Philippine Collegian Tomo 93 Issue 8

KULĂŠ

Opisyal na lingguhang pahayagan ng mga mag-aaral ng Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016 Tomo 93 Blg 8

all rights deserved LATHALAIN 6-7

2 EDITORYAL

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

PAGTANGAN SA TUNGKULIN P L AY B A C K KASABAY NG MULING PAGBUBUKAS ng semestre, patuloy na tatanganan ng Philippine Collegian ang mandatong magbigay ng kritikal at matalas na suri sa mga isyung kinakaharap ng mamamayang Pilipino.

Muling haharap ang mga iskolar ng bayan sa laban ng pagtaas ng matrikula, mga dagdag bayarin at mga represibong palisiya sa loob at labas man ng pamantasan. Katulad ng mga naunang laban, kailanma’y wala tayong sasang-ayunan na anumang porma ng pagtaas ng matrikula na marka ng pagiging komersiyalisado ng edukasyon.

Tahasan din nating tututulan ang walang pakundangang pagpapasa ng responsibilidad ng pamahalaan sa mga estudyante sa porma ng Socialized Tuition System, isang iskema ng pagbibigay diskwento sa matrikula, at ang pagpapa-upa ng pasilidad o lupa ng pamantasan sa mga naglalakihang negosyante katulad ng pamilya Ayala.

Sa unang isyu ng Kulê ngayong semestre, patuloy nitong lalapatan ng suri ang walang tigil na pagtaas ng matrikula at mga represibong palisiya na nililimitahan ang karapatan ng mga estudyante. Gayundin ang paglalatag ng kritikal na suri sa diskurso ukol sa karapatan ng mga mamamayan.

Ramdam na rin ngayong taon ang epektong hatid ng programang K-12 kung saan bumaba ang bilang ng mga estudyanteng pumasa sa UPCAT. Isa sa mga pangunahing epekto ng nasabing programa ang pagkawala ng trabaho ng mga guro na kasalukuyang tumatanggap ng mababang sahod at ang pambabarat sa lakas-paggawa ng mga Pilipino na hindi na umano kailangang makapagtapos ng kolehiyo upang makakuha ng disenteng trabaho.

Bukod sa kakulangan sa badyet, pasilidad, at mga guro, kinakaharap ngayon sa UP ang pagbabawas ng General Education program na pangunahing nagbibigay ng kritikal na pananaw sa mga estudyante.

Sa mga panahong tinatalikuran ng gobyerno ang tungkulin nitong tugunan ang karapatan na makapag-aral ang bawat kabataan, mahigpit ang pangangailangan ng bawat iskolar ng bayan na manawagan upang gumuhit ng isang linya ng kaisahan na siyang susi sa tagumpay ng laban.

Kasabay ng tunggalian sa loob ng pamantasan ang mas malaking hamon na kinakaharap ng mamamayang Pilipino. Nariyan ang pinalalang sitwasyon ng kahirapan,

What should be the correct response to climate change?

Stop all corporate activities that not only emit harmful gasses but physically destroy while plundering the world's resources and the natural defenses that the people have to natural hazards.

Strengthen nations by forging local industries that can decently feed, clothe, shelter, educate, nourish and nurture peoples and develop countries' economic and social infrastructure for future generations.

IBON Foundation

transportasyon, barat na pasahod o kawalan ng trabaho. Sa anim na taong panunungkulan ni Aquino hindi nabigyan ng atensiyon ang usapin hinggil sa repormang agraryo na pangunahing suliranin sa bansa kung saan 70 porsyento ng populasyon ay mga magsasaka.

Gayundin ang kapapasa lamang na kasunduan na Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, na malaking banta sa soberanya ng bansa dahil sa panunumbalik ng mga sundalong Amerikano. Binibigyan ng lehitimong karapatan ng nasabing dokumento ang mga dayuhan na magsagawa ng operasyon sa Pilipinas gamit ang palisidad, lupa at lakaspaggawa ng mga Pilipino.

Pumasok sa panibagong kasunduan ang pamahalaan samantalang hindi pa rin nabibigyang solusyon ang usaping pangkapayapaan sa bansa. Sa halip na bigyang hustisya ang mga biktima ng paglabag sa karapatang-pantao, mabilis pa itong dumarami. Noong ika-18 ng Enero nang patayin ang batang lumad ng grupong Alamara sa Mindanao.

Sa UP, sampung taon nang nawawala ang dalawang estudyante na sina Karen Empeno at Sherlyn Cadapan na dinukot ng mga militar.

Sa unang isyu ng Kulê ngayong semestre, patuloy nitong lalapatan ng suri ang walang tigil na pagtaas ng matrikula at mga represibong palisiya na nililimitahan ang karapatan ng mga estudyante

Hindi kaila sa atin ang pagpapabaya ng pamahalaan sa batayang serbisyong panlipunan tulad ng edukasyon at kalusugan kaya naman sa panibagong yugto ng pangamba, ibayong pagkilos at panawagan ang kailangang gawin ng bawat iskolar ng bayan.

Sa nalalapit na pagtatapos ng termino ng pangulo ng Pilipinas at pangulo ng unibersidad, maglalaan ang pahayagan ng malawak na espasyo upang masusing masuri ang mga kandidato at makapili ng isang kandidatong tunay na magsusulong ng karapatan ng mga estudyante at sambayanan.

Kailanma’y hindi mag-aatubili ang Kule na isapubliko ang bawat naratibo ng pananamantala ng mamamayang Pilipino.

Hindi mananatiling tagapagmasid ang Kulê, gagamitin ng pahayagan ang lahat ng lunsaran upang higit na maabot ang malawak na sakop ng masa—sa pahayagan man ito o sa social media. Walang pasubaling babalikwas ang Kule. Ipagpapatuloy ng pahayagan ang tradisyon ng malaya at kritikal na pamamahayag. 

Nations should cut our collective carbon emissions and shift to renewable energy. In line with this, collaborative research between nations is also important to improve technology and learn new ways to battle climate change.

UP Haring Ibon

We should pressure economies to give up their plunderous connivance, and demand protection of our environment for generations to come.

Kalikasan People's Network for the Environment

To view it as an issue that is deeply intertwined with the dominant global economic system, and not just a separate environmental issue. The real response to climate change would be a system change.

Krista Melgarejo

Marine Science Institute Student and former Student Regent

UKOL SA PABALAT Dibuho ni Guia Abogado

PHILIPPINE COLLEGIAN 2015-2016

Punong Patnugot Mary Joy Capistrano Kapatnugot Victor Gregor Limon Tagapamahalang Patnugot Jiru Rada Patnugot sa Balita Arra Francia Patnugot sa Grapiks Guia Abogado / Emmanuel Jerome Tagaro Tagapamahala ng Pinansiya Karen Ann Macalalad Kawani Chester Higuit / Patricia Ramos Pinansiya Amelyn Daga Sirkulasyon Gary Gabales / Amelito Jaena / Glenario Ommamalin Mga Katuwang na Kawani Trinidad Gabales / Gina Villas Kasapi UP Systemwide Alliance of Student Publications and Writers’ Organizations (Solidaridad) / College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) Pamuhatan Silid 401 Bulwagang Vinzons, Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, Diliman, Lungsod Quezon Telefax 981-8500 lokal 4522 Online kule1516@gmail.com / www.philippinecollegian.org / fb.com/philippinecollegian / twitter.com/phkule / instagram.com/phkule

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Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

SENIORS DISCOUNTED Kenneth Gutlay

Pensioners hurled eggs at an image of President Benigno Aquino III to oppose the president's veto of the proposed P2000 increase of the pensions of Social Security System retirees at the Mendiola Peace Arch, January 18. According to Neri Colmenares who originally filed the bill along with former Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casiño in 2011, the minimum pension is below the amount needed by senior citizens, at P1,300 every month for those who accumulated 10 years of service and P3,000 for those who reach 20 years. The SSS is under heavy criticism with its top execs receiving heavy sums amounting to the millions amidst a low collection rate, currently pegged at 38 percent.

