usa tabloid august08.indd - University of San Agustin

Abortion failure... 

VOL. 56 NO. 1 

Petrola elected 

new SC Prexy 

By DOnnA iSABELLE FRESniDO 

John Paul Petrola, a fourth 

year aB Philosophy student from 

the College of arts and Sciences, 

was elected uSa Student Council 

President for academic year 2008- 

2009. 

Petrola headed the leader 

Party, which faced no opposition 

in the election polls. 

Petrola assumed office on 

July 3, right after the proclamation 

from the Student Commission on 

elections (SCoMel) headed by 

noel Sinco (BS Foreign Service 

4). 

When asked about how he 

envisions the university-wide 

student government during his 

term, Petrola replied that the 

student council should fit his 

acronym for ‘uSa’: “a university 

student center, a Service center, 

and an advocacy center.” 

the grand political rally for 

the student council elections was 

held on July 1, 8 am to 12 pm at 

the university Gymnasium. Voting 

then started in the afternoon of the 

same day and continued until 

July 2 at the designated college 

precincts. 

Eighty Years of Excellent Campus Journalism for the Common Good 

the OfficiaL studeNt Newspaper Of the uNiVersitY Of saN agustiN 

iLOiLO citY, phiLippiNes 

Newly-iNstalled University 

President Rev. Fr. Raul Marchan, 

Osa, wanted to push the University 

towards excellence and thus 

formulated a three-point agenda 

for the duration of his term (2008- 

2012). 

Marchan, having been officially 

lodged into office after the Mass of 

the holy Spirit on June 27, has been 

seeking to spearhead efforts to make 

the university financially viable, 

strengthen the “augustinianization” 

of the university, and continue the 

university’s avowed academic and 

community-service excellence. these, 

he said, are his three basic goals as 

the new school head. 

In an interview with The 

Augustinian on July 29, Marchan 

cited that the university has been 

financially in the red because of 1.5% 

decrease in enrollment this semester 

and said that financial viability would 

be the means for his administration 

to upgrade the school facilities and 

the physical plan of the campus 

and to organize intensive faculty 

development programs. 

“the financial viability [of the 

university] can be made possible 

Celebrating 80 years of freedom of expression: 

USA Pub launches Pub Expo 

to celebrate its 80-year exercise 

of freedom of expression, the uSa 

Publications launched an exhibit, Pub 

expo, at the uSa alumni Student 

Center on July 7 to 16. 

according to uSa Publications 

Managing editor Cara uy (who was 

the one in-charge of the groundwork 

for the exhibit), Pub expo was the 

Publications’ way of reaching out to 

other augustinian students so that 

they may be aware of the Publications’ 

vision to establish a liberal and 

harmonious relationship between the 

students and the student journalists in 

the campus. 

actualizing the essence of 

freedom of expression, the exhibit 

had freedom boards where passersby 

freely expressed their sentiments 

through writing. the exhibit also 

By PAULO MOiSES BAYABOS 

puB eXpOsed. students flocked to the pub expo 

on July 7 to 16. the pub expo served as a prelude 

to the 80th anniversary of the usa publications. 

page 6 

iSSn 0115-9226 

JULY 1 - AUGUST 15, 2008 

FR. MARCHAN: ‘PUSH FOR EXCELLENCE’ 

New President Comes Up with 3-Point Agenda for the University 

showcased the trophies and medals 

awarded to the uSa Publications 

throughout its 80 years of existence as 

a school organization. It also included 

the Pub Wall of Fame which displayed 

the names of prominent achievers 

who were past editors of the uSa 

Publications namely, raul Gonzales, 

evalyn ursua, Isidoro Cruz, Jigger 

latoza, eric Divinagracia, John Iremil 

teodoro, Fabienne Paderes, Johnny 

esmilla Jr., and elsed togonon. 

the Pub expo was the first 

among the many forthcoming 

activities planned for the uSa 

Publications’ 80th anniversary. It was 

materialized through the efforts of 

the staff members and some BS Fine 

arts students, under the tutelage of 

uSa Publications Moderator, erwin 

Sustento. 

Check please! take 2 

through intensive campaign 

for more enrollees and 

proper marketing of the 

school, evaluation of the 

functions of our different 

offices so as to achieve 

streamlining, review of 

our academic curriculum, 

and different programs as 

recommended by the Board 

of trustees, and as much as 

possible, outsourcing the 

school finances,” Marchan 

said. 

Marchan also said 

that as the new president, 

he envisions the total 

“augustinianization” of 

the university. In this, 

he meant the university 

would serve as the training 

ground for all students 

and personnel to grow in 

values by integrating St. 

augustine’s core values - Unitas, 

Veritas and Caritas - in classroom 

discussions and in co-curricular 

activities. 

F u r t h e r m o r e , M a r c h a n 

emphasized that once financial viability 

and the total “augustinianization” of 

the university are already achieved, it 

would be easier for his administration 

to sustain the university’s academic 

and community-service excellence. 

“our university has a reputation 

to consider. We will push for excellence 

in the academe and the communityservice 

aspect by improving our 

faculty development programs and 

going for continuous accreditation and 

community development programs,” 

Marchan added. 

aside from his primary threepoint 

agenda, the new university 

president likewise mentioned that by 

one of the university’s professors 

was recognized as the country’s 

foremost in teaching Filipino upon 

receiving a title of distinction from 

the Deparment of education earlier 

this year. 

Professor erwin Sustento, a full 

time Filipino teacher of the College 

of education, garnered the 2008 

Pambansang Gawad Balagtas sa 

Pinakamahusay na Guro sa Filipino 

sa Kolehiyo at the 32rd Pambansang 

Gawaing-Kapulungan sa Filipino at 

the teacher’s Camp, Baguio City, 

May 8. 

organized by the Pambansang 

Samahan ng Tagamasid at 

Tagapagtaguyod sa Filipino in 

cooperation with the Commission 

on higher education (CheD) 

and the Komisyon sa Wikang 

Filipino, the event which gathered 

Filipino teachers from all over 

By JEFFERSOn MAGBAnUA 

page 7 

‘push fOr eXceLLeNce’. rev. fr. raul Marchan, 

Osa, in an interview, explains to the usa publications 

his plans of action in maintaining the university’s 

avowed excellence. 

this school year, he targets the start 

of the renovation of the registrar 

and accounting offices and the 

restructuring of the library wherein 

new air-conditioning systems would 

be installed. he likewise plans to 

purchase a new power generator for 

the school’s use. 

Marchan was appointed as the 

new university president on May 

1 by the augustinian Provincial 

Council and, together with him, new 

appointees in the school administrative 

body are Fr. Generous Gonesto, 

oSa, Vice-President for academic 

affairs and Dean of the Graduate 

School; Fr. edgardo lazo, oSa, 

Vice-President for administration 

and Finance; Fr. Pederito aparece, 

oSa, Prefect of Students; Fr. nelson 

Zerda, oSa, Director of General 

Services; Fr. Danilo Carido, oSa, 

Campus Minister, treasurer, and CSC 

Director; Fr. Jonas Mejares, oSa, 

Dean of the Conservatory of Music 

and theology Department; Dean 

Victoria Sustento, Dean of the College 

of Pharmacy and Medical technology; 

Fr. Dante Juloc, oSa, Principal, high 

School and Grade School; Dr. Carmen 

hernandez, hrD Director; atty. Julius 

elvas, exec. asst. to the President; 

rizzamila Superio, asst. Principal, 

high School and Grade School; Dr. 

Melvin Sumagaysay, Department 

head, Pharmacy; aneline tolones, 

Department Chair, Chemistry; 

Josephine De asis, Department 

Chair, Information technology; 

Dr. remedios Somcio, Director of 

CeIr; epifania Paclibar, Director of 

libraries and Instructional Media; 

and Dr. nenita Villanueva, Director 

of Guidance Services. 

Sustento, RP’s most outstanding 

Filipino teacher in 2008 

By PiETROS VAL PATRiCiO 

the Philippines, aimed towards the 

promotion of the national language 

in learning institutions all over 

the country. It likewise served as 

a search for the country’s most 

outstanding teachers in Filipino in 

the primary, secondary, and tertiary 

levels. the awardees were selected 

based on the following criteria: the 

teacher’s educational attainment, past 

achievements, personality and values, 

as well as the his actual performance 

in the past three years of teaching. 

Sustento, also a freelance writer 

in Kinaray-a, hiligaynon and Filipino 

has been previously adjudged as 

the 2007 honorable Mention in the 

Pagsulat ng Tula sa Hiligaynon, 

sponsored by the Komisyon sa Wikang 

Filipino 

Sustento is currently finishing 

his doctoral degree in Filipino, major 

in literature at the College of arts 

and letters, university of the 

Philippines-Diliman. In June, he 

was appointed as the new moderator 

of the uSa Publications. 

sustento

The AugusTiniAn 

Augustinians join ‘March for Life’ 

By ALLin JOY EMBOLTURA 

unIVerSIty of San agustin first year students, Student Council (SC) and 

rotC officers participated in the “Prayer March for life” on July 24. 

the rally was held in commemoration of humanae Vitae’s 40 th 

anniversary, to disapprove the house Bill 0017 known as the reproductive 

health Bill, and to pray for the victims of typhoon Frank. 

In the afternoon, the march from assembly points going to the Freedom 

Grandstand started. the pro-life rosary was led by Dr. rene Bullecer and 

the invocation on Family life was initiated by rev. Fr. Bernabe “abing” 

tutana, Director, Jaro archidiocesan Commission. a series of talks followed: 

lora tan-Garcia, Professional lecturer on Character-Based education and 

Chastity education talked about “Chastity”; Dr. Brian Clowes, research 

Manager, human life International, uSa discussed about “Global 

Deception to Destroy life and Family”; Dr. Dolores octaviano, Internist/ 

endocrinologist practitioner spoke on the “Deception of reproductive 

health Bills”; Dr. ligaya a. acosta, D.M., executive health Director hlI, 

asia and representative in Congress for Catholic Bishop Conference of the 

Philippines (CBCP) tackled the “reproductive health Bills.” 

archbishop angel lagdameo, D.D., archbishop of Jaro, who was the main 

celebrant, ended the Prayer March for life with a concelebrated mass. 

