Cat Killer in UP Diliman is Joseph Carlo Candare - PLEASE REPOST THIS!

http://yoopee.multiply.com/journal/item/7073/Cat_Killer_in_UP_Diliman_is_Joseph_Carlo_Candare
I was really enraged when I have read this note on The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) which was posted by another member. It is about their dear little kitty who was brutally murdered by some demented boy. The little kitty was really a stray but it was being cared for by the guard, students and faculty of the UP National Institute of Physics Building (NIP). She was so loved by many that they were aghast to see her little body lifeless. Apparently, somebody threw her out in the air wrestling style then took a running start to finally stomp the kitten in the torso. It was a wonder the kitten was not squished to death right there and then. It was so gruesome, so uncalled for, so demented that everybody was so sadden and mad about this issue. And what's more blood boiling is the fact that this devil was so proud and happy of what he has done! No remorse what so ever! And he even boasted of killing another kitty in the future! Why do we know this? He posted the damn thing in his blog in multiply! Unfortunately, due to the now numerous comments that has been made, the appalling post has been made private but not without me getting some screen shots and getting a copy of his post first!

--- please click on the link for the rest ----


The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated
-Gandhi

The University of the Philippines Centennial Website

http://centennial.up.edu.ph/
[b]The UP, which started as a small institution of learning on Padre Faura Street in Manila in 1908, has grown tremendously in the last 100 years, and has become a university system with seven universities and 12 campuses all over the country. In 1911 it had only seven academic units, now it is offering 258 undergraduate and 438 graduate programs. Students come from almost all the 16 regions and all socio-economic brackets.

The UP has played a very important role in the social, economic and political development of the nation in the last 100 years. It produced seven out of 14 presidents, 12 chief justices of the Supreme Court, 30 out of 31 national scientists and 36 out of 57 national artists. Of the close to 250,000 UP alumni, 15,000 are doctors, 8,000 are lawyers and 23,000 are teachers. (excerpted from Philippine Daily Inquirer Editorial January 7, 2008) [/b]

UP Pep Squad Rocks!

(To give a heads up for my foreign friends- The Philippines being a heavily Americanized country - carried on the tradition of tight school rivalries mostly when it comes to sporting events- We have the Ateneo-La Salle basketball rivalry and the UP-UST Cheerdancing Rivalry):


Okay, let me gloat for a while. Like a popular line in UP, there are only two schools in the Philippines - UP and Others. (hehehe).

(from wiki) The word Maroon comes from the Spanish word cimarron which means wild: untamed. They were slaves who either ran away from or were released by the Spanish before the English invaded Jamaica in 1655. They were successful in retaining their independence after 150 years of slavery by constantly defending their freedom. Their settlements were small, not more than 2,000 strong, but they fought as if they were in greater numbers.


For me, UP Pep Squad has been  and always been the best pep squad in the Philippines (Sorry Bobcats - but you guys will never be in our league - the National Cheer Compete should have sent UP Pep for the Asian Finals if they expected to a win a medal). Why? Simple, UST Salinggawi is a Dance Troupe - and the bemedalled Bayanihan Dancers has already kicked their asses by thousands of kilometers. I am sorry if  I will be a bit harsh, I have friends from UST but of course, but my loyalties will forever remain with the best university in the Philippines - the University of the Philippines. Call it UP arrogance, we Maroons call it boundless passion characterized by the fearless, intelligent and principled excellence that our University has stood for 99 years now. Next year, UP will host the UAAP Season 71 to coincide with the Centennial of the University's founding - and damn, every Maroon far and wide will come home and support the home team!



Unibersidad ng Pilipinas! Matatapang! Matatalino! Hindi Patatalo Kahit Kanino!




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UP pep squad is 2007 UAAP cheer dance champion!!!


