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IAS Paragon

The official student publication of FEU Institute of Arts and Sciences John Paul Uminga. Head: N/A

CEA (Core Executive Assistants) Dept. Associate: CJ Galamiton

IAS Paragon is the official student publication of Far Eastern University - Manila's Institute of Arts and Sciences, founded on year 2006 by Mr. IAS Paragon is an independent center of excellence for campus journalism, an epitome of truthfulness, and aims to strive to be a symbol of fair correspondence by upholding the right of freedom of information, speech, and expression of all IAS students. Th

e student publication is composed of dedicated, skillful, and talented news and editorial writers, features writers, literary writers, photojournalists, videographers, podcasters, layout and graphic artists, content researchers, even up to core executive assistants. IAS Paragon 2024- 2025 Executive Board:

Editor-in-Chief: Margareth Relevo

Associate Editor: Tiffany Louise Dionisio

Executive Secretary: Juliana Ashley Crisostomo

Managing Edito: N/A

News and Editorial Head: Hailie Anne Mari Tolentino

News and Editorial Associate: Naomi Hannah Cuerdo

Features Head: Stephen Lance Iraola

Features Associate: N/A

Literary Head: Denise Angel Pepito

Literary Associate: N/A

Chief Photographer: Kristel Cassandra Martal

Chief Photographer Associate: N/A

Documentation Head: Maxine Mendoza

Documentation Associate: Althea Shannel Deala

Layouts and Graphics Head: Avery Joy Ramos

Layouts and Graphics Associate Head: Ace Allan Santos

Podcast Head: Krista Mae Ocampo

Podcast Associate: Maria Jiana Ysabel Pacifico

Content and Research Head: N/A

Content and Research Associate: N/A

CEA (Core Executive Assistants) Dept.

11/06/2025

𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐲𝐮 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬?
𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦: 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑜
𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑜
𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝑏𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑧𝑎

With the original scheduled date of the festival being postponed, the annual film festival, Sinepiyu, led by the FEU Film Society, transpired from May 5 to May 9, 2025. The festival consisted of film screenings from different schools, including FEU. Two films by Director Glenn Barit were also screened, followed by a talk led by the director; the festival also had booths set up in the FEU Campus, and finally, an awards night at the FEU Main Auditorium.

In an exclusive interview with IAS Paragon, the Festival Directors and the previous term’s President shared the reason behind the festival’s theme, experiences, challenges, and takeaways from this year’s festival.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐲𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?
Given that Sinepiyu is an annual festival led by the FEU Film Society, the main objective of this event is to provide an avenue for student filmmakers to showcase their art, as per the Festival Director, Angelo Copon. As added by the Associate Festival Director, Yssha Mae Aureus, Sinepiyu’s objective is to showcase the creative works of Senior Digital Cinema Track students since it is the culmination of everything they have learned during their stay at the university. “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔' 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔, 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒕𝒉, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒔.” As emphasized by Aureus.

IAS Paragon also interviewed the previous President of the FEU Film Society. Luke John Salazar stated that Sinepiyu is a special event for the Senior Digital Cinema Track students, similar to what Aureus stated. “𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒚𝒖 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒔.” Salazar stated.

Further into the interview with Salazar, the previous President stated that they were not a part of this year’s Sinepiyu working committees due to his entry for this year’s Sinepiyu. Salazar’s entry ‘Lily’ is about how a photographer and s*x worker clashed perspectives on romance, art, and life. Salazar’s entry was awarded the ‘Best Editing Award,’ ‘Best Production Design,’ ‘Best Director’ and ‘Best Film;’ when asked about the difference between handling the Sinepiyu 2024 and becoming a participant in Sinepiyu 2025, Salazar stated that being awarded the aforementioned titles is a full-circle moment. “𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉.” As emphasized by Salazar.

Despite the postponement this year and the complete online setup of last year’s festival, circling back to the interview with this year’s Festival Directors, Copon further shared how their main objective is to bounce back and make Sinepiyu 2025 successful from the film screenings for both inter-school finalists and FEU finalists to having a special screening for Director Glenn Barit’s films, and to finally having concessionaire booths for the first time are all of the run of events that made this year’s Sinepiyu successful.

