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T
he destitution is evident as it can still be tracedin the calloused hands of the paupers. Therepression is apparent as it is still reflected inthe vehement demonstrations of the students.The struggle of the common tao and the scholars aremerely the reflection of one another as the Philippinesand the University of the Philippines (UP) suffered fromthe leaderships of presidents who turned their ears deaf to their people and focused on railroading their selfishinterests instead, causing the damnation of the society.
NEWSCultureFeaturesEditorial
2010 Automation IssuesCHEd Allows TFICo Appointed as New SR
Pages 2 to 6
Aftermaths: The Cost ofArroyo & Roman’s Stayin Power
Pages 7 to 8
Jejemon Ka Man oHindi...
Pages 8 to 9
In Remembranceof the Right
Page 12
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
 Volume 23 Number 1 | Thursday, June 17, 2010
 
2

•
10 JUNE 2010 •
thursday
NEWS
 THE
MANILA 
COLLEGIAN
TRIALS AND ERRORS.
The vulnerabilities of the automated elections manifested even before electionday. Photo source:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H_mfjCLS1K0/S2v_a6eaamI/AAAAAAAAFj0/Xbc7_E4cYco/ 
2010 Automation Issues MarElection Credibility
 JOANNA MARIE ICASAS UDARBE
D
espite the automation of the 2010 National Elections on May10, technical malfunctions, election-related violence, voterdisenfranchisement, and other problems led to controversies andquestions regarding the credibility of the results.
PCOS Machines Exhibit Glitches
During election day, overheating,paper jams, power outages, andbattery problems caused a lot of Precinct Count Optical Scan(PCOS) machines to malfunction.According to Smartmatic, thecompany supplying the machinesneeded for the elections, a totalof 465 PCOS machines wererecorded to have glitches duringthe 12-hour voting period.Errors in the PCOS machinessuch as rejection of ballots alsocaused a lot of voters to bedisenfranchised.After election period, whenvotes were being transmitted,the PCOS machines encrypteda bloated number of registeredvoters. In the joint house session,Smartmatic president CesarFlores admitted that there was anerror in the data contained in theCompact Flash (CF) cards where
the PCOS machines showed ive
times more registered voters.
2010 Elections Causes MassiveDisenfranchisement
Due to the merging of 5 precinctsinto one clustered precinct, 1,000voters had to share one PCOSmachine.Due to long queues, PCOSmalfunctions, and names missingfrom the voters’ master list,
a number of irst time voters
and late-registrants weredisenfranchised.The late opening of someprecincts, late delivery of thePCOS machines, and the slowvoting process caused the votersto wait in lines for hours in orderto cast their votes. Due to this,Comelec had to extend votingperiod for one hour.Tactics of electoral fraud that werenot observed in the past electionswere found present in this year’spolls. In Maguindanao and otherprovinces in the AutonomousRegion of Muslim Mindanao(ARMM), minors without electionpapers were seen to be voting.In Sulu, cases were also reportedwherein indelible ink was easilywashed off by water.Vote buying was also evident incases wherein pre-shaded ballotswere given out to voters. Boardof Election Inspectors (BEIs) inother precincts were telling thevoters to place their thumbmarksin places that PCOS machinesrecognize as smudges. Candidateshanded out money so that thevoters would not proceed to vote.In a precinct in North Cotabato, an“assistor” points to some illiteratevoters what oval to shade on theirballots.“CenPEG estimates the actualnumber of voters at 35.3 millionor 70.9 percent of the 50.7 millionregistered voters, and leavinga big 15% percent unable tovote or disenfranchised. Thenumber of disenfranchised voterscould be bigger because of a
signiicant number of rejected
ballots,” CenPEG pointed out in astatement released on May 17.
 Violence Triggers Failure of Elections
Election-related violence such as
gunights and destruction of PCOS
machines emerged in different precincts, especially in the ARMM.In Lanao del Sur, elections werepostponed to June 3 after adeclaration of failure of elections.Iloilo and Samar, among others,were also declared to have failureof elections.The Philippine National Police(PNP), however, said that thisyear’s elections is more peacefulthan the elections in years 2004and 2007.PNP Chief Director General JesusVerzosa mentioned in a statement,“The election was generallypeaceful [but] marred by isolatedcases of violence, which are
OSA Holds
1
st
UPMLeadership Training
CRISELLI LAGONOY ENDAYA
T
wenty-ive student leaders from the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) attended the irst ever UPM leadership training conducted by the Ofice of Student Affairs (OSA) and the Ofice of theChancellor on May 27 to 29 at Ciudad Christhia, San Mateo, Rizal.
Themed “Paghahanda samga Hamon ng Panahon,” theleadership training was organizedto assist the student leaders of theUPM in becoming effective leadersfor the university, community andthe society.Student leaders from theUniversity Student Council (USC)and various college student councils, including four delegatesfrom the School of Health Sciencesin Palo, Leyte and Baler, Aurora,participated in the event whichlasted for three days.The activity was a combinationof lectures and workshopsconducted to develop leadershipskills and instill values of ethicalleadership and accountabilityamong the participants. Theworkshops centered on thefollowing areas: InterpersonalSkills: Foundation of Leadership;Leadership Behaviors: Leading,Persuading, Collaborating andEthical Leadership; ProgramPlanning and Development..The training also includeddiscussions on the Philippinenational situation and theeducation crisis, the role of UPManila as a national university,and gender and reproductivehealth rights. 
Positive Feedbacks
According to an interview withDr. Nymia Simbulan, head of OSA, “The event was a success onour part because we were ableto emphasize the importance of effective leadership and developthe leadership skills and ethicalbehaviors of the student leaders.”Along with the positive statement of the organizers of the event,USC Chairperson Cesarie AnnSantos said, “
Napapanahon at makabuluhan ang kauna-unahang
UP Manila
 
