UP Music Circle Proudly Presents Haraya on UP Fair

Wazzup Pilipinas!

UP Music Circle, a premier music organization of the University of the Philippines Diliman, which aims to contribute growth to the local music scene by establishing relationships within college music enthusiasts and thereupon generating groups of talented musicians.

UPMC is privileged to sponsor a night during UP's biggest event every year, the UP Fair. Every night during the UP Fair week, around 12,000 audience is expected to gather to witness the most anticipated concerts organized by various notable student organizations. Entitled HARAYA, it is set to take place at the UP Sunken Garden on February 15, 2017.

HARAYA, meaning imagination, aims to be a groundbreaking concert welcoming the Iskolar ng Bayan and guests alike to revive and renew the tradition of UP Fair: good company, quality performances, and a great time through new ideas and aspirations.

HARAYA aims to support the creative boom fostered by youth today, and calls for the implementation of free education, to create spaces for quality education accessible to all. We believe this step must be taken to allow the youth to bring these imaginations to life and build a world for the betterment of our entire country.

HARAYA, the sole Filipino-named night of UP Fair 2017, also supports the perpetuation of core Filipino values like kapwa and love for our own. In line with this, HARAYA acts as a stage of opportunities for up and coming homegrown bands to display their musical talent alongside some of the biggest names in Filipino music. 

At the strike of midnight, spectacular fireworks will shoot across the sky; a symbol of the turn of a generation and the uprising of the endless power of the country's youth, sprung from our imagination and determination. Join our cause and come live your wildest dreams in the realm of impossibilities at UP Fair: HARAYA.

FDCP Honors Film Ambassadors

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Film Development Council of the Philippines recognized the creativity and global achievements of recent international film festival winners during the Film Ambassadors Night 2017 held last January 31 at the FDCP Cinematheque Manila Open Grounds, T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.

Among those honored are FDCP Artistic Excellence Awardee Brillante Mendoza (“Ma’Rosa”) and Film Ambassadors Erik Matti (“Honor Thy Father”), Jun Lana and Paolo Ballesteros (“Die Beautiful”), Cesar Montano (“Nilalang”), Eduardo Roy, Jr. and Hasmine Kilip (“Pamilya Ordinaryo”), Mario Cornejo (“Apocalypse Child”), Mikhail Red (“Birdshot”), Paolo Dy (“Ignacio de Loyola”), Seymour B. Sanchez (“Caretaker”), Khavn Dela Cruz (“Alipato: The Very Brief of an Ember”), Joseph Israel Laban (“Happy New Year”), Sue Prado and Marco Felipe Villa Lopez (“The Sister”), Noriel Jarito (“Huramentado”), Vincent Soberano (“Blood Hunters”), Dominic Nuesa (“Ang Araw sa Likod”), P.R. Patindol (“Hilom”) and Bradley Liew (“Singing in Graveyards”).

Also bestowed Film Ambassador honors by the FDCP are International Film Festival Manhattan Lifetime Achievement Awardees Gloria Sevilla and Ricky Lee and IFFM 2016 winners Sigfreid Barros-Sanchez (“Magtanggol”), Ato Bautista (“Gemini”), Andreas Muñoz (“Ignacio de Loyola”), Nathalie Hart (“Siphayo”), Leon Miguel (“Red Lights”), Madonna Sanchez (“Filemon Mamon”), Giovanni Baldisseri (“Lucky Jinx”), Carlo Ortega Cuevas (“Walang Take Two”) and Rhoda Joy Blaza (“The Equation”).

Rounding up the FDCP Film Ambassador awardees are Los Angeles Philippine International Film Festival 2016 winners Carlo Catu and Robby Tantingco (“Ari: My Life with a King”), Randolph Longjas and Candy Pangilinan (“Star na si Van Damme Stallone”), Pedring Lopez (“Nilalang”), King Palisoc (“Tandem”), Soliman Cruz (“Balik”), Clanch Dayve Belleza and Albert Chan Paran (“Julie”), Anj Macalanda (“Wawa”), Niko Salazar (“Sejour”), Jae-re Louise Liwanag (“Sukat”), Katherine Olmedo (“Got it Maid”) and Leeds Animation Workshop and Pavilion (“They Call Us Maids”).

Hontiveros: Bluring Police and Military Functions, a Throwback to Martial Law Times

Wazzup Piipinas!

The plan by President Rodrigo Duterte to let the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) lead the government's anti-drug campaign is not new. PDEA has the mandate to push for efficient law enforcement in the fight against illegal drugs. "Automatic na yan."

However, unless the government's current strategy to respond to the country's drug problem is radically overhauled and the country's security forces are thoroughly cleansed of scalawags, whether it is the PDEA or Philippine National Police (PNP), the anti-drug campaign will continue to be abusive and corrupt-prone.

Hindi lang implementers ang may problema. Mas lalo na ang polisiya.

Also, the government's plan to include the military will add to the already chaotic situation. It will roll back the important gains in security sector reforms in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). It could also lead to unnecessary clashes between the military and PDEA. I am wary that allowing the AFP to implement a flawed and abusive style of war on drugs will only subject it to the same fate as the PNP.

May I remind the government that the military has a different mandate and orientation. It should not be dragged into civilian policing. While the military and PNP are both 'legal bearers of arms' they have different roles and training. The police force is for law enforcement and apprehension. The military is trained for combat duties. To blur these lines is not only dangerous, it is a throwback to Martial Law times. It is a nod to authoritarian leadership.