𝟗𝟎𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐚? 𝐕𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠? 𝐈𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐤!
With the theme “Gimik” for this year’s festival, the focus is to highlight the nostalgia and vibrant energy of the 90s film industry, as Associate Festival Director Aureus shared. The Festival Director, Copon, also shared his insights on the difference between this year’s theme and previous festivals, “...𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏, 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒌𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑮𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒌 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕.”

In connection to the theme of this year’s festival is the line “Isigaw ang Puso.” According to Aureus, it was included to express the passion and heart being given out by every student filmmaker; “𝑰𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍—𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔.” Aureus stated in the interview. This year’s festival aims to tell and shout the honest stories of the filmmakers through Sinepiyu. “...𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓’𝒔 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒚𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚… 𝑻𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒅, 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝒘𝒂𝒚.” As emphasized by Copon.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐲𝐮 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐬
As mentioned, Sinepiyu 2025 consisted of film screenings from different schools and universities. Salazar, the previous President of the organization, stated that Sinepiyu offers an excellent opportunity to bring together filmmakers, “𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒚𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔, 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕-𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚.” This changes how film students treat filmmaking since it is no longer just an academic requirement. Sinepiyu legitimizes and respects their work, as Salazar added.

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥…
“𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕, 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓, 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒚𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒕,” Copon stated.

As shared by both the Festival Directors, the main challenge of this year’s Sinepiyu is the lack of members to help organize the event, making the preparation process challenging. However, despite this reality of the FEU Film Society, Aureus shared how their team utilized such a reality to support and push each other further.

In connection to the support evident within the team that made Sinepiyu 2025 a success, the significance of teamwork and collaboration is a takeaway by Copon; he stated that it is an essential part of the whole planning process of the event. “...𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑𝒔… 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.” Copon shared. He also believes that teamwork and collaboration are the core of planning and executing a big event such as the Sinepiyu. Copon also added that asking questions and asking for help is another one of his takeaways from Sinepiyu 2025.

“𝑫𝒐 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒑. 𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚.” Aureus stated. As for the Associate Film Director, Aureus states that doing everything with a heart, finding joy in the work, and taking things step by step is the takeaway. Further into the interview, Aureus stated that it is important for the next set of teams who will organize Sinepiyu to manage and organize their time and resources well to pull off the event successfully.

For the complete list of Sinepiyu 2025 winners, please access the link for IAS Paragon’s article on this: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JvJuWyMBZ/

10/06/2025

#𝐈𝐂𝐘𝐌𝐈 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐲𝐮 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓
𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝐵𝑦: 𝑀𝑖𝑐𝑎ℎ 𝐽𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑎 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑑
𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐵𝑦: 𝐻𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒 𝑇𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑜
𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑠 𝐵𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑀𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑧𝑎

As joy, thrill, and excitement fill the room, Sinepiyu 2025 brings the community to a world full of wonders, discovery, and innovation, as they helped the community reminisce on the nostalgia of the 90s through their theme, “Gimik.” As the artists from different universities, including FEU, shared their diverse film plots and impressive ways of expressing their art, this annual film festival strengthened the presence of music, performing arts, and culture within the Philippine Cinema.

Last May 9, 2025, Far Eastern University’s student-led organization, FEU Film Society, conducted the conclusion for this year’s Sinepiyu with the Awarding Night entitled, “The Spotlight: SinePiyu’s 17th Awards Night,” this aimed to celebrate and promote the art of student filmmakers, which is the main objective of the film festival. Exemplifying values of creativity, passion, and commitment, the event was hosted by Mac Lauren and Hannah Bautista, bringing their enthusiastic and energetic presence. Exhibited their talents, skills, and love for the Philippine Film Industry, the head of the Department of Communications formally welcomed the annual event, Mrs. Christina Ustaris, with her warm words of welcome, touched the hearts of numerous young Filipino artists as she shared remarks of inspiration, motivation—showcasing the dedication and commitment of student filmmakers, which was evident within their entries for this year’s Sinepiyu.

Kicking off the program, a group of esteemed panelists from diverse backgrounds were introduced as the board of juries. Bonded within their shared vision despite their diverse institutions, Mx. Bryan Brazil, Mx. Alex Poblette, Mx. Glenn Barit, Mx. Stephen Lopez, Mx. Arvin Belarmino, and Mx. Mica Oliveros were presented as the judges representing the Interschool Bloc. As for the board of juries for the entries of student filmmakers from the Tamaraw Community, the following are Mx. Zig Dulay, Mx. Pepe Diokno, and Mx. Toni Go.

