Tag: December 12, 2011

THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) will help beef up the security force for the Paskuhan, with this year’s crowd estimated to double to 150,000.

Because the University’s security force won’t be enough to handle the huge crowd, it has decided to seek help from nearby University Belt Area (UBA) police station and Precinct 4 in Balic-Balic.

Security office chief Joseph Badinas said it won’t be the first such arrangement for the annual University-wide Christmas party on Dec. 16, but the number of policemen would double last year’s 50.

The security office will deploy around 150 uniformed guards and 20 “civilian” guards around the campus on the day of the festivity, he said.

THOMASIANS now have their very own “praying area,” with the blessing of the new rosary garden last Dec. 7 which coincided with the visit of the centuries-old image of Our Lady of the Rosary of “La Naval.”

“Noon kasi, dito, parang park lang. Students do what they like, parang naging lovers’ lane. Ngayon, when they come here, they’ll be inclined to pray,” said Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P., Rector of UST, in an interview.

The newly built structure on the former Tinoko Park at the right side of the Main Building is now open to the Thomasian community.

THOMASIANS, most of all, need to be mindful of their own heritage and history.

In a conference ahead of the closing ceremonies of the Quadricentennial celebration in 2012, history professors told Thomasians to be conscious of the heritage and history of the University to become more knowledgeable not only of their Thomasian identity but their Filipino identity as well.

"National identity [and] consciousness of heritage and history are connected directly to the development of the nation," said the conference convenor, Prof. Maria Eloisa de Castro of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, during the International Conference on the Heritage and History of the University of Santo Tomas last Dec. 3.

EMPLOYEES of the University can now pay hospital bills, even those of their family members, by salary deduction.

The Office of the Vice Rector for Finance released a memorandum last Nov. 4 allowing University employees to pay bills at the UST Hospital through their salaries as long as they meet the conditions set.

Employees must have “take-home pay of at least 50 percent of their basic monthly at compensation” and have rendered at least one year of service to the University.

Support staff and faculty members can charge a maximum of P50,000 in hospitalization costs to their salaries, payable in one year. Salary deductions, however, are subject to the approval of the Office of Vice Rector for Finance.

THE GOVERNMENT has released nearly a billion pesos this year to hire more nurses and midwives as well as upgrade the country’s health facilities, President Benigno Aquino III said in a speech at the University last Nov. 29.

“To address the dismal state of some of our country’s health facilities … P742 million has recently been released to improve the infrastructure, procure new equipment, and support the research and treatment programs of three of our government specialty hospitals,” Aquino said during the opening dinner of the 10th Congress of the International Society of Dacryology and Dry Eye (ISD & DE) at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.

The government also released P294 million to hire an additional 11,500 nurses and 1,000 midwives.

A SIGNIFICANT number of carriers of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus /Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV-Aids) in the country are young people—including those in the university belt area.

Of the total 7,884 HIV-Aids cases in the country, the youth accounted for 22 percent, said Dr. Enrique Tayag, director of the National Epidemiology Center of the Department of Health, in a seminar during World Aids Day last Dec. 1 at the Medicine Auditorium.

The number of people with Aids in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region 4-A increased to 66 percent of the total from 62 percent last year. Metro Manila’s share increased to 54 percent from 52 percent.

UST had a lackluster performance in the recent licensure examination for librarians, recording the lowest passing rate since 2008.

This year’s passing rate was only 38.78 percent, lower than last year’s 53.85 percent, 2009’s 61 percent, and 2008’s 54 percent.

Only 19 out of 49 examinees passed, 18 of them first-timers. Only one out of eight repeaters passed.

The national passing rate went up slightly to 27.62 percent from last year’s 27.32 percent as 211 out of 764 examinees passed.

The Varsitarian sought College of Education Dean Clotilde Arcangel for comment but she has yet to respond.

For the first time in four years, no Thomasian entered the top 10.

THE RETIRED Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, has reminded Catholics that Christmas is about Jesus Christ, not Santa Claus. And even if Santa Claus is a corruption from Saint Nicholas, a saint in the ancient Roman martyrology known for giving gifts to the poor during Christmas, he’s been appropriated and debased by global capitalism. And yes, those who light up at the mention of Santa Claus don’t know he’s a Christian saint. They’re corrupted too in their blissful ignorance by the commerce of Christmas.

Walang pinag-iba ang pag-ibig sa pakikibaka. Activism is fueled by no other motivation than selfless love for others. While others pay mere lip service to the University's Catholic ideals of compassion and commitment to service of others, Thomasian activists genuinely live out these ideals in their actions. Instead of malicious insinuations and ridicule, the students who stood up and engaged the UST administration on its new enrollment policies should be commended for their efforts amid an enforced atmosphere of fear and helplessness in UST.

We find it amusing that Mr. Rommel Rio betrays his own calls for objectivism when he shamelessly brandished his bias and subjectivism against activism as a form of political engagement and involvement by students.

STARS have landed from the empyrean to illumine a 21.5-hectare terrain along the stretch of the bustling boulevard of España in Manila.

Streaks of light with the size of pearls now hang at tree branches around the University and luxurious chandeliers, that seem to float on mid air, line up the so-called 'Lover's Lane,' leading to the majestic and shining Main Building.

The campus has again been set for the much-anticipated Paskuhan tradition, when Thomasians, all nicely groomed and in a party mood, gather at the University grounds for hours-long festivities.