Many were excited when the UAAP announced before the start of the season that they will be adding ballroom dancing to the list of events this season. Starting off as a demonstration sport, the competition was held at the Quadricentennial Pavillion last Sept. 2.

Students from different universities swarmed the Quadricenntenial Pavillion to show support to their respective schools. Out of the eight UAAP schools, only Far Eastern University did not participate in the event.

Despite rehearsing for only three months, the UST Sinag Ballroom Dance Company was able to capture two podium finishes in the Latin America and standard ballroom category that suited them for the silver medal while the University of the Philippines swept the competition after finishing strong by snagging gold medals in both categories.

Sinag was pleased with how the competition went despite not winning the coveted ballroom dancing crown. Head coach Danilo Gagani was happy with the performance, stating that it was a good start for the relatively young squad to finish with flying colors. – Julian Elona and Patricia Isabella Romarate

After 47 years, the Miss Universe crown finally comes back home.

Pia Wurtzbach is the third Filipino to win the coveted crown after Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margarita Moran in 1973. Her win might be one of the most controversial in Miss Universe history because host Steve Harvey mistakenly announced Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez as the winner only to take it back minutes later saying he “made a terrible mistake.”

The half-German beauty is a devout Catholic, but she is very vocal with her advocacy of gender equality. In an Instagram post, she said that although she was raised in a conservative Catholic country she is not afraid to fight for LGBT rights because there is no room for hate anymore.

Many took notice of her grace and beauty, in fact, she was named Google’s most-searched female personality in the Philippines this year. Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo also said last Dec. 20 that Wurtzbach agreed to become the Philippine’s tourism ambassador after her reign.

It might have started out as a mistake but Pia Wurtzbach’s colorful reign would definitely not be forgotten easily. She will pass her crown to the next Miss Universe on January 30, 2017 at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Maria Limjoco

Evident with its voter’s education seminars and other election related programs, the UST Central Commission on Elections (UST Comelec) was determined to have a successful university-wide elections – successful, until the proclamation of the new set of Central Student Council (CSC) officers was postponed due to a “technical failure.”

On April 22, hours before the proclamation, one of the computers used for canvassing votes crashed, halting the downloading of the file which contained the results of the CSC elections from Blackboard, UST’s online learning portal. The glitch was so bad that Educational Technology Center staff had to ask assistance from Blackboard Australia and Singapore.

It was the first time a technical problem happened since the CSC election was automated in 2009. As expected, the incident drew flak from the Central Board as well as from the candidates.

On April 27, the UST Comelec finally proclaimed the new set of CSC officers with Lakas Tomasino Coalition dominating the elections after winning five out of six posts, including the presidency. – Vince Ferreras

Before she became vice president, Leni Robredo could be seen riding a bus from Manila to Naga City along with her daughters. Indeed, her simplicity and motherly image has gained admiration from many.

Known for being the wife of the late Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary Jesse Robredo, the former Camarines Sur representative had no plans of taking higher posts in the government. Not until the Liberal Party convinced her to run along its standard bearer Mar Roxas.

Robredo surged in pre-election surveys, battling almost neck and neck with former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos.

This same battle was waged during the elections, where she emerged victorious by a few hundred thousand votes. She finished with 14,418,817 votes while Marcos had 14,155,344.

Despite controversies and her “irreconcilable differences” with the President, she keeps calm and continues to slay every magazine cover. – Vince Ferreras

A cocktail of negligent parenting, an unusually acrobatic child, a confused silverback gorilla, a gun and the ever present mobile camera spawned what will later go down in history as one of the key moments of the year 2016.

On May 28, a three-year old boy, who apparently took Tarzan and The Jungle Book way too seriously, decided that he will enjoy his trip to the zoo by going inside a gorilla enclosure. Low and behold, the child found himself trapped inside a cage with a 440-pound raw muscle and a bad decision. The Cincinnati Zoo, fearing for the safety of the kid and probably more fearing of a hefty lawsuit, decided that the best course of action is to shoot the gorilla.

And shoot the gorilla they did.

