By Shien C. Maiquez

(NEWS FEATURE) Calamba City’s Special Education for the Employment of Students (SPES) 2013 recorded 559 participants this year. This is according to the report released by the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) in June 2013.

SPES is mandated under the Republic Act 7393 or the act to help poor but deserving students pursue their education by encouraging their employment during summer and/or Christmas vacations. In the Calamba City, PESO is the implementing agency.

PESO Department Head Peter Capitan briefing the 2013 SPES participants on April 29, 2013. Photo courtesy of PESO Calamba.

Calamba was among the first to implement SPES in 1995. The number of annual participants vary with the amount of funds allocated by each municipality. Calamba City is able to accommodate an average of 465 students every summer. Since 1995, SPES Calamba has recorded 8,413 beneficiaries.

SPES 2013 Orientation of applicants at LLC Auditorium on March 8, 2013. Photo courtesy of PESO Calamba.

Calamba PESO Department Head Peter Capitan explained that the program is for students who are of good academic standing and one or both of the student’s parents should unemployed or have no permanent source of income.

Angelo Dy, 17 and a resident of Villa de Calamba, is a student of Laguna College of Business and Arts. Like many students, he lives wanting to help out his parents with the household expenses. His mother manages a store in front of the police station where he would often be and when he heard about SPES he grabbed the opportunity right away.

Students who want to apply for the program are required to submit a report of their family’s net income and student class cards, among other documents to verify their qualifications. Aside from these, the student must also be enrolled for the current semester or for the semester preceding the program.

Participating schools in Calamba City include the University of Perpetual Help, St. John Colleges, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and The Lyceum of the Philippines. SPES participants can also come from other schools as long as they are residents of Calamba. There have been participants from University of the Philippines Los Baños, Malayan Colleges, and Canossa de San Pablo Colleges.

This year, an additional 398 students was employed through the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Community Based Employment Program (CBEP), a complementing program to the SPES. CBEP is a upholds a policy of hiring 50% of unskilled or underskilled workers and 30% skilled workers in local communities. Representative Edgar San Luiz, proposed to DOLE to acquire more funds to accommodate more students this year. Overall, there were an additional 2,000 additional students from the province of Laguna taken in for the summer internship program under the CBEP.

With SPES and CBEP combined, Calamba recorded 957 participants who benefited from the paid summer internship program. These participants underwent job interviews and screenings and were selected to be the most deserving.

Seventeen-year–old Dy emphasizes the importance of perseverance in being accepted to the program. After completing the requirements and passing the interview, Angelo was set for a month long employment. He was excited for the chance to spend his summer gaining experience in the work force. He was put under the task of inventory and filing. Dy completed his first SPES experience in the summer of 2013 and he was satisfied with it. He also recommends joining SPES to his peers.

The local government of Calamba distributes SPES and CBEP participants among the different departments, as each and every department is required to help in the program. SPES participants are given office or clerk work, liaison, computerization and community surveying. There are also opportunities to become tour guides in landmarks like the ancestral house of Jose Rizal.

“The focus of SPES is not only to earn money, but also to serve as a training ground for them to become more competitive when they graduate,” explained Capitan. The PESO department head shared that they were pleasantly surprised to receive words of gratitude from individuals who were part of the SPES. These SPES participants would also update Capitan on their current employment.

Dy said that his experience with the SPES program was able to inspire him to become steadfast and persevering in his work. He learned to work even harder than before. His experience with the people he worked under and the people he worked with was also enjoyable as they were easy to get along with. Dy established his own connections within the municipality through the program. He believes that SPES definitely gave him a big boost and that it increased his chances of making it in the real world.

SPES 2012 participant, Roselle Previlla,18, in in agreement with Dy. “It’s like a training ground. We’re shown that we all have to start at the bottom. We need to work hard even if we have an edge from graduating from a good school.”

