TNPTIBAY NG PANULAT, TIKAS NG PANININDIGAN JULY 23, 2013 WED

TINIG NG PLARIDEL

The Official Student Publication of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication

YEAR XXXV, NO. 1

‘We need our own SONA’

GAWAD PLARIDEL 2013 SPORTS

Militant groups, students and different sectoral groups staged the People’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) along Commonwealth Avenue on Monday, despite being denied of a permit to rally outside the Batasang Pambansa Complex where President Benigno Aquino III delivered his fourth SONA.

The “People’s SONA” is the alternative of the protesters for the President’s annual speech. Over the years, protesters have claimed that the People’s SONA was the true mirror of society.

“This is the place where we can address the Filipino people about the real condition of the country,” said Kal Peralta, Chairperson of the League of Filipino Students-College of Mass Communication, UP Diliman.

Other members of the People’s SONA crowd highlighted issues otherwise mentioned by the President Aquino.

Tension and violence ensued

Before noon, rallyists tried to penetrate the line of policemen, who were armed with riot shields and nightsticks.

The mob was able

to break the first barricade before succumbing to a violent collision with police officers after negotiations failed.

Both protesters and police officers sustained physical injuries. Rodolfo “Ka Rody” del Rosario, Vice Chairperson of the Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA-NCR) suffered head injuries after being hit with a nightstick.

Nine protesters, including two students from the University

of the Philippines, were detained in Camp Karingal after being arrested during the rally. Kyel Muñoz from the Asian Institute of Tourism and Ramdass Israel of the College of Science were eventually released Tuesday afternoon.

Protest leaders resorted to holding their program along Commonwealth Avenue, armed with performances that mocked President Aquino. Jeers of “Noynoy Aquino, Tuta ng

DALE CALANOG

(Above) Various sectors and students from UP Diliman converge at the Quezon Hall to join the protest against PNOY’s State of the Nation Address. Photo by Anjon Galauran

DESPICABLE:A Photo EssayBackpage

Continued on page 4

Lacaba would prove, as he did time and time again, that no amount of suffering would kill his desire to expose and put to end the suffering of others. PAGE 3

Can the Maroons escape the cellar? PAGE 7

2 . OPINION . TINIG NG PLARIDEL

A game of hide-and-seek

President Aquino engaged Filipinos to a nearly two-hour game of hide-and-seek in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday – but no one was in the mood to play.

It is unclear who the taya is – was it PNoy, who threatened to comb every corner in pursuit of the most wanted wrongdoers; or was it the people, who religiously listened to his 18-page droning in search of issues but to no avail?

This childish game had enough players, but of who were entertained, we do not know. One thing’s for sure: the people have grown tired of the long and stunted path – the tuwid na daan – that the President has long championed.

Perhaps, it is time to take on a new road – one not too obsessed with only several sectors, but one which traverses the issues at the grassroots level.

This year’s SONA luxuriously devoted minutes lauding the achievements of the Department of Defense, but had no room to even mention if his administration was able to address the 136 political prisoners and 142 extrajudicial killings since he assumed office, according to human rights group Karapatan.

Aquino took time in glorifying the notable deeds of three police officers, but he failed to realize that they could have been nothing but exceptions to the norm. Behind their shadows hid the policemen with their dirtied hands.

Had he not traveled to Batasang Pambansa in a helicopter, he could have seen with his own eyes how police brutality still persists. The looming fact that rallying groups still gathered along Commonwealth Avenue to reveal realities he otherwise wanted kept in the dark was a stark reminder that there were still a number of issues that badly needs to be noticed.

The President generously shared various statistics to demonstrate his platform of inclusive growth. However, we, along with our fellow countrymen, seek for the realization of the increase in economic ranking and investment grades.

Lest every Filipino can truly feel that he is healthier and more financially stable, these percentages and testimonials are nothing but

EDITORIALTINIG NG PLARIDELEDITORIAL BOARDAY 2013-2014

MELISSA LUZ LOPEZEditor-in-Chief

MARIEJO MARISS RAMOSAssociate Editor

MARISSE GABRIELLE PANALIGAN

Managing Editor

IZA DARLENE CAYELIZABETH ESCAÑO

News Editors

BEATA REGINA CAROLINOFeatures Editor

JOHN EDISON UBALDOSports Editor

JULIUS RYAN UMALILayout Editor

UP Aperture, an organization based at the College of Mass Communication, is the official

photojournalism arm of Tinig ng Plaridel for AY 2013-2014.