The University of the Philippines (UP) Pep Squad won Sunday the 2007 UAAP Cheerdance Competitions, dethroning erstwhile champion the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Salinggawi Dance Troupe by a mere margin before a full-house crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

UP, which last tasted a cheerdance title in 2001, brought home a trophy and the top prize of P172,500 after they garnered an over-all score of 92.66 points.

The UP Pep Squad were nearly flawless all throughout their performance, banking on their rock-themed routine matched by their maroon and black get up.

"We wanted something unique. Rock is something gloomy," narrated UP pep squad team captain Andrea Gonzales.

"We used it in a fun and more exciting way," she added.

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe (SDT), which bagged the cheerdance title five-straight times from 2002 to 2006, settled for second place this time, finishing second place to UP with an over-all score of 93.61 points, or just 0.5 points behind the champs.

With their bumblebee-inspired attire, the SDT was its usual efficient self where they danced to "The Hustle" with the female members wearing golden wigs.

The Salinggawi Dance Troupe grabbed a trophy and a total cash prize of P108,500 for the feat.

Far Eastern University Pep Squad (FEUPS), meanwhile, grabbed third place with a score of 91.66 points.

The "Happy Feet"-motivated routine brought the house down while the monkey bar pyramid provided innovation in FEU pep squad's set. The FEUPS bagged a trophy and P69,000 prize money for placing third.

The criteria for the competition were 50 percent for choreography, 30 percent for synchronization, 10 percent for audience audibility and 10 percent for costume.



The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Bubble Battalion finished fourth, Adamson University Pep Squad fifth, University of the East Pep Squad sixth, De La Salle University (DLSU) Pep Squad seventh and the National University (NU) Pep Squad eighth.

An estimated 18,000 UAAP fans trooped to the Big Dome to watch the cheering event live. Tickets for the event has been sold out as early as last week. - GMANews.TV

photo credits: Ubelt.com, Wikipedia, Teresa Barrozo

UP: Where Bright Minds Meet

http://www.peyups.com
Heard in the premier university in the Philippines:

"The aim of policy making is to invoke
action! Because action speaks louder
than words! You do not just say I love
you. You say: If you love me, enter
me! "

-Dr. Alfonso Pacquing



"Class, next week na lang ung result
sa exam nyo. I am having a hard time
checking it. I will seek first the
divine guidance on what to do about
it. Class dont worry about your grade.
Let me worry about it."

-sir de jesus,envi sci 1



(valentines day)

"Ano ba yan? Students ba kayo ng UP?
Bakit ang bababa ng scores niyo?
Siguro wala kayong date ngayong
valentines kaya ganito kayo. Losers!!!
When i was your age i had a date.
Hindi ba naapektuhan ng UP FAIR
euphoria ng grades niyo? Parang di
kayo masaya..." (sabay matching tapon
ng quizzes sa sahig)

"I won't record this. Go find a date."
(sabay walk out.)

-Sir Doliente,BA.



Ma'am: Many people believe that we,
psychology graduates can read minds...
(silence) Actually, we can.

Class: Weh.. Sample..

Ma'am: Right now, you think that I'm
bluffing

-Ma'am Chei



"I don't give surprise long exams. all
exams are announced. Halimbawa, Class,
mageexam tayo, NGAYON NA!"

-Ma'am Chei (again)



"The human body is 70% water. Kaya
wala kayong kasaysayan lahat. Pag may
kaaway ka, sabihin mo sa kanya, TUBIG
KA LANG!!!"

-Dr. Recio



"Oo, nagpapaulan ako ng uno... baket?
aanhin ko ba nun? di naman ako yayaman
dun."

-Sir Atoy, histo I



(commenting on a thesis of a senior
student)

'Yang thesis mo? .. Mamamatay ka!!
Mamamatay ka!!'

- Dr. llanes, UPM.



"Nasa bandang gilid ang fallopian
tube. Kaya kung gusto niyong magka-
anak ng asawa niyo, dapat nakatagilid
kayo habang gumagawa."

