EDITORIAL Of inadequacies, cowardice and transparency
Pacesetter Vol XLI No. 1 Broadsheet Issue
People grant us less, so they can have more.
Bulacan State University (BulSU) unlocked this academic year with what it seemed to be a blast: offering new graduate and undergraduate degrees, and housing a total of 38, 913 BulSUans—a student population that is 10.55 percent higher than last year. However, it turns out that when the coin is flipped, the other side reveals the ugly part of the bigger picture.
Insufficient classrooms met the thousands of BulSUans, to the extent that College of Engineering and College of Science students held their classes on the corridor of Federizo Hall. Also, Saturday and Sunday classes in the university happened to be loaded this time. Adding more to this hitch are the same old complaints of BulSUans about the lack of facilities intended for their education as well as comfort.
Given that BulSU is a state university, the Administration still has to make sure that the rooms and facilities will suffice for the number of students enrolled for the academic year but the solutions implemented annually are short handed that they fail to meet the needs of the students, depriving them a conducive learning atmosphere.
But other than adequate classrooms and facilities, there is a heavier deal that the ones in authority deprived these 38, 913 BulSUans—their right to information.
Bigger issues. Bigger events. Bigger news.
Unfortunately, they were unable to reach the awareness of the student body because they were hoarded in a safe-keeping state. The people who are knowledgeable of the matter refused to uncover particulars that are necessary for an account to be considered complete. They hesitated to impart the watchdogs the truth that the people they govern deserve to have understanding of.
It is hypocritical to say, “Open naman akong pag-usapan kahit anong bagay” but really, words are meaningless without compelling actions. Bakit nga ba ayaw magsalita? May tinatago ba? Kung mayro’n man, ano nga kaya?
Whether a certain subject does or does not directly touch the students’ lives, they still ought to know because they are the breathing edge that provides sense and purpose to the academe. They are the foremost rationale why the university even exists in the first place.
Then again, the ones in power snub the privilege to speak up, leaving questions unanswered, making the ambiguous still unclear, triggering hearsays and unconfirmed reports to blow up here and there. They prefer to remain silent and would rather not break the long line of speculations and fictitious versions of the story.
But it all melts down to this: cowardice.
They chickened out. Too wimp to speak up about the truth. They say that the issue is too sensitive; that it may disgrace one’s reputation. But if one has nothing to hide, why cower to say the truth? Come to think of it, there is nothing to hide and to fear if you have done nothing wrong, if there is no corruption existing.
This is not just a concern of the BulSUans’ right to an easy access to information; this is also an issue of carrying out one’s responsibility as a leader of a populace. Though it may not be present in papers or whatsoever pertinent documents, it is a part of their duty to be transparent.
At the end of the hide-and-seek, no matter how hard the watchdogs endeavor to keep up with the check and balance in the campus, if the sources will be firm in declining to do its part, the truth will remain concealed, the must-be-known will remain unknown.
Here’s to transparency, that it hopefully finds its way back to life, and soon regains its lost glory.
Pacesetter Vol XLI No. 1 Broadsheet Issue
People grant us less, so they can have more.
Bulacan State University (BulSU) unlocked this academic year with what it seemed to be a blast: offering new graduate and undergraduate degrees, and housing a total of 38, 913 BulSUans—a student population that is 10.55 percent higher than last year. However, it turns out that when the coin is flipped, the other side reveals the ugly part of the bigger picture.
Insufficient classrooms met the thousands of BulSUans, to the extent that College of Engineering and College of Science students held their classes on the corridor of Federizo Hall. Also, Saturday and Sunday classes in the university happened to be loaded this time. Adding more to this hitch are the same old complaints of BulSUans about the lack of facilities intended for their education as well as comfort.
Given that BulSU is a state university, the Administration still has to make sure that the rooms and facilities will suffice for the number of students enrolled for the academic year but the solutions implemented annually are short handed that they fail to meet the needs of the students, depriving them a conducive learning atmosphere.
But other than adequate classrooms and facilities, there is a heavier deal that the ones in authority deprived these 38, 913 BulSUans—their right to information.
Bigger issues. Bigger events. Bigger news.
Unfortunately, they were unable to reach the awareness of the student body because they were hoarded in a safe-keeping state. The people who are knowledgeable of the matter refused to uncover particulars that are necessary for an account to be considered complete. They hesitated to impart the watchdogs the truth that the people they govern deserve to have understanding of.
It is hypocritical to say, “Open naman akong pag-usapan kahit anong bagay” but really, words are meaningless without compelling actions. Bakit nga ba ayaw magsalita? May tinatago ba? Kung mayro’n man, ano nga kaya?
Whether a certain subject does or does not directly touch the students’ lives, they still ought to know because they are the breathing edge that provides sense and purpose to the academe. They are the foremost rationale why the university even exists in the first place.
Then again, the ones in power snub the privilege to speak up, leaving questions unanswered, making the ambiguous still unclear, triggering hearsays and unconfirmed reports to blow up here and there. They prefer to remain silent and would rather not break the long line of speculations and fictitious versions of the story.
But it all melts down to this: cowardice.
They chickened out. Too wimp to speak up about the truth. They say that the issue is too sensitive; that it may disgrace one’s reputation. But if one has nothing to hide, why cower to say the truth? Come to think of it, there is nothing to hide and to fear if you have done nothing wrong, if there is no corruption existing.
This is not just a concern of the BulSUans’ right to an easy access to information; this is also an issue of carrying out one’s responsibility as a leader of a populace. Though it may not be present in papers or whatsoever pertinent documents, it is a part of their duty to be transparent.
At the end of the hide-and-seek, no matter how hard the watchdogs endeavor to keep up with the check and balance in the campus, if the sources will be firm in declining to do its part, the truth will remain concealed, the must-be-known will remain unknown.
Here’s to transparency, that it hopefully finds its way back to life, and soon regains its lost glory.