Tinig ng Plaridel is the official student publication of the

University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Plaridel Hall, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City,

Philippines.

Visit us at www.tinigngplaridel.netE-mail: tnp.newsroom@gmail.com

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numbers that are good only for the books. We do not need nominal growth; instead, we demand that these developments be felt down the line.

A good President does not shove figures down his citizens’ throats; rather, he strives to put an ample supply of food to the table.

For Aquino, however, the long game of tagu-taguan continues, shoving the memory of some 3.9 million Filipino families with self-rated hunger. It would ruin the eloquence of his speech if he did mention it, anyway.

He did mention a few wrongdoings, hastily calling out names of those he caught. Eradicating corruption was among his top priorities, so he says.

But how can good governance be achieved if concrete benchmarks for transparency and accountability are not in place?

The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill has completely been wiped from plain view, secluded behind other pieces of legislation reportedly also hoping to combat tongpats and wang-wang.

But the problem remains: until the public is given access to all government documents can there really be a genuine measure of full disclosure.

For one, the FOI would assure the people of the true state of the nation – not one with a shallow façade covering the nation’s many baggages.

Little was covered while much was hidden in this year’s SONA.

We call on President Aquino to use his time judiciously – may it be a one hour, 40-minute long speech or a six-year rule.

He should come out from hiding the issues: address what needs to be addressed, and bring to light what has been kept in the dark. The last thing he would want is for the people to come out searching, firm and outraged.

“You were given three years to demonstrate your readiness to change; now, I shall pursue all of you and hold you accountable. No hard feelings,” Aquino said in Filipino, addressing those who fail to join his journey towards the tuwid na daan.

Mr. President, we could throw the same words back at you. Quit playing games, for we are not entertained.

GAWAD PLARIDEL SPECIAL FEATURE . TINIG NG PLARIDEL . 3

Writing in the middleof the storm

It was the taste of violence, chaos and hostility that had come to characterize Martial Law, two years before it was even proclaimed.

That night of protest, the evenings leading up to it and the series of protests that followed over the next two months came to be known as the First Quarter Storm.

One startling and remarkable thing to come out of those three months of violence was a series of on-the-spot reports, coming from a young but brave journalist who was himself a part of the movement. In fact, he had been present that first long night, and was even injured on the chest by loose shrapnel after troopers fired their guns at the cement.

He, along with another injured student who had fallen into his arms, found someone willing to take them to the UE Memorial Hospital. After his injury had been treated, the young man, undeterred, returned to the battlefield where he had been hurt just hours earlier.

This young, uncompromising and courageous journalist was Jose Maria Flores Lacaba, Jr.

Pete Lacaba is this year’s recipient of the Gawad Plaridel, an annual award given by the UP College of Mass Communication (CMC) to media practitioners who have excelled in their respective fields.

“Walang takot siya na magsiwalat ng mga nakikita niya. Matapang [siya]. At hindi lang siya nakakulong sa isang kategorya, hindi lang siya nag-eexcel sa isang form of media (He has no fear in exposing what he sees. Also, he does not limit himself to just one

category and form of media),” said Regina Mendes of CMC’s Office of Extension and External Relations, tasked with organizing this year’s Gawad Plaridel.

When asked about her experience working with Lacaba on the preparations for the July 24 awarding ceremony, Mendes recalled being struck by the fact that despite being an accomplished journalist, Lacaba remained humble.

“Very approachable siya and very down to earth. Madali siyang kausap,” she said.

Lacaba’s reports on the protest actions during the ‘60s and ‘70s, which would later be compiled in his book Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage, were widely celebrated and brought him national recognition. His literary style of journalism was both compelling and ground-breaking.

“It was well-written and it did bring out the disquiet and the rage,” said Oscar Evangelista, a former Chairperson of the UP Department of History who did a review on Lacaba’s best-selling compilation.

“He was in the middle of it, and that made it even more personalized because he saw what happened. He saw the brutalities of the police and how the students responded. He had the bird’s eye view of the events. That in itself was already quite different from the ordinary news reporting during that time,” said Evangelista.

