#devc 20

       EDSA Revolution, forgotten weeps from yesterday’s history.

      The muffled screams from thirty years ago still linger. The valiant efforts of the people in the bloodless revolution against the Marcos regime were all seem a haze now after the Supreme Court has voted 9-5, allowing the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

      At the defense of the Supreme Court, they stated that Ferdinand Marcos is just like us, “a human who erred like us”. He was seen and evaluated by the Supreme Court "in his totality as a person." If he is indeed judged as a human being who committed faults and errors just like us, then let it be. However, they must not forget that, at the eye of justice, no man has been born with an edge, or with luck. He must be held responsible by his faults, and must bear the crimes that claim he is held liable for. The appeals and petitions against Ferdinand Marcos should be earnestly considered by the court, especially when it comes to human rights violations.

      Given those numerous cases needed to be sought out, if proven guilty, the consequences he would face must lie no difference between him and those criminals alike who committed heinous crimes.

      In fact, coming from the government themselves, there has been a law that has been ratified on 2013 that compensates for the victims of human rights violations during the Marcos regime. The Republic Act No. 10368 or as known as Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, aims to relieve and make peace with the mistakes of the dictatorial government. However, given the current issue of the burial case, that seems to be an inconsistency on the government’s part. The ratified law that seems to compensate for the Marcos regime’s faults absolutely contradicts the verdict made by the Supreme Court. It is, without question, erratic for the Supreme Court to decide that the person held liable for the atrocities in the Marcos regime to be buried on a place as honorable as the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

       Change has come.

      The days of fatigue are over for the pedicab drivers in Tuntungin-Putho. Padyaks, the man-powered bicycles, has now been upgraded to ebikes, or electric bicycles.

      The transformation began in December 2015, when Bernardito Regis, the president of Tuntungin-Putho Pedicab Operators and Drivers Association (TPPODA), decided to start using an ebike for his padyak.

      “Siguro nakita niya kasi yung sitwasyon, mas madali yung transportasyon na naka-ebike ka na, kaysa sa padyak,” Ronaldo Parado, a fellow driver of ebikes, noted.  

Impact on drivers and passengers

      In the past, drivers of foot-powered padyak grew easily tired from the effort of pedaling their vehicles. Using the padyaks consumed too much of their energy, leaving them exhausted throughout the day. Plus, the tips they earned were not sufficient for their basic needs.  

      The slowness of the padyak was also inconvenient for passengers who had to wait for a long time. Given that the drivers still have to pedal to arrive at their destination, passengers have to tolerate the speed capability of the padyak. They have no other choice, it was the only way to reach their destination as fast as they can.

      Now that ebikes are now leading the Tuntungin roadways, drivers and passengers alike are seemed to be pleased.

      Drivers no longer have to face their passengers all fatigued and worn-out.  Norman Lanao, a 40 year old driver who has been using padyak for 15 years now, and has recently switched to an ebike said “..hindi nakakapagod (ang ebike). Tapos, bukod sa hindi na ‘ko pagod, sa pasahero, mabilis nakakabalik, di tulad ng padyak, talagang matagal. Mahirap ang biyahe.”

      Passengers do not need anymore to queue in line just to wait for a padyak to arrive. Through ebikes, they would be able to arrive at their destination faster than they have expected.

      Plus, the drivers could also earn more income than they used to. In just a day of their work, they could earn up to 400 to 500 pesos with the help of these rechargeable vehicles.

      However, according to 50-year-old driver Ronilo Bacani, one of the few drawbacks of using rechargeable ebikes was its short battery lifespan.  A battery lasts only three and a half hours, and needs six hours of recharging.

Motivation of drivers

      What motivates the drivers to continue working with their ebikes are their families. The use of ebikes allowed them to earn more income than they used to with the manual padyak and other job opportunities.

      “Para sa trabaho na din. Kaysa mag-construction, dito na lang. Maalwan alwan pa, ” Lanao stated.

      Also, Bacani commented that he also derives motivation from his passengers too.

      “Syempre, masaya rin kami kasi nasisiyahan ang mga pasahero na mabilis silang nakakauwi,” he stated.

      In the future, driver Parado believed that there would be a big chance that many senior citizens would try ebikes too, so that they would be also entertained outside instead of always being at home.

      “Malaking tulong ang ebike kasi hindi ka na papadyak, lessened na yung energy, pati yung mga senior citizen na naiinip sa bahay, nagawang gumamit na rin ng ebike.”

       LOS BAÑOS – UPLB students expressed woes about their experiences while enlisting in the Student Academic Information System (SAIS) through social media last July 28-30.

      Twitter, one of the most used social networking sites aside from Facebook, became an outlet for most of the sentiments of the students. It even led to earning the highest spot in the trending topics with the tag, #JUNKSAIS.

      Users expressed their rants about how unfair the enlistment system was. “We don't deserve SAIS. There, I said it. Yes we don't. #JunkSAIS,” user ElbiCoños (@UPLBConyos) tweeted.