3 campus writers win awards in 

APCAS journ tilt 

By ShEEnA CAPinDO 

three augustinian student journalists emerged winners in the association 

of Philippine College of arts and Sciences region VI, Inc. (aPCaS-region 

VI) Journalism Seminar-Workshop held at the Crowne Ballroom of Punta 

Villa resort on July 18. 

university of San agustin Publications associate editors Jefferson 

Magbanua (aB Pol Sci 2) and Jenny Castro (BS Phar 3, and also a staffer 

of The Pharmakeia) were declared champion in editorial writing and third 

placer in news writing, respectively. The Pharmakeia editor-in-Chief analei 

lasdoce (BS Phar 4) ranked second to Magbanua in editorial writing. 

aiming to promote effective campus journalism among student writers, 

the aPCaS-organized Journalism Seminar-Workshop included lectures on 

news, editorial and feature writing, laws concerning student publications, 

and modern issues and challenges faced by journalists. 

City gov’t conducts flood and water 

management conference in San Ag 


WIth the goal of discussing strategies in preventing flood through 

water management, the Iloilo City government conducted a scientific 

conference on flooding and water management at the uSa training 

Center on July 14 to 15. 

Initially slated two weeks prior to the typhoon Frank incident, the seminar 

was spearheaded by Mayor Jerry treñas and City natural environment 

resources office engineers renan escoto and noel hechanova. aside 

from the university, the city government’s partners for the conduct of the 

said event were the observatory center of the ateneo de Manila university, 

PaG-aSa, and the Christian aid Social Development agency. 

among the 60 participants of the event were academic scholars and 

deans from tertiary institutions, as well as representatives from private 

companies all over the province of Iloilo. 

11 Agustinian student leaders join 

SBK Leadership Camp 

By DAiSY DAwn MACAhiLO 

WIth the mission of having “good leaders and a better nation”, 11 agustinian 

student leaders participated in the Samahan ng Bagong Kabataan (SBK) 

leadership training camp on July 25 to 27 at Isla Miguel, nueva Valencia, 

Guimaras. 

together with Sedfrey Cabaluna, an augustinian law student who was 

elected as the President of the SBK 8th generation, augustinian student 

leaders who joined the camp and were elected as officers were: rynilyn 

Quichon (aB Pol Sci4), Vice President for Iloilo City; Michael Pamplona (aB 

Mass Com 4), Vice-President for roxas City; leobelle May Monserate (aB 

PolSci 3), asst. Secretary; Daisy Dawn Macahilo (aB Pol Sci 3), treasurer; 

and Genelyn ogatis (aB Pol Sci 3), auditor. other augustinian delegates 

were Jubby laurente (aB Pol Sci 3), Mayflor Dupaloc (aB Pol Sci 3), robe 

Jan Ivan Pagulong (BSIt 3), Francis Fortunato Gonzales (BSIt 3), and ann 

Kristy huelar (BSIt 3). 

the three-day workshop started with courtesy calls to Guimaras Gov. 

Felipe hilan nava and nueva Valencia Mayor alex araneta. 

after the courtesy calls, a workshop followed and the resource persons 

tackled three topics on leadership: nelson Mandela’s 8 lessons of leadership 

by atty. Julius elvas, executive asst. to the President, uSa, a Perspective 

on Socio-economic and Political-Cultural environment of the Philippines 

by atty. Zafiro lauron, and Core Values and Dynamic leadership by Joel 

adrias, businessman. 

NEWS 

Editor: JEFFERSON MAGBANUA 

there’S unity in service. 

this was proven true when 

service-oriented uSa (university 

of San agustin) rotaract Club 

collaborated with its mother 

organization, the rotary Club of 

Iloilo (rotary International 3850), in 

conducting a community diagnosis in 

San rafael, Mandurriao, July 19. 

according to current uSa 

rotaract Club President rey John 

lorca, the initiative was done to 

obtain accurate figures concerning 

the needs of the residents of typhoon 

Frank which devastated Brgy. San 

rafael, Mandurriao district. the 

information gathered would then be 

the rotarians’ basis for the kind of 

future projects they would espouse. 

the one-day community 

diagnosis which was solely 

participated by 63 rotaractors 

served only as an assessment 

phase in the overall proposal 

of the rotary Club of Iloilo 

but lorca said the turn-out 

was overwhelming. “the 

project should have been for 

four days but we finished it 

in a day only because of the 

good number of volunteers. 

In fact, rotaract now has 157 

members (37 males and 120 

females) and we’re getting 

bigger,” lorca added. 

as preparation for the 

said activity, an orientation on 

the relevance of community 

diagnosis and its procedures 

took place on July 16 at Blanco 

hall-11, wherein former 

nursing Student Council 

President Mark lorente and 

adrian hort ramos, BSn-4, 

were resource persons. 


USA Rotaract Partners with Rotary for community diagnosis 


During his talk, lorente made 

it a point that rotaract’s community 

diagnosis would be useful for nursing 

members because it would prepare 

them for their field. lorente likewise 

clarified that non-nursing members 

could apply knowledge from their 

courses to help the clients. “If you’re 

an architecture student, for instance, 

you could advise them on the type 

of repair their damaged roof should 

undergo,” he said. 

exactly five days after the 

conduct of the community diagnosis, 

rotaract officers were inducted into 

office at hotel Del rio, with Dr. 

Manuel Posecion, rotary Club of 

Iloilo president as presiding officer. 

aside from lorca, BS architecture 5, 

other officers sworn into office were 

Katherine ariston, Vice-President for 

external affairs; Febeme Villaluna, 

Vice-President for Internal affairs; 

Charmaine aquino, Secretary; Janet 

Paclibar, treasurer; Jhessa lyne 

nituda, Michelle Barrido, Del rey 

Chiva, analei lasdoce, and Patrick 

Daniel ladrido, Board of Directors; 

aaron ong (Cn), ramuel Borja 

(Coe), robe Ivan Pagulong (CaS), 

Kristine Gonzales (Cea), edwin 

Santos (CPMt), and Phem loverly 

nalius (CBaa), Board Members. 

For this academic year, these officers, 

along with their advisers Prof. Jigger 

latoza, MPa, Ma Com and Prof. Jane 

Manila, Ph.D. were designated to run 

the uSa rotaract Club. 

Former USA Pub EIC awarded in 2008 TOSP-RVI search 

pOse fOr pOsteritY. former eic 

Johnny esmilla, Jr. strikes a pose 

after being named 2008 tOsp-region 

Vi awardee. 

ConSIStent with the mission and 

vision of the university to provide 

quality education for the common 

good, the College of nursing (Cn) 

together with the uSa nurses alumni 

association (uSanaa), held the first 

International educational Symposium 

on July 25 at the university conference 

room. 

the symposium jumpstarted with 

the words of welcome by Sofia Cosette 

Monteblanco, rn, Man, Dean of the 

Cn followed by the introduction 

of speakers by april Jann Marie 

Portillo, rn. the symposium covered 

concerns regarding Professional 

and Personal Growth, which were 

believed to enhance nursing students’ 

competence. 

ForMer uSa Publications 

editor-in-Chief Johnny esmilla 

Jr. was awarded one of the 2008 

ten outstanding Students of the 

Philippines – region VI (toSP – 

rVI) in a formal awarding ceremony 

held at the Governor’s hall of 

the Provincial Capitol of negros 

occidental, Bacolod City, april 18. 

e s m i l l a w a s t h e s o l e 

representative of the university 

of San agustin to the 2008 toSP 

search, where each school was 

allowed to send a maximum of three 

representatives. 

together with nine other awardees 

from different schools in Western 

Visayas, esmilla received a medal, 

a certificate of recognition, and a 

LeNd Me YOur ears. rotaract club 

president rey John Lorca instructs 

fellow rotaractors about upcoming 

activities of the usa rotaract club. 


trophy from the organizing committee 

composed of the toSP alumni 

Community, rFM Foundation by 

Jose Concepcion, and Commission 

on higher education (CheD). 

the ten outstanding Students 

of the Philippines – Western Visayas 

were chosen through a regional 

search wherein the top 20 were 

initially picked and then the number 

was finally narrowed down to 10. 

the contestants were judged based 

on their bid books which contained 

all their documents – transcript of 

records, proof of awards, and official 

recommendation by the school head. 

the criteria for judging the bid books 

were academic excellence, social 

responsibility, and leadership. 

USA-CN, USANAA hold 1 st Int’l educational symposium 

By MA. DOnnA MAE TRASPORTO 

D u r i n g t h e e v e n t , g u e s t 

speakers delivered their insights and 

experiences as nurses in united States 

of america and the Middle east. rene 

Pabalan, rn, CCrn discussed the 

topic “nursing: an Integration of 

art and Science” while Grace rita 

Domingo, rn, MSn, aPrn, BC 

talked about “nursing: education and 

Career Development: Do you want 

more of your career?” Ma. Brenda 

San agustin, rn, Man talked 

about “Building Multicultural skills 

in health Care Delivery: Middle 

eastern/Islamic Population” and 

many more. an open forum was 

conducted thereafter. 

the gathering was graced by the 

BSn 4h students, supervised by louie 

hijalda, rn, level team X Chair and 

level 4 Co-Curricular Coordinator 

and Marivic articulo of BSn 4D 

who rendered a song number. also 

present in the event were BSn 4 a, C, 

D and G, Clinical Instructors, level 

Chairs, lorna Badian, rn, Man, 

Clinical Coordinator and Susana 

Salinas, rn, or, Dr Coordinator. 

Masters of the ceremony were Jan 

Christian Moreno, rn, and Jennery 

hyla Bernabe, rn. 

the symposium was made 

possible through the joint efforts 

of the uSanaa headed by helen 

Caton, rn, Mn, the nursing Student 

Council, nursing Sports association 

and Student nurses association of 

the Philippines.

NEWS 


Editor: JEFFERSON MAGBANUA 


Gregorios leads uni-wide ABS-CBN broadcasting contest 

WIth an average of 1.33 from the 

three-man judging panel, Beverly 

Joan Gregorios, 

a s o p h o m o r e 

nursing student, 

emerged champion 

in the aBS-CBn 

B r o a d c a s t i n g 

c o n t e s t 

(university-wide 

eliminations) on 

July 22. 

