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Journo kickstarts community ‘meryendahan’

Instead of giving away vegetables for ingredients just like in traditional community pantries, Lora’s community meryendahan provides cooked meals.

Published

1 year ago

May 3, 2021

Ian Patrick Laqui and Paolo Alejandrino

Photo courtesy of journalism sophomore Alexandra Lora.

Despite the heavy workload and multiple writing commissions, second year journalism student Alexandra Lora kick-started a “community meryendahan” in her Barangay Hulo neighborhood in Mandaluyong.

The soup kitchen style community pantry started on May 1. Instead of giving away vegetables for ingredients just like in traditional community pantries, Lora’s community meryendahan provides cooked meals.

“I came up with this concept of community pantry because I know for a fact not everyone, especially those who are in need, has the resources or appliances to cook or prepare food. Giving them cooked and prepared food, as in kakainin nalang, I believe, will help them a lot,” she told TomasinoWeb.

Knowing the struggle of putting food on the table since the pandemic began inspired Lora to set up her pantry.

“The number of people in Mandaluyong that I know because of the prolonged lockdowns is struggling to place food on their tables,” she said, adding that the Maginhawa initiative inspired her as well.

“The community meryendahan cooks and prepares food for Mandaleños, specifically around Barangay Hulo. The food prepared is also from a karinderya across our house, which is owned by an elderly couple who, up to now, is striving to get through every day,” she said.

To fund the pantry, Lora raised money by doing poetry, short stories, and sometimes essay proofreading commissions.

The pantry functioned for two days. Lora said, however, that it may continue if donations would pour in.

“I aim to keep it up longer than May 2, but for that to happen, donations would be highly appreciated. Donations both in kind and in cash will help a lot for us to continue to buy what is needed to keep cooking and serving those who are in need,” she added.

Community pantries started in April at Maginhawa Street, Quezon City by Ana Patricia Non, which eventually sprouted across different parts of the country and even abroad.

As of this writing, there are at least 350 active pantries in the country, including the community pantries set up by the UST Center for Campus Ministry along the streets of Dapitan and P. Noval.

Ian Patrick Laqui

Reports Editor, Reports Writer | + posts

Paolo Alejandrino

Blogs Writer | + posts

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UST-JRN head: Amplify each other’s fact check

Journalism and Communications students were taught the basics of fact-checking during “Fake News ‘Yan: A Webinar and Workshop on Fake News” held by the UST Journalism Society (UST-JRNSoc) and UST Communication Arts’ Student Association (CASA).

Published

1 month ago

April 12, 2022

Christine Nicole Montojo

Photo courtesy of the UST Journalism Society's Facebook page

The current political climate has overloaded fact-checking coalitions with a deluge of misinformation, which is why students are being equipped with the knowledge of how to fact-check for themselves.

The webinar focused on how to create fact-check articles and what content can be fact-checked in the first place.

The speakers of the forum emphasized the importance of finding the necessary sources that either debunk or affirm the claim in question.

Journalism coordinator Felipe Salvosa II said it is not enough to just create fact-check pieces but to spread them as well.

“Ang maganda sa mga networks (fact-checking) na ‘to they amplify each other’s fact checks,” Salvosa said, citing fact-checking networks like Tsek.ph and #FactsFirstPH.

For UST-JRNSoc President Marymon Reyes, she said that fact-checking is a form of social responsibility.

“It’s not really just a matter of being smart, being intellectual, it’s a matter of social responsibility that you’re taking care of other people,” she said.

Promoting the organization, she also said that anyone can submit fact check articles to the official Journsoc email or the UST Journalism Society’s Facebook page.

The UST-JournSoc is a member of Pintig.PH, a fact-checking network made by students in 2019 that aimed to educate voters during the 2019 midterm elections.

The webinar was held on Microsoft Teams and live-streamed on the Journalism Society’s Facebook page.

