Ang Institusyon ng App Process

Maaga magpa-dismiss yung Chem lab namin, kaya parating may libreng oras para tumambay bago mag-Chem lec. Sa tindahan ni Mang Mon kami parati ng mga ka-grupo ko tumatambay (malapit sa Pilar Herrera). Simple lang: kain ng Marty’s o Clover, minsan may monay, kwekkwek, o kape na mainit. Nakatutuwa nga kasi nakabuo na kami ng barkada – isang lipunan na binubuhay lamang ng limang tao sa bawat araw na may klase. Subalit isang hapon sa Chem lab bago tumungo sa tindahan, nagpaalam si Sheila, yung isa naming kabarkada: “Uy, sige, guys, alis muna ako. Balik na lang ako para mag-lec. Talents night namin mamaya sa org, eh. Makikipag-meet ako sa mga ka-app ko.” Marami siyang dala noon. Puro costume at iba pang props. Hindi na nakabalik si Sheila para mag-Chem lec.

Bantog ang ating unibersidad sa pagkakaroon ng mga org na mayroong tinatawag na application process. Pamilyar sa prosesong ito ang mga konsepto ng sigsheet, buddy system, app’s soiree, costume day at kung anu-ano pang mga ‘di karaniwan na gawain, pati na rin ang konsepto ng initiation o culmination.

Ngunit minsan kailangan din nating tanungin, bakit pa nga ba kailangang pagdaanan ‘to? Por que kinarir lang ba ng isang aplikante ang paggawa sa costume niya ay masisigurong magiging masipag siyang miyembro ng organisasyon? “Tradisyon,” sagot ng isang Membership Committee Head ng isang organisasyon sa CSSP, “ever since the 90s alam ko ganun na yung ginagawa ng org ko, pati pa siguro noong 80s at 70s.” Mismong tito niya na alumus ng parehong organisasyon ay alam pa rin ang mga pinagpapatuloy na “tradisyon”. Yung kinapanayam ko ay bahagi ng isang org na katulad ng maraming iba pa sa UP ay nagpapa-application process.

“Ano ba ang mga goals at objectives nitong app process niyo?” tanong ko sa kaniya. “Well, basically, we want to see the commitment. Kaya medyo maraming activities na ginagawa. Willing ba siyang gawin lahat yun kahit medyo time consuming? We want to get the most committed. And then we want them also to get to know the members. Like, some orgs, although I’m not saying they’re not good orgs, sobrang laki that they don’t know each other na. I can say magkakakilala mga org members namin, hanggang alumni.”

Tinanong ko kung bakit nangyayaring mas kaunti ang mga miyembro ng organisasyon nila kumpara sa mga ibang organisasyon sa kurso. “Kasi mahirap ang app process – well, ‘di naman. It’s just… tedious. It’s doable! Some people say na mahirap. Siyempre, given na may mga org na mas madali ang app process, you would opt for that org. Pati kasi every 1st sem lang kami tumatanggap ng app.”

Umuusbong ang nasyonalismo dahil sa pagkakaroon ng kamalayan ng mga tao sa mga itinuturing na mahahalagabng bahagi ng kasaysayan.

Ilan sa mga halimbawa nito sa kontekstong Pilipino ay ang pagpatay kina Rizal at Ninoy Aquino, at ang Batas Militar. Kabilang din dito ang pagkakaroon ng pagpapahalaga sa mga mahahalgang simbolo tulad ng awit at mga teksto na nagbibigay ng identidad para sa pagkabansa. Ang kasaysayan sa kabuuan ang bumubuo sa ating collective memory, ngunit hindi maiiwasan ang pagkakaroon ng mga pagkakaiba sa mga pinapahalagahang aspeto ng kasaysayan ang mga indibidwal.

