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Lanog, Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City (2026)

28/05/2026

NEWS | Lanog adjusts recognition campaign amid delays

After three years of independent operations, Lanog has formally initiated a multi-stage campaign to secure official recognition from the College of Communication, Art, and Design (CCAD). Yet internal administrative delays have pushed the publication's planned April rollout to the next academic year.

The campaign is set to launch with a public forum detailing the publication’s history and editorial direction, followed by a student referendum requiring a “50 percent plus one” endorsement from the total CCAD student population.

To solidify this student mandate, the editorial board will simultaneously deploy digital and in-person signature drives. This collective effort will anchor a final, decisive meeting with Dean Crina Tañongon to formalize Lanog’s status as the college’s official student publication.

In the Making

Lanog was originally founded as a passion project among Communication students and was later revived in 2023 as a cross-disciplinary platform that integrates the Fine Arts program to produce a comprehensive record of both campus stories and regional community narratives.

Despite its growing coverage and readership, Lanog has since been classified as an “interest-based” organization by the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu’s Office of Student Affairs (OSA) and is currently a member organization of the Unified Student Organizations.

Efforts to formalize the publication’s status began in its first year of operations in the second semester of Academic Year 2023–2024, when its editorial board convened with the CCAD faculty to present a portfolio of their foundational achievements.

During these deliberations, the board was advised against the use of the descriptor “official” in its publications and platforms due to the implied direct institutional funding.

Faculty members instead cited the standard recognition framework mandatory for student publications across the UP system. Following this direction, Lanog consulted with the OSA and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in Academic Year 2024–2025. Both entities backed the campaign, provided the publication fulfills the university’s compliance guidelines.

Consequently, the board deferred the recognition campaign until the Academic Year 2025–2026. Moving the timeline allowed the campaign to bypass the outgoing administration and target the immediate attention of the incoming deanship.

Anchoring a Voice

Once the new academic year opened, the launch was slated for mid-October. However, the rollout faced further delays after unforeseen disasters disrupted the entire UP Cebu community.

As face-to-face classes resumed, the editorial board convened with newly appointed Dean Crina Tañongon on November 28 to assess the publication's operational status and advance the recognition process.

The discussion highlighted needs regarding funding, web support, and direct coordination with the college's public relations channels—all of which the Dean pledged to address through bureaucratic support.

“A primary goal of Lanog is to be able to produce printed materials and sustain an official website,” said Raiza Mae Amolo, current editor-in-chief of Lanog, noting that reliance on social media leaves the publication vulnerable to algorithm shifts and platform policies.

“We want to be able to secure a platform for our publications that we have control and autonomy over, where we can also guarantee that our work is accessible to wider communities,” she added.

The Common Thread

Lanog's push for recognition aligns with a synchronized, system-wide movement for campus press freedom amid administrative barriers. Independent student outlets across the university system have historically weathered prolonged struggles for formal status. Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of UP Diliman’s College of Mass Communication, secured formal recognition in October 2024 after 45 years of operation. Similarly, Tanglaw of UP Los Baños’ College of Development Communication (CDC) clinched its official status in June 2025 after a nearly three-year campaign.

To streamline these localized struggles into a unified front, student councils and publications gather semestrally at the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) and the UP Solidaridad Congress. These platforms allow student journalists and leaders to consolidate their grievances, align advocacy frameworks, and coordinate collective actions.

Specifically, during the 60th GASC, held at UP Diliman last February 5-8, delegates adopted a resolution—co-authored by the UPLB CDC Student Council and the UP Solidaridad alliance—that demands fiscal autonomy, guaranteed funding, and recognition of UP’s present and future unacknowledged student publications.

Beyond Recognition: A Legacy Written By the Community

For Lanog’s editorial board, formal recognition is a critical breakthrough toward a more ambitious objective: full institutionalization. While recognition grants the "official" title, institutionalization—a process involving the University's Board of Regents (BOR)—would secure the publication’s long-term survival.

Currently reliant on social media, Lanog remains vulnerable to volatile algorithms and third-party policies. Yet with funding and guaranteed autonomy, the publication can launch a dedicated website with full editorial control and produce physical materials to ensure accessibility across wider communities.