Previlla is a student of the University of the Philippines Los Baños and is a resident of Brgy. Majada, Calamba City. She shared that SPES taught her about teamwork and patience. Previlla was assigned in the City Housing and Settlements Department as an encoder and community surveyor.

“Sometimes there are no job openings in the city hall, so students are assigned to departments in barangays instead. Participants must be prepared to do what job is given to them even if it’s not in their field of specialization,” Previlla explained.

Both Dy and Previlla say that given the chance, they would want to participate in SPES in the future. It is good news to know that it is very much likely to happen.

PESO Calamba aims to help SPES and CBEP participants finish their studies and pursue their career. After graduating completion of the summer internship program, the local government of Calamba also helps in finding job openings for the participants.

Participants of SPES receive their wages at the end of the program. Each day they work corresponds to Php 255 or the minimum wage. According to Capitan, the particpants’ wages are given directly to the participants through a payroll system.

By law, 60% of the wages of the students must come from the local government while the remaining 40% is provided by the DOLE. PESO Calamba started releasing the remaining 40% of this years program on September 20.

Although it has been more than three months of waiting for the portion of the DOST, Dy understands that the funds of the national government takes time to be processed. The participants of SPES have been oriented about this problem prior to their working days as it has been a common trend ever since it was first conducted. This year, the remaining 40% wage from DOST had been delayed because of the processing of the additional 2,000 students in Laguna that participated from the CBEP.

According to Dessy Encinas, an employee of PESO Calamba, the portion of DOST is delayed because even if they send the profiles and documents of the participants they have already verified, DOST must then re-asses all documents to ensure that none has been tampered with. Calamba City aims to be able to provide the 60% wage by the end of May to be able to provide support for the student’s enrollment onto the first semester. Over the years, the participants use the portion of the DOST for their second semester expenses.

The Calamba SPES program prioritizes college students with their youngest participants at least in their third year in college. “College students feel the importance of employment more so that somewhat ensures us that they use the funds to finish their studies,” says Encinas.

Upon acceptance into the program, SPES participants are expected to act professionally. Grounds for the removal of a participant from the program include excessive absences, bad work ethics, and destruction of government property. In cases as such, the students will not receive any wage even if they have been employed for several weeks already. However, in cases where absences are justified, the wages they earned in the days they have worked will still be given to them at the end of the program. Such grounds include the participant being sick or having to take care of an immediate family member.

Falsification of documents are an annual problem, according to Encinas. There have been cases of people over the age of 25 wanting to participate. They use falsified birth certificates. Signatures of school registrar’s are also forged usually by students who do not meet the grade requirement of the program of an average 2.5.

“From the start we see who is trust worthy or not. If they cannot be honest with documents, what more when they are placed in their workstations?” said Encinas.

In Calamba, the three million annual budget for the wages of the participants can only cover so much. Department Head Peter Capitan hopes to double the number of beneficiaries given the chance for securing additional budget for the program. He added that there is no problem in finding work for the students to do. PESO has community projects that need all the manpower that it can get.

Capitan also hopes to be able to improve the language and communication skills of his participants, as he believes that the skill is needed for every type of job the students will ever hope to have.

Dy’s advise to SPES applicants is to “do things to the best of your abilities.” Previlla emphasized that, “students should mind the deadlines of requirement and that they should be willing to be placed in any department, in any place.”

Department Head Capitan wants the hopeful applicants to be aware that being in SPES is being in a commitment. He explained that the participants “need to be consistent with their life. They have good grades, good traits, and that we can see their perseverance to study and to finish their studies.”

by Meiji D. Pancho

More than 200 elderly attended the second Los Baños Senior Citizen’s Summit  themed “Masaya at Malusog na Buhay Habang Nagkaka-edad” at the UP Los Baños NCAS Auditorium on September 20, 2013.

Despite the cloudy weather, Erma D. Yanoria, who also attended last year’s summit, said that she came because she wanted to exercise and be informed of the conditions that come with old age. For Ernesto Cuenca, a first time attendee, he came for the companionship of his fellow senior citizens.

