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!
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!
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