Born in 1945 in Cagayan de Oro, Jose Lacaba was given the nickname Pepito, the nickname Pepe already being taken by his father. Pepito was shortened to Pito in college, then even further to Pit.

The decision to respell Pit to Pete, giving rise to the name he is now popularly and affectionately called by, was driven by the inevitable armpit jokes that the name ‘Pit’ inspired.

It was apparent early in his life, however, that Pete Lacaba was someone to be taken seriously. Lacaba proved that he, with the sharpness of his pen, was a force to be reckoned with.

The Marcoses had him arrested in April 1974 and detained for almost two years.

In those two years, he was brutally and routinely interrogated and tortured for hours on end. This included being kicked in the chest and stomach and hit in the face and nape repeatedly, as well as being made to lie down with the back of his head on the edge of one bed and his feet on the edge of another, his body left suspended in between.

Lacaba was forced to wash cars and clean dirty communal toilets. He had to be confined at the Quezon Institute for almost a month, where he was heavily guarded, after a recurrence of the pulmonary tuberculosis that had already gone away prior to his imprisonment.

Lacaba would prove, as he did time and time again, that no amount of suffering would kill his desire to expose and put to end the suffering of others. He chose to be one with the struggles of the Filipino people.

In addition to his news reports, Lacaba also expressed anti-Marcos sentiments through poetry, such as in Prometheus Unbound, a poem he had published in Focus Magazine under the pen name

Ruben Cuevas. He exposed social unrest in his screenplays as well, such as in Sister Stella L. and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim, which were movies that came out under Marcos’ rule.

Due to financial constraints, Lacaba had dropped out of Ateneo de Manila University, where he was taking up a degree in English, in his third year. He used this as an opportunity to develop his illustrious writing career, where he amassed an illustrious body of work – news articles, poems, screenplays and essays.

He has also taught both in the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University. Currently, he is the executive editor of Summit Media’s YES! Magazine, where he writes a column entitled Showbiz Lengua, which tackles language in show business.

Lacaba is a strong advocate of the Filipino language, having translated many poems and songs from English to the native tongue. In addition, he prides his generation of writers in being the ones to make language in Filipino poems more conversational.

He has been recognized several times for his work, including winning the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cinemanila International Film Festival and the CCP Centennial Honors of the Arts. He has also won the Gawad Urian for Best Screenplay four times.

Like Marcelo H. del Pilar, Lacaba used his great skill and passion for writing to promote a free and progressive media. He proved that a writer’s pen can be as hard as steel that refuses to break or bend.

The night of January 30, 1970 was a long and dark one. It was a night punctuated by brutal force from the military—molotov cocktails and pillbox bombs, tear gas and rifle butts, and rocks set skyward that put out the lights of street lamps—which plunged the great mass of students gathered at the gates of Malacañang into pitch black.

MATTHEW REYSIO-CRUZ

4 . NEWS . TINIG NG PLARIDEL

OVCCA delays use of Portal Access Card for vehicles

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs (OVCCA) postponed the implementation of the new vehicle entry system in UP Diliman due to technical glitches experienced during tests.

UP Diliman Chancellor Caesar Saloma has been working on the development of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Portal Access Card to monitor visitors going in and out of the campus.

However, a technical working group (TWG) is still fixing the remaining bugs in the equipment’s programming, said Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs Melania Flores.

The TWG detected a “synchronization problem” during the test run. The equipment was cheap, said Flores, which explained the difficulties with the setup.

The RFID Portal Access Card is meant to upgrade the university’s vehicle sticker system. With this, e-bar gates will automatically lift upon detection of the car owner’s access card from a few feet away, allowing vehicles to pass.

The University will be spending heavily to provide faculty members and students with access cards, excluding legitimate in-campus residents.

The use of the RFID Portal Access Card was an attempt to limit access to the campus only to UP students, faculty and alumni, as many of the University’s

visitors are not part of the UP community. Its objective is to minimize the number of vehicles just passing through the campus, otherwise known as “through traffic.”

“We want to restrict [access to the university] to the UP community, because it’s been noted that the UP campus is being used as a shortcut,” said TWG head Dr. Wilson Garcia.

Garcia cited a previous study which showed that a significant number of cars going in and out of the campus did not belong to the UP community.

“Through traffic” becomes a problem for road maintenance and security, said Flores, for it

may require the university to spend more to address road damages brought by the large vehicular volume.