-Ma'am Meggie, Zoo 10



"Last sem was the first time that I
gave a grade of 5, and it felt good!!!"

- Prof Goldie, Comm II, circa 1998,
first day of class

Filipino delivers Harvard Law graduation speech

Proudly UP. Proudly Pinoy.

Filipino delivers Harvard Law graduation speech

By Volt Contreras
Inquirer
Last updated 05:42am (Mla time) 06/08/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- This year’s elite, multiracial class of Harvard law graduates may have found their best speaker in a young Filipino lawyer of Chinese descent, one obviously honed for the global stage but who hopes to pay back “the nameless farmers and fishermen” who partly paid for his studies.

Oscar Franklin Tan, 27, earned the rare honor of delivering the commencement address in behalf of some 700 American and foreign graduates of the Harvard Law School.

Adel Tamano, spokesperson of the Genuine Opposition ticket in the recent senatorial elections, served as commencement speaker at Harvard Law in 2005.

The 2005 law alumnus of the University of the Philippines pursued a master’s degree at the exalted academy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tan was to deliver the commencement address on June 7.

Tan is an associate at the Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala and Cruz law office. His father, Edmundo L. Tan, is a managing partner at the Tan Acut & Lopez law firm, while his mother, Dr. Jesusa Barcelona Tan, is a dermatologist.

His name was added to the growing list of Filipino legal luminaries who attended Harvard, some of whom went on to shape the country’s history. They include former Senators Jovito Salonga and Rene Saguisag; Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, Representatives Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. of Makati and Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara of Aurora, former Press Secretary Ricardo Puno, former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, former Environment Secretary Fulgencio Factoran, Ateneo Law Dean Cesar Villanueva,

and Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist and former UP Law Dean Raul Pangalangan, and the latter’s wife Elizabeth Aguiling-Pangalangan.

Crossing cultural barriers

Tan said he apparently earned the distinction not by academic prowess alone. “I feel that I was selected to speak because I am able to touch base with all my classmates and cross all cultural barriers,” Tan said Thursday, in reply to e-mailed questions from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

“This does not just come naturally when one is in an international community. For example, some Europeans can be more aggressive and direct culturally, while some Asians can be less direct and be uncomfortable with their English capability.”

“I made it my priority to get to know each and every one of my interesting classmates, and let them know I was open to whatever they had to say. In this way, I was perceived as being able to best represent the class,” he said.

“For excellence alone is never enough,” he explained, a mind-set imprinted on him at Harvard where, unlike in Philippine law schools, the obsession over good grades and bar exam results are considered “juvenile” pursuits.

He recalled that awards were recently handed out to American law students at Harvard --not for academic achievements but for public service, like participation in legal aid programs.

Respect for leadership

“Students here respect not grades,” he said, but “leadership,” particularly in shaping the school journal, the Harvard Law Review.

US presidential contender Barack Obama, for instance, caught the attention of the national media way back when he became the first African-American president of the HLR.

Legal writing is one area where Tan left his biggest mark as a UP law student. He racked up 17 writing prizes, mainly for term papers and analyses of Supreme Court decisions.

He went on to chair the prestigious Philippine Law Journal.

‘Wine in the River’

In the draft of his speech sent to the Inquirer, Tan delved no more into stiff legal discourse but rather reveled in the cultural cornucopia that made up his Harvard batch, where up to 60 nationalities were represented. The speech partly read: “A Saudi Arabian reminded me that you can fry eggs on a sidewalk in Riyadh. An Italian gave me tips on women because Italian men are the world’s greatest lovers, with the disclaimer that their style does not work on American women. A Malaysian was asked to explain the religious significance of the color of her hijab or headscarf. She would answer: It had to match her blouse.

“On New Year’s Eve, a Belarusian handed me a glass of vodka, but scolded me when I began to sip it. Sipping, he emphasized, was not the Slavic way. I shared a Frenchman’s champagne, a Peruvian’s pisco sour, a Costa Rican’s piñacolada, a Brazilian’s caipirinha, a Mexican’s tequila and a Japanese’s sake.

