would work, experts told the Varsitarian.

“For the President to even put in his speech a snide remark about UST not cooperating, and for [his spokesman] to call the [UST] Open Field a ‘prized soccer field’ just shows they are insensitive to cultural heritage, and they don’t value things,” said Richard Bautista, architect of the National Committee on Monuments and Sites of the National

Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Bautista said there were plenty of solutions, including dredging rivers, esteros, and Manila Bay. “And in using UST Open Field, what is their plan to discharge water there? The fact that Pasig River overflows, touching UST will be a waste of money and heritage,” he said.

Ivan Henares, president of the Heritage Conservation Society of the Philippines, said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Malacañang speechwriters forgot that the government itself had declared the University a heritage zone.

“They placed President Aquino in a position of criticism. It is the duty of the Philippine Government to preserve and protect National Cultural Treasures,” Henares told the Varsitarian.

The DPWH proposed to dig out a “retarding” or “detention” tank for flood water under the UST Open Field in October 2011, a month after the 21-hectare University campus was declared a National Historical Landmark by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines in time for the UST Quadricentennial celebrations.

In January 2010, the UST Grandstand and open spaces, the Main Building, the Central Seminary, and the Arch of the Centuries were declared “National Cultural Treasures” by the National Museum.

‘Prized soccer field’ Aquino did not mention UST by name, but presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda and DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson later confirmed that the President was referring to UST in his speech at the

Batasang Pambansa last July 27.

“Para matugunan ang madalas na pagbaha sa Maynila, isinulong natin ang pagpapagawa ng catchment area; pero tumutol po dito ang isang malaking unibersidad. May lumang mga gusali daw kasi silang baka maapektuhan ng gagawing proyekto,” the President said in his sixth and final Sona.

Lacierda questioned UST’s priorities in a television interview last July 28, asking: “Would you forgo safety over a prized soccer field?”

“Is that being unreasonable if we dig it (open grounds) up and make sure that the millions within that area would be safe from inundation, would be

Waste PAGE 5

Pope Francis tackles more than climate change in new encyclical

BY ANGELI MAE S. CANTILLANA and LEA MAT P. VICENCIO

OVERHAUL. Construction personnel repair the hallway and rooms that were damaged during the fire that broke out at the fourth floor of St. Raymund's Building last July 5. See story on Page 2.

NAZZI M. CASTRO

BIR loses P171M Only 13 programs to be offered from 2016-2018 tax case against UST Hospital A TECHNICALITY has prevented tax authorities from collecting P171.5 million from the University in a tax dispute involving UST Hospital.

The Court of Tax Appeals favored UST in a decision dated March 2, junking the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) claim that UST Hospital needed to pay an extra P171.5 million in income taxes and a compromise penalty of P56,000. An audit found that the hospital failed to declare more than P700 million in income in 2006.

A motion for reconsideration filed by the BIR last March 27 was dismissed by the tax appeals court last June 11.

The March 2 decision states that the tax assessment was invalid because the “letter of authority” issued by the BIR to open UST Hospital’s accounting books in March 2007 came from BIR Region No. 6 in Manila. Jurisdiction over UST, however, was transferred to the BIR’s Large Taxpayers Service

Tax PAGE 5

ONLY a handful of undergraduate programs will be offered by UST during academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 as a result of the implementation of the K to 12 program.

The decision to cut the number of undergraduate programs to just 13 from 53 during the two-year transition period of the K to 12 program was determined by the different colleges and faculties of the University, said Clarita Carillo, vice rector for academic affairs.

Carillo said all colleges and faculties were asked to analyze application and enrollment patterns for each program from among the K-to-12-ready schools and those schools that would have graduated students from Grade 12 by 2016.

“Each college or faculty determined whether it would be efficient and viable to open their academic programs considering the faculty [load distribution] and number of preparations required, and cost of operation, among others,” Carillo said in an email to the Varsitarian.

The 13 undergraduate programs to be offered during academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 are: accountancy, architecture, business administration major in financial management, business administration major in marketing management, communication arts, computer

science, information technology, medical technology, music, music major in music education, pharmacy, physical education major in sports and wellness, and political Science.

According to the UST Office for Admissions (OFAD), the reduced number of program offerings was a response to the expected low number of enrollees during the two-year period, when high school students, instead of going to firstyear college, would go to grades 11 and 12, the additional levels added to basic education.

OFAD Director Marie Ann Vargas said it was possible to reopen programs if there were enough students applying.

“If marami ang mga interested applicants sa hindi offered na programs, we can forward it [to] that particular college and let them know that we have this number of interested applicants,” Vargas said, adding that the decision was still up to the colleges and faculties.

Impact on faculty members Carillo admitted that the reduction in the number of programs would “certainly affect teaching load distribution” but said the University was “doing everything to cushion K to 12’s impact on [the] faculty.”

She cited ways by which UST could reduce the impact on faculty members such as a faculty

For breaking news and real-time updates visit: www.varsitarian.net

development program, research loads for qualified faculty, and paid study leaves for faculty members seeking Ph.D. scholarships abroad or those who have approved dissertation proposals in other universities.

Other faculty members may be tapped for special institutional assignments under academic related activities or ARA loads, while others may apply for sabbatical or holiday leave, Carillo added.

Some colleges and faculties also plan to send selected faculty members to immersions activities.

Carillo clarified that these would be on top of the teaching loads that would remain available in the higher years at the college level as well as in senior high school (SHS).

UST will begin offering SHS or grades 11 and 12 next academic year with the following academic strands: the liberal arts, education and social sciences strand; the accountancy and business management strand; the music and arts strand; and the science, technology, engineering and mathematics strand. DARYL

TAKING effective care of God’s creation goes hand in hand with the protection of human dignity and morality.

This was the message of Pope Francis in his 184-page encyclical titled “Laudato Si,” which was released last June 18.

The Pope said protecting the environment went beyond solving problems like climate change, pollution, and global warming, which are deemed major ecological problems.

According to Pope Francis, the word “creation” has a broader meaning than nature, since it also deals with God’s plan, in which “every creature has its own value and significance.”

“This rediscovery of nature can never be at the cost of the freedom and responsibility of human beings who, as part of the world, have the duty to cultivate their abilities in order to protect it and develop its potential,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis also argued that care for the environment was impossible without working to defend human life and dignity as this brings about deep communion with nature, which requires “tenderness, compassion, and concern” for humanity.

“It is clearly inconsistent to combat trafficking in endangered species while remaining completely indifferent to human trafficking, unconcerned about the poor, or undertaking to destroy another human being deemed unwanted,” Pope Francis said.

The Pope emphasized that respect for nature also meant respecting human ecology.

This includes acknowledging one’s body as a gift of God that should not be manipulated, cultivating respect for the family, and “valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity.”

"In this way we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment.

It is not a healthy attitude which would seek 'to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it,'" the Pope said.

Pope Francis slammed attacks against human life such as abortion, embryonic experimentation and population control.

“How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings [if] we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?” the Pope said.

ANGELO P. BAYBADO

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Pope PAGE 3

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2 News

The Varsitarian JULY 30, 2015

Editors: Lord Bien G. Lelay and Arianne F. Merez

Editor: April Joy E. Dy

UST improves ties with foreign schools

By DARYL ANGELO P. BAYBADO UST BOOSTED its international profile in academic year 2014-2015, strengthening its ties with universities abroad that resulted in symposia and research partnerships, among others, a report from the Office of International Relations and Programs showed.

Twenty new bilateral agreements with international universities were forged while 93 memorandums of understanding (MOU) were inked, 13 of which were for review and renewal, and six in progress.

University students and faculty members interacted with international faculty from 20 different countries from Asia, Australia and Oceania, United States, and Europe who visited the University throughout the year.

Seven visiting professors received a one-year academic appointment while 58 others spoke in conferences and attended lectures and workshops.

“Our [Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rating] is three-star in internationalization and basically the indicators that they measured are the international collaboration on research, international students on degree programs, and others. Also, there has been a significant improvement specially when it comes to student mobility,” Office of International Relations and Programs Director Lilian Sison said in an interview.

Although UST dropped two notches in the 2015 ranking of top Asian universities by London-based consultancy agency Quacquarelli Symonds, the University still tops other Philippine schools in the international faculty criterion. It ranked 65th with a score of 30.80 points, ahead of Ateneo de Manila at 118th and the University of the Philippines at 131st.

In April this year, UST was awarded a 4-star rating in the QS Stars University Rating scheme.

Sison boasted of the University’s student mobility, as 195 outbound students went abroad for studies, "sandwich" programs, internships, and history and language courses.

Data from Sison’s office showed that 50 percent of the 195 outbound students went to Asian universities, 29 percent to the US, 17 percent to Europe, and six percent to Australia.

An additional 190 student leaders attended leadership camps and international conferences. A total of 241 in-bound students took part in language and culture courses, internships, community immersion and service learning—75 percent of which came from Asia, 20 percent from Australia, and 5 percent from the United States.

Research collaborations Seven new research collaborations were forged in the areas of rehabilitation science, biology, and chemistry, four of which received grants from international funding agencies such as the US Agency for International Development, US National Science Foundation, United Nations Educational, Scientific Schools PAGE 3

Civil Law to enforce stricter selection, retention policies

By DARYL ANGELO P. BAYBADO THE FACULTY of Civil Law plans to tighten its debarment rules to maintain its status as a premier law school and improve its performance in the bar exams.

Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina said stricter standards would be implemented, for instance, any law student regardless of year level would be debarred if he or she did not meet the standards.

Under the proposal, third-year students will not be allowed to proceed to the fourth year unless they pass the mock bar exams, but exemptions will be given to those who will have an average grade of above 86.

“If you fail, you go. And I think this will be the best practice and, also, this will encourage the [students] to strive harder and not take things easily when they reach fourth year,” Divina said in an interview, adding he was confident Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. would approve the changes.

The new polices to be implemented beginning academic year 2016-2017 are mock bar exams per year level, a diagnostic assessment, and departmental exams in “bar subjects” or those that are included in the bar exams, like political law, remedial law, labor law, and legal ethics, to test the students’ ability in answering and solving different sets of questionnaires.

“We’ll screen carefully those who will be allowed to progress to second year, third year, and fourth year, until they take the bar examinations,” Divina said.

Students who will pass the mock bar exams will be given incentives such as law books.

Policies PAGE 10

Employment showed that an estimated 85,000 employees of higher education institution employees would be at risk of losing their jobs if the K to 12 program went full swing.

“Teachers are not to be considered just as expenses but as partners in the noble mission of education. May this not lead to the contractualization of the teaching personnel,” Villegas said.

Parents should also be involved in discussions on the K to 12 program to reduce “anxieties and resistance” during the transition period.

“School and education officials must be ready and capable to discuss it with parents, even the students themselves in an atmosphere of loving dialogue,” he said.

A group of parents known as the Parents Advocacy for Children’s Education brought a petition before the Supreme Court last May to suspend the

K to 12 program, citing lack of consultations.

The newly reelected CBCP president also raised the likelihood of some students dropping out of school because of poverty.

“The K to 12 program provides skills and competencies for the poor who may not have access to college education.

Employment is no longer the privilege of the c o l l e g e graduate.

Rather, through the senior high school program with its varied “trackings” and the academe – industry linkage, the K to 12 graduate at age 18 can enter the work force,” Villegas said.

“This is a big help to the

A STUDENT organization has stood by its rainbow-filtered social media profile pictures celebrating gay pride and the legalization of samesex marriage in the United States.

The gay-pride-themed profile pictures were in “solidarity” with lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders (LGBT) “celebrating Pride Month and the US Supreme Court ruling on equal marriage,” according to a July 4 statement posted on Facebook by TomasinoWeb, a student group accredited by the Office of Student Affairs (OSA).

The rainbow colors are a “prominent symbol of the LGBT struggle,” said the group, which runs an online media platform.

“Moved by love and compassion towards the LGBT community, the [TomasinoWeb] Core group of officers decided in a majority vote to change the profile picture,” the statement read.

The 16-person “core group” voted to change the TomasinoWeb profile pictures last June 27, the statement said. It added that the profile pictures were taken down on June 28, the day after the “Metro Manila Pride March.” The statement did not say why the rainbow-filtered profile pictures were taken down.

Usapang Uste BAGO PA man ang pormal na pagbubukas-pinto ng Unibersidad para sa mga kababaihan ay nagkaroon na ng pagkakataon ang ilang babae na makapag-aral sa Unibersidad noong 1879 nang maitatag ang Escuela De Matronas, o School of Midwifery.

Ang pagbubukas ng Escuela de Matronas na nasa ilalim ng Medisina at Parmasya ay naging isang malaking hakbangin para sa Unibersidad na tanging mga kalalakihan lamang ang tinatanggap na mag-aaral.

Sa unang semestre ng taon, 30 lamang ang mga kababaihang pumasok sa Escuela De Matronas at tanging ang mga kababaihang may edad 20 taong gulang pataas, may asawa o biyuda at mayroong affidavit ng kagandahang asal mula sa kura paroko ang maaring pumasok sa programang ito.

N a g i n g pangunahing layunin naman ng programa na bigyang solusyon ang patuloy na

The College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) claimed in a statement last June 29 that the OSA ordered the take-down of the profile pictures.

A July 2 online story by the Varsitarian quoted a comment by UST Secretary General Fr. Winston Cabading, O.P. on the “Youth for Life” Facebook page clarifying that “changing the profile [picture] was not the decision of the [organization],” referring to TomasinoWeb, but by “one of their members who was a [Facebook page] administrator.”

Fr. Cabading said that aside from University officials, “many others” called TomasinoWeb’s attention to the rainbow-filtered profile pictures, and these were taken down as a result.

TomasinoWeb acknowledged that the “change (in profile pictures) was met with cheers and jeers.” It claimed that there was no intention to offend anyone or go against the teachings of the Catholic Church, which holds that marriage is a unitive and procreative union of one man and one woman. “[W]e understand that some people were offended by the profile picture and we humbly apologize to them, as it was not our intention to do so nor was it our intention to go against the

lumalala at dumaraming kaso ng kapabayaan sa pagpapaanak noong panahong iyon na siya namang mabilis na sinangayunan ni Gobernador Heneral Domingo Moriones.

