MORMS alumnus is new Environment Secretary

MORMS alumnus Ramon Paje succeeded Sec. Horacio Ramos as the 19th Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) lafter he was selected by Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III to head the said agency.

Paje was the undersecretary for Forestry Research of the DENR before he succeeded Ramos. He was also the Under-

secretary for Field Operations and the concurrent Execu-tive Director of the Minerals Development Council under the Office of the President.

As a government scholar, Paje graduated from the Uni-versity of the Philippines-Los Banos (UPLB), in Laguna, with the degree BS Forestry. He then earned his masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from UP-Diliman, and his doc-

Class ‘77 grad appointed DENR chief

torate in Public Administra-tion in the same school. The DENR Secretary also took short courses in Harvard University, in Massachusetts, USA, and in the Australian National Univer-sity, in Canberra, Australia.

Among the awards Paje has received are a Jose Rizal Huwarang Pilipino Award for Public Service in 1999, and the citation of the Philippine Jay-

Student government officers elect Vega as National Secretary

Therese Isabelle S. Vega, a student form IV-Galileo and MORMS Supreme Student Government President, was elected as National Federation of Supreme Student Govern-ments Secretary during the 8th National Leadership Training for Student Government Offi-cers (NLTSGO) held last Sep-tember 2-8, 2010 at the Teach-er’s Camp, in Baguio City. Vega, who was also elected Division Federation of SSG’s (DFSSG) President, and Regional Federation of SSG’s (RFSSG) President,was the lone NFSSG awardee dur-ing the said national leaders’ convention. She was given the award for atttending the

NLTSGO 4 times in a row, the most number that a high school student can participate in. Other elected officers were Mika Jajima of Region 6, who was elected President; Von Carlo Yacob, from the National Capital Region, Vice President for Luzon; Kevin Navares, of Region 7, Vice President for Visayas; Ma. Jesa Yu, Region 11, Vice President for Mindan-ao; Armani Martinez of Region 1, Treasurer; Jobeth Dy of Re-gion 2, Auditor; and Joana Mari-elle Tividad of MIMAROPA as Public Information Officer Mr. Roy L. Nipas, Supreme Student Govern-ment (SSG) Adviser, ac-companied MORMS’ del-egation for the said training.

SO HELP ME GODVega takes oath as new NFSSG secretary. The elections were held at Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City.

Bartolome grabs top spot in statistics gabfest

Joseph Nidua Barto-lome of IV-Zircon won first place in the Regional Ora-torical contest held at Pacific

Mall Activity Center, Legazpi City last September 17, 2010.He was awarded P 5000.00 and will represent Region V to the Island Cluster level (Luzon),

on October 1, 2010 in Manila. The contest, which was conducted in connection with the National Statistics Month

Ralph Esplana of and Ivy Makabenta of IV-Zircon took home the Division Mr. STEP Skills and Division Ms. Step Skills 1st Runner-up titles respectively during the Divi-sion STEP Skills Competition last September 23-24 2010 at Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School, Guinobatan, Albay. Esplana received the Best in Talent with Makabenta also garnering the best in Fili-piniana as minor awards.Other events were Residential Wiring Installation which was represented by Roderick O. Palacio of IV-Ruby garnering the 1st spot which was coached by Mr. Amiel Militante; Hair Trimming with Facial Make-up,

Efrain Bodigon of IV-Emerald which won 1st place, coached by Mrs. Rosalina Peñafiel; Electronic Poster Making, Mer-ciline Joy Palaje garnering the 3rd Place, coached by Mr. Ro-lando Loria, Jr. and; Christian Dy of II-Mendel, Xyrel Tuson, Yves Lawrence Ivan Oarde and Patrick Dhael O. Sambajon all from I- Edison, bagged the 3rd spot on the Techno Quiz Com-petition, coached by Mrs. Ad-ela Buban. Ralph Esplana, Divi-sion Mr. Step Skills; Roder-ick Palacio, 1st on Residential Wiring Installation and; Efrain Bodigon, 1st place, Hair Trim-ming with Facial Make-up will compete for the regionals.

MORMS bets score wins in Skills tilt

continued on page 3

continued on page 3

By Christian I. Dy and Therese Isabelle S. Vega

By Jeahan Potonia

By Mean Magalang

By Lawrence Oarde

HELLO.DENR Sec. Ramon Paje (at center) answering a cellphone call.

THE OFFICIAL SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PUBLICATION OF MARCIAL O. RAÑOLA MEMORIAL SCHOOL

Exponent of Campus-Based, Community Oriented High School Journalism

MORMS scribes post wins in Division Press ConNEWS/ page 2

Achieving an environmentally sustainable PhilippinesOPINION/page 5

The tragic story behind abortionLITERARY/page 7

A simple wishfor Christmas

FEATURES/page 9

VOLUME LVI- ISSUE 1 JUNE-DECEMBER 2010 16 PAGES

NEW Sections:Science, technology and Health, page 12Community Development, page 13

2

The battle of wits in the field of campus journalism was fought during the Regional Secondary Schools Press Con-ference held last November 9-12, 2010 at Marcial O. Raño-la Memorial School, Guinoba-tan, Albay, pursuant to Region-

MORMS is taking its chances in bringing home the bacon in the Memo Plus Gold IQ challenge Search for Bicol’s Best Quizzers. Christian I. Dy of II-Mendel and James Ob-staculo of III-Dalton won in the Monthly finals of the said competition last October 25, 2010 and are qualified to par-ticipate in the semi-finals. After the team won in the weekly eliminations held last October 9, 2010, they qualified for the monthly finals. In this round, they were fitted against teams from dif-ferent schools, both private and public, after the said teams

MORMS hosts Regional Press Conference

al Memorandum 135, s. 2010. The Regional Second-ary Schools Press Conference was attended by winners in the Division-level Schools Press Conferences, held in Bicol's 13 divisions namely, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, Ligao City, Legazpi

City, Naga City, Tabaco City, Iriga City, Sorsogon City, and Masbate City, and their coaches, as well as officers from the 13 division offices. Winners in the RSSPC will represent Bi-col in the National Schools Press Conference which is to be held in Butuan City.

STEP leads Nutrition Month celebrations

To highlight the Nu-trition Month celebration, the Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) department with the Student Technolo-gists and Entrepreneurs of the Philippines (STEP) Club con-ducted a two-day culminating activity last July 29-30, 2010. The two-day event was composed of contests and activities such as the poster-making and slogan-making which are the start up activi-ties. During the second day, a cookfest, which showcased inexpensive yet nutritious dish-es, highlighted the program. The said activ-ity, which focused on pro-moting good nutrition was headed by the STEP Club.

School bets moving up in IQ Challenge

were also able to qualify in the monthly finals after compet-ing with other schools in other sets of weekly eliminations. In the weekly elimina-tions, they defeated the teams of Ligao National High School, Casiguran National High School, and Aquinas University of Legapi. They also outwitted teams from St. Louis the Maril-lac School of Sorsogon, and Tabaco National High School, both of which have also won in separate weekly eliminations For winning, the team was awarded 2000 pesos, to-gether with certificates for each of the team's members. The IQ Challenge is a quiz composed of questions

from General Knowledge and Current Events, Mathematics, English, Science, Filipino and other learning areas. The con-test is a collaboratio between PBN Brodcasting Network, Incorporated, and Memo Plus Gold. The Department of Edu-cation makes the questions be-ing asked in the competition The semi-finals is scheduled to be held on February 12, 2011. If the team wins this round, it will qualify for the Finals to be held on February 19, 2011. The team was coached by Ms. Salome Altavano and was chaperoned by Mrs. Ar-senia P. Pasion, both from the English Department

Twelve Student-writers of Marcial O. Ranola Memo-rial School topped the Indi-vidual and Group Contests during the 2010 Division Press Conference held at Polangui General Comprehensive High School last October 7, 2010. Christian Dy of II-Men-del and Xyrel Tuson of I-Edison both grabbed the 1st place in Feature Writing in English and Filipino Category respectively. Therese Isabelle Vega and Mark Jay Pradiez both of IV-Galileo both bagged the top rank in Ed-itorial Writing also both in Eng-lish and Filipino category. Rose Ann Plotado of IV-Galileo got the 3rd place in Copyreading and Headline Writing Filipino. The Radio Broadcasting team of MORMS was adjudged champion in Radio Broad-casting English. The team is

Campus scribes post DSSPC wins

composed of Ma.Katrina Sac-ueza, Maricar Ojano, Maria Genica Chavez and Christian Rey Notario all of II-Mendel, Mean Magalang of III-Ar-chimedes, Jeahan Potonia of I-Aristotle, and Yves Law-rence Ivan Oarde of I-Edison. Their team also won awards for Best Anchor, Best News Presenter, Best in Infomer-cial, and Best in Scriptwriting. Contestants for the English Category were coached by Mrs. Maria Jovita Mariscotes, and contestants for the Filipino Category were coached by Mrs. Sarah Red. DSSPC winners are qualified for the Regional Level Schools Press Con-ference which is scheduled on November 9-12, 2010 at Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School, Guinobatan, Albay.

Mrs. Rosylin S. Lo-ria, Teacher III of Marcial O. Ranola Memorial School was one of the 14 qualifiers among more than 100 ap-plicants for the Mombaka-gakusho Scholarship(Teacher Training Category) all over the Philippines. Her training is in Hiro-shima University. Her 18-month training course in the said uni-versity started last October 2009 and will end on March 2011. Her training focuses on Physics Education, and Devel-

Loria in Japan for training grant

opment of Teaching Materials. Loria underwent a rigorous screening which in-cluded the submission of study abstract, taking writ-ten tests and interview.

MRS. LORIA

CAMP FOR MOTHER EARTH

Page 3

TLE feeding program a continuing success

Page 3

GOLDEN VOICESMORMS’ Radio Brodcasting Team during the DSPC

FRUITY PARADEFreshmen at the head of a parade of fruit bas-kets during the Nutrition Month Celebration

By Christine Jane Gonzalez

By Christian Rey Notario

By Christine Jane Gonzalez

3NEWS

Studes show wits in Padunungan 2010

MORMS scored 4 wins in the 2010 Padunungan, held at Daragang Magayon hall at Aquinas University of Legazpi, in Rawis, Legazpi City last October 29-30, 2010. Therese Isabelle S. Vega won 1st place in Extemporaneous Speaking, and also ranked 1st in Essay Writing. Tifanny Villac-eran won 3rd place for Tigsik Writing. The team composed of Zane Arden Namora, Christian Dy and James Obstaculo also

won 1st place for the Quiz Bee. The winnings resulted to MORMS’ being 1st runner up in the over-all rankings. The Padunungan is an annual event organized by the UP Ibalon, a campus or-ganization of Bicolano stu-dents of the University of the Philippines- Diliman. Their coaches were Ms. Mehlaine Clamar, Mr. Hector Ryann Oxales, Mr. Orfelino Vibar, Mrs. Evelyn Egar and Mrs. Violeta Bernal.

Marcial O. Rañola Me-morial School holds a feed-ing activity where 30 students benefit. The program started last September 2010 at the MORMS’ Home Economics Building, and is continuous-ly being implemented by the school. The said activity tar-gets first year students whose weight are 26 kilograms and below, and are considered mal-

TLE dept. continues feeding program

nourished. The source of funds are the revenue of the TLE can-teen, situated in the Second Year area. “The feeding program is held to improve the health of the undernourished students,” Mrs. Velasco said. Mrs. Adela Buban is the coordinator of the said pro-gram and Mrs. Nerissa Velasco is in charge of feeding the stu-dents.

