LUMADNONG PASUNDAYAG

A Showcase of Indigenous Cultures

By Charles Balinggao

BSED - ENGLISH

They said that in order for us to move on and progress in our lives we should know first our roots. We should know where we came from and the contributions of our ancestors of where we were now. Thus, the Kadayawan festival had a Lumadnong Pasundayag wherein indigenous people who were the first settlers of Davao showcase their cultures and customs and how they were able to contribute in to our progress.

One of the highlights of the Kadayawan festival was the grand performance of the Indigenous people in Davao last August 18, 2012 at Davao Recreation Center. The event ignites Davaoneos appreciation of the native people who believed that Davao will go far.

10 indigenous tribes had shown their culture and customs and gave the people a glimpse of our roots as the people of Davao.  They were the Bagobo Klata, Kagan, Makitsalog, Sama, Obu – Manuvo, Tausug, Ata, Maguindanao, Tagabawa and Marano tribe. These tribes had shown the people of Davao and the foreign visitors their way of living and how they were able to preserve their culture while compensating the needs of this modern world.

Each performance was introduced by each tribe’s deputy mayor and their candidates of the Hiyas ng Kadayawan. Each tribes depicted different scenarios about courtship, marriage, hunting, harvest, war, and thanksgiving that were present in their beliefs and traditions. Festive music from indigenous musical instruments and songs from their own dialect were heard all over place.  Colors and shimmers were seen from the costumes wore by the performers of each tribe when they perform their ethnic dances.

The event was the evidence on the rich culture that we had in Davao thus the Kadayawan was one of the most visited festivals in the country. The event did not only display the practice of the culture of each indigenous tribe present in Davao but also display how they were able to live and be a part of a civilized society. They are now encouraging their children to go school and finish a college degree. They are also into the promotion of peace and order of Davao by resolving and eliminating internal conflicts within their tribe.

The Lumadnong Pasundayag was not only an entertaining event but also an informative one wherein we were encourage to give respect and reverence to the people who were the first to cultivate and improve the lands of Davao. Every Davaoenos were encouraged to give back to these indigenous tribes by respecting and looking up into them and their capabilities that they were also capable of contributing something great in the city.

The Lucky Hopefuls

First Year Representative Election

By Charles Balinggao

BSED - ENGLISH

           A year ago the SAMAHAN Central Board decided not to have first year representative election because they didn’t saw the need of having one. They believe that first year students will struggle to be connected to the division where their courses belong when they reached second year if they were under the supervision of first year representatives. But for this year, first year representative election is back with its seven hopeful candidates.

            The seven hopeful candidates were Mark Vincent Alpiz, Derizza Giselle Laburada, Michael Zachary Leyson, Roren John Ong, Djumel Gerard Tinampay, Darwin Verallo and May Fiel Divino who were launched during the miting de avance last July 12 2012 in Thibault grounds. Flock of first year students attended the event including the supporters of each candidate. The event was a venue for helping first year students to decide on who they think they will vote for the position because it was also the venue where they were given the chance to ask questions about the platforms of each candidate. It was also attended by the SAMAHAN Central Board President, Maureen Villamor, who encouraged first year students to be involved in the election.

First year students were given three days to vote for their bets for the position. The election ran for three days and on July 14 2012 after the votes were tallied, the COMELEC declared two of seven hopeful candidates to be the first year representatives of the school year 2012 – 2013. These lucky hopefuls were Roren John Ong, AB Mass Communication student who garnered 576 votes and Michael Zachary Leyson, BS Computer Science student who garnered 577 votes. They won the election because they weren’t just lucky but they were good in convincing their fellow first year students that they would create programs and activities that would enhance the personality and academic development of freshmen students.

            This year’s newly elected first year representative will be the voice of freshmen students. They will empower first year students to be involve in school activities that would help them gain more knowledge on how the system of education work in the university. Hopefully, these first year representatives will not fail the expectations of those who voted for them by doing their job well and by accommodating the needs of their constituents.

