Envisioning What Lies Beyond Through TALAB 2021

Organized by the  Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral ng mga Paaralang Loyola with the support of the Office of the Associate Dean for Student Formation, student organizations, offices, programs, and departments, TALAB 2021 challenges every Atenean to take stock of where we are, where we might be headed, and how we can best move forward.  

An annual event that aims to provide Loyola Schools (LS) students an opportunity to reflect on and engage with the contemporary social issues affecting the nation, Talakayang Alay sa Bayan (TALAB) for School Year 2020–2021 was held from February 25, 2021 to March 6, 2021 with the theme “2021 and Beyond: The Road Ahead.”
 
Thirty-five years since the EDSA Revolution and 500 years since the arrival of the Spaniards and Catholicism in the Philippines and St. Ignatius of Loyola’s cannonball experience in Pamplona; with the COVID-19 pandemic and the upcoming 2022 national elections, TALAB encourages every Atenean to commemorate the past and look ahead to the future with the question: What’s next for the Philippines and the world?
 
There were 13 available classes for this year’s TALAB. It brought together the likes of Atty. Chel Diokno for “Leadership: Collaboration amidst Crisis” and World Research Institute’s Marlon Apanada for “Road to a Green Recovery.” Atty. Carlo Africa, Executive Director and co-founder of Hirayang Kabataan, Atty. Arpee Santiago, Executive Director of the Ateneo Human Rights Center, and Atty. Joan Dela Cruz, volunteer lawyer of the Ateneo Human Rights Center and the Ateneo Legal Service Center, came together virtually for “EDSA Ngayon: People Power Podcast.” Meanwhile, the Blue Bird Improv House Team discussed “Embracing Uncertainty: Taking Care of Ourselves Through Improv.”
 
“We thought it might be a good idea to have a theme that reflects uncertainty—what we’re anxious about, what the future may hold, what society might be like in the future,” said Leland Dela Cruz, Associate Dean for Student Formation and TALAB Co-organizer.
 
Initially dubbed as the Alternative Class Program (ACP) in 2009, and limited to a whole-day event where students were required to sign up for and attend talks, workshops, and classes which aligned with their discipline and/or interests, TALAB was rebranded in 2017 to be conducted over a longer period of time and featured alternative classes centered on socially relevant topics ranging from gender equality to agrarian reform.

 
However, given the circumstances of this school year’s online learning, TALAB 2021 had to be held online. Despite this shift, Dela Cruz says that TALAB 2021 has remained true to its core purpose: to provide a platform for the discussions of pressing issues and current realities, signifying the role of Ateneans to learn and take action beyond the confines of the classroom. According to Dela Cruz, holding TALAB online allowed it to expand its audience through livestreams of the available classes.
 
Dela Cruz also shares that “there is also the nature of organizing TALAB which is decentralized,” as organizations and offices are enjoined to provide content corresponding to TALAB’s central theme. Decentralized efforts and participation from members of the community allowed TALAB 2021 to showcase talks and classes which touched on diverse subjects such as democratic spaces, red-tagging, sustainable development, climate change, youth leadership, religious education, and inclusivity.

 
Despite the tight schedule and online setting, the 10-day event was made possible through the individuals and organizations who took part in ensuring the success of TALAB 2021. Dela Cruz notes that there is growing interest in social, political, and economic engagement from the LS community. “I think a lot of us have questions about where we are now and where we go from here, and all of the activities address some aspect of that. People have anxieties or are uncertain about precisely those questions, questions like, ‘What comes next for us?’ We want to help people find answers to those questions,” Dela Cruz said.
 
When asked about the future of TALAB, Dela Cruz foresees the event to be scheduled throughout the year, marking specific dates such as Labor Day, Martial Law, or International Women’s Day.

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