ECHO

🎭 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 🎭
Still looking for a meaningful way to spend the rest of your summer? Instead of staying at home and scrolling through your phone all day, why not discover your talents, build your confidence, and create unforgettable memories?
Join the DEPA Theater Arts Summer Workshop 2026 and experience the exciting world of theater, performance, creativity, and teamwork. Meet fellow QCAians, make new friends, develop valuable communication and leadership skills, and express yourself in a fun, welcoming, and inspiring environment.
✨ 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄
✨ 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝟓𝟎 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲
✨ 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐂𝐀𝐅𝐈
Whether you dream of performing on stage, working behind the scenes, or simply trying something new, this workshop is the perfect opportunity to explore your potential and make your remaining summer days more productive and memorable.
Don't just spend your summer... make it count!
Explore. Create. Perform.
Be part of the DEPA Experience!
📝 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
🔗 https://forms.gle/gapFSXhaPbKWky3b9
📌 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬.

🎭 𝐃𝐄𝐏𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐏 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 🎭

Still looking for a meaningful way to spend the rest of your summer? Instead of staying at home and scrolling through your phone all day, why not discover your talents, build your confidence, and create unforgettable memories?

Join the DEPA Theater Arts Summer Workshop 2026 and experience the exciting world of theater, performance, creativity, and teamwork. Meet fellow QCAians, make new friends, develop valuable communication and leadership skills, and express yourself in a fun, welcoming, and inspiring environment.

✨ 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐄
✨ 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝟓𝟎 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲
✨ 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐐𝐂𝐀𝐅𝐈

Whether you dream of performing on stage, working behind the scenes, or simply trying something new, this workshop is the perfect opportunity to explore your potential and make your remaining summer days more productive and memorable.

Don't just spend your summer... make it count!
Explore. Create. Perform.
Be part of the DEPA Experience!

📝 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:
🔗 https://forms.gle/gapFSXhaPbKWky3b9

📌 𝐒𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬.

|| LEADERSHIP SEMINAR

CALLING ALL QCAFI FUTURE STUDENT LEADERS!

Are you ready to lead, inspire, and serve?

Join the Student Leadership Seminar & Training for aspiring student officers and future heads of LGU and CSG offices on June 8–9, 2026, 8:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Alvendia Hall.

Attendance is required for all aspiring student leaders who plan to run in the LGU and CSG Elections for School Year 2026–2027. Aspiring student leaders, including campaign managers, are highly encouraged to participate.

This seminar is open to all interested students from Grade 7 to Grade 12. Participants are required to complete the provided Google Forms pasted below:
https://forms.gle/QQ5w28KExFQ6e8JS7

Also, participants are required to wear Type C uniform (PE shirt, pants, rubber shoes) and are encouraged to bring their permits, own snacks, lunch, and water for the duration of the activity.

Develop your leadership, communication, and teamwork skills. Learn how to become an effective and responsible student leader.

Lead with purpose. Serve with excellence.

Thank you, and we look forward to your active participation!

- QCAFI COMELEC

Pubmat: COMELEC

|| SCENES FROM PANDEMONIUM: A Trilogy

III. SOCIAL CANCER

“Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”
— W.B. Yeats, The Second Coming

The crowd moves with the wave of a Duterte's finger. They know how to use this well. Looking back, never have we seen a figure so steadfast, so mighty, so fierce as Rody in 2016. He looked untouchable. With his ruthless reputation and his blunt agenda, he basically was.

But what remains baffling is the extent of destructive behavior he was able to commit while still generating public support. This sowed a collective seed in the Philippines—one which brought about the defiled image of justice and truth, the weaponization of faith.

In Rizalian terms, this is a Social Cancer—a grossly malignant one.

Characterizing the Dutertist is a complicated matter. Firstly, and most importantly, they are victims of a dual failure in our system: education and propaganda. Simply, propaganda that's radical and sensational appeals to the masses, who may or may not bother to check it. Truth does not matter as much as the things people want to hear.

From an outsider’s perspective, being anti-Duterte might seem like “common sense.” But when you're in a system that, time and again has failed you over and over, you resort to clinging to something you see as real—hope. For some, that is the Dutertes. And again that may seem impossible to comprehend: “Why? It's so obvious that they're corrupt!”

An answer to that is faith. Faith enables belief without sufficient reason. And when you're enveloped by faith, to the point where it overwhelms you, all you'll see is what you want to see; all you'll hear is what you want to hear—that is, Duterte, Duterte, Duterte, no matter what, no matter who.

Justice has been defiled. A key characteristic of Dutertistic justice is death: there's this obsession with death, killing, which, to them, is seen as a necessity, as if the only solution for crime is death. The drug war, looking at it as a phenomenon, has been deformed the same way as Marcos Sr’s Martial Law has. This is no coincidence—during the fiery 2022 Presidential elections, propaganda revolving around historical revisionism began to spread at an unprecedented rate. We saw different claims and “facts” never before seen. A lot of these trivialized death and framed it as moral, when the right people get it. Drug dealers, addicts, journalists, and activists bore the brunt of this phenomenon.

