KARLMARX

Spot the difference

2006-07-17T08:33:00.000+08:00

MURDERERSA picture taken during the Holocaust. The same tragedy continues to occur here in the Philippines. As of July 11 this year, 704 individuals were summarily executed, 299 of whom were activists since Macapagal-Arroyo began her term as president in 2001. A total of 181 individuals have become victims of enforced disappearance, including UP students Karen Emepeno and Sherlyn Cadapan who

Fabricated Threats and Payoffs

2006-07-16T20:33:00.000+08:00

The government is deploying roughly 14,000 policemen to guard the Batasang Pambansa on Arroyo’s State-of-the-Nation address (SONA) on July 24. This is said to be the biggest police deployment for SONA in history (which is not surprising at all). The government has been implementing the same measures (though not as big as this obviously) around Malacañang everyday since the Hello Graci

CBCP: Disinclined Accomplice

2006-07-16T18:29:00.000+08:00

I’m dismayed, to say the least, with the recent Pastoral Letter issued by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). As religious leaders, they have the responsibility to lead their flock in these times of moral decadence and injustice. It seemed, however, that the bishops were even more confused than their bewildered followers. The Pastoral Letter was so vague that even CBCP

Suntok sa buwan

2006-07-13T02:13:00.000+08:00

“Hindi naman ako umaasa eh. Alam ko namang suntok sa buwan.” I remember saying this to a confidant while waiting for medico-legal test results of fellow young activists who were bloodied in a scuffle with anti-riot cops near Mendiola last week. I could still remember the faces of those policemen who violently dispersed a youth protest against Macapagal-Arroyo’s all-out war policy. They were

2006-06-22T00:34:00.000+08:00

If the Americans had never committed genocide against the Indians; if they had never incited wars of annihilation between the native peoples of the land, if there had never been a Trail of Tears; if America had never organized and commercialized the kidnapping and sale into slavery of a gentle and defenseless African people; if it had never developed the most widespread brutal, exploitative

Filipino education

2006-06-22T00:31:00.000+08:00

After nursing, call centers and medical transcription, another outsourcing job has been added as a career option for young people. Demand for “closed captioning” professionals is expected to rise this year after the US Congress started to push for the implementation of a 1998 law which requires captioning of all new English-language television programming. Captioning is implemented to allow

Reunions

2006-06-21T23:49:00.000+08:00

All good things must come to an end…and so are the bad ones. Yeah, I know it’s a mortal sin for bloggers not to update their blogs… well at least I’m back and hopefully I can make up for all the lost days and catch up with everything that had happened. The past month (since I last updated this blog) was actually a time of reunions. It has been three years since I last attended the annual

Party list Paradox

2006-05-18T00:20:00.000+08:00

The Party list System Act (RA 7941) was enacted to “promote proportional representation in the election of representatives to the House of Representatives.” The law aims to enable Filipino citizens belonging to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties to contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation and to become members of the Lower House.

Do we still need CHEd?

2006-05-17T18:22:00.000+08:00

Does the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) still have a purpose? For the past years, CHEd has miserably failed to implement meaningful and significant reforms in higher education. Worse, it has been reduced into a mere monitoring agency and a legal stamp pad for tuition and miscellaneous fee hike applications. The unabated tuition and miscellaneous fee hikes and growing number of

Irrelevant Church*

2006-05-17T18:07:00.000+08:00

I’ve never actually read the whole book, just the portion where Dan Brown claimed that Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene were actually a couple and even had children. But of course, any person with a right mind can readily tell that it is a fiction. So why is the church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, so furious about it? Catholic churches in some countries had even lobbied to their

Making a different mark

2006-03-23T19:36:00.000+08:00

This is a reaction to Conrado de Quiros' article Courage published on March 23, 2006.He was right when he said that the older generations 'always talk of how the youth of today will one day make their mark on society' but 'never talk about how society will one day make its mark on the youth of today.'But this concern is not only true for young professionals and this batch of graduates. The

Justice for Cris Hugo and all victims of state terrorism!

2006-03-21T21:52:00.000+08:00

MURDERED BY THE ARROYO GOVERNMENTCris Hugo, a 20-year old Journalism student in the University of Bicol, was shot dead last March 19. He is a national council member and the region coordinator in Bicol of the League of Filipino Students.Hugo is the 33rd activist killed this year under the present regime.How many more critical voices will this government silence permanently just to stay in power?