Hindi agad masasabi na ang isang aplikante ay desidido na kaagad sa pagsali sa isang partikular na samahan. Kailangan muna niyang kilalanin ang mga miyembro ng sinsalihang organisasyon: mabait ba sila? Madali ba silang kasundo? Kailangan ding unawain ng aplikante ang misyon at haraya ng organisasyon: hindi ba ito taliwas sa mga paniniwala niya? At sa buong proseso na ito, unti-unting makabubuo ang aplikante ng mga bagong pagkakaibigan, sasali siya sa mga iba-ibang aktibidades na pam-bonding. Higit sa lahat, untiunting masasangkot ang aplikante sa isang collective consciousness kung saan kasali ang lahat ng ibang mga miyembro na ng organisasyon. Ito ang magtatali sa kanila sa isa’t isa at magbibigay ng motibasyon na maghatak ng mga bagong aplikante, gumawa ng mga exhibit, magbigay ng flyers sa mga ‘di kakilala, at kung anu-ano pa.

Ito ang maaaring mas malalim na tungkulin ng isang application process: ang magsilang sa kamalayan ng mga aplikante ng isang collective memory na alalahanin din ng mga co-applicants at mga miyembro ng organisasyon. Tungkulin ng application process ang magbigay ng edukasyon sa mga aplikante. Edukasyon na magbibigay sa kanila ng mas makabuluhang rason na sumali at manatili sa samahan. 'Di tulad ng isang simpleng barkada, hindi mo nga naman basta-basta iiwan ang isang organisasyon na pinaghirapan mong salihan.

“Maybe nga it bonds us knowing na she went through the same thing that I went through. Say you meet a stanger, it’s the common thing between the two of you that you talk about. Maybe it’s why it’s easier talking to our alumni, kasi alam nila kung ano yung pinagdaanan mo,” sabi ng aking kinapanayam.

Nasa smokers’ pocket ulit ang ChemBarkada namin. Kinumusta ko si Sheila sa talents night ng org niya. “Ayun. Habang sumasayaw kami at kumakanta, binabato ba naman kami ng kung anu-ano! Sinisigawan kami, ang pangit daw, di raw kami naghanda. Habang nagpepresent yun, ah.” Nagulat naman ako. Pero nang tanungin ko ulit si Sheila, sabi niya okay lang naman daw sa kanila yun. Gagalingan na lang daw nila ng mga co-apps niya sa susunod.

*Ang kinapanayam ay isang lalaking nasa ikaapat na taon at may kurso na BS Psychology.

Article by: Ryan Madrid

Reasons to Kill:

Mass Murders in the Twenty-first Century

Mass murder is reasonably defined as the "act of murdering a large number of people, typically over a relatively short period of time." ¹ History is ridden

with mass murders, from the religiously-motivated to the politically-motivated, with murderers ranging from individuals to states, with personalities diverse

as the Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory to aspiring politician Ted Bundy. Today, many mass murders reflect culture combined with modern survival

concerns, reminding us that despite what some theorists posit, even the age of rapid globalization cannot simply erase ancient beliefs. And in some places, it

seems to be doing just the opposite. Here are some reasons for the prevalence of mass murders in the Twenty-first Century.

Reason 1: Superstition

City/Country: Tanzania

Victims: Albinos

Perpetrator/s: Witch doctors,

dealers, and common citizens.

Death Toll: According to

the International Federation of Red

Cross and Red Crescent Societies,

“As of November, the official death

toll now stands at 44 albinos killed

in Tanzania and 12 in the eastern

Burundian provinces. This figure

for Tanzania is given by police to

the special parliamentary committee

investigating the killings. Private

organizations and some media in

Tanzania have put the number at

more than 50 deaths.”

Context: In late November

2009, reports surfaced about the recent

surge of albino killings in East

Africa. The bodies of people born

with the congenital condition are

believed to have magical powers,

and each “complete dismembered

set” sells for as high as $75,000.

The body parts are then sold as

talismans, often to wealthy businessmen.

But according to journalist

Vicky Ntetema, “East Africa is

the only region where the story of

albino killings has been revealed

through the media. In some western

African countries albino babies

are killed at birth and older ones

are sacrificed to the volcano gods.

Also in China there are reports that

babies with albinism are murdered

at birth.” Of the 200 suspects in

Tanzania, 7 have been sentenced

to death by Kahama and Shinyanga

courts.

