Students Unite Against Commercialization & Fascism

Commercialization and fascism in the university have continued to become the biggest block for the iskolars ng bayan as they simultaneously face widespread economic and political crises in the country. The future of the youth is put at risk as the country succumbs to neoliberal policies, essentially consists of unfair economic policies skewed towards the interests of foreign and local private institutions and corporations. Widespread poverty, severe landlessness and job insecurity, skyrocketing prices, unjust wages, exploitative agrarian policies, and prevalent corruption are persisted by the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime in the expense of the rights and welfare of the Filipino people. Inside the campuses, this oppression and exploitation is further aggravated, as the UP administration becomes an effective collaborator, by implementing university policies that strip students off of their fundamental rights to organize, to peaceful assembly, to proper representation, and to quality and accessible tertiary education.

The approval of the new UP Charter and the implementation of the tuition and other fee increase (TOFI) marked the full surrender of the University to the state policy of commercialization of education. Through the TOFI, UP Ayala Land Techno Hub, joint ventures with private corporations in student and food services, UP has shown its approval to the government’s framework of reducing spending in education and leaving the sector into the hands of private institutions. It favored the corporations’ pursuit to maximize its profits over the people’s right to education.

UP education is pulled farther away from the reach of the basic masses as more laboratory and rental fees are imposed and collected, along with the already high tuition rate. Student services such as dormitories are also in danger of being subjected to corporate interests as private entities eyed student housing as a profitable business. The UP administration willingly submits itself to these interests at the expense of the rights and welfare of students and the UP community.

As if putting salt into the wound, attempts to silence, suppress, and deceive the students and the youth movement is being done to render a submissive studentry that shall remain silent despite widespread exploitation and oppression. Through repressive organization recognition policies, suppressive regulations on mass campaign and demonstration, and other anti-student decisions on student affairs, students are denied of their hard-won democratic rights as means to pave the way towards intensifying commercialization.

Student institutions and publications also experience blows to trounce its autonomous, democratic, and representational character. The UP Charter, in fact, legitimized the brutal attack against the Office of the Student Regent (OSR), the sole student representative in the Board of Regents (BOR) and a historic student institution which has effectively and consistently been in the forefront of the struggle against anti-student and anti-people policies, by compulsorily subjecting it to the tedious and technical process of referendum. It is no different to the experience of the UP Los Banos Student Councils wherein the student institutions were put in a vulnerable position in an attempt to stop them from performing their tasks of leading the fight against the continuous commercialization of education. Students are being deceived that these processes are for the democratic participation. It is clear, however, that the intention is not to strengthen the student institutions and the student movement, but instead, to endanger its autonomy by making it vulnerable to administration intervention.

The school administrations of State Colleges and Universities (SCUs) and, as well as, of Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs), proved to be merciless collaborators of the tyrannical GMA regime, as it denied the iskolars ng bayan of the immediate economic relief in times of great economic and political crises that seems to suck the lifeblood from the Filipino people. Instead of rolling back the tuition rate and imposing a moratorium on all fee increases, further commercialization efforts are being planned and implemented. The schools have also opened its floodgates for the penetration of state fascism and political repression into the classrooms and corridors of universities. Instead of condemning and protecting its students and the people from continued terrorism of the GMA regime which launched political killings, legal suits, and harassment against progressive and militant organizations, schools have become garrisons that mimicked the repression of the state inside the campuses. Student leaders face legal suits, were forced to transfer, and were exposed to military intelligence and surveillance, while some student organizations were either banned or were not accredited by school administrators and, in some cases, are tagged as terrorist organizations.

Such commercialization and fascism are experienced by students worldwide. Neoliberal policies, perpetuated by the world capitalists attacked the students of different nations’ right to education. Recently, students in Bangladesh launched anti-commercialization actions inspite of their country being under the state of emergency. The streets of Heidelberg, Germany echoed the call of “Gegen den Ausverkauf der Bildung” ( “Against the sell out of education”). In Colombia, a National Strike in solidarity with the Colombian people against the state fascism, economic plunder, commercialization of education and poverty was staged. Meanwhile, around 12, 000 people rallied in Dublin against budget cuts in education. Protest actions against commercialization of education were done in Liberia, Croatia, Canada, Austria, and England. These student movements are manifestations of how severe the crisis of educational system worldwide has become. However, in light of the US imperialist crisis, the youth worldwide shall experience further commercialization as world capitalist educators eye the education sector as profitable businesses to where it can extract more profits. Commercialization shall intensify as states and school administrators nod to these neoliberal policies.

In such a crisis-ridden world and country, the students must collectively campaign for their specific and general demands, entirely integrated with the people’s struggle against tyranny and neoliberal policies. It must determine the narrowest target and march with the people for genuine social change. Clearly, the youth must direct out all its efforts to shake and dismantle the foundations of such exploitation.