maroon8

8 fighting maroons from UPM

[8maroons]

EDUCATION IS A RIGHT

The 1987 constitution of the Philippines, Article XIV Section 1, states that  “The State shall protect and promote the right of all citizens to quality education at all levels, and shall take appropriate steps to make such education accessible to all.” It is clearly stipulated in our law that, in brief, education is a right and not a privilege, not to some but to all Filipino people and the government should promote it. And yet, why is that even though the government advocates the fact that education is the key for a progressive future, they do not improve the educational sector? Is it because of financial problems?  Is it because of the lack of accessibility?  Or is it because of  the commercialisation of education? Only in our country could one see that a student from a state university like the University of the Philippines pays for his or her tuition at a high fee. The government has started allowing an incremental increase in the tuition fees of both state and private universities which explains the drop-out count of students in colleges. Now, one knows why 80% of secondary school graduates do not go on to the tertiary level of education. 

In the University of the Philippines system, there is a thing called STS or the Socialized Tuition System which classifies students from brackets A to E2 and the farther the letter is from A, the greater the discount, if one could call that as that, one would get and some students would get a stipend. At a first glance, one would think that it is an acceptable compromise for both parties, the government and the people, but this is not the case. As said earlier, students in state universities have an expensive tuition fee. Compared to a normal student in CLSU, PUP or any other state college to “Bracket A” students in UP, the students in the said bracket pay 11.54 times and 125 times more for their tuition. Why is it that although all these are state universities, students in UP pay more?Shouldn’t UP be subsided by the government? Not only that, there are still issues to be shown like the master commercialisation plan of these state universities and the justification for other fee increases. The government is partnering with private sectors to expand areas wherein resources or profit can be generated, which leads to an increase of tuition that is already expensive for the masses. Other than the tuition fee, there are still miscellaneous fees which are sometimes a scam. With all these things happening, one would rightly deduce that it will cause quite a lot of rallies. To counter these, the government is erroneously silencing students by filing cases against them that is irrelevant to what they are doing, which is a violation of their rights.   

One would think that is already wrong but there are even more pressing issues in the health division. It is crystal clear in the constitution of the Republic of the Philippines under Article XIII Section 11 that the government should provide free medical care to the indigents and also to its people at a cost, which the masses, no matter what financial background he or she came from, can afford. However, the masses are paying overpriced bills which increases every now and then. With 26.5% of the Filipino population suffering from poverty, based on the latest statistics, and 10.8% out of over 100 million populace are malnourished or are barely getting any sustenance, who can pay the average hospital bill which is 3 times more than the average monthly income of a working Filipino? Is it really more fun in the Philippines?

So the question now is: what would become of the Filipino people, especially those who are affected by these matters? One thing that we Filipinos can do is to fight. We fight for education for the people of today and tomorrow. We fight for the healthcare that we deserve. We fight for the rights that are ours.

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

the fragmented islands

The fragmented islands, tropical location and extensive areas of rainforest in the Philippines caused high species diversity and high level endemism. Thus, making it a megadiverse country and is among the top priorities of global biological conservation. One-third of the more than 9,000 plants in the Philippines are endemic. The lowland and hill rain forest across the Philippines, which are mostly damaged now, were dominantly primary canopy trees which include food providing trees for bats, monkeys, and parrots. Over 530 bird species are found in the Philippines hotspot, 30% are endemic and 60% are endangered. There are seven identified endemic bird areas in the Philippines namely: Mindoro, Luzon, Negros and Panay, Cebu, Mindanao and the Eastern Visayas, Sulu, and Palawan. The Philippine Eagle, the second largest bird in the world, with the destruction of its habitat caused its population to decrease to less than 700 individuals. Captive breeding is unfortunately unsuccessful, leaving habitat protection the only way for its survival. 100 out of the 165 mammal species are endemic including the tamaraw, which has a population of 10000 individuals a century ago, now only has as few hundred live in the wild. 68% of thee reptiles in the Philippines are to be found only in those hotspots. A freshwater crocodile which has 500-1000 individuals in 1982 only has a hundred individuals now. There are about 90 amphibians, 260 freshwater and 21,000 insect species recorded.

