Suppression breeds resistance.

It’s really annoying how Michael Defensor and Raul Gonzalez proclaim that all these arrests and calibrated responses are part of their defense of the state. They claim the nation is at threat kaya may national emergency. Wow, the way I see it, only Gloria Arroyo’s leadership is at threat. They shouldn’t claim the entire country is at risk just because Arroyo’s presidency is in danger from people who are tired of her leadership. What’s really sad, is that the military has become her army, ready to protect her in guise of their protecting the “state”.

Weren’t these the same reasons Ferdinand Marcos used for declaring Martial Law?

Tara na.

Some people say that STAND-UP is too immersed with national-level issues, na masyado raw concerned ang STAND-UP-lead council sa mga isyung labas ng UP. Why shouldn’t we be concerned with national issues? Hindi p’wedeng ihiwalay natin ang academic life natin sa national situations kasi UP tayo. We are, in the first place, a state university, and whatever happens on the national level, whatever the policies our lawmakers and administrators implement, affect us as UP students and as ordinary citizens of this country.

Example, ang appropriation ng national budget ay isang national issue, pero apektado ang UP d’yan. Sa 2006 proposed national budget, PhP 65 million ang budget cut ng UP from last year’s allocation. And it has been a trend in Gloria Arroyo’s administration, to cut the budget for tertiary education. Diyan naman nag-uugat ang halos lahat ng problemang idinadaing ng ordinaryong mag-aaral sa UP. Poor facilities, kakulangan sa tambayan, papataas na papataas na lab fees at tuition, at iba pa. Sa College of Mass Communication, ni walang nakalaang budget for capital outlay. Kaya hindi matapos-tapos ang Media Center. Kaya pinipilit ng admin manglimos sa alumni. Patuloy ring lumiliit ang budget ng CMC for personal services and operating expenses. Kaya papataas naman nang papataas ang lab fees natin. We should not be contented with what other candidates say, na dapat iba’t ibang fund raising activities ang dapat gawin. There may be nothing wrong with that, pero ano ang pinapalabas natin? Na kaya nating mag-self sustain? We should never allow the government to slowly abandon its duty to subsidize our UP education! Kailangan talaga na tutulan ang budget cut, at kung kailangang mag-rally ang mga estudyante, gagawin at gagawin natin ‘yan. Napatunayan na nating epektibo ang mass actions noong 2001 nang mag-rally ang mahigit 5,000 na UP students at napigilan, bagkus nadagdagan pa nga ng halos 800 million ang UP budget. If you hate rallies so much, what other effective ways do you suggest?

Isa pa, bilang iskolar ng bayan (as opposed to iskolar para sa bayan), meron tayong responsibilidad sa bayang kinabibilangan nating at bayang nagbabayad para sa ating pag-aaral. Our indebtedness lie with the people. Nakikinig rin dapat tayo sa daing ng ordinaryong tao.

Hm, so there. Gusto ko lang sabihin na ‘wag na tayong lumihis ng landas. Let us support the candidates na may tunay na paninindigan at makikibaka talaga para sa interes nating mga estudyante.

There’s much more left to be said but this is all for now.

One of the difficulties running under and campaigning for STAND-UP is that many students, including many of my friends and orgmates, apparently have this conception that STAND-UP is all about mobilizations and rallies and its members all “commies” who complain and complain but do nothing. Once they see these candidates in red, they immediately roll their eyes and shut their ears. This aversion of people, especially of my friends and orgmates, depress me somewhat, and I personally wish this stigma would be corrected. They are half-baked generalizations that are unfair. They are biases produced by a long-entrenched media and government propaganda against militant movements.

To be continued…

MR & MS UP. How was the first ever Mr. & Ms. UP competition? It was fine. Ayeen and I didn’t win, but it’s all right. There was an inevitable feeling of bitterness the first few hours after the winners were announced, but it wore off the next day. We did just start preparing two days before, so no heavy investment there. There were only seven orgs who sent represenatatives, so it was a pretty small competition. Thank you to our orgmates who went there despite short notice! And to my CAST orgmates who went and cheered despite me representing MCO instead of CAST. I appreciate it.

LAST DANCE. I was part of Gold’s debutante’s cotillion thing last Saturday. I actually missed out on half of the weekend practices, but it was all right. I was also the 18th rose in the 18-roses part. I felt so weird, people were staring at me and the announcer even asked the audience to give me a round of applause. Haha. People, no. It’s not like that.

THANK YOU, SQUEALER. Yesterday, while on a UP-Katipunan jeep on my way to MassComm, a lady broke the silence. “Ma’! ‘Wag mo ngang kalikutin ‘yang bag niya!” she blurted, referring to a guy who’s sitting beside a Korean-looking lady in front of her. The other passengers just… watched for a minute at the sudden commotion. Cool, eskandalo!

The guy got startled and muttered, “Anong pinagsasabi nito?” all while avoiding eye contact with the lady.

“Magnanakaw ka! Dinukutan mo ‘ko dati!”

The guy nervously retorted, “Ano’ng pinagsasabi mo d’yan. Wala akong alam d’yan…”

“Anong wala! Mandurukot ka!”

At that point, the guy tapped on the jeepney’s ceiling to signal the driver to stop. The jeepney didn’t stop though. He just walked off the aisle and jumped off the jeepney while it was moving.

SANGANGDAAN, LITERALLY. Last night, there was a second shoot for ES’ and Jerwin’s short film thesis. It involved me, driving. I haven’t driven a vehicle in months. It was supposed to be a car accident scene. Of course, we didn’t have to really crash the cars.

18TH BIRTHDAY. I had an fairly uneventful but all right birthday. I’m happy… I guess. I don’t know if I should write about it. I’ll just keep it to myself for now. Anyway, I appreciate birthday greetings, really. Thank you to all!

HECTIC SATURDAY. Attended UP MCO’s final rites in Cubao from morning till around half the afternoon. Wasn’t able to swim in the pool though. Afterwards, I went to some place in Timog for Honeygold’s cotillon practice. I’ve been constantly missing on the weekend practices, so I had to attend this one. At around 6PM, the practice was done so I just dropped by Kid’s place nearby then we went to Philcoa to meet up with Michelle, Jedd, Tupe and Deo, then with Kev, Ella and Jo. Barhopped all night. Not really my thing, but what the hell. By three in the morning, we were tired but the others spontaneously decided to proceed to Tagaytay. Wow. I just begged off. Got home around 4AM.

ELECTIONS. Attended the STAND-UP primaries last Thursday. I was introduced as a nominee for film representative. At first I was sort of intimidated. But I got along nonetheless, I guess. On Friday, I was briefed about the party and the platform and the history and all that. Beforehand, I was having apprehensions about running under STAND-UP plus I was also being invited to run as independent among other independent candidates. I was really having second thoughts. But I realized, I’m in the right place.