selfish decisions

A friend asked me recently, "What if I save some money to visit her and tell her how I feel?" I answered, "What's the point? She has a boyfriend and they have been together for quite some time now."

Call me a dream killer but allow me to defend myself on the argument. I do feel his need to express his feelings or he will forever have his "what ifs". But freedom of expression is not absolute, as my mass media law professor used to say. My friend had all the right to say what he feels, that I agree. But is this enough reason for him to actually do something? There is just a part of me that cannot find justice to the consequence his actions may be to the girl (who is a friend and a sister in faith), much more to her boyfriend.

marriages, babies and census

I was reading news from Yahoo! Philippines and I came across an article fed by wires agency Agence France Presse. The report, "Marriage going out of fashion in Philippines", used the recently released 2008 census from the National Statistics Office to point out that getting married is no longer as big of a deal as it was years ago.

According to the census, 1,784,316 live births were registered in the country in 2008, of which 37.5 percent were born out of wedlock. Meanwhile, a total of 486,514 marriages were registered the same year (press release here). Of the cases, 41 percent were celebrated through civil rites and 36.3 percent were commenced in Catholic churches (press release here).

A growing number of Filipinos now treat marriage as an option, rather than a requirement, for starting families, said Nene Baligad, a member of a unit of the National Statistics Office that licenses people who officiate weddings.

"Nowadays, some couples just live in and only get married after having four or five children," she told AFP.

"You can't really say it's for practical reasons, since you can be married on the cheap. It's more like, we Filipinos tend to follow what is in fashion."

What the article failed to argue however, is that a decrease in registered marriages does not necessarily mean couples more often opted to living together instead of actually getting married.

NSO's release on live births also included statistics on teenage mothers. A total of 186,527 babies were born to teenage mothers, a 7.64 percent increase from 2007. This figure side by side the number of illegitimate babies born in 2008 may also show the lack of knowledge and the problem with education.

If NSO has provided the trend by age, we may be able to provide more analysis.

Allow me to say, I am proud that we may be the only country who does not allow divorce. Of course, there are biblical perspectives as to why divorce should not be an option but I am more concerned with the mindset divorce policies encourage. But I am for the inclusion of sex education in classroom discussion. And the way the article has made the connection between marriage statistics and the divorce bill was not clearly woven out.

Rizal, God and my country

In one unusual occasion, President Benigno Aquino III declared June 20 a national holiday in commemoration with the 150th birthday of the one of the country's most acclaimed heroes, Jose Rizal.

Rizal, the Philippines' National Hero, was born on June 19, 1861. He was highly recognized for being a reformist during the rule of the Spaniards in the 19th century. He, together with the Propaganda Movement whose members composed of Filipino expatriates in Europe, fought for the recognition of human rights in the Philippines and pushed for the legalization of Spanish and Filipino equality, among others.

Readings on Rizal also noted his notion of national identity similar to the anti-colonial sentiment. Filipinos are who they were before the Spaniards came in 1521. In his Annotations to Morga's Succesos de las Islas Filipinas, he documented Filipino native languages and the re-establishment of national identity based on trade, industry and craftsmanship.

But up until now, citizens of the Philippines ask themselves, who are we as a nation? Filipinos easily adapts to the changes in environment that it somehow compromises the idea of identity.

walang natira (no one left)

A few months ago, while I was doing my report on the media coverage of the Middle East and North African protests, I stumbled upon one of Gloc9's music videos titled Walang Natira, a social criticism packaged as a rap song.

The song talks about labor migration in the Philippines. About 1.5 million Filipinos left in 2009 alone to work abroad. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers have been the driving force of the Philippine economy for years. But it has always been a question if the government can actually take care of every Filipino they send abroad.

More than the OFW's welfare abroad, the song also pointed out the very important outcome of this labor migration.

Napakaraming guro dito sa amin ngunit
Bakit tila walang natira
Napakaraming nurse dito sa amin
Ngunit bakit tila walang natira
Nagaabroad sila
(Gusto kong yumaman)

Brain drain, which refers to the large-scale emigration of technically skilled people from one country to another. As more nurses, doctors, teachers and engineers from the Philippines move to other countries in pursuit of greener pastures, the more incompetent ones are left here, allowing the deterioration of knowledge of the field in this country.

