For the most part of the university’s existence as a higher institution of learning, policies were crafted and imposed by the Board of Regents (BOR), the highest policy-making body in the university, without the students’ participation. For the longest time, the BOR had no student representative—the university’s largest constituency long subjected to policies they didn’t see coming. Through sustained and collective efforts of the students, however, which began during the First Quarter Storm, heightened and intensified further during the dark years of Martial Law and beyond, the Office of the Student Regent (OSR) was established. The OSR serves as the student-run institution where the Student Regent, the sole voting member of the BOR, who comes form the university’s largest sector, is seated. Instituted in 1986, it has served to uphold the interests of the students, voting and arguing on their behalf from issues ranging from appointments of deans to increases in laboratory fees and tuition.
The enactment of RA 9500 or the new UP Charter, however, endangers this institution, under the smokescreen of democratization, by actually subjecting a decade-old Student Regent selection process crafted by duly-elected student council representatives across the UP System and subjected to debates and amendments every year, to a terribly difficult challenge—a challenge that the administration cunningly knows, given the trend of student election turnouts, has the tendency to fail. UP, after all, has more than 55,000 students system-wide. The failure of this challenge, a referendum with less than the required majority of voters’ turnout, will endanger the existence of the OSR. In the face of impending tuition increases, as President Roman herself mentioned in a recent TV interview, and other schemes of commercialization, the absence of the sole student representative in the BOR shall only serve the best interest of those who push for such policies—policies that the students and their Student Regent have traditionally stood up against.
It is at this juncture of time in our university that it is imperative for the students to once again link arms and unite in the struggle to defend the institution that ensures the rights and interests not only of present UP students but of future generations of iskolars ng bayan in an arena largely controlled by administrators and political appointees.
In the face of impending and further attacks on our democratic rights as students and the democratic rights of the people to accessible education, we must intensify our campaigns and broaden our ranks. Together, we shall prove once again that students united will never be defeated.
On January 26-31, participate in the system-wide referendum.
Vote YES, defend the Office of the Student Regent!
The brods went caroling with the Sigma Deltans for a few nights last December to raise funds for our projects. We only started practicing a few afternoons beforehand, but I guess we pulled it off. Last year, the brods were caroling by ourselves, so this is a pleasant change. We were able to raise enough funds to kick off our activities this year.
I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the anti-Charter change rally in Makati last December 12. We in KASAMA sa UP (Katipunan ng mga Sangguniang Mag-aaral sa UP) needed all the manpower we had to set-up and prepare for the Defend the OSR concert that night.
The concert was organized by the Office of the Student Regent (OSR) and KASAMA sa UP, together with Philmusic Collective, to raise awareness and encourage participation in the campaign to defend the OSR in the upcoming system-wide referendum this January. We held it in front of the Faculty Center.
It was a successful event, albeit it was undeniably a very exhausting night for all the organizers. That same night we were also having a Student Regent Reunion at the UP Hotel. Aside from running errands back and forth, one of my most interesting feats that night was producing a five-digit sum before ten in the evening, without touching my personal funds (which wasn’t enough anyway). Funny how we even came close to pawning a laptop to produce the money. We eventually pulled it off (without pawning anything). Past midnight, I was experiencing a terrible migraine so I dropped asleep in the car till around four in the morning when the concert was about to end.
Ito ‘yung kwelang video na ginawa ng College of Fine Arts Student Council para sa Defend the Office of the Student Regent campaign para sa malaking referendum ngayong January.
My law block (B 2012) organized a forum on judicial integrity dubbed “Law Has a Conscience” last December 12 at the UP Law Center penthouse. The forum takes off from the incident of Meralco vs. GSIS where the integrity of several Court of Appeals justices and the entire judicial system was placed in doubt. Despite being law freshmen, my blockmates have taken on this advocacy seriously. Some of them, as part of the campaign to uphold judicial integrity, even filed a complaint at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines against the implicated members of the judiciary.
Last December 11, the University Student Council called for a university convocation to discuss pressing campus issues, especially with regards to the Student Regent [Selection Process] Referendum, and to gather inputs form the students on the matter. We were able to request for the campus Chancellor to suspend classes for students that afternoon, so they could freely attend the assembly. Several hundreds were present that day at the NCPAG Assembly Hall.
After the talks by USC Councilor Jaque Eroles, former Student Regent JPaul Manzanilla and present Student Regent Shahana Abdulwahid, representatives from the student councils of CAL (College of Arts & Letters), CMC (College of Mass Communication), CSSP (College of Social Sciences and Philosophy) and NCPAG (National College of Public Adminsitration & Governance) presented the reports of their consultations.
I’m just dumping a few pictures here from our last General Assembly (GA) for this year in the University Student Council last December 8. We went over-time for one hour that night, which is a good thing already–considering we’ve had a GA a few months ago when we went beyond midnight debating and arguing. This time, we were trying to come up with a comprehensive report with regards to the consultations in UP Diliman regarding the Student Regent [Selection Process] Referendum. We were trying to come up with a consensus, which is really hard to get by in the present USC, with party dynamics and whatnot. After three hours, the only consensus we reached was that we have to defend the institution of the Office of the Student Regent at all costs. Oh, we did also have a pretty strong consensus with regards to our stand against the Arroyo adminsitration’s Charter change. That’s it.
Under the theme, “Defend Student Rights, Uphold Human Rights,” STAND-UP (Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights - UP) marked its 12th anniversary more than two weeks ago coinciding with the commemoration of International Human Rights Week, an Anti-Charter Change campaign and a campaign to Defend Student Rights and the Office of the Student Regent.
On Saturday, December 6, together with its member and observer organizations and student formations under the League of Youth For the Environment (LYFE), the alliance held a road-painting activity along the street between the Faculty Center and Palma Hall. Aside from the orgs’ logos, the most prominent mark on the asphalt canvass is the large “Defend Student Rights, Student Regent” call, which highlights the important campus campaign to defend the Student Regent institution.
On Monday, December 8, the alliance held a congress at the College of Education Theater, attended by member and guest organizations, and guest speakers Teodoro Casino of Bayan Muna and Vencer Crisostomo of League of Filipino Students. It was a whole day of talks, discussions and resolution building, all towards advancing the campaign for students’ rights and the broad campaign against Charter change.
The next day, the alliance participated in the launching of Cine Veritas Human Rights Festival, together with the UP Film Institute, the University Student Council and other participating institutions and organizations. The week-long festival was opened by a human rights march around the Academic Oval and an exhibit opening at the Ishmael Bernal Gallery at the UP Cine Adarna. The four-day festival aimed to promote human rights awareness through various multi-media and multi-format activities organized by the participating groups.
Victor Villanueva is a 20 year-old freshman in the 