Sectoral groups decry approved EDCA ruling KAREN ANN MACALALAD PROGRESSIVE GROUPS DENOUNCED the Supreme Court (SC) ruling affirming the constitutionality of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States (US), stating that it devalues national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“The EDCA is terribly lopsided to the US. … [It] provides for rentfree, tax exemptions for US forces and their contractors … which may go beyond 10 years,” said Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Neri Colmenares, one of the petitioners who claimed the pact unlawful.

Voting 10-4-1 on January 12, the SC classified the EDCA as an executive agreement that does not require Senate approval. Quoting

'PORK' REALIGNMENTS IN THE 2016 NATIONAL BUDGET ALLOCATION AS PROPOSED (NEP)

FINAL ALLOCATION

Farm-to-Market roads

P7.051 B

P7.377 B

Assistance to indigent patients

P1.795 B

P2.783 B

Government internship and Tulong Pangkabuhayan sa Ating Disadvantaged Workers Project

P727.3 M

P3.267 B

Training for Work Scholarship Program under the DOLE-Technical Education Skills Development Authority

P2.203 B

P2.204 B

Local Infrastructure Program

P18.566 B

P19.813 B

Protective Services Program

P1.315 B

P6.698 B

Tulong Dunong Program

P986.321 M

P1.130 B

Financial assistance to LGUs

P200 M

P662.538 M

Research by Arra B. Francia

the Constitution, the “president may enter into an executive agreement on foreign military bases, troops, or facilities, if it is not the instrument that allows [its] presence” or merely implements existing laws and treaties.

“It only confirms how too many of our justices are unable to interpret the law according to a vision of a truly free and sovereign Philippines, [and] too subject to influences of the country's reactionary political leaders,” said Sonny Africa, executive director of independent think tank IBON Foundation.

The EDCA should still comply with the constitutional provision banning foreign military bases and presence in the country, except under a treaty

concurred by the Senate, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen said in his dissenting opinion.

Two months ago, the Senate adopted the resolution of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago which states that any treaty or international agreement without their approval is invalid.

US as sole beneficiary Signed on April 28 last year during US President Barack Obama’s state visit, the initial 10year agreement allows US to access and conduct activities on “agreed locations” for free even in areas with no Philippine military bases.

The SC ruled that the EDCA simply implements the existing 1951 Mutual

Defense Treaty (MDT) allowing for mutual assistance in resisting external attacks, and the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) regarding the entry and departure of US forces in the country.

However, the EDCA does not restate the VFA and MDT since nowhere in the treaties allow for the establishment of military bases in agreed locations as stations for troops and equipment, said antiimperialist group League of Filipino Students.

While the government claims the EDCA will improve military defense and clear rising territorial dispute against China over the West Philippine Sea, opposing groups believe this strengthens US dominance in Asia.

With the US having 265 bases in 41 countries, the Philippines was ranked as the third country with the largest US military presence in East Asia behind Japan and South Korea, 2014 IBON data revealed.

The EDCA lets the US use the strategic position of the country to assert military power and domination in East Asia, especially when Asia is becoming the world economy’s center of gravity, Africa said.

The government has already offered eight bases located in Luzon including former US base Clark airfield and on the western island of Palawan, where the troops can build facilities for war material storage, latest news reports showed. continued on p. 5 

'Pork' funds intact in final 2016 budget ARRA B. FRANCIA ADJUSTMENTS MADE IN THE P3.002 trillion national budget were construed to favor the election of local legislators, as lump sum allocations and supposed pork barrel funds persist in its final version, according to budget watchdog Social Watch Philippines (SWP).

“As in previous election years, small infrastructure projects were embedded in the 2016 budget and were specifically identified by legislators during the preparation phase of the budget, which amount to huge sums worth of public works,” said Leonor Briones, SWP lead convenor and professor emeritus of the National College of Public Administration and Governance, in a statement.

After months of deliberations by the Senate and the House of Representatives, President Benigno Aquino III signed into law the General Appropriations Act (GAA) on December 22.

The Constitution forbids legislators to make additions to the National Expenditure

Program (NEP), which leaves Congress to make adjustments and realignments to the existing proposal instead.

Lump sum allocations have previously been criticized for their similarities to the now defunct pork barrel system, which no longer needs to undergo congressional review.

“Budgetary transfers and realignments brought about by continued existence of pork, lump sums, and erroneous definition of savings will make it difficult for the reduction of poverty, inequality and hunger, as well as employment generation,” according to the SWP. Budget for the planned compensation increase to government personnel received the biggest realignment at P7.44 billion, giving the program a total P58 billion. After gaining approval from both houses of Congress, it is now up to the president to sign the Salary Standardization Bill.

With the total realigned funds reaching P26 billion, around P11.2 billion was reallocated for the benefit of legislators, according to a tally by the SWP (see sidebar).

For instance, the budget allocation for local government units was increased four times the amount in the NEP, from P200 million to P862 million. Funding for assistance given to indigent patients under the Department of Health (DOH) was also increased to P2.783 billion from P1.795 billion.

In 2015, the health department was accused of the misuse of funds after a 2014 Commission on Audit report cited lapses in the disbursement of around P1.178 billion.

“Essentially, this turns the whole HFEP budget into the health secretary’s own pork barrel, as she has the absolute discretion in changing the details of projects,” said Kabataan Partylist Representative Terry Ridon.

Meanwhile, deliberations failed to further disaggregate lump sum funds worth P930 billion under automatic appropriations. Special Purpose Funds saw a decrease to P408 billion from P430.4 billion, while unprogrammed funds remain untouched at P67.5 billion.

Amid the budget realignments to other agencies, the final UP budget was increased by only around P400 million for maintenance and other operating expenses , still P1.8 billion short from the university’s 2015 budget. “[M]asasabi nating unti lang— unti nga lang dahil barya lang ito. Di tayo satisfied at hindi tayo hihinto nang basta-basta lang hangga't di talaga libre at di quality education ang natatanggap ng mga iskolar ng bayan,” said Student Regent Miguel Enrico Pangalangan. 

4 BALITA

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

Low UPCAT turnout leaves 28 courses vacant KAREN ANN MACALALAD THE UP SYSTEM WILL BE WITHOUT freshmen students in 28 courses for the academic year 2016 to 2017 following a decrease in the number of UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) takers due to the first year of implementation of the K-12 program.

A total of 1,558 of the 10,000 estimated number of UPCAT takers passed this year, according to results released on Dec. 17.

This shows a massive drop from the average 81,500 takers in the past three years, as only students from 391 public and private high schools that are early implementers of the K-12 program were allowed to take the exam.

The K-12 system replaced the country’s 10-year Basic Education Curriculum in favor of two additional years in high school as it is the “recognized standard for students and professionals globally,” according to the Department of Education.

The decrease of UPCAT passers means lower demand for courses, which would continue in the next two academic years, explained UP Diliman (UPD) Journalism Professor Danilo Arao, who is also a member of progressive teachers’ group Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy. “[T]he low turnout could result in the commercialization of course offerings towards making them sexy and popular, instead of [difficult] but necessary," Arao said.

Idle courses Among the courses with zero passers are courses related to agriculture, fisheries, writing, and Filipino studies. Degrees in Math and Science have the most qualifiers with 352 in total, followed by business management and economics-related courses with 315 incoming students and engineering with 216 (see sidebar).

Even with the majority of passers of 843 bound for UPD, a total of 16 courses including Bachelor of Arts in Filipino will not be welcoming freshmen students in 2016.

Only three students qualified in UP Visayas (UPV) under courses in Accountancy, Biology, and Business Administration while two students will be entering UP Mindanao (UPMin) to take up degrees in Anthropology and Food Technology.

For the past years, all courses offered in both units have UPCAT passers to fill the slots.

The low turnout of passers will effectively decrease class loads for teachers and lessen involvement of students with organizations and administration, said UPV University Student Council (USC) Councilor Lala Grace Calle.

