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Today's Carolinian, Cebu City (2026)

07/08/2026

LOOK: A tabulation by the University of San Carlos of the proposed tuition fee increase for the academic year 2026–2027 is seen posted across different areas of the Downtown and Talamban campuses.

The table shows the per unit rate of the tuition fees for different baccalaureate programs with an increase of 5% from last academic year’s rates. This is a reduced increase from the 6.7% increase proposed last February 2026.

The administration is yet to release an official statement on the implementation of the proposed Tuition and Other Fees Increase (TOFI).

—
News by Jude Estorninos
Photo by Alcel Epogon

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

05/08/2026

It Also Takes a Village to Forsake a Child

No child prepares their backpack expecting gunfire at school. Their parents don’t send them off in the morning with an ounce of thought that an ordinary school day could turn into a scene of terror. And no child pulls a trigger on impulse either.

Nobody anticipated the school shooting at San Jose National High School in Tacloban City because a mass school shooting in the Philippines is considered an extremely rare event. While school shootings may be uncommon in our country, violence itself is not.

Today’s children are growing up amid recurring reports of police killings, political violence, and attacks on journalists and human rights defenders. There appears to be a growing tendency to resort to force. This is a deeply entrenched pattern, seeing how the public generally responds to cruelty.

In the anti-drug campaign, thousands of innocents became collateral damage. The way these victims were being indiscriminately labeled as addicts has done more than desensitize people to bloodshed. It has built an unconscious perception that the marginalized are somehow less deserving of the dignity to face due process.

Alarmingly so, there are a lot of blind supporters who came to favor harsh punishment and would wish death on critics. The dehumanization went so far as to labeling those killed in the Negros massacre as “corned beef”, a derogatory slang term that netizens use to liken the victims’ bodies to a kind of meat. The trend further reduced these actual human victims into something to scroll past and laugh at. For many, violence became easier to consume than to confront.

If even the adults have no conscience about glorifying such abuse of authority, what makes us believe that the youth have not absorbed these violent attitudes themselves?

The incident in Tacloban was only the tip of the iceberg for the many social upheavals in our country. The reality is that our children are not spared from these issues of crime, social injustice, and corruption. They are also victims of the system. This is the kind of world they were born into. They hear the words that we speak and observe the behaviors that we tolerate. Ultimately, this creates a climate where acts of violence are normalized.

One of the most telling signs that violence has indeed woven into our everyday lives is especially how we reacted to the shooting in Tacloban. Rather than questioning what societal factors led to two kids being armed, much of the public discussion immediately turned to how harshly they should be punished. RA No. 9344, also known as the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, exempts children under the age of 15 from criminal liability; they are instead referred to intervention and rehabilitation facilities. With the suspects being only 14 and 15 years old, many argue that age should not get in the way of the gravity of the offense. It seems that people are more apt to debate about how old a child should be to be sent to prison over how early we could have stepped in to help them.

It is worth noting that a permanent prosecution would not explain how two children were able to plan out an attack for months without any intervention. More importantly, it would not address the broken environments in which these children grew up in. After all, this is not just a matter of how young offenders should be dealt with, but of eradicating the violent culture that we have passed on to our present generations.

In a recent case of school-related violence, a Grade 8 student at Bethel Academy in General Trias, Cavite was also reported to have attacked several younger students in their classroom. Authorities say that the suspect had suffered from severe depression. These recent tragedies point to a concerning increase in school-related violence throughout the country.

If there is anything we should take from the pattern, it is that mental health and other societal factors must also be considered when it comes to students’ safety. Focusing on retribution over prevention only shows that we are still trapped in a mindset that views violence as an individual problem rather than a larger societal concern.

In many ways, the school shooting in Tacloban City reveals a glimpse of how depraved Philippine society is. This incident should then drive more of us to think about why a large population of the youth is constantly being held back by hardships and become easily subject to all sorts of violence.

What was going on inside the child's home? Were there warning signs at school that supervising adults were not able to pick up on? How did they obtain fi****ms that should have been locked away? Or perhaps, could it be untreated trauma, poverty, or neglect that accounts for all this? It’s too easy to brush these questions aside when the narrative centers around the child as the sole enemy.

What happened in Tacloban teaches us that we must all work to foster the emotional well-being and moral values of our children. It all starts at home, where the family disciplines their child. The community reinforces it through its own collective efforts towards youth-centered programs. Similarly, schools have a role to play in creating safe learning spaces, and likewise instilling the right values.