Misconceptions on Machiavelli and on Arroyo being a 'Machiavellian'

2006-03-19T23:49:00.000+08:00

This is a reaction to Mong's recent blog entry Definitely not Machiavellian. Your blog entry is a refreshing departure from popularly-held, yet erroneous beliefs on Machiavelli’s philosophy. Most people tend to forget that Machiavelli’s theories were formulated during the period when Italy was yet to be unified into a single nation-state and that duplicity and suspicion were the norms

Philippines and South Korea

2006-03-19T22:34:00.000+08:00

Apart from Jewel in the Palace, Sandara Park and other Koreanovelas, what else do we know about South Korea? Like our country, South Korea was recently (though the political crisis here is far from being over) rocked by political scandal and consequentially the resignation of its Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan. Lee faced pressure since the beginning of this month after playing golf (they

Another ‘sunshine’ industry?

2006-03-14T01:10:00.000+08:00

After call centers, the government has again set its eyes on yet another futile attempt to salvage the economy.The Department of Tourism has recently launched Medical Tourism Philippines (MTP) to attract foreigners to visit the country for their medical and leisure needs – from cosmetic surgery to luxurious spa facilities. Wikipedia describes ‘medical tourism’ as the act of traveling to other

‘Miseducated’ Educators

2006-03-13T11:05:00.000+08:00

Few weeks ago, I gave a discussion on the current education situation in a forum held in the University of Baguio (UB). Also invited were the representatives of NEDA, a city councilor and the regional director of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) in the Cordilleras, Dr. Magdalena Jasmin.I’ve already heard how several CHEd officers conduct their discussion on issues like the education

Challege to NYC

2006-03-12T21:12:00.001+08:00

The deletion of Section 13, Article II of the 1987 Constitution is just one of the major blunders that we could find in the proposed Charter Change.I am not really expecting the National Youth Commission (NYC) to go against the proposed Charter Change since its new chairman is part of the Cha-Cha advocacy commission (which Malacanang formed) and the Commission itself is under the Office of the

Cha-Cha will transform RP into a mass graveyard

2006-02-21T12:08:00.000+08:00

The proposed Charter will certainly bury, figuratively and literally, whatever remaining hope Filipinos have today. It is digging a muddy grave for a self-sufficient and independent national economy and for the thousands of Filipinos living in mining and logging-affected areas. By lifting the Constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of land and the exploration and utilization of natural

Cheap shot

2006-02-06T23:28:00.000+08:00

I’m not a Muslim but I sympathize with the millions of Islam's followers who were maliciously maligned and offended by the circulation of cartoons attacking the Prophet Muhammad in some European newspapers.The controversial cartoon shows the Prophet Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban. For the publishers, it was freedom of expression. But to the eyes of many, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, it

Wawa-wee

2006-02-06T23:07:00.000+08:00

Sino nga naman ba ang hindi mawiwili na paulit-ulit na pumila sa isang game show na nagpapamudmod ng limpak-limpak na salapi? Bukod sa papremyong nag-aabang sa matitirang contestant na papasok sa jackpot round ng Pera o Bayong, ang makulay at maliwanag na set at mga artista ay sapat nang magnet para magpabalik-balik ang mga constestant at audience na walang mintis na nagbabakasakaling maging

Breeding Apathy: Cha-Cha's Implications on Young Filipinos

2006-02-05T23:54:00.000+08:00

“The youth is the hope of the motherland,” as an old saying goes.But this may no longer be true should our so-called Constitutionalists and the opportunists behind them succeed in changing the present Philippine Constitution.So many criticisms have already been said about Malacañang’s grand scheme to amend the Constitution, but one particular concern, among other

SEA Games opening sa Luneta?!