Gregorios’ 

w i n a t t h e 

school level of 

a B S - C B n ’ s 

b r o a d c a s t i n g 

c o m p e t i t i o n 

served as her 

ticket to represent 

the university of 

San agustin in the 

city-wide finals of 

the said contest on 

august 23. 

r a n k i n g 

s e c o n d t o 

Gregorios was 

Marilla Cagas, a 

first year nursing 

student, while in third place was Gian 

Bermudo (BS Psychology-I) of the 

College of arts and Sciences. Cagas 

and Bermudo obtained an average of 

3.0 and 3.33, respectively. 

aside from the abovementioned 

three, six others joined the school 

broadcasting eliminations. all of 

the contestants were judged in three 

categories – english, Filipino and 

hiligaynon – with their news lines 

given only five minutes before the 

actual contest. topics provided in the 

news lines they delivered were that 

of typhoon Frank, MV Papa vessel 

which sank near the coast of antique, 

and the fare increase in local public 

utility jeepneys. 

the judges during the said tilt 

were uCrP (university Center for 

research and Publications) Director 

Jigger latoza, Mass Communications 

Instructor raffy Galan, and aBS- 

CBn news reporter John Mark Guda 

who was a product of the aBS-CBn 

Broadcasting contest himself. 

the event was graced by atty. 

Jobert Peñaflorida of aBS-CBn’s 

TV Patrol Iloilo and Sikat Ka Iloilo. 

It commenced at seven in the evening, 

with uSa Student Council President 

John Paul Petrola as host. 

3 Augustinian teachers gain distinction at WVSU’s centenary 

In line with the celebration of 

West Visayas State university’s 

centenary, three augustinian 

teachers were recognized among 

the 100 outstanding alumni of the 

said university. 

College of education Dean 

nenita Quiñon, Prof. lerma Paris 

of the College of Pharmacy and 

Medical technology, and atty. 

helen Camarista-Catalbas of the 

Graduate School were given the 

outstanding alumni distinction. 

each of them was awarded a medal 

and a certificate of recognition. 

Quiñon 

By JOSh VOn iROn TOnDO 

USA Publishing House launches Baterna’s book 

PolItICIanS, artists, and local 

writers gathered to witness the 

university of San agustin (uSa) 

Publishing house’s launching of 

realtor Quin Baterna’s book entitled 

Balangaw sa Tingadlaw on July 26, 

5:00 PM at Museo, Iloilo. 

the book contains a collection 

of 18 short stories (first published 

in hiligaynon magazine dated 

1961-1964) of Baterna, a Gawad 

Pambansang alagad ni Balagtas 

hiligaynon Fiction awardee. 

the book launching opened with 

a prayer by the uSa little theater 

managed by artistic Director edward 

Divinagracia followed by the welcome 

remarks of the uSa President Fr. raul 

Marchan, o.S.a. 

Prof. John Iremil teodoro, 

Production editor, gave an overview 

‘uNa sa BaLita’. in 

an interview with Sikat 

Ka Iloilo reporter 

Joyce clavecillas, 

B e v e r l y J o a n 

gregorios, reacts on 

her victory at the aBscBN 

Broadcasting 

contest (university 

eliminations). 

By CARA UY and niñA RiCCi MATULAC 

of the book while Dr. Isidoro Cruz, 

conveyed an academic opinion 

about it. Mayor Jerry treñas and 

Prof. Demy Sonza then delivered 

inspirational messages. a buffet 

was also set up for the guests after 

the program proper. 

the publication of this book 

was made possible through the 

funding of Baterna’s children 

Q’ roni, Mary Gelle, louise 

Belle, Quin, Jucelle, Q, Julie 

rose and rina Grace; and 

through the support of former 

Fr. President Manuel Vergara, 

o.S.a., uSa Publishing house 

supervised by former Managing 

Director Prof. teodoro, and the 

university Center for research 

and Publications headed by Prof. 

Jigger latoza. 

By ROnALD SORRiLLA 

Quiñon has been the advocate 

of the uSa Statistical Center 

since it started in 2002. She is the 

current president and member of the 

board of directors of the Philippine 

association for teacher education 

(PaFte) for both the regional and 

national levels. She is also the 

proponent of the ongoing PaFte 

national research Proposal on 

let and Classroom Performance 

of education and non-education 

Graduates in the Philippines. 

Paris was a recipient of the 

PChrD-DoSt Scholarship Grant 

paris 

and was the team leader of the 

War on Worms in Western Visayas 

(WoW-WV), a school-based 

Intestinal helminth Control Project 

(2007). Paris has been the adviser 

of PaMet, Inc. Iloilo since 1997. 

Catalbas is presently the 

officer-in-charge of the Department 

of tourism-region VI. She teaches 

the local Government Code, 

Issuances and Public accountability 

and ethics at the uSa Graduate 

School and also handles tourism 

subjects at the College of arts and 

Sciences. 

camarista-catalbas 

Pub admits 5 new staffers 


from left to right: sorrilla, fresnido, emboltura, Macahilo, and tondo 

the uSa Publications, the publisher 

of The Augustinian, The Augustinian 

Mirror and the Irong-Irong Literary 

Journal, admitted five new student 

writers to its editorial board for 

academic year 2008-2009. 

the new staffers who qualified 

for their respective positions after 

taking the uSa Publications’ 

competitive examinations at the 

PMt review Center on July 12 are 

ronald Sorrilla (BS ed MaPeh 3), 

Donna Isabelle Fresnido (BS Psych 

2), allin Joy emboltura (BS Med 

2 USAHS batches come home 

tWo uSa 

high School Batches 

- Batch `58 and Batch `73 - came 

back to the university recently to 

celebrate their golden jubilee and 

35th anniversaries, respectively. 

uSahS Batch’58 celebrated 

their golden jubilee anniversary 

with a two-day series of activities on 

February 9 to 10. 

the first day of Batch 

`58’s anniversary consisted of a 

eucharistic celebration by rev. 

Fr. Generous Gonesto, oSa 

at the uSa Chapel, followed 

by a brief campus tour and 

a class meeting at Gamboa 

hall (formerly the high school 

building) presided by ernesto 

ladrido Jr., the president of 

Class ’58. the second day had 

another eucharistic celebration 

and a tour of the high School 

extension campus in Sambag, 

Jaro, capped off by a lunch at 

Breakthrough, arevalo. 

on the other hand, uSahS 

Batch `73 marked their 35th 

anniversary on July 25 to 27, 

with a string of activities entitled 

tabo-an ’08: our homecoming. 

During the course of the threeday 

celebration, the alumni 


tech 1), Daisy Dawn Macahilo (aB 

Pol Sci 3), and Josh Von Iron tondo 

(BS MassCom 3). 

Sorrilla, Fresnido and emboltura 

qualified for the Senior Writer slots 

for while Macahilo and tondo were 

given the Staff Writer positions. 

together with the new uSa 

Publications editor-in-Chief, Pietros 

Val Patricio (aB Pol Sci 3) and 

Moderator erwin Sustento, the 

new staffers were welcomed by the 

old staffers during the first general 

meeting of the organization. 

had dinner to reconnect with fellow 

batchmates, a visit to the uSahS 

extension campus, and a uSa Main 

campus tour with their own version 

of amazing race 2008. 

university of San agustin 

alumni association President Vivian 

lou Inayan facilitated the uSahS 

homecoming activities. 

usa alumni association president Vivian 

Lou inayan delivers a message during the 

Batch ‘73 homecoming, July 27. 

2 law students excel outside campus 

By ROnALD SORRiLLA and ALJUn PADiSiO 

tWo top students from the College 

of law have once again brought pride 

and honor to the academic community 

after boosting the good name of the 

university. 

Mark Borres, a Bachelor of 

laws graduate of 2008, has recently 

been chosen by the national youth 

Commission as this year’s Philippine 

youth ambassador for the 35 th 

Ship of the Southeast asian youth 

Program (SSeaP) of Japan & aSean 

(association of Southeast asian 

nations). Borres, also a graduate of aB 

Political Science in 2003, graduated 

cum laude along with many leadership 

awards during his college years at the 

College of arts and Sciences. he will 

be leaving for Japan later this year for 

the first port of call of his international 

tour. 

Khristopher Ian Magboo, currently 

a senior law student, was elected as vice 

president for Visayas national Board 

of the association of law Student of 

the Philippines (alSP) on May 30 to 

June 2 held in Cebu City. Magboo is an 

aB Political Science graduate in 2005. 

the oath taking of alSP officers was 

held at the Supreme Court on July 24, 

with Chief Justice reynato Puno as 

inducting officer.


get the gag Off 

aS far as conservative academic institutions go, the words “academic 

freedom” are sure to narrow the eyes and raise the eyebrows of those 

above. But say the same thing to the teachers and you will be greeted 

with fists in the air and rounds of applause. 

Funny thing for academic freedom to elicit such diverse reactions 

from the opposite ends of the spectrum. But in its extent – and suppression 

– the outcome is no laughing matter. 

In a Catholic institution like the university of San agustin, the 

academic culture is ideally conservative. as it is, it casts a wary eye 

on anything that may be construed as destroying what is conventional 

and morally acceptable. however, where does vigilant caution end 

and censorship begin? teachers are being cautioned not to allow class 

discussions to drift into touchy territory. Consequently, their academic 

freedom is hindered because they are only expected to give sanitized 

versions of truth and reality. how far can an academic institution sacrifice 

daring innovation that raises the quality of teaching for anything that stays 

within the lines but gives students 

and teachers the comfortable yet 

enclosing feeling of stagnation? Editorial 

In order for education to grow 

and be enhanced, it needs change – change that can jolt and shake 

slumbering minds. 

of course, the augustinian administration has every right to be 

cautious about what it allows the academe to teach. are the materials 

and methods in line with the goals of the university? Do they promote 

the common good without distorting the students’ values? one cannot 

blame the administration for the initial mistrust of anything that might 

threaten to destroy the university’s vision and repute. Conventional 

ways are encouraged for they are tried and proven in the maintenance 

of the status quo. 

all that is needed is an open-minded approach towards change. If 

what is being taught is dangerously new but decent, let the administration 

give it a chance. For the teachers, academic freedom is a right but 

rights are not complete without the accountability for one’s actions. 

all that considered, let us all not use academic freedom to break the 

rules – bend them, stretch them, and better yet, revolutionize them for 

a greater good. 

the 

augustinian 

Editor-in-Chief 

Managing Editor 

Associate Editors 

Senior Writers 

Staff Writers 

Staff Artist/Photographer 

Circulation Officer 

Contributors 

Moderator 

Pietros Val Patricio 

Cara Uy 

Paulo Moises Bayabos 

Jefferson Magbanua 

Jenny Castro 

Donna Isabelle Fresnido 

Allin Joy Emboltura 

Ronald Sorrilla 

Aljun Padisio 

Mario Ivan Gonzales 

Karlo Christopher Cristales 

Josh Von Iron Tondo 

Daisy Dawn Macahilo 

William Fusin Jr. 

