The Varsitarian

MOST people say that dogs and cats are man’s best friends. These two domesticated breeds of animals have established close ties with human beings to the extent that some pet lovers have dedicated their lives lobbying for their rights and fighting against animal cruelty.

Among them is Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) Executive Director and self-confessed cat-lover Anna Hashim-Cabrera who has been an advocate of animal rights for more than a decade. Her unwavering commitment to her advocacy has inspired people to join the same cause.

Starting point

Graduating from the University with a Commerce degree in 1994, Cabrera expressed great concern for animals and vehemently opposed animal cruelty.  read more »

UNTIL when will you be able to stick to your resolutions?

Every time New Year approaches, people become busy in formulating their resolutions at the hopes of establishing a new start, eventually shunning negative ways and means done in the past.

This tradition of writing and following resolutions serve as the common trend among people who superstitiously believe in this tradition.

But just like the old Filipino maxim ningas cogon, those who vow to keep their resolutions manage to stick to them only at the start of the year. As days pass by, they eventually find themselves breaking the resolutions they made.

Have a reachable start read more »

Just like most young boys, Alfred Perez enjoyed playing toy cars and automobile games in his childhood years. While most outgrow this childhood fascination, his enthusiasm for cars transcended age and time, eventually becoming his ticket to success.

Now on his late 30s, Perez turned this fascination into reality as he manages Alfred’s Motor Works, an automobile shop known for reviving vintage cars back to life, located at the corner of Kamuning Road and 11th Jamboree Street in Quezon City.  read more »

WHO WOULD have thought a little canteen located across the University grounds would become the cradle of big names in the Philippine music industry?

Nearly three decades ago, Mayric’s was just a household name to students and bank employees who wanted to eat a sumptuous meal and to unwind after work—until a customer, on a whim, started to play an old keyboard left by the restaurant owner lying at the place.

That momentous instance triggered the owner to have a one-man band play on a regular basis, which was eventually replaced by emerging and mainstream Filipino acts, including Thomasian bands.

Original music read more »

MOST people perceive cancer as an inescapable predicament almost synonymous to a death sentence.

But sheer optimism helped this human rights advocate and journalist survive a 13-year-long affair with this deadly malady that has killed millions.

Thomasian and former Varsitarian staffer Edgardo "Ed" Lucas Santoalla lost the fight of his life last Nov. 1 when he succumbed to leukemia or cancer of the blood. He was at 52.

If there was one thing that could distinguish him from others suffering from the same disease, it was that he never lay flat on his back and waited for his time to come.

"He never stopped living," his wife and life companion, Annie Calma-Santoalla, 47, said. read more »

ASIDE from gift-giving, street carolling and reunions, Christmas itinerary of Filipinos won’t be complete without attending the Holy Mass at an unholy hour, as simbang gabi.

The Church practice involves attending nine consecutive dawn Masses in anticipation of the Savior’s birth.

Human sacrifice

The simbang gabi is a Filipinized tradition that originated from Germany. It is originally known in Latin as rorate, an antiphon, a devotional composition sung responsively as part of a liturgy, found in Book of Isaiah.

“This was celebrated in the dawn to signify the light that comes after which was Christ who dispels us from darkness and sin,” said Msgr. Nestor Cerbo, Manila Cathedral rector. read more »

JOURNALISM and writing are best learned through practical lessons, but who would mind getting tips from some the biggest names in Philippine media?

The 13th edition of Inkblots, the annual campus journalism fellowship organized by the Varsitarian, once again gathered prominent media practitioners, this time, under the theme “Uncover the Truth.”

From Oct. 13 to 15 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex, some 200 fellows from all over the country interacted with speakers and were shown “how the pros do it.”

This year’s keynote speaker, former senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., opened Inkblots with an anti-reproductive health (RH) bill lecture delivered before more than 200 fellows. read more »

SOME flew halfway across the globe while others arrived from neighboring countries in the region. Whatever their origin, foreign students keep pouring in the Philippines for higher education and a top destination is UST.

This school year, a total of 654 foreigners are enrolled in the University, mostly in the Graduate and the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery. The figure was more than double the 302 foreign students who entered UST five years ago.

UST, the oldest university in Asia, has apparently been attracting students from as far as Mauritus. In 2006, most of the foreign students enrolled here were from South Korea, China, and the United States. read more »

LANGUAGE barrier, differences in culture, religious beliefs, and even physical appearance—these are some of the challenges foreign students studying in UST have had to deal with.

But take it from Indonesian Zanita Afirin, a third-year political science student, things eventually get better.

“I did not have a hard time making friends or adjusting to people because Thomasians are helpful, especially to foreigners like me,” she said.

Beyond the school, she said Filipinos were generally easy to get along with, unlike in her native country “where the environment is individualistic.”

“Filipinos are positive about everything as if everything is going to be okay,” she said. read more »

UNTOLD narratives lie behind newspaper bylines.

The Martial Law era was a terrible period, but exciting times as well, for journalists. Unless they toed the line, every article against the dictatorship risked physical harm, if not death.

Such was the environment in which journalists like Alice Colet-Villadolid and the late Rommel Corro worked. Their stories were many and collectively, they formed part of the Filipino memory of that dark period in history.

Censorship and veiled threats read more »