2005-11-28T15:01:00.000+08:00

Napanood ko ang opening ceremonies ng SEA Games kahapon and if it were not for the Bayanihan Dance Troupe and the San Miguel Philharmonic Orchestra, isa na sana ito sa mga pinakamalaking trahedya na naganap sa bansa. The country’s hosting of the SEA Games is even a more unfortunate tragedy for all of us. Ito raw ang unang beses sa 46 taong kasaysayan ng SEA Games na ginanap ang

Miriam for Chief Justice

2005-11-28T11:41:00.000+08:00

It could have been another first for the Philippines or a new Guinness world record, but the members of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) perceived it otherwise.Voting 6-2, the JBC rejected the petition to extend the deadline for the submission of nominees for the Chief Justice post, preventing Senator Miram Defensor-Santiago from being included in the list.Miriam could have been the first woman

Winning the cyberspace battle

2005-11-24T08:50:00.000+08:00

Malacanang's spin-doctors tried to diffuse the Google bomb but they failed. There was also an attempt to redirect the keyword 'sinungaling' from Toting Bunye's website to our young radicals blog, but they also messed up. Apparently, the government’s set of computer experts and its rich resources were no match to the overwhelming anti-Arroyo sentiment now engulfing the country and the

Bombard the (GMA online) headquarters!

2005-11-02T10:36:00.000+08:00

Together, we can turn Arroyo's website into the "pekeng pangulo” homepage. We are calling on all bloggers and web administrators to post a link with the keyword "pekeng pangulo" to Arroyo's website, http://www.kgma.org/. This has been done by anti-Bush activists during the peak of the anti-Iraq war protests in 2001 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bombing). When you search Google

CPR can't water down anti-Arroyo movement

2005-10-19T00:11:00.000+08:00

Poor National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Vidal Querol, he failed to master and rehearse his lines before yakking in front of the media. First, he wanted to invent a scenario that the prayer rally was infiltrated by armed militants to justify the use of water cannon against the crowd. But Querol’s story didn’t quite work out after Senator Madrigal admitted that the man in the

Hindi na tayo dapat magtaka

2005-10-18T16:22:00.000+08:00

Mahigit limampung araw na ring nasa ere ang Pinoy Big Brother (PBB) ngunit kahit nilukuban na ng last song syndrome ang karamihan sa mga TV buff ng theme song nito na Pinoy Ako, patuloy pa ring umaani ng batikos ang nasabing ‘reality show.’ Kunsabagay, sa theme song pa lang, sablay na dahil wala naman talaga itong kaugnayan sa konsepto at format ng PBB. Ironic, pero sa kabila ng mga

F*** that FX

2005-09-03T23:42:00.000+08:00

My head still aches. It’s been hours since me and my seatmate’s skulls collided in a car crash early this afternoon. I haven’t yet figured out what really happened though. After the FX hit the road block, the next thing I knew was I’m already sitting at the vehicle’s floor and holding the back door’s handle at my right hand. It was already pass twelve and I was already rushing to go to

Textbooks + Coke = Mass Mediocritization?

2005-08-29T18:13:00.000+08:00

Youth group decry DepEd-Coke tie-upLiterally one for the books, the Department of Education (DepEd) inked a deal with Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI) tapping the latter to deliver textbooks to public elementary and high schools throughout the country. The Anak ng Bayan Youth Party asks, Why Coca-Cola? FULL STORY

Teleserye ng Buhay Pinoy?

2005-08-24T14:42:00.000+08:00

Mukhang sa pagkalugi na naman mauuwi ang ABS-CBN sa bago nitong show na Pinoy Big Brother (PBB). Sa kabila ng matagal at bongga nitong publicity, hindi pa rin naitaob nito ang mga katapat na fantaserye sa kalabang istasyon.Sa three-part launch ng PBB, hindi na ito tumugma sa pagsasalarawan ng mga nauna nitong advertisement na nagpapakilala sa palabas bilang “teleserye ng totoong buhay.” Pilit na

Crazy

2005-08-21T19:55:00.000+08:00

The past month was simply crazy. There’s just no other word to describe it. GMA’s Truth Commission (July 19) Now this was really crazy. The idea that Mrs. Arroyo will form a Truth Commission which primary task is to investigate her own wrongdoings was simply absurd. But more than being ridiculous, it’s a travesty of justice and an insult to Filipinos’ intellect. The truth is

2005-08-21T19:30:00.000+08:00

Youth Groups March for Arroyo's RemovalWarn to storm Congress if impeachment is blockedYouth groups believe the Macapagal-Arroyo government guilty of stealing the youth and nation’s bright future. They held protest marches and warned they will not hesitate to storm Congress should pro-administration lawmakers succeed in crushing the impeachment. FULL STORYBeware of the 'Denggoy' Virus'No cheating