Reason 2: Organ Trafficking

City/Country: Haiti

Victims: Children and

adults

Perpetrator/s: Allegedly,

Israelis

Death Toll: No official

figures

Context: As recently

as January 27, 2010, Haitian

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive

admitted to CNN’s Christiane

Amanpour that live children and

adults are being trafficked for their

organs. It is claimed that Israelis are

responsible, and as Alison Weir of

The Washington Report on Middle

East Affairs notes, sometimes it is

done with the funding of the Israeli

government and the participation of

Israeli officials.

Reason 3: Ritual Sacrifice

City/Country: Uganda

Victims: Children and young

adults

Perpetrators: Witch Doctors

Death Toll: 300 cases of murder

and disappearances in 2008, 15

murders and 200 disappearances in

2009

Context: “This year [2009] we

have had more occurrences of people

attempting to sell their children

to witch-doctors as part of ritual

ceremonies to guarantee wealth and

prosperity.” (Kelly 2009) Officials

and NGOs attribute the rise in ritual

sacrifices to the looming famine in

Africa, as well as the rising unemployment

and poverty especially in

the Northern and Eastern regions.

Poor parents sell their children to

rich families who then ask witch

doctors to sacrifice them on their

behalf, in exchange for large sums

of money.

Reason 4: Alleged Misogyny

City/Country: Ciudad Juarez,

Mexico

Victims: Women in their

teenage years to their late twenties

Perpetrator/s: Street gangs,

bus drivers, etcetera

Death Toll: "In 2009, more

than 100 women were murdered

in Juarez, which was three times as

many as were killed in the worse

years of 1990s of the so-called

'femicides,'" said University of Texas

at El Paso professor Dr. Howard

Campbell. (Roldan 2010)

Context: Most of the victims

are workers in maquiladoras, which

is, according to Amnesty

International, “factories

set up by US and other

foreign companies to

exploit cheap labour

and favourable tariffs in

the region near the US

border.” In 2008 Kent

Paterson, noted the diverse

theories about the

motives behind the killings,

from “Porno snuff

film rings to satanic

cults to angry machistas

driven to rage by the fact

that so many women in

Juárez, in a break with

tradition, are out of the

house and competing

in the workforce.” The

women’s bodies, if they

are ever found, are often

buried in shallow graves,

in vacant lots or in the

desert. The recovered

bodies show signs of

sexual abuse, torture,

and missing organs, and

police incompetence of

ten make matters worse for the surviving

relatives.

Reason 5: Political Rivalry

City/Country: Philippines

Victims: Women, lawyers,

journalists, and drivers

Perpetrator/s: Andal Ampatuan

Jr., 100 men in his private army

Death Toll: 57 victims

Context: En route to filing

Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael "Toto"

Mangudadatu’s Certificate of Candidacy

(COC) on November 23,

2009, a convoy composed of Mangudadatu’s

wife, other women family

members, supporters, lawyers, and

journalists, were ambushed by political

rival Andal Ampatuan Jr.’s private

army. The event is considered the

worst case of election violence in

recent Philippine history. It is also

part of the long-standing rivalry

between the two families in the predominantly

Muslim region made up

of some of the poorest provinces in

the country.

Recent mass murders, while

some are more baffling than others,

are all linked to economic conditions.

Where they take place, and

more importantly, why they take

place, are driven by money or the

lack thereof. There are many other

cases, for example in the Democratic

Republic of Congo, where in 2003

reports of mass murder and cannibalism

emerged, due to the lack of

food in the region during the Hema-

Lendu war. They take place in areas

where government authority is arbitrary,

where justice is rarely swift,

and where economic scarcity drives

people to commit further violence.

It is with good reason that we can assume

that as the disparities between

the poor and the rich intensify, so

will these untoward circumstances.

It is anyone's guess as to how many

will die next.

1 Aggrawal A. (2005) Mass Murder.

In: Payne-James JJ, Byard RW, Corey TS,

Henderson C (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Forensic

and Legal Medicine, Vol. 3, Pp. 216-

223. Elsevier Academic Press, London

Article by: Mary Roseann Ramirez

Graphics by: Mark Sherwin Bayanito