HCDC 'mourns over the senseless death of Carl Anthony Gaudicos'

Below is the statement of Mr. Marlan T. Jose, Coordinator of Student Affairs of Holy Cross of Davao College, regarding Carl Anthony Gaudicos' death. Gaudico, a second year engineering student at HCDC, is the latest victim of fraternity hazing--- a "brutal expression of brotherhood." See Patay sa Hazing?

AS PER school policy (Student Handbook Disciplinary Measures #55), the school does not recognize fraternities and sororities inside the school campus. The school is not against students’ right to peaceful assembly but utterly against hazing. Pursuant to Republic Act 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law, the school had acted on crack down of students who are members of existing fraternities and sororities outside the campus to sign a waiver promising not to be active nor recruit neophytes inside the school premises. Violation of this provision means exclusion or expulsion.

In this fateful moment, the school mourns over the senseless death of Mr. Carl Anthony Gaudicos. No words can appease the pain it brought to the bereaved family and the HCDC Community. Together we work hard in order to seek justice for his death.

The cycle of fraternity violence (hazing) will continue as long as there are fraternity and sorority members who recruit innocent first and second year students. Hence, a lesson should be learned from here. To all students, be vigilant and focus on your studies. Prevent falling prey to this brutal expression of brotherhood. Let us all follow the true spirit of Christian Brotherhood taught by Jesus Christ where love, peace and forgiveness abound.

To this end, the struggle against hazing is never ending. We denounce hazing as a means of brotherhood. The struggle is inside. Let us all together work for justice to our brother, Mr. Gaudicos!

Marlan T. Jose
Coordinator, Office of Student Affairs
Holy Cross of Davao College

Have we a sense of country?

Seth Mydans, of the New York Times, wrote:

The Philippines, with a population of 92 million, is one of the most vibrant nations in Asia, with a flamboyantly free press and a creative, assertive body of independent organizations and interest groups.

But it has not managed to tame its Communist and Muslim insurgencies or its restive military, which seems constantly to be plotting coups. Human rights groups say abuses by the military have returned to the levels of the Marcos years.

And the political arena sometimes seems more like a form of mass entertainment than a place of governance.

Where does the fault lie?

Conrado de Quiros confronted the same question in his speech at the graduation rites of UP Visayas in Ilo-Ilo City. He said:

We have no dearth of examples to show the lack of will on the part of this country's leaders and citizens. But where does this lack of will come from? Is it in our nature? Are we naturally flawed? Is it in our character? Are we naturally weak? Or is it, to quote Cassius, in our stars that we are underlings?

It is none of these. From where I stand, it is simply this: We have no sense of country.

Cory Aquino: Transformed by her times

Corazon Aquino was not the patriotic woman that we've come to know and love until her death. She was in her own words "a plain housewife"--a housewife who belonged to a wealthy land-owning family at that.

But like Lorenzo Tañada, another Marcos opposition stalwart, who, in Randy David's words, "belonged to that generation of aristocratic Filipino leaders—the legatees of a Filipino “ilustrado” class that imagined itself, in Jose Rizal’s words, “the brains of the country, within a few years … its entire nervous system” and whose "advocacy of civil liberties matured into a commitment to fundamental social rights"---like Lorenzo Tañada, Cory was transformed by her times.

From a plain housewife, she had become an icon of democracy.

Maligayang kaarawan Presidente Manuel L. Quezon

Today is the 131st birthday of ex-President Manuel L. Quezon, the first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines and "Father of the National Language."

Nery-ed

In his yesterday's Inquirer piece, John Nery said:

The reluctant symbol. Cory Aquino, the self-effacing politician’s wife, became a national figure only—but immediately—after the assassination. Perhaps we can consider her speech during Ninoy’s funeral Mass on Aug. 31, 1983, as the moment she assumed her new role as the true leader of the opposition.

***

“If my children and I appear to be brave during this, the most difficult period yet of our lives, it is because we know this is what Ninoy would have expected of us. It is also because of our faith in God, and the belief that he is now helping us in this, our greatest need.”

This idea of subordinating personal need (giving in to one’s fears, in those uncertain days) to something greater than one’s self (“what Ninoy would have expected of us”) is the true legacy of the Aquinos.

Haven't I said something like that in this piece?

If there’s one thing that Cory has taught us, it is that we have to rise above our petty concerns, above our predicaments, and indeed above ourselves.

But I hasten to add that this virtue is not solely Cory's or Ninoy's. It is also Rizal's and Bonifacio's and Mabini's and all those who have fought the conquistas.

This lesson was imparted to us a long time ago by our founding parents. Cory is merely re-echoing, by example, what Emilio Jacinto, the Brains of Katipunan, wrote as the first of the thirteen teachings in “Kartilla,” the primer of the Katipunan: “Life which is not consecrated to a lofty and sacred cause is like a tree without a shadow, if not a poisonous weed.”