Sa kabila nito, nanatili lamang ang Escuela de Matronas hanggang 1915 gawa ng untiunting pagbaba ng bilang ng mga mag-aaral na kumukuha ng kursong ito sa kadahilanang higit na tinatangkilik sa bansa ang mga tradisyonal na mga hilot kumpara sa mga matronas na limitado lamang ang bilang at mas mahal na bayad sa kanilang iniaalok na serbisyo.

Matapos magsara ang Escuela de Matronas, taong 1924 na ang sumunod na pagbubukas-pinto ng Unibersidad sa mga kababaihan ngunit sa pagkakataong ito ay hindi na ginamit ang mga dating aliuntunin tulad ng kinakailangang edad at estado.

Tomasino siya Alam niyo

ba na isang Tomasino ang kilala sa husay ng kaniyang mga galaw sa pagsasayaw at pagtatanghal?

Si Osias Baroso Jr., nagtapos ng kursong AB Communication Arts sa Unibersidad noong 1986, ay kilala sa larangan ng pagsayaw bilang “The Ballerina’s Prince.”

Dagdag pa rito, si Baroso ang naging kauna-unahang Filipinong umabot sa semifinals ng Ballet and Modern Dance Competition sa Japan at nakapagtanghal na rin siya sa tanyag na Don Quixote at Giselle sa Russia.

Noong 1980, nabigyan siya ng scholarship dahil sa angking kagalingan upang magsanay sa School of Ballet and Dance Arts kasabay ng kaniyang pagiging miyembro ng Dance Concert Company at Salinggawi Dance Troupe ng Unibersidad.

Taong 1995 naman nang itatag ni Baroso ang Ballet Manila kasama si Liza MacujaElizalde na tinaguriang “prima ballerina” sa bansa at kaniyang kapareha sa ballet sa loob ng labing anim na taon.

Usapang Uste PAHINA 6

“[I]nstead of resolving the problems of the poor, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate.

[D]eveloping countries face forms of international pressure which make economic assistance contingent on certain policies of ‘reproductive health.’”

‘Not magic’ Lou Arsenio, coordinator of the Archdiocese of Manila’s Ministry on Ecology, said the Pope’s new encyclical carried extra significance for the Philippines, which is dubbed as the largest predominantly Catholic country in Asia.

“It is a call to

BAYBADO

teachings of the Catholic Church,” the statement added. “We respect and consider everyone’s opinions, as it is necessary for a functioning democracy.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that homosexual acts are against natural law.

Still, homosexuals must be treated with “respect, compassion, and sensitivity.” The Catechism adds: “Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.”

TomasinoWeb was conceptualized by Dominican priest Fr. Melchor Saria, former director of the Santo Tomas e-Service Providers (STePS), the information technology office of the UST administration. It was founded “under the guidance of STePS” in 2007, and gained OSA accreditation in 2008.

TomasinoWeb’s “About” page states that as “an organization based in UST, TomasinoWeb aids in inculcating the Thomasian values in its members.” DAYANARA T. CUDAL

Escuela de Matronas

FROM PAGE 1

poor! Realistically though we know that there will be many students who will drop out of the whole program. There should be means to help out these dropouts. We do not yet see this issue being addressed in the program,” he added.

The K to 12 prog ra m w i l l a d d t wo years of secondary education beginning 2016.

Next year, high school students will enroll in Grade 11 instead of graduating to college, which will result in the loss of college freshmen.

There will also be few secondyear college students in 2017 when Grade 11 students go to Grade 12. DARYL ANGELO P.

Student org stands by gay pride profile pics

Artlets, Commerce move temporarily to other buildings SPECIAL term classes at the Faculty of Arts and Letters (Artlets) and the College of Commerce and Business Administration were moved to two other buildings after the fire that broke out at St. Raymund de Peñafort Building last July 5.

Commerce held classes at the Main Building and Artlets at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, amid reconstruction and clean-up operations at St. Raymund’s are being conducted.

The Commerce Dean’s Office was moved temporarily to the second floor of the Tan Yan Kee Students’ Center, while the Artlets Dean’s Office was transferred to the General Education Office at the Main Building.

Reynaldo Marcelino, deputy chief of the Manila Fire Department, said the fire started around 8:40 p.m.

The blaze originated from the fourth floor of St. Raymund’s, in Room 405, and spread to rooms 403, 407, and 409.

The fire reached fourth alarm before fire trucks arrived at 9:12 p.m.

Authorities declared the fire under control at around 10 p.m.

Authorities said investigation on the cause of the fire was still ongoing.

An initial estimate placed the damage at P3 million. DAYANARA T. CUDAL

The Varsitarian Witness

3

Pope tackles more than ecology

‘No one should suffer’ in K to 12 implementation—CBCP THE CATHOLIC Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is urging the government to ensure that college professors keep their jobs during the transition period of the K to 12 program in 2016.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP president, asked government agencies, schools, and parents to maintain an “attitude of openness and respect” in dealing with the K to 12 program in the pastoral letter “Advancing in wisdom and favor before God and man” released July 14.

“We call on schools in a given territory or region to discuss the years of 'no enrollment' in college and see how best to cope with this reality,” Villegas said, adding that “no one should suffer in the implementation of the program.”

A study by the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Labor and

JULY 30, 2015

action for the adults to educate the the young, and young Catholics to educate their fellow young people, toward ecological responsibility and the development of the youth’s creation spirituality,” Arsenio said in an interview with the Varsitarian.

Arsenio agreed with the Pope’s view that efforts to solve environmental crises were not effective because of the general lack of interest. The encyclical is not “magic” that can resolve environmental issues immediately, he said.

“As [young people], do you think of how this world would look like in 2030? The answer to this question depends on [the youth].

Thus, the encyclical cannot make magic for you and me. It is us who should study,” Arsenio said.

Arsenio urged the faithful to reexamine their profession of faith, noting that lack of interest toward environmental problems also meant lack of respect for God and His creation. “‘I believe in God the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth.’ What does this mean to

you? [If] we regard each creature with love and respect, human dignity is also respected,” Arsenio said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) threw its support on Pope Francis’ appeal for the protection of creation.

In a pastoral letter dated June 17, the day before the release of the Pope’s second encyclical, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP president, said the faithful should turn down apathy toward environmental and ecological concerns.

“The roots of our indifference to environmental and ecological concerns and the sinful dispositions in all of us that make us contributors to the depredation of a world entrusted to our stewardship, these are what scientists cannot teach us,” Villegas said.

Villegas said that the encyclical would remain “nothing but ink” until the faithful themselves heeded the Pope’s call.

Laudato Si’, which means “praise be to you,” was taken from

St. Francis of Assisi’s medieval Italian prayer “Canticle of the Sun,” which praises God through elements of creation.

The new encyclical is the first to focus on environmental issues, but not the first time a pope raised the issue of environmental destruction.

Pope Paul VI in 1971 described the destruction of the environment as a “tragic consequence” of uncontrolled human activity. Pope St. John Paul II’s 1979 encyclical "Redemptor Hominis (The Redeemer of Man)" and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s address to the Diplomatic Corps in 2007 also slammed humanity’s abuse of nature.

It was also not the first time that the Pope pointed to humanity’s responsibility to take care of the planet.

In his undelivered speech during his brief meeting with the youth in UST last Jan. 18, the Pope tackled the importance of safeguarding the environment, noting man’s mission to make the Earth “a beautiful garden” for the human family.

POPE FRANCIS

Cebu Archdiocese launches apps for 2016 Internat'l Eucharistic Congress

By MARIE DANIELLE L. MACALINO and KATHRYN JEDI V. BAYLON IN PREPARATION for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) in 2016, the Archdiocese of Cebu is set to launch mobile applications that will keep participants informed on one of the Church’s most important international events.

Called “IEC2016 Guide”, the official application of the IEC is being developed

by InnoPub Media, a Cebu-based new media publishing company.

Max Limpag, one of the co-founders of InnoPub Media, said the IEC2016 Guide would feature a comprehensive guide on places to visit in Cebu.

“Apart from providing information about the IEC, such as the schedules and speakers, the application also contains a comprehensive guide to Cebu for delegates to know where to go, what to do and what to eat,” Limpag said in an email to the Varsitarian.

The IEC app will also contain information on heritage structures in Cebu.

These structures will be part of the IEC’s Visita Iglesia activity.

“This is just one component of a nationwide program to boost tourism by using mobile technology. The app will provide a portable directory of the accredited tourism companies and service providers of the Department of Tourism,” Limpag said.

The IEC2016 Guide is now available for download on Android smartphones. An updated version will be released next month.

Another app titled “Real Presence” was developed by InnoPub Media to introduce the IEC Hymn and disseminate the schedule of the event.

“Since the Congress focuses on the importance of the Eucharist as the summit

Fr. Lleva: Varsitarian priest alumnus who wielded the pen for Christ

of the Catholic faith, this mobile app aims to help create greater understanding and appreciation of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist,” the description of the app on Google Play and the Apple App Store stated.

The “Real Presence” is now available for download on Android and iOS smartphones.

‘Prepare spiritually’ According to the official website of IEC 2016, an estimated 15,000 delegates from all over the world are expected to arrive in the Philippines next year for the IEC, which will be held on Jan. 24 to 31, 2016.

The Archdiocese of Cebu reminded the people to prepare spiritually for the congress.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, chairman of the IEC 2016, called on the laity to recall their experiences of faith, hope and charity during the times the country suffered due to calamities.

“Our country is not so rich in material resources, but what we have is abundant faith, faith that has kept our spirits alive through these trying times. It is this faith that allows me to say in all humility, that ‘Christ in us, is our hope of glory,’” Palma said in his welcome message on the IEC’s official website.

An international gathering of clergy, religious and laity, the IEC aims to promote the role of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church.

“There will be activities that will help the people connect to each other, such as contests and talks,” said Palma.

Upcoming events in preparation for the IEC in 2016 include the IEC short film contest, choral festivals, an art exhibit, a theater festival, the Sinulog grand parade with IEC contingents, and a symposium. The pre-congress events will run from September to January.

Schools

Diagnostic

FROM PAGE 2

FROM PAGE 8

and Cultural Organization, Manila and Taiwan economic and cultural offices, and the International Foundation for Science.

Forty-five Thomasian faculty and researchers presented 52 scientific and scholarly papers across disciplines in international conferences and scientific meetings.

The University, under a collaboration with Curtin University and the support of Australia Awards, established a new post-graduate dual degree program in Metallurgical Engineering.

UST is also host to 506 international students from 30 different countries.

can be used by farmers and any ordinary person,” Maningas said. “The diagnostic kit can [also] be utilized for other organisms as long as [the virus] is believed to be present.”

After four years of research and development of the kit, the research team traveled to different provinces such as Davao, Cebu, General Santos, Bohol and Iloilo for the pilot testing.

“After the pilot testing, we hope that the kit catches the attention of the private sector for commercialization,” Maningas said.

The team applied for the patent of the kit and is expecting the result later this year.

A priest blesses the remains of Fr. Edd Lleva.

By DANIELLE ANN F. GABRIEL UNTIL his last days, love for writing preoccupied the late Fr. Edgardo “Edd” Lleva of the Diocese of Malolos, staying true to his vocation of spreading the Word of God. Lleva, who passed away at 65 last May 24 due to cardiac arrest, served as the Varsitarian’s Filipino editor in 1974. He studied theology at the Ecclesiastical Faculties from 1971 to 1975.

His monthly column for the Varsitarian, titled “Psst...atbp.” tackled university issues and student concerns written in a comical and conversational manner. The articles, which had numbers as titles, occasionally involved philosophical musings and biblical terms.

In the 85th anniversary magazine of the Varsitarian published in 2013, Lleva wrote how studying in UST helped develop his writing as well as his priestly vocation.

“Ang UST ang pinakamahalagang bahagi sa aking buhay sapagka't dito ko natapos ang pag-aaral sa tawag ng Panginoon, ang pagka-pari at dito ko nabuo ang biyaya ng Diyos bilang isang manunulat sa pagpapahayag ng katotohanan,” Lleva wrote in the magazine.

Having a natural flair for scriptwriting, Lleva, who was a member of the Scriptwriter's Institute of the Philippines during his stay at the University, was able to produce three plays— “Ang Kura ng Santo Tomas,” “Mina sa Lusak,” “Ginto sa Putik,” and “Ang Obispo.”

In 2005, Lleva released his book titled Ngayon ay Bukas ng Kahapon, a collection of literary works, opinion articles, letters from friends, and personal stories that appeared in various publications like the Asian Journal in California, Celebrity World Magazine, The Star News and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) publication, the CBCP Monitor.

In the foreword for Lleva’s book, Msgr.

Hernando Coronel, former rector of the San Carlos

BASILIO H. SEPE

Seminary in Makati, said Lleva's writings “guides others to experience God.” “Fr. Edd's literary output is an attempt to search for the light of truth out of nothingness. He uses the pen as an instrument of God's peace amidst hate, oppression and inhumanity,” Coronel wrote.

In 2009, Lleva became a columnist for Pilipino Star Ngayon.

Coincidentally, his last piece for his column “Glorify Thy Name” in Pilipino Star Ngayon was published last May 24, with the title, “Shalom” meaning “peace” in Hebrew. The article centered on the Pentecost, the birth of Christianity and the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit among the apostles.

Ronnie Halos, a columnist and Lleva’s colleague in Pilipino Star Ngayon, said Lleva's last column summarized his life. His gift of writing and clarity of thought assisted in his mission of spreading the message of God, he added.

“Fr. Lleva used his skill in the Filipino language to speak about the Word of God. He has readers not only from the Philippines but other countries like Hong Kong, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The lesson and biblical references are easily understood because his writing is very clear and descriptive,” Halos said in an email to the Varsitarian.

Lleva was known for his humorous writing style during his university days, As a priest, however, Lleva is remembered for his serious demeanor.

Gerry Roxas, sacristan mayor at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan where Lleva worked as spiritual director in the 1981, said the late priest had a no-nonsense attitude.

“He was very strict, maybe because of his condition [then]. But during Mass and in readings, Fr. Ed always saw to it that things were in order or on time,” Roxas said in a phone interview with the Varsitarian.

