EMOTIONS

EMOTIONS

by Dominic Ceballos

I feel heavy looking through those years When I waited and cried those tears, I felt the pain growing each and every day And “ I’m fine “ is all I could say

I feel down knowing what I did wasn’t enough Never enough to make you laugh, Even though problems are tough My efforts are just not enough

I feel confused on what to do Do I hide this feeling that is true? Or die every time you find someone new, I just can’t decide when I’m talking about you,

I feel crazy each and every day To see you smile in a way, That keeps me awake every night and day, Oh, girl I just want you to stay

I feel jealous to know you care For someone who wasn’t even there I find it really unfair It’s just the feeling I can’t bare

I feel mad to know you’re in pain All I witness is an endless rain I'll wipe those tears 'coz care And don’t worry I'll always be there

But now I only feel regret That I've kept all these things a secret, These emotions I feel inside That I never should hide

I just love you too much.

Juvenile Justice: Will Amendment Suffice?

Juvenile Justice: Will Amendment Suffice?

A Persuasive Essay 

by Maria Eloisa H. Garcia

Grade 9- Justice

Republic Act 9344 or Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 gives a child in conflict with the law another chance, a new beginning marked by a clean slate. They possess the freedom to pursue their future without any record of their stained past. But nowadays, people doubt and begin to question this law.

Minors are seen in the streets, not selling puto or sampaguita, but sprinting away with stolen possessions, or violently assaulting an unsuspecting civilian. They also come in as gangs, couriers of drug traffickers or bet collectors of illegal gambling lords. The public is terrified, seeing as these juvenile offenders end up in the custody of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), not behind bars as punishment, and for them to walk out with an unscathed record, only to do crime again. Lawmakers are currently reviewing Republic Act 9344, and considering proposals to amend the law in accordance to public safety. But is amendment truly the right solution?

At what age does a person endow a clear notion of what is right and wrong? Lawmakers, such as Sen. Francis Escudero and Sen. Vicente Sotto, propose to bring down the age of criminal liability for juvenile offenders are getting younger and younger by time. But this will only restore another type of criminal culture. Jail provides an unhealthy environment that can corrupt a child’s mind. In these quarters, children will be brutalized or raped by older inmates. They will become their vicious disciples who bear hatred for the world, stripped off their innocence.

Why do children resort to crime? They are either used or exposed to factors in society that greatly influences it. A child is not solely responsible for a crime he/she committed. He/she is a victim of our political and socio-economic system that created the problem in the first place. Hunger, malnutrition, neglect, poverty and other forms of social injustice relay an insurmountable impact on a child without adult guidance. Effective implementation of RA 9344 cancels or paralyzes these factors. It does not exempt a child from criminal liability, but rather to get both the adult and the child to face the responsibility of the wrongdoing.Parents or guardians, who neglect their children and turn a blind eye to their crimes, do not appear innocent to the law and therefore, subjected to DSWD investigation.

The law mandates the formation of Barangay Councils for the Protection of Children or BCPCs nationwide. Encourage the proper performance of the duties of parents and provide learning opportunities on the adequate rearing of children and positive parent-child relationship are only some of the specific functions of BCPCs. Their main advocacy is to provide a holistic and wholesome environment for children, cater their needs and protect them from abuse and exploitation.

Though BCPCs are noble and promising, a number of them have not been as ideal and fully functional as the barangays claim. Out of 39,535 barangays, only 13 percent (5,208)has submitted a report to DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) on functionality; at least 3,876 barangays have not passed any report. DILG still doubts that the listed 5,208 barangays have BCPCs that are indeed fully functional. The agency is set to conduct a field investigation to confirm if the BCPCs are working effectively.

The law does not need amendment. It needs thorough implementation to harbour positive results. The government must be prepared to utilize its funds to make this possible. Good rehabilitation centers, programs and BCPCs come at a hefty price. The government must also dedicate itself to keep children in schools, supply them with morals, and keep them off the streets.Their innocence must be sheltered by a healthy society, bound with beautiful traditions and loving communities.

If the future of the children is threatened, the future of the country might as well be.

Suicide: The Darkest Crime of Our Hearts

      Suicide: The Darkest Crime of Our Hearts

By Noni Kent A. Kaindoy

                   There are two types of people who can’t reach their goals: the defeated and the failures. The defeated are those who try again, while the failures are those who accept their mistakes. Without hope, they commit suicide because they feel they are rejected by the world or by chance.