Most recently, Lanog has acquired an office space at the former Department of Biology and Environmental Science (DBES) through resolute student advocacy.

For a publication that has dedicated three terms to amplifying the voices of CCAD, Lanog cannot fully serve its community without being formally claimed by it. The publication’s survival and growth from a creative project into a permanent institutional pillar now rest entirely on student mandate and administrative acknowledgement.

Whether the referendum proceeds in the coming months or faces another indefinite freeze, the editorial board reaffirms its commitment to maintaining an independent outlet for campus and community reporting.

| Contributed article by Eunice Iglesias and Samantha Talla
| Photo by Andrie Gabutan

(Editor's Note: This article was submitted by students of COMM 110: Journalism Principles and Practice as part of their academic requirements.)

28/05/2026

OPINION | What Does Choice Mean in an Uncontested Election?

A leader we can truly look up to serves as a living proof that student power is still a potent force for change. By setting a high bar for what representation can achieve, such a leader ensures that the uncontested election becomes a relic of the past because this conversation transcends this year’s elections. It is an inquiry into the kind of student leadership we choose to build and whether that leadership can honor the legacies of those who preceded us.

Because long before abstention became a question, there were student leaders and activists who chose to step forward despite far greater risks, who fought to make representation possible in the first place.

To remember Alyssa Alano, Dee Supelanas, and Vince Francis Dingding only through grief is to flatten what they stood for. They must be remembered as definitive proof that student leadership is not a bureaucratic formality but a deliberate and weighty choice, made in resistance to silence and in refusal of indifference.

And that weight does not vanish in an uncontested election. If anything, it becomes heavier—for one’s seat is not a title to be held but an inheritance to memory, a history to answer to.

To hold office in such a moment is not only to fulfill the visible duties of the role, but to do something harder and more necessary: to restore the sense that participation still matters, that it can still be a place of belonging, a form of power worth returning to and believing in again.

Read the full article on our Medium.

| Opinion by Leo

22/05/2026

FEATURE | What makes a martyr?

What makes a martyr? Is it death beneath oppression, or a life spent resisting it? A martyr is remembered not only because they died, but because of how they chose to live: with conviction larger than fear, and a love for the people deep enough to fight for a future kinder than the present.

A candle-lighting tribute was held on May 21 at the UP Cebu Entrance Gate to honor five revolutionaries whose lives are now etched into the long and difficult struggle against exploitation and oppression:

Vince Francis “Ding” Dingding was a UP Cebu graduate whose early life in the tech industry gave way to a deeper immersion in mass-oriented struggles. Disillusioned by the limits of corporate work, he turned toward organizing, education work, and community integration among the marginalized. In both classrooms and communities, he became known for his political clarity, warmth, and unwavering belief that genuine social transformation must come from the people themselves.

Rolando “Ka Anyo” Dantes Jr. was a peasant’s eldest son whose life moved from cultural work into political awakening through the Kabataang Makabayan (KM). A natural artist, he initially used performance to reflect social realities before fully committing to armed resistance as a response to systemic oppression. In the movement, he was remembered as both a disciplined commander and a deeply human presence who remained grounded among the masses he served.

23-year old Jobert “Ka Robi” Casipong, whose political awakening was rooted in the hunger and neglect his family endured under systemic poverty. He served as a medical officer in the New People’s Army (NPA), carrying the dual weight of care and survival within the demands of struggle. Even after stepping away from the movement, continued state harassment and threats pushed him back into the mountains, realizing the impossibility of neutrality under repression.

Gilbert Tingson, known as Ka Kolintong, came from a rich peasant background but chose to align himself with the exploited rather than remain within relative comfort. He began as a local militia member before his capture and eventual full-time commitment to the revolutionary movement. Despite his technical expertise in logistics and demolition work, he was remembered for his quiet demeanor, humility, and consistent integration with farming communities.

Alex Languita, or Ka Kaya, was shaped by personal tragedy after his father was killed during the 2019 “Sauron” operations in Negros. That loss became the turning point that led him to armed struggle, driven by the absence of justice within state institutions. As a young and vocal cadre, he represented a generation of fighters who entered the movement carrying both grief and a sharpened political consciousness.

