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YOU are aware that the University of the Philippines is the country’s national university. And according to the international research organization Quacquarelli Symonds Intelligence Unit’s (QSIU) report on Asia’s top universities, UP is the best university in the country. As your research will tell you, many of the nation’s movers and shakers graduated from this

THE Philippines is fielding its largest delegation of persons with disability (PWD) to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Philippine Sports Association for the Differently Abled—National Paralympic Committee of the Philippines (Philspada-NPC) said the nine athletes comprise the largest PWD delegation since the country first started joining in 2000.

DAVAO CITY -- A total of 1.56 million persons trooped to voters’ registration centers in the five-province, two-city Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) from July 9 to 18, a figure that is just 200,000 lower than before the Commission on Elections annulled the heavily padded voters’ list in June.

DAVAO CITY—The passing jeepneys barely notice the man standing under the shade of a tree along Magallanes Street here, even if he uses his crutch to grab their attention. But he is not trying to get a ride. He is merely offering jeepney drivers some stickers to remind them and other passengers of the rights of commuters who are persons with disability (PWDs).

CEBU CITY—A nongovernmental organization working to prevent sexual abuse among Deaf children has recorded six cases of rape in June, the highest incidence on a per-month basis since it started documenting the problem last year.

Last of two parts MAGUINDANAO – If the ghosts of registrations past are to be exorcised and electoral reforms are to take root in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) or the future “new autonomous political entity,” apathy must give way to active participation of the citizenry to ensure the ill practices of the past are not allowed to pass this time, Rasol Mitmug, OIC Speaker of the ARMM’s Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) said.

MAGUINDANAO – The girl in black abaya waiting outside a voting registration center at the Datu Pendililang Piang Elementary School in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town on Wednesday afternoon looked 13 or 14 but claimed to be 19. “You’re in college,” we asked Baileng (not her real name). She shook her head. “High school?” She again shook her head. “Grade Six,” she replied, almost in a whisper.

LAMITAN CITY—The practice of underaged Muslims attempting to register as voters continues in the ongoing general registration of voters in Muslim Mindanao, but they won’t get away with it.

By MIKHAIL FRANZ E. FLORES Now that the K to 12 system of education is being enforced in the country and native languages have begun to be used as medium of instruction from kindergarten to Grade 3, deaf children will also get the chance to use their mother tongue: sign language.

By CONG B. CORRALES, VANESSA L. ALMEDA, WALTER I. BALANE and KARLOS MANLUPIG
VARIOUS groups of persons with disabilities (PWDs) based in Mindanao have criticized the Commission on Elections’ decision to cancel the planned special voter registrations for this sector this month.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES, Photos by MARIO IGNACIO IV THE driver of the taxi journalist Chit Estella was riding when she was killed last year blamed two buses that hit his cab along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, one with such impact it spun around.

By CARLO FIGUEROA
JOSE Rizal, the country’s national hero, avoided Chinese-made products like the plague. That is the observation one can make upon reading his letters that have been published by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

BY VERA FILES
Two decades after its creation by the Constitution, the Judicial and Bar Council remains an institution critics say is riddled with “systemic deficiencies” and even defects, and is badly in need of reforms.

By VERA FILES
The Judicial and Bar Council represents the first and crucial step in the judicial appointment process. Ultimately, however, the person responsible for appointments of all the country’s judges and justices is the President.

By VERA FILES
THE Judicial and Bar Council is now the focus of national attention as it begins the process of recommending a replacement for ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. The process, if done right, is expected to help restore public confidence in the High Tribunal.

FOR about four decades now, prostituted women have climbed ships docked at the ports of Davao. These women are called akyat barko girls, which means ship-climbing girls.

By LALA ORDENES THE conviction of Renato Corona, the first time in the country’s history a chief justice is removed from office by impeachment, has thrown the Supreme Court and even the Judicial and Bar Council into uncharted waters, forcing the High Tribunal to contradict itself and act against its own pronouncements.

THE Senate sitting as impeachment court voted overwhelmingly to convict Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, finding him guilty of culpable violation of the Constitution for his failure to declare all his assets in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Networth (SALN).

By EIMOR SANTOS
ON a bright sunny day, a bespectacled man with long hair and a burly frame skillfully strokes his brush against a huge wall. Before the sun sets he is able to paint a fresco of frolicking dolphins.

By TESSA JAMANDRE
FORMER Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon was all set to sail on Friday to the disputed Scarborough Shoal to make a stand on Philippine sovereignty—until the call from the President came. Former Marine Capt. Nicanor said President Benigno Aquino III prevailed upon him to postpone his trip. He agreed, saying he “trust(s) the wisdom of the government that it will be better for current efforts to resolve the standoff there.”

By TESSA JAMANDRE
A YEAR after he swore allegiance to the flag after being granted amnesty for joining the Oakwood mutiny in 2003, former Marine Capt. Nicanor Faeldon is back. On Friday, he will lead an armada of fishermen to make a stand in the Scarborough Shoal where a tense standoff between Chinese maritime ships and the Philippine Coast Guard continues.

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS
Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento is urging President Aquino to make history by appointing state solicitor Jessica S. Magbanua, a person with disability, to the Commission on Elections, replacing Augusto C. Lagman who was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.

By MYLAH REYES-ROQUE
TWO of seven Manila cops implicated in the torture of a theft suspect through a video leaked online have surrendered and are detained at the Manila City jail. Senior Police Officer 1 Rodolfo Ong Jr. and Police Officer 1 Rex Binayug pleaded not guilty on April 18 before Manila Judge Tita Bughao Alisuag. Their co-accused, including Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug, the principal accused, are at large.