And of course, we, as a society, must also be mindful of the roles we model our kids as, especially in the way we respond to oppressive systems. The cost of our failures — of recognizing the signs, of tolerating a culture of violence, and of sitting passively as our children suffer amidst all this — is seeing them bound by the violent forces around them.

Accountability does not end with the kids who pulled the trigger. A culture of violence does not just spring up from the children; they are not born violent or hateful. They pick up these behaviors from the environments shaped by their families, communities, and institutions entrusted with their upbringing. If it really does take a village to raise a child, then when a child is lost to violence, we must also have the courage to reflect on how that village failed them.

—
Opinion by Czhan Leigh Calimlim
Visuals by Elaine Gianna Tanpin

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

05/08/2026

VAMOS, Today’s Carolinian Graduates!

May your graduation play out not just as a milestone, but as a reminder of exactly how far you've come.

We honor the shared coffee, the scrapped drafts, the heavy eyes, and your absolute refusal to compromise the truth. You spent your years here holding up a mirror to the university and defending the margins.

Now, you have stepped off the stage, bolder and more unflinching than the day you entered the organization!

Beyond these walls, take the gold and green wherever you go, and most especially, carry that same red, daring fire that keeps our presses rolling.

Thank you for being one of our chapters. Now, it's time to write the rest of your story. As we greet you with congratulations and bid you farewell, know that TC will remain true to its promise.

Always, our commitment, your paper.

—
Visual by Gian Marie Itable
Caption by Arhon Cuizona

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

04/08/2026

IN PHOTOS: The National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) formally filed an appeal on behalf of jailed activists Frenchie Mae Cumpio and Marielle Domequil before the Court of Appeals in Banawa on Monday, August 3, seeking to overturn their conviction on terrorism financing charges, as multisectoral groups and students staged a picket protest outside in support.

On January 22, 2026, both Cumpio and Domequil were convicted by the Tacloban City Regional Trial Court on charges of terrorism financing, penalized under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, a law that has been widely criticized for its vague provisions that may be utilized against journalists, activists, and humanitarian workers. They were acquitted, however, of a separate charge of illegal possession of fi****ms and explosives filed alongside the terrorism financing case.

The case dates back to February 7, 2020, when Cumpio and Domequil were arrested along with three other activists — Alexander Philip Abinguna, Mira Legion, and Marissa Cabaljao — during a police raid. They have since been collectively referred to as the "Tacloban 5.”
Kyle Domequil, sibling of Marielle Domequil, said that they do not accept the ruling handed down by Judge Georgina Uy-Perez of RTC Branch 45. She noted that the conviction was a difficult one to accept, but stressed that they remain determined to continue fighting for justice for Marielle and the rest of the Tacloban 5.

“This is not unique,” said Atty. Julianna Agpalo from The National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), pointing to what she called the insidious use of military resources against rights advocates. She emphasized that Cumpio and Domequil's work as a community journalist and church worker was lawful, and condemned the military's fabrication of evidence to silence human rights workers.
To this day, Cumpio and Domequil have spent more than six years in jail, as their case now heads to the Court of Appeals for review.

—
Photos by Joshua Vercide
Caption by Anthony Pamat

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

01/08/2026

ENROLLMENT UPDATE: The Office of the University Registrar of the University of San Carlos (USC) has issued the enrollment schedule for the first semester of A.Y. 2026-2027, with online enrollment for continuing students set to begin on Monday, August 3.

Block enrollment for all year levels, including graduate programs, will be conducted on August 3–4.

Meanwhile, non-block enrollment for fifth-, fourth-, and third-year undergraduate students, as well as graduate students and transferees, is scheduled for August 5–6.

Non-block enrollment for second- and first-year undergraduate students, together with graduate students and transferees will take place on August 7–8.

Furthermore, the university will open enrollment to all eligible students during the open market period on August 9-10, followed by online enrollment adjustment by department on August 11-12.

The university also set August 11 as the deadline for the processing of petitioned and tutorial classes, as well as endorsements for overload, simultaneous enrollment, and override requests.

The dissolution of undersized undergraduate classes is likewise scheduled for August 12, Wednesday, which also marks the last day of enrollment for both undergraduate and graduate programs.

Classes for the first semester will officially start on August 10, 2026.

—
News by Antonette Anrikamae

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

30/07/2026

International Friendship Day is here!