Death has become a Duterte special—a means to decisively end crime. There is no crime if there are no criminals, just as there are no weeds if there is no grass.

Another case of this is when Bato once more touched on the death penalty. When the flood control scandal broke loose, he said that “Plunders should be killed.”

Sara Duterte, at the height of her political rivalry with her former running mate and current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, said that, should she die, there are hitmen ready to kill him, his wife, and his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Chief among them, Tatay Digong:
- "Hi**er massacred three million Jews. Now there are three million drug addicts (in the Philippines). I'd be happy to slaughter them."
- (to the PNP): "If you think that idiot is going to destroy you, you destroy him first."
- "Forget the laws on human rights... I’ll dump all of you into Manila Bay, and fatten all the fish there."

The Duterteistic worldview, needless to say, is reliant on death.

Death is a brilliant bullet because it’s absolute. The gun that they c**k is faith. The process is simple—give the people something to believe in and use something they cannot see to fulfill it. They will believe in the bullet even if it hasn’t done its job. Shots have been fired and there’s no way to shove the bullets back into the gun.

This is the Dutertes saying: “Don’t touch us. Not us or our allies, because we are the truth and the answer. Anyone who begs to differ is not like us, not the truth, and therefore a nuisance, a roadblock to stop our agenda to make the Philippines great, based on our image. You saw what we can do. We can build and kill and arrest you all. We will not hesitate to do it again and bring back 2016 to 2022 (a golden era), where drug addicts (violent murderers and rapists), journalists (communists), and critics (also communists) were busy being dead or jailed.”

They’re not scared to do this again because people believe this agenda. However, a fatal flaw in their streamlining of death is the uncertainty of guilt. That matters little when killings are perceived with the premise of goodwill. Who wouldn’t want dangerous drugs to be eradicated? Who wouldn’t want violent rebels to stop killing? This is the idea, and when even the wrong people are killed, the purpose is good. To them, this is a moral breakeven: kind of like “why mourn one dead civilian when we’ve killed five addicts? At the end of the day, we did the ‘good thing.’”

The problem with this is, first, killing civilians is never justified, and second, the ratio of civilians to criminals killed leans towards negligence rather than justice. As if they kill only to eliminate life, to fulfill the agenda, and hope that whoever they killed was actually a criminal. All this in the name of prosperity, of course.

Dutertism thrives in certainty. Once we address how uncertain our world is, the dogma will start to make no sense. There is no black or white, no clear answer, no absolute. Neither they nor their allies are your friends, nor are they saints, nor can they save you. Stop worshipping them.

—

Written by: CDQ
Artwork used: Saturn Devouring His Son (~1823) by Francisco Goya

YOUR FUTURE STARTS HERE AT Quezon City Academy Foundation Inc.!

Dreaming of quality education but worried about financial limitations? QCAFI makes education more accessible and attainable for every aspiring student! 💙

ENROLL NOW with our Deferred Downpayment Scheme and get started for as low as ₱2,000 only!

At QCAFI, we believe that no student should be left behind because of financial challenges. That is why we continue to provide flexible enrollment opportunities to help students and parents manage educational expenses more conveniently.

In addition, QCAFI also offers Financial Assistance Programs for qualified and deserving students who wish to pursue their studies and become part of our growing academic community.

Eligible students may apply for available assistance programs designed to support their educational journey and help them achieve their goals.

Why choose QCAFI?
✅ Affordable and quality education
✅ Flexible payment opportunities
✅ Student-centered learning environment
✅ Dedicated and competent educators
✅ Programs that help students succeed academically and personally

Take the first step toward a brighter future today!
Be part of a school that values excellence, opportunity, and accessibility for all.
Message our official page or visit our campus now for complete enrollment details, requirements, and financial assistance inquiries.

💙 Your future begins at QCAFI — enroll today!

🌙✨ Eid al-Adha Mubarak! ✨🌙

In observance of Eid al-Adha, may this special occasion bring peace, gratitude, and abundant blessings to all our Muslim brothers and sisters. 🤍

Please be informed that Quezon City Academy will be closed in observance of the holiday. Office operations will resume on the next working day.

Wishing everyone a meaningful and blessed celebration with your loved ones!

|| SCENES FROM PANDEMONIUM: A Trilogy

II. A PIECE OF HELL — The Thirteenth in Retrospect

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
— John Milton, Paradise Lost

May 13, 9 PM: I saw the Senate's shutters closed as if it were a failed business. An hour earlier, my mother broke the news to me that gunshots were heard and asked me if Bato had done it to himself, to which I answered No, Impossible, and I hope not. Thereafter, the new senate president went on live, which he said was “the only way to get help” — “he had to do it.” Allegedly, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was trying to detain Bato because there was already an arrest warrant against him and he was on the ICC’s Wanted List. Various members of the new majority took turns on Facebook to show just how dire their situation is. After which they took turns posting how merry and safe they are.

