‘Dark Christmas’ for UP Tacloban students

Ryan Macasero

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The UP community celebrates the annual lantern parade. But UP Tacloban students say their Christmas won't be as bright.

DARK CHRISTMAS. UP Tacloban students, survivors of Typhoon Haiyan, wear headbands listing their needs at the UP Lantern Parade. Photo by Rappler/Franz Lopez

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – This year’s annual UP Lantern Parade on Wednesday, December 18, was festive as usual. The crowds cheered, laughed and danced in support of their favorite lantern presentations by the various institutions and student groups of the University of the Philippines, Diliman. But when student Arianne Kris Villegas, 19, a 3rd year biology student from Mayorga, Leyte, took the stage, the mood quickly turned from festive to fiery.

It was UP Tacloban’s turn to present, but they didn’t have any lanterns.

“Sinadya namin. Kasi, sadiyang madilim ang aming Pasko dahil hindi binibigay ng administrasyon Aquino ang dapat na mga binibigay sa mga taong ito,” Villegas said speaking in front of her fellow UP Tacloban students and the gathered crowd.

(We did it on purpose. Because our Christmas will be dark because the Aquino administration is not giving what he should to these people) 

This year’s parade comes only a month after the devastating Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit the eastern Visayas. Parade organizers dedicated this year’s parade to the typhoon survivors by asking participants to make their floats partly from relief goods. (READ: UP lantern parade: Lighting the way for Yolanda recovery)

Instead of lanterns, students wore headbands of paper with the words “food, water and housing” on them.

“Bakit sa ulo namin piniling ilagay? Kasi nandito ho kami, ‘di namin matanggal sa isipan namin, sa isipin niyong mga taong naiwan sa Eastern Visayas. Mga tao na walang bahay, mga tao na walang makain, walang kabuhayan at mga taong namatay na walang katarungan,” she said. 

(Why did we choose to place these on our heads? Because we are here, and we can’t forget the people we left behind in eastern Visayas. People without homes, without food, without work, and people who died without justice.)

The manifesto

Students from UP Tacloban worked on a manifesto on what their needs are, Villegas said on the verge of tears. 

According to Villegas, the students demands include: A systemized method of distributing food for UP Tacloban students, free housing and tuition until graduation. 

Villegas added that her campus was “wiped off the map.”

The University issued a memorandum on November 13, 2013, to allow students to cross enroll in other UP campuses. (READ: UP offers cross enrollment for Tacloban campus students)  

According to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), 40 colleges in the Visayas were damaged by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). According to Villegas, around 262 students from the Tacloban campus are enrolled at Diliman.

“Many students were at the dorm and boarding houses within the vicinity of the UP Tacloban campus when the typhoon hit,” Villegas told Rappler. While many of them were able to transfer to other campuses, there are still more students left behind because they didn’t have the means to get out of Tacloban. 


Charity

After the typhoon, she initially wanted to stop going to school and work instead. “However my mom told me ‘why would you let something that can’t be controlled, control the consequences in your life.’ you have to take control of it and take over,” Villegas said. “If I really wanted to help, mas madali mag-help if I’m a graduate.”

It might be hard to believe that this was the first time she gave a speech like that. She told Rappler that she forced herself to do something outside of her comfort zone. “Even though we are politically apathetic in Tacloban.”
 

She wasn’t just speaking up for herself, but also for other students like her in Tacloban. “While there are challenges with accommodations and the financial aspect of everything. There’s also the psychological burden,” she said. “While we are in school, while we get tired of our assignments – we have course mates who are dead right now; we have a staff member who is dead. It’s always a burden,” Villegas told Rappler saying speaking out is their way of lifting that burden.

Villegas hopes to unite the UP community behind the Tacloban students. “We cannot sustain ourselves on charity. Let’s see if people will still care about us after Christmas.” – Rappler.com

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Nobuhiko Matsunaka

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Ryan Macasero

Ryan covers social welfare for Rappler. He started at Rappler as social media producer in 2013, and later took on various roles for the company: editor for the #BalikBayan section, correspondent in Cebu, and general assignments reporter in the Visayas region. He graduated from California State University, East Bay, with a degree in international studies and a minor in political science. Outside of work, Ryan performs spoken word poetry and loves attending local music gigs. Follow him on Twitter @ryanmacasero or drop him leads for stories at ryan.macasero@rappler.com