As anticipation surges the crowd due to the excitement of naming the victors for the night, the Sinepiyu’s 17th Awards Night Gimik: Isigaw ang Puso presents 15 awards, which are: 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑐, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ𝑦, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐹𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐽𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑒, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐷𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚, 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑁𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐵𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝐹𝑖𝑙𝑚.

“Ang Alamat ng Citrus Sinensus” by Frangel Obien was awarded the category of Best Poster.

“I’m Best Left Inside My Head” by Eljan Idioma from the Inter-school Division and “Ang Embalsamador, Baliw, at Bangkay” by Jasper Tan of Far Eastern University were named victors for Best Sound Design.

Scoring their best with their music, Ashton Florendo’s “Ligaw” was awarded the Best Music Award for the Inter-school Division. JD Mardo’s “Da Rakstar” also garnered the Best Music Award in the All-Tamaraws Division.

Following this, “Alingawngaw” by Marco Bravo from the Inter-school Division and “Lily” by Luke Salazar received the Best Editing Award.

“Ligaw” by Ashton Florendo and “Lily” by Luke Salazar were awarded Best Production Design.

The category of Best Cinematography was ruled by “Our One and Only Bab(o)y” by Mark Joseph Sanchez for the Inter-school Division and “Lily” by Luke Salazar for the All-Tamaraws Division.

Awarded for the Best Screenplay were “Kita Mo ‘To?” by Adam Dominic G. Dumaguin from the Inter-school Division and “Humanay” by Johna Opinion for the All-Tamaraws Division.

From talent, experience, and confidence, the actors’ impactful performances moved the audience by turning heads of the audiences with their stunning performances. Karl Medina bagged the award for Best Male Performance for “Lily” by Luke Salazar; on the other hand, performances of Sigh Cruz in “Alingawngaw” by Marco Bravo and Arman Macasusi in “GAWAD ULIRAN: The Rise to Superstardom!” by Allen Pangilinan and Jego Rafael were awarded the Best Female Performance.

Acknowledged for their hard work, dedication, and commitment, Adam Dominic G. Dumaguin’s “Kita Mo ‘To?” and Luke Salazar’s “Lily” won in the category of Best Direction.

Rukod Ti Ayat received the title for the Special Jury award. As for the Special Jury Prize in the Inter-school category, “A Crab From A Conch Shell” by Jermaine Tulbo received the title, while “Bardo” by Socrates Buzeta received the Special Jury Prize in the All-Tamaraw Division.

The Honorable Mentions were awarded to “Ino” by Niel Semana from the Documentation Category and “Hinimo Ka Gukan Sa Yuta, Ug Sa Yuta Ka” by Reyjie Rosique from the Experimental Category.

Moving towards the Best Experimental Film, “Genesis” by Jay Borilla received such an award. Another category included by Sinepiyu, the Best Documentary Film, was awarded to “Shutdown" by Ryand Angelo G. Ugalde.

For the Best Narrative Film, there were three awardees: third place was “Our One and Only Bab[o]y” by Mark Joseph Sanchez, second place was “A Crab From A Conch Shell” by Jermaine Tulbo, and first place was “Kita Mo ‘To?” by Adam Dominic G. Dumaguin. The same goes for the Best Film category in the All-Tamaraw Division; there were a total of three awardees; third place was “GAWAD ULIRAN: The Rise to Superstardom!” by Allen Pangilinan and Jego Rafael, second place was “Humanay” by Johna Opinion, and first place was “Lily” by Luke Salazar.

The annual festival succeeded in bringing Filipino culture closer to the public through the avenue it provided for student filmmakers to showcase their films, strengthening the Philippine cinema. The awards night is not the only contributing factor to the crucial growth and development of the students who provided an entry for Sinepiyu 2025. The film festival is an opportunity for them to showcase their stories and narratives that are significant for not just the knowledge of the Tamaraw community but those outside thy happy halls.

22/05/2025

𝓗𝓪𝓹𝓹𝔂 𝓣𝓲𝓯𝓯𝓪𝓷𝔂 𝓓𝓪𝔂!