Lleva was born on July 14, 1951. He was Alumnus PAGE 10

4 Opinion The

Varsitarian JULY 30, 2015

JULY 30, 2015

Finding certainty in uncertainty

Editorial

Aquino's last Sona: Unpresidential, philistine, bitter THE THOMASIAN community could have ignored the highly intriguing reference made by President Aquino in his last State of the Nation Address (Sona) to a “big university” (“malaking unibersidad”) that had allegedly refused the plan of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to transform its campus into a catch basin for floodwaters. But trust the President’s men to make matters worse for him by making things clear, blunt, and arrogant: two days later, Malacañang spokesman Edwin Lacierda superciliously told a TV program that the big university the President alluded to “was definitely not Jesuit” and later urged UST to choose public “safety” over a “prized soccer field.”

The jesuitry is typical of the President’s men.

Seeking to defend his administration against criticisms of its poor record in infrastructure and civil defense, Aquino basically blamed UST for flooding in Manila and, in the same breadth, made mention of those opposing the construction of an alternative bridge to make way for maintenance work for the Edsa Guadalupe bridge in Makati. The implication is that should Manila flooding worsen and the Makati bridge fall down, the public should blame UST and those opposing public works.

Blood is on UST’s hands, the Council of Trent seems to be saying. (Or should it be more appropriately called the Palace of Pontius Pilate?)

But UST has all the right to refuse the DPWH proposal. Unlike the alternative bridge plan, which presumably would be built on public or expropriated land, the anti-flood project would be built on private property, church property to boot. Moreover, UST is a school, parish church, hospital–all in one. How could UST withstand the racket that would ensue if public works construction on such a massive scale were allowed to invade its tranquil and orderly confines?

Lacierda implied that UST was unreasonable and insensitive for valuing its status as a “cultural treasure” over the safety of the public. But as a lawyer and Malacañang spokesman, he should know it wasn’t UST that proclaimed itself as a National Cultural Treasure (NCT), but government. And among the requisites for such a declaration is that the NCT "shall not be relocated, rebuilt, defaced or otherwise changed in a manner, which would destroy the property's dignity and authenticity, except to save such property from destruction due to natural causes."

Among the sites of UST declared as NCT are its “open grounds,” which Lacierda contemptuously called a soccer field. The site has been so declared not because it’s a football field, but because it was where Editorial PAGE 10

The Varsitarian FOUNDED JAN. 16, 1928

RALPH JOSHUA D.R. HERNANDEZ Editor in Chief GRACELYN A. SIMON Managing Editor GENA MYRTLE P. TERRE Associate Editor LORD BIEN G. LELAY News Editor ARIANNE F. MEREZ Assistant News Editor PAUL KENNEDY A. LINTAG Sports Editor ANDRE ARNOLD T. SANTIAGO Special Reports Editor JUAN CARLOS D. MORENO Features Editor JONELLE V. MARCOS Patnugot ng Filipino APRIL JOY E. DY Witness Editor HEDRIX AR-AR C. CABALLE Sci-Tech Editor KRISTELLE-ANN A. BATCHELOR Circle Editor ELYSSA CHRISTINE A. LOPEZ Assistant Circle Editor MICHAEL CARLO C RODOLFO Online Editor KENO CARLO C. ENRIQUEZ Art Director JOHN PAUL R. AUTOR Photography Editor News Daryl Angelo P. Baybado , Dayanara T. Cudal, Bianca Kristin A. Taray, Jerome P. Villanueva, Roberto A. Vergara, Jr. Sports Angelica P. Abello, Karl Cedrick G. Basco, Carlo A. Casingcasing, Delfin Ray M. Dioquino, John Chester P. Fajardo, Clarence I. Hormachuelos, Philip Martin L. Matel, Randell Angelo B. Ritumalta, Josiah Darren G. Saynes Special Reports Paul Xavier Jaehwa C. Bernardo, Mary Grace C. Esmaya, Monica M. Hernandez, Mary Gillan Frances G. Ropero Features Jelina Anne S. Bunagan, Mone Virma Ginry P. Gumapac, Maria Corazon A. Inay, Vianca A. Ocampo, Bernadette A. Pamintuan Literary Zenmond G. Duque II, Alpine Christopher P. Moldez, Alhex Adrea M. Peralta, Josef Brian M. Ramil, Cedric Allen P. Sta. Cruz Filipino Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas, Erika Mariz S. Cunanan, Maria Koreena M. Eslava, Kimberly Joy V. Naparan, Krystel Nicole A. Sevilla Witness Kathryn Jedi V. Baylon, Angeli Mae S. Cantillana, Danielle Ann F. Gabriel, Marie Danielle L. Macalino, Lea Mat P. Vicencio Science and Technology Maritz L. Lubo, Mia Rosienna P. Mallari Circle Amierielle Anne A. Bulan, Ma. Czarina A. Fernandez, Ethan James M. Siat, Aliliana Margarette T. Uyao Online Rhenn Anthony S. Taguiam, Freya D.L.R. Torres Art Jean Helene C. Estella, Ma. Aurora A. Gonzalez, Kirsten M. Jamilla, Iain Rafel N. Tyapon, Ava Mariangela C. Victoria Photography Geonabeth L. Cadungog, Nazzi M. Castro, Alvin Joseph Kasiban, Amparo Klarin J. Mangoroban, Miah Terrenz Provido, Basilio H. Sepe Editorial Assistant Julius Roman M. Tolop

FELIPE F. SALVOSA II Assistant Publications Adviser JOSELITO B. ZULUETA Publications Adviser Letters/comments/suggestions/contributions are welcome in the Varsitarian. Only letters with signatures will be entertained. Original manuscript contributions must be typewritten, double-spaced, on regular bond paper, and should include a signed certification bearing the author’s name, address, year, and college. The identity of a writer may be withheld upon request. The editors will not be responsible for the loss of materials. Contributions must be sent to THE VARSITARIAN office, Rm. 105, Tan Yan Kee Student Center Bldg., University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila.

Regrets and belated thank you’s

PERHAPS because I am only 20, I have always convinced myself that I have no regrets.

But during the annual tribute night to outgoing staffers and editors in the recent Varsitarian summer staff development, the outgoing Filipino editor remarked that we would not be able to appreciate how much we might have missed out or neglected things if our membership in the publication were forever. The limits of temporality should bring to the fore the significance of things; they make us value what we have done and regret our sins of commission and omission.

After being part of the Varsitarian for three summers and two academic years, I regret the things I failed to do in the last six months of my stay.

I wish I had talked to my juniors more. I wish I had been more hands-on with in correcting their copies. I wish I had spent more time with them.

I wish I had made the effort to be closer to them.

When I enrolled in UST, I had wanted to try out for the Taekwondo team to avail myself of an athlete’s scholarship. Journalism was not my first choice, and I had thought the Varsitarian referred to the varsity team. Silly me.

After being part of the Varsitarian for three summers and two academic years, I regret the things I failed to do in the last six months of my stay.

But after two years of dillydallying, I failed to apply for a scholarship and finding myself stuck with AB Journalism, I applied for the Varsitarian on the advice of Gelyn Simon, the managing editor, and with luck, even though I barely passed the qualifying exams, got admitted and became a Sports section writer. With the patience of Carla Perez and the rivalry with Paul Lintag, I became a good sports writer.

Without the following people, I would not be where I am now.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for not giving up on me. Thank you for allowing me to finish my education in the University.

To JanB and Patricia, thank you for your understanding. I would not know half of what I know about writing now if

it were not for you. To Bong, Sherwin, Jaime, JT, Hirro, Robin and Jilson, thank you all for being the kuya that I never had.

To Gelyn, Gena and Sarah, thank you for the opportunity of working with you, and for facing tough challenges together. To Paul, Ar-ar and Alex, thank you for smoothening out my rough edges.

To Paeng and Enzo, thank you for making my job easier.

The position, to me, always seemed to be like that of the Avatar.

To Poy, Andre, Bien, MC and Paul, thank you for the night-outs. To Gelyn, Batchie, April, Danielle, Dayan, Em, thank you for leading us, joining us, and eventually, leaving ‘V’ with us.

To Ely, Jica, Ced, JD and Bianca, thanks for making me realize your lot are not all work and no fun. To Mara, Nikka, Elora, Bernadette, Ricci, Nigel and the rest of the “Bodoni” family, thank you for adopting me.

To Gena, Jelle, Keno, Jelina, Mone, and Naz, it was good while it lasted. I know I can speak for the group when I say that we will still be there for Ally, Angeli, Bien, Josef and Marie. To Yuji, Celton, Tristan and Jenzine, thank you for being strong for us. You were our pillars when we were at our weakest.

To Juju, Simang, Gabby, Pip, JJ, Red and Jonx, my first summer in Varsi would have been dull if you were not there to welcome us and inspire us to live out our potential.

To Angeli, Arianne, Robert, Daryl, Gillan, Danielle, Marie, Mako, Ally, Rhenn, Ava, Eli and Delfin, make us proud.

Continue pushing the limits of what ‘V’ can do and excel in. Uphold the standards of excellence. To Jerome, Grace, Kim, Ethan, Kirsten and Alvin, know that you are crucial to the continuation of the proud history of Varsi. Stay strong and Legendary PAGE 5

Excelsior at the ‘V’: Aiming ever higher I BELIEVE that there will always be great endings as long as people are aware that their future is in their own hands.

Just like any other kid, I was asked a hundred times what I want to become in the future, and I always had an answer.

Back then, I told myself that I wanted to become a doctor. By the time that I graduated in grade school, I wanted to be a writer.

When I graduated in high school, I decided to take up Journalism.

But when I finally finished my degree, I had a bigger dream of becoming a lawyer.

My answers may have changed many times as I grew up, but my desire to become someone great in the future was always there.

Born in a simple family, I learned that if I want something, I have to work hard for it.

My parents made me realize that I do not get what I want, but instead, I get what I deserve.

When I wanted a new toy or a shirt or a gadget, I had to excel in school.

That is why, until now, I work hard to get what I want.

Sometimes, I even feel bad when I get something that I want easily.

Due to that, I also know that the journey toward greatness is long

As human beings, we all have the tendency to reach for something higher than where we currently stand, to seek something bigger. and difficult, and that it entails patience and dedication.

When I enrolled in the University of Santo Tomas, I knew it would not be easy.

Though I was able to finish my four years of studies as a scholar of the University, I could not count how many times I doubted myself if I would be able to maintain my scholarship.

When I joined the Varsitarian, I knew that I would be carrying another huge responsibility but I still decided to push through with it because I knew that joining would make me a good writer.

There were instances when I wanted to quit because of the time and effort that the publication demanded from me but I decided to stay because I

knew that I would only get better with ‘V’ than without it.

I chose the Latin word “excelsior” as my column name for the paper because of its meaning, which is “higher” or “ever upward.” It also serves as my mantra.

As human beings, we all have the tendency to reach for something higher than where we currently stand. This was the reason why four years ago, I decided to study in UST, the royal, pontifical, and Catholic university of the Philippines.

I knew then that pursuing my collegiate studies in one of the top universities in the country is an opportunity for me to move forward. This was the same reason why I also decided to become a part the Varsitarian.

I learned that in order to be the great person that you want to be, you have to make the right choices. And I am glad that I made the right choice to become a Thomasian and a Varsitarian staffer because I was only able to push myself to my limits because UST and the ‘V’ have taught me how to continuously strive for greatness.

It gives me comfort to hear children say that they have dreams, that in their young age, they realize that they can be better not only for themselves but also for others. Because having a dream gives our lives direction, a purpose.

An accumulation of dreams, coupled with hard work, have made me an excellent student and a good writer. So I am also confident that I will be able to survive law school no matter how stressful it will be, because when I tell myself that I want something, I do my best to make it happen.

There are things that we cannot stop from happening.

There are moments when things get out of control. But it will always be up to us on how to get to where we want to be. Even Excelsior PAGE 5

EVER since I was a little boy, all I wanted was to be older.

Growing up, I was often teased for being the youngest in the classroom and this fueled my desire to mature as fast as I could.

I used to think that reaching adulthood would be “the best thing in the whole world.” To my childish eyes, grown-ups fought the monsters under the bed, stayed up late watching TV specials, bought their own stuff and most important, knew the answers to all of life’s questions—a certainty that all adults seem to possess.

Fast-forward to a decade later, I passed through the Arch of the Centuries after four years of hard work and dedication to my major, Journalism. It was a symbolic rite of passage. Soon after, graduation day came and as I shook hands with the dean and when I stepped down from the podium, I suddenly realized that there is just more uncertainty in adulthood, something my youthful innocence failed to see in the past.

Before I knew it, the alltoo-familiar Saturday morning cartoons, Happy Meal toys and Pokémon cards that once embodied my childhood, slowly started to fade and the tall walls of familiarity that once surrounded me in my youth started crumbling down.

A glimpse of adulthood revealed what my naïve eyes

Tigresses FROM PAGE 12 markers apiece.

Jannine Navarro paced Benilde with a game-high 21 points but saw her effort come

Legendary FROM PAGE 4 hold on to one another when the times get tough.

To Chester, Iain, Randell, Carlo, Daryl, Philip, Lea, Moe, Mia, Erna, Geo and Vianx, thank you for making my last summer in ‘V’ worthwhile.

Ox tripe FROM PAGE 7 was lost to him.

He returned his attention to Grady and poured him another glass of water.

“I'm going to go back there you know! I'm going to find

Waste FROM PAGE 1 safe from danger and would put them (residents) out of a danger zone in times of storms and floods?” Lacierda said on ABSCBN News Channel’s “Beyond Politics.”

On dzIQ990 Radyo Inquirer last July 29, Singson said that because UST had rejected the proposed water catchment area, Thomasians would have to bear with flooding. He added that roads around UST had been raised.

“Ngayon magtya-tyaga ang mga taga UST dahil tumaas ang kalye diyan,” he said.

Thomasians led the public backlash against Aquino and his aides on social media, saying they had long been sacrificing because of the perennial flooding.

The militant group STAND UST said Aquino let out “yet another immature and arrogant innuendo,” and suggested

Why do we insist on negatively attaching fear onto the unknown? Why not embrace life's ambiguity instead?

hope that I am still making you proud.

To Sir Lito, Sir Ipe, Sir Ian and the Selection Committee, thank you for the opportunity to become a part of this publication, a veritable second family, and for helping me appreciate and mold my love for journalism. The three years I spent in the Varsitarian were the best three years of my life.

