The Eagle

20/09/2025

Grounded in our Augustinian values of Veritas, Caritas, and Unitas, we stand with the people in their clamor for justice, transparency, and reform.

Every peso lost to corruption robs Filipinos of food, shelter, and security. While billions are stolen, countless families endure floods, hunger, and neglect. The Trillion Peso March rises as more than a protest, it is a collective cry for honesty, dignity, and good governance.

This Sunday, September 21, 2025, at 12:00 nn, we call on fellow Augustinians and all who believe in accountability to walk with us from the Provincial Capitol Lagoon to the Bacolod Public Plaza. Let us wear white, a symbol of truth and hope that shines against the shadows of corruption.

Though joining the march is voluntary, the cause belongs to all. May our unity remind us that democracy survives only when truth is defended and justice is pursued.

𝘈𝘶𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘢 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢 𝘬𝘰𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯!

Words by Revinmar Santos
Layout by Lynn Marie Soldevilla

20/09/2025

𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓

📣A Call to Action and Invitation to all Augustinians🙏
PLEASE WEAR WHITE. STAND UNITED.

20/09/2025

‘𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐨𝐨’: 𝐒𝐞𝐧. 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡

Colegio San Agustin - Bacolod has been graced by the presence of Senator Risa Hontiveros, the principal author and sponsor of the Philippine Mental Health Law (Republic Act 11036). Hontiveros spoke about its continuing role in shaping how institutions respond to the needs of both students and educators.

Passed in 2018, the Mental Health Act established a national framework for accessible and affordable mental health services. In schools, the law envisions programs that address stress, anxiety, and other challenges faced by the academic community — reminding stakeholders that education is as much about human well-being as it is about performance.

Speaking before Augustinian students and faculty, Sen. Hontiveros emphasized that support should extend not only to learners but also to educators. Sharing her plans to push for mental wellness leave for teachers and recognizing the emotional labor demanded by the profession she said, “The carers need a carer too.”

The forum also gave space for dialogue. During the open forum, students raised questions about mental health challenges at both institutional and societal levels, from the pressures of academic performance to the lack of safe and accessible services in communities. These conversations echoed a reality that is often unspoken — that in schools, success is sometimes weighed more heavily in grades and passing rates than in the unseen struggles students carry with them into every classroom.

In closing, the Senator called on schools to go beyond compliance with the law and embrace its spirit fully: creating spaces where academic growth and mental well-being stand side by side, neither sacrificed for the other.

Words By Jenny Rafael
Photos by Kristel Velasco, Kathleen Los Bañez, John Pierre Amaguin, & Krishia Mae Sumande

20/09/2025

| 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

I asked my mom to let me ride the Ferris wheel so I could touch the stars and see the world while riding the wind. But the more I dream of climbing toward the night, the heavier her hand lingered on my heart.

"It’s dangerous, don’t leave my side,” she said. Sadness and fury welled up in me. How could she ask me to stop reaching for my dreams?

I grew more persistent, crying and begging her to let me ride. “Please, Mom , I really want to see the whole world from above,” I pleaded. She ignored me at first, but I saw her eyes twitch with irritation.

After several minutes of my stubborn pleading, she finally looked at me and said, “Fine, if you want to ride that badly, then go. I won’t stop you, but don’t cry for me when things get scary at the top.” My heart leapt. I was overjoyed— I could finally reach the stars!

After several turns, it was finally my chance to ride. I climbed into the capsule and sat down, my chest pounding with both nervousness and excitement. I waved to my mom, who watched me from below. Then the wheel began to move. I was slowly lifted toward the highest point. I looked back at her again, but she had shrunk into a figure as small as a bud in spring.

As I neared the top, the world below unfolded before me — the buildings, the people, the cars moving like tiny threads in a vast pattern. But my mother was gone from sight. Where was she? And then, suddenly, I was at the very peak.

It was beautiful. The stars blanketed the night sky, and the chilling wind swayed the trees far below. I stretched out my hands to reach the stars, but they remained cold and distant, forever out of reach. I searched again for my mom, but I could not see her anywhere. In that moment, panic surged through me. The stars that I longed for now felt empty, their beauty indifferent. I suddenly understood— the stars could never embrace me. Only my mother’s warmth could.

