The Importance of Green Spaces In The Upcoming Living and Learning Center

Drafted plans for the Living and Learning Center (LLC). Courtesy of Simmons University.

Losing the quad is like losing the lungs of Simmons residence halls, where students breathe in mental wellness and exhale academic stress.

The Draft Project Impact Report of Simmons University in Boston Planning and Development Agency states that the new Living and Learning Center (LLC) will replace the quad with a roof terrace with green roof trays, tall grasses and shrubs in planters. This will not be enough to improve students’ mental health and academic performance as it lacks expansive outdoor space and natural ambiance.  

This semester, having classes in a windowless classroom at Lefavour Hall often makes me feel suffocated and stressed, and going to the residence quad after class helps me to decompress. In 2022, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health found that female students’ mental health improves by 25.5% and academic achievement by 21.5% with every 100% increase in green outdoor time.

While there is a small quad on the academic campus, research emphasized the necessity of adequate green space. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health in 2018found that to support the mental health and well being of an individual the ideal value of green space they need is 50 square meters per capita.

Lea Cabaero, a neuroscience major expected to graduate in 2027, shared the same view. “I really enjoy having a grassy quad where I can see lots of animals throughout the day. It gives such a nice balance to living in the city and encourages me to go outside more often.” The Class of 2027 is the first class expected to live in the LLC, which is scheduled for completion in Fall 2026.

Phyre Kwong, a sophomore Asian Studies major, added that “green spaces outside are so important for students, especially since we live in a place that fosters seasonal depression.”

While the roof terrace may add greenery in the LLC, it appears more of an aesthetic than a recreation of the quad, like adding fake vines to a dorm room for decoration. A better recreation would be prioritizing preserving the green spaces on Simmons’ academic campus by planting more trees, creating a garden study area and maintaining existing grass outside where students can sit around, connect with nature and breathe. 

Flipping Pages

The National Guilder

With the right kind of education about history, we can be sure that our present will no longer sound like our past. The lack of interest in history and the neocolonial structures that exist within our system may be the reasons why we end up continually making the same mistakes that we made in the past. A lack of awareness regarding the past may result in thousands of mistakes being made over and over again in the future.

With this, the fact that the website of the Presidential Museum and Library can no longer be accessed through the domain http://xn--malacaang-q6a.gov.ph/, which details the history of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.'s Martial Law regime, has become alarming for everyone causing a major concern. The Presidential Museum and Library is an institution in charge of preserving, managing, and promoting the heritage of the Philippine presidency. These responsibilities fall under the jurisdiction of the Presidential Museum and Library.

Manolo Quezon III, who had served in the past as an undersecretary for the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, alerted the public via tweet about the removal of content. It gained a lot of perspectives from Filipinos that it is perhaps the beginning of their plan to clear their names through revising the history. Concerns have been raised in response to the increasingly likely prospect of Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. as president. These concerns center on the possibility that documented abuses committed during Martial Law will be covered up and most likely will be rewritten.

However, in response to this alarming change, a statement has been received from the museum administration stating that the Presidential Museum and Library has not been removed and is instead undergoing the process of being updated and secured. The statement was released in response to concerns that the PML's online records, including those from the period of Martial Law, had been deleted or otherwise made unavailable in some other way.

On the other hand, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Alex Monteagudo, asserted without any evidence that children's books published and sold by Adarna House about dictatorship and Martial Law were part of a communist plot to radicalize Filipino children. Despite this, Adarna House became unsilenced about the truth being shared about Philippine history and offered a #NeverAgain bundle of books with a discounted price.

The formation of a consistent worldview, or a conceptual model of how the world operates, is facilitated by acquiring insights from great works of literature. With it, we can cope with the change and interact with other people more coherently. And a critical reader, if they have read the material correctly, will have constructed a relatively strong mental foundation that can be used to bring the truth to the attention of the general public. As a consequence of this, we need to acquire our very own copies of these books so that we can learn the truth about our past. Together, we need to realize that the factors that ultimately determine the course of history are not just the behavior of specific people or the integration of certain events; rather, it is the collective consciousness and organization of the population as a whole that is responsible for this.