Despite having an impressive level of species diversity, the Philippines is one of the world’s most threatened hotspots with only 7% of its original canopy forests left. With the growing population of the people in the Philippines, we become dependent to natural resources which includes the wide spread use of timber. Along with illegal logging activities, mining, quarrying and kaingin making also contributes to the destruction of the remaining primary forests. Introduction of invasive and exotic species has taken its toll on wetlands. Dynamite fishing, coral bleaching, over fishing and tourism also contributes to the disturbance of marine biodiversity.

Only 11% of the total land of the Philippines is protected. To ensure that the protected areas conserve the biodiversity is through the conservation of the key biodiversity areas. Proper research about the species is needed to support the conservation efforts. Also, a lot of organizations are helping in the protecting of the natural resources like the Haribon Foundation which takes the lead in caring for nature with people- for the people. There are also small things you can do to save the biodiversity hotspots, some of it are: remembering the 4Rs, eat less red meat, educate people about the threats to our nature and remember to plant a tree.

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

Ethnic groups had been here long before modernisation began in the Philippines and even the before the foreign colonisers came. Due to the location and the shape of the Philippines, it is no wonder that there are a lot of indigenous people here, all with different sets of culture by different regions in the country. From the Igorotes of Cordillera Mountains to the Lumad people in Mindanao, each ethnicity is unique and rich in culture. An example would be the Grand Cañao, their livelihood is dependent on the plains and environment that surrounds them. Truly, they are the representation of what Filipino culture is like. However, they are also the least taken care of by the government. Why do they the government not hear the cry of their people? Why do they nab away the rights of these indigenous people of their land who have prerogative over the lands of their ancestors and have the comeuppance of self-determination? It is wealth through mining.

Mining is the act of extracting minerals from reserves or the likes. Most natural resources are found in the lands of these ethnic groups. And as always, the government are blind or have chosen to blind themselves to the needs of their people, in this case, the indigenous people. And from this comes the Mining Act of 1995. This law allows the liberalisation of the mining industry in the Philippines and “total” ownership of mineral mining projects by foreign mining companies or in brief, it allows foreign investors to have a free passage to our natural resources because we lack the technology to harness these minerals and because of this, the developments is not for the indigenous people but for the foreign capitalists who stripped down the ethnic tribes right to their soul. As we can see, ethnic tribes are the most vulnerable from the Mining Act of 1995. They lost not only their livelihood and traditions, but also the most important thing to them, their homes. But, the government does not know or do not want to know that these people are not agree with them yet these people know that it is sometimes necessary to do mining. That is why they would want to pass the bill People’s Ming Act of 2011 which is the alternative policy because in the Philippine Development Plan 2010-2016, mining is a key to economic development. Nonetheless, the government still undermines them and if they attempt to resist, they will be face head on with the military. That is why they are silencing activists who took the side of these ethnic groups by capturing them which is against their human rights. Because of this, we should fight for them and never waver even if we face certain consequences.

         Through trials and mistrials, these indigenous people are still fighting for their homeland and pressing on important matters which affect them. Just like the Filipino spirit, we should never fear the “strong” and stand firm if you know what is right for own people.

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

Disaster.

Just the mere word of it can stir up emotion like fear and worry in a person and that is only the word not an event that is happening to them. Disasters are some of the things man can not control all by himself. But before going on further, let us ask ourselves:, "What really is a disaster?"

Disaster is an event. An event which interrupts the normal functioning of a community and needs an external assistance to function the community normally again when worse comes to worst, which is called hazards. Even though the meaning of it is kind of absurd yet, we may see or feel disaster everyday without us knowing because may be we do not see it or worse, we are oblivious to it for it became a routine to see it and became numb to people who are in distress. for an event to be considered as a disaster, they should have the following characteristics: first is people's need is mismatching. When people mismatch their needs, their opportunity for survival would become slim. An example of mismatching needs is when a person chose to buy a brand new phone over his or her basic needs as water or food. Second is that it is chaotic. The meaning of chaotic here is that people will choose their own way of dealing things in a given situation. They will not follow any or some commands of the people who know very well how to handle the said situation like EMS or rescuers. These people, emergency medical teams, rescuers, responders, hospitals, etc., is following a system called Incident Command System. this system is some sort of repertoire of procedures on how to handle a specific situation and of course, they have training for several times for that. And during a time of disaster and if many are wounded, these people will be sent to the nearest hospital and if not, neighbouring hospitals. The purpose of a hospital is to provide Disaster Medical teams, to perform medical triage in events like this, and to act as a receiving hospital for casualties. But, what if the number of casualties exceed the capabilities of staffs in a certain hospital? This is now called an Mass Casualty Incident wherein it exceeds the coping mechanism of a certain hospital. Though there are plans that are being submitted to improve or to create a system for is kind of incident but, there are many problems faces the system like limited resources and lack of communications. Nonetheless, people are still striving for the creation of this system.