When the wheel finally brought me back down, I spotted her waiting. The moment my capsule released me, I ran into her arms and hugged her tight. I may never touch the stars, but at least I had my mother’s caress.

Words by Hal
Photo by Lanz Torred

19/09/2025

𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐒 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐥

In line with the 25th Negros Occidental Tourism Week, Colegio San Agustin - Bacolod showcased its School Hour Tourism Show at Ayala Malls Capitol Central yesterday, September 18.

Skilled performances such as in dance, song, presentation of uniforms, flair tending, and tour guiding showed the restless dedication each student held for tourism and culture.

School President, Rev. Fr. Jose Rene C. Delariarte, O.S.A.; CABECS College Dean, Fr. Manuel Vergara, O.S.A.; Associate Dean, Louie C. Pagdato; and Tourism Program Head, Ms. Mary Grace Gonzales were among those watching proudly.

Words by Kamila Espelita
Photos by Christian Alain del Rosario

19/09/2025

| 𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐤: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬

To pick up a book is to be changed by it. Love is the subject of many writings and in turn as are the doomed tendencies of longing and despair, these are the beds that we make for ourselves. Silk is tender when it is held by tender hands, yet even the softest fabrics are capable of stringing the air out of lungs.

Silk, which was first written by Alessandro Baricco and translated into English later by Guido Waldman, is the first book I have picked up this year, bar the ones that are needed for my college course. Its intensity draped around my heart before it tightened into a near-deadly grip.

New places often lead to new experiences. Hervé Joncour, a Frenchman who is wed to Hélène and a father to three children who go unnamed, makes the journey from his village to Japan to obtain silk worms from one of its islands. Upon his arrival there, he is invited to stay with a man referred to as the "master of all that the world contrived to carry off the island." That very night, Hervé meets a woman with slanted eyes, implied to be his host's captive mistress or his lover. He lays with her.

The magic of Silk is that it delivers such information wordlessly, all interactions between Hervé and the Japanese woman are never accompanied by dialogue. It is only told by short narratives, instances that never last greater than a page— yet shake the core and shape the story wholly. Simply one night, an explicit mistake to our eyes yet the flowering of passion in the characters’ own changed Joncour from a man in need of silk to a man who used silk to meet other needs. The sole exchange between them that contained a glimpse of words was through a letter from the woman which succinctly read, “Come back, or I shall die.”

Power lies in those who speak well, but even greater those who know when to hold silences. Baricco weaves into his tale the conflict of nations, wherein his travels loosely came to end. There lies in the story twists I shall not spoil you with but know that I did not put it down with bright eyes. It compels you to feel it all: anger for Hélène, distrust at the circumstances, and loathingly, an understanding of why it had happened that way. Passion and yearning pictured just as they tend to be in the real world— venomous.

Minimalistic is the writing, with its pages often half-full or even less. It did not take away at all, yet contributed to the intensity of the story. The characters themselves live their lives in both omission and silences. It served only to give each scene the impact it deserved.

My heart in particular felt as if it was being crushed with Hélène’s short dialogue from page 51, another page left half-full, whose tender yet damning caress I shall also leave you with in the bed you make for yourself.

“You were dead.”

She said.

“And in the whole world there was nothing beautiful left.”

Words by Kamila Espelita
Layout by Jaicheene Laron

19/09/2025

𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐎𝐖

Augustinian students and faculty gather at the CSA-B Gymnasium to welcome Hon. Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who will be delivering a comprehensive talk about the Philippine Mental Health Law (RA 11036) as the Author and Principal Sponsor of the law.

Words by Jenny Faith Sanchez
Photos by Kristel Velasco

17/09/2025

| "𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦"

Change... it’s terrifying. A fathomless thought, that, in trying to escape unfavorable outcomes, I might be forgotten and left behind — that I might vanish into nothing.

It’s disgusting — the mirror of what I’ve become stains me with nothing but regret. I can’t name what I am, or even why I move through each day. I only wish these vile ponderings would wane, leaving me some trace of peace.

But nothing slips away from what I am. This is me — the way I exist. I never asked for it, never chose it. And it feels impossible to accept when the things I thought were gone remain, only changed into something unrecognizable.

