Noong ika-2 ng Setyembre 2023, nagbigay ng mungkahi si Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno na i-reserba na lamang ang programa ng libreng edukasyon ng pamahalaan para sa mga “deserving” na mag-aaral. Ito ay dahil sa 34% na dropout rate na naitala ng Commission on Higher Education (CHED) mula 2016 hanggang 2022, na nagdulot ng matinding tensyon sa pampublikong pondo.
Category: Probe
Ghosts in the House: The Problem with the 4PH Program
The housing crisis in the Philippines is rooted in the fact that most people cannot afford to buy proper houses or the land needed. To address this, President Bongbong Marcos’ flagship program, the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH), aims to reduce the 6.5 million housing backlog. This will be done by building 1 million units a year. The issue with this, however, is that it is anti-poor, despite being supposedly for the impoverished, and unrealistic given the foundations of the plan.
Honesty or Honors?
Schools play a pivotal role in instilling values and morals to students outside of the usual academic setup. However, when students act outside this established bracket of good moral and conduct, are they at fault, or is the system more to blame?
Reopening the Unsolved Case of Charter Change: The Philippines’ Undying Endeavor for Charter Change
Over time, a country is bound to change and develop, including its people and citizens, particularly through their lifestyle. Moreover, it is worth noting that the Philippines’ Constitution is already 37 years old. With that, as a country evolves, its Constitution must adapt accordingly to remain relevant to the current context. It is essential to recognize that the goal of a charter change should be people-centered, with the aim of improving the entire country. However, this is not the case with the Philippines, as every attempt to push for a charter change is consistently met with resistance from its people.
Reopening the Unsolved Case of Charter Change: Comelec and its P12-billion Budget Increase
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) received an increase in this year’s budget for the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites—amounting to a whopping P14 billion, which is a PHP 12 billion raise compared to the initially-proposed PHP 2 billion by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). The sudden increase in the allocated budget faced several concerns, particularly from Independent Minority Congressman, Albay, 1st District Representative Edcel Lagman, who asserted that the aforementioned additional budget would be used for a “Charter change rampage,” as it was placed under the conduct and supervision of elections, referenda, recall votes, and plebiscites category.
Left in the Dark: Termination of Senior High School
In the upcoming school year 2024-2025, the Senior High School (SHS) Program will be discontinued in state and local universities and colleges (SUCs and LUCs). According to the Department of Education (DepEd), 17,751 Grade 11 students are currently enrolled in SHS programs being offered in SUCs and LUCs. As thousands of students are displaced from senior high school, they are left with the choice to enroll in either public or private schools and utilize the voucher program. This also leaves them alone to fend for themselves due to the lack of funding in both secondary and higher education.
Pursuing the Truth in the Shadows
In the media industry, the pursuit and dissemination of truth in service to the public stand as the responsibility of journalists who wield the power of their voices to do so. However, this pursuit becomes a challenge for women journalists in a male-dominated country. With this in mind, we can only ask: What is it like for a woman to use her voice in amplifying the marginalized in a country where men receive more attention and are more likely to be heard?
Challenge and Hope: A Closer Look at Marcos’ Presidential Priorities
It was definitely a night to remember as the British rock band Coldplay kicked off their Music of the Spheres World Tour in the Philippines almost seven years after their first concert in the country. “Where better to start 2024 than the Philippine Arena…We are so happy to be back in Metro Manila, can’t wait to get going,” the band shared on ‘X’ before the aforementioned event.
Of Prom and The High School Experience
The Junior Promenade and Senior Graduation Ball, now known as Senior’s Night, are coveted as the highlights of one’s high school life. Organized by the Batch Project Committee (BPC), with the guidance of the Assembly of Class Officers (ACO), these events act as a celebration of both students’ teenhood as individuals and the bond they share as a batch. As the pressure and excitement build from the organizing perspective, student attendees have also started to feel the building anxiety revolving around the weight of this big night.
Muzzled Perspectives: Modern Education in the Midst of Indisposition Prevalence
As another semester dawns upon the Ateneo Senior High School, the institution, committed to the refining and improvement of its policies in accordance with the demands of the current time, is continuously challenged to learn from the experiences and events of the past—especially those, in particular, that have notably affected the community.
HiLites ASHS 