4 Opinion
AUGUST 25, 2016
Editorial
No to mandatory ROTC; no to state terrorism, bossism on campus WHEN President Duterte announced his intention to strengthen the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) during his first State of the Nation Address last July 25, many interpreted it as a call for the revival of the mandatory ROTC program for college students. “The reservists will be mobilized for information campaign against drug use and the dissemination of information regarding drug rehabilitation programs being offered by the government,” President Duterte said. “Let us also strengthen our ROTC Program to instill love of country and good citizenship.” As a result, newbie Senator Sherwin Gatchalian and the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) are pushing for the restoration of mandatory ROTC. In addition, there’s the pending House Bill No. 2338, which seeks to make ROTC a pre-requisite for graduation in all college programs as well as vocational and technical courses. Ched Chair Patricia Licuanan said the commission would create working group to review the existing ROTC program and recommend options to strengthen it. Licuanan still has two years as Ched chair based on her 2014 appointment by the former Malacanang incumbent and for an educator who had come from the private education sector, she seems overeager to keep her post by sidling up to the new government, never mind basic and bottomline principles, just as she did with the previous one that pressed through with the K to 12 despite the lack of safety nets for those who would be affected by it, especially higher-education institution (HEI) teachers. So much for Licuanan’s sycophancy and lack of nobless oblige. In any case, Duterte has all the wrong reasons for restoring mandatory ROTC. If he wanted the ROTC to help in his anti-drug information campaign, he could do that with already existing structures in the HEI’s. ROTC as it stands now is one of the three options under the National Service Training Program (NSTP) for HEI students. Couldn’t the anti-drug campaign be disseminated and promoted not only in the optional ROTC but also in the more popular literacy and civic welfare programs? Going by the results of the anti-drug campaign— hundreds and now thousands of alleged drug pushers killed en mass in what are suspected to be summary executions of small fry while drug lords and their protectors in the police, military and government are given official warning and even pleadings and thus the big guns are generally treated with kid gloves—then the Duterte administration does not need a mandatory ROTC to help it in its charade. Huwag naman sanang masyadong garapalan! The President should be reminded that it was because of the same example of state terror and corruption that led to the abolition of mandatory ROTC. It should not be Editorial PAGE 11
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Letters/comments/suggestions/contributions are welcome in the Varsitarian. Only letters with signatures and corresponding contact details 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, University of Santo Tomas, España, Manila.
The rich, fruitful ground that is the ‘V’ SELFLESSNESS. This might have been the greatest lesson that I learned from my three years in the University’s official student publication. People who had known me before I became part of the Varsitarian could have easily said that I was a person who had a huge ego and had so much trouble caring for others. I was a person who was not always welcoming of other persons, who always went on his own, and who was afraid of getting out of his comfort zone. I was like a seed that was covered with a thick hard shell—closed to possibilities and ignorant of how to grow. When I was accepted in the “V” back in 2013, all I wanted to do was to write articles just so I could see my name in the by-line. I have to admit that, at first, everything that I did for the V, I did for myself. But as time went by, I realized that being given credit for what I did was not the true purpose of writing for the campus organ.
I learned to care for others more than myself. The ‘V’ taught me to break down my barriers and let other people in my life. I realized that I was not the only one who could write well because there were a lot of better writers in the publication. Most importantly, I have realized that I am in the V not to impress others but to serve the Thomasian community. So then, I started to focus on my work and not myself. I started writing not for my name to be published in the paper but to share something useful to the Thomasians. At that point, I learned to care for others more than myself. The V taught me to break down my barriers and let other people in my life. When I was promoted
as one of the News editors in 2014, my love for the publication grew even deeper. Right then I knew that I need to step up and do things selflessly. I needed to lead and share my experiences to my writers in order for them to grow the same way I did. And when I was finally promoted as the editor in chief for the P.Y. 2015-2016, I became even more selfless. Leading the V was not an easy job, especially since I was studying law. I made several sacrifices in my studies just to fulfill my responsibilities in the publication. This was when I knew that my love for the V was true. I
did not mind not sleeping just to finish an edition—all for the service of my fellow Thomasians. I did not mind giving second chances to my staff even if they made mistakes over and over again. I did not mind giving most of my time for the V even if it meant that I would have less time for study. My stay at the V was definitely challenging; it made me a much better person. It made me stronger, more understanding, and more humble. It made me even more ready to face tougher challenges that life has to offer. Truly, when a seed is planted in rich soil, it will outgrow its shell no matter how hard and thick it is, and eventually spread its roots and grow into its full potential. Undoubtedly, the V has been a rich training ground for every seed planted upon its soil. The V had created a majestic garden composed of amazing writers and professionals throughout the years.
Why leaving doesn’t mean unloving ONE OF the big misconceptions the human race still believes in is how love always means staying. People think that love is measured solely by the willingness of both parties to stay in the relationship. But time has made me realize that bidding farewell takes even more courage than staying. And only a love that is authentic can survive distance created by physical and emotional separation. Leaving doesn’t mean unloving and I have proven this to myself with the kind of love I have for the Varsitarian. I could have easily stayed in the “V” for another year or more. But to be honest, this option means clinging to a comfortable and unchallenging part of my life, which means I will never achieve my full potential. As the days go by, I can feel time slowly creeping up on me, a constant reminder I have chosen to move forward now. This is also connected to having witnessed many of my peers, those who opted to work immediately after graduation unlike my choice to pursue post-graduate studies, establish themselves in their own respective fields. While it is with a sense of
Love will remain constant, and this is the love I have for the ‘V’: constant and unchanging.
pride and happiness to watch them live their lives outside the University, I have realized I want that for myself too. But I cannot do that if I continue to reside in the safe confines of the V office. Change is likened to a revolution, a disruption of routine for a new dawn to rise. Therefore, to start a new chapter in one’s life, another must close. And like all good things, my stay in the V nears its finale. But the agony of letting go remains the biggest trial in my two-year stay. But before anything else, one has first to understand how deeply rooted I am in the V. It took me three tries before I was finally accepted in the publication. When the fateful phone call finally came in the summer of 2014, the tears
just washed away years of resentment and hatred for being rejected. For the next two years, I have treated the V as my home, my source of strength, and my mere reason for existence. So to leave the V like this, I don’t even know how to begin. In all the relationships I’ve had in my 21-year existence, I have never been the one to break up. Be it romantic quests or lost friendships, I was always the one to stay, to try to work things out and fix what’s broken. Not necessarily because I was at fault, but I believe staying through the rough times is an indication of genuine affection. But now, there is no other choice than to say goodbye. As I write this farewell, I can’t help but feel nostalgic about my two
years in this institution. For some, it may just be another 24 months, but for me, it was a lifetime—a lifetime well spent. Although nostalgia may connote a negative impression, I believe it signifies the importance of having something worth remembering. In a way, it is a gentle reminder to us all that love transcends all forms of change. It may be forgotten but its intensity will never wither, even though man’s constructed ideology of time as a fleeting element. Love will remain constant, and this is the love I have for the V: constant and unchanging. If I treated V as a lover, she would be the equivalent of a crazy girlfriend; she was demanding, strict and not to mention, the jealous type. But love is love, and I found all these flaws to be the same reasons why I loved the V more. Sadly, like all relationships, tough decisions had to be made, and mature individuals will agree with me when I say that unlike almost every sappy romantic chick flick ever created, love is not the only factor that needs to be considered. Certain Tempus PAGE 5