Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Gadfly Society in The Guidon
Read the editor-in-chief's opinion column, Keeping Track. The article is entitled "Unknown watchdog". A copy of the article and our reaction to the article will be posted here soon.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
On Visibility
We believe that visibility is just half of what the students demand of Sanggunian. The bigger question is - If there were no Sanggunian, to what extent will the students be affected? Make us feel that we need you.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Letter to Sanggunian and to its President
Dear Karl and the Sanggunian,
We heard that this coming weekend, there will be a SOSS event. But I believe this is primarily geared towards freshmen. How about the upperclassmen? What service will the Sanggunian provide and are currently providing for the students of Loyola Schools? Please do not point your fingers to ASCC and DSWS – these are not the only things that Sanggunian is capable of doing, right?
We also heard that Sanggunian officers sit in the various school committees. Can the student body be informed what committees are you pertaining to? What is happening in those committee meetings? Why are we not informed? Who are those who are supposedly representing us in these “important” committees?
How is the bureaucracy of Sanggunian? Honestly, the student body (yes, we have asked around) is perplexed with what each position in the Sanggunian does. We are not saying that we need yet another orientation. What we are saying is that we want to see SANGGUNIAN AT WORK. It is working, right? Because if it isn't, we think that the money that goes to the Sanggunian and the elections that put the officers where they are should be put to better use.
Freshmen elections are near. We hope that there will be no failure of elections for the Finance Officer. But it wouldn't be a shocker if there will be. We know that you understand what we are trying to say.
Karl, we shall be waiting for your SONA.
We shall be waiting for a Sanggunian that works.
Watching you always,
Gadfly Society
Friday, July 20, 2007
What Will Ateneans Do?
On Monday will be the State of the Nation Address by the President. But are Ateneans really concerned? Do they really care about what the President will say and do they even care about reacting on it?
It almost seems as though Ateneans are only concerned whether there will be classes or not. ("Free cut? Let's watch a movie!") While in another university, almost all the teachers are suspending classes to encourage the students to listen to the SONA and to participate in activities that aim to make stands and statements heard.
During the UAAP Basketball Finals last year, a television in the caf was used as a means for the students in the school to watch the Third Game between ADMU and UST. We wonder if it will again be used this time to bring to the students something more relevant...
It almost seems as though Ateneans are only concerned whether there will be classes or not. ("Free cut? Let's watch a movie!") While in another university, almost all the teachers are suspending classes to encourage the students to listen to the SONA and to participate in activities that aim to make stands and statements heard.
During the UAAP Basketball Finals last year, a television in the caf was used as a means for the students in the school to watch the Third Game between ADMU and UST. We wonder if it will again be used this time to bring to the students something more relevant...
Abrera's Interpretation
From the Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 16, 2007
Perhaps legitimizing extra-judicial killings?
Thursday, July 19, 2007
SONA 2006
Last year, these were some of the words of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo:
"To my friends in Congress who... championed and passed some of the most severe and critical fiscal reforms to save our economy, maraming salamat. You are the true friends of the Filipino people... Dahil sa inyo, sa wakas may pondo na tayo, hindi lamang para ibayad sa interes, kundi para sa edukasyon, mas mabuting tulay at kalsada, pagbigay kalinga sa kalusugan at higit na trabaho sa ating bansa. Now, we have the money to pay down our debt and to build up our country...
To our men and women in the armed services, the huge and deep core of your loyalty has earned the nation's accolade. The few mutineers have been condemned by the people. They and their partisan cohorts and funders are being brought to justice.
And at a time when we must each, as individuals and as communities, take greater responsibility, our local government officials man the frontline of change: change for greater accountability, for better service and more responsiveness to their constituents.
So I stand before you today to deliver a state of the nation that is focused on what the people want; the people want to know the plan to put us on the path to prosperity.
I am not here to talk about politics; I am here to talk about what the people want; details on the state of the nation and what their government is doing to make progress every single day...