Students Hold Classes in Street, Join SONA Protest

2005-08-21T19:21:00.000+08:00

July 24 - 30, 2005 High school student Xaviera Vasquez, 15, was among the thousands of students who were made to attend by their schools the July 16 pro-Arroyo rally in Rizal Park, Manila. Come Monday, the day of the State of the Nation address of the president, Vasquez will be among the thousands of students nationwide protesting in the street. FULL STORY

People power fatigue is a myth

2005-07-17T22:11:00.000+08:00

Mammoth anti-Arroyo rally in Makati, July 13Are Filipinos already tired of change? Are we that cynical nowadays? We’ve been hearing these words from the likes of Ignacio Bunye and Mike Defensor. They said there is already a “people power fatigue.” Nothing will happen anyway, so why clamor for a regime change? Who will replace Gloria, Rez Cortez? They said people power is already a thing of the

Mass Walkouts, Strikes Set This Week

2005-07-10T23:30:00.000+08:00

Youth alliances to hold daily protests President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has stood firm on her decision to stay, but the organized youth are calling on her to resign. The demand for her removal from office has grown to the point where daily protests are set to be held to force the President to leave Malacañang. FULL STORY

Gloria Must Go, Youth Say in Survey

2005-07-10T23:24:00.000+08:00

Even prior to the public statement of 10 Cabinet members that the President should resign, the sentiments of the youth are already for her removal from office. A recent youth survey shows that the youth find the President as largely an ineffective leader due to her inability address vital national concerns. FULL STORY

2005-07-02T17:47:00.000+08:00

Goodbye, Gloria! Malaya

Si Tetay at si Tita Cory

2005-07-02T17:28:00.000+08:00

Akala ko nung una ay si Kristeta lang ang artista at taklesa sapamilyang Aquino… mali pala. Sa pagkakataong ito, tama nga ang kasabihang “kanino pa ba magmamana ang anak kundi sa magulang din.” Hindi rin pala ampon si Kris, after all. Kung simpatya ang inani ni Tetay sa kanyang pagbubunyag ng diumano’y pagkakahawa ng STD kay Joey Marquez on national television, mga batikos naman ang umulan

Enchanting...

2005-07-02T17:17:00.000+08:00

Gaya ng takbo ng pulitika sa bansa, mabilis din ang mga pangyayari sa Encantadia ng GMA-7 ngayong linggong ito. Sa isang iglap, naagaw na ni Pirena (Sunshine Dizon) ang trono ni Amihan (Iza Calzado). Kasabay nito, nabuhay at nakabalik na sa Encantadia ang anak ni Iza na si Jennelyn Mercado. Walang humpay na story telling naman sa Intramuros ang ginawa ni Bobby Andrews kay Ibarro/Ibrahim (

A Thief and a Charlatan

2005-06-24T08:32:00.000+08:00

Malacañang should publish its own dictionary. After all, its publicists can be credited for inventing or altering the most number of words in a short period of time. Probably the Arroyo government has been having a hard time understanding the people so it is altering the words into the kind of language which their limited comprehension can finally understand.Perhaps aside from the Tagalog word “

They can’t fool us all the time

2005-06-24T07:32:00.000+08:00

I wonder, how much lie can a normal person utter in a day or in his whole life time? Is there a limit in lying? How much lying then can person handle?Well, as far as Mrs. Arroyo’s alter-ego is concerned, it can be a rewarding (financially rewarding that is) profession in itself.Ironically, while many Filipinos don’t even have a single peso in their pockets, taxpayers are paying thousands for the

'Mobile-izing' for Arroyo's Ouster

2005-06-19T21:43:00.000+08:00

Youth groups use technology to expose truth Despite stringent government regulations that ban the airing of the supposed wiretapped conversations between President Macapagal-Arroyo and Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, progressive groups are finding more ways to circulate the content of the controversial tapes. All for the sake of truth.FULL STORY Related Article: Gloria's Prayer and

Nothing Memorable

2005-06-18T11:26:00.000+08:00

It’s not worth remembering after all. Nakaka-disappoint yung ending ng Memories of Bali. Contrary to ABS-CBN’s promotion na kontroberysal ang magiging ending, there was nothing special about it at all. Nakakasawa na yung Romeo and Juliet ending sa mga istorya. Hindi ko alam kung dapat ay mas mahaba pa yung last episode na yun dahil minadali yung mga eksena (probably dahil mababa rin ang ratings).

