Tag: Vol. LXXXV

21 June 2014, 9:22 a.m. - TWO THOMASIANS are set to be given the state's highest recognition for the arts.

Writer Cirilo Bautista and the late architect Jose Maria Zaragoza were named National Artists for Literature and Architecture, respectively, in proclamations signed by President Benigno Aquino III.

A FEW weeks ago, seasoned election lawyer Romulo Macalintal made a bold statement, saying both houses of Congress should be abolished for being unproductive and a waste of taxpayer's money. He proposed amending the Constitution to abolish Congress for just six years, after which people would be given the choice whether to revive Congress.

It is easy to dismiss the lawyer’s statement as bombast. But the way Congress acts makes one wish for Macalintal to have his wish fulfilled.

Congressmen Samuel Pagdilao, Rodel Batocabe and Christopher Co have recently filed a bill seeking to make a separate detention facility for high-profile, or VIP, prisoners, such as politicians.

MOST of the time, I still can’t believe that I’m here where I am right now.

In January 2010, I received the bad news: I did not pass for either the University of the Philippines (UP) or the Ateneo de Manila University (my dream schools, in fact) and I was listed for academic placement in UST. I know that I really suck at entrance examinations, but it was too much that I didn’t even get to formally pass any of them.

MANY public officials wouldn’t touch the media with a 10-foot pole.

Yes, it may be true that it is part of the media’s role in society to be the watchdog of the government, which includes exposing their errors and anomalies.

But these people should realize that the media need to take the risk.

Without the media exposing corruption, the public will be blind to the abuse of power that masquerades as public service. And democracy will be a mere illusion.

President Aquino lambasts the media for alleged fancy reporting and muckraking on negative issues and controversies. This is ironic since his father was one of the most respected journalists during his time.

AFTER the fall of Adam and Eve, God gave mankind a gift that they could use to survive their challenging future—science—an organized body of knowledge geared toward careful investigation to provide solutions to the problems of man.

Imagine yourself living in a parallel universe where science does not exist. Maybe until now humanity is baffled by the perplexities of nature; human beings still use primitive tools for survival; and diseases could have driven our extinction if a cure was never discovered.

Undeniably, science has helped mankind to move forward to where we are today.

I was “famous” during my elementary years. There wasn’t a single student or teacher who did not know my name. Every time I walked along our school’s corridor, I would always feel the weight of people’s stares. But it was never because I was pretty or talented: I was a source of ridicule, the favorite of bullies.

How unlucky I was to be born with a bright-red birthmark right in the middle of my face.

People made fun of me, saying I would never get lost because I bore with me the map of the Philippines in my face. Crying was an everyday routine for me.

Striving to prove to people my worth, I struggled to excel in my studies and eventually graduated valedictorian, much to the dismay of my detractors but to the pride of my family.

AS AN avid reader, I have come across numerous books and stories, some happy, sad, thrilling, shocking, or boring. I’m the type who is easily drawn to a story, becoming a part of a fictional world.

And whenever I’m close to the last chapter, I tend to rush to finish it because I become too anxious to know what would happen in the end. But when the end comes, I regret it and wish that the story could just go on and on forever. I still recall reading the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last of the series. I didn’t want to let go of the feeling of enchantment that the story bound me for so long.

But cliché it may sound, all good stories must come to an end. Such is my story in the Varsitarian.

In our English 4 class during my BS Architecture sophomore year, we were required to write and deliver a speech about ourselves, our plans, or what we stood for.

Since I was getting seriously into photography and contemplating on joining The Varsitarian at that time, I chose this familiar subject for my piece, which I began by quoting Kodak founder George Eastman’s suicide note before he shot himself in the heart in 1932, at the age of 77: "My work is done. Why wait?"

In the age of the Instagram and in a time when life painfully depends on Internet speed, we all can’t seem to wait as well.

STEPPING out of the comforts of our beloved University is exciting as it is frightening. Many of us fresh graduates are eager to enter a new stage of our lives, while knowing deep down that four or five years of studying may not be enough to prepare us for the real world.

Still, there are certain experiences during our college life in which we learned lessons the hard way which could serve as our support for the uncertainties of life.

I found such experiences in the Varsitarian.

Lesson # 1: There will always be someone better than you.

THE DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has changed its mind anew and reverted to its original plan to build a flyover on Lacson Avenue as a solution to traffic woes, shelving a plan to construct an underpass at España Boulevard.

The decision was made following a study that found that the planned underpass, which was also supposed to function as a catchbasin for floodwater, won’t have an effect on flooding in the area, an official said.

The study was conducted by the DPWH in the second quarter of 2013 to find out the viability of the proposed underpass. The agency decided to scrap the plans in the third quarter after the results showed a flyover would be more practical.