As the last line of the song goes, "Napakaraming tama dito sa atin ngunit bakit tila walang natira."

funny witty speeches

Seth Meyers, head writer of Saturday Night Live, gives a speech during the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama cranks some jokes during the same event.

something so wrong

About a year ago, my dad had forced my brother and I to get a student driver permit. He aimed to have me driving by the time I graduate. And since I have been so busy on my last year with the student council and my thesis of course, I have not had the time to actually learn how to drive.

By summer vacation, my dad had been so busy with church stuff that we only had one chance to teach me whatever it is that I have to learn. And since my dad buys the big cars, I had to learn to drive with a Pajero.

So ok. The Pajero is actually lovable. It's very easy to handle. The breaks are good. The condition of the clutch is good. So what's wrong?

Actually, I couldn't reach the clutch very well everytime I had to hit the breaks. In other words, I guess I'm too small to drive the Pajero. Kuya Jonell says I should learn using automatic cars instead. He even volunteered to teach me given that my dad didn't have time. However, both my parents disagrees of course.

Anyway, our student permit is to expire this friday. That means we have to get a non professional licesnse before it expires or else we do the same process all over again. (and crap, I really hate LTO when it comes to lines). The big question now is what did we do?

To make the story short, I am currently holding onto my driver's license but I still don't know how to drive. So ok, I know how go left & right, forward & backward without pushing the breaks. That's it. I've come to join that bandwagon that I wanted to change for so long and I was forced to benefit that sort of faulty and crappy system of government agencies.

This is life in this country. It sucks.

naghahanap ng gas

Biyernes ng gabi.

Pauwi ako mula sa paghahanap ng trabaho. Sumakay ako sa may terminal sa Cubao. Halos alas otso na ng gabi ito. Matapos mapuno ang jeep, nagtungo na ito padaan ng P. Tuazon at naghanap ng gas station.

Pagpunta namin sa unang gasulinahan, puno ng jeep ang pila ng discounted. Nagintay kami ng ilang sandali ngunit wala pa kami sa unahan ng pila, may lumapit na agad sa driver at sinabing wala na silang gas, kahit yung hindi discounted.

Nagmadali yung jeep na sinasakyan ko papunta sa susunod na gas station. Marami pa ring jeep na nakapila ngunit wala na rin silang gas.

Lumipat na naman kami sa isa pang gasulinahan. Mabuti na lang may gas pa sila kaya lang wala na para sa linya ng mga PUV (public utility vehicles) na discounted ang presyo. Bagamat halos sampung piso din ang ikakamura ng discounted gas, hindi na pinansin ng driver ang presyo. Basta kailangan na raw niya makapagpasada at nagbayad na lang ng P400. Nang tiningnan ko kung gaano karaming gasulina ang nabili niya sa presyong ito, halos 8 litro lang. Sa tingin ko, hindi pa ito makakaabot hanggang Antipolo kung magkataon.

Ang pangit isipin na ilang taon lang ang nakakalipas, kalahati pa ang presyo ng gasulina sa kung ano ito ngayon. Kung tutuusin, nagtaas na naman ang presyo pagdating ng Sabado ng umaga, gayong sabi sa balita hindi naman nagtaas ang presyo ng gas sa world market, bagkus ito'y bumaba pa. Bagamat ako kong tumaas ang presyo sa pamasahe, hindi ko rin maiaalis sa mga driver ng jeep na kailangan din nilang kumita kahit papaano para mabuhay.

Tapos makakakita ka ng mga patalastas na nagsasabing gumaganda ang ekonomiya ng bansa na parang wala tayong problema. Tanga na talaga ang magsasabing hindi naghihirap ang bansang ito.

The tragic life of Mariannet Amper, or why children commit suicide

By CLAIRE SY DELFIN
as posted in http://www.gmanews.tv/story/68149/The-tragic-life-of-Mariannet-Amper-or-why-children-commit-suicide
11/10/2007

She would have completed her elementary school, but the 12-year-old girl grew so dejected that she hanged herself, and her dreams of finishing school died with her.

Mariannet Amper’s suicide last week in Davao City hogged headlines and sparked off protest rallies against the government.

Poverty has been blamed on her decision to end her life.

Under her pillow was a letter she wrote addressed to television program, “Wish Ko Lang," which grants viewers’ wishes. On it, Mariannet wished for a new pair of shoes, a bag, a bicycle and better-paying jobs for her parents.

She also left a diary, narrating her family’s difficulties surviving a life penniless in a little hut that has neither electricity nor running water.