Si Arroyo ang nagde-destabilisa sa kanyang sarili

2005-06-17T07:25:00.000+08:00

Nakakabingi ang katahimikan sa Malakanyang habang naghuhumiyaw naman sa apat na sulok ng Palasyo ang mga kasinungalingangang nailantad nitong nagdaang mga araw."Hello, Garci?" Ano nga ba ang ikinakatakot ni Gloria at bakit ayaw niya pa ring magsalita? Sa pagtikom ni Gloria ng kanyang bibig, higit pa niyang ibinabaon ang kanyang administrasyon sa kumunoy ng pulitika. Sabi nga, ang

Déjà vu

2005-06-17T07:23:00.000+08:00

Am I making the same mistakes? Hindi na nga ba ako natuto? Or am I just being selfish? Mahirap…sa kahit anong side naman, makakasakit ka pa rin. Siguro hindi mo ako naiintindihan. Pilit ko rin kasing iniintindi ang sarili ko. O baka nga puro na lang sarili ko ang iniisip ko. All I want is to be happy…to love…and be loved. Sana ganun lang kadali iyon…

2005-06-16T19:22:00.000+08:00

Malacanang Scandal for Sale. The "Gloriagate" CD and its recently released ring tone are selling like hot cakes. Hindi na kataka-taka kung mag-top pa si Gloria sa charts dahil sobrang mabenta ang very cheap niyang CD.

Bigger Tuition Hikes Greet School Opening

2005-06-16T18:05:00.000+08:00

The Commission on Higher Education’s (CHEd) recent claim about a tuition increase freeze this year is turning out to be mainly for public consumption. As schools opened last week, more colleges had actually applied for tuition hike and, to top it all, this year’s tuition increases were higher compared to previous years. FULL STORY

Why RP lacks teachers

2005-06-16T18:03:00.000+08:00

June 14, 2005THE COUNTRY produces enough education graduates to arrest the shortage of teachers in the public schools. But many of them do not pass the licensure exams and more opt to go abroad to work as domestics.FULL STORY

Resigned and Cynical

2005-06-16T17:50:00.000+08:00

THIS is in reaction to the June 4 editorial, titled “Cost-sharing.” The editorial was saying one thing but prescribed another. While it initially blamed the incessant tuition hikes as the main culprit for the exodus of private school students to public institutions, the article was suggesting that students in state schools must also bear the cost of education, whether it would mean

CMO No. 14 ng CHED, ibayong pahirap

2005-06-16T17:34:00.000+08:00

Hunyo 8-14, 2005SA HALIP na solusyon, ibayong problema ang idudulot ng CMO (memorandum) No. 14 ng CHEd (Commission on Higher Education), ayon kay Raymond Palatino, pangalawang pangulo ng Anak ng Bayan Youth Party.BASAHIN NANG BUORead related article: More Loopholes in New CHEd Memo, Youth Group Says

Back-to-School Woes Worst Ever

2005-06-16T17:27:00.000+08:00

Per capita budget for education is P5,200 vs Japan’s P210,481, Thailand’s P46,314 June 5-11, 2005 The government has adopted a “business-as-usual” attitude in explaining preparations for the school opening. For progressive students and teachers, however, they will take the government to task for its abandonment of education as they provide an

Tuition Hike Freeze? CHEd Must Be Joking

2005-06-16T17:15:00.000+08:00

May 29 - June 4, 2005School owners are finding more ways to make money. They have been jacking up miscellaneous fees in place of tuition hikes to evade controversy – and rake in bigger profits in return.FULL STORY

Tuition Cap Will Regularize Yearly Hikes, NUSP Says

2005-06-16T17:06:00.000+08:00

May 20-28, 2005 If the average tuition rate increase of 12 percent continues for the next five years, the national average per unit would reach P590.20 by 2010 from the present P334.89 per unit. By then tuition would have increased by as high as 1,257.41 percent since 1990.FULL STORY

Fare hike, discount removal jack up students’ transpo expenses by P113.60/mo.