Throughout our history, the Filipino people have been influenced not only by the firmament of heroes and the unheard and unnamed multitudes who sacrificed their lives to secure our independence but also coupled with the fact that we have been held captive by the mistakes and lies of the past, which continue to haunt us even today. Due to a lack of historical knowledge and understanding, the revolution is still not finished because the issues that were intended to be resolved are still present in our society today. Filipinos must be taught that the study of history is not just about gaining data and details from primary sources like archives, documents, journals, and books but also about thinking logically and interpreting this raw information to disseminate and spread it to the uninformed crowd.

Let us allow the experiences we've had in the past to serve as a guide for us as we navigate the myriad challenges and concerns that we face today. Let us realize our potential as catalysts for change and shapers of history by acknowledging the mistakes we have made, working to make improvements in the areas where we are deficient, and accepting responsibility for those mistakes. It is not yet too late for those individuals who have made the mistake of putting the wrong people in the office to be aware of the facts. Take what you can from the past, and then begin over with a new start. The real difficulty of learning history lies in discovering ways to break cycles of transgression to ensure that the present does not continue to mirror the past. It's time to flip the pages and advance towards a brighter future.

Red Flag

The National Guilder

The color blue has long since vanished from our national flag. Even our country's green flags, which stand for peace and harmony, have been defaced with toxic and greedy red marks. Every color has faded to a single shade of crimson. Deep crimson has engulfed our place, minds, and souls with a palpable sense of terror and trauma.

The crimson that causes deep fear is there to serve as a constant reminder of what has been happening in our country. Those were the innocent people who had shed their blood in pursuit of truth, justice, and freedom. Never-to-be-forgotten drops of human blood. It was the blood that stained the blue flag into the most horrific red color possible.

The case of the five accused New People's Army (NPA) rebels who were slain after a series of incidents with militaries in Purok 8, Barangay Andap, New Bataan town in Davao de Oro on Thursday morning, February 24, was added to the list of innocent citizens who were killed as a result of terrorism allegations against them. Two of those killed were well-known teachers from Lumad schools.

Activist and volunteer community school teacher Chad Booc was identified as one of those who were murdered. Chad Booc was one of those known "Bakwit School 7" that were arrested last February 15, 2021, on suspicion that they were recruiting Lumad minors and training them as “child warriors” of the communist rebel movement at the University of San Carlos - Talamban Campus in Cebu City. However, neither the institution nor any of the children claimed that they received military training on its grounds. Similarly, the volunteer teacher from Barangay Lapu-Lapu, Maco, Davao de Oro, named Jojarain Alce Nguho III lost his life in the said 'encounter' as the military identified the two as among the alleged NPA members.

Captain Mark Anthony Tito, public affairs office commander of the 10th Infantry Division, claimed that Booc was a well-known activist and 'NPA' recruiter while attending the University of the Philippines during his undergraduate years. Despite repeated accusations by state forces, there has been no formal evidence to prove Booc's membership in the NPA, which resulted in his release last year after a prolonged investigation. In addition, contrary to military accounts, the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) asserted that no armed encounter instrument had been deployed in the region of the alleged encounter between the group and the military. As a result, there is no reason to think that Booc and Nguho's deaths were caused by an armed confrontation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines(AFP) and the NPA.

Booc earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science degree as a cum laude from the University of the Philippines-Diliman. At the Alternative Learning Center Agricultural Development (ALCADEV) in Surigao del Sur, he served as a volunteer math teacher for students from the Lumad community. However, as a result of the military's repeated accusations that ALCADEV and other Lumad schools were NPA fronts, the government in Mindanao ordered the closure of these institutions.

In 2019, the Philippine government officially closed down 55 Lumad schools in Davao, claiming the schools' non-compliance with the technical criteria of the Department of Education (DepEd) and unfounded charges of militarization, harassment, and other state-led acts of violence that are rampant in the Lumad ancestral domain have been used as a reason to justify the closure of most Lumad school campuses. This adds to the total of more than 3,600 IP students who have been denied an education as a result of this decision.

Booc and Nguho were among the innocent persons who died as a result of red-tagging. They were activists fighting for independence, as well as volunteers with a desire to assist their fellow citizens; however, they were murdered because of false accusations. The Save Our Schools Network (SOS) described the incident as a "bloody massacre" of civilians and not an "encounter." It was a horrific bloody massacre that will drive us to become a catalyst for change to put an end to this awful state of affairs.

