Four faculty members who were discharged from their work found the Union of Faculty and Em-ployees of Saint Louis University (UFESLU) behind them as they face the University management in their “quest for justice”.

In Resolution No. 7-1310-3, UFESLU expressed its support for Luis Pongod, Edita Docayso, and Remarie Nepomuceno who were allegedly vic-tims of the University’s current anti-labor decisions and policies.

“SLU as an employer acts at times whimsically and with no con-cern whatsoever by disengaging its workers to utter harm and prejudice of the latter and their families,” asserted UFESLU.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) identified two programs from the School of Accountancy and Business Management (SABM), and four from the School of Engineering and Architecture (SEA) as Centers of Development (COD).

House Bill wants mandatory ROTC backby IsIdro ArAdA, Jr.

That is if the 15th Congress enacts House Bill 737, filed by Congressman Eduardo Gul-las, which seeks to reinstate the mandatory ROTC for all male college students and abolish the National Service Training Program (NSTP) in public and private higher education institu-tions.

It was marked in 2001 that the enactment of Republic Act 9163 or the NSTP law conclud-ed the response to the calls to re-vamp the ROTC from its issues of harassment and extortion, fol-lowing the controversial death of a student of the University of

Anonymous petition tackledby HenrI Lomeus CHIng

UFESLU backs up dismissed teachersby bAnoAr AbrAtIque

SLU bares centenary activities by grACe mICAH oreIro

In line with Saint Louis University’s centennial anniversary, Fr. Pres. Jessie Hechanova revealed to the local and Louisian communities the activities slated for the yearlong celebration in a memorandum signed last August 12.

2 SABM, 4 SEA programs named CODsby JoHn erICson mILLAno And mAry eLIz gAdIAno

The CHED’s Technical Panel for Business and Management Education (TPBME) recognized Accountancy and Entrepreneurship Education of the SABM as CODs.

In SEA, as per recommendation of the Technical Panel for Engineering and Technology (TPET), the programs which have been awarded the distinction are Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electronics Engineering and Mechanical

Engineering.The CHED approval for COD is

the premier credit given to public and private higher education institutions that have exemplified a high level of standard along the fields of administration, instruction, research, community extension, curriculum, employee qualification and development, facilities, and linkages.

year 2011 which will be held at the Maryheights Campus’ Track & Field Oval on January 15, 2011. Also, the Centennial Service Awards would take place on January.

The Panagbenga Parade on Feb-ruary will immediately follow the Uni-versity Research and Inventions Week which will crop up on the same month. Meanwhile, March will highlight the much awaited Centennial Gawad San Luis for Students.

Furthermore, Holy Week activi-ties including the Centennial Lenten Trek to Mt. Sto. Tomas on April will be the highlight of summer. On the month of May, a tribute to the retirees and Gawad San Luis for employees is planned.

The year-long list of activities will be concluded by a float parade/ street-dancing at Session Road, and a mo-torcade to Maryheights campus along with closing ceremonies and a concert.

For November, a Memorial Mass for SLU’s departed members will be held on November 3 at the Burgos Gym. The month will also be filled with activities such as the launching of the Alay Pasko Drive on November 9 and the Centennial Dinner and Con-cert at the covered courts on Novem-ber 27.

The CICM Foundation Day and SLU Centennial Launching will com-mence the month of December which includes the opening of the garage sale, the Louisians Got Talent (dancefest, dramafest, musicfest), and a band con-cert of the different schools.

To complement the yuletide sea-son, the Centennial Handog ng SLU sa Baguio on December 4 and 5 at the Melvin Jones Grandstand will focus on honoring public school teachers. SLU Family Day with Christmas Salu-Salo on December 6 will also be featured.

SLU’s Centennial Intramurals will cheer up the beginning of the

“Change cannot be done over-night,” he said, adding that the admin-istration is prioritizing concerns of stu-dents. “We cannot do magic.”

On the processBautista claimed that some of the

protests of the petition are already be-ing addressed by the school adminis-tration.

School of Accountancy and Business Management Dean Reynaldo Bautista clarified several complaints allegedly raised by SABM students through an anonymous petition letter circulated in Saint Louis University’s annex.

Bautista answers allegations

According to the petition, “the current number of jeepneys that oper-ate in the area cannot accommodate [the] more or less 8,000 students of SABM.”

However, Bautista said there will be an increase in the number of jeep-neys especially around the 6:30 PM dismissal, when students crowd the

waiting area in gate 2.“We did not see it [the crowd

during the 6:30 dismissal] as a prob-lem before,” he said, “so, next semester, we will see to it that we distribute the dismissal of classes.”

He also clarified that the fare of the school service transport is beyond their control. “The association [Ba-guio- Benguet School Service Opera-tors and Drivers Association] was the one who imposed that [the prices],” he added.

Meanwhile, the petition criti-cized the unfunctional elevators which allegedly “cause students going to their classes to be late and tired.” On this, Bautista explained that the elevators will be used in the coming weeks after installing the transformer.

“Actually, the elevators are op-erational, but the power supply in Bakakeng is fluctuating, so, for safety measures, we just use them for matters like transporting chairs to the plaza,” he said.

On the item criticizing the con-gested space at the canteens, Bautista pointed out that the new campus has three canteens.

“One is at the dormitory. Maybe, that could help ease the crowd.” He added that there will also be kiosks near the academic building where drinking fountains will also be located.

Regarding the lack of benches, Bautista said that there were already benches delivered which will be located in the plaza and along the corridors.

Not trueBautista belied the other protests

stipulated in the petition letter.On the issue of the lenience and

lack of security in the vicinity of the SLU Annex, Bautista claimed that it is not true. “I always see at least two po-licemen at Gate 1 and 2,” he said. He added that the main gate in the main campus has no policeman.

The petition also cited that the lack of streetlights pose danger to the

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is trying to find its way back to Gonzaga Building.

DOUBLE PAY. Baguio Benguet School Service Operators and Drivers Association, Inc. (BABESSODA) maintained its fare charges for shuttle services to and from SLU main campus and Maryheights campus because of absence of backload.

photo by Cher turtem

GONE FULL CIRCLE. As the university’s centennial anniversary draws in, the fish pond, together with the other school landmarks and buildings, concomitantly receives an overdue makeover.

photo by marC Jan Calub

NEWS

DIVERSIONS

SPORTS

Santo Tomas (UST) and cadet Mark Chua because of alleged hazing by ROTC officials.

However, the bill will be facing big obstacles on its way as Kabataan Partylist Represen-tative Raymond Palatino filed House Bill No. 2355 or the NSTP Reform Act which bids to strengthen the social and civic components of the NSTP through the establishment of ad-ditional social and civic service program as an alternative.

The youth solon said the mandatory ROTC proposal ig-nores the fact that there is a cur-

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VOLUME XVISSUE IBONIFACIO STREETBAGUIO CITYNOVEMBER 2010

Crime of the Nation: Undressedp/9

Lady Navs wrap up early, Cards done at 3 p/15

Baguio youth oppose education budget cut p/2

3

Several Baguio student and youth organizations joined the national indignation to the Aquino administration’s move of clipping the education budget in a march from the Baguio City Post Office down to Malcom Square last September 24.

The nationwide mass action was conducted as the Senate hearing on the 2011 budget proposals pushed through. The National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP), Kabataan Partylist and Anakbayan, along with the youth of different cities around the country, took their protest to the streets to show their outrage against the budget allocation.

In a program, the groups protested on the re-channeling of education funds to debt-servicing and military-corruption prone patronage programs. The students challenged the Aquino administration to correct and reverse the long-standing policy of reducing state spending on education.

It is marked that after winning the presidential race last May,

As part of their nationwide advocacy for an eco-friendly living, Miss Philippines-Earth 2009 winners visited Baguio last August 29 at the CAP Cultural Center in Camp John Hay.

The Miss Earth Foundation, in partnership with FILMMOVERS, has launched a series of seminars on environmental awareness for the youth, where Saint Louis University students were invited to join in line with their Theology. The sequence of film viewing and lectures entitled “Earthworth“ aim to promote a healthier, safer and better day-to-day lifestyle using organic methods of agriculture and through the reduction of daily household refuse.

The two-hour presentation included two short films created by local moviemakers in collaboration with and with special appearances from Batch 2009 of Miss-Earth Philippines. The short film “Project Noel”, directed and written by Jon Steffan Ballesteros, is the legacy project of the batch. Child star Jairus Aquino plays the lead role of Noel, son of garbage-collector Victor, portrayed by Jojit Lorenzo.

A symposium-lecture on eco-friendly solutions focusing on several benefits and good effects of organic farming against the bad effects of chemical farming was

After going through three days of inspection, the Saint Louis University Administration believes that the university has done well in the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) national program for Institutional Quality Assurance through Monitoring and Evaluation (IQuAME).

For the first time, the Kataastaasang Sanggunian ng Mag-aaral/ Supreme Student Council (KASAMA/SSC) joined the Louisian Convergence (LC VI)on its sixth year together with the leaders of recognized student organizations and publications at San Luis del Mar, Baccuit, Bauang, La Union last September 10-11.

The call for the union’s general assembly was initiated by some faculty and employees of Saint Louis University by means of a signature campaign through a letter circulated among them.

“I am the one who wrote [that] letter,” admitted Lorence Resurreccion, a faculty member of the School of Accountancy and Business Management, during the open forum part of the assembly.

Resurreccion said there were 401 union members who participated in the clamor for a general assembly.

However, she raised the issue on some missing papers and documents concerning the campaign in two schools, one of which is the School of Engineering and Architecture.

Resureccion said it was unfair for those who signed but were not included in the total number of the members who expressed concern for the union.

She also questioned the current executive officers of UFESLU, why they were not able to call for a general assembly for the last three years.

“There should be a fixed date and

By this year, about 69 million people around the world are missing out on the opportunities of basic education, and more than 6 million children in the Philippines still cannot read and write or are considered out-of-school youth.

by rutH bALderAs

Headed by President Gideon Cachero, the SSC team with 20 delegates composed of seven Executive Committee officials and several governors and representatives, attended this year’s Convergence.

The organizers of the event said they have always wanted the SSC to attend since the first Louisian Convergence because they are the ones who represent the entire studentry of SLU. However, during the past five years, elections were held towards the end of the first semester which primarily caused the inability of SSC to join the previous Louisian Convergences.

The attendance of SSC was made possible by the early conduct of elections and proclamation of elected officials.

Another first timer is the Foreign Students Association, headed by its president Lee “Justin” Boram.

The Louisian Convergence VI is a two-day leadership program forged through the collaboration of the SLU Guidance Center, Child and Youth Wellness Center, otherwise known as the Sunflower Children’s Center, and the Students Affairs Office to promote the enhancement of the leadership skills of the presidents and future leaders of

SLU confident on IQuAME Accreditationby neLIA gAHId

Dr. Noel de Leon. The Monitoring and Evaluation

framework will highlight five key result areas, namely, governance and management, quality of teaching and research, support for students, and relations with the Community and Management of Resources.

Within each key results area are a number of universal and specific indicators.

Institutions are then categorized into four, which are: Category A (r)- mature institutions undertaking both teaching and research; Category A (t) -mature teaching institutions; Category B- developing institutions; and, Category C- other institutions. Among these four categories, SLU applied for CATEGORY A (t) which implies that SLU is a good teaching university.

“We think SLU is not yet totally considered a research university. Probably, the university will apply for category A(r) after several years,” De Leon said. “Steps and strategies are undertaken to become also good in research in the future since policies take years,” he added.

Need for IQuAMEIQuAME is one of the three

components of CHED’s national program on quality assurance for higher education institutions (HEIs). It is concerned with overall strategic and operational management.

De Leon explained that institutional accreditation is assessing

The panel of assessors who were identified by the Commission conducted interviews, observations, and checked self-evaluation documents and reports to find existing practices in accordance with the criteria whether present or not within the university. The university made sure these documents which will validate their claims are ready for the evaluation.

“We’re quite confident that we will get it [IQuAME Accreditaion],” said Vice President for Academic Affairs

Baguio youth oppose education budget cut

by AngeLo quero

President Aquino boasted that his administration will top prioritize the education of the Filipino Youth, giving way for changes in the educational system. Ironically, the education allotment was clipped by 2011.

The rally disputed the budget allotment for the education sector decrease, while other sectors’ budgets increase like the Department of National Defense (DND) enjoying an increase from P96.2 billion to P104.7 billion, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) gets an additional P10 billion and the Philippine National Police (PNP) having P6 billion more.

Furthermore, the crowd also objected on the significant increase in patronage and corruption-prone funds. Pork barrel funds have increased from P10.9 billion in 2010 to P24.8 billion in the proposed 2011 national budget.

This new proposed budget was the motivation of the youth organizations of the Philippines to express their stand. The Baguio groups advocated to urge the members of Congress to oppose the education budget cut.

Miss Philippines Earth meets Louisians for Green Advocacyby FLorA mAe sAntos

UFESLU General Assembly drought over by JosHuA gAnAy

VSO Bahaginan campaigns 1Goal in SLU by sHIeLA mArIe sAndovAL

With these figures from the UNESCO Global Monitoring Report released last February, Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) Bahaginan lent a hand to campaign the 1Goal Project, an event which pushes for the education of less-fortunate children, starting with a signature campaign among Louisians.

Leslie Inso, a former VSO Volunteer, conducted the signature campaign in the Diego Silang lobby, collecting around 580 signatures and email addresses from students and faculty of SLU.

“We don’t share the email addresses with anyone else,” Inso explained as she observed that the students became quite worried about spam and account theft in the Internet before signing the cards. “Those will only be used to thank the participants and to update them about the campaign,” she reminded.

The 1Goal Project is in conjunction with the 2010 FIFA World Cup which became a great venue for millions of football fans to not only share their passion for football, but also to be aware of the need for education in developing countries.

Louisian ApathyOnly about half a thousand

signatures have been gathered, according to Inso, this, despite the increased student population of the university this semester, and considering that not all those who signed the cards were students. “I was really expecting more signatures,” the VSO Volunteer said, adding that the students were “apathetic” to not even care about what is happening around them.

Nevertheless, Inso still found concern from some Louisians who approached her from the campaign table. “Students especially in the medical courses were very responsive,” she said. “There was also an Accounting student who took 30 to 40 cards and let his classmates sign them.” She also shared that the university soccer team signed the cards with the thought that 1Goal was sponsoring a Soccer event. “I guess 1Goal wasn’t clearly explained to them,” she commented.

NO TO BUDGET CUT. Students from different universities in Baguio City march from Baguio City Post Office to Malcolm Square to express their stand against President Aquino’s policy of reducing state spending on education. photo by miChiko tañedo

SSC debuts in 6th Louisian Convergence

the quality of SLU as a whole, meaning not only a per program basis like in the case of PAASCU accreditation.

The evaluation is necessary for two purposes. First, the government expects that universities will promote policies of equity and social inclusion, and will play their part in the economic development of the country. Second, the improvements will increase the likelihood of both CHED and individual accrediting bodies, ability to place reliance on those systems in the future.

Thus, through monitoring and evaluation, quality in the higher education sector will be improved and globally competitive.

The commission adopted six objectives to enhance HEIs’ capacity, namely, delivering and managing program and services; to identify areas for reform and intervention along the five key areas; to ensure that quality learning outcomes are responsive to the changing needs and comparable to international standards, provide accurate, up-to-date and accessible

information on performance of higher education institutions to enable stakeholders to make informed choices; to provide the Commission with bases for policy options on higher education and informed decisions for development assistance and incentives to HEIs; and to enable the HEIs to set up their own Institutional Quality Assurance Management Systems (IQuAMS) that will ensure the quality and standards of programs.

