SLSU wins big in PSA-sponsored regional tilts in this year’s Statistics Month
Southern Leyte State University (SLSU) won in the one-minute stat vlogging, data cartooning, and data storytelling contests conducted in celebration of the 32nd National Statistics Month (NSM) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Regional Office VIII with the theme “NSM@32: Revving up for Economic and Social Recovery Through Evidence-Based Policies.”
The awards were given during the closing ceremony of the 3nd NSM on October 28, 2021.
Dilaab’s Big Triumph
Dilaab Filmmakers’ Club’s (DFC) entries in one-minute stat vlogging about the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and about teenage pregnancy garnered the 1st and 3rd places, respectively.
The first placer vlog shows the life of a tricycle driver who was adversely affected by the pandemic but became hopeful when the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act or Republic Act (RA) 11469 was passed into law, supporting over 18 million Filipino families.
“I am really glad for this recognition from PSA. This motivates me more to create better films that matter in our society,” Philip Amer Jacob Cinco, writer and director of the vlog and a member of DFC, said in a phone interview.
The third placer vlog also shows the negative effect of prolonged lockdowns on the rise of teenage pregnancy. As the vlog discussed, the losses of the problem associated with teenage pregnancy bear P33 billion every year which is 1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“I have written that topic because it is an alarming issue that local leaders must also address this pandemic,” Andrew Baldonado, writer of the vlog and a DFC member, said in a phone interview.
DFC is a newly formed, recognized interest club of the university composed of 37 students who are into filmmaking.
Tejara’s Incessant Victory
Michael Tejara, a member of the Kasinag Visual Arts Group who formerly won 2nd place in the Association of Southeast Asian Nation’s (ASEAN) 54th Founding Anniversary poster-making contest, won anew as 3rd place of the data cartooning contest.
This is a novel competition in which participants were given diverse data and made a cartooning out of it. It is a hybrid of editorial cartooning and poster-making.
When asked what his entry was about, Tejara responded “My entry portrays the insufficient support of the government to agriculture. We are supposed to be an agricultural country but the largest contribution of GDP is the industry sector, which has the lowest number of employed among agriculture, services, and others.”
“If the government would support the farmers by giving them land, fertilizers, equipment, and fund, then the Philippines will be a great country,” he added.
Kasinag, just like Dilaab, is a newly formed, recognized interest club of the university composed of 51 student artists.
Flores’ First Win
Shahani Flores, a first-year Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management (BSTM) student who is a member of the Bansilag Writers’ Circle, won 3rd place in the data storytelling contest, a novel contest in which participants were given various statistics and they have to tell a story out of it.
Flores’ entry entitled “Why the Philippines Suffer” featured her personal experience being raised by her poor grandparents, associating it with facts about the poverty and the state of agriculture in the country.
Flores cited in her story how her grandfather worked all day under the burning sun in the middle of a vast field yet his hardship is not enough to bring enough food to their table. She further explained that after many years, their life is still the same, that they remain poor especially now that there is a pandemic.
When asked in a phone interview how she felt being one of the winners, she responded “I am really happy because my story which I have written from my heart had won. This is my first time winning in a regional contest in college. I am grateful that the university has this program on honing our talents.”
Basilag Writers’ Circle is also one of the newly formed interest clubs which is composed of 23 passionate writers.
To More Feat
All of the student participants were coached by Rey G. Comabig, Head of the Student Development Services Office.
“I feel I’m on a cloud nine. I did not expect that we, SLSU, will win in the contests we were joining,” Comabig happily responded in an interview when asked what he felt during the announcement of winners.
“These feats are just the beginning. I believe we will accomplish more as we keep on shaping every student’s potential. With or without pandemic, we will never stop training students to reach their dreams and I am so grateful that the university is always on our back on this mission,” he added.
According to Comabig, more students are bound to compete at local, regional, national, and international levels.