Of crooks and pretenders

Niay dugaydugay na kini nga akong gitipigan, ako ning ipaambit ninyo. May kalabutan kini sa usa ka tigum sa Board of Regents sa University of the Philippines pagtoki sa ilang giingon nga dili lamang sa grabing mga kaso sa intellectual dishonesty, kundili lakip na sa academic governance.

Ilang gihisgutan nga ang cheating kuno sa mga estudyante sa UP School of Economics “has morphed into a case that raises the fundamental point of academic integrity and, as a consequence, questions the state university’s very adherence to its motto of “Honor of Excellent.”

Nga kining maong hitabo naka-question sa academic integrity sa tunghaan ug sa gibarugan nga “Honor Y Excellence” nga motto niini.

Dugang niini sila nagkanayon: “Certain students cheated at an examination. Other students saw the of honesty and bore witness to it tong findings ngadto sa Executive Committee nga miaprobar sa findings ug ilang gi-endorse ngadto sa presidente sa UP. Unsay nahitabo tapus madawat sa UP president ang rekomendasyon sa Executive Committee?

Ato kining kutluon: “What happened next defies comprehension, and demands explanation. From accounts and statements, the UP president reversed that verdict on one student and sat on the cases of the other two. The UPSE was instructed to reinstate the withheld grade of the first student, which would have allowed the student’s name to be included in the list of candidates for graduation.”

So, gi-clear sa president ang usa ka estudyante, ug giyak-an ang kaso sa laing duha nga gi-accused.  Niuntol ug nisupak niini ang faculty sa School of Economics, ug mi-apelar sila ngadto sa Board of Regents nga i-reverse and decision sa president.

Wa na ta mahibawo unsay nahitabo after kon na-reverse o wala ba ang desisyon sa UP President, apan nakapabutho kini sa pangutana: “Does this find reso nance in the daily lives of Filipinos?

Of course it does, especially in these troubling times when truth-telling has acquired the contours of dangerous pursuit, and the dissembling and distortion of history have become de regueur.’

So, alang kanatong mga Pilipinhon, ilabina niining trubled times ning atong panahon karon. Matud pa: “To condone cheating is to breed pretendrs — the sort that would cheat with the end in view of acing the grades needed for an excellent academic record, which would pave the way for hotshot jobs after graduation. “To condone cheating is to breed crooks — the sort that would in the future see no harm in, say skimming off the top of public work contract or in making a pile at Customs.”

By the way, ang title ning maong item: ‘From cheating comes crooks and pretenders.” Unsa man gipaka-bali wala na lang nato ang cheating? Mao bay hinungdan nga panahon sa eleksyon, sumala pa, rampant and cheating? Tinuod ba ni?

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Adunay nangutana: “Are emergency powers warranted to solve traffic?” Alang niadtong nisugyot niini, ang pag-grant og emergency maoy makasulbad sa suliran sa trapiko, ilabina na didto sa kaulohan. Matud sa DOTr, kon hatagan sila’g emergency powers, masulbad nia ang suliran sa trapiko sulod sa duha ka tuig. Apan, kon dili, matud nila: “It will take a decade”.

Ikaw, unsay think mo?