The School Youth for Environment and Science (YES) Camp was held last Oc-tober 19-21, 2010 at Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School. Seven hundred fifty par-ticipants joined the said camp. Competitions, plenary ses-sions and camp courses were

Camp advocating environmental consciousness conducted

conducted during the event The YES camp is an echo of the National YES camp being organized annuallly, in summer by the Center for Stu-dents and Co-Curricular Affairs ( CSCA) of the Department of Education. The most recent was held last May 2010 at

Teachers’ Camp in Baguio City. The YES camp was organized by the Youth for Environment in Schools Or-ganization (YES-O), under its president, Jeremy Mer-cader, of IV-Galileo, and its adviser, Mr. Virgilio Morcozo, of the Science Department.

cees as one of the Ten Outstand-ing Young Men in 1996.

Paje, a Career Executive Ser-vice Officer (CESO) also held positions such as junior forester conducting field inspection of reforestation projects of then Bureau of Forest Develop-ment (now Forest Management

Bureau), senior forester, service director, and assistant secretary prior to his appointment as undersecretary in 1998.

Paje, a member of MORMS’ batch 1977, also supported the construction of MORMS’ Alumni Building, a project of the MORMS Alumni Associa-tion (MORMSAA).

MORMS alumnus...from page 1

Bartolome...from page 1

celebration, revolved on the theme “Towards Philippine Sta-tistic System Responsive to Na-tional and Global Challenges”, and was sponsored by the Cen-tral Bank of the Philippines and the Department of Education. Earlier, Bartolome was adjudged first during the Di-vision level Oratorical Con-test held last September 15, 2010 at Malabog National High School, Daraga, Albay.

Other winners dur-ing the Regional contest were the contestants from Tabaco National High School and Legaspi City High school, who garnered second and third place, respectively.The first five winners in the Is-land Cluster Level for Luzon will compete in the National Level on October 29, 2010 in Manila. Bartolome’s coach was Ms. Salome Altavano, of the English Department.

In compliance with its Standard Constitution and By-Laws ,the Supreme Student Government (SSG) held the election for the 1st year rep-resentatives last July 2, 2010. The winners were Yves Lawrence Ivan Oarde of I-Edison, whose garnering the highest number of votes re-sulted to his election as 1st year level chairperson; Xyrel Tuson of I-Edison, Riza Moratalla, of I-Cattleya, Vanehsa Claire Londono of I-Edison, Karl An-thony Palencia of I-Anthurium, Patrick Dhael Sambajon of I-Edison, Karen May Oyardo of I- Aristotle, Nica Jane Peraro of I-Cattleya, and Diana Perez of I-Edison, and Maxine Pa-trice Malicdem of I-Edison. “The elections will promote civic involvement to the students. It will create an awareness in them that they are necessary in the build-ing of society.”, Mr. Roy L. Nipas, SSG adviser said. The said election was headed by the Com-mission on Elections of the Supreme Student Govern-ment, which was activated 2 weeks before the elections.

FreshmenelectSSGreps

Marcial O. Ranola Memorial School conducted for its National Maintenance Week for Secondary Schools (NMWSS) or the briga-da Eskwela last May 2009.The school’s Supreme Student Government (SSG) officers circulated solicitation letters to different non-government agencies (NGO’s) to support the said activity. The accumu-lated amount was used to buy snacks for the volunteers and some materials for the repaint-ing and repair of the classrooms. To promote further par-ticipation by the parents, the SSG also sponsored a raffle pro-mo where all participants to the brigada eskwela were entitled to join. The prizes were school supplies and school bags need-ed for the coming school year.

“I am grateful for the efforts made by the parents, staff, stakeholders, students and faculty,” said the SSG Pres-ident Therese Isabelle S. Vega “The participation of parents in preparing the school for the resumption of classes is very helpful in reducing the costs of repaires for facilities so that the funds can be used for other services helpful to our students. The expenses for the prizes for the raffle was a small portion of the savings gener-ated”, Mr. Roy L. Nipas added. The NMWSS, which was participated in by the stu-dents, parents and teachers of MORMS is an institutionalized activity of the Department of Education geared towards preparing the schools for the yearly opening of classes.

Brigada Eskwela 2010 held

COOLING OFFTeachers pause for a short ice cream break after cleaning their rooms during the Brigada Eskwela

OWN BACKYARDSeniors during a tree planting activity held in the back portion of MORMS

By Jeahan Potonia

By Christine Jane Gonzalez

The Philippines is challenged by a small but terrible foe-the dengue mosquito, Aedes Aegypti. Over the previous year, dengue has been feared and has become a major cause of mortality in the country. Dengue has left 465 Filipinos dead since January 2010. It has changed the lives of 90000 people in our country. Dengue is a feared threat to every Filipino.

The number of dengue fever cases rise everyday. Everyday, a child gets bitten by a mosquito and suffers the Dengue Hemor-rhagic Fever. The Department of Health (DOH) lacked extra effort in reminding that a possible outbreak could happen. They only started acting after they had noticed a rise in the number of dengue cases by 300%.

The Filipino community became too relaxed and focused on earning a living that they never anticipated the outbreak of the disease. They have become too busy to be cleaning dirty canals, throw away stagnant waters and segregate garbage. They have forgotten that mosquitoes never were a friend.

The government, too, is also relaxed. Only information dis-semination is being done on a large-scale basis. The people do not pay for posters and fliers alone.Nor do we pay taxes to have a government as relaxed as we are. We could’ve prevented the spreading of Dengue through community wide actions. But the die is cast. It is now an epidemic. It is the government who has the resources to prevent further spreading of the disease, to cure those with dengue, and give hospitals more technical support as well as support in terms of manpower and logistics.

Yet, the government seems to preoccupied by appeasing Hong Kong and China, with regards to the hostage drama in Manila. So everything is left to us.

The rising figures are tragic, because dengue is in fact a prevent-able disease. We just need to prevent the multiplying of mosquitoes by eliminating possible breeding grounds. Protecting oneself using mosquito nets, repellants, and protective clothing will also help in minimizing the rising numbers. People should also seek immediate care when flu-like signs and symptoms appear.

While the government remains preoccupied with the aftermath of the Quirino Grandstand tragedy, it needs to pay attention to the threat brought about by the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes. The government needs to realize that dengue poses a deadly threat to the life of each and every Filipino. We need to bang the drum more loudly. No bungling here. All of us need to realize that mosquitoes were not and never will be a friend. TIV

TALKING POINTSCHRISTIAN DY

EDITORIAL

Dengue Dilemma

4

Poor as church rats-- this is the current status of student orga-nizations in MORMS. After the implementation of the Depart-ment of Education or DepEd’s “No Collection Policy” regard-ing Miscellaneous Fees, clubs and other school organizations receive no more funds to begin with during the school year.

Most of the students and par-ents view the policy positively, because it lessens the school expenses to be paid. However, a small deduction to the weight the pocket bears has finally taken its toll on the school. The Quill itself and its counterpart in Filipino, Ang Sinag, are strug-gling to produce the school publication. The Supreme Stu-dent Government is constantly troubled by budget shortages. Some school organizations are totally out of funding.

As a result of student orga-nizations’ lack of finances, MORMS often has to give up

on contests, having no funds to pay for the registration fee of participants, and in the few cases where the school organi-zations find money to pay for contest expenses, the amount is only good for entering few participants to competitions. Still, there are many cases when the participants shoulder all the expenses-- often reaching hundreds or even thousands of pesos.

There willl be even greater negative effects on the school if the school paper cannot be published due to budget deficits. One, alumni and other stake-holders will not be updated on the events happening within the school--this would prove disas-trous because our school relies heavily on alumni for financial support. Also, our alumni give less fortunate, yet diligent and determined students, scholar-ships for college. If the dilemma on this lack of budget continues, many students who can only

rely on college grants to finish studying may not be able to get the scholarships that they need to pursue college degrees.

If we cannot keep in touch with our stakeholders through our school publication, then we cannot expect for class-room repairs from donors. We cannot expect that stakehold-ers will give our school much needed financing if they are not informed of the problems as well as the developments hap-pening in MORMS.

Let us think again before we turn our backs on the mis-cellaneous fees. Is avoiding to pay fees totalling to about 200 pesos worth all the trouble it will cause the school and the studentry? After all, when the school is in trouble, it will still be our pockets which will pay an even greater price, and above all, it will be our less fortunate students who will suffer in the long run.

Small relief=Bigger Problems

EDITORIAL STAFF

CHRISTIAN I. DYEditor-In-Chief

THERESE ISABELLE S. VEGAAssociate Editor

JESSA MARIE MONZONManaging Editor

SECTION EDITORS:NEWS-- Jhoanne May Millete; FEATURES--Shaira

Orogo; SPORTS----Asti Nasayao; LITERARY---Jazzielle Panesa; COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT---Clarice Nasol SCI.TECH.---Christian Rey Notario,Christine Joy Acero

CONTRIBUTORS:Yves Lawrence Ivan Oarde, Mean Magalang, Jeahan Potonia, Earl Fred Orozco, Jelyn Oliquino, Christine

Jane GonzalesCARTOONISTS:

Merciline Joy Palaje, Rhea Ivy Nimo

THE OFFICIAL SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PUBLICATION OF MARCIAL O RAÑOLA MEMORIAL SCHOOL

Exponent of Campus-based, Community-oriented, High School Journalism

Vote Buying;The death of

EDSA

Page 5

NAT; Student Excellence; Bicol History;Project LEAD

Page 6

5OPINION

LastOctober5,2010,Secretary Armin Luistro oftheDepartmentofEducation(DepEd) announced to thepublic the full details of thenewlycalibratedK+12program(K forKIndergarten,plus12years in Basic Education).TiminghisannouncementtothecelebrationofWorldTeachers'Day,LuistrosaidthattheAquinoadministrationwantstoensureagoodfutureforthosewhowillnotbeabletofinishcollege,andthisiswhytheyhavecreatedtheproposalwhichaimstoteachhighschoolstudentsspecializedskillswhichwillhelppromotethecountry'sindustrialization. As soon as Luistroreleasedthis announcement,therewerenumerousnegativecommentsfromtheteachers,theparents,thestudents,andmanyothersectors.Accordingtothelatter,DepEdisnotyetprepared

forthechanges,citingthelackoffacilities,competencytrainingsfor teachers,andeducationalmaterials.ItiscleartothepublicthattheAquinoadministrationwantstoproducemorestudentswhichthe country canutilize in itsurbanization,The public hasnothingagainstthat.However,let us put into considerationtheperennialproblemsinourpublicschoolswhichareyettoberesolved.Letusalsothinkof theever-increasingpublicdebt, as well as our hugebudegetdeficit.AnincreaseinthenumberofyearsinBasicEducationmeansmoreexpensesforthegovernment,andatthispoint,ourcountrycannolongeraffordtogodeeperintothepitofdebt. Also, what is thegovernment's assurance thatthosewhowill not be under

K+12,thosewhowillnotbeputundertheprogram,willnotbesubjectedtodiscriminationinjobs,sincethemostpreferrablechoiceforemploymentwouldbe the graduates of the newprogram? ItishardlyimaginablethatDepEdseesthisasatributeto our teachers, who duringWorldTeachers'Day,shouldbegivenrecognitionfortheirselflesswork. The choice betweenimplementing K+12 andsettingitasideliesinthehandsof others, those who are inpower.Wecanonlygodowntoourstudies,andperseveretoachieveabrighterfutureamidstthe darkness of uncertainty.Whilethegovernmentconsidersitsproposalas"newdoorsthatwillopenup"forouryouth,itfailstounlocktheolddoorsthatremainshut.

