The Varsitarian

THE COMMISSION on Higher Education (Ched) has affirmed the University’s status as an autonomous institution of higher learning, in the aftermath of the controversy over the doctorate in civil law granted to embattled Chief Justice Renato Corona.

“UST is an autonomous institution and autonomy is only given by Ched if the institution is mature, responsible, and has high academic standards,” Ched Executive Director Julito Vitriolo told the Varsitarian. “[It] is free to exercise academic freedom, which means that [it] can determine whom to accept as long as it (UST) sees it fit under the circumstances … without our interference.” read more »

The effort to unseat Chief Justice Renato Corona has pitted two unlikely parties—the 400-year-old University of Santo Tomas and startup online news outfit Rappler—against each other.

Rappler, which is led by Maria Ressa, former ABS-CBN News chief and CNN bureau chief, gained online prominence following the Dec. 22 story “UST breaks rules to favor Corona,” in which veteran journalist Marites Vitug questioned Corona’s UST law doctorate.

UST did not issue a statement until after the Philippine Daily Inquirer published the Rappler piece as its banner story on New Year’s Day. The University’s statement, aside from saying that no rules were broken for Corona’s Ph.D., criticized Rappler’s exercise of online journalism. read more »

NUMBERS aren’t supposed to lie.

Lobbyists for the Reproductive Health (RH) bill are using “dubious” and even outdated statistics on maternal deaths and induced abortions in their bid to ram through Congress a nationwide contraception mandate.

One is the oft-repeated statistic that 11 mothers die every day due to maternal complications.

The latest data, however, show that the range is now down to three to eight deaths a day, according to the group Filipinos for Life (F4L).

Maternal deaths are declining as shown by a study by the World Health Organization titled “Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2008.”  read more »

THE LAW itself pushes drug dependents into their own pitfall.

Representatives of the treatment and rehabilitation centers (TRCs) across the country brought up problems such as conflicts with the courts in the “National Conference on Trends and Practices in the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Drug Dependents in the Philippines: Some Policy Implications” from Nov. 15 to 17 at Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros.

According to Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) legal consultant Cesar Posada, the “unreasonable intrusions and interventions of the court” only hinder the healing process of confined drug users. read more »

THE PHILIPPINE Medical Association (PMA) has backed the pro-life position that life begins at fertilization, insisting that this scientific fact should be the basis of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.

In a statement sent to the Senate, PMA also rejected the RH bill's penalty clause on doctors and argued that religious beliefs of patients should be respected.

The group of doctors demanded “utmost respect” for physicians’ rights, which are being threatened by the RH bill.

The bill will require doctors to provide RH services, and those who object on the grounds of conscience must refer the patient to another doctor or face penalties. read more »

JUST HOW accurate are drug tests?

No student has tested positive for drug use since drug tests were implemented in 2006, data from the Health Service showed.

Health Service director Ma. Salve Olalia said she has not received reports of illegal drug use on campus, indicating that drug tests in UST are effective.

But Dangerous Drugs Boards (DDB) vice chairman Rommel Garcia, an alumnus of the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, said otherwise.

He said the random drug test is more of an assessment than detection. “As far as detecting drug users, you can never find every drug user by means of random drug testing,” Garcia said. “But if they know that there are random drug tests, they will have a little fear.” read more »

Mabigat na kasalanan man ang pagbubuntis sa labas ng Sakramento ng Kasal para sa Simbahang Katolika, isang alituntunin ng Unibersidad ang bigyang kalinga ang isang estudyanteng nagdadalang-tao.

Sinasabi sa Student Handbook na ang Unibersidad, sa pamamagitan ng pagtutulungan ng regent, direktor ng Health Service, Student Welfare and Development Board (SWDB), guidance counselor at mga magulang ng mag-aaral, ay susuportahan ang estudyanteng nabuntis sa pamamagitan ng pagbibigay ng gabay at tulong pangkalusugan.

Nagsisimula pa lamang si Maria Flora (hindi totoong pangalan) sa pag-aaral sa Unibersidad nang mapilitan siyang magpasa ng leave of absence dahil sa hindi inaasahang pagdadalang-tao sa kaniyang unang semestre. read more »

SA KABILA ng paglapag ng UST sa ika-104 na puwesto sa ginawa ng Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) na talaan ng mga pamantasan sa Asya, hindi nakakuha ng mataas na ranggo ang Unibersidad sa ilang partikular na mga larangan.

Kamakailan lamang niranggo ng QS ang iba’t-ibang unibersidad para sa pagtuturo ng Ingles, ang kauna-unahan ng institusyon, at ng Cybermetrics para sa Internet presence.

Sa larangan ng Ingles, pasok sa Top 50 ang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (UP) sa ika-34 na puwesto, at ang Ateneo de Manila University sa ika-35 na puwesto.

Samantala, pasok ang De La Salle University sa 51-100 na bracket habang ang UST naman ay sa 101-150 na bracket. Hindi na binigyan ng tiyak na posisyon ang mga unibersidad sa labas ng Top 50. read more »

A MANUFACTURED scandal.

What happens when a seemingly innocuous portion of a routine report by state auditors is blown out of proportion by public officials, media outfits, and self-styled crusaders whose common denominator is contempt for Church leaders and what they stand for?

The scorn heaped at seven bishops, who got donations from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) two years ago for the purchase of vehicles, it turns out, was largely undeserved. read more »

IF IT’S about “choice”, why is there coercion?

Aside from criticisms that the Reproductive Health (RH) bill is unconstitutional, experts say it will make undue demands on health professionals.

Section 28 of House Bill No. 4244 states that it respects “the conscientious objection of a healthcare service provider based on one’s ethical or religious beliefs.”

However, the same clause also requires physicians to refer patients demanding “emergency” RH services to other doctors, or face penalties.

For former Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., this provision of the RH bill forces health practitioners to do indirectly what their consciences forbid them to do directly. read more »