2005-05-15T20:25:00.000+08:00

The impending fare hike and discount removal will add at least P113.60 in students’ monthly transportation expenses. Once the fare hike is implemented, an ordinary student will shell out P90 at the minimum per week for back-and-forth, short route travel during weekdays. The minimum student fare, which enjoys a 20 percent discount, will swell by P1.50 from its present P4.40 discounted rate.

Nakakatuyo ng utak

2005-05-15T20:21:00.000+08:00

Sobra ang init ngayon, nakakatuyo ng utak. Kaya siguro parang natuyuan ng mga utak (kung meron nga talaga) ang ilang mga kilala at di gaanong kilalang personalidad sa lipunan nitong mga nakaraang araw. Wala na raw diskwento sa pamasahe ang mga estudyante tuwing weekend, holiday at bakasyon. Mukhang hindi yata ginawa ni LTFRB Chair Elena Bautista ang kanyang homework. Hindi ba’t may

House Starts Probe on Tuition Hikes

2005-05-15T20:14:00.000+08:00

The successive closures of two of the country's leading pre-need education firms finally prompted Congress to probe into tuition deregulation. However, strong pressure from various associations of private school owners and the weakness of the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) to control tuition hikes show that the students' decades-long fight is far from over. By Carl Marc Ramota

Network Wars at si Darna

2005-05-09T20:24:00.000+08:00

Hindi na ako masyadong nakakapanood ng TV ngayon, di tulad ng dati na kaya kong magbabad ng isang buong araw na nanonood lang ng mga palabas dito. Wala kasing TV sa office/staff house namin. Isa pa, kahit may TV, news lang din ang priority na panoorin; mahal na rin kasi ang kuryente. Kahit ganun, hindi pa rin naman ako nahuhuli sa mga palabas at balita. Kapag umuuwi kasi ako sa amin,

2005-05-04T18:50:00.000+08:00

Nakakapagod ang araw na ito kahit wala naman akong halos ginawa maliban sa interview ko sa UP Law kanina. Parang hinigop ang enerhiya ko ng mga tanong at ng mga nagbato ng katanungan. Nakakatawang isipin mula sa mga tanong kung anong meron ako para tanggapin nila ako sa kolehiyo, umabot ang diskusyon hanggang sa isyu ng Hacienda Luisita. Di ko alam kung magandang nalaman nila ang pagiging

Magna est veritas et prevaelebit

2005-05-03T14:35:00.000+08:00

The recent spate of unresolved journalist killings paints a grim picture to young and budding journalists.It brings up future journalists in a society enfolded with the culture of fear and impunity, where mercenaries and killers in uniforms wander freely; a society where dissension is answered by a bullet. The plight of the mainstream media is also no different to the situation of the campus

Tuition Hikes Disastrous to College Assurance Firms

2005-05-03T14:31:00.000+08:00

Filipino parents’ dreams of ensuring their children’s college education through pre-need plans continue to be shattered with the closure of the country’s first ever college assurance company. Bulatlat

SPECIAL REPORT: Maids Work to Teach, Teachers Work as Maids

2005-04-24T22:02:00.000+08:00

By Carl Marc RamotaPosted in Bulatlat Maids Work to Teach, Teachers Work as Maids(First of three parts)Teachers who are supposed to supply the brain – so to speak – for the country’s youth are themselves part of the brain drain. The country produces enough of these professionals to arrest the worsening teaching shortage but more and more of them go abroad – or stay in the country – to work as

More Pre-need Firms to Close Due to Unabated Tuition Hikes

2005-04-15T11:07:00.000+08:00

“Pacific Plans and CAP’s downfall merely highlight how the cost of education, particularly in the tertiary level, has dramatically increased after the deregulation of tuition.”More Pre-need Firms to Close Due to Unabated Tuition Hikes Upsurge in dropout rate seen in coming school year Anak ng Bayan Youth Party predicted that more pre-need firms are doomed to close this coming school year unless

Who is next?