The five revolutionaries had lives long before they entered the mountains and carried arms in the name of struggle. They were sons, artists, students, organizers, workers, and children of farmers—people who, like many gathered at the ceremony, were deeply confronted by the fractures of a society marked by systemic poverty, exploitation, and injustice. It was this same brokenness they witnessed around them that moved them toward definitive action.

Still, even after death, the state has insisted on reducing them to cautionary tales instead of human beings. Narratives branding them as victims of “terror-grooming” within progressive movements quickly circulated, eclipsing the deeper realities that shaped their political awakening: hunger, landlessness, repression, and the repeated abandonment of the marginalized. In an effort to condemn them, the state stripped away the complexities of their lives, refusing to ask what kind of society drives people to believe that resistance is necessary at all.

And perhaps that is why, even if the gathering was meant to remember, it was impossible to separate remembrance from anger.

Nearly a month prior to the operation in Cauayan, another military operation was carried out in Toboso, Negros Occidental, which killed 19 individuals—nine of which having been confirmed to be civilians, refuting the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) claim that all 19 were armed combatants.

In response to the calls for justice and independent investigation following the Toboso massacre, Department of National Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro vehemently rejected the resumption of peace talks with the NPA.

“The Filipinos are at peace. They are the ones disturbing the peace so why should we talk to them? They’re committing crimes. Plain and simple,” he noted.

Teodoro’s image of peace must be skewed. The blood-soaked soil in the hinterlands of Negros does not know peace. Many words can be used to describe the systemic and cyclical exploitation, landlessness, and oppression of Negros’ farmers—some of the nation’s poorest despite their sugarcane fields supporting a booming industry within the province—but none of them are resonant with peacefulness.

His ilk are the kind to brandish long-arm rifles in front of student activists bearing nothing but placards and bondpapers and have the audacity to pride themselves as peacekeepers. Under his notions, “peace” is only an abstract idea defined by those who control the greatest means of violence—those that serve as the foundation of an oppressive system.

Aggressive state forces are fond of polishing these cozy ideas of peace to deflect from their own violence. Dingding’s own remains have been at the center of a narrative spun by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). In a letter written by Dingding’s parents published by the agency, they expressed that they would not be claiming his remains because of his mother’s health condition.

In doing so, NTF-ELCAC has capitalized on a family’s difficult situation in order to fulfill its mandate to demonize progressive movements. If they had genuine regard or compassion for the sanctity of the Filipino family unit, they would not be placing one at the center of a targeted campaign which only benefits their agenda.

The state’s machinery labored to reduce their existence into a cold, malicious myth, but the warmth of the gathering shattered that lie. They were loved with a fierce, protective tenderness by the very masses who shared their hunger for justice. They made a choice to dissolve their own safety into a struggle vastly greater than themselves. They made a choice to carry the heavy, beautiful weight of a nation’s unmapped future in their chest, making the pains of the farmers their own, and ensuring their footprint was pressed deeply into the collective march toward liberation.

The state operates under the ancient delusion that a bullet can assassinate a dream. Yet, the profound longing for genuine prosperity and radical change that defined their days did not pool and stiffen in the dirt of Cauayan; it broke free, multiplying in the hands of everyone who now holds his memory with a candle. You cannot bury a fire that has already caught the wind. They urge to see a free, unbroken nation has merely changed skin, passing from one heartbeat into thousands, proving that the executioners did not finish a story but authored a relentless continuation.

So, what makes a martyr? Is it the grief left behind, or the life that taught people how to hope despite it?

| Feature by Salome Lepiten
| Photos by Nixie

22/05/2026

IN PHOTOS | Halo-Halo EsPEsyal brings energy, culture to UP Cebu PE Day 2026

The grounds of the University of the Philippines Cebu came alive with color and music during the PE Day 2026, themed “Halo-Halo EsPEsyal” held on Saturday, May 16.

Organized by the PE faculty and students, the event celebrated physical education through interactive booths and energetic performances from different PE 2 classes.