Gelyn, Kristelle, Poy, Mara, Ar-Ar and Woah, congratulations to us! I have grown to love each one of you.

Even though we very rarely get together now, I wish for our success in all our dreams and deepest desires.

To Kuya Enzo, Kuya Paeng, Ate Patty, Ate Nikka, Ate Elora, Ricci, Yuji, Kuya Celton, Kuya Jan B, Kuya JT, Juju, Kuya Hirro, Pip, Ate Mars, Mina, Kuya Altir, thank you for the guidance, not only in ‘V’ but in all my endeavors as well. I doubt I would be the person I am today if it were not for all of my ‘ates and kuyas.’

Ralph, MC, Bien, Gena, Dayan, Josef, Jelle, April, Naz, Jelina, Angeli, Rob, Alpine, my stay in ‘V’ wouldn’t have been the same without any of you. Thank you for the strong friendships and the lifelong memories we shared.

To JD, Ced, Bianca, Ely, Jica and the rest of 4JRN1,

could not see before—grownups fighting their own monsters in broad daylight, staying up late for overtime, paying their own bills and merely just pretending to know all the answers of life’s questions.

To young adults who are just about to start their journey in the real world, life and its uncertainty may seem frightening. Our generation is the most idealistic one yet and many are so fixated on landing the job of their dreams, raising a family or traveling the world but only a mere few are prepared to face the gravity of the future.

But, why do we insist on negatively attaching fear onto the unknown? Why not embrace life’s ambiguity or savor its unpredictability instead?

We should treasure the notion that our own destiny is not ours to decide. In fact, we would not find any solace if we could control the events that

took place in our lives because perfection is simply boring.

In the end, we only need to look past our own doubts and find the silver lining.

Uncertainty is a driving force for all individuals to test their limits and grab life by the horns. Not knowing how our destiny will turn out or how we will spend the rest of our lives may make some of us anxious, but such anxiety should also leave us striving to be better.

Some may say I’m being too optimistic when I tell them I face the uncertainty of the future with cheerfulness and curiosity, but I would rather jump headfirst into the thrills of life’s ambiguity than take safe steps and cower at the thought of change.

to waste after lacking offensive backing from her teammates with only Jeannete Panaga scoring in double digits.

Last July 18, after opening their season with a loss, the Tigresses bounced back and defeated the De La Salle University-Dasmarinas Lady

Patriots, 25-13, 25-12, 23-25, 2518, to register their first win.

The Golden Tigresses drew prolific performances from the trio of Laure, Lastimosa and Tunay who combined for 51 points.

After surrendering the third set, UST controlled the pace of the fourth by building a seven-

point cushion, 20-13, but the Lady Patriots came back after three consecutive Tigresses errors, 2017.

The Tigresses would eventually get back to their senses with a swift 5-1 spurt highlighted

by Laure’s back-to-back kills to seal the game.

With young blood like you, we are confident that the Varsi is in good hands.

To you, thank you for the constant reminders, for the food you give to me when I forget to eat, and for simply being there.

Finally, thank you, God, for everything.

Once a ‘V’ staffer, always a ‘V’ staffer.

Excelsior

other way to go but up. We will experience defeat and feel hurt but we will also have triumphs and joyful moments. Now, whenever I feel like giving up, I just go back to the moment when I realized my dreams and decided what I really want to become in the future, because it gives me back the enthusiasm that first fueled my passion to aspire for greater things.

My thanks To Mom, Dad and Benjo, thank you for the everlasting support, love and trust. I am sorry for all the lost time and cold shoulders over the years. I

FROM PAGE 4 the most underprivileged people can change their lives if they just believe in themselves.

We should not lose track of our dreams no matter how many times we lose or fail because when we are down, there is no

her! Have another bowl of that stew!” he scowled.

“Okay! Okay! Calm down Sir Roland,” he remarked. "Well, maybe we can go together? You know...Maybe we can go there in time for the Suman Festival.”

“The what?”

“Suman is what we call a kakanin...some sweet rice with..." He stopped mid-

sentence, not wanting to get Grady's hopes too high.

“Ummm...Never mind. I’ll show you when we get there.”

“Okay.” Grady replied as Adrian refilled his glass.“Would you mind getting me some tea from the pantry?”

Adrian paused and set the pitcher of water down on Grady’s table.

that clearing Manila’s natural waterways be prioritized over digging out a huge tank under the UST Open Field.

na hindi magbabaha? This could have been presented to us, to prove the catchment’s efficiency and convince the school.”

Citing Malaysia’s Smart Tunnel, which functions as a road and storm drain, Tejuco said the tank could instead be built under the two-kilometer España Boulevard that passes in front of UST.

‘Flooding worsened in UST’ Environmental planner Felicisimo Tejuco Jr., a professor at the College of Architecture, pointed out that the road elevation projects cited by Singson had worsened flooding inside the University.

“There seems to be no noticeable change in the average flood levels in and outside the campus. However, floodwater seems to creep into UST faster and subside slower,” Tejuco said.

Tejuco said the catchment area proposal was at best a partial solution, as it would only be effective in dealing with flash floods and not a “deluge like Ondoy,” the storm that brought a century’s worth of rainfall in 2009.

He asked: “Where are the studies that the catchment proposal will be successful? Where are the simulation studies that will prove

Against the law Henares said “[all] engineers of the DPWH should be required to undergo heritage and cultural sensitivity training conducted by the [NCCA] or National Museum to avoid incidents like these from happening in the future.”

The National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 defines National Cultural Treasures as “unique cultural property found locally, possessing outstanding historical, cultural, artistic and/or scientific value which is highly significant and important to the country and nation, and officially declared as such by pertinent

Invictus PAGE 10

A surreal silence crept into the room. Grady leaned back into his recliner. He turned his head to the window. His mind seemed to play tricks on him as an image of a woman in white seemed to form on the wet glass of his window.

“I’ll come back. Someday, I will.” Grady said. CEDRIC

ALLEN P. STA. CRUZ

cultural agency.”

Under this law, National Cultural Treasures are “immovable” and “shall not be relocated, rebuilt, defaced or otherwise changed in a manner, which would destroy the property’s dignity and authenticity, except to save such property from destruction due to natural causes.”

The campus is a witness to historic events. For instance, it served as an internment camp for foreign prisoners of war during World War II. The Open Field hosted youth rallies during all four papal visits to the country: Pope Paul VI in 1970, Pope St. John Paul II in 1981 and 1995, and Pope Francis last January.

Eric Zerrudo, director of the UST Graduate School Center for Conservation of Cultural Property and Environment in the Tropics, said the Open Field and other National Cultural Treasures of the University serve as a “memory and identity of the nation.” CLARENCE I. HORMACHUELOS

The Varsitarian Opinion

5

How ‘V’ taught me to be an ‘imagineer’ AS GRADUATES, we are about to start another journey in our lives.

We all dream of being successful one day, making plans for our future, and doing something for ourselves. We have heard countless advices and speeches and have read a lot of inspirational books about life to hopefully reinforce our confidence. But are we really prepared for what will happen? Will it not be futile to prepare for what is ahead?

If I did not push through to UST, I would have studied at De La Salle University, taking up civil engineering, or at San Beda College, taking up accountancy, because I failed in the UST entrance exam and was not even on the waiting list. In short, I applied for reconsideration.

At first, being a reconsidered student was very hard because I felt that I had to exceed the efforts exerted by other students in order to prove myself. Having minimal self-confidence, I felt insecure about my talents and was a frequent pessimist, always think of quitting. Then things changed when the Varsitarian happened.

Four years ago, during the exhibit of Paul Quiambao’s 400 Shots to Immortality, more than 120 photographers applied to join the “V,” while only half took the exam for the positions. I remember feeling hesitant to pass my application paper because there were many much more known Thomasian photographers applying for the same position. I eventually decided to pass my entries just for the

Because of what 'V' taught me, I learned that it does not matter how good you are but how good you want to be. sake of passing them. I never thought that there would be a chance that I would be accepted. When the results were announced, I was surprised to learn I made it.

The pressure and expectation were high when I entered ‘V.’ For three consecutive issues, my editor always told me that my photos were subpar. I never took it negatively but instead as a driving force to do better, to do my best on every coverage assigned to me.

‘V’ taught me to not to be afraid of what would happen, to be strong, to observe your surroundings and to accept things the way it was meant to be.

I have covered many significant events like the recent papal visit, have won in different competitions, achieved high grades and a flat one for my thesis because of what ‘V’ has taught me.

I learned that it does not matter how good you are but how good you want to be.

If we look closely at our deepest aspirations and our dreams, people are not so different from one another. We all strive for something common and that is happiness. But we all have become too disconnected and distracted; we see extraordinary things on the internet but refuse to appreciate the beauty we see in the real world.

We wait for someone to bring change without realizing that change begins with the self.

You should stop chasing success. It is better to do what you love rather than force yourself on a job that you do not really want.

There is a perfect timing for everything, you should not rush success. Take each step slowly and carefully. Your dreams may bring you to the top, but I have always believed that there is always something much better than that. I think our main goal is to inspire people and to contribute to the betterment of the society, which is much better than being at the top.

Do you know what the key to Walt Disney’s success was?

It was not just dreaming but “imagineering.” It is a Disney word combining imagination and engineering. Those who are involved in it called “imagineers,” they create what they imagine, they are curious in everything, they keep on moving and looking for new possibilities. People nowadays are just dreaming but not moving.

Do not be just dreamers, be “imagineers.”

Lastly, I would like to thank the Varsitarian for teaching me everything and for giving me a second family, a family that will never be broken. I owe to ‘V’ all the accomplishments I have attained. I could not imagine my college life without the ‘V.’ The ‘V’ has been a blessing in disguise and I believe that this is also my destiny, to serve and love ‘V’ with all the sweetness and bitterness that devotion entails.

‘Minsang V, Mananatiling V.’

Tax FROM PAGE 1

the authority of the Region, the Court finds it no longer necessary to discuss the other issues raised,” the tax court said.

Case records showed that BIR Revenue District Office No. 32 issued an assessment notice in July 2010, when Commissioner Kim JacintoHenares assumed office.

By that time, the threeyear deadline for the BIR to issue an assessment notice on UST Hospital’s 2006 income had already lapsed, the University argued.

Associate Justice Lovell Bautista of the court’s third division wrote the decision. Associate Justices Esperanza Fabon-Victorino and Maria Belen RingpisLiban concurred. JEROME P.

in Quezon City in January 2007.

The court cited Section 13 of the National Internal Revenue Code, which states: “a Revenue Officer assigned to perform assessment functions in any district may, pursuant to a Letter of Authority issued by the Revenue Regional Director, examine taxpayers within the jurisdiction of the district.”

“Accordingly, a void assessment bears no valid fruit,” the decision said, quoting a 2006 Supreme Court ruling. “Finding that the assessments are void for being issued beyond VILLANUEVA

6 Filipino

The Varsitarian IKA-30 NG HULYO, 2015

Patnugot: Jonelle V. Marcos

T

Mga kilalang akda, isinasalin na sa wikang Filipino BILANG bahagi ng proyekto ng Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) na Aklat ng Bayan, sinsimulan nang isalin sa wikang Filipino ang mga akda mula sa iba’t ibang disiplina— pilosopiya, kasaysayan, antropolohiya—pati ang mga banyagang akda.

Ayon kay Virgilio Almario, tagapangulo ng KWF, isa itong proyekto na nagtatampok sa kahusayan ng wikang Filipino at naglalayong makalikha ng tinatawag nilang“Aklatan ng Karunungan.”

“Kailangan maipakita na ang Wikang Pambansa ay magagamit sa iba’t ibang uri ng diskurso upang maipakita na [ang Filipino] ay isang wika ng karunungan at upang magkaroon ito ng maraming babasahin,” ani Almario.

Katuwang ang National Commission on Culture and the Arts, nauna nang nailathala ang mga libro ni Michael Coroza, associate professor sa Ateneo de Manila University at dating manunulat sa Filipino ng Varsitarian, na pinamagatang Napapanahong Panlipunang Pilosopiya at Ang Rebolusyong Filipino. Salin ang mga ito ng Contemporary Social Philosophy ni Manuel Dy at La Revolucion Filipina ni Apolinario Mabini.

Nagtapos si Coroza ng pilosopiya sa Faculty of Arts and Letters.

Ilulunsad naman ngayong Hulyo ang akdang Ang Metamorposis ni Franz Kafka sa saling

teksto ni Joselito de los Reyes, propesor sa Faculty of Engineering ng Unibersidad.

“Itong mga klasiko, mga maaayos na akda, ay isinasalin sa wika nating sarili para mas marami ang makaintindi,” ani De los Reyes. “Layunin nito na bigyan tayo ng mas maraming magagandang babasahin.”

Para kay Coroza, higit sa aksesibilidad ang isa sa mga mabubuting maidudulot ng pagsasalin ng mga akdang banyaga sapagkat taglay ng mga akdang ito ang kahalagahang “pangkultura at pangsining” na kapupulutan ng aral ng mga Filipinong mambabasa.

Bagama’t hindi na bago ang pagsasalin ng mga akda sa bansa, partikular ang mga napapanahon o mga popular na kuwento katulad ng Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey at Harry Potter, para kay De los Reyes, maiuugnay ang malaking bahagi nito sa ekonimokong aspeto, ngunit hindi dapat ikahon ang mga ito sa ganitong pagtingin.

Sa proseso naman ng pagsasalin, sumasangguni ang KWF sa mga kilala nang tagasalin, mayroong karanasan sa pagsasalin, mga kasama sa kanilang palihan ng pagsasalin at saka pinagsusumite sila ng limang pahina na salin upang matalos kung tama ang kanilang mga gawa.

Kasalukuyan na ring isinasalin sa wikang Filipino ang mga akdang katulad ng The Count of Monte Cristo ni Alexandre Dumas, War and

Peace ni Leo Tolstoy,Don Quixote ni Miguel de Cervantes, at The Necklace at iba pang maiikling kuwento ni Guy de Maupassant, ayon kay Delos Reyes.

Higit sa pagsasalin ng mga banyagang klasiko, muling ililimbag ang mga katangi-tanging pag-aaral sa wika, panitikan at kultura sa Filipinas sa pamamagitan ng pagsasalin ng mga mahuhusay na akda mula sa mga wikang katutubo, panitikang-bayan at iba pa bilang bahagi ng Aklat ng Bayan.