Disaster is something not to be taken lightly and should have preparation for when this event happens. And if it does, people should always listen to the commands of the people who are trained for these types of situation. They are not doing this for their benefits, but for the benefits of all people.

[8maroons]

MANILA BAY AND FREEDOM ISLAND

For decades, Manila Bay was considered to be the sight of the most famous of sunsets but, in recent years, it has become a “waste” and has been steadily deteriorating in its magnificence. Manila Bay’s waters, 61% of it to be specific, consist of chaff, most of which is plastic. Plastic, especially those biodegradable bags that super markets boast of, have a tendency to degrade (or whatever term they attach to theses items) but only to a certain point. Instead, they become so miniscule, around the size of planktons, and are eaten by marine life. Why does this happen? It happens because of garbage and who else produces the garbage in the Philippines but the people who live in it.

 Some time back then, there was an incident in Navotas where one of the walls of their sanitary field collapsed. You can just imagine the horror of the people when a landslide of garbage occurred. These events are the necessary triggers and are the wake-up call that the people need to become more aware of their surroundings. There is also a community called EcoWaste Coalition composed of different parties, like the church, school, environmental groups and health groups, that try to pursue sustainable solutions to dispose of our waste, climate change, and the chemical issues facing the Philippines and the world.

The EcoWaste Coalition has a current project, or petition, called #SaveFreedomIsland. It aims to save Freedom Island since it serves as a crucial island for migratory birds and mangrove trees. It is also the home of many fisher folk and their families. Another ongoing effort they have is to stop the Manila Bay Reclamation. It essentially puts land, to extend it, on the waters of Manila Bay. However, this causes many problems, one is that the reclaimed land is not stable, another is that it causes water to rise increasing the likelihood of floods and tsunamis, and finally the land is susceptible to liquefaction and subsidence.

However, their movement alone is not enough. If, or when, they succeed what then would we do? The people have the tendency to just follow their habits of throwing their trash and the government would be to busy trying to nurture our economy. We need to become vigilant in watching our actions and the actions of our government officials. We also need to be reminded that as we grow and nurture our country, we still need to preserve its natural beauty and exercise our usage of its natural resources responsibly. We need to be conscious of our actions especially those that effect our environment. We need to improve our garbage disposal practices. We need to be consistent in our implementation of our solutions. We need to change our outlook on our environment. The planet has survived worse than us, the meteor that changed its surface and killed the dinosaurs and the ice age our examples. Sure, we can use up all of the earth’s natural resources but it is us that we will be driving to extinction. The earth will move on without us but we cannot survive without it and we should show it the necessary respect for sustaining us.

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

THE UGLY TRUTH ABOUT POVERTY AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

Poverty is a very widespread problem in the Philippines and a multitude of reasons are said explain it. As of 2014, roughly 25 million Filipinos or one-fourth of our country’s population, live below the threshold of world poverty, which is $1/day. It can be said that these people afflicted by poverty are the reason for their state of life or that the government isn’t providing the impoverished with the necessary means to elevate themselves. However, the solutions to these cannot stand alone. As the saying goes, “You cannot help someone who does not want to be helped and who does not want to help him or herself.” However, nothing happens to those who want to improve their lives and yet receive no aid from the government or an independent body in order to do so.

 We can continue to give excuses: that the people are lazy, that the government doesn’t care, that the people have grown dependent, that the government caters to their interests; however, as the song Antukin by Rico Blanco goes, “Kung ayaw may dahilan, kung gusto palaging mayroong paraan,” or in English, one will always have a reason to avoid what one does not like but will persevere if one want something strong enough. Imagine the support of a bridge; it cannot just come from one end because one way or another it will collapse.