2005-04-12T21:51:00.000+08:00

The wave of killings and other human rights violations perpetrated against journalists, government critics and activists sends a distressing signal to all Filipino youth.The pile of unresolved cases and deliberate silence of supposed authorities erode whatever illusion or belief that democracy still works in this country.It brings up today’s youth and the generations to come in a society enfolded

No Graduation, No Jobs for Poor Filipino Students

2005-04-12T21:44:00.000+08:00

April is the time for the graduation of students in the elementary, high school and college levels. There is happiness in the faces of both parents and students when the latter receive their diplomas. Is this feeling shared by majority of Filipinos, or do most of the youth have are forced to do other things than study?BY CARL MARC RAMOTABulatlatPublic schools offer free tuition for elementary and

Withering Away

2005-03-24T16:19:00.000+08:00

When can we really tell that we have already “moved on?” It is not actually that hard. Words are easy to say. Feelings, on the other hand, are naturally subjective, so it can be easily conditioned or controlled. After all, most of us are born instinctive actors.We can always say “yes I have,” but we can never really tell. The vagueness of the preceding sentence clearly defines how my mind works

Joblessness Awaits Batch 2005

2005-03-23T13:25:00.000+08:00

SPECIAL REPORTFirst of two partsOnly a few of the 385,000 students who will graduate this April will land a job within the next two years. Many of those able to get a job will be in call centers.By Carl Marc RamotaContributed to BulatlatThe country will have about 385,000 new graduates by April. Unfortunately, the employment pool can accommodate only a few of these graduates thus leaving many

Economic Woes Drive Bright Graduates to Call Centers

2005-03-23T13:18:00.000+08:00

SPECIAL REPORT(Conclusion)The call center industry is now considered the biggest employer in the Philippines, in terms of growth rate. The trade and industry department said call centers are hiring 1,500 to 2,000 people every week.By Carl Marc RamotaContributed to BulatlatThe youth are not only the least employable, but they are also one of the groups easily affected by economic downtrends. For

College Education in Crisis

2005-03-06T17:25:00.000+08:00

Five years from now, the Philippines’ tertiary education will likely face a crisis if the current trends in college enrolment and dropouts will continue. Due to continuing tuition hikes more and more students enrolled in private colleges and universities find themselves either dropping out or forced to transfer to state institutions. By Carl Marc RamotaContributed to Bulatlat(First of two parts)

Profit-makers Produce Mediocre Graduates

2005-03-06T17:18:00.000+08:00

If the average tuition rate increase of 12 percent continues for the next five years, the national average per unit would reach P590.20 by 2010. By then tuition would have increased by as high as 1,257.41 percent since 1990.By Carl Marc RamotaContributed to Bulatlat(Conclusion)Many college students are dropping out of school, but there are no similar danger signs as far as some private

It’s not just the “quantity”

2005-02-06T02:31:00.000+08:00

This is in response to the paper’s editorial, “Quantity over quality,” yesterday which discussed the plummeting quality of education and its supposed relation to the number of education institutions in the country. The release of the editorial about education is very timely as the education budget is now being deliberated in the Senate. Nevertheless, there are some major issues that might have

Probe tuition hikes too

2005-02-03T21:23:00.000+08:00

Our Senators’ immediate response over the College Assurance Plan (CAP) brouhaha is unmistakably commendable. Nevertheless, the issue does not simply end in CAP’s dwindling funds. CAP’s unexpected collapse merely highlights how the cost of education, particularly in the tertiary level, has dramatically increased over the last two decades since the deregulation of tuition in 1983. The enactment of

Band-aid solution

2005-02-02T10:52:00.000+08:00

The proposal of some UP professors to add two more years in the education ladder simply lacks careful analysis and realism. While it is true that we are producing half-baked graduates in the basic and secondary level and increases the number of poorly educated professionals every March and October, adding another two years would be doing more harm than good. Just like the flawed bridge program

This is where our taxes go

2005-02-01T10:25:00.000+08:00

“This is where your taxes go,” as the giant billboards with full-size pictures of the President or some politicians put it. Now, amid heated debates over new taxes such as the proposed rate hike in the value-added tax (VAT), the government is saying the same thing – that the new taxes in the end will benefit the public as it will go to their basic social services. Appallingly, while the

