Tag: No. 9

‘JUN, YOU ARE HOME.’

These were the words printed on huge tarpaulin streamers around the UST campus when Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada, the whistle blower in the national broadband network corruption controversy, arrived in his alma mater to attend the Mass for Truth at the Santissimo Rosario Parish Church (UST Chapel) last May 2.

Showing their support for their former student, UST Dominican priests led by Acting Rector Fr. Rolando De la Rosa, O.P. concelebrated the colorful 10 a.m. mass that was attended by some 1,500 people from all walks of life— students, educators, professionals, parishioners, and the religious.

“Today we are ‘UST’ -- United in the Search for Truth,” Father de la Rosa said as he opened the Mass to thunderous applause.

ACTING RECTOR Fr. Rolando De la Rosa, O.P., has formed an ad hoc committee that will review the redevelopment plans for UST Hospital in accordance with the instructions of Fr. Carlos Alfonso Azpiroz Costa, O.P., master-general of the Dominican Order, the Varsitarian learned.

Father De la Rosa appointed Faculty of Engineering Regent Fr. Arthur Dingel, O.P. as executive assistant to the head of UST Hospital for the review and revision of the hospital development plans.

The Master wants the hospital redevelopment to continue, Father De la Rosa reiterated, but “within a level that can be afforded by the hospital and that cannot endanger the patrimony of the University.”

“What can I assure you is I am here to implement what the Master (of the Order of the Preachers) wants,” Father De la Rosa said. “The new committee is only temporary.”

CIVIL Law Dean Alfredo Benipayo is now in stable condition in Iloilo’s Saint Paul’s Hospital, after collapsing before the members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Iloilo Chapter.

In the middle of his lecture last February 22, Benipayo fainted and was immediately rushed to the hospital.

Benipayo is out of the intensive care unit of the hospital but has yet to fully recover.

Two masses were held last February 26 and 27 at the UST Chapel for the speedy recovery of the former court administrator and solicitor-general.

Students and faculty members from Civil Law, the Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Management, the College of Accountancy, and the Faculty of Pharmacy attended.

THE PHILIPPINES may be in the best position to conquer the world in the 21st century if it harnesses the benefits of globalization, an international trade law expert said.

“Globalization is not really bad as people would like you to see it. In fact, Filipinos have the traits that they need to take advantage of the world in this age of globalization and free trade,” lawyer and columnist Jeremy Gatdula told journalism students in the 1st UST Business and Economic Journalism Forum last February 15 at the St. Raymund’s Building.

Gatdula said globalization is a product of the evolution of trade policy. “Mercantilism, which was the prevalent economic theory during the 16th century, states that importing products from other countries is bad, while exporting is good,” Gatdula said.

THE ROMAN Catholic Diocese of Cubao has denounced the Reproductive Health Ordinance of Quezon City and urged all Catholics to oppose it.

“As your shepherd, I admonish you to defend the sanctity of human life and family that is now in tremendous danger,” Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco said in a pastoral letter that was read in churches in the diocese last February 11. “They (City Hall) use the issue of poverty to push their deadly intent of promoting contraceptives and abortifacients.”

With a 25 to one vote, the Quezon City Council passed the ordinance; it was signed into effect on Feb. 23. It makes provisions for an information campaign on family planning, free medical services, even for ligation and vasectomy of poor patients, and free contraceptives in health centers.

The Church is opposed to state-enforced and contraceptive-based population control, arguing that public funds could be better used at poverty alleviation.

CHAMPIONING the pursuits for truth and honesty, the 4th UST Student’s Choice Awards for Television (USTv) steered its way toward recognizing the efforts of people from the television and mass media to continuously radiate their beacons of integrity and sincerity.

With the theme “Education in Integrity: Channeling Honesty and Truth Through the Television,” this year’s criteria for judging made sure that USTv remains faithful to being an award that recognizes the power and contributions of television to creative programming, to social communication and to common solidarity. An appropriate form and an accurate content readily became the two basic criteria for judging of both entertainment and information programs.

Held last Feb. 20 at the Medicine Auditorium, the USTv awards ceremonies were graced by a number of celebrities, student leaders, and school officials such as Rector Rev. Fr. Rolando de la Rosa O.P.

A HUNGER STRIKE of about 100,000 signatories is being pursued by activist groups, aiming to end the ‘severity’ of traditional politics in the country. In a forum organized by graduating Political Science students last February 20 at the Tan Yan Kee auditorium, Kapatiran, Partido ng Manggagawa and Partido Kalikasan representatives encouraged the youth to hold erring public officials accountable for their misdeeds.

Lawyer Adrian Sison, head of Kapatiran, said that government officials, elected and trusted by the public, must be able to find ways to provide for at least the basic needs of the people such as food, shelter and education.

“Certainly, we cannot say our country is progressing economically if more than 50 per cent of Filipinos live under the poverty line,” Sison said. “It is the duty of the government to supply these necessities.”

AFTER three decades, the revolving trophy is now in their backyard.

The College of Nursing survived a nerve-wracking clincher round against powerhouse Faculty of Engineering to grab its first-ever Pautakan team title in 31 years last March 3 at the Medicine Auditorium.

“It’s surreal,” said graduating team captain Gabriel Fernandez, whose seven-man squad bested Engineering with a narrow 140.004-140.003 victory following consecutive checks on History, UST History and General Information. “It’s unbelievable; we didn’t believe we would make it.”

Nursing copped the haymaker question in math to break away with a .001-point edge and bag the college’s first title in the country’s longest running inter-collegiate quiz contest.

TO BETTER fulfill the purchasing needs of UST offices, the Santo Tomas e-Service Providers (STePS) has started implementing the new i-Procurement (i-Proc) requisition application program, a software that replaced the old E-Requisition (E-Req) program.

The change was brought about by the University’s adoption of an Oracle-based system, which concentrates on developing business application software suitable for large companies. The previous system was Microsoft-based.

Carlos F. Cortez, Jr., STePS assistant director for software development and applications explained that the i-Proc software works better with Oracle.

“If E-Req would still be used under our new Oracle core financials, an integration process would be necessary since E-Req is integrated to the school’s old core financials run by Microsoft,” he said.

COPIES of the revised Code of Standards of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) were distributed during the recent meeting of the Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE), in a move to emphasize media ethics in communication schools.

The meeting, held in coordination with the Department of Communication and Media Studies of the Faculty of Arts and Letters at St. Raymund’s building last February 29, gathered professors from Miriam College, University of the Philippines-Diliman, University of the Philippines-Los Baños, St. Scholastica’s College, Ateneo de Manila University, and UST.

Representing UST were Prof. Jose Arsenio Salandanan, chairman of the Department of Communication and Media Studies, and Prof. Joyce Arriola, head of the Center for Intercultural Studies.