Sheena Capindo 

Niña Ricci Matulac 

Ma. Donna Mae Trasporto 

Erwin Sustento 

The Augustinian is the official student newspaper of the University of San Agustin. 

It is published six times a year by the USA Publications with editorial office at 

Room 38, 3 rd Floor, Gamboa Hall, University of San Agustin, Gen. Luna St., 5000 

Iloilo City. Comments, suggestions, and contributions may be sent to the Editorial 

Board through the email address pubpipol@usa.edu.ph. 

OPINION 

all about ‘fraNK’ness 

I’Ve decided to drop my infamous 

column title FRANKNESS this year in 

deference to the flood victims of typhoon 

FranK. Gladly, the devastation 

and trauma brought by the tropical 

cyclone is now over. as a victim of the 

flashflood myself, I’m quite sure this 

recent disaster has broadened our moral 

conscience towards environmental 

awareness. Many fellow augustinians 

and faculty members out there have 

been traumatized by the calamity. 

and obviously, this typhoon was also 

FranK enough to open our eyes on 

the adverse threats and consequences 

climate change could bring to us in 

the future. all the lives and properties 

lost were some kind of payback for 

all the ‘ecological sins’ we’ve been 

committing in the past. this gives us 

all the reason to rethink our plans on 

environmental management. all I could 

do was to helplessly yawn about our 

inabilities as a society after the harsh 

scenario: Illegal loggers cut down trees 

resulting to landslides; a passenger ship 

sinks after sailing right in the middle of 

a typhoon; the president scolds like a 

bitch; people point fingers at each other 

while the regional disaster council is 

only capable of counting dead bodies. 

See how cheap the value of life is in 

these islands? 

tHe aRtists’ welFaRe: 

everyone’s surely aware that San 

ag has produced excellent dancers, 

singers, actors and writers of high 

distinction through the years, made 

possible by the university’s Center for 

Culture and the arts. after covering 

the victorious feat of our very own 

Kawilihan dancers during last year’s 

3 rd Int’l Delphic Games in Baguio as 

well as the countless performances of 

our little theater thespians all over 

doble Kara 

cara Uy 

Why do we cry when we peel 

onions? Why do we cry when we cut 

our fingers or when we get bruised? 

Why do we cry when we see hungry 

people in the streets? Why do we cry 

when we break the hearts of the ones 

we love? has it ever entered into your 

minds how tears are produced? 

Crying is voluntary. It’s something 

one can control if s/he allows it to 

happen. although basically, crying 

is said to be a natural response to a 

stimulus human beings produce out 

of a spectrum of emotions. Science, 

however, is still enigmatic about the 

process of crying especially with the 

emotional tear - a “by product” of 

crying. Science also often suggests 

that tears which flow down the 

ocular surface of our eyes to our 

nasolacrimal ducts serve as protection 

and moisturizer, and at the same 

time, a means of communication. 

But social norms provide a label that 

a tear more or less is in conjunction 

of an expression of grief which is 

comforting and common as a response 

to a sad event. 

I have been a student writer 

for almost four years. and in the 

four years of being a pubpip, I have 

been a witness of a transmission of 

insipidity among students in today’s 

time especially when it comes to the 

the country, we’ve noticed that our 

performing artists not only carry the 

name of our beloved alma mater but 

they also bring honor and prestige to 

the university through their constant 

journeys far beyond the campus walls. 

We’ve talked to some of these people 

and came up to the conclusion that 

our young artists obviously need more 

financial and moral support from our 

administration. after all, we should 

take pride in them for propagating the 

augustinian flame for art and culture. 

We are deeply saddened upon hearing 

about the suspension of the once 

prestigious Fray luis de leon Creative 

Writing Institute, which has molded 

countless promising writers and poets 

all over the region through its annual 

San agustin Writers Workshop, of 

which I myself am a product of. 

a few days before the publications’ 

competitive entrance exams last month, 

our managing editor came up with 

the idea of producing around twenty 

(20) glossy announcement posters 

which has cost us a fortune from our 

own hard-earned money. apparently, 

many of these posters were randomly 

scraped off the freedom boards where 

we posted them at the alumni, Blanco, 

and rada halls many days before the 

exams even took place. how come? 

Many staffers of the Pub were unhappy 

about this matter. 

CaMPUs FaCilities: I happened 

to notice the newly-furnished indoor 

basketball court and the state-of-theart 

scoring board for the very first 

time last month while watching a 

basketball game between our high 

school and college players at the uSa 

Gym. I really couldn’t help but salute 

the administration for endowing us 

such world-class equipment. the red 


Mindscapes 

Pietros Val Patricio 

paint on the concrete floor, however, 

is of poor quality. even the restrooms 

and offices of the gym are quite 

dilapidated. the gym’s newly-painted 

interior is very elegant. I just hope it’s 

only the first phase of the facility’s 

renovation plans for it still needs to 

be air-conditioned. From the outside, 

the gym’s massive exterior honestly 

looks like an abandoned factory while 

the Mendel hall is another eyesore 

that appears to be an ugly ‘fungus’ 

building. I strongly recommend 

the master planning of an efficient 

drainage system to prevent the 

university from flooding during the 

rainy season as well as the acquisition 

of power generators in response to 

the city’s frequent blackouts. our 

campus roads have to be asphalted; 

all broken classroom windows need 

to be repaired right away! Come on! 

how can we seriously be proud of our 

university if most of our facilities are 

rundown? Sometimes, visitors and 

prospective enrollees get their first 

actual impression of a university’s 

prestige and standards from the 

quality of its buildings, equipment and 

infrastructure. But we are still very 

thankful to our school administrators 

for their selfless efforts of good 

leadership and strong support, and 

for upholding our university’s good 

name. 

Killing my cries 

art of writing. this observation is 

valid as evidenced by a decline of 

applicants in our yearly publications 

competitive exams which made me 

think that some of us just remain 

passive in liberating our thoughts and 

expressing our freedom of expression 

through the student publications. the 

inability of departmental papers to 

publish an annual tabloid/magazine/ 

newsletter is another indication that 

campus journalism indeed, is in a 

state of comatose. While the uSa 

Publications has taken efforts to reach 

out to the students of this university, 

most of us refuse to hold a grip 

as exemplified by an augustinian 

tabloid being torn/cramped/simply 

being ignored or a pub poster being 

snatched off from a bulletin board 

among others. let me just point out 

that we are not only publishing a 

tabloid for entertainment’s sake. of 

course, we consider you, our readers, 

but we always see to it as well that the 

tabloid is something that is enriching, 

an educative one. the closure of the 

Fray luis de leon Creative Writing 

Institute is a manifestation that we 

are not closely paying much attention 

to writing which in the first place 

is a fundamental and most notable 

insignia of St. augustine, our Patron 

Saint who gained fame through his 

sermons and writings. 

When I speak of passivity, 

this has also something to do with 

running a student body. I have a 

better perspective now of how some 

student leaders under various student 

organizations in our university 

are functioning the moment I have 

become a part of it. I may say that 

I don’t intend to be a part of any 

student organization before because 

I hate politics first and foremost. It 

gives me a pessimistic view of people 

who wear masks: some leaders who 

are the artista type; those who need 

to be applauded all the time after 

a “not-so-well-done” job. Some 

leaders are the anarchical type. this 

includes a leader who assumes a 

certain position and makes sure he 

stays long as such, the one who is 

a Mr./Ms. Know-it-all or does-itall 

but still lacks organization and 

systematic proceedings. a certain 

leader who belongs to this type lords 

over his/her members; the one who 

lets his or her members rust their 

thoughts and curtail the benefit of 

leading the organization because of 

his/her superiority complex. there 

are also leaders, while new, want 

to change the usual and foresee 

better hope for the organization but 

remain under a hypnotismo of being 

controlled. I have become insipid for 

one, not because I can’t perform my 

role but because I don’t want to do 

something against my will and the 

will of all for the common good. let 

us always remember that when one 

is in a subordinate position, it doesn’t 

mean one cannot make a stand. 

Being the head doesn’t mean one 

always rules over everyone. We live 

in a setting where freedom is neither 

controlled nor offended. that is why 

it is called freedom. this, among 

others, is what student writers fight 

for the students’ sake. It is what lets 

us mourn and makes our eyes bleed 

every once in a while. It is one of the 

many important things every student 

must care about so our tears may not 

remain wasted. 

this time, I will not kill my cries 

anymore.

OPINION 

JULY 1 - AUGUST 15, 2008 The AugusTiniAn 

Manifest content 

PaUlo Moises BayaBos 

theSe geniuses who work their 

butts off just to come up with a 

catchy movie tagline never cease to 

fascinate me. 

one recent tagline which left 

quite a recurring grin on my face was 

from last month’s “the Dark Knight”, 

dubbed as the “Godfather of comic 

book movies”. It was such a nifty 

and strikingly short tagline which 

did not only suggest Joker’s attitude 

towards life (he is, after all, a clown), 

but also sent a wake-up message to 

the world. 

there, written at the bottom 

of a poster with Joker’s chillingly 

gruesome face was the tagline, “Why 

So Serious?” 

Do you know someone in your 

life who’s too serious with just 

about anything? I do. I know a lot of 

extremely serious people. you might 

see their pictures beside the definition 

of “serious” in the dictionary. 

But I’m not saying they’re all 

losers. 

