RISING PHOENIX ACT SELECT

CHAPTER 13: SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

After the event at the gym concluded, Marco’s unconscious body and the charred remains of the go-kart were quickly discovered behind the ASTB. He was quickly brought to PCMC, treated, and sent back home - all of which felt like one big blur to Marco. He half-woke up when he was being wheeled into the ER; all he could remember were masked doctors looking over him and spouting medical jargon he couldn’t understand. When he was all fixed up and on the way back home, Marco’s mom had nothing to say. She was clearly livid. However, Marco was so tired that he dozed off in the backseat as soon as he got in the car. He was spared for that day.

The very next day, he was ordered to go to the Discipline Office immediately upon arriving on campus. He still had bandages on from the cuts he sustained falling off the go-kart, but he was still in good enough condition to come to school. Marco knew this wasn’t good - he would be facing the wrath of Sir Ernest once more. After dropping his bags off on a table at the FLOB, he slowly walked up to the entrance of the DO, trembling from fear. He placed his finger on the doorbell, but couldn’t bring himself to press it. He took a deep breath before finally pressing the button, prompting Sir Ernest to open the door.
“Marco…pasok ka,” he told him.

Marco made his way to the far end of the couch and sat down while Sir stood a few feet away. A few seconds of silence filled the room before Sir started to talk.
“Anong pinaggagagawa mo…?” Sir said in a calm, but clearly restrained, manner.
“You won’t understand,” Marco replied.
“‘Di mo lang tinakasan ang isang required school event…” Sir explained angrily, “…pero nagnakaw ka rin ng go-kart na para sa SCALE at binangga mo pa sa bisikleta ng isa pang estudyante! At ngayon, pareho silang wasak! ANONG MASASABI MO?!”
“Who told you that? That is not what happened!” Marco inquired.

“Meron akong testimonya ng limang tao, at pare-pareho ang sinabi nila. Na ikaw ang salarin!” Sir explained as he pointed to Marco. “What about Glenn and Prairie? And Darren? Did you ask them?” Marco asked desperately.
“Kahit tumatakas din sila, hindi nila na-witness ang nangyari. At binalewala namin ang testimonya ni Darren...pabago-bago ang kuwento niya. At magkaibigan kayong dalawa, kaya siguradong biased siya.”
“That’s not fair! That’s not true, you have to believe me!”
“Ano ang paliwanag mo? Sino ang gumawa nito, ha? Sabihin mo sa akin!”
“Who were these so-called ‘witnesses’ who saw it? Because I can tell you, they’re making it up!” Marco asked furiously. “Hindi, confidential iyon. Di ko pwedeng sabihin sayo. Ang masasabi ko lang ay nagtitiwala ako sa mga source na ito...higit pa kay Darren.”
“But why?!”
“BASTA!”

The room once again fell completely silent. Sir was still incredibly angry while Marco felt utterly hopeless. A minute passed. Then two. Finally, Sir broke the silence.
“Nagpatawad ako noon, pero ngayon, wala na ako ibang magagawa...” Sir told Marco as he faced away from him.
“Maghahain ako ng Level 3 laban sa iyo para sa pagnanakaw na nagresulta sa pagkasira ng ari-arian...posibleng Level 4 kung papayagan ito ng Board of Trustees. Ipapaalam ko ito sa iyong magulang,” he told Marco.
The moment Marco heard those words, he was devastated. His life as he knew it was over. He wouldn’t be able to go to competitions and universities would avoid him like the plague - if he even got to finish high school. This was something that would loom over him for the rest of his life. He was done.
“No…” he uttered in disbelief.
“No, no, please, don’t do this to me, please…” Marco begged Sir Ernest as he clutched his hands together and began to sob. Suddenly, the door opened, causing Sir Ernest to stop for a moment.

In came Sir Ernest’s assistant. With her was a Grade 8 student who looked incredibly irritated. He had big, bushy hair, which Marco suspected was the reason he was brought in.
“It’s him again, Sir…” she told Sir Ernest as she stepped back.
“Maling haircut, walang ID na naman,” Sir told the boy as he approached him, confirming Marco’s suspicions.
“Alam mo na ang gagawin ko. Ito ang iyong ika-12 na NCR...bibigyan kita ng pangalawang Level 1,” he said as walked up to the DO computer and inputted his newly gained offense.
“I don’t understand why you kids can’t just follow the rules,” Sir remarked as the boy looked at him angrily.

