Tag: April 13, 2011

A DIFFERENT people power.

Hundreds of thousands of “pro-life” supporters—including a delegation of priests, administrators, faculty members, and students from UST—gathered for a prayer rally and Mass to block the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill last March 25 at the Quirino Grandstand.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales led the concelebrated Mass and spoke against the RH bill, which is pending in the House of Representatives.

Rosales reiterated the Church’s stance against the state-funded distribution of contraceptives and abortifacients, sex education as early as Grade 5, and penalties for “malicious disinformation” against coercive RH policies.

“There is still time to avoid a ‘moral tragedy’,” he said.

A BENEDICTINE liturgist has criticized Pope Benedict XVI for trying to turn back the clock in bringing back the old liturgy, saying the growing movement promoting a “reform of the reform” was threatening to derail changes brought by Vatican 2.

“YOU ARE national treasures.”

That was the message of Rector Fr. Rolando De la Rosa, O.P. to UST’s Quadricentennial graduates in the baccalaureate mass last March 25.

“You are blessed as witnesses to the declaration of UST as a part of national history. Rightfully, you are called Quadricentennial graduates. You are not just Thomasians, you are national treasures,” De la Rosa said last March 25 at the UST Grandstand.

In January last year, the UST Main Building, the Central Seminary, the Arch of the Centuries, and the University’s open spaces were declared “national treasures” by the National Museum.

AS THE country’s top magistrate, Chief Justice Renato Corona is used to donning a black robe, but the one he wore in the afternoon of April 2 was different – an academic gown for his doctorate from UST.

Despite a busy schedule as the head of the judiciary, Corona a graduated summa cum laude with the degree Doctor of Civil Law, finishing 60 units after five years of study.

Corona, an Atenean since grade school, is capping his legal career as a Thomasian, earning an almost perfect general weighted average of 1.04.

In his valedictory speech, Corona said he went back to school not as a public official but as a student, and to show to young people that education is valuable.

NO THOMASIAN has landed on the top 10 of the bar exams for nearly a decade but this year, the Faculty of Civil Law is boasting of a higher batting average.

UST posted a 68-percent passing rate compared with last year’s 54.65 percent. This year, 70 of 103 examinees passed, an improvement from 94 out of 172 aspiring lawyers who made it last year.

The national passing rate, meanwhile, dropped to 20.26 percent from last year’s 24.50 percent. There are 982 new lawyers from the 4,847 who took the test last September at De la Salle University, when 47 were injured when a bomb exploded during the exam’s culmination party or “salubong” on Taft Avenue.

UST has earned the praise of no less than the first woman head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) for putting women in leadership positions.

Unesco director-general Irina Bokova made the remark as she accepted the Golden Cross Award, the University’s highest award.

“Women are often the strongest forces for dialogue and understanding… this must be recognized and developed,” said Bokova, the third woman to receive the award.

She added that one of Unesco’s main priorities in achieving gender equality is to promote the role of women in science.

Stronger ties between UST and the University of the Philippines (UP) are expected following the appointment of a UST High School alumnus as the 20th president of the country’s premiere state university.

In a testimonial dinner given by the University last March 30, UP President Alfredo Pascual said a “firm” partnership between UP and UST would lead to a more informed and ethical youth sector—“the kind of generation that we will be happy and proud to entrust our future to.”

Pascual added he was looking forward to a “stronger, more meaningful cooperation” between UST and UP to achieve the two institutions’ “shared dream” of constructing a “more prosperous and moral Philippines.”

A YEAR after the installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the campus main roads, the University will be putting up surveillance cameras in all buildings to tighten campus security.

“Practically, we need CCTV cameras in any establishment. There are reasons why we are installing cameras, [some of which are]: security, vandalism, and burglary,” said Fr. Roberto Pinto, O.P., Facilities and Management Office (FMO) director.

Security chief Joseph Badinas, meanwhile, said the installation of cameras last year helped in the drive against crime on campus.

“CCTV enabled us to track people who are doing something suspicious,” Badinas said. “We also used CCTV for areas that have no guards on duty.”

A STUDENT of the College of Tourism and Hospitality Management (CTHM) garnered the highest general weighted average (GWA) in the Quadricentennial batch.

Hotel and Restaurant Management student Raphael Alfonso Acabado, who graduated summa cum laude, had a GWA of 1.12, besting valedictorians from other colleges.

“This one is a living proof that CTHM students can really think,” Acabado said.

He added that he was honored to receive the award and added that it was a gratifying experience since the award last given in 2002 to a Faculty of Civil Law and Ecclesiastical Studies students.

“We must not brag about these achievements, instead, they should transform us into persons that inspire others by our example,” he said.

The daily primetime TV show, Willing Willie, has created an uproar with its March 12 episode in which a six-year-old boy was made by host Willie Revillame to dance like a “macho dancer” with the lure of P10,000 despite the kid breaking into tears.