In fact, lots of people attribute 

their success in school, business or any 

other undertaking to their seriousness 

– that is, to buckle up, keep both eyes 

on the road and concentrate. one’s 

interpretation of “being serious” may 

vary from another’s though, so let’s 

narrow down a bit: we’re talking 

about being too serious here. 

this is where it gets a little 

dangerous. there’s a thin line 

prodigy 

Jefferson MagBanUa 

I am mad because I’ve realized 

that I was one of those confused 

hypocrites trying to take side on the 

lagman-authored reproductive health 

bill when, in fact, the bill was never 

necessary. 

Basically, the bill, a consolidated 

effort of a group of congressmen led 

by albay rep. edcel lagman, has 

been seeking for “reproductive health 

and sexuality education programs” 

designed to combat abortions. as a 

preventive measure against abortions, 

the bill provides for “timely, complete 

and accurate information and 

education on reproductive health as 

well as ready access to safe, adequate 

and affordable reproductive health 

care services.” But this was not 

how the Catholic Church construed 

it. For the Catholic Church and the 

likes of el Shaddai leader Bro. Mike 

Velarde, the said bill opens the access 

to widespread use of contraceptives 

and artificial birth control devices, 

frowned upon by the Church which 

favors the natural method of family 

planning. 

the bill is in itself subject for 

amendments but is, at this stage, 

confusing for the common people 

why so serious? 

separating seriousness from insanity, 

experts say. Being overly preoccupied 

with something – regardless of how 

important that thing is – can increase 

the risk of psychopathology (illness of 

the mind). Imagine yourself walking 

down a long road, and that road leads 

to an ultimate goal, say, to graduate in 

college. as you pace towards that goal, 

you keep thinking about it. When will 

I reach that place? How? What do I 

need to do? What do I need not to do? 

then your mind starts to swivel like 

it’s about to create a tornado, fixated 

on the desire to attain that something. 

along the road, however, you miss a 

lot of things that you essentially need 

more as a person, like keeping in touch 

with reality, maintaining relationships, 

getting the most of life, etc. Instead, 

your eyes go straight ahead; you never 

glance at the side of the road, so to 

speak. now that ain’t healthy. 

and besides, nobody likes the 

super-serious type anyway. While the 

world explodes in fun and laughter, 

the super-serious type raises his 

eyebrows and searches for “meaning”. 

Sometimes, it’s just not human. 

It’s obvious to see where this is 

going. not quite though, for I’m not 

saying we should all be “happy-golucky” 

persons. rather, we should 

know how to, at times, live life as a 

comedian, or a clown, if you will. I 

believe the more appropriate term is to 

“lighten up a bit”. edward Mills in his 

blog said there are little things that we 

could do to avoid being swallowed by 

the serious side of our personality and 

create a sort of balance. I modified 

it a little bit to suit the average 

[augustinian] student: 

1. watch a funny movie. laughter 

is the best medicine, they say. 

Prescription: a bunch of cackles a 

day. 

2. Hang out with fun people. you do 

have some fun friends, don’t you? 

because its provisions haven’t been 

clearly bounded by specificity of 

objectives and the manner of its 

execution has just been generic in 

stipulation. I myself have several 

questions which the proponents of 

the bill should have had elucidated in 

their sessions and publicized for the 

common good: 1) What is the scope 

of the bill? 2) What are the specific 

grounds that led to drafting such bill? 

3) are these grounds sufficient and 

are these in compliance with all the 

existing reproductive health laws in 

the country? 

I believe the scope of the lagman 

bill has not been well-defined. For 

instance, the question “does it promote 

artificial family planning methods?” 

remains unanswerable to many. But it 

is likewise a general knowledge that 

giving Filipinos the right to choose 

the methods of their reproductive 

health practices paves the way to 

the possibility of practicing artificial 

contraceptive use. What’s the point 

of not specifying the family planning 

methods which the bill favors? to end 

public criticisms? Whatever the case 

is, I agree with the Catholic Church 

– that the use of contraceptives is just 

like committing abortion. Because of 

this, the bill does not serve what it 

claimed to be its primary purpose. 

Why was such a bill drafted? 

What were the bases for such 

drafting? lagman and company have 

been justifying that there is a rapid 

increase in our population. yes, this 

is true and in fact, the university of 

the Philippines Population Institute 

(uPPI) said in a flash report at tV 

skeptic 

3. do something just for fun. 

Without a definite purpose in mind, 

do something unusual. listen to 

songs from your high school days. 

Go hiking. take pictures of dogs. 

4. Get tipsy. not endorsing alcoholism 

here. once in a while, a drink or 

two in times Square can help break 

the grip of seriousness and let the 

fun come out. 

5. surf youtube for funny videos. 

Watch tonton and Benjo in action. 

or the interview portion of the 

recent Bb. Pilipinas. 

6. Observe a news boycott. let’s face 

it: the news is pretty darned serious. 

Political wars, economic crises, 

terrorism, they’re just downright 

depressing! take a break. 

7. Hang out with some young(er) kids. 

Kids are antidotes to seriousness. 

they are experts of fun. 

8. Go bowling. all right, it doesn’t 

have to be bowling. Could be 

badminton, ping-pong, or anything 

that is so far removed from your 

normal athletic pursuits that you 

won’t care how bad you play just 

to let yourself have a goofy good 

time. 

9. Have a Karaoke Party. Gather 

up your friends, switch into jologs 

mode, head down to a karaoke bar 

at robinson’s and start belting out 

those tunes. 

10. act weird once in a while. 

Give your hair a messy look. 

try different dress color-combos 

during Fridays. use a British accent 

when reciting in your class. 

It won’t hurt to unleash the 

“Joker” in us every now and then. 

But of course, we should maintain the 

equilibrium between what’s serious 

and what’s not. When your mother 

tells you to be serious with your 

studies, or when your lover tells you 

to be serious with your relationship, 

try to do so. Just keep it light. 

Patrol World several months ago 

[during the height of rice shortage 

issue] that our supply of rice is 

enough; it’s just that our population is 

ballooning. But could rapid increase 

in population or overpopulation per 

se justify the reproductive health 

bill? I don’t think so. China has more 

or less 2 billion people. yet, their 

economy is in a fast sail towards 

progress. It is wrong to say that 

if a country is overpopulated it is 

poor as poverty and overpopulation 

are complementary. non-sequitor. 

another reason: educating Filipinos 

towards proper reproductive health 

practices. Who among the Filipinos 

would be educated? the youth, the 

Filipino parents or all of us? Since 

before, I have viewed sex education 

inessential as I believe that Filipino 

parents are the proper authorities 

who shall orient their children on 

sex and puberty. the dilemma if 

we’ll promote sex education is that 

students might not take it too seriously 

and out of curiosity, might involve 

Prexy Speaks 

University of san agustin 

iloilo City 

Office of the Usa student Council 

the Quality augustinian leadership 

Three values summarize the ten Augustinian 

values: veritas, unitas and caritas – the values 

of truth, unity and charity. I believe that these 

values should be learned, developed and lived 

in ourselves, organizations, and community. 

Knowing Oneself 

As a leader, it is very basic for us to know 

and understand ourselves before knowing and 

understanding others. It is important to know 

the truth within ourselves before knowing the 

truth in others. In philosophy, there is a famous 

saying, “You cannot give what you don’t have”. 

John PaUl Petrola 

Now, how can we take part in group sharing 

if we don’t know what to share? It is therefore 

necessary to ask ourselves at this moment, “Am I willing to contribute what I have 

for my organization, for my university and for my community?” 

Valuing my Organization 

One time, one of my officers asked me (during our group picture taking), “Pres, 

why do you keep calling our fellow officers who were not here?” I have drawn a 

circle on the board and told him, “This circle was formed at 360 O , obviously, it has 

no sides and not deformed, in short, this is a perfect circle”. As student council, we 

are like that of a circle; each of us contributes a big part of the whole. If somebody 

is lost, this circle would not be anymore in its perfect shape rather a deformed one. 

I just want to keep the circle of this organization. 

Fellow leaders, each officer has something to contribute in making a group into 

a team. The difference between the group and a team according to Deborah Mackin 

is this: a group can be defined as a small group of people with complementary skills 

and abilities who are committed to a leader’s goal and approach and are willing 

to be held accountable by the leader while a Team is a small group of people 

with complementary skills and abilities who are committed to a common goal and 

approach for which they hold each other accountable. The value of unity comes in. 

We are members of the team, I am accountable with you and you are accountable 

with me. You and I should play together in making our circle perfect. 

Empowerment of Our Community 

We lead not because of prestige and honor but because we want to serve. 

If we have known ourselves and have learned how to value our organization, it is 

now the time for us to empower our community. Our community is not only in the 

four walls of this University but also our adopted barangays which we are forming 

into a community. In this empowerment, value of charity is very important. We do 

serve not because it is part of our school and team’s activity but because we have 

that love for service. 

In the writings of St. Augustine, he reiterated “partnership”, which he termed 

as man-God relationship and this had a deep meaning through his philosophy 

of “Participatio”, from particular to universal. Knowing oneself and valuing the 

orgnanization are very important in the empowerment of our community. These 

concepts constitute the “Participatio” of St. Augustine in the level of leadership which 

is manifested in friendship and partnership, so that, the truth we have found within 

ourselves, would be shared through unity with our organization and exercised to 

our community with charity. This is the Augustinian quality of leadership! 

themselves into premarital sex. yes, 

I know I’m talking about possibilities 

here but considering the trend today, 

the age of students who are engaging 

in premarital sex is getting lower. 

uncouth. 

If we want to end abortion and 

health malpractices, why not conduct 

effective raids in abortion offices? 

Why not check on our barangay 

clinics and educate only the Filipino 

parents who are more mature in 

sexuality issues? 

prexy’s desK 

John Paul Petrola 

USA Student Council President A.Y. 2008-2009 

If we listen to the endless debates 

on whether or not we should push 

through the lagman bill, we will be 

left in the state of confusion as both 

advocates of pro-life and pro-choice 

appear to be rich in credibility. When 

we are in the state of confusion, let’s 

think deeper. What appears to be an 

important issue at first might disprove 

itself after logical scrutiny. 

Being a skeptic helped me 

analyze things in a way or another. 