Pandemonium is the capital of Milton's hell, where Satan and Beelzebub and all their devious allies held meetings. From time to time, pieces of it seem to leak into our institutions, and the devil says “bahala na” and lets go of it. A small piece of hell is the too-good-to-be-true sequence that transpired over the past weeks. Namely, the Senate changing leadership just as Sara is impeached in the House, Bato reemerging only to vote for this change, and now this absurd and almost comical Senate fiasco.

Before evening, former Senate President Tito Sotto’s vehicle was assaulted by Bato enthusiasts as he was leaving the Senate. They'd been holding a “rally.” As the evening sank, gunshots were heard, and various senators thought of Facebook before security. At this time, there were supposedly drills being heard. And supposedly, it was to get to Bato. This had been his week, after all. After being absent (with pay, and with senators defending it), he makes a scene in the Senate.

“If I don’t attend,” he said, “you find me. Now that I attend, you ask why?” Let’s put this into perspective: when he ran away, he was searched for. Now that he appears out of nowhere, in an obvious political move, he’s called out. Is it irrational to do so?

Not to mention his lap around the Senate: running around and stumbling in the process. This comes across as symbolic in two ways: one, he is in the process of prosecution, and two, he is running away from the law.

Isn't this the same Bato who, time and time again, challenges authorities to catch him? For an “innocent” man, he sure fears justice.

Due process. A bigger piece of hell is our godforsaken “due process.” At this point, it just feels like they’re waiting for us to forget. Like Guo or Quiboloy. Romualdez or Co. Incompetence and obstruction of justice are the new norms in our “due process.”

What transpired on the 13th is a political move—the same thing the Dutertes and their allies cite when they’re as much as criticized. Yet here they are making a gigantic fuss out of their roleplay, trying to overshadow Bato’s arrest and Sara’s impeachment.

The fact that Senator Padilla and Bato left together does not help their case at all. Premeditated or not, there is reason for suspicion. What is all this for?

"I would rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like heaven by Americans,” said Quezon. Let’s complete the quote: “...because however bad a Filipino government might be, we can always change it.”

Quezon never asked for hell. Governance, whoever the handler, is diabolical. This Senate vaudeville is a signature example of it. A deflection. We must look past these bad actors and see the bigger picture—that the Senate is not under attack: the Philippines is.

—

Written by: CDQ
Artwork used: The Burial of the Sardine (~1810) by Francisco Goya

|| SCENES FROM PANDEMONIUM: A Trilogy

I. HOLY IGNORANCE

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.
— 2 Corinthians 11:14

Bato is a man of his god. God knows who that is. Here’s what we know so far:

It’s a lenient god.
This is a god to be used out of convenience.
It’s unclear what 10 commandments his god kept. We know so far that the first, second, third, sixth, eighth, and ninth are dead to it.

The only distinction between Bato’s god and him is that he walks on earth. This god that he talks about is a figment of his stained conscience—a manufactured supernatural figure that conveniently affirms their violent biases and agendas.

In his interview with Jessica Soho, Bato pushed to be tried here in the Philippines. “If they want to hang me, they want me to be crucified, [do it] here in our Philippine courts.” Notice the words used: “hang,” “crucify.” This is theatrical language. Even drug war victims weren’t that sensationalized. Bato and the Dutertes know that they can’t paint themselves as Messiahs (yet), so they resort to the next best thing: martyrs.

To the uninitiated, it adds up. Digong’s case is too technical to be widely understood; jurisdiction and the ICC and the Rome Statute aren’t everyday things everyone will want to know about—the easiest way out is to see it as injustice. The Dutertes have stood steadfast for their beliefs and are being persecuted because of it.

Sara’s impeachment was once nullified by the Supreme Court. To some, that’s enough for it to be invalidated completely. Add to that the moral baggage her supporters carry because of her father. They’re bound to empathize. This is injustice.

And now, Bato is doomed to follow the footsteps of the former president. A warrant means arrest is imminent. Again, jurisdiction and Philippine courts are being brought up, and it makes sense: why not try both here? Blatant injustice; rushed due process.

But the Dutertes and all their faithful allies can’t be martyrs. They’re too powerful to be killed. Even their cases move slowly despite the volume of allegations, testimonies, and investigations surrounding them.

That’s why this rhetoric is more than powerful. It asks people not to look at evidence, but at character. When heaps and heaps of evidence are swallowing you, the conversation must be moved elsewhere—not towards accountability, but towards persecution. The Dutertes, if they cannot appear innocent, must at the very least appear unfairly hunted. This is enough for some people. The narrative shifts from “did they do it?” to “why are they being targeted?” An impenetrable conspiracy.

It’s imperative to look past this ignorant, “holy” rhetoric. The Dutertes will not save the Philippines because they are part of the problem. Justice should overcome their fake holiness. Jail Bato.

—

Written by: CDQ
Artwork used: The Great He-Goat (~1810) by Francisco Goya