Regarding the IQuAMS, de Leon said that SLU is developing quality assurance systems that will complement the Louisian Charter.

After a certification is achieved, SLU would choose to either apply for the same category or go to the next category. The result of the accreditation will be released this year.

“We will be looking forward in the future for the next target which is probably Category A(r) [Mature institution in research and teaching],” de Leon concluded.

their organizations. This year’s Convergence highlighted the theme “Celebrating a Hundred Years of Louisian Leadership,” in line with the university’s centennial celebration.

A total of 167 student leaders from different school-based and university wide organizations and publications attended the LC VI.

DESIRES FOR CHANGE. Complaints about the nonfunctional facilities of SLU Maryheights campus were allegedly invoked by School of Accountancy and Business Management (SABM) students through a petition letter by an anonymous sender. photo by karen elemen

UNLEASHED GRIEVANCES. The Union of Faculty and Employees of Saint Louis University (UFESLU) members demand for a General Assembly through a signature campaign to present their reactions and queries that they verbalize during the open forum last August 20. photo by orange happee omengan

CENTENNIAL JOURNEY BEGINS. Excitement builds up among students and employees of Saint Louis University as the electronic board begins the countdown to the university’s centennial celebration. photo by Jayvee moltio

venue [for the General Assembly],” she suggested.

UFESLU President Alice Lerma answered that there were still ongoing cases and negotiations between the union and the Administration during those times.

She cited the case of the Economic Package Benefit of the faculty and employees of SLU as a “de minimis” benefit which is non-taxable as an example of the negotiations.

Lerma emphasized that the case mentioned was acted upon by the Administration only after eight months.

Order of businessBesides the open forum, UFESLU’s

General Assembly also featured lectures and discussions on two different topics concerning the interests and welfare of the faculty and employees of SLU.

After the talk, Ronald Taggaoa, a faculty member of the School of Humanities, moved that the open forum be held before the second lecture.

Taggaoa’s motion triggered an argument with the event’s master of ceremonies Romano Bulatao, the union’s

Public Relations Officer.Bulatao argued that the program

should be followed as it is because it was the approved order of business for the general assembly.

Taggaoa insisted that the assembly should focus on expressing the concerns of the members of the union which is the main concern of the open forum.

“We have not enough time [for the open forum] if the program will be followed,” he voiced out.

Nonetheless, Taggaoa’s motion was disregarded and the second discussion was pushed through.

“De minimis” benefits, which are not subjected to income and withholding taxes, were also tackled after the argument.

These benefits that promote the health, goodwill, and efficiency of

rent NSTP program with service train-ing components including Literacy Training Service (LTS) and Commu-nity Welfare Training Service (CWTS) which are undoubtedly visible and pro-ductive in the universities offering the subject.

Baguio NSTP Core also relayed their disagreement to HB 737 through their president, Vladimir Cayabas. “Yes to ROTC only as an optional subject,” he said. “However, ROTC can be of-fered as a mandatory subject to stu-dents who are taking up criminology or any other course geared towards law enforcement,” he cleared out.

“NSTP trains students to public service in various but directed ways [because] what we need and what our country needs are empowered public servants, not corrupt military men,” he added.

The Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP) believes, nonetheless, that the bill has focused on a curriculum which promotes discipline among stu-dents and mobilizes the youth during emergency operations.

However, AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta said the AFP will still be looking into the pros and cons of returning the mandatory ROTC.

In an interview, SLU-NSTP Co-

ordinator Albert Guinguino, Jr. also expressed his personal disagreement to the issue. “Personally, I’m against it. I’m a product of ROTC but because of its failures in meeting its supposed purposes, I would personally be against it.”

He also supported Palatino’s pro-posal, saying that the implementation of ROTC shall be subject to the stu-dent’s preferences as stipulated in the NSTP law. “We should let the students choose which field of training they want to take up in NSTP,” he said.

He added that the issue does not threaten academic freedom. He em-phasized the students’ part in decision making. “Nasa estudyante na rin yan. Kung ayaw ng estudyante, hindi namin sila mapipilit pero kung gusto ay wala kaming magagawa [The students decide for that. If they do not want it then we cannot push them, but if they want it, then it is out of our control.],” he said.

Guinguino also believes that NSTP did not fail, unlike the imple-mentation of ROTC. “Since 2003, we have made very successful projects ad-dressing the needs of Baguio which is on environmental advocacy.”

“We take the opportunity to plan and create more time for the NSTP and construct more projects,” he said.

House Bill wants... from p/1

Inso also wishes to express her gratitude towards Rev. Fr. Jessie Hechanova, SLU President, and those who supported responding to their request to conduct the campaign inside the campus.

Becoming part of the campaign“Anyone can join the campaign as

long as he/she has an email address,” Inso said. “But the students should remember that signing the cards does not mean directly sponsoring the education of one child. No, that’s already a different thing,” she added.

The signature campaign in SLU is part of the worldwide campaign that seeks 30 million signatures to urge the 164 members of the United Nations to push through with their promise of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), one of which is education for all by the year 2015. 1Goal allows people to give more ideas that could be used to gather signatures, like the Lesson For All Session which has a global target of 1 million schools, and the 1Goal World Cup Screening which was mainly used during the World Cup Games.

The project has captured the support from several other countries, corporations, and individuals through the initiative of the football strand of the Class of 2015 and the Global Campaign for Education (GCE).

VSO in the PhilippinesVSO Bahaginan is a branch of

International VSO, which is stationed in the United Kingdom, in the Philippines. The organization recruits, trains, and sends skilled volunteers to developing countries to strengthen the fight against poverty.

“Anyone can become a volunteer,” Inso said. “If you reach the minimum qualifications, then why not?”

She also added that volunteering is very much needed nowadays. “It’s a stepping stone,” she said, sharing that her experience as a VSO volunteer was “very enriching”.

Inso herself is encouraging people to join VSO Bahaginan.

[For more information about joining, visit www.vsobahaginan.org.ph/1goal and www.join1goal.org]

As CODs, the departments are stipulated by CHED to share their expertise, aid in monitoring accelerated development of other institutions in nearby regions, and to serve as benchmark institutions by means of providing academic and institutional leadership through sharing resources and organizing seminars, workshops and pioneering other networking settlements that will help in the development of other higher education institutions in sustaining quality education.

“Being a COD is already

something, a prestige title to our university that validates the quality of education we offer students,” emphasized Dr. Reynaldo Bautista, Dean of SABM.

CODs enjoy the privileges of project-based monetary assistance from CHED to be utilized to conduct seminars, workshops and networking, upgrading facilities, research and community extension services and faculty and staff development. Funds are released upon approval of the CHED of the application of existing CODs requesting financial support for projects to be implemented.

After three years of effectiveness and functionality, the said programs of the SABM and SEA which were previously identified CODs have to re-apply and submit themselves for re-evaluation.

“After we stabilize every department, we shall apply for the Center for Excellence,” Engr. Bonifacio dela Peña, Dean of SEA, said.

In SLU, Information Technology and Nursing are also CODs while Teacher Education is a Center of Excellence.

2 SABM, 4 SEA programs... from p/1

After three years of waiting, members of the Union of Faculty and Employees of Saint Louis University (UFESLU) finally got their demand for a general assembly last August 20.

news

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5

Education for sale

It only takes one hostage-taking to sacrifice education. Yet it would take a lot of shouting and rallying and appealing to sacrifice anything for education. Worse, they might not even be enough.

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s State of the Nation Address was promising and full of hope. We were with the people who applauded. Who would not if no less than your president had vowed to prioritize education and the youth?

But, is his definition of priority cutting out budget for education?The figures can speak for that. In the proposed 2011 national

budget, the allocation for School Universities and Colleges (SUCs) has been reduced from P23.8 billion to P23.4 billion, a 1.7 per cent margin that would have sent a number of young Filipinos to school and decreased illiteracy.

Moreover, in that proposed P23.4 billion, no funds have been allotted for capital outlay. That means, students have to suffer, again, from standing in class because there are not enough chairs for everyone; students have to, again, endure the heat of the sun because there are not enough classrooms; students have nothing to read but the graffiti on the walls because there are not enough books.

There is also a P1.1 billion (28.16 per cent) decrease in the operations budget for SUCs; while the Department of National Defense (DND) gets an increase to P104.7 billion from its 2010 budget of P96.2 billion, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) an additional P10 billion and the Philippine National Police (PNP), P6.6 billion.

We lack teachers and textbooks, but the government gives out barrel funds P24.8 billion (from its 2010 budget of P10.9 billion). That’s more than 100 per cent raise, knowing these funds are corruption-prone!

We won’t be shocked when next year, SUCs will, again, pass the burden to the students and parents through tuition and other fees increase. There will be, again, rallying and protesting but to no avail. There will be again those voices shouting but will never be heard. There will be, again, those who will forever pretend deaf.

Now that is education being a top priority. As if this country was under the clutches of more Mendozas that the government has to increase budget for security, giving more for the corrupt hands; and as if education was over-budgeted, the government disabled the youth from receiving proper schooling. The youth needs to answer for the failure of the police and of the government to handle such security threat. How can that even be considered reasonable!?

Is Saint Louis University an SUC? No. Then why write about SUCs? First, we are affected. Second, we sympathize. Third, we are students. And lastly, as part of the youth, we join the voice, if not for absolute justice, for the Aquino administration’s rationality.

How can we ever truly become the hope of this country when our own hopes are already gone?

We might still have been under Aquino’s enchantment if he didn’t commit a blunder of breaking a promise… and we’re still counting.

editorial board 2010 - 2011

Diana ann Bisares, Editor-in-ChiefGrellyn PaoaD, Associate Editor

Henri lomeus CHinG, Managing EditorrasHa Faye Tulas, Exchange EditorBanoar aBraTique, News Editor

Hazel luy, Feature Editoreloisa Faye simon, Entertainment EditorKaren Joy BanGiBanG, Sports EditorGraCe miCaH oreiro, Literary Editor

senior staffwritersalDriCH aGPaoa, isiDro araDa Jr., lovelyn BiniGay, JosHua Ganay, aPril masayBenG, sHeila mae

nones, JoseF anGelo quero

staffwritersruTH BalDeras, JoHanna Dario, ivan Ferrer, mary eliz GaDiano, nelia GaHiD, James lonToC,

JoHn eriCson millano, CeDriC PasCua, GaBrielle PasCual, sHiela sanDoval, Karen smiTH, Xylene TanDoC, GeralD Turqueza

Technical and Graphics staff neil eDson Torres, Chief Layout Artist rina Paula BurGos, Chief Photojournalist aaron James reoDiCa, Editorial Cartoonist

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still HumanWhat is human without fear?

What is human without money? What is human

without power? Still human, but not so human.

We will never evade the clutches of fear. Everyone has something to be afraid of. And that’s power. Played in the game of good and evil, in which evil seems to be always getting the crown.

We’ve known the truth of all things but we deliberately block it out from our consciousness. We’ve known the truth but we are so afraid of it that we rather be jailed in lies.

The system of this society is rotted and we know it. However, we just brush it off because we want to stay in what we know is our comfort zone. Besides, this has always been the world of “survival of the fittest.” But ponder on these: are we really in the safe side if we’re socially apathetic? Are we better than animals if we ignore the suffering of other people, laid just right before our eyes? Do we have to watch, or worse, pretend to be blinds as the Devil’s Advocates dig our own graves even if we still breathe life?

I can’t quite figure out what to feel for this obvious truth: the difference between the oppressed and the oppressors is that the former are disarrayed while the latter are united. Pathetic.

What gives the few oppressors strength to exploit is the deafening silence of a way larger number of the oppressed. There may be those who keep on fighting but not enough to shake Hell.

Boil it down to money, the

acclaimed root of all evil. You can’t have the clothes without money. You can’t stop your stomach from growling without money. You can’t get home without money. You can’t get education without money. You can’t publish a paper without money. And one day you might not as well breathe air without money.

Money is power; power is money. In money, people gain power; in

power, they gain money.How can these two be so

synonymous!I’m aware that there are those

who would say that these two are not necessarily evil. Not necessarily, but reality checked, they are actually.

Okay, give me your arguments. I’ll listen. But it won’t change anything.

Because right now, I’m stuck ‘cause I got no money.

I have to divert a little.I would have been glad to do

interviews with students to get a column done. However, the first time I tried, I failed. It’s not because I didn’t try really hard; they’re afraid that when those in power would read it, hell will break loose and these students are on fire. Fear is what makes them take a few steps back.

Fine. I’m afraid, too.

I’m afraid that no mouth will ever dare to speak up.

As I waited in line, I put my hands in both my empty side pockets wishing I had money. Where it would come from, I don’t know other way but magic. Or I wish the gods would hear and make coins fall like rain. Or better yet wish that the scholarship could now give my sister her supposedly monthly allowance. Hopeless wishing; my stomach’s still grumbling and my feet are ready to do the tedious work just to get home.

I felt jealous of the scholars. They don’t get unfilled plates, or get to pull their hair when they can’t think of how to pay the remaining balance on their tuition and get their examination permits without too much effort. Impressive it is that they earn the money just because they have the brains. They’re lucky to sit down and just think of the lessons for the next day, and then have a goodnight sleep.

That was what I believed.But when my sister, the fact that

she’s a DOST scholar, still ask our parents for allowance and a full payment of tuition, I take back the jealousy, and every thought of scholars being lucky became just a distant thought. Well, to state the obvious reason: DELAY.

So much with money.So much with power.And so much with fear.Still, so human.

***Don’t be afraid to give comments. I don’t eat people. Send them: diannbisares@yahoo.com

Noong musmos pa lang ako at natututong magsulat, tuwang-tuwa akong makakita ng mga

lapis at mga pangkulay. Korteng bilog, puso, stick figures ng pamilya ko, pusa - lahat hindi nakakaligtas na mailapat sa papel ng aking mga kamay. At dahil bata, kung limas na ang papel at wala sa ma-pagpasuring mata ng aking nanay, ang pader at mesa ang aking napapagdiski-tahan. Ayos lang, nakalapis lang naman, madaling mabura, at parte lang talaga iyon ng pagiging bata.

Fast forward.Unang araw ko sa kolehiyo. Hindi

na ako bata at mas lalong hindi na ako isip-bata. Ngunit nagulat ako, may mga estudyante pa palang tila naiwan sa mga silid-aralan nila noong kinder. Wall-to-wall na patunay na may mga nagkokole-hiyo na hindi pa rin pala marunong mag-abakada at gumuhit, kaya ayun nagiging sanayang papel ang pader, ang upuan, at kung minsan maging ang sa-hig. Nagkasakit din sila ng amnesia, dahil hindi na nila maalala ang mga simpleng kabutihang-asal na tinuro ni titser sa el-ementarya.

Condolence sa kanila. At hanggang sa mga kataga lang na ito ang awang mai-babahagi ko.

Sino ba sa atin ang kukuha ng pentel pen at walang pakundangang mag-susulat ng kung ano-ano sa mga pader ng ating tahanan? Hindi ba katiting na mantsa lang sa ating damit, ayaw na na-tin? Eh paano pa yung papasok ka ng paaralan, tapos ang bubungad sa iyo ay mga nakakairitang “sining” sa apat na su-lok ng iyong silid-aralan, na may bonus pang wrong grammar na words of wisdom sa upuan, at major major bonus din kung pag-upo mo, sa sahig na ang bagsak mo

Guhit

dahil sira pala ito.Nakakalungkot isipin na ito mara-

hil ay repleksyon ng ating pagwawalang-bahala at pagteteyngang-kawali sa mga bagay na dapat sana ay binibigyan natin ng pagpapahalaga.

