The Philippines has a language problem. Among its more than 7,000 islands, nearly 200 languages have sprung up—each with speakers numbering from a few hundred to millions across the world. With so many disparate languages, which one ought to serve as the common denominator? Spanish, English, and Filipino have each been proposed as solutions, but…
Author: Lance Spencer Yu
Writer’s Recap: #JusticeForYna
Yna is doomed. That much is clear from the beginning. But what we see at the start is far from any picture of pity. If the bright music didn’t convince you, there’s plenty of other proof she is happy. A well-made bed. A pretty smile. A post-it the shade of sunshine that says “Kaya ko…
Death is only truly tangible once you’ve lost someone. It’s in the cold that invades their side of the bed. It’s in the quiet that comes to haunt the room where they once were. It is in the belongings they leave behind, untouched and gathering dust. Death is undeniably real and for many, making peace…
Donation drives in DLSU community
Along with the ongoing pandemic, the wake of the recent typhoons have left Filipinos incapacitated all over the country. The LaSallian compiles this list of Lasallian-led donation drives that give relief to the victims of the recent calamities. Kada Uno Kada Uno is the organized collective initiative of the De La Salle Philippines network, aiming…
A lover’s face on a dimly-lit screen, movie nights put off by poor internet connection, and special dates celebrated in blurry virtual rooms—such scenes have come to define love in the time of a pandemic. With half a year of physical distancing measures dividing friends, family, and lovers alike, communication has survived—but only through the…
As the country scrambled into a panic over the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, people were forced to isolate within their homes. Driven by the need to ensure the well-being of a involved in the educational system, school administrators deemed it necessary to restrict access to school campuses. With the gradual relaxation of quarantine measures,…
The roads are deserted—an unusual sight at this time of the year. Only a few take to the streets as if it were any other day, running an errand to a nearby store as early as 6 am. With half their faces covered in face masks, none of them can take a single, full breath…
Along the sleepy slopes of the Antipolo mountainside lies a microcosm of Philippine society. Stretched out over a 40-foot acrylic canvas and painted by the 16-artist Salingpusa collective, Karnabal looms like a grave question mark over all the visitors of the Pintô Art Museum. In it, every aspect of the Filipino is bared in strange…
Writer’s Recap: Corponomy
Snow White asked me to write this. Mind you, this was no ordinary Disney Princess. This was a high heel boot kicking, K-pop dancing, macho posing Disney Princess—an embodied mishmash of personalities. Save for her sing-song pitch and red bow around her hair, she resembled a fitness instructor much more. The dissonance between her persona…
Mere months after assuming office, Mayor Isko Moreno upheld his promise to clean up the nation’s capital. From an outside perspective, Moreno’s rebuilding efforts for Manila manifests as brilliantly lit trees and obstruction-free walkways. Massive cleaning operations in Divisoria and Quiapo have made headlines, with similar operations in smaller street markets also meeting the same…