METROPOST


AUGUST 20 - AUGUST 26, 2017 3 CAMPUS NEWS


Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and SSS OIC-Vice President Lilani Benedian (seated center) are the chief signatories to the Memorandum of Agreement that institutionalizes the membership and collection of contributions to encourage all the 1, 316 Job Order employees and casuals to enroll in the country’s Social Security System. Among the witnesses are Vice- Mayor Franklin Esmeña (2nd from right), SSS OIC Dumaguete Branch Manager Lynlee-Lu Galdo-Dato (seated rightmost), and Councilors Lilani Ramon, Estanislao Alviola, Manuel “Chaco” Sagarbarria, Liga ng mga Barangay President Lionel Banogon, Alan Gel Cordova, Manuel Arbon, Michael Bandal, Dr. Jose Victor Imbo, Agustin Miguel “Tincho” Perdices, and Joe Kenneth Arbas. (City PIO)


City to control ‘parking boys’


Marlon (not his real name) darts across the street one Sunday morning to take a motorcycle from its owner who disembarks, not locking his unit,


Seventeen-year old


day about two years ago, Marlon decided to “get a job” as a parking boy. He found it “easy” to


proceeds to the nearby church, confidently leaving the bike in the care of this young “parking attendant”. Marlon parks it alongside other motorcycles on the side of the road, and does the same thing over and over again with the others. He either parks a motorcycle or moves it out of its parking space when the owner is ready to leave. Each time, the lowest


and


do, giving him enough income for the day to help his family, earning at least P200 a day, when it’s not raining, he added.


streets every day. Even those living in nearby towns and cities come to this capital city of Negros Oriental on board their motorbikes.


But competition is stiff, he says, because at every designated parking space for motorcycles all over the major thoroughfares of Dumaguete City, are other parking boys who do not welcome “newcomers”. “Turf wars” sometimes


he receives from the motorcycle owner is piso and sometimes, a more generous giver would hand him a five-peso coin. This young parking attendant relates that he’s out-of-school because his parents can’t afford it, barely earning a living enough to tide over a family of five children.And so one


casuals, JOs may join SSS


The City of Dumaguete and the Social Security System have opened the door for the City’s Job Order and casual employees to become members of the Social Security System. The signing


a Memorandum of Agreement between the city government and the SSS Management was held Wednesday.


of Dgte


Thus, the need for more parking spaces for motorcycles


by the day, and along with it, comes additional opportunities for current and wanna-be parking attendants.


take place, with the older guys successfully edging out the younger ones, unless the latter take their stand and fight it out, Marlon said. He transfers from one area to another, to avoid being bullied, getting into an argument, or worse, a fistfight.


unofficially known as the Motorcycle Capital of the Philippines, with thousands of units traversing the City


Dumaguete City is increases


Marlon is just one of the numerous, unaccounted parking attendants now proliferating in Dumaguete who are now facing possible displacement with the proposal of an Ordinance regulating them. Just last week, Councilor Jose Victor Imbo authored the proposed measure that seeks to regulate the growing number of so- called parking boys who are dependent on tips given by motorcycle owners, and who are without proper identification and


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Santacruzan to show pulang yuta


Five barangays and six schools in Dumaguete City are participating in this year’s Santacruzan on Sept. 16 as a stand alone festival in this capital city.


centuries B.C. and from the 11th


Dumaguete Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo called on the job order and casual employees of the local city government to persevere and be faithful to their jobs while investing for their future and of their families when they retire from the service. Some of these employees have been in the government service for 20 to 30 years without getting benefits. Effective January 2017, Remollo increased the daily wage of all Job Order employees by P50 per day


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City Tourism Officer Jacqueline Veloso-Antonio said 11 contingents will see action during the Pakighimamat to be held at Rizal Boulevard, followed by a street dancing competition at 3 in the afternoon, while a showdown will start at 5:30 in the afternoon at Quezon Park.


The 11 contingents are from barangays Junob, Looc, Banilad, Daro and Cantil-e; and Asian College, Piapi High School, Dumaguete City High School, Junob National High School, Metro Dumaguete College, and Silliman University. The City will provide each contestant with seed money of P120,000 to cover for their costumes and other requirements except food. This year’s theme Pulang


Yuta will revolve around the origins of Dumaguete, which dates back many


During that time, anthropological diggings were uncovered to include decorated earthenware pottery which were considered as prestige items in the earliest societies, and which were used as markers for goods exchange. The distribution then of decorated earthenware pottery was said to be controlled by chieftains, and circulated to lesser members of the elite class, extending to the commoners.


century A.D.


quiz finals The Negros Island Battle of the Brains quiz bee has just concluded its semi- finals in five areas of Negros to determine which schools will move on to the grand finals.


schools to join EDC


Five


SU names outstanding alumni awardees


California and a distinguished chemist from Mindanao are these year’s recipients of the Outstanding Sillimanian Awards. Cynthia Arnaldo-Bonta is recognized in the field of Human Rights and Social Justice, and Dr. Myrna Sillero- Mahinay in Chemistry.