University of the Philippines. Kilala ang mga nag-aaral dito sa kanil-ang aktibong partisipasyon sa mga iba’t ibang isyu. Dito sa Baguio, hindi ba du-madaan pa nga sila sa harapan ng ating pamantasan tuwing may demonstrasyon sila? Sumang-ayon o tumutol ka man sa kanila, nakakamanghang isipin na ang pamantasang pugad ng mga malalaya at makritikong isip ay may mas malinis at maaliwalas na silid-aralan at kapaligiran kaysa sa ating pamantasan kung saan al-ingawngaw ng katahimikan ang pinaka-malakas mong maririnig.

Tahanan din natin ang SLU. Sa una nating pagyapak sa pamantasang ito bilang mag-aaral ng kolehiyo, tinanggap na natin ang responsibilidad na mag-karoon ng pakialam sa mga nangyayari sa loob ng ating paaralan, dahil sa huli tayong mga mag-aaral din naman ang direktang naapektuhan nito.

Hindi naman na siguro nating kai-langang sumigaw at magmartsa sa mga kalye ng siyudad para ipakitang may pakialam tayo. Hindi naman na siguro nating kailangang magpakalat ng mga papel na naglalaman ng mga radikal na ideolohiya upang ipakita na bukas ang

ating kamalayan at pag-iisip. Pwede rin naman nating ipakita ito sa mga simp-leng aksyon na hindi nga siguro ganun kaingay, ngunit mabisa pa rin naman.

Gaano ba kahirap na kontrolin ang kati ng kamay na magsulat sa pader o kitkitin ang bagong lapat na pintura? Simpleng bagay din naman ang pagpulot ng mga kalat na naiwan, kahit na bata alam gawin iyon. Kung mga mumunt-ing bagay lang wala na tayong pakialam, paano pa sa mas malalawig na isyu? Paa-no na lang ang mga kamag-aral natin sa SBAM na nakakaranas ng hirap sa bago nating kampus sa Bakakeng o ang mga kamag-aral nating nagtitiis pa rin sa mga kagamitan at laboratoryong tila napag-iwanan na ng panahon?

Huling puna. Maraming duwag sa SLU. Kung babasahin mo ang ilan sa mga nakasulat sa mga pader, akala mo nag-uumapaw tayo sa mga Spartan at Amazona, ngunit sa likod ng mga matatapang na salita ay ang mga bahag na buntot. Marami sa mga nilalaman ng sulat ang ni hindi man lang masikmura. Kung may gusto kang iparating, at may punto ka naman at talagang makakatu-long, bakit hindi mo sabihin mismo sa taong tinutukoy mo? Ngunit, kung wala namang kuwenta, at bunsod lang ng iyong inggit, lunukin mo na lang, at huwag mo nang isulat o kaya sabihin pa. Nakakasugat ka ng damdamin, at sa huli, sa iyo din tatarak ang punyal na hi-nasa mo.

Simpleng bagay lang ang magbig-ay ng respeto. Simpleng bagay lang ang magpakita ng pagpapahalaga. Louisians tayo, dapat alam natin iyan.

**********Bato-bato sa langit, ang tamaan,

manigas ka. grellynpaoad@gmail.com

Uso ang dengue. Ngunit hindi tungkol doon ang kolum na ito. Hindi rin ito tungkol sa traffic

lights sa may Harrison na halosdi na na-kikita dahil sa madaming mga dahon, o kaya ay sa bolang fountain sa Bakakeng campus. Simple lang. Wala akong maisu-lat.

Pigang-piga na ang utak ko at wala pa din akong maisip. Mauubos na ang mga dahon ng aking kuwaderno sa kasusulat ng mga walang saysay, ngunit wala pa din. Hanggang natagpuan ko ang mga quotable quotes na aking na-rinig mula sa aking mga instructors na nakasulat sa likod ng aking kuwaderno. Iyon na lang. Let the quoting begin.

“Love is not a feeling. It’s an ac-tion. That’s why it’s a verb-an action word.” - J. F.

“No. Love is not always an action. It is felt.”- A. C.

Bawat pangungusap sa itaas ay may punto. Oo, ito nga’y isang hindi maipaliwanag at nakakikilig na pakiram-dam, ngunit ito’y hindi laging nandiyan. Maaari itong maglaho. Kaya paliwanag ng sa una, ito ay isang desisyong pang-habangbuhay. Sa mag-asawa daw, kahit wala na iyong pakiramdam, ang mag-asawa ay nagpapasya pa ding manatiling magkasama.

Ang pag-ibig naman sa pananaw ko, ehem, ay isang proseso. Dapat hindi pabigla-bigla. Hindi dahil naramdaman na natin ito ay madalian na tayong nag-papasya. Maaaring isang araw, ayaw mo na at tsaka itatapon, tapos iiyak-iyak ka.

Nasa atin na kung paano titignan ang pag-ibig. Ang mga nagsabi nga ng mga nasa itaas ay kapwa may asawa na ngunit magkaiba pa sila ng pananaw.

Sino ba naman ako para diktahan kayo?

Tape recorder

“Kapag nadapa, tayo uli. Kung na-kakuha ka ng 72.5, it’s not the end of the world. Your grade in Accounting 102 does not affect the way you’re loved by the Cre-ator.” - V. S.

Minsan, nilalamon tayo ng mga ambisyong magkaroon ng matataas na grado. Ngunit hindi ko kayo masisisi, dahil ako mismo, naitutulak na mag-aral – hindi lang nang mabuti, ngunit nang sobrang buti dahil sa mga ekspektasyon na din ng iba. Minsan, ginagawa natin ang isang bagay hindi dahil iyon ang gusto natin kundi dahil iyon ang sinabi sa atin na gawin. ****. Tunog hayskul. Ngunit totoo.

Sa pag-abot ng mga ambisyong ito, kadalasan, tayo ay sinasalubong ng mga pagsubok. Nadadapa tayo, pero dapat bumangon muli. At sa puntong nakamit na natin ang mga ito, minsan hindi na-tin namamalayan na umaangat na tayo sa lupa, at nakalilimutan ang mga taong tumulak sa atin pataas at Siya na may gawa sa atin.

“Depende ‘yan sa kasalanan.”- D. P.Hanga ako sa konsepto ng “de-

pende”. Pinapakita nito ang pagiging bu-kas ng isipan, at pagiging flexible o ang kagalingang iangkop nang madalian ang sarili. Ipinapahiwatig nito ang balanseng pagtingin sa isang sitwasyon. Ipinapakita nitong tinitignan ng nagsasabi ang dala-wang panig. Hindi lamang nakakulong sa isang panig ang pag-iisip.

Pero minsan, sinasabi naman ng ibang tao na hindi laging maganda ang nasa gitna. Hindi nagpeplay-safe. Dapat daw, pumanig. Dahil sa huli, iyong matibay na tatayo sa ka-nilang desisyon ang siyang panalo.

“Pinapatay mo ‘yung tao ka-pag pinagtsitsismisan mo siya.” - C. A.

Wala tayong karapatan upang pag-usapan ang isang tao kapag wala siya, lalung-lalo na kung sa pag-uusap na ito ay nasisira ang kanyang imahe at repu-tasyon. Alam kong ayaw din natin na maging laman ng mga tsismis. Oo, may karapatan tayong ipahiwatig ang ating nararamdaman, sabi sa Consti. Pero sa pagkakataong may taong nasasagasaan, hangga’t maaari, gawan natin ng paraan upang maiparating sa kanya ang gusto nating sabihin. Hindi iyong nalaman na ng mga Eskimo tsaka lang malalaman ng taong pinag-uusapan.

Ngunit sabi nga, man is inherently evil.

***Sa klasrum, maaaring nahihila ka

ng pagkabagot at natutukso nang matu-log. Pero sa gitna ng mga minsang boring na diskusyon, may nadudulas sa dila ng ating mga guro na nag-uudyok sa ating ilabas ang ballpen, buksan ang kuwad-erno, at isulat ang kanyang sinabi na sa ating tingin ay makapag-iimpluwensiya sa ating mga pananaw, o kaya ay maka-pagpupuwersa sa atin na sige, at ipagpur-sigi pa. Minsan, magandang maging tape recorder.

***Salamat kina My at Dy, Ate Fae at

Renz, at ArdJoMyCzaJo sa suporta. At siyempre si Bro sa life.

Iparating ang nais maidouble-rule sa henlomchi@yahoo.com.

you is WeirdToday, I asked a lot. I asked why

ever did we take up 7:30-classes. I asked what’s for lunch. I asked

the guard if he saw my ID. I asked why invest on the “99 days to go” when you can invest on school facilities instead. I asked why was the confection Nerds was called as such. And most of all, I asked (repeatedly) my friends what to write about.

Well, actually, I asked them to give a random word, hoping it might give me an idea. But I was wrong. I cannot think of anything sensible related to uni-corns, gangsters, drugs, kabaklaan, and Katy Perry. I will never ask those people again.

But I thank them. Their united “creativity” gave me an idea that I should write about weird people.

And that I should start with you.Wow, with so many things I like to

rant about you, I can’t think of a proper way to start. But then again, saying weird things about people doesn’t have to have a structured beginning. I can say you’re weird because you can’t accept the fact that you’re weird.

One day you regard me as family, but the moment the Olympians roar at you, I immediately become an inferior. You’re proud because you’re a professor, but you’re ashamed to admit that you are re folio full of rhyming mushiness and abyssal anger. (Oh hey, by the way, we’re accepting entries now for K-10.) I find it weird that my column is flagged “Half Deaf”. I find it weird that you’ve read this far and haven’t pondered.

You know, sometimes being weird is a good thing. Because come to think of

it, normal people are abnormal. Very ro-botic. Weird people, on the other hand, give spice to life. And in by being weird we become normal.

But sometimes, too, we should realize how weird we already are. Some-times we should realize that being weird is not entirely beneficial. That being weird may be fun, but sometimes we need a lit-tle sense in everything we do. We should also understand that when one is weird, there will always be someone weirder.

I don’t take weirdness in a way that he wears the stupidest outfit in school, or much he likes to pick is nose in public and not care. It’s all in the attitude.

I know you’ve noticed the title of this column. Yes, there’s something wrong with it. It’s the first word. It should be your name and not the word you.

Today, I asked a lot; and here’s an-other one.

Have you asked a lot today?--Halos lahat na lang sila, nag-Ta-

galog sa kanilang kolum. Salamat kay God; sa pamilya kong nagulat na mar-unong pala akong magsulat ng ganito; sa White & Blue; sa mga kaibigan (RLD at mga kaklase); at sa mga weird na tao. (Weird ba ang article ko? Comment na: gm_oreiro@yahoo.com)

Bata, bata, saan ka patungo?Sa halos lahat ata ng overpass sa Ba-

guio, may madaraanang namamali-mos. Mga matatanda. Mga may

kapansanan. Ang iba’y nagpapatugtog ng mga instrumentong pang-musika, ang iba’y nakaupo lamang sa semento, at ang iba’y palakad-lakad at nangungulit sa mga dumadaan. Kung minsa’y makata-tanggap ng limos mula sa mga may-kaya, kung minsa’y hindi pinapansin ng mga tao.

“Magtrabaho ka kaya.”Madaling magsalita. Madaling

sabihin sa kanilang magtrabaho at huwag lamang umasa sa ibang tao. Ngunit pano pa sila makahahanap ng trabaho kung mismong mga may pinag-aralan at mga propesyunal nga ay walang mapasukan?

At dahil nga sa kawalan ng traba-hong mapapasukan, sa mga Call Center ang bagsak ng masang Pilipino. Aanhin pa ang pagkuha ng apat o limang-taong kurso sa kolehiyo kung sa Call Center din lang naman ang mapupuntahan?

Mabuti naman ang pagkakaroon ng mga Call Center sapagkat naka-pagbibigay sila ng trabaho sa marami, ngunit kung ang mga empleyado ng mga ito ay mga gradweyt sa kolehiyo – mga inhinyero, mga nars, mga guro, at iba pa – sayang naman. Sayang na sayang. Sayang ang pinag-aralan. Sayang ang di-ploma. Basta sayang.

Sisisihin na naman ang pamaha-laan. “Bigyan niyo kasi kami ng magan-

dang trabaho.” Heto na naman. Paulit-ulit na hiling ng masang hipokrito. At pag nagkaroon ng problema, maliit man o malaki, siyempre kasalanan na na-man ng gobyerno. Wala nang ginawang tama ang gobyerno. Hindi man lang magawang pagsilbihan ng mabuti ang mga masisipag na Pilipino; sobrang sipag sa pagrereklamo.

Solusyon ng karamihan sa kawalan ng trabaho: pangingibang-bansa.

Kalat-kalat na ang mga Pilipino sa buong mundo. Saanmang sulok. Tingin sa kanan. Sa kaliwa. Sa harapan. Sa li-kuran. “Kababayan!”

Ngunit nangangahulugan nga bang magtatagumpay sa buhay kapag nakalabas na ng Pilipinas? Madaming kwentong nakararating sa bansa tungkol sa mga karanasan ng ating mga kaba-bayan. Hindi lahat ay kanais-nais. Mahi-rap daw ang buhay sa labas. Inapi daw sila ng mga employer nila. Mga ganoong kuwento ba.

At kung wala na talagang maipang-kain, magnanakaw na lang, manghohol-dap, mang-i-isnatch…

opinion

Dahil sa sobrang malilikot ang aming paningin at pandinig, muli kaming naglaan ng espasyo para magpatama sa mga taong natatamaan, nagkukunwaring hindi natatamaan o

sa mga kibit-balikat lang dahil sadyang hindi talaga naiintindihang siya na pala ang pinapatamaan. Bato, bato sa langit, ang tamaan gusto naming magalit.

Lao-lao MonkeyHindi lang naaasar ang mga estudyante kay Teacher; nagagalit na sila. Kung mamatol daw kasi si Teacher ay parang nakikipag-compete sa mga estudyante niya. Hindi ba second parent ang teachers? Pero siya raw, animo kaedad lang na nakikipag-cat fight. Teacher, manners naman. Bakit ka ba namemersonal? ‘Di ba dapat alam mo kung bakit ka tinawag na guro? Magtuturo ka po. At ang grade, nakukuha sa academic performance. At hindi lang ‘yun ang meron kay Teacher. Wala raw siyang ni katiting na care para sa klase niya at sobrang inconsiderate siya. Kung gawing major ang tinuturo niyang subject, akala mo walang bukas dahil ang demanding niya: kung now na, now na. Kahit lumuhod na ang mga kawawang bata na pagbigyan sila ng ilang araw dahil kasagsagan din sa ibang subjects nila na talagang major. Pero kahit mukha nang zombie ang mga ito, hindi talaga nagpapamigay si Teacher. Nagtataka tuloy ang mga estudyante niya kung saan nila gagamitin ang ching chong ching chang sa computer programming. O siya, keep figuring out. Ang tindi mo, Teacher! ‘Yan tuloy, ang baba ng evalua-tion mo. Ewan lang kung bakit hindi ka nila tatawanan.

The MoverSino naman kaya ‘tong nangengealam sa mga bagay-bagay? May naplano na nga’t naipakita na rin sa madlang people iyong plano e ‘nung actual na, aba an-daming nabago. Nalito tuloy ‘yung mga nagplano. At hindi na nila alam kung dapat ba talagang credited sa kanilang pangalan ‘yung nagawa. Kasi naman. Marunong naman pala siya sa planning e. O di sana siya na lang kasi gumawa para walang mga tituladong tao ang napapahiya.

Ceremonial HeadMaraming tanong pero wala siyang masagutan ni isa. Pinapasa na lang niya sa mga kasamahan niya. Buti pa sila alam. Tsk! Sure ba talaga siya na leader siya? Hanggang pagsusulat na lang ba ng pirma niya ang magagawa niya? Sus! Paki-gising naman siya o ‘di kaya patalsikin na. Kawawa kasi mga constituents niya.