The program officially opened in the afternoon and showcased dance presentations that were learned throughout the semester. The first part of the performances featured line dances, ballroom dancing, and cheerdance routine that energized the audience and drew cheers from fellow students.

Students also explored different interactive booths scattered across the UP Cebu campus grounds. The fair featured classic Pinoy games and recreational activities such as chess, Scrabble, basketball, and pickleball.

As the program continued into the evening, the second half of the presentation featured Zumba, in which all students also took part, rhythmic yoga, Philippine folk dance, and modern jazz numbers. The performances showcased both contemporary and traditional influences, aligning with the event’s theme that celebrated diversity.

Adding excitement to the event, organizers also held raffle draws that gave away cash prizes, summer essentials, and aqua flasks, keeping the participants engaged throughout the program.

The PE Day concluded with a community dance that brought students and faculty together in celebration. The annual event continues to promote camaraderie and student participation through physical education.

| Report by Marcos Jelo Apolinario
| Photos by Letecia Hubahib

21/05/2026

‘MABUHI SI DING, MABUHI ANG CAUAYAN 5’

WATCH | UP Cebu honors martyred alumnus, demands justice for Cauayan 5

A candle-lighting ceremony is being held at the UP Cebu Entrance Gate in honor of Vince Francis “Ding” Dingding, a UP Cebu alumnus who was one of the five killed in a military operation in Cauayan, Negros Occidental last May 16.

Dingding is remembered as a firm advocate of students’ and workers’ rights who spent three terms serving in the UP Cebu University Student Council forwarding mass-oriented campaigns.

Students, faculty, progressive groups, and fellow alumni are gathered to offer flowers, photos, and their sentiments for Dingding, including a solemn rendition of ‘Di Pangkaraniwan’ by Musikangbayan.

“Nagtuo g**o ang estado, nga sa ila pagpatay sa mga batan-on didto sa Negros, pagpatay sa mga non-combatant, mo hunong ang pakigbisog sa katawhan.” said Jaime Paglinawan of AMA Sugbo-KMU.

“Samtang dili masulbad ang kawalay yuta sa ato mag-uuma, dili masulbad ang seguridad sa pagkaon, dili mo hunong ang rebolusyon nga gilunsad sa katawhan,” he urged.

The gathered crowd condemned the grave human rights violations by state-funded AFP-PNP and urged the resumption of peace talks to address the roots of armed conflict.

21/05/2026

IN PHOTOS | UP Cebu BA Communication freshies launch photo exhibit on ‘invisible’ labor

The unseen stories of workers, vendors, and everyday laborers take center stage in Taklob, a photography exhibition organized by freshman BA Communication students of the University of the Philippines Cebu as the culminating requirement for their VC 128 (Photography I) course.

Opened on May 19 at the Comm Wing of the Jose T. Joya Gallery, the exhibit runs until May 29 and is open to the public free of charge.

Centered on the theme of “revealing what has long been unnoticed,” Taklob features photographic works documenting the daily realities of working-class individuals whose labor sustains society yet often remains invisible.

Anica Dela Torre, curator of the exhibit, said that the idea emerged from realizations developed throughout the students’ Photography I course.

“What began as a class about apertures, shutter speeds, and technical skills became an invitation to see beyond the frame,” Dela Torre said during her opening remarks. “Photography is not only about images–it is about stories,” she added.

The exhibition highlights market vendors, drivers, cooks, barbers, mothers, and service workers whose efforts form the backbone of everyday life. Through various photographic approaches, students sought to illuminate the lives of individuals often overlooked by society.

Ninia Libarios, project manager of the exhibit explained that Taklob asks audiences to reflect on the people whose work quietly sustains spaces of learning and daily living.

“As students, we often speak of dreams, ambitions, and futures yet behind every classroom we enter and every comfort we experience are countless hands working tirelessly to keep these spaces alive,” Libarios said.

The title Taklob, meaning “cover” or “concealment,” symbolizes the hidden nature of labor and struggle. Libarios added that the exhibit attempts to momentarily lift that cover, allowing the stories, dignity, and humanity of the workers to be recognized.