2005-01-28T17:53:00.000+08:00

from left: kalahating mukha ni joe (saling kit-kit 1), yaying (pa-demure 1), taren (bibbo kid 1), china (bibbo kid 2), gly (pa-demure 2), ako (shet ang gwapo, hahahaha), three-fourths na mukha nina renmin (saling kit-kit 2) at helen (saling kit-kit 3). Kuha sa Vinzon's lobby noong Nobyembre 2004. Miz ko na ang mga practices sa production! :(

Paalam

2005-01-23T21:52:00.000+08:00

Maraming tao na akong nasaktan. Siguro habambuhay nang matatak sa isip ko ang lahat. Kahit anong iwas ko, dinadalaw pa rin ako ng mga alaala ng nakaraan. Siguro dahil may kahalong pagsisisi, may bitterness pa rin na hindi napapangibabawan. Madaling sabihin I will move on, pero mas madaling lumabas ang salita sa dila kaysa utusan ang puso at utak na kumilos. Hindi rin naman nila maiintindihan ang

2005-01-23T21:47:00.000+08:00

I really felt sad when I saw how the Met now looks like after watching a TV show. It has been years since it closed its doors from the public for reasons that I don’t know of. The last time I entered the theater was during my elementary days. We watched Florante and Laura which was starred by Nino Muhlach and Harlene Bautista. It was spacious, and had intricate embellishments in almost every

Half-empty

2005-01-23T15:20:00.000+08:00

I was listening to the message of our pastor this morning. As he began his piece, he mentioned how important water is in the history of mankind, at least in the Bible – how many of the Old Testament stories talked about water, used water as a primary element or took place at or near a body of water. Just the same, water was also a vital element in Christ’s life and ministry, from his baptism at

2005-01-23T15:10:00.000+08:00

MAKATWIRAN ANG MAGHIMAGSIK.

2005-01-23T15:08:00.000+08:00

Sa paanan ng Mendiola...18 taon matapos ang madugong masaker at mahigit dalawang buwan pagkatapos ng panibagong masaker sa Hacienda Luisita [January 21]

2005-01-17T19:15:00.000+08:00

LET US NOT FORGET. Days from now, we will be commemorating the Mendiola Massacre that took place during the administration of then President Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino. More than a decade after the bloodbath, we again witnessed another massacre, now in the very Hacienda of the Cojuangco-Aquino clan. Today, the fight of peasants and farmworkers for genuine land reform continues. Support the fight

2005-01-17T18:59:00.000+08:00

Hay Dinagyang na, di na naman ako makakapunta. :( Me and UP Solidaridad people in front of Miag-ao Church in Iloilo last 2003. Pano ba yan, di ko na naman natupad ang pangako ko na bumalik diyan. Padalhan nyo na lang ako ng Dinagyang (Bernard) and Ati-atihan (Jayp) shirts, hehehe.

Desperate scheme

2005-01-17T13:12:00.000+08:00

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando is again on a rampage. Once more, MMDA is implementing a new scheme that is no less futile than its previous outrageous gimmicks. The MMDA is missing the whole picture. A drenched cloth passed quickly along EDSA and other major routes will not instill awareness to pedestrians regarding traffic rules and regulations. Besides,

A gun at every Filipinos’ head

2005-01-16T16:38:00.000+08:00

The Lower House has just pulled the trigger. A killer tax is now set off to take toll on the lives of every Filipino consumer. We should all be alarmed. After all, it will affect our very day-to-day living. Rushing the kill Despite prevalent poverty and hunger being experienced by the vast majority of Filipinos, Malacanang as well as the Congress leadership remains obstinate in passing tax

Ban ‘no permit, no exam policy’ in schools

2004-12-15T20:36:00.000+08:00

Barely a few days before the classes end for the Christmas season, tension continues to mount at the Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) as students keep a tough stand off with the school’s administration in protest against the implementation of the ‘no permit, no exam’ policy. Last December 14, PMI students from its main Manila campus held a massive walk out as a symbolic action of widespread

Suffering is a reality, but...

2004-12-15T20:30:00.000+08:00

(Message I delivered at the Fairview Park United Methodist Church last October) Last September, 11 UP professors said the country is in deep fiscal crisis and predicted a financial meltdown comparable to Argentina in two to three years. Of course this is nothing new to a crisis-ridden semi-feudal economy such as ours. Crisis is ever before us. More than 65 percent of doctors and nurses