Happy birthday to our energetic and charismatic Associate Editor-in-Chief, Tiff! 💗

Thank you for your passion and dedication you have shown in our organization. We appreciate your efforts and we wish you the best!🥰💗

Keep slaying as always, our s*xbomb Tiffany 🎀

21/05/2025

𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐨 𝐬𝐢 𝐇𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚! 🤩

Happy birthday to the coolest and cutest N&E head, Hailie 🎀🧸

Thank you for your unwavering commitment to deliver stories that truly matter. Wishing you a year as impactful as your legacy here in Paragon!

Enjoy the beach, Queen 🏖️🌊👙

07/05/2025

𝐊𝐒𝐂 𝐀𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐠𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐏𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐓𝐚𝐦𝐬
𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦: 𝐴𝑙𝑦𝑠𝑠𝑎 𝑇𝑎𝑦𝑢𝑔
𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑜
𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑦: 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑠

Alyssa Marie Castillo is an incoming senior and aspiring President of the FEU Psychology Society under the Kadiwa Student Coalition (KSC). As the standard-bearer of her slate she presents her leadership experiences across various organizations as she aspires to lead her homegrown community.

In a one-on-one interview with IAS Paragon, Castillo shared her plans and hopes for the academic organization in the upcoming term. She also mentioned the ideal qualities and values that an aspiring President, like her, should have. As she emphasized, being adaptable and flexible, resilient, and open for criticisms are essential when it comes to deciding things, as there will be problems where she would have to be firm with reservations in order to improve the system. “𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒚, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒊𝒔 ‘𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅’ …𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒂-𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒊𝒉𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒈 𝒑𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔,” Castillo stated.

Castillo also believed that the FEU core value that must be upheld first is Uprightness. As the standard-bearer of her slate, she believes that uprightness allows a leader to be on the right path. Aside from these, Castillo also values democracy because she wants to hear the voices of the Psychology community in order to know what to do with the organization. “…𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒎𝒔 𝒊𝒔 [𝒂𝒓𝒆] 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒚, 𝒚𝒖𝒏 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏.”

𝐎𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
Despite not being an incumbent officer in the FEU Psychology Society, Castillo stood firm in her decision to run for the highest position, as she wants to break stereotypes among organizations and present herself as someone capable of leading such a community. “𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝑰’𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝑺𝒐𝒄 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝑰’𝒎 𝒂 𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒂 𝒎𝒂-𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒍𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒘𝒂 𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒄𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎,” she emphasized. As someone who does not work inside the organizational system, Castillo presented herself as someone who would amplify the voices of other students who are not part of the organization.

“𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 [𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔] 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒏𝒂 ‘𝒃𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒕 𝒑𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒃𝒐, 𝒆𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒔.” In terms of battling criticisms against her candidacy, she mentioned that she does not take such things negatively, she countered such with her experiences as a member of different organizations, making it an experience that she could use in leading the Psychology community.

𝐓𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
When asked about her slate’s General Plan of Action that she’s most excited to implement, Castillo presented their Vice President’s project, “Psych Assembly: Batch Governors,” which aims to accelerate the distribution of information across all year levels. “𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒏𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝑺𝒐𝒄 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍… 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒂 𝒑𝒘𝒆𝒅𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.” As stated by Castillo.

𝐎𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Acknowledging that the winning executive board could be composed of different political parties, Castillo stated that student-leaders must work on each other –they now share the same goal of helping the Psychology community and provide better projects and services for the students. “𝑨𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕-𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕 𝒔𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒏𝒂 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒚𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒓𝒊 𝒔𝒂 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂. 𝑵𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒏 𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒔𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒔… 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒉𝒖𝒉𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒏. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕,” Castillo mentioned.tioned.

In terms of her personal ideals, Castillo stands firm that she would always be on the side of the students, as she knows how hard it is to be unheard. “𝑰𝒇 𝑰’𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕… 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂… 𝑨𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒏𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒈-𝒂𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒐’𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒑𝒔.” Castillo stated, affirming the Psychology community.

According to the FEU Commission on Elections, the 2025 university elections voting period will begin on May 8, 2025, at 7:00 am. It will end on May 9, 2025, at 12 noon. Students may vote online through the TamsGo App or in Administration Building Room 308.

07/05/2025

𝐈𝐒𝐋𝐔’𝐬 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦
𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦: 𝐴𝑏𝑟𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑚 𝐷𝑒𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑠 𝐽𝑟.
𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑜
𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑦: 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑠

Sam Angelica Baticos is an incoming fourth-year BS Psychology student running for a second term for the presidency in the Psychology Society under the Isanliyab Servant Leaders’ Union slate.