Bato, bato sa langit, ang tamaan magkakasakit. Kung ang mga mata’y bukas at mga tenga’y walang tulele, sumugod sa aming opisina at magsumbong. Sama-sama tayong maging mapagmasid. Hanggang sa muling Da Hoy!

Kinakailangan, pero hindi sapat na dahilan para gumawa ng krimen. Kara-niwang naibabalita ang mga krimeng dulot ng kadesperaduahn. Wala daw maipakain sa maraming anak. Wala daw trabaho. Kaya nagawang biktimahin ang ibang tao. Ibang taong naghahanap-buhay.

Sa kawalan ng trabaho, nadada-gdagan ang mga makasalanan. At na-dadagdagan din ang mga biktima ng mga makasalanan.

Sino nga ba ang dapat na sisihin? Ang pangulo ba? Ang pamahalaan? Da-pat nga bang may sisihin pa? Pagsusumi-kap? Tiyaga? Karaniwang lumalabas sa bibig ng mga mamamayan. Pero ano nga ba ang pagsusumikapan at pagtitiyagah-an kung wala naman talagang makitang hanap-buhay?

Ano na nga bang mangyayari sa libu-libong magtatapos ng pag-aaral? Sa dinami-dami ng mga mag-aaral sa SLU, sa Lungsod ng Baguio, sa Pilipinas, ilan kaya ang makakahanap ng trabaho? Ilan kaya ang makatutupad sa kani-kanilang mga pangarap?

Saan nga ba tayo patungo? Saan tayo makararating?

Anu ba yan, nag-aaral pa lang ako, istressed na sa kawalan ng trabaho. Hay buhay…

Ah basta. Hawak ko ang kinabu-kasan ko. Hindi ko hahayang mapunta ito sa wala. Kayo ba?

diana ann bisares

grellyn paoad

rasha faye tulas

henri lomeus Ching

graCe miCah oreiro

Major majorShoutoutsGiant Steps, more conducive for tam-bayan na. Iyong Silang dungeon, kailan

naman kaya magiging conducive for learning? –Anne, BS N 4

Physically fit ang may sipon at lagnat. –Nixie, BS Psych 2Buti pa ang fountain park, may improvement. Dito nag-aagawan

pa kami ng upuan. –Jamie, BS ECE 3Cost equals benefit. Pero sa canteen, cost exceeds benefit. –Dina, BS Fin Man 3‘Yung sampung oras na tuloy-tuloy na exam, magtataka pa ba tayo kung iilan lang makakapasa? –Jay, BS AC 4

Shout them out loud! Visit the W&B office (SC-06) or the official Facebooktm page of W&B (http://www.facebook.com/whiteandblueslu)

mIkHAIL trIno mAsLAn

6

V-Pop?How Dracula would weep if

he found out that his kind, 20th Century version, are immune to garlic, basks in the rays of the sun, and are dashingly handsome. Actually, he wouldn’t weep, he’d personally plunge that stake deep into his heart. In broad daylight. In the middle of a garlic field.

First BloodWhen Bram Stoker penned

his debut novel, Dracula, his char-acter Vlad Dracula was a morbid image of grim desires and exotic personalities. Stoker claimed that Dracula was made “as a repre-sentation of a summarized evil, hungry for pleasure.” So far from today’s representations of vam-pires: nearly-perfect love-hungry men who would literally do ev-erything for their beloved mortal.

by grACe mICAH oreIro

Famous FangsStephenie Meyer’s Twilight

series triggered the sudden boom of vampire fandom. The phenom-enal vampire-loves-human story even made it to the big screen, gaining more followers. From then on various vampire novels have filled the shelves: The House of Night series, Vampire Academy series, Sookie Stackhouse series, Blue Moon, and even one by a Fil-ipina author (Melissa Dela Cruz), the Blue Bloods series. Not only have the vampires bitten novel-ists, TV producers as well. Buffy must be worried by now; she has a lot to slay, if she can make it past the legions of fans, that is. The “hot bros” from the Vampire Dia-ries (played by Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley) have made a lot of girls go wild. The HBO TV series, True Blood, has also caught a lot of attention with its very sexy theme.

With their sudden popular-ity, can it then be assumed that the once-bad creatures of the night are the new good guys?

What is a true vampire?Contrary to the now popu-

lar belief that vampires possess amazing skills and have divine physique, the first vampires were not that jaw-droppingly amazing. In fact, vampire-lore is rooted down to a sickness.

Leonard Wolf, on his Review: The Essential Dracula, explains Porphyria (popularly known as the “Vampirism”) as a medical condi-tion caused by the body’s failure to metabolize porphyrins (or he-

moglobins, or that of which trans-ports oxygen around the body). “As the disease grows worse, the skin blackens, swells and rup-tures when exposed to the sun with hair growing from the sores; when porphyrins become caustic, flesh-eating toxins cause grue-some facial disfigurement when exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Noses and ears can be eaten away with lips exhibiting a red, burned effect until they peel back from the gums that in turn recede, exposing the teeth in an unnatural, fang-like appearance.”

From that description, it ap-pears that vampires evolved from gruesome, disease-ridden crea-

The art from heartyou have not yet seen Bagu-

io until you have seen the breath-taking artworks in this museum. Philippine national artist Bene-dicto Cabrera established the BenCab museum which houses his masterpieces and that of other renowned Filipino artists. it aims to protect the environment, preserve the culture of Cordil-lera, and bring arts closer to the people. The creation of this mu-seum is BenCab's way of giving back to his country that served as his inspiration over the years.

located at Km 6 asin road, it is accesible through public or private transportation.

The edifice itself is a piece of art. entering the different gal-

leries is an adventure in a maze that choosing an artwork to see first poses a challenge. There are around nine galleries in the mu-seum. Two galleries that can be spotted right below the recep-tion area are the indigo Gallery and the Print Gallery. The indigo Gallery is where exhibitions and art shows are held. For the du-ration of september 11th until november 9th, the museum will be presenting the works of eight Philippine art award recipients from the Cordillera with the likes of leonard aguinaldo, Jordan mang-osan, and augusto elopre in an exhibition called Highland 8. on the other hand, the Print Gallery features “estampas” dat-ing back to the spanish occupa-

tion in the country. estampas are copper engravings which the conquistadors used as visual aids in Christian faith propagation.

as you journey the musuem, two contemporary art galleries showcasing new media of art such as pyrography, rubber-cut-ting, and assemblage would enliv-en your eyes. For a blast from the past feel, the Cordillera Gallery is a best fit. It contains artifacts rang-ing from furniture and weapons to anitos stemming from various places in the highlands region. The erotica Gallery incorporates artworks with provocative themes.

For the works of the vision-ary himself, enter the BenCab Gallery. it highlights his artistry that has been long recognized from the 60s up to the pres-ent. in the maestro Gallery, a selection of works from other Filipino masters can be viewed.

after seeing the artworks, bask in the beauty of the gar-

den below the museum, take a seat in the café, and sip a cup of tea while watching a mar-velous view of the sunset.

Riddles of SabelHer name seems to echo in

every gallery. Her melancholic paleness encompasses the strokes and splashes of every color paint-ed on canvass. even the café be-low the edifice is named after her. Who exactly is sabel? sabel is BenCab's vagrant muse in his nu-merous works. Cabrera saw her in front of his sta. Cruz home in manila and with the eye of a true artist, he started incorporating her in paintings and sculptures. sabel represents the distant sadness and inequalities of the society.

as artist inspires another artist, agnes locsin, a renowned choreographer, has made a mod-ern dance interpretation of her titled “sayaw sabel”. it shows the adversities faced by the Filipinos in the present times. it has been per-formed in different places in the

Sparkly complexion, hypnotizing sexy voice, godlike swoon-inducing looks, and a wide fanbase of mostly teenage girls. No, this is not about East-

Asian idols. This is about vampires. Surprise, surprise.

tures into beautiful objects of as-piration. Truly awe-inspiring.

So, do vampires really suck?Vampires seem to find a

way to wiggle themselves into most of the entertainment me-dia. But, of course, not everyone continues to be smitten with their charm. With the appearance of so many vampires, they become part of today’s culture; no longer exciting, and sometimes a tad bit tiresome. With the appear-ance of the film Vampires Suck, it becomes more prominent that a lot of people frown upon the sudden invasion of vampires.

However, even if Dracula might object about his succes-sor’s overall presence, it still boils down to people’s preferences.

In the beginning when people were just musing on their

muses and panting on other people's paintings, the greens of the Cordille-ras were slowly dissolving

into the colors of concrete. The visionaries, in hopes of preserving the picturesque, started to give impres-sions of it on canvass. With the creation of the BenCab museum, these kaleidoscopic pieces found a home.

Philippines and might someday be featured here in Baguio City.

Biting the appleif a picture is worth a thou-

sand words then this article would have been interminable. The di-verse artworks present themes pointing to opposite directions but what is similar to all of them is that they have the power to evoke strong emotions just by their mere sight. True artistry has found its place here in the pines and it is as if we are the adams and eves taking a bite of the forbidden apple. Through these artworks we are able to grasp the nuts and bolts revolving around us. We forgot that we used to enjoy the sceneries our place used to have and sometimes we couldn't see the realities that this world has somehow found a way of hiding in its closet. a paradise lost is now found. Take a bite in the apple and see for yourself.

by XyLene tAndoC

news

Mahirap mag-isip. Nakakapa-god, lalo na kung marami kang iniisip. Pero mas mahi-

rap pala kapag walang maisip. Mag-iisip ka kasi muna ng dapat mong isipin bago mo masimulang isipin ang dapat mong isipin. Napa-isip ka? Huwag na. Mahirap iyan.

Bilang news editor, kabilang sa ak-ing job description ang mag-isip at man-galap ng mga balitang karapat-dapat na malimbag sa White & Blue. Sa totoo lang, mahirap ang mag-isip at mangalap ng balita sa isang “boring” na paaralan. Upang makapangalap ng balita, madalas ay sumasangguni ako sa mga hinala ko o sa hinala ng ibang tao na nakakarat-ing sa akin. Ang mga hinalang ito ay hinahanapan naming mga manunulat ng ebidensiya at sanggunian upang ma-patunayan ang katotohanan nito. Kung ang hinala ay mapapatunayang totoo, ito ay maisasama sa mga balitang ililim-bag upang malaman ng mga estudyante. Kung hindi naman, ang mga hinalang ito ay ililimbag lamang upang maiparat-ing sa mga estudyante na walang katoto-hanan ang naturang hinala.

Sa tuwing naghihinala kami, mad-alas na tinatawag kaming “assuming”?

According to Armando Lerma, BABESSODA president, the forego-ing fare rates remain notwithstanding the fact that the regular travel distance from the SLU Main Campus to the Maryheights campus normally require two rides and that the transport to ei-

School Service Group justifies high fare rateby JoHn erICson mILLAno And sHIeLA sAndovAL

Baguio Benguet School Service Operators and Drivers Association, Inc. (BABESSODA) refused to decrease existing fare rates to and from the Saint Louis University Maryheights Campus despite the adminis-tration and SLU passengers’ request to cut the charges.

GREEN ZONE. A waste depot being constructed near the covered courts facilitates effective waste disposal to avoid disturbing P.E. classes during garbage collection. photo by orange happee omengan

ther of the two destinations would end up with no backload.

He added that the terrain of the road path is zigzag, thus requiring more gasoline consumption.

“Gusto sana ni Father (Father President Jessie Hechanova) na iba-

ba ang rate namin na. Pero wala kasi kaming backload kaya imbes na singi-lin namin sila ng monthly, double pay per ride na lang. Multiply 26-27 days, kulang pa rin. Di pa rin macover ‘yung sinsingil namin na monthly, (Fr. Jes-sie hechanova asked if we can reduce our fare rates, but we declined because travel to either of the campuses have no backload. So, instead of collecting monthly charges, we collect double ride rates. Even if you multiply it with

assumingPero maling tawagin kaming ganoon dahil magkaiba ang “assuming” sa naghi-hinala.

Ang naghihinala ay naghahanap ng ebidensya, nangangalap ng inpormasyon, at nag-iisip ng kritikal bago gumawa ng konklusyon. Sa hinala, nabubuo ang kuro-kuro. Sa pagbuo ng kuro-kuro, nagsisimula ang pagtatanong. Sa pagta-tanong, nakapag-iisip tayo ng malalim. Sa pag-iisip ng malalim, na-uungkat ang katotohanan. Ang naghihinala ay nag-iimbestiga.

Samantala, ang taong “assuming” kasi ay ipinapalagay na totoo ang kan-yang mga hinala kahit na wala pa itong ebidensya. Ang kanyang basehan sa ka-totohanan ay ang kanyang sarili lamang. Ang kahalintulad ng isang assuming na tao ay ang mga chismoso at chismosa. Ip-inapakalat nila ang kanilang mga hinala na parang isang totoong balita. Nagkaka-lat sila ng mga kasinungalingan. Dahil dito, dapat tayong mag-ingat. Minsan, mas magagaling at malikhain sila kaysa sa mga tunay na mamamahayag. Ngunit mag-ingat din dapat sila dahil makaka-bangga ng mga nagkakalat ng kasinun-galingan ang mga nagpapalaganap ng katotohanan.

Sa huli, mahalaga pa rin ang ating mga hinala, huwag lang itong magamit sa masama. Dahil sa mga hinala natin makukuha ang mga bagay na pilit itina-tago mula sa atin.

Noong nakaraang hostage tak-ing, may ilang mga taga-Hong Kong ay naghinala na sinadya ng Pilipinas ang mabagal at palpak na pagresponde. Ke-syo kung mga Kano daw ang nakasakay, baka nagkandarapa na daw ang Pilipinas at pinatay na agad ang hostage taker. Dahil dito, may mga Pilipinong nama-masukan sa Hong Kong ang tinanggal sa trabaho o kaya nama’y nakakaranas ng diskriminasyon. Ito ang pagiging “as-suming.” Hindi naman porke’t malapit tayo sa mga Kano ay hindi na natin inii-sip ang kapakanan ng mga taga-Hong Kong. Marahil ay nagkataon lang. Nag-kataon lang na nahostage sila sa Pilipi-nas. Nagkataon lang na walang sapat na kasanayan at kagamitan ang mga pulis

According to the resolution, Saint Louis University refused to pro-vide teaching loads to Pongod and Docayso starting first semester even though both have been teaching in the University for the past five years. UFESLU also claimed that both teachers are qualified, having earned their masteral degrees. Nepomuceno, on the other hand, was allegedly placed by the University on forced leave without teaching load for the whole school year 2010-2011.

“[The act of SLU management] is capricious, unchristian, violative of the spirit of the laws and the CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement] and definitely unacceptable,” the Union claimed. “The rights of work-ers, more specifically relating to se-curity of tenure and the due process, have always been issues upon the University for it to respect in full, but apparently to no avail.”

It also claimed that SLU shows that its exercise of management pre-rogative is as if it is “without any limitation or condition, particularly in discharging its employees from their work.”

Meanwhile, in Resolution No. 7-1310-2, UFESLU declared its sup-port for UFESLU’s Secretary General

Aldrin Apolonio, who was dismissed by SLU Management.

According to the reports, Apo-lonio allegedly gave grades to a student whose class card has been dropped. With this, the Dean of the School of Humanities, Dr. Lilian Gandeza, initiated an investigation on the case of Apolonio. The resolution defended Apolonio, arguing that the grades giv-en to the student bears the approval of the Administration itself.

UFESLU also found it unjust on how Apolonio’s request for inhibi-tion of the Legal officer of the Univer-sity from hearing the complaint was denied.