The red ropes of friendship you see in front of you are not strings of fate with predetermined paths, they don't pull people together on their own. It flies within reach and holds strong, but is tied to no one; you must be the one making the effort to reach out to grab it to connect with other people and form the bonds of trust and fellowship, bonds which last longer than any other fibers on this earth.

Now may be a good time as ever to rekindle that abandoned group project groupchat, or go out with your friend group despite the bad weather. There will come a time we will need that red rope to support us as we stumble backwards; the rope will always be there, but it will need steady hands holding unto it as well, in order for you to be pulled back up.

—
Caption by Enrik Francis Ong
Illustration by Jeremy Dacut

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

27/07/2026

To the SSC: Win the Carolinians Back

The most dangerous thing a student government can lose is not its funding or its office. It’s the trust of the students who elected it.

The USC Supreme Student Council's (SSC) recent decision to register under the Office of Student Formation and Activities (OSFA) marks one of the most significant developments in student governance since the 2022 SSC administration. For much of that time, the Council remained unregistered, driven by its principled refusal to compromise its autonomy to administrative oversight. With the Council’s transitory status and pending negotiations with the Vice President for Administration, Atty. Joan Largo, the process remains subject to compliance with OSFA's registration requirements. This decision has the potential to reshape the direction of student governance moving forward.

But one decision does not erase the months of silence and uncertainty.

For as long as the issue persisted, nearly every conversation surrounding the SSC inevitably returned to OSFA. Every delay was traced to institutional recognition, every criticism redirected toward the university administration. Those conversations remain valid. The University's policies have undeniably complicated student governance and deserve continued scrutiny. Yet somewhere along the way, OSFA became the answer to almost every question. It became increasingly difficult to ask another question on what responsibilities remained entirely within the Council's control. One issue, in particular, is still left unanswered.

A new academic year for the University of San Carlos is just around the corner, yet there is still no definitive timeline for this year’s SSC elections. There has been no comprehensive public explanation of the progress made, the obstacles that remain, or what students should expect in the coming months. The Council has now decided to register under OSFA, but the greater challenge begins after registration. Restoring trust and confidence of its constituents and renewing interest in student elections will depend on what the Council does next.

The 2025 SSC elections recorded a disappointing voter turnout of just 31.70%, a decline from 33.62% in 2024. If anything, those numbers should have prompted greater urgency, not only from the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), but also from the SSC itself. Perhaps the greatest consequence of prolonged silence is not frustration, but apathy. When students repeatedly feel left out of conversations that directly affect them, they begin expecting less from the institutions meant to represent them.

COMELEC Chairperson Yamanni Pabillore expressed that they have spent the past months drafting a new omnibus election code, with a tentative election period projected between August and September, but problems persist as administrative hurdles remain unresolved. COMELEC also explained that a statement on the operational delays had been drafted but was withheld in anticipation of a joint release with the SSC. The commission also admitted that communication with the council has been difficult, given the single point of contact, which is the SSC President, Maui Cruz. Pabillore openly apologized for the delayed silence, acknowledging that all frustrations from the student community are valid and that the commission shares those frustrations as well.

It is also worth noting that formal letters were sent to the SSC demanding action but were met with silence. On May 6, the Conglomeration of Student Organizations (CSO) sent a letter demanding governance reforms and transparency, including council participation, accountability mechanisms, and institutional developments. The Carolinian Political Science Society (CPSS) has also sent a letter on June 3 which raised concerns over continued delay of the SSC elections and a call for greater transparency.

CSO Vice President for Talamban Campus, Tyler Calderon, described an All Leaders Meeting where student organizations actively participated by offering recommendations for possible directions for the planned SSC elections, but were met with silence and uncertainty as months passed by. Despite the presence of official communication channels with the SSC, student organizations remain without a concrete timeline or definitive direction. As per Calderon’s standpoint, “Students can understand delays. What becomes difficult to understand is the absence of consistent communication”.

Let this be clear: the average Carolinian does not attend council sessions, nor are they present in consultations between the SSC, COMELEC, and student organizations. They should not have to understand what omnibus election codes are, nor what current developments are happening inside their own student government. Their understanding of the SSC comes from what reaches them.

The SSC may very well have legitimate reasons for the delay. Internal challenges, administrative constraints, and coordination with COMELEC is still ongoing. None of these, however, absolves the SSC of its obligation to keep the student body informed. Somewhere along the way, Carolinians have been presented with a choice: either sympathize with the SSC’s struggle against the administration or criticize its shortcomings. As though the two cannot exist at the same time.