IAS Paragon conducted an exclusive interview with Sam Angelica Baticos to gain her insights, ideals, and ambitious visions for the Psychology community in the coming academic year. She highlighted that listening to the constituents is a crucial characteristic of an effective leader. For her, “𝑲𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒈 𝒔𝒂 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒎𝒐, 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒈 𝒔𝒂 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒔𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒅 𝒎𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒐, 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒐 𝒎𝒐 𝒃𝒂 ‘𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒘𝒂? 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑲𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒈 𝒌𝒂, 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎 𝒌𝒂 𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂.” When asked about the most important value among the university’s core values, she remained firm that no one value is more important than the other. “𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒌𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒊-𝒓’𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒌, 𝒐𝒓 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒌𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒉𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒌𝒐 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 ‘𝒚𝒐𝒏, 𝒏𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒂 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔, 𝑰 𝒖𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔,” Baticos stated.

𝐎𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞-𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
She pointed to her innate passion for serving the community when asked about her motivation to run for the same position for a second term. She prefers being part of the on-ground actions rather than looking from afar, especially knowing she still has a lot to offer: “𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.”

In the next academic year, Baticos aims to amplify the capabilities of the organizations and encourage the members to step out of their comfort zones by addressing the processes that hinder the organization’s performance. “𝑨𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒌𝒊𝒕𝒂 𝒌𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒊-𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒂 𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒏 𝒊-𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒐 𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔… 𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒈 𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒔𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂 ‘𝒚𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒆 — 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒊 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝑺𝒐𝒄.”

𝐎𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬
Baticos explained that her projects were grounded on thorough needs assessments and consultation from the student body: “𝑵𝒂𝒈-𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒂 ‘𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔?’ ‘𝑨𝒏𝒐 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂 𝒊𝒚𝒐?’ 𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒏𝒐’𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒂 𝒑𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒃𝒂 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂 𝒏𝒂 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒚𝒂𝒌𝒂 𝒂𝒌𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒈-𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒑 𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒐, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒏𝒂-𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒌𝒐, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒔𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔, 𝒔𝒂 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂.”

When asked about a plan of action that she is most excited with, she chose Psych Pulse: Town Hall Forum as she reflected on the grievances of the students: “𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒏𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒐 𝒑𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒈𝒂𝒏, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒏 𝒏𝒈𝒂, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒔𝒂 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒊 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏-𝒆’𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒖𝒑, 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒂 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒖𝒎 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒑 𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒘, 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒈-𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒆 𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒌𝒂𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒂-𝒉𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒔𝒂 𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒎𝒐, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒓.“

𝐈𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬
When asked about working with other officers from a different political party should she win in the elections, she emphasized that affiliations do not matter in her leadership: “𝑨𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆, 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒌𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒔𝒂 𝒊𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒏𝒐𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒖𝒑𝒐 𝒏𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒎𝒊, 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒏, 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒊𝒚𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈, 𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒏 𝒌𝒂𝒎𝒊 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒂-𝑷𝒐𝒍𝑷𝒂𝒓, 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒑𝒂𝒓, 𝒏𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒂 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒂 𝑭𝑬𝑼 𝑷𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝑺𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒕𝒚.” She further explained that what matters in serving the community is the members' skills, capabilities, and readiness to work with them.

Baticos acknowledges the issues often associated with political parties during elections, but she remained focus on her service for the students: “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊… ‘𝒚𝒖𝒏 𝒏𝒈𝒂 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒌 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒅𝒐’𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆: 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒐 𝒃𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒃𝒐? 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒐? 𝑯𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒂’𝒌𝒊𝒏, 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒓𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒘𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕-𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏, 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒂 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆.”

According to the FEU Commission on Elections, the 2025 university elections voting period will begin on May 8, 2025, at 7:00 am. It will end on May 9, 2025, at 12 noon. Students may vote online through the TamsGo App or in Administration Building Room 308.

07/05/2025

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲
𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝐹𝑎𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑇𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑜
𝐸𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦: 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑜
𝑃𝑢𝑏𝑚𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑦: 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑅𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑠

Gian P. De Leon, an incoming fourth-year Political Science student, seeks to provide students with a different perspective on leadership without affiliations from university-accredited political parties as he vies for the Auditor position in the FEU Political Science Society this academic year 2025-2026. From his experience of encountering and interacting with students from different walks of life, he has seen the diversity of their needs–motivating him to run for a leadership position in his home organization, PSS.