They will receive their awards in a special ceremony traditionally held on Aug. 28 when Silliman University


competed in the semi-finals, the five that made it to the grand finals are Dr. Vicente F. Gustilo Memorial National High School in Bacolod; Ramon Torres Malingin National High School - Atipuluan Ext. in Bago City; Southland College Kabankalan; Negros Oriental HS in Dumaguete; and Bais City National HS.


and following the theme Renewable Energy for a Brighter Future, the pair of contestants from each school eagerly answered questions on renewable energy, the environment, biodiversity, climate change issues and policies, and current events related to these topics.


These same topics have, at one time or another, been featured in the Positive Energy Facebook page, EDC said in a media release Friday.


Silliman Environmental and Marine Sciences professors Dr. Janet Estacion, Dr. Hilconida Calumpong, and Dr. Aileen Maypa meet with their counterpart, Dr. Nicholas Polunin, from Newcastle University in the United Kingdom.


Through this contest, participants and audiences alike learned about the benefits of renewable


TO PAGE 6 SU to offer Bio


Oceanography with UK university


Ownership of the items, as markers of elite status, thus translated to one’s social identity, and were also considered as political valuables used to form and maintain alliances. Fashioned from yuta, clay and earth, the early people of Dumaguete made their first mark in history, signified their identity, and sealed communal bonds. According to Antonio, even up present times, there are areas in Dumaguete where clay remains reddish in color. (Juancho Gallarde/ PNA)


from the SU Institute of Environmental & Marine Sciences were recently in Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom to discuss the Joint Development of Niche Programmes of the Commission on Higher Education, in partnership with the British Council. Under the program, Silliman’s IEMS will partner with Newcastle University’s School of Marine Science & Technology for a joint research and curricular offering in Tropical Biological Oceanography. Dr. Nicholas Polunin, professor of Marine Environmental Science, and Dr. Hilconida Calumpong, IEMS director, are the focal persons for the program. With Dr. Calumpong at Newcastle University were Silliman marine scientists Dr. Janet Estacion and Dr. Aileen Maypa. While in Newcastle, the Silliman team talked with faculty, staff, and students, and visited the Dove Marine Laboratory. Silliman is one of the 10 Philippine universities which qualified under the JDNP because of its


international TNE partnerships, the number of recognized Centers of Excellence and


TO PAGE 6 Three professors


In 2016, Bonta received the Outstanding Filipina Award by Filipino Women’s Club of Sacramento, and the Bayani Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment by the Pasquil Family Foundation.


founding chair of Alameda-Dumaguete Sister City, vice president of Alameda Sister-City Association, member of the Board of Directors of the American Center of Philippine Arts. She is a graduate of SU High School, and studied Pre- Medicine at Silliman for two years before she transferred to UP Dilliman where she finished B.S Zoology in 1958. She earned her graduate degree in Religious Education at the Pacific School of Religion in 1968. Dr. Mahinay is among the country’s well-respected scientists


with extensive researches and studies the field of chemistry. Her researches, mostly on heavy metal analysis and its effect on living organisms, have been published in journals and presented in local and international conferences. In 1999, she was commissioned by the the Philippine Senate


She currently holds various civic and community positions: Now on its second year Out of 45 schools that


celebrates its 116th founding anniversary. Bonta’s commitment to social justice, community empowerment, and civic engagement served as a voice for marginalized Filipino and other immigrants particularly in the United States. Between 1975 and 1977, Cynthia along with some Filipinos in America, worked on a campaign to offer an accurate history and more informed portrayal of Filipino-Americans in California textbooks in public schools. With a firm grasp of history, Bonta helped develop a curriculum model for use in these public schools. Her advocacy also includes the promotion of domestic workers’ rights. She is now engaged in addressing affordable housing crisis that plagues the San Francisco Bay area by helping pass an ordinance for rent control. She has provided support to Filipino tenants in an apartment complex where 33 families live under the threat of eviction.


A human rights and social justice advocate based in


to assess the extent of mercury pollution in Mt. Diwalwal, Compostela Valley. The results of Dr. Mahinay’s assessment led to a stricter implementation in the confiscation of smuggled mercury in the area and the relocation of affected inhabitants out of the affected vicinity. She holds two post-doctoral fellowships: one at the University


of Miami in Florida under the Fulbright-US Department of State Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, and another from the National Institute of Natural Science in Okazaki Institute for


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15 writers train in enviro-journ


Aiming to increase the coverage of environmental stories in newspapers, a local workshop was held for 15 young writers on environmental reporting from Aug. 18 to 20 at Silliman University. Camp SEWI (short for Student’s Environmental Writing


from the hugot of every broken hearted Filipino. “Climate change is happening and we all know that the Philippines is a very vulnerable country. That, in fact, should break everyone’s hearts so we need to able to increase the conversation on the environment, “ he added, “That is my hugot.” Hugot (to draw or to pull) or hugot lines connote deep emotional or sentimental undertones of a person, and is just now popularly used in social media.


The camp is designed to develop skill sets in effective environmental writing through sessions engaging learning sessions, hands-on activities, “enviro-ice breakers”, and practical fieldwork.


Initiative) featured local and international environmental journalists, publishers, authors, scientists, and movers, said Val Amiel Vestil, founder and lead initiator. Vestil said the concept of the camp name is inspired


The workshop culminated in an oath-taking ceremony for environmental writing. Vestil received a mini-grant for this community project through his fellowship for civic engagement at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, USA for the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Spring Academic Fellowship program. (Judy Flores Partlow)


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