leadership training
lalo pa’t ang mga miyembro ng mgakonseho ng mag-aaral para sa
AY2010-2011
ang mga delegado. Alinsunod sa tema nito, tunay namalaki ang hamon sa aming mgalider estudyante na tumindig parasa pagbabago sa ating lipunan.” 
The leadership training endedwith a pledge of commitment from the student leaders to utilizeall that they have gained from theprogram and to conscientiouslyapply it in serving the university,community and society.
With the success of the irst 
leadership training in the UPM,the OSA plans to continue theprogram on a semestral basis inthe coming years if the funds willallow it.
    s     1     6     0     0  -     h     /     P     C     O     S     1     0 .     J     P     G
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
 

thursday
•
17 JUNE 2010
•
 
3
CEGP Conducts 70th NSPC
 JEO ANGELO CHICO ELAMPARO
T
he College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) conducted its 70th annual National Student PressConvention (NSPC), tackling critical issues such as campus press repression and culture of impunity
in the country.
Attended by roughly 120delegates from 42 collegepublications nationwide, thisyear’s NSPC was themed “TheCampus Press and the AutomatedElection System: Wield Our Pensto Protect the People’s Vote, Unitefor Genuine Social Change, Upholdthe People’s Agenda!”
Pub Staffers Trained
The convention held on April21-25 at Mambukal MountainResort, Brgy. Minoyan, Murcia,Negros Occidental includedactivities that trained thedelegates in their respectiveareas of writing and in new formsof journalism. The workshopsincluded: News Writing, OpinionWriting, Features Writing, NewMedia, Lampoon Writing, CitizenJournalism, Graphics and Layout,and Broadcast Media among manyothers.Prior to the convention proper,the CEGP also conducted awriter’s trip exposing the plights,struggles, and current state of themarginalized sectors in Visayas.
Critical Issues Tackled
In a caucus, majority of thestate universities’ publicationssuch as The Torch of PhilippineNormal University, The Catalyst of Polytechnic University of the Philippines, PhilippineCollegian of the University of thePhilippines (UP) Diliman andThe Perspective of UP Los Banosexposed the repression theirpublications and co-writers areexperiencing. As a response, CEGP
oficers condemned the illicit acts
of the aforementioned colleges’administration in subduing thecampus press and vowed to helpthe distressed publications inevery possible means.The convention also includedcomprehensive discussions onsome of the country’s pressingissues such as the prevailingculture of impunity in thePhilippines and the vulnerabilitiesof the 2010 national automatedelections. Among the speakersof the discussions were Sen.Loren Legarda, Cong. Liza Maza,Cong. Satur Ocampo and Cong.Raymond Palatino.As an answer, the CEGP and thedelegates strengthened theirmilitant positions as they openedthe 35th Biennial NationalStudent Press Congress andapproved resolutions that everypublication must uphold. TheCongress serves as one of CEGP’sways to reinforce collective actionamong its member publications.In commemoration of thevictims of the MaguindanaoMassacre, the worst election-related violence having the most number of murdered journalists,a candle lighting ceremony wasalso organized. The said activitywas also a pledge to seek justicefor the rest of the journaliststhat were killed during Arroyo’sregime.
Publications and AlumniRecognized
As part of the convention’sculminating activity, the recipientsof the annual Ernesto RodriguezJr. Award and the 6th Benjaline“Beng” Hernandez Award forthe best college publicationswere presented. UP Diliman’sPhilippine Collegian won 1st placefor the tabloid category—thesame category where the ManilaCollegian bagged 2nd place, whileThe Lorma Highlights of LormaColleges won 1st place for thebroadsheet category.Meanwhile, this year’s GawadMarcelo H. Del Pilar, the highest citation given to a CEGP alumni,were given to victims of humanrights violation. Rachelle MaePalang, former CEGP-VisayasPresident and former Editor in