She also wrote that she had not attended school for a month for lack of transportation fare.

“I suspect she did it because of our situation," her father Isabelo, a carpenter, told reporters in the vernacular.

But psychiatrists disputes that poverty cannot be the only factor to push someone, especially a child, to commit suicide.

“It is unfair to simply look at suicide in that angle (poverty)," said psychiatrist Dr. Ma. Luz Casimiro-Querubin. After all, many poor Filipinos do not resort to killing themselves despite their hopeless condition. And there have been cases of children born to well-to-do families who have committed or attempted suicide.

Suicide is not an instant decision, she said. It is borne out of a suicidal tendency that the child develops within himself.

Suicidal tendency, in turn, is a psychosocial and multi-factorial behavior that is developed through time when the child faces long-standing problems within himself and in his immediate environment.

Soon, the child would manifest episodes of depression, hopelessness and low self-esteem.

Although poverty is a risk factor, it can hardly stand-alone. It is the lack or absence of support system that compounds the child’s problem, leading her to lose hope and meaning in life, and eventually commit suicide.

“The fact that Mariannet has six more siblings in a family with very limited resources indicates that some of them, including her, may be marginalized," Casimiro-Querubin says.

Hence, even if she was born to a rich family, but was wanting of proper attention from significant people around her, she is prone to develop suicidal tendencies.

Lack of data

Experts, however, find it difficult to conduct research on suicide for any age group in the country because the Philippines has no central registry for recording suicide and suicidal attempts. Data gathering is even made more difficult by religious and social biases.

The latest data available is from the World Health Organization, which was released in 1993. It says that suicide rates per hundred thousand population in the Philippines are 2.5 for males and 1.7 for females.

Casimiro-Querubin agrees that suicide is rare in the Philippines, but warns that it is happening and is increasing especially with the rising incidence of parents going abroad for employment, leaving behind children with distorted support system.

“It has a high psychosocial cost to children," she said.

Child psychiatrist Dr. Agnes Bueno said that in her practice, the youngest in her files of patients who attempted suicide seriously is an eight-year-old boy. A child below five years, she says, has no concept of death as permanent and meaningful. “Therefore, he is incapable of actualizing suicide although accident-proneness could be an equivalent in their age group," Bueno said.

She shares in her article entitled, “When a Child Wants to Die,’ published in Medical Observer magazine in April 2001 a background inventory of attempted suicide among her patients. Her inventory shows the following:
- Ten out of 10 belong to Class A economic status
- Nine out of 10 are Catholics
- Eight out of 10 are males
- Eight out of 10 are due to relationships (family and romance)
- Two out of 10 are due to clinical depression
- Two out of 10 are in an incestuous relationship with their fathers
- Ten out of 10 occurred in the home
- Ten out of 10 are students
- Five out of 10 are positive for family history of alcoholism
- Two out of 10 are positive for family history of suicide
- Three out of 10 have friends who also attempted suicide

She advises parents to immediately detect sudden changes in the child’s behavior as such are symptomatic of a suicidal tendency.

Changes in the child’s academic performance, mood swings and instances when a child hurts another child or takes away things that do not belong to him are signs that parents should watch out for. If any of these happens, parents must open their lines of communication to the child and be more sensitive with his needs.

Suicide is instinct

Lora (not her real name) recounts occasions during her childhood when she would pound her head on a concrete wall each time she would feel sad. At one time, she attempted to hang herself.

To her recollection, her suicidal tendency started when she was nine or 10 years old. And this has remained until today that she is already in her late 20s, is married and has a child.

“It’s instinct. Suicide is always an option whenever I feel depressed," she says. “It’s just right there waiting to happen."

Lora says it doesn’t even need a major setback for her to entertain thoughts on suicide. A simple spat with her husband, or getting scolded by her mother when she was a child is enough.

She considers her suicidal tendencies a dilemma, especially since she can’t even identify its source. All she remembers is that she hated her father when she was a child. She refuses to elaborate.

Taking responsibility

But in the case of Mariannet, the real reason for her suicide seems shoved away as the government has already taken responsibility for it.

“We take responsibility for everything. Because we are leaders of the government, we need to ensure that services are there," Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo immediately ordered the Department of Education (DepEd) to fast track the expansion of the alternative distance-learning program that allows a child to study and finish schooling without having to go to a formal school.