We now have the funds to stamp out terrorism and lawless violence... We now have the funds for constitutional and electoral changes. Sa kasalukuyang sistema, napakabagal ng proseso, at bukas sa labis na pagtutunggali, at sikil ang lalawigan at mamamayan sa paghahari ng Imperial Manila. Panahon nang ibalik ang kapangyarihan sa taumbayan at lalawigan... There must be a better way.
Meanwhile, now we can fund the Medium Term Public Investment Program... Sumusulong na ang ating plano na may tatlong yugto. Una, ang makaahon sa mga dekada ng utang at kapos ng pondo. Nagawa na natin ito. Ikalawang yugto, ang pagbabalik sa taumbayan ang mas malaking kita ng pamahalaan: upang makapagpundar ng kalinga sa kalusugan, edukasyon at trabaho na kailangang-kailangan ng mamamayan. Ginagawa na rin natin ito. And finally, Phase Three: to invest in the natural advantages and natural resources of each section of our nation so that when harnessed together, the major economic regions of the nation are larger than the sum of its parts...
To be world-class we invest in five comprehensive strategies for global competitiveness:
1. Make food plentiful and affordable to keep our labor cost globally competitive.
2. Reduce the cost of electricity to make our factories regionally competitive.
3. Modernize infrastructure at least cost to efficiently transport goods and people.
4. Mobilize, upgrade and disseminate knowledge and technologies for productivity.
5. Reduce red tape in all agencies to cut business costs.
The most prohibitive red tape is in our outmoded Constitution. We need Constitutional change to bring our rules of investment into the new millennium...
Pagdurugtungin natin ang MRT at LRT mula Monumento hangga... Sa pagbilis ng biyahe patungo at palabaas ng Metro Manila, makakatira ang manggagawa sa mas mura at maaliwalas na lalawigan.
Maayos na ang kapaligiran sa riles ng tren sa South Superhighway. Masaya ang mga pamilyang hinatid namin ni Vice President Noli de Castro sa kanilang bago at permanenteng relokasyon. Teddy Boy Locsin said it hadn't been done before, and couldn't be done at all. Well, Teddy? Ngayon gagawin ito sa Maynila, si Lito Atienza ang bahala.
We thank China for agreeing to fund these housing needs. Huwaran ng ating programang pabahay para sa mahihirap ang mga proyekto ng Iglesia ni Kristo at Gawad Kalinga...
The priority here is tourism investments. Coming soon for superstar Boracay are an instrument landing system for the Kalibo airport and a P3 billion private investment in a San Jose, Romblon airport, plus good roads to spillover destinations all over Panay...
Mindanao is our priority for agribusiness investments in the south. Mindanao is mostly fertile and largely typhoon-free, exporting coconut products and high value crops, and from its waters come 40% of the country's fish catch. Our investment priorities mirror those for North Luzon, and more because Mindanao has the poorest regions and poorest provinces and because we have to spend on a logistics system linking it to the north...
If we can harness the forces of good in our nation, the positive force at work here at home and those from abroad such as the US, Malaysia, the OIC and others, we shall prevail in Mindanao with a peace agreement that brings freedom and hope to all Filipinos. With this peace, we would reap dividends in resources invested in agribusiness, not aggression, to build up, not tear down, the Philippine south...
For those who want to pick up old fights, we're game but what a waste of time. Why not join hands instead? Join hands in the biggest challenge of all, where we all win or we all lose: the battle for the survival and progress of our one and only country."
"To my friends in Congress who... championed and passed some of the most severe and critical fiscal reforms to save our economy, maraming salamat. You are the true friends of the Filipino people... Dahil sa inyo, sa wakas may pondo na tayo, hindi lamang para ibayad sa interes, kundi para sa edukasyon, mas mabuting tulay at kalsada, pagbigay kalinga sa kalusugan at higit na trabaho sa ating bansa. Now, we have the money to pay down our debt and to build up our country...