But... what if I reach for the unfathomable? No — too dark, I can’t see. I don’t know what waits beyond. I’m scared... scared of what I might find if I let myself change, if I dare to bloom.

Will it hurt? Yes. (No.)
Will they see me differently? (Maybe — and maybe for the better.)
Will the people I love remain? Yes. No.
(You will be forgotten.) (You will be held.)
The voices in my head torment my essence. I want it to be quiet! How?

The scent of flowers lingers. Silence spreads across the fields as I sit with everything, unspoken. Maybe trying isn’t detrimental. Maybe acceptance, even if imperfect, is enough. This is what I am, this is why I exist. It does no harm — even if others would harm me for it.

Still — in the dark, there is a pressure as if toward light. I am terrified to look; yet some small part of me leans. If bloom is pain, let it be the kind that breaks me open into something honest. I will not promise I am ready. I promise I will try.

“Acceptance will bring the self to bloom.”

Words by Al Cedric Abarientos

16/09/2025

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐁 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧: 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐠𝐲𝐩𝐭, 𝟑–𝟏

Alas Pilipinas triumphed in the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship, making history with its first-ever victory after outlasting Egypt, 3–1, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Sep.16.

Filipinos secured a hard-fought four-set win, 29–27, 23–25, 25–21, 25–21, over world No. 21 Egypt, marking a breakthrough moment for Philippine men’s volleyball.

Words by Marjory Parreño
Lay-out by Revinmar Santos & Krishia Mae Sumande

16/09/2025

𝐂𝐒𝐀𝐁 𝐁𝐚𝐠𝐬 𝟓 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐀 𝐌𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Colegio San Agustin–Bacolod student clinched five gold medals in the NOPSSCEA Season 45 Men’s Swimming Competition held at the Panaad Swimming Pool, Negros Occ., last September 13.

Gary Donguines Jr., from the College of Engineering, dominated the freestyle category, securing first place in the 200m, 100m, and 50m Freestyle, as well as the 200m and 100m Butterfly events.

The College of Engineering proudly honored his triumph: “The College of Engineering roars and the whole CSA-B community soars with pride in your golden achievement!”

Words by Erin Ricci Colin
Layout by Lynn Marie Soldevilla

15/09/2025

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐞

The opening of the 25th Provincial Tourism Week of Negros Occidental held under the theme, “Tourism and Sustainable Transformation” brought together towns and cities that were each carrying its own identity. From the pride rooted in long-standing festivals to the quiet artistry of local hands, the celebration began with a shared spirit of communities eager to show what makes them distinct.

Inside the exhibit, the province's creativity came alive—woven into handcrafts, savored through an array of delicacies, and even seen in plants shaped with the patience of years. Each display told a story, not only of skill and tradition, but also of how culture continues to grow alongside the present.

Yet even in its opening, the celebration offered more than sights and flavors—it reminded Negrenses that their heritage lives in their people, in the artistry and pride that bind its towns and cities into one province.

Words by Gem Alliah Maligad
Photos by Krishia Mae Sumande

15/09/2025

𝐂𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐒 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬 2𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫-𝐔𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Miss San Agustin–Bacolod 2025 Aizel Mae R. Gargacalino of the College of Accountancy, Business Education, and Computer Science (CABECS) earned second runner-up in the Tour Guiding Competition held from the Bacolod City Government Center to the Bacolod Public Plaza, Sep. 12.

The contest was joined by 13 participating schools, including Colegio San Agustin–Bacolod, represented by Program Head Ms. Mary Grace P. Gonzales.

CSAB took part in the Bacolod City Tourism Month Celebration, joining three major competitions: the Tour Guiding Competition, Vlogging Contest, and Tourism Video Contest, spearheaded by Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya through the Bacolod City Tourism Development Office.

This year’s Bacolod Tourism Week was anchored on the theme: “Tourism and Sustainable Transformation”, highlighting sustainable tourism initiatives, exciting competitions, cultural showcases, and community-driven activities that reflect Bacolod’s identity as the City of Smiles and a destination for responsible travel.



Words by Marjory Parreño
Photo courtesy of Aizel Mae Gargalicano