Such may also encourage holdups and the use of taxicabs as “getaway vehicles” of thieves, she said.

While visitors may enter the campus through the University Avenue, other UP portals will be restricted to members of the community.

There has been no change in the “No ID, no entry/exit” rule of the University in all campus gates, according to Flores.

The OVCCA plans to merge the ID and access card systems to make the adjustment easier.

Since the implementation of the new system is still pending, OVCCA will be sticking with the UP ID and sticker system, wherein either the UP ID or the UP car sticker may be presented to gain access to all campus gates.

Aside from paying P300 for one car sticker, documents must be submitted to the OVCCA, including copies of the certificate of car registration, driver’s license and valid IDs.

Students, faculty, staff, administrative officers, registered campus residents and employees may register up to four cars under one’s name – each with separate payments – and will be valid until May 31, 2014.

JUSTINE JORDAN

Dayuhan” accompanied a 13-foot effigy.

A lighted torch was passed among protesters, setting the

effigy on fire just a few minutes into the President’s speech.

People’s involvementArnel Peralta from the

Alliance of Concerned Teachers believed in the importance of participating in the People’s SONA.

“This is the avenue of teachers to express the changes needed to be made with regards to the programs of the education

sector,” Peralta said.He cited issues on

income, deficiencies in public equipment, and the security of both teachers and students as among the major concerns of the sector.

Peralta also claimed that materials needed for a better implementation of the K+12 curriculum, such as books and modules, were still lacking.

Ben Oseo from the Bayan Muna party-list also stressed the

gap between the SONA of the President with that of theirs.

“No one is wearing barong here today—only those inside the air-conditioned session hall,” said Oseo.

Oseo claimed that people, despite the uncomfortable situation, take part in the People’s SONA because they still believed that a lot of problems remain unresolved under the Aquino’s three-year administration.

‘We want our own SONA’Continued from page 1

EARLY DISPLAY. The RFID Portal Access Card Machines have long been installed around campus gates, but are yet to prove functional.

NEWS . TINIG NG PLARIDEL . 5

UPIS set to move in OctoberThe UP Integrated School

(UPIS) is expected to move to a new building at the old Narra dormitory site within the UP Diliman campus by October, according to Principal Ronaldo San Jose.

The original date for the site transfer was June 2013, in time for the first semester.

“Nagulat lang kami kung bakit [na-delay], pero okay lang. At least mararanasan [pa rin] namin kahit sandali [yung bagong building] (My classmates and I were surprised (with the delay), but that’s okay. At least we get to make use of the new building even for a short while),” said Shaila Fortajada, a grade 10 student from UPIS.

According to San Jose, Ayala Land Incorporated (ALI) spent the P220-M budget it donated to UP for the construction of the new UPIS buildings for grades 3 to 12.

PATRICIA GLORIA

This deal is part of the leasing of the old school’s land to ALI for the construction of commercial establishment UP Town Center.

Among the structures that had to be sacrificed were the UPIS gym roof and acoustic system for the auditorium, which were supposed to be funded by ALI.

Principal San Jose said that on their last meeting with UP Vice President for Development Elvira Zamora, a bidding process was underway for the gym roof and acoustics for the auditorium.

Construction is set to be finished by July, which will give UPIS three months to fully furnish and equip the new buildings.

To address these concerns, UPIS had to pool their own sources.

Since December 2011, UPIS has already raised nearly P6.9M from the Adopt-a-Room project, wherein alumni, parents and

donors are invited to sponsor the equipment and furniture of one UPIS classroom.

According to San Jose, the amount was enough to furnish 43 rooms, including four science laboratories and three practical arts workshops.

Since 2005, UPIS has also cut down its student population due to lack of funds, according to San Jose.

San Jose said that this was also in accordance to an order laid down by the Commission on Higher Education, which states that a university laboratory school must have a maximum population of 500 students for grade school and 500 for high school.

Under the K-10 program, UPIS has 100 students per grade level. The recent order brought the number of sections down from 10 to three. Each section now has 35 students.

ANSABE?

“Despite countless revisions,

it has proven to

be a flawed system.”

“We are against the

system itself.”

“Reform STFAP now!

“Those who cannot pay

must be subsidized. Those who can must

pay.”

Should we reform STFAP or not?