Christine Nicole Montojo

Stories Writer | + posts

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Parents’ perception, needs and practices affect children’s reading development—English profs

“It is a challenge among low-income families to increase literacy rate because of the fact that they cannot prioritize buying books and other instructional materials to teach their children reading and other school-related tasks,” the researchers wrote.

Published

10 months ago

July 7, 2021

Nicole Faye Agcaoili

A study by Assoc. Prof. Rosalyn Mirasol and Asst. Prof. Katrina Ninfa Topacio showed that a child's reading development is affected by the priority of each family, income, access to reading materials at home, and the influence of the environment.

Children’s reading development is affected by the priority of each family, income, access to reading materials at home, and the influence of the environment, a study said.

In their research titled “Reading perceptions, needs, and practices among parents of an urban poor community in the Philippines,” Assoc. Prof. Rosalyn Mirasol and Asst. Prof. Katrina Ninfa Topacio from the Department of English found that one’s home environment influences children’s reading development, as they find schooling easier and meaningful when exposed to reading activities at home.

“Literacy-rich environment have become motivated readers posit a challenge not only the educative sector of the community but more importantly, the parents who should respond to the natural law by providing adequate support especially on education and the upbringing to their children,” the researchers wrote.

According to the study, literacy contributes to the social and economic development of a country as the success of the industries relies on education. However, most families have limited resources and budget for reading materials, making it at the bottom of their priorities despite their positive views on the importance of education and reading.

94 of every 100 Filipinos 5 years old and over are basic literate while about 91.6 percent Filipinos 10 to 64 years old are functional literate, according to the results of the 2019 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS).

274 parents of K-1 pupils from an urban poor community in Manila, Philippines were surveyed to determine their reading perceptions, needs, and practices.

The study was published at Taylor & Francis Online on June 21, 2021.

Nicole Faye Agcaoili

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Science dean on 2021 Outstanding Young Scientist award: ‘Dreams do come true’

“I hope that more young Filipinos would consider a career in science. We need a critical mass of scientists to cover many uncharted disciplines or sub-disciplines in the sciences,” Science dean Rey Donne Papa said.

Published

11 months ago

July 4, 2021

Patricia Angela Marie Kahanap

Science dean Rey Donne Papa is one of the recipients of the prestigious 2021 Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS). Photo grabbed from the UST Biology Society.

For UST College of Science dean Rey Donne Papa, the conferment of the prestigious 2021 Outstanding Young Scientist (OYS) award is both a dream and a challenge to conduct quality research in the field of biology.

“It is also a proof that dreams do come true,” Papa said in a statement.

“This award is a validation that the scientific community in the Philippines sees the value of the researches I had been able to conduct since I started my career,” he added.

The National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) announced on June 3 the full list of Filipino scientists who bagged the award, which is given among those who have “made significant contributions to science and technology.”

But for Papa, it wasn’t just merely a dream come true— it was also a noble yet difficult challenge.

“This award also serves as a challenge for me to be able to continue to do good quality researches in the field of freshwater biology,” he said.

Specializing in limnology or the study of inland freshwaters, Papa led the Zooplankton Ecology, Systematics and Limnology research group of the university and has been studying different freshwater ecosystems in the country.

The need for more young scientists

Highlighting the need for future Filipino scientists, Papa continued: “[A]nd in the process mentor more students in order to further build up the number of freshwater scientists in the country,”

Having collaborated with local and international scientists, Papa believed that all sciences are important and that it is essential to nation-building.

“As science and national development go together, a scientifically literate society would also be a sure indicator of future economic prosperity for our country,” he said.

Papa, who is the first Filipino representative to the International Society of Limnology, also stressed the importance of academic publishing, and at the same time encouraged science undergraduates to “aim for quality research outputs.”

He is set to officially join the list of Thomasian scientists — which includes, Alicia Aguinaldo, Christina Binag, Allan Patrick Macabeo, Bernard John Tongol, Mario Tan, John Donnie Ramos, Grecebio Jonathan Alejandro, and Thomas Edison Dela Cruz — awarded with OYS on July 15.

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