This way, Mariannet could have continued schooling without having to worry over transportation fare.

DepEd Undersecretary Vilma Labrador has also instructed teachers to check on their students and conduct home visits after a child has gone absent for three days without prior notice.

Fight vs poverty

Even prior to Mariannet’s death, the President has ordered the Department of Budget and Management to release one billion pesos to fund hunger mitigation programs.

She has also told a business forum that her economic efforts have started to bear fruit. “The common people are now feeling the benefits of a growing economy."

This was instantly met with protests by left-wing organizations and anti-poverty groups, insisting that the economic growth fails to trickle down to the poor.

A recent Social Weather Stations survey shows that about nine million Filipino families regarded themselves as poor. Many of them also said that they experienced “severe hunger" in the last three months.

Psychiatrists, however, claimed that while there is a need to uplift the financial capacity of 87 million Filipinos, doing so cannot and will not guarantee an end to childhood suicide.

They remind Filipinos that the core of problems in children takes its roots, not in their economic status, but in their family system.

At the end of the day, it is back to basics – the family. - GMANews.TV

extrajudicial killings in The Interpreter

My dad bought a 12-in-one DVD from Divisoria yesterday. When he had intended to have bought a Charlie Chaplin collection, the DVD ended up to be a Nicole Kidman collection. One of Kidman's movies included in the disk was The Interpreter (2005).

In the movie, Dr. Edmond Zuwanie is the president of the Republic of Matobo, a fictional country in Africa. Ruling for more than 20 years, Dr. Zuwanie had allegedly killed hundreds of citizen and revolutionaries to maintain power. He planned an assasination plot to justify the killings.

Silvia Broome, played by Nicole Kidman, is an interpreter for the United Nations. A citizen of Matobo whose family actively participate in the arm struggle and were killed as ordered by Dr. Zuwanie, she too, once a revolutionary and left to work for UN believing that there are peaceful means to achieve the same cause. She overhears the plot to kill the hated dictator and tells US security. When her brother gets killed, she takes on arms once more in attempt to kill the dictator herself.

The last few scenes in the movie shows Dr. Zuwanie in a sort of safe room with Broome and Tobin Keller, a federal agent played by Sean Penn. Keller begs Broome not to kill Dr. Zhumie such that evidence exist of the dictator's ill actions and that he will surely be tried for his ill actions. True enough, in the end Dr. Zuwanie gets tried by the United Nations for the death of hundreds of citizen.

“The gunfire around us makes it hard to hear; but the human voice is different from other sounds. It can be heard over noises that bury everything else, even when it’s not shouting, even when it’s just a whisper. Even the lowest whisper can be heard over armies when it’s telling the truth.”

So the United Nations can get itself involved? And a leader can really be tried for extrajudicial killings? Or I'm just being too hopeful in getting justice to all these inhumanity happening to the revolutionaries, reformists and innocent citizens of this country?

But then, even if this movie truly proposes a possible resolution to the extrajudicial killings, should I even bother to be hopeful when the United Nations is still in fact United States with small voices around him. When the Philippine president is known to have good ties with international leaders specifically the US president, will the idea even have a chance. Keeping in mind that US does not recognize the idea of state terrorism that leaders may actually be the ones inciting terror in order to stay in power, that through this present president, resources in the Philippines have been, are, and will be exploited by foreign investors that will benefit their own development, is there still space for a hopeful change in the system?

Silvia Broome, from revolutionary, chose to be a reformist but still saw the need for arm struggle. Should this administration wait until reformists lose hope and join the revolution to bring change to this country? Anyway, as the cliche goes, the president is the biggest recruiter of NPA.

Idealism dictates that societal change can be achieved and unless this idealism will cease to exist, neither extrajudicial killings nor a balikatan exercise will ever stop people's attempts for change. I hope the president realizes that.

an accident

Part of the requirements for my EDSP122 class is to observe three Montessori schools and one non-Montessori school to assess its method on early childhood education.

This afternoon, Mhira and I went to Mayfield Montessori Academy in UP Village. After an hour observing children, we took a red tricycle to bring us back to Philcoa.

On the way...

Another tricycle was in front of us. It drove almost near the sidewalk to let the passenger down. When our tricycle driver saw this, he moved a bit towards the middle so that we can pass. However, in just a few seconds, the other tricycle was moving again and thus, we were almost side by side each other.