“Most of the professors with elective class loads might retain their positions, [while the number of those] who only teach major classes might be reduced depending on the arrangement of the departments,” Calle said. UPV’s mandate to provide “relevant, quality education in fisheries and aquatic sciences” will be defeated, she added.

Meanwhile, UPMin students were forced to adjust to the administration’s lack of preparation in admitting more freshmen for the academic year 2015 to 2016. “[D]inamihan ang 2015 [freshmen students].

Nagkulang kami ng classrooms … tinanggal na ang college library namin at ginawang classroom,” said UPMin USC Councilor Omid Javier Siahmard.

DISTRIBUTION OF PASSERS PER CONSTITUENT UNIT BAGUIO

BAGUIO

1493 PAMPANGA

COURSES WITH ZERO PASSERS

75

944

l ACROSS UP SYSTEM l ACROSS UP DILIMAN

MANILA

MANILA

270

PAMPANGA

22

260

DILIMAN

DILIMAN

843

5589

OPEN U

OPEN U

4

81

LOS BAÑOS

LOS BAÑOS

2289

263

VISAYAS

2807

VISAYAS

3

CEBU

CEBU

4

845

MINDANAO

MINDANAO

2

680

PENDING STATUS

42

TOTAL NUMBER OF UPCAT PASSERS

14,998

ACADEMIC YEAR

ACADEMIC YEAR

2015-2016 2016-2017

1,558 Infographic by John Reczon Calay

K-12 only for cheap labor Sectoral groups have opposed the implementation of the K-12 program as it only makes Philippine education more inaccessible to the youth, and trains students to become cheap laborers and semi-skilled workers. “[W]e see thousands of out of school youth, dropouts, and people who never get to experience education at all. [W]e have such little efforts to really nationalize our education in the state university, said UPD USC Councilor Beata Carolino.

A firm and centralized action plan that takes a critical look on K-12 is still needed, even if the administration is encouraging all units to ensure that all affected faculty members will have jobs, Arao said.

In 2013, the UP administration released a K-12 road map for action to prepare the university for the effects of the said program. This includes reviewing the General Education (GE) program and streamlining courses offered by each constituent unit.

For instance, the UPD University Council is set to decide on January 25 whether to adopt the new proposed GE Program in the campus, which removes Filipino electives and decreases the number of required GE courses from 45 units to a minimum of 21 units.

As members of the Rise for Education Alliance which advocates free and accessible education, the UPV and UPMin USCs are set for mobilizations in support of the campaign to abolish K-12.

The UP community should assert more proper and proactive actions to prevent the K-12 program, which bring challenges not only to high schools but also to universities, Calle said.  With reports from Jona Claire Turalde

BA Social Sciences (History) BA Araling Pilipino BA Art Studies BA Communication Research BA Comparative Literature B Elementary Education BA English Studies BA Filipino BS Home Economics B Library and Information Science BA Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino BS Metallurgical Engineering BS Mining Engineering B Music (5 years) B Physical Education B Secondary Education BS Tourism BS Agricultural Chemistry BS Agricultural Economics BS Management BA Social Sciences (Political Science) BA Social Sciences (Psychology) BA Communication and Media Studies BA Community Development BS Fisheries BA Literature BS Agribusiness Economics BA English (Creative Writing)

Lumad student shot dead by paramilitary KAREN ANN MACALALAD A 15-YEAR OLD LUMAD STUDENT OF Salugpongan Ta ‘Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center in Talaingod, Davao del Norte was reportedly gunned down by a member of the paramilitary group Alamara around 3 PM on January 17.

According to the Save Our Schools (SOS) Network, Grade 3 student Alibando Tingkas was on his way home to Sitio Bayabas with two companions when an Alamara member intercepted them in Sitio Laslaskan and fired two gunshots. His companions were able to escape while Tingkas was shot dead.

The two witnesses saw only one member of the Alamara, but they suspect

that others were hiding somewhere near the incident, SOS Network Spokesperson Rius Valle told the Collegian. The SOS will still confirm the number of paramilitary members involved in the incident.

“Itong Salugpongan, matagal nang pinag-iinitan ng militar at paramilitar.

Sa tingin namin, kasabay nito ang motibo ng palaging pag-aatake ng mga militar sa paaralan at panghaharass,” Valle said.

Alamara has been one of the major reasons why the Lumad continue to evacuate and leave their communities, the spokesperson added. The said paramilitary group began committing violence against the indigenous

tribes in Bukidnon and Davao in 2014.

The Alamara is one of a number of paramilitary groups linked to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and its counterinsurgency program Oplan Bayanihan.

“Sa ngayon, initial naming hakbang ay mailigtas yung dalawang witnesses.

Kasama na [rito] ang pananagot sa salarin at pagsasampa ng kaso doon sa nakapatay, at [pagpapadisband sa Alamara],” Valle said.

As of May 2015, the network documented 13 incidents of military and paramilitary attacks on schools among teachers and students in Davao del Norte. 

MASS MOVEMENT Chester Higuit Clad in maroon with white towels in their hands, millions of Catholic devotees flock the streets of Manila during the feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9.

Attendees participate in the annual 20-hourlong procession in hopes of receiving good fortune and being spared from sickness for the rest of the year.

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Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

41st GASC strengthens call to junk STS J U A N M I G U E L C A A C B AY

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST Tony Reyes

UP Diliman students stand in lines to enlist subjects at the Faculty Center during the enrollment period on January 13. Security concerns within the university were raised when a number of students opted to camp out the night before to secure slots in certain General Education (GE) and major subjects.

Bilang ng mga klase at propesor, kulang pa rin sa ikalawang semestre JONA CLAIRE TURALDE ALA-UNA PA LAMANG NG UMAGA ng Enero 13, nakapila na sa harap ng Faculty Center sa UP Diliman (UPD) ang mahigit kumulang 100 estudyanteng nagbabakasakaling makakuha ng dagdag na asignatura para sa ikalawang semestre ng akedemikong taon 2015 hanggang 2016.

Ganito ang naging sistema ng enrolment mula Enero 12 hanggang 14. Bagaman naitala sa mga nagdaang taon ang mas kaunting estudyanteng pumapasok tuwing ikalawang semestre kumpara sa una, pahirapan pa rin para sa mga estudyante ng UPD ang pagkuha ng sapat na klase upang makapag-enrol.

“Ang [semestreng] ito ay walang pinagkaiba sa nakaraang [semestre].

Marami ang kulang na subjects at slots sa napakataas na demand,” ayon kay UPD University Student Council Councilor Bryle Leaño.

Mahahabang pila Ilang mag-aaral ang nanatili sa pila at doon na lamang natulog upang abangan ang pagbukas ng klase tulad ng Kas 1 at Comm 3, mga asignaturang saklaw ng General Education (GE) Curriculum.

Rekisito para sa bawat mag-aaral ng unibersidad ang kumuha ng 45 units sa GE bago sila makapagtapos, ayon sa 2001 Revitalized GE Program.

“Some colleges faced security issues because students were

camping outside the enlistment centers as early as 1 AM. Unfortunately, many GEs closed their enlistments due to overbooking,” dagdag ni Leaño.

Isa si Mikhaela Alesna, BA Philosophy freshman, sa mga estudyanteng halos buong araw pumila para lamang matapos ang proseso ng enrolment.

“Sabi ng iba, ‘part ng UP experience yung pagpila,' pero hindi na siya nakakatuwa kapag naranasan mo na.

Ang problema rin ay hindi nga sapat 'yung slots para sa entire student population,” ani Alesna.

Dahil sa dami ng mga estudyanteng nangangailangan pa ng klase, teacher’s prerog na lamang ang inasahan ng ilan. Ngunit maging ito ay ipinagbawal ng ibang departamento, tulad ng Departamento ng Antropolohiya na nag-aalok ng GE na Anthro 10.

“This will be rooted to the unpreparedness of the administration in accommodating extra number of students as buffer to the K-12 program,” pahayag ni Leaño.

Kakulangan ng propesor Ang K-12 program ang humalili sa sampung taong Basic Education Curriculum sa bansa na nagdagdag ng dalawang taon sa hayskul.

