It may be a day too late, but you’re sure to cause a stir when you go to a party and wear these Halloween masks. Why? Because they are masks of controversial Filipinos. The masks were released on the University of the Philippines’ Philippine Collegian Facebook page.
The masks feature prominent people like President Benigno Aquino III, Vice President Jejoma Binay, Jovito Palparan, Department of Transportation and Communications Sec. Jun Abaya, Janet Lim Napoles, and many others.
The masks were shared ready to be printed and cut, with the caption: Because truth is scarier than fiction: Real-life horror stories we don’t have to live with everyday. #CrooksAreSpooks. The masks were illustrated by Kenneth Zapata.
Check out the masks below:
HORROR STORY #1: “You did not die, right?” — Noynoy Aquino (P-Noy) to a Yolanda victim who said there were reports of killings in Tacloban and that he was held in gunpoint by looters, November 2013
“Some who used to work in media died. Did they die because they were investigative journalists? Were they exercising their profession in a responsible manner, living up to journalistic ethics? Or did they perish because of other reasons?” — Noynoy Aquino on killings of journalists, September 2014
HORROR STORY #2: Vice President Jejomar Binay is facing multiple multi-million peso corruption cases. He remains a popular candidate for the presidency in the 2016 elections and leads a political dynasty that has installed his wife Elenita and son Erwin as former Makati mayors, daughter Abby as congresswoman, and Nancy as Senator.
HORROR STORY #3: Under UP President Alfredo Pascual, the university administration hiked the default tuition unit from P1,000 per unit to P1,500 per unit in 2012. Historically, Pascual’s presidency has seen only 3 out of 10 annual UPCAT passers in Diliman pursuing enrollment, with most of them coming from paying brackets of the Socialized Tuition Systsem. Roughly only one of ten students in the entire UP system enjoy free tuition.
In 2013, just two years ago, UP Manila Behavioral Science freshman Kristel Tejada committed suicide, after being forced to go on leave due to unpaid loans. Professor Andrea Martinez, Kristel’s program adviser, said the student had been depressed since she had to quit college.
According to her family, they could not afford the tuition rate assigned to Kristel under the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program, the former name of the current STS.
HORROR STORY #4: The Makati Regional Trial Court has sentenced Janet Lim Napoles to life imprisonment, not for her involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel scam but for the illegal detention of her relative and former associate Benhur Luy.
Today, pork-like lump-sum funds remain in our national budget for 2016–a total of P648 billion worth of discretionary funds that are prone to corruption.
HORROR STORY #5: Jovito Palparan is facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in conncetion with the abudction of still missing UP students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan.
Palparan is running for Senator in this upcoming elections. The mothers of Karen and Sherlyn are still waiting for justice.
HORROR STORY #6: Florencio “Butch” Abad remains the country’s Budget Secretary even after several charges of graft and plunder filed against him in connection with the Aquino administration’s Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). DAP has been declared unconsitutional by the Supreme Court, including the the diversion of funds from the Executive to other government offices.
In the 2016 budget, more than 40 state universities and colleges are facing budget cuts, including UP.
HORROR STORY #7: North Cotabato Rep. Nancy Catamco was declared persona non grata by the Lumad sheltering at the Haran Evacuation Center in Davao City after the self-professed “diwata” reportedly insulted the Lumad for calling their children “stinky” and for questioning the authority of the Lumad datus.
She wanted the Lumad to return to their militarized communities and brought the police with her when the Lumad refused to leave the evacuation camp. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte had this to say about Catamco: “Tell her to educate herself more before she speaks up.”
More than 700 Lumad are here in Manila as part of their annual #Manilakbayan. Last week, UP Diliman hosted a five-day campout in solidarity with the Lumad. Hundreds of UP students, faculty, workers, and officials attended the campout.
HORROR STORY #8: “Hindi naman siguro fatal iyan. (That’s probably not fatal.)” — DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya on Metro Manila’s traffic mess. He added that it was “not burdensome to the daily live of the people,” August 2015
HORROR STORY #9: “What am I to say sorry about?” — Bongbong Marcos on his father’s dictatorship.
HORROR STORY #10: “Remember, you are a Romualdez, and the President is an Aquino.” — Mar Roxas to Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, when the local chief asked for help from government troops in the aftermath of Super-typhoon Yolanda.
What do you think? Share your thoughts below!
