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BRSHS The Matrix, Tuburan, Ligao City, Albay (2025)

30/11/2025

With science at the forefront of progress and growth, innovation and curiosity begin not just in the laboratory but at home. Bridging gaps within communities and promoting progression through transformation.

In a country home to the brightest minds, innovation and technology are simply not just merits — it is a gateway to endless solutions and a brighter tomorrow.

Words | Chrizza Mae Omnes

06/10/2025

𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐘 | 𝐎𝐟 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬

“Ma’am! Sir! May nagsusuntukan po sa classroom!”

Undoubtedly, you’d be met by a group of students standing outside the faculty room, others hiding their phones as they record, and the hushed laughter as their teacher rushes to the classroom. The moment when their teacher opens the door, a chorus of students gathered around a small feast would greet them instead.

A rite of passage for every Filipino teacher and a telltale sign that it’s finally Teacher’s Day.

A day dedicated to those spearheading the foundations of the nation’s future. Those booming early morning greetings echoing against all four corners of the Philippine classroom continue to fuel the voices of the youth and are louder than ever. It is with these same voices that they continue speaking up for the silenced and silencing those who wish to tune out the truth.

The job of a teacher requires a background in all the various sectors necessary for a child's upbringing. And an additional ten more should you become a public school teacher in the Philippines. Here, teaching is a hand-in-hand result of pedagogy and improvisation.

A diploma can mean little if a teacher does not know how to calm a crying child, to repair a broken chair, or to make up for the absence of basic classroom supplies all at the same time. A doctorate in education may one day translate into sweeping up messes on the floor or patching leaky ceilings before the rainy seasons get a lot worse.

It is a job of its own calibre, yet one that averages just below the salaries deemed “entry-level” by corporations.

Teachers have a role that stretches far beyond the walls of the classroom, spilling into homes where lesson plans are written under the candlelight during power outages, or persevering through sleepless nights, wondering how to make a meager paycheck last until the next. And despite this, they continue to persist. Not for wealth, but for the reward of seeing a once-struggling student stand taller and hold their head higher.

There is a certain satisfaction in realizing that you've contributed to a person's success, much more when you become that undoused ember that sparks such fiery passion.

One could call them lantern bearers in a nation that is continuously plunged into darkness. They do not simply teach; they nurture empathy and citizenship. In classrooms often overcrowded and underfunded, they stand as both shield and compass, protecting the youth while guiding them forward.

To call teachers merely resilient is to downplay the truth. What defines them is not resilience, but passion. Passion that refuses to dim even when society demands too much and offers too little. Passion that fuels the lanterns they hold as they guide the future, illuminating paths that students will one day transform into roads.

Teachers are not just educators. They are keepers of time, builders of character, and shapers of destinies. They are the quiet revolutionaries who choose, every single day, to believe. And in that simple choice, the youth find not only guidance, but hope.

It is with this hope that the caverns of the unknown will not remain dark, that the storms of incompetence won’t push them too far, and the light at the end of the tunnel holds a future as bright as the lanterns of yesterday.

Words | Andrea Grace C. Layug
Graphics | Jaira Nicole Ramos

30/09/2025

𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 | A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck near the City of Bogo, Cebu, on September 30 at 9:59 p.m., with a focus reported to be 10 kilometers deep. Various areas across the country were also shaken by the quake, including Ligao City.

SOURCE: Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)

27/09/2025

𝐒𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐂𝐇 | 𝐃𝐎𝐇 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧

With the months of June to November being the peak tropical cyclone season in the Philippines, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) records almost 70% of typhoons occurring during this period.

However, heavy rainfall and strong winds are not the only things one must take into account. Within the flooded streets, the Department of Health (DOH) has also warned the public against health concerns such as leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis — an infection caused by the bacteria Leptospira, is contracted after infected water, soil, or animal urine comes into contact with the nose, eyes, mouth, or open wounds.