De Leon shares his insights and perspectives as an independent candidate in an exclusive interview with IAS Paragon, stepping into the role of amplifying the voices of the underrepresented Political Science students not part of the organization, “𝑮𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 [𝒌𝒐] 𝒏𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒔𝒊 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒏𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒖𝒑𝒔… 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒋𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓.”

𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐢𝐧-𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩
At the onset, De Leon delved into his vision of innovative projects with structured leadership and organized platforms, beginning with his project “Ka1SA sa Paggunita,” which recognizes the experiences of Filipina Comfort Women and is gradually less prominent in historical narratives within the country. Likewise, he briefly discussed his second project entitled “1SANG HANAP,” which streamlines the process of accommodating the requirements for OJT Sites and targets the concerns of third-year students who will be taking their internships during the midyear semester.

De Leon also provided his observation on the existing grievance department of the Political Science Society, which he believed to have weaknesses in terms of data breach and that data confidentiality must be strengthened, “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒂 𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒚𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉, 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝒌𝒂𝒚𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒈-𝒂𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒔𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒂 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑶𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒔.”

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫
Elaborating on his motivation to run for a leadership position in the organization, De Leon emphasizes that most of the unheard voices in the PolSci community belong to the PolSci students who do not have a membership in the organization, alongside first-year students new to the university. As such, he believed the organization must create actions to become closer to these students as the guiding seniors and higher-ups.

Accordingly, De Leon visualizes the ideal Auditor as upholding transparency, accountability, and organization, which are interconnected values essential to creating and reading financial reports. Likewise, he asserts that some students do not know how to read transparency reports. Hence, these documents could be simplified for those who wish to learn. “𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕-𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒚, 𝒏𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 … 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒏𝒈𝒂 𝒃𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒚𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒓𝒊 𝒔𝒂 𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐 𝒑𝒂 𝒃𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂-𝒐-𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈.”

In line with this, De Leon sees collaboration with fellow student-leaders as another important factor in the success of project implementation; this includes constant communication with other departments within the organization to ensure additional project opportunities.

𝐀𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐒𝐜𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬
Out of FEU’s core values, fortitude, excellence, and uprightness, De Leon highlighted that excellence is his aim upon his electoral victory, stating, “𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒊𝒎 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒍𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒕 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝑺𝒄𝒊 𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒔𝒂 𝒌𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒂𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈.” As such, their role as student leaders is to guide students toward their strengths and enrich their capabilities, which they may bring to the corporate world after graduating.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞? 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
Being an independent, De Leon perceived this to be his edge as a candidate amongst other candidates affiliated with university-credited political parties. “𝑻𝒖𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒈 𝒕𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒈-𝒊𝒔𝒂… 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒈𝒂𝒍 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏,” he explained. He maintained that he is more likely to efficiently conduct his responsibilities and duties due to this asset, which will allow him to freely interact with anybody from differing backgrounds, with the ultimate goal of delivering direct service to PolSci students. During elections, he noticed that student divisions emerged; hence, he offered a new perspective to unify the divisions within the community.

De Leon also clarified that political pressures and biases refer to the necessity of adhering to a unified stance regarding beliefs and upholding core values within the party. Being an independent candidate enables him to adhere to the values of the entire student community, especially for those who do not have a membership within the PSS organization.

𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬
De Leon reiterated his earlier answer on solidarity with the students to balance his beliefs with the opposing ideas and perspectives of his fellow student-leaders. Thus, collaboration is the key. He respects the differing perspectives of his fellow student-leaders. He wishes to incorporate these ideas along with other perspectives to meet in collaboration.

When asked about his unique plans of action as an independent candidate, he responded that his perspective is his distinguishing element amongst other candidates, as he aimed to provide a perspective that was easier to comprehend and consume (in terms of projects) for PolSci students who are not part of the organization. “𝑨𝒚𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒘, 𝒂𝒚𝒂𝒘 𝒏𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒐– 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒈𝒂 𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆 𝒔𝒂 ‘𝒕𝒊𝒏, [𝒏𝒂] 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒑𝒂𝒈𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒂 𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒔, [𝒂𝒕] 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒂 𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏.”

As students look up to the organization for their grievances, De Leon wants the organization to become more welcoming and open to the entire community.

According to the FEU Commission on Elections, the 2025 university elections voting period will begin on May 8, 2025, at 7:00 am. It will end on May 9, 2025, at 12 noon. Students may vote online through the TamsGo App or in Administration Building Room 308.

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