Chief of Vital Signs, the oficial
student publication of VelezCollege, and James Balao, formerEditor in Chief of The Outcrop,
the oficial student publication
of UP Baguio, received the awardrespectively.
CHEd AllowsTFI in 339 HEIs
DEONAH ABIGAIL LUGO MIOLE
T
he National Union of Students (NUSP) andKabataan Party-list, along
with other student groups,vow to stage militant protestsin the opening of classes inJune against the decisionof Commission on Higher
Education (CHEd) allowing
339 Higher Education
Institutions (HEIs) to
implement Tuition Fee
Increase (TFI) for the coming
school year.
More than 380 schools,universities and colleges (SUCs)in the country have petitionedto increase tuition rates andthe majority of the petitionerswere approved. Among the339 permitted SUCs, 337 areprivate institutions, and 2 arepublic schools. CHEd has not yet 
publicized the oficial list of HEIs
that will increase tuition rates.HEIs have petitioned to increasetuition fees in order to allot more funds to improve schoolfacilities and to raise teachers’salaries. However, variousstudent groups have raisedobjections on the purportedviolations of CHEd and theHEIs regarding proper tuitionconsultations.
Burdening Students with TFI
Despite having urged the HEIsto implement minimal raiseonly, CHEd still approved sevenamong the 339 to impose 11-20percent increase, another sevento implement 21-30 percent increase, and seven more toinstitutions to impose more than30 percent tuition rate increase.To defend the hike, CHEdExecutive Director Atty. JulitoVitriolo said that they haveapproved the 339 HEIs due totheir needs. He reiterated that 70 percent of the increase will goto the salary of teachers. Vitrioloalso stressed that the approvedHEIs went through and followeda consultation process.Moreover, CHEd Chairman Atty.Emmanuel Angeles said in aninterview that TFI is “inevitable,
Student Groups to Launch Protests in June
as school owners have to spendon the upgrade of classrooms andobsolescent equipment.”77 SUCs are expected toimplement TFI in the NationalCapital Region (NCR).
Questioning CHEd’s Role
Conversely, the National Unionof Students of the Philippines(NUSP) said that the tuition hikesare unjust since the HEIs andCHEd did not consult the studentsproperly about the tuitionincrease.NUSP also demands CHEd toname the 339 SUCs they haveallowed to impose TFI. Earlier thisyear, the organization challengedthe commission to implement a TFI moratorium or to stopexisting.“What’s the point of CHEd’sexistence if it cannot stop,regulate even, tuition and otherfee increases?
Kung di niyakayang pumanig sa interes namingkabataan at estudyante, anosiya kung ganoon
, Commissionon Expensive Education?” saidVanessa Faye Bolibol, NUSPSecretary General, in a pressrelease.According to the organization,tuition increase this year maylead to P855 per unit, from theP230.79 per unit in 2001, basedon their study.NUSP President Einstein Recedessaid that “only 8 out of 10 highschool graduates will be able toafford college education due toyearly tuition hikes.”Based on the data released bythe United Nations Educational,
Scientiic and Cultural Organiztion
(UNESCO) in 2008, 73% percent of the students are affected bythe annual TFI and are forcedto drop out of college due to theunattainable price of education.“This number continues to risegiven that CHEd has not doneanything to improve the stateof Philippine education.” saidRecedes.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
HEEDFUL.
The standardbearers of theMakabayanorganizationpromisesto advancethe sudents’agenda winor lose.
Photocourtesy of Marie Kristel Gabawa.
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