Pagdidiin ni De los Reyes, dapat pag-ukulan ng panahon ng mga Filipino ang pagbabasa lalo na ng mga akda na ilulunsad bilang Aklat ng Bayan.

“Hindi ito isasalin kung hindi karapatdapat basahin,” aniya. “Para maging malusog ang ekonomiya ng paglalathala, bigyan ito ng pagkakataon, oras at kaunting pera.” JASPER EMMANUEL Y.

ARCALAS at ERIKA MARIZ S. CUNANAN

Titser Pangkalawakan at iba pang angas sa social network underworld ni Joselito Delos Reyes

Mga kuwentong pamilya, pag-ibig, pulitika at iba pa SADYANG maliit ang apat na sulok ng silid-aralan para sa dunong na taglay ng isang tunay na titser pangkalawakan.

Sa kaniyang librong Titser Pangkalawakan at Iba Pang Angas sa Social Network (Visprint, Inc., 2015), ipinasilip ni Joselito Delos Reyes sa mga mambabasa ang kaniyang malawak na isipan sa pamamagitan ng pagtipa ng kaniyang mga sikat at inaabangang status update sa social networking site na Facebook.

Ang Titser Pangkalawakan na kasunod ng akda ni Delos Reyes na “Istatus Nation” ay binubuo rin ng kalipunan ng kaniyang mga posts sa social networking site.

Nahahati ang akda sa apat na kabanata na tumatalakay sa iba’t ibang uri ng paksa at aspeto ng buhay ng mga Filipino— mula sa personal na buhay ng may akda, pulitika at lagay ng bayan, hanggang sa pagiging guro at kaibigan.

Sa unang kabanata na “Namemersonal,” walang pagaatubiling isinalaysay ni Delos Reyes ang kaniyang buhay pamilya—ang kaniyang mga pang-araw-araw na karanasan maging ang pagiging ama, ang singkit na asawa at ang kanilang dalawang pinakamamahal na anak.

Bagaman maituturing na pangkaraniwang mga pangyayari ang mga isinasalaysay ni Delos Reyes, masasabing hindi pangkaraniwan ang paraan ng kaniyang pagkukuwento sapagkat may kakayanan siyang makapaghain sa mga mambabasa ng kakaibang giliw at panibagong paraan ng pagtingin sa mga ordinaryong pangyayari sa buhay.

Sa sumunod na kabanatang, “Balat sa Tinalupang Bayan,” tinalakay naman ng may akda ang samu’t saring suliranin na kinakaharap ng bayan lalo na sa larangan ng pulitika.

Walang alinlangan na ihinayag ni Delos Reyes ang kaniyang pananaw sa patuloy na pagkabulok ng sistema ng pamahalaan, talamak na korapsyon, hari-hariang pulitiko at ang kanilang pagpapabango at pagpapaganda ng imahe sa pamamagitan ng minsan nang nausong “MRT challenge.”

Sa pamamagitan ng pagtalakay ng may akda sa mga mahahalagang usapin sa bayan, nadadala niya ang mga mambabasa sa mundo

ng kamalayang nanghihimok ng pagkilos tungo sa mas magandang bukas, na sa kabila ng kaniyang mga pabirong komentaryo, nananatili pa ring makabuluhan ang kaniyang mga pahayag hinggil sa mga suliranin ng nakaraan, kasalukuyan at kung mamalasin, maging ng hinaharap.

Sa ikatlong kabanatang “Titser Pangkalawakan,” na siya ring titulo ng aklat, pinatunayan ni Delos Reyes na ni kailan man ay hindi maiwawaglit sa isang guro ang kaniyang pagiging guro.

Mula sa tamang gamit ng mga salita, board exams, grado, pisika, pagkakaiba ng American English at standard English, hindi makatarungang suweldong pang asin ng mga guro, K-12 at pagtanggal ng Filipino sa kolehiyo, hindi maiwasan na lumabas ang natural na pagiging guro ng may akda sa kaniyang patuloy na pagibibgay kaalaman sa mga mambabasa.

Sa huling bahagi ng akda na “Payong Kinakapatid,” tinalakay naman ang paksang malapit sa puso ng mga mambabasa— ang buhay pag-ibig at ang pinakamagandang regalo na nakukuha ng mga ikinakasal, ang mahirap suyuing biyenan.

Handa si Delos Reyes na sagutin ang mga katanungan at bigyang payo ang kaniyang

mga masugid na mambabasa na sumusubaybay sa bawat status update niya sa Facebook.

Sa kabuuan ng kaniyang akda, mahihinuha na talaga namang alam na ni Delos Reyes ang kiliti ng kaniyang mga mambabasa. Suwabe ang kaniyang atake sa pagtalakay ng mga usapin sa pamamagitan ng paggamit ng mga simpleng salitang madaling unawain ngunit may lalim at kabig sa dibdib.

Bukod pa rito, higit niyang nakukuha ang atensyon ng mga mambabasa sapagkat maiikli at mabilis basahin ang kaniyang mga personal na sanaysay. Dahil na rin panahon na ngayon ng kawalan ng panahon at patuloy nang umuunti ang mga may oras para magbasa, malaki ang naging tulong ng napiling pamamaraan ni Delos Reyes upang makakonekta sa iba—ang magpalaganap ng kaniyang angas sa tinatawag niyang “social network underworld.”

Sa huli, pinatutunayan ng akda ni Delos Reyes na sadyang maliit ang kalawakan kung ihahambing ito sa lawak ng kaalaman—at angas na rin— ng isang tunay na titser pangkalawakan na tulad niya. MARIA KOREENA M. ESLAVA

Usapang Uste MULA PAHINA 2 Sa kaniyang husay at determinasyon sa napiling larangan, tinanggap ni Baroso a n g parangal n a Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan noong 2007.

N o o n g 2012 at 2013, matagumpay niyang ginabayan ang mga kabataan ng Ballet Manila sa kanilang paglahok sa Beijing

ALMARIO

ATLAS Filipinas, ilulunsad ng KWF

MAGLULUNSAD ang Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) ng Atlas Filipinas sa Oktubre upang maitama at maisapinal ang pangalan at baybay ng mga pook, barangay, lungsod, bayan at lalawigan sa Filipinas.

Ang Atlas Filipinas ang pinakabagong sangguniang magbibigay ng makabuluhang imporamasyon tungkol sa mga wikang ginagamit sa buong bansa.Binubuo ito ng dalawang pangunahing bahagi: heograpiko at lingguwistiko. Nakatuon ang heograpikong bahagi sa pagwawasto ng mga maling pangalan at baybay ng mga pook ng bansa. Matatagpuan naman sa lingguwistikong bahagi ang pagtalima sa pagpapatupad ng Batas Republika Blg. 7104 hinggil sa pagpapaunlad, pagpapalaganap, at pagpepreserba ng Filipino at iba pang mga wika sa bansa.

Dagdag pa rito, bubuo ng awtorisadong direktoryo ng opisyal na pangalan ng mga pook sa unang bahagi ng atlas kung saan matatagpuan din ang geographic mapping o ang pagtutukoy sa pangalan ng mga pook na may problema sa baybay alinsunod sa inilabas na pinakabagong Ortograpiyang Pambansa ng KWF. May tatlong pagpipilian ang pagsasapinal ng pangalan ng mga lugar: pagpapanatili ng kasalukuyang pangalan, pagwawasto ng baybay alinsunod sa Ortograpiyang Pambansa, at pagpili ng bagong pangalan batay sa kultural at heograpikal na aspeto ng lugar.

Ilan sa mga halimbawa na magiiba ang pagbabaybay ay ang Davao na magiging Dabaw, Mactan bilang Maktan, Batangas na Batanggas at marami pang iba.

Paliwanag ni Jomar Cañega, linguistic specialist ng Sangay ng Literatura at Araling Kultural ng KWF, nagkakaroon ng maling representasyon ang mga wika sa Filipinas dahil sa hindi wastong pangalan at baybay ng mga pook.

“Sa paghiram at pagyakap ng mga Filipino sa alpabetong Espanyol, nagdulot ito ng mga maling pangalan at baybay ng mga pook,” aniya.

Binigyang diin din ni Cañega na sumasailalim sa pagsangguni at gumagawa ng resolusyon o ordinansa ang mga lokal na pamahalaan upang magkaroon ng estandardisadong pangalan ang kanilang mga lugar.

Ang lingguwistikong bahagi naman ang magtataguyod ng “Seminar sa Korespondesiya Opisyal” na mahigpit na nakaugnay sa implementasyon ng Executive Order 335 na nilagdaan ni dating pangulong Corazon Aquino noong ika-25 ng Agosto 1988. Ayon sa kautusan, pormal na mag-aatas sa lahat ng mga kagawaran, kawanihan, opisina, ahensya at iba pang kaparaanan ng pamahalaan na palakasin ang paggamit ng wikang Filipino sa opisyal na transaksiyon, kominikasyon at korespondensiya nito. KIMBERLY JOY V.

NAPARAN

Escuela De Matronas International Ballet Competition sa Tsina kung saan karamihan sa mga kalahok ay nagkamit ng mga gantimpala.

Sa kasalukuyan, nagsisilbi siya bilang co-artistic director ng Ballet Manila at patuloy na gumagabay sa mga kabataan na nais matutong sumayaw. KRYSTEL NICOLE A. SEVILLA

Tomasalitaan Himatid (PNG) - buwis o bayad sa pagpapawalang-bisa ng isang obligasyon, kontrata, o karapatan.

Hal.: Isinabay na niya ang pagbibigay ng himatid sa pagpapasa ng mga kinakailangang papeles.

Mga Sanggunian: The Varsitarian Tomo LXXXIII Blg. 5, Setyembre 14 2011

JULY 30, 2015

2014. Total Awards Program Villarroel, Fidel (2012). A History of the University of Santo Tomas: Four Centuries of Higher Education in the Philippines, 1611-2011 (vol.2) Manila; UST Publishing House Enriquez, M. Nakuha mula sa http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/158194/ osias-barroso-lisamacuja-elizaldes-ever-reliablepartner-and-co-teacher/ Osias Barroso Co-Artistic Director and Ballet Master. Nakuha mula sa http://balletmanila.com.ph/ artistic-management/osias-barroso/ Ballet Manila: Storytellers on Toes. Nakuha mula sa http:// balletmanila.com.ph/thecompany/ballet-manila/

Ox tripe and string beans

HE FULL foulness of East Bay weather was on display, as globs of rainwater struck the window pane of Adrian Velasco’s quarters at the St. Patrick’s Senior Home, and autumn leaves and broken oak twigs swirl like whirlpool.

A flash of lightning through the faded canary yellow drapes revealed Adrian’s modest lodging: a fuzzy, eggshell white carpeted floor flanked by walls with patches of dark brown where the paint had chipped off; a steel-framed, military style bed pushed to the side.

"Adrian. Adrian! Please. Come here, boy!" yelled the old man in the adjacent room, a strong American accent accompanying the gasping tone of his voice.

“Yes. Coming, Sir Roland,” Adrian replied, carrying a pill box which rattled as he walked briskly into the room next door.

He entered the room of Roland Grady, a Second World War veteran stricken with Alzheimer's. His evenly spaced, faded blue eyes were grafted onto a Caucasian canvas, sprinkled with elderly freckles and hugged by a silvery beard. Adrian shared similar features with him, but with a more oblongshaped face, brown eyes, and a kayumanggi skin tone.

“Adrian? Adrian,” the old man said, gasping and reaching his hand.

“It’s okay sir. I brought your medicine. Here,” Adrian told him, handing him a blue pill and a glass of water, which Grady slowly lifted up to his mouth and washed down.

“Outside! They’re back,” exhaled Grady, grabbing and shaking Adrian’s forearm. He pointed toward the window. A cold sweat crawled down his brow, betraying his unease.

“No sir, it’s okay, it’s just the rain. You’re not in Pampanga anymore; you’re home, remember? It’s over now.” He waved his hand to show him the custom room, resembling an old Canadian style log cabin, with a fireplace made from red bricks and cement.

On such nights, Adrian found himself trying to appease the old man's frantic spirit with honey, green leaf tea, and stories of his own life back in Pampanga—his Lola Elva's famous pindangbabi(honey cured carabao) and betute(stuffed frog marinated with cane vinegar and soy), their family trips to San Fernando to witness the giant lantern festival during Christmas, and his uncle Lito, who had taught him the ways of exquisite Santo Tomas pottery, fashioned from fresh riverbankclay from San Matias.

Grady finally began to calm down, he leaned back into his leather recliner, and pointed to the MP-40 rifle mounted atop the fireplace, a blood-soaked handkerchief tied around the front sight; its barrel encased in rust and the butt plate was scarred with scratches all over its left face.

“I remember that. I remember that!” he said excitedly. His bent finger bobbed up and down and his head repeatedly turned to Adrian. An elderly smile wrinkled the patch of singed skin on his right cheek.

“Do you know how I got this?” Grady asked, pointing to his scar.

“If I let you tell me, will it help you go back to sleep?” Adrian

asked, to which Grady replied with an enthusiastic nod. Adrian was not one to deny the old man his favorite story, especially since it happened in his own home province.

“It was December 1, 1935...” Grady would always begin.

Adrian dared not confess his frequent absent-mindedness, and that his constant nodding was only to assure Grady of his “attention.”

Grady’s tale, or rather the details that his ravaged memory could still summon, was something he had grown to memorize that he simply narrated the story by rote.

Grady, night and night again, described his experiences with as much clarity and detail as he could afford. His infantry was traveling to Fort Stotensberg for a timely rendezvous when they were ambushed by the Kempeitai. The two sides quickly opened fire.

He recalled seeing his captain taking a bullet to the shoulder during battle, prompting him to carry his leader into the fields close by. Suddenly, he felt his head snap back, as a bullet from an unknown assailant scraped his right temple, after which he lost consciousness on the damp grassy field. The burning sensation

‘Fast Food Fiction Delivery’ resonates with literary bravura

By ZENMOND G. DUQUE II and ALHEX ADREA M. PERALTA THOMASIAN writers are among 68 of the country’s finest creative writers included in Fast Food Fiction Delivery, an anthology of flash fiction published by Anvil Publishing and edited by fictionist Noelle De Jesus and poet Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta.