UP ALYANSA

STAND-UP

STAND-UP

UP ALYANSA

#PressFreedomWeek. As campus journalists, we should not confine ourselves inside the comforts of our schools. - Mark Lino Abila, National Deputy Secretary, CEGP

6 . FEATURES . TINIG NG PLARIDEL

2010. Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, a graduate of Theatre Arts, also won Best Screenplay for Ang Paghihintay sa Bulong in 2012.

Aside from the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Greenbelt 3 in Makati also serves as a major venue of the festival. Through the organizers’ vision was to make the festival “more accessible to the growing number of audiences,” another Ayala Mall, was added as a third major venue.

But why would it not have

For eight years, UP’s Cine Adarna has been the hideout of those who wanted to watch Filipino independent films showcased in the Cinemalaya festival, usually every July or August.

For as low as P80, one can get to enjoy some of the finest Filipino films just within the UP Diliman campus.

Cinemalaya goes UP is a partnership between Cinemalaya, UP Cineastes’ Studio, and the UP Film Institute (UPFI). It has catered to the taste of those who wanted an alternative from the mainstream—students, professionals and movie enthusiasts alike.

Last year, a proposition to cancel the screening in UP did not push through due to the clamor of the festival’s patrons. This year, however, organizers of Cinemalaya announced that UP will no longer be included in its list of festival venues.

The first Cinemalaya was launched in 2005. Ten filmmakers were given the opportunity to formally present their own independent or “indie” films on the big screen.

Cinemalaya is a hybrid, funded by business tycoon Antonio “Tony Boy” Cojuangco and supported by the government through the resources of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). This inspired a significant number of filmmakers, unconventional and mainstream alike, to submit independent film entries to the prestigious festival.

Cinemalaya also enthused members of the private sector to create other venues for filmmakers to exhibit their

CinemAyala?Indie filmfest goes commercial

THE HYBRID NATURE OF CINEMALAYA PLACES ITS LEANING AT A CROSSROADS.

A trailblazer in Philippine cinema

A move to ‘major’ venues

Plagued by controversies

DEMIE BABAO & YVETTE MORALES

talents. Various film festivals—Cinemabuhay of PLDT, Cinema One Originals by ABS-CBN, Cinemanila, CineFilipino and Cineng Pambansa—were all inspired by Cinemalaya.

But the 8-year-old film festival remains the biggest and most awaited film fest every year, said Joni Gutierrez, film instructor at the UPFI.

“Trail blazer ang Cinemalaya,” Gutierrez said. Filmmakers were not limited to just one franchise, he added.

Aside from the film fest, Cinemalaya also holds a congress. The Cinemalaya Congress processes the contemporary cinema while looking at the different images that the independent scene has created for the past 10 years.

Cinemalaya nurtures filmmakers and gives hope above funds for those aspiring to be part of the filmmaking industry and to build audiences from different walks of life.

Among the internat iona l ly-acc la imed Cinemalaya films are Mikhail Red’s Harang, which bagged the Grand Prize at the 12th Seoul International Youth Film Festival in 2010; Vincent Sandoval’s Aparisyon, which won the Audience Award at the Deauville Asian Film Festival; Marlon Rivera’s Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, which bagged awards from various international film competitions. It was also the official entry of the Philippines for the Best Foreign Film category in the 84th Academy Awards.

UP graduates also participate in the independent film festival. Among the filmmakers are UPFI alumnus Rommel Andreo Sales who directed The Leaving, which won the Best Cinematography in

a screening in UP this year?Film critic and former

Cinemalaya selection committee member Francis Joseph “Oggs” Cruz thinks Cinemalaya left the decisions to the filmmakers on what they wanted to do with their films.

“If they want to go mainstream by reserving their films for a commercial screening, that is their right. If they want to serve the purpose of educating future movie-goers in the universities, that is also their right,” Cruz said in an online interview.

The hybrid nature of Cinemalaya places its leaning at a crossroads.

“In a way, you’ll be able to see who among the Cinemalaya filmmakers are truly for the malaya part of the name, and who are for commerce,” Cruz

added.

Last year, a controversy stirred when Emerson Reyes’ MNL 143 was pulled out from the initial list of Cinemalaya movies after a disagreement between the director and the board members on casting preference. MNL 143 was screened separately.

Cruz said although Cinemalaya has accomplished its goal of introducing a market for alternative films, it has “revealed itself as a mutant studio.”

