Tag: November 18, 2013

THE RAPID development of technology usually leaves people no choice but to embrace the digital age. But it is also important to note what we sacrifice in the process.

A professor showed our class a motion graphic video titled “The Innovation of Loneliness,” which tackles loneliness as one effect of social media. It is said that man is a social animal and needs to be in a group for survival.

Today, however, the world seems driven by individualism. There is that inevitable pressure to stand out to have a better life, be on top of the social ladder, gain personal achievements, wealth, etc.

MAHIRAP humingi ng tawad lalo na sa kasalanang hindi mo naman ginawa o tahasang kinasangkutan. Hindi ito basta nililimos para lamang maisalba ang nasirang relasyon ng magkabilang panig.

Sumasang-ayon ako sa pagtanggi ni Pangulong Aquino na magbigay ng public apology sa mga mamamayan ng Hong Kong alinsunod sa nangyaring hostage-taking sa isang bus sa may Quirino Grandstand tatlong taon na ang nakalilipas.

AFTER the devastation of Bohol, no place is ever safe from an earthquake’s rage, not even the country’s capital—Manila.

According to Jeffrey Perez, supervising science and research specialist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the Marikina Valley Fault—stretching along Marikina, Quezon City, Pasig and Muntinlupa, and even extending to the provinces of Bulacan and Laguna—could produce a destructive earthquake.

“The Marikina Valley Fault system is a 100-km long fault line that could cause the occurrence of an 8-magnitude earthquake, which could devastate cities,” he said.

CAN UST surive the Big One?

According to engineer Lawrence Pangan of the Facilities Management Office (FMO), the University’s buildings could withstand even a magnitude-8 earthquake.

“There will be cracks on some walls, but that is only superficial. Structurally, buildings in UST will remain intact,” he said, adding that collapsing structures will definitely not happen in the University.

Before structures are built in UST, soil testing is done to identify the dimensions of the foundation to be made and limit the height and capacity of a building to ensure safety.

“In Manila, the soil is not as stable like in Quezon City or other cities, that’s why bored piles are used for the stability of UST buildings,” Pangan said.

THE TECHNOLOGY may be new, but the principles endure.

On the 15th year of “Inkblots,” the annual national campus journalism fellowship of the Varsitarian, student writers were challenged to keep journalism relevant in the age of social media.

In his keynote address, National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose urged the group to remain steadfast in upholding the truth even if it seems difficult to do so.

“It’s hard to tell the truth in this country where there is an absence of a critical tradition and where hypocrisy is so pervasive,” Jose told more than 300 fellows at the Albertus Magnus Building.

A week later, Jose had more to say to young writers in his column in the Philippine Star.

UNIVERSITY cultural heritage experts and academics have been in the forefront in surveying the damage wrought by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake last Oct. 15 on a number of ancient Catholic churches in Bohol and Cebu and recommending measures for their reconstruction or rehabilitation.

UST Archivist Regalado Trota Jose is heading the task force sent by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to inspect the churches, many of them declared National Cultural Treasures (NCT) by the National Museum (NM). Included in the task force is the NM and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

Renowned Thomasian artist Romulo Olazo showcased his fascination with black-and-white abstraction across the decades in Black and White Redux, an exhibit held at the Art Center at SM Megamall, Pasig City, from Oct. 24 to Nov. 5.

The exhibit consisted of ink drawings, serigraphs and “Papestry,” printimaking on handmade pulp paper.

He started his Black-and-White series in the early 1970’s with 69 collagraphs featuring flat and detailed materials such as leaves glued onto a piece of rigid substrate like paperboard or wood in overlapping sequence or collage serving as a plate.

The plate, inked by a roller or a paintbrush, would be imprinted on a canvas or on a piece of paper.

THIS year’s ManilArt stayed true to its theme, “Art According to All,” by gathering galleries and artists from Batanes to Mindanao and by catering not only to art connoisseurs but also to neophytes.

Held at SMX Aura in Taguig City on Oct. 9-13, the art fair gathered more than 40 galleries from all over Philippines. It featured 500 artists and 1,400 artworks.

In the run-up to the fair, ManilArt held an art caravan in the regions—in Batanes, Cebu, Baguio, Palawan and Bacolod—to drum up support for the fair as well as get the participation of regional artists and galleries.

This year’s fair also introduced a vetting committee which screened artworks for exhibition. It also required galleries to curate their exhibits.

AWARD-winning writer Nikki Alfar masterfully fuses mystery and magic in her first volume of short stories, “Now, Then, and Elsewhen,” which bears her trademark speculative style.

The anthology begins with Now, which features stories set in the present time. One remarkable tale, “When We Were Witches,” highlights childhood's fascination with witchcraft. It’s about two young girls’ common interest in witchcraft and how it makes them closer.

Then, set in the past, is composed of stories drawn from Philippine folklore. “Bearing Fruit,” about the peculiar experiences of a young girl and her quest to find the owner of the mango tree which bore the fruit which impregnated her.

You watch
the television as it hurdles thousands
Of people to their deaths--
A sad sight brought
about by the storm
that was coming
that came
and was going
then gone.
You saw
the winds pick up
speed and plastic
bags while you glance
at the garbage down
the street left
behind by the garbage
truck this morning.
It was there then,
it will still be there tomorrow.
You imagine
the pile of corpses buried in mass
graves like refuse damned deep
into the earth,
they don't even have time to segregate