It’s nice to be skeptic.


at the turn of the 21 st 

century, the Philippine 

government has joined the 

call of Spain, argentina, and a few 

other latin american countries in 

celebrating the International Day of 

the Unborn Child every year to honor 

the victims of abortion around the 

world. not too many of us are aware 

that March 25 is actually marked as 

a red letter day in our calendars now 

that the issue of abortion has been 

growing into a serious matter of 

social concern and debate these past 

years. It is one of the most talked 

about and sought after topics in our 

society today, nevertheless one of the 

world’s greatest problems concerning 

human rights. 

the highly opinionated 

arguments of liberal and conservative 

intellectuals around the world strongly 

differ and contradict each other, 

followed by the moral and humanist 

concerns of society’s religious and 

health sectors. the legal grounds of 

abortion may vary in every country. 

In many liberal countries of the 

western-developed world, abortion 

laws have long been recognized 

by governments. In some ‘open’ 

developing countries such as India, 

Kenya, and Bangladesh, abortion 

has been legalized several decades 

ago for health considerations while 

in China, it is legally practiced under 

lawful and cultural expectations 

(one Child Policy and the preference 

for male offspring) of the state. 

abortion is said to be often illegal in 

‘conformist’ countries where religion 

and human moral ethics still assert 

strong influence over the mindsets 

of society and political leaders. 

Many have assumed in the past that 

in ‘traditional’ Catholic nations, any 

move on the law of abortion would 

strongly be objected by the state 

and society. But through the rise 

of liberalist movements in Spain, 

Mexico and Italy a few years ago, 

abortion has become legal. 

why do people perform abortion? 

there are many grounds 

on why individuals around the 

world engage in abortion every 

year, which apparently have stark 

contrasts. In countries where the act 

is legal, abortion is performed for the 

following considerations: to save a 

haVe you ever wondered how 

an individual’s life would revolve 

without his/her kidneys functioning 

normally? I can’t imagine how. and, 

if I can try to imagine, I refuse to. 

My exposure at the Kidney unit 

of West Visayas State university 

Medical Center on July 14-16 and 

July 21-23 under Johan Macapar, 

r.n., our clinical instructor, made me 

realize that life without functioning 

kidneys is indeed complex. It sounds 

absurd though. Without any idea of 

what lies ahead of us, we become so 

pregnant woman’s life due 

to severe health risks, to preserve the 

woman’s mental or physical health, 

to selectively reduce the number of 

fetuses to lessen health risks associated 

with multiple pregnancy or to terminate 

a pregnancy that would result to a child 

born with ingrained disorders that 

would end up fatal anyway. If the 

grounds on abortion were based upon 

a pregnancy caused by rape/incest or 

accompanied by financial and social 

pressures, the matter then becomes a 

subject to be defended by the woman at 

a juridical court. In some countries, the 

issue on sex-selective abortion is still 

very much alive. Surveys have shown 

that parents in many asian countries 

often have strong preference for sons 

due to the economic role that men play 

in their respective cultures. unsafe 

abortion, on the other hand, is most 

often conducted in countries where 

abortion is illegal. In many developing 

countries like the Philippines, selfinduced 

abortion often occurs due to 

cultural and sociological backgrounds 

such as the fear of rejection from 

family members and society as well 

as the unpreparedness for teenage 

parenthood. 

‘Moral’ & ‘legal’ debates 

up to this day, a large number of 

complex issues still remain controversial 

in the debate over abortion. Its impacts 

on society have sparked countless 

points of view on both sides of the 

controversy wherein many individuals 

find it hard to establish a personal 

stand since the principles of health, 

morality and religion seem to overlap 

one another. although many liberals 

in the Philippines have blamed the 

state for the lack of family planning 

programs and poor access to sex 

education, the Catholic Church has 

attested about its teachings regarding 

premarital sex and contraceptives. 

the ethical debate over this matter 

often interferes with the applications 

of medicine and liberalism surrounding 

the issues on whether a fetus has its 

own rights, particularly a right to life, 

or if the woman has the lawful right to 

decide over her own body. as the pros 

would have it, “Is the fetus a human 

being with a fundamental right to 

life?”, wherein the cons would strongly 

engrossed, excited, and frightened 

at the same time, knowing that 

only a few of us – only augustinian 

nursing students – were given the 

chance to be exposed in this area 

of the hospital. We were privileged 

enough because our group was the 

last to be picked up from the class 

to have a hands on experience at the 

Kidney unit. 

easing the Hard-to-get process 

the Kidney unit is an area 

where patients undergo a procedure 

FEATURE 

Editor: JENNY CASTRO 


A Tribute to the Country’s Unborn Sons & Daughters 

attest, “Does the woman have the right 

to choose whether or not to continue 

a pregnancy?” an overwhelming 

majority of Filipinos argue that abortion 

is morally wrong on the basis that the 

fetus is an innocent human being. 

others object this by drawing the 

distinction that a “human being” starkly 

differs from a “human person”, that 

even if a fetus is biologically human, 

it is still not a person since it doesn’t 

have its own conscience, rationality, 

and autonomy. a stronger position, 

however, claims that a fetus still has 

the capacity to feel pain, giving it all the 

right to life. another medical argument 

claims that even if a fetus has a right to 

life, a woman still has the moral and 

essential right to control her own body. 

But in the case of pregnancy arising 

from voluntary sexual intercourse, 

the woman has tacitly given the fetus 

consent to use her body, there as giving 

her the duty to be responsible for it. 

Many also say that the case of unborn 

infants is not by any means different 

from comatose patients as well as 

brain-dead individuals who are unable 

to apply their conscience. 

Methods of abortion 

the act of abortion is generally 

defined by medicine as the removal or 

ejection of an embryo or fetus from a 

female’s uterus resulting to its death. 

the expulsion of an embryo from 

a woman’s body by medical means 

varies in many surgical and medical 

ways. the most common method is the 

vacuum abortion known as the manual 

vacuum aspiration (MVa) wherein the 

fetus or embryo is removed by suction 

using a manual plunger. the electric 

vacuum aspiration (eVa) technique 

uses an electric pump which kills the 

fetus instantly before ejecting it out 

of the uterus. another method is 

the curettage wherein the uterus 

is emptied by cutting the fetus 

into pieces and then vacuumed out 

of the body while the intrauterine 

cranial decompression technique 

requires the surgical squashing of a 

fetus’ head before expulsion. Suppose 

a fetus subject to abortion should be 

delivered prematurely, it is injected 

with prostaglandin together with 

other fluids and solutions to instantly 

poison the infant. there many other 

methods that are considered to be 

unsafe and illegal, mostly encountered 


‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained 

you a prophet to the nations.’ - Jeremiah 1:5 

in developing countries. an ancient 

tradition of abortion through forceful 

abdominal massage or hilot exists in 

Southeast asia. 

at a Glance 

the World health organization 

has announced its annual prediction of 

abortions being conducted around the 

world numbering close to 45 million 

cases every year, half of which are 

performed under illegal circumstances 

that are considered to be deadly and 

unaccepted by medical standards. 

the world’s ratio on intentional 

abortions is averaged to 26 per 100 

known pregnancies. according to the 

Department of health and the national 

Statistics office, the Philippines has 

an estimated abortion rate averaging 

to more than 450,000 cases annually 

since 1991, most of which are selfinduced 

by women who engage in 

some of the most dangerous and fatal 

methods imaginable: the insertion of 

knitting needles, metal hangers as well 

as bamboo sticks into the uterus. that 

is equivalent to millions of unborn 

Filipinos killed within a short span 

of almost two decades, murdered by 

their own mothers under the most 

hazardous ways before getting to see 

a glimpse of light from the world, not 

to mention the fact that abortion in the 

Philippines is prohibited by law and 

socially regarded as a heinous crime 

against humanity. 

Outcomes & effects 

abortion has become a global 

health concern these years due to the 

physical and psychological after effects 

it brings to a 

large number 

of individuals 

w h o h a v e 

performed it 

such as the 

a sneak peek of a Nursing student’s life in a Kidney unit: 

By CARA UY 

called dialysis. Dialysis is a medical 

process through which a person’s 

blood is cleansed of the toxins 

which the kidneys would normally 

flush out. It is generally used when 

an individual’s kidneys no longer 

function properly. however, the one 

we are most probably familiar with is 

hemodialysis (hD), which can be an 

in-patient or out-patient therapy. this 

procedure is performed as the patient 

is hooked up via tubes attached to 

the veins, through insertion of two 

needle sticks – one to carry blood 

to the dialyzer (a large canister 

containing thousands of small fibers 

through which the blood passes) and 

another to return the cleaned blood to 

the body, to a machine that circulates 

one’s blood through semi-permeable 

filters that take out the toxins in the 

blood. the procedure usually takes 

three to four hours. 

experiencing the good thing 

During the first day, we were 

oriented by Sir Macapar about the 

area, the protocols, and the things 

damage to other parts of the internal 

organs, infectious reactions in the 

body, internal bleeding as well 

as emotional and even mental 

breakdowns to women. Psychologists 

argue that the adverse effects that 

abortion brings to an individual 

usually last for a lifetime. Its scars on 

a person’s life apparently last forever, 

accompanied by severe anger, shame, 

and guilt. Individuals often suffer 

long-term depressions, violence, 

nightmares, and hallucinations. these 

consequences also involve the men 

who ‘fathered’ these unborn infants 

and also took part in the abortion 

process. Its effects may even lead to 

male impotence and female phobia 

towards pregnancy matters. 

last year, around eight aborted 

fetuses were found scattered in the 

streets of Iloilo City’s downtown 

area according to local media reports; 

they were either thrown in plastic 

bags along the sidewalks or hidden 

under the piles of garbage in public 

trashcans. around two months ago, 

another fetus has been found, this 

time along Jalandoni St., only a few 

blocks away from the university’s 

side gate. 