Media are urged to maintain objectivity in their reporting, as they should be the first and foremost line of defense in preventing misinformation from spreading, especially since the Philippines' current wave of red-tagging, where the authorities label specific people as communists and terrorists, has gotten increasingly severe in recent weeks, targeting journalists, non-government organization workers, church members, educators, and activists, as well as those who offer free education and service to the underprivileged.

Individuals and groups that identified as activists or who work under the flag of a communist front are not prohibited from doing so, as long as they express their political beliefs peacefully and lawfully, for our Constitution guarantees that no man shall be arrested, much less murdered, purely because of his political beliefs, even as an activist, and that no man shall be tortured or imprisoned only because he aspires to our country. Hence, we must hold our state forces’ impunity under Rodrigo Duterte’s regime accountable as red-tagging is becoming more violent and putting innocent lives in peril.

2002, Severino Marcelo died at the age of 62 in Manila

Remate Online

Fantastic graphics that depict politics and diverse topics; this is how we can describe the artworks of the legendary cartoonist Severino Marcelo, who was known for his great ideas about arts and cartoons in the Philippines. Severino "Nonoy" Marcelo was a cartoonist in the Philippines and widely regarded as one of the best in the world. His birthplace is Malabon City, and he received his education at the Far Eastern University (FEU) in Manila, where he graduated from the Institute of Arts and Sciences. Marcelo maintained a comic strip while at FEU, and he was frequently granted a page in the weekly FEU Advocate where he had an adviser by the name of Alejandro "Anding" Roces.

Marcelo is most known for developing the comic strip character "Ikabod Bubwit," a tiny rodent in the "Ikabod" comic strip. Plain Folks, which featured in the Daily Mirror during the early 1960s, and Tisoy, which debuted in the Manila Times in 1963 and depicted the lifestyle of young Filipinos, are two of Marcelo's other comic strips that have appeared in print. Tisoy, a slang term for mixed race, and other cast members such as Aling Otik, Maributbut, Caligula, Tatang, Tikyo, and Kinse became well-known in Philippine popular culture.

Described as "at the cutting edge of 1960s youth culture, expressing the rebelliousness and raw idealism of his time," the novel "Tisoy" eventually turned into a film in 1977 directed by Ishmael Bernal and starring Christopher de Leon and Charo Santos, which was released in 1977. Moreover, Ikabod became a television series that lasted from the late 1970s through 2002. It was a satirical comic strip in which the Philippines was re-imagined as a country named "Dagalandia," populated entirely by mice.

Aside from caricatures, the comic strip is frequently used to depict political personalities like Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. All of them are illustrated as mice in the strip. Aside from that, it also highlighted the socio-political plight of regular Filipinos, as embodied by the tailless mouse hero Ikabod—who, in his way, became as famous as that other excellent cartoon rodent, Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse—in his way.

Nonoy was the only Asian cartoonist featured in Times Magazine's September 12, 1988 cover story entitled "Mighty Pens" for his "oblique technique to criticize the repressive Marcos regime." Despite receiving death threats for his scathing commentary, Marcelo continued to pursue his dream and pursue his passion.

Immediately, following the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, he received the Catholic Mass Media Award for print journalism. This category is typically reserved for reporters or columnists. Also, Marcelo received the Centennial Artist Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1988 for his accomplishments, making him the first and only cartoonist to receive this distinction.

However, the renowned cartoonist Severino Marcelo, who died on October 22, 2002, at 63 due to sepsis-induced complications from diabetes, will always be remembered. Marcelo, known for making Filipinos laugh back in the day, will remain in the field of art in the Philippines for all the iconic comic strips, which served as a legacy and an inspiration for aspiring young cartoonists.

Hence, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) along with its counterpart publication, The National Guilder (TNG), affirm its support to Marcelo on his 19th death anniversary for his steadfast commitment in depicting the oppression and exploitation during Marcos regime through his craft, which is his way of helping Filipino citizens realize the state’s dire condition.

Republishing the Republic

Mainichi Newspaper Office

As we look back at the pages of the past, we can mirror the freedom that did not last.