 And then in comes urban development that can cover the social, cultural, economic, and physical development of cities and everything that leads to and comes form it. The most notable RA on this is Republic Act No. 7279 titled as, “AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A COMPREHENSIVE AND CONTINUING URBAN DEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING PROGRAM, ESTABLISH THE MECHANISM FOR ITS IMPLEMENTATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.”  This was established in the early 1990s. Since then, only Board Resolutions and Memorandum Circulars have been published. However, multiple Senate Bills are all in the process of asking for amendments in different sections of the Act. The aim of this act is to uplift the lives of Filipinos through opportunities provided by the government through the optimization of our country’s land and urban resources.

Given the 23 years since it was mandated, one would expect that it would have lessened the country’s poverty rate or at least balanced the country’s income distribution. Unfortunately, given the complaints and the reality that confronts a daily commuter, one can see that this is not the case. In the year 2012, the Benigno S. Aquino III regime was self-congratulatory about their exceptional performance regarding the growth of the country’s GDP. Statistically, this is true although further analysis of the state of the nation one would notice a discrepancy between the figures and reality. Also, the impoverished would disagree since the quality of their lives hasn’t improved. The superficiality of the GDP can be due to the fact that their basis of “growth” is from the influx of infrastructures and sale of condominiums. However, this exploits the cheap labor available in the country. Since most of the job openings come from these, people would flock to these jobs. Degree-holders who are unemployed would settle for jobs which they are overqualified for making them underemployed and the properly qualified would become unemployed since the Human Resources Departments would naturally choose those applicants who are overqualified since the quality of the work would be better but their pay is the same. 

The source of money for urban development comes from the taxes of the people. In South East Asia, the Philippines’ taxation is the highest and yet the services given to the people are not reflected by their tax. For example, our health care isn’t free, quality of education and public transportation has not improved, social services are not available to everyone, the development of the rural areas doesn’t happen, and isolated communities do not get what little benefits are available for the masses. One could infer that the money doesn’t go where it should since city projects are not up to standard to their monetary equivalent and sometimes they are not completed. The people know that the money lines the government officials’ pockets. One can see that this is the problem from one end.

 However, the masses have also become complacent with their way of life. They also grow dependent and complain when the aid is given and not continued. Another problem is the brain drain in the country; people look for jobs abroad rather than contributing to the development of the industry in the country.

With these problems from both ends we cannot work towards the betterment of the Philippines. As I said, the support of a bridge must come from both sides.

[8maroons]

[8maroons]

WATCH. EXPERIENCE. REACT. SPREAD THE WORD.

In retrospect, we did not quite fully grasp in our heads what was going on with the film and we just understood bits and pieces of the film. The movie is all about 2 filmmakers pursuing the life of the Philippines' national hero, José P. Rizal, and debunking the controversies that comes with it. From Rizal's sexual orientation to his stand on religion, they scrutinised every nooks and crannies of Rizal's life in pursuit of the untarnished truth. But in the search of it, they just found out grey areas one after another in life of the national hero.

In our opinion, though the movie was not that great yet it was undeniably an eye-opener. It did not deny any controversies, facts, accusations, and rumours that had been thrown in their way for verity. It enlightens us to think the unthinkable, imagine the unimaginable, and do the undoable. The film showed us that the life of José Risal was not all that it seemed and it had "more" to it than the façade. It also exhibited 2 filmmakers with 2 distinct characteristics. One was a person that was objective in his perspective of a topic, logical with an unbiased basis, and optimistic with a grounded outlook while the other person was a realist, therefore, he was full of doubt and skepticism, he needed solid proofs and evidences to believe a theory. It displayed that there are different opinions and ideas about even a same and single topic. Even though there were a lot of issues and arguments that was tackled in the film, they could not make any conclusions after all the facts and interviews that was laid before them.In the end only José Rizal can answer the false pretenses that are speculated to be true about him although the filmmakers interviewed him too.

    In summary of all, my apologies for the respectfulness and vulgarity of it but: Nobody gives a damn what happened around his crotch area or what he believed in, the only important thing is what he did for his country and be a patriot to it and the effects of what he did to the country and his patriotism that changes the course of history of it because like he Rizal said: "A person who does not know how to love his own language is more frowsy and foul-smelling fish."