                  Suicide is caused by loneliness, desperation and helplessness. This is the second leading cause of death globally among 15 to 29 years of age, according to the 2014 global report on preventing suicide by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the Philippines the estimated number of suicides in 2012 was 2,558 (550 female, 2009 male), according to the same report. Suicide is committed because some people believe there is nothing they can do to make their lives better from sadness. They have no one else to help them change their outlooks about themselves.

                 Their losses have been stuck on their heads because they have suffered consequences that hurt them both mentally and physically. In Manila, two students from separate schools in Batangas shot themselves dead after receiving failing grades in separate incidents on a Friday afternoon. Scene-of-the-crime investigators found the body of Daveson Beron, 22, a mechanical engineering student of Batangas State University and one of the suicide victims, a caliper .38 revolver he used to shoot himself with beside his body, and a laptop with message on screen: “I’m sorry, I quit.” People believe that when a person dies, it’s his/her decision, but what matters is why. What possible reason is there that people want to die? What could have been done to prevent them from taking their own lives?

                 The worst part of despair is the belief that they cannot do anything to prevent it. While there are some people who can deal with it after a while, some people believe they can’t. People who fail to recognize true happiness are those who say, “I am nothing to this world.” One example is a Filipino-American named Izabel Laxamana, who killed herself by jumping off a bridge in Tacoma, Washington. Laxamana’s father cut off her black hair as a punishment for ‘getting messed up’. Her father then taped the incident and shared it online, which ended up humiliating her. She felt like the world went against her.

                So I am begging those who know this sad type of death, please listen. Try to increase the esteem of those people around you, stranger or not. Continue to make them live happily until they die of old age content and blissful. Instead of punishing them for failing, try to help them overcome their failures. Let us live life courageously and continue to live happily.

Pageant ginanap sa Math & Science Week

Nagkaroon ng Mr. Math and Ms. Science pageant sa pagdiriwang ng Math and Science week noong

ika-22 ng Setyembre 2015 sa Asian College of Technology,  Bulacao Campus.

Ang mga kandidato sa Mr. Math ay rumampa bilang mga tanyag na scientists at mathematicians. Habang kinatawan naman ng mga kandidata ng Ms. Science and apat na elemento ng kalikasan - apoy, tubig, lupa at hangin.

Ang kasuotan nila ay gawa lamang sa mga 'recyclable materials' na dinisenyo at nilikha ng kani-kanilang mga kaklase.

Sabi ni Gng. Monalisa Abellanosa, isa sa mga hurado, na hindi siya makapaniwala na kayang lumikha ng ganoong kagandang mga kasuotan ang mga mag-aaral. "The costumes were beautiful," dagdag pa niya.

Hinirang bilang Mr. Math si Khylle Cabusas, Gr. 9-Justice, na gumanap bilang si Isaac Newton samantalang si Leandra Lee Lopez naman ng Gr.10 Perseverance na kumatawan ng elementong hangin ang hinirang na Ms. Science.

Ang mga sumusunod ay ang mga runner-ups sa nasabing patimpalak:

      Mr. Math

              1st Runner-up: Lynnel Lomosad (Euclid)

              2nd Runner-up: Lance Catadman (Leonardo Davinci)

              3rd Runner-up: Dominic Ricardo ( Rene Descartes)

              4th Runner-up: Paul Irvin Santillan (Albert Einstein)

        Ms. Science

              1st Runner-up: Jenika Nero (Apoy)

              2nd Runner-up: Chauntel Gimenez (Lupa)

              3rd Runner-up: Jeriel Jumalon ( Apoy)

              4th Runner-up: Alyssa Beldad (Lupa)

Nagkaroon din ng mga espesyal na pagkilala sa mga kandidato't kandidata:

              Best in Production Number - Lopez at Catadman

              Best in Costume - Cabusas at Jumalon

              Best Element:

                       Apoy - Jumalon, Lupa - Beldad, Tubig - Nikki Patalinghug, Hangin- Lopez

Ito ang kauna-unahang pageant na ginanap sa pagdiriwang ng Math and Science Week.