“[Cinemalaya] does produce quality films but to think that it has some higher aspiration than producing films is no longer a reality,” he added.

UP Cineastes’ Studio, the student arm of Cinemalaya in holding the campus screenings at the university, was not yet ready to release a statement on the issue.

Local film buffs would have to troop to CCP from July 26 to August 4, and in selected Ayala malls around Metro Manila (Trinoma, Alabang Town Center and Greenbelt) until August 9. It will feature 15 full-length and 10 short films.

sus ADMU while averaging 8.6 points per game in five outings.

Rookie Kyles Lao has also proved himself as a reliable guard for the team, making up for starting guard Henry Asilum’s dismal showing so far. Lao had an 18-point breakthrough game against DLSU and averages 9.8 points per game.

Asilum, who had to fill the void left after veteran Mikee Reyes’ departure, is showing some ill signs of his shoulder in-jury which sidelined him in the pre-season tourney as seen on his 5.2 scoring average this season.

Though the team threatens of explosive scoring options and improving on the boards (they outrebounded FEU by nine, 63-52), UP still is a team of questions with a lot of players showing in-consistencies on offense and de-fense. If they want to finally break into the win column, then they have to look for solutions to do a more fluid attack and more sol-id defensive stand against their UAAP counterparts.

The Lady Maroons, mean-

Both suffered heartbreak-ing losses on Sunday against de-fending champions Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles and Far Eastern University Lady Tamaraws. Are the woes going to continue, or could the UP com-munity anticipate more wins anytime soon?

The Men’s Team lost by an average of 12.8 points in their encounters, far from their fiery form last season where they saw two and three-point thriller loss-es to Adamson University, FEU, and UE.

Good thing for the Fight-ing Maroons this season is the steady scoring of former UAAP Juniors MVP Joseph Marata, who averages 16.2 point per game. His only single-digit output was during their 18-point loss to FEU, where he was suffering from an injury he acquired during their game against DLSU.

Another bright spot for the team is center Raul Soyud, who posted a 20 rebound perfor-mance against National Univer-sity and grabbed 14 boards ver-

SPORTS . TINIG NG PLARIDEL . 7

#Basketball:Can the

Maroons escape the

cellar?

Men of the hoops

Ladies in the hardcourt

The quest for more Ws

JOHN EDISON UBALDO

Five games into the season, the University of the Philippines basketball teams remain in the

bottom of the standings. The Men’s Team remains winless with a 0-5 slate, while the Women’s Team is tied for sixth at 1-4 with University of the East, after

a close call 51-49 victory against the University of Santo Tomas on July 11.

while, envision a brighter future, with two of their remaining op-ponents in the first round seem-ing to be sources of viable wins for them.

Their blowout losses were against the two frontrunners in the league, FEU and DLSU. The Lady Maroons are expected to bounce back big against ADMU, who had lost all their games so far.

The Lady Maroons’ en-counter against UE is also expect-ed to be a W, with the Lady War-riors suffering lopsided losses to UST and NU whom UP fought toe-to-toe the last time around.

Forward Antonia Wong has been providing the spark off the bench for UP, averaging 9.4 points per game and posting three consecutive double-double performance from opening day. Her display is complemented by center Patricia Tatel who is aver-aging a double digit rebounding performance and is a steady pres-ence from down low.

But apart from the two, other Lady Maroons lacked con-sistency with their game so far. Spitfire guard Bea Daez has been

having an on-and-off season, exploding for a splendid perfor-mance in one, then having her presence not felt in others.

Another problem plaguing the Lady Maroons is their turn-overs, which almost cost them the game against the Tigresses, committing 33 in the encounter. They also had 34 in their 19-point loss to hosts Lady Falcons, while crucial mistakes in the endgame also spelled their doom against the Lady Bulldogs.

It’s still just five games into the season. The 0-5 and 1-4 slates can still rise in the standings.

But only two more games are left before the end of the first round. These last games will play a lot in arranging the top slots and carrying the momentum to the second round.

But if the problems are not addressed well, the Maroons will have a hard time recovering from the early losses this season and do nothing but quell the thirst for a semis appearance.

DESPICABLEPHOTOS BY UP APERTURE | TAKEN ON 22 JULY WHEN PRESIDENT BENIGNO S.

AQUINO III DELIVERED HIS FOURTH STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS