Issues Archives - The Flame

Stumble or gamble? Soaring oil prices leave farmers with few, painful options

Shayne Lee Andreas Macaraeg — Thu, 16 Jul 2026 05:18:16 +0000

ROOSTERS CROW to herald a new day. Rise and shine, they say. Let the sunlight seep through the morning haze. A Math teacher wakes up at the break of dawn, sometimes as early as 4 a.m., to brew a good old mug of black coffee. It was his daily fuel to get up, especially on […]

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Sustained citizen participation in governance may mitigate democratic erosion — Artlets study

Alden Stephen Texon — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:02:12 +0000

FOR MANY Filipinos, the power of the people best manifests when they fill their ballots to elect public officials. But after the die is cast, ordinary citizens often have limited opportunities to influence the decisions of the leaders they placed in office. An Artlets undergraduate thesis argues that this gap may be addressed by giving […]

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Vendors brace for fewer earnings as UST allows more online classes to ease the impact of oil crisis

Tessa Gia Lapig and Mariamne Yasmin Yap — Mon, 18 May 2026 11:02:15 +0000

THE SUN burns hotter than the oil they use to cook their saba snacks at Antonio Street. For more than 25 years, the livelihood of Wilson Ceynas and his wife coming from banana snacks, including turon, maruya and banana cue, have been affected by rising costs, prompting them to continue selling despite the scorching heat […]

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Debt, dwindling sales scorch Dapitan Arcade vendors since losing millions to fire

Mariamne Yasmin Yap, Veancy Palad and Erwin James Gianan — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 06:53:32 +0000

WHILE OTHER stall owners around Dapitan Arcade went on to sell the remaining products they acquired for the Christmas shopping spree, handicrafts vendor Francisca Sison still struggles to recover from a blaze that turned her livelihood into ash more than a year ago. Ever since that tragic day in 2024, the 64-year-old vendor has made […]

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DepEd cautions against curriculum overload, ill-equipped teachers amid calls for mandatory WPS lessons

Joss Gabriel Oliveros and Ma. Alyanna Selda — Wed, 15 Oct 2025 11:13:46 +0000

Second Part PROPOSALS TO make the study of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) mandatory in schools are now pending before Congress. If passed, public and private educational institutions will be teaching one of the country’s most critical issues — a matter of national security and sovereignty but also a lifeline for food and energy. Both […]

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Senate bill mandates West Philippine Sea lessons in schools to equip youth against disinformation

Joss Gabriel Oliveros and Ma. Alyanna Selda — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 03:46:57 +0000

First of two parts Seventeen-year-old Jayka Pabion, a senior high school student from Palawan, cannot help but worry about the escalating conflict between the Philippines and China. “I worry about what is happening… about our safety, especially since mama is far away from us,” she told The Flame. She is studying in Bataraza while her […]

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Roblox and other games blocked, but online gambling accessible through UST Wi-Fi

Sheridan Joy Delfino and Ariza Marie Llorca — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 09:27:02 +0000

AS SOON as he learned how virtual fruits could turn a P40 bet to P2,000, Victor (not his real name) took online gambling anywhere to pass the time — even inside the University. So when the minutes dragged on during a faculty meeting at the St. Raymund de Peñafort building, boredom led the Artlets faculty […]

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More than a year after TomasinoWeb ruckus, six UST media entities claim to have faced various restrictions

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 13:02:23 +0000

CAMPUS JOURNALISTS are said to deliver the purest form of journalism, but six media entities in UST claimed to have experienced different forms of restrictions at the hands of their respective administrators or advisers. Despite calls to protect campus press freedom following the TomasinoWeb fiasco, members of various student publications told The Flame that administrators […]

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Manila non-index crimes rise by 35% for first half of 2025

Barbra Althea Gavilan, Erwin James Gianan and John Martin Revilla — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 07:40:54 +0000

DESPITE A drop in serious crimes, non-index crimes in Manila continued to rise in the first half of the year, partly driven by the prevalence of cybercrimes such as online gambling scams, identity theft and “sextortion.” Index crimes in the city dropped by 31.88% in January to June compared to that of the same period […]

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Paying to pull it off: Students turn to ‘academic ghost writers’ despite policies against dishonesty

Kayla Pauline Gonzalez, John Martin Revilla and Veancy Palad — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 07:00:37 +0000

WHILE OTHER patrons of a coffee shop along Padre Noval Street were already unwinding from a day’s work, the pressure had just started building up for Jane (not her real name) and her classmates. They were piecing together a marketing plan for a major subject to beat a nearing deadline, a task that highlighted their […]

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