- Allysha Danielle Tadios

Photos by Jeanille Cogtas

Jeriel Jumalon's PHOTOJOURNALISM i

PHOTOJOURNALISM AND CAPTIONING 101

Bumper to bumper. Buses, trucks, vans and PUJs waited in a long line due to heavy traffic. 

Cars taking u-turns at St. Paul caused the congestion around 9:00 a.m last October 3,2015.

Denims or polka dots? Ruby Lapingcao, lady guard, shows interest on both items

during the Garage sale at Asian College of Technology last October 3, 2015.

Puzzle pieces. Palabio Amigo,carpenter, fixed lobby tiles at Asian College of Technology 

last Oct. 3,2015 around 10:00 a.m. The tiles loosened due to series of earthquakes 

from the previous years.

CABUSAS, LOPEZ CROWNED MR. MATH & MS. SCIENCE 2015

Khylle Cabusas, Gr. 9-Justice and Leandra Lee Lopez, Gr. 10-Perseverance won Mr. Math and Ms. Science 2015 respectively, at Asian College of Technology last September 22, 2015.

Cabusas, Mr. Math,  posed as Isaac Newton with his self-designed costume while Lopez, Ms. Science, represented the element air. Her costume was designed by her classmate, Nethania Pedrano.

"Cabusas was very smart-looking plus his costume looks good on him," Joan Lanas, one of the judges said.

Lopez was heavily applauded when she answered her question: What environmental problem will you solve if you are given the chance to travel back to the past?

"If I had the chance to travel back to the past, I'd choose not to because it does not solve anything. Humanity will always be as stubborn. I would rather start now and make a change to our world," she said.

Cabusas ,on the other hand, was asked how he would promote the importance of mathematics to his fellow students.

He said that he would ask them about their aspirations and then, use any mathematical problems that can help achieve them because with mathematics, they will learn and defeat obstacles.

His last sentence drew more cheers from the audience, "I believe also that mathematics does not only teach counting numbers, but it also counts the achievements and deeds that we completed in our life," he added.

Cabusas was also awarded for best costume and Lopez for the Best Production Number.

The following are the runner-ups for the said pageant

       Ms. Science

                    1st Runner-up: Jenika Gi-An Nero (Gr. 9-Justice)

                    2nd Runner-up: Chauntel Gimenez (Gr. 10-Fortitude)

                    3rd Runner-up: Jeriel Jumalon (Gr. 8-Unity)

                    4th Runner-up: Alyssa Beldad (Gr.9 - Prudence)

      Ms. Math

                    1st Runner-up: Lynnell Jasper Lomosad (Gr.10-Perseverance)

                    2nd Runner-up: Lance Roi Catadman (Gr. 10-Fortitude)

                    3rd Runner-up: Dominic Ricardo (Gr. 8-Integrity)

                    4th Runner-up: Paul Irvin Santillan (Gr.9 - Prudence)

The event was the first pageant held in lieu for the Math and Science Week.

- Maria Eloisa Garcia

-Photo by Jeanille Cogtas

Wacky Debate, Pera o Bayong, Sayaw Pinoy tampok sa selebrasyon ng Buwan ng Wika

          Idinaraos ng Asian College of Technology ang unang araw ng selebrasyon sa taunang paggunita ng Buwan ng Wika sa pamamagitan ng Wacky Debate, Pera o Bayong, at Sayaw Pinoy na nilahukan ng mga estudyante sa sekundaryong noong ika-27 ng Agosto 2015 sa ACT Main Lobby

        Nagsimula ang programa sa isang Wacky Debate na sinalihan ng mga mag-aaral na nagmula sa ika-pito hanggang ika-sampung baitang. Nahati ang mga kalahok sa apat na grupo at nagtagisan ng kanilang talino at katatawanan.

       Kasunod naman ay ang Pera o Bayong na kung saan mas pinasaya ang laro dahil ang mga taong tumatayong poste ay nagpagalingan ng kanilang talento sa larangan ng gymnastics.

      Si Kirk Abellana ng Gr. 8-Unity ang nagwagi sa patimpalak na ito.

      Nagtapos naman ang programa sa pahusayan ng paglahad ng Sayaw Pinoy ng bawat seksyon sa sekundarya. 

      Pinataob ng seksyong Fortitude ang lahat ng kanilang mga katunggali ng tanghalin silang kampeyon. 

-Maria Lallene Cinco

- Photos by Trizia Bondoc & Jeanille Cogtas