As this was happening, a van attempted to overtake the two tricycles by crossing the other lane. However, another car was coming towards the van and so, to save itself, it hit the tricycle where we were in, dragged us slightly forward that we hit the other tricycle and slided until the two tricycles hit the sidewalk and both came into a stop.

The driver from the van stepped down, checked if there was any damage on his car, looked straight at the tricycle driver and left. Other tricycle drivers came and asked what happened. One wrote down the plate number, while another hurriedly followed the van. The tricycle driver was still in the state of shock.

"Kuya, dito na lang po kami. Habulin nyo na lang po yung van," we kept telling the tricycle driver but he insisted to take us where he was suppose to.

Mhira felt a little pain in her right arm; I on my left leg since we hit both sides of the tricycle when the van and the other tricycle hit us. When we got off, much to our surprise, his hands and leg were wounded. The driver had blood on his left hand.

"Ok lang ako," the driver told us.

As we were walking away the tricycle terminal, we realized if it weren't for the other tricycle that we hit, we would have gone off the road and much damage would have happened.

y! speak on HSA

I was suppose to go with my org mates in this special edition of Y!Speak which aims to talk about the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007. However, since I couldn't come, I watched it on television instead.

What makes this particular episode interesting is that it actually had the chair of the Anti Terror Council as one of the panelists, and god, was he grilled to his bones! However, he remained as confident and certain as he could be.

"The Bill of Rights is not absolute."

I tend to quite agree on that, I'd have to admit. However, the statement should not be taken as it is. One may argue that the HSA is just one of the many laws to safeguard such rights but in context to the HSA, it becomes more than that. Taking into account the extrajudicial killings, of every indivdual reported to be abducted by some men, with the military denying their involvement yet always justifying that this individual is a member of the New People's Army, this law is a parody and a safeguard to those seated in power.

"'mere suspicion', walang ganoong nakasulat." He also mentions that it is the USA Patriot Act of 2001 from which the HSA was actually patterned that mentions "if it appears to be intended" and can therefore be interpreted as MERE SUSPICION. The HSA never mentions nor implied such things.

Section 17 of the HSA states that "Any organization, association, or group of persons organized for the purpose of engaging in terrorism, or which, although not organized for that purpose, actually uses the acts to terrorize mentioned in this Act or to sow or create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand..."

Truly, the HSA does not directly says such things but it is the section's vagueness which makes this law questionable.

Terrorism in its given definition is quite vague. Who qualifies a group is a terrorist group? If, by working on the phrase, "create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace", the adminstration itself is liable for the extrajudicial killings and may also be qualified as an act of terrorism. However, by mentioning "in order to coerce the government to give in to an unlawful demand", it hides the government from any responsibility to the lives of those critical of the administration.

Because of its vagueness, it leaves too much interpretations. And by Philippine experience, vagueness of the law has been used as a form of abuse to those in power.

The greatest fault in our judicial system is that anyone can interpret the law and unless the public causes turmoil on the peculiarity of such interpretations, no action will be seen from the judicial department.

"The HSA is a criminal law and therefore applies to all."

Sure it does. Since it already leaves out some responsibility from the administration, I do not think we would have problems in line with that.

The adminstration can justify as much as they want. I, along with other students, can argue as much. But as Atom Araullo ends the show, "[HSA] posits too much questions rather than answers." The law is not made to pose questions but to answer the needs and interests, not of other government's, but of its own people. Take note of the difference.

reaction on the statement

(angst, angst, angst)

We were sitted on the floor at the film lobby one afternoon. Marian told her story of a time she interviewed a broadcast media practitioner (I choose not to name the person). After the interview proper, the braodcaster asked her if she was from the CMC student council. With Marian answering yes, the broadcaster commented on the statement we released against the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007 saying that we obviously don't know what we're doing. It lacks research but it is however forgivable since we are mere students.

Excuse me. If I may...

Do not talk to us about research. We are students of the College of Mass Communication. We know what is research. It is what we do. Omitting research is by far a disgrace not only to the university that has taught us to be the best that we can be but also to the public we serve.

We know very well the implications of our actions, that our words may be accused of inciting "terror", if the Gloria administration in particular wants us, the vigilant ones to be arrested. It is for this very reason alone we must be certain of every criticism we pose.

This "terror" we chose to ignore, the risks we are ready to take.