Yanoria and Cuenca, along with the rest of the participants enjoyed the free health screening after the memory walk. The health screening was composed of several stations that measured the elderly’s blood pressure, pulse rate, height and weight, cholesterol level, and blood sugar.

The health screening was also coupled with nutrition counseling and dementia screening. LRI-Therapharma MSD, Pfizer, SANOFI, MERCK, One Pharma, and the University Health Service (UHS) sponsored the medical services of the event.

With the personal health information they had, the senior citizens evaluated their lifestyle and diet practices through the lecture of Dr. Cheridine Oro-Josef, Chairman of Committee on Geriatrics of the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP), on “Malusog na Pamumuhay sa Paglipas ng Panahon.” She discussed with the elderly the problems they would encounter in aging and how they can prevent these problems. The participants also learned about the different needs of their body according to their age classification stage.

Dr. Josef also gave tips on how to choose their food and cleared the common misconceptions in diet practices. Lastly, Dr. Josef encouraged the senior citizens to exercise not only their bodies but also their minds, to practice healthy living, and to continuously gain new knowledge and make new dreams and goals.

In his welcome remarks Dr. Renato V. Torres, program director of the UPLB Elderly Development Program (EDP) said that they want to see the Los Baños senior citizens out and about, making a difference in their respective communities. United Bayanihan Foundation (UBF) retiree Ted Seno, talked about active aging. He encouraged the elderly to “make the rest of your life the best of your life” and gave five ways that the elderly can do to lengthen their healthy lives. Seno stressed the importance of their sector’s contribution to the development of the community and deeply stimulated them to volunteerism.

The senior citizens left with energized bodies through the exercises led by Professor Naomi Enriquez and Quan Minh Phan of the UPLB Department of Human Kinetics and the dance steps and games provided by Skelan.

Eugenio Mercado, one of the participants, said that he learned that people in his age should continue being happy and have a sense of humor, he also added that he was enthused to eat the right foods and maintain the cleanliness of his surroundings since it fosters good health. Arsenia Lantican, also a first time attendee said “Yung hindi ko alam, nalaman ko dito kaya uulit pa ako.”

The United Bayanihan Foundation (UBF), the senior citizens advocacy of UNILAB foundation, primarily sponsored the event. In partnership with the College of Human Ecology, Department of Human and Family Development Studies, UPLB  Elderly Development Program (EDP), and the  UPLB Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs. Other main sponsors were Alzheimer’s disease Association of the Philippines Manila Chapter, Skelan, and Ritemed.

by  Alyssa Kaye S. Mojar

In light of the 150^th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, known as the “Father of Philippine Revolution,” Musikaunlaran 2013: Bonifacio @ 150 was held last August 30, 2013 at the Baker Hall of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

As Andres Bonifacio celebrates his 150^th birth year this coming November 30, 2013, UPLB commemorates his heroism through music. Musikaunlaran 2013: Bonifacio @ 150 is a battle-of-the-bands/benefit concert spearheaded by the UP Alliance of Development Communication Students (UP ADS) and the Department of Social Sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences (DSS-CAS).

How it all started

Jeyneth Ann Mariano, one the supervisors of MusiKaunlaran 2013 said that the event was chosen to be a battle-of-the-bands and benefit concert to be able to reach a wider audience. “Trend. Kasi kung symposium, baka kakaunti  yung interesadong pumunta. Edi parang hindi mako-communicateyung message,” she shared.

According to UP ADS, the event originated from one of their annual activities, Stripped to the Extreme, which aims to give UPLB students an avenue to showcase their talents to the UPLB community. As they transformed it to MusiKaunlaran 2013, they focused on the talents of Iskolars who are musically inclined, particularly, those in bands. This made way for the concept of battle of the bands.