The Second Philippine Republic, initiated on October 14 in 1943, with Jose P. Laurel, as President, is on its 78th anniversary. The republic government received a republication in the book of Philippine history in which the people and the elected representatives held power after the colonization of the Japanese in the Philippines.

In these times, the country is regarded as a public matter rather than the ruler's private concern or property. Citizens are considered the government’s leaders and influential individuals, for they uphold the authority to elect the spearhead of their nation. From the first republic under the government of Emilio Aguinaldo that declared Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, Filipinos were again imprisoned by the grip of colonizers from Japan.

During the Japanese era, the Second Philippine Constitution was ratified. The Japanese government led a military government over the Philippines at the start of the occupation, and the Philippine Executive Commission was made among many before Filipino political leaders. Aligned with the goal of becoming the Philippines' sole and exclusive political entity, KALIBAPI (Kapisanan ng Paglilingkod sa Bagong Pilipinas) was also formed.

However, on June 16, 1943, Prime Minister Hideki Tojo promised the Philippines independence. The KALIBAPI then formed the Preparatory Committee on Philippine Independence (PCPI), the drafting body of the 1943 Philippine Constitution. On September 4, 1943, the PCPI approved the new Constitution, ratified by the KALIBAPI on September 7, 1943.

However, on September 21, 1944, President Laurel declared martial law in the Philippines, which took effect on September 22. The next day, Laurel announced the Philippines was at war with the Allies (later known as the United Nations), but the National Assembly never ratified this declaration.

Field Marshal Douglas MacArthur, a military commander, issued a proclamation nullifying all acts of the Philippine Executive Commission and the Second Republic when the Commonwealth government was restored on Philippine land on October 23, 1944. In contrast to the Commonwealth government's legitimate status (de jure), the Supreme Court classified the Philippine Executive Commission and the Second Republic as actual, whether by right or not, governments. While no Second Republic laws or regulations are legally recognized, President Laurel has been on the list of Philippine presidents since the 1960s.

In the end, many officials from the Philippine Executive Commission, the Second Republic, and its various agencies were charged with treason, but President Manuel Roxas granted them amnesty on January 28, 1948. And this freedom turned into a confinement chapter of our history that will never be forgotten-, republished in the public and our republic.

Thus, the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and The National Guilder (TNG), as vanguards of freedom of expression and democratic rights, are navigating every Filipino citizen to be critical in exercising their authority and responsibility. As a republic government, the public wields the supreme power more than any other entity.

Sinagtala

Lupang hinirang, hindi lupang hiniram. Bayang itinatangi, hindi itinatanggi. Bansang pinipili, hindi pinipilit. Pilipinas, binabagtas, ngunit hindi pinipilas. 

Limang daang taon na ang nakalipas mula noong dumaong ang barkong Trinidad sa bansang Pilipinas, lulan ang manlalakbay na si Fedinand Magellan at higit 150 na kalalakihang nagmula sa bansang Espanya gamit ang mga tala sa mapa at kalangitan upang ipakalat ang relihiyong Katolisismo at marating ang lupaing Moluccas o spice island. Sa kanilang paglalakbay ay natanaw nila ang isang isla sa ating bansa noong Marso 16, 1521 na tinawag na ‘Humunu’, na ngayon ay Homonhon, Samar.

Sa mga panahong iyon, walang ideya ang mga pilipino na ito na pala ang simula nang pagbabago ng paniniwala’t pagkakakilanalan ng ating pagkatao. Mainit ang naging pagtanggap ng mga pilipino sa mga dayuhan, sa pamamalagi nila sa Homonhon. Sa katunayan, ang Datu na si Garas-garas ay naghandog pa ng mga pagkain at ginto sa kanila na pinalitan ni Magellan ng mga sombrero, palamuti sa katawan, mga damit at pabango na malayong ginagamit ng mga pilipino noon, ngunit hinahango na natin ngayon.

Sa librong “First Voyage Around the World” na isinulat ni Antonio Pigafetta, isang manlalakbay na kasama ni Magellan, ipinakilala niya ang mga pagkaing inihanda sa kanila ng mga pilipino at kung paano sila tinanggap ng ating bansa, nang marating nila ang Limasawa, Leyte noong Marso, 25, 1521, kung saan naganap ang unang misa ng relihyong Katoliko noong Marso 31, 1521, na ginugunita pa rin hanggang ngayon bilang Easter Sunday. 