We should not be antagonized for our actions. To be explicit about it, the statement is humiliation to media practitioner who chose to sit and be quiet when students, those younger and inexperienced if I may say so, chose to stand up and fight for the same right we all should be concerned about, the fight to press freedom.

I would rather see students of this college proactive than passive. It is better to risk making mistakes and apologize in the end than to regret that we should have done something when we still have the chance.

I remain standing and will continue to uphold this statement.

Statement against the Human Security Act of 2007

College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines – Diliman

We, the students of the College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines-Diliman, believe that the media, which serve to responsibly inform and enjoin, must unequivocally denounce any law, which ultimately threatens the lives of those they strive to serve – the Filipino people.

WHEREAS, Republic Act No. 9372, also known as the Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007, through the surveillance of unsuspecting civilians and the interception of private communication UPON MERE SUSPICION, violates freedom of speech and freedom of the press as enshrined by the Philippine Constitution;

WHEREAS, the vague definitions of terrorism and arbitrary qualifications for terrorists and terrorist activities promote a chilling atmosphere for the public and especially for media practitioners and students of mass communication who repeatedly and necessarily invoke the right to free speech and free press;

WHEREAS, the power to interrogate and detain a “suspected terrorist” on grounds of MERE SUSPICION is open to abuse and misuse for political ends;

WHEREAS, the HAS can easily be transformed into a repressive legal instrument under the implementation of the Arroyo administration whose integrity and intentions are still in question in the context of unsolved killings and enforced disappearances of media practitioners and individuals critical of the government;

WHEREAS, if a law as powerful as the HAS, which can be used to tag virtually any citizen as a terrorist, is enacted without Implementing Rules and Regulations, and whose substantive interpretation is determined at the discretion of the Anti-Terror Council, the police, the military and the few who are given authority, then it intends to sow fear and intimidation upon the very public it purportedly tries to secure;
We strongly condemn the Human Security Act of 2007 in its entirety and call for its immediate repeal by the Congress.

16 July 2007

published in the 5th issue of Philippine Collegian for this year

for a copy of the Human Security Act of 2007, click here

surveillance sa loob ng campus, at ang media students bilang biktima

Excerpt
--posted by Francis Losaria through e-mail

Nitong nakaraang Huwebes [July 5 2007] bandang alas-sais ng gabi, habang nagkakaroon ng discussion ng Tuition and other Fee Increases [ToFI] at Commercialization of Education sa isang [General Assembly,] GA ng UP Cinema sa may CMC Veranda, isang kahina-hinalang sasakyan ang bigla na lamang tumigil sa harap ng nagaganap na GA. Ayon sa mga miyembro ng UP Cinema, nagbukas lang umano ito ng heavily tinted na bintana ngunit may itim na kurtina ito. Napansin ng ilang mga testigo ang kamera na nasa likod ng kurtina. Dahil sa takot at pagdududa, may estudyante umanong tumawag sa guard upang sitahin ang sasakyan. Kinatok ng guard ang sasakyan ngunit hindi ito nagbukas o kaya ay tumugon sa guard. Narinig na lamang ng guard ang isang pag-uusap sa loob ng sasakyan na nagsasabing “Sa Palma Hall na lang tayo magkita”. Saka lumisan ang sasakyan. Ayon sa guard, alas-singko pa lang ay umaaligid na ang sasakyang ito sa CMC . Nakuhanan ng camera ang sasakyan habang kinakatok ng guard at ng paalis na ito.

May mga initial report at imbestigasyon nang ginagawa para malaman kung saan maaring nakaugnay ang sasakyang ito. May ilang ulat na ding pumasok na may kinalaman itong saakyan na ito sa mga surveillance vehicles ng military. Lubhang nakakabahala ang insidenteng ito.

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The same van was seen near CMC the Monday a week after, this time during UP Cinema Arts Society's GA. This was the same day the three organizations mentioned above held a press conference to condemn the said surveillance.

A week after, the CMC Student Council decided to have a forum on the Human Security Act of 2007 (HSA) and release a statement condemning the Act. Right after the event, the same van was seen around UP, particularly near CMC and Cine Adarna. The guards once more tried to talk to the van drivers but were once again ignored. Witnesses decided to go to the UPD Police to have the van blottered.

The same week, the van was seen once more. UPD Police were able to halt the van but they too, were ignored.

By Wednesday, another van was seen driving around CMC, also taking still pictures of students, particularly the ones that fit the stereotyped activist. Some students believe these were just the same people using only a different van.