To our men and women in the armed services, the huge and deep core of your loyalty has earned the nation's accolade. The few mutineers have been condemned by the people. They and their partisan cohorts and funders are being brought to justice.
And at a time when we must each, as individuals and as communities, take greater responsibility, our local government officials man the frontline of change: change for greater accountability, for better service and more responsiveness to their constituents.
So I stand before you today to deliver a state of the nation that is focused on what the people want; the people want to know the plan to put us on the path to prosperity.
I am not here to talk about politics; I am here to talk about what the people want; details on the state of the nation and what their government is doing to make progress every single day...
We now have the funds to stamp out terrorism and lawless violence... We now have the funds for constitutional and electoral changes. Sa kasalukuyang sistema, napakabagal ng proseso, at bukas sa labis na pagtutunggali, at sikil ang lalawigan at mamamayan sa paghahari ng Imperial Manila. Panahon nang ibalik ang kapangyarihan sa taumbayan at lalawigan... There must be a better way.
Meanwhile, now we can fund the Medium Term Public Investment Program... Sumusulong na ang ating plano na may tatlong yugto. Una, ang makaahon sa mga dekada ng utang at kapos ng pondo. Nagawa na natin ito. Ikalawang yugto, ang pagbabalik sa taumbayan ang mas malaking kita ng pamahalaan: upang makapagpundar ng kalinga sa kalusugan, edukasyon at trabaho na kailangang-kailangan ng mamamayan. Ginagawa na rin natin ito. And finally, Phase Three: to invest in the natural advantages and natural resources of each section of our nation so that when harnessed together, the major economic regions of the nation are larger than the sum of its parts...
To be world-class we invest in five comprehensive strategies for global competitiveness:
1. Make food plentiful and affordable to keep our labor cost globally competitive.
2. Reduce the cost of electricity to make our factories regionally competitive.
3. Modernize infrastructure at least cost to efficiently transport goods and people.
4. Mobilize, upgrade and disseminate knowledge and technologies for productivity.
5. Reduce red tape in all agencies to cut business costs.
The most prohibitive red tape is in our outmoded Constitution. We need Constitutional change to bring our rules of investment into the new millennium...
Pagdurugtungin natin ang MRT at LRT mula Monumento hangga... Sa pagbilis ng biyahe patungo at palabaas ng Metro Manila, makakatira ang manggagawa sa mas mura at maaliwalas na lalawigan.
Maayos na ang kapaligiran sa riles ng tren sa South Superhighway. Masaya ang mga pamilyang hinatid namin ni Vice President Noli de Castro sa kanilang bago at permanenteng relokasyon. Teddy Boy Locsin said it hadn't been done before, and couldn't be done at all. Well, Teddy? Ngayon gagawin ito sa Maynila, si Lito Atienza ang bahala.
We thank China for agreeing to fund these housing needs. Huwaran ng ating programang pabahay para sa mahihirap ang mga proyekto ng Iglesia ni Kristo at Gawad Kalinga...
The priority here is tourism investments. Coming soon for superstar Boracay are an instrument landing system for the Kalibo airport and a P3 billion private investment in a San Jose, Romblon airport, plus good roads to spillover destinations all over Panay...
Mindanao is our priority for agribusiness investments in the south. Mindanao is mostly fertile and largely typhoon-free, exporting coconut products and high value crops, and from its waters come 40% of the country's fish catch. Our investment priorities mirror those for North Luzon, and more because Mindanao has the poorest regions and poorest provinces and because we have to spend on a logistics system linking it to the north...
If we can harness the forces of good in our nation, the positive force at work here at home and those from abroad such as the US, Malaysia, the OIC and others, we shall prevail in Mindanao with a peace agreement that brings freedom and hope to all Filipinos. With this peace, we would reap dividends in resources invested in agribusiness, not aggression, to build up, not tear down, the Philippine south...
For those who want to pick up old fights, we're game but what a waste of time. Why not join hands instead? Join hands in the biggest challenge of all, where we all win or we all lose: the battle for the survival and progress of our one and only country."
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