Upang mapunan ang slots na mababakante sa K-12 sa susunod na dalawang taon, tumanggap ang

unibersidad ng 800 dagdag na freshman nitong unang semestre.

Subalit sa kabila ng pagtanggap ng mas maraming estudyante, kulang ang naging aksyon ng administrasyon upang magdagdag ng propesor at pasilidad upang matugunan ang mas maraming mag-aaral, ani Student Regent Miguel Enrico Pangalangan.

Posible pa umanong mas magbawas pa ng faculty dahil sa kaunting bilang ng estudyanteng papasok sa susunod na taon dahil sa K-12. “[W]e are constrained to hire faculties who will teach GE. Pero sa ibang CUs (Constituent Universities) daw meron nang tanggalan at hindi na raw nag-renew ng faculty,” ani Gerardo Lanuza, propesor sa sosyolohiya at kasapi ng grupong Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy.

Tinukoy din ng ilang propesor ang kakulangan ng badyet na inilaan ng gobyerno sa unibersidad para sa taong 2016. Mas mababa ng P1.8 bilyong piso ang badyet ng UP kumpara noong 2015, ayon sa General Appropriations Act na naipasa noong Disyembre 22.

“Different, successive, national administrations have been consistently slashing UP’s budget. The real solution is structural. Increase our budget so we can hire more faculty to meet the demands,” ani Felipe Jocano, Jr., professor emeritus ng antropolohiya. 

Forwarding a united call to abolish the Socialized Tuition System (STS), the 41st General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) adopted a resolution filed by UP Visayas to junk the two-year-old tuition scheme during its biannual meet on January 8 to 9 in UP Mindanao.

With 37 of 53 student councils (SCs) all over the UP system present, the largest congress of student leaders presented resolutions to be adopted by the body and deliberated on proposed amendments to the Codified Rules on Student Regent Selection (CRSRS).

In an overwhelming majority vote, 29 SCs agreed to the resolution on STS, stating that it is “a profit-generating scheme that commercializes and institutionalizes state abandonment of education.” All five councils who dissented come from UP Diliman (UPD), while UPD Engineering SC, UP Baguio USC, and UP Cebu SC abstained.

The body also adopted a resolution by UP Manila College of Arts and Sciences SC directing the Board of Regents, the university’s highest policy-making body, to junk all other school fees. This includes P2,000 worth of miscellaneous fees every UP student pays per semester.

Meanwhile, the body upheld the 19-year-old CRSRS, a studentdrafted set of rules which governs the annual process of selecting the student regent (SR), the student body’s sole representative to the BOR. UPD College of Social Sciences and Philosophy (CSSP) SC proposed three key amendments to the CRSRS: reallocating voting powers in the SR selection process,

imposing a minimum academic requirement for SR nominees, and instituting a three-year moratorium for all passed amendments in the CRSRS. The first amendment, dubbed “One Council, One Vote,” would allot one vote for every local council to supposedly ensure better representation for local SCs. In the current CRSRS, two votes are allocated to autonomous units while regional units have one.

However, other councils rejected the proposal, believing it is biased towards campuses with larger populations.

“In the proposal, UPD will have 20 votes. We will only have three.

We are tired of being marginalized,” said Omid Siahmard, councilor of UP Mindanao USC. The second proposed amendment would require SR nominees to have a minimum General Weighted Average of 3.0, else their nomination be forfeited.

UPD USC Councilor Beata Carolino contested the proposal, saying academic standing is not tantamount to leadership. After the defeat of CSSP SC’s first two proposed amendments, the council dropped their third proposal–a three-year effectivity clause for all passed amendments in the CRSRS. Since its implementation in 1997, the CRSRS has only been amended once in 2005, which extended voting powers to each SC. The amendment was repealed the following year. SR Miguel Enrico Pangalangan will report on the events and approved resolutions of the 41st GASC in the next BOR meeting which is scheduled on January 29. 

Sectoral groups decry... continued from page 3 According to Africa, the US will use these bases for its unilateral military and terrorist actions.

Scrap EDCA The accord moreover creates conditions for crimes committed

by US forces against Filipinos, with the brutal murder of transgender woman Jennifer Laude by US soldier Joseph Pemberton, Anakbayan Chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said in a press release.

LFS and Anakbayan with other progressive groups are set to protest all the unequal treaties between the Philippines and US in the following weeks.

The government may have surrendered the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity to the US, but the Filipinos are willing to continue the cause of fighting for genuine national freedom, LFS said.

“The Philippines has to have political and economic sovereignty and deep-rooted democracy before we can develop. Otherwise, our country's resources and our people's labors will always be going to bloat the wealth and profits of foreign capital and their allied domestic elites,” Africa added. 

6-7 LATHALAIN

ALL RIG

The Magna C

ALMOST THREE YEARS AGO, A UP Manila student took her own life, two days after she was forced to file a leave of absence and surrender her UP ID—all because she could not pay her tuition.

She was sixteen.

It is a source of embarrassment for the university administration and of indignation for the rest of the UP community and the nation. Today, her story is sidelined or worse dismissed by some as exceptional, even as many students in other universities have taken to the same desperate response to the fact that education is a privilege only for those who can afford it.

In UP Diliman (UPD), the flagship campus of the national university, there is a unique opportunity to revisit her story and reaffirm our collective struggle for the defense of our constitutional right to education.

As the new semester opened, the UPD University Student Council (USC) launched a referendum on a proposed Students' Magna Carta, a document that hopes to become a legal basis for the formal recognition of the rights of UPD students.

Even as this initiative has drawn a sharp line along ideological lines, there is a need to return to the most basic questions: How is the right to education systematically denied to UP students? What does history tell us about the student movement's fight for student rights? How can the present student body draw lessons from history and correctly respond to concrete and objective conditions?

A Dangerous Method When Kristel Tejada enrolled in UP Manila as a Behavioral Sciences major in May 2012, she was categorized under Bracket D of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP), the forerunner of the current Socialized Tuition System (STS). She had to pay P2,795 after obtaining a tuition loan of P6,377.

Her father was a taxi driver. Kristel would fail to pay the loan on time, she would be dropped from the roll, and she would be barred from continuing her studies the following semester.

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In Diliman and elsewhere in the entire UP system, this lethal policy remains enforced without impunity. Students pay tuition based on their perceived financial capacity, and anyone who fails to do so face the very same consequences as Kristel.

According to a study conducted by the Collegian earlier this academic year, the systemwide average tuition rate in UP is at P766.32, higher than the national average of P611.23. Only one out of 10 UP students receive free tuition, and Diliman holds one of the lowest number of free tuition beneficiaries at 10.8 percent of its whole student population, second only to Manila at 3.1 percent.

Like Kristel Tejada in 2012, roughly one out of four STS applicants appealed for a lower bracket because they cannot afford the tuition rates assigned by the STS last semester. Underscoring the inherent inaccuracy and inefficiency of socialized tuition, the number of tuition loans have steadily risen despite, or perhaps even due to, several attempts to reform the socialized tuition scheme of the administration.

It is crucial to note three important facts from these figures. First, this anti-student policy is rooted in the UP administration's long-standing refusal to acknowledge that tertiary education is an inviolable right of all regardless of financial capacity, necessary for the fulfillment of every UP student's duty to serve the nation.

Second, this anti-student stance is in consonance with national policy, epitomized by the state's chronic abandonment of its duty to support its own institutions even as public funds are squandered through mispriorities and corrupt deals, such as public-private partnership for Metro Manila's train system.

And third, the UP administration's anti-student stance manifests itself in other anti-student policies, such as interventions in the autonomous affairs of the student body, its organizations and institutions.

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

GHTS DESERVED

Carta and the Defense of Student Rights VICTOR GREGOR LIMON

Days of Future Past

Lost in Translation

The current student body of the university is heir to a legacy of militancy.

Decades of militant struggle have claimed victories that provided us greater space in the continuing fight for access to a nationalist and scientific education that serves the interests of the Filipino people.