Lucky Whammy

 Just Got Lucky on Friday the 13

By Charles Balinggao

BSED - ENGLISH

They say that Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day and we should be careful on our actions to prevent having a lot of misfortunes. But July 13 2012 is not an unlucky day for those young at heart Davaneos who had witnessed and seen the teen heartthrob Enrique Gil at the Annex of SM City Davao.  The young actor was invited by SM Davao officials to promote the Teenvasion brand which empowers teen spirit.

SM City Davao celebrates July as the youth power month. They have a series of events that are in stored for the month and one of those events was the Teenvasion. The event’s theme was about celebrating the power of youth through expressing themselves in dancing. The event started at three in the afternoon by a dancing competition participated by twelve dance crews in Davao. The twelve dance crews showed their dance moves and tricks on the dance floor which gave the audience a lively mood. Cheers and noise was made by the supporters of each crews.

The people went crazy when the clock struck at five and finally teen heartthrob Enrique Gil gazed the stage of SM City Annex.  He was invited to promote the event since his image is very relatable to teenagers that idolize him. Camera lights were on and screams were heard all over the place when he gave the audience two singing performances. He even invited the audience to go on stage and perform with him. He also showed his favorite dance move the “Dougie Dance” before he left the event. The people who attended the event were so satisfied and happy to meet and greet the television personality and even when he was about to leave the people still ran after him.

The show was fun and it is evident in the faces of all teens and those young at heart who attended the event. Indeed the event proved that not all Fridays with 13 are full of misfortunes. It maybe Friday the 13, but it’s still Friday, a reason that everyone should be happy and 13 is just a number.

From 10 To 12

ADD ONS

They say that the quality of our education is below expectation and compared to other countries we’re far behind from being internationally competitive. The addition of two years in the education system in our country was seen by the Department of Education as the solution to address this problem. This prompted them to introduce the k+12 program curriculum. Three weeks ago, on the 4^th of June was the start of the school year in the Philippines. It was also the start of implementing the new education curriculum of the Department of Education. Many questioned the effectiveness of the program while some simply supported it. There was a split of opinions: Some were in favor of the program and some were not.

The implementation of the k+12 program was like the boxing match result of Pacquiao and Bradley  wherein there was an exchange of boos between the pro and anti k+12 program.  According to DepEd secretary Luistro, the aim of k+12 program is to improve the quality of the deteriorating education system in the country. It will be a tool in improving the competencies of our Filipino students where they will be competent enough to make a name for our country in the international arena. The pro k+12 view it as a saving grace for the Philippine education. Those who were in favor believe that having this kind of education system will  help our country catch up with other countries in producing globally-competitive professionals and skilled workers. It will greatly help the economic status of our government because there will be hiring of a lot of Filipino workers overseas and taxes from the remittances that they will be sending to their families will increase the revenues of the government. They also believe it would alleviate poverty because there will be no more unemployed due to the high demands of our graduates to work inside and outside the country. On the other hand the opposing party views the program in another way. They consider the program as a burden in the present educational settings of the country in a sense that the country is not yet ready for this kind of educational system because we were not yet able to settle the problems of education like the lack of enough classrooms and scarcity of books to cater all students. They also criticize the government of deceiving the people of having jobs after finishing their studies in the said curriculum where in fact, every year, only fourteen out of one hundred graduates are fortunate enough to be employed. Thus, they stress that the quality should be improve and not the length of the education. All arguments laid by the opposing parties were realities and were substantial and might happen as a result of implementing the new curriculum. It is on the hands of the government to plan in making the benefits of the said curriculum visible to the people and to provide ways to cope with the problems the said curriculum will encounter.

At the end of day, everything has its own benefits and drawbacks like the K+12 curriculum. Let’s just hope for the best that it will be successful but if it will go the other way, there may always be a room for improvement.