The concert will be “rocked” by three guest artists who are Original Pilipino Music (OPM) singers and are recognized advocates of modern heroism. They are Gary Granda, Lolita Carbon of the band Asin, and Ebe Dancel, who is also a performer in the Rock Supremo Concert. The Rock Supremo Concert unites some of the country’s best artists and bands in one stage to celebrate the heroism of Bonifacio. The concert will also be featuring UPLB graduates and new breed recording bands Pathway and Segatron.

Proceeds of the concert will go to the “Off the Street, On the School” campaign of Kairos band, the UPLB Counseling and Testing Division, and the UPLB Gabay Volunteer Corps. The campaign, now on its 9^th year, aims to send street children to school by providing school supplies for them and shouldering expenses needed for their schooling. Moreover, the program Is now sending six students to school on full scholarship with the aim of helping them have a degree. The program particularly helps the sampaguita vendors in UPLB.

The campaign (Off the Street, On the School) was chosen as a beneficiary because its promoters are the members of the Kairos band which is also a UPLB-based band who are also advocates of OPM. The band uses their talents and skills in music not for personal benefit, but for a worthy cause. Instead of keeping money earned from performing in events, competitions, fundraising concerts, etc., the band uses the money to promote the Off the School, On to School project.

Also, UP ADS, the co-organizer of the event, holds activities focusing on the use of various media in addressing development and development communication concerns, promotion of different advocacies geared toward social change, promotion of nationalism and modern heroism, youth empowerment, and ultimately, service to the marginalized sector.

Off to Battle

UPLB based bands will be competing in the battle of the bands. They are tasked to compose their original song revolving around the life and works of Andres Bonifacio as a hero, writer, leader of the revolution, brother to his siblings, husband, and a lot more.

The DSS-CAS gave the participants a “handout” which served as a guide to the participants in writing their songs. This handout was reviewed by the professors in the DSS-CAS in which according to them, will help the participants know who Andres Bonifaciois and his works. It equipped them with necessary information to write the heroism of Bonifacio.

After reading the handout and having their own researches about Bonifacio, the six participants namely: Arete, Balance, Coupé, Hard Tension, Lottie, and Paragos, came up with their competing original compositions which are: Sigaw ng Anak, Get up and Give it All you Got, Supremo, Boni-facio, Bayan niBonifacio, and Agapito Bagumbayan, respectively.

Lottie, a five-members band is composed of musicians from different bands and duos. According to Martin Alfred Cedeño, the band’s guitarist and vocalist, their song, “Bayan ni Bonifacio, is inspired by Andres Bonifacio’s famous poem, “Pag-ibig sa tinubuang lupa”. The song also describes Bonifacio’s courage, heroism, and his passion for our country.”

For the four-man band Balance, lead guitarist Carlos Catalan wrote their competition piece entitled Get up and Give it All you Got. He said that the focus of their song is Bonifacio’s outlook towards what was happening around him during his time. Moreover, he believes that Bonifacio’s attitude triggered him to start a revolution. The song revolved around how Bonifacio lived his life before realizing that he needs to step up and fight.

Sigaw ng Anak is Arete’s entry song. The band is composed of five members including Jan Erwin Bulang, the vocals man of the group. According to him, they focused on Andres Bonifacio’s act of starting the uprising when crafting their song. “The event is famously remembered as Cry of Pugadlawin,” he said after explaining how the Katipuneros got up withtheir bolos in hand to fight for freedom of the country.

According to Arneil Sarzeulo, vocalist of the band Hard Tension, their song Boni-facio is a product of their view of Bonifacio’s braveness and strength to lead the Filipinos and fight against the Spaniards. He also said that their song depicts how they see Bonifacio as an “example to the people of the nation today to be brave and fight against the odds that we might face.”

Although each band has their own way of interpreting Bonifacio and his works, each was able to come up with their own compositions. With this, one of the objectives of the event was fulfilled. It is to let people know the life and heroism of Andres Bonifacio.

According to Catalan, what he learned from writing the song is that Bonifacio gave everything. “Absolutely no fear,” he said.

