Friday, March 29, 2024

Tag: May 20, 2009

Country’s oldest bishop passes away at 93

THE CHURCH mourns as the country’s oldest bishop and last living delegate to the Second Vatican Council, Bishop Manuel del Rosario, succumbed to pneumonia last March 23 at Yanga Hospital in Bocaue, Bulacan. His remains were buried at the crypt of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in neighboring Malolos five years later.

In a funeral mass for the late Bishop last March 27, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams lauded Del Rosario in his homily for being an “exponent of hope” despite his illness.

“A priest for 70 years, a bishop for 53 years, and a Christian for the past 93 years, Del Rosario, lived by faith in his existence serving God,” Adams said.

Fr. Allan Antonio, Del Rosario’s relative, said the bishop made a valuable contribution to the Church by spearheading the establishment of the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Bulacan.

Sampayan

Kakaiba ang kadiliman sa gabing ito: walang buwan at wala ring mga bituin. Puro ulap ang naghahari kasabay ang malamig at malakas na ihip ng hangin. Bihira kasi ang ganitong pagkakataon sa tuwing tag-init.

Dapat sana sinasamantala ko ang lamig ng gabing ito. Gusto ko na ngang mahiga sa kama at ipikit ang aking mga mata. Kaya lang hindi pupuwede kasi nandito ako ngayon sa terasa namin, nagsasampay kasama ni Mama.

Kung bakit kasi pumayag pa akong tulungan siyang ipanik dito ang mga labahin. Ang paki-usap niya lang kasi kanina ay tulungan ko siyang maglaba. Kaso nadaya na naman niya ako. Kaya heto, no choice na ako. Tinutulungan ko na rin siyang magsampay.

Hindi lang para sa mga umiibig

SA BAWAT limang umiibig, isa lang ang magiging maligaya.

Sa teoryang ito umiikot ang nobelang Para Kay B (Writers’ Publishing Studios Inc., 2008) ng batikang scriptwriter na si Ricky Lee, may-akda ng scriptwriting manual na Trip to Quiapo at siyang nasa likod ng mga ‘di-malilimutang pelikulang gaya ng Jose Rizal, Deathrow, at Madrasta.

Ang Para Kay B ay kuwento ng limang babae – sina Irene, Sandra, Erica, Ester at Bessie – na siyang kumakatawan sa teorya sa pag-ibig ni Lee. Tinatalakay ng akda ang iba’t ibang mukha ng pag-ibig na madalas hindi natin kinikilala, kagaya ng incest at homosexuality. Ngunit kahit mistulang kalipunan ng iba’t ibang mga kuwento ang nasabing nobela, sa huli, makikita rin ang koneksiyon ng bawat tauhan, tagpuan, at iba pang maliit na detalye sa isa’t isa.

Pagpupugay sa mga working scholar

Higit isang taon na rin ang lumipas nang magdesisyon akong kumuha ng San Lorenzo Ruiz scholarship. Bunga ng problemang pinansyal ng aming pamilya, naisip ko na ito na lamang ang natitirang paraan para manatili ako sa Unibersidad at makatulong sa aking mga magulang.

Ang San Lorenzo Ruiz scholarship ay isang programa ng Unibersidad na nakalaan para sa mga Tomasinong nagnanais ipagpatuloy ang pag-aaral sa kabila ng problemang pinansyal. Ipinagkakaloob ito sa mga estudyanteng may general weighted average (GWA) na hindi bababa sa 2.50 at handang maglaan ng serbisyo para sa Unibersidad na may 20 hanggang 30 na oras sa loob ng isang linggo. Hatid ng pribilehiyong ito ay ang 100 porsyentong diskuwento sa matrikula at buwanang suweldo.