The result of tireless mobilization of students in alliance with other sectors of the UP community, these triumphs include the recognition of the autonomy of our campus publications, the reinstatement of the UPD USC, and the creation of the Office of the Student Regent.

In 2010, the university saw one of the largest multisectoral walkout protests against budget cuts in Diliman's recent history. UP's budget was nominally increased three times since then, though the approved appropriations still fall way below the budget needed by the university.

Recently, we were able to wrest several concessions from the UP administration, providing much needed, even if limited, relief from policies that undermine our rights and welfare. These include the defeat of many proposed laboratory fees and, following the overwhelming tide of multisectoral protests in the weeks following Kristel's death, a revised policy on tuition that extended the deadline of payment for tuition loans without interest.

Historically, the student movement in UP thus has been able to succeed in winning victories despite the UP administration's conscious effort to implement university rules against students. We transcend rather than work within these odds—but only when we have consolidated our ranks, united with other sectors, and launched massive demonstrations of student power, our most decisive and most effective means of defending our rights.

A formal declaration of our rights, however, is by all means a crucial step to deal a decisive blow against the antistudent position of the UP administration and the national government.

Nevertheless, under no circumstances should it be subjected to the scrutiny, approval, and interpretation of the very perpetrators of the repression of student rights. Doing so will imperil the merits of such a document and compromise the autonomy of the student body.

The Magna Carta therefore must be considered in light of its good faith, recognizing rather than dismissing its merits and intention, for only by doing so can its opponents begin to enjoin the rest of the student body in identifying the document's irredeemable faults and the dangerous path that it is doomed to take.

The dangerous pro-administration slant of the Magna Carta is already clear in its surrender to the administration's final interpretation of all rights enumerated by the document. Its defects, however, must be subjected to more comprehensive discussions among all student councils, organizations, and publications. While the Magna Carta's defects are many and this already long article cannot fully respond to the faulty provisions identified by the Collegian, it is necessary to point out several of the most glaring.

First, the Magna Carta lays down guidelines that further compromise our demand for our right to education by legitimizing tuition hikes and the creation of more fees. Tuition hikes and redundant fees have no place in a public institution like UP, and it is this public character of the university that any formal declaration of rights must uphold.

The Magna Carta however seems to presume the inevitability of tuition hikes and new fees by providing a criteria for determining if an increase or new fee is legal and acceptable.

Second, the document contradicts the autonomy of the student body by subjecting the recognition of organizations to “reasonable” parameters set by the administration. Worse, the document also unwittingly calls for the administration to facilitate the operations of campus publications. Already, the administration practically wields control

over the funds of the Collegian, imposing bureaucratic financial rules since 2007.

As a result, succeeding editorial boards have been forced towards onerous loans to finance several sections of its operations, because it is virtually impossible for the publication to access and utilize its own funds for a number of its immediate needs, such as the budget for semestral planning activities, trainings, equipment, and travel costs for covering events such as the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC).

The institutionalization of these interventionist practices thus further undermines the right of students to assembly and our wisdom to govern and direct our own affairs.

Third, the Magna Carta bans military and police detachments inside the campus, but it fails to also ban the movements of these forces within UP—effectively disregarding a 1989 agreement between UP and the Department of National Defense prohibiting state forces to either set camp or operate on campus.

During the Manilakbayan's Kampuhan sa Diliman, a solidarity camp hosted in November in support of the Lumad's fight against militarization, police and military personnel were apprehended by the university's Special Services Brigade.

If the 1989 pact could not stop armed forces from spying and harrassing the UP community, the Magna Carta may just provide the loophole that will legitimize military incursions into university grounds.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Finally, we must pick up where we left off. Even as we reject the Magna Carta and its dangerous track, there must be more comprehensive discussions and consultations among all stakeholders, such as campus publications, which were not represented in the drafting of the present Magna Carta.

The 41st GASC provided what could have been a unique opportunity to forge a united systemwide formal declaration of our rights, but the proponents of the Magna Carta did not push for the body to discuss the document. Such a debate would have benefited from the experience of other student councils in other campuses. In UP Los Banos, for instance, their USC refused to recognize the UPLB administration's draconian

rules and instead followed their own set of student-drafted guidelines. If the students have decided what is best for them, the administration is powerless, the UPLB USC said.

The 42nd GASC to be held later this semester offers a second chance for student councils to form a united front, just as they have already made a historic stand against redundant fees and the socialized tuition system. Any formal declaration of our rights, however, must also seek to junk the current Code of Student Conduct, which is the basis for the draconian policies that limit our rights to assembly and autonomy.

Yet more than the formal articulation of our just demands and the declaration of our unity, we must effectively mobilize all resources and avenues to pressure the UP administration and the national government to recognize our constitutional right to education. The size and quality of our protests must be sustained and uncompromising in the call to abolish anti-student and divisive policies such as socialized tuition, redundant and exorbitant fees, and other income-generating programs that are unbecoming for a state university, such as the lease of idled lands to corporations.

The concrete and objective conditions, revealed by the results of our years of research, now require the student body to execute a response that trusts not in the generosity of the administration but in our ability to muster warm bodies and unite them against policies that seek to further commercialize education and prevent us from exercising our rights.

The university's militant history reaffirms the correctness and the superior tactical advantage of this strategy.

Weeks after Kristel's death, her father was asked in an interview if he would still encourage his younger children to enroll in UP. He gave an optimistic answer, saying that by then, he hopes the “oppressive system” will no longer be in place. More than the merits of a legal document, the realization of this hope will depend on what happens on the ground, how we collectively struggle to defend all rights deserved. 

8 LATHALAIN

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

Tagibang na Landas

Dibuho ni Chester Higuit Disenyo ng pahina ni Jerome Tagaro

ALDRIN VILLEGAS KALAHATING ORAS LANG MULA SA usok at alikabok ng Quezon City ang mga kagubata't bukirin ng Sitio San Isidro, Tungkong Mangga sa San Jose del Monte (SJDM), Bulacan. Dito, sa pagtatagpo ng lungsod at probinsya, naninirahan ang tinatayang 10,000 residente at may 300 pamilyang magsasaka.

Kabilang dito ang pamilya ni Tata Banong, 90, ang pinakamatanda sa mga katutubong Dumagat na unang nanirahan sa Tungkong Mangga mahigit isang siglo na ang nakararaan. Para kay Tata Banong, mahigpit na karugtong ng kanilang buhay, kultura, at kasaysayan ang kanilang lupa.

Hitik man sa likas na yaman ang Tungkong Mangga, mahirap ang karamihan sa mga naninirahan dito dahil bihira silang maabot ng serbisyo ng gobyerno. Ngayong pinag-aagawan ang lupain ng malalaking bangko at kumpanya, mas malaking panganib ang nakaambang sa kanila: pangangamkam ng lupa at pandarahas sa sinumang magtatangkang lumaban para sa kanilang karapatan.

Tala ng Pangangamkam Nakatatak sa kasaysayan ng Tungkong Mangga ang tunggalian sa pagitan ng mga nag-aangkin at mga residente’t katutubo.

Sa lawak na mahigit 1,000 ektaryang pinag-aagawang lupain, mas malaki ito kaysa dalawang beses ng lawak ng buong kampus ng UP Diliman.

Kuwento ng isa pang Dumagat na si Nay Vangie, noong kabataan niya ay sari-saring mga hayop ang makikita sa kagubatan at sa malinis na ilog na kanilang pinangingisdaan.

Bago pa sumiklab ang Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig (WWII), naninirahan na rito ang mga Dumagat. Tinangka nilang lumaban sa mga Amerikano subalit natalo sila at napilitang lumikas. Matapos ang digmaan, bumalik sila sa lupain at dumagsa rin ang mga magsasaka mula Visayas, Bicol, Ilocos at Timog Luzon.

