News
Paskuhan concert attracts crowd, overwhelms bands
RUMORS foretelling the end of the world failed to discourage people from flocking to the University of Santo Tomas as the Paskuhan festivities culminated last December 21, 2012, attracting over 70,000 people.
Paskuhan 2012: Pagdiriwang ng Pananampalataya featured the annual Paskuhan parade, concert, and the perennial fireworks display.
This year’s celebration promoted thanksgiving and devotion, as it coincides with the Catholic Church’s celebration of the “Year of Faith.”
The concert was opened by performances from the UST Yellow Jackets, Thomasian Idol season 2 finalists with season1 champion Jessamae Gabon, SoundCheck 2012 champion 3/4 Band, and UST alumni band Flooza.
Thomasians and visitors alike flocked to the Open Field for the main concert to watch performances from 2 Years Apart, Silent Sanctuary, Letter Day Story, Join the Club, December Avenue, Mayonnaise, Paraluman, Spongecola, Urbandub, and Radioactive Sago Project.
The fireworks display was set at 9 PM as 2012 hit songs like “Somebody That I Used to Know,” “We Found Love,” “Gangnam Style,” “Titanium,” and “Payphone” chimed in tune. The pyromusical exceeded six minutes.
The Growling Tigers was given a tribute during the program. It served as an opportunity for them to thank their fans for the support they received for the current University Athletics’ Association of the Philippines and recent Philippine Collegiate Champion’s League seasons.
“Thankful kami dahil nakapag-pasalamat kami sa mga fans namin at sa buong UST community,” said Jeric Fortuna in an interview with TomasinoWeb.
Jeric Teng also felt “very flattered” with the opportunity given to them in front of the Paskuhan crowd. “Thank you to all who supported us.”
Thankful bands
The guest bands were all thankful of the Thomasian crowd. They felt overwhelmed with the enthusiasm the audience have.
The enthusiastic crowd sang along to the bands’ hits like “Rebound,” “Nobela,” “Jopay,” “Bitiw,” “First of Summer,” and “Astro.”
“Sobrang saya ng crowd. Sobrang nag-enjoy kami sa pagtugtog,” Sarkie Sarangay, vocalist of Silent Sanctuary, said. “Sana next year makatugtog ulit kami.”
According to Monty Macalino of Mayonnaise, the band really waited to be invited in a Paskuhan concert and the experience they had was “very, very touching.”
“There’s something warm among Thomasians. When they like what they’re hearing, they’re response is tatayo sila kahit di sabihing gawin nila ‘yun.”
Paskuhan first timer Radioactive Sago Project was the last to perform but did not feel if the Thomasians were tired. Band vocalist and media personality Lourd De Veyra jokingly said about the crowd’s energy, “Nakakagulat… Inaantok na yung mga yan, SponegeCola pinunta nila rito.”
Well-organized
Other band vocalists, like Dex Yu of Letter Day Story and Zel Bautista of December Avenue, praised the way the event was organized. Bautista said that compared to the previous Paskuhan concerts, this year was “more fun and more relax.”
Even with these comments, Student Organizations Coordinating Council (SOCC) Public Relations Officer Catherine Ceñal said that for her, there is no perfect event.
“The planning was really fun because we were really excited on how the students will react with the set of bands we had for them,” Ceñal added. “We are also thankful for everyone behind the Paskuhan: the Office of the Secretary General, the Office for Student Affairs, the Central Student Council, and the student organizations [among many others].”
Ceñal also thanked Fr. Roberto Pinto of the Facilities Management Office and their two directors, Mr. Tonton Africa and Ms. Faye Martel-Abugan.
By Juan Miguel G. Villon, Richard Benjamin E. Chua, Mia Rosienna P. Mallari
Photo taken by Sheena Jean T. Leonardo
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News
Thomasian innovation bested others in the Metro
A mere escape from summer boredom hailed two Engineering Thomasians victorious in the recent Manila Bay Cleanup competition, launched by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in April.
A mere escape from summer boredom hailed two Engineering Thomasians victorious in the recent Manila Bay Cleanup competition, launched by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in April.
Fourth year Electronics Communication Engineering (ECE) students John Beljoe Abao and Ariel Manalaysay had outclassed seven other competing schools with their giant dustpan-like entry, which, according to them is based on simple logic and imagination, and practically out of the boredom during the vacation.
“Nung summer walang magawa, and opportunity din naman ‘yon,” Abao said, referring to the contest.
With the theme “Innovative Engineering Solutions to the Manila Bay Garbage Problem,” the contest encouraged student participants to devise creative contraptions that may eventually be improved and produced by the MMDA.
“It (the prototype) is V-shaped and it has a hole in the middle where a concrete storage is placed,” Abao said.
With big waves in the bay, floating debris and trash will be swept into the chute and into the tank, “just merely collecting the trash into the bin.”
Competition
The Thomasian duo took three days of brainstorming, a day to formulate the concept paper, and only a span of two hours to construct the model. But despite the short amount of time, they were “confident” about their prototype.
“One down, one down,” Abao said when asked what did they feel when they saw other participants’ prototype. According to the duo, the edge of their prototype compared to others’ was the “feasibility to implement because of its simplicity.”
The prototype brought to the defense is made up of only cardboard, masking tape, and illustration board while other participants’ proposals were more technical and even made use of mathematical computations.
The real inspiration behind the innovation, according to Abao, is the fulfillment of seeing his idea being implemented to help improve the Manila Bay.
“Kuha lang ng kuha. When the opportunity comes, grab without hesitation,” Abao and Manalaysay said, advising the Thomasian community to be ready when opportunity knocks.
According to an article in Inquirer, Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) Assistant Secretary Maria Catalina Cabral said that in choosing the winning design they looked for “innovation and engineering.”
“The concept is doable. We saw there was potential for this to be built and developed. MMDA and DOST will make more studies to develop and make more improvements on this proposal,” Cabral added in the said article.
The duo received P25,000 cash prize along with Certificate of Recognition.
Other participating schools included Ateneo de Manila University, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Manuel L. Quezon University and Mapua Institute of Technology.
By Mia Mallari and Romhelyn Benipayo
Photo courtesy of John Beljoe Abao
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