K+12: A plus or a minus?

TEXTWRAPTHERESE ISABELLE VEGA

BEHIND THE BY-LINESJESSA MARIE MONZON

Poverty breeds grief. Poor people usually fall victims to calamities. Last September 26, 2009, Typhoon Ondoy struck the National Capital Region and some areas in the Region IV-A leaving 300,000 with shattered dreams and 47,000 hopeless, homeless and hungry. Surveys show that more than half of the people devastated by typhoon Ondoy are living in slum areas. They also showed that there were higher number of casualties there compared to the provi-dent areas in Metro Manila. Analysts also say that a country which does not care for the environment is the most prone to calamities wrought

by nature. This shows that we have a very unstable en-vironment. This pictures a fu-ture that is hanging off a cliff. But something can still be done. Even students can do something to help achieve environmental sustainability. Planting trees is a must in order for us to achieve en-vironmental sustainability. For instance, MORMS has a population of 4, 095 students. If all students would plant trees, that would mean 4,095 trees to grow and to care for. That also means 4,095 new trees to give off oxygen and give us fresh air to breathe. The province of Albay set a very good example in re-planting when super typhoon Reming hit the province in

the year 2006. The provincial government of Albay headed by Gov. Fernando V. Gon-zales distributed vegetable seeds and tree seedlings to the residents of Albay. They had the initiative of starting a new life after devastation. Following the three meter easement away the riv-erbanks will also be helpful in saving lives and achieving environmental sustainability. The millennium devel-opment goals are a timely and a focused move of the govern-ment and the United Nations. It is somehow an assurance of a bright future for the world. The future is still bright. The sun is still shin-ing behind the dark clouds. Man always decides the future.

Environmental Sustainability: The Philippine Scene

Selling-out The tricycle driver plying downtown routes boastfully said to me after the recent barangay elections that he sold his vote for 1500 pesos. The said candidate won. He also told me that one of the candidates didn’t even make an attempt to buy votes, though he was seen as an able candidate, better than the one who emerged the winner. The driver saw this can-didate as a hypocrite. I saw this driver as a dead man. Why? Selling one’s vote is selling one’s freedom. And without freedom, what does on have? His life? He will not be able to defend his life without his freedom. Without freedom, one only has his soul, and selling one’s freedom equals selling one’s soul to the devil. Our country is a democracy. Suffrage is the blood and soul of every democratic country. The government is only liable to us because we can vote out the leaders that we deem incapable.Elections are the only way to channel our sentiments to the government. It’s indirect expression with direct response be-ing generated. The huge voter turn-out during the 2010 elec-tions only shows optimism for the future. The opposition vic-tory last 2007 showed the public’s displeasure in the government.The recent barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections were nothing but a bidding process. The highest bidder, whoever he or she is, won the position desired. Voters saw their votes as an asset, a cashable one, more like a check. Politics has evolved into a new monster, one that can turn anything into gold. The day after the elections, voters flooded the pub-lic market and in less than 5 hours from when the stores opened, the vegetables were sold out. I doubt that when they eat pinakbet cooked out of vegetables bought with dirty money, they will even think of the consequences of selling their sacred votes. This is the Filipino mind. It is one-track. When I got down the tricycle, I handed the driver 5 pe-sos. I saw a police car ahead. I wouldn’t wonder if a cop comes out and extorts from him the same 1500 pesos he got from the dirty local politician he chose. He can’t defend himself. He’s been bought. This is the kind of government that will rule our communities for the next 3 years. He’ll just have to learn this lesson, and try not to commit the same mistake 3 years later. CID

EDSA:A dead spirit? The year 1986 ushered the wind of changeAll the world was singing one song and the Philippines was no exception. The dictatorships of the 70’s were falling like ten-pins; and in the country there was this little spark that Marcos could never have prevented from becoming a huge pyre that consumed the remains of his government. The fire went off, and the whole of Marcos’ barn was reduced to mere ashes. The peo-ple had risen up. The streets were filled with a movement for change. The night was cold, the breeze swept the city of Ma-nila, but it wasn’t enough to cool down the emotions of a peo-ple—the burning desire for change. That night was on February 24, 1986- the last night Marcos slept as President of the nation. What began as Senator Benigno Aquino Jr’s fight was now the cause of millions in the streets of Ma-nila and millions more in the provinces across the nation. When the spark had become a bonfire, demise had be-fallen on the dictatorship. The widow of the martyred senator became president of the nation, and the small band of soldiers who desperately fled Marcos’ purging was now a group of cel-ebrated heroes. The Filipinos were singing “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” (The Gift of the Filipino to the World) and while there was gunfire in Central Europe, here there were only fireworks. But all this was 24 years ago. The spirit of EDSA had ceased to burn. The torch was afire no more.The turn of the 21st century killed the fire off completely. A “pirated copy” of the revolt was staged by the middle and up-per middle classes against the unpopular government of Jo-seph Estrada. It wasn’t people power. It was power play. In May of 2001, when the new government was in place, powerless people-the masses- who were still loyal to Estrada tried to seize power through “EDSA 3.” But it was suppressed violently. Thus the death So how do we rekindle the EDSA spirit? The revolution will certainly not begin in the streets. It will ignite in the hearts of the Filipino people. Revolution will begin through personal change.Let us get involved in national development. Let us be the change we want to see in the world, as Gandhi once said. After this, surely, the EDSA spirit will be lit afire once more, and it will blaze on forever.

6OPINION

MORMS’ poor perfor-mance in the National Achieve-ment Test (NAT) in successive years only suggests one thing- s o m e t h i n g needs to be done. With this urgency, the school decided to re-locate the ar-eas being oc-cupied by the fourth year level and the second year level. The second year students now oc-cupy the Alumni Building and the buildings that surround it, while the fourth year students have been transferred to the Araling Panlipunan Building, and in the classrooms near it. The reason for the re-location is simple, to have the students focus further on their studies, and to make review-ing for the National Achieve-ment Test more convenient, considering the accessibil-ity of the Alumni Building to many subject departments, and the school administration. A doctor first diagno-ses the patient before he could make some prescriptions. So what is the problem with our second year students any-way? The answer is distrac-tions. The relocation partially solves this, but does far from curing the patient completely. Let us dissect the is-sue. What are the things that distract our students from fo-cusing on their studies? One is that students that are not be-ing closely attended to tend to flirt among themselves. The second one is the toleration of activities unrelated to the cur-riculum. When there are school programs dance groups which are not at all recognized by the school formally are being in-vited to perform during events. Performances made by such dance groups during school events often end up to be out of character. At one instance dur-

ing the Regional Schools Press Conference, one performance had the almost classic song “Ako’y Isang Pinoy” by Floran-te mixed up with heavy metal,

h i p h o p and rap songs in English, s o m e with ex-plicit and illicit lyr-

ics. This is clearly a profana-tion of the values that the song by Florante promotes. But perhaps no one seems to no-tice. Better yet, when such per-formances are being made, our students become an unruly mob willing to stampede to the front seats just to get a view of the their new idols. We don’t need demi-gods. We need good NAT results, academic excellence, and more graduates produced. There is this question about the issue: Don’t we have our Special Program for the Arts (SPA)? We do. This is exactly the point. Why let our formal school events become a scene of mob rule, when we could get our SPA to do what they do best- and they do very well at it- that is, to sing, dance, and play instruments for the audience? That way, we will be promot-ing the excellence of our SPA. Computer gaming, among other distractions found in the internet and in computers are also present, as well as explicit music, lit-erature and visual materials.Now back to the relocation is-sue, the move by the school administration will be of help in getting higher scores in the NAT. But it will be fully ef-fective if and only if the stu-dents’ distractions are deliv-ered a death blow. Weeds will keep on growing if they are not fully uprooted. And weeds will strangle the good stock of plants in the garden- that is, the good scores being achieved by our diligent students.

Digging Deeper:One Problem, Many Roots;One Sickness, Many Cures

CHANGESThe MORMS Alumni Building, previously being occupied by the seniors, now houses second year classes.

Bicol History, What’s That? This was the question asked by a student a while ago. MORMS advocates the promoting of Bicol history among the youth through ar-ticles concerning the history and culture of the region. However, when such articles are being published, the stu-dents seem to not care at all. In the age of globalization, perhaps it is supposed to be usual. But what is usual isn’t always what is right. And erasing one’s roots is cer-tainly wrong. One student was asked, “What is Ibalong?” The student replied, “Is that somewhere in Legazpi?” No.

It is not. It is the Bicolano epic, a tale of kings, which if examined, is a clue to more discoveries concerning Bi-colano civilization during the Philippines’ age of ep-och. This student can’t re-ally be blamed for not know-ing what Ibalong is, nor can we blame the rest of the Bicolano youth. The blame must be on the lack of infor-mation being spread about Bicolano heritage. However, in MORMS, there are articles on Bicol history and cul-ture being published. The information is there for the

students’ use. However, one student, this time one from MORMS, was asked, “What is Ibalong?” He replied with a question “What’s that?” This is something to be scared of. Our heritage is being erased without us knowing it. How can we call ourselves Bicol-anos if we don’t even know why we are Bicolano? We must go the extra mile, and try to know our in-heritance as a region. In Iba-long it is said that we come from a great race. If such is true, then we must rediscover our forgotten past, and in the process, regain the elements that made us great before.

Achieving Student Excellence

What is it MORMS that makes it a winner in con-tests but a loser in diagnostic exams? This is a troubling question indeed. We know for sure that there are stu-dents in MORMS who do more than what is expected of them. But why is it that we still fail to do well in achieve-ment tests? The answer is be-cause, although a number of students exceed the expecta-tions, most simple can’t meet such expectations. How do we meet these expectations then? The style of teaching must drastically change. Teachers must go the extra mile. In addition to this, strict regulations must be implemented by the school administration to make sure

that students stay as disci-plined as they can when they are in the premises of the school. Also, more student services must be done by the Supreme Student Gov-ernment. The Reading and Peer Tutoring Services must be strengthened. The school must classify students ac-cording to their ability so that those needing extra help can be given the help they need through catch up class-es, and other measures. In addition to such measures, incentives must be given to those who serve as good examples to their fellow students. Such in-centives will need minimal resources, for the printing of certificates, awarding of medals perhaps, or for some

form of cash incentive. The point is simple. Something rewarding is something worth doing. And if studying will be a rewarding activity for the students, then it can be expected that students will do their best to get the incentives they deserve for striving for excellence. It is not natural intel-ligence that makes one stu-dent excellent. It is his ability to strive for academic excel-lence. It is determination that sets students apart. There are 4000 students in MORMS- 4000 potential minds wait-ing to be unlocked, 4000 dreams that may come true. The school must give them all the help they need to turn these raw dreams into sweet reality.