Mga natatanging Tomasinong doktor

KINIKILALA ang Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas sa larangan ng medisina dahil sa mga doktor na nakapagtapos dito na kinilala hindi lamang sa Pilipinas kundi pati na rin sa ibang bansa. Sina Francisco Duque III, kasalukuyang Kalihim ng Kagawaran ng Kalusugan, Vicky Belo na sikat naman sa larangan ng cosmetic surgery, at Guillermo de Venecia, isa sa mga pinakaunang optalmologo na kilala sa pag-aaral at pananaliksik sa iba’t ibang mga vascular retinopathies, ay ilan lamang sa mga Tomasinong patuloy na nagbibigay serbisyo gamit ang angking galing at kaalaman sa medisina.

Noon pa ma’y napatunayan na ang kalidad ng edukasyon sa Faculty of Medicine and Surgery (FMS). Itinatag noong 1871, daan-daang mga doktor na ang hinubog ng institusyong ito at tunay namang nakapagbigay ng karangalan sa bansa nang dahil sa panggagamot. Isang magandang halimbawa nito si Gregorio Singian, na siyang nagtatag ng Philippine College of Surgeons noong 1936.

What hope may bring

You and your daughter are lying in bed. Your little girl has been holding your finger for the better part of the past 20 minutes. You kiss her forehead as you hum a lullaby. She opens her eyes and, from that moment, you decide to call her Hope. You place her down the mattress beside you. You will think it through tomorrow. You just need to be her mother for tonight.

It was not long ago, on a night like this, when you were the daughter making your parents proud.

As your father shook the principal’s hand, you glanced at the audience and smiled, saw your family up on their feet clapping. Your father put the medal on you, his face beaming with pride. You could hear the photographer yelling at you to stop and pose, but you ignored her, knowing that your cousin, Julie, had taken a lot of pictures already. She just got married to Ricardo, a banker from Spain, and they were back in the country in search of a baby to adopt.

Unconventional unrest

ULTRAVIOLINS (UP Press, 2008) is one gamut of mind-benders that let loose the imagination of its readers, giving testament to the eternal creative unrest of Cinemanila International Film Festival Award recipient Khavn Dela Cruz.

From the vulnerable adulterer to the desperate amnesic, Ultraviolins gives unconventional yet appealing descriptions and narrations of Filipino living, with an accompanying host of translations from Filipino writers such as Pearlsha Abubakr, Juaniyo Arcellena, Daryl Valenzuela, Angelo R. Lecuesta and many others.

Phoenix

Plumage now dull and flaked;
body of bones shattered
by storms dared, by the crushing
of other trudging feet.

The weary one crawls, on earth
lined with spite, to where it will finally lie—
a dark, deep hole of jagged stones
and countless taunting shadows.

The body, in weary sleep, rests supine
and soundless to the cruelty, refusing
to stay cold as the flames
that within take hold

For it will know no defeat,
Only the sweetness of victory—
that surrender is nothing
but disgraceful musing.

Fires again fill the once deserted pit
and from the ashes spring forth
a body restored to youth alive
with the color of the sun.

Is UST earth-friendly enough?

HOW MUCH has UST done so far to protect the environment? It may have initiated several measures to ensure a “greener” earth but the formidable task of breaking away from the normal, uncaring routine which environmental concern entails continues to discourage the Thomasian community from fully committing to the cause of saving the ailing planet.

Trash talk

The University takes pride on its waste management program. Waste segregation is promoted in the University, where there are separate trash bins for biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials.

Janitors regularly collect wastes from trash bins and transfer them to a station at the back of St. Martin de Porres building beside the UST Hospital - Clinical Division. This outpost, called the materials recovery facility, is where non-biodegradable wastes are packed and then sold for recycling.

But students are supposed to do their share.

Saving Mother Earth, the Thomasian way

ONE CONSEQUENCE of the global warming is the onset of climate change as a result of pollution. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reported in an interview with DZMM that this April has the highest record of rain fall for the past five years.

Amid the scorching heat of the sun and the intermittent rains brought about by the changing climate, the Varsitarian asked some members of the Thomasian community how they can contribute to environmental protection.

How can you help save Mother Earth?

“Recycling and not buying illegal products like the dried coral reefs…”
- Dennese Victoria, Second Year Journalism

“Avoiding throwing trash anywhere,”
- Marc Cuaresma, Third Year Electronics and Communication Engineering

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