Burang shared that what they learned from writing their songs is that they have come to realize “the greatness and the martyr he had become” to give freedom to the Philippines. He also said that Bonifacio’s life and legacy makes him one of our “unheralded heroes”.

Year-long Celebration

As early as last year, the celebration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of Bonifacio’s birth was being prepared for. President Aquino directed the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to spearhead activities and programs for the celebration.

In partnership with different government and non-government organizations, NHCP released the list of 11 activities and programs in line with the 150^th birth of Andres Bonifacio.

The list includes:

1. the reprinting of the influential works on Andres Bonifacio’s life which includes Isabelodelos Reyes’ Bonifacio the Revolutionist, TeodoroKalaw’sAngHimagsikang Filipino, and El Commercio;
2. “Bonifacio Para saKabataan” which is a multi-arts learning tour for students from grade 5 to 7;
3. lecture series for high school and college students in Metro Manila about “BakitMaypagasaang secret name ni Andres Bonifacio?” and “Andres Bonifacio- Sino kasaamingbuhayngayon?”;
4. commemorative stamp design contest with the them Bonifacio@150;
5. program tribute to the 117^th anniversary of the Cry of Pugadlawin;
6. opening of the MuseongKatipunanngPinaglabanan Memorial Shrine in San Juan City;
7. Rock Supremmo, a musical in celebration of the life and works of Bonifacio;
8. “San Andres B” which is a modern opera showcasing the life and story of Bonifacio;
9. Rock Supremo Concert;
10. raising of the Philippine flag and resting of wreaths; and
11. the Great Boni Fiesta, a day-long celebration full of games and other surprises.

November 29, 2012, the 149^th birth year anniversary of Bonifacio, marked the start of the year-long celebration of his 150^th year which will be culminated on the exact date of the hero’s birth- November 30, 2013.

During Ebe Dancel’s performance, he sang one of his original compositions for the album which he, together with other artists, recorded as a promotion to the celebration of Bonifacio’s 150^th birthday. As the event closed, he personally thanked the organizers of the event, for it did not only allowed him to go back to his first love, Elbi, but he was also able to perform as an advocate of Bonifacio, which he really is.

Battle of the bands winner Paragos as they received their award. Photo courtesy of the UP Alliance of Development Communication Students (UP ADS).

As MusiKaunalaran 2013: Bonifacio  @ 150 ended, Paragos band was announced as the first place in the battle of the bands. They were followed by Hard Tension, and Lottie for the second and third prize, respectively.

_________________________________________________________________________

Agapito Bagumbayan (Winning Entry)

by Paragos

Sumibol na ang bagong umaga
Akay-akay ang pag-asa
Nag-iisa at lagi nang
Nagtatanong, naghihintay
Tapos na ba ang paglalakbay?
Pinapasan ang mga bituin na
Nag-sasabing tapos na ang delubyo

Dito sa silangan nakilala ang isang pangalan
Pinaglaban, kalayaan na ating naranasan
Isa sa mga nagtatag at naging supremo ng
Kataas-taasang , kagalang-galangang katipunan

Kumapit ka, ‘wag kang bibitaw
Pag-ibig ang tanging sandata
Lumaya ka , lumaya ka
Harapin ang ikot ng mundong
Tuloy, tuloy, tuloy,tuloy

Libo-libong tao sya ay sinamahan
Isang gabing nagtipon-tipon sa Caloocan
Upang mag-aklas laban sa mga Kastila
Tunay na pagkakaisa ng bawat Pilipino
Sabay-sabay pinunit ang sedula
Kanilang sigaw ay “KALAYAAN”

Nakapikit, nagdarasal
Tapos na nga’ng paglalakbay
Nakatingin sa mga bituin
At sinasabing tapos na ang delubyo

Dito sa silangan nakilala ang isang bayani
Binansagang Supremo, ngalan nya ay Bonifacio.