Tag: November 10, 2012

The Sept. 30, 2012 editorial of the Varsitarian, “Of Lemons and Cowards,” has arguably become the most controversial editorial in Philippine campus press history. Some would say the most notorious, but the Varsitarian would like to look at things positively. But if critics and detractors still would contest those claims, then they should agree at least that the editorial—with nearly 50,000 “shares” as of this writing—has made the Varsitarian, which closed the first semester with nearly 300,000 online hits, the most-read campus paper in the country, even shaming the circulation figures and online hits of the metropolitan news media claiming, without much mathematical bases, to have a national reach.

We, Filipinos, rejoice that the second Filipino saint in the name of Pedro Calungsod was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome.

The University is lucky that last Oct. 25, it was assigned the honor of being the first station of the Duaw Nasud, or national pilgrimage of thanksgiving; this means that the new saint’s original image used in the canonization rites was brought to UST, the only pontifical university in Asia and the Catholic University of the Philippines, before it was brought to different dioceses and other Catholic institutions around the country.

Calungsod was a missionary catechist in Guam in the 17th century when he was martyred at the very young age of 17.

Hearing the word “Church” for some people is like setting fire to their bottoms that they could not help but react in a violent way. It was as if the Church had hurt them deeply, had killed their pets, and had torn their souls apart.

At some point, the Church did something wrong. But all this is in the past. The scandal recently wracking the church—clergy abuse—has wounded the institution deeply. But the Church has started to deal with it firmly. The statistics would also tend to show that the Church, along with other sects and religions, may have its own share of clerical miscreants, and this is an exception.

“BAKIT ginagawa ang mga daan, e hindi naman bumabaha sa atin, ‘di ba?” I asked my mom when she picked me up from the bus terminal; I had not been home in my province for two months because of school work.

“E kasi, malapit na naman ang election,” my mom replied. I understood immediately what she meant.

Here we go again. This is the time when catchy yet annoying commercials of braggart politicians insinuate themselves on the media; and when pocket-sized to larger-than-human campaigns dominate the streets.

And at this moment, when almost everything can be transported into the digital realm, online posters are repeatedly uploaded on the web.

A GOOD start, but still a long way to go.

Former senator Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. said the peace agreement in Muslim Mindanao is a “good start,” only because it ends hostilities between the Philippine government and the separatist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

To resolve issues on war, poverty, and political patronage, among others, the Philippine government and the MILF signed on Oct. 15 a peace framework, creating a new political entity, Bangsamoro, to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) established in 1996 under an earlier peace deal with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

THE STANDOFF between the Philippines and China over the 150-square-kilometer Scarborough or Panatag Shoal has gone beyond the diplomatic and military arenas.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile accused his junior, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, of treason for the latter’s “shady” role in talks between Manila and Beijing over the disputed territory last Sept. 19.

Tensions between the two countries escalated after Filipino sailors caught eight Chinese fishing vessels on the shoal, which the Chinese government took as an aggressive act. China positioned its surveillance ships between Philippine sailors and the suspected illegal fishermen. China claimed no illegal fishing took place as the fishermen were within Chinese waters.

IS THE RH bill concealing its agenda through verbal engineering?

In her paper titled “Questionable Rights Rhetoric in Reproductive Health Legislation,” Jo Imbong, legal consultant of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, examined the “rights” language of the RH Bill—which seeks billion in taxpayers’ funds for a massive contraception and population control program.

RH advocates are condensing certain new “rights” into the traditionally accepted ones, making it hard to decipher which is which, she said.

IS THE Anti-Cybercrime Law really a threat to freedom of speech?

The Republic Act (RA) 10175, known as the “Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012” or the Anti-Cybercrime Law, aims to deal with cyber offenses or crimes committed online by imposing penalties and punishment. But the new law continues to anger Internet users who view it as a threat to freedom of expression, a fundamental human right stated in Article 3, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution, along with other provisions that most netizens deem unconstitutional.

According to Vicente Topacio, a lawyer teaching the Constitution at the Faculty of Engineering, the realization of the law may have sprung from a need to act on the increasing number of crimes committed online.

INTRUDER alert.

Recently, websites of some government agencies, including that of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Philippine Anti-Piracy Team, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, were defaced by a group of hackers calling themselves “Anonymous Philippines.” They said it was a form of protest against the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

ONE OF the biggest names in Philippine architecture is a Thomasian.

Known to his friends as Meloy, architect Carmelo Casa founded the architectural firm CASAS+Architects, which has done some of the buildings of Ayalaland, Robinsons Land, and Megaworld Corp., among others.

As a child, Meloy initially wanted to become a boxer, but his parents never allowed him to move past this“crazy” idea.

“At first I wanted to become a boxer because at that time my idol was Flash Elorde,” said Meloy, who is also a big fan of Manny Pacquiao.

Meloy grew up in a family of artists in Sampaloc, Manila, and dabbled early with caricatures.