A council can be oppressed and still be poorly governed. A council can be underfunded and still fail to communicate. A council can be fighting for autonomy and still fall short on accountability. One truth should never require ignoring the other. The SSC risks losing its integrity not because it has failed to act, but because it has failed to communicate that it is acting at all.

Criticisms surrounding the SSC are also often reduced as if the council were a single entity with a single voice, when in reality it is composed of 19 elected councilors entrusted with representing the student body. The Council originally had 21 members, but two councilors resigned, one before the previous academic year began and another during the last semester. Yet during its Ninth Special Session, which mainly tackled the institution’s registration, only 11 of the 19 councilors were present, barely enough to make a quorum. Councilors who remain absent, inactive, or silent during crucial moments should also bear the weight of public scrutiny.

A council struggling through one of the most challenging periods in its history cannot afford to have half of its elected officers missing in action. Not only is it a disservice to the presiding officers, but a huge dishonor to the Carolinians who had genuine hope for reform after casting your name on the ballot.

The burden of accountability does not rest solely on the SSC. The University administration must also answer for systemic obstacles that continue to complicate student governance, particularly those surrounding organizational recognition and institutional support. Likewise, COMELEC must continue asserting its constitutional mandate with the urgency expected of an independent electoral body.

Carolinians should reject an administration that unnecessarily complicates student governance. But we should also reject the idea that difficult circumstances excuse every failure of leadership. The SSC cannot expect Carolinians to defend the institution that struggles to keep them informed. The SSC deserves autonomy. The student body deserves transparency. Neither should come at the expense of the other.

Winning Carolinians back will not begin with another campaign season. It will not begin with punchlines, slogans, posters, or flashy campaign promises. It begins with something much simpler. Answering the students. A council cannot claim that it speaks for the students when it struggles to speak to us in the first place. More than elections, more than campaigns, this is what the SSC must win back: the trust of the students it is meant to serve.

—
Opinion by K
Visual by Jyreneah Angel

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

24/07/2026

Dear self,
The world will always ask for more from you.
But don't let it take so much that nothing is left for you.

When was the last time you thanked yourself for making it through another day? Did you remember to eat on time? To drink enough water? To rest without feeling guilty? To pause not because you were tired of life, but because you wanted to live it well?

Today, on International Self-Care Day, let this be your gentle reminder to celebrate yourself. Go through your little checklist of loving yourself. Because the world receives the best of you when you first care for you.

So while you're busy taking care of everyone and everything else, don't forget the one person who needs your love the most. Sugod karon, ikaw na pud!

Nagpangga kanimo, ikaw.

—
Illustration by Shaira Sumampong
Caption by Ruchelle Vilvestre

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

24/07/2026

SSC Now on Transitory Term, Unable to Register with OSFA

The Supreme Student Council (SSC) has postponed its elections for Academic Year 2026–2027 due to administrative issues, compelling incumbent officers to remain in office under a transitory government and ultimately preventing the council from registering under the Office of Student Formation and Activities (OSFA), despite its attempt to do so on July 20.

Due to logistical and financial hurdles that made the elections difficult to conduct this year, the SSC decided to adopt a transitory form of government. A transitory or transitional government is generally utilized during periods of political change or institutional transition.

The terms of officers from A.Y. 2025–2026 will continue until a new slate of officers is elected. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and the SSC are expected to conduct the elections during the first semester of the incoming academic year.

During their ninth special session on July 19, 11 of the council's 19 officers present voted on a proposal to register the SSC as an official student organization under OSFA. The measure was approved with eight votes in favor, three against, and no abstentions.

Councilors submitted the registration requirements the following day but were unable to proceed because OSFA required a list of current officers. As the SSC was operating under a transitory government, submitting the names of incumbent officers was deemed inconsistent with the council's constitution.

OSFA rules require an official election cycle to take place first before a legitimately elected roster can be established. By the time the issue arose, the registration deadline had already lapsed, preventing the SSC from completing its registration.

SSC's Postponed Elections

Last June 22, Today's Carolinian conducted a meeting with incumbent SSC President Marianne Arrazaga Cruz and COMELEC representative Yamanni Pabillore to discuss the status of the elections and the decision to shift to a transitory government.

