#OPINION | City streets, ivory towers
by Sienna*
*The author of this article has opted to use a pseudonym.
The Agham Road our school was built on may never be known in the same way again.
This is our reality now with the passage of House Bill 7413, seeking to rename Agham Road and BIR Road to Senator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue. All in all, 283 representatives voted in its favor. None disagreed; none abstained.
This proposed change was negatively received by the Philippine Science High School–Main Campus (PSHS–MC) community. The Science Scholar’s news update on the matter has garnered more than 100 quotes from students and alumni alike expressing their dismay.
The community clearly holds this matter close to its heart. After all, Agham Road has always been closely intertwined with the history of PSHS–MC. The road itself was named as such owing to the three Department of Science and Technology (DOST) lots in its vicinity, and one of these is occupied by PSHS–MC today.
For six years after its establishment in 1964, the school first occupied a vacant GSIS compound before it was permanently moved to its current spot on Agham Road in 1970.
It has been 53 years since then. While it may simply be just another city street to most, Agham Road has become home to many generations of scholars over the decades.
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But with this change, they’d have to put a different name to the setting of their memories, all because of the collective decision of 283 lawmakers to rename the street to honor one of their own — someone who may not have wanted to be remembered in such a way at all.
Indeed, Sen. Santiago herself was vocal against politicians who utilize their power to commemorate their kind. In fact, she proposed Senate Bill 1967, better known as the “Anti-Epal Bill,” in 2011 for politicians to avoid promoting themselves through their projects.
The bill sought to prohibit public officials from appending their names to signages of public works. In its explanatory note, she stated that this practice is “unnecessary and highly unethical” as it “promotes a culture of political patronage and corruption.”
To Sen. Santiago, it was an act of vanity for politicians to uplift their presence simply because they can. It is ironic how the lawmakers behind House Bill 7413 intended to immortalize her legacy in such a way she had once condemned when she was alive.
The students never asked for this change. Sen. Santiago would never have wanted it either. So why was such a law passed when the perspectives of both parties involved do not align with its premise?
The fault lies with the 283 representatives of the house for failing to act in the people’s best interest.
At the very least, they must have accounted for the students who would be affected by this blow to their school’s identity. They must have considered the convictions Sen. Santiago once held in coming up with a way to best honor her legacy.
It is expected for them to know the people they ought to serve in order to pass laws for their good. Yet, their passage of House Bill 7413 is posed to benefit none. These detached politicians pass senseless bills such as this from up in the silent ivory tower of the lower house of Congress, oblivious to the clamor of its constituents below.
Never did they once attempt to seek out the PSHS–MC students’ side. And in silence, when those in power do not try to hear us out, we must come together and amplify our voices.
We must strive to retain the identity of such a landmark of our school’s history for the sake of our predecessors, for ourselves here today, and for all the future scholars who have yet to find their home in PSHS–MC — just along Agham Road.