In an inaugural message, VC 128 instructor Mx. JT Trinidad emphasized photography's dual capacity to both obscure and reveal realities. “There are two things photography does: hide and uncover,” Trinidad said. “To photograph is to labor. It is never passive.”

Trinidad added that the course encouraged students to interrogate photography’s colonial history and dominant aesthetic standards while grounding image-making in the material realities of a state university and the lived conditions of workers.

The exhibit also underscores the role of labor in education, reminding audiences that the experiences and opportunities of students are intertwined with the sacrifice of workers struggling to make ends meet.

Described by the organizers as both “a tribute and a call to conscience,” Taklob invites viewers not only to appreciate photography as a medium but also reflect on the dignity of labor and collective responsibility.

Taklob runs from May 19 to 29, 2026, at the Comm Wing of Jose T. Joya Gallery, University of the Philippines Cebu. The exhibit is free and open to all, including non-UP students.

| Report by Marcos Jelo Apolinario
| Photos by Alex Leonard

20/05/2026

ALERT | State forces militarize mourning of Dingding

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) personnel blocked and tightly controlled access to the funeral home where UP Cebu alumnus Vince Francis “Ding” Dingding lies today, May 20 in Cauayan, Negros Occidental.

Dingding was one of the five revolutionaries killed on May 16, collectively known as the “Cauayan 5,” during a military operation conducted by the 15th Infantry Battalion under the 302nd Infantry Brigade. He was slain alongside Jobert “Ka Robi” Casipong, Gilbert “Ka Kolintong/Downy” Tingson, Rolando “Ka Anyo” Dantes, and Alex Chavez “Ka Kaya” Languita.

Human rights groups and witnesses said state forces positioned themselves at the entrance and surrounding areas of the funeral home, effectively restricting entry even after the establishment owner had reportedly agreed to allow visitors inside.

They were later only able to offer candles and prayers outside the funeral home where armed personnel were observed documenting visitors, taking photos and videos, and maintaining visible surveillance over grieving individuals.

The group also raised concern over the handling of Dingding’s remains, citing reports that the family submitted a letter to the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Negros Occidental declining custody of the body due to their inability to handle arrangements.

While the LGU reportedly had no direct coordination with the military personnel, AFP allegedly claimed coordination with the LGU and have since moved to take control of the remains for burial.

Karapatan Central Visayas urged state forces to remain transparent regarding the burial of his remains, out of respect for his family, amid human rights violations committed against the Cauayan 5.

This is a developing story.

20/05/2026

NEWS UPDATE | Karapatan CenVis alarmed by AFP handling of Dingding’s remains, condemns NTF-ELCAC narrative

In a statement, human rights group Karapatan Central Visayas reported that the remains of Vince Francis Dingding have been placed inside a crate to be shipped to an undisclosed location under the instruction of elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). This was discovered by friends and paralegals of Dingding who travelled to Cauayan to pay respects for the slain UP Cebu alumnus.

This follows publication of a handwritten note signed by Dingding’s parents which stated that they would no longer claim their son’s remains. The letter was posted on the page of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Karapatan raised concern over the circumstances of the letter which was reportedly written at the family’s residence on the morning of May 18 during a visit by individuals who identified themselves as elements of the AFP Visayas Command.

Further, they condemned the NTF-ELCAC’s narrative surrounding Dingding’s death forwarded in statements released by the NTF-ELCAC and Brig. Gen. Jason Jumawan of the 302nd Infantry Brigade. They assert that the narrative reduces Dingding to a victim which erases his convictions, agency, and the social conditions that led him to joining the armed struggle.

“Dingding was more than a talking point in a counterinsurgency campaign. He was a human being whose memory deserves truth, dignity, and accountability,” they said.

The group called for authorities to immediately reveal the intended destination of Dingding’s remains.

Dingding was killed in a military operation in Cauayan, Negros Occidental last May 16.

Collectively known as the Cauayan 5, Dingding was among the revolutionaries killed in a military operation by the 15th Infantry Battalion under the 302nd Infantry Brigade last May 16.

The operation was carried out nearly a month after the Toboso 19 massacre, pointing to intensified militarization within the province.

| Retrieved photos from Karapatan Central Visayas

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