The shift came after the council's standard electoral cycle was indefinitely suspended due to ongoing logistical hurdles, including the inability to secure administrative approval for debate venues, permits for campaign materials, and official excused absence letters for candidates campaigning across classrooms.

In the meeting, Pabillore confirmed that the current administration would continue its operations until an election could be successfully conducted.

"There isn't going to be an empty Council because the current administration will carry through the next academic year being a transitory government," Pabillore stated. "The current administration will continue their administration [for the next school year] until an election is to be done."

While a holdover council deviates from normal democratic procedures, the Council stated that the arrangement is necessary to avoid total disenfranchisement.

"The council's position on this is that of course there should be no empty student council, but there should also be no appointed body that replaces the students' right to vote," Cruz explained.

Cruz noted that the current Council would continue carrying out its mandated duties while working alongside COMELEC to restore the electoral process.

"The mandate of any student council should come from the student body through elections," Cruz added. "[But] while the electoral process is being resolved, the current council has the responsibility to continue handling student concerns and asserting the student position in matters that affect Carolinians."

Following the council's decision in 2025 not to register under OSFA without a binding Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), the university administration adopted a non-engagement policy toward the unregistered SSC.

During the first semester of Academic Year 2025–2026, the administration officially withdrew the SSC's operational funding.

As COMELEC's funds are historically tied to the Council, the independent election body was "[caught in the] crossfire," as Pabillore noted, leaving it without administrative financial and logistical backing to conduct regular elections. The council consequently resorted to independent fundraising projects.

"The problem is not simply that there is no money. It goes deeper than that," Cruz emphasized regarding the delayed elections.

Cruz also added that students' right to choose their representatives is inherent and should not depend on administrative convenience or the current political relationship between student leaders and the university.

SSC's Last-Minute Vote to Register Under OSFA

During its ninth special session, a day before the OSFA registration deadline, the SSC officially voted to reverse its years-long stance of remaining an unregistered student organization and approved registration under OSFA.

However, according to updates from councilors who submitted the requirements the following day, OSFA clarified that while it was not explicitly barring the Council from registering, the SSC could not complete the necessary criteria within the remaining timeframe.

Furthermore, the paperwork required wet signatures from all current officers, several of whom were physically unavailable to sign. All printed documents also had to be physically submitted to the office before the 5:00 p.m. cutoff.

SSC Councilor Mark Gavas, who voted in favor of OSFA registration, confirmed that OSFA denied the Council any extensions or leniency.

"No, the SSC was not granted any special consideration. The registration deadline was neither extended nor adjusted for the SSC," Gavas stated, noting that the administration's firm stance was influenced by special considerations given in previous terms that "lacked successful follow-through."

The Council's proposed course of action is to secure direct clearance from the Vice President for Administration Atty. Joan Largo to push forward with an independent election cycle first. This would allow a newly elected roster of student leaders to formally submit the OSFA registration documents once their terms officially begin.

Today's Carolinian reached out to Vice President for Administration Atty. Joan Largo regarding what will happen to the SSC, the elections, and the OSFA registration.

Largo responded that she will discuss these matters with the SSC.

In a Facebook post, the SSC announced that the Council will meet with Largo on Monday, July 27, 2026, to discuss its current situation, the elections, and the steps forward.

COMELEC's Plans for the Election

Despite the postponement of the elections, COMELEC insists that the delay will not be spent in inactivity.

To address declining voter turnout, COMELEC announced that it is actively rewriting its 2014 Electoral Code. Pabillore noted that the commission is using the delay to systematically improve the electoral system.

The commission has also laid out a tentative roadmap for the months ahead.

On July 11, COMELEC was expected to convene a division-of-assignments meeting before proceeding with the selection of a new chairperson and the finalization and adoption of the revised Electoral Code throughout July and August.

If preparations proceed as planned, COMELEC hopes to launch a condensed electoral cycle between August and early October, covering candidate registration, grand rallies, debates, the miting de avance, and the election proper.

This is a developing story. Today’s Carolinian will continue to reach out to relevant parties and provide updates as more information becomes available to ensure an accurate and comprehensive account of the matter.

—
News by Zsofia Antolijao and Endriane Felmar Bacalso
Visual by Jyreneah Angel

Visit Today’s Carolinian’s official social media channels: https://bit.ly/todaysusc

Today's Carolinian has been operating independently since 2019, without funding from the university. To support the publication, please make a donation through our finance officer:

M*****a M.
09668273480 - GCash

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