Flash fiction is a literary form where the writer has only 500 to 1500 words to utilize in creating a story. With this strict wordcount requirement, plot, characterization, dialogue, and description are condensed without compromising the quality of the work.

In the anthology’s preface, de Jesus notes the timeliness of the flash fiction form. People are now looking for literary works that match the kind of digital, fast-paced world that they are in. “All the rage these days are iStories,” she writes. “[A]ll short little beats, spreading like rapid-fire glimpses and blinks of eyes across the web."

Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) and former editor in chief of the Varsitarian, contributes the story, “When It’s A Grey November In Your Soul,” where the grieving narrator comes to grips with the death of a friend.

In “Before Noon,” Augusto Antonio Aguila, resident fellow of CCWLS, depicts a sick, aging man abandoned by his wife and two daughters. Without anyone to turn to, he does something that injures his pride.

Meanwhile, Palanca award winner Carlomar Daoana, a former editor of the Varsitarian, recounts a wedding day in “Tulle, Chiffon, Organza,” which exposes the bride’s ambivalence towards the choices she has

made in her life, including her own marriage.

Former Varsitarian managing editor Brylle Tabora’s “Spaghetti” narrates the protagonist’s estrangement from his family after revealing a closely guarded secret.

Stories in the anthology meditate on grief, memory, love, sexuality, and family dynamics.

The careful, almost cerebral handling of these topics produce divergent results, as the protagonist in Hidalgo’s story is absorbed by her grief and her need to make sense of her loss, while Justine Tajonera’s character in “Our Lady of the Abandoned” copes with her personal loss by allowing her maid to stay with her despite the latter’s pregnancy.

Strained family relations are also a recurrent theme, including a young girl envious for the parental attention showered on her infant sibling in Anina Abola’s “Discovery,” and strained, even bitter relations between father and son in “No Returns” by Clinton Palanca.

Lastly, Corinna Esperanza Nuqui writes about three sisters living a stultifying existence under their mother’s stern upbringing in “How the Macopa Came to Be.” In Sandra Nicole Roldan’s “Some Facts Remembered from Five Years Ago,” a rape victim rationalizes her traumatic incident, and in Cyan Abad-Jugo’s “Earth-bound” and Jhoanna Lynn Cruz’s “Never Again,” the evident unease of women in maintaining intimate relationships with younger men is depicted.

Despite the complexity of relationships tackled in the stories, the contributions hewed closely to the 622-word limit imposed by the editors. The self-imposed laconic style of writing does not sacrifice well-rendered details that contribute to flash fiction’s power.

Despite the brevity, there is no sense of absence in the reader. The stories feel complete.

The Varsitarian Literary

7

of the projectile grazing the side of his skull was still fresh in his mind when he awoke the next morning, finding himself lying on a bamboo bed inside an unfamiliar bahay-kubo.

As he willed his legs beneath his body in order to stand, a soft hand cupped his forehead, while another one held his bruised left forearm and pushed him gingerly back into the bamboo bed. His caretaker leaned his rifle against a nearby window. It was at this point of the story that Grady would enter a poetic trance.

“Well, it had been one heck of a day,” he said. “I almost got a piece of piping hot silver lodged in my skull and I ended up on a piece of bamboo furniture in the middle of who-knows-where.”

He would say this with a hardy chuckle, hoping to nudge his caregiver to gloss over the fact that he was a bloodied-up American soldier, armed to the boot with an MP-40 and a Swiss army knife he had driven into the mud-drenched scalp of a Kempeitai that same morning.

“She stood over me, hair all bunched up and skin lighter than any native I’ve ever seen. She was wearing one of those white dresses. I forgot what it was called.”

Adrian explained to Grady that the latter was trying to describe a baro’tsaya, an image that again reminded the young man of his Lola Elva.

"She went back to me with a bowl of ox tripe, soaked in a tangerine colored, spongy soup. The smell reminded me of toasted peanuts and the meat was like a chewy marshmallow sheet. The banana buds, string beans and cuts of eggplant she put in left a soggy but pleasant aftertaste. It was... It was beautiful."

From that juncture, there was not much else to be told and not much else that Grady could recall. Adrian was positive he was describing kare-kare and he shared his fervor. His Lola Elva would also make him a bowl after he got home from school, where the young Adrian would quickly unbutton his shirt, throw it aside and race to the kitchen, following the scent of marinating peanut sauce and tender beef cuts.

He realized that this one special dish tugged at them both.

The adjective he used to describe it, however, always made Adrian lose sleep more than it should. He remained perplexed, but a clue would emerge when he recalled his first encounter with Grady some five years ago.

Adrian had been working in the home for a couple of weeks when Grady arrived. The staff accompanied Grady to his room while a young woman approached Adrian and handed him an envelope. Inside was a recipe for “Ox Tripe and String Bean Stew” and a picture of Kare-Kare.

“Please be patient with him,” the woman told Adrian. “It’s the only thing that makes him happy these days. When he first returned from San Fernando, he began telling these stories about a woman who saved him.”

All throughout their relationship, Adrian kept this story close to his heart. Every time he cooked some kare-kare for Grady, he made sure to put in the best ingredients. He knew very well that this was all that Grady had left. Everything in his life was practically gone. But this one special dish that reminded of all he was before everything Ox tripe PAGE 5

Spirit Disease HE ARRIVED at his doorstep a few hours before sunrise, and expected no less than blinding rays.

Saturdays meant bloodshot eyes and an upset appetite, from what remained of the burning alcohol, that, like him, needed a place to stay– a body to corrupt.

He welcomed the sunrise, now, a pale orb of white.

The spirits dried out, much like his own, and a headache greeted him while his stomach rumbled.

He would only smile.

For him, it was another shot to drown in his sweet resentmentoverindulge, another chug of toxic heaven, and another cheers for his bottled self.

ALHEX ADREA M. PERALTA

8 Sci-Tech

The Varsitarian JULY 30, 2015

Editor: Hedrix Ar-ar C. Caballe

Notable theses focus on health, biodiversity

By RHENN ANTHONY S. TAGUIAM and MIA ROSIENNA P. MALLARI BIODIVERSITY, improved healthcare, and the exploration of the relationship between the environment and diseases were the focus of some of the best undergraduate scientific theses for the academic year 2014 to 2015.

Although the Philippines can be considered a hotspot for new species, Biology students Raphael Hizon, Joseph Lopez, Nicole Nucom and Jolo Panaligan noticed that new species often face extinction before getting popular attention.

Panaligan said this was what brought them to conduct their study in the hope of identifying new species collected from Mt. Natib in Bataan and evaluate their components and possible medicinal potential.

Genetic material were extracted and sequenced from the Pyrostria and Uncaria plant specimens, followed by a phytochemical analysis and phylogenetics to identify their chemical groups and gauge their medical and pharmaceutical potential.

Microbiology students Mariah Carbonell, Yonnalyn Dalangin, Margareth Isagan and Ana Lapirafocused on the presence of fungi-like Myxomycetes in volcanic areas and its potential for various uses.

In their study, Isagan and her colleagues assessed plant litter,

vines and twigs collected from Mt. Makulot and Napayong Island, Batangas for 12 weeks.

Data such as the color, shape, spores and presence of lime were recorded, tabulated and subjected to ecological analysis.

They found out that the ground litter from Mt. Makulot had higher taxonomic diversity, or the lowest ratio between the number of species and the number of genera among their study sites.

Meanwhile, Napayong Island had higher diversity in terms of richness of species and their relative abundance.

The study concluded that volcanic areas are favorable habitats for Myxomycetes, including its potential to harbor many undiscovered slime mold species.

“This is the first study to compare Myxomycete species in Mt. Makulot within Taal Lake, and is also the first Myxomycetes occurrence and diversity report in Napayong Island,” Isagan said.

She added that Myxomycetes have a potential to contribute to biodiesel production as well as become sources of antibiotic

compounds and cytotoxic compounds (substances dangerous to cells).

In the Applied Mathematics department, the top thesis focused on the comparison of the occurrence of measles in the Philippines and Nigeria using climate variables.

Measles is an airborne viral infection affecting the respiratory and the immune systems, commonly leading to pneumonia, diarrhea and spot-like rashes.

The Center for Disease Control and

Prevention considers measles as one of the most contagious diseases worldwide and is found to be very lethal to infants and toddlers, with outbreaks recorded in the country last 2010, 2011 and 2014.

Audel Ravelo and Jan Tiu compared the tropical conditions with the occurrence of measles in their study titled, “Correlation Analysis of Measles Occurrence with Climate Variables: Comparative Study Between Luzon, Philippines and Ondo State, Nigeria.”

Thomasians collaborate with DOST in developing diagnostic kit for virus

By MARITZ L. LUBO TO PREVENT widespread purge of shrimp farms caused by a virus found in crustaceans, a group of UST researchers teamed up with the Department of Science and Technology in developing an early detection kit.

Marybeth Maningas, a resident of the UST Research Center for the Natural and Applied Sciences, led there search on the development of the Juan Amplification Detection Kit (JAmp), a diagnostic tool for the detection of the White Spot Syndrome virus in shrimps.

Citing Timothy William Flegel and his group, Maningas said the virus has gravely affected the global shrimp industry, with production losses at an estimated one billion dollars from the virus alone.

Besides shrimps, the marine virus also infects other crustaceans like crabs, lobsters, and barnacles.

Aquatic threat Infected crustaceans show symptoms like numerous white spots on their carapace and pink to red discolorations. The virus has been detected in the Philippines since the 2000s which consequently led to the rapid mortality of shrimps within two to 10 days after infection.

Maningas, who is also a professor at the College of Science, said the Philippines was once a top producer of shrimps in the world but has been declining in product exports due to the viral infection.

“According to an article, the country has lost about 40 to 60-percent of its shrimp production,” she said. “That amounts to approximately 120 to 180-million dollars of decline in revenue from having product exports of approximately 300-million dollars during its prime,” she added, citing data from the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profiles.

Collaboration Maningas’ team is a composed of research assistants Pocholo Arabit, Sharlaine Orense, Joselito Tabardillo, Jr. and Amalea Nicolasora, and graduate student Benedict Maralit. They receive funding from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development.

The research was also a collaborative work with the Electrical Engineering Department of the Faculty of Engineering for the development of a machine that is utilized by the kit for the detection of the virus. The machine was invented by research staff Patrick Ellis Go and Erica Ocampo, with Rolando Gonzales as the research technician.

Christopher Caipang and Valeriano Corre, Jr. of the Temasek Polytechnic University and University of the Philippines-Visayas, respectively, serve as consultants.

Maningas’ team designed the kit to be “userfriendly,” enabling anyone to use it even those who have no prior training or scientific background.

“We developed the kit in such a way that it Diagnostic PAGE 3

“The Philippines and Nigeria have very similar climate conditions,” College of Science Assistant Dean Ma. Carlota Decena, also a co-author of the study, said.

“Comparing these to the occurrence of measles in the two countries can be a good way of assessing what could be done to lessen the cases of measles in the country.”

The study examined if a research in Ondo State, Nigeria on the relationship of climate variables with measles occurrence could be applied in the Philippine setting.

Various tools were used to examine data gathered from the Department of Health and the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.

Results showed that unlike in Ondo State, climate variables had little relationship with measles occurrence in the Philippines. The study explained that unlike Luzon, which comprises of several islands, the Ondo state is a land mass.

Difference in population, basic hygiene and sanitation, livelihood and environmental conditions are also factors that affect the spread of measles in the two settings.

“Hearsay is very rampant in our country. People usually just prepare or take safety measures whenever the sickness is already growing or epidemic,” Tiu said, adding that the study suggested year-round antimeasles campaigns due to the fact

ALVIN JOSEPH KASIBAN

Faculty of Pharmacy The usage of the molecule adiponectin as a potential marker or identifier for type 2 diabetes has been the focus of Medical Technology students Shannen Langcamon, Denise Magdamit and Christine Tan in their study.

Adiponectin is a peptide, or a naturally occurring biological molecule, that can act as a hormone with anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties. Low levels of adiponectin have been associated with increased risks of type 2 diabetes among different nationalities, but there is a lack of research in its effects to Filipinos.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body cannot use the insulin it produces, which also stems from excess body weight and physical inactivity.

The study analyzed blood samples for properties such as blood glucose, insulin and adiponectin, while at the same time determining its association with the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus and insulin resistance.

The study concluded that low adiponectin levels are associated with insulin resistance and could serve as a biomarker for Type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, researchers suggested a new study with a larger scale might be needed to further support their conclusion.

Faculty member named top pharmacist

By MIA ROSIENNA P. MALLARI HAILED as the Most Outstanding Pharmacist in Pharmacy Education, Aristea Bayquen, Ph.D. has nurtured hundreds, if not thousands, of Thomasian professionals.

At 64, the professor from the Faculty of Pharmacy was recognized by the Philippine Pharmacist Association (PPhA) during its national convention in Talisay, Cebu last April.

Despite being in the teaching profession since she was 22, Bayquen admitted that much like the students she molded, deadlines give her the drive to pursue excellence. These mostly involved joining competitions a day before the deadline of the entry or researches being crammed just to make it in time.

An example would be one of the earlier research projects she was working on which she finished a day before the deadline. She recalled the struggle she had from collecting, synthesizing, and analyzing samples usung the only nuclear magnetic resonance machine in the country found in the University of the Philippines (UP) – Diliman campus.

The year 2013 paved the way for Bayquen to bring Engineering and Pharmacy students together in a shared project for UST NeoVation, a competition seeking innovative products from students – Bayquen's students joining the last minute.

Their project, an organic liquid anti-acne solution made of ingredients such as atis seeds and lagundi extract won first place and bagged 100-thousand pesos.

The Most Outstanding Pharmacist award was yet another proof of Bayquen’s magnetism to deadlines.

She recalled Manansala asking her to accomplish the requirements on the day of the deadline.

“She told me, 'Go make your one-page curriculum vitae,' and asked me for various requirements,” she said.

Bayquen initially thought she was being nominated for something related to research since that was what her portfolio was mostly comprised of. I had no idea what I was joining back then,” she added.

Swan song on seaweed With two years left before her retirement, the professor decided to drop her research stint and focus sole ly on teaching.