Nevertheless, UFESLU saw that the penalty of immediate dismissal of Apolonio, whether he was guilty or not, was “beyond bounds, dispropor-tionate, unjust and too harsh.” They also claimed that a letter seeking for reconsideration submitted to the SLU Administration was not acted upon.

“UFESLU, ever aware of its duty to protect from injustice the rank-and-file employees of the bar-gaining unit they may be as members or officers of the union, will have to be vigilant to check on the uncalled-for acts and policies of the SLU Ad-ministration,” the resolution stated.

26-27 days, it will still not compensate for our expected monthly income),” Lerma explained.

The approved fare rates per pas-senger are (1) P 15.00 from SLU Main Campus (A. bonifacio St.) to the Maryheights Campus (Bakakeng); (2) P10.00 from SLU Maryheights Cam-pus to City proper (Harrison Rd.); and (3) P 6.00 from SLU SVP Housing and nearby Barangays to SLU Mary-heights Campus.

For the LouisiansEspiritu also requested in a meet-

ing to place loading areas near St. Vin-cent Parish and Baguio Convention Center, where most students of the School of Accountancy and Business Management (SABM) come from. However, he clarified that this proposal need approval from the city officials.

“Negotiations are still ongoing. Marami pang inaadjust si Sir Espiritu. Pinag-aaralan pa kaya di pa lumalabas

ng Pilipinas. Nagkataon lang na mga taga-Hong Kong ang nahostage. Marahil nga ay nagkataon lang.

Nasasabi ko ito dahil matapos ang pag-iimbestiga ng Incident Investigation and Research Committee, napatunayang walang kahit ano sa mga hinala ng ilang mga taga-Hong Kong ang sinadya. Napa-tunayan rin na papanagutin ng gobyerno ng Pilipinas ang mga dapat managot sa malagim na pangyayari. Mag-imbestiga kasi tayo. Hindi puro banat lang. Kahit pa sila ang nag-hinala, tayo ang nag-imb-estiga dahil kailangan nating patunayan sa kanila na sila ay nagkamali.

Gayunpaman, inako na ng Pilipi-nas ang pagkakamali. Iyon kasi ang to-too. Nagkulang tayo at tinatanggap natin iyon.

Naging parte ng imbestigasyon na ito ang media, ang mga mamamahayag. Ipinapakita lamang dito ang halaga ng media sa isang organisasyon. Hindi epek-tibo ang isang organisasyon kung walang media na matapang, walang maglalahad ng katiwalian. Higit sa lahat, walang me-dia na mag-iimbestiga. Kung walang me-dia na matapang, mapupuno ang isang organisasyon ng mga taong “assuming”. Kung walang media, magiging tahanan

ang isang organisasyon ng katamaran. Assuming din kasi ang mga taong

tamad. Assuming ang mga taong tinata-mad mag-isip. Assuming ang mga taong tamad mag-imbestiga. Ang paglaganap ng mga taong ganito ang pinipigilan naming dumami sa pamamagitan ng aming pamamahayag.

Gumagawa kami ng diyaryo hindi dahil gusto naming magpasikat. Gum-agawa kami ng diyaryo dahil gusto namin ng mga Louisian na naghihinala at nag-iimbestiga. Gumagawa kami ng newspa-per dahil ayaw namin ng mga Louisian na assuming. Ayaw namin ng mga Loui-sian na tamad at walang pakialam. Ayaw na namin ng SLU na boring.

***Salamat kina Brigida Cecilia at

Zosimo, ang aking mga magulang, at kay Lakan Maginoo at Sanata, ang ak-ing mga kapatid. Salamat sa aking mga kaibigan at sa aking mga hindi kasundo. Salamat sa White and Blue. Salamat sa Diyos.

May hinala ka? Ipadala sa banoarabratique@gmail.com.

Iimbestigahan natin iyan.

UFESLU backs up... from p/1

‘yung kontrata (Sir Espiritu is adjusting some things which is why the contract isn’t out yet),” Lerma said.

School transport vehicles with BABESSODA load passengers inside the university campus from 7 AM to 10:30 AM during class days and un-load them within Maryheights cam-pus.

However, due to the high de-mand from passengers, a 12:30 PM to 1:30 PM schedule of service was also approved. But, Bakakeng jeepney driv-ers, claiming that they are losing their customers, complained on the added schedule.

BABESSODA said that they will ensure that the transport vehicles are road worthy and are being operated within the requirements and bounds of law.

“We will also ensure discipline and order on the process of transport-ing, loading and unloading of passen-gers,” Lerma added.

students. Bautista clarified that there are already streetlights along the road going to Gate 1. However, about street-lights within Bakakeng, he said that it was beyond SLU’s jurisdiction.

Moreover, the petition included lack of curtains on each classroom. He said they requested for curtains for each classroom, but Fr. Jessie Hecha-nova refused the request. “We would not know what other classes [on the other wing] are doing. Also, we must appreciate the scenery – the pine trees,” he said.

Furthermore, the petition also cited that the announcements over the paging system cause too much distur-bance. Bautista argued that the paging system is still helpful.

According to Bautista, the imme-diate responses in announcements are

Anomymous Petition Tackled... from p/1

also highlighted in the event. In the said symposium-lecture, it was stated that organically grown products are more expensive because they are not commercialized yet. However, the advocates of organic farming argued that we are buying our environment’s future and our body’s health.

Miss Philippines-Earth... from p/2

clear indications that the paging system is beneficial. “Before, when announce-ments were made through papers, we get no response. But with this paging system, we get response the very min-ute we make announcements.” He also stressed the significance of the paging system on finding owners of cars in the parking area.

Bautista challenged the students, especially the leaders, to set examples, stressing that the problems are the re-sponsibility of all.

He appealed to students to report immediately to the Dean’s Office even simple matters such as damaged door-knobs and windows.

“Let’s help one another. This is our second home. Everyday, there are improvements. We cannot just see them as of now,” he concluded.

The Baguio-leg was graced by Sandra Inez Seifert, Miss Philippines-Earth 2009, and Grezilda Adelantar, Miss Philippines-Eco Tourism 2009, who headed an open forum for the students. Participating Louisians actively raised questions about the environment which were responded by the outgoing titleholders.

The White & Blue broadsheet issue, Volume XIV, Issue I released on September 2010, had the following errors:In the photo caption (page 2), the SABM was spelled out incorrectly as School of Business Management when it should have been School of Accountancy and Business Management.In the article by Shiela Mae Macaraeg (page 4) with the title, “KASAMA-SSC party vows to transcend divergences”, the surname of Atty. Jason Rueda Barlis was misspelled as Barlines (first paragraph).

banoar abratiQue

photo by raiza veridiano

ILLustrAtIon by FLorA mAe sAntos

8

Seventeen years of life. I have lived seventeen years of life. Seventeen years of mornings

and nights, of summer and rain. And in this span of seventeen years, I understood that though books read and people say that life is beautiful, that we can reach our dreams, that happiness is a choice; sometimes, life turns out to be unfair, and dreams at times are merely distant dreams, and happiness…yes, happiness can every so often be just an abstract thought, foreign from us. I cannot talk now of joy, of happiness, or of contentment, because I myself might not be hav-ing those things right now. So will I babble about the meaning of life? Or perhaps its purpose? Nay, I am seventeen and I haven’t experienced the life of the old, of those who have fared the weight of the world; who have fought tooth and nail to fend off death, or cancer, or hunger. I have not yet been placed in the front line of a war, nor have I written a book, rode a train, or changed a dim fluo-rescent bulb by myself, or even most specially: I haven’t washed a com-plete set of clothes I wore for a day. Seventeen years of dawns and dusks and I haven’t even bled my hands into scrubbing my jeans and scratch-ing the stains of my tops.

How indecent is that? How did I even become possible? So how can I, a person of age seventeen, talk about what is life is, what hardship is, or what sacrifice is? I’m a hypocrite, an imba even, to breathe seventeen years of my life without haven’t even trying to pay back how my clothes covered my nakedness, warmed my body, and brought me to places I could have never stepped on nor seen without my clothes wrapping me around.

What now? It would be but proper for me—a seventeen-year-old-person—to continue living my life by first, washing the complete set of clothes I wore yesterday, so that I might have the slightest right to talk about how philosophers and old peo-ple speak about life, love, human ex-istence, and all that. Let’s say that as lazy, irresponsible, and ungrateful as I am for not washing my own clothes, I have already brilliantly washed and pressed and tucked my clothes neatly in my closet, thus, handing me my ticket to talk about what I know of life.

Our life is what we make of it. We tuck ourselves to apathy, indif-ference, and silence, and the whole world lets us be. We tambay, sleep all day, walk around, and frolic with the computer, and the whole world lets us be. We bury our feelings for the people we love so badly, and the whole world lets us be. We decide to be a member of the dispirited, anti-social, and unconcerned class of people who finds the joy of others shallow and the ear-reaping laughter of people irritating, and the whole world lets us be. The whole world JUST lets us…be!

God gave us life, that we may live it; friends, that we may have peo-ple to talk and laugh and share our thoughts with; family, that we may belong; schooling, that we may end up feeding our own families when the time comes; and dreams, that we may have something to risk for, to live for, and to die for; and men and women we’d marry, that we may be complete and whole. And clothes; that we may wash them ourselves after we dirty them. Now, God or whoever it is out there whom you believe to have the world and time and plants and men possible, is giving you NOW. Yes, he is giving you this time on earth that you may live. So go on, yes, LIVE.

Good cop turned badThe image is chillingly calm. A snapshot of the hostage-taking shows a parked tourist bus with some of the passengers peeking through closed curtains. A fully-uniformed policeman, with an M-16 slung on his shoulders, stands on the door of the vehicle, his face expressionless. Yet, not many hours later, the same armalite would riddle holes in the bodies of the hos-tages in their little prison, and the man with the gun would have his brains splattered on the ground.

Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza brought the world’s spotlight to the Philippines. His brazen move, with its bloody aftermath, put a strain on the relationship between the country he had once sworn to protect, and Hong Kong, the country he had brought sor-row upon.

Amidst the grief and the disbelief, and the lingering smell of teargas and gunpowder, the world asked its questions. “Who was Rolando Mendoza, and what had caused the man to commit the crime?”

Interestingly, the hostage taker is an awarded and a decorated member of his pro-fession. Entering the police force in 1981, Men-doza has earned 17 awards from the Philippine National Police, including multiple citations, and has also managed to snag a place in the Ten Outstanding Policemen of the Philippines for the year 1986.

Yet, the model policeman’s spotless re-cord was marred when he was dismissed from his post early in January for his alleged involve-ment in drug-related crimes and extortion. To-gether with four other policemen, Mendoza was charged guilty of grave misconduct for allegedly forcing Christian Kalaw, a chef of the Mandarin Hotel, to swallow shabu and for ex-torting P20, 000 from him during interrogation.

Mendoza, who was nearing retirement, was stripped of his retirement benefits and was disqualified from holding any government po-sition.

Civilian reaction The typical Monday routine of the Philippines was in-

terrupted as news about the bus-hijacking blasted from televisions and radios. The people were hooked to their screens as the media coverage provided continuous live broadcast of the incident; it was a shame, however, that it was not just local airing, but televised internationally.

As the 12-hour ordeal dragged on and reached its bloody end, the masses turned to the World Wide Web to express their thoughts and reactions. Social networking sites buzzed.

The story dominated the headlines and was splashed on the pages of local and national newspapers. Cover-age on the aftermaths continued on for days. Reactions continued to flow, most of which are negative and accus-ing.

The Philippines was put on stage and scrutinized by the critics of the world. Filipinos felt shame. They were an-gry at how the situation was handled. They started point-ing fingers.

The competence of the country’s police force was questioned. Their hostage-taking situation tactics were frowned upon. They began to be labeled as useless and non-professional.

Some blamed it on incompetent leadership, both po-lice and presidential.

Ideas on how the incident should have been handled were everywhere. “The police should have acted with dispatch.” “A credible negotiator should have been ap-pointed.” “The police should have taken action earlier when Mendoza showed up near the bus door.”

While some Filipinos squirmed in disgrace, some still showed signs of disrespect. Photos of female students and police officers taking pictures while smiling in front of the bus floated online, angering the Chinese community even more than it already was.

On airMedia coverage on the Quirino Grandstand hostage

taking was extensive. Everything was aired. There was no media blackout. Partly because it was demanded by Mendoza himself. “Media Now. Deadlock” stated one of the handwritten demands he posted on the bus window. Even how the police manhandled Mendoza’s brother was covered, aggravating the situation. Mendoza specifically told the police to not touch or harm his brother. He was monitoring the news from the vehicle’s television. Shots were heard from the bus almost immediately after Men-doza’s brother was taken away.

Liability is now also put on the shoulders of media or-ganizations. Had their coverage caused the hostage-tak-er to go amok? Had the coverage accidentally leaked the plans to the suspect? Nonetheless, the media played a big part in the hostage drama.

The IIRC report recommended actions against Radio Mo Nationwide broadcaster Michael Rogas after his un-coordinated interview with the hostage taker in the course of the hijacking. Mendoza also demanded to talk to GMA reporter Susan Enriquez. Aside from local news organiza-tions, the incident was also broadcasted internationally with CNN’s live coverage.

Media has great power, but right now, major networks and media organizations vowed publicly to review their coverage ethics and draft new rules that regulate these kinds of situations.

The world watched as the live broadcast was deliv-ered with nothing cut off. And the world reacted.

After the smoke has cleared The Philippines has just gone through a dark phase in

its history. There will be more, but hopefully we would be able to face the next ones as one united nation and not make the same mistakes. Cliché as it may be, we should learn from our mistakes so history would not repeat itself.

August 23, 2010. It was a day of grief and shame as the Philippines bore witness to a tragedy that would put the nation under unwanted limelight. The Quirino Grand-stand hostage taking filled the airwaves for 12 hours. The country waited tensely as

the situation unfolded and ended in the tragic death of a former police officer and eight Hong Kong tourists.

Mathematics of failure Manila’s Finest. The Philippines’ Best Police Force.

All of a sudden, Manila’s Panis. The Philippines’ Best Foolish Force.

The Philippine police was buried in shame and dis-grace after the tragic conclusion of the 12-hour hos-tage drama. In the eyes of the whole world, the assault was more than just a failure of execution. It was a failure to prepare.

With the lack of experience in handling hostage cri-ses, Manila police was scrutinized for sending the wrong people to do the job. According to the report, the Spe-cial Action Force should have been sent instead of the Special Weapons and Tactics Group. The SAF is the sec-tion of the Police who received the appropriate training for incidents like this. However, they were called only as back-up in bringing down one armed man.

There were also no psychological experts who could have assessed the situation and give their expert advice to the police.

Adding it to the equipment-impotence of the po-lice, even if they had an erect plan, they still didn’t have enough loaded guns and protection on. Having no Kevlar vests to protect the assault team, the evident hesitation of the team staggered the take down plan making it last around one hour.

Raise it to the power of Philippine politics. With no established ground chain of command, everyone in need of publicity entered the scene including the Mayor Alfredo Lim and actor-turned-vice-mayor Isko Moreno who apparently wanted to help resolve the crisis that put the country’s capital in the limelight. The vice-mayor-turned- negotiator took the solution to his hands when he bargained with the Office of the Om-budsman who was hearing the case of the hostage-taker. According to the Incident Investigation and Re-view Committee, the breach in the chain of command aggravated the crisis. It bypassed the authority of the Police on the incident.

