After picketing outside the gates of Senate, we returned to campus and updated our fellow students of the progress of the UP Charter bicameral conference approval. I went org hopping with some colleagues in AS, Engineering and Vinzons. Late that afternoon, we held a program at AS steps then proceeded to march towards Vinzons Hall where we continued the information campaign.

It’s quite telling, that the passage of the new UP Charter was set right at the beginning of the year of the university’s centennial, because it is indeed part of a larger plan of the UP administration to push for its distorted policies guised with the celebration of UP’s centennial as a very convenient and palatable excuse. It is, indeed, part of a larger government scheme, as ascribed in the Long-Term Higher Education Development Plan 2001-2010 (LTHEDP 2001-2010), of furthering the decrease in state subsidies and transforming all its state universities into self-sustaining semi-private institutions by selling its assets and raising tuition. All to the detriment of the Filipino youth, most of whom can barely afford the present cost of tertiary education in UP and other state universities; and to the disadvantage of the Filipino people such institutions claim to serve.

Last December 19, 2007, Senate Bill No. 1964, otherwise known as the Pangilinan-sponsored Act to amend the University of the Philippines Charter, was approved in the Senate. It seeks to replace the century-old charter of the country’s premiere state university to “avert the declining competitiveness of UP education.” Granted, the university’s charter is indeed archaic and is in need of amendments in order to effectively perform its role as the country’s premiere state university. However, the present bill, sponsored by Senator Francis Pangilinan, at large, includes provisions that some of us believe will further institutionalize the present Board of Regents’ undemocratic governance of the university and further alienate majority of Filipinos from democratic access to UP education. [You may download this .doc file for a more detailed matrix of the contented provisions and the corresponding amendment proposals].

Last Monday, January 28, 2007, as both the Congress and the Senate resume session after their holiday breaks, bicameral conferences were held in the Senate to finalize and pass the government’s priority bills. One of which, is the new UP Charter.

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After having lunch with everyone in the production, we went shooting some footage along C.M. Recto. There were still a lot of cops around–good thing we didn’t get into trouble for having a bulky camera around. After waiting for some friends to join us and help, we proceeded to Quezon Boulevard and shot some police chase scene.

I was trying to edit the sequence yesterday, and it really made me feel that we didn’t shoot enough. I’ve talked to my thesis partner and we decided to re-shoot this sequence. The stills look okay, though.

The day went by quite quickly. Since all our shots that day were outdoors, we didn’t have any artificial lighting, thus it was easy to shoot and move around. That proved to be quite an advantage when you’re not totally in control of your environment. For example, since we had a protest rally sequence, we coincided our first shooting day with an actual Mendiola rally (instead of staging/faking our own), which on that day was a commemoration of First Quarter Storm. We were, however, not able to schedule our shoot correctly so we had to rush and shoot everything we can before the protest action ended.

We encountered some problems with the Manila Police, too, but everything was settled eventually. There’s an inconsistency with our actors’ police uniforms, I don’t know if people will notice.

First shooting day last Saturday, January 26, 2008, went okay. It’s been two days but there’s still a nagging feeling that suggests I am not entirely satisfied with the shots. I think we’re going to call for an additional shooting day to shoot more footage or re-shoot altogether. All our locations were outdoors and semi-guerilla.

Our first location was at the Manila North Cemetery. Aside from the usual crowds who watch and make distracting noise, we didn’t encounter much problems.

It’s my first official long-run. Though, signing up for a five-kilometer run doesn’t seem long enough for some, it was for me just the right first-time experience. My other brods were running the ten-kilometer, twenty-one and the full marathon.

My running partner and I were running at our own pace, enjoying the crisp morning air, and taking in the scenery. A few hundred meters into the run, however, we approached a fork in the road. I couldn’t understand what the man directing the runners where to go, was saying. I thought to myself, nakakahiya naman kung ‘yung mga bata ‘yung sundan namin. Instead of following the little school kids, we followed the police academy cadets who were chanting throughout their run.

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On Sunday, after just two to three hours of sleep, we were forced to get up and head over to the starting line of the Subic Marathon. Anyway, I was driving from Binictican Heights to the track oval where everyone was supposed to assemble. I was following two cars in front of me, one being driven by a brod, the other I didn’t really know but was definitely on its way to the marathon starting line too.

Suddenly, the two vehicles in front of me swerved to the right as if to avoid something. It wasn’t soon enough that I realized there was an approaching motorcycle coming right at us. I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t had enough sleep but I really thought it was simply a vehicle in front of me running the same direction. In a split-second before we had a head-on collision, I made a realization of what was about to happen and quickly swerved to the right. It wasn’t a head-on collision, thank heavens. Instead, I smashed the car’s left side and amputated the entire driver’s side mirror and shattered the glass into numerous pieces that came flying right at us inside the car (our windows were rolled down).

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Last weekend, I drove all the way to Subic with some of my brods to participate in the Subic International Marathon. After a morning ocular with my thesis partner and some of our production crew at our various locations in Manila, I headed over to meet my brods in Katipunan before driving all the way to Subic in Zambales. It’s by far, the farthest drive I’ve had from Manila. It was quite a pleasant road trip, if you ask me. Never mind if I barely remember how to get to Subic. Following the road signs was enough.

After almost three hours, we arrived in Subic Bay Freeport at around 8 in the evening. Before having dinner, we spent an hour or so at the outlet stores looking at running shoes. It was half past nine in the evening when we decided to have dinner. We decided to cross the canal out of the Freeport and have a night out in Olongapo. Hehe.

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