Bayquen’s latest research on kappa carrageenan, a polysaccharide extracted from seaweeds, focused on its use in more efficient drug delivery.

Maningas' team of researchers

that measles are found to be not necessarily seasonal in nature.

BAYQUEN

“Kappa carrageenan can coat [drugs] so it will be very small that it can enter cells,” the professor said.

Besides research and teaching, Bayquen added that Chemistry has long been a passion of hers.

She said it might be fate that strung her together with the field of Pharmacy and Chemistry, recalling that much of her siblings were involved with the latter and as much as she liked the former, she kept on encountering Chemistry wherever she went.

The professor finished her bachelor studies in Pharmacy and her master’s degree in Chemistry, in 1972 and 1992 respectively, in the University.

She obtained her doctorate in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of the Philippines in 1986, and another doctorate in Chemistry at the University of New South Wales, Australia, in 1995.

Throughout her studies, Bayquen spent much of her years teaching, having spent four years with the College of Nursing, three decades with the old College of Engineering, the next eight with the Faculty of Pharmacy.

Not one to stay idle, Bayquen engages herself in church activities and co-authoring science textbooks used in secondary education.

Along with her other colleagues, the professor is currently writing newer versions of the books apt for the new K to 12 curriculum.

Bayquen also received the Outstanding Alumni award in the field of Chemistry last year from the Graduate School, and was the first recipient of the Natatanging Nailathalang Pananaliksik under the Agham at Teknolohiya category in the UST Dangal awards back in 1998.

Art Director: Keno Carlo C. Enriquez

JULY 30, 2015

The Varsitarian Limelight

9

10 Limelight

The Varsitarian JULY 30, 2015

Art Director: Keno Carlo C. Enriquez

TOMTOM! BY JEAN HELENE C. ESTELLA

THE UST Growling Tigers wrapped up the Luzon leg of the 5th Philippine National Games (PNG) last July 2 to 7 with varying finishes in several events.

The Tiger Tracksters dominated the athletics competition after bringing home 54 medals in the four-day meet at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

The senior Tracksters collected a 7-4-2 goldsilver-bronze medal haul while the junior squad had an impressive 22-13-6 tally.

Gerard Morales captured gold and silver in men’s 100- and 400-meter hurdles, respectively, while Michelle Loterte ruled the women’s triple jump, 400-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash events.

Aldee Denuyo (women’s 100-meter), Riza Faith Sombilla (javelin throw), Jessah Fernandez (hammer throw) and the team of Loterte, Denuyo, Rechelle Abotalmo and Michelle de Vera (4x100 relay) each provided UST a gold medal in their respective events.

In the juniors’ division, Louielyn Pamatian led UST’s unit after clinching two gold medals from the 1,500-meter and 800-meter dash, while Feiza Lenton added another gold in the 400-meter dash.

Emily Obiena entered UST in the record books with a 3.30-meter performance in girls’ pole vault for a new PNG record and a gold medal, while Sarah Dequinan had a gold of her own in the girls’ heptathlon.

“The PNG results mean nothing compared with our UAAP targets,” head coach Manny

TOMASIKNOW! BY AVA MARIANGELA C. VICTORIA

FROM PAGE 4 several historic events were held, such as the momentous papal youth rallies with Blessed Paul VI in 1970, St. John Paul II in 1981 and 1995, and of course, last January with Pope Francis, admittedly a football fanatic.

Just the same, by his disdainful remarks, Lacierda revealed the historical ignorance that has led to cultural disasters such as Torre de Manila and Admiral Hotel, all of them taking place during the Aquino administration.

Moreover, the NCT sites of UST, which include the UST Main Building and Arch of the Centuries, along with other recognitions from the Philippine Republic (historical markers by the National Historical Commission for the UST Press and for UST itself, as well as the recent declaration by the National Archives of the ancient “baybayin” scripts kept by the UST Archives as an NCT) make the Pontifical University a heritage zone. And the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), which is under the Office of the President, has forbidden “heavy construction work” in heritage zones because it may weaken the structural integrity of old buildings.

All this should be well-known to Aquino and his men. But what can one expect of a president who broke tradition by not holding a National Artist Award

Residency FROM PAGE 12 determine ‘reasonable allowance’ will be further discussed and laid out through its implementing rules and regulations,” she said.

Finally, Senator Cayetano revealed that erring schools may receive a hefty fine aside from the possibility of facing suspension from their respective athletic associations depending on the gravity of offense if found guilty.

Invictus FROM PAGE 5 although I may not have been very attached to our section, I never once doubted that we were the best block.

May we achieve all our dreams and may there be more outings to come.

Bodoni tribe, especially the incoming members, our time together was short but surreal. I’ll always cherish the hard work, dedication, sweat and blood all of you poured for our family. Cherish your time in ‘V’ and do not forget to relax once in a

proclamation ceremony during his term?

What can one expect of a president who has not attended a single important cultural event at the NCCA and Cultural Center of the Philippines? Indeed, philistinism reigns in high places.

Lacierda exhorted UST to value more public safety, but UST is merely protecting its community in turning down the DPWH. UST is upholding the welfare and protecting the safety of its students and stakeholders, which is only just and expected of it. Can the same be said of the President and his men?

At this point, aping the Sona, perhaps we can make “allusions” to Yolanda, Mamasapano, and Panatag, issues glossed over or totally ignored in the protracted address last July 27.

Has the Aquino administration ensured the safety and welfare of the citizens and carried out competently its duty to provide for the civil and external defense of the country?

Adding insult to injury Malacañang’s cavalier treatment of UST adds insult to injury because the Pontifical University has been the victim of state mismanagement, shortsightedness and graft, the main culprits of the worsening flood situation. Because of state incompetence and corruption, there have been untrammelled commercial development, greedy land speculation, and haphazard public works that have destroyed trees, poured concrete and filling on creeks and open land, and

generally wiped out all natural means of flood control.

From the air, only UST remains an open, green space in northwest Manila, not only an oasis for a smog-filled city, but also a quick refuge for people during floods, earthquakes, fires and emergencies. Meanwhile, government has left former public parks and other open spaces to the mercies of DPWH and its pet contractors, grafters and influence peddlers at City Hall, rapacious speculators and profiteers, in and out of government.

For remaining the only open green space in Manila, UST has been penalized by nature: waters during heavy rains find rest on campus because that’s about the only outlet they can find. For observing the rules on land planning and development and for taking care of the environment, UST has ironically become an easy prey for a president looking for anything to blame for his government’s mismanagement of infrastructure, urban planning, and ecology.

Against the myopic and self-serving view of the DPWH and Malacañang, urban experts will tell you that the catchment plan is harebrained and at best a panacea to the perennial problem of flooding in Manila. The problem owes to the slapdash growth of Metro Manila across several decades when towns and cities rose but failed to develop their waterworks and flood-control system, so that during heavy rains, their waters cascade to inundate Manila, which is

below sea level. An integrated plan would require among other things a national land use law to provide rhyme and reason for land development and public works. But the historically incompetent Philippine state has not passed one; worse, it has not even introduced a legislative bill to get the ball rolling.

Confusing causes and effects, President Aquino has blamed everyone but his government for the problems of the nation. Blaming the poor and their alleged overpopulation, not corruption and mismanagement, for the country’s poverty and underdevelopment, he showered legislators with pork barrel and political favors for them to pass the population-control law. When the Supreme Court put a stop to the pork barrel, he accused them of being antidevelopment. Trying to put one over his political enemies, he declared last July 27 that he would certify a bill against political dynasties before a packed hall that included his cousin named Bam whom he had made senator.

His last Sona should have afforded him the opportunity to defend his record and define his legacy in a manner expected of the foremost leader of a nation. But he chose to be unpresidential, to be mean and petty. He chose to hit his pet peeves with the childish abandon of a PlayStation gamer. Whatever failings he might have made by commission or omission, he chose not only to ignore, but to ascribe to others, such as his sick predecessor, whom he has been pillorying

since 2010 when he started office, and that “big university” whose only sin it seems is to have been Dominican and “not Jesuit.”

The unpresidential behavior was so unremitting that Aquino even devoted at least 20 minutes of the constitutionally mandated presidential report to the nation to thank his Cabinet men, close aides, and even household help, naming them one by one, a cute gesture of selfcongratulation. Vicious cavil and vain self-glory converged that late afternoon at the Batasang Pambansa.

But the final blow came when Aquino invoked the memory of his beloved mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, and her valedictory Sona in 1991, in which she quoted St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the good fight.”

Our pity goes to Cory and the Apostle.

You have not fought the good fight, Mr. President, but sadomasochistically indulged in catfights. Your presidency has been petty and vindictive. You have not grown in grace and maturity in office.

You’ve entered the Palace an angry old bachelor and will leave it a bitter old bachelor. Your mother ringed the curtain down on her presidency with dignity and aplomb by delivering a conciliatory valedictory on her last Sona. Too bad you didn’t follow her example. What you delivered was not a report, but a rant, to the nation.

In a Varsitarian article published in July 2014, IPEA Director Fr. Ermito de Sagon, O.P., said the proposed Student-Athletes Protection Act might not be able to stop schools from providing unwarranted benefits to recruit players.

“I don’t think this bill will solve the problem because any school or university can deny the fact that they are giving excess incentives to their athletes,” de Sagon said.

Under existing rules, a studentathlete from a UAAP school who moves to another member school must serve two years of residency

before representing the new school, unless given clearance to play by the former school.

UST has lost numerous bluechip and homegrown athletes in sports such as volleyball, tennis and badminton due to piracy by other universities.

Camus said the University would not file complaints against other schools offering incentives beyond those set by the law. UST will not release large amounts of money to lure athletes either, she added.

“It's their (other schools’) choice kung mag-o-offer sila ng higit sa

kaya nating ibigay. Basta tayo, we give what we can and kung ano lang ‘yung dapat. Hindi na natin kailangan magreklamo,” Camus added.

In 2010, two-time UAAP juniors’ volleyball most valuable player Alyssa Valdez left UST for Ateneo de Manila. That time, she had only served only a year of residency as the so-called “Jerie Pingoy rule” had yet to be implemented.

Valdez has since won two UAAP titles with the Ateneo Lady Eagles.

The UST Golden Tigresses have failed to enter the Final Four in the last three years.

In Season 76, decorated high school swimmer Mikee Bartolome played for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons despite failing to secure a clearance from UST. A temporary restraining order allowed Bartolome to compete.

The UST Female Tigersharks went on to boycott the entire competition. De La Salle University, Adamson University, and the University of the East also protested, but only skipped events where Bartolome competed. ANGELICA P.

while.

To Grace and Gillan, you have grown so much since you entered ‘V’ last year and I am so proud of what both of you have accomplished. I know you will both surpass me soon and I hope you take care of SR. It is now time for me to leave this beloved publication, which served as my refuge and my training grounds for my future endeavors and life’s uncertainty. As they always said, “If good things lasted forever, how would we realize how precious they are?”

Once a ‘V’ staffer, always a ‘V’ staffer.

The Varsitarian Sports

11

UST dominant in PNG

BEN N' VIDES BY KIRSTEN M. JAMILLA

Editorial

JULY 30, 2015

Editor: Paul Kennedy A. Lintag

Policies FROM PAGE 2 Last year, Civil Law recorded a 43.9-percent passing rate in the bar exams, significantly lower than the 63.67-percent passing rate in 2013.

The last time a Thomasian entered the top 10 list of the bar exams was in 2012 when Christian Louie Gonzales placed fifth. Arlene Maneja topped the bar in 2002, the third Thomasian to place first in the bar exams after former president Diosdado Macapagal in 1936 and former chief justice Roberto

Concepcion in 1924.

“We want to be more than just being a good law school. Our goal is to be in the top three. We’re not happy with just being in the top 10. We want to produce topnotchers and improve the over-all bar passing rate,” Divina said.

The faculty has signed up with trusted technology providers, such as My Legal Whiz, to give students easy access to research materials such as laws and cases.

Civil Law will also tap the Center for Global Practice and Foundation for writing and memory improvement classes for students.

ABELLO, KARL CEDRICK G. BASCO and JOSIAH DARREN G. SAYNES

Alumnus FROM PAGE 3 ordained to priesthood in his hometown of Sariaya, Quezon. In 1984, Lleva moved to the United States and became a chaplain for the US Army in Oklahoma until 1989.

In 2006, he was assigned to the Diocese of Malolos and has since been a guest priest at the Fatima Church in Marilao, Bulacan. Lleva's cremated remains were interred at the Ever Memorial Garden in Meycauayan, Bulacan.

Calipes said. “What we achieved now was more on team bonding because this was the first time that the new recruits and veterans competed as a team.”

The UST Lady Judokas hammered an 8-6-10 medal tally in the three-day judo tournament at the Makati Coliseum.

UST proved to be a force to reckon with after Thomasians Annie Ramirez, Lorelei Tolentino and Tracy Jean Honorio completed a podium sweep in the women’s 57 kg division.

Meanwhile, the UST Tiger Jins garnered a 7-910 total in the taekwondo tournament in Marikina from July 4 to 5.

Juan Miguel Ramos (featherweight), Cedric Perez (middleweight), Rhayzor Catris (flyweight) and Aries Capispisan (lightweight) lorded over the individual men’s division to add four gold medals for UST, while Lady Jins Colleen Heria (finweight), Arriane Asegurado (featherweight) and Marjelle Sy (welterweight) bagged three gold medals.

In the fencing tournament, the Tiger Fencers ended their PNG stretch with one gold, four silver and eight bronze medals.

Ashley Espiritu shook off a right ankle sprain and bested University of the East’s Mickyle Bustos, 15-8, to bag UST’s lone gold medal in the womens’ individual epee.

In baseball, the UST Golden Sox failed to secure a podium finish after a 3-13 beating against the Itakura Parts Philippines Corporation and settled for fourth place in the national tournament at the

Rizal Stadium.

The Golden Sox had a chance to salvage bronze against De La Salle University but head coach Jeffrey Santiago decided not to go on ,with the team’s health in peril.

“Kaya naman mag-third place kaso tiningnan ko 'yung mga bata, hindi na nila kaya. ‘Yung iba may sakit na at ‘yung iba injured pa.” Santiago said.

In other events, the UST Tiger Paddlers won one silver and two bronze medals in the table tennis tournament at the Harrison Plaza in Manila.