Excellence is a prod-uct of hard work. To recog-nize students who strive for excellence, the concept of a reward system for students’ exemplary performance has come to life. Leaping on Excellence and Academic Development (LEAD) is an award scheme proposed by Mr. Roy L. Nipas and is un-der the Guidance Office. It will be under full implemen-tation next school year. LEAD will not only help boost morale among our students, and motivate them

to excel, it will also produce examples for the students. Such motivation is high-ly needed in order for the school to gain high marks in diagnostic exams such as the National Achievement Test (NAT).

MORMS needs a stock of highly motivated students in order for it to be able to achieve greater heights and be highly com-petitive on the local and on the global stage. LEAD will create a change in students’

outlook on their studies. It will teach the students that education is a rewarding stage, a step towards achiev-ing a better future. LEAD awardees will also be motivated to push their knowledge further, and excel even more. It will cre-ate a new flavor in the way MORMS recognizes the ef-forts of its students. LEAD is leading MORMS to new doors, doors waiting to be unlocked by young minds eager for knowledge.

MORMS Project LEAD: Opening New Doors

VIEW FROM THE GROUND

Christian I. Dy

By Lawrence Oarde

By Christian Rey Notario

7LITERARY

“Mom, Let Me Live”A SHORT STORY

By Jazziele Panesa

The afternoon was dark and gloomy, and the grey clouds blocked out any brilliant ray the sun could’ve offered them. A girl stirs her head a little to the side before cracking an eye open to see a hand shaking her awake. “W-What?” Aria asked in a weak, exhausted voice as she looks at the person beside her. It was all she could manage at the moment. She was feeling desperately ill and retching. It took her a few sec-onds to settle on his vague im-age, but as soon as her vision settled on him, Rae spoke in a seemingly unbelievable soft voice, “I think you’re preg-nant.” It was the softest voice she had ever heard. Yet it was one loud whisper- one that will echo through her entire life. This little life inside Aria’s womb could destroy their lives. It was a dilemma. Rae

assured Aria that he’ll try to support their child, and that they’ll find a way out of the possible shame it will bring them, and the scandal their families will face. Aria knew another way out. The child inside her body must cease to exist. Yet she had this question in mind: “Would Rae agree to it?” Rae, who wanted the child, would sure-ly not. But even if he did, she knew it would be difficult.But desperate times lead people to doing desperate actions. When morning came, she’d finally called up some-one she had arranged to meet the previous day. Though she’s still feeling ill and dizzy with almost every move, Aria braced herself as she opened the door to meet her. Her name was Noelle; a schoolmate whom she knew had undergone abortion twice already. Aria had never spoken to her before, not even once. All she’d ever heard about her

were rumors which had once circulated their whole cam-pus. She had often seen her in school almost every day, even loitering with some people a few hours past their school dismissal, and when she heard that rumor about Noelle get-ting pregnant, she knew she shouldn’t have been surprised. Though it wasn’t actually proven yet at that time, she al-most felt disgusted of her, even resented her for what she’d done. But now, she blocked out all those things she knew about Noelle. All she wanted was somebody to help her deal with their problem and help her get through with this abor-tion. She knew there wouldn’t be any turning back now. She had settled her mind. And this would probably be for the best for her and for her boyfriend. After a brief walk they arrived at a building not even decent enough to be called a home. It was in the filthiest

slum in the city. They sat on a worn-out couch and were met by an old woman. The old woman didn’t need to hear a word from her. She knew all too well Aria’s business with her. Thus began the opera-tion. It may have been an un-nerving scene. But the abortion was pushed through anyway. After the process, even before Aria could regain con-sciousness, the operation was over. It took less than 20 min-utes. The old woman took the payment for her “service”, and told Aria never to come back to that address again. And then suddenly,

she felt pains in her abdomen. She had tumors in her womb because of the operation. The obstetrician said that this may cause her infertility. She may never be able to have children again. She sank in the seat. All she could do was listening, and fill her heart with pain. She and Rae eventually separated. They couldn’t take the grief anymore. It was bet-ter for the two of them. As for Aria, she could only watch her dreams of having a happy fam-ily shattered. Abortion wasn’t a way out of her problems. It was a way in to a nightmare. She could only learn from the past.

Section Editor:Jazzielle Panesa

Section Editor’s Note:Contibutions for the Literary Section are being accepted through the email address indicated. Contributions are subject to editing for clarity, conciseness and grammar.

Editor’s Note: The issue on the Reproductive Health Bill is one pressing concern that plagues the Aquino administration. The following story is one of a teenage mother who had an un-wanted pregnancy. Her life in the years to come would soon be determined by a choice she makes- a fateful and a fatal one.-CID

MAYON

The Mayon is quite a lovely QueenThe Queen of our humble race

Who fills our soil with her grace,And has her wondrous beauty seen

Lovely is our Queen Mayon, Who fills with loveliness our azure sky

And fills with awe our every eye,Be it in daylight or even nigh

IBALONG

O, Kadungung, tell our youth,To open their eyes on pleasant truth,Truth of Kings Handong, and BaltogOf the valiant hero named BantungFill their ears with your lovely poetry, That they might not forget their ancestry,That they are Bicolanos in blood and virtue,That they are part of Ibalong their whole lives through.

POETRY SECTION

ESSAY

8

Ibalong:A Civilization Forgotten We Bicolanos, particu-larly us Albayanos have al-ways traced our ancestry to a cosmopolitan race created by years of multicultural interac-tion between earlier Filipinos, the Malay settlers, the Chinese merchants of Fujian Province in the southern coast of China, or perhaps with the Spanish Conquistadores. We have al-ways considered ourselves as non-original residents of the peninsular region of Cama-rines, like the pioneers of Con-tinental America. Furthermore, we have always dismissed the epic of Ibalon as nothing but an epic that ran through the mind of a Spanish friar named Fray Bernardino Melendre-ras, after all an epic is gener-ally fanciful, a storehouse of legends, myths and exaggera-tion combined to form a story. This never-ending narration of kings, glory, heroes, war and bloodshed is to the Bicolano mind, a fictional part of region-al culture. In popular culture, it is celebrated only in a culmina-tion at the streets of the City of Legazpi. The history behind the story is yet to be known.

The story begins with Iling, a talking bird who asks Kadungung, a bard to relate the story of the land of Aslon and its revered ruler Handyong; its heroes and its glory. Aslon is a vast pen-insula now occupied by the provinces of Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorso-gon, and the island-provinces of Catanduanes and Masbate. It had a rich cultural past and a tempting wealth. Its topo-graphical feature includes a set of three towering mountains looking over the people—Asog, Masaraga and Isarog; and a lake where the maiden Fair Lakay was laid to rest.The first hero to emerge from this kingdom was the brave Baltog, honored his subjuga-tion of the infamous Tandayag, despised for being a pest to the farmers. He ate crops in the area and thus many attempted to cause the demise of the creature but all to no avail. Since he was such a predicament to the farm-ers, Baltog decided to assume the responsibility of slaying the beast. He accomplishes this task and was considered a hero.

During this time, a tribal mili-tary leader named Handyong en-ters the scene after his overland journey that began somewhere south of Aslon. He slaughtered all kinds of creatures with the help of his handpicked band of warriors. One being how-ever proved to be a difficult foe for the valiant Handyong— it was Oryol. Oryol was a half hu-man, half serpent who had a hypnotic gaze. Oryol was also an expert of deceit. But the twpo would later be allies and they would slay all the croco-diles that infested the Bikol River and instilled fear upon other beasts that inhabited the realms of the kingdom, mak-ing it easy for Handyong to drive the away from Aslon. With all this carnage being over, the people of Aslon were able to live in peace.With these exploits, Handyong consolidates power and se-cures the throne for himself. He is hailed king. He starts to make laws for his people. Ag-riculture prospered and during this age, prosperity gave rise to new inventions. He would later build the first boat to ply

the Bikol River. His court in-ventor, Kimantong would in-vent the rudder. More inven-tions were made during this newly organized government. The people of Ibalon were more than happy to cooperate with the king. Progress was without flaw, or so it seemed. One day a deluge of massive dimensions struck the king-dom. It brought havoc upon the people. The volcanoes Hantik, Kulasi, and Isarog exploded as floods took place. With this tre-mendous disaster, many altera-tions on the physical appear-ance of the land, took place.

A strip of land rose in Pasakaw; an islet rose and it was called Malbogong; and in Bato, a mountain sank and formed a lake that provided the people with all the fish the people needed. But as soon as this apocalyptic scene was over, Ibalon rose on its feet and ac-cumulated power even more. Kadungung at this point unveils the story of Bantung, whose major exploit was his conquest of Rabot, a half-man, half-beast whose gigantic size was made with a solitary eye whose gaze could turn men into stone, as he did to those who at-tempted to put an end to his life. By a fortunate hunch, Ban-tung, embattled by great odds, guesses correctly that Rabot was a heavy sleeper. In front of a thousand warriors, on a rainy day, he successfully times his assault to the moment when Rabot was sleeping away his hours. He splits the creature in two, and eradicates this Cy-clops from the face of the earth. Bantung delivers the corpse to Ligmanan, to be viewed by Handyong. This sight was so unnerving that even the brave ruler was not able to cope with utmost disgust he experienced upon seeing the lifeless corpse. Suddenly, Kadungung stops, leaving the story unfinished.

So could such an epic be true? Why would such an epic stop instantly? With these puzzling questions that ran through my head, a was left curious of the said civiliza-

THE HANGING BRIDGE at Barangay Malbogon, Libmanan, Camraines Sur

BOATS WAIT for passengers to embark on a boat ride along the Bicol River.

Educ’l. Tour2010/PAGE 11

FAMILIES BEING REUNITED THIS CHRISTMAS

Page 10

By Christian I. Dy

A Christmas Wish9FEATURES

tion. An insatiable craving for knowledge about the epic was born in me. Such void could only be filled by investigation. Some of the places men-tioned in the epic retain the same name up to now. Given this for a fact, I decided to re-search on the history of Bicol during the pre-Hispanic era. I was able to find compel-ling facts. Also, after collect-ing information from various sources, the clues guided me to the Town of Libmanan, in the province of Camarines Sur. Libmanan, or Ligmanan as it was mentioned in the epic, is nestled upon the coast of the Bikol River Basin, a source of water for the Bikol River. Upon setting foot on the mu-nicipality, I rushed to explore the area, and embarked on a boat-trip on the Bikol River, towards Barangay Handong (notice the similarity of Han-dong with Handyong) where thick layers of shell and broken pottery are apparent. Every-where in the area, chinaware, clay and stone ware can be seen. Through research I found out that the layer of shell pres-ent is actually the covering for an ancient gravesite (shellbed burial) which occupies an en-tire half of the Barangay. Why would such a huge gravesite be needed for a settlement which, during the pre-Christian era, had relatively less people? Only two possibilities were present—there was a massive famine or this place was a scene for a great natural disaster.Evidence was to clinch this puzzle—storage potteries large enough to fill a sack of rice found in the area. This indicates that famine was far from possible, since this settle-ment was plentiful with food. Based on the accounts of famous German-Russian traveler, Feodore Jagor, hu-man and animal remains have been found in Libmanan dur-ing a road construction, about the time of his arrival to the Philippines. The way these remains were positioned led him to a conclusion that these remains belonged to those who died during a flood. His travels date back to 1851.Let us remember that a massive natural disas-

ter happened in the epic. Further into the place is Sitio Bingkay where more ancient pottery can be uncovered. Walk-ing through an aisle made of compacted earth is a footbridge that leads to Barangay Malbog-on. ( a place called Malbogong was mentioned in the epic)In a place called Tangkong Baka, a certain American ar-chaeologist was able to un-earth the remains of a human being some seven feet tall, adding up the possibility that this oversized creature was mistaken by old folks as the Cyclops mentioned in Ibalon. In Libmanan, another evi-dence to support the real-ity of Ibalon was a lid for a burial urn containing the icons of Ibalon. This artifact is now displayed in Naga City. With all this cultural richness, one may wonder if ancient gold can be found in the area. From the locals, I learned that nary a single nugget of gold was discov-ered in the area which adds another piece to our jigsaw puzzle. Let us remember that the people of Aslon contribut-ed all their gold to Handyong so that his golden throne may be made. Unfortunately, the throne is yet to be found. Combining all the pos-sibilities that exist, the chances of finding proof of a civilization called Aslon are increasing. We Bicolanos, like the Warays of Visayas, the Moros of Mindanao have something to be proud of , which is more precious than a single relic. We may have Ibalon. In fact, we may be Ibalon. As long as that remains to be a possibility there is much pride in our col-lective heart. For to think that there are things buried under our feet that we do not fully understand right now, but are a direct link to our past, and account for a significant frac-tion of our cultural heritage is heart-warming. There could be a civilization culturally refined to which we can trace our race. Maybe such civilization is not lost, simply forgotten. The epic of Ibalon is perhaps an unfin-ished business because it is left for us to finish. Like the epic it-self, the quest for Ibalon is left for every Bicolano to finish.