News about cases like this usually sputters out after a few days. However, to everyone’s surprise, the whole fiasco was blown way out of proportion and became an international scandal. Most people cried foul and blamed the parent for being negligent while some supported the decision of the zoo administration. There’s also a few who blame Harambe himself for being there in the enclosure causing all this scandal in the first place. “Aye, that monkey’s crakin up. With ‘ol the business ‘bout dragging that lad across the cage. I spilled me coffee ‘cos of that chimpanzee,” said Bert, one of the visitors of the zoo that fateful day.

Harambe unwittingly became the personification of our society’s repressed love for dark humor and also our ability as a species to be a complete and total jackass by turning harrowing events like this into memes. Vox even declared Harambe as the undeniable “meme of the year”.

It is without the question that Harambe reached a status no man, or animal for that matter, ever achieved before. No creature in the past, present, and possibly the future that will have his own phallic salute. – Jayson Cruz

The Philippines is in a state of war.

More accurately, the Duterte administration had declared an all out war against illegal drugs. This had been one of the most prominent changes promised by President Duterte on the campaign trail, which endeared millions of Filipinos.

He had promised to eradicate drugs within six months. In those six months, more than 6,000 lives of suspected drug pushers and users nationwide. Some of them were killed in anti-narcotics operations, after they allegedly fought police, while some were killed in apparent vigilante killings.

About a third of police operations are being investigated for alleged human rights violations. However, Duterte assured that he will defend all policemen from such charges.

The President had been in headlines both locally and internationally for his hardline measures against drugs which drew criticism from the US and the UN. With every blow of negative feedback, he simply responded with a “F*** you.”

Despite different criticisms, the latest Social Weather Stations survey revealed that he still holds good reputation at home.

In addition, Duterte pushed back the deadline of the war on drugs stating that he will continue “until the last pusher drops dead.”  – Ricmae Dorothy Arellano

“Anong po ang masasabi niyo, mga ka-DDS?”

Well, Filipinos have a lot to say to Mocha Uson – one of President Duterte’s ever gallant knights online. She made noise through her Facebook page, Mocha Uson Blog, by frequently lambasting established and credible news outlets—from Ateneo de Manila’s Matanglawin, to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, to the New York Times—for allegedly “destabilizing the Philippines.”

The dancer-turned-political analyst also preys on “dilawans,” or people affiliated with the Liberal Party or simply anyone who dares to be critical toward the Duterte administration, and blames them for stratifying the nation by staining the President’s image.

Unbeknownst to some, Uson is actually a Thomasian. She graduated with a degree in Medical Technology at the University, then studied at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery for two years. She dropped out to pursue a career as a singer and later on, the leader of girl group Mocha Girls.

Her online following greatly outnumbers some media organizations – a feat that she is very proud of. Her relentless support for the President, characterized by an apologist rhetoric and misinformation, had triggered online petitions to shut down her page.

However, as she said in her first column on the Philippine Star, she is still free to speak. – Erikah Cinco

Season 79 has been rough for the UST Growling Tigers. After an unexpected bridesmaid finish last season, the Tigers fell to the bottom of the standing with a dismal 3-11 win-loss record. The Tigers experienced their worst loss in a decade against eventual champions De La Salle Green Archers with a 38-point deficit. When things could not get any worse, it did – the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons beat UST for the first time since Season 69.

The Tigers lost their key players in Kevin Ferrer, Ed Daquioag and Karim Abdul and Embons Bonleon was declared out for the season due to a wrist injury. Even before the season started, the Tigers had to adjust to a new system only three months before the opening of the UAAP Season 79 under Boy Sablan, who replaced Bong dela Cruz after allegations of maltreatment of players and game fixing.

Veterans Louie Vigil and Jamil Sheriff almost did not make it in the lineup after a sudden decision by the league’s board to lower the age limit from 25 to 24. However, after UST contested the decision, Vigil and Sheriff were cleared to play. King Tiger Vigil led the España-based cagers with an average of 13.57 points and 3.14 assists per game. – Chelseia Jeanne Jose

The year 2016 marked the end of former Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s colorful journey through politics and life.

It was in 2014 when she announced that she was diagnosed with lung cancer and July last year when she said that she was cured. Last year in October, she filed her candidacy for president for the third and last time.

She banked on the power of social media and millennials to catapult her to the presidency.

While others were indignant, loyalists like the Duterte Youth and Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos was happy with the burial and was grateful for President Duterte’s fulfillment of one of his campaign promises of burying the late dictator whose regime committed thousands of human rights violations.