“And apologies to the Germans, but I learned how even weak American beer enlivens an evening when you drink it with the Irish.”

‘Citizens of the world’

In a piece he titled “Like Wine in the River, Like Citizens of the World,” he asked rhetorically: “How do a mere 700 change the world, even with overpriced Harvard diplomas?”

He called on his classmates, the “future leaders” of their respective countries, “to transcend our individual nationalities and affirm that we are citizens of the world.”

For regardless of race, color or creed, he said, “our peers in faraway lands face the same frustrations, the same nation-building ordeals, the same sorrows and, ultimately, the same shared joys and triumphs.”

Describing himself as a witness to two Philippine people power revolts, Tan acknowledged among his classmates an Afghan lawyer chased out of his country by the Taliban and a Bhutanese princess who “wants to help shape her country’s constitution after her father-king voluntarily gave up absolute power.”

He also noted how his Chinese classmates have “come to grips” with the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and how an Iranian, upon meeting the speechwriter of US President George W. Bush, introduced himself by saying: “Hi! I’m from an Axis of Evil country.”

Securities Law

After Harvard, he hopes to build a career in Securities Law and Constitutional Law (the specializations he took up there), Tan said in the e-mailed interview, adding: “I hope to be in a position to influence our economic institutions’ development, and I learned so much here about how American companies are policed and how investor rights are protected. So many people agitate for political change, but I feel that we also need highly technical people able to act as midwives for the legal institutions that underpin our economy.”

Filipinos have “a beautiful Constitution,” he said, which unfortunately remains barely appreciated or understood by the common citizen.

“For example, when the Jose Pidal scandal broke out, so-called legal experts questioned whether a ‘right to privacy’ existed in the media, even though this is taught to UP Law freshmen during their first week of class,” he said.

But underlying all these lofty plans -- now all within his reach, thanks to his “overprized Harvard diploma” -- is a rather humble mission for someone who got his headstart in law at a state university like UP.

“Our studies were paid for by nameless poor farmers and fishermen, and I hope to one day pay my dues,” Tan said.

from Inquirer.net

AND NOW THE SPEECH!

Like Wine in the River, Like Citizens of the World
Harvard Law School 2007 Student Commencement Address
Oscar Franklin Barcelona Tan ( Philippines )

Dean Kagan, Vice-Dean Alford, professors, classmates, families, and friends. Let me first thank our tireless graduate program staff. They were the first friendly faces who greeted me, told me which functions offered free food, and what to do if you faint during your final exams. Assistant Dean Jeanne Tai, Nancy Pinn, Heather Wallick, Curtis Morrow, Jane Bestor, Chris Nepple, April Stockfleet: This year would not have been possible without you.

But this goes to everyone: Thank you all for truly making us feel part of this community. We LLMs became your fellow students after your Salsa Party, Chinese and Korean New Year, African Night, and our International Party. To honor you, we took Europe by storm, winning in the inaugural Negotiation Challenge, in the European Law Moot Court, and in the Willem Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court. Of course, you truly become part of Harvard Law School when you're featured in the Parody.

Not so long ago, Cambridge seemed a strange, unfriendly place especially when I first saw Gropius. I went to John Harvard's with the British, who began chittering in an alien language. I later discovered it was actually English -- the real English. I complained I was not used to cold, but a Saudi Arabian reminded me that you can fry eggs on a sidewalk in Riyadh . An Italian gave me tips on women because Italian men are the world's greatest lovers, with the disclaimer that their style does not work on American women. A Malaysian was asked to explain the religious significance of the color of her hijab, or headscarf. She would answer: It had to match her blouse.