Multiply it to the lack of tactics of the police whose first apparent plan was to wear out the

hostage taker. Then, when the hostage taker seemed to show no sign of tiring, they decid-ed to assault. However, their assault turned

out as a big comedy show. Without knowledge on how to get inside the bus and take the hostage-taker down, they tried hammering the windows and throwing teargas inside. It ended up further angering the already furious Mendoza and also blinding the hostages. They tried pulling out the hydraulic door, but they ended up pulling out a joke.

Subtract the quick decision making skills of the police who had all the open opportunity to take Mendoza down. At one instance, the snipers could have easily shot him while he was openly staring out the window of the bus. At another instance, the negotiator could have grappled him down while he was talking with Mendoza unarmed. On both in-stances, the Police just watched the opportunity pass away and persisted with their wear-out plan.

Divide the blame that nobody wanted to claim. But does the police deserve of a greater part of it?

Maybe? Maybe not? But the police evidently received most of the humiliation and criticism.

Most of scapegoats had been top police chiefs of Ma-nila. Accountability on the incident was placed mostly on the police. Police Chief Inspector Gen. Rodolfo Magtibay, the Chief of Manila Police District, and Gen. Leocadio San-tiago, the Regional Director of the National Capital Region Police Office, were relieved from their respective positions. PNP Chief Jesus Versoza, Lt. Col. Orlando Yebra, Police Chief Inspector Major Santiago Pascual III, Magtibay and Leocadio will also be facing raps after the face value inves-tigation of the Incident Investigation and Review Commit-tee (IIRC) created by the Aquino government to appease the Hong Kong government. The investigation was, in fact, demanded by Hong Kong head of Government Donald Chang in his statement addressed to the Philippines.

The hostage-taking brought back past issues and rumors, some of them in support of Mendoza’s innocence and some them unpleasant. Mendoza had also been involved in a gang rape charge, but the case was dismissed af-ter the complainant failed to show in court. Regarding the Kalaw case, the trigger behind the charges filed against Mendoza was a vi-ral e-mail sent by Christian’s father, Bob Kalaw, which detailed the crime allegedly committed by Mendoza and his companions to his son. Yet, the internet abounded with rumors that the issue was just a front to protect the rich family’s reputation, since, allegedly, Christian Kalaw was really a drug addict.

Mendoza, during the hostage-taking, asked to be re-instated into office and be cleared of the charge filed against him, in exchange for the safe release of the hostages. Hours later, he was still demanding for the same thing until a bullet to his temple ended his life.

Criminal or not, guilty or really innocent, Mendoza’s actions have cost the lives of eight people and brought trauma and shock to those who survived. He brought tremendous grief to the families of those he killed and also to the Chinese people. The innocent victims, the women, the children, what they just wanted is a leisurely tour, but instead they got a trip to hell and an experience of human darkness.

As a consequence, the Philippines had to deal with the fury of the international commu-nity, and bear in its conscience the unwanted death of many people.

In the end, Mendoza became a traitor to his calling. By boarding the bus and massacring its passengers, he failed to uphold the law and instead brought harm to the public which he had vowed to serve and protect.

Yet, one question also remains. How dirty, how crooked, how bad, is the Philippine justice system to transform a good cop, if Mendoza really is, into the traitor and murderer he has manifested into?

seventeen and Washing

Clothes

by bAnoAr AbrAtIque, rAsHA FAye tuLAs, And greLLyn PAoAd

hazel luy

illustration by mikhail trino maslan

11

Sumisigaw na ang alarm clock. Bumangon ka na. Kasi naman, kahit na kaninang alas-tres ng madaling araw pa yan i-set, isu-snooze mo din iyan hanggang sa kada kaka-“five minutes pa” eh 7:30 ka na gumising. Hay, Lunes pala ngayon at talaga namang parang may super strong magnetic force sa pagitan ng iyong likod at kama kaya sobrang hirap bumangon.

To ligo or to not ligo. Ang crucial ng desisyon na ito dahil dito nakasalalay ang hotness rate mo for your entire life. And yes, you settled with the lesser smell. Wisik-wisik na lang muna dahil umaasa kang maayos din ‘yun mamaya. Damit naman. Fashion or comfort ang labanan. Ang hirap pumili ng clothe ensemble for the day. Andami kasing pwedeng combination with your mall-of-a-kind closet . Angas maglakad sa daan papuntang sakayan ng dyip ah. Dinala sa porma ang ‘di paliligo. Ayos.

Ayan, may dyip na pagkatapos ng anim na dekadang paghihintay. Pa-susyal ka pa ring umangkas sa dyip. May nalalaman pang side view sa pagsakay. Wala palang bakanteng upuan. At ang sinasabing magkabilaan ng drayber ay nangangahulugan lamang na isang pisngi ng pwet sa kaliwang dulong harapan at isang pisngi ng pwet sa kanang dulong likod ang maaring maupo. Kumbaga half-half lang.

Nasa main gate ka na. Daming estudyante ah. Ang yaman ng iniibig mong unibersidad. May security guard pa. Hwops. Smile. Kaharap si manong guard na manunusok ng bag. Trinatong dip ang bag mo at pretzels naman ang kanyang drumstick. Pagkatapos, tinignan ka head to toe. Nakatsinelas ka. Lagot. Pinapauwi ka. Tingin sa kaliwa. May babaeng kasing amoy mo pero parang isang linggo nang sira ang heater

nila. Siya ay maputi, tsinita, at nakatsinelas din. Inobserbahan mo saglit at, aba, tinusok lang din ni other-kuya-guard ang mas branded na bag ni Miss Foreigner. Walang sali-salita, pinapasok siya. Kinausap mo si manong guard na baka pwedeng papasukin ka din. Ayaw talaga. Napa-formulate ka tuloy ng theory na baka ayaw pa-discover ni manong ang kanyang nakaka-nosebleed na English-speaking skills. Umalis ka na lang na may dala-dalang hinanakit. Ayos lang naman sa iyo kung hindi ka pinapasok eh. Ang matindi lang talaga ay ‘yung porke’t mas maputi siya, mas sosyal na ang pagtusok ni manong guard sa bag niya.

Hagdan. Sanlibong yapak ng hagdanan. Pumasok sa klasrum. Umupo sa silya na umuungol sa bawat galaw na sa kaunting pagkakamali lang ay pwede nang gawing firewood.

Salamat naman at hindi mo ipe-face-to-face ang mga

Malumay ang sinag ng araw na dumadampi sa masutlang balat, mga punong usbong sa luntian at kay hihitik sa bunga, payapa ang hangin at masasayang huni ng ibon lamang ang naririnig sa paligid. Habang katabi sa lilim ng puno ang kaisa-isang taong nais makasama habang buhay. Dahan-dahang naglalapit ang dalawang pares ng labi. Mabilis ang pintig ng

puso na wari’y sasabog na bulkan sa kaba at saya. Kaunting-kaunti na lang. Nang biglang sumabog na nga ang bulkan.

tao sa SAO ngayon. Buti na lang mas nauna ka at may 30 seconds kayong agwat ni Ma’am na mabilis pa ring tumakbo kahit nirarayuma na . Sinimulan ng guro ang pagtuturo. Sinimulan mo ding maghanap ng mainam na posisyon para comfortable at concealed ang pinaplano mong pagbibyahe sa kalawakan. Malapit ka na sanang maglanding sa Uranus nang biglang nagpa-“bring out one whole sheet” si Ma’am. Halukay sa bag mong hindi pa na-ge-general cleaning magmula noong enrolment. Walang papel. Buti na lang may superhero sa klasrum ninyo. Nagmamakaawang sigaw ng lahat ang kanyang pangalan, “Uy, Paper Man”. Mabait si Paper Man. Kaya siguro bilang kabayaran ng kanyang heroic deeds ay nasa Dean’s List siya.

Heto naman ang sa kantina. Cashier. ‘Andyan na siya. Palapit na sa babaeng nakapula. Walang ngiting nakaukit sa kanyang mga

labi at may mahahaba siyang kuko na pangkalmot sakaling malaki ang halaga ng pera mo at wala siyang panukli. Pero hindi mo makuhang mag-alala dahil sakto ang iyong dala kasi kusa kang nagpaholdap sa mga resident Silang goblins na nasa likod ng rehas noong midterm

Lumipas ang isang araw sa loob ng itinuturing mong pangalawang tahanan. Uwian na naman. Palabas ka na ng main gate at madami na namang buhay na tuod na nakaupo sa may hagdanan. Madaming tao sa lilim ng gate. Disco lights na lang ay pwede nang magmukhang bar at dance floor ang shed. Ikaw naman, tuyong naghihintay ng hudyat, kasabay ang mga kasama mong makikibaka sa pagtawid ng pedestrian lane. Para lang kayong mga batang nagpapatintero na kapag nakakita ng pagkakataong may kaunting layo sa pagitan ng mga sasakyang humaharurot ay sabay-sabay magba-battle cry ng “Sugoood!” para lumakas ang loob na labanan ang powers ng ulan.

Pagkatawid, karamihan sa mga kasabayan mo ay dumiretso sa kanilang mga suking internet shops para mag-DotA o mag-Peysbuk. Napakamot ka na lang ng ulo dahil magkakaklase kayo at may paparating na delubyo bukas sa Advanced Calculus class niyo.

Pauwi ka na. Payapa ang iyong loob dahil tapos na ang Lunes na mortal enemy ng buong santinakpan. Nakarating sa wakas sa boarding house. Nagrebyu daw kunyari pero ang totoo eh pinadaanan lang ang notebook na walang laman, Gutom ulit. Inihanda at binuksan ang supot na naglalaman ng ulam ngayong gabi. Piniga ang supot na parang binabanlawang damit. Pilit sinusulit ang ulam na nabili sa halagang 40 pesos. Ibinawi sa kanin ang salat na ulam. Busog. Naalala mong hindi ka pa naliligo. Sira pa rin ang heater. Ise-set mo pa ang cellphone alarm clock mo sa 3 am, pero hinihila ka na ng iyong kama. dahil may date ka pa ulit mamaya sa ilalim ng puno kasama ang kaisa-isang taong nais mong makasama habang buhay.

entertainment

by eLoIsA FAye sImon

“When you reach the little house, the place your journey started, you will recognize it, although it will seem much smaller than you remember. Walk up the path, and through the

garden gate you never saw before but once. And then go home. Or make a

home. And rest.” - Neil Gaiman (Instructions)

***

There’s always that which we’ll call home. It is that where we find refuge; our happy place.

To most of us, it is often, literally, a place; though sometimes, we find it in the company of certain people, or in a fading memory. It’s that which washes away our pain and regrets, like rain; so that when we are off to start another trek out into the world, we start anew with nothing but a light heart and a bag filled with laughter and happy thoughts. In it, we find who we really are and get to be nothing but that; not needing to pretend to be someone else just to make ourselves acceptable. When we find ourselves surrounded by its four corners, we can laugh and cry and scream and go crazy, and no matter how broken or messed up we are, de-spite the innumerable flaws we have, we become certain that here, we are

accepted; more than that, we are loved. This is probably why no matter how many times we walk away from it, we still come back to it in the end.

I have no intention, whatsoever, to speak of my biological family or of my literal home in this column. If anything, each day I spend with them has steadily become better than the day before. And when I speak about some-thing that has been consistently good for some time, its good-ness deterio-rates. Not like it’s a curse of some sort, as it’s probably just me and my mind that tends to make things up; but still, I totally have no desire to say anything more about it. The initial paragraph just might have been misleading. In that case, why then did I start off with this home thing? Here’s the rationale. It may be kind of confusing but, I know you’ll get my drift anyway.

At some point in our lives, there would come a time when we each experience the feeling of being home outside our literal homes. Quite a number might not have experienced that yet while others are lucky enough to have found that home and are cur-rently dwelling in its comfort. Some of us, however, have already found it but have, then again, left its confines and

set off once more into the world only to realize that we’ve lost our way back. We stand where we are with absolutely no idea where we are and indecisive of the next step to take. In what direction should I go: north or south? What ac-tion should I take: start walking or stay put? If I stay put, what if something wild and vicious comes this way and rips me apart? But, what if someone’s out there looking for me to lead me back home? What am I supposed to do now: get going despite the risk of wandering off indefinitely, remain here and wait though unsure if there’s some-thing I’m waiting for, or just give up on the hope of finding home and just find another to take its place. We start to drown in uncertainty: struggling as we suffocate in questions we fail to answer and the weight of our doubts dragging us into its depths. If anything, that’s the least anyone of us wants – uncer-tainty.

But during times like this, when all we are left with is ourselves, what

must be done? We are capable of mak-ing our choice, yes. But what if, as much as we want to make one, each choice seems to appear more unlikely than the previous one? What if, as we go through the selection repeatedly, we realize that we’re not ready to make a choice and then, we lose ourselves in an attempt to delay decision-making? What if, when we are finally ready to make a choice, it is at that exact mo-ment that we become cognizant of the reality that we lost that chance; that the choice has been made for us by some-one else? It’s not true that our choices are always up to us. Oftentimes, they are. However, sometimes, our choices are made for us; and sometimes, we have no choice at all.

At this instance, I stand on the front porch my home; looking from the outside, yet unable to get inside because I lost the key. I am not lost. I know where my home is, or so, I think. I miss home. I miss the warmth of the sheets and the distinct aroma of coffee everywhere. I miss the laughter echo-ing from its walls and the moments of silence when all I could hear is the sound of hearts beating. I miss the notes on tissue paper and the ice cream stains on my handkerchief. I miss how my flaws were used to distinguish me

septemberfrom the common crowd and not something held against who I am. I miss how I could be myself and no matter how humiliating or annoying my actions are, still be loved as me just the same. I miss my happy place. But, I can’t stay here forever. I only got what everybody else gets – a life-time. And that lifetime is too short to spend standing here alongside am-biguity. So, this is me walking away; me on my way to finding a place to stay where there’s good-tasting coffee. And when I find that place, I will sit back and enjoy my coffee until some-one comes up to me and hands me the key to the home that I’ve lost.

***“I’ll find you. Don’t worry. Just be on

your own and I’ll find you.” — Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard

Book)***

To my mama, papa, & my sister; Iann & Rasha (I’m really sorry for the delay); my HADA family; BSN 4 –

M3 & yes, this includes Nap; Abaloth, M’Jois, Lou Ides, R-yan, Jayvee; Jami & Jani; & to AJ (more than words).

For comments: chanilla06; Follow me: chanilla.tumblr.com [:

nI sHeILA mAe nones

eloisa faye simon

IgInuHIt nI Juno Abreu

photos by marC Jan Calub

And the shoe-fitting beginsIn the tradition of the Saint Louis

University – Center for Culture and the Arts’ major productions, being based on family-oriented classics, comes another story with the inten-tion to, once again, touch hearts and gratify our imagination. “The Little Glass Slipper” which was based on the children’s classic of the same title, though more popular under the title “Cinderella” is the story of a stunning young maiden who lost her mother too soon and whose father remarried afterwards. The second wife, Ver-mina, turned out to be the exact op-posite of her mother who was sweet and affectionate. So were her two daughters, Pepper and Paprika. They seemed not to have anything better to do than make Cinderella’s life a liv-ing hell.

The story begins in the market-place when the town’s loud hailer an-nounced that a royal ball would be held to help the prince find the right woman for him. This news brought about intense excitement to every single maiden in town, including Cin-derella. Little did Cinderella know that her hidden anticipation for the upcoming ball was obvious to the shoe seller who later turned out to be her fairy godmother.

Prior to leaving for the ball, Cinderella verbalized her wish to at-tend the ball; an idea that her step-mother and stepsisters detested and crushed with enthusiasm as they ruined her dress. Disappointed and hurt, Cinderella resorted to venting out her feelings to no one in particu-lar, until her fairy godmother came to her rescue. With a bit of magic and more side comments than ac-tual help from her sidekick, an elf who lost his way and found himself in this story, Cinderella’s fairy god-mother provided her with a pumpkin carriage, coachmen, a fine-looking dress, and a pair of glass slippers for her to attend the prince’s ball.