It is a sad reality that the victims 

of abortion are innocent human 

lives who could have otherwise 

become the country’s next generation 

of great heroes, brilliant leaders, 

talented artists and innovators who 

would bring us honor and glory if 

only given the chance to live. the 

issue on abortion as a whole should 

raise everyone’s awareness towards 

the human interests of all unborn 

individuals for we also believe that 

every individual, whether born or 

unborn, has the ultimate right to 

life. 

we need to do which included taking 

and filling out of the patient’s chart, 

pre-hD blood pressure (BP) and 

pre-hD weight when the patient 

arrives, and preparing the patient’s 

bed and the hD machine for priming. 

also, we became on-lookers of how 

the hospital staff were preparing 

the machine. It was complicated, 

though. looking at them attaching 

the lengthy tubings, in red (artery) 

and blue (venous) colors to the 

dialysis machine, which looks like 

Continue to page 7

FEATURE 


Editor: JENNY CASTRO 


What else do you expect could 

happen to a romantic couple after 

shortly breaking up? one can just 

imagine the hilarious series of events 

that would follow in the desperate 

search of an ‘ideal’ partner. the 

recently accomplished performances 

of the university of San agustin 

little theater (uSalt) together 

with its alumni and the Stage one 

Company in cooperation with the 

Center for Culture and the arts 

held at the uSa Conference room 

kicked off with great success earlier 

this year. 

the play was first performed 

on July 1-3 staged by a four-man 

cast comprised by thespians of the 

uSalt and guest performers from 

the uSa Student Council (uSaSC) 

2007-08. the show was performed 

in accordance to the celebration of 

the 10 th anniversary of the Stage one 

Company. 

story and Cast 

Written by the renowned 

american playwright Jonathan 

rand, “Check Please: take 2” is a 

romantic comedy filled with extreme 

circumstances as a sequel to its first 

part, wherein a handsome guy and a 

beautiful girl searching for love find 

one another. In the second part, the 

story continues with the guy and girl 

falling out of love. 

Pressured by their wellintentioned 

best friends, both 

eventually decide to go different 

ways and get back into the game 

of love through a series of blind 

romances. unfortunately, the two 

found themselves in an unusual 

dating pool of wild circumstances, 

each having numerous and amusing 

encounters with all kinds of odd 

people. this pool was packed with 

a foot-reading psychic, an internet 

geek, an extreme accountant, and 

a wide range of funny characters 

with the most varying personalities. 

In the end they begin to realize that 

what they have been looking for was 

actually just right in front of them. 

an automated teller Machine, really 

confused me a lot. We continued 

observing them, waiting for the 

machine to purge gas. then they did 

the bubbling and squeezing thing 

– the removal of bubbles from the 

The passionate world of dating: 

USALT, Stage One 

Company stage... 

the portrayals of both lead 

characters were well-delivered. one of 

the greatest factors that have definitely 

added more appeal to the play was 

the strong chemistry of their physical 

appearances that stroke a magnifying 

chemistry to the viewers. Many 

spectators have commented on the 

lead actress (noreen Mae orquinaza) 

for looking good in her balanced 

make up and for having a fine taste 

for elegant evening attires accented 

by her fashionable shoes, signature 

bags and elegant earrings. She has 

managed to deliver her role gracefully 

with her wit, humor and fluency of 

speech. her noticeable beauty queen 

looks and strong acting chemistry 

was also a big asset to the show. the 

portrayal of the guy (Christopher 

tan) also had a stellar portrayal by its 

actor, most significantly for rendering 

a strong ‘chiller’ effect on the female 

spectators of the show. he may have 

had a few difficulties with his english 

intonations at some parts of his script 

but the actor has nevertheless carried 

out his acts very well by captivating 

the crowds with his romantic appeal 

and celebrity good looks which was 

also said to be an instant shoo-in in the 

showbiz industry. 

Most of their supporting characters 

were delivered brilliantly and have 

radiated more life, humor and energy 

to the show, although there were also 

a few dull moments in some instances. 

the cast of characters from the Stage 

one Company were Joseph evans 

ocbeña as the guy, JP libo-on as 

the girl, Ma. Cristina reyes as 

Kim, edison Sicad as hank, 

roxanne Prieto 

as Donna, 

By JEnnY CASTRO and PiETROS VAL PATRiCiO 

assistant directors 

...Continued from page 6 tubings. the next thing they did was 

the coupling, whereby dialyzate 

came in and out from the dialyzer 

membrane, and they ended with 

testing the absence of the Renalin, 

a toxic substance used to preserve 

the membrane when it is ready to be 

inserted to the patient. 

We a l s o d i d s u c h 

procedures the next 

day through 

“ o n e - 

( s t a f f ) - 

o n - o n e 

( s t u d e n t 

n u r s e ) ” 

guidance 

of the staff 

a n d o u r 

C.I. every 

t i m e w e 

p e r f o r m e d 

arial Sugeco as Julia, Quezzy Claire 

Pedregosa as Cleo/assistant Director, 

leanne Claire Marie Salas as Jackie, 

avelino Dayang Jr., as lyle, Kristoffer 

rhys Grabato as Paul, Jim dela Cuesta 

as Dewey, and lou anthony tan as 

alex. For the four-man play, some 

roles were switched with ocbeña and 

libo-on retaining their roles as the lead 

characters while Claire Marie Salas 

played as Kim/girl dates and Kristoffer 

rhys Grabato as hank/guy dates. 

indigenized touches 

Due to popular demand of their 

first performance, the directors and 

stage producers decided to come up 

with an extension date and eventually 

restaged the show from august 7-8 

at the same venue, this time with a 

hiligaynon rendition of the twelve-man 

show entitled “Chit Gani!” 

Its unique adaptation to native 

touches was said to be one of the 

most well-appreciated aspects of 

the play according to critics. It was 

certainly a great help for the benefit 

of the audiences, for them to easily 

comprehend and appreciate the true 

message and essence of the play better. 

the Ilonggo adaptation of the play was 

delivered by the uSalt, its alumni, 

uSaSC ‘07-’08 and the Company 

Call! 1 alumni. tan and orquinaza 

retained their respective roles as the 

lead characters while eunice Caro 

portrayed Kim, Peter Paul Deocos as 

hank, lynden Mechael Magsico as 

Donna, Greggy Daniel arcena as lyle, 

richel ann Bito-on as Julia, Serren 

e x e c u t i v e 

and artistic 

directors 

priming. Being a technician was 

truly a fun-filled experience. We 

happened to manipulate the machine 

and the tubings, assist the IV therapist 

nurse, and clean up the membrane 

(dialyzer) used during dialysis. after 

being a technician, our roles were 

shifted to being a nurse. We now 

apply the orientation explained to us 

before. here, our role involves close 

monitoring of the patient’s BP and 

cardiac rate and watching over the 

machines for warnings during the 

hD and taking of post-hD BP and 

post-hD weight and ensuring that 

patients would have been injected with 

Recormon by the staff after hD. 

learning and insights 

Being exposed in this area is very 

enriching. It is a venue where the 

learning process transpires equally. 

lor Gallinero and John 

Jesner Punsaran as Dewey, 

Kathleen Quiambao and Jat 

Deslate as Jackie, Manilyn 

Glemer as Princesa Bukang Linglingan, 

annie lyn Cataya as Ati-Ati, Pedregosa 

and Kirsten Marie Primavera as Cleo, 

and Grabato and Punsaran as Paul. 

set Up, Musical score and 

stage Production 

the show was set in a restaurant 

café with elegant dining tables, 

wine glasses, chairs and napkins 

surrounded by exquisite paintings 

and hanging plants that made the 

place look like a five star european 

hotel resembling a romantic movie 

scene. It was accompanied by two 

comfortable couches, colorful pillows 

and playstation controls at the back to 

represent the home scenes. the uSa 

Conference room has been given 

an exclusive state-of-the-art uplift 

followed by the unique idea of having 

its ushers and usherettes dressed up 

in waiter attires and having them 

generously assist the guests in and out 

of their seats during the duration of 

the show. 

the pale lighting effects that 

varied from warm tones of yellow, 

red, orange and green delivered unique 

illuminations that gave more emphasis 

to the reflective mood of the show. 

the in and outs of the lighting was 

appropriate to the frequently altering 

scenes and moods. the stage and 

technical management was excellently 

accomplished. Despite of the lack of 

modern technological facilities such 

as the absence of a sound mixing 

device, the crew still managed to 

deliver the proper sound effects. the 

this is honestly the exposure which 

has left significant marks in me, 

primarily because in this area, we 

experience warm accommodation. 

this is the area where I feel part of 

the circle of health care providers, 

not belittled but taught many things 

that we need to learn about. the staff 

headed by luis toledo, r.n., taught 

us regarding the water treatment. he 

always sees to it that liberal learning 

among the staff under him is existent. 

I have also appreciated our clinical 

instructor because of his expertise in 

the field and his system of dealing 

with us. It would have been harder 

for us if no proper orientation was 

done beforehand. although pressure 

was high because he initiated the 

staff to throw inquiries at us, we felt 

that more or less, we became a part 

of the institution, not merely treated 

choice of music was great, only that 

there were some instances during 

the play when the stereos turned out 

to produce slightly blurred tones. 

the good music generated a good 

atmosphere in the room but the use 

of the “music-cut-music” act, which 

was actually intended to signify the 

entrance and exit of the characters 

and moods, could have been altered 

more pleasingly to the ears of the 

audiences if the “fade in and out” 

music technique has been applied in 

order to avoid sudden musical cuts 

in the sound intervals mostly during 

the first day of restaging Chit Gane. 

In terms of speech, the actors and 

actresses were very understandable, 

although contrasts in the volume of 

their voices were also observed in 

some acts. 

the artistic and executive 

directors of the play were edward 

and eric Divinagracia with niña 

ricci Matulac who served as house 

manager as well as technical and 

assistant director. lou anthony 

tan and Caro were the production 

managers of the show together 

with the support and collaboration 

of the humanities and languages 

Departments, Babak niaraki, elsed 

togonon, Poukeepsee, tara yap of 

The Daily Guardian and the uSa 

Publications. through the strong 

promotional efforts of the event, the 

uSa Conference room was fully 

occupied by students, teachers and 

guests during the performance dates. 

the directors, cast and organizers 

behind the production of “Check 

Please: take 2” certainly deserve 

a wide round of applause for its 

success. 

the cast 

as nursing students. 

above all, the patients’ health 

condition held me to pause and 

to reflect how life would be when 

they are so dependent now with the 

dialysis machine for twice or thrice 

in a week, over hours of encountering 

piercing of large needle sticks and 

experiencing hypo/hypertension 

(decrease or increase in BP) among 

others. they, as well, stimulate 

my mind to ponder how they cope 

during the first few months of being 

under hemodialysis considering that 

most patients have irreversible renal 

failure. these circumstances helped 

me to recognize the vital function of 

kidneys, the complicated organs that 

have numerous biological roles. 

source: http://www.wisegeek. 

com/what-is-dialysis.htm


an augustinian athlete has taken 

home the bacon earlier this year 

upon reaching the finish line ahead 

of more than 7,500 participants. 

