Assessing Victories, Seizing Prospects

We have proven, time and again, that our democratic rights are not and will never be offered generously on silver platters; rather they are products of our assertions through collective and militant struggle. We have also proven that victories do not happen overnight; they are fought for intensely and tirelessly through sustained campaigns and actions.

In the midst of the heightening clamor for genuine economic reforms amidst the worsening economic crisis felt by the Filipino people, we have been steadfast in pursuing policy changes to ensure that every Filipino student is given the chance to enjoy the quality education of UP and that every UP student is given the opportunity to flourish as a true iskolar ng bayan.

Since the beginning of this semester, the campaign to reclaim students’ democratic rights, spearheaded by the UMAKSYON (Ugnayan ng Mag-aaral Laban sa Komersiyalisasyon) alliance of student councils, organizations, and individuals, has resounded increasingly in the classrooms, corridors and tambayans of our university.

As a product of the series of meetings and other consultations, UMAKSYON came up with a list of 18 student demands, which was then submitted to UP President Emerlinda Roman, through Student Regent Shahana Abdulwahid, in the July 31 Board of Regents (BOR) meeting in UP Manila. The demands included, among others:

• respect the autonomy of student institutions by holding the long-delayed student council elections of UPLB;
• uphold students’ right to self-organize by scrapping Article 444 in the revised UP Code – a provision that bans religious and regional organizations on the basis of recognizing UP’s non-sectarian nature and promoting national unity, respectively;
• defend student orgs’ right to tambayans as the physical structure that allows them to hold meetings and activities on their own;
• review rental rates of facilities and equipment and install student org discounts, if not free use for particular activities;
• comprehensively review existing and proposed laboratory fees with maximum transparency and accountability; and
• roll back the increased tuition fees, especially in light of the worsening economic crisis currently plaguing the country.

After the meeting, Pres. Roman herself faced the students who gathered on the steps of Alvior Hall and declared that she could only ask the Chancellors of the different UP units to look into the demands students forwarded, and that she herself would not directly intervene. She further stated that a tuition fee roll back was no longer part of any discussion by the BOR.

Since then, however, through the tireless collective efforts of the students, UPLB succeeded in ratifying their USC constitution with an unprecedented 70.54% voters’ turnout, of which 95.50% were in favor of the constitution. Consequently, the elected officers of the UPLB USC were recognized and are awaiting induction.

Meanwhile, at the BOR meeting last August 26 in UP Baguio, even more students gathered to protest Pres. Roman’s categorical stand against the tuition fee rollback and demand due recognition of their democratic rights. They were again faced by the President, but still to no further avail than vague statements with no outright commitment.

Last September 23, through the Office of the Student Regent and KASAMA sa UP, the broadest alliance of student councils in the UP system, student leaders from Diliman, Manila, Baguio and Los Banos met with Pres. Roman in UP Diliman to discuss the state of students’ democratic rights and to ask updates regarding the student demands submitted to the Board last July. With hundreds of students holding a parallel protest action on the steps of Quezon Hall, the dialogue proceeded in the presence of different student councils and student organizations (UP Ibalon, UP Zambalenos, UP Asterisk, UP Grail, and League of Filipino Students-UP Diliman).

1. On the matter of the Article 444 of the Revised UP Code, Pres. Roman herself was surprised to find out that such a policy exists. She expressed support in scrapping the said Article and allowing students from the same region or practicing the same religion to self-organize without sanctions from the UP administration, thereby reaffirming our assertion that all types and classes of organizations shall be allowed in the university.
2. In discussing the proposed guidelines on student rental rates of facilities and equipment, as forwarded by UMAKSYON, Pres. Roman will compel the different Chancellors to submit a report on this in the upcoming Presidential Advisory Committee meeting on October 15. This will press the Chancellors to finally hold discussions with the students, who have been clamoring for the same since the opening of the semester.
3. Included in the discussions with Chancellors is the issue of student representation in policy-making bodies of different colleges and units. Following the practice in UP Baguio and UP Manila’s College of Arts and Sciences, student reps should be notified of and allowed to vote in meetings pertaining to policies that will directly affect their constituents, such as rules on org tambayans, fee increases, student activities, and other related issues.
4. In light of the great disparity in org recognition guidelines among units, students urged Pres. Roman to look into the possibility of establishing a unified org recognition procedure that will ensure students’ democratic participation through the USC instead of solely on the Office of Student Affairs (OSA), as practiced in UP Manila.
5. Recognizing the historical nature of the CSSP lobby in UP Diliman in terms of hosting students’ protest rallies and other mass demonstrations, Pres. Roman supported the proposal to advise the CSSP administration to reconsider their guidelines on the use of the lobby for student assemblies (only allowing protest actions without a permit from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm). As in other campuses, the right to peaceable assembly must be upheld, regardless of time of the day or venue, for students to freely and actively participate in issues of local or national concern.
6. Lastly, Pres. Roman stated that students have every right to demand to know where laboratory fees are going. In the interest of accountability on the part of the administration, the committee tasked with overseeing laboratory fee proposals will require proponents to include a clear definition of what the lab fee/s will cover, where it will go and why it is needed. Furthermore, a clear definition of “student consultation” should be set by the UP administration to guarantee transparency and make certain that all students will be able to air their concerns. The Office of the Student Regent will also come up with a comprehensive review of existing and proposed lab fees to formulate recommendations on what should constitute lab fees and what should constitute a valid consultation with the students.

If there is anything this dialogue with Pres. Roman shows us, it is that none of our collective efforts go to waste, from endless meetings, campaigning, organizing to mobilizing students. That we all chose to stand up and defend our rights to self-organize, to a tambayan, to peaceable assembly and free speech, and to be represented, is to have chosen to carry on the tradition of vigilant and militant Iskolars ng Bayan who never bowed down to those who violated our rights – rights as they are constitutionally enshrined, as they have been historically fought for.

Yet while we deem this dialogue a great success, there is an even greater recognition that the fight to reclaim our democratic rights is not something that can be won through mere policy changes and recommendations. It is a fight that must continue and intensify in the classrooms, corridors and tambayans of our beloved university.

Defend Students’ Rights to Organize, Assemble & Democratic Participation!
Uphold the Right to Tambayans!
No to Commercialization of Education!

Students’ Rights & Welfare Committee
UNIVERSITY STUDENT COUNCIL
together with

Office of the Student Regent
UMAKSYON
KASAMA sa UP
SOLIDARIDAD
UP Diliman CAL-SC
UP Diliman CMC-SC
UP Baguio USC
UP Los Banos USC
UP Manila CAS-SC
UP Manila Freshman Assembly
STAND-UP

Let us join our fellow Iskolars ng Bayan and other sectors of the UP Community to claim our rightful demands!