Infections are most common during rainy seasons and areas wherein flood is most prevalent.

Symptoms may begin to arise two to thirty days after exposure to the bacteria. Once infected, a person may begin to experience high fever, headaches, chills, and muscle aches in areas such as the calves and back.

With the country not only experiencing back-to-back typhoons but also serious floods in various communities, leptospirosis cases have also been on a lookout.

In fact, DOH has logged 2,396 leptospirosis cases nationwide from June 8 to August 7, 2025. Among the cases, Metro Manila is seen to be the area with the most cases.

Several hospitals around Metro Manila have been said to record an influx of cases following floods brought by heavy rains and typhoons.

To address the growing number of cases, DOH announces that 19 DOH hospitals around the National Capital Region (NCR) have opened "fast lanes" for leptospirosis.

These fast lanes are available for the quicker treatment of the infection.

“Here, patients are assessed to determine whether they need to be admitted to the hospital. Their risk level is also evaluated to prescribe the appropriate use of doxycycline,” the DOH said.

Meanwhile, the Albay Provincial Health Office reminds the public on DOH's guidelines on leptospirosis prevention during the typhoon season.

Steps shared by DOH include avoiding going to areas prone to flooding or coming into contact with floodwaters, especially if one has open wounds. If a person happens to come into contact with floodwater, wounded or not, ensure proper consultation with a physician and take the necessary precautions such as taking the antibiotics.

Rising floods and the rise of leptospirosis must not become synonymous.

DOH continues to monitor cases nationwide and continues to urge the public to each take personal steps against the infection.

The rising cases remind the public how one must stay alert during flood season, because beyond these waters lie something deeper.

09/09/2025

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐍 | 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞

I watch with blood-boiling disbelief as storms batter this nation—not because they are inevitable, but because they are engineered catastrophes, greed-fueled by dynasties who treat flood-control funds like their birthright, while the rest of us drown.

From 2023 to 2025, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) received nearly ₱1 trillion—around ₱980 billion in total, averaging about ₱326 billion per year—for flood-control projects, making it the largest portion of infrastructure funding in the national budget, based on data from GMA Integrated News Research. Yet despite this massive investment, collapsed d**es, unfinished embankments, and projects that exist only on paper continue to plague the country.

Independent audits and congressional investigations suggest that as much as ₱1 trillion may have been lost to corruption and overpricing over these three years. Such figures illustrate not merely lapses in governance but systemic diversion of resources—public funds intended for community welfare systematically diverted to entrench political dynasties and advance their private agendas.

Wealth meets nepotism in ugly ways closer to home. The Co clan of Albay embodies this rot. Zaldy Co, former chair of the House Appropriations Committee and a political operator with deep ties to contracting, presides over a family empire where business and politics are indistinguishable. His brother, Christopher Co, co-founded Hi-Tone Construction, a firm repeatedly flagged for securing large government projects. Together, their companies have drawn billions from the same flood-control allocations they were supposed to oversee. The Alontes of Biñan offer another illustration: a dynasty that has secured public works funds while leaving their constituents to endure floods with little protection.

And if the theft itself were not insulting enough, the insult is doubled by the spectacle of their heirs. Claudine Co, niece of Zaldy, parades her luxury bags and jet-set lifestyle on social media, flaunting wealth amassed in the shadow of public misery. While ordinary families scramble for higher ground as floods swallow their homes, she posts proof that dynastic greed doesn’t just destroy infrastructure—it breeds arrogance that sees no shame in turning public tragedy into private glamour. These heirs are the face of the dynasty's plunder: perfumed, made-up, and wading shamelessly through the blood and mud of their own provinces.

Entitlement has become the true infrastructure of this nation. These families inherit not duty but pipelines of plunder, turning calamity into currency and tragedy into trophies. They are born into power, yet their measure is not service but spectacle: luxury flaunted on screens while their provinces drown beneath indifference.