M a y J a l e s ta d l a s , a B S 

Psychology junior who is also a 

member of the university’s track 

and Field varsity team, emerged 

victorious as the grand winner of 

the 32 nd Milo Marathon leg held in 

this city on July 6. Finishing first at 

the five kilometer run which started 

from the Freedom Grandstand up to 

the Sarabia Manor hotel and all the 

way back passing through ybiernas 

St., tadlas received a token of 

merit from the organizers of the 

event handed personally by City 

Cong. raul Gonzales, Jr. and City 

Councilor hon. Joe espinosa III. 

She was later then stormed by local 

media men after the awarding of her 

SPORTS/NEWS 

Editor: PAULO MOISES BAYABOS 

USA Golden Eagles nip PBA Veterans, 106-102 


our augustinian basketball 

players had all the reason to rejoice 

earlier this year after kicking off 

with a successful bout against the 

Batang Star Philippine Basketball 

association (PBa) Veterans team. 

the university’s basketball 

varsity players, under the sponsorship 

of Deco’s Original La Paz Batchoy, 

has once again proven their might 

after outdoing the PBa veteran 

players during a friendly match at the 

uSa Gymnasium, July 12. Despite 

the towering heights of the former 

PBa stars, they were pretty much 

surprised by the balanced attacks of 

the young home-grown boys during 

their exhibition match held at the 

newly-renovated indoor basketball 

court. the stiff competition between 

USA Golden Eagles 

soar 3 rd in 6 th Dumarao 

Invitational Tournament 


the uSa Golden eagles, after 

their victory over the PBa Veterans 

last month, are on a roll. 

the eagles snatched the 

bronze in the 6 th Dumarao 

Invitational tournament last July 

12 to august 10 after bowing to 

Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion 

College in the semifinals and 

closing the tournament with a 4-2 

win-loss slate. 

according to the eagles’ 

coach, Mr. rodolfo Betito, 

Jr., they landed in third place 

through the team’s commitment; 

the eagles’ are in a rebuilding 

process which involves desire, 

effort, commitment and attitudinal 

change. 

July 20 – the Sigma Chi and Mu 

Sigma Phi Frasority, a true-blue 

augustinian student organization, 

the two teams, however, was not 

an easy war. But the augustinian 

players managed to outscore their 

older counterparts and eventually 

won. 

the team was under the 

traineeship of their head coach, 

rodolfo Betito, Jr.; accompanied 

by the assistance of assistant Sports 

Director Demosthenes toledo, 

team Statistician and Coordinator 

Carlos Mamon and assistant Coach 

Jack Janeo. the varsity scholars 

who played for team Deco’s were 

rolyn ardonia, BS Crim 3; Douglas 

Belmonte, BS hrM 3; Mil Ian John 

Bibaoco, BS Crim 1; Carl Vincent 

Cabuday, BS Bio 4; Skyld Corillo, 

BSt 3; Daryl Dequino, BS Crim 3; 

Felix John Garrido, BSt 1; Wilfredo 

rodrigo II, BS Ma 4; Chyriel 

Tadlas wins this year’s Milo Marathon leg 


Responding to the call for service: Augustinian 

Frasority aids Frank victims of Janiuay 


conducted a community outreach 

program in Brgy. tolarucan, Janiuay, 

Iloilo in response to the typhoon- 

BrOtherLY LOVe aNd serVice. after lending relief goods, resident and alumni 

members of the sigma chi and Mu sigma phi frasority pose with typhoon frank 

victims in Brgy. tolarucan, Janiuay. 

usa Basketball Varsitarians and coach rodolfo Betito, Jr. (standing 5th 

from L) pose before the camera after nipping the pBa Veterans team. 

Servidad, BS Crim 2; Juilliard Seth 

yap, BS Ma 4 and Jeard Ventura. 

the PBa veterans conducted 

a motorcade around the city’s 

downtown area after the game to 

greet their Ilonggo fans before 

proceeding to the Jaro Gym to visit 

the displaced victims of typhoon 

Frank. the former basketball stars 

who composed the PBa Veterans 

team were Bobby Jose, Mark Steven 

Victoria, Joey Santamaria, Zaldy 

realubit, John Cardel, elmer reyes, 

ronald Magtulis, nandy Garcia, 

ato agustin, tonyboy espinosa, 

ed Cordero and Bonel Balingit. 

their short stint in Iloilo was part 

of the three-day PBa Veterans tour 

in Western Visayas organized by 

Invictus in cooperation with Panay 

News. 

triumphant 

feat. 

ta d l a s 

w o n i n 

c o u n t l e s s 

r e g i o n a l 

and national 

a t h l e t i c 

tournaments 

during her 

high school 

years up to 

tadlas 

the present 

and has ended up a finalist of the 

said annual event for the past two 

years. She is trained under the 

traineeship of Mr. alex arrey and 

with Mr. rudy Perez as her head 

coach. She will be sent to Manila 

later this year to compete in a 

national triathlon competition for 

the very first time. 

aftermath crisis being experienced by 

Frank victims of the said community. 

In this generous act of brotherly 

love and service, the Frasority donated 

gift packs, each containing 2 kilograms 

of rice, three cans of sardines, 1 

kilogram of sugar, 1 pack of coffee, 

and one bar of detergent soap. a total 

of 200 families were the beneficiaries 

of these gifts. the program was held 

inside their community church. 

“typhoon Frank was so tragic,” 

Grand archon lyle ryner lapidez said 

in an interview with The Augustinian. 

“We just want to extend our deepest 

sympathy by reaching out to them. 

as students, this is our simple way of 

helping.” 


PatRON saiNts day 2008 

4 th VisiON-MissiON awaReNess weeK 

august 20-29, 2008 

“Theme: St. Augustine: Guide to Interiority, Man of Prayer” 

Schedule of activities 

Velada: tarangban august 20 lopez Hall 

Center for Culture and the Arts 6:00 PM (uSa Gym) 

Office of Co-curricular Activities 

Featuring august 21 

uSa little theater 4:00 PM 

uSa Choir and troubadours 6:00 PM 

Novena Masses for st. augustine august 19-27 Mentrida Hall 

Campus Ministry (Chapel) 

Day 1-4, 8 august 19-22, 26 

5:00 PM 

Day 5-7 august 23-25 

7:00 aM 

Day 9 august 27 

Mass Confirmation 4:00 PM 

General assembly and 

election of Officers august 24 Blanco Hall 

USA Parents Association 7:00 aM (Conference room) 

tilipunan tiyangge august 26-29 st. augustine Hall 

Community Service Center 8:00-5:00 PM (Co-curricular activities 

office–uSa Bookstore 

lobby) 

st. augustine Poetry writing Contest august 26 Gamboa Hall 

USA Publications (Deadline) 3rd Floor, room 38 

(uSa Publications office) 

Humanities Forum august 26 st. augustine Hall 

“augustine and Psychology” 2:00 PM (PMt review Center) 

By: abraham B. Pinuela 

reactor: nenita l. Villanueva, edD 

Humanities Department 

Film showing august 26 Football Field 

Passion for life 5:30 PM 

(the life of St. augustine) 

Bulletin Board Contest august 27 Usa Campus 

USA Student Council 

Floral Offering/Procession august 28 statue of st. augustine 

Basic Education Department 6:00 aM 

eucharistic Celebration august 28 Usa Campus 

Campus Ministry 8:00 aM lopez hall (uSa Gym) 

Professional Chair lecture august 28 Blanco Hall 

Building arts Management theoretical 10:00 aM (Conference room) 

Framework: the augustinian experience 

Dr. amorita rabuco, PhD 

st. augustine scholarship Contest august 28 lopez Hall 

Theology Office 10:00 aM (Gym) 

salo-salo Fiesta august 28 University Parks 

Colleges/Departments 12:00 nn 

College/departmental activities august 28 University Parks 

Colleges/Departments 12:00 nn 

Musical and dance Contest august 28 lopez Hall 

USA Student Council 4:00 PM (Gym) 

Office of Co-curricular Activities 

PE Department 

events: 

Vocal Solo (Classical and Pop) 

Vocal Duet (Pop) 

Dance Sports (latin and Standard) 

Modern Dance 

live Band august 28 sta. Monica Hall 

uSa Student Council 8:00 PM (Student Center) 

literary Contest august 29 Blanco Hall 

Languages Department 8:00 aM (Conference room) 

events: 

oration (english/Filipino) 

Declamation (english/Filipino) 

extemporaneous Speech (english/Filipino) 

Binalaybay 

Videoke Challenge august 29 sta. Monica Hall 

USA Student Council 9:00 aM (Student Center) 

Parade of athletes august 29 Usa Main Campus 

Sports Office 1:00 PM 

Opening of intramurals august 29 lopez Hall 

Sports Office/PE Department 2:00 PM (Gym) 

events: 

opening Game: Basketball (Men) 

College of Engineering and Architecture vs. 

College of Business Administration and Accountancy 

Miss Intrams 

Cheer Dance 

(1930-2008) 

By the uSa PuBlICatIonS StaFF 

the academic community of the university of San agustin would like 

to extend its deepest condolences to the friends and family members of 

Victoriano B. ledesma for the repose of his soul. 

Popularly known as “Coach Bing”, he has offered his loyalty to the 

university for 41 years, from June 1958 until eventually retiring in May 

1999, as the coach of the uSa Golden eagles Varsity team as well as the 

Director of the Sports office. 

he was known to be an approachable and very likable person who 

maintained very close ties with varsity scholars even long after they’ve 

graduated. 

among the former PBa (Philippines Basketball association) stars 

trained under him were Jimmy noblezada, Danny Basilan, Bong ravena 

and many more. 

according to uSa Golden eagles alumni Snook Divinagracia, who 

is currently the president of the Iloilo Basketball association, Coach Bing 

was a great man who has greatly contributed to the university’s athletic 

attainments. 

he will surely be missed by many.

usa tabloid august08.indd - University of San Agustin

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