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a rai-sin in the sun?”

With these lines from “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, I wonder what happens to the dreamer. Does he shrug off the bad memories that come with the failure, and above all, does he lose hope of living the dream he once longed to reach? All of us, at some point in time, dared to dream, and failed. So this coming Yule, all I wish for is to be able to hope once more --to see the same rain-bow Noah saw when the great flood finally came to an end. Hope is the most dan-gerous thing to lose- and I’ve come close to losing hope. By accepting the fact that the whole and the broken live side by side, I personally recov-ered; however, some do not. During these perilous times when our country is suffering so much indignity, when dis-appointment is at an all-time high, when terror is corrupting our dreams and the gathering darkness of fear is consuming society, we turn to The Ulti-mate Embodiment of Hope, and as we celebrate His com-ing, we wish that we be given the gift of hope in perpetuity. However, hope is a gift that one must let himself re-ceive, and this is the difficult

part. To be able to be worthy of this gift, we must learn to deal with our past—and forget-ting the experiences that hurt will never be the solution. Be-sides, would we be better off if the media did not show any-more images of the tragic hos-tage taking in Manila? I don’t think so. We must hold on to the memories of the mistakes we have committed in order to learn from them. Accep-tance of the actions we regret to have committed will ulti-mately lead to the gift of hope. Time heals all wounds, and it would take a whole lot of time to cure the injuries this nation has long suffered from, as well as the wounds it has inflicted other nations.

But Christmas is the season of eternal hope. Let us remem-ber that while there is a tiny spot of light visible amidst the darkness we are experiencing, the end of the tunnel can be reached. Jesus came in a time of challenge. Through the tough times of today, let us always bear in mind that Christmas Is that little candle that reminds us that He is with the world. As we mark this day, eighty-eight days from Christ-mas (as of the time of writing), let us all dare to dream. Let us all wish for better fates. Let us share love and goodwill, and surely, 88 days from to-day, Christmas will exude the sweet scent of lasting hope

Theater of Life Entertainment is a re-prieve from the realities of life- or so it seems. But is this really so? In ancient Rome, en-tertainment was presented in the form of the Circus and of Gladiator fights. This was also done in the form of Christians being slaughtered in the arena or fed to wild beasts for the purpose of entertaining the crowd. It was usually held in the Coliseum, or the Roman Amphitheater, where a huge crowd gathers for these events (it is said that the Amphithe-ater could seat 12000). The emperor is present to grace the occasion, and to act as judge whenever there is a situation of life or death for the gladiators. This scene of gladia-tor fighting is depicted in Juan Luna’s “Spolarium”. If one were to look at the painting, one wonders how this could serve as a reprieve, when the harsh realities of life can be seen in the picture. The losing gladiator is usually killed; his body is carted away by slaves

to be buried or in most cases, fed to the lions. In these events, bread was given for free to the crowd at the command of the emperor. Hence, the term “Bread and Circus”. These public entertainment we would later know, served another purpose. It diverted people’s attention from the political and economic issues at hand. In our town, we have a public entertainment in the form of free television viewing in the town plaza. The theater area is situated in a covered stage, (on the same stage where the Bicolano folk song, “Sar-umbanggi” was first played) with rows of seats at the front. It also serves as a waiting area for stranded passengers or people just whiling away their time. There are the uni-formed students from different schools with their cellphones, very young children running around (God knows where their parents are), jeepney drivers waiting for their vehi-cle to fill up, the usual tramps,

and some very old people with their meager belongings. The film showing be-gins at noon, with gameshows featuring “easy-to-get-rich” segments which are the crowd’s favorite, followed by teledra-mas in the early evening and late at night by not-so-old movies. If one were to look closely at the people in this area, one would notice that they come from different walks of life. They are people who face up their day with anxiety, with fear of uncertainty. They are people who resort to this visual entertainment for their reprieve.

If all of us could keep ourselves entertained as such how would we focus on the real issues af-fecting us? Do we ever wonder how some of our countrymen get by their daily lives in spite of the growing poverty around us? With all the leaders we have elected into position, where is the nation leading to? I watch in the sidelines, and doubt if I will ever be entertained.

SHARDS of pottery as well as thick layers of shell in what the author believes to be a shell-bed gravesite

By Christian Dy

The Son of God taking the form of man- this is Christ-mas. Yet that modest scene in a stable in Bethlehem depicts a family. And for this reason, we find Christmas incomplete without being together with our family- the sole element that makes one house a home. The Philippines cel-ebrates the longest Christmas season on earth. Yet during this season, so much longing fills the air- longing of children for their parents who have gone abroad to look for greener pastures outside this poverty-stricken country of ours. In their pur-suit of securing a brighter fu-ture for the families they have temporarily left at home, they sacrifice being with their loved ones. Our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are regard-ed as heroes in our times. Yet they are simply parents, moth-ers, and fathers missing their children. And while they work hard abroad, sons and daugh-ters look out in windows dur-ing starry nights, hoping that the day they’d see their parent back home would come soon. I wish that all Filipino families would be together this Christ-mas, yet that wouldn’t solve anything. As a follow up, I wish that every Filipino worked harder here in the country; I wish that our government pro-vided more jobs and business capital so that opportunities would flourish in our country, and there won’t be any need for working abroad. But the scene grows

bleaker everyday. Families not being together during Christmas Day symbolizes our nation-a nation of poverty, a nation having a brain-drain, a nation losing its labor force to other countries, a nation slowly being sold to slavery! It seems that there should be at least 1000 more wishes to be spent to fix the Philippines before families of OFWs could be complete on Christmas Day. Yet, a wish, no mat-ter how impossible it may be, wouldn’t hurt. So, I’ll go back to my earlier wish: that every OFW’s family will be com-plete this Christmas, even just for an hour. On Christmas Eve, I won’t be hanging a sock, or wait for Santa Claus to put gifts under the Christmas tree. I will be waiting near our window, and maybe, just maybe, my aunts who are in the States will suddenly show up and knock at our door, and every OFW will go back home to dine with his or her family. And when every little child waiting for his father who is a seaman, or his mother who is a caregiver, flashes a big grin on his face, for his parent is staying until December 26th, then that would mean Christ-mas. I’ll be wearing an even bigger smile by then. But for now, when my wish isn’t still due, I’ll be sending my aunts Christmas cards. As for my wish, well, who knows? It may come true. Christmas is a time of many surprises. God does things in ways we’d never think are pos-sible. Christmas itself is a tes-timony to this.

10FEATURESA Christmas reunion

Mud was everywhere, on the moist ground, on the paved roads, and on the narrow aisles. There was mud on my feet as well, but no matter, we were to pay homage to those who passed away, we were to go to the cemetery. Well, at least this was what went on in my mind when I was 7 years old. Now that I am twice that age, little have changed-the mud is still on the ground- except my whole perception of the 1st of November. When I was a child, I kept on wondering, why there are mausoleums, why we of-fer flowers, and light candles for the dead. Perhaps, to honor the departed, as my mind sug-gested. Now, I still keep on

wondering. Only this time, my mind has a different answer. Whether Christian, or Muslim, or whatever reli-gion, we all know that there is a huge, impenetrable void between the living and the departed. After life here, they live a different life, in differ-ent worlds- far from ours. Now my mind suggests that it is the ego of the living that is fed by building mausoleums. And no matter how we “placate” spir-its with flowers or candles, if we have not been kind to them in the earthly life, when they were still roaming with us in human flesh, we cannot change the heartaches we have caused them. So what is the signifi-

November 1 bluescance of November the 1st? It is for remembering moments with those we have lost. Happy moments shared together. It is remembering their legacy in us. Now back to the mau-soleum issue. If we will calcu-late how much affluent families spend for their fabulous mau-soleums, up to 10 college-aged students can be made scholars. If they will spend this amount for the education of a number of students, the memory of their loved one will live forever in the hearts of living men. For living men are the only ones capable of remembering. The soil forgets. It leaves millions of years to fading memory. So does the grave.

LAND-AND-SEASCAPEMt. Mayon protrudes in the scene. Legazpi Boulevard, as shown in the photo is at the coast of Albay Gulf.

‘Round the Slopes of Mayon At all angles, Mayon dazzles the eyes equally. This was proven dur-ing the Educational Tour 2010, a trip around the slopes of the majestic volcano. The first stop was in Mayon Resthouse, a jewel nestled at the slope of Mayon itself. The Planetarium in the complex contains displays on astronomy as well as various volcanic activities of Mayon. The complex is located in Ta-baco City. When one begins the trip in Guinobatan, the shortest way to the resthouse is through Sabloyon Road. Next in line was the workshop of Philippine Ce-ramics, a factory for mass pro-

duction of sun-dried terra cotta pottery. There were pieces of pottery of various motifs. There were even designs con-taining Philippine maps. There are lamp shades and vases of all sorts, as well. The sun-dry-ing technique helps the potters give more detailed designs on the pottery. Philippine Ceram-ics is a 10 minute drive from Twi Geothermal Power Plant.In Tiwi’s town center lies Tiwi Church, where an image of Our Lady of Salvation is be-ing housed. The said image is believed to be delivering mi-raculous healing, and one will notice that visitors to the place rub handkerchiefs on the im-age. In the resort called Viento del Mar, in Bacacay, Albay was the next stop of our tour. The resort is built on the coast of the Albay Gulf. Boat-ing rides cost only 10 pesos per head. There the crescent shape of Albay gulf is so apparent that from the beach it looks no bigger than a lake. One will find so much to write about the place- the breeze, the sunset, the sea. Next we toured Legaz-pi City and dropped by Embar-cadero de Legazpi, the newest tourist spot in the city. It lies near the Legazpi Port. Its posh interior is perfect for func-tions in this fast growing city. The huge dome is the center of the building, while the watch-tower stands out as the icon of the whole complex. There are several shops and boutiques, as well as restaurants, and stalls.

