Short docu on VP Leni wins at Dreamanila

Wazzup Pilipinas!

An epistolary documentary focused on a government office’s pandemic response efforts got a Special Mention award for its screenplay at the 3rd Dreamanila International Film Festival last November 22.

“Maria Leonor,” a short documentary written and directed by filmmaker-educator Seymour Barros Sanchez in the form of an open letter, delves into the Filipino voter’s psyche as it trains its sight on the Office of the Vice President led by VP Leni Robredo. It is an offshoot of his full-length project “Leading Lady” funded by the Centre for Global Business of the Monash Business School in Australia.

Collaborating with Sanchez on “Maria Leonor” are camerapersons Ariel Alarcon, Charles Cajayon, and Kristin Joy Bactad Jor, sound recordist Darwin Novicio, composer Tonton Hernandez and singer Jaycee Belmonte (“Tuloy ang Laban”), voiceover narrator Eloisa Espino Sanchez, editor, sound and graphic designer and editor John Lanbert Rafols, and creative consultant Richard Soriano Legaspi.

“Even the age of modern pandemic cannot simply stifle their sustained growth – and films have become, more than ever, a powerful tool to document lived experiences,” Dreamanila Founder and Executive Director Archie Del Mundo shared in a statement he signed with head of festival programming Joselito Altarejos, creative director Lemuel Lorca and associate programmer Robert Cerda.

Only 56 films were selected to compete out of more than 500 submissions to the festival, which had International Full Features, International Short Features, Philippine Shorts, and Screenwriting categories.

Altarejos and Lorca, both award-winning filmmakers, and film scholars Cerda and Jerrick David comprised the Dreamanila film festival jury and board members.

The festival had 15 competing films during its inaugural run at the Dream Theater of the then Carl Balita Productions in 2019. When the pandemic lockdown happened last year, over 30 finalists were shown via Facebook Live streaming platform on its FB page (https://www.facebook.com/dreamanila). This year, it was streamed via The Dreamanila Network (https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDreamanilaNetwork).

“Maria Leonor” is also competing at the Lift-Off Global Network Sessions this month. Based at Pinewood Studios, United Kingdom, Lift-Off features a broad range of new and emerging indie content and focuses on “fostering a digital connection with new global audiences, connecting them with a broad range of grassroots indie film talent.” The festival also runs online from Nov. 15 to 29 via Vimeo on Demand.

The film may also be viewed at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Center for Campus Art website as part of the online art exhibition “To Differ Digitally 2: Love and Dissent in the Time of Pandemic” (https://www.benildecampusart.com/exhibit/to-differ-digitally).

The project is a collaboration between the CCA headed by Architect Gerry Torres and the DLS-CSB New Media Cluster under Associate Dean Maria Sharon Mapa Arriola. This is the second time in four years that the CCA is spearheading this kind of undertaking with NMC faculty. Karen Ocampo-Flores co-curated the online exhibit with Torres.

For more information about TDD2, visit CCA’s social media accounts on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BenildeCampusArt), Twitter (https://twitter.com/csbcampusart), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/benilde.campusart/) and YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/BenildeCampusArt). 

Lacson to reduce poverty through education

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Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson plans to solve the country’s serious poverty problem by providing more people the opportunity to get an education.

In his latest video, the presidential aspirant, who has battled government corruption throughout his career in public service, points out that many young people are forced to drop out of school because of the need to help their families and because being in school is proving to be a heavy financial burden. Thus, they remain mired in poverty because without a good education their prospects are limited so they often have to settle for jobs that do not pay much.

He will launch an innovative Edukasyon Plus program if elected President that will provide free education and institute a government internship program. Each family will receive a P5,000 monthly allowance during their family members’ internship. Lacson believes that this arrangement will allow students to focus on their studies as they will not be under pressure to help their families.

“Even if education is free, young people cannot finish their studies because they have to help their families. If this vicious cycle continues, when will they be able to lift themselves from a life of poverty?” he says.

Studies show that among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines have the highest school dropout rate.

Lacson is convinced that education is the only way to give people the chance of a better future and to improve the lives of Filipinos, many, if not most, of whom still live below the poverty line. People remain mired in poverty, unable to get better-paying jobs, for lack of education, he stresses.

With Edukasyon Plus, young people can avail of free education and participate in a government internship program that will pay their families a monthly allowance. “They won’t have to choose anymore between education and work to help their families,” Lacson says. He believes the program will help many people leave behind lives of poverty.

“Edukasyon Plus is the real solution to the problem of poverty,” Lacson adds.


Lacson and his running mate, Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto, are running on the slogan “Aayusin ang gobierno, aayusin ang buhay mo.” (They will fix the government and put your life in order.)



For more info on Ping Lacson, follow https://www.facebook.com/PingLacsonOfficial.

STEM careers urgently needed post-pandemic, say former DOST-SEI scholars

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

 

Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) can be fulfilling and purposeful endeavors, according to graduate scholars of the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) who are now working at the forefront of COVID-19 research in the Philippines. 

 

Dr. Sheriah de Paz-Silava and Dr. John Carlo Malabad kicked off the 2021 National Science and Technology Week (NSTW) celebration with an online STEM Career Talk on November 22 entitled “Building A Future of Resiliency Through Health Research and Development” under the DOST-SEI’s #Push4Science initiative.  

 

Both Scholar-Graduates are products of the University of the Philippines (UP) –Manila’s Doctor of Medicine - PhD in Molecular Medicine (MD-PhD) double degree program under the ASTHRDP, which shaped their careers in the disciplines of virology and infectious disease epidemiology. 

 

“Hindi ko na-imagine maging scientist, but DOST molded me into one,” said Dr. de Paz-Silava. An alumna of the Philippine Science High School-Eastern Visayas Campus, Dr. de Paz-Silava graduated magna cum laude with a BS Biology degree from UP Diliman on a DOST Merit Scholarship. She then became an ASTHRDP scholar at the UP Manila College of Medicine, where she obtained her MD-PhD in 2019 with support from the DOST-PCHRD. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the UP College of Public Health (UP-CPH) and serves as the laboratory manager of its Virology Laboratory. She is currently working with the UP Manila COVID-19 Research Initiative, and also serves as a technical reviewer in several clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines.  

 

“It’s one thing to live, and another thing to live with purpose… It’s an opportunity to serve the Filipino nation,” said Dr. Malabad. He is now an Assistant Scientist at the DOST Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD). When the pandemic hit, he volunteered as a responder and laboratorian at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. He was among the first batch of doctor-scientists in the MD-PhD program. He was also a runner-up in the BPI-DOST Science Awards and a recipient of the DOST-SEI Career Incentive Program (CIP). 

 

“I hope you find that joy and purpose in living not just for yourselves but for the country,” Dr. de Paz-Silava concluded. 

 

The DOST-SEI STEM Career Talk is anchored on the 2021 NSTW’s theme, “Agham at Teknolohiya: Tugon sa Hamon ng Panahon.”