League of Filipino Students - UPLB
August 08, 2012
News Release

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA - Various student organizations and people’s party-lists conduct a relief and rehabilitation mission under the banner of Serve the People Brigade (STPB) as part of the celebration of the upcoming International Youth Day on August 12.

The STPB is an initiative providing immediate relief to the provinces of Southern Tagalog, particularly Laguna. Stationed at the Vega Center in Los Baños, it primarily seeks to collect relief goods and to invite volunteers for the relief distributions.

“The youth of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and nearby communities launched this project to relive the true essence of bayanihan among the Filipino youth.” Allen Lemence, League of Filipino Students-UPLB spokesperson, and one of the coordinators of the STPB said. He also added that this activity serves as a clear manifestation that the mobilizing force of the people, when spearheaded by the youth, can surpass even the fiercest storms.

As of 7:01PM today, Lemence said that the STPB had a total of 133 walk-in donors, financial donations amounting to more than 15,000Php, and 200 relief packs in four multi-cabs full of clothes and goods. The STPB also had more than 100 volunteers today who helped in publicizing the endeavor, packing relief goods, going house-to-house to solicit goods and other resources.

The relief distribution in Mabitac, Laguna and Barangay Tadlac, Los Baños is scheduled tomorrow. More than a thousand families will receive the relief packs.

“Given the overwhelming support of the UPLB community and nearby communities, the STPB is in need of more donations and more volunteers in the relief distributions for the upcoming days. More so, we call on UPLB students to come out, help and continue upholding the mark of every Iskolar ng Bayan in serving the people.” Lemence concluded.

The STPB is expected to continue receiving donations and relief goods for the whole month of August. #

For inquiries on how you can donate or volunteer, you can contact the STPB secretariat at 0915 276 8715.

League of Filipino Students-UPLB
 June 01, 2012

On the Prolonged Proclamation of USC Chairperson-elect Ynik Ante

UP LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA – Academic year 2012-2013 will start in just a few days yet there is still no University Student Council (USC) chairperson proclaimed. We have witnessed last February until March how UPLB students demanded the proclamation of Ynik Ante when the Central Electoral Board “proclaimed” Joyce Divino, the candidate who got the second highest number of votes. (Note: for the full details, we have included references at the end of this article.)

The position is indeed one with utmost importance for student autonomy. The USC chairperson together with the rest of the members of the USC represents the whole UPLB studentry. Without the USC chairperson the USC cannot function at its most efficient and effective manner.

Thus, the League of Filipino Students-UPLB together with Samahan ng Kabataan Para sa Bayan (SAKBAYAN), and all others who uphold the sanctity of the UPLB electorate call upon the Central Electoral Board and the Office of the UPLB Chancellor to proclaim Ynik Ante as our UPLB-USC chairperson.

UPHOLD THE VOICE OF THE UPLB ELECTORATE!
 DEFEND THE SANCTITY OF OUR VOTES!
 PROCLAIM YNIK ANTE AS OUR USC CHAIRPERSON NOW!

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Here are some related articles:
Electoral board bars proclamation of new UPLB USC chair (Philippine Collegian)
Ynik Ante is the legitimate UPLB USC chairperson-elect (Terry Ridon)
Si Ynik Ante ang ating USC Chairperson (UPLB Development Communicators’ Society)
UPLB refuses to proclaim elected student council chair for failure to pay tuition dues (SAKBAYAN)
ABS-CBN ST Headline: Nanalong USC Chairperson ng UPLB Ynik Ante (ABS-CBN Southern Tagalog)
Nanalong UPLB Student Council chairperson, hindi ipinroklama dahil late daw nagbayad ng matrikula (GMA News)

The League of Filipino Students UPLB sympathizes with the families, friends, and relatives of Ray Bernard Peñaranda, Rochel ‘Cesil’ Geronda, Given Grace Cebanico, and Wilbert de Ocampo – victims of crime and murder in Los Baños. We are one in calling for justice for them and for all other victims of like crime and human rights violations.

With the death of Given Grace, the local government tightened up security in Los Baños; increased police visibility, installed CCTV cameras, set up lamp posts, etc. However, with the recent murders of Peñaranda and Geronda, these actions done by the local government have been greatly criticized by the citizens of Los Baños.

The League of Filipino Students UPLB is one in calling for a peaceful Los Baños community but we strongly argue that increasing the number of police, lamp posts, surveillance cameras and the like will not fully resolve the increasing crime rate – or even unrest – in Los Baños.
We call for substantial solutions – prioritizing basic social services among others – that will really elevate the citizens from the worsening crisis that our country experiences and prevent them from committing crimes.

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.