Before her departure, Cinder-ella was reminded that she had to return before midnight for, by then, everything would vanish.

At the ball, every maiden pres-ent which included Pepper, Paprika, and Pearl who would do anything to achieve her ends, were attempt-ing to catch the prince’s attention. They were determined to become his future bride at any cost, but to no avail. The arrival of Cinder-ella completely altered the scene’s aura. She immediately caught the prince’s eye, and soon, they were waltzing to the beat of their hearts, which were pretty much in harmony.

Footgear that encloses the feet which comes in a variety of sizes, colors, substance, and each serving a certain purpose – this is what shoes are, by definition. They are often perceived as a mere part of an individual’s clothing, existing to serve the sheer purpose of protect-

ing the wearer’s feet; though sometimes, to jive with one’s fashion statement becomes part of its intent. However, some shoes, unlike others, subsist for a special reason. Take a step into this classic fairytale and see for yourself how a pair of glass slippers can turn one’s daydreams into a genuine happily ever after.

However, even before they got to know each other, the clock stroke midnight and it was time for Cinder-ella to go. In her haste, she left be-hind one of her glass slippers.

The prince was certain that the girl he danced with that night was the woman he wanted to marry and was determined to find her by all means. Using the glass slipper, which was all that his mystery girl left him, the prince sought after every maiden of the land to find the lady whose foot would fit into it.

While the prince was at it, the villains of the story were already plotting their evil scheme. Vermina already knew that Cinderella was the mystery girl the prince was looking for and was determined not to give her a happy ending. So, backed up by her two daughters, Vermina joined forces with Pearl, who was desperately in love with the prince, with the plan of poisoning Cinderella. However, before they could succeed, Cinderella’s ever ready fairy godmother already an-ticipated this and delivered a secret package addressed to them. Upon opening the package, time stopped for them and they stood there, fro-zen. Cinderella’s fairy godmother and her sidekick took this time to place the antidote for the poison in Cin-derella’s teacup which turned out to be the fairy godmother’s eyelashes. After serving their purpose, they left and time resumed.

Upon drinking her tea, Cinder-ella collapsed which was much to the delight of the villains. They, however, discovered that they failed to kill her and only managed to draw her into a coma. Even before they could formu-late another plan, the prince came knocking at their door and they were left with no other resort but to dump Cinderella in one of the spare rooms and rely on their convincing abili-ties to persuade the prince to marry Pearl.

In the process of shoe-fitting, when none of their feet would fit into the glass slipper, the villains decided that there was no other way but to destroy the prince’s only way of find-ing his mystery girl. With the glass slipper broken and Pearl being the sole maiden unable to try it on (aside from Cinderella), the prince almost accepted that she must be the girl he was looking for.

If Cinderella’s fairy godmother had been a moment delayed, the sto-ry would’ve ended very badly. Luck-ily, the villains became history and Cinderella was taken out of the dark room she was locked in. With instruc-tions from the fairy godmother, the prince, placing the locket Cinderella’s

father gave her around her neck fol-lowed by a kiss of true love, man-aged to bring her back to conscious-ness. In no time, wedding bells were ringing, and so, Cinderella and her prince surely got the happy ending they deserved.

In the characters’ shoesIt is the aim of every theater

production to involve its audience in the story; to ensnare their senses so that they are hooked to the tale, fi-nally becoming part of it while com-fortably watching from their seats. To do so, however, every scene of the play must provide its viewers with a sense of reality; that which is greatly affected by the characters of the play and their ability to act out their role. By the last week of June, driven by the desire to provide the audience with quality entertainment, auditions were held for each role to select the best out of SLU-CCA’s best talents.

Taking the lead role of the young maiden, Cinderella was played by Ardeen Chiara Austria, Stephanie Esmeña, and Merryl de Belen as Aldrian Esteban, Peejay Bengwasan, and Anthony Kenneth Castillo prove themselves worthy of the part of the dashing young prince. Like in every fairytale, villains play a crucial role; taking up the role of Cinderella’s evil stepmother were Ana Isabel Javier and Mikaella Buensuseco. And like the stepmother’s role isn’t enough to bring misery to the story, Jillianne de Guzman, Kimberly Cai, Golda Meir Soriano, Lyka Joy Alamo, Karisha Alba, and Claudine de Luna adds to Cinderella’s despair as they play the role of either one of her likewise, evil stepsisters. In the end, however, as in every other fairytale, evil only ex-ists long enough to face defeat over good; this task is given to Cinderella’s ever obliging fairy godmother as por-trayed by Diane Fernandez and Ada-lyn de Guzman with considerable help and an awful lot of side comments from her elf sidekick in the person of Timothy Go and Anthony Gonzalez. Playing their part in the quest for a happy ending are John delos Santos and Gene Raphael Zafra in the king’s role, Jessica Ladines and Christian Marie Guzman in the queen’s role, and finally, Roven Chloelle Calderon and Navid Roodaki as the loud hailer.

Apart from these primary roles, other characters existed in the story as well which were also portrayed by members of the SLU Glee Club, Tanghalang SLU, and the SLU Dance Troupe.

With its original music and story by Ms. Normita Pablico and Peejay Bengwasan, the Louisian talent was once again flaunted.

12 13sports

Regaining gloryThe Navigators, which suf-

fered losses earlier in the men’s basketball event, fired up early with a barrage of free throws, two-pointers and a three-pointer from Tyrone Mendoza to lead by seven points from the Eagles, 14-7, with 6:12 left in the clock. The gap grew bigger in the latter part of the first quarter, which ended 29-16.

The Eagles, who had a three-three win-loss standing earlier be-fore the match-up, tried to close the 13-point deficit. However, the Navs, together with their coach, Robert Dacanay, kept their mo-

Navs boost BBEAL stint after face-off with Eagles

mentum going to maintain their lead, 42-28, at 4:02. The first part closed, 52-36, with the Eagles slowly falling behind.

Expected outcomeWith 8:30 left in the clock

during the second half, SLU al-ready knew how the game was go-ing to end. The crowd went wild after Mendoza sank another three-pointer to boost the Navs, 75-50, at 2:08. The third quarter ended, 80-53, brightening the rainy day for the Navs.

Just like the rest of the game, the last quarter went smooth for the Navs. At 6:06, the Eagles, who

The Saint Louis University (SLU) Navigators made a huge comeback after overpowering the Baguio Central University (BCU) Eagles, 88-67, in a Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletics League (BBEAL) elimination game held at the half-full University of Cordilleras (UC) Gym last August 30.

were 31-points behind, called for a time-out. They then tried to rekin-dle their bid with a series of shots that pulled them up by 12 points. However, their attempt to catch-up was too late when the game closed, 88-67, adding another win to SLU’s standing of three- two win-loss be-fore the game.

“Improve on the system. This is where we had faults in the ear-lier games,” Dacanay said before the game, pertaining to the losses they had from their matches with the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Cavaliers and with the UC Jaguars. His players, composed mostly of newbies due to the grad-uation of a lot of players last year, didn’t disappoint him after they de-feated the Eagles, the team which gave the Jaguars their first loss in the elimination rounds.

YIN YANG. SLU sepak takraw team hovers against UC Jaguars landing 1st runner up during the 24th BBEAL.

photo by marC Jan Calub

the employees include medical allowance, rice subsidy, and monetized vacation leave among others. However, these benefits are subject to certain limitations in order to be exempted from income taxes.

‘The journey continues’The four-hour General

Assembly, carrying the theme “UFESLU Journey Continues in the Spirit of Unity in Diversity”, concluded with “healthy debates” according to Lawyer Bernard Padang, the union’s legal adviser.

Though several members were not able to pose reactions and queries during the forum due to time restrictions, the officers encouraged them to lobby their suggestions or grievances at the UFESLU office.

Unity is Yoga Yoga, which literally means

“to unite” in Sanskrit, is one of the most ancient cultural heritages of India. It develops the moral and mental aspects of an individual that in turn brings good health, longevi-ty, and lasting happiness and peace. A popular misconception is that Yoga is just about fancy stretching and stances when in fact, it involves more than just that. It is a way of life that affects not only the physi-cal self but the spiritual as well.

Nomadic ascetics who lived in the forests of India to practice this ancient science founded yoga. They in turn handed down the yogic postures and the subsequent stages of yoga to deserving stu-

East meets South in Tai Chi Yoga

dents. The knowledge about this science remained limited since the first yogis were very secretive about it. However, in 1918, yoga became more widespread after the opening of the Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz in Mumbai, India’s oldest technical institute on Yoga.

Today, although it is already practiced by millions of people around the globe, some misconcep-tions still hinder people from try-ing out Yoga. Some people perceive that it involves sorcery and magic because of the astounding feats that experts, or gurus, could accomplish. Some even go beyond, denounc-ing Yoga as a part of the New Age Movement. Few others think that Yoga is only for the Hindus.

What happens when you mix two influential disciplines from the East and from the South? You get Tai Chi Yoga, a new physical fitness pro-gram which is derived from blending the principles of Yoga and Tai Chi. To those who are planning to try on one of the countless fitness programs available today, why not try Tai Chi Yoga?

The force of Tai ChiTai Chi Chuan, or Tai Chi for

short, is a Chinese martial art prac-ticed for both defense and health benefits. It gained its worldwide popularity because of the wide multitude of benefits that it offers. As the legend goes, tai chi’s origin is credited to Chang San-Feng, a Tao-ist monk. His teachings include a series of 13 exercises that mimic the movements of animals.

Tai chi adopted the concepts of yin and yang, the opposing forc-es within the body, and qi, the vi-tal energy or life force. In order to ensure the smooth flow of qi, yin and yang should be in equilibrium. Because of this adaptation, Tai Chi has also been considered to be the physical practice of Taoism, anoth-er ancient discipline that originates from China.

The study of tai chi involves three aspects- health, meditation and martial art. An unhealthy per-son will find it difficult to meditate or to use tai chi for defense. Mean-while, the meditative aspect of tai chi is essential for maintaining op-timum health and in applying it as a martial art. Lastly, the ability to use tai chi in combat is the test of a student’s understanding of the art.

Mixing both disciplinesJohn Neubauer, the proponent

behind this revolutionary physical fitness program, first studied Yoga in 1973 and later on, Tai Chi in 1975. Two years later, he blended the two into a new art from which he practiced and taught to thou-sands of people around the world. His students consist of dancers, athletes, corporate executives, la-borers, and people of all ages and shapes.

The RoutineTai Chi Yoga is about doing,

not just achieving. A typical Tai Chi Yoga routine begins with a seated

FALLING SHORT. SLU Navs Alvin Bustos’ impeccable performance failed to break the UB Cardinals’ winning streak during the BBEAL elimination, 73-60. photo by marC Jan Calub

breathing exercise that is common to both disciplines. Afterwards, standing yoga movements and tai chi movements follow it. Reclin-ing relaxation and yoga movements proceed next. The routine is then concluded with another series of reclining relaxations and/or kneel-ing meditation. The combination of Tai Chi and Yoga into a single art form can produce a more intense influence on an individual than the practice of either discipline alone.

The daily practice of Tai Chi Yoga improves concentration and memory too. It also preserves youthful suppleness and condition. It also restores grace of movement and balance. As one progresses with Tai Chi Yoga, he/she gains more awareness of the spirit and energy that flows within the body. Source:http://www.taichiyoga.com

UFESLU General Assembly ... from p/3

by gAbrIeLLe PAuL PAsCuAL

ComiCs

Chicken Strips

Chicken Strips

Chicken Strips

Chicken Strips

Chicken Strips

Chicken Strips

by gAbrIeLLe PAuL PAsCuAL

image from the internet

FLORA

FLORA

AARON

FLORA

15

Lady Navs wrap up early, Cards done at 3First strike

Rhea Campos of the Cards initially don the ball on play to pose two points against the Navs. The first set displayed the two opposing teams simultaneously banking points after the other.

With two points remaining for the lady Navs to complete the set, the UBians took flight securing five consecutive drop attacks to catch-up but the Louisians ended the set, 25-16.

Double shootThe second set began with a

wallop courtesy of Abegail Sison of the Navs breaking the red squad’s firm defense. But the Cards did not let any gap expand when Mey Madulid blocked Navs’ spike and subsequently making the score tie-up at 14.

The tally continued to race as the blue and red clad drew points one after the other. Louisians fell a point behind when the Cards found a loophole on their defense

by kAren bAngIbAng

making the Navs call a time-out. After the 30 second clocks, the blue squad coped up with the UBians tactic and tied up the score at 24. This unexpected feat made the Cards’ coach Jun Nisperos reach his boiling point and bellow orders on the red squad. Nisperos questioned the technical board of the referee’s decision of giving the point to SLU. After the conflict has been resolved, the Navs still maintained their focus towards the puzzled Cards and finally ended their second triumph with 26-24.

End at threeAt the beginning of the third

set, Louisians again initiated the first assault with bashes coming from the Nav’s Sison and Ghileen Labrador. Campos, however, responded with her powerful spikes. To retort the Cards’ smashes, SLU tightened its defense by the barricade made by the blue and white clad.

Apprehensive of his team’s performance, Coach Nisperos

called for another time-out to straighten up UB’s act.

The Cards started to build themselves up to equate the score at 15 making the Louisians dub a 30 second break. Unexpectedly, the red clad displayed a tight guard slipping four successive gaps against SLU pushing SLU to call another time-out.

Redeeming themselves, the Louisians and the UBians showcased an action-packed sequence of volleyball play. Every blazing ball that was saved by each team took the crowd. This series came down with the two teams having the same score at 22.

When the Navs finally advanced with a point from the Cards, Coach Nisperos summon another time-out for them but no matter how they tried to close the score-up, the Navs still concluded the third set and the whole game, 25-22.

Navs table netters clinch BBEAL top spots

back in the second round, 2-0. In the championship games, however, SLU ran out of luck after the UC team overpowered them, 2-0. UC earned their slot in the champion-ships after they defeated the UB team, 2-0. The SLU team came down from being the champions last year to being the first runner-up this year.

Expectations“Actually, our men’s and

women’s line-ups have only one senior player each. Because of this, the expectations were not too high,” Honey Jerelyn Garcia, the SLU table tennis coach said.

The SLU team suffers a dis-advantage when it comes to re-cruitment. Limited from getting players from its pool of enrolled students, SLU had to battle it out with other universities who had better recruitment schemes. Nevertheless, Garcia said that her team outperformed the outcomes

Edging expectations, the Saint Louis University (SLU) table tennis team went home as the first runner-up in both men’s and women’s events in the Baguio- Benguet Educational Athletics League (BBEAL) championships at the University of Cordillera (UC) Gymnasium last September 19.

Up and DownAdvancing with a twice-to-beat

advantage for placing second in the elims, the SLU women’s team faced-off with their counterparts from UC in the semi-finals. Snatching the first two games of their best-of-three match with UC, SLU met the University of Baguio (UB) team in the championship round. UB, fresh from their pounding of the Benguet State University (BSU) team, 2-0, beat SLU, 2-1, to bag the championship. Despite finishing one notch behind the crown, the SLU women’s team raised their own bars after they surpassed their third place finish last year.

Simultaneous with the wom-en’s matches, the SLU men’s table tennis team enjoyed their twice-to-beat advantage after their match with the University of the Philip-pines (UP). UP edged SLU in the first match, 2-1, but failed to ad-vance to the finals after SLU came

that she expected.“It’s everybody’s game already.

You can’t tell who was going to champion this year. Most players are new. You can say that everyone trained hard for the champion-ship,” Garcia, who is also handling the lawn tennis, chess and badmin-ton teams, said.