And while it may be considered a mall, one will not feel like in-side a mall at all. The feel of the place is unlike malls that cage the shoppers in. There is also an obstacle course in the complex. A hill is also behind the place, and a drive along Legazpi Boulevard is a satis-fying sightseeing trip that will fill the visitor with awe as he witnesses Mayon in all her glo-ry, as land and see meet in the foreground. Finally, we reached Al-bay Wildlife Park, on Lignon Hill’s footsteps. There are various types of animals in the park, many of which are not native to the Philippines. There are also displays on animal sci-ence. There are bikes for rent, which cost only 20 pesos per 20 minutes of use. A boat ride on the man-made lagoon is worth 10 pesos. All in all, to tour Albay, one doe not need a large sum of pocket money in order to have a whale of a time. All that one needs is himself, a sense of thrift, a curious mind, and paa-sion for travel. Besides, here in Albay, there is more than what the common person knows. Here, there are a million hues unfolding right before your eyes and you won’t even know it. And this is the mystery of the place. Mayon knows too well ho to treat the tourist to a hard-to-forget tour, There is much to see in Albay than just Mayon. Yet in every destination in Albay, she stands firm in the background, and in every scene, she remains the star.

By Lawrence Oarde

By Rhea Ivy Nimo

By Christian I. Dy

PHOTO COURTESY OF: MRS ARSENIA PASION

11SPORTS

MORMS has launched its beautification drive, aimed at preparing the school as venue for the upcoming athletic meets. Clubs and school orga-nizations were assigned their respective zones. The principal will give awards for the cleanest and most beautifully prepared zones with a cash prizes for the

The seniors remained unbeatable in the School Inta-murals, after holding on to the top place overall, a title they have for a long period of time. The seniors gained 600 points in all the events, in-cluding the athletic meets, the Literary, Musical and Dance Competitions, the Dance Sport, the Search for Mr. and Ms. In-trams, and the Mass Demon-stration, easily making them

Boxing is the talk of the town-at least in our town, and in any other town in the country. The 7-division champion, now the Hon. Manny Pacquiao is the star of every television set, each time his fight is on air, and an entire nation punches with him, as he fights his boxing contend-ers half the world away. All of them (his opponents, of course), fall like bowling pins against the unstoppable fist of the congressman from Sarangani. And since everyone loves boxing, we’ll talk about boxing. First, here’s a brief history of the sport.The origins of boxing are un-known. Homer describes a two-man fight in Iliad, but it is too ambiguous a description to be directly attributed to the kind of boxing we know as a com-mercial sport (with the amount of money involved in the sport, “commercial” would be the best way to describe modern box-ing). Records indicate the sport was part of the ancient Olympic Games of 688 BC. Plato men-tions boxing in both The Repub-lic and the dialogue Gorgias, and the poet Pindar elegized the Olympic boxing cham-pion of 474 BC. The Romans also embraced boxing, turning the sport into the gladiatorial fights they so often diplayed in public, and for the public.

Boxing did not reappear in society until the restoration of the English monarchy in 1660 The first mention of a staged fight came in an English newspaper in 1681, and the first boxing champion—self-appointed—was James Figg, who claimed the title in 1719. James Broughton, drew up a set of rules in 1743 promoting the idea that boxing was a le-gitimate British sport. Brough-ton’s rules prohibited hitting below the waist (note the “no hitting below the belt” rule) or hitting an opponent who was down(knocked out). Brough-ton also promoted the use of gloves known as “mufflers.” After boxing was nearly banned in Great Britain, after the issuance of a law prohibiting prizefighting in the kingdom, boxers migrated to the United States, where it flourished. Boxing has a special place in history. The Louis-Schmelling fights are the most emminent example of this. The first one was in 1936. Max Schmelling defeated Joe Louis via knock-out just 31 seconds before the last round. This was a victory of the German propa-ganda against the U.S.. Shortly, in 1938, by the time Germany had swallowed up Czecho-slovakia and Austria, Max Schmelling and Joe Louis had

a rematch. June 22 1938 was the date. And 2 minutes and 4 seconds was the length of time it’d take Louis to knock-out the German. This was a hard blow against Germany’s pro-paganda machine- which was badly needed by German dic-tator Hitler, to rally Germany into his war- the war to devour Europe, the Second World War. The winner may be de-termined in a number of ways. They are by disqualification, which may be filed by any of the two competing parties, through a sports commission, or a sports board, such as that in Nevada; by knockout (KO), when a fighter is knocked down and cannot get up within the count of ten seconds ; by tech-nical knockout (TKO), which is declared when a fighter is judged physically unable to continue due to injuries or does not answer the bell to begin the succeeding round; or, at the end of all rounds, by decision using the scores tallied by the ringside judges, (usually, there are 3). In our nation’s popular culture , boxing is nearly in-dispensable. Imagine if Manny Pacquiao (who is about to re-tire, by the way), didn’t any-more fight boxing matches. But no matter, everyone still loves boxing, and as Pacquiao’s fight with Antonio Margarito is com-ing, we wish him all the luck.

Meets to be held in MORMS

winning school organizations. Signposts have also been put up in vari-ous areas of the school. “The principal’s idea of promoting cleanliness in the school is new and is effective”,Roy L. Nipas, SSG Adviser and Badminton coach says.

Seniors champ 2010 Intrams

the champion for this year. The juniors came in second place with 300 points, followed by the sophomores with 156 points. The fresh-men came in 4th place, gar-nering a total of 80 points, while the Evening Opportu-nity Class gained 14 points. Meanwhile, win-ners in the athletic events are to represent MORMS to the Municipal Meet

Boxing: Past, Present, Future

OUTSIDE A RINGMr. Virgilio Morcozo officiating a boxing match during the Intrams 2010

YOUR MOVEThe chess matches at the library during Intrams

HIGH UPThe Seniors cheerdance team

Section Editor:Asti Nasayao

Staff:Yves Lawrence Oarde

Earl Fred OrozcoJeahan Potonia

The municipal, cluster.provincial and regional meets will be held in

MORMS. Be there!

By Asti Nasayao

12Sci., Tech, Health

Marcial O. Ranola Me-morial School was declared overall 1st runner up during the Division Science Quest held last September 22-23, 2010, at Sto. Domingo National High School.Earl Fred Orozco of I-Edison garnered 2nd place in Science Quiz, Level One. Diana Perez, Xyrel Tuson, and Yves Law-rence Ivan Oarde got 5th, 10th and 15th place respectively. Christian Dy and Mar-lex Tuson, both of whom are from II- Mendel, tied up at 6th place in Science Quiz, level two. Christian Rey Notario got 13th place in the same event. Zane Arden Namora of III-Dalton got 1st place for Sci-ence Quiz level 3, while Carlo Nikko Mar, Mary Claire Moje-no ranked 3rd and 4th place respectively. Angeline Aba-reta and Richfel Millare both ranked 9th place. Angieline Broqueza of IV-Galileo got rank 8, for Science Quiz level 4. Alyssa Zscharina Torres and Raymoon Constantino both reached 13th place. Christian Panesares ranked 3rd place for Super Quiz Bee. For the Student Category of Sci-Dama Level I, Charles Dave Destreza got the 8th spot, while Luigi Moyo got 10th place. Marcel Morales garnered the 6th spot for Sci-Dama Level IV. Mark Anthony Mesina, Regine Simondac, Danah Faye Olitin, Gibran Conrad Botial, Jeriza Osabel, and Cedric Men-doza of IV-Zircon grabbed 1st

place in Jingle Singing Con-test. Christian I. Dy got 2nd place while Therese Isabelle S. Vega got 3rd place for Essay Writing. Tiffany Villaceran of IV-Santos made it to 2nd place in On-the-spot painting while Shiela Loma gained the 3rd spot. For the teachers’ con-test, Mr. Virgilio Morcozo Jr. got the 7th place in Sci-Dama. Ms. Brenda Montas, Mr. Rich-ard P. Riobaldez, and Mrs. Amelia M. Gonzales got the 5th place in On-the-spot im-provisation. Mr. Riobaldez, Ms. Montas also garnered the 1st place with Mrs. Norlin-da Marquez and Mr. Ramon Oyardo in the Team Competi-tion for the Teacher’s Quiz. Mr. Riobaldez garnered 1st place for the Individual Category of the Teacher’s Quiz. The coaches for the different events were Mrs. Ro-wena Munoz for Science Quiz and Sci-Dama Level One; Mrs. Lea O. Londono for Quiz (Level 2); Mrs. Lea R. Pa-liangayan for Level 3 Science Quiz; Ms. Brenda Montas for Level 4 Quiz; Mrs. Jocelyn P. Castelo for Essay Writing and; Mr. Richard Riobaldez for Sci-Dama Level 4. All teacher-contestants were coached by MORMS Principal III, Mrs. Gemma R. Saberon-Sapo. Top 3 placers for the individual events and the 1st place for team competition (teachers) and Jingle Singing Contest will represent the Divi-sion of Albay for the Regional Science Quest.

SCIENCE NEWS

MORMS: 2nd in Science Quest

Ignacio going national in SIP

Romulo Ignacio of IV-Zircon is going national for the Students’ Investigatory Proj-ect (SIP) sponsored by Intel Philippines, for his investiga-tory project entitled, Capsicum

Frutescens Extract as Insect Killer. Ignacio’s coach is Mrs. Lea R. Paliangayan, Officer-in-Charge of the Science Depart-ment, and Chemistry teacher.

A NEW SECTION OF

The QuillSection Editors:

Christian Rey NotarioChristine Joy Acero

Siling Labuyo as InsecticideEditor’s Note: The following is the Abstract as well as some other details about the research project “Capsicum Frutescens Extract as Insect Killer”, the winning entry of Romulo Ignacio, of IV-Zircon for the Regional INTEL Science Fairs. The entry won 2nd, and has qualified for the national level.

IGNACIO

The study entitled, “Capsicum Frutescens Extract as Insect Killer” was conducted last July 2010 to August 2010 to determine the effectiveness of the Siling Labuyo Extract

in killing insects particularly flies or in the native language, “langaw”. The isects were con-trolled from the researcher’s backyard while the siling labuyo fruit was collected from Binog-sacan, Guinobatan, Albay. Insects are such vectors of some diseases to humans and other vertebrates. The elimination of insects from our environment requires simulta-neous application of all possi-ble control measures from the insect’s swatter to the best that sanitary engineering can offer. Nowadays, insecticides are getting more and more ex-pensive and many chemicals are being used just to make an effective insecticide, well in fact these dreadful chemicals can affect the health of the peo-ple who will handle the insecti-cide. Due to this phenomenon, the researcher came up with this study. The study is very

significant since it resolves and answers everyone’s problem.The researcher used ripe, unripe, combination of the two, and dried Siling Labuyo fruit and compared which one is more feasible in kill-ing the experimental insects. Based on the data from the feasibility tests, Treatment C-25 mL water and 9 grams of ripe Siling Labuyo Extract mixture, the results are the fol-lowing: 99 % mortality on the house flies. This means that the mixture with greater amounts of Siling Labuyo extract has more significant effects against flies compared to the treatments. The Siling Labuyo extract showed promising re-sults indicating it could be feasible substitute to commer-cial insecticides. The use of Siling Labuyo could be one of the ways in eliminating chemical solutions that harm our environment and health.