      Confusion and heated frustrations about SAIS arose in the social networking site, like student Ainei Mejia (@aineimejia), who expressed on Twitter, “Pinagmumura ako ng nanay ko nung sinabi kong sa UPLB lang maaaccess ang SAIS. Hindi daw niya maintindihan kung bakit. Ako din nanay. #SAIS.”

      Another Twitter user, Jio (@jiowho), ranted “times SAIS divides us: -‘irregular’ vs ‘regular’, -3 am vs 9 am, -within UPLB vs outside UPLB, at the end of it all, #JUNKSAIS!!!.”

       A mother’s love knows no bounds. You know how your mom always worries for you whenever you do not reply back to her texts? Whenever you stay up late at night just to finish your heavy homework? Whenever you’re sick, and she takes a day off from work just to nurse you? Mothers are all heroes cloaked in disguise. They are intelligent, brave, and caring. Meanwhile, development journalists, too, are just like mothers.

       Mothers are intelligent. Before we started to go to school, our mothers became our first teachers. When we were young, our moms taught us basic things we need upon growing up. They taught us how to speak so we could communicate with other people, and they taught us how to eat with a spoon and fork. Also, when we were relentless with our insistent questions, they answered them with wit and grace while keeping up with our own pace of understanding. Just like mothers, development journalists are intelligent too. They provide us with information that we seek for. Also, they translate scholarly and technical information into words that would match our own level of understanding. Determined and persevering, they undergo further research and they would do whatever it takes to satisfy their thirst for knowledge just so that they could be of help for people’s own pursuit of learning.  

       Mothers are brave. When we are afraid, they show and put out a strong heart by facing their fears in order to give us what we need. Even when loads of work consume their time and exhaustion drags them down, they still persevere because their love is stronger. They make endless sacrifices, no matter how big or small. Just like mothers, development journalists are brave too. When conflict arises, they suit themselves up and come in action. They go into various lengths through further digging and exposing scandals that need public interference. Also, they constantly offer perspectives for us to ponder on through an in-depth analysis of the situation so that we could deepen our understanding of the conflict, and finally come out with a solution.

       Mothers are caring. Through ups and downs, they are always concerned with us. When we succeed, they are always on the go to celebrate our victory. When we are down, they are ready to support and cheer us up. When we are faced with problems, they help us emerge from the surface to learn new perspectives and achieve wisdom. Just like mothers, development journalists, too, are caring. Through journalism, they commend our victories. When the public is defeated, they help us analyze and evaluate our failures. They always make sure to keep a fair eye on public issues, keeping their own principles and beliefs tucked in, and report them objectively so that public readers will be granted the choice to come up with a fair judgment themselves.

       She graduated Magna Cum Laude in BS Development Communication at University of the Philippines Los Baños. She also finished a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree at the College of Law at University of the Philippines Diliman, and passed the bar exam in 2024. She has also passed the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) exam, then studied an undergraduate degree of Aesthetics in Seoul National University in 2030.

       She has bagged multiple prestigious awards towards her career. She obtained the 2027 Pulitzer Prize in the Public Service category for her article in the TIME Magazine, “Intermission of Mind”, which describes the “scarce alimonies the world offers to the marginalized alike”. She earned the Ramon Magsaysay award in 2025 for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts. She was given the award for her “arduous pursuits in revolutionizing Philippine literature and journalism”. She has also gained the International Reporter’s Journalism Award and the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize for her development-journalistic articles in multiple countries in Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam).

       Aside from numerous articles, she has also published multiple books. The Nobel Prize winning Clouds and Spaces, one of her international best sellers, is one of her proud publications. The book contains anecdotes of her journalistic studies in Asia, and inspired many people ever since.  It has been published in four editions and in thirteen languages. It is also being referenced and used by many universities worldwide. The New York Times reviewed the book as “empathizing with the psyche of what draws media and journalists forward despite the odds”.  

       Her other publications include Power of mainstream media: empowering participation which focuses on the effectiveness of social media, and how it becomes a variable of change in just a matter of time. Lastly, her recent published book, Thoughts on Philippine literature: past, present, and future, is an in-depth analysis of how the Philippine literature (books and movies) revolves in the industry, exposing some of its infallible strengths, and its short-sighted weaknesses.

       She is also the sole benefactor of the famous Lukban Scholarship which funds promising students of literature and journalism who are in need of financial aid. The cause has funded more than 5000 students for the past twenty years. Beneficiaries of this cause include the famous anchor Daya Swift, film director Louis Reyes, actor Harry Styles, and best-selling author Taylor Urie. Beneficiaries of the Lukban Scholarship are given internship and possible job opportunities in her own entertainment company, Assequor Ent, one of the high-ranked multimedia companies in the Philippines.  

       For more information, you can visit her through her personal blog, summertime-butterfliez.tumblr.com. Not only you can contact her if you wish to hear some legal advice and legal counsel, but also you can hear her personal sentiments on literature, journalism, and life musings. Plus, she still answers some of her fan mail and questions related to her field as much as she can.