The team, which is now pre-paring for some upcoming table tennis tournaments, started their training right after the first exams. The prelims was allotted for the players to catch up in their aca-demics. After which, the players trained day in and day out, endur-ing training from 5 to 10 pm. It is only during Sundays when they, including Garcia, have their time for rest.

“During the finals, they really showed their best. They really fought hard. However, the ball is round. There will always be a winner and there will always be a loser,” Garcia added.

Early dominationThe Navigators started their

rally early in the first quarter. Glenda Mananquil and Shiela

Eagles shoot low under Navs by 53by gerALd turquezA And IvAn Ferrer

Gapuz led the team by racking up two steals and sharply thrown shots respectively. SLU took advantage of the Eagles’ errors, including early

Holding an astounding 29-2 run on the third quarter, the Saint Louis University (SLU) Lady Navigators buckled down another loss to Baguio Central University (BCU) Lady Eagles, battling it all out as they lock up one spot in the semi-finals, at the Cor-dillera Career Development College (CCDC) Gym, La Trinidad last Sept. 4.

Just after a triple set, Saint Louis University (SLU) Navigators waved the University of Baguio (UB) Cardinals in their first face-off during the elimination games of the Baguio-Benguet Educational Athletic League (BBEAL) last August 29 at the University of the Cordilleras (UC) gymnasium.

SLU Archers miss target;fall short to earn top spot

Daisylyn Buliyat, four-year coach of the archery team, said that she felt bothered by the one silver medal advantage of the UP-B’s Eugen Canelas which led the Maroons to the number two seed in the men’s over-all.

However, the Lady Navs retained the number 2 spot by having another silver medal deficiency against the Maroons.

The Louisians, though, chipped in two golds from the individual events courtesy of Rosa Patricia Legaspi from the First 30 m. and Olympic round event. Ma. Karla Gregorio took a silver in the First 30 m. while Kristine Victor added two bronze medals from the Second 30 m. and Olympic round.

The archery men took a hold on two bronze medals courtesy

of Alfred Soliba during the First 30 m. and the Qualifying round.

The Baguio Central University took one silver in the Olympic round won by Donabelle Orbillo removing them from the top three list, whereas they topped the ladies tournament last year.

Team SLU will continue their training to compete in the National Outdoor Tournament on December 1-5 in Manila.

“The team could do much better than their last performance,” Buliyat assured.

by kAren smItH

Stripping the Poleby JoHAnnA mArIz dArIo

The enticing light illuminates every angle of the room. The alluring music magnetizes the senses, and the moves—dancers begin to swivel with the rhythm. Hands and legs are pivoting a vertical, cold pole together with the hair swaying and the flesh sliding on the metal. A sleazy nightclub scene? Barely. It’s a class offering the fitness activity of the hour—pole dancing.

From Strip Clubs to Fitness ArenaBeyond the shady notions, some

relating it with stripping and lap danc-ing, pole dancing is now being intro-duced as the most recent program in the fitness world– making a long stride from club entertainment to the hottest and sexiest workout in the gym.

Through the thousands of pole dancers and the rapidly growing number of international and national federations, pole dancing has already transformed into a respectable and highly athletic event.

With its gradual evolution, pole dancing paved its way to main stream acceptance. From year 2000 to present has been the most promising years when it has developed into different genres of empowering pole fitness. And aside from being recognized as a form of exercise, it is now also regarded by many as a performing art.Poling Health Benefits

With the slippery pole as your

ally as you climb, spin or drop, it does require incredible strength—especially when you have to depend on leg and mainstay force to shore up your body while suspended on air.

According to pole dance instruc-tors, pole dancing increases muscle definition without necessarily put-ting on loads of muscle mass; tones the arms, thighs and buttocks; and improves core strength and flexibility. It is about muscle control, maintain-ing that stability, balance and posture throughout the routine—with a smile on your face. This is, after all, still a sexy dance sport. Although sensual and graceful, a simple twirl on the pole tells you that pole dancing is a heavy exercise. It gives participants an oppor-tunity to lose weight, tone their mus-cles, enhance personal equilibrium, and even enhance one’s confidence. Magnifying its popularity in RP

While pole dancing as a com-petitive sport is much more accepted

outside of the United States, it is gradually progressing across the globe and going from small regional com-petitions to much larger challenges.

In fact, this new sport has already established a name in the Philippines. Tracing its starting place through the works of Ed Aniel, the “pole master” and the founder of the Pole Dance Fitness Association of the Philippines, pole dancing gained its momentum and impelled itself to popularity in the country. Ed is currently teaching in Movement studio in San Juan where he introduced the first ever Pole Dance Class in the Philippines. He used books and videos on pole dancing and came up with a cardio work out which he first tried out on his jazz buddies in 2004.

It is perhaps the lure of finding their inner selves that has women in all shapes and sizes, from ages 16 to 40 and above, coming to Ed’s classes. Dressed in short bottoms and loose fit-ting tops, they come to class, stake their claim to a pole and prepare themselves for 90 minutes of dancing alongside it.

Some other gyms and schools also followed to offer pole dancing classes. These set up innovations proved that pole dancing has already moved out of the strip clubs and is now a fitness craze sweeping the globe.Petition for Olympic Status

In line with the quest of pole dancers and other pole dance federations in recognizing the

trailblazing challenges of establishing pole dancing as a legitimate sport, several national and international competitions were also born. There’s the International Pole Championship and World Pole Dance Championship and many more.

And for the record, pole dancers are now pushing to compete in the next Olympics. The titillating mainstay of strip clubs throughout the globe, may one day be an Olympic sport, as reported by the New York Daily News. KT Coates, a pole dancer in England, and fellow advocates are circulating a petition for a test event at the 2012 Olympics and a more formal event four years later, in Rio de Janeiro.

Currently, they have 4,000 sig-natures, and hoping to add 1,000 more.

Many people believe that after a great deal of feedback from the pole-dance community, it’s about time pole fitness is recognized as a legitimate sport, and what better way for recognition than to be part of the 2012 Olympics held in London.

Unfortunately, pole dancing is not recognized as a sport by the Inter-national Olympic Committee (IOC).

Also, it does not have any uni-form judging regulations. Thus, the ir pursuit of showcasing their ability to hang upside-down on a metal pole in the Olympic Games would be an up-hill climb.

The Saint Louis University (SLU) lady Navigators settled at sec-ond while the men Navigators fell one step back in the just con-cluded archery championship tournament at the University of the Philippines-Baguio (UP-B) gymnasium last September 19.

sports

SPIKE IT HARD. SLU Navs’ attacker Lucky Biscocho spikes the ball as he and his teammates clinch top seed in the BBEAL volleyball games.

photo by marC Jan CalubBREAKING THROUGH. SLU Lady Navs’ Catherine Camilo drives to the hoop to help her team against the University of Baguio to secure 2nd spot in the BBEAL basketball elimination. photo by marC Jan Calub

“Life asks us to make measur-able progress in reasonable time. That’s why they make those fourth-grade chairs so small-so you won’t fit in them at age 25. ”-Jim John

* * *

Ngayong taon nasaksihan natin ang pagkadismaya ng mga taga-hanga ng

Cleveland Cavaliers sa pagpasya ng kanilang numero-unong manlala-rong si Lebron James na lumipat sa Miami Heats. Pero bakit na-man n’ya biglang naisipang iwan ang ligang nagpabango sa pan-galan n’ya ng higit sa pitong taon?

Marami ang nagkakainteres sa mundo ng sports lalo na sa NBA. Napatunayan ko ito nang halos sumabog ang cellphone ko sa mga natangggap kong text messages galing sa maka-Celtics o maka-Lakers noong championship game. Pero isang salita ang bigla kong naisip-PAGHANGA.

Kung tagahanga ka ng isang koponan o kaya’y isang manlalaro kaakibat na n’yan ang walang sawang pagsuporta mo sa kanila. At kasama sa suportang ‘yan ang paniniwalang hindi ka nila bibiguin o didismaya-hin sa kanilang bawat desisyon.

Kahit hindi ka nila kilala o kaanu-ano, patuloy ka pa rin sa pagsuporta. At kahit alam mo na ang lahat sa kanila, ni katiting na impormasyon tungkol sa’yo ay wala man lang silang ideya. Ganyan ang

mga tagahanga, mga fans- sila ang isa sa mga batayan para matawag na magaling nga ang isang atleta.

Bakit ganito na lamang ang paghanga ng mga fans? Dahil ang tingin nila, kadalasan, sa kanilang mga idolong atleta ay parang bayani--hindi pwedeng magkamali. Ang simpleng pagkapanalo ay parang pagkapanalo na rin ng mga taga-hanga at ang simpleng desisyong hindi aayon sa gusto ng taga-hanga ay parang pagtratraydor sa inilaan nilang pagtitiwala sa kanilang bayani.

Siguro ganyan ang nangyari kay Lebron James. Ngunit san-dali lang. Hindi natin masasabi na ‘yan lang ang anggulo ng kwento. Bakit hindi tayo dumako sa mis-mong ugat ng isyu- si Lebron James.

Si James ay nagsimula sa liga ng Cleaveland Cavaliers at naging MVP ng taong 2008 at 2009. S’ya rin ay nakasama sa koponang nag-kamit ng gintong medalya sa Olym-pics noong taong 2008 sa Beijing.

Ilan lamang ‘yan sa mga patunay na sadya ngang may talento si James pagdating sa Basketball. Mga patu-nay kung bakit gusto s’yang kunin ng Presidente ng Heats na si Pat Riley kasama sina Dwyane Wade at Chris Bosh sa pamamagitan ng free agency.

Siguro nga, kagaya ng sinabi ni James, gusto n’ya lang na mapagbuti ang kanyang talento sa kanyang karera.

Pero dahil ba wala na s’yang

patutunguhan kung ipagpapatu-loy n’ya pa ang paglalaro kasama ang Cavaliers o nasilaw s’ya sa ka-gustuhang manalo at sa mga paki-nabang na kanyang matatamo? Ganu’n lang ba kadaling kalimu-tan ang suporta na ibinigay ng kanyang kinalakihang koponan?

Marami ang nagsasabing wala talagang pakialam si James sa sasabihin o mararamdamang pag-abandona ng mga taga-hanga ng Cleaveland dahil noon pa ma’y mayroon na s’yang kagustuhang patuloy na manalo at umangat.

Muntik na rin nga s’yang hindi isali sa 2008 Olympics dahil mahi-rap daw s’yang pakisamahan ayon sa coach ng koponan ng Amerika.

Pero sa mga binitawan n’yang salita na gusto lamang n’yang ma-pagbuti ang kanyang karera, hindi ba’t normal lang sa isang tao ang maghanap ng tinatawg nating ful-fillment ng mga nais sa buhay? Napag-isip ako na siguro nga gusto n’ya nang mabago ang ugali n’ya at maging mas mature sa kanyang asta. Siguro ang paglipat ang naii-sip n’yang paraan upang makita

n’ya ang hinahanap n’ya- sabi nga nila: “Finding the greener pastures” kasi nga it might be greener or even greenest on the other side. =)

Pero kung gusto naman ta-laga n’yang manalo, hindi naman siguro imposibleng mapanalo nila ang Cavaliers. Bakit si Michael Jor-dan, hinding-hindi n’ya iniwan ang Chicago Bulls ng ilang taon?

Hindi n’ya na gustong maghin-tay pa ng maraming taon para makamit ang hinahangad n’ya na manalo, sa bgay hindi na nga na-man s’ya bumabata. Kaya anong ginawa n’ya? Simple. Nagshort-cut s’ya- lumipat sa Miami Heats.

Sa paglipat na ‘yan, wala s’yang kasiguraduhang mas lalo s’yang makikilala dahil bago pa man s’ya pu-masok ay mayroon nang star players ang heats. Kaya kung nagkataon- ang sasabihin ng tao-“…ay nanalo ang Miami Heats, kasi magaling si Leb-ron James at si _____ at si _____.”

Sa bagay hindi nga naman pang-isahang tao lamang ang Bas-ketball, kaya nga daw tinatawag na team kasi lahat sila ay may kon-tribusyon sa pagkapanalo. Ngunit ang Basketball din naman ay hindi tungkol sa panalo kundi pagkatuto. Teka mali ata, sa nakikita ko ngayon- ang Basketball ay tungkol sa pagka-panalo at pagkatuto, ayan tama na.

Balik tayo, sa buhay nga sabi ng papa ko- hinding-hindi mo

lebron, Why?

penalty. Mananquil’s dive ended up in a failure, as well as Gapuz’s steal attempt. However, the Navs owned the first quarter, tallying 32-7.

Defense had played a key role for the Lady Navigators as they continued their domination in the second quarter. BCU had way too many unsuccessful attempts though they managed to end the lead late in the second period. Stocked at seven

points, BCU had then regained their teamwork after SLU’s 34 points. SLU grew weaker in offenses. The second quarter left an intensely great depression for the Eagles, 43-21.

Fame vs. Shame SLU continued its domination

as they started out a quarter-long 29-2 run early in the third. The Navs had not been able to connect with each other until Jan Christine

magagawang pasang-ayunan ka ng lahat ng taong nasa paligid mo, kasi iba-iba tayo, may iba’t ibang opin-ion at paniniwala. Kaya sa opinion ko, hindi naman mali ang paglipat ni James, marami na rin ang taon na ibinuwis n’ya sa Cavaliers. Sig-uro kailangan n’ya na ring mapak-awalan at mapagbuti ang kanyang sarili. Hindi lang naman s’ya ang manlalaro ng Cavaliers ‘diba? Pero malaki s’yang kawalan sa Cava-liers, ngunit sa bandang huli s’ya at s’ya rin naman ang maaapektuhan ng sarili n’yang desisyon. Kung sa bandang huli maisip n’ya na mali ang kanyang desisyon, sino ba ang pinakamaaapektuhan, hindi ikaw at hindi ako, kundi s’ya rin lang.

Maaaring ganid nga si James dahil, sabi ng marami, sarili lang n’ya ang iniiisip n’ya at hindi s’ya makontento. Pero mas naniniwala pa rin ako sa sinabi minsan ng Ac-counting instructor ko, na kapag hindi ka nakukuntento, masasa-bing may pangarap ka. Sa pagka-kaalam ko, sa ngayon, lahat ng tao ay may pangarap o hindi kaya’y may ninanais, hindi kaya si James ay parang isa rin sa atin-nangangarap.

Sa bawat araw ay may pare-hong sitwasyon tayong napagdada-anan, nagkataon lang na sikat s’ya kagaya ni Manny Pacquio at sino pa mang atletang sumubok tumu-pad ng pangarap pero may nasak-tan sa pagkamit nito o nagkaroon.

Manalastas initiated a massive barricade to regain possession. Gapuz proved unstoppable as she and the others continued to score inside the court. The third period ended, leaving trails of 72-23 against the Lady Eagles.

Janet Geselle Lorenzana of the Navs proved that she is the queen of wit and agility as she outclassed

every opponent’s mind inside the basketball arena. Lorenzana packed up numerous steals and shots to lengthen the gap against BCU. Lauren Kramer, enraged and overpowered, committed her first foul after an attempt to grab the ball countering the convocation of eagles under the ring.

The Gapuz-Lorenzana tandem remained undefeatable as they slam the grounds of various warriors. Gapuz fired smooth

shots while Lorenzana assisted her in getting advantage of the ball. The wind of the Navs blew stronger, hitting up one eagle against the opposing team. BCU obtained one foul out to top the godly lead of SLU.

Tired and shocked, the eagles’ departure situated at the gym, leaving 82-29 on the scoreboard, tallying one stick for the Navigators.

Eagles shoot low... from p/14

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