FOR A PRO-PEOPLE AND
PRO-STUDENT U.P.
STUDENT REGENT!
League of Filipino Students-UPLB
May 18, 2012
Official Statement on the Upcoming UP Student Regent Selection 2012
The League of Filipino Students-UPLB (LFS-UPLB) calls for a pro-people and pro-student UP Student Regent as the General Assembly of Student Councils (GASC) convenes this May 22, 2012 at the Electrical Engineering Auditorium at the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Baños.
The UP Student Regent is the sole representative of the students to the UP Board of Regents, the highest policy-making body of the University of the Philippines System. Being the student regent of the premiere national university, the UP Student Regent must vigilantly and militantly address the issues and genuine interests of his/her constituents.
Worsening Crisis in Education
With the worsening crisis in Philippine education, thousands of Filipino youth are denied of their right to education on the basis of their financial capacity. Added to that, tuition hikes are rampant both in private and public schools this coming academic year. The UP Student Regent must not only address the tuition and other fee increases in the university but also the crisis faced by the whole education sector. The UP Student Regent must strive to increase both the quality of UP education and its democratic access.
Campus Repression and State Fascism
UP, being the bastion for democracy and activism, produces students who will militantly uphold their democratic rights. However, instead of hearing and attending to the demands of the students, some elements of the UP administration work to repress these students to pacify them. On a national level, the state retains the status quo through fascism – a systematic way of repression wherein violence is no stranger. The UP Student Regent must also tackle the elating repression among UP students and safeguard the rights of the students.
The Plight of Workers and Farmers
Currently, seven out of ten farmers still do not have their own land while a handful of landlords own lands of thousands of hectares. The Filipino workers, on the other hand, still make the day with only their meager wages. In the workplace, violations to their rights are still happening. The UP Student Regent must also focus on the issues of the workers and farmers since they comprise the majority of the population of the Philippines. He/she must be in the forefront of promoting policies that will uphold the rights of the workers and farmers.
Continued Imperialist Control
The US and its imperialist cohorts in the IMF-World Bank continue to impose policies that will truly benefit their countries and not the Philippines such as the Department of Education’s K+12 program; it is but a reactionary act of the government to satisfy the demands for cheap labor of foreign countries. More than that, they also impose policies on our economy, politics, and military; the Visiting Forces Agreement permits US military bases in the Philippines even though it is a direct violation to our national sovereignty. Thus, the UP Student Regent must promote nationalism in its truest sense – that is nationalism guided by a national democratic line.
These are among the numerous issues the Filipino youth are facing in a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
In this light, the LFS-UPLB strongly challenges the GASC to critically deliberate and consecutively select a UP Student Regent who will unwaveringly stand for the students’ democratic rights and raise and link their issues to the issues of the Philippine society as a whole.
For a Pro-People and Pro-Student UP Student Regent!
Iskolar ng Bayan, Ngayon ay Lumalaban!
PROCLAIM ANTE NOW!
The issue of the University Student Council (USC) chairpersonship – a pressing issue among Iskolar ng Bayan as the question whether it will be Ynik Ante (SAKBAYAN) or Marion Joyce Divino (Buklod) who will serve as chairperson becomes a prevalent subject of conversation in the campus.
Automated election results show that Ante (with 1479 votes, 36 votes more than Divino) is the clear winner for this year’s USC-CSC elections. However, during the February 29 Central Electoral Board (CEB) meeting, the CEB – the supposed body only mandated to formulate the election code and proclaim the winners of the elections – erroneously decided to proclaim Divino as the chairperson for the lame reason of Ante’s late tuition payment, that she is not a bona fide student of the university; the body argued that Ante did not follow the agreements stated in her promissory note signed by the Vice Chancellor for Instruction. Yet, Ante was able to pay on the same day (February 29) as the deadline stated on her promissory note. Chancellor Cruz also attested that there should not be a problem of being a bona fide student on the basis of financial incapacity or problems.
We condemn this act of the CEB and their initial act to try to disqualify Ante of her candidacy during the start of the USC-CSC elections.
We, the League of Filipino Students UPLB along with all Iskolar ng Bayan who believe in and uphold the integrity of the students’ elections call on the CEB to reconvene as soon as possible and proclaim Ynik Ante as the real USC chairperson-elect. We also call for Ms. Divino to voluntarily concede and respect the decision of the electorate – that the electorate chose Ante as our USC chairperson.
Official Statement on the Detention of the UPLB 5
June 21, 2011
June 19, 2011 marks the 150th birthday of our national hero Jose Rizal. On the same day, president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III attended the inauguration of the tallest Jose Rizal monument in The Plaza in front of the city hall of Calamba, Laguna. During the said event, five students from the KABATAAN Partylist – UP Los Baños chapter together with two men from ANAKPAWIS Partylist – Southern were seized by around 25 Presidential Security Guards and local policemen as they showed the Southern Tagalog youth and people’s disgust on Aquino’s administration. The militants chanted “Walang pagbabago sa ilalim ni Aquino!”, “Edukasyon karapatan ng mamamayan!” and “Tunay na reporma sa lupa, ipaglaban!”
The League of Filipino Students-UPLB is giving its utmost gratitude and support to the UPLB 5 for their courage and strong adherence to fight for the right of the Filipino youth to education. The LFS-UPLB is praising Bhen Aguihon, Ynik Ante, Cathy Gigantone, Mikel Mozo, and Ruffa Solano for their militancy during Aquino’s visit in Calamba; they registered Southern Tagalog’s abhorrence for the anti-people policies of the Aquino administration and loudly chanted our call for the Filipino youth’s right to education.
The LFS-UPLB is condemning the state and the Aquino regime for its use of fascism to repress the freedom of expression of the seven militants and of all protesters in general. Because of several budget cuts in education which pushes to state abandonment in education, it is our right to show dissent to the Philippine government. However, the reactionary government of Aquino, just like Arroyo’s administration, is using fascism to repress the progressive and militant individuals and groups. The case of the UPLB 5 and Calamba 7 is one of the many cases of political detainees and prisoners in the Philippines.
That is why we are inviting all Iskolar ng Bayan to join our protest and be in unity as we assert for the immediate release of the UPLB 5, the Calamba 7, and of all political prisoners and detainees. It is time to take action, fellow Iskolar ng Bayan! We cannot let the state and the administration continue its use of fascism and repression to prevent us in fighting for our democratic and political rights!
FREE THE UPLB 5!
FREE THE CALAMBA 7!
FREE ALL POLITICAL DETAINEES AND PRISONERS!
STOP STATE FASCISM!
DOWN WITH THE AQUINO REGIME!
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