Pagsapit ng 1970s, pinasok ng malalaking negosyo ang Tungkong Mangga tulad ng Manila Brickworks Inc. (MBI) ng pamilya Puyat. Isa sa mga kaalyado ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, nagmay-ari ang mga Puyat ng mahigit 2,500 ektaryang lupain sa SJDM. Taong 1984 nang malugi ang MBI, at noong 1986, sinekwester ng Philippine Commission on Good Government ang lupain ng mga Puyat at inilipat sa pagmamay-ari ng Bangko Sentral.

Lingid sa kaalaman nina Tata Banong, panibagong kumpanya na ang nagmamayari umano ng lupain— ang Araneta Properties Inc. (API), isang real estate company na pagmamay-ari ng angkan ng mga Araneta na nagsimulang maghimpil ng mga pribadong guwardiya sa Tungkong Mangga noong 1999.

Hungkag na reporma Pangangasiwaan ng API ang pagpapagawa sa MRT-7, isang Public-Private Partnership (PPP) na nagkakahalagang $1.235 bilyon. Sa pondong ito, 75 porsyento ang uutangin mula sa Japan International Cooperation Agency at 25 porsyento sa Universal LRT Corporation Ltd. (ULC).

Gamit ang buwis ng taumbayan, babayaran ng gobyerno ang ULC ng $108 milyon amortisasyon kada taon sa unang 15 taon, $107.9 milyon sa susunod na limang taon, at $100,000 sa huling limang taon.

Tinatayang 70 porsyento ng kita ang mapupunta sa mga mamumuhunan habang ipapasa sa mga mamamayan ang mahal na pamasahe.

Upang umusad ang pagpapagawa ng MRT7, tinutulan ng Araneta Properties ang pagsasailalim ng 311 ektaryang lupain sa Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) noong 1998. Ayon sa mga residente, matagal na silang nagbabayad ng buwis at amortisasyon para sa CARP, na nagkaloob lamang ng Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) sa halip na titulo sa lupa.

Habang pinapalayas ang mga Dumagat sa lupain nila, gayundin ang kanilang karanasan pagdating sa Maynila, ani Nay

Lourdes na nakikitira lamang sa pamangkin ng asawa. Dahil mahirap makakuha ng trabaho, napipilitan ang ibang mamalimos o kaya ay bumabalik na lamang sa mahirap ding buhay sa kabundukan.

“Sabi ni [Pangulong] Aquino, boss daw tayo pero ginawa tayong busabos,” dagdag ni Nay Lourdes.

Huwad na kaunlaran Ayon sa mga residente, talamak ang pandarahas sa kanila dahil sa pagtutol nila sa pangangamkam sa lupa. “Magkano ang presyo niyo para lang umalis kayo dito?” tanong umano ng tauhan ng kumpanyang nais bilhin ang lupa nina Nay Vangie.

Nanindigan siyang hindi ipagbili ang lupa, subalit pinili nina Tata Banong na tanggapin na lang ang P10,000 na paunang bayad dala na rin ng kahirapan.

“Sa mahigit 300 pamilyang Dumagat, 18 nalang ang hindi pa nagpapabayad,” ayon kay Fernando Cruz, dating pinuno ng Kalipi ng Maralitang Dumagat na binuo noong 2001 subalit nabuwag noong 2002. Nahati ang kanilang hanay dahil sa panlilinlang ng mga agrimensor sa ibang mga pinuno ng tribo.

Karahasan naman ang isinukli sa mga tulad ni Nay Vangie na piniling lumaban.

Noong 1999, pinatay ang kanyang asawang si Nestor na inireklamo ang pandarahas ng mga tauhan umano ni dating senador

Manuel Villar na isa rin sa mga umaangkin sa mga lupain ng Tungkong Mangga.

Samantala, lumalala ang kalagayan ng mga residente ng Tungkong Mangga dahil sa kakapusan sa batayang serbisyo sa kanilang pamayanan. Sa loob ng maraming dekada, umaasa lamang ang mga magsasaka ng San Isidro sa dalawang balon ng tubig. Dito nagmumula ang kanilang inumin at pang-irigasyon sa mga pananim, bagaman tuwing tag-ulan lamang sila nakakapagpatubig. Tuwing tag-init, bumababa sila sa poblacion upang mamasukan sa ibat-ibang mga trabaho.

Tuloy ang laban Sa kabila ng panganib na kinakaharap ng mga mamamayan ng Tungkong Mangga, patuloy silang lumalaban kahit pa pinanghihinaan ng loob ang ilan na piniling ipagbili na ang lupa dahil sa kahirapan.

Sa pakikipag-ugnayan nila sa Anakpawis Partylist sa Kongreso, ipinasa nila ang House Resolution No. 532 upang repasuhin ang proyektong MRT-7 batay sa magiging epekto nito sa komunidad. Inihain din ang House Resolution No. 2112 upang imbestigahan ang pag-angkin ng Bangko Sentral sa isang ektaryang lupain ng San Isidro.

Noong Marso 2015, nagpiket sa harap ng Department of Interior and Local Government ang halos 200 magsasaka upang itigil ang pangangamkam sa lupa at pagpapaalis sa pribadong guwardiya ng mga Araneta. Nagmartsa sila sa Mendiola upang patalsikin ang pangulo na patuloy na nagkakait sa lupain ng katulad nilang magsasaka.

Mula sa mga Lumad ng Mindanao hanggang sa Dumagat ng Luzon, mga magsasaka ng Hacienda Luisita at SJDM, at mga mahihirap na walang permanenteng tahanan at disenteng hanapbuhay—lantad na ang tagibang na landas ng “Tuwid na Daan.”

Tulad ng mga mamamayang sinasagasaan ng huwad na pag-unlad, para sa mga Dumagat at iba pang residente ng Tungkong Mangga, walang ibang maaasahan kundi ang kanilang patuloy na pagtatanggol sa kanilang mga karapatan. 

KULTURA 9

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

TO EACH HIS OWN? The Cost of Liberalism in UP A N D R E A J O YC E LU C A S THE TIME IS 11:15 AM. THE PROFESSOR asks us if there are any questions. A few awkward seconds, no one speaks up, others close their notebooks and laptops, and then the class is dismissed.

I can't help but feel a growing suspicion that questions are being skirted over— everyone has already decided to leave the room and get lunch.

A university is supposedly a place where ideas old and new clash, where ideologies are tested under fire. But even in UP, the premier state university in the country, forms of anti-intellectualism have crept into our halls of learning, preserving the status quo and perpetuating the hegemony that benefits from it. For an institution known for its radical tradition, this is bad news indeed.

Cease-fire According to historian Richard Hofstadter, anti-intellectualism is the rejection of rational thought, perceived as insensitive and amoral. Today, we are familiar already with the most vulgar of all forms of anti-intellectualism: a dismissal of the merits of critical opinion and most popularly exemplified by the Filipino catchphrase “edi wow.”

But anti-intellectualism goes even further than smart-shaming.

Hofstadter goes on to explain that antiintellectualism also exists in perhaps more sophisticated but still no less dangerous forms, such as liberalism and postmodernism. Existing thus, antiintellectualism is the antithesis of UP’s tradition of “matatapang at matatalino” and its hard earned academic freedom.

The allure of liberalism and postmodernism rests on a desire to be “tolerant” and noncombative. On social media website Facebook, UP Sociology professor Gerardo Lanuza is famous for his feisty posts, condemning what he perceived as a prevalent liberal attitude among UP students. “In short: be gay/ black/atheist/satanist, but don't come near me!” Lanuza writes in one of his posts.

The professor discusses this more at length in many other of his Facebook posts. This attitude is not limited to the classroom—it is simply when people are afraid to venture out of their comfort zones to discover new ways of seeing the world.

This observation is by all means not exclusive to Lanuza. Filipino professor April Perez notes the same phenomenon in her own classes. "Minsan may pagkakataong nahihiya pa lang sigurong sumagot o magsalita 'yung iba kaya hindi nagrerecite," Perez relates. In fact, professors would often resort to various methods just to spark discussions and encourage students to speak up in class, including graded recitations by calling students randomly using class cards.