In the doubles events, the pair of Norielle Pantoja and Alberto Bazar clinched silver after fumbling in the final round against Adamson University’s Vladimir Rarama and Francis Bendebel, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 9-11 while the Lady Paddlers’ duo of Rizza Darlucio and Nina Nacasabog bowed to La Salle, 6-11, 6-11, 6-11 in the women’s doubles semifinal match and settled for third place.

“Satisfied naman kami kasi madami silang nakalaban na malakas [na] makakalaban din nila sa UAAP,” interim captain Justin Catalan said.

In badminton action, twins Henry and Henrick Peralta settled for silver after a 21-18, 19-21, 15-21 defeat against the Whackers Badminton Academy in the juniors’ doubles division, while Alcaed Sabanal and Steffie Aquino (elite mixed category) succumbed to National University’s Alem Palmares and La Salle’s Aires Montilla in two sets, 17-21, 18-21 for another silver. RANDELL ANGELO B.

RITUMALTA

Thomasians shine at SEA Games

SEA Games medalist sets new PH record AFTER a record-breaking performance at the Busan International Pole Vault Championship last May, UST Trackster Ernest John Obiena continues to etch his name in the international scene after a silver-medal finish at the 28th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore last June 6 to 9.

Obiena set a new Philippine record of 5.3 meters at the Busan meet before landing on second place with a 5.25-meter finish in the recently concluded SEA Games.

Thai Pooranut Purahong logged at 5.30 meters, identical to Obiena’s local record, to win the pole-vaulting gold medal in Singapore.

The 19-year-old pole vaulter she had mixed emotions despite achieving two impressive feats in a span of two months.

“Well, I will say I am happy but not contented. I know that I could have gotten the gold in the SEA Games. Just some bad decisions made me fumble and lose by 5 cm to the Thai,” Obiena said.

Just a month after the SEA Games, Obiena wants to set the bar higher and is going to Italy for training.

“I will use this missed opportunity to fuel my hunger to improve and be a better athlete.

I have more or less a year. My plans are to do what I can and to push my limit so that I could achieve the goal. I will [go] to Italy to have one of the best trainings in the world and we will see what will happen,” Obiena told the Varsitarian.

With Obiena still donning the black and gold for UST this upcoming UAAP Season 78, he has one goal in mind for the Tracksters.

“In UST, hopefully, I’ll be able to contribute big to the team. I hope we become champions,” Obiena said. CLARENCE I. HORMACHUELOS

SEVERAL Thomasians shined on the international stage as part of the Philippine contingent to the 2015 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Singapore last June 4 to 15.

The Growling Tigers went home with a total of three gold medals, two silver and a bronze to add to the 29-36-66 overall haul of the Philippines, which finished at sixth place in the biennial meet.

Tigers forward Kevin Ferrer won another gold medal as part of Sinag Pilipinas this year, highlighted by a stellar game against East Timor, after scoring 19 points on 64 percent shooting.

Tiger Jin Rodolfo Reyes Jr., alongside De La Salle University’s Dustin and Raphael Mella, secured the gold medal in the men's poomsae team event after garnering a total of 7.850 points, ahead of Vietnam’s 7.720 and Indonesia’s 7.505.

“We cried a lot during the announcement of winners because all the training bore fruit. Until now, we could not believe that we won the gold,” Reyes said.

Lady Jin Jocel Lyn Ninobla, with Rinna Babanto and Juvenile Crisostomo, won a bronze in the women’s poomsae team event.

Tiger Softbelles Celestine Palma and CristyJoy Roa helped the Philippine Blu Girls win their third consecutive gold medal via an impressive sweep in the softball tournament. The Blu Girls capped the tournament with a 3-0 over Thailand in the finale.

Palma said that the exposure from the biennial meet would

boost their squad in the upcoming UAAP season.

In fencing, Hanniel Abella and the Philippine squad settled for silver in the women’s team epee, while teammate and Thomasian alumna Harlene Raguin also notched silver in the women’s individual epee.

The women’s team managed to power their way past Myanmar and Singapore before succumbing to Vietnam, 28-45, in the gold medal match.

“It’s not easy to get a medal in the SEA games but I guess our determination and our hearts brought us to that point,” Abella said.

“We might not win the gold but we’re very happy because all our hard work paid off.”

Other silver medalists included Ernest John Obiena, who missed out on the gold by the slimmest of margins in pole vaulting.

“I was overwhelmed by how many Filipinos were there to watch and support the team. Even when I lost I was still welcomed and praised by some of the Filipinos who were watching,” Obiena said.

In the women’s billiards 9-ball finals, long-time World Champion and Thomasian alumna Rubilen Amit was outclassed by 15-year-old sensation and fellow Filipina Chezka Centeno, 5-7.

Other notable Thomasians who saw action at the SEA Games were Reynaldo Salonga Jr., Jemimah NissiTiambeng, and Remia Buenacosa in water polo, synchronized swimming, and netball, respectively. CARLO A. CASINGCASING, CLARENCE I.

HORMACHUELOS and RANDELL ANGELO B. RITUMALTA

From role player to team leader AFTER years of being a role player, Ed Daquioag looks to take the reins and lead the Growling Tigers in the upcoming UAAP season.

Daquioag showed potential as being the squad’s new scoring leader after an impressive showing in the 2015 FilOil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup, averaging 20.38 points in eight outings for the undermanned Tigers.

With Karim Abdul, Kevin Ferrer and Renzo Subido unable to play, Daquioag also led the team to the Fr. Martin’s Preseason Cup finals before bowing to a retooled Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers.

“Walang Kevin Ferrer, walang Karim Abdul, sino pa bang mag-step up kung hindi ako na lang. Ako ang magle-lead sa team na ‘to, kailangan ko mag-take over as of now,” Daquioag said.

With the departure of former team captain Aljon Mariano, Dacquiaog, a fifthyear Business Management major, has embraced the leadership role alongside co-captains Abdul and Ferrer.

“As co-captain, kailangan ko i-lead ‘tong team. Kailangan na naming magset ng good example sa mga rookie at sa veterans. Kung maganda ipinapakita

mo, syempre susundin ka ng mga kakampi mo,” Daquioag told the Varsitarian.

Judging by his preseason performance, the lanky combo guard has indeed shown a good example, including a 34-point explosion against Centro Escolar University last May 24 and some clutch shooting in their knockout match against De La Salle University last June 6.

Despite his recent emergence as a top-scoring option, Daquioag insisted that he had to remain healthy to continue his good performance for UST. He cited some nagging injuries on his left ankle, wrist and knee which he hoped would no longer bother him come UAAP. “Last year, on a scale of one to 10, with ten as the highest, masasabi ko na six to seven ‘yung level of pain. Buti na lang nausog ang opening, kaya sa tingin ko okay na ako by September,” he said.

PHILIP MARTIN L. MATEL

DAQUIOAG

Sports

JULY 30, 2015

The Varsitarian

Tigresses notch second straight win

By DELFIN RAY M. DIOQUINO THE UST Golden Tigresses clawed their way to a second straight win after surviving a pesky College of St. Benilde Lady Blazers, 25-12, 17-25, 25-21, 26-28, 15-7, in the 12th Shakey's V-League Collegiate Conference at the San Juan Arena last July 26.

The Tigresses showcased a balanced attack after five of their starters scored in double digits, led by veteran Carmela Tunay with a team-high 15 points, 12 coming from attacks.

With the game tied at two sets apiece, both teams went back-and-forth with the Lady Blazers only trailing by two points, 6-8, until UST pulled away with a crucial 7-1 run anchored by team captain Pam Lastimosa’s back-to-back aces.

Jessey de Leon delivered the finishing blow with a down-the-line hit as the Tigresses improved to a 2-1 win-loss record.

UST’s towering net defense proved to be pivotal in its win as the squad tallied 18 block points, 11 coming from de Leon and Ria Meneses combined, against Benilde’s eight.

The Tigresses had a chance to win the game in four sets after having the match point, 25-24, but their defensive lapses haunted them down as the Lady Blazers delivered consecutive hits followed by an untimely Tunay error.

“Thankful ako na nanalo kami, marami lang talaga kaming nasayang na opportunities.

[Paghahandaan namin] first ‘yung receive then next yung services kasi minsan nawawala,” said UST head coach Emilio Reyes.

De Leon finished the game with 14 points while Lastimosa, Meneses and EJ Laure had 12 A rejuvenated UST squad. looks to redeem their former glory in the 12th Shakey's V-League collegiate conference.

Rondina lands 3rd among top beach volleybelles WITH nothing else but victory in mind, Golden Tigress Cherry Rondina defied expectations after landing on third place in the first-ever Queen of the Sands beach volleyball tournament last June 20 at the SM Mall of Asia By the Bay Sand Court.

The rookie volleybelle scored 53 points in the final round, only one point shy for second place, behind Foton Tornadoes’ Patty Orendain. Another Tornadoes standout, Fiola Ceballos, grabbed the title with 63 points.

“Kapag naglalaro ako, hindi ko iniisip ‘yung rank at level ko,” the UAAP beach volleyball champion told the Varsitarian. “Basta maipanalo ko ‘yung game.”

It was the first time in the tournament for players to play against and alongside each other. Individual scores were then averaged, with the four highest players advancing to the final round.

After the preliminary round, Rondina led the pack, garnering an average of 20.28 points before eventually settling for third place.

Rondina said she that she discovered a new perspective in playing b e a c h volleyball, which should help her in upcoming UAAP title defense. “ ‘ Yu n g pagkamasayahin [ang wala sa akin].

Sobrang seryoso kasi akong maglaro, gusto kong manalo agad,” she said. “‘Yung [ pagenjoy sa game] ang natutuhan ko noon na naa-apply ko ngayon sa practice.”

JOHN CHESTER FAJARDO

RONDINA

P.

GEONABETH L. CADUNGOG

Tigresses PAGE 5

Returning Tigersharks to lead campaign WITH NO blue-chip recruits this year, the UST Female Tigersharks will lean on two key returnees to improve on their fourth-place finish last year.

Thea Belen and Ryan Kaith Regidor are set to suit up anew for the swimming team after a one-year of hiatus to fill in the hole left by UAAP Season 77 bronze medalist Edlyn Son, who had exhausted her playing years.

Belen missed the last season due to an unexpected change in the lineup, in which she was relegated to team B from team A. “Nagkaproblema sa office, sa pagpasa ng papers or sa pag-include sa kanya sa lineup pero nasa lineup siya (Belen) supposed to be. Wala na tayong nagawa kasi nakapagpasa na tayo ng UAAP lineup. Nu’ng nalaman namin na wala siya, nagulat din kami,” head coach Cyrus Alcantara told the Varsitarian.

Alcantara said Belen’s absence affected the Tigersharks’ campaign. She could have contributed to the team effort, particularly in the freestyle and butterfly events.

This season, Belen said she would make

up for lost time by displaying leadership and proving she would still be one of the Tigersharks’ aces.

“Finalist naman ako nu’ng first year at kailangan kong mahigitan ‘yon. Ang goal ko ay makapuwesto para sa team,” Belen said.

Regidor’s year-long absence in the past season was due to her family’s plan to settle in the United States for good, but she returned to the country to finish her studies and to play for the team.

Now that her feet are back on UST soil, Regidor is confident that achieving podium finishes in the backstroke and freestyle events are within her reach.

“Posible naman makuha ang medal, kahit makapasok lang sa finals which is sabi naman nila coach ay may possibility, basta may dedication and determination lalo na sa training,” Regidor said.

However, Alcantara said success would depend on his players’ commitment and passion, following a rather weak recruiting class this year.

“From Davao may isa tayong nag-Palarong Pambansa, si Katrina Aguelo. She’s really not that strong pero workable,” Alcantara said.

Alcantara said recruitment was always a problem as top-caliber swimmers and aspiring collegiate student-athletes prefered “better and bigger” offers.

Aside from recruitment woes, the Tigersharks' training took a minor blow due to the closure of the University pool starting last June 22 for a month-long renovation.

As a result, the Tigersharks transferred to the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City and held training sessions from Tuesdays to Fridays. They trained off the pool on Mondays inside the campus.

“Ang problem kasi namin is ‘yung morning ang training. ‘Yung ibang pools kasi nagba-vacuum every morning kaya naghahanap pa rin kami ng puwedeng pag-training-an ng morning,” Alcantara said. CARLO A.

CASINGCASING

UST silent on bill voiding UAAP residency rule UST ATHLETIC officials have no choice but to scrap the two-year residency rule after lawmakers passed the Student Athlete’s Protection Bill and encroached upon collegiate sports.

Institute of Physical Education and Athletics (IPEA) Department Secretary Gilda Camus said the University’s position won’t matter anyway as lawmakers had made up their minds.

"Whether we approve or disapprove, it’s a law. We have no choice but to implement it,” Camus told the Varsitarian.

The law was approved by both chambers of Congress last June 10. It limits the residency requirement imposed on student-athletes in any athletic association, like the UAAP, to a maximum of one year for college athletes who will transfer from one member-school to another. For high school athletes transferring to a different school or university, no residency

shall be imposed.

Senate Bill No. 2226 also limits the incentives a school can offer to studentathletes to tuition, lodging, medical services, life insurance, uniforms and equipment, and “reasonable” allowances to prevent “piracy.”

According to Sen. Pia Cayetano, author of the bill, the root of athletic piracy are the extravagant offers to student-athletes and which this law aims to prohibit.

“The bill addresses this mainly by regulating and limiting the kinds of benefits and incentives that schools may offer to studentathletes,” Cayetano told the Varsitarian. “It also prohibits other incentives ‘which are contrary to the nature of amateur sports’ and ‘may result to the commercialization’ of the student-athlete.

This is precisely because one of the objectives of the proposed law is to address piracy in a manner that must not be at the expense of the rights and well-being of the student-athletes.”

Regarding the “reasonable allowance” that a school can offer to its recruits, Cayetano explained that it should be interpreted in its most simple meaning.

“The word ‘reasonable’ should be taken in its ordinary meaning which is one that is appropriate, fair or moderate. But reasonableness may also depend on a number of factors such as, but not limited to, the school’s capacity to provide and the student-athletes needs. So, once the bill is signed into law, guidelines to Residency PAGE 10