Practitioner-prof inspires UE Fine Arts seniors with production insights

 

Wazzup Pilipinas?!

 

Producer, production manager, film festival coordinator, and educator Kristin Bactad-Jor recently shared her industry experience with University of the East-Caloocan Visual Communication senior students during a talk at the Chua King Ha Gallery.

Drawing from nearly two decades of practice, Bactad-Jor shared her knowledge and tips on producing films, production management, and the complexities of film festival operations.

Since joining Red Room Media Productions in 2006, Bactad-Jor has established herself as an integral part of several film productions. Her career is defined by a commitment to advocacy-driven storytelling, spanning short films, documentaries, and high-impact video projects.

Bactad-Jor has worked on numerous projects, including collaborations with institutions such as the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, GMA News TV, Techtales Asia-Pacific, and the Bacolod City Government Center. She has served as line producer and production manager for award-winning films and documentaries produced under some of these partnerships.

Beyond management, she has also explored the creative helm. In 2018, she wrote and directed the short film “Playground,” which earned 1st Runner-Up and Best Actor honors at the 3rd Makati Film Festival for Anti-Drug Campaign.

Bactad-Jor’s influence extends into the organizational architecture of Philippine cinema. She served on the executive committee of the 3rd ToFarm Film Festival in 2018.

In 2024, she played a pivotal role as the film festival coordinator for the inaugural Bacolod Film Festival, where she guided 10 short film grantees through the entire filmmaking lifecycle, from preproduction to their premiere screenings.

Bactad-Jor, who currently teaches under the Digital Cinema track at the Far Eastern University Department of Communication, remains dedicated to lifelong learning. She has refined her craft under industry legends, completing workshops with Dr. Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo, Jr. and award-winning filmmaker Raymond Red.

Her talk at the Chua King Ha Gallery served as a vital bridge for students, translating academic concepts into real-world professional practice. By sharing her journey, she offered UE Fine Arts students a roadmap for navigating the evolving media landscape.

Stronger school-community ties cut violence, improve student safety

 

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

 

MAKATI CITY, 17 January  2026 — At Ramon Torres Louisiana National High School in Barangay Ma-ao, Bago, Negros Occidental, student safety has become a shared responsibility, shaped less by slogans and more by steady cooperation among teachers, parents, barangay officials, and police. 

Before the end of 2025, the school held its annual Children’s Rights, Anti-Bullying, and Drug Abuse Prevention Program, drawing around parents alongside students, teachers, and community partners. The activity reflected a long-running effort by the school to address concerns over bullying, peer pressure, and exposure to illegal drugs through sustained dialogue and coordination beyond the campus.

School principal Helen Dela Cruz, together with the faculty and staff and the School Parent-Teacher Association led by President Roger Palma, worked with the Barangay Ma-ao Council and the Philippine National Police to deliver sessions focused on student rights, responsibilities, and the real-world consequences of violence and substance abuse. Resource speakers and VAWC Desk Officers reinforced messages on child protection and welfare.

The school’s faculty president Ronald Alegre shared the initiative grew out of practical concerns faced by the school community.

“These issues [bullying, peer pressure, and illegal drugs exposure] posed risks to students’ safety, behavior, and academic performance. Addressing them became necessary to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment,” Alegre said.

“The school, parents, and community worked together through awareness campaigns, seminars, and regular coordination with the Brgy. Ma-ao Council and the Philippine National Police. Parents actively supported the school by monitoring their children, while the PNP provided guidance on laws and the harmful effects of bullying and drug abuse,” he added, noting that the school observed a decrease in bullying cases.  

While the activity was organized independently by the school, its approach mirrors the direction being encouraged nationally by the Department of Education’s Kaagapay Program, which emphasizes the role of parents and communities as partners in learner protection and well-being.

Education Secretary Sonny Angara has said that stronger school–family–community ties are key to addressing violence and safety concerns in schools.

“Mahalaga ang ganitong mga hakbang ng paaralan—yung hindi naghihintay ng problema bago kumilos, kundi nakikipag-ugnayan agad sa magulang at komunidad. Doon talaga mas nagiging ligtas ang learners at mas nasusuportahan ang mga guro,” Angara said.  

This 2026, the department will conduct five batches of orientation on the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 10627, or the Anti-Bullying Act of 2013, to equip regional and division focal persons and school heads with updated guidelines on handling bullying cases.

DepEd is also working with Stairway Foundation Inc. to develop anti-bullying classroom decks that will serve as the basis for session guides to help teachers facilitate age-appropriate discussions with learners, with rollout targeted for School Year 2026–2027.

For Ramon Torres Louisiana National High School, the impact is already visible in smaller, consistent steps. By keeping parents involved, maintaining open lines with local authorities, and repeating the conversation year after year, the school is building a safer environment one partnership at a time.

“When families, the community, and authorities work together, prevention efforts become more effective and sustainable. This collaboration helps create a safer school environment where learners feel protected and supported,” Teacher Alegre added.

Laboratory Tests Confirm Toxic Lead in 3 Paints Discovered by EcoWaste Coalition

Wazzup Pilipinas!? 

17 January 2026, Quezon City.  Laboratory analyses detected lead above the legal limit of 90 parts per million (ppm) in three imported paints purchased by the EcoWaste Coalition from a local online seller, rendering them illegal for importation, distribution, and sale in the Philippines.  

Based on the test reports provided by SGS, a global testing company, the submitted samples of green, beige, and orange Nasmc Spray Paint contained 7,460 ppm, 10,000 ppm, and 30,500 ppm of lead, respectively.

The Chemical Control Order (CCO) for lead and its compounds issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in 2013 established a strict 90 ppm maximum limit for lead in all paints, including spray paints. The CCO further set phase-out deadlines for lead-containing decorative and industrial paints, which ended on December 31, 2016, and December 31, 2019, respectively.

As stamped on the bottom of the paint cans, all three products were manufactured on June 25, 2025, which is well past the phase-out deadlines, the EcoWaste Coalition pointed out.

Bought for P141 per 450 mL can from a Shopee dealer, Nasmc Spray Paint provided no lead content information or lead in paint hazard warning on its label to forewarn consumers. The name of the manufacturer and the country of manufacture were also not disclosed.  However, the label described the product, usage, and emergency instructions.

The three lead-containing Nasmc products will be added to the “Public Notice on Lead-Containing Paints” co-published by the EcoWaste Coalition, International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), and the Philippine Paint and Coatings Association, Inc. (PPCAI). The notice currently lists 228 laboratory-tested lead-containing paints, mostly marked "made in China" or "made in Thailand."

The persistent sale of imported spray paints with lead content prompted the EcoWaste Coalition to advise consumers to be vigilant and refrain from purchasing paints with poor labeling information and lacking verifiable proof of compliance with the CCO’s lead content limit.

Lead-containing paints are a major source of lead exposure among children globally. “There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects," according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which has included lead among the ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern, along with arsenic, asbestos, benzene, cadmium, dioxins, mercury, highly hazardous pesticides, etc

Lead is a powerful multi-system poison that harms numerous bodily systems and organs, including the brain and central nervous system. Exposure during early childhood, when the developing brain is most vulnerable, is particularly dangerous, as it can lead to lower intelligence quotients (IQ), inattentiveness, impaired learning ability, conduct disorder, aggression, and other behavioral problems. 

To address the unlawful entry of lead-containing paints in the Philippines, the EcoWaste Coalition is campaigning for stronger measures to stop lead paint imports, including the listing of lead chromates as hazardous chemicals in the Rotterdam Convention to control the global trade of these common lead-based pigments and paints containing such pigments.