It is tempting to argue that infrastructure must continue, for lives depend on it. But what are dams and d**es worth when they are built on nepotism instead of science? A d**e built for dynasties is a d**e destined to collapse. A dam raised by corruption is a dam that will betray the very people it promised to protect.

These floods are not natural—they are political, manufactured by greed and inherited power. Every collapsed embankment is a monument to dynastic arrogance; every submerged town is testimony to betrayal. The waters carry receipts: proof that disaster has become the dynasty's most profitable enterprise.

It is time to strip the veneers off these surnames. This is a nation flooded by privilege, where the waters of power drown the people while the heirs swim in luxury. Name the Co’s. Name the Alontes. Name every dynasty that fattens itself on the misery of the vulnerable. Audit not just projects but the families behind them. Until the chains of political inheritance are broken, we will never be safe from the floods—because here, it is not the rivers that rise, but the greed of dynasties that mistake our taxes for their legacy.

Words | Kryssa Tagum
Cartoon | Joaquin Cedro

31/08/2025

𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐘 | 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬

Like a spinning color wheel, the youth continue to paint vibrant futures with every stroke of their creative minds. Each stop symbolizes a color like no other—be it the fiery red of advocacy, the dark-blue of scientific breakthroughs, or the sage green signifying change. With every movement the youth makes, they leave an ever-lasting imprint on society, blending into a colorful spectrum on a once blank canvas.

In a color wheel, every shade counts. Just as a single color would be incomplete without its neighboring tones, every bright young mind brings a unique compliment to the picture of society. Without the loud protests of young activists, the quiet intelligence of teenage scientists, or the truth campus journalists bring—a nation would only be a canvas of white paint.

Youth Day is often overlooked by many, deemed as unnecessary and buried underneath many other celebrations. But this particular marking, celebrated every 12th of August by the United Nations, is known for reminding the masses that no voice is too small, no dream too fragile, and no goal is too far to reach. A child may only hold a tiny spark, but when combined with others, creates a blaze powerful enough to burn through stereotypes and the toughest injustice systems.

This revelry does not call to celebrate the world-leaders, but the youth—every color, every stroke, no matter how light or deep—because every shade matters, and every dream contributes to the masterpiece every nation is trying to achieve.

Words | Zaijan Louise Monilla
Graphics | Zabdiel Datoon

25/08/2025

It is with the privilege of freedom that we should reflect that heroism lies not just in the battle cries that sparked revolution but also within silent sacrifices and devotion to our nation and the Filipino people.

With this, this August 25 we carry forward their bravery in our own choices—both big and small. Happy National Heroes Day.

04/08/2025

𝐔𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.

Meet the writers behind The Matrix Editorial Staff A.Y. 2025-2026.

Committed to serving headlines that challenge, shed light, and fuel the community, these writers and the entire organization believe in the edge of the pen and the power of campus journalism. Proving that 𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓭𝓸𝓶 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓷𝓸 𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓼 with a collective initiative of producing stories with integrity to serve the community.

04/08/2025

𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.

The Matrix, the official school publication of Bicol Regional Science High School in English presents to you its 𝑬𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑨.𝒀. 2025-2026.

Fueled by passion and shaped by integrity, this new wave of staffers brings to you the latest issues, shedding light on the truth and serving quality with every story.

Facing another academic year, The Matrix remains unyielding and critical to its mission — 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒘𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.

02/08/2025

From every corner of the community, we will deliver newsworthy stories.

𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐍𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬.

28/07/2025

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is poised to deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) this July 28—the 87th in the country’s political history.

As the administration enters its midpoint, government data reveals that only 42 of the 165 promises made since 2022 have been fully delivered. Economic growth remains modest, with gains tempered by persistent structural challenges. Of the administration’s 16 priority infrastructure projects, only three have been completed. Meanwhile, reforms in social services, energy, and labor continue to face delays, with many programs still in early or stalled phases of implementation.

Layout | Hyubs Zaballa

BRSHS The Matrix

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