Soon, we found that great substance that keeps any law school together: alcohol. On New Year's Eve, a Belarusian handed me a glass of vodka, but scolded me when I began to sip it. Sipping, he emphasized, was not the Slavic way. I shared a Frenchman's champagne, a Peruvian's pisco sour, a Costa Rican's pina colada, a Brazilian's caipirinha, a Mexican's tequila, and a Japanese's sake. And apologies to the Germans, but I learned how even weak American beer enlivens an evening when you drink it with the Irish.

We found greater common ground: The Swiss complained about American chocolate, the New Zealanders complained about American cheese, the Sri Lankans complained about American tea, the Indians complained about the lack of vegetarian food, and everyone complained that American food makes you fat. An Austrian made homemade apfelstrudel. A Nigerian made homemade fried plantains. The Pakistanis made a non-spicy version of keema, and I only needed eight glasses of water during the meal. All the Americans had was Three Aces pizza.

As for me, I come from the Philippines , a former American colony best known for Imelda Marcos's shoe collection. I remember being a six-year old watching my parents walk out of our house to join the crowds gathering to depose the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and form human walls against tanks. I remember being a twenty-year old in a different crowd deposing a different but equally corrupt president.

It was liberating to hear how a Chilean danced with crowds in the streets when Pinochet was arrested. How the Chinese come to grips with Tiananmen Square, while convinced that one cannot transplant American-style government wholesale to Beijing . How life changed in the former Soviet Union ; how it was like growing up in a fledgling Eastern European country. How a Pakistani discussed Musharraf's assault on judicial independence with a South African worried about Mugabe's own acts in Zimbabwe .

It was even more liberating to hear from a Korean prosecutor how his country sent two former presidents to jail. How the Swiss have preserved their tradition of independence and referendum. How Ghana threw off its colonial fetters and inspired a conscious African solidarity. How a Bhutanese wants to help shape her constitution after her king voluntarily gave up absolute power.

I cannot deny that our generation's issues will be complex, but I can guarantee that they will never be abstract, not after having a classmate who was an Israeli army drill sergeant, not after having a Chinese classmate with a Taiwanese girlfriend, nor after having a classmate chased by gunmen out of Afghanistan . In fact, when George W. Bush's speechwriter visited, my Iranian classmate introduced himself, "Hi, I'm from an Axis of Evil country."

Friends, my most uplifting thought this year has been that the more we learn about each other, the more we realize that we are all alike, and the more we inspire each other to realize our most heartfelt yearnings. My single most memorable moment here came when I met South African Justice Albie Sachs, left with only one arm after an assassination attempt during apartheid. My classmate stood up and said: " South Africa is the world's second most unequal country. I come from Brazil , the world's most unequal country, and I admire how the South African Constitutional Court has inspired the progress of human rights throughout the world."

And this is how Harvard has changed us. We recall struggling with English to keep pace with the world's most brilliant professors, especially with Elizabeth Warren's Socratic blitzkriegs, and we thank Harvard for raising our thinking to a higher, broader level. But even the most powerful ideas demand passion to set them aflame. The passion we ignite today is fueled by a collage of vignettes that will remind us in this crucible of life that our peers in faraway lands face the same frustrations, the same nation building ordeals, the same sorrows, and ultimately, the same shared joys and triumphs.

How do a mere 700 change the world, even with overpriced Harvard diplomas? Before a great battle in China 's Spring and Autumn Period, the legendary King Gou Jian of Yue was presented with fine wine. He ordered his troops to stand beside a river, and poured the wine into it. He ordered them to drink from the river and share his gift. A bottle of wine cannot flavor a river, but the gesture so emboldened his army that they won a great victory. We of the Class of 2007 shall flavor this earth, whether we be vodka, wine, champagne, pisco sour, pina colada, caipirinha, tequila, sake, jagermeister, raki, Irish stout, Ugandan Warabi, or Philippine lambanog.

Thus, my friends --and this includes our American classmates who will soon lead the world's lone superpower -- let us transcend our individual nationalities and affirm that we are citizens of the world. Maraming salamat po, at mabuhay kayong lahat. *Thank you and long live you all.*