TechWRAPCHRISTIAN REY NOTARIO

Technology is the prod-uct of man’s discovery and hard work combined. The modern age has given rise to the most sophisticated technological in-ventions yet. Among these are the various media of telecom-munications, among these the cellphone and the computer. People who are oceans away can communicate with each other, and through these media, all nations have been bridged together. But with these advance-ments come the effects of mis-use of such media. Cellphones have become an addiction, and since cellphones have limited character counts for texting, using shortcuts to reduce word lengths have become part of this addiction as well. Hence, a growing horde of people who can’t use English correctly—and in the 3rd largest English-

speaking country yet! Next is the growing use of social media like face-book and twitter. These social networking sites can be very beneficial if used properly. However, in such sites, there are countless diversions that wait to make the user an ad-dict, for instance games, sense-less quizzes, and spam mails that tell you to send a certain message to a certain number of people otherwise something bad will happen. And in many cases, these social networking sites are being used by many terrorist organizations to re-cruit members. Also there are many scams on such sites, of-fers which are outrageously generous. There are also many abusers waiting for people to fall victim to their malicious plans, such as those who in-vite others to have an “eyeball”

with them, a meeting between two people who met each other only through social media. But as said earlier, these social media can be used for the benefit of the community and the society. For instance, outreach programs can be pro-moted through such media. Open letters could be made to politicians via facebook. The people can also join participa-tive discussions concerning the nation on such sites. Causes can be promoted through the social media. Although these social media have potentially nega-tive effects if not used prop-erly, these sites are bridges, and bridges are used to elimi-nate the gap between people. Besides, we have the ability to decide on a case to case basis. We always have a choice. And we should choose responsible use of media.

Responsible use of technology and media

13

COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENTcomdev_thequill@yahoo.com

News on how MORMS students are creating better communities

Section Editor:Clarice Nasol

Student initiatives: From healthy farming, to tree growing; from recycling to computer trainingPage 14

Studes out to help communities

Juniors, Seniors start outreachprograms

THE WORLD AT HER FINGERTIPSA beneficiary of an outreach program on computer education for the underpriveleged learns to use a computer

A community is a not just as simple as group of twigs that are bundled up together, a community is a complex sub-ject that needs time and knowl-edge to understand, and this was proven true by the students of Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School with their outreach pro-grams aiming at creating better communities. Programs promoting environmental protection, and helping achieve the Millenium Development Goal of educa-tion for all have been initiated by students from the 3rd and 4th year levels. The said pro-grams have been started last July 2010. The third ESEP stu-dents from III-Dalton and III-Archimedes have initiated pro-grams programs that targeted marketing and selling products that derived through recycling. Some programs of the said sec-tions also advocated tree plant-ing and producing sustainably-grown food. The programs

being implemented by students form III-Dalton are Old and Dirty to New and Lovely, a recycling project; Planting for Selling (P-4-S), a project fo-cusing on sustainable farming; School Bottle Campaign; Trash Makes Revolution, also a recy-cling project; Bottles into Col-lectibles, an initiative to make handicrafts out of thrown-away Polyethylene (PET) bottles; and Crafty Junks, also a recy-cling project. Students from III-Ar-chimedes have initiated the projects Teach a Few Save a Lot, an initiative to give edu-cational assistance and moti-vation for children with spe-cial needs; 3R’s Alert, which advocates waste segregation; Planting tree is living free; Tree Planting, Proper waste disposal Towards Cleanliness; and The Relevance of Environ-ment for everybody’s Success (TREES). For the Fourth Year students from IV-Galileo and

IV-Zircon the programs have been based on community out-reach. The programs are Con-tingency for Computer Skills Development for Computer Skills Development, a weekly computer tutorial for the un-derpriveleged youth; Help To-day Build the Future; PLAY Movement; and ImpEdAL. The projects initiated by the seniors which revolved around envi-ronmental consciousness and protection were Plant Veggies, GSIC (Green School is Cool), The Backyard Market, GWCS (Global Warming Needs Com-munity Service), Veggie Good, and Veggies for All. Each outreach program has a page on the social net-working site, facebook. The programs use facebook as their information dissemination me-dium. The adviser of the pro-grams is Mr. Rolando D. Loria Jr, MORMS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Coordinator.

Teachers assign community work as class project

By Jeremy Mercader

Mr. Rolando D. Loria Jr and Mr. Roy L. Nipas have assigned community work as class projects for their stu-dents. Nipas, a third year teacher from the Araling Pan-lipunan Department, gave tree planting in communities as a project for his students. Lo-ria, MORMS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Coordinator, and com-puter education teacher for all

the sections of the Engineering and Science Education Pro-gram (ESEP) tasked his stu-dents to initiate outreach and environment projects using ICT as their medium of infor-mation dissemination. The said teachers oblige their students to submit narrative reports of the projects, every grading period. In an earlier statement, Nipas said that community work will help the students gain knowledge of being productive members of the community.

2008 outreach programs is nucleus of student initiatives

By Jeremy Mercader

The 2009-2010 nar-rative report on the outreach programs being initiated by MORMS is now the guide of students in launching their own outreach programs. As stated in the report the vision of the outreach pro-gram is to allow the maximized use of ICT resources by using Marcial O. Rañola Memorial School (MORMS) as a ‘central hub’ of ICT learning to under-privileged youth in our region and to provide ICT learning experience to rural schools and out-of-school youth in the nearby barangay. “Student Assisting Stu-dents” (SAS), a computer lit-eracy workshop which helps elementary age pupils from the Guinobatan area gain basic knowledge in computer opera-tion and allows students who are currently attending MORMS to help their community by shar-ing their knowledge, formed earlier in 2008 is now the back-bone of student-initiated com-puter training programs. “New Experiences through Technology” (NETT). Recent technology has opened up the possibilities of computer

technology to those who are blind. NETT began on February 28, 2009 with two blind out of school youth from Guinobatan and ten students of MORMS. An additional outreach program was proposed entitled “Students assisting Students – Special Children” (SAS – Spe-cial Children). It is a training workshop to selected SPED pupils in the SPED Class of Ca-malig North Central School. Due to the said out-reach programs, MORMS has received attention form a number of Non-Governmen-tal Organizations. MORMS’ partner-NGO in the outreach programs, HotCity Wireless, Incorporated, a New Jersey-based organization, has been constantly providing MORMS with computer equipment, which help in the initiatives’ progress. MORMS has also re-ceived computer sets from in-dividuals in support of its out-reach programs. “We hope that the stu-dents’ initiatives will help gain more attention for MORMS”, Mr. Rolando D. Loria, MORMS ICT Coordinator said in an ear-lier statement.

14COM. DEV’T.

A community having a greener environment is what Angeline Abareta, Clarice Na-sol and Mykha Mae Martilla of III-Dalton envisions. As part of their ARALING PAN-LIPUNAN project regarding community development they came up with a program called “Planting for a Change”. The program is a very convenient solution on how people can help prevent the total destruction of the envi-ronment by means of planting trees. It aimed to increase the number of trees in the com-munity as the manifestation of preservation and environmental care. They encouraged people to help preserve the environ-ment and to make the whole

community greener. The group started the program by asking permission from the Barangay Captain of Ilawod, Camalig, Albay. With the cooperation of the people living in the barangay who donated seedlings and young trees, the program was imple-mented. They gathered a total of 15 young trees and seed-lings. 3 were coconut young trees, 4 were mango seedlings, 4 were santol and 2 were sili. The planting activity was con-ducted last August 8, 2010 at Ilawod, Camalig, Albay near Nuarin’s residence. The group is having its schedule of visiting the planted trees to see to it that the trees are growing.

Saving the world, one tree at a time

Collecting juice drink foils to convert into a beauti-ful and useful bags, organizers, and other handicrafts is what WIKIPEDIANS do, a group from III-Dalton composed of 6 members joined together for a program called “Trash Makes Revolution” in MORMS. The program started on July 3, 2010. It aims to improve the income generating capacity of the students of MORMS and residents of the community. It also aims to alleviate the lives of the people and reduce pov-

erty. It also aims to contrib-ute in the maintenance of the cleanliness in school and the community. The program encour-ages everyone to practice recy-cling and to make others aware of the problems confronting our country and even the whole world. The products derived from the recycling program are being sold. The proponents also hold exhibits during school ac-tivities and advertise their pro-gram through information dis-

semination and by using social media like facebook, twitter and blogs. As an environmental project, one of its goals is to decrease the waste production.In their own ways, Wikipedi-ans are helping to reduce the waste in our school and in our community through recycling.

Turning trash to treasure

WHICH IS WHICHA student sorts out juice foils for recycling.

HOMEMADEMembers of Surfers Generation create products out of plastic bottles

A “bottle” to save nature

Let’s do something to help! Surfers Generation, a group of juniors initiated a proj-ect called “Bottles into Collect-ibles which started last June 24, 2010. The project was initially implemented in the MORMS campus.

The project aims to awaken the minds of MORMS students on the current envi-ronmental scene and what the students can do to help ease the growing problem on global warming. Surfers Generation is composed of Clarice Nasol, Ma. Janina Murillo, Maria Lei-la Monge, Marissa Mendones,

By Christian Rey Notario and Racquel Remorque of III-Dalton. Mr. Rolando D. Loria Jr., MORMS Information and Communication (ICT) Coordi-nator, and the group’s TLE ad-viser, assigned formulating and implementing environmental programs as a project for the class, and using ICT as a means of promoting such projects.

Studes begin healthy farming Students from II-Men-del have begun a crusade to make the world a healthier place through Bio-Intensive Garden-ing, a project they have started last June, 2010 in Cabangan, Camalig, Albay. There are now 2 project sites, the second one being in Banao, Guinobatan, Albay. The project has been

started by Jesvic Naag, Chris-tian Dy, Arvin Roy Murillo and Joco Franz Amano. The project aims to produce sustainably grown food, and to serve as an example for other members of the community. The proponents also plan to expand the program by gaining support from the Su-preme Student Government.

Bringing technology to the youth Bringing technology to the world, one child at a time is what a group of seniors are trying to do. Contingency for Com-puter Skills Development, a 10-Saturday tutorial program which began last July 17, 2010 is being implemented in MORMS. The program gives training to 15 students, cho-sen from section I-Cattleya. The proponents of the program are Jeremy Mercader, Shaira Orogo, and Alyssa Zscharina Torres. The computer train-ing sessions are being held at the computer laboratory of MORMS. Each session begins at 8:00 am and ends at 11:30 am. Basic topics and applica-tions of computers are taught by the proponents. These in-clude basics on the computer unit and mouse, the keyboars, word processing, powerpoint,

internet, and user accounts and emailing. The facilities in the computer laboratory are being used for free, thus the training is also free of charge. The pro-ponents also spend their spare time on weekends to teach the trainees. The said training ben-efits the students from the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC). Since they do not have computer-based subjects, stu-dents from BEC get needed computer skills from the train-ing program. Training on com-puter usage prepares students for future jobs which require knowledge on computers. Mr. Rolando D. Loria Jr, MORMS Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Coordinator and TLE Teacher for all year levels in the Engineering and Science Education Program (ESEP) su-pervises the proponents.