Hanggang ngayon, naririnig pa rin natin ang mga dagundong ng tambol, trumpeta at ang mga gong o batingaw na pinapatugtog sa tuwing ipinagdiriwang ang Sinulog Festival sa Cebu City bilang papuri sa Santo  Niño na nagsilbing regalo ni Magellan sa asawa ni Rajah Humabon, ang pinuno ng isla sa Cebu, kung saan bininyagan at naging ganap na Katoliko ang walong daang Cebuano at ang mga pinuno dito. na kinontra ni Datu Lapu-lapu.

Pinili ni Datu Lapu-lapu na makipagdigmaan para sa kalayaan kaysa kilalanin ang kapangyarihan ng isang dayuhan. Dito nakilala ang ating pagkatao, bilang Pilipino, na pipiliin ang Pilipinas, hindi pasisiil at papipilit sa kahit sinong manlulupig. Halos isang libo’t limang daang mandirigma ang pumanig kay Datu Lapu-lapu sa digmaan sa Mactan noong Abril 27, 1521, na naging dahilan nang pagbagsak ng manlalakbay na si Ferdinand Magellan. Ito ang dahilan ng siraksarinlan at pagtingala sa mga tala ngayon, upang magbalik-tanaw at makalipad sa pagsikat ng araw.

Katulad ng sinag ng tala, nag-iwan ang maingay na tunog nang sumasaklaw na barko ng bagong katauhan at tahimik na kalayaan sa Pilipimas. Bagama’t nag-iwan ng gulo, naghatid naman ng hindi pangkaraniwang pagkatao. Ang ala-alang ito ay kawangis ng sinag ng talang maliwanag ngunit hindi nakasisilaw. Nag-iwan ito ng tapang na nagbabaga ngunit hindi nakasusunog. May bakas ng paninindigang matalim ngunit hindi nakasusugat at bayanihang mainit at dumadagundong ngunit hindi nakabibingi at naghahatid ng kapayapaan. 

Ito ang sinagtala na habang buhay na maitatala sa bansang ang tagumpay ay magningning at ang bituwin at araw ay kailanma’y hindi magdidilim.

Peso vs. Ego

ABS-CBN

As we suffer this pandemic, a lot of anomalies and misconduct from our administration and system have been exposed. However, most of us are still being blinded by all the glitches that are happening in our country, especially in the field of education.

With the new mode of learning, a big leap of adjustments must come to pass. Also, as we move to online distance learning, students turned to social media for assistance in addressing the demand for online classes, for the reason that they were required to purchase new devices for them to participate and cope with classes.

Students were able to raise funds for laptops before the start of classes by participating in an online campaign called #PisoParaSaLaptop. They made donation appeals on their own social media accounts. The social media posts included a list of their previous year’s achievements and grades, proof of enrollment, and their digital wallet app—GCash account, where cash donations as small as a peso could be sent.

This kind of set-up amplifies the lack of financial aid for Filipino students. Certainly, students do not have a choice but to go with the flow of this kind of learning, however, this reveals that there is still a need for financial assistance for students, especially dealing with the transitioning and adjustments for online classes.

Indeed, a peso won’t hurt those who have generous hearts, but it will surely affect the ego of those who are in power but can’t do anything about the needs of those who deserve aid. Nevertheless, the continuous tweets and posts of students about #PisoParaSaLaptop on Facebook and Twitter have raised approximately Php1,074,502.19, and supported more than 70 students as of October 1, 2020, from the latest update of Rappler.

Up until now, students are still using this kind of structure in their social media accounts to voice out their needs for financial support. Though #PisoParaSaLaptop reflects our kind of education system, that does not mean that students should stop asking for help just to heal the wounded ego of administrators and save the country’s image from being known as deprived and unprivileged in terms of funding or supporting students with their education.

#PisoParaSaLaptop shows the needs of students to support their online classes. This is not the time to heightened our ego. This is the time to spread compassion and kindness to one another. Together, let us reach each other from a distance, and let us reach our dreams despite all the hindrances. No student must be left behind.

#LigtasNaBalikEskwela

#NoStudentLeftBehind