“This isn’t fair…” the boy muttered, which caught Sir Ernest’s attention.
“Anong sinabi mo…?” Sir Ernest asked him.
“It’s not fair…I get punished, but he gets off with none…” the boy replied.
“Si Damian ba ang tinutukoy mo? Alam ko ang ginawa niya, pero maaaring magbago ang isang tao…kaya binigyan namin siya ng pagkakataon. At sayang naman na makahahadlang ang isang bagay na ganyan sa kanyang katalinuhan.
“So I can’t grow too…?”
Sir Ernest fell silent. He took a deep breath and bent downwards slightly to address the boy.
“Nandito ka dahil paulit-ulit mong ginagawa ‘to kahit alam mong hindi tama,” Sir fired back.
“Kung ‘di mo masuot ng tama ang ID mo, talagang hindi ka matututo. Sa susunod, tumahimik ka at sumunod ka na lang. Malinaw ba?” Sir asked the boy, who reluctantly nodded as he looked down at his shoes.

“Good…” Sir replied. He signaled to his assistant to escort him out of the room, which she promptly did. As the boy left the room, Marco spotted a disappointed, almost sad expression on the boy’s face. As Marco watched it all unfold, he couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of disgust.
“Why do you do this…?” Marco asked him, still wiping away his tears from a few minutes ago.
“Don’t you ever ask that to yourself…?”
“Kailangan ‘tong gawin, Marco…” Sir told him nonchalantly.
“Kung sasabihin ko sa Ingles,”


“It’s not my job to ask. It’s my job to do my job.”


Marco looked up at Sir, anger building up inside him. He almost let it all out at that moment, but he held off at the last second. He quickly looked back on the floor and continued to wipe away his tears.
“May kailangan akong asikasuhin, Marco. Pwede ka nang umalis,” Sir Ernest told him as he headed for the door.
“No, wait!” Marco called out, remembering the direness of his situation.
“It wasn’t me…I can prove it,” he told Sir.

“Talaga…?” Sir asked in a condescending tone.
“Give me 2 weeks,” Marco posited.
“Bakit ko naman gagawin yun? Sino pa ba ang pwedeng nasa likod nito...?” Sir asked once more. Marco took a deep breath before finally explaining everything.
“It’s this group of students called the Rising Phoenix…they’re behind this. They stole the perio papers…!” he explained.
“I was hunting down one of their members…Jorge Ramiel of Grade 10. He got on the go-kart…I took the bike, chased after him…and we crashed.” Marco was fully prepared to be laughed at, but was confused to see a worried look on Sir’s face.
“Sir…?” he asked.
“Nandito pa sila…” Sir muttered to himself, which shocked Marco.

“You know about this…?” Marco asked, bewildered.
“Sa nakaraan, mga ilang taon pa, nakatanggap kami ng maraming anonymous na e-mail na hindi namin alam kung saan nagmula. 'The Rising Phoenix' ang tinawag nila sa sarili nila...at ang mga e-mails nila ay puro mga mungkahi para sa Pisay. Hindi namin sila pinansin at sinabihan namin silang dumaan sa tamang proseso. Mula noon, wala na kaming narinig mula sa kanila…hanggang ngayon,” Sir explained.
“Why did you just ignore them…?”
“Sinabi ko na, di sila dumaan sa tamang proseso.”
“E-mailing seems like the most proper channel there is, don’t you think?”
“Hindi mo ‘to desisyon. Kami ang gumagawa ng mga patakaran.”
“Of course.”
“ Baka tama ka. Bibigyan kita ng dalawang linggo bago ko simulan ang proseso ng pag-file. Sasabihan ko pa rin ang iyong magulang. Samantala, sisiguraduhin naming imbestigahan ito...at sana’y masugpo namin ito,” Sir told him.

“Thank you Sir…” Marco said gratefully.
“And please find them. I don’t know what they’ll do next…”
Marco then walked up to the door and left the room. Just after Marco exited, Sir’s assistant came back into the room. She sat down at the dining table and began preparing herself a snack.
“What happened?” she asked Sir, knowing about Marco’s situation and recognizing him as he walked out the door.
“Sabi ko bibigyan ko sya ng Level 3, pero nagkaroon kami ng kasunduan na maghihintay ako ng dalawang linggo. At kung siya ay makapagbibigay ng sapat na ebidensya, papabayaan ko siya,” Sir explained.
“You agreed to that?” she asked, confused. “...Why?”
“Ma’am…” Sir told her, “…parang nagkamali tayo.”

“How so?” she asked.
“Naaalala mo ba ang mga anonymous e-mail na natanggap ng DO noon?”
“Yeah…I heard about those.”
“Kung sino man ang nagpadala nun, ay maaaring nasa likod ng bangaan ng go-kart…at ang pagkawala ng mga perio papers.”
“I don’t see how that could happen, but we should investigate.”
“Tama.”
“They probably have a ringleader, considering they label themselves under a collective…”
“Oo nga…trabahuhin natin ito. Magsimula tayo sa Jorge na ito…” Sir Ernest told her as he sat down at the DO computer. He pulled up the emails and began searching for clues about the Rising Phoenix.