Lanuza points out the grim reality that underlies this phenomenon. "Students are subtly programmed to believe that getting better grades and mastering the skills are the be-all and end-all of education, and teachers are reduced to mere bodies without organs of the teaching–war machines diligently preparing students to live in [a heartless world]."

False peace "Agreeing to disagree" is not only a manifestation of liberalism, but also of the belief that all the different ways of looking at reality are correct and are ultimately subject to individual sensibilities.

In welcoming and taking all subjective points of view as valid, history loses significance, which alone can stay objective. Literary critic Fredric Jameson decried this loss of the “organic relationship” between history and our everyday lives.

Any subjective interpretation, left without history to guide it, is left to the sway of an individual's biases—even unconscious ones. Slovenian cultural critic Slavoj Zizek argues that subjective views fall short as a measure of reality, exactly because there are unconscious ideologies that color every individual's way of seeing it.

When a plurality of ideas are accepted as equally valid and correct, we effectually surrender ourselves to the dominance of ideas supported by hegemonic structures. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu explains this in terms of the possession of “cultural capital,” like education—whoever has more access to

cultural capital, by virtue of being wealthy or powerful, has the say in setting trends in society.

Crisis The prevalent liberalism and postmodernism among students trace their roots to the commercialized character of the education system in the Philippines. In UP, schemes such as socialized tuition reinforce this phenomenon, commodifying UP education and qualifying the extent of their right to education based on their capacity to pay.

As UP students are forced to subsidize their own education and those of other students who belong to lower socioeconomic brackets, education at the national university becomes less of a right than a privilege that may be utilized, not based on the duty to serve the nation, but depending upon relative interpretations of what it means to be an Iskolar ng Bayan.

This is can be seen in the view that many forms of activism exist nowadays.

"Armchair activism" is sometimes seen as an entirely disparate from other ways of expressing dissent, such as mass movement. This creates unnecessary divisions and prevents us from realizing the potential of activism itself, as proven by history.

According to literary theorist Edward Said, an intellectual's goal is to keep questioning the status quo. The suppression of a critical voice in society does is to deprive not only the dissenter himself—society as a whole is deprived

of a potential agent for change. Closing off our ears to intellectual critique denies the existence of faults in and presume current conditions are favorable even when they are not.

There is nothing to be gained from refusing to voice out dissent, except for the ruling elite, whose interests are far removed from our own. Within the university, debate must persist in response to issues such as the socialized tuition scheme. The studentry cannot now afford to fall into the trap of smug liberalism and postmodernism. UP's long tradition of militancy show the potency of engaging in debate and coming out of it with correct answers that will guide our correct response to challenges.

The time is 11:15 AM. The professor turns to us, "Any questions?" A few awkward moments pass, and then the questions commence. So much for comfort zones. 

Illustration by Ysa Calinawan Page design by Jerome Tagaro

10 OPINYON

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

Larger than Life

Dissenting opinion ARRA FRANCIA

MY TRIPS BACK TO MANILA from Bicol always have this highlight that somehow make them memorable and less tedious. In my freshman year, it was the kuya from FEU that told me his life story during the entire trip. Second year was with a cute kid across the aisle that kept smiling at me; third year was with an old guy who worked in UPLB and was more than thrilled when he saw me wearing a UP sweater.

I was excited to know what interesting thing it would be on my senior year. Instead, a news report asking a very disappointed Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate on the Supreme Court decision favoring the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement was what welcomed me to the metro. So much for expectations.

In the interview, Zarate exclaimed how sad a day it was for the Philippines since upholding the EDCA only promotes the US' longstanding effort to keep hold of our country. The first attempt to retain US bases in the country was the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act of 1933, which a very young Philippine Legislature rejected.

To cut history short, the Treaty of General Relations reverted this earlier

decision, allowing the presidents of both countries to negotiate the presence of military bases in the Philippines. This treaty would then back up the legality of the Military Bases Agreement of 1947, the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951, and then the Visiting Forces Agreement of 1998.

I’m no lawyer, or expert in the field of constitutional rights, policies, and whatnot. But I am a Filipino citizen, so with all due respect to the justices of our highly esteemed court and all government officials who ever agreed to the aforementioned treaties and agreements, you’ve been messing this up for far too long.

The issue of US military bases in the country should have ended the moment we achieved independence.

Our government’s concurrence to agreements resembling the possible return of previous colonizers is a clear betrayal of the independence our heroes have so gallantly fought for.

For one, the continued presence of the US military only weakens our national sovereignty by keeping a post-colonial American rule. From the permission of US bases in “agreed locations” to the provision that prevents

I’m no lawyer, or expert in the field of constitutional rights, policies, and whatnot, but I am a Filipino citizen

us from checking the contents of US warships, the EDCA strips us of our right to know just exactly what’s going on with our own territory.

With international tensions rising, experts have stated that the Philippines acts as a strategic point that the US can use should war break out. The 118page SC ruling makes me wonder why the high court was so bent on justifying an agreement that would possibly endanger the country.

Also, it’s ironic how the decision went on and on about the Executive’s constitutional power to “protect life, liberty and power,” but at the same time uphold the legality of a document that would give way for more injustices like the case of Jennifer Laude continue.

Echoing Pia Wurtzbach’s answer in the recently concluded Miss Universe pageant, I see nothing wrong with welcoming Americans into our country.

But when what they bring are guns, bombs and the threat of war into our beautiful archipelago, I doubt if anyone confidently beautiful with a heart would be as hospitable. 

J E R O M E TA G A R O

Patapos na ang ika-anim na round niya bilang presidente ngunit tila hindi pa rin niya alam kung sino ang dapat na pinaglilingkuran niya

loob ng pamantansan, ibang laban naman ang nagaganap sa labas. Tila sinikmurahan tayo ng pangulo sa pagbasura niya sa P2000 dagdag na pensyon sa Social Security System (SSS). Patapos na ang ika-anim na round niya bilang presidente ngunit tila hindi pa rin niya alam kung sino ang dapat na pinaglilingkuran niya.

Malaking bagay ang P2000 na pagtaas sa pensyon para sa mga matatandang benepisyaryo nito, lalo na sa mga nakatatanggap ng minimum na P1000 hanggang P1200 kada buwan. Halagang, kung tutuusin, ay hindi na sasapat sa pang-araw-araw na gastusin, bukod pa sa gamot at pagpapakonsulta sa doktor.

Dahilan ng pangulo, mapapaaga umano nang ilang taon mula 2042 hanggang 2027 ang pagkaubos ng pondo ng SSS sakaling ipatupad ang panukalang ito. Ngunit sa bilyun-bilyong pisong napunta sa pork barrel scam at sa ilang bilyong pondo na inilalaan ng pamahalaan sa Conditional Cash Transfer program, kahangalan na sabihing magkukulang ito. Kung tutuusin, kayang solusyunan ng dagdag na subsidyo mula sa

DARWIN ON THE MRT EVERY NOW AND THEN, WE COME across small acts of kindness that restore our faith in humanity. Taking a train in Manila at rush hour, however, is enough to revive a suspicion that we live in a world where only beasts can survive.

To illustrate, notice the grim-faced yuppie, highly skilled in the art of elbowing fellow passengers; the wild-haired harpy, talented in verbally abusing men who would not give up their seats to a woman; the shadowy figure, gifted with sleight-of-hand instincts; and yourself, swallowed whole by a monster with many heads and arms and legs.

I think about a time when I liked taking the MRT, and my mind promptly draws a blank. Then I think about how I managed the daily trips from Ayala to Quezon Avenue before I learned how to drive, and I remember my old friend Queensfoil, who once compiled tips on railway survival. The list is terribly funny in Filipino, and I try my best translating some of them into English below: 1. One way to beat the crowd of waiting passengers in the platform is to feign disinterest.

Act as if the next train is the last thing in your zen mind. And then purse your lips and surprise the hell out of everybody by your most realistic impression of a fart sound.