PHOTO COURTESY OF Trash Makes Revolution group

To upgrade the skills of the school paper advisers and campus writers in layouting the school paper, the Department of Education, Regional Of-fice V conducted the Regional Live-in Training-Workshop on Adobe Indesign CS3 for Se-lected Secondary School Paper Advisers and Campus Writers, September 27-30, 2010 at Cha-risma Function Hall in Guino-batan, Albay. A total of 57 partici-pants were drawn out from the Divisions of Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate and Sorsogon, and the City-Divisions of Li-gao, Legazpi, Tabaco, Iriga, Naga, Sorsogon and, Masbate. The objectives of the said training-workshop as stated in Division Memoran-

Training on layouting held

dum no. 201, s. 2010 issued by the Division of Albay are: to familiarize the participants on the use of Adobe Indesign CS3; have hands-on experi-ence on layouting a school pa-per using the said software; im-prove the layout of the school publications of the respective schools of the participants and; to produce quality publication as entry to the group contest during the National Secondary Schools Press Conference. Mrs. Aida A. Naz, Chief of the Philippine Infor-mation Agency,Bicol Planning Services Division, and Mr. Raffi A. Banzuela, freelance journalist and a professor at Aquinas University of Legazpi served as the speakers of the said training.

15NEWS

The kabataang Sektor ng Pampaaralang Samahan sa Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (KSEP) held the 4th School Level competition in Values Education last November 18, 2010 Participants from various year levels joined the events. The following are the events, with the corresponding number of participants: “Tagis Talino” with 20 teams, “Di kita Ma-Reach” (Essay Writing) with 34 sudents, Poster Making with only 4 constentants (5) Usa-pang Kaibigan (Peer Counsel-ing) with 3 students, “Git aral ko” with 2 students and “Idea ko.. Gets MO? “with one con-testant. The winners for the said events are Jessa Marie Monzon, Alyssa Zcharina and Shaira Orogo of IV-Galileo for

the “Tagis Talino”, Jazzielle Panesa of IV-Galileo for “Di Kita Ma-Reach”, Merciline Joy Palaje of III-Dalton for Poster Making, Jeremy Mercader of IV-Galileo and Mark Mesina of IV –Zircon for Values Ad-Tsika Board, Jeremy Mercader for Usapang Kaibigan, David John Candelaria for Git-Aral Ko, and Joseph Bartolome of IV-Zircon for “Idea Ko, Getz Mo?” (Extemporaneous Speak-ing) The event was or-ganized by the KPSEP Officers with Me-Ann Oarde of III-Ar-chimedes as President and Ms. Christine Orolfo of the Values Department as adviser, and was supported by Mrs. Chari-to Borras, Head of the Values Education Department and the principal, Mrs. Gemma R. Sa-beron-Sapo.

Values Dept. holds school contests

After the school level competition in Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga (EP) held last November 8, 2010, the win-ners of the school competitions were sent to Malabog National High School to compete with more than 30 schools for the 4th Division Tagis-Isip at Ta-gis-Pusong Diskarte sa EP last November 12, 2010 Jazziele Panesa (Essay writing) of IV-Galileo; Mark Anthony Mesina and Sherie Ann Gubot (Slogan Making) of IV-Zircon; Joseph Barotolome

(Idea ko,. Gets Mo?) of IV-Zircon; Jessa Marie Monzon, Alyssa Zcharina Torres, Shaira Orogo (Tagis Talino) of IV-Galileo; Merciline Joy Palaje (Poster Making) II-Dalton and David John Candelana (Git-aral Ko) of IV-Zircon; and Jer-emy Mercader (Usapang Kai-bigan) of IV-Galileo were the pnes who were sent to compete for the second competition. Winners in the said competition will proceed to the National Level.

School joins contests in EP

ALBAY’S BEST STUDENTSJessa Marie Monzon, (right), and Shaira Orogo (2nd from left) with Francis Gerard Toscano (2nd from right), 2009 SEAL Most Outstanding Student and Joylen Namia (left), SSG Vice President during theawarding ceremonies of the 2010 Gawad Albay sa Edukasyon

Monzon, Orogo among Albay’s best students

The Provincial Gov-ernment of Albay named Jessa Marie Monzon and Shaira Oro-go of IV-Galileo among the Ten Outstanding Students of Albay, as part of the award-giving program Student Excellence in Academics and Leadership (SEAL). This rewards system was started in 2008 and is now organized by the Albay Educa-tion Department (PED). SEAL is for students who even at the young age show significant and positive contribution to the

school and the community Other SEAL awardees for this year are Rhod Jeram Sabater, John Eulo Bas, Micah Madelejos, Andre Nico Belen, Kimberly Rapirap, Ronald Francis Dacillo, Antonette Re-buriano, and Aaron Castillo. The multi-stage se-lection process includes in-terviews, submission of cre-dentials, and presentation of project for the community, which is the last phase of the selcetion processs. SEAL awardees will receive medal, trophy, certifi-

cate and cash prize. “MORMS congratu-lates our SEAL awardees, Jes-sa Marie Monzon and Shaira Orogo. We will be aiming at first place next year”, Roy L. Nipas, Supreme Student Gov-ernment adviser said. SEAL is part of Albay Governor Joey Srate Salceda’s campaign on education, and is under the Gawad Albay sa Edukasyon, a group of awards for students, teachers, Local Government Units (LGU’s), and Principals with exemplary performance .

Laguda ranks 3rd in search for ten best teachersReceives P 100K as cash prize

By Lawrence Oarde

LAGUDA

October 4, 2010 was celebrated in MORMS as Teachers’ Day, one day before the global celebration of the said event. The event had the theme, “My Teacher, My Hero”. The Supreme Student Government (SSG), under president Therese Isabelle S. Vega, and adviser Mr. Roy L. Nipas headed the orga-nizing of the program. The SSG also distributed solicita-tion letters from the school’s stakeholders for funding to fi-nance the conduct of the event. The opening program was conducted in the after-noon, when all classrooms were vacated for the begin-ning of the said program. The said program was held at the Joey Sarte Salceda Gymna-sium. Intermission numbers

from the different school clubs and campus organizations made performances such as singing and dance numbers. Teachers were given a meal, and gifts form their stu-dents. There were also mes-sages made by the students, delivered by the SSG officers. “Our teachers must be given due recognition for the selfless work they are do-ing for our youth. They are building our future, more than our engineers, for they are builidng people, not mere structures.”, Roy L. Nipas, MORMS SSG Adviser said. “We must be thankful for our teachers’ hard work for the school and for the stu-dents. They truly are heroes”, Therese Isabelle S. Vega, MORMS SSG President added.

MORMS pays tribute to teachers

TOKEN OF APPRECIATIONSSG officers give apples to teachers during the teachers’ day program. Mrs. Gemma Tayo is at left.

To prevent disaster through Environmental train-ing, the 2010 Division Yes-O Camp and Traning-Workshop was held at Balogo High School, Oas, Albay, September 2-4, 2010. The three-day training-workshop was participated in by over 1000 students from different schools throughout Albay Division. Various ac-tivities were held namely: academic competitions like essay writing, environmental quiz (teachers and students), spelling bee and extemporane-ous speaking. There were also SAYAWIT (jingle singing con-test), battle of the bands and environmental games in a form

Environment camp focuses on Disaster risk reduction

of laro ng lahi. Workshops were also conducted about Di-saster Risk management, Best Practices in Environmental Governance and other Envi-ronmental Ordinances, Waste Management, Stewardship and the Generation Green. As part of the activity, A Tree Planting and Adventure Trail were also conducted. The Search for Lakan and Lakambini of Division Yes Camp 2010 highlighted the en-tire activity. Kristine Jane Nota (III-Dalton) and Joescel James Ivan Grageda (III-Archimedes) were crowned as the Lakan and Lakambini of the Division Yes Camp 2010. Christian Dy (II-Mendel) ranked 3rd place in extemporaneous speaking and

got 1st place in essay writing. Carlo Nikko Mar and Maria Tricia Nasayao (III-Dalton) ranked 1st and 3rd respective in environmental quiz level III. James Carl Orbase (I-Edison) got the 5th place in environ-mental quiz Level I while AJ Pelgone (II-Mendel) ranked 3rd in Level II. Fernand Roscal, Alyssa Zscharinna Torres and Renz Collins Rosales ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in environmental quiz Level IV. Genica Chavez (II-Mendel) got 2nd place in spelling bee. MORMS’ Kaspersky Sync Masters ranked 2nd place in battle of the bands. Mr. Virgilio Morcozo, Mr Richard Riobal-dez served as coaches in the said activity.

QuillThe

OFFICIAL SCHOOL COMMUNITY PUBLICATION OFMARCIAL O. RAÑOLA MEMORIAL SCHOOL

Exponent of Campus-Based, Community-Oriented High School Journalism

Quill, Sinag writers qualify for National Press Con MORMS’ campus writ-ers always want to prove their writing prowess, and bring honor for the school. Last No-vember 9-12, 2010, they did. Four campus writers of MORMS qualified for the National Schools Press Con-ference after winning in their respective events during the Regional Schools Press Confer-ence (RSPC) held at MORMS. Christian I. Dy won 1st place

in Feature Writing in English. Therese Isabelle S. Vega gar-nered second place for Edito-rial Writing in English. Mark Jay Pradiez won 3rd place for Editorial writing in Filipino, and Xyrel Tuson won 3rd place for Feature writing in Filipino. Last October 25, 2010, the said contestants also won in the Division Level, which qualified them to join in the RSPC. MORMS ranked 1st

runner-up during the Division Level. The Radio Brodcasting Team of MORMS, which won 1st place in the Division level, also competed in the RSPC. MORMS’ wins contrib-uted to Albay Division’s rank as 2nd place. The coaches were Mrs. Maria Jovita Mariscotes for the English category and Mrs. Sarah Red for the Filipino Cat-egory.

DUCK, COVER AND HOLDMORMS students during an earthquake drill lead by the Supreme Student Government and the Citizenship Advancement Training Cadets.The drill is in line with Albay Province’s disaster risk reduction campaign

By Christine Jane Gonzalez

SSG officers join national confab Six student leaders from Marcial O. Rañola Me-morial School attended the Na-tional Leadership Training for Student Government Officers (NLTSGO) last September 3-8, 2010 at Teachers Camp, Baguio City with the theme “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work”. The students were the following Ronny Rey N. Or-pilla, Shaira D. Orogo, 4th year representative, Jessa Marie M. Monzon, secretary, Joylen G. Namia, vice president, Therese

Isabelle S. Vega, the MORMS Supreme Student Government (SSG) president and the Re-gional Federation of Supreme Student Government (RFSSG) president with Mr. Roy L. Ni-pas, the MORMS SSG advis-er. The said training aims to develop and enhance the management and leadership knowledge, skills and attitudes of the elected SSG officers through dynamic plenary ses-sions, interactive break-out sessions, and enriched discus-sion. One of the highlights

of the training is the National Federation of Supreme Student Government Elections which was held on the third day of the said training. Therese Isabelle S. Vega, the RFSSG president (Region V) was elected as the new NFSSG Secretary. The training was spon-sored by the Department of Education-Center for Students and Co- Curricular Affairs (DepEd-CSCA) in partner-ship with The Master’s Light-house Foundation (TMLF) and the Ateneo Student-Trainers (STRAINS).

By Jessa Marie Monzon

By Christian Rey Notario

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