Hindi pa tapos ang boxing MULA SA PELIKULA HANGGANG sa mga palabas sa telebisyon, patok na patok pa rin ang eksena kung saan binubugbug o kinakawawa muna sa umpisa ng kwento ang mga bida samantalang paghihiganti at pagkatalo naman laban sa mga kontrabida ang magaganap sa dulo.

Isang magandang ending sa pangaraw-araw na hirap ng buhay.

Dito na lamang sa pamantasan, kalbaryo na nga ang napakamahal na matrikula, bugbog na bugbog pa ang mga estudyante hindi pa man nagsisimula ang semestre. Hirap at haba ng pila ang mararanasan, bukod sa agawan ng slot para sa mga subject na bubugbugin ka sa buong semestre.

Sabi nga nila, kung gano kahirap makapasok sa pamantasan ay ‘di hamak na mas mahirap makalabas.

Sa laban na kinahaharap ng mga Isko kada semestre, tila batak na sa sapak ng buhay ang lahat ng mga makakapagtapos dito. Bakas sa haba ng Grades Viewing page sa CRS ng mga estudyante ang mga nairaos nilang subject, mga natalo at inulit na round.

Ngunit kung may boksing na nagaganap sa enrolment pa lang sa

Polo F. Imperial

pamahalaan, o ‘di kaya nama’y sa mismong pagbabawas sa gastusin ng SSS. Patunay lamang ito na wala sa prayoridad ng pangulo ang kapakanan ng mga benepisyaryo ng panukalang dagdag pensyon sa SSS. Sa unang round pa lang, inirereklamo na niya ang boksingerong pinalitan niya. Tila nagpapakitang-gilas pa siya sa mistulang pagganda ng ekonomiya at sa pagkakakulong ng ilang mga sangkot sa pork barrel scam, ngunit makikita sa mga sumunod niyang suntok kung sino ang itinuturing niyang kalaban sa paglikha niya sa Disbursement Acceleration Program, sa pagpasok niya sa Enhanced Defense Coordination Agreement, at sa patuloy na pagtaas ng bilang ng mga paglabag sa karapatang-pantao sa bansa.

Sa pagtatapos ng huling round ng pangulo, hindi tayo dapat sumuko sa laban. Dapat nating tiyakin na ang susunod na ihahalal na boksingero ay kumikilala sa tunay na kalaban at maglalaan ng bawat suntok para sa bayan. 

2. If you are fat and female, support your belly with your hands and stroke it now and then.

3. Survival is a collaborative effort. Befriend two or three fellow passengers and suggest that you create together a human chain to ensure no one is left behind.

4. Once inside, never position yourself in the middle of a train car. It will be a terrible mistake. You will find yourself transformed into a revolving door.

5. Forget about safety hand rails. The voiceover is an idiot. You wouldn't need safety hand rails to remain standing.

6. Keep near the doors as much as you can.

It would be easier to get off the train that way.

Bear in mind that if your stop is Ayala, Buendia, or Shaw, you should be near the doors on the left side.

7. When you are eager to get off the train and a large person is directly in front of you, do not even attempt to compete. This person is a friend and will clear the way for you. Remember to thank this friend afterwards.

I am quite sure that this is a short list and long experience will prove that there are other strategies at our disposal. I can think of one or two others, which may involve the use of crutches or a priest's cassock. You just have to think out of the box. 

OPINYON 11

Miyerkules 20 Enero 2016

GENERAL EDUCATION AS THE CORNERSTONE OF THE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION: RESIST THE CREEPING INSTRUMENTALIZATION OF UNIVERSITY KNOWLEDGE Statement of Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy on the Current Reform of the UP General Education Program (19 January 2016)

We, the members of Congress of Teachers/Educators for Nationalism and Democracy, UP Diliman, support the members of the UP community, its students, teachers, and educational workers, who believe that reforming the General Education (GE) program is a historic task that must not be taken lightly. The GE of the University is the cornerstone upon which students are trained to acquire the intellectual virtues of “freedom, equitableness, calmness, moderation and wisdom” (J. H. Newman, The Idea of the University). Its ultimate goal is to create independent and emancipated human beings with an innate sense of social responsibility. GE, properly conceived, is therefore a sine qua non in creating a healthy democratic polity whose enlightened citizens possess the necessary skills and critical faculty to question monolithic institutions and actively participate in debates of public concern and, ultimately, the “great conversation” of humanity.

As a national university, our General Education program determines the quality of the minds of our future leaders. This is a grave responsibility which must not be subjected to superficial debates hingeing on the number of units, courses to be taught, etc., while under the sway of ill-conceived neoliberal-inspired K-12 reforms. The proposed downgrading of some GE courses to K-12 is a disservice to future generations of Filipinos.

Reforming the current GE curriculum is a serious matter that concerns

not just the life of the University but, more encompassingly, the intellectual journey of the young minds in preparation for the wider society.

GE was never intended merely to provide skills for students prior to specialization. Far from such a narrow and instrumentalist goal, GE forms the knowledge core which draws from the vast intellectual reservoir of science and humanities and the great traditions of Western and nonWestern thought that contribute to the civilization we live in now.

It is the University’s duty to produce not licensed robots but critical and intelligent citizens armed with the ideals and visions of the great men and women who came before and are, therefore, ready, willing, and able to actively participate in the polis or our social life as a people. It is only through participation in the polis that the emancipated mind can practice and hone what it has learned. This act of thinking is not merely abstract but rooted in a particular historical ethno-narrative. General Education cannot be detached from our local struggle and national aspirations as a people or reduced to the ability to regurgitate Western thought. Our GE should be grounded in the interests of our people, our language and culture and, only secondarily, on internationalist aspirations. We cannot allow our GE to be hostaged by international trends, no matter how seemingly epochal, by sacrificing our national interests to those of foreign masters. Cultural servitude is antithetical to the essential tenet of liberal GE.

inbox

Nothing is permanent in this world and we welcome change–but not all changes lead to growth. Not all accommodation to change is for the better. Only those changes that will enable us, as a people united, to imagine and create a better world for our children are worth fighting for. Sadly, by reducing the number of General Education units to a bare minimum (21 at most), GE is myopically revisioned as a burden to be endured by students in their quest for a diploma.

In the University’s history, GE has proven itself as the only opportunity for all students to acquire the furniture of the mind. To borrow from Horace, GE is the “great equalizer.” Now, more than ever before, GE is necessary in order to see our way clearly through the chaotic world of neoliberal-driven globalization. While the ideal goal of GE which is to equip students with “clear, calm, accurate vision and comprehension of all things, as far as the finite mind can embrace them” (Newman) is still far from being realized, students without GE can only be likened to hapless atoms swirling aimlessly in the vortex of market forces of capitalism.

In the age of cultural and intellectual homogenization which many academics misguidedly celebrate as postmodern pluralism, we should ask the hard questions: Are the reforms supportive of the emancipatory and liberalizing ethos of General Education? What kind of minds do we want to produce and why? What “Tatak UP” do we

wish our students to bear with pride throughout their lives?

As educators, we urge all concerned fellow teachers and students, to resist and defy any attempt to crush the humanist soul of General Education. We must refuse to be embroiled in superficial debates over the number of units and courses to be included without first discussing the future of our University and our nation. It is our mandate to nurture to the best of our abilities. All GE reforms, no matter how necessary, should never lose sight of its ennobling and humanizing goal.

As teachers concerned with the future of the University, we demand more public debates and consultations on the issue of General Education. We welcome collegial autonomy in making decisions regarding GE and its implementation.

As a University, however, we must stand united on the goal and vision of GE. We must stand united on how to carry out this program and necessary reforms. Reforming our GE program should be an occasion for University-wide debates and consultation, not fragmentation. The future of our University hangs in the balance. We must not allow ourselves to be pitted against each other while ill-conceived educational reforms rage outside the University. We must never forget that the values of intellectual integrity and institutional autonomy are the very values that our University stands for. 

SIPAT PLAYGROUND Jiru Rada Lumad Refugee Camp United